Day: January 13, 2015

Guest Review: Pushing the Limit by Emmy Curtis

Posted January 13, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Pushing the Limit by Emmy CurtisReviewer: Tracy
Pushing the Limit by Emmy Curtis
Series: Alpha Ops #2
Also in this series: Dangerous Territory, Over the Line, Compromised, Pushing the Limit, Over the Line
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Format: eARC
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

 

After their one-night fling at a wedding, archaeologist Henrietta “Harry” Markowitz thought she’d never see war hero Matt Stanning again. So when they’re paired up to investigate a military plane crash in Iraq, she’s not sure if the three-month reunion is serendipitous or cursed. What she does know is this gorgeous man lights her body on fire—and incredible sex is always a welcome distraction.

Air Force Sergeant Matt Stanning has been called a hero, but he feels nothing like one when he realizes the sexy blonde in his bed is the widow of his fallen brother-in-arms. Even worse, he actually has to work with her, and she’s unearthed evidence that points to a military conspiracy. If they dig deeper, they’ll put their lives in danger. If they don’t, they’ll never know the truth—not only about the mysterious plane crash, but about each other.

Matt and Henrietta (aka Harry) met at their friends’ wedding and had a little naked sexy time in the garden in the rain. Neither one has been able to foget about that short but wonderful time in their lives.

Harry is an archaeologist who is working for a private company in Iraq. Matt Stanning shows up after Harry puts in a call about a piece of metal she found that might possibly belong to a downed military plane. From the minute that Matt shows up he and Harry cllick once again. They end up sleeping together – finally! – but that all turns a little nuts when Matt realizes that Harry is the widow of his best friend who died seven years earlier. Matt is mortified that he’s betrayed his best friend but Harry doesn’t see the issue. Yes, she loved her husband so very much and feels that she’ll never let anyone into her heart again, but she sees no problem in sleeping with Matt as it won’t mean a relationship.

While the two are dealing with the “sleeping” arrangements their lives are in danger. There is someone out there who wants whatever is below the surface at Harry’s dig site and will stop at nothing to get it.

This was another great story in the Alpha Ops series. So far I’ve really enjoyed reading about the different characters that we met in the previous book. I think that both the suspense part of the story as well as the romance was well done and blended nicely with each other.

The dig site and what’s underneath the sand in Iraq is a major part of the story but it provides a nice catalyst for bringing our two MC’s together. Both Harry and Matt had dealt with Danny’s death in their own way. Matt felt incredibly responsible for Danny’s death even though Danny was a man who worked with explosives and nothing Matt could have done would have saved Danny’s life. Despite that Matt had deeply mourned his friend for the past seven years and hasn’t moved on.

Harry knew that Danny had been her one true love and that she’d never love anyone the way she’d loved her husband. Knowing that, she had allowed herself the rare sexual partner but had always held herself apart from any true connection. When she met Matt she thought that they could just sleep together and have some fun but she soon realized that Matt meant more to her than even she thought possible. Each of them had to come to terms with their feelings about each other and I really liked how Curtis took us on their individual journey’s in dealing with their grief and recovery. I did want to slap Matt a time or two near the end of the book because he was acting like an ass but other than that I loved reading about the romance between these two characters.

The other parts of the book that dealt with the suspense portion were incredibly interesting. I found myself completely absorbed with the story which is always a good thing.

Overall the book was well done and I can’t wait for the next installment in the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reading Order:

 

four-stars


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Review: The Originals: The Rise by Julie Plec

Posted January 13, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

the originals
Rowena’s review of The Originals: The Rise (The Originals #1) by Julie Plec.

Family is power. The Original vampire family swore it to each other a thousand years ago. They pledged to remain together always and forever. But even when you’re immortal, promises are hard to keep.

Arriving in New Orleans in 1722, Original vampire siblings Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah Mikaelson believe they’ve escaped their dangerous past. But the city is lawless, a haven for witches and werewolves unwilling to share territory. The siblings are at their mercy…especially after Klaus meets the beautiful and mysterious Vivianne. Her impending marriage is key to ending the war between the supernatural factions—and Klaus’s attraction to her could destroy the uneasy alliance. As Elijah works toward securing a piece of the city for his family, and Rebekah fights her unexpected feelings for a French captain, will Klaus’s volatile desires bring their world crashing down—and tear them apart for good?

I’m not going to lie. I wanted to read this book because I’m a fan of the show. I love me some Klaus and Elijah and I’ve come to love Rebekah. I have followed the Mikaelson’s from Mystic Falls to New Orleans and I went into this book with high expectations. I ended up liking it but not nearly as much as I thought I would.

The first part of the book was really slow for me. It took me FOREVER to get through it but once the action picks up, the story got better. It’s a completely different experience reading about what is going through Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah’s mind instead of watching them on TV. I was glad that we got all three POV’s and not just one of them because this book was about all three of them.

Getting into their heads and seeing their thought processes made me really see who they were. They’re not all rainbows and sunshine all, well any time but they’re such interesting characters. Julie Plec did the unthinkable for me when she introduced Klaus on Vampire Diaries. She made me fall for the bad guy. Not just the bad boy but the villain. LOL.

In this book, Klaus is building an empire. Rebekah is falling for a French Captain and Elijah is trying to keep the peace so that he can build a home for his family. They’re each chasing something different and in true Mikaelson fashion, they’re doing it with a whole lot of dramatic flair.

I liked this book but I think that I liked this book as much as I did because I watch the show. The characters and the story lines are familiar to me. I don’t think that readers who don’t watch the show will enjoy this book as much as I did. I didn’t really get the sense that this book could be a stand-alone book. I don’t think that the characters will be fully understood or even liked if they don’t know who they are going into the books. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, this is an enjoyable book for fans of the TV series and I enjoyed getting into the heads of the Mikaelsons. I can’t readily recommend this to people who don’t know the Mikaelsons but again, for the fans? This is a treat.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This book is available from HQN Books. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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