Review: So Tough to Tame by Victoria Dahl

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So Tough to Tame will be published September 24.
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Here’s a peek at what you’re in for:

So Tough to Tame might be the steamiest romance novel I’ve ever read.

Charlie (Charlotte) and Walker always had a little classroom crush on each other. And now as adults they can do something about it. They flirt like crazy, tease a little here and there, build a friendship, and then jump in to a sizzling physical relationship.

They each have secrets that scare them away from an emotional relationship. But Charlie and Walker lean on each other, find solace in each other, and make each other laugh.

They respect each other as equals, even though Walker is a hot cowboy with a swagger that takes a woman’s breath away, and Charlie has always been known as the straight-laced studious type. Charlie and Walker don’t even realize that despite all the talk about sex being the only thing they have in common, they’re falling in love. After some ups and downs there’s a satisfying happily ever after.

Besides enjoying the romantic element of this novel, the great writing, fun characters, and suspenseful plot had me on the edge of my seat!

–Calliope

Buy it now So Tough to Tame

Review: The Untamed Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

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imageLady Louisa Scranton’s father, an earl, died in shame. He had swindled investors out of their money. Louisa is looking to marry well to help her overcome the scandal.

The Bishop of Hargate was one of her father’s investors. He tries to blackmail her into marrying by promising that the debt owed against him will be forgiven. Before Louisa can give him an answer, Hargate falls dead at her feet.

Sent to investigate investigate the crime is Detective Inspector Lloyd Fellows. Lloyd is the half-brother of the four infamous MacKenzie men. Louisa’s older sister married Lord Mac MacKenzie. Louisa and Lloyd shared a passionate over Christmas that neither can stop thinking about.

Hargate was poisoned. All evidence suggests that Louisa had the motive and opportunity to murder the bishop. Lloyd knows she is innocent and goes to lengths to protect her. He even re-stages the crime scene so that it appears that the killer might have quickly entered and left. By doing this, it also allows Lloyd time to discover the real killer.

All of the Mackenzies appear in this novella. They are a loving and boisterous group. They either are trying to help Lloyd with the case or trying to play matchmaker to Louisa and Lloyd. Daniel Mackenzie does both. His appearance made me want his book NOW.

The only dis-satisfaction I had was with the mystery. Much of the detecting by Lloyd and others was done off-stage. There were no real clues to track. It was all told at the end how Lloyd discovered who the killer was.

If you have not read the MacKenzie series, I would not recommend starting with this novella. Start with the first book so that you can understand the family dynamics. You can also see where it all started for Lloyd and Louisa.

4/5 stars

~Thalia

Buy It Now The Untamed Mackenzie (Mackenzies Series)

Buy Book 1 The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Mackenzies Series)

Review: Once We Were by Kat Zhang

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16109664 This is the captivating sequel to What’s Left of Me that I reviewed and gave 5 stars to a few weeks ago. This releases today! Once We Were picks up shortly after the conclusion of What’s Left of Me. Addie and Eva escaped the governmental institution and find themselves in league with a group of underground hybrids who are all on the lam. They immediately want to be part of the resistance and to make a difference.

However they discover there is a lot of waiting around to be done. During all of the waiting the girls learn how to withdraw and to give each other much needed private time. Eva uses that time to get closer to Ryan and learn how to maneuver around all that comes with hybrids dating each other.

“But the thing is, sharing hands doesn’t mean sharing goals. Sharing eyes doesn’t mean sharing visions. And sharing a heart doesn’t mean sharing the things we love.”

Meanwhile their new found friends are taking part in the resistance in ways both big and small. Eva feels a desparation to get things going immediately and to make a drastic impact. This causes her to convince Addie to make some questionable choices.

There are a lot of differences between this and the first book. For the first 50% or so there was not a ton of action, which I honestly liked. This part of the book was more focused on the relationships between Addie, Eva and the rest of their hybrid group. I really loved seeing the girls trying to figure out how to date and how to determine who gets control of the body and when.

When the action does get started it was definitely exciting and while I knew something was going on – I couldn’t quite figure out what that was, which I liked.

While I did love this book, I didn’t love it as much as the first one. I think it’s mostly because the novelty of hybrids had worn off for me. I still can’t wait to see what is going to happen next for both the resistance and those hybrids that are under the government’s control.

4 Stars

~Clio

Buy the first one if you haven’t already! (It’s only $2.99 right now) What’s Left of Me: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book One

Buy it Now Once We Were: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book 2

Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

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17332556 This book releases tomorrow! First of all how amazingly beautiful is this cover?? I judged this book by its’ cover immediately and was so excited to get to read and review it.

I’ve never read any of Sherry Thomas’s other books, but I’ve heard good things about them so I was even more excited to read this after I heard those.

This is a wonderful story of magical worlds, Royalty and a young girl. Iolanthe Seabourne discovers at the outset of the book that she is supposed to be the greatest elemental mage of her time. Which really shocks the crap out of her considering she’s pretty average in most things.

After she summons lightening to fix a ruined elixer her whole world changes and she finds herself on the run from those who want to harm her. Iolanthe finds that she has an ally of sorts in Prince Titus of Elberon and hesitates to put her faith and trust in him.

But Titus has his own agenda as well. Together they have to face their foes.

I love the magic elements in the book, the author did a wonderful job of world building. The setting for the majority of the book is at an all boys school, which is different since Iolanthe is female. Titus had thought he prepared for every contingency but he hadn’t thought of the possibility of a female that he would have to help. I enjoyed seeing how they worked through this and it was humorous to see the boys at the school and the issues that came with that.

But my favorite part of the book is a spoiler. I won’t spoil it but the way Iolanthe and Titus train is pretty different and those scenes were my favorite.

Oh, also this is going to be a trilogy but there was NO shocking cliffhanger that so many trilogies have. I want to read the next book but only because this one was so great.

Seriously, go get this book. You won’t be disappointed!

4.5 stars.

~ Clio

Buy it Now The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy)

Feedback Wanted!!

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936386_10200242490248306_709002509_nWe muses were talking about what we look for in reviews. I read tons of reviews – on Goodreads, and on other review blogs mainly.  Many times if it’s a person/blog I trust I will buy based on those reviews so I really value reviews. Same with the other muses. But we realized that we also read reviews for certain books looking for spoilers. That’s right – big, fat spoilers.

Now traditionally I don’t read spoiler reviews because I like to go into a book pretty blind. But there are books that I’m very iffy about and if I can find a spoiler review I’ll read it to determine if the book is worth my times. Other times there are books that I am dying to read but haven’t been able to for one reason or another – it’s not out yet, haven’t purchased it yet, too many books, etc. Those times I look at spoiler reviews to alleviate my book anxiety and it helps me read the books at a more normal pace when I do get them instead of racing through them to find out what happens.

So all of that to say…we are going to start a new feature called Spoiler Saturday. Starting in October we will be posting a spoiler review every Saturday. It will have clear marks that it is a spoiler so no worries that you could stumble upon it unknowingly!

We’d like to know from our readers what books YOU would like to see spoiler reviews of. Either books that are already out, upcoming releases, pretty much anything. Let us know here, on Facebook or on twitter so we can try to give you those spoiler reviews you want!

~ Clio (and Daisy clearly wanting your opinions!)

Review: I Only Have Eyes For You by Bella Andre

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20130914-222021.jpg 4 stars

*Dreamy sigh*

Where do I begin? Let me just say that Bella Andre created a very swoon-worthy character in Jake McCann. He’s rough and tough and domineering and crude and powerful. And he only shows his softer side to Sullivan family members, namely Sophie, with whom he’s been in love since childhood. Who doesn’t love a bad boy with a sensitive side?

Sophie is the bookish sister of six brothers and a twin. They think she’s fragile and want to protect her from struggles and hurt. They want to protect her from Jake McCann. I love that despite her siblings’ opinion of her, Sophie is a strong, brave, vocal woman who knows what she wants. Sophie is the best kind of heroine – she advocates for her own best interests, even when there’s a risk involved.

When circumstances put Jake and Sophie together for a week, sparks fly — good and bad. They find out each other’s weaknesses, faults, and truths. They decide whether being in love will lead to anything more. That’s the best part of being in love: knowing where you both stand, and then determining whether the truth will make you or break you.

Bella Andre’s characters are unique in the world of romance novels. Sophie and Jake stay true to themselves, living the lives everyone knows them to have, and being brave enough to show what’s under the surface.

I want to meet every one of the Sullivans in this series… So I will sign off here and get to the next book.

-Calliope

Buy It Now I Only Have Eyes For You

Review: Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson

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imageThis is the first in a series of young children’s books. The inspiration for the main character and the series is Henry David Thoreau’s introspective book, Walden. Thoreau wrote in Walden about living in a cabin in Massachusetts for two years.

Henry and his friend decide to visit Fitchburg, which is thirty miles away. Henry chooses to walk. He claims it’s the fastest way to travel. His friend wants to work and save up money to buy a train ticket. Who will get their first?

While Henry’s friend is pulling out weeds in a garden for 25¢, “Henry put ferns and flowers in a book and pressed them.”

While Henry’s friend is moving bookcases in a study, “Henry climbed a tree.”

While Henry’s friend goes to buy a train ticket, “Henry jumped into a pond.”

Yes, Henry’s friend did beat Henry to Fitchburg. Henry didn’t care. He stopped to pick blackberries.

You can decide for yourself which method you would have chosen and why. I won’t judge. 🙂 Just don’t miss out on this book with the gorgeous drawings.

Also, please don’t skip the author’s note which explains his inspiration for the book.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Henry Hikes to Fitchburg

Review: Unspoken, by Jen Frederick

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A girl who has to live with a lie of being known as the school slut meets a marine who has lived that lie.

College romances are so full of angst but this wasn’t too bad, thankfully.

AM makes a bad decision which leads to the many lies that are spoken about her. She tries to just get through school without drawing any more attention to herself.

But she catches the eye of Bo, an ex Marine who lives by his fists. He has only two ways of calming down and it’s either sex or fighting. But when he meets AM, he determines that he needs to be better than that, for her.

What starts out as biology lab partners turns into something more and eventually they put their pasts behind them and make a plan for their future.

I really liked reading about all these marines and their friends. This is the second in a series. I’m hoping she’ll continue with the rest of the guys. They were so funny and supportive. It really was fun to watch them interact.

~Melpomene

Buy it now Unspoken (The Woodlands)

Review: The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman

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74915 A close friend recommended this book to me as one that was fairly balanced on the good and the bad parts of Wal-Mart. The idea intrigued me instantly because I worked there for a while after high school and I have a few family members who work there as well. Not to mention that I shop there because of the limited choices in my area, and of course due to the savings they provide.

The author does a great job of detailing so much about Walmart that is usually not made apparent to consumers for one reason or the other. He details how the company began and how it evolved into the huge world power that it is now.

What Fishman does so well is take one case study and examine it from all angles to show how the impact is both good and bad. Early on in the book he uses the tiny company Makin Bacon to show how Walmart could take a small company and make a huge impact. The owner of the company explains how Walmart makes it possible for it to even exist. Not only did Walmart help the company start but even though the item is sold in other companies without Walmart’s business Makin Bacon would literally have to close its doors.

On the flip side the author goes into detail about Walmart’s negative perception. Part of the issue stems from their unwillingness to do almost any press or even allow their vendors to talk to the media, whether good or bad. Fishman goes into greater detail about how Walmart affects the communities and local businesses in the area.

I found the descriptions of the vendor relations and how Walmart keeps their low prices truly low extremely fascinating. I thought this book did a great job of showing positives and negatives. I generally enjoy nonfiction books only if the author can prove the subject interesting enough. This one did not disappoint.

Buy it now The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works–and How It’s Transforming the American Economy

Review: The Reunion by Amy Silver

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20130912-165921.jpg4.5 stars

The Reunion is so much more than a story of old friends — Conor, Jen and Dan, Andrew and Lilah and Nat — coming together.

It’s about all the ways we think we love one another – freely, unconditionally, conditionally, out of guilt, with pity. It’s about memories that scar us, change us, move us forward, and hold us back. It’s about guilt, sorrow, forgiveness, and asking for forgiveness.

The Reunion shows how people find their way out of the past and into a new future while remaining part of the old group. Jen holds on to old love and loneliness. Andrew punishes himself for the past. Natalie represses anger. Dan burrows into his own little world. Lilah lives in denial. They all feel guilty and feel the haunt of Conor in the French house.

Death knocks several times on the door in this novel. But that’s what makes it so realistic- life demands death at some point or another. So the friends come to terms with the deaths within their group, and then they are able to allow the death of their guilt.

I was impressed with this novel despite the fact that it isn’t my usual cup of tea. The Reunion isn’t written chronologically. It throws the reader back and forth in time across the chapters and in excerpts of letters written between friends. The novel isn’t upbeat or light. Any romance is bittersweet at best. There’s even a sliver tainting the happily-ever-after.

And I loved it. I cried with real pain at the loss of life and love. I laughed with Lilah at her crazy antics. I sympathized with Jen — who I thought got the short end of the stick in every instance. I wanted to rescue Dan, and shoot Cupid’s arrow toward Nat and Andrew.

The Reunion is well-written, thoughtful and thought-provoking. It’s substantial enough for book club discussions and literary analysis. Its authenticity takes a crack at your emotions. It asks what we internally live with that needs riddance. It asks you to face your own truth. Most importantly, The Reunion asks you to love yourself and others without condition.

-Calliope

Buy It Now The Reunion (U.S.)
Buy It Now The Reunion (UK)