Book #Review: Ten Reasons to Stay by Sabrina Jeffries

This is satisfying for a quick, sensual romance. 
Ten Reasons to Stay
by Sabrina Jeffries

• File Size: 559 KB
• Publisher: Pocket Star (May 6, 2013)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B009UVL9L4

Genre: Historical Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: May 6, 2013
A delightful eNovella from New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries about a young woman who learns that you can’t learn about love from a textbook.
In “Ten Reasons to Stay,” previously published in the anthology The School for Heiresses, lessons go far beyond etiquette and needlepoint. Eliza Crenshawe’s lesson is to look before she leaps. But when she discovers that her new guardian plans to marry her off without so much as a Season, she forgets all that. She flees—on a horse she unwittingly steals (oops!)—from Colin Hunt, a newly minted earl who wants nothing more than for her to go home…or stay forever.

Review:
I have enjoyed many novels by Ms. Jeffries and this one joins the group. It manages a full romance, albeit almost love at first sight, in a short novella.

Eliza has finished most of her lessons at The School for Heiresses. The school didn’t teach lessons on love and she never mastered how to look before leaping. Her father has died and her drunken uncle has become her guardian. Uncle Silas claims that her father left only debts and there is no inheritance. He has whisked Eliza away from town and announced that he has arranged for her to be married immediately.

Eliza dresses like a lad and sneaks off to a neighboring estate to “borrow” a horse. She gets caught by the new lord who has recently returned from India. Colin isn’t very trusting of women since many shun his mixed, Indian and English, blood and his first wife was flighty and untrustworthy.  He doesn’t believe this thieving young imposter even when he finally drags from her a Gothic tale of threatened marriage and missing inheritance. She continues to refuse to tell him her name or let him take her to the magistrate.  Colin locks her in his bedroom while he tries to discover her identity and the truth of her circumstances. Eliza discovers an interesting collection of erotic art while rummaging in his boxes and a provocative bargaining begins.

I appreciated the dialogue between these two cautious individuals. Eliza seeks a life of passion and doesn’t want to be trapped in a loveless marriage. She is afraid that Colin will return her home to that fate. Colin thinks he just wants peace and not a lively, inquisitive woman. The  romance was a bit bold for my tastes but the story was more than just an excuse for virgin introduction into sexual exploration. (I'm curious to pull my copy of the anthology to see if there was any change since the earlier publication.)  I enjoyed the characters and the plot worked well. Ms. Jeffries succeeded in creating a satisfying, entertaining read in a shorter story.

I received this title for an honest review through NetGalley.

Audible Book #Review: Frost Burned: Mercy Thompson Book 7 by Patricia Briggs

This is a series I really enjoy listening too.

Frost Burned: Mercy Thompson Book 7

• UNABRIDGED
• by Patricia Briggs
• Narrated by Lorelei King 
• Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 7

    LENGTH: 10 hrs and 1 min
    RELEASE DATE: 03-05-13
    Program Type: Audiobook
    PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio
Amazon Link
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
Mercy Thompson returns in the seventh novel in the number-one New York Times best-selling series.
Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman - the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack - has made her a stepmother to his daughter, Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more....
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam - or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.
©2013 Patricia Briggs (P)2013 Penguin Audiobooks

Review:
Mercy Thompson is a rare creature, a Coyote Walker. She is the wife of Adam, the Alpha leader of the local werewolf pack. The entire pack has gone missing while Mercy and her step daughter, Jesse, are out shopping. An injured Ben, a British werewolf with attitude, finds Mercy at her garage and she learns that he is the only one who escaped when supposed government authorities rounded up the pack and subdued them with silver tranquilizers.

Mercy is able to use their mate bond to contact Adam mentally and determine that the pack is alive but weak from silver poisoning. Mercy must keep Jesse save from the kidnappers who would use her as additional blackmail to coerce Adam to do their bidding. She must also keep herself safe and find a way to rescue the pack before Adam has to make a devastating sacrifice.

There are political implications that require careful handling. Mercy calls for help from her fae friends, Zeek and his grandson Tad, to guard Jesse, Gabriel, Mercy’s college-age employee, and Gabriel’s family.  Then Mercy calls upon her vampire friend, Stephan, to help rescue Kyle, a prominent attorney who is the lover of one of the kidnapped wolves.

Mercy risks her own well being by ‘changing the rules’ to help Adam and then she faces an ambush attack. Even when the pack is free, Mercy is not out of danger. She is summoned to a special meeting with the Queen Vampire. At first she fears it may be over the Mercedes she borrowed which has suffered from a bleeding werewolf, battle dents and a (supposedly) dead body in the trunk. Soon Mercy learns that the car is a trifling matter compared to the political Vampire war she is pulled into.

I love the strength in Mercy and in her bond with Adam. Coyotes are not as strong as werewolves and not all of the pack accept Mercy. But her position as Alpha mate and her bond with Adam allows her to bring along an Alpha attitude in her own presence.  I like the strong pack atmosphere of ‘family’ that is exhibited in these stories. I also like that Mercy has friends among the other paranormal communities.  This particular story has some brutal killing but also Mercy’s own special touch of faith and forgiving grace. Ms. Briggs brings a unique and new tale of danger and action to each of the books in this series. They never fail to entertain me.

Audio Notes: I greatly enjoy the narrations of this series by Lorelei King. She distinguishes the voices so you can almost see the different creature personalities– the werewolves, the fae and the vampires. There is an even flow to the reading that keeps it moving well at rare moments of calm as well as the usual emotional times of danger and action.

I highly recommend this series for the warm relationships presented in action packed and entertaining plots. Preferably read the books in order for the full impact of the character involvements and nuances.

I read this from my own Audible library.

This is set in Tri-Cities, Washington for my 2013 Where Are You Reading Challenge.

Book #Review: The Wolf of Tebron by C. S. Lakin

This is  wonderful fairy-tale fantasy and allegory with redemption message.
The Wolf of Tebron
by C. S. Lakin

• ISBN-13: 9780899578880
• ISBN: 0899578888
• Pub. Date: Aug 9, 2010
• Publisher: AMG Publishers
• Imprint: Living Ink Books

Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: August 9, 2010 | Series: The Gates of Heaven Series (Book 1)

In classic fairy tale style, we embark on an enchanted journey with a young blacksmith—Joran—whose only desire is to live a peaceful, uncomplicated life in his forest village, a desire shattered by the sudden and bizarre disappearance of his wife, Charris. Later, Joran is plagued by nightmares of an unimaginable sea, where Charris remains trapped in a sand castle at the whim of the Moon. The goose woman insists he will find no rest from his nightmares until he solves the riddle of three keys. She tells him to travel the treacherous journey to the house of the Moon to find the answers he seeks.

Unable to ignore the urgings of his nightmares, Joran sets out north seeking the Moon. Leaving a town and family where he never felt truly at home, Joran’s journey becomes more than just a search for his wife. His path also leads inward, for he must face emotions that have tormented him his entire life—feelings of alienation and anger, of despair and hurt. Along the way he rescues a wolf—a huge, imposing creature that becomes a companion, and eventually a trusted friend.

Joran has the uncanny ability to speak with animals, and learns from the wolf, Ruyah, that he can manipulate his dreams to affect the real world. With Ruyah’s humor and guidance, Joran finds the courage and fortitude to press on, despite setbacks and disappointments. With the wolf by his side he endures the darkness at the end of the world and the ravings of the lunatic Moon, who sends him off—more confused than before—to the Palace of the Sun with a seemingly useless gift.

After trekking through a vast, unmerciful desert, Joran arrives at the Palace of the Sun, where he meets the Sun’s mother, Sola. She helps Joran understand part of his riddle and then sends him, with the gift of a sunstone, to the cave of the South Wind, whom, she says, will finally reveal the truth to him about his wife—if he dares hear it. He and Ruyah travel south through jungle, and finally arrive at the cave. There Joran is swept along a vision where he sees his past, and in horror, learns truths that send him into deep despair. The South Wind dismisses him with one last gift—but like the other two gifts, he has no idea what they are for or how they will help him rescue his wife. She tells him to find the sea of his dreams—far west, beyond his imagining.

Review:
The story starts with a Wizard battling evil to try to protect his wife and infant son. He loses his wife and  sends his son away with a huge bear to take him to a village to be safe.

The story then shifts and we meet Joran who is a young man training as a blacksmith in a small village on the edge of Tibron forest. He has always had an affinity for animals and is able to mind talk with them. He is content living a simple life with his beautiful young wife, Charris. One day he sees a woman kissing a neighbor farmer. She is wrapped in Charris’ shawl and Joran accuses her of infidelity. He sends her away without giving her a chance to speak. Nightmares plague Joran as he sees Charris trapped in a castle set on the edge of the sea. In the dreams Joran tries to save her but falls to the sand and wind hazards as the fortress collapses into the water.

When Joran learns that Charris never made it to her parent’s home he is filled with guilt and decides he must seek to save her.  As he travels through the woods he comes upon a wolf caught in a trap. Joran helps the wolf, Ruyah, who becomes his devoted, wise counselor on the journey.

Joran is sent to puzzle out a riddle as he must lose three keys before he can find and free Charris. He goes first to the Moon and receives a special gift. Then he travels to the Sun for the next clue and another gift. From there he is sent to the Wind and finally to the Sea. He faces danger but also he must cope with his own anger, fear and despair. He must be willing to learn the truth of secrets, learn to control his own actions and believe that forgiveness is possible.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of mystery and fairy-tale magic from beginning to end.   I was a bit frustrated as Joran’s despair seemed to go on and on. I wanted to push him along to learn the life issues he faced but I appreciated the positive messages conveyed in such a unique allegory of God’s sacrifice and love for mankind. There is wisdom shared and quotes from Emily Dickinson that I liked. The writing is smooth and made for easy, quick reading. I recommend this as an entertaining story with an uplifting message.

I liked the messages that “home” is a heart location:

He was finally beginning to see that home was a state of mind and not a location. Location 3025.

He had surely taken the long way ‘round to find his way home. Location 3573.

I received this from AMG Publishers for review through NetGalley.

Mailbox Monday April 29, 2013

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.
For APRIL: the Mailbox Monday Tour host is Mari at MariReads!
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs.  This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) but is now hosted at Mailbox Monday and through various blog hosts.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. 

I only picked up one title this past week.
How are your mailbox and TBR piles doing?

REVIEW

Just one review book received this week. 

BookBlast Tour Review for July

(From NetGalley)

The Hero's Lot 

by Patrick Carr 

Still Lots of requests I need to reply to soon.

Won

None this week.

Purchased

None this week.

Free

Limited time - I downloaded only a few free Kindle Titles linked through Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink and Kindle Review.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 29, 2013

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I had several mornings of driving last week so I got to listen to books again. I finished five books and am nearly done a sixth. I posted three reviews, one with Giveaway, and a Giveaway Hop.  I also posted the weekly Mailbox Monday meme, Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Snapshot, Sharing Beyond Books Comment Giveaway and Sunday Words.

I visited a handful of Monday posts early in the week and Saturday Snapshot posts at the end of the week.
Thanks as always to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:

• It's Monday What are You Reading? April 22, 2013.

• Mailbox Monday April 22, 2013.

• TLC Tour Book #Review: The Forever Knight by John Marco; Fantasy; my rating 4.0.
  

• Book #Review and Giveaway: Rest in Peace by Frances Divine, Christian Cozy Mystery, Romantic Suspense; my rating 3.75. Ends May 3.
  

• Showers of Books Giveaway Hop April 24 - April 30. Ends 4/30.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway April 26, 2013. Open Worldwide. Ends 4/25.
  

• Audio Book Review: Hunter: A Thriller by Robert Bidinotto, Thriller; my rating 4.75.
  

• Saturday Snapshot (4/27/13) Fuzzy Bird and Squirrel
  

• Sharing Beyond Books #97 Comment Giveaway 4/27/13. Ends 5/3.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement April 28, 2013.
  

Finished Reading:

1. eBook/Print

The Wolf of Tebron 
by C. S. Lakin
Very entertaining.
I didn't get the review posted so it will go up this week.
Click on title for full Book Description

2. eBook/Kindle
 

Magnificent Devices, a steampunk adventure novel (Magnificent Devices)
by Shelley Adina
I inadvertently read a book midseries but I will go back to the beginning - Loved it! I am holding the review 'till I finish Book 1.
Book Description
Publication Date: October 4, 2012
An air voyage to remember turns into a disaster no one may survive.
With her orphaned charges, Lady Claire Trevelyan joins the Earl of Dunsmuir’s family on an airship voyage to the Americas. If she can stay out of Lord James Selwyn’s way until her eighteenth birthday, she will be of age and cannot be forced into marriage. What she doesn’t know is that Lord James is in the Americas, too, with Andrew Malvern closing in on him—and the wonderful device he stole. But when a storm cripples the airship and air pirates swoop in like carrion birds, Claire and the children must live by their wits to make their way across a harsh landscape. Will Andrew ever see her again and right the wrong he believes he has done? Will Lord James succeed in his monumental thievery? And how exactly does Rosie the chicken evade the soup pot?
Tighten your goggles, pull on your gloves, and prepare yourself for stratagems and strangeness in the third book in the series, Magnificent Devices!

3.  ebook/Kindle
 

The New World (FREE short story)
by Patrick Ness
I picked this up from my TBR
as Just for Fun read this month.
It is a quick Sci Fi that introduces the series.
Mother, pilot, father, engineer, and 13 year old Viola, as navigator, environmentalist and survival assistant, are bringing in their scout space ship.  They are first to see and land on the planet that is to be the new home for their society, all whom have all been raised on ships. The parents are hopeful and try to encourage rebellious and resentful Viola.
The writing is easy reading with a plot that sets up the opportunity for adventure in the series which I am pulled into adding on my TBR lists.

Book Description
Publication Date: September 27, 2010
In this dramatic short story -- a prequel to the award-winning Chaos Walking Trilogy -- author Patrick Ness gives us the story of Viola's journey to the New World. Whether you're new to Chaos Walking or an established fan, this prequel serves as a fascinating introduction to the series that Publishers Weekly called "one of the most important works of young adult science fiction in recent years."

4.  eBook/Kindle

Ten Reasons to Stay
by Sabrina Jeffries
This is satisfying for a quick romance. 
I picked this up at NetGalley and will post a review this week.
Book Description
Publication Date: May 6, 2013
A delightful eNovella from New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries about a young woman who learns that you can’t learn about love from a textbook.
In “Ten Reasons to Stay,” previously published in the anthology The School for Heiresses, lessons go far beyond etiquette and needlepoint. Eliza Crenshawe’s lesson is to look before she leaps. But when she discovers that her new guardian plans to marry her off without so much as a Season, she forgets all that. She flees—on a horse she unwittingly steals (oops!)—from Colin Hunt, a newly minted earl who wants nothing more than for her to go home…or stay forever.

5. Audible
 

Frost Burned: Mercy Thompson Book 7
Author: Patricia Briggs
Another great Mercy Thompson Story
 - lots of action.
Read for my own pleasure and 
I'll post a review this week.
Publisher's Summary
Mercy Thompson returns in the seventh novel in the number-one New York Times best-selling series.
Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman - the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack - has made her a stepmother to his daughter, Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more....
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam - or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.
©2013 Patricia Briggs (P)2013 Penguin Audiobooks

Line Edits/Releases:
Working on releases for May, eBook and Print.

Currently reading:

1. Print

Cowboy Take Me Away
by Jane Graves
This is a fun romance. I have a day to finish and then will post with ARC Giveaway.
Reviewing for Forever, Hachette.
Book Description
Release date: April 30, 2013 | Series: Rainbow Valley
Click on title for full Book Description

2. eBook/Kindle

Lady of Devices, a steampunk adventure novel (Magnificent Devices)
by Shelley Adina
This week I will read the 1st book in the series since I read book three out of order. :-).
Book Description
Publication Date: May 29, 2011
Book One of the Magnificent Devices series, a novel of 54,000 words.

London, 1889. Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world.

At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire’s talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices.

When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals . . .

3. Print

Jack Absolute
by C.C. Humphreys
I have just started this and like the writing.
My review, for Sourcebooks, is to post on May 3 as part of a tour.
Book Description
Release date: May 7, 2013
Introducing the unforgettable...Jack Absolute.
The year is 1777. As the war for American independence rages across the sea, London is swept off its feet by Jack Absolute, the dashing rogue in Richard Sheridan's comedy The Rivals. That is, until the real Jack Absolute, former captain of the 16th Light Dragoons, returns after years abroad to discover this slander of his reputation.

Before he can even protest, he is embroiled in a duel over an alluring actress of questionable repute, and his only escape is the one he most dreads: to be pressed again into the King's service—this time, as a spy for the British in the Revolutionary War.
From the streets of London to the bloody battlefields of Saratoga, from the forest fights to the Hudson to the seedy corners of wintry Philadelphia, Jack Absolute marks the exhilarating beginning of an epic historical series and a character you won't soon forget.
"The finest series of historical novels since Patrick O'Brian."—Good Book Guide UK
"An absolute delight! Swashbuckling adventure, eighteenth-century wit, hugely entertaining plots, and one of the most appealing military gentleman every to wear a sword."—Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander and the Lord John Grey series.
"If you like the American Revolution seen from a completely unexpected point of view, plus romance laced with violence and imminent death, this is your kind of book."—Thomas Fleming, author of Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge

4. Audible
 

Loyalty in Death: In Death, Book 9
UNABRIDGED
    By J. D. Robb
    Narrated By Susan Ericksen
        Series: In Death, Book 9
I am enjoying another Eve Dallas mystery.
Grabbed this from my Audible Library.

Publisher's Summary
Eve Dallas returns to face her most ingenious foe - a "secret admirer" who taunts her with letters...and kills without mercy.
An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses". And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back. It's her city...it's her job...and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit - before the city falls.
Crack another case with Eve Dallas.
©2007 J. D. Robb; (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

I continue to listen to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. [Reading and listening on MP3.] I am studying with the Tyndall One Year Bible this year, hoping to read daily along with my DH.

Line Edits: Several more releases being prepared for the next few weeks. I am still doing more Smashword conversions in between print formatting.

I have completed fifteen books for April with probably two more to be finished by Wednesday. I have several reviews to post though. It was a good, comfortable month of reading. 

I have fewer books lined up for May, so I can pick some more that I want. Eight of these are print which means two print books a week that may be harder... I will probably get one or two of them on Kindle for quicker reading (listening).

May Scheduled:
May 3: Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys
Early May: Kindle Fire Giveaway

May 22:  Review + Giveaway: New Wings by Donna Stanley (Glass Road PR)
Other Giveaway Hop to be added

Sourcebooks: (Both release 5/7)
     Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster
     Undone (The Amoveo Legend) by Sara Humphrey

Hachette - Forever
     Barefoot in the Sun by Roxanne St. Claire (April 30)
(All 5/28)
     Haven Creek (A Cavanaugh Island Novel) by Rochelle Alers (May 28 $7.59)
     The Sweet Spot (Sweet on a Cowboy) by Laura Drake $5.69
     It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis $7.59

NetGalley
     Top Ten Reasons by Sabrina Jeffries (read, review to post)
     Secretly Smitten Anthology (Thomas Nelson; with print Giveaway)

Harlequin
     Better Than Chocolate (Life in Icicle Falls) by Sheila Roberts
 
Audios
     To be Selected
Author Titles
     TBD 

From TBR Collection - TBD
Won Book - Lady of Devices.
Free Kindle/Nook or Smashwords: TBD