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Title ~ Shadows Strike

Series ~ Immortal Guardians, #6

Author ~ Dianne Duvall

Publisher ~ Zebra

Published ~ 25 August 2015

Genre ~ Paranormal | Romance

Pages ~ 320

My Rating ~ 5 (million) bites

Heather Lane is a telepath, but how does she keep her telepathy a secret and still help people in need? By passing herself off as a FACS specialist to the government agencies who hire her. In other words, they think she can read micro facial expressions to tell if someone is telling the truth or lying. While she’s always known she’s a telepath, she’s never been a precog until recently. The same dream over and over, every night for a year, has haunted her. Seven vampires and someone else, a handsome, sexy, skilled man who is similar to the vampires and yet not, fight in her dream. When her dream finally comes true, she freaks out a bit, but accepts that there are things out there that aren’t fiction and now she’s smack in the middle of a war she never could have dreamed of.  Can Ethan and the Immortal Guardians keep her safe from the enemy and prevent World War III and the Armageddon from becoming reality?

There are only a few series out there where I will wring my hands and dance anxiously in place until I can get my greedy little mitts on the next book. This is one of them. I knew when I picked this up I would not be able to stop until I had read it in one sitting. Oh, how I’ve missed the Immortal Guardians! Full of awesome characters, snappy dialogue, exciting action, steamy sex, sneaky shudder-worthy villains and delightful humor, I can never get enough of their world. Bonus that it’s set in North Carolina where I live. This is Ethan’s book and while he’s a fairly new character to the world I had no problem falling for him. Heather is a kickass woman who’s just right for him. And it looks like Chris is finally going to get his woman! Yay! I really, really want Aidan to find his mate. Poor guy! I look forward to Seth finding someone, but I don’t think he’s quite ready for that yet. Hopefully soon. And the surprise at the end? Woah. I have nothing further to say. If you haven’t read this series yet then wtf are you waiting for?! I drool in every review of these books, so you have no excuse. Get crackin’!

Title ~ To Catch a Wolf

Series ~ The Jamesburg Shifters, #1

Author ~ Lynn Red

Publisher ~ Yellow Moon Press

Published ~ 1 January 2014

Genre ~ Paranormal | Erotica

Pages ~ 121

My Rating ~ 1 bite

DNF at 59%

Erik Danniken is an Alpha, werewolf and mayor. Isabel “Izzy” Taylor is his secretary. And I use that term loosely. Izzy has been in Jamesburg in the boonies of the Appalachian Mountains for two years and she’s the only human in a town of assorted shifters. She and Erik have apparently been doing the hunka chunka every single moment of every single day for those two years. But Erik can’t claim her as his mate because she’s human and while the pack will turn a blind eye to a lover they will not accept a human for the Alpha’s mate. What are they going to do?

I have no idea what they did or how the pack reacted. I toughed it out to 59% and gave up. The writing style is very strange. Very disjointed, choppy and hard to follow. The characters are shallow and obsessed with each other. I mean, to the point that they can’t be in the same room with each other before heavy panting, bodily fluids, writhing and clothes ripping happens. There is an attempt at a plot, but by the time I got past all the ridiculous sex I really didn’t care about the zombie ex-Alpha. This is a new-to-me author, but I will not be trying anymore of her books.

Title ~ Tempts Me

Series ~ Every Part of You, #1

Author ~ Megan Hart

Publisher ~ St. Martin's Griffin

Published ~ 4 February 2014

Genre ~ Erotica

Pages ~ 45

My Rating ~ 4 bites

Simone Kahan and Elliott Anderson share an office building. Simone can see into Elliott’s office and she’s been watching him when he works and when he plays. He has no idea he has a naughty voyeur. In fact, they’ve never even met. Until one night they bump into each other in the elevator and, with a dare from her, he takes her to a party. Let the games begin.

Oooooh...this is a cheeky bit of tastiness with plenty of steaminess and humor to satisfy. Simone is sassy, smart, quick-witted and sexy. Elliott is sexy, but he seems very repressed. Simone is just what he needs, but he’s resisting for some reason. He apparently has issues but their exact nature aren’t revealed in the shortness of this story. From what I’ve gathered he likes sex rough but has been burned too many times in the past. He’s having a hard time believing Simone likes it rough. I think there may be more to it, but that’s the gist of what I’m picking up. I seriously need to continue with this story which looks to be more like a serial. There isn’t really a cliffhanger, per se, in this, but it does leave the door wide open for the next installment.

Title ~ Eden's Fire

Author ~ Samantha Holt

Publisher ~ Kensington

Published ~ 1 January 2014

Genre ~ Fantasy

Pages ~ 121

My Rating ~ 3 bites and a nibble

Eden lives in the woods by herself, the sole survivor of the sickness that killed her family. She’s cold and poor, but keeps up the struggle to survive even though the ruler of the land is corrupt. One night when she prays to the God of Fire, Tyondric, he appears and lights her fire. She’s amazed that her prayer has been answered. She’s even more amazed when he visits her again. And yet again. But the last visit he has something to ask of her. A journey that could take her life, but is the one thing that could save the people of Ananthuria from the tyrannical ruler Lord Victor Burgoyne. Does she have the courage to do what Ty asks?

This is decent short fantasy about gods, people and corruption. The plot is pretty good and moves at a steady pace. The characters Eden and Ty are not as well-fleshed as could be, but for the relative length of the story they aren’t too bad. The world could use more development, but again, for the length it’s enough to get a decent picture. There is some humor and a bit of suspense as well as some steamy goodness. I wouldn’t mind checking out more books by this new-to-me author.