Cursed by Fire (Blood & Magic #1) by Danielle Annett

 It has been six years since the Awakening and peace in Spokane, Washington is still tenuous at best. The vampires and shifters are all vying for control of the city and the humans seem to be the ones suffering the consequences, or so it seems.

Aria Naveed has spent the last two years of her life fighting to make the many wrongs of the world right, but soon finds out that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear and may be a more terrifying foe than any of the other races combined.

When a stranger rolls into town with trouble on his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle that could cost her more than she has bargained for as a fight for justice turns into an unexpected fight for her life.

I loved the main character Aria in this book. She is the embodiment of the warrior woman, she is strong and deadly and yet at her core she is soft and emotional. It is the soft core that can either be an asset or a detriment and Aria experiences both in this book. 

While I loved the world building and all of the characters in this book I was unsatisfied with the ending. We are exposed to many different plot lines and a whole cast of characters and at the end I felt like we were left with just as many questions as we had when we started. I know this is the first book in a series but I was left feeling a little unsatisfied and confused. I am hoping that more of my questions are answered in the next book in this series and that these characters will remain the focus. 

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The light began to fade from his eyes as I crawled across the floor in an effort to reach my father. My nails were raw and bloody as I struggled to carry myself closer to him, digging into the rough wooden floors with each drag of my body.

      “I’m coming,” I panted in between breaths. “Just hang on, Papa, I’m coming.”

            I woke gasping for breath, drenched in a cold sweat, clutching the hilt of my dagger as if my life depended on it. I frantically looked around the room in search of our attacker while also taking stock of any injuries. I was perfectly whole.

            “It was just a nightmare,” I told myself, though that did little to ease the ache in my chest over the remembered pain. I miss you so much.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I pushed back the wet, loose tendrils of hair that had escaped my braid during my fitful rest and returned my dagger to its resting place beneath my pillow. Taking another deep breath I registered a hint of smoke.

Shit!

My eyes roamed over the room, frantically looking for the source of fire.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

I untangled my body from the sheets, tripping and falling into a heap on the floor before I was able to crawl out of my covers and retrieve an old shirt. I frenziedly swatted at the bedroom curtains with the old t-shirt but the flames continued to rise. Deciding there was no other choice, I ripped the curtains from the window and rushed to the kitchen.

Throwing the curtains into the sink and turning the faucet on all the way, I watched as the flames were snuffed and steam began to rise. The curtains ruined.

Turning the water off, I allowed my body to slide down the smooth wooden cabinets until my bottom met the cool tile floor. I folded my arms across my knees and rested my forehead against them. Closing my eyes I took several deep breaths, my heart still racing from the effects of the recurring nightmare. This was getting out of hand. I had thought the nightmares were fading, but something was bringing the memories back with a screaming vengeance and this was the third time this week they’d plagued me. I missed my parents but it’d been over six years now. They weren’t coming back and I needed to let it go. My subconscious needed to let it go and I needed to let Daniel’s death go. Not the case, no, I wouldn’t let that go. But his death was affecting me in ways I couldn’t allow to continue.

I breathed deeply in an effort to calm my nerves. Small tremors racked my body, the nightmare had shaken me more that I’d like to admit. My skin was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. A physical reminder that I needed to relax before I accidentally caught something else on fire.

Danielle Annett is a reader, writer, photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood & Magic series.
Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her attention.

You can learn more about Danielle on her website at Danielle-Annett.com or follow on on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaniel... and on twitter @Danielle_Annett

Website: http://danielle-annett.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDanielleAnnett

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danielle_Annett

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7771866.Danielle_Annett

Horse Crazy by Caitlin Ricci

Melody and her teenage daughter, Kristen, have moved to Colorado for a fresh start. She's still not 100% where she wants to be in terms of her body yet but she is finally comfortable with herself and is living completely as a woman for the first time in her life. To thank Kristen for being so wonderful she promises her daughter riding lessons, something her little girl has always dreamed of.

While waiting for the lesson to start, she's happy to see her daughter amidst the horses that she loves so much, but Melody does not expect the handsome man who sits down next to her—a man who proves to be Kristen's instructor and idol, to be interested in taking Melody out on a date…

This is a very short novella but still manages to show a bit of characterization and gives a satisfactory ending.  Many novellas are almost like a teaser to a full-length novel and it feels like you are missing out on some of the story.  Ms. Ricci manages to leave her readers feeling content and satisfied with the ending she gave.  I certainly would have loved to read more about the dating process between Derek and Melody but overall it was done well.

As far as the characters go this was a first for me.  The novels I have read containing transgender characters never had the characters undergo the sex change surgery.  Melody has started a new life as her true self and this book is about how she finds love in her new life.  I was very happy with the characterization of Melody and how nervous and yet excited she was to show her true self. I was especially proud of Melody’s daughter’s support for her mother throughout her whole ordeal and her continued love for her mother.  This is a very well done novella and I would be happy to read more from her.

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Courted By Fall by Bree Cariad

 Camille Covington thought she had it all: the perfect life, the perfect future, and the perfect suitor; until it went downhill just days before her 18th birthday. Now struggling to pick up the pieces, she did everything she could to not let anyone know just how depressed she’d become. She did such a good job that she fooled even herself.

Newcomer to Hyacinth, Jerod Kinsley, offered friendship but used to the more traditional way of Hyacinth life, Camille didn’t know what to do with it. Set on a path of destruction, she quickly found out just how supportive her family and Jerod could be. As he and her family encouraged her on a life she never even imagined existed before, Cami began to find her inner strength. When her and Jerod’s relationship solidified through the Hyacinth Courting system, she found out just how freeing discipline from the man she loved could be.

I still held a little bit of a grudge against Camille from the first book so I was prepared to not like Camille in the beginning however that was not the case at all.  While her circumstances are very different than most teenage girl’s her emotions and inner turmoil is very relatable.  I felt an instant camaraderie with Camille and I wanted to save her from herself so many times.

In my opinion the best romance novels allow you to read the last page of a book and then sigh. While you are sad the story is over you are satisfied with the ending. Camille and Jerod are a wonderful couple and I was very happy Kathy and Xander made appearances in this book so we could keep track of their relationship as it progresses. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series and experiencing more of Hyacinth.

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Bree enjoys good books with great characters. While she may be an adult, her favorite memories are from her teenage years reading inspirational romance with girls just like her and strong heroes. That's one of the reasons she's written In Hyacinth, a series of Courting Romances.

Courting Romance - where contemporary romance meets traditional values.

Bree’s website/Blog ||  Facebook Page  ||  Facebook Author Page  ||  Twitter  ||  Goodreads  ||  Google+

About the series "In Hyacinth" by Bree Cariad:

Hyacinth, Washington is all about old-fashioned values. In Hyacinth words like trust, honor, and kindness aren't just buzzwords. Hyacinth is a community built on tradition and trust, where men are the head of the home and women are encouraged to follow their lead.

Each story in the series is of a young woman (18-20) and her struggle to figure out who she is in this little town while at the same time going through Hyacinth's old-fashioned courting system. On their way to meet, get to know, and finally marry their princes, these heroines grow in ways they and their town never expected.

Spark Rising Tour Stop!

 All that’s required to ignite a revolution is a single spark rising.

Two hundred years after the cataclysm that annihilated fossil fuels, Sparks keep electricity flowing through their control of energy-giving Dust. The Council of Nine rebuilt civilization on the backs of Sparks, offering citizens a comfortable life in a relo-city in exchange for power, particularly over the children able to fuel the future. The strongest of the boys are taken as Wards and raised to become elite agents, the Council’s enforcers and spies. Strong girls—those who could advance the rapidly-evolving matrilineal power—don’t exist. Not according to the Council.

Lena Gracey died as a child, mourned publicly by parents desperate to keep her from the Council. She was raised in hiding until she fled the relo-city for solitary freedom in the desert. Lena lives off the grid, selling her power on the black market.

Agent Alex Reyes was honed into a calculating weapon at the Ward School to do the Council’s dirty work. But Alex lives a double life. He’s leading the next generation of agents in a secret revolution to destroy those in power from within.

The life Lena built to escape her past ends the day Alex arrives looking for a renegade Spark.

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains occasional violence and profanity, and includes depictions of a determined double agent doing his job and an empowered young woman making coming-of-age decisions. These include sexual interactions. Spark Rising is not intended for readers under the age of 16.

The world Ms. Corcino creates is simply fascinating.  It is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi universe where everyone has two faces and nothing is really as it seems.  Lena is the heroine all female leads want to be when they grow up. She is smart, independent, strong both emotionally and physically and yet almost completely in the dark as to what is really going on in the world around her.

While Lena is amazing in the beginning of this book it is who she becomes by the end of this book that really intrigues me.  She is a crucible being placed into the fire and while the results are going to be amazing the process is extremely dangerous.  I am looking forward to watching Lena’s character grow as she and Alex work together to bring about a revolution.

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Kate Corcino is a reformed shy girl who found her voice (and uses it…a lot). She believes in magic, coffee, Starburst candies, genre fiction, descriptive profanity, and cackling over wine with good friends. A recovering Dr. Pepper addict, she knows the only addiction worth feeding is the one that follows the “click-whooooosh” of a new story settling into her brain.

She also believes in the transformative power of screwing up and second chances. Cheers to works-in-progress of the literary and lifelong variety!

She is currently gearing up for publication of Ignition Point and Spark Rising , the first books in the Progenitor Saga, a near future dystopian adventure series with romantic elements, science, magic, and plenty of action.

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The Home Series Tour Stop!

Imposing, temperamental Noah Forman wakes up in a hospital and can’t remember how he got there. He holds it together, taking comfort in the fact that the man he has loved since childhood is on the way. But when his one and only finally arrives, Noah is horrified to discover that he doesn’t remember anything from the past three years.

Loyal, serious Clark Lehman built a life around the person who insisted from their first meeting that they were meant to be together. Now, years later, two men whose love has never faltered must relive their most treasured and most painful moments in order to recover lost memories and secure their future.

Word Count: 53,026
Home Again is set in the Home series where the books are linked by theme or world. They are independent and can be read in any order.

Not my normal reading fare, but I have to admit it’s a book I rather enjoyed!

Noah wakes up after an accident and doesn’t remember the last 3 years.  He forgets the past between him and Clark.  The doctors maintain that he must be blocking something traumatic. Clark fills Noah in on what he won’t remember.  Can the hurts of the past be overcome and can love grow anew?

What was cool about this book is that it’s not about falling in love or hooking up; it’s about falling in love with someone for a second time despite the past and learning them all over again.  I thought that was a really refreshing take on a love story.

I like that we get both of the character’s POV in the story as well.  Noah’s POV is the present, while Clark’s POV is the past.  I thought that was quite ingenious.  I thought this book was written really well, and I found myself being swept along by the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this as the first book I read in this series and I can’t wait to read more! 4 stars.

 

Oh this book it is just heart wrenching and beautiful.  I loved both characters from the beginning and it was so amazing to be able to see their relationship develop from the teen years all the way to adulthood. I loved that Clark and Noah felt a bond from their very first meeting and trusted those feelings enough to pursue a friendship even though it was an unlikely match.

Clark’s ordeal with his mother was so heartbreaking, but it was amazing how she was able to give him the support and love he needed to accept himself and his growing feelings for Noah.  While Noah was the young and rebellious one in the beginning it is his perseverance and patience that ultimately saves their relationship. After all they endured it was wonderful to see them get their happy ending together.

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Not even his mother’s funeral can convince self-proclaimed party boy Zach Johnson to tone down his snark or think about settling down. He is who he is, and he refuses to change for anyone. When straight-laced, compassionate Aaron Paulson claims he’s falling for him, Zach is certain Aaron sees him as another project, one more lost soul for the idealistic Aaron to save. But Zach doesn’t need to be fixed and he refuses to be with someone who sees him as broken.

Patience is one of Aaron’s many virtues. He has waited years for a man who can share his heart and complete his life and he insists Zach is the one. Pride, fear, and old hurts wither in the wake of Aaron’s adoring loyalty, and as Zach reevaluates his perceptions of love and family, he finds himself tempted to believe in the impossible: a happily-ever-after.

Word Count: 94,711
He Completes Me is set in the Home series where the books are linked by theme or world. They are independent and can be read in any order.

Zach is a Wildman.  He’s back in his hometown for his mother’s funeral when he runs into Aaron.  He’s kind of the opposite of Zach, with a stable career, politically active and with lots of good friends and family, but sadness seems to lurk underneath.  These two find in each other a kindred spirit, because while they may seem very different on the outside, on the inside they’re both just looking for someone who gets them.  Can they let each other in and find happiness once and for all?

A couple of things: one, I’m not a huge fan of the first person, single POV story.  And two, I’m also not a fan of the love-at-first-sight kind of story.  However, I found that as I got into the story the author really made both work here. 

I wasn’t so sure that I would like Zach either, but as I got to know more of him I thought his character development was done well and I ended up finding that I really had a soft spot for him.  I wanted him to be happy, and I wanted Aaron to be the one who made him that way.  And Aaron…oh Aaron.  I thought for a lot of the book that Aaron was a bit of a doormat, but he had some surprises in his back pocket!  By the end, Aaron showed that he was indeed a man who knows his own mind and that being nice doesn’t mean being a whipping post.  Go, Aaron.

Overall, even though I don’t read a lot of m/m, I found myself really engaged in this story.  4 stars.

 

This one took me a little bit to warm up to. I immediately fell in love with Aaron and his selflessness but I had to get to know Zach before I was able to really appreciate him.   Zach eventually grew on me and I really liked him and how he had matured by the end of the book, but a part of me was never really able to forgive him for his treatment of Aaron in the beginning. 

While the story was very sweet and wonderful a part of me never really believed that this could actually happen and as a result I was unable to fully sink into the story. I am not sure that many if anyone would stick by someone as awful as Zach was even though there was a reason for his behavior. It is a lovely story and I will definitely read more books in this series I just was not as impressed with this book as I was with the first.

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Aggressive, physical, and brave, Jake Owens is a small town football hero turned big city cop who passes his time with meaningless encounters believing he can’t have who he really wants: Nate Richardson, his best friend since before forever. Thoughtful, quiet, and kind, Nate is a brilliant doctor who has always known who he is and has never been able to shake his crush on loyal, courageous, straight Jake.

After a passionate night together, Nate realizes Jake isn’t as straight as he assumed, but he worries that what they shared was a fluke, a result of too much closeness for too long. For Jake, the question isn’t how they ended up in bed together because he has always known that Nate holds his heart, it’s how he’ll convince Nate that he wants and needs to stay there.

Word Count: 82,569
Where He Ends and I Begin is set in the Home series where the books are linked by theme or world. They are independent and can be read in any order.

Don’t you think that we, as romance readers, love a good friends to lovers romance?  I know that I do!  And that’s what I got in this book.

Jake and Nate have been friends forever.  Jake was a jock in high school and is now a cop.  He’s had years of meaningless hook ups with women, knowing deep down that he wasn’t being true to what he really wanted.  Nate has been his steadfast friend, but has always harbored a secret flame for Jake.  He is openly gay, but has never acted on his feelings.  Until one fateful trip changes everything.  But will it be for one night, or can it be forever? 

I really liked that it delved into the shades of gray that is human sexuality.  Most people aren’t totally straight or totally gay, but somewhere in between and that’s where I think Jake’s character was very realistic.  He was attracted to Nate but afraid to go there.  Spoke volumes to me, and I thought added a very good element to the story.

This was a very romantic book and I really enjoyed that.  It’s told from alternating POV, which I found to be not done as well as this author has done in other stories I have read in this series.  Some of the transitions felt strange and a few parts of the story felt a little rushed to me.  But, overall I have to say that I enjoyed this book.  I thought it was sweet and funny and the characters really spoke to me.  4 stars.

I think this is my favorite book so far! I loved both characters from the beginning and I really wanted things to work out for them.  I think one of the reasons I love this book so much is the obvious connection the men have to each other. The book flashes back to their joint childhood and we are given to the opportunity to watch their relationship develop through the years. These two men were always close and were roommates all through college and into their adult lives and when they decide to act on their feelings for each other the resulting relationship is amazingly deep and passionate.

As you read the book you can feel their love for each other grow and it is completely believable as they were first the best of friends and then became lovers.  To me this is the perfect and consummate love story. To be able to fall in love with your best friend and have that person love you back is just a remarkably wonderful thing.

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Cardeno C. - CC to friends - is a hopeless romantic who wants to add a lot of happiness and a few "awwws" into a reader's day. Writing is a nice break from real life as a corporate type and volunteer work with gay rights organizations. Cardeno's stories range from sweet to intense, contemporary to paranormal, long to short, but they always include strong relationships and walks into the happily-ever-after sunset. Cardeno's Home, Family, and Mates series have received awards from Love Romances and More Golden Roses, Rainbow Awards, the Goodreads M/M Romance Group, and various reviewers. But even more special to CC are heartfelt reactions from readers, like, "You bring joy and love and make it part of the every day."

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Win the  Home collection ebook box set!

We are doing something a little different with this release. We are so excited and want you to know as much about the books as possible. So each stop on the tour will post a unique question about one of the books in the series. All you have to do is visit The Author's website to find the answer. Once you find the answer submit it via this form. Correct answers will be entered into a drawing via random.org to win!

(all answers will be featured on the book's covers or in the book's synopsis)

Question:

In Just What the Truth Is, Micah assumes this man is gay and starts dating him.
Noah
Ben
Eli

Remember to follow the tour for more chances to win! You can view the schedule here:  http://www.wlkbookpromotions.com/?p=532

*all answers must be received by Feb 28th, 2015