Savannah Storm by Corin Castro

Published synopsis:

SAVANNAH STORM is the first of a trilogy set in this fabled city of romance and adventure right here on our own southern doorstep. Greed, lust and the struggle with nature as much as historic charm and the scent of gardenias is still alive and waiting for those who choose to seek them.

Savannah is an old city, a city of secrets and shadows. Nearly three hundred years of storms and wars have left her scarred but still standing. When a modern pirate sails into her harbor and McGuire Knight's successful life will he bring the same destruction and pain his ancestors did when the city was young? Can McGuire overcome her own past and its shattering secret to meet this dangerous Spanish sailor with the passion neither can deny? Will her hard won courage be enough to help her break her ties with a second man who isn't at all what he seems and has the power to destroy her world in a different way? In the quest they share to guard the past McGuire and Juan will need more than history to protect them from the danger to their hearts and their lives in today's Savannah.

Review:

McGuire Knight didn’t expect Juan to walk into her life. She had a plan. Settle down with a nice man, who would be a good father, and have kids. Not willing to risk her heart again, she feels this is the only way to go. Until he showed up. Now, she is discovering that passion and love are too important to live without.

Juan has been a shadow of himself since his wife died giving birth two years ago. Losing everything in one day, he merely goes through the motions of living, sure he will never again feel the way he felt about her. Then he walks into an animal shelter and meets McGuire. Everything changes. His soul wakes up again, and maybe he love does still exist for him.

Circumstances bring them together again and again, and it takes neither of them long to realize love at first sight is a strong thing. Life is not always accommodating for it, though. Major obstacles in their lives are trying hard to make their budding romance fizzle before it really gets started.

With good friends willing to intervene when needed, and shady characters trying to accomplish their own ends, this book makes for a good read. A sucker for love at first sight, Corin Castro’s Savannah Storm caught me right away. McGuire is a likeable character who deserves to find true love. Juan is sexy and intense. A strong combination in any romance novel. The secondary characters are interesting, if sometimes a bit stereotypical or obvious, and have been set up nicely for the next books in the series.

There was a drawback for me, though. Throughout the interactions between McGuire and Juan, there is an undercurrent of violence and dominance in their lovemaking. It is subtle; just prominent enough to rub me the wrong way. Passion should be intense, it should take the characters where they have not been before, but for me, that doesn’t include the edge of pain. Well written, Savannah Storm is still a romance worth picking up and it will leave you curious to learn what happens to the other characters in future books. I thank the author for a review copy and I give the book three and a half stars.

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Stone Cold: A Vampire Novel by Mike Denault

Published Synopsis:

Damien Magneson's life is anything but normal. He is part of an innocent vampire family, helping to promote peace, all while secretly working alongside the local government to track and eliminate supernatural threats that may harm society. However, when Damien meets target Aderra Fayre, who is part of a potentially sought-out and labeled family of serial killers, he feels he must protect her. Damien's life changes dramatically, now living in a world filled with constant drama, violence and sacrifice.

Review:

Damien and his family are not ordinary vampires. They are assassin vampires working with the government to keep humans safe from supernatural threats. Until now, Damien has had to sit on the sidelines while his parents, brother and sister tracked down, and often killed, the bad guys. Now, his training is complete and it’s time for him to step up and stand next to his family in this fight against evil.

Unfortunately, things don’t work out according to plan. His very first target gets the better of him and his sister ends up badly hurt. He falls for his next target, Aderra, a suspected serial killer who also happens to be a vampire. Strange, since the government had led him to believe that his family was the last line of vampires in existence. Now, he has to figure out who he can trust, and how to save the day, all while avoiding a certain pesky reporter determined to take them all down.

In Stone Cold: A Vampire Novel by Mike Denault, readers are drawn into a world where the government not only knows about the supernatural world, but also sanctions kills against any creature who proves to be a threat to humans. I always enjoy the premise of vampires being the good guys ridding the world of evil, and I believe the story has a solid foundation to build from.

There were a few things that would have made me enjoy the story a little more, though. There wasn’t a lot of information about the vampires that made me relate to them as individuals, or as a group. I did not know enough of the history of each individual to make me feel as if I knew him or her on a personal level, allowing me to get truly involved in the story. I wanted to know more about what they did from day to day, what they ate, how they managed bloodlust, or all the ways that they were different from humans. Also, Damien’s character seemed a bit immature to be an assassin. Often, his interactions with his parents felt as if he was a petulant child who needed to be watched more closely, rather than be sent out as a trained killer. This said, I would enjoy watching his character grow and mature through a series.

I also found the dialogue to be a troubling area, at times. It tended to bounce back and forth between being a bit long, and at other times, I felt things moved along faster than they should. For example, there was very little dialogue before Damien is convinced to trust Aderra and her family of admittedly evil vampires.

I did enjoy the overall story and feel that the foundation is one that could move in many positive directions. I thank the author for a review copy and I give the book three stars.

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The Wrong Brother by Nancy Brophy

Published synopsis:

Navy SEAL Zack Pritchard is home on leave determined to avoid his brother’s girlfriend, Chloe La Ruse, the object of some pretty erotic fantasies. If he can just avoid her, then walk his sister down the aisle everything will be great or so he thinks.

Unbeknownst to him, his brother, Gordy’s life is in the toilet. He’s dropped out of college, is broke and frustrated. All he wants to do is drive for NASCAR, but in the meantime he’s picked up a gig that promises quick money and is only a little illegal.

Chloe La Ruse’s life revolves around graduate school. Every so often she raises her nose out of a book to notice that her boyfriend hasn’t been around in months, his family hates her, her thesis is incomplete and men only ask her out for one reason. She teaches sex education. She’s counting the days until she can leave.

Many love triangles involving thwarted ambitions, fraternal competition, drugs and racecars work out well. Unfortunately this one has some problems.

Review:

Zack likes being a Navy SEAL. Strange as it seems, his life is uncomplicated. He gets to go to exciting locales and take dangerous risks that get his adrenalin pumping, as well as help keep the country safe. This may leave him as a bad candidate for boyfriend or husband, because SEALS always leave, but that’s okay. He’s not looking. The only downside – the Navy keeps threatening to promote him. Which would take him out of the field and behind a desk, spending his days doing paperwork and training recruits.

Chloe hates her life in Riggers, Texas. Other than Gordy, her almost non-existent boyfriend, sometime boyfriend anyway, she is alone. His family hates her, she’s too busy with graduate school to make friends, and dating has been hell. Men see her body and hear that her major is human sexuality, and they think they have a green light to take her to bed. Who cares if she has a brain and genuinely wants to help people. Basically, her life sucks.

When Zack and Chloe are brought together because Zack’s sister is getting married, both are taken by surprise at their reaction to each other. Zack, because there’s no way he can have a long term relationship while a SEAL, and Chloe, because she’s sure he’s just like his brother and all the other guys she’s dated. Love ‘em and leave ‘em. Without the love part. And, as if their attraction to each other isn’t bad enough, they’re thrown even closer together when a mysterious death affects both of their lives.

People can only hide their feelings for so long, but can people change their whole lives for love? In Nancy Brophy’s The Wrong Brother, the reader is brought on a roller coaster ride to test out this theory. Along the way, there’s humor, family dynamics that don’t sugarcoat how things are instead of should be, and bad guys that want to ruin everything.

About half way through, this romance turns into a murder mystery; and that half is just as good as the first. Nancy Brophy has the ability to turn a whirlwind romance into a refreshing, can’t put it down, do they really have to find the murderer because then the book will end kind of romance. Both Zack and Chloe are realistic characters who are portrayed as smart, independent people who happen to stumble into love. The secondary characters are realistic and interesting, if not always nice. The family issues are far from the typical nuclear family, but they are dealt with as many families deal with them – sometimes with denial, sometimes with frustration, and sometimes, with love. I’m ready to read Nancy Brophy’s next book to see what other characters she has to draw me in like this romance did. I thank the author for a review copy and I give the book five stars.

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Vampires Revealed by Rebekah Harrington

Published Synopsis:

Leave behind your preconceived ideas, forget the horror stories and disregard everything you think you know about vampires.

For centuries the debate has raged; are vampires real? There has been plenty of myth and superstition regarding vampires but not a lot of truth or answers. In a unique piece of work, Bektamun a 3000 year old vampire, puts to rest all the myth and finally reveals the truth about the legendary creatures known across the globe as vampires.

Vampires Revealed is a journey of discovery. Never before have humans had and an opportunity such as this. To know the unadulterated truth, for every question you may have ever had about vampires to be answered.

Review:

Bektamun knows more about vampires than most because she’s been around almost since the very beginning. And now, she wants to share her knowledge, and dispel some myths along the way, with us humans. Told from her point of view, Vampires Revealed is part journal, part instructional manual, and part vampire encyclopedia. All three parts come together to make a fun and enjoyable read.

In Vampires Revealed, Rebekah Harrington has put together quite a combination of folk lore history and fiction. Obviously well researched, her take on vampire society may not always be original, but the reader will come away feeling as if he or she learned some things along the way. Written as a faux informational text, with a healthy amount of anecdotes along the way to keep the reader’s interest, the book is at times fascinating, definitely thought-provoking, and on occasion, humorous. There were instances where I found the text to be repetitive, which caused a couple of parts to drag a little bit, but overall, I found myself enjoying an interesting, and sometimes refreshing, look at vampire mythology. I thank the author for a review copy and I give the book four stars.

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Blood's Voice by Aine Massie

Published synopsis:

Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.

This is the ongoing journey of Anya and Nicholas, human loving vampires and the human they love, Declán. What makes it all more complicated is that they are abominations in their own world and Declán is a natural born vampire hunter called a Guardian.

Anya must come to terms with who she is and her missing past, Nicholas must win back the object of his eternal love while dealing with new cravings in his silent heart, and Declán must learn to destroy the very creatures that he has unequivocally given his heart and blood.

Review:

Anya Millar knows she’s not a normal vampire. She loves humans too much to be a predator. What she doesn’t know is why she can’t remember a thing before waking up in the house of an immortal who has taken her in and cared for her. As Anya begins to piece together the past, with the help of others claiming to be old friends, she finds that some things are better left forgotten.

In an effort to move forward with her life and live in harmony with humans, Anya decides high school would be the best place to start. She hopes to learn to move effortlessly among them, keeping her vampire traits from being too noticeable. But, she ends up introducing a whole new set of problems into her life. She didn’t plan for the mysterious pull one particular human educed from the very first day. Being near him creates a longing so great, it scares her. Her attraction for him continues to grow, which, unfortunately, complicates the new friendships she has formed with his sister and girlfriend. It also complicates her relationship with a particular vampire whom she had once cared for deeply and is also drawn to irresistibly. Balancing her love life is even tougher when other vampires from her past come looking for her – and they don’t care about who they hurt to get to her. Can she protect all those in her unusual circle of friends and family?

Blood’s Voice by Aine Massie is a fresh take on vampires seen through the eyes of a powerful vampire. Having a natural aversion to harming humans doesn’t make the character Anya unique. Neither does her physical strength, or her fear of accidently hurting humans. It’s her unique gift that makes her special; her voice that can control, and be used as a lethal weapon, against her own kind.

Though I enjoyed reading this novel, there were a few things that kept me from giving the book a solid four stars. Declan’s character, the human part of the love triangle that includes Anya and the vampire Nicholas, could have been developed more quickly. He is slow to become a strong figure who can hold his own in a vampire world, as his character is somewhat two dimensional in the beginning. It was difficult through a good portion of the book to really feel his attraction and desire to be with Anya at any cost. He often seemed more like he was caught in a spell, or a vampire weaved web of compulsion, rather than having the feelings come from his heart. Eventually, though, the reader can feel his love and desire for her.

Declan’s draw to Anya, and his blanket accepting of other vampires, is also troublesome because he is supposed to be a Guardian. Someone born to see vampires as evil creatures that need to be hunted down and killed. This character trait is missing completely in Declan, making his Guardian status hard to accept. He readily accepts the vampire world and embraces a developing love of their race when he should have had at least some aversion to being near them.

A good deal of Blood’s Voice is the internal musing of Anya as her memory comes back in pieces. Sometimes she is strong willed and independent, and other times she has childlike insecurities with no control over her emotions. This is definitely reasonable for a person experiencing amnesia. But, the end result for me, was that she seemed unlikely to be a leader among her kind. As this series moves forward, she will probably head more and more in that direction as her insecurities lessen.

Something I truly enjoyed in this novel was the development of the secondary characters. They each had their own quirks and strengths; those meant to be liked are likeable and the ones meant to be disliked have the reader cheering for their demise. Their support and unique personalities mingle exceptionally well with the main characters, helping to make Blood’s Voice a novel that is definitely worth reading.

I thank the author for a review copy and I give the novel three and a half stars.

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Crushed by K. C. Blake

Published synopsis:

The Noah sisters rule Titan High with their beauty, brains, and magical powers.

Each year they play a secret game: Crushed. The girls pick their targets carefully and blow enchanted dust into the boy’s faces, charming them, but this year Kristen makes a grave mistake. She chooses the wrong boy and almost dies that same day. Coincidence? Maybe.

But something isn’t quite right about Zach Bevian. He doesn’t behave like a boy who’s been Crushed. He goes from hot to cold, from looking at her with contempt to asking her out on a date. She doesn’t know what to think. Does he hate her or is he truly falling for her? Is he trying to kill her, or is he trying to save her?

Review:

Kristen and her sisters aren’t ordinary high school students. They’re witches and they have a harmless game they like to play each school year. At least, they think it’s harmless. But, when Kristen tries to charm the wrong guy, something goes terribly wrong. Is he crushed or isn’t he? If he is, then he’s acting differently than anyone else ever has. He runs hot and cold, vacillating between contempt and adoration, and Kristen needs to find out the truth before it’s too late.

Zach is the bad guy around school. Tall, dark and brooding, he wants nothing to do with any of the Noah sisters. So, when Kristen tries to charm him, he’s more than angry. He’s homicidal. He has to decide – is it more important to keep his secret than it is to expose Kristen’s?

Thrown together, the sparks start to fly, but are their feelings real? Or just the work of magic? With family troubles getting in the way, is it even possible to find out?

In Crushed, K. C. Blake gives the reader a paranormal romance that is impossible to resist. The concept of the ultimate bad boy and the perfect princess trying not to fall for each other might not be a new one, but Crushed makes you forget that. From the beginning, the book draws you in and it’s almost impossible to put it down. The dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep prove that. K. C. Blake’s characters come to life immediately, engaging the reader in a fast paced story that will make you love some of the characters and hate others. But, do you love and hate the right ones? You’ll have to wait until the end to find out. Filled with just the right amount of paranormal mystery, near death experiences, teenage angst, sibling rivalry, guilt, disillusionment, hope and love, Crushed is a must read for lovers of YA paranormal romance. I thank the author for providing me with a review copy and I gladly give the book 5 stars.

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Drowned In the Grenadine by Dan Gilvezan

Published synopsis:

Fancy cars, a loving wife, a designer home in the Hollywood Hills. Nathan Lindeman had it all, lost it all, and now he’s desperate to get it back. They say there are no second acts in show business, but they just may be wrong. There’s a new TV series being cast that’s virtually guaranteed to be a success, and Nathan has a shot at snagging one of the lead roles. If, that is, he can survive the perils and pitfalls that threaten to derail him along the way. Follow along on Nathan’s journey, as he deals with teenage casting directors, soulless network execs, ego-maniacal fellow performers, hucksters and thieves, a cast of characters so bizarre and unbelievable they could only be based in reality. By turns, funny, sad, heartbreaking and heartfelt, Drowned in the Grenadine explores America’s fascination with celebrity, the nature of success and what it means to be both a father and a son.

Review:

Nathan Lindeman is determined to make his star shine in Hollywood. He’s had a taste of fame already, which ended all too abruptly, and he wants it back - desperately. He knows the ins and outs of acting. He has a great agent. Now, all he needs is that ever elusive perfect role. Or is his fifteen minutes already up?

To everyone east of the California border, Hollywood is a great and fascinating mystery. A dream world where everyone is fashionable, every day is sunny and careers bloom overnight. The petals on these careers not browning or curling until age and gravity take their toll. Anyone brave enough to breach the border of acting’s Mecca has a chance to have a successful career, if they can just get that first big break. Or, at least, that’s what we all want to believe. There has to be somewhere that all of our dreams can come true, right?

Dan Gilvezan bursts our bubble in Drowned In the Grenadine. He brings us into a world where careers are doomed by not only past failures, but past successes, as well. As an audience, it seems that we are constantly being bombarded with new shows and movies, leading us to believe that things speed along in a blur in the land of glitz and glamour. What we find out in this novel is that things actually move at a snail’s pace; and at any moment, things can change for the better or for the worse. And the Hollywood dream? A mirage created to hide the undercurrent of greed, backstabbing and loss of morals that many ending up swimming in.

As we read about Nathan’s career, it’s easy to see how people get caught up in it. As they say, the show must go on, right? It’s not until the glitz is gone and his world shatters yet again that Nathan realizes that maybe, just maybe, his priorities are as screwed up as his career. Isn’t it more important to be a son, a father and a husband than it is to be a star? At heart, he’s a really nice guy, but his aspirations are getting in the way of his caring about anyone but himself. Will he realize this before it’s too late?

Dan Gilvezan leads us on a Hollywood journey of self-discovery in Drowned In the Grenadine. The issues in the book are not exceptional – anyone who puts work and career ahead of family and love is destined to ultimately be alone and unhappy if they don’t change. But seeing this as his characters traverse the sea of Hollywood gives the reader a unique look into the acting business that the tabloids never do. The illusion is taken down and we are given a tour of auditions, script changes, call backs, contracts, job security and second chances. The reader is torn between feeling sorry for Nathan, and thinking that maybe he got what he deserved. But, should anyone pay forever for past mistakes? By the end of the book, you will be convinced that the answer is no, and you will be rooting Nathan on.

Drowned In the Grenadine is a well written, thought provoking book that will make you laugh in some parts, and wish you could do something to help Nathan in others. Dan Gilvezan draws you into his world and keeps you there until the very last sentence and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I thank the author for a review copy and I give the book five stars.

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