V.K. Sykes - Hardball

Title : Hardball
Release date : June 14th, 2011
Genre : Contemporary Romance

Holly Bell is a children’s surgeon and just started her new job in the hospital. She knows she shouldn’t get too involved in the private lives of her little patients, but when this little boy becomes her patient she cannot ignore the warming signs. Holly is also not ready of all the attention this gorgeous pitcher is giving her from the moment they meet.

Nate Carter is a star pitcher and has a highly reputation with the ladies. When he meets the new beautiful new children’s surgeon during his monthly visit to the sick children, he cannot get her out of his mind. But is he looking for a good time or is he finally ready for commitment?

Hardball by V.K. Sykes is a great contemporary novel with a fabulous storyline.

When Doctor Holly meets pitcher Nate you can feel the sparks fly, the attraction between them is huge and you know a relationship is not far behind. Both characters are not looking for a long term commitment, Holly wants to focus on her career and Nate’s family history has left him wary of relationships and settling down.

But when Holly’s life is in danger because she wants to protect her young patient, Nate is determined to keep her save.

I love Holly and Nate from the start, they both have their baggage from the past and need to deal with it in their own way. They are forced to think about that and their relationship when Holly’s life is in danger. It was great to see that Nate finally came to his senses and admit his true feelings for Holly.

This book has kept my attention from the start and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. It was great and I really hope to read more of this writing couple in the near future.

Lynn LaFleur - Happy Birthday Baby

Title : Happy Birthday, Baby
Release date : July 31th, 2004
Publisher : Ellora’s Cave
Genre : Erotica Romance

The birthday gift
Jake wants to fulfill the ultimate sex fantasy of his wife Amanda, even if that kills him. So when his cousin Patrick is in town and stays for awhile, he just sees the opportunity to give her what she wants.

It’s in the cards
Her sister’s birthday is coming up, so Catherine has to shop for the perfect birthday card. But that is not the only card she’s taking home. She has found a card with her gorgeous dream man on it and without knowing this stranger comes to life if she likes it or not.

One thing to give
To celebrate her 30th birthday, Lindsay has dinner with her best friends and drinks at her favorite bar. When she sees the sexy bartender she knows what she wants for her birthday and takes matters into her own hands.

Unexpected
Linc’s birthday couldn’t get any weirder that this one, during his drive up to his cabin an unusual box appears in front of his truck. In this small box is a little alien that turns into this beautiful woman that will turns his life upside down.

Happy Birthday Baby by Lynn LaFleur was a fabulous read. These four short stories were exactly what I expected them to be; they had amazing characters with extremely high chemistry.

I cannot say which story was my favorite, because they all had their charms to lure me into their story. Normally anthology stories are way too short to tell the whole story, but not this one, each one was just long enough to get the picture and get the connection with the characters. It was definitely worth to read.

If you love short erotica stories with steamy scenes and great characters, then you won’t be disappointed with this book.

Gena Showalter - Lord of the Vampires

Title : Lord of the Vampires
Series : Royal House of Shadows #1
Release date : August 30th, 2011
Publisher : Harlequin Nocturne
Genre : Paranormal Romance

I received this novel as an ARC, courtesy of Net Galley

The story begins when a Blood sorcerer kills the king and queen of Magical Elden and has plans to kill their four children next in order to get the throne. But never underestimate the love and strength of parents, their mother had enough strength in her to combine her power and send them away to survive and deal with their enemy later.

Crown prince of Elden, Nicolai was known as the Dark Seducer because he seduced many women without choosing the future queen. When his mother sends him away he ended up on the sex market in Deflina without any memory of his past. During the years in captivity he discover that he is stripped of his magic and his memory, now he is trying to escape his evil captor, the princess of Deflina, the ageless kingdom. The only answer to his prayer is a mortal woman.

Jane Parker’s life has been a living hell after the car accident where she lost her whole family. She’s slowly getting her life back when she finds a strange book on her doorstep. She doesn’t understand her connection to the book, but it will become clear when she’s summoned to Deflina, as a princess in order to save Nicolai. But who is he? What will he do to her when she helps him escape? Because on Earth vampires are not the nicest creatures.

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter is the first novel in the Royal House of Shadows Series, which she is co-writing with Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh.

I’m already a huge fan of Gena Showalter and just love her Lord of the Underworld Series, so I couldn’t resist and had to read this one. Well she didn’t disappoint me; it’s a great storyline with action, some twist, steamy scenes and some similarities with Alice in Wonderland.

Nicolai is a strong vampire, but I have to say he is a little too alpha to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love strong alpha males, but trough the whole book he was saying/growling “mine” and at the end of the book I really want to smack him in the head and yell “I know”. But his evil plan to lure mortal Jane to the magical world was great.

I liked Jane, she’s a fighter; first her recovery from the car accident and later for her love for Nicolai. She will do anything to set him free from his captors and try to get him back to his world and save his beloved Elden.

I’m definitely looking forward to read about the other three siblings Breena, Micah and Dayn written by the other three authors and hope they reunite at the end.

Stephanie Chong - Where demons fear to tread

Title : Where Demons Fear to Tread
Series : Company of Angels Trilogy #1
Release date : August 23rd, 2011
Publisher : Mira
Genre : Paranormal Romance

I received this novel as an ARC, courtesy of Net Galley

Serena St. Clair’s death was a sacrifice she made in order to save a family. So she’s send back to Earth as a guardian angel. Her latest assignment is to protect a new celebrity Nick, but his soul has already been luring to the dark side for quite some time now. But Serena is determined to save Nick’s soul, even if that means facing one of the most powerful demons in town, Julian Ascher.

Julian Ascher, an arch demon and owner of several night clubs, where he can corrupt quite some souls at the same time. From the moment he sees Serena in his club, trying to save the soul of Nick, he knows he wants her in his bed and afterwards her soul. But persuading an angel isn’t that easy, so he has to find a way to blackmail her to spend some time with him.

Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong is her debut novel and the first one in the Company of Angels Series. I have to say this is one hell of a debut novel, it had me from the first moment and it was hard to put it down.

Stephanie Chong has created a fabulous balance between good and evil. Main characters Serena and Julian are each other’s opposites, one is collecting souls for his demon lord and the other is trying to save as many as she can. It appears they are equals, both strong and determined to succeed.

Neither of them could have expected the huge attraction between them. Serena knows it’s bad to give into everything Julian wants, because it could cause her falling as an angel. But she sense something good deep down inside him and now she is determined to save two souls at once.

But not everyone is happy with Serena in Julian’s life and they will use all the evil they can combine to separate them or destroy them both.

This book is a good read, it will keep you focus on the storyline and wants you to finish it in one run. I’m already looking forward to the next novel.

Deidre Knight - Red Blooded

Title : Red Blooded
Series : Gods of Midnight #3
Release date : May 4th, 2010
Publisher : Penguin Group
Genre : Paranormal romance

Two thousand and five hundred years ago three hundred Spartan warriors sacrificed their lives at Thermopylae. Seven warriors became immortal when they accepted a deal and drank from the River Styx, binding their immortality and their vow to Ares, the God of war.

Former marine Dillon has lost his sight in the last battle for the marine. Not sure what to do with his life, he accepts the offer of his best friend Mason Angel and his brother Jaime. It appears they work as demon hunters and they want Dillon to use his good looks and get as close to vampire to be Kate.

Kate, a vampire to be knows time has come to accept her fate and become a full vampire by taking a mate, but not on the terms of her family. She wants a mate she chooses by herself and when Dillon walks in on her party she knows he’s the one, despite his connection to Mason Angel and his team.

Red Blooded by Deidre Knight is part of her Gods of Midnight series. Although the story is very short, it’s definitely a good one.

What can you say about the characters when it’s this short, you cannot fully know the characters. But Dillon stole my heart from the first page; he is a wounded man but won’t accept his disability stand in his way to live a full life. So when he hears of this demon hunter team, he cannot refuse their offer.

Kate is part of the vampire family in the town where the Angel team hunts. It’s time for Kate to choose a mate and become a powerful vampire, but not on the term of her brothers.

The attraction between Dillon and Kate is huge; you can feel the sparkles coming of the pages when you read the steamy scene between them. I love the fact that Dillon is sent to Kate to stop her and becoming her mate in the end.

I love all Deidre Knight’s work and this in no exception. The short story has everything it needs, two fabulous characters, the intense attraction and the right ending.

Julie Garwood - Ideal Man (ARC)

Title : Ideal man
Release Date : August 9th, 2011
Publisher : Dutton Adult
Genre : Romantic Suspense

I received this as an ARC Galley, courtesy of NetGalley

Ellie Sullivan is a doctor, a prodigy surgeon. She’s finishing her residency in the trauma center in one of the largest hospital. To get rid of all the tension of the ER stress, she likes to run in the nearby park. During one of those runs she’s a witness of a shooting. Two of the most wanted gun dealers Cal and Erika just shot a FBI agent and got away. Now she’s one of the witnesses to get these criminals behind bars, but that is the last thing Ellie wants to be. She has to stay out of the papers; otherwise her life will be in danger again.

Max Daniels is one of the investigating FBI agents; he and his partner are the one who’re questioning Ellie after the shooting. He discovers some painful happenings in her past and promise to do anything in his power to keep her safe. And being attracted to her has nothing to do with that.

Ideal Man by Julie Garwood is my first contemporary romance suspense novel I’ve read of this author. I already love her historical stuff; they kept me company when I grew up. I have to say that she didn’t disappoint me with this genre either.

Ellie Sullivan has had a rough childhood, being a prodigy she had to grow up fast, meaning she drew some attention from a lunatic who destroyed almost her life. Now she’s a witness in a FBI investigation and those criminals send a hit man after her. Will she be able to attend her sister’s wedding or stay home?

FBI agent Max Daniels has been hunting criminals Cal and Erika for some time now, but the weapon dealers are always one step ahead. Now they shot one of his colleagues and he has to questioning Dr. Ellie Sullivan and hope she saw enough to put them behind bars. He feels the attraction immediately and when he discovers about the hit man and the lunatic of her past, he is determined to keep her safe.

Ellie is a wonderful woman; she is smart, attractive and very good at her job. Growing up away from her family made her very independent from a young age. Her attraction to Max is something she doesn’t know what to do with, she isn’t looking for a long term relationship and the fact that Max live in Honolulu is just good to be true.

Ellie’s family were great, although a little weird because of the things that happened in the past, her father is super protective and her mother doesn’t handle stress very well. I have to say that I thought her sister Ava was annoying, after all that Ellie has been through, she could have been more supportive but no she has to play the drama queen. Ellie’s other sister Annie was fabulous, definitely a sister you want to have.

I really enjoy reading this novel and I cannot wait to see what other books Miss Garwood has in the romantic suspense genre.