Sweet Laurel Falls (Hope’s Crossing #3) by RaeAnne Thayne

RATING:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

It’s Christmas and Maura McKnight wants to skip it altogether. Since her youngest daughter Layla was killed in an unfortunate accident eight months ago she is not in the Christmas mood. But she puts on a smile on her face and keeps the facade that she is in the Christmas spirit, so she doesn’t worry her family and closest friends. During a Christmas party that Maura was having at her store, Dog-eared Books and Brew, for her book club, she is surprised when her eldest daughter Sage walks in… with Jackson Lange, Sage’s father that wasn’t aware of her existence…
When Jackson walks in Maura’s store during the full swing of her Christmas party he wonders if confronting her now was the best idea… especially when the group of women are just staring at him. But leave it to Sage, his daughter, something he still can’t believe, to announce that he is her father. Something it now seems that no one even knew about,only Maura. He is furious with Maura that she never told him that they had a child, but she is the one he never could forget…
After Jackson decides to stick around for at least the holidays so he can get to know his daughter, he never expected his feelings and attraction he felt for Maura was their, for Maura she never expected the feelings and attraction for Jackson was still lingering as well. So now they have to discover what these feelings will take them and at the same time try to figure out what their daughter Sage is keeping from them…

This book was an enjoyable book to read and the first book I read by RaeAnne Thayne. The characters of the book were really enjoyable and fun. The author I think did a great job in writing Maura’s feelings and acts after losing her daughter. And how devoted Maura and Sage were to each other. The author also did a really good job in describing Jackson’s relationship with his father. I enjoys reading the developing relationship Sage has with her father, Jackson, and later her grandfather, Harry.
I enjoyed reading how everyone in this book was able to overcome their hardships and was able to forward with their lives, though always being able to remember the bad things that occurred without the pain being to stifling. The ending was really good and I liked how the author ended it with them being able to become a full fledged family. The book was really heartwarming and allowed you to read how they were able overcome their obstacles.

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Beneath a Rising Moon (Ripple Creek Werewolf #1) by Keri Arthur

RATING:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

When Neva’s twin sister, Savannah, is attacked and in critical condition she sets out to find her sister’s attacker and the one responsible for a string of murders her sister was investigating. After reviewing her sisters files of the murders, she decides to attend the Sinclair Pack’s Moon Phase gatherings and snag Duncan Sinclair, the only one so far cleared of being a possible suspect.
Duncan returned to Ripple Creak for one purpose, to find the one responsible for the murders that have been happening at his father’s home during the Moon Phase gatherings. He had no intention to join the gatherings, but that changes when he gets an invitation from Neva that he can’t refuse.
When they realize they are trying to achieve the same goal in finding out who is responsible for the murders that have occurred, they join forces to find the killer. As they work together their attraction for each other grows, and they soon realize that their attraction that they have for each other is more than they anticipated…

This was a really enjoyable take on Wolf Shifters. I have read a few series involving shifters and this one had a few great ideas that differ from the other series I have read. Each of the characters have their own mindset that make them fun. I am especially looking forward to the books about Duncan’s bothers, and can’t wait to see who will change their wild ways.
I didn’t like how long it took to clear up Duncans misunderstanding and suspicions about Neva in the beginning and wished it was cleared up faster. But all in all it was a really fun book to read and I look forward to the others in the series.

Warlord by Tasha Temple

RATING:

3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

Sara Aster wakes in a dark circular room, not knowing how she got there. After investigating it, she comes across three skeletons all dressed from different time periods and a circular urn in the middle of the room. When a mist appears and tells her that she is being tested and that if she passes the obstacles before her, she will be trained. The first test is to face her greatest fear… The second test is to face her greatest desire… And if she passes those she will have to face a final challenge of the mist’s choosing… After she passes all these tests, the dark mist has its own agenda. It gain controls of her and sends her back in time to help it regain the life it lost…
Arystan is a great warlord and is well respected by his men at arms. When he meets Sara during the annual festival, he chooses her to spend the night with. After that night, things change for him. He never met anyone like Sara and during the time they spent together in the next few weeks, they both learn about each other and they have an undeniable attraction.
But other then knowing her name. Sara can’t remember anything else. Like who she was or where she came from. And the biggest question being, why she is there…

I really enjoyed the story plot of this book. It was an interesting idea and different from anything I read before. It had a touch of suspense, action, romance, and supernatural themes. The author did a suberb job in making the story flow without adding unneeded fillers. She did an excellent job describing the areas that the characters were at. The villain was written really well, who had an undeniable arrogance and a know it all attitude. I like reading how everything turns out and how there was a happy outcome for the couple.
Their was a few things in the book that I didn’t much care for and that was the graphic sexual content, the crude language, and themes of rape, which I was really grateful that the author didn’t really go into detail about. When I signed up to win this book, I didn’t realize it had this content in it. So, if you don’t care about these things, then you will definitely enjoy reading this book.

Edge of Passion (Stealth Guardians #1) by Tina Folsom

RATING:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

Aiden is one of the cloak warriors that has been assigned to protect Dr. Leila Cruickshank, the next target for the demons. The demons want to take her to their side do to an Alzheimer’s drug she was crating and that is now in the final stage process. Unbeknownst to Leila, the drug opens humans mind giving demons an advantage to gain easy access to bring them over to their side. After the council of the cloak warriors decides that human life should be saved and decided to have Aiden protect her for his next assignment…
Leila is determined to get the Alzheimer’s drug to its finalized state to save both her parents who both suffer for Alzheimers and is very protective of her research and won’t let anyone get involved to keep the formula safe. When she meets Aiden after almost being hit by a car, she is very attracted to him, but after hearing he is a bodyguard decides that they don’t have a possible future together and keep their conversation friendly, not realizing that he is her bodyguard. After many unsettling events that occurred that have them on the run from the demons… And also learning someone among the cloak warriors is trying to get rid of Leila, they have to keep their distance from them until they figure out who they can trust. Now they are in a fight for their lives… And how to deal with the attraction that sparks between them…

This is the first book that I have read by Tina Folsom. I liked her idea of the cloak warriors and I really enjoyed reading about their world. I liked Aiden’s character and the other cloak warriors that were introduced in this book. I am now looking forward to Hamish’s story to see who will be the one to help him overcome a past betrayal from the he loved..
Aiden was a great warrior that always followed the rules of the council and his own, so he can better protect the humans he is assigned to. I like his relationships he had with the other cloak warriors, and how he was able to have light banter with them and was also show respect to them.
I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed with Leila’s character in the beginning. For a doctor who is really smart, she didn’t really make smart decisions and I didn’t start liking the choices she made until more towards the end. But as the story progressed and Leila and Aiden’s relationship grew deeper did her character become stronger and made better decisions.
I didn’t really care how crude something’s were said and some of the sexual content was just a tad too much for my taste. But I thought the story was really interesting to read and the idea was something I never read before and makes for an interesting series to read.

Legacy of the Witch (The Portal 0.5) by Maggie Shayne

RATING:

5 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

When Amarrah was a child her parents disappeared in Iraq. After their disappearance she went to live with her grandmother. Ever since she arrived at her grandmother’s her grandma would tell her stories about three witches Lilia, Magdalena, and Indira. One of the times, when her grandmother was telling one of the stories, she shocked her grandma by telling he “I know this story.” In which she preceded to tell her, her part of the story that she was a place slave to the slave girls in the harem. Throughout the years when her grandma would tell the story, they would tell the story together, her grandma telling one part and Amarrah filling in another part. When she was thirteen, her grandma was on her deathbed, telling the story of the three witches and after she finished it she told Amarrah that these stories are not just stories, but of three actual people in the past. Then she gives Amaarrah a treasure box, that belonged to the witches that was given to their descendants to protect it, and to pass down the stories and the treasure box until the witches come back and claim it. After her grandma died, she was sent to live with distant cousins, and at the airport a customs agent took it from her. After chanting a spell for the box to return to her someway, and after giving it to him, she never saw it again…
Ten years later when Amarrah was on her way to the library, she happened to see her box on a TV Appraisal show. After seeing it she had a strong inkling that she needs to go get it back. Even hearing her grandmother’s voice telling her not to forget her promise to protect it. She then sets off on a trip to recover it and after gaining information of the owner, she went to his house to see if she can somehow search the house of Harrison Brockson.
When Amarrah knocks on his door and he answers it, Amarrah feels he is familiar to her. And after she remembers her dreams, or what she believes are hallucinations, she comes to realize that she knew him long ago…

I thought this book was a really great introduction to the upcoming Portal Series. Which I am now really looking forward to after reading this book. I really liked reading how Amarrah sets off on a journey to self discovery. I really liked how you learn that Amarrah was there and that she knew the three witches. I really enjoyed that when she meets Harrison Brockson you learn that they knew each other during the period of the three witches, and during the story you read about their past memories. It was fun when the Amarrah had told Harrison how their relationship turned out in the past.
All in all is was a great book to read. I really can’t wait until the upcoming Portal series. I really hope that during the upcoming books that they mention Amarrah and Harrison so I know how things turned out for them. And I hope that I enjoy the new series as much as I did this one.

Lakota Surrender (Lakota #1) by Karen Kay

RATING:

5 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW:

When Tahiska of the Lakota Indian Tribe father is returned home dead along with one of his father’s friend from a hunting party, Tahiska along with his companions Wahtapah of his own tribe and his cousin Neeheeowee from the Cheyenne tribe set on a journey for revenge. After learning the descriptions of the two men responsible for killing his father from the other two in the hunting party they set out to the closet fort to find them. There he meets Kristina and after he meets her and gets to know her, he discovers after thinking things through that he must claim her for is own…
Kristina never had any animosity towards Indians and it had everything to do with the relationship she had with her Indian nanny, Many Moons, who was a mother, a friend, and who she loved as a sister. During the time Many Moons was her Nanny she taught Kristina many things of her Indian heritage and sign language. Before Many Moons was dismissed as her nanny she shared a vision she had about Kristina. She told Kristina in her vision, “She was Indian. You were still you, but you were no longer living in the White Man’s world nor were you living in my world or anything resembling our village. I believe you were living somewhere out west among the free tribes that still live there and roam as their ancestors did long ago. And Kristina there was much happiness for you there…”
Kristina never told anyone, but she had her own vision as well. “In her vision she saw buckskin and leather, skin-covered lodges, and a man with flashing black eyes that looked straight through her…” When Kristina met Tahiska for the first time she thought he looked familiar to her and after talking to him and becoming his interpreter under the most unusual circumstances she discovers he was the one from her vision…
This is the first book I read by Karen Kay and I really enjoyed it. Tahiska and Kristina seemed to fall in love at first sight, though they both weren’t sure what they felt for each other at first. They were able to get to know each other when Kristina became Tahiska’s interpreter and after coming to terms of his feelings for Kristina wanted her to be his wife. When Kristina find out Tahiska had married them through the way of his people and it was hard for Kristina to come to terms with it, do to it not following her customs, but after figuring out her feeling for him comes to accept their marriage.
I liked how the author had them figure out how to work out their differences from belonging to two different cultures and how they were able to overcome the boundaries that kept coming up. I liked how the author integrated how they Indians were treated back then, but not a lot where I can’t wait to finish it or want to stop reading it because it was too much.
All in all it was a good book to read and one I will read again in the future. I plan to read author titles by the author, especially the story for Neeheeowee and Kristina’s best friend Julia, which was introduced in Tahiska and Kristina’s story.