ARC Review: Prince’s Fire by Amy Raby

Emperor Lucien of Kjall has decided his sister, Celeste, should marry Prince Rayn. Their country needs an alliance with his country. Celeste has been pledged in marriage before to a horrible man who berated her and ruined her self-confidence. He tried to lead a coup against her father and was killed by the Empress Vitala. Before marrying Lucein, she was a spy and an assassin. She recruits Celeste to help her former network. She’s eager to help. Celeste has devoted herself to mathematics ever since her disastrous marriage. It’s easier to understand than men. They agree to be wed and Celeste travels with Rayn to his country. On the ship, Celeste discovers Rayn has a daughter and the mother, Zoe, is also on board. She trails after Rayn, trying to get his attention, but he’s done with her. She neglected their daughter and not princess material. Rayn and Celeste are attacked on the ship and she is thrown overboard. Rayn jumps into the water to save her. He has fire power and warms the water around her. They wash up on shore and begin their journey back on foot. They find they have much in common, including a strong physical attraction. He’s interested in science and is trying to find a way to predict volcanic eruptions in his country. Her magic is being able to understand nature and communicate with plants and animals. They make it back and he’s attacked again. He receives news that his father has been forced to abdicate. He leaves and Celeste follows him. With Vitala’s help, they uncover the spies in his kingdom. One is missing and has a personal score to settle with Rayn. Celeste is kidnapped. If she is harmed, her country will declare war on Rayn’s country. Political intrigue, supernatural powers, and wariness from failed relationships threaten to keep them apart.

Celeste is a modern woman, more than happy to stay single and be a member of the Mathematical Brotherhood. A forced marriage is the last thing she wants, but agrees to help her country. Rayn shows her he values her opinion and tells her she’s beautiful. She puts herself in danger by helping him find the spies, but she’d do it again to save him.

Rayn cares deeply for his daughter and ailing father. He must get an alliance with Kjall to protect his country. Celeste is more than he could hope for in a wife. They travel different paths, but end up together.

The secondary characters add to the story. Each one carries secrets, hidden agendas, and flexible alliances.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Burning Down the House by Allie Gail

Burning Down the House was the first book that I have ever read by Allie Gail, and I absolutely couldn't put this one down! It kept me awake until the very early hours of the morning because I absolutely had to keep reading. I enjoyed this story so much, and I can't wait to read more from Allie Gail. This book was the perfect combination of sweet moments, steamy scenes and enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. I am definitely a new fan of Allie Gail's, and I really enjoyed her writing style.

When Sara moves back with her father, she never expects to end up sharing her house with the creepy goth kid that was her father's best friend's son. After his parents died in a questionable house fire, her dad took Rob in because he had nowhere else to go. But when Sara shows up, Rob is no longer the same goth kid dressed in black but now is a super hot football stud. Only problem is, Rob still has a major attitude problem and Sara has no idea why he hates her so much. Even though they barely talk and when they do its only to argue or insult each other, the attraction between them is undeniable. However living under the same roof, they begin to get to know each other and the more they are around each other the more their attraction and feelings grow. Unable to fight the passion that is growing between them, Sara and Rob finally give in and are soon together. But when another house fire happens killing a girl they go to school with, Sara begins to wonder if maybe she is dating an arsonist.

I really liked Rob. I didn't understand why he was so rude when we first met him, but I did get that he had been through a lot. As his past is revealed though, you really get to see just how much he had to deal with and why he was the way he was. I really liked how he was with Sara though, and I thought that he was really funny and sweet. He was also protective and possessive of her, but it was in a way that was really attractive rather than being overbearing. I liked that he wanted to take care of her and look out for her. Sara was smart and funny also, and she was also really nice and kind. I loved how she kept trying to be friendly even when Rob wasn't very receptive at first. I also really loved how sweet she was with Peyton, the little girl that she babysat. She was always thinking of others, and it was really nice to see a girl that I would actually be friends with and that didn't annoy me. I thought that Rob and Sara had a really great relationship together, and I loved watching as it evolved and happened naturally rather than instantly. I liked that they took their time and that it wasn't rushed at all. It made what they shared real and believable. They were also really hot together, but it was so much more than just steam. They really belonged together, and you could really see the love they shared. I just really adored Rob and Sara as a couple!

Overall, I thought that this book was fantastic. It was so much different than anything I have read before, and I liked that it was something completely new. I loved all the twists and turns, and I will admit that I honestly didn't have a clue what would happen next. I had no idea who had done what, and this book was impossible to put down. I had to keep reading to see what would happen next, and I loved every second of it. This book was one of the most well written and entertaining books that I have read in a really long time. I highly recommend this book to not only New Adult fans, but also Romantic Suspense fans as well. This book is one that you definitely won't want to miss out on. I look forward to reading more from Allie Gail in the future and can't wait to see what she writes next!

**ARC provided by Author**

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My Favorite Book Couple with Theresa Romain

Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more. Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest, where she is working on her next book.

Find Theresa at:

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ARC Review: The Seduction of Miss Amelia Bell by Paula Quinn

This was my first time reading Paula Quinn. She is a very enjoyable author. I think she was masterfully able to keep different elements of the story in play at the same time and keep them all interesting. One element is the romance between Amelia Bell and Edmund McGregor. Edmund is determined to stop the signing of the Act of Union between Scotland and England. Edmund, along with his clan believe that this treaty will strip them of their rights and their identities as Scotsman. Edmund and his clan come up with an idea on how to stop the signing. He decides that he will kidnap the niece of the Duke of Queensberry who is a big advocate of this union. Amelia is promised to the Chancellor of Scotland. Everyone knows that it is not a love match but an advantageous political step for her father.

The night of her betrothal dinner she meets Edmund and she falls in love with him immediately. She knows that she is promised to the Chancellor and that her parents are depending on her to fulfill their dreams but she finds Edmund attractive and irresistible at the same time. While they share a kiss he covers her mouth with a cloth and kidnaps her. Obviously this changes her feelings a little bit towards his trustworthiness. Edmund for his part begins to regret his decision once he meets Amelia and also begins to fall in love with her but he also feels responsible for his duty to his clan and his home Scotland. Although Edmund is raised in Scotland and adopted at the age of 4 by his clan he is really from England.

In the midst of this romance lies the tension between England and Scotland. I personally found that more interesting than the romance between Edmund and Amelia. Although I liked both Amelia and Edmund I found them to be boring… I know they are caught in the middle of this big conflict but they basically make googly eyes at each other throughout most of the story. I personally was more interested in Saran and Lucan’s romantic story more. I loved that they were complete opposites. Sarah is Amelia’s best friend but their friendship is banned by Amelia’s mom since Sarah is a servant. Sarah and Amelia are completely different. While Amelia is a devoted and virginal Sarah is adventurous and very experienced with the opposite sex. Sarah is also naturally drawn to the wrong men. Lucan, Edmund’s cousin, is definitely the right type of man. He is a knight in shining armor sans the shining armor with a kilt. I loved seeing them fall in love and Lucan’s unwavering patience with Sarah. Although they were secondary characters I liked them best.

If you’re looking sweet romances, intriguing history and sexy men in quilts you won’t go wrong. Amelia and Edmund have many obstacles standing in their way, both of them are torn between their devotion to their country, family and to each other. I loved learning about Scotland and its history and the fast pace adventures along the way made this a great read!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Far Gone by Laura Griffin

I seriously want to take up residence in Laura Griffin’s brain. I’ve been a huge fan of her work, and especially her Tracers series, from the beginning and know that I can turn to any one of her novels for some of the best romantic suspense or romantic thrillers in the industry. And it only gets better with each novel! FAR GONE marks her well-deserved hardcover debut and the eighth entry in her Tracers series of loosely connected stories and delivers what readers have come to expect from a Laura Griffin novel—a perfectly paced white-knuckle thrill ride of a plot, a gutsy yet believably vulnerable heroine, and a swoon-worthy alpha hero with a sweet side you want to take home—whilst managing to keep it fresh and interesting despite being set in the same world as seven other novels (all of which can be read as standalones).

FAR GONE sees disgraced Austin PD detective Andrea Finch, on administrative leave following the officer-involved fatal shooting of a teenager holding up a restaurant kitchen, tracking her computer genius of a younger brother to a dusty West Texas border town and stumbling across an FBI undercover investigation into an anti-government homegrown terrorist following in the footsteps of Timothy McVeigh. Admittedly, the thwart-a-terrorist-attack plot isn’t particularly novel, but Ms. Griffin masterfully layers in political ideology, a series of seemingly unrelated bank robberies, a six-year-old cold murder case, Islamic radicals, and a compressed timeline leading up to April 19th (the anniversary of Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the beginning of the Revolutionary War) to create a complex, thrilling, thoroughly researched, and scarily believable multi-pronged storyline that captures the reader’s interest from the get-go.

Perfectly complementing the fast-moving plot is the complex blossoming relationship between undercover FBI Special Agent Jon North, working against the clock and the rest of the Bureau to link the seemingly unrelated cases to notorious antigovernment gun nut Shay Hardin, and Andrea, whose younger brother Gavin is implicated in the imminent attack. Andrea can’t imagine her sweet-natured brother being complicit to a terror plot and Jon can’t see how he could not be involved given that he’s living in Hardin’s fortress of a compound. What better source of romantic tension than falling for the fed investigating your brother who wants to use him as an inside source to stop a sociopath? Ms. Griffin skillfully builds that tension throughout the bulk of the book—the first love scene happens ~2/3 of the way through the novel—and the desire to see Andrea and Jon reconcile their differences and get their HEA (or HFN) keeps the reader turning the pages as much as the suspense plot. Ms. Griffin excels at striking that perfect balance between romantic tension and suspense and weaving the two together intimately; in FAR GONE, the romance isn’t particularly overt (perhaps to appeal more broadly to the hardcover thriller audience) but is an integral part of the story and the characters’ emotional journey. As per usual, the characterization is top notch and the protagonists well-developed and three-dimensional: with just a few words, we feel Andrea’s trust issues and fear of failure that threatens to get in the way of everything good in her life, and Jon’s protectiveness and commitment to stopping a ruthless villain no matter the personal cost. Andrea and Jon are both emotionally complex characters I wanted to both hug and whack upside the head for being (occasional) idiots, and they have a real, layered relationship-in-the-making that resonated with me. What Jon does near the end of the novel is sure to earn him much disdain from female readers, but I found it to be consistent with his character and an important contributor to making his relationship with Andrea realistic despite the short time frame.

Overall, FAR GONE is another great addition to the popular Tracers series (kind of—as more thriller than straight-up RS, it may be positioned somewhat outside of the Tracers brand despite featuring many of the series’ secondary characters) that is sure to satisfy Laura Griffin, romantic suspense, and romantic thriller fans alike. I’m already looking forward to what Ms. Griffin does next!

**ARC provided by Author**

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