Recommendations from Karin, Peggy and Maia

In order to bring some more variety to my blog, I have asked my best friend Maia, my new friend Karin from Austria and our old/new friend Peggy from Belgium to give us their recommendation of the month.

Karin:

I have read 12 books and one anthology in the past month, and the 3 books I enjoyed the most are:
1. Demon Night (Bound, Blood) by Meljean Brook



2. A Fatal Four-Pack (L.L. Bartlett; Rae Davies; Deb Baker; P. B. Ryan



3. Enthralled (Lora Leigh: Alyssa Day; Meljean Brook; Lucy Monroe)



The one I can recommend to all Aurian’s readers is:

Demon Night – Meljean Brook



Beautiful Charlie Newcomb is being hunted by vampires, for she is the link to a medical miracle that could be invaluable to the night stalkers. Her only protection is her guardian, Ethan. But will he be enough to save her when darkness falls?

The thing is – I chose this book as it started my addiction to the Guardian Series by Meljean Brook. I also sneaked in the two other favourites of mine in this ongoing series that is (un)fortunately going to end with Michael’s book on August 6th. All the books deal with one couple in a world where Guardians (sort of angels) defend mankind against demons, Lucifer himself and anything evil you can think of. All three books that I mentioned have such great leading couples. You can’t help but cheer for them when they succeed in a world full of problems and feel for them when things turn bad. I started this series with the third book and had an easier entry than with the first book (which I read later – as per suggestion of the author herself.
Give this series a try – it’s definitely worth it!!

Aurian: Thanks Karin! I have also bought the four pack of (cozy) mysteries for the good cause, but still have to read them. And Enthralled is on my TBR as well, I really want to read that Alyssa Day story!

Maia:

I have read 4 novels and one novella in the past month, all by Christine Warren and the 3 books I enjoyed the most are:

1. Christine Warren - You’re so Vein



2. Christine Warren - Fur Factor (aka Big Bad Wolf)



3. Christine Warren - The demon you know



The one I can recommend to all Aurian’s readers is:

Christine Warren - You’re so Vein.



Ava Markham is beautiful, savvy, chic, and more at home with Kate Spade than with the idea of fangs and fur. She can't get quite used to the fact that some of closest friends have crossed over to the Other side. Then one night she is attacked by a rogue vampire, and her deepest fears are realized when her body begins a dangerous transformation from human to immortal - a change she cannot survive without the help of an alluring stranger who comes to her rescue...
Vladimir Rurikovich, an elite member of the European Council of Vampires, is on the prowl for a murderous vampire fugitive on the night he saves Ava from the clutches of death. It takes just one look for Dima to know he cannot live another eight centuries without the stunning and seductive Ava - until he discovers a secret about her bloodline that could change everything...


I started reading the Christine Warren ebooks, because I had a couple of them printed out and got swept up in her world. Christine’s series is a bit difficult to follow because the printdate doesn’t match with the sequence of the series.
She first published six novella’s as ebooks. Then she started (with a new publisher) the series anew and reworked and expanded the old stories into new books.
The series has ended and the picture is clear. It is:

1. 2008 One Bite with a Stranger (aka Fantasy Fix)
2. 2009 Big, Bad Wolf (aka Fur Factor)
3. 2010 Prince Charming Doesn’t Live Here (aka Faer Fetched)
4. 2011 Black Magic Woman
5. 2011 Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale (aka Fighting Faer)
6. 2012 On The Prowl
7. 2012 Drive Me Wild (aka Fur For All)
8. 2013 Hungry Like A Wolf (aka Fur Play)
9. 2006 Wolf at the Door
10. 2006 She’s No Faerie Princess
11. 2007 The Demon You Know
12. 2007 Howl at the Moon
13. 2008 Walk on the Wild Side
14. 2009 You’re So Vein
15. 2010 Born to Be Wild

The upside of this confusion is that the books are very good to read as stand alone. So I could pick the ones that spoke to me the most. That’s why I read You’re so Vein. I liked Ava Markham in the novella’s and was very curious who she would be paired up with. Christine Warren didn’t disappoint me. Vladimir is a rounded character who is a great match for Ava. Throw in some action and you have my favourite book of the month.

Aurian: Thanks Maia! I have had this series on my wishlist, and some of the books on my TBR for years now. Someday I will read them all.

Peggy:

I have read 8 books in the past month, and the 3 books I enjoyed the most are:

1. Gina L. Maxwell – Rules of Entanglement



2. Beverley Kendall – All over you



3. Abbi Glines - Breathe



The one I can recommend to all Aurian’s readers is:

Gina L. Maxwell – Rules of Entanglement



Seven days. And seven rules to break...

District Attorney Vanessa MacGregor firmly believes that structure and order are the stuff that dreams are made of. Happiness can be planned - and it starts with the seven rules she's laid out for her future. But as she's organizing her best friend's wedding in Hawaii, all of Vanessa's best-laid plans are about to meet their match in a wickedly hot MMA fighter...
Jackson "Jax" Maris is focused on surfing, training, and fighting. That is, until he opens up his big mouth and finds himself having to pretend he's engaged to his little sister's best friend, Vanessa. When they're forced to share a romantic bungalow, however, their little charade suddenly takes a turn for the seriously sexy. And while Jax is definitely not part of Vanessa's long-term plan, he has seven days - and seven naughty nights - to turn her seven-rule plan upside down.

After reading the first book (Seducing Cinderella) in the ‘Fighting for love’ series I was really looking forward to the second book ‘Rules of Entanglement’ and I wasn’t disappointed. From the beginning sparks are flying around between Vanessa and Jax. It was nice reading Vanessa’s story after meeting her in the first book. Especially after reading about her ‘seven- rule plan’ she lives by. I was very curious to read about the man who would let her forget her own rules. Jax was a surprise for me. Because in this book we see a different side of him. Not the serious brother Lucie talks about in the first book but a man with a secret and someone who’s living day by day. It was great reading how Vanessa breaks her own rules, one by one and how Jax is enjoying it of making her do it. Although this series is about MMA fighters, the theme of the story is about the romance and not the fighting. This book surprised me a few times what I really like as a reader. I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

Aurian: Thanks Peggy! Those are certainly not books on my reading horizon, so I am curious what my readers think of those.

So readers, tell me, have you read any of these books? Do you want to?