Mass Market Paperback, 383 pages

Published November 29th 2011 

by Pocket

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Series: Moonlight, #5
My Rating: ❀❀❀❀❀
Genre: Paranormal Romance


The secrets he knows about her could get him killed.

Transferring to the New Orleans Police Department, Detective Silas MacCreedy has a hidden agenda: to secure his clan’s place once again in the Shifter hierarchy. What he didn’t count on was stumbling upon a sexy assassin who could shred his best intentions and lead him into a dangerous dance that threatens to engage his heart.

But the ones he doesn’t know . . .

Monica Fraser knows just how to make a man beg—for his life. But she has no clue how to fight her attraction to the fiercely intense detective who seems determined to get in her way, both professionally and intimately.

. . . could kill them both.

When emotional attachments to the past and an unexpected glimpse of a different future have her questioning her deadly purpose, Nica must discover the truth about her secret abilities in order to free herself from the forces that control her. But that freedom comes with a price—trusting those she’s been ordered to eliminate.

I'd like to start off this review by saying I wasn't sure what to expect of this book. The series was well established, the characters were ones I loved and am totally invested in. So I wasn't sure what the series might feel like with new characters being introduced. I'm delighted to say that the new characters gave this series added an element of excitement and layered onto the overall series plot beautifully. Silas and Nica are characters that I loved from the second they walked onto the page, and I am dying to read more about them. 

So, my overall assessment would be WOW. Nica was kick ass, but there's a sensitivity to her as well that softens her and made her easy to connect to. Silas was pure deliciousness. Moral, noble, with a dark past and a determination to do right by all of those loved, he was an easy character to love. And love him I do. He was a perfect fit for Nica, and I loved how alpha he could go on her, how he never ran from her even though there was so much in his life that demanded that he let Nica go and move forward as planned. But Silas is too good for that, and I'm glad that he and Nica found their way together. 

I guess you're wondering about Max and Cee Cee, and I was happy that they played a central role in this story as well. And their story is significantly developed on a lot of levels. I'm so super excited for them, but I'm also on pins and needles because there's something in Cee Cee's past that's going to come to the surface and I'm dying to know what it is and what it will mean for the series. Ms. Gideon knows how to leave a reader on the edge of their seat. 

I loved this book. I loved everything about it--the wonderful writing, smart story line and new characters that fit into the series seamlessly. Once again, my hat goes off to this amazing author.

So lately, I've been developing a new obsession. You already know one of my obsessions is reading. That's been a fixation and love of mine for...ever really. But enough about reading (and I never thought I'd say such a thing) because this post is about my newest obsession, crocheting.

Maybe I shouldn't say it's a new interest. Because really, I've been crocheting since I was a kid. My aunt taught me some basic stitches when I was about eleven (I was home sick and needed something to do other than read) and I've always enjoyed the craft. It's fun to see the yarn grow and become something useful, like a blanket or scarf. But, let's face it, I could only make so many blankets and scarves. So for a while, I wasn't doing much with this craft because I needed to know more about it.

Which I learned about ten years ago. I learned how to make a granny square. Which was great, but I wasn't sure entirely how useful that was. Which just proves how ignorant I was of this craft. Because you can do a lot with granny squares. But, it let me experiment and some of that proved useful. And then, a couple of years ago, I found this really great book that teaches you how to crochet visually.

And this is why books are great. I had looked at some other crocheting books in the past, but this one is truly great. The pictures show you

what to do with the yarn. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. It teaches you how to read a pattern, shows you how to create a variety of simple and more complex stitches and has patterns that you can follow. I learned a lot simply by reading through sections of this book--another reason it's great, you don't have to read it beginning to end, but rather use whatever sections are useful to you. For someone like me, who had some knowledge, it cleared up some questions and allowed me to learn new stitches for my projects. It also taught me that granny squares are more useful than I initially thought.

So, I've been crocheting a fair bit. I've started two blanket projects (why two? Because one is for elegance, and the other for my bed) and have created a lovely scarf and am currently working on a project using a pattern from another crocheting book that was given to me as a gift.

  This book rocks. It's full of information, including a brief history of crocheting, how it's different from knitting and useful tips like how to read a yarn label and what hooks and tools you need. It also has some great projects and patterns. I've learned to make a flower and I'm currently working on creating a fun scarf crafted together from crocheted flowers. They are quick and easy to make and can be used to accent many of your projects.

I'm still learning. I'm in no way an expert and though I might be doing some intermediate level things, I still call myself a beginner. But I'm so super excited to be learning more about this wonderful, fun craft. My home is now filled with books and yarn. And I am a very happy hooker.

Kindle Edition, 357 pages

Published June 25th 2014 

by Mary Jo Putney, Inc. 

(first published 1991)

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My Rating: ❀❀❀❀
Genre: Historical Romance

Wrenched from a monastery before taking final vows, Adrian de Lancey's fighting skill wins him an earldom. Fierce discipline masters his darker nature—until he finds a winsome slip of a girl lost in his forest, an illegal falcon on her wrist. 

Encountering the ice-blond warrior Earl of Shropshire, Meriel de Vere knows his dangerous reputation—and hides her identity to protect her brother's estate from the enemy earl. She does not expect to be arrested. Still less does she expect such a great lord to want her as his mistress. 

Her passionate need for freedom clashes disastrously with his obsession with his enchanting captive. Given a second chance to properly woo Meriel, can Adrian learn tenderness? Will the two of them claim lasting happiness—or will they lose all to a brutal sworn enemy? 

Mary Jo Putney is a name I see a lot of when discussing historical romance, but she wasn't an author I'd read before. I picked up this book on a whim and was glad I did. It was an engaging read, one filled with characters that doesn't seem stereotypical of the genre, and a story line that was unique.

Meriel nearly becomes a nun at the beginning of this book, but realizes that it's not her calling. Although she is disappointing most of her family, she refuses to take the veil and instead goes to live with her brother Alan, who hopes to make a good match for her someday. I doubt he was thinking it would take place exactly the way it did. 

Adrian is a hero who really intrigued me. He is a religious man who nearly become a monk but because of the brutal murder of his father and older brothers, he was left heir to his family line--and he is also heir to avenging their deaths. Adrian has spent years seeking that vengeance when he meets Meriel in the woods and finds he cannot let her go. I wasn't very happy with the fact that he was holding Meriel prisoner for no real reason other than one: he wants her. It gave the story a twist and demonstrated that Adrian has both dark and light sides to him, but I wasn't sure how Meriel, who is strong willed character, would ever be able to forgive him. But after another interesting plot twist or two, which illustrate exactly how much Adrian does love Meriel, and in which Meriel learns of how much she has loved Adrian, these two find a happily ever after. 

I've probably been a been cryptic, but I hate to spoil a book for anyone. If I say more, I'm afraid I might do just that, hence the vague crypticness. If "crypticness" is a word. Suffice to say that, the plot is engaging, the characters compelling and their actions believable. I loved that about this book--it wasn't only well written, with a plot that was well developed, but with characters that were sharp and true to life.

Recently, I read Break the Sky by Nina Lane. It was a great contemporary romance, and there are some quotes I've been meaning to share with you.

Because the book is chalk full of delicious quotes. And when that happens, I just gotta share. So, I'm just going to dive right in and give you those quotes. They left me all le sigh, and I hope they do the same to you.



He wouldn't be like a gentle rain on the parched ground that was my sex life. No. He would be an overwhelming, drenching storm with lightning bolts and thunder and the insane, crazy exhilaration of knowing you're in the middle of something wild and uncontrollable.

Her blue eyes. I didn't want to drown in them. I wanted to live in them.

I needed him to drive away the darkness, to fill me with light and sparks and stars, even as I knew the clouds would fall again.

All right, so this is only a taste. But doesn't it make you shiver?

Paperback, 335 pages

Published July 26th 2011 

by Pocket Star

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Series: Moonlight, #4
My Rating: ❀❀❀❀❀
Genre: Paranormal Romance


They swore they’d be together forever. Detective Charlotte Caissie is suddenly sharing drawer space and making media news with her shape-shifter lover Max Savoie. Knowing the reformed mobster is determined to be accepted by her peers, how can she ask him to return to his criminal roots to help her solve a complex case?

But those they trust the most . . . Going undercover to find the vicious serial killer who kidnapped a colleague’s daughter, Cee Cee is caught between the partner whose integrity she relies on and her fiercely possessive lover. In calling on Max to use his preternatural talents to aide a hated enemy, she crosses a line that strains their relationship to its limits.

Will do anything to tear them apart. With his secret spreading beyond those he can trust, Max is forced to make dangerous alliances to protect his family and his clan. The only certainty he has is his love for his human mate, until the loyalties that define them threaten to divide them forever.

My hat goes off to Nancy Gideon. The fourth book of the Moonlight series was just as wonderful as I expected to be. Max and Cee Cee have proven in that past that they are dedicated to one another, and each has had been broken open throughout the series and learned to trust in their love, and in each other. But they are once again put to the test in this novel.

Cee Cee's latest case puts her at odds with Max because it requires her working undercover. And Max and Cee Cee have just hit a bump in the road when Cee Cee reveals things she wasn't really supposed to, which leaves her wondering if Max is starting to doubt in her, and whether or not a cop and a Shifter with past mob connections can really have a future together. Especially now that Max is known to be something "other" by many members of the police force. Max and Cee Cee have been tested before, but this time it's a little different. Max knows there's danger coming from the north. He knows that the most important in his life is Cee Cee--but he has a family to protect in Oscar, and maybe even in Tina, and a clan that sees him as their king. As I was reading, I kept asking myself, what's in store for these two? Is their love and future always going to be challenging? 

But I will say this: I never once doubted that they'd find a way back to trust. That they'd figure out how to overcome the danger of Max being exposed by Cee Cee's colleagues, and that their love would prevail. Because Max and Cee Cee are just that deeply in love with one another. They might butt heads, and they might ask too much sometimes of the other, but they can always resolve the doubts and roadblocks that stand between them. In this book, Max proves he can give his mate space, and Cee Cee faces some ugly ghosts from her past. 

I'm really excited for the fifth book. Cee Cee learns something that has really piqued my curiosity, and I can't wait to see where Ms. Gideon takes that story line. That's the great thing about this series--you get a growing story arch that is just so much fun to read. And, each and every time, it's purely delicious.