Tag: Paige Cuccaro

Guest Review: Werebiker by Paige Cuccaro

Posted September 13, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Werebiker by Paige CuccaroReviewer: Tracy
Werebiker by Paige Cuccaro
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: September 12th 2017
Genres: Paranormal Romance
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two-half-stars

Years after she thought she left town for good, Jillian is back and has enlisted the help of her older brother’s ex-best friend (and the man who broke her heart), Jack, to track down her sister-in-law, who’s fallen in with a rival biker gang—but Jack knows they’re werewolves, and that he has to protect Jillian at any cost, even if she hates him.

Jill is shopping for a motorcycle when she runs into Jack, her brothers ex-best friend.  He refuses to sell her a bike when she tells him what she wants it for.  Her brother is coming home from his military service and his wife is MIA.  Jill has found out that she’s been hanging around an MC called the Hellhounds.  When Jack finds out he’s determined to keep her away from the Hellhounds but Jill is too determined to let it go.

Jack knows that the Hellhounds are bad because he once was one.  The night before he was set to take off to basic training with his best friend, Jill’s brother, he was attacked and turned into a werewolf.  The guys in the Hellhounds have a way of mesmerizing women so that they never want to leave their side.  This is what has happened to Jill’s sister-in-law, Carrie.  Despite Jack’s warnings Jill makes bad decision after bad decision going after Carrie but there’s only one way to get her back to her brother’s side and that’s to find the cure for the “virus” that has infected the Hellhounds.

This story had an interesting blurb and premise so I thought I’d give it a try.  Unfortunately there was a lot about it that just didn’t work for me.  First, Jack and Jill’s antagonism toward each other – it just didn’t feel authentic.  Yes, they had every reason to be mad at each other but it felt forced.  Jack also did everything in his power to keep Jill away from the Hellhounds and she was so freaking stubborn she put herself into trouble more than once and had to be saved.  It annoyed me that she was being so stupid!

When it came to the romance – it fell flat for me.  Jack and Jill (don’t even get me started on the names!) had kissed at one point but Jack had walked away.  Jill’s feelings were hurt but she’d never given up hope that they could one day be together.  Jack wants to stay away from her because of what he is but can’t seem to do it.  The romance ended up feeling rushed, especially at the end, and I just wasn’t feeling it.

Overall the story is mildly entertaining, but I can’t say that I recommend this book.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

two-half-stars

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Guest Review: From Here to Eternity by Paige Cuccaro

Posted March 17, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Tracy’s review of From Here to Eternity by Paige Cuccaro.

Love never dies…but apparently Rachel has.

Waking up to her obituary in the news and no recollection of the past few weeks, Rachel turns to her husband, Nate. He is the inventor of CYANAs–vessels that look exactly like humans and can store a person’s memories…and maybe even the soul. But the answers Nate has are not the answers Rachel wants to hear.

When he arrives home, Rachel doesn’t recognize the man who claims to be her husband. But there’s something about him that tugs at her heartstrings, even as her distrust grows. Can Nate convince Rachel to fall in love with him all over again? Especially once she realizes what he’s done…and what it means for their future?

In a futuristic world with advanced technology Rachel Burns’ husband has created a way to almost completely recreate a human being. When Rachel wakes up one day she knows something’s not right. She can’t quite put her finger on it but she knows that something’s wrong. Using her Connect Wear glasses (which are used to read a web paper and to make phone calls) she finds her own obituary. That freaks her out to be sure. Rachel knows she just needs to talk to her husband and best friend, Nate, as he will have the answers. When she calls her husband though he doesn’t sound like her husband.

When Nate rushes home Rachel is wary of the man. He says he’s her husband Nate but he doesn’t look like the man she remembers, even though she’s not sure she can remember exactly what Nate looks like. When Nate starts to explain things to her Rachel’s not sure she wants to hear what he has to say but she’s doesn’t know what else to do.

Nate, who is this brilliant scientist, has made a robot-like beings called CYANA’s (CYbernetic ANthropoid Automatons) that can look exactly like humans and even have their memories – they have everything of theirs, right down to their DNA. Rachel actually did die and Nate downloaded her memories into a CYANA. Rachel, however, has a real issue with a robot taking over her life. Yes, she feels like herself but she can do things she never had before and that freaks her out. Even before her death she had an issue with the moral ramifications of what he was doing (even though there were no actual working models of the CYANA’s) and now she was a machine. Nate is so happy to have her back but Rachel’s holding back.

Then there’s Nate’s work. He works at a university and technically the equipment he uses belongs to them – which would include Rachel. Not only that but if word got out about her she would be questioned, examined, poked and prodded like a “thing” rather than a human and Nate won’t allow that. He plans to protect her at all costs.

This was a really interesting story. I’ll admit that science isn’t really my thing but thinking about the possibilities and yes, the moral ramifications of the CYANA’s really got my brain moving. I think I might have felt like Rachel did at first – which was to be freaked out that she was dead but yet…alive, kind of. Rachel had to really examine what makes up a human – is it just blood and bones or is it what’s in your mind? Since she had all of her memories what did that make her? IDK – I’m not sure I’d made up my mind by the end of the story.

Besides Nate having to get Rachel to believe that all would be well and that he was who he said he was there were other issues as well. Nate has a huge secret that comes out but I won’t tell you what it is.  There was an issue with the CIA and the CYANA’s but that’s kind of an addition to the story that could have been left out, imho. IDK, maybe the author was thinking of future books and it ties in but it just seemed superfluous to me. There was also a nosey reporter that I wanted to kick as he was a bit too nosey.

The story was very short (at just 86 pages) for such an intricate subject but it was good. I liked the characters and setting, the subject and the action. I did feel a bit disappointed in the end as I would have liked to have learned more but it was still pretty satisfying.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Entangled Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

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What I Read Last Week

Posted February 25, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 4 Comments

Another Happy Monday to you!

I wish I could say that my life is incredibly exciting and relate all that happened recently to you but yeah, my life isn’t that exciting. It seems like we’ve been homebodies lately and haven’t really done much. I love my home so I love being there so that’s a good thing.

We did see a few movies that were good – Warm Bodies, The Impossible and the Franco Zefirelli version of Romeo and Juliet. My oldest just finished reading Romeo and Juliet in her 9th grade English class (do ALL 9th grade English classes read that? I know mine did) and the teacher had only shown bits and pieces of the movie to the kids. My oldest wanted to see the whole thing and was a blubbering mess by the end. That used to be my favorite movie when I was in high school and watched it about a thousand times (I had a huge crush on Leonard Whiting) so it made me smile to see her enjoy it so much.

We finally got the date for my youngest’s black belt test and it’s March 30th. She’s very excited and has been working hard on her form and techniques. She also has to learn some Korean and learn the Korean national anthem which I think is pretty cool but not all that easy. lol

Ok, on to what I read this week:

I started off the week with Wicked Lies by Karina Cooper. This is an in-between story in the Dark Mission series. I haven’t read any of the other books but this one intrigued me. The story is about tech guy Jonas who helps save Danny after he’s captured and beaten. He manages to get him out of the holding facility and while he’s escaping they talk. The pair become attracted to each other and when they meet they have a hard time keeping their hands off of each other. The story is set in a world that I wasn’t familiar with and frankly while I really liked the story between the two men I think it might have been even better had I read the rest of the series. I’ll post my review for this one next week. 3.5 out of 5   

Next up was Alien Overnight by Robin L. Rotham. My friend gave me a bag of books that she didn’t want any longer. When I pulled this one out I kind of rolled my eyes at the cover but the back blurb made me laugh so I read it. The story is about alien’s who are on earth to try and gather women to take back to their planet to bear their children as their species is dying out. One alien realizes that one of the women is a half human/half Garathan and wants to make her his mate. The story is about Monica’s transformation into this being and her dealings with her two mates, Kellen and Shauss. The story wasn’t as ridiculous as I first believed it would be which was nice and parts of it were enjoyable. I DIDN’T enjoy the forced seductions but of course the heroine ended up LOVING them. Ug. lol 2.5 out of 5  

A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara was my next read. This story was about 2 sisters, their parents (especially their mother) who want them married to titles and the many different men. There’s the man that 1 sister is in love with but he wants to marry the other. There’s the 2nd sisters best friend who wants her, an Earl that gets married to sister 1 through compromise and then there’s the villain in all of that. If you want the full story you can read my review here. 3.5 out of 5 

From Here to Eternity by Paige Cuccaro is a story that kind of has a fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal/futuristic feel to it. I’m obviously not sure how to label it but it was good. Rachel wakes up to find her obituary in the newspaper and a man who calls her his wife but she can’t remember. The story involves automatons and deals with the question of what exactly makes us…us. It was a good one I just wish it had been longer. 3.75 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge) 

Fool’s Gold by Cassandra Dean is a western historical about a couple who have secretly lusted after each other but have a contentious relationship. They get stuck in a blizzard together and truly discover who the other person is – in and out of bed. The story was cute but very short. 3 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge) 

Wild Invitation by Nalini Singh is an anthology that has 4 stories and includes 2 stories that were previously printed in anthologies and 2 brand new stories. The 2 stories that I had previously read were wonderful, as they were the first time I read them (Beat of Temptation with Nate & Tamsyn and Stroke of Enticement with Annie and Zach) and I loved revisiting them. The two new stories, Declaration of Courtship & Texture of Intimacy, were really good as well and definitely worth reading. 4.5 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge) 

Seeing is Believing by Erin McCarthy is the 3rd book in the Ohio’s Most Haunted Town series. It’s been 6 years since the last full novel but it was great to be back in Cuttersville. This story is about Piper who in the previous book was only 8 years old. Now she’s grown and is teaching kindergarten. She’s still seeing ghosts and trying to ignore that fact. When her childhood fantasy comes back to Cuttersville in the form of Brady Stritmeyer Piper goes for the gold. They start an affair but soon things get series and neither is sure what to do. I really liked this book. I loved Piper and Brady together and loved seeing the characters from previous books. 4.25 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge) 

Last for the week was Spider Sense by Charlie Richards. This was a really good story about Haben who is a tarantula shifter who finds his mate while helping out a friend. Lou is the parent of his dead partners son and the son has shifted into a lion. Haben is asked by a friend to go and help them all understand what’s going on but finds that Lou is his mate. Lou is freaked when he sees Haben in spider form and almost blows it. Then when Lou’s son gets kidnapped they need to find and save him. It was the best story I’ve read in this story so far and hopefully the next few in the series will be just as good. 4 out of 5 

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week: 
A Rainbow for Christmas by Mary Montague Sikes 
The Devil’s Triangle by Toni de Palma 
Immortal Ever After by Lynsay Sands

Happy Reading!

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