Lost and Found Sisters by Jill Shalvis Book 1 – 5*

Quinn Weller has been in a fog since she lost her sister two years ago in a car accident. She has struggled to get her life back to what it was before her loss. She’s missing a piece and doesn’t start healing until a lawyer tracks her down about a mysterious inheritance. Quinn gives up her job, boyfriend, and home to head to Wildstone, California to claim her inheritance. She doesn’t know if this is what she wants but it is what she needs.

I loved this story. It isn’t something I normally would pick up as it is more fiction then romance, fantasy, or mystery but it is a story that pulled at me.

Don’t get me wrong it is a romance between Quinn and Mick but the story isn’t really about them it is about Quinn’s feeling she has lost everything with her sister’s death and her finding her spark again. It isn’t just her relationship with Mick that brings her back to life but her new relationships in Wildstone. How wishy/washy Quinn was. It is understandable why she is the way she is but at times in the story I wanted to slap her upside the head and say it isn’t all about you.

Overall the story was well written, had good pacing, and kept me engaged. I loved the characters in the book and other the Quinn being a bit to wishy/washy for me it kept me engaged throughout. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series.

Protector by Anna Hackett Book 4 Galactic Gladiators – 4*

Madeline Cochran had a successful career as a Civilian commander of a space station until the Thraxian aliens destroyed the station and kidnapped her and a number of other humans.  She suffered during her captivity but it isn’t anything compared to finding out she can never go home to her teenage son.  She has to navigate the strange world of Carthago and try to ignore Gladiator Lore and find her place on this strange world.

Lore Uma-Xilene is drawn to the hard-shelled but soft hearted Madeline.  He knows what she is going through being ripped away from you family and having everything changed in a heartbeat.  The two have to work together in an underground gambling den to try and track down kidnapped humans.

I loved learning more about what made Madeline tick.  The more that was revealed it explained her character and why she acted the way she did.  Lore was the perfect match for her.  He is a charming easy going man who compliments her need for control in all things.
This book was a little slow going for me.  But overall the itself was good.  I liked the romance between Lore and Madeline.  I liked learning more about both of them and seeing them come together.

Hero by Anna Hackett Book 3 Galactic Gladiators – 3.5*

Kace Tameron is military-trained gladiator on loan to the House of Galen.  He is at the Kor Magna Arena to hone his fighting skills and then come home to help his race win their war.  He was not planning on meeting and falling for Rory Fraser.

Rory Fraser an engineer from earth.  She was kidnapped with an untold number of humans by the Traxians.  With no way to go home she has to find her place with the other rescued humans in the House of Galen.  She is determined to find out how many humans were taken and rescue all of them from the evil Thraxians.

I liked Kace a lot.  He was strong and had a lot of honor.  Somehow in his stay with the House of Galen he made friends and found love.  Things he wasn’t supposed to have.  Watching him come to grips with these two things made the story for me.
I was not a huge fan of Rory.  She was let’s go let’s go.  Not really thinking through all of the consequences of their actions.   I get that she was trying to come to terms with her new life and that she had to give up a lot against her will but and that is a huge but she put others at risk because she just HAD to find Madeline. It just bothered me.

Overall it was a good story that moved the overall story along.  You find out there are still more humans needing rescuing.

Warrior by Anna Hackett Book 2 Galactic Gladiators – 4*

Scientist Regan Forrest is kidnapped and dropped on a new planet.  She was rescued from the Thraxians and is determined to make a place for herself.  She isn’t a fighter but she has other skills and she will use everything she has to take care of herself.
Sirrush warrior Thorin was sold into slavery by his own people when they couldn’t control him anymore.  He carved out a life for himself in the Kor Magna Arena.  He is perplexed by the humans but Regan perplexes him and he has to discover more.

I loved that Regan was a strong woman who even though her life has been turned upside down she is trying.  She was kidnapped, held against her will, tortured and she is still standing.  There are several attempts to kidnap her again and she still is trying everything to find her cousin Rory.  Once Thorin stopped being an idiot him being good enough for her the couple story was very well written.
However, Thorin was trying to turn her off through most of the book.  She was interested in him and let him know this but he felt he wasn’t good enough for her so let’s pretend to sleep with other women to show her how she ranks.  Once he realized his error it’s kind of swept under the rug.  No real apology about being a jerk.

The story moves along and even though there is some timeline overlap with the last book it doesn’t show in the story itself.

Spring Magic by TM Cromer – 3.5*

*This post contains spoilers*
Spring Thorne is determined to find the next artifact to save her mother. She is also determined to get her man Knox Carlyle. She has wanted Knox forever and is set on having him.

Knox, with his dark past, doesn’t feel he deserves to have Spring. He does everything in his power to stay away from her at all costs until it is her turn to go on a quest for the next artifact.

With the way Winter Magic ended I wanted to read this book so badly. The epilogue alluded to Spring being damaged in some way. Because of this I had a hard time getting into the book. Once the bad thing happened I settled into the story. I ended up having several issues with the plot from the very bad thing alluded to in Winter’s book. The best part of this story was the progress the book is making in the overarching quest. It is still a well written story and the pacing is spot on.

Spring was immature from the beginning. I get she wanted what she wanted and she wanted Knox but there were better ways to get what she wanted. She was not cautious in any way shape or form. Because she was not cautious she ends up being kidnapped by the bad guys. Not blaming her in any way for what happened to her. She didn’t ask for it and sure as hell didn’t deserve it. This leads into the other big issue I have with this story. Spring was raped repeatedly for weeks. Horrible things were done to her before she is sort of saved. It is never really addressed in the book. The Goddess wipes her memory of all things including her family and the story just moves on from there. She is literally having sex with Knox a couple chapters after being raped. I think it was a month or so later but I still had a really hard time with the timeline. She eventually is shown her previous life and sees everything that led to her memory wipe but even then it’s kind of shrug and move on situation.

I really wanted to like this book just as much as I liked the rest of the series but with the issues I had with the plot I couldn’t. It frustrated me and not in a good way. Still worth the read and I will still pick up the next book.

Gladiator by Anna Hackett Book 1 Galactic Gladiators – 5 stars

Earth Space Marine Harper Adams is abducted by aliens off her space station.  Taken to a planet where she becomes a gladiator fight in the Kor Magna Arena.
Former Prince Raiden Tiago long ago earned his freedom fighting in the arena.  He no longer fights for his survival but for revenge against the Thraxian aliens who killed his family and destroyed his world.  He is thrown for a loop when Harper is brought in by slavers.
Harper is determined to head home but first wants to rescue any other humans the Thraxians stole.  Harper and Raiden will have to work together to rescue the humans and get some revenge against the Traxians while ignoring their chemistry.

I loved the chemistry between Harper and Raiden.  She struggles to find her place and come to grips with new planet with new rules.  Raiden is thrown for a loop with her.  She distracts him in the best ways possible and he doesn’t feel he has a right to be distracted.  He has his family to avenge and this human is all he can think about.  The book is fast paced.  I didn’t feel there were any lags in the story.  Since it was the first book in a series there was some world building but not any that slowed the book down.

There wasn’t anything I particularly didn’t like about this story.  It was paced nicely.  There was humor, tears, and whole lot a sex in it.

The Chase - Elle Kennedy - 4.5 stars

Briar U Book 1

Summer Heyward-Dilaurentis has been kicked out of Brown due to the "incident".  she is able to transfer to Briar University.  She's drawn to Colin Fitzgerald but his narrow view of her makes her look elsewhere for affection. Dealing with school, her ADD, and weird behaviors of teachers lead Summer on a merry adventure.



This book is a continuation of Kennedy's off-campus series.  Summer has ADD and struggles with school.  She moves in with her brother's friends to finish school.  The chemistry between her and Colin is really good but Colin is an ass.  He shouldn't want her because she's his friend's sister. Because he wants her / can't have her, she flirts with one of the other roommates.  When she finally puts her foot down, she ends up hurting a good guy where if he had just been honest there wouldn't have been a problem. Once they straighten everything out it is really good.  I liked some of the conflict, like what Summer has with her professor and her advisor.  I'm not a fan of the triangle love bit. There was  a lot of humor which always makes the reading faster.



Looking forward to book 2.

Vampire's Mail Order Bride:Nocturne Falls Book 1 - Kristen Painter - 4 stars

Delaney James witnesses her mob bos killing someone.  Running fro the scene she runs into a dating agency. She decides to take another woman's spot and head to Nocturne Falls, Georgia. The town celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. She meets her groom-to-be - a 400 year old vampire.  Hugh Ellingham only agreed to the arrangement to appease his overbearing grandmother. After 30 days the bridge-to-be will be sent back which works perfectly for Delaney. Except they don't anticipate falling in love.  How will Delaney handle Hugh's secrets and how will Hugh overcome his past to be with Delaney?

The book has an interesting premise.  Delaney goes to Georgia not knowing about supernaturals. She just wants to lie low and figure out what she's going to do. She starts her relationship off with a lie but she is herself with Hugh.  He falls in love with her almost immediately.  He wants her then he doesn't.  Up until the climax with the bad guys, he waffles.  It irritates me he can't stick with it.  The other part that frustrated me was Hugh's grandmother. She wants X (fill in the blank) so give it to her or she will take your amulet. I have no patience for this.

Overall chemistry was good between Hugh and Delaney.  The story was interesting and different. MY only issues were Hugh's waffling and his grandmother.


Audio:
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4 stars
Story 4 stars

BJ Harris does a very good job switching between male and female voice. However, there were times his female tones were a little weird.

Crazy - Eve Langlais - 5 stars

Ella's always heard voices.  Her parents institutionalized her at a young age. Everyone calls her crazy until she meets a vampire and the voices finally shut up.  Zane just wants to have his usual banquet of different blood when he stumbles onto Ella.  He rescues her with plans to seduce her but the voices won't allow him near her.  He's determined to have her and give her a Happily Ever After.



The relationship between Ella and Zane was amusing and you could feel the chemistry between them.  Zane actively tried to find out what was going on with Ella and help her understand and control her powers.  The best part of the book is when Ella saves herself from the bad guy.  Yes, Zane could and would have saved her but she saves herself.



Can't wait for the next book in the series.



Audio:

Overall 5 stars

Performance 4 stars

Story 5 stars



The only issue I had with the audio was switching between Sumer Morton and Lee Samuels.  At times it was a little jarring.  Individually they were both amazing but switching between took me out of the story.

Kill without Mercy - Alexandra Ivy - 4 stars

Rafe is in Newton, IA to clear out his grandfather's house.  Annie's there to discover why her nightmares are back.  Rafe decides he will be Annie's protector and help discover who is killing women like the serial killer from Annie's past.



Annie wanted and insisted on an active role in discovering the truth.  She wasn't a damsel in distress needing to be taken care of.



Rafe had insta love for Annie which is unrealistic.  Also the character hopping was distracting.  Going from Annie to another made it hard to track the story.

01 Best Kind of Trouble - Lauren Dane - 3 stars

 Natalie and Paddy have a fast and furious two week hook up.  Years later they meet up and the spark is still there.  She had a messed up childhood which led to her having control issues.  He's a rock star who's determined to win her.



I enjoyed the way she made him work for their relationship.  It was not a OMG you're hot and rich, let's be together.  He worked to gain her trust.



The book was slow going except the end where it needed to be.  Plus he screwed up but instead of having to earn her trust again, it was insta forgiveness with no groveling required.

04 Circle of Magic Briar - Tamora Pierce - 4 stars

An epidemic takes over Winding Circle.  The four kids and their mentors have to figure out who started it and how to stop it.



The best thing about the book is the four are not all together all the time.  They have to work through not being together and still solve the problem.



Unfortunately, this book seemed rushed at the ending.  The book was slow going until the end when it turned into a rush.



01 Sandry - 4 stars

02 Tris - 4 stars

03 Daja - 4 stars

03 Circle of Magic Daja - Tamora Pierce - 4 stars

The four kids and their mentors travel to Gold Ridge Mountains.  The area is suffering through a drought and Sandry's uncle is looking into aiding them.  Daja creates a living art piece while Sandry tries to figure out how enmeshed the four of their magics are.

Daja learning more about how her magic works a good part of this book.  She also has to learn to stand up for herself.  This one was a bit slow as they spent more time talking about things rather than doing them.


01 Sandry - 4 stars
02 Tris - 4 stars

02 Circle of Magic Tris - Tamora Pierce - 4 stars

Continuing from book one, the four kids are working with their magic and their teachers when their home Winding Circle is attacked by pirates.  The pirates are using new and unusual magics to raid Winding Circle.

As the story of these four continues, the growing friendship between the kids is delightful.
Unfortunately the ending seemed rushed.  It seemed like she had a slow build up and reached a point where she had to rush to conclude.

01 Sandry - 4 stars

01 Circle of Magic Sandry's book - Tamora Pierce - 4 stars

 Four kids with four different powers are brought together to be taught how to be mages.  Sandry is a noble woman with a gift of weaving.  Briar is a thief with the gift of plants.  Daja is a cursed traveler with the gift of metal working.  Tris is a gifted weather mage.

The interaction between the four kids is wonderful.  At the beginning they were very distrustful of each other but by the end of the book were they all come together and trust each other.

The only bad thing about this book - it was a slow start and jumped around a lot.  This led to some confusion over the timeline.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book.

13 Darkest Promise - Gena Showalter - 4 stars

Cameo is possessed by the demon Misery and isn't allowed to feel joy.  If she does, her memory is wiped.  Lazarus the cruel and unusual rules his kingdom to annihilate his enemies until he meets Cameo.  He's relentless in his efforts to make her smile and seduce her into his bed.  If Cameo falls for him, she'll lose her memory of him.

Cameo and Lazarus' interactions are amazing.  She refuses him all the time because she can't handle his attitude.  Lazarus can't stay away from her because he needs her so much.

The two were so busy trying to save each other they kept trying to separate.  While initially this wasn't annoying, it became very frustrating towards the end.

01 High Risk - Vivien Arend - 3.5 stars

Rebecca James is an adrenaline junky.  While out on a rescue her partner dies and she loses her memory of the event.  Marcus Landers runs his Lifeline team.  When Becki shows up he tries to reignite their passion from their affair seven years previous.

The two of them push each other to be better.  In the bedroom, Becki lets Marcus be alpha male but in the outside world, she doesn't take any crap from him.

The downside to this book, Marcus' backstory of how he lost his arm was an afterthought.  The reader gets bits and pieces of her history.  His story isn't woven in until the very last chapter. If felt like the author realized she forgot his backstory and tacked it on the end.

02 Hunted - Cynthia Eden - 4 Stars

A serial killer is terrifying the town of Hope.  Reporter Casey Quinn becomes part of the story she was reporting on whent he serial killer takes her.  Josh Duvane is part of USET (underwater search & evidence team) who are searching for the victims.  He has a problem with Casey because she's a reporter.

I loved the relationship between the two.  There wasn't a lot of BS between them.  They were honest and trusting with each other.  This came across as genuine.
I didn't like who the serial killer was because I figured out who early and it was too pat, too much of a cliche.

From Breath and Ruin - Carrie Ann Ryan - 2 star

Lyric has graduated from high school and is at loose ends.  She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life.  She is struggling with nightmares and seeing things that aren't there.  After she is injured on a hike she discovers there is magic.

She discovers that 500 years ago in the Maison Realm there was warring kingdoms that lead to a split between the light and the dark.  Both groups send people into the human realm looking for the prophesied Spirit Priestess who will reunite the Maison Realm.

I really wanted to like this book and I didn't.  It was slow going and I didn't like Lyric.  I found her to be very whiny and it was hard to listen to her inner dialogue about what she should and shouldn't do.  How her ex-girlfriend is wonderful but won't be around for much longer.  How hot the neighbor guy is and how she wants him but she isn't sure he wants her.  It was very teen angst and when I am reading or listening to a book there is only so much I can deal with angst before I check out of the book.  I made it a quarter of the way through before I was done with the angst and started skimming the book to see if it got better.  It didn't.  I like the writer and will try her next book in the series to see if this was just a one off since it was a new genre for her and I do want to know how the series ends.

I listened to this book.  Bailey Carr was the narrator and she did an amazing job with the voices for the different characters.  She made the book.

01 Abduction - Cynthia Eden - 3 Stars

When Jillian West was 13 she was kidnapped.  Rescued by the town troublemaker Hayden Black.  They have a brief affair before going their separate ways.  They end up back in Hope - Hayden as sheriff and Jillian on a break from the FBI.  Both are determined to catch the kidnapper / murderer.
I loved the reveal and capture of the kidnapper.  I knew going in who it was (read books out of order).  It was still an interesting reveal and catch.

There wasn't a lot of information shared.  Example 1.  You don't find out until partway through the book how old they were when she was taken.  Example 2. Same for why they parted at 19/21.