Day: June 11, 2008

Book Watch: Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

Posted June 11, 2008 by Casee in Promotions | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance


Larissa Ione is half of the awesomeness that is Sydney Croft. On June 24th, the 1st book in her Demonica series will be released by Grand Central Publishing.
Here’s the summary:

In a place where ecstasy can cost you your life…

She’s a demon-slayer who hungers for sensual pleasure—but fears it will always be denied her. Until Tayla Mancuso lands in a hospital run by demons in disguise, and the head doctor, Eidolon, makes her body burn with unslakable desire. But to prove her ultimate loyalty to her peers, she must betray the surgeon who saved her life.

Two lovers will dare to risk all.

Eidolon cannot resist this fiery, dangerous woman who fills him with both rage and passion. Not only is she his avowed enemy, but she could very well be the hunter who has been preying upon his people. Torn between his need for the truth and his desire to find his perfect mate before a horrific transformation claims him forever, Eidolon will dare the unthinkable—and let Tayla possess him, body and soul…

Sounds good, no? Here’s an excerpt from her website. Be sure to check back tomorrow for an exclusive excerpt. Also, stay tuned for more information on Larissa visiting Book Binge. I’m sure there will be a copy of Pleasure Unbound for one or two lucky readers.

Had Eidolon been anywhere but the hospital, he would have killed the guy pleading for his life before him.

As it was, he’d have to save the bastard.

“Sometimes, being a doctor blows,” he muttered, and jabbed the demon in a human suit with a syringe full of hemoxacin.

The patient screamed as the needle passed through mangled thigh tissue, releasing blood sterilization medication into the wound.

“You didn’t numb him first?”

Eidolon snorted at his younger brother’s words. “The Haven spell keeps me from killing him. It doesn’t prevent me from dispensing a little justice during treatment.”

“Can’t escape your old job, huh?” Shade pushed aside the curtain separating two of the three ER cubicles, and stepped fully inside. “The son of a bitch eats babies. Let me wheel him outside and waste his sorry ass.”

“Wraith already offered.”

“Wraith offers to waste all the patients.”

Eidolon grunted. “Probably a good thing our little brother didn’t go the doctor route.”

“Neither did I.”

“You had different reasons.”

Shade hadn’t wanted to spend that much time in school, especially since his healing gift was better suited to his chosen field, paramedicine. He was all about scraping patients off the street and keeping them alive long enough for the Underworld General staff to fix them.

Blood dripped to the obsidian floor as Eidolon probed the patient’s most serious wound. A female Umber demon, the same species as Shade’s mother, had caught the patient sneaking into her nursery, and had somehow impaled him — several times — with a toilet brush.

Then again, Umber demons were remarkably strong for their petite size. The females were especially so. Eidolon had, on several occasions, enjoyed the application of that strength in bed. In fact, when he could no longer resist the final maturation cycle his body had entered, he planned to make an Umber female his first infadre. Umbers made good mothers, and only rarely did they kill the unwanted offspring of a Seminus demon.

Putting aside the thoughts that plagued him more frequently as The Change progressed, Eidolon glanced at the patient’s face. The skin that should have been a deep reddish-brown was now pale with pain and blood loss. “What’s your name?”

The patient groaned. “Derc.”

“Listen, Derc. I’m going to repair this unsightly hole, but it’s going to hurt. A lot. Try not to move. Or scream like a cowering little imp.”

“Give me something for the pain, you fucking parasite,” he snarled.

“Doctor parasite.” Eidolon nodded at the equipment tray, and Paige, one of their few human nurses, handed him clamps.

“Derc, buddy, did you eat any of the Umber’s young before she caught you?”

Hatred rolled off Shade’s body as Derc shook his head, sharp teeth bared, eyes glowing orange.

“Today isn’t your lucky day then. Didn’t get a meal, and you aren’t getting anything for the pain, either.”

Allowing himself a grim smile, Eidolon clamped the damaged artery in two places as Derc screamed vile curses and struggled against the restraints that held him on the metal table.

“Scalpel.”

Paige handed him the instrument, and he expertly sliced between the clamps. Shade crowded close, watching as he shaved away the shredded artery tissue and then held the newly clean ends together. A warm tingle wound its way down his right arm along his dermal markings to the tips of his gloved fingers, and the artery fused. The baby-eater would no longer have to worry about bleeding out. From the expression on Shade’s face, however, he would have to worry about surviving more than two steps outside the hospital.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d saved a life only to have it taken once the patient had been released.

“BP’s dropping.” Shade’s gaze focused on the bedside monitor. “Could be shock.”

“There’s another bleed somewhere. Bring up his blood pressure.”

Reluctantly, Shade placed his large palm over the bony ridges in Derc’s forehead. The numbers on the monitor dipped, raised, and then stabilized, but the change would be temporary. Shade’s powers couldn’t sustain life that wasn’t there, and if Eidolon couldn’t find the problem, nothing Shade did would make a difference.

A rapid assessment of the other wounds revealed nothing to explain the drop in vitals. Then, just below the patient’s twelfth rib, a fresh scar. Beneath the razor-straight mark, something bubbled.

“Shade.”

“Hell’s fires,” Shade breathed. His gaze snapped up as he raked his fingers through nearly black hair that, at shoulder-length, was longer than but identical in color to Eidolon’s. “It might be nothing. It might not be Ghouls.”

Ghouls. Not the cannibalistic monsters of human lore, but the term for those who carved up demons to sell their parts on the underworld black market.

Hoping his brother was right but not ripped from the womb yesterday, Eidolon pressed softly on the scar.

“Derc, what happened here?”

“Cut myself.”

“This is a surgical scar.”

UG was the only medical facility in the world that performed surgery on their kind, and Derc hadn’t been treated here before.

Eidolon caught the pungent stink of fear. “No. It was an accident.” Derc clenched his fists, his lidless eyes wild. “You must believe me.”

“Derc, calm down. Derc?”

Monitor alarms beeped, and the baby-eater convulsed.

“Paige, grab the crash cart. Shade, keep his vitals up.”

An eerie wail seemed to leak from every pore in Derc’s skin, and a stench like rotting bacon and baby powder filled the small space. Paige lost her lunch in the garbage can.

The heart monitor flatlined. Shade removed his hand from the patient’s forehead.

“I hate it when they do that.” Wondering what had frightened Derc so badly he’d felt the need to stop his own bodily functions, Eidolon opened the scar with a smooth slash of a scalpel, knowing what he’d find, but needing to see for sure.

Shade dug through his uniform shirt pocket and pulled out his ever-present pack of bubble gum. “What’s missing?”

“The Pan Tai sac. It processes digestive waste and returns it to the body so his species never has to urinate or defecate.”

“Handy,” Shade murmured. “What would someone want with it?”

Paige dabbed her mouth with a surgical sponge, her complexion still greenish, though the patient’s death stench had largely dissipated. “The contents are used in some voodoo curses that affect bowel movements.”

Shade shook his head and passed the nurse a stick of gum. “Is nothing sacred anymore?” He turned to Eidolon. “Why didn’t they kill him? They’ve killed the others.”

“He was worth more alive. His species can grow another organ in a matter of weeks.”

“Which they could harvest.” Shade let out a string of curses that included some Eidolon hadn’t heard in his hundred years of life. “It’s gotta be The Aegis. Sick bastards.”

Whoever the bastards were, they’d been busy. Medics had brought in twelve mutilated bodies over the last two weeks, and the violence had escalated. Some of the victims showed evidence of having been carved up while still alive — and awake.

Worse, demons as a whole could care less, and those who did wouldn’t cooperate with other species’ Councils in order to organize an investigation. Eidolon cared, not only because someone with medical knowledge was involved, but because it was only a matter of time before the butchers nabbed someone he knew.

“Paige, have the morgue fetch the body and let them know I want a copy of the autopsy report. I’m going to find out who these assholes are.”

Go here to read the rest.


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Anthology Review: Three Brides for Three Bad Boys by Lucy Monroe

Posted June 11, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Anthology Review: Three Brides for Three Bad Boys by Lucy MonroeReviewer: Holly
3 Brides For 3 Bad Boys by Lucy Monroe
Series: Mercenary/Goddard Project #2
Publisher: Brava
Publication Date: 2005
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 277
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Rand
After tragedy struck six years ago, Rand buried what was left of his heart. But Phoebe Garrison refuses to give up on him. When nothing else gets the brooding hunk to open up, she blackmails him, offering him the coveted deed to property his company needs--if he agrees to spend a week in her bed.

Colton
Waking up in Vegas next to a naked showgirl named Fayre after a red-hot night of passion puts a smile on Colton Denning's face--until he discovers that Fayre is his new wife. What can stable, workabolic Colton possibly say to this unpredictable force of nature, a woman who expects him to love, honor, and cherish the vows he took, drunk, in a Vegas chapel?

Carter
As marriage proposals go, Carter's offer to Daisy Jackson lacks romance: Marry me and I'll give you a half million dollars. Four years ago, Carter let Daisy go for her own sake. Now, he needs a wife to fulfill the requirements of his father's lucrative will, and this could be his chance to make amends with Daisy.

 

They’re not the marrying kind—more the Do NOT Take Home to Mom kind. But these three brothers are about to meet the tempting women who have what it takes to tame their inner bad boys…

Three Brides for Three Bad Boys is a collection of stories by Lucy Monroe about three brothers who share the same father but different mothers. Each was brought up in a different way, and they didn’t know about each other until they were grown. It was originally published in 2005 and re-issued February 1, 2008. I let my cousin borrow it ages ago (I had the original) and she just got it back to me, so I decided to do a quick re-read of it. I’m so glad I did. This is one of my favorite anthologies.

RAND: After tragedy struck six years ago, Rand buried what was left of his heart. But Phoebe Garrison isn’t giving up, and she’s got an enticing deal: the coveted deed to property his company needs in exchange for one hot week in her bed. It’s an offer even the brooding Rand can’t refuse. Now, as every hunger is explored, every secret revealed, Rand knows he’ll need more than one week to indulge his fantasies with this amazing woman…

This is my least favorite of the three stories. It was well written, but the characters didn’t grab me and the story didn’t pull me in. I really liked that in the end Phoebe realizes she needs to leave Rand and he begs her to stay, but otherwise this was just pretty blah all the way around for me. Not bad, but not great.

3.5 out of 5

COLTON: Waking up in Vegas next to a naked showgirl named Fayre after a scorching night of passion puts a smile on Colton Denning’s face-until he discovers she’s his new wife. How could the stable, workaholic Colton have married such an unpredictable force of nature, a woman as likely to throw pottery as a kiss? But when it comes to tender love-and erotic war-Colton’s discovering that all is Fayre…

This is by far my favorite of the three, I think because so much emotion is packed into such a short story. Colton is a wonderful character, well drawn and complete, full of humility and responsibility. I think the best part about it is that he decides he needs Fayre and doesn’t waver from that. Despite the fact that she shows up unexpectedly, claiming to be his wife and pregnant. Once he decided she was his, that was it.

Fayre was a great character, too, though I do think she gave in just a bit too quickly. Colton needed to pay a bit more for walking out on her and treating her like a one-night-stand, but overall I enjoyed her character.

4.5 out of 5

CARTER: As marriage proposals go, Carter’s offer to Daisy Jackson lacks romance: Marry me and I’ll give you a half-a-million dollars. To fulfill the requirements of his father’s lucrative will, he needs a wife, and Daisy needs the money. But after a wedding night of absolutely explosive sensuality, Carter wants more than an arrangement. He wants Daisy, to have, to hold, and everything else…

I really liked this story. Daisy is an adorable character and one that never failed to make me smile. She’s been in love with Carter forever, so she is absolutely delighted when he offers her half a million to marry him. Basically, in her mind anyway, he’s paying 500 grand to sleep with her. I love the way she relishes the thought and constantly rubs it in Carter’s face.

He hates that she says that, because 1) he doesn’t need to pay for sex and 2) he wants Daisy to feel secure once their marriage ends. It’s cute watching him try to convince her. This is just a cute, fun story.

4.0 out of 5

Overall grade:

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here.

four-stars


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Review: The Memory of Water by Karen White

Posted June 11, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: The Memory of Water by Karen WhiteReviewer: Holly
The Memory of Water by Karen White
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: March 4th 2008
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 336
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars

On the night their mother drowns, sisters Marnie and Diana Maitland discover there is more than one kind of death. There is the death of innocence, of love, and of hope. Each sister harbors a secret about that night-secrets that will erode their lives as they grow into adulthood.
After ten years of silence between the sisters, Marnie is called back to the South Carolina Lowcountry by Diana's ex-husband, Quinn. His young son has returned from a sailing trip with his emotionally unstable mother, and he is refusing to speak. In order to help the traumatized boy, Marnie must reopen old wounds and bring the darkest memories of their past to the surface. And she must confront Diana, before they all go under.

 

Sometimes I’m in the mood for something darker and emotionally engaging. The Memory of Water was exactly that. In it, White explores the bond between sisters, the various shades of mental illness and how secrets from the past come back to haunt you, no matter how far buried they seem to be.

The bond between sister’s was broken on a stormy night at sea 16-years-ago, and both feel the loss keenly. Diana resents Marnie for coming home as the prodigal daughter and gaining favor with both her ex-husband and her traumatized son. Marnie still struggles with feelings of inadequacy in the face of her perfect sister, and the feelings she still evokes, even after 16 years of separation. Quinn, Diane’s ex, wants to believe Diane is getting better after a manic episode caused her to take their son out sailing during a terrible storm. Gil, her son, has stopped speaking, knowing it’s a sin to lie, but unable to speak the truth of what happened that night on the water.

These four wounded souls come together in a powerful tale about love, loss and the power of secrets and lies to hold us forever in the past.

I truly enjoyed this story, though the unconventional telling of it sometimes caused some confusion. It’s written in the first person, but from four different POV’s. Unfortunately, Gil’s “voice” was the only distinct one, so while I was reading from Diane, Marnie or Quinn’s POV’s, I was often confused about who was doing and thinking what.

Each character was flawed and compelling in his/her own way and the story was thought provoking and engaging. The pacing lagged somewhat in the beginning, but it wasn’t long before I was emotionally invested in each of these characters. It didn’t take me long to figure out what their deep, dark secrets were, but it’s rare that I don’t figure it out and the mystery itself was less important than the personal struggles each character faced.

Overall an engaging novel with emotional depth, flawed, compelling characters and a wonderful setting among the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the dark, turbulent sea. I highly recommend it.

4.5 out of 5

This book is available from NAL Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

four-half-stars


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Review: Letters to a Secret Lover by Toni Blake

Posted June 11, 2008 by Casee in Reviews | 4 Comments

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins

Letters to a Secret Lover

The last thing she needs right now is a man . . .

Lindsey Brooks had it all—an awesome job doling out advice to the lovelorn, a fabulous high-rise apartment, and a to-die-for fiancé. But then she got dumped—wearing nothing but a “Kiss the Cook” apron—and desperate to escape, she retreats to a tiny Montana town to reclaim a family treasure. She never dreamed anyone would try to stop her—or that he’d be sexy as sin.

Too bad she finds such a hot one . . .

Rob Colter isn’t into relationships—but Lindsey sees Rob as the perfect guy to help her “get back on the horse.” The sex horse, that is. Unfortunately, he comes complete with a mysterious past, which gets even more mysterious when she finds his passionate letters to another woman—whose name happens to be tattooed on his chest.

And too bad he has so many secrets . . .

Now Rob’s dangerous past is about to catch up with them both. And if that’s not horrible enough, Lindsey is falling for him—hard. For a girl who usually has all the answers, Lindsey is up to her neck in trouble.

I’ve been a Toni Blake fan since I read In Your Wildest Dreams. After I read The Red Diary, I was hooked. Needless to say, when I started Letters to a Secret Lover, my expectations were high. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed. If anything, this book surpassed my expectations.

The Prologue hooked me, even though I didn’t think I’d like Lindsey much. She seemed like the sort of heroine that I love to hate. Materialistic and self-absorbed. That’s not too far off the mark, but we learn that there is much more to Lindsey than first meets the eye. After her finance dumped her in a way that turned out to be extremely public, Lindsey decided to go to Moose Falls, Montana to lick her wounds. Her goal was two-fold…get out of Chicago and the humiliation of her very public break-up and reacquaint herself with her aunt that has recently passed away. Basically Lindsey has decided to go soul searching and feels that she has to go to Moose Falls to do it.

Rob Colter is the type of hero that I love. Strong, sexy, and silent. Rob has found peace in Moose Falls and Lindsey threatens that peace the day she shows up at his canoe livery. Determined to buy back the livery that used to be her aunt Millie’s, Lindsey has no idea that Rob has found the home he’s always longed for. The last thing he’ll even consider doing is selling it to a city girl that didn’t want it when it was offered to her for free. Rob feels nothing but disgust for Millie’s niece, though it doesn’t take long for him to see there are more facets to Lindsey than he ever realized.

Soon the two are in a full-fledged affair. What started as a way to get back on the “sex horse” for Lindsey turns into much more when she starts to get to know the man that Rob keeps hidden. As for Rob he realizes that far from the selfish city girl he once thought her, Lindsey cares far more than he ever thought. Rob has a secret, though, one that could threaten his life in Moose Falls. He has to decide whether to trust Lindsey and let their relationship go past the affair it started as or continue on as they have with neither knowing what the next day will bring.

I just love how Toni Blake writes her relationships. That she could make the love between these two unlikely people work is a testament to her writing. I was hooked from page one. I could barely put the book down. I can hardly wait to see what Blake comes out with next. Don’t miss this emotional roller coaster. You won’t regret picking it up.

4.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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