Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts
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~*~Appetizer~*~
For the Jane Austen Fans out there.
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction with Romantic Elements
Heat Level: Mild - heavy kissing but no sex.

Austenland by Shannon Hale was a fun read. 

You follow Jane, a graphic artist whose love life sucks because she's stuck on the ideal of Mr. Darcy. Not just any Mr. Darcy but the one depicted by Colin Firth in BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. 

Thirty-three years old, still single with no boyfriend in sight, she's left a vacation by a great-aunt she barely knew to Regency-themed Penbrook Park, a place filled with actors helping their guests feel as though they are living in a Jane Austen novel.

Jane hopes that living at Penbrook for the next three weeks will help her kick her Mr. Darcy obsession forever. 

The problem is that part of being in a Jane Austen novel is the romance and so actors are hired to woo the women Regency-style - no touching - and give them a romance filled weekend. Lines start to blur and Jane isn't sure what's real and what's acting.

This was a really fun read. Nice and light and perfect for Jane Austen fans.

I started reading this book because I'd seen the movie and the book definitely gets more in-dept with the characters. I feel if you like Jane Austen, you'll like this book. I'm a real Pride and Prejudice fan myself and it had me not only wanting to reread the classic novel but watch Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.
Unknown

~*~Appetizer~*~
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Heat Level:  Mild - Some Sexual Tension but no real sex.

I wanted to pick up Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass ever since I sat next to her table at a Georgia Romance Writers meeting and heard her say, "Well, I asked myself:  What would you do with an immortal warrior and a primal god in Atlanta? Why take them to The Vortex for chili-cheese fries of course!"

I don't think she ever even realized I'd heard her but it definitely left an impression and I looked up her book.

Here you have an Urban Fantasy following Kira Solomon, antique dealer by day, defender of all that is good at night. And hunky Nubian warrior, Khefer, who is trying to make up for all the lives he took in anger over four millennia ago.

Back Blurb:

For Kira Solomon, normal was never an option.

Kira's day job is as an antiquities expert, but her true calling is as a Shadowchaser. Trained from youth to be one of the most lethal Chasers in existence, Kira serves the Gilead Commission, dispatching the Fallen who sow discord and chaos. Of course, sometimes Gilead bureaucracy is as much a thorn in her side as anything the Fallen can muster against her. Right now, though, she's got a bigger problem. Someone is turning the city of Atlanta upside down in search of a millennia-old Egyptian dagger that just happens to have fallen into Kira's hands.

Then there's Khefar, the dagger's true owner -- a near-immortal 4,000-year-old Nubian warrior who, Kira has to admit, looks pretty fine for his age. Joining forces is the only way to keep the weapon safe from the sinister Shadow forces, but now Kira is in deep with someone who holds more secrets than she does, the one person who knows just how treacherous this fight is. Because every step closer to destroying the enemy is a step closer to losing herself to Shadow forever....


This was a great read. I put it under Appetizer because it definitely wet's the appetite for the rest of the series. Seressia brings together some great characters from a story telling spider god who happens to be a culinary master, a couple of ex-military tattoo artist witches, and a band with some fun hidden talents.

I really loved the use of Egyptian mythology in this story. I don't know a lot about it and so its new and fresh for me. I love how she portrays the gods.

If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, you like action and adventure peppered with humor, trust me and pick up the book.

This tasty tidbit brought you to by Bryonna Nobles.
Kari A. Korkow
 
 
 
 
~*~Appetizer~*~
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Heat Level:  Spicy for sexual tension and sexual scenes
 
Her Mad Hatter follow the short, yet tension-filled romance between Alice Hu and the Mad Hatter. The beginning opens up from the view of a fairy godmother - Danika - whose duty is to serve the bad boys of our favorite fairy tales: Hook, the Bad Wolf, Gerard (Beauty and the Beast), and Jinni - a genie from Arabian Nights. As the five men meet up for a yearly meeting, deciding whom to terrorize for the next year, Danika arrives to give them the good news - that she has finally happened upon ladies, finally granting her boys a well-deserved happily-ever-after. They all dismiss her, especially Hatter who has had more than his share of heartbreak cause by the numerous Alices that have been traipsed in front of him - none more treacherous than Alice Hu...

Pastry chef Alice Hu is celebrating a successful grand opening of The Mad Hatter's Cupcakery, the business that she had been working towards for what seemed like a lifetime. The name was all too fitting, considering her obsession with the story of Alice in Wonderland. Her own house is decorated much in the style of the fantasy world that she spent her whole childhood dreaming about; her bedroom devoted to the Mad Hatter character (Johnny Depp version over cartoon). Life, as far as Alice is concerned, has never been better...until the last customer of the day begs for the last cupcake in the display, her form of payment being a single, white business card containing only a picture of a white rabbit and the words 'Rub Me'.

Despite her doubt, after a glass of wine, her curiosity gets the better of Alice and she follows the directions, only to find a familiar white rabbit in her room who seems bound and determined to take her away to the land she had always loved...to the only man who had held her heart since their first, brief meeting when she was thirteen.

However, things in Wonderland are hardly as wonderful as Alice had always hoped. To her horror, her long-loved knight in shining armor has been reduced to a shattered shell; his sanity which had been slowly trickling away over time was now gushing through the broken dam that had held it for so long. Unexpectedly, Hatter's state of mind was affecting all of Wonderland, making it a dark, dreary, and deadlier place than usual. Alice was everyone's last hope for survival and, hopefully, recovery. 

Unfortunately, when her handsome Hatter looks at her, all he can see is her great-grandmother (also named Alice) who betrayed him in ways younger Alice could never begin to imagine. With her own secret pains weighing her down and a three day deadline to win the hearts of both Hatter and Wonderland, Alice finds herself in the fight of a lifetime to heal the scars her ancestor left behind on Hatter's heart as well as the ones upon her own.

Written with a mastery of mouth watering, sexual tension as well as emotional ride akin to a roller coaster, Marie Hall gives a new slant to our favorite fairy tales.  As is proper for a fairy tale, the ending is bittersweet yet still satisfying in the end. The only problem I had with this ebook was quite a few editing errors but that could be just the copy (hard to complain when I got it for free). Minus that, this was an excellent book that I strongly suggest to those with the fetish for fairy tales.
Unknown

~*~Appetizer~*~
Genre:  Romantic Suspense with a splash of paranormal
Heat Level:  Medium for sex and sexual tension

A Matter of Trust follows psychic Jolie Wyngate, a Georgia teacher currently in between jobs. All Jolie wants to do is take a vacation down in Florida and forget that she's been fired yet again. Could her psychic abilities have anything to do with it?

Jolie's psychic abilities not only has a disembodied bff by the name of The Maniac in her head but helps her locate missing children. That's just what Mac Carlson needs. 

Former Navy SEAL and security expert, Mac's client's daughter has been kidnapped and Mac's been framed for the murder of his best friend. Evidence leads him to Jolie who he promptly abducts.

Time is of the essence as they dodge the law, try to find the missing child and ignore the heat building between them.

This book sets up a great cast of characters with fabulous details. I want Simon's book so badly I can't stand it!

The Maniac aka Maggie is a great source of humor, breaking the tension at sometimes inappropriate times. This is a great first book to a new - hopefully - series.

My one complaint is just a little bit more editing. Not so much for flow but content. Some things should have been italicized and weren't. There are some capital letters in the middle of words. But the wording is excellent. Its merely aesthetics. So once you get beyond that, you have a great story.
Unknown

~*~Appetizers~*~
Serial Killer with a side of magical Sea Creature
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Romantic Suspense
Heat Level: Medium - some sex but definitely a lot of sexual references. 
Pretty dark read.

Siren's Secret by Debbie Herbert is part of Harlequin's Nocturne line - which is described as dark, sensuous and dangerous - where paranormal and normal collide. 

This book definitely does that.

First, how gorgeous is this cover? I'm sure you realize by now that I love a good cover and this one was beautiful.

When I picked up Siren's Secret - actually I got it for free from someone who won it from Debbie herself but already had their own copy - I thought this was going to be a fun, light read. Its about mermaids! I love mermaids but I find it rare that you see someone go truly into their dark side. Actually, I have a hard time finding books about mermaids for adults period.

Needless to say I was excited and when I opened it up, a fun light read was not what I got. It was better.

Debbie Herbert not only brings out the darker drives of mermaids but she takes you deep into the mind of a serial killer. Its easy to have a villain to hate but she actually makes you feel a little bit sorry for this guy. Not enough that I thought he shouldn't be punished but you kind of understood where he was coming from.

She captures life in the Alabama Bayou wonderfully. I have to say that I'm really hoping Jet gets her own book soon because she was probably my favorite character in the book.

This is a great debut novel and definitely wets my appetite for more which is why its under appetizers. I was very excited to find out that this is, in fact, the beginning of a series produced with Harlequin called Dark Seas. So be on the look out for book two, Siren's Treasure which is still in the works. It sounds like its going to be Jet's book. I'm really, really hoping it is. ;)

If you're looking for something a dark, something with mermaids, and something set in a small Bayou town, this is the book for you. Check it out. I enjoyed it.

This tasty treat was served up to you by Bryonna Nobles.
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I love a good shifter story and when I saw this adorable book cover, I just had to read it.


How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf is the first book in Molly Harper's Naked Werewolf series.

This is a fabulous light read.  What I'd call a vacation book.

~*~Appetizer~*~
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Heat Level:  Medium-Mild

You have Mo Wenstien who moves to the small town of Grundy, Alaska from Mississippi to get away from her failed engagement and her truly hippie parents.  More the parents than the engagement.

To say she was surprised where a very hot, naked Cooper Graham shows up on her doorstep with a bear trap on his leg, is an understatement but finding out Cooper is a werewolf was a touch more shocking.

Reading this book, its as though Mo is sitting across from you at lunch sharing her story.  You feel she's talking to you, like she's an old friend.

Some people find Mo's life a little too convenient in the story but I feel Molly explained things in a very believable manner.  While I wish we could have gotten more depth from Cooper, the story is in first person and so we are limited to just Mo's side of the story.

Despite this, I found it enjoyable.  It made me want to visit Alaska... in the summer... when its warm... well, warmer.

I have read other books by Molly Harper since this that I have enjoyed a lot more but this was a nice introduction to her series.

Funny, light read  Check it out.

This review was served up to you by Bryonna Nobles.