This is a great start to a series - keep in mind that it was released in serial form so each part is a small episode that leads directly into the next. We start with the story of Grainne - as she watches her world fall apart. Her people are killed and her kingdom is destroyed - all at the hands of her husband. She is determined to see it rebuilt again and to see him die for the crime.

We also start the story of Euryale, a priestess. While it is not clear where exactly these two stories will collide there are a few hints scattered about that give us some ideas of where, if not when. The story primarily follows Grainne and her struggle to escape the captivity that has been forced on her. She is quite a clever one at times, and truly seems to care about the people of her kingdom and not just the title and land. I'm very interested to see what she does in the second episode.

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

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-incorrigible-secrets-past.html#sthash.UluUYPjW.dpuf

This is a young adult fantasy novel that is geared for the upper end of that age category. With a handful of violent scenes and budding relationship between two of our main characters, it may be a tad bit much for the younger crowd. That being said, it was incredibly well written with very few points that I wasn't fond of - and nothing that I flat out didn't like.

A few times the author wasn't as clear as she could have been about who was speaking or performing some action and I had to go back a few sentences to try and figure it out. This seemed to happen mostly when she was writing from Aren's point of view - so perhaps I just didn't pick up on his voice well enough.

I loved the character of Rowan. Her fierce curiosity that often got her lectured on what topics were appropriate for her to read and learn about, her seemingly fearless nature, and her quick thinking were all traits that anyone would find themselves drawn to. But at the same time, she wasn't perfect. She trusted too easily and found it difficult to make the hard decisions on her own (such as if she should get married). The way she matured and grew throughout the journey was amazing. I didn't even realize how much she had changed until near the end. She was a completely different and more confident person that she was at the beginning, and I liked her even more.

Aren is a person everyone in Darmid fears - he has magic and that means he's bad. The people of Darmid really don't look any farther than that. Aren was a small problem for me. He was so hung up on what he was doing and why that I got just a little tired of his internal dialog. It was an important part of the story, and much of it gave me some good insight into why he was doing things, but I heard it one too many times is all.

Rowan's journey was incredibly exciting. It was a grand adventure and she got to see and experience so many new things. It was everything she had ever dreamed about - but terrifying at the same time. I loved the creatures they came across - Ruby especially was very fun. I will be keeping an eye out for book two (sometime 2015 I believe) so that I can see how Rowan's journey continues.

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

Silver Linings is a great follow up to Home Matters. It stays with the pattern good clean romance between two amazing characters. Eden Torresi seems to be the perfect person - but her refusal to accept help may be her downfall. Drew doesn't know what it's like to do a good deed until he meets Eden, but once he sees what it can do to other's lives and even his own, he's on board to find out more.

The people that live at Silver Linings Assisted Living really helped make this book memorable. They were sneaky little busy bodies that couldn't keep their noses in their own business - and it's fantastic!! They really are a major catalyst to everything coming together. On the downside, the other catalyst is Eden's mother - a woman who is very ill but determined to see her daughter happy and living her own life.

This was a very quick and sweet read. Lots of romance, lots of great characters and a story that doesn't let you down.

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

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/#sthash.8g8tltE6.dpuf

At the end of book two we feel like Jace really got the short end of the stick. He seems to have lost everything, but maybe that's what it takes to set him up for his own happily ever after when his past comes back to town. Cambri had left long ago (without saying goodbye) and never really looked back. When her crotchety old father has a heart attack she finally comes home to take care of him.

Cambri's father was a great character. He was ornery, grumpy, stubborn, and hard headed. But I loved him. He becomes a big catalyst for some of my favorite scenes. In such a small town Cambri was bound to run into her old best friend, Jace, and that is where the romance begins.

Both Cambri and Jace are dealing with broken hearts and broken dreams. Their story starts off small and simple but grows quickly and you realize just how perfect they are for each other. Now they just need to try and get over the past and try to move on. Unlike some books that can repeatedly smash you in the face with their problems, Righting a Wrong was much more subtle and gentle. It made the special moments that much more touching and memorable. I love the history brought up in this novella - both with the characters and the town. It sort of makes me wish I had the small town history and relationships that the book shows.

This can be read as a stand alone, but you will miss out on the "ripple effect" of events that these amazing novellas are showing. I love how one couldn't have happened without the one before it.

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

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/2014/04/book-tour-review-and-giveaway-righting.html#sthash.AFvxSRvW.dpuf

I was really hoping for a little more from this one. The overall concept of the story was great. Cassie has fallen into a horrible rut. After her alcoholic husband died, she kind of sank into herself and hasn't come up for air (or sex). Five years later and she's still stuck. She stumbles upon an organization that helps women in her sort of position open themselves back up again. The regain their confidence, their passion, and awaken their sexual desires. Cassie has doubts at several stages along the way - who wouldn't - but chugs along through the 10 step program. This reminded me a bit of what AA is describes as.

The downfall is that it didn't seem like enough really happened. A whole year goes by in the story, but I felt like her SECRET encounters were the only thing she had in her life - and the whole point of the group is for the opposite to happen. The encounters were fun and quite exciting - and they did teach her valuable lessons about opening herself up to new possibilities. I just wish more "real" life had happened in between them for her to explore as well.

I will admit that I was hoping for just a smidge of romance to pop out of the story somewhere - even if it wasn't a prevalent topic. But I was sorely disappointed. There really isn't a happy ending for Cassie and her personal life. She does complete the program, but I'm not sure how much better her life really is now. There is a sequel and since it's already on my shelf I'll give it a go to see if the series turns into anything better.

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/2014/09/review-secret-secret-1-by-l-marie.html#sthash.HIEA50aV.dpuf

This was an amazing sci-fi adventure with a nice theory about music behind it. Cade is unique - she lives in a world filled with static, and only the right kind of music from her guitar can make it fade for a little while. Then one day she seems to break through and it all goes away - but a strange man shows up with a bit of a history lesson for her. The history of her life. And it isn't anything like what she thought.

She is one of a pair of babies - bonded in a strange new molecular way called entanglement. And her pair, Xan, is out there somewhere and she needs to find him before he is killed by the un-makers. The un-makers are a strange new race that Cade has never seen before, and they are after her. Her only hope is to trust in a strange group of new friends.

These new friends were amazingly written. They had such unique personalities and ways of looking at life. I loved how even the spaceship was portrayed - she was great! Their search for Xan leads to several little side adventures and new information about Cade's past. Each step closer, Cade manages to somehow unlock strange abilities that no one really knows how to control.

The ending was an odd mixture of sadness and hope. At one point in time, I thought this was going to be a tragedy, but the author managed to miraculously turn it around just in time. Not everyone comes out at the end unscathed, but their world is not a much better place because of what they've done.

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

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-entangled-by-amy-rose-capetta.html#sthash.EQ2d31aX.dpuf

This was a cute introduction to the series. Great way to get to know the main character without giving too much away.

I think this will be the last one in this series for me. I just can't get into the storyline. This one begins with the mysterious Dauphine experiencing a Secret fantasy. Then it jumps back in time to the beginning to show how she got into Secret. It was very disjointed and hard to follow the time line. It seemed much more like individual little episodes than a cohesive story.

Dauphine's story was unique though. Her journey through Secret was quite different from Cassie's and ended much differently as well. We have a return "bad guy" and Cassie once again loses her happy ending at the last second. Dauphine has quite the fairy tale happy ending and it was just far to easy to be true and it wasn't satisfying at all.

It was very interesting to see more of the inner workings of this secret club. I got to see a training session with a new guy as well as see how the organization is financed. It's too bad that was the most interesting part - I had really hoped for more out of this one.

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

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/2014/09/review-secret-shared-secret2.html#sthash.vbllqoXA.dpuf

Megan was definitely the life of the party in this one. She is currently a wandering artist - having just left what sounds like an awful relationship - she is on her way to finally realize her dream. Her dream is an odd one - I'll let you find out what it is. On the way she makes a pit stop in her home town to take a quick job as the photographer for a fireman's calendar. Yes - the infamous calendar with half dressed firemen that sells as a fund raiser for the fire house. Every woman in town wants one, and all the fire fighters are anxious to see who will get the best photo.

Now, Megan has a history with fire fighters that she doesn't want to see repeated. They are strictly off the dating list (her fire fighter brother agrees), until she finds out that super hot guy she was flirting with is - of course - a fire fighter. They do the whole we can't do this, oh but we can, oh but we can't, oh but we can thing for a little bit, but it actually wasn't too much for me. This is usually a quick way for me to lose interest, but Lauren Blakely did it the right way! With a different reason to stay or go constantly coming up, it kept things interesting instead of getting repetitive.

I just wish Becker had been a bit more interesting as well. He seems to be constantly playing off of Megan instead of having his own very set personality that shone through. She was just such a bigger personality that he got dwarfed a bit. Becker was also on the broody side. And while a little of that is mysterious and alluring, too much can turn me off. He was just a bit on the too much side.

Overall, this was a really fun story though! Lots of fresh scenes, including some very interesting places to get down and dirty.

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

- See more at: http://www.bittenbyromance.com/2014/09/review-melt-for-him-fighting-fire-2-by.html#sthash.tbWjqREF.dpuf

This was a fantastic sequel. The story picks up as London and her friends are on the run from New Eden, the tycoon paradise. After discovering a betrayal, they are all a little out of sort and quite confused about what to do next. There is tons of drama and excitement all the way through, and lots of development for the story line and the characters.

London's Otherborn skills need some work, but once she puts her mind to maxing out her abilities, she accomplishes some pretty amazing things. The Otherborn "disease" of dreaming seems to be spreading, but the tycoons are dead set on stopping it and preserving their way of life. London plays quite a key role and so much is going on that it's hard to really talk about it without giving away key parts of the story.

I love that the author isn't afraid to have her characters go through some pretty drastic changes. It made them all so very real and at the end it gave me an enormous surprise (along with a cliffhanger)!! Be prepared to read this book quickly, you won't want to put it down.

- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-astral-tide-otherborn-2-by-anna.html#sthash.pmXGHWlU.dpuf