Breaking Angelina by T.J. and Rita Webb

Publisher: Robot Playground Inc
Date Published: November 2013
Genre: YA / NA Paranormal Romance
Series: Paranormal Investigations #1.5
Source: Author
Rating: Crazy Good 4 out of 5 stars

She's the Beauty. Can the Beast break her curse before the monsters break her?

I never told anyone my darkest secret.

Something evil whispers in my mind. It threatens to destroy everything I care about, and now it wants me to kidnap and murder a mythical creature. Refusal means excruciating pain or sleepwalking into oncoming traffic ... again.

I don’t dare refuse, even if I have to steal from my friends, sell my body, or ruin my college career. Anything to stop the feeling of its claws scraping the insides of my skull.

That’s when I hired the Hunter, a wolf-man from a magical world, to help me. A tracker for hire, an honorable man who has misplaced his honor, a twisted soul with no heart left to care.

But he has secrets of his own, and I don’t think anyone can save me from the trouble I’m in.

Angelina has heard the voices in her head since she was twelve years old. She's now nineteen and attending college in Alaska when odd and mysterious things begin to happen. The voices are taking control of her life more than ever, making Angelina do things and hurting her when she resists. Angelina is now on a quest for a love potion to get her sisters' best friend to fall in love with Angelina so the voices will stop torturing her. Will she make it before they break her?

Hunter is a chimera, part wolf, hawk, and man. Hunting is what he does best. He tracks and finds people and objects. With his family slaughtered by the Usurper he is cold and empty inside. But when a client double-crosses him and nearly gets him killed, Hunter is out for revenge. Along the way he discovers a bracelet that everyone seems to want and happens across a human girl in need of his services. A girl who recently had been in contact with the bracelet. How is it all connected? And should he care?

I don't know how to feel about Angelina. She seems a little on the weak side, but honestly? She's up against these voices in her head. So maybe she isn't so weak. I go back and forth on liking her in this. I can safely say that in the first few pages I most definitely did not like her. Angelina was... I don't know, almost, childish, I guess. No. That's not exactly right. It's like she's so naive and young, disgustingly so, on a lot of her opinions in the beginning of the book.

By the end of the book my opinion changes. You learn more about the voices and their hold on her. I don't like a lot of what Angelina does in the book, but most of what she does is controlled by the voices. Especially that scene where she goes psycho. By the end of the book I realized I didn't really know Angelina. She may be one of the two main protagonists (dual POV), but she did what anyone would do in her situation; she tried to stop the pain.

The places where her personality shined through and pushed past the voices was when she stood up for Brianna. And that one scene with Hunter where the voices left them alone. For the rest of the book her personality was suppressed. So I'll be interested to see what she is like in the future.

Hunter I liked. Well, for the most part. I empathize with him and feel a bucketload of sympathy for his loss and the crap he went through. To have your entire family slaughtered? I'm amazed he's kept going. He has his own brand of courage and determination. The entire book you can tell he's fighting, and, other than his alcohol problem, he's kind of winning. Sort of.

The one time I don't like him is the 'romantic' scene between him and Angelina. Maybe for some people having sex for a one night to help with a payment is okay, but it rubs me the wrong way. It's too close to prostitution. Even if it's only once. I get that he actually cared about Angelina, and her about him, but I just don't like it. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else. It's the one time in the book that I just really don't like. Everything else is okay. And he redeems himself in the end, kind of.

There are a few other secondary and minor characters in the book. I suppose you can count the voices as a character, though you don't figure them out until the end. Of course you have Jason and Emma from Playing Hooky, the first book. I think you can read Breaking Angelina as a standalone without having read Playing Hooky. There are some nemesis' of Angelina's you see, like Cyndi and Tyler (who totally gets what's coming to him). Spyder is a bit of a ghost in the book, you don't see much of him. Mostly just minor characters in this one. Of course there's the blue lady who has yet to be named. She's part dragon, part fae, I think. Hunter has a few enemies you run into, but again, they seem kind of minor to me.

I mostly liked Hunter, and I went back and worth with liking and disliking Angelina. I think most of the characters were static, unchanging, with the exceptions of Hunter and Angelina who were very dynamic and changed a lot throughout the story. Especially Angelina.

I liked the fast-paced story. I am so easily bored with having to wait for the author to set the scene, it was such a delight to jump right into the story. For those that like their slow build-ups, sorry, but I like jumping in head first. And it didn't really get dull. There were some small lulls in the story, but for the most part the story was great.

I already mentioned the one instance where I didn't like Hunter. And I place the blame mainly on Hunter because he allowed it to happen even knowing that Angelina was young and couldn't be that experienced. I don't really blame Angelina because of the voices, but she didn't really seem to mind all that much, considering it was her first time. It really irked me.

The writing was pretty great. The flow of the story went well, I liked the pace that was set, it all came together nicely. It was fairly short in length, but I do believe this series is made up of novellas. So not that short. Just not too long either. It was a pleasantly light read (as far as the length goes, the material was medium-heavy as far as content).

The book was pretty upbeat even though at times it was depressing. That sounds like a contradiction, but it makes sense if you read it. It was like even though the characters were going through a hard time, the writing still had an upbeat spin to it.

I would also label this as a young adult / new adult crossover. I would say it's NA because of the ages of the characters, but content wise its really just upper YA. I think it's a good thing, because you get a bigger audience. There's no racy bedroom scenes if that's what you're looking for in NA. It's pretty tame there. All behind closed doors. And it only happens once, so I definitely would label this as a YA / NA crossover. Minor violence.

I thought it was a wonderful read. Relatively short, but long enough to curl up and chill on the couch. The story was fascinating. I missed the world of fantasy that I saw in the first book and I cannot wait to read the second book (this 1.5, if you didn't know). I would definitely recommend it, even if you just read it as a standalone.

   

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Taking Chances (Paranormal Investigations Book 3) is now out as well! It'll be the next book on my reading list. I can't wait to see how things go with all of the characters. I hope to see Angelina and Hunter again! What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Happy reading!

Covert Cover Cracked by Missy Marciassa

Publisher: Marissa Marciassa
Date Published: April 28th 2014
Genre: New Adult Action Romance
Series: Covert #3
Source: Author / NetGalley
Rating: Crazy Good 4 out of 5 stars

When 23-year-old Elle can’t explain why her job as an Information Scientist at the Library of Congress keeps her so busy (because she’s actually a CIA operative who just became field rated), her boyfriend dumps her, so she decides to focus on her career and enjoy a fling.

Navy SEAL Reese Beckwith seems like the perfect fling material except the more he sees Elle, the more he wants to know about her, and she can’t resist him. Things get complicated when Reese spots her with her CIA partner, a known womanizer. His questions for Elle get more pointed: he sees the potential for more than a fling, and once he sets an objective, failure is not an option.

Yet Elle tries to keep Reese in the “fling” category as her first major assignment heats up, becoming more personal with each development. When her personal and professional lives collide, Elle is put to the test. Does she have what it takes to be a covert operative? Will she have to choose between love and her career?

Elle is an Information Scientist at the Library of Congress. At least, that's one of her jobs. The other one is a secret, one that very few people know about. She's really a CIA operative. And she just became field rated. Her first op is successful, and nothing will take her down from her high of doing well on her first op. Except her boyfriend of one year, Lyle, decides to dump her for not being around enough.

Elle has to decide if having a successful career is really worth having a crappy social life. Except she's come so far. From being a total geek to a geek that can kick ass. She doesn't want to let go of her new life. She's not allowed to tell family and friends what she does, and its wrecking her personal life. But Elle wants her job more than anything. But if she can never tell anyone what she does, what kind of personal relationships can she ever have?

Reese is shipping out soon. He's a Navy SEAL and he isn't looking for anything permanent. All he wants is a fling to tide him over. Being stuck on a sub for six months is going to suck. But when he meets Elle, he's blown away. What starts as a fling becomes someone more. Reese knows that there's something about Elle that's different. And how does a Liberian, excuse me, Information Scientist, know krav maga? Reese is falling for her hard, even though they were only supposed to be a fling. But what if he wants more?

Elle is my dream girl version of me. She loves books, she gets to work for the Library of Congress, and she gets a healthy dose of action on the side, working for the CIA. I gotta admit, if I could be any character in any book, she would be it. She does struggle a bit with the relationship side of things, at least in the beginning, but she has the coolest job(s) a girl could ever want. And she can kick ass.

"I wouldn't want to hurt your manly pride. Or get myself arrested for assault."

I love that she's a kick-ass heroine and that she does struggle. She doesn't have everything fall into her lap. And she struggles within herself, too. It's believable, and I connected the most her. She struggles with her want to keep going and the realities of the job she has. Her dreams versus reality, basically. And she pushes herself. It's great. And she grows. She's not a static character. At the end of the book she understands more about her choice to work for the CIA as a field rated agent compared to the beginning of the book when she thought she understood what she was getting into, but didn't really understand on a fundamental level.

Reese you don't meet right away. He comes in a bit later. He's a sweet guy, can kick ass just like Elle, and he gets the job thing. They work relationship wise together.

"I'm up for some sparring. I'll even lick your wounds afterwards."

He is rather sexy too.

I do think that Reese is a bit more of a bland character compared to Elle, and I wished we had more from his point of view so I could understand him better. Most everything we read was from Elle's point of view, so we understood her the best. Reese we only got glimpses of. It bothered me that for the first half-ish of the book he was pretty scarce. I would have liked to know more about him.

Preston. Wow, that name has really begun to mean womanizer in books. I don't know how many books I have read where Preston is the player. Preston is a bit annoying for me. He seems like a know it all, and he keeps asking if Elle really knows the score. She didn't at the beginning, but that's not the point. It bothered me that he kept bugging her about it, even if he had a point.

Mason. God, you are gonna hate this guy. He has no emotions, may as well be a robot. And he's a good guy. But he's patronizing, critical, and puts Elle down with every minor mistake she makes. He does have a point about her complaining sometimes and threatening to quit, but still. He could be a little more cordial.

The romance in this story is more of a subplot to the story than the main plot of the story, which is great, because I like the action first and the romance second. If it's all angst-y romance and just a side order of action, I get bored. The action is the story, for the most part. Romances tend to be the same throughout most books, so the action is what captures my interest. This story had a heap of interesting things going on. I think there were about three op's in this book, which counted most of the actual fighting. But there was plenty of other action too. Elle sparred with Reese several times and they did things that were exciting. We didn't have another 'They went to the movies...' kind of romance. Theirs was exciting and fun.

You are thrown into this world from the beginning. It takes the first few chapters to get acclimated to the story and get a feeling for the world your reading about. There weren't any questions though. You understood what was happening and you got right into it. I'd say it was plausible and detailed, and for the most part you were shown the world, rather than told.

I will say that I thought the romance between Elle and Reese was slow. I was at 42% on my Kindle when I realized that we had only met Reese twice so far. I guess it's good that the romance was secondary in the scheme of the plot. If this was simply a romance book it would have been disappointing. But since there was action to make up for the slow romance, I wasn't too bothered. I think the middle and end were the best bits though. Like I said, the beginning was a little slow.

I would recommend this book to all of the readers who like action and romance hand-in-hand, rather than one or the other, because action and romance are best served together. My honest assessment of this book was I really liked it. There may have been some minor things that could have been improved, but I will without a doubt read this book again. And since I have not read the other books in this series, I will read those too. And this book can be read as a standalone, for those that are interested.

  

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Taste by Cambria Hebert Release Day Book Blitz

 

TASTE is released!!! 

Can't wait another minute to download it? Get it here:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords | Amazon UK

Coming soon to ibooks and to paperback

About Taste

One taste is never enough…

Spencer Waller’s main purpose in life is to protect and serve. After spending years in the military, he gets a coveted spot on the Secret Service detail protecting the president. Spence doesn’t have time for women or all the work having a relationship with one requires. But just because he isn’t looking for a lady doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate a beautiful one when he sees her.

And he makes it a point to see one in particular every single day.

Elle Bond has literally chopped and fried her way to the top of the food chain. Earning a coveted position in the White House as the president’s personal chef, she figures her professional life can only get better. Her personal life, on the other hand, could use a little bit of an overhaul, and because of that, she tries to ignore the charm-dripping cookie thief every time he comes into her kitchen. After all, she knows better than anyone that just one taste of something good is never enough.

One night after work, Elle is assaulted, threatened, and given an ultimatum. She can’t go to the police, and she sure as hell can’t do what she was ordered.

But she has to. Or else.

Pale, shaken, and scared to death, Elle confides in Spence, and his protective instincts take over. Together, Elle and Spencer have to uncover a sinister plot and stop it before someone ends up dead.

Extras!

Join the release party happening tonight (July 28th) on facebook for your chance to win a TON of great stuff! Click to join

          FYI- for those that purchase TASTE there is an EXCLUSIVE first look at the Trashy cover reveal! You get to see it first!!

There is also TWO recipes included in the back - Spencer's favorite cookie recipes!! You can make them and enjoy at home!

Spencer's Cookie in a Mug Recipe

A fast treat to enjoy while you read Taste!

Ingredients 1 tbsp melted butter 1 tbsp granulated sugar 1 tbsp brown sugar Pinch of salt 1 egg yolk ¼ cup flour 2 tbsp chocolate chips (mini’s work great!) Directions Mix all ingredients into a microwavable safe mug.  Microwave for 60 seconds. Serve to the cookie monster in your life!

Thank you all so much for your support!! I hope you download and enjoy Taste!

No Apologies by Sybil Bartel

Publisher: Carina Press

Date Published: June 23rd 2014

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Never apologize. 

Hard-edged rocker Graham Allen has it all. He's flush with cash from playing bass in a band by night and restoring classic cars by day. And there are plenty of women willing to share his bed for a night, complication-free.

Perfect, because if there's anything he learned from his past, it was to never get attached—to anything. So when bartender Carly Sullivan flashes her innocent smile, Graham isn't prepared for what happens next.

Never fall in love.

Two rules, that's all Graham has—never apologize and never fall in love. He knows Carly is everything he should avoid. Cheerful and sweet, she has "relationship" written all over her. But Graham can't stay away from her probing questions and concerned blue eyes.

When Graham discovers Carly is hiding a crushing secret, he's prepared to risk it all. Until in one single moment, everything changes and Graham's past threatens to collide with his future. His life is crumbling down around him, and soon no apology in the world can save him.

He should've known to walk away.

Graham has two rules; never apologize and never fall in love. So far its been working out for him. He plays bass in a band, works on muscle cars, and owns part of a club. More money than he knows what to do with. But lately he's been hanging around a bar, just waiting for his day to end on the gorgeous bartender's smile.

Carly is cheerful, all the time. Even when Graham is a total ass. How she puts up with his B.S. and still keeps up that gorgeous smile is a mystery to him. Soon Graham realizes that Carly isn't just another girl, she has scars, scars that he can't fix. And he's falling for her hard. But with his screwed up childhood and mommy issues, he's broken. And Carly has her own issues to deal with. Will Graham break his rules for Carly? Or will he continue not living, in a hope that he can just deal with life?

I was enticed by the cover of this book before the story, if I'm honest. The cover is amazing, I love it. And then of course I love womanizing broken bad boys. They make for the best love stories.

Graham. He's a complicated character. Not everything he does in this book I liked. He acted like a real ass sometimes. And not in a hot, 'oh he's being a playboy' kind of way. I understand he was afraid of what he was feeling a lot of the time, but he didn't respect boundaries and he did some screwed up things. I don't know if I would have been as forgiving as Carly. THERE WAS NO CHEATING! Thank god for that small miracle. I hate books with cheaters. Cheating is inexcusable. End of story.

Carly. She was like a ray of sunshine compared to Graham. Yes, she has a past that will make you want to punch a bunch of scumbags, but she isn't jaded. She still sees the world in the light, not the dark. I love that about her. Graham is jaded enough without Carly being jaded. They balance each other out.

I think the characters were believable and I connected to them on a basic level. I can't say that I felt the characters, exactly. I don't really have anything in common with the characters. I thought Graham was cool because of the muscle cars and playing bass, and Carly was a writer, but personality wise I didn't mesh with them. I did love Carly though. I mean, how many girls know cars, ride motorcycles, can actually hold their alcohol, fight MMA, and are still super nice and sunny? She's great.

Carly didn't grow that much in the story. I mean, she grew a bit there from the middle to end, but most of the character growth came from Graham. If you read the first few pages and then the last few, you'd find an almost completely different person. I mean, Graham wasn't a bad person, per se, at the beginning, but he was a player and his morals on sleeping with lots of women and getting drunk were pretty low. At the end he understood why some people wanted monogamy.

The romance in the story was a little slow going. There was an attraction from the first few pages, but it didn't turn into more until later. It felt like a real romance because of that. They had to build it up. It wasn't insta-love or anything, which was nice.

I'm not really sure whether the romance was the main focus or a subplot. I mean, it was definitely there, but there was a whole lot of other things going on too. I think it would probably be somewhere between the two. It wasn't really the main focus, because that wasn't the first thing that happened. They became friends before lovers. But it wasn't really secondary to anything in the story.

The story was detailed, you weren't left with any questions. That's always nice. I hate it when there are holes in the plot or the story. It felt real, I imagine there are similar couples out there everywhere who have issues akin to the ones in the book. The writing was done well, it was like watching a movie in your head rather than reading the script.

Unlike with some books, I think the middle was the best part of the story. There was so much anticipation and waiting to see what Graham did, how he would handle all of the hurdles thrown at him. And whenever he screwed up you could just roll your eyes and mutter 'men' under your breath. Thats what I did, anywho.

This story was in 1st person, told from Graham's point of view. I thought it was interesting, because we got complete access to his thoughts. And a lot of the time his thoughts didn't match his words. It was an interesting perspective.

I would recommend this book to all of the girls who love the broken bad boys. In real life, they suck. In books, though? They rock your socks off. And other clothing items :)

 

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What the Heart Wants by Staci Heart

Publisher: Promise Socks Publishing
Date Published: September 15th 2013
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Series: Good Gods #2.5
Rating: Kooky Overload 5 out of 5 stars

Love wasn't an option, until he met her.

It's 1984, and Tanaka Katsu is paving his way in the Yakuza. His marriage to Yuki was a business deal, and one that he has paid for with his happiness.

Aphrodite can't stand that he's so miserable, and Hera, the goddess of marriage and monogamy, has a strong hold on Yuki, who will do whatever it takes to get what she believes is hers. Aphrodite won't sit by and watch Katsu's life slip away with no chance at love, so when he takes a trip to Vegas, she'll introduce him to his match.

Kim never thought she'd be in the situation like the one that's coming her way, but what the heart wants is a powerful thing, and one that's impossible to walk away from.

What the Heart Wants is a short story about Kat and Kiki's (both from book two, Snake in the Grass) mother and father, Katsu and Kim. It's a wonderfully sweet and heart-wrenching back story of their love story.

Katsu is from Japan, but came over to America to marry Yuki in a business arrangement. Yuki's father is the head of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) in the American branch in New York. Katsu is making his way up the ranks but at the price of his happiness. Yuki is an awful, uncontrollable spoiled-rotten brat. There is no love between the two.

Kim is working in Vegas as a showgirl and a waitress. She always ends her day on tired feet, but one day she'll own her own dance studio and all of her hard work will be worth it. So when Kim meets Katsu she has to wonder if taking a chance on him is worth it. Danger follows Katsu and Kim is now in danger. Is their love really worth the risk?

Aphrodite feels bad for Katsu. Being stuck in a loveless marriage is horrible and Dita knows she can get him his match. But Hera will throw a fit if Dita has Katsu cheat on his wife. The feud between Hera and Dita could just get someone killed. But isn't the love worth the risk of Hera's wrath?

My favorite characters in this were Katsu and Dita. I think Dita will always be a favorite for me. But we only got a glimpse of Katsu in Snake in the Grass and you didn't get much of an opinion of him. What the Heart Wants offers a chance to get to know Katsu and Kim.

Katsu is in this honor-bound marriage to Yuki. And I truly feel bad for him. I usually hate cheating with a passion, but in this case I think I'd let it slide. After all, marriage and love should go hand-in-hand, but when they don't it's a bit of a disappointment. Katsu is destined for unhappiness in his love life. Yuki will never love him. And when he's offered this chance at love... can you really blame him for taking it?

Kim is an uncertain character. She doesn't feel, to me at least, like she's a very strong or profound character. I mean, she's nice, she has dreams and goals and she falls in love with Katsu. But she does seem a bit your run-of-the-mill female lover. With Katsu there was character growth and you could connect with him. Kim felt a bit static to me.

Yuki. O.M.G. She is just awful. Completely and utterly awful. She wants to control Katsu. The sad thing is, Katsu wanted to love her. And he gave her a chance to love him. But she's this spoiled rotten prima donna. She was a bit stereotypical, but really I just hated her infantile personality. It was tiring and draining, and I could understand why her father wanted to get rid of her and Katsu couldn't love her.

Dita we all know from the earlier books. She's a bit lusty and sometimes gives people awful curses and has a tendency to over-react, but really she just wants to play match-maker and help people find love. She fought Hera for control on this one, and she won.

Hera. Normally, I'm all about commitment and no cheating. I really am. I can't even read most books with cheaters in them because I want to reach into the books and throttle the characters. But this time I think Dita is right. It's not Katsu's fault he had to be married to Yuki, and there's no way for him to get out of it. He shouldn't be punished to not having any love. I think it's a bit harsh.

I have to say, Katsu and Kim's relationship is probably my favorite out of all the ones in the books so far. Dean and Lex's relationship is probably second. I don't know, there's just something about Katsu and Kim that just... it works, y'know? It fits. I really like it.

I can't really think of anything I don't like. Yuki is awful, and Katsu's situation sucks, but those things kind of make up the story. Without them you wouldn't have a story.

The writing was nice, it flowed well, no mistakes that I could find. I think the writing was pretty well done for this one. The only thing would be the epilogue, which is modern-day compared to the rest of the story that was in the past. I do wish that it was pronounced. A title or something saying there was a switch of the times. I didn't see anything telling me that the story had gone back to present times.

All together, a wonderful background story for the series. It is not essential for readers to know when reading the books, but it was a great story that I highly recommend reading. It's short and fun, and you get to learn a bit more about Kat and Kiki's heritage.

  

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