Review: Resist Me by Lauren Connolly 4 of 5 stars

Resist Me by Lauren Connolly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Independent woman Luna Lamont discovers she has a surprise inheritance but it is on the condition that she marry and so she is willing to walk away from it even if that then means her awful father gets it. Then she realises that it could actually mean she can buy her twin brother's freedom from a crime boss and so she rethinks it. So she starts to think about who would be willing to help her. Salesman Charlie Keller literally falls for Luna as soon as he sees her. More accidents in her presence happen but they are the same wedding party and so can't avoid each other initially. To his surprise, Luna then proposes a marriage of their own.

I really enjoyed this story with the sassy Luna doing everything she could to resist her pull to Charlie together with Charlie doing his best to support her while waging a slow war of attrition to get her to see him as the man she could love and have a partnership with. I loved the dog Pig and how central to the story she was at times. I was really rooting for Charlie in the end and so was thrilled when Luna could no longer resist his pull. Easy to read and understand, it was a captivating story that pulled me along with the story. Contains some light mature content.

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Review: I, Bionic: A Sci-Fi Romcom by Jess K. Hardy 4 of 5 stars

I, Bionic: A Sci-Fi Romcom by Jess K. Hardy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elanie is a half-human bionic and has installed a hormone upgrade which then gives her tumultuous emotions and changing emotions as if she were going through puberty. It is also a little difficult for her as she works in housekeeping on the deep space pleasure cruise, the Ignisar. Seeking help she goes to the ship's handsome doctor Sem who is an empath from the ocean planet Portis. Sem is worried he can't treat her effectively as he can't read her emotions but instead finds himself drawn to her which makes him into a bumbling idiot whenever he sees her. When her programming is hacked by a mysterious voice she hijacks an escape pod to jump through space but Sem follows her to the edges of the known universe. Stranded they must fight to survive deadly blizzards, arctic ice caves, and a secret, hedonistic cult. Coping with their feelings might be harder than escaping back to the Ignisar.

I really enjoyed this story which could give great parallels to real-life along the lines of racial prejudice and bias. It clearly showed that working together and love were perfect mechanisms to move past that and have a happy future. I found that Elanie's confusion was well described and brought back memories of childhood and growing up as humans too. I loved the way that Sem was trying so hard to be professional talking to her but was ending up torturing himself and messing up his words. The descriptions were very clear and easy to understand as were the emotions experienced by them both. I believe that this book is for mature audiences only.

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Review: Love at 20,000 Leagues by Lizzy Gayle 3 of 5 stars

Love at 20,000 Leagues by Lizzy Gayle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Paradise Atlantis is a high tech clear dome deep in the ocean which has been developed as a holiday destination. Sam is there for a month with part of her family and the people she blames for her family falling apart. She also receives the unexpected attention of two sexy men - her longtime celebrity infatuation and a guy considered a rebel. She is immediately struck with a kind of pressure sickness causing both lowered inhibitions and blackouts. Then a saboteur uses the AI to commit murder timed perfectly with one of her blackouts. Now she needs to clear her conscience and find out exactly what is going on. The question is was she responsible or is she now making herself a target?

This story was ok. It had the love triangle, the killer using an AI to kill people and her family breakup. I enjoyed the mystery of the killer and who they were against the jeopardy of if it was her or one of the two men she was entangled with. I am so pleased that she made the right choice but that they all seemed to be able to have some kind f friendship too. Easy to read and understand. Contains explicit sexual content.

I received a free copy of this story through StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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Review: Forever After by Ashley R. King 4 of 5 stars

Forever After by Ashley R. King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Librarian Autumn Reid is nearly thirty years old, lives in Covey Crossing and in order to get out of a rut decides to enter the dating show Forever After. The show features a vampire bachelor and the winner gets the choice of either a cash prize or immortality. Autumn doesn't expect to get far and so is just looking at it as a bit of a shakeup to her life. Vampire Oliver Gray is also an impoverished Duke and desperately needs to get money to save his estate, so when he is offered the chance to become the bachelor on Forever After he has no choice but to accept. The catch is he has to wear Victorian clothing from the war he was turned in and to have hibernated for the last one hundred years. He does, however, struggle with the gorgeous woman with the smart mouth and the sense that she is actually his one true mate. Figuring out their feelings is the least of Autumn and Oliver's worries as the contestants are murdered one by one and it appears that a vampire is to blame. The director moves the whole programme to England to try and solve their problems but that doesn't help. Can they solve the murders and both stay alive and free to pursue their burgeoning relationship?

I enjoyed this story which had the underlying romance between Autumn and Oliver woven into the murder mystery around the Forever After dating show. Some parts of the story were a bit cheesy but other bits were quite enjoyable. It was interesting to see the contrast between the different contestants in the competition and the lengths they were prepared to go to in order to win and consider how that reflects on human nature in general. It was easy to read and understand with minimal sexual content. It was easy to read to distract you from real-life and lose yourself in another world with vampires.

I received a copy of this from StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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Review: Blood Phoenix by Amber K. Bryant 5 of 5 stars

Blood Phoenix by Amber K. Bryant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sybille Esmond is a psychic and just saved the world from a supernatural assault so she is hoping for some slack and downtime. However, instead, her cousin is possessed by the spirit of Sybille's nemesis, her dearest friend is likely dead and her previously undead boyfriend refuses to resign himself to his new status as a mortal. Let's not forget the spirits either - as they are trapped on earth thousands have flocked to her hoping that if they haunt her she'll be able to fixture out why they are barred from the afterlife. But as she investigates that she stumbles across a plan that makes everything else appear trivial. However, it is not just the spirits trying to get to the afterlife - there is a fae scheme in the works and when Sybille is granted a vision of the future she realises that the stakes really can't be higher because if her team fails to stop the fae both the living and the dead will run out of time.

This was definitely a complex and dramatic problem for Sybille as she had to deal with multiple problems at the same time. As always, she kept her cool (mostly) and using her wits managed to make a difference in order to get the right result. You might be able to read this stand-alone but I recommend that you should actually read the entire series in order to make more sense of the characters and the events that are happening. It was easy to read, understand and feel their thoughts and emotions. A great series to lose yourself to other realms.

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Review: Eight Days of Christmas: A Second Chance Romance by Starla DeKruyf 4 of 5 stars

Eight Days of Christmas: A Second Chance Romance by Starla DeKruyf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Isabella Whitley is returning home to her snowy hometown of Pineridge, Colorado for her sister's Christmas wedding - the first time she has returned in years and so she wants to go there, do it and leave completely unscathed. Now she needs to explain her disappearing act to her family and her high-school sweetheart who was left behind as well. Leo Hoffman tried and spectacularly failed to forget Isabella but now that his brother is marrying her sister he is forced to celebrate something their family calls the "Eight Days of Christmas" with them all even though he is not feeling very festive. Their close proximity brings back memories for them both and soon it starts to be an inability to keep their hands off each other too. Then Isabella's ex unexpectedly enters the equation and she faces a dilemma - to listen to her heart or listen to her head? Isabella is going to have to decide once and so all where she belongs.

I really enjoyed this romantic story which was just like watching one of those Christmas films where everything happens at Christmas and everything goes back to the way it should have been. I loved the eight days of Christmas and the activities they did as well as their interaction during the course of them. I loved the way that they tried to do their best and how well that worked out as well as the way it ended. Definitely, a festive feel-good story that will give you the Christmas spirit. Well written and easy to read/understand. Contains some sexual content.

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Review: Killing Song by Luna Joya 5 of 5 stars

Killing Song by Luna Joya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Siren Zaida is the faerie queen's most lethal assassin, and so as her motto has always been that love kills, she just needs to keep everything strictly professional with the sexy human she is working with on the FBI's paranormal task force. She has one more kill to complete for the queen and then she is free, so surely she can keep her focus on something she has been working towards for centuries? Former Army Ranger Zimm in the past has lost everyone and everything, so he is cured of love - that is for losers. He just needs to keep his hands off the badass sword-wielding siren helping him track down a demon intent on killing. If Zaida and Zimm have any hope of a future together they need to catch the killer, outwit the queen and go face to face with an evil magical organisation - easy right? It all seems simple until the last hit the queen has ordered Zaida to carry out in exchange for her freedom is Zimm. Everything is about to get really complicated.

I loved this book. It was almost possible to touch the sexual chemistry between Zaida and Zimm. There were a whole load of dramatic moments there, and definitely, times when my heart was in my mouth just hoping and wishing that everything was going to turn out alright. I definitely read this book to the exclusion of normal life at times I was so addicted to the story. Well written and easy to read and feel, you will not regret reading this story. I just can't wait to see what is going to happen next.

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Review: Embracing Darkness by Tina Moss by Yelena Casale 4 of 5 stars

Embracing Darkness by Tina Moss by Yelena Casale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zoey had a hellish ordeal at the hands of evil and just wants to live a normal human life, but demons are haunting her every step mainly because there is a power growing inside her that she does not understand and cannot control. It seems if she wants to win her life back she will have to trust a fallen angel with a hidden agenda. Rafe has been at war with the hellspawn in Las Vegas for centuries and he just needs an edge to take the demon boss out. Zoey might be the answer but to gain her trust he'll need to use all of his powers of seduction in order to gain her heart - the problem being it might well mean losing his own. The stakes are rising and Zoey and Rafe need to put their faith in each other to heal wounds from the past as well as face the challenges of the present. Can they find their strength together to find peace even if it required embracing darkness?

This was a sweet short story that had the necessary ingredients of danger, lust and compromise. I liked the way Rafe started off with one agenda but finished with a completely different one (which gives hope for any relationship that they have in the future). It was well written and easy to read and understand.

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Review: Blood Fae by Amber K. Bryant 4 of 5 stars

Blood Fae by Amber K. Bryant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sybille is a psychic so when her best friend Devin is abducted by a strange fae woman she is determined to get him back even if she has to fight like hell to succeed. She is also trying her niece safe which also keeping her blood-thirster boyfriend Ellis at bay as he very openly wishes she would join him in the undead life. Either way, she will not let Ellis, evil-sprits or the barrier between worlds stop her from rescuing Devin. As part of all of this, she will need to travel between realms and risk starting a war. But the fae wants control over those people and places that Sybille holds most dear - Devin, his possessed niece and even the Earth. If she fails to stop the fae war, everyone she loves will become a war prize or end up as collateral damage.

This was a little slow to start, but having stuck with it, the story started to move and make much more sense as it became clearer who was who, what they were and the impacts of the various possible outcomes. I loved some aspects of the story although I really hope there is some way of reversing what happened at the end of the book as it was quite heartbreaking (and not the way I wanted it to end). Reasonably well written, it was easy to understand (even if it took a little bit of perseverance at the start). I'm now wondering what on earth is going to happen in the next book in the series.

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Review: Waking the Dead by D.B. Sieders 5 of 5 stars

Waking the Dead by D.B. Sieders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I voluntarily reviewed this advanced reader copy and I have not been compensated in any way.

Vivian Bedford had a chance encounter with a dying stranger and it opens an empathic connection between her and the world of spirits. She ends up caught between the grim reaper Lazarus Darkmore and a guardian spirit Ezra and his apprentice Zeke - plus both sides want her to work for them. However Vivian has the ability to channel energy from the living and if she can control it it will give her leverage over both sides and be able to stay independent - especially as she needs to find a way to protect her disabled sister Mae who has become a target of both sides due to her stored energy. She just needs to be able to control and handle all the players and power.

I loved this story - it was a clever plot and story which I found fascinating. It was well written and there were plenty of twists and turns in the story to keep your interest. Vivian was a strong woman and it was nice to read a story with such a strong woman in the centre of all the action.

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