Lady Scandal finds herself wedded to Lord Randolph after losing a bet. An interesting start to the story, and if you've read the first book in Wendy LaCapra's Furies series (which I highly recommend), then this doesn't seem all that unusual for the group of women who run the gaming parties.

But that really isn't the truly scandalous start of the book. It started when Sophia (Lady Scandal) found out that Lord Randolph was more than she thought. He wasn't just someone to satisfy an inch and wrap around her finger. He was trained under her father - a father she hated - as a ruthless political spy. And now Sophia is convinced he's using her.

And maybe he is? I can totally see where Sophia is coming from, but Lord Randolph is far more than anything she really expects, and there are a few things she will end up teaching him and he will teach her.

This book isn't just a romp through historical romance. It has one heck of a suspense storyline that kept me on the edge of my seat. There were a few places that I feel like things were glossed over just to keep the veil around who the bad guy really is in place, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. It seemed unnecessarily convoluted because of it. Kasai - Kasai sounds like a horrible person - and the fact that he can cast such a shadow over our couple without actually making an appearance for a very long time, just shows how much his specter alone can influence and manipulate.

I really really enjoyed their time at the Quaker farm. Elizabeth was an odd breath of fresh air and honesty, and her way of life and way of putting things into perspective left an impression on both Sophia and Randolph that I think will last into their future.

In the end, we have just as many loose ties as we did at the beginning - just different ones. As one part of the Fury's lives seems to wrap up - something else blows wide open. Looks like I'll need to read the third book in the series to get the final scoop on everything.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

What if we weren't as unique as we thought we were? What if we were just one form of evolution from DNA placed by aliens around the universe? What if we found a way to find others that were like us - but different?

The Damocles sets off on this very mission, following coded coordinates to a planet far away (like so far I can't really comprehend). When they come out of deep sleep as they approach the planet Didet, they are about to come face to face with Earther's ancient cousins (of a sort). As they prepare to drones to scan the planet before they make contact, their ship has a hissy fit (yes, a hissy fit, the crew talks about the propulsion crystal as if it were a person). They are forced to make contact before they are prepared, and they are trusting Meg, their language specialist, to get them through first contact.

I loved first contact. It was stressful and suspenseful, and Loul (the Dideto) and his POV were fantastic. I loved the hurdles of them trying to learn complex concepts such as trust, family, and question mark. I was excited every time they had a breakthrough and the awe and wonder on both sides. Meg does an amazing job of learning to communicate, and her love of discovery shows in each of her pages.

Now, this might sound like a bit of a dull story, but it was far from that. We have the Dideto government trying to make moves, the media trying to find a new scoop, and the workers just trying to figure anything out. Several times things start to fall apart and the struggle to keep things on track (and not give anyone a reason to shoot at anyone else) is clear in so many of the interactions.

And the ending - well, it was pretty intense for a while. But the actual ending - the last few pages (minutes?) were a bit of a letdown. I wanted to see how it all turned out. I wanted to know just a little bit more about how everyone's story ends. Still, a story that I will be listening to again.

Love Changes Everything is a cute and sweet romance spanning two continents. With lots of chance meetings and crazy coincidences, it was a really fun story to read. Kate and Jane were a wonderful pair of best friends and a good example of how people with very different personalities can be the perfect friend for each other.

It all starts with a trip to New York, which is a big change for two young women living in a small village in England. Love if found, love is lost, and then it resurfaces in a surprising manner. While I had a couple of the surprises figured out ahead of time, they were still fun to read. The author found the perfect way to bring the story full circle, give me more than one happy ending, and tie up loose ends, leaving me very happy at the end of the book.

I wish the book had been edited a little better. There were numerous errors that sometimes made it hard to read. It seemed to do a disservice to the heartwarming story. I would have also liked to see more of the actual dialog. I feel like the author told me what people talked about instead of letting me see what they said.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

While You Sleep turned into so much more than I ever expected. In this small Scottish town there seemed to be more secrets than residents, and American artist Zoe Adams brings a few along with her. Renting a house she soon finds out is supposed to be haunted by the spirits of the current owner's long-ago relatives. Relatives that were heavily into the occult. Rumors of a child promised to the devil that disappeared - or died - no one seems to be really sure.

Zoe finds herself caught up in the ghosts of the house, or maybe just caught up in her own mind. Stephanie Merritt expertly weaves the story around both possibilities and left me wondering which was really true. Was Zoe being visited by spirits or was she just going crazy?

The paranormal and haunting aspects weren't too over the top though. There were enough entirely human elements for Zoe to worry about while she was there. As the tale wraps up, secrets come out, a town is forced to face its past, and Zoe is left wondering - about a lot of things.

I loved this story! It was perfectly eerie and gothic, with just the right touch of reality mixed in to make me think this could all really happen. I highly recommend this for lovers of a good book to read during a late night storm - it will definitely set the mood for you.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

This second-chance romance hit all the feels for me. Rafael and his best friend fell in love with the same woman when they were just kids. Now, his best friend is dead, and Isobel is a widow. But she's still off-limits. Rafael swore to look after her and make sure she was OK, and he has other, more personal reasons to keep his distance.

Isobel still has dreams of having a family. She refuses to accept that those dreams disappeared when her husband died. So she sets her sight on Rafael as her baby daddy - not husband. Their two worlds collide when Rafael decides to take her up on her offer - with conditions. They have to "date" first to make sure it's what she really wants.

Watching these two get to know each other all over again was quite entertaining. Rafael is quite wealthy and Isobel sees him as a playboy. But there's a lot more to him than that, and he's going to show her. But he still knows that it's all for nothing - he will never be able to give her what she really wants.

There were so many small moments and touching acts between these two. They fall in love slowly and deeply. They have to come to terms with a lot of issues from their pasts, and at times it almost drives them apart. Nina Croft didn't disappoint with her characters and their story in this one.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

I loved these characters. The interactions between Maddie Kingston and her "rival" Nick Holter really made this book sing. You can tell right away from the bachelor's auction that they have some chemistry, some pent up emotions, and a looong history.

An old family feud with origins that neither of them really understands is what really stands between them. Nick is determined to "win" the company back for his grandfather, and Maddie is determined to show her family that not all of her schemes end up in failure. She'll bring the company back to life and help it thrive.

I actually fell in love with the mystery surrounding the family feud. It was a constant presence in the background of the story - looming over the families like an oncoming storm - but never really making an appearance until the end. Then it made up for everything and all sorts of bombs and blowups came out. I loved it.

Unfortunately, I just didn't really like Nick. He seemed like a good guy, but as soon as I found out he was going to try and take Maddie's company away, he lost me. Break the feud, Nick! Break the feud! Now, Nick's grandfather was a crotchety old sweetheart, and I really liked his version of a HEA.

​**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Trajectory is the prequel novel to Carissa Andrew's Pendomus Chronicles, and it gives us a little peek into some character origins - or at least I think it does. I feel like you'd need to read the part of the series first to truly understand the importance of what happens in Trajectory. But if you haven't read them yet, then prepare to be intrigued by two completely different worlds and the people within them.

I really liked the way the Helix was described. The glimpse of a potential utopian society, but we all know where that leads. The Lateral was also interesting, but not so much because of the society, but the characters. I felt like I got to know them better than the Helix characters.

Definitely worth the read if you have read or plan on reading the Pendomus Chronicles.

I am really enjoying the Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries. Verity Long has a way of finding trouble, and her small southern town has its fair share of drama and mystery. In this case, one that goes back several generations. It's a good thing she has her new best-ghost-friend, Frankie, to help her out. This one gets a bit dangerous.

When Verity finds a body in the library, she begins her trip to a convoluted past full of lies. Someone killed the woman because she found out a family secret, but which family and what is the secret? But wait!! What if it isn't just one secret? Verity has to pull the strings to unravel one heck of a historical coverup - and she couldn't have done it without Frankie.

To complicate things a bit more, there's a station filming a documentary about the town's most famous battle. Verity's almost mother-in-law is heading the charge to make the town famous and won't let anything stand in her way.

I loved visiting some past ghosts from book one, meeting a few really nice new ones, and watching Frankie's antics as he tries to unground himself from Verity's house. Lots of great banter, some dangerous situations, and a mystery solved in a very clever way. Highly recommend this series.

Nocturnal is quite a rollercoaster ride of paranormal suspense mixed with a good dose of horror. It starts out like a gritty cop drama, with Bryan and his partner, Pookie, showing up at the scene of a gruesome murder. But even though they are the best in the city, they don't get assigned to the case. In fact, they're told to stay away from it.

So, of course, they don't. They follow along, getting themselves deeper and deeper into a world they never even imagined existed. Monsters, a hooded hunter, a rising King all wait along the way.

This book isn't for the squeamish - there were a few times my stomach turned at the scenes and descriptions - so be warned. But it's well worth it, and I just had to know what was going to happen next.

My only complaint about the audio was that Pookie (one of the detectives) sounded exactly like Mike Wazowski - the little green guy from Monsters Inc - so that is what I pictured every time.

Charlie is faced with a couple of tough cases this time around - both with some surprising results. Her life with Reyes is humming along mostly smoothly, but she determined to find out more about his past - which leads to yet another surprise!

I sort of wished the cases had wrapped up with an intertwined plot somehow. I feel like this one stretched Charlie too far, and I didn't really fall into each individual case and get swept away by it. I got tossed back and forth between the two instead.

I did enjoy learning more about Reyes. His past keeps getting more and more complicated - I hope we're at the end of the earthly complications because it's getting hard to follow his life story. I do love how the relationship between Charlie and Reyes is growing. I also think Cookie is really becoming a co-star in some cases instead of just a side character - I love Cookie.