Carly Phillips – Hot Item

Hot Zone Series:

Book 3:

Hot Item: Riley Nash and Sophie Jordan

Summary:

It’s been a bad week! When Spencer Atkins, partner of Hot Zone is “outted” publically all hell breaks loose and Sophie is the only one available to weather the storm, even Spencer has disappeared. All of Riley’s life he has wanted his biological father Spencer Atkins to acknowledge his existence and now that Spencer is “outted” he can’t afford for Spencer to acknowledge him, not with his step fathers political career on the line. For years Sophie and Riley have been circling around each other.  Riley as one the top NFL quarterbacks is a big client for Hot Zone, so when he shows up in Sophie’s office asking for a favor there is no way she can turn him down, despite how nervous he makes her.  Riley needs to find Spencer and he needs to find him now, and it seems Sophie is his only link to funding him, but he will have to trust her with his biggest secret.

Review:

This is my first book by Carly Phillips and I have to admit I was kind of disappointed, this book was ok. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t GREAT! I don’t know why but I kind of expected it to be great, from what I have heard of Carly Phillips, but it just wasn’t. It was kind of interesting to see the female as the commitment phob instead of the typical male, but that was about the only thing that was atypical of novels of this genre. I got out of the book a few chuckles and some steamy love scenes, so it was light entertainment. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading this book nor would I really recommend it.

Rating:

3 orchids out of 5

Christine Feehan – Hidden Currents

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 7:

Hidden Currents: Elle Drake and Jackson Deveau

Summary:

Elle is under deep cover as Sheena MacKenzie, she is to discover if Stavros Gratsos; a Greek multimillionaire, is guilty or innocent of human trafficking. Elle is almost convinced that he is innocent when he takes her captive on his island. What is worse is that Stavros seems to have his own gifts and has managed to block all magical abilities on his island. Elle as the seventh of seven she has all the gifts and has formidable power that she cannot tap into. Elle is used to feeling all her power running through her and now she is completely defenseless against a monster who repeatedly raps and beats her into submission for what he says is for her own good. Jackson is the Deputy in Sea Haven and when he was taken captive all those years and tortured to an inch of his life it was Elle in his head that got him through the experience and it was her that helped him escape. Now Elle, the love of his life, has been taken captive and he can’t get to her mentally, their mental connection has never been blocked before, but he knows with every fiber of his being that she is still alive. When during a storm Jackson and her sisters are able to get through the barrier Jackson is able to connect with Elle in her mind once again only to see as she sees the torture she is enduring and he knows that she is almost broken, if they don’t get to her and soon there will be nothing left of the real Elle. He is able to connect with her long enough to find the island and within days they are ready to get Elle out. Jackson is merciless in his pursuit of getting Elle out of that hell and to kill Stavros. Jackson gets Elle out but Stavros manages to get away. Upon her rescue Elle doesn’t know how she’ll be able to go on with her life, if it wasn’t for Jackson she didn’t know how she would be able to go on. Even though she has been rescued she is still not safe, Stavros, will never let her go and has been striking out against her psychically and this time she may not be able to fight him off.

Review:

The horrors that Elle went through are atrocious, it was a miracle that she was able to keep her mind intact.  At one point Elle is finally about to crack and commit mental suicide and then suddenly Jackson is there in her mind, somehow able to help keep her hold on long enough until he can rescue her. Through Elle’s recovery Jackson is her rock, no one else would have been able to understand what she was going through. Through the series Jackson is the silent brooding deputy and in this novel you see a whole other side to him that surprises even Elle, who has spent a lot of time in his brain.  Elle is the mysterious sister the one that is to carry on the line and has the gift and the burden of all the gifts that can tend to overwhelm, but with that she has a lot of inner strength, strength that gets her through something that no person should ever have to go through. There is plenty of action with Stavros slapping out at the sisters. Although you never really know if his gifts are like Hannah’s controlling the elements or if he is like Elle and has all the gifts, but I am more inclined to think he is more like Hannah. Also something I wondered about through most of the series that never got answered is how in the world did Elle know to reach out to Jackson when he was being held captive, is there some sort of telepathy signals like a radio station for other telepaths? I mean really how did she find him and reach out to him, when they had never met before. And what exactly are Jackson’s gifts, there was a very brief mention that he had more than just telepathy. C. Feehan definitely leaves some unanswered questions but it doesn’t really take away from the story, but keeps you thinking of the novel well after you’re finished.

Rating:

4.5 moons out of 5

Chrstine Feehan – Turbulent Sea

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 6:

Turbulent Sea: Joley Drake and Ilya Prakenskii

Summary:

Joley is an international music sensation and wild child. Joley is a regular in the tabloids for her supposed exploits. But when it comes to Joley what you read in the tabloids is rarely the truth, in reality she tries to live as quiet if a life as she can given the circumstances. At least she used to live a quiet existence until she met Ilya Prakenskii almost a year ago and he put her mark on her. Now he is driving her crazy! She can’t get him out of her head, literally, he talks to her in her head far into the night, she tries to fight the attraction and the way he makes her feel because nothing good can come of falling for a rumored hit man and body guard to a Russian Mob Boss who is determined to follow Joley around the country catching her shows. Since Ilya’s boss is following her around the country that mean Ilya is too, will she never get away from him!? With Ilya what you see is rarely the truth, the life he leads is a lie, with him you never know what is real and what the lie is. Ilya grew up in the same institution as Aleksandr in Russia, all Ilya knows is a life of crime and killing, but which side of the crime is he really on, that is something no one knows. Ilya is like the Drake sisters and carries magic, a male line of seven. When he marked Joley with his magic he was claiming her as “His” and there is nothing that will keep him from what is his, not even the stubborn Joley.

Review:

I LOVE Ilya and Joley, I love the separate and I love them even more together. Joley is fiercely protective and loyal, she also has spirit.  Ilya keeps you guessing, you never really know his intent. You know he has taken on protecting the Drake sisters, especially Joley, but you don’t know his agenda behind that. Ilya doesn’t seem the type to do anything without a reason. When Ilya and Joley come together its explosive! All you can do is sit back and watch the sparks fly. There is never a dull moment between these two.

Rating:

5 moons out of 5

Christine Feehan – Safe Harbor

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 5:

Safe Harbor: Hannah Drake and Jonas Harrington

Summary:

Hannah is one of the world premier Supermodels! The exterior of Hannah hides a woman who is painfully shy, so shy that if it wasn’t for the boosts that her sisters give her there would be times that she wouldn’t be able to leave the house. Hannah has always been the favorite of all the sisters, despite the shyness there is a core of steel and a certain mischievousness, which is always evident whenever their childhood friend (and Hannah’s secret love) and the local sheriff Jonas is around.  Jonas has always loved Hannah, for as long as he could remember it’s always been her. He is insanely jealous that the entire world gets to see her scantily clad on the covers of all the magazines. To cover his inability to claim Hannah as his own he takes unnecessary risks with his life, working for his former commander when he was a Ranger. This last mission went horribly wrong and without Hannah’s assistance with the element him and Jackson would not have made it out alive as it was he ended up with another bullet wound, but he did manage to get away. Somehow this last mission changed everything between Hannah and Jonas, for the first time Hannah and Jonas have been able to come together as more than childhood friends but as lovers. When Hannah goes on her next modeling assignment, she is brutally attacked, repeatedly stabbed by a madman with a knife. If the strange and enigmatic Ilya Prakenskii had not been at the scene Hannah would not have made it long enough for her sister to get there to heal her. Now after the attack Hannah’s entire world has crashed down around her, scarred from the knife slashes there is no way she can return to modeling and she is sure that once Jonas sees her he won’t want her anymore either.  Jonas almost lost his heart when Hannah was attacked there is nothing that will keep him from her again not even Hannah, he is determined that they will get through this together, but the threat to Hannah is still out there…

Review:

Hannah’s story is so touching; her struggle to regain herself is so real. I can’t even imagine going through an attack like the one she survived, and coming out of it with as much sanity as she did. Hannah really does have an inner strength that she never realized that she had. There is one part where all of Hannah’s sister wrote her a letter and put in a book for her and I swear I teared up and had an overwhelming desire to call my own sister just to tell her I loved her. There is so much love and power in the bond between sisters. The way Jonas stuck by Hannah’s side and helped her through everything really showed the strength of a good man, a man that loves the woman inside and not the face. Through all the books before this one you really hope these two would finally come together and you are definitely happy when it finally does! Now all these two have to do is survive the attacks on Hannah’s life.

Rating:

4 moons out of 5

Christine Feehan – Dangerous Tides

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 4:

Dangerous Tides: Libby Drake and Tyson Derrick

Summary:

Libby is an Empath and a doctor; she does not have a mean bone on her body. The nature of her gift allows her to heal but it can be at a great cost to both herself and her sisters. If she attempts to heal something so massive it could kill her as well as her beloved sisters. Ty is one of the greatest minds; he has already won the Nobel Prize in medicine, and is determined to fix a new treatment to help in the fight against cancer, only it has a deadly side effect in teens. Ty comes from a very wealthy family but because of his intelligence he has always been disconnected from his family and not all he has left is his cousin which has taken on a lot of burden due to Ty’s forgetfulness. When Ty and his cousin are on a rescue mission of a young teen trapped down by the ocean Ty’s support snaps and he is dropped onto the rocks suffering a huge brain trauma. Libby is in the hospital when Ty is brought in; since she was a young girl she has always been fascinated with Ty and his huge brains, so when she sees him in his comatose state she is compelled to heal him. The healing of Ty came at a great cost and Libby almost lost her life in the process, if it hadn’t been for her sister, mom and aunt she would have died. When Ty comes to Libby she is still healing and somehow he manages to finagle a date out of her. Ty does not believe in magic and thinks Libby’s whole family has her brain washed, there is no scientific basis for magic, and therefore it cannot exist. Despite Libby’s crack pot family he has decided she is the one for him and he will be able to break her belief in magic. But when unexplainable things keep happening around Libby and her sister’s maybe he is the one that needs to come around in his thinking. During his courtship of Libby both his and her lives have been threatened, will they be able to figure out who is trying to kill them before the killer succeeds?

Review:

Libby is so tender hearted and has patience for years, there is no way I’d be able to deal with a man like Ty. Lol! He is constantly forgetting things, missing dates, and his people skills are zero, he keeps insulting Libby and her beliefs. I think I would have smacked him after the first time he insulted her and her family legacy, but not Libby her compassionate and patient nature allow her to look beyond that to the man inside. Ty might be forgetful but he is loyal to an extreme and full of a desire to love and be loved. There is a twist in this story you won’t see coming, at least I didn’t! There is also plenty of action to keep you from getting bored.

Review:

3.5 moons out of 5

Christine Feehan – Oceans of Fire

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 3:

Oceans of Fire: Abigail Drake and Aleksandr Volstov

Summary:

Abby is a Marine Biologist more comfortable at sea with her beloved dolphins than on land with pool. She has an affinity with animals, and with animals there are no way that she can slip up and learn all of their deepest darkest secrets with one word. Four years ago, Abby made one of the biggest mistakes of her life she used her gift for the man she loved; Aleksandr Volstov an Interpol Agent; and a man died because of it, what followed was days of torture at the hands of Russians only to have her abruptly deported from Russia and betrayed by the man she loved. Four years later her confidence in herself and her gift is still completely shattered and she still aches for the man she once loved. One night while in the ocean Abby witnesses a murder of a man by Russians, as it turns out the man that was murdered was Aleksandr’s partner, undercover in Sea Haven to capture Russian Mafia members smuggling art and humans into the United States from Russia through the sleepy town. All of the sudden Abby is thrust into a life threatening situation, and not only is her life being threatened but her heart, because Aleksandr has no intention of letting Abby go for a second time. Can Abby trust herself enough to let Aleksandr have heart again and trust that he won’t hurt her again, because she doesn’t think she could survive that kind of heartache again.

Review:

This was not one of my favorite books of the series, it was ok. You never do get some sort of conclusion with Abby and her gifts, throughout the book she is denying her gift and refuses to use them because of the trouble it can cause and you never see a resolution to that.  You can only assume that she doesn’t regain confidence in herself and her gift which is a shame. Now Aleksandr on the other hand.. He oozes confidence and danger! He is one of my favorite men of the series, raised in Russia to be a killer he takes a different path, a path into law enforcement. He has confidence in himself and his abilities and goes after what he wants regardless of the cost to himself. Once, four years ago the the cost to a decision he made was Abby the love of his life, now that she is back in his life he is not taking NO for an answer.  She is everything that is good in his life.  You wish that some of that confidence would rub off on Abby and that she would have more faith in herself and her abilities. The Russian Mafia twist brings action to the novel and introduces us to Ilya Prakenskii, who we will be seeing a lot of in the books to come!

Review:

3 moons out of 5

Christine Feehan – Twilight Before Christmas

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 2:

Twilight Before Christmas: Kate Drake and Matt Granite

Summary:

Kate has finally returned home! She is a bestselling author and has travelled the world, she is ready to be home and to settle down, convert the local abandoned mill into a local bookstore and café. She is out riding when Matt Granite a former Army Ranger and her long time crush crashes his truck several feet from her. The minute Matt sees Katie he turns into a blathering idiot, from the first time he saw her he has been unable to keep his head about him. This most current time is the third time he has wrecked his truck upon seeing her, and this time he is determined to keep his head about him and win Katie. While serving his country as an Army Ranger thoughts of her at times were the only thing that kept him sane and alive, alive to get home to see her once again. Now that Katie is home Matt needs to find a way to spend more time with her and he finds that with converting her Mill, as her contactor he would have to spend lots of time with her and she’ll get her dream store. Win – Win! While the two are exploring her mill they break open a seal and something is released into Sea Haven and it is wreaking havoc on all the citizens and causing great disturbances especially to anything having to do with Christmas. Now Katie and her special gifts may be the only thing that can save Sea Haven and Christmas, but there is no way Matt is going to let her fight this danger alone.

Review:

Katie is a gentle soul, she is so compassionate and her gift is to be able to calm those around her. Katie has always felt that she was the boring sister, more content to curl up with a book than anything else she has been an observer of life. Matt has always rushed straight into life, not content to observe but to be right smack in the middle. Katie doesn’t think she can keep the attention of a man such as Matt, Matt is just as sure that he can’t live without Katie and her gentle ways. I can totally relate to Katie, I’ve always been more of one to be curled up with a book than to be bungee jumping of a bridge. I love people watching and observing what is going on around me, it’s one of my great pleasures. Matt is a man’s man, military and a contractor! Does it get to be a better combo? Very sexy! His love for Katie shines through his every movement and action, any woman would be lucky to have a man like Matt beside them.

Rating:

4 moons out of 5

Christine Feehan – Magic In the Wind

Drake Sisters Series:

Book 1:

Magic In the Wind: Sarah Drake and Damon Wilder

Summary:

Damon Wilder is considered the smartest man on the planet, he has designed the national defense system, there are many that would kill to have what is in Damon brain, and have. After Damon’s and his assistant capture and torture Damon barely made it out alive with his life, his assistant was not so lucky. With guilt in his heart and pain in his body Damon decided to retire to Sea Haven, there was something about the small town on the coast of Northern California that called to him. All around town there are whispers of Sarah’s return to Sea Haven; most whispers are of awe and love with the fantastical thrown in. Damon decides he must meet this Sarah. Sarah, has missed her home town, Sea Haven has always been in her heart and that of her ancestors. For a 100 years Drake women have lived and loved in Sea Haven and as the first born Drake sister she has inherited special gifts, gifts of magic and the first to fall to the prophecy of the Drake sisters. Only the man of her destiny will the house accept and the gate open for, when Damon walks through the opened gate and straight into her home Sarah realizes she has meet the man of her destiny but that does not mean she has to accept it.

Review:

This novel is the opening to the series; it is short and fast paced. I did find that it did leave some questions, what exactly is the prophecy and what “talents” does each sister have. I am left somewhat confused. Other than that the story is face paced and action packed. Sarah manages the impossible and teaches the man who knows everything a few things about life and himself. Damon is delightfully cranky and Sarah is wise and can tame the beast. You will look forward to what the prophecy has in store for the rest of the sisters!

Rating

3 orchids out of 5

Gena Showalter – Lords of the Underworld Series

Gena Showalter – Lords of the Underworld Series

Summary:

The basic premise is thousands of years ago the High Demons (Violence, Death, Lies, Doubt, Misery, etc…) in Hell were trying to escape to get onto earth.  A box made of the goddess of Oppression bones was made to house the High Demons.  The Lords of the Underworld were Zeus’s elite warrior guards, when Pandora was selected above all other Lords to guard the box they became jealous as certainly they were better than Pandora as one of the only female Lords.  They decided to break open the box to release the demons so they would be able to recapture them thus proving they were the better choice to guard the box. Once the demons were released and Pandora killed they were not able to recapture them, Zeus was furious with the Lords and as a punishment he put a demon in each of the Lords, the demons and the Lords became one, one could not live without the other. For hundreds of years the Lords were out of control, unable to control the demons within.  In response to the uncontrollable Lords a group of humans sprouted up called Hunters. Their mission at first was to kill the Lords and their Demon to rid the earth of all evil (they blamed the Lords for every wrong that has ever happened on earth), later once they realized that the demon within would just be released onto the world if the Lord was killed so they changed tactics to trying to capture; thus beginning a deadly war between the two groups.  Even once the Lords have controlled their demons and their cravings the Hunters still continued blaming the Lords for every tragedy that has befallen them and the war continued for the next couple thousands of years.

Thousands of years later the Lords are living in Budapest and just trying to live as peaceful of an existence that they can, until the war with the Hunters is brought to their front door, thus the series begins!  Once you are sucked into the series you will not be able to get enough! I whipped through the entire series so far in less than a week.  When starting the series I highly recommend writing down each Lords name with their corresponding Demon and keeping it handy, I did not do this and found myself confused for a while and going back and forth to see who was paired with what demon so if it’s right next to you it’s easy access and you do not have to waste any time.  I will list them here for reference as well.

Series Rating:

5 moons out of 5

Lord and their Demon:

Maddox – Violence

Lucien – Death

Reyes – Pain

Sabin – Doubt

Aeron – Wrath

Gideon – Lies

Amun – Secrets

Strider – Defeat

Torin – Disease

Paris – Promiscuity

Kane – Disaster

Cameo – Misery 

Baden – Distrust (Deceased)

Galen – Hope

People of Interest:

Anya – Minor goddess of Anarchy

William – Possible God of ?…. (Immortal and Anya’s partner in crime)

Scarlett – Keeper of the Demon Nightmares

Zeus – King of the Greek gods

Cronus – King of the Titan Gods

Book Reading Order:

Book1:

The Darkest Fire – Geryon and Kadence, goddess of Oppression

Book2:

The Darkest Night – Maddox/Violence and Ashlyn Darrow

Book 3:

The Darkest Kiss – Lucien/Death and Anya, minor goddess of Anarchy

Book 4:

The Darkest Pleasure – Reyes/Pain and Danika Ford

Book 5:

The Darkest Whisper – Sabin/Doubt and Gwendolyn the Timid (Harpy)

Book 6:

The Darkest Angel – Lysander (Warrior Class Angel) and Bianka (Harpy)

Book 7:

The Darkest Passion – Aeron/Wrath and Olivia (Fallen Angel)

Book 8:

The Darkest Lie – Gideon/Lies and Scarlett/Nightmares

Book 9:

The Darkest Secret – Amun/Secrets and ?

Release Date: March 29, 2011

Karen Marie Moning – Spell of the Highlander

Highlander Series:

Spell of the Highlander: Cian MacKelter and Jessica St. James

Summary:

Cian is a 9^th century Highland Laird who also happens to be the most powerful Druid who has ever lived. Cian is dabbling in the black magicks with his “best friend” Lucan when Lucan tricked him and trapped him in the Dark Glass, for the next 11 centuries. Several months earlier a freak of circumstances allowed the mirror to be stolen and sold to the highest bidder.  Jessi wished she could have some sort of life, any life really she wasn’t picky.  She feels like she is never going to get a break until Professor Keene breaks several bones and sends Jessi to his office to accept a ‘package”. The package turns out to be an old mirror that she could have sworn that she saw the outline of a huge man, it freaks her out and she avoids the professor’s office for several days. When she can no longer avoid it she returns to the office only there is a strange blond man there and she just knows that he is going to try to hurt her. Then suddenly a huge man appears in the begging her to release him from the mirror. Convincing herself she’s in the middle of a dream she repeats the spell and releases the huge man and promptly curls up and falls asleep. The next day concerned she is crazy and in desperate need of a padded cell she goes back to the office only to have the man in the mirror still there and again trying to convenience her to release him from the mirror because her very life may depend on him. Cian has 20 days to keep this woman safe and to defeat Lucan and together he and Jessi go on the run for their very lives.

Review:

This is my first novel by K.M. Moning and I enjoyed her writing. It is funny, sexy and intelligent. When she mentions Lafayette, IN in the novel I about died, it’s my home town and no one cares about Lafayette, IN especially for it to appear in a novel however briefly. Then I flipped to the back of the cover and saw she went to Purdue University (located in Lafayette) and I liked her even more since I also went to Purdue. The novel is thoughtfully written with plenty of action, it’ll keep you interested. Both Cian and Jessi are relatable characters and I devoured the book in a few hours I just couldn’t put it down.  There is defiantly magic with this book in more than one way. There were a couple of characters from previous novels that I am going to have to go back for!

Rating:

4.25 Orchids out of 5