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Supernatural Six: Box Set Review

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Supernatural Six: Box Set

Authors:  Elle Casey, Juli Alexander, Allie Burton, L.G. Castillo, Brenda Pandos, Tawny Stokes

Published:  November 2013 by Tawny Stokes

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

 

 

 

Another box set review!  I didn’t finish the whole set; I have so many books to review.  But I did read three stories which is half the set.  Here’s what I thought about them.

Duality by Elle Casey

Malcolm seems to attract severely depressed people.  He’s not sure why that is, but he knows that’s the case so he does his best to keep others away.  Rae has the opposite problem.  People are attracted to her for her happiness.  They can get obsessed with her, and do so often that her family frequently has to move to get away from Rae’s ‘followers’.  There are a few people, called neutrals that aren’t affected by people like Rae and Malcolm.  When Rae moves and ends up at Malcolm’s school, she is attracted to Malcolm and she thinks he’s a neutral but she’s not sure.  Rae and Malcolm will learn that they’re not alone in the world and at least they have each other and a few loyal friends too.

This story got the box set off to a good start.  It also made me laugh out loud at one scene, which is hard to do.  There was something that bothered me with this story; the fact that the same scene was sometimes told through multiple points of view.  That just gets boring.  Other than that though, it was a cute, fun read.

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Three Wishes by Juli Alexander

Jen’s a genie.  And a really good drummer.  She so wants to be a part of her brother’s band, but if she gets called to serve someone’s wishes, she has to go immediately so it’s kind of a no go for her brother; but it’s not her fault she could get called at any minute.  Anyways, Jen’s brother gets another drummer, Leo.  But Leo is more than just a good looking guy.  He’s also a genie.  It’s forbidden for a male and female genie to get together and date, but these two just can’t seem to help themselves.

Another good book.  Jen is a strong character, and even though it’s really risky, she does things that could cause serious trouble (for her) for Leo because his dad needs help.  The only bummer about this book was that I wanted to read more.  It wasn’t really a cliffhanger ending, but there wasn’t full closure so I’m wondering if the author is going to write a sequel.

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Atlantis by Allie Burton

What a beginning this story had!  Pearl is working as a janitor at a mini golf course when a toddler falls into a murky lagoon.  Pearl dives in and finds him at the bottom, being held to the bottom by the filter.  Minutes go by.  Pearl pulls him from the filter and breathes into his mouth giving him the ability to be like her temporarily at least; by having the ability to breathe under water.  Pearl tries to hurry away after she gives the boy back to his mother but a young man named Chase who also works there catches up with her, and she just can’t seem to get him off her tail.  And after a while, she doesn’t want to.

This was a really neat story.  As you just read, Pearl isn’t a mermaid, but she has the ability to breathe underwater.  She doesn’t know who her real parents are, and she is running away from her adoptive ones.  They made her perform in a circus, and were also emotionally abusive.

Something about Chase and their relationship bugged me in this book.  Maybe part of it was that he actually considered exposing her secret.  I’m not sure, but he just got under my skin.  And I felt like it kind of dragged after a while, which is too bad cause it started off so good!  All in all though, it was a decent story.

 

 

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

~Pam

*****I received this book free from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review.*****       

Shady Deals Review

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Title:  Shady Deals  Shady Deals

Author:  Cindy McDonald

Published:  2013 by Acorn Book Services

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Purchase Shady Deals from Amazon

 

 

 

Kate West and Dr. Holden Reese have put their troubled past behind them and are ready to set a wedding date. There’s only one thing in Holden’s way: a powerful drug Lord at Keystone Downs Thoroughbred Race Track has Holden under his thumb, and he’s not letting go!

Kate’s family is determined to get to the bottom the of horse drugging ring, and when the West’s get too close to the truth the Drug Lord sends them a brutal message that can’t be misinterpreted.  Now Holden is on the run, and he’s dragging Kate with him.

Can he escape his indiscretions?

How long can he keep Kate in the dark?

And how damning will the truth be when it’s finally revealed?

(Blurb from Pump Up Your Book)

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Kate and Holden are not only engaged but she’s his assistant.  Kate’s noticed that Holden is acting really on edge lately; he’s either laid back or up tight, no in between.  Kate pins it on his personality.  But what’s really happening is Holden is stuck in the middle of a drug ring with no way out in sight.  While it’s not where he wants to be, when he tries to distance himself from the other criminals, they threaten Kate, and that just won’t do.

Let me be honest, I was going to quit reading this after two chapters.  I felt like there were so many characters in the beginning and I couldn’t keep them all straight so that made it boring to me.  But then something happened.  I got hooked.  And I finished the book at around 3am the next morning!  I’m so glad I didn’t give up (and it really was only the first two chapters before it picked up for me).  Since Shady Deals is part of a series maybe other readers will already know of the characters beforehand too.   So anyways…

This book is great!   I don’t want to say much more about the plot and give anything away, but there are so many twists and turns.  Not to mention the suspense that kept me up reading until dawn to see what happened!

I read a lot so I don’t always remember authors’ names.  But mentioned in Shady Deals was a familiar character’s name, Jack Haliday.  I was like, I know that name.  Turns out I’ve read, and gave 4 stars to another one of Cindy McDonald’s books, Into the Crossfire, a while back!

So if you’re looking for a book with some romance and suspense, definitely give Shady Deals a try.  Ms. McDonald will keep you on your toes.  Just don’t read it if you have plans early the next morning.

 

 

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

04

~Pam

*****I received this book free from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for an honest review.*****     

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About the Author:

For twenty-six years Cindy Mcdonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance: She was aCindy McDonald professional dancer/choreographer for most of her adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005.Suddenly, she felt drawn to her computer to write about things she have experienced (greatly exaggerated upon of course) with her husband’s Thoroughbreds and the happenings at the racetrack.

Why didn’t Cindy write about my experiences with dance? You might ask. “Eh, believe it or not life at the racetrack is more…racy.” Cindy says. “The drama is outrageous—not that dancers don’t know how to create drama, believe me, they do but race trackers just seem to get more down and dirty with it which makes great story telling—great fiction.”

Cindy didn’t start out writing books, The Unbridled Series started out as a TV drama, and the Hollywood readers loved the show. When the series didn’t sell, Cindy recalls, “One of the readers said to me, ‘Cindy, don’t be stupid. Turn your scripts into a book series.’” And so she did!

In May of 2011, Cindy took the big leap and exchanged her dancin’ shoes for a lap top—she retired from dance. “It was a scary proposition,” Cindy confesses. “I was terrified, but I had the full support of my husband, Saint Bill. It has been a huge change for me. I went from dancing hard five hours a night to sitting in front of a computer. I still work-out and I take my dog, Harvey, for a daily run. I have to or I’d be as big as a house.”

Does Cindy McDonald miss dancing? “Sometimes I do,” she says. “I miss my students. I miss choreographing musicals, but I love my books and I love sharing them with readers.”

Connect & Socialize with Cindy!

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***Images and wording for book blurb and about the author were provided by Pump Up Your Book***

Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Box Set Review

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Image from Goodreads

Image from Goodreads

Title:  Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Box Set

Authors:  Ava Lore, Terry Towers, Anna Antonia, Amy Aday, Selena Kitt, Nelle L’Amour, Tawny Taylor, Dez Burke, and Marian Tee

Published:  October 2013 by Excessica

Genre:  Erotica

Purchase the Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Boxed Set from Amazon

 

***This box set contains mature themes, as does this review, and is intended for audiences ages 18 and over.***

 

This is my first review about a box set!  When I started out reading this I was pleasantly surprised.  I guess I thought because it was advertised so cheap on amazon for ten books, that the writing would be bad or the books wouldn’t be good, but that wasn’t the case at all.  I was also surprised to find out that I was reading a BDSM erotica bundle.  Lol.  Guess I should read the synopsis sometimes before I take on a request.  But honestly, I thought it was a romance box set.  It’s okay though, I’m not anti-erotica.  I liked 50 Shades.  Anyways, I only read some of the books, so I’ll just do some quick reviews on the ones that I read.

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The Billionaire’s Muse by Ava Lore

This was a great start to the set.  I was like, wow, if this is what all the books are going to be like, it’s going to be great!

Sadie accidentally breaks a very valuable vase at an auction.  This vase belongs to billionaire Malcolm Ward.  Sadie agrees to be his muse to pay him back for the vase.  Trouble is, Malcolm isn’t really sure what kind of artist he is, so he has to spend a lot of time with Sadie to find out.

This one started out great, Sadie is sarcastic and awesome.  During the beginning of the auction this thought goes through her head, “Me, I was just hoping for a fist fight to break out.” (location 95/14072 on kindle).  Hey, she made me laugh a lot. However, some of the sex scenes were a little weird for me.  Paint brushes shouldn’t go certain places.  Just saying.  And then I felt like the story stretched out a little too long and got a little off course as well.

Overall though, it was a good book.

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The CEO and the Girl from the Coffee Shop by Terry Towers

The billionaire, Gabriel, wants barista, Beth, to come be his housekeeper and chef.  I couldn’t get into this one; I got bored, didn’t finish it and went on to the next.

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Yes, Mr. Collins by Anna Antonia

Mr. Collins is so demanding that he doesn’t keep a personal assistant for long, because no one meets his expectations.  That is until Natasha works for him.  Natasha starts the job so nervous because she knows what Mr. Collins is like.  But then, after she is getting physically sick from stress, she decides that she’s going to change her way of thinking and not be nervous anymore, but live up to the challenge.

This story was quick and decent.  It seemed to be shorter than the others.

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Heidi and the Kaiser by Selena Kitt

Heidi is working in the fashion world, but not as she would like, which would be as a designer.  On the job setting up a photo shoot, she spills coffee on billionaire Warren Kaiser’s pants.  He spanks her and she likes it.  Heidi ends up working for him, and the punishments continue.

Yeah, I’m conflicted on this one.  It felt like borderline abuse.  Heidi liked it but, well, I didn’t!  Kaiser seemed so harsh to me, even at the end.  What kind of relationship is that, you know?

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Gloria’s Secret by Nelle L’Amour

This is another one I just couldn’t finish.  I was bored, I couldn’t get into it.  Gloria is the owner of a lingerie company, (you get it right?  I hope so!)  Anyways here’s a little excerpt that caught my eye.

My right eye was blue; my left one brown.  I had a rare genetic condition known as heterochromia.  In press releases and on the Internet, both eyes appeared to be brown thanks to Photoshop.  But because I suffered from dry eye syndrome, I was unable to use contacts to conceal my idiosyncrasy the rest of the time. (location 7058/14072)

This is pure silliness!  Jane Seymour has different colored eyes, as does Kate Bosworth.  They don’t try to hide it and they’re actors not an owner of a lingerie shop!  Not only that, but I have one brown eye and one green eye myself so obviously I picked up on this.  Gloria must have some real issues for having her eyes photoshopped to be the same color.  I don’t know though cause like I said, I didn’t finish the book.

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There are a few more stories that I didn’t list here; I didn’t read all of them.  So overall I would say that this is a good box set.  Not ‘avoid at all cost.’ Not ‘you need to read this now!’  But good, especially for the cheap prices that amazon tends to list it for.

 

 

My Rating for the whole set: 

3 out of 5 stars

 03

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from one of the authors, Marian Tee, in exchange for an honest review.*****

Closet Full of Coke Review

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Title:  Closet Full of Coke  Closet Full of Coke

Author:  Indra Sena

Published:  2012 by Indra Sena

Genre: Memoir

Purchase Closet Full of Coke from Amazon

 

 

 

About the Book: 

Narrated by the teenage girl who lived it, Closet Full of Coke tells the true story of how a New York suburban fifteen-year-old girl’s savvy and wit helps turn the small-time drug business of Armando, a Colombian drug dealer, into a multi-million-dollar cocaine operation that puts them on the DEA’s Wanted List.

This intimate diary gives readers a fast-paced glimpse of the couple’s speedy rise to riches, and their inevitable descent.

These wannabe drug lords of the 1980s New York-to-Florida drug scene end their story only three years later with an untimely death, betrayal, and revenge.

Here is a true account of drug dealers whose obsession with money, power, sex, and glamour drives them to a lifestyle of deceit and recklessness, ending in tragedies that destroy lives forever.  (Provided by Pump Up Your Book.)

I was so excited to read this book!  Does anyone remember Go Ask Alice?  That’s the first thought that came into my mind when I saw the synopsis and I thought, I haven’t read a book like that in a while.

Like the synopsis says, this memoir tells the story of a 15 year old drug dealer.  Indra is about to make a buy at her dealer’s house (she currently sells at her high school) and he isn’t there but Armando, her dealer’s supplier is.  She goes for a car ride with Armando and soon he becomes her dealer and boyfriend (even though he’s married).

There is so much potential in this book and for it to be based on real life is crazy.  It seems like something one would see on a TV special, 20/20, or a movie.  It was a fast paced suspenseful read, but I just felt as if a few details could have made it amazing instead of good.

There are a few characters in the book that are frightening.  If you make them mad, there is no telling what they might do.  One of those people is Armando.  Indra knows that he beat up his wife, she saw the bruises on her face so of course she is scared of him.  We as readers know this, but my heart didn’t pump in fear in situations when it should have.

The other person was Carlos, Armando’s brother in law.  This guy was a legit psycho; he got off on violence.  I know Indra must have felt terrified in some of the situations with him, and I wanted to feel it with her, but I just didn’t.  Maybe some situations should have just been worded differently?

My heart breaks for the author and her parental situation growing up; it just sounded plan awful.  Her parents were addicts and selfish, and being a parent myself, this just broke my heart.  Another thing that seriously bothered me was Indra’s non actions in getting a woman she worked with out of jail after they both got in trouble.  The woman, Janet I believe, had a kid, and Indra just seems to blow it off.  I know she was young, but man, it made my blood boil.  (Obviously these situations were well written for me to have reactions such as these.)

Although some things bothered me, and I do feel like it could have been amazing instead of just good, I do think it’s a good book.  I read it within a few days, and enjoyed it.  And perhaps a teenager on the brink of a bad decision will read this and will change their mind about their future actions.  Although it does not have a happy ever after, I still do recommend it.

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

~Pam

**I received this book free from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for an honest review.***

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About the Author:

You can visit Indra Sena’s website at www.closetfullofcoke.com. Indra is currently working on her second memoir. It covers two years in her twenties, where she joined the Rainbow Family and traveled the US and abroad.

Her latest book is the memoir, Closet Full of Coke.

Connect & Socialize with Indra

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Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

Closet Full of Coke banner***Images, and wording for about the book & author were provided by Pump Up Your Book***

Labor Day Review

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Labor Day

Author:  Joyce Maynard

Published:  2009 by William Morrow

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Purchase Labor Day from Amazon

 

 

It was the end of summer and Henry was just happy to be out of the house.  His mother, Adele, doesn’t like to leave the comforts of home, and going out has become a rarity.  They are at the store because Henry has grown and needs new clothes.  Henry is minding his own business reading a magazine when an injured man asks him for help.   He noticed that Henry came in the store with his mother, and he wants them to take him to their house.  Adele agrees.  Turns out, this man, Frank, is a fugitive and on the run, but Adele just takes the news in stride as does Henry.  A relationship ensues between Adele and Frank, but is it for real, or just another part of the fugitive’s plan to escape the law?

Adele is going to be brought up in a lot of book clubs.  Is she a bad mother?  Let’s see, she talks to Henry about things that are definitely inappropriate.  Adele is in dire need for a friend.  And since she only has one kind-of friend/acquaintance, Henry gets to listen to all of Adele’s thoughts some which he shouldn’t be privy too.

What about Henry’s dad?  Should he be the one raising Henry?  Well, Henry’s dad is remarried with a stepson and a new baby.  Henry did try living there, but poor kid just didn’t feel like he belonged in the ‘new’ family.

Back to Adele, what was she thinking bring a bleeding stranger home with her and her son?!?!  Again, she definitely has issues, and you do find out what they are.  She definitely needs companionship in her life.

And what about Frank the fugitive?  I wasn’t sure about him for a while.  Is he the bad guy?  Is he just faking his feelings for Adele?  For Henry?  Well, I guess you’re going to have to read it to find out.

One thing that just wasn’t for me was the style of writing.  The author didn’t use quotation marks at all during conversations between characters.  It was different, but not for me.

As some of you know, this book is now a major motion picture; and I haven’t had the chance to see it yet.   It was definitely a good book, just not life changing or great.  That’s why I gave it three stars.

 

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

03

 

~Pam

*****I purchased this book for myself.*****