Review: The Storm That is Sterling by Lisa Renee Jones

The Storm That is Sterling
Lisa Renee Jones
Series: Zodius #2
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publish Date: November 1, 2011
Mass Market Paperback {p.339}
Source: Publisher
Genre: Paranormal, Sci-Fi
Rebecca Burns, Sterling Jeter
Challenge: 100+
Buy the Book: Amazon

Sterling Jeter, Renegade Super Soldier, is fearless, powerful, and wildly unpredictable. His life-threatening mission is to save the beautiful, brilliant astrobiologist Rebecca Burns from ruthless villain Adam Rain. But their immutable mutual attraction threatens to put them in the path of death... or worse...

This book drew me in from the prologue. I was instantly intrigued by Sterling and the blossoming relationship he had with Rebecca. You could tell there was a mutual attraction that had the possibility of becoming more.

Fast forward 14 years later that attraction is still there. Only this time they also have a little issue with trusting one another. With both the Renegades and the Zodius trying to get their hands on Rebecca, she doesn’t know which team Sterling is playing for.

This is another action-packed installment to this paranormal series. It’s a fast-paced read with something for everyone. Even the secondary characters bring something to the table other than just filling pages. There’s never a dull moment with this series.

Review: The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

The Perfect Play
Jaci Burton
Series: Play by Play #1
Publisher: Berkeley Heat
Publish Date: February 1, 2011
Trade Paperback {p.299}
Source: Personal Library
Genre: Erotica
Characters: Tara Lincoln, Mick Riley
Challenge: 100+
Buy the Book: Amazon

The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star-both on the field and in the bedroom.

Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn't intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.

The Perfect Play took a while for me to warm up to it. I think it was around chapter 13 or 15 before I actually got into it.

Mick and Tara set the sheets, among other things, on fire throughout the entire book. there was loads and loads of steamy sex. They had great chemistry in and out of the bedroom. Although they had great chemistry, they were a bit boring at times.

I enjoyed the fact that Mick wasn't perfect, because from the outside looking in, it sure appeared that way. Both he and Tara had troubled past. I liked Mick from the start, but Tara and I had our moments. Her back and forth attitude became a little annoying, especially near the end.

I adored Mick's family. His mother, father, sister, and brother were such warm, welcoming characters. Elizabeth, Mick's agent, provided me with all the entertainment. I loved her interaction with both Mick and Tara, although I didn't really care for her as a person because of her meddling. I do look forward to seeing how she redeems herself in the next installment.

Review: SWAT Team Two and Miss Robin Hood by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

SWAT Team Two and Miss Robin Hood
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
Series: The Men of Five-O #2
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Publication Date: May 9, 2011
Kindle
Source: Publisher
Genre: Paranormal, Menage
Characters: Melissa, Frankie, Jake, Logan, Sunny, Vince Vladamir
Challenge: 100+, Ebook
Buy the Book: Amazon

When tragedy strikes, Melissa is left responsible to care for a whole family. Desperate times call for desperate measures. As if working in a strip club isn’t dangerous enough, she decides to moonlight for the sake of the poor and needy in the community, including her family. Add in a persistent cop who wants her to snitch and a notorious drug dealer who wants to bed her and she’s in over her head.

Vince, Logan, Sunny, Frankie and Jake are wolves and SWAT team officers. While out at a club, they meet their mate, and she’s one sexy little dancer. She avoids them, but they remain determined. When they pick up her scent near a drug factory they raid, they assume that she’s a criminal in their current investigation. They locate, handcuff and arrest her, and then they bring her back to their place to initiate their version of interrogation. By the time they’re finished, she’ll be begging for their touch.

Melissa is struggling to provide for herself, her late sister's children, and her sickly aunt. She turns to creative ways to provide her family and friends with money. While working at a gentleman's club, she meets SWAT team two, the Vladamir brothers, who recognize her as their mate.

Ms. Dwyer again manages to write vivid erotic scenes between all parties involved. With five men no one was left out or treated as an afterthought. All the brothers received equal time and emotional involvement with Melissa in their own individual way.

This is a great series for anyone wanting smoking hot sex with a paranormal twist. I hope Ms. Dwyer continues with this series.

Review: Colters' Lady by Maya Banks

Colters' Lady
Maya Banks
Series: Colters' Legacy #2
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Kindle {p.199}
Source: Kindle Loan
Genre: Erotica
Characters: Lily Weston, Dillon Colter, Michael Colter, Seth Colter
Challenge: 100+, Summer Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon

Can their love give her the strength to overcome the tragedy in her past?

When police officer Seth Colter sees the delicate, shabbily dressed beauty in line at the soup kitchen where he's serving, he's gut shot over the idea of her being on the streets cold and alone. More baffling is the dark, possessive instinct that tells him she belongs to him.

For Lily Weston, home is a secluded nook in a back alley?until Seth offers her a place to stay. She's wary of his offer, but even one night out of the cold is too much temptation to resist.

Seth is convinced Lily is his. The problem is, when his brothers lay eyes on her, the same primitive instinct comes roaring to the surface. The Colters never imagined they'd follow the unconventional path of their fathers, but they can't ignore their mutual need to offer Lily their protection?and their love. But before Lily and the brothers can forge a future together, they must heal the deep wounds of her past.

Lily is a woman who has seen great pain and sorrow in her life, and feels that she is responsible for it. In a effort to punish herself because she feels she's not worthy, she lives her life on the streets. But when she meets the Colter brothers, all that changes.

I truly enjoyed revisiting the Colter family and seeing them thiry years down the road. I loved Colters' Woman, so I was excited to read about their children.

Lily seemed like she could be a strong female but lost her way. I didn't quite get a full understanding of her until the very end. Each and every one of the brothers were great, but at times I felt as though Seth was a little left out.

This addition was more of a sweet romance than a steamy erotica. Lily and her men spent the bulk of their rime in the kitchen either cooking or eating. Don't get me wrong, it did have some steamy sex, but the overall story was sweet which was a nice thing.

Review: Baby, I'm Yours by Stephanie Bond

Baby, I'm Yours
Stephanie Bond
Series: Southern Roads #0.5
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: May 1, 2011
Kindle
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Shelby Moon, Emory Maxwell
Challenge: 100+, 50 States {Georgia}

Emory Maxwell has come home to the small town of Sweetness, Georgia, with one goal in mind—to get his childhood sweetheart Shelby Moon to marry him. They've been in love with the second grade, but Shelby's father is determined to keep his daughter in Sweetness, not moving around the country as a soldier's wife. No matter what she chooses, Shelby knows she'll hurt one of the men she loves.

But when a tornado rips through town, will she and Emory lose their chance to be together forever?

This was a nice little opener to the Southern Roads series.

Emory is trying to propose to his long time girlfriend Shelby while he’s on leave from the Army. That’s when the small town of Sweetness is hit by a devastating tornado.

The novella only allowed for surface connections with the characters due to the length, but that didn’t stop me from becoming invested in the outcome of the town and its citizens.

This is a series I look forward to reading more of.

Review: Playing the Field by Chloe Lang & Sophie Oak

Playing the Field
Chloe Lang & Sophie Oak
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Publication Date: January 18, 2011
Kindle {p.108}
Genre: Erotica, Menage
Characters: Tess Proffit, Curt, Kevin, Marcus, Mike, Randy
Challenge: 100+, Ebook

When Tess Proffit was asked to run a series of team building exercises for a promising group of professional football players, she never imagined how sexy, sweet or obnoxious they would turn out to be. Keeping things professional will be tough, as each man ignites her desires in different ways.

Curt, Mike, Kevin, Marcus and Randy don’t want to spend their off season on a secluded ranch working on team building, though they don’t mind spending time with the lovely Tess. When a bet between the men goes awry and Tess is hurt, they’ll have to become a team to win her back.

Tess must get five sexy football players to work together and behave as a team. She finds herself attracted to not one but all five of them and them her.

Playing the Field is more than your typical ménage in that it features five men to one woman. With so many participants, things could get a little hectic. Both authors tended to handle that aspect rather well.

While the sex is rampant, there may have been too many men to get to know any of them beyond the sex. I just didn’t feel I had adequate time to learn anything about them or invest any interest in them.

Review: SEALed Forever by Mary Margret Daughtridge

SEALed Forever
Mary Margret Daughtidge {Facebook}
Series: SEALed #4
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: May 1, 2011
Mass Market Paperback {p.374}
Genre: Romance
Characters: Bronwyn Whitescarver, Garth Vale
Challenge: 100+,

He's got a living, breathing dilemma...

In the midst of running an undercover CIA mission, Navy SEAL Lt. Garth Vale finds an abandoned baby, and his superiors sure don't want to know about it. The only person who can help him is the beautiful new doctor in town, but she's got another surprise for him...

She's got a solution...at a price...

Dr. Bronwyn Whitescarver has left the frantic pace of big city ER medicine for a small town medical practice. Her bags aren't even unpacked yet when gorgeous, intense Garth Vale shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night with a sick baby...

But his story somehow doesn't add up, and Bronwyn isn't quite sure who she's saving-the baby, or the man...

This one was a slow starter for me. It was very difficult for me to get into the story. I have not read any of the previous books in this series, so I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it.

Bronwyn is a doctor who meets SEAL Garth at her best friend JJ's wedding to fellow SEAL Davy. The two barely even noticed or acknowledge other, but some time later they meet again.

Garth finds a baby, and in need of a medical opinion he goes to the town doctor who turns out to be Bronwyn. Upon seeing her again, and spending a very short amount of time with her, he comes to the realization that she is his "mate." Not only was that an incredibly short amount of time to be believable, but the whole "mate" thing sounded like a paranormal romance. Day two and Garth was already talking about Bronwyn having his children.

I didn't have any vested interest in either one of the characters or their relationship.

Review: The Legend of Michael by Lisa Renee Jones

The Legend of Michael
Lisa Renee Jones {Facebook | Twitter}
Series: Zodius #1
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: May 1, 2011
Mass Market Paperback {p.382}
Source: Publisher
Genre: Paranormal, Sci-Fi
Characters: Cassandra Powell, Michael Taylor
Challenge: 100+, Paranormal Romance

HE IS A LETHAL WEAPON…

One of an army of human soldiers injected with alien DNA, Michael is a legend within this new race, split between good and evil. Untamable, he has walked on the dark side and returned to the light. Feared and misunderstood, he leaves everything behind, including the one woman destined to be his mate.

HE IS HER ENEMY…AND HER DESTINY…

Fate leads Michael back to Cassandra Powell, for she holds the key to defending his comrades. With their loyalties divided between duty and the people they love, only together can Cassandra and Michael overcome insurmountable odds to save humanity from the wrath of a madman.

But no ordinary woman can control a creature such as Michael, and only one thing is clear—the world will never be the same…

Michael is a GTECH soldier that has been injected with alien DNA. He is feared by humans and his fellow GTECH counterparts. All except one person. Cassandra Powell.

Cassandra is daughter to the GTECH creator and is attracted to and intrigued by Michael. The two of them spark up a relationship, but when all hell breaks loose, she doesn't see him for two whole years.

This is where part two of the novel begins. All the action of the war between GTECHs and mankind takes place here. All of the action kept me on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what happened next.

The Legend of Michael was very well written. I didn't feel like all the action was just an afterthought thrown in to fill pages. Michale and Cassandra were both very likable characters with their own personal demons. That's what made them so likable and real. Plus the chemistry between Cassandra and Michael was hot. I was glad that the two of them had a mutual affection for each other before the lifebond.

The GTECHs were like super soldiers on steroids. Like with all things, you have your good guys and bad guys. The Renegades and the Zodius. They were each led by twin brothers, Caleb and Adam. I like to refer to them as Cain and Abel, but in reverse.

I definitely want to continue on with this series. Ms. Jones wrote a fantastic opener to what looks to be a great paranormal romantic suspense series. If The Legend of Michael is any indicator of what's to come with this series, it's going to be a great action-packed adventure.

Review: Tied Between Two Lovers by Larissa Lyons & Alyssa Brooks

Tied Between Two Lovers
Larissa Lyons
Alyssa Brooks
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Publication Date: March 20, 2009
Kindle {p.275}
Source: Author
Genre: Erotica
Characters: Juliana Reed, Cord Ramsey, Rio Tarin
Challenge: 100+, Ebook

A scarred bodyguard with a secret past. Slave to his guilt, Rio Tarin has spent a decade watching over Juliana from the shadows. Now he must reveal himself-or risk losing her all over again.

An ex-soldier in need of an angel. Cord Ramsey returns from war only to discover his family home sold out from under him. Rio, the current owner, proposes a deal-Cord can keep his property if he can keep one wild woman under protective custody for a few days.

The feisty reporter they both want to save. Tied up? Kidnapped? Dumped at a stranger's dumpy plantation? Rio's back from the dead five minutes and already trying to run Juli's life! But while he's playing the unwanted hero, it's her newly enlisted watchdog who's playing her body-to the tune of his. Cord's rough and ramblin' ways will tangle all three of them in an inescapable web of desire.

Juli has been living the last ten years believing her high school crush, Rio, died in a plane crash with her parents. But one night while leaving an awards ceremony, she is kidnapped by none other than Rio himself.

Rio is trying to protect Juli from drug cartel members who have placed a hit on her. So when Rio takes her to one of his properties to hide out, he is surprised to find Cord living there.

Cord and Juli form an instant friendship and attraction that Rio notices, and feels a little uneasy about. But seeing Cord and Juli together intimately also turns him on. Juli on the other hand, can’t stop thinking about Rio even during sex with Cord.

Once again the sex is smoking and always entertaining. Juli and Cord’s relationship was more fun-loving, like two best friends falling in love. Her relationship with Rio however didn’t feel so carefree. There was years of regret and longing between those two plus Rio’s issues with his appearance.

I did tend to feel bad for Cord about Juli having sex with him while calling out Rio’s name. But Cord didn’t seem to have a problem with it, so I guess I shouldn’t either.

Review: Texas Rain by Jodi Thomas

Texas Rain
Jodi Thomas {Facebook | Myspace | Twitter}
Series: Whispering Mountain #1
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 7, 2006
Audio Book {13 hrs}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Historical, Western
Characters: Rainey Adams, Travis McMurray
Challenge: 100+, Whisper Stories

The first time Rainey Adams meets Texas Ranger Travis McMurray, she steals a kiss-and then his horse. Now Travis is determined to track down this intriguing woman and bring her back to the Whispering Mountain Ranch as his bride. But this renegade may be too much for even the toughest Ranger to handle.

Rainey and Travis share a kiss before she steals his horse. She then later shows up later at his home pretending to be a boy while Travis is recovering from a gunshot wound. And once again, she steals another of his horses.

The two then begin a pen pal type of relationship, revealing things about one another that they could never reveal face-to-face. And when one of her letters suggests she may be in danger when she overhears a murder plot, Travis sets out to Austin to save her.

The storyline was a bit bland to me. I didn’t feel anything real between Travis and Rainey. The story outside of their relationship tended to be a bit more interesting than their romance. They were both likeable characters, but their love didn’t come across as believable. They were okay characters apart, but lacked chemistry together.

Read by Linda Stephens
Duration: 13 hours
Recorded Books 
The narration was okay. I’d give it a C.

Review: Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash

Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes
Dixie Cash {Myspace}
Series: Domestic Equalizers #4
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Audio Book {8 hrs}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Debbie Sue Overstreet, Edwina Perkins-Martin
Challenge: 50 States, Whisper Stories
My Rating:

New York City is miles from Salt Lick, Texas, in more ways than one, but Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin are rarin' to go. The best friends/beauty shop owners/private-eye partners have been offered an all-expense-paid trip to the National Association of Private Investigators convention in the Big Apple. Debbie Sue sees the invitation as validation, but Edwina has one goal: to get her feet into a pair of super-glam designer shoes, not easily had back home. Yee-haw!

As a sign of things to come, the two Texas tornadoes don't even get out of the state without causing pandemonium at the Dallas airport. And once they land in the Big City they meet Celina, a small-town librarian who's broke and bereft from getting robbed, and Cher, an amiable "working girl" with a heart of gold. Taking them under their wings, they head right for trouble as Edwina nearly starts a riot in the hotel bar.

But the Big Apple hasn't seen nothin' yet! While helping shy Celina hook up with a hunky young police detective, the Domestic Equalizers bumble their way into a murder investigation that could end up leaving Debbie Sue deceased and Edwina stone-cold in her new Jimmy Choos!

Debbie Sue and Edwina head to the Big Apple to speak about their PI skills at a national conference. Of course trouble and mayhem follow in their wake.

Edwina, afraid of flying, has to get overly medicated for the big trip. She causes great embarrassment to herself and "Deputy Do," I mean Debbie Sue, before they even set foot on the plane.

When they do arrive in NYC they find that someone is killing prostitutes. Leave it to Edwina to befriend one. Edwina strikes up a conversation with working girl, Cher, who mistakes Edwina as a fellow pro. Edwina and her fashionable attire, who could blame Cher for thinking Edwina a hooker.

Fellow Texan from Dime Box, Celina, meets Edwina and Debbie Sue at the conference and becomes roommates. While Selena is becoming involved with one of New York's Finest, Debbie Sue and Edwina are dragging her into all kinds of mess. So when the Domestic Equalizers hear a murder taking place in the hotel room next door and no one believes them, they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands.

This is another laugh a minute riot by Dixie Cash. It wasn't as good as Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash, but hilarious all the same.

Read by Peggity Price

Duration: 6 hours

The narrator took some getting used to when I first started this series, but now that this is book #4,  she's growing on me. The accents that she bring to Debbie Sue and Edwina are half the laughs. Just hearing her do the witty banter of these two with that Texas twang is an added bonus.