Review: Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop

5 stars for Written in Red (The Others book 1) by Anne Bishop.

I am hooked from chapter 1 right up to the last by the fantastic world building and great likeable characters that make this compelling story totally absorbing.

In this brilliantly created Urban Fantasy series, enters a mystical world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - shapeshifters, vampires, elementals - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

Shapeshifters - Henry Beargard, Simon Wolfgard, Jester Coyotegard,
Jenni Crowgard, Julia Hawkgard, Alison Owlgard.
Vampires - Erebus, Vlad, Nyx Sanguinati.
Elementals - Winter, Air, Fire, Water, Earth.
Unknown (hey no spoiler here!) - Tess

All are fantastic characters - scary but really great.

Publisher: Roc; 1 edition
Publication date: 5 Mar 2013

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As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Trinity College Library

This lovely library is Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland.

I love the woodsy smell of books in libraries, especially old ones. It relaxes me and fills me with warmth and happiness.

Review: Star Sapphire by Han May

4.5 stars for Star Sapphire by Han May.

This Young Adult sci-fic romance is impressively written with an interesting storyline, well developed characters, excellent world-building, and an original, intriguing romance.

Set in the 23rd century, Yva, a young girl set out on adventures as a crew member of a massive intergalactic passenger starship called the Star Sapphire. Story as narrated from Yva's first person point of view tells of her space travel, the rules and duties abound the ship and how she struggles with her insecurities and triumphs.

Publisher: Nova Books
Publication date: 1988

Review: Devil's Game (Reapers MC #3) by Joanna Wylde

4 stars for Devil's Game (Reapers Motorcycle Club book 3) by Joanna Wylde.

Devil's Game covers some of the same period and events in book 2 Reaper's Legacy. Nevertheless, it is equally if not more exciting, to read the events unfolding from Em's point of view. Also, the tone and structure set in Devil's Game is slightly different from the previous two books, differentiating it as a New Adult. To that end, the story makes for an amazing good mix of the Motocycle Club, people and traditions.

One chapter in and I know I am in for a sweet wild ride with a good bad-boy biker (Liam), and an awesome sexy bike chick (Em).

Devil's Game is a delightful and engaging read with a strong storyline. However, I do feel that the second half of the story has a tad too many rhythmic steamy scenes which the book could do better with less.

Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: 3Jun 2014

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Liam “Hunter” Blake hates the Reapers MC. Born and raised a Devil’s Jack, he knows his duty. He’ll defend his club from their oldest enemies—the Reapers—using whatever weapons he can find. But why use force when the Reapers’ president has a daughter who’s alone and vulnerable? Hunter has wanted her from the minute he saw her, and now he has an excuse to take her.

Em has lived her entire life in the shadow of the Reapers. Her overprotective father, Picnic, is the club’s president. The last time she had a boyfriend, Picnic shot him. Now the men in her life are far more interested in keeping her daddy happy than showing her a good time. Then she meets a handsome stranger—a man who isn’t afraid to treat her like a real woman. One who isn’t afraid of her father. His name is Liam, and he’s The One.

Or so she thinks.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young

1 star for On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street book 1) by Samantha Young.

On Dublin Street starts out ok but fizzles along the way. Shallow plot combined with repetitive steamy scenes that borders on porn makes me skim through more than 60% of the book.

I would say it is a good try by the author for a debut novel into adult fiction. Unfortunately, if you like books with substance, this is not for you.

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication date: 31Aug 2012

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All she wants is the present. But tomorrow is waiting…

Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare…

Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.

Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he's determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.

But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won't be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

3.5 stars for The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

The Mermaid Chair is a soulful tale of a woman going through mid-life crisis, searching for answers and truth of a haunting past while struggling with the fine line temptation of no return. While story is smooth flowing and well written, it somehow lacks the captivating X factor to enthrall me.

Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 7 Mar 2006

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Inside the church of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.

When Jessie Sullivan is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother’s seemingly inexplicable behavior, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh, a life “molded to the smallest space possible.” Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk about to take his final vows. Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks, and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right and the immutable force of home and marriage.

What transpires will unlock the roots of her mother’s tormented past, but most of all, it will allow Jessie to awaken to herself, as she explores the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic. A vividly imagined love story between a woman and a monk, a woman and her husband, and ultimately a woman and her own soul, The Mermaid Chair is a transcendent tale of self-discovery.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) by Graeme Simsion

5 stars for The Rosie Project (Don Tillman book 1) by Graeme Simsion.

The Rosie Project is a marvellous, distinctive debut novel about love, friendship and life with a good dose of dry humor. If you like Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons) in The Big Bang Theory, you will definitely enjoy reading Don Tillman's wife project.

Don Tillman, a socially challenged genetics professor is getting married, but he doesn't know to who yet. So he designs a very detailed questionnaire to help him find the perfect woman. His questionnaire is intended to filter out anyone who is unsuitable.

When Rosie Jarman comes to his office, Don assumes it is to apply for the Wife Project - and duly discounts her on the grounds she smokes, drinks, doesn't eat meat, and is incapable of punctuality. He tells himself that Rosie is not the one, absolutely, completely and definitely.

However, Rosie has no interest in becoming Mrs Tillman and is actually there to enlist Don's assistance in a professional capacity: to help her find her biological father.

Sometimes, though, you don't find love: love finds you...

Publisher: Penguin Export
Publication date: 1 Apr 2013

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An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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