Allyson James - Stormwalker

The first book in the Stormwalker series, published May 4, 2010.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: strong
Re-read for the second time.



Janet Begay is a Stormwalker, capable of wielding the raw elemental power of nature's tempests - a power that threatens to overwhelm her. Only her lover, Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker, is able to siphon off her excess energy and calm the storm raging within her - even as their passion reaches unimaginable heights of ecstasy.
Janet and Mick have come to the desert town of Magellan to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the police chief's daughter. The barren land around it is full of vortexes, the gateways that connect the human world with the mystical realm of Beneath, and after encountering skinwalkers and receiving hints from a shape-shifting coyote and a smart-ass magic mirror, Janet fears that her own powerful, scary-as-hell mother is involved.
She's also uncertain about Nick. He can wield fire and never get burned, and Janet can't seem to touch him with her storm powers. But Janet must trust him, since she and Mick find themselves venturing where no human can survive alone - and only together can they overcome the greatest danger they've ever faced.


I've read this series quite some time ago, and as I recently purchased the fifth book in the series (sadly in e-book as I love those covers and just prefer print-books) I thought a re-read was in order.
I still enjoyed this story very much, it is still fresh and original and filled with great characters and action and my kind of humor. And yes, a few hot love scenes! Janet is a Navajo woman with strong Storm magic inside of her. She has come home to Magellan to find a missing person, but she also bought a derelict hotel and has hired a lot of locals to get it up and running again, amongst them a feisty female electrician.
Enter on the scene Mick, her mysterious biker boyfriend. Can she trust him, when he tells her nothing about himself? And the Unbeliever: Sheriff Nash Jones, who was the missing woman's fiancée and doesn't believe anything Janet tells him about the paranormal stuff going on. As it happens, Nash is a null, and magic just disappears inside of him, without him even noticing.
Growing up Janet had a hard childhood, born out of wedlock, raised by her shy father, her extremely stern grandmother and her aunts, she didn't know how fast she could escape that life and drive away on her Harley. Her mother died at her birth, but apparently, she wasn't her real mother, that was a Goddess from Beneath, a Goddess bent on capturing Janet to force her to free her… And she doesn't hesitate to sent Nightwalkers or Skinwalkers after her to capture her.

Lots of action, intrigue and suspense, and of course magic. Janet is though, and when is not there for her, well, she just takes care of everything herself. Still, I loved the scene where he broke her out of jail! And ladies, there is a magic mirror as well, with a very dirty mind…

If you haven't read this series yet, go for it, I promise it is worth your time.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Jayne Castle - Amaryllis

The first book in the Curtain: Futuristic World of St. Helen's series, published 1996.
Genre: futuristic/paranormal romance
Cover: pretty. The new cover has a shirtless hero in a long leather coat on it, ridiculous.
Re-read: for the second time.



Amaryllis Lark is undeniably beautiful. She's also one of the best psychic detectives on St. Helen's, the earth colony recently cut off from the mother planet, yet not so very different from home - a place where love still defies the most incredible odds. Lucas Trent, the rugged head of Lodestone Exploration, isn't keen on the prim and proper type - and, from her neatly buttoned business suit to her cool evaluation of his request to bust a corporate thief, Amaryllis is excruciatingly proper.
Amaryllis may have psychic powers but she can't read minds - least of all her own. When a bold hunch leads them from a wild murder investigation to a red-hot love affair, Amaryllis is shocked. Lucas is delighted - and no power on heaven, earth or St. Helen's can keep them apart!


St Helen's is a hard world for humans, their technology and plastics didn't survive on the planet, so they were thrown back a few hundred years, technology wise, and had to make a whole new society based on the ancient labours, farming, fishing and building. But the people changed as well, developing psychic powers. Some had different talents, others were focuses, able to build a prism in their minds that the talents could use, and they had to work together. Strong powers are good and respected, but too strong a power, and people are afraid of you.
Lucas is one of those, but he has managed to hide how strong he was during testing. But now he needs a class 10 full scale prism, and Amaryllis Lark is one of the few who qualify. Can they work together?
And so from finding out the truth about the person selling his company's secrets, to finding the murderer of Amaryllis' old professor and mentor, they stumble in a few different adventures. And into each other's arms. Neither has ever felt the strong attraction when working with a person using their psychic talents. But on St Helen's, old fashioned values have been reinstated. A marriage is for life, and the only ones that are accepted by society, are those matched by a marriage agency. Love and lust only last so long, compatibility is needed for the long haul. But it is very rare for two such strong talents to be matched; do they dare choose to marry anyway? Amaryllis' family certainly is against it…

I wanted to re-read this series, as I was a bit disappointed in the latest Amanda Quick book I read, and I wanted to go back to her roots, and try something old. I remember falling in love with this genre thanks to this series, and I enjoyed it a lot, re-reading this first book. I will certainly re-read Zinnia and Orchid soon. (If you don't know, Jayne Ann Krentz, Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick are the same person, different genres).
I love the paranormal aspect, the psychic powers and the hint of suspense in these books. But I think I prefer her Harmony books, as those have the added cuteness of the alien Dustbunnies!

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Amanda Quick - Garden of Lies

A stand alone novel, published April 21, 2015.
Genre: historical romance/suspense
Cover: dark



The Kern Secretarial Agency provides reliable professional services to its wealthy clientele, and Anne Clifton was one of the finest young women in Ursula Kern’s employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end—and Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes.
Bent on justice, Ursula hatches a plan: take Anne’s place as stenographer to the reclusive poet Valerie, Lady Fulbrook. There are dark rumors about Lord Fulbrook, and his gloomy mansion in Mapstone Square seems the logical starting point for an undercover investigation.
Archaeologist and adventurer Slater Roxton thinks Mrs. Kern is off her head to meddle in such dangerous business. But if this mysterious widowed beauty insists on stirring the pot, Slater intends to remain close by as they venture into the darker side of polite society and a den of iniquity called the Olympus Club. Together they must reveal the identity of a killer—and to achieve their goal they may need to reveal their deepest secrets to each other as well...


Lately I have become a bit disappointed in my autobuy authors, the ones that I have read and loved and followed for over 20 years. There is so little freshness about the stories, the characters all read the same. Sure, the stories are a bit different, but they are all built along the exact same lines. Compared to other historical romance authors, yes, these are very different, but if you have read 20 Amanda Quick stories, there are few surprises left.
Sure, the setting is a bit different, the chosen professions of the mature heroine, and the heroes are still dark and mysterious and a bit scandalous. They meet, he knows she is "the one", they set out on a dangerous murder investigation together as he refuses to let her do it alone, he seduces her, and when she thinks it is all over: mystery solved, affair concluded, he proposes.
The secondary characters are often those that add the touch of humor to the story, like his servants with the theater background and his mother, who is an actress.

Don’t understand me wrong, I still enjoy reading these stories, but it doesn't surprise me anymore, make me sit on the edge of my seat. And that I miss, a lot. As a reader, I love originality and surprising twist and turns. Especially as I have been reading for so many years, and have read so many books.

8 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Gini Koch - Plush Life

A stand alone novel, published March 5, 2016.
Genre: romantic suspense
Cover: not sure about that, it doesn't really appeal to me



Lifelong friends Tom and Meggie must pretend to be married at a New Orleans retreat to land the make-or-break account their small company needs, but when Meggie is kidnapped by her ex-fiance, more than just their business is endangered.


This was a fun book, but also an emotional rollercoaster. Meggie and Tom have been best friends almost all their life, and in love with each other, but neither dared to do something about that, afraid of breaking their friendship if the love wasn't mutual. Meggie has even gone so far as to be engaged to someone else, feeling she should try to move on.
They have started a company together, creating plush animals, and now they are about to land the biggest account of their career. And to do that, they will have to go to a weekend retreat in Louisiana, and pretend to be married. Apparently, only married couples get contracts with this particular company.

Meggie's new ex-fiancé doesn’t take it easy, he intends to marry Meggie this weekend, and if she doesn't want to, he will make her comply to his wishes. After all, he is a doctor, and his best friend is an attorney, who will stop him? They even have a pastor lined up to do the deed…

What follows is a mad race through New Orleans when Meggie does get kidnapped, with friends and foes trying to find her, and with unlikely people aiding Meggie…


I really enjoyed reading this book, even though it made me cry at times for Meggie. Because while there is a lot of humor in this book, and great characters, and hot love scenes, and of course suspense, behind it all is a fear that Meggie has kept hidden since she was 15 years old. Certain that Tom won't be able to love her when the truth comes out, her ex-fiancé has used it against her, and awoken and ignited all her old fears. And so she is not only fighting for her freedom, she is fighting for her sanity and against her inner demons.

I think Gini Koch can write romantic suspense just as well as she writes her Alien series, but I have to admit, this couple does remind me of Jeff and Kitty a lot…

8 stars.






It is not for sale at my favourite bookstore, but you can buy it at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Plush-Life-Gini-Koch/dp/153007357X%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIC4DTHWMHZAANS6Q%26tag%3Dspeculativefic05%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D153007357X

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Recommendations from Peggy for April 2016.

In order to bring some more variety to my blog, I have asked some of my bookish friends to tell about the books they have read in the past month, and to give us a recommendation. Today’s post is made by Peggy from Belgium.

Peggy:

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

1. All that jazz – Natasha Boyd



There's something totally inconvenient about falling for your best friend's brother. Especially when he's turned into a pompous, arrogant, albeit annoyingly sexy a-hole that you'd like to punch or kiss to death at any given moment.

After a stupid favor that blurred the lines from friends to lovers the summer she turned eighteen, Jazz Frazer accidentally lost her heart to Joey Butler. For three years they've pretended there's nothing between them anymore. Jazz is finally ready to move on with the rest of her life. She's determined that experiences and relationships will be fun, casual and easy. After all, she learned the hard way that men just don't stick around anyway. But when her best friend gets herself into a relationship with a celebrity, Jazz has to do the one thing she never thought she'd do, call Joey and ask for help.
Repeatedly thrown together, Jazz tries everything she can to protect her heart and not fall back in love with Joey. But when Joey finally admits that Jazz is the one he's always wanted, all bets are off.

This is a full length, standalone, contemporary, friends to lovers and second chance romance. It is a spin off from the Eversea series and may therefore contain minor spoilers.


2. Canada Square – Carrie Elks



Secrets have a way of coming out...
Amy Cartwright isn't sure who she's supposed to be anymore. Her family thinks she's flighty, her ex believes she's a walkover (the bastard) and her friends think she's plain crazy. But there's a different side to her that nobody sees, nobody but the cool, sexy Scotsman who just happens to be her boss.
Callum Ferguson isn't looking for excitement; he's had that and it almost ruined him. He likes things calm and predictable - everything that his new PA turns out not to be. But from the moment she walks through his office door it's as though the light has come back into his life, and he can't get her out of his mind.
Fighting against the inevitable, they both try to ignore the attraction, but the flame of desire is too bright. They're soon drawn into a steamy love affair that they have to hide from everybody, knowing the revelation could cost them everything they've worked so hard for, as well as each other.
Author note: Canada Square is #3 in the Love in London Series, but can be read as a standalone novel.

3. Reckless surrender – R.C. Martin



Three and a half years ago, Daphne walked into my shop, kicked open the door to my soul, invited herself inside, and got comfortable. By the time I realized she’d made herself at home, it was too late to kick her out. Now, I’m in love with her. But I’m not her boyfriend. She’s not my lover. We’re just friends…

Trevor’s it for me. I love him so much it drives me crazy. But we’re broken—two battered people whose souls have been ravaged by the world. We decided a long time ago that we wanted to love each other but not attempt to fix one another. Instead, we give each other as much as we can. I’m beginning to wonder if that’s ever going to be enough…

Daphne is my best friend, our bond forged by a shared mistake that left us both brokenhearted. Her happiness is wrapped in the tattooed package of a man named Trevor, and I want her to have him. I'm bold enough to do anything to push those two together, even if that means consorting with the enemy—her brother, Roman. All I have to do is convince his stubborn ass that my plan will work...


To my delight I received this month an ARC from two writers. One was ‘All that jazz’ from Natasha Boyd (a writer that I met at the Love Letter Convention last year and who was very nice) and the other one was from a new writer (to me) namely Carrie Elks who I will meet this month at the Love Letter Convention in Berlin. I liked both books very much.

‘All that jazz’ is a spin off from the Eversea series but you don’t have to read them to read this book. This story is about Jessica ‘Jazz’ Frazer and Joseph ‘Joey’ Butler. If you have read ‘Eversea’ then you know that Jazz is Keri Ann Butler’s best friend and Joey is her brother. Although we see Keri Ann and her famous boyfriend Jack Eversea in this story, the whole story really revolves around Jazz and Joey. I really liked the way that the writer Natasha Boyd wrote the story from present to past to present again. That she told us, what happened between Jazz and Joey in the past so we could better understand their troubled relationship in the present.

I really loved this story. Sometimes it’s very easy to fall in clichés when telling a story about second chance romance but Natasha Boyd didn’t do that with Jazz and Joey’s story. She made Jazz strong and believable. I really liked the last part of the story. It was the perfect way to go for Jazz and Joey’s story. I’m looking forward to reading the next book of Natasha Boyd.

‘Canada square’ from Carrie Elks is the third book of the ‘London of love’ series but you don’t have to read the first two books of this series to read this one.

One thing that I love in a book is when a writer surprises me with the way the story goes and Carrie Elks did this to me with ‘Canada Square’. After reading the blurb I didn’t really knew what to expect from Amy Cartwright but I can tell you now, that I liked her very much. She got more confidence during the story and you can say that she grew into herself. I loved the way that she stood up against Callum Ferguson. I love the interaction and the chemistry between Amy and Callum and the way that their ‘relationship’ blossomed between them. But it’s also a story about Amy’s friends and her family and how they see her and her ambition for becoming more in life. This story left me definitely curious about the other two stories in this series.

That’s my recommendation for this month.

Until next month.



Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Peggy! Good of you to read books of authors for Berlin, I haven't even started yet!

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Lucy Arlington - Off the Books

The fifth book in the Novel Idea Mystery series, published February 2, 2016.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: lovely



Literary agent and amateur sleuth Lila Wilkins is back to seal the deal in the "New York Times" bestselling Novel Idea Mystery series. "Lila is showcasing some of her biggest authors at a bridal expo. But when the joyous event turns deadly, she ll have to figure out who penned the perfect crime..." The Novel Idea Literary Agency has planned a wedding-themed week for Inspiration Valley, celebrating not only North Carolina s best vendors but also some of the agency s most popular bridal books. The fact that Lila can use the event to plan her own impending nuptials is just the icing on the cake. But wedding bells turn to warning bells when Lila finds a dead man facedown in the frosting. Soon it s discovered that the victim was connected to several Novel Idea authors, all of whom quickly become suspects in the case. It s up to Lila and her fellow agents to find the real killer before one of their clients winds up scribbling stories from behind bars..."


Great series and great characters. Lila sure has her work cut out for her in this book. One client charged with murder, while another one might have done it. But how to prove it?
Add to that the fact that her mother has a new boyfriend, and her son has quit college to follow a career in cooking and her fiancée is reluctant to set a wedding date …
But of course all will work out. I loved that she got closer to her mother, as they were working together at the event. Althea sure is a character that could have her own series!

Recommended!


9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Lisa Shearin - Wedding Bells, Magic Spells

The seventh book in the Raine Benares series, published February 15, 2016.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: lovely



Name: Raine Benares
Race: Elf
Job: Seeker, bride, peace talks referee
Problem: Back-stabbing diplomats, bride-hating mother-in-law

I've successfully destroyed the Saghred (AKA, a legendary soul-sucking rock). I've sent an evil goblin demigod to the Lower Hells. I'm coming to terms with my burgeoning new powers. I'm marrying super sexy paladin Mychael Eiliesor. You'd think I could handle a wedding and meeting my soon-to-be mother-in-law without another calamity brewing. You'd be wrong! The new, thankfully non-psychotic, Goblin King is willing to come to the table to discuss a peace treaty. The Isle of Mid is the site of these delicate negotiations, meaning all hands on deck for Mychael and his Conclave Guardians. When the head of elven intelligence (and my wedding guest) Duke Markus Sevelien is nearly assassinated upon his arrival, I suspect my mother-in-law will be the least of my concerns. Sabotaging the peace talks is the first salvo in a treacherous and deadly new apocalyptic plot. Mychael and I might not make it to the altar after all!


I do love this series a lot, and I am very happy Lisa Shearin is continuing this series on her own. So yes, I bought the expensive print-on-demand version at Amazon. (Why does the cover have to feel so icky on those books? And why does it always seem as little dead bugs are squashed in the pages? Or is that just me?)
Was it worth the money? Absolutely. I did love the story, and the battle with the evil goblins is not ever yet, the next book promises to be epic. Still, it did feel a bit like a filler, like the author has to get back in the vibe herself, and it was more a reunion book with Raine's loved ones who have come to attend her wedding to Michael. With danger and scary creatures thrown in the mix for fun.
Lisa's writing style is just right for me, the mix of humor and kick ass (female) characters, and the elves and goblins. The fight against evil continues, and I want the next book.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian