Review: Ancient Blood by Barbara Edwards

Ancient Blood by Barbara Edwards

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Finding Rhodes End Book Two

After narrowly escaping a stalker’s vicious attack, Lily Alban is left with the ability to see human auras. After moving to the tiny hamlet of Rhodes End, she finally feels safe, and against her better judgment, falls in love. But she soon discovers the man she loves is not a man at all.

As a botanist, werewolf Cole Benedict has dedicated his life to researching healing herbs to find a cure for Lycanthropy. He resists his attraction to Lily to protect her from the beast inside him. But when Lily’s stalker threatens her again, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if that means embracing the instincts of his wolf.

Together they must use extraordinary gifts to catch Lily's stalker before he attacks again. But will revealing their inner-most secrets to one another destroy their growing love or save them both?


Clare C’s Review

Ancient Blood refers to the bloodlines of the werewolves in a small New England town. The novel follows three couples as they navigate the varying effects of these bloodlines on their relationships. Steve is a scientist who has accidentally given himself vampiric appetites. He needs to cure himself so he can be with Mel. Cole had a bad experience with a wife decades before, so he’s reluctant to claim Lily as his mate. Mike and Jane must combat her brother’s prejudice and borderline insanity.

There’s a lot going on here for one novel. The change in character point of view every few pages isn’t confusing, but it doesn’t let the reader get much insight into each person as they’re introduced and their respective stories unfold. The plot is predictable and the writing moves at a sedate pace. Events and emotions are told rather than shown. Lily has the ability to see auras, but that special ability doesn’t seem particularly helpful in finding the bad guy. In places, the writing is disjointed. Some sentences seemed to come out of nowhere, as if a sentence or two had been removed and nothing was smoothed over to bridge the gap.

The idea behind Ancient Blood and the town of Rhodes End is interesting and the plot has merit. Perhaps if the novel had focused on one set of characters, the author would have been able to develop the story and characters a little better.

2 ½ Tea Cups!

Review: Passion’s Claim by Cara Carnes

Passion’s Claim by Cara Carnes

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Erotic Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb
Come play with me.

Autumn Scott succumbs to temptation and journeys to The Brigade, a private BDSM resort, for another naughty weekend with sexy neighbor Kade Berges. She expects a chance to further explore her fantasies, but finds herself wanting more when Kade and his three friends push her boundaries and welcome her into their world.

Kade Berges hadn’t intended to share more than a few nights of passion with his insatiable New York neighbor, but thanks to meddling friends, he finds himself unwilling to accept anything less than Autumn’s full submission. Whether she’s ready remains to be seen.


Clare C's Review

This is book two of The Pleasure Brigade series. This story follows Autumn and Kade as he admits he’s interested in more than a fling. In the previous installment, Autumn enjoyed the attentions of Kade and his three closest Dom friends. You do not need to read the first one to like the second one. In this story, the three friends try to help Kade realize that Autumn is the woman for him.

The sex in this novella is scorching. You will need to crank up the air conditioning to avoid going up in flames. I think I need to have my eReader cleaned due to the smoke damage. Autumn is a submissive who appreciates the expert touches of any expert Dom, and Kade has a lot of Dom friends. Kade struggles a bit with watching, but that conflict didn’t drive the story.

It’s a novella, so don’t expect to spend time with the characters as they get to know one another. Pick this up if you love romantic erotica but you don’t require a full story. It’s a great beach read, but be sure to bring lots of sunblock!

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Blowing It Off by Lexxie Couper

Blowing It Off by Lexxie Couper

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Menage Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

A fire has destroyed the studio of glassblower Phoebe Masters. And she knows what that means—a visit from the arson investigators. The two men who reduced her heart to cinders. Men she’d hoped never to see again.

One wild weekend with Phoebe overwhelmed Will Bradley and Damon Hunt. Like wankers, they blew it off, burning any chance for a future with the talented beauty. The investigation gets them back in her life, but now they have to prove the three of them were meant to be together. Their strategy?

A body-blazing inferno none of them will ever be able to extinguish.


Clare C's Review

This novella is driven by the erotic scenes. Though there is a plot involving arson, it’s secondary to the rekindling of a relationship. When Will and Damon are around, Phoebe can only seem to think about sex. The sexual interplay between the three of them is intense and erotic, and it has a reverent edge. These three people love each other, but we have to figure that out from their sexual actions because very little time or attention is given to developing their relationship outside of the bedroom.

If you’re looking for a smoking-hot read to add some heat to your day, check out Blowing It Off.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Running Wilde by Chloe Lang

Running Wilde by Chloe Lang

Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand Publishing
Genre: Menage Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

Jessie learns what happens in Wilde, Nevada doesn’t stay secret for long, when one of the five brothers is involved, especially when he’s Dallas Wilde. With her job on the line, he’s much more trouble than she needs, but she can’t seem to resist.

Dallas Wilde is used to sweeping women off their feet, but since meeting Jessie, he can’t stop thinking about her. He vows to do whatever necessary to possess her for himself and his brothers. As an unseen menace inches closer, Jessie finds Dallas harder and harder to resist.



Clare C's Review

Book three in the Brothers of Wilde, Nevada, series centers on establishing Jessie’s relationship with Dallas, the third Wilde brother. Even though I haven’t read the first two in the series, I didn’t feel lost at all. The writing flows smoothly, and the overt friendliness welcomes everyone to the story. The main conflict—Jessie must fall in love with Dallas and consider a future with the five brothers—is resolved in his installment, and the overarching conflict with the mine is advanced.

The plot is simple, almost formulaic, as are the characters. I think that’s what made it so easy to slip into the middle of this saga. Parts of it, mostly the dialogue, felt rushed, as if it was just there to connect erotic scenes. For someone looking for a sinfully enjoyable ongoing story, Running Wilde fits the bill perfectly. The erotic scenes, quintessential cowboy BDSM, were scintillating and generated a good amount of heat. They furthered the plot and helped us to get to know the characters. This is a great read for those lazy days when you just want a little escapism.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Mercury Rising by Daisy Harris

Mercury Rising by Daisy Harris

Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Genre: Alternative Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

Take a sexy romp with the gods in this hilarious and hot ménage!
Over-extended - and closeted - charmer Mercury the Messenger struggles to accommodate all the factions of the Deities International Conference and Kibbitz. However, his skills at diplomacy stretch to the limit when the object of a chance tryst turns out to be his assistant, and his arranged fiancée arrives at the scene.

Dillon Rodriquez, Mercury's executive aide and a soon-to-be MBA student, refuses to be the closeted god's side-dish. But when an accident at the conference strands the god in the human world, Dillon agrees to act as his guide.

Traveling from San Diego down the Baha Coast to Cabo, Mercury experiences a side of life he never imagined, and he learns that if he wants to earn the love of the one man who matters, he has to stop trying to please everyone else.

Warning: contains male-male loving, male-female loving, male-male-female loving, male-male-male...well, you get the idea!


Clare C's Review

Three intertwined love stories in one novel—who wouldn’t love that? Add in the talented wordsmithing of Daisy Harris, and you have the makings for a fabulous escape.

Mercury is the typical old-fashioned type of people pleaser. He wants everyone to like him and he’s desperately afraid of coming out of the closet. Meeting Dillon forces him to reevaluate the cost of hiding his homosexuality from the pantheon of other gods and goddesses. Their story is touching and sweet, hot and cold, and bitingly realistic.

Woven into this story is the story of Vesta, the virgin goddess and Mercury’s fiancée. She fights her attraction to the Norse gods Thor and Loki as she tries to figure out why she agreed to marry a man she’d never met. The minor story of Peleus and Thetis, and the subsequent birth of Achilles, is of lesser importance. It might pave the way for a sequel, but if not, the conclusion still brings all the elements to a satisfying conclusion.

The mythological characters in Mercury Rising leap from the page in an entirely human manner that will have you turning pages far after the time you should have been asleep. Daisy Harris is a new-to-me author. I’ll be looking for more from this talented author.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!

      

Review: Vigilant by Michele Hart

Vigilant by Michele Hart

Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand Publishing
Genre: Sci-fi Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Alliance I-Marshal Weber hauls Yadira to her home planet and infiltrates the human-trafficking ring controlling her. But he finds himself unbearably attracted to his witness. A gift for detecting deception reveals she’s the next victim of a criminal industry.

Descending into shadowy worlds of slavery, Yadira endures a dark angel stalking her dreams and watches the quiet I-Marshal become dangerous in her defense. Everything about him moves her…except the memory of seeing him execute the most important man in her life. Shouldn’t she take vengeance? Delusions of a heavenly guardian affect her mind.

Slavers and demons plan to snatch her from Weber’s custody while he is uncovering connections, and Weber won’t hesitate to execute the guilty surrounding Yadira. Who but a son of fire can save her from fiends harboring hardcore fantasies of harming her?


Clare C's Review

Human trafficking is one of our dirtiest little secrets. In Vigilant, Weber is an I-Marshal whose current assignment is to stop a gang of bad guys from kidnapping the highly prized blonde-haired, blue-eyed women sought for sale. Yadira, a woman who was part of the gang, is his prisoner and his way to bust the ringleaders.

I’m not a huge fan of science fiction, but I found Vigilant easy to read. While some things were different from a contemporary piece, enough things were similar so that I didn’t feel lost or like I had to learn a new culture in order to understand the plot. Hart does a wonderful job of weaving vital information into the story in such a natural way. She has a friendly writing style that invites the reader into a wonderful, interesting, exciting world.

The characters were very well developed. I liked how Yadira grew as a person from the beginning to the end. She starts out as a sheltered person, but she really comes into her own and takes control of her own destiny. Weber’s journey was also riveting. As someone with supernatural powers, he’s jaded by what he can see about a person. Yadira makes him understand that his powers don’t have to keep him apart from people.

I liked the whole idea of angels, and I loved how Hart wove Dokiel into the story. Like Yadira, I couldn’t tell whether he was part of Weber or a separate being. It added another element of mystery and suspense.
Though the novel is longer, the pacing keeps it moving quickly. This is the first novel I’ve read by Ms. Hart, and I very much enjoyed the adventure. Whether or not you’re a sci-fi fan, you’ll enjoy this stirring, romantic adventure.

5 Tea Cups!

      

Review: Summer Loving by Cooper McKenzie

Summer Loving by Cooper McKenzie

Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

When Summer Ryan arrives in North Carolina for her sister’s wedding, the last thing she expects is to stay for more than a week. Her life is half a world away. Then Cole and Dawson claim her as their mate.

With their brothers claiming Spring and Winter as their mates they hope, but hardly expect to find their mate in the Charlotte Airport. She’s not surprised by their abilities, but before they can fully claim her as their own, an emergency call comes, demanding their return to help find a lost child. Summer agrees to go with them, and then she makes a demand she wonders if they’ll be able to fulfill.

Will Summer be able to give up her vagabond life for two shape-shifting Irish Wolfhounds? Will Cole and Dawson be able to commit to marriage as their brothers are doing?


Clare C’s Review

This installment of the Sanctuary series revolves around Summer, the sister of Winter and Spring, who finds her mates in a set of shape-shifting Irish Wolfhound twins. Summer is well-traveled and not at all surprised by the fact that her new honeys can become dogs.

The plot proceeds according to the cookie-cutter pattern of the series. They jump into bed, declare their undying love, and something meant to be tragic, but isn’t, happens. There were inconsistencies, such as the fact that Summer's need to treat Cole and Dawson as one-night stands vanishes without explanation. I was prepared to like it like a Lifetime movie, spotty premise and all, when something happened to make me lose any kind of respect for Summer and the guys. A young girl goes missing in the Smoky Mountains. A rain storm and night are coming on. As I’m thinking about hypothermia and black bears and worried parents, Summer stops the search and insists on having sex. Okay, Irish Wolfhounds as search-and-rescue dogs is a far-fetched idea. But if they’re going to go look for the girl, they should find her first and celebrate afterward. The rest of the story, which I probably would have liked even though it was hokey, lost its appeal to me after that.

The erotic scenes are very similar to those in Spring Comes to Sanctuary, and the characters of Summer, Cole, and Dawson aren’t really distinguishable from the other characters in the series. The friendly style of writing is on par with the other stories in the Sanctuary series, and Summer is a likeable character in the beginning.

I think perhaps Ms. McKenzie is getting tired of writing the series. While it didn’t exactly start out strong, it started out fun. I hoped the overarching Sanctuary plot would develop from there, but it’s remained static.

2 Tea Cups!

Review: The Vampire Who Loved Me by Theresa Meyers

The Vampire Who Loved Me by Theresa Meyers

Publisher: Harlequin Nocturne
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Dr. Rebecca Chamberlin hated nothing more than the vampires who had turned her loved ones into creatures of the night…until she became one herself. Now her experimental vaccine has become more urgent than ever, and has made her the target of vampire security chief Achilles Stefanos.

Built like a god with golden hair and an irresistible allure, Achilles made her feel passion the way no mortal man had before. Beck could no more deny her craving for him than she could the hated bloodlust in her veins. But when her vaccine fell into the wrong hands, Beck had a difficult choice to make—one that challenged everything she'd always believed….


Clare C's Review

Once again, Meyers has woven one heck of a story. Having read the first in the series (though that’s not necessary for you to thoroughly enjoy this second installment), I leapt at the chance to read the second one. While it was fast-paced enough for me to race to the end, I forced myself to read it slowly. Every single phrase is beautifully constructed, yet it’s not too poetic or flowery. I loved the way she describes everything from the setting to the characters’ emotions. This is a novel I can read repeatedly and find something new to enjoy each time.

The characters are just as riveting as they were in The Truth About Vampires. When Beck accidentally turns into a vampire, Achilles is assigned to be her mentor. As he falls for her, he realizes two things. First, she is the reincarnated soul of the woman with whom he imprinted (which is a deeper thing than marriage) centuries ago. Second, she has no intention to remain a vampire. She a brilliant scientist who wants to make a vaccine that will return people who were made into vampires without their consent back to humans.

Beck is a strong, intelligent woman, but she’s been burned by life. Achilles is a strong, intelligent man, and he’s been burned by life, too. If they open themselves up to love, which is difficult given their pasts, they can heal and grow together. Parts are heartbreaking and bittersweet, but it all comes out happily in the end.
The plot twists are fast and fun. Some were predictable, but they’re the kind of thing you enjoy because it just can’t happen any other way. Once again, the major conflict is resolved, but there’s a whole kettle of fish waiting to create more problems for future stories.

In The Vampire Who Loved Me, Meyers explores the theme of what it means to be human. Beck must take a serious look at her prejudices and preconceived notions so she can sort truth from misconception. In doing so, she discovers the difference between being human and being humane, and she opens herself up for love. The Sons of Midnight series is a must read for anyone who loves fantastic, adventure-filled vampire stories.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: Bound by Darkness by Buffy Christopher

Bound by Darkness by Buffy Christopher

Publisher: Sapphire Blue Publishing
Genre: BDSM Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

Lila Anderson’s is having visions of murdered women in the back alleys of San Francisco through the eyes of a man. She’s supposed to be a dominatrix, not a psychic! The man is Drake Bennett. Drake leads a solitary life as a vampire and when Lila invades his mind he wants her out.

Then a known murderer kidnaps Lila, and uses her life experience in bondage and domination to break her and turn her against Drake. Will the deep feelings of desire she has for Drake and their psychic link be enough to save Lila before it’s too late?



Clare C's Review

Bound by Darkness is not a romance novel. It is a horror novel with a romance in it. The majority of the sex consists of the use of BDSM for mental/physical abuse, torture, and rape. Both of the main characters are subject to these things. I quickly came to loath any scene where BDSM might be present because I knew someone was being tortured. It was not hot, erotic, or exciting. It’s like the author only saw BDSM as a way to show the abusive, dirty side of sex. It’s disheartening. As an unrepentant romantic, I don’t really want to see that kind of portrayal. No attempt was made to draw a contrast between the use of it as abuse and the use of it in a loving, consensual relationship.

As a horror story, the plot is interesting, though not original. Several times, especially in the first half of the novel, the narrative repeats details or over-explains things. It slowed down the narrative a bit, and it’s a long novel. I liked Lila and Drake, the main couple, but I didn’t love them. It seemed odd to me that, at times, Drake could sense Simon, one of the bad guys. Yet he never seemed to be able to stay on his trail when he was about to torture and murder someone, even Lila, with whom Drake has a psychic connection.

While the novel makes for a decent horror story, it’s not something you want to read if you’re looking for something erotic. There are some scenes between the principal players that are sweet and loving, but those are few and far between, and they do not include BDSM elements.

3 Tea Cups!