Synopsis

Sabralia is one of the many wives contracted to the emperor. As one of the wives, she had a personal cyborg who helped her bath, get dressed, and ready for functions that required her attendance. While she did not treat her cyborg as her sex slave, she allowed herself to fantasize about him.

“He was a machine, of course, but his body was a man’s, fit and smooth skinned.”

After an attack on the planet, Sabralia is forced to flee with her cyborg Qy.

Kaistril (cyborg Qy) has been the personal cyborg of Sabralia for more than 2 years. After the attack on the planet, he begins to remember his life before being programmed as cyborg. More than just a high-ranking officer, he was a good-looking, virile man.

Opinion

After first reading this book, I gave it 3 hearts, but I kept coming back to read it because I loved the story. So, I had to up my rating to 4 hearts.

Sabralia is a woman in bad situation and she knows she wants more out of life but cannot get it. Given as a wife to a dictator for treaty purposes, she tries to keep a low profile to prevent anyone physically assaulting her. She has a serious crush on her cyborg but she does not act on it because it would not be the same as if he was a real man.

Then he is a real man.

“Years of wanting her cyborg to be a man, not a cyborg, made her weak.”

Meanwhile, Kaistril knows what he wants and he likes what sees. He can remember what he saw while he was a cyborg and knew that he had bathed her.

“All those months in the bath teased him, ratcheting up his desire.”

He thought it would be as simple as “We will sate each other, put those longing to rest…”

He should have known that he would be hooked.

I think the overall reason why I liked this book is because Sabralia was not a weak woman. She seemed like it in the beginning; but, really she was a woman resigned to her fate. When things changed, she regained her self-esteem and took control of her destiny. She did not sit around waiting for the hero to save her all the time. She did what she could to be a supportive partner. I can appreciate that in the heroine’s character. At the end of their adventure, they are together for their HEA.

Should you buy? Yes. I have the rest of the series on my TBR list.

Book details from Goodreads

Kindle Edition, 85 pages

Published May 23rd 2012 by Grand Street Publishing (first published February 1st 2009)

series Diaspora Worlds #1

Available on Amazon

Summer Storm #MCromance #bookreview

Sep16

Summer Storm: A Satan’s Fury MC Novella

Synopsis

Guardrail is part of a motorcycle club. When a guy steals from the club, he is responsible for tracking him down.

Allie is the sister of the man they are looking to find.

Guardrail should not want to get into a relationship with Allie since he is looking for her brother, but there is something about her that makes him want stake a claim.

Opinion

I read this book because it was part of a compilation that I bought on Amazon. I am not into the whole motorcycle club scene because they usually are involved in illegal activities (e.g. Sons of Anarchy). The few books I have read in the past, it was from the viewpoint of an undercover officer infiltrating the “club” to put a stop to whatever drug/sex trafficking they were doing.

This motorcycle club was doing all the things that were against the law; but to hear them rationalize it, they were maintaining order in the community. “Maintaining order” is best described as eliminating threats in a manner in which others will think twice before circumventing the established chain of command.

This was the first book that I have read where the main focus was on a MC member starting a relationship with his “old lady”. I’m not a staunch feminist, but really? And he only will give her information on a need-to-know basis. Why so many secrets?

It was hard for me to get involved in the romance because I kept wondering if Allie wanted to break up him later, would she have to go into protective custody? She is essentially becoming part of a gang. One does not just leave the gang. Forget the explosive chemistry. Her life could be at stake. Maybe all motorcycle clubs are not into nefarious dealings, but in this story there is a whole lot of shady going on. And when the law enforcement eventually shuts it all down, the “old ladies” are getting arrested too.

This review has been derailed by my overactive imagination.

Should you buy? If you like stories about motorcycle club heroes, you might like this. If you rather your hero be law abiding, then this is not for you.

Book details from Amazon
File Size: 689 KB
Print Length: 100 pages
Publication Date: June 25, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Available on Amazon

Short romance novella #reviews

Sep10

I read a few novellas and none had enough substance to warrant a full blog length post.

Overtime Love

Synopsis

Drew thought he would own the semi-pro football team where he is general manager. The owner died and left it to his granddaughter Tasha.

Tasha does not know much about owning a football team and is cognizant of the fact that the current general manager thought he would own the team. She knows that they have to work with each other if the team is going be a success. At the same time, she is trying to figure out why her grandfather put her in this situation.

Opinion

The story line is not very original but it was entertaining.

Drew and Tasha have preconceived notions about each other. However, these prove to be false once they get more acquainted with each other. Since they acknowledge the intense attraction, they decide to mix business with pleasure with the caveat that they are leaving their hearts out of it.

He said, “He could make love to her for the rest of his life, but he remembers their agreement – no ties, no commitment.”

She said, “She wanted this incredible man in her life but knew she had to keep the desire unspoken.”

It is obvious to the reader that they have deep emotions for each other but it is a matter of who will crack first and profess undying love and devotion.

How long will it take to communicate?

Thankfully, it did not take long since this is a novella.

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Ex-mas Reunion

Synopsis

Kendra and Damien are stranded in a snow storm at the airport. Needing to get home, they decided to drive a car together since all the flights are cancelled.

Opinion

There was not much to this story. The reason they broke up was poor communication. They needed a long drive to provide them with uninterrupted time to talk out their emotions.

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Holiday Affair

Synopsis

Ava and Colby are Atlanta attorneys that engage in a one-night stand. Then they find out that they are the opposing counsel on a major case. Colby’s client is suing Ava’s client for employment discrimination.

Opinion

The story line was okay. In comparison to the love scenes in the other two stories, this story was extremely graphic. I was not prepared .

It was at that point where I started to doubt that this was supposed to be a romance. I wanted to tell Ava to stop jumping bones with Colby. In the midst of all the uncontrollable “lovemaking”, they decide to commit to each other.

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Should you buy? If the book is in compilation, then yes if the price is not more than $2. If the books are sold separately, then Overtime Love might be the only one that I really recommend.

As Seen on TV Wrist Wallets #tryitTuesday

Sep8

I am starting a new feature called “Try It Tuesday”. It will be the second Tuesday of each month. This feature is all about product reviews.

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Wrist Wallets – As Seen On TV

This is a zippered wrist pouch. Not much else.

I wanted to a Phubby but none were available on Amazon Prime, so I thought this would suffice. It was a 3 pack for $10. Not exactly a bargain but I needed it for an event I was going to be in that next weekend.

It looks exactly like the picture but the size is misrepresented.

They said it could hold a small cell phone and mp3 players. They need to put a caveat saying “Only if you have that Motorola Razor from 2005”. The pouch barely was big enough to fit a credit card.

They should have said “Can hold cash OR a credit card OR one small car key. Nothing else.”

I was not impressed.

TOW Verdict: Pass on this unless you need a small pocket for a key and a few dollar bills. Probably best used by little kids.

Bear meets Girl #netgalley #review

Sep5

I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Bear Meets Girl (The Pride Series)

Synopsis

The New York shifter community is full of wolves, hyenas, lions, tigers, grizzly and polar bears. Lou Crushek (Crush) – polar bear shifter – and Marcella “Bare Knuckles” Malone (Cella) – she-tiger shifter – meet the morning after a party where they had more than their share of jelly shots. They end up having to work together to find who is hunting and killing shifters for sport.

Crush is an introverted cop who hates change.

Cella is a high skilled feline contract killer who has a passion for hockey. Drama seems to follow her wherever she goes. Adding to that, her nickname is “Bare Knuckles” because she has no problem with punching someone in the face, male or female, and usually knocks them out.

Opinion

When I saw this book, it immediately went on my TBR list. I have read werebear (bear shifter) books in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them because I like it when a woman pokes a surly bear. From the synopsis and the cover, it seemed that Crush was as surly as they come. I was excited. I like dour, grumpy heroes who come out of that shell for love. What I was not prepared for was how much I loved Cella’s personality.

Cella is crass, loud, and unapologetically outspoken. From that description alone, you would think that her character would be unlikable. I loved the fact that she was a skilled assassin who used her talents for the good of her people. Plus, she was not arrogant, but still very sure of her abilities on and off the ice.

In the beginning she antagonizes Crush by doing all sorts of outrageous things to get him to react. I knew sooner or later she was going to have to ease up if they were going to get together. Of course, once he agreed to be her “pretend boyfriend”, I knew that they were well on their way to romance town.

What to say about Crush? Let’s just say, “I’m crushing on Crush.”

He is a big hulking polar bear man, described as looking like a meth dealer/possible serial killer. He is as straight as an arrow cop who believes in using the proper channels to achieve justice. He is scary looking and hopes that will encourage people to leave him alone. But when he is thrust into a room with his hockey idols (coincidentally one is Cella’s dad ), we see what a hockey fan boy he is. It was endearing.

Crush knows that he is attracted to Cella.

Her scent made him want “to roll around until he was completely saturated with it.”

However, unlike other shifter books I have read, it is not a we-are-fated-to-be-mates type of scenario. They still have to decide if attraction is enough.

“Crush has no idea what to do with this woman.

He knew what he’d like to do with her…”

Bear Meets Girl was a winner and I am glad I discovered this author. This story has romance, humor, and a touch of suspense. The resolution of the main problem was not resolved to my satisfaction, but it was minor to me with regards to the story line. I was rooting for Cella to have her happy ending and I knew that Crush was the perfect guy for her. Plus, Crush needs a woman like Cella because she keeps him from taking himself too seriously and helps him deal with change in a more productive way. The supporting characters helped to paint a complete picture and, in the end, I wished they were real so I could hang out with them.

Funniest line in the whole book-

“Hey, I haven’t broken a guy’s leg for money- and hockey doesn’t count- since I was sixteen.” – Cella’s dad