Review: Siren’s Snare

Read from 17-18 May, 2017

Synopsis: Siren’s Snare from erotic romance author Jessica Marie Baumgartner will have you on the edge of your seat as a male siren’s plans for an heir go awry. This action and adventure ménage will keep you turning the pages as you discover secrets, passion, and love in a world under the sea.

Savaunt is a male siren who wishes to lure Lena into his snare. He desires her to produce him a son and make a proper meal once she has fulfilled her purpose. But his plans are halted when he falls in love with her. Will he be able to tell her the truth of his origins and find a way for them to be together?

Bookish Things: 161 pages. The cover is average, don’t love it, don’t hate it. The book blurb included content notes I’ll add in here. Content Notes: Hot, Ménage, Polyamory, Non-Sexual Physical Assault, Short MM scene, Contemporary, Paranormal, Adventure, Music, Sea Creatures.

Review: The Secret of Sinbad’s Cave

Read from 14-17 May, 2017

Synopsis: Nat Sheppard’s world is turned upside down on the first day of the school holidays by the discovery of a secret room containing cave maps with clues to an ancient treasure. But Nat and her friends soon discover they’re not the only ones chasing the jewels. Professional treasure hunters are on the trail – and they’re prepared to eliminate anyone in their way.

Bookish Things: 249 pages. The cover is a little obscure. I don’t hate it, but I don’t really like it either. Book 1 of The Natnat Adventures.

Where to buy: Amazon on kindle for $4.04.

My Review: 

Bookshelves: blog-review-req, indie-author, indie-review-copies, 2nd-a-z-reading-challenge-2017, 3-star-review, fantasy, kids, swashbuckling-sailors-and-pirates, ya

Adventure, magic and general mayhem follow Nat, her brother Jack, little sister Kathleen, and their crew of friends.

Aimed at a younger audience, this YA story still delivers for adults. If you can look past the youthful protagonist and simpler plot and tone, you’ll find a rich cultural adventure that highlights some of New Zealand’s heritage and caving fun.

As the kids search for Sinbad’s treasure they meet enemies, magical creatures, and make a range of new friends. Couple this with some fantastic caving adventures, and characters making logical choices and possessing sound thought processes and you’ve got yourself a winner.

I’d have liked a bit more explanation of the magical elements of the story, they added a nice touch, but felt a little glossed over. For someone who hasn’t been to NZ, I feel a little more information would have made it truly shine. Though there is a glossary of terms at the end, I didn’t feel that was enough.

My favorite character was Pi, his cute antics were a delightful pace changer. It was also nice to see an animal companion that wasn’t a cat or dog.

The Secret of Sinbad’s Cave is a little outside my reading preferences, but I still enjoyed this playful romp through the NZ countryside.

I noticed no errors as I was reading, but the copy I got had atrocious formatting on the kindle, with sentences and paragraphs breaking mid sentence. Also, chapters did not start on a new page.

I would definitely recommend this for young readers.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Review: Shauna’s Inheritance

Read on 14 May, 2017

Synopsis: Shauna’s birthday brings little to celebrate this year. Her mother is dying of an illness that has baffled doctors. What she cannot grasp is why her mother is indifferent to her own mortality. When Shauna discovers a strange locket in her mother’s room, she learns the truth behind her mother’s health. What seemed to be indifference was something much worse.

Bookish Things: 15 pages. The cover is very basic and looks like it’s been done on a budget.

Where to buy: It used to be available on Amazon, but it looks like it isn’t any longer.

My Review: 

Bookshelves: a-z-challenge-2017, 2-star-review, fantasy, indie-author, something-missing, too-short

Shauna’s inheritance is a short fantasy story. Set in the real world, it follows Shauna, a young woman, on her birthday dealing with her mother mysteriously getting sicker and sicker without explanation. Doesn’t sound very fantasy-like does it?

There is a fantasy element, but it comes into the piece quite late. Very little happens in this story, and the events that do are not really explained. The idea is interesting, but it left too much missing from the story to make it have any sort of impact on the reader.

Review: Unconventional

Read from 10-11 May, 2017

Synopsis: From the NYT Bestselling author of The Manhattanites series and for fans of such films as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Wild Things comes a ménage romance posing the question; can two men share the same woman forever?

They are the best of friends and the greatest of lovers. Two men and one woman, searching for fortune and fame, bound together by an eroticism their money and power can’t buy them. Luigi, the romantic alpha hunk. Rocco, the exotic bisexual. Jemma, the insatiable beauty who possesses them both.

From their first rendezvous in Milan, the three set out on a wicked course, jet-setting from the kinky underground sex clubs of Berlin, to the lavish palaces of Moscow, to New York’s high society in pursuit of pleasure. They have only each other to care for. That is…until a baby comes along and changes their destiny. But which of them is the father? And will they continue their poly relationship or give in to convention?

Review: Second Chances

Read from 8-9 May, 2017

Synopsis: Nichole is caught in a tough position, juggling too many responsibilities as her world falls apart around her. She isn’t sure where she can turn and is facing a lot of harsh realities about how life works.

Richard wants to help, but he discovers that he’s been doing the right things for the wrong reasons for a long time. Everything begins to fall apart as he realizes he’s swept problems under the rug for so long he might no longer be able to fix them.

Can they overcome and get a second chance?

Review: A Question of Honor

Read from 7-8 May, 2017

Synopsis: With less than six months until his entrance exams for the famed Nurian warrior-mage academy, Yanko is sent to his uncle’s salt mine for “hardening,” as his father calls it. He expects endless days of physical labor; what he doesn’t expect is to have to choose one of the mine’s prisoners as a sparring partner.

Not wanting his uncle to think him a coward, Yanko picks a big scarred man from Turgonia, a land known for its ruthless warriors. Only after his selection does he learn that he’ll be expected to kill his opponent… before his opponent kills him.