Still torn on this one
343211
This is a source book that is really ment if you are running a Forgotten Realms campaign and want to expand into the underdark. If you are looking for material for a home-made campaign this might not be the right book for you. It does offer a lot of background info about places, people, and events in the underdark of FR. Some of it can be adapted for home-made but most will not be of use.
4542441
I was really looking forward to reading this one but from the first I struggled with it. About Stephen, who is always in his cups though rarely what one would consider drunk, of the 7 brothers his is a tortured soul. Which is why he numbs himself with drink, that is until he is forced to take Brighid back to Wales. Along the way, he has to give up drinking since there aren't any ale houses in the wilds of Wales.

I just couldn't get into this one for some reason. It rather dragged actually. I couldn't quite put my finger on WHY I wasn't happy with it. I did like Stephen, he was the most sarcastic of the bunch and I thought Brighid was a great pairing for him. Still, there was something missing from the story that I can't quite put my finger on.

I read this one AFTER I read THE BRIDES OF CHRISTMAS: The Unexpected Guest, which I really liked. I won't give a review of that book until I read the other two stories. So I had high hopes for the story about Stephen but was disappointed.
3541632
I have loved each book written in this series, but this one left me feeling torn. It's good but the story lacked something, like it was written in a rush to get it published. I am still looking forward to more in this series.
3812407
I must say that I am completely torn on this one! I loved the writing, I even loved the story, I am just not sure how I feel about myself since I do! The story just feels like a no no! With all the turmoil inside of me though I still must see what happens next. So, on to the Amazon kindle store!!
4283600
Let me start off by saying that I adore K. Bromberg and have loved all of her books, but this one just didn't do it for me.

Grant is amazing. I loved him. He was swoony and sexy and funny and I loved his relationship with his brothers and his parents. He was the saving grace of the story.

Emerson is something else and, honestly, I couldn't stand her. The way she treated Grant upset me quite a bit. I get that what happened to her can have a lasting effect, but it felt over the top to me.

The chemistry was a bit lacking, in my opinion, and this felt more like in-lust(ish) than in-love. IDK. I just didn't feel it.

There's no denying that K. Bromberg can write a book. The writing was great and the storyline was good. It's just that the female lead fell short for me this time. It makes me happy to see that I'm in the minority with my feelings, though.

I really can't wait for the other two books in this series, because I'll always be a fan of K. Bromberg. I'm hoping I'll have better luck with a different Malone brother.
3870986
There are many differing opinions on this book.  I am a huge fan of Elin Hilderbrand and really liked Winter Stroll BUT  there were too many unanswered questions at the end.  It did feel like coming home and meeting up with Kelley Quinn and his family.  Unfortunately this holiday season there is much going on and none of it is good.

Kelley is still in love with his ex-wife Mitzi who left him a year ago for George, who was the once a year Santa for the Inn's holidays. Son, Patrick is in jail leaving his wife Jennifer to deal with their three boys.  She is having a hard time dealing with it all and has found a few 'crutches' to help her through.

Son,Daniel and his fianc,Isabella, have a daughter Genevieve who will be baptized soon.  Isabelle is very jealous of Daniel's ex-wife Norah.

Daughter, Ava is currently in a relationship with Scott.  Then while on a caroling stroll with some of the school staff Roxanne falls and injures her ankle.  Here comes Scott to the rescue.  He goes with Roxanne to the hospital, stays with her through surgery the next day and then brings her home the following day. Through all this there is little conversation with Ava and Scott.

At the baptism Ava runs into Nathaniel her ex-boyfriend.  He was the boyfriend who gave her a pair of rubber boots as a gift.  That never sat well with her.  Now with Scott not around Nathaniel  has made it clear that he still has feelings for Ava and wants her back.  He sends her a beautiful large bouquet of flowers that Ava leaves on her dresser along with the card.

When Scott finally does return he sees the flowers, reads the note and is livid.  He said he was only away because Roxanne has no family or friends and if he wasn't there she would have no one.  Scott and Ava had more than a few words.  Saying he had to go pick up a prescription for Roxanne he stormed out.

Bart is in the Marines and stationed in Afghanistan and not twenty four hours after his unit arrived there they are all kidnapped by terrorists.  They have now been held prisoners-of-war for a year and Mitzi is beside herself.  She always seems to be on the edge ready to go over but never quite makes it.

As you see there is lots going on.  When the story ends we still don't know what has happened to Bart.  We also don't know what happens with Ava, Scott and Nathaniel and Patrick is still in jail.  I am looking forward to the final book in the Winter Street Trilogy.
2162658
Man... this read was a hard one for me. While the intimate scenes are pretty hot the emotional side messed with me. I was Team Liam from the go and I honestly wanted to knock Abi upside the head. Like, how many times does your husband have to say & show that he loves you before it actually seeps in?!?! And then theres Del. He friend-zoned himself and totally regrets it. And while yeah, that sucks; I still wanted Abi to snap the heck out of her stubbornness and end up back with her husband. And while yeah that happens, thats not all that happens & I didn't like how she went about it all. Still married, sleeps with her husband then goes to Del and sleeps with him like its all good. There was just too much flip-flopping for me. Of course, to each there own.
1888441
I love just about everything Cardeno C. has published, especially "Wake Me Up Inside" - the first book in the Mates Series. And after finishing this book, I have a hard time reconciling the same author wrote Both books. As a few other reviewers mentioned, maybe Cardeno C was trying to use her word choices to differentiate between time periods and locations, but it just left me feeling like this was written by a completely different person.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this book, but I was so looking forward to the next one in this series, and feel really let down now I've finished it. I've come to count on Cardeno C books as favorites I will re-read over and over; this one, however, won't be one of them. Frankly, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around this book having been written by her??
1317998
Really, that's where we leave off.  This story is killing me slowly.  When will poor Sean & Avery get to the happy.  This story is confusing me, we've lost track of the sexy romance & the hot love.  I enjoyed the talk with Peter, but has Sean really left yet, I thought he was still in town.  What's the story with Henry, where did that anger come from, woa.

Hoping its not too long for more, I'm starting to lose the flow of the plot.  Didn't connect as well with this part, may have to re read.  I miss Sean & thought this was a bit lacking in explanation of Henry.  Really thought Sean might have been watching over her & heard about the attack & come to his senses.  Poor Avery, when will she get treated better.

Looking forward to more.
1434455
I love the characters. Apollo, Dylan, the girls. I loved their HEA, and that Apollo is open to getting married again.

What I didn't love, however, is the fact that, despite a couple of characters saying how much he needs one, Apollo never did talk to a grief counselor. I hate stories like this where the "cure" for someone's issues is to just admit to themselves that they're in love and then do whatever it takes (like repaint a bedroom and rearrange furniture) to be "the man that he deserves."

Apollo spent more than half of this book still grieving over his dead husband, and feeling guilty about being attracted not just to some younger guy, but the younger brother of his best friend. So sorry if I don't buy for one second that Apollo doesn't need serious therapy to talk through everything.

I'm still going to buy On Point when it's out, because I do love this series so far, but I just hated how quickly Apollo was able to "fix" his life so easily after being so damn miserable for so long.
880078
This was a hard one for me to give a review.  I liked parts of it very much but so much of it was like reading the same thing over.  And what's up with the ending???  I am just torn on this one.
4716995
I really was torn, I loved the first book, The two of them had so much chemistry and love. This book however it was back and forth, love , hate, off and on, the fact he was with his ex and she was aware and he still did it regardless of the reasons was unbearabl, to see her heart breaking. By the end of the book I was disgusted and angry at him, and that he lied and killed. I was not happy and almost felt down, I don't know if I can read the next one. I couldn't even start reading another book for days after the end of this one. Too much whiplash...
1698105
I am a big fan of the vampire romance books, and having read all of the big series already (Brotherhood, Midnight Breed, Demonica, Immortal Guardians, etc) I thought I would try this for some new blood.  I really wanted to love it, but I found myself disconnected from the characters, and from the "passion" she was trying to portray.  Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm burned out and should switch genres, but I found that it was just OK.  Worse yet, I could actually wait to read it.  Normally, I am dying for work to end so I can get back to my book, but I really didn't feel that pull this time.  I even downloaded and read the second book, thinking that maybe she just had to hit her stride, get past all of the business of building the mythology, and then maybe I would be connected.  Again, not so much.  I liked the idea of the world she creates, but I just didn't feel it.
4530216
Okay...I'm having a tough time with this one. I hate giving it 2 stars, but that's just how it has to be.  This book just wasn't for me, and that's the main reason for the low rating.  The writing is good, so that wasn't it, and I liked the previous book in this series, Want It, so I do think the author's writing has an appeal.  Just the whole premise wasn't something I enjoy, and once I got to that first club scene, where Dani works, and Rand came in for the first time in the story, acting the way he acted, that made me instantly dislike anything else in the story; it was tainted after that.  The way Rand acted was enough to make me not like him, and Dani's reaction to those actions was very unpleasing to me.  I was having an issue liking the characters from the beginning anyway, and this just made reading further a tough act; it was almost a DNF, but I hate not finishing a book, so I persevered and continued on; I did have to skim some of the story though.  It's difficult to care anymore, when I don't like the characters too much, and the rest of the book is mainly sex scenes, which are mainly of the BDSM variety, and I actually don't mind that, but reading about characters, whom I don't care about, being intimate just doesn't do it for me.  Dani being a con artist was a turn off for me as well.  So it's tough for me to accurately rate this when I just don't like the story idea.  I actually really enjoy alpha males, but not when they do what Rand did in that club.  I think those actions just turned me off to the whole rest of the story, and that's a shame.  The ending was nice enough, I would have liked a bit more ending, but I think it was good.  This book is all about Dani and Rand's relationship, and not much else happens, this is definitely a sex driven book, and I don't mind books that are all about the relationship of the couple because it shows the way in which their connection grows, so I enjoyed that aspect, and I knew what was going to happen,  but I didn't see very much growth in Dani and Rand.  All in all, this just wasn't for me, I stopped reading motorcycle books because if the crud that the guys do in those books, and Risk It, wasn't that bad in that department, but I prefer books with guys who are alpha, but sweet.  Okay, Okay, I ranted too much, but that just shows how much it influenced my view.
4926044
There were so many avenues to explore here. Court intrigue, the drug and the effects on humans vs. Fae, the relationship with her father and friends, etc. But it feels the same. For $8 we see Alex running around tired all the time, being propped up by a guy, and harrased by mean old women. Then of course, she is still torn between Falin and Death while not one but TWO other men want to marry her. Winter, and Shadow suitors. I'm getting weary of Alex, a strong witch and planeweaver being the constant damsel in distress who can't seem to ever do her own shopping or even laundry. I feel bad for her dog. She seems unable to care for herself, how is she managing to care for a little dog when she goes blind or passes out all the time. Oh, and is only eating when a man cooks for her or takes her to Bloom. It is a real waste of a very strong potential character. She's been reduced to a damsel who needs recusing from the mean insane fae, or the mean insane fae males.

It's been done. To death. I'm tired. About as tired as she seems to be. So now, she gets her independence but for saving the court of winter, oh just a year.

I wonder what Caleb did to get his.

But I won't continue to read. I think I can finish it a better way in my imagination rather than pay someone to write about a good strong woman who is weakening. Not fading, just weak.
2051658
2.5 Stars

Dark romances seem to be all the rage right now.  I'll admit, they draw me in quite often.  There is something that intrigues me about damaged characters. Not just a little damaged...a lot damaged.  X is that. However, it wasn't enough.

Jay is a drug addicted, stripper/ some-what hooker, who has a failed memory of her past and a price on her head. X is the one who is to cash in that price, but doesn't.  He decides he has other plans. Depraved plans, cruel plans.  His motives go back years, tangled in a past that Jay only remembers glimpses of.  But X remembers it all.

Jay did absolutely nothing for me. I wanted to root for her, to get behind a girl placed in a horrible situation that she bravely steels herself to survive.  Unfortunately, I didn't find her voice strong enough. I never quite believed her point of view.  She played thoughts in her head over and over but never really came to any convincing conclusions on them.  She tried at times and I thought we were getting somewhere but then she would revert back to this mindless thing that I just couldn't care enough about.

X was a more convincing character but I found his motives shallow. That confused me immensely because he's a very strong willed and potent character.  So, to see him want to ruin someone over some immature logic felt strange and sad.  He had reason to be pissed but his anger was misdirected.  He's an interesting dude, for sure.  I would love to see more of him. The epilogue leaves much to the imagination so maybe this is something that will come to light in the future.

Here is what I did like...  It's gritty. It's dirty. And, yes, I am talking about the sex.  It's not nice. Not remotely.  It's angry sex. But, hey...I like that kind of thing on occasion.

The cover is amazing. One of my favorites this year.

Here is the thing with this kind of dark romance.... I think a lot of us, readers and writers alike, are chasing that "thing".  That something special that has happened with a couple of dark reads.  Some get pretty close, but there is a finesse to it.  With questionable consent and violent sex, you walk a fine, fine line.  One thing that I think Wild got right, was X's view on Jay's consent and I'm thankful for that.  There is still some depravity there on his end and strawberries will never taste quite as sweet to me because of it; but it was still a delicate balance that he weighed well.

That leaves me somewhere in the middle of loving and loathing this book.  I didn't dislike it but didn't really like it either.  I think there are a multitude of readers who will like it quite a lot. It just wasn't working for me as much as I hoped it would.  I don't regret reading it and am thankful for the opportunity, and as I said, hope to see more of X in the future.  Just hoping it will be with a little more of that "thing".

As always...don't just take my word for it! Check out the other reviews and scroll down for a giveaway.
2706810
Where to go with my thoughts without spoilers.

This one is tough for me.

I will start out by saying this one is well written and it has some really good spicy scenes.

I get where the author was going and where our emotions were supposed to be going, who we were supposed to be rooting for, etc.  I just honestly felt no sympathy for Danni after she decides to not heed the promise she had made.  I had tons of sympathy for her in the beginning.  I really did.  Then she was stupid, acted on her emotions and how her girl parts felt instead of, lets say, morals, and she had no guilt really.

Towards the end of the book something happened that had me saying GOOD! Run, little girl, run.  You don't want to do this and you get what you deserve.

Which makes me feel slightly hypocritical because it is no secret that I am in love with a series where our main character is choosing between her husband and the love of her life.  Why do I love that series and am not in love with this one?  I think it comes down to the characters.  That character felt guilt, this character doesnt. The male character in that book tries to stay away, this one doesnt.  That female lead is a strong independent (for the most part) woman, this one, not so much.

Other than that, I don't know what else to say without some major spoilers.  Does Danni (and Gina for that matter) finally grow some morals?  Does Oliver stay with his wife?  You will have to read it and find out for yourself.

Like I said, solid writing, though there were a couple of things I would change, I think they were there on purpose though.  There would lists like so this.  So that.  So this.  So that.  So this.  So that.

or I knew this.  I knew that.  I knew this.  I knew that.  I knew this.  I knew that.

Those were a little distracting from the rest of the writing for me.

All in all, I don't know what else to say.  This is one of those it wasn't really for me but if you like this kind of book it might be for you reads.