Avonna

Book Review: A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

Paul Cleave is now on my MUST READ list and I feel he should be on every fan of thrillers book shelves, too!

I read “Trust No One” and loved it, so I was very happy to get this ARC of his new book. Now I can add A KILLER HARVEST to this year’s list of my favorite books. I am in love with this author’s writing, plotting and pacing. When you think you are at the climax or you have everything figured out Mr. Cleave continually throws another plot twist, big or small, into the mix which makes you even more anxious and desperate to continue reading.

Joshua Logan believes he is cursed. He was born blind and lost his biological parents at a young age. He was taken in by his uncle and aunt, who he now calls mom and dad, but he can never take his happiness for granted.

While investigating a suspect believed to be a serial killer, Joshua’s detective father is killed. His partner kills the killer, but the curse has struck again. Joshua’s dad left a specific request in his will. If he was ever killed, his eyes would go to Joshua for a transplant and a chance at sight. As the donated eyes are transported to Joshua’s operating room, there is a mishap and Joshua receives one of his father’s eyes and one of the serial killer’s eyes which were also taken for donation.

After the surgery, Joshua begins to have strange and disturbing dreams. Sometimes he feels like he is seeing his father’s death from his father’s perspective and sometimes from the killer’s. He is also able to identify people that he has never seen before. As Joshua tries to deal with all the changes in his life, the serial killer’s accomplice is out to avenge his friend’s death. Joshua and all those close to him are in danger.

You may believe that you know how this will end from the brief summary above and past thriller plots, but in the hands of this author, you are so wrong! I could not stop thinking about this book when I had to put it down and could not wait to get back to it. Mr. Cleave knows how to masterfully take the reader on a journey that makes the unbelievable possible. I definitely need to start working my way through this author’s past catalogue. I highly recommend this book to all and especially those who love older Dean Koontz and Stephen King works that take a normal situation and twist it.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure!

Book Review: When Darkness Whispers by Lisa Carlisle

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WHEN DARKNESS WHISPERS by Lisa Carlisle is a mix of military romantic suspense, paranormal/urban fantasy and serial killer thriller all woven together to make an AMAZING book!

Eva Montreaux is a biologically enhanced Marine. She leads the NEO (Night Eagle Operations) team 17 sent to Okinawa to investigate who or what is brutally murdering American servicemen. With the increased tensions between the American military and the Japanese it is essential to solve and stop these killings as soon as possible. As she works with her special team, she runs into military colleagues from her time in Afghanistan, but her enhancements have made that portion of her memory incomplete until she sees Gunny Delacruz.

Gunnery Sergeant Marcos Delacruz has had three years since Eva left Afghanistan to come to terms with promises not kept. When he runs into Eva on Okinawa, he cannot believe she shows no emotion at seeing him again. The past will have to be dealt with, but right now he is on a mission. With his special ability to communicate with spirits, his superiors hope he can solve the serial murders. What he does not expect is to continually cross paths with Eva during the investigation.

Eva and Marcos both have secrets that cannot be revealed to others in regards to their missions. They also have misunderstandings that are tied to their pasts in Afghanistan. As Eva struggles to remember Marcos and their shared past, they both have to find a serial killer that does not appear to be human.

I loved this whole book. Eva and Marcos are great main characters that are fully fleshed with flashbacks that in no way confuse or interfere with the main plot. Trust is a huge issue for them in the past and present that has to be resolved for them to work together. Their romance is written past and present and grows throughout the story. There is great sexual tension as well as tender yet hot sex scenes. I also really enjoyed the last chapter of this book which is unique.

Ms. Carlisle has delivered a well written military romantic suspense with paranormal characters. She has then intertwined the whole story with Japanese folk lore that adds to the uniqueness of the story. This is a book that I highly recommend!

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Clone Me a Lover by Rosalie Redd

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

CLONE ME A LOVER (An Interstellar Lovers Novella) by Rosalie Redd is an enjoyable and quick sci-fi romance novella and a possible start to a new series.

Angelo Thirteen is a human clone from future Earth who desires to fall in love. All emotions have been banned on Earth, but Angelo Thirteen is good at hiding his so he will not be sent for reprogramming. When the spaceship he is piloting is hit by space junk, the pods disengage and his pod is sent tumbling into deep space. Before he passes out, all he regrets is that his chance to escape Earth and live a free life with emotions is over.

Elle is an Altonian spaceship captain on a mission. She must sell her payload to get the money to free her brother from a future in her home world’s prison mines and pay off her beloved ship. When she rescued the pod from space, she was not expecting to find a sexy life form on board. She has to keep to her goal, but this human clone keeps surprising her with his gentleness and kindness which is breaking down the hardened wall around her heart.

For the short length and the introduction of new world-building, this is a well written sci-fi romance. The sex scene was hot and sexy and well placed in the story. Both Angelo and Elle are well portrayed and realistically change and grow together in this short romance plot. My only problem with this story was the harsh transition between Chapters 2 and 3. It pulled me out of the story and had me checking back if I missed something.

Other than that one point in the story, it flows very well and had me anxiously waiting for how this author would give me my HEA. I was not disappointed and will be looking for more books in this series in the future.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

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Book Review: The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

I was a huge fan of B.A. Paris’ “Behind Closed Doors” and was anxious to read her next release.

THE BREAKDOWN was a letdown for me. I did finish reading it and was pleasantly surprised by a tiny plot twist in the ending, but the main character’s overall responses and reactions to what was happening to her were repetitive and wore very thin by halfway through the book. I believe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a tighter plot and novella length.

The story is told by Cass, who returns home on stormy night via a road through the woods. She almost wrecks avoiding a car pulled to the side. She stops, but when the driver doesn’t come to her car, she continues home and forgets about it. She is later horrified to realize the woman in the car was a new friend that was murdered sometime later that night in her car. She is wracked with guilt and tells no one, not her husband or best friend, who worked with the murdered woman.

The reader also learns that Cass has been forgetting small things and is worried that she may be experiencing early onset dementia like her mother. This makes Cass a possible unreliable narrator. As she becomes more afraid and paranoid some of her reactions are just not believable. This is when I would have liked less Cass and fewer pages.

I finished to see if my assumptions were correct and they were. There are not that many characters in the story, so it is not hard to figure out, especially if you read a lot of this type of book. As stated earlier, there is a small plot twist at the end that did surprise me, but there is a lot of emotional drama to get through for the surprise. This was just an average thriller for me.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Viktor by Sarah Marsh

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

Unique! Entertaining! Snarky! Smokin’ hot sex scenes! Fairy Godmothers, vampires, shifters and everything in between. This is a paranormal world with a fairy tale twist that I can’t wait to get more of!

VIKTOR (Happy Evil After Book 1) by Sarah Marsh is a novella beginning to a new series that I devoured! This author has a unique voice and easy to follow world-building in this paranormal romance series that keeps you turning the pages.

The character that will connect all the books in this series is Pandora “Dori”, who is a dark Fairy Godmother. She has never fit in with the rest of the Godmothers. She comes to realize that like herself, different doesn’t necessarily mean always and forever bad. She decides to help others deemed ‘not worthy’ of a happy ending to find one with her black matchmaking mastermind notebook.

Viktor likes his scary boogeyman reputation. It keeps others away and leaves him to do what he likes. He has almost completed his revenge on the vampire coven that turned him. Only one remains, Conrad Daire, who is now head of the North American coven. Few realize what lies behind his façade, but Viktor knows him for the psychopath he truly is. As Victor enjoys a drink at The Pit, in pops Dori to tell Viktor how he can ruin Conrad’s happily ever after.

Halle Briggs is a beautiful leopard shifter. She is the beloved daughter of the head of the leopard pard and has become the prize that Conrad wants for saving her father’s life years ago. Halle has spirit and hates Conrad, but sees no way out until a certain dark Fairy Godmother pops in to tell her that she will be rescued, but she needs to do everything in her power to make sure she stays with Viktor. She will have to fight for her happily ever after and her mate.

This novella contains so much and yet is extremely well paced and never seems rushed or missing information. The sex scenes are explicit and sizzling, but I did not feel they were gratuitous. I just fell into this new world and was very sorry to see the end. I will definitely be following this series into the future and hope it continues to make me cheer for the unlikely H/h’s and laugh out loud at Dori’s matchmaking and snarky attitude.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Tempted By the Gargoyle by Lisa Carlisle

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

TEMPTED BY THE GARGOYLE (Boston Stone Sentries, #1) by Lisa Carlisle is the action packed, sexy hot novella length introduction to the paranormal world of gargoyle shifters that protect the human world. If the rest of the series is as well written and imaginative; this is going to be the “new” paranormal series to follow.

Larissa Riley is a Boston police officer who is still trying to deal with being present at the Boston Marathon bombing. Her emotional problems broke up her last relationship and her best friend is still going to rehab for her leg injuries. Larissa knew that day something big was going to happen because she had been having premonitions since she was young, but she fights them so the premonitions were never clear or focused. She has always been different.

Now, she is having that same overwhelming feeling of dread on the night of the red Supermoon. Janie wants to go out dancing after spending so much time in rehab and the Supermoon is supposed to allow you to find your soulmate. Larissa can’t say no and the two set out for the new gothic themed bar downtown. Larissa feels a gorgeous stranger watching her from across the bar and goes to confront him.

Roman has a bad feeling about this night and since he is the commander of the Boston Stone Sentries, he has all of his gargoyle shifters out on patrol. Black magic sweeps past Roman and goes straight to Larissa. Roman tries to figure out what is different about the beautiful woman and if she is a threat or being threatened.

Larissa and Roman soon find the city under attack from demons. Larissa is confronted with other beings and has to decide quickly who she can trust while also learning that she is more than human. Roman begins to realize that Larissa is his life mate and knows he has to keep her safe and in his life as they fight to defeat the demon invasion.

These two have explosive chemistry as they burn up the sheets! Hot sex scenes that are well written abound in this novella. Lisa Carlisle’s world-building has fully fleshed believable paranormal characters. I had two small problems with the ending. It seemed to happen abruptly and there are a few questions not answered, but it is the start of a series so I can let that go this time. I cannot wait to get the next book in this new world!

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.