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Showing posts with label Soul Mate Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soul Mate Publishing. Show all posts

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Book Review: Wounded Wings by Shauna Allen

Book 3, The Cupid Chronicles Series
Publisher:  Soul Mate Publishing
ISBN:  9781619353497
Pages: 260 pages/3485KB (e-book)
Date:  December 16, 2013

Rating:  4 ½ stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

Please make sure to read the Acknowledgements.  I was one of those readers that always went right to the story and skipped anything that came before.  But once I became a blogger/reviewer, I found that it’s important to read everything that the author has written.  Sometimes you learn something you never knew about the author.  But in this case, you learn a little bit about how this book came about.

Elijah Smith is a man with a heavy heart.  You will see how much his pain consumes him.  Naomi Evans works at the town bakery and she has some scars of her own.  Michael Smith comes to town and he’s a man that knows about Elijah’s background.

 have to apologize to Shauna – when Naomi meets Eli for the first time, an M & M commercial immediately popped into my head:

The minute you read the scene you will understand.  And the scene gets even better – would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one.

As I read about Michael, I find that I want to know more about him.  This goes to show you that in this case, you need to read the first two books.  You don’t need to read the first two to understand this story but Michael is the connecting factor and he’s why I plan to go back and get the first two read before Shauna’s novella comes out on Valentine’s Day.

One good thing about this book is it’s about Elijah’s journey as a human.  Nothing in real life always runs smoothly so we shouldn’t expect all our heroes to not go through what we mere mortals go through.  And whose to say that a little competition can’t bring people closer together.  Sometimes people just need a little push.  And outward appearances aren’t always important.

Our author makes us believe that anything is possible.  Where is it written in stone what cupid is to look like or even how they are supposed to act?  This was one of those books that once I started to read; I just couldn’t put it down.  First it was one more sentence, then it was one more paragraph and then it was one more chapter.  Because of work, I was able to get this book read in just a couple of days.  This is an author I will continue to read what she puts out.  And I recommend that if you are someone that likes fantasies or love stories about angels, make sure to read this book.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

A Man To Trust by Cheryl Yeko


Publisher:  Soul Mate Publishing
Publication Date:  October 23, 2012
ISBN:  9781619351363
Pages:  206/2838 KB
Rating:  4 stars

Angela Beebe’s husband Scott has been murdered.  Jake Bauman is the detective who informed Angela about her husband.  He thinks she’s hiding something and she thinks he’s an ass.  What a great way to start a great read.

Cheryl has also included a couple of secondary characters – J.D. and Stacey.  Stacey is a friend of Angela’s and J.D. is Jake’s brother.  Both couples seem to throw off a lot of sparks.  It must be hard for an author to develop a relationship for one couple but Cheryl goes the extra mile by developing two.

Cheryl lets her readers know that Angela loves to bake.  If you read this story, and I’m hoping you will, you will get a yummy sounding recipe.  You may want to give it a try but Cheryl doesn’t divulge the complete recipe.  You may want to search the internet to try to find the full recipe or contact Cheryl.  Maybe she will let you in on the rest of it.  And if you do contact her, let her know what you liked about this book.

At times, Cheryl has me holding my breath when I think something is going to happen.  She knows how to tease her readers with anticipation.  There are children in this storyline as well.  You see them at times but for the most part, they tend to stay in the background.  I would have loved to have seen more interaction between the children and Angela and Stacey.  I have a feeling that if this story had been longer that would have changed.  But with the intensity of the story, I can understand why there wasn’t – you don’t want to slow down the pace.  Leaving their interaction until the end was the perfect spot.  This was a great way for the story to end.

But Cheryl has left me with a question – what does she have in store for me next.  In doing the research for this review, I found out she has another book out titled Protecting Rose.  That book is about a fellow officer to Jake and J.D.  I will have to check that one out.  In the meantime, if you like teasers stop over to YouTube and check out her book trailer for A Man To Trust, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Zrv8X7ECDg0.  You may want to check out her web site as well, http://www.cherylyeko.com/.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A Man to Trust by Cheryl Yeko


    
        Author:  Cheryl Yeko
        Publisher:  Soul Mate Publishing
        Length:  206 pages
        Sub-Genres:  Suspense
        
        Blurb: 
        
The battered survivor of an abusive marriage, Angela doesn't mourn her husband’s death in a drug deal gone bad. But she’s not sure she can survive losing her heart to the handsome detective who assumes she’s a criminal, too.Tasked with Angela’s safety after she’s targeted by an unknown enemy, Jake discovers the beautiful widow is not what she seems. He soon realizes that trusting her goes hand-in-hand with desiring her, and passion and duty collide.Now it’s up to Jake to keep Angela—and their chance at happiness—alive.
Excerpts:
Excerpt 1:
The kitchen scene I blogged on my site, and the recipe for Pear-Hazelnut Tarts -- the link to the recipe can be found on my website.
What am I doing? Angela raced to the refrigerator and opened the door to test the firmness of the dough, taking time to clear her mind from the sensual daze induced by Jake’s kisses.
Heat scorched her cheeks. If the timer hadn’t gone off, would she have let him take her right there on the table? She sprinkled flour onto the counter and placed the dough on it, forming it into a square.
“Can I help?” Jake’s husky voice drifted over her sensitive nerves as he came up behind her and heat radiated from him as he positioned himself at her back.
She pushed hair from her face and reached for the rolling pin, not looking at him. She felt like a gazelle being stalked by a lion.
“No, I’ve got it, thanks.” She rolled the dough into a rectangle, before folding the short ends over the middle to make three layers. Turning the dough a quarter turn she rolled it away from her into another large rectangle.
“That looks complicated.” Jake placed an arm at each side of her, then gripped the counter and peered over her shoulder. Effectively caging her in, his warm, minty, breath feathered across her face. “Explain to me what you’re doing. I might like to make it for my son sometime.”
Her hands trembled when she folded the short ends over the middle again to make another three layers. Normally, she’d place the dough back in the refrigerator at this point for another twenty minutes, but if she worked fast enough she could skip that step. And she wanted to get this done as soon as possible and put some space between her and Jake. Afraid she would throw herself back into his arms.
She glanced over her shoulder and met his heated gaze. His eyes smoldered with banked lust. “Seriously?”
He nodded, watching her with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
She took another shaky breath and glanced back down. “Okay. It—it’s a simple recipe really. I’m making dough for Pear-Hazelnut Tarts. I’ll write it down for you.”
“That’d be great.” His body pressed up against her.
Angela gulped. “Well—well, first you prepare the dough, then you need to wrap it in plastic wrap andrefrigerate for about half an hour.”
“Uh huh.” He leaned in and nuzzled her ear. “Refrigerate the dough. Got it.”
Her mind went into lockdown. Nothing but silence and sexual tension filled the room.
“I’m listening,” Jake brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Flour,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck.
“Oh.” Her body was wound tight and desire pooled in her belly, and her breasts felt heavy and aching with the need to be touched. A tremor ran through her.
She gave the dough another turn and again folded the ends over. “After you remove the dough from the refrigerator, you need to roll it flat, and shape it into a large rectangle, then fold the short ends over the middle so that it makes three layers.” She demonstrated it for him, although she didn’t really think he was paying attention.
“Right. Three layers,” he repeated. One hand slid to her stomach, tugging her closer.
Angela’s pulse raced. “Umm. Repeat this four times,” she managed to say. “The dough needs to remain firm, if not . . . if not, put it back in the refrigerator for another fifteen minutes before continuing.”
“Mmm, sounds like a lot of work.”
She gave her shoulders a little shrug to loosen his arms from around her. “Some space here, please,” she said, breathlessly.
Excerpt 2:
Jake tore his mouth from hers. His gaze scorched her with their heat, molten hot. “You drive me wild.”
He unfastened the first three buttons of her shirt and slowly slid the fabric from her shoulders and down her arms, until it pooled at her waist. A shiver of anticipation rolled through her, tightening her nipples. She licked her lips and stared into his darkened gaze.
His eyes flamed with desire. He leaned down and kissed the tops of her breasts. First one, then the other, then sucked a sensitive nipple into his mouth, sending a shockwave of pleasure to the apex of her thighs.
“Jake,” she purred.
He lifted his head and their eyes locked. “I love the way you say my name.” His hand slid to the inside of her legs and caressed a path of fire to the part of her that wept for him.
“Say it for me, Angel,” he whispered.
Buy Links:
About The Author:
Cheryl Yeko lives in Wisconsin with her husband Patrick. She loves to read, write, play piano and spend time with her grandchildren.
Although she has spent most of her professional life as a legal assistant, she can also include realtor, small business owner, and virtual assistant/mobile notary to her varied background. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America as well as the Wisconsin Chapter.
Cheryl is thrilled to be able to add author to her resume and would love to hear comments from readers.
Social Links:

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Unsafe Haven by Char Chaffin


Soul Mate Publishing
Published:  September 05, 2012 (e-book)
261 pages/2038KB
Rating:  4 ½ stars

Kendall Martin appears to be planning a trip to Alaska.  I can feel some sympathy for Kendall and her trip.  My first trip in an airplane started on a two prop job.  I had a cold and a stuffy head and by the time I got to my destination I felt so sick.

One show that I love to watch on the Discovery Channel is “Fly Wild Alaska”.  If you have never watched the program, you may want to check out http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/flying-wild-alaska/ or check your local listings.  This book also reminds me of “Northern Exposure” that was on television during the early nineties.  I can picture Denn being played by John Corbett and Kendall by Janine Turner.

Kendall’s journey ends in Staamat, Alaska.  We see that Kendall is something of a mystery.   Something is going on with her that only traveling to Alaska can fix.  If you stop over to the Alaska Romance Writers of America web site, http://akrwa.blogspot.com/2012/09/unsafe-haven-book-of-my-heart.html, you can read how Char used to live in Alaska and how she went about choosing Staamat.

Denn Nulo is the Chief of Police in Staamat.  He meets Kendall at the town’s airport.  We see that Denn’s job covers more than just police work.  Kendall’s first few days start at the local Bed and Breakfast while she settles into her new surroundings – something that I would love to do.  She’s starting over fresh – there have been times in my life when I wished that I could do the same thing but then reality sets back in. 

Char has given Denn a younger sister named Luna.  She’s a teenager who’s trying to deal with growing up and having juvenile diabetes.  Both that are tough separately, never mind trying to deal with them at the same time and Denn has had to be the parent. 

Kendall’s new life starts when she arrives at a place located at Puffin Circle – puffins have always been one of my favorite animals.  They are one of those animals that they are so ugly they’re cute.  If you stop over to Alaska Stock, http://www.alaskastock.com/Puffin_Photos.asp, you can see some of their photos that they have taken of these animals.

Conroy Herington is spending a lot of time and money looking for someone named Victoria Wyndham.  Char shows the reader that having money has no correlation with how a person acts – some of it may be how they were raised or maybe even a chemical imbalance of some kind.  That just goes to show that wishing you were rich doesn’t necessarily make a person happy.
Char does a great job at painting pictures of true romance between her two main characters.  One reason this is considered a sensual romance is because of the lack of sex.  But she teases us enough with her words that the actual act isn’t needed.  Our imaginations can fill in any blanks.

When writing in suspense into her romance she could have gone the route that makes it a little too graphic.  Char wants to keep your attention and wanting to turn the pages.  The suspense seems to center around Conroy and it’s weaved throughout the whole story.

If you love romance stories that keep you on the edge of your seat with the hero coming to save the day, you will love Char’s latest.  If you’ve never read any of Char’s work before, what better way to change that.  Maybe you have a new Kindle or Nook and you can’t decide what to add to your library, consider adding this book – you won’t be disappointed.