Category: Comedy

REVIEW: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

5/16/2016

Title: Married with Zombies

Author: Jesse Petersen

Length: Novel - purchased by reviewer

Genre: Zombie, Comedy

TBR Reviewer: Christine K.

Rating: 5 stars - A Must Read

Couples therapy is murder especially during the zombie apocalypse. Sarah and David are days away from giving up on their life together. Then a plague breaks out. Between toilet seat etiquette, they have to chop off a few heads. But as the saying goes - the couple that slays together, stays together.

Zombies and snarky couple humor go great together! So do Sarah and David. This reminded me of that movie Zombieland but the focus being an unhappy couple. I'm not one for domestic books, I much prefer aliens to drama. But this book is really entertaining and I am surprised by just how fast I read it. It isn't all humor, there's action and a few sad scenes. It's hard having to kill your zombified friends and family. The death by toilet set scene was my favorite, I think.

Married with zombies is a humorous start to this undead series!

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CONTEST: Dirty Tricks by Xandra James

2/4/2014

Dirty Tricks
Author: Xandra James
Tbr Reviewer : Shyla
Genre: contemporary Romance

Length : 49
Rating: 4 Stars - Highly Recommended
Heat: 2 - Flirty

Dirty Tricks took an approach I’ve never seen before in the romance. Our hero Cat is a plucky woman, ready to extract her revenge on the man who broke her Grandmother’s heart at any cost. This leads her to sneaking back into the home she once lived in and pretending to be a ghost to dissuade contractors for doing work.

The hilarity that ensues is wonderful. She’s succeeding in her quest until Jay comes. I love this hero’s off color personality and style. She was so unique, funny, and funky. Her preoccupation with the villain of her youth tugged at my heart strings. Jay is a man intent on finishing the job his father started. Steadfast and intelligent, he’s not swayed into believing the haunting is real for a minute. His retaliation on the next door neighbor for her shenanigans is a modern day prank war. I adored his wit and the slices of insight to his past. I just wish I could’ve learned more about him.

The passion between them simmers, but the main focus in this tale is on the chase. If you’re looking for a humorous romance you won’t soon forget this is the one for you.

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Giveaway: Ms. James is generously giving away four books from her back list! The TBR Pile is giving away a book from our Prize list. To ENTER: Comment below on why you want to read Dirty Tricks!

CONTEST: Love at High Tide by Christi Barth

7/26/2013

Love at High Tide
Author: Christi Barth
Genre: Romance
Page Count: 178
TBR Reviewer: Jessica
Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read.
Heat:2 - Flirty.

Love at High Tide is a light hearted fun story that makes for a perfect summer poolside read. Darcy is a cultural anthropologist fresh out of grad school but on the fence about what career path she's ready to take next. Trying to get away from it all and looking to relax and figure out her next move, Darcy decides to spend a few days at the beach with her best friend Trina. During an almost drowning, Darcy finds herself rescued by super hot cop, Cooper. Cooper is also on a break from his career in law enforcement, still recuperating from an injury he received in the line of duty, the same incident that claimed his partner. Sparks fly, but with their futures uncertain, the fate of their relationship is up in the air.

This was a very light read, full of quirky humor and some steamy romance. The romance aspect of the story was slightly overshadowed by the mystery of the plot. Rather than sit on the beach everyday, as the best friends had intended, Darcy's eccentric friend, Trina, drags her along as she tries her hand at private investigation, where she insists on spying on another beach goer, convinced he's a criminal. This story line allows for some seriously funny dialogue, clever banter between characters and some added mystery and action.

The writing in this book is clever and smart. While the book is relatively PG, light on the steam and heat, it's heavy on the humor, fun and is definitely one sexy beach read.

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Giveaway: Ms. Barth is generously giving away an Ecopy of Love at High Tide. The TBR Pile is giving away a book from our prize list. To ENTER: Comment below on why you want to read Love at High Tide!

REVIEW: Purely Relative by Claire Gillian

4/3/2013

Purely Relative (The P.U.R.E. 1.5) by Claire Gillian
Genre: contemporary romance, humor
Length: novella (88 pgs)
TBR Reviewer: Amanda
Rating: 5 stars - A Must Read.
Heat: 4 Handcuffs - An Erotic Ride.

When we last saw the hero and heroine of The P.U.R.E., Gayle had lost her job by becoming a whistle blower and running around solving a mystery with Jon, her undercover FBI agent turned boyfriend. Unemployed and far from family, Gayle agrees to go to Thanksgiving dinner at Jon's home, never dreaming how much drama would be involved.

Imagine all the worst, craziest holidays you've endured, roll them all into one, and multiply by ten. Now you have an idea of the craziness that is this story! From having dinner with Jon's ex-fiancée's parents to watching both Jon's siblings' relationships implode, Gayle finds this
to be an unusual holiday. On top of all this comes the comedic angst of Gayle's unemployment and Jon's future with the FBI.

This sequel is a comedic glimpse into Gayle and Jon's future after Anderson-Blakely and is a great reunion with a wonderful romantic duo. I also enjoyed all their family members.
Ms. Gillian's writing is fresh and enjoyable, both funny and angst-filled in turns without being over the top. I highly recommend this book to those who have read the first one (and the first one to those who have not).

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REVIEW: Code Red by Amy Noelle

2/7/2013

Code Red by Amy Noelle
Genre - Romantic Comedy
Length - Novel
TBR Reviewer - Daniella
Rating: 3 Stars - It was a good read.
Heat: 3 handcuffs - Blush worthy.

After being hurt by a bad romance in college, Nicole has sworn to never have her heart broken again by a man. She and her group of friends created Code Red, meaning if one of them meets a good-looking guy with the potential to break their hearts, they call the code and everyone comes to the rescue.

A few years later, Nicole has created a structured life for herself, with a good job, close contact with her best friends and her two cats. Most of her friends have succumbed to their last Code Reds, but Nicole is still single and happy with that. That is until Joshua Daniels is transferred to Nicole´s office and assigned to work with her on a special project. Joshua is everything Nicole doesn´t want to let herself fall for. When Nicole calls the Code Red, her friends don´t really seem to want to save her this time and Joshua seems determined to show her that Code Red isn´t needed at all.

The story is a romantic comedy, with a great male lead and funny banter between the characters. I picked this book, because I wanted just that. The book is very well written, with well developed character and while I did enjoy large parts of the book, the story as a whole didn´t do it for me. I think the big part of this was Nicole. She came through as very immature, who constantly pestered her friends with whiny texts and e-mails, and it felt like she couldn´t take a step in any direction without fretting about it and going through everything in detail with her friends. Joshua was great though, a really good guy and a gentleman. He won´t run away when Nicole tries to push him away, but at the same time he won't just give in to her,
without her opening up and letting him in to her life. I also loved the little side story of Jen and Ryan. Jen had really been hurt badly and deserved a good guy.

This is a lighthearted, fun book.

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REVIEW: Fresh Squeezed by Bonnie Biafore and James Ewing

1/22/2013

Fresh squeezed by Bonnie Biafore and James Ewing
Genre: comedy thriller
Length: novel
Rating: 2 Stars - We didn't like it.

When Juice entered the Government’s Witness Relocation Program and began his new life as Ted, the hapless Fishing Guide, he picked the small community of Wanaduck because he thought it would be quiet. He was wrong! After a giant plastic hotdog falls on him during a fishing trip (don’t ask!) along with a dead body, he soon finds himself pulled into a Police
investigation that uncovers a grand conspiracy that has implications for the future of the whole town. A secret that certain people are prepared to kill to protect! Before long, his identity is at risk......along with his  sanity.

Fresh Squeezed comes described as a cross between the likes of authors such as Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, and Tim Dorsey but seeing as how I have never read any of these authors, I came in to this not sure what to expect. What I got was an okay read that seemed a bit too over-complicated and convoluted. High points for me included an incredibly inept hit-man who comes to the town and his hilarious efforts to take out his three intended targets.....low points included the length. For me, this book started to drag on and out stayed its welcome and I found the over involved plot a little too much at times!

Overall, this was an okay read but nothing to write home about. It had some very funny moments and Juice was quite engaging as a character but, as a whole, I was left  feeling a bit drained after wading through this novel and its  more-complicated-than-it-needed-to-be plot.

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Review: Normal For Norfolk by Mitzi Szereto

7/31/2012

Normal for Norfolk by Mitzi Szereto
Genre:- Thriller/Mystery, Humor
Length:- Novel
Reviewer:- Kim

This is the story of Thelonius T. Bear. He has sold his flat in London, ostensibly to take photos for his job as a photojournalist, but also to sample the Norfolk lifestyle, and maybe relocate there. As he begins to settle into his possibly new life, publicans are being murdered all around him. The local head of CID has him in the frame for the crimes and seems to be following him everywhere. Throw in the over-amorous landlady of the B & B Thelonius is
staying at and suddenly relocating doesn't seem so attractive! Can Thelonius convince the police he is innocent?

I so wanted to enjoy this. It had all the makings of a fantastic, cozy mystery but in the end, it just didn't deliver. It had some genuine laugh-out-loud moments but was spoiled by pages and pages of long paragraphs with no breaks. It got so bad at one point, I nearly gave up, but I didn't, feeling I owed it to the author to persevere. The descriptions of the characters were good and I found myself warming to one or two of them. The actual mystery itself took so long to get going, I almost forgot what the plot was!

All in all it was a great idea that was marred by over-long paragraphs and too much 'padding'.

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Review and Contest: A Grim Pact by Adam Slade

12/23/2011

12 Comments

+Giveaway

Some Grim Reapers just can't get a break. As well as nursing a broken leg from the last person who tried to kill him, Mal is trying to track down the serial killer who's offing demons on his patch. And it seems like one of his friends knows more than he's letting on. On top of that, Death, Mal's boss, is awake after decades of slumber. Which means yet another challenge to face. Paperwork.

Urban Fantasy, Comedy - novel
TBR reviewer: Kim

Review

This is a story about a Grim Reaper, Mal, who is trying to chase a demon serial killer. He is nursing a broken leg, in love with a succubus who used to be his partner and to top it all, his boss, Death has just woken up after many years asleep. Some Reapers have all the luck!

This was a little difficult to get into at first, and hard to wrap my head around the idea that there was one Death but many Reapers. This was somewhat helped by having 'Grim Reaper Myths Dispelled' at the beginning of some of the chapters. Once I did get into it though, I really enjoyed it. The characters were colorful and different and larger than life! The story went along at a fair clip and there was plenty of action. I liked the fact that it was tackling a long held belief and turning it on its head! This is the second 'Reaper' story and I think it would help to have read the first as there are many references to events in the previous book that at times left me a bit confused. That being said, I still recommend it but with the caveat of reading the first, which I would very much like to now!

Excerpt

Part way across the room, a very large and very drunk demon stepped into their way. His gaze ran the length of Xyla’s body, pausing on all the bits Mal tended to pause on, too.
“H-hey, cutie,” he said, attracting the attention of half the bar with the volume. “Buy you a drink?”

“I’m flattered,” Mal said, batting his eyelashes. “But we have elsewhere to be.”

The bar roared with laughter as the demon frowned, trying to work out what just happened. His eyes widened as it struck him. “I meant her, not you!”

“Really? Well now I’m just embarrassed.”

“You wanna watch your mouth, human.”

“Or what? You’ll start a fight?” Mal gestured about the bar. “In Earl’s?”

“I don’t give a damn where we are, I’ll rip yer head off and use it as a bowling ball!”

Mal scratched his neck. “You wouldn’t get many strikes.”

“Huh?”

“Heads aren’t round enough, you see. You wouldn’t be able to accura—”

His attempt at neutralisation via sarcasm ended abruptly as the demon swung a large fist at his face. It came too quick for him to dodge, so he closed his eyes and tried to think painless thoughts. The blow never came. He opened one eye tentatively to see the demon’s fist held fast in Xyla’s hand. She cocked her head as he struggled to pull free.

“Did you just throw a punch at my boyfriend?” The demon screeched as she squeezed, and Mal winced at the sound of grating bones.

“Well?” she asked again, the picture of calm. “Hurry up. We have places to be.”

“N-no, I mean yes! I mean...” He paused. “Can I have my hand back, miss?”

“Not until you apologise.” She squeezed again.

The mountain of a demon babbled a number of apologies, in several languages, and Xyla let go. “There’s a good boy.” She turned back to an amused Mal and held out her hand. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” He took her hand, and they walked over to a bemused Earl. “So I’m your boyfriend, am I?”

“Yup.”

“Do I get a choice in the matter?”

“Nuh uh.”

He feigned a sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to go along with it, then.”

She grinned. “You know, most men would chastise me for stepping into that fight.”

“Meh. Most men are stupid. Also, most men’s girlfriends aren’t millennia old demons capable of head-butting their way through a bank vault.”

“You put it so lyrically, Mal.”

He dropped into a short bow and hoped that she wasn’t paying too much attention to his thoughts. Boyfriend? Booya! If he was anywhere else, and had two working legs, he’d have danced a jig.

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Contest

Mr. Slade is giving away an ecopy to one lucky winner. Comment below to enter. Contest ends December 26th.

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Review: Be Careful What You Wish For

7/3/2011

4 Comments

+Giveaway!

Genre: Mystery - Comedy
Ebook - Self Published - Novel
TBR Reviewer: R.B

Blurb

Armed with cool sarcasm and uncontrollable hair, feisty insurance investigator Amber Fox is back in a new mystery combining murder and mayhem with romance and chicklit…

Three deaths.
A safety deposit box robbery.
The boxing heavyweight champion of the world.

Somehow, they’re all related, and Amber has to solve a four year old crime to find out why.

As she stumbles across a trail of dead bodies and a web of lies spanning both sides of the social divide, it’s starting to get personal. Someone thinks Amber’s poking her nose in where it’s not wanted, sparking off a game of fox and mouse – only this time, Amber’s the mouse.

Amber’s forced to take refuge in the home of her ex-fiancé, Brad Beckett, and now it’s not just the case that’s hotting up. So is the bedroom…

All Levi Carter wanted to be was the boxing heavyweight champion of the world, but at what cost?

All Carl Thomas wanted was to be rich, but would his greed be his downfall?

All Brad Beckett wants is to get Amber back, but there’s a reason for the ex word.

Be careful what you wish for…you might just get it.

Review

I have always liked the saying "Be careful what you wish for…you might just get it". I should have heeded that warning when I chose this book.

I did like it, however it moved at a very slow pace for my liking. The real action did not start until Chapter 14 and there are 21 Chapters in all! I really did enjoy Amber Fox’s, (the main character) struggle with deciding which of her two lovers she really wanted to be with. You have Brad, the man that left her without warning and hurt her beyond all recognition. Then you have Romeo (yes, his name is really Romeo), the man that was there to pick up the pieces and taught her to trust and love again.

Her struggle begins when she is thrown back into an insurance case that leaves her in close working proximity with Brad. She is in constant contact with Romeo as the investigation takes a few dramatic turns. There are couple of "bad guys" and one good guy that thinks he has done something bad. Amber's investigation into the injury of Boxing Heavyweight Champion Levi Carter leads her to a bank robbery and several murders along the way.

Basically, what my review boils down to is, if you like slow paced books; this is definitely the book for you. I also learned a few things about bank fraud, illegal sports betting and insurance security firms while reading this story.

There was not much sex in this story, but again, that's okay, not every story has to be about and contain a ton of sex.

So, all in all, I would recommend this book to others, but, it will not be one that I will read again. Maybe if I ever run out of things to read (like that will ever happen).

Author Website

Excerpt of 'Be Careful What You Wish For'

When I was about five, I always loved losing myself in fairytales where the handsome prince would come charging up on his white horse and save the fair maiden. I frequently imagined that I was Rapunzel, although there were two problems with this daydream. 1) I wasn’t into heights in a big way; and 2) My hair was destined to be more flyaway than flaxen.

Fast-forward thirty years, and now I had an even bigger problem. I had two handsome princes in my life, and I didn’t know what to do about either of them. I know, I know – be careful what you wish for, right?

In my thirty-five-year-old-daydream, there was Romeo, my boyfriend and all-round Mr. Nice Guy. Then there was Brad, my boss and ex-fiancé. There was a reason for the “ex” word, though.

I sprawled on my sofa, staring at the ceiling and contemplating this little conundrum. Marmalade, my ginger cat, lay next to me. He purred away, mirroring my ceiling stare. I absent-mindedly stroked his head, wondering whether he was contemplating a two-pussy scenario.

I know what you’re thinking – two gorgeous men after little old moi. Lucky me. I wish! It wasn’t lucky, it was way more complicated than you can imagine. In fact, it was as complicated as trying to assemble flat-pack furniture with a stupid amount of screws and no instructions. Not that I couldn’t assemble flat-pack stuff, you understand. I’m a very practical kind of girl. But, you know, flat-pack can beat even the most enthusiastic DIYers. Or is it just me who ends up with a big bag of screws left over, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do with them?

I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear my mobile ringing straight away. When it finally registered in my conscious, I tumbled off the sofa, dislodging Marmalade in the process, and grabbed it from the wooden floorboards.
I glanced at the caller ID.

Think of the Devil. The last person I wanted to talk to when I was doing my contemplation thing was Brad. He might sway my decision about things, and I was pretty easily swayed at the moment.

‘Hey, Brad. What’s up?’

‘Foxy,’ Brad said, his Australian twang sounding more pronounced tonight. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Stroking my pussy.’

‘Mmm. Don’t give me ideas.’ I heard the smile in his voice.

‘You don’t need any ideas,’ I said. He probably heard the smile in mine, too.
‘No Romeo tonight, then?’

I rolled my eyes. Even though he couldn’t see it, he’d know I’d done it. ‘Stop fishing for information.’ I grabbed a fluffy cushion from the sofa and hugged it to my stomach, as if somehow that could put more distance between us.

His voice lowered. Deep and slow, he said, ‘I need you.’

A tingling sensation worked its way through my spine, not to mention other parts. I tried to ignore it. I didn’t really trust myself to speak so I gnawed on my lip for a moment, thinking of something witty to say. My wit had suddenly upped and vanished for some reason, so I just chose to ignore his words instead and pretended to be huffy.

I cleared my throat. ‘What do you want, Brad? It’s Saturday night, and I’m a very busy girl.’ My voice came out huskier than I intended as I glanced around my empty, poky apartment, which was very unbusy at this moment in time.
Yeah, right, Amber. Since when did thinking about Brad constitute being busy?

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Contest

Ms. Hodge is giving away a free Ecopy of her novel. To enter comment below. Contest ends July 5th.

4 Comments

REVIEW: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

CONTEST: Dirty Tricks by Xandra James

CONTEST: Love at High Tide by Christi Barth

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REVIEW: Purely Relative by Claire Gillian

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REVIEW: Code Red by Amy Noelle

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REVIEW: Fresh Squeezed by Bonnie Biafore and James Ewing

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Review: Normal For Norfolk by Mitzi Szereto

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Review and Contest: A Grim Pact by Adam Slade

Review

Excerpt

Purchase here (only .99)

Contest

Review: Be Careful What You Wish For

Blurb

Review

Excerpt of 'Be Careful What You Wish For'

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