Posts Tagged With: against all odds

Book Review: Radiance by Grace Draven

Reviewed by Nikyta

24473763Title: Radiance
Author: Grace Draven
Series: Wraith Kings #1
Hero/Heroine: Brishen & Ildiko
Genre: M/F Fantasy
Length: 297 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: January 11, 2015
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: Alliance by Annabelle Jacobs

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Alliance
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Series: Torsere #3
Heroes: Ryneq/Nykin
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 284 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 17, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: King Ryneq and his dragon rider consort, Nykin, return to Torsere to defend the kingdom against the lowland armies already camped along Torsere’s borders. Seran wants the dragons, and with a new witch in his ranks, war is inevitable.

With the elves of Hervath now helping them, Ryneq has a chance at holding Seran at bay. But the witch is using old dark magic, and as Nykin and the dragon riders battle her deadly attack, unexpected betrayal forces Ryneq to make a difficult decision.

Faced with the prospect of losing his kingdom, Ryneq gambles on a plan that could ultimately save Torsere, if they can stay alive long enough to see it through. With Ryneq standing against Seran and his witch, time is of the essence, and Nykin must make a sacrifice to end the war. Only then will Ryneq and Nykin be able to start a life together.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: In the Fire by Eileen Griffin and Nikka Michaels

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: In the Fire
Authors: Eileen Griffin and Nikka Michaels
Series: In the Kitchen #2
Heroes: Ethan Martin/James “Jamie” Lassiter
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 93,000 words
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: November 3, 2014
Available at: Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Because the way to a man’s heart…

Eight years ago, the world was their oyster. Until, that is, competing chefs Ethan Martin and James Lassiter’s hot and heavy relationship fizzled after Jamie left for an internship in Paris. Even though Jamie’s career has taken off since his return to the States, with his own television show and a lot of fame, his feelings for Ethan have never quite gone away.

Ethan’s culinary career has developed more slowly, but he’s almost saved enough to buy the restaurant where he works and re-open it as his dream spot, Bistro 30. If only he could get the sexy chef who loved him and left him out of his mind.

But when someone starts sabotaging the restaurant and a fire threatens to take away everything Ethan holds dear, his only option is to rely on Jamie for help. Back in close quarters, the two men will have to find a way to work through their past if they hope to save the restaurant and their future.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: Gray Bishop by Kelly Meade

Reviewed by Nikyta

3Title: Gray Bishop
Author: Kelly Meade
Series: Cornerstone Run Trilogy #2
Heroine/Hero: Jillian Reynolds/Bishop McQueen
Genre: M/F Paranormal
Length: 313 Pages
Publisher: Intermix
Release Date: October 21, 2014
Available at: Intermix, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Some people need something to fight for…

With the attacks on their homes escalating and human half-breeds seeking sanctuary among them, the loup garou are reaching their breaking point. Two, in particular.

After failing to stop his little brother’s kidnapping years ago, Bishop McQueen angrily broods on his shame, though no one else blames him.

Jillian Reynolds is still dealing with a tragic accident that took everything she ever wanted from life. And her attraction to Bishop is only making things more difficult.

When word reaches them that Jillian’s hometown is under attack, the Alpha takes Bishop, Jillian, and a group of enforcers to assist in the battle. And it is in this chaos that both Bishop and Jillian will have to face their pasts—and the true feelings they have for each other—if they are going to survive…
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Black Wings by Christina Henry

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Black Wings
Author: Christina Henry
Series: Black Wings #1
Heroine/Hero: Madeline Black/Gabriel Angeloscuro
Genre: M/F Paranormal
Length: 295 Pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: November 30, 2010
Available at: Ace, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: She’s an Agent of Death who really needs to get a life.

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It’s a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.

Maddy’s position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn’t pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy’s building. It’s probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell…
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vampire Week Review: Venomoid by J.A. Kossler

Reviewed by Nikyta

Venomoid: Book One of the Night Code SagaTitle: Venomoid
Author: J.A. Kossler
Series: Book One of the Night Code Saga
Heroes: Lorin/Lex
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 280 Pages
Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books
Release Date: June 9, 2014
Available at: Riverdale Avenue Books, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In Book One of The Night Code Saga, Venomoid, paranormal creatures are governed by the IPO, a secret police force that ensures vampires, zombies, and others follow all required public safety regulations. Among the officers is 17 year-old Lorin, the IPO’s most skilled cadet. His co-workers distrust him, however, and in extreme cases barely tolerate him. As a vampire, he must follow the rules — including turning a blind eye to the IPO’s practice of torturing prisoners — or face death by sunlight exposure.

On one intense dragon-hunting mission, Lorin encounters Lex, a handsome but flesh-eating paranormal who is quickly intrigued by the young vampire. Lorin fears this hunter, but as an unexpected friendship unfolds between the two, an even more unlikely romance blossoms. The problem is Lex is on the IPO’s radar, and when they capture him for scientific experimentation, Lorin must risk his life to overthrow the organization he’s always feared in order to save his love.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Liesmith by Alis Franklin

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Liesmith
Author: Alis Franklin
Series: Of the Wyrd #1
Heroes: Sigmund Sussman/Lain Laufeyjarson
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy
Length: 308 Pages
Publisher: Hydra Publication
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Available at: Random House and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Working in low-level IT support for a company that’s the toast of the tech world, Sigmund Sussman finds himself content, if not particularly inspired. As compensation for telling people to restart their computer a few times a day, Sigmund earns enough disposable income to gorge on comics and has plenty of free time to devote to his gaming group.

Then in walks the new guy with the unpronounceable last name who immediately becomes IT’s most popular team member. Lain Laufeyjarson is charming and good-looking, with a story for any occasion; shy, awkward Sigmund is none of those things, which is why he finds it odd when Lain flirts with him. But Lain seems cool, even if he’s a little different—though Sigmund never suspects just how different he could be. After all, who would expect a Norse god to be doing server reboots?

As Sigmund gets to know his mysterious new boyfriend, fate—in the form of an ancient force known as the Wyrd—begins to reveal the threads that weave their lives together. Sigmund doesn’t have the first clue where this adventure will take him, but as Lain says, only fools mess with the Wyrd. Why? Because the Wyrd messes back.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Debut Authors, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Sting of the Death Stalker Scorpion by Jackie Nacht

Reviewed by Nikyta

3Title: The Sting of the Death Stalker Scorpion
Author: Jackie Nacht
Series: Venomous Mates #2
Heroes: Wilder/Leif
Genre: M/M Post Apocalyptic
Length: 72 Pages
Publisher: Extasy Books
Release Date: August 1, 2014
Available at: Extasy Books and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sometimes, to protect your mate, you need to run before coming back to fight another day.

From the moment the scorpion Wilder laid eyes on the sick anti-venom Leif, he knew his life would be changed. Now, Wilder will have to use the hands with which he killed so many enemies to heal the man meant for him.

Since Leif started to come around, Wilder has always been there to help. While Wilder is known as ruthless, Leif sees past that to the gentle venom that takes care of him daily.

When betrayal happens, Leif and Wilder will have to run with their friends. However, things are unexpected in the wild and new allies are found.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Firestorm by Rory Ni Coileain

Reviewed by Nikyta

Firestorm (SoulShares, #4)Title: Firestorm
Author: Rory Ni Coileain
Series: SoulShares #4
Heroes: Rian Sheridan/Cuinn an Dearmad
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 248 Pages
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release Date: February 27, 2014
Available at: Ravenous Romance, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rian Sheridan is a foundling, a Northern Irish Catholic corner boy whose world was destroyed in fire, and reborn the same way, beside an Orangemen’s bonfire last July the Twelfth. A consuming, dimly-remembered pain in his past calls to him, taunting him, daring him to find it and lose himself to it in the S&M underground of Belfast.

Cuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster, and he’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the haven of the Fae race. The only hope of stopping it starts with him finding the Prince Royal of Fire he stole from the cradle, and lost in the human world, many years ago. He has a few guesses about where that hope ends, and he doesn’t like any of them.

Rian and Cuinn are an impossible pairing, two SoulShared Fae. Any two Fae will strike sparks, but these two Fae are a conflagration. Unable to stand one another, yet drawn into an escalating series of sexual collisions, their passion will either save a world or destroy it.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Deep Plunge by Rory Ni Coileain

Reviewed by Nikyta

iTitle: Deep Plunge
Author: Rory Ni Coileain
Series: SoulShares #3
Heroes: Lochlann Doran/Garrett Templar
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 202 Pages
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release Date: August 28, 2013
Available at: Ravenous Romance, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: For the last six hundred years or so, the only things reminding Lochlann Doran he’s a Fae have been his faceted aquamarine eyes and the fact that he can’t die. He’s been a wanderer for so long in the human world – over two thousand years – that he’s lost his magick, including the gift of healing that goes along with being a Fae of the Demesne of Water. Finding his SoulShare might get it back for him. But it might kill him, too.

Garrett Templar has been living on borrowed time, in a sense, since he was eighteen, when one of the johns he entertained to pay the bills while he danced at Purgatory infected him with HIV. It was always supposed to be a “manageable” disease, though, at least until a cure was found. Except he’s just found out that the virus in his system has inexplicably mutated into full-blown AIDS, and no known drug cocktail can even slow it down.

And when Lochlann and Garrett find each other at last, on Purgatory’s dance floor, the only thing as urgent as their need for one another is the hunger of an ancient evil to do whatever is necessary to possess Lochlann’s magick…
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment