2 Book Lovers Reviews
Zeus Is Undead: This One Has Zombies
By Michael G. Munz
February 22nd, 2019
Greg's Dailyish Blog
Weekend + Reading = Bliss
If you're a fan of forbidden
romances, be sure to check
out my latest review for
Jewel E. Ann. I highly
recommend it!
More books have been added
to this week's list of new
releases. Enjoy!
Book News!
- The Dream - By Laura
Miller is releasing on April
2nd & is available for
Here's the synopsis:
Most people call her Delilah.
But he called her Daisy. He
was seventeen and a guest in
her family’s home the
summer she turned fifteen. They weren’t supposed to fall in love. But Everton knew two things early on. One: He knew that she was a rule he was most likely going to break. And two: He knew that if anyone discovered their secret, he would be forced to leave. That day came in early August. And it came without warning—or a goodbye. Now, she’s twenty-one. He’s twenty-three. And she’s standing right in front of him—close enough to touch. But he can’t. It’s been six, long years, but one thing remains: she’s still forbidden. And this time, he can’t cross the line.
- Underdog - By Kristen Mae is releasing on February 25th & is available for pre-order.
Here's the synopsis:
What happens when you accidentally kidnap the girl of your dreams?
Noah Decker has carved out a respectable, if lonely, life for himself, designing video games in his Cold War-era house, caring for his chickens, and faithfully patronizing the local pub for their corned beef sandwiches. And loving Addison. Addison, who moves with the grace of a ballerina as she waits tables. Addison, whose every published word he reads again and again until he’s committed them to memory.
Addison, who doesn’t even know he exists.
But Noah’s nonexistent status is blown apart late one night when Addison staggers into the path of his car, scantily dressed, incoherently drunk, and without a phone. Incapable of leaving her passed out in the street, Noah has no choice but to bring his dream girl home for the night so she can sober up.
Except Addison doesn’t wake up grateful—she wakes up panicked. She accuses Noah of terrible things, acts he’d never dream of committing, and threatens to report him. Noah can’t let that happen. Won’t let that happen.
Even if it means locking Addison in a bunker.
New Releases!
- What He Never Knew: A Teacher/Student Romance – By Kandi Steiner – A standalone teacher/student romance in the What He Doesn't Know series.
I never learn my lesson.
And I always want what I can’t have.
When Sarah Henderson walks into my life, I tell myself she’s off limits. She’s my student, sixteen years younger than me, and my boss’s niece. It doesn’t matter that I see the same pain reflected in her eyes that I have in my own, or that the dead organ better known as my heart kicks to life when she’s around.
I’ve been here before, and I know how this ends.
It’s been two years since I fell for the last woman I knew I couldn’t have, the one with the ring on her finger that I chose to ignore.
Two years of trying to overcome that heartache when Sarah slides into my life.
Another woman I can’t have. Another woman I can’t stop myself from wanting.
I never learn my lesson, but with a constant reminder of how that last forbidden love burned, I think I’ve finally learned this one.
This time, I won’t chase what’s off limits.
This time, I’m staying away.
And I’ll keep telling myself that until I believe it.
- Best Laid Plans – By Lauren Blakely - Romantic comedy!
That time I had the brilliant idea to ask my good friend for lessons in s-e-x-ploration...Awkward? Maybe.
- Let Me Burn (Angel Sands #1) – By Carrie Elks - She isn't looking for love. He's not planning on staying around...
- One Week in Paris – By Roya Carmen
- Run to You: A 100 Series Standalone - By Lara Adrian - Bodyguard romance!
He will do anything to protect her . . . even if it means breaking her heart.
Combat veteran Gabriel Noble survived the war overseas, but the stoic Baine International security specialist is in for the fight of his life when he's tasked with bodyguarding beautiful lingerie designer Evelyn Beckham...
- Overture – By Skye Warren – Forbidden romance!
The world knows Samantha Brooks as the violin prodigy.
She guards her secret truth—the desire she harbors for her
guardian.
Liam North got custody of her six years ago. She’s all grown up now, but he still treats her like a child. No matter how much he wants her.
No matter how bad he aches for one taste.
Her sweet overtures break down the ex-soldier’s defenses, but there’s more at stake than her body. Every touch, every kiss, every night. The closer she gets, the more exposed his darkest secret.
She’s one step away from finding out what happened the night she lost her family. One step away from leaving him forever.
- The Risk (Briar U #2) – By Elle Kennedy – Standalone.
Everyone says I’m a bad girl. They’re only partly right—I don’t let fear rule me, and I certainly don’t care what people think. But I draw the line at sleeping with the enemy. As the daughter of Briar’s head hockey coach, I’d be vilified if I hooked up with a player from a rival team.
And that’s who Jake Connelly is. Harvard’s star forward is arrogant, annoying, and too attractive for his own good. But fate is cruel—I require his help to secure a much-coveted internship, and the sexy jerk isn’t making it easy for me.
I need Connelly to be my fake boyfriend.
For every fake date…he wants a real one.
Which means this bad girl is in big trouble. Nothing good can come from sneaking around with Jake Connelly. My father would kill me, my friends will revolt, and my post-college career is on the line. But while it’s getting harder and harder to resist Jake’s oozing sex appeal and cocky grin, I refuse to fall for him.
That’s the one risk I’m not willing to take.
- The Wrong Gentleman – By Louise Bay
I’m an all-or-nothing man—100 percent focused on whatever has my attention.
First it was serving my country in the Special Forces. Then it was building my business. Right now it’s the hot blonde at the bar who’s about to become another notch on my bedpost.
But women never keep my attention for more than a night.
Until I peel off Skylar Anderson’s clothes and her mask starts to crumble, showing me glimpses of the girl she’s hiding. She’s funny, sexy and vulnerable and throws me out of bed before I can catch my breath and suggest breakfast.
When I start my last undercover job on a yacht, turns out, she’s one of the crew. I try, but I can’t look away...
- Tomboy (The Hartigans #3) – By Avery Flynn – Romantic comedy! Each book in The Hartigans series is a standalone.
Ice Knights defenseman Zach Blackburn has come down with the flu, and my BFF—his PR manager—begs me to put my nursing degree to use and get him back to health. Of course she would call in a favor for the most hated man in Harbor City.
But when he’s finally on the mend and I’m sneaking out of his place, everything goes sideways. Paparazzi spot me and pictures, plus accusations that I slept with him, fly faster than a hockey puck.
At first, all of Harbor City wants my blood—or to give me a girlie-girl makeover. But then…the team finally wins a game. And now this fickle town wants me with the big jerk twenty-four seven...
- Passion & Ink (Sweetest Taboo #2) – By Naima Simone - Forbidden romance! Standalone.
- The Object of Your Affections – By Falguni Kothari
Two best friends rewrite the rules of friendship, love and family…and change everything they thought they knew about motherhood...
- The Study of Animal Languages – By Lindsay Stern
Meet Ivan and Prue: a married couple - both experts in language and communication - who nevertheless cannot seem to communicate with each other.
Ivan is a tightly wound philosophy professor whose reverence for logic and order governs not only his academic interests, but also his closest relationships. His wife, Prue, is quite the opposite: a pioneer in the emerging field of biolinguistics, she is bold and vibrant, full of life and feeling. Thus far, they have managed to weather their differences. But lately, an odd distance has settled in between them. Might it have something to do with the arrival of the college's dashing but insufferable new writer-in-residence, whose novel Prue always seems to be reading?
Into this delicate moment barrels Ivan's unstable father-in-law, Frank, in town to hear Prue deliver a lecture on birdsong that is set to cement her tenure application. But the talk doesn't go as planned, unleashing a series of crises that force Ivan to finally confront the problems in his marriage, and to begin to fight - at last - for what he holds dear.
- Tinsel (Lark Cove #4) – By Devney Perry
- Misadventures of a Curvy Girl – By Sierra Simone
- In to Her – By J.A. Huss – Erotic romance!
- Her Master’s Reckoning (Master’s Series #4) – By Lily White
- The (Half) Truth – By Leddy Harper
Tatum Alexander is so close to realizing her dream of becoming a sous chef she can taste it, but working at her ex-fiancé’s restaurant with his new girlfriend was never in her career plan. To save face and prove she’s moved on, Tatum cooks up a lie that she’s in a relationship with her best friend’s superhot cousin. There’s just one problem: Jason only recently moved to town, and he has no idea they’re already “dating...”
- One Thing I Know – By Kara Isaac
Rachel Somers is America’s #1 relationship coach—America just doesn’t know it. Rachel writes the books, but her Aunt Donna plays the face of the operation. Living in fear of their secret being exposed, Rachel has no choice but to keep up the charade or lose the big money required to care for her father. With the deadline for their next book closing in, Rachel finds herself out of inspiration and running out of time. The last thing she needs is her aunt and publicist concocting a harebrained scheme to join forces with some radio star in the hope it will help deliver the elusive next book idea.
Lucas Grant is a star of late night radio—though it’s come with an unexpected price of hordes of women who keep calling his sports show to ask him for relationship advice. They make his ratings look great, but they also mean he has to waste hours talking to people like Dr. Donna Somerville about feelings instead of his first love: football. When a big-time producer calls, it looks like his hard work is about to pay off. But the offer comes with a catch—the producer is convinced Dr. Donna is not what she seems and he wants Lucas to discover her secret. To do that, he needs to win over her tight-lipped assistant who holds the key to his success and—he begins to suspect—his heart.
- Twisted – By Natasha Knight - This is a standalone spin-off of the Dark Legacy Duet.
My brother was right. I always wanted my own Willow Girl.
What happened on that island didn’t break me.
It twisted me.
Corrupted me.
Made me into a monster.
Although, I guess it’s true what she says. You can’t become something that wasn’t inside you all along.
This was always going to happen.
I was always going to take Amelia Willow.
History and destiny sealed her fate. Sealed both of ours.
For months, I’ve been waiting.
Watching.
Preparing.
And tonight, everything will change.
Because tonight, I’ll collect my own Willow Girl.
- Boyfriend for Hire – By Kendall Ryan
I’m the guy you call when you need to impress your overbearing family, your boss, or your ex. Yeah, I’m a male escort, but not just any escort, I’m the escort. The one with a mile-long waiting list and a pristine reputation that’s very well-deserved.
I’m the guy who’ll make you feel beautiful, desired, and worshipped . . . all for a steep price. I’m hired to make you shine, and I always deliver.
I’ll be whatever you want me to be for one night—except my true self. This is just a job, a role I play to earn a paycheck.
But I’m not the guy who falls for a client. Not once in six years.
And then I meet Elle. Her friend has hired me to escort her to a wedding, but Elle doesn’t know we’re just pretending.
There’s a fire between us I never expected. A connection I haven’t felt in so long. One kiss, and I’m losing all control.
But what will happen when she finds out who I really am?
- Talen – By Shay Savage
In a world plagued by constant earthquakes and volcanic debris, people in the valley struggle to survive while those on top of the hill want for nothing.
This is where I come in.
I spend my nights plundering supplies in the walled city of Hilltop, and I trade them to the valley people below. I’m not a thief. I prefer to be known as the head of Lost and Found.
When I discover a beautiful but dangerous competitor in my territory, I also learn she knows more about me than she should. Is she a spy sent by my father, or is she a rebel like me? I don’t trust her, but together we’ll discover secrets that may destroy what’s left of our world.
There have always been those with wealth and those without.
My name is Talen, and I’m here to even the score.
- Devil’s Daughter: The Ravenels meet The Wallflowers – By Lisa Kleypas – Historical romance!
- Songs for Cricket – By Terri E. Laine – She’s his best friend’s little sister!
College freshman, Finley Farrow, has two fairly ambitious goals this school year: make the football team and get over Shepard Connelly. The gorgeous football player with the magnificent voice would one day be a star on or off the field. But he’ll never see her as more than his best friend’s sister...
- Jagged Ink (Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs #3) – By Carrie Ann Ryan
- Back to You: A Coming Home Novel - By Jessica Scott
- What it Takes to Fall (Forget Me Knot #3) – By C.R. Ellis – This book can be read as a standalone.
- Hard as Stone – By K.M. Scott
Happy Reading!
February 22nd, 2019
There is something about a heinous crime that grabs my attention. A seven-year-old boy is brutally beaten in his own home, Hoag had my attention.
The Boy is the second book in the Broussard and Fourcade series and my first venture into the small town of Bayou Breaux. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything, the author seamlessly filled in any gaps that I may have been missing from book one.
What he's reading!
What she's reading!
Shelley's Daily Blog
February 12th, 2019
New Release & Review:
The Hunting Party
By Lucy Foley
The Hunting Party just seemed to hit me at the right time and in all the right ways. I guess you could say it’s just what I was looking for. The Hunting Party is one part Friends From College, with another part The Ritual and the third part…I can’t say, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
*Read my full review...
*Read Shelley's review...
February 8th, 2019
I'm always adding new books to my to-be-read list. What's a few more, right? Well, these two have definitely piqued my interest.
- The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden is releasing on April 23rd. I loved Ararat, so I am very excited to go on a new adventure with Golden.
A chilling exploration of what happens when the original Pandora's Box is discovered in an ancient subterranean city, stirring international conflict and exposing the archaeological team to curses, whispers, and the terror of a legendary plague.
*Read the synopsis...
- The Institute by Stephen King is scheduled to release on September 10th, 2019. Yes!
Check out the synopsis:
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
February 5th, 2019
New Release & Review:
Forget You Know Me
By Jessica Strawser
I always hate to age myself in my reviews, but sometimes an author leaves me without a choice. Forget You Know Me started off like Barney’s (How I Met Your Mother) mixtape – it started off with a BAM! I was left wondering where this story was going. I love it when an author starts their story like this. Strawser grabbed my attention – I was not going to be distracted.
*Read my full review...
*Read Shelley's review...
January 29th, 2019
Book Review:
Of Blood and Bone
(Chronicles of The One, Book 2)
By Nora Roberts
After completing Year One, Nora Roberts had me primed for book two, Of Blood and Bone, in her Chronicles of the One series. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
I’ll do my best to write this review, but this is not the type of series where you could jump in anywhere along the way. Roberts is building off of the world she masterfully created in Year One.
*Read my full review...
January 25th, 2019
I’m sorry, but I could not wait for this story to end.
The Lost Puzzler dragged on for far too long, considering the storyline. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love a long story, and at 528 pages, this book is far from one of the longest that I’ve read.
The story was an overlapping tale, consisting of a scribe’s adventure in unearthing the mysterious disappearance of Rafik (story number two).
January 18th, 2019
Book Review:
Box of Bones
By Jeremy Bates
This seems to be Jeremy Bates’ forte, the short story that quickly pulls his readers in and hits them over the head with an unanticipated ending. In that sense, Box of Bones does not disappoint.
Jim’s story is an interesting one, and one that is not completely absurd. He gets himself in over his head in a foreign country to find himself trapped in a coffin. Is there any good way for this to end?
*Read my full review...
January 11th, 2019
Book Review:
White Stag
By Kara Barbieri
And now for something completely different. White Stag is a Norse mythology-based YA novel that is filled with goblins and a cornucopia of other unique creatures. I love it when an author promises something new that goes outside of the norm of what is out there.
Unfortunately, White Stag was filled with many distractions. I kept thinking of Netflix’s Friends from College while I was reading it.
*Read my full review...
January 8th, 2019
Book Review:
Seven Days
By Patrick Senécal
I’d heard quite a bit of praise for Patrick Senécal, even before I knew that the English version of Les Sept Jours de Talion was going to be released. To be honest, I’m surprised that it took this long for one of his books to come to the English audience. With the comparisons to King and Nesbo, my expectations rose even higher.
*Read my full review...
December 28th, 2018
At the end of the year I always find it fun to take a look back at the fantastic books that I had a chance to read over the past twelve months. It's never easy putting a list like this together, there are so many great books that I read, some just have to be there, then there are some others that I ask myself, how can that not be on the list? But I suppose that is the challenge, picking the cream of the crop. I hope that you had a great reading year, and here's hoping that 2019 is filled with more amazing reads!
*See my list of top books of 2018...
December 21st, 2018
The Christmas Hirelings
By Mary Elizabeth Braddon
It’s always fun getting into the holiday season. When I saw that The Christmas Hirelings was being offered for free on Audible, I thought that it would be a great addition to my holiday preparations.
The Christmas Hirelings is set in Braddon’s contemporary period, circa mid to late eighteen hundreds. It is set in an aristocratic household and revolves around a preposterous idea.
Read my full review...
December 14th, 2018
Book Review:
The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore
By Kim Fu
Sometimes I’ll read a synopsis and get a specific idea in my head. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s the reality of what I do.
When I read the synopsis of The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, I thought: Awesome! This sounds like a West Coast, female version of The Troop meets Stand by Me (tell me that doesn’t sound fabulous).
Read my full review...
December 11th, 2018
Book Review:
Galapagos
By Kurt Vonnegut
I think that everyone’s reading is influenced early on by the people in our lives. Parents, teachers, friends, they all tend to point us in certain directions for our reading. My influencing factors pointed me in directions other than Vonnegut. But I’ve heard his name come up frequently over the past few years, so it seemed to be about time to give him a shot. I’ve certainly been missing something special.
Read my full review...
December 4th, 2018
Book Review:
Ararat
By Christopher Golden
I love a story with a mysterious monster, make it biblical in nature and I am hooked. Ararat is one of those books I had been eyeing for a while before finally embarking on the voyage.
Golden masterfully created his cast of characters, although listed as Ben Walker #1, there were many other characters with critical roles.
November 27th, 2018
Book Review:
The Outsider
By Stephen King
I’ve always found that it’s hard to go wrong with a book from Stephen King, he completely dominates the horror charts and shelves. I love the meandering, detailed trails that I’ve traveled with him and his characters.
The Outsider grabbed hold of me with an incredible start. I was left with feelings of: How? What? Why? This story began with a total mind-f*ck. I loved it.
Read my full review...
November 20th, 2018
Book Review:
Annihilation
By Jeff VanderMeer
Appropriately, this is going to be a strange one. My Annihilation experience was perhaps as unusual as the story itself. I grabbed the audiobook for this experience. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, I generally set my expectations high when the powers that be decide to turn the book into a movie. They are rarely ever able to duplicate the magic of a fantastic book, but the base is often a sure bet.
Read my full review...
November 16th, 2018
Book Review:
Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings
By Jodi Taylor
I’ll give Jodi Taylor this, she’s got a good thing going on with The Chronicles of St. Mary’s. I’ve grabbed a few of her shorts on Audible. They are great little distractions on my daily commute.
Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings takes its readers on a quick little holiday trip back to ancient Egypt. It is filled
with what I am coming to know as Taylor’s trademark
sarcastic humor.
November 13th, 2018
Book Review:
Muse of Nightmares
By Laini Taylor
No book by my favorite pink-haired author would be complete without cake. Yes, there is cake in Muse of Nightmares, and that is the last spoiler that you’re going to get from me.
Less than two months ago I finished reading Strange the Dreamer, I was so captivated by this amazing world created by Taylor that I wanted…no, needed to get to the rest of the story. That in itself tells you how good this series is.
Read my full review...
