Phantom Shadows (Immortal Guardians #3) by Dianne Duvall

Phantom Shadows (Immortal Guardians #3) by Dianne Duvall

 

This is an adult paranormal romance novel (Rated NC-17)

 

 

♥♥♥♥♥

(Five Shadowed Hearts)

 

Book Summary

 

Dr. Melanie Lipton is no stranger to the supernatural. She knows immortals better than they know themselves, right down to their stubborn little genes. So although a handsome rogue immortal seems suspicious to her colleagues, Sebastien Newcombe intrigues Melanie. His history is checkered, his scars are impressive, and his ideas are daring. But it's not his ideas that have Melanie fighting off surges of desire . . .

Bastien is used to being the bad guy. In fact, he can't remember the last time he had an ally he could trust. But Melanie is different — and under her calm, professional exterior he senses a passion beyond anything in his centuries of experience. Giving in to temptation is out of the question — he can't put her in danger. But she isn't asking him . . .

 

 

My Review
 

Okay, it’s been a while since I read this series. So I spent the first several chapters trying to reacquaint myself with the series. Some authors give you so much, others not enough. And I guess it depends on if you are reading them back to back to decide which you like best. I’m leaning towards a little more background in this one.

Still from what I can gather two years have passed in book world not the real world. And these characters have been interacting.

I love the realism in this story. Characters dies, even ones we like. It makes you feel more edge when a battle happens if we know an author is capable of killing off one of the characters.

I also like that the other characters in the previous books haven’t fallen off the face of the earth and are included in this story for their special talents. I didn’t like that Bastian wasn’t as strong and was bested by someone. But that is also the realism. Not every character is the strongest and undefeatable.

I loved the first, and I’m still loving this one. Hoping the next book will be out soon.

Audio Review

Kristen Potter does an excellent job with narration. I enjoyed the series very much. She did a really good job with all the accents.

My book boyfriend Sebastian.
 

 

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An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly #3) by Charlaine Harris

An Ice Cold Grave  (Harper Connelly #3) by Charlaine Harris

 

This is a paranormal mystery novel (Rated NC-17)

  

♥♥♥♥
(Four Cold Hearts)

 

Book Summary

 

Hired to find a boy gene missing in Doraville, North Carolina, Harper Connelly and her brother Tolliver head there, only to discover that the boy was the only one left of several who had disappeared over the previous five years. All of them teenagers. All unlikely runaways.

All calling for Harper.

Harper soon finds them—eight victims, buried in the half-frozen ground, all come to an unspeakable end. Afterward, what she most wants to do is collect her fee and get out of town ahead of the media storm that's soon to descend. But when she's attacked and prevented from leaving, she reluctantly becomes a part of the investigation as she learns more than she cares to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of Doraville—knowledge that makes her the next person likely to rest in an ice-cold grave.

 

My Review

 

First let me say that I felt like I’d been holding my breath through this series until now. I can breathe again. Certain things were resolved but I can’t say what.

Second, let me say that the mystery is really sad. When you are dealing with a serial killer of young people it can be hard to read whether fact or fiction. The author does a really good job at the realism. So sad but true.

I love how the characters are growing. They aren’t one dimensional. They aren’t perfect. Yet, they are interesting and have flaws and grow as people in each book.

I was really excited and sad to move from this book to the forth and final book. I’ve overall enjoyed this series far more than the Sookie Stakehouse series. Maybe that series just went on a bit longer than it should have. However, I think this series could have done a few more. *sigh*

Audio Review

Alyssa Bresnahan continues to do a really good job with this series. She really brings this series to life for me.

My book boyfriend Manfred (pic a lip ring in your head.)

 

 

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Assets (Balance Sheet #1) by Shannon Dermott

Assets  (Balance Sheet #1) by Shannon Dermott

 

This is an adult contemporary romance/erotica novel (Rated NC-17) 

♥♥♥♥♥
(Five Sexy Hearts)

 

Book Summary

 

Warning ~ This book contains adult language and sexual situations. Not suitable for anyone under eighteen. Bailey Glicks, an accountant, is all too aware of her asset value. She’s pretty but not beautiful, smart but not a genius, and certainly she thinks she is more than enough for her fiancé. All that changes when she catches his cheating ass in a lie.

Needing to get away and start anew, she heads to New York to stay with her best friend and former college roommate, Lizzy who has more than enough space to accommodate her. What she didn’t bank on are two things.

First, Kalen Brinner, a man whose implied wealth and attractiveness on paper, shouldn’t be interested in her. But their combined sexual attraction sparks off like fireworks. Will it be enough to sustain a relationship, especially when circumstance makes one of them appear less than trustworthy? Can they survive the heat or will they combust in the flame of their own passion?

Second, when the assets in audit she’s working feel like they’ve been tainted with fraud; her supervisor isn’t buying her theory.

And if she’s wrong about either, both could make her lose big. One her heart. The other her job.

Please note: THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS A STAND ALONE NOVEL. This is a serialized miniseries.

 

 

My Review

 

 

The story starts off with a bang, literally. I have to admire an author to cut to the chase and not wait to midway in the book to get things started. But the beginning sets the tone to a budding relationship.

Bailey is also not your average female lead. She’s an accountant. That adds to the storyline while on the job she comes across some inconsistencies in the books. Along the way Bailey’s relationship with one Kalen heats up.

Kalen is a hot alpha male with enough mystery to make me want to learn more. He has a past and I can’t wait to learn more about it.

This is what’s termed as a series read. So it’s a longer than a novella but shorter than a novel. So, it had just enough where I didn’t feel cheated. I’m looking forward to book two especially if it’s as hot as this one.

My book boyfriend Kalen.

 

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Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly #2) by Charlaine Harris

Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly #2) by Charlaine Harris

This is a paranormal mystery novel (Rated R)

♥♥♥♥
(Four Mysterious Hearts)

Book Summary

Charlaine Harris is already a star and a New York Times bestseller with her vampire mysteries starring Sookie Stackhouse and her Lily Bard mysteries. This second installment to her new supernatural mystery series might just be her biggest hit yet. Grave Sight's Harper Connelly is back, and her ability to find the dead and see their last moments is in higher demand than ever...

A college class gets more than it bargained for when Harper gives a demonstration of her uncanny talent. Instead of just finding one body in an old grave, she finds two: the original occupant and a recently deceased girl whom Harper had tried, and failed, to find two years previously. To dispel suspicions about her own innocence, Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver undertake their own hunt to find the killer-only to find yet another body in the same grave.

My Review

First I will say, I’m a hopeless romantic so I was hoping for more romance in this one based on the set up of the last book. However, I didn’t really get that. And in the end, I was okay with it. I got enough so that I didn’t think that we were being teased and the story really held it’s own without it.

I really enjoyed all the characters and trying to solve the mystery. Where I guessed the last book straight off, I changed my mind several times throughout the story which added to its appeal.

I’m really looking forward to the next book based on the realization that Harper has. I have my fingers crossed.

Audio Review

Alyssa Bresnahan did a really good job with this series. She really brought this series to life for me.

My book boyfriend is Tolliver.

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Grave Sight (Harper Connelly #1) by Charlaine Harris

Grave Sight (Harper Connelly #1) by Charlaine Harris

 

This is an adult paranormal fantasy novel (Rated NC-17)

 

 ♥♥♥♥
(Four Mystery Hearts)

 

Book Summary

 

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living - but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother Tolliver as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent - even if the dead can wait forever.

 

 

My Review

 

First I liked to say that I read the Sookie series first. However, I didn’t come in expecting more Sookie. So I think for that reason, I enjoyed it more. This series is more mystery inspired. This is NOT a paranormal romance. So if you are looking for that you will be disappointed. There is a whole lot going on that unfolds in this 4 book series reads. So keep watch as you learn more.

Each book is their own island, but they make up a village of islands. So there is a small arc in each book along with a larger purpose.

Now Tolliver and Harper. I don’t really get people’s complaint about their relationship. They are step brother and sister by marriage when they are teenagers. So they didn’t really grow up together. And their closeness can’t not be considered creep because they aren’t blood related. They weren’t brought up as sister and brother, they were thrown in together as teenagers to fend for themselves when their druggie parents got together. What you have here is really best friends. They call themselves siblings more out of convenience than any real “brother/sister “ bond.

That out of the way, I truly hoped for them to get together. They obviously care about each other a great deal.

The mystery was solved by me early on but in this situation, I did still enjoy watching it unfolding and finding out I was correct or not.

Audio Review

Alyssa Bresnahan did a really good job with this series. She really brought this series to life for me.

Overall, I just plain liked it enough to pick up the next one in the series right away.

 

 
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Wicked Game (WVMP Radio #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready

Wicked Game (WVMP Radio #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready

This is an adult paranormal romance novel (Rated NC-17)

♥♥♥♥

(Four Wicked Hearts)

Book Summary

LATE NIGHT RADIO YOU CAN SINK YOUR TEETH INTO

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, '60s psychedelia, '80s goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers just how the DJs maintain their cred: they're vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.

Ciara's first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WVMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station — and the link it provides to their original Life Times — the vampires would "fade," becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover is a matter of life and undeath.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara rebrands the station as "WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock 'n' Roll." In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs' vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around — next to Ciara's complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the "gimmick" enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren't so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher — and the perils graver — than any con game Ciara's ever played...

My Review

I actually read this in paperback form. I don’t often these days. I love the author’s YA series Shade, so when the publisher sent me book 4 of the series, I had to pick up Books 1-3. And honestly, it was cheaper or just the same to get paperbacks, so that’s what I did.

I was really interested in the first chapters. I liked how everything unfolded even if I did figure on what was going on. However, the first half was really cheeky. Not overly funny but it almost seemed like a parody. The second half of the book was a lot better after everything was established and we got into the nitty gritty of the story.

Characters – I love that Ciara isn’t a saint. That goodness someone has the balls to make a character who has something to build on beside courage and coming into powers. This girl is a con artist. Sweet. Secondly, I’m whole heartily in love with Shane. The other reason I really like this story is that he did what he had to do and not in a bad boy way, but in a survival way. And when he falls for the girl, he also doesn’t go soft on me. Two positives.

The plot was a little strained in the beginning. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be funny or snarky. But it came off a little cheeky. However, it gets better and I’m so looking forward to reading more in this series. I trust this author and I know she will bring something great.

Overall, pick this one up. I enjoyed.

My book boyfriend Shane.

 

 
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Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4) by Jennifer Estep

Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4) by Jennifer Estep

 

This is a young adult paranormal fantasy novel (Rated PG-13)

 

♥♥♥♥

(Four Frost Hearts)

 

Book Summary

 

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

 

 

My Review

 

So things are finally coming together. They are out on their first date for goodness sake. But of course….

Gwen isn’t the only one who is stupid in this book. It seems everyone turns a blind eye to the obvious. From the teachers to Gwen themselves. Gwen has this power and she waits until the last possible moment to use it.

Why they had a concert outside of campus is beyond me. And of course, I saw the ending and almost trough my ipad. Really? I’m just ready for Gwen to wise up. She’s seventeen but darn if I can’t say for spoilers.

Still I find it strange that Kensie is nowhere to be found. She says she counts him as a friend but he is missing and I thought he was thick as thieves with Logan and liked her more than Oliver. Yet, he’s gone. And I'm pretty sure I know who Raven really is.

Anyways, still with that cliffy how can you not read the next.

Audio Review

Tara Sands continues to do an incredible job.

My book boyfriend Alexei.

 
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