REVIEW - Archangel's Ascension (Guild Hunter #17) by Nalini Singh

The Book

Release Date: 6 May 2025

Goodreads Link

THE LATEST GUILD HUNTER BOOK FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR NALINI SINGH 

Aodhan and Illium. Adi and Blue. Sparkle and Bluebell. Friends become lovers, their future a wild unknown.

Finally reunited in New York, they must now learn to navigate the monumental shift in their relationship. But for these two members of Archangel Raphael's legendary Seven, there is no time to rest. As they investigate a case for the Tower that echoes the darkness from Aodhan's past, they will be forced to confront not only the scars that mark them both, but the promise of a vast power that flickers in Illium.

The threat of ascension has haunted and troubled Aodhan's Blue for too long, the forces of change immutable and without mercy...and uncaring of Illium's fierce wish to remain part of the Seven. Change is a constant in an immortal's life, and this new horizon will bring with it both terrible heartbreak and a joy extraordinary enough to reverberate through time...

My Review     5 STARS

I am so glad that we got to see more of Blue and his Adi.  It was so nice to able to see how the pair managed to navigate from best friends to so much more.  It certainly had me in tears at times.

This pair will always hold my heart, their pain and the way they always support each other is a joy to see, even if at times it is hard.

We had a little suspense as they tackle a case together along with the pain of having mortal friends and not only do we see the past of them in this new relationship, we get the future when Illium finally ascends to the Cadre and has to find a new path from one he has loved so much.

I really hope that this series is able to continue a little longer.  I would love for example to find that Elena and her Rafe are having a child of their own, celebrating with friends and that they still have strong connections with their friend group.

I can feel this series coming to an end and it makes me sad as this has been going for many years and the whole series is fantastic and you cannot help but feel as if these characters are a part of your family too.

Certainly not only a book to be recommended, but the entire series....... Hmmm maybe a re-read is due soon.

REVIEW - Archangel's Lineage (Guild Hunter #16) by Nalini Singh

The Book

Release Date: 23 April 2024

Goodreads Link

Raphael and Elena are experiencing their first ever year of true peace. No war. No horrors of archangelic power. No nightmares given flesh. Until...the earth beneath the Refuge begins to tremble, endangering not only angelkind's precious and fragile young, but the very place that has held their most innocent safe for eons. 

Amid the chaos, Elena's father suffers a violent heart attack that threatens to extinguish their last chance to heal the bonds between them and make sense of the ruins of their agonizing shared history. 

Even as Elena battles grief, Raphael is torn from her side by the sudden disappearance of an archangel. But worse yet is to come. An Ancestor, an angel unlike any other, stirs from his Sleep to warn the Cadre of a darkness so terrible that it causes empires to fall and civilizations to vanish.

This time, even the Cadre itself may not be able to stop a ticking clock that is counting down at frightening speed…

My Review     5 STARS

Cassandra knows her friends need a little nudge in the right direction as she assesses the strings of what may come to pass.

With Win missing when they are just trying to stabilize the world after the war, things are strung right for the remaining Cadre members, but now they find they are running out of time to keep the world safe.

With the immergance of someone nearly old enough to be an ancestor, they find out that the natural disasters are all leading up to one thing thanks to this entity.

As the Cadre work closely together they find more of lost history that is needed to keep them all safe and has them closer than ever.

The book had me in tears at times, especially with all the other stuff Elena has to deal with her father suddenly having a heart attack and the ensuing pain as the family heal hurt bonds and relive painful memories.

I love how the family and friends support each other and give each other the strength to carry on and the joy in each other that is needed too.

I carry on to love this series.

REVIEW - Archangel's Resurrection (Guild Hunter #15) by Nalini Singh

The Book

Release Date: 25 October 2022

Goodreads Link

New York Times Bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into the dangerous, haunting world of archangels…and a love that is legend.

For thousands of years, the passion between Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, burned furious and bright, seemingly without end. But to be an archangel is to be bound to power violent and demanding. Driven by its primal energy, Alexander and Zanaya fought as fiercely as they loved. Locked in an endless cycle of devotion and heartbreak, it is only Zanaya’s decision to Sleep that ends their love story.

Eons later, it is the Cascade of Death that wakens them both. The passion between them a flame that yet burns, Alexander and Zanaya stand together in one last battle against the ultimate darkness. But even a warrior archangel cannot win every war. Alexander’s scream shatters the world as Zanaya falls, broken and silent…only to rise again in a miracle that may be a devastating curse. For is it truly the Queen of the Nile who has been resurrected?

Only one thing is clear: this is the last beat of their passionate, angry dance. The final song for Alexander and his Zani…

My Review     5 STARS

Its been a while since i have read a book in this series and by this author.

I was completely captivated as i beheld the story of Alexander and Zanaya.  We had met Alexander in a couple of books, but had not seen much of Zanaya, but to read their backstory and witness them get their greatest ever love story was wonderful.

The tight family bonds they have, the way they can unravel and share their greatest pains , but also be each other’s greatest strengths.

This is certainly a wonderful book and a great edition to the series and the overall ongoing story.

REVIEW - Fate Book Two (Fate Book #2) by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

The Book

Release Date: 12 December 2014

Goodreads Link

Missing: Hot Italian Bodyguard Last Seen Wearing Tux... 

Dakota Dane's bodyguard is the sort of guy every man fears and every woman dreams of: chiseled abs, face of a male model, and tougher than nails. Except with her, of course. And those glimpses of Paolo's soft side are just as sinfully addictive as the rest of him.

So when he proposes to take their relationship to the next level--marriage--Dakota can't deny the thought of becoming his makes her pulse race and her knees go all wobbly. Unfortunately, when the big moment finally arrives, Paolo is nowhere to be found.

Was it something she said?

Dakota's heart won't move on until she finds out, but is she ready to face her dangerous world alone? Or will Dakota have to let go of everything she loves simply to survive?

NOTE: While reading book #1 (Fate Book) enhances the story, FATE BOOK TWO is a stand-alone story.

 My Review    4 STARS

**My thanks to NetGalley and the author, for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is the second book in the series and cannot be read before book one or read as a stand alone book.

The book starts almost where the first one leaves us, however it is still full of the authors wit and her continual twists and turns. You never know exactly is what is going to happen next.

I really enjoyed the close bond she has with her mother, the way she is assertive and knows her heart and is not afraid of putting herself in harms way for the man she loves.

Really happy either way the ending and that more than one person gets a happy ending.

REVIEW - Fate Book (Fate Book #1) by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

The Book

Release Date: 9 August 2013

Goodreads Link

DAKOTA DANE IS ABOUT TO TELL A LIE SHE'LL WISH SHE HADN'T. Because her lie is dangerous, sexy, and just showed up on campus, angry as hell and looking for her...

Ugly duckling Dakota Dane has a new boyfriend. He's male-model gorgeous, built to perfection, wealthy, and smart. He is also a lie. As in, 100% fabricated. Does it matter that Dakota has a perfectly good reason for making him up? Not really. Not when Dakota's made-up boyfriend shows up in the flesh.

So is she crazy? All signs point to maybe. But the walking, talking enigma with the deadly vibe isn't about to give her any answers or let her out of his sight. And with college just around the corner, Dakota fears her dreams of a bright future have just collided with a dark rabbit hole...
~~~
Fate.

Such a simple word, isn't it? But there's nothing simple about it. Not for me, anyway. Not when it comes to this man. I have no idea who the hell he is, where he came from, or what he wants, but his dangerous vibe tells me I should run away and never look back.

But I can't.

Because as much as he scares the hell out of me, his sinfully dark gaze and what it does to me is ten times more powerful.

And I know I want something I shouldn't. I should want my sanity. I should want college and parties and this dream I've waited for my whole life. I should want to keep that promise I made myself back in high school to make something of my life.

But now I'm looking at him, his powerful body, his predatory gaze, his sinfully shaped lips, and I know I'll never be able to walk away. So I simply keep lying to myself about there being a reason for all this. I simply tell myself it must be fate.

Because as much as he scares the hell out of me, his sinfully dark gaze and what it does to me is ten times more powerful.

And I know I want something I shouldn’t. I should want my sanity. I should want college and parties and this dream I’ve waited for my whole life. I should want to keep that promise I made myself back in high school to make something of my life.

But now I’m looking at him, his powerful body, his predatory gaze, his sinfully shaped lips, and I know I’ll never be able to walk away. So I simply keep lying to myself about there being a reason for all this. I simply tell myself it must be fate.

My Review    4 STARS

This is a fairly clean high school romance where out 19 years old FMC finds that her father is not who she thinks after she posts a picture of her pretend boyfriend on Facebook.

Dakota is a wallflower, she has one friend and is bullied at school.  Her mother is a nurse and she works a lot and her father is a photographer who travels a lot as is hardly ever home.

But the day after she posts the picture on Facebook, her whole world upends.

Her fictional boyfriend turns up knowing almost everything about her, people start noticing her and she gets run over by a girl at school that has made her life hell.

Santiago/Paolo is her body guard and gives her very little information, she has to piece most of the information together until she finally sees her father again.

She learns her skills and the chemistry between Paolo and her keeps getting in the way.

Enjoyed the ride for this book and I can see how the author had initially wanted this as a one and done book, but look forward to see how book two goes.

REVIEW - Buns (Hudson Valley #3) by Alice Clayton

The Book

Release Date: 23 May 2017

Goodreads Link

Clara Morgan is living the dream, if you can call rebranding hotels that are desperate for a new life and running any kind of marathon a dream. Which she does. But the career she loves and the endurance races that keep her adrenaline pumping have kept her too busy to put down any roots. Growing up in foster care, she’s never been able to establish traditions of her own, which may be why she’s fascinated by the rituals that generations-old family resorts are known for. She’s especially interested in the Bryant Mountain House, and not just for their secret recipe for the yummy, gooey, can’t-get-enough-of Hot Cross Buns….

Archie Bryant, the man with the Buns, is fifth generation and one-day-owner of the charming yet run-down Bryant Mountain House in Bailey Falls, New York. He’s determined to save his family’s legacy from the wrecking ball the old-fashioned way—by gritting his teeth and doing what needs to be done. There’s no way Archie will be influenced by the new hotel branding expert his father brought in to turn one hundred and fifty years of tradition on its head just to attract a faster, younger, slicker crowd. But when some of Clara’s ideas start bringing in new, paying customers, Archie can’t deny that she may have just given him a shot at keeping his resort open.

It’s sticky, it’s messy, it’s sweet, it’s Buns.

My Review    4 STARS

**My thanks to NetGalley and Galley Threshold Pocket Books, for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

Clara is a powerhouse that helps struggling hotels back from the brink and she has now been taken to Bailey Falls and the failing Byant House Mountain where she meets the owners son Archie. A man who has never recovered after the early death of his wife.

the pair constantly butt heads, until the thin line between lust and anger blurs and the pair find themselves in a lip lock.

Clara hides from her painful past, whilst Archie still hurts about his wife and is quite ridged to start off with until she starts to soften his corners.

When a new company takes over the business she works for, Clara is given an ultimatum that ends up hurting both of them until Clara gets her head on straight and she finally goes for the happy ending.

Loved that we still get to see more of the two previous couples and that they all join up and Clara fills the whole she didn't realise was empty.

Really enjoyed this book

REVIEW - Cream of the Crop (Hudson Valley #2) by Alice Clayton

The Book

Release Date: 12 July 2016

Goodreads Link

Manhattan’s It Girl, Natalie Grayson, has it all: she’s a hot exec at a leading advertising firm, known industry-wide for her challenging and edgy campaigns. She’s got a large circle of friends, a family that loves her dearly, and her dance card is always full with handsome eligible bachelors. What else could a modern gal-about-town wish for? The answer, of course, is...cheese.

Natalie’s favorite part of each week is spending Saturday morning at the Union Square Farmer’s Market, where she indulges her love of all things triple cream. Her favorite booth also indulges her love of all things handsome. Oscar Mendoza, owner of the Bailey Falls Creamery and purveyor of the finest artisanal cheeses the Hudson Valley has to offer, is tall, dark, mysterious, and a bit oblivious. Or so she thinks. But that doesn’t stop Natalie from fantasizing about the size of his, ahem, milk can.

Romance is churning, passion is burning, and something incredible is rising to the top. Could it be...love?

My Review     4 STARS

Sometimes bigger is better. Natalie we met in book one as one of Roxie's best friends and after the company she works for gets Bailey Falls asa client, she jumps for the chance to work there.

Whilst in her home of Manhattan, she goes to the farmers market where the usually bubbly woman suddenly goes quiet and meek when she comes up to the cheese counter and sees Oscar Mendoza, the daily farmer of Bailey Falls Creamery.

Quiet Oscar has his world bowled over when Natalie comes to town. He has always noticed Natalie at the Market and wondered why the spitfire went quiet at his stall.

When things finally change, Natalie is her true self and the pair of them cannot help themselves as they forge ahead with a relationship.

Both Natalie and Oscar have their scares, but they do eventually manage to get things sorted so that we get a happy ever after.

Really enjoyed this book and look forward to Claras story.

REVIEW - Nuts (Hudson Valley #1) by Alice Clayton

The Book

Release Date: 20 October 2015

Goodreads Link

From New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton, the first in a brand-new romance series telling the humorously sexy tale of Roxie, a private chef who gets a taste of love—but is it to stay, or to go?

After losing almost all of her clients in one fell swoop following an accident involving whipped cream, private chef to Hollywood’s elite Roxie Callahan gets a call from her flighty mother, saying she’s needed home in upstate New York to run the family diner. Once she's back in the Hudson Valley, local organic farmer Leo delivers Roxie a lovely bunch of walnuts, and soon sparks—and clothing—begin to fly. Leo believes that everything worth doing is worth doing slowly…and how! But will Roxie stay upstate, or will the lure of West Coast redemption tempt her back to Tinseltown?

My Review     5 STARS

This is the first book that I have read by this author and was certainly not disappointed. I had heard of this author when Wallbanger came on the scene, but never managed to get round to grabbing onto and reading one of her books. Now looks like I have to fight harder to read more!

This book is sweet, funny, sexy and certainly makes you feel good as the characters get involved and the former small town girl gets to fall in love with small town living again as well as getting herself a tasty treat to fall in love with too.

Book two is already bought and I can't wait to see how our sugar snaps friends get their happy ever after.

REVIEW - An Unexpected Distraction (Richter #3) by Catherine Bybee

The Book

Release Date: 30 November 2021

Goodreads Link

Family secrets and fresh romance collide in this heart-pounding Richter series installment by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee.

Jacqueline “Jax” Simon knows how to expose she’s a skilled operative with MacBain Security and Solutions. When Jax hears her parents are divorcing, she races to London to find out why. She’s determined to learn the truth, especially when her investigation uncovers why her parents sent her to Richter, the German military school that made her a fighter.

Andrew Craig collects Jax at Heathrow Airport as a favor. He’s heard she’s a handful, but he didn’t know she’s dangerously gorgeous too. His instant attraction could change his life…or end it.

Jax doesn’t want to fall for Andrew, but soon he’s worming his way into her life. Together, they infiltrate Richter to discover if it has returned to its covert training children to be spies and assassins and blackmailing parents to look the other way. As the attraction between the two intensifies, so do the secrets exploding all around them. How deadly are those secrets—and who will survive?

My Review    4 STARS

**My thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Romance, for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

In this book Jax Simon is called home by her brother as there is a family emergency.  Her brother never calls so she flys straight over to find that her brother has sent someone to pick her up.

Andrew is one of Harry's friends and is surprised by Harry's sister, she's not much like her brother described and he is instantly taken with her, even though she mistakes him for the hired help.

JAx is soon pulled into the family drama and why things are coming out now, just as there is news from Richter that things may be heading in the wrong direction again.

Andrew helps JAx where he can, the MacBain security family get involved with both family and Richter issues, finding a connection between them.  

I enjoyed the chemistry between the pair, the continued family of MacBain and the close friendship Jax has with Claire.  I loved that JAx was able to get close to some of her family members at last.

I enjoyed this book and liked that there was an ending that could lend to further books being written in the future.