-Letter G- Geek Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) #bearshifter #paranormal #romance @aprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr8

G is for Grove (Scarlett Grove)

Geek Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance)

Geek Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 6) by [Grove, Scarlett]
3heart

Synopsis
Corey decided that he was not going to fall in love or marry his fated mate because he thought it was “just a bunch of heartache and drama”. He was fine for others to find love and happiness, but not in the cards for him.
Willow is an author who signed up for mate.com as a way to do research for a book she was writing. Months later, she received a message saying that she was matched with her fated mate. She was intrigued enough to travel to check him out.

Opinion
I do not know exactly how to describe this story. It was cute enough. While I understand Corey was annoyed with his friends for setting him up, he was such a jerk to Willow in the beginning. It was only after he realized she was in danger that his protective instincts were awakened.

I know I am supposed go along with the idea that the “fated mates” theory makes up for any way the hero treats the heroine in the past, but in this instance I felt that his negative attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. He was hot and then cold and then hot again.
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To Willow’s credit, she did try distance herself from him since he could not figure out what he wanted.
In the end, I think I would have not forgiven him for how he treated her in the beginning.

YES! I know this is fiction, but as I have said before, I get really involved in the characters’ lives. I don’t care if the author has her heroine forgiving the hero, I am petty enough to still be holding a grudge against an imaginary character. He does try to redeem himself in the end, but I was done with him by then.
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TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
If you like books about bear shifters, then you might find this book enjoyable. This is part of series and I think if I had read the previous books, I would have enjoyed this better. As it was, I did not really connect with Corey as a hero and book boyfriend. The secondary characters seemed interesting enough that I want to read their stories though.

Book details
Series: Rescue Bears Book
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥
Print Length: 126 pages

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-Letter F – Barbarian #scifiromance #alienromance @AprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr7

F is for Fox (Kim Fox)

Barbarian

2heart

Synopsis
Avery and her friend go to the movies. They get abducted by aliens. Knowing that they will most likely die in the near future, they hijack the spaceship and crash land on a planet called Zandipor.

Turic finds Avery in forest and is convinced that she is the answer from the gods to save his people from the dinosaurs that also inhabit the planet.

Opinion
This book was not for me, but the story was okay.

First of all, let me say that I am not a fan of first person POV. I will read it and if the story line and voice of the character is okay, I can deal. I need for the person speaking to be halfway logical enough for me to tolerate their voice. Otherwise, I get very irritated. It’s like hearing an annoying person speaking. The more they talk, the more I want them to shut it.

In Avery’s case, I thought she did not have much common sense. She knows what she should do, but does she do it? Nooooo. I was rooting for the dinosaur at one point. I needed something shut her up.

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Plus, I’m guessing that TinTom the robot was supposed add humor to the story. I wanted to drop kick that stupid robot across the terrain and hope a dinosaur stepped on him as he rolled in the river.

Image result for picard meme so much win

With all of that negative emotion, I could not even focus on Turic and his barbaric ways. He was okay, if a little too frisky in my opinion.

To be fair, despite my obvious issues with their personalities, I repeat, the story was okay. For me, I could not focus on the plot because I had a dislike for some of the characters.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
I say BORROW but if you like alien abduction or corny humor in your sci-fi alien romance, you might want to BUY. Just be prepared to probably exclaim “OMG she is so annoying!”

Book details
Series: Alien Barbarians of Zandipor Book 1
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

-Letter E- Protection – Shifters Forever Worlds #review #bearshifterromance  #romance @aprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr6

E is for Elle (Elle Thorne)

Protection: Shifters Forever Worlds
Protection: Shifters Forever Worlds by [Thorne, Elle]

Synopsis
Grant is a grizzly bear shifter living in Bear Canyon Valley. His bear thinks that Chelsea should be his mate but he is worried that she will not accept his bear.

Chelsea has the hots for her client Grant. He gets his hair cut religiously by her every few weeks even though it does not really need it. She would like to have more than just a crush, but decides her secrets make it too dangerous to risk getting involved.

Opinion
I liked the story, but I had issue with a few things (had to deduct a heart ❤ for it).

During the first physical encounter between Grant and Chelsea, she was still recovering from roofie drugs given to her by one of the book’s bad guys. My ick flag was raised because at first I thought she was unconscious.
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I don’t care if his bear was telling him that she is his mate, unconscious means unable to consent. Actually being under the influence of anything (including drugs and alcohol) mean no ability to adequately consent. He and his bear needed to wait until she sobered up before making any moves.
Chelsea made too many assumptions. I guess the author was trying to get the reader to sympathize with her because she was a victim of domestic abuse, but it backfired in my case.
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Even though they have been semi-flirting for months, I still felt this was an insta-love story. She barely talked to him before and now in a matter of days, she loves him and wants to be his forever mate. It was too soon for me especially since she was not emotionally healed from her previous abusive relationship. I wish there was some indication that she was ready for a relationship instead of feeling like she was just looking for someone to protect her from the bad men in her life.

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TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
BORROW. I think that if this is a Kindle Unlimited book, it is worth picking up for the afternoon. I think it was free on Amazon when I got it. If you decide to buy, I would not recommend paying more than $ .99 for it. The box set might be worth buying though.

Book details
Series: Shifters Forever
Heat Level: Steamy 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Print Length: 186 pages
Publisher: Barbed Borders Press (January 24, 2015)
Publication Date: January 24, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

-Letter D- Seb by Cheryl Douglas #romance #review @aprilAtoZ #atozchallenge

Apr5

D is for Douglas

Seb (Steele Brothers #3)

3heart

Synopsis
Seb restores old cars and has a reality show.
Skylar asked Seb to restore her uncle’s car because (1) he is a fan of the show and (2) he is seriously ill. She does not have the money to pay for the restoration but she offers to work for him to pay off the debt.

Opinion
The story moves along well but Skylar makes some unwise decisions that negatively affect the relationship. As always, I try to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, but in this case I think Skylar made an idiotic move. She knows Seb is a hottie with a great personality, but she would make poor decisions to mess that up.

brain
I think when there is instalove (as in the case in this story), neither party should be disappointed when there is a lack of trust.
They went from strangers to love in 0.2 seconds even though he is commitment shy. Now her feelings are hurt because he does not trust her.
It’s her OWN fault!

Image result for suck it up buttercup meme
I understand how it happened, because I have a friend who did something very similar. However, that does not excuse the fact that Skylar should have realized that withholding information could lead to loss of trust. I think that Seb had a good basis for falling in love with Skylar, but I understand how he had been hurt before would affect his view of her actions.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
BUY. And I say that even though I know you are probably going to be rolling your eyes when you get to the bad decision making on Skylar’s part. Plus, there were a couple of surprises that will make you wonder where the story is going. This book is part of a series and I am ready to read more about the Steele brothers. They all seem very yummy!

Book details
Series: Steele Brothers
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Print Length: 237 pages
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

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-Letter C – Alien Mate #alienromance #scifiromance @AprilAtoZ #atozchallenge #newrelease @CaraBristol

Apr4

C is for Cara

Alien Mate

Synopsis
Starr Conner was falsely convicted of murder and shipped off to a planet called Dakon to be something akin to a mail order bride. Earth decided to get rid of felonious females in exchange for Dakon’s minerals which are in high demand on earth.

Torg was delayed when the ship of women came in. By the time he gets there, there is only one woman left. It is obvious that she does not meet his expectations, but he decides having a woman is better than nothing.

Opinion
I was gifted this book. I decided to write an unbiased review.

Starr was my kind of girl because she seemed to be rational and tried to make the best of a bad situation. While the story predictably had her withholding pertinent information in the beginning, I understand why she did it. Torg was not the most reasonable male when it came to some things.

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Torg might have not been around a lot of women, but he was a quick learner when it came to relationships. I chuckled at some of his inner thoughts when he decided what NOT to say because he had a sense that it might cause her to be mad with him. He might be an alien, but he had the makings a good husband from the get go. It was endearing.

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I don’t know why, but I loved it when Torg called her StarrConner. I thought that was especially cute.

Starr and Torg had some ups and downs in their relationship from external forces trying to keep them apart. For the most part, they handled it well. Then there was a surprise conflict that I did not see coming. I was stressing because I did not know if the villain would be found out or if it was going to be an issue resolved in a future book. I’ll let you read for yourself to find out more.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
BUY. Alien Mate will be released April 10, 2017. I have loved everything that Cara has done, so I can say this met expectations. I hope this is a series because it will be a BUY for me and I am very excited.

Book details
Series: I hope so
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Publication Date: April 10, 2017

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