Guest Post by Julia Rachel Barrett & a Giveaway!

Please welcome Julia Rachel Barrett here today. Her new book My Everything was released in February (You can read my review here). She's here today to talk about her love for Barry White and what it has to do with her new book. Enjoy!

I am a huge Barry White fan.

My favorite song of his is probably My Everything.  You’re the first, you’re the last, my everything, and the answer to…all my dreams…I like to shove his CD in my car stereo, turn the volume up full blast, and careen down the highway, dancing like an insane person.  Woe to anyone driving in front of me, behind me, or on either side of me!  Of course I play the music in my car because the sound system is great and I can really turn up the bass.  Isn’t that what Barry White is/was known for?  His bass?  Sadly, he died young, in 2003, at the age of forty-six.

So anyway, once upon a time, I was stuck in the car all day for work as sometimes happens, listening to Barry White over and over again, and that night I had a dream.  Voila!  My romance suspense story, My Everything, was born!  I dreamed the work from start to finish.  Weird, huh?

Happens all the time.  Right now I’m working on a sci fi ménage that I dreamed…yeah, I know…a ménage…woke up all hot and bothered before the dream came to an end though, so I’m going to have to see what develops and with whom it develops as I write the words.  Captured, a work of science fiction that SusiSunshine recently read and reviewed, also came to me in a dream in its entirety.  Now that was an extremely interesting experience – not only dreaming the story, but the fact that every single minute detail was so perfectly depicted.

Ever hear of lucid dreaming?  It’s a concept I learned as a teenager and began to practice.  I’d always had vivid dreams.  But to be able to stop a dream and change it in mid-stream?  That is fun!  Sometimes you get those monster dreams, you know, where something horrible and hideous is chasing you and your legs won’t move or you feel like you’re running through quicksand?  I’m able to remind myself that it’s just a dream and I turn myself around and talk to the monster, maybe turn him into a gorgeous horse,  jump on his back and gallop away, or, you know, there are nights when I prefer a gorgeous man...If worse comes to worst, I can always wake myself up.

So while I’m working away, getting this recent dream out of my head and into my computer, here’s a bit of lovely suspense – My Everything.  The story will take you from Costa Rica to Texas to Nebraska to Los Angeles – I’ve lived in each and every place the story travels – writing this romance was an absolute joy!  Besides, there’s nothing I like better than reading and writing about love lost and love regained.  

_________
An Excerpt:

Chapter One

Summer, 2008

Tom called on the secure line. It was the first time Ben had heard his voice in thirteen months. The line was for emergencies only, and the call indicated that either Tom was in trouble or he was. Tom said little, just that he had a job for him. That was the tip-off. Ben knew Tom didn’t have any more jobs for him. Ben had insisted they end their professional relationship a year ago. Tom said he’d meet him in two days at three twenty-one, their code for Something’s up. I need your help. Tom was talking about the hotel. He meant he’d already blocked room 321 at the Sheraton in Pomona, California, so it would show up as occupied by Benjamin McCall on the hotel’s computer. It was a decoy in case they needed to smoke someone out. Ben would stay down the hall.

He couldn’t say no to Tom. They’d been best friends since long before either of them dreamed of entering the military or training with Special Forces and finally opening a security agency together. Long before Tom married his high school sweetheart and had two daughters, and many years before Ben’s wife, Julie, was killed by a car bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. She was only twenty-six, and she was pregnant with their first child. She wasn’t supposed to die.

Ben had been in charge of the ambassador’s security. He ordered a change in cars at the last minute. There was no real hint of anything suspicious. He was merely following his instincts. He planned to personally inspect the other limo when they returned. Unfortunately, his order to stay clear of the vehicle was deliberately misdirected. When Julie left to accompany the ambassador’s wife on an unscheduled visit to a local school for orphaned girls, she was killed along with the ambassador’s wife, the driver and two bodyguards.

Thirteen months ago, Ben McCall vanished without a trace. As far as his associates knew, he was dead. Tom was the only person he trusted to keep his new identity and his location a secret. Ben was sick of death. He’d seen too many deaths and been responsible for more than his share. He wanted to get as far away from his work as he could, so he moved to a country without an army, Costa Rica. And he moved onto a mountainside in Cañitas, near a town that had only a single mile of paved road and one gas station. It was a four hour slog in and out of the area on narrow, winding, rutted dirt roads in good weather. During the rainy season, the roads were more often than not impassible and as far as Ben was concerned, the muddier, the better.

Having spent his early years in Brownsville, Texas, the only child of a white man and a Hispanic woman, Ben was bilingual. His olive complexion and his lean, muscular build made it easier to blend in. Costa Ricans were accustomed to Americans who spoke Spanish more like Mexicans. Within a couple months, he’d absorbed the dialect and his neighbors seemed to have accepted him. He carried an American passport and his birth certificate read Hector Luis Reyes, born in 1973 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona.

If there was one thing Ben had learned over the years, it was never stand out. Blend into your surroundings. He did that very well. His home was modest and similar to every other home in the area, small and unpretentious. The stucco was painted a pale blue. The front door opened onto a large tiled courtyard. Serious crime was almost non-existent in Costa Rica but there were episodes of petty theft. Ben hoped to avoid any unexpected guests. He still had some equipment and paperwork to protect, and some armaments. He locked them in a woodworking shop that opened directly off his kitchen.

Ben had what he considered the best security money could buy, a German-bred German shepherd dog. Louie weighed just over a hundred pounds. He was fast, strong and his teeth were as hard as steel. The bite of a German shepherd was nearly as crushing as the bite of a wolf. Ben’s dog could break a forearm with ease, but Louie was so laid-back that you’d never know it. Most Costa Ricans had street mutts that came and went, not trained purebreds. The dog was one area where Ben wasn’t willing to compromise.

As Ben checked and rechecked his bags, he wondered what he’d be walking into and if he would be up for it. He probed the recesses of his brain, trying to consider every possibility. He felt like a rusty nail. He’d left the country to forget, to heal, and to find a reason to start over again. After Julie died, he’d dived into his work with a zeal that astounded Tom. Mostly because he wanted to hunt down and kill the bastard who’d killed her. Fifteen months ago, he’d succeeded, but by then his rage had caught up with him and he’d burned out. He had to vanish. He’d become a danger to himself and everyone he worked with.

Tom recognized it, and the two of them made the arrangements. They implemented the contingency plan Ben had set up when he and Julie married. He still carried Julie’s unused passport and new birth certificate in the lining of his worn leather jacket like talismans, holdovers from his previous life.

The past year spent in the solitude of the mountains had helped. Ben was beginning to feel human again. No phone other than his connection with Tom, no television, no radio, no newspaper. A couple of times a week he hiked or rode his motorcycle into Santa Elena, the town center, to do some shopping and grab a cup of coffee or some juice at one of the internet cafes. He never logged in but he liked to listen to the local gossip and any news of the world the young backpackers and tour groups shared among themselves. Ben was fluent in French, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Arabic and Farsi, and he knew enough Italian, Japanese and Russian to follow a simple conversation. But he never let on that he understood. He simply listened without comment as he drank his coffee and then he returned to the isolation of his mountain.

Ben looked up from his carry-on bag. The tropical sun shone through his bedroom window, and his eyes lit on his hummingbird feeders. He figured there were twenty or thirty hummingbirds out there, all different sizes and colors, vying for time at one of the feeders. Costa Rica was home to close to forty species of hummingbirds, some of them bigger than the sparrows back in the States. Ben found himself reluctant to leave the birds, the monkeys, and the three-toed sloth that resided in one of his tall cecropia trees, but he felt he didn’t have a choice. Tom needed him.

Ben shrugged. He reminded himself to speak with Ernesto about the hummingbird feeders and the dog. Ernesto was a contact from long ago and he did double duty as Ben’s one-man security guard and caretaker. He lived in a small cottage on the property with his own large nondescript street mutt. Ernesto and his dog were light sleepers, and the man was good with a gun.

Ben watched a bank of clouds build up in the west. He remembered the first time he’d seen Julie. They’d met in Paris. He was drinking coffee in a café on the Left Bank one cold November morning when he noticed a woman standing in front, her lovely freckled face turned up to the rain. He could tell from her open expression that she was an American and he couldn’t resist. He went outside to offer her an umbrella. He ended up buying her a café au lait and a croissant. She was the first time he’d taken a risk in years. He allowed himself to fall in love. It was a mistake that cost him everything.

Ben shook his head. Julie had been dead two years. He didn’t want to revisit that time. It hurt too damn much. He dragged himself back to the present. Why the call? He wondered if Tom had been forced to make it. It could mean that someone else knew he was alive. He and Tom had been cautious, but that didn’t mean they’d been perfect.

Ben’s father had died when Ben was ten years old. His mother, Monica Medina McCall, had left Brownsville and moved to Austin. Between grants and loans, she got herself a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and went on for a Master’s. She currently coordinated a system of shelters and resources for abused women in central Texas. Ben regretted the fact that she probably believed her only son was dead but he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t want to put her at risk, or his step-father and his half-sister. Angel was fourteen now, nearly fifteen. She’d be graduating high school in a few years. Ben sighed. When he allowed himself to think about it, he missed them. He could be with them. Ben would have remained more or less anonymous, officially a security consultant, if it hadn’t been for the car bomb that changed everything.

Ben forced himself to take a deep breath. Dark days, he reminded himself, very dark days. Julie’s death still felt like an open wound, and open wounds hurt if you probed too deep.

Ben returned to his packing and sifted through his paperwork. He’d use Hector Reyes’ passport until he got through customs in Houston. He had a reservation from Houston to L.A. in another name, one he rarely used, Matthew O’Connor, the same name he’d use at the Sheraton. He’d need to make a point of answering to it. The corners of his mouth twitched. Yeah. It had definitely been a while.

* * * * *

Grace pasted a smile on her face. She was exhausted and she could feel a migraine creeping up behind her like a midnight stalker in a dark alley. Why on earth had she agreed to come to this techno-club? She’d flown into LAX on the red-eye, waded through the line at the rental car agency, maneuvered through the ubiquitous L.A traffic, arranged for early check-in, thrown her bags into her hotel room and headed straight to the campus for the Geriatrics Seminar. She’d lectured nonstop on pain management and then sat with the panel for the discussion on Death and Dying. When Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Westfall invited her to come for drinks with the group, she accepted readily, excited to be included with this prestigious company, never dreaming they meant a night out at a loud, crowded L.A. hot spot.

My God, she felt brittle. If one more person touched her, Grace thought she’d shatter. She’d only had two glasses of wine but that was obviously two too many in her current state. Dr. Westfall was saying something in her direction but Grace couldn’t make out a single word. There was a big, fat, shiny, blind spot where Dr. Westfall’s face should be. Grace knew it was time to go. Fortunately, she hadn’t driven to the club but unfortunately she’d still have to take a cab back to her car before she could make her way to the hotel. It might take her over an hour to get back and Grace prayed she could handle it. She’d ended up in the ER six times in the past year with a migraine headache just like the one she could feel coming on. Grace could tell already this was going to be a whopper.

Grace felt for her purse and mumbled her excuses, her stomach even now beginning to perform somersaults. She’d be lucky to make it to her car without throwing up at least once. Funny, Grace thought as she stood on the curb attempting to flag down a cab, here she was with a group of doctors and it didn’t occur to her to ask for help, and she was a pain management specialist. The headaches were an unwelcome weakness she didn’t want anyone to know about. When one struck, she was helpless. She’d had them since she was twelve years old, but they’d gotten worse after her husband Josh died. Grace missed his hands. He had the most sensitive hands and fingertips. His touch was like butter, like soft, smooth, liquid gold. On those rare occasions during their too brief marriage when she’d gotten a headache, he’d used his firm yet gentle fingers on her neck and shoulders. He would massage the back of her head, helping to soothe her until she’d finally drift off into a drug-induced sleep.

Her parents had never understood her debilitating headaches. They accused her of faking and said she was making excuses. Even when it got so bad that she was slurring her words and could no longer see because of the blinding aura, they’d push her to race until she was puking into the bushes at the side of the road. It wasn’t until her track coach insisted she see a neurologist that her parents finally relented, but they never let Grace forget how disappointed they were that she missed the state championships her senior year.

After Grace left home for college, the frequency of her headaches decreased. She began running again and even joined the cross-country team. She did well until she met Josh. One thing led to another and Grace decided she’d better get on the Pill. Big mistake. Six months of weekly migraines was enough to put her off birth control pills forever. They made do with condoms. Josh was a good sport. He never complained and occasionally they’d slip, but they were lucky and Grace never got pregnant. When she thought about it now, Grace didn’t feel so lucky. If she’d gotten pregnant, she’d still have a tangible part of Josh. Instead she had memories. Memories didn’t hold you close at night. Memories didn’t laugh at your stupid jokes and tilt your chin up, lean you back against the kitchen sink and kiss you passionately when your hands were covered with soap suds. Nope, even after two years, memories didn’t do that.

Grace shook her head and concentrated on flagging down a cab. She was growing maudlin. Well, she worked almost every single day with people who experienced loss, and like she told them, it was never easy. One corner of her mouth tilted up. She would be wise to take her own advice. After she made it to her room at the Sheraton and climbed into bed. First things first.

____________

You can buy My Everything here.
 
Ways to contact Julia:
her Website
her blog
Seven Sexy Scribes
Email   


Thanks to Julia I have an eBook copy of My Everything for one lucky commenter today.



Giveaway rules:
1.) Leave a comment telling us about your favorite musician or source of inspiration! Or just ask Julia a question!
2.) Leave me a way to contact you(email in blogger profile or twitter is okay)!
4.) You can get an extra entry when you spread the word about the giveaway(just leave a link).
5.) Open to everyone!
6.) Giveaway ends on the 7th March and I will draw a winner after getting up the next day!


That's it! So comment away!

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Review: My Everything by Julia Rachel Barrett

Description:
Security consultant Ben McCall is alone. His wife and unborn child are dead, victims of an assassination attempt meant for someone else. Grieving, he disappears. When his best friend is in danger Ben resurfaces, only to find his friend isn’t the target of a murderer, he is.

Grace Adams is one of the walking wounded. Her husband died two years ago. One night she is incapacitated. A man comes to her aid. He’s the man she fell in love with years before, Ben McCall. As the passion between them reignites, Grace too becomes a target of the madman who stalks Ben.

Review: 
I received this book as a review copy from the author and after reading the blurb I was like "Okay we will see.". And I have to say this blurb doesn't do the book any justice.

The book is fast paced and written in such a lovely way, I just couldn't put it down. We switch from different POVs through the whole story but it made the story more 3 dimensional and not at all confusing. I loved how Ms. Barrett chose an unique voice for each of her characters. It made them so much more real in my eyes.

Our heroine Grace had a few grave moments in her life. She lost her husband to leukemia after only 2 years of marriage and she suffers from really hard migraine attacks from time to time.But she doesn't give up and tries to handle this all on her own. She is a specialist for pain management and it would look really unprofessional to have problems on exactly the same topic. While she has one of her attacks she meets Ben, her big teenage crush. He helps her and is more understanding and helpful than many other people in her life.

Ben is broken inside. He lost his wife and his unborn child in a terror assasination he should have prevented. He works in the security sector and it was his purpose and task to prevent things like that but he failed and got punished for his mistake. Or that is what he thinks. We all know that there are certain things in life we just can't stop from happening. We shouldn't stop trying to but sometimes it's just the way it is. And especially in this situation it's not at all his fault. As you can see I really felt for him. Poor man. He's a strongly caring person and although he vanished from the surface of his normal life for a year to hide and work through his grief, he still cares for his family and friends. When he hears that his best friend is in grave danger he doesn't hestitate and immediately starts his journey home. The moment he meets Grace again after ten years his first thought is that she is a distraction. But why? He quickly finds out how unlogical this assumption is and discovers his own attraction and perhaps a bit more for her. Surely he feels guilty for that and even more he knows that this is possibly the worst moment ever to get close and personal to someone he really cares about.

The situation gets even more dramatic when Ben finds out that not only his bestfriend is in danger but his sister got kidnapped to draw him out of hiding. The plot is really suspenseful and I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story is a great mix of relationship building and actual story plot. It always gave me what I wanted and it was a real satisfying read for such a short novel.

One thing at the end was a bit "Yeah, sure!" and I don't mean the supernatural aspect. I won't tell you more because that would be one gigantic spoiler but if I can forgive something like that other readers probably can,too.

All in all this book was a great read with scorching hot, emotional intense and thrilling action in a perfect mix. I can recommend this book to all the lovers of a nice steamy romance with the right amount of suspense!



To learn more about Julia Rachel Barrett please visit her website here and her blog here.
And please come back on Friday(FEB 26th) for a guestpost and a giveaway with Julia.

Read other reviews @goodreads
Buy this ebook @Cobblestone Press

Update: I'm also over at Book Lovers INC today talking about The Greatness that could be Blio.

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Review: Scarlet Woman by Shelley Munro

Description:
Emily Scarlet's husband left her for his secretary and died in a car accident—all on the same day. Now, six months later, Emily has emerged from her chrysalis of painful memories. And to prove she has what it takes to attract a man, she's determined to experience one perfect night of passion.

An ad in the newspaper catches her eye. The Middlemarch ball presents the ideal opportunity to find a man. Emily catches the "love train" to Middlemarch and heads for one night of uncomplicated sex to wipe away her husband's vicious taunts.

Feline shape-shifter Saber Mitchell has a problem with his four boisterous younger brothers. They're out of control. It's too late for him, but he hopes to get his brothers mated and settled, and the ball is the perfect place to introduce them to marriageable women.

Unbridled sex is the last thing Saber's expecting, but one glimpse at Emily Scarlet changes his mind. Sex with her is a necessity. They dance. They make love. One thing is clear—a single night isn't enough. Saber must have her for his mate, but Emily isn't so easy to convince…or trust.


Review:
I received this book as a review copy from the author and found the name intriguing from the start.
I read the blurb an the first thought was: That's some serious emotional baggage they have to fight in this book. And I have to say that I was rather disappointed in the way it was handled. Emily meets Saber on the Middlemarch ball and like a few pages later she lives with him. That was way too fast for me, especially remembering that she had a cheating asshole husband and serious commitment issues. Which girl would do that even with a sexy as hell kitty shifter? But okay, I can forgive that. The rest of the story had a nice pace and I enjoyed reading it.

I loved the banter between our couple and the chemistry was really hot.  I like that Ms. Munro chose an alpha male as an hero but also made him understanding. He wants to push Emily harder but he realizes that this wouldn't help anyone. He wants her but he doesn't want to force her into something. He needs her to make her own decision so he holds back and doesn't take the possibility he has to make her want him. With only one little bite he could drive her crazy with lust and she would lose any compulsion to leave him ever again. But he sees that this is like cheating and he wants nothing more than to win her heart the hard way.

The side characters, mostly Saber's brothers are hilarious. I loved that they really felt like kitties which wanna "play". *wink* They are a wild bunch of crazy horny boys and I just could feel sorry, or not ;) for the women on their radar.
The plot about the reporter investigating the sightings of large dark cats in the area was really thin and really only a side story after all. Th ebook is focused on the relationship and I didn't minded that at all. 
The next book will be more focused on the reporter and I think perhaps she may find her own little kitty.

All in all this book was a fun read for a cold winter day and I really look forward to read book 2 in the Middlemarch Mates Series, Peeping Tom.


To learn more about Shelley Munro and her books please visit her website here

The Middlemarch Mates Series:
1. Scarlet Woman: reviews @goodreads, buy @Ellora's Cave
2. Peeping Tom: reviews @goodreads, buy @Ellora's Cave

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Review: Flirting With Fate by Lexy Ryan

Description:
Heat. Passion. Sex. Precog Stiletto Girl Josie Bovard sees little else when she touches the charming and handsome Tanner Wiley. But she needs his assistance in her investigation, not in her bed. After discovering that her dead mother’s journal contains encrypted messages involving DNA manipulation, geneticists, and threats to non-Specials, Josie is determined to carry out her mother’s plan, but to be successful, she needs Tanner's help.

Special Intelligence Agency operative Tanner Wiley knows Josie is withholding information about her latest investigation. He agrees to help her, intent on filling in the blanks himself. What he discovers is a decades-old Ascendant scheme for control, and Josie’s outrageous plan of self-sacrifice. But what will they do when the answers they seek threaten to destroy life as they know it?

Review:
This is the second book in the Stiletto Girl's series and I received this book as a review copy from the author.
Book 2 starts a few months after Stiletto's INC. We stumble right into a very uncomfortable situation of Jodie asking Tanner for his sperm. Hilarious situation I tell ya. As the first novel this one is quite funny and has some quite embarrassing moments for us to enjoy.

Josie had a hard childhood and suffered too many losses. Her ability of seeing the future sounds like fun but in my eyes it's a real curse. How can you stand to see bad things happening and not know what to do to prevent it? I can hardly imagine how that must feel but Ms. Ryan described it nicely and I really felt for Josie. Her attraction for Tanner is really obvious but for her there are a few things to ponder. Is she just attracted to him cuz she sees a hot and naughty future of them both getting close and personal? Does she want the things she sees? Is she attracted to him cuz she sees herself in his arms and can feel the attraction of her future self?

As you can see this is a highly complicated life she has there.

Tanner has one of the coolest abilities ever. He can make himself invisible and OMG think of the possibilities. So many things you could do. I already have a list of things in my mind I would do first...LOL

But back to Tanner. He had a really bad youth and still has commitment issues cuz of that. His family sucked and in my opinion he can be happy to be rid of them. He's also a rather alpha male type. That seems to be a pattern in Ms. Ryan's books. His character has quite some matching attributes to Darian, our hero of the first book, but he's also a bit different so I didn't really mind that.

The relationship between this two developed rather slow in comparison to book 1. I missed Paige's empath ability a bit cuz it made book way more steamier than this one. But we get this one scene on the beach when Tanner uses his gift and OMG that was hawt.

Again in this book the side characters are wonderfully developed and I have a few candidates for future books I would love to read. Paige's little sister was a bit annoying from time to time but after all she is a teen and that's exactly what those are for: getting on your nerves.

The main plot was gripping and the suspense was good too. I wanted to know how all this will work out so bad. I couldn't put this book down and now I so want to know how the story will go on. I'm officially hooked.


To learn more about Lexi Ryan and her books please visit her website here.

The Stilettos Girls Series:
1. Stilettos, INC.: my review, reviews @goodreads, buy the ebook @amazon
2. Flirting with Fate: review @goodreads, buythe ebook @amazon

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Where Can You Find This Geeky Bookworm today?

 

You can find me at work today! No but seriously, I am also guest blogging at "Layers of Thought" today. 

It is a very special Valentine's Day post about my Top 5 Favorite Romantic Science Fiction reads. It is a fun post and they have a great site, so stop by - check it out, say hello and tell me about your favorite Romantic Sci-Fi reads!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

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Review: Stranger by Megan Hart

I'm over at Book Lovers INC. today. I reviewed Stranger by Megan Hart.

To the review it goes this way.

And the Jeaniene Frost giveaway is still going till Sunday! Here's the link for the interview and the giveaway!

Hope you all have a great week!

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Geeky Valentine and Jeaniene Frost Interview & Giveaway!

I'm over at Book Lovers INC. today and showing the best geeky Valentine's Day pressies ever!
You don't know what OhMiBod is? Go over to find out! It'S hilarious, I swear!

To the review it goes this way.

And Yes I know I'M really stressing this topic but tomorrow Jeaniene Frost will be over at BLI. We will post the interview she gave me and you can ask her anything you want. And cuz we feel like a celebration we will add a copy of First Drop of Crimson for 1 lucky commenter!
Hope you all have a great week!

UPDATE: The interview is up and here's the link for you: interview!

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Duel-Review: Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter

I'm over at Book Lovers INC. today. I reviewed Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter together with Heather from BookObsessed and it was so much fun.

Hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did while writing the review.

But be aware of the fact that we are both total Gena fangirls. You have been warned!!!

To the review it goes this way.

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My January Reads

January was a really busy month. All the birthday stress and the launch of Book Lovers INC really kept me entertained. Still so much to do for BLI but I hope that all the start problems will be resolved soon. When I started this list today I was totally astonished that I read 10 books and reviewed 7 of them this month. Perhaps I wasn't as busy as I thought. ;)
Here is what I read:

1. Crossroads (Southern Arcana #2) – Moira Rogers
To quote myself:

This book is full of action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Love, family and obligations play a big role and they seem so real that I just couldn't put this book down. The plot is heartbreaking but never too hard to stomach and the mix with funny witty conversations makes it into one of the best urban fantasies I ever read.
I recommend this series to everyone with at least a bit interest in urban fantasy. You will not regret this! Moira Rogers is definitely one of my best discoveries so far!

You can read my full rant here.


2. Immortal in Death (In Death #3) - J. D. Robb
As you may have noticed last month I really found a new addiction with this series. This book was so full of suspense and I enjoyed the story even more because it was a personal one for Eve. Roarke is as sexy as ever and I can't wait to get my next fix. Love this book and I can't say it often enough: Everyone should have at least tried this series. But I will try to restrain myself. Only one In Death book per month. Or better said this is the plan. We will see how long that will work for me. LOL


3. Coming Undone (Brown Siblings #2) - Lauren Dane
How did it happen that I didn't review this one? I think it's the old problem: When the book is something special to me I can't seem to find the right words to tell what I feel about it. It's so easy to write something when the book was good but how to really make the point that this book was something so much more to me. Still pondering how to write this review but let me tell you I loved it to pieces. Brody is a dream of a man: dark, tall and handsome. Which girl doesn't like the tattooed biker kind of man. Elise is so lovable and I really devoured this book. Will write an review! I really will.


4. Captured - Julia Rachel Barrett 
Wonderful science fiction erotica. The story was a bit strange at the start but worked out just fine in the end. I loved the way Julia included the social problems in this book. Would have loved it even more if the book would have a good 10 pages more at the end but it was a good read the way it is.
I'm so crossing all my fingers for perhaps getting a second book in this world. You can read my full review here.

5. First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, #1) by Jeaniene Frost
I won this one in a big contest and I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my name was drawn.
Okay so Denise is not one of my favorite characters but I loved Spade so much(after a few pages of getting to know each other). This book is a great start to this new spin-off series and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one. You can read my full review over at Book Lovers INC here.
And I'm so excited to tell you: Ms. Frost will be over at Book Lovers INC on the 9th February (Release-day of First Drop of Crimson- next Tuesday) answering my questions about the new series and she will be there to answer yours too. *fangirl scream* So don't forget to come over!


6. Lead Me On (Tumble Creek, #3) by Victoria Dahl 
Mmmhhh, Chase. *dreams*
Okay…ahem where was I?
Ah yeah I really liked this book and not only because of this wonderful man. The story, as always, was funny, witty and you just fly through the pages without noticing the time you spent reading. The chemistry is sizzling hot and oh my what a bday pressie this guy is.

To read the full review please go here. 



7. Deep, Dark, Delicious by Tina Donahue 
Anyone hungry? I want something Cuban. And no I so mean something to eat girls, or not. This book was sooooo hot! Man this one scene was torturous long- you know the good kind of torturous.

I liked the story but would have preferred a bit more insight in the relationship building. I know I'm way too nosy but it would have been perfect if we could have watched this relationship grow from the start. I always felt like I missed something. You can read my full review here.


8. Switch by Megan Hart
I love Megan Hart's books. I don't know how she does that but I'm always strangely touched by her stories. She grabs me on the first few pages and I just can't stop. Switch was no exception. I even think it wandered directly into my top 3 of her books.
I loved the development of the plots, the characterization and especially the way her characters interacted.
After finishing this one I went directly to the online bookstore of my choice and ordered 2 more books by her.My full review can be found

here.


9. Stilettos Inc. by Lexi Ryan 
I got this book as a review copy and I was positively surprised to see that it is not a chic-lit but a rather good paranormal romance/erotica(as you can see I'm so bad at genres- perhaps I should just make 2 genres: good book and bad book…LOL).
The created world is good developed and the characters are very likable. I was a bit confused by the the often switching POV but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. You can read my full review here.

10. Stranger by Megan Hart
See I told you I had to buy another one of Ms. Hart's books. I started this on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. No biggie you say? I was on work on Sunday and spent each free minute reading. I just couldn't stop. Very emotional intense book that made me cry but I loved every second I spent reading it. I will work on a review for this one for sure.
 

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