Review Entangled by Edie Ramer, et al.

Title: Entangled
Author: Edie Ramer, Misty Evans, Cynthia Eden, et.al
Source: Requested Review
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: eBook, 335 pgs
Release Date: September 12, 2011


Ghosts, vampires, demons, and more! Entangled includes ten paranormal short stories from authors Cynthia Eden, Jennifer Estep, Edie Ramer, Lori Brighton, Michelle Diener, Misty Evans, Nancy Haddock, Liz Kreger, Dale Mayer, and Michelle Miles, plus a Seven Deadly Sins novella by Allison Brennan.

Stacia Kane contributed the foreword. All proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.




My Review:

This is a Halloween anthology of short stories in the paranormal romance and urban fantasy genres with a single young adult urban fantasy short and an urban fantasy novella. I'll rate each individually.

I'm going to make a confession, I don't usually read Forewords {gasp! I know!}, acknowledgements, dedications, yes. Forewords, no. Kudos to Stacia Kane for a writing a Foreword that pulled me in, hook, line and sinker from the word go. "The other day I got involved in an online conversation with some other writers about condoms. Specifically about condoms and their use in books, as in whether or not the characters we write use them." I couldn't not read after an opening like that. She goes on to talk about the hope of eradicating breast cancer. Condoms to breast cancer? Yep and does a fine job of it. When you purchase this book I hope you'll read Stacia's Foreword.

A Bit of Bite by Cynthia Eden Rating: 5, Sexual: Hot!
A paranormal liaison, vampires, werewolves and a hot romance take over in this paranormal romance. The supernaturals came out of the closet 10 years ago. Sheriff Ava Dushaine had a one night stand with the Julian, Alpha of the local werewolf pack. He's never forgotten her and still wants her. Great line: "Is this the part where I say…'My, Julian, what very big teeth you have…'?" The lust between them simmers all the time.

The Fat Cat by Edie Ramer Rating: 3.5
A witch, a talking cat and a warlock who is really an energy vampire take center stage in this paranormal romance. Tory is replacing her ex-boyfriend with a cat, a female cat because she has designated "her condo [as] a No Penis Zone". Ends up with male talking cat. Great line: "She‘d faked orgasms, she could fake confidence." This has a great surprise ending.

A Night of Forever by Lori Brighton Rating: 5, Sexual: Hot!
In this steamy historical paranormal romance short, vampires, werewolves, an underground fight club and a reluctant romance lure us in. Mary Ellen doesn't want to be interested in Aidan. She wants a cheerful, rich husband. Not a serious, boring and quiet man like Aiden. So why couldn't she keep from watching him? Aiden has been silently mooning over Mary Ellen for the two months he's been visiting. It has been many years since he's been interested in any female, much less a human.

Medium Rare by Nancy Haddock Rating: 4
Ghosts, a psychotherapist to the haunted, a ghost hunting team, a ghostly battle and an unlikely attraction that turns into a romance haunt this story set in one of my favorite places -- St. Augustine, FL.

Sweet Demon by Misty Evans Rating: 4
A vengeance demon with her own investigations biz, a vampire king, the Goddess of Love and a rekindled romance. A great line: "[she had] fear of commitment, and men came and went like a boyfriend version of Netflix"

Sian’s Solution by Dale Mayer Rating: 3
Vampires, a blood farm and a love that is stronger than the obstacles they'll face.

Sinfully Sweet by Michelle Miles Rating: 4, Sexual: Steamy
A magical healer, magically enhanced baked goods, a sexy stranger who is half-Elemental witch, half-incubus and a steamy chemistry between the main characters are featured in this story. This reminds me of two stories I've read this past year both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Feel the Magic by Liz Kreger Rating: 3
What an inventive story line! It features a witch and a cat trapped in a woman's body urging the witch to transform her into the cat. She'd heard of transgendered, but trans-specied? This was a new one.

Breaking Out by Michelle Diener Rating: 5
A prison of sorts for 'special' people, a telekinetic, a mind reader, a healer, a breakout, a paranormal (not supernatural) special ops team. Hot chemistry between two of the escapees. Reminds me a little of Christine Feehan's Ghost Walkers series. Welcome to the contemporary paranormal romance genre, Ms. Diener! Great job!

Halloween Frost, A Mythos Academy short story by Jennifer Estep Rating: 3
A Valkyrie, a Gypsy, a Spartan, prowlers (oversized black cougars with lots of teeth and claws), a talking sword and high school warriors take the lead in this YA urban fantasy short. The warriors, champions of the gods and goddesses, battle with a prowler on Halloween.

Ghostly Justice, A Seven Deadly Sins Novella by Allison Brennan Rating: 3.75, Sexual: Steamy
An emotionally bruised cop, demon hunters, incarnate demons, a dying woman's request, human vampires (not the supernatural kind) practicing dark magic, human sacrifices and a somewhat steamy romance clash in this urban fantasy novella. The Moira character is very intense in a very 'everything is black or white, no gray allow' kind of way but this may be due to the manipulations of her trainer. Rafe has been getting more powers since being in a coma and it has him a little worried.

Don't forget -- all proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors' Websites:
Edie Ramer, Cynthia Eden, Jennifer Estep
Lori Brighton, Michelle Diener, Misty Evans
Nancy Haddock, Liz Kreger, Dale Mayer
Michelle Miles, Allison Brennan

Review Galaxy Girls by Edie Ramer

Title:Galaxy Girls
Author: Edie Ramer
Source: Author request
Genre sci-fi paranormal romance
Length: Novel eBook

Genetically created to be broodmares, Phyrne Galaxy and her mother, aunt and cousin don't need men, they need freedom. They escaped from the warring planet of Kergeron to Earth, where Phyrne's aunt's vision of winning money in a New Jersey casino comes true. Too bad her aunt's precog didn't show the hoods waiting outside with guns. But Phyrne has her own weapon, more powerful than bullets. She's ovulating.

Phyrne turns up the heat, taking out more than the crooks in her wave of sexual torture. FBI Special Agent Hawk Higgens, running to protect the women, is brought to his knees, too. Caught in her procreative spell, Phyrne ravishes Hawk.

Being seduced by an alien and left half naked and unconscious in the back of a surveillance van changes Hawk's life. He joins the Foundation, a privately funded agency that hunts aliens. Six years later, the reason for his career change pops back on the radar in a tea shop in Kentucky. The woman whose face still haunts his dreams has an addition to her family; a five-year-four-month-old daughter.

At the same time, two Kergeron warriors are sent to Earth to bring the women back to their home planet. With an ex-FBI agent and two alien warriors on her trail, Phyrne's calm life running the Tea & Comfort shop is about to get shaken, stirred and screwed.

Rating 

3 1/2

Edie Ramer brings out all the stops for fun in this one. I have read a couple of Edie’s books and I think this is the sexist one yet she has wrote yet. This is a good reading about these three female aliens that comes to earth escaping the crazy men on their planet. They have some crazy powers and when they are ovulating. Lookout! lol.

This book didn’t pull out all of the stops in romance department for me, although it’s a very fun book, the romance between Phyrne and Hawk was not to much to my liking. There’s a time lapse that happens at first, they met had sex then it‘s 6 years into the future. But even after that they still stay apart the biggest part of the book, reason Phyrne didn’t want her baby taken from her like she had on her planet. I myself like a couple to be more active with each other and that doesn’t necessarily have to be in the sex department LOL then again that’s just me.

I would recommend this to someone who wants some humorous fun and some hot moments.

Teaser
No! Phyrne’s mental scream sliced through Deena’s walls. Deena looked at her, grimacing, lifting one hand to the side of her head.
“I’ll stop them.” Phyrne pushed past Deena. She was older and stronger than Deena, plus she possessed a powerful weapon. The ultimate weapon.
She was ovulating.

Guest paranormal romance author Edie Ramer

Please welcome author Edie Ramer!



Laurie, thank you for inviting me here to talk about Dead People, Book One in my Haunted hearts series. One of the best things about writing—besides working at home in my sweatshirt and flannel pants—is that I get to write what’s fun for me. Ghosts are super fun. Though I’ve never had a ghostly encounter, I sometimes feel that people I know who have passed are sending me love. It’s as if I’m lit up within. But even as a child I never had a fear of ghosts. I always figured if they had no bodies, they couldn’t hurt me. 

That’s one strand of Dead People. The second is the characters. I like damaged characters who don’t whine. That’s my snarky ghost whisperer heroine, my cynical former rocker hero and his newly found 10-year-old found daughter. Even the ghost is damaged—though she does her share of whining.

I can’t remember which came first anymore, but these different plot strands all tangled together into a story with a haunted house (I love haunted houses!) and characters haunted by their pasts. It has suspense, romance, humor, and a lot of heart.

Here’s the description of DEAD PEOPLE:

Book one of the Haunted Hearts series:

When Cassie Taylor talks, ghosts listen. She wants to heal their souls so they can leave earth. Brooding songwriter Luke Rivers wants to give his recently found daughter a normal home, but he discovers his new house in small town Wisconsin is haunted by a ghost with an attitude. His ghost whisperer has an attitude too—even before someone tries to kill her.

He wants conventional; she wants acceptance. No wonder she thinks men are hard and dead people are easy.

The excerpt below is in a secondary character’s POV, a ghost who died in the 1960s. Joe is Cassie’s best friend. He’ll be the hero in Book Two of my Haunted Hearts series, which will be out sometime this year. Here’s the excerpt:

Joe didn’t care for the way the guitar player eyeballed Cassie, as if she were a chrome-plated hot rod and he couldn’t wait to jump in and burn rubber. Good thing Joe had followed her, even though she’d told him not to. May as well get some use out of being dead. He could’ve used this invisible thing when he was on the force.

More than fifty years now, and he still missed a good beer. Hell, he even missed bad beer, the smooth way a cold one went down his throat on a hot summer night, the smell of hops, the bitter edge. He wanted it all. Hot dogs smothered in ketchup and mustard, a warm steak oozing blood, a Cuban cigar, his mom’s black forest cake.

And women. He missed holding a warm woman in his arms even more than he missed sex. Well, almost more. He hadn’t been a eunuch. Even after polio took Mary away.

Sometimes he wondered why he didn’t go and find Mary. Wasn’t she the love of his life? But he just couldn’t let go of earth

Unlike the poor schlubs he and Cassie found wandering around in a mess of emotional confusion, Joe knew he was dead a minute after the bullet slammed into his heart. He’d understood all he needed to do to leave was to let go of earth and fly. But something held him back, a sense that there was something more for him.

Since he’d met Cassie three years ago, this non-bodily existence had gotten easier with someone to talk to. Someone to laugh with. Someone on the same channel as him. Someone who breathed real air.

Sometimes he lay down beside her at night just to hear her little snores. She told him she felt his breath sometimes, but she must be imagining it. The way he figured it, she wanted him to breathe.

Some day, though, he was going to surprise her. He’d been practicing a few experiments the last couple years, but he wasn’t ready for prime time yet. When the ectoplasm disintegrated, he felt like a used condom. He didn’t want Cassie to see him like that.

If the cat with the guitar tried anything on Cassie, Joe might take that chance. No one ever said Joe was yellow when he was alive, and they weren’t going to say it in death either. Hell, it was easier to be brave now.

He had nothing to lose. Mary was gone, his mom, dad and brother were gone.

He kept track of friends, but only one was left, and he wouldn’t live long. Besides, he couldn’t talk to him. Just see him getting older and sicker every day. Not the same thing.

All he had was Cassie.


Thanks Edie!

My review of Dead People 

Review Dead People by Edie Ramer

Title:Dead People
Author: Edie Ramer
Format: eBook novel
Genre:Paranormal romance- Ghost
Source: Requested review
Authors website

When Cassie Taylor talks, ghosts listen. She wants to heal their souls so they can leave earth. Brooding songwriter Luke Rivers wants to give his recently found daughter a normal home, but he discovers his new house in small town Wisconsin is haunted by a ghost with an attitude. His ghost whisperer has an attitude too — even before someone tries to kill her. So why does he have the hots for her? And why does she lust after him? He wants conventional; she wants acceptance. No wonder she thinks men are hard and dead people are easy.

My review.
Rating-

Sexual-

Cover- I really love the cover, to bad its not in paperback...

Dead People is a delightful and romantic read that will stir your emotions. I had a good time reading this one and found myself laughing out loud at times. There is a mystery, danger, adventure and even some humor. I have to give Edie Ramer credit she adds a lot of sexual tension and the sex made me proud ( as a spicy romance reader), it was very well written. I am very impressed and can’t wait to read more by Ramer.

Cassie is a ghost whisper, her parents no longer wants to be in her life, her love life is by a dildo named Hunk, and her best friend is a ghost named Joe, so you know she’s in need of a pick me up. She takes a job from a song writer to get rid of his ghost problem. Cassie never expected to find herself in danger and falling in love at this same time. The thing is Cassie wants a man that will take her whole package, freaky ghost hunter side and all. I liked reading Cassie, she is very strong, but yet hesitant to take a chance.

Luke may take a bit to warm up to. You see he is not your typical hero that you like to read about, he doesn’t just pop in to save the day. He’s more of your everyday man that has been through a lot from his ex-wife and now he has a 10 year old girl that hates him. He has a hard time dealing with owning a haunted house, being a new dad then you throw a curvy ghost whisper that sparks his every need, so you know he is on overload. I did end up liking Luke and found I really felt for him at times.

Erin is Luke’s 10 year old daughter. She use to live with her mom and had a rough life. At times Erin got on my nerves while reading, but it did smooth out. At the end of the book I felt she added a lot to the story.

Review Cattitude by Edie Ramer

Cattitude
Author Edie Ramer

requested review

Mystery/ paranormal romance
ebook Novel 

authors website

Book description 

It's all in the Cattitude...After Belle the cat switches bodies with a psychic on the run from a murderer, she wants her perfect cat body back instead of this furless human one. But she doesn't count on falling in love with her former owner. Or that a CEO and a beauty queen want to use up her nine lives. Now is her chance to prove anything a human can do, a cat can do better."Cattitude is a magical tale that you won't soon forget. Edie Ramer has a writing voice that charms, and she pulls the reader right into Belle's amazing world." -Cynthia Eden, author of Deadly Fear and I'll be Slaying You (edited by author)

My review
Rating

Sexual-

Good mystery, very sweet romance with a lot of humor. If you love cats you need to try this book. There is a great cast of characters to enjoy. This is a fun and light read not for those who takes their story serious. I would recommend this to PNR reader that likes their stories light on the sexual side.

This book is for people that wouldn’t mind a cat swapping souls with a human and for that cat to use that body *clears throat* for things LOL.
I found Belle very witty, smart and possessive to Max. Then I found it weird for her as a cat to be checking out Ted’s junk, so like I was saying you’d have to have a taste for this book. If you can get past the cat swapping with human you'll find a sweet and humorus romance.

The downside for me was at times I found it corny.