Sin and Salvation by K.F. Breene

 

4 Star

Kieran tried to let Lexi go but she wouldn’t let him.  She wants to see Valens brought down and will continue to help with or without his permission.  When Valens finds out about his missing employees the countdown is on for Kieran to get everything in place for the ultimate battle which will determine who will run San Francisco. 

Where the last book frustrated me about Lexi’s lack of personal growth this one, she made leaps and bounds.  She learns to harness a lot of her powers and was able to help Kiernan get his objectives.  It will be interesting to see where the series goes since the objective from the first book has been successful.  One of the best things about the series is the adoptive kids Daisy and Mordecai.  I love how they roll with everything and push Lexi to be her best person.  

Audiobook: 5 Stars

Khristine Hvam narrates this story, and I loved her voice and tone while she read this book.  I listen at a fast speed, and I still got all the nuances of each character.  I would listen to other books narrated by this woman.

Book 3 Demigods of San Francisco

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Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet

4 Star

Lana Harvey has the crappiest job with very little downtime.  She lives in Limbo City when she isn’t reaping souls.  She likes sticking it to her boss and giving people the afterlife, they deserve verse what the rules require.  When she unexpectedly given a promotion, she should have known it was too good to be good.  She discovers a secret Grim had been keeping and she will need to help him with the problem, or the very fabric of the afterlife will unravel sending everything into chaos.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  It was different and weird in a good way as you don’t see a ton of books that deal with the grim reaper.  The book was fast paced, and I couldn’t believe how fast I read it and I want to read the next book asap.  I wouldn’t call it a romance per say at least with this book that might change in future books.  This book very much felt like a fantasy book to me.  Reading the description of the other books looks like romance will play apart in future books so it will be interesting to see where the series goes.

Book 1 Lana Harvey Reapers Inc.

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Kiss of Death by Heather Hildenbrand

2 Star

Gem Hawkins is loving her life race cars until she skips a call with her dad just to find out he was murdered right after the call.  She is determined to find out who murdered her dad even if that means joining the Supernatural Security Force to get an inside look at the case files.

I struggled with this book.  In fact, I ended up skipping several chapters because it was so slow and boring.  I just wanted the story to move on already.  It just didn’t work for me.  It was an interesting concept.  Girl loses her supernatural police dad, and the investigation goes no where so she decides to find out who did.  Good concept but bad execution.  I didn’t care how she got through the academy and that is literally all the book is about.  We don’t discover anything new about her dad at all so you will need to read the next book(s) to find out how that works out.  Not interested in it enough to try reading future books.

Book 1 Supernatural Security Force

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Sin and Magic by K.F. Breene

 

3.5 Star

Kieran hired Lexi to find his mother’s selkie skin so she can be freed to finally rest in peace.  Will she be able to discover where it is without getting hurt?

This was a mixed bag for me.  I enjoyed the story, but Lexi does get on my nerves a lot.  It was like she doesn’t progress much in the book.  She seems very reluctant to learn how to use her talents and it seemed like she was dragged along by those around her, her adopted kids and the people Kieran had training all of them. 

Audiobook: 5 Stars

Khristine Hvam narrates this story, and I loved her voice and tone while she read this book.  I listen at a fast speed, and I still got all the nuances of each character.  I would listen to other books narrated by this woman.

Book 2 Demigods of San Francisco

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Claimed by the Horde king by Zoey Draven

 

4 star

Horde king catches Nelle hunting in the forest and will be punished for this offense.  While she's given an option of giving up the other hunters to get a lighter sentence she refuses and is to be lashed S times.  When they got to 3 he couldn't stand anymore and calls for a halt to the punishment. He decides to take her home with him. She doesn't know why but is determined to be productive. She makes friends and learns new skills all while trying to figure out what the Horde king wants with her.

Where the first book was missing some world building this book was not. This book included details I wanted in the last book. That automatically made this one a better book. I also liked Serrin and Nelle better. She is taken and he loves her but let's her go several times. She gets fed up and goes back to her village and when he finally comes around is mad, she's not there. He then has to woo her back and she doesn’t make it easy on him. Nelle also made friends who adored her and were mad that their Horde King chased her off. Overall, it was a well-rounded book that gave some good background on the world and the federation. I will be checking out the next one.

Book 2 Horde Kings of Dakkar

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Captive of the Horde King by Zoey Draven

 

3 star

Luna will do anything for her brother. When he accidentally starts a fire when he was trying save the settlement this draws the attention of the Horde. When they show up Luna throws herself at the mercy of the Horde King to keep her brother from being killed. The Horde King decides to take her as his Queen.  He will do whatever he can to woo her. When someone close to him betrays him and Luna is kidnapped he will do anything together back. Will he save her?

I enjoyed this book but it had some problems.  There wasn't any world building so as I am trying to figure out where everything is you really can't. I still don't understand why humans on Dakkar. Who is the Federation that led to them being there.  There was a lot of fake words used and no guide as to what they mean. You eventually pick up some of them.  There are still several I'm unsure of. I liked how Luna was with the Horde king. She kept him on his toes and didn't let him get away with anything.  He also waiting until she was ready for more.  Overall, even with the questions b enjoyed the story enough to pick up the next book.

Book 1 Horde Kings of Dakkar

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Leveling the Field by Elise Faber

 

4 Star

Jesse knows who she is and she isn't a great beauty. She is doing what she loves for KTS and right now she needs to find the traitor. When her former partner Leo transfers to her team she ties to shove her feelings for him to the side as he only wants to be friends.  The problems start when he starts doing things friends don't do like kissing the scar on her inner thigh.  When he runs hot and cold with her she decides she's done with him and waiting for something he's not willing to give. Leo loves her but isn't sure he's good enough for her and in the process hurts her. When she nearly dies he gets a huge wakeup call and realizes he needs her but is it too late?

I blew through this book so fast. I loved seeing Jesse learn to love herself and make Leo work for her. We had a lot of movement in the overall story with Daniel.  Even with that being resolved new things were opened for the next book. We also didn't have instant forgiveness with Leo because he didn't screw up once but multiple times. He ends up making it up to her and I loved the slow burn. It was a really good addition to the series and I can't wait for the next one which will be the female leader finding her perfect woman.

Book  3 KTS

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Stealing from Mr. Rich by Anna Hackett

 

4 Star

Monroe's brother is trouble again and that makes her have to do something she swore she would never do again, steal from someone.  The people who have her brother want her to get a rare piece of jewelry from Billionaire Zane Roth.  For her brother she will but she isn't happy about it.  Zane isn't happy about being stolen from but when he finds out why she stole from him he makes it his mission to help her save her brother and recover the jewels.

This was a different format for Anna Hackett. She had both first and third person. I personally didn't mind it switching between but she also did it by character. All of Monroe was first person and all of Zane was third. If she switched back to third person for the next book I wouldn’t object either.  I loved the premise of the story. It reminded me of so many of my favorite heist movies.  I liked both Monroe and Zane.  They meshed well and I wanted to see how they figured out away out of the mess Monroe’s brother was in.

Book 1 Billionaire Heist 

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In Your Dreams by Julia Kent

4 Star

After a bad breakup Laura is in need and her dreams aren't helping. Mike and Dylan are reeling from the death of their partner when they find out she had a lot of money and she left it all to them. They are left wondering why she never told them she had big money. Their lives are all crazy and chaotic but they all want to find their perfect partners.

This was a prequel for Laura, Mike and Dylan story. It takes place right before they meet in Her Billionaires. If you haven't read that series this book makes sense but you won't necessarily get a complete story. It is very much a book that is for those who love the series and want to see where they started and how they made the choices they made to come together. As this was how I found Julie Kent's books and I loved the series and all the others that have come out since I was excited to see this.  Writing was just as good. There was a lot of emotions with this book. There isn't a HEA or even a HFN it is a glimpse into where the three started that lead to there HEA.

Book .5 Her Billionaires

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Shielding Devyn by Susan Stoker

 

3.5 stars

Devyn lifther job and her family to move closer to her brother and getaway from her other brother. She's not sure if she will be staying or moving on somewhere else. Her brother's friend and teammate Lucky hopes she stays. He's willing to take it as slow as she needs but isn't willing to walk away. Will he be able to keep her safe ?

I struggle with reviewing this book. I liked Lucky and Devyn but I wasn't in love with the story. Devyn ends up kidnapped because of her brother. The brother knows she's been taken but doesn't Call anyone or does anything. She ends up held longer because of this and it frustrated me. On top of this the guys all come together to get the 50,000 the brother needed to pay off his debt. This is great but the legality of handling it themselves verses working with the police just rubbed me the wrong way. Then Devyn lets her precious brother get all sorts of attention leaving her to deal with the fallout of her kidnapping. For me this all made the book meh for me.

Book 6 Delta Team Two

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Catnapped by R.J. Blain

 

2 Star

Diana comes home to her house a wreck and her cat gone. She will do anything together cat back including making a deal with the devil. She's had dealings with him before so she knows to be careful with her dealings with him. What she wasn't expecting is his matchmaking. Lucifer wants her to work with Darian to track down the kidnappers and maybe fall in love.

I wanted to like this book and I didn’t. There was a good story in here but it just didn't come out. The book was a lot of telling and not a lot of action. Diana is all snarky with everyone including the devil. She seemed more worried about her deal with the devil than her missing cat. The love interest barely made an appearance and that lead to no connection between Diana and Darian. How am I supposed to care about the couple when they are barely together plus she spends more time talking to his parents. about when it got good was the last couple of chapters and then the story was done. I don't know what is going on with this author because when she writes a good story it's awesome but lately it hasn't been the best writing.

Book 14 Magical Romantic Comedies

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A Kiss for a Kiss by Helena Hunting

 

3/3.5 Star

Jake is loving his life. His daughter is getting married to good man, he loves is career, and he's ready to start having some fun. He's spending more time with Hannah his new son-in- law's biological mother. After a weekend of naked fun they agree to stay friends and that's it until she finds she's pregnant. They will have to figure out what is best for everyone involved.

This is a weird one for me. The writing was spot on and just like all of her other books but this wasn't one of my favorite books. Jake and Hannah both seemed very selfish. No problem with them hooking up but they weren't being safe about it because she was premenopausal. That and Hannah's mom made me so mad. I get she had to raise Hannah's first kid but get over yourself. Overall, it was an interesting friends to loves with a surprise baby as well as an older couple. If any of these are your jam you will enjoy this story.

Book 4 All in

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Broken by Elise Faber

 

4 star

He loved Lexi from the moment they met. The problem she's already married. Luc decides it's better to be friends then nothing.  Until her husband's secrets are revealed and she is free.  Luc doesn't want to push to fast but he's not willing to lose her to another.  He's all in now needs her to take him out of the friend zone.  Will he be able to make her see they are great friends but better lovers?

When this book was mentioned in one of her other books I wanted to read this one so bad. It stood up to the hype. I loved seeing Luc bring Lexi around to being more than friends. It is a slow burn but once it gets going it is very spicy. I wanted both to get their happy and they did. The ending and the lead into the second book was a hold the phone moment and I need that book right now.  Can't wait for the next one.

 Book 1 Breakers Hockey

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