Tag: Novella

Sunday Spotlight: The Adversary by Thea Harrison

Posted July 4, 2021 by Holly in Features, Giveaways | 5 Comments

Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

I’ve been dying to find out what’s happening with Dragos and Pia in the Other lands. The Adversary is available for preorder at all major retailers, but if you don’t want to wait, you can buy it now from the author’s direct shop. Click here to buy a copy now.

Sunday Spotlight: The Adversary by Thea HarrisonThe Adversary by Thea Harrison
Series: (Chronicles of Rhyacia #2, Elder Races #9.95
Also in this series: Dragon Bound (Elder Races, #1), Storm's Heart (Elder Races, #2), Serpent's Kiss (Elder Races, #3), Oracle's Moon (Elder Races, #4), Oracle's Moon (Elder Races, #4), True Colors (Elder Races, #3.5), Lord's Fall (Elder Races, #5), Kinked, Lord's Fall, Kinked (Elder Races, #6), Pia Saves the Day & Peanut Goes to School, Dragos Takes a Holiday, Night's Honor, Night's Honor, Dragon Bound, Midnight's Kiss, Midnight's Kiss, Dragos Goes to Washington, Shadow's End, Pia Does Hollywood, Liam Takes Manhattan, Pia Does Hollywood, The Chosen: A Novella of the Elder Races, Planet Dragos (Elder Races, #9.8), Planet Dragos (Elder Races, #9.8), Lionheart (Moonshadow, #3), Spellbinder
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 176
Add It: Goodreads
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From NYT bestselling author Thea Harrison comes the explosive conclusion to The Unseen!

When Dragos and Pia move to the Other land of Rhyacia, they hope starting a new life will bring safety and freedom to their family, especially their young baby, Niall. And at first their new home seems perfect… but looks are deceiving.

Beneath Rhyacia’s idyllic façade an ancient, malevolent force lurks, waiting for the right opportunity to break free of its cage. When that opportunity comes, it strikes with devastating accuracy.

While Dragos has never backed down from a fight, he’s also never encountered an enemy like this one before. How can he fight a foe who doesn’t have a body? A foe who can invade and turn his own mind against him?

How can Dragos protect his family, when at any moment one of them may become the enemy?

As Dragos and Pia race against time to fight this unseen menace, they must also acknowledge a terrifying truth—when anyone can become the enemy, no one can be trusted.

An adversary who can trap the dragon poses a threat to everyone in Rhyacia, and that means no one is safe…

***This book does NOT end on a cliffhanger***

Excerpt

CACULATION FLASHED IN Dragos’s gold eyes. Pia framed his cheeks with her hands and watched the minute changes in his hard expression.

God, she loved his face. He was both handsome and scary at once. The sheer ruthlessness that could take over his hard features had a purity that fascinated her. He was not burdened in the slightest by the many things that consume modern males—self-doubt, misogyny, insecurity, fear of their own vulnerability, the need to soul search about their morality or question their existence.

For all Dragos’s irritating qualities (and as much as she adored him, she had to admit he had, shall we say, more than a few), his soul had a purity that she had never found in any other creature. If you were the rare, lucky person who achieved his inner circle, he would protect you to death and beyond.

If you were on the outside, he might deign to tolerate you, but he would keep watch. And if you showed yourself to be unreliable or traitorous in any way, God help you, because he didn’t forgive and he never forgot, and he might exercise all the patience in the world, but he would sure as hell find a way to get even.

And he was singularly untroubled by the possibility of going to war. In fact, she would swear he thrived on it. War involved tactics and strategy, a kill or be killed mentality, and sometimes it provided the opportunity to acquire loot or tribute, and on a very elemental level that appealed to the dragon.

More often than not these days, he chose to take the more peaceful route when he could, but she was convinced that was only because he now had a family. Dragos tried to avoid war out of courtesy to her, but if it was unavoidable?

You bet your ass he would relish the hell out of it.

And while Pia was pretty much Dragos’s opposite in just about every way, she was also pragmatic enough to acknowledge that sometimes war was unavoidable, as it was now .

“Two days, max, I think,” he said after a thoughtful moment. Focusing on her, he added gently, “Maybe sooner, but I can’t promise. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”

Momentarily at a loss for words, she shook her head and pressed her lips to his hard mouth. His lips softened and caressed hers, so she lingered, helpless to pull away, drawing on the comfort of the moment as hard as she had drawn on the hug with Liam.

Here was the magic they created between them: time fell away, danger was inconsequential, and all the tragedies in the world became bearable. As long as she had her mate, she could survive anything.

But even the best of kisses had to end sometime.

As she reluctantly pulled away, she told him in a husky voice, “Two days is a freaking miracle compared to when I thought you were dead.”

“I understand.” His reply was just as husky. He cleared his throat and looked as if he might say more, but just then the muscles in his big body twitched, and fury clenched his face and body.

“Oh, no, no.” She gripped his shoulders with frantic strength as if she would hold him into his body by sheer emotion. “I’m not done talking yet—”

“Get off,” he snarled.

She recoiled—he had never talked to her in such a vicious tone of voice before—and lost her balance and slid off his lap. As she scrambled to her feet, she stared at him…

…and watched the fury in his gold eyes fade to amber. Dragos’s feral viciousness faded as well. Oh, no, baby. No.

“Lady wife,” said the thing in Dragos’s deep voice. “How delightful to see you again. Our previous conversations were cut far too short.”

Chronicles of Rhyacia

Elder Races

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

Sunday Spotlight: July 2021

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!

About Thea Harrison

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Thea Harrison resides in Colorado. She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen, and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter. She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child.

Thea writes in a variety of genres, including the award-winning paranormal Elder Races series and the Game of Shadows novels, and is currently at work on various new projects in sci-fi fantasy, paranormal and contemporary romance.

She adores animals and currently resides with two small dogs that have very large personalities.


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Guest Review: My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

Posted December 7, 2020 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: My Last Duchess by Eloisa JamesReviewer: Tracy
My Last Duchess by Eloisa James
Series: The Wildes of Lindow Castle #0.5
Also in this series: Wilde in Love, Too Wilde to Wed, Born to Be Wilde (The Wildes of Lindow Castle #3), Born to Be Wilde (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #3), Say Yes to the Duke
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: October 27, 2020
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Third person
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 432
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James returns to the Wildes series with a prequel about the Wilde children's parents, Hugo, Duke of Lindow, and Ophelia, Lady Astley.

Every Duke needs a Duchess...

Hugo Wilde, the Duke of Lindow, has a drafty castle, eight naughty children—and no wife. Ophelia, Lady Astley, has a fine house, one well-behaved daughter—and no husband.

Hugo takes one look at Ophelia and loses his heart, but she doesn’t want more children or a castle. She takes one look at him and heads for her carriage.

Desperate to find a duchess, Hugo identifies an appropriate lady to woo. Yet when he meets Ophelia again, the duke realizes that he will marry her, or no one.

Now he faces the greatest challenge of his life.

He must convince Ophelia that their blazing sensuality, his exquisite castle, and his eight charming children add up to a match made in heaven.

When duke finds his duchess, can he win her heart?

A Wildes series prequel about the Wilde children’s parents, Hugo, Duke of Lindow, and Ophelia, Lady Astley.

Hugo Wilde isn’t interested in getting married again.  His twin sister, Louisa, makes him think seriously about that choice as he has eight children, and they have no mother.

Hugo was in love with his first wife and they had three sons together. Unfortunately, she died.  His second wife he married just so his sons could have a mother – he was not in love with her.  She ended up having an affair and leaving her four small children with Hugo and obtaining a divorce (scandal!). He also had a ward that he adopted so that brought the children total up to eight.

He finally agrees with Louisa and heads off to London to find someone to mother his children.  He’s a duke so it won’t be that hard to find another wife, so he thinks.  All the women are a little leery of him as they know how many children he has and the divorce doesn’t help matters. Though Hugo has no plans to fall in love again, the minute he sees Ophelia he is sunk.  It is said that Wilde men fall in love at first sight and this is proving correct in the case of Hugo and Ophelia.

Ophelia is a widow with a two-year-old daughter. She loves being independent (she has more than enough money) and she loves being a true mother to her daughter.  She’s not interested in getting married again and she’s certainly not interested in taking care of 8 children who aren’t her own – even though the oldest 4 are older and away at school.

Hugo isn’t taking no for an answer and pursues Ophelia. They end up spending one night together and Hugo wants only her. Unfortunately, Ophelia is steadfast in her refusal and Hugo has no choice but to move on.  What he moves on to doesn’t make him happy, but hopefully will be a good choice for the many children whom he loves beyond all else. When Ophelia finds out he’s moved on, she starts to rethink her decision, but it may be too late.

This was a short but very sweet novella that I enjoyed immensely.  When I read romances about adult children I’m not normally interested in reading about their parents.  In this case, I was curious about Hugo – especially after hearing about his past wives. I wanted to know how he had met his third and final wife and I’m so glad I read it!

Hugo was charming, Ophelia was lovely, and their story was adorable.  I loved the children as they were so freaking cute! The questions the younger ones had for their potential mother were hilarious and they were so very serious about them, you couldn’t help but want to hug them.

Overall a great story and one that’s not to be missed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Guest Lightning Review: Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden

Posted August 17, 2020 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Lightning Review: Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy EdenReviewer: Tracy
Blind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: February 23, 2020
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: First person
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 91
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars

Hi, I’m Jordyn. I flew from New York to Culver City, CA to interview for the job of a lifetime.

When I walked into The Bookstore, I only wanted a steamy romance or two to help pass the time before my big meeting.
I walked out with a gorgeous and sweet, cinnamon roll who was more funny and charming than all of my favorite book boyfriends combined, which definitely wasn’t the plan.

But Mike was irresistible, and the time we spent together exploring Culver City was more fun than I’ve had in a long time.

But I’m smart enough to know if something feels too good to be true, it probably is.

I mean, Happily Ever Afters are just for fairy tales and romance novels … right?

When Jordyn arrives in Culver City, CA for a job interview she only expects to be there a couple of days.  She makes her way to a bookstore to find a couple of steamy romances and ends up meeting a man who loves to read romance novels and is cute as well.

Though she would normally never accept a lunch invitation from a strange man, she is intrigued by this man, Mike, and agrees to lunch.  It starts with lunch and they end up spending the day together.  But what can come from just one day of enjoying each other’s company, especially when one of them might be hiding something.

This was a recommendation from Holly and I am so glad I read it!  It’s just a short, adorable story. I really loved both Jordyn and Mike in this book.  They were so perfect together and I loved seeing their charming romance blossom. Eden had the characters playing off of each other so well and I enjoyed their banter so much.

If you’re in the mood for short, sweet and fun, this is definitely one you want to read.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Review: Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews

Posted March 13, 2020 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Magic Mourns by Ilona AndrewsReviewer: Rowena
Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #3.5
Also in this series: Magic Shifts, Magic Shifts, Magic Binds, Magic Bites, Magic Strikes, Iron and Magic, Magic Triumphs, Magic Bites, Magic Bleeds , Magic Burns, Magic Strikes , Magic Slays , Gunmetal Magic , Magic Rises , Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, Magic Dreams, Magic Slays, Gunmetal Magic, Magic Gifts, Magic Rises, Magic Tests, Magic Stars, Magic Shifts, Magic Steals, Magic Breaks, Magic Breaks, Iron and Magic, Magic Binds, Magic Triumphs , Magic Triumphs, Magic Claims
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: May 17, 2011
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 100
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2020 Goodreads Challenge
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-half-stars

Andrea Nash of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid - with an assist from her friend, Kate Daniels - tries to figure out why the giant three-headed dog who guards the gates of Hades is sniffing around Atlanta.

* Originally published in the anthology, Must Love Hellhounds.

Magic Mourns follows Magic Strikes and features Andrea Nash and Raphael Medrano. Andrea is Kate’s best friend and Raphael is a werehyena shapeshifter who has made his interest in Andrea known. Bouda shapeshifters aren’t known for being choosy when it comes to bedmates and Andrea doesn’t want to be another notch on Raphael’s post so she’s keeping her distance. When Andrea gets a call that a big ass three-headed dog is chasing a shapeshifter, it’s her job to go and investigate. The whole way to the scene, she’s hoping the shapeshifter isn’t Raphael but of course it’s Raphael. Working together brings Raphael and Andrea together and seeing them try to figure their shit out made for a delightful reading adventure.

I thought this was a quick but cute read and I enjoyed getting to know both Andrea and Raphael a little more. They were both fabulous characters from Magic Strikes and seeing them come together in love was fun. My heart went out to Aunt B, Raphael’s Mom and though we’re not completely done with these two, I thought this was a great introductory story for them. I’m super hooked into everything Kate Daniels right now and they did their thing with this one so yes, I definitely recommend.

4 out of 5

Kate Daniels


four-stars


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Review: Rock Chick Reawakening

Posted July 26, 2019 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Rock Chick ReawakeningReviewer: Holly
Rock Chick Reawakening by Kristen Ashley
Narrator: Susannah Jones
Series: Rock Chick #0.5
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: January 3, 2017
Format: eBook, Audiobook
Source: Purchased, Audible Escape
Point-of-View: Alternating
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 207
Length: 5 hours and 8 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

From New York Times bestselling author, Kristen Ashley, comes the long-awaited story of Daisy and Marcus, Rock Chick Reawakening. A prequel to Kristen’s Rock Chick series, Rock Chick Reawakening shares the tale of the devastating event that nearly broke Daisy, an event that set Marcus Sloane—one of Denver’s most respected businessmen and one of the Denver underground’s most feared crime bosses—into finally making his move to win the heart of the woman who stole his.

Rock Chick Reawakening is a prequel novella by Kristen Ashley featuring Daisy and Marcus Sloan, set in the Rock Chick world. For some reason I thought Daisy and Marcus got a full-length novel. I’m glad that wasn’t the case. This novella was perfect for them. I’ve read it before, but I decided to give the audio a try after I saw it on the Audible Romance Package. I really enjoyed the narrator and fell right into the story again.

With the exception of Rock Chick Regret, I don’t really care for the Rock Chick series. They’re all zany and over-the-top, which can work for Ashley, but doesn’t in this case. They border on being too campy and ridiculous for me to enjoy. Still, I love Daisy in the novels and I was so glad to see her get a novella of her own. She and Marcus are together throughout the series, so seeing how they came to be was great.

Daisy grew up poor in a small Southern town. Her mama was the town slut, and people never let her forget it. Until a kind, wealthy woman, Miss Annamae, her mom worked for took Daisy under her wing. She taught her all the lessons a Southern lady should know. She also gave her an extremely valuable gift – a set of pearls – so that Daisy would have the means to escape her mother when the time came. Daisy took advantage of that and grabbed a bus to Colorado, where she turned to stripping to make money. Daisy is fine with who she is – brash, bold and happy about it. Until she’s violently attacked and loses her confidence.

Marcus has wanted Daisy from the moment he set eyes on her, but he had to focus on other things and didn’t feel like he could pursue her. Until the attack left her vulnerable, and he could no longer stay away. He wants to put Daisy in a castle and protect her, but first he has to convince her he’s a Knight in Shining Armor, and not a frog.

This is a difficult story to read at times. Daisy is such a bright, shining light in the beginning. I loved her confidence and how well she accepts who and what she is. She doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her making money as a stripper – hell, she was able to buy a Porche her first month – and she’s good with how she dresses and who she is.

I looked like Dolly Parton impossibly created a love child with Peg Bundy (no, I rocked that look).

Then she’s attacked and loses her confidence. Though Ashley tends to write in a lighter fashion, the themes in this novel are dark. My heart broke for Daisy.

And I was finally getting it. Finally. They treated me like trash because that was what I was.

Marcus isn’t living his life 100% in the light. A lot of his business interests are illegal (though Ashley doesn’t go into much detail about what that means). But I really loved the way he was with Daisy. He worked hard to pull Daisy out of a bad time in her life. He was strong and supportive, and his actions really touched me. He doesn’t want Daisy to be anything but what she is. He loves her big hair and brash personality.

“I’ve been waiting thirty-five years for you to come into my life, Daisy,” he whispered fiercely.

View Spoiler »

Although this isn’t a perfect story, it’s sweet and touching. It really worked for me.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Rock Chick

four-half-stars


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