Review: Finding Audrey (Audiobook)

Source: eLibrary

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: 6 hours and 36 minutes
Narrator: Gemma Whelan
Author's Website |  Facebook | Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle

Description:

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family

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Review: Eleanor and Park

Source: Purchased

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 328 (Hardback)
Author's Website | Twitter
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Description:

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

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Mini-Reviews: Check-In on In Death Series (Loyalty, Witness, and Judgment)

Source: eLibrary (all)




Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #9
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 336 (paperback)
Author's Website
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An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses." And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back. It's her city ... it's her job... and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit--before the city falls.

Quick Thoughts:  While the murder mystery doesn't stand out, Peabody and McNabb.  Love the further development of Peabody's story by introducing her brother.

Witness in Death by J.D. Robb

Series: In Death #10

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Pages: 339

Author's Website

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Opening night at New York's New Globe Theater turns from stage scene to crime scene when the leading man is stabbed to death center stage. Now Eve Dallas has a high-profile, celebrity homicide on her hands. Not only is she lead detective, she's also a witness - and when the press discovers that her husband owns the theater, there's more media spotlight than either can handle. The only way out is to move fast. Question everyone and everything...and in the meantime, try to tell the difference between the truth - and really good acting... 

Quote:

“Eve: “Would you jump in front of a maxibus for me?”

 Roarke: “Absolutely. They don't go very fast.” 

Review: Wicked Games

Source: Book Shelf

Wicked Games by Jill Myles
Series: Games #1
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 231 (eBook)
Author's Website | Blog | Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle (free) | B&N 

Description:

Abby Lewis never pictured herself on the survival game show, Endurance Island. She's just not the survival type. But when her boss offers her a spot on the show and the opportunity of a lifetime, she packs her bags and heads to the tropics to be a contestant. Once in the game, though, it's clear that Abby's in over her head.

No one's more competitive than sexy, delicious and arrogant Dean Woodall. Sure, he's clever, strong, good at challenges, and has a body that makes her mouth water. He also hates Abby just as much as she hates him. That's fine with her; she'll just ignore the jerk.

But the rules of Endurance Island are working against them. Abby and Dean are teamed up & alone on the beach. It's either work together, or go home. Stuck with no one's company but their own, they learn they might just make a good team after all. And Abby learns that with just a little bit of kindling, the flames of hate can quickly turn to flames of passion.

This book features enemies, lovers, enemies who become lovers, and lots and lots of tropical heat.

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Review: Days of Blood & Starlight (Audiobook)

Source: eLibrary

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Magic
Length: 15 hours and 25 minutes
Narrator:  Khristine Hvam
Author's Blog | Twitter
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Description:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream? 

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In Case You Missed It...

These were so awesome, I hope you didn't miss them. Click on the images for my reviews.
 

 I've had such an extreme year in reading. Either I've really really LOVED it or really didn't care for it. Not a lot in between. I'm wondering if I should prefer more of a happy medium experience where I like everything but don't love or hate anything. Thoughts?

Review: Outcast

Source: Bookshelf

Outcast by Cheryl Brooks
Series:  Cat Star Chronicles #4
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 384 (eBook)
Author's Website
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Description:

"This fourth installment in The Cat Star Chronicles series maintains the qualities of excitement, world-building, sizzling romance, and great imagination that made Slave such a resounding success."

Sold into slavery when his planet was destroyed, Lynx was enslaved in a harem. He is a favorite due to his feline gene, which gives him remarkable sexual powers, but after ten years, Lynx is exhausted.

Thrown out without a penny, Lynx is bitter and anti-female. He emigrates to a new planet but can only find a job with a female rancher.

Bonnie's boyfriend has left with all their money and she needs help with the ranch. Lynx is cynical, but honest, and though he has made it clear that he wants no part of a romantic relationship, Bonnie can't resist him. She finds out about his impotence and becomes determined not to let such a beautiful and sensual young man go to waste...

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Review: Painted Hands

Source: TLC Book Tours

Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair
Genre: Adult Fiction
Pages:  336 (Hardcover)
Author's Website
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Description:

Muslim bad girl Zainab Mir has just landed a job working for a post-feminist, Republican Senate candidate. Her best friend Amra Abbas is about to make partner at a top Boston law firm. Together they’ve thwarted proposal-slinging aunties, cultural expectations, and the occasional bigot to succeed in their careers. What they didn’t count on? Unlikely men and geopolitical firestorms.

When a handsome childhood friend reappears, Amra makes choices that Zainab considers so 1950s—choices that involve the perfect Banarasi silk dress and a four-bedroom house in the suburbs. After hiding her long work hours during their courtship, Amra struggles to balance her demanding job and her unexpectedly traditional new husband.

Zainab has her own problems. She generates controversy in the Muslim community with a suggestive magazine spread and friendship with a gay reporter. Her rising profile also inflames neocons like Chase Holland, the talk radio host who attacks her religion publicly but privately falls for her hard. When the political fallout from a terrorist attempt jeopardizes Zainab's job and protests surrounding a woman-led Muslim prayer service lead to violence, Amra and Zainab must decide what they’re willing to risk for their principles, their friendship, and love.

The Namesake meets Sex and the City in this engaging and provocative debut novel about friendship and the love lives of American Muslim women.

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Review: The Bronze Horseman

Source: Bookshelf

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
Series: The Bronze Horseman #1
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII
Pages: 656 (ebook)
Author's Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
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Description:

The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.

Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana--and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects--a secret as devastating as the war itself--as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.

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Review: The Prey (Audiobook)

Source: eLibrary

The Prey by Andrew Fukuda
Series: The Hunt #2
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Length:  11 hours and 37 minutes
Narrator: Sean Runnette
Author's Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
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Description:

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive. 

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Review: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots

Source: the Author in exchange for an honest review

Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer
Genre: Literary Fiction, Foodie, Contemporary
Pages: 317 (Hardback)
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Description:

“Elegant, sensual, surprising, and rich, Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots delivers a world to us, populated with indelible characters whose fates, as they become entwined, spur us to read fast, faster, except to do so would be to miss the beauty of Soffer’s language, which is to be savored.” — Dani Shapiro, author of Family History

This is a story about accepting the people we love—the people we have to love and the people we choose to love, the families we’re given and the families we make. It’s the story of two women adrift in New York, a widow and an almost-orphan, each searching for someone she’s lost. It’s the story of how, even in moments of grief and darkness, there are joys waiting nearby.

Lorca spends her life poring over cookbooks, making croissants and chocolat chaud, seeking out rare ingredients, all to earn the love of her distracted chef of a mother, who is now packing her off to boarding school. In one last effort to prove herself indispensable, Lorca resolves to track down the recipe for her mother’s ideal meal, an obscure Middle Eastern dish called masgouf.

Victoria, grappling with her husband’s death, has been dreaming of the daughter they gave up forty years ago. An Iraqi Jewish immigrant who used to run a restaurant, she starts teaching cooking lessons; Lorca signs up. Together, they make cardamom pistachio cookies, baklava, kubba with squash. They also begin to suspect they are connected by more than their love of food. Soon, though, they must reckon with the past, the future, and the truth—whatever it might be. Bukra fil mish mish, the Arabic saying goes. Tomorrow, apricots may bloom.

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Review: Out of the Easy

Source: Purchased

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 346 (Hardback)
Author's Website | Twitter | Facebook
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Description:

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

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Check-In with the In Death Series: Holiday and Conspiracy

Source: eLibrary


Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #7
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 308 (ebook)
Author's Website
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Description:

No one likes to be alone during the holidays. For New York's most posh dating service, Personally Yours, it is the season to bring lonely hearts together. But Lieutenant Eve Dallas, on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer, has made a disturbing discovery: all of the victims have been traced to Personally Yours. As the murders continue, Eve enters into an elite world of people searching for their one true love--and a killer searching for his next victim. A world where the power of love leads men and women into the ultimate act of betrayal...

My Rating:

On the story...A killer who targets participates of a dating service is an interesting thriller set during the Holiday season.  With lots of secrets, Eve has tons on her plate ,but this killer gets too personal.

Reaction...It took me too long to figure out the killer.  The ending is the most memorable part of this one and had me sitting on the edge of my seat.  I'm loving the evolving relationship between Peabody and Eve and the hints of McNab and Peabody.

Roarke Check-in...Roarke had his moments as always but this one didn't have any that were especially memorable.  Though, I did feel for Eve in trying to figure out a Christmas gift for a man who buys planets.  Eek!

Review: Never Tell

Never Tell by Alafair Burke
Series: Ellie Hatcher #4
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Suspense
Pages: 368 (Hardback)
Source: TLC Book Tours
Author's Website | Twitter | Facebook
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Description:

Sixteen-year-old Julia Whitmire appeared to have everything: a famous father, a luxurious Manhattan town house, a coveted spot at the elite Casden prep school. When she is found dead in her bathtub, a handwritten suicide note left on her bed, her parents insist that their daughter would never take her own life.

But Julia's enviable world was more complicated than it seemed. The pressure to excel at Casden was enormous. Abuse of prescription antidepressants and ADHD medication ran rampant among students; an unlabeled bottle of pills in Julia's purse suggests she had succumbed to the trend. And a search of Julia's computer reveals that in the days leading up to her death she was engaged in a dangerous game of cyberbullying against an unlikely victim.

NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced the case is a suicide, but she knows from personal experience that a loving family can be the last to accept the truth. When the Whitmires use their power to force a criminal investigation, Ellie's resistance causes trouble for her both at work and in her personal life. As she is pressured to pursue a case she doesn't believe in, she is pulled into Julia's inner circle--an eclectic mix of overly precocious teenagers from Manhattan's most privileged families as well as street kids from Greenwich Village. But when the target of Julia's harassment continues to receive death threats, Ellie is forced to acknowledge that Julia may have learned the hard way that some secrets should never be told.

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Review & Giveaway: Breaking the Rules

Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie
Genre: Chick-Lit
Pages: 208 (ebook)
Source:  ABG Reads Book Tours
Author's Website | Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle

Description:

When twenty-seven year old Roxy Rule’s best friend and roommate accepts a glamorous new job overseas, she expects their relationship to continue as it’s always been—carefree and easy—until they share a heart-stopping kiss moments before his departure. Overcome with mixed emotions, she fights the urge to over analyze the situation and resumes back to her normal life in New York City, working for an intolerable boss at a dead end job, creeping further and further away from her own dreams of becoming a professional chef.
While things become more complicated between her and Ollie, Roxy is sure that nothing can come between two lifelong best friends—not even mild jealousy over a thriving career or a silly little kiss that meant nothing. In fact, it was such a meaningless and forgettable kiss that she convinces herself that it’s not even worth mentioning to her fiancé, although it is all she can think about.
Roxy’s already topsy-turvy life only gets more complicated when her sisters Steffi and Izzie suddenly become her roommates. Steffi is six months into a pregnancy she refuses to discuss and Izzie is in the throes of a premature midlife crisis. Roxy tries to take control of her career, her love life and her sisters – but can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together – or break under the pressure?

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Check-In with the In Death Series Rapture, Ceremony, and Vengeance

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #4
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 294 (ebook)
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website
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Description:

When the autopsies of three suspicious suicides reveal small burns on the brains of the victims, Eve's investigation turns to the provocative world of virtual reality games--where the same techniques used to create joy and desire could also prompt the mind to become the weapon of its own destruction.

My Rating:

On the story: When people who have everything to live for commit suicide, Eve quickly takes notice.  Determined to figure out the pattern and against all odds, Eve finds herself on the case.
Reaction:  The premise of this one really freaked me out.  Sometimes technology can be so scary.
Roarke check-in:  Roarke was as sweet as ever but  Eve stole the show when she showed her heart and vulnerability in this one.  They are truly the perfect couple.

Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb

Series: In Death #5

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Pages: 327 (ebook)

Source: eLibrary

Author's Website

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Description:

Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard... Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own beliefs of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil

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Review: Graceling (Audiobook)

Graceling  by Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling Realm
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 12 hours and 31 minutes
Narrator: David Baker, Chelsea Mixon, Zacharay Exton
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
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Description:

His eyes, Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn't seem human....
Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from her spell.
Cocky, she thought. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whatever game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.

In a world where people born with an extreme skill—called a Grace—are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

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Review: Home Front

Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Genre: Women's Fiction, Military, Contemporary
Pages: 388 (Hardcover)
Source: Publisher
Author's Website | Blog | Facebook
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Description:

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life---children, careers, bills, chores---even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own---for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.

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Review: The Selection (Audiobook)

Well this one completes the Dystopian challenge and I have to say this is a great one to end on. I didn't think I would like this because of the Goodreads drama, the cover that reminded me of Shatter Me, and a description that reminded me of The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Whelp, I was wrong. The cover is beautiful and it is connected to the book. This one turned out to be refreshing and wonderful. Shame on me for making such assumptions.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #1
Genre: Dystopia, YA
Length: 8 hours and 7 minutes
Narrator: Amy Rubinate
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website | Facebook
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Description:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined

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Double Mini-Reviews: Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened (Where Have I Been?!)

Lover Eternal  by J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Vampires
Pages: 441 pages (paperback)
Source: Bookshelf
Author's Website | Facebook
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Quote:

“V shook his head. “Remember what you saw in that clearing, cop? How’d you like that anywhere near a female you loved?”

Butch put down the Bud without drinking from it. His eyes traveled over Rhage’s body.

“We’re going to need a shitload of steel,” the human muttered.”

Lover Awakened by  J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #3

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Vampires

Pages:  434 (paperback)

Source: Bookshelf

Author's Website | Facebook

Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depo

Quote:

“Besides, you think I'm not used to hurting? For me, it's home sweet home, my brother.”

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