Falke's Captive by Madison Layle and Anna Leigh Keaton

Cute read and worth your time.

Falke’s Captive by Madison Layle and Anna Leigh Keaton is a very sexy, shifter romance.  Beth Coldwell meets up with the sexy duo, Kelan and Reidar at a local pub. She is a university student working on her doctorate studying big cats. She is in town to assist her sponsoring professor by scoping out the local large cat population and setting up a temporary lab for the study of these local animals.

While she is out on in the forest for her first scouting trip, she bags a beautiful puma. And then the trouble truly begins because she has unwittingly stumbled into a closely guarded secret and she is about to to be integral to the survival of that secret.  The journey that Beth, Kelan and Reidar take is before the mating, during, and after the mating is fun, provocative, and exciting. The attraction is instant. The trouble is double and so is the loving. This a nice short story and if you like your shifter tale with a lot of spice, this story is for you.

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!!

(This ebook was provided free of charge by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Destiny Divided (Shadows of Destiny, #1) by Leia Shaw

Excellent Reading

Destiny Divided by Leia Shaw is a gem of a paranormal romance. I absolutely loved the mythos of Ms. Shaw's paranormal world of witches, vampires, and shape-shifters which is original and intriguing.

Sage Peterson has been living in the basement of the university where Professor James Elias teaches. She has lived a hard lonely life where she has to cover up all of strange unexplainable events that occur around her when she gets overly emotional. The frustrating, sexy, authoritative James offers to help Sage who is a powerful half witch/half sorceress by training her in magic while he is secretly planning to use Sage against his enemies. However, as they spend more time together, their feelings deepen into a bond that is irrefutable, even to Professor Elias who has a few secrets he is trying to keep to himself.

Ms. Shaw is able to create a solid connection between the reader and the hero and heroine of this story because she has created two domineering eccentric characters that effectively complement each other. The snarky conversations and one liners between these Sage and James is very amusing and helps to lessen the intensity of the events occurring around them. The sexual tension and relationship that develops between the two main characters is extremely meaningful. In addition, the plot and the originality of novel compounds the reader’s appreciation of the novel. The combination of all these elements creates a paranormal romance that is hard to put down.

(Please note: you can enter to win this book and read an interview with the author, Leia Shaw, by clicking on the 18  & Over Book Blogger Giveaway Hop icon found at the top of the right-hand side column through September 18, 2011 - or click here.)

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His Darkest Hunger by Juliana Stone

Excellent reading!

 

His Darkest Hunger by Juliana Stone is a very emotionally draining and satisfying read. Ms. Stone has created an extremely steadfast and compelling heroine in Libby Jamieson. Her counterpart, Jaxon Castille is your ultimate alpha male with the obtuseness we like to encounter since those types fall the hardest.

Libby and Jaxon have a past where they worked on the same military team together and fell in love. Libby’s disappearance and other actions lead the team and Jaxon to believe she betrayed them. He has been hunting her ever since with vengeance on his mind for her betrayal to him and the team.

The journey they endure together to unravel the mystery of the events that led to Libby’s apparent betrayal is harrowing, dark, emotionally gut-wrenching, and oh so enthralling. This book is a little darker in it’s diabolical content than I usually like; but, Juliana Stone is able to keep us more tender-hearted types reading through those moments when things seem to be at their most austere.

The secondary characters were equally interesting, full of depth and personalities that snare the reader into caring about them, too. I am looking forward to continuing the series to find out what happens to them as the saga continues to hunt the bad guys and make things right with the world. The journey the reader is led on in His Darkest Hunger is fraught with dichotomous emotions leaving the reader wrung out but gratified.


Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!!


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Circle City, Lord of the Wolfen #1 by Alisha Page

Intriguing, dark paranormal romance.

Read the complete review here: Coffee Beans & Love Scenes

My rating:  


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Delicate Freakn' Flower by Eve Langlais

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Delicate Freakn' Flower by Eve Langlais is about a young, werewolf woman named Naomi who grew up in a household with five brothers who tended to get scrappy a lot around the house. The violence inherent in the male animal shape-shifters to disclose deep feeling in her childhood home did not lend itself to Martha Stewart type decorating or sensibilities. So, her mom had to “make do” to with mismatching dishes and sturdy, well worn furniture.

Naomi is bound and determined to find a nice, intelligent, quiet, non-violent human male for a mate when she is ready to settle down. She just wants a home where she can have nice things and know they will not end up in pieces at the end of the day. Despite her “delicate” needs, Naomi knows how to scrap with the best of the shifter population, especially since she had to deal with five older werewolf brothers growing up.

However, fortune has other plans in mind for Naomi once she is, quite literally, smacked in the face with the “injustice” of discovering she has two sexy shifter lacrosse players for mates. Ethan is a Kodiak bear and Javier is a jaguar. Naomi cringes inside at the thought of being tied to two dumb, though very sexy, shifters for the rest of her life. As time passes, Naomi is left wondering if there isn’t more to her mates than first met the eye.

The only reason I was not able to give 4 stars to the story was that I would get weary of Naomi’s calamitous attitude at times. On the whole, Delicate Freakn' Flower was a very gratifying shifter-love story. It provided humor, loyalty, two sexy tenacious men , steamy love, and moments of tenderness. Eve Langlais is fast becoming an author I trust to entertain me in the paranormal romance genre.

Some of my favorite lines from the novel are:

• ... the impressive speed and strength displayed by the lacrosse players—two in particular—made her girly parts tingle. Even more surprising, something about these males made her inner wolf yip in excitement. -- *snickers* @ girly parts

• She wanted to hate that he kept destroying her stereotypical view of a jock, but instead she grudgingly liked him more and more. The jerk.

• She wished she owned a mental muzzle for her inner wolf who spun in circles woofing while she chased her tail giddily.

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!!



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Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Phenomenal Reading!!

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews is another home run and then some. The plot in this book out does the previous books in this series. You will be on the edge of your seat while you read this book. I will spare you a detailed review if this book and give the “cliff notes” version. There are a lot reviews out there that do an outstanding job of relating the details of the book.

Kate Daniels has started her own business since she left the Order. Things are kind of slow at the office until Gastek, Master of the Dead, calls and asks her for a favor which leads to a bloody altercation in front of her office. Then her first client shows up who is from the Red Guard, an elite body guarding company. Next, Andrea - her best friend shows back up after being gone for months with no communication.

From there, a mystery unravels that will leave you guessing as to what will happen next. The crux of the mystery is that he Magic users’ lives are being threatened by a magic-sucking device that they need to contain before it causes catastrophic damage to the magic community of Atlanta.

Curran and Kate are going strong. There is a little hiccup; but, they get through it, of course. I love these two together. Their relationship gets stronger, deeper, and more meaningful with each book. They are the perfect paranormal couple: strong alpha male paired with a strong alpha female with a lot of soul-searing love to share between them.

This book is the best in the series. Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance enthusiasts will, no doubt, love this book as much as I did.

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!!

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Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh is more than I could have hoped for. The tension that has been building between Sienna and Hawke in the previous books comes to a glorious consummation and the other story arcs are galvanizing to the overall plot.

Hawke has always thought that his childhood friend who died was his mate which led him down a desolate path in his personal life when it comes to accepting a permanent, meaningful relationship. However, since Sienna entered his pack, Hawke has felt a passionate connection with Sienna that tugs at his loins and heart.

Their relationship has been contentious from the beginning because they both have been fighting an attraction they are not prepared for. He has been resisting her allure for years since she came into his pack at a very young age. In addition to their age difference, he feels he cannot offer her a relationship she deserves if he were to get involved with her.

In this story, Sienna is all grown-up and is tired of hiding her feelings for Hawke. She has always cared for Hawke but has been fearful of letting him know how she feels. She wages a campaign to gain his attention, affection and heart. By doing this, Sienna ignites feelings in Hawke he never thought he would feel for another woman.

As the reader deals with the relationship between Hawke and Sienna, the Psy are ramping up their efforts to wage war against the Changelings. The situation becomes very tenuous as the Changeling packs in the area try to remain a step ahead of their unknown enemy.

To add to the drama unfolding, Sienna is also dealing with her X Psy powers that are growing exponentially. X Psy are very rare and deadly in the close knit Psy Community. So rare, there is no documentation to refer on how to handle the powers. What is known is that most X Psy die a young age from their powers burning out, literally, and they are lethal as fighters.

Sienna’s family tries to obtain a long lost document written by a human researcher to help unearth any help as to how she can control her X abilites better.  Meanwhile, they and the pack have to deal with the problems Sienna’s powers as they come. Sienna attempts to keep the powers controlled on her own since she does not hurt the people she loves or, for that matter, give away the fact that she is still alive. The Psy community believe she and her family are deceased.

To add to the mix, Walker and Lara’s romance is a backstory to the novel. I am telling you this novel was worth the wait. It is full of drama and romance. I highly recommend this book. Nalini Singh weaves a awesome tale that will leave you panting for more. The next book is highly anticipated on my part.

Before I conclude, I want to make one more recommendation to you if you have not read any books in this series. You need to start with A Slave to Sensation, the first book in the Psy/Changeling series. The emotional investment you gain will make reading this book all the more significant. This book was definitely worth the wait.

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Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nalini Singh offers a very original, futuristic world to her readers in Slave to Sensation. As the first book in the series, Ms. Singh starts out her writing legacy with an instant winner when comes to entertaining her audience with a story of irrefutable love, sensations, mystery, and characters that pounce off the pages and into your imagination. This novel revolves around Lucas, a Changeling, who is the alpha of the Dark River pack and Sascha Duncan, a Psy, who was raised in a community that emphasized and prized the use of the mind sans emotions. The Psy are very nearly robots because they base all of their business and personal relationships with cold, calculated strategy where emotion has no room to be a factor in any of their behavior. However, Sascha perceives that she is flawed because she does have feelings. A fact she desperately tries to keep from her mother and the entire race. If her "flaw" becomes apparent she will suffer the consequences of rehabilitation.

Lucas and the other Changelings represent everything that is the antithesis of what the Psy population represents. The Changeling Community operates on a depth of emotion (loyalty, sensuality, touch, etc.) that the Psy cannot fathom and disdain this "weakness" in the Changelings. Therefore, the Psy consider themselves far superior to the Changeling population. As a result, they underestimate the Chengelings and shrug them off as people who truly are just animals with no or little intellect due to their "weakness." However, both sides need each other to reach a lucrative business arrangement involving real estate.

Sascha and Lucas meet at a business meeting. This chance encounter invokes deep feelings of interest on both their parts. Despite Lucas' physical interest in Sascha, he need to remain detached from her and keep their relationship to business. He also needs Sascha to aid in an investigation involving a string of Changeling murders perpetrated by a Psy. However, as the two spend more time together, their immediate interest in each other grows into something extraordinary. Lucas' panther (and the man) start to need her on a visceral level. Sascha's buttoned up emotions start leaking out as she realizes sensation is a need she has that has never been met while growing up in a cold, unemotional environment.

This paranormal love story invites the reader to discover Nalini Singh's innovative society where love becomes one of the most sensual and binding experiences. But, add mystery and suspense into the mix and you have got a recipe for an exceedingly captivating reading experience. I absolutely loved my first venture into the Psy/Changeling world. If you are a lover of Paranormal Romance and suspense, you should not pass up this reading experience. This book will hook you and you will be compelled to read on in the Psy/Changeling series.

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!!

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Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris is another good installment to the Sookie Stackhouse Series because it is rife with delicious tension and quite a few interesting discoveries...

Sookie is now living with her two remaining Fae relatives and comes across more information on what makes the Fae actually tick. She also finds out how Eric was more involved with her Fae connections than she first thought. (It is my belief that the next Sookie Stackhouse book will expand more on the Fae portion in this novel more because it will be intricate to the next plot.) There are a few other surprises that will jump out at you while Sookie discovers more of her family's background. There is a bit of introspection on our heroines part in this book but I feel like it is sculpting more panache into her character. And, in the long run will pay off for her.

Amelia and Bob make an appearance in this book, as well as Alcide's cameo appearance. Surprisingly, Sookie and Amelia's relationship takes a turn that I did not see coming. Another eye-opener is that Bill seems to be growing another pair of balls. The development of this resurgence into Sookie's life could make things much more complicated for Sookie; but we will have to see.

Victor is continuing to make Eric's life very difficult - to put it mildly. Pam has actually fallen in love and wants to create her first vampire child. To complicate matters further, Pam and Eric are at odds with each other and it is difficult for them to be in the same room together without the tension between them igniting. Sookie is made very uncomfortable with the prickly duo's tension because she has a feeling it has to do with her. She's right and the reader will be flabbergasted for the reason behind the strain and leave their relationship's destiny undetermined .

There are some zingers in this novel that were not expected and has left me panting for more in this series. However, the one element that truly disappoints me in this book is the slow disintegration of Sookie and Eric's relationship. I truly hope Ms. Harris rectifies this situation fast... or maybe there is someone much better for Sookie in the future; but, I - for the life of me- cannot think who could be better for Sookie than that sexy Viking. I would be so much happier if Eric would just pull his head out of his butt and come to grips with his true feelings for Sookie (Go team Eric!!). In light of that one disappointment for me as a fan and reader of this series, I still cannot wait to read further into the life and times of Sookie et al!

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!

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