Archives

-Letter B- Craved by the Bear #bearshifter #romance #kindleunlimited @aprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr3

B is for Bolryder

Craved by the Bear  by Terry Bolryder

Synopsis
Rock cannot stay in Bear Canyon and yet the woman he loves does not ever want to leave. That does not stop him from asking her to marry him every time he gets drunk. It is like their favorite joke. But when it seems that she needs a man in her life, Rock wants to get her set up with the right guy. However, his bear argues that she is his forever mate.
Rosalyn “Ros” has been in love with Rock for years and pining for him. He always comes back, but she knows that one day he will leave for good. She is trying to protect her heart and enjoy the time she has with him at the same time.

Opinion
I read “Sheltered by the Bear” so I know a little of the back story to what Rock and his brothers suffered as children. I gave Rock a lot of leeway with his decisions because I knew that he was trying to avoid dealing with the emotional trauma that he experienced.
Though he did not want to deal with his deeper emotions, he still was trying to do the right thing by Ros and take care of her the best way he thought possible. To him, that meant trying to hook her up with a “good man/bear”.

Image result for whatever dude meme
While the basis for the trauma is heavy (child abuse), the overall tone was not dark. For example, it was funny that everyone humored Rock with his matchmaking exercise, all the while knowing that he really was the only man for Ros. I am glad that he had real friends like Francis calling him out on his BS.

Image result for thats a bromance
Ros was a heroine who was very understanding and compassionate of his situation. That does not mean that she was anyone’s doormat. She pushed Rock’s buttons a time or two as well. It made for great chemistry.
Overall, I loved this story. Plus, this is a story of friends to lovers (my favorite trope). Winning in my book!!!!
P.S. Terry I hope you continue to feel better. Love reading your books. And Francis needs his own story. After Ryland of course.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
BUY. This story is unique in the way that the hero and heroine approach their situation. While the plot is somewhat predictable, Rock’s antics are entertaining enough to keep your interest.

Book details
Series: Trapped in Bear Canyon Book 2
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Publication Date: February 13, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

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-Letter A- Sold to the hitman: a bad boy mafia romance #mafiaromance @AprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr2

A is for Alexis

Sold to the hitman: a bad boy mafia romance

Synopsis
Andrei is a bodyguard/hitman who is on a job where women are being auctioned. When he sees Cassie, his protective instincts cause him to bid on her. The man he outbids is the son of a mafia leader. He knows that he should have left her to her fate, but he decides to risk it all to save her.

Cassie is an innocent young girl whose father sells her to the highest bidder. After the ensuing traumatic experience resulting in a sham marriage, she is disillusioned and realizes that her family did not really love her. She knows that Andrei might be dangerous, but he treats her well.

Opinion
When I bought this book, I did not know what to expect with this. I don’t usually read books where the hero is obviously on the opposite side of the law. I mainly bought the book because of the cover. Yea, I know that is not the best reason. I was willing to take a chance because he was man candy. I figured that if the story was not any good, I can just look at the cover.

Image result for sorry not sorry

As I got into the story, I found that I liked Andrei. I liked that he had a conscious and treated Cassie with care. He might be a cold-blooded killer, but he knew how to treat his woman.

I felt bad for Cassie because … sex trafficking victim. Her scum of a paternal person (not worthy of calling him her father) sold her for love of money. Because of that, I was glad she had a happy ending. I tried not to think too hard about how real that situation is and how many girls don’t have a hitman savior in real life.

Image result for not a debbie downer

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
I say BUY because it was a gritty but sweet story. Andrei may have been a bad boy, but he was definitely worth rooting for. For a better bang for your buck, I recommend buying the set: Hitman – The Series: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance Collection.

Book details
Print Length: 326 pages
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Series: Alexis Abbott’s Hitmen

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Z is for Zero Factor #atozchallenge #ABCofRomance @AprilA2Z

Apr30

zisfor

Zero Factor (Cybershock) ♥♥♥♥

Synopsis

Via is a psionic. This is a person who can see future events by touching a person. The government required all psionic persons to register and become government property to be used as the government sees fit.

Locke is a man with mechanical enhancements working as a soldier in a militia to keep order and protect the general public. He takes his job very seriously.

Via sees Locke’s death because of a tear in her glove and her skin touches his. She kisses Locke so that he can see her vision. From that point on, the Locke is trying to avoid being killed while trying to figure out how to deny how Via makes him feel.

Opinion
This is a sci-fi story and the setting is in a dystopian future and made me think of the Hunger Games (no other book/plot similarities though). I rated this book 3 hearts and then 4 hearts and was going back and forth, but decided to stay with 4. I am stingy with my hearts, but in this case, I thought it deserved 4 hearts because it was a story that I kept thinking about long after I finished the book. The story is short (only 68 pages), but it is action packed with a cute little love story.

I liked the characters too. Via is trying to survive and has a “Woe is me” attitude in the beginning. Soon enough she develops enough to embrace her gifts to the fullest. Locke believes that has to be order and the psi cause confusion. But when a psi woman saved his life and his commander tried to kill him, his world is turned upside down.

The villain’s reasons for causing havoc and mayhem was as usual insane-in-the-membrane. No real logic as to why he wanted to do what he did, but the reader is suppose to take it for granted that it needs no explanation.

But I thought it was weird that he was so over the top crazy and no one else noticed. How was he able to do all those outrageous things and the government not know about it. Of course, the book ends with all ends tied up neatly.

Should you buy? I thought it was a great book but I do think it was overpriced for the length. I probably would not have got this book if it had not been for the A-to-Z challenge and I needed a “Z” book.

Book details from Goodreads
Unknown Binding, 68 pages
Published August 1st 2011 by Samhain Publishing
Available on Amazon

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So this is the last post for A-to-Z blog challenge hosted by http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

I am so happy that I was able to stick with it and post every day. I met a lot of great bloggers that I am sure I will keep in touch with in the future. I am tired but in a good way. This makes my usual posting schedule of every 5 days seem easy. I wanted to challenge myself more this year and the feeling of accomplishment shows me that it was worth it. So now, I share with you some of my favorite celebratory gifs.

                                             

 

 

 

Y is for Yielding #atozchallenge #ABCofRomance @AprilA2Z

Apr29

yisfor

Yielding for Him ♥

Synopsis
Donovan (Van) is a billionaire who has everything and he is finally serious about a woman.

Lisa is his girlfriend but wants eventually to get married. She feels that Van is the one and she will do whatever kinky thing he suggests because she is so in love with him.

Opinion
Where do I begin?
Point #1 –  As a fundraiser coordinator, Lisa is known for being able to get billionaires to part with their money for charity. Van admits to himself that he does not agree with all the causes. I am not sure if that is because he is stingy or if Lisa does not really vet the charities that she works to help. Either way, not a good start for character development.

Point #2 – Lisa seemed like she was only with Van for what she could get.

“She learned exactly which buttons to push to get what she wanted from him.”

Translation: She knew how to get him to agree to buy stuff by performing various kinky sex acts. He would agree to almost anything while in the throes of passion. In her latest “transaction”, it seems that if he helps monetarily with the latest fundraiser, she agrees to whatever sex act/fantasy he wants her to do

Point #3 – Van says that having a threesome would be hot and give her so much pleasure. Plus he threw in some screwed up logic about how acting out the fantasy would make their relationship stronger. To Lisa’s credit, she did hesitate a brief moment and ask some thoughtful questions, like, why wouldn’t he be jealous?

His response, “This is supposed to be fun. Hot. It not supposed to be something you analyse (sic) to death.”

 I was still scratching my head. I did not imagine that the word “yielding” mentioned in the title would mean three people in the party. I was thinking possibly light bondage, maybe. However, I am not into the group sex scene. Two people getting it on is enough for me. When I  read out the synopsis blurbs on Amazon, I choose books that match what I like to read about.

From 38% of the book to the end is a long threesome sex scene. I did not read because as you probably inferred from my comments above, threesomes are not my thing.

Should you buy? If you like threesomes, you might find this book hot. Take away the sex, and the characters were average, almost forgettable. Van was a billionaire without much depth. Lisa seemed to me to be only concerned about her personal gain and what she needed to do to get it.

Book details from Goodreads
ebook, 37 pages
Published April 1st 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing
Available on Amazon

X is for Xavier #atozchallenge #ABCofRomance @AprilA2Z

Apr28

xisfor
Xavier ♥

Synopsis

Isaac and Xavier are the main characters.

Opinion

Did not read. I was looking for a romance novel that began with the letter “X”. The only one I could find was this book. Unfortunately, it was a male/male romance. That is not my thing.

 

I was despondent because I needed an entry for my post. I could not find any hetero romance on Amazon that began with the letter “x”. I came this far and did not want to fail the challenge. I began thinking about using a title with “x” in the word (e.g. extreme). I did not want to do that, but I was running out of options and time.

I was explaining my dilemma to my boss and he said, “Why don’t you do a post about that?”

Here is the post for the sake of the ABC of Romance “X” entry.

If you are into the male/male romance, you might enjoy the book. I would not know, so you are on your own.

Book Details
79 pages
Available on Amazon