New Releases in Romance - Week of May 11, 2014

Here are the new releases for this week.  We have a little bit of everything for you.  You see that three book boxed set down there - it's great!  There's also a new one from Eve Langlais - a favorite author of a few of us here.  Clicking on a cover will take you out to Amazon's page for the book.

Paranormal


Historical


Contemporary


Suspense


Erotic

Review: Cursed (The Vitruvian Man #1) by Cate Masters

Title: Cursed (The Vitruvian Man #1)
Author: Cate Masters
Source: Author Request
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novella
Release Date: April 20, 2013
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 3

Ten days of freedom. That’s all Fate had allotted me each year. In the streets of Venice, I could walk among them. Mingle. Belong.

During Carnevale, they had no idea who I was. What I was.

For ten days, it didn’t matter.

Until I met her.

Bruno diCesare lives alone by necessity, not choice. An experiment performed by Leonardo da Vinci, who believed having a dual DNA would grant a person immortality, used magic to render Bruno a chimera – the head of a lion, body of a dragon. The only time he can mingle with people is during Carnevale, ten glorious days of masked anonymity, frivolity and intimacy.

Melina Weaver learned fire dancing to enliven her dull existence. A scientist, her long hours at the lab leave no time for a social life. For ten days at Carnevale, she can pretend to be someone else. Someone sexy and daring, who lives on the edge.

Once she meets Bruno, her wish comes true, but everything goes terribly wrong. Beneath Bruno’s costume lurks an alpha male, but is he dangerous? Worse, can she return to an employer who sells her research to the military to make an army of efficient killers? Her only hope may lie with the man she’s just met and never seen.

Cate Masters did a fantastic job of writing in this novella.  I was very impressed with how she was able to create such vivid and beautiful scenes (especially the one where Melina tries on Elda's gift) while keeping the story a very nice novella length.  Bruno diCesare is a very unique creature and she reveals him slowly.  Having been turned into a chimera, he is a creature I had not come across in romance before and it was very fun to see how his special circumstances played into his life.  He was a very fierce and determined man, but slowly sinking into a depression brought on by his solitary lifestyle.

Melina was the perfect way to breathe some life back into him.  The scene where they meet was spectacular.  Again, her imagery was spot on and I could see the fire dancing in the air around her.  Her back story was interesting and perfectly tailored to add just a dash of suspense and intrigue to the story.

The one thing that kept this from being a full 5 rating happened right at the end.  And it just went too smoothly - there was a lot of hype leading up to this moment and then it went on and was finished with not enough fan fare or drama for me.  This is definitely an author and series I will want to read more.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Cover Reveal: Doe Eyes by Staci Hart

I am super super excited about this one.  I love the new covers done for this series and from what I've heard about Doe Eyes so far it's going to be great!!

Aphrodite knows better than anyone how the heart works. Just don’t ask her to figure out her own.

She’s been away from Olympus for weeks, which wasn’t near long enough for her move on. She has no idea what she’s walking into other than a new competition, this time against Artemis. They’ve never been friends, but now they have more in common than ever, though they’d rather face eat ambrosia straight than admit it.

Artemis can’t help but be smug when she chooses Josie, a private investigator who’s lost more than she’s won. After so much hurt in Josie’s life, Artemis is certain that the human would never risk her heart, especially when Aphrodite chooses Jon. Of all the matches that Aphrodite could make, the last person on the planet Josie would ever want is Jon, her ex who abandoned her without a word.

With Adonis gone and the threat of Ares around every corner, her past presses on her, leaving her more alone than she’s ever been. She can’t help wondering if she’ll ever escape, and how much pain she’ll endure before the whole ordeal is behind her.  

Coming July 2014

Click here to add it to your TBR!

Get it on Amazon Deer in Headlights on Goodreads

Follow Staci

Facebook Twitter Goodreads Amazon

Review: Embrace the Twilight (Wings in the Night #8) by Maggie Shayne

Title: Embrace the Twilight (Wings in the Night #8)
Author: Maggie Shayne
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: September 1, 2006
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 3

A creature of the night, Sarafina lives only for pleasure, but love is an emotion she has
deemed forbidden. Experience has taught her that love leads only to betrayal and pain, and she wants no more of pain. She cares for no one, tolerating only the presence of those she can control utterly. With her powers, she is convinced she can break anyone. Willem Stone cannot be broken. He is a challenge Sarafina cannot resist--a man as boldly alive as she is, a man with a will of iron, yet a mere mortal. And the only thing stronger than the clash of their wills is the power of their desire. But when vampire hunters take Amber Lily, the only child ever born to a vampire, Sarafina and Willem must put their struggle aside and combine their strengths in a rescue attempt that could cost them their very lives. And in the process, they find the most powerful force of all: love.

Born in Twilight (Wings in the Night #5): Review
Two by Twilight (Wings in the Night #6): Review
Twilight Hunger (Wings in the Night #7): Review
See my goodreads account for reviews of the books earlier in the series.

I've been slowly reading through the Wings in the Night series for a few years now.  They were one of the first paranormal romance series that I had ever read and really opened the door to the genre for me.  Maggie Shayne is a great author and while she fell just a tad short in this one for me I can see how it adds a very imporatant piece to the world she has built.

After the demises of DPI - an organization set on destroying vampires - things seem to be going better.  But there are still a few rogue agents running around and they have set their eyes on Amber Lily - a unique creature introduced earlier in the series that lives between the world of vampire and human.  Willem Stone - a very mortal man - is really all that is there to stop them at first.  He's quite a fantastic hero in several different ways.

Willem Stone has a strange link with a gypsy woman names Sarafina - a name you will recognize if you've read the previous book in the series.  She's quite a bitch through the whole story and I never really like her - which made it hard to enjoy the romance of the book.  I really enjoyed the continued world building and development Shayne brought out in this one though.  It's what has kept me returning to the series over the years.  The world is not stagnant, and even if I don't like all the characters, they all have a role to play that is special and all their own.

Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Review: Lyon's Bride (The Chattan Curse #1) by Cathy Maxwell

Title: Lyon's Bride (The Chattan Curse #1)

Author: Cathy Maxwell
Source: Self Purchased
Genre: Historical - Regency
Length: Novel
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 2
Sexual - 3

"When a Chattan male falls in love, strike his heart with fire from above..."

They call him Lord Lyon, proud, determined— and cursed. He is in need of a bride, but if he falls in love, he dies. His fervent hope is that by marrying— and having a son—without love, perhaps he can break the curse's chains forever.

Enter beautiful Thea Martin—a duke's headstrong, errant daughter and society's most brilliant matchmaker. Years ago, she and Lyon were inseparable, until he disappeared from her life without a word. Now she is charged with finding Lyon's bride—a woman he cannot love for a man Thea could love too well.

Book Two Review: The Scottish Witch 
Book Three Review: The Devil's Heart

The final book of a series I read completely backward just didn't live up to what I had come to expect from reading books two and three.  I'm glad that I had read them out of order, or I don't know if I would have continued the series.

The Chattan family line has been cursed - and this generation is determined to be the last.  They will not fall in love, they will not have children, and the curse will die with them.  But Lord Lyon has to go and change his mind - right before Thea re-enters his life.  He has hired a match maker to find him a wife he doesn't like (that was a little bit funny) only to discover she's the one that he just may fall in love with.

Thea thinks the curse is a load of rubbish and nothing Lyon can say will change her mind.  Their book was a little too tame and predictable for me.  I found myself knowing what was going to happen before I turned the page (and not because I had read the rest of the series).  It just didn't have the little extra unique-ness I like in a relationship and relied too heavily on the curse to make the story seem different.

Thea's two children were a lot of fun though.  I can imagine them running around all over the place and getting into trouble while trying to stay out of it.  They were quite the charmers and their relationship with both Thea and Lyon was very nice.

Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Pandora's feature "What the Heck Were They Thinking" Topless book-club??

 Going topless to make a book sexy?

If you haven’t heard about the topless book club to make book look sexy? Then read the article below and you’ll find out.


Warning if you click on link you will see boobies...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/05/topless-book-club-new-york-photos-nsfw_n_5267320.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

This cat may be a prude but me’s don’t want's to go's to the park and see boobies everywhere. Heck no, and I know neither do the kiddos, so please put the tops back on so’s I can visit the park and my human can read in peace.

Even my Brother Wolverine not impressed, he's still paying with his toy. 

Those ladies better be careful because as hot as the sun in now days they won’t stay out there reading for long before their boobies starts burning MEOWWWSERS… Snort… 

Look topless ladies take some advice from the cat, covers are better than boobies especially if you have covers like this. PUUURRRR Me's can looks at covers like this all day.*Wink, Wink*

Now, for you readers out there, what do you think should all readers go topless to make books sexy or are the books sex without someone adverting it?

Project Reveal: The Chatsfield from Harlequin Presents

The Chatsfield

·         Harlequin, has launched The Chatsfield, a “first of its kind” digital series from Mills & Boon on 6^th May.

·         Set in the luxury hotel “The Chatsfield”, this digital series provides an extra journey for the reader to continue engaging with the characters of a book and series beyond what is just on the page, thereby extending the life of the story.

·         The Chatsfield is a digital journey that blends fiction and reality and comes across multiple mediums including print (The Chatsfield Presents books), video (YouTube), digital (blogs and the main Chatsfield website) and social (twitter, Facebook).

To be a part of the digital journey, you can explore here:

The Chatsfield opened its doors on 6^th May at www.thechatsfield.com

Facebook - Twitter - Google+ - YouTube - Mills & Boon Website

Harlequin is really onto something here.  If you haven't clicked on www.thechatsfield.com yet you really need to.  I have looked through some of the pages and they are a lot of fun and very interactive.  They are bringing this series to life in a whole new way and it looks like it is going to be tons of fun.  It takes immersion to a whole new level.

Sheikh’s Scandal by Lucy Monroe

Sheikh Sayed of Zeena Sarha and his harem of beautiful women are staying at the exclusive, opulent Chatsfield Hotel, London, for the last stop on his worldwide tour before his wedding. But when his engagement is unceremoniously broken, Sayed sets his sights on his sexy chambermaid!

Liyah Amari only took the position as chambermaid to find the truth about her birth father. But her search ends in heartache, leaving Liyah vulnerable to this powerful Sheikh's desires. Now their one night of passion could result in a scandalous consequence for the proud Sheikh!

Welcome to The Chatsfield, London!

Playboy’s Lesson by Melanie Milburne

Lucca Chatsfield has one simple motto: no rings, no strings. Adored wherever he goes, he has yet to meet a woman who can resist him. Until he's sent to the small principality of Preitalle and meets his greatest challenge ever….

Poised and polished, princess Charlotte does not do drama. The very last person she needs interfering in her life is this reckless playboy! Lottie is determined to resist Lucca's seduction, but his charm is potent, and practically perfect Lottie finds herself risking everything for just one more touch….

Socialite’s Gamble by Michelle Conder

As the darling of London's party scene, Cara Chatsfield isn't surprised when her father's CEO sends her to Las Vegas to host The Chatsfield's world-famous poker tournament. And if behind the glitz and glamour there's a girl hurt by her past? She'll never tell.

Aidan Kelly detests women like Cara, but when his biggest rival includes Cara in the stakes, Aidan must win—and not just for her protection! But getting to know the stunning socialite, he discovers a beautiful, vulnerable young woman awoken by his own personal brand of passion!

Welcome to The Chatsfield, Las Vegas!

Facebook page giveaway

This week we are running an Amazon 10.00 gift card giveaway on our Facebook page in honor of National Pet Week

All you have to do is like our page, if you don’t already and post the picture of your cat with one of your favorite romance books, you can also use a reader device just make sure you have the cover picture up and you then post that picture right on our wall. The staff will decide on the winner on 5-11-14.

Here’s a sample picture of my Maine Coon Sookie with one of my favorites by Caris Roane. Your cat does not have to be setting like mine he or she can be sleeping or feel free to get inspired.

 Remember to thank you pet that gives you all the love without questions. 

Good luck!