Tag: Ava Gray

Guest Review: Skin Dive by Ava Gray

Posted October 18, 2011 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of Skin Dive (Skin series #4) by Ava Gray.

Gillie is a fugitive, determined never to be bound again. Because of her special gift, her former captors intend to retrieve her-by any means necessary. Taye can’t remember much about his past, but with a bounty hunter hounding them, he’ll do anything to assure Gillie’s safety and preserve her innocence…for himself.

Gillie Flynn has been “kept” by the Foundation and her healing abilities exploited for 12 years. She was stolen from her parents and set up in one of the Foundation’s facilities. She has her own apartment that looks nothing like the rest of it but she’s not allowed to see anyone but the creepy doctor who takes care of her until one other captive bribes the doc to visit Gillie.

Gillie is surprised and more than a bit wary when Taye aka T-89 starts visiting her but they soon become friends and start to plan an escape. When the escape and destruction of the facility comes about they are successful but now they run for their lives. The other captives split up but not Gillie and Taye. They decide to work together as during their visits in the facility they each became closer to the other. Gillie is not shy about sharing her feelings with Taye but Taye shuts her down because he feels that he’s not good enough for her – and he’s hiding something even more important that he just can’t share with Gillie.

Eventually they decide to join the resistance against the Foundation and go their separate ways but it doesn’t stop either one of them from yearning for the presence of the other.

This fourth novel in the Skin series continues the stories of the children turned adults who were experimented on. They have grown and developed abilities and then were hunted and taken by the Foundation for their own nefarious uses – or just to be experimented on. The resistance is run by Mockingbird and they fight the Foundation with all the abilities they have. When Gillie and Taye find that they can’t survive without help they turn to the resistance. But though they are happy in their respective jobs for the resistance they both quite heartbroken over their separation.

This is truly the part of the book – the separation – that I started to feel the love and longing between the pair. Yes, I felt it before that to a degree but it wasn’t as poignant as it was later in the book. My heart ached for Taye. He couldn’t remember anything about his life before he was at the facility and he felt for sure that he wasn’t good enough for Gillie as he thought of her as more innocent and pure. Gillie was not innocent and pure. Ok, she was technically a virgin because she’d been at the facility for so long but she was really a perfect fit for Taye. I loved them together as they got each other. They even think this about each other in the book – they knew where the other had been and what they had gone through and didn’t have to hide who they really were. They could be made at each other and throw things and still know that the other loved them.

The writing in the book is compelling. It caught my interest at the beginning of the book and kept me thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading. The whole series has been like that and it’s why I keep reading it.

Skin Dive was a really good book. It combined a wonderful story of the horrors of captivity and experimentation along with the love that can be found in such an awful place. It had a fantastic element of the paranormal without overwhelming the story with it – even though it played an integral part. If you haven’t started this series yet you should think about reading it. Great writing and great romance make for great books.

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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

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What I Read Last Week

Posted October 3, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 6 Comments

Hey There!
I can’t believe Monday is already half over and I’m just now writing this out. Sorry to be so behind but that’s about my life right now.
I’m trying to get reading for GayRomLit. It doesn’t start until the 13th but I leave on Sunday the 9th to go visit my sister in Alabama for a few days first. Getting myself ready is one thing but getting the rest of the family ready for my absence is taking up way more time than it should! Really? I do THAT MUCH? lol It sounds ridiculous but when I sit down to organize it all for my husband I realize there’s a lot to do and remember and take care of and  shuttle around and etc., etc. Who knew? Anyway, I’ll be leaving whether it’s all done or not so I try to not to stress but yeah, easier said than done, right? 🙂
I didn’t get as much reading done (kind of like last week) as normal but what I read was good. I want to read the free book of shorts that the authors from GRL put out but so far I haven’t been able to get to it – that puppy is like 800 and some odd pages! Maybe on the plane…
What I did end up reading…
I started out with Bounty of Love by Scotty Cade. This was a great book about a man who’s fiancé and parents are killed the night before his wedding. He mourns his fiancé and is determined to find out who and why. He is aided by FBI agent and eventually the pair fall in love. If you’d like more info you can read my review here. 4 out of 5 (nice hot men on the cover too!)
Next up was Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl. This is book 2 in the Donovan Brothers Brewery series and it was a good one. I absolutely loved Jaime even though I felt so sorry for him at times. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5
After that it was Skin Dive by Ava Gray that I read for The Book Binge. This is book 4 in the Skin series and it was oh so good as well. This was the story of Taye who can pull electricity and Gillie who is a healer. They escape from a Foundation facility and try to make it out in the world without being caught and pulled back in. They succeed to a point but eventually seek help from a group of resisters that they join. Gillie and Taye’s relationship was so intense but Taye constantly pushed Gillie away thinking that he wasn’t good enough for her. It just broke my heart. He was also hiding another secret from Gillie and this was another factor in his decision. The romance was good and bittersweet at times and the book was a really good read. 4 out of 5
Last on the list for the week was Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis that I also read for The Book Binge. Book 2 of the Animal series and this was Dell’s book. He has series commitment issues and Jade, his receptionist, has trust issues. Jade was attacked in Chicago and basically ran away – Dell is trying to help her but the pair can’t seem to keep their hands off of each other. Doesn’t matter how they feel though as Jade is returning to Chicago. This was a great book – different from book 1 but still with the hot sex, wonderful romance and fun humor that Shalvis always gives us. 4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: Primal by Lora Leigh, Michelle Rowen, Jory Strong and Ava Gray

Posted February 10, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Tracy’s review of Primal by Lora Leigh, Michelle Rowen, Jory Strong and Ava Gray.

When desire cannot be controlled…When personal will is overpowered by carnal cravings…When only one fearless impulse feeds you, body and soul…

You can’t deny it. It’s something primal.

Primal is an anthology with 4 novellas in it.

Bleeding Heart by Michelle Rowen.

This is a continuation of her novel, Nightshade, and though I never read that book I was quite caught up in what was happening in the story. A human, Jill, has been injected with a poison and she wants it out. It’s the kind that will kill her eventually and her dhampyr (half-human/half-vampire) bodyguard, Declan, is trying to help her find someone that will drain the poison from her blood.

Jill and Declan are assisted by Jackson who takes them to an underground lap where experiments are done on vampires. The scientist who assisted in making the nightshade poison in the first place is there but he has ulterior motives to helping Jill.

On top of the stress of the poison and the scientist, Jill is having a hard time with her feelings toward Declan. I’m not sure how they came to be together but in order to suppress his vampire side Declan is under the control of a serum that makes him completely unable to feel emotions. Jill wants nothing more than to be held by Declan but she doesn’t want that if he’s not feeling the same things she is.

This was an action packed novella that really sucked me in and I’m thinking I may have to read Nightshade now to get all the background. Jill’s plight is heart wrenching as she had no idea vampires even existed a week before. Now she’s not only caught up in their world but her body is a walking time bomb because of them. The story was quite good but incredibly heart-wrenching as well.

Skin & Bone by Ava Gray

In Skin Tight we met Silas who worked as a lackey for the Foundation. In this story we find that Silas isn’t the brainless helper that we thought he was. He’s not only quite intelligent but was acting the idiot in order to fool the Foundation doctors into believing that he was a failure and had no power at all. Wrong. He could actually hurt people with his mind – break their necks, their arms, cut them…all with a thought. He definitely doesn’t like this part of himself but he didn’t want the crazy people (scientists) discovering this and using him for their own gain.

So Silas got out of the lab he was held in and has been moving around. He’s in Ecuador when it is hit by an earthquake. He saves a woman from certain death by uncovering her from the rubble and together they set out to help the village. Silas decides that it’s time to move on but the woman, Juneau, wants to move on with him. It seems that they’re two of a kind – moving around, finding no roots, etc. The pair finds a common bond and that bond grows stronger as time passes.

The Foundation has located Silas though, and so has the resistance – who gets to him first and what will happen with his relationship with Juneau.

I love the Skin series! I’ve been hooked since book 1 and this novella was no different. Gray makes all of the characters unique and it really makes the stories so very interesting. I loved Silas and his big heart and Juneau was just the right fit for him. Good story!

Angel-Claimed by Jory Strong

This is the story of Sajia who works for a vampire family in San Francisco. Her charge has gone missing and she must find her or suffer the wrath of the Master. Addai is an angel who loves has waited for the reincarnation of his wife who ends up being Sajia. Sajia wants nothing more than to take off with Addai, but she can’t betray her family who would suffer from the vampires should she disappear. She must find her charge but in order to do this Addai must suffer at her hands.

I didn’t care for this story all that much. I couldn’t get into it as it seemed that it was a continuation from previous books by this author and I was thrown in to a story all ready in session. At one point Addai had taken Sajia to someone he thought could locate her charge and she has to beat him with a cat-o-nine-tails first. Though the angel can heal himself instantly I found it most disturbing and I think it colored my view of the story from then on.

Primal Kiss by Lora Leigh

Creed has been guarding Kita Engalls for a little over a year and Kita wants nothing more than to throw him down and have her way with him. But Creed Raines is a Breed and is working under-cover for Kita’s father – Horace Engalls who was Philip Brandenmore’s partner in crime.

Brandenmore has been held by the Breed’s while they try to discover what he’s done. Brandenmore, in a previous book, injected Jonas’s adopted daughter with a serum. They are trying to find out exactly what she’s been injected with and what it will do to her body. Brandenmore injected himself with it and his aging has regressed to make him look incredibly young – but it’s also screwed up his brain.

Creed is trying to get information from Engalls while on duty but he never imagined that Kita would be so appealing – or that she would be his mate. When she disappears and he follows he wants nothing more than to make her his but he wants her to know everything so that she won’t hate him later.

This was a great novella in the Breeds series. Leigh made the story quite interesting by really making this story an integral part of the series. Information was discovered that could have a major effect on previous events and people.

On top of the suspense portion of the story we got to have a great little love story as well. I loved that the pair had been, more or less, circling each other for a year even if they didn’t know that’s what they were actually doing. Creed was a complete bad ass but not a bastard and truly loved Kita. He wanted what was best for her and therefore didn’t want to lie to her. Needless to say there were great kissing scenes in this story. How could there not be with a title of Primal Kiss?

Overall a very good anthology that I truly enjoyed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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

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What I Read Last Week

Posted February 7, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

Pretty quiet week this past week.  The most excitement we had was my girls getting their hair cut – big event in Tracyland. lol  I took my youngest because she had attempted to cut her own.  I have to say that she did a damned good job but it still needed fixing.  She figured if she was going to get a little cut then she wanted a new style.  She pulled one off the internet and off we went (oldest was in Saturday detention at the time – oh joy).  Here was the end result. (you can see all the hair that was cut off in the background of picture on the left – it was a lot!)
Then when we went to pick up my oldest she wanted her hair cut as well.  We went home and ate lunch and watched a movie and then she too picked a style off of the internet and away we went.  My girls don’t have a regular stylist they go to but the one that cut my youngest’s hair did such a good job and subsequently cut my oldest’s as well I think she’ll be their new girl. She did a fabulous job with both girls incorporating the pictures to fit their tastes and their hair.  This is the oldest. (and yes, if she smiled her face would crack, in case you were wondering *sigh*) but she was thrilled with the result even though she doesn’t show it:
I think they’re both adorable!
I’m not sure if I mentioned it perviously but before I went down to Holly’s a couple of weeks ago I took the bull by the horns and went through my TBR and tried to be brutally honest with myself. I had a lot of books that I had gotten from book swaps or that people had sent me and I had to ask myself, “am I really going to read this any time soon…or ever”? Well when it was all said and done I’d taken almost 100 books off of my shelves. I took them to Holly’s and let the girls take whatever they wanted. I then took them to my friends Jen and Jenn and let them go through them and then I donated about 50 books to the library. So this Sunday I spent some time (ok, a long damn time) going through all of the books on my shelves that were left over as well as all of the books on my stick drive where I keep my ebooks and added all of the books that I have, that I haven’t read, to my Goodreads TBR. I ended up with 601. That’s just wrong – especially since I’d just gotten rid of 98 or so! lol There were also some ebooks that I had read that weren’t rated on Goodreads so I did that too. One more thing that I get to mark off my to do list!
So on to what I read this past week:
FYI – I completely failed on my Tracy’s TBR challenge read for this past week. I’ll try to do better next week. *hangs head*
I started off with Passion: Erotic Romance for Women edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel.  This was a collection of short erotic romance stories.  Some were really good – some disturbed me a bit but overall it was a good set of stories. I read this for The Book Binge and will let you know when my review posts. 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt.  The story of Temperance who runs a foundling home with her brother, Winter, in a very bad part of the city.  Temperance is approached by Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, who wants Temperance help him find someone since she knows the area of London, St. Giles, very well.  Temperance helps Lord Caire but she gets more than she bargains for since there’s a powerful person in St. Giles who doesn’t want Lord Caire finding the killer of his mistress, and wants Temperance out of St. Giles completely.  I loved this book.  I thought it was so well done with the romance as well as the suspense portion of the book.  Then there were the secondary characters that we got to meet – one that stood out the most, Silence, Temperance’s sister.  Her story was heart wrenching and I ached for her by the end of the book.  So good! 5 out of 5
My next read was a novella called Arctic Winds by Sondrae Bennett. This was the story of a fox shifter who is shunned by her skulk (fox pack) and has been on the move for the past 4 years. She makes her way into a town but since she has a cold can’t pick up the scent and the fact that she’s landed right in the middle of a wolf pack town. And who wants her from the minute he catches her scent? The alpha of the wolf pack, of course. The story covers their romance and it was cute. 3 out of 5
Next up was Primal by Lora Leigh, Michelle Rowen, Jory Strong and Ava Gray.  This 4 story anthology was a good one.  I hadn’t read either Strong or Rowen so they were new to me.  I really liked all of the stories except the Strong one didn’t agree with me very well but even that was well done.  I read this for The Book Binge so will let you know when my review posts. Overall rating 4 out of 5
RiverTime by Rae Renzi was my next read.  This was a really good story about 2 people who are stranded in the Grand Canyon, what they experience and how that experience changes their lives when they get back to civilization.  I’ll be posting my review this week so keep your eyes peeled. 🙂
I was so excited that my copy of Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt came into the library since I’d just finished the previous book in the series.  This book was just as good as the first.  The romance between Hero and Griffin was just wonderful and again the secondary characters were great.  We got to read more about Silence, we got to know more about Hero’s brother who’s a Duke and her sister – Phoebe.  Poor Phoebe, I certainly hope we get to know her a little better in future books.  This also included an excerpt to Silence’s book which releases in Nov. and I just can’t wait to read it! 5 out of 5
Last for the week was Hammer & Air by Amy Lane. This was an amazing story/fairy tale that is about 2 boys from an orphanage who find themselves on the run. The more I think about this story the more I think I need to review it so I think I’ll post it on Wednesday.
My Book Binge review that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted January 3, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very nice new year.  My hubby took the girls to see the new Narnia movie and I stayed home and read. Nice! lol  I stayed up until 12 and then was asleep by 12:05. I know, I’m a party animal. 

For 2011 I’ve decided to only take on 1 challenge besides my own TBR challenge and that is Wendy’s TBR challenge.  Can you tell I’m trying to get through that sucker?  It’s needs to diminish!  The rule about posting the review on a specific date is always what fucks me up so I’ll see how it goes.

If you haven’t already gone over to DIK to enter the Grand Finale giveaway you need to do it!  Great books being given away to 2 lucky winners.  You have until the 8th at midnight to enter

The Karen Mercury book giveaway for Working the Lode is open until 1/4/11 at 11:59pm (pacific).

Life is pretty boring around here so I’ll get on with telling you what I read:

I started off with The Trap by Indigo Wren.  This is a story about workaholic David who finally decides to take a vacation to an island resort.  The brochure was just too compelling and he decided to take a break for a month.  He gets there only to find out that it’s not a resort – it’s all a hoax perpetrated by his ex-best friend, Ethan, to get him alone and make him face some hard truths about himself – mainly his sexuality and lack of acceptance of what it really is.  I really liked the book a lot.  There were some times that I thought David overreacted and I wanted to smack him upside the head but overall a really good book. 4.5 out of 5

Next was The Christmas Fantasy by KT Grant.  This was a cute story about a woman who is on a mission to lose her virginity and wants it taken by her brother’s best friend who she’s been in love with forever.  He’s all for the idea but life gets in the way and the woman starts to believe the crap in her head rather than reality.  It was a light, fun read – nothing too deep and we didn’t get too into the characters but if that’s what you’re looking for in a Christmas read than it’s perfect. 🙂  3.5 out of 5

Love Letters from Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball was next.  I read this for The Book Binge and you can read my review here.  It was romance in the book but mostly the book tells about 3 women in their 50’s who run a farm and attempt to put on a society wedding.  Ok, but really not my thing. 3 out of 5

The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon was my next read and a very interesting one.  It’s fantasy with a bit of romance about a man who is a book hunter and is looking for what might be a fictitious book.  Only there are very dark forces at work in the story.  The man ends up with his boss but the boss moved a bit too fast for my liking and declared himself pretty abruptly.  That being said the writing was as wonderful as always and the story incredibly engaging. 4 out of 5

Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips was the book I read for my DIK Challenge read for the month. It was a great way to end the challenge as the book was so good.  You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5

Skin Heat by Ava Gray was next on the list. Another book read for the Book Binge.  This is book 3 in the Skin series and I really liked it. Zeke was held in the facility in the last book and was set free.  He’s now home  and is not exactly comfortable in his own skin.  He takes a job at the local vet clinic and falls in love with the vet, Neva.  It’s a great story and has a psycho killer in it as well – good stuff.  I’ll let you know when my review posts. 4 out of 5

Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis was my next read.  This was the story of Harley and TJ who’ve circled each other for year but haven’t exactly been friends.  TJ decides that it’s time to stop the animosity – especially since he has no idea what caused it – and make his move.  I really liked this book. The story was pretty simple but I loved the honesty of the characters.  No subterfuge, no lies, just plain out telling the truth about everything. Wish I could read more of that! lol  4 out of 5

My Tracy’s TBR Challenge for the week was The Reluctant Reformer by Lynsay Sands.  The first part of the book annoyed me – he thought she was a famous prostitute and she thought he’d found out about her writing. The misunderstanding was amusing a bit but not enough to stop the annoying bit.  Now, the second part of the book was almost like a different book.  This was the man taking care of the woman but he can’t keep his hands off her and compromising her constantly.  And there was someone who tries to kill her multiple times. The second part of the book was good – the first, not to my liking.  3.5 out of 5

Last for the week was Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman by Lorraine Heath.  This was the story of a woman who claims to be the mother of a baby and takes the babe to the father’s family – only in the hope that they’ll care for it.  When she finds out the father, Stephen, is alive she’s thrilled as she fancies herself in love with him.  But he has no idea who she is due to amnesia and him losing 2 years of his memory.  It was a pretty darned good book.  I’m not one for all the camouflage in a relationship but this one worked for me. 4.25 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted since last Monday:
No Place to Run by Maya Banks
Love Letters from Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
Must Love Kilts by Allie Mackay
How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling
My Fair Succubi by Jill Myles

Happy Reading!

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