Dragon Warrior by Diana Green

 Copy of book provided by Reading Alley in exchange for an honest review.

The story surrounds Harith and Nyssa, both are dragons but Nyssa is hiding from her clan. Harith is the son of the leader of his dragon clan and is to wed a human girl. You can see the differences in the Princess and Harith and how they don't have that click that you wonder with Harith if this is the right choice. The story moves quiet well, it isn't sluggish or to the point where you wonder when the story is going to pick up. When we meet Nyssa for the second time you find out more about her and how she's hiding from her clan and the escape (that isn't clear in the first part of the book).

The Hero and Heroine develop rather well together and compliment each other on their development as you see the strong pull of what Green's dragons have when they find their life mate. They go through hardships and the loss of someone important to one of the main characters.

It's an interesting Romance with how Green ties everything together and doesn't let it stray from the path and leave loose ends. At first you get confused with a bit of information on Nyssa and her clan but then it becomes clear as you continue reading the story and things become clear. Everything is smoothly transitioned unlike some other Romance that I have read before.  Over all I enjoyed Dragon Warrior and it can be read alone without reading the first book. The third one sounds like it will be interesting as it ties into the beginning of Dragon Warrior.  I would recommend this to someone who is looking for a good romance with an interest in dragons.

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

Reading the small description of the book sounded like it was going to be interesting. On top of that I remember enjoying Jeaniene Frost Night Huntress series from what I have read. The book was written well and was smooth and flowing rather nicely. There was a bit where things felt they dragged on a bit too much in some instances but after those few nagging things it went along fine.

The book starts out with Ivy a college student who is looking for her sister who had vanished. Her parents recently killed and the only clue she has was the last place her sister was at a bed and breakfast. She wasn’t able to find her sister but meets up with the detective and get’s saved by this stranger who seems to be one of the sexiest things she’s seen on earth. This stranger Adrian kidnaps her and they both find out about Ivy’s real heritage and Adrian’s.

Ivy does talk to herself and about the logical things she should be doing, though she doesn’t seem to listen to the logical things she says. She’s dragged into this supernatural world that she didn’t want to be in all she wanted was to get her sister and live normal.  Now she has to work for an angel, with a guy who’s destiny is intertwined with her and fighting demons. There’s trails that she has to face and it get’s complicated with her feelings getting in the way about Adrian.

This book has a mixture of mythology, history and some hints of Christianity. The points it makes Jeaniene keeps it close enough to where it doesn’t clash badly with christianity and some of history. There is a lot of humor as most of Jeaniene’s books bring to the table. I found myself laughing with the interactions of Ivy and Adrian even the friends Adrian has.

Over all the book is funny and rather enjoyable, there is some sexual content but it’s not something that overload’s you to where you are wondering about the content of the book. I’ve enjoyed it and can’t wait till the second book comes out. 4 Stars out of 5 at the moment.

Trust by Jodi Baker

Copy of book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trust is the first book in the Between the Lions trilogy. This Paranormal with Egyptian and Greek mythology twist takes you into our current times. Where you meet Anna our heroine and how she lives her life always in the middle. The first few pages of the book make no sense when you start reading the book, it almost makes you question as to "Why" it is there. You don't find out till later where it all comes in at and to where it makes sense. Besides the first few pages the beginning of the book is slow, you watch Anna go through daily routine and what happens when it gets interrupted and how she copes with it. After about halfway does it start to pick up with the death of her step-dad and her mother's disappearance. Anna gets a voice in her head who is called "Inanna" which you can tell when she talks as it is in all caps. You get introduced the mythology that Anna's life has been wrapped around by her mother. Though Anna seems to toss everything out the window about being in the middle, even arguing with the voice in her head which gives her sound advice.

As you get to the end it leaves you with more questions than answers and a romance that starts to bloom? The romance is iffy as she didn't trust him then feels like she can and starts falling for him hard. I understand teenage love but it's all at once while her life is danger and she has lost the only guardian she had. I enjoy the twist with the Egyptian lore as it isn't used much in books. While your left with answers, Anna does grow a bit and uses her smarts to help her. What also bothers me is how her mother seemed to change like a child throwing a temper tantrum against the way she was raised and her own people.

The book was good and I can't wait till the next one comes out to hopefully get more answers than questions.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

First of all, this is a time travel story, it's not going to be like the sisterhood which many people anticipated. For those that like Scifi, or anything about the future, then you'll probably like this book. It's a well written book about what one set of future could of been like, and what could happen in one persons mind. While the first part of the book keeps your attention when you get to the ending it seems a bit drawn out which makes it a bit harder to get to the end. It's inbetween a love story and an action story.
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Our heroine is Prenna, who is from the future with her mom. There are 4 rules you must absolutely not break, and Prenna has a problem with those in power over the 'community'. We get to see the letters Prenna writes to her brother, giving us glimpses of how mystified she was when she got to our time; because the future she's from is rather bleak. They've already been through a plague,the earth has changed drastically than what we know.

We get to watch Prenna grow from a suspicious girl to knowing what she suspected and more. Then there's Ethan, who's kind, honest and patient with our time traveler who is socially awkward. The interaction between the two is like a first crush or love.

Natural Evil by Thea Harrison

Thea Harrison has done it again with Natural Evil. You meet the heroine Claudia first, previous special ops soldier for the US Army. I loved Claudia, she was spunky and just awesome even though she was an older woman, she still kicked ass. The Tarot cards also got into her possession which if you read the first novella, True Colors you'd understand how important those cards are. Louis is the huge dog that was beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road. Claudia finds him, and instead of putting him out of his misery, she takes him to a vet. Deciding to stay with him, she has suspicion that he is a Wyr and she finds this true. So now, it's not only animal cruelty but attempted murder. Claudia's emotions are beautiful, she goes through so much reliving some of her demons to letting herself fall in love. The book doesn't feel rushed, you sit there and collect so much information that you have to file it away. You don't have to read True Colors in order to understand this, but it helps when talking about the Tarot cards and the gods of the Wyrs. We also meet the Bradshaw's who own the town that Claudia rolled into. Things get out of hand as she stepped into a tangled web of lies, deceit, and danger. Claudia gives the a woman's wrath an interesting look. She shows that she can still kick ass even if she is a bit older. I love this book, its hard to put down these books. I love reading her work she has a way to draw you into her works and not let go till the end leaving you craving for more.

Irish Moon by Amber Scott

As the book starts out we meet Breanne. The setting is Ireland, and she's learning to be an ovate (Female druid). You get to meet several people on the way, and come to find out she's coming up to the age of needing to be wed. Something Breanne doesn't mind, but doesn't want from her soon to be step-father. Then we meet Sir Ashlon Sinclair a knight of a disabled group. There attraction the two have to each other is magical in every sense. And Breanne isn't exactly the smartest girl to see whats right in front of her. Some of it she doesn't want to see, and refuses, others she over looks. Which happens to all of us to some degree. Half way through the book we now get to deal with the finding of this chest, and the problem that it holds. From then the story picks up and we get to see who the 'evil' has been all this time. Amber Scott puts a huge twist in this book all the way till the end. The hero and heroine don't want to believe their for each other, but there's no other that kindle the fire for themselves. The ending (%50) part of the book took off for me and ended so quickly it felt. That was only because I devoured the last bit of the book. I'm not big into romance (plain romance) novels. So for me to stick with this one and finish it felt like a big feat for me. I'm giving it 4 stars, because the story flows together nicely, and keeps you entered. The first half, was slow for me, but the ending half went quick. Amber does an awesome job keeping the story flow smoothly and keeping the characters real enough that you want to smack their heads together so they kiss.

True Colors Review by Thea Harrison

Thea Harrison does it again in this novella getting five stars. We meet Alice, a Rainbow Chameleon, a rare Wyr. She's a wonderful heroine, very much like a normal person compared to the three other books. She ends up finding her best friend dead when she went to visit, and smells a predator entering the house. In comes Gideon Riehl a wolf wyr, apart of the Wyr Division of Violent Crime. He knows someone is watching him but couldn't quiet place it. Alice flees thinking its the killer, that she also recognizes as her mate. She does find out that Gideon, is not the killer but a detective. She tries to deny herself that this is her mate, but Wyr mating over rules all other senses. The book is pulled together well, and pulls your emotions every which way with Alice. You understand her point of view as things happen so very fast. At the same time, you also fall in love with Gideon, he's a wolf, so you get a soldier boy who's put himself into a city. He's got the ruggish look of a rebel but a solider at heart. Yet, he's gentle and loving all at the same time it never dulls. This is also the time of the Winter solstice that the Elder Races celebrate. And their not too fair from the Masque when this happens. Which is a big event in the Elder Races eyes, everyone celebrates the beginning of life this way. There are a few gods that the Elders celebrate, which is neat to see who they follow and what they represent. You have Taliesen, Azrael, and Inanna. Three aspects, which is important to the book. The numbers 3, and 7 are mentioned and Alice is able to piece them together. I was very pleased with the end of this book and yet I wanted more. I can't wait to read Oracle's Moon, and Bayne's that seems be a hint that he'll be coming up soon.