Shiloh Walker's The Hunters: DELCAN AND TORI reissued

I love Shiloh Walker's The Hunters  series and am thrilled that she is reissuing the books, starting with the first one, DELCAN AND TORI.  One thing I love with this entire series is that it's not limited to just vampires, but as the series goes on it expands to include shape-shifters, witches and those with some extra-special abilities.

Reissued at a new, lower price...available at ARe  Nook & Kindle

Book 1

Tori McAdams was a sensible woman. She didn't believe in hocus-pocus, she didn’t believe in ghosts, and she definitely didn’t believe in vampires…not until the night she was attacked by one. Alone, starving and afraid, she doesn’t know what’s happening but at least she had somebody to turn to…

Declan Reilly was normally the last person she’d go to for help, but now he was the first on her list. He can help; she knows he can. She never could have planned on what happens next, though…the sexy detective is so much more than he appears.

Read an excerpt

 

Warning: This book contains violence, sex, more violence, a maniacal murderer, sex, more violence, and a menage or two thrown in for good measure. There are also sighs, happy endings, a romance, a hero, a heroine, and a little bit of falling in love.

**Please note this work has been previously published. While it's been edited, no new material has been added.

New Review: SEDUCED BY THE HIGHLANDER by Julianne MacLean

Highlanders #3

Historical Romance (Scottish 1721)

St. Martins

Cursed by the oracle, Raonaid, Lachlan MacDonald is determined to find the witch and make her remove the hex or suffer his revenge.

Lady Catherine has no recollection of her past. She knows only what her grandmother and cousin have told her, with 5 years of her life missing. When the dangerous highlander accuses her of being Raonaid, she is open to the possibility, and requests that he take her to the one person who knows Raonaid better than anyone else, before he takes his revenge.

*****

Julianne MacLean's highlanders keep getting better and better. SEDUCED BY THE HIGLANDER brought us the dashing Lord of War, Lachlan MacDonlad, a man well used to having any woman he wants. But since the curse he has kept to himself to keep any woman he may touch safe. When he first meets Catherine he is angry and ready to do anything to remove the curse. What he didn't plan on was the deep attraction he suddenly felt for the witch. 

 

Lachlan and Catherine reached out to grasp my imagination, as I was quickly swept into their tale. They didn't fall into an easy relationship, as they first had to learn how to trust one another. It was refreshing that Catherine didn't fight the possibility that she could be Raonaid, but she knew that it didn't feel like her. She just wanted to discover the truth.

Lachland had lots of anger to deal with, and while he nearly stepped across the line, he was able to hold himself in check. Their desire was a tingly all consuming fire that reached out through them to sizzle and zing along, as they sorted their lives out, not sure where the future was going to take them.

I loved how the twist of how Raonaid played out, and how I could see Raonaid's motivations and find sympathy for some of her actions. Of course some of her actions were just despicable, but I could concede to learn to brush them to the past. I also liked that we got to see Angus and Gwendolen again, and had a brief glimpse of how their relationship was going on.

I can't wait to see what Ms. MacLean has in store for us in her next book, as she is an author that rarely disappoints me.

Rating: 4.5

Author's website

New Review: NO PROPER LADY by Isabel Cooper

Time-Travel / Paranormal / Historical (Victorian England 1888)

Sourcebooks Casablanca

 

Determined to keep demons from destroying her world, Joan travels back in time to Victorian England, where it all began.  She plans to seek out and destroy the magician, Alex Reynell, responsible for their release.

When the strange woman appears before Simon Grenville, he is startled by her peculiar garb and weapons, though he quickly learns they share a common enemy. The man who was once his best friend, until he let power get to his head and nearly killed his sister with a demon possession. 

Can Joan and Simon defeat Alex and save the world?

*****

Isabel Cooper's debut release NO PROPER LADY, consisted of very strong and solidly constructed characters in a vivid backdrop. I liked and felt we got to know Joan, Simon and his sister Eleanor very well, we also got an excellent picture of Victorian England. Unfortunately though, there was such limited interaction with Alex and what was shown of him I felt fell very flat.  I was more apathetic about his character than any other feeling like the hate or dislike that I should have felt for his despicable actions.

I anticipated more action and fighting throughout this book, but the story just moved soooooo slowly. There was so much time spent on Joan learning to integrate into society and her amazement with day to day life that I became bored.  I could have been reading any historical romance, with a few little twists of magic and demons sprinkled in.

I could feel the spark between Joan and Simon, but things just seemed to fizzle more than burst into flame. There was no real passion in the pages of this book other than between those two. I know that Joan, Simon and Eleanor had strong feelings about the situation with Alex and the future, but it never really came through where I felt an emotional grip of the characters and situations. There was no great anticipation for the turn of events.  Something would happen, but the build up was weak and it would just seem to happen.  Except during the last battle, I was on the edge of my seat as I read through the final fight, as it seemed like the worst could happen.

Because of the solid characters and strong portrayal of the surroundings, I will read Ms. Cooper's next book, mainly because Joan, Eleanor and Simon were engaging, and I think that there is great potential for her to improve her storytelling.

Rating: 3

Where were you...

I couldn't tell you anything significant about September 10, 2001, but like may others I can tell you exactly where I was on September 11.   

I was working in an office in Livonia, MI, when a co-worker came into my office to tell me that his wife just called to say a plane had hit one of the twin towers. Not long after we had the news of the second tower being hit.  

I remember the crazy range of emotions that I went through on that day.  I was living far from my family, having transplanted with my husband and son to Michigan from Wisconsin.  I was pregnant with our second child, working as a title examiner.  My oldest son was at school that day, and my husband was away going to school...he had to stay there and was only home on weekends.  I felt alone during the chaos, though I talked to my parents and husband.  It was difficult to comprehend what was going on.  As an Army veteran I could feel my patriotism rally. 

My heart went out to the heros that day. The firemen, police officers, EMTs, anyone who thought of more than just themselves.  The horror of that day brought many of us together.

My heart still goes out to those same people, their families and the families of anyone who perished that day,  and especially to the soldiers still fighting for our freedom.

New Review: TEMPTED by Elisabeth Naughton

Eternal Guardians #3

Paranormal (Greek Mythology)

Sourcebooks Casablanca

The Eternal Guardians are back to save the world from Atalanta and her daemons...

Demetrius has always went out of his way to avoid close contact with anyone, particularly the fragile princess. But when Isadora vanishes, he knows he must save her. Especially after their last disastrous meeting. There are forces she nor the other guardians would understand that keep him from opening up. What will happen when his secrets are revealed?

*****

TEMPTED is an action packed, sizzling hot book that never had a dull moment. From the time I cracked open the cover until I turned the last page, my butt was glued to the chair as I devoured this tale. 

 

Demetrius put the “D” in dark, dangerous and damaged. Boy oh boy did this boy have some MAJOR sucking up to do to redeem himself after the horrible way he treated Isadora in the past. But I felt that Ms. Naughton aptly described why he acted the way he did, I could understand why he was such a loner and why he resisted Isadora so much. He had a very good reason to push people away, as many proved. But I felt that he more than payed for his actions to Isadora, and deserved to be rewarded with his soul mate.

I was thrilled when Isadora stepped up and began to show her strengths. She was such a weak character in earlier books that I was concerned that she couldn't cut it as a heroine. Fortunately she completely won me over as she stood up to Demetrius throughout the story, but mostly when she finally stood up FOR Demetrius.

This story was filled with some awesome baddies. We were introduced to Apophis, an evil witch who added a whole new spin to the Eternal Guardian saga, and Hades made a special appearance just for Isadora. Then there was the wonderfully evil Atalanta, who showed her devious self, as she threw Demetrius and Isadora onto the Island of Pandora for her own sinister means. 

 

Being stranded on an island alone forced them to discover each other in a way that they never could have surrounded by others. The passion sizzled and popped between them, even as Demetrius did his best to deny what was between them, but Isadora would not let up.

Elisabeth Naughton has crafted a phenomenal series that I eagerly await the publishing of each book. I can't wait until Orpheus's story is out, and to see what kind of soul mate he discovers as he goes to avenge Gryphon. I'm sure we will get another great taste of the evil Atalanta loves to dole out, along with whatever diabolic plan Apophis will role out. I also hope there is a twist in this series for Nick, he absolutely needs his own soul mate, as do the other single guardians. :)

Rating: 5

Author's Website 

New Review: THE TARNISHED LADY by Sandra Hill

Historical Romance (Medieval / Viking 947 AD)

Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins

Lady Eadyth of Hawk's Lair is no stranger to scandal, as an unwed mother and a keen business woman, she has learned to strike when an opportunity presents itself. She shocks Eirik of Ravenshire with a frank proposal upon their first meeting. She is prepared for rejection from the loathsome lout, but she knows just how to sweeten the pot, the offer of revenge against his old enemy.

*****

THE TARNISHED LADY is probably Sandra Hill's most serious book. It's not missing any of her characteristic humor, but it's definitely more toned down than her other books. She tells Eadyth and Eirik's story in a more dramatic style, with their misunderstandings not turning into great laughs. It made me speculate more on how their match would work out in the end. It also made it a more emotional read for me. I could feel how Eadyth's and Eirik's decisions twisted them up as they tried to move forward.

I liked how Eadyth inadvertently fooled Eirik in the beginning of the book, as I think that it allowed his character's growth to start to show when he began realizing his attraction to her. Of course it also showed how sensitive he was to his own faults when it became apparent that he was tricked. Their passion lit up the pages and they had a great deal to learn about each other, which kept the story going.

I enjoyed the brief bits the children played throughout the book, never did they overpower the storyline. Also, Eirik's brother Tykir is a sexy riot, luckily we can find his own tale in THE BEWITCHED VIKING. Eirik and Eadyth's shared enemy had an interesting development that created a bit of sympathy, as unlikely as it seemed. All in all THE TARNISHED LADY finished as one to defiantly stay on my keeper shelves, because I will visit these guys again.

Rating: 4

Author's Website