The Goddess's Curse - Cara Bristol

Publisher: Cara Bristol

Published: March 2015

ISBN: 9780990805281

Sharona women and barbarian Lahon men maintain separate lives until libidinal fever strikes, and the women are forced to mate.

Stricken by a mysterious terminal illness, Sharona Princess Reena jumps at the chance to accompany a cousin on her mating journey so she can at least see a male before she dies.

Garat, leader of the male Lahon, has only hatred for the Sharona because of the woman who birthed and killed his son years ago. Now that a massive earthquake has left his people with precious little water, he has the perfect excuse to avenge his son’s death by driving the Sharona from their homeland to acquire what the Lahon need. When he encounters Reena on the mating journey he takes her hostage to force the Sharona to capitulate to his demands, but finds himself drawn to her instead. As his desire rises, lust for revenge wanes. But after what he’s done, can he convince her of the evil that lives in the palace in time to save her life?

My review

Woman and man living in different tribes, being each others nemesis, but needing each other for the species to survive? And the Great Goddess is supposed to be the mastermind behind this? And to ensure the mating, all the Sharona women can look at their precious crystal (inbedded in their arm, being born with it), to see if they have the libidinal fever (really?!) and need to find a mate. Okaaaay... There is something wrong in this equation. Why on earth would a divine goddess divide men and women, when there is obviously a need for them to procreate the new generation. And being born with a crystal in your arm? Well, that doesn't seem very logical to me. 

However, when you get past the strange notions of the Goddess and her somewhat we-are-much-better-than-those-savage-Lahon-men Sharona women, you find an easy read. Reena is a lovely character. However, she is a bit like a labrador: wiggling her tail for everybody who gives her attention. Not able to distinguish between friend or foe. A happy-go-lucky kind of girl, who keeps her faith, despite her strange illness. Although you can see the unfolding of the story coming along like a mile away, it is still entertaining and keeps you reading. Garat definitely has the 'drool-factor': I want to hug him and just swoon. 

The greatest character of the story however, was Ellynna, Reena's mother and the queen of the Sharona. Since you kind of can guess who the bad guy (or should I say bad girl?) will be in the story, the twist with the mother in the book is pretty hilarious actually. Of course, I won't go into detail to spoil the story, but I like her. A feisty little thing, that queen.

So in all, a would give three out of five stars to Cara Bristol's Goddess's Curse. A delightful read, a little predictable, but with nice characters and some steamy (but not too hot to handle) scenes. With a special thank to Netgalley for the ARC.

Descended from Dragons - Tricia Owens

Publisher: Romans Beckons

Published: May 2016

ISBN: 9781530901401

To save Sin City, she must battle Hell. Too bad the odds are against her. Beneath the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas lies another city. A secret city in plain sight, full of warlocks and demons, shapeshifters and golems. A city that feeds off the chance magick that is generated by gamblers and which is ruled by mysterious beings called the Oddsmakers.

It is in this strange underbelly of the occult that Anne Moody runs a cursed pawn shop for the desperate, the curious, and the magickally inclined. Though the job is boring, it keeps her under the radar. None of her customers have any inkling that she is a dragon sorceress with a power that's been feared throughout history. However dragons are no help when a stone statue ends up in her shop that is more than it appears. The statue is a gargoyle named Vale, who is shrouded in mystery and secrets. When she learns that Vale is possessed, and that the person responsible for cursing him plans to take over Las Vegas with a horde of demons from Hell, Anne realizes it is up to her to defy the Oddsmakers and save the city, and possibly the world.

Book 1 of the Moonlight Dragon series. Available from retailers in ebook and paperback formats.  

My review
Since Descended from dragons is the first book of a new series of Tricia Owens.
Therefore, she needs to introduce us to a whole new world with cameos, warlocks, dragons, demons, gargoyles and Oddsmakers. To keep the pace, some parts of this paranormal world aren't explained untill further in the book. This makes the first few chapters of the book a little confusing and incomplete. However, if you keep on reading, the story starts to make sense. So hang in there...

Then you can meet Anne Moody, the unvoluntairy owner of a pawn shop, since her only relative, her uncle James has disappeared two years ago. Anne is a headstrong girl with a secret. She's a sorcerer with a dragon familiar. And since her dragon has the potential to wipe half the population of the earth, she is being monitored by the Oddsmakers. So, she tries to keep her dragon named Lucky (how ironical) in check and stay below the radar.
Her shapeshifter monkey friend Melanie isn't very helpful with her hilarious actions and witty comments, but she manages to keep her head down. This changes, when a hot looking guy enters her pawnshop and sells her a gargoyle. The gargoyle comes to life at night (how creepy) and then Anne learns that the lonely looking Vale isn't the only inhabitant of the gargoyle. He cohabitats the stoney figure with a certified nasty demon.
 
And that's when the fun begins. With the help of Orlaton, a grumpy warlock, Anne sets out to free Vale from his demon neighbour. But of course, the demon won't give up without a fight. And how did the demon get stuck in a gargoyle in the first place? Someone, who really wants his evil demon back at all costs. So hold on to your dragon and fly along on this fast paced story.

3,5 out of 5 stars for the first installment of the Moonlight dragon series. With thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.
  

To love a wolf - Paige Tyler

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Published:  June 2016

ISBN: 9781492625957

HE'S FOUND THE ONE...

SWAT officer Landry Cooper is certain Everly Danu is The One. The problem is, she has no idea what Cooper really is. And as much as he wants to trust her, he's not sure he can share his deepest secret...
When Everly's family discovers Cooper's a werewolf, her brothers will do anything to keep them apart-they'll kill him if they have to. Everly is falling hard for the ridiculously handsome SWAT officer, and she's not about to let her brothers tell her who she can love... Until Cooper's secret is exposed and she discovers the man she thought she knew is a monster in disguise.
BUT CAN HE KEEP HER?



My review
To love a wolf is the fourth book in the SWAT series of Paige Tyler. You can read this as a stand alone book, but you need to do some catching up at some characters sometimes. Furthermore, you miss out on how the SWAT team with all it's hunky werewolves got together. But no worries; you can always read the other parts of the series later. 
This story starts with a bang and you can read how EOD specialist Landry Cooper gets blown to bits by a bom. So much for easing into a story. Then, the second chapter, officer Cooper stumbles into a bank robbery, just as he met Everly in the waiting line at the bank. Definitely enough action in this book, and fortunately also a lot of attraction between Everly and Landry. 
The book is easy to read and the conversations are often hilarious: "You didn't tell me you were an artist!" "Really?" she gave him a teasing look. "I could have sworn I mentioned it somewhere between all the shooting and you throwing that guy through the window." "You probably did, and I completely forgot," Landry said without missing a beat. "You can tell me all over again at dinner."

When Everly introduces Landry to her family, they discover that he is a werewolf. Her brothers go into Big-Brother-Protective-Overdrive and by doing so, drive Everly crazy. They even threathen to kill Landry (with a baseball bat against a full grown werewolf, are you insane??). Unfortunately, when Everly discovers his secret as well (she didn't pick up why her brothers went into protection mode earlier), she is shocked, mortified and repulsed. How can Landry convince Everly that she is The One?

Paige Tyler has done it: a true romance, with a lot of action, witty conversations and a lot of humour. And of course, a lot of hunky SWAT members. A very nice read.