Short & Sweet: Bea Reviews Vincent by D.B. Reynolds

Series: Vampires in America #8
Publisher: ImaJinn Books
Source: owned by the reviewer
Release Date: November 1, 2014
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge | Mount TBR Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Sinaloa, Mexico . . . haunting deserts, hot nights, and vampires, who’ve been there for hundreds of years, watching from the shadows, playing their games, manipulating humans, and surviving at any cost.

Vincent Kuxim, powerful and charismatic, was made vampire by an ambitious leader looking for soldiers to pave his way to the rule of all Mexico. But more than a century later, Vincent’s Sire is looking over his shoulder as Vincent closes in for the kill, ready to claim the title Lord of Mexico for himself.

Lana Arnold is a bounty hunter, smart, beautiful, and determined to chart her own future. So when the most powerful vampire lord in all of North America enlists her help in tracking down a very old and elusive bloodsucker, Lana sees nothing but opportunity. There’s only one catch. The client wants her to take Vincent—a vampire she neither knows nor trusts—along on her hunt. Then again, maybe it’s herself she doesn’t trust, because Vincent Kuxim is sex walking in a pair of tight black jeans.

Thrown together by circumstance, Vincent and Lana soon find themselves battling an evil they didn’t know existed in a fight that makes Vincent all the more determined to destroy his Sire, seize Mexico for himself . . . and keep Lana by his side forever.

February Challenge Review Link Ups

Late again, sorry. *hangs head in shame*

Post your February review links for Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, I Love Libraries, I Love Picture Books, and the month-long challenge, Winning at Reading Challenge.

Bea Reviews Dark Beneath the Moon by Sherry D. Ramsey

Series: Nearspace #2
Publisher: Tyche Books Ltd
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 31, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Smashwords*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Luta Paixon has plenty of trouble on the Tane Ikai, with relationships in flux and the sticky problem of two captains on one ship. But when an alien artifact, the remnant of a long-ago war, shows up on the other side of a newly-discovered wormhole, the crew also find themselves pressed into the service of the Nearspace Protectorate. The Tane Ikai‘s task: covertly deliver an alien historian to the site to decipher its meaning—and possible threat.

Jahelia Sord is a woman with a grudge against the world, and against Luta Paixon and her family in particular. She has her own secrets to guard, and an alliance with the notorious PrimeCorp—one she’ll keep only as long as it suits her own hunt for vengeance.

When a mysterious attack leaves them stranded in an uncharted new system, Luta, her crew, and Jahelia must try to put their differences aside and decide who to trust, while they uncover a shocking truth about the Chron war and what their old enemies are so afraid of.

Short & Sweet: Bea Reviews The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin

Series: SPI Files #3
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 30, 2016
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge |
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Men in Black meets Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum in the new urban fantasy novel starring seer Makenna Fraser and her fellow agents at Supernatural Protection & Investigation.

The agents of Supernatural Protection & Investigations (SPI) know that fighting evil is a full-time job, especially when a new designer drug—with mind-blowing side effects—hits the streets...

It’s called Brimstone. And after the first few hits, you’ll see every supernatural beast sharing the sidewalk, train, or office with you. After that, you’ll start seeing the really scary stuff.

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for the SPI. And the collateral damage caused by Brimstone is something I’d like to unsee: dead drug dealers missing their hearts—and souls. Because your local pusher doesn’t stand a chance against the new cartel muscling its way into New York. And since the drug can only be produced with magic and molten brimstone fresh from Hell, that means a rift to the underworld is open somewhere in the city.

And when—not if—the cartel loses control of it, well...

It’s going to be Hell on earth.

Excerpt, Giveaway & Review: On Thin Icing by Ellie Alexander

Series: A Bakeshop Mystery #3
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 29, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge |  NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Welcome to Torte-a small-town family bakeshop where the treats are killer good.

It's the dead of winter in the sleepy town of Ashland, which means no tourists-and fewer customers-for Jules Capshaw and her bakery. But when she's asked to cater an off-season retreat for the directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, business starts heating up...until Jules finds a dead body in the freezer.

"An intriguing new series."-Reader to Reader

Someone at the retreat has apparently iced the bartender, a well-known flirt with a legendary temper-that is, before a killer beat him to the punch. Then, from out of nowhere, Jules's own ex-husband shows up at the shop-and soon becomes a suspect. With accusations piling up higher than the snow-and thicker than a chocolate mousse cake-Jules has to think outside the (recipe) box to find the real culprit...and make sure he gets his just desserts.

"A delectable tale of murder and intrigue."-Portland Book Review on Meet Your Baker

Bea Reviews Chimera by Mira Grant

Series: Parasitology #3
Publisher: Orbit
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The final book in Mira Grant's terrifying Parasitology trilogy.

The outbreak has spread, tearing apart the foundations of society, as implanted tapeworms have turned their human hosts into a seemingly mindless mob.

Sal and her family are trapped between bad and worse, and must find a way to compromise between the two sides of their nature before the battle becomes large enough to destroy humanity, and everything that humanity has built...including the chimera.

The broken doors are closing. Can Sal make it home?

Bea Reviews Rekindle the Flame by Kate Meader

Series: Hot in Chicago #.5
Publisher: Pocket Star
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 30, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | ARe* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Cuddle up by the fire with the irresistible prequel to Kate Meader’s smokin’ Hot in Chicago series—originally published in the sizzling holiday anthology Baby, It’s Cold Outside—a superhot e-novella that will warm you from your head to your heart and all the way to your toes!

Chicago firefighter Beck Rivera always knew his destiny would be defined by two things: his dream to follow in the footsteps of his legendary foster father Sean Dempsey and his teenage passion for heiress Darcy Cochrane, the one girl who could both stoke and cool his fire. Loving her meant setting her free and breaking her heart—and his. But when a chance reunion at his family’s bar, sparked by a drunk Santa, places her in his path again, destiny can no longer be denied.

The last thing heiress-turned-tattoo-artist Darcy Cochrane needs is the rollercoaster of emotion stirred up by her first love: sexy, gorgeous man-on-fire Beck Rivera. But he always had such talented hands. And more talented lips. And...maybe one time can’t hurt. Then she’ll send him packing like he did to her all those years ago. But Darcy and Beck soon discover that nothing ignites holiday flames like rekindling a lost love.

Bea Reviews Fury (Tranquility #3) & Schemes (Tranquility #4) by Krista D.Ball

Series: Tranquility #3
Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 10, 2015
Challenges:  Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

As Lady Champion, Bethany has always made the big sacrifices, the ones that plague her with nightmares so that others can sleep. Trapped behind enemy lines and powerless to take down the barrier surrounding the Magi army, Bethany struggles to keep herself and her small team of soldiers alive – no matter the cost.

However, when Apexia’s daughters discover the true source of Magic, Bethany is forced to make the biggest sacrifice imaginable in the name of peace: the death of the Gentle Goddess herself.

Quote-Tastic & Review: In the Company of Wolves by Paige Tyler

Series: SWAT #3
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series |  NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge |  What An Animal |
Buying Links: Amazon* | Are* | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository* | Chapters | iBooks* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.

There's a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.

In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.

Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she's glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.

So what's a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who's a police officer?

2016 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge Sign Up

Finishing the Series was formerly hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews and is now hosted by me. We all start a series or six and then get behind for one reason or another. This challenge will help you catch up.

Bea Reviews Rendezvous in Rio by Danielle Bourdon

Series: The Inheritance #2
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 29, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Danger finds Madalina Maitland when a letter from her late grandfather arrives on her doorstep, bequeathing her his treasured Rain Dragon, an ancient stone figurine. But first, she’ll have to find it through a series of clues scattered across South America.

Charting a course for passion and adventure, Madalina and her boyfriend, Cole West, a private security specialist, soon discover they aren’t alone. Hot on their trail is a cabal of Chinese agents, and these deadly adversaries will stop at nothing to get their hands on the prized dragon.

From the posh communities of Southern California to the favelas of Brazil to the gorgeous beaches of Ipanema, Rendezvous in Rio is a sexy, thrilling tale that travels the world to stay one step ahead of danger.

Bea Reviews Mind Games by Laura K. Curtis

Series: Harp Security #2 
Publisher: InterMix 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | NetGalley and Edelweiss ARCs
Buying Links: Amazon* | Kobo | ARe* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Mind games turn fatal in the second Harp Security novel...

The daughter of a schizophrenic, Dr. Jane Evans prioritizes order, control, and—above all—her work in a psychiatric research lab. When an attempted kidnapping threatens to derail the project she’s on, her boss hires a bodyguard. He’s everything Jane is not, and if she can survive, she may even learn to like the difference.

Eric Sorensen owes Jane a debt he can’t possibly repay. Without her tutoring, he would not have made it through college, would not have the life he does. But none of his memories of college Jane prepare him for adult Jane. When she suddenly disappears, he follows her trail to a secret lab in a cartel-controlled Mexican jungle. Rescue seems impossible but Eric’s not the type to give up, even if it means trading his own life for hers. 

Bea Reviews The Winter Rogue Novella Series by Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot

Publisher: Montlake Romance
Series: Rogue Winter #1
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In the first thrilling Rogue Winter Novella, sleepy little Solitude, Oregon, wakes up to another deadly threat.

County investigator Seth Harding intends to spend the holidays with his newly reconciled family, but a few days before Christmas, a homicide thwarts his plan. Seth arrives at the scene and makes a painful discovery: the victim is his brother-in-law’s girlfriend. Her apartment has been ransacked and her toddler left motherless. To make matters worse, Seth’s brother-in-law, Bruce, is missing. With Solitude locked in a rare, deadly deep freeze and the temperature plummeting, the residents launch a desperate search.

Seth calls his wife, social worker Carly Taylor, to take the case so the little girl doesn’t get lost in the foster care system. With the holidays near, Carly brings the child home with them to celebrate Christmas. But when the Taylor farm is also trashed, Seth and Carly must race against time—and against a paralyzing winter storm—to find Bruce and catch a killer in the first pulse-pounding sequel to the Rogue River Novellas.

Bea Reviews Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Kitty Norville #14
Source: my local library
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | What An Animal
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* |  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The final novel in the New York Times bestselling series

It’s all come down to this, following the discoveries made by Cormac in Low Midnight, Kitty and her allies are ready to strike. But, when their assassination attempt on the evil vampire Dux Bellorum fails, Kitty finds herself running out of time. The elusive vampire lord has begun his apocalyptic end game, and Kitty still doesn’t know where he will strike.

Meanwhile, pressure mounts in Denver as Kitty and her pack begin to experience the true reach of Dux Bellorum’s cult. Outnumbered and outgunned at every turn, the stakes have never been higher for Kitty. She will have to call on allies both old and new in order to save not just her family and friends, but the rest of the world as well.

ARC Review of Valiant Heart by Angela Addams

Series: The Order of the Wolf #6
Publisher: Samhain Publishing 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Challenges:  Finishing the Series |  NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge | What An Animal |
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When the choice is love or loyalty, no matter what she chooses the heart will bleed. Slay the beasts. Save the day. Such is Ariana’s role in her first mission for the Queen. She has no reason to think the rest will be any different…until, in the heat of battle, she uses her powers to heal an injured Order Huntress.Her gift doesn’t go unnoticed. Lance, her very own Hunter, zeroes in, and a differentbattle is on. Lance is hot and very attentive, but this Amazon is determined to stayindependent.

Lance has prepared his whole life to battle alongside his mate. Now that he’s found her, nothing and no one else matters. He’s not letting her go.For the Queen’s second mission—bring the Oracle into the tribe—Ariana risks takingLance’s bond to get more power. She never expected her body to crave more pleasure, her heart to lower its defenses.As the battle rages on between Huntresses and beasts, there’s a foul plan in play that will force Ariana to decide where her loyalty lies. The cost of her choice could be a life.

Warning: Contains a squirm-worthy love triangle, plus some scenes of debatable consent between a take-no-crap Huntress and a super-hot playboy with a come-hither smile and a come-multiple-times tongue. 

Bea Reviews Forsaken by S.J.Harper

Publisher: AllRomance Ebooks
Series: Fallen Siren #3
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 2, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | What An Animal
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Join Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.
She protected him. He loved her.
They can trust one another with their lives, but what about their hearts?

Special Agent Emma Monroe is a Fallen Siren seeking redemption. Thousands of years ago, she was banished from Mount Olympus by Zeus and cursed by Demeter for failing to prevent the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades. Now she’s working for the FBI, seeking salvation while searching for and finding the missing. Her partner, Zack Armstrong, is a werewolf with a grievance of his own.

The former Black Ops sniper who once carried out a string of questionable assignments is atoning for his past. Ironically, Zack’s just discovered an important piece of his past has been magically wiped from his memory—an affair with Emma. It doesn’t matter she used the spell to save his life, that’s something he’ll never know. With trust eroded and love overshadowed by betrayal the only thing holding them together is the job.

When the son of multi-billionaire Roger Maitlan is kidnapped and his babysitter murdered in cold blood, Emma and Zack travel to New York to work the case. They go undercover, infiltrating a playground of private dungeons where those who are rich and powerful can live out fantasies without consequence. What they find is a conspiracy born of a twisted mind and fueled by greed. The clock is ticking. Will Zack and Emma be able to find the missing boy and their way back to one another? 

Bea Reviews I'll Never Let You Go by Mary Burton

Publisher: Zebra
Series: Morgans of Nashville #3
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | NetGalley & Edelweiss ARCs
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

LOVE HURTS

He promised to kill her. One night four years ago, Leah Carson’s husband almost succeeded. Philip stabbed her twenty-three times before fleeing. The police are sure he’s dead. But fear won’t let Leah believe it.

AND SOMETIMES It starts with little things. Missing keys. A flat tire. Mysterious flowers. All easily explained away if the pattern wasn’t so terrifyingly familiar. Leah has a new veterinary practice and a new life with no ties to her nightmare. But Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Alex Morgan suspects something. And when another woman’s body is found, stabbed twenty-three times, Leah knows her past has found her.

IT KILLS

As Leah and Alex untangle the horrifying truth, he watches her, ready for the perfect moment. Until death—that was the vow they made. And a killer always keeps his word…

Bea Reviews Torn & Stop At Nothing by Kate SeRine

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Series: Protect & Serve #.5
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series | NetGalley and Edelweiss ARCs
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from the author's website:

If not for Sadie Keaton, Joe Dawson’s best friend since childhood and the woman he’s been in love with for as long as he can remember, he can’t imagine where he’d be. For the past year, Joe’s been struggling with PTSD after returning home from Afghanistan with the wounds that have left him scarred—both inside and out. And Sadie’s unwavering faith and support has been all that’s kept him going. But when they finally share an unexpected moment of passion, Joe has a hard time believing that Sadie could have feelings for the damaged man he has become and worries that her heart is being ruled by pity and not love.
And those doubts are only compounded now that he’s set to resume his duty as a deputy sheriff. With his father and three brothers already making names for themselves with successful law enforcement careers, the pressure’s on, leaving Joe torn between honoring the family tradition and leaving behind the only career he’s ever known outside the military. After all, he’s heard the whispers, seen the sidelong glances, and knows what everyone’s saying—the only reason he still has a job is because his father is the Sheriff. And he worries that they’re probably right.
But when Sadie starts receiving messages from a secret admirer, messages that grow increasingly frightening and threatening, Joe has to put aside his self-doubt in order to save Sadie from the her stalker and put an end to the bastard’s dangerous game before it’s too late to confess the truth of his heart…(blurb for Torn from the author's site)

Bea Reviews Basil Instinct by Shelley Costa

Publisher: Pocket Books Mystery
Series: Italian Restaurant Mystery #2
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Challenges: Cruisin' Through the Cozies | Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In this second cozy mystery series that started with You Cannoli Die Once, a chef and her cousins launch their own investigation when a new sous chef turns up dead in their Italian restaurant.

When Chef Eve Angelotta’s grandmother, Maria Pia, is invited to join Belfiere, a secret all-female Italian culinary society, Eve is concerned. Rumor has it that membership is lifelong—whether you like it or not. Eve and her cousin Landon try to research Belfiere, but all they come up with is a two-year-old blog entry warning against the two-hundred-year-old society that centers around meals inspired by famous female poisoners.

Soon after, Eve’s new sous chef turns up dead just inside the front door of Miracolo, Eve’s restaurant. When they discover the sous chef had connections to Belfiere, Eve and her Italian cousins start a mission to find out what happened—before Maria Pia is made an offer she can’t refuse.

Bea Reviews Interlude: Stories from Tranquility by Krista D Ball

Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Series: Tales of Tranquility #2.5
Source: the author/pr firm/publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon*  | Kobo  | iTunes* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

INTERLUDE is a collection of short stories from the TRANQUILITY series. These stories are intended for those who have read the previous books and contains huge spoilers for both Blaze and Grief.

Love Notes is about Bethany and Arrago’s first month working together.

Knight’s Day Off is a story my Facebook people will have seen before. This one also takes place during those early days between Arrago and Bethany. Only this time, poor Bethany tries to take a day off work. Things don’t go according to plan. At all.

First Day on the Job is set after the events of GRIEF and is set about a week before the events of FURY. Myra, a Knight apprentice, is assigned a simple task: get Arrago, Edmund, Bethany, and the rest of the senior staff to attend a party hosted by Queen Celeste. However, it’s soon obvious that there’s more than just a party in the works and none of the main players are following the rules.

INTERLUDE is 20,000 words (about 75 pages).