Book Review: Marriage Games

Marriage Games (The Games Duet #1)
C.D. Reiss

Release Date: October 22, 2016

Book Description:
THIRTY DAYS
That’s all Adam Steinbeck demands of his wife.
Thirty days in a remote cottage, doing everything he demands. After that, he’ll sign her divorce papers and give her complete ownership of their company.

THIRTY DAYS
That’s how long he has to rediscover the man he once was. The Dominant Master he hid when he fell in love with her five years ago.

THIRTY DAYS
She wants the business they built badly enough to go to the cottage for a month. Cut off ties to the world and do his bidding. She can submit to him with her body, but her heart will never yield.

She thinks this is his pathetic attempt to repair their marriage.

She’s wrong.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
Gah! I don't know what to say about this book. I loved it and hated it at the same time. C.D. Reiss always writes such complex, multi-layered characters and stories - you think you know where it is going but really, you have no idea... 

"The world we inhabited wasn’t designed for people to be in love. It was designed for intensity, pain, pleasure, courtesy, and ritual." Marriage Games (Kindle Location 584).

Book Review: Magic Burns

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2)
Ilona Andrews

Release Date: April 2008

Book Description:

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:
I don't know if I'm quite sold on Kate Daniels and the whole UF genre is not quite my thing, but I'm intrigued and look forward to reading more from the dynamic author duo of Andrew and Ilona Gordon.

Magic Burns is the second book in the series and I happened to get this one on audio, which in turn slightly affected my opinion of the story. The narrator - Renée Raudman does a decent job, but her inflections often felt exaggerated and forced. I also found some of the voices and accents that she employed to portray certain characters take something away from their appeal for me. It is unfortunate, but narrators can truly affect your perception of the book.

Book Review: Beneath a Waning Moon: A Duo of Gothic Romances

Beneath a Waning Moon: A Duo of Gothic Romances

Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Draven

Release Date: September 29, 2015

Book Description:

Two delightfully dark tales of Gothic romance from Elizabeth Hunter and Grace Draven.

In A VERY PROPER MONSTER, Josephine Shaw spends long nights filling the pages of her Gothic stories with the fantastic and the macabre, unaware that the suitor her father has arranged is one of the dark creatures she’s always dreamed. For Tom Dargin, courting an ailing spinster was only one duty in a long life of service to his sire. But after he meets the curious Miss Shaw, will Tom become the seducer or the seduced? Can a love fated to end in tragedy survive a looming grave?

In GASLIGHT HADES, Nathaniel Gordon walks two worlds—that of the living and the dead. Barely human, he's earned the reputation of a Bonekeeper, the scourge of grave robbers. He believes his old life over, until one dreary burial he meets the woman he once loved and almost married. Lenore Kenward stands at her father’s grave, begging the protection of the mysterious guardian, not knowing he is her lost love. Resolved to keep his distance, Nathaniel is forced to abandon his plan and accompany Lenore on a journey into the mouth of Hell where sea meets sky, and the abominations that exist beyond its barrier wait to destroy them.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Review:

A VERY PROPER MONSTER

Recipe: Russian Syrniki

Hi there! How have you been guys?

It’s been a very long time since my last post; in fact, I’ve taken a semi-permanent break from blogging to do some other fun and exciting things (a bit on that later). So I know it’s a little strange to find this blog post pop up here, especially since early last year I joined Karina’s blog – Nocturnal Book Reviews (which you should totally check out!) and closed the shop here, so to speak. But, tonight I made these absolutely easy and delicious syrniki that I felt the need to share with you – so here I am with a new recipe!

And, no, before you ask, I’m not back to blogging, (just yet at least). Life is a bit crazy around here these days, that I don’t want to commit to a regular blog. But it is certainly fun! What, with an addition of a rambunctious, adorable little boy in our household who is already quite fond of my cooking and loves books – a man after my own heart!

***

Russian Syrniki
Servings 4 – 5

Release Day Blitz: V-Card by Alicia Michaels

Hi guys! I'm pleased to welcome New Adult, Romance author Alicia Michaels to the blog! She's celebrating the release of her newest book, V-CARD, out today! Enjoy the excerpt, and don't forget to enter the giveaway before you leave. Good luck! :)

Enjoy!

V-Card

Alicia Michaels

Release Date: April 20, 2014

Book Description:

Jennifer Nolan has been unlucky when it comes to love; even more unfortunate when it comes to sex. In fact, the twenty year-old college junior is about to enter her senior year still carrying her v-card. All she wants is to be with that special someone without it resulting in a trip to the emergency room, runaway office supplies, or being scarred for life by someone's weird fetishes. With several botched attempts under her belt, she begins to fear she'll end up a lonely spinster or a crazy cat lady.

With only 60 days until her 21st birthday, Jennifer is determined to lose her virginity once and for all. Little does she know that her mission will lead her down a path toward love. She never expects that her mission will lead her to a discovery of what true womanhood is, and where true and lasting love begins.

Amazon US | Goodreads

Excerpt:

My mission? To lose my stupid virginity by my twenty-first birthday ... which is in two months. I can’t very well go into the next phase of adulthood with my v-card. How can I honestly call myself a ‘woman’ if I fidget, wheeze, and just about have a heart attack at even the thought of intimacy? Any guy I date is going to wonder what the hell is wrong with me.

So, it’s happening. I’m not sure when, or with who—since I’m not dating anybody—but I’m determined not to see twenty-one without shedding that one last thing keeping me at girl-status.

Drastic, much? I don’t think so. Maybe if you knew some of my history, you wouldn’t either. First, there was Jeremy …