A Magical Return by Serena Shay

Title:A Magical Return 
Author:Serena Shay
Source: Author request
Genre:  Paranormal, Erotic
Length: 60 pgs
Release Date: 06/20/2011

The Loss

Conleth “Cole” Douglas, warlock and vessel, needs a miracle. A destructive force has taken hold of his town and it will take more than just he and his magical Other, Cole, to eradicate the Evil. When an attempt to open his lover, Emterra, to their shared destiny fails, Conleth and Cole take extreme measures to stop the rising darkness. Their only option: take it, and themselves, into another realm.

Emterra “Irene” Azzurra, untapped witch and vessel, has given up on finding her own happy-ever-after. Devastated by the loss of her one and only love she becomes disinterested and remote, closed off from a life without Conleth. Even her job as the mayor of the dying town of Douglasville, MO, fails to sustain her, until she gets a blast from the past…

The Return

He’s back, alive and whole, but he didn’t come alone. The evil they’d hoped to contain in a distant realm has returned with him and is out to finish the job it started. There can be no failure this time, the now middle-aged, Emterra must accept her Other or doom the town to an agonizing death.

Skeptical of his sudden homecoming, Emterra is afraid to hope that his return could be true. She balks at the idea of opening her heart to him again. Especially when he looks like the same young Goth from ten years ago and tries to convince her she’s sharing skin with a magical being.

Can Conleth prove his claims of magic and the Others to be true? Can Emterra allow herself to believe in love and his wild claims? Or will the returning Evil finally swallow this town and all its inhabitants into the deepest realms of hell. 

I'm not sure where to start for this review. I have mixed feelings. Overall, it was a good read, but I had a few issues that didn't work me. First, let me try to make it easier to understand. The characters are Conleth, Cole, Emterra and Irene. Conleth and Emterra are real people, Cole and Irene are their "Others". Conleth needs Emterra's help to defeat the evil that almost took over the town 10 years ago. They are the only ones that can do it , but Emterra has to accept the Other inside her first. With the little time Conleth has to convince a very skeptical Emterra that she has the power within to do the job, it still might not be soon enough.

Before I say what issues I had with this short story let me say that I think the author's writing is a great start and knowing that it will improve over time and future writings I look forward to reading more. With that being said here we go. The details where juicy and delicious and never crammed so it flowed very nicely, but introducing a multiple personality character can be tricky to begin with. Maybe a short story isn't the time to do it. I was just getting to know the main character when suddenly I was reading another name. I thought it was a misprint at first because they each talked about themselves in the first person interchangeably and the names were similar. Which is understandable, but WHAT?

This is strictly a personal preference, but I'm not a fan of characters sharing there minds with another person or being inside their head. It's confusing and hard for me to get into especially during a sex scene. No matter the good stuff, and there was good stuff. When you have a third or fourth party bumping around in the way that's too many heads for the pot. Now, the more hands the better, but you shouldn't have to argue with the "Other" in your head for control of your body especially during making out! I think the part where the story lost me was when Cole took over Conleth to help Emterra relax sexually so Irene could break through Emterra's mental barriers. Conleth, who couldn't feel to enjoy the moment, had to unwillingly watch himself, with Cole in charge, get Emterra off.

Like I said the good stuff was there and the short story is still worth taking a break to read, but when Conleth lost his control to Cole and Emterra lost hers to Irene that blew it for me. I was just getting into the scene and accepting the whole "Other" concept when suddenly Conleth talks about not being able to experience Em's pleasure with her. How does he think she would feel if she knew it wasn't the man she pined over for the last ten years touching her, technically speaking. I recently read another book, I won't mention the name, but it was by an established author from an ongoing series where that scenario was part of the story. It is still one of my least favorite books of the series. 

Review SURRENDER by Jean Brashear

Title: Surrender
Author: Jean Brashear
Source: Requested review
Genre: Paranormal romance

T

Newly-minted Santa Fe police detective Justine “Jace” Carroll finds herself enmeshed in what began as a simple death of a drifter that takes labyrinthine twists, drawing her deeper into a world of shifting realities. At the center of the tangled knot is the mesmerizing and mysterious Dante Sabanne, a sexy, powerful, wealthy recluse whose involvement with ancient poisons, mystical lore, exotic sexual practices and unusual weaponry makes him by turns a crucial expert witness, a devastating lover…and possibly the man behind a cult whose profane rituals have turned from depraved to deadly. 

The Jace who thought she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted becomes both pawn and queen in a battle between the dark and the light. As she seeks to fulfill her duty to protect the innocent, an ancient amulet with healing powers is the battleground on which she and others may die if she makes the wrong choice between the evidence before her eyes and the yearnings of a heart she is no longer sure she can trust. 

A scorching tale of suspense, passion and magic—never before published—from USAToday bestselling author Jean Brashear 

“Jean Brashear has that ‘it’ factor. She is an incredibly talented writer who can hit every note with enough clarity to bring the reader tears, laughter or just, ‘Oh, my, this is an amazing story.’” ~New York Times Bestselling author Stella Cameron 

“Sizzles with sensuality and suspense from beginning to end!” ~New York Times Bestselling author Sharon Sala 

“Jean Brashear writes with warmth and emotional truth. The depth of her understanding of human nature marks her as a writer to watch.” ~New York Times Bestselling author Debbie Macomber

This is a great romantic suspense with emphasis on the romance. Dante Sabanne is a complicated mystery that is tied a little to closely to Justine "Jace" Carroll's first big case for her liking. When Jace is given the run of her first case involving a homeless man it seems simple enough that this death is non-suspicious; to everyone except for Jace that is. To her something doesn't feel right about that. When a second victim shows up dead under similar circumstances she knows she is on to something. After a little digging and some odd blood work results, it looks like Dante Sabanne, the well known expert on poisons and toxins, is her next stop to solving the case. But Jace isn't prepared for how deep she will have to go into Dante's dark world to find her answers. 
From the first time they meet they are drawn to each other, but Jace is overwhelmed by Dante and his seductiveness. She doesn't understand why she feels pulled toward him by such an unimaginable force and when they touch she is shaken up beyond words. For someone like Jace, that learned not to trust or rely on anyone from a young age, this a big problem. It is nearly impossible for her to grasp onto or accept why it feels so natural and compelling to surrender herself completely to Dante without knowing him. Dante, on the other hand, completely understands and embraces it. The problem for Dante is whether he can get Jace to accept her part in his world in time to save it and those relying on him. If not she could become a bigger problem. 
This story has so many twist and turns that I found myself wanting to read ahead just to know who I could trust. The sexy mysterious Dante is by far the story stealer, but will he be the man to break down Jace's walls? To show her it's okay to trust? Or is he using their sexual attraction for his own personal motives, against Jace? As soon as I felt I knew which way the story was going everything suddenly changed and once again I had more question that I couldn't read fast enough to find out the answers to. 
Wow! Jean Brashear knows how to write suspense and my, my, does she know how to create sexual tension that is off the charts! The scene in the nightclub? Well let's just say you'll have to read it to enjoy it!! I'll say no more about that! 
I definitely recommend Surrender for anyone that likes a suspenseful romance with a suspenseful story-line intertwined. I can't wait to read what's next from this author.

Review Break Out by Nina Croft

Title: Break Out (A Blood Hunter Novel, Book 1)
Author: Nina Croft
Source: Publisher request
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: eBook, 116 pgs
Release Date: July 5, 2011

Irreverent. Irresponsible. Insatiable. Who says immortals can't have any fun?

The year is 3048, Earth is no longer habitable, and man has fled to the stars where they’ve discovered the secret of immortality—Meridian. Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they’re called, rule the universe.

Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can’t resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective’s maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!

If you are looking for a quick romance that delivers hot and delicious with lots of sexual tension than this novella is it.

Break Out by Nina Croft is one of my new favorites. I love when I get my hands on a novella that starts off strong and just gets better. I was impressed how well the story flowed nicely with each scene and each character introduced perfectly. I never felt like I was left to fill in missing details because the story was too big for a novella.

Ricco is a very old, very clever and very sexy vampire that's just taken Skylar up on her offer to make a lot of money and break a lot of rules. With one condition, Ricco has an added request to the offer for a bonus payment. All he and his crew have to do is break into the highest level of the maximum security prison on Trakis One to break out a prisoner. No problem right?
Well, the job made not be a problem, but for Skylar staying focused on it may turn out to be. Ricco has a certain unresistable charm and when things get a out of control, a little too soon, Skylar learns they have a lot of hot chemistry between them. If only Skylar would admit to her feelings for him and stop running away the fun could get started. And why run away when you have one determined sex hungry vampire interested in you? Because Skylar has a secret and she is determined to keep it while finishing the job. She just has to keep her distance from Ricco. Easier said than done because Ricco doesn't care about her excuses. He is going to get Skylar alone again to finish what they started. Afterall, they have a deal! He just has to get her to stop avoiding him. A little more honesty from Skylar as to who she is and why she is really there would be nice too, but it doesn't matter to Ricco. He knows how he feels and he knows he wants Skylar.

Nina throws just the right amount of hints in there to drive you crazy with curiosity and keep you turning the page to find out what in the world is going on. I literally couldn't stop reading once I got started. It was such a sweet story and the sex scenes were hot. There was just enough to leave me panting for more! I can't wait to read what's next in the Blood Hunter's series and see what she has planned for the other characters in this novella, especially Al!

I highly recommend you stop and read Break Out as soon as you can!

Review Dead Memory by Lizzie T. Leaf

Book Title: Dead Memory
Author: Lizzie T. Leaf

Source: Requested review
Format: e-book
Pages: 108
Rating: 4 Heat: 3 1/2
Buy link

Discovering an unconscious man who may be vampire, in the neighbor’s yard leads werewolf Tawny Howls down a love path that’s not going to make her father happy. She senses this man is different, but that doesn’t stop her attraction. Werewolves and vampires are traditional enemies, and it doesn’t help when he remembers nothing about his prior life.

Awakening to find a beautiful woman hovering over him, he remembers nothing of his past life. When Tawny decides to call him David, he’s fine with the name and the attention he receives from his nurse. But why does the scent of the prey she hunts excite him more than the food she cooks?

Can the strong attraction between a shifter and a vampire overcome years of distrust for each other’s species? Will the discovery of his true identity ensnare them in a battle that endangers their lives, in an effort to save mankind from Demon rule?

Rating-

Sexual-

I really enjoyed this romance about Tawny Howls, a werewolf and her unexpected love, David, a vampire. I liked how differences were overcome easily between species and the instant connection between Tawny and David was sweet. The love scenes were well written with just enough details to make it hot, but leaving out enough to leave the imagination room to takeover!! Very nice!


At the beginning we read how Tawny finds David unconscious. When he does wake he has no memory of being a vampire and the two have to find out who he is. The story takes off when Tawny and David have to join with their friends to battle evil demons who want to take over the world and rule. The author introduces a lot characters in the first chapter and for me it was a bit confusing just trying to sort out who was who and finally who the main characters were going to be. Once I could see where each person fit in, I couldn't put it down. I loved how the writer made David a good guy, literally, and it was nice to see how the author kept the story flowing all the way to the end. I did feel like I was missing something during certain chapters though. For example, while I was reading a scene at the beginning about Bobby, one of the werewolves, and a witch, I didn't understand where the characters fit in until a couple of pages later when the back story was told. The story just seemed to jump from one major couple to a completely new couple in the span of a page. I really thought for a minute that Bobby and David were going to be the couple and Tawny was going to be a third wheel.


Overall, a good short story to read, just remember that you will meet a lot of people quickly and the first people you read about are not major players in the reading. I would still recommend this one for a quick read when you've got time between books!

Review Ain't Nothin' Like Succubus Lovin' by Sapphire Phelan

Ain't Nothin' Like Succubus Lovin'
Author: Sapphire Phelan
Erotic Paranormal Romance Short
eBook - 23 pages
Author requested review
Release Date: April 5, 2010,
Author's Website



About the Book:
Finding a date was never more hellish. When Jordan Hudson borrowed his friend's A Dummy's Guide to Demon Summoning and called up a succubus, he found that dating and making love to a minion of Hell proves to be more than a one night stand.

My review
Rating-

Sexual-

Review:
I gotta give it to the author, she wraps a good story up in short story format! I wasn't sure how this read was going to play out when I read the first paragraph and the main character was immediately talking about doing a spell to get a girl for sex and not just any human girl, but a succubus! I was pleased that we didn't have to read about him doing the act with a horned, green breasted demon. Instead he insisted she change her appearance to human. Yay!!! It goes on from there with the two of them getting past superficial ideas of one another to have a great time in bed.

This is a hot short story and worth taking the time to read. There is a sweet ending to it so give it a chance. I recommend this one to other erotic readers that love a little something different!

Enjoy!!

Book Review Seduced by the Storm by Sydney Croft

Seduced by the Storm
Sydney Croft

Book Description:
DANGER IS THE ULTIMATE APHRODISIAC.

They met in a steamy Florida bar—then spent a night of mind-bending passion. Two secret agents who each possess unique telekinetic gifts—and whose combined sexual powers leave neither of them unscathed. For ex–Navy SEAL Wyatt Kennedy, assigned by the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives to the most treacherous mission of his career, the woman in black leather and lace has just become more than a one-night stand. Because Faith Black is the sole barrier to the success of his mission—and not even Wyatt’s legendary seduction skills can penetrate her deep cover.

Faith’s psychic gifts make her one of the world’s most dangerous women—but she hides a secret pain she shares with no one. Until Wyatt. And Faith has an agenda of her own: using her unique powers to save someone close to her—a move that pits her against a man she thought she’d never see again. For as a deadly hurricane is unleashed across the eastern seaboard, desire reignites between Faith and Wyatt, exposing secrets that thrust them both into harm’s way. With the hurricane sweeping closer—and their erotic hunger for each other growing—these two wary hearts must come together to heal, to trust . . . and to harness the power of a storm that could consume everything in its path.


Stacey’s Review
Rating: 5/Fabulous and Extremely Hot


Okay so let me tell you this much. I am so glad I didn’t stop reading at the second book because this one made up for all the bad spots of the last one. I absolutely loved Wyatt from the very beginning. This book is about Wyatt and Faith’s story and we find out where Wyatt has been. His assignment has been to infiltrate the ITOR oil rig where Haley (the parameterologist from the first book) found they were keeping the weather machine ACRO has been searching for. Wyatt’s mission is to destroy the motherboard after disabling the machine. Faith’s on a mission to steal the motherboard from ITOR not destroy it. She needs it to turn it over as ransom for her long lost sister, Liberty, but she intends to hold on to the motherboard after rescuing her sister in order for her agency to study and learn from it. They do agree to work together to steal the motherboard in order to rescue Liberty, but Faith isn’t completely honest with Wyatt and leaves out the part that she has plans for her agency to keep and study the board afterwards. So as you can see major conflict!
Wyatt is presumed dead for the benefit of this assignment, but it appears as the book goes on that other ACRO agents besides Dev now know he is alive. From the first two books we learned that Dev believed there was a spy among ACRO so he gradually became more secretive of any missions and other vital information. He was, or course, trying to narrow down the leak, but as we found out and saw it was dealt with in the second book, the leak was Dev. So it’s presumed from the open conversation about Wyatt’s whereabouts that it’s safe to continue business as usual.
I don’t see how you could not love this book. Wyatt is so hot and the chemistry between him and Faith is probably one of my favorites in a while. I don’t know if it is the telekinetic abilities of the two that connects them immediately, but they are definitely drawn to each from their first meeting in the bar (which by the way neither of them knows the other is an agent yet). Faith and Wyatt’s emotions for each other are very strong right from the start.
Wyatt’s power is telekinesis and a hidden power of seduction that goes way beyond that of any seducer ACRO has. We find out later that his seduction is tied to a third power and NO, I’m not telling what it is either!! The pitfall of his seduction power is that any woman he sleeps with doesn’t remember him beyond their initial meeting. So when Wyatt and Faith unknowingly end up on the same oil rig together, both undercover working for different agents, Wyatt isn’t expecting Faith to remember the mind blowing sex marathon they had the night before after leaving the bar. When he runs into her and tells her what a shame it was she left so quickly from the bar, she points out it was him who left suddenly from her bed the next morning with only a kiss and a quick goodbye. He is utterly and happily shocked. The fact that she remembers last night means something very important and Wyatt isn’t going to let the woman go easily. His strong feelings for Faith over whelm him and immediately he closes in on her. Without a second thought he blurts out, “I don’t want you with any other man”. Be still my ever-loving heart!!! I love a sexy alpha male and from what I read Wyatt is definitely an alpha. Too Sexy!!
The way that Wyatt and Faith just click is so sweet!! It’s obvious throughout the book that Wyatt and Faith are very protective of each other and meant to be together. It takes Faith a while to be completely honest with Wyatt about her mission, but it doesn’t stop the heat between them and, wow, does Wyatt know how to get information when he wants to! Totally hot!! I loved reading how Faith helped Wyatt deal recover his missing past memories so he could finally heal and what Wyatt learns from the experience makes it even better.
Also, in this book is the continuing story of Creed and Annika, Dev and Oz and Remy and Haley make an appearance also. Remy and Haley are working to stop the damage the weather machine is creating so they are kept busy fighting the storm and in the process Haley reveals good news to Remy! Creed and Annika’s relationship is so sweet and heartbreaking. Creed is trying so hard to keep Annika and get her to admit to her feelings while at the same time Annika is trying just as hard to not admit her feelings. She wants to go back to not having emotions because it brings with it so much more than she feels ready to deal with. Creed helps her and once she realizes she is going to finally lose him she breaks down on him and lets him in, but is it ever really that easy? Of course not; they still have things to work out between each other, like Annika’s relationship with Dev. Which Creed can’t stand at all!! Also, there is something big we learn about Dev, Oz and Creed. Oz has such a big heart and we see just how much he loves Dev in this book.
So if you haven’t read this one yet you definitely are missing something. It’s worth reading through the second one just to get to Wyatt and Faith’s story!!

Review Unleashing the Storm by Sydney Croft

Unleashing the Storm
Author: Sydney Croft

Book Description:

Feel the heat. Hear the roar.

The fever has begun.

There’s a storm rising. Electricity crackles in the air. For Kira Donovan, it’s that time of year again: when the need floods her flesh, when almost any man—the bigger and the stronger the better—will do. For Kira, an animal psychic, the heat is a matter of life and death, and this year it has come at just the right time. Tom Knight, a natural born predator, has arrived at her isolated Idaho farm—for reasons all his own…

At first Kira isn’t interested in Knight’s motives. She only needs him—his body, his hands, his scent. But soon, through a daze of desire and distrust, Kira discovers Knight’s world—the world of a covert operative, one man among dozens of secret agents waging an astonishing global war. Knight’s mission is to bring Kira--kicking and screaming if necessary--into the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives and harness her extraordinary gift. He never expected the powerful emotions she would ignite in him, or the fierce desire to keep her safe from harm. For as darkness gathers around them, Kira is feeling the heat once again, leading them both on a wild ride of delicious thrills…and terror beyond imagining.

Stacey’s review:
I decided to go with two ratings for this one: 3-for the romance, but 5-for hot sex scenes

I hope the next book is better because this one especially wasn't for me so let me just get started with the review. Here we go: Oh wait! Let me first say this, take out of your mind the ideal that these are your typical PNR because they aren’t. Alrighty, let’s begin:
From the very beginning the premise of this book is that Kara is a female in heat. Literally! Basically, Tom/Ender (he is going under his real name for this undercover assignment) is assigned the job to get her to join ACRO or kill her. From the first meeting we learn Kara is an animal whisperer and from the research ACRO has done, one they presume could be used as an ultimate biological weapon by ITOR against the world. They predict she is a greater threat (in the wrong hands) than any they’ve seen so far.
Okay the premise sounds good. I’m curious, I’m reading. WHOA!! Hold the page because from the sentence where I read that Kara hires her ranch hands for a little more than ranching and then comments, Tom had no idea how handy he’d be to have around, I’m feeling a little icky. There is something to be said for wanting or needing to feel the touch of another, but not the way it is for Kara (you’ll know what I mean when you read for yourself.) So, I’m wondering where the story is going. Apparently she needs to be serviced routinely during her heat cycle. (Yes heat cycle, like a dog) and lines up men to do the job, seriously? I am not a fan of turning a women into nothing more than a dog in heat, how degrading and then to find out that it isn’t about her finding her release that’s important it’s about the fact that she needs the release of the male to calm the fire in her loins and keep her from dying!! (Yes that statement was cheesy, but so is the whole idea of Kara’s situation, well it’s cheesy or it’s just plain icky. But I already said it was icky so the next reference was cheesy!!) Maybe it was the way they kept making references like she was a female animal. Don’t get me wrong, I love my shape-shifters, but this wasn’t the same. I am all for shape-shifters and having a mate and then going through the motions, but when this women doesn't shape-shift or do anything that is a true shape-shifter, but act like a dog in heat, I’m having trouble making any connection to what the authors might have been suggesting. The shape-shifter books I have read don’t describe the female as having to be serviced by multiple men because one can’t handle the job. What kind of romance story does that set up?
Even when the two were supposedly starting to have feelings for each other I just couldn't get into their moments. It was like a chore and nothing more. At one point when she finds out what he is and what he is doing there she is mad at him, but next thing you know she is crawling on top of him to get it on because she has to. PULLLLEASE!!! And I can't get out of my head the description later in the book of her waking up feeling the need, stripping as she makes her down the hall, walking into his weight room and him just dropping his pants for the cause. How is that suppose to fall into anything more than a chore, seriously!! I almost stopped reading at one point. I think about the time she was describing her jail experience. Ewww! (so not going there)
In the end, Kara is brought to ACRO. She is still in heat when she arrives mind you and the whole trip back she and Ender have been getting it on according to her heat cycle, but Ender keeps telling himself, he is just doing his job. Eventually, Ender does become very territorial with Kara and takes her back to his house which is nice considering her other option once she gets to the compound is to have a series of donors lined up to service her!! Again, WHAT????? I totally was turned off by that, well sh*** who am I kidding I was totally turned off way earlier in the book. The sex scenes were hot I’ll give you that, but I guess I kept thinking this book was going to redeem itself at some point. The rare points that were good were not enough for me. Another example of something that didn’t go over for me either was when Ender decided he wasn’t man enough to be a family with Kara so he breaks it off. What does she do to cope with it? She goes to ground!!! I mean literally hides in some bushes and doesn’t come out until Annika coaxes her out. (too weird for me!)
The best redeeming highlight for me was, of course, Creed and Annika’s story. I love them!! I also liked Dev’s story this time. I do so like how the authors keep up the side stories and keep the reader filled in on the whole picture without taking anything away from the main characters. It was good to have more details of what’s going on at ACRO overall and still the story flows smoothly. Very nicely done!!!!
Creed and Annika are one of the secondary stories along with Dev and his situation with the haunting of the escaped spirit from his house. The one Creed and Annika were sent to communicate with in the first book. The spirit escaped from his portal and started haunting Dev. A portal that Oz, Dev’s previous lover/best friend, sealed it into. So guess who is the only one who can help Dev now? You guessed it, Oz, the previous lover. Oz comes back after Creed finds him and shows up just in time to help Dev during a particular moment of stress. Turns out the spirit wants to take over Dev because it believes Dev and him (yes the spirit is a man) have a same common purpose. One that the spirit feels Dev would gladly give himself over to the possession of the spirit in order to get answers and win the fight against ITOR. What Dev finds, out thanks to the help of Oz, is shocking and NO, I’m not spilling the details!! That was interesting part. Oz and Dev make up (you know how!!) and push the spirit away in the process.
Creed and Annika on the other hand are at a draw, so to speak. We have to wait and see what is going to happen between them. There is a way they can be together, but it comes with a price. I for one hope it’s one that they are willing to make. I think their relationship is sweet even if Annika just wants Creed for a hook-up!!! Their story comes across so much better than the way Tom and Kara’s comes across.
So in the end you know Ender and Kara are together with a little surprise to the story. NO again, I’m not telling. Sheese guys! I can’t tell you everything!! (LOL) I do still think you should read the book if you are planning on following the series, but I think you can catch up on any missing pieces from the next book from what I hear (incase you choose to skip this one now). If I have totally busted your excitement bubble about this book I’m sorry, but you should know it’s not what I would describe as real romance. The way I see it, it’s more of a horny itch that needs to be scratched and eventually leads to love, versus starting with love or at least some romance that includes fabulous sex.

Review Riding the Strom by Sydney Croft

Click here to check the website for the ACRO series.
Author: Sydney Croft
Rating: Extremely Hot!!!
Caution: There is one brief scene of M/M

I loved this book. It's got a ton of sex and just as much action. Guess what? Sometimes you get both at the same time. Try to figure that out! Ha! I read about sex in the kitchen, sex in the yard, sex on a boat and that's just the first few chapters!! It certainly had me fanning myself. So here's what it's all about.

Remy is an ex-seal with the ability to control the weather, but with a big catch; the weather controls him also. As in he has to have sex when a storm hits.
Haley is a parameterologist that is sent by her agency, ACRO, to study and determine if the stories Remy’s father is telling are true. If so she is to bring him to join her agency before ITOR gets to him because ITOR doesn’t give their recruits an option of joining. They are in it to use the recruits and their extraordinary powers for their own dangerous advancements.

Is Remy really connected in some way to Mother Nature? Absolutely!

After Haley pays Remy’s father to call him to come home due to an emergency, she's already gotten set up at Remy’s cabin when he arrives during a nasty storm. She finds out immediately how much the weather does have a hold on him and realizes her plan to study Remy as a professional isn’t going to be possible. She just can’t stay away from him and why would she want to? Remy is much more than she expected and he has a sexual appetite to match his appeal.

The book jumps right into the hot and heavy between Remy and Haley and they come together with a bang after Remy realizes he doesn’t have to hold himself back with Haley like he did with other women. The sex is steamy!

There are two other ongoing stories in the book with just as much heat going on. The second one, with Creed and Annika, is so hot!! Those two have a lot of sexual tension to work out. It looks like these two additional stories are going to carry over in each book of the series. I can’t wait to see what happens with them.

Book Review Sherri Lee Claytor,

I want to thank Sherri for giving me the chance to read and review her book "After the Fall of Night."

After the Fall of Night
Author: Sherri Lee Claytor
Format: ebook

Description from back of book:

Jackson County, Wisconsin was a tranquil area of the globe, until murder struck the small community. The local sheriff investigates and begins unearthing things he never imagined possible.

An immortal shape-shifter...

Nightwalker, Corin von Vadim, inhabits a secluded sprawling estate in the town of Hixton. An enigmatic loner, he hides the fact that during the daylight hours, he rests within the dark confines of the earth, only rising after twilight--a routine he has carried out for five hundred years. Unnerved by the arrival of a sinister newcomer, with the help of two allies--a mortal and an otherworldly daywalker--he is forced to protect his home from invading evil.

She is mortal...

Angelique Jaffler--a dark-haired beauty drawn to the night--has captured Corin's heart. But can she accept his supernatural world where shape-shifiting immortals are not myth, but reality? And when she becomes a pawn in the sordid game of a rival, will Corin be able to save her from the monster's deadly clutches? Beware the setting of the sun and listen for the call of the wild wolf crying out its warning of immortal presence. You see, this is their time--after the fall of night.

My review:

Corin is a Nightwalker that has lived 500 years by keeping to himself. Over the years, he has allowed only a few humans close enough to his life to really know him. Angelique and her brother Tomes are his neighbors but have never really gotten to know him since he (supposedly) just arrived in town a month ago as the heir to his uncle Victor Von Vadim.

Corin meets Tomes in a cemetery after Tomes has just buried his wife who was killed by a serial killer attack and drained of all her blood. Tomes is against Corin from the beginning, believing he is responsible for his wife's death because he believes, after much research, that Corin is a vampire. Once Corin convinces him that he isn't the killer, the two men form an alliance to find the real killer. Throughout the book we see Corin meeting Angelique and revealing through his memories and her own how they have each been affected by the other for many years. Angelique doesn't know Corin's secret of being a Nightwalker but Tomes, of course, does. He is totally against the relationship between his sister and Corin and out of respect for Tomes; Corin tries to keep distance from Angelique. Angelique though, is not having it.
With Corin and Tomes working together and Sheriff Pierson breathing down their backs they have little time to solve the mystery before Corin is arrested as the killer. Marshall Jordon Black becomes unexpectedly involved after showing up in the small town claiming he has been following the killer for over two years. Before or after Sheriff Pierson arrives at a crime scene he is there, but what exactly his story is brings an interesting twist to the ending.
The book is mystery and romance combined. The strength of the book is the mystery and what I liked about this story was that we, as readers, knew the mystery, so I was free to enjoy the romance without wanting to rush through to the end. There were a few scenes that had me wondering how they fell into the story-line, but as soon as I hit that spot the next page made up for it! I chalk that up to a newly published writer learning her skill!!

She left an opening for the next book so I can't wait to see what she has planned for Sheriff Pierson or Marshall Black. I’m looking forward to reading what’s next for her vampires!


Check out her interview if you haven't already and if you would like to purchase a copy of the book click here. See what Sherri Claytor is about!!

Happy readings!