Review: Celestial Seduction by Jessica E. Subject

Celestial Seduction by Jessica E. Subject

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

At the end of his obligated commitment to the Space Service, Frey Berger decides to stay on Earth to further experience human emotions rather than return to Ginnun where his intended has already mated with another. Looking for real love and someone to accept him for what he is, Frey enlists in Madame Evangeline’s popular dating service. Although he does not understand the concept of a one-night stand, he hopes to find his perfect mate. If he fails, he risks being alone on Earth for the rest of his life.

Carrie Cooper’s husband divorced her for another woman who could provide him with children, leaving her with little self-confidence and no desire to let a man hurt her again. When her best friend convinces her to join a dating service, Carrie decides one night of passion is harmless since there’s no commitment after the night is over.

Although several misunderstandings nearly derail them before the date even begins, Frey and Carrie end up closer than they ever believed possible. Still, Frey needs to convince Carrie her perfect mate isn’t human at all, and that one night can lead to a forever love.


Lorien's Review

Frey refuses to return to his planet in Ginnun. After his intended mate left him for his best friend, he wants to find an Earth woman and experience an emotional relationship where it’s not allowed on his planet. Carrie has been through so much after her divorce. With an open-mind and heart, she decides to take the chance on a one-night stand.

Celestial Seduction is a great sci-fi romance story. An enjoyable read that holds an interesting plot with two likeable characters. With the help of Madame Eve’s 1NightStand dating service, Frey and Carrie are able to have a second chance at love. When the two meet, sparks fly. An instant connection between the two ill-fated characters ignites and continues to grow. If you’re a fan of romance and science fiction, don’t miss out on this wonderful story.

4 Tea Cups!

 

   

Review: The Music of Chaos by P. Kirby

The Music of Chaos by P. Kirby

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Albuquerque, New Mexico is home to a small population of demons, fey, and vampires, who are mostly well-behaved and disinclined to start trouble.

That's why the grey brethren, a vampire syndicate, assign Regan O'connell there. Regan is a wolfe, a secret operative for the brethren. Out-of-the-way Albuquerque is the perfect place for an operative whose diplomacy starts wars and who struggles with rudimentary magic.

But Regan attracts trouble like a black sweater invites white cat hair. First, a friend sets her up with tall, dark and sexy Jason lake. Jason is a holder, a member of an ancient order devoted to protecting mankind from things that go bump in the night; things like half-vampire Regan. And then there's the sudden population explosion of deranged lesser vampires. Next, there's the murder of a prominent businessman and the murder weapon is outlawed, chaotic magic.

The brethren issue an ultimatum: find the murderer or find a new job. And the deeper Regan digs into the mystery, the more Jason looks like her prime suspect. Except Regan is certain that Jason is neither a killer nor stupid enough to use a power that can rearrange the fabric of the universe. To prove his innocence and stay out of the unemployment line, Regan will have to tap into the ability she's long denied and find the order in chaos.


Dodie's Review

I really enjoy reading flawed but strong heroines, and Regan O’Connell fits that bill to a T. She's a powerful innate magic user, but throughout her long life, she's never quite figured out how to tap all her power. She's a half-vampire, but her mostly human body can't quite live up to the demands that preternatural abilities costs her. She tries valiantly to live up to all that her family and the grey brethren ask of her as wolfe in Albuquerque. Regan is tasked with untwisting several mysteries. She has the help of three close friends, the vampire Breas, the fairy Lex, and the elf Talis, and one should be enemy the holder Jason.

P. Kirby manages to craft this story into a modern, suspenseful, murder mystery; instead of reading like the paranormal joins a fantasy quest. I was captivated from the first page to the last.

5 Tea Cups!

      

Review: One Night With A Wolf by Rebecca Royce

One Night With A Wolf by Rebecca Royce

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Joseph Penn is a Werewolf who has come to New York City to celebrate his sister’s birthday. Having been turned against his will years earlier in a violent attack, he spends as little time as possible away from his secluded home. Sitting in the bar, waiting for his sister, he’s shocked when he receives an unexpected text from his old friend, Madame Evangeline, the owner of the exclusive dating service, 1Night Stand, telling him he’s being set up with a woman in that very bar.

Kaylee Post has lost her boyfriend, her job, and her self-confidence. Intending to celebrate her friend’s birthday at the Manhattan restaurant, she never expects instead to have a one-night stand with a wolf who will change her life in ways she can’t yet imagine.


Yadkny's Review

Madame Evangeline strikes again and her targets this time will soon realize how very much they need each other. It all started with a little misunderstanding...

Joseph was to meet his sister for her birthday party at a fancy restaurant, but instead finds himself having been duped into meeting a gorgeous woman. It's not the worst thing to have happened, but the knowledge of his “condition” is reason enough for caution. Upon closer inspection of the vanilla scented, wet dream before him and control is soon lost.

Kaylee's been through the wringer of life, but a reprieve is appreciated when it comes in the form of a birthday party invitation. When that proves false, Kaylee decides on a bold move that could land her a seriously sexy man... at least for one night.

That was one hell of a night with a wolf! Short and erotically sweet, this story delivers exactly what is promised in the title and a bit more than expected. Excellent follow-up with the characters after the night was over and paranormal romance readers will surely enjoy this story. Fans of Ms. Royce will want to read it and those who have yet to try one of her story's should start with this one.

3 Tea Cups!

Review: Driven by Rebecca Royce

Driven (The Warrior, #2) by Rebecca Royce

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Young Adult Romance

Heat Rating: 1

Blurb

My name is Rachel Clancy.

Forty-six years ago, life as humanity understood it ended. Armageddon. Well, that‟s what we call it, anyway. What other term works as well to describe the day the Vampires and Werewolves slaughtered nearly all of humanity?

For me, all of that happened so long ago I almost never think about it. I‟m much more concerned with what just happened and what will be occurring next.

Six months ago, when I turned sixteen, I changed the way life was conducted in the small portion of the planet I called home. I'm not sure exactly how any of it actually took place. When I let myself dwell on that time, which I don't very often, it usually feels like it was something someone else did. Like I wasn't there at all.

But I know that I was.

I have the scars to prove it. One of them on my cheek—long and jagged—out in the open to show the world I survived a Vampire attack. The other is hidden on the inside of my soul—not visible to anyone but me—and it was placed there by a boy, a Werewolf, who betrayed my innocence and will forever hold the title of being the first guy to break my heart.

It's May—we have started keeping track of the months again like they did before Armageddon Day. The weather is beautiful and warm in our tent city; which sits over the remains of Genesis, the habitat that I lived in for my first sixteen years of life.

I can't help but feel that something is coming. Something bad that we can't stop. I haven't told anyone about this sense I have. It's not like I'm psychic or anything. I've never been able to predict the future. I'm not even particularly good at figuring out what's going to happen to me next. But I can't let this go—not this time—and I'm wondering if I'm going to have to let someone know about the dread that is eating away at my stomach lining.

Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but I can feel a black cloud of death on the horizon, and it's going to swallow us all.



Dodie's Review

Oh, Rachel Clancy – how I’ve missed you in the short time since I read your last book. Rebecca Royce is a master at weaving in glimpses of the previous story into the new story, so that each book is a stand alone story. Even though I've read the previous book in this series, Initiation, you don't have to have read it to understand what's going on in Driven.

Driven is the story of Rachel finding her purpose in life. How to live to be more than just a Warrior, a girl, a daughter, a girlfriend, a human hiding from the monsters in the world. As an adolescent, Rachel also has to find her path to the adult woman she is meant to be. But she lives in a dangerous world, where nothing is constant, and she has to constantly learn how to stand on the shifting piles of sand that should be the bedrock foundation of her life. While everything swirls around her, it is the people in her life that are her bedrock foundation.

Rachel is sent on a journey with her boyfriend Chad. It is Chad that helped her find her way in the world again after her experiences in Initiation. Chad that she believes is the link between her past, and her future as an adult in Genesis. Of course, nothing goes as you would want it to be in a perfect world, but none of us live in a perfect world. Rachel takes the responsibility for everything that goes wrong in her life solely on her shoulders. Rachel is a Warrior and is supposed to feel responsible for the non-Warriors in Genesis, the habitat where she lives, but some things are the product of the times she lives in, and not due to her actions.

In Driven, Rachel discovers who her friends are, who she can trust, and what her purpose in life will be. I hope you enjoy Rachel's journey, as much as I did.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: Just For Tonight by Natalie Dae

Just For Tonight by Natalie Dae

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

After numerous failed relationships, Dahlia Singleton joins 1NightStand, a dating agency that promises to match her with the perfect lover for one night. After a month with no match, Dahlia begins to think she’ll never find love—until the owner of the agency, Madame Evangeline, telephones to say Dahlia’s date is waiting at the Castillo Hotel.

Excited and nervous, Dahlia meets Connor, a sexy-as-hell man with a British accent that melts her knees. And that isn’t all that’s melting! Dahlia has the ride of her life, realizing the distinct possibility that she may just have found her soul mate.


Lily's Review

Whenever I see a Natalie Dae book I just can’t resist and as usual Just For Tonight did not disappoint. It’s a short story which spans just one very special night. Dahlia Singleton (very apt name) has joined a dating agency called 1NightStand which promises to set clients up with their perfect matches. Poor old Delilah has had a string of disasters and I loved the fact that she admitted early on that she was prone to stubbornness and sulking – honest woman.

This story is beautifully written from Delilah’s point of view and I really connected with all of her emotions -going off to meet a stranger, feeling tongue-tied when he was so divine and drop dead gorgeous that she could barely breathe, and then the anxiety and confusion and the fall into lust and love that ensued. And who can blame her, the descriptions of Conner had me wishing for him to wondrously appear on ‘my’ doorstep!

Verdict:
Just For Tonight is a deliciously sexy book which ticks all the boxes for the hot, sweaty stuff and left a nice warm glow in my stomach - there really is someone for everyone out there. Without a doubt you will enjoy the magical end of this story and be rooting for Delilah all the way.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!

      

Review: Eye Contact by Rebecca Royce

Eye Contact by Rebecca Royce

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Thirty years ago, after the breakdown of an oil negotiation, the President of the United States decided that all people born with unusual abilities, which he would now refer to as “the condition”, would be locked away from the general public where they couldn't harm others. Parents and loved ones of these people, most of whom were children, were forced to turn them in upon penalty of death. Formed to keep the institutions secure, the Committee for the Protection of a Free Society now rules these institutions with an iron fist.

The granddaughter of one the Committee members, Addison Wade has lived her life wary of the institutions and all they represent. A woman of secrets, she is forced to turn to Safe Dawn, one of the facilities designed to hold conditioned people, when her nephew is kidnapped and, despite her best efforts, cannot be recovered. She knows the last thing anyone in 'Safe Dawn' will want to do is to help a Wade with any problems, but she is desperate and out of options.

Spencer Lewis is famous for being the premier conditioned ‘locator.’ There's no one he can't find and he has a soft spot for missing children. But, Spencer has been through a trauma and locating Jeremy Wade may be dangerous both to himself and to those around him. In addition, he takes one look at ice cold Addison Wade and wants nothing more than to knock her down a peg. Never having turned down an opportunity to help a child, he reluctantly agrees to help recover Jeremy.

In a world where nothing is as it seems and every person they encounter has his own agenda, Addison and Spencer will find that the only people they can trust are each other. But how can anyone fall in love living in a world that wants you dead just for being born?


Denise's Review

Have you ever read a book wherein the world created felt nearly as real as the one you live in? How about a familiar story with a refreshing twist?

I will admit, the beginning of Rebecca Royce’s Eye Contact had me making comparisons to X-Men, and while there are surface similarities, these characters offer a fresh glimpse at a new series. You have Addison Wade, determined to find her missing nephew and willing to walk into the lion’s den to do so. Similarly, Spencer Lewis was a perfectly drawn male lead that had my heart fluttering, and the chemistry between him and Addison will take your breath away.

Exquisite world-building, well-developed characters, and a plot that keeps you on your toes. Readers will not want to miss this promising debut novel of Ms. Royce’s new series.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!

      

Review: Initiation by Rebecca Royce

Initiation by Rebecca Royce

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy


Heat Rating: 1

Blurb

My name is Rachel Clancy. Thirty years before I was born, the world ended. Unlike my father, I’ve never lived above ground; I’ve never seen the real sun.

On her sixteenth birthday, Rachel Clancy is sent upwards to the surface of the earth, a place most human beings will live their lives without ever knowing. But Rachel is different, special—even if she doesn’t see it. Sent on her first journey, Rachel will discover things are not as she was led to believe they would be. Not only can she fall in love, hard, with a cute blond werewolf, but also sometimes there are just as many monsters at home as there are in the wilderness.


Dodie's Review

Rachel Clancy is the teenager I wished I was. She's strong, determined, dedicated, and loyal. She's been dealt a hand from a bad deck of cards. The known world ended forty - six years ago, forcing everyone to live below ground. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, Rachel is to go up, and outside, in an attempt to battle the darkness.

There's very little else I can say about Rachel and the people in her world without giving some of the plot away, and I don't want to do this at all. This book surprised me at every turn. Each time I thought I knew what was going to happen, what happened was different, and better than what I predicted. The thing I like best about Rebecca Royce's books is how fully formed her characters and their worlds are. Even in very short works, she presents her characters to us as whole people, and with brief descriptive phrases really fleshes them out. In Initiation, the book is set in the future in a community that lives underground, called a habitat. Rebecca Royce seamlessly incorporates the history of the habitat and the difficulty of living underground into the backgrounds of the characters. For example, one person's father died of lung disease because the air filtration systems did not properly clean the air when people first moved underground. This is not an isolated incident, this level of attention to detail is continued throughout the book.

As I neared the end of the book, as I finished each chapter, I kept checking to make sure that there was more book to read. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end, and I am anxiously awaiting the next book in this series to be published. I can't wait to see how Rachel overcomes the obstacles that Rebecca Royce puts in her way.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: The Steamside Chronicles by Ciar Cullen

The Steamside Chronicles by Ciar Cullen

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb


Emily Fenwick, formerly with the NYPD, is now the reluctant defender of 1890 New York. Unfortunately for Emily, who hates "the creepy stuff", she ignored her inner voice, went to a carnival in Central Park, and entered a Victorian tent in hopes a psychic would have some encouraging news about her woefully boring love life. The guarantee she received of meeting a tall, dark, and handsome stranger comes with a huge catch - he lives in an alternate dimension of the past. 



Jack Pettigrew leads a quirky band of lost souls in a battle to save New York circa 1890. Nightmares have come alive and threaten to terrorize a fragile era. Jack leads the “punks,” who have been sucked back in time through a vortex. Each has a fleeting memory of their own death–or near death–and must determine for themselves why they have been chosen for this mission. Is Steamside their Purgatory? Could an Egyptian obelisk in Central Park be the cause of the time rift, or is Emily herself to blame for the goblins, zombies, and other nightmarish scenes plaguing them?



If the Punks want to return to 2010, they must ensure there’s going to be an 1891. If they conclude they’re really ghosts, then it might be time to party like it’s 1999.



Hunter's Review

I think this is one of the best books I’ve ever been lucky enough to stumble upon accidently. From the title, I expected to read a book similar to MelJean Brook’s Iron Duke undertaking, a more traditional steampunk romance. While this book has those elements, it is so much more complicated than the so-called (if there is at this point a so-called) steam-punk romance.

Ciar Cullen has created two characters if Emily and Jack that are unforgettable. Jack is the kind of hero all writers wish they could create. He is at times wonderful, sexy, and Alpha and then he turns around and he is insecure, pigheaded, and confused. Emily is lost in a world she doesn’t truly understand but is trying to navigate just the same.

I cannot imagine how much research must have gone into this book. The author has captured police work, the year 1890, religious motifs, paranormal elements, sex, and Egyptology. Not to mention time travel and circus life…

Cullen writes like an expert. Her writing is as good as any I have ever read anywhere—it is clean, perfectly crafted, and well thought out. Every character in the book sounds different and unique. She is not afraid to take chances.

I do realize I’m raving about this book like a teenager but what can I say? I was blown away. Please go read this book. I’m hoping the author will write more!

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!