The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne

THE DUKE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Victorian Rebels (Volume 6)
Kerrigan Byrne
St. Martin's Press

Pub Date: 08/28/2018
ISBN: 9781250122568

Summary:

He is known only as The Rook. A man with no name, no past, no memories. He awakens in a mass grave, a magnificent dragon tattoo on his muscled forearm the sole clue to his mysterious origins. His only hope for survival—and salvation—lies in the deep, fiery eyes of the beautiful stranger who finds him. Who nurses him back to health. And who calms the restless demons in his soul…

A LEGENDARY LOVE

Lorelei will never forget the night she rescued the broken dark angel in the woods, a devilishly handsome man who haunts her dreams to this day. Crippled as a child, she devoted herself to healing the poor tortured man. And when he left, he took a piece of her heart with him. Now, after all these years, The Rook has returned. Like a phantom, he sweeps back into her life and avenges those who wronged her. But can she trust a man who’s been branded a rebel, a thief, and a killer? And can she trust herself to resist him when he takes her in his arms?

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound | Powells

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kerrigan Byrne
Whether she’s writing about Celtic Druids, Victorian bad boys, or brash Irish FBI Agents, Kerrigan Byrne uses her borderline-obsessive passion for history, her extensive Celtic ancestry, and her love of Shakespeare in every book. She lives at the base of the Rocky Mountains with her handsome husband and three lovely teenage girls, but dreams of settling on the Pacific Coast. Her Victorian Rebels novels include The Highwayman and The Highlander.

Review:

I didn't know what I was getting into with this book. Naively, I expected Almack's with a dash of amnesia. What I got was so much better.

This book has PIRATES.

Most of the action (and believe me, there is a lot of it) happens at sea or on the coast. There are twists and turns, all neatly foreshadowed. There's a heroine who is swept along for the ride and who never gives up on believing in good. There's a hero who is certain he is no such thing thanks to his terrible past, both forgotten and remembered.

I was initially sceptical of the romance, after a sham of a wedding at sea, but it gets better. A LOT better. I especially enjoyed the sections in Ash's head, because he is so hard to read, at least at the outset. When he does soften, it's with a suitable grovel, which really sealed the deal for me. I'm a sucker for guys who walk in the darkness but can't help but be drawn to the light of a single person.

While certainly descriptive and action-packed, the book was let down a little by some purple prose, the most florid probably 'two tortured orbs of onyx'. It was a little distracting at times, but not enough to pull me out of the story completely.

I certainly didn't realise that this was book six in a series, but the references to other happy couples should've clued me in. It stands well on its own and has me interested in some of the other stories mentioned as well.

Four stars.

I received an ARC of this book from St Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are my own.

Catch Him If You Can by Jennifer Shirk

Title: Catch Him If You Can

Author: Jennifer Shirk

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: August 13, 2018

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Series: Accidentally Yours

Format: Digital eBook

Digital ISBN: 9781640636156

Synopsis:

Veterinarian Wade Roberts is done with love. But try convincing the elderly folk of Cape Harmony who are determined to play matchmaker. Now the young single women in town are bombarding him with baked goods and love notes, and being “taken” is the only way to stop the meddling grannies—which is why he needs a fake fiancée. Fast.

Arden Pearson loves planning weddings. Other people's weddings, that is. After her own engagement ended in disaster, she prefers to live vicariously through her work. But when she needs to persuade a big client that she’s capable of planning the celebrity wedding of the year, she’s willing to go as far as pretending to be engaged herself to her best friend’s older brother.

Soon their ruse has everyone in town believing they make the perfect couple—including Arden. She’s always been nothing more than a kid sister to Wade, and it might take a village to convince him otherwise...

Add to your TBR list: Goodreads

Available: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iTunes

Excerpt:

Copyright© 2018 Catch Him If You Can

Jennifer Shirk

Wade stood in line at the Drip N Sip, about seven people back, mentally warming up to let good old matchmaking Judy Tavish have an earful. What a friggin’ exhausting morning he’d had at work on Saturday, combating the flirting, the date requests, and the come-ons. Becky was right. His office had served more like a singles bar than a veterinary clinic. Well, no more. He was done with that, but mostly he was done with the meddling gray-haired coffee barista, looking over at him now and shooting him that wide, cheery-assed smile of hers.

“Oh, hello, Wade!” Judy waved, all sunny and good-natured, which ironically had the direct opposite effect on his already foul mood. He gritted his teeth and didn’t wave back.

“And what animal peed on your parade?” a feminine voice asked beside him.

He glanced to his right. Arden Pearson stood next to him with arms folded and an amused grin on her glistening pink-glossed lips. Arden was his sister’s best friend and all-around town sass-mouth—at least to him. He’d known her since high school when she had braces and blond hair down to her butt. Her mouth was still as sassy—maybe more so—but the braces were gone and her straight hair was cut shoulder length in a mature, professional style now. He’d always thought she was a cute girl back then, but as an adult, she was pretty damn stunning—when she wasn’t ribbing him. She had moved back to Cape Harmony about five years ago to open up her wedding planning business. Wade rarely ran into her in town unless she was with Kinsley, which made this day all the more agitating.

He turned away. “Right now, I’d actually welcome being peed on,” he muttered.

She made a tsk tsk sound. “Wow, you are having a bad day. Well, join the club.”

“Join the club?” Wade turned back to her and blinked. Damn, she had the prettiest eyes. The most unique kind of blue he’d ever seen. He immediately looked away. “Are you being bombarded at work and at home by hordes of single marriage-minded women?”

“Well, no— Wait.” She laughed. “Hold on. Are you?”

“Yes. And it’s all Judy Tavish’s fault,” he said, jerking his thumb in Judy’s direction. “She’s taken it upon herself to become my own personal walking, talking Tinder account.”

“Hmm…” Arden’s delicate brows drew together. “So, does this mean you want to book me ahead of schedule for a discount, or do you want to wait until the actual wedding proposal?” she said with a chuckle.

“I knew you wouldn’t see the seriousness in the situation.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” She shrugged. “I mean, so what if Judy thought you should get out and have some fun and gave your number to a few nice women. Oh, boo-hoo.”

He looked her dead in the eye. “Twenty-six women, Arden. Twenty-six. Not including the crowd that showed up at the clinic on Saturday with their fake sick pets. And did you know that when I got home from work there were brownies and half a baked chicken left on my doorstep.”

Arden whistled. “Damn. Remind me to use Judy when I’m looking for a date. Or need a snack.”

About Jennifer Shirk:

Jennifer Shirk is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Montlake Romance and Entangled Publishing. Her novel, FIANCE BY FATE—a 2015 Readers' Crown Finalist—became an Amazon #1 best seller for Series Romance. And recently, Wrong Brother, Right Match, WON the Sweet Traditional category of the 2017 Golden Quill Contest and became a #1 Amazon bestseller for Holiday Romance.

She resides in a beach resort in NJ, so when she's not writing or working on her tan, she's taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter and puppy (Sox).

Check out her website for News and Links: www.jennifershirk.com

And don't forget to join her mailing list for a chance to win monthly giveaways and free ARCs: eepurl.com/Q6TH1

Connect with Jennifer:  Website  | Facebook  | Twitter  | Goodreads  | Amazon  | BookBub

Siren's Curse by Katee Robert

Title: Siren’s Curse

Author: Katee Robert

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Release Date: August 13, 2018

Publisher: Indie

Series: The Sea King’s Daughters

Page Count: 76 pages

Format: Digital

ASIN: B07DJK2HQR

Synopsis:

Lorelei Fischer is cursed. A mermaid who can’t shapeshift, can’t create portals, and is no longer fully who she was meant to be. Too ashamed to admit how badly she failed to her sisters, she takes refuge in a small town in northern California and opens a used bookstore. With no way to regain what she’s lost, she resigns herself to a life half-lived.

After nearly drowning under the dark of the new moon, there’s no escaping the truth. She’s being hunted, and this enemy will stop at nothing to take her.

Lorelei must find a way to reclaim her birthright and her abilities before it's too late. Because the sea holds more monsters than she could have dreamed—and one of them wants her dead.

Look for other stories in this exciting Urban Fantasy series from Philippa Ballantine, Stacia D. Kelly, Lauren Harris, and Asa Maria Bradley.

Available at:  

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2syiT2e

Review:

For such a short read, Katee Robert sure does know how to pack a lot in! The prose is tight and descriptive, the action is non-stop, and every character had its place. I only wish it was a little longer.

While this is third in a multi-author series about mermaids, I didn't feel like I was missing out by starting here. Instead, my interest was piqued and now I'm interested in reading the other books.

There's a new wave on urban fantasy on the shores of Booktopia and I recommend giving this one a go.

Four salty stars.

I received an ARC from Barclay publicity.

Bedded Under the Christmastide Moon

THEIR MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE…

For years, Lady Melloria Whitmore has believed her childhood best friend and secret love Brigham Clarke agreed to marry her out of a sense of duty. Knowing how important Brigham’s work with Parliament is to him, she agrees to see him once a year, when he returns to his country estate for the holidays. This Christmas, Mellie vows to give Brigham the one thing he has always wanted: an heir. For one night, she’ll share his bed, and she’ll have that memory of passion to get her through the long winter nights without him.

IS ABOUT TO BECOME A MARRIAGE OF LOVE.

Except Brigham doesn’t want just one night—he wants forever. He’s loved Mellie all his life, and making her his Viscountess Whitmore was his dream. He just never thought Mellie returned his feelings. So when Mellie begins her seduction under the Christmastide moon, Brigham receives the best gift of all: his wife’s love.

Available at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay

Review:

Mellie has always loved Brigham, the Viscount next door. For his part, Brigham always planned to offer for Mellie's hand. When a sudden death forces his hand, they find themselves in what each thinks is a marriage of convenience.

Yep, they both spend <em>five years</em> pining over their spouse.

That might be the entirety of the plot, but this novella packs a lot of angst into so few pages. You know they are meant to be together if only one of them could spit it out. Both Mellie and Brigham are well fleshed out for such a short book and I love how the author romanticised Brigham's glasses. True love really is blind!

For a short read with angst and passion, pick up this one - though be warned, the last scene left me thinking "that can't be comfortable..."

Four pining stars

I received an ARC from Barclay Publicity

The Highlander's Stolen Bride by Eliza Knight

Synopsis:

After a harsh betrayal, Magnus “Strath” Sutherland, Laird of Dornoch, accepts a commission from the king to squelch an English lord’s siege at the Scottish border. What better way to torment his new English enemy than to defeat his army and steal his beautiful bride? At first, Strath plans to toss the Sassenach lass into a dark cell and forget about her, but there is something about the way she defies him that he finds alluring, not to mention how very much he’d like to kiss her.

Eva de Clare, youngest daughter of the Earl of Northwyck, is pledged in matrimony to a cruel lord blackmailing her family. Her salvation comes in the form of a terrifying Highlander who interrupts
the ceremony. But salvation turns to horror when she’s plucked from where she stands and whisked
across the Scottish border. Eva isn’t about to be made a prisoner of war, and once she sees the
kindness beneath her captor’s hard exterior she decides she won’t be sent back to England to be wed either. In fact, she just might be the woman to warm the Highland warrior’s hardened heart.

Review:

Eva loves her father, even though he is draining their Earldom dry at the behest of the odious Lord Belfinch. Things become untenable, however, when he offers her hand in marriage. She sees no way out - until a band of Scots invade the keep and rescue her from the altar. They are led by the handsome and honourable laird Strath, who has orders of his own.

I enjoyed the character of Eva, as she reached out to help people despite her own circumstances. I can't say she was always the most sensible but she meant well and that counts for a lot. The growing bond between her and Strath was nice - they didn't fall in love immediately, though it was a close thing, but you do get to see them bicker and tease each other. Strath has his own problems and tended to overreact, and I wish someone had called him out on that.

I do feel like the ending came rather abruptly, for the number of plot lines that were hanging. I have no problem with the content of the end, but it seemed to be a deus ex (or three) and leaned a bit heavily on telling rather than showing.

While a quick Google lets me know this is second in a series that is a spinoff of another series, I thought it stood well on its own and was not overwhelmed by past characters. This was a solid Scottish romance where everyone got what they deserved, but while I liked it, I didn't love it.

Three stolen stars.

I received an ARC from Barclay Publicity

Download at:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Icge2Y

B&N: http://bit.ly/2McY9V6

IBooks: https://apple.co/2Kawk2o

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2MLNL7K

I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness

This is a classic modern coming-of-age story set in rural Australia. It’s the story of Hamish, who has exactly one friend, and how his life changes after popular Charlie Parker dies in a car accident. It’s well written and peppered with Aussie slang, though a little predictable at times.





I can’t call this an easy read. It’s full of grief, past and present, and painful self-discovery. Hamish can be selfish, thoughtless, and a terrible friend - at least he’s candid about his faults and grows.





I am not the target audience for this book - I couldn’t see myself in any of the characters, I am only too glad to be free of high school, and the only happy thing about the ending is that it isn’t an ending at all - it’s a hopeful “life goes on” to what would otherwise be a rather depressing read. On the other hand, while this book might not be for me, I am sure there are others for whom it will resonate, and I hope it finds its way into their hands.





Three lonely stars.






I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley