This one really fell flat for me and I was sooo surprised. I have really enjoyed every other Eve Langlais book out there, so I'm thinking this one make be a fluke. And for those of you worried about the cheating spouse issue - that gets cleared up quickly so don't worry about it.

Chris was a little boring for me. He was too much like the other shifters in his alpha male, I'm going to take what is mine attitude. He was just a little too cliche. When he finds out his mate is already married, he sets up a grand scheme to try and convince her to leave her husband.

Jiao isn't what you would expect. Although she is a little cat like, we don't really get to see that side of her very often. Her husband is a big stick in the mud though. And while he has his reasons, he really goes overboard with them. When these reasons show up in town with a mission that needs thwarting, the whole town will come together.

But this was another part that just didn't fit. If there was such an awful bad guy that was harming shifters, wouldn't the shifter community have gotten wind of it somehow? I just find the whole bad guy hard to believe.

I'm going to keep going in the series because the next books look great. I think this one just wasn't for me.

THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE
This one lead you on a bit of a goose chase for you main characters at first. I didn't know if I was supposed to be rooting for the bride-to-be to work things out with the groom, or if the maid of honor was going to find someone special with the bride's brother. Well, I got a little bit of both before the end. Now this isn't two romances - this is definitely the story of Lacey and Ean. Their romance is very sweet and seeing it next to the bride's "romance" makes it seem even better.

The Christmas Cottage is a place of legend - everyone that spends the night there has a happy marriage. Well, when Lacey and Ean are forced to stay there because of a snow storm things start to happen - but this causes trouble with the bride-to-be, Ava. There are a lot of dynamics in this story, and it was by far my favorite of the two.

EVER AFTER
Yay! Here we go with Ava's story - the bride from The Christmas Cottage. She doesn't take well to starting over, and turns into a bit of a whiner. She's a little resentful that Lacey "stole" her magic in The Christmas Cottage, and at times her mood swings and fantastical beliefs got a little grating.

I was very excited to see her find her true love though. They made a great match - balancing each other out in a beautiful way.

These two stories are best read together. They are a great pair to read for Christmas.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Pretending to Dance was an amazing story. Taking place during two pivotal times in Molly's life, we uncover her past as she tries to come to terms with it in her future. The summer of Molly 14th year was the one that changed her life forever. Molly experienced so many changes in her life that year that stay with her for the rest of her life. It was a summer full of fun and tragedy, and it haunts her still. This summer is beautifully told and at times it seems like such a magical time of discovery for her.

In the present, Molly has lied about her past and her family to everyone. As she gets ready to adopt a child, she begins to re-visit her past more and more, terrified that it will somehow come out and ruin her chances. Her struggle with this is very real. As the adoption itself begins to falter, she goes into a downward spiral both mentally and physically.I learned so much about open adoption, the pitfalls and the joys. It is such a different process than I had ever imagined.

Her present and past come to a head when she is forced to face her past and address what happened there. While she finds a little of what she expected, things weren't quite as she had thought. And so much has changed since then that it's almost unrecognizable.

This was a beautiful story of a family's love and the things a family may be willing to do to help the children. I think this is a must read for readers of all sorts. There are so many very special elements that you will find a way to connect to the characters and their lives.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/10/pretending-to-dance-by-diane.html#sthash.JyYCuDCD.dpuf

I normally enjoy inspirational and Amish romances. They are a step away from what I generally read, and the sweet aspect of it all is just a lot of fun. These two however, fell very flat. They were so sweet that it gave me a stomachache and much of the time I felt like I was reading a parody of their behavior and way of speaking. It was just way too over the top for me.

In Twins for Christmas two brothers fall in love (at first sight) with twin sisters. This seemed a bit fast and a little ridiculous. The antics the girls pull while trying to figure out which brother they want were childish and I can't imagine grown women doing them, or grown men still wanting to "date" the girls that did it.

Kissing the Bishop took a step in the right direction though. Again we have two romances, but they have a bit more time to develop. I also liked the fact that our couples were older than what you traditionally see in romance novels. It added a very different conflict aspect to the story that was a lot of fun. This was by far the better of the two stories.

This was a really cute Middle Grade urban fantasy with lots of action. Ronan is an unusual kid - mostly his mother's fault for enrolling him in all sorts of crazy extra-curricular activities. But when he ends up on the run from guys that really don't seem all that nice, he begins to realize that she had him learn all those odd things for a reason.

I really enjoyed the premise behind the Pure and the evil group Bend Sinister. The lore behind them was very well thought out and really added a cool element to the story. While figuring out who was the Pure was a little easy, I loved watching the Ronan's reaction when he found out.

A lot of the action was very James Bond-ish. It was very exciting and over the top in a fantastic way. From adventures on trains to underground secret hide outs, Blood Guard had just enough of everything.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-blood-guard-by-carter-roy-review.html#sthash.6AKOV8iU.dpuf

This book stole my heart when I found out the little ranch town was a haven for cats - not just any cats, but Hemingway cats (Polydactyls). As Misty explores the town, she finds them everywhere and they each have a special personality. It was a beautiful touch to really make the town unique from all the other western towns I've read about.

Now, Misty is on a mission to find out who has been burning down the Christmas Tree Farms. Which seemed like a bit of an odd job to take on considering she hates Christmas and she's terrified of fires - but OK. Within the first two pages she's been dragged into helping put out a brush fire with local hottie Trey Duvall. I have to admit to really admiring Misty at this point for diving right in during a crisis and leaving her fear behind her to help save the day.

This first scene really sets the stage for the rest of the book. Misty and Trey find themselves together in a variety of crisis fire situations that just keep getting more and more out of hand and dangerous. But throughout these fires, they have a chance to get to know each other and really develop an actual relationship - not just a lust at first sight.

My only complaint about the story was that the bad guys were a little too obvious and the characters a little too dense to spot it. I had the pegged two sentences after meeting them. It wasn't very well hidden and it made Misty and Trey seem just a little dumb at times - especially Misty since she is supposedly an expert in solving problems and finding out who is sabotaging things.

Great romance, great characters - and kitties, but the suspense/mystery element really needed some work. There was just enough Christmas to make this a bit of a gushy holiday romance, but not so much it got overdone.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

First, a little bit about this series. It is a serial of three books that total about 150 pages. I have not read the whole thing - the last two books were too much for me to pay for that length. So, when I sent the publisher my thoughts, I included a recommendation to bundle them for a reasonable price. And they DID!!! I love when publishers listen to feedback and take action. So this is going to be more of a mini-review of the just the first third of the story so far.

I really enjoyed this one. At times the writing got a little stilted, but it was never for long periods of time. Elizabeth is apparently a reincarnation of Luthius' mate. So he goes to get her. This first section is all about her coming to terms with who and what she really is and getting to know her new demon world. It's a very sweet romance - but there's still tons of heat.

You will get just enough detail to form the picture in your head, but this is a very short and to the point story. It does end in a cliffhanger - so I highly recommend just buying the bundle instead of trying to buy them all separately. It will save you a good chunk of change.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Book three in the Good Gods series picks up the story of Aphrodite and her contests right where it left off in book two. Her competitor this time as Artemis - one of my favorites from mythology so I was excited to see her. Artemis was an amazing character. I loved watching her interact with her oceanids and seeing her struggle with her feelings for Orion. Her contestant, Josie, was like her in so many ways. They developed together throughout the story and it was great to see them tied together so nicely.

After the events in book two, Aphrodite is emotionally destroyed. Her solution is to bond with her best friend Perry and come up with some incredibly clever nick names for Ares to avoid dealing with her feelings. Aphrodite really grew and developed a lot - watching her with her husband Heff made me want to cry - he's such an amazing guy! Aphrodite's contestant, Jon, is just perfect. He's not literally pefect, but that is what made him so great - he was a real guy.

There is quite a bit of excitement in this story with Josie and Jon on the trail of a murderer. If Artemis and Aphrodite don't pay close attention something horrible could happen. There is a ton of build up around this part of the story and it was spread out very nicely to keep me NEEDING to know what happened without taking off and leaving me in the dust.

The other gods we have met play small parts and it's great to see the remain part of the ongoing storyline.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/#sthash.pSA4xrnv.dpuf

Holy cow! This story line takes zombies, demons, and the church to a whole new level. Nina and Mellie are a bit of a mess. They try to blend in the best they can so the church doesn't notice them and punish them for one of many many sins. These aren't your typical sins - we're talking about curiosity and asking questions being major sins. And the punishments aren't pleasant.

But Mellie really messes up one day, and suddenly all eyes are on their family. Their family that is living in "sin". But that's not the only thing. Suddenly Nina is capable of doing strange things and demon-infested husks of people are trying to track her down. There definitely isn't a lack of action in this one.

The church plays a super important role in this story - and it isn't a typical church. The church is the government and rule with a iron fist. there may be a group willing to help, but first Nina has to survive on the run from all the powers that be.

One of the most unique world concepts I've seen in awhile. Pulling together a multitude of lore and weaving it seamlessly together to form something that you can't get enough of. There is a slight cliffhanger for an ending. Most of the ties are wrapped up, but there is one big one that will leave you hanging.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-stars-never-rise-by-rachel-vincent.html#sthash.IlLMXa4w.dpuf

Another novel split up into three parts....I'm just not a fan of the format, so I won't be getting the second and third ones. Which is really too bad, because it's a great start! There's a bit of a different twist with some Native American elements and some anthropology references that my inner nerd went crazy for. Not sure how accurate they were, but I like when an author at least tries.

We have a no-name office temp, Diana, who has this strange obsession with her boss and finally get to meet him. But, or course, he isn't what she expects - I doubt he's even human, but we still aren't sure by the end of this little bit.

Good potential to make a great story, but something you will want to buy a bundle for instead of picking it up in 30 page segments.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*