Evernight Publishing

Review – Dare By Kacey Hammell

December 17, 2012 by Donna B. 1 Comment

Title: Dare

Author: Kacey Hammell

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Dare Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

Legal secretary, Olivia Warner enjoys being single and, aside from her closest gal pals, usually keeps to herself. But the night of her thirty-fourth birthday, she and her friends spend a fun-filled evening at a local bar where her friends dare her to approach a man, and spend the night with him.

Olivia’s not one to turn down a dare, especially from her old college pals. She only hopes the man in question is in for some good conversation, because that’s all she’ll give him.

Darren “Dare” Shalvis has given up on women. He’s tired of being chased for his money, good looks, and prowess in bed. He prefers to meet a woman who, for once, wants nothing more from him than mere conversation. If only the woman asking him to spend the night with her wasn’t his favorite legal secretary.

Accepting a dare has never been so tempting…

Review:

Olivia and Dare are acquaintances from the law firm where she works. He has always wondered if there is more to the buttoned up facade that she portrays at work. Seeing her in a club, asking him to spend the night with her has definitely shown him another side. And he likes it. A lot.

Olivia can’t believe that her friends have dared her to spend the night with a man. At least she gets to pick the man, and they didn’t specify what she had to do with him. Now if she can just survive the next 24 hours without dying of embarrassment, she’ll count her blessings and enjoy the time spent with a hot hunk of man-flesh.

Dare is a fun, sexy story about taking chances and enjoying the fallout. The characters are witty and the ending is somewhat of a surprise…well, not the happily ever after part. I’d enjoy hearing about Candy next.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – Moon Power by Kate Milton

December 12, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Moon Power

Author: Kate Milton

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Moon Power Here!

Rating: You Want To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

Abby loves the thrill of danger that comes from attending masked sex parties, but it’s not long before she finds herself feeling something more than lust for fellow partygoer, Jake Winters. When someone at one of the parties is murdered, and Abby learns that she and Jake were the last two people to be seen with the murder victim, she begins to wonder if Jake could possibly be the murderer.

Abby can’t deny her feelings for Jake, and when he shows up at her apartment, Abby doesn’t hesitate in letting the potential murderer in. When Jake tells Abby an almost-unbelievable story about werewolves, an old werewolf legend, and how it’s all connected to the murder, Abby becomes wary. Can Abby trust Jake, or will her feelings for him only prove to endanger her?

Be Warned: multiple partners, sex toys, f/f interaction.

Review:

Abby is a Southern girl who moved to the big city when she discovered a need for excitement and danger. Her old life was staid and boring…with the exception of the attack from a very large dog. Now, she is attending masked sex parties and falling for a guy she barely knows.

Moon Power is a short story with sexy characters, an interesting plot and a simple setting. The ending seemed to be a bit abrupt, and I would like to have known more about what perks Abby developed with her new powers. I really feel that if Jax wanted Abby as badly as the beginning of the book portrayed, he would have tried a little harder to get her…maybe there will be a sequel? Overall, Moon Power is an entertaining read.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Want To Read

Review – Teacher Knows Best by Janika Snow

December 10, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Teacher Knows Best

Author: Jenika Snow

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Teacher Knows Best Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

The “Romance on the Go” line is made up of short stories meant to be read in one or two sittings.

Baine Rhyes has always prided himself on his self-discipline, but there is one person who breaks that discipline every time he sees her.

Not only is Maya McGowan his student, she is also fifteen years his junior. She is everything that innocence should be, and Baine knows that is what draws him to her most. She is gorgeous and intelligent, but there is a delicateness within her that Baine wants to explore.

When he finally gets the opportunity to have her, Baine knows that although he is breaking every rule to be with her, he can’t and won’t stop. There is also a fear inside of him that screams at him that one time just won’t be enough.

Be Warned: anal sex.

Review:

Told completely from his point of view, Teacher Knows Best is a man’s dream come true and a naughty girl’s fantasy. The plot, a “good girl” student who falls prey to the naughty teacher’s lustful seduction, may be ages old, but it never loses its entertainment value. The book is super short (it is a Romance on the Go), but it has a scorching hot sex scene. The only problem with these short stories is that I always want to know what happens next!

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – Her Alien Abductor By Alexandra O’Hurley

December 7, 2012 by Donna B. 1 Comment

Title: Her Alien Abductor

Author: Alexandra O’Hurley

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Her Alien Abductor Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

Aegarian Saga, 1

Kaya is whisked away from everything she knows after alien soldiers abduct her. She’s thrown into a luxurious prison and has to fight to keep the line between reality and fantasy visible, especially when her traitorous body wants to give in.

Besh abducts the woman without a second thought, knowing her to be his mate. He drops her off at the nearest planet in the realm, trying to give her time to come to terms with her fate but is barred from seeing her due to their cultural rules.

Lord Fatel is charged with tutoring Kaya in the ways of their society, yet is drawn to her like a moth to a flame. He faces death if he touches her, yet thinks of nothing else.

Kaya is given one month to choose if she’ll stay in their world or break free. Only the men aren’t willing to let her go.

Previously published as Abduction. Revised and expanded for Evernight.

Be Warned: sex toys, forced seduction, public exhibition

Review:

Kaya was minding her own business when alien troops marched into her restaurant. After preparing food and drinks for them, she becomes unconscious and doesn’t recall anything else until she awakens in a strange but beautiful place. But nothing is quite as beautiful as the glorious man who informs her that she is to be married to her alien abductor.

Besh knew as soon as he saw her that she would be his. He just has to find a way to convince her to marry him a month after her abduction without ever having met her before that day. Tricky, but doable. Keeping his hands off her will be the hardest thing he has ever had to endure.

Her Alien Abductor is inventive and highly addictive. The characters are sexy and charismatic while the setting is imaginative and vibrant. I can’t wait for the next installment in this erotic space adventure.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – Talbot’s Ploy By Kastil Eavenshade

December 1, 2012 by Erin O'Quinn 2 Comments

Title: Talbot’s Ploy

Author: Kastil Eavenshade

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Talbot’s Ploy Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Erin O’Quinn

Blurb:

Talbot Sauvageot has kept his wicked lifestyle underground for several years, going from one lover to the next. Decedent rake to females by day, passionate lover for his latest male companion at night. When he is forced to flee Paris or face the guillotine, Talbot realizes none of the men he has bedded over the past years burns at his soul like his dear friend Maxime LaRue.

Forced into seclusion in the forest of Bois de Lunor, he receives an invitation from Maxime for their yearly gathering at his estate in Varanguebec. One that Talbot has avoided the past few years. Refusing to submit to a life without love, Talbot schemes to discover if his childhood friend shares the same taste in pleasure as he.

Will Maxime submit to Talbot’s ploy or cast his friend in the shadow of death?

Be Warned: m/m sex, forced seduction, rimming, multiple partners.

Review:

Here is a saucy, roguish, sex- and semen-filled romp through post-revolutionary France. Two men slowly but inexorably seek each other and come together in a final gasp of deep desire and heartfelt love. Passion doesn’t get much better than that!

Talbot Sauvageot is, to any who know him socially, a rake. He is a lover of bawd-halls and ladies’ boudoirs who hides the fact that he is attracted to men . . . especially one man, his childhood friend.

His lifelong friend Maxime LaRue is likewise a rake, one who sardonically holds festive overnight orgies for friends of like mind.

All the while these two old friends are pretending to delight in the flesh of females, each secretly longs for the other but cannot bring himself to betray the deeply held truth.

The story of Talbot and Maxime is full of twists and turns. Talbot, exposed as a sodomite, must seek a hideaway. But when he is invited to one of Maxime’s patented soirées, he throws away caution and seeks out the only man who fully impassions him. Maxime finds himself being drawn physically into Talbot’s embraces and ready mouth, and the two find some relief by means of a secret passageway. All two soon the lovers find that Maxime’s father Marcel has a bride for him, and he is to be married immediately.

Marcel, almost at death’s door, learns of Talbot’s sexual proclivities and declares that he must face his son in a duel. The action gets a bit melodramatic as the old father, coughing blood into his handkerchief, nevertheless proclaims that his beloved son must face this degenerate over dueling pistols.

The writing itself starts out with great promise, as the author plays with words as though they are sensuous playthings:

“The hall . . . curved and warbled in his drunken eyesight.” In the brothel, “squeals of pleasure leaked out of the sliver at the bottom of each door.” When the young Talbot was being pleasured by a partner, he remembered how “Shame and ecstasy . . twirled in a sinful ballet at gazing on another man feasting on his manhood.”

Sadly, the metaphoric language dwindles to a stop. Still, the novel is a beguiling look at homoerotic love in an era when such “depraved” sentiments are met by the cold blade of the guillotine. The love scenes between Talbot and Maxime, especially at the end of the novel, are full-bodied and fresh; and the ending is as satisfying as their exhilarating pleasure together.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: erin, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – Born by Danielle Gauwain

November 30, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Born

Author: Danielle Gauwain

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Born Here!

Rating: You Want To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

The Bound Tetralogy, 4

In the fourth and final novel of The Bound Tetralogy, Isaac Ainsley and Liz Triest decide to let go of demons from the past and move forward with their plans to wed. But who knew that their first challenge as a married couple would come in a corset and thigh-high leather boots?

Morgan Peterson, a crafty and conniving witch from Liz’s past, puts the wedded couple’s faith to the test. With a little help from a diabolical cambion, Morgan seeks to destroy Isaac and Liz’s union.

Will Liz tap into her powerful lineage as a Triest to save her husband from Morgan’s evil grasp?

Be Warned: sex toys (fruit).

Review:

Liz is a witch. Sort of. She has witch in her blood…powerful witch genetics that have survived for generations. However, she was not taught to use her powers, and therefore, she has none. That doesn’t mean that her children won’t have them, and as such, she holds the key to future generations of powerful beings. Whether they are human witch, or demon spawn.

Isaac has waited for hundreds of years, searching for sustenance in one bed after another. As a powerful cambion, he can have any woman he wants, as long as it is in her dreams. But all that changed when he meets his Elizabeth. She is different. She is special, and he feels bound to her in the most elemental ways. Now, he just has to keep her.

The fourth and final book in the Bound Tetralogy, Born has new characters, resolves poor Jordan’s lack of companionship, and finally sees Liz and Isaac happily married. There were quite a few typos in the book, which was a little distracting, but overall it is well written with flowing dialog, an intriguing setting, magic and mystery.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Want To Read

Review – Unbound By Danielle E. Gauwain

November 27, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Unbound

Author: Danielle E. Gauwain

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Unbound Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

The Bound Tetralogy, 3

Unbound, in love, and betrothed, Isaac Ainsley and Liz Triest could not be happier to start the next chapter of their lives together. But trouble lies ahead for the engaged couple.

Without the binding, Liz is exposed to an onslaught of demons, as she is a source of great power. Isaac has his job cut out for him as he wards off masses of cambions, all vying for Liz’s affection. Will he meet his match when one of the cambions is his half-brother?

Be Warned: light bondage

Review:

Liz and Isaac’s journey has been tremendously hazardous, physically and emotionally. After becoming bound to a cambion, Liz thought life couldn’t be much stranger than it had become, but being unbound has proven her wrong. Rival cambions are crawling out of the woodwork to claim the power in her bloodlines, but Isaac is determined to keep her by his side as his alone.

Unbound is the third in the Bound Tetralogy. It is highly imaginative with an engrossing plot, sinfully sexy characters and an eclectic mix of settings. I can’t wait to read the final book in this series and hopefully get to a happy ever after.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – The Eclipse Of The Blood Moon By Doris O’Connor

November 23, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: The Eclipse Of The Blood Moon

Author: Doris O’Connor

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy The Eclipse Of The Blood Moon Here!

Rating: You Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

When the blood moon coincides with Halloween, the forces of darkness unite to wreak their evil spells. Will this All Hallows Eve bring joy or sorrow? Curses abound and destiny calls, as a vampire watches over his human. Devils atone to the moon, and shifters hunt their mate on land protected by a powerful white witch. An angel takes human shape to protect the gypsy girl he loves, and a black widow hunts her prey in human form.

In these five chilling and sexy tales, is love enough to break the cycle? Or is all lost under the orange glow of the menacing sphere in the sky?

Be Warned: multiple partners, anal sex, spanking

Review:

A five book anthology, The Eclipse of the Blood Moon starts off strong with Destined Lovers by Doris O’Connor. Suz and Drake were in love, but a jealous witch cast a terrible spell on them, causing hundreds of years to pass with longing and nightmares the only thing to look forward to. Now that the next blood moon falls on Halloween, the curse can finally be lifted…or they can finally lose each other forever.

Atone for the Moon by Raven McAllan is about a devil Dom who refuses to listen to the Sept’s mandate regarding Lucy’s treatment. He wants her, and he coerces her into allowing him to have his wicked way with her…every way he has dreamed of. The story was a bit confusing for a while, and I’m not sure I completely understand what the characters are supposed to be, but overall it was an entertaining read.

Property Lines by Cherie Nicholls is a sweet, romantic story about meddling parents making a really good choice for their son. It is funny, with charming characters, a quaint setting, yummy sex scenes and a happily ever after. And I love it when an alpha bachelor gets hooked.

Gypsy Butterfly by Michaela Rhua is mysterious and heartwarming, scary and sad, but overall it is sexy and romantic. Nali and Michael have been together for years, but as her guardian angel, Michael was never able to reveal himself…until just before the night that Nali was destined to die. He absolutely could not live through eternity without her, so he did the only thing he could to save her life…

The Black Widow by Arya Grey is an intense, frightening story about love denied for over a hundred years. As is most often the case, love will find a way…even if the lovers in question are a murdering black widow and a blood-sucking vampire. Through one tiny twist of fate, a life is changed and love now has a chance.

Overall, The Eclipse of The Blood Moon is a highly entertaining read with plenty of Halloween tricks and treats, not to mention frights aplenty.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Need To Read

Review – Eternal By London Saint James

November 18, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Eternal

Author: London Saint James

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Eternal Here!

Rating: You Want/Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

The Heart of Winter, 4

Romance writer Winter Wells has found her new life with Hollywood Hottie, Cayden Cain, a blessing and a curse. He is the blessing. His career is the curse. Involved in an unprecedented web of strange events, and wound in a string of lies about to break with devastating consequences, Winter must battle ghosts from her past that threaten to harm Cayden.

Faced with a choice she always knew would be inevitable, can the fairy tale of their relationship beat out the odds of their reality and really come true?

Note: The Heart of Winter is a 4-book continuing series. It is best read in order.

Review:

Winter is in love with a movie star. He is fifteen years younger than her, and he is the hottest thing to grace the silver screen since James Dean. And, amazingly, he is in love with her, too. They were meant to be together, and while circumstances may pull them apart, nothing can keep them that way.

Eternal is the fourth book in the Heart of Winter series. It is a wonderful story about love overcoming all obstacles…even death. The characters are great, if a little overly affectionate towards each other, and the setting is vividly described. There are quite a few typos and grammatical errors which should have been edited out, but overall the story is heartwarming and poignant. I would love to hear about Chandler finally finding his own woman.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Want/Need To Read

Review – Revelation By London Saint James

November 17, 2012 by Donna B. Leave a Comment

Title: Revelation

Author: London Saint James

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Buy Link: Buy Revelation Here!

Rating: You Want/Need To Read

Reviewed By: Donna

Blurb:

The Heart of Winter, 3

Winter’s reclusive life as a romance writer begins to collide with Cayden’s larger-than-life world. Cayden Cain, Hollywood’s hottest heartthrob, is someone who is unattainable in many ways. The odds of a real relationship with him are astronomical.

Besides the pesky paparazzi that are hell-bent on exposing pieces of her once private life, there is so much more conspiring against Winter and Cayden. She cannot survive in his world, and he simply cannot walk in hers. But everything will change when she discovers their worlds have always been connected, forever tied together by fate, by destiny, by unbreakable love.

Note: The Heart of Winter is a 4-book continuing series. It is best read in order.

Review:

Winter and Cayden have been keeping their relationship under wraps. But it is wearing on them. Cayden can’t stand to see another person touch his Winter, and Winter seethes when she sees someone touching him. But they cannot make any overtures during their time in public due to the fact that the fans would eat them up.

Revelation is a very interesting tale of the impossible becoming possible, of love reuniting through the most unlikely ways. The plot is intriguing, the characters are memorable, and the setting is just right. However, there were many typos and continued grammatical errors throughout the book. I truly did enjoy the story, and I am looking forward to the conclusion and hopefully a happily ever after for these star crossed lovers.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Donna, Evernight Publishing, You Want/Need To Read