Book Review: Hotshot Hero in Disguise (Hotshot Heroes #8) by Lisa Childs

 

Title: Hotshot Hero in Disguise (Hotshot Heroes #8)

Author: Lisa Childs

Star: 3 1\2

Review:

I have to admit Lisa Childs has me not really sure what to review. The story is ok. The characters are ok. The story is what you expect from Harlequinn Suspense series. All in All Hotshot Hero in Disguise is a ok read. If you need something to read while waiting for a doctors appt, flight, or like me waiting for my kids be done with many different activities they are in.  This book works. 

Thank you to Netgalley for advance copy of Hotshot Hero in Disguise by Lisa Childs. 

Synopsis:

His carefully crafted identity…

Is about to go up in flames!

After an attempt on his life, Jonathan Canterbury IV chose to let the world believe he was dead. Then Tammy Ingles discovers that the firefighter she knows as Ethan Sommerly is really the heir to an epic fortune. He doesn’t know what scares him more: the fact that his new lover can expose his secret, or the intensity of his need for her…

About The Author:

Born one dark and stormy Halloween night, Lisa Childs was predestined to write suspense novels. She loves spinning dark and twisty stories that keep readers awake because they’re either too busy turning pages or too scared to sleep. Lisa Childs is the prolific author of more than seventy published novels. In addition to romantic suspense, she also writes women’s fiction, paranormal and contemporary romance.

Book Review: Turn Up the Heat (Pine Mountain #1) by Kimberly Kincaid

 

Title: Turn Up the Heat (Pine Mountain #1)

Author: Kimberly Kincaid

Star:  2 1\2

Review:

I have read several books by Kimberly Kincaid and most of the time her romance and romantic suspense are fully of steamy romance and just enough suspense for readers like me. Her romance at times falls a little the cheesy side and her female leads seem to be push overs. 

The group of female characters are charcutiers of what people see intelligent women to be and honestly it a little annoying and huge turn off to female readers. 

The romance is insta Lust which can work if the characters are likable but they are flat. Honestly the whole story is a cliche in the worst possible way, The author leaves readers to push though the story and at about the 80% mark we finally get to the big secret.  If you are like me you really don't care and just want to end the HEA. 

Synopsis:

Ingredients:

One big-city real estate analyst who gets dumped on national TV
One small-town mechanic with a past he wants to keep in his rearview mirror
One weekend getaway thwarted by a broken down car, a boss that makes Atilla the Hun look like a lapdog, and the snowstorm of the century

Mix well and add a whole lot of sparks under the hood.

Serve with a side of adversaries to lovers, opposites attract, sexy banter, and sizzling heat in both the kitchen and the bedroom.

Find a different story by this author but just move past this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for advance copy of Turn up the Heat by Kimberly Kincaid. 

About The Author:

USA Today best-selling author Kimberly Kincaid writes romantic suspense that sizzles and contemporary romance with heart and heat. Equal parts action and emotion, her firefighters and first responders always save the day. When she's not finding adventure with her husband, three teens, and naughty Whippets, Olive and Daisy, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book.

Kimberly's series include Remington Medical, Station Seventeen, the Line series, Cross Creek, and her brand-new Intelligence Unit series. All titles stand alone for easy reading.

Book Review: Desperate Acts (Pike, Wisconsin, #4) by Alexandra Ivy

 

Title: Desperate Acts (Pike, Wisconsin, #4)

Author: Alexandra Ivy

Star: 5

Review:

If you haven't started the Pike Wisconsin series go now and start with book 1 before you start the latest in the series.  Once again the author creates a story that will have readers up late at night wondering what will happen to the characters if I close the book? 

Readers might think the story will be easy to figure out after having read so many of her other mystery\romance series.  While other might figure out the killers and realize as the story comes to an end it wasn't about the knowing they were right but falling in love with the Kaden and Lia and the way they connect and change as the story progresses. 

Alexandra Ivy has created a town where readers will connect with the different characters that comes to life. 

Thank you to Netgalley for advance copy of Desperate Acts by Alexandra Ivy

  

Synposis:

Teenager Lia Porter shouldn't have been anywhere near the railroad bridge that night. Sneaking home after a party in the fields outside Pike, Wisconsin, she glimpsed a woman in a leather jacket, running in terror. Lia puts the incident from her mind--until a body is found near the same spot fifteen years later, wearing the same jacket. The police rule it a suicide. Lia knows different. The woman she saw was trying to save her own life, not end it. But whatever she was fleeing from found her first . . .

BEFORE THE KILLER
The stranger who arrives at Lia's store shares her suspicions. Hollywood stunt driver Kaden Vaughn has come home to Wisconsin to learn the truth about what happened to his brother's fiancée years ago. The leather jacket, the timing--he believes the dead woman is Vanna, and that Lia may be the only person who can help. Together they retrace Vanna's steps, but the more they dig, the darker the secrets become.

FINDS HER?
The killer is still out there, stalking the streets of Pike again, willing to do whatever is necessary to keep the truth locked in mystery. One by one, all those who know something about that night must be silenced, until there is no one left to tell .

About The Author:

I'm not exactly sure when I fell in love with books. Probably on my mother's knee listening to her read Dr. Seuss to me. I do remember that I was barely old enough to cross the street by myself when I discovered the delights of the local library. Could anything be more wonderful than spending summer days surrounded by stacks of Nancy Drew mysteries? Over the years I fell in love with Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and J.R.R. Tolkien just to name a few. I read poetry, essays, biographies, and plays. In fact, I read anything I could get my hands on.

Years later (no, I'm not admitting how many) I'm still an avid reader, and my tastes are still as varied as they were in my youth, which I suppose helps to explain why I enjoy writing regency historicals under the name of Deborah Raleigh, as well as my contemporary paranormals as Alexandra Ivy. For now that is enough to keep me busy, but who knows what the future might hold!

I do have a few other loves in my life besides reading and writing, the most important being my unbelievably patient husband, David, and my two sons, Chance and Alexander. Without their constant support and belief in me, I never could have been able to follow my dreams. They are truly my heroes.

Book Review: How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days by Jessica Hatch

 

Title: How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days

Author: Jessica Hatch

Star: 3

Review:

I have never read a book by this author, but the title stood out and I couldn't help myself. That being said the book is kind of a mess to me.  The characters, story, message, writing style came across as boring and less funny. 

The story moves very slowly which is normal for a romance but what it lacks is the connection readers are looking for.  Many characters are flat and not even interesting. The story doesn't move at all but instead stands still. 

Instead of being funny it ended up flat. Readers just pass this romance and move onto the next.

PS It makes the Hallmark movie seem funny. 

Synposis:

Pretending to be married to the man you were married to… How hard can it be?!

When Lina’s oldest friends unexpectedly announce they’re coming to stay, she has to think fast. No one knows she and her husband Brown are breaking up, and so she persuades him to act as if they aren’t… After all, how hard can it be to pretend to be married for ten days?

Turns out, a lot harder than she thought. On day one, she strikes so many couple poses that she throws her back out. On day two, she gets muscle spasms from smiling too hard at her husband’s jokes. On day three, she almost has a heart attack when she puts her hand far too high up his thigh at the dinner table. And on day four, when she accidentally grazes Brown’s lips when aiming for his cheek, she almost passes out in the middle of the restaurant.

By day five, Lina is starting to realise there’s a thin line between love and hate. And while she can try to fool her friends, she can’t fool her heart. Was she too hasty calling time on her marriage? Is this more than make believe? And does she even have enough time to find out if Brown feels the same?

About The Author:

Jessica Hatch writes hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedies for the girls who grew up rooting for the main character's best friend. Her first novel, My Big Fake Wedding, debuted at #1 in Humorous American Fiction, and her second novel, How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days, has been embraced by a devoted second-chance romance readership.

She loves to develop quirky, high-concept scenarios and then drop her characters into them, escape room–style, to see what happens next. Her work spotlights characters and locales the reader can fall in love with, and aims to explore real-world issues that women and nonbinary people face.

(She also enjoys loafing around, largely ignoring her characters and binge-watching Netflix instead.)

Book Review: More Than Meets the Eye (Kendra Michaels #10) by Iris Johansen; Roy Johansen

 

Title: More Than Meets the Eye  (Kendra Michaels #10)

Author: Iris Johansen; Roy Johansen

Star: 5

Review:

I am pretty sure if you are on book 10 of the Kendra Michaels series than you as a reader already know what amazing authors Iris and Roy Johansen are.  Two author who are able to bring their world of mystery to readers all over the world who will finish book 10 and still need more from there to authors.

More Than Meets the Eye is another can't put down mystery story that will have readers wondering what will happen next as they absorb chapter after chapter of this cat and mouse game between a serial killer and Kendra Michaels. 

Readers will not be able to put this book down until the very last words are read Late into the night.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Iris and Roy Johansen More than Meets the Eye. 

Synposis:

After scoring a plea deal in a high-profile murder trial, serial killer James Michael Barrett leads a grim parade of law enforcement officers to the body of his last victim. At the alleged burial site, the officers swing their shovels down and are met with a strange metallic sound they weren’t expecting. In a blink, a terrific explosion rocks the woods, killing Barrett and most of the officers instantly.
The detonation is only the beginning of a shocking case for FBI consultant Kendra Michaels—a string of heinous murders in the style of the very-dead Barrett mysteriously continue, and it becomes clear that he may not have been working alone. As the crimes accelerate, Kendra reluctantly accepts help from college student Tricia Walton, the only survivor of Barrett’s attacks. But the killer has a terrifying plan that Kendra and her team are only beginning to understand.

About The Author:

She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.

Book Review: Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles #2) by April Asher

 

Title: Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles #2)

Author: April Asher

Star: 4

Review:

Not Your Ex's Hexes is part of a series but can be read as a standalone supernatural romance. The traditional one and done story line takes it traditional turn when the characters realized there is more going on and fight those feelings. 

Rose is a cute character trying to find new life she is seeking and ends up makes mistakes and a few turns she wished she hasn't done.  When she finds her calling her and the one-night stand decides she is crazy the humor starts and the romance that doesn't seem to be what either one want. 

They story is what you expect but April Asher adds her own flare to the story and the world she created.

Thank you to Netgalley for advance copy of April Asher Not Your Ex's Hexes. 

Synposis:

For her entire life, Rose Maxwell trained to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council. Now that she’s stepped down, it’s time for this witch to focus on herself. And not think about her impulsive one-night stand with Damian Adams, a half-Demon Veterinarian who she can’t get out of her head. Neither of them is looking for a relationship. But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian’s animal sanctuary it becomes impossible for them to ignore their sparking attraction. A friends-with-benefits, no feelings, no strings arrangement works perfectly for them both.

After a sequence of dead-end jobs, it’s not until Rose tangos with two snarly demons that she thinks she’s finally found her path. However, this puts Damian back on the periphery of a world he thought he left behind. He doesn’t approve of Rose becoming a Hunter, but if there's one thing he's learned about the stubborn witch, it was telling her not to do something was one sure-fire way to make sure she did.

Working—and sleeping—together awakens feelings Damian never knew he had...and shouldn't have. Because thanks to his ex's hex, if he falls in love, he'll not only lose his heart—but his humanity.

About The Author:

April Asher, aka April Hunt, was hooked on romantic stories from the time she first snuck a bodice-ripper romance out from her mom's bedside table. She now lives out her own happily-ever-after with her college-sweetheart husband, their two children, and a cat who thinks she's more dog—and human—than feline. By day, April dons dark blue nursing scrubs and drinks way too much caffeine. By night, she still consumes too much caffeine, but she does it with a laptop in hand, and from her favorite side of the couch.

From the far left cushion, April Asher pens laugh-out-loud romantic comedies with a paranormal twist, but when she’s not putting her characters into embarrassing situations with supernatural entities, she also writes high-octane romantic suspense as April Hunt, her thrill-seeking alter ego.

Book Review: Sate the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #20) by Alexandra Ivy

 

Title: Sate the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #20)

Author: Alexandra Ivy

Stars: 4

Review:

I love Alexandra Ivy Romantic suspense series and cannot get enough of those stories. I have tried to read several of the Guardians of Eternity series and some of those stories are a hit or miss for these readers. 

The author invites readers into her Paranormal world of demons, gargoyle, Jinn, Imp, and everything you can think of in the supernatural world she has created for her readers. 

There are a lot of characters that come from different books and while you would think after 20 books the author would be repeating story lines (Only head a few so maybe) the author seems to bring a fresh new look to her series that will bring new readers into her world and cast of characters. The story has cheesy romance lines that will make readers laugh a little but hey sometimes you just need to escape from the real world and dive into the romance Alexandra Ivy has created.

Thank you to Netgalley for advance copy of Sate Darkness. 

Synposis:

Ryshi—half-jinn, half-imp—is the only male who has ever managed to slip through the minotaur labyrinth and lived to tell the tale. He wasn’t so lucky when it came to stealing prized vampire artifacts. Caught and imprisoned, he now has a chance at freedom if he can rescue the gargoyle Levet from that same labyrinth. But he’ll have a minder on his mission in the petite, enticing form of Sofie, the vampire he’s been fantasizing about for a very long time . . .

Sofie is shunned and feared for her ability to control others’ minds. She didn’t ask for that gift, and she certainly doesn’t want to use those powers to control this gorgeous, sensual demon. Too bad a request from the Anasso isn’t up for debate. To rescue the gargoyle, she and Ryshi have to work closely together, and Sofie is compelled to lower her defenses around him in every way—though she expects him to disappear the moment their task is complete. But now that Ryshi has glimpsed what his future could be with Sofie, he’s ready to fight for her trust, even against the darkness within . 

About The Author:

I'm not exactly sure when I fell in love with books. Probably on my mother's knee listening to her read Dr. Seuss to me. I do remember that I was barely old enough to cross the street by myself when I discovered the delights of the local library. Could anything be more wonderful than spending summer days surrounded by stacks of Nancy Drew mysteries? Over the years I fell in love with Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and J.R.R. Tolkien just to name a few. I read poetry, essays, biographies, and plays. In fact, I read anything I could get my hands on.

Years later (no, I'm not admitting how many) I'm still an avid reader, and my tastes are still as varied as they were in my youth, which I suppose helps to explain why I enjoy writing regency historicals under the name of Deborah Raleigh, as well as my contemporary paranormals as Alexandra Ivy. For now that is enough to keep me busy, but who knows what the future might hold!

I do have a few other loves in my life besides reading and writing, the most important being my unbelievably patient husband, David, and my two sons, Chance and Alexander. Without their constant support and belief in me, I never could have been able to follow my dreams. They are truly my heroes.

Book Review: Wolf Takes the Lead By Terry Spear

 

Title: Wolf Takes the Lead

Author: Terry Spear

Star: 4

Review:

This is the first book I have read by Terry Spears.  The author created likable characters who come to life on page. Derek Spencer tried of dating humans and has issues with She-Wolves. Giving up on romance Derek friends step in with Kate Hanover she wolf.

Kate and Derek characters work being they are werewolves not trying but trying to find their mate. The romance is very sweet and just the right blend for this style of writing.  

The story moves quickly giving readers what I can assume they can expect from Terry Spear.  The story is balanced with romance, character build and plot.

Thank you to Netgalley for advance copy of Terry Spear Wolf Takes The Lead. 

Synposis:

Billionaire wolf Derek Spencer may have a rocky history with she-wolves, but there's no one better to take as his date to the latest gala than the wolf he's had his eye on ever since she applied to be his bodyguard—the remarkable Kate Hanover. Kate checks all the boxes for his perfect mate: she's smart, sexy, and business savvy, not to mention one of the best bodyguards around.

But ever since Derek gave his bodyguard position to another wolf, Kate has been avoiding him. It's only when she reluctantly agrees to be his date to the gala that she realizes why: the attraction between the two alpha wolves is undeniable, but Kate doesn't want to end up as one of the billionaire's many flings. The more time Kate and Derek spend together, the more they are in danger...of falling deeply in love.

About The Author:

Love, love, love romance, the paranormal, hunky Highlanders with their delicious brogue and hot kilts, so Terry Spear writes about those hunky Highlanders both in medieval times and as wolves in contemporary times. Jaguar shifters too! And young adult urban fantasy. And romantic suspense.

She grew up reading mystery, adventure, mythologies from around the world, ghost stories, the paranormal, fell in love with Dracula and Wolfman, and felt they needed loving too. Everyone should have someone to love. Which means her stories always have a HEA.

USA Today Bestseller residing in Central Texas from Sacramento, California who creates award-winning teddy bears too!