Stone of Thieves (Robbin' Hearts #2) by Diane J. Reed

The Stone of Thieves . . . for centuries its magnetic draw has twisted the hearts of ambitious men and women with the promise of power, passion, and intrigue until it fell into the hands of unlikely thieves Robin and her boyfriend Creek. But can they steal their destiny away from the curse that pursues this magnificent ruby heart? As the stone begins to spread its sorcery, Robin races to find her long-lost mother in Italy in the hopes of discovering the truth about her unique gypsy heritage and the ruby heart that is rumored to steal souls. Yet when the desire for this stone by powerful members of her family threatens their very lives, Creek decides to take matters into his own hands to protect Robin, his greatest treasure of all . . .

Stone of Thieves is a sensual, stand-alone new adult novel and the sequel to Robin in the Hood in the Robbin’ Hearts Series. Due to mature themes, readership is advised for ages 17+

• Genre: Contemporary romance, Magic, Magical realism
• Age: young adult, mature young adult
• Source: owned paperback: Copy courtesy of author Diane J. Reed in exchange for an honest review
• Read from July 20 to 22, 2014

 FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

The Devil's Reprise (Devils #2) by Karina Halle

Given a second chance, music journalist Dawn Emerson and guitarist Sage Knightly are reunited, only to have their lives threatened again by a demonic bargain. The sequel to THE DEVIL’S METAL, from USA Today bestselling author Karina Halle.

When Dawn Emerson got the chance to go on tour with her favorite metal band, Hybrid, she thought she landed the writing gig of the century. But what started off as a dream for the budding music journalist quickly turned into a nightmare that she and guitarist Sage Knightly barely escaped alive.

Now, months after they went their separate ways, Sage invites Dawn to accompany him on his first solo tour across Europe and write about it for Creem Magazine. But like the last tour, nothing is as easy as it seems. Sage is a broken man on the path to self-destruction and Dawn isn’t sure if she’s the right person to save him. And aside from having to pick up the pieces of their burgeoning relationship, they have to negotiate the mysterious new photographer assigned to Dawn’s story, as well as vindictive promoters and demonic groupies they thought they’d never see again.

Because this time, it’s Dawn who made a deal with the devil and the only thing worse than having to uphold a bargain with the prince of darkness is not remembering how you’re supposed to pay it back.

It may be with their souls.

THE DEVIL’S REPRISE is the sequel to THE DEVIL’S METAL and the final book in this series.

• Genre: Paranormal, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery
• Creatures: demons 
• Age: new adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from November 03 to 06, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2) by Julie Kagawa

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.

• Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary,Urban fantasy, Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural
• Creatures: faeries
• Age: mature young adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from November 11 to 12, 2013

  FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

Uncharted (On the Island #1.5) by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Tracey Garvis Graves - and Anna and T.J. - return in this companion novella to the New York Times bestseller On the Island

When twenty-three-year-old dot-com millionaire Owen Sparks walked away from his charmed life, he had one goal in mind: get as far away as possible from the people who resented his success, or had their hand out for a piece of it. A remote uncharted island halfway around the world seemed like a perfectly logical place to get away from it all.

Calia Reed wasn't part of Owen's plans. The beautiful British girl - on holiday in the Maldives with her brother, James - made Owen wonder if getting away from it all might be a lot more enjoyable with a carefree girl who didn't know anything about the life he left behind.

But Owen had no idea how much his carefully detailed plans would go awry. Nor did he realize that a decision he made would have such a catastrophic effect on two passengers who boarded a plane in Chicago.

And when Owen shows up at Anna and T.J.'s door with an incredible story to tell, everyone involved will learn just how much their lives are intertwined.

Uncharted includes an early look at Covet, coming September 2013.

• Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Survival, Drama
• Age: New adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from July 09 to 10, 2013
• Buddy read with my darlings Nab & Jerry aka 9 3/4 and Monisha (click on names to see their reviews)

FINAL RATING: ★★★/★★★★★

On the Island (On the Island #1) by Tracey Garvis-Graves

When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.

Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

• Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Survival, Drama
• Age: New adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from July 09 to 10, 2013
• Buddy read with my darlings Nab & Basuhi & Pavlina, Jerry aka 9 3/4 and Monisha (click on names to see their reviews)

FINAL RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★

Fallen Too Far (Too Far, #1) by Abbi Glines

To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter.

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.

• Genre: Romance, Drama
• Age: New adult / Mature Young adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from April 11 to 12, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★

Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, #1) by Wendy Higgins

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

• Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy
• Creatures: angels and demons
• Age: mature young adult
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from October 01 to 02, 2012

FINAL RATING: ★★/★★★★★ + DROPPED SERIES

Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run, #4) by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban

Cut & Run Series Book Four - Sequel to Fish & Chips

Baltimore, Maryland, is a city in alarming distress. Rising violence is fanning the flames of public outrage, and all law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are catching blame. Thus the FBI’s latest ideas to improve public relations: a municipal softball league and workshops for community leaders. But the new commitments just mean more time Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have to spend apart when they’re happily exploring how to be more than by-the-book partners.

Then the latest spate of crime explodes in their faces—literally—throwing the city, the Bureau, and Ty and Zane’s volatile partnership both in and out of the office into chaos. They’re hip-deep in trouble, trying to track down bombers and bank robbers in the dark with very few clues, and the only way to reach the light at the end of the tunnel together requires Ty and Zane to close their eyes and trust each other to the fiery end.

• Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary, Romance
• Age: adult, Glbt
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from April 25 to May 01, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

Fish & Chips (Cut & Run, #3) by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban

Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are back on the job, settled into a personal and professional relationship built on fierce protectiveness and blistering passion. 

Now they're assigned to impersonate two members of an international smuggling ring-an out-and-proud married couple-on a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean. 

As their boss says, surely they'd rather kiss each other than be shot at, and he has no idea how right he is. Portraying the wealthy criminals requires a particular change in attitude from Ty and Zane while dealing with the frustrating waiting game of their assignment. 

As it begins to affect how they treat each other in private, Ty and Zane realize there's more to being partners than watching each other's backs, and when the case takes an unexpected turn and threatens Ty's life, Ty and Zane will have to navigate seas of white lies and stormy secrets, including some of their own.

• Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary, Romance
• Age: adult, Glbt
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from March 04 to 05, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run, #2) by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban

Cut & Run Series Book Two - Sequel to Cut & Run Six.

 

Months after nearly losing their lives to a serial killer in New York City, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are suffering through something almost as frightening: the monotony of desk duty. 

When they're ordered to take a vacation for the good of everyone's sanity, Ty bites the bullet and takes Zane home with him to West Virginia, hoping the peace and quiet of the mountains will give them the chance to explore the explosive attraction they've so far been unable to reconcile with their professional partnership.

 Ty and Zane, along with Ty's father and brother, head up into the Appalachian mountains for a nice, relaxing hike deep into the woods... where no one will hear them scream. They find themselves facing danger from all directions: unpredictable weather, the unrelenting mountains, wild animals, fellow hikers with nothing to lose, and the most terrifying challenge of all. Each other.

• Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary, Romance
• Age: adult, Glbt
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from February 25 to 27, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1) by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban

"Cut & Run Series: Book One"

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.

Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic clich: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.

Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.

• Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary, Romance
• Age: adult, Glbt
• Source: owned ebook 
• Recommended to Kristalia by: Rain ~miss kinky knickers~
• Read on February 19, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

When you’ve been kept caged in the dark, it’s impossible to see the forest for the trees. It’s impossible to see anything, really. Not without bars . . .

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.

He’s part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.

He’s part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.

Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present.

Before the sun rises, he’ll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths—that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying.

• Genre: Mystery, Paranormal, Contemporary, Drama, Dark
• Creatures:  werewolves
• Age: mature young adult
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from June 29 to 30, 2013

  Buddy read with Nab & Vilda ♥

FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

• Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Drama
• Age: adult
• Source: paperback & ebook
• Read from June 18 to 21, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Sins & Needles (The Artists Trilogy #1) by Karina Halle

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents' latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen. Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.

• Genre: Romance, Mystery, Suspense
• Age: adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from January 29 to February 01, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★★/★★★★★

On Every Street (The Artists Trilogy #0.5) by Karina Halle

When young con artist Ellie Watt decides to call herself Eden White and go after the drug lord who ruined her as a child, she never expects to fall for one of his henchmen. But Javier Bernal is no ordinary man. Subtly dangerous and overwhelmingly seductive, Eden finds herself passionately in love with Javier, the very person she's set-up to betray. With her body and heart in a heated battle against her deep need for revenge, no one will walk away from this con a winner.

This 50K word (100+ pages) novella takes place six years before Sins & Needles. It can be read before or after Sins & Needles and may also be read as a standalone.

• Genre: Romance, Mystery, Suspense
• Age: mature young adult / adult
• Source: ARC for review
• Read from March 06 to 07, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Old Blood (Experiment in Terror #5.5) by Karina Halle

 

A haunting novella from the Experiment in Terror Series...

From her harrowing introduction in Darkhouse, the spectre known as “Creepy Clown Lady” has been a constant fixture in Perry Palomino’s life. But beyond the horrid makeup and piercing stare lies Pippa, a woman just like everyone else.

Well, not quite.

When Perry discovered Pippa’s message to her and Dex on the EVP recordings, she thought she heard the last of the old woman’s message. She was wrong. In the novella Old Blood, Pippa relays the tale of her troubled and tortured past, revealing how an aspiring actress and loving mother fell into madness and how an unfathomable betrayal led to her untimely death.

For Perry, the repercussions of her message are life-shattering.

Old Blood is #5.5 in the series and occurs between books #5 On Demon Wings and #6 Into the Hollow.

• Genre: Paranormal Romance, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery
• Creatures:  ghosts and demons 
• Age: new adult/ adult
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from June 09 to 10, 2013

And the Buddy Read continues with the great Vilda!!

FINAL RATING: ★★★★/★★★★★

On Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror, #5) by Karina Halle

When the life you wanted has crumbled beneath your fingers, there’s nothing left to do but pick up the pieces and soldier on. You’ve done this before.

But what happens when you no longer feel like yourself anymore? When fires spontaneously start-up around you, when you hear growling coming from underneath your bed, and you no longer recognize your face in the mirror. What happens then?

Ghost-hunter Perry Palomino doesn’t have much time to find out. Now, the evil she used to hunt is a lot closer to home. It’s inside of her, taking over her life bit-by-terrifying bit, and there’s only one person who can help her.

If part of her doesn’t kill him first.

• Genre: Paranormal Romance, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery
• Creatures:  ghosts and demons 
• Age: new adult/ adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from June 06 to 07, 2013

And the Buddy Read continues with the great Vilda!!

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Lying Season (Experiment in Terror, #4) by Karina Halle

Ama­teur ghost-hunter Perry Palomino has bat­tled ghosts, fought off skin­walk­ers and skirted the fine line between life and death.

But can she sur­vive bunk­ing down in Seat­tle for a week with her partner (and man she secretly loves) Dex and his perfect girl­friend, Jennifer?

And can she do so while being tor­mented by a mali­cious spirit from Dex’s increas­ingly shady past?

With love and life in the bal­ance, Perry must dis­cover the truth among the lies or risk los­ing every­thing she's ever cared about.

• Genre: Paranormal Romance, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery
• Creatures:  ghosts and demons 
• Age: new adult / adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from June 04 to 06, 2013

Buddy read with my darling Vilda ♥ Check out her review here: ✦ Vilda's review

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

Tangled (Tangled #1) by Emma Chase

Drew Evans is a winner. Handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. He has loyal friends and an indulgent family. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed?
He’ll tell you he has the flu.
But we all know that’s not really true.
Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. She refuses to let anything - or anyone - derail her path to success. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.
Then, just when Drew is on the cusp of having everything he wants, his overblown confidence threatens to ruin it all. Will he be able untangle his feelings of lust and tenderness, frustration and fulfillment? Will he rise to the most important challenge of his life?
Can Drew Evans win at love?
Tangled is not your mother’s romance novel. It is an outrageous, passionate, witty narrative about a man who knows a lot about women…just not as much as he thinks he knows. As he tells his story, Drew learns the one thing he never wanted in life, is the only thing he can’t live without.

• Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Humor, Chick Lit
• Age: adult
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from May 29 to 31, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★☆/★★★★★

Sempre (Forever, #1) by J.M. Darhower

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco had vastly different childhoods. Haven, a second-generation slave, grew up isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse.

Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege, never having to answer for anything he did.

Both now seventeen, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide, making them question everything they ever believed.

Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.

• Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Suspense, Dark, Romance
• Age: new adult
• Source: owned ebook
• Read from May 26 to 28, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★