Diamond Girl (G-Man #1) by Andrea Smith

Blurb: Thirty-five year old Samantha Dennison sends her only child off to college and finds herself generally feeling F-R-U-M-P-Y and lost. Her loveless marriage to ‘the mannequin’ has become intolerable; her daughter and best friend have both advised ‘Sammie’ to get a life of her own. Her husband has his own agenda which does not include her.

Sammie finally heeds their advice and takes pole-dancing lessons to get into shape and develop self-esteem, but it serves to do much more than that! The thrill of the dance and sexuality she discovers within herself is a potent mixture. She gets a part-time job as a dancer in an Indianapolis Gentleman’s Club called Jewels. She becomes the dancer known as ‘Diamond’ and very quickly catches the attention of a ‘bad-boy’ biker named ‘Slate.’

Slate is the ultimate ‘alpha’ male; however there’s a problem: he simply wants it to be about exclusive sex; Sammie wants and needs more from Slate. Sammie’s certain she’s embarked on a dangerous relationship with the hot biker and ‘prospect’ member of the notorious Outlaw Motorcycle Club. She soon finds out she’s totally out of her league with Slate and the dangerous people he associates with in Indianapolis. Something big is brewing in Indy; and it’s not about race cars!

4 stars

I liked it.  One of the things I really loved was that the female was so close in age to me. I don’t see a lot of those as I tend to gravitate towards NA and YA books.  But I could identify with a lot of what she as feeling. Her life was predictable, no change, no surprises and she wanted to shake it up a bit.

I was NOT prepared for the amount of violence in this book.  Nor was I prepared for all the twists and turns.  I can’t really go into them but suffice to say that it was not predictable, at least for me.  I figured this book to be a biker club romance, complete with cliches and tropes that go along with this type of story.  But it had more depth than that. And the plot was solid.  Most biker books I read have simple, easy to understand plots.  This one was developed and strong.  And I think I could have really enjoyed the book if there was no sex in it.  Which says something since I’m a huge romance fan.

Her husband (thats right kiddies, shes is married), I think his name was Jack, is the ultimate bad guy, I mean, I really had some physical hate brewing inside me for him.  His actions and lack of remorse were beyond shameful and I’m clearly still upset about the things his character did.  And while I don’t condone cheating, in this case, I’m glad she moved on to greener pastures.

Sammie was awesome. She transformed in this book, from frumpy housewife to sex magnet.  Her confidence soared and I loved how she took control of her life when things seemed to be so out of it for her.  I really dug Slate’s character. He seemed to be an alpha type but he was respectable like.  He walked the line, if that makes sense.  It’s all kinda hard for me to explain. I’ve seen some really bad reviews for this book and while I can see the flaws they point out, those seem to be the very reasons I liked it.  Ah, well, to each their own. Sometimes a book is enjoyable without having to dissect it.  And that’s how I felt about this one.

I’ve had this book for over two years and I’m just now getting to it.  I’m glad I finally did.

Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1) by Rebecca Zanetti

Blurb: With nothing but rumors to lead her, Lynn Harmony has trekked across a nightmare landscape to find one man—a mysterious, damaged legend who protects the weak and leads the strong. He’s more than muscle and firepower—and in post-plague L.A., he’s her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynn is the single most volatile—and vulnerable—creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury…

Danger has never looked quite so delicious…

 

5 stars

Hot damn! This guy is an alpha and he is totally unapologetic about it.  I kinda like it.  How he just tells you what he is doing and knows its not right but he does it anyway.  Why? Cause its a new world and shit needs to get done.  In most books with alpha’s I tend to gloss over their domineering, possessive and sexist attitudes  because the story usually has a great ending.

But in this story the behavior is explained in a way that almost makes you think, oh yeah, I see why he needs to act that way.  And the next thing you know, you are on board with his alpha traits.  Wait? What happened?

And Lynne is a bad ass in her own right.  She is dangerously smart, knows how to shoot a gun if needed and had nothing to lose, making her doubly dangerous.   But when she sees how Mercury has his compound organized with everyone working together, it gives her a bit of hope.  And she can’t help but fall for the closed off yet sweet when-no-one-is-looking asshole.

Favorite Quotes

A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have. —Abraham Lincoln

“You go from calling her a dangerous carrier to asking if she’s good to look at?” “Yeah,” Tace drawled. “There’s something sexy about a woman so dangerous she can kill you by biting your finger. Is our great hope pleasing to the eye?”

“How do you know so much?” “Books.” He idly played with her hair. “The judge who gave me the choice of military or prison kept in touch, and he loved philosophy and literature. He would send me books all over the world. At first I read just because I owed him. Then I read because I grew. Finally, I read because the words began to make sense.”

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. —Helen Keller

 Jax studied his group of closest confidants, his mind settling. He had an excellent doctor who might be turning into a Ripper, a former LAPD officer who couldn’t shoot worth shit and wanted to gossip more than fight, and a former special-ops killing machine with an agenda he wouldn’t share. Not to mention a woman in the other room who’d stolen his heart and wore a bull’s-eye on hers. “Do you ever just stop and wonder how the hell you ended up here?” he asked. “All the time,” Tace and Raze said in unison, while Sami just nodded.

Go read this.

 

Shadow Falling (The Scorpius Syndrome #2) by Rebecca Zanetti

Blurb: Before the Scorpius Syndrome tore through North America and nearly wiped out the population, Vivienne Kennedy was the FBI’s best profiler. The bacteria got her anyway. But she survived. She recovered. And when she woke up from a drug-nightmare of captivity, her skills as a hunter of men had gone from merely brilliant to full-on uncanny. Her mysterious rescuer wants her to put them to the test. But no matter how tempting he is, with his angel’s eyes and devil’s tongue, Vinnie knows she shouldn’t trust him.

If the FBI were still around they would rate Raze Shadow as one of the bad guys. His military training can’t wipe out his association with the Mercenaries, the most feared gang in a thousand miles. His loyalties are compromised. He won’t even tell Vinnie his real name. But there’s no FBI in the new America of fear and firepower, only instinct and risk.

And the way his arms wrap around Vinnie tells its own story. Whatever else Raze is concealing, he can’t hide his desire . . .

 Available August 30, 2016

Favorite Quotes:

Faith secured by force is fractured

The brain is the most powerful of all weapons…except a sledgehammer

Raze paused, “I thought we were patrolling the eastern fence on foot?”  “Nope.” Jax slipped into the driver’s seat and ignited the engine.  Raze paused, the hair rising on the back of his neck, “I don’t like surprises.” Jax turned to face him out of the rolled-down window.  “Then the postapocalyptic world must really suck for you.”  

Lynne opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of silver tequila. Vinnie shook her head, “I don’t think-”  “Girl? You just kicked one of the most highly trained soldiers in the current world right in the nards.”  Lynne grabbed two shot glasses and poured.  “One shot will give you courage for the meeting we’re about to have.”  

5 stars

I loved this book.  I’m a huge fan of post-apocolyptic/dystopian books.  And this had the right balance of action and sex.  I realized this was the second book in the series but I never felt that I was lost or that I missed information from the previous book. If anything, it makes me want to go back and read the first one now.

As I said before this has an excellent balance of action and romance.  It was a very fast paced book.  I love when they are fast paced in a dystopian setting.  A lot of violence occurs within a short amount of time.  The action scenes are very well written.  I was especially shocked by the ending.  I mean, wow!

Vinnie is a smart, sexy and stubborn woman.  She wants to be though of as an equal and to contribute to the group.  She is also bat shit crazy!  And I think it so cool.

Raze is a domineering, possessive asshole but he has good intentions.  I usually don’t like these types of personality in most guys because I find them neaderthal-ish but it works in this book. With this new world order, men like him are needed.  The weak have been pruned from the earth by the disease.  His protective instincts are flawless and he made this book for me actually.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Prince and the Player by Tia Louise

Blurb: Cinderella plays dirty…

Two brothers: One a crown prince; one a “playboy prince.”
Two sisters: One a con artist and card shark; one a pickpocket and petty thief.
One twisted plot for revenge.

When Grand Duke Reginald Winchester is exiled in disgrace, he vows he won’t go down without a fight. Crossing paths with Zee Wilder and her younger sister Ava at a gambling resort in Miami is the stroke of luck he seeks.

Zee is the counterfeit courtier in Reggie’s plan to humiliate Rowan, the controlled heir who kicked him out of the kingdom. In return, the sisters get a permanent spot on Easy Street.

If only Zee didn’t keep finding herself in a clutch with Cal, Rowan’s playboy younger brother. Ava’s no help, as she finds quiet walks in the moonlight discussing poetry and leadership with the brooding, future king irresistible. Even more irresistible is kissing his luscious lips…

The whole plan is falling apart, and neither sister is sure she wants to stop it.

4 Stars

This is a fair tale retelling and while Cinderella is my absolute LEAST favorite fairy tale (Actually, I hate that fairy tale), this book was pretty good.  The ending really threw me becasue it had a happy ending and a cliffhanger all at the same time and I don’t even know how to feel about it honestly.  The  story itself was really well written but there are some things in it that I found inconsistent and unbelievable.

The back story of Zelda is one of the things that I found unbelievable.  I don’t think it went into enough depth in the back story, I think that more could have been done for me to have that connection.  Even with reading the prologue about her being a grifter, it still didn’t connect me to her being that kind of person. I didn’t see her as deceptive, at all, so that was a bit hard for me to believe.

Her sister on the other hand was totally transparent I felt.  She was a sweet side character. She was someone who is young and inexperienced, I suppose sheltered would almost be how I would describe her.  I don’t know, she seemed kind of naive to me honestly. And for somebody who was a victim of abuse, the naivety was kind of annoying to me.  As a victim of abuse myself, and knowing lots of people who have been victims of abuse, naivety is not really something that comes along with that territory.  I mean, I didn’t dislike her.  She was just kind of one dimensional in that aspect.  Maybe I’m reading too much into it.  It could just be me.  Who am I to say how anyones personal experiences should be handled?

The two princes were everything I expected them to be.  Confident, domineering, and a bit cocky.  Masculine is a word that comes to mind when thinking of them.  The story was good. The sex was great.  And thats probaly one of the things that I enjoyed the most was the physical connection the characters had with each other.

So yeah, I would recommend this to anyone who likes this genre.

His Frozen Heart by Nancy Straight

THIS BOOK IS FREE! 

Blurb: For best friends, Candy and Libby, money is tight with hardly enough to cover their living expenses. When they are desperate for grocery money, the girls bet on their pool playing skills to add to their income. A simple wager on a quiet winter evening has devastating results, with a stalker determined to kill them both. With Libby in the hospital after a vicious attack, and Candy being pursued by the same stalker, she vows to find Libby’s attacker. What she finds is Dave, an old friend with a secret past filled with misfortune. Will Dave’s past provide the answer to all of Candy’s problems or will it become Candy’s worst nightmare realized?

 

 

Favorite Quotes

I’m not saying the guy was old, but if he were milk, I wouldn’t put him back in the refridgerator.  

The kid may be built like a Mack Truck, but he’s got a model airplane for a heart.  It’s been snapped together, glued, and painted so it’s a thing of beauty, but it’s fragile.  

4 Stars

It’s no secret I love Nancy Straight.  Her emotive writing is so well balanced with her action scenes that I’m quite in awe of her work.  Plus, she is one of those “never let me down” authors, so I try to snatch up all her books when they come out.  I’m over halfway finished with all her works and I will most likely gobble them up by the end of the year.

Where to begin?  First of all, I generally make it a point to NOT read the blurb before I buy a book IF it’s by an author I like.  It adds to the surprise and, I feel, limits my pre-concieved expectations of a book.  I know, I’m weird.  I like to go in blind though.  That being said, this book totally blew me away.  I was not expecting detailed action, in-depth suspense or very real danger.

The romance added a nice layer to the story, making it more three-dimensional for me.  I loved the flashbacks.  They gave me a look in to their past without me being over loaded with backstory.

At first, I found Candy to be a bit too stubborn for my tastes, then I realized she was only 20.  Everyone is indestructible at 20. Remember? Still, it bothered me enough I took a half star off.  The other half star was taken because the climax was a bit…well, anti-climatic.

Still worth a read.