Christine Wells - Scandal's Daughter

Sebastian, Earl of Carleton is not interested in marriage, so when his dying godfather ask him to marry his granddaughter, he refuses. Instead he suggests he’ll take Gemma to London and host a party. Shouldn’t she be married after three months, he’ll give in an marry her himself.
But being around Gemma at Ware, the reminder of their childhoodfriendship, brings mixed feeling for Sebastian. He won’t change his mind about marrying her, but why does the thought of the minx in the arms of another man raises his hackles?

Scandal’s Daughter is the debut of Christine Wells. Though you notice the fact that it’s a debut, that doesn’t mean this is a story well worth your time!
Sebastian is a rake, but reaching a time in his life where he is getting tired of debauchery. He’s tormented by his past and meeting Gemma again makes him realize who the little boy was, he left behind. He’s nice and naughty and made me smile.
Gemma is the daughter of a scandalous woman. Her mother left her father for her lover and Gemma is reminded of that fact every day by her aunt. She wants to manage Ware when the time is there, so marriage is no option for Gemma.

The first part is slow paced and nice (At Ware) Scovy is open and funny, very different from the rogue we met in chapter one. Then the story moves from Ware to Laidley and it moves on faster. And then as reader you think… oh one more chapter, one more… until it’s well past midnight when you close the book …
Though the book isn’t flawless (her mother’s scandal could be worked out a little better f.e.) it’s a nice and entertaining debut. Christine Wells has a lot of qualities and I’m sure regency lovers will have so nice hours when reading this book. The developing love between two childhood friends and the scars we all get from growing up are well written and I can’t wait to get The Dangerous Duke in my hands. The next novel by Christine Wells will be: Wicked little game, due July 2009.

Alexandra Ivy - Darkness Everlasting

Being the new Anasso means dealing with weres who trespass territory. So when the wereclan rules by Salvatore is hunting in Chicago, Styx wants to know why. He finds out they are after a human Darcy. To keep control until the Commission arrives he decides to take the woman prisoner.

Only when he has her in his control, he can't seem to control himself anymore. Drawn to Darcy is a way he has never experienced before he loses the cool that was so part of his being. Being the Anosso is now of secondary meaning. All he wants to do is protect and claim Darcy as his own. Rules and consequences be damned. Luckily there is still Viper to point out his obligations! But even then Styx unleashes all his powers when Darcy is taken from him. Claimed by Salvatore or not, this woman is his and his alone.

This is part 3 of Guardians of eternity. And I am a fan! Alexandra Ivy has created a world that is wonderful and even as original as possible these days...

Styx is the one who killed, or aided Viper killing the previous anasso. With Viper's support he claims the leadership of all the vampires. He's cool, arrogant and tremendously powerful. With his Ravens to protect him and Viper as his loyal supporter he is nearly invincible. Only when he meets Darcy he loses his cool demeanor, his ability for logical reasoning... But the power that is created by his heart makes him unstoppable.

Darcy is an orphan. Tossed out foster homes because of her ability to heal fast, she knows there is something about her... So instead of being petrified to face Styx, she is relieved to find someone who is able to explain her oddity. Who will take her just the way she is. Curious about why Salvatore is after her and used to being on her own she has a hard time giving Styx the control he wants.

Darkness Everlasting is a book that will keep you turning the pages, one after the other until you finish the book... Ivy's writing talent makes you able to forget everything and be drawn into a world with vampires, gargoyles and werewolf... The hero and heroine are worked out very well, and the secondary characters makes you laugh out loud (Levet) or curious for more (Santiago, DiAngelo)
Even the bad guy in this book draw my attention. Salvatore is a were you can't resist to like... Even if he's the enemy of Styx. Thank god, Alexandra Ivy is writing his book as we speak ;)

If you like vampires and paranormal book, get this writer on you wish list and I guarantee you, you won't be disappointed!

Julianne MacLean - When a Stranger Loves me (ARC REVIEW)

After reading a disturbing letter, Chelsea is taking a walk on the beach when she discovers a handsome, naked! Stranger. Little choice left, she takes the stranger to her house where she lives with her mom, her brother and his wife.

When the handsome stranger awakens they discover he can’t remember a single thing… Not how he ended up naked and stabbed in the water, nor his own name or his past…
Facing a future she wants to avoid at all cost and an attraction to a stranger she finds hard to deny, she sets up a daring and sensual scheme. Unfortunately the plan didn’t include the strong feeling she develops for the stranger who seduces her body by night and her heart by day. Living a dream has only one disadvantage… One moment one must wake up and face reality again…

This is part 3 of the Pembroke Palace Series by Julianne MacLean.
In this wonderful novel MacLean takes us on a journey with the missing Blake, the responsible, loyal brother.

Only with no recollection of whom he is, Blake is able to show the side he has to hide for so many years. With no one to remember, he is drawn to Chelsea without any inhibition. Faced with a love blossoming, but no memory of a wife or fiancée who might be searching for him. The love between Chelsea and Blake is strong and heartbreaking. Blake is heartbroken when he finds out what Chelsea planned and as his brother shows up to take him home, there’s only one thing he can do… Take Chelsea with him to see where to go from there and to have her by his side in a world that is so unfamiliar to him. Blake is arrogant, caring and more like his brothers than we would have assumed previously.

Chelsea is going to be forced to a wedding she doesn’t want. Ruined by a youthful elopement it’s the only marriage proposal she can expect. And since her brother’s wife hasn’t conceived yet, it up to her to keep the title in the family. Thus a plan developed in her mind… Chelsea started as a dreamer, a writer with her head in the clouds. But as the story continues she has to learn to deal with reality and face the fact that she is as free as she would like to believe… But when the truth is discovered, all her dreams seem to scatter around her.

The latest novel by Julianne MacLean is a heartbreaking story that grabs your heart and won’t let go until you finished the very last sentence…
Julianne MacLean’s wonderful talent combined with a heartbreaking plot and well developed and growing characters resulted in a book that will most definitely be on your keeper’s shelf.

With this book Julianne MacLean hits the stars. It has everything… Passion, love, betrayal, hurt and lots of emotions. I can honestly say this is the best book by this writer so far! And I have loved her work from the very first one… When a stranger loves me touches your heart in a way you won’t forget easily.

Sherrilyn Kenyon - One Silent Night

Stryker finally seems to have found the perfect way to kill Ash and Nick... By unleashing a primal source being he might end up dead himself, but hey who cares as long as his two archenemies go with him.

But things don't turn out as Stryker intends... War has a more difficult time killing Ash than Stryker would have imagined and Nick, well let's say he turns out to be more than he thought he would...
And to make things worse, Artemis is rather cross with him now because people might think she has anything to do with it... So she send Zephyra on a mission: Kill Stryker. A command Zephyra is more than glad to fulfill. After all she still has to get even with her ex husband for abandoning her...

Well, what can I say...

First I don't need a story about the badass in the series... Not that I disliked the book for that reason, but it's one more bridge to cross...

Then I am really getting confused in all this demon - gods thing...
Let's see... We had Ash.. All powerful, everyone afraid of him...
Oh but wait there is someone more powerful so they can kill ash... But there is also someone even more powerful to kill the one who would be able to kill Ash...
And of course, keep track... Someone more powerful to kill the more powerful to kill... anyway you get the picture...

I don't want to spoil things important but how the hell did Zephyra come up with the solution to fight the gallu???

While I rather liked Stryker in this story. He's a villain for sure, but he has his reasons... I didn't like Zephyra. She's cruel, whining... And oh she is so tormented because a 15!!!!! year old boy left her when his father, who happened to be a god, threatened to kill her if he didn't...
What she does to Jared is just plain cruel... So I assume she'll just be the new Satara in a way... The female evil to fight Ash...

What else... - SPOILER -

Oh yes... Ash he's god of faith, destroyer of the world... What more... Chtonian! Right, anyone knew that and did you know what else... he's half Charonte... I seem to have missed some books telling me that...

Of course there were things I liked... The dialogues, Kenyon is always good with those, the moment the 3 enemies are forced to combine their forces...

It's just, it's getting too much of everything... This is not the Kenyon I liked... I think after this one a lot of readers will stop reading her books.

Julianne MacLean - The Mistress Diaries

One year ago Cassandra met Vincent at a ball. The attraction is immediate and undeniable... But after spending a wonderful night together, Vincent disappears...

Now, Cassandra is back with a little surprise... While Vincent brings in his new fiancee, Cassandra introduces him to his little daughter. Because she is ill and believes she is about to die Cassandra has no choice but to ask for the Sinclairs to take her daughter in. She is casted from her home when her family learned about the pregnancy...

Vincent is angry, the one night he was not able to forget comes back with a vengeance. Just at the moment he has found himself a convenient wife and his dad believes her to be the cure to the curse... But when they learn Cassandra will get better, he hasn't got the heart to just turn his back on her. So he sets her up in a house, with servants and a legal binding contract to take care of her and June, while he can see his daughter grow up.

But while he is determined to continue his life as if nothing changed, he finds himself softening towards both June and her mother. Questioning his engagement to the cold, calculated Letitia...

When I met Vincent in 'In my wildest fantasies' I was intrigued by him. He was the brother you just loved to dislike. After being betrayed by Devon, he starts a life of womanizing, debauchery and coldhearted reasoning. Only Cassandra reaches a soft spot, but he firmly closes the door behind him after their night of passion. Even when she barges in his life again with a daughter who captures his heart straight away, he refuses to believe he could be what Cassandra wants. No fidelity for him, no caring wife to come home to. That's why he choose Letitia... She doesn't care about him or what he intends to do after their marriage.
I just couldn't like Vincent. He could be harsh, uncaring and I really wondered how MacLean was going to redeem him... Until Charlotte, his sister, shows us what her brother is really like and opened our eyes to the Vincent he is so hard trying to hide...

Cassandra is a widow when she meets Vincent. When she finds out she is carrying a child she is thrown out of her house. Forced to find a job and make her own money.
When she is ill and the doctor says she won't live long anymore, she has no other option but to turn to the man who wouldn't answer her letters.

In the beginning I was wondering how this would turn out... Vincent was real, didn't change overnight, but that also made it hard to like him. So I had fears that I would never start to like him, but I did. I adored Cassandra right away, and Vincent grew on me as I started to look behind the mask he was wearing.

One, no two things that I would have liked to see different.
1. The epilogue.
The series isn't finished, so I would have preferred just to know they were traveling. What happens when all is said and done would have been preferable in an epilogue in the very last book... But that's my opinion.
2. The dialogue between the brothers. So many years of dislike, even hate. I'd expected a more heated conversation, more blaming and building bridges. I think people who didn't read Devon's story might have a hard time relating to him.

But overall, this is another great love story about love, friendship, forgiveness by Julianne MacLean.

Barack Obama Victory Speech

Alexandra Ivy - Embrace the Darkness

After aiding the Phoenix against the witches Shay is back in the hands of the troll who owns her curse. Half Shalott, her beauty captivates everyone and her blood is a pure drug for vampires. So without any means to escape she finds herself auctioned off again. Anger and horror consumes her when she finds herself bought by the very vampire whose life she saved a few weeks ago...

Driven by a need Viper can't comprehend he finally lays eyes on the shalott again. Unfortunately he's not the only one to want the beautiful woman. When he buys her, he gets more than he wished for... Because an evil is stalking her and now his honor and love for Shay pulls him in the fight against a master and his kin.

When I read the first book in the series I was hooked. Ivy creates a demon world that is real and captivated my attention.
This second installment confirms the expectations I had..
With Embrace the Darkness Ivy delivers a tale that is sexy, exciting and captiving.

Viper is a clan chief. The stoic, arrogant vampire is considered one of the strongest of his kind. Having almost everything a vampire can buy with money, more women than one can handle he is astonished to discover he finaly finds himself drawn to the shalott that recued his live. Determined to get her out of his blood he buys her in order to seduce her.

Shay has never met someone who isn't interested in controling her. Viper's actions take her by suprise and she has a hard time convincing herself Viper has noble intention. And even while his kisses and carresses drive her wild, she won't surrender to the turmoil of emotions. After all, Viper is a vampire, and they killed her father and are most likely the ones threathening her own life right now. Still, while the evil closes in on her, she has but one option... Trust the very vampire she tries to keep at a distance and open her heart...

If you like vampires and the demon world I can safely recommend you Alexandra Ivy's Guardians of Eternity series. Her writing is wonderful and her world is unique and divers. Her heroes make your toes crawl and the heroines are women that can stand their own when the world they know changes.