The Convict's Bounty Bride - Review-

Lena Dowling offers us a unique romance story about a man who allowed himself to be sent to an Australian prison colony in return for money and a bride.

James Hunter knew what he wanted and needed to get ahead.  He just never realized that both what he wanted, needed and bargained for could be found in the same woman.  Lady Thea Willers is a headstrong, opinionated woman who hates the idea of marriage, loves to ride astride a horse and wants a job with her father at the bank.  She has no place in her life for a man and especially not the man that she was basically sold too.  In return for keeping her brother out of jail her father bargained her!

Lena Dowling takes on a fast romantic story with all of the elements.  I say fast since this is a Novella and only about 65 pages.  It is a quick and easy read for those without a lot of time.  It give you everything a full romance gives you but in less book space.

The only downside to this book is that it is so short you really don't get many of the details you crave.  Everything happens too fast to be fully satisfying.  However, I know this is the risk that you run anytime you read any Novella.  I would love to read some of Dowlings full sized books to get a real understanding of her abilities as an author. 

Mark of the Sylph -Review-

Normally I hate coming in on a series that I have not read the first book on.  However, Mark of the Sylph by Rosalie Lario, stands alone.  while it does reference book one, they explain enough so that you don't need to read the prior book to enjoy the story. 

How would you feel if Demons killed your family and terrorized you as a child? Maya Flores has that issue.  Not only that but she is immune to magic.  This means that she can see through all magic and that is exactly what sexy Half-demon Taeg needs.  So when Taeg kidnaps Maya she has to learn to live with having a demon around and keep her nightmares under control.  Oh and did I mention that there is a sword, an angel, a dragon, and more?

I loved this book it had a lot; it had a fast story line that was easy to keep up with, understandable characters and the true meaning of losing prejudice.  Not only that but it also had some hot, not so vanilla, sex scenes.  I mean who can resist a super sexy half demon.  Not Maya that is for sure. 

Things that could be improved in the book would be some of the descriptions of the demons that Maya sees.  While they do give you a good understand of what she is seeing I think that there was room for some amazing embellishment on what was done. 
I really can’t wait to see what happens to the rest of the half brothers and what trouble they get into. 

Arcada 1: Blacque/Bleu -Review-

Being Gay and in the closet is hard enough in a small town.  Now add a super attraction to the near century old vampire next door, a pushy father who wants grandchildren and you to take over the family, a sister who is in to everything, and oh yeah you just happen to be an alpha werewolf.  That is only the beginning of what is going on with Lukas Blacque. 


Lukas has been in the closet his entire life and had done really well until Bleu stepped into his life and messed with everything he thought he knew.  Lukas thought he had enough in his life to keep him occupied, he had a successful mechanic shop, he was slowly adding on to his tattoo, and the world was running the way his father would have wanted it.  Until the day that his father decides that Lukas is going to take over the pack and needs to be put into training to be Alpha.  Part of this training is to start having children. 

Bleu had been fading for years, just wanting his afterlife to end.  Nothing excited him anymore.  Until he had his chance with Lukas then everything changed.  He had a reason to live again and a reason to fight convention.  However the situation going on behind the love affair means that it will be over before it starts. 

Belinda McBride delivers a very enjoyable romance between two hot paranormal men.  While I know this is not the first in these particular genera it is the one I have enjoyed the most.  I look forward to seeing what else McBride has to share with us about the lives of Arcada. 

One More Kiss -Review-

One more kiss by Mary Blayney takes the classic romance story and perfects it.  This story is about a handsome yet misunderstood rake with a long history of being involved in scandalous behavior, and a young wealthy woman just coming into her own.  Thrown in twins, a rivalry, a gambling issue, a dog, a murder, and a house party and you have the recipe for a very entertaining book. 

Blayney took the extra steps to ensure that she had a thoroughly entertaining romance story.  While the subjects of this book may be based in a cliché the results are not.  Lord Jess is not what you would expect from a rake and Beatrice is almost as far from a perfect lady as one can get.

There was a bonus in the story, not only one love story occurred but you ended up with four.  With only two of them brought into focus.  While I normally don't like this because I don't like feeling lost or a lot of view point jumping, Blayney managed to do this in a way where it was sweet instead of annoying. 

If you are looking for a good historical romance story than I strongly suggest that you give One More Kiss a try. I found this story completely entertaining and I was very sorry to see it end. 

Out in Blue -Review-

Out In Blue by Sarah Gilman is a story about a Wren an archangel hunted by humanity and Ginger his savior and a human.  The story line in this book had a lot of potential However, the author wanted to make it more than one book and didn't have the space or the time. At least that is the conclusion I came too.  While the first half of the book was really good the second half was overly rushed. 

This is a disappointment since I saw so much potential from the story.  An archangel out on his own fleeing from persecution and betrayal of those he should have been able to trust.  A young woman willing to risk it all to save him even if that means giving up the life she had come to know.  However, the reality did not meet with my expectations.  There was a lot of time jumping done in the last half of the book and while it did tie everything up to a satisfying conclusion there was a lot left unexplained. 

I also had issues with the villain.  Even though there was a good explanation it seemed much too farfetched for me.  I foresee a lot of good stories coming from Sarah Gilman; this was just not one of them at least in my opinion. 

Upsides

The story had a lot of potential and a great premise
 Most of the characters are believable and you can connect to them
You could connect with the love story

Down sides:

Time jumping
Rushed ending
Unfinished ending
issues with the villain

Conclusion: I would not read this book again, but I am willing to give the author another shot.