Realms On Our Bookshelves

Guess the book

2012-01-11T13:20:00.014+01:00

Last week I read a book and stumbled upon a description which instantly made me think; Did I not read that is someone else's book already? I was so stupified because I thought there was only one character with that kind of hair!

Here is the quote:

Her breath caught in her throat. Never in her life had she seen a more handsome man.
Never.
At first glance his hair was dark brown, but in reality it was made up of all colors; ash, auburn, black, brown, mahogony, even some blond. She'd never seen hair like that on anyone. Long and wavy, it was pulled back into a sexy ponytail.

Everyone who has read J.R. Ward immediately thinks Phury, right? Well, I wasn't reading Lover Enshrined or any other BDB book. So I wonder, does any of you know who this character is with the same kind of hair as Phury?

I just had to google images of Phury...see if anything like that kind of hair actually excitst...without coming from a bottle. Alas...no such color but I found men with heads of hear 0.0 They so make me green with envy:

Okay...perhaps not a wild mane of hair but *drool* he's so good to look at ;)

Now this is a mane...dear lawd, he would make Shakira look green with envy at that!

Love this guys face...even with all that hair...he's still all man to me!!

Can't wait to hear who you think the quote guy is ;)

Happy 2012!

2012-01-04T22:04:00.005+01:00

Hello book readers, -writers and friends of ROOB,

Time does fly by rather quickly! We remember like the day of yesterday that January 1, 2011 came to meet us, but here we stand on January 4th 2012, with a new year ahead of us, like a book yet to be written, the pages blank, and adventures still layed out as planns in our head, but adventurous 2012 will be.

2011 has been a year of changes for us all at Realms On Our Bookshelves, personally as well as professionally. Drastic and dramatic turnarounds had us jiggling our schedules and timetables, reading became a bit more dormant, but now that we are settled in our "new" lives we wanted to pick things up again at the ROOB-blog.

So many great upcoming bookreleases are just around the corner from best-selling authors to debut-authors, which we are ofcourse all looking forward to.

Here are a few to look forward to in the next few months:

Ofcourse many more are to be released and will be mentioned in future blogposts.

So what will 2012 hold in store for us one might wonder? Well so do we. We are planning on weekly posting containing ofcourse bookreviews, book-pimping and ocassionally author-interviews, contests or whatever idea comes to play around in our minds. We want to be more active again and liven up our blog. We know we've been neglecting it a bit and honestly said it felt lonely, but our blog needs to cry no more, we're back and will give it the loving warmth we've always given it before.

We have to pleasure to tell you us ROOB-girls will all attend the Love Letter Convention in Germany, Berlin in June this year. We are very excited about that and are ofcourse looking very much forward to meeting the attending authors and fellow booklovers our there!

We all hope you had a marvellous Christmas and sparkling festive new year and wish you all a happy, healthy, loving but most of all a bookaliscious 2012!

Love always,

The ROOB-girls

Leontine, Marissa, Natascha & Pearl

Requested Review: A Song For My Mother - Kat Martin

2011-05-06T08:00:00.006+02:00

Hardcover; 209 pages
Publisher: Vanguard Press - April 5, 2011
ISBN-10: 1593156565
ISBN-13: 978-1593156565
Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Book: Standalone, loosely connected to The Christmas Clock as it's set in the same town (Dreyerville)
Main Characters: Marly Hanson & Reed Bennett
On sale at: The Bookdepository Store

Summary:
Kat Martin brings readers back to the charming town of Dreyersville for another compelling story of love, loss, and hope in second chance.
Years after leaving Dreyersville "for good" with her boyfriend right after high school, Marilys Hanson returns to her hometown at the behest of her daughter, Katie, a brain-cancer survivor, who's never met her grandmother, Marilys's mother, Winnie. Now divorced from her husband, Marilys has a past she wishes she didn't have to face there.

Living next door to Winnie is the handsome young sheriff (and widower), Reed Bennett, and his son, Ham. Ham and Katie become fast friends, and when their parents finally meet, they hit it off quickly as well. But Marilys is insistent that her time in Dreyersville be limited. She's accepted a teaching position back home, and while she's willing to spend some of her summer putting up with her mother, she's intent on heading back and making good on her commitment. But will Marilys finally come to realize that her true destiny and, ultimately, her happiness, lie in coming to terms with her past?

Pearl's Review:
Marilys “Marly” Hanson escaped Dreyerville, her hometown, 12 years ago determined never to look back or come back. Then her daughter escapes death and her only wish is to see the grandmother she's never met. Marly is a teacher and a single mom with a complicated and painful past, now dealing with a daughter recovering from brain cancer. Her return home sets in motion a bunch of events: a reunion with her mother seems less impossible and the possibility of love and romance emerges.

Reed Bennett is Winnie's (Marly’s mother) neighbor and town's sheriff. He’s a widower and single dad and an all-around good and decent guy. Though the focus of the book is more centered on Marly, her mother and her daughter. Reed and his son do make memorable characters that formed a very good match and balance with the female ones.

This novella is not just about Marly and Reed, it's also about the people who surround them and play important roles in their lives. Kat Martin makes sure you get to know and understand them all, which pushes the romance a little bit to the background. Also, there are no love scenes, just kisses. However, I didn't mind that at all, because it's not that kind of book and having read THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK, I went into this book knowing what to expect.

A SONG FOR MY MOTHER is set in Dreyerville, like Kat Martin’s THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK. Although it's in the same setting it can perfectly be read as standalone because there’s no ongoing plot and some characters from THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK only briefly appear or are mentioned. Other than the main theme being love in its different forms the storyline is totally different too.

Kat Martin's writing is unique in its simplicity and the way it just pulls you in the story, no matter what genre it is. The POV transitions contribute to the pace and they're executed very smoothly. It doesn’t even matter what length the story is because even though this was a novella, in the small span of 155 pages Kat Martin gives the reader an emotional story about love in all forms, loss, regret and forgiveness and she even touches the heavy subject of abuse. But she also manages to depict vivid, realistic characters with such depth and back-story I was astounded and pleasantly surprised at the end that I didn’t even miss the sexy times in this book. The story and emotions carried this story so much better than any love scene could have ever done.

Despite the thoroughness with which the characters are portrayed Kat Martin's writing is swiftly paced from the very beginning, keeping the story moving and the reader eager to keep on going till you've read the last page and closed this lovely book with a satisfied sigh.

There were a few scenes that were memorable and made such an impact that I want to mention them in this review. One of them was the scene with Emily, when Marly realizes she needs to forgive her mother. That scene was so powerful and emotional it made me cry. The other one is the scene where Marly and her mom finally talk about the past and make peace. This scene had the same powerful impact on me as the earlier mentioned scene had.

A SONG FOR MY MOTHER is an emotionally heavy read and you have to be in the mood to read it as it will tug at your heartstrings in a most intense way.

Quotes:
Reed hadn’t really been attracted to a woman since Carol had died. Hadn’t felt that little kick in the gut a man feels when he meets a woman who appeals to all his male instincts.

She was attracted to Reed Bennett. For the first time in her life, she understood what it was like to feel desire for a man. When he kissed her goodnight, she didn’t want the kiss to end. When he held her hand, little tingles ran up her arm. When he laughed, she wanted to laugh with him. When he shared his thoughts and dreams, she found herself wanting to share her own, discovering in the process a few she hadn’t realized she had.

Requested Review: Sex on the Slopes - Susan Lyons

2011-02-03T10:00:00.011+01:00

Tradesize Paperback; 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade - December 7, 2010
ISBN-10: 1439152950
ISBN-13: 978-1439152950
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance
Book: Single Author Anthology
Main Characters:
FIRE AND ICE - Andi Radcliff & Jared Stone
SLIPPERY SLOPE - Brianna George & Zack Michaels
IN HOT PURSUIT OF A BAD BOY - Maddie Daniels & Logan Carver
On sale at: The Bookdepository Store

Summary:
At a destination wedding in Whistler, the bride and groom aren’t the only ones steaming up those cold winter nights!

“Fire and Ice”
Wedding planner Andi Radcliffe wants to be a man’s “first and only,” yet she can’t take her eyes—or hands—off sexy firefighter Jared, a widower who’s already loved and lost. Though she doesn’t want to be any man’s second choice, their secret rendezvous are setting off all the right alarms.

“Slippery Slope”
Brianna George, the groom’s boss and friend, is the celebrity host of a TV talk show. She’s all about business—until Zack, a hot young Aussie ski instructor, seduces her over to the sexy side of life. But will their secret romance jeopardize her career?

“In Hot Pursuit of a Bad Boy”
Maddie Donovan, the groom’s little sister, always had a thing for his bad boy friend Logan. Seeing him again after so many years, she won’t miss her chance to prove she’s all grown up…and find out just how a good a bad boy Logan really is.

Pearl's Review:
Fire and Ice
Andi Radcliffe is a wedding planner. She’s responsible, sensible and organized but in the face of a fire and then possibly freezing to death she decides to be impulsive and take a chance with the sexy firefighter who came to the rescue. She’s the type of girl of takes care of others first and puts herself last.

Jared Stone is a firefighter. He’s a widower, guilt-ridden and still very much in love with his late wife. But when he meets Andi he starts to realize that sometimes opening up to new people in his life and even a new love, doesn’t demean his first love

Jared and Andi have different expectations of their encounter. For Jared it's casual hot sex while Andi's hoping it could grow into something more meaningful.

I enjoyed this first story of the anthology. It set the stage for the other two stories, introducing some of the main characters from those stories. In the beginning I did have a feeling of missing the emotional connection, both between the main characters and between them and me. This feeling disappeared when I read about a third of the story. Something clicked and the second sex scene was more to my liking than the first.

Despite the small page-count, FIRE AND ICE is a well-rounded story that's a balanced mix between erotic romance and character-development but because of the shortness of the story it also felt a little bit rushed. However, the ending was lovely and emotional and made up for the rushed feel.

Quote:
She must look ridiculous, yet he was still staring at her as if he wanted to eat her from head to toe, paying special attention to the goodies in the middle.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Slippery Slope
Brianna George is creator and host of the TV show ‘The Scoop. She’s a native Canadian who overcame her difficult past and became a successful TV personality and a local celebrity. She’s focused, grounded and pragmatic. A perfectionist with a terrible track record with men and dating and an all work no play kind of woman. Beneath the capable exterior there's an air of insecurity and vulnerability and a fear of failure. She longs to blend in and be respected, to overcome her past riddled with gossip and preconceived opinions.

Zack Michaels is an Australian ski instructor. He’s outgoing, impulsive, vibrant and charming. He enjoys life to the fullest and his zest for life rubs off on people. But he’s also sensitive, perceptive and stubborn.

SLIPPERY SLOPE appealed to me much more than the first and this probably had to do with the trope as I love older woman-younger man stories. I really like this trope and think Susan Lyons did a great job of making it work in this story. I also like that the age difference between Zack and Brianna didn’t form the main conflict between them.

I really enjoyed the banter between Brianna and Zack, which also brought along some humor to the story. Zack encourages Brianna to loosen up and be more playful. This story felt a bit less rushed than the first but as with the first story the resolution of the conflict was whirlwind quick. And again Susan Lyons wrote a wonderful and emotional end to the story.

Quotes:
"If that's your not-so-subtle way of finding out if I'm single, the answer is yes. But don't take that to mean--"
"Mean what?" He gazed into her eyes and sank into pools of bittersweet chocolate.
Dark skin, dark eyes. Did she taste like chocolate, too?
She gave a start and blinked. "Uh, that I'm interested in . . . whatever."
"Ah, but you've never tried my brand of whatever," he teased.
Her eyes narrowed. "I've tested enough brands to be skeptical about the overall product."

Other men had given her tentative kisses and forceful ones. Never had a guy kissed her with this blend of gentleness and confidence. His lips were soft, teasing, seductive, and she had to respond, to open her mouth on a sigh of pleasure.

Rating: 4 stars

In Hot Pursuit of a Bad Boy
Madeleine 'Maddie' Daniels is a massage therapist. She’s sweet, warmhearted, inventive, tenacious and passionate.

Logan Carver is a (undercover) cop. He’s the troublemaker kid that went from foster home to foster home. He puts up a rough, tough bad boy front but deep down he's a good guy, an outsider longing to belong somewhere and have someone who cares about him.

The chemistry between Maddie and Logan is the most sizzling of the three couples. This made their story stand out the most for me. Also the fact that their story didn't start out as "just sex" between virtual strangers, like the other two did, but had a foundation in a friendship started long before, made IN HOT PURSUIT OF A BAD BOY the best of the three stories for me.

The sex scenes are hot and explosive and I loved the shower scene. I also loved how Maddie went about to get the guy she'd loved since she was a teen. She knows he's a tough nut to crack emotionally so she decides to take the physical route and hopes it will be enough for him to realize he wants her for more than a temporary sexual fling and return her love.

I’m starting to sound like a broken record but like in the other two stories the ending was lovely and emotional and a perfect closure to the entire anthology.

Quotes:
Her smile touched a chord in his heart that hadn't been strummed since that last night he'd been with her.

No need for him to know she was all nerves, wondering if he still made her heart lurch and her hormones zing the way no other man ever had.

If he'd played his cards right, he could've been in her bed right now, using his rigid boner for something much more satisfying than holding up his jeans.

Rating: 4 stars

IN GENERAL ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY:
The setting for this anthology is a destination wedding at a chalet at Whistler, Canada: Alpine Hideaway. The couple that is getting married has an important secondary role in all three stories but they are never truly in the foreground. Every story has one or both main characters who has a link with the bride and/or groom.

This single author anthology is my first encounter with Susan Lyons writing despite having her Awesome Foursome Series on my shelves (I still have to read them) and it was a pleasant first encounter. I really liked her clean, crisp writing style, tinged with subtle humor and rife with hot chemistry and explosive encounters.

The three stories balance each other out in a great way. They all have a different trope and vibe and yet form a cohesive whole aided by the setting and the complex, fascinating characters. Together they form a lovely anthology about finding love that was wrapped up in a fitting epilogue.

Jessica Trapp - Defiant

2011-02-01T12:56:00.000+01:00

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Zebra (December 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1420100955

ISBN-13: 978-1420100952
Genre: Historical Romance
Stand-Alone
Main Characters: Jared St. John & Gwyneth of Windrose

Buy at: The Book Depository

Blurb:

Three years ago Jared St. John was imprisoned, wrongly, for the murder of his own brother. Now, finally free, he wishes only to live in peace, hoping to heal the darkness that plagues his soul. But his self-inflicted isolation is destroyed when he is drugged, spirited away to a church, and forced to marry a brazen enchantress against his will...Lady Gwyneth of Windrose knows something of false imprisonment, but that doesn't stop her from abducting a stranger when it's her only hope of gaining her liberty. Yet the moment she's alone in her unwilling new husband's powerful presence, everything Gwyneth thought she knew of men - and of seduction - falls by the wayside. For the first time in her life, it's not freedom Gwyneth craves...but to give herself over to unyielding passion...

Requested Review

If you are a fan of classic historical romances like the ones Johanna Lindsey wrote in the 80’s and early 90’s you will most certainly love Jessica Trapp’s Defiant. But even if you are not into historical romances you can enjoy this smooth written story for its plot delves much deeper than just a simple love story between a fierce hero and a feisty heroine.

Lady Gwyneth of Windrose is known for her great beauty and many men have asked for her hand in marriage, yet Gwyneth has always evaded the shackles of marriage. Gwyneth has no intention to be the property of a man who can show her off whenever he feels like it. All she wants is her freedom. Fate brings her together with Irma, a whore. They share a secret and it is Irma who shows Gwyneth how she can use her beauty to her advantage to help other women. Now Gwyneth is a woman on a mission, she wants to save as many women from prison as she can so they won’t be sold into slavery.

But Gwyneth cannot escape marriage forever and her family forces her to marry some fop. This will endanger her mission so she and Irma come up with a plan. They abduct a stranger; Gwyneth marries him and pays him off so he disappears. This is Gwyneth’s only hope to gain her liberty and continue her mission, but they picked the wrong stranger to mess with for Jared St. John will not disappear. He is here to stay and for the first time in her life Gwyneth cannot seduce a man to do things her way, for the first time in her life she wants to surrender to her passion… passion for her husband.

Jared St. John is the illegitimate child of a lady, she never cared for him. He is a falconer and shares a special bond with his bird Aeliana. Three years ago he was falsely accused of murdering his own brother, now he has escaped. He only wishes to live in peace and clear his name by finding his brother’s real killer. Living in peace is no longer an option when Gwyneth enters his life and forces him to marry her, but marriage to Gwyneth has its advantages so he exercises his rights as her husband while he tries to clear his name. But it is hard not to fall under the spell of such a beauty.

Though Defiant is a classic historical romance, fluently written and fast-paced to read, it also has a high level of girl power and it is a character-driven story. The changes both Jared and Gwyneth undergo during this story add even more layers and depth to them. They come from very different backgrounds, have absolutely nothing in common with one another yet they are very much the same in many ways. They both have a strong sense of justice and this is what eventually leads them to one another.

Gwyneth is a great heroine, as a lady she could have resigned herself to her role as a wife and live an easy life, instead she tries to take control of her own life as much as she can and help other women. She is an idealist trying to improve the position of women in a men’s world. She is persistent, a little stubborn, smart and emphatitic; she puts other people’s needs for her own. Life has taught her that men don’t listen to women very well and if she wants something she has to do it herself. She depends very much on herself and Irma and does not trust men. When Jared stays in her life she must adapt quickly and find new ways to continue her mission, not once does she give up. She is a very strong, compassionate lady and I like her attitude and her assertiveness very much.

Looking from Gwyneth’s point of view Jared sounds like a bastard, but he really isn’t. I must admit when he forced Gwyneth to wear a brank for a day he did not score any points with me, but she really pushed him too far and Jared needed to show that he could handle his wife, after all this story plays out in the middle ages. Being hurt by women all his life makes Jared very cautious of Gwyneth, he is emotionally closed off yet vulnerable at the same time. He does not trust people, especially women easily. Jared only relies on himself and his bird Aeliana. Yet he is very patient and gentle with Gwyneth, he teaches her how to read and shows her that she can trust him and that he has honor. All he wants is to clear his name and live in peace.

There are not many secondary characters in this story; the only important one is Irma. Irma is Gwyneth’s best friend and she is a whore. She lives a harsh life yet tries to make the best of things and is always to help other women. I liked Irma, she is so practical and she made me laugh. She and Gwyneth are an odd pair, together with Jared they are the pivot of Defiant. Still, Jessica Trapp has done a great job at making you feel a connection to this three characters as they try to live their lives on their terms and reach their goals.

I really loved the plotline of this story, there are many little details in the lives of Jared, Gwyneth and Irma that look trivial, yet it turns out that they are very important for the development of the story. These details also show how tangled up their lives really are without them knowing it. All these little details and loose ends come together with a bang at the end of the story.

Defiant was a pleasant surprise for me, I loved it. The well-rounded characters, the undeniable attraction between Jared and Gwyneth, the fluent and profound plotline and the high level of girl power. The solutions Irma and Gwyneth come up with for their problems were hilarious. Yet at the same time Defiant keeps that authentic medieval vibe. Therefore Defiant is a mesmerizing read from start to finish.

ARC Review: Nalini Singh - Archangel's Consort

2011-01-24T13:07:00.003+01:00

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley (January 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425240134
ISBN-13: 978-0425240137
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Book #3 in Guild Hunter series
Main Characters: Raphael and Elena
Buy at: Book Depository Store

Cover Summary:
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil…

A vampire has attacked a girls’ school—the assault one of sheer, vicious madness—and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders.

The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear.

An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed…

Archangel's Consort gives us a third chapter to devour in the romance story of Archangel Raphael and Guild Hunter Elena. With that I cannot guarantee a spoiler free review and only advice readers to start at the beginning with Angels’ Blood and work your way to this release which I can tell you will be quite the ride!

From the beginning there was an undeniable attraction simmering between Raphael and Elena and this had not diminished in any way in Archangels Consort. Next to their deepening relationship they both have to deal with family issues as well. From the get-go I fell hard for the synergy between Raphael and Elena. Their dialogues are full of wit and barbs, their personalities clashing at times in dominance and the sensual vibe is like a live wire between them. Over the course of the evolving storyline I witnessed their trials and tribulations, their strength, vulnerabilities and flaws, but at the foundation a love grew that encompassed them wholly.

In Archangels Consort, Nalini Singh demonstrates how utterly good she is at bringing characters to life and exploring their personalities. Raphael is a male character who isn’t quite the anti hero nor “just” one who can be branded an Alpha, he transcends these character type’s with his attitude that is born from his ancient age and view on life. He is without a doubt “other”. He is an Archangel who makes me shiver with all of his personality traits and each reader should experience his personality first hand to understand what makes Raphael, Raphael.

To be the love interest of such an Archangel takes quite a woman but Elena holds her ground in her own unique way. She knows how to get through to Raphael when he goes all Archangel attitude and makes him more accessible to the softer side of emotions. Even though Elena has a strong backbone, even when she goes all warrior woman, she also is a sensuous woman and has her vulnerabilities. It is the sensual and emotional interplay between them as a couple that shows this the most. This story definitely created room for the romance part, for conflicts and the fiery passion that often set the pages ablaze. When two angels choose to dance the skies it is a sight to behold!

The one thing that was subdued was the mystery. Practically up front did I know what was going on and it lessened the thrill of the suspense. It made certain events less dangerous and I missed the one-two punch Nalini Singh can deliver when romance and suspense work as one and I can’t read fast enough to know what’s happening. Of course I did get a few small surprises in the end, creating possibilities for future installments but in this story it was the interpersonal relationships that did it for me.

Next to murders, some dangers, romance and challenges there was also Raphael’s Seven. Each of these Seven is a compelling and intriguing character but like many avid readers of this series I have my favorites. My heart skips a beat with the uber powerful vampire Dmitri, I have a wicked grin on my face whenever Illium aka Bluebell, enters the stage, my curiosity is piqued with Aodhan, but it is Jason who yanks all of my chains. In this installment Nalini Singh tantalizes me with small snippets of mystery revolving his, and many other characters, from the Seven. I can’t wait for her to start writing up their stories!!

Nalini Singh’s is one of the powerhouse authors who rule in the Urban-Fantasy genre. Her imaginative writing never fails to invite me into her dynamic world. I get to go on adventures with her characters, enjoy the temperamental dialogues and feel every single shred of emotions sizzling between them! Archangel’s Consort was a wonderful return again to the Guild Hunter world!

Quote Elena:
Now, she was one of those angels, perched high atop a balcony that had no railing, nothing to prevent a fall. Except of course, she would no longer fall. Her wings were stronger now. She was stronger.

Flaring out those wings, she took a deep breath of the air home. A fusion of scents – spice and smoke, human and vampire, earthy and sophisticated – hit her with the wild fever of a welcoming rainstorm. Her chest, tight for so long, relaxed, and she stretched her wings out to their greatest width. It was time to explore this familiar place become foreign, this home that was suddenly new again.

Diving down from the balcony, she swept across Manhattan on air currents kissed by the cool bite of spring. The right green season that thawed the snows that had kept the city in thrall this winter , and now held court, summer not even a peach-colored blush on the horizon. This was the time of rebirth, of blooming things and baby birds, bright and young and fragile even in the frenetic rush of a city that never slept.

Home, I’m home.

Quote Illium/Elena:
“I know I’m your favorite.” He brushed his wings over hers when she didn’t reply. “I swear to god,” she muttered, fighting a laugh, “If you’ve dusted me with blue , I’ll tie your balls in a knot and hang you up by them on the nearest sharpest object I see.” The last time he glittered blue angel-dust over her wings, Raphael had – eventually – seen the humor in the situation. She couldn’t guarantee Illium’s health if it happened a second time. Illium dipped low, stroking back up with movements that looked lazy but took considerable muscle strength. “Be nice to me or I won’t give you your present.”

“Idiot.” But he was her favorite of the Seven. How could he not be when he saw her human heart not as a curse, but as a gift. When he would lay down his life for the archangel’s who was Elena’s? When he laughed with the same easy joy as the children from the Refuge?

ROOB-blog inactive till further notice

2010-11-24T12:25:00.001+01:00

Realms On Our Bookshelves is in mourning due to the extremely unexpected passing away, last Monday, of the husband of our founding member Leontine.

Until further notice there will be no updates or posts as we try and deal with this loss and unfairness that life has chosen to cast upon our dear friend and sister.

Natascha, Marissa & Pearl

Happy Abs Day: Getting hot & bothered over a commercial

2010-11-19T11:07:00.001+01:00

I remember one fo the first Happy Abs Day posts of Pearl was that of a hilarious man in shower doing an abs wave for us all. I told her right there and then I felt challenged since I never would've thought to go to youtube for some ab fun. I haven't found a hilarious youtube vid but not so long ago I was watching whatever movie with hubby and I saw a Davidoff commercial for the first time...one that really had my panties in a twist. One with Aitor Mateo in the leading role;

Then I remembered William Lawson's and the fantastic Highlander commercial...I haz found one that made me laugh so hard. it has got a belgium male model in the lead and haven't found a name yet (since I remembered thirty minutes ago I was up for a HAD post *palmface*)

I really like both man since commercial time mostly seems to revolve around model pretty women. Both commercials are a treat for the ladies IMO :)

Have a great friday!

On the ROOB Radar: Immediate TBR

2010-11-17T11:50:00.001+01:00

Today I decided to dedicate my ROOB Radar to books that I have on my buy-list that are part of series I'm caught up with. I don't have that many series I'm completely caught up with and am waiting for the next release to come out because I tend to "read all over the place" and most of the time I get distracted by shiny new series and books or I find a series gathering dust on my bookshelves that I really need to start and start it but the new releases in those start to pile up fairly quickly too. Luckily I still found enough to fill this ROOB Radar post today...

UNFORGIVABLE by Laura Griffin
Release: 2010, November 30 (print)
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Tracers, book 3
Website

Summary:
TRACING KILLERS IS MIA VOSS’S BUSINESS.
AND HER WORK JUST GOT PERSONAL.

At first, Mia Voss thinks it’s just bad luck when her already lousy day ends with a carjacking. But what seems like a random incident is followed by another sinister episode. A DNA expert, Mia has made it her mission to put away vicious criminals. Suddenly, she’s become the target of one. And the only way to protect the people she loves most is to deliberately destroy her reputation and risk letting a killer walk free.

Once, Mia trusted Detective Ric Santos. That was before Ric let his turbulent past ruin his chances with Mia, the sexiest, most intriguing woman he’s ever met. But he can tell when she’s lying—and when she’s scared. The key to catching a sadistic madman lies within a long-buried cold case that has haunted Mia for years. Only she can uncover the truth, but first, Ric will have to get her to entrust him with her secrets . . . and her life.

TURN IT UP by Vivian Arend
Release: 2011, February 8 (ebook)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Turner Twins, book 2
Website

Summary:
She wants it. He’s got it…and a whole lot more.

Maxwell Turner considers his stubborn and resourceful attitude a plus. After all, it usually gets him what he wants—except for Natasha Bellingham. The long-time family friend may be ten years older than he, but so what? He’s plenty old enough to know they belong together. Now all he has to do is convince her.

Over the past few years Natasha’s love life has degenerated into a series of bad clichés. Her biological clock is ticking—loudly. As a proven architect with her own house-design company, she’s financially ready for a baby. Who says she needs a permanent man in her life for that? She just needs a “donation”.

When Max discovers Natasha’s future plans include artificial insemination, he’s outraged. She wants to get pregnant? No problem. He’s more than willing to volunteer—no turkey basters involved .

But there’s one non-negotiable clause: He wants forever. And he intends to do everything in his power—fair and unfair—to make it happen.

Warning: This title contains one younger man ready, aimed and hell bent on giving one woman everything she wants. Includes interludes against the wall, in a Jacuzzi, on a car hood and even—shockingly enough—on a bed or two. Oh, and about that porch swing? Yup…

THE SWEETEST THING by Jill Shalvis
Release: 2011, March 29 (print)
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Lucky Harbor, book 2
Website

Summary:
Two Men Are One Too Many . . .

Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.

But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.

THE DARKEST SECRET by Gena Showalter
Release: 2011, April 1(print)
Publisher: HQN
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Lords of the Underworld, book 7
Website

Summary:
Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when new demons possess him, the immortal warrior must be chained and isolated to protect those he loves. Death is his only hope of release—until he meets Haidee, a fellow prisoner whose beauty and hidden vulnerability draw him into a reckless test of his loyalty….

Haidee is an infamous demon assassin, raised to despise Amun’s kind. Yet how can she hate the man whose touch sets her aflame? But to save him, she must give herself body and soul…and face the wrath of a powerful adversary sworn to destroy her.

VAMPIRE DRAGON by Annette Blair
Release: 2011, April 5 (print)
Publisher: Berkeley Sensation
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Works Like Magick, book 3
Website

Summary:
Welcome to Drak's, A Place for Vampires, where nobody is who--or what--they say they are,
good and evil, alike.

Meet Puck, a sarcastic Macaw, flying cats Lila and Scorch,and a twelve-year old with a century's worth of memories.

In the final, deadly, confrontation:It's a shape shifting dragon and the Vampiress he loves...against a mob boss from hell and an evil sorceress.

VAMPIRES IN ATLANTIS by Alyssa Day
Release: 2011, June (print)
Publisher: Berkeley Sensation
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Warriors of Poseidon, book 6
Website

Summary:
At this point in time there's not much information on this book other than the cover and small tidbit below, but I couldn't resist including it as it's part of one of the few series I'm caught up with.

Daniel/Drakes/Devon finally meets the one woman who can cure his tortured and lonely existence – and she’s a woman from 11,000 years in his past!

Happy Abs Day: Hot cover model Paul Marron!

2010-11-12T11:11:00.000+01:00

Yay... it is Happy Abs Day again and I love to drool over a great pic of the opposite sex, but it is my turn again to do this post and it is getting harder and harder to come up with ideas for Happy Abs Day. Today's inspiration for this post came from these bookcovers....

All of these abs belong to one fine-looking man...

Yes it is Paul Marron!!

Enjoy the view!

Happy Abs Day!

On the ROOB Radar

2010-11-10T16:17:00.000+01:00

**********

CL Wilson – Crown Of Crystal Flame

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Releasedate: November 1, 2010

Book 5 in the Tairen Soul series

For sale at: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS

A Song of Love won her heart.

A Song of Darkness haunted her soul.

A Song in the Dance would seal her fate.

Seers had long foreseen an extraordinary destiny for Ellysetta Baristani. Already she had won the heart of the Fey King - the magnificent Rain, ever her ally, eternally her love. She had saved the offspring of the magical tairen and fought beside her legendary mate against the armies of Eld. But the most powerful - and dangerous - Verse of her Song had yet to be sung. As the final battle draws nigh and evil tightens its grip upon her soul - will Ellysetta secure the world for Light or plunge it into Darkness for all eternity? As she and Rain fight for each other, side by side, will they find a way to complete their truemate bond and defeat the evil High Mage of Eld before it's too late, or must they make the ultimate sacrifice to save their world?

**********

Karen Hawkins – One Night In Scotland

Genre: Historical Romance

Releasedate: December 9, 2010

Book 1 in the Hurst Amulet series

For sale at: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS

A mysterious abductor . . . Someone is holding her brother prisoner in exchange for a gold-and-onyx box covered in mysterious runes, so Mary Hurst boldly sets out from the family vicarage to find the priceless artifact. But the man who possesses it, Angus Hay, the Earl of Erroll, is less than sympathetic to her plight.

A forbidding stranger . . . Himself a prisoner of his dark past, Angus refuses to yield the box - or allow Mary to leave! Suspicious of the alluring lass's mission, he vows to wrest a confession from her, but unearths a fiery temper and a will as strong as his own.

An unbreakable curse . . . Passion flares between them, but now there is more at stake: an unknown enemy is hunting down the precious box, and will stop at nothing. Risking all for love, Angus must solve the mystery behind the runes . . . and trust the only woman who can awaken his forgotten heart.

**********

Linda Howard – Ice

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Releasedate: November 23, 2010 - PB

Stand Alone Novel

For sale at: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS

Gabriel McQueen has only just arrived home on holiday leave from the service when his county-sheriff father sends him back out again with new marching orders. A brewing ice storm, and a distant neighbor who's fallen out of contact, have the local lawman concerned. So he enlists Gabriel to make the long haul to the middle of nowhere, and make sure Lolly Helton is safe and sound. It's a trip the younger McQueen would rather not make given the bitter winter weather-and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly.

But there's no talking back when your dad is the town's top cop. And there's no turning back when night falls just as Gabriel arrives-and discovers that the weather outside isn't the only thing that's frightful. Spotting strangers in Lolly's home-one of them packing a weapon-is all it takes to kick Gabriel into combat mode. And his stealth training is all he needs to extract Lolly from the house without alerting her captors. But when the escape is discovered, the heat-and the hunt-are on. And the winter woods are nowhere to be once the ice storm touches down, dropping trees, blocking roads, and trapping the fleeing pair in the freezing dark.

**********

Radclyffe – Desire By Starlight

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Releasedate: November 16, 2010

For sale at: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS

Best-selling romance author Calista Hardy sprints through life from one appearance to the next, always on deadline, always in demand - always on the arm of a different beautiful woman. She has no personal life because her entire existence is public, and part of her appeal. She loves the tempo, the power, the thrill until the pace catches up to her and she collapses at a book signing.

Her doctor orders rest, her editor wants a three book series yesterday, and her attorney informs her she has just inherited a farm in the backcountry of Vermont. Divine intervention or Fate's little joke? The only thing that might possibly save her from dying of boredom during a summer of forced R&R is a dalliance with Gardiner Davis, the local vet. The fact that Gard is as unimpressed with Callie's charms as she appears to be to Callie's fame only makes the chase sweeter.

**********

Review Request: Clare Willis - My Soul To Take (anth. Nocturnal)

2010-11-09T15:17:00.000+01:00

Mass Market Paperback; 352 pages
Publisher: Zebra Books (September 6, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1420109871
ISBN-13: 9781420109870
Genre: Anthology; Horror; Paranormal; Short Story
Main Characters: Derek & Maggie
For Sale At: The Book Depository

SUMMARY
New Orleans native Dr. Maggie Dillon thought she left her past behind her - until she's enraptured by a handsome patient who has been possessed by a malevolent spirit. To find a cure, Colby revisits her magical roots - and unleashes a primal lust too vital to ignore...

REVIEW
Musician Derek, finds himself on the mental ward of a hospital after being possessed by a ghost on the verge of getting his revenge. In an act of despair he tries to get rid of this ghost who is trying to take over his body in the only way he knows how and that is to take his own life. However, Chief Resident Maggie Dillon is his tending physician and their instant attraction might be the one thing left to safe him.

I had no idea what to expect from this author as this anthology in Nocturnal was the first story I’ve read by her hand, but I was pleasantly surprised by the original and intriguing read. As a firm believer of ghost-possession, this book held an extra suspense factor in the plotline, especially as it was written in the first person. Through Maggie’s eyes you could see the possession take over and I got goose bumps in the process each time it occurred.

It’s quite difficult to get a grip on and feel for the main characters in Anthology stories because they are quite short reads. But for me the way it played out in My Soul To Take, worked well . The connection between the two leading characters was solid and real. Emotions were as well worked-out as can be expected from an Anthology-story. Both characters had a soft side to them, and the dreamy character of a musician mixed well with the practical and down to earth side of a physician, both not Alpha, both not Beta but both a unique addition to each other, just as it often is in real life. It gave it an extra plus for me.

I absolutely adored the fact a Voodoo Priestess from New Orleans, was helping out on the exorcism. The feel of the ritual and how it was set up was amazingly done, in both horrifying and cleansing way.

For me this Anthology is definitely a reason to pick up another book by Clare Willis.

Review Request Julia Rachel Barrett - Exile

2010-11-04T19:19:00.000+01:00

DAUGHTERS OF PERSEPHONE I & II
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing
Available: July 13, 2010
Erotic Fantasy Romance
Purchase at: Resplendence Publishing

Cover Summary:
Aja Bokinan, of noble blood, is the Thousand Year Empress who has grown to adulthood in exile. Throughout the Empire, women are banned from public life, have no legal rights, and have become little better than property.

In an attempt to kill off the royal line and end all resistance, Aja is kidnapped by a General who intends to inject her with a lethal virus, hoping she will infect her family and Women of the Blood everywhere.

Kyr Aram, is a smuggler and secret resistance fighter. He must find a way to protect Aja from both the General and a traitor on his own ship who wishes to see her dead. With the Thousand Year Empress, he gets more than he bargained for.

My Review: EXILE is an introduction to a hierarchy where women inherit the powers. Over the course of time unrest begins to play havoc among the men and some will fight the female leadership till the bitter end, splitting the races up in the Coalition and the Resistance. The Empress and her three daughters have escaped their exile and this is where I meet one of those daughter; Aja and a ship’s captain; Kyr, who is trying to avoid an encounter with the Coalition.

Julia Rachel Barrett plunges the reader in an escape and from there on out it is a constant evading of traitors and enemies. If there is one thing that grabbed my attention it is the compelling set-up of a pre-dominant female hierarchy and the scheming for the freedom of the Empress and her daughters. Throughout the story much information of the race’s history and current situation is conveyed via Aja herself. This provided a natural and accessible way for me to understand what happened in the past, how it affected the here and now, and what dangers their inherent powers present.

This is but the first story in an overarching storyline but in EXILE the thrill of the chase; will they, or won’t they make it to safety created some dire circumstances. The fact that Kyr and Aja needed to get to safety also spiced up the romance, which alternated between endearing and fiery but also had a few bumps in the road. The back story and world building took away pages from the romance which made the chemistry between Aja and Kyr work but the depth of emotion poured out of them by the end wasn’t something I could surrender completely to. If the romance would’ve been given a bit more room or pages it would’ve become all the more credible regarding the trust issues and the sharing of powers.

Aja was the stronger character in EXILE, just as her race intended her to be. She is a Seer, born and bred of the Blood. She knows her duties but it is fueled by an inner compassionate force and she took me in to her culture, which I enjoyed to the fullest. Now Kyr is a born and bred hero, a leader, strong, capable and fierce if need be and his charisma alluring. Aja was flanked by Kyr, who became her consort in every way and together they were a likable couple.

Julia Rachel Barrett’s imagination concocted an intriguing world, a new culture and customs that isn’t intricate but holds everything to make it come alive on the pages. I’m always up for a good battle where I can cheer for my team, live the tension, feel the passion ignite between two people and receive a romantic high at the end, and while I gotten some elements in a better dosage then others this author has just started in this novella series.

With EXILE I received a story that contains an intriguing start to the Daughters Of Persephone series!

ROOB Radar: The cover candy did it!

2010-11-03T10:41:00.001+01:00

I'm a lurker around the net and the first thing that usually gets my attention are the slick looking covers with *shallow me* the man candy on it. Still I have discovered a third series published by Casablanca Soursebooks that has not only captured my attention with a hawt cover, but also the blurb grabs my attention. So first up is the Soulfire series by Stephanie Rowe:

Stephanie Rowe - Kiss At Your Own Risk
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 140224195X
ISBN-13: 978-1402241956
Book #1 in Soulfire series
pre-order @ Book Depository

Cover Summary:
HE NEEDED A KILLER WOMAN…

Blaine Underhill was one lucky man. Having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch, he's determined to save his still-enslaved friend. But in order to do so, he'll need the help of one of the world's most lethal women.
SHE WAS DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, LITERALLY…
Trinity Harpswell is sick and tired of being a Black Widow. Having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she's one short week away from freeing herself from this killer curse forever. When Blaine tracks her down and convinces her to help him, little does Trinity know that the next seven days are going to be murder!

Stephanie Rowe - Touch If You Dare
Soulfire Series, Book #2
Available July 2011

To save their respective siblings, Jarvis Swain and Reina Knight will have to team up to trick Death himself.

Who better than a bad-ass warrior on a mission? Jarvis Swain is the ruthless, confident aggressor Reina knows she needs at her back--someone even she can't screw up. This unlikely darkside duo with impressive deadly superpowers of their own may just prove that two wrongs together can be more than right...

Annette Blair - Vampire dragon
Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Berkley (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425240525
ISBN-13: 978-0425240526
Book #3 in A Works Like Magick series
pre-order at: Book Depository

I'm not finding any blurb yet but can you blame me for wanting to post the cover? Ever since Pearl mentioned this series it has been on my radar...I think I know what I'm going to ask Santa for: Naked Dragon and Bedeviled Angel :) I know Blair has a sense for the humor, combine it with dragons and I just have to find out if she can tickle my humorous side (which authors rarely do) I can cry easier then I can laugh *rolls eyes at self*

Though Jacquelyn Frank has not been on my radar for a long time the man candy on the cover of Seduce Me In Dreams captured my attention, is it me or is he the cover candy of late?

Jacquelyn Frank - Seduce Me In Dreams
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 22, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345517679
ISBN-13: 978-0345517678

Again I can't seem to find a blurb but it seems this is a new series sinds the cover doesn't appear on any of her current series pages of; The Gatherers, The Nightdwellers or The Nightwalkers. With a sub title of; A Three World novel I guess Frank has started another series. Or perhaps a spinn-off? However it turns out, she has turned up on my radar and I'be got another title to watch for 2011. If anyone else has info...just drop a comment, inquisitve minds want to know!!

The only thing that really shocks me right now is that my wishlist for November and December are really scarce of releases I truly want o.0 Anyone has some good releases in those months they truly need to have? please share, my book addiction is in shock of the prospect'that I haven't got anything pre-ordered *eek*

ARC Review: Evangeline Collins - Seven Nights To Forever

2010-11-02T13:36:00.000+01:00

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade; Original edition (November 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425236838
ISBN-13: 978-0425236833
Purchase at: Book Depository

Cover Summary:
She offered him one week of pleasure. No more and no less...

Some sacrifices are more difficult than others. Left destitute after her father's death, Rose Marlowe has debts to settle and a younger brother to support. But she also possesses an unmatched beauty-one that could command quite a price...

Now, every month, Rose secretly travels from her country home to spend one week at a decadent London brothel, where she's become a sought-after prize. Elegant and accomplished in the art of pleasure, she spends her nights fulfilling the fantasies of the gentlemen of the ton while denying the wish buried deep in her heart.

Then one night a wealthy merchant gentleman walks through her door. Handsome, kind and compassionate, with a lonely soul that matches her own, James Archer is not her usual client. Falling in love with a client, never mind a married one, is unthinkable. Yet Rose can't help but lose herself in his arms as one night becomes seven-and seven nights lead to a chance at forever...

My Review: James is stuck in an arranged marriage, void of love, compassion or even amiability. His hard working attitude hides a very lonely man and the only thing that makes this marriage worthwhile is his wife’s promise to introduce his sister to the bon ton of London during the season. Still, after three long years of being honorable it turns a man starved for a bit of affection and kindness. James promises himself one night with a woman who does not loathe the sight of him and that choice brings him knocking on the door of Rose. Two lonely people meet and feel a magnetic pull neither of them expected.

With SEVEN NIGHTS TO FOREVER, Evangeline Collins delivers a heartwarming historical romance of a man trapped in a loveless marriage and unexpectedly finds a connection to another woman. Even though arranged marriages are very common in the time period of the story and even affairs for both women and men are conventional it is James who made the difference. For all intends and purposes he wanted to abide by his vow but his wife is a self absorbed nightmare of a woman. James might be emotion starved but that doesn’t mean he isn’t struggling with his actions of obtaining some kindness. I found it very easy to sympathize with James, he is a good man, works hard, cares for his family and treats people with respect. To opposite such a man to a dragon of a woman who is haughty, selfish and cold is perhaps an easy way to gain my support for James but it evoked the response nonetheless. Amelia as his wife is one of the reasons I could understand and accept James’ infidelity. A person can only take so much when deprived of even the barest hint of affection and the time period also gave leeway to such a story angle.

James is a character who was all around likable but Rose is right there with him. She’s taken care of her younger brother from the moment her father died and in those days there were very few options open to Rose. She chooses to become a high-priced courtesan for seven nights each month and so the opportunity rises for James and Rose to meet. Rose is everything Amelia is not, she loves the country, she’s kind, compassionate, is even willful at times and makes understandable choices. From the moment James is introduced to Rose there is plenty of tension between then. I would almost call it a refined eroticism, the passion is sizzling hot and frequent but the poignant way it is written curbs the act of sex play and adds the emotional depth to it. It is not only the erotic tension but also their emotional needs that resonate with each other and form a fragile bond of feelings and trust.

The challenges that lay ahead of them mainly revolved around their developing romance that could go no further due to James’ marriage. The problems give appropriate resistance delivering some inner struggles and emotion wrought scenes yet it weren’t insurmountable odds to overcome as the solution proved that. James and Rose need to make decisions and for them to come to certain conclusions was interesting to witness. The romance was moving and the sincerity of the characters made me care all the more about the outcome of it all.

Evangeline Collins manages to write a wonderful historical romance with just a handful of characters where the focus lies on the love, sensuality and interaction. If there is one secondary character, next to Amelia and Rebecca, who intrigued me to no end then it was the male prostitute, Timothy. With only a few scenes and some insightful comments coming from Timothy he becomes a colorful character who triggers my curiosity. His situation, as a male BDSM prostitute, begs for the unraveling of his back story though I wonder if this author would go there.

SEVEN NIGHTS TO FOREVER is a nice blend of a heart rendering romance, sensuality, sincere characters and easy flowing writing skills.

Quote James struggling with Rose’s profession:
“I…” A furrow tightened his brow, his voice dropping to a grave rumble. “It’s hard sometimes knowing I won’t ever be your first anything. But I won’t let it come between us anymore. You have my word.”

Quote:
How she wished he could have been her first everything. The first man who touched her, kissed her, made love to her. Her first and only. But none of that mattered. None had even come close to leaving a mark on her heart. “You’re the first man I have ever wanted to be with,” she confessed. The tight line of his mouth softened. The gravity left his eyes, the green depths warming with an emotion she should not date give name to. “Thank you,” he whispered, almost awed, as though she presented him with the rarest of treasures.

ARC Review: Nalini Singh - Play Of Passion

2010-11-01T13:14:00.002+01:00

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (November 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425237796
ISBN-13: 978-0425237793
Book #12 in Psy/Changeling series
Purchase at: Book Depository

Cover Summary:
In his position as tracker for the SnowDancer pack, it’s up to Drew Kincaid to rein in rogue changelings who have lost control of their animal halves—even if it means killing those who have gone too far. But nothing in his life has prepared him for the battle he must now wage to win the heart of a woman who makes his body ignite…and who threatens to enslave his wolf.

Lieutenant Indigo Riviere doesn’t easily allow skin privileges, especially of the sensual kind—and the last person she expects to find herself craving is the most wickedly playful male in the den. Everything she knows tells her to pull back before the flames burn them both to ash…but she hasn’t counted on Drew’s will.

Now, two of SnowDancer’s most stubborn wolves find themselves playing a hot, sexy game even as lethal danger stalks the very place they call home…

My Review - Note: Since this is book twelve you really need to be invested in the Psy/Changeling series to understand the underlying currents with the characters and to see the complete picture. I’m not saying you can't read PLAY OF PASSION as a standalone but as always with a series the reading experience can be so much more rewarding if you’ve read the previous novels.

PLAY OF PASSION is an intense romance alive with fierce possessiveness, wolf pride and mischievous play. This Psy/Changeling story is all about the romance and has a minor but nonetheless important part for the continuance of the overall plot arc. The pace of the story took a notch down with lots of time to meet new and old members of the SnowRiver pack. It gave me a sense of the interconnected relationships, the structure and rules, and it allowed me to feel the bond they share. The banter going back and forth only emphasized on how deeply connected each member of the pack is, from the youngest to the Alpha leader Hawke. It didn’t take long for me to be absorbed by the SnowRiver pack dynamic and the courtship unfolding.

Drew and Indigo have a great combustive energy together. The dominance issues cause for both internal as external struggles that Indigo and Drew have to deal with. Though it isn’t easy on either of them I loved the fact how the SnowRiver pack participates in the courtship of Drew and indigo. Nobody ever said it was easy to become the mate of a SnowRiver lieutenant but Drew is up to the challenge and has plenty of determination to see it happen. Even though Indigo’s wolf has doubts whether the four year younger Drew with an obscure rank can handle all of her. It is their clash of dominance, their erotic synergy, their playful dalliance that created situations which got me from smiling, to laughing and fanning myself a time or two too.

Drew is the Hunter of the pack but where he truly stands in the hierarchy remains a mystery. It is a very steep problems for Indigo to deal with but Drew has some tricks up his sleeve that will get any woman weak in the knees. Some stunts he pulls to prove himself worthy are unadulterated romance yet other stunts backfire, giving him a lesson in what it means to court a dominant she-wolf. Still, Drew is more than cheeky mischief and a charmer, his love runs soul deep and he is giving his all and then some to mate with the woman who claimed him long ago. To see him romance Indigo made him another cherished character within the Psy/Changeling cast.

Indigo, as a SnowRiver luitenant, doesn’t have many males higher up the food chain. To feel an attraction for a younger male with an unknown rank screams trouble for her. Still, she is a woman who is strong, can handle just about anything you throw at her but there is also compassion, combined with the fiery love and loyalty that burns in her heart. She has a few lessons to learn and she becomes a worthy heroine in her successions and her failures.

The interaction between Indigo and Drew is rife with everything they feel. There is playful banter, all-out wolf-to-wolf collisions of dominance and sexy bed-play. The beautiful setting of the woods gave room for their wolf to stretch and let Indigo and Drew connect on that level too. The vibrance of how they experience life, love, sadness, their animal side which is such an integral part of their being, it made their personalities leap of the pages. Their distinctive personalities spiced up the attraction, it fueled the sensuality between them but also the need for a deeper love to finally take those first careful steps to a bond as mates.

As the warmth and the familiarity of the characters and pack enveloped me there were also threats clouding the horizon giving a suspenseful edge to the story. The plot may have a supportive role in this Psy/Changeling episode but it imbues the romance with a mystery to unravel that threatens the pack. There are no big revelations in this story but the small twists and turns are intriguing, it deepens the awareness something cataclysmic is going to happen only from where, who or what is still very much in the grey. Of course I have suspicions like anyone else up to par with this series. Clues are given but Nalini Singh really keeps the reader guessing and ultimately gave a surprise in the ending.

PLAY OF PASSION is a fantastic return to the SnowRiver pack where you’ll meet changelings who are fierce, loyal and lethal yet also love with an unrelenting force that will make anyone take risks to be on the receiving end of that love. Nalini Singh is a constant in her delivery of a ‘sweep-off-your-feet’ shape shifter romance which will engage the reader from first till last word! Be prepared to succumb to Drew and Indigo’s story!

Happy Halloween 2010!!!!

2010-10-31T10:03:00.002+01:00

Ofcourse as it's halloween, there is a lot of information going around on 'the net' at the moment. We at Realms wanted to wish you all a Spooky Halloween and Happy Trick or Treating, don't get too sugar-rushed!!!

To add some wickedness to the mix, here are some fun facts about HALLOWEEN:

* Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

* Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

* If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.

* Could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't going as ghosts but as mattresses?

* One Halloween a trick-or-treater came to my door dressed as "Rocky" in boxing gloves and satin shorts. Soon after I gave him some goodies, he returned for more. "Aren't you the same 'Rocky' who left my doorstep several minutes ago?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied, "but now I'm Rocky II."

* The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were shipped.

* An intense and persistent fear of Halloween is called Samhnainophobia Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

* According to Irish legend, Jack O’Lanterns are named after a stingy man named Jack who, because he tricked the devil several times, was forbidden entrance into both heaven and hell. He was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.

* Trick-or-treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to placate spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.

* “Halloween” is short for “Hallows’ Eve” or “Hallows’ Evening,” which was the evening before All Hallows’ (sanctified or holy) Day or Hallowmas on November 1. In an effort to convert pagans, the Christian church decided that Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) should assimilate sacred pagan holidays that fell on or around October 31.

* Black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black is typically a symbol of death and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.

* Halloween originated in Ireland over 2,000 years ago Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.

* Scottish girls believed they could see images of their future husband if they hung wet sheets in front of the fire on Halloween. Other girls believed they would see their boyfriend’s faces if they looked into mirrors while walking downstairs at midnight on Halloween.

* According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes inside out and then walks backwards on Halloween, he or she will see a witch at midnight.

* Dressing up as ghouls and other spooks originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of townspeople disguising themselves as demons and spirits. The Celts believed that disguising themselves this way would allow them to escape the notice of the real spirits wandering the streets during Samhain.

Top 10 Signs You Are Too Old to Be Trick or Treating

10. You get winded from knocking on the door.

9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you.

8. You ask for high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say, "Great Keith Richards mask!" and you're not wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, "Trick or..." and can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

1. You avoid going to houses where your ex-wives live.

To end this post in honoring Halloween a poem by Harry Behn:

Tonight is the night, when dead leaves fly

Like witches on switches across the sky,

When elf and sprite, flit through the night

On a moony sheen.

Tonight is the night when leaves make a sound

Like a gnome in his home under the ground,

When spooks and trolls creep out of holes

Mossy and green.

Tonight is the night when pumpkins stare

Through sheaves and leaves everywhere,

When ghouls and ghost

And goblin host

Dance round their queen.

It's Halloween.

~ ********** ~

What are you planning for today and/or what is your funny scariest moment in life????

You can find me back at my personal blog:
Natascha's Place or
Twitter-account: Natascha_ROOB

Happy Abs Day: Simple edition

2010-10-29T11:53:00.001+02:00

I was thinking of doing a Halloween themed Happy Abs Day today but because I couldn't find the pictures I had in mind and since I don't have the time or energy to spend a whole lot of time searching further, I'm falling back on something I've had in my HAD-files for a while...just a picture that had me salivating when I came across it and I feel the need to share.

HAVE A HAPPY ABS DAY!

On The ROOB Radar

2010-10-27T11:30:00.002+02:00

These November releases caught my eye and are on top of my wish/buylist...

Twelve Wicked Nights by
Nadia Aidan
Standalone

Genre: Erotic Romance

Releasedate: 2 November 2010
Publisher: NAL Trade

ISBN-10: 0451231317
ISBN-13: 978-0451231314

Website: Nadia Aidan

Blurb:

This season, the only gift attorney Isabella Andreu wants to unwrap is Navy SEAL Justin Rourke. And boy, is she about to get her wish.

Twelve Wicked Nights begins when a blizzard traps Isabella in the home of her sexy childhood friend…and a steamy game of strip Scrabble lays bare some long-suppressed desires. Justin, it seems, has talents beyond killing. Hot, sensual talents. But when a phone call lets them know that they only have 12 days before his next mission, things get even more interesting. Determined to make the most of their time together, they draw up a list of fantasies so naughty, it pushes all their buttons and leads to something wholly unexpected….

When Harry Met Molly by
Kieran Kramer
Impossible Bachelors Series
Book 1 of 4

Genre: Historical Romance

Releasedate: 2 November 2010
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

ISBN-10: 0312611641
ISBN-13: 978-0312611644

Website: Kieran Kramer

Blurb:

He’s always been a player.
Dashing Lord Harry Traemore is perfectly content to live out his days in the pursuit of pleasure. But when he’s named by the Prince Regent as one of society’s “Impossible Bachelors,” Harry is drafted into a ribald romantic wager. The rules of engagement are scandalously simple: The bachelor whose mistress wins the title of “Most Delectable Companion” gets to remain unmarried. Harry is utterly unconcerned about his status…until his latest lightskirt abandons him.

Who will win this game of love?
Lady Molly Fairbanks. Harry’s childhood friend—actually, “foe” is more like it—is the most unlikely companion of all. She’s attractive but hot-headed, and in no mood for games. Besides, what could the self-indulgent Harry possibly know about what makes a woman delectable? It’s time for Molly to teach him a lesson once and for all…but will it lead to “happily ever after?”

The Pursuit of Pleasure by
Elizabeth Essex

Genre: Historical Romance

Releasedate: 30 November 2010
Publisher: Kensington Publishing

ISBN-13: 9780758251541
ISBN: 0758251548

Blurb:

“I do say I’ll never marry, but I have always wanted to be a widow.”

Marriage is Lizzie’s only hope of escaping her overbearing father. The problem is, it would only place her under the thumb of another man. Widowhood—or a marriage without the man—would be ideal.

When Naval Captain James Marlowe overhears Lizzie’s declaration, he pounces, offering to wed her before he sets sail for an uncertain future. For Lizzie, it’s the perfect solution, but as Elizabeth Essex’s The Pursuit of Pleasure unfolds, their marriage of convenience soon proves more complicated than she imagined. There’s more to Marlowe’s offer than meets the eye. And the intense desires he awakens in her notwithstanding, can she truly trust the man she married?

Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here by
Christine Warren
Book 10
Novels of the Others Series

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Releasedate: 2 November 2010
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

ISBN-10: 0312947941
ISBN-13: 978-0312947941

Website: Christine Warren

Blurb:

Danice Carter wakes up naked and confused. She can't figure out how she got into bed with a man she's never met, because there is no way she would forget meeting McIntyre Callahan. The man is everything she's ever fantasized about, a mind-bendingly mouth-watering hunk...who is just as puzzled about what's going on as she is.

When they discover the explanation involves a fugitive from Faerie, some very tricky magic, and a theoretical hotel room, things start to get a little weird. Good thing the attraction between Danice and Mac makes all the sense in the world.

Arc Review: Donna Alward - Proud Rancher, Precious Bundle

2010-10-25T10:11:00.002+02:00

Paperback: 187 pages
Stand-alone (it is the second story in the book)
Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Mills & Boons
ISBN: 978 0 263 88834 8
Release date: October 2010
Main characters : Wyatt Black & Elli Marchuk
Paperback copy received for review
Purchase at: The Book Depository Store

Summary:

The cowboy…

After a hard day’s ranching, Wyatt Black wants to kick back with a cold beer. But when he steps onto his porch he has unexpected company – his tiny abandoned baby niece!

His doorstep baby…

Against her better judgment, his neighbour Elli Marchuk agrees to help Wyatt for a few days.

And the girl next door!

Elli soon falls in love with baby Darcy, but it’s her grouchy, gorgeous protector who’s got her head over heels….

My review:

Wyatt Black has no clue what to do when he finds his baby niece Darcy abandoned on his porch. He is a rancher and knows nothing about babies. Fortunately his neighbor Elli Marchuk is willing to help him with baby Darcy till he has figured out what is going on here. Wyatt and Elli fall in love with baby Darcy and she is their number one priority till Darcy’s mum returns. They feel attracted to one another but both carry a lot of emotional luggage and this stands between them.

To be honest, I had low expectations when I started this story. Why? Because it is only 187 pages long or perhaps better said short. Me and short stories are usually not a good combination, I almost always miss a certain depth in the characters or plotline and it usually feels rushed. But Donna Alward pleasantly surprised me with Proud Rancher, Precious Bundle. It is a beautiful, even-paced, emotional and solid read about two people who try to heal themselves and leave their past behind.

The story works for me because it is not rushed. The whole story takes place in approximately 2 – 3 weeks; it is even-paced and only deals with the relationship of Wyatt and Elli. So no complex plotlines or lots of characters, just a classic love story between two people. Because the storyline is pretty straightforward the strength of this story lies in the character development of Elli and Wyatt. Both are strong, likeable and totally caught in the maelstrom of emotions that baby Darcy brings along.

Wyatt is a rancher, handsome, strong, and a bit blunt sometimes but also gentle, caring and responsible. He had a lousy childhood; his father drank and beat him and he took care of his mom instead of the other way around. To compensate his father’s absence and lack of responsibility he always felt the need to fix things or people and still does. He tries very hard not to be like his father, but his parents’ marriage has scarred him. Having Darcy in the house makes him realize he is nothing like his father and that he is worthy of a family.

Elli is a strong and caring woman who lost her baby; on top of that she has lost her job and got divorced. Now she tries to pick up the pieces of her life and tries to figure out what to do with it. The last thing she needs is to fall head over heels again for a rancher and take care of a baby. But taking care of Darcy is forcing her to face her grief and start living again instead of hiding from the world. And while spending time with Darcy and Wyatt she discovers what she really wants out of a relationship.

I was really rooting for Elli and Wyatt, I so wanted them to be happy and have their HEA. Thanks to Darcy they both had to scrutinize their lives, they helped each other to fathom things about themselves so that they can move on with their life. At the end of the story both have a better understanding of themselves, making them well-rounded characters. Elli and Wyatt’s conversations are vivid and some were very recognizable, making the story only more real. Do not expect steamy love scenes, there aren’t any and I did not miss them. This story does not need it for it is packed with real-life emotions.

With this story I now have Donna Alward on my radar. Proud Rancher, Precious Bundle is a powerful, emotional and classic love story. It kept me captive and rooting for Elli and Wyatt to the last page. It is feel-good romance at its best and I loved it!

On The ROOB Radar: November 2010

2010-10-21T13:00:00.006+02:00

Today my ROOB Radar post is a collection of ebooks and print books coming this November, which are on my buy/wish-list.

UNDENIABLY YOURS by Shannon Stacey
Release: 2010, November 1 (ebook)
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Kowalski Family, book 2
Website

Summary:
One-night stand + two percent condom failure rate = happily ever after?

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but lately he’s more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. If only their first meeting hadn’t gone so badly…

Beth’s tending bar at a wedding when she comes face to face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she’d see again. She tries to keep her distance from Kevin but, by last call, she can’t say no to his too-blue eyes or the invitation back to his room. Then she slips out before breakfast without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant.

Kevin quickly warms to the idea of being a dad and to seeing where things go with Beth. After all, he’s not the player she thinks he is. But she’s not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it’s going to take a lot to convince her to go on a second date with the father of her child…

BREATHE by Donna Alward
Release: 2010, November 2 (ebook)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Stand Alone
Website

Summary:
The first time they broke each others’ hearts. Now they have a second chance…

Doing what was expected didn’t get Anna Morelli anything but a bad marriage. Now that her life has fallen apart there’s only one place she can think of to regroup and figure out what comes next. Two Willows, the winery owned by the only man she could ever rely on. Her oldest friend. And her worst mistake.

Growing up as the poor boy didn’t stop Jace Willow from falling for Anna one hot, sultry summer. Back then, his best efforts to prove himself worthy of the Morelli standard fell just short. While it killed him to see her marry someone else, he made beating the Morellis at their own game his life’s work. And he’s excelled at it.

When Anna shows up on his doorstep, their painful history pales in the face of her need for a roof over her children’s heads—and some peace. The heat of their renewed passion is healing, but it burns away layers of hard-won emotional distance, reopening old wounds. Threatening their one last chance to rebuild their love on the shattered pieces of their broken hearts…

LIPSTICK ON HIS COLLAR by Inez Kelley
Release: 2010, November 23 (ebook)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Stand Alone
Website

Summary:
He never thought his next wildfire would be wearing a red dress.

“Make me your goddess and I’ll take you to heaven.”

This sultry promise sparks a scorching, unforgettable one-night stand. The next morning Bram Winters awakes with a hickey and a head full of wicked memories—alone. His nameless goddess is gone without a trace, along with his shirt. And his heart.

Five months later, he stumbles across his mystery lady in a Laundromat, but she still won’t give up her name. Worse, she begs him to leave, no questions asked. Once he catches the spark of terror in her eyes, though, his firefighter training takes over—and he digs in for the duration.

Lady never wanted Bram to see her life’s ugly underside, but it’s too late—his socks are already in the washer. He was supposed to be her declaration of independence from her unstable ex, a bittersweet memory to carry into her new life.

Except the ex continues to stalks her. And Bram’s reappearance sends her emotions and desires tumbling over the edge. As the minutes wear on, sexual tension rises faster than the steam from a hot water wash.

And Lady’s ex watches from the shadows, growing more furious by the minute…

Warning: Scorching sex, icy scissor play and an anonymous woman taking a wet slide down one hot ex-fireman’s pole. Beware of hot flashes and spontaneous combustion. Correct change not required.

PROMISES IN THE DARK by Stephanie Tyler
Release: 2010, November 23 (print)
Publisher: Dell Books
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Shadow Forces, book 2
Website

Summary:
On the run, in each other’s arms, with one last chance to survive.
A rugged Navy SEAL, Zane Scott was part of a failed mission to rescue Dr. Olivia Strohm from abduction by the terrorist group Dead Man’s Hand (DMH)—and her anguished screams have haunted him ever since. So when he gets word that the beautiful physician has escaped from her captors in Africa, he’s got personal reasons to storm the continent and save her.

Like her would-be liberator, Olivia carries the burden of a dark secret from her past. Ruthless and relentless, the DMH has threatened to hunt her down – and to systematically hurt anyone she’s close to. The last thing she wants is to be rescued—even by someone as shockingly handsome as Zane. Yet the hot-headed special ops hero has come for her, and together she and Zane just might have a shot at not only stopping DMH’s reign of terror, but also saving what’s left of their souls.

CAPTIVE SPIRIT by Anna Windsor
Release: 2010, November 23
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Dark Crescent Sisterhood, book 4
(pre-)Order here (Anna Windsor's website is not functioning so I don't have a link to her website)

Summary:
The night holds endless pleasures . . . and hides nameless terrors.

Bela Argos has suffered too many losses to count, and she's determined to keep her new fighting group safe. Manhattan is under siege by a new and deadly pride of demons, and she'll do whatever it takes to defeat the evil band of murderers and protect her new family--even kill the sexy, wounded police officer she's hiding in her basement.

Duncan Sharp never believed in the supernatural. A war veteran with many years of service in the NYPD, he prefers to solve his problems with badge, cuffs, and bullets. When he wakes to find himself hostage to a gorgeous bunch of women in leather--women who command earth, air, fire, and water--he doesn't know what to think, and when Bela's around, thinking is damned hard, anyway. Never mind the supernatural infection threatening to end his life and turn him into a creature he can't begin to imagine.

The demons are coming, and they're coming for Bela and Duncan. To save each other and everything they value, they just might have to sacrifice everything.

NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL by Susan Donovan
Release: 2010, November 30
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
San Francisco Dog-Walking Group, book 3
Website

Summary:
Roxanne Bloom is through with love. Fresh on the heels of a bad break-up, she’s decided to devote all her time to her man-slamming website—and her man-hating dog, Lilith. But this pit-bull-Boxer is so good at unleashing her fury (and her owner’s) that the male victims keep piling up…and now it’s time to get some sensitivity training. Enter Eli Gallagher, one of the best—and hottest—canine experts in town.

The more Eli gets to know Roxie, the more he senses that she’s been hurt by men in the past—just like her dog. With a little gentle prodding, and a whole lot of patience, Eli hopes to gain Roxie’s trust and soothe her broken heart. Eli can see that Roxie’s bark is way worse than her bite. But she’s not putting her guard down just yet—even if she is falling deeply, madly, doggedly in love with him...

RR Review: Alexandra Sokoloff - Book of Shadows

2010-10-20T15:30:00.001+02:00

Hardback 312 pages - Stand Alone - Paranormal Suspense
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
ISBN-10: 0-312-38471-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38471-5
Release date: June 8, 2010
Main Characters: Adam Garrett & Tanish Cabarrus
HC copy received for reviewing
Purchase at: The Book Depository Store

SUMMARY
The discovery in a landfill of the mutilated corpse of Erin Carmody, the 18-year-old daughter of a prominent Boston businessman, presents homicide detective Adam Garrett with a particularly sensitive case. Marks on the body suggest the killer was conducting Satanic rituals. When Adam and his partner, Carl Landauer, question the prime suspect, Jason Moncrief, a college friend of Erin's, Jason chants the name of the demon Choronzon, then assaults Carl. Despite what appears to be an open-and-shut case, Adam can't discount the claim that Jason is innocent made by Tanith Cabarrus, an attractive witch who comes to police headquarters to report that she dreamed of other murders—and who believes that supernatural forces are behind the slaughter.

REVIEW
Fact meets fiction in this enticingly thrilling story. This turned out such a well written story with an exquisite eye for detail, where Alexandra Sokoloff takes the reader into the crime scene and murder investigation after a body has turned up headless and handless at a city landfill. It captivated me from the first written word and didn’t let go, not even after I had read the final page and closed the book.

It showed a great background research in the paranormal plot and murder scene investigation, keeping it so close to the real deal. As I am quite familiar with the paranormal workings, the suspense factor of the major plotline on who the perpetrator was all the more thrilling that it might have been to others. However even for none-believers the built up of the storylines are fantastic and it is definitely a page turner till the end.

Adam Garrett- with his black irish eyes and hair and temper, hard-muscled, impatient, edgy;
is not a strictly go by the rule cop but likes to keep his feet firmly down-to-earth and grounded. However when a girl turns up at his desk, claiming a few weeks ago she dreamed about the murder he is currently investigating, and that they had the wrong boy in custody, he quickly finds himself needing to deal with the paranormal, and though he is just not a believer he seems to be attracted towards believing her and seeking her advice. He has to set his mind open to the – up to them for him impossible – and finds that this case would change his outlook on life as a whole new world seems to open up with a range of possible suspects.

Tanith Cabarrus - a witch who dreamed gruesome things and trying her best to get her voice heard within the police department, finally might be able to get a foot in. Mysterious and otherworldly tuned, she attracts the attention of Adam Garrett, hoping she could get through to him while doing her utmost to solve the murder case and freeing the person she knows was not involved in this murder.

Carl Landauer - chain-smoking, whisky-drinking, donut-eating, a living, breathing amalgam of every cop cliché known to man: middle-aged spread, broad sweating face, and bawdy, cynical humor - a lifer who used the caricature as a disguise. You just got to love him, he is Adam’s partner and has a smaller part to this story as the plotlines are following more Adam’s life but Land is the solid cop with humorous remarks taking the edge off the edgy in this story.

Quote upon finding certain satanic marks on the body of the murder victim:
“What the fuck is that? The Devil Lite? Satan can't count?"

For those who expect romantic suspense, there is no undying romantic love, but a fast-paced passionate and sensual fling between two human beings. Very raw and basic but complementing the overall story-arc. I admire Ms. Sokoloff for keeping it on that level, because the built up of plotlines and characters didn’t require anything more than what was given away.

Because the story-built and everything going on in between the written lines was so intense, this was not a light read. When reading a novel like this, that took hold of me and grabbed me so that it kept my mind busy outside reading hours as well, it classifies as a prime-read on my shelves, and one that most definitely will be re-read in the future.

There is a rawness in the satanic side of the paranormal way of living, making the evil in this novel very evil. Up unto the very last scene question marks on who was the villain invoking these energies was unrevealed, and the climactic ending tied all the loose ends together making it a tight fit.

This is my first book by Alexandra Sokoloff but definitely not the last!!!

Happy Abs Day: Hello Joe Manganiello!

2010-10-15T10:52:00.000+02:00

I am the only one of the ROOB gals who watches True Blood, at first I watched the show out of curiosity, one look at silent, brooding, mysterious Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and I was hooked, duhhh no Bill fan here, Eric the Viking vampire has me glued to my flat screen every Monday night 8:30 pm.

So for the first two seasons of True Blood Eric had my full attention but I already heard through the grapevine (Twitter friends) that he has some stiff competition in season 3 from shapeshifter Alcide (Joe Manganiello). But as always here in The Netherlands we are behind and season 3 only started two weeks ago, so I really did not get the excitement about Joe. Then in episode 2 of season 3 shapeshifter Alcide saunters up to Sookie’s porch… Well hello Joe!! So nice to finally meet you and yes you have my full attention now, woohooo can I have a larger flat screen??? Look at those abs, sheer perfection!

So here some pics of Joe to kick off the weekend!

Happy Abs Day!

Par-Tay time: ROOB celebrates its 4th anniversary!

2010-10-14T13:59:00.002+02:00

October 14…. A day for most which will go by with no real meaning other than being a regular day in the year but for us at Realms it holds a bit more than that. Why? I hear you ask…. I’ll tell. Once my sister had an idea, her and me with a passion for reading books had of course our chats and fun discussing the books, but as my sister got into the book-anatics-thing on the internet an idea came to fruition, why not start a website with forum, discussing the one thing we love most. She discussed it with me and had one problem, she was not really into the technical side of making a website, tadada it was like the universe combined our ‘powers’ as I was a bit home in website-building, at that point I had worked on the administration of a web-design company for two years doing odd bits and pieces on websites and getting to know the technical inns and outs. Of course we both got excited and henceforth Realms On Our Bookshelves came to be a daily term in our phone-conversations. Through this we came to know many great people of whom Marissa and Pearl became dear friends of us.

Early this year, the totality of building the website we had going grew a bit over our head. Our lives changed and as so many great authors got to our attention the website building was no longer a one girl job. The internet-community changed as well, instead of website/forum, blogging became the HOT thing and after discussing this over with Marissa and Pearl (whom beside our friends were steadfast reviewers of ROOB) we decided to change format and make it the four-ROOB-girl thing we have going today.

Throughout the past four years of knowing each other on the digi-world and outside that in real life we came to know us four as:

Leontine is wickedly fun, loyal, a bit of a scatterbrain and somewhat of a drama queen
Marissa, caring, chaotic, historical lover of the first order, smart but with her bridget jones moments (which is hilarious for us) and we came to know her as a musical encyclopedia
Natascha tends to be a bit of a wallflower, tell-it-like-it-is attitude but with a very big heart, creative, funny and has a passion for writing
Pearl is a busy-bee, talkative: always open for a chat about everything, sweet and caring

To add some spice to the post here are some great anecdotes from our time together:

Leontine – Staphorst meets the ROOB posse
Marissa- Triple A’s sexy alpha male to the rescue

Is it four years already?? Time flies when you have fun…

Ok today we talk about some of the funny things that happened to the ROOB gals over the years, there are really too many Bridget Jones moments to pen them all down here. We all know each other through the Internet, but I can remember the very first time I met Leontine in the flesh. I was picking her up for a bookfair in Rotterdam, she opened her door and the very first thing she said to me was: “Hi, you look so different than I thought you would.” “Well hello to you too Leontine!” After that we chatted about everything and nothing like we have known each other for years and that has never changed. The whole Staphorst affair and the word “sophistication” still make me smile when I think back of the memorable coffee-stop we made in that little town, but I picked another story to tell. So here it goes and you are forewarned, I am not a good storyteller.

We had a date with some other booklovers to have a nice afternoon/evening of book- and girl talk, the meeting took place in Zeeland and that is about an hour away from my place. My loving partner was not happy about it because I was very pregnant with our daughter and he knew that those meetings always ended in the middle of the night. But I really wanted to go and so Leontine and her sister Natascha picked me up, Pearl had other obligations and couldn’t make it, but we still had fun and spent a great afternoon and evening chatting and laughing. And so it was very late when we said our goodbyes and got to the car. Driving home, still chatting about books and stuff I can still hear Natascha say: “I think we have a flat tire…” And yes there we stood in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire, so we called for assistance and we waited. It was a very cold December night and we waited behind the crash barrier for the sexy alpha male who would come to change the tire. Well, we hoped he would be sexy… So here we were in the middle of nowhere and someone really needed to pee. No, it was not me, the very pregnant one with huge belly, but Leontine! She needed to pee so badly that she could not wait any longer. She just sat down in the grass, mooning her behind for everyone at the highway and took a pee. Her butt must have been frozen for it was very cold that night but at least she felt better LOL. We of course could not stop laughing and then our rescuer arrived, the man of our dreams, the sexy alpha male who would sweep us of our feet with his dazzling smile and capable hands… Well, the sexy alpha male turned out to be a balding man with the sex appeal of a mitten but his hands were very capable, before we knew it the car was fixed and we were on our way again. It was very late when I finally saw my bed that night and I went to sleep with a big grin on my face.

What else to say, except that I hope that ROOB will be around for many more years and that I cherish my friendship (on the Internet and IRL) with Leontine, Pearl & Natascha. #raising my glass# To many more laughs, book & girl talk and embarrassing moments! Love you gals!

XOXO
Marissa

Once upon a time we: Pearl, Marissa and I were going to Natascha for an overall meeting and to celebrate her 30th birthday. Because Natascha lives about a 3 hour drive away from the rest Marissa was all over the music selection for the road trip. Truly, she has an inner DJ for information about songs, bands and trivia information about them. She was in to the songs that were so wrong they actually sounded right, some of her playlist:

Right Said Fred – I’m too sexy
Boney M – Rivers of Babylon
Matthias Reim – Verdamt ich lieb dich
Marianne Rosenberg – Ich bin wie Du
Opus – Life is Life
Roberto Jacketti & the scooters – I save the day
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers – Islands in the stream
Sabrina – Boys, boys, boys

As much was from the 70’s and 80’s the nostalgia was coursing through our veins, the clothes, teen-age years, the make-up, nothing was left unspoken as three very, but then really very “off key” voices were singing along. Or I could say, two voices were singing along and I was mumbling and extremely happy when I could sing along with the chorus of each song….my mind actually went blank with a few songs *eek*.

The car was eating away the miles and the music was jamming and it was halfway that we decided to take a break and go for coffee. Now what I’m about to tell next is told with all due respect for each and every religion! In the Netherlands we have our Sin Cities, really….love ‘em, hate ‘em, but you can’t go around them. To balance it we have a few villages in our country that have their own way of exercising their believes and are very…very…truly very strict in upholding the rules as stated within those beliefs. It is in such a town called “Staphorst” that we stopped for coffee, at first we didn’t even realize it but then we thought Staphorst bells started to go off big time. Full of giggles we entered an establishment where we were confronted with a crowd of grandpa’s and grandma’s. We sat down at a table and ordered our food and drinks. Up to then everything was under control and we were showing our best behavior! But this came crashing down so fast as we started to talk about books and books and…well erotic romance. I should’ve taken an example to Marissa and Pearl and censure my language but what can I say, I was excited, the passion for the topic evident in my voice and I had a few things to say. I think I can safely say that the three of us won’t be visiting that town any day soon because the people lunching and drinking their coffee definitely gave me the evil eye a few times while Marissa said: Sophistication Leo, where’s the sophistication??” Uhm, well... probably lost it along the way I guess LOL. If it got lost along the way then it evaporated as we got to the topic of anal behavior…this is in the context of compulsory behavior! That we all have got that one straight *wink* Pearl has got this about reading orders, she has to read books in order of release date and it doesn’t matter whether it is part of a series, trilogies or novels. Now I have got this myself and probably Marissa and Natascha, and a whole lot of readers with us about series. Reading the series and trilogies in chronically correct order so you can experience the full impact of the overall story. Pearl just takes it a step further and it is a unique quirk to her nature *we still love you Pearl!*. From this we got to Lora Leigh and her Breed series….do I need to say more. Breeds, Staphorst, and three women who just discovered these awesome erotica novels. Add my attitude to the mix and as I’ve said, Staphorst was more than relieved to see me go LOL

Of course we arrived at Ashleagh’s house full of smiles and giggles and had a blast!

After four years of sharing the love with each other for books and sharing an incredible friendship I can’t believe how much we changed since our tentative first steps in reading English books. Our yellow road brought us to Blogger, Twitter, Goodreads and Facebook. ROOB the website changed along with it. It allowed us to read and review fantastic authors but most of all those get-together’s as friends will be cherished the most. I toast to Natascha, Marissa and Pearl; girls, may we have many more anecdotes to tell once we reach our senior citizen years and our friendship still goes strong. To all those who we’ve come to know online, we love to share the passion for the romance genre and you’ve all made it a blast! Thank you!!!

Of course we had many more moments together but let’s not bring out the most spicy details just yet… But do not be too disappointed… we have a great contest for you in store:

Giveaway: To share in our love for the romance we would like to give one commenter a choice in book up to € 6.50 (six and a half euro's) and to where Book Depository Store ships! Winner will be announced on October 18th.

Enjoy our anniversary week ;-) We have Lora Leigh with a one on one interview with Leontine and Donna Grant over who gives her 411 on her MacLeod highlanders & still ongoing giveaways!

Warm wishes and happy readings,

Leontine, Marissa, Natascha & (from the sick-bay) Pearl

On the ROOB Radar

2010-10-13T11:51:00.000+02:00

**********

Jenny Brown – Lord Lightning

Genre: Historical Romance
Releasedate: October 1 2010
Part of the Zodiac Sign series
For sale at: The Book Depository Store
SYNOPSIS
They call him "Lord Lightning". . .

For his shocking behavior. An unrepentant rogue with a wicked reputation, his outrageous conduct ensures no woman will get close enough to hurt him.

But demure and lovely astrologer Eliza Farrell casts a chart that tells her Lord Hartwood is capable of great, passionate love. When Hartwood indulges in one of his famous pranks and invites Eliza to become his new mistress, the virginal country miss must meet her fate armed only with her knowledge that the cynical lord will become the tender lover she sees predicted in the stars.

Though Eliza is nothing like the brazen strumpets he prefers, the seemingly incorruptible seer excites Lord Lightning much more than the hard, calculating women he is accustomed to. Eliza's trusting spirit and quick mind touch his cold heart - and when the bewitching innocent surprisingly agrees to be seen on his arm, neither can predict the sparks that will fly between them . . . or resist the electric passion that will threaten to transform them both.

**********

JR Ward – Crave

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Releasedate: October 5, 2010
Book 2 in the Fallen Angel series
For sale at: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS
The battle between good and evil has left the future of humanity in the hands of a reluctant savior and his band of fallen angels. Seven deadly sins that must be righted. Seven souls that must be saved.

While his first task was success, Jim Heron is battling a demon that can take any form for the soul of someone he must identify on his own. If that weren't enough, his old boss Matthias wants Jim to assassinate an AWOL member of The Firm - Isaac, the man Jim is pretty sure he is supposed to save. Jim knows first hand that once you're in The Firm, there's no getting out. But when Jim finds Isaac to warn him, he has been picked up by the police for illegal street fighting, and it is clear that Isaac is falling for his gorgeous public defender. Is their love the redemption that will save Isaac's soul? Or has the demon Devina set an elaborate trap?

**********

Robin Young – Insurrection

Genre: Historical

Releasedate: October 14, 2010
Book 1 in the Insurrection trilogy
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS
The year is 1286 and Scotland is in the grip of one of the worst winters in living memory. Some believe the Day of Judgement has come. The King of Scotland is murdered by one of his squires, a deed pre-meditated by his own brother-in-law, the King of England, a thousand miles away in France. The Prophecy of Merlin has decreed that only when the four relics of Britain have been gathered will one man rule a united kingdom, and Edward I is determined to fulfil it. The murder of Scotland's king is thus just the first in a chain of events that will alter the face of Britain forever. But all is not destined to go Edward's way. Out of the ashes of war, through blood feuds and divided loyalties, a young squire will rise to defy England's greatest king. His name is Robert the Bruce. And his story begins in INSURRECTION.

**********

Sarah McCarty – Tracker’s Sin

Genre: Erotic Romance
Releasedate: October 1, 2010
Stand-alone novel
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS
Before his trade became his name, "Tracker" Ochoa was a scrawny Mestizo runaway. Now as fearsome as he once was frightened, he's joined the notorious Hell's Eight.and they have a job for him.

He must rescue kidnapped heiress Ari Blake and deliver her safely to the Hell's Eight compound - by any means necessary. Turns out that includes marrying her, if he means to escort her and her infant daughter across the Texas Territory. Tracker hadn't bargained on a wife - especially such a fair, blue-eyed beauty. But the erotic pleasures of the marriage bed more than make up for the surprise.

Tracker's well-muscled bronze skin and dark, dangerous eyes are far more exciting than any of Ari's former debutante dreams. In the light of day, though, his deep scars and brooding intensity terrify her. But he's her husband and she's at his mercy. With the frontier against them and mercenary bandits at their heels, Ari fears she'll never feel safe again.

Tracker, too, remembers what fear feels like. Though he burns to protect Ari, to keep her for himself always, he knows that money, history - and especially the truth - can tear them apart.

**********

Stephanie Tyler – Lie With Me

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Releasedate: October 26, 2010
Book 1 in the Shadow Force series
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

SYNOPSIS
Forced together by fate, bound together by desire

Framed for a double murder, Delta Force operative Cameron Moore is given a new lease on life by the CIA - provided he pays them back by doing their black ops dirty work. But now Cam is ready to renegotiate the deal, and he thinks he's found the perfect bargaining chip: Skylar Slavin, bestselling author of espionage thrillers and the daughter of the CIA man who saved Cam from a prison sentence.

Skylar has been living in anonymity, never suspecting that someone so dangerous - and so desirable - would plunge her into a world as treacherous as one of her spy novels. But how can Cam go through with his plan to kidnap Skylar when just the sight of her sets off an explosive attraction he's never experienced before? And when Skylar falls prey to an even more perilous threat, this special ops soldier must call upon all his combat skills to protect the one person who can help him win his freedom - and the only woman he's ever loved.

**********

Interview: Leontine goes one on one with Lora Leigh

2010-10-12T13:52:00.000+02:00

I’m waiting in the hall as we are all so psyched to have an awesome author with us today. Pearl was the first of the ROOB Posse to read a Breed novel and infected us with her enthusiasm. Read all her Breed reviews here We even shocked a small town village with Breed talk in a restaurant, but that a story for a different time. I take a final peek in the “naughty chick parlor” if all is set when the door bell rings, I open with a big grin on my face; Hello Lora Leigh, welcome in the ROOB mansion.

I take a deep breath, let the fan girl anxiety exit my body and guide Lora Leigh to the parlor, asking her if she want anything to drink or eat.

LL: Hello Leontine, thank you so much for the invitation and for allowing me to visit with you and yours for a while. And I would love a shot of Crown Royal and a Bud light if you have both on hand. 

I hope you’re comfy enough to get this interview kickin’:)

LL: (Settles back in an exquisitely comfortable parlor chair and smiles back) I’m perfectly comfortable, ask away.

ROOB Q 1: These are exciting times for you. First of all, last month was your annual RAW fundraiser. Where did you get the idea to hold a convention where authors bundle their forces to raise money for two causes: abused children and wildlife preserve? And perhaps you can share a funny or heartwarming anecdote with us?

LL: Yes, these are very exciting times, and I hope the readers are still sharing in the excitement. RAW, the Readers Appreciation Weekend has been an amazing venture for me. The idea came about after several years of traveling to other author events. I noticed I hadn’t heard of an event that was completely reader specific. In other words, one that focused entirely on the reader and the appreciation we as authors have for those readers. I wanted an event where I could socialize in a more relaxed atmosphere without stressing over appointments, workshops, etc.

From there, the Readers Appreciation Weekend was born. An event that caters to the readers, that gives us as authors the chance to show our readers how important they are to us, in a controlled number that gives us the chance and the time to focus on each one. To listen to their love of the books, discuss the plots and characters, and just have a damn good time.

The parties were something I had to research, because I’d never thrown or attended a party in my life.

That first year, I decided to have a slumber party on Friday night. I’d always wanted to go to or have a slumber party, but never had. I was always really shy when I was younger and didn’t have a lot of friends, so I hadn’t attended a slumber party myself. So this was my chance to not just attend one, but to host one as well.

That first weekend, on Saturday we had the 80’s dance night, the idea of a costume party came later. We dressed as though it were 1983 all over again, listened to our favorite music hits during a pig roast picnic and later danced to those favored tunes.

The raffle baskets from authors, I’m not certain when that came in. I believe the raffle baskets came in that first year as well as the idea of contributing in some way to a school or children.

ROOB Q 2: Second, October is the month of another BREED release titled; STYX’S STORM. Can you tell us what it’s like to write such an extensive, long-running series? What are the pros and cons and who are the characters most near and dear to you?

LL: Pros? Hmm, you always get to revisit favorite characters, locations and even in some cases, favorite villains. It’s comforting I think, like visiting with friends and sharing a good cup of coffee. It’s building a world, characters and relationships and sharing that world that once, only you saw. Now, I get to live in it with my readers as well, and that’s the most exciting thing I believe I’ve ever known.

The Cons? *sigh* You forget eye color sometimes, height, age, etc. The little details get mixed up and sometimes you mistake one friend for another. Or rather character. 

ROOB Q 3: In extension of the previous question. What are the essential ingredients to keep the Breed overall story arc going and to keep it intriguing without making it overwhelming?

LL: The love of the series, the characters and the world you’re building. If I didn’t love it, if I didn’t crave being a part of that world, then it would have definitely become overwhelming long ago. Not that certain books aren’t overwhelming on their own, because they are. Some of the books have had me screaming because the characters aren’t talking to me, or I can’t seem to get into their heads as I need to.

There’s a lot of components that go into series such as this, and sometimes, I forget things. Well, often I would forget things until I begin making cards for each series I’m doing. Now, I’ve found I have over 1200 characters in all the series, and that doesn’t count the characters I’ve killed off. LOL

ROOB Q 4: Do you do any research for your Breed novels?

LL: I’ve had to do tons of research, especially on genetic mutations and testing. I’ve had to do considerable research on certain types of military and guerrilla training as well as hours upon hours of research on test tube conception and all the risks and steps involved in it, just so I would kinda sorta understand as much as I could.

I’m not a science person, but when this series came to mind, I couldn’t put it aside. I had to write it.

ROOB Q 5: We book-addicts are curios as can be and the cover summary of STYX’S STORM is torturing short. Can you tell us a bit more about Storme Montague, Wolf Breed Styx and their story?

LL: Unfortunately, the story completely changed between the blurb being written and the book being written. I’m several months behind on deadlines, and trying desperately to catch up due to the past two years and the changes that have taken place in my life.

A divorce, a move. Learning to live as my own boss and to raise a teenage son who’s going through all that teenage angst that marks those years between fifteen and eighteen. I’ve become a grandmother, and I’m finally learning what being happy and being independent really means. I’m learning who I am, and as fun as it can be at times, it can also be painful, exhausting, and mind numbing.

And now back to your question. LOL Storme is having to learn lessons that mirror mine in some ways. She’s run for years from the breeds, hating them, wishing them all to disappear and even sometimes working in small ways with the purist societies that have risen up against them.

But what she’s never done is reveal the information her father gave her for safekeeping. Information that in the breeds hands could potentially save them. But in their enemies hands, it could destroy them.

Jonas has known she’s had this all along, and wanted her to have the opportunity to grow up, to realize on her own that the breeds that killed her family were everyone’s enemy, but the breed society would never be her enemy.

He can’t give her anymore time though. With the injection his daughter Amber was given, and the fear that one day it could endanger her life, Jonas sends Styx to capture her. The serum Amber was injected with was based on the work done by Storme’s father and brother. Jonas has to have that research, and Styx has to have the woman that’s haunted his fantasies for so many years.

Styx takes her back to Haven to convince her to give him that research as well to give her a chance to learn that the breeds aren’t the monsters she believes they are.

I like to think in Styx’s book that you see the depth of what the breeds and the mating heat can be. As in previous books, the mating heat is reacting differently, as it often will, on Styx and Storme versus other mates. It’s less violent in its intensity and less painful. But in slowing the heat down, two characters who had a lot of emotional growing to do, were given that chance. And I hope the reader sees that growth and perhaps in ways can identify with it.

Storme is learning who she is, and learning how wrong she was while Styx is realizing the pleasure, but most importantly the comfort from knowing that finally, he belongs.

ROOB Q 6: What surprised you most in writing STYX’S STORM and what did you do when you hit a rough patch?

LL: This was one of those books that can leave an author crying more nights than not. Styx fought me, Storme fought me and they fought each other. It was a book that I wondered if I would ever finish simply because the characters would become so difficult at times.

I think those rough patches surprised me the most, but running a close second to it, was seeing the changes in Haven, the Wolf Breed community. The sense of family that’s establishing, and how the wolf and coyote breeds are finally merging. I didn’t expect it this soon, and the advance has altered the future arcs in several small ways.

ROOB Q 7: Eroticism according to Lora Leigh is...?

love. More to the point, the sensual, physical expression of love. To me, it’s not erotic, its not even sensual if the love isn’t there. That is the ingredient that erotic can’t exist without for me. The love amplifies the pleasure and the eroticism that exists when two people, make love.

ROOB Q 8: I think this question may be one of the most frequent asked question asked but the children of the Breeds, will they ever receive a story of their own? Is that super secret Breed info not to be disclosed or can you speak up about certain details?

LL: I do have the breed children planned into upcoming arcs in the breeds.

Cassie, David, Amber, Sherra’s son, Tanner and Schemes children. I have stories in my head, but details rarely remain consistent when there’s more than a few months when the book is to be written, so I prefer not to give them. But the stories are planned, so hopefully the readers will continue to enjoy the books enough to ensure that the continued success of that world.

ROOB Q 9: What did you do to celebrate typing ‘The End’ for STYX’S STORM

LL: I began plotting my next book. LOL That’s how I celebrate the ending of most books. I go right into the next now, especially now with the deadlines on many of them having already passed.

Thank you so much for being here and answer all our questions!

For autographed books http://www.dreamsbynight.com/

my website http://www.loraleigh.com/

Readers Appreciation Weekend http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/

Thanks Leontine for this opportunity to talk to you and your readers. I hope everyone enjoys Styx’s Storm, and the Breeds, and that you keep coming back to read more.

Giveaway: Three Lora Leigh sleep shirts (fits up to 2xl) :) Leave a comment and the winner will be announced on October 18th.

Donna Grant gives the 411 on her MacLeod men

2010-10-11T13:31:00.001+02:00

As this week celebrates the fourth year anniversary of Realms On Our Bookshelves we thought it fun to invite some authors over to come celebrate. Marissa absolutely fell for the new highlander series of the following author and wanted everyone to meet these hunk-a-liscious men. Who better to give them an introduction then their muse? So we give the stage to Donna Grant...

website author - purchase Dark Sword novels- Twitter - Facebook

Thank you to the wonderful ladies at Realms for inviting me to blog about my Highlanders. I’m always willing to talk about my hunky Warriors.

For those unfamiliar with my Dark Sword series let me tell you a bit about it.

The Warriors are a group of Highlanders who are the greatest warriors of their clan/family. By being so, they carry within their blood primeval gods that once unbound, not only make them immortal but give the Highlanders enhanced abilities and special powers. They also transform by way of claws and fangs, but also each god has a color, so the Highlanders turn the color of their god.

The series begins with the three MacLeod brothers. Why the MacLeods? Because when I developed the legend for the series, I made it so that one clan was listed for the villainess to find – MacLeod.

There are so many legends and myths of Scotland that it’s hard to know what was real and what wasn’t. So, when I began the series, I developed a legend of my own: What if Rome was driven out of Britain by magic?

And by magic I mean Druids. Two sects actually (good and bad). It’s the evil Druids who call up the primeval gods from Hell, but it takes both sects to bind the gods inside the men. Until my villain, centuries later, sets the gods free once more in her bid to take over the world.

The villain, Deirdre, is twisted by the black magic running through her. She destroys not only the MacLeod family in her bid to find the brothers, but the entire clan. Nothing is left. The MacLeod brothers manage to escape Deirdre once their gods are unbound, but afterward they sit in their ruining castle for three hundred years and try to survive who and what they are.

It’s the middle brother, Lucan (DANGEROUS HIGHLANDER – Jan 2010), who holds the brothers together. He’s the rational one. The one who will sacrifice his own wants and needs in support of his brothers. Until Cara. He’s also the one who has learned to control his god– and learned to use his power.

The eldest, Fallon (FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER – May 2010) turns to wine to dull his god as well as to forget that he wasn’t able to protect his clan when he was needed most. He’s the thinker, the one who wants to over think things. Drowned in wine as he has been, Fallon doesn’t know the first thing about his god or any power he might have. He’s put to the ultimate test when he has no choice but to let loose his god.

Quinn (WICKED HIGHLANDER – Nov 2010) is the youngest and the one struggling to not allow his god control. He’s the reckless one, the one who reacts without thinking first. Since he cannot control his god, there is a part of his god that shows constantly, and the longer that goes on, the closer he is to losing himself to his god forever.

I love the MacLeod brothers. They share a god, and because they do, when they fight together, they are nearly unstoppable. In everything they are stronger together, but each is a force to be reckoned with on his own.

Yet, there are other Warriors. You meet Galen, Broc, Hayden (one of my favorites!), Ramsey, Camdyn, and Logan in Fallon’s book. As with the brothers, each Warrior has his own history and power. And their own beef with Deirdre.

In Quinn’s book, you meet the final set of Warriors - Ian, Duncan, Arran, Charon (another of my favs!), and Phelan.

It’s been a lot of fun taking each Warrior’s power and using it for or against him. To add to the conflict, their heroines are Druids who each hold a special type of magic. With the Warriors being such strong, rugged men their heroines have to be just as stalwart to be able to stand beside them.

Besides the internal conflict my Warriors and their heroines have to endure, there is the overall series arc of Deirdre and her quest to have all men bow before her. There is nothing she won’t do, no one she won’t sacrifice to achieve her goals. After nearly a millennia of being alive, her magic is a terrifying force.

To find out more about me please visit my website at www.DonnaGrant.com. To learn more about the Dark Sword series, see pics of the Warriors, search characters, take the quiz, or watch the book trailers, please visit www.donnagrant.com/DarkSword

Hugs,
D

GIVEAWAY - Donna has been so generous to add a party gift to this week:
A signed copy of FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER (winner will be picked via random.org and announced on October 18th)

The blurbs/excerpt & book trailers:

Dangerous Highlander ~ Forbidden Highlander ~ Wicked Highlander

and I'll leave you with a cherry on the hawt highlander cake...

Happy ABS Day - Men of McLeod's

2010-10-08T17:13:00.021+02:00

When I was thinking about this blog-post I had it all figured out. I was struck down with the flu and had an intro that was stunning, sexy and totally funny, but said flu had my mind boggled a bit and before I even could think about writing it down, a cough-sneeze combination hit me hard and whilst recovering from that, it went poof... straight of the memory-stick formerly known as my brains and here I sit down lurkin at this white background of blogger and trying to get at least bits and pieces back....

Anyhoeeeeeee.....

As I was sick with the flu I grabbed back to the one thing that I always rely on when I'm performing the utterly difficult task of being a couch-potatoo, and that is hook up my dvd-player with a series from my shelves and watch it till I'm all better. This time around I wanted a bit of drama, because I had a stroke of total self-pity and needed some drama to emphasize how I felt.

As this series is called McLeod's Daughters, you kinda quess that it's about girls, but you know, where girls are..... And as it's a tv-series they have to be hot, so here are three of the men that caught my fancy in this series. Ofcourse a lot more came to pass, but not all as easy on the eyes (for me anyway).

ALEX RYAN

Alex has a history as a bit of a bad boy, a bit of a larrikin. His relationship with his father, Harry Ryan, was always explosive. He's been in fist fights with his brother Nick as well. He's a risk taker, a former rodeo star, a favourite with women and an easy friend to the men he works with. He's a great farmer too, if not a great stickler for detail, and he has the respect of all who know him well.

Claire McLeod was the love of Alex's life — her death was a terrible blow. Alex gradually got back on his feet and found ways to open his heart again. His great mate, Stevie Hall, helped him through the darkness, and their friendship gradually grew into something much more.

During his time running Killarney, Alex has had more than a few battles with father Harry and mother-in-law Sandra, and more than one chance to evaluate where his life is heading. He nearly died in a water tank accident (saved by Stevie) and went bush after losing his brother. After a stinging personal attack from father Harry, Alex fled to the city where he became engaged to Fiona. Little did he realise that Stevie was about to profess her love to him.

It took Alex a long time to realise his marriage to Fiona was doomed, and that he should have married Stevie instead. During this time, Alex had to deal with the death of his father and the realisation that his stepmother Sandra had murdered him. After much soul searching, Alex ended his marriage to Fiona. But by then, events had conspired to drive Alex and Stevie apart. Desperate to get Fiona out of his life, Alex agreed to a massive divorce settlement. To afford this he accepted an offer from his birth father, shrewd city barrister Bryce Redstaff, to invest in Killarney. Bryce's offer seemed like a good idea at the time…

**********

DAVE BREWER

Dave Brewer is a responsible and dedicated country vet. Around farm animals he is incredibly professional, caring and sensitive. Around people his style is a little more bizarre. Women are attracted to him, but are often stunned by his unreconstructed take on the female of the species. Things change as they get to know him — behind the jokes Dave is a warm and loyal friend to have, a man who genuinely adores and appreciates women — and is therefore irresistible.

Dave came within an ace of marrying Tess McLeod before all their plans went awry. Dave returned to the area and inadvertently spikes a growing romance between Tess and Nick. It's always going to be a prickly triangle between these three, but despite this Dave grows to be one of Tess's greatest friends and confidantes. He's a friend to all of the Drovers' women, but must tread an especially delicate path with Kate Manfredi, who finds herself in desperate, unrequited love with him throughout the ups and downs of a busy year.

Ever friends to the girls on Drovers, relationships were strained during his initial relationship with Regan, who left him high and dry when she returned to the city. He was forced to look at his life and his personality failings when his vet student Catriona accused him of sexual harassment. His friendship with Kate took a dramatic turn when he discovered her melanoma and encouraged her to seek medical help. His personal demons were brought out into the open when troubled younger brother Patrick visited Drovers, dredging up memories of their father's tragic suicide.

**********

RILEY WARD

Riley is a man of passionate extremes.
Swaggering, sexy, comfortable in his own skin and a jack of all trades, Riley is a brawler and a lover. He is quick to laugh, but is equally quick-tempered and argumentative. And while he enjoys company and can be the life and soul of the party, Riley is also a bit of a lone wolf; a "cowboy" who prefers camping in his swag to staying in a house; a loner who is reticent to put down roots.

Riley entered our world as a travelling furrier. He is passionate about horses and before long establishes a brumby training business with Stevie. Riley proved himself to be a jack-of-all-trades; he is a capable bush mechanic, an excellent horseman, a hard worker and something of an alpha male. In short, he's a throwback to the traditional Aussie bushman of the 19th century; a hard living, hard working individualist.

Riley grew up an army brat, the son of a ferociously disciplinarian father. It was a world of black and white. It seemed only natural that, at the age of 17, Riley should follow his father's footsteps by enlisting in the army. But as Riley matured, he found his personal values brought him in conflict with the military culture. He was discharged under a cloud, following a dispute with a ranking officer.

Riley drifted from the army base at Townsville out to central Queensland to work as a jackaroo on a sweeping cattle and sheep property. Since then, Riley has moved through Australia, working when he needs to and when it suits him, believing that there's no need to settle down just yet.

All this was before he fell for Jodi McLeod. Riley is smitten, and this time it's for real.

Riley is like a wild brumby; capable, physical, and talented, but also untamed and dangerous. Handle with care.

**********

Ok I know, no series ABS defined and such, but put a goodlooking man on a horse and you can't go wrong with me.... Which Aussie men of McLeod's is your fave??????

Enjoy the weekend!!!!

On The ROOB Radar: Are you joining The Sinners Tour?

2010-10-06T13:57:00.001+02:00

I always enjoy the venture in to new book/series venues and when I first heard about The Sinner Tour series all my warning signs started to buzz and ring. Here is what it's ALL about...

Olivia Cunning’s first series:

Sinners on Tour
Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll
Follow the sexual and romantic exploits of the rock band Sinners as they find love on the road.

Go to the official Sinner band site -here-

Sinners on Tour:
Backstage Pass (Book 1)

Available now!
Excerpt
Purchase

Human Sexuality Professor, Myrna Evans, wants nothing but a weekend of hot, no-strings-attached sex with Sinners' sensual lead guitarist, but Brian Sinclair is looking for something more permanent than a one-night stand. Unable to compose music for months, when Brian makes love to uninhibited Myrna, he hears exquisite guitar riffs and finger-burning solos. In Myrna, he's found his muse.

Sinners on Tour:
Rock Hard (Book 2)

Release Date: April 1, 2011

Sinner’s lead singer, Sed, had his heart shredded when Jessica left him to pursue her dreams,so when she dances her way back into his life, he's not sure he's ready for her brand of pain, or pleasure, again. When she convinces Sed to engage in a benefits with benefits relationship, things seem to be going his way, until one of his fans catches their explicit public display of affection on film and posts it all over the internet. Will Jessica ever trust Sed again? And has Sed become the man of Jessica’s dreams or is he just posing to get what he wants?

Sinners on Tour:
Hot Ticket (Book 3)

The seemingly sweet, shy bassist, Jace Seymour, has a BDSM fetish and his current dominatrix, Aggie, isn't shy about branding him as hers. But can she truly force him to submit, or will Jace turn the tables on her by bringing all their darkest sexual fantasies to life?

Sinners on Tour:
Snared (Book 4)

Sinners’ fun-loving drummer has always been voyeuristic. Has Eric finally met his match in an exhibitionist and will he truly be satisfied with just watching?

Sinners on Tour:
Double Time (Book 5)

After falling head over heels in love with the perfect woman for him, Sinners’ rhythm guitarist, Trey Mills, vows to give up his bisexual ways forever. When an obsessed fan kidnaps her, Trey must work with her best friend and roommate, a private investigator, to have her safely returned. Falling for his girlfriend’s roommate, a guy, was never on Trey's agenda. Will he have to choose between them, or can he have the best of both worlds?

Olivia Cunning
website - twitter - facebook

After reading this I want to find my ultra tight 80's jeans, my leather, knee-high boots and rock the night away! I've got a friday night date with BACKSTAGE PASS coming up *woohoo*. This tour is going to last until 2012..I've already got books on my radar for 2012...it baffling o_0

My interview with Gin Blanco & Giveaway

2010-09-27T14:01:00.002+02:00

I’m a bit nervous as I step into the Pork Pit but the smell of grease and spices in the air makes my belly rumble in hunger. I have a lunch date with Gin “The Spider” Blanco and I did not want to pass up on such an opportunity. I mean, how many gals like me get to ask an assassin some questions?

I walk to the bar, take a seat and patiently await Gin’s arrival/acknowledgement of me.

Gin looks up from the paperback book that she’s reading. She uses a credit card receipt to mark her place, then gets to her feet and walks toward me.

“What’ll it be?” she says, pulling an order pad and pen out of the back pocket of her jeans.

I glance at the menu, “I would love one of those famous BBQ beef sandwiches.” And my stomach growls in agreement.

As the order is being processed I look at Gin, “let’s start this interview then!”

Q 1: What can we know about Gin Blanco that doesn’t get us in to trouble?

Gin: *Snorts.* Please. Trouble is my middle name, sweetheart. But since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you a little about myself.

Basically, I’ve spent most of my days walking through the shady side of life as the assassin known as the Spider. Yep, I was an assassin, someone who killed people for money – a lot of people for a lot of money. I did it to survive, mostly, and because it was something that I was good at.

A couple of months ago, though, I decided to retire from the life. So now, I spend my days running the Pork Pit and serving up the finest barbecue in Ashland and the rest of the South. That’s my day job.

At night, well, let’s just say that I haven’t put the Spider persona completely to rest just yet. I keep getting mixed up with these people – good, decent folks – who have problems that can only be solved by an assassin like the Spider.

So far, my retirement’s turning out to be just as dangerous as being an assassin full-time ever was. Helping folks who truly need it isn’t a bad way to pass the time, though – even if I usually end up bruised, broken, and bloody by the end of the night.

Q 2: The story of you so far, can you give us a brief overview “Gin style” for those who haven’t met you?

Gin: My name is Gin, and I kill people. That’s it in a nutshell. Oh, you want more info? Well, here’s the short version.

My family was brutually murdered by a Fire elemental when I was 13. I bummed around on the streets for a while before Fletcher Lane, the owner of the Pork Pit, took me in. Fletcher trained me to be an assassin and dubbed me the Spider. The old man was like the father that I never had, and I loved him dearly. But Fletcher was murdered not too long ago, right here in the Pork Pit. Of course, I took care of the Air elemental who killed him and the rest of her cronies – Spider style.

I also eliminated a greedy dwarven mine owner who was threatening one of Fletcher’s friends and his granddaughter.

More recently, I’ve learned who killed my family and the fact that my baby sister, Bria, is still alive. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do about either one of those situations, but one thing is for sure – someone’s going to die along the way.

Q 3: Gin Blanco on romance in her life? *Gin puts a plate in front of me with a hot, thick, juicy barbecue beef sandwich and a small bowl of baked beans. HHmmmm Gin, that’s a sneaky way to distract me from your love life. Jeez this food smells so good my mouth waters. I still need an answers though…

Gin: Let’s just say that I’m not as good at all the romantic stuff as I am at killing people. And I hate talking about my feelings.

Sometimes, I think about settling down – or at least finding a guy to have a little fun with. It’s hard to get serious with someone when you’re always coming over late at night with blood on your clothes.

I thought Detective Donovan Caine was a promising candidate, since we worked together and hooked up a few times, but the detective just couldn’t get over my past as an assassin. He let his morals and black-and-white code get in the way of what we could have had together. Yeah, I’m still pissed that he broke things off with me, especially since I was willing to give him a chance and he turned his back on me.

But there’s another guy circling around me – sexy businessman Owen Grayson. Owen’s made it clear that he wants me, but I’m not so sure that I want to start up something new with someone else. Even assassins need time to lick their wounds.

But Owen doesn’t seem like the type to give up easily ...

Q 4: What is the best and the worst of being a Stone and Ice elemental?

Gin: The best parts are the cool things that I can do with my magic, like using my Stone power to make my skin as hard as marble so nothing can hurt me. Or when I use my Ice magic to make small shapes, like lockpicks. Those come in real handy in my line of work.

The worst part is knowing that my magic isn’t full-proof and that it doesn’t make me invincible. That one day, I’m going to meet someone who’s elemental magic is stronger than mine – and that maybe she’ll get the best of me because of it.

Q 5: In extension of Q4, what other elementals are out there and what is it like to live in Ashland. I might one day think of moving here so inquiring minds want to know *smiles*

-I’m munching on a sandwich in the meantime and I need to control myself not to wolf it down. It’s that good *nom nom nom*-

Gin: Ashland is one of the dirtiest, violent, most corrupt cities that you could ever set foot in. Batman thinks he has it bad up there in Gotham. Heh. He needs to come down to Ashland sometime and get a gander at our criminals, yours truly included.

The city is divided into two sections – Northtown and Southtown. The poor, blue collar folks live in Southtown, along with the vampire hookers, their pimps, and junkies. Southtown is not the kind of place you want to visit – ever. As for Northtown, well, that’s where the rich folks live, but that doesn’t mean that part of Ashland is any less dangerous. In Northtown, people will call you sugar to your face before they stab you in the back.

Besides Stone and Ice, there are also Air and Fire elementals, as well as folks who can tap into offshoots of the four elements. For example, some people can manipulate metal, water, and electricity. Magic has many quirks, so there’s always someone with some new power popping up in town.

Q 6: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Can you give us the 411 on Finnegan Lane, Owen Grayson and Detective Donavan Caine? I’m afraid us female readers have quite an interest in them *grin*

Gin: Well, Finn is the son of my handler Fletcher Lane. Finn is basically my foster brother. He also happens to be a greedy, womanizing investment banker who loves money and all the pretty things that he can buy with it. Naturally, the ladies all love Finn, and he loves them all right back.

Owen Grayson is a sexy businessman that I’ve recently become aquainted with. I don’t know too much about Owen yet, except that he has a strange interest in me – and that I’m attracted to him far more than I like.

As for Detective Donovan Caine, he was one of the few honest cops in Ashland. We worked together a few times, although our ideas of justice radically clashed. He liked putting people in jail, while I preferred burying them in the ground. Still, we had a few steamy encounters – before Donovan broke things off and left Ashland. Good riddance, I say. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself ...

Q 7: You were once an assassin freshman, what did your basic training entail? Was it a “wax on-wax off kind off” type of learning?

Gin: Fletcher Lane, the old man who was my handler, wasn’t much for wax-on, wax-off. Instead, I learned by doing. The old man taught me everything that he knew about being an assassin – how to fight, how to kill, and how to get away after the fact.

Q 8: What do you do to relax in your off time?

Gin: I like to cook, read, spend time with family and friends, and sharpen my silverstone knives when they need it. I’m a simple girl that way.

Q 9: I’m a total dessert girl in the kitchen but what is your favorite recipe to make?

Gin: I’m with you – I love a good dessert. One of my favorite recipes to make is a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake – it’s defiinitely a chocolate lover’s dream. One of my favorite recipes to eat is a Mountain Dew cake. It’s a sweet treat that uses Mountain Dew to give it even more of a sugar rush. You find both recipes here: http://www.jenniferestep.com/books-series/elemental-assassin-series/

Q 10: Do you think we can get a peek in to the super secret files of VENOM and have a small excerpt?

Gin: Sure.

Finn got to his feet, straightened his tie, smoothed down his walnut-colored hair, and stepped into the swirling crowd. He strutted toward the Ice bar, probably to ask the bartender about Xavier. His path took him close to the edge of the dance floor. The blond hooker he’d been eyeing blew Finn a kiss. He grinned and veered in her direction. Less than three minutes later, the two of them were ensconced at the bar, drinking martinis and making goo-goo eyes at each other.

I drummed my fingers on the tabletop. A pretty face and tight body could distract Finnegan Lane from his own funeral. I should just have told him I was leaving. I reached for my cell phone to text him that news flash, when a shadow fell over me.

“Why, Gin, what a lovely surprise,” a male voice murmured.

I looked up to find Owen Grayson standing in front of my booth. Like Finn, Grayson wore a rich suit, black in his case, with a charcoal gray shirt underneath. The fabric accentuated his compact, sturdy figure, which always reminded me of a dwarf’s stocky physique. But at six foot one, Grayson was far too tall to be a dwarf.

His glossy, blue-black hair gleamed under the club’s muted lights. So did his eyes, which were a light violet. A white, thin scar slashed down his chin. The faint mark would have ruined the look of another man’s face, but it added a hard, sexy, dangerous edge to Grayson’s features, giving him a roguish, rakish air. Or maybe that was just because I liked the rest of the package so much. Owen Grayson knew how to wear a suit very well, and I couldn’t help but speculate what lay beneath his designer duds. Somehow, I knew it would be as appealing as the rest of him.

Still, despite the slick, expensive threads, Grayson looked like the kind of guy who’d taken more than one punch in his time. A real fighter through and through. The strong, self-assured way he carried himself only made him more impressive to me. I’d always admired confidence—especially when the person actually had something to be confident about. Since Owen Grayson was one of the richest businessmen in Ashland, he had millions of reasons to smile.

I’d met Grayson a couple of weeks ago back in November. His younger sister, Eva, had been eating at the Pork Pit when Jake McAllister had tried to rob the restaurant. Grayson thought he owed me something since I’d saved Eva from getting dead.
“Hello, Owen,” I replied. “What brings you here tonight?”
He shrugged, his broad shoulders straining against the fabric of his suit. “Eva wanted to come dancing.”
My eyes flicked over to the dance floor. Sure enough, I spotted Eva Grayson grooving in between a guy and another girl. Eva had the same coloring that Owen did, which made her look like a real-life version of Snow White. Add her rocking figure on top of that, and Eva attracted plenty of attention. She whirled away from one guy to turn and smile at another waiting at the edge of the dance floor. Eva crooked her finger, and the young man eagerly stepped into the fray surrounding her.
I looked back at Owen. “And you came along to babysit her?”
“I like to watch out for her,” he rumbled in a low voice. “Besides, she said I needed a night out of the house. Evidently, running my various business interests and adding to her trust fund isn’t exciting enough for her tastes.”
I smiled. Like most college-age girls, Eva enjoyed flirting with the opposite sex. Dancing the night away at Northern Aggression would be right up her alley—even if big brother Owen would be watching her every move.
“Care if I join you?” Owen asked.
I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Grayson unbuttoned his jacket and settled on the opposite side of the booth so he was sitting across from me. He signaled one of the waiters and ordered an expensive scotch. I requested another gin on the rocks, with a twist of lime this time. Maybe that would cut the bitter taste in my mouth.
Our drinks came back, and I took a healthy pull off mine. Nope, still bitter. I sighed and rubbed my index finger down the side of the glass, leaving a trail in the condensation that had already formed there.
“Something the matter?” Grayson asked, taking a sip of his scotch.
I shrugged again. “Just not in the mood to party tonight, I suppose.”
Owen stared at me with his violet eyes. “Perhaps you and I could go somewhere else. Make our own party.”
“Let me guess where that party would end . . . your bedroom?”
Grayson smiled. “Actually, I was thinking the nearest hotel myself. Why drive that far?”
“Back to wanting to sleep with me again?”
Grayson’s smile widened. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.”

Gin, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my inquisitive questions. I enjoyed the lunch and I had fabulous company!

Gin: Thanks for stopping by the Pork Pit. I’m glad you enjoyed your meal. Y’all come back now, ya hear? ;-)

You can find the muse of Gin, aka Jennifer Estep at:
Website - Twitter - Facebook

The Giveaway: Jennifer Estep has generously provided one copy of VENOM which is for US/Canada only. BUT since we at ROOB love this series so much we also have one luck commenter win his or her choice in a copy of the Elemental Assassin series; Spider's Bite - Web Of Lies or Venom. Our giveaway is international or where the Book Depository Store ships. So there are two chances to win a copy YAY

All you have to do is leave a comment and if you have a question for Gin or Jennifer, please feel free to ask !!

Happy Abs Day: Jed Hill, cover model extraordinaire!

2010-09-24T10:00:00.020+02:00

Another Friday, another Happy Abs Day on the Blog and another Thursday (as I am writing this a day before posting) that I sit at my desk and all but pull my hair out, asking myself what the h... I'm going to come up with now. I've done a few now and today I was so totally and utterly uninspired that I really was going to revert back to my list of actors and see if I could find some inspiration but I've done that twice already so I don't want to become repetitive so soon again so I went browsing through my folder of bookcovers (which I use to store the cover that go with my reviews both here and on my personal blog) and the first one I stumbled upon was the one of BREAKING POINT by Pamela Clare, which led me to remembering Pamela saying on her blog that cover model's name was Jed Hill and I remembered they also used him for Jaci Burton's upcoming THE PERFECT PLAY and INSATIABLE by Lauren Dane and wham...!!

Hulloh there...inspiration!!

Anyone who knows me (I'm looking at you ROOB-gals!), knows I am not one to salivate quickly over covers but these ones...It MUST be Jed Hill who's inspiring this lusting because I have quite some naked upperbody males on the covers of my books but none of them make me stare and stare and stare again like Jed does. So this week I'm dedicating Happy Abs Day to the cover model who makes me stare and drool.

First let me show you the covers I'm talking about and then I have a few other yummilicious pics of Mr. Hill.

Enjoy Jed and have a HAPPY ABS DAY!

ARC Review: Jennifer Estep - VENOM

2010-09-23T13:55:00.002+02:00

Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (September 28, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1439148015
ISBN-13: 978-1439148013
Main Characters: Gin Blanco, Finnegan lane, Sophia & Jo-Jo
e-copy received from author for review
Purchase at: Book Depository Store

Cover Summary:
It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer … who is about to save her life.

Leontine's Review: With each new story revolving around Gin and company a riveting read chockfull of edge of your seat action and suspense, vivid character interaction and a sultry attraction is delivered. VENOM starts out a bit slow due to the recap info of the two previous stories; Spider’s Bite and Web Of Lies but this was only in the first fifty pages. I think my impatience to get fully absorbed again by the next chapter in the overarching plotline is what irked me a bit about the recap information. But for those discovering this series with VENOM it is essential to catch up and get their interest piqued for the previous novels!

The entire cast of characters held familiar faces and it does a formidable job of deepening the interpersonal relationships. The dialogues are rife with wit and sarcasm and the underlying tone with the banter showcased how much these characters meant to each other or how they were equally matched in spirit. In their own weird way they formed a family and the love and loyalty to one another just made the risks and rewards all the greater!

Gin is still very much the skill-honed assassin with her own outlook on life, her own morals, humor, sass and sense of what love is all about. Through the first person narrative Gin practically leaps of the pages with her train of thoughts, feelings and opinions. She comes so very much alive with her down-to-earth persona and the compassion she feels for those who are wronged. While she doesn’t blink twice about plotting and scheming a plan for those she needs to take out it is her sense of right and wrong that make her redeemable. The people she wants to save are worth saving. Gin is an intriguing heroine who does the unexpected and I can’t get enough of her.

Gin has very few people in her life she feels a connection or love for. Finnegan Lane, her stepbrother, is one of them basking in her favor. Their brother-sister like banter delivers relief in the sometimes tense circumstances and creates a familiarity that will make me feel welcome again in their inner circle. Finn is a ladies’ man to the very core of his being. He has many sweethearts but never turns in to a womanizing kind of man, he is a charmer and his twinkling eyes even get me weak in the knees. He might have his charm and humor but he is also very cunning, on the top of his game and has a knack to find all sorts of info that helps Gin various times. I get to know Finn a bit better with each book and each time he claims me a bit more.

There are also the dwarf sisters Jo-Jo and Sophia. Jo-Jo is an air elemental and beautician/healer, she is always there to guide and nurture but in VENOM it is Sophia who drew my attention. She has this mysterious vibe and I can’t shake the feeling there are more secrets clinging to Sophia that anyone can guess. This is just another character development that keeps me so invested in each story and enriches the reading experience.

In each novel Jennifer Estep delivers a plot where I just get sucked in and keeps me in its web of intrigue. In VENOM a giant stalker of the worst kind has shifted his focus to vampire Rosalyn Phillips and Bria Coolidge draws the attention of Mab Monroe. These two elements are the basis of a grabbing plotline where Gin knows both women and plunges in the middle of it all. At times the action delivered high-skilled fighting scenes and at other times it was silent and observing giving a creepy, eerie vibe and both build the tension to an exquisite high.

I love being a part of the characters lives, their trials and tribulations, and Jennifer Estep really ups the ante in VENOM. Next to the action there is also a romance developing albeit it is a small thread within the whole it has an incredible impact on Gin herself. The sultry attraction humming between her and the man in question, whom I don’t want to reveal for spoiling too much, is causing hot flashes at times. They challenge each other, test each other, tease each other and I really think they make a spectacular couple. The man surprised me in many ways and Gin’s reaction to him is something me romantic nature savors and can only cheer for!

Jennifer Estep has developed a series that has become a must-read for many an urban-fantasy reader! Save the first fifty pages everything stands out again. From the dynamic backdrop of Ashland, the well-rounded and unique cast of characters, to an action filled plot, it all turns VENOM in to an addictive urban-fantasy story. 2010 is definitely the year of Gin Blanco!

Quote Gin:
And then the three of them stared at me. Finn, Jo-Jo, Sophia. Hell, even Rosco turned his head back in my direction. All of them looking steadily at me, expectation shining in their eyes. Oh, fuck. They actually expected me to talk about what had happened tonight. To share my feelings. I sighed again. I’d much rather have hacked and slashed my way through a platoon of Mab Monroe’s giants than explain how I was dealing with my emotions. But they were my family, for better or worse.

Quote Gin:
“Now that we’re both clean,” I said in a sly tone. “Why don’t we do something dirty?” Another smile tugged at ***** lips, softening the slashing scar on his chin. “I thought you’d never ask.” We moved toward each other and met in the middle of the shower. I threaded my hands in his slick hair and pulled his mouth down to mine. Our lips met in a kiss that was as gentle as the water cascading over our bodies—and that quickly turned into one of white-hot passion, desire, and need.

On The ROOB Radar

2010-09-22T11:00:00.000+02:00

These books caught my eye and are now on my wishlist.

Torment by Lauren Kate
Fallen Series Part 2

Release date: 28 September 2010
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Delecorte Books

Website: Lauren Kate

Blurb:

Hell on earth.

That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

Hurt Me So Good by Joely Sue Burkhart
The Connaghers Part 2

Release date: 5 October 2010
Genre: contemporary erotic romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishers

Website: Joely Sue Burkhart

Blurb

One sub to please the Master…in any way he wishes.

Victor Connagher is no stranger to the Dallas BDSM scene. As CEO of a risqué cable channel that caters to adventurous adults, he ensures the lifestyle is portrayed in a positive light. He even supports a local bondage club. Yet behind the cool, confident mask, Victor lives in fear.

Once, and only once, he lost control of his inner Dom—and it cost him his fiancée. Now, no one knows how hard he works to keep his darker appetite for pain buried. No matter how much his saucy, confident associate producer makes his fingers itch to once again take up his riding crop.

Shiloh Holmes is a sub, but she’s no doormat. She’s always suspected Victor has the skills to feed her insatiable need for pain, and now she’s found the perfect way to crack his formidable control. Develop a new reality show, America’s Next Top sub…and dare him to compete.

Week after week, as Shiloh fearlessly challenges the real Victor to come out of hiding, he realizes his past mistake was only a blow to his pride. If he loses Shiloh, he could lose his heart.

Warning: Explicit sex, BDSM, reality television, a very reluctant Dom, an audacious sub willing to do anything to win for him, and one very wicked riding crop.

No Place To Run by Maya Banks
The Kelly Series Part 2

Release date: 7 december 2010
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Website: Maya Banks

Blurb

The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super elite, top secret, family-run business.

Qualifications: High intelligence, rock hard body, military background.

Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the US government can’t…

Sam Kelly was her first love.

The last person Sam Kelly expected to pull wounded from the lake was Sophie Lundgren. Once they shared a brief, intense affair while Sam was undercover and then she vanished. She's spent the last months on the run, knowing that any mistake would cost her life and that of her unborn child—Sam's child. Now she's resurfaced with a warning for Sam: this time, he's the one in danger.

Now he's her last chance.

Sam has too many questions to let her slip away again—like why she disappeared in the first place. This time he vows not to be seduced. But one look in her eyes, and the passion burns again, and Sam knows he’ll do anything to keep her and his child safe. However, Sophie’s dark past is more dangerous than he imagines, and the only way for either to survive it is to outrun it.

Haunting Desire by Erin Quinn

Release date: 5 April 2011
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Website: Erin Quinn

Blurb

A woman lost in a nightmare

Shealy O’Leary knows nothing of the ancient Book of Fennore. Nor of the Druid, the dark entity who controls—and is controlled by—the Book. But when she and her father are drawn into the past—and into the cursed no-man’s land called Fennore—she learns that the Druid is all too real. And unless Shealy bends to his will, her father will surely die...

A man desperate to regain his honor

After failing both his land and people, the fierce warrior Tiarnan was damned by the Druid to spend eternity in the black heart of Fennore. His only hope comes in the shape of a beautiful, frightened woman from the future. For she possesses a gift she is unaware of. A gift that the Druid covets—and a temptation that Tiarnan may not be able to resist.

A desire that drives their destiny

Alone in this primitive, terrifying world, Shealy must do what is right while fighting her desires for the formidable warrior who might be her greatest defender . . . or her worst enemy. Her only hope to save herself and her father will be to trust in her own heart and the sacred power she has yet to unleash . .

Happy Abs Day: An hommage to the classic abs pics

2010-09-17T14:00:00.003+02:00

It's friday again and for many of you who need to work this is always one of the hardest days of the week because this day can drag on for what is seems like forever before it finally tips over in to a whole weekend of playtime! This is why I've decided to create a wall of uber good ab candy to get your spirit going.

Everybody happy again??!! I hope so :)

Hugs

On The ROOB Radar

2010-09-15T10:00:00.111+02:00

Today my ROOB Radar post is a collection of print books coming next year, (yes people I'm talking 2011 already) that I have my eye on. All books are by authors who have made their way past my semi- selfimposed bookbudget, although I hope to be off the budget by the time these books come out...

TREASURE ME by Robyn DeHart
Release: 2011, February 22
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Romance
Legend Hunters, book 3
Website

Summary:
The Legend Hunters . . .

The Men of Solomon's meet in secret, their very existence only a rumor among the best of Victorian society. They are treasure hunters, men of wealth and title, seekers of myths and legends. And no legend is as captivating as the Loch Ness monster . . .

Graeme Langford, Duke of Rothmore, has always been torn between his beloved Scottish homeland and his duty to the English Crown. Yet his is truly an adventurer's soul-and he's determined to find a long-lost stone hidden near Loch Ness.

Bookish Vanessa Pembrooke heads to the Highlands to prove the existence of the legendary beast. Instead she finds the first man who has ever shared her hunger for adventure. Soon Graeme and Vanessa are fighting a dangerous battle as well as their own simmering attraction. As their passion grows, so does the danger. Ultimately, they must risk everything to keep the cursed stone out of a murderer's hands. But can they survive without losing the greatest treasure of all-their love?

A LOT LIKE LOVE by Julie James
Release: 2011, March 1
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Stand Alone
Website

Summary:
The FBI wants her cooperation.

As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city’s top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there’s only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fundraiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother’s release from prison, Jordan is going to be there—with a date supplied by the Bureau.

Agent McCall just wants her.

As the top undercover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get personal. This “date” with Jordan Rhodes is merely an assignment—one they’re both determined to pull off even if they can’t be together for five minutes before the sarcasm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick’s investigation is compromised, he and Jordan have no choice but to pretend they’re a couple, and what starts out as a simple assignment begins to feel a lot like something more. . .

SHIVER OF FEAR by Roxanne St. Claire
Release: 2011, March 29
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Guardian Angelinos, book 2
Website

Summary:
When Marc Rossi heads to Northern Ireland to track down a missing widowed socialite for his cousin's investigation firm, he expects to find an ice queen. But when Devyn Sterling turns out to be warm, beautiful, and on a secret mission of her own, the job becomes more complicated. The daughter of an infamous fugitive, Devyn is on a search that she hopes will uncover the truth about her bloodline...but the truth is dark and dangerous, and she needs Marc's help to discover why. Devyn and Marc must trust each other when every instinct says they can't...and a terrorist wants to be sure they don't live to try.

MESMERIZED by Lauren Dane
Release: 2011, April 5
Publisher: Berkley Heat
Genre: Futuristic Erotic Romance
Federation Chronicles, book 4/Phantom Corps, book 2
Website

Summary:
They call him the Shadow. Andrei Solace delivers death on silent feet as an assassin for the Phantom Corps. The perfect weapon in the fight against the Imperium, he’s sent to the same ’Verse he left behind as a youth.

Piper Roundtree is a mercenary prepared for anything—except for being rescued from Imperial lackeys by the man she hasn’t laid eyes on in eleven years. While she remembers every mesmerizing sensation he gave her, she thought they were through. And against the backdrop of an impending war, their passion is reignited.

The girl Andrei once loved is now a fierce woman who can pilot a ship through canyons at high speeds, and drive him wild with equalabandon. As much as Andrei tries to protect her from the darkness inside him, Piper admires his skills and the code he lives by. Now the lovers must join forces—in more ways than one—to save the Known Universe before the enemy hurls it into irreversible chaos…

NIGHTFALL by Ellen Connor (writing team of Ann Aguirre & Carrie Lofty)
Release: 2011, June (This is a tentative date, yet to be confirmed by publisher)
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Paranormal (dystopian) Romance
Dark Age Dawning, book 1
Website

Summary:
Their instincts will save them.
Their passion will transform them.

Growing up with an unstable, often absent father who preached about the end of the world, Jenna never thought, in her wildest nightmares, that his predictions would come true. Or that he would have a plan in place to save her–one that includes the strong, stoic man who kidnaps and takes her to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

The mysterious ex-Marine named Mason owes a life-debt to Jenna’s father. Skilled and steadfast, he’s ready for the Change, but Jenna proves tough to convince. Until the power grid collapses and the mutant dogs attack–vicious things that reek of nature gone wrong.

When five strangers appear, desperate to escape the bloodthirsty packs, Jenna defies her protector and rescues them. As technology fails and the old world falls away, Jenna changes too, forever altered by supernatural forces. To fight for their future, she and Mason must learn to trust their instinctive passion–a flame that will see them through the bitter winter, the endless nights, and the violence of a new Dark Age.

BREAKING POINT by Pamela Clare
Release: 2011, July
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Romantic Suspense
I-Team, book 5
Website

Summary:
While investigating border violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Denver journalist Natalie Benoit is caught in a bloody ambush and taken captive. Alone in the hands of ruthless killers, she will need every ounce of courage she possesses to survive.

Betrayed by another operative, Deputy U.S. Marshal Zach McBride has endured a week of torture and interrogation at the hands of a bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartel. Ready to give his life if he must, he remains unbroken—until he hears the cries of an American woman.

Although Natalie is only a voice in the darkness of their shared prison, her plight brings renewed strength to Zach’s battered body. With her help, he overpowers their captors, and they flee through the desert toward the border, the attraction between them flaring hotter than the Sonoran sun.

But past loss and tragedy leave both of them reluctant to follow their hearts, even when the passion between them reaches its breaking point. Faced with feelings neither expected, they fight to stay ahead of the danger that hunts them as forces more powerful than they can imagine conspire to destroy them both…

Happy Abs Day!

2010-09-10T21:02:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone! It is another Happy Abs Day on the ROOB blog and since the flu has taken over my household I am going to stick with one great view today... so I am going for the tall, dark and sexy type, and I am so lucky that Eduardo was willing to help me out this time. So here is the multi-talented Eduardo Verastegui!

I hope everyone will have a great weekend!

Happy Abs Day!

On the ROOB Radar

2010-09-08T20:55:00.000+02:00

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl – Beautiful Creatures

Release Date : September 2010 (PB)
A Stand-Alone Novel
For sale at: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

JK Beck – When Pleasure Rules

Release Date : September 28, 2010 (MPB)
Book 2 in the Shadow Keepers series
For sale at : The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
Seven innocents have been brutally murdered in Los Angeles, yet the Shadow Alliance has no suspects and no leads. As the body count mounts, the age-old feud between vampires and werewolves threatens to explode.

Lissa Monroe - a strong-willed, ravishing succubus who entices men to surrender their souls - agrees to go undercover for the Alliance. Her mission: infiltrate the mind of werewolf leader Vincent Rand, a ferociously alluring enemy who exerts a powerful hold over her. As the City of Angels teeters on the brink of apocalypse, these two adversaries must join together in order to survive an even more lethal enemy hidden in plain sight.

Kendra Leigh Castle – Renegade Angel

Release Date : September 1, 2010 (MPB)
Book 1 in the Fallen series
For Sale At : The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
It's been thousands of years since Raum's angelic wings turned from white to black, and the Destroyer of Dignities and Robber of Kings never looked back. These days he's also on the outs with Hell and works with a motley crew of ex-demons on a new mission: snuffing out lesser demons and their half-human progeny.

Raum's latest assignment brings him to a small Vermont town - and a sweet, funny half-demon, half-human he'll risk everything to save. Ember Riddick stirs him as no woman ever before - and she holds the key to what Lucifer will move Hell and Earth to prevent: his team's redemption.

But Ember's secrets are as dark as Raum's midnight wings. And their fate may leave them entwined - but destroyed..

THIS ONE DEFINITELY HAD ME AT HELLO :-)

Donna Fletcher – Bound To A Warrior

Release date : September 1, 2010 (MPB)
Book 1 in the Warrior King series
For sale at: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
It has been prophesied that four men, raised as brothers, will bring Scotland back to her rightful glory. The first is running for his life.

Charged with the restoration of Scotland's one true king, Duncan MacAlpin isn't surprised to find himself fleeing an army across the verdant hills of his homeland. But having to do so while shackled to a woman . . . that is a true challenge to Duncan's ingenuity and self-control. For the lovely, untouched maiden he's chained to is far too captivating to resist.

Despite her innocence, Mercy guards her own dangerous secrets. Proud and unafraid - hunted and imperiled for who she is and what she knows - she is determined to regain her freedom and never let it be taken from her again. Yet locked so tightly to her imposed escort, tempted by the warmth of the powerful Highlander's body, she aches to give herself over completely to desire . . . and risk the heart she has fought so hard to protect.

ARC Review: Jaci Burton - Riding The Night

2010-09-06T13:27:00.001+02:00

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (September 7, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0425236560
ISBN-13: 978-0425236567
Book #5 in the Wild Riders series
Main Characters: AJ, Pax and Teresa
For sale at: Book Depository Store

Cover Summary:
AJ and Pax work together as undercover operatives for a government agency of bad-boy bikers known as the Wild Riders. And though they play as hard as they work, both men are looking for the one woman who can tame them…

On vacation, AJ and Pax run into AJ’s high school sweetheart, Teresa. While they’re catching up at Teresa’s bar, a fight erupts between two biker gangs, leaving one man dead and Teresa’s brother wrongly accused of murder. With no proof and Teresa as the only eye witness, the trio points their Harleys toward the annual bike rally in South Dakota in hot pursuit of the real killer…

Her life in jeopardy, AJ and Pax become Teresa’s fierce protectors. But a past trauma keeps Teresa guarded, unable to trust them--until AJ and Pax uncover her secret and vow to do anything to help her heal. And in their arms she discovers a sensual desire that knows no boundaries, a passion strong enough to overcome her tragic past and awaken a force that brings both men to their knees.

Danger may temporarily bind the three together, but it’s their shared passion that will lead them to the ride of their lives: love.

Leontine's Review: From page one Jaci Burton hit the right note with me and she didn’t let up until I closed RIDING THE NIGHT with a fulfilled feeling of romantic contentment. The prologue was one of teen-age love; intense and passionate, but for AJ it was a turning point in his life and he didn’t want to drag Teresa along in his choices. That moment in the car was a maelstrom of feelings, both lustful as deeply caring and I instantly knew that this was far from over. That Teresa and AJ would take me on a ride where romance and eroticism would go hand in hand was a fact yet little did I know that by turning the page I would be surprised by another character named Pax.

AJ and Pax, they had me from the first moment I read their introduction in the present storyline. They are Wild Riders, loving the open roads, the danger of their job and the roar of their bikes engine. It gave them a wild edge that drew me to them like a moth to a flame and since I love two men together, comfortable in their own skin and sexuality, AJ and Pax received my full, devoted attention. I was immediately told that they are used to share women and that they love making a woman feel special, of course riding in to AJ’s old town was an invitation to meet Teresa again. She is the new owner of a biker bar and in those ten years lots of things happened. Things AJ has no knowledge of but the magnetic pull between AJ, Teresa and Pax was undeniable. That same night in Teresa’s bar the animosity between the biker gangs; Fists and Thorns, exploded. A murder and the sole suspect of it being Joey, leader of the Thorns and Teresa’s brother, made AJ and Pax decide to stay for the remainder of their vacation.

On the backdrop of biker gang rivalry AJ and Pax are in their element but I also enjoyed how Jaci Burton hit the right tone with Teresa. She survived a tragedy of her own and she has understandable fears, but still, she faces those fears and thereby overcoming the spineless victim label. I like it when a woman reclaims her power and with Teresa’s inner struggles gradually showing the progress it created a woman I could admire and enjoy her blossoming passion and sexuality. Being winged by men such as AJ and Pax doesn’t hurt either of course. For different reasons both men triggered my happy-girl buttons. Both are testosterone-laden men but where Pax is a controlled powerhouse of raw masculinity where a woman instinctively knows there is more to him than meets the eye, AJ is the more bad-boy charming and seductive man who has a grin on his face that promises undiscovered passion. Neither of them is the jealous kind of man and the focus on Teresa and her needs set the pages on fire.

What I found in RIDING THE NIGHT is a story that instantly pulled me in with vibrant characters and a fast-paced plot. The external issues of the murder and Teresa’s tragedy brought along a whole set of internal struggles that affected them individually as well as within the budding Ménage. The struggles and romantic issues created depth within this erotic romance story, and while it never lost the easy-to-read essence it attached me to these characters the way I like it, the way I need it to be. I cared for whether or not they could make the romance work, that each and every one’s emotions got validated and solve the crime along the way.

Since AJ and Pax where so focused on Teresa it made the eroticism spine tingling good as a Ménage trope should be. It stays within the boundaries of playful, sensual and arousing but I read the eruption of sex-play with an elevated heart beat. The issue of how they could make this three-way work adds a touch of realism and the gradual build-up of sexual tension only underscored the importance of the emotional development with each of the main players. All things I consider important in both romance and plot were at full force working in RIDING THE NIGHT and I tore through the chapters like a biker on route 66. There was no stopping me and the conclusion, while I suspected it at some point in the story, still made an impact.

Jaci Burton’s RIDING THE NIGHT is a celebration of super sexy erotic romance!

Quote Teresa:
While AJ and Pax sat quietly drinking their beers, Teresa studied them side by side. AJ, with his dark good looks and smoke gray eyes, had always made her heart stumble. He had that sexy, bad-boy quality about him that would make any woman look twice. Pax had dirty blond hair that he ware short and spiked, a dark goatee lining his jaw, his body all lean muscle, the kind of body a woman would want to run her hands all over. The two men were a study in contrasts – so different yet so similar. Both screaming masculine and sexy, commanding a woman’s attention in ways that were elemental and yet inexplicable.

On The ROOB Radar

2010-09-02T13:49:00.005+02:00

This post should have been gracing the ROOB blog yesterday but Wednesday was a disastrous day for me and in the midst of firmware updating, guestblog requesting and interview preparing for ROOB this just slipped my mind.

But as the saying goes; ‘Better late than never’ is my mantra today as I catch up on various things I had planned to do yesterday. So here are a few hot upcoming releases I just had to share with you all :)

• Angela Knight – MASTER OF SMOKE: Book 11 in Mageverse series
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425239160
• ISBN-13: 978-0425239162
• Pre-order

Comic book shop owner Beth Roman discovers a real-life superman battling a werewolf. After she spirits the handsome hunk to safety, she discovers he has no memory of who he was or why the werewolf wants him dead. Beth takes him in – and promptly becomes a target of the werewolf hit team that’s been sent to kill David. Luckily Beth, too, is a werewolf, so she’s up to the job of playing bodyguard.

And David’s body is a lot of fun to guard. He’s handsome and seductive, with a feral sexuality Beth finds impossible to resist.

Now if only they can stay alive long enough to find out why all these monsters want David dead…

• Emma Holly – DEVIL AT MIDNIGHT
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425237818
• ISBN-13: 978-0425237816
• Pre-order

For years, mercenary captain Christian Durand has done everything he can to protect his men from his power hungry father. When a beautiful ghost appears to offer comfort, he assumes the strain has finally pushed him over the edge. The specter claims she’s his friend from another life--a tale the cynical soldier finds difficult to believe.

Grace Gladwell has her own experience with abusive fathers. Thanks to an accident with hers, one moment she's in 1950s America, the next, she’s in 1460, Switzerland, trying to convince a Medieval soldier that she's neither a figment of his imagination or an imp from Hell.

These would be challenges enough without vampire queen Nim Wei setting her immortal sights on Christian. When she threatens to help his father destroy them all, Christian must choose between his darker urges and a love that spans centuries…

• Emma Holly – ANGEL AT DAWN
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425239659
• ISBN-13: 978-0425239650
• Pre-order

No woman should forget her soulmate, yet Grace Gladwell remembers nothing of Christian Durand, the medieval soldier she captivated during a fractured moment in time—when she was just a specter, a heartbeat away from death. Then, Grace could have been Christian’s savior. Now, she’s a symbol of more betrayals than he can count. He knows he’d be better off not remembering . . . except for the scrap of his broken heart that still longs to believe in her.

Christian certainly shouldn’t get tangled up with his other nemesis, Nim Wei. Five hundred years haven’t made the vampire queen any more trustworthy. Now she wants to rule Hollywood as a film director, with Christian her next big star. Grace is her secret weapon in recruiting Christian to take the role. Hoping to direct herself, Grace has been playing unwitting student to Nim Wei’s seemingly kind mentor. One encounter with Christian’s smoldering bad-boy charisma convinces Grace her teacher is even smarter than she gave her credit for.

Too bad for all of them that fiction—and film—can be as strange as truth. Nothing and no one are what they seem in this seductive vampire movie, least of all the people who are trying to survive making it.

• Shayla Black – ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT: Doomsday Brethren Series, Book 4
• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (October 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439166773
• ISBN-13: 978-1439166772
• Pre-order

In national bestselling author Shayla Black’s electrifying new novel, the Doomsday Brethren fight their mortal enemy for the newest weapon in a bloody magical war: the one woman a warrior shouldn’t claim . . . yet can’t resist.

Dangerously handsome Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, and his uptight brother Mason are hardly close, but crashing Mason’s wedding and stealing his fiancée further aggravate their sibling rivalry. Duke’s family has no notion he’s a wizard, so how can he explain that magickind’s fate lies with the beautiful, tenacious bride he longs to seduce? Felicia is an Untouchable, a rare human whose presence disables magic—even the impenetrable forces surrounding Morganna le Fay’s tomb. The evil witch’s malicious powers could propel nefarious wizard Mathias to ultimate world domination . . . if he can resurrect her. To conceal herself, Felicia must succumb to her smoldering desire for Duke, but he risks binding his life—and sanity— to a lover whose loyalties are forever torn. He faces a choice: betray his brother for ultimate survival . . . or lose the woman who tempts him beyond control.

• Jean Johnson – FINDING DESTINY
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425238628
• ISBN-13: 978-0425238622
• Pre-order

Sons of Destiny come four all-new novellas set in the same bewitching world of danger, passion, and providence…

The slave…Chanson, a privileged Arbran dyara, discovers an unexpected connection with the excitingly different Eduor, a bracingly sexy war-slave who desires his freedom. But what binds them together could also destroy them.

The knight…The Arbran diplomat Sir Zeilas must turn the Guildaran people—with their strange machines and weaponry—from former enemies into allies. But in the case of their intriguingly beautiful leader, perhaps something more intimate is in order.

The mage…Gabria never expected to become a Guildaran envoy to Aurul, or the subject of their seer king’s prophecies. But the most stunning surprise was what waited for her in His Majesty’s winter palace, and why.

The pirate…Captain Ellett would do anything for his king. Even hunt down the pirates plaguing the Jenodan Isles. But he never counted on the seductive powers of the pirate’s captain—beautiful, tempestuous, and impossible to resist.

Something that isn’t complete with a lot of info but this new trilogy really sets me on fire and I just had to share it!

Karin Tabke – Blood Moon Rising trilogy 2011

• Blood Law, Berkley Heat, May ‘11
(Blood Moon Trilogy #1)
• Blood Moon Rising, Berkley Heat, Sept ‘11
(Blood Moon Trilogy #2)

Blood Moon Trilogy #1
Berkley Heat (May 2011)
Trade Paperback – Erotic Paranormal

For all eternity, only one thing shall separate them—until the Blood Law is avenged…

The coming of the Blood Moon will lead two Lycan packs into war, spur two rival brothers into conflict, and spark an act of vengeance so evil that its effects will be felt for generations.

One woman stands at the center of it all…

As undisputed Alpha, Rafael must choose a life mate to preserve the dominance of his Lycan pack. He never suspected, his mate would be a human, the same wounded, girl-woman he seduces from the brink of death. Falon is a dangerous combination of Lycan and Slayer—beings bred to destroy his kind. Even more, she’s a mesmerizing beauty whose sensuality tempts the seasoned warrior to take unnecessary risks. The primal heat between them is irresistible, yet surrendering to it could destroy them both…for a vengeful foe stands ready in the shadows to fulfill what is rightfully his by Blood Law.

ARC Review: JK Beck - When Blood Calls

2010-08-30T22:06:00.001+02:00

Paperback: 416 pages
Bantam
ISBN-13: 978-0-4402-4577-3
ISBN-10: 0-4402-4577-X
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book 1 in the Shadow Keepers series
Main Characters: Sara Constantine & Lucius Dragos
For Sale At: Book Depository Store

Summary:
Attorney Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion - until she finds out that she must now prosecute vampires and werewolves. The first defendant she'll be trying to put away? Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy.

When Lucius kisses a beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he's hoping only to avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he's planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss ignites into an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows that Sara is determined to see him locked away - unless he can convince her that he's not a monster. And that might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

REVIEW
The Paranormal Romance genre is going into a new direction and JK Beck is one of the leading ladies in doing so. Combine the booming Paranormal Romance Novels with the popularity of police law enforcement series on TV and you find a mixture that thrills the reader with suspense and love.

This was what first came to mind when I closed this book after reading it. I was a bit ‘warrior-band-of-brother-exhausted’ and JK Beck has blown new life into my love for reading about vampire’s, werewolves, demons and everything not so common to the human world.

At first it took me some getting used to the pace, world build up, and where this story was taking me, but once I went way down under and got settled into division 6 – PEC (Preternatural Enforcement Coalition), a whole new world of Paranormal Investigation’s, DA’s and their own Judicial System opened up to me, making my heartbeat rise and my longing to read on grow with each page I turned.

Straight away we’re thrown into a murder scene, which on the surface seems a slam-dunk arrest, but turns out to be a lot more complicated that it was at face-value.

Sara is a prosecutor and after her promotion is thrown into the paranormal world, she’s an honest woman, seeking out justice and not feeling ruled with the fact she had to prosecute someone for a crime they might have done according to the evidence on the surface. I found it a bit difficult to connect with her as a character at the start, but as the story progresses I felt she opened up more and more.

Lucius is a centuries old vampire, and within this series, vampire’s struggle with their inner daemon who is seeking blood/souls to feed of and have a craving need for violence. When I came across him the first time he didn’t come across as a straight forward villain to me, more like a rogue out loose in the paranormal world, with a big sense of responsibility, but not feeling sorry for the things he has to do (as an assassin for the Alliance), which aren’t quite so legal or by the book. What I found so great about him was that he didn’t apologize for it. It was either accept him for who he is, flaws and all, or don’t accept him and have it that way, but either way was fine with him. I absolutely loved that!

The love for each other was a built up from a one night stand and like an instant thing, and I would have loved to have seen more pages used for their actual love-relationship but there are only so much pages in a novel to write up. Throughout their encounters it is clear that there is more than just passion for each other so it was a believable development within this story.

Both Sara and Luke are brought into this story with baggage from the past to solve or lay to rest, making them characters that grow along in this story and in their encounters. Their past however, do make cause for obstacles and these could have gone awry leading their own life within the story, but JK Beck knows how to handle it and guide it into a great plotline.

Throughout this first installment in the Shadow Keepers series, quite a few secondary characters come to pass, all complex with a variety of paranormal powers, and I sincerely hope that in the next installments these characters will get a part as well or even their own story. The world build up was really well done, as well. It took some time getting into it, as it is very different from what I was used to reading, but once a bit more settled into the terminology and way of life, it all falls into place. It is definitely a world I want to continue reading about!

Some of the plotlines were predictable, but I didn’t see the major plotline coming, making this read a thrilling one until the end. Towards the end all small and big plotlines were completed leaving me satisfied as a reader. Though there was a point where I got a bit uncomfortable with reading on, which might be a break-point for some readers, I thought it great of JK Beck to not avoid this and use it in her story as it did have a purpose to things IMHO.

Quote of one of my favorite characters in this novel-Tucker-I just love his humor:
She peered at his shield and ID, then met his eyes, her own filled with confusion. "Homeland Security?"
She stared him down. "Are you shitting me?"
"No, ma’am," Tucker said. "We at Homeland Security do not have a sense of humor of which we’re aware."

This is definitely a strong, compelling and intriguing start of a new series, and I for one am looking forward to being taken back to the PEC and their paranormal investigations!

Happy Abs Day: Celebs in Black & White

2010-08-27T09:00:00.000+02:00

Time flies when you're having fun because once again it's my turn for Happy Abs Day. I keep saying this but these posts are even harder for me to do than writing reviews. I am just not that visually inclined and definitely challenged in the creative department. But I have managed to concoct something once again...*wipes brow*

This week I wanted to do a collage of black and white pics of abs and while browsing for those images I found a few special ones and decided to dedicate this week's Happy Abs to some celebs who have some great abs AND look yummy in black & white.

And for the fun of it, I haven't put names to the pictures. Some of course are easy to recognize but let's see if you can name them all for me?

Happy Ogling!

On The ROOB Radar

2010-08-25T07:55:00.000+02:00

These books are on my wishlist and will be devoured the minute they land on my doormat....

After reading Ares's story in Assassin's Honor, I cannot wait to continue with this fabulous new series and read what's in store for Lysander...

Monica Burns - Assassin's Heart
The Order of the Sicari series part 2
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release: September 2010

Website author

Summary:

The truth of the soul.

Lysander Condellaire never understood why he had telepathic and telekinetic powers until the night his Praetorian father tortured him and left him for dead. Now, the half-angelic, half-demonic face he sees in the mirror is a reminder of the monster he must keep hidden or face expulsion from the order of assassins know as the Sicari. But his dreams of Ancient Rome hint at a destiny he finds hard to accept, especially when it involves the woman he loves, but can never have.

The consequences of desire.

A gifted healer in the Order, Phaedra DeLuca witnessed her mother’s murder when she was just a little girl. The haunting memory makes her loathe everything Praetorian. When she travels to Rome in search of an ancient artifact, she must work alongside a man who once cruelly rejected her love and healing touch. But her dreams of Ancient Rome tell of an irreversible and possibly dangerous future. For the distant past and present are about to collide--with the one man she is destined to love.

Catherine Coulter - The Valcourt Heiress
Part 7 in the Song/Medieval Series
Genre: Historical Romance

Release: 5 October 2010

Website author

Summary:

Twenty-four year old Lord Garron of Kersey is on his way home to succeed his late brother, Arthur, as the Earl of Wareham. But on arrival, Garron discovers his home, Wareham Castle, has been nearly destroyed by The Black Demon and his band of bad bad soldiers looking for Arthur's cache of silver coins which remain hidden. The handful of servants who've survived includes a young girl named Merry, supposedly the castle priest's bastard, who is as clever and enterprising as Garron.

Garron is told this Balc Demon destroyed Wareham because no one would tell him where Arthur had hidden stolen silver coins. Equally puzzling is the too-smart bastard Merry -- as well bred, literate and brave as any man he's ever known. Indeed, she galvanizes his people to action before he can even ask her assistance. She's a natural leader and a skilled healer, but Merry has secrest of her own...secrets that could endanger Garron and his peopl. He knows she's hiding something, knows she could bring more bad things down on his head, but he likes her and her fast mind and her ready wit. But can he survive the truth?

After Jack, Deke and Luc the wait is now for wicked lover Hunter...

Shayla Black - Surrender to Me
Wicked Lovers Series Part 4
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance

Release: March 2011

Website author

Summary:

A secret fantasy.

Hunter had everything until a bullet iced his career as a Navy SEAL. Restless and uncertain about his future, he accepts an intriguing proposition: share an acquaintance’s girlfriend and fulfill her fantasy of a ménage. It should have been just a night of sexual adventure between three consenting adults. But Kata is like no other girl Hunter has ever met. By turns audacious and sexy, then vulnerable and aloof, she’s a heartbreaker he’s determined to master. But he needs more than one night. And he wants to do it alone.

An uncontrollable obsession.

Kata never expected to leave her comfortable relationship and explore something so dangerously forbidden with a stranger. Hard as she tries to resist, the guilty pleasure overwhelms her, and she surrenders herself, inch by inch, to the hardcore man who wants her for himself. Consumed by blazing desire, they’re soon threatened by the shadows of the past. And now to keep Kata safe, Hunter makes her a bold proposition of his own. Saying yes will destroy her heart. But saying no could cost Kata her life.

Jill Shalvis' feel good stories always cheer me up and make me laugh out loud...

Jill Shalvis -Simply Irresistible
Book 1 in the Lucky Harbor Series
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release: 26 September 2010

Website author

Summary:

Maddie Moore’s whole life needs a makeover.

In one fell swoop, Maddie loses her boyfriend (her decision) and her job (so not her decision). But rather than drowning her sorrows in bags of potato chips, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim the inheritance left by her free-spirited mother–a ramshackle inn nestled in the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington.

Starting over won’t be easy. Yet Maddie sees the potential for a new home and a new career–if only she can convince her two half-sisters to join her in the adventure. But convincing Tara and Chloe will be difficult because the inn needs a big makeover too.

The contractor Maddie hires is a tall, dark-haired hottie whose eyes–and mouth–are making it hard for her to remember that she’s sworn off men. Even harder will be Maddie’s struggles to overcome the past, though she’s about to discover that there’s no better place to call home than Lucky Harbor.

Happy Abs Day: Construction Workers

2010-08-20T12:11:00.002+02:00

Today I want to talk....construction workers. Since Tuesday this week I've got them buzzing around my apartment complex. And yes, they are buzzing cause I'm their queen bee and they are the workers LOL You're not laughing? Dang, it is a bad attempt on my part to be humorous *sigh*

So I was all ready to let you see some snap shots of these hunks but Sam fried my digi camera @#$%^@#$%^#$%^ *mutters more* I've got no idea how he did it but I took his picture while he was enjoying the panorama from the house he's fixing and poof, there my camera went, I barely got the picture of him on my pc and now my camera is making weird noises.

So I'm afraid you'll have to do with just one picture from the construction workers in my street! I must confess, Sam is the best among the lot of them *grin* So I'll give him to you extra large so you can ogle every feature he has to give you *grin*

Have a great friday everyone, I'm off to prepare for a great weekend and a sleep over at my sis next week :)

On the ROOB Radar: Ebooks

2010-08-18T10:00:00.009+02:00

All my ROOB Radar posts have been focused on print books but as many other book bloggers, readers and reviewers, I too own an e-reader which is nicely filled with a bunch of e-books waiting to be read. Yet, I still manage to add more ebooks to my digital library almost every month. This week I want to share a few ebooks with you all that are on my to-buy list.

Release: 2010, August 13
Publisher: Ellora's Cave/Jasmine Jade Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Book 5 in the Wild Irish Series
Website

Summary:
Friday’s child is loving and giving…

Ewan Collins has had the hots for Natalie for years but she continually rebuffs him, supposedly because of their age difference. When Natalie comes to stay with the Collins family for a week, Ewan decides it’s time to make his move in a serious way.

Natalie’s been in a funk since celebrating another birthday alone. When Ewan proposes to help her “get a life”—seven lessons in seven days—she figures, what the hell does she have to lose? Ewan’s plans include tequila shots, fishing, karaoke…and other, more erotic hands-on demonstrations.

But Nat’s loneliness isn’t Ewan’s only obstacle. Tragedy in her past continually takes Natalie to a dark place her mind can’t easily overcome. With support, tenderness and love, Ewan plans to win over Natalie one lesson at a time.

Starting with lessons of the heart.

Release: 2010, August 31
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Western Romance, Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense
Book 2 in the Red, Hot & Blue Series
Website

Summary:
The best way to heal a broken heart is to jump right back on the horse. So to speak…

After watching the girl he’s crushed on for years fall for his best friend, the last thing special operative Jack Gordon wants is a vacation. If cooling his heels doesn’t drive him crazy, doing it under his family’s scrutiny will.

But once he’s back home things get more than a little interesting. The new farm hand is cute, sexy—and his instincts tell him she’s got something to hide. Luckily, he’s got the skills and the backup to find out what.

Gordon Equine is the perfect place for Niccolina Campolini. The Gordons pay in room, board and cash. And they don’t ask questions. Perfect for a girl on the run…until Jack shows up. Sexy as hell and far too inquisitive, Jack strikes sparks and suspicions that put both her body and her heart in danger.

Jack knows better than to trust a woman with as many shadows as Nicki, but the heat waves of their attraction are messing with his focus. And when her secrets catch up with her, he’s not sure if he’s protecting her from something, or protecting his family from her…

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Warning: This book contains extremely stupid gangsters bearing guns, a bored team of special operatives looking for some action, and one Southern gentleman guaranteed to charm your panties off.

Release: 2010, September 7
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Book 4 in Men of S.W.A.T Series
Website

Summary:
Fourteen years of friendship, it all comes down to this…

Sissy Kolchek is a smart-mouthed waitress with a southern accent that’s thicker than honey and a life that isn’t nearly as exciting as some people think. As the daughter of the town tramp (?), she’s cynical about men, relationships and anything marked ‘one size fits all’. Beneath her wisecracks is a woman who secretly longs for a family and a place where she belongs.

Jason ‘Ranger’ Diver is an undercover cop who has seen the dark side of love and wants nothing to do with it. With his chaotic lifestyle, he hasn’t the time nor the inclination to become involved with only one woman especially not his friend, Sissy. He’d fantasized about since high school and when they kissed, she’d rocked his world. Jace is captivated by the woman she’s become and as their relationship grows he finds himself torn the biggest case of his career and the love of a good woman.

Warning: Copious amounts of hot lovin’, random bad guys wrecking havoc, a goat named Casper, more sexy cops than you can shake your nightstick at and the deliberate destruction of the English language.

Release: 2010, September 17
Publisher: Ellora's Cave/Jasmine Jade Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Stand Alone
Website

Summary:
Briefs are Elena Thomas’s life, whether they’re legal at her day job or on the men in the erotic novels she writes. She’s just fine with saving her imagination for her books until temptation appears in the form of Nunzio, the smokin’ office IT guy. When he discovers one of her scorching books shooting out of the printer, Elena’s not sure if he wants her because she’s inventive or because he thinks she’s desperate. That doesn’t stop her from taking advantage of his “services”.

On her desk. On the copier. And, oh yeah—in her boss’s chair.

Nunzio’s shocked to learn Elena’s wall-hugging persona hides a wildcat of a woman with delicious fantasies and an enticing wit. She’s exactly what he’s been looking for in an adventurous lover—and girlfriend. He knows she enjoys their sexual research. Now he just has to convince her that sizzling sex is only the first chapter of their blazing-hot romance.

Release: 2010, October 26
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book 4 in the Granite Lake Wolves Series
Website

Summary:
Score one for the underdog…er…wolf.

TJ Lynus is a legend in Granite Lake, both for his easygoing demeanor—and his clumsiness. His carefree acceptance of his lot vanishes, though, when his position as best man brings him face to face with someone he didn’t expect. His mate. His very human mate. Suddenly, one thing is crystal clear: if he intends to claim her, his usual laid-back attitude isn’t going to cut it.

After fulfilling her maid-of-honor duties, Pam Quinn has just enough time for a Yukon wilderness trip before returning south. The instant attraction between her and TJ tempts her to indulge in some Northern Delight, but when he drops the F-bomb—“forever”—she has second thoughts. In her world, true love is a fairytale that seldom, if ever, comes true.

Okay, so maybe staging a kidnapping wasn’t TJ’s best idea, but at least Pam has the good humor to agree to his deal. He’ll give her all the northern exposure she can stand—and she won’t break his kneecaps.

Now to convince her that fairytales can remake her world—and that forever is worth fighting for.

By popular demand: Clumsy sidekick wolf grows up, sarcasm reigns, and the wilderness gets wilder. Includes hot nookie in places you expect—like a remote cabin—and places you don’t.

Release: 2010, October 26
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Book 1 in Extreme Racing Series
Website

Summary:
From zero to sixty in a heartbeat—if she doesn’t throttle him first.

When CJ Randall arrives in Nevada to cover the Celebrity Pro/Am Off Road Rally for DRIVE Magazine, she’s already stuck between a cactus and a hard place. Her boss has made it clear if this article doesn’t measure up, her job is wrecked. Then she gets a look at the “pro” half of her “am”: Tan. Rich. Overconfident. Unsuitable. Bachelor. Lacking. Ethics.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

She’s sworn off tall, dark and handsome men. Too bad the desert heat is making her hyperventilate like a hormone-crazed teenager.

Despite her makeup-free face and ready-to-go attitude—a far cry from the high-maintenance women he’s used to—Bryce Danvers doesn’t expect CJ to last an hour. To his surprise, she toughs out the entire day. The least he can do is show his appreciation with some fast food and a friendly kiss.

The instant their lips connect, warning klaxons go off in CJ’s head. He’s a taste of heaven she can’t afford to sample again. Bryce finds himself wanting to give her generous curves a bumper-to-bumper inspection. And his focus on the checkered flag shot all to hell.

Warning: If you like your stories PG-13, this is not the book for you. If you like Boy Scout race car drivers with clean-cut reputations, you should pass. And if you like to breathe while reading, steer clear. Love, laughter and hot, hot, hot sex scenes will leave you gasping for air.

Happy Abs Day: Men in Kilts

2010-08-13T11:00:00.001+02:00

Hi Everyone!

It is another Happy Abs Day at the ROOB blog, and today our happy abs are all wrapped up in kilts! Kilts come in many different styles these days, there is one for every occasion...

So let the fashion kilt parade begin...

Traditional blue or casual red... yet yummy!

Leather kilt for a sexy evening...
It works for Chris Capaldi imo...

Eccentric or jeans...

Gerard Butler is dressed to kilt...

Naughty, mini or thong kilt...

Outdoors, romantic kilt...

Trendy or lowrider kilt...

So the cross hatch pattern does not dominate the kilt anymore...

The kilt has found its way into the 21th century!

Happy kilted Abs Day!

On the ROOB Radar

2010-08-11T14:11:00.001+02:00

SARA BENNET - A MOST SINFUL PROPOSAL

Release Date: August 2010
Book 1 in the Husband Hunters Club
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
A most wicked education...

Marissa Rotherhild has always behaved exactly as a proper lady should, and it has done absolutely nothing for her. So now she has made a most sinful proposal. She wants to live only for pleasure, and she wants Lord Valentine Kent to instruct her in the ways of love and lust. Caring not for scandal or the whispers of society, she craves his every wanton touch.

It is every rake's fantasy.
Lord Valentine Kent has never before been so tempted. Though he is every bit the gentleman, from the moment Marissa arrives at his country estate he can think of nothing but her wild, dark curls and luscious curves. But submitting to passion must wait until he completes the search for an ancestral treasure.

It is a most honorable endeavor.
But Kent and Marissa will soon discover that even the best of intentions is no match for a desire as desperate as theirs . . .

ALEXANDRA ADORNETTO - HALO

Release Date: August 2010
Book 1 in the Halo trilogy
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone - especially herself - from the Dark Forces. Is love a great enough power against evil?.

JILL MARIE LANDIS - HEART OF STONE

Release Date: March 2010
Part of the Irish Angels series
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
Finally free to pursue her dreams, Laura Foster is trying hard not to fall in love. She knows that the Reverend Brand McCormick's reputation would be shattered if her former life is discovered. But it's not only Laura's history that threatens to bring Brand down - it's his own..

CHARLES BROKAW - THE LUCIFER CODE

Release Date: August 2010
Bk 2 in the Thomas Lourds series
For Sale At: The Book Depository Store

Synopsis
Thomas Lourds ventures to Istanbul University in Turkey to examine artifacts never before seen by Western scholars. He's barely off the plane before he's kidnapped by ruthless people who leave a string of dead bodies in their wake. They want Lourds to translate coded writings that they hope will lead them to a lost scroll authored by John of Patmos - the same John who wrote the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The writings on the scroll might bring about the end of the world - or might stop it. They might even raise the Devil himself - but there are signs that the Devil has already risen and that he is very interested in Thomas Lourds.

No one knows for sure what will happen if the scroll is found, decoded, and translated, but several powerful men are seeking it, and they will stop at nothing to get it. And one of those people has ties to the US government, ties that lead directly to the White House. Before he knows it, Thomas Lourds is in over his head, dodging spies, crooks, and bullets. He needs help to stay alive - and he has it in the form of a beautiful but deadly Irish Republican Army operative, and in his old flame, Olympia Adnan. Can they navigate the secrets hidden in ancient Istanbul's most secret depths before they are killed? Or will they be too late to stop the terrible workings of the Devil himself before he can bring the world down around them?.

Happy ABS Day - Sexy Gardeners

2010-08-06T13:58:00.000+02:00

A very everyday life chore, turned into thinking about Gorgeous Male Type complete with ABS and X-factor, for this weeks Happy ABS Day.

This week for me has been in theme of working in the garden, front, back, left, right, up, down, everywhere it was in line with garden upgrade, garden shopping and fingers in the mud (which is a killer for gorgeous nails I'll tell ya - but that's beside the point right ?????) honest hard work, but very much rewarding. So when I sat down to write this Happy ABS Day ofcourse garden was still all I could think off and then it popped in my mind, would there be any Alpha Male Gardeners out there and all I can say is hubba hubba, ya-ahhh there are.

It took me a while to find three great gardeners to help me with:

Trimming my Magnolia-Tree

Shoveling my front-yard

Mowing down the grass and weeds

Have

Great

Dreamy

Weekend

!!!!

On The ROOB Radar: All good things come in threes

2010-08-04T13:19:00.001+02:00

All good things come in threes and I've discovered some new series that have at least three releases scheduled in 2011. I know, it's still a long way but before you know it you are shopping for Halloween, Thanksgiving and X-Mas!

I discovered Lisa Renee Jones via facebook and this cover caught my eye but the blurbs *thud* Me.Wants.Now!

Lisa Renee Jones - THE ZODIUS SERIES
website

THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL: SIN AND SATISFACTION

Sourcebooks Casablanca (May 2011)

The world will never be the same after a top secret government projects creates super soldiers with alien DNA injections and those soldiers divide between good and evil.

The Hero: Michael

He is sin and satisfaction, lust and damnation, a lethal weapon created from the greed of man. A human soldier injected with alien DNA, he is one of many, yet none are like him, a legend within this new race, split between good and evil. Untamable, he has walked on the dark side, returned to the light, but it matters not, for he is feared, misunderstood—lethal in all ways possible. Women desire him, lust for the mysterious warrior, hungry for the raw passion that touches his every breath. Men envy his stature, his power; they lust to control him. But there is no controlling a creature such as he, no taming the primal fires within him. He is the past, he is the future.

He is Michael.

ZODIUS #2: STERLING

Sourcebooks Casablanca (October 2011)

Adam, the leader of the evil Zodius soldiers has developed a street drug from his newborn’s DNA that is so addictive that he could easily created a worldwide dependency on him as the only source, as withdrawal kills the user. This drug will give Adam the power to rule the entire population if his plan for mass distribution is achieved. Sterling, and a brilliant, cancer stricken scientist, must stop Adam before it’s too late. But can Sterling trust this woman when he discovers this drug might be her only way of surviving cancer?. Is he in bed, and in love, with the enemy?

The Hero: Sterling

He was created, molded, formed from life, love, and misery…

Lethally daring. Ruthlessly passionate. He invites death to his door. Welcomes it with each breath he draws, each step he takes. And thus he is danger. A volatile storm that will sweep across the calm realms of humanity and shake it to the depths of its core. And that storm is…Sterling.

ZODIUS #3: DAMION

Sourcebooks Casablanca (Fall 2011)

General Powell from book 1 has returned and he’s developed a way to create and control a new generation of female GTECHs. He plans to use these women to bring both, the Renegades and the Zodius soldiers, back under his command. The world will be his. Now, Damion, a Renegade, who readers met in book two, will be pitted against one of those soldiers, a woman destined to be both his Lifebond and his enemy. Damion will become her only hope of salvation and their trust in each other the only chance they have to save the world from a madman.

Now when I read Delilah Marvelle's MISTRESS OF PLEASURE & LORD OF PLEASURE I had a great time reading them. But, that series didn't get a chance to continue so safe to say I was thrilled when I found the info on Delilah Marvelle's back-to-back releases from Harlequin and when i read the blurbs it promises to be an ab-fab time in historical land again with the SCANDAL series :)

Delilah Marvelle – the SCANDAL series
website ~ pre-order

LONDON & SOUTH AFRICA - 1829

Having been raised in the jungles of South Africa, assisting her father in the study of mammal copulation, Lady Justine Fedora Palmer sweeps back into London to embark upon her coming out. She quickly discovers animals are far more civilized than the men surrounding her.

When her father's observations are made public, proving buggery is natural to the animal kingdom, all of London is in a huffing outrage, including His Royal Majesty. Her father is imprisoned and slapped with outrageous penalty fees they simply cannot pay.

Lady Justine becomes more than willing to trade her good name and her place in London's gossip hungry society to secure her father's release. There is only one person she knows she can trust: her father's patron, the Duke of Bradford. A dashing libertine, yes, but one she passionately adores for his unwavering kindness, wit, humor, and a willingness to support her father's studies even as everyone else had laughed her father off.

To her astonishment, the Duke of Bradford is not the same man. His newly marred face hides a scandal that is about to test them both..

LONDON & VENICE - 1829

Lady Victoria Jane Emerson's girlish notions were left behind when she is deserted by her first love, Lord Remington, without a backward glance. Five years later, she is being forced to choose a husband by her father who is dying from an unspeakable disease that has obliterated the last of his mind. Though Victoria must marry out of duty, she has vowed to marry a man who will never break her heart.

Jonathan Pierce Thatcher, Viscount Remington, has returned home to London from Venice, free of all his family's debts but is unable to forget the incredible Victoria he was forced to abandon as a means of protecting her from a scandal that had destroyed his life.

To his astonishment, Victoria's dying father has chosen Jonathan and 2 others to vie for Victoria's hand.

Before Jonathan can convince Victoria he'd be a worthy husband, he has to convince himself he is no longer the man he left behind in Venice.

Victoria finds herself falling for the only man she will ever love...for a second time. But when she unearths the truth about the life Jonathan has been living in Venice, her heart is about to be tested. Again.

LONDON & ST. PETERSBURG - 1829

If there is anything Tristan Adam Hargrove, the fourth Marquis of Moreland has learned to avoid, it most certainly is scandal. The dark and dashing lord is a true gentleman of honor who would never seduce a woman for his own gain

or pleasure. But he plays the role of a gentleman for a reason, and it has nothing to do with respectablity.

When a raven haired beauty appears one night as his new neighbor, he knows better than to succumb to the desire he feels. He knows little about her: only that she is high born, a protege of the Crown, vain, overly forward, and completely unsuitable for the dark, base passions he hides from the world.

If only his bedchamber window wasn't aligned with HER bedchamber window. If only she would cease taunting him by leaving those damn curtains open just for him.

If only it were not already too late to save her and himself from the scandal he is about to unleash in the name of an untamed passion that has kept him from becoming involved with women for years...

So you see...I have two authors and their three books to add to my 2011 wishlist...and this is already starting in the early days of August. I shudder to think what my wishlist of 2011 will look like by the end of 2010...you think a winning lottery ticket will come attached to the wishlist? I certainly hope so!

What already on your 2011 wishlist?

Happy Abs Day: Shemar Moore

2010-07-30T10:00:00.001+02:00

My previous Happy Abs Day post was dedicated to Bradley Cooper. Today for lack of inspriration I am going to dedicate Happy Abs Day to another actor again. I will try and come up with a more original theme in the near future but at the moment with a very busy social life and reading schedule you'll have to do with some of my favorite actors. Today feast your eyes on Mr. Shemar Moore.
Just as Bradley caught my eye in a TV series so did Mr. Shemar Moore and while searching for the name of the soap series he first wowed me in (I will share this info later on) I discovered that Mr Moore is half DUTCH!!! He has a Dutch mom and an African American dad. I always said off-spring of white and black turn out to be some of the best specimens of mancandy on this planet ;) The first language he learned was Dutch as he didn't learn English until he was 5!!!! Are you as surprised as I am??

Okay, back to the subject at hand now...the soap series I was looking for was THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. This soap was aired for a very, very brief moment in time on Dutch television some years ago and this is where I first saw Shemar. Then TV crime shows addict that I am I started watching CRIMINAL MINDS and hey.....there was Mr Shemar "Hottie" Moore again! I'm not saying I watch CM for him but if he were to leave the series I am sure I will enjoy it a lot less than I do with him in it.

Enough of the Pearl blabbering...I know you guys want some pics...after all this is Happy Abs Day.

I'm starting off with some non-abs ones, just because I feel like it and I am a woman who notices other stuff than abs first *wink*

Look at that smile, look at those pecs, look at those arms!! And tell me you don't want to haul him off somewhere, fog up those glasses and have your merry (dirty) way with him. I dare you!

And now what you all have been waiting for: ABS!! Shemar Moore's delicious, delectable, bite- and lickable ABS!

And now my favorite of the bunch...I could stare dreamily at this one for hours and hours and hours...and hours and hours...

Happy Abs Day and Happy Drooling!

Requested Review: Laura Griffin - Unspeakable

2010-07-29T08:00:00.029+02:00

Mass Market Paperback; 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books - June 29, 2010
ISBN-10: 1439152950
ISBN-13: 978-1439152950
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Book: Book Two in Tracers Series
Main Characters: Elaina McCord & Troy Stockton
On sale at: The Bookdepository Store

Summary:

ELAINA MCCORD WANTS TO FIND A KILLER.
BUT HE’S ALREADY FOUND HER.

Elaina McCord’s dream of being an FBI profiler is in danger with her first case—investigating a string of murders near a Texas beach resort. The victims, all young women, were drugged and brutally murdered, their bodies abandoned in desolate marshland. Elaina’s hunch—met with disbelief by local police—is that these are only the latest offerings from a serial killer who has been perfecting his art for years, growing bolder and more cunning with each strike.

True-crime writer Troy Stockton has a reputation as an irresistible playboy who gets his story at any cost. He’s the last person Elaina should trust, let alone be attracted to. But right now Troy, along with the elite team of forensics experts known as the Tracers, are her only allies in a case that’s turning dangerously personal. A killer is reaching out to Elaina, taunting her, letting her know how ruthless he is and how close he’s getting. Now it’s not just her career that’s in danger—it’s her life. . . .

Pearl's Review: Elaina McCord wants to follow in her legendary profiler father’s footsteps and be a profiler too. Elaina is ambitious and responsible. She’s a no-nonsense type of woman with a hidden softer side. Fresh out of the Academy, she’s sent to a small Texas FBI office instead of one of the hotshot big town offices. A homicide investigation on Lito Island is her first shot at proving herself. Elaina has ideas about the homicide and suspects a serial killer but her male colleagues and the local police don’t care much for her opinion.

One of the few who believes her and is willing to help her prove her suspicions is former newspaper reporter turned crime writer, Troy Stockton. Troy is a smooth charmer and despite his surfer-dude look and his seemingly laidback attitude he’s as sharp as the come. When they start working together the sparks fly between them but both know that they have to focus on the case rather than the sizzling chemistry between them, especially when the killer starts focusing on Elaina.

Just as with all the previous Laura Griffin Books I was entranced from the moment I cracked the spine and started reading the prologue. UNSPEAKABLE is a romantic suspense novel that turned out to be right up my alley as it focuses on FBI and suspect profiling, which is one of my preferred suspense/law enforcement tropes. Reading it felt like watching a mix of my favorite TV crime shows (Criminal Minds and CSI) all rolled into one, topped off with a subtle yet sensual romance. Laura Griffin had me speculating and guessing who the killer was and it wasn’t until about 2/3 into the book that I pegged the killer after two false guesses. With subtle hints and clues she leads you in a certain direction and then steers you in the right one at the end. I love how she does this.

As with the first book in this Tracer series, the Delphi Center (elite forensic lab) and some of the Tracers played a significant role in the solving of the plot and finding the killer. There’s a cold case subplot with Mia Voss, the DNA expert, and police officer Ric Santos that not only gets nicely tied in with the main plot but is also a prelude to the next book, at least I think the romance part of that sub plot is. However, Laura Griffin has been known to lead me in a certain direction when pairing characters and then surprise the heck out of me with the end product, so I am not putting all my money on the Mia and Ric match.

When reviewing Laura Griffin’s books I am afraid I sound like a broken record. Again I loved the clean and crisp writing and the subtle way the romance was set-up, imbedded in the story and woven through the suspense plot. Again I was mesmerized by the suspense that made me go through the book like a warm knife goes through butter. UNSPEAKABLE is a quick-paced read as I couldn’t stop reading and had to know the outcome of the plot and I was kept entranced by the search for a (serial) killer who crept me out. And again I have nothing but praise for Griffin’s knowledge of law enforcement, her excellent writing skills and the amazing way she combines the two to deliver a story that wasn’t as heart-pounding as some of her other books I’ve read but this absolutely didn’t diminish the wonderful reading experience I had with UNSPEAKABLE.

For me Laura Griffin never fails to deliver and I hope this Tracer series won’t end with book 3: UNFORGIVABLE as there were enough secondary characters in UNSPEAKABLE to warrant at least a few more books in the future. Among them are Troy’s friend Cinco Chavez, Tracer Ben Lawson (cyber crime expert) and Tracer Kelsey Quinn (forensic anthropologist). With these three I think there’s enough material there to continue the Tracer series for a while, if not with their own books, maybe with secondary storylines. I’d especially like to reacquaint myself with Cinco in the future.

UNSPEAKABLE is another awesome Laura Griffin book. It was fast-paced with excellent suspense and just enough romance to take it out of crime fiction/thriller and into romantic suspense territory. When the Dutch networks fail in offering me new episodes of my favorite TV crime shows I know whose books I can turn to instead.