Tag: Dakota Cassidy

What I Read Last Week

Posted August 5, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 2 Comments

Ok. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m a slacker. That’s the reason that this post, which is normally up on Mondays, is going up just now. And in the middle of the afternoon, no less! Sorry about that. I’ll try to mend my slacker ways but I fear it’s all set in stone. 🙂

So…getting the girls ready for school. Holy shit it’s expensive. As my oldest gets older the prices just go up and up! Oy. I had to register them both today and for the oldest it was $215.00 and the youngest $70.00. That last number seemed like a dream compared to the high school charges. Geez. Oh well, whatcha gonna do, right? I certainly hope so.

Giveaway: Violet…I sent an email last week but haven’t heard from you. I just sent another so please check your spam folder to make sure it didn’t end up there. 🙂

On to what I read last week:

I started off the week with Lick by Kylie Scott. I really liked this story of a woman who wakes up after a 21st birthday binge in Vegas and finds herself married to a rock star. The book tells us their ups and downs and everything in between. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5

Next up was The Right Wrong Number by Barbara Delinsky. This was a free story I picked up about a woman who is excited about a business deal and calls a friend to tell them about it. She doesn’t get her friend, however, she gets a guy named Charlie. The two actually hit it off and have a long conversation but then the woman drops her phone and the call ends. She tries to get him back on the phone but has no idea which wrong number she dialed. The story was cute and sweet but really short. 3 out of 5

Blurred by Kim Karr was next on the list to read. The story, if you’ve been following this series, shows us Ben’s side of the story. Ben was Dahlia’s boyfriend at one time. The novella takes us through Ben’s emotional turmoil after his mother dies and him trying to get his life back together. I think it was a good story as it takes care of all the details and back story for Ben that won’t crowd up his love story, Frayed, when it releases. You can read my full review here. 3.5 out of 5

Her Secret, His Surprise by Paula Altenburg is the story of a couple who have a one night stand. She finds herself preggo but when she calls the bar that she met him at (he was the bartender) they say they’d never heard of him. Two years later and the man who is the father of her child shows up to be her administrative assistant. She’s not sure she wants someone who is a drifter, from job to job, to be in her daughter’s life. Unfortunately for her the minute he sees his daughter he knows. He’s not what he seems but he’s not sure he can make her believe he’s solid. Good story – very enjoyable. 3.75 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

For Her Spy Only by Robyn DeHart is a novella about a woman who has a one night stand with a noble who has no desire to marry and no desire to have children. Six years later the noble is looking for a certain cartographer and he finds her instead – who is the cartographer’s widow. This was a short but sweet story. I liked both the characters and the story. 3.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh. I know this isn’t coming out til Sept. 2nd but when I got the ARC I couldn’t stand to not read it. Unfortunately I didn’t care for it as much as I wanted to. Still a good story but I did have some issues with it. I’ll post my review closer to the release date. 3.5 out of 5

Wilder’s Mate by Moira Rogers is a kind of a paranormal western but set in an alternate universe. The first book in the Bloodhound series, the story is about a woman who is searching for her mentor who was kidnapped by vampires and the man who helps her – that she happens to fall in love with. It was an interesting story and I was intrigued. I wish it had some more back story about the Bloodhounds, one of which our hero was. Definitely needed more on that. 3.5 out of 5

Claimed by the Alpha by Renee George is a short story about a woman who has been fighting cancer for 4 years. The man who loves her dearly is a wolf shifter and wants to change her but she refuses. The story is about him taking some definite risks and trying to make her see his side of things. It was cute but very short. 3 out of 5

Last for the week was Fangs of Anarchy by Dakota Cassidy
– a 5 part story. It’s really a (approx.) 200 page book that’s broken
up into 5 parts. The story follows Claire who is a werewolf and has
just killed her alpha. She is aided in disposing of the body by Irish
who is a vampire and president of his MC. The men in this story might
be in MC’s but really it’s not an MC read. It’s a love story between
Claire and Irish with a mystery that is the catalyst to throw them
together. I liked the stories, the world building, the romance and the
humor in these. I’ll definitely be reading more of this series in the
future.
Fangs of Anarchy –
Killing the Alpha
(Part 1) 4 out of 5
Forbidden Alpha (Part 2) Girl Most Lycan 3.5 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 3) Were in the World is Gannon Dodd? 4 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 4) In the Zone 3.5 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 5) Revelation 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:

Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley

Happy Reading!

2 Comments

Tagged: Barbara Delinsky, Dakota Cassidy, Kim Karr, Kylie Scott, Moira Rogers, Nalini Singh, Paula Altenburg, Renee George, Robyn DeHart, What I Read Last Week, What I've Been Reading This Week

Guest Review: Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy

Posted April 20, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Mary‘s review of Accidentally Catty (Accidental Series, Book 5) by Dakota Cassidy

Katie Woods never thought she’d be forty-one, divorced, and thrust back into the dating world. To start fresh, Katie uproots her veterinary practice to upstate New York—not exactly the hottest dating scene on the planet. But when an unconscious cougar appears at her clinic, Katie’s newly single life gets a much needed jolt of the supernatural kind.

After Katie examines the cougar and leaves him caged overnight, she’s shocked to find a big strapping specimen of young, hot man in its place. And when the scratch she got during the exam results in some unnatural side effects, Katie has more to deal with then her animal attraction to a much younger guy—she has to figure how to stop herself from becoming a cougar of the four-legged variety.

I started this one a little while ago and had to put it to the side because I was really not liking it. But then, after encouragement from some other readers who enjoyed other books in Cassidy’s Accidental Friends series, I picked it up again. And, I have to admit, I rather liked it.

Katie is a fun character. A little older than many of the heroines in my books, she loves animals and is willing to do just about anything to help them, including “liberating” an injured one from a local animal sanctuary (okay, so she was talked into it but still). When that cougar turns into a young, hot, very naked man, she has a little freak-out. Completely understandable. So is the not-so-little freak-out she has when her canines grow and one of her hands turns into a paw.

Enter the OOPS crew (Out in the Open Paranormal Support). These four gals—Wanda, Nina, Marty and Casey—used to be your average, everyday humans until circumstances changed them into their current paranormal state (events that occurred in the previous books in this series). After living through their own experiences, they decided to bond together and be available to help other who have paranormal events disrupting their lives. When they hear about Katie’s incident, they spring into action and invade her vet practice in small-town New York, ready to help her transition into her new life.

The crew is overwhelming. Nina, in particular, just about sent me over the edge. At times, she could be funny with her pissiness but did she have to be a beyotch all the time? It’s wearying. Wanda tries to rein her in but Nina just steamrolls right over her. Personally, I would have slapped some duct tape over that vamp’s mouth and locked her in a closet. Not that it would have worked. I’m sure there are people out there who love Nina but she was just too much for me. But because I really liked Katie and her hot man-cougar (aka Spanky-Beck-Shaw. Nina just called him “Three name” which was pretty funny), I slogged through her bits so I could get to the good stuff.

Katie and Shaw were really quite good together. At first, Katie’s all, “No, I can’t lust after him because he’s way too young for me.” Then she decides that he’s got to be gay because, though he can’t remember his name or anything personal, he knows Project Runway. But Shaw knows what he likes and he likes her. It doesn’t matter to him that she’s 41 and he looks like he’s in his 20’s somewhere. He charms the pants right off her. Literally. (Personally, I’m all for a 40-something/20-something pairing. And 41 is not old! Sheesh.)

Of course, there’s plenty of action and not just in the bedroom. There’s Shaw’s mysterious past, what’s going on over at the animal sanctuary, the people of the small town who hate Katie, and a badly beaten man who accuses Nina and Wanda of the crime before slipping into a coma.

Overall, while the super-fast dialogue was overwhelming at times and the snark over-the-top, the love story between Katie and Shaw is cute and well worth sticking it out to read what happens.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

The series:

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

0 Comments

Tagged: 3.0 Reviews, Accidentally, Berkley, Dakota Cassidy, Guest Reviews, Mary's Reviews, Paranormal, Reviews

Guest Review: Accidentally Demonic by Dakota Cassidy

Posted October 6, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Judith‘s review of Accidentally Demonic by Dakota Cassidy

When mild-mannered Casey Schwartz wakes up in jail with no memory of how she got there, she realizes two things: Something weird is going on, and Orange is definitely not her color. After her sister, Wanda, bails her out, Casey has more to deal with than a foggy memory–like abrupt mood swings and fireballs shooting from her fingertips. But things really go south when a vampire shows up on her doorstep.

Clayton Gunnersson is a seriously hot vampire. And seriously taken–by a demon in a ritual gone wrong. Clayton tried to free himself from his unwanted bond but spilled some demonic blood on Casey. So now Clayton’s spurned mate is sharing her demonic powers with Casey, and she’s not happy about it. Neither is Casey, who can’t escape this bizarre love triangle. It’s hard enought possessed by a demon. Falling for that demon’s boyfriend could get Casey killed–from the inside out.

It has been said that . . . Laughter is the best medicine. And for whatever ails you, Dakota Cassidy is the author for you. In a book that is based on a plot and story that involve some very serious, hell-bent-for-leather kind of stuff, the laugh-outloud kind of humor is not to be believed. Serious because it involves the life of a young woman who is just trying to find her way in life–belatedly, to be sure, but struggling to be her own person nevertheless. Funny, because Casey Swartz is made of stern stuff that erupts in razor-edged repartee and a mind that just won’t quit. Serious, because this story has characters straight out of Hell, but very funny because the interactions between vampires, werewolves, were-vampires, and demons is hilarious, crackling with fun and intelligence, and absolutely guaranteed to make any reader with a brain crack up throughout.

Casey has stumbled her way into adulthood, changing her college major repeatedly, trying to manage a wounded heart and libido, taking on a job that is really smothering her in so many ways, and as a result has distanced herself from her family. While chasing after her twin charges–the unforgettable Lia and Lita at a crowded nightclub, Clayton the vampire accidentally spills demon blood on Casey, and the effects are immediate as the blood sinks into her skin and her course in life, both the earthly and the eternal one, are changed forever. In the course of reuniting with her estranged sister, she discovers that her sister has been changed as well–into a were-vampire, now married to a vampire, and Wanda’s two best pals are Nina the vampire, and Marty the werewolf. What else can go wrong? Well . . . Casey finds out that the blood that marked and changed her belonged to Clayton demon mate, making her Clayton’s mate as well. She finds out that she can levitate and only Clayton can keep her earthbound. She throws fireballs whenever her temper gets out of control and she can even summon vermin of every kind. Holy cockroaches, Batman!! The situation keeps getting more and more complicated.

Clayton knows he is responsible for Casey’s new life, horrible though it may be, and he vows to keep her safe from the rage of his ertwhile demon mate. With the help of the vampire clan and a really funny and actually adorable demon ally named Darnell, Clayton seeks to figure out how he can be free of Hildegard and act on his attraction to Casey, growing closer to her, and knowing that either she or Hildegard, his despised demon mate, will celebrate their “anniversary” by drinking from him. The other will lose her tie to the earthly plane and will be consigned to Hell from that time on.

This is one very funny book. It is one of those paranomal, fantasy books that just has a marvelous way to getting under your literary skin, making it impossible to lay down once you’ve started reading it. I haven’t laughed this hard since I read The World According to Garp. It was irreverent, witty dialogue, ripping through the consciousness and so well done that it was never difficult to envision the scenario. Ms Cassidy has that wonderful capacity to put it out there, just as if the characters were standing right in front of you. There are so many surprises here and more than enough twists and turns in the plot and story line to keep one guessing. The push-pull between Clayton and Casey is the core of the story and out of that grows a relationship that is both heart-warming and scarey.

So even though it has been a few months since this book was released, be sure to get it and put it in your “To Be Read” pile. It, like all of Dakota Cassidy’s books, deserves to be read and enjoyed.

I give this novel a rating of 4.75 out of 5.

The Series:
Accidentally Catty (An Accidental Series)

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

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

1 Comment

Tagged: 4.75 Reviews, Accidentally, Berkley, Dakota Cassidy, Guest Reviews, Judith's Reviews, Paranormal, Reviews

Guest Review: Kiss and Hell by Dakota Cassidy

Posted June 11, 2009 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 3 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, PenguinGenres: Paranormal Romance

Nath‘s review of Kiss and Hell by Dakota Cassidy

She’s never seen a sexier ghost.

Delaney Markham doesn’t just see dead people, she hears them too. And FYI-communicating with tortured souls all day can really wreak havoc on your love life. After all, no one wants to date the crazy chick that talks to herself. Sans boyfriend, Delaney makes the best of her gift by holding séances and earns a pretty penny for them too, that is until one incredibly annoying ghost just won’t go away.

Now, if she could only get her hands on him.

When he materializes wearing nothing, Delaney knows something’s up. Besides being sinfully hot-in a college professor sort of way-all signs point to Clyde Atwell being much more than the ordinary spirit. In fact, he’s a newbie demon whose first assignment is to take Delaney back down to hell with him. Yeah, like that’s gonna happen on the first date. If Delaney’s old nemesis Lucifer thinks she’s going down without one hell of a fight, he’s got another thing coming…

Hmmm, lately, it seems I’ve read a lot of okay-meh books. I don’t know if it’s a case of: “It’s not you, it’s me” or if it’s the book. So here is my opinion of Kiss and Hell by Dakota Cassidy. I’d say, if you read her books previously and loved them, then don’t pay any attention to my review. This is the third book by Ms Cassidy that I’m reading and so far, none of them I’ve really loved… so I think it’s a case of incompatibility.

The story is about Delaney Markham who is a medium. Yes, she can truly see and hear ghosts. She is conducting a séance in the hope of earning money to pay her rent and feed her 6 dogs (Dog #1 to #6 is their name :P), when Clyde Atwell makes his apparition and basically ruin all of her hard work… One little problem though, Clyde is not a ghost, but a demon who was sent to bring Delaney’s soul down to hell!

Clyde died three months ago in an explosion and somehow, found himself in hell. He didn’t even get the choice, he simply woke up there. Convinced that there is mistake somewhere – because although he was focused on his work and a bit arrogant, he never did anything that bad to deserve to be in hell. Now, he has a month to rectify the error and he isn’t above using his new demonic powers to threaten and blackmail Delaney.

I’m going to start by saying that the storyline had a lot of potential and could have been very interesting. I also liked the hero a lot, nerds are cute and Clyde was definitively yummy 🙂 I can imagine him wearing the pink bathrobe and trying to pull it down LOL. Unfortunately, there were also some severe drawbacks.

First, I didn’t like Delaney’s character. I’m glad that she wasn’t the meek medium heroine who’s scared and scarred by all of the ghosts she’s encountered. She seemed well adapted to her powers, but resigned to a lonely life. Kudos for doing some good and helping ghosts finding the light. My problem though was her attitude. I didn’t quite like it, she was somehow rough and the way she treated Clyde at first, as if he was an irritating bug… that bugged me ^_^; Okay, so he ruined her seance and she’s in a pinch… Still, if you’ve decided to dedicate your life at helping ghosts… you could be a tad nicer. So I found her irritating, although she did get a little bit better. I think if this book wasn’t at the first POV and I didn’t know everything she was thinking, I wouldn’t have minded her that much.

I said earlier that the storyline has potential, but I think that the pacing ruined it. The story was very slow-building, it took a lot of time before the action started. Actually, just having Delaney finally listening to what Clyde had to say took forever… and then, another while before she believed him. The storyline seemed to go nowhere for a long time and then, it finally picked up, but by that time, it was a bit too late to catch my attention.

Finally, the slang. It’s one thing to hear it, listen to it, but another to “read” it. Reading sistah, brotah, playah throughout the book is annoying. I think that I even read: You thung? as in you think (although I read an ARC, so it could be a spelling mistake). I understand that the author is trying to give a certain characteristic to her characters… make them stand out a little, be their own. However, I think that the author tried too hard. Did anyone ever hear of having sex being referred as “boffing”? Some common slang slipped here and there, readers will overlook it… but when, there’s too much, it’s distracting and laughable. Best example is the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward.

The world building could have used some more information, it wasn’t totally clear to me. Overall, Kiss and Hell kind of reminded me of Stephanie Rowe’s Immortally Sexy series. I would really have liked to enjoy this book more and I really did try. Like I said, the story had potential and Clyde was yummy 🙂 I think I’m definitively crushing on nerds lately 😛 Unfortunately, there were some aspects that I didn’t like which prevented me from being totally absorbed in the book and enjoying it 🙁

Grade: 2.5/5

This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here .

3 Comments

Tagged: 2.5 Reviews, Berkley, Berkley Sensation, Dakota Cassidy, Guest Reviews, Nath's Reviews, Paranormal, Reviews

Review: Accidentally Dead by Dakota Cassidy.

Posted September 5, 2008 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Hero: Greg Statleon
Heroine: Nina Blackman
Grade: 4.5 out of 5

It’s a lousy first day on the job for Nina Blackman when a patient, loopy from the anesthesia, bites her. At least he was cute. But for real drama she can’t beat the next evening. Nina wakes up with a set of razor-sharp fangs, bionic vision, supersonic hearing, and a taste for blood. But there’s a good explanation: It’s her patient, Long Island vampire Greg Statleon. Actually they’re perfect for each other—if Nina’s willing to commit to one man for eternity.

Another party that I came late too but this time around, I wasn’t too bothered by it because this book could have totally been a stand alone. I thought Dakota Cassidy did a fantastic job of making me like Nina. I had my doubts in the beginning because she’s just so …much. She’s got a potty mouth like there’s no tomorrow and she’s one of those women that you wouldn’t want to really become friends with unless you were getting into a fight and she was really crass but I really, really enjoyed this book.

Nina is kind of hard to take because she’s so crass but Ms. Cassidy did a great job of making her character likeable anyway. She did a bunch of things that got on my hot damn nerves, especially when she found out that she was an undead but I didn’t really hate her for it since she was an undead against her will and I got from the way that Ms. Cassidy wrote her character. It was fun seeing her interact with Greg, seeing her bite at him and just rant against him was more funny than annoying. It was an enjoyable read for me because I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did.

I enjoyed it more.

Greg was a great hero, you could tell that he was sorry for turning Nina and the way he was with her just had me either laughing or sighing because he was hot stuff! Greg is one of those heroes that is sexy without trying to be. He’s so strong and capable and I loved him to pieces! He was the only person that could deal with Nina and her loud mouth ways and when she goes on her quest to find a way for her to get her mortality back, it’s Greg that helps her deal and when Nina starts to fall for him, things get a whole lot more interesting.

This book was funny, fast and a definite keeper, I’m going to try to get the other books in this series because I liked Nina’s friends, Marty and Wanda, they were fun and were a delightful addition to the story. The story was too cute for words and I most definitely recommend it, but read the books in order, I wish I did but not enough that I didn’t enjoy this one. I’ll definitely be checking out more Dakota Cassidy books from now on.

Oh and another thing before I end this review, the cover? LOVED IT!

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