ARC Review: Every Scandalous Secret by Gayle Callen

I admit that this book was a little hard for me to get through at times. I just loved the beginning of this book. I am a big fan of banter between characters and this book was chocked full of it in the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Leo and Susanna go back and forth with each other. But once I got to the middle it's where things seemed to slow down for me significantly. It just seemed to drag on for a few chapters and there wasn't anymore of the banter between Leo and Susanna. By the time I got to the last third of the book everything picked up again I really began to enjoy Leo and Susanna again.

I honestly love the character of Leo. He's just so forth-coming and honest about things. He isn't ashamed of his past and he doesn't make excuses. I really enjoyed watching him pursue Susanna at the house party. We also saw a different side of Leo in this book. In previous books he perceived as a Rake who doesn't really give a damn about anything, but in this book we were able to see that he's actually very intelligent. I secretly love it when the ton rake turns out to be a hidden scholar. I just love a smart and intelligent hero!

As for Susanna, I had my ups and downs with her. I loved her in the beginning of the book. She is a bluestocking and isn't ashamed of it. In fact, while at the country house party she is giving painting lessons. She seems so confident and self-assured. Then, all of a sudden when her and Leo get together she loses all of that. She becomes sort of a downer and is constantly questioning her actions and whether Leo's feelings are real. What happened to the confident self-assured woman I came to love?

As I said before, my favorite part of this book was experiencing all of the banter between Leo and Susanna. I just wish we were able to see more of it throughout the story. I did enjoy Leo and Susanna together as a couple and I think that they both balanced each other out quite well. They both brought out the best in one another and that is always refreshing to see.

**ARC copy provided by Goddess Fish Promotions Blog Tours**

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Guest Post with Author Rebecca Royce and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Rebecca Royce to the blog. Rebecca is currently on tour promoting the release of her newest book Love Beyond Time. So please give a warm welcome to Rebecca.

Soul Mates

I would imagine if we took a poll, we would find that everyone has a different definition of a soul mate. What would make your soul mate your soul mate? Is it a felling, a look, a 'knowing'? I'm not sure how it works in real life. I know that I knew my husband was my soul mate on our first date. I told him I couldn't cook (that is not an exaggeration; I burn water) and he told me I would never have to, he would always cook for me. Boom. I knew I would marry him. That he was mine.

Love Beyond Time, the first book in my Outsider series, the subject of Soul Mates is a very important one. Why? Because in order for the individual Outsider to come into his or her full powers, they have to meet their soul mate. They need this to become a Unit. Only a fully formed Unit is undetectable to the demon that hunts them. Before they meet and fall in love with their Soul Mate, they are in danger all of the time.

In the past, before the Outsiders were nearly decimated, Outsiders grew up with their Soul Mates living in the same village that they did. But now finding their Soul Mate is part of the journey.

I love to tell a good love story and I love helping these amazing characters find their Soul Mates. I hope you do too!

KLB Virtual Journey: Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard Giveaway

Gabriel's Inferno
Author: Sylvain Reynard

Professor Gabriel Emerson, a specialist in Dante and the art of seduction, believes he has already earned his exile to the lower circles of hell. Since redemption is impossible, there is no reason to refrain from indulging in a life of pleasurable sin, using his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm as a means to gratify his every whim. But when he meets Julia Mitchell, a brilliant, lovely, and innocent grad student with the achingly familiar eyes of an angel, all of his cynical convictions are challenged. Her mysterious allure and the havoc she wreaks on his self-satisfied existence cause him to lash out at her, while her quiet beauty and innate goodness consistently undermine his control, tempting him beyond measure. Despite surviving a traumatic childhood, nothing has shaken Julia's faith that redemption is possible for everyone-everyone but her. Her unworthiness torments her, since the only man she will ever love has managed to forget her very existence, failing to even recognize her when they reconnect. Too naive to see that Gabriel's hostility is a mask for his increasing obsession with her, Julia forces him to come to grips with his past while she continues to unwittingly torment his senses. His fascination grows into a dangerous preoccupation, for Julia is forbidden fruit . . .

Paperback, 514 Pages

Published April 19, 2011 by Omnific Publishing

ISBN: 9781936305629

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Guest Post with Author Danielle Gavan and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Danielle Gavan to the blog. Danielle is currently on tour promoting her book Ardeur. So please give a warm welcome to Danielle!

Hi Danielle, thanks for having me on your blog today. I thought readers might be interested to know what books I, as a writer, can’t get enough of as a reader. Mostly, my tastes run toward paranormal books and take a short jaunt into the historical/time travel/romance genre.

My bookshelf contains the entire Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, as well as the spinoff Lord John books. They’ve all been read several times, some of them so much their dust jackets are tattered and I’ve had to tape the pages back into the spines. I love these books. Diana might take seven years to write one novel but, they’re absolutely worth the wait. Her characters come alive, and the way she weaves the storyline together sucks you right into the book. When I get bored with the whole vamp/shifter/paranormal stuff, this is where I turn. There’s nothing like a little Jamie Fraser to put my brain in a happy place. 

Another author I love to read is Laurell K. Hamilton. Whenever a new book comes out in either her Merry Gentry or Anita Blake series’ I get it and plough through the pages. It takes a few days to read them from cover to cover (thank you domestic servitude… um, bliss) but that only makes the enjoyable experience last that much longer. 

While Laurell’s kick-butt heroines and their harems of men are great, sometimes I like to flip the tables. For that I turn to Gena Showalter and her Lords of The Underworld. Those males are worth staying up passed my bedtime and stumbling bleary eyed through my morning chores. (What do you mean the kids need pants on to go to school? They can’t go in their jammies? Well…rats.) Yep, definitely worth it. 

Occasionally, I venture into the YA pool for something less sexy and more on the angsty side. I haven’t found many I like but the few include Kelly Armstrong’s trilogy (The Reckoning, The Awakening and The Summoning). I’ve read some of Ms. Armstrong’s other work (Women of the Underworld) and can honestly say I love her work. 

Another YA series I’ve enjoyed is The House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast. Great characters and story. This is another series for which I won’t pass up buying the newest release. 

There you have it, some of my favorite books to read. What’s on your bookshelf that you can’t do without?

ARC Review: In Total Surrender by Anne Mallory

Oh how I loved this book! It took me a little while to get into the groove of it, but once I did I was hooked. I just couldn't put the book down. In the beginning I felt a bit overwhelmed and I had a little trouble following along. I felt a little lost. I'm not sure if it's because I hadn't read the book previous to this one, or if it's just how it was meant to be. But once I got into the swing of things and got into Andreas Merrick's way of thinking everything just clicked and I fell completely in love with the story and the hero.

I am absolutely head over heels in love with Andreas Merrick. After reading this story, he is definitely going down as one of my most favorite heroes. He was just everything that I love about a hero. He is a solitary man who shies away from contact and connections with others. He's fearsome and knows how to defends himself and the few others that he does let get close. It was so refreshing to see that most of the story takes place in his point of view. We are able to get a real sense of who he is and what he wants. It was absolutely hilarious watching him interacting with Phoebe, the heroine. He claims he wants nothing to do with her and is constantly trying to thwart her plans and push her away, even though deep inside there is something about her that just calls to him. When she smiles it lights him up inside and when she touches him it's as if he's been felled by a blow. Seriously how can you not fall in love with him?

As for Pheobe, I LOVED her and thought her the perfect match for the uber serious Andreas. She's able to make him feel compassion and she brings out Andreas' sense of humor. Phoebe is so unlike most woman of the ton. She is smart and business savvy and she bakes. She has been taking care of her family ever since her brother disappeared and her father became ill. She will stop at nothing to get her fathers company and his reputation back in order and to do so she needs Andreas' help. She also is very attracted to Andreas and is doing everything in her powers to get under his skin and getting to know him. She feels an instant attraction to him like she's never felt for anyone before and it was quite refreshing to see her as the pursuer in the relationship. She won't let Andreas bad attitude get to her. She is not afraid of him and she won't back down. She sees Andreas as the protector that he is, not the spawn of Satan everyone proclaims him to be.

Andreas and Pheobe were such great characters to read about and I truly loved their story. They both had such great chemistry together and I loved how Pheobe was able to break down Andreas' walls. Both Phoebe and Andreas are so stubborn and I loved watching to see what was going to happen between them. I found myself laughing out loud more than once, especially when Andreas is first encountering Phoebe's attempts at breaking down his walls. After reading In Total Surrender, I definitely can't wait to read Anne Mallory's next book.

**ARC copy provided by Netgalley**

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