Nerium Oleander: Toxic Heart by Elizabeth Woodham

Synopsis: Provocative erotica designed to turn you on. Toxic in all its parts, the beautiful Oleander, Nerium Oleander, is considered by many to be the most poisonous plant in the world. Two of the most potent poisons are oleandrin and neriine, known for their powerful effect on the heart.

The Nerd Rambles: This is a short, and incredibly quick read that I received as a prize in a contest. Weighing in at 2,500 words it packs a punch. I don't want to talk too much about it because it would literally give everything away. It's interesting and dark and turns down a road that I hadn't expected it to. The piece is artistic and heavy and interesting. I wouldn't mind reading more from Ms. Woodham and I probably will go seek some out.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 2,500 words
Available Format: Epub
Publication Date: October 18, 2012 (Secret Narrative)
Author Link:  Elizabeth Woodham on Goodreads

Book Review: Melting Ice (SEALs on Fire #5) Nicole Austin.

Synopsis: Syndra Banks should be thrilled by an invitation to join SEAL team Arapahoe in Key West for a wild good time. Instead the text summons from Ice pisses her off. Why? Because he calls and she goes running, without fail, every damn time. And now she doesn’t have a choice. If Syn wants to get her personal life moving forward she has to see him again in person to break it off.

Thanks to his smokin’ hot lover, Master Chief Sam Westervelt is losing his edge. Syn is melting the ice that runs in his veins, turning it into a river of molten lust. His discipline is shot and he’s daydreaming about intense, steamy sex while on missions, putting his entire team at risk. But he has a surefire plan all figured out if he can just toe the line a little longer.

Sometimes getting what you want is as simple as reaching out, grabbing hold and not letting go.

The Nerd's Ramble: This was one of books that was rather 'up there' for me in the series. Ice and Syn have such great history and chemistry and they work together so well despite their differences. I really like the two of them, and found myself really rooting for them. I like these two characters a lot. The ending of this one made me smile, and it shows how close all of these characters really are.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Total Length: Not given
Available format: kindle, epub
Publication Date: 2013 (The Wild Rose Press)
Author Page: Nicole Austin web page

Book Review: Jagger's Moves (SEALs on Fire #4) Allie Standifer

Synopsis: Jagger’s ready to cast off the weight of his SEALs responsibility, if only for a few days. Except his mom’s a pro with guilt which has him standing in the airport waiting for his childhood friend. Maybe a quick lunch, a fast game of catch up and he’d be out the door and on his way to the bar where his teammates were waiting.

Alexa’s eager to see Ty again if only to prove her silly girlhood crush was just that, a crush. Except when she finally sees him all those old feelings come rushing back combined with a woman’s needs that leave her trembling with desire.

The Nerd's Ramble: This is the least favorite of mine out of the series. With so much history between Jagger and Alexa, it could have really sparked something incredible. The chemistry was intense and the story good, it just lacked something that the others did. Jagger's not necessarily my favorite of the group, and I find him to be a little too 'alpha-male' which probably sounds a little ridiculous considering the men in this series. I just think it's okay. Read it for the sake of reading it for the series.

Jonesni' For Action (SEALs on Fire)
Dagger's Edge (SEALs on Fire #2)
Coyote Heat (SEALs on Fire #1)

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 66 pages
Available Format: kindle, epub
Publication Date: 2012 (Wild Rose Press)
Author's Link: Allie Standifer webpage

Book Review-- Tempted (House of Night #6) P.C Cast Kristen Cast.

Synopsis: Zoey needs a break after some serious excitement. Sadly, the House of Night school for vampyres doesn’t feature breaks on its curriculum—even for a High Priestess in training and her gang. Plus juggling three guys is no stress reliever, especially when one is a sexy Warrior so into protecting Zoey that he’s sensing her emotions. Wider stresses lurk too, and the dark force in Tulsa’s tunnels is spreading. Could Stevie Rae be responsible for more than a group of misfit fledglings? And Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from the immortal Kalona and his dark allure—but they also show that only Zoey can stop him. She’s not exactly keen to meet up, but if Zoey doesn’t go to Kalona he’ll exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. She just has to find the courage to do what’s necessary, or everything that’s important to her will be destroyed.

The Nerd's Ramble: Again, I've got conflicting feelings about this series. There's a little more plot here, but the Casts use a very convincing bait-and-switch technique. We, the reader, think we're getting into something good and then BLAMO! Boyfriend drama. The over blown stereotypes of various characters is getting out of hand. Seriously. Please stop that. Not all African Americans (teenage or not) speak like that. Most don't. Most gay men don't cry because they can't bring all their shoes on a trip to save the world. Seriously. Stop that.

One thing that the Casts did that I did like was the point of view switch. It was fun to read other character's accounts, and see what some were up to when they weren't near Zoey. I would have preferred that even their accounts were in first person narrative just to keep the flow of the story, but I can understand why the Casts didn't do this. The ending was surprising, and I'm interested to see where it goes from here. I've got the books all the way up to the most recent release from the library so I'm probably going to plow through them pretty quickly.

Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 319 pages.
Available Format: Nook, Kindle, Epub, Traditional.
Publication Date: October 23, 2009 (Atom)
Author's Page: House of Night

Book Review-- In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad #1) Tana French

Synopsis: As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

The Nerd's Ramble: This book is extremely slow starting, and once it gets going, it finishes almost too fast. I read this as the selected book for a book club I'm part of on Goodreads. The characters are interesting and diverse and all around human. They make mistakes they do things wrong, they make corrections and sometimes things aren't as cut and dry as we want them to be.

Rob and Cassie's relationship is something interesting, and I like that it's again very human. There's attraction, and affection but like all relationships nothing's perfect. Their relationship and partnership evolves and changes, sometimes for the better, and for the worst.

The mystery in this book is also compelling and complex. A few details are predictable, but the ending really made me stop and think about a few of the clues that Ms. French dropped in the narrative. The setting for this book is gorgeous, and the research painstakingly well done.

This is the first in a series, and I'm still undecided if I want to pick up the other books. I really liked this story and the characters, but I don't feel the same pull and connection as I do with other series like this.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 429 pages
Format: Epub, Kindle, traditional
Publication Date: May 17, 2007 (Viking Adult)

Book Review-- Business and Pleasure by Jinni James

Synopsis:
Elizabeth Hamilton is a smart and successful business woman. After her parents died, Elizabeth moved her college student sister in with her, took over her family's business, and even started one of her own. She has no time in her life for a relationship. Her company is her passion, it is what gets her up in the morning, what drives her, it's what she lives for so when Alexander Preston comes in and decides he wants to buy it from her it is no surprise that Elizabeth fights for what is hers.

Quickly Elizabeth realizes there is a spark between the two of them, a spark that she decides to ignore until Alexander presses her for more. Elizabeth feels the internal struggle between her desire for this man and her passion for her company.

Elizabeth soon discovers that there is something going on in her company behind closed doors that she is unaware of. Fighting for what she believes in, as well as her company, may just unearth some secrets she didn't know were buried.

Shelly's Thoughts: I got this book as a freebie through Amazon, and started reading it. Life got in the way and I finished it this morning. Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was a nice read, the characters were interesting, and flawed to some extent. The author gives a lot of description and sets the tone for the story very nicely.

There were a few things that I didn't like. The pacing of this story really didn't work with me. It happened so quickly, especially the main romance--the admission of love, the moving in, the 'end game' if you will. Alex was also a little too perfect. I like my men a little more flawed, but that's just me.  The side romances (the sister, the assistant) also were super fast forwarded.

There were a couple of editing slips too. Author's in-text reminders, or a few things that just weren't supposed to be there. Normally I can overlook things but "WHAT WAS HIS SURNAME AGAIN" makes me snicker. I wasn't overly fond of the present tense either. But that's another personal thing. Some people may enjoy it--I just wasn't overly warm to it.

I think with a bit more expansion of the plot and the character's lives I would have rated it higher. I did like it, and would recommend it to a few of my friends who enjoy books like these. I would like to read more of Ms. James' work.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: Not stated.
Format: Epub, Kindle.
Publication Date: January 21, 2013

Book Review-- Wicked Valentine by April Angel

Synopsis: Who knew being wicked could be this fun?

Maxwell Stone has wanted Sabrina for over a year. But Nina’s the ultimate professional and has no intention of getting involved. That is, until the night she gets a little tipsy and finds herself begging for his touch.

After an intense night of making Nina’s sexual fantasies come true, Max finds he doesn’t want to let her go. Nina wants Maxwell too, but she won’t put her job on the line for any man. She loves the passion they shared, but when she’s invited to the Wicked Valentine Ball, she decides it’s time to put Max out of her mind. Of course, the last thing she expects is for him to be her escort. And she doesn’t expect to find someone else trying to keep them apart. Permanently…

Shelly's Thoughts: This was the first book I'd read by April Angel and I found myself really liking it. It's a quick and extremely smutty read. Nina and Max are perfect for each other and they have a lot of built up tension and spark. When they finally give in to these feelings the sparks really fly.

One thing that I like about Ms. Angel's female leads is that they are strong, well spoken women. They don't cower or simply roll over for whoever they want. There's a game between the male and female leads and the build up is just as much fun as when they do finally cave and give in to their cravings.

My only negative point about this story is that it is so short, meaning that the subplot didn't feel as complete. It was a little cliched, a little predictable, and I would have been sucked in more if that was more thought out.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length:  78 pages
Format:  Kindle, Epub
Publication Date: January 25, 2013 (Etopia Press)

Book Review- Marked (House of Night Book #1) P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

Synopsis:  The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire -- that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers.  When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Shelly's Thoughts: I've heard good things about this series, so I bit the bullet and once more ventured into the YA area of my bookstore. I ended up picking up a box set with the first four books of this series, and sat down to read the first one earlier today. It's a fairly quick read, and interesting.

I did like the different take on vampirism. I like the idea of the school, and I especially like that not all of the chosen make it. The Greek mythology emphasis is very nifty too.

It did however take me a while to stop rolling my eyes every time I saw the word vampyre. So far it's looking to be a promising series. I'll start Betrayed as soon as I can.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 306 pages
Formats: Kindle, Epub and traditional
Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Book Review-- Hot Head by Damon Suede.

Synopsis: Since 9/11, Brooklyn firefighter Griff Muir has wrestled with impossible feelings for his best friend and partner at Ladder 181: Dante Anastagio. Unfortunately Dante is strictly a ladies' man and the FDNY isn’t exactly gay-friendly. For 10 years, Griff has hidden his heart in a half-life of public heroics and private anguish.

Griff’s caution and Dante’s cockiness make them an unbeatable team. To protect his buddy, there’s nothing Griff wouldn’t do… until Dante is nearly bankrupt and proposes the worst possible solution: HotHead.com, a gay-porn website where uniformed hunks get down-n-dirty… Now Dante wants them to appear there— together.

Griff may have to guard his heart and live out his darkest fantasies on camera. Can he rescue the man he loves without wrecking their careers, their families, or their friendship?

Shelly's thoughts: This was recommended to me by a friend of mine, and I was actually a little excited to read it. Firefighters? Men in love with each other, written by a gay man? Yes please. It did kind of let me down, simply because of some poorly worded euphemisms, and a very awkward internal monologue that ran the entirety of the book. I don't know if that's Mr. Suede's style, or something that he picked just for this book. I want to read another of his works, and I hope that it's not something that is a common theme in his books. 
Once you get past the bad euphemisms, and awkward internal monologues, it's actually a pretty good book. Griff and Dante work well together, and get entangled in an interesting relationship. It's a little cliched, a little silly at times, but at the same time there's some realism there making it a really a decent read.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 320 pages
Format: Epub and Kindle.
Publication Date: June 15, 2011.