Weekly Winners

Below is a list of all of the winners from the last week.

Marcy
Item of Choice from Susannah Sandlin

Marcy
Fall From India Place

Lori M.
Mischief by Moonlight

Damaris
Book of Choice from Nalini Singh

All winners have been notified via email. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

ARC Review: Don’t Blackmail the Vampire by Tiffany Allee

Rachel Davis is determined to stop her sister, Kristen, from marrying Brent Strub. And not just because of his last name. Rachel sees him as a liar. He cheated on Kristin’s best friend, Alice, with Kristin. Rachel has joined them on a ski trip to Colorado. Outdoor winter sports aren’t Rachel’s thing, but she sees it as the last opportunity to speak to Kristin. Brent’s friend Cole is also with them. A gorgeous man approaches Rachel in the bar. She shoos him away. Since their father left them, Rachel keeps men away and Kristin clings to them. Especially the bad ones. The stranger from the bar is Brent’s business contact, Charles Wright. He’s also a hungry vampire. Rachel stumbles upon him and his curvy blonde meal. He compels her to forget it. She resists and makes him a proposition instead. She won’t expose his true nature, if he helps her break Kristin away from Brent. Charles’ real reason for seeking out Brent is because his brother, Noah, is in love with Alice. She has been receiving threatening texts. They believe Brent is behind them. Rachel and Charles find their physical attraction too much to ignore. Charles helps Rachel during her attempts at skiing and ice skating. They also come up with different plans, before deciding to set up Brent with another woman. Kristin knows Rachel is behind it, making sure she would be present as a witness. She does break the engagement and the texter is exposed.

I had a number of problems with this story. Kristin has money, but no indication of how she acquired it. The person behind the texts is a random person. Never referred to or brought up until being fingered by the brothers. There are references to Charles’ father and another brother and warring vampires. The reasons for both are unclear. After being caught with another woman, Brent is barely mentioned again. Kristin is considering dating Cole. Why wouldn’t she want to get as far away from Brent as possible? Plus Cole’s character is described as Brent’s minion. The sisters don’t seem close or part of each other’s lives except to meddle or pass judgment. Charles is creepily obsessed with Alice and proving himself worthy to Noah. Rachel and Charles run hot and cold as a couple. I never felt an emotional connection between them.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |

ARC Review: How to School Your Scoundrel by Juliana Gray

Juliana Gray, I love you! WOW!!! This was a stay-up-all-night type of book! My only warning, try to start this book on a weekend! Books like this are why I love reading! The storyline-fantastic. The characters- oh my…, The intrigue and mystery were excellent!

Ok, where to start… First with our fantastic, anti-hero. I want to go back and read the first book in the series, How to Tame Your Duke (A Princess In Hiding, #1) because I read How to Master Your Marquis (A Princess In Hiding, #2) first. This is for my own obsessive purposes, this book is completely a stand-alone read and does not disappoint. Philip, Earl of Somerton is horrible… It is a testament to the author’s talent that she turned Philip around… Somerton is a typical villain! He was such a great character! He is a conundrum. I could read this book over a hundred times just to digest Somerton.

Ok, in the beginning he is married to his beautiful wife. He is obsessed with her and her infidelities, the extremes that he goes to just to prove her unfaithful are astonishing. Because Philip had a difficult childhood and was pretty much ignored by his father, he is not a good role model for his son. He is ruthless and has no gumption about taking what he wants, where he wants it and how he wants it. He is feared and “scoundrel” is just not accurate enough to describe him. The only person that has the nerve to stand up to him is Markham, his personal secretary.

Markham is really Princess Luisa of the Holstein-SchweinwaldHuhnhof royal family. She was to be queen but the murder of her husband and father have left her and her sisters “hiding”. Under instruction from the Duke of Olympia. She is to pretend to be Somerton’s secretary, spy on him and try to regain her throne. Luisa is such a great character. She carries the responsibility of her kingdom and realizes that there are sacrifices that she must make. Luisa tries to reason with Somerton and his obsession but he will not listen to her, even after he discovers who she really is. These two very unlikely characters end up being each other’s only salvation! This is one of my favorite books! I stayed up all night reading it and plan to re-read it. Recommend- yes!! I can’t wait for the next book, “The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match”.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N |

Author Interview with Patience Griffin and Giveaway

Meet Patience Griffin, author of To Scotland with Love.

PATIENCE GRIFFIN grew up in a small town along the Mississippi River, living life in a close-knit community. She loves to quilt and has gained some recognition with her September 11th Story Quilt which has toured the country as the property of the Pentagon. With a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, she’s a nerdy girl to the core, but loves to read books which make her laugh. She lives in Texas with a hyper Sheltie, a Bishon-poo and a bulimic stray cat.

Find Patience at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

Review: Guarded Heart by Lisa Andres

Guarded Heart is the second book in the Dubicki's series by Lisa Andres. This book can be read as standalone as it is about interconnected characters. I was excited to read this story after reading the blurb because I love stories about sexy MMA fighters. There is just something about an athletic man that knows how to hand himself, and they are usually alpha which makes for an interesting story every time. I have never read a book by Lisa Andres before this one though, so I went into this one not really knowing what to expect. I think that this book had a lot of promise, and I think with a little work this could be a pretty good story. I did have problems with it though, and unfortunately this one just didn't work for me.

Carissa has had a tough life. She has no idea who her father is, and her mother is a coke addicted runway model that couldn't care less about her daughter. She was raped at fourteen and left home. She found some roommates and got a job and has been on her own ever since. Now she works for a hospice care center for the elderly and has hopes of becoming a registered nurse someday. She agrees to go out with her friend one night and ends up meeting Jesse. They are both drawn together and feel attracted to one another. After Carissa gets drugged and abandoned by her friend, Jesse finds her and takes care of her. She runs off the next morning only to end up seeing him again after her friend drags her to an MMA fight. Jesse and Carissa meet back up and end up dating. When Jesse's past suddenly comes back though, Carissa begins to wonder how well she knows Jesse and if she can really trust him.

I liked Jesse well enough, but I thought he handled a few things poorly. He was sweet and patient with Carissa most of the time, but there were a couple of times that he should have been more honest with Carissa. She gave him the opportunity to be honest and he didn't, and then he got mad at her for her being mad about his dishonesty. It was pretty immature and he knew that she needed honesty because of her past. I liked Carissa for the most part, but she also had her moments. She was damaged from her past, and would often run before getting all the facts or when she was scared. But she also for everything that she said bothered her, seemed to move rather quickly with Jesse. I felt like their relationship was really rushed. I think that they had great chemistry, but I didn't really ever buy the feelings that happened so quickly between them.

I felt like this story while having potential just fell short and wasn't able to deliver on the promise of what could have been a good story. It was short, and I think the length really hurt in this case because it didn't seem real or believable with how short it was. I also felt like this book had a tendency to just dump a bunch of info without ever really showing you what was going on. It was hard to get into at times because it just felt awkward in parts and as though we as readers were being told rather than showed what was happening. I also just felt like pretty much every big conflict or event in this story was predictable and overdone. It was most every cliche that you have seen already done in NA stories, and just felt like the same story retold with a few differences. There was nothing new or unique about this one, and it didn't stand out at all. I also felt like a few large things were brought up and then just glossed over without question at all, and that was pretty much what killed it for me. Without spoiling it, I just felt like there was one huge thing that Jesse should have checked out better without just believing right off considering the circumstances. The fact that he just went along no questions asked pretty much just solidified the fact that this story wasn't for me. There were some sweet parts, and the characters were likable enough even being underdeveloped. But I just wasn't able to get behind this story. If you are looking for a quick and sweet read with a happy ending you might give this one a shot, but if you are wanting a story that is really developed and believable with something unique or different this one might not be for you.

**Copy Provided by Sizzling PR**

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