True Born (True Born Trilogy, #1) by L.E. Sterling
True Born by L.E. Sterling
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
True Born takes place in Dominion City where a plague has descended upon the residents killing off a good portion of the population. Those that are left are divided into three groups, the Lasters, the Splicers and the True Born. Lasters are those who are beyond saving and on the last of their life, Splicers are those rich enough to keep up with procedures to prolong their life and the True Born are a bit of genetic mutation that are immune to the plague and carry properties of certain animals that have adapted to survive this world.
Lucy and Margot are identical twins who are nearing their eighteenth birthday where they should go through what is known as the “Reveal”. At a reveal party it is announced whether each member of society of their will become either a Laster or Splicers. True Borns being feared are not something that is often spoke of so the sisters expect to be of the other two groups. But after numerous rounds of testing no one wants to admit to what the twins could be.
True Born is one of those reads that had so much potential to be a book series that I would fall in love with but fell short of the mark in the end. There were several issues I found with this first installment in the new True Born series that really kept me from enjoying it.
First, I found that the story gets off to a rather confusing start. There’s a lot to take in for the world in this book but the explanations are a bit short and I found myself wondering for quite a while what each type of person really was and what the situation was at the beginning.
Once it got going I had my hopes up of really getting immersed in the story but then we come upon the relationship in the book. I’m not a huge fan of the rather withdrawn female character with no love life up to that point ending up in the relationship with the somewhat jerk of the bad boy. It’s all bad treatment until he feels like making out which is a rather hard relationship to get behind.
Then on top of the rough start and not being a fan of the relationship I still was thinking this would end up being an OK read and start to a series and possibly 3 stars. But I had to drop my rating a bit more after finishing the whole book and feeling like so much wasn’t touched upon and left in the air until the next in the trilogy. The ending I pretty much guessed at when starting and wasn’t at all shocked that was where it was left but would have preferred more answers overall.
Overall, 2.5 stars for True Born, it has potential to be a good series overall but wasn’t overly impressed with the first book.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
You Found Me by Eve Cates book blitz with giveaway
You Found Me: Complete Series
Eve Cates
Publication date: May 2nd 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance
After a summer spent in France with her controlling mother, Sage Forrester is returning to New York to marry her long-time beau, Nicolas Billiton. But there’s a problem, Sage and Nick don’t share much of a…spark.
Sage wonders if she’s incapable of feeling, or if she’s just stifled in her life as a princess of the Upper East Side. Plus, there’s a secret she’s forced to keep to maintain their extravagant lifestyle.
All of this changes when a young Australian model by the name of Cameron Wilson steps onto the elevator and takes notice of her. Her heart starts racing. There’s electricity. There’s a connection.
And he feels it too.
After a series of chance encounters pushes them closer and closer together, Sage is forced to make a decision between doing what is expected and following her heart.
Or will fate have other, much more disastrous, plans?
EXCERPT:
In the golden elevator, I stand quietly as soft piano music floats from hidden speakers, and Nick presses the button to our floor. It’s as if there is absolutely nothing for any of us to say to each other as we watch the doors slowly closing us in.
“Whoa, whoa! Hold the lift!” A male voice cuts through the quiet, and before I know what’s happening, a huge man dressed in faded jeans and a faded blue t-shirt has jammed his body between the doors, causing me to gasp in surprise, and the doors to reopen. “Thanks for waiting,” he grunts sarcastically, glaring at Nick as he punches the button for his own floor. “I guess manners are an Australian thing.” His voice has this beautiful softness to it, even though he sounds annoyed. It sends a delighted chill down
my spine as the screaming inside me stops. When I meet his deep blue eyes, the last thing I want to do is run.
My heart quickens.
Nick forces his hard mouth into a smile. “We didn’t see you.”
It’s as if Nick hadn’t even spoken as the Aussie’s full lips curve into a slow and sexy grin aimed directly at me. “I’m Cameron,” he says, extending one giant hand out to me as the other runs through his thick beard. With his tan skin, tousled dark hair and beard, he has the lumberjack look down perfectly.
Suddenly, all I can think about is watching him chop wood. Shirtless…
Blinking quickly, I clear the image from my mind as I slide my small hand into the gulf of his. “Sage.” I can’t stop the smile taking over as this beautiful warmth travels up my arm, and the world we were just standing in seems to fall away, replaced by nothing more than this very moment.
Keeping a hold of my hand, Cameron’s eyes seem to register the same thing I’m feeling. He grins a little wider and his thumb begins to draw small circles on my skin. “How long will you be in New York, Sage?”
I love the way my name sounds on his lips. I love the way my hand feels encased in the warmth of his. I feel light-headed, drunk, dizzy, and all at the same time. How is this even happening? How is this random person making me feel more alive than I’ve felt in my entire life?
When I open my mouth to speak, the clearing of Nick’s throat breaks into whatever it is that has us so entranced. I turn my head quickly as if woken from a dream.
“Your floor,” Nick states curtly, his lips pressed together in a hard line as he glares at the point where Cameron’s and my hands are still joined.
Author Bio:
Eve Cates is a twenty-something author of contemporary erotic romance. She loves all things naughty, demanding men and difficult situations (pass the popcorn please). Her first series, StepSister Devotion, will be told in four parts, releasing via Kindle Unlimited.
Eve has loved writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and penned a note to her imaginary friend ‘Pok’. Accused of being a ‘dreamer’ as she grew, she’s taken that notion and turned her daydreams into stories to delight and satisfy her readers.
When she isn’t writing, you’ll find her at home with her husband, four children, and two dogs.
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Scandalous Billionaires Boxed Set book blitz with giveaway
Scandalous Billionaires
Eve Gaddy, Katherine Garbera, Kathleen O’Brien, Mimi Wells, Nancy Robards Thompson
Publication date: May 3rd 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Escape to Italy’s fabled Amalfi Coast with five USA Today Bestselling and award-winning authors for a limited time at a special price – only $0.99!
The exclusive Isola del Sole is a billionaires’ playground. Intrigue, adrenaline, and deception rule the day for the wealthy De Luca brothers and their closest friends—but only the right women can ignite their passions during the hot Amalfi nights…
The Billionaire’s Temptation
Rocco De Luca lives and loves in the fast lane. Filling in for his older brother for a few weeks sounds… well, boring. Until he meets Steffi Harlan, who’s in charge of keeping the playboy out of trouble. Except Steffi isn’t immune to Rocco’s charms.
They burn up the nights they spend together… But can they both survive love in the fast lane?
The Billionaire’s Deception
Shel Myerson, wildly successful TV mogul, has no privacy thanks to a recent and ugly public breakup. What he doesn’t expect is to be mistaken as an employee by Janine Pike, the one person in Europe who also doesn’t have any idea who he is.
Shel and Janine discover their chemistry is combustible–but will their budding relationship survive the heat once the press catches on?
The Billionaire’s Betrayal
Matteo De Luca’s single focus is rebuilding his hotel empire, and he’s close to achieving his goal, but there’s a sexy distraction standing in his way. Helena Von Lienz knows it’s finally time to let go. But what she finds are some unexpected truths about her late hubby, and a strong sensual shared desire with Matteo.
Will mixing business with pleasure be the end, or just the beginning, for Matteo and Helena?
The Billionaire’s Secret
When Sophie Smith’s dearest friend asks her to be her stand in at an Amalfi resort, Sophie won’t let her down. Turns out, she get used to this life, especially handsome gardener Declan Muldoon who’s more thrilling than any of the billionaires around.
But Sophie’s not the only one pretending. Declan is actually the black sheep of a very wealthy family, a man in need of an heiress. An heiress exactly like who Sophie is pretending to be…
The Billionaire’s Charade
Summer St. Croix hates weddings. But when she meets hot-as-sin Luke Vanetti, he promises to give her a reason to like them. It’s all sexy fun and games until Summer realizes that Luke is none other than her new boss. And her first assignment is posing as his fiance.
Playing the happy couple is hard enough during the day, but the nights might turn the charade into more than just a job for both of them.
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Grab your copy for only 99 cents!
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The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Sixteen year old Maya has grown up being blamed for her mother dying during childbirth. When Maya was born her horoscope stated that she would bring nothing but death so all throughout her life she has been treated as a pariah and blamed for all bad things. Raised by the women of her father’s harem she’s never been close to anyone.
Now with the threat of an upcoming war Maya’s father has decided to put Maya up for marriage and do away with her horoscope in order to save the kingdom. Little does Maya know her father really has other plans for her. As things fall apart in the kingdom Maya finds herself whisked off to another land.
The Star-Touched Queen starts off rather well and for the first several chapters I thought I was going to really enjoy this read. Unfortunately things fell apart for me about a third of the way through. I think the biggest problem I had was the complete lack of world/plot building. Things just seem to happen all throughout without much explanation of what is going on which ended up being very confusing.
Maya is also not a very likable character as the read goes on. In the beginning she’s described as someone who sounds like she’s going to be really strong and one to root for as she overcomes her situation but what I found as the story went along was I rarely noticed her ever actually make a decision for herself. She really just tends to follow along with each situation and the other characters which was somewhat of a let down.
By the second part of this book I was really a bit lost after some things happening in the first. But to top that off the book just goes into plain weirdness with the events in the second half. I think it’s best to say while I enjoy a good fantasy made up world I’d prefer it be explained as to how or why things are happening and they don’t just pop up.
Overall, couldn’t really get into this book and not really one I’d recommend. The MC seemed weak and the world lacked enough explanation for me to enjoy this more.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
THE KEEPER (Crossing Realms #1) by Rebecca E. Neely Blog Tour with review and giveaway
5/03
5/04
Ellesea Loves Reading
5/05
5/06
About The Keeper (Crossing Realms #1):
Nick Geary, jaded clan leader of human guardians, the Keepers, is doomed to love a human woman who’s forgotten him, time after time, for thirteen years: Libby Klink, a skittish accountant who’s as terrified of her recent and strange intuitions as she is of her mundane existence.
When Nick is ordered by the clan’s guiding force to seek Libby’s help in defending the clan against enemy Betrayers, romance sizzles as the pair forms an unlikely alliance in their desperate search to discover the key to the clan’s salvation—which Libby alone holds.
But a haunting secret could cost Nick everything, and in a race against time, both will be forced to choose between their hearts and duty. Can their love, and the clan survive, or will the very forces that drew them together ultimately destroy them?
The battle in the Steel City begins.
Available on Amazon!
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Exclusive Excerpt:
Her index finger found the button and lowered the window a crack.
Immediately, he raised his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m unarmed.”
Always good to hear. She cocked her head, perplexed. “Who are you?”
“Nick Geary.” Unsmiling, a muscle worked in his jaw. He held her hostage with his eyes. “We need to talk.”
Her heart tripped. No doubt about it. She’d never heard of any Nick Geary, never seen this man before in her life. Or had she? Why didn’t she know? Shouldn’t she? What could they possibly need to talk about? A new kind of panic engulfed her. She pounced on the button, closed the window, and laid on her horn.
Scowling, he mouthed some kind of oath.
The driver door swung open on the truck in front of her. A portly man with a bush of a gray beard got out, lumbered over. Squinted at her. “You okay?” he bellowed as he tugged a T-shirt sporting a Confederate flag over his girth. “This guy messin’ with you?”
Yeah, he was messing with her all right. Air. She needed air. She locked eyes with Nick. His were blue and crystalline, as placid as they’d been stormy. He reached around his neck to finger a shiny stone the green of spring grass, nestled under his collar on what appeared to be a thin leather strap.
It glowed with ember-like intensity. She watched, fascinated.
I-279 South, idling engines, the car radio somewhere behind her booming its bass—all of it receded like floodwater after a storm.
Libby stood on the porch of the cabin she and her father rented for a week every
summer. He came around the corner, fairly glowing. Pink with health. Dad. He slung a fishing rod over his shoulder and winked. “Let’s go catch us a mess of crappies.” The creek, ten feet away, rushed over rocks and fallen trees, its path clear, sure. The sun warmed her face and the air soothed her. She breathed in the scent of earth, burgeoning with spring.
She blinked. Snippets of music and phone conversations littered the highway around her. Libby gaped, unable to speak, like she’d shot down a hill on a roller coaster and banked the curve of the next.
Nick said nothing, his eyes still locked on hers.
Ford Truck shot him a dirty look, then clambered over to her side of the car. “Lady, I said, you okay?” he yelled.
Shaking, she lowered her window, not sparing him a glance. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Muttering something about the country going to hell in a handbasket, Ford Truck stomped back to his pickup and climbed inside.
Still staring at Nick, she clung fast to her resolve before it escaped her. Reaching across the seat, she yanked on the handle, and pushed open the passenger door.
“Get in.”
My review:
Nick Geary is the leader of a clan of Keepers. The Keepers are meant to help out humans whenever they can and often come to the rescue of those in danger when they receive transmissions from the Watchers from another realm. Humans have no memory of a Keeper when coming in contact with one but Nick and his clan are normal hardworking members of society when they are not looking out for humans.
Nick gets a transmission that he needs to find Libby Klink and bring her back to the Keepers, that she will be their only hope of defeating those known as the Betrayers. The Betrayers feed on everything negative in the world and are out to destroy the Keepers. Nick has been Libby’s Keeper for years but she has no memory of him being in her life.
The Keeper is a bit of a mix of paranormal fantasy with a bit of romance thrown into it. An interesting little read with a good bit of action but also a good bit of focus on the relationship between Nick and Libby. I would warn that the relationship seems like it is ones of those cases of insta-love that some are against but without giving too much away it will make more sense as a reader continues the story.
The book jumps right into the situation of Nick finding Libby but the world building comes all throughout the story and by the end of this read I felt I knew everything I needed to enjoy the story. Quite an interesting read with Keepers, Watchers and Betrayers, sort of a the good guys versus the bad with the human race at stake but without us knowing they even exist.
Overall, the first book in the Crossing Realms series and a pretty good start to a new fantasy/paranormal story line, will be interested to see where the author takes this world in future books.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My rating 4/5 stars
About Rebecca E. Neely:
A sucker for a happy ending, Rebecca writes the kind of stories she loves to read—those featuring authentic, edgy and vulnerable characters, smack dab in the middle of action that explodes from page one.
Raised on a down home blend of Johnny Cash, Jack London, Sherlock Holmes, the Steelers, and all things small town, Rebecca feels blessed to have grown up in a close knit, fun loving and artistic family. Her mother, a voracious reader and scratch cook, and her father, an entrepreneur, English teacher and lover of literature, taught Rebecca and her brother to work hard, aim for the stars, and live
life.
With music, books and laughter as constant companions, she grew up working, cooking and eating in the family’s restaurant business. A certified book and hoagie junkie, Rebecca thrives on live music, mysteries and the outdoors.
She’s a cheddar enthusiast, lover of cats, teddy bears, hot coffee, cold beer, thunderstorms, the blast of a train’s whistle, the change of seasons, country roads, woodpeckers, spoon rings, cool office supplies, and the Food Network.
Careers, past and present, include freelance writing, accounting, mother, problem solver, doer and head bottle washer.
Rebecca is a member of the Three Rivers Romance Writers, a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and is honored to serve as a judge for several writing contests each year.
For more info, news and updates about upcoming releases, sign up for Rebecca’s newsletter!
Want to know more about Rebecca?
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Giveaway:
2 winners will receive a $15 Amazon Giftcard & 5 winners will receive an ecopy of Rebecca E. Neely’s The Keeper
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