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I’ve been a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy for four years. Most folks don’t have a clue about what a cop deals with every day. Like a pack of attack chihuahuas, a monkey with a bad case of diarrhea, a hungry python, a Brahma bull named Bodacious and a six-foot iguana.
And that is just the critters. Now let me tell you about the two-legged varmints. Such as a three-hundred-pound biker who got a bit irate when I zapped him with a stun gun, or a murderous nun, and let’s not forget the senior citizens having an orgy. Ugh. My personal life isn’t much better. Off duty I’m a ballroom dancer which everyone makes fun of. At a dance competition Detective Sergeant Dante Delgado waltzed into my life. Law enforcement isn’t for the fainthearted. Are you brave enough to enter my world? |
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 Sex and the Widow Miles (Women of Willow Bay #2) Author: Nan Reinhardt Length : 164 pages Genres: Contemporary Romance TBR Reviewer: Victoria Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read Heat: 3/5 - Blush Worthy I reviewed the first book in this series a few weeks ago and was delighted to learn that book #2, which features a secondary character from book #1 as the heroine, was available. Thank you, Ms. Reinhardt! Now, summary: This book takes place a little over a year after the first book, made clear by the fact that Julie's husband (Charlie) was alive in book 1 and he's been dead for a year+ in book 2. Julie hasn't recovered from his death and in fact has gone to Chicago to try to heal by removing herself from all reminders of him. She chickens out and is about to leave to go back to Willow Bay when Will Brody stops by (she'd left the door to the apartment she was staying in open and he was concerned, since it belongs to the couple from book 1 - he's Liam's manager). There's an instant connection there, but not one Julie's willing to face quite yet. It's not until she gets Charlie's computer up and running, accessing his old email account (she'd never used the laptop while Charlie was alive and Will got it going without realizing it would connect automatically to Charlie's email). That's when Julie discovers her beloved Charlie might not have been so faithful and she is devastated by the fact that there was "another woman" in her perfect Charlie's life. This book is about healing, from beginning to end. Julie heals from Charlie's death, and later from the discovered betrayal after she actually tracks down the "other woman". That was an interesting little side trip and I definitely agree that it was necessary for purposes of the story. Julie and Will are fully developed, and I can only imagine how deep Julie's grief was over Charlie after having been married to him for 30+ years. Will helps her heal after a one-night "revenge" sex incident where Julie was trying to hurt Charlie's ghost so to speak (I kid you not - it works with the story, just trust me). It's not an instant process, and Julie's life continues on with the delivery of her first grandchild and then she's finally able to go home. Will was a great man, strong and willing to be patient, waiting for Julie's misery to lift even though he knows he wants her. The sex was good and timed well for when it happened. For such a (relatively) short book, this was very well developed. The only reason this isn't getting a five-star review is the (I felt) overdone incident right at the end with the women's shelter that Julie's become focused on as part of her self-healing and returning to life process. I just don't think the book needed the momentary stress/problem when it had so richly built the world and the love story between Will and Julie. Kudos to Ms. Reinhardt for having her heroine be an older (50+) woman getting together with a younger (late 30's/early 40's) man. I really liked how that worked in this story! Giveaway: Ms. Reinhardt is giving away a copy of her ebook. The TBR Pile is giving away an ebook from our prize list. TO ENTER: COMMENT BELOW WITH - HAVE YOU EVER READ A BOOK BY NAN REINHARDT AND WHY YOU WANT TO READ SEX AND THE WIDOW MILES!
 Tiger Trap Author: Susan Hayes Length : 36 Genres: Paranormal Romance TBR Reviewer: Victoria Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read Heat: 4 - Smoking Hot Two shifter thieves trying to steal the same painting (different motivations). As if that weren’t enough of a problem (competing to get the same piece), when they’re within range, they realize they’re mates!
Doyle is a white tiger shifter who works for an private firm for hire. He’s stealing a painting that was previously stolen so they can return it to the proper owner. Everything’s going well (although he’s hilariously anti-snow, considering he’s a white tiger) until he smells a female shifter and is completely wrapped up into the scent of his intended mate. Tessa is a leopard shifter who’s stealing the painting because she never got paid for stealing it in the first place and she wants to encourage payment. I think I enjoyed the whole mate thing because it made for amusing (and sexy) moments as they tried to get out of the house (they nearly get caught because the owner had *Spoiler* - read the book to find out)! It’s a four-star for me because I just giggled (in good ways) throughout the book. Mostly because I loved the reactions Doyle had as he was in the snow. Apparently shifters are not immune to the cold when they’re in their human forms. Ms. Hayes has a very light, almost comedic tone to her book and I would love to read more set in this world.  Loving his cowboy by Jess Buffett Genre - M/M Romance Length - Novella TBR Reviewer - Daniella Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read Heat: 4 - Scorching Hot Quinn Bridges is not a one-night kind of guy, but rather looking for the One. Quinn is celebrating having secured a huge account with the magnate Mr Walker for his family farm. Luc Walker has worked hard for his place in his father's company, but can't resist to make up a reason to reach out to the very attractive cowboy that he has seen at his father's offices. There is an immediate and sizzling connection between the two men. Will Lucas reluctance to reveal his family connections from fear of Quinn thinking him a spoiled brat ruin their happy ever after?
This was a very nice short story about Quinn and Lucas. The author has managed very nicely to fit in just the right amount of character background, the developing relationship between the two men and a reasonable, but not overly dramatic, conflict. Both of the characters are very likeable, although both with their own flaws. I am always very happy when finding a short story like this, that works in its current short format and doesn´t feel like the synopsis for a novel. I very much enjoyed it!  Extreme Heat Author: Jewel Quinlan Length : 33 pages Genres: Contemporary Romance TBR Reviewer: Victoria Rating: 3 stars - A Good Read Heat: 3 - Blush Worthy It's always hard to review short stories like this. There's simply no time for an extended backstory or complications. I didn't particularly think much of Chloe's reason for not going out with Kai when they were in school together (a two year age difference), but I get why many teens have that issue.
Kai - I loved the whole competitive surfer character and the way we got a quick glimpse into the life. Chloe - nice career choice, photographer. And now covering surfing events...can't get much better than that. I think what kept this from being a four-star review is the fact that the sex scene that took place took over a third of the page space. I would have liked to see more character development rather than sex (and just a single sex scene to boot). I enjoyed seeing the acknowledgment that there was definitely something between them, for the longing (on both sides) to have lasted the five years between their high school experience and the current day. For what this book is, it's a sweet little read about love refused and then accepted later on.  Educating the Platypus (Kontra's Menagerie #17) Author: Charlie Richards Length or wordcount: 107 pages Genres: M/M paranormal romance TBR Reviewer: Amanda Rating: 4 Stars – Recommended Read Heat: 3 – Blush Worthy Charlie Richards continues her series of interesting shifters that travel around as a biker gang looking for their mates with another intriguing installment. One of the draws of the series is the creativeness of the animals these shifters become as well as the situations in which they meet. For Kai, a platypus shifter, Fate comes calling while on vacation with his best friends before the beginning of their college year. Kai, adopted by humans, has never met other shifters, but when he finds himself caught in a trap while swimming and is rescued by a penguin shifter, he quickly takes advantage of the opportunity to learn more about others. Dorian, an almost 250 year-old condor shifter is quick to inform Kai that they are mates, but due to Kai's youth, lets him leave and return to his friends. Both wonder if they are too different to make their mating work.
Although the relationship starts fast, the way that Dorian soothes Kai's fears, makes friends with his friends, and follows him back to school, works to show his commitment to them as a couple. The twist at the end where Kai gets to do the same for Dorian cements their relationship and makes the reader look forward to more in the series, as do the sparks between Luc and Kai's cousin. As always, Charlie Richards spins an enjoyable read and draws the readers into a fantasy world were love reigns supreme.  Wilde Chase (Wilde Brothers 1) Author: Susan Hayes Length : 84 pages Genres: Contemporary Romance TBR Reviewer: Victoria Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read! Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot Vet Kelly and Cop Ben have known each other for several months because she’s been the vet for his police dog, Chase. He finally asks her out after her clinic is broken into late one night. This story follows their getting together and introduces the rest of the very large Wilde family. I really enjoyed Ben’s family. It’s loud, boisterous, and pretty much just what I imagined a large family of all boys would be like grown up. Competitive, giving each other crap, and so forth. The family makes up the bulk of the secondary characters in this book, though there are a couple of cops and the gang members who are in the clinic break-in in the beginning and the end of the book. Kelly only has her sister and that relationship is part of the cause of problems between Ben and Kelly. She’s helping her sister recover from an addiction problem and has thus chosen a somewhat bad neighborhood to live in (all she could afford after paying for her sister’s rehab). Ben, being a cop, isn’t thrilled with some of Kelly’s choices, like walking to work (several blocks away) late at night in a rough neighborhood. I had a few things that hit “I don’t like” buttons for me, like them sleeping together on the first date. I lost a bit of respect for both of them for not waiting and maybe I’m just too old fashioned, but I wish the sexual tension could have been drawn out a bit longer. I also felt Ben way over reacted to Kelly’s lifestyle choices, and tried to get too bossy for her. But, I liked how he groveled and made up for it in the end, and I liked how Kelly was so compassionate toward one of the clinic robbers at the end of the book. Sometimes I think the world needs more people like her, willing to look beyond the surface. I like Susan Hayes’ work and will look her up again in the future. Giveaway: Ms. Hayes is giving away an Ecopy of her book. The TBR Pile is giving away a book from our Prize List. To ENTER: Comment below, Have you read Susan Hayes before and why you want to read her new book Wilde Chase!
We hope you enjoy these teasers from some fabulous authors! The TBR Pile is giving away a $20.00 Amazon Gift card and 2 Ebooks from our prize list. To ENTER: Comment below on which of these books you'd like to read and WHY! (If you do not add why you want to read the book, you're entry will not count in the giveaway)  The violent sway of the plane jerked her from her imaginings. The fasten seat belt light dinged. She quickly tidied her area and replaced her tray. Flight attendants rushed forward in the aisles, and people scrambled for their seats. “Ladies and gentleman we are experiencing severe turbulence. We ask that you fasten your seatbelts,” the captain said over the loud speaker. The plane dropped and cries filled the air. Liandra clenched her jaw and gripped the armrests for dear life. Her knuckles ached in protest, and her heart thudded. They plummeted, headed straight down. The overhead bins gave way. Bags fell onto the grounds. Tremendous pressure formed behind her ears, and her chest constricted. Oxygen masks dropped from above. She reached out, grabbed the circular cup, and struggled to put it over her face as she fought against the direction gravity wanted to twist her body. She inhaled deeply, flooding her brain with the life giving substance. Panic blurred the sharp edges of her vision, and mental clarity fled. Her gaze darted around, taking in the stricken faces of her fellow passengers. This is where my story ends with no legacy behind me, and few to mourn. A thunderous boom sounded. Loose debris floated around the cabin. The plane began a wild death spiral. Disoriented, she saw the world in double. Pain detonated in her body as the plane connected with something solid. Her head hit the wall, and she knew no more. Liandra opened her eyes and squinted at the light. A dull ache tapped a rhythm in her head and continued down her body. Fragments of memory rushed back. The plane crashed. She pushed up into a sitting position and cringed. Silence. No, that couldn’t be right. She reached up to touch her hearing aid, and found nothing but the cartilage of her ear. Sound burst from her vocal chords as she cried out. She could feel the vibrations, yet, her world remained stuck on mute. How can I be rescued if I can’t hear anything? Fear gave her the slap on the face she needed. Focused, she took in her surroundings. White sand covered the ground beneath her feet. A canopy of tall, tropical, trees nearly blocked out the light above her. Ridiculous how idealistic this place appears, given the horror that lead us to be here. If there is an us. She scanned the floor around her looking for the aids and came up empty. She hit her knees and sifted sand with her hands. After what felt like forever, she admitted defeat. They were gone, and if she wanted to find her way out of here, she needed to leave while she still had light. A twinge of pain brought her hand up to cover her ribs and she limped through the area, stepping over tree roots, and watching for signs of life. She proceeded forward, careful to keep a watchful eye on the brush for any sign of movement. The ground shook. She turned toward the vibrations and ran toward the source, desperate to hold on to what could be her only link to the plane and other survivors. A heavy weight slammed into her. Iron bands held her tight. Dazed and breathless, she froze. Lifted, like she weighed nothing, she was placed onto her back. Confused, she tilted her head, and met the bluest pair of eyes she’d ever seen. Disheveled, dirt smudged, bleeding from various niches and cuts, the man’s angular face, and fast moving thin lips were a thing of pure beauty. She shook her head, cleared out the mental cobwebs, and shoved at his chest.  After twenty-four years nothing was stopping her. No drunken mother, no finer citizens of Martin County feeling sorry for her cause she was raised or not raised, as most would say, by a lazy drunk. She was so ready to move to a town where she could hold her head up proud and know that whatever happened in her life was because of her and no one else. “I have a present for you.” “That’s what you said earlier and look where that got me.” Jayce pointed to her naked body. Their little get together started a couple of years back. Harry was lonely and she needed to survive. He had even proposed marriage to her late one night saying he could provide her a good life. She quickly declined. Oh, sure she could have married him and became the little wife. Instead of dealing with a drunken mother, she’d be dealing with a man at least thirty years beyond her age. Hell no! The voice inside her head screamed. She had enough of people just getting what they could from her. It was time she took charge of what she wanted and she didn’t give a damn how long it took, just knowing she tried will be what counts in the end. Harry laughed and his whole body jiggled. “I really do have something special for you this time.” Jayce slipped into her jeans and watched as he reached for his dress pants. He pulled a padded envelope out of the back pocket and handed it to her. “What’s this?” Jayce asked as she took it from his hand. Usually money would be placed on the nightstand or somewhere else rather than handing it directly to her. She always thought maybe Harry felt it made it less dirty if he casually left the money for her and maybe in a way it did. She tried not to think about their bi-weekly visits too hard, it made her ill knowing that she had resorted to having sex for money. “Your four hundred plus some extra as a present, but you have to make me a promise.” Jayce opened the envelope and peeked inside. A stack of one hundred dollar bills flashed back at her. “Holy Shit. How much is in here?” She had never seen that much money at one time. The most she had on her right now was a thousand. Time she buried her mom, paid off all the debt they owed which included every bar tab around town, she was pretty much left penniless except for what she had been putting away a little at a time. “Four thousand dollars,” Harry said as he started putting on his clothes. “You know if you’d marry me then you wouldn’t have to earn money like this.” Jayce pulled the cowboy boots on her feet. “Harry, you’d still be paying me for sex, it would just be done differently. A couple hundred here for a new dress, a new car, money would still change hands, the only difference is I’d have on a ring.” Jayce wiggled her ring finger in the air as she sat on the edge of the tub. She was still naked on top and her small breasts rested comfortably in place. She pushed her long curls off her shoulders.  This town was probably deserted too. He had yet to raid what
was left of the markets and gas. Today, however, was one of those days he missed people. Someone yelled. “Hang the bastard!” And he went right back to hating people. Deon sighed, stood up to his full six foot two height and listened. “I can’t fuck her, I’m gay!” A voice yelled back. Well now, that got his attention. He shuffled inland toward the commotion. Big willow tress blocked his view of the sleepy little town. Once past them the scene unfolded and Deon was left speechless. There were nearly thirty people and each held a weapon of some kind. Most were blades on the end of long sticks but some had guns. They were all gathered around a gnarly old tree with no leaves and thick branches. Rope was thrown over one of those extended bark covered appendages. It circled the neck of a thin white guy, a cute one. His black hair was a matted mess and his blue eyes were wide with fear. From where Deon was he could see the guy had on no shirt and that damn rope bit into the sensitive skin at his neck. “You will get an erection and knock her up.” A man in his forties with a bald head ordered. He was at the front of the mob. Cutie took a deep breath. “Fine. Fine, I’ll do it, just get me down and I’ll...” “You do her right now.” He pushed a girl forward, who was obviously underage and balling her eyes out. Cutie swung his bound hand. “I’m not doing it right here!” Deon listened to the argument, slipping closer to the fanatical group of survivors. The other man was talking again, bald and fucking crazy. He mumbled something to the girl and then ripped her shirt off. Deon glanced at the exposed chest purely out of shock. He liked men. She had small breasts with pink nipples and her hands rushed to cover them. Deon moved closer. Apparently, Cutie was telling the truth. Deon was currently staring at all of him, as every inch of flesh was exposed. His cock was soft and flaccid against his thigh. It was bigger than Deon would have guessed for such a white boy. Deon bet his dick would be a good eight inches when hard. “There’s your proof!” The leader began to yell to the crowd. “He cannot father children. He is useless to the human species and we shall only take what we must to save humanity.” He tugged the girl from the cutie with the noose around his neck. “Kill him for our very survival!” He drew out the last word like it was a sermon. Deon heard enough and even if the guy didn’t have a cock he wanted to suck, he’d still save the poor bastard. Hanging was a sore subject. He’d read all about his ancestors and their slavery including hanging. There was a shout, a plea and five shirtless men tugged the other end of the rope viciously. As much as Deon wanted to dwell on all those naked chests in one spot, Cutie was in trouble. The stranger’s pale hands grabbed at the rope digging into his throat. Deon pulled the knife out of the black sheath on his belt. He held it eye length, aiming, breathing, concentrating and then threw it. The blade whirled through the air and slit the thick rope. Most of it broke and uncoiled. A few frantic tugs from the man being hanged and it snapped. Cutie fell to the ground with a great big gasp. He was then promptly shot.  Red as a Rose Author: D.F. Krieger Length : 38pages Genres: Paranormal/Fairy-Tale Romance TBR Reviewer: Victoria Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read Heat: 4 - Smoking Hot Fairy tales for grown-ups, just like they were originally meant to be - gotta love it. In this charming short story, Red Riding Hood was a hedge witch, has just died, and her granddaughter has been called to take over Red's protection of the forest. Unfortunately Scarlet has a slightly different talent - she can bring the dead back to, uh, not quite so dead (they're not zombies - if they're fresh enough they seem pretty close to human/living). Scarlet's just returning from burying her grandmother, answering the call of the goddess of the forest to race home where she finds freshly dead werewolf Tobias, who died trying to protect his village from hunters who delight in killing the shifter people. When she brings him back, heeding the instructions of the goddess, she finds her new creation isn't nearly so biddable as most of the dead she brings back. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and how it moved beyond the original Red Riding Hood story. Bringing in werewolves was fun, and while I'm still a bit icked out by the idea of dead-werewolf-sex, it didn't stop me from enjoying the interplay between Scarlet and Tobias. They work well together and I really liked Scarlet's solution when the hunters catch up to Tobias, the remnants of his pack/family, and Scarlet. Definitely hope to read more by Ms. Krieger in the future. Giveaway: Ms. Krieger is giving away an Ecopy of her book. The TBR Pile is giving away a book from our prize list. To ENTER, comment below on why you want to read Red as a Rose!
 Paws, Claws, and their Triple-F Author: Ellen Cross Length or wordcount: 81 pages Genres: M/M romance, paranormal, romance, M-preg TBR Reviewer: Amanda Rating: 3 Stars - A Good Read Heat: 4 - Smoking Hot Farron, a dingo shifter, is spending a significant amount of his life fixing Fate's screw-ups. He is one of the Fairy Fathers, like fairy godmothers, but in his case Fate requires him to introduce himself to his clients as their "Fairy F*** Father". His job is to get couples together that have somehow missed the connection they should have made, but when he meets a young caracal named Ben, Farron is sure that Fate is just kicking him while he is down for Ben could easily be Farron's own mate. Once they meet Mason, a submissive Tasmanian Devil shifter, the story just keeps getting more interesting as Mason is on the very edge of death and only Fate can fix them all.
The story started out a little slowly for its length. Although the world building helped with understanding what happened to Farron, once the story really got going it seemed to jump to the conclusion too soon. The unusual shifters and Fate's way of interacting with them were very amusing, as was the ending twist. I wish there had been a little more insight into Ben and Mason's characters and more proof of Farron's change of ways, but again it was just a little too short to satisfy in that regard. I still enjoyed it, though.  Coaxing His Skittish Lynx (A Paranormal's Love #7) Author: Charlie Richards Length or wordcount: 122 pages Genres: M/M paranormal romance TBR Reviewer: Amanda Rating: 4 Stars – Recommended Read Heat: 4 – Smoking Hot Roland is a lynx shifter rescued after twenty-five years of captivity where he was unable to ever shift back to his human form. Another former captive and part of the gargoyle clutch led his rescue, and although being around his former friend is good, Roland soon learns that one of the other gargoyles is his mate. However, the animal show has left him damaged and he cannot sense his mate due to never having finished maturing, so he doubts that he can bond with Tobias. Soon, the animal show owner comes after the rescued shifters and everyone in the clutch is at risk.
I always enjoy a Charlie Richards' book. The stories are enjoyable and even though "fated mates" are part of the story line, the main characters are still put through the wringer before reaching the possibility of a happily-ever-after. Tobias struggles with balancing duty, protectiveness, and spending time with his new mate, while Roland is extremely reluctant to give his trust to anyone and deals with insecurities due to the damage on his body. The outside influences were a catalyst to helping their relationship develop more quickly rather than a distraction from the romance. Overall, I liked reading about their journey and liked the cameos of couples from previous books, especially that of Cornelius and Einan. This is a series I will continue to read as they are released. |
Tristan needs a wife. Elinor needs a future. It's a perfect match... Except he's an earl. She's a commoner.
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