Justified Steel by M.J. Fields

 

When offered the keys to the kingdom, I all but pissed on the throne.

I didn’t need the figurative crown to become the king, and I sure as hell didn’t want anything more to do with the little queen.

When the power started to shift and lives were being torn apart, justice needed to be served.

Who better to serve it up … than me?

I've been looking forward to Justice's story since I started reading the 'Crew' series. I loved the original Steels, but the next gen is proving to be even more delicious. What I love about them is that we get to see just how much everything we loved about the OG Steels has trickled down to their kids. I think the kids are even more over the top than the originals. If that's possible. 

This is the first Crew book about a male of the Steel family. So, this is our first look at just how alpha the Steel daddies made their boys. Justice definitely thinks he's the king of the castle. The only problem? He's being forced to put Gabrielle up as his queen. I was so confused why he seemed to hate her so much. Sure, she was a total 'mean girl' to his sister and cousins, but his loathing of her was hard core. The big reveal was something I did not see coming, but wow. It made total sense. And it really made me feel for him. 

Wait until you find out the really big secret at the very end. I got all sorts of mushy for Justice. And once again, the Steel men show us that they aren't just tattooed hotties with big attitudes. They have hearts of Steel as well.

Branded Steel by M.J. Fields

 

He can sing, dance, and owns whatever stage he’s "performing" on.

His looks make him a triple threat.

And he’s gone viral.

He is the Country Music Artist of the Year.

Which means that face, those eyes, that hair, that body, and his voice are every-freaking-where.

He’s America’s newest country sensation, and he can do no wrong.

Except, he did.

He totally did.

And he did it to me.

I started my M. J. Fields journey with the Steel Country series and fell in love with Brand as a cute little 5-year old. I could see the potential for a story for him with all his interactions with Bella and Kiki and I was so excited to finally get to read it.

The whole book is too spoilery to try and talk about, but let me just say, within the first few chapters my jaw had dropped, my heart had broken and I'd laughed my butt off. Brand was everything I had hoped he would be. Sweet, protective, alpha, and totally Steel worthy. Kiki was a bada**, take no crap chick and I loved how she and Brand clashed and came together. And as my favorite original Steel, I was so excited to get more Jase. I love his snarky personality and seeing him again in his dad role was a joy. My heart broke again toward the end of the book, but then it was put back together and given all the warm fuzzies. All in all, this book was everything I had hoped for Brand's story. 

Storm by Carian Cole

I had no idea crashing into a ditch would change my life forever.

Fate had other plans, and I never stood a chance.

A series of weather and road mishaps left me trapped in the middle of a blizzard with a complete stranger in the back of a pickup truck.

For forty-eight freakin' hours.

A stranger with long hair, tattoos, and rippling with muscle.

A stranger with an insanely sexy voice and a smile that turned my insides to jelly.

A stranger who held me in his arms, calmed me, and then set a fire in me that I couldn't put out.

I didn't know I was trapped with America's favorite bad boy guitarist, Storm Valentine. And he was in no rush to reveal his secret. He's used to getting everything he wants, and for some reason, he's decided he wants me.

Some people chase storms for the beautiful thrill. What happens when the storm chases you? 

Storm is Carian Cole's debut album and let me tell you, this lady has some skills! This book does not read like a debut album and I'm very happy I discovered her after she wrote a few more books so I didn't have to wait to read the next story. While this series is billed as a rockstar romance, there isn't as much actually rock starring as there are in other series. This book revolves primarily around the lives of the characters, and only spends a little bit of time on-stage or on-tour. 

Storm is the story of Storm and Evelyn, who meet each other in the middle of a blizzard. They end up stuck in Storm's truck, with his dog, for 2 days. Needless to say, those cramped quarters with a sexy, tatooed, muscled bad boy and a cute, sexy woman, lead to some interesting warm fuzzy feelings. Even after they are rescued from the blizzard, Storm can't help but feel something for Evie, even though she is currently in a long term relationship. Throughout their time together though, Storm shows Evie the things she's been missing in her relationship and makes her start to question why she's been in it for so long. Together they are cute and sweet and funny and loving and all the things we love in swoony romance couples. I absolutely loved them!

While there isn't expressly cheating, per se, a few lines were crossed. I won't say I loved that part of the story, but I did love how much Storm loved her, in spite of the obstacles they faced. Their story had its shares of ups and downs, but wasn't terribly angsty, which I also like. It gave me all the feels and I just wanted to hug Storm over and over again.

This book was fantastic, and I am super excited to dive in to Ms. Cole's next book.

The Lasaran by Dianne Duvall

 

New York Times bestselling author Dianne Duvall brings readers the first novel in a thrilling new sci-fi series full of action, intrigue, humor, and romance.

Taelon searches the galaxy for his younger sister, who mysteriously disappeared while on a diplomatic mission. When an ally reveals that she was seized and is being held prisoner on Earth, Taelon descends upon the blue planet, intent on freeing her and exacting vengeance. However, all does not go as planned. Before he can find her, Taelon is captured and becomes the subject of torturous experiments. For what feels like an eternity, all he knows is pain and fury… until a mind tentatively touches his own and a woman’s voice forever changes his world.

After suffering tragic losses, Lisa is finally beginning to carve out a future for herself when chance sends her to the Anomalous Cognition Research Institute. What at first appears to be a benign organization seeking participants for a psychic study instead turns out to be a government facility harboring a much darker intent. Lisa discovers this too late and soon becomes the unwilling subject of a terrifying experiment. Just as fear and desperation threaten to consume her, a deep, compelling voice penetrates the looming insanity and lends her hope.

Having seen only the worst of humanity, Taelon is shocked when Lisa risks everything to free him. Together the two make their escape, and Taelon finds himself fascinated by the small human woman who—despite all she’s suffered—can still laugh and tease and lure smiles from him. Friendship swiftly grows between them as they work together to evade soldiers intent on capturing them and find themselves hunted by mystifying preternatural beings. Through it all, Lisa steadfastly remains by his side, stealing more of his heart each day while she helps him unravel the mystery of his sister’s fate. Can they find his sister before the hunters find them? If they survive their quest, will Taelon have to bid Lisa farewell… or can he coax her into leaving her planet and joining him for the adventure of a lifetime?

You should all know by now that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dianne Duvall. I have read everything she has ever published and I crave the next release like it's my next breath. When I found out her next release wasn't going to be part of her amazing Immortal Guardians series, I was devastated for half a second. Then, she told us that it would have IG characters, so I calmed down pretty quick. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to IG books. The Aldebarian Alliance is another level for incredible! 

***A slight caution*** While this is "technically" a standalone and a new series, I would recommend starting with her Immortal Guardians series, and specifically start with 'A Sorceress of His Own', which is a prequel to the series. If you hate spoilers and you haven't read all the IG books, I would not proceed

The Lasaran is the story of Taelon (who we know from the end of Death of Darkness is Ami's brother) and Lisa. The book shares some scenes with Death of Darkness. We see the raid on Gershom's compound and peripherally see the rescue of Seth's IG family and we also see the scene where Taelon shows up at David's house from his point of view. And while you may think that this would be where the story would start winding down, I assure you, friends, this is only half way through the book! There are spaceships and aliens and intergalactic battles and of course.....some love 😍

Taelon and Lisa escape the compound where they have both been held and begin a journey where they have literally no idea who they can trust. Taelon is an alien and Lisa has no family, so who can they turn to. As they navigate what comes next after escape we see their relationship develop in the sweetest way. They are both so uncomfortable with themselves after their detainment (read the book to find out why) and both think the other should not be attracted to them, but of course they are! Even though we know that they are going to end up at David's eventually, you can feel the struggle that they endure to that point. Add in a few unforeseen complications along the way and Taelon and Lisa certainly don't have an easy road to the HEA. 

There was the perfect amount of set-up and background and action and story progression. This is always the case with Dianne's books, but the start of a new series can be complicated to build in the first book. It certainly helps that she didn't have to do any world building, since it is firmly intrenched in the IG world. I expected to love this book, but I wasn't quite prepared for how much I LOVED this book. And as if that wasn't enough, she TORTURED us with a sneak peek in to the Segonian, the next in the Aldebarian Alliance series. Talk about an agonizing wait! I'm telling you, run, don't walk to pick this book up. You will not be disappointed.

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

Star D’Aplièse is at a crossroads in her life after the sudden death of her beloved father—the elusive billionaire, affectionately called Pa Salt by his six daughters, all adopted from across the four corners of the world. He has left each of them a clue to her true heritage, and Star nervously decides to follow hers, which leads her to an antiquarian bookshop in London, and the start of a whole new world.

A hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in England’s picturesque Lake District—just a stone’s throw away from the residence of her childhood idol, Beatrix Potter—when machinations lead her to London, and the home of one of Edwardian society’s most notorious society hostesses, Alice Keppel. Flora is torn between passionate love and her duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a larger game. That is, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers that Flora has been searching for her whole life...

As Star learns more of Flora’s incredible journey, she too goes on a voyage of discovery, finally stepping out of the shadow of her sister and opening herself up to the possibility of love.

This is the third book in the Seven Sisters series. The story follows Star on her journey to discovering who she is. It is set in the present and also during Edwardian England as the story follows Flora MacNichol. 

I have to say this book was a HUGE disappointment. The premis had such potential, but it did not live up to it. My biggest hurdle in fully enjoying this book was Ms. Riley's style of writing. Throughout the whole book, both Star and Flora were the only characters who didn't seem to know their respective "big secrets" but every other person in the story seemed to. Instead of leaving tiny crumbs for the reader to discover and leading them slowly to the answer, it was a lot of "You mean you really don't know?" and then the subject would immediately be changed. When the big revelation occurred, there was no looking back and thinking, "Oh yeah! That all really makes sense now!" At the very end, we're left feeling cut short because there isn't really a resolution for Star. This may be due to the other 4 forthcoming books. Perhaps they will shed more light on Star's future. I slogged through because I really wanted to know what happened, but if I had been able to read the full synopsis and skip reading the book, I would have. Overall, I would not recommend this book. 

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by Darynda Jones

My entire life can be summed up in one sentence: 
“Well, that didn’t go as planned.”
—T-Shirt

A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating husbands, errant wives, missing people, philandering business owners, and, oh yeah...demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and those who want her dead.

Now, Charley is learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension. With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking lover, will Charley be able to defeat the ultimate evil and find a way to have her happily ever after after all?

***CAUTION*** Spoilers from Tenth Grave ahead. If you aren't caught up, proceed at your own peril!!

This book is what I would consider to be a bridge book. It moves the story along slightly as far as plot line, but fills in a lot of details about past, present and future events. And you're clearly moving towards something epic that requires a lot of ground work to be set. That being said, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Eleventh Grave in Moonlight. And it is vital to the over-arching plot we've been following.

At the end of Tenth Grave, Charley regained her memory, trapped one of the 3 big bad gods in a god glass and learned her sexy, Son of Satan husband, was actually created from 1 of the other gods. Just another day in the life of Charley Davidson, PI/Grim Reaper/Goddess. Oh, and she also threatened the Almighty Jehovah that she was going to wrest his control of the world and take it over herself. Good one, Charley. Piss off God himself. You clearly didn't think that one through.

At the beginning of Eleventh Grave, Charley has taken on a case that Reyes doesn't approve of. As usual, Charley does what Charley wants, and somehow always manages to squeak by and be right. This case hits close to home and we all know how Reyes hates to drudge up the past. Pair that with a truly horrible situation happening to one of her favorite people, and it is clear that Charley can  never live a normal boring life. And if you think thought that was as bad as it is going to get, hang on until the last line of the book, "And then I realized the truth. I may have just made the biggest mistake of my entire existence. I may have unleashed hell on earth."

Once again, Ms. Jones has made us fall in love with every second of Charley's life. But it can't be understated how essential and wonderful are all of the other characters in her life. Charley wouldn't be half of what she is without her partners in crime. I can't wait to see they help Charley handle this latest kink in her master plan to take over the world.

Love conquers all, sure, but the future is looking pretty bleak for the Reaper, the Son of Satan and the Daughter of Light. 

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones

Sometimes I wrestle my demons. Sometimes we just snuggle.
—Bumper Sticker Most girls might think twice before getting engaged to someone like Reyes Farrow—but Charley Davidson is not most girls. She’s a paranormal private eye and grim reaper-in-training who’s known to be a bit of a hell-raiser, especially after a few shots of caffeine. Her beloved Reyes may be the only begotten son of evil, but he’s dark and sultry and deeply sexy and everything Charley could hope for. Really. But when the FBI file on Reyes’ childhood happens to land into her lap, she can’t help herself: She opens it...and then the real fun begins. First, Charley finds a naked corpse riding shotgun in her car. Then, a man loses his soul in a card game. Throw in a Deaf boy who sees dead people, a woman running from mobsters, and a very suspicious Reyes, and things can’t get any worse for Charley. Unless, of course, the Twelve Beasts of Hell are unleashed.

***CAUTION*** Spoilers from Fifth Grave ahead. If you aren't caught up, proceed at your own peril!!

Phew! This book was smokin' from beginning to end. We are anxiously awaiting Charley's answer to the question that any of us would say yes to in a heartbeat. I mean come on! Who wouldn't want to be married to the super sexy son of Satan? Obviously Charley wants to say yes, but something is hanging her up.

Charley has a tough time in this book. She has a naked guy in her front seat with a "prominent package", a huge secret she is keeping from her "almost fiance", and a father who is being oddly suspicious. To top that off, she has to win a soul back from a demon and interpret a prophecy about the Twelve Beasts of Hell. Never fear though, there is plenty of ha ha moments and plenty of swit swoo moments too. And the ending? Oh baby. I cannot wait until October when Seventh Grave comes out.

Most people said they liked 99% of this book, but 1% bugged them. I'm not sure what everyone else's 1% was, but the thing that bugged me, and has been bugging me, is that Reyes never answers her questions. Everyone wants to continue to keep her in the dark about what she is capable of, but it's getting slightly old. But that aside, the book is fabulous enough to not to put much of a damper on the awesomeness of the book.