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Baby, I'm Howling For You by Christine Warren

1/31/2018

1 Comment

 
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​PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Publication date: 01/30/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

Good Lord, this one had some issues. But first, I’ll start with the stuff that worked for me:
  • The story starts off with a bang. I enjoyed the action-y beginning. No boring backstory right up front. Nope. Instead, we start with the heroine on the run for her life. Very exciting.
  • It’s technically well-written. There aren’t typos or bad dialogue or grammar atrocities that pulled me out of the story.
  • I love the idea of Alphaville—a town where shifters can live in peace and mingle with their own kind.     
  • Side characters were super interesting. I’d probably 1-click the crap out of Molly’s story. (She was totally badass)  

Now for the stuff that made me roll my eyes and cringe:

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Final Siege by Scarlett Cole

1/30/2018

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ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Publication date: 01/30/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

If you’ve visited this site more than once or twice, you already know I’m a huge fan of Scarlett Cole. Her books are repeat offenders on our weekly “best of” lists, and I absolutely adored the first book in this series, Under Fire. So, it will come as a shock to no one that I loved this book as well. (When I got an email from the publisher asking if I was interested in an ARC, I made grabby hands at my computer screen and squealed with glee, even though they couldn’t see me or hear me. Not my proudest moment, but I can live with that. But anyhoo...)

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We Were One by Elizabeth Reyes

1/29/2018

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​NEW ADULT/ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Publication date: 01/29/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

If you’re an Elizabeth Reyes fan (like I am), you probably read The Girl In The Mirror, which is a kind of twisty, psychological romantic suspense read. (It’s also really awesome, but I digress...) We Were One tells the story from the hero’s (Nico) point of view. A lot of times, retellings from the male POV don’t work out (I'm looking at you, Darker) But fortunately, this isn’t one of those times. We Were One somehow manages to be a completely different story than The Girl In The Mirror, in the best possible ways.

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“Nice guy” heroes in romance novels: They don’t always finish last

1/26/2018

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“Nice guy” heroes in romance novels: They don’t always finish last
OK, I’ll admit to having a great love of tortured, angsty, damaged, grumpy heroes. I can’t really explain it, other than to say how much I love reading about that type of guy falling ass-over-elbow for the woman of his dreams. It’s usually a GREAT ride getting there. But that doesn’t mean I don’t also appreciate the hell out of a “nice guy” hero. You know, the type you wouldn’t feel weird about taking home to meet your mom and dad. Now, I’m purposefully not using the term “beta hero” here, because I think that can sometimes take on a negative connotation. Some people think if the hero isn’t an alpha, domineering a-hole, that he can’t be sexy. Well, I’ve got the reads to prove that nice guys can be alpha. And further, they can be every bit as sexy as tortured, angsty, damaged, grumpy heroes. Check out these picks for the best “nice guy” heroes in romance today:

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Blood Hunger by L.E. Wilson

1/25/2018

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PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Publication date: 12/19/2014
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

I’m a big fan of this author. If you don’t believe me, check out my reviews of Blood Choice and Blood Submission. I also added her to our list of crazy-talented paranormal romance indie authors everyone should be reading. I read Blood Hunger back in 2014 when it was first released (with a different cover, and a different blurb), so when I heard that the book had recently been professionally re-edited and a new ending (and some other new stuff) had been added, I downloaded right away. (Did I mention it’s also free? BONUS!) Overall, I’m really glad I gave this one another read. ​

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Exception by Mariah Dietz

1/24/2018

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Exception by Mariah Dietz
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​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Publication date: 01/09/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

I really enjoyed the last book in this series, Curveball. I thought it was well-written, well-paced, and overall, I really loved the characters. I wish I could say the same for Exception. But…

I really didn’t care for the hero, Joey, at all. When he first meets the heroine, he’s being a total jackass, bad-mouthing her family’s hardware store and small towns in general. It’s totally uncalled for, petty and snobby, and I kind of wanted Coen (his brother and all-around awesome hero from Curveball) to beat the crap out of him.

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Man Card by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby

1/23/2018

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​ROMANTIC COMEDY

Publication date: 01/15/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

I’ll just warn you up front, folks. This could get ugly. There could be fangirling. There could be copious amounts of undignified squeeing. I can’t help it. That’s what this book has reduced me to. I’m just a shell of the grumpy, bitter old book reviewer I was before reading the book. A happy, shiny shell who can’t stop giggling and smiling. It’s gratuitous, really. Let’s just hope I don’t resort to LOLing and OMGing. (*shudders and takes a deep breath*) Here it goes…

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Romance novel pricing: How much is too much?

1/22/2018

2 Comments

 
Romance novel pricing: How much is too much?
If you read paranormal romance, you’ve heard of (and probably read) JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and her other books set in that world. These books are fairly universally loved, usually garnering thousands of glowing reviews and ensuring the author will pretty much live on every bestseller list for weeks (or months) following each new release. (The hype is warranted, too. The series is fabulous. But I digress…) So when I found out that JR Ward had a new release, I checked out Blood Fury on Amazon eagerly and immediately. That’s where I noticed something weird. Something I’m not used to seeing on JR Ward books.

Bad reviews.

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Top 10 tattoo-artist romance heroes you’d let ink you any day

1/19/2018

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Top 10 tattoo-artist romance heroes you’d let ink you any day
Tattooed heroes seem to be polarizing in romance. Readers either love ‘em, or hate ‘em. Here at Romance Rehab, we LOVE them. We love artists, too—so why not do a combo for this week’s list and share our favorite tattooed tattoo-artist heroes in romance today? Pretty freakin’ cool right? We thought so. So, here it goes:

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Ruled by Keira Blackwood

1/18/2018

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​PARANORMAL ROMANCE
 
Publication date: 12/31/2017
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 4 out of 5

This book marks the end of the Vampires of Scarlet Harbor trilogy, which I really enjoyed. (Feel free to check out my reviews of Pierced and Hunted) So, this is a little bit of a sad review for me. More bittersweet than sad, I suppose. Sweet because it was an enjoyable read, but bitter because I won’t get any new stories about this group of immensely likeable characters.

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One Night to Fall by Kelsey Kingsley

1/17/2018

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​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE


Publication date: 12/03/2017
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Kelsey Kingsley is super cool—as both an author and as a person. She has just the right attitude and temperament (not to mention the talent) to make it to bestseller status. Even after I told her that while I enjoyed her writing style, her first book, Holly Freakin’ Hughes, wasn’t my cuppa, she very kindly thanked me for my feedback (you’d be surprised how many people don’t care for feedback AT ALL. I might’ve received a death threat or two. Just sayin’.).

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Show Me by Abigail Strom

1/16/2018

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​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE


Publication date: 01/02/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Abigail Strom is a go-to author of mine for comfort reads. You know, literary mac and cheese, or biscuits and gravy. Her books are warm and funny and sweet, with likeable characters and nothing too over-the-top angsty or plot-twisty. Just good, solid, character-driven romances. Show Me, like it’s predecessor, Tell Me, was another winner. While they’re still part of a series, Show Me and Tell Me are completely different. They can easily be read as standalones, which is nice.

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Blurred lines: The difference between porn, erotica, romance, and erotic romance

1/15/2018

5 Comments

 
Blurred lines: The difference between porn, erotica, romance, and erotic romance
Back in the old days (sometime after dinosaurs roamed the earth, but before Amazon had a stranglehold on the book selling market—back when I was a teenager, in other words), the difference between porn, erotica, romance and romantic erotica was vividly clear. Erotica was relegated to a tiny back corner of the local indie bookstore, while porn inhabited a small little back corner of the Books and Company (my medium-sized town’s only mainstream bookstore). Meanwhile, romance took up half of both stores.

​But today, the lines between porn, erotica, romance, and romantic erotica are so blurred that it’s nearly impossible to separate the categories on Amazon. Folks looking for good old-fashioned romance have to sort through page after page of misclassified porn and erotica to find it, and folks looking for porn and erotica have to filter out all the romance to find what they want. It’s frustrating and confusing, and readers everywhere are asking, what’s the difference? What constitutes porn, erotica, romance, and romantic erotica? We’re glad you asked. Here’s our take on it.


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Love is war: The best enemies to lovers romance reads you’ll ever find

1/12/2018

1 Comment

 
Love is war: The best enemies to lovers romance reads you’ll ever find
I blame Pride and Prejudice for our collective love of the enemies to lovers trope in romance. But I suppose that the “why” doesn’t really matter in this case. The fact is that the enemies to lovers trope has always been one of the most popular tropes in romance. (And the Star Wars universe these days. #Reylo #IWillGoDownWithThisShip. *clears throat* But I digress...) And with great books like the ones on this list, I don’t see that changing anytime soon…

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Sweet by Tammara Webber

1/11/2018

0 Comments

 
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​NEW ADULT ROMANCE
​

​Publication date: 04/27/2015
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

I’ll admit something, y’all. I was a little hesitant to read this book. Not because I didn’t like the previous books in the series, but because I liked them too much. I mean, how could any other hero ever stand up to the yummy awesomeness that was Landon Lucas Maxfield, who was, quite possibly, the best book boyfriend who ever, well, boyfriended? After reading Sweet, though, I’m proud to say that my hesitation was unwarranted and that Boyce does a mighty fine job of book boyfriending all on his own.

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