Tag: Dell

Throwback Thursday Review: Too Hot To Hold by Stephanie Tyler

Posted February 6, 2020 by Casee in Reviews | 0 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Too Hot To Hold by Stephanie TylerReviewer: Casee
Too Hot to Hold by Stephanie Tyler
Series: Hold Trilogy #2
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: January 5, 2010
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

HE'S AN ELITE NAVY SEAL LIVING A RISKY DOUBLE LIFE.
SHE'S THE GORGEOUS REPORTER HOT ON HIS TRAIL.

Nick Devane's life is one big classified secret. Until Kaylee Smith busts his covert world wide open, threatening to blow his cover. Digging around where she doesn't belong could get them both killed...especially when the beautiful journalist uncovers top secret information that could set off a global disaster if it falls into the wrong hands. Nick can't let that happen, even if he has to battle deadly mercenaries and an irresistible attraction that is all consuming....

Kaylee didn't expect her search for her missing ex-husband to lead to this sexy and dangerous warrior. Now she's teamed up with Nick on a mission that takes them into deepest Africa--and into the middle of a massive government cover-up. With rogue agents hot on their trail, Kaylee's going to unearth all Nick's secrets. Before they both vanish without a trace. Before the passion burning between them sets off an explosion no one may survive...

*** Every Thursday, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books. Enjoy! ***

This review was originally posted on February 1, 2010.

I really like Stephanie Tyler’s writing style. She writes characters that make you care for them. While I didn’t like how Hard to Hold (book one) of the series ended, I liked it enough that I picked this book up when it came out. That being said, this book was my least favorite of the three. When I read Hard to Hold, I liked it right up until the last page. This one, I just didn’t get. It wasn’t the journalist heroine either. I don’t like them in general, but that wasn’t my problem.

Nick has a secret that he’s been keeping since he left his wealthy family at the age of fourteen. Since then, he has carefully cultivated his life around his identity of Nick Devane. There are three people that know he is one of the elite Winfiends and they are the only three that will ever know. Because of that, Nick doesn’t think that he can have a relationship.

Kaylee Smith goes to Nick when his name turns up on a list that her ex-husband left her after he died. Kaylee’s journalist instincts are screaming at her that something isn’t right. Nick confirms that when he tells Kaylee of the few minutes that he knew Aaron and how he saved Nick’s life.

Nick is a one night stand type of guy, but after he meets Kaylee he can’t stay away from her. Something about her quiets the demons that he carries inside. He can almost be himself around her, something that is rare in his life. When Kaylee starts getting involved in things she shouldn’t, Nick is there to help her figure out what to do next.

The reason that I didn’t have a problem with Kaylee is that she wasn’t a reporter willing to get a story at any cost. She finds out what Nick’s secret is and she doesn’t even consider reporting what she knows.

4 out of 5

Hold Trilogy

four-stars


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Throwback Thursday Review: Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

Posted August 2, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie MoningReviewer: Rowena
Spell of the Highlander (Highlanders #7) by Karen Marie Moning
Series: Highlanders series #7
Also in this series: An English Bride In Scotland, An English Bride In Scotland (Highlanders, #1), An English Bride In Scotland (Highlanders, #1), Surrender to the Highlander, The Highlander's Promise (Highlanders Series #6)
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: August 28th 2007
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 394
Add It: Goodreads
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five-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

It's taken him eleven centuries to find the right woman. He's not about to lose her now.

Jessi St. James has GOT to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering INSATIABLE alpha male.

Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass eleven centuries ago. And when the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it. For Jessi, the sex god in the mirror is not only tantalisingly real, he's offering his protection—from exactly what, Jessi doesn't know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed....

Every Thursday, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books. Enjoy!

Rowena: Holy cow, this reviews brings back memories of how freaking obsessed Holly and I used to be over these sexy Highlanders. Oh, Cian and his mirror, LOL!

This review was originally posted on August 1, 2007.

I’m in a slump, y’all.

Nothing that I’ve picked up has been able to catch and keep my attention for longer than fifteen minutes and it really sucks but, I did pick this book up last week and was sifting through it, hoping that this book would bring me out of my reading funk.

A Karen Marie Moning is a good choice to kick off a reading slump because I was instantly wrapped right up in Cian and Jessi’s world. I was loving the whole mirror business and the whole paranormal aspect of the story, the magic, the good versus evil business and really, the biggest thing for me was the Dageus MacKeltar business.

I was all over that mug in this book, again.

This whole book was really good for me, from the total alphaness of Cian and his “voice” that works on EVERYONE but Jessi, I loved the whole getting to Scotland thing and just the bond that formed between Cian and Jessi. This book seriously had it all, sexy heroes, steamy plotline and out of this world characters that just heated up page after delicious page.

The scene where Dageus takes off with the mirror and Cian is ripping into him because he left Jessi vulnerable and just that whole scene was one great big AWWWWWW scene for me because you could see just how stubborn Cian was and you could tell how much Jessi had come to mean to him and it was just a fantabulous scene.

This whole book was one great big roller coaster for me, it had it’s high moments where I was rootin’ Jessi and Cian on and it had it’s moments where I wanted to kick someone because the evil dudes were just so evil but I love the world that KMM has created with the MacKeltar men and I just love the way KMM tells her stories, with lots of feeling, character development and just every damn thing about everything.

By the end of the book, I felt like I knew Cian and Jessi and I was just so hot damn happy they got their happy ending and I was hella loving all the Dageus and Drustan in this book too, gosh I love those twins. And that ending is something else, man I just effing love stuff like this.

This book gets a great big A for me because it was the hot damn bomb diggity with a cherry on top! Read it if you haven’t but first read the others, I skipped all the other books because this one was calling me…

Grade: 5 out of 5

Highlanders

five-stars


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Retro Review: Hunting the Demon by Jaci Burton

Posted May 17, 2017 by Casee in Reviews | 5 Comments

Retro Review: Hunting the Demon by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Casee
Hunting the Demon (Demon Hunters, #2) by Jaci Burton
Series: Demon Hunters #2
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: August 28th 2007
Pages: 448
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

In a world seething with sin and seduction, the chase is on.
Hunting demons for a living can have its moments. Especially when Shay Pearson’s latest quarry is the gorgeous bronze surfer who just stepped out of the sea. Uncovering Nic Diavolo’s devilish side could prove Shay’s toughest assignment yet. Because while she’s acting as bait to snatch this sexy bad boy, Nic’s got a plan of seduction no woman—earthly or otherwise—can resist.
Caught between two warring realms, Nic needs to stay alive long enough to figure out who his enemies are. That includes the beautiful hunter who won’t let him out of her sight. And something far worse: a force of evil with an almost unimaginable goal— possessing Nic’s very soul. But the hunt really heats up when a guy who’s hotter than Hades and a woman who’s afraid of love join forces, igniting an inferno of lust and longing that could send them into mortal danger...or straight into each other’s arms.…

******As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.

 

This review was originally published September 26, 2007

This book was blah for me. Not bad, but not great. That makes it really hard to do a review. When I review a book, I really like to feel passionate about at least one thing in the book, be it good or bad. In Hunting the Demon, well, I’ve got nothing.

This is the 2nd book in Burton’s Demon Hunter series. The 1st book, Surviving Demon Island, set up an interesting world of good vs. evil. On the good side, you have the Realm of Light. Charged with protecting the human race, the Realm of Light has an awesome responsibility. Due to the fact that many people would never believe that demons exist, they have kind of a hard time recruiting demon fighters. On the bad side, you have the Sons of Darkness. These are some bad mother-f-ers. See, there are only certain women that can actually have demon children. The Sons of Darkness don’t really care if these women already have families and children of their own. They just kidnap them.

Shay Pearson’s mom was kidnapped when she was a child. At 6 years old, she had a vision where these really scary monsters took her mom. Knowing that no adult would believe her, Shay kept quiet. So when her mom disappeared from a business trip, Shay knew exactly what happened. Thus she started carrying that burden on her 6 y/o back.

Now Shay is a kick ass demon-fighting machine. Brought in by the Realm of Light to fight demons, Shay finally learned that she wasn’t the only child that lost her mother. After killing a Demon Lord on Demon Island, the team now has to find out if the Lord’s son (and brother to the hero of Surviving Demon Island) is a demon himself.

Heading the Australia, Shay volunteered to some recon work on Nic Diavolo. She did keep a few things to herself about why she was so willing check out the potential demon. Like the fact that she’s been having visions of the man, whom she has never met before. Charged with the task of discovering whether or not Nic is an evil demon like his evil demon father, Shay does what any self-respecting woman would do. She strips down to her bikini and introduces herself to Nic on the beach. Of course Nic can’t help but be attracted to Shay, especially since she doesn’t seem to want anything from him (as if). As the sole heir to Diavolo Diamonds, Nic has seen his share of gold-diggers.

After a fun filled afternoon of surfing, eating, and making out, Nic is a little uneasy about the feelings that Shay invokes him him. Because of these bizarre nightmares he’s been having where he turns into some sort of evil creature, Nic is hesitant to get involved with Shay. Shay can tell that Nic is pulling away and has no choice but to bring him in. Obviously Nic is more than a tad angry that Shay has used him. He’s especially angry when this group of strangers try to convince him that not only is his father dead, but he was also a demon. He refuses to believe that he has any demon blood running in his veins or that Derek is his brother. He explains his dreams away as coincidence. Mmmm-hmm.

Kidnapping Nic and taking him to the Diavolo Diamond mine probably isn’t the most intelligent idea, but the team has no other choice. They have to find this Black Diamond which is presumably somewhere in the mine before the demons get a hold of it. If they happen to get it before the Realm of Light can get it, the world is basically going to hell. There will be no stopping it. Unfortunately for Shay, Nic seems to be smack in the middle of it. If her visions are right, Nic will turn evil demon and join forces with the bad guys.

After a few escape attempts, Nic finally realizes that Shay and her fellow fighters are telling him the truth. Of course seeing a demon in the flesh really helped him come to that conclusion. Again, though these demons bear a remarkable resemblance to those in his dreams, he still puts it down to coincidence. I call it denial. Nic refuses to believe that he will turn evil, which is what he thinks his dreams are telling him.

Eventually there is a showdown with the good guys, the bad guys, and the Black Diamond. We also learn that there is actually a Queen of Darkness who is supposed to join evil forces with Nic. The Sons of Darkness think they have her…the archeologist that was hired to find the Black Diamond (having no idea demons existed). What they soon realize is that she’s not the one, but they can’t figure out how they were wrong. Angelique knows that it’s her twin sister Isabella that they’re looking for. So when everyone is distracted, Angelique takes the diamond and runs. This sets the stage for the 3rd book, out in Summer 2008.

It took me 5 days to read this book. That’s pretty unheard of for me. So while I didn’t dislike this book, I just wasn’t in to it. Like I said above…blah.

3 out of 5.

three-stars


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Review: The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

Posted January 8, 2013 by Holly in Reviews | 5 Comments

Review: The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie MoningReviewer: Holly
The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
Series: Highlander #5
Also in this series: Spell of the Highlander

Publication Date: October 1st 2002
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Journey to a world of ancient magic, breathtaking sensuality, thrilling time-travel.... Journey to the world of The Dark Highlander. Crisscrossing the continents and the centuries, here is a novel as gripping as it is sensual—an electrifying adventure that will leave you breathless....
I am Dageus MacKeltar, a man with one good conscience and thirteen bad ones, driven to sate my darkest desires…
From his penthouse lair high above Manhattan, Dageus looks out over a glittering city that calls to the darkness within him. A sixteenth-century Scot trapped between worlds, he is fighting a losing battle with the thirteen Druids who possess his soul, dooming him to an eternity of sexual pursuit. When Chloe Zanders, student of antiquities, is drawn into his world, she finds the insatiable alpha male an irresistible lure.Before long, she is caught up in an ancient prophecy that will sweep her back into time to medieval Scotland. Plunged into a world of timeless magic and dark seduction, she will soon face the challenge of a lifetime: fighting thirteen evil spirits for the heart of one irresistible man....
From the Paperback edition.

I remember loving The Dark Highlander back in the day. Dageus was my favorite character of the series. Rowena and I used to fight over him all the time. It’s been many years since I read this and I’m sorry to say I didn’t love it as much this time around.

Dageus MacKeltar is filled with the spirits of 13 powerful and evil Druids. He used his power for his own purposes when he went back in time to save his twin brother, and the Druids are the consequences. He’s barely holding on to his sanity and his humanity. His hope is to find a cure in some old texts. Unfortunately  he hasn’t been able to acquire all the texts legally.

Chloe is charged with bringing him some texts he’s borrowing from the museum she works at, and finds the ones he stole. He ends up kidnapping her and holding her hostage while he finished his work in New York. After, she agrees to stay with him to help him find the cure he needs.

The story here is well done and kept me interested. I couldn’t wait to see how Dageus would be saved ( I’d forgotten the details) and I loved the parts from his POV. Especially his interactions with his family.

What didn’t work for me this time around was Chloe. She acted like a brainless twit for most of the book. She constantly put herself in danger, rarely thought before she acted and was, in general, a total peahen. I don’t remember hating her this much before, but I admit when I thought about this book at all it was Dageus that came to mind, so I guess that says something.

I’m sad that my fond memories are somewhat marred by the heroine, but I’m glad to know Dageus is still worth reading about.

3.5 out of 5

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

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: As You Desire by Connie Brockway

Posted December 29, 2011 by Ames in Reviews | 1 Comment

Ames’ review of As You Desire by Connie Brockway.

He galloped across the midnight-shrouded landscape, racing toward her on his pure white steed. Her destiny…In her wildest fantasies Desdemona Carlisle could not have conjured a more dashing savior, and this was real. But an unlikelier hero was hard to find. Harry Braxton was a rouge, a scoundrel, and a born opportunist who had already broken her heart once. How could she ever trust a notorious rake who came with a warning: lover, beware…

With her bronze-gold hair and quicksilver grace, the sloe-eyed beauty was every man’s desire and one man’s sole passion. But the secret that had made Harry an exile also made it impossible for him to offer Desdemona more that friendship. Until his aristocratic cousin laid siege to Desdemona’s heart and Harry, damning the consequences, vowed to do anything, give anything, to claim her for him own…

I received a copy of The Other Guy’s Bride for review and I figured I’d read the book it’s connected to first.

Desdemona is an expert on ancient spoken languages. Growing up, her academically inclined parents dragged her around to different conferences. So Desdemona did not have a typical childhood. When she was 15, her parents died in an accident and she was sent to her only living relative, her grandfather, who was in Egypt. Dizzy’s grandfather is kind of living in exile in Egypt, where he collects ancient Egyptian artifacts. Dizzy takes on translation jobs to help make ends meet for them. Dizzy is quite comfortable in Egypt but her dream was always to return to England and marry and live in a small quaint house with green hills all around – the exact opposite of what she’s got in Egypt.

Harry is Desdemona’s rascal friend who broke her heart when she was younger (he rejected her). But that was quite a few years ago and they’re friends now. Except Harry loves Desdemona. But he believes he’s no good for her because he has dyslexia (although it wasn’t called that back then) and he would hate to see pity in eyes if she ever found out he couldn’t read.

When Harry’s cousin, a nobleman, comes to Egypt to see him, Desdemona takes one look at him and thinks about all the heroes from her romances. He is equally entranced by what he sees as an English rose in the middle of the desert. Harry hates it but figures his cousin can make Dizzy happy by taking her back to England. Except as Dizzy and his cousin get to know each other more, Harry comes to realize that there’s no way he’s going to let her go.

*sigh* I thought this book was so quirky and cute. First of all, the cast of characters are great. Dizzy and her grandfather, Harry who is not always worried about providence of his artifacts and is quite the rascal, Dizzy’s servants, and the other expats that make up their society in Egypt. With such a setting as Egypt, the characters aren’t as restrained and hewn in by societal standards. Something that becomes apparent when Harry’s cousin joins their ranks.

At the center of this story though is Harry and Dizzy. And let me tell you, I loved these two characters, especially together. Everyone knows Harry wants Dizzy, but she’s so blind because of what happened between them before. So he’s been relegated to friendship status and that’s where he is. But Harry teases her and accepts her for who she is – and since her grandfather raised her, she’s not exactly a shining example of the perfect Englishwoman. LOL She’s independent, smart and someone others go to to get things done.

Throw in my love of archaeology and ancient Egypt and I was just tickled by this book. I read that you don’t have to read this book to enjoy The Other Guy’s Bride and that’s probably true, but I recommend you read this one for pure enjoyment alone.

4.25 out of 5.

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


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