MUST LOVE LIONS by Alma Black

Title:  MUST LOVE LIONS

Series:  Shifter Date #1

Author:  Alma Black

Publish Date:   11.30.2016

Publisher:  Alma Black

Category /Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Grammar/editing:  ungraded – book received as an unedited ARC / errors excused

Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content

Received from:  Alma Black (as an ARC gifted copy)

Goodreads link: Must Love Lions

Date completed: 11.21.2016

Description from the publisher:

Alexis Parrish is very single. Sassy and smart, she's great at her job as a journalist, but it's never given her the time to find the right man--specifically, a human. So when she gets assigned to interview Max, a lion shifter, about the new dating app he's created, she can't believe her intense attraction to him. After all, humans and shifters don't date.

Max is used to causing trouble. He broke tradition by creating the dating app, Shifter, which humans and shifters alike can use to answer the call of the wild.

When Max challenges Alexis to give him a chance, she can't say no. A human like her has no business with this handsome alpha lion, but she can't resist his magnetism. Their chemistry is primal, their connection positively animalistic. After all, once you go shifter, you never go back.

But when a rogue shifter group against interspecies dating targets Alexis, Max will stop at nothing to protect her. It's more than his pride on the line; it's his mate.


Warning: If sassy, sexy, and carnal reads aren't your thing, this book isn't for you. It contains lots of dirty sex, violence, and witty banter.

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MUST LOVE LIONS is the first book in the Shifter Date App series.  While each will stand alone, there is an over-arching theme that you make you want to read them all and in the order of release.

It’s not easy to write a sexy romance and provide a societal lesson in morality at the same time, but Alma Black has done it.  The world is full of prejudices.  In this world, it is a question of humans and shifters dating/marrying/loving.  Does going furry make a man less human?  Should our love be limited by a matter of a difference at birth? 

I love Alexis and Max.  Alexis’ growth throughout their relationship is amazing and organically believable.

It’s hard to believe this is Ms. Black’s first release.  I’m truly looking forward to what may come next.

Note:  while I was given this book as a gifted ARC, my opinions are my own and are given freely.

The Shifter Date series:

1. Must Love Lions
2. Hungry Like a Wolf
3. This Kitten's Got Curves

 

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IMMORTAL NIGHTS by Lynsay Sands

Title:  IMMORTAL NIGHTS

Series:  Argeneau # 24

Author:  Lynsay Sands

Publish Date:   09.20.2016

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Category /Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content

Received from: Orange County Library

Goodreads link: Immortal Nights

Date completed: 11.24.16

Description from the publisher:

In a sizzling new Argeneau novel from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands, an impulsive rescue pairs a sexy immortal with the woman made to be his for eternity.

Abigail Forsythe’s life hasn’t been easy lately. Still, if there’s one thing guaranteed to take her mind off an empty bank account and abandoned dreams, it’s a naked man locked in a plane’s cargo hold. A very big, incredibly gorgeous naked man. And when instinct prompts her to free him, Abigail must rely on this stranger for survival…a stranger who leaves her thrumming with need every time they touch.

Tomasso Notte knows he’s found his life mate in Abigail. Now he just has to hold on to her. They’re miles from civilization, hunted by his kidnappers. Abigail has no idea of Tomasso’s abilities, or of how intensely pleasurable their unique connection can be. But he’s about to show her, beginning with one wild, hot, immortal night…

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This is the 24^th book in the Argeneau series.  Though each does stand on its own, I highly recommend reading them all and in the order of release.

I borrowed this as an audio book from my local library.  This time, I enjoyed it as I was driving to and from work, and finished it up as I was painting in my house.

I love this series and have enjoyed every story.  Since most of this story happens on a tropical island, it especially kept my interest.  I love the beach, sand, sun, etc.  My most recent vacation was spent island hopping, so I could easily picture the venues where Tomasso and Abigail are spending their immortal nights.

I won’t miss an Argeneau story!  Excuse me while I pop onto the library website to get the next book – I hope it’s available in audio.

The Argeneau series:

1. A Quick Bite
2. Love Bites
3. Single White Vampire
4. Tall, Dark, & Hungry
5. A Bite to Remember
6. Bite Me If You Can
7. The Accidental Vampire
8. Vampires Are Forever
9. Vampire, Interrupted
10. The Rogue Hunter
11. The Immortal Hunter
12. The Renegade Hunter
13. Born to Bite
14. Hungry For You
15. The Reluctant Vampire
16. Under a Vampire Moon
17. The Lady Is a Vamp
18. Immortal Ever After
19. One Lucky Vampire
20. Vampire Most Wanted
21. The Immortal Who Loved Me
22. About a Vampire
23. Runaway Vampire
24. Immortal Nights
25. Immortal Unchained

Also from Lynsay Sands:

• The Loving Daylights
• Bitten by Cupid
• The Bite Before Christmas

 

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BARNES&NOBLE

ALWAYS YOUR MASTER by B.B. Blaque

Title:  ALWAYS YOUR MASTER

Series:  Not Even Death #3

Author:  B.B. Blaque

Publish Date:   01.27.2015

Publisher:  B.B. Blaque

Category /Genre:  Contemporary Romance, BDSM

Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content

Grammar/editing:  Grammar/editing:  A – near perfect

Received from:  B.B. Blaque (as a gifted copy)

Goodreads link: Always Your Master

Date completed: 10.12.15

Description from the publisher:

Cross over the bridge with Calico—into the hustle and bustle of Manhattan and her past. By viewing where she began with new eyes, she’ll be one step closer to her happily ever after.
From the secret told under the lights of the Brooklyn Bridge, to her old stomping ground in Midtown—Calico will see New York like she never has before.

The Bishop’s firm hand and strict old school style will teach her lessons once more. Together they will journey beneath the cold city and to the star strewn heights—for a deep and aerial view of Calico’s past, present and future.

Only Markus knew how much was left for her to learn and only the Bishop’s tactics could make everything fall into place.

Calico’s journey is almost complete and this is the hardest and most fulfilling lesson yet!

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ALWAYS YOUR MASTER is the third book in the Not Even Death series.  They definitely must be read in order.

I absolutely could not put this down and finished it in one day, immediately after and on the same day as STILL YOUR MASTER!

To review:  after reading the first book, I quipped that my favorite character wasn’t even there.  Marcus, Calico’s husband and Master, may have been parted from her by death, but he has proven his love is far-reaching and eternal.  He has left letters, gifts, and friends to guide his slave to her future happiness. 

The first Master to assist was Derrick who taught Calico that she would need to live, love, and serve again in order to be fulfilled as a slave. 

Next was Blaze, rock-star and a personal fantasy for Calico, to encourage her to open her wings.  It is in trusting that she will be able to fly again.

This time, Marcus has returned her to the tutelage of the Bishop, the man whom Marcus first entrusted her to when he took her as his slave.  The Bishop runs an elite school for submissives and now he has Carissa as a returning student.  Together, they explore her past as a NYC street rat, her present as a lost slave, and her future as fulfilled slave once again.

The gift of a separate love names from each man continues.  Marcus called her Calico and Kitten instead of Carissa, Derrick called her Cali.   Blaze named her Kitty.  Now, the Bishop calls her Pet.  Even her old friend, Sheridan has special name for Carissa.  He calls her Kitty-Cat or Callie-Kat.

I’m told that the Bishop is the favorite character for many readers, especially those who are part of the scene and therefore should know best.  I didn’t particularly like him.  He scared me.  I can’t really say why or how, but he scared me.  Maybe it was because of the past lessons she had under him, as some of them are beyond boundaries I would set.  Maybe it’s because I don’t truly understand the difference between submissive and slave.  Either way, for Carissa, he is an important step in this path to her new discovery of herself and her preparation for her future – whatever that future may ultimately be.

I am looking forward to the next book in this series, FOREVER YOUR MASTER!

Not Even Death Series:

1. Eternally Your Master
2. Still Your Master
3. Always Your Master
4. Forever Your Master

Also from B.B. Blaque:

The Masters MC series:

1. Property of
2. Beautiful Insanity

Angel to Butterfly Series:

1. Golden Doll

 

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