stiesbooks: January 2015

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

My Thoughts on the Book

This book is everything you want from a Jeaniene Frost book. There is action, there is adventure, there is dry Vlad humor, and there is romance. This book does not disappoint in any way shape or form. It was a joy to read from start to finish, and we get the added bonus of seeing many of our favorite characters from the Nigh Huntress series as well! Read it now! read it now! And the Epilogue is the best I have read in a very long time, no spoilers but so much fun!

Monday, January 19, 2015

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.

My Thoughts on the Book

First Frost is a perfect addition to my Sarah Addison Allen collection. This book is a sequel to Garden Spells and is just an enchanting as the first book. This is a book you will read slow because every word, every sentence creates a magic that weaves this into a wonder story. Her books have a whimsical quality to them that I have yet to find in another author and First Frost is no exception but with the whimsey also comes a sweet story about family and friends supporting each other. We see many wonderful characters return in this book and it is a book any SAA fan will love and I highly suggest if you have not read a Sarah Addison Allen books before start with Garden Spells, it is one of my all time a favorites along with First Frost now as well. Thank you Sarah!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Hard to be Good Cover Reveal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laura Kaye's dark romantic suspense series, The Hard Ink Series, keeps readers on the edge of their seat. Today, we are thrilled to share with you the cover for the upcoming novella, HARD TO BE GOOD. But that's not all we have! Check out the cover for the next novel in the series, HARD TO LET GO. We can't wait for you to get your hands on the next two Hard Ink men, Jeremy and Beckett. Without further ado...

Check out the beautiful cover for HARD TO BE GOOD!

ABOUT HARD TO BE GOOD: Hard Ink Tattoo owner Jeremy Rixey has taken on his brother’s stateside fight against the forces that nearly killed Nick and his Special Forces team a year before. Now, Jeremy’s whole world has been turned upside down—not the least of which by a brilliant, quiet blond man who tempts Jeremy to settle down for the first time ever. Recent kidnapping victim Charlie Merritt has always been better with computers than people, so when he’s drawn into the SF team’s investigation of his army colonel father’s corruption, he’s surprised to find acceptance and friendship—especially since his father never accepted who Charlie was. Even more surprising is the heated tension Charlie feels with sexy, tattooed Jeremy, Charlie’s opposite in almost every way. With tragedy and chaos all around them, temptation flashes hot, and Jeremy and Charlie can’t help but wonder why they’re trying so hard to be good…

Hard to Be Good on Goodreads

And don't miss the cover for HARD TO LET GO!

ABOUT HARD TO LET GO: Five dishonored soldiers. Former Special Forces. One last mission. These are the men of Hard Ink. Beckett Murda hates to dwell on the past. But his investigation into the ambush that killed half his Special Forces team and ended his Army career gives him little choice. Just when his team learns how powerful their enemies are, hard-ass Beckett encounters his biggest complication yet—a seductive, feisty Katherine Rixey. A tough, stubborn prosecutor, Kat visits her brothers' Hard Ink Tattoo shop following a bad break-up—and finds herself staring down the barrel of a stranger's gun. Beckett is hard-bodied and sexy as hell, but he's also the most infuriating man ever. Worse, Kat's brothers are at war with the criminals her office is investigating. When Kat joins the fight, she lands straight in Beckett's sights . . . and in his arms. Not to mention their enemies' crosshairs. Now Beckett and Kat must set aside their differences to work together, because the only thing sweeter than justice is finding love and never letting go.

Hard to Let Go on Goodreads

Start at the beginning with the other Hard Ink books, now available:

Hard As It Gets

Hard As You Can

Hard to Hold On To

Hard to Come By

And for a limited time only, you can grab HARD TO COME BY on sale for just half-price!

Praise for the Hard Ink Series: For Hard As You Can: "TOP PICK! There is a sinister and desperate edge to this tale that will keep readers glued to their seats. Kaye has dark romantic suspense nailed!" ~ RT Book Reviews Magazine "Hard As You Can is another five star read. The characters Ms. Kaye has created are wonderfully broken and the drama is gritty, but the burgeoning romance and the tight-knitted relationship of the team leaves you with a sense of redemption. A must read series!" ~San Francisco Book Review For Hard As It Gets: "Edgy, sexy and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!" ~ #1 NYT Bestselling Author J.R. Ward "Sizzling romance... The intriguing tattoo parlor and military background will appeal to fans of Suzanne Brockmann and Lindsay McKenna." ~Publishers Weekly Review "Kaye's depiction of sexual tension and her sex scenes are masterful and this will appeal to fans of Maya Banks' KGI and Julia Ann Walker's Black Knight's series." ~Booklist ABOUT LAURA KAYE: Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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Hard to Be Good on Goodreads

Hard to Let Go on Goodreads

Monday, January 12, 2015

Branded by Tar Sivec

I wear my scars like a scarlet letter, reminding myself that I’m not worth the trouble.

I’ve spent seventeen years pushing men away, never allowing myself to believe in the fairytale…then, he walked back in.

Just like before, we explode when we’re together. I hate him for what he did to me, but I can’t stay away.

Eighteen days filled with passion and promises.

Nineteen letters filled with threats and foreboding.

It only takes twenty minutes for the numbers to all add up.

One thousand, two hundred seconds until everything changes and there’s no going back.

This is my story, and it’s going to leave a scar.

My Thoughts on the Book

This is the second book in this series and it is just as good as the first. This book has humor and heart. DJ is a delight and he and Phina are great together even if neither want to admit it at first. There is a twist to the story that was very well done, I might have suspected it but I had myself doubting myself too and that is how I like a good story.