Author's Demise by Franny Armstrong

Title: Author’s Demise

Author: Franny Armstrong

Publisher: Red Rose Publishing

Publication Date: 2010

ISBN: 978-1-60435-678-6

Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Thriller

Length: 405 pages

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Heat Level: Sensual

Other:  Oral

Reviewer: Cassandra Parker

Date: 10/27/2010

“The CEO of Brinkman-Bonnette Publishing, Lana Anderson, is a psychic with telekinetic abilities. When her emotions run out of control she blows up electronics and makes dishes fly or smash into pieces. With a serial killer out to get her, she finds her family, friends, authors and staff members in grave danger and sets out to stop them at all costs.

Undercover cop, Brett Colton, is hired by the Lana's boss to protect her. Doing his best to elude a tail, Brett sees a stunningly beautiful woman waiting for an elevator and uses her to hide in plain sight, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. It turns out that she's his client and he's able to read her mind, dogging her every step as he fights to keep her safe.

They lose their hearts to each other while trying to figure out who among her staff members is the true killer. When Lana is kidnapped, Brett rushes to save her, praying that he'll be in time to stop the killer from acting out the scene from a novel that twisted the mind of a child and created the ultimate murderer.”

This book was good but it ran a little long for me. I really enjoyed the premise and was interested by the story line but a good chunk of the middle was unnecessary and made the story drag. The tension came back at the end when the story was wrapping up though so that made up for it. I liked both of the main characters but since the story dragged on I felt like a lot of their conversations/actions, became a little repetitive. Also, this might have just been a formatting issue, but this story had really short scenes that became really annoying and pulled me away from the story. Lana’s ability was an interesting addition to this story and added a lot of humor to this piece. I found Brett’s ability to read Lana’s mind a little odd because of it was limited to her and it was an unprecedented ability. Still they made a very sweet couple and were fun to read. I gave this book 3.5 diamonds because it was good read but it could have been better.

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Crazy by Eve Langlais

Title: Crazy
Author: Eve Langlais
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59578-779-8
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 52 pages
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Author Email: eve@evelanglais.comCra
Heat Level: Spicy
Other: Oral
Reviewer: Cassandra Parker
Date: November 30, 2010

“Institutionalized at a young age after the breakup of her parents, Ella’s always heard voices. Even worse, the voices in her head like to act. She thinks she’s crazy and destined to be a patient for life until the night she meets a vampire and for the first time in her life, the voices shut up.

Zane just wants to enjoy his usual blood buffet, instead he runs into a wisp of a woman who makes him feel emotions he thought long dead. Rescuing her from the insane asylum, he brings her home, determined to assuage his lust; a plan that is foiled by ghostly voices more determined to keep her pure than a steel welded chastity belt.

Together they discover Ella might not be as crazy as everyone thinks, but even as they discover her innate power, someone from her past wants to hurt her. Will crazy and undead prevail against covetous evil? And most important of all, will the voices ever allow them to indulge in the desire that consumes them?”

I was pleasantly surprised by this story. The plot is unbelievably unique and interesting, and the characters have great personality. Zane and Ella are incredibly sweet together, and I especially love the way Zane does little things for Ella who has never really experienced life. The only thing that disappointed me about this story was its length. There were several plot points that could have been expanded upon to deepen the story, and some grammar issues were distracting. Overall this is a really good story, and worth a read.

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Passion's Embrace by Cia Leah

Title: Passion’s Embrace

Author: Cia Leah

Publisher: Red Rose Publishing

Publication Date: 2010

ISBN: 978-1-60435-792-9

Genre: Western, Historical

Length: 258 pages

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Rating:  2 Diamonds      

Heat Level: Sweet

Reviewer: Cassandra Parker

Date: November 24, 2010

“Callie Knight moves to Texas after her parent’s deaths and buys a ranch bordering rancher Colt Trevor’s. When his bull, Old Red Eye breeds her cow, she gets upset and rides to his ranch demanding he stop his bull or she’s going to shoot him and serve him up for supper. What she doesn’t count on is falling in love with Colt at first sight. She wants him from the start and is determined to have him and she’s not going to let anyone stand in her way.

 Colt Trevor has never seen a woman as beautiful and wild as Callie. When he slips behind her in the saddle, he can’t control the passion she ignites in him. Caught in a compromising position with her on the first day they meet, Colt is tempted to spank her or take her to his bed. Marriage is out. He likes being his own man and wants to stay a bachelor.

 When Callie is shot, he realizes his feelings for her run deeper than just an urge to quench his passion. He’s determined to find the man who wants her dead, but before he can catch the culprit behind it, Callie is abducted and whisked away to an outlaw’s hideout in Mexico.”

First of all do not be fooled by the label on the publisher’s website this is a historical story, not a contemporary one. Once I made that transition in my head it was a better reading for me. I really enjoyed the main character in this story. She is strong willed and goes after what she wants but in an utterly charming way. Callie and her horse Devil are the high points of this story for me. The hero did not wow me in this story. I found him to be a more wishy washy forty year old man compared to these twenty year old girls who are after him. I would have loved to see more of Callie’s background and perhaps had competition for her affections rather than Colt’s. The plot devices in this story were also overused. The hero spends most of the book rescuing his heroine from very similar situations, and from villains whose dialogue is at times rather silly. This story also did a lot of head hopping which can sometimes add to the story and give insight to different characters, but I don’t feel that the villainous characters had enough depth that their thoughts were worth looking at. Overall this story had potential and a very lovable heroine, but was executed poorly and is not worth your time.

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Bound by Blood by Elizabeth Darvill

Title: Bound by Blood

Author: Elizabeth Darvill

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Publication Date: October 2010

ISBN: 978-1-61650-200-3

Genre: Paranormal

Length: 106 pages

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Heat Level: Sensual

Reviewer: Cassandra Parker

Date: November 19, 2010

A former vampire slayer, Mila has become the monster that she despises, a fatality on the quest to save her sister from the leader of the vampires. On the run from Steele, the vampire holding her sister, and his minions, Mila must find a book of power in order to invoke the gods for assistance. To top things offs Mila is accompanied by Bryce the leader of the lycans. While the lycans and the vampires are enemies Mila’s actions keep Bryce by her side as they work together to stop Steele and his vampire army. Will the lycans finally win the war with the vampires and save humanity from destruction? Or will Steele’s tyranny continue to destroy civilization leaving the humans defenseless.

I really enjoyed this story. It was an epic battle story slimed down to a little over 100 pages, because of this the pacing is very quick and the characters are constantly on the move. Mila and Bryce have an intriguing relationship and despite the hatred between their races, they manage to create something wonderful between them. The two of them have great chemistry and were a pleasure to read. There is a lot of plot to this story, which was unique and enjoyable, but there isn’t a lot of background provided on the characters because of the plot is so overwhelming. I’m also not a fan of stories in first person so that was an irritant for me, but the story was still well told and was entertaining, although the ending is odd. It is worth the read and if you enjoy first person, then you’ll love it.

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Untouched by Jerri Drennen

Title: Untouched

Author: Jerri Drennen

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books

Publication Date: 2010

ISBN: 978-1-59578-748-4

Genre: Contemporary

Length: 121 pages

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Author Email:  jerri@jerridrennen.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Heat Level: Sensual

Reviewer: Cassandra Parker

Date: November 17, 2010

Botanist Madeline Wentworth has been disgraced by a former lover and is looking to the Amazon to provide her the redemption she needs to kill the rumors at the university where she works. Unfortunately the first guide hired for her expedition dies and Mattie and her crew are stuck just outside of the Amazon unless they can find someone else.

Travis is a jungle guide and Travis’s estranged grandfather’s death puts him on a treasure hunt for the Templar gold. Mattie’s expedition is the perfect cover for him to look for the treasure, but as Travis gets to know Mattie keeping his other agenda a secret becomes even more of a struggle. Add that to one of the crew members falling ill, kidnapping, and hostile natives Travis and Mattie may not even make it out of the jungle alive let alone find the Templar treasure.

I really enjoyed this story the pacing is very good, the characters are well rounded and plot offered many twists and turns. I’m not usually a fan of adventures in the jungle, wilderness, etc. but this story kept my interest. Watching Mattie and Travis’s relationship develop was lovely and I greatly appreciated the struggle the two characters face. Travis overcomes a lot to consider himself worth of Mattie and vice versa which just makes the two of them even more lovable. The only issue I had with story was the way it was finally wrapped up was a little odd, but still a great read. I recommend this one.

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Love Hurts by JJ Keller

Title: Love Hurts

Author: JJ Keller

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Publication Date:

ISBN: 978-1-61650-189-1

Genre: Contemporary

Length: 146 pages

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Author Email: justjkeller@yahoo.com

Heat Level: Sensual

Other:  Oral

Reviewer: Cassandra Parker        

Date: November 15, 2010

Morgan has been in love with Shania since he met her 4 years ago. Unfortunately for Morgan he has only been able to Shania’s friend although he is a surrogate father for her son. Morgan is tired of waiting for Shania and is all set to marry another woman when Shania arrives and tells Morgan that she loves him. Morgan hesitates to long and Shania and her son slip away leaving no forwarding address. Will Morgan be able to find Shania and win her back? Or has he lost his chance with his true love.

This story is incredibly odd in structure. Usually the relationship develops during the story but Morgan and Shania are already in love with each other,  they just have timing and communication issues. I didn’t see any real conflicts for these characters until the end of the story. The plot meanders around and good chunks of this story are told in flashback. If this story had started when Shania and Morgan met and flowed from there I would have enjoyed it more, but as it stands this story is awkward and would have ended much sooner if the characters would have just talked to each other. Also, Shania and Morgan’s relationship would have been more understandable to me. In my opinion this is one to skip, the story had a lot of good material but it isn’t presented well and is basically a mess.

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