Review: The Impetuous Amazon by Sandy James + Giveaway

Posted on January 23, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 3 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Giveaways> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Number of Pages: 261 pages
Release Date: January 14, 2013
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Alliance of the Amazons #2
Genre: Fantasy Romance, Paranormal Romance
Formats Available: ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Megan Feurer is strong and impetuous, like the Fire element she represents. She is an Amazon, sworn to protect humanity from demons, demigods and all manner of supernatural beings who wish ill upon the world. But her fire burns hot and fast, and her unpredictable control of the element brings into question her fitness as an Amazon.

Johann Herrmann chose the life of a Sentinel—a trainer of the four Amazons—to save his sister’s life. Now bound to the patron goddess Rhiannon, he knows his duty demands a solitary existence. But when he’s assigned to evaluate the Fire Amazon, his sacrifice becomes much more difficult.

Megan’s passions ignite a flame that neither she nor Johann can control, and the goddess Freya has reason to fan those flames. A mysterious force is gaining power, and Megan and Johann must join together to fight. And once a passionate fire has started, it’s nearly impossible to stop…

My Thoughts:
First of all, the patron goddesses seem to run through their sentinels awfully fast. So far two sentinels down, and still two amazons left to go. I’ll bet that we find out what the recruitment process is for sentinels in the next book.

Megan Feurer’s Fire Amazon is the opposite of Rebecca Massee’s Earth Amazon from Sandy James’ first book in this series, The Reluctant Amazon (see BLI review). And it’s totally appropriate. Earth is supposed to be, well, grounded. And fire is so, not.

The problem the story has to solve is that Megan seems to have zero control over her fire. Normals aren’t supposed to know that there is supernatural evil out there. Megan took out a demon in a mall. With a sword. Seriously. The number of memories that had to be wiped was astronomical.

Torchwood wouldn’t have enough ret-con to deal with this girl. No matter how many righteous hits she laid down. She’s just too public about it.

The patron goddesses send the second sentinel to teach her some control. And to keep an eye on her. Because the alternative is to send her back to the mundane world minus two years’ worth of memories. Talk about sucky alternatives!

Sending the sentinel to train an Amazon is normally the best way to go about this sort of thing. Not that it happens often. But then again, this situation is so far from normal it’s not even in the same universe as Amazon normal, and that’s saying quite a lot.

The goddesses send Johann Herrmann to teach Megan some control, while the two of them investigate the case of a missing young woman with ties to the Megan’s patron goddess Freya. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

Johann is one of the causes of Megan’s loss of control. Amazons are not supposed to fall for their sentinels. And very definitely vice-versa. But since Earth Goddess Rhiannon let the last sentinel have his own happily ever after with the new Earth Amazon Rebecca, no one is quite sure where that stands anymore. Except that Rhiannon is a jealous witch and probably won’t let anyone else have any fun. She’s still a bit mad about Artair.

Not to mention she and Freya are not exactly best buds. Goddesses have eternity to score off against one another, and do they ever!

The missing girl that Megan is supposed to find? It’s not one missing girl, it’s lots. And lots. There’s a new badass in town. Except he’s a very, very old badass, with hypnotic powers. And he’s aiming for Megan.

He’ll get her, too. If Megan and Johann don’t break all the goddesses’ rules. With a little help from Freya.

Verdict: Where The Reluctant Amazon was the worldbuilding story, The Impetuous Amazon is fortunate that the scaffolding is already in place, and is able to just tell its story without having to create its world. We already know how things work here. That helps things get rolling, because Impetuous starts pretty darn impetuously, directly after the events in Reluctant. And I think you need to have read the first book for the second one to make sense. YMMV.

Megan’s problems with control relate to her lack of training, because the previous Fire was killed in the first book. Freya’s is honked off at Rhiannon because Rhiannon seriously bent the rules in book one. She feels like she can bend them too. And the villainy of the villain is definitely related to book 1.

I was so, so glad to NOT see the insta-love come out to play again. This story takes place two years after the beginning of book 1, so Megan and Johann have known each other that long. They both say that they’ve been interested in each other that long, in spite of rules against any relationship. They both talk about acting extra cold and extra-snippy to each other because that was the only way to deal with the attraction. Then Freya threw a monkey wrench into the works.

On the other hand, if all four of this generation of Amazons turn out to be goddess-daughters, that’s going to constitute serious buzz-kill. Once could be written in, twice started to stretch the old willing suspension of disbelief. Four is going to be well past over the top. That’s my personal opinion.

On my third and final hand, the scene where Johann asks Artair how he manages to let Rebecca fight, and Artair’s response, was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of that fantastic saying that “men of quality are not threatened by women of equality”, but it was much, much better than that. Awesome stuff.

Freyr, Freya’s brother, lends a helping hand in this one, and makes everyone nervous when he does. He reminds me of Morden on Babylon 5. As Vir said, “Some gifts come at just too high a price.” In Freyr’s case, we haven’t seen the price yet. But I don’t think the good guys, including Freya, are going to like it when the bill is presented.

Can somebody please give me a chorus of “hunka hunka burnin’ love”? You’ll get it when you read the book.

I give The Impetuous Amazon by Sandy James 3 and 1/2 fiery stars.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**~~Giveaway~~**

Sandy James has generously offered an ebook copy of The Impetuous Amazon to one lucky commenter!

All you have to do is answer her question:

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday February 2, 2013 and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
Good Luck!

Review: Prince of Power by Elisabeth Staab

Posted on January 17, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Number of Pages: 384 pages
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Series: Chronicles of Yavn #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

This Fight Is Personal…

Wizards and vampires have been mortal enemies since the beginning. Now Anton, son of the Wizard Master, has one last chance to steal the unique powers of the vampire king’s beautiful sister, Tyra…and then kill her. But when he meets Tyra face-to-face, everything changes…

Tyra will stop at nothing to defeat the wizards, until Anton saves her life and she suddenly sees an opportunity she never could have imagined…

As the sparks ignite between them, together they could bring an end to the war that’s decimating their people, but only if they can find a way to trust each other…

My Thoughts:

What if Romeo and Juliet had way more serious reasons not to be together than a mere “family feud” but still managed to end in, if not happily ever after, at least, happy for now?

That’s somewhat the premise of Elisabeth Staab’s Prince of Power, the second book in her Chronicles of Yavn series.

Her Romeo, or rather, the prince on one side of this equation, is the son of the head wizard from King of Darkness. Poor Anton, he should have been born human. Or vampire. Anything but spawn of psychopath.

Anton is a nice wizard, which in Staab’s universe is an oxymoron. Dad thinks he’s failure, and has him killed. But fate intervenes. Or someone intervenes.

So Anton finds himself a patient at the shelter where Tyra, the sister of King Thad of the vampires (that still sounds funny, really, even if his full name is Thaddeus) works as the center director. Tyra has always believed that she is half-human. And that she was abandoned at the vampire compound by her “mother-the-nutcase”.

(Thad’s dad the late vampire king did not cheat on his mate, just in case you’re wondering about the backstory. Tyra’s conception and birth happened a couple of decades before Thad’s parents got together.)

Meanwhile, Anton feels compelled to watch over Tyra, even while she’s at the shelter. Amnesia nothwithstanding. Even though he doesn’t remember who he is. He remembers her. And, he feels better when he’s near her.

Tyra knows she should think he’s just fixated on her because he’s lost. Or something like that. Instead, she is drawn to him. (It doesn’t hurt that Anton is handsome as sin).

But when Anton finally regains his memory, they both discover that he is one of her race’s worst enemies. Only, she should have felt the evil in his soul. Because wizards always exude an evil aura that vampires can sense.

And Anton simply doesn’t have one. Not because he can mask his. Because there isn’t one there. He’s not evil.

It turns out that he really does love her. Even more once he regains his memory. But her people believe that he must be eliminated. No matter how often he proves that he is willing to fight with the vampires against the wizards.

He’s willing to fight to stay with Tyra. No matter what it takes.

Verdict: I liked Prince of Power even more than I did King of Darkness (see today’s review at Reading Reality for details), probably because Prince turned so many tropes on their tropey-dopey little heads.

This definitely is not a fated mate story. It’s the furthest thing from it. Anton and Tyra are on opposite sides of a very, very high fence. They shouldn’t get together. Ever. In King of Darkness, Anton is supposed to kidnap her and refuses. And gets beaten for that refusal.

Also, of this pair, Tyra is the warrior, Anton is the healer, and they’re both okay with that. Being half-vampire, she is always going to be physically stronger than he is. And he’s cool with that. He will fight for her, and he will fight for them to stay together, but “fight” has multiple meanings. Most of his fighting is going to be patching people up afterwards.

The deeper story of the vampires and the wizards also gets some exploration. Thad is king because his father was killed by the master wizard. That master also gets killed, by Anton, with some conniving help from his murderous brother. Both forces are now being led by the “new guard”.

But there’s a reactionary “old guard” waiting in the wings to disrupt things on the vampire side. It wouldn’t be a vampire story without vampire politics to mix things up.

And the developing side stories are cooking quite nicely, too. I can’t wait for book 3.

I give Prince of Power by Elisabeth Staab 4 and one half stars

Review: For the Love of a Goblin Warrior by Shona Husk

Posted on January 10, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Number of Pages: 352 pages
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Series: Shadowlands #3
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Centuries ago, Meryn was thought to be utterly lost–all traces of his soul given up to the ravening goblin horde. But with the curse that enslaved him now broken, he must once again learn to walk in the realm of men.

Nurse Nadine Gilbert likes working the night shift to avoid her disturbing dreams, but her mysterious new patient looks hauntingly familiar. Meryn knows he doesn’t deserve a second chance, but Nadine brings out his long-buried human side. Telling her the truth about his violent past could destroy their fragile trust. Could she ever believe in the love of a Goblin Warrior?

My Thoughts:

If you’ve read Husk’s The Goblin King and Kiss of the Goblin Prince, then this book absolutely provides closure for the series. And if you like your heroes on the seriously tormented side, then this is a series you must try. The Goblin King (reviewed at Reading Reality) was a darkly sensual twist on Beauty and the Beast with a unusual twist on the beastly hero.

For the Love of a Goblin Warrior has the feeling of bringing everything to completeness. In Kiss of the Goblin Prince (also awesome, see review here at BLI), part of Dai’s journey to wholeness is to rescue Meryn from the shadowlands, but there’s this gaping hole left in the story, because we don’t know what happened to Meryn.

So it seems like the right way to end the series to find out what happened to Meryn.

Also, the three men’s stories, both before the rebellion all those centuries ago, and now their responses, show such different paths. The fitting end to the series is to read Meryn’s tale.

Roan was king. He led the rebellion. The curse on him pulled all of them into the shadowlands. Breaking his curse broke it for all. He had to be the leader, always.

Dai fought the curse through amassing knowledge. He never stopped learning. And he was always behind his brother. They were the royal family. Leadership was their life.

Meryn was just a warleader. His position was important, but he wasn’t royal. He had a full life in the past. A wife he loved, and children. He didn’t just lose his position with the rebellion, he was forced to watch the murder of his family.

Since he couldn’t turn to drink or drugs to numb his pain in the shadowlands, he went goblin. He gave in to the curse completely.

His quick submission inspired the others to fight the curse to the bitter end. But Meryn survived through the centuries, forgetting his humanity–until the day it all came rushing back. Breaking the curse made him human again, and the goblins knew him for prey once again.

Dai rescued him from the shadowlands, but Meryn couldn’t let the shadows go. He still needed to grieve for the family he’d left behind, and for the world that had passed him by. He was a stranger in a very strange land.

The police brought him to the hospital, thinking that he was homeless and psychotic. Something about the sword he was still carrying gave them the wrong impression. The nurse recognized that he wasn’t quite that bad off, but that the language he spoke was Latin. And she couldn’t figure out why a seemingly homeless man was speaking a scholar’s tongue.

That nurse, Nadine, was the most beautiful woman Meryn had seen in a long time, but at first he was more attracted by the gold crucifix around her neck. He hoped that if he stole her gold, he could find a way back to being goblin again.

It only took days to realize that there was no going back, and that he had no desire to. Not only was he human again, but that it wasn’t a bad thing to be.

Too bad that he seemed to have brought a piece of the shadowlands with him to this “Fixed Realm”, and that he had started his new life by stealing something precious from the one person he really wanted to see more of.

Little did he know that Nadine’s life had already been marked by the Shadowlands. Only the truth might have a chance at healing their scars.

Verdict: For the Love of a Goblin Warrior gets off to a much slower start than either The Goblin King or Kiss of the Goblin Prince. It’s right for this story, but as a reader you do want the author to pick the pace up just a bit.

Meryn’s story does require some set up. He’s lost in the 21st century, and he’s lost in the city of Perth. He thinks that any help he accepts from his cousin Dai is charity, where Dai believes that Meryn earned that help many times over.

Maybe if they’d just had a good knock-down fight it would have cleared the air quicker.

Nadine’s story is amazing. The Goblin King is a fairy tale book she inherited from her mother. A mother that she believes was killed by her father. Her father believes that her mother was killed by the goblins during the solstice hunt, but he couldn’t prove it. Nadine witnessed the whole thing, but she was 7 and totally blocked the memory. Talk about a nightmare! And yes, she has doozies!

Nadine and Meryn need each other to heal. But to do that, they both have to stop lying by omission, and they’re equally guilty. There are no major external enemies here, just the demons within.

One thing that did get me…there were several times when Meryn makes the shadowlands manifest on this side. I’m not totally sure that was adequately explained. Did he do that all on his own? If so, how and why? Then how was he suddenly able to stop?

But if you read The Goblin King and Kiss of the Goblin Prince, you must read the For the Love of a Goblin Warrior. Not just to see Meryn and Nadine earn their happy ending, but also to complete the Shadowlands saga.

I give For the Love of a Goblin Warrior by Shona Husk 4 darkly glittering stars.

ARC Review: How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox

Posted on January 3, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Number of Pages: 96 pages
Release Date: January 28, 2013
Publisher: Random House Loveswept
Series: Camelot #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

What woman can resist a hot man in a hard hat? Beloved author Ruthie Knox kicks off her new Camelot series with this deliciously sexy original novella, in which a good girl learns how to misbehave . . . with all her heart.

As program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a hunk of man whose sex appeal green lights her every fantasy. With a voice that would melt chocolate, he asks her if she is okay. Now she’s hot all over and wondering: How does a girl make a move?

Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature’s fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. Sweet and sexy, she’s ready to unleash her wild side. Their mutual desire reaches a fever pitch and creates a storm of its own—unexpected, powerful, and unforgettable. But is it bigger than Tony can handle? Can he let go of painful memories and let the force of this remarkable woman show him a future he never dreamed existed?

My Thoughts:

How to Misbehave is not just the introductory novella in Ruthie Knox’ Camelot series, it’s also a short, sweet and sexy example of the kind of contemporary romance that Knox has made her own.

It’s the love story between two adults, one who did something wrong in his or her past and has been forgiven by everyone except themselves, and one who has spent their whole lives being good, to the point where they’ve lost track of what they really want. All they know is what everyone else wants isn’t satisfying them, and they aren’t even pleasing whoever it was they set out to place in the first place.

Someone who needs redemption, and someone whose life is on so tight that it’s starting to chafe. But who acts so “good” that they seem almost angelic to the other person. A former bad girl and a much-too-good boy.

Or vice-versa.

Tony Mazzara is the former bad boy in . He used to be really bad. Really irresponsible. But one incident made him change his ways, except that it was too late for a lot of things. Except regrets.

Still, Tony is now the responsible manager of his family’s construction business. He takes care of his parents and his brother. He’s the boss at the construction sites. He’s an adult and not the screw-up he used to be.

All he sees is the man who made one horrific mistake.

Amber Clark, the manager of the Camelot Sports Center, sees the most gorgeous man she’s ever laid eyes on. But men like Tony never look at women like her. All they see is a mousy little goodie-two-shoes who fades into the background.

But even though Amber went to Bible College, she’s not really that kind of girl. She wants to break out of her shell. With hot Tony, even though everyone says he’s trouble.

But after spending her whole life in a shell, she doesn’t know how to step out of it. Out of people’s expectations. Just as Tony doesn’t know how to step away from his guilt.

Until the tornado traps them alone together in the basement of the sports center during a power outage. In the dark, they reveal their fears to each other. In the dark, they show who they really are.

And they each discover that without sight, they can see more, and be more, than they could in the light. But what they risked in the dark, they also have to risk when all the lights are on.

It turns out that the dark was a lot less frightening.

Verdict: I wish there had been a bit more story. This is too short! It’s a terrific introduction to the Camelot series (I’ve already started book 2, Along Came Trouble) but there definitely could have been more misbehavior.

How did Amber get to be so fixated on being “good”? Considering her relationship with her mother in this story, there’s some background here I’d love to have. We see more of Tony’s backstory, but I want to know about Amber.

How to Misbehave is a great example of a sex into love story. If that’s one of the flavors of your cup of tea, you won’t be disappointed.

Even though it was too short for complete satisfaction, this introductory novella for Camelot was great. I do wish I knew where in Ohio Camelot is. The town sounds so terrific, I want to visit.

I give How to Misbehave 4 short stars. They would be taller stars, and there would be more of them, if the misbehavior (and the story) had gone on a bit longer!

Bookish Rants or Raves: What happened with my 2012 anticipated books?

Posted on January 3, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Bookish Rant or Raves> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Lists are fun. Unless they are lists of housekeeping chores, and then, well, never mind. (Move along, nothing to see here)

Book lists are fun. How many “best books of 2012” lists have you checked out? If you haven’t gotten your fill yet, Largehearted Boy is collecting every “best of 2012” book list he can get his virtual hands on. The list is positively ginormous, and guaranteed to do major damage to your wish list and/or TBR pile.

As I created my own “best of 2012” list at Reading Reality, I did a couple of other things. The natural thing is to create the accompanying list of “most anticipated books for 2013”, which yes, I also did.

Then I had this horribly guilty flash. How many of 2012’s most anticipated books did I actually read? Oops. I didn’t do very well. Actually, I sucked.

I’m not saying the books sucked. I’m saying that I don’t know. What I did a truly lousy job at was predicting what I’d actually get around to reading this year.

Of course, I also originally predicted I’d read 400 books in my Goodreads challenge, and I had to knock that down to 250. My crystal ball is seriously cracked.

But about those anticipated titles. The ones I actually read were J.D. Robb’s Celebrity in Death, John Scalzi’s Redshirts, Jean Johnson’s An Officer’s Duty, and Nalini Singh’s Tangle of Need. (I still detest the U.S. cover of Tangle of Need. I’m also really annoyed about the game-playing about the next book in the series. Yes, I know, I’m on a digression. Again.)

I was right about all of them. They were definitely at least good. Some were better than good. But except for the copy of Redshirts, which I got by begging at the Tor booth at ALA Annual, these are books I had to buy. As a blogger, the sheer number of review books that are available to me, especially from NetGalley, seems to be pushing the books that I just plain want to read out down to the bottom of my TBR pile.

Even when that pile is virtual.

I say that because I did actually buy some of the other books on that anticipated list. When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris, and Dana Stabenow’s Restless in the Grave both popped up on my radar because the next book in both those series is coming out this winter, and I didn’t get around to last year’s. The reviews were awesome, so it’s not that I skipped something awful. I ran out of time.

At least with Simon R. Green’s The Bride Wore Black Leather, I think I pushed that one down the TBR pile because the reviews did turn out to be kind of “meh”.

I somehow managed to miss two of Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick’s Arcane Society titles last year; the contemporary Copper Beach and the Victorian Crystal Gardens. And now there are sequels to both.

I bought all of these. They are waiting for me on my iPad. I just never got around to them. Or Lee and Miller’s Dragon Ship, or Alex Grecian’s The Yard (no excuse for this one, I have a print ARC) or Lindsey Davis’ Master & God.

When I looked at this list in early December, I thought about trying to finish it before the end of the year, and just went ARRGGHHH!

How do you feel about anticipated book lists? Do you do them? Do you get the books on them read? Or do other books, newer books, more tempting books, push them out of the way?

Review: The System by Heather Lin

Posted on December 26, 2012December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by the author
Number of Pages: 177 pages
Release Date: August 11, 2012
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Capri is an alluring young prostitute with a painful past; Brody is a ruthless mercenary running with a crew of thieves who live on a spaceship called Gypsy Lass. When he enters her brothel, the attraction between them is instant, electric, and too much for him to handle. He leaves unsatisfied, never wanting to see the girl again for fear she might soften his hard heart.

But Brody’s captain has other ideas. The crew attempts to rob the brothel, and when things don’t go quite as planned, they take Capri hostage, forcing her and Brody to remain in close quarters until they see fit to drop her on another planet.

But Capri’s plight and the intense feelings between her and Brody turn out to be the least of their problems. Together–whether they like it or not–they uncover realizations not only about themselves but also about the world they live in.

My Thoughts:

The comparison between Heather Lin’s The System and Joss Whedon’s Firefly is not too far off the mark, with a few notable exceptions. The System is probably even darker and grittier than Firefly, and the backstories for our main characters, Brody and Capri, are even more tragic than their Serenity counterparts Mal Reynolds and Inara Serra.

Yes, I said more tragic. Even though there is no equivalent to the horrific Battle of Serenity Valley.

Brody is the muscle for a free-trader ship called the Gypsy Lass. And by free-trader I mean that sometimes the Gypsy Lass carries a legitimate cargo, and sometimes, she smuggles goods to places that the authorities don’t let legit ships serve. It’s a living for her crew.

And by muscle, I also meant shooter. The crew calls Brody “Shots”.

Capri is a prostitute in a fairly high-end brothel that the Gypsy Lass is supposed to rob. But the job goes horribly wrong. When Brody comes in to case the place, he and Capri connect on one level, but not on another. He can’t use her when he can tell she’s not remotely interested, and she’s honked off because he’s suddenly very not interested.

Then his crew comes back and fights off a rival gang of mercenaries. In the shooting, there’s only one survivor. Capri. Brody can’t stand to leave her there, so he takes her back to the ship.

She’s the only woman on the Gypsy Lass, but there’s never a moment when the Captain expects her to pay her passage on her back. Capri decides that it’s time to start her life over. To become someone she wants to be, instead of what she had to be. She’s only 19.

Capri and Brody are drawn to each other, even though they both know that they are wrong for each other. Whatever is happening between them, it’s part of the adrenaline of the escape. Part of being on the ship.

And for him, it’s a feeling he’s trying to fight, because he never wants anyone close to him again. People close to him get killed. And he’s not a good man. He never was.

But the crew of the Gypsy Lass, they all like Capri. Not just because she’s pretty, but because she’s trying so hard to fit in and make a place for herself. She wants to earn a place. To belong.

To become more like Kaylee, since she never wanted to be Inara. And it works. She’s freer as a mascot and grease monkey and occasional fifth gun on assignments than she ever was before.

And she’s happy.

If only Brody doesn’t screw things up. For both of them. Again.

Verdict: If you remember Firefly fondly, just get this book. But it is not for the faint of heart. The world of The System is very dark. Brody is right, he is not a good man. And he does some really stupid things to prove it to Capri.

Very harsh things happen on this world. There are scenes of rape and near-rape and murder. The happy-for-now is an HFN for certain fragile values of happy, but it feels like the right ending for these people.

There’s no white picket-fence subdivision in this universe. Surviving together is the best option. Figuring that out is the journey.

I give The System 4 blaster-shot stars

Review: A Little Bit Wicked by Robyn DeHart

Posted on December 24, 2012December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 1/2 Star> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Number of Pages: 229 paged
Release Date: December 2, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Series: Forbidden Love #1
Genre: Historical Romance, Holiday Romance
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Marcus Kincaid has returned to England after a ten-year absence. His older brother died during that time, making Marcus the Earl of Ashford. Not only that, his younger sister is embroiled in a potential scandal that could ruin her chance at marriage. His aunt has already called in reinforcements—The Paragon.

Vivian March is known simply as The Paragon. She moves through every circle within Society, smoothing out scandals and stopping gossip in its tracks. Everyone in London knows that if she aligns herself with you, Society will forgive you your sins. What they don’t know is that she uses their secrets to cover her own jaded past.

But with every kiss and every touch that Marcus thrusts upon her, Vivian comes to believe life is infinitely more fun when you can be just a little bit wicked…

My Thoughts:

I couldn’t finish this one. It’s not even that long, but I still couldn’t do it. At the 60% mark I just couldn’t take it anymore.

The heroine, Vivian March, is 34 by the time of the story, and she keeps going on and on (and on) that she must be wearing a “Scarlet W” or the equivalent. That every man who sees her must somehow be able to sense that she is secretly a “wanton woman”.

In spite of the fact that for the past decade she has made her living as “The Paragon”–the woman who sweeps everyone else’s scandals under the carpet. And that no man has even bothered to do more than mildly flirt with her in ages.

Her breakdown in mental acuity is all because Marcus Kincaid is back in town, and he not only knows that she isn’t the paragon of virtue society believes she is, but he is determined to prove it to her at every available private opportunity.

One evening, long ago, Vivian kissed Marcus passionately, believing that he was the man she was betrothed to. The man she had already compromised herself with. That’s the problem with masked assignations, you often don’t realize your catastrophic mistakes until it is far too late.

Her supposed betrothed left for the continent that evening, and Vivian was lucky–she was not pregnant. She hasn’t seen him since, but she is just sure he’ll be back some day to ruin her reputation.

She hadn’t seen Marcus since that night either. He left to travel the world as a leader for an adventure exploration company, but now he’s back. His brother has died, and now, instead of being the spare, he’s the Earl.

He’s never forgotten that kiss. But when the scandal that his younger sister has created requires the services of “The Paragon”, he’s astonished to discover that it is the woman who stole his senses for one all too brief moment so long ago.

Marcus is determined to re-experience that moment, and make sure it lasts, this time. Maybe forever.

Verdict: DNF As I said at the beginning, I gave up. This is the first time I’ve just given up on a book I’m supposed to review, but I just couldn’t stand Vivian’s dithering another page. She is supposed to be 34, not 17.

The concept of this story was good. I liked the idea of a scandal-sweeper. It may or may not have been historically accurate, but it made for an interesting premise. And Marcus’ background was fascinating. That a man who was intended to be the spare and not the heir would be leading adventure tours had to come home and suddenly be the Earl, made him a very different hero. He didn’t want the title. He loved the travel and the adventure and being away from society. But he knew his duty and loved his sister and knew what was required. Even if it hurt him quite a bit to give up a life he really loved.

It was obvious that Vivian’s old flame was going to come back and attempt to ruin things. The cat-and-mouse game he was playing started too soon and dragged out far too long. It got boring and so did Vivian’s melodramatic reaction to it.

But what killed it for me was that I didn’t sympathize with Vivian. At 34, she should have known her own mind. Or body. She was experienced. Not just sexually, although not much at that. The villain was clearly not very good at it. But Vivian was very experienced in the way society worked. She’d built her reputation for over a decade, and he was a nobody. Gone to the continent. She should have been able to outface him easily. Or simply blackmail her former clients into submission, because the secrets she knew were truly damning, and she had actual proof.

On the other hand, blaming her behavior with Marcus on a spell or mind-control, then thinking that everyone could see her secret wanton-ness, she just got ridiculous. She was not just an adult, but a woman of 34. She should have acted like one. Not a simpering chit fresh from the schoolroom.

The Grinch gives A Little Bit Wicked 1/2 star for the Epic Fail.

Review: A Galactic Holiday by Anna Hackett, Stacy Gail and Sasha Summers

Posted on December 19, 2012December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 3 1/2 Stars> 4 Stars> 5 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read:ebook provided by the authors
Number of Pages: 247 pages
Release Date: December 3, 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Holiday Romance
Formats Available: ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Anna Hackett’s Website | Stacy Gail’s Website | Sasha Summers’ Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Do androids dream of electric sugar plums?

A detective who refuses to modify her body teams up with her cyborg rival to track down a burglar who is putting toys into homes. A solitary ice miner finds love and friendship while stranded on the surface of Galileo. And two hardheaded negotiators put their differences aside to evade an assassin and save their planets. Enjoy these visions of Christmases yet to come with three science-fiction novellas from Carina Press.

Edited by Angela James, this anthology includes:

How the Glitch Saved Christmas, by Stacy Gail
Galileo’s Holiday, by Sasha Summers
Winter Fusion, by Anna Hackett

My Thoughts:

A Galactic Holiday is one of Carina Press’ annual holiday trifecta collections, along with Red Hot Holiday (reviewed at Reading Reality) and Romancing the Holiday (reviewed here at BLI). Maybe I should have called them holiday confections, because they’re usually pretty yummy overall.

But the annual sci-fi collection (last year’s was the all-steampunk A Clockwork Christmas and yeah, I reviewed it too.) always has a slightly more heavy lifting to take care of than the contemporary anthologies. Because each story has to build its sci-fi world, justify its winter solstice holiday and tell its romance in the length of a novella. That’s a LOT of scaffolding to build and sometimes one element or another doesn’t quite hold up.

Let’s take a look at what we have for this year’s out of this world holiday collection!

How the Glitch Saved Christmas by Stacy Gail was my favorite story in the collection. It not only embodied the spirit of Christmas in a hearwarming way, it also made the most sense as a science fiction story that extended the world we know. And the romance was both hot and sweet.

First of all, I dare anyone not to be reminded of Steven Spielberg’s movie A.I. by the end of this story. And, I double-dare you not to get a little misty-eyed. But that’s at the end. Returning to the beginning.

Chicago, although it is an utterly marvelous city, gets damnably cold in the winter. And it is entirely possible that it was named the Windy City, at least in part, for the windbags in city government, and not just the wind off Lake Michigan. Which, by the way, is brutal in the winter. The weather prediction of “cooler by the Lake” also applies in the winter, and it isn’t near as nice as it is is August.

In the background to the story, it’s pretty clear that the inventor of body modification should have made them work better in sub-zero temperatures. He also should have figured out that just because it was illegal to force someone to accept body-mods, that didn’t mean that someone couldn’t be pressured beyond all reason to accept them. And yes, I could easily see it happening.

Reina Vallette was a damn good cop. A fine detective. She just refused to accept body modification. She’d been dependent on machines once, when she was hospitalized under life-threatening conditions, and she couldn’t bear it psychologically. Also, her thought processes were too quirky to work any way except from her “gut”. (Gibbs on NCIS comes to mind). So the CPD made her the poster girl for insubordination.

Edison Wicke, on the other hand, is the golden boy. He’s a walking toaster, in Reina’s eyes. But still a damn fine detective. (Also a damn fine looking man!) So when someone breaks into an apartment in the Projects and delivers presents, Edison requests Reina as his partner.

He had his eye on her when his eyes were just human, and now, he wants her even more. She’s unique.

Better still, their styles complement each other. He’s data driven, and she’s pure instinct. New school plus old school.

But it takes a glitch in the system to show them that underneath their differences, they are both the same people they were before he got body mods, and before the system started busting her down the ladder.

They’re the best detectives that CPD has. And they’re the best for each other. But can they save the little glitch that brought them together?

I give How the Glitch Saved Christmas 5 frozen stars with the sun glinting off them for sparkle.

Winter Fusion by Anna Hackett comes in a close second for me in this collection. The thing about science fiction short stories, at least for me, is that there is so little time for the world-building, the author needs to have something familiar to use as a short cut.

Ms. Hackett tells a Prime Directive-type story, with a merchant empire Federation instead of the slightly more militaristic one we’re used to. And the traders Savan Bardan and Brinn Fjord are part of the very recent dropping of the embargo on high-tech goods between Bardan’s Trade Guild and Fjord’s more primitive ice planet of Perma. Her father died of a disease that was eradicated on Guild worlds, but membership came one year too late to save his life.

Bardan’s decision was the one that kept Perma out of the Guild. Because high-tech too soon leads to very bad decisions. Sort of like lottery winners on spending sprees, only with planetary-wide ecological disaster-type consequences. All Bjorn knows is that her father is dead and that it’s Bardan’s fault.

Now he’s back on Perma, because the ice miners have found an unsynthesizable high-yielding energy resource that his planet needs. And Brinn is the Perman trader he has to negotiate with to get it.

However, someone is willing to kill both of them to make sure that Rendar doesn’t get the energy crystals.

While they are running and fighting together for their lives, Savan Bardan and Brinn Fjord are forced to strip off the masks they wear in public. They have to rely on each other to survive.

Bardan learns the personal cost of his decision to keep Perma out of the guild. The reason behind Brinn’s bitter rivalry. And Brinn learns the reason behind Savan’s judgment–the last time he gave a planet early admission, they ruined their world.

And the reason there’s always been such heat in their negotiations? Just another way to conceal how they’ve really felt about each other all along.

But first they have to survive whoever is stalking them. In the middle of a Perman winter. Without gear or shelter.

Winter Fusion is a very good take on the “enemies into lovers” trope. Very, very good. With a slice of “poor little rich boy” thrown into the mix.

I give Winter Fusion 4 dark stars.

Galileo’s Holiday by Sasha Summers was a cute story, but it was also the shortest story in the collection and I kept wishing there were more of it! I just didn’t have enough of the world-building to quite get the reasoning behind the hero’s actions, but the love story and the settlement definitely worked.

Riley is a tugger. A lone ice miner with a tiny, one-woman ship, like her mother and her grandmother before her. Raiders destroy her ship, lucky for her while she’s planetside mining ice. Even luckier for her, a mysterious man leads her to a settlement.

That mysterious man, Leo, introduces her into the life of Galileo, just before their winter Holiday, and what a life it is! Riley has lost both her home and her livelihood in one fell swoop, but the settlers take her in and make her welcome.

Her ability to fix every bit of electronics tech they have doesn’t hurt her cause one little bit. Especially since their security grid is about to go down. That grid keeps the cryptids out. (Yes, I did say cryptids.) Big ugly carnivorous bug-eyed monsters.

The settlers can use her skills, but it’s Leo who fascinates her. In a jumble of new experiences (eating real food, wearing cloth instead of space gear) Riley’s never felt anything like what she feels for Leo. And it seems to be mutual. But she knows it can’t be permanent. He’ll go back to his ship as soon as the snow clears, and she’ll have to find a new place for herself.

Until the Raiders come to take Leo, and steal the cargo of medicines he’s been hiding. Leo sacrifices himself to save her. Then the Raiders want to take her. And Riley has to decide what sacrifice she’s willing to make.

As I said, the story of Riley’s discovery of a life outside her tugger, and the life of the settlement, worked. The parts that drove me a bit nutty were the lack of background about the raiders and the outside galaxy. There were hints of a bigger picture that I wanted, that would have made Leo’s reason for being with the settlers make more sense, that I just didn’t have. I want the rest of this story!

I give Galileo’s Holiday 3 1/2 icy stars.

Review: Chase Me by Tamara Hogan

Posted on December 11, 2012December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 4 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by the publisher
Number of Pages: 352 pages
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Series: Underbelly Chronicles #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Formats Available: Mass Market paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Goodreads | Publisher’s Website

Book Blurb:

THE SECRETS SHE’S UNCOVERiNG WILL BE HIS TO KEEP…

Centuries ago, when their ship crashed to Earth, paranormals of all types settled secretly into our world, quietly going about their business with humans none the wiser. Self-ruling and careful to stay below the radar, all is threatened when Valkyrie archaeologist Lorin Schlessinger and her werewolf geologist partner Gabe Lupinsky inadvertently draw evil attention to Earth and its treasured natural resources.

As the threat intensifies, Lorin and Gabe struggle to contain the chaos they’ve unleashed, and to resist their explosive mutual attraction …

My Thoughts:

This was originally posted at Book Lovers Inc.

Tamara Hogan’s Underbelly Chronicles are a wild blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance with the teeniest, tiniest touch of science fiction. Well, the SF is there in the same way that Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern were SF. I’ll get back to that in a minute. Or a few paragraphs.

If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Taste Me (I reviewed it over at Reading Reality) and you like your urban fantasy mixed with paranormal romance, check it out. Pretty much every race of supernatural not only exists, but they’ve all banded together and are not just hiding in plain sight, they police themselves. In Minneapolis.

In Chase Me, the scene is admittedly a bit less urban. The supernaturals in Hogan’s Underbelly Chronicles are not indigenous to our world, they crashed here in a spaceship! Chase Me concerns the archeological dig to retrieve the “black box” from that crashed ship, over a millenia later, at least according to oral history.

However, the Valkyrie archeologist and the werewolf geologist have done nothing but butt heads since the first day they started working together, and that was when they were back in Minneapolis. Out on the dig site in Outer Nowhere Minnesota, fighting over who is in charge of what is going to wreak havoc with productivity.

Except that isn’t what they’re really fighting about. After all, werewolves and Valkyries are both species that use aggression as an outlet for other tensions. Like sex. The real issues are that werewolves mate for life, and that Valkyries usually screw ’em and forget ’em.

Then they discover that their site isn’t far enough in the wilds that it can’t be found by a strange vampire who kidnaps one of their student workers, who vanishes in front of their eyes as if she was whisked away by a Star Trek transporter.

And yes, they do find that “black box”. Only to discover that most of their oral traditions about their origins are not quite on the mark. For one thing, their people have been on Earth four millennia, not just one. And there is genetic material in the box that might still be viable.

Verdict: The whole Underbelly Chronicles world is incredibly absorbing. I dove straight from the first book to this one without stopping. I’m just sorry that the next book, Tempt Me, isn’t out yet.

The relationship building between Lorin (the Valkyrie) and Gabe (the werewolf) was terrific. Lorin thinks she doesn’t want a relationship with Gabe because she thinks he’s going to be a pushover, then she’s very pleasantly surprised to discover that he is anything but! Gabe is also a geek hero, which is always cool.

One of the subplots is that the werewolves in general, and particular Gabe’s family, have a lot of genetic problems, because the Alpha won’t permit the weres to mate with other supernaturals. There is just too much inbreeding. Gabe is losing his vision because of genetic problems. His mother and sister were both born with a missing limb. His family are practically outcasts because of their genetics. Gabe feels unworthy because of his family’s status in the pack.

About the reference to McCaffrey’s Pern. At the very beginning of Dragonflight, there’s a prologue with all the clues to tell the reader that the story is science fiction. Pern is a lost colony. But it reads so much like fantasy, that everyone forgets until they find the ruins of the ship, several books later. The supernaturals are descendants of a crashed ship. They know it. That black box is a beacon. When it is recovered, it sends a signal. That signal gets answered.

The perspective of the person on board the ship answering that signal always seems slightly confused to me. There’s more going on at his end of the story than we see. I know it’s intended to keep things mysterious for the reader, but it just left me too much in the dark.

And that’s what keeps me from giving this a 5 star rating. So I give Chase Me by Tamara Hogan 4 and 1/2 stars.

Review: Like Hearts Enchanted by Kathleen Tudor and Cecilia Tan

Posted on December 4, 2012December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 3 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read:ebook provided by the publisher
Number of Pages:74 pages
Release Date:May 31, 2012
Publisher:Circlet Press
Genre: Fantasy romance
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website

Book Blurb:

Love is a universal ideal transcending time and place and occasionally even dimensions. Anyone who has ever been in love knows that there is something magical about it, but what happens when real magic gets involved in matters of the heart? From love spells, to the ability to open the eyes and the mind, to a special little something that can make you downright irresistible, anything is possible when magic and love mingle.

Prepare to be enchanted and aroused as these five original short stories help you answer the important questions, like “What if love is right in front of you, and all you need to do is let it in?”, “What happens when you mix steampunk, love potions, and a sexy strip tease?”, and of course, “What’s the best course of action if you accidentally summon a demon of lust into your living room?”

Sweet love will take you by surprise in “Violets” by Annabeth Leong. In “Summer’s Breath” by Deb Atwood, love, magic, and need intertwine and show you a hidden world. Heart’s desire is not always what it seems in “Knight of Her Dreams” by Kathleen Tudor. “By the Book” by Elizabeth Thorne takes us on a laugh-out-loud journey through lust, and delivers us to Ann Foster’s “The Captain,” a steampunk romance with a twist.

True love, red-hot sex, enlightenment, salvation, or anything in between; when matters of the heart and matters of magic collide, watch out! Love is in the air, and these five tales of love, sex, and enchantment will capture your senses and whisk you away to a world (or worlds) where anything is possible.

My Thoughts:

This was originally posted at Book Lovers Inc.

Although the subtitle of this collection is “Erotic Tales of Love and Magic” the stories didn’t seem like erotica. They were very definitely love stories, I’m just not sure that they all fell into the erotica category. As they say, your mileage may vary.

What they all have in common is that the magic involved in each story is pretty much magic of the witchcraft variety. Magic of the more homely sort. There are no dragons here. Nothing showy happens. There are only two otherworldly creatures in this collection, a fae and an incubus, and even the incubus gets caught up in a simple love spell.

The thread that binds these stories together is that the magic of love, or when someone involves magic spells in dealing with love, surprising things happen.

My favorite story in the collection is Elizabeth Thorne’s “By the Book”. Catherine summons a gorgeous naked man into her living room using a spell from a library book. When he looks bored inside the summoning circle, she unsummons him, really, really fast. He may be gorgeous, but she’s tired of being with men who don’t want to be with her. 20 minutes later, he’s back. Clothed this time, and at the front door. He’s not bored anymore, either. He’s annoyed.

Nobody’s ever turned him down before. He’s intrigued. It’s the most interesting thing that’s happened to him. He wants to talk about it. The talk leads to a pillow fight. And an explanation of why love spells don’t work. Except this one that did.

The other really good story in the collection is Annabeth Leong’s “Violets”. Helen desperately wants to keep her best friend Silvia from returning to her boyfriend Jared, who has just given her a black eye. Again. She wants to help Silvia find a good man this time, and not another loser. So she goes to Silvia’s aunt. Why? Because Silvia’s aunt is a bruja, a wisewoman from Puerto Rico, who can provide both a love spell for Silvia, and maybe a curse for the bastard who gave her the shiner.

But there’s a catch. The love spell must be prepared by someone who loves Silvia. Who better than her best friend, Helen? And maybe the preparation and application of this love spell will finally let these two women realize that the best person for them, the one who really loves them, is each other.

Verdict: Like most collections, there are hits and misses. The two stories highlighted above are definitely the hits in this collection, at least as far as I am concerned.

“Knight of her Dreams” by Kathleen Tudor and “The Captain” by Ann Foster were both pretty good stories as well. “Knight” was a bit predictable, but the story was well-told. “The Captain” is the steampunk story in the collection. The steampunk aspects were minor, but the interesting part of the story was the way the tables got turned on the main character.

Unfortunately, one story didn’t work at all for me. That was “Summer’s Breath” by Deb Atwood. A summer fae comes to earth and needs to submit herself to someone before the winter solstice or she will be lost. I got that part. It was the ending. I think this story might have been bigger than the format. It sounded interesting, but there just wasn’t enough to figure out everything that happened. Too bad, too.

I give Like Hearts Enchanted 3 stars.

~*~*Giveaway*~*~

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**~~Giveaway~~**