Stalkson Grey was on of my favorite side characters - briefly mentioned in a previous book. His verbal sparring with Elora is classic and had me chuckling every time. It was great to see a book with a large portion of the story dedicated to him and his werewolf tribe. His dying tribe - dying because there are not enough females for the young males to mate with and reproduce to keep a healthy population - are desperate to try anything that may save them and help them all find their true mate. The plan to save them comes from the strangest of places - but it's a good one. Stalkson is shocked when along the way he finds a mate of his very own - but he's not sure if he will every be able to have her. It was so sweet watching the hard ass werewolf fall for someone and get all emotional.

The rest of the story keeps us up to date with the B Team members I love to hear about and the search for a way to prevent trans-dimensional invasions. We get to see a lot more of Glen, who is also becoming a favorite of mine. (Is it possible for every character to be my favorite?) With big changes coming up for Jefferson Unit, there's lots to look forward to in the next book.

Confessions of Love has refreshed my faith in sweet historical romances that have a female sleuth in them. Too often they fall too far on the young adult side, but this one sat just right. The writing of the romance and the suspense was all at the same level which helped the story flow without a break from style changes. Both characters, Jonathan and Lindsay, seemed to be written as typical people with typical views for their time. At the beginning Lindsay is more than willing to marry a grandfatherly old man to save her family's fortune - after all, it is what was expected of a young girl. While Jonathan was a navy man, loyal to the War Office and his current mission, always hoping to find a way to win Lindsay's heart. There were quite a few rapid turns of events that helped to keep our story moving along very nicely and a couple of them managed to surprise me in the end. With a little bit of tragedy thrown in to keep the story real, Confessions of Love was a great historical romance, perfect for fans of the genre. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-confessions-of-love-by-melissa.html#sthash.OBqHLRY4.dpuf

These Broken Stars had a great combination of science fiction with leaving on the land. When the brand new, state of the art, hyper space ship Lilac and Tarver are travelling on (which happens to be build by Lilac's father) suffers from a horrible malfunction, they are stranded on a strange planet with little in the way of technology to help them. Lilac, being the ultimate society girl, has no clue how they will ever make it until rescue arrives. While Tarver, a soldier used to living off the bare minimums on the front line, immediately starts making plans to get them both through it alive.

But the planet itself seems to have other ideas. With its strange whispers and shimmery images become a character in its own right - as it seems to be guiding the two along an unknown path. Along the way Lilac and Tarver learn a lot about each other - the good, the bad, and the parts they'd like to hide. It's hard to keep anything from the only other human an entire planet. When they realize their feelings for each other have grown, it turns into more complications - mostly involving Lilac's family and their expectations.

Each chapters opens with a small piece of dialog from Tarver's debriefing interview which occurs after the events in the book - but it gives you a great perspective into what they are willing to share with the world and what they want to keep private, although the reason why isn't clear at first. This was an amazing start to a new series - I wish the second was out sooner so I didn't have to wait for it.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/#sthash.D78ebrKe.dpuf

The blurb describes this as a "short, sweet novella" and that is a perfect summary. This was a great read for one of the last nice days of the year before it starts to get cold - perfect for a summer afternoon. Liza was a lovable character with a crush on her best guy friend - who seems to be oblivious. She holds out hope that someday soon he'll see the light and they can share their first kiss. Sounds a bit like a fairy tale - so of course everything falls apart. Enter the new soccer girl and jealousy flares, forcing Liza to make some tough choices.

Play With Me had a great upbeat feel to it that was refreshing after a few darker stories I'd read recently. I got a little frustrated with the best friend's attitude at times. He was a little too clueless, but Ryan comes in a saves the day with a great male character.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-tour-review-and-giveaway-play-with.html#sthash.7bVfBN5a.dpuf

The premise of this book was a first for me. After the end of days things don't turn out quite like it was expected. The demons win and the world goes on, just a little different. At some point in time the demons and the angels started to "get along" (sorta). There are three types of humans that have evolved. Waning magic, waxing magic, and no magic. Noon sees herself as a freak because she is the only female they know of that has ever been born with waning magic - the power to destroy.

The story follows Noon as she starts her first year of law school (with a demonic twist) trying to hide her magic nature. It was a very well thought out world with a wide variety of characters for Noon to interact with. One of the, Ari Carmine, draws her to him like no one ever has - and he knows her magical secret. The story follows these two and their friends as Noon navigates the tricky corridors of demon law and control.

While the story was quite interesting, at times I felt the characters were behaving more high school-ish than law school-ish. It was really the only noticable fault in the story for me. There were some very humorous moments as well as some very serious and deadly moments (they're bound to happen when you're dealing with demons). The two mysteries Noon finds herself investigating twist around each other perfectly, always keeping me guessing where they were going to end up.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-dark-light-of-day-by-jill-archer.html#sthash.QHn3wJPQ.dpuf

Both Jessica and Alex are people keeping the truth from everyone - each with good reason, but when the rugged Outback of Australia decides to play its own dangerous version of matchmaker, Jessica and Trent are both forced to realize their attraction for each other. I really loved the way the outback came to life, it was its own little min-character full of sudden storms and unusual (for me at least) animals.

I really liked Jessica's determination to make a career and life for herself outside of her family's name, but there were times she took it a bit far. Alex also took his deception to stay out of the lime light a bit far. There was just a little too much deceit and lies thrown around for me in this one. I understand that much of it was important to the story line, but I've always liked an honest character.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-outback-affair-by-annie-seaton.html#sthash.yAefCbIR.dpuf

Tempting the Cowboy is one of the most emotional romances I have read in a long time. It was amazing how drawn into the character's lives I was. Rylan has left the city to work at the ranch to escape her past and the demons in it. Cole runs the ranch while trying to be a father to his little girl and take care of his ailing mother. Cole has a policy about not getting involved with the "help". but something about Rylan makes her so very hard to resist. Several very emotional scenes had me practically crying (in a good way). The whole story was written in such a realistic way that all the characters were so very real to me. Cole's daughter, Birdie, was such a sweet little thing and really was the catalyst in the relationship in so many ways. This is a must read for any lover of romance. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-tempting-cowboy-by-elizabeth-otto.html#sthash.Erngxbqk.dpuf

Fiery Edge of Steel follows Noon during her second year at St. Lucifer's Law School. Having somewhat embraced her waning magic power, Noon finds herself with a whole new set of problems, and a whole new demon to investigate. With people disappearing from settlements on the frontier and blaming their demon patron, Noon is sent with Ari and his guardian angel to find out what is going go, and if necessary kill the rogue demon. Their journey up the Lethe River is amazing. It takes up about half the story, but we learn so much about our characters and they learn so much about themselves. It is probably the most exciting river ride I've ever read about, but of course it's just the beginning. Once they reach the settlement things just keep getting more strange. Noon discovers quite a few deep dark secrets of people and they are very surprising. I didn't see it coming but it fit so well at the same time. The second book is a great follow up to book one, and when book three comes out next year, I'll be all over it. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-fiery-edge-of-steel-by-jill.html#sthash.sCfEK1Eg.dpuf

Cinderella Screwed Me over is the hilarious tale of a woman who no longer believes in true love. Darby has gone so far as to write case studies for the various princes and why they aren't as good as they seem. The case files were amazing, not only did it let Darby's personality shine, but it was a great way to shine a light into her past without the traditional flashback/reminisce scene. After awhile you begin to understand why Darby is so set against ever falling in love again.

On the anniversary of her one year off men, she meets Jake and instantly assumes the worst about him. But Jake is something special, he is the one that doesn't want to give up. He sees something special and unique in Darby and won't accept no for an answer. He is willing to give Darby all the time she needs to come to her senses and realize love is real.

With numerous ups and downs in their non-relationship the book was impossible to put down. It's humorous scenes and incredible dialog made the characters jump right off the page. I absolutely loved everything about it.

Another winner from Entangled Indulgence this month. Grace has been sent to find her boss's long lost grandson who ran off to a mostly deserted island after a tragic falling out with the family. But now the family business needs him back and Grace won't give up until she convinces him to at least give it a shot.

Jack has demons in his past. When they erupted into an argument with his grandfather he left and swore never to return. But Grace has ways of making him see things differently and after spending some time with her on his island, he thinks that maybe returning wouldn't be so bad after all - as long as he gets to return with her.

A very touching romance with some fantastic and real characters. Jack's haunted side comes out when needed, but stays away enough to keep him from being too dark and brooding. While Grace seems to be full of light and happiness they make for a very interesting and explosive couple. Jack's family is a great secondary character to help push and pull at the couple the whole time, leaving you wondering at times if they are really going to get their happily ever after or not.