Run From Fear: Forever's Romantic Suspense Blog Tour Part 2

Run From Fear by Jami Alden is a thrilling and chilling read about Talia Vega as she continues to try to rebuild her life after the nightmarish experiences that she has had  that left her scarred in body and mind.  Jack Brooks has watched her from afar, fearing to reveal to her the strength of his attraction to her even as he strives to keep her protected.  Talia’s actions have revolved around protecting her sister Rosie and trying to overcome the nightmares from her past but she has no idea that Jack has been in the background for the past two years, waiting for her to heal.  Eerie occurrences that rekindle the horrors from her past cause Talia to discover that her feelings of security may have been built on a fragile web of deception and someone is out to terrorize her yet again.  She has to decide whether to trust and open up her heart to Jack who has his own wounded past to deal with even as she fights against the evil that threatens all she has worked so hard to overcome.

A suspenseful and gripping tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat even as you root for Jack to find a way to reach Talia’s heart.  The horrors experienced by Talia have scarred her but not yet destroyed her but one wonders how much any one person can overcome.  Some of the secondary characters are somewhat two-dimensional and there seem to be some inconsistencies in the villain’s behavior at the end which is a bit rushed and more condensed than I would have liked but overall this was a very entertaining read.  The touching and passion-filled love scenes are nicely contrasted with frightening and creepy descriptions that seesaw the reader’s emotions as the tension gets wound tighter and tighter.  A mesmerizing read that will garner more fans for a talented author.

Please see the SOS Aloha blog for a giveaway of this enjoyable title at this link.

I was provided an ARC of the work in return for an honest review.

Play Nice

Play Nice by Gemma Halliday was an entertaining action-filled tale that follows a former assassin who fled the upheavals in her country and sought refuge in a commonplace life in San Francisco.  Unfortunately, her past associations are not ready to release her from service, no matter how much time has elapsed.  The former hunter becomes the hunted but complications abound when it turns out there are two different factions seeking to destroy her and the 'enemy of my enemy is temporarily my friend' rule snaps into effect.  An intriguing tale filled with action and adventure that hopefully is the beginning of a series.  There are a few inconsistencies for me (like having bullets in a magazine clip vs. chambered in the gun and that "Jack Bauer" recuperative power displayed by the hero) but it was still a very entertaining read.  My Goodreads review is at this link.


Thank you to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing and SOS Aloha

A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing by Terry Spears is featured today at the SOS Aloha blog with an intriguing interview at this link.  Terry Spear is a prolific author with a wonderful series of urban fantasy tales about wolf-shifters as well as Scottish Medieval Romances and modern tales such as Deadly Fortunes.  Check out those beautiful covers and be on the lookout for her greatly anticipated jaguar shifters series.  Her website is here and her blog (great picture of wolves!) is at this link.  Happy reading!

If You Know Her

“If You Know Her” by Shiloh Walker is a great finish to an intriguing series.  I tend to prefer reading print works over e-books but I just had to know who the killer was so this one got moved up to top of the pile of my review books!  I was not disappointed.  Ms Walker is wonderful at creating complex multi-dimensional characters who make me invested in their happiness even as I groan at the stupid mistakes or stubborn behavior they display.  The women in this series are so different from each other (and I am still pondering the difficulties of being a blind chef since I can't seem to cook very well even with the ability to see!) but they each find a way to overcome their handicaps and find very unique men to complete their worlds.  The evil displayed by the killer (I will never look at pottery the same way) is creepy and disturbing and makes one really anxious that the clues are understood correctly and that the good guys win.  Kudos to Ms Walker for creating such an entertaining series and for not making us wait years for a resolution.  My Amazon review is at this link under ELF2060.

As always, I would appreciated a "yes" this was helpful if you are willing.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a temporary copy for review.

Adult readers only please

Please only continue reading this if you are over 18.

For those who like a little spice in their reads and don't mind short tales in digital form...Delilah Devlin's short menage story Two Hot is free on Amazon until Monday.  My Amazon review (under ELF2060) is at this link.  She also has a slightly longer erotica tale Lone Heart:  A Red Hot Weekend that was a great read.  My Amazon review is at this link.

Other spicy and sometimes kinky tales that I have read recently include Beth Kery's Take A Stranger No More link
Kate Pearce's Captive Mail (third in a trilogy) link
and
Desiree Holt's Lust Becomes You.  My Night Owl Review is at this link.

All of these were very quick reads but if you are a little squeamish and don't appreciate multiple partner stories or a bit of BDSM they are definitely not for you.

Ok...back to If You Know Her by Shiloh Walker...a terrific read so far, just as the others have been.  Sigh, can't sit and vegetate and finish it because we are traveling but I think I will be going to sleep pretty late tonight!


All titles were provided to me in return for an honest review.

The Lord of Illusion

The Lord of Illusion by Kathryne Kennedy is the third (and final?) book in her 'Elven Lords' trilogy.  It has all of the requisite elements of a fantasy story, the hero who is misunderstood, the damaged and oppressed heroine that he needs to rescue, a quest that will change the world as they know it, elves, dragons, fantastical castles, magic, evil villains, etc.  but somehow it isn't quite as gripping as Beneath the Thirteen Moons was for me.  I think that is is possible that there should have been as many books as there are scepters (7) and for some reason this just wasn't to be so a lot of facts and action is summarily squished into this volume so that the series became a trilogy for some reason.  Nonetheless, it is an entertaining and creative story and most of the major issues are resolved although personally, I would have liked to have gotten to know the dragons better, lol.  My Goodreads review is at this link.

I was fortunate to win a copy of this from the SOS Aloha blog (thank you!) and downloaded a copy from Netgalley (provided temporarily) in order to review it in a timely manner.

Pocket After Dark and musings about Amazon

For those of you who are willing to read e-books (sorry, Mary)...and I have been surprised to discover that there are quite a few who prefer this format...I suggest that you join the Pocket After Dark site.  Unfortunately, I tend to keep a lot of titles on my TBR plate so I forget to return to the site as often as I should but there are usually one or two titles that they offer for a limited time to be read in their entirety plus snippets from other books.  Right now they have Karen Robards' Justice and J.F. Lewis' Crossed available for a limited time.  I have a preference for the printed book so e-books tend to go to the end of my queue but this is a great way to get to know new authors.  Fortunately, my local libraries are very good about adding a wide variety of genres to their collections so it is very rare that I lack for new titles to read.

This leads me to the discovery that Patricia Briggs' new title Fair Game got released yesterday and my displeasure with Amazon!  I very rarely buy hardcover books.  It is not cost effective for me and as I said, the local libraries are pretty good about getting new titles in a timely manner and my TBR pile is so enormous that it is pretty hard to keep up with all of the series that I read and keep up with the review books that I peruse.  That being said, Patty Briggs is one of a handful of authors that I purchase in hardback.  Those who have read much of my blog know that I am frugal so it is rare that I buy things without a coupon or other discount but I was fortunate to receive several credits on Amazon and I pre-ordered Fair Game in OCTOBER!!!!  I was a bit annoyed to read someone's post about receiving their Kindle version yesterday and to look at my account and realize that my copy hasn't even shipped yet!  Now, I understand that sometimes copies aren't available but this is on the heels of having to wait to receive my copy of Tamora Pierce's Mastiff about THREE WEEKS after it was released.  Another copy that I had pre-ordered.  I am not pleased.  I realize that I am falling into the whine of those who like instant gratification but I think that given that I have 'gotten in line' months before the release and I know that copies are often released to booksellers early (after all, how could they have them stocked on the shelves on the pertinent days otherwise)...why aren't they shipped so that they arrive on or just after the release date?

What is the point of buying through Amazon?  I can't look at the book and make sure it is pristine (and yes, I am one of those obsessive people who like my bookcovers to be nice and unwrinkled, the corners of the book undamaged, etc.) and now it seems I can't even get the book when it is first released.  I am going to have to ponder and decide whether to trade my allegiance to Barnes and Noble (I was an ardent supporter of Waldenbooks/Borders).  Ok, will climb down off of my soapbox now...but I reserve the right to grumble....