Publisher: 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
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
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


Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

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
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
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


Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

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
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
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


Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Crazy Love by Tara Janzen

Posted June 13, 2007 by Rowena in Reviews | 12 Comments

Review: Crazy Love by Tara JanzenReviewer: Rowena
Crazy Love (Steele Street #5) by Tara Janzen
Series: Steele Street,
Also in this series: Crazy Hot (Steele Street, #1), Crazy Cool (Steele Street, #2), Crazy Wild (Steele Street, #3), Crazy Kisses (Steele Street #4)
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: June 27, 2006
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 368
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

Government operative Dylan Hart has survived some of the riskiest missions known to man. But no nemesis could have prepared the Special Defense Forces commander for the newest member of his team. A street-smart heartbreaker in Day-Glo pink and black leather, Skeeter Bang has been recruited to aid and abet Dylan’s latest mission: steal a top-secret file and bury it before all hell breaks loose.

Teaming up with a man who may be the last bona fide defender of the free world is a risk Skeeter’s ready to take. Until a black-tie Washington soiree erupts in a bullet-flying free-for-all. Now Skeeter’s got danger on her trail and Dylan arousing every bad-boy fantasy she ever had. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is about to plunge one man and woman right into the sizzling line of fire….

Okay, this is the second to the last book of the series and the second to the last book of my TBR Challenge that Ames and I started in the beginning of the year.

YAY ME!

Finally, we have Dylan Hart’s story. The story that brings Dylan Hart and Skeeter Bang (LOVE HER NAME) together forever, woo hoo!

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for some time now, I think since Superman’s book, I totally wanted to skip Creed’s book and then read Kid and Dylan’s book. I was super excited to finally be able to read it and though I thought the book was better than I expected (I heard a lot of people didn’t really care for the book and for Dylan’s character in this book), it’s not my favorite of the books.

And Kid is still my favorite.

But, I really didn’t mind this whole storyline, I mean, Dylan is taken captive and then escapes, he’s been pumped with drugs that could at any moment end his life but he lives and he makes some boneheaded decisions but none of that matters because in the end, he ends up with the woman of his dreams.

He ends up with Skeeter Bang.

And what a woman to end up with, Skeeter Bang is a kick ass heroine. I mean, she can really kick ass but I hated that TJ felt the need to make Skeeter Bang a better shot than Kid Chaos. I think she could have been kick ass without having to steal Kid’s thunder but hey, that might be just my love for Kid talking, who knows. I’m not a fan of goth, punk girls outfits, you know the whole fishnet stockings, and leather, leather and more leather pants/skirts and then the whole chain mail stuff, yeah not my thing but it seemed to totally work for Skeeter, I wanted to know how she would have looked in that Versace dress though. It would have been nice if I got to see that but I guess it was all about fishnet stockings and pink bras and lace shirts.

Oh well.

Dylan Hart didn’t turn out into the man I thought he was going to turn out to be. I wasn’t really disappointed, but his constant issues with loving Skeeter did get on my nerves a bit. I mean, he didn’t want her on the mission even though Christian Hawkins, SUPERMAN for crying out loud said that she was the best person for the job, yet still Dylan didn’t want to take her. Christian read off how many missions she’s been apart of, the experience she got and still Dylan was like, “Nope, fat chance, not on my watch” and all because he was secretly in love with her, it got to be a pain sometime.

When Skeeter turns out to be a blessing on the mission, after the whole mission was shot to hell, I kept waiting for Dylan to thank her for the great job she did, SAVING HIS ASS!

And even though he disappears after everything goes down and leaves for a couple of months, I didn’t really get mad when Skeeter let him off the hook really quick, it was probably because I just wanted them to hurry up and be together already, they only had sex once in the whole book and I just wanted them to hurry up and get it on.

Some things that bothered me in the book was all the…

Stupid.
Crap.
Sentences.
Like.
This.

It was like, hello? Get on with the story already and It irked me how many times Dylan’s heart broke just by looking at Skeeter, all of the “She was so beautiful, she broke his heart.” crap, there were a few of those in there and I’m like, for all the times your heart broke just by thinking, looking and smelling Skeeter, it was no wonder that accompanied with the drugs in your system didn’t kill you clean off this Earth, I wanted to shake him and be like, GET OVER IT!

But I still loved Dylan. LOL.

I did love the way the book ended, with the whole “Screw You” thing going on, I just thought it was cute. Just like this book, it was cute, it flowed well, the story didn’t really drag any where, there was a nice secondary story with Travis James and Gillian, though I’m disappointed because I kind of liked Jane whatever her last name was.

Why couldn’t Travis end up with her? So that’s it, we don’t find out what happens with the James kid, he just disappears, we don’t get to find out how Jane is doing in L.A. Why couldn’t Travis be with her? Goodness, I liked Jane.

Another thing, I liked Gillian the way she was, I’m not really digging the whole amnesia thing that I glimpsed in the first chapter of the book (which was included in the back of Dylan’s book) …why couldn’t Travis fall in love with the girl he met, the Gillian that I liked, what was wrong with her? Ugh, now she’s this billy bad ass killer girl and meh, I’m really not a fan of amnesia books so I’m not looking forward to reading this book, but I’m going to…Ugh.

Should you read this book? Yes, because Dylan is still hot as all get out and the story is fast paced and just not what I expected, but it was still good and enjoyable. So yeah, you should read it and you should enjoy it, I did.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


Tagged: , , , , , ,

Review: Crazy Kisses by Tara Janzen

Posted June 11, 2007 by Rowena in Reviews | 13 Comments

Review: Crazy Kisses by Tara JanzenReviewer: Rowena
Crazy Kisses (Steele Street #4) by Tara Janzen
Series: Steele Street #4
Also in this series: Crazy Hot (Steele Street, #1), Crazy Cool (Steele Street, #2), Crazy Wild (Steele Street, #3), Crazy Love (Steele Street #5)
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: February 28, 2006
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Professional soldier Kid Chronopolous moves in stealth and shadow to take out the world’s deadliest threats. Now, after barely surviving a hair-raising mission in South America, the Special Defense Forces agent comes home to Panama City for some sorely needed R & R…and finds a bikini bottom that can belong to only one woman.

Nikki McKinney has never forgiven Kid for vanishing from her life after the mind-blowing passion they shared. Now he’s suddenly back on the planet, where she’s rising to the top of the local art scene. But her safe, sheltered world is about to be rocked to its core. Because there’s a bounty on Kid’s head–and his enemies don’t care if they take him dead or alive. With dangerous people gunning for him, Kid’s got Nikki running for cover…and right into his arms. Keeping her safe is his latest mission. Keeping their hands off each other is out of the question….

The fourth book in the Crazy series, I’ve got 2 more books to go before I’m done with this series. Dylan’s book and Travis’ book. But finally, I was able to read my sexalicious Kid’s book.

Kid frickin’ Chronopolous.

The ghost killer, the man of many talents, shooting you from way the hell back, keeping you in his sights long enough for him to blow you to pieces. There isn’t a person on the earth that Kid is scared of, there isn’t a person on the planet that Kid won’t hesitate to take out if you try to harm anyone he cares about.

He’s steady and he’s sure and he’s so hot damn sexy it makes me ache.

I loved Kid, even when he was being stupid and couldn’t get the words right with Nikki, I still loved him. I loved him for all the reasons I loved him in all the other books but more so because of the sweet gesture he did for Nikki. I loved how he loved Nikki even though he was so messed up in the head over his brother’s killing. I loved how even though she was engaged to someone else, he still loved the hell out of her. I just straight out loved Kid Chronopolous. I wonder if he was really stupid in the head and did something that irritated the hell out of me if I would still love him, I’m thinking yes because this guy couldn’t really do any wrong in my eyes, I LOVED HIM TOO MUCH!

Great job on that one, TJ!

Nikki, I liked this girl right from the time we met here in Regan and Quinn’s book, when she’s all into her painting of a naked Travis and not giving a damn what anyone thinks. I love that she acted her age, she was 21 and she acted that way, she wasn’t the most perfect of heroines who always made the right decisions, who was always so perfect in everything, I loved that she talked way too much when she was scared and I loved how her love for Kid stayed with her, every time that he up and left her. I loved that her love for Kid was solid and strong.

Even when he was breaking her heart.

The story as a whole was just great, I mean we’ve got Kid, the best killer in all the land trying to keep the woman he loves safe from HIS enemies, the enemies he made while avenging the brother he was closest too. The brother he loved with all that he had and grieved endlessly over. The killing of his brother changed him in so many ways from the man that Nikki McKinney fell in love with and when Nikki flies out to Panama or wherever Kid was, she’s almost killed by just being in the same house as the ghost killer.

It kind of put things into perspective for her, I think. I mean, it explained why he stayed away from her for so long or why he stayed away from home because he was still trying to kill everyone that was trying to hill him and for him to find the time to do what he did for Nikki, just solidified my love for this man. Goodness, that was just SO sweet, Awwwww…

Kid’s biggest enemy, Juan Consuelos is looking for him and gunning to get him since Kid is the bane of his existance, not only is Kid killing off all of his men, but he’s putting a real wrench in his drug dealing business, the man hates him some Kid and wants to destroy him and everything he loves.

But in true romantic form, the good guys come out on top (YAY KID) and I was quite content with the way this book ended, I loved the very last chapter because it was just sweet of girly girl Nikki to do something for Kid, make one of his dreams come true like he does for her, this entire book was really good and has made me ever so curious about Travis James and his book. I’m not like jumping at the chance to read it (I’ve got too many new books to peep out to be excited about any one book) but I did like the Travis and Jane bits.

It was nice getting to know the Rat Queen and Travis better, I even like Travis’ cop friend, Cody. It’ll be nice to see him try to get at Skeet in her book to Dylan, I started Crazy Love and so far so good but I’m not completely blown away or anything but it’s Dylan and I love him so I can’t wait to keep reading more! =)

The only thing that I didn’t really care for in this book was Kid’s inability to talk to Nikki, everything for him in the beginning (even in the other books) was all about sex with her. He doesn’t know how to tell her exactly how he’s feeling at any given time so he just doesn’t say anything and just kisses her until they’re doing the wild monkey dance, it’s like, COME ON, SAY SOMETHING MEANINGFUL already…but other than that, the book is a sure winner for me!

This book was a good read, I loved Kid’s story second of all, Kid is my favorite Crazy man but Superman’s book is still my fav of the series, there’s just something about that Superman that I absolutely love! Read this book, it’s really good and you’ll totally enjoy it and plus, Kid kicks some serious ass in this book and it’s hot!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

four-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , ,