Month: February 2018

Joint Review: Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Posted February 28, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Joint Review: Sweep in Peace by Ilona AndrewsReviewer: Holly & Rowena
Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2) by Ilona Andrews
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #2
Also in this series: Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1), Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1), One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #3), Clean Sweep, Sweep of the Blade , Sweep with Me

Publication Date: November 13th 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 237
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Dina DeMille doesn’t run your typical Bed and Breakfast. Her inn defies laws of physics, her fluffy dog is secretly a monster, and the only paying guest is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. But the inn needs guests to thrive, and guests have been scarce, so when an Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door and asks her to host a peace summit between three warring species, she jumps on the chance.

Unfortunately, for Dina, keeping the peace between Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. On top of keeping her guests from murdering each other, she must find a chef, remodel the inn...and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's work for an Innkeeper…

Dina Demille runs an intergalactic B&B, an Inn, that caters to more difficult guests. When the Inn was built it sat at a busy crossroads, but since the new highway was built it’s fallen off the map, so to speak, and guests are few and far between. Since the Inn needs guests to survive, Dina agrees to host a Peace Treaty between 3 very dangerous species. She knows it’s risky, but desperate times and all that. Only she didn’t predict just how terribly wrong things would go.

Holly: I seriously love that you’re reading this series. I’m giving myself a pat on the back for forcing you to read outside your comfort zone. Were you happy to be back visiting Dina in her Inn?

Rowena: This is a good series. I’m not all that into paranormals or urban fantasy, not like you are anyway, but I’m glad you’re making me read these books. I’m really enjoying them. I was really happy being back in this world, but I really missed Sean, at least in the beginning. Holy cow, Dina really does get the difficult guest, right?

Holly: She really does. I love how calm she is under pressure. Vampires and the Hope-Crushing Horde about to rip each other’s faces off? No big deal. Let’s all have some tea. I definitely missed Sean in this book, too, but Dina is a fantastic heroine. I was totally wrapped up in her struggles to get everything ready for the summit.

Rowena: Yessss! She is a really good innkeeper, too. She genuinely cares about people and she takes her job very seriously. I admire the hell out of her for doing her job, even when it’s hard and still doing what she feels is right for her Inn, for her guests and for the people she cares about.

Holly: I do think the story was kind of slow in the middle. I liked this book a lot, but it isn’t my favorite. One Fell Sweep, book 3, is.

Rowena: I didn’t think the story was slow, maybe because this was all new to me? I’m not sure. I just know that as soon as I finished it, I wanted to read the next book pronto so I did.

There was a lot going on in this book and I thought that Andrews did a great job of bringing all of those individual stories together and still giving us romance fans that little, tiny romance that I was itching for from the beginning. I enjoyed this book so much that I couldn’t wait to start the next book…and I did.

Holly: Let’s talk about the individual characters for a minute. What did you think of Orro, the disgraced Red Cleaver Chef Dina hired? Did you adore him like I did?

Rowena: Of course, I did. I loved how ornery and dramatic he was, but I also loved that he took care of Dina and was able to find himself a home at Gertrude Hunt. I’m not going to lie, I was low key hungry after reading every scene he was in….I also wanted to be a guest at the summit so that I can eat the food he prepared. Everything sounded so delicious.

Holly: What about the Arbitrator, George, and his companions, Jack, Gaston and Sophie (for those who are familiar with Andrews’ other works, they’re crossover characters from the The Edge series)? George made me so angry, but in the end I couldn’t hate him.

Rowena: As for George, I was just as mad at him as Dina was at first but in the end, I really liked him and am curious about his story. He makes the hard decisions that nobody wants to make and he really took a lot on himself, as well. That can’t be an easy life to live and yet, he does it. Throw in the drama between him and Sophie, it made my heart go even softer on him.

Holly: Yep, that’s how I felt about George, too. I knew him from the other series, but even so..he made me so angry! In the end, I couldn’t help but love him. I actually liked Jack a lot more than George after reading The Edge series. But here George was the star. I hope we see more from him and his crew later.

Holly: I loved it when Jack sprayed Officer Marais. I almost died laughing.

Rowena: Jack, Gaston and Sophie were good characters but I wasn’t as invested in them as I was George, Arland and that thing that came in and killed those vampires. What was he called again?

Holly: Turan Adin, the Merchants ace. His story broke my heart. I loved him.

Rowena: Also??? Turan Adin, I knew exactly who he was not long after he came onto the scene. The minute he said, “Thank you” all soft like to Dina after she apologized for not protecting him as she should have, I was like, there he is. He’s home…and then I squeed like a little schoolgirl with a crush.

Holly: I knew right away who he really was, too, but Dina’s moment of discovery was so awesome. I loved her reaction and how determined she was to save him.

Rowena: My favorite quote from the entire book was, “Nothing I regret. You’re alive. That makes me happy.” Excuse me while I swoon.

Holly: Oh, how I melted when he said that. My heart got all happy when Dina was like “Oh hell no, you can’t have him”. Sigh.

Rowena: Dude, what about the lengths Dina went to save the Turan Adin??? Talk about heady stuff. I’m so here for that.

Holly: I love how nuanced these characters are. Like Nuan Cee, the head Merchant. I wanted to hate him for refusing to let Turan Adin go, but I couldn’t. His reason for needing Turan Adin was such a good one.

Rowena: Yesss!! I liked that about everyone in the book. They were all driven by something that wasn’t greed (well except for that one house but Turan Adin took care of them real quick like), reasons that were understandable. It would have been so easy to just make them all greedy bastards but I liked how fleshed out each house and each character in this book is.

I’m really coming to love these characters and the world that Ilona Andrews has built for Dina. I love the drawings that are included and all of the drama that comes Dina’s way when she accepts new guests. I felt every emotion that Dina (I was pissed at the damn vampires for coming in the front, I was exasperated with Officer Marais for making things harder for Dina to conduct business and I was nosy as all get out to find out everyone’s stories) felt and that scene where Dina makes them all feel what each other was feeling?? That was pretty awesome. There wasn’t much that I didn’t enjoy about this book. The characters, the stories, the setting, it all worked for me. Great book pimp!

Holly: I love this whole series. Dina is wonderful, so is Gertrude Hunt and all who inhabit or visit. I’m so glad you loved it (is now a good time to say I Told You So?). I’m going to give it a 4.5 out of 5. You?

Rowena: I’m really loving the hell out of these books. I love Dina. I love Sean. Hell, I even love Arland and Gertrude Hunt is the bomb too. I really like that the Inn is a character itself. So much goodness in this book, I give it 4.5 out of 5 too.

Final Grades

Holly: 4.5 out of 5
Rowena: 4.5 out of 5

Innkeeper Chronicles

four-half-stars

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Guest Review: At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec

Posted February 28, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 9 Comments

Guest Review: At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara SivecReviewer: Tracy
At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec
Series: Naughty Princess Club #1
Also in this series: In Bed with the Beast, Kiss the Girl
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: February 27th 2018
Format: eARC
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Once upon a time Cynthia was the perfect housewife. Between being the President of the PTA and keeping her home spotless without a hair (or her pearls) out of place, her life was a dream come true. Her husband was once her knight in shining armor, but now he’s run off with all their money…and the babysitter.

Dressed as a princess at the annual Halloween block party on Fairytale Lane, she meets two other “princesses” also facing money troubles: antique store owner Ariel and librarian Isabelle. When the women are invited to wear their costumes to a party where they’re mistaken for strippers, Cindy, Ariel, and Belle realize that a career change could be the best way to make their money problems go bippity-boppity-boo.

But can structured Cindy approach a stripper pole without sanitizing wipes? And could the blue-eyed anti-prince that has been crossing her path become Cindy’s happily ever after?

Cindy is barely hanging on. Her husband has cleaned out their bank accounts and run off with the barely legal babysitter, leaving Cindy and her teenage daughter high and dry.  Cindy is the head of the PTA and a “proper” woman so she tries to hide her husband’s defection for as long as possible.  When she becomes friends with the neighborhood pariah, Ariel, after a bit of a rough start, she realizes that she needs to make a future for herself and her daughter as, obviously, her husband isn’t coming back.

At a Halloween block party one of Cindy’s neighbors ask her, Ariel and their friend Belle to “perform” at a party.  They think that being hired as princesses for a children’s party is an awesome idea but when they get there they figure out that it’s a bachelor party and they were hired to strip.  They get out of that situation but the stripping idea sticks with them.  They decide to start a stripping business of their own, but they need help.  They head to a high-class strip joint to learn some moves from one of the girls, but the owner of the place, PJ Charming, has it out for Cindy.  Or is it that he just wants her for himself?

This was an unexpectedly cute story.  I obviously read the blurb before reading it but it was so much more than I expected.

Cindy was a real piece of work before her husband left, and even afterward.  She had spent years trying to be the perfect wife but her life was…beige.  Her clothes were beige, her shoes, home furnishings and life were all beige.  Her husband leaving ends up being the best thing for her because she learned how to be herself and that wasn’t who she had been while married.  Becoming friends with Ariel & Belle, and becoming an independent woman were all so good for her and I loved seeing her come into her own.

The relationship with PJ was hot and spicy and oh so good.  It could also be very sweet and I loved that.  PJ was a good guy who was really trying to protect Cindy (and keep her for himself).  Yes, he acted like an ass a few times but I thought he more than made up for that.

Overall this was a good book and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a fun and humorous book to read.  I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, that’s for sure.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars

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Review: Cherish Hard by Nalini Singh

Posted February 27, 2018 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Cherish Hard by Nalini SinghReviewer: Holly
Cherish Hard (Hard Play, #1) by Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play #1
Also in this series: Cherish Hard, Cherish Hard (Hard Play, #1), Rebel Hard (Hard Play, #2), Cherish Hard (Hard Play, #1)
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: November 14th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 372
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh kicks off her new Hard Play contemporary romance series with a sizzling story that’ll leave you smiling…

Sailor Bishop has only one goal for his future – to create a successful landscaping business. No distractions allowed. Then he comes face-to-face and lips-to-lips with a woman who blushes like an innocent… and kisses like pure sin.

Ísa Rain craves a man who will cherish her, aches to create a loving family of her own. Trading steamy kisses with a hot gardener in a parking lot? Not the way to true love. Then a deal with the devil (aka her CEO-mother) makes Ísa a corporate VP for the summer. Her main task? Working closely with a certain hot gardener.

And Sailor Bishop has wickedness on his mind.

As Ísa starts to fall for a man who makes her want to throttle and pounce on him at the same time, she knows she has to choose – play it safe and steady, or risk all her dreams and hope Sailor doesn’t destroy her heart.

We were first introduced to Sailor Bishop in Rock Hard, which was released first but comes later in the timeline. Sailor is determined to make his own way in the world and prove that he isn’t like his deadbeat father. He’s been working hard to build his landscaping business and he knows what he needs to give him his next big push is a contract with a big corporation. Years ago he had a crush on Isa, but he lost track of her. When she turns up and unexpectedly starts making out with him at the school where he does landscaping, he’s shocked..and thrilled. She tries to disappear again, but Sailor isn’t letting her go. The timing couldn’t be worse since he needs to focus on his business, but he knows Isa is worth fighting for.

Isa spent her childhood being neglected by her parents while they spent their time building corporate empires. She has no interest in the corporate life, nor does she want to date someone who is married to his job. In a moment of sheer insanity after running into her ex-fiance and his new love, she jumps on Sailor. She can’t deny he’s smoking hot, but she won’t come second to a career again.

When Isa is blackmailed by her mother into acting as the company VP for the summer, she ends up working directly with Sailor as he’s just been hired to kickstart the landscaping on a new project. They have chemistry in spades and Isa really likes Sailor as a person. He wants more than a fling, but Isa isn’t sure she can take a chance on a guy who can’t commit to putting her first.

This book wasn’t as successful for me as others Singh has written. While I didn’t dislike it, necessarily, I didn’t love it. I wasn’t swept up in the story, nor did I connect with either of the main characters. I didn’t really understand Isa’s drive to keep her mother in the lives of her younger siblings. If her mother was that distant, why push to keep her involved? Her hot-and-cold attitude toward Sailor made sense based on her past, but I felt like she used it as a roadblock long after she should have let it go.

I liked Sailor’s ambition and his determination to explore things with Isa. I also liked seeing him with his family, and the way Isa was with her siblings. The friendships they had outside each other were great as well.

While this isn’t my favorite of Singh’s novels, it was well written and I enjoyed parts of it.

Grade: 3 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Guest Review: Honky Tonk Hellion by ZA Maxfield

Posted February 27, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Honky Tonk Hellion by ZA MaxfieldReviewer: Tracy
Honky Tonk Hellion by Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: February 20th 2018
Format: eARC
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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three-stars

An impulsive decision as a teenager forced Andi Chandler to put her dream of being a Nashville star on hold. Motherhood and a marriage of convenience have tied her down to the small town of Bitterroot, Texas. But now that her son is older and her husband is living life out of the closet, Andi’s ready to spread her wings and take another shot at the country music scene. Men, however, are a different story…

Malcolm never intended to catch Andi’s eye all those years ago at the rodeo. There were a million reasons it wouldn’t work—the age difference for one. He knew he should have stopped Andi from making a rash decision, but he didn’t and has lived with the shame ever since. Now that she’s a grown woman they can finally explore all those unanswered what-ifs—and just maybe, have a shot at a second chance at happiness.

Andi lives with her son and husband, and her husband’s boyfriend.  It’s a sticky situation but it works for them…until it doesn’t.  Andi always had a crush on Malcolm but he’s 7 years older than her.  When she was 15 she tried to get him to sleep with her and when he turned her down flat (of course, she was way too young) she went and slept with someone else trying to spite Malcolm.  She ended up pregnant and then she married her gay best friend.  That was fine until he found a love of his own.

Now Andi is in a band trying to make it as a singer but it’s not really working.  When a big Nashville star asks her to head to Georgia with him to record some stuff she’s thrilled.  That is until she realizes Malcolm is there too.  The situation in Georgia is fraught with tension and Andi is soon back home, but not until she sleeps with Malcolm.  Now she has to figure out what she wants in life and who she wants to be with.

While I’ve loved almost everything that Maxfield has written in the m/m genre, this one was just ok for me.  I found Andi to be super indecisive, as a normal 21-year-old is (at least the ones I know).  She was a good mother and she wanted what was best for her family, but the girl changed her mind about a thousand times during the course of the book.  She was also constantly thinking or spouting quotes and clichés and that got really old, really fast.

Malcolm apparently had a thing for Andi when she was just 12 years old.  I found that creepy as he would have been 19 at the time.  Luckily he didn’t act on his feelings until she was 21.  My problem with their relationship was that it was never discussed.  They had been good friends but then hadn’t seen each other for years (she was still mad at him for turning down sex with her when she was just 15) but after they sleep together they’re just…together.  No talking about what it means, they just…are.  I guess I expected more as that’s what Maxfield normally gives us.  She does emotion so very well but this book didn’t have a whole lot of it and that was disappointing.

Overall it was an ok book but not one I can really recommend.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Review: Devil’s Cut by J.R. Ward

Posted February 26, 2018 by Casee in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Devil’s Cut by J.R. WardReviewer: Casee
Devil's Cut by J.R. Ward
Series: The Bourbon Kings #3
Also in this series: The Bourbon Kings, The Bourbon Kings, The Angels' Share, The Bourbon Kings (The Bourbon Kings, #1)
Publisher: Ballantine
Publication Date: August 1st 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 418
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

In #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward’s thrilling finale of the Bourbon Kings series, the Bradford family dynasty teeters on the edge of collapse after the murder of their patriarch—and a shocking arrest.

At first, the death of William Baldwine, the head of the Bradford family, was ruled a suicide. But then his eldest son and sworn enemy, Edward, came forward and confessed to what was, in fact, a murder. Now in police custody, Edward mourns not the disintegration of his family or his loss of freedom . . . but the woman he left behind. His love, Sutton Smythe, is the only person he has ever truly cared about, but as she is the CEO of the Bradford Bourbon Company’s biggest competitor, any relationship between them is impossible. And then there’s the reality of the jail time that Edward is facing.

Lane Baldwine was supposed to remain in his role of playboy, forever in his big brother Edward’s shadow. Instead he has become the new head of the family and the company. Convinced that Edward is covering for someone else, Lane and his true love, Lizzie King, go on the trail of a killer—only to discover a secret that is as devastating as it is game-changing.

As Lane rushes to discover the truth, and Sutton finds herself irresistibly drawn to Edward in spite of his circumstances, the lives of everyone at Easterly will never be the same again. For some, this is good; for others, it could be a tragedy beyond imagining. Only one thing’s for certain: Love survives all things. Even murder.

I’m sitting here reading my reviews of The Bourbon Kings (which I loved) and Angels’ Share (which I also loved) and wondering what the holy hell happened. This series had so much promise. The biggest promise was that it was only three (three!) books. I don’t know how that could get messed up, especially after the first two were pretty spectacular. And hello? That’s coming from one of JRW’s biggest critics. I didn’t just jump into this book, I dove into it headfirst only to come up gasping for air and wondering what the fuck happened between Angels’ Share and now. Even after a week I still have that WTF look on my face and if I had a paper copy of the book, I would burn it.

Devil’s Cut brings us back to the world of the Bradford Bourbon Company and the Baldwine family. It picks up exactly where Angels’ Share left off. Edward, the eldest Bradford sibling has confessed to murdering their father. He did have motive. His father arranged to have him kidnapped when he was on business in South America and didn’t pay the ransom. Edward never fully recovered. One problem with that scenario is that Edward could never have overpowered his father in a million years. It’s laughable. You will immediately pick up on the fact that he’s covering for someone.

Lane and Lizzie are as solid as ever. Lizzie is getting a little worn out and not just because she’s pregnant. What Lane is going through trying to save the family name and business isn’t anything to sneeze at. Lizzie is trying to help him however she can and do her job at Easterly, but it takes its toll on a person. Though she loves Lane, she does miss the days where she went home to her farm and got a little peace from the Bradford drama. However she doesn’t regret her decision to be with Lane. As for Lane, he adores Lizzie and will do anything she wants. Though her pregnancy throws him for a loop, he will do everything he can so he is nothing like the father he had.

Edward is in the pokey for a crime he didn’t commit. There is evidence, but the blind and ignorant detective has a prejudice against rich people and is convinced that Edward is guilty. It is laughable. I mean it’s admirable what Edward is trying to do, but it’s laughable that anyone would believe it. Just as laughable is the person that actually did the deed.

Gin. Ah, Gin. She changed the most from book one to three. In book one, she was most worried about her comfort. By book three, she realized what a disaster of a person she was. She had a daughter with the man she loved and she denied them both the opportunity to know each other. As punishment to the man no less. She didn’t consider her daughter, had never really considered her daughter until now. She has finally realized what a tragedy of a mother she is and seeks to change that by being there for Amelia. The first mistake she needs to rectify? Introducing SamuelT and Amelia. She knows it will damage her relationship with SamuelT beyond repair, but that is a price she is willing to pay. Gin’s journey was fascinating to read. I really enjoyed reading the growth she made as a character.

So what was my problem with the book? Where do I start? Everything was too pat. Edward got out of jail because the person that killed his father was on their deathbed. Seriously, this person was dying and was able to kill? I am rolling my eyes so hard my eyeballs hurt. Bring in Sutton Smythe who was a BBC competitor…she and Edward always had an attraction, even love, but Edward stopped that when he was rescued from South America. He never really recovered. Now in the space of about 2.75 pages he is miraculously emotionally healed and decides he is in love with Sutton and they are going to live happily ever after. Seriously.

Even the ending with Gin was too pat. Lane and Lizzie? That worked because their story has been told over the course of three books. Even Gin and SamuelT’s story has been going on that long. But they’ve been at odds for the length of three books. They can’t suddenly be okay in the last five pages. That does not work for this reader. It just doesn’t. There are other things I don’t want to spoil, but those things didn’t work for me either. And the BIG MISUNDERSTANDINGS? Nothankyouverymuch.

This book was just rushed. A big disappointment after the first two of the series.

The Bourbon Kings

Grade: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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