Book Review: Curses

 
                                                Today's review is on Curses by Jacqueline Paige

Curses is the second book that I have read by Paige, and I must say that though the editing is poor the stories themselves a quite good.

I know that I have said it before, but there is something to be said about a book that is written erotically without being all about the sex. Paige is able to convey the desire and passion her characters have for one another that makes what ultimately happens in the bedroom that much better.

In Behind The Mask, eighteen-year-old Gracelyn Arianna Trainer's older sister places a curse on her, and then dies in a car accident. The curse makes everyone who meets her instantly forget her. No one even noticed she was at the funeral! It is only the man who truly sees her that can set her free just before midnight on all hallows eve. Depressed, Gracelyn leaves her home only to return to the town many years later. Now however she has a new name and a new admirer.

Each day for two years she is visited by the dashingly, handsome Evan. Though he is very attracted to Arianna, and he has asked her out more than once, she still refuses him until the night of his Halloween party. When she walks into, what use to be her very own home, Evans house he knows instantly that it's her, but she doesn't know that the man dressed as the lion is really him.

After a night of seduction, Arianna realizes that the lion was Evan and that he knows who she really is. The curse is broken and he will never let her go.


In The Ring, PR agent Emma runs off to a secluded cabin by a lake after having her heart broken. She had caught her then boyfriend and boss with her assistant, and that was not his first affair.

While there she meets Bryce who just appeared one day from the mist. At first she thinks she is just seeing things, but finds that though he can only appear in the evening he is very real.

Bryce had simply vanished one day after a fight with a girl in 1973, and he can't seem to remember all of the facts. As the two become closer Emma is intent on finding out what exactly happened and how she can keep him from vanishing every morning.

After finding Bryce's ring and talking to the caretaker of the cabin, Emma rushes home to tell Bryce the news. Though she cannot see him she tells him everything along with telling him that she trusts him and that she loves him.

Both stories are good, and I read the whole book in just a few hours. I actually couldn't wait to get back home after running errands so I could get back to reading them. I will be keeping my eye out for other books by Paige. I would just suggest though a bit more editing thank you very much.

3.75 of 5 stars

Book Review: Dreams

 
                                    
                                                  Today's review is on Dreams by Jacqueline Paige

Dreams is a collection of three stories that take the reader through the lives of Jennah Best, Dominic Palmer, Brody, and Tess.

In Our Dream:
Jennah is working in a small town police station.  She is pretty much content with her life.  If only her ex-husband would get a clue and leave her alone and she could find that one person that completes her.  One night she meets that special man in her dream.

Dominic is a get the job done cop who is currently working undercover in a prison.  Along with his ability to do what ever it takes to solve a crime, Dominic also has the ability to "connect" with others who share his ability.  When his cover is blown it's up to Jennah to come to the rescue.

From A Dream:
Jennah and Dominic have become as happy a couple they can be with Jennah going to work and Dominic hiding out.  When Jennah gets abducted while Dominic is out for a little air his dreams of love, marriage and a family may be at stake.

With Tess' ability to teleport from one place to another and Brody's back up the bad guys get their due and Dominic gets the love of his life back.

After The Dream:
Jennah and Dominic are now married and Jennah is a very pregnant woman.  While the team is back together for another case Brody and Tess are able to explore their growing feelings for each other.

These three stories are full of action, romance, and adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat. However, the copy I was given had multiple errors.  It is such a shame that a really good book could be a really great book if only it was given the attention and care it deserves.  Editing is the key.  It is because of this that I have to lower my rating.

3 of 5 stars

Book Review: Becoming

 
                                    Today's review is on Becoming by Raine Thomas

Becoming is the first installment in Thomas' Daughters of Saraqael series and took me just two days to finish, it was that good.

Amber Hopkins' life has never been easy. Every three years something happens to her causing her extreme physical pain as well as the mental anguish of having to go to another foster placement. With the help of Gabriel, another child living with the affectionate Mrs. B, she is able to calm down some and avoid an all out blow up.

Though Gabriel has always known that Amber was the girl for him since the day he met her, he never pushed the issue until she was ready. Once he brings her back from the brink of death is is just that. She if ready, willing, and able to love him enough to accept and exchange promise rings while on a trip together to Alaska.

While in Alaska, Amber and Gabriel find that they are not entirely what they seem to be. In fact Amber finds that she is only half-human along with her two sisters and that the boy she loves is not even human at all.

Adventure await everyone when they return to the Estilorian world.

Love and intrigue abound in Becoming along with touching moments of delightful sarcasm.

Book Review: Wiccan, A Witchy Young Adult Paranormal Romance

 
                  Today's review is on Wiccan, A Witchie Young Adult Paranormal Romance by Michelle Leighton

Wiccan is the first installment in Leighton's Wiccan series and is off to a fantastic start.  An exceptional suspense thriller thrown in with love and a paranormal twist.

Mercy Holloway is an 18, almost 19 year-old college student with a peculiar "gift".  She can see murders that have happened in the past if she walks over the place that they happened.  Though this "gift" has been difficult to live with she try's to live her life as normally as she can.  One day, on her way to school she has a vision of a woman being strangled.  She accepts this as par for the course of her life until she sees the girl who was murdered sitting in front of her very much alive.

Wanting to do something to prevent her classmate from being murdered Mercy goes to the police.  While the first officer brushes her off as a freak he hands her over to the young Detective Caleb Grayson.  Though at first he too doesn't believe her.

Now something has changed.  Mercy is now having dreams about women being murdered.  With no one else to turn to she contacts Grayson.  As time goes on and other murders happen, he can no longer dismiss the fact that she is right.  He also can not dismiss his growing feelings for her.

Though there were some errors that were not caught by the editor, the book was extremely well written and had me guessing up until the end. 

4 of 5 stars

Book Review: Semester Aboard

 

                                            Today's review is on Semester Aboard by Elizabeth Kirke

Semester Aboard is the first installment in Kirke's More than Magic series and brings together vampires, werewolves, witches and a whole slew of other magical creatures.

Jen Maddox is college student who is lucky enough to be able to spend the summer studying aboard a cruise ship traveling through Mexico and South America. Little did she know that she would be thrown into the adventure of her life though. Not only does she find out that there really are things like vampires, witches and werewolves, but there are other magical creatures too. More surprising though is that she herself IS a magical creature. She in fact is a witch. If that's not enough to handle, aboard the ship there is a vampire who is feeding off of the passengers.

With Jen learning how to cast just one spell, it is up to the rest of the MES team aboard the ship to not only protect the people on the ship but her also. Along the way Jen learns a lot about herself and her new friends and somehow finds herself falling in love Thomas and becoming part of TS' pack.

After battling Nathaniel the evil vampire and the rest of his gang; with nearly everyone of Jen's new friends not unscathed, the trip comes to a close and it's time to go back home and wait for the next adventure.

Semester Aboard has all of the elements of a really good book. However, with that being said, it was also a book that seemed to go on and on and on between exciting portions. I know that lately I have been getting down on books that seem to be to short; 68, 87 pages long, but then again some books have to much fluff in between the slices of bread and Semester Aboard is one of them.

There too were quite a bit of grammatical errors and for that alone I have to lower my rating.

I loved the characters and the main story. I just would have liked to have less of the other fluff. I am however looking forward to the next installment. (I just have to see where Jen and Thomas' relationship goes from here.)

3 of 5 stars

Book Review: Feeding The Vampire

 
                                         Today's review is on Feeding the Vampire by Jeffe Kennedy

Feeding the Vampire is a very short erotic drama not unlike Petals and Thorns by "Jennifer Paris".

Earthquakes and other disasters have plagued the earth leaving the mere humans to become dependent on those vampires who are willing to help and offer their protection. Misty's group has done just that. They have requested assistance from Ivan. All he needs in exchange is blood, and Misty volunteers. After she has fed Ivan she finds herself tied up in his bedroom. Ivan not only wants her blood, he wants her, and in the most carnal way and Misty finds it most pleasurable.

I actually liked the short book; however, I think it could be much better if it were longer. I would like to have had more background on Ivan and Misty. It's just to short the way it is for me.

3 of 5 stars

Book Review: Natural Urges

Today's review is on Natural Urges by Kayden McLeod

Natural Urges is the second book in McLeod's The Foxworth Coven series and though it too has numerous mistakes, it is just as strong a story as the first book. All of the original characters are back as well as a few new ones.

Natural Urges continues right where Death of Innocence leaves off. Canya has just finished writing down her account as requested by the Council and hands over the journals to her son Arcadia. It is now his and his wife's turn. Though Korbin is reluctant because of her past, she knows that she has to comply.

Korbin, like most, has a past that haunts her. She was once a part of a Coven that used Black Magic to get what they wanted. The Callows Coven tortured humans, fed from them, and did not even give them a quick death, and Korbin was one of the worst. So much so that her family erased her memory and left her for dead.

Waking up with no memory of who she was or where she came from Korbin struggled to get by. With the help of a few people she was able to get a job; as a stripper, and a small apartment. Things were looking up for her until she was kidnapped and placed in a box set to explode.
When Arcadia rescues her, both of their lives change to an extent neither of them could see coming.

Korbin you see is actually the daughter of Mother Nature herself. She is fated to be with Arcadia and he to she. He is the "Key" that will bring Korbin into her Deity powers. Powers that Arcadia will also gain as her mate. Powers that they will both need to end the evil of the Callows Coven and the "Dark One".

Natural Urges did nothing but instill my love for the characters I already loved and my hatred for the ones I already didn't like. The way the author writes about the level of love and adoration these couples share will make any woman envious. (Not to mention how they invoke lust in each other >.<)

My biggest complaint is the editing. If the company that you currently use isn't up to par, please, please, please get a new one. Read over your piece before it goes to print, or have someone else read it just to be sure. What could be awesome drops down to good otherwise.

4 of 5 stars