Hello hello and welcome to another recap!
February was a weird winter month here in Toronto. One minute it was almost balmy, the next we've got inches of snow. Even as I type this, 8 inches have fallen and we're in MARCH!!
Okay, so here goes...
Stats
Total Books Read: 19
Total Pages Read: 6325
Genres: Contemporary (10), Fantasy (4), Paranormal (5)
From my TBR: 13
Avg. Rating: 3.13
Total Pages Read: 6325
Genres: Contemporary (10), Fantasy (4), Paranormal (5)
From my TBR: 13
Avg. Rating: 3.13
All the Books
There weren't any real standouts this month. No five-star reads unfortunately. However, the books I enjoyed and would recommend were:
Tragic, Manic and Panic by JA Huss
Reasonable Doubt series by Whitney G
Annoyed at First Sight by Lani Lynn Vale
Tragic, Manic and Panic by JA Huss
Reasonable Doubt series by Whitney G
Annoyed at First Sight by Lani Lynn Vale
Added to my tbr
Book Haul
I got nada. I'm doing so well at this!!
I hope you find only the best reads!
Talk soon,
Talk soon,
xo, Natalie
There was no future for Asher Lee and Savannah Carmichael
────── ♔ ──────
The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery
Standalone - A Modern Fairytale
Release - June 15, 2014
Genre - Contemporary Romance / retelling / military
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - ebook
Length - 296 pages
Release - June 15, 2014
Genre - Contemporary Romance / retelling / military
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - ebook
Length - 296 pages
Savannah Carmichael, betrayed by an unreliable source, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn't been seen since.
After an IED explosion in Afghanistan took Asher's hand and disfigured half of his face, he's lived a quiet life on the outskirts of Danvers where the locals respect his privacy...that is, until Savannah Carmichael comes calling in a borrowed sundress with a plate of homemade brownies. When Asher agrees to be interviewed by Savannah, he starts feeling things for the beautiful reporter that he hasn't felt in years.
Misfits in small-town Danvers, Savannah and Asher create a bond right away, touching each other's hearts in ways neither thought possible. When a terrible mistake threatens to drive them apart, they'll have to decide if the love they found in one another's arms is strong enough to fight for their hard-won happily ever after.
My Two Cents
4.5 "So easy to love" stars
Is it possible not to fall in love with the characters Katy Regnery creates? I'm having no such luck because both Asher and Savannah were so easy to love!
Asher: a war vet, he was once the town hero, but after being hit by an IED and sustaining physical damage, he returned to a cool welcome. After being basically shunned, if people weren't running away in horror due to his deformity, he closed himself off on his family's estate.
The problem with hope was that you were required to acknowledge the possibility of not getting what you desperately hoped for.
Savannah: the town's sweetheart, she made good in the big city, but loving the wrong person ruined her career and she's back home. What better way to get back in the game than to interview a war hero?
"Don't ask me again about your face. Don't wonder for a minute if I feel like i'm being shortchanged by choosing to be with you. Just know this: you walked out of my dreams fully formed. I wasn't about to let you walk away."
From the first meet-cute, I knew this was story was going to be lovely. I knew that these characters were going to give me everything and more and that the author was going to do an incredible job of playing with my heart. I wasn't wrong.
There were tons of sweet moments. I smiled, swooned, giggled, and sighed my way through this book. Even though I was easily able to predict the conflict to come between Asher and Savannah, my heart still ached for them.
I can't find not one thing wrong with this story aside from wanting more. I would have loved an epilogue, but honestly, the time spent with these characters was so enjoyable that I can easily imagine their happily ever after together.
The Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract, and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.Several dozen books and three RITA® nominations later, Katy claims authorship of the multititled Blueberry Lane series, the A Modern Fairytale collection, the Summerhaven series, the Odds Are Good collection, the Arranged duo, and several other stand-alone romances, including the critically acclaimed mainstream fiction novel Unloved, a love story.
Find more information at https://www.katyregnery.com
Have fun. Party hard. Spend the night in our loved ones' arms.
I couldn't ask for a better life.
Hell, I couldn't even dream one. - Cassius
I couldn't ask for a better life.
Hell, I couldn't even dream one. - Cassius
────── ♔ ──────
Annoyed At First Sight by Lani Lynn Vale
Release - February 28, 2023
Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies to lovers
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 3.5 out of 5
Format - eARC provided by Uplifting Authors Services
Length - 244 pages
Publisher - Indie
Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies to lovers
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 3.5 out of 5
Format - eARC provided by Uplifting Authors Services
Length - 244 pages
Publisher - Indie
The first time Cassius Ulysses Costas met Alice Paradis, she was in a string bikini and filling up a long line of boats that were there just to see her. She was eighteen and every man’s wet dream.
Even his.
For the longest time, he went out of his way to stay as far away from her as he could get without actually taking his eyes off of her. For years, he was the better person. He played his hand close, and not a single person would know just how obsessed he was with her.
Then he goes to prison and comes out a man that couldn’t care less about anyone or anything, least of all what someone thought of him and his actions. But not one second while he was behind bars did he forget about Alice.
He tries to stay away. For a few long months, he fights his every instinct to make her his. But, as if the universe is conspiring against him, Alice is thrown into his path time after time, instance after instance.
And his resolve is waning. Fast.
In one last ditch effort to stay away, he walks away, hoping making her mad enough will force her to do the work for him.
However, when Alice is attacked, it isn’t Cassius’s harsh words she remembers, but the way he makes her feel safe.
Soon, the very last thing he’ll do is let her walk away. He did the right thing, and that didn’t work out. Now, it’s time for him to embrace the wrong.
My Two Cents
4 "Someone to Love" stars
After losing most of his family too soon, Cassius swore off making a romantic connection. You can't lose what you don't have, right? Aside from his brothers of the MC, he didn't need anyone. So why was he still so enchanted by Alice?
She was impossible to resist and not even his stint in prison made him forget her.
And he wasn't the only one trying to fight the pull. Alice believed he hated her and thought it best to save herself from a broken heart. Too bad she found it so hard to stay away.
Add in some terrible circumstances and there was no one she'd rather turn to than Cassius. There was no more hiding and no more denying what they shared.
I'm in love with all of the characters from this series. These stories have some strange turns, a few surprises, and I'm excited to see what's next.
The Author
Lani Lynn Vale is married to the love of her life that she met in high school. She fell in love with him because he was wearing baseball pants. Ten years later they have three perfectly crazy children and a cat named Demon who likes to wake her up at ungodly times in the night. They live in the greatest state in the world, Texas. She writes contemporary and romantic suspense, and has a love for all things romance. You can find Lani in front of her computer writing away in her fictional characters world...that is until her husband and kids demand sustenance in the form of food and drink.
Visit https://lanilynnvale.com for more information!
One Insatiable by Tia Louise
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instalove
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - ebook
Length - 301 pages
One wounded panther, one restless lynx, one insatiable hunger.
Koa "Stitch" Raiden is picking up what's left of his broken life.
Exiled from his black panther clan, he's running from Princeton to Seattle when a ley line draws him to Woodland Creek...
Mercy Quinlan is a whip-smart lynx and the youngest in her wealthy shifter clan.
She's tough and independent and dreams of escaping her alpha sister's control and living life on her own terms.
When a lone black panther shows up in her hometown, Mercy is intrigued. He's just passing through, which makes him perfect... Along with his broad shoulders, defined muscles, and sexy fighter moves.
Koa is aware Mercy is watching him. What he doesn't know is when the sexy little vixen who sneaks through his window each night is threatened, he'll face the forces of hell to save her life and bring her back...
My Review ~ 3 stars
I really enjoyed the connection between Koa and Mercy. In their animal forms, they met... as humans they merged... and it was all so lovely!For the most part, the paranormal elements were pretty straightforward. There were some original components, which made this story stand apart from the rest, but the plot was a bit wonky. It was like the author was trying to set up the mystery surrounding the characters, to make readers discover answers. However, when the answers came, I was left feeling like I was missing something.
So there's Hades/Hayden. He was a mystery. For most of this book, I couldn't understand his importance. When it was all revealed, it happened so quickly that I still don't know how to feel. I had sympathy for his character, even though he was set up to be the bad guy. I guess I'm truly a sucker for bad boys!
There wasn't much depth to either Mercy or Koa, but it didn't stop me from liking them. I felt their yearning for each other and I think the author did a great job depicting how deep their bond was.
Hard Mated by Jennifer Ashley
Genre - Paranormal Romance / forced proximity
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - 3 out of 5
Format - ebook
Length - 200 pages
Spike, a wildcat Shifter and the champion fighter of Shiftertown, is stunned when Myka, the best friend of a dying human woman, announces that Spike has fathered a cub. What's more, the mother is giving the boy to Spike to protect and raise.
Myka is not sure that a wild fighter named Spike is the best man to bring up the cute little jaguar cub. She goes to Shiftertown to check out Spike, and finds that the man behind the name is a lonely Shifter who's lost most of his family and is a fierce caretaker to those he has left.
Spike is torn between the cub and his duties as tracker to the Shiftertown leader, and begs Myka, the only person who understands, to help him. He starts to like the sassy Myka, a horse trainer who's not afraid of working with animals, even if they're wildcats who turn into humans.
When Spike's job puts his cub and Myka in danger, Spike is forced to choose between those to whom he's pledged his loyalty and his need to protect the woman and cub he's come to love.
My Review ~ 3 stars
As an intro to the Shifters Unbound series, this book was great. There was action and connection and a unique setting for shifters. I wasn't a fan of how shifters were treated, but as this was a novella in the series, I'm hoping the other books will give me more insight. And yes, I'll be getting to those because I fell in love with these characters. Spike was so much more than he appeared and after Myka gave herself the chance to get to know him, she discovered his greatness too. I'm also intrigued by all of the side characters who popped up throughout this story and I'm looking forward to getting to know them.
The Virgin Blood Bundle: Complete Series by Alexa Riley
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - ebook
Length - 306 pages
Welcome to the Virgin Blood Bundle!
This book includes all four stories from our Virgin Blood Series! Bitten by the Beast, Bitten by the Virgin, Twice Bitten, and Bitten by the King are all together with EPILOGUES! That’s right! Check-in on your favorite vamps with brand new sexy, epilogues!
Warning: This bundle is everything you’ve been dying for and more. Roll around with your old faves and get that feeling all over again! Can’t get enough of our Virgin Blood? We can’t either! Make sure you listen to Mated to the Reaper for FREE on the Read Me Romance podcast.
My Review ~ 3 stars
I really enjoyed the unique lives of these vampires. They didn't go out sucking blood. They lived for two hundred years unless they found their mates, then they'd live forever. And they definitely found their mates in these books. It was instalove, it was sexy, it was lovely. There were bits of suspense mixed in, but for the most part, these stories were dirty and light and fun. I really need to know more about the Grim Reaper!
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