Month: February 2018

Book Review: Burn by Lisa Carlisle

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BURN (Underground Encounters Book 4) by Lisa Carlisle is another sizzling addition to the VAMPS paranormal romance series. When you sit down to read about Devon and Layla, clear your schedule because you are going to want read this one from start to finish.

Layla flees London for her immortal life. She has been framed for a theft from a master vampire, who does not believe in her innocence. She returns to America and reinvents herself as “Angelica”, the new lead singer for an 80’s heavy metal cover band.

Devon St. Clair has a reputation as one of the best bounty hunters for hire. Ruthless and relentless, he always gets his man or woman. Aided by his years in Royal Special Forces, he is also a shifter. He can shift into any animal form and every one of them hates vampires. When he catches up to Layla at VAMPS, he is entranced by her and her voice, but he cannot let that get in the way of his job, can he?

This series just keeps pulling me in and I have to say that I especially loved Layla and Devon! Layla is petite and yet mighty, in character and physical strength. Devon is all hot, tough shifter and yet has softer, vulnerable moments that appear for Layla. The sex scenes are smokin’ hot and steaming. The plot is not unique, but Ms. Carlisle puts some interesting twists into this world of paranormal creatures that makes them unique. This book can easily be read as a standalone in this series, but I bet if you love paranormal romances as I do, you will want to read them all.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: Better Dead by Pamela Kopfler

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

BETTER DEAD (A B&B Spirits Mystery #1) by Pamela Kopfler is the first book in a new cozy mystery series set in a Louisiana B&B. The spirit in this book adds a touch of the paranormal and I can only assume that since this series is called a B&B Spirits Mystery there will be others in future books.

Holly Davis owns Holly Grove plantation turned B&B. It has been in her family for several generations and she especially needs to make it a success and profitable now that her cheating husband is dead. Killed in a plane wreck before Holly could divorce him, Burl nearly bankrupt the B&B and was involved with drug smuggling on the property.

As Holly drinks to celebrate her untimely freedom, Burl shows up as a spirit with unfinished business. Burl needs Holly’s help to move on. Holly needs Burl’s help to make Holly Grove a truly haunted plantation that will draw in guests to pay the bills.

Jake McCann, Holly’s former high school sweetheart, returns to town to help with the town’s paper while the owner is on vacation. He works out an agreement with Holly to stay at the B&B, but is that the only reason he has returned?

This was a fast read and had some laugh out loud scenes especially when you read about Gold Member and some of Holly’s disasters. The interaction between Holly, her ex’s spirit and Jake was also well written.

I was disappointed that Holly made so many bad decisions that placed her in jeopardy. One or two is fine, but I prefer a smarter heroine. I am not sure if it was done for screwball comedy sake, but it was just too many times. For me, Holly’s long-time housekeeper and cook was more of a caricature than I was comfortable with. I also would have preferred Jake to become more romantically involved further into future books. It felt rushed at the end of this book.

Overall, this is an entertaining cozy, but not sure if I will continue with the series.

Book Review: Bones Don’t Lie by Melinda Leigh

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BONES DON’T LIE (Morgan Dane #3) by Melinda Leigh is another thrilling addition to this series!

One mystery that has influenced Lance Kruger’s life for the past twenty-three years was the disappearance of his father, Victor Kruger when he was just a boy. His mother’s mental instability completely collapsed and he took on more responsibility than any child should.

Lincoln Sharp, Lance’s current partner in their P.I. firm has always carried the burden of the unsolved case from his years as the detective assigned the case. He took the fatherless Lance under his wing and helped with his mother. Sharp is called to the scene of a car being pulled from the bottom of Grey Lake. It is identified as belonging to Lance’s father. They do not find Vic, but they do find a female skeleton locked in the trunk.

For Lance, this development causes more questions than answers and also has Lance questioning if his memory of his father is accurate. As Sharp, Lance and Morgan all work to find the truth of what happened all those years ago, some witnesses are being caught in lies and others are being killed for the information they have. To add to the suspense, Morgan is also receiving threats from an unknown source.

Ms. Leigh keeps making this series a must read for me. The plotting is fast paced and the dialogue is realistic. The warmth and love between all of the characters makes you want to keep returning to check up on them. The emotional growth and love between Morgan and Lance is wonderfully satisfying and heart-warming. I was completely surprised by the killer, which makes this book even more fun for me. I am looking forward to many more books in this series to come.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I love this series!

Book Review: Wicked Choice by Sawyer Bennett

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WICKED CHOICE (The Wicked Horse Vegas, #4) by Sawyer Bennett is one of the best erotic romances I have read! There are hot, steamy and erotic sex scenes throughout an amazing gender twist of a story that is strong enough to stand on its own even without the erotic sex scenes, but where would be the fun in that?

Rachel Hart is one of the best at her job and has the confidence of her teammates. She was a Winter Olympian biathlete and extreme sport junkie. She has never fallen in love and refuses to let anyone get close.

Bodie Wright is an ex-Navy SEAL who has traded in the strict regimentation of the service for the less restrictive and more lucrative job at the Jameson Group. A Nebraska farmboy, who loves his extended family, but is not really looking to settle down just yet.

After a mission together gone wrong, Rachel and Bodie cross the understood, but not written rule that team members at Jameson do not fraternize. Sure, they see each other having sex at the club, but never do team members do team members. Their one night of amazing sex turns into a pregnancy with major, life-changing decisions to be made.

Ms. Sawyer takes this situation and turns it into a very unique story by having Brodie step up and want the baby no matter how it will change his life and career, while Rachel is the one who decides to carry the baby for Bodie, but she does not want to continue in its life after the delivery.

Rachel is such a complex heroine who Bodie seems to effortlessly understand. As the erotic sex continues throughout the story so does the emotional roller coaster, tears and decisions. I loved these two characters! The secondary characters were just as realistically written and I hope to see more of them in future books.

The Wicked Horse is a sex club in Vegas which is the background for this series of erotic romances. It is frequented by several of the teammates from the Jameson Group, which is a private group of elite mercenaries for hire. The owner of the Wicked Horse used to own both, but he sold the Jameson group to his best friend. This story is the bridge book between strictly erotic romances set around the Wicked Horse and a new series planned by this author to focus more on the Jameson Group mercenaries using a romantic suspense format. Do not worry about it being the fourth book in the series because it can be read easily as a standalone and I cannot wait to go back and read the first books in this series.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.