The Siren Saves the Billionaire by Kristen Painter

 

3 Star

Undrea Seeley, makes custom aquariums and creates amazing collections of sea creatures for people to admire.  When she is hired to fit a new aquarium into the newest resident of Nocturne Falls she is surprised he is the man who tried to "save" her when she was swimming in the lake.  She is afraid he is smitten with her because of what she is and doesn't want to break Ethan and his girlfriend up.  Ethan wasn't sure about moving to this small town but after meeting some of the locals he's reevaluating his life choices including who he is dating.  When he tries to break up with his girlfriend she refuses.  He takes refuge with Undrea.  When he disappears from her home she calls in a group of the supernatural beings in the community to figure out what is going on.  Will they figure it out before it is too late?

I wanted to like this book more but a lot of the build up to the ending is given away in the title of the book and also kind of obvious.  I didn't really feel connected to Undrea or Ethan and I really didn't like how they got together.  Maybe this is one of those times a series should be ended as I used to love these books and it's gotten very obvious what is going to happen.  The love interests are also not that loveable.  You don't need to read the rest of the series to read this one BUT there are better books in the series to read.

Book 13 Nocturne Falls

Amazon

Werewolf Dates the Deputy by Kristen Painter

4 Stars

Fire chief and werewolf Titus Merrow is happy with where he is in life.  He loves his family and his job.  He also loves needling Sheriff’s Deputy and Valkyrie Jenna Blythe.  They are pushed together by Titus’ brother to work on the 10k charity race.  They are ignoring what is in front of them until they are hexed to not only love each other but are bound to each other.  They will need to work together to figure out who cast the spell to unravel it. 

After the last book in this series I was hesitant to read this one.  I’ve read all the books and these two characters were in the first book and several of the other ones as well so I had high hopes for any book with these two.  I was also concerned once the love spell came into play.  It skeeves me out that they might do things that they wouldn’t normally consent to without the spell.  However, it was handled really well and I enjoyed how it was handled.  My only ding to the story was the bad guy was kind of obvious.  This did make up for my not liking the last book.

You do not need to have read the rest of this series to understand what is going on in the book.

Book 12 Nocturne Falls

Sucks to be Me by Kristen Painter

2 Stars

49-year-old Belladonna Barrone’s life isn’t what she wants it to be.  She married into the mob and has wanted out for years.  Her kids are finally protected and she’s about to get out when her husband is killed.  The boss tells her to finish the job her husband had started and it leads to her being turned into a vampire.  Now she has to figure out what this new life is going to be.

I am so mad I am reviewing this book this low.  It had so much promise and yet fell flat for me.  I have read all of her Nocturne Falls books and they are so good.  This book was so slow and had no humor in it at all.  It was a lot of oh woh is me my life is so horrible.  It got really old.  I had no connection with Belladonna at all and for most of the book I didn’t like her.  There is literally nothing to entice me to read the next book in the series. 

Book 1 First Fangs Club

Vampire’s Priceless Treasure by Kristen Painter

3 Stars

I am going to preface this with I have loved most of the books in this series.  I saw this one and was so excited to see a new book in the series.  I really wanted to love this as much as some of the other books in the series but I just couldn’t.  I wasn’t a fan of Kora.  She was whiny and she was always getting into messes that her dad would have to pull her out of and then she would get mad at her dad for helping.  I really like Greyson and wanted him to have his happy ending but with someone else.  It was worth reading once but it won’t be one I re-read.

Kora Dupree has made amends with her estranged father and has been taking on more adult responsibilities.  Everything is coming together for her but she still wants to find out what happened to her mother.  Greyson Garrett knows Kora is up to something since he has had to bail her out of so many messes before.  When she draws him into her newest adventure things will change for them.


This is Nocturne Falls Book 11

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.