Indie Author Review! Magic In The Storm by Meredith Bond

Here at My Reading Obsession I want to highlight and give recognition to any author that writes a book worth reading, I love the self publishing movement that is allowing authors to get their work out there and let us enjoy it. So today I want to share with you an Indie author that I just know you are going to love!

Title: Magic In The Storm
Author: Meredith Bond

Kindle Edition: 395 pages
Published: January 28th 2012






Blurb:
Morgan is trapped and powerless.
The seventh child of the seventh child has always been a girl. Until Morgan Vallentyn was born. Because he’s male he can’t access the magical powers that should have been his . In order to attain his destiny, he’s first got to escape his home and find the source of his power – in the most unexpected of places.

Adriana would give up everything for her freedom.
Born to paint the natural world with unprecedented passion and vision, Adriana Hayden is bound by the laws of 19th century English society to her scheming guardian. But after meeting the handsome and mysterious Morgan, her world begins to open to enchanted possibilities she could never have imagined.

The only way to fulfill their destinies is for each to unlock the powers of the other – through the magic in the storm.


My Review:
Morgan Vallentyne is a descendant of the great Morgan le Fey being the seventh child of the seventh child he should have more magic than anyone to date, He doesn't seem to however and all because he had the nerve to be born a boy. His mother is so upset she hates Morgan just for that fact and mistreats him his entire life.

Adriana Hayden lost her parents young and has been in the hands of her power hungry, political status climbing guardian, Lord Devaux, ever since. She is an amazing painter and it is her one true passion and Lord Devaux uses her love of painting to help control her and force her to do his will.

Morgan and Adriana meet when Lord Devaux arranges for Adriana to marry Morgan's older brother Lord Vallentyne. Adriana wanders in the woods on the estate of Lord Vallentyne and comes across Morgan in the cottage in the woods his mother has forced him to live in.

Morgan and Adriana have instant chemistry but between the 19th century morals and her fear of repercussion from Lord Devaux, Adriana flees from her feelings for Morgan back to London. The adventure continues when Morgan manages to escape his mothers magic to chase after the only thing that makes him truly happy, Adriana!

This book is a fantastic mix of the paranormal and a regency romance! It has action, excitement, magic, love, hate, social climbing, power grabbing and even a part in the story for Lord Byron the poet. The mix of magic and regency blend into a beautiful story that has you fall in love with Morgan and Adriana and despise Morgan's mother and Adriana's guardian Lord Devaux.

I highly recommend this book and give my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses!!

Happy Reading, Carin



also available for Nook

ARC NetGalley Review: A SEAL at Heart by Anne Elizabeth

Title: A SEAL at Heart
Author: Anne Elizabeth
Mass Market Paperback:
352 pages
Expected publication:
December 4th 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca





Blurb:
Being a SEAL means everything to Petty Officer First Class John Roaker. So when a head injury coupled with a bout of amnesia makes him undeployable, he has to find a way to heal from his wounds and recover his lost memories. Enlisting the help of beautiful psychoanalyst Laurie Smith, he discovers his unlocked memories hold a dangerous secret about his last mission that threatens his life, his country, and the woman he's starting to fall in love with.


My Review:

John Roaker (Jack as everyone calls him) is a career SEAL and when a OP he is on goes sideways and he loses not only his swim buddy, Don, but when an injury also causes him to loose a large chunk of his memory of that OP it puts his career in jeopardy.

Laurie Smith grew up with SEAL's her dad was a SEAL and when he died the man that adopted her was a SEAL. Laurie knew better than to get involved with a SEAL. Laurie also recognizes she has no social life or sex life to speak of. When Jack, the hunky SEAL, she meets at a fund raiser makes a move how can she say no.

Jack has to return his memories of the night of his head injury or he will be put on desk duty. For Jack nothing could be worse than being put on desk duty. He is sick of the group therapy sessions they are making him take as well as the chats with the physiatrist, he doesn't see any progress from working with them.
When he meets Laurie and she thinks she may be able to help him with some alternative therapy he decides to go for it, it doesn't hurt that part of this therapy involves sexy Laurie giving him a deep tissue massage.

With time running out Jack needs to find his memories so he can clear his name that a couple of team mates are smearing, get permission to be active again and know what happened so he can face his swim buddies wife and daughter. Through all of the wild ride that Jack takes to get his memories back and to heal Laurie is there to help and to fall head over heels for Jack and Jack for her.

I really liked that Ms. Elizabeth was able to keep so much of this story as accurate as possible, Things like the layout of Coronado Island and the North Island base there or the vernacular used by the SEAL's, there family and community surrounding them. The book was written in a way that it was suspenseful, romantic and funny, it drew you in with the action at the beginning and then you jump in feet first to the sexual chemistry between Jack and Laurie. I found the book to be gripping and heart warming at the same time and was able to immerse myself in the story along with the characters.

I give A SEAL at Heart my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses!

Happy Reading, Carin




I received this book in exchange for an honest review, thank you NetGalley!

Review: Ready and Willing by Selena Blake

Blurb:Ava Garnier is the middle daughter of WhitePaw's Alpha pair and she's spent almost a decade preparing to take over her father's role as leader of the Pack.

There's one big snag and his name is Kaden Black. Kaden assumes that because he's the Beta of the pack, the position is automatically his.

Ava's had a crush on Kaden for years but he's never given her the time of day...until her sister marries his best friend. Now sparks are flying and there's only a week until her father decides who will become the next Alpha of WhitePaw pack. The question is, who will come out on top?

My Review:
Our introduction to Ava and Kaden comes at the wedding of Ava'a younger sister. As the maid of honor and the best man, Kaden had introduced his best friend to Ava's sister and now with all the emotion of a wedding Kaden is realizing that while his feelings up until now had been (as best as he could make them) sisterly, he is now noticing things about her he hadn't before.
Ava has been crushing on Kaden for many years but he has always treated her with a sisterly distance and she is pretty frustrated by that, it doesn't hurt that Kaden looks amazing in his tux.

The sexual tension in Ready and Willing is evident from the very beginning pages of the book. Ms Blake works it and builds it to a fevered pitch while building a charming story about the daughter who only wanted to please her father and the orphaned outsider who has risen through the ranks of the WhitePaw pack to become the pack Beta.
This is paranormal romance at its best, the fact that the characters in the book are werewolves just seems natural, never like an afterthought. The world of the WhitePaw pack is built in this novel to allow for a series to come from it, however the story line in the book has it's happily ever after and is as far as I know a stand alone book. It would be wonderful to see a whole series written to follow this one. The build of the sexual heat and the relationship of the hero and the heroine is a lot like the anticipation when you have a gift and you know you will open it soon, and just like opening that gift the build up and the anticipation is well worth the wait. With some hot, steamy and battery draining scenes the climax of the book is a panty-wringer!
Ms. Blake I enjoyed your book a great deal, I would love to see more of the WhitePaw pack. Dear reader this is a wonderful read and a fun, feel good book. I give Ready and Willing my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses!

Happy Reading, Carin

Review Ballroom Blitz by Lorelei James

Title: Ballroom Blitz
Author: Lorelie James
Release: October 2nd 2012
Published by: Samhain Publishing, Ltd
123 pages
sequel to a 2008 anthology called Wicked Garden


She’s got the rhythm, but he’s got all the right moves.

A Two to Tango story.

After years on the road, rock drummer Jon White Feather is home from tour to reassess his music career. When his shy niece begs him to take a ballroom dancing class, Jon agrees, aware he’s not Fred Astaire material. Still, it stings when his sexy-hot instructor—who makes his heart do the cha-cha—deals his ego a low blow: he has no rhythm.

Maggie Buchanan is doing everything to make ends meet since her IT career fizzled, including teaching couples dancing at the community center. She’s prepared for anything—except her immediate attraction to the bad boy rocker who doesn't know his right foot from his left.

As Jon sets out to prove he can rock his body—and hers—their sexual chemistry burns a path across the dance floor, straight to the bedroom. And Maggie wasn't expecting a man with limited dance skills would know exactly how to sweep her off her feet.

My Review:
Jon White Feather, know with his band as Johnny Feather, walks into a ballroom dance class he promised his niece he would take her to knowing he has two left feet but wanting to be their to help his niece do something that makes her feel good about herself. When he lays eyes on Maggie he is immediately smitten.

Maggie Buchanan loved to dance as a teen but she bowed to family pressure to do the logical thing and got a degree in IT so she could get a "real" job. When corporate downsizing catches her and she is out of a job she moves home to South Dakota and picks up a part time job teaching couples ballroom dance .

Jon and Maggie have instant chemistry and the sexual heat is evident almost from the start of the book. Maggie is wary of the bad boy Jon presents as a public image and doesn't want to be just the flavor of the week. Jon isn't used to women not throwing themselves at him and finds he likes the challenge that Maggie presents.

With his carrier going through some changes and new bands wanting to meet with him Jon find he is being pulled in many different directions. Maggie still looking for a full time job in IT is also preparing for regional and national dance competitions she isn't sure if she wants to keep dancing or chase down the IT job leads that she has.

Ms James as has done it again with another fantastic book that is so well written you fall in love right along with the characters she has written. She does a amazing job telling the story of two artists at cross roads in there lives and the hot steamy love affair that can either complicate decisions or make those decisions for them.
Even with this being a short novel the story is so well crafted that we don't feel like anything was left out and it never feels like the story was rushed.

I give Ballroom Blitz my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses!

I purchased my copy of this book at Amazon

Review: Seduced by A Pirate by Eloisa James

Author: Eloisa James
Title: Seduced By A Pirate
Series: Fairy Tales #4.5
Publication: October 30th 2012
Published by: Avon Impulse
100 pages



Blurb:
In Eloisa James's companion story to The Ugly Duchess, Sir Griffin Barry, captain of the infamous pirate ship The Poppy, is back in England to claim the wife he hasn't seen since their wedding day . . . but this is one treasure that will not be so easy to capture.

Written as a short novel companion to The Ugly Duchess, Seduced By A Pirate reads just fine as a stand alone.

Sir Griffin Barry, former Captain of the pirate ship turned privateer ship The Flying Poppy, has returned to England after being at sea for the last 14 years. He is finally going to meet his wife of one day and is rather nervous about it. Having been married to a girl he had never met at the tender age of 17 he failed to consummate the marriage on his wedding night.

Phoebe Eleanor Barry is the wife Griffin left behind. When she learns of his return to England in the newspaper all she can thing of is how to get out of their marriage.
She is happy with her life in the country with her 3 children, the nanny and a nurse she doesn't see a need for a husband to come and interfere with everything she has built.

Phoebe is the older woman (by 3 whole years) that young Griffin was so in awe of at their wedding that he gets stage fright and is unable to perform. He escapes into the night and isn't heard from for 14 years. Now Griffin is ready to settle down with his wife and start a normal life. It's going to take his powers of persuasion to get Phoebe to give up her tranquil life and let him in.

This short novel has it all it has swashbuckling pirates, mistaken identity, infidelity, nervous virgins, rampaging hormones and family reconciliation. The story is funny, heartwarming, well written and has enough steam for a sauna. We are able to get enough of the back story that everything makes sense with no big info dumps. The characters are lovable and well rounded. Even with this being on the short side it is written that you don't feel like the author left out huge bits.
I give Seduced by a Pirate chocolate and roses.

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

VBT: Review of Sun God Seeks Surrogate? and Rafflecopter Giveaway

I am so happy to welcome Mimi Jean Pamfiloff and CBLS Promotions to my blog today with my very first Virtual Book Tour. Be sure after you read my brilliant insite ;0) that you fill in the Rafflecopter form because Mimi is giving away, One autographed print copy of both "ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE WITH...A GOD?" and "ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO...A VAMPIRE?", Books 1 & 2 of the "Accidentally Yours Series" to be gifted to each of five (5) lucky contest entrants During this VBT. Be sure to also check the link at the bottom for the other stops in the VBT!

Title: SUN GOD SEEKS…SURROGATE?
Series: (Book 3, Accidentally Yours Series)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Publisher: Self
Length: 295 Pages
Genres: Paranormal Romance (Action/Adventure, Comedy)
Heat Level: Sensual
AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo

When 24-year-old Penelope learns of a new miracle drug that could cure her ailing mother, it’s the answer to her prayers. Until she sees the cost. But for every door that closes, a window opens. In this case, the window calls herself Cimil, and she’s quite possibly the most insane person Penelope’s ever met. Could it be because this complete stranger just offered Penelope one million dollars to carry her wealthy brother’s baby?
But Cimil’s brother isn’t your everyday millionaire. In fact, he gives new meaning to the word hot.
~Publisher Blurb~

~Review~
First thing to know is that this is book 3 of the Accidentally Yours series and I know you will love this one but be sure to pick up the first two and read them! Mostly because it will just make understanding all the inside jokes and references that the author Mimi Jean Pamfiloff uses more funny.
In Sun God Seeks Surrogate? we are already familiar with the crazy enigmatic Cimil and in the opening to this book she one up's even herself with a hot pink outfit that would have even drag queens cringing. We are once again treated to the wonderful, crazy humor that Ms. Pamfiloff writes so well.

We meet Penelope who is a fantastic strong woman (female as the God's are wont to say) who is feisty, intelligent, and devoted to her mother ,who has a mystery illness Pen will do most anything to help cure her of.
This book introduces us the the Sun God, Kinich Ahau, Nick. Like his brother Voltan, Guy Santiago, he is arrogant, bossy and is total sex on a stick hot! Nick is a firm believer in balance in the Universe and believes the Creator will create something evil to balance anything good created.
We are taken on a wild ride across the country and around to world as Nick and Pen spar, argue, have smoking hot sex and fall in love.

I love this series! Mimi writes in a style that will make you laugh out loud as many times as you are breaking out the ice cold drinks to cool down. It is hot without pushing over the line from spicy romance to erotica.
Taking the Mayan Gods and linking them with all of the other Gods we have in literature and history is brilliant! It allows you to see how 14 Gods could be the same Gods who were worshiped by the Mayans as well as the Greek, Romans and Norseman.
Sun God Seeks Surrogate is another fantastic love story that manages to pull in not only the Gods but other Paranormal beings all into one fantastic read that makes you finish one just to be ready to leap into the next.
I Give Sun God Seeks Surrogate my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses

~ Excerpt ~
Wondering which screw in her head had come loose this time, twenty-four-year-old Emma Keane strapped a parachute to her back in preparation for yet another fun-filled jungle mission.
“Dammit! Stop wiggling!” she barked over her shoulder. “And that had better be your flashlight!”
Well, actually, it was a cranky, rather large warrior named Brutus strapped to her back and wearing the parachute because she had yet to find time for skydiving lessons.
Dork.
In any case, looking like a ridiculous, oversized baby kangaroo wasn’t enough to stop her from making this nocturnal leap into enemy territory—Maaskab territory. She had scores to settle.
Emma sucked in a deep breath, the roar of the plane’s large engines and Brutus’s growls making it difficult to find her center—the key to winning any battle. And not freak out.
Funny. If someone had told her a year ago that she’d end up here, an immortal demigoddess engaged to the infamous God of Death and War, she would have said, “Christ! Yep! That toootally sounds about right.”
Why the hell not? She’d lived the first twenty-two years of her life with Guy—a nickname she’d given her handsome god—obsessed with his seductive voice, a voice only she could hear. Turned out, after they finally met face-to-face, their connection ran blood deep. Universe deep, actually. A match made by fate.
Emma rubbed her hands together, summoning the divine power deep within her cells. One blast with her fingertips and she could split a man right down the middle.
“Careful where you put those,” Guy said, cupping himself.

Emma gazed up at his smiling face and couldn’t help but admire the glorious, masculine view. Sigh. She knew she’d been born to love him, flaws—enormous ego and otherworldly bossiness—and all.
His smile melted away. “Please change your mind, my sweet. Stay on the plane, and let me do your fighting.”
“Can’t do that,” she replied. “The Maaskab took my grandmother, and I’m going to be the one to get her back. Even if I have to kill Tommaso to do it.”
Guy shook his head. “No. You are to let me deal with him.”
Emma felt her immortal blood boil. She’d trusted Tommaso once, and he’d betrayed her. Almost gotten her killed, too. But she’d known—well, she’d thought—it wasn’t Tommaso’s fault. He’d been injected with liquid black jade, an evil substance that could darken the heart of an angel. That’s why, after he’d been captured and mortally wounded, she’d begged the gods to cure him.
Then she did the unthinkable: she’d put her faith in him again.
Stupid move.
He’d turned on her a second time, the bastard. Yes, his betrayal—done of his own free will—was her prize on that fateful night almost one year ago when her grandmother showed up on their doorstep in Italy, leading an army of evil Maaskab priests, her mind clearly poisoned.
“If Tommaso hadn’t helped her escape, we could’ve saved her,” she said purely to vent, because she really wanted to cry. But the fiancée of the God of Death and War didn’t cry. Especially in front of the hundred warriors riding shotgun on the plane tonight.
Okay, maybe one teeny tiny tear while no one’s looking.
“Do not give up hope, Emma.” Guy clutched her hand. “And do not forget…whatever happens, I love you. Until the last ray of sunlight. Until the last flicker of life inhabits this planet.”
Brutus groaned and rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by the sappy chatter.
Emma elbowed him in the ribs. “Shush! And how can you, of all people, be uncomfortable with a little affection? Huh? You bunk with eight dudes every night. That’s gross by the way. Not the dude part. I’m cool with that. But eight, big, sweaty warriors all at once? Yuck. So don’t judge me because I’m into the one-man-at-a-time rule. That’s messed up, Brutus.”
Brutus growled and Guy chuckled.
In truth, Emma didn’t know what Brutus was into or how he and his elite team slept, but she loved teasing him. She figured that sooner or later she’d find the magic words to get Brutus to speak to her.
No luck yet.
Accepting a temporary defeat, she shrugged and turned her attention back to the task at hand. She took one last look at her delicious male—seven feet of solid muscle with thick blue-black waves of hair and bronzed skin. Sigh. “Okay. I’m ready,” she declared boldly. “Let’s kill some Scabs and get my granny!”
She glanced over her other shoulder at Penelope, their newest family member. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that accentuated the anger simmering in her dark green eyes. Pissed would be a serious understatement.
Emma didn’t blame her. What a cluster.
“Ready?” Emma asked.
“You better believe it,” Penelope replied. “These clowns picked the wrong girl to mess with.”
Guy frowned as they leaped from the plane into the black night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

VBT Blog Schedule
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Before taking up a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimi spent time living near NYC (became a shopaholic), in Mexico City (developed a taste for very spicy food), and Arizona (now hates jumping chollas, but pines for sherbet sunsets). Her love of pre-Hispanic culture, big cities, and romance inspires her to write when she’s not busy with kids, work, and life…or getting sucked into a juicy novel.

She hopes that someday, leather pants for men will make a big comeback and that her writing might make you laugh when you need it most.
Website: www.mimijean.net
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mimi-jean-pamfiloff/id498303364?mt=11
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MimiJeanRomance
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mimi-Jean/218935048190356
Email: mimi@mimijean.net

Review: Obsidian by Laurann Dohner

Book 8 in the New Species series.
The books can be read as stand-alone stories, but it is advisable to read them in order to get the most enjoyment from the series.

Dr. Allison Baker is obsessed with saving the comatose New Species male. She has tried everything and there’s only one option left. Alli will break every rule and put her life in danger by tempting 880 to wake, using only her feminine scent and touch. She just has to kidnap him and crawl into bed with him to make it work.

880 wakes in a different world with a small female who’s been sleeping beside him, caressing him and wrapping her sweet body around his, teasing his senses. He lies silent and still, listening and evaluating each arousing touch, fighting his body’s reaction. Hatred flares when he discovers she’s human, but Mercile stole everything from him so he decides it’s fair to take her in return.

But things quickly change and he wants her at his side and in his bed. 880 has chosen a new name—Obsidian—the personification of dark and dangerous. He’ll fight them all to keep her and no one will stand in his way of taking a new mate as well.
~Goodreads Synopsis~

Laurann Dohner has created an entire race of beings and while this is set in the contemporary United States, they really have a world of their own and it is all done masterfully.
While this is the 8th book in the series and it would be easy to think that Ms. Dohner couldn't take the same basic ingredients and and make an entirely new creation she has and she continues to do so over and over! She is like a Cordon Bleu pastry chef and when given the basics has managed to turn out 8 mouthwatering creations all unique and all amazing.

In Obsidian the sweet and naive Allison takes on not only her man but the entire NSO. 880 or Obsidian as he decides to call himself is more damaged mentally and emotionally by is time in captivity than any of the New Species we have met to date.

Overall I found Obsidian an sexy, spicy read that at times leaves your heart racing and your panties damp and others it brings a tear to your eye at the tender moments. Once again we are treated to an amazing love story that fights the odds of the different worlds of the New Species and humans. I give this my highest rating of
Chocolate and Roses

Carin
Don't forget to enter for your free copy of Stud Ranch

Review: Beneath The Surface by Joya Fields

She’s fighting to stay independent—he’s determined to protect her no matter what…

Brooke Richards survived the earthquake that took her parents and most of her leg, but she needs time to regroup. A trip to Florida for a state-of-the-art prosthesis and to visit her best friend Linda seems ideal. But the trip turns traumatic when Brooke witnesses Linda’s boat disintegrating in a fiery explosion.

Police officer Garrett Ciavello believes the blast was intentionally set to hide something Linda found on a dive. When Brooke offers her expertise in underwater archeology, Garrett accepts her help with the investigation. But since his fiancée’s death years ago, Garrett has become overprotective, and as they are drawn to each other, Garrett realizes he will risk anything to keep Brooke safe.

Brooke is fiercely independent. Garrett is fiercely protective. Will they heal each other’s wound and find a killer…before it’s too late?
~Blurb from Authors website~

When it comes to writing romantic suspense Joya Fields is a master at her craft. Things in Beneath The Surface start out with a bang, quite literally and the roller coaster of emotion never stops. I was drawn in by her ability to weave a story that both captured your heart as well as tugged at that little part of your brain that wants to solve the mystery first. Her characters are well written and easy to believe they are as real as you or I.

Brooke is a wonderful heroic woman that wont let anything slow her down, she experiences tragedy that we hope we will never have to live through however she does it and continues on to find love.

Garrett also has his share of life shattering experiences and that coupled with his job as a police man and you have an alpha male protecting what he feels needs him. He will do what it takes to keep Brooke from further harm.

I really can't say enough good about this book, I don't want to post any spoilers so I am just going to tell you what an amazing author Joya Fields is and give this book my highest rating of Chocolate and Roses

Carin