Enthrall Secrets by Vanessa Fewings- Audiobook Review

Enthrall Secrets by Vanessa Fewings
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Story overall: 3 stars
Narration: 2.5 stars

If you have read the Enthrall series, you will likely enjoy this installment more than if you haven't. Here we get the back story for Scarlet. We get to learn about some of the formative events that lead her to be the successful dominatrix we met in the earlier books.

I did struggle to put together the images we get of Scarlet in the Enthrall series with the Scarlet we get to know here. There is a lot of whimsical decisions, and a lot of erratic behavior being exhibited by someone who is purported to be an expert in power and control

I was engaged in this story enough to want to see what happened next, and there were definitely some very touching moments. However, I found myself rolling my eyes at times at some of the hyperbolic language and instant attachments formed by these characters. The whole "I've never been this in love in my whole life" after knowing a character for less than a day thing got to be a bit much. I tried to suspend my disbelief, and just enjoy the character's relationships to one another, but it was difficult at times.

I think fans of this series will enjoy spending more time with these characters and learning more about them. I don't think that readers new to this series would be hooked by starting with this one.

For audiobook listeners:
The narration was tough for me. With audiobooks, what I really want it to become engrossed in the story and forget about the narrator. I was aware of the narrator throughout this story. Her annunciation and inflection made me constantly aware that this was being read to me and I felt that her general tone and voice didn't match what I imagined for Scarlet. Oddly, I thought her best voice work was that of Danton and then Ethan.

Feather Light by Lorenz Font- Review Tour

FEATHER LIGHT

by

Lorenz Font

Taught by Jenna Tyler- Review

Synopsis

Marissa Mitchell loves her job as a first grade teacher. Dating a student’s father is the furthest thing from her mind, even forbidden…until she meets Brady James. His sexy and confident demeanor captivates her, his tattoos giving him that bad boy edge for which every woman drops their mouths—and panties.

When Marissa agrees to meet Brady for drinks, she could never imagine what she would walk into. Her world tilts when she learns what kinds of things make up the man before her, the kind of man she never knew she wanted.

I want him…beneath me, above me, behind me…inside me.

My Review

Taught by Jenna Tyler
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Marissa is a first grade teacher who meets Brady, the father of one of her students, during a classroom event at the start of the school year. She is physically attracted to Brady from the start, and finds an invitation to meet him for a drink shortly after their first meeting. Marissa accepts the invitation and they confirm that they are indeed quite sexually compatible.

I feel like there was some potential here, but even for a novella, this was quite short. I feel like what we did get here was a few bits of story that are very similar to other books in this genre, without the author expanding on some of the elements of the story that could help this one find its own unique elements. I wish the author would have given us a little bit more information about either character, but we really just get surface descriptions, and not even many of those. I also wish she would have exploited a little more of the tension or conflict that could arise with her being the teacher of Brady's son.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Unlikely Venture by Kristen Luciani- Blog Tour and Review

Unlikely Venture by Kristen Luciani The Venture Series

Publication Date: November 10, 2014 

Genres: Contemporary, Romance 

Synopsis

After learning Jessica's been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, her fiancé bolted out of her life as if he was on fire. She finds solace in her career--no distractions or romantic entanglements there!

But the universe has its own agenda. Three thousand miles away from home and in the most unlikely of circumstances, Jessica meets Silicon Valley rising star James Callahan and her world is instantly turned upside down. Things go further awry when she encounters a ghost from the past. That one night of reckless abandon is back to haunt her and the control she fought so hard to regain is now in the hands of another. Plagued by betrayal and guilt over his dad’s untimely death, James left Cambridge in search of a new beginning. With laser-focus, he built a cutting edge technology company now on the brink of financial success. Romance is the last thing on his mind…until he meets Jessica. Fate brought them together, awakening their dormant emotions. But Jessica’s scandalous secret consumes her and threatens the very happiness she feared she’d never find with another man. Can James handle the truth about her past? Or did she pick the wrong guy yet again?

My Review:

Unlikely Venture by Kristen Luciani
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jessica has plunged herself into her career after being left by her fiancé following a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. She isn't sure what her future will look like or how much longer she will be able to physically handle her fast-paced career so she is determined to do the most she can now. She is scared to get involved with anyone since she is afraid that they will leave her like her fiancé did when they find out she has some serious health problems ahead of her. James is running a successful gaming company and meets Jessica when they run into one another on the street. He has had a rough time of his own over the past year, and has also dived into his work. They are very attracted to one another, but Jessica is afraid that if she tells him the truth about herself, he will leave her too.

Throughout this book I felt like I was being told what the story was rather than experiencing the story. Jessica is a likable character who is easy to root for, but I never really felt that I got to know her. It is obvious that she is driven and is determined to be successful in her job even as she navigates through her health crisis. James is a very likable character too, although I would have liked to see him developed more as well. The dialogue between the characters was pretty choppy at times, and through a lot of the story I really only knew about the connection between Jessica and James because they kept stating it out loud. I never really felt their connection or understood how they had gotten to a point so quickly where they cared so much for one another. Sometimes the insta-love thing can work for me if I really feel that intense connection between the characters, but with this book I only knew about it because I was told it was there. I was confused about one of the characters in the book who was pretty much a straight-up villain. I couldn't comprehend why any of the characters in the book would feel the need to maintain a friendship with this person since she was nothing but overtly mean throughout. There was some drama from the business aspect of the book, and it was interesting to see how peoples companies were intersecting.

I did like the way the author brought attention to Multiple Sclerosis. It was interesting to see how Jessica had to deal with the physical challenges, and fear that comes along with a diagnosis that will change your life.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

Excerpt :

“Life’s too short. I get it now, after all this time. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching lately and I don’t want to miss out on living anymore. I want to enjoy as much as I can without having to be bogged down with worries. You never know when your time’s up.” He snapped his fingers. “It can happen just like that.”

“You’re right, the small stuff really isn’t that important.” She hesitated, not knowing what to say next.

He stroked her hand. “I decided I’d rather take a chance on something ... or someone ... then wonder if things might have been different if I wasn’t afraid to try.”

Jessica’s heart pounded as he stared at her. She saw the hope alive in his eyes. He says that now. But will he still feel that strongly once he finds out I’m sick? Will he still want me then? I don’t want to find out, it’s better if we keep this light. But she couldn’t ignore the unmistakable connection between them. It was almost strong enough to trump her fears and insecurities, at least for the short-term.

About the Author

Kristen Luciani is a self-proclaimed momtrepreneur with a penchant for Christian Louboutins, Silicon Valley (the place, not the show), plunging necklines and grapefruit martinis. As a deep-rooted romantic who prefers juicy drama to fill the lives of anyone other than her, she tried her hand at creating a world of enchantment, sensuality, and intrigue, finally uncovering her true passion. No pun intended…

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By Way of Accident by Lauran Miller- Book Blitz and Review

Title: By Way of Accident
Author: Laura Miller
Release Date: Oct 21, 2014
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They say in every guy’s life there’s a girl he’ll never forget and a summer where it all began. Well, for me, 1999 is that summer, and Brooke Sommerfield is that girl. But that was nearly nine years ago. And what they don’t tell ya is that you’ll blink, and both the summer and the girl will be gone. 
I have no idea where Brooke ended up. She disappeared that same summer I met her. And kind of like when you move something on a wall after it’s been there for a long time and everything around it is faded, that’s how I feel about Brooke. She wasn’t there very long, but when she left, everything around her memory sort of dimmed. That is until a letter postmarked the year she left mysteriously resurfaces. And call me crazy—everyone else has—but I have to find her. I have to know what became of the green-and-gray-eyed girl who stole my last perfect summer. I have to know if she believes in second chances—because I do—even if they do come with good-byes.

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My Review:

By Way of Accident by Laura Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

River meets Brooke when he is 13 and she lives in his small town for a summer. They fall in love and River continues to carry the memory of Brook with him through his life and would like to reconnect with her more than anything. He finally gets a chance to see her again, and hopes that she will still feel for him the way he feels for her.

I'm struggling with this review a bit because I'm not sure whether it is just personal preference keeping me from fully engaging with this book. I found it overly-sweet and had a hard time connecting with the characters. At 13, they were an odd combination of child-like and sexually aware. The language used was very hyperbolic and nearly every word spoken between any of the characters was presented as a nugget of wisdom. Time passes in a way where I don't feel that I really get to know River. Just some basic information about what age he is, and the fact that he still carries a torch for Brooke. I think I would have liked to get to know a lot more about both characters and I would have liked a little more conflict so that the story could feel more plausible. I generally love a good second-chance romance, but this one didn't quite do it for me. I think there are people that will enjoy the sweetness and regular nuggets of life-wisdom these characters share with one another.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

Prologue
They say in every guy’s life, there’s a girl he’ll never forget and a summer where it all began. Well, 1999 is that summer, and Brooke Sommerfield is that girl. I’m convinced she was an angel. My grandma always used to say that angels come in blinks. Brooke was just like that. She flew into my life and then flew right back out again—almost as if she were never there at all. But she was definitely there. And I’ve got her invisible memory to remind me of it. But anyway, that was years ago and yesterday when she flew in by way of accident. At thirteen years old on that hot June day, I only had three things on my mind: Cooling off, girls...and girls. So, I’d have to say that June 22, 1999, was also the best day of my life.
See, there was a creek that ran through the back of our property when I was growing up. It stretched the entire length and then jutted north and disappeared behind old man Brandt’s land. I had followed it one day when I was bored. There’s not too much more to do in Detmold, Missouri. They say the town, or what’s left of it, is named after some big city in Germany somewhere. I’ve never been, but I hear they’ve got old castles and big museums over there. And while we don’t have old castles or big museums, we do have an old building with weeds growin’ in it that used to be a post office...and big fields. We’ve got lots of big fields.
But anyway, after old man Brandt’s property, that winding, narrow stream crawled past a turn-of-the-century white farm house owned by a little old lady named Samantha Catcher. She doesn’t live there anymore. I guess that house eventually just got too big for her because not too long after Mr. Catcher passed, she moved to a tiny one-bedroom in the next township over. And now, she rents the old farm house out to people who are just passing through our little town. They stay a little while, and then soon enough, they’re on their way again. When I was young, kids would tell stories about why Mrs. Catcher kept the old place. Some said it was because it was haunted by her late husband. Some said she needed the money because Mr. Catcher gambled their life savings away before he died. But I know that Mr. Catcher wasn’t a gambler—well, beyond being a farmer—and I was pretty sure he wasn’t a ghost either. See, I was convinced that Mrs. Catcher kept that old place because it made her happy. I’d catch her in between renters plantin’ flowers in front of its porch or hangin’ a new welcome sign on the front door. She’d always be smilin’ then. See, Grandma also told me once that memories are invisible to everyone but the beholder. So I just assumed that Mrs. Catcher was looking at all her memories that nobody else could see when I would catch her smilin’ at that old house.
But all the same, that creek kept crawlin’. It kept on goin’ for miles after Mrs. Catcher’s place, but I didn’t. It was gettin’ close to supper time by then, and I was gettin’ awful hungry, so I turned around that day, and I walked back home. But the point here is that I knew that creek like the back of my hand, and I knew everyone who lived anywhere near it too. So that’s why June 22, 1999, was different. It started off normal. I baled hay. I got hot. I went to the creek. Believe it or not, I was on my summer vacation—right here at home, helpin’ my grandpa out around the farm. To me, it wasn’t much of a vacation, but my parents thought spendin’ some more time with Grandpa would do him and me some good. So, there I was on a Tuesday evening gettin’ ready to jump into that creek when I spotted somethin’—somethin’ that would stick with me for a really long time. And that day in the summer of ’99, I walked home with the best souvenir I ever got from a summer vacation—an invisible memory—of a shiny, little thing that would change my life forever.
But again, that was years ago. And now, I’m just left here smilin’ at this old creek just like Mrs. Catcher used to do at that old farm house. My mind just keeps replaying the little time I held Brooke Sommerfield. That beautiful girl is gone now, but I can still hear her in the wind. If I listen real hard, I can hear her laughter over the whip-poor-will, and I can hear her whisperin’ softly about the sky and its secrets and dreams and being happy. I close my eyes and breathe her in. She smells like daisies and fresh creek water—and summer. And all of a sudden, I hear a soft sigh rustlin’ through the trees, and I force my eyes open just in time to see a flock of geese—wings wide, toes spread—landing on the water.
“Life passes you by when your eyes are closed,” I whisper back to the wind. And then I smile wide, and I sit back against the grassy creek bank, and I watch my invisible memories play out just as if she had never left me.
That summer came slow, but it went so fast. Turns out, those endless days were never meant for the two of us. I never seemed to get enough time with her. Maybe it was because she taught me how to live. Maybe it was because she taught me how to love. Or maybe it was just simply because I loved her.
I sit back further into that grass, and I watch those geese float down the creek. All around me, the tree frogs are startin’ to call, singin’ back and forth about whatever it is frogs sing back and forth about. And I just sit there, and I think about that beautiful girl.
“I’ll find my way back to you, Brooke Sommerfield. As sure as the sun is gonna rise in the mornin’, I’ll find you,” I whisper to the wind. I tell it what I wish I could say to her. I tell it what I told her once before in a letter—a letter she would never receive until years later. See, that’s the funny thing about fate; it works around us, despite us, in spite of us, even. And it’s near impossible to figure out, until all the pages are in place. But all the same, that doesn’t stop me from prayin’. Every day, I pray that this wild ride fate’s got me on ends with her. I pray that you, Brooke Sommerfield, are on my last page. And I pray that page is a happy one. But whether it is or it isn’t, either way, I have to know what became of you. I have to know what became of the girl who stole my last perfect summer. And I have to know if she believes in second chances—because I do, even if they do come with good-byes.
But until then, Brooke Sommerfield, my summer angel, you and I will be what my grandpa always liked to call...unfinished business.

LAURA MILLER is the national bestselling author of the contemporary romance novels: BUTTERFLY WEEDS, MY BUTTERFLY, FOR ALL YOU HAVE LEFT and BY WAY OF ACCIDENT.
She was born on a farm in small town, Missouri and attended the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou). She later graduated from Mizzou with a degree in newsprint journalism and was a newspaper reporter in her former life.
Laura spent some time in San Diego, Calif., and Charleston, S.C., before moving back to the Midwest in 2011. She now lives in Kansas City, Mo., with her husband, a TV meteorologist.

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Self Destruct by K.D. Carrillo- Blog Tour and Review

 

Title: Self Destruct (Destroy #1)

Author: K.D Carrillo

Release Date: November 1, 2013

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

   

Synopsis

Becca Scott spent years burying her traumatic past under alcohol and boys. With the help of her best friend she struggled to accept herself and let go of the pain. She thought she had her life under control for once, until she met Aiden. Aiden Ryan lives with constant self-hatred. He allowed those close to him to manipulate his life for their own gain, because he felt he deserved it. He was resigned to marry a woman he didn't love, until he met Becca. Becca and Aiden try and let go of their painful pasts to be together, but will their pasts let go of them?  

My Review:
Self Destruct by K.D. Carrillo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Becca is a 20 year old with a troubled past. She had a lot of trauma in her early adolescence and the response of her parents was not helpful. As a result she has engaged in a fair among of self destructive behaviors and hasn't been able to really connect with or develop real relationships with men. Aidan has been trapped in a loveless relationship for years due to a moment of carelessness in his teens, and a mother who values social standing and appearance above all else. When Becca and Aidan meet one summer, they both realize what their lives have been missing and find the love they both deserve.

I liked the beginning of this book quite a bit, but as the story continued I struggled to really stay connected to the story. Becca and Aidan (as well as Toni and Jeremy) were characters that were easy to like. They way they all supported one another was great. I liked the strong instant attraction that Becca and Aidan felt to one another, but when that turns into an entire life encompassing deep love within a week I struggle a little to stay on board. Even when I just gave in to the idea that they were the one for each other, the story lines started getting a little extreme for me. It felt like any one of the traumas that faced either character would have been enough to build a strong story on, but having one improbable intense tragedy after another happen to these characters started to feel little over the top. It also found some of the dialogue a little choppy and the speech a little hyperbolic at times. All in all, I did enjoy these characters and their friendships, and was hoping that good things would come to all of them. 2.5- round up to 3.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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About the Author

K. D. Carrillo is a graduate of Central Washington University, the setting of Self Destruct. This is her second self-published title. Fighting Destiny (Central Coven 1) was released in May 2013.

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Twitter: @centralcoven

 

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