Izy

Rating ~ 4.5 stars.
Review coming soon.

Rating ~ 4.5 stars.

I have really liked Victoria Parker's other harlequin books so when I saw that this month she had another release, I jumped to buy it.

This story is about Nicandro Santos (Nic) and Olympia Merisi (Pia). Nic wants to destroy Pia's father's life and business because of what he did to destroy his parents and the Santos empire. So for the last 10 years or so Nic changed his name, climbed the ladder and become a billionaire with the sole focus of destroying Zeus starting with the gentlemens club. Nic meets Pia there, we see an obvious attraction there and I really enjoyed some of there banter. Pia unlike other harlequin heroines is not some virginal heroine and a princess who doesnt understand the real world. She is very much a business women, confident and successful though she chooses to hide her identity in the business world.

Nic and Pia make a bet after which we see new sides to both Pia and Nic who are trying hard not to let their guard down and show any weakness to the other while falling in love. Which leads to the past coming back to haunting them.

Minor quibbles: After Pia leaves and then Nic returns to her I was slightly annoyed that he leaves and agrees to marry another women for the company when while knowing he loved Pia Whats up with that? and I also felt like Nic should have a done a bit more groveling.

Rating ~ 3.75 Stars Avg. 

This anthology is by Four author who have successful PNR series going on and it so happens, I've read all those series and really liked them so when I saw that they had a book coming out it was no brainier to get it. 

General synopsis of the series is that they are two species, the Incubi and the Nephilim who need each other to procreate and their survival since the Incubi are all males and the Nephilim all females. Most of this procreation does not happen as a result of mating but in harem where some Nephilim are chosen to serve the Incubi and carry the children, the female children are kept by the Nephilim and the males ones by the Incubi. The Incubi's have masters of houses (hence the name of the book) and in this anthology we see four of the masters find their 'mates' and fall in love or vice versa. So all the books have a certain element of instant love/sexual attraction since they are all relatively short. And without which I don't think the stories would have worked so well. The books should also be read in order to understand since they precede the events of the previous books and help to understand the Arch of the series. 

Merciless: House of Gravori by Lara Adrian: Rating~ 3.5 stars. 
This is the first story in the book and where we meet Devlin (Master of the Incubi house Gravori) and Nahiri (a Nephilim blade, a warrior of Nephilim. Devlin visits the temple where three Nephilim priestesses hold court, he wants vengeance for his brothers death and since the priestesses don't give the truth he kidnaps Nahiri to avenge his brother's death but this leads him to falling in love and finding out the conspiracy, that is the overarching plot of the whole series. 

Soulless: House of Romerac by Donna Grant: Rating ~ 4 stars.
This story is Canaan (Master of Romerac) who escapes from the prison where he was kept for the last five hundred years because of his brothers betrayal and Rayna (a Nephilim) who leaves her family to live in a small village because she does not want to be 'chosen' for the harem like her twin sister. Rayna helps Canaan reach his home and during this time they grew close and fall in love.

Shameless: House of Vipera by Laura Wright: Rating ~ 3 stars
This story is slightly different as Scarus (Master of Vipera) is growing weak because he has not had sex since the Nephilim he had a child with died and hence is visiting the harem where he meets Rosamund (a Nephilim) who does not want to be in the harem but rather with her human boyfriend who she left when she was chosen hence she changes her appearance to appear dirty and ugly like the witch from snow white :P and is waiting for the year to be over so that she could go back her human. Scarus and Rosamund share a connection when they meet even though they both don't want to. The only thing that bugged me about this was after waiting almost an year to return to her human Rosamund quickly falls in love with Scarus, it made her seem a bit fickle in my opinion. 

Ruthless: House of Xanthe by Alexandra Ivy: Rating ~ 4 stars
Jian (Master of Xanthe) is an spy who is looking into the conspiracy and gathering information on it when he ends up in the gate leading to the prison where Canaan was kept and meets Muriel (the Mistress of the prison) who we meet in the second book in the series. They unearth some secrets while trying to escape the prison and falling in love. 

The stories are all relatively short, enjoyable and easy to read. It also did not take very long to finish reading all of them. 

Rating~3.5 stars.

This is the kind of book you want to read when your traveling, on holiday or really need a break from all the angsty and emotional roller coaster books. Even though the blurb makes it sound like there will be alot of angst with regards to Laine being in love with her sisters boyfriend and Kyle's best friend (Brad), this is not the case. 

Its a funny and light hearted read about Laine (a lwayer) who has low self esteem and confidence in everyday life while having great confidence and proud of the work she does and Kyle (a journalist) who is a manwhore when we are first introduced to him but later we learn the reasons why (which always makes sense to the guy in the book 

That his father was a cheater and so he would be one too so he doesnt want to get too close

(show spoiler)

but really it doesnt) Moving on Kyle and Laine meet on a setup date by Brad and later on become best friends and lovers. There are some hilarious moments and some that make you go 'Awwww'. 

The only hiccup i had was i did not really understand why Laine was being submissive to her family but god they were spiteful and treated Laine in a behavior not unlike you would to a unwanted animal when she hadnt done anything wrong, if anything they should be nicer to her because it wasnt her fault that her mother was a gold digger and wanted to marry a rich guy, Laine father

who turned out to be a serial rapist  

(show spoiler)

why would Laine even want them to a be part of her life was beyond me. Nevertheless the book leaves you with a huge simile and a happy sigh.

Quick Review

Rating~ 3 Stars

Shane Quesada and Maya who we meet both in the last book seem interesting characters especially Shane so I was looking forward to their story since they are completely opposite in their demeanor. While Maya is not the spoiled/ childish brat we think she is from the last book she does some questionable behavior and makes stupid choices which was annoyed me and it took me days to finish the book. Eventually I got passed it. This book is low on angst though which a plus because now a days that is hard to find. 

Minor quibble: Apart from Maya's behavior I expected a bit more of why she did not remember her human life than the reason given. 

I was really excited before this book came out and though i liked it, I didn't like it as much as I'd hope I would (hate when that happens). 

Nevertheless I will read the next book in the series which is about the DJ, Sabine and her werewolf prince Killian Vampires Never Cry Wolf because we see some sparks and some animosity there which I do like to read.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review
Rating~ 4.25 Stars

Sometimes your just minding your own business looking for good book to read and BAAM you find a book you really love so what do you do next, get the next one in the series obviously!!! Especially if its by Lauren Layne cause I am pretty sure now that she can write anything and I'll read it. 

Meet Olivia Middleton who was kind of the bad guy in the last book in the prequel 'Isn't She Lovely', Ethan's ex-girlfriend and Paul Langdon who is a war veteran, a recluse, disfurged, damaged and so not the old guy Olivia thought she was going to be taken care of to earn  penance. Both of the characters are fighting their own demons and drowning in guilt hence the title 'BROKEN' because in all honestly that's what they believe they are. 

But the difference that's obvious from the first page is that that Olivia wants to fix herself and stop being that person she was while Paul does not want that at all and does not want Olivia to help him because he doesn't need any. 

Pauls father forces him to accept 'care giving' from Olivia as a one last chance to bring back to life and from then on we see witty banter, some catty comments, some sweet moments, pushing and hurting each other ,some emotional moments and through all this falling in LOVE. With Paul finally feeling hope because of Olivia.   

 Paul: "She makes me forget to breathe. She makes me forget everything."

This book is a roller coaster ride that makes you glad you experienced it which ends with leaving you with a simile,happy and content.  
Minor quibble: I do wish Lauren Layne had given us an epilogue.Other than that I 'hope' you read the book as soon as it releases. Happy reading.   

Rating ~ 4 stars 

So guess what I wrote this review and poof the next thing you know its all gone and none of it was saved *sigh* This is a summary of that review now since I am not going to write the whole thing again. 

IF you are a fan of Lauren layne's Sex, love and Stiletto series you will definitely enjoy this NA book/series as well. 

This story is about Ethan Price ('nauseatingly charming' in Stephanie's words) and Stephanie Kendrick ('goth' in Ethan's words) who are going through a rough patch in their life and though they are poles apart in their personalities they are both rebelling in their own way, trying to move on and mostly importantly i felt trying to forget. They are both attending a summer class/project in which they chose to be partners I know a such a cliche plot right ? but it works, more than that its fun, engaging and entertaining to read. 

From the first moment they meet where they exchange barbs by stereotyping one another to the end, this reader was never bored and you feel for both of what they went through and their struggles. Some of the NA books can be shallow but that was not the case with this one.

Minor quibbles (view spoiler) Alls well that ends well. 

I enjoyed this book so much that I requested the second of the series so I am off to read that one now. 

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review

Rating~ 4.25 Stars

Sometimes your just minding your own business looking for good book to read and BAAM you find a book you really love so what do you do next, get the next one in the series obviously!!! Especially if its by Lauren Layne cause I am pretty sure now that she can write anything and I'll read it.

Meet Olivia Middleton who was kind of the bad guy in the last book in the prequel [b:Isn't She Lovely|17883712|Isn't She Lovely (Redemption, #0.5)|Lauren Layne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1369776091s/17883712.jpg|25046741] ,Ethan's ex-girlfriend and Paul Langdon who is a war veteran, a recluse, disfurged, damaged and so not the old guy Olivia thought she was going to be taken care of to earn penance. Both of the characters are fighting their own demons and drowning in guilt hence the title 'BROKEN' because in all honestly that's what they believe they are.



But the difference that's obvious from the first page is that that Olivia wants to fix herself and stop being that person she was while Paul does not want that at all and does not want Olivia to help him because he doesn't need any.



Pauls father forces him to accept 'care giving' from Olivia as a one last chance to bring back to life and from then on we see witty banter, some catty comments, some sweet moments, pushing and hurting each other ,some emotional moments and through all this falling in LOVE. With Paul finally feeling hope because of Olivia.



Paul: "She makes me forget to breathe. She makes me forget everything."

This book is a roller coaster ride that makes you glad you experienced it which ends with leaving you with a simile,happy and content.

Minor quibble: I do wish Lauren Layne had given us an epilogue.Other than that I 'hope' you read the book as soon as it releases. Happy reading.

Rating ~ 4.25 Stars.

Jimmy Ferris is the bad boy lead singer of the band stage dive, a recovering addict, overall in his words:


Lena Morrissey in the prologue is a receptionist who feels like:


chosen by our one and only resident crazy MAL to be Jimmy's live-in assistant/ sobriety companion. I LOVED Lena because she is:

which is refreshing for an heroine.

Forward to a month and a half later later Jimmy and Lena are friends....well sort of:

Jimmy: "Didn't I tell you to go away?"
Lena: "You're always telling me to go away. I'd be half way to the Yukon by now if I actually ever listened to you."

Lena (internal monologue about Jimmy): His smile, oh god his smile, I wanted to wipe it off his face with a pickaxe. I'd be gentle, you could trust me.

Lena and Jimmy are both attracted to each other but Jimmy doesn't do relationships and he doesn't want to ruin their friendship because apart from the band members and their significant others, Lena is his only friend. When he finds out about Lena having a crush on him he comes with this 'great idea' a list to get Lena to get over him:

Jimmy's guide to make someone get over you:

1. Guilt trip them into actually doing the list.
2. Force them to see other people.
3. Get them to focus on your flaws.
4. Get them to try something new, set up girls night out so that they enjoy life etc.
5. when all else fails, agree to sleep with them, to help them get you out of their system you know for their benefit

This was so helpful Jimmy NOT !!

The story is filled with some laugh out loud moments, witty banter, a couple who go from being strangers to friends to best friends to lovers and some serious moments when dealing with a parent who doesn't care at all about you. I loved Jimmy, from his jealousy to his narcissistic behavior and Lena from her sweet tooth to her sass.

I've read this book two times since it came out which was about a week ago this shows how much I loved it. I can't wait for Ben's book.

Minor quibbles: Firstly I didn't like the fact that the band members and others were more caring about jimmy and Lena hurting him than the other way though I get it, they had known jimmy longer and was family to them still....and the fact that no one called or anything when she left jimmy. Secondly a bit more groveling from Jimmy towards the end would have been nicer, Lena should have made him beg for it a little bit longer. Other than that it was a thoroughly entertaining and a wonderful read.


The day I found out about this

ARC provided by publisher via netgalley for an honest review

Rating~ 3 Stars. (liked it)

This is a fairly short book is about a witch Nevana and the werewolf Drew. I liked the blurb of the book hence the reason I requested it not knowing that it was part of a series.

The story follows Nevena a cursed witch when she is chosen to take on the demon in possession of a follow witch and meets a werewolf cop Drew and the rest of the characters from the previous books. Drew and Nevena get stuck together because of the curse. We see a definite connection between Nevena and Drew but it was very new and the relationship if you call it that could have been executed a bit better. I would have liked a bit more information about Drew since apart from the readers knowing that Drew was a werewolf and a cop we know next to nothing about his life before the curse unlike Nevena's who comes across as warrior but at the same time we see a bit of vulnerability which made me like her. The conflict and resolution of the story was done fairly well and the story had a good plot device.

Though the story has all the makings of a paranormal romance book it actually felt more like a urban fantasy Liked it since the romance part of the book lacked a bit because of it being a short book and the fact that they met about 2 days ago and we get more information from Nevena's point of view and her being a enforcer. When I requested the book I didn't know that it was part of a series that's my fault and hence I didn't know what had happened to Hadley or what the witches had done. Though it could be read as a standalone but I think reading previous books would helped understand why the werewolves hated witches and why they wanted to enslave them, I would enjoyed the book more.

Minor quibbles; Though we get a chapter at end which could be read as an epilogue with main characters of other books appearing since this is the last book in the series. I would have liked an actual epilogue that focused more on the couple in the book that with some of answere to questions left unanswered such as nevena being a hemophiliac as she said before she didn't know if would live long and why her blood was of such importance to the demon.

Overall: It was a enjoyable read that did not take much time to finish.

Rating~ 3.75 stars
Just a Quick review:

The author even after six books of this spin-off and its original series still manages to makes the story interesting and keep the series alive.
I did have a slight problem with Laura because though at the start she came of as very likable soon after the 50% or some mark she started having doubt and started doing she own thing annoyed me a little but overall she was fine but I loved Charon though has his own issue for not trusting Laura even when he should have.

Rating ~ 4 stars

So guess what I wrote this review and poof the next thing you know its all gone and none of it was saved *sigh* This is a summary of that review now since I am not going to write the whole thing again.

IF you are a fan of Lauren layne's Sex, love and Stiletto series you will definitely enjoy this NA book/series as well.

This story is about Ethan Price ('nauseatingly charming' in Stephanie's words) and Stephanie Kendrick ('goth' in Ethan's words) who are going through a rough patch in their life and though they are poles apart in their personalities they are both rebelling in their own way, trying to move on and mostly importantly i felt trying to forget. They are both attending a summer class/project in which they chose to be partners I know a such a cliche plot right ? but it works, more than that its fun, engaging and entertaining to read.

From the first moment they meet where they exchange barbs by stereotyping one another to the end, this reader was never bored and you feel for both of what they went through and their struggles. Some of the NA books can be shallow but that was not the case with this one.

Minor quibbles I didnt quite understand the way Ethan behaves so appalling to Stephanie since couple of chapters a go he told her that he prefers her now and as a goth and since that was what attracted him to her in the first place his sudden disgust was frankly annoying and disappointing so was the fact when he met Olivia after moths the whole staring at her while ignoring Stephanie but Alls well that ends well.

I enjoyed this book so much that I requested the second of the series so I am off to read that one now..[b:Broken|21408690|Broken (Redemption, #1)|Lauren Layne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396705644s/21408690.jpg|33027161]

Rating ~ 3.75 Stars Avg.

This anthology is by Four author who have successful PNR series going on and it so happens, I've read all those series and really liked them so when I saw that they had a book coming out it was no brainier to get it.

General synopsis of the series is that they are two species, the Incubi and the Nephilim who need each other to procreate and their survival since the Incubi are all males and the Nephilim all females. Most of this procreation does not happen as a result of mating but in harem where some Nephilim are chosen to serve the Incubi and carry the children, the female children are kept by the Nephilim and the males ones by the Incubi. The Incubi's have masters of houses (hence the name of the book) and in this anthology we see four of the masters find their 'mates' and fall in love or vice versa. So all the books have a certain element of instant love/sexual attraction since they are all relatively short. And without which I don't think the stories would have worked so well. The books should also be read in order to understand since they precede the events of the previous books and help to understand the Arch of the series.

Merciless: House of Gravori by Lara Adrian: Rating~ 3.5 stars.
This is the first story in the book and where we meet Devlin (Master of the Incubi house Gravori) and Nahiri (a Nephilim blade, a warrior of Nephilim. Devlin visits the temple where three Nephilim priestesses hold court, he wants vengeance for his brothers death and since the priestesses don't give the truth he kidnaps Nahiri to avenge his brother's death but this leads him to falling in love and finding out the conspiracy, that is the overarching plot of the whole series.

Soulless: House of Romerac by Donna Grant: Rating ~ 4 stars.
This story is Canaan (Master of Romerac) who escapes from the prison where he was kept for the last five hundred years because of his brothers betrayal and Rayna (a Nephilim) who leaves her family to live in a small village because she does not want to be 'chosen' for the harem like her twin sister. Rayna helps Canaan reach his home and during this time they grew close and fall in love.

Shameless: House of Vipera by Laura Wright: Rating ~ 3 stars
This story is slightly different as Scarus (Master of Vipera) is growing weak because he has not had sex since the Nephilim he had a child with died and hence is visiting the harem where he meets Rosamund (a Nephilim) who does not want to be in the harem but rather with her human boyfriend who she left when she was chosen hence she changes her appearance to appear dirty and ugly like the witch from snow white :P and is waiting for the year to be over so that she could go back her human. Scarus and Rosamund share a connection when they meet even though they both don't want to. The only thing that bugged me about this was after waiting almost an year to return to her human Rosamund quickly falls in love with Scarus, it made her seem a bit fickle in my opinion.

Ruthless: House of Xanthe by Alexandra Ivy: Rating ~ 4 stars
Jian (Master of Xanthe) is an spy who is looking into the conspiracy and gathering information on it when he ends up in the gate leading to the prison where Canaan was kept and meets Muriel (the Mistress of the prison) who we meet in the second book in the series. They unearth some secrets while trying to escape the prison and falling in love.

The stories are all relatively short, enjoyable and easy to read. It also did not take very long to finish reading all of them.

Quick Review

Rating~ 3 Stars

Shane Quesada and Maya who we meet both in the last book seem interesting characters especially Shane so I was looking forward to their story since they are completely opposite in their demeanor. While Maya is not the spoiled/ childish brat we think she is from the last book she does some questionable behavior and makes stupid choices which was annoyed me and it took me days to finish the book. Eventually I got passed it. This book is low on angst though which a plus because now a days that is hard to find.

Minor quibble: Apart from Maya's behavior I expected a bit more of why she did not remember her human life, even with the flashback in which we see her life as a child but not much of her as a adult which left some unanswered questions, or maybe they did and I don't seem to remember.

I was really excited before this book came out and though i liked it, I didn't like it as much as I'd hope I would (hate when that happens)

Nevertheless I will read the next book in the series which is about the DJ, Sabine and her werewolf prince Killian [b:Vampires Never Cry Wolf|22046472|Vampires Never Cry Wolf (Dead in the City, #3)|Sara Humphreys|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401297204s/22046472.jpg|41371110] because we see some sparks and some animosity there which I do like to read.

I stopped reading after harsh walks in on Carson and nikodemius doing it until then I was continuing because i wanted to finish this book I don't like not finishing books but then that scene weirded me out and made me realize that this book includes a menage a trois which isn't what I read. The book should say it's,an erotica or something I hadn't read the reviews before I stopped so I had no clue. At the start I felt the character felt really numb but I was attributing that fact to her having migraines and dying so I don't know if that continues on later in book. Also from what I read homogenous didn't seem like the guy who was going to be okay with Carson being with someone else but to find that later on it is IS -_- and him having control over her is also creepy, to quote from the book he says "you'll be my creature afterwards" and that's not weird at all even if it does to keep her alive the fact he has literally control over her actions didn't sit well with me. But to each it's own, every reader has a different take and opinion about the book they read and some people have really liked it so if anyone wanted to try it they should give a try.

Review date: 02 Aug 2014

Here's the deal, you wait for a book to come out for TWO years and when it release your all like:


While it was good since its written by JLA it always is. I expected a bit more of umm spazz or something more banter/ more Assholeness. Especially since book 1 and book two were really great.

Some random thoughts:

Though the book has all the right stuff for a good contemporary humor/sexy times/Asshole or bad boy hero....you know how the list goes. It just missed some things for me that could have made it a great read. I also would have liked Alana to have shown a bit more of a the uptight and prissy side in the book (don't judge me, that's what made her different) though I get that she was in danger, frightened and because of the plot line we didn't get to see that side I just missed it. It was still enjoyable, fun to read and I would recommend to the series fans since we have all been waiting for this book for a long time.