Operation Normal

Linda Palmer is a former Silhouette romance author now a young adult author that I recently discovered but one that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for in the future after reading her paranormal young adult novel, The Cinderella Swap, which she contacted me to review for her. I also had the pleasure of getting to review her current released paranormal young adult novel, Jaguar Moon, from one of my favorite e-publishers Wild Horse Press. Now today I am reviewing Linda's upcoming February 2010 young adult release, Operation Normal, that I was so excited to get the honor of reviewing since I was totally needing my Linda Palmer Young adult fix since first starting reading her novels. I was so happy to get an ARC of this novel because I fell in love with Linda Palmer's first young adult novel, The Cinderella Swap, that I knew this upcoming novel will be just as great a read with some new characters to fall in love with. I've only recently gotten into reading young adult romance novels and since then I've been hunting up as many young adult romance authors I could find to read. I was very intrigued when I read the blurb for this novel and the cover was also really beautiful that I had to read it. I'm sure glad I did because I had a great time reading this novel so much that I finished it up in less then 6 hours after I got it uploaded onto my Sony eReader.

I was so excited when I started reading this novel and was really instantly hooked with the main characters who I could sometimes really identify with. Well the novel starts with the heroine, Ally Mills, desperately wanting a "normal" for her half-sister Kayly, which is something she never had herself thanks to her liberated mom. Ally has always been a list maker when it comes to the things she wants to do and so the first thing on her list of to-dos for making a normal life for her half-sister is by contacting Kayly's dad, who promised he'd stay out of Kayly's life just as Ally's own dad once did. When Ally's mom leaves the country on assignment, Ally drops in on the guy to introduce him to his baby daughter but Kayly's dad doesn't live there—her half brother, Zach, does which completely throws Ally. But then Ally is again completely thrown for a lope with his shocking offer to help find "normal" is nothing compared to what happens next for the three of them. WOW and AMAZING are the first two words that came to mind when I finally got finished reading this great novel. I had such fun getting to know Ally who is such a wonderful sister to her baby half-sister Kayly and it was very brave of her to try to get Kayly's father into her life. It was such a wonderful surprise to find that Zach is actually Kayly's half-sister because it means that Ally and Zach can have a future together which I could see happening from the moment they met one another at his apartment. I am so happy that I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Operation Normal because I loved reading it so much I was sad that it had to come to an end though it was a satisfying end that may have potentional of giving us a follow up story for Ally, Kayly and Zach. Linda Palmer delivers yet another exciting and wonderfully written young adult with suspense, romance and a bit of paranormal elements to have you falling in love with all the characters and never wanting the novel to come to an end. I give this book 4.5 Open Books:

Here is the description of the book that I got from Linda and picture:

OPERATION NORMAL by Linda Palmer $ 5.50 (169 Pages)(Comes out February 2010 from Unical Press)

Ally desperately wants "normal" for her half-sister Kayly, something she never had herself thanks to her liberated mom. First on her list of to-dos is contacting Kayly's dad, who promised he'd stay out of Kayly's life just as Ally's own dad once did. When Ally's mom leaves the country on assignment, Ally drops in on the guy to introduce him to his baby daughter. But Kayly's dad doesn't live there—her half brother, Zach, does. And his shocking offer to help find "normal" is nothing compared to what happens next.

Moonlight Guardian

I do love paranormal romances very much because the authors create this totally different world that is similar to our own world. But these worlds these authors create are filled with all these paranormal creatures that we only think is myth but are totally real in paranormal romances. I know that author Jessica Coulter Smith loves to read paranormal romances so when she writes paranormal romances are what she ends up creating. I had the pleasure of hosting her guest blog about her release Moonlight Protector, which is the first book of her paranormal Ashton Grove Werewolves series and I also reviewed it as well. I also had the pleasure of interviewing her as well if you want to find out more about Jessica's writing and about some of her hobbies and favorite authors. I reviewed her second book in her series fabulous series called Moonlight Hero for both Jessica and her publisher Wild Horse Press and what a nice read that was for me. I also had the pleasure of reviewing the sort of prequel to her Ashton Grove Werewolves series that was previously published by another online publisher but was re-issued with Wild Horse Press called, Whispering Lake.

Well today I'm reviewing Jessica's just released novel, Moonlight Guardian, the third book in her Ashton Grove Werewolves series, which I was lucky enough to receive an review copy from Wild Horse Press a few days ago. I love Jessica's novels and was happy that they sent me a copy to review because I've read the blurb for this novel a while back before it was given an official released date on Jessica's website. Since reading the first book in her wonderfully written Ashton Grove Werewolves series I have been anxiously waiting for the next book in the series to be published as soon as possible because I am officially addicted! Now we all have read about the first two Andrews brothers, Cole and Gabriel, finding their mates and having their happily ever after though they had some trouble along the way. But now it's the youngest brother to find his mate and finally settle down to start a family which is what we all wish for him. Michael Andrews is the last of his brothers to find his mate and he's played it tough, trying to convince his family that a mate is the last thing he wants, that he enjoys having a different woman every week. In reality, he's afraid and he wants to find his mate though he thinks he may already have, but what if he's not a good husband? Maybe he just isn't made to love someone like his abusive father who he felt never really cared about his mother and his brothers.

Chloe Stevens is on her last leg and she found a guy she thought was great, only to end up pregnant and have the guy vanish into thin air after he got what he wanted from her. Then she lost her job and consequently, her car which just gets worse because now she's facing an eviction from her apartment. So she's five months pregnant with no job, no car, and now no home which forced Chloe to do the one thing she swore she wouldn't...contact the father of her baby. She may have just been a fling to Michael, but their few days together had meant more to her than it must have for Michael. When a pregnant Chloe shows up looking for Michael, he's stunned to find out that he's going to be a father and it appears that fate is determined to put the woman in his path. While he's thought of her often over the past several months, he's done his best to stay away. What on earth does he have to offer her or the baby she's carrying? A baby on the way changes everything...whether Chloe likes it or not, she's stuck with Michael from here on out. Now he just has to convince her to marry him which is going to be a bit tough when Chloe becomes attached to Ramsey who is another werewolves and part of the Ashton Grove pack.

So I finished reading this book in about less than a day since I got it and while I was reading it I had a bit of mixed feelings about some of the characters in the novel. I actually had to read the last page of the novel to give me an idea of who would end up with Chloe since I wasn't completely sure if Michael would be the lucky hero to end up with her in a happily ever after. I've done this a couple of times with other books I've read and it has always sort of easied my mind about the characters which were wonderfully written. While I was reading it Jessica told me the following on Facebook, "My fingers are crossed that you like you it...but I get the feeling you may want to beat me over the head with it :)" which then made me a bit nervous. I've noticed that Jessica is now writing novels that will keep us readers guessing about which man in the heroine's will be the lucky one to end up with her and it can really get nerve racking always wondering who will end up with who. In the end Jessica Coulter Smith delivers yet another exciting paranormal romance in her highly addictive Ashton Grove Werewolves series that will have you guessing from start to finish about who will Chloe choose to mate and love forever but also make you want the novel to never end. I've also got to mentioned that I got a sneak peek into the 5th and next book in the series called, Moonlight Champion, which is the story of one of the Andrews brother's cousins who is named Connor Tierney. Now I really can't wait to get my hands on a copy of it but I have to wait since it's not going to be released until 2010. I give this book 4.5 Open Books:

Here is the description of the book from Jessica's website and picture:

MOONLIGHT GUARDIAN by Jessica Coulter Smith $ 5.98 (Book 3)(173 Pages)

Michael Andrews is the last of his brothers to find his mate. He's played it tough, trying to convince his family that a mate is the last thing he wants, that he enjoys having a different woman every week. In reality, he's afraid. He wants to find his mate and thinks he may already have, but what if he won't be a good husband? Maybe he just isn't made to love someone. Chloe Stevens is on her last leg. She found a guy she thought was great, only to end up pregnant and have the guy vanish into thin air. Then she lost her job and consequently, her car. Now she's facing eviction. Five months pregnant, no job, no car, and now no home have forced Chloe to do the one thing she swore she wouldn't...contact the father of her baby. She may have just been a fling to Michael, but their few days together had meant more to her. When a pregnant Chloe shows up looking for Michael, he's stunned to find out that he's going to be a father. It appears that fate is determined to put the woman in his path. While he's thought of her often over the past several months, he's done his best to stay away. What on earth does he have to offer her? A baby on the way changes everything...whether Chloe likes it or not, she's stuck with Michael from here on out. Now he just has to convince her to marry him...

Crossroads Showdown

Keta Diablo is one of my favorite erotic romance authors and because I enjoyed her erotic historical romances I thought I would try out her upcoming male/male contemporary erotic romance release. After reading Keta's Crossroads, the first book in her Crossroads series as well as, Crossroads Revisited, which is the second book in her series. I read a very intense and intriguing excerpt on Keta's website that had me wanting to read the novel as soon as possible especially since I loved the first and second book. Now the main character Frank McGuire is an ex-cop turned private investigator after the death of his police partner Quinn Brennan's death. Frank is a very intriguing character who I really loved reading about because he is such a big, strong and handsome man who has a special ability to commune with the dead since he was a child. His relationship with his partner Quinn was very special to him because he was a father figure who took Frank under his wing and made him apart of his own family. Now Rand is Quinn's son, who has had a crush on Frank since even his father's death, and he really wants to have a relationship with Frank but isn't getting it right now. Rand wants Frank to tell him that he loves him and wants to have an open relationship that shows that to him but Frank is not ready for that even though I know that he does love Rand very much. After everything Rand and Frank have gone through in the first book, Crossroads, things really start to heat up for them both in the second book Crossroads Revisited. The third book in the Crossroads series is about to come out in November and I've had the pleasure of receiving an Advanced Readers Copy. In Crossroads Showdown things get more series in Rand and Frank's relationship which is great because I really love them and want them to have their happily ever after since they've been through a lot together. Tough PI, Frank McGuire, attempts to help the FBI locate three abducted children from a small town in West Virginia and this leads for Rand and Frank's relationship with one another to start to change. While channeling his inner spirit for assistance, he mistakenly calls forth a ghost and as Frank races against time to locate the missing girls, he receives help from the most unlikely of sources. To complicate matters, Rand has decided its time Frank commit to their relationship—or run the risk of Rand being gone for good when he returns.

This book is a must have! If you have read Crossroads and loved it as much as I did then you need to get your hands on a copy of Crossroads Revisited now because it is just as good and even better than the first. But that is not the end because Crossroads Showdown will give you a deeper look into the tough PI Frank which some readers have commented is a bit too touch and sometimes seems a bit cruel. In this novel you will see a new side of Frank because he is not a cruel man but someone who has lived a rough life and has been toughen by it. There is suspense in this novel that will keep you guessing about where things will lead Frank in the end as well as what will happen between Frank and Rand who both seem to be coming a bit to terms about where their relationship is heading. I really liked how Frank and Rand have developed in this novel because I really felt that they could have a great relationship with one another if they had a bit more time together so they could feel each other out enough to be comfortable to show their emotional sides. Keta Diablo delivers yet another steamy, hot, sexy and mysterious male/male erotic romance novel that will have you panting as well as making you want more and for the story to never end since you only just get a peek at Frank's new side. I was sad to have finished this novel in less than 6 hours but I just couldn't stop reading it until I found out how things would end for Frank and Rand after getting to see them together after finally trying to make a start on a real relationship. Now that I've read it I hope that Keta will finishing writing up the last novel in the Crossroads series and gives me more about Frank and Rand so I can see if their relationship will make it like I so want it to. I give this book 5 open books:

Here is the description of the e-book from Keta's website and picture:

CROSSROADS SHOWDOWN by Keta Diablo $ 3.00 (90 Pages)

Tough PI, Frank McGuire, attempts to help the FBI locate three abducted children from a small town in West Virginia. While channeling his inner spirit for assistance, he mistakenly calls forth a ghost. As Frank races against time to locate the missing girls, he receives help from the most unlikely of sources. To complicate matters, Rand has decided its time Frank commit to their relationship—or run the risk of Rand being gone when he returns.