Tag Archive | 3 Stars

Hunt and Pray by Cindy Sutherland (3 Stars)

Jan10

When your captor becomes your lover, can it really be true love?

Drew Edwards is an investigative reporter trying to find out why gay men have disappeared without a clue. He is abducted and quickly learns that his captors are behind the other missing men. Except that one of the captors, Chance Collins, is actually innocent. It’s Chance’s father who is behind the kidnappings and murders. Drew and Chance must work together if they hope to survive.

Almost the entire first half of the story is focused on Drew’s capture and his internal thoughts about what’s going to happen to him. We get to know Drew pretty well, and start rooting for him to escape. We see glimpses of Chase, and quickly realize that Chase is a good person in a really bad situation. Drew is released into the woods like the prey of a hunt. Chase is then given orders to find Drew and kill him. The remainder of the story is spent watching Drew and Chase try to escape from the woods while developing a relationship with each other.

Unfortunately, while some portions of the story worked well, others didn’t. The beginning was very slow since we were living inside Drew’s head and watching him suffer under the hands of the kidnappers. We really didn’t get to hear too much about his job or research into the earlier kidnappings.

Watching Drew and Chase work together and try to escape was very suspenseful. However, at the end of the story, it was hard not to look back and wonder a little about Chase and his relationship with his father. It didn’t make a lot of sense that he would have had anything to do with his father once he was out on his own. Also, the relationship that Drew and Chase developed didn’t seem to be based on very much outside of their circumstances. We didn’t really get to see their connection grow, but instead we were informed of it. There was a nice epilogue that did help to bring closure.

If you enjoy a good, suspenseful story about kidnapping with some romance, this should fit the bill!

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

Cupcakes by Sean Michael (3 Stars)

Dec12

Just like the title, this is a sugary sweet romance!

Allen Jameson owns a successful cupcake shop, but as the sole employee, he is working long hours. He started it after he lost his partner unexpectedly. After almost two years of being alone, he’s finally met somebody who he’s interested in getting to know better. Byron Bannigan, otherwise known as B., owns a construction company and finds he’s also very interested in getting to know Allen better after meeting him at the cupcake shop one afternoon. Sparks fly almost immediately, and now the only impediment to their relationship is Allen’s work hours.

This is a nice romance between two extremely kind guys who hit it off almost immediately. There was very little angst between the characters. They worked well together and were supportive of each other. Allen is a prim and proper man which is apparent from his mannerisms. Byron adores everything about Allen and really wants to take care of him. Allen really did need somebody to build him up since he had a very low self-esteem. This became abundantly clear for most of the last portion of the book. Allen spends some time reflecting on his former relationship, and I liked how this was approached in such a loving manner. Unfortunately, along with the constant use of the word “baby”, there were so many sex scenes that it detracted from the story quite a bit. If more time had been spent developing the relationship, the sex would have been more meaningful to me.

A super steamy romance about fresh beginnings in life and love.

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

Cursed Love by Pelaam (3 Stars)

Dec2

Shifters and mages working together to save true love!

Conall, a ranch owner and shifter, is afraid he might have missed his chance to find his soul mate. He’s living with his dear friends and ranch hands, Jackson and Annie, and trying to make ends meet. A potential buyer of his goods brings her assistant, Blaine, and there is an instant attraction between Blaine and Conall. Unfortunately, something is wrong with Blaine but nobody can determine the problem. In an interesting twist, the author tells the story from Conall’s and Annie’s points of view. It works, in this case, since Annie is key in helping to resolve the danger surrounding Blaine.

The characters were interesting and the concept for the story was creative. With tighter editing, the story could have had a lot of great potential. Additional dialogue between Conall and Blaine would have helped to make the romance more believable.

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

Drinker Class X by Sasha Miller (3 Stars)

Nov10

It’s a new world, where humans co-exist with drinkers–people who must drink blood to survive.

Drinkers that go rogue, by attacking and turning other humans, are hunted down by the Department of Drinker Control. Laurence Wickes was a member of the DDC, until he was attacked and turned into a drinker. Now he needs to meet with a psychiatrist to determine if he can join society again and under what circumstances.

The author built an interesting world with drinkers and humans living together somewhat comfortably with each other. There are a lot of rules for the drinkers to follow, including getting classified in order to determine what rights they’ll have. Laurence was a good cop who is now forced to figure out what he’s going to do with his life after being turned into a drinker. He develops a crush on his psychiatrist, Dr. Ira Ashdown.

Ira has a secret that ends up putting him and Laurence into imminent danger. Although the two of them are locked up together for a few days, they didn’t spend that time getting to know each other better. This definitely made the story more of a mystery than a romance. Although both of the characters were likable, I never developed any kind of emotional connection to either of them. If more time had been spent on dialogue, instead of detailed descriptions of clothing and surroundings, it would have worked better for me. In the end, it was an easy read with some new concepts.

If you’re in the mood for a paranormal mystery, along with a light romance, this is an enjoyable story.

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