REVIEW - WEST OF WANT

"Deeply regretful of his carelessness he sees her to shore, but can't bring himself to leave before he sees she's making a recovery, but the woman keeps him coming back again and again until he makes the mistake of materializing at the wrong time and getting an earful from Ella. But as they begin to get to know each other and as Zeph feels the need to heal the injuries his storm caused it dawns to Ella that Zeph is more than just a stalker..."

Author: Laura Kaye
Pages: 350 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing on July 2012
Form: E-book (from the publisher for an honest review)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Hearts of The Anemoi #2
Amazon: Buy / $8.15 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.09 (Nook)
Excerpt: Sexy little excerpt, sans jeans. ;)

Ella has lost it all, her parents, her husband- cheating bastard - and her brother, releasing his ashes into the sea while on board their sailing boat True Blue a storm hits, even while a great sailor she can't fight the storm and as she hits the frigid water her world goes black and she believes this is it.

Zephyros, the God of the West Wind, is storming about his nephew's happiness, while he never has had any, only betrayal and disappointment, but just before it's too late he realizes his actions have but an innocent near death and he barely saves the woman from his storm.

Deeply regretful of his carelessness he sees her to shore, but can't bring himself to leave before he sees she's making a recovery, but the woman keeps him coming back again and again until he makes the mistake of materializing at the wrong time and getting an earful from Ella. But as they begin to get to know each other and as Zeph feels the need to heal the injuries his storm caused it dawns to Ella that Zeph is more than just a stalker - and there is more to the world than she ever thought.

But with Eurus, Zeph's estranged brother and ruler of the East Wind, dead set on breaking any happiness Zeph has Ella isn't safe, but even if Zeph can protect her against his brother's maliciousness can he protect her from his own fears of betrayal that's branded on his soul.

           "God I need more of you." He kissed up the other side of her neck, dragging his weight over her in the most maddeningly delicious way. She drew her knees up, adjusting him so he fell closer to where she needed him.           

           "Ella," he groaned and traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. "What do you want? This time you tell me. I don't want to make any mistakes here, and I"-he swallowed thickly-"I can't...I have to..."

           She whimpered. Heart, body and mind aligned she didn't need to think about it. "In me. Need you in me." His weight disappeared. Then so did she. For a split second, he physical self seemed to vanish. And then they were on the bed in her room.

           Dazed and awed, she laughed. "What just happened?" Heavy-lidded eyes traced over her face. "I don't have the patience to act human right now."

Oh ever since reading North of Need I've been so patiently waiting for Laura Kaye's next Hearts of Anemoi book - because I fell in love with North of Need and the way Kaye tells stories, they are happy but emotional, romantic and so sexy!

Kaye has a talent with words and creating with them a believable world with sexy well built gods and women who catch their eyes - and that ladies makes West of Want such a great romance! I could go on and on how well written West of Want is, how engaging the story is and how you are so invested it hurts when our couple goes through a rough patch - but I have to get on with the review and get to gushing about how hot Zeph is. ;)

I loved the story in West of Want, Ella's broken heart, Zeph's slowly emerging hope for future and Eurus's menacing presence through out the book. The Ancient Greek history bits were intriguing and I loved how Kaye wrapped them all in there in subtle way, and I loved all the coincidents trying to tell Zeph she was perfect for her.

I've said "loved" like four times now but bare with me because there will be more. ;)

Sometimes when you write a character like Ella who has gone through so much heartbreak and sorrow they can become downers - but not Ella, she still has that spark of life, that kindness and she fights for reasons to live and have a good life even with her parents and her brother dead and her ex-husbands cheating still a fresh cut. You can't help but love Ella and her M&M addiction.

Zeph, oh what to say about this guy... oh I know, Hot! Want me to elaborate? Okay here goes. Take one moody Supreme God of the West Wind who's been betrayed hundred times over, with a wicked hot body, and give him family issue big enough to sink titanic and then just watch what happens when he begins to fall for our heroine. You can help but fall in love as well, especially when the Supreme God gets his first taste of M&Ms. The depth he has and the way he feels for Ella hooks any romance reader to this story.

The romance between Ella and Zeph has to be one of my favorites, it's right up there with Megan and Owen ( who does make an appearance! ) from North of Need and Rhage and Mary from Lover Eternal to name a few. Like with all my faves there has to be love, emotional hook, heartbreak and healing - and there must be hot love scenes... so welcome to West of Want to that crowd!

It's no wonder people went crazy for this series, once you get a taste of Hearts of Anemoi you can't let go... and like many ladies I too cannot wait for South of Surrender to come out in 2013!

West of Want isn't a stand alone, read North of Need first, trust me it's just as good and you'll love Megan and Owen too, see my 5 star review of North of Need. Here is a NoN teaser:

          "A deep sound of satisfaction rumbled low in his throat and ricocheted down her body. Those soft lips found hers, already open, waiting for his touch. With his kiss, he possessed her. His scent—winter spice and male—filled her senses. His body covered her. She could live on the cool, sweet taste of his tongue. And, God, his little moans and grunts reverberated right down to the wet heat between her legs.


          He trailed open-mouthed kisses over her cheek to her ear, sucked her lobe between his lips and flicked it with his tongue. She gasped as goose bumps erupted everywhere and she offered her neck to his exploration.


          “I want you, Megan. Be mine. Gods.”

Rating :

REVIEW - DAMIAN'S ORACLE

"Sofia begins her transformation from human into oracle, the first in thousands of years. Damian rescues her from the Black God in time to complete a ceremony that will bind her to him for eternity. Sofia struggles with her new world and her role as an oracle and Damian’s mate while haunted by a mysterious man from Damian’s past who’s supposed to be dead."

Author: Lizzy Ford
Pages: 129 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Published: January, 2011
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: War of Gods #1
Amazon: Buy / $3.44 (Kindle)
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $0.99 (Nook) 
Excerpt: Chapters 1 and 2

"Inspired by Slavic mythology, Damien’s Oracle is the entree into the ongoing battle between good and evil over the fate of humanity. The White God, Damian, and his Guardians protect the world from the Black God and his monsters while rescuing Naturals – humans with extraordinary paranormal gifts - from the Black God, who would kill or convert them.

Caught in the middle is cool-headed Sofia, a Natural whose gift will tip the scales in the war. Sofia begins her transformation from human into oracle, the first in thousands of years. Damian rescues her from the Black God in time to complete a ceremony that will bind her to him for eternity. Sofia struggles with her new world and her role as an oracle and Damian’s mate while haunted by a mysterious man from Damian’s past who’s supposed to be dead. Unbeknownst to her, her link to the dead man may be all that saves Damian, his Guardians, and the fate of humanity.

While he wants nothing more than for the petite beauty to take her place at his side like the oracles of legend did his White God forefathers, Damian can’t quite rationalize having to win her over instead of command her. Further complicating his life is the sobering realization that there are spies in his organization who are helping the Black God take out his Guardians. Damian must help Sofia reach her potential fast, especially when a threat from his past returns."

I liked the plot, the world that was being created, I liked the mythology and definitely the divine spirits and Guardians. It was a story that was easy to read as the action sequences kept the story going, but the beginning was hard to get.

What drew me off a little was the male lead's excessive cursing, sort of without sufficient emotional build up, but other than that very little of this book disturbed me. I liked Sofia she was entertaining to read, she kept a good head on her shoulders and I felt she was relatable. I would have hoped she would have been bit more skeptical of the situation she was thrown in. The book had a distinct feeling of YA to it.

The cover needs a make-over to attract readers, the color schemes don't match, the make-up and the font needs little tweaking - the cover doesn't give credit that the story warrants.

You'll like this if... you're into mythology, like character driven books and like your heroes God-like, little aloof and arrogant, but in a good way.

Rating :

REVIEW - THE DEMON LOVER

"A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of writing her bestselling book, The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. "

Author: Juliet Dark
Pages: 416 pages
Publisher:  Ballantine Books
Published: December 27th, 2011
Form: E-Book (Review copy through NetGalley for an honest review)
Series: Fairwick Chronicles #1
Amazon: Buy / $10.20
Adlibris: Buy / €12.10

Superb gothic dark romantic novel! 

Dr. Callie McFay, is visited at night by a dream where a man enters her room in moonlight and continues to make love to her one erotic dream at a time. She should know what this means as she wrote her thesis on The Demon Lover in Gothic Literature: Vampires, Beasts and Incubi and is the author of the bestselling book Sex Lives of Demon Lovers, and has just been accepted to teach at Fairwick Collage teaching  Gothic Literature. She knows what she dreams of is a Demon Lover, the same one who use to tell her fairytales at night when she was a child, but - are they real? And if they are, what else is… vampires? Witches? Faeries? Nymphs? She might just have to check all above on that one.

I originally fell in love with the cover, but the story inside is so much better, it has the old as age feel to it, with dark woods, Victorian house, iron locks, libraries, snowed in darkness and the old books of a gothic writer who knew more than she let on.

This is perfect for the winter to read in candle light and feel thrilled, spooked and all around creep out while Callie teaches and investigates what happens in the little town and how it’s tide to her and her demon lover who is seduces her, makes passionate love to her and slowly drains her life away on big O at a time. She’s determined to get rid of him, but it seems some things are there to stick and no feeble attempt will do. And just how strong is her resolve to be rid of him?

"I gasped . . . or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn't draw breath. . . . His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked in my breath and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh. Moving flesh. I felt his chest rise and lower against mine, felt his hips grind into mine, his strong legs part mine…"

Dark and beautiful tale of love, passion, magic and danger – all mixed together with the Honeysuckle House and it’s surrounding of magical dark woods where even shadows are dangerous.

The supporting characters are amazing, and they truly add to the story a dark twist and few moments of lightness!

Trust me after you read this you want to move into the old Victorian Honeysuckle House! I’m completely addicted and cannot wait till the two following books come out, because this just can’t end like this! There is so much more that is needed. I haven’t had a frustrated howl at the end of a book in ages, but this sure ends like a good book is supposed to with a lot of 'oomph'!

Rating :

Blurb

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of writing her bestselling book, "The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers." After all, Callie's lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature--which is why she finds herself at Fairwick's renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.

But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover--an incubus--and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: He's not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the incubus, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult--banishing this demon lover from her heart.

REVIEW - FANTASY LOVER

"Being trapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn't. And being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a Spartan warrior's day."

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pages: 337 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: January, 2002
Form: Paperpack
Series: Dark Hunter #0
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Amazon: Buy / $7.99
Book Depository: Buy / €4.87
Excerpt: 1st Chapter

Grace is a therapist, a sex therapist to be exact, her best friend a tarot reading gypsy-blooded Selena has decided Grace needs to heal from her first disastrous time with a total tool and she tricks Grace to summon a Greek Love-Slave from an old book.

Julian of Macedon, a Spartan general, has spent near two thousand years in the book, cursed there by his half-brother, and summoned out only by women who want him for his body - and what a body! Being a demigod he's a sight aphrodisiac to human women, so much so that he is irresistible. As Grace summons him he figures out something is different this time, first Grace doesn't want to sleep with him, and second her treating him like a man awakens weird feelings in him.

As more of who Julian is revealed feelings blossom between the couple but neither one wants to admit them, better yet acknowledge them - but as it comes out that there might be a way for Julian to be free from the book things take turn to worse. It's not easy to choose life after over 2000 years of emotional torture.

❝She laughed. “There’s a lever under the seat. Pull it out and you can move the seat back.”

He tried, but he was crammed in so tightly that he couldn’t reach it.

“Here,” Grace said. “I got it.”

Julian threw his head back as she leaned over his thigh, pressing her breasts to his leg while she reached between his knees. His body snapped to attention, instantly hot and hard.

When she put her cheek against his groin as she struggled with the release, he thought he would die from it.

“You know, you’re in the perfect position to-”

“Julian!” she snapped. She pulled back and saw the bulge in his jeans. Her face turned bright red. “Sorry.”

“Me, too,” he breathed.

Unfortunately, she had yet to move the seat, so he was forced to endure the position one more time.

Grinding his teeth, Julian reached one arm over his head to grab the headrest and clench it tightly. It was all he could do not to yield to the fiery lust inside his body.

“You okay?” she asked once she released the seat and returned to her own.

“Oh, yeah,” he said sarcastically. “I’m just fine considering the fact I’ve walked through burning huts that hurt less than my groin does right now.”

“I said I was sorry.”

He just looked at her. ❞

I loved this book! It sure is a hot read! I can't help but love books where the hero sets out to seduce the heroine, especially when the hero is rugged gorgeous Spartan Warrior! *SWOON* Alright let me get it together... there we go... no wait, okay, I got it.

I loved the plot, sure it was simple but with great twists! It was easy flowing to read and Kenyon writes in a way that you feel close connected to the characters, which helps so much to see the world and get immersed in it.

Fantasy Lover was deliciously sexy, dark and tempting and a surprise very funny quick read! Julian's out-of-place-ness, if one can use that as a word is hilarious, but at times heartbreaking, and this book is a perfect mix of both.

I loved Julian, he was so dark and conflicted, but sexy as hell. I loved that he didn't like public places where women swooned over him, it gave him just what the doctor ordered to be a great male lead.
Could not help but to love Grace as well, she saw Julian as a human being and not as a mystical creature, a love-slave. She wanted to help him adjust to where he was, and this is bit heartbreaking; she was the first women in 2000 years who wanted to give him the dignity to wear clothes, which he didn’t know how to handle…

I did not expect this book to be so good! I was very pleasantly surprised! This book works well for you if you want a break from vampires and werewolves, but still want your Paranormal Romance kick!

Rating :

FREE BOOK FROM SHP - DAIMON (PREQUEL TO HALF-BLOOD)

I came across another free book while looking around, this is a 86 page read called Daimon, it's prequel to Half-Blood Book #1 of the Covenant Series. Free Book by the curtecy of Spencer Hill Press.

"Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee!' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life."

"For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals - pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards… and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return - the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her."

Find pdf. html and other reading options HERE.

Interested in more, check out Half-Blood Book #1 in Covenant series.

"The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck."