Carole´s Monday: Sweet Valentine

 

Author: Reina M. Williams

Title: Sweet Valentine

Series: Montana Matchmakers

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: ebook

Pages: 50

Published: January 31, 2020

Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

Cutler Manning and Nora Delgado believe they left their love in the past...

Nora Delgado is where she never thought she’d be: in Loving, Montana. Since Nora and her sister had to leave their family ranch after the death of their father, Nora feels she has to continue being the responsible, practical sibling. When the one person who brought out her impulsive side walks into her life again, trying to pull her back into his, she pushes back. But Cutler is determined to show Nora that there’s only one valentine for him, and that’s the one woman he left, but loves: Nora.

Review:

Gotta love a nice quick story! 

Here we follow Cutler and Nora. They believe they left their love in the past, but they will find that their feelings never really went away. Nora is where she never thought she'd be...in Loving, Montana. Cutler is determined to show Nora that they are meant to be and she is his only valentine. 

Quick and super sweet! The perfect read to cuddle up with while a blizzard blows into town and that is what I did. 

Nora is super serious and has a lot of walls. Cutler is a romantic and wants Nora back. You can see that Nora loves him too. 

This had a lot of 'Persuasion' feelings here. They fell apart because Nora was persuaded to break it up and Cutler made something of himself. Very nice touch I didn't realize until I finished reading.

Honestly, I feel like this could've been longer. I would've loved to learn more about Nora and Cutler before they broke up, break up, and reunited. I feel like I would've connected more with them then. They were a little 2D. Still a fun couple though. 

In the end...short and sweet. Very nice seeing them give love another chance. 3 stars from me.  

Challenge(s):

- #5 for Romance Reading Challenge - Non-Xmas holiday

Audio: Murder of Crows

 

By: Anne Bishop

Narrated by: Alexandra Harris

Series: The Others (Bishop), Book 2

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Release date: 03-04-14

Urban fantasy/own

Narration:

Alexandra Harris is the BEST

I read the series, eh. I listened to it, GOLD! And now I am doing a re¨listen and I can´t put it down cos omg this series is just so amazing. I can go all Heartstrikers over it. LOVING IT

Oh and a MUST in audio.

LOOOOOVE

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard - Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader - wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat. As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet - and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

Audio: Accidentally Aphrodite

Book 10 in the Accidentally Paranormal series

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Narrated by Hollie Jackson

Publication date Jan 31, 2023

Running time 8 hrs

Paranormal romance / to review

Good narration, she made them all seem fun and relatable, though one of the voices was not a fav of mine. Her book might not be for me. But the rest of the voices were good 

I am aware it is book 10, and there were a lot of side characters that must have had their own books. But in the end it did not matter. This was Quinn´s book, and those side peeps were her new friends. With their own baggage

It was a shortish fun story. Quinn goes to Greece after her ex left her. Boom. Magic! Big books and the powers of Aphrodite. What on earth happened?!

If I were to have questions it would be, if Aphro is the Goddess of love for the entire world, then there are no other gods? Why just the Greek ones? They were not first. I love mythology so my head brain goes haywire.

Oh and then there is Khristos that says he will help her with her new powers. Hot single Khristos.

Learning to match people, guarding your heart from a hunk, and new quirky friends. That sums it up. A fun story

Mythology buff Quinn Morris has always wanted to visit Greece, where her inner hardcore romantic envisioned proposing to her boyfriend. And she's finally here--with her friend Ingrid. She might not have found love at the Parthenon, thanks to her cheating ex, but she has found big boobies...and swirly purple eyes...and sparkling skin. Oh, and Greek hottie Khristos, who claims to be descended from a goddess and swears Quinn's the new Aphrodite.

With help from Khristos, and support from Ingrid's employers--Nina, Wanda, and Marty--Quinn has to learn all the tricks of the matchmaking trade, STAT, lest she has her new friend Cupid sticking arrows in all the wrong places. All while dealing with her man-hating mother, guarding her own heart from Khristos, and protecting herself from an invisible foe who might want to snatch Quinn's newfound powers from her--dead or alive.

Joint Discussion: Daughter of the Blood

Hello all! We will be discussing "Daughter of the Blood" by Anne Bishop. Blodeuedd is in red and Carole is in purple.

Author: Anne Bishop
Title: Daughter of the Blood

Series: The Black Jewels #1

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal
Published: March 1, 1998

Pages: 288

Summary:

The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy--the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, and the destiny of an entire world is at stake.

Discussion:

 

I dnfed this once before, but hell it is Bishop! So I tried again. Big mistake

I’ve been itching to try some other stuff by Bishop since we don’t have a new one yet for the series…..this sounded SOOOO good. :/ Which it started off okay…but yeah…

It was just so boring. I did not care about ANYONE. And the way it was built was just scattered somehow

Sighssss yes. I didn’t really connect with anyone. They all seemed so 2D and just atypical and boring. 

I was just reading reviews on GR, you really either love it, or dnf it, lol

LOL I did the same thing. Some folks are IN LOVE and just raving about it. Some, like us, are meh. I wanted to like this so bad. The first like 20 pages (or so) I was super vibing with it, but then I literally struggled to finish. I had to push myself. 

I had to start skimming, I could not have finished any other way. It was freaking impossible.

Yes I started skimming the last 40% of the book. I was literally falling asleep and I wanted to DNF, but I knew we wanted to discuss so I just got through it. 

Same, I only finished for our discussion. And ugh, like wtf, it was getting so freaking pedo.

RIGHT? Like I kinda liked one dude at first (Daemon I think it was???) but they all got weird. 

Yes! I was all ok, sure weird, but at least he does not fancy her, and then he was getting feelings. Like wtf dude, sure you held off, but that is a child. He was attracted to a child. Ugh such a pedo book

Oof it was rough. Like creepy everyone. Maybe if she as like 16…I could forgive it bc it is a mediveal fantasy, but she was YOUNG. 

Just euw euwwwwwwwww.

Maybe later books are better bc she is older and whatnot, but IDK. It kinda bugged me how adult this was and the main character is like a kid.

Considering how it ended. Euw. And nope, he liked her now so he is ruined for me. May he burn in hell. 

And I know she was like I will write this cool book where men are whores, but it does not feel flipped around. He is what? I forgot, centuries upon centuries old and has to whore for everyone?!

Just weird. Super weird. 

And the whole jewel thing frankly confused me.

Yeah. When I felt I understood….they threw something else and then I was confused again. The world, in general, confused me. 

I felt like I needed a map and a glossary

OMG yes that would’ve been super helpful!! I feel like we need a short story just about the world and stuff. 

The world was helluva confusion. Like was this all hell? Yeah, whatever. 

I also felt like all women were bitches…or saints

Like I said earlier. All 2D. The nice ones were just saints and angels. The bad ones were just mean to be mean. No reason just angry bitches. I get the side characters being a lil flat…but the main characters even felt like stereotypes and simple. Too simple. 

A very simplistic world and character building

Too simple which is a bummer for sure! The author in the other series we love built such a wonderful set of characters and a world that was so fleshed out! 

I will always love that world. This one, no

Which is a bummer. I was really craving some medieval fantasy! Sighs. 

I am reading some reviews for book 2 now. Someone called it a clusterfuck

Oof that is no good. Maybe I’ll try book 2 one day if I am bored and not sure what to read LOLLL

I was stupid and bought and omnibus so I have them all

Girrrrrrrrrrrl. We’ll have to try book 2 one day together I guess. Hahahaha

Nooooooooooooo

Hahahahaha maybe in like 5 years when we forget about this one ;)

Can I ever forget?

Maybe? Time heals all wounds?

About the Authors

Carole and Blodeuedd have been blogging for a long while now. For the last few years the epic duo has been discussing books, watching movies, and even wetting the pen and sharing their stories with the worldwide web. They both love cats, chocolate, and a good story.