Lori Handeland - Smoke on the Water

(The third book in the Sisters of The Craft series, published August 4, 2015.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: good, put all three together, very good.



Reunited after four hundred years, three sisters join together to vanquish the power that tore them apart...and embrace the sorcery that is their birthright.

Abandoned as an infant, Willow Black spent her childhood in foster care, the object of whispers and pity...and rumors about being certifiably crazy. Telling your young friends that you can foresee the future-and summon the rain-is a surefire way to end up in the psychiatric ward. But when Dr. Sebastian Frasier arrives at the facility, Willow's whole life takes a turn. Sebastian is the handsomest man she's ever actually laid eyes on-even though he has been in Willow's visions for years. But not even she could have predicted the storm of passion that engulfs them both. With Sebastian by her side, Willow is emboldened to embrace her history, and the sisters she never knew. Soon, the true power in her blood awakes-and the battle she was born to fight begins. While the tempest rages, Willow must depend on the friends and family she's found-and the man she has loved forever...

Absolutely unique third book in the series, with the heroine locked away in an insane asylum. She sees visions in water, and when she saw her would-be killer, she killed him instead. And was declared insane. Where the mother of hero number 2 resides as well (when she doesn't miraculously escape) And her new shrink is no other than the hero, of course. Will he believe in her ?

Yes, I loved all the characters, and the story and the ending. I will certainly re-read these books.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Lori Handeland - Heat of the Moment

The second book in the Sisters of The Craft series, published June 30, 2015
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: good



A spell that tore three sisters apart is broken four hundred years later, when the magic in their blood reunites them. Now, one of them will discover her gift-and reignite a love long thought lost...
Flame-haired Becca Carstairs was born to be a veterinarian. Since childhood, her affinity for animals has been special, and her healing touch nothing short of magic. But only Becca knows the truth-that she alone can hear the creatures' voices. She's always trusted her sixth sense...until a string of missing pets, an attempted murder, and a face from her past converge into one explosive mystery, with her at its center. Is haunted Owen McAllister, the boy who broke her heart ten years ago, related to the sinister crimes that have peaceful Three Harbors, Wisconsin, on its guard? Or is his reappearance part of the answer to questions that have troubled her all her life? As Becca delves into her strange heritage, she'll have to fight for her life...and the man she will always love.


The second book in the series, the story continues, but two sisters are now re-united. Another father that keeps love away from her, of course to no avail. Fascinating with the crazy mother of the hero mixed in. Suspenseful and magical and just very good.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Jayne Ann Krentz - Trust no one

A stand alone novel, published January 6, 2015.
Genre: romantic suspense
Cover: I prefer this one to my own.



It's no coincidence when Grace Elland finds a vodka bottle next to the lifeless body of her boss, motivational speaker Sprague Witherspoon. The bottle is a terrifying-and deliberate-reminder of the horrors of her past. Grace retreats to her hometown to regroup and tries to put everything she's learned about positive thinking into practice-a process that is seriously challenged on the world's worst blind date. Awkward doesn't begin to describe her evening with venture-capitalist Julius Arkwright. She has nothing in common with a man who lives to make money, but the intense ex-Marine does have some skills that Grace can use-and he's the perfect man to help her when it becomes clear she is being stalked. As Witherspoon's financial empire continues to crumble around them, taking a deadly toll, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only Grace, but everyone around her...


Really great romantic suspense, and a story and characters I thoroughly enjoyed. Opposites attract. Recommended!

9stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Recommendations from Peggy for March 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 7 novels in the past month, and the 3 books I enjoyed the most are:

1. The wall of Winnipeg and me – Mariana Zapata
2. A pound of flesh – Sophie Jackson
3. Stockholm diaries, Caroline – Rebecca Hunter

This month I was really looking forward to Mariana Zapata’s new book! She is one of my favorite writers so I couldn’t wait to read her new book ‘The wall of Winnipeg and me’. And just like her other stories I just fell in love with it. Mariana Zapata has a special way of telling a story. Her stories are slow burns (and I mean really slow burns!) but I just adore her stories and the slow way that the writer built a relationship between her main characters.

Vanessa Mazur hasn’t had an easy life. Her childhood was hard but she has always know what she wanted and she has worked hard for it. And now the time has finally come to make her dream come true. She only has to find the courage to tell her boss that she will quit her job. Why is that so hard?!? It isn’t like her boss is her best friend or anything. He doesn’t say good morning or even talk to her much. And still she finds it very hard to ‘leave’ him.

When Vanessa started her job two years ago (for the National Football Organization) she didn’t know what to expect. She knew that she was going to work for a famous sportsman but she didn’t know who. But maybe that was good because ‘The wall of Winnipeg’ aka Aiden Graves is something special. He lives for his sports. He has no social life, he has almost no friends and doesn’t believe in having a relationship when you’re a professional sportsman. He’s just very anti-social if you ask the people around him.

But then one day Vanessa does it, she just quits her job and goes for it. But she never though that Aiden Graves would want her back! Vanessa is shocked and doesn’t know what to think about it. Why would the man that never acknowledge her hard work or even her as a person, now wants her back?? Why doesn’t he just hire a new assistant/housekeeper/fairy godmother? Vanessa doesn’t know what to think about it and then Aiden makes her an offer she just can’t refuse. An offer that would mean that she has to go back and live with him for the next five years! Can she do it? Can she live together with a man that thinks that having any kind of relationship (friendship or otherwise) just isn’t worth the time or effort? Or did her leaving him make him think otherwise?

Can ‘The wall of Winnipeg’ really change? Or is it just a new contract between the two of them that will end after five years?

I loved his story very much!! The last 100 pages I was reading slower and slower just because I didn’t want this story to end. I really liked Aiden’s roommate Zac, he was a great character. He was really funny and a great friend to Vanessa. I just adored Vanessa!
Aiden Graves is a man of few words, you really have to look for little signs that he likes you and that’s something that I love about Mariana Zapata’s her books. You can never pinpoint the exact moment when they fell in love. The relationship grows so slowly that at the end there’s love but where it started ….. you just don’t know.

I can’t wait for Mariana Zapata her next book.

Until next month.



Aurian: Thanks for the recommendations Peggy! Thee authors I haven't read yet.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

New additions to my addiction

My second new additions post for 2016! Am I loosing my addiction?

From Bookdepository:

Lori Handeland - Smoke and Water
J.D. Robb - Devoted in Death
Joanne Fluke - Double Fudge Brownie Murder
Christine Feehan - Spider Game
Deborah Blake- Wickedly Powerful
Lucy Arlington - Off the Books
Patricia Briggs - Dead Heat
Yasmine Galenorn - Darkness Raging
Lisa Shearin - The Brimstone Deception
Nancy Warren - best Man … with benefits
Annie West - Seducing his enemy's daughter
Annie West - The Sheikh's Princess Bride
Annie West - The Sinner's Marriage Redemption
Ilona Andrews - Magic Shifts
Nora Roberts - The Liar
Kalayna Price - Grave Visions

Bought at Amazon "Print on Demand":

Lisa Shearin - Wedding bells, magic spells

Secondhand books:

Clive Cussler - Golden Buddha
Clive Cussler - Trojan Odyssey
Linda Lael Miller - Fletcher's Woman
Linda Lael Miller - Moonfire
Maggie Shayne - Kiss me, kill me
Nancy Warren - My fake fiancée
Shiloh Walker - Razed

Bought at the bookfair:
Cassandra Clare - City of Heavenly Fire
Barbara Taylor Bradford - Breaking the rules
Alyson Noel - Dark Flame
Alyson Noel - Night Star
Dana Stabenow - A taint in the blood
Dane Stabenow - Play with fire

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Changes on my blog

Dear reader,

You must have noticed my absence from my blog and social media and your own blog lately. I have been working overtime a lot, and once I get home, I am really not interested in spending even more time behind the computer. Writing reviews has become a chore I don't want to do at all anymore. I have almost 10.000 unread blog-related emails in my hotmail account, but I am not deleting those, I will read some and try to react on your blog some day.

I am not ready yet to completely quit blogging, so I will post some things, and one sentence "reviews" of what I have read lately and haven't reviewed properly. Of course those reviews are not fit for review sites like Amazon or Goodreads, and I am sorry for the authors whose work I love so much that I can't do their books justice at the moment.

It might change again in the near future, but I can't say anything yet.

I have read some amazing books lately, and I certainly hope to read many more. But my reading time has been severely limited as well. Being tired makes me prefer to do some tv watching (although that has a screen as well), and lately I have been enjoying MasterChef New Zealand (although I still prefer Australia!).

I wish you all great books to read, and if you decide to keep following my blog, thank you for that. I will be back on your blog once my workdays go back to normal hours for sure!

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Recommendations from Freya for March 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 in the past month, and to give us a recommendation. Today’s post is made by Freya from Holland.

Freya:

I’m still in a reading slump, thanks to Doctor Who/David Tennant. But because I wanted to know the writers that come to Berlin to the LoveLetter Convention, I did read at least one book this month: Sarah Morgan – Lost to the desert warrior.



For Layla, princess of Tazkhan, her arranged marriage means one thing: a lifetime of cruelty and captivity. Such an unendurable prospect drives her to throw herself at the mercy of Sheikh Raz Al Zahki - her family's greatest enemy!
Raz demands one thing in return for the safe haven Layla is seeking - this brooding desert king wants to make her his queen! Her freedom might be secured, but now her heart is at risk, for soon she's lost to the scorching heat of their marriage bed. However, it will take more than fire to thaw her guarded husband.

I have a little weakness for sheikh stories. When I saw on Facebook that Sarah Morgan would be attending Berlin LLC 2016 I looked at her backlist. And I found a sheikh story!
I read the first pages and was sucked in the story. I liked Layla, with her love of books and her fierce protectiveness of her little sister Yasmin. She’s practical and when she sees an opportunity she flees the dangerous palace with her sister to seek the help of Raz.
He is a protective hero who has lost his throne and family to Layla’s father. But he doesn’t take that out on Layla. They very quickly learn to understand each other and love blossoms.
It was a good story, and I will read more of Sarah Morgan’s books. As I have two more in my bookcase. And I do hope that she will write a book about Yasmin and Salem, I would like to read that story!



Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Freya! I also have some books by this author, I will have to dig one up!

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian