I felt lost throughout most of the story but the gist of the story came through. I enjoyed the byplay of the characters. Alexander MacLean sets out to ruin Caitlyn Hurst because of some past involvement that forced his brother to marry. While he plans to ruin he, he doesn’t plan to fall in love with her.

Without reading the previous stories I didn’t have the character attachment that I should have so I rank this as a mediocre story. I will definitely pick up the previous books in the series and revisit this one later.

Grade: C
Cover: Nah…

Previous Books in the series: How to Abduct a Highland Lord, To Scotland, With Love, To Catch a Highlander, Sleepless in Scotland (The MacLeans).

Future releases by Karen Hawkins: Lois Lane Tells All, due in paperback, March 30, 2010.
Authors website: Karenhawkins.com

The Thrall concept is yet another variation of the “vampire” theme. Instead of being infected by a “virus” the Thrall is a parasite which takes over the body and mind of its host for a few years. Eventually the body wears down and a new host is selected to receive the next queens eggs. Additionally the Thrall lives in a hive culture with a single reproductive queen leader and her drones the “hosts”. Humans all considered the “Prey” that feeds the hive the blood they need. Humans can also be Herd if they voluntarily feed the Hosts.

Kate Reilly is an internal courier with martial arts and defense training. She has previously defeated and killed a queen to try and save an ex lover, so she is given Not Prey status. This status is established with a set of rules that outline the Thrall/Not Prey status. Basically they are not supposed to use her as food, but the Thrall queens are scared of Kate and resent her status.

Tom is a calendar man sized hunk and a werewolf who comes to Kate to rent an apartment. They hit it off quickly, but Tom is not all he seems, nor are his initial motives towards Kate of his free will.

When a queen goes rogue and decides that she wants Kate to replace her as the next queen, things get ugly for Kate. Additional the local werewolf pack draws Kate into the fold.

There is a lot of action and an interesting new twist in this paranormal. I enjoyed it and plan on reading the next one in the series.

Cover: ok

Grade: B+.

Part two of Gerards Black Ops Series.

This story starts off very fast with one of the BOI’s (Black Ops Inc) being dramatically warned off an assignment when his sister is killed as a message. Sam Lang is good at what he does, but unfortunately the people he works to eliminate don’t appreciate this. When Sam gets too close to Fredrick Nader, he is warned to back off and he heads home to protect what is left of his family. Sam’s guilt is immeasurable while he hides himself away at home.

At his fathers prompting, Sam decides to get his revenge on Nader. Sam is lead to Abbie Hughes as a possible player in Nader’s organization. Abbie’s brother Corie has been lured into working for Nader. Sam sets himself up to date Abbie and his charm is a success with Abbie. After wining and dining her, they end up in bed. Sam feels some doubt after their first night of lovemaking but he continues on and confronts Abbie about Nader and deceives her into thinking he is going to take her to jail. She is crushed to realize that Sam has been playing her all along. I actually got choked up at his deception. Abbie’s brother is missing and she bravely goes with the BOI’s to try and find him.

I loved Abbie’s strength and highly enjoyed this story.

Grade: A (Seems I have been having a good streak).

Cover: Nothing Special.

While on assignment in Argentina for Black Ops Inc, Gabriel Jones is shocked to see someone from his past that he thought safe and out of his life. Jenna McMillan is a reporter who is covering a story in Argentina, but she doesn’t realize that she is being setup in a complicated revenge plot. When a bomb goes off unexpectedly, Jenna is tackled by a street bum who gets badly injured. While trying to escape, Jenna is thrown into a car and recognizes the men who save her. She doesn’t realize who tackled her, but once she sees Gabes men here in Argentina she puts two and two together.

Gabe is emotionally scarred and doesn’t want anyone in his life. Too bad he can’t stop thinking about the overbearing red head who always brings him to a loud verbal sparring match. Jenna does not want to get hurt again and realizes that Gabe will never love her, too bad she can’t ditch him but there is too much danger around her.

I believe this one may end up being a keeper. I will hold onto it for now while I start on the next few in the series.

Grade: A-

Cover: Standard Suspense art…

I actually started this book on audiobook from my library because one of my classes is a fitness class. I am an older fat mom so it is weird working out with kids, but anyhow I find I have a few extra hours on the elliptical trainer and I don’t have to feel guilty when I listen to audiobooks during my exercise time. In fact I would really stand out if I didn’t have an ipod on.

So as I previously stated I started this book on audiobook, but ended up switching to the print version because I simply could not stop the story when it was bed time. It took a few all nighters but the sleepiness and missed assignments were truly worth it. I loved this book and could not put it down when I should have.

Sophia and Dave were a bit boring in the very beginning, but they grew on me. Dave’s hidden strength is really tested and he ends up being the alpha that he didn’t show in the previous stories.

Deck and Tracy were pretty interesting, I couldn’t see how they could have fit, but Tracy again showed more character than the ditz she was earlier.

Jimmy and Tess found their resolution.

I was a bit disappointed in the ending, it seemed to wrap up much more quickly then the rest of the story, but again I was hooked and perhaps didn’t want it to end so quickly.

My Rating: A

Coverart: Nothing special.

The walls between the human world and Faery are coming down and the dark fae are pouring out in droves, Mac finds out who is controlling the Sinsar Dubh and it is even more dire than she presumes.

If you have not started this series, get out and buy it NOW……

Grade: A

Cover: Another great cover design.

I was able to snag this story on audiobook. I love and hate that. It is nice to listen to a story when you are going about mindless activity, but then I found myself looking for mindless time when I shouldn’t.

The heroine, Drea, is a drug lords mistress who is not the dim bulb she pretends to be. She has vowed to get the most out of life. She has no problem in being a mans play toy as long as it gets her money, the finest clothing and jewels. Her existence is very shallow and she makes no apologies for this.

Simon is an assassin, hiring out to whomever can afford him. He is a emotional void and brutally efficient at tracking down his “prey” and killing them.

Drea is betrayed by her current druglord protector Rafael Salinas when he gives her to Simon for one night as payment for a job. Wow what a HOT scene. Drea realizes her time with Rafael has become intolerable now that he has ’shared’ her like a whore. Hurt and angry, she makes her escape with millions of Salinas’s money. Enraged and embarrassed, Rafael hires Simon to kill her. She can’t run far enough or fast enough and Simon finds her, thus causing her death. But that is not the end…. The remainder of the story takes on a paranormal twist, but it seemed to paler in comparison to the start.

I enjoyed the story, however I had a hard time warming up to Simon. I often like the bad boys best as they provide the best emotional material. I just didn’t feel it with Simon. The story heavily focused on Drea’s second chance at redemption and Simon seemed to be along for the ride when he could have been much more. Howard is usually able to take dark characters and turn them into great, memorable heros. Simon was just “ok” for me. I wanted him to be much more…

That said I did like it better than some of her other latest books. It is worth the time.

Grade: B-

Having found the compound of past nemesis Deshon Star through an inside connection, Riley prepares to go undercover as a female wrestler to gain access to the compound and eliminate Deshon and end his genetic experiments. Ok, so that sounds like a cheesy plot and perhaps it is, but Arthur has a way of building a complex world while weaving in erotic sex and interesting plots. I could not put this one down.

As usual, Quinn her past vampire lover finds out about her plot and infiltrates the compound also. Quinn has a vendetta to settle with Deshon.

Kade the horse shifter is back as well as the addition of a group of new woman shifters who are not what they appear to be. It seems Deshon has racked up lots of enemies along the way.

As with the past books there is lots of unapologetic sex and rich content. My one criticism was the final confrontation lacked much substance in regard to the evil Starr.

Grade: A
Cover: Same theme as before, nice design.

In the second book of the series we find Riley captured in a breeding facility to create master races of mixed DNA super beings…. Back are the past characters of Quinn, Rhoan, Jack, Gualtier. The plot turns are really quick and rich and the new characters are fascinating. Of course Riley adds another lover to her mix, but it seems to add to the story. The sex is abundant, but it seems to fit in with the story instead of becoming the story. I have to say that some of her sex lines are just plain cheezy, as the newest lover Kade is a horse shifter and Arthur could not resist the “hung like” line…. (groan…..). Otherwise the world building was imaginative and fresh. Old lovers prove to be more than meets the eye and Riley becomes manipulated and injected with a experimental drug that has long term implications upon her future. Love this new series…

Grade: A-

Cover: Hot.

America, Sherrie Hamilton is taken captive and on her way to serve in a Haram when she is rescued by a daring young pirate Cullum whom decides to make a deal with her. One month as his mistress, then she can go free. After many months Cullum finally lets her go to save her life. She has come to love him and is hurt when seemingly discards her. As in most romance, nothing is as it appears.

Fast forward 10 years later and Sherrie is in England to accompany her cousins for their season. Sherrie is now a widow and the mother of a very perceptive young daughter.

Jack PenMartn, Earl of PenMartyn is trying to put his life in order and escape his jaded past, image his surprise when he runs smack into his past in the form of Sherrie Hamilton at the ball of a meddling, matchmaking friend. Sherrie and Jack try to avoid each other and their shared bittersweet paste, but Sherrie’s daughter and other well meaning matchmakers have other plans for them.

I enjoyed this one and found myself staying up late to follow them. Both hero and heroine are dealing with the pain they have caused and a love they cannot deny.

My grade: B+
Cover Art: Typical…