Skin Trade

Anita Blake #17

By Laurell K. Hamilton

Length: Novel (purchased)

Genre: Paranormal, Vampire, Shifter, Romance

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

Anita is heading to Las Vegas thanks to getting mailed a head in a box by the vampire serial killer Vittorio. Of course it’s never that simple. There’s a magical wind creature with blades for hands. The mother of all darkness takes over Anita and calls all weretigers to bed her so she’ll get pregnant and the darkness can take the body of the child. Also the master of the city and his tiger shifter wife has plans of their own.

I liked this book until the end. It had tons of action, more insight into the mother of all darkness and my favorite characters. Edward/Ted is on Anita’s heels to kill the vampire but he brings the nutcase Olaf with him. Add that to Anita’s long list to deal with. Then there’s Wicked Truth. Those guys are fabulous! I loved them. I want more of them in future books. I was really into this story. However when Anita is taken over she wakes up with the weretigers. And she doesn’t freak out, even when one of them is underage. I think that qualifies as a freak out moment. And yet, she just starts asking about Vittorio and where his daytime lair is. It just didn’t fit Anita. She should have freaked out. For me that made me lower the stars to four. It was still a great adventure.

Onward to Flirt!

Title: At His Mercy

Author: Marie Medina

Length: Novella

Genres: Paranormal, MM, 

TBR Reviewer: Cecile 

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

In Valladora to commit murder is a crime automatically punishable by death.  King Jareth is not known for forgiveness let alone pardoning prisoners who are set for execution.  To further complicate matters Kamon is now being held for the murder of his brother-in-law.  He confesses to the crime and expects to die for it.  That is until he meets the sexy vampire Lord Ian.  Ian did not expect to find his mate in the dungeon of his realm and certainly did not expect his mate to be a shifter.  To say that neither could have prepared for the surprise of discovering each other’s existence would be an understatement.  It is to be seen if the attraction between these mates and Ian’s determination to see Kamon pardoned will be enough to save his life and ultimately give them a chance at being together.

This story was a well-thought out second book in a series.  The heat throughout the story is palpable and the fact that Ian’s bite has an unexpected side-effect for Kamon is also an added sizzle point.  The plot is solid in that Kamon is doing something most people would do for family and Ian will risk his own neck to save him from his fate.  The end was HEA and believable, which is also a bonus when creating an entire world.  I gave this book four stars as the ability to describe a new world, the politics of that culture, and the characters in 86 pages was impressive!  I truly enjoyed the story and felt that even though I had not read the first book in the series it did not detract from reading this one.  I would recommend this to both paranormal and M/M readers as both genres were very well represented.  Impressively written all around! 

Giveaway: Ms. Carter is giving away an ebook of her book. The TBR Pile is giving away an ebook from our prize list. TO ENTER: Comment below on if you've ever read this author before and why you want to read Buried Secrets! 

Blood Noir

Anita Blake #16

By Laurell K. Hamilton

Length: Novel (Purchased - paperback)

Genre: Paranormal, Vampire, Shifter, Romance

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read

Heat: 5/5 - Orgasmic

Anita is in serious trouble. Again. Jason, werewolf, stripper, romantic interest and has a dying father who thinks he’s gay. He wants to bring a girl home with him and guess who's going with him - Anita. Not that they both don’t enjoy each other. The problem is, a high profile wedding is going on and the groom looks like Jason. Also the mother of all darkness decides now is the best time to mark Anita.

I loved learning more about Jason! He’s one of my favorite characters. It was interesting to learn about the relationship with his father and the small secret he’d been keeping that wasn't that small. The action was fantastic. I mean, Anita is struck by the mother of all darkness and puts out a call to all the weretigers that she’s their queen. Then she’s lost memory for two days because that darkness tried to control her. The only thing I didn’t like was Richard. I don’t understand why Anita keeps him around. I understand that she has to because of the link with Jean-Claude but why love him? He almost killed her more than once and this time he almost rapes her. Boot his butt to the curb! I’m so passionate about this book as you can tell from this review. Excellent series.

Blood Noir was a fantastic read! Onward to Skin Trade.

Title: Saving Sam

Purgatory, Inc. #1

Author: Nikka Michaels

Length: Short

Genre: Paranormal, m/m

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 3 Stars - A Good Read

Heat: 2/5 - Flirty

Ezekiel has an appointment to see God at Purgatory Inc. He’s set on a mission with archangel Sam who is more devilish then heavenly. They are partnered up to find a bad guy named Azazel.

God was...interesting. Board shorts, cursing, jokes. I can’t say I liked this version. It just didn’t fit right. It made Him sound like a joke rather than a celestial being. So, Sam and Ezekiel are sent to earth to stop Azazel and apparently...zombies. Well, they’re more like bodies controlled by other beings. And there are star tattoos to show them how close danger is. Oh, and they can travel instantly and walk faster. It’s all kind of convenient and nothing that really made me stop and think, well that’s interesting. I did like the characters. Sam and Ezekiel had great chemistry together. The action was good but there were a lot of holes in the plot. If God and Luci are so powerful why did they set such an important task to Sam and Ezekiel? Then Ezekiel can only recharge his power with sex. That’s nothing new but it just didn’t work here. It was almost like that author needed to add sex in here somewhere so let's throw this recharge power in. And why would sex power him? There were many holes in the plot. It was still an entertaining read. I might read the second book in this series.

Title: Catnip and Hockey Sticks

Author: Stephani Hecht

Length: Novella

Genres: Paranormal, MM, 

TBR Reviewer: Cecile 

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

Hansen is the alpha of a stray cat shifter pack.  As such he takes his responsibility seriously due to his own insecurities and his past when his father was an alpha of his prior pack. What Hansen doesn’t count on is his feelings toward the runt of the pack Nevel who can never seem to stay out of trouble.  Will he face his feelings and mate Nevel or forever ignore what could be true love due to perceived duty?

While this is a fairly short novella I found that not only was the world well described and the background story fleshed out, but that the characters were immediately engaging.  You quickly fall in love with not just Hansen and Nevel, but the rest of the rag-tag stray pack whom are not only cat shifters but also hockey players. Nevel is a fun character who snags the eye and heart of Hansen by being a difficult runt that refuses to go down without a fight!  There is only one actual sex scene in this book.  The one scene is highly erotic and worth the wait!  The writing is well done; the build up to the HEA is exciting and makes the story difficult to put down.  I believe this is the beginning of a series (or hope) and can’t wait to see what the other stories have to offer as the other characters are compelling and I want to see more of Nevel and Hansen!   

Title: The Harlequin

Anita Blake #15

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Length: Novel (Paperback - purchased)

Genre: Vampire, Shifter, Romance

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read

Heat: 5/5 - Orgasmic

I read this book so fast. Not because it was short but because I couldn’t freaking put it down. So good, so much goodness. Anita is dealing with the ardeur and the beasts inside her trying to take control. Plus Richard who annoys me and then some vampire assassins called the Harlequin come to town. They target Anita just as Richard loses his cool and tries to pull Anita’s wolf beast out.

Damn! That was so freaking good. There was so much fantastic action and fabulous romance. It was the perfect balance! All I wanted to do was keep reading. Screw eating, sleeping, work, anything. I just wanted to read and drown in this world that Laurell K. Hamilton created. This is one of my favorite books in the series. This right here is why I fell in love with her writing. There are so many dimensions to this story and they all gyrate against each other to create a book that cannot be passed up. This is a must read. This whole series is a must read.

Okay, enough gushing. Onward to the next book Blood Noir.

Title: Man Candy

Author: Jewel Quinlan

Length: Short

Genre: Erotic, May/December

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 3 Stars - A Good Read


Heat: 2/5 - Flirty


Ava has turned forty and is still single. She’s tired of the same pool of men that aren’t her type. But to her surprise a younger man in her running group may just change that. I loved Ava. She was confident but still unsure of herself with Cole, until she took the reigns. I love, love, love the dialouge during sex. The promotion lines were hilarious. This author knows how to write by pulling the reader in with a great plot and engaging characters. And this is a short story she managed to grab me with! 

Then we come to the ending, or as I like to call it, the downfall. There was no ending. It was getting to know the characters, hot sex and then she falls asleep unsure of what to do next. It was like half a book which gets me so angry.  Thus three stars. I want to read more by this author, she has real talent but only if it’s a full story next time. Beginning, middle and ending.

Title:  New Years’ Eve Kiss

Author: Jojo Brown

Length: 56

Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary romance

TBR Reviewer: Shyla

Rating: 4 stars - Recommended Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

An intimate glimpse into the swinging lifestyle.  Married for years Ally and Billy rediscovered one another through their sexual exploitations. At a New Year’s Eve party with their friends, they help break them into the life. It’s an almost voyeuristic read that satisfies the  “what if” questions many of us have had. 


The pages smoke with the heat this foursome creates. Follow them as they play their way through the holiday weekend.  If you’re looking for a romance story this might not be your cup of tea. But it does everything a good erotica should. Entertain, arouse and immerse you into a new world.