Review: The Scottish Witch by Cathy Maxwell

Title: The Scottish Witch (The Chattan Curse #2)
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 2

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell continues her most powerful series with
the latest novel about the Chattan Curse.

Every woman has her dreams.
Portia Maclean believes she is beyond love and marriage. Then one moonlit night, while attempting a daring masquerade in a desperate bid to protect her family, she finds herself swept off her feet by a powerful stranger. His very touch makes her long for much more. But what will he do once he discovers she has betrayed him?

Every man has his demons.
Harry Chattan is fighting for his family-their honor and their lives. For two hundred years the Chattan men have been destroyed by love and now he's come to Scotland on the hunt for a witch who can break the legend's curse. Instead he finds himself bewitched by the tantalizing Portia. Determined to right legendary wrongs, Harry has vowed to fight the demons that torture him. But will that battle destroy her as well?

My review of book three:  The Devil's Heart

Yes, you are seeing this right.  I seem to be reading this series backwards.  There is a little confusion at times when they refer to things from previous books, but overall I haven't really seen any negative impacts for the book because of it.

Harry is off to try and find the witch that cast a curse on his family - and it leands him to Glenfinnan and Portia.  Portia's family is quickly running out of money and she sees his quest for a witch as a way for quick money to pay the rent.  When Portia and her cat , Owl, decide to trick him in his quest to find a witch - she pretends to be Fenella - not realizing that it is the same witch to cast the curse.

Their romance is very quick - almost wham bam thank ya mam the first time.  The relationship and romance didn't come until after, and that isn't always my favorite.  Portia finds herself falling in love with him and is terrified of the curse landing on his shoulders - so she runs and distances herself from him for his own good.  The big questions is will the curse still strike, or will they be able to find a way to reverse it and have their HEA.

While Portia was a great character - a very opinionated and honest woman for those times - Harry was a bit of a pompous ass (which he even admits to on occassion).  I love how they fit together - their personalities played off of each other very well.  Portia's mother and her suitor were a bit of comical relief through the whole thing without going too far as well.  I have the first book and hope to start it soon.

Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Review: Lycan Gladiator by Eva Gordon

Title: Lycan Gladiator (Wolf Maiden Saga #1)
Author: Eva-Gordon 
 Source: Author Request
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Reviewer: Jasmyn

During a time of bloody gladiator games and treacherous schemes, a secret society of lycans live amongst the Romans.

When Ulric, a lycan gladiator, meets a mysterious human woman with green eyes, he’s drawn to her fiery beauty, enraptured by her alluring aroma. Unfortunately, Ulric and the beauty are slaves. To make matters worse, he can mate only with someone marked with the sign of the wolf.

Cassia’s hidden wolf mark burns in the presence of the handsome gladiator. While her heart yearns to be near Ulric, logic warns her against it—having a slave as a mate is against the lycan society’s plans for her.

In spite of the lycan society’s rules and the emperor’s brutal plots, their love grows … but their passion just may cost them their lives.

Review: The Devil's Heart by Cathy Maxwell

Title: The Devil's Heart (The Chattan Curse #3)
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Sourse: FirstReads
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Reviewer: Jasmyn

They call her the Unattainable. Lady Margaret Chattan spurned every suitor for her hand, vowing never to marry. The only way to break the curse plaguing her family for two centuries is this ultimate sacrifice. But now her brothers' lives are in danger. Determined to save them, she risks her very soul by traveling into the heart of the highlands to battle a force that has transcended time.

Heath Macnachtan is not superstitious. Laird of the most independent, nonconforming, madly infuriating clan ever to grace Scotland, he believes he has his hands full. And then, a woman lauded as one of the most beautiful in England, arrives on his doorstep with wild accusations and a mystical quest . . . one that just might help him discover who murdered his own brother.

But the real danger for Heath and Margaret is not a supernatural foe, but a very real love that could destroy them both.

The Devil's Heart was a fun quick read, but it did leave something a little lacking.  I couldn't seem to connect to the main characters very well.  Lady Margaret Chattan has earned the name Unattainable by snubbing her nose at all potential suitors.  But she often complains about how alone she is.  While I very much  look up to her for decision to hunt down the sourse of the curse on her family, I wondered throughout the whole story why it took the family so long to try and fix it?

Heath Macnachtan is a somewhat typcial Scottish Laird.  He cares for his family, his people, his land, and the rest can be damned.  Until he meets Margaret.  One of my absolute favorite scenes (and recurring joke throughout the story) was the scene where the met outside his house and "argued" for the first time.  It was very memorable and unique and I wish the rest of the story had kept that feeling.

As a lover of paranormal, I would have liked to see a little more of the witch and the curse manifested along the way.  At times I was almost able to forget that it was "real" as it disappeared from the forefront of the storyline.  This was a very well-written and thought out story - I think I was just expecting something a little different and something a little more paranormal.

ARC Review: The Magic of "I Do" by Tammy Falkner

Title: The Magic of "I Do" (Faerie, #2)
Author: Tammy Falkner
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Paranormal romance (Fae)
Length: Novel (384 pgs)
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Reviewed by: CaroleDee

Claire Thorne is a faerie on a mission. 

When the governing body of her world puts a prohibition on magic, she escapes to the human world and straight into the arms of Lord Phineas Tremble. When he insists on being her crime-solving partner, she does everything she can to get rid of him—until she realizes his gift for smooth talking might come in handy when tracking down a killer. Before long, Finn has his hands full keeping Claire out of trouble, because the two of them together create more sparks than her faerie dust ever could...

Review and Giveaway The Earl With the Dragon Tattoo by Teresa Wilde

Title: The Earl With the Dragon Tattoo
Author: Teresa Wilde
Source: Author
Genre: Regency Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel (256 pgs)
Reviewed by CaroleDee

Dark times have fallen over England. The war with France is taking its toll on the Calend, the hidden society of magic users devoted to keeping the country safe from magical and human threats.Maeve Llwyd has spent her life trying to escape her mother's scandalous reputation, teaching at a magical academy for young ladies, obeying every strict rule in the hopes of being accepted in the Calend world. When she receives a prophetic warning that a dark power is gathering the pieces of a weapon that has been lost for a thousand years to bring down never ending darkness on England, her every fear becomes reality—she is called on to sacrifice her reputation in order to gain the power she needs to fight, ensuring that she will lose her position at her beloved school and be rejected by the Calend. But nothing is more desperate than finding the ancient weapons before the enemy—a shadow druid who craves using them to bring England to its knees.

Constantine Armitage, Earl of Evengate, lives his life at the bottom of a bottle, punishing himself for the death of his cousin. But one dark night, he is thrown into Maeve's life. The lovely witch lives in a strange world of spells and threats, driven to protect those around her, even though they will never thank her for it, or even know. Though she resents his interference and rejects his aid, he wants nothing more than to help her, and if he kills himself in the process, so much the better...

Wow, what an absolutely fantastic read. You can always tell when I love a book because I'm at a loss for words. You would think it would be the other way around and I would be able to go on and on. It's just so hard when I liked something so much to try to get just the right words down! So, bare with me while I try to convey how much I loved The Earl With the Dragon Tattoo.

You get an entire magical world filled with witches, druids and other magical creatures right underneath, seemingly, normal London. The war in France has taken a lot of the witches away from the shores of England, but the safety of it's citizens still need to be upheld by someone. Leaving Maeve, the leader of a young coven of witches, to stop evil from trying to take over.  

Maeve is a strong female character made that way from a less than pristine lineage. The daughter of a promiscuous actress she's made it her goal to never fill the sullied shoes her mother left behind. Unfortunately, to gain more power she's told she must make a sacrifice, and it's one that just might throw her in the shoes that she never wanted to wear.

Constantine is a complex character. Since the death of his uncle and cousin he's lived as a shell of a man. Helping Maeve in her goals give him a purpose, but he still struggles to make more of his life. What starts as a clandestine meeting in Vauxhall gardens quickly turns into a relationship, but a very complicated one. 

Con and Maeve had me in a tailspin. One minute I would laugh about their mutual hard-headedness, and the next I just wanted to shake them and scream for them to just suck it and be happy together! And when two characters have me that invested, you know you have a winner ;)

For those of you looking for something more than a romance, know that The Earl also has a very action driven plot. The magic in this book is used, and not just as an interesting skill a few of the characters have. Just think of it as an Urban Fantasy set in Regency England, heavy on the romance. (Easy enough, right? LOL) 

I sincerely hope that Teresa Wilde makes this into the series. There were so many characters that I grew curious about and I can't wait to find out what their future hold! 

I loved this book so much that I want to get the word out. 

I'm offering a giveaway for a digital copy of The Earl With the Dragon Tattoo.  

*To be delivered through Amazon's Kindle or Barnes and Nobles Nook gift giving program*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review - Aris Returns: A Vampire Love Story by Devin Morgan

Title: Aris Returns
Author: Devin Morgan

Psychologist Sarah Hagan thought she had her life under control. She pulled herself together after a painful (and unexpected) divorce. She’s currently dating a successful but neglectful attorney—a relationship that is adequate, if not totally satisfying. She has a few good friends, lives in a beautiful condo in the heart of Chicago, and loves her work as a therapist. From the outside, it looks like her life is almost perfect.

It only takes one patient -- a handsome younger man named Carlos who is on parole for car theft -- to put her well-ordered life into a tailspin. As she regresses him with hypnotherapy, she discovers an unusual presence. Is this some elaborate alter ego that Carlos has created or is something much stranger going on? In Sarah’s attempt to help Carlos deal with his issues of anger and a troubled past, she is captivated by the persona she uncovers through hypnosis – Aris. Aris reveals that he is a vampire whose story begins in the time of Alexander the Great. His retelling of his lives, involvement and apparent demise in the court of Henry VIII keep her spellbound and hungry for more.

On top of grappling with a phantom vampire, Sarah begins to have the most disturbing (and sensual) dreams. They awake the emotion, passion and vulnerability that she thought she had buried for good. The dreams both terrify and excite her as she struggles to make sense out of her world turned upside down. Sarah genuinely cares about Carlos as a patient and wants to help him find his way to a better life, but he has brought chaos, confusion and danger into her neatly buttoned-up reality. And if that’s not enough to deal with, she is inexplicably drawn to Aris in a way she can’t begin to rationalize. Can Sarah possibly love this vampire “ghost” or will he destroy everything she treasures?

Review The Cursed One by Ronda Thompson

The Cursed One Book three in in Wild Wulfs of London
Author Ronda Thompson
Paranormal romance- Shape-Shifters
Mass paperback 305
No website the author has passed.


Book description
THE CURSED ONE
Wed and widowed in one day, stunning socialite Amelia Sinclair’s honeymoon is anything but typical. Then again, neither is Amelia—rebellious and impulsive, marrying Robert Collingsworth was the one sensible thing she ever did. Now he’s dead and she must escape the vicious creatures stalking her—even if it means relying on a stranger. Well, maybe not a complete stranger. Amelia first glimpsed Gabriel Wulf years ago on the busy streets of London; since then he has haunted her dreams. But in the flesh, Gabriel is much more tantalizing than she ever dreamt, and much more complicated…

Gabriel Wulf, the strong one, the sensible one—the family, and the curse that plagues them, are his only priorities; there was little time for women and none for love. Now, he must protect an enticing beauty—and not just from the dangers that prowl the woods around them. Gabriel has secrets, dark ones he’s sure Amelia must never know and could never understand. But she has already awakened his heart...and the beast within. Will Amelia be the key to his salvation, or the architect of her own demise?

Laurie' Review
Rating-

Sexual-

The Cursed One is book three and is now my favorite in this series. I was truly saddened when I found out Ronda is now passed, I was hoping for more books. I loved the writing flow and the surprises that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could to see what was happing next in this one, to me it was totally different from the rest of the series. In book one you’ll read that Amelia is to be married to Lord Collingsworth in this book you’ll find out what happened to them after they are married.

Amelia found herself in a heap of trouble on her wedding night, she thought that the thing (Yep, I did say thing, you’ll have to read;) was her husband, as she was screaming and fighting this thing off of her, she ends up killing the thing or at least she thought she did. Then all the sudden as if from one of her dreams a man from her past came to the rescue his name is Gabriel. Gabriel being wolf he could hear her screaming, he didn’t know at the time who it was, but it was someone in trouble. So he comes in and finds Amelia with a dead man. As you get into the story more they are sounded by shape-shifting creatures that wants nothing more than to kill them. These creatures goes as far as to burn the house down, So Amelia the maid and Gabriel is now on the run form these creatures and they have a ways to go on foot to get to Gabriel’s house. it’s a exciting adventure with lots of twist and turns that will keep you going. I found this book nothing less than wonderful.

I really enjoyed reading both the hero and heroine. I also enjoyed the wonderful ending.

I read in order but can be read out of order.
Reading order
1. The Dark One
2. The untamed One
3.The Cursed One
4. Anthology Midnight Pleasures
5.Anthology Love at first Bite