New Review! Spurs by Jules Dixon, 4 Cranky Stars

Spurs by Jules Dixon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



**** 4 Cranky Stars ****

Family matters most to the Taylor family. As long as they're together they can make it through anything.



Grayson Taylor just graduated with his masters in Psychology. While his career path is set his love life is in shambles. Agreeing to spend the summer at home with his family is what he needs.



Grayson has a past that haunts him everyday. It's keeping him from moving forward in life and with his career.

Quote:
“You know my grandmother told me a quote that I think fits lots of things happening in your life right now. I believe it was Emma Smith, ‘Life is like the river, sometimes it sweeps you gently along and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.’ Be prepared for either when two rivers or streets meet, Dr. Taylor.”



Isaac Scott is a true cowboy full of muscle on top of more muscle. He is a wandering soul never staying in one place too long. He finds his summer stop in Valentine Nebraska as the Taylor's new hired hand. One mistake in his past keeps a ghost following him wherever he goes, never allowing him to move forward until Gray.



Quote:
We all make mistakes. It’s the path you choose after that will determine the person you become, not the mistake.



Jules Dixon has an amazing way of showing the reader what true family and unconditional love means. It's not often that I find a book that encompasses the love shared between two people in a true and very real way. Orientation doesn't matter to this reader, as what's in the heart is what really matters.



I wanted to give this book 5 stars but there are some grammatical errors and extra words thrown in that pulled me away from the story. Usually I would mark it down to a 3 for that, but the story and characters are too good for that.



I look forward to reading more from this author.

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New Review! Star Dust by Ali Winters, 3.5 Cranky Stars

Star Dust by Ali Winters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



*** 3.5 Cranky Stars ***

I am in two minds about this book. On the one hand, the book delivers an excellent story line. The strong female lead, Orianna, heir apparent to the planet of Soleil, with two handsome powerful men interested in her, Prince Lucien of Earth and Prince Caelan of Jupiter. She is attracted to one and betrothed to the other.



It is an interesting adventure/mission to quell an intergalactic coup. One man accompanies her on the adventure, while the other stays to take care of his battered planet.



Introductions to fantastical planets, interesting practices and the love triangle all promise an interesting read.



On the other hand, I found that the book rambled in places and detracted from the story line. I found the typos another distraction, as well as incoherent scenes or sentences.



Some of the descriptions of the planets and the palaces were superficial in as much as I did not really get a complete picture of any planet.



I concede that building a whole new world is a daunting task and maybe too much was attempted in the first novel of the series by introducing 6 planets and trying to acclimate the reader to all of them. Maybe it could have been split up.



In saying that, I feel this is still a book worth reading and look forward to the rest of the series.



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New Review! Three, Two, One by J.A. Huss, 5 Cranky Stars

Three, Two, One by J.A. Huss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

3,2,1 by JA Huss

***5 cranky stars***
This was a mind blow, brought me to my knees on several occasions, and had me in sinful thought overload. Hot doesn’t even describe the relationship that ensues between Ark, JD and Blue.

Ark and JD are business partners in the sex industry and best friends. Complete opposites, yet it works to their advantage in so many ways. Tragic pasts, addictions, and lost loves can make a man change his ways, whether good or bad.

When fate brings Blue into their path, it’s the start of a trio that will knock you out. Love, lust and sin…all rolled into one overpowering surge of emotion. It’s a powerful story of love and what that love can do to help heal a broken or lost heart.



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New Review! Insta-Hate by C.L. Bond, 4 Cranky Stars

Insta-Hate by C.L. Bond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I give this 4 cranky stars. This is the story of an introverted bitchy writer and an online matchmaker company partner. Each has a rocky past.


When Alexandria and Arsen meet it was the proverbial sparks fly. It was also almost literal when she pulled a taser on him. Like I said she was cranky and didn't like to be touched.



Both are dealing with past issues Lex was a bit more complicated. The story starts with Lex losing her crap in an epic way when her manager wants her to sign a 12 book deal she doesn't want to write.

Arsen co owns a matchmaking service, think Millionaire Matchmaker, they developed a computer program that uses deep psychology to match people. He was coasting through his life just happy making others happy and volunteers to guest speak at a college course on love.



This is where they meet again and once again he knew her from somewhere and she didn't understand why they clicked because Lex doesn't believe in love and Arsen makes his living on finding people love.

At first I thought ok this book is good, but not sparking for me. Then I started noticing little clues and then I caught the answer. I was interested to see how this played out. It was different and the twists were rollercoaster worthy.



A few spots I wanted to strangle Lex but I got her mentality after all was revealed. Arsen was a major jerk at times and was stubborn. With a cast of quirky friends and family this book works. A few sad moments and a few funny. Like her witty coffee mug collection and Ren and his nut scape (it may or may not be what you think).



With a nice epilogue to wrap it up in a pretty bow this was a good read.


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RELEASE BLITZ AND REVIEW -- C.L Bond's INSTA-HATE

Title: Insta-Hate Author: C.L. Bond 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Cover Designer: Regina Wamba at Mae I Design and Photography 
Models: Nathan Weller and Layla Hill 
Photographer: Dark Feather Photog 
Interior Design: Allyson Gottlieb, Athena Book Designs 
Editor: Stacy Sanford, The Girl with the Red Pen 
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb: 

When Alexandria Ray’s romance series becomes an overnight sensation, the world and its demands close in on her. After years of struggling to maintain the pace her publisher, agent and the world expects, she needs a break. Enrolling as a student at Columbia University is step one to finding herself again. Finding Arsen Daniel was not on her list.

Arsen Daniel, along with his best friend, built an empire in the form of an exclusive, psychology-based dating service. When an old friend invites him to teach a course at Columbia, he accepts. The course? The Psychology of Love.  Sounds simple enough and the publicity alone will make it worth his time.

Arsen didn’t expect to meet his match in the form of a sarcastic blonde, hell bent on holding to her belief that true love doesn’t actually exist. After all, what woman, especially a world-renowned romance writer, doesn’t believe in happily ever after?

Something in Alexandria’s eyes tortures him. She reminds him of someone from his past and that is a very bad thing.

REVIEW:

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction. You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links: 

Website: www.authorcaseybond.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg

Buy Links:  

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/21Pxek8

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FCQUO5M

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FCQUO5M

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01FCQUO5M

“Do you want to grab a seat for a few minutes?” he asked.

I looked around and the place was mostly deserted. “Sure.” We settled in two comfortable padded chairs. “For the record, I don’t want to do any of the things Jillian has planned.”

He smiled. “How else do you plan to prove your point?”

“My point will be easily proven. Love doesn’t exist.” I stared at his lips. The bottom was slightly plumper than the top. His blue dress shirt was rolled to the elbows. And his forearms were toned. Damn it. Why should men have forearms like that? Why? They flexed when he raised his cup to his lips, and then flexed again when he sat it back onto the table.

“Why would any woman want that to be true?” he challenged, one brow arching up.

“I don’t want it to be true, it just is.”

His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you know? Forget the assignment, forget proving a hypothesis and this damn paper. How do you know? Why do you think that?”

I swallowed. “Because if I’ve ever felt it, I don’t remember it.” His brows furrowed and he parted his lips to say something, but never did. What could anyone say to that? 

New Review! Darkest Before Dawn by Ava Vixon

Darkest Before Dawn by Ava Vixion
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



**** 4 Cranky Stars ****

Ferrian is a young woman whose life had been doomed from the day she was born.

Her birth mother had been killed in front of her when she was but a child. Her foster mother suffered the same fate, resulting to Ferrian making a vow to never love again or allow anyone to get close to her. Years passed and she managed to turn herself into a shadow, an invisible person amidst the crowd living day in and day out.

She was almost successful with this promise to herself...until she met her guardian angel face to face. Remiel had been in the background all her life, silently watching over her but never allowed to interfere. Over the years he’d witnessed her struggles and all the heartaches she’d endured. Then one day, the girl turned into a woman and the angel found himself falling.

Ok, I’ll stop there to avoid telling the whole story in this review. What I can tell you is that this story is full of action sequence with some steamy scenes thrown in here and there. If you like gorgeous angels coming to save the day complete with wings and all and damsel in distress who kicks butt before they get saved then this is a story for you.

No, Ferrian didn’t have superpowers to begin with, she just had guts with nothing to lose and had actually found herself beaten to death several times throughout the book.

No, Remi, her guardian angel isn’t useless for not protecting her from harm all the time. He’s just not allowed to interfere with her life and the path she had to take to evolve to the person she needed to be.

Now, IF ONLY Remi just told that exact words to Ferrian in the beginning rather than trying to give her the words without coming outright with them, it would have saved her loads of heartache and me yelling at the book, shouting “Just Tell Her!!!”

There were also a couple of moments where the pace lagged behind and seemed to have lost track of the plot. Only to pick up once again and engaged me into reading further.

One disturbing aspect was scattered throughout the story was a feeling that the way of telling sounded very much like a popular vampire series from another author involving big, gorgeous males who would protect their loved-ones to the death with their black daggers.

Yet, all in all it’s a good start to the series. Now, to check out the next book...


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