A Stella Review: Moment of Truth (Moments in Time #2) by Karen Stivali

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Collin expected to spend another summer fixing cars and working at the college pizzeria. Instead, he’s living in a beach house on Fire Island, waiting tables at a hip seaside restaurant and, for the first time since he and Tanner got together, they can publicly be known as boyfriends. Being “out” takes some getting used to, but with the help of new and old friends, Collin is happier than he ever imagined. And more in love. But newfound freedom brings unexpected challenges, and when friends get flirty, old insecurities arise. Moments of doubt and jealousy threaten their happiness, and Collin and Tanner must confront the truth or risk losing it all.

In Moment of Truth we meet Collin and Tanner three months after the beginning of their relationship. They are going to spend the summer in Fire Island working in a restaurant and on their relationship too. In fact this is the first time they’ll be together in front of other people. No one know they are a couple apart from Collin’s mum (remember the disaster at the hospital?) and Tanner’s parents which are really great. Collin is still afraid of not being accepted, but he’s tired of trying to forget who he really is and pretending he’s straight. Now he has Tanner and it’s time to start fighting for his love openly.

“The date.”

“That was the best day of my life.”

“Why?” I needed to know why he thought it was so important.

He pushed my hair back, away from my face, and held it there with both hands. “Because that’s the day that you and I became us.”

I’m sure my heart was actually still in my chest, but it felt like it was in my stomach, in my throat, ready to burst out of me altogether.

I loved this second book, not as much as the first one cause I found it a little less emotional. Nonetheless I felt Moment of Truth so realistic, in the MCs’ insecurities about each other and most of all in Collin, who is struggling with his fears and he’s finally able to tell Tanner his feelings.

So there will going to be some misunderstandings, a lot of jealousy but not too much angst. In all, Moment of Truth is a quick and light read. It’s also a book about first times, a lot of them, first tattoo, first kiss on public, first sex. Oh I forgot… first manscaping, don’t miss it, it was funny and sexy!

Another well written, sweet book, I’m so waiting for the last one. Most of all I’m curious about the possibility of developing related stories with MCs some of the second characters of Moment of Truth in it. I’d really like it cause I feel a couple of these guys totally deserve to be known better.

I love this series and these guys but as I already said in the Moment of Impact review, I’m still not sure if the choice of publish three separates novellas is the right one. I hope to have a final opinion at the end of the series. So this is the reason I still can’t give it more than 4 stars.

Cover art by Anna Sikorska. Nothing to say about it but I preferred the cover of Moment In Time, maybe cause the model was more interesting LOL

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published March 4th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ebook, 130 pages
ISBN13 9781632166500
Edition language English
Series: Moment in Time #2

Moments in Time series in the order they were written and should be read:

Moment of Impact (Moments In Time, #1)

Moment of Truth (Moments In Time #2)

A Stella Review: Here For You by Skylar M. Cates

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Life is a thread connecting us. One pull and it all unravels.   Cole Gannon arrives in the seaside town of Ocean Vista to work as a bartender and finally find a place to belong. Determined to make a home for himself, Cole lives happily with his four colorful roommates, whom he considers brothers. The only problem is Cole’s attraction to Ian Stark—a guy all wrong for him. He wishes he didn’t keep running into the sexy lawyer.   Ian knows Cole is attracted to him, but the younger man keeps him at arm’s length. It only makes Ian more determined to be with Cole and learn all his secrets. But while Ian has built a successful law practice, he hasn’t done too well with relationships.   When a sudden and devastating tragedy occurs, it shatters Cole’s world and throws Cole and Ian together in unexpected ways. In an instant, everything between them changes forever.

I’m an emotional person, I know, but this book really wrecked my heart. I cried almost through all of it. I’ll try to not talk much about the plot cause I don’t want to give away any little detail that could spoil your reading. I have read other books by Skylar M. Cates and I can say I have always loved them. I like her writing style, it’s easy to read even when the subject isn’t easy at all, but to me Here For You was something else for different reasons.

As I already said it’s really emotional, not just for the tragedy that occur in it, but in the background created for some of the characters or in the way Cole is working hard to make a family of his own, where his blood family was a failure. Reading about this strong need he has and seeing him insecure and scared of losing the most important people in his life when everything was crushing down, was what left had me sobbing and gasping for breath. I love Cole, he’s caring and so strong, but the change (he and his friends have to face) is so irreversible it’s not easy not let go. Its not just the fear of failure but hoping that everyone will help him to continue and try to put together all the broken pieces his family has became.

I found the first thirty pages (more or less) really slow, because the author focused her writing on the secondary characters, introducing them very well. We see nothing about the MCs together. In fact this is a choral book, obviously required in a story like this. I was able to know a lot about Cole and Ian’s pasts, I got to meet the second characters and feel how they hurt, each one in a different way. I fell for them as I fell for the sweet Cole and the protective and too perfect Ian.

Most of all, Here For You is Cole and Ian’s story, they are hot together and perfect for each other. Cole is taking care of himself since he was a little boy but when he meet Ian and once he stop running away from him, Cole discovers Ian can be his anchor, the one who can take care of him.

From the beginning I had the strong feeling this was going to be a part of a new series, there are all the premises of a great series, I already can see one couple having its beautiful and troubled story (I hope!).

This is the kind of book I like to read. It has already a place in my best of 2015. Highly highly recommended!!

Cover art by AngstyG. This artist is slowly becoming one of my favorite. I love this cover, has something magical and sweet.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:
Published February 27th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ebook, 234 pages
ISBN13 9781632168139
Edition language English
Series: Sunshine and Happiness #1

A Stella Review: Soufflés at Sunrise (Just Desserts #2) by M.J. O’Shea and Anna Martin

Rating 3 stars out of 5

“Welcome to a new season of Burned, where we find fresh new cooking talent… and a few culinary disasters! Every season we do something a little different, and this time it’s all about the sweet things in life. Get ready in week one as twenty pastry chef hopefuls and dessert connoisseurs compete for the thirteen coveted workspaces in our Burned kitchen. With stakes this big, we ask the one question on everyone’s mind: Do these chefs have what it takes to rise to the top? Or will they get Burned?”

Burned contestants Chase and Kai are attracted from the start and can’t wait to spend more time getting to know each other… until they see the first episode treatment and realize the producers intend to portray them as bitter enemies. At first it’s fun to pretend to bicker—enemies on film, lovers when the cameras stop rolling—but soon it’s hard not to take the faux rivalry seriously. It’s only when their choice is to band together and bake their way to the final or get burned that they find where their real loyalties lie.

Usually when I give a book a three stars I mean I like it. In this case I gave Soufflés at Sunrise by M.J. O’Shea and Anna Martin three stars just for the writing, but I honestly didn’t enjoy it. If I’d have to give a rating just following my liking I honestly give it two stars. I totally appreciated the concept of story, the writing and the ending. But the first word that comes to mind when I think about this book is boring and nothing else, because I couldn’t feel anything between MCs. Were they attracted to each other? I really don’t know, they seemed to me friends that sometimes had meaningless sex, with no chemistry or love at all.

Soufflés at Sunrise is the second book in the Just Desserts series by Anna Martin and M.J. O’Shea. The first one, Macarons at Midnight, wasn’t good too but I wanted to give this series a second chance cause I loved some of the books these two authors wrote, but I haven’t changed my opinion.

Of course there’s a lot of food talking (that I love hearing about) and being set in a food tv show there are also other characters, a lot of them, but all of them without depth, I know nothing more than their names. In the end I everything came to me as shallow.

I always feel bad say negative things about a book cause I have no idea about all the hard work a writer put in it, but unfortunately sometimes a book doesn’t work and I can’t connect with it. So I’m sorry I can’t recommend this series to you.

Cover art by L.C. Chase. I’m a foodie girl so this cover is a winner to me. I just wish my desserts could be so beautiful!

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published February 23rd 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ebook, 206 pages
ISBN13 9781632167842
Edition language English
Series: Just Desserts #2

Just Desserts Series:

Macarons at Midnight (Just Desserts, #1)
Soufflés at Sunrise (Just Desserts, #2)
Devil’s Food at Dusk (Just Desserts, #3)Expected publication: June 2015 by Dreamspinner Press

A Stella Review: To Every Thing There Is a Season by Fil Preis

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

For most of his life, Terry Geirhart worked beside his best friend and lover on their farm nestled in rural southwestern Ontario. With Karlstadt being a small town, their true relationship remained a secret. Seth’s death in a tragic accident leaves Terry beside himself. After two years of mourning, Terry wants to learn to live again. Unfortunately, he has no idea how.  While not ready to date, Terry does need a new hired hand. A close friend suggests her relative from the city who’s looking for a new start. Damien Manicuso, stylish and openly gay, has never stepped out of the city, but after flunking out of university and being kicked out by his family, Terry’s job couldn’t be more welcome. The two have nothing in common except a mutual attraction, but working a farm brings people close. Both afraid to admit their feelings, they must find the courage or lose everything all over again.

I can’t think of a reason to give this book less than 4 stars. To Every Thing There Is A Season by Fil Preis is a quick and sweet read, something simple and light, just what I was in the mood of, as I start reading it. It was the perfect story for a cold day, snuggled on the sofa.

Terry has spent the last two years mourning the death of his best friend and partner Seth. Living in a small, old farming village is becoming really hard to Terry, all alone in a big farmhouse. When Damien, the city boy who has been kicked out of the university and just lost his parents’ financial support, comes to Karlstadt to work for Terry, he will change forever their lives. They both will be able to start again, but will they do it together?

There’s one beautiful thing I loved in this story: the optimism and hope I could feel since at the beginning. Of course, both characters have their own hard time in the past. Damien was lucky to escape from a relationship with a scaring controlling partner. Terry had a great loss but it’s clear that he’s ready to move on. When they were together, Terry and Seth made a brave promise to each other:

If anything ever happened to me, Terry had said, I’d want you to move on.[…]Not because I don’t love you, or don’t care if you were with someone else, but because I feel that it’s not fair to ask you to live the rest of your life alone, if something ever happened to me. Farming’s a dangerous business. I just got a reminder of that, the hard way.

Okay, Seth had said, […]Same for me, you know. If anything ever happened to me, I’d want you to learn to love again.

I found this book so positive it was a joy to read it. “No bad feelings allowed” should be added as a note at the start of it. And I forgot to say I’m talking about just 50 pages, so I think it wasn’t simple to put so much in a so small space.

I’m so ready to read more stories by this new-to-me author.

Cover art by Anna Sikorska. I love a cover that fit the story, the title and the characters of the book I’m reading and this one has all of these. I like the choice of the colors, each one representing a season and I can totally see Terry in the man on the cover.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published February 18th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ebook, 50 pages
ISBN13 9781632165459
Edition language English

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A Stella Review: Lucky Seven by E.L. Esch

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Dante Mathers, college student, fifth year, has a track record for being dishonest with himself, and is about to undergo the biggest, scariest change of his life.  Dante’s forced himself to go out with girls in the past and he does it again when he’s approached by the beautiful Serena one day on campus, desperate to prove to himself that he’s “normal.” But when he loses a drinking contest and is dared to go to the next campus GLBT meeting by his best friend, he’s not sure how to handle it. Sure he could blow it off and say he went, but something nagging at the back of his mind compels him to go anyway. After all, he’s had problems with intimacy in the past and his first crush was a boy in high school. But is he really forcing himself to go, or is he finally starting to be honest with himself? No need to over think this, Dante tells himself. It’ll be get in, get out. No need to talk to anyone. Easy, right?  But then he meets Sven. Sexy, toned, wearing a leather jacket with spiked up bleach-blond hair, Sven’s bad-boy flare sticks out on campus and catches Dante’s eye. But there’s more to Sven than his punkish looks, and Dante’s about to find out all the sultry little details.

Lucky Seven was a lovely surprise. It’s an easy book to read, with low angst. I liked it a lot, even if usually I’m not a huge fan of YA/New Adult books because I honestly prefer to read about characters surer of themselves and their feelings without all that clumsiness we usually find in the younger ones.

I liked Dante and Sven story because it felt like a real one, full of fears and insecurity, and at the end I loved their courage. They’re both so shy and miserable, but so brave and sensitive. Especially Sven, too shy to approach and flirt with guys, but bold enough to fight against the bullies and defend himself and his grandpa’s garden. Dante, instead, is finally understanding that it’s time to stop being in denial and admit he’s gay. He needs to realize he has a beautiful family and friends to support and accept him as he is. Even if there is a lot going on in the MCs’ life (Sven being bullied, Dante’s fear of coming out, Sven’s grandfather’s illness), I like how the author chose to focus our attention on the development of their story and their personal growth.

A couple of things I didn’t like: first, the prologue, and it’s a total personal opinion. I think I already said it I’m not comfortable reading hetero sex in my m/m books. I’m sure approaching how the MC knows he was gay could be showed in another way. More, I can say the writer put a lot on these young men’s shoulders, maybe a little too much and sometimes it came out as disconcerting. At the same time I appreciate the lightness in the way the story is wrote, so I was able to overcome these little details that unsettle me. In fact their story came out to me slowly, with tenderness and sweetness I enjoyed so much. At the end it’s a story about first times, first porno, first kiss, first sex, first boyfriend… can’t wait to read more about this author.

Cover art by Dar Albert. It’s a well done cover, I can’t say nothing about it but in my opinion it’s not so eye catching.

Sales Links: Loose Id All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

BOOK DETAILS
Published January 6th 2015 by Loose Id LLC
Kindle Edition, 172 pages
ASIN B00RY8OAJS
Edition language English

A Stella Review: Shaken Up by Nicole Forcine

Rating 4 stars out of 5

Tim Myers is the flamboyant and overly fastidious owner of the adult shop Little Earthquakes. In his spare time, he moonlights as a sub for his friend’s BDSM classes, and while he’d love to find a Dom to cater to his domestic servitude kink, he’s wary of exposing his body and his heart. When Jae Seong comes into Tim’s shop and asks him for help with a wax play demo, Tim is turned off by the idea. Jae is nothing if not persistent, though. He’s a skilled Dom and soon finds out why Tim is so protective of his body, his neck, and his heart. Over a series of play dates, the two grow close, and it dawns on Tim that he might be looking at a match made for collaring.

The blurb tells you pretty much everything about Shaken Up. There is nothing special in the plot but I liked it a lot and for being so short I loved that the MCs are well defined.

Jae wants Tim from the first time he saw him being spanked during a demo with another master. He wants this beautiful sub like nothing else he’s ever wanted. Tim is in domestic discipline, he just wants someone to care for, to help with clothes and things like that. He is intrigued by Jae but he has been hurt really bad in the past, he has the scars on his face to remind him why. So it’s really hard for him to open up again, especially put his body in someone else’s hands. Jae is amazing, caring and most of all is able to understand and stop all Tim’s fears. When things will go bad during their first scene together, Tim will learn that Jae is the one worth lowering the walls that protect him.

One more thing I liked are the second characters, they have a huge part in the story. David and Reggie are partners and the only two doms Tim can play with and do some demos. He trusts them with his life. They are fiercely protective of him and are totally convinced Jae is the right one for the young sub. I really would like to know more about them, they deserve a book of their own.

I really appreciate the author’s choice to focus the story on the start of Tim and Jae relationship so that it leaves so much more to be developed into a second book. Being so short it was the right way to not overwhelm and confuse us. At the same time it didn’t help us to understand what was real and in depth about the “domestic discipline” aspect, because at the end all we read about is the wax scenes and nothing else. This is the only little criticism I have about Shaken Up and it’s one more reason to hope for more about these characters.

Really well done! I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Cover art by AngstyG. I love this cover. It’s endearing and different from all the covers I’m used to see. I like the colors and every little detail, the font, the chair and I can totally see Jae as the man in the suit sitting on it with the candle in hand. It’s perfect cause it fits the story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:
Published February 25th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ebook, 74 pages
ISBN13 9781632164995
Edition language English

A Stella Review: Stones in the Road (Sugar Tree #2) by Nick Wilgus

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Sequel to Shaking the Sugar Tree  . When his snobbish future in-laws travel all the way from Boston to visit, wise-cracking Southerner Wiley Cantrell learns that gay marriage is not without its disadvantages. Occupied by concerns over the health of his special needs son Noah, a meth baby who was not expected to live and who is now on the cusp of puberty, the antics of Wiley’s outrageous would-be mother-in-law and severely conservative father-in-law strain his relationship with Jackson Ledbetter, a pediatric nurse who poses problems of his own. As their respective families meet and greet, each just as meddlesome and inflexible as the other, North meets South and the fireworks and cultural misunderstandings are plenty.

A tornado blows through the small Mississippi town where Wiley’s mother lives, wrecking his mother’s house and leaving their lives in disarray. Then Jackson’s secret drug addiction comes to light, and Wiley and Noah are devastated. With so many stones in the road, Wiley and Jackson find their dream of becoming a real family falling apart. Though Wiley relies on humor to cope, he’ll need something more to keep his happily ever after from slipping away.

Nick Wilgus made it again!

I can confess I was eager and at the same time scared to read Stones In The Road cause I loved the first one and I was afraid this second installment couldn’t live it up.

I was so wrong! This book is amazing, I loved it more that Shaking The Sugar Tree. This series will stay in my heart for long and I’m so happy to know there will be a third book. I was willing to beg for it. Let’s just hope to read it really soon.

The hard part with books like this one is writing a worthy review and I don’t even know where to start. I should simply say to buy this series and read it.

First, you have to be ready for some gun fire, tornado and pie throwing, but most of all you have to be ready for a story full of love (in every way love can be shown).

I know I’m an emotional person but it was really hard to read. At the end I was in my bed crying all the tears I had, trying to read more, listening to a twelve years old boy breaking my heart.

This is not a book to read when you’re looking for some fun and light reading, but surely it will not boring you for one second. There are no pauses, it’s a continuous of engaging and funny dialogues (sometimes incomprehensible to me since I’m Italian) and so addictive I can’t put the story down for a minute. Some dialogues between Noah and Wiley are hilarious, others heartbreaking. Everything is so real, sometimes it’s almost surreal. Every sentence is serious and at the same time full of humor.

This is exactly the kind of book I love to read, emotional, funny, heartbreaking, full of characters with a lot of background and a huge cast of great second characters. I discovered some dark sides of the (not so) perfect Jackson. I met Jack’s mom and I hated her during all the story and then at the end I loved her so much, because I understood she came to WiIey and his son to rescue all of them. I wanted to have her in my life.

Wiley is our usual Wiley and he is so full of guilt right now it was hard to just look at him in some parts and don’t hug him. He needs to deal with all his fears but his guilt for Noah’s disabilities brings him to almost lose himself and his son. But as Tonya said Wiley is the Superdad of the World. Till the end I asked to myself if Wiley would be able to forgive Jackson and first of all himself.

Shortly Stones In The Road is never boring, always entertaining and so well written I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended!

Cover artist Anne Cain.I liked the artist followed the idea chosen for the cover of the first book and most of all she followed this story. You can look at the cover and understand exactly what will happen in the book. Perfect but melancholic cause the three Mcs aren’t all together.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published January 30th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ISBN139781632167309
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
seriesSugar Tree #2

Sugar Tree series
Shaking The Sugar Tree #1
Stones In The Road #2

Heading Into March and This Week’s Schedule at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

We are heading into March and this week holds many wonderful things for all of you. The Pulp Friction Gang is back and talking about this year’s series which is located in New Orleans and set within Laura Harner and T.A. Webb’s Altered States universe of supernatural beings and events. If you are thinking vampires, werewolves and ghosts you would be right. I will be reviewing the Altered States books all week to lead up to the first in the Pulp Friction series story ! Stay turned for more developments!

Here is our schedule this week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, March 2:

Extended book blast ‘Oliver‘ by Catherine Lievens (Lion and Bear shifters….oh my!) (contest)
A Paul B Review: Ansleigh’s Grotto by JT Cheyanne
A MelanieM Review: Splat by Anna Ankh
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Lights! Camera! Cupid! A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology

Tuesday, March 3:

In the Spotlight: Annabeth Albert ‘Served Hot’ (contest)
A Stella Review: A Stone in the Road by Nick Wilgus
A BJ Review: Song of the Navigator by Astrid Amara
A MelanieM Review: Stolen Dreams by Sue Brown

Wednesday, March 4:

Opening Day by Alexis Woods‏ Book Tour and Author Interview
It Over by Hurri Cosmo Tour and contest
Catherine L. Byrne’s Some Other Freedom Tour and Contest
The Pulp Friction Gang is Here, And Its All About Pulp Friction 2015!
A MelanieM Review: Deep Blues Goodbye (Altered States, #1) by Laura Harner and T.A. Webb

Thursday, March 5:

On Tour With BA Tortuga’s Ever The Same exclusive excerpt tour and contest
Lissa Kasey’s Inheritance Book Tour and Contest
A Sammy Review: True Brit by Con Riley
A Paul B Review: Layne, River & Damion by Vicktor Alexander (Storming Love: Blizzard #4)
A MelanieM Review: Deadly Shades of Gold (Altered States, #2) by Laura Harner and TA Webb

Friday, March 6:

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rules to Live By – A BDSM Anthology
A MelanieM Review: Road Trip by A.F. Henley
MelanieM Review: Free Falling Crimson (Altered States, #3) by Laura Harner and T.A. Webb
A Stella Review: Shaken Up by Nicole Forcine

Saturday, March 7:

A Stella Review: Lucky Seven by E.L. Esch

A Stella Review: The Errant Prince by Sasha L. Miller

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Myron’s task is easy enough on the surface: locate the runaway Prince Tamsen and bring him home. But Tamsen is not merely a talented wizard, he’s an exceptionally stubborn one, and dozens of others have already failed at the task. When he manages to find the cabin where Tamsen is hiding, Myron isn’t foolish enough to mistake the find for a victory.   Instead of attempting to drag the prince home by force, Myron tries a different tact: patience. He might not be able to best Tamsen magically or physically, but Myron can certainly out-stubborn him. He’s nothing if not used to doing what other people say he can’t.  But neither prince nor soldier expected stubbornness to be the crack in armor they’ve both become adept at wearing…

Lately I’m reading a lot of quick and sweet fantasy stories and The Errant Prince by Sasha L. Miller is one of them, a cute novella with a really slow burn between MCs and no sex scenes.

Myron is a soldier of the King’s Guard, sent after the spoiled Prince who ran away from his duties seven years ago. When he is finally able to track him down he finds a beautiful man with bright red-orange braided hair and who lives selling the herbs and the vegetables he grows in his garden. Runaway Prince Tamsen in fact lives alone in an old cottage in the Heart Forest. He was able to stay hidden all this time cause he is a very strong wizard. While everyone failed, Myron is determined to find a way to approach the Prince and take him back to the palace. He just needs to be patient and wait for the stubborn Prince with no manners at all.

Basically the book consist of two parts: “The Improper Soldier” told by Myron’s POV and “The Errant Prince”, told by Tamsen POV. The first part was really good, it was lovely to see Myron try to make bundle of herbs and drinking nasty tea just to approach Tamsen and show he can trust Myron. It was funny reading about them arguing, Tamsen scowling and Myron grinning and provoking him.

In the second part of the book, when they are at the palace, I found myself bored as some scenes felt too long, too slow and with almost too many details, for example when Tamsen teaches Myron how to shift. At the same time I loved this second part cause it helps me to see a new Tamsen, more open with his (not yet) personal guard and not the unpleasant young man we met at the start of the story. Here we read about a few second characters, some likeable like Tamsen’s brother, Stirling, the current King, some to just hate, like the stupid parents of Myron, who decided to don’t love their daughter (Myron) anymore just cause he can’t feel himself as a daughter anymore but as a son.

The Errant Prince is really interesting and the final part so sweet, for me this story was definitely a winner. As always I’d like to read more about these characters and their magical world.

Cover art by Natasha Snow. This cover is perfect, sweet and magical as the book, I can see myself in front of cottage. Lovely!

Sales Links: Less Than Three Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: February 18th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
original titleThe Errant Prince
ISBN139781620045091
edition languageEnglish

A Stella Review: The Pride of Amsterdam (Lionhearts #1) by Elizabeth Coldwell

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Lionhearts series:   For centuries, lion shifters have lived among men, their prides scattered around the world. Fear and superstition has led man to fear them, and to seek to bring about their destruction.  When fate draws a shifter to a human mate, two very different worlds are brought together, for good or ill. But nothing can stand in the way of passion, and whatever it takes these lovers will fight tooth and claw to be together.

The Pride of Amsterdam by Elizabeth Coldwell  , Book One in the Lionhearts series.   When an ancient enemy is summoned to destroy his pride, a lion shifter must fight to protect the man he loves.  Kees van der Veer has never forgotten the mysterious stranger who seduced him on Millennium Eve and who promised that when the time was right, they would be together again. Returning to Amsterdam after fifteen years away, he is reunited with that stranger, entering into a world of love and danger he could never have imagined.  Arjan is a lion shifter, part of a pride who has lived in Amsterdam since its Golden Age. He has spent fifteen years regretting the need to drive his destined mate away after one night of blissful passion. But only once they meet again can he reveal to Kees the truth of his heritage.

When an old enemy is summoned to destroy the pride, Arjan must act to protect not only his family but also the man he loves.

The Pride of Amsterdam is the first book in the Lion Hearts series by Elizabeth Coldwell, a new and really interesting series. I think it has great potential but in my opinion it wasn’t well developed in this book. This is one of the reasons I gave it only 3.5 stars but I’m waiting (not so) patiently for the next one.

This is a “second chance at love” story featuring destined mates, two of my absolute favourite themes to read about.

At the Millenium Eve night party Kees meets a stranger with blond hair and amber eyes. Kees is a shy eighteen years old, he’s soon attracted to the guy who will be his first. But the guy with no name takes his virginity and leaves him five seconds after the sex with a promise.

“I need to know— Will I see you again?”
“When the time is right. You are meant to be mine, but only when you are ready to learn what I really am.”

Kees comes back home to Amsterdam, his home, after fifteen years of being away, for the biggest job in his carrier. What he doesn’t know is that the azienda he will have to help is Arjan’s.

Arjan de Wit is a lion shifter. He waited for his mate to come back to him since the first time he lost his heart to that all too young man he met at a party. Now it’s time for them to start their life together but De Jager (the Hunter) is back in town to track the shifters down and to kill every member of the pride.

I liked a lot of things in this book. First of all the sex was really hot, maybe a little too much sometimes, but I found it well written and in the right places in the story so I didn’t care if I read one scene too much. There were some very light BDSM elements that will not bother you if you’re not a BDSM stories fan. I liked the character of Arjan, he isn’t the usual alpha shifter I’m used to read about, he is insecure and rightly so, cause even if he knew Kees was his destined mate since the first time they met, the young man is still hurt from the way Arjan left him and he is scared of the man who already left him one time. He needs to win Kees’ trust and they still need to know each other.

One thing “ruined” me the ending, the fact that I realized pretty soon who the hunter was, so I was a little disappointed to know I was right. I’d have preferred to be surprise.

If you like a book well written and well paced, with some suspense and a lot of passion, this book is what you’re looking for. I can’t wait for the next one to come out and hopefully know more about Arjan’s pride.

Cover Art by Posh Gosh. Love this cover, especially the choice of the colors. It catched my eyes, really well done.

Sales Links: Totally Bound All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published January 16th 2015 by Totally Bound
ebook, 142 pages
ISBN 1784303682
Edition language English

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