Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday #14: Ten book recommendations for Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Lovers



Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.



Hey there! Happy Tuesday! For today's topic I'm going to share some of my favorite top ten book recommendations for paranormal/urban fantasy lovers. Immortals After Dark, Demonica, Dark Hunter, Alien Huntress, Southern Vampire Mysteries, and many, many others, I know you've heard of them. I've definitely enjoyed reading them. But this post is about those series and books that are either just starting out or that I haven't seen being talked about as much as it should. These are books and series that I discovered in the last two years that I feel need some love and appreciation, because they are awesome. So, here we go:

  1. Dog Eat Dog World by Hailey Edwards - It's no secret that I adore all 4 connected series that make up the Dog Eat Dog mega-series. I love how they each reveal a little piece of the puzzle, and just when you think you've got it all figured out BAM! Another surprise comes along. I hope this series never ends. You can start reading this series with the Black Dog series.
  2. The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein - I wouldn't be me if I didn't include at least one vampire book in this list. This book reminded me of the older urban fantasy books I've read, back when the plot was much more connected to mysteries and crime, when it felt like a mystery novel with a supernatural twist. I liked that. I liked that a lot.
  3. Guardians of the Realms by Setta Jay - This series, among others, reminds me why I love paranormal romance. If you haven't tried it, you must. There's no limit to the creatures you're going to read about, each with different strengths and weaknesses, and the sex is hott, with a double t because trust me, it is off the charts.
  4. Hell To Pay by Jillian David - This series was one of those unexpected discoveries that I am so happy I got to read. I'm even more happy for the fact that there's a spin-off, one that gets my imagination running wild.
  5. Bayou Heat by Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright - This series reminds me of my very first paranormal series, Lora Leigh's Breeds. And I love this series for it. While the tone, the stories, the plots, all are very different, the feel is the same, and I can't help falling more and more in love with this series with each book I read.
  6. Legal Wolf's Mate by Eve Langlais - This was a fun story, one with werewolves and werecats and I was very happy to see it was part of a series. Will definitely check out the rest of the books
  7. Reborn by Anna Durand - I'm obsessed with all things Ancient Egypt, so it's no wonder I like this story about soulmates, love that lasts forever, reincarnations and centuries old curses. 
  8. Caress of Pleasure by Julie Kenner - Phoenixes. Do I need to say more? I don't think I've read a lot of stories about phoenixes as main characters, and this story, part of the 1001 Dark Nights series, was super fun. I am definitely going to read all the books.
  9. Muse Chronicles by Lisa Kessler - Yet another fantastic series about ancient gods, more accurately the daughters of Zeus and their reincarnations. I love it, each book shows you another little piece of the puzzle. Definitely a must read.
  10. Eternal Guardians by Elizabeth Naughton - Greek gods, myths, legends, ancient creatures, and, most importantly, Sirens. I need to go back to read this series from the beginning, but I'm hooked.
I feel that I should have nominated at least at least 5 or 100 other books and series in these genres, but I fear my post would never end. What is your list? What are 10 books you'd recommend to someone?

Monday, August 14, 2017

Obsessed With Covers #41: Children Of Blood And Bone, Winter Glass, The Wicked Deep

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:


  • 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
  • books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.
Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P


So, here are the prettiest covers I've seen this week.

I adore this cover. Ever since I saw it I was in love with it, to be honest. What's not to love? The hair is my ultimate favorite hair color and if I could pull it off, I'd give up being a redhead in a heartbeat. I love how the hair is made to look like flames or like it's floating in water or something. There's something going on with that hair and I want to know what!

Then there's the model herself/himself. The markings/drawing on the model's skin are very interesting and I wonder what they represent. I'm sure it has some meaning and I wonder what it is and if we'll find out about it. The eyes are gorgeous and they seem to be looking straight at you, which is scary and awesome at the same time.

I can't wait to get my hands on this book.

Children of Blood And Bone by Tomi Adeyemi



If the first cover in this series was gorgeous, this one is even more so. I love how Sleeping Beauty's castle is frozen here. I love the shields and the spears, they look like they're protecting the castle. And that squirrel is so cute!! I also see what seems to be Cinderella's glass shoe hanging from the title, so I wonder how that plays out. Basically the entire cover is made of awesome!









This cover looks hand-drawn and it is simply gorgeous. The thing about it is it makes it look like a really scary book, probably due to looking like a drawing. A really good drawing, mind you! I really want to know the meaning of the cover and how it ties into the story. And I really want to see more of the cover artist's work. It reminds me of Ruthie's instagram (who if you're not following GO NOW AND FOLLOW HER BECAUSE SHE'S AMAZING!!!).








The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw


That's it for today, guys! Tell me which covers you've recently seen that are gorgeous.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Book Review: The Southern Gentleman: Protective Instinct by Sweden Reese

Author: Sweden Reese
Series: Dominant Heroes Collection #1
Audience: +18
Genre: Erotic Romance, BDSM, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Lens Flare Press
Release Date: September 13th 2016
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
ENTER THE GLAM WORLD OF A CRISIS MANAGEMENT AGENCY SPECIALIZING IN CELEBRITY SCANDAL AND POLITICAL INTRIGUE...

Sex. Politics. Scandal.

When a shadowy group intent on stealing the U.S. presidential election targets a leading candidate’s daughter, jaded professional fixer Nolan Jackson is hired to safely escort her across the country to a star-studded Election Eve event. There's only one problem: She’s ditched the campaign and disappeared… A southern gentleman who likes fast cars, deadly weapons and total control, Nolan is used to winning at all costs. Except in love. Yet, he’ll soon find himself irresistibly drawn to the candidate’s beautiful, naïve daughter.

Sheltered heiress Lola Randall has always played it safe. Now she’s gone rogue. After escaping the media spotlight and her overbearing parents, the last thing she needs in her life is an alpha male. But when Nolan shows her how good it can feel to relinquish control, she begins to secretly crave his domination. Now, she must choose between her independence and falling in love. Because Nolan is determined to win her heart and nail the bad guys before the opposition finds a way to steal the White House.

Erotic romantic suspense series for mature audiences

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is Book 1 in a steamy, suspenseful 2-book story. Book 1 ends in a scandalous cliffhanger, Book 2 delivers the HEA.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Lens Flare Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating of the book or the content of my review in any way.

This is book 1 of the Dominant Heroes duology and it is quite an interesting story. It's the old famous, rich girl in need of protection, dark alpha male offering said protection story, only with a twist.

Lola is pretty innocent, doing what she needs to all the time, but she needs to escape, she wants to be on her own, without the watchful eyes of her security detail. She finds herself being "hunted" by Nolan, fixer and dominant alpha male, and being brought back home. On the way home though she gives him hell, he retaliates, she submits, he falls for her. The thing I liked about this book was that it didn't jump right to sex, it allowed the attraction between Lola and Nolan to grow.

It was interesting to see Lola going from hell-bent on rebelling to submitting so beautifully to Nolan, even though she didn't know anything really about submission. What I didn't fully like was the fact that Nolan at times was too harsh, knowing that Lola didn't know the rules of the game. But that is countered by how Lola reacts to his dominance, and how she eventually kind of goads him into punishing her.

The book ends with a cliffhanger, but not to worry, because you get to see how it all ends in book two. This was a book that, strangely, was a bit out of my comfort zone. I'm not used to reading about total-power-exchange or relationships with so much dominance over every aspect of someone's life, and I was pleasantly surprised.


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