Alpha & Omega Series!!!! Alpha & Omega, Cry Wolf, Hunting Grounds and Fair Game

Read from March 23 to 24, 2014

I should start of my review by saying I adore Patricia Briggs's Mercedes Thompson series and that this series is basically a spin off of that series with the same general feel, same world and many of the same characters.

I'm writing my reviews for Alpha & Omega, Cry Wolf, Hunting Grounds and this novel Fair Game together. I listened to all these books on
Audiobook, they all had the same narrator and I listened to them back to back with no breaks in between so the story to me at this point was a continuous one.

I have only read the Mercedes Thompson series and this series todate by Patricia Briggs and I love how she weaves the world she builds around the strength and background of her characters. There are so many elements of our world that it makes it easy to relate and yet keep the paranormal feel.

These novels are based on the stories of Charles and Anna. Charles is the youngest son of the Marroak who is the leader of all the werewolves..at least in North America. Charles is approx 200 years old and was born to an Native American woman who's family was steeped in shaman magic and his father was also of a magical background. He is also the only born Werewolf. Anna is a force turned werewolf who was horribly abused by her first pack until Charles rescued her and new her as his mate.

In Alpha & Omega we learn of Anna's story. This book like most in this series has very dark overtones dealing with rape and abuse. We also get our first glimpse of Charles and Brother Wolf in this novella which is truly the introduction to the entire series. It is a must read for any starting in as the background in this book will give you a better understanding of motivations in the rest of the series. I gave the book 4 stars which is my highest rating for a novella. PB does a great job of not getting too carried away with world building at the expense of the character building.

Cry Wolf gets us into the meat and potatoes of Charles and Anna's mating and introduces us to more of the pack in which they reside. This story also has dark elements of black magic and human/animal sacrifice. The story moves quickly and Anna begins to learn more about herself and about her status as an Omega wolf. We see inside Charles's head and find out what made him the man he is today and how he is changing because of his love of Anna. Again the story is woven around the characters and keeps you on the edge of your seat. You really don't know who is going to survive until right near the end of the novel. There is definitely an action/adventure feel to this book but with really raw edges. A 5 star read for me.

Hunting Ground is where the story line and the characters really take off for me and I made my connection with the main characters more deeply. I'm also a fan of suspense novels and this book had all the earmarkings of a wonderful who dunit. In this novel the Wolves are coming out of the closet (so to speak) and Charles must attend a conference with Alphas from North America and Europe. From there the mayhem begins with Vampires, attempted murder, actual murder, over protective alphas, white witches and more. I just couldn't put this one down for one minute it was a great read! I gave it 5 stars.

Fair Game is the book I just finished and again I loved it...it had a crime procedural feel to it..which again I just adore. In this outing Charles and Anna are helping the FBI solve across decades serial killer who is as we find out targeting Fae and now Werewolves. Anna truly comes of age in this novel ...she is manifesting self confidence and some major kickass abilities. Charles on the other hand is deal with Ghosts and self recrimination which has made him withdrawn and is injuring his relationship with Anna. We are also introduced to new characters..the Boston Alpha Isaac who is a hoot. FBI agents Leslie and Goldwaite as well as some other alphabet agencies. We also meet a powerful fae..some witches..black witches and other bad bad characters. This book is truly dark in some places as it does deal with a sado sexual predator and we do hear what has happened to some victims. The novel was exciting, pretty fast moving. With an interesting ending ...I can't wait for the next book in this series. Another 5 star read for me.

As you can tell I am really enjoying this series ..it feeds my love of the paranormal, suspense, police procedural and has the romantic elements that are a must in all my reads. If you have not started this series...I highly recommend you do. The narrator of the audiobooks is wonderful by the way...he does a great job and in no way takes away from but rather enhances the reading experience.

Looking for a UF series? You gots to try this out NOW!

Just Released HYBRID!!! Long awaited book 2 of the Healer Series by B.N. Toler

Many you of you may remember me going on..and on...and on about a fabulous book I read last September.  It was Healer and I though it was absolutely amazing.  It was fresh, it was different and it gripped me and wouldn't let go.   Well, I am happy to announce that HYBRID the second book in the Healer Series was released March 15 and it is Fabulous.  (see below for my review on Hybrid and reposting of Healer)

B.N. Toler is a new name in Urban Fantasy and she certainly shakes up the genre.

B N Toler is a happily married, mother of three, and HEALER is her first self-published book. She has worked in several fields, including real estate and orthodontics, but writing has always been one of  her passions. Though she has written many stories, HEALER is the first one she ever really fell in love with.

Some of her other passions include reading and music. She enjoys most genres including fantasy, erotica, romance and supernatural. She loves to find a book she can't put down. Some of her favorite authors include Charlaine Harris (The Sookie Stackhouse Series), Karen Marie Moning (The Fever Series), Sylvia Day (The Bared to You series), and recently she's become a big fan of Samantha Young (On Dublin Street).

 To give you a bit of a tease  Healer is about a young girl Aldo who knows she has special powers but her world is turned upside down when she meets Thomas and finds out that there may even be more about herself and her life than she is aware.  The story has more ups and downs than a roller coaster and enough angst to keep even the teenager in us happy. Healer is a coming of age and a spiral into the unknown.  Hybrid picks up where Healer left off but we see Aldo maturing even more and starts to figure out that there might be more to her than what she guessed.  Her life, her loves and a whole lot of kick ass sizzle.

Synopsis: Hybrid

My Aunt Lucy used to say, “If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” She said many wise things I never heeded when she was alive. I want to be the woman that’s okay with hiding from what she fears and letting her big, strong man protect her. But that’s not me. I hate to be scared. I hate the feeling that there is an evil out there that could hurt me if it finds me. But mostly, I hate that so many before me lived in fear and died at the hands of evil. That is why I cannot find peace within. There is no peace for me while Healers suffer the atrocities of others.

I know Rhett would protect me at all costs. He loves me. And that is why I must leave him behind. It’s impossible to justify hurting someone you love—or many you love—to do what you truly believe is right. Lucy also used to say, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I get what she was trying to tell me now. Hindsight is twenty/twenty. Sometimes we choose a path we think will lead us toward a noble cause, full of ambition and altruism, only to look back and see we’ve run over and crushed the ones we love most along the way. I can only pray that one day those I love will forgive me.

I woke up and I left. I left Rhett, the man who saved me from myself. The man I love. I left my brothers—my best friends.

I left.
But leaving led me to more. I found answers. I found others like me—who want what I want.

But most importantly, I found myself.

My name is Aldo Lawson.

I’m awake.

And I’m a Hybrid.

Goodreads link to HYBRID


Just to tease you even more the author B. N. Toler has graciously provided me with her dream cast as she imagined them while writing.

Cast:

Aldo:       Shailene Woodley
Whit and Hudson:  Shai LeBeouf
Rhett: Chris Helmsworth
Sarah: Brittany Snow

Lucy: Jamie Lee Curtis
Lila: Eva Mendes
Thomas: Mark Salling
Eileen: Krysten Ritter
Flynn: Ryan Gosling
Bridge: Damian Lewis
Daniel: Taylor Kitsch
Andre:  Paul Walker (RIP)

How completely Yummy is that??

Wanna win a copy??  Rafflecopter

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*PSST*!!  Healer is currently .99...check it out

Amazon US:
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B.N. Toler Social Media Links:
Website
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NOW MY REVIEW! 

Hybrid

I've been waiting Six LONG months for this book and I was so excited when Author B.N. Toler gave it to me early so that I could write an honest review.  

Hybrid is the second book in the Healer Series and picks up where Healer left off.  We find Aldo with her brothers and still crushing on Rhett.  But in this book we see her grow into herself and a become the beginning of the woman she is going to be.  Aldo is 20 years old for the most part in this novel and we see her take on more adult themes and experience more sizzle and spice than went on in the previous book.  

Once again B. N. Toler's fresh perspective on the genre has made this a must read book.  Urban Fantasy?  Paranormal Romance?  This book has it all.  The plot is fast moving and it kept me up all night literally reading I just couldn't put it down.  I couldn't believe when I finished the book it is 5:45am and I hadn't yet slept.  It just kept in it's grasp and wouldn't let go...there was no place to stop and I just didn't want to anyway.  

We learn more about Aldo's enemies and about Aldo herself and how she came to be with Lucy.  We even learn more about Lucy and who she was prior to taking on the triplets.  We see more of Whit and Hudson in the first part of the book and it puts our mind at ease that they are happy and doing well.  As the story continues we are introduced to a whole new cast of characters who will become lynch pins in Aldo's life.  Yes some of these characters are male, hawt and beautiful.  The steam came off the pages in clouds!  

The crafting of the characters was genius.  Aldo's character begins to have more depth and becomes at first someone you wanna smack but gradually as we read and she learns there is a depth there that can't help but touch the reader and make you feel what she is going through with her confusion of her love life.  Her attraction to things and people she felt she should not be attracted.  Daniel, on the other hand grasps you because of the mystery surrounding him and his life.  We get glimpses of his life and what made him the man he became but we have the knees knocked out from under us as we get into the last 1/4 of the book. Each of the secondary characters jump from the page.  Eileen is hilarious, Flynn is fun loving and Bridge needs a kick in the ass.  

I personally can't wait for the next book in this incredible series.  Another 5 star review for Ms. Toler and a huge! recommendation to read this novel...in fact if you have not yet discovered the Healer Series book 1 THE HEALER is currently on sale at Amazon for .$.99 so drop everything and one click it NOW. 

Healer by B.N Toler Repost of Review from September 2013

Healer
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Read from September 26 to 27, 2013


Amazing Debut for B.N. Toler! A Paranormal series so different from the rest I hate to call it a PNR!

Description:

Healers, such as Aldo Lawson understand the power of their gift, although at times, it seems more a curse. Upon meeting a handsome young healer named Thomas, Aldo's life heads into a tailspin. With his arrival, Aldo's aunt, the woman who raised her, is forced to share a hard and scary truth--vampires exist. And not only do they exist, but they thirst for healer blood.

Aldo's world is turned upside down when her aunt is murdered and Thomas disappears. Riddled with questions, she sets out to find him.

Submerged  in a world filled with sex and danger, Aldo hopes to find the vampires that will lead her to Thomas. When they find her first, she is forced to piece together truths, deal with her pain, and finds that not everything is what it seems

The Author gave me this book for an honest review. Thanks Ms Toler

My Thoughts:

Wow, where do I start.

Is the book perfect no, it is a first novel by a very new writer however, that being said holy cow! this is a breath of fresh air in the Vampire genre. In fact, it is not so much a Vampire novel as it is a truly paranormal novel. The writing is fabulous and as you keeping reading the novel it gets better and better. Her characters were interesting, in some places sketchy but since this is a 3 part series I think a lot of the blanks will be filled in as we make our way to the ending of book 3. Aldo is an interesting character although at times confusing but confusing in a young girl way. She struggles with her feelings and fears. She has the normal teenage angst and behaves as expected around a cute older guy. Thomas is a mystery from moment one and that is what keep us readers on our toes right until the end and actually even then I was chomping at the bit for the next one.

The book started out writing from Aldo's "present" and then we are faced with chapters bouncing from present to 6 years before. I was a bit confused at first but muddled my way through and got used to it. I wonder if a simple chapter title would make this a smoother transition? Apart from that the story flows with it's bends and twirls and sudden change in direction then twisting once again. I admittedly was finding myself flabbergasted in the last 1/4 of the book. The spins were enough to make me want to read all night.

Starting a world from scratch is difficult for even the most experience authors and even then the first book of the series is often the worst as there is so much to explain. BNT did this seemlessly and using the different points in time as a vehicle to further her plot and keep the story moving.

Brava Ms Toler on an excellent first book and I can't wait for 2014 to read the next book in this trilogy! Toler's name is now in my *watch* list and with writing this good I know her future books will be amazing.

5 stars for this budding author and a standing ovation for the uniquness of the story and the ingenuity used to keep readers surprised. A MUST read this Fall ..don't miss what the buzz is all about read this today:) 

Buy this today from :

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble

Tall, Tatted and Tempting

Read on March 17, 2014 

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started to listen to this book. I had never heard of it or the author but a good friend recommended it who usually does not enjoy New Adult novels so I had to give it a try. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the characters and the story. 

I would consider the book a sweet romance but with grit and an edge but not raw which is fine cause the book didn't need that rough rawness. I loved that Tammy Falkner used hero/ines that were different. Logan being deaf was truly unique and I enjoyed and respected how TF portrayed him without making him less than any other hero in any other novel. Kit with her reading disability was the perfect balance with Logan. It was wonderful watching them learn to communicate and revive skills that were set aside years ago. 

The chemistry in the novel was over the top..I could feel the sizzle between Kit and Logan in fact steam just jumped from the pages but even better I could feel the love that Logan had for his brothers and how that love fully encompassed Kit and brought her into the family fold. Kit's love for this new family was so overwhelming she made life changing decisions to keep them intact. 

I did listen to the book on Audiobook and the author was a bit disappointing. I felt Logan's voice was all wrong and that his character took a bit of a hit because of that I would recommend you read the book instead of listen. 

I awarded 4 stars for a surprising book about love, family and HAWT tattoo artists! I should mention there was a slight cliffhanger at the end of the story but if you chose not to read on ..you could let your imagination end the story easily. I personally am off to read the next novel because I love the brothers and I *have* to find out what happens with Matt. Don't miss out on this special story...read it today!