Tag: Stephanie Tyler

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
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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

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Guest Review: Defiance by Stephanie Tyler

Posted July 11, 2013 by Ames in Reviews | 0 Comments

defianceAmes’ review of Defiance by Stephanie Tyler.

Rebelling against her legacy as the MC’s princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC’s mercy when she’s dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she’s ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club’s leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru’s brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar’s response … and the inevitable fallout.

I haven’t read Stephanie Tyler before but I was intrigued by the motorcycle club premise and how it could be adapted to a quasi-apocalyptic world.

The Chaos was a series of storms that hit the world and resulted in a collapse of the way everything works. There is a blanket of ash and dust in the atmosphere which has disrupted everything. Sunlight is a rare thing in a post-Chaos world. The violent world of motorcycle clubs has been especially adept at dealing with the fallout. And Tru used to be part of that world. But she left shortly before the Chaos. It’s been three years and now she’s back. The reason she ran away is dead. But women need to belong to a man in the Defiance MC and Tru’s old flame is married. And the man they want her to bond with is unacceptable. So is the man she truly wants. Caspar, the bastard son of the MC president, a man who wants to set the club back on the right course.
So there’s a few things going on with this book. Tru likes to run away. When it comes to fight or flight, she’s flight all the way. She ran away from the MC when things at home got real bad, she ran back when the crap hit the fan after the Chaos. So Caspar is extremely leery of bonding with Tru. Plus there is so much history between them. Before Tru ran away, she was with the president’s son, his legitimate son. She’d always been drawn to Caspar though. Caspar is tolerated in the MC, but his father definitely gives preferential treatment to his two legitimate sons. Caspar wants to take over the club because he knows his half-brother isn’t a strong enough leader to take over when their old man dies. And their old man, the president? He’s rotten. Things have gotten bad and it looks like it’s going to get worse. The club was able to survive and even thrive after the Chaos because of the underground tunnel system they built. And they made a profit selling the underground tubes to other survivors. But now that things are somewhat settled down, the demand for the tubes is going down and the club needs a new money maker. Caspar doesn’t like the direction that’s going to take the club in.

I wanted to like Defiance more than I did. I thought the world-building was interesting. What didn’t work for me was the lack of internal dialog. I didn’t know what was going on the characters’ heads and so a few of the interactions left me feeling like I had whiplash. I don’t like feeling like that. Plus it kept me at a distance from our hero and heroine and I didn’t really connect with them.

Another thing was the ending. The big showdown between the old rule and the new was a big letdown. Anti-climactic.

Despite those issues, I do look forward to reading the second book. I want to see how things in the club work out. 3 out of 5.

This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here in e-format.

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Guest Review: Dire Needs by Stephanie Tyler

Posted March 22, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of Dire Needs (Eternal Wolf Clan #1) by Stephanie Tyler

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

The full moon is their mistress. They are predators of pleasure and pain. Feared by humans, envied by werewolves, the Dire Wolves are immortal shifters, obeying no laws but their own bestial natures. Once they were many, but now only six remain, a dangerous wolfpack forever on the hunt…

Rifter leads the pack, embracing the lifestyle and ethics of an outlaw biker even as he battles an ancient enemy who has become a new, powerful force. But with his Brother Wolf raging inside him, howling to be unleashed, he needs to satisfy his hungers. And when he meets a drop-dead gorgeous blonde drinking alone in a bar that caters to both human and inhuman, Rifter’s primal instinct is to claim her.

Gwen has her own desires, long unfulfilled. She hopes a passionate night with the leather-clad, Harley-riding biker will ease her suffering. The seizures that have wracked her body her entire life are incurable—and they’re killing her.

But none of that will matter if Rifter can’t stop the growing threat to them all–trappers who are determined to enslave humankind and use the Dire wolves as part of their nefarious plan.

Rifter and his 5 fellow “brothers” are Dire Wolves. They are the only remaining dire wolves after their deities killed all the other dire wolves thousands of years ago after they went a bit nuts and started massacring humans. The 6 remaining were then gifted with immortality and have been charged with keeping the regular wolf shifters and humans safe from evil. All of the dire wolves have some sort of power and they help each other out in times of need. The 6 wolves seem to have not a care. They let their wolves loose at the full moon (even though they can shift whenever they want) and they have sex. These seem to be the extent of these hard ass men. But there’s definitely more to them than that.

Gwen is a medical resident who is dying. She basically has been given a month to live. She constantly has seizures and the seizures are killing her. She heads out one night to just get drunk and ends up meeting Rifter. They immediately head home to Gwen’s but a seizure stops anything from happening. Rifter, having the power to dreamwalk, gets into Gwen’s head and it almost seems to bond them in a way. After that Rifter just seems to know when she’s in trouble. When the bad guys go after Gwen Rifter is there to take her back to their mansion and protect her from evil.

The evil comes from witches practicing the dark arts and weretrappers who want to take wolves and especially dire wolves out of the picture forever. One particular witch, Seb, is almost all powerful and is immortal as well. He is started working with the dark arts because of his family but he doesn’t want to take over the world like his sister did. Unfortunately his sister spelled him and he can’t get out of it and is forced to work against his one time friends, the dire wolves. So he’s raising a spirit army of dead dire wolves to help him defeat the dire wolves. How horrible to see all your dead friends and family coming after you whether they want to or not. The witches are also after Gwen as it turns out that she’s a half human/half dire wolf but her blood can actually kill the immortal dires. If they get her they can replicate her blood and find the one thing that will bring the dires down.

Ok, the premise of this story is one that is good. The good against evil plot I can totally get into as well as Rifter finding a mate in Gwen, which they thought would never happen as all the female dires were killed by the deities years ago. The deities telling the wolves (far into the book) that maybe they aren’t the only dire wolves around is a shock but definitely leaves things open for the other dire wolves to possibly mate themselves was a good intro into the next book. There was a lot of action in the story and I found the other dire wolves interesting as the book went on and I got to know them all a little better. The tough guy attitudes weren’t all they were about. Unfortunately so much of the way the story was constructed just didn’t work for me.

Where do I start? The beginning of the book is when Rifter and Gwen meet. Rifter states that he’s been in prison but then that is never mentioned again. Ever. Was he really or was that just him being an ass? IDK. They go home together but their thoughts aren’t on each other. Gwen goes into her room to take medication in the hopes that she won’t seize and starts thinking of her house, her life, her impending death…stuff that ends up giving us background. Then she does seize and Rifter helps her but then he starts thinking about his fellow dire wolves and their powers, etc. What? Instead of a sexy, possible tension ridden scene we get info dumps. I was frustrated. Did I really need to know all that information right then? No, it could have been given to me over the course of the story but it’s dumped all at once, and at a completely inappropriate time. The same info is also given to us multiple times in different parts of the book so the repetitiveness got old and proved that the initial info dump wasn’t necessary.

Besides the info dumping the book became more convoluted as it went on. There was almost too much happening and after a while it became unbelievable and this is a paranormal romance. I’ve already suspended belief – how much farther do I need to take it?

Near the end the deities end up coming to help the dire wolves but they’ll only grant the dires one wish – only one thing that they can help them with. What do they choose? To save Gwen. Now, I get that Gwen gives all the dires hope that they too can mate in the future but let’s think about this. You’re trying to save the world, in a roundabout kind of way, you’ve got a witch that is immortal and causing a boatload of trouble and you have to find a way to take him down. You’re at a loss as to how to kill him and end up saving everyone…and you choose to save the girl. Now maybe it’s just me, but frankly I would have said – kill Seb and all our troubles will go away. Ok, maybe I’m not being romantic enough but still – there was your solution! *sigh* IDK, maybe it was just one too many eye-rolling moments for me.

In this story Rifter and Gwen do get their HEA. Unfortunately it was hard to concentrate on their romance when so many other things were going on. The impending disaster with the spirit army that they were fighting against is left hanging and didn’t conclude at all. I’m sorry to say that this book was just ok and mostly didn’t work for me. It had it’s good parts but the parts I didn’t like far outweighed the parts I did.

Rating: 2 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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

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What I Read Last Week

Posted March 12, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 15 Comments

Good Morning!
Did you all have a nice weekend? I know for me the time change made yesterday the shortest day ever! I have no idea where the time went!
So…the refrigerator? Not purchased yet. Can you believe it? I finally decided which fridge to get and my hubby is now not sure that’s the one he wants. Wait, you said choose between these two and you’d be happy either way. What happened to that? lol He now wants the opposite fridge from the one I picked. Why? Because the one he wants has a bottom freezer bar that lifts when you pull it. I shit you not that’s why he wants the fridge. I said, “Um, hon, you know on the other one where the bar doesn’t lift? That one doesn’t lift and the freezer still opens!  It’s amazing! And we save $800.00!” (Granted it’s a larger fridge so you pay for that too be STILL!) So, we’re at an impasse and hopefully we’ll figure it out this week. *sigh*
I’ve been thinking about getting pictures of the girls for a while and finally went and did it. I realized that the only pictures I’d gotten of them for years (other than the ones I take which are crap) are their school pictures. I needed some with them together and boy am I glad I did. These turned out better than expected and I’m so happy. I have a ton of other poses but these are definitely my favorites. I have to say, they clean up well, don’t they?
So what did I read this week?
I started the week with Black Ties and Lullabies by Jane Graves. This one I read for The Book Binge so will let you know when my review posts. The book is about a multi-millionaire and his female bodyguard. She’s rough and tumble and not girly at all. He goes for the sexy blondes with huge…attributes. They end up having anger sex and she ends up pregnant. The story is about both of them coming to terms with being parents and eventually realizing that they love the other. I had a few issues with this one but overall all a pretty good story. 3.5 out of 5
Next was Dire Needs by Stephanie Tyler. Also read for The Book Binge. The story followed a pack of Dire wolves – the last of their kind – and the head of their pack who meets a human and realizes she his mate. She ends up being half dire wolf as she is actually the daughter of one of the pack. The pack also fights for humanity against evil witches. This one I had a ton of issues with. I liked the premise and what the story was trying to achieve but the story itself didn’t work for me. 2 out of 5
On Thin Ice by Jessica Lee was my next read. I’ll be reviewing this one this week so keep your eyes peeled. 🙂
Blame it on Bath by Caroline Linden is another I’ll be reviewing this week so watch for that one as well.
Defying the Odds by Kele Moon was next. I read a few reviews of this book a while back so decided to try it out. The story is about Melody who has divorced her abusive husband and is now trying to make a life for herself in a new town. She’s a waitress and buys Clay a piece of pie on Thanksgiving. That pie leads to the two falling in love but the story of how it happens is really great. Now some folks had an issue with the fact that she came from an abusive relationship but had no problem with the fact that Clay was a UFC and he was a big muscular man. I personally didn’t have a problem with this at all. Her husband had not been a muscular man and had come off as charming when he was really a snake. Clay was huge and not too talkative (at first) but he had a heart of gold. It just showed us that it really doesn’t matter what’s on the outside – it the good or evil that’s inside. I did have a problem with the hick speak.  It tended to get old especially with the multitude of “ain’t’s” that were being thrown around. Good book. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week: Concubine by Jill Knowles. This is the story of Korai, a country at war with Zandria, a neighboring country. One of the princes of Korai, Kael, doesn’t understand the reasons his father the king let the original dispute get to the point of war – especially since Korai ended up with a lot of casualties. Kael’s father meets with the king of Zandria and gives certain things to Zandria as a type of penance and shocks Kael to death when he gives HIM to the Warlord of Zandria…who is a man! gasp! Oh, and half demon. Kael is rightly pissed but soon realizes that he’s not all that opposed to sex with Taren, the warlord. The story is about Kael and Taren’s relationship but also Kael coming to terms with who he is now that he’s a concubine and the love/hate that he feels for his father for putting him in that position and knowing he can never return to his country. There’s also a subplot of suspense of someone trying to kill Kael. I enjoyed this book so much. This was BDSM lite set in a fantasy world and almost everything about it just worked for me. The emotion, the eroticism…man! It was really good and one I would definitely recommend. 4.5 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!

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Guest Author (+ a Giveaway): Stephanie Tyler – The Twilight Thing

Posted March 9, 2012 by Holly in Giveaways, Promotions | 32 Comments

Today paranormal romance author Stephanie Tyler is here to celebrate the release of Dire Needs, book one in the Eternal Wolf Clan series.

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The Twilight Thing (or, How I wanted the wolf to win) by Stephanie Tyler

I was at a book club meeting with Book Obsessed Chicks a couple of months back and they asked me what my inspiration was for my new Eternal Wolf Clan series.

One of my inspirations might seem a little odd, but it would make sense once you’ve read the book. So I can’t really give it away but suffice to say, my daughter’s seizures were a partial inspiration for the book. If you’re really interested and you’ve read the book, or you don’t mind spoilers, do the wiki page for seizures and you’ll find it there.

My other big inspiration was the Twilight Books, but especially book 2, New Moon. Because OMG – Jake! First of all, if you know my RS at all, you know I have a special affinity for that name but second, hello wolf! Maybe it’s because I came to the books after the movies – although I read the books first, I couldn’t help but comparing the leads in the trailer – Edward, pale and pasty (I’m sorry – I like vamps but in my mind, vamps don’t look like that) and Jake’s wolf. OMG! Huge. Furry. Big teeth. Protective and growly. ALPHA!

In my mind, there was no competition at all. And after finishing the series, I was really angry Bella chose Edward. I remember someone asking me if I really thought the wolf would win Bella’s heart…and I guess the answer was, well, anything could happen. And the wolf got gypped.


So, what’s your preference, wolves or vamps? Really, I won’t mind if you say vamps…but Rifter, the hero from Dire Needs, that released this past Tuesday, just might.

New York Times Bestselling author Stephanie Tyler writes what she loves to read – romantic suspense novels starring military heroes and paranormal romance novels, all complete with happy endings. She also co-writes as Sydney Croft. She lives in New York with her husband, her kids and her crazy Weimaraner, Gus.

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I have to go with Stephanie on this. Edward may have been hotter in the books, but Jacob stole the show in the movies. After seeing the 2nd movie I thought Edward who?

We have a copy of Dire Needs to giveaway. Leave a comment on this post answering Stephanie’s question from above for a chance to win. Contest ends March 13 @ 11:59pm. Please note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible. US and Canada only. 


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

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