ARC Review: Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck

I have to confess when I started reading this book I was fill with dread, I couldn’t figure out what was going on or how Laura Kelley had anything to do with the bohemian poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Also, because the stories went back and forth from Laura to St. Vincent Millay I was frustrated because I did not understand why they were even in the same book. Well, I’m so glad I “toughed” it out the first couple of pages. Reading this was such an amazing experience! Erika Robuck is a truly talented, artistic, craftswoman in storytelling. There are scenes in this book that are imprinted in mind. Her wording and descriptions, of people, places and experiences-it felt lyrical.

Now onto these two fascinating women: Laura Kelley and the Bohemian poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Laura is a young woman, she lives in a very small town, Chatham, NY. When the story begins, Laura is madly in love, she is experiencing all the emotions of first love. Laura finds herself in a very difficult situation when she finds out she is pregnant, her lover, a well-respected member of their town can be of no help to her. Having a child outside of marriage in the 1930’s was basically like having a scarlet letter placed on you. (I personally loved that the author kept his identity a secret, and once I found out who he was, I went back and re-read many of the scenes they shared). Laura, is basically alone and quickly becomes an outcast in her small community. Although her sister, Marie, often presses her to reveal the identity of her “lover” Laura describes it as “a love so wrong it shouldn’t exist”.

The famous poet St. Vincent Millay is quit a character, it is easy to see why anyone would want to write about her because there were so many layers to her. She is an accomplished poet and also a woman that is very ahead of her time and refuses any types of restrictions. Although she is married and deeply in love with her husband, Eugen, that does not stop her from experimenting with other lovers. She has no restrictions when it comes to men or women. Her husband, every supportive of her and her talent is very loving and excepting. He understands Millay’s needs and openly celebrates them.

How do these two women even share a story? I absolutely loved this story and thought this was so fantastic. Both are woman, who are outcasts and looked down on, are enjoyable characters. I thought the author really captured the mind of St. Vincent Millay and her complexities, her vanities, her excesses. I also loved how she unraveled Laura. Although, Laura is fictional she makes her real and equally as complex. St. Vincent Millay gives Laura work that she badly needs. Laura, although an accomplished seamstress is struggling to provide for herself. Their friendship and relationship proves to be more than the town can tolerate. Robuck really pushes the limits in this fascinating book and makes you question loyalty, love and propriety.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Feature and Giveaway: Seth by Eve Langlais

Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #5

His mission: Blend in with the humans. Save the cyborgs. And seduce the only woman he ever loved, without getting killed.

Cybernetic spy models are different from other humans turned machine. For one thing, they never completely lost touch with their humanity, or their memories. But retaining their identity doesn’t mean the military didn’t mess with their lives. Seth lost the woman he loved because of their web of lies. When the chance arises to make things right, he relies on his superior intellect—and irresistible charm—to prove his innocence, and make Anastasia his again.

Anastasia might possess upgraded parts and programming, but the scientists never could cure her of her biggest weakness, jealousy. The volatile emotion made her walk away from love once. Can she overcome it and recognize the truth? Or will she continue to let the military manipulate her emotional strings?

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Check out the Cyborgs: More Than Machines series:

   

There was no warning. No sound to betray their presence. No smell. Nothing. Just the sudden cold touch of a pistol muzzle nudging the back of his head.
He froze.

Silence reigned except for the chirp of the little creatures that lived in the woods and emitted bird-like noises. They sounded cute until you came across them. Unlike a feathered denizen of earth, the furry buggers who chirped like songbirds resembled more a rat with spiked fur, razor-sharp teeth, and a really bad attitude if they felt threatened. Ankles beware!

They’re not the only ones who get nasty when their lives are in danger.

Although none of his muscles moved, Seth held himself ready to act, letting his internal processor analyze the space around him, seeking a hint, anything to give him an edge. He inhaled deep, testing the air, in an attempt to see if he could identify his attacker. Lo and behold, he got a faint trace.

Of all the things he expected to smell out here in the forest, vanilla soap wasn’t one of them. The clean fresh scent was familiar, as was the position he found himself in. Strange as it seemed, he’d lived the almost exact scenario once, a long time ago. But he’d thought that person dead. Or at least lost to him. It can’t be. Not after all this time. Was it possible?

No time like the present to test his theory.

“Well hello there, gorgeous. I knew you couldn’t resist me forever.” He couldn’t help but grin when his guess was confirmed by a husky voice that still had the ability to send shivers down his spine.

“I see you’re still just as annoying.

Whirling lightning quick, Seth played the part of surrendering victim and held his hands above his head so the gun pointed at his forehead. Face to face, he couldn’t help but drink in the reality of the lady who haunted his dreams. His ex-partner. The only woman he’d ever loved. The only one who ever spurned him. The woman he’d once called wife.

A wife who wore a scowl and didn’t shower him with welcoming kisses.

He couldn’t resist goading her. “Me, annoying? Never. Handsome and dashing, yes. I might even use the term rakish.”

“And cocky. You do realize I’m holding a loaded gun to your head. Do you really want to tempt me into pulling the trigger?”

If she’d wanted him dead, his brains would already decorate the bushes around them. Anastasia knew hundreds of ways to kill a man. However, he’d wager she wouldn’t have returned just to put a bullet in his head. She’d torture him first. Probably painfully. How he’d missed her.

“You won’t kill me,” he stated with utter confidence.

“Don’t be so sure. I’ve pictured your death a thousand times. My favorite was the one where I push you off that cliff we once climbed in the Himalayan Mountains and watch you fall, knowing that you’ll actually have time to reflect on what a jerk you are before you hit the ground.”

Okay, so this wasn’t exactly the reunion he’d once hoped for. Someone still had anger issues. Question was, did she mean it when she said she wished him dead? Only one way to find out.

“Well, if you’ve returned to kill me, would you mind getting on with it? I’ve got places to go, people to see.”

“You mean irritate.” The muzzle of her gun dropped, and she rolled her expressive blue eyes.

“And here I thought you enjoyed my quirky nature and sense of humor.”

“I blame my previously defective, human brain for that momentary lapse of reasoning.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh how I’ve missed your acerbic tongue. My dearest Anastasia, love of my life, I am delighted you’ve returned to brighten my existence. Did you miss me?”

She snorted. “Like a dog misses his fleas.”

Hello, my name is Eve. I’m a stay at home mom who writes full time in between juggling my three kids, hubby, and housework, I write really raunchy stuff–usually with werewolves lol.

I am a bestselling Amazon author, ranking often in their top 100 romance authors. But I’m not just popular with Kindle readers. I was one of the top ten selling authors on AllRomance for 2013 and have had numerous of my books hit the top 100 books over all on Barnes & Nobles as well.
I’m writing romance, my way. I do have a twisted imagination and a sarcastic sense of humor something I like to let loose in my writing. I like strong alpha males, naked chests and werewolves. Lots of werewolves. In fact, you’ll notice most of my multi partner stories revolve around great, big, overprotective Lycans who just want to please their woman. I am also extremely partial to aliens, you know the kind who abduct their woman and then drive them insane…with pleasure of course.

I love to write, and while I don’t always know what my mind is going to come up with next, I can promise it will be fun, probably humorous and most of all romantic, because I love a happily ever after.

Places to find Eve:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads |

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 signed copy of Seth, T-Shirt + Button

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Eve.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

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Special thanks to Eve Langlais & Book Monster Promotions for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway.

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Guest Post with Author Megan Slayer

Meet Megan Slayer, author of Mixing Mike. 

When she's not writing the stories in her head, Megan Slayer can be found luxuriating in her hot tub with her two vampire Cabana boys, Luke and Jeremy. She has the tendency to run a tad too far with her muse, so she has to hide in the head of her alter ego, but the boys don't seem to mind.

When she’s not obsessing over her whip collection, she can be found picking up her kidlet from school. She enjoys writing in all genres, but writing about men in love suits her fancy best. The cabana boys are willing to serve, unless she needs them. She always need them. So be nice to Javier or he will bite--on command.

She also masquerades under the name Wendi Zwaduk.

Find Megan at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

Feature and Giveaway: Lingerie for Felons by Ros Baxter

If there’s one universal truth, it’s this: You’re always wearing your worst underwear when you land in trouble.

Lola’s parents told her that everyone can make a difference. And she believed them. She’s been fighting the good fights since she was eleven years old. But at 23, Lola falls hard for an Australian stockbroker who thinks Doctors Without Borders is a porno and Joni Mitchell sounds like a harp seal being battered to death. She cuts him loose, but over the next fifteen years, through protests, misunderstandings, humiliating predicaments, and a number of poor underwear choices, their lives and paths continue to converge.

Along the way, Lola learns a few important life lessons: Never wear a red lace thong to a strip search. Make sure you take motion sickness pills if you’re going to the Southern Ocean to save the whales. And sometimes, Mr Right can be all wrong, and Mr Wrong just needs time to find the right path.

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ARC Review: Feral Heat by Jennifer Ashley

Jace Warden, a wolf from Las Vegas, is in the Austin Shiftertown. He has a plan to remove the sparkling collars from the shifters. Each one is fitted for the shifters to control their anger and feral tendencies. For a chance a pace, the humans have reined in the shifters and the police regularly raid and monitor their gatherings. Deni Rowe, a fellow wolf, is attracted to Jace, but he’s from out of town and they need permission to formally mate. She has two male cubs already. She’s having trouble with her anger and panic attacks after a motorcycle accident. She was targeted by a human. Fake collars are forged by the Fae to fool the humans and free the shifters. They have been told they will go crazy and attack each other without the collars. After a plane crash, Jace’s collar comes off and he realizes it’s a lie. Deni is afraid to be released. Will love help her to trust and accept Jace?

In other paranormals, humans hunt or avoid shifters. This is a different twist by making them involved with the paranormals by trying to control. They treat them like animals. I was surprised the shifters would allow themselves to be collared. They could kill the humans en mass. I didn’t find the process believable. The animals represented are wolves, lions, and bears. In real life, these strong and combative animals would have to be tranquilized to be tagged.

Jace should be more of an alpha. He lives by the rules instead of defying them. He chooses Deni and waits for approval. Even leaving her behind in a dangerous situation. Deni starts strong, but backs away when she should step up. She is part of the search party to find Jace, but still hesitates. There is no suspense or intrigue. With shifters, there is usually a hierarchy, but these are uncertain times. A perfect opportunity for both to step in and assume leadership duties.

Jace and Deni are not an engaging or interesting couple. No building tension or love blossoming between them. The other characters add little to the story. In an effort to write a different story, the author omitted the shifters’ power and allure.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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