Archives

Cataclysmic Shift (The Aloysius Tales #3) by Tara Lain (3 Stars)

Sep19

Shifters and witches and humans all fight together for love.

Aloysius is a cat who also happens to magnify the strength of one of the most powerful witches in the world. Unfortunately, after being attacked, he becomes a human with no memory of who or what he is except his name–Alain. Luke Elliott is a veterinarian with a secret past, who prefers animals to humans until he discovers Alain. They quickly fall in love, but must determine if they can live with each other’s pasts and futures.

Aloysius/Alain is endearing as both a cat and a man. Luke is a pretty lonely person who thinks he can spend the rest of his life just taking care of the animals and avoiding his past. As soon as these two meet, they both seem to agree that they were meant for each other. It was a little awkward listening to Alain make cat noises and watching him clean himself while he was in human form. The sex wasn’t really kinky, but some of their discussions around it were a bit strange to a certain extent. The story moved quickly while alternating between the action, sex, and friendship scenes. I liked how the author managed to weave Luke’s interesting background into the activities taking place surrounding the witches and their struggle for power.

I didn’t read the first two stories in this series, and I think it would have made it more enjoyable if I had. Characters from the earlier story played a pivotal role in this book, and since I really enjoyed seeing them, I’m sure I would have loved them even more if I knew their history. Overall, I enjoyed this fast-paced story with a sweet romance and plenty of suspenseful action scenes.

cover

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding (3 Stars)

Sep11

He was swept away to another world where he met his soul mate. But how will he survive if he has to return home without him?

Mike Carlson becomes a pawn in the war between gods. He is sent to another world to complete a pilgrimage to help save a village of people from a fate worse than death. Goran offers to be his bodyguard and tour guide. As they slowly become both friends and lovers, they must eventually deal with Mike’s departure from Goran’s world.

Mike Carlson was an extremely self-centered individual. Although he wasn’t a bad guy, he really never went out of his way to help anybody else. Goran was just the opposite and made a point to always return the favors of the villagers that helped them. If somebody fed Goran a meal, he caught them enough meat to feed them for a week. As Goran slowly shares the details of his life, it’s even easier to adore him.

Unfortunately, Mike and Goran don’t spend much time talking to each other until halfway through the story. The beginning is focused on Mike’s thoughts, which weren’t very interesting, in part because he was such an unemotional person. Once these two started to really connect and share with each other, the story became much more intriguing. I was definitely hoping that they would find some way to be together and find happiness.

An enjoyable story for those who enjoy rich, historical details and authentic worldbuilding.

cover

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Old Loyalty, New Love by Mary Calmes (5 Stars)

Sep5

Best friends to lovers theme paired with an interesting paranormal world make for a delightful story!

Quade Danas, bodyguard for Roman Howell, is also a jackal shifter. He joined the military after being forced to leave his pack by his homophobic father. Roman is working on convincing Quade that the two of them should take their relationship to the next level, but now the pack desperately needs him back. Quade must now deal with pack issues and his potential relationship with Roman.

Quade may grumble quite a bit, but there is no doubt that Roman is his heart and soul. I loved his character and his voice as he tells his story. In typical Calmes fashion, almost everybody adores Quade and wants to be by his side at all times. I know I certainly did. He was both powerful and tender, leaving no doubt that he would always love and protect Roman.

Roman had been in a serious accident which left him with quite a bit of scarring. This definitely played into how most people treated him, but it didn’t stop him from being kind and compassionate toward others. It was always entertaining when he felt the need to bring out his more caustic voice. Since Quade had been protecting Roman both before and after Roman’s parents died, Quade was concerned that Roman wanted him for the wrong reasons. It was fun to watch Roman convince Quade otherwise. The story was split nicely between their romance and the pack activities.

Dealing with pack politics, Roman’s business ventures, Quade’s former lovers, and the other side characters all made for a very enjoyable story. I really hope the author continues to write in this world, since there are several characters that have a story to tell.

Beautiful and captivating story about friendship and loyalty told within the world of shifters.

cover

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Gumption & Gumshoes by Alex Kidwell (5 Stars)

Aug29

Love doesn’t always wait for us to be ready for it.

August Mendez just inherited enough money to quit the job he hates and live his dream as a detective. He’s struggling, and mostly taking pictures of cheating spouses, but he’s much happier now. Sam Ewing is his grumpy but sexy office landlord. He’s bitter after his divorce, and basically living his life as a lonely bachelor. August gets his first big case, and Sam ends up helping him out with it, leading to the beginning of their friendship and romance.

I am putting these two characters into my favorite couples list. They both had their own issues, whether it be low self-esteem or self-imposed loneliness, but when they looked at each other, they only saw perfection. Their love and adoration for each other was so romantic and sweet. I tear up just thinking about how perfect they were for each other. The fact that August was a chinchilla shifter didn’t even faze Sam. I was a bit afraid that a chinchilla shifter story wouldn’t work for me, but I actually found it adorable. The way it was weaved into both the case and the romance was perfect.

I’m not a fan of a character who is divorced because it’s too much of a reminder that a happily-ever-after isn’t always forever. However, I liked how the author treated the divorce and the prior relationship by using it to convince me that Sam had really changed. I actually believed that any issues he might have had in his prior marriage were resolved and wouldn’t negatively affect his future with August. The length of the story allowed us to see the two of them together quite a bit with plenty of great dialogue and steamy sex scenes.

This book is perfectly titled. It was the real life example of somebody who had some gumption. Even with his low self-image, which Sam tried so hard to correct, August still had enough spunk to go after what he really wanted in life. I just adored this humorous, sexy love story, and I highly recommend it.

cover

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb