The Prism Awards - 2014 Finalists

Dark Paranormal (includes Urban Fantasy)

For the Love of a Goblin Warrior by Shona Husk

South of Surrender by Laura Kaye

Storm Force by Susannah Sandlin

Tangled Souls by Jana Oliver

Erotic Romance

Edge of Night by Crystal Jordan

Lust Eternal by Sabrina York

Masque by Lexi Post

Fantasy

A Soul for Vengeance by Crista McHugh

Rogue's Possession by Jeffe Kennedy

Spy's Honor by Amy Raby

Futuristic

Caught in Amber by Cathy Pegau

Deep Deception by Cathy Pegau

Something New Under the Sun by L.A. Witt

The Cat Star Chronicles: Wildcat by Cheryl Brooks

Light Paranormal (including Urban Fantasy)

Fire of the Dragon by Lori Dillon

Immortal Ever After by Angie Fox

Sunroper by Natalie J. Damschroder

Wildfire: A Paranormal Mystery with Cowboys and Dragons by Mina Khan

Novella

Sing for the Dead by P.J. Schnyder

Taken by the Vampire King by Laura Kaye

Tame the Storm by Ella Drake

Young Adult

Briar Rose by Jana Oliver

Hero by Alethea Kontis

Spark:  Feyguard Book 1 by Anthea Sharp

~*~Savory Selections~*~

Genre:  Historical Romance

Heat Level:  Spicy but perhaps not as much as the other two books.

Okay, I admit it. I think I've become completely addicted to Sarah MacLean's Rule of Scoundrels series and No Good Duke Goes Unpunished is no different.

Here you have Temple, the Killer Duke, who isn't sure if he is or is not a killer. He's lived twelve years not knowing if he killed his father's young to-be bride, Mara Low. Until the girl shows up at his townhouse to plea for her brother's money back.

While Mara is set up as a woman to hate, I actually rather liked her. She made a mistake - a very big mistake - a mistake of a foolish young girl. She hadn't meant to set Temple up for her murder but once the die was cast, she didn't know how to call it back.

Now she's a Governess for a school of orphaned boys with a pig named Lavender.

Mara makes some mistakes in the book just as she did with her past but I'm okay with that because I like characters who make mistakes.

I really enjoyed watching the story unfold between Temple and Mara. The conflict is fabulous.

I will say - and this is WITHOUT spoilers - that the major plot twist at the end made my jaw drop and I want Chase's book - the final book of the series - so badly I can't stand it! It broke my brain and then I had to go back and look at all the books again to search for clues. I'm very excited for the final book to say the least.

To placate myself for the time being, I am going to have to go read Love by Numbers in the meantime. Same world, set about twelve years or so before these books.

~*~Savory Selections~*~

Smart Girl Seeks Seduction

Genre:  Historical Romance

Heat Level:  Spicy. Lots of fabulous sexual tension.

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover is the second book in the Rules for Scoundrels series by Sarah MacLean.

I had to say I quite enjoyed this book. Pippa, our heroine, is a very odd girl, a fact she is well aware of. She's very smart and finds comfort in science and not frivolity. She doesn't understand love or its appeal whatsoever. 

Despite the fact she is blonde, I cannot help but envision her as looking like a human form of Jeanette from the Chipettes. That's a good thing. lol

Engaged to a very nice but dim man, Pippa is sort of freaking out at the beginning of the book. She doesn't fully understand the vows and isn't comfortable enough going to her sisters for advice. The one she's closest to spouts on about love (Penelope from the first book) and she's just not that close to the others. So, instead, she seeks out the advice of a notorious scoundrel and good friend of her brother-in-law (from book one), the brilliant Cross. 

Cross has his own problems and having his friend's little sister-in-law show up in his office while he's asleep just isn't something he is equip to deal with.

I read this book a week ago and his character still lingers with me. I have such a book crush on this guy. He is tall, lanky, and has red hair. Love that. He's also brilliant.

He's trying to deal with his sister's husband's debts while at the same time trying to fight his attraction to the very much engaged Pippa.

While some of the plot twists didn't fully answer my questions, I did fully enjoy this book. I like how Pippa seems so very socially unaware and spontaneous. While she is book brilliant, there are still things she doesn't know and it freaks her out - things to do with the marriage bed.

Cross is just fabulous. Such a book crush!

I'm looking forward to checking out the next book of the series but I have no idea how Temple will live up to Cross for me. ;)

I am not a person who does a lot of rereading, but this book is probably going on my to-read-again shelf.

~*~Savory Selections~*~

For those willing to wait for true love.

Genre:  Historical Romance

Heat Level:  Pretty hot. Lots of delicious sexual tension.

So I have a new favorite author and its all thanks to Noelle Pierce. I'm in charge of a big writing competition and one of the major deadlines were coming up, so I told her to name something fun for me to read. That I needed nothing that upped my stress level, just something to help me decompress at the end of the day.

She recommended One Good Earl Deserves Another by Sarah MacLean which is one of her all time favorites books. However, I noticed that there was a book before it in the Rules of Scoundrels series and I have to read books in order so I picked up A Rogue by Any Other Name first.

Let me just say... I lost a LOT of sleep because I couldn't put this book down.

You have our heroine, Penelope, who is twenty-eight years old and unmarried because of a broken engagement from eight years ago which scandalized her. She's also turned down other engagements because the man who broke it off for her did so because he wished to marry the woman he loved. Penelope wants more out of life. More than being the proper lady who becomes the proper wife, more than a life in a loveless marriage, more adventure.

When her father wins a particularly prime piece of real estate and attaches to Penelope's dowry, determined to get her married off, it looks like she'll get the adventure she's wanting. 

Our hero, Michael, Marquess of Bourne, lost his fortune at twenty-one in a game of chance and vowed revenge ever since. When his once childhood friend's father wins his land from the bastard who stole it from him and attaches it to her name, Michael kidnaps her with plans to ruin her and force her into marriage. He would have his inheritance back at any cost.

It's been nine years and since then he's amassed his own fortune and runs one of the most legendary gaming hells in London. All with his eye on revenge.

Penelope hasn't seen Michael in over nine years, since his ruination, but she's never stopped thinking about him. Always writing him letters, always putting flowers on his parents grave. When he shows up at her home one dark, cold night, she's happy to see him until she realizes just how much he's let his bitterness take over his life. This is not the boy she once knew.

Knowing he is going to ruin her anyway, she strikes a deal. Michael insures that their scandalous marriage does not hamper her two younger sisters from making good matches on the marriage mart and she'd agree to marry him.

When Michael agrees, he does not know what he's signing up for:  A return to society, pretending to have made a love match, and a very tempting bride who wants adventures in his dark underworld.

But they begin to wonder what part of the marriage is farce and what is true.

This was a fabulous book that was almost painful to put down. When I did have to lay it aside and get work done, my mind was constantly one it. Well written, great tension, and just a fun read all around. Wonderful characters. I can't recommend this book enough.

As I read each little snippet of letter at the beginning of each chapter, I would smile. They were one of my favorite parts. And I always got a sense that, even if Penelope didn't realize it, the reason she kept turning down for proposals was she was waiting for Michael. 

~*~Desserts~*~

Sweetly served with wedding cake

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Heat Level:  Mild & Sweet - No Sex, Closed Door

I'll be honest. I'm a sucker for wedding books. When I stumbled upon this three novella compilation, I had to get it.

Say I Do is the first book I ready by Lucy Kevin and made up of the first three books of her Four Weddings and a Fiasco series.