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Cloaked in Christmas by T.F. Walsh – a Review

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Cloaked in Christmas by T.F. Walsh – a Review

 

Amazon / B & N / Kobo

Description:
After fleeing her abusive ex, wulfkin Cacey Varg and her daughter settle happily with a new pack in Finland. As Christmas approaches, Cacey learns her ex has found them and is on his way to take their daughter back. But a massive snowstorm prevents her from packing up and leaving town—and instead delivers a sexy stranger to her doorstep. Can she trust that he isn’t one of her ex’s henchmen?

Second-in-command to Europe’s most powerful wulfkin, hunter Vincent Lyall’s spur-of-the-moment decision to check on his ailing mother soon finds him marooned at a cabin in the woods by the blizzard of the century. Trapped with this spirited vixen, resisting temptation is easier said than done… But she refuses to believe he is who he says he is.

Is love powerful enough to win when two sexy wolf shifters, an unwelcome past, and animalistic urges wreak havoc on the holiday season?

 

Review:

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is Vincent!!!  He’s the sexy, protective, wolf in shiny armor women dream about.  Come save me Vincent, i’m a damsel in distress.  But sadly, he will never be mine.  His destiny was meant to rescue Cacey and her daughter Tianna and rescue he does.

To protect her daughter, Cacey and Tianna run away from Finland to Denmark and land in Susi.  Susi is a quiet little town where Cacey is able to make a home and feel safe.  Sadly, she had to run away from Tianna’s father, Daan  Daan was also Cacey’s last Alpha.  He was mentally and physically abusive and once that abuse came close to Tianna, Cacey knew she had to go.  For eight months she hid in Susi and made a happy life for Tianna.  Then one day she received a letter that Daan had found her.  She was terrified and knew she had to run again to keep Tianna safe.  Lucky for Cacey, that’s when she runs into Vincent.  Like literally runs into him by smacking a screen door into his face.  Cacey didn’t know it at that moment, but Vincent would change their lives forever.

Cloaked in Christmas by T.F. Walsh is a great book.  My only complaint is that it was just too short!  The storyline moved along quickly and the action and tension built into a wonderful ending.  Cacey is a strong, protective mother that will face down anyone and anything to protect her daughter.  Vincent is the hero we all want to drool over.  That’s what I love about T.F. Walsh’s stories, they keep you riding a tidal wave of action until you reach the end.  What a perfect Christmas time story.

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy supplied for review

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Cloaked in Blood by T.F. Walsh – a Review

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Cloaked in Blood by T.F. Walsh – a Review

 

Cloaked in BloodAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
The daughter of a sultan alpha, Selena Kurt agrees to an arranged wulfkin mating to protect her sister from a dangerous alpha from the enemy clan. To her surprise, her match is Marcin Ulf, the next in line for the Hungarian throne . . . and the wulfkin who broke her heart years ago.

Marcin is just as shocked to learn he’ll be matched to the enemy’s daughter and the woman he’s never forgotten. Before they can be paired, however, they’re drawn into a tournament where Marcin will compete to free his estranged imprisoned brother, while Selena battles for the life of another wulfkin alpha. Both intend to seize this chance to save those they’re fighting for – even if it means facing off with one another just as their romance rekindles.

Will tribe loyalty triumph, or will they realize they’re better off as a team before it’s too late?

 

Review:

Cloaked in Blood by T.F. Walsh is the next book in The Wulfkin Legacy series.  The story unfolds at the Hungarian castle of the horribly wretched Varlac Emperor Levin.  As the Varlac Emperor, Levin ruled over every alpha and pack in Europe with a cruel and torturous hand.  Levin has two sons, Enre and Marcin.  Enre left the Hungarian pack because of the terrible treatment he received at the hands of his father.  Marcin couldn’t blame Enre for running away but that didn’t ease the pain of growing up without his brother.  Levin makes up his own rules, regardless of how wrong they may be.  It makes him happy to torture and hurt others, even if it is his own family.  Levin has taken Enre and Daciana as prisoners from the Transylvanian pack to punish them for crimes their previous alphas had performed.  Marcin was already plotting to remove Levin as the Emperor for the safety of all the wulfkin, but the process was painstakingly slow.  Saving Enre and Daciana from punishment was now the most important task.  And then in walks his teenage love, Selena. Surprise surprise surprise!

In order to keep the peace between the packs, Selena had agreed to be mated to Marcin.  Selena’s father, Sultan Boran and Emperor Levin had agreed to this deal to hopefully have a more peaceful future.  Sultan Boran wanted the peace between packs, Levin did not.  Selena had agreed to the union to protect her younger sister Aisha from being mated to a strange pack.  Marcin and Selena had also had an ill fated relationship when they were teenagers, so deep down, Selena still had feelings for Marcin.  Little did Selena and Marcin know how their “arranged” mating would change the future of all wulfkins.

Now that I’ve given you a brief summary of the story, let’s get to my review……  Levin is so horrible!  I just want to reach into the book and rip him out of the pages and bash him around the way The Hulk smashed Loki in the Avengers!  But as much as I hate him, he is the perfect villain.  So dastardly and evil, I just love to hate him.  Now Marcin has the true characteristics of what a Varlac Emperor should be, he cares about his pack and fights to protect them.  And Selena is a kick butt woman!  No shrinking violet here.  She is woman/wulfkin, hear her roar!  This book is nail biting, keep you on the edge of your seat, fantastic.  You never expect what happens.  You’ll be reading a page and then BAM, plot twist!  This book in the series continues to build on the previous books and it just gets better and better the more I read.  Once again, T.F. Walsh pulled me into the wulfkin world and has me waiting impatiently for the next book.

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Author

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Cloaked in Secrecy by T.F. Walsh – a Review

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Cloaked in Secrecy by T.F. Walsh – a Review

 

Cloaked in SecrecyAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
Death has followed Alena Novac’s circus family for years. When the police arrest her brother for a murder he didn’t commit, she has only a week to rescue him before he transforms into his wolf form in prison and exposes their wulfkin existence to the world.

Enre Ulf, a former member of the Varlac, the fearsome ruling wulfkin clan, plans to infiltrate Alena’s circus clan and take out their alpha to save his home in Transylvania. Except he never expected his wolf to claim the alpha’s daughter, Alena, as his mate, or feel compelled to save her brother to help protect the secrets of the wulfkin.
 
With the police closing in and the blood feud threatening them, Alena and Enre must overcome their pasts to save their packs’ futures.

 

Review:

 

Cloaked in Secrecy by T.F. Walsh, continues The Wulfkin Legacy with Alena, Nicolai, Enre and the Bulgarian traveling circus wulfkin pack. 

Alena and Nicolai are running through the woods, trying to catch Mila, a moonwulf that transformed into a wulfkin and is now stuck in her wolf form.  During the hunt for Mila, Alena finds Enre, an unknown wulfkin, and her instincts know he is here to spy on the pack.  Then the situation takes a dangerous turn.  Alena finds Nicolai bent over a bloody body, the police are arresting him and Enre is trying to keep Alena from getting caught.  In the process, Enre takes a bullet protecting Alena and she is forced to bring him back to the circus trailers. 

Maxim, the Alpha of the pack and Alena’s dad is not happy to hear the news about Nicolai being arrested nor is he happy to see Enre brought into the picture.  Alena and Enre have an immediate and explosive chemistry and their wolves are causing all kinds of chaos within each other.  Alena sees Enre as the enemy and doesn’t want to feel anything for him.  And with the added stress of needing to rescue Nicolai, Alena doesn’t know what to do.

I could go on and on with more characters and plot twists, but that would give away too much.  I thoroughly enjoy books that are in a series.  Reading how each story builds on the last, seeing the past characters get entwined into the newest story is always intriguing. 

T.F. Walsh has a unique talent of weaving a suspenseful web around her characters.  What you think might happen usually does not.  The suspense and sexual tension builds page after page after page until the story comes to an explosive conclusion.  Books that you can’t put down until you find out what happens are always the best. 

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Author

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Heartbreaker by Kat & Stone Bastion – a Review

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Heartbreaker by Kat & Stone Bastion – a Review

 

HeartbreakerAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
Kiki Michaelson wants one wild night to forget her starving-artist worries. Simple.

Only instead of Darren Cole becoming her one-night stand, he taunts her with a challenge. Then while she’s trying to best him at his own game, he turns out to be the last thing she’s prepared for: someone she wants to keep.

Which means all he can ever be…is a friend.

Darren Cole never allows a girl to get close—not close enough to matter.

Then storms in Kiki Michaelson, a beautiful, fearless temptation that rocks his world off-balance. But he fights their attraction, unwilling to gamble something physical with their close ties. Until the passionate sculptor exposes her heart and breaks his wide open.

In that moment it becomes clear: she could never be just a friend.

Sometimes what you run from…is exactly what you need.

Review:

Kiki is a starving artist who is terrified of relationships, she’s been hurt terribly in the past.  She is looking for a one night stand and decides that one nighter will be with the hot and sexy Darren. 

Darren just drips sexy.  He’s a musician, he works as a dj, he stays physically fit.  Darren has his own secrets and reasons for staying out of relationships but he doesn’t want to disrespect Kiki with a one night stand.  So they make a vow to be just friends. Kiki enlists Darren’s assistance to train for a 5k run and the closer they become, the more the sparks fly.

I loved Heartbreaker by Kat & Stone Bastion.  It was very romantic but not in a mushy, sappy way.  The storyline is in a modern setting and all the characters were interesting.  The writing switched back and forth from Kiki’s perspective to Darren’s and I loved being in each character’s head.  Both characters were strong, independent and intriguing.  

What I enjoyed is not every page of the book is about Kiki and Darren’s relationship.  I got to experience both of them individually, their work passions and their interests.  I got a real sense of them as people, and how they interacted in their lives with family and friends.  Their attraction to each other was electrifying, the sparks were flying all over! They deal with real issues like real people, the story wasn’t just about the big strong man swooping in on his white horse to rescue the damsel in distress. I love stories like that.  Now if I could just figure out how to get Darren out of that book and into a real life person I’d be one happy girl!

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Author

 

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Cloaked by T.F. Walsh – a Review

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Cloaked by T.F. Walsh – a Review

 

CloakedAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Description:
Raised by an overly protective wulfkin pack, Daciana leaps at the chance to venture into the human world for her one-year independence ritual. But after someone steals the endangered bear cubs she’s been assigned to protect, she must locate them or lose her job and return home in disgrace. The sexy inspector on the case isn’t making this any easier. He knows nothing of her kind, and wulfkin rules forbid relationships with humans.

Newly divorced Inspector Connell Lonescu trusts no one but himself. He’s convinced relationships are a waste of time and thinks burying himself in work will ease the pain. Yet he’s attracted to the gorgeous and mysterious Daciana, even if there’s something slightly odd about her. Can Connell learn to trust the sexy but secretive woman?


Review:

Cloaked is the prequel to Cloaked in Fur by T.F. Walsh.  Prequel is a good term to describe it.  It’s an interesting glimpse into the life of Daciana, a moonwulf living out her one year of rohang.  Rohang was a tradition where the wolf lived among humans and away from the pack and if she made it through the year without drawing attention to herself, she’d be considered a full-fledged pack member. 

Daciana worked at the Animal Research Institute where she took care of bear cubs.  Upon arriving at work one morning, Daciana learned that the bear cubs had been stolen and she was determined to help the police find the criminals and save the cubs.  This would put Daciana in the path of Connell, the detective assigned to the case. 

With Daciana’s wolf sense of smell, she will prove to be vital to finding the bear cubs.  Daciana had to be careful and not let Connell know she was a wolf.  Working together, they solve the mystery of the missing cubs and fall for each other at the same time.  Their passion is electric and the relationship is great until the one year of rohang is almost over. 

Daciana is supposed to return to her pack and leave Connell behind.  How can she do that?  What can she do to stay with him?  Cloaked is a great lead into Cloaked in Fur.  You get a better glimpse into the beginning stages of Daciana and Connell’s relationship.  Although this prequel doesn’t have many pages, there’s plenty of action to keep you intrigued.  Cloaked makes you want to read Cloaked in Fur to see what happens next!   


Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Author

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The Espionage Effect by Kat Bastion with Stone Bastion – a Review

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The Espionage Effect by Kat Bastion with Stone Bastion – a Review

 

The Espionage EffectAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Description:
I’m Devin Hill.

Darkness taints my soul.

I’m suffocating. Drowning.

The sweet promise of air? Pure illusion.

Tested as a genius at age seven, I hide my emotions, become what they expect…bury my secrets. At nineteen, I trudge toward a predestined path, blinders on, heart safeguarded.

Until I dare to be wild.

Until Alec Marquez crashes into my world.

Until all that follows redefines everything I’ve ever known.

What happens when you stumble into a world of spies…and discover you belong there?

 

 

Review:

Devin Hill decided to break out of her boring, predictable life by taking a spur of the moment vacation with her best friend Anna.  She was feeling unsettled and unsatisfied by the path her life was supposed to take but had no idea how to change course.  Little did she know that this vacation and her run in with Alec Marquez would change her life forever.  Once she meets Alec, he touches a part of her soul that she didn’t even know existed.  He helped her realize exactly where she needed to be to break free of her mundane, predictable life.

But Devin needs to be careful what she wishes for because she learns very quickly that her life and the people in it aren’t what they seem.  And once the facade comes crashing down, she can’t change it back.

I loved The Espionage Effect.  It has the perfect balance of everything a book needs to keep me reading and interested in what happens to the characters.  Romance, intrigue, action….it has it all.  This is also one of those stories that makes writing a review extremely hard because I don’t want to give away any details or spoilers!  I was very surprised and pleased with the twists and turns.  Things didn’t turn out the way I expected which made the book even more enjoyable.  I loved the characters, the storyline and the surprises.  But my favorite part was the ending.  Why you ask???  The way this book ended, it leaves the storyline open for many more books to be written.  Are you paying attention Kat and Stone Bastion???  I want more!  I need a series!  These characters are too interesting to stop writing about them now!!! I’ll be waiting and impatiently checking my Kindle.  Waiting, waiting, waiting….. 

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Author

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Undertow by Kelly Cozy-a review

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Undertow by Kelly Cozy-a review

Young drown woman in a poetic representation, red hair girl

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 18, 2014

Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn’t shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew’s career and innocents’ lives.

Drew’s eager to make amends and he’s got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he’ll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger.

REVIEW:

Reviewing books by Kelly Cozy is becoming difficult. How many times can I use the words OMG, WOW, and HOLY SMOKES? But I find myself yet again at a loss for different words to review her latest book except to say WOW, she blew me away again. In most books you normally have two main characters that the book focuses around with a few others mixed in for substance. Not when Kelly Cozy writes a book. You have your main character, Drew Finley but as you read the book, character upon character is added that adds depth and intrigue to the plotline. And the attention to detail for each person, situation or scenario is remarkable. Reading a story with so much detail transports me to the places and I’m in the book as a bystander watching it all unfold like it was really happening in real life. I know I’ve probably said that before in a previous review but it’s true. The first sentence in chapter one is “He knows who I am.” If that doesn’t grab your attention and keep you reading, I feel sorry for you.

Drew is a recovering alcoholic that let a crime story destroy his life. He has finally found a place to rebuild his life when he moves to Los Cielos and begins working for the Weekly. Normal is what he wants and that is what he has…for a little while. His girlfriend Evie is a little eccentric in a great way and she balances him out quite nicely. But once his attention gets focused on the local celebrity who may have been framed for murder, everything important to him gets overcome with his obsessive need to get to the truth. Jones Cavanaugh was the basketball coach that was convicted of killing one of the players. Audrey, the boss at the Weekly wants to do a piece on Cavanaugh and she assigns Drew to the story. And that is when his life is changed forever. After a meeting with Cavanaugh, Drew is beginning to think he is innocent so he digs deeper, talking to witnesses and anyone involved to get to the truth. But what he finds is not what you expect. And Drew’s reaction changes many lives forever. Could I see the ending coming? NO WAY. That’s the best part about reading a Kelly Cozy book, you never know what will happen and at the end you have to pick your mouth up off the floor. And then you are depressed because the book is over and you have to wait until the next one is written! That’s what happens to me anyways! This book is a great read and I highly recommend it and any other book she has written.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Tricia

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Underworld’s Daughter by Molly Ringle – a Review

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Underworld’s Daughter by Molly Ringle – a Review

 

perf5.000x8.000.inddAmazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Description:
New immortals are being created for the first time in thousands of years thanks to the tree of immortality discovered by Persephone and Hades. But Sophie Darrow is not one of them. Nikolaos, the trickster, has given the last ripe immortality fruit to two others, the reincarnations of the gods Dionysos and Hekate: Tabitha and Zoe, currently Sophie’s and Adrian’s best friends.

While the disappointed Sophie struggles to remember Hekate and Dionysos from ancient Greece, she must still face her daily life as a mortal university freshman. Tabitha and Zoe have their own struggles as they come to terms with being newly immortal and their own haunting dreams of past lives and loves. The evil committed by Thanatos invades all of them in heartbreaking memories, and worse still, Sophie and her friends know their enemies are determined to kill again. And even the gods can’t save everyone..

Review:

Underworld’s Daughter is the second book in Molly Ringle‘s The Chrysomelia Stories  (Book #1 Persephone’s Orchard review) The story continues with Adrian (Hades) and Sophie (Persephone) living between the real world and the spirit realm.

Sophie has made the decision to become immortal so she can be with Adrian forever, but Niko gives the last ripe immortality fruit to Tabitha and Zoe, who are Sophie’s and Adrian’s best friends. Sophie was very upset by this and a little jealous of her friends getting the immortality that she wanted. While Tabitha and Zoe adjust to being immortal, Sophie is trying to live her normal life and relive the memories of her past life as Persephone. The memories that she remembers are amazing. What she discovers is her best friends Tabitha and Zoe were once Dionysos and Hekate. I’m not going to tell you how important Hekate was to Persephone and Hades, you will have to read and find out, but I loved the addition of her character to the story.

Tabitha and Zoe are also experiencing the memories of their past lives and coming to terms with their feelings and the things they experienced. And if that wasn’t enough to deal with, the evil Thanatos is always lurking in the background, wanting to destroy any immortal, with their prime target being Adrian. Thanks to Thanatos, as Sophie, Tabitha and Zoe relive their memories, they are exposed to the heartbreak that Thanatos has inflicted with their crazy, cult like members in the present and the past.

This second book to Persephone’s Orchard was a great continuation of the first story. How the past and present characters are written together is great. I loved the addition of Hekate’s character, it brought so much more to the lives of Persephone and Hades, along with the other Greek characters that are in the story. I’m not going to give away too many details because that will only ruin what happens, you’ll just have to read it to find out.

I highly recommend reading Persephone’s Orchard before reading Underworld’s Daughter because the story means much more when you read the first book. I loved this book and can’t wait to read the next addition. I will wait very impatiently for the next installment because Ringle left me hanging with a very nice cliffhanger at the end…..what happens to Adrian and Sophie’s relationship???? Well played Molly Ringle, well played. Now how much time do I have to wait to find out what happens????

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy provided by Publisher

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Spotlight & Giveaway for Persephone’s Orchard &
Underworld’s Daughter

If you like Greek mythology, New Adult romance and a touch of the paranormal, check out The Chrysomelia Stories by Molly Ringle. The story centers around Sophie Darrow – a normal college freshman – who is abducted by a man she’s never met before and tricked into eating some pomegranate. What follows is her realization that she is no other than Persephone and her kidnapper – Hades himself.

As the official release date (June 27) of Underworld’s Daughter approaches, the second book in the series after the very successful and well received Persephone’s Orchard, we are very happy to point you towards an awesome giveaway!

The lucky winner will be receiving:

• Signed copies of both books

• 1 oz Persephone’s Pomegranate Blend looseleaf tea by Dryad Tea (black tea with pomegranate and vanilla)
• 25 plantable paper mini-flowers with wildflower seeds, by PaperSprouts (on Etsy)
• $5 Starbucks card
• Pegasus Greek coin pendant necklace from PartsForYou (on Etsy)

To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter and hopefully you’ll win. If not, never fear, apparently the publisher will be offering more awesome giveaways like this one in the coming weeks.

And if you haven’t read Persephone’s Orchard yet, there’s good news there too since the ebook will be only $0.99 on all major bookstores for a limited time starting on June 27!

NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the tour promoter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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