Tag: Entangled Publishing

Dual Review: Haven 6 by Aubrie Dionne

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 2 1/2 Stars> Dual Review> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover> The Smutty Lover

Format Read: ebook provided by the publisher
Number of Pages: 326 pages
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Series: (if it is) A New Dawn #4
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Formats Available: Trade Paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

A product of an illegal pairing, Eridani is the only woman without a lifemate aboard the colonization ship, the Heritage, and she is determined her less than perfect DNA will not get in the way of finding love. As the ship nears it’s final destination of Haven 6 after five hundred years of travel, images of the surface show evidence of intelligent life on a planet that’s supposed to be uninhabited. Commander Grier assigns Eri to the exploratory team to spy on the alien society and return with information on how to defeat them.

When Eri’s team lands, tribes of humans attack and Eri is saved by Striver, the descendant of a colonist and a pirate from Old Earth’s colonization efforts in other parts of the galaxy. Striver helps Eri rescue her team and they are drawn to each other despite their different allegiances. While Striver battles with trusting Eri, Eri must decide whether to warn him and his people about the commander’s intentions, or follow orders and complete her mission.

Our Thoughts:

Marlene: Haven 6 is the final book in Dionne’s New Dawn series, and she’s trying to tie up all the loose ends. So she goes back to the beginning. All the beginnings. The colony ship that arrives at Haven 6 is commanded by none other than the former Governor of New York, or what’s left of her. Governor Grier’s brain is Commander Grier, and she still remembers the last panic-stricken days of Earth. Those events form the story of A Hero Rising, book 3 of Dionne’s series.

But when the Heritage reaches Haven 6, it finds that the original scouting reports were wrong. The planet is populated. That population is descended from Aries and Striker, the main characters of the first book in this series, Paradise 21. (See what I mean about all the loose ends?)

But the crew of the Heritage doesn’t know that, yet. All they know is that there are huts showing up in the fly-by scan. Enter our heroine, this story’s ship-misfit, Eridani. Eri is a double-misfit; she is the result of an unauthorized pairing, and her job is less-than-essential. Eri is a linguist. on a ship that doesn’t meet anyone who speaks dead Earth languages. But since she’s good at her job, maybe she can make sense out of whatever the species inhabiting Haven 6 speaks.

Too bad it turns out to be English. And too bad for everyone that the first group of “natives” that Eri’s team runs into turns out to be pirates.

Things go downhill from there.

Has: Oh yes, you have summed up exactly how I felt about this final installment of the series and I was hoping it would improve. But, sadly this wasn’t the case. I was lukewarm on the romance, lukewarm on the plot and very lukewarm on the characters. The one aspect that I really enjoyed about the previous books, was the element of world-building and how Dionne sets up a tense and engaging setting of groups of survivors on their journeys to find a new home. However, even this factor wasn’t apparent and in fact didn’t make sense. Because it was set a few 100 years after the events in the previous books. I couldn’t understand how the survivors of the Omega station would devolve into petty warfare over technology especially since they kept that alien ship which was the only working tech which they kept for historical and nostalgic reasons.

There was not an element of how their society evolved and in fact it was regressing and it definitely didn’t make sense with aliens who Striker and Aries saved in PARADISE 21. They showed real promise and imagination in that book and I was looking forward to see how events would evolve when we revisit them in this book. But their depiction fell into a huge cliche pitfall of stand-offish aliens who must not interfere with human affairs. And the entire conflict in the book was relegated with the tensions between the opposing human factions of the pirate like gangs and the humans who lived in harmony with the aliens. I was very let down on how this played out in the book, because the plot wasn’t engaging, or had real depth for me.

Marlene: In the attempt to wrap everything up into a nice, neat package, the author recycled an unfortunately large number of cliches from the lesser Star Trek scripts. (I’m saying this and I love Trek with all my geeky little heart) The aliens that Aries and Striker rescue in Paradise 21 are now operating under some kind of semi-operative Prime Directive; they can’t interfere if it will lead to loss of life, but they can help a bit. They owe their existence as a species, not just as individuals, to Aries’ and Striker’s interference; does this make sense?

The society on Haven 6 has either devolved, or something weird is going on that we don’t know. There are hints, but not enough information. In Paradise 21, Aries and Striker bring the entire population of Outpost Omega to Haven 6, only they call it Refuge. Lots of those folks were pirates, but many were prisoners, and some were just folks trying to get by. How did things descend practically into chaos in just a couple of centuries? Also, they used a wormhole to get ahead of the colony ships. Many of the pirates, and others had their own ships. Did anyone go elsewhere? Use another wormhole?

These folks have gone effectively back to, as Mr. Spock put it in City on the Edge of Forever, “stone knives and bearskins”. Or very nearly. High-tech is seen as the great evil. Yes, the last days of the Earth that everyone escaped from were really bad, but all the way back to primitivism? Couldn’t they find a happy medium? Or even a happy medium-rare?

And then there’s the romance. We have insta-love between an outsider from the colony ship and a hero who otherwise wouldn’t know she exists. Along with a bully for romantic tension, although in this case the bully, a Haven girl named Riptide, isn’t as bad as Luna was in Tundra 37.

Speaking of Riptide, there are the two side-plots with Striver’s brother Weaver, and the golden liquid of doom, but I’ll leave those to Has.

Has:  I also have to add that this reminded me of Battlestar Galactica’s remake where the humans decided to renounce technology, and although I get why they did – there was no reason why the pirate gangs could have developed their own tech especially since they came from a space faring race. Riptide’s character who felt like an obstacle to force emotions out of Eri and to create tension between her and Striver. Although like Eri, I was bemused by Riptide’s appearance of foot-length hair which isn’t that practical in a jungle like planet (imagine the humidity!). But I also felt Riptide’s character was redundant and never really offered any real conflict in the romance and she was pretty much a cliche for me for being a bitchy character with no real depth.

However, I have to say I was very bored with the sub-plot with Striver’s brother who defected to join the pirate gangs because he was jealous and bitter of his brother’s popularity and leadership skills.  I found his character to be a whiny, selfish and stupid and the reasons on why he joined a dangerous albeit another stupid group of people didn’t make sense. And although it tried to bring out real emotions – for me it emphasized his TSTL reasons. I also found myself being bored reading his POV chapters because it didn’t offer any real emotions or push the plot forward and when he encounters the glowing pool which is similar to the glowing orb in TUNDRA 37 where people get lost and sucked into their past memories – Well it was a bit of an anti-climactic twist and I was very disappointed because the alien orbs/glowing pool ties in previous plot threads and adds more twists in this universe. But, overall I found that the main plot a huge disappointment and how it ended was a bit of a wet fish.

Marlene: The divide between the pirates and the what? not-pirates? on Haven seems to be that the pirates want to exploit the remaining technology, and Striver’s people keep the remaining technology under wraps, feeling that all technology beyond the most rudimentary is bad. The pirates seem to be too lazy or too violent to develop their own tech, they just want to steal it, which makes them one-dimensional bad guys.

Weaver was whiny, self-centered and fairly stupid. Not in the IQ sense, but in the survival sense. He didn’t see other people as “real”, only as how they held him back from his supposed “greatness”. He never saw himself as part of the problem. And he was a complete idiot to think that going to the pirates was any kind of long term strategy. They were murdering lunatics. Weaver’s purpose in the plot was to show the redemptive power of the golden memory liquid, and to be the obligatory sacrifice for the greater good at the end.

I also thought this one was a bit anti-climactic, especially compared to the first two.

Has: And that is why I feel let down by this because it resorted to cliches and not in a good way. There was a lot of promise because there was such a rich tapestry of promise with the alien and different human factions however the resolution was a lot to be desired. However I do have to say the romantic build-up between Striver and Eri was slightly better compared to the previous books. But once again their romance suffered from insta-love syndrome which I am not a huge fan of because there was no real tension between them. But I preferred this sub-plot compared to the main story of the book.

Marlene: You’re right, Has. The romance did work just a bit better this time. Although there was definitely an insta-love start, the romance between Eri and Striver had enough time and enough “stuff” in it for us to see why these two get together in the end.

But the rest of the story doesn’t work as well. The fight between the pirates and Striver’s people seems basically under-explained. Mostly because every time I say, think, or write the word “Pirates” when there is no water or space or ship involved, my brain goes “tilt”. They are thugs that this society hasn’t taken care of. The alien Guardians have “Vulcan syndrome” without being half as cool. Or a quarter as hot.

And the insecure younger brother plot was really insecure. The best part of the story, the golden memory liquid, got dribbled away.

For that, I dribble out 2 and a half stars for Haven 6.

Has:I also agree! I wished that this last installment, would have closed this series with  a bang and whilst I liked how Aubrie Dionne intertwined the plot threads from the previous books. This was pretty much an anti-climactic ending and didn’t live up to the promise of the earlier books. I found that this was the weakest book in the series and I am disappointed because I loved the world-building that was set up. And even though this had actually a stronger romantic subplot compared to the previous books, I enjoyed the setting and premise much more but I am sad to say this was a bit of a meh book for me and I don’t think I will continue with the spin-off series.

2 and half stars for Haven 6.

***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.

Review: Wild Encounter by Nikki Logan

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: romantic suspense
Length: 196 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Date Released: September 9, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

A wildlife release mission in Africa turns deadly when the convoy is hijacked by smugglers, and veterinarian Clare Delaney is taken hostage. Terrified for her life and her animals, the intrepid Clare establishes a rapport with the man she believes is the criminals’ leader, and reluctantly finds herself under his protection…and falling hard for the enigmatic man.

Alpha-to-the-max Simon deVries sees right through his sexy captive’s attempt to seduce her way to freedom. So when their simmering attraction flares into true passion, it takes them both by surprise. Now he’s torn between completing his secret mission and letting her escape without telling her his true identity. He knows if he lets her go, he will be risking his career, his life…and his heart.

Most people know about “Stockholm Syndrome”, where hostages “have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.” The syndrome is all about mistaking the lack of abuse from their captors, or, in the case of Clare and Simon in Wild Encounter, a particular captor, for an act of kindness. Or possibly more.

At least, that’s what the shrink tells her after it’s all over.

There’s an inverse syndrome, the “Lima Syndrome.” That’s the version where the abductors develop sympathy for the hostages, sometimes to the point of letting them all go. Or, in the case of Wild Encounter, letting just the one hostage go.

And that’s what Simon’s superiors tell him he has after it’s all over.

But what if they’re wrong?

As romantic suspense, the start of this story is both amazing and slightly uncomfortable. Simon and a group of seriously bad dudes kidnap Clare by accident in order to get at the wild dogs her group is planning to release. She’s just collateral damage. So are the dogs.

Can either of them be sure the attraction they feel for each other is real, and not a product of the situation?

Clare only knows that Simon is the only one of the crew who treats her half-way decently. He protects her from the others. Throwing her lot in with him, throwing herself at him, is her best chance for survival.

Until she can rescue herself. Which is exactly what she does. With wits and skill and intelligence. Brains over brawn. Whatever she feels for Simon, she takes him down, too. And escapes from ALL her captors. Including the one she’s just spent an entire day in the sack with.

She drugs him comatose, along with the rest. His last act is to give her his gun. She drives far enough away before she brings back rescue that he has a chance to get away, she hopes. But that’s all she can do for him, whoever he was.

Six months later she’s back in Africa, because the dogs have been found on the wrong nature preserve, and she and her team have to relocate them after all. While she’s happy to know that they survived, she’s still emotionally scarred.

Then the British government sends  a team to guard them, to prevent a repeat of the “embarrassing events” of the previous transfer, and there’s Simon again. Clare finds out who he really is, and she’s both stunned and angry. He’s MI6 and her kidnapping nearly ruined his undercover case.

All she knows is that in 6 months he never contacted her to let her know that he was alive, or who he really was. Or what their last night together might have meant. Or not.

His case isn’t over. He can’t even tell her what it’s about. Or that he’s not sure what their last night meant either. Was it all part of one syndrome or another, or was what they both did, part of something they both really felt? And will they survive long enough to clear up all the misunderstandings?

Escape Rating B: The pages absolutely fly by in this romantic suspense tale. The author conveys both the romance and the danger of her veterinarian-heroine’s love-affair with her job and the places it takes her too, with deft insider knowledge.

It was terrific to see a woman rescue herself, not by muscle, but by brains. We need more heroines like Clare in romance. (Heck, we need more heroines like Clare as role-models in general!)

But, we’re all left wondering how much of what Clare (and Simon) feel in the initial situation is real, and how much is part of the situation. The sex is jungle steamy, but are the emotions real? Those syndromes exist for very valid psychological reasons.

The angsting after Clare and Simon get back together is a bit, well, much. The misunderstandings are huge, and go on way too long. Either he can talk about it, or he can’t. If MI6 says he’s compromised, than he shouldn’t be there. Or he’s all there. Also, the nameless/faceless nature of the superiors who  said he couldn’t/shouldn’t be involved with Clare took a bit away from the reasoning on that one. I wanted to see his memory of that actual dressing-down, if not the event itself to give that more punch.

Where would spy stories today be without the invention of the micro-chip? (I’m just saying…)

But all things considered, I liked these characters. A LOT. I wanted them to find a happy ending, and I was happy for them when they did. And the plot did keep me very much in suspense. I did not know who the bad guy was, or even why the bad guy was, until Clare figured it out. I love it when the suspense works as well as the romance.

***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.

Interview with Author Nikki Logan + Giveaway!

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours> Giveaways

Please welcome Nikki Logan to Reading Reality today. Nikki comes to us all the way from the West Coast of Australia. She’s not just here to tell us about her latest book from Entangled Publishing, Wild Encounter (review coming up on Friday) but she’s also going to give us just a glimpse into life down under. And not city life, but life in a part of the country we don’t usually hear much about. Her description really brings her world to life.

Some of the description of the way people live makes it sound a bit like Alaska without the snow. (Maybe for our next move…)

Here’s Nikki!

Marlene: Welcome Nikki! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Nikki: Sure. I’m an Australian writer who also works in the wildlife/conservation industry. I live over on the West Coast of Australia with my man and two dogs, two cats, four birds, four frogs and three fish. I’ve written contemporary romance (category length) for a couple of years and am really happy to now also write Rom-Sus for Entangled/Dead Sexy.

Marlene: It’s pretty clear from your blog, and from your books, that you definitely have a love affair with nature. When and how did your romance with nature begin?

Nikki: I can’t remember a time that I didn’t identify with wild places or creatures. I was always a really animal-y kid and that has never left me. When I studied film at Uni it was with the intention of become a natural history filmmaker, I really wanted to show people what so inspired me about the natural world. That didn’t happen (I ended up going into commercial production and video distribution for a decade) but I’ve kind of ended up where I wanted to be, just via a different route. So very happy with that.

Marlene: For those of us who live in the U.S. especially in the cities, your life in Western Australia seems like a great adventure. Would you be willing to tell us a little bit about what it’s really like?

Nikki: Perth is the world’s second most isolated capital city after Honolulu (devastated to discover we’ve been bumped from first place!). Check it out on a map and you’ll see that the nearest other capital is 2,500kms away. Western Australia also has a really small population relative to its size. Imagine everything west of Denver (USA) with only 2.2million people in it, but then imagine 2million of those only being in Los Angeles and the other 200,000 spread out across the rest of that space. You can go for days, out there, without seeing anything other than wildlife. Fantastic. But also dangerous if you get in trouble.

This isolation means we have quite a unique social culture within Australia (which we love and embrace, btw, we don’t see it as a minus). We have a massive coastline all to ourselves and so a big boating/fishing/water-based leisure culture. We love to dine, walk, and play on, in or beside oceans and rivers and seafood is a huge part of our dining experience.

We also have a really big ‘back yard’ culture. People have expansive outdoor kitchens here with flash BBQs and we sit out with our family and friends or we hangout in sprawling home theatres or beside clean, crystal pools and enjoy each other’s company more than some of the more ‘happening’ east coast cities where going out straight after work and not getting home til late is really common.  We have more hours of sunlight than any other city in Australia and boy do we use it.

The south-west of WA is all about forests and temperate agriculture and wine and caves and tourists and leisure and ‘tree-changes’. The far north of WA is all about red, ancient landscapes with a whole different weather system, dramatic land- and sea-scapes and extraordinary creatures. And, in between the two, we’re all about desert and resources and the grazing industry (our state lives and breathes on cattle, sheep and what gets dug up out of the earth).

We have a really unique sub-culture here called FIFO to support our massive mining industry. That means that a big percentage of our population (men mostly) work in remote areas of the state on mines or oil-rigs or whatever, so they fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) on rosters like 9 days on 4 days off because it’s cheaper for the companies to fly their staff all over the state every day from the City than to accommodate them in remote towns. If you walk into the business lounges of any airline anywhere else in the world you’ll find it filled with well-dressed business types. Walk into one at Perth airport and its full of steel-capped boots, king-gee shorts and tanned, masculine legs 🙂

So that’s my home. Enormous, resource-rich, sparsely populated outside of the city, abundant with wildlife and ancient landscapes, hot in summer and warm in winter, and very, very sunny. I love it.

Marlene: Now, could you describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?

Nikki: My writing sign is Pantser with plotster ascending 🙂   I have a general idea of what I’ll be writing about and while I’m capable of developing a story arc/outline I seem to be incapable of sticking to it. So I just resign myself to lots of go-overs (and some do-overs) while the story takes shape from my subconscious.

Marlene: What made you choose to write romances that incorporate your love of nature? (It’s a terrific concept!)

Nikki: Write what you love. The old adage. I knew I wanted to write stories set in or about wildlife and when I first started looking at the whole nature-based thing there wasn’t anyone doing that overtly. I didn’t know if that meant there wasn’t a market of just that no-one had turned it into a brand. So I held my breath and went for it. I do firmly believe that having a clear and unequivocal brand helped me to sell to Harlequin originally because they ‘got it’ straight up. And now it’s really awesome (from a business perspective) to have that clear brand to help guide my decisions. Sometimes you could go two ways and can’t decide but only one of them will support the brand and so it helps make that decision easier.

But it was a compromise because to have that brand I knew I’d be effectively writing myself out of some of the bigger selling market places (with the glamorous settings and very urban stories).

Marlene: What can we expect of Wild Encounter?

Nikki: A wild, danger-filled ride. A fantasy romance grounded in reality. Lots of wildlife. Lots of sweat and angst. Lots of blood (which was very exciting for me to write!)

Marlene: What projects do you have planned for the future? What is next on your schedule?

Nikki: I write full time (5-days-a-week) and I work my day job the other two and so I have a very full schedule. It means I have a few things on the go at once but in between the contemporary romances I’m fiddling with two more rom-sus ideas, one is a sequel to Wild Encounter (featuring MI6 operative,McKenzie) and the other is a paranormal set in Indondesia.

Marlene: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?

Nikki: For the escape. For the wildlife. For the compelling, relatable characters.

Marlene: Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

Nikki: My  mother with her enormous book collection. My most enduring memory of her is her perched at the kitchen bench, cup-of-tea by her side, elbows on the counter, book in hand. She always read and so reading was such a normal pastime in my house, growing up. But both my grandfathers were also great storytellers and so I definitely got the story-teller gene from them.

Marlene: What words of advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Nikki: Learn the business. Talent is no longer enough. Perfected craft is no longer enough. Whether you traditionally publish or self-publish the rules are the same, you need to watch the market, watch the trends, read up on the issues and see what’s working for other people. If you don’t want to approach this as a business then just make sure you always keep writing as that gorgeous thing you do on the side. The thing you do for you. The moment it becomes work you have to change your mindset.

Marlene: What book do you recommend everyone should read and why did you pick that particular book?

Nikki: Orson Scott Card – Enders Game. I picked it because it was the first book (well, series really) that grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let go. Card is such a gifted storyteller (personal politics aside) and linguist and his stories exemplify the best of genre fiction — engaging, entertaining, memorable.

Marlene: Morning person or night owl?

Nikki: Both. As required 🙂

Nikki, I want to thank you for an absolutely fantastic interview. You’ve been terrific!

~~~~~~Giveaway~~~~~~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wild Encounter by Nikki Logan width=

Review: Down for the Count by Christine Bell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Dare Me #1
Length: 128 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Date Released: October 1, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Truth or dare…

When Lacey Garrity finds her groom in flagrante delicto in the reception hall closet with her bridesmaid, she’s saved by her best friend’s older brother—childhood tormentor, crush, and boxing bad boy Galen Thomas. Galen’s solution is both exciting and dangerous. What better way to forget the mess of her life than go on her honeymoon with a hot guy who can’t promise anything beyond today?

…or TKO?

Galen had been counting on Lacey’s wedding to put her out of reach—and out of his mind—once and for all, but their steamy Puerto Rican escape is testing all his boundaries. Now that Lacey’s embracing her inner bad girl, Galen is tempted to throw in the towel and claim her for himself. But with the biggest fight of his career on the line and an important business merger threatening to derail Lacey’s resolve, their romance might be down for the count before it even begins.

It’s not so much that Galen Thomas is a bad boy, so much that Lacey Garrity has been way too much of a goody-two-shoes for most of her life. Lacey has been so busy attempting to please her impossible mother, and everyone else around her, that she’s never let herself figure out what it is she really wants. She’s too busy being worried that something might go wrong, and that she’ll get blamed for it.

Lacey just knows that her mother (whom her friend Cat properly nicknames “The Admiral”) is going to blame her when she finds her just-married groom in the linen closet of their reception hall with her other best friend, Becca. And, oh yes, he was banging her bridesmaid.

Lacey’s marriage to Marty the bridesmaid banger is so over. And it should be. (Men named Marty are so seldom any good. The last decent guy named Marty was Marty McFly. Back to the Future was a LONG time ago.)

But Lacey needs a quick rescue from the reception, before Mother Admiral swoops down on her. Enter Galen Thomas, who is not just her best friend’s older brother, but the guy she’s had a crush on since she was about 10. Of course, she’s not 10 anymore, and what Lacey feels is a lot more than a crush. But she’s been so beaten down by failing to meet everyone’s expectations that she can’t see what’s right in front of her.

She is way better than Marty ever deserved, and that Galen sees her as a whole lot more than just his sister’s best friend. When Lacey was 10 and he was 13, that would have made him a perv. But they’re all adults now, and he hasn’t seen her as just a kid for a long time.

But hitting on your sister’s best friend is usually a way for a guy to end up dead, in a manner of speaking. So Galen has tried to just be friends.

In the moment where Galen has to choose between getting Lacey out of that awful reception, and breaking every bone in Marty’s body, Galen chooses to save Lacey. And that’s where Down for the Count turns into a marvelous friends-into-lovers romance.

It’s also Lacey’s journey out from under the Admiral’s command. Because she has to get all the horrible messages from her mother out of her head, as well as get rid of her ill-considered marriage, before she’s ready to be in love with the man who has always wanted her.

Escape Rating A-: Christine Bell has written a terrific friends-into-lovers romance in Down for the Count. The opening scene at the wedding reception, where Lacey finds her erstwhile groom in the closet, just made you feel for Lacey, and want to deck Marty. But you can feel Lacey start to grab her own life for the first time.

Lacey is a “poor little rich girl” character, but once she starts to break from the mold, she really breaks out. At the same time, you do see her struggle. It’s hard to stop hearing all those little voices that tell you people will judge you if you don’t do everything just right. The author has captured her internal struggle excellently.

The central core of the story is Lacey and Galen’s romance, and it’s both steamy and sweet. Lacey’s always had a crush but never felt good enough, lively enough, pretty enough for him. And until they were adults, that three-year age gap was a yawning chasm. But now the timing is almost right. Watching them work for a relationship makes this story sing.

***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.

Review: Wife for Hire by Christine Bell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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: 118 pages
Release Date: August 18, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

He needs a wife for three weeks…

Owen Phipps is out for revenge. His mission? To expose the man who stole his sister’s money and dignity. All he needs is a “wife” who can play along. Too bad his last best hope is an actress who tries to mace him with perfume when he offers her the role of a lifetime.

Lindy Knight is a real sap. She loves too hard, feels too deep, and often finds herself saying yes when she should be saying “Let me think about it.” She can’t believe her good fortune when Owen offers her more than enough money to hold off foreclosure until she can find a job. Three weeks at a resort, money she desperately needs, and she gets to help bring a criminal to justice? Score.

It seems easy enough until the first time a couples bonding game turns intimate, and they realize how dangerous their mutual attraction could be. Can they keep their hands to themselves long enough to find the evidence Owen needs? Or are the close quarters more temptation than they can handle?

My Thoughts:

This was originally posted at Book Lovers Inc.

There’s a reason the “pretending to be married” trope is a tried and true. Done right, it can be oh so much fun. The trick, in a contemporary romance, is to find a good enough reason to set up the scenario, and an equally good reason why the two principals can’t just jump into bed to cut the sexual tension.

Christine Bell definitely latched onto a winning formula in Wife for Hire. The pretense is reasonable enough, Owen is getting revenge against the swindler who took his younger half-sister for $750,000. Yes, you read that right three-quarters of a million dollars. The problem is that the con artist has set up an expensive “couples marriage saving” retreat. Which means Owen needs a wife, and he hasn’t got one.

Oh yeah, and his sister does not want him to do this. She’d much rather lick her wounds in private, thank you very much. So this entire thing is all very much on the QT. Owen needs someone outside his family circle, and away from his business.

Enter Lindy. She’s very much an amateur actress. Very much an amateur everything. She needs the money for the job, because she gives everything of herself to everyone she meets. She takes in stray dogs and stray widows. She mentors stray kids. She wears her heart on her sleeve.  Bleeding.

The one thing that Lindy is, is totally genuine, about everything. While she needs the money she’ll earn by helping Owen settle the score, she takes the job because she can tell that he needs the help. He needs to fix things for his sister.

And because he’s the sexiest man she’s ever seen in her kitchen. Or anywhere. They are only pretending to be married when other people can see them. Not in private.

Because Lindy believes in love. And Owen doesn’t. Which doesn’t stop him from wanting, not just Lindy’s body, but also the warmth she brings to every room, and the way her smile lights up the heart he’s always sworn he doesn’t have.

Verdict: Wife for Hire is just plain fun. If you’re looking for a sweet, sexy story that will make you smile and laugh, and sigh over the happy ending, this is a terrific one. Owen and Lindy seem like opposites on the surface, the hard-nosed business tycoon and the bleeding heart, but underneath they are both lonely people who have found different methods to keep that loneliness at bay.

The reason that Owen initially hires Lindy involves some suspense that wraps very nicely around the romance, and gets resolved quite satisfactorily as well.

I give Wife for Hire 4 1/2 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.

Dual Review: A Vengeful Affair by Carmen Falcone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 3 1/2 Stars> 4 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Dual Review> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Latin Lover> The Rocket Lover

Format read: e-ARC provided by publisher
Release Date: 14 July 2012
Number of pages: 230 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Read an excerpt

Blurb:

Rich people get away with murder every day, but Vivian Foster intends to make billionaire Javier Rivera pay for what he did to her best friend—and how better to destroy a money-grubbing bastard than to sabotage the merger that means everything to him.

Javier Rivera would never hurt a woman much less kill one. But when he catches a gorgeous corporate spy in his office, he knows he can’t let her go—not when even a hint of scandal could ruin his career. Until the merger is signed, he’ll keep her close, even if he has to shackle her to his wrist. Literally.

But the closer Javier gets to Vivian, the more he wants her, and the more time she spends with him, the less she believes he could ever be a killer. Now Vivian and Javier have to discover the truth…and Vivian has to win the trust of her worst enemy.

Our Thoughts:

Stella: I’d like to start by saying that it seems that Entangled’s Indulgence imprint is a sure guarantee: whenever I pick one up I expect a delightful heartwarming sensual romance and A Vengeful Affair not only did not disappoint but completely won me over, I loved every minute of it!

Marlene: I’ve seen too many improbable billionaires and tycoons in the Indulgence imprint to tickle my fancy. My ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ only suspends but so far in a contemporary romance and no farther. Speaking of which, the situation in A Vengeful Affair struck me as beyond belief. I’m not sure which I found more unbelievable, that Javier didn’t call the police when he found Vivan snooping, or that Vivian actually left the country with the man she suspecting of being her best friend’s murderer, no matter how hot he was.

Stella: I had no problem believing that Javier would rather take care of the problem of Vivian snooping in his office than calling the cops and handing her to them. I mean he is curious, he wants to know what she’s up to, and as a typical successful businessman I guess he doesn’t relinquish control of any situation, mystery easily. The part I had a bit more problem accepting was how the murder of Vivian’s best friend was resolved. It felt like an afterthought and maybe it would have been better to leave out that part and find another justification for Vivian’s investigation and vendetta. But I got over that as soon as Vivian and Javier got into one of their sparring matches which kept me well entertained. 😀 Both Vivian and Javier were well developed, colourful and interesting characters and they were very well matched to each other’s temperament 😉 I LOVED their nonstop banter and their constant battle of wills was the highlight of the novel for me! 😀

Marlene: Having been crazy enough to go to Paris with Javier, I will say that once she got there, Vivian and Javier were very well matched. They are very strong characters and both equally fixed in their view of the events that led them to their initial confrontation. The fact that they are both totally wrong about each other only leads to more explosive chemistry and a bigger build-up of sexual tension. And you’re absolutely right, Stella, the constant battle of wills, and the oh-so-intelligent banter that the author uses to express it is fantastic!

Stella: I know, I kept devouring their dialogues which at turns made me chuckle or shiver (in delight)! Carmen Falcone packed more than enough heat to make the story sizzle, the chemistry between Vivian and Javier was palpable and all those delicious sexual innuendos gave me frissons of delight:

“I just thought I needed my things—”
“For the next few days, I will take care of whatever you need.”

I just loved Javier’s intensity which made even the most common scene appear sensual and steamy 😉

“She had barely finished speaking when he slammed her against a thick tree trunk and closed the gap between them. Vivian gasped.
“You are what’s wrong with me, Vivian,” he said. There was an unveiled intensity in his dark eyes. “I can’t stop wanting you.” Swiftly, Javier leaned in and kissed her hard, almost as if in punishment. She fought to breathe, raising trembling fingers to his chest. His heartbeat matched hers. He looked down at her, his eyes blazing with desire, his deep gaze a promise and a challenge. He wanted her surrender.”

Raul Julia

Marlene: Javier and Vivian had enough chemistry to scorch every room (and every stick of furniture in it) that they occupied. OMG did they ever! (I kept imagining Raul Julia as Javier, and let’s just say that worked for me). The part of the story that kept me coming back for more was the development of the relationship between Javier and Vivian. They know that they shouldn’t get involved, and they can’t manage to keep their hands off each other. It steams off the pages just how much they can’t.

Stella: Perfectly said Marlene, I loved how both of them had to struggle with their inner voice making them choose between duty and their attraction towards each other. (And though I would rather picture Monsieur Edouard B. the older business partner of Javier as Raul Julia, I also think that the cover sorely misrepresented Javier! I mean he is a Spanish young and very handsome and sexy man, not this blond teenager on the cover :-/ )

Verdict:

Stella: A Vengeful Affair was a captivating story keeping me up until I finished reading it (at 3am!). The characters were vivid, their interaction sparkling and intelligent. There might be times when you’ll ahve to suspend your disbelief but Carmen Falcone will take you on an engrossing and very entertaining journey. I loved A Vengeful Affair, and seeing how Carmen Falcone bowled me over with her debut novel I can’t wait to read more from her. Take notes readers: if you love your contemporary romances sizzling with sexy banter then Carmen Falcone is an author to watch!

I give A Vengeful Affair 4.5 stars!

Marlene: I have very mixed feelings about A Vengeful Affair. On the one hand, I found the initial set-up beyond belief. On that other hand, once the story got started, I lost total track of where I was, sitting in a crowded airport waiting for a plane for 3 hours. The terrific banter between Javier and Vivian, and the deliciously sizzling sexual tension swept me away. I would love to read a full-length novel by Falcone that doesn’t have quite such a contrived start.

I give A Vengeful Affair 3.5 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.

Dual Review: Seducing Cinderella

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 4 1/2 Stars> 4 Stars> book reviews> Dual Review> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Latin Lover> The Rocket Lover

Format read: ebook
Release Date: 20 July 2012
Series: Book #1 in the Fighting for Love series
Number of pages: 177 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Brazen)
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Read an excerpt

Blurb:

Mixed martial arts fighter Reid Andrews’s chance to reclaim his title as light heavyweight champ is shattered when he’s injured only months before the rematch. To make sure he’s healed in time, his trainer sends him to recuperate under a professional’s care—Reid’s best friend’s little sister, all grown up.

Disorganized and bookish Lucie Miller needs some professional help of her own. She’d do anything to catch the eye of a doctor she’s crushed on for years, so when Reid offers seduction lessons in exchange for 24/7 conditioning for the biggest fight of his career, Lucie jumps at the chance.

Soon Reid finds him himself in the fight of his life…winning Lucie’s heart before she gives it to someone else.

Our Thoughts:

Marlene: The “lessons in seduction” trope is one of my secret favorites, I love seeing it done right. It’s hard to do in contemporary stories without making one of the characters very young, but Maxwell really managed to pull it off with adults. This was terrific.

Stella: Oh I agree Marlene, there is just something delicious in how the hero awakens the heroine to her sensual side and makes her discover a whole new world 😉

Marlene: The use of the “Cinderella” motif was playful and fun, but if we’re talking about fairy tales, this is much more of an “Ugly Duckling” story.

Stella: This is really funny Marlene, as I was reading Seducing Cinderella I kept making notes asking myself why the story was titled Cinderella and not Seducing My Fair Lady, as it was more of a Pygmalion, Ugly Duckling story with how Reid made Lucie the invisible sweats and glasses wearing girl transform into a sexy va-va-voom vixen.

Marlene: The reasons why Lucie needed a transformation were reasonable. She’d been hurt and was hiding in her shapeless clothes and shyness.

Stella: Hm.. interesting I didn’t see it that way, I just thought she was more of a tomboy and was more comfortable in her practical clothes. Since she had a really sexy best friend I found it a bit puzzling how come her temptress of BF didn’t give her tips on how to dress in a more advantageous way and highlight her features with some light makeup.

Marlene: Lucie was definitely a tomboy, but her selfish oaf of an ex- seriously did a number on her. Hiding behind her competence after that experience made sense to me. YMMV. What made Reid the right man for her was that he was interested in her before he transformed her, he was interested while he transformed her, and he was interested after. That idiot doctor only saw the wrapping and not the package.

Stella: Oh don’t even get me started on the doctor, he was such a slimebag I get creeped out just thinking about him. It was quite one big turn off regarding Lucie, I couldn’t understand how she could be such a horrible judge of character that she was blind to what a hypocritical and shallow, egotistical jerk her big crush was. Ugh.. Reid on the other hand was great. Maybe a bit too knowledgeable in some feminine ways but definitely warm-hearted generous, tender and caring towards Lucie and still so virile and strong mmm *dreamy eyes*

Marlene: One of the things that makes this story work is that neither the hero nor the heroine are perfect. Another way of looking at it, continuing the fairy tale themes, would be if Lucie is the Ugly Duckling that Reid helps to turn into a beautiful swan, or if Lucie is Cinderella and Reid is her fairy godfather, then Lucie is also ultimately Beauty to Reid’s Beast, the one woman who sees him as more than just a fighter. They redeem each other, but not until after Reid treats Lucie fairly beastly. There is one pretty big misunderstandammit.

Stella: Oh that Beauty and the Beast parallel you drew is spot on Marlene! Although at times I found that Reid’s knowledge about feminine tricks regarding make up and sexy clothes was a bit too much, I definitely loved how Lucie saw the person behind the fighter and how she supported and loved the man behind the title.

Marlene: We don’t see much of the side characters, but what we do see of Lucie’s friends shows that she does have a good support group. I love her friend Vanessa; she watches NCIS!

Stella: I also loved Vanessa, she was fun, and the gay guy friends were also a riot! Hope to see them again in the next books!

Verdict:

Marlene: I read Seducing Cinderella a few weeks ago in order to write the interview questions, but when it came time to write this review, I got totally sucked in and re-read the book. I only intended to skim it, but I got lost in the story again. It’s not just that the writing was good, but I felt for, or maybe that’s fell for, the characters all over again.

I am seduced into giving Seducing Cinderella 4 ½ stars.

Stella: I agree that Seducing Cinderella was an enchanting and captivating story, I remember that I devoured it in no time and enjoyed every minute of it. Reid was a considerate and delicious hero and Lucie was a very relatable heroine with her insecurities, and when these two got together the air sizzled! A wonderful hot read for summer nights and I’m looking forward to reading the next books in the series!

I give Seducing Cinderella 4 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.
 

Interview with Author Jane Kindred on Angels, Demons and Overlords + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours> Book Giveaway> ebook giveaway> Giveaways

Today’s extremely special guest at Reading Reality is Jane Kindred, the author of the dark (and decadently marvelous) epic fantasy tale of angels, demons and heavenly court politics about The House of Arkhangel’sk. I had the pleasure of reviewing the first book in the trilogy, The Fallen Queen, over at Book Lovers Inc. and my review of the book two, The Midnight Court, is here. Jane also wrote an amazing guest post “A Few Select Shades of Black and Blue” (about the current BDSM bandwagon and demon sex in particular) over at Book Lovers Inc.

Now, let’s get to those questions…

Marlene: Before I get into the really tough questions, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself? Your bio says you started writing in the wayback of a Plymouth Fury? Is there a story in there?

Jane: Didn’t everybody have a wayback growing up? Er…I guess I’m showing my age. For those who don’t know, it was the rear-facing third row of seats in the back of a station wagon. (And a station wagon was a car that forced you to go on family vacations, and played 8-track tapes.) Ours happened to be a Plymouth Fury, which is the same model as the car Christine. Just sayin’. I spent a lot of my adolescence writing love stories and fantasies on the way to and from church…and during church. Which may explain why I ended up writing about angels and demons having sex.

Marlene: Who or what were your inspirations for The House of Arkhangel’sk?

Jane: Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia—or rather, the fictionalized version of her—was the inspiration for the basic idea behind the series, and then I stuck my Anastasia in the middle of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. C.S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair was another influence; I’ve always loved the idea of a prince enchanted by a wicked queen. And for Belphagor’s character, the germ of him started with an episode of Firefly called “The Message,” about a small-time con man who ended up gambling his own body.

Marlene: Were you seriously into Russian history before you started on the series? And how much research goes into each book to make the historic parallels?

Jane: No, I wasn’t into it at all before the idea came to me, although I’d always wanted to learn Russian, which I did (sort of) as part of my research. The research for the historic parallels was mostly done in one big chunk when I took a Russian Culture class and then read several books on Russian history and the Romanovs. Most of that stayed in my head. (The story of the Romanovs, particularly; it feels like it happened to people I knew.) I still refer back to those sources while writing the other books in the series, and I’m now completely obsessed with Russia.

Marlene: What do you say to readers and reviewers who might see the relationship between the demons Belphagor and Vasily as jumping on the current BDSM bandwagon?

Jane: I haven’t read the book that seems to have caused so many people to imagine BDSM is something that was recently invented. Plenty of books containing BDSM elements have been published since long before the current trend. I can’t imagine why anyone would jump on any kind of publishing bandwagon, anyway, given the speed at which traditional books are published. By the time you write something you think is “in,” it’s not, so it’s never a good idea to write to trends. I started writing The House of Arkhangel’sk in early 2006 and finished the first draft of the trilogy in 2009. Took another year to polish it and find an agent, then another five months before it was sold, and the first book came out seven months later. I’d have to have been extremely prescient to have timed my first novel to be released just before the rest of the world “discovered” BDSM in order to capitalize on it.

Marlene: People usually equate being on “the side of the angels” with goodness. But your angels aren’t necessarily good. And your demons aren’t necessarily evil. How would you define the difference?

Jane: Essentially, my angels are the celestial nobility, while the demons are the peasant class. I decided to use the idea of this class system to reflect conditions in pre-revolutionary Russia. Since no one in that equation is all good or all bad, neither are my characters.

Marlene: Now that they’ve been teased a bit by the first few questions, can you tell readers what they can expect of The Fallen Queen and The Midnight Court?

Jane: They’re epic fantasy on the darker side with a little bit of urban fantasy thrown in. Add an angelic imperial family, a wicked fairy queen, murder, mayhem, love, two naughty leather demons (“leather,” incidentally, is code for BDSM, for those who don’t know), and some dirty Russian words, and there you have it. Oh, plus a bizarre game of dice and cards that nobody could ever possibly win, except my tattooed demon scoundrel.

Marlene: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?

Jane: Belphagor, Vasily, and more Belphagor. 😉

Marlene: Turning the tables a bit, what book do you think everyone should read, and why that book?

Jane: The Princess Bride, because it’s the best romantic fantasy ever, and because there’s even more Fezzik and Inigo than in the movie.

Marlene: What are your upcoming projects? What comes next in the House of Arkhangel’sk?

Jane: The Armies of Heaven. And after that…I’m currently working on a second Arkhangel’sk trilogy, and I have another series that began with my novella, The Devil’s Garden, that I hope to find a home for someday soon.

Marlene: What do your two feline overlords think of all this? Do they interfere much with your writing? What are their names?

Jane: The photo I’ve included answers most of that. The one in the photo is Neo. He thinks he owns my lap. The other is Urd, an extremely round calico who demands hourly pettings. I feed these little overlords four times a day (first and second breakfast, first and second dinner—I have to divide up their meals into separate courses). If I didn’t, I’d have no peace.

Marlene: And for anyone else who happens to be going, where and when will you be at Dragon*Con next month?

Jane: I don’t have any particular plans. I’m not on any panels and haven’t looked at the schedule yet to see what I want to attend, but anything Joss Whedon or Star Trek related, and I’m there.

Anything Joss Whedon or Star Trek related sounds like a perfectly good plan to me…assuming that any of our feline overlords let us out of our houses!

~~~~~~~~~***GIVEAWAY***~~~~~~~~

Are you teased? Good! If you are just itching to start reading The House of Arkhangel’sk, or if you’ve read The Fallen Queen and can’t wait for The Midnight Court, the Rafflecopter is waiting. The lucky winner will get their choice of an ebook copy either The Fallen Queen or The Midnight Court.

What are you waiting for?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Midnight Court by Jane Kindred

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Jane Kindred’s House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy reminds me of Russian tea, initially bitter, often and unexpectedly sweet, and filled with immensely complicated rituals. And incredibly satisfying for those who savor a heady brew.

The Midnight Court comprises the second book in this tale, following The Fallen Queen. The title is apt; in The Midnight Court Anazakia’s court is definitely in eclipse. All is as dark as midnight in a Siberian winter.

And the situation goes all downhill.

At the end of The Fallen Queen, Anazakia and her temporary allies rescued the demon Belphagor from Aeval. In the process, they burned much of the Supernal Palace that Anazakia once called home.

When The Midnight Court begins, it’s been months, and the alliance is fracturing. So is Anazakia’s peaceful household near the earthly 21st century Russian city of Arkhangelsk. Belphagor came back from Aeval’s torture broken; not where it shows, but inside. He’s not the demon he used to be.

And Vasily, his lover, is caught between anger that Belphagor offered himself to save them all, and guilt that in Bel’s absence, he fathered a child with Anazakia.

Ola, the child, is the light of all their lives. She is also a pawn of powers. For Anazakia is still the last heir of the house of Arkhangel’sk, and Aeval has no right to the throne of Heaven she sits on. It should be Anazakia’s. Or her daughter’s.

And Ola’s power is greater than anyone could have imagined. Because Vasily is not, as he was raised to think, a demon. He is a Seraph, one of the host. The little girl is more than a little girl. More than a sweet child or a toddler with tantrums. She is the holder of the fifth radiance, not air, fire, water or earth, but aether.

Some of the powers of heaven want to control her; others want to kill her while she is still a child, to make sure that the “wrong” party does not control her.

Ola is kidnapped, and the hunt begins. Across all of Russia, and through all the orders of Heaven, one tiny little girl is bartered back and forth like a tiny bomb, or a pearl of great price.

Her parents will sacrifice anything to get her back.

Escape Rating A: The Midnight Court (and the whole House of Arkhangel’sk series so far) is the kind of densely multi-layered political pot-boiling gut-churning romance that doesn’t come along very often. The nearest comparison is Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart series, as much for the very long game political machinations as for the kink relationship between Belphagor and Vasily.

The part of the comparison that I come back to is the politics. Every layer of every relationship, both personal and political, is going to matter before this series is over, and Kushiel had that same feel to it. Everything counts. Sex is sex but IOUs are forever.

The saying that “revenge is a dish best served cold” may have had Aeval in mind. She manipulated both the Romanov dynasty and the House of Arkhangel’sk to get something she wanted.

Waiting for the Spring of 2013 for the final book of the trilogy The Armies of Heaven, is going to be absolute torture. I stayed up until 4 in the morning to finish The Midnight Court. It ended on one hell of a cliffhanger, in a scene that reminded me a lot of something from The Dark Knight Rises. Read Fallen Queen and Midnight Court and see if you see the same thing. It’s so worth it.

 

Cover Reveal: All the Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Cover Reveal

What if your life wasn’t your own?

What if your life wasn’t your own? That’s the amazingly cool premise for the story behind the book All the Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen, today’s Cover Reveal from Entangled Publishing.

If that cover isn’t enough of a tease, here’s the blurb to whet your appetite:

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

All the Broken Pieces will be published in December. That’s a long time to wait!

In the meantime, if you want to follow Cindi Madsen, she can be found at cindimadsen.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.