What more can be said? I loved it. The end made me think of "While You Were Sleeping" when he's surrounded by people saying ""tell her, idiot." (One of my favorite movies, btw). Ms. Shalvis is consistent every time. If you've read any of the Lucky Harbor books, this is one of my favorites, although I have enjoyed every one.

Olivia was a child star, used by her good-for-nothing mother as a money maker. Her sister is jealous - Olivia got the job and the fame her sister wanted. Olivia didn't want it. And when she got too old for the role, she didn't have anything or anyone left. What does a rejected child star do? She goes a little crazy, does the Miley Cyrus/Brittany Spears thing, until she reinvents herself in Lucky Harbor.

My favorite part was where Olivia labels people on her phone: "The Wicked Queen", "Dickwad" along with reminders not to answer their calls. So when Cole gets hold of her phone, he labels himself "Best Lover you've Ever Had" with a reminder to answer the call. I laughed out loud.

Another walk through Lucky Harbor, another engrossing book.

Becca is running away from responsibilities thrust upon her, responsibilities she shouldn't have had to bear that ended with disastrous results. Sam "fixes" things. With no shortage of his own personal baggage, he takes on the challenge of discovering what it is Becca is hiding, trying to prove to her that not all men are opportunists. Until he succeeds and his own issues bubble to the surface. Now what is he supposed to do?

Yet another Lucky Harbor book that I couldn't put down. Reading Jill Shalvis is like eating chocolate chip cookies. Once I start, I can't stop. These books should be made into a television serial. They're like one big, long book filled with characters you care about, but each book gives you the opportunity to stop for the day and resume another day with the next installment.

I enjoy reading Dan Brown, more for his sense of setting, which is its own character. He takes us on another wild ride, Robert Langdon fighting the clock to save the world, full of twists and turns and hidden passages through historical Florence, to Venice and ending in "The Final Destination." A mad scientist, frustrated that people aren't listening, takes matters into his own hands, a villain with a point. Dan brown walks the moral tightrope arguing the validity of the man's claims against the views of humanity and takes us to a satisfying conclusion. As with his other books, he gives you food for thought as he looks at global issues through the narrow lens of one very committed man.

The scenery interrupts the story in places, stopping to give the reader a travelogue of Italy. For my part, having visited Florence, I found it interesting, a tour guide's view of some of the places I'd seen, and places I hadn't seen. The artwork, the architecture, the literature all play a role in this story, and as much as I might admit there was overkill in some places, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

High school deb makes a bad decision (surprise!) and now she's cleaning toilets for a living.

High school geek turns into Superman and makes billions of dollars. Bumps into the down on her luck deb and his infatuation with her rekindles, but now he has to prove he's not just another rich bad boy.

Characterizations were sharp, the story was good. Ultimately, I suppose I prefer my characters to be more "everyday" to be relatable, so the beauty queen and the billionaire premise is what made me downgrade my rating, but that's a personal opinion and has nothing to do with the quality of this well-done book.

In this final book of the trilogy, Caitlin has to adapt to her change, so Steven takes her back to the colony.

Overall, the trilogy is well thought out, well laid out. Ms. Wester does a good job with the "don't call me a vampire" theme and the struggles with the colony to overcome homicidal tendencies, giving them a viable option to murder. I liked the concept, the premise, and overall, the characterizations. I particularly liked the sense of setting, the colony in the Amazon was smartly described. With that being said, I don't want to harp on this author's writing style, which was difficult for me in a lot of places, but it is worth noting.

I found the conflict between Caitlin and Steven to be understandable and believable. As impatient as I got with her at times, the foundation for the changes that come with being made superhuman validated some of her mood swings. As a reader, I think the triplet plot line didn't add anything, except as a way to keep Steven and Caitlin apart, and without it, I would have been happy to see a HEA ending rather than the promise of one.

Well plotted, well researched. A fresh take on vampires.

In the next installment in Ms. Odell's Blackthorne series, Glen "Hotshot" McCade takes center stage. Recovering from injuries received during his last mission, he's concerned they're putting him on light duty when they send him on a reconnaissance mission along with Olivia Fairbanks, a security operative not used to covert ops. While this one starts out a little slower than the other Blackthornes on account of the nature of the mission, by halfway through the book things start to pick up when their stake-out uncovers a lot more than the missing woman they've been sent to identify. There are things going on beneath Windswept Heights, the classy resort they've been assigned to, that make them the perfect candidates for the "Hotel California" retreat.

A feel-good Christmas story that feels like watchng a hallmark channel movie (but a bit more steamy). Very much enjoyed it, and the perfect ing to put you in the Christmas spirit.

In the second of the trilogy, Steven returns home to recover the life his new family has erased. The author's style can be a bit choppy, but the underlying story is interesting and the plot points are well drawn.

3.5 stars, and that mostly because this is a YA/NA book (which isn't normally my target reading).

A group of kids are starting their first year at university, trying to fit in, adjusting to being away from home, reinventing themselves into who they will become. For some, it is easier than for others. Caitlin shares a hall with three other girls, one of which is horribly homesick and struggling to fit in. Lonely, homesick girls make the easiest targets, and before she has a chance to go home, she dies of an apparent suicide.

Steven is handsome and confident, and he and Caitlin share an instant bond. When Caitlin returns home to sort out her hall-mate's death, another woman targets Steven, leaving him confused and with an odd bruise on his neck.

Caitlin returns to university to pick up where she left off with Steven and the two rapidly become a couple, until one night when she is kidnapped to lure Steven out - and then he is kidnapped and all memory of him and his existence is expunged.

What is Steven? And what are all the people claiming to be a superior race who are secreted away inside a volcano deep in the Amazonian jungle?

The story was interesting. The author creates a hidden society, a modern-day Utopia, and yet humanity almost always chooses freedom over confined quarters, no matter how perfect the living conditions. I think the author has done an excellent job showing the differing personalities and societal cliques. She's done a nice job of ending the first book in the trilogy, teasing you into the next book without leaving you wanting for answers to the theme in the first book. Worth the read.