#Review Karma By The Sea by Traci Hall #Romance

Title: Karma By The Sea

Author: Traci Hall
Rating: 2.5 stars


I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

Where to start with this book. I liked Joe and Karma. The author did a good job in making their romance believable. That was the saving grace of this story for me.

So why only 2.5 stars? There are a lot of editing issues in this story...missing words, wrong tenses, wrong words.  I also found a few plot holes/inconsistencies. Not with the main romance, but with one of the subplots. It completely pulled me out of the story as my brain was going back and rehashing what I'd read previously and how it didn't fit with what was now being said.

This story also dealt a lot with gods and goddesses since Karma is half native Hawaiian. It was a key part of Karma's personality and the story would have been very different without it.

I would recommend this book to those who don't mind editing issues and are looking for a different type of romance.

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Author Bio

My name is Traci Hall and I love to write...sounds like the beginning step of a program!However, I am not sorry that I love to write, so I guess I'm in it for the long haul. Finger cramps, slumped back and numb feet from sitting all day aside, there is nothing I would rather do than tell stories. Hearing back from readers makes it all worth while. 
Cool stuff to know: I've been interviewed on radio, web radio, web tv and Fox and Friends. I've been included in a 'Fifty Great Writer's You Should be Reading' anthology, and I've been in a few magazines. I love teaching workshops, online or in person, so feel free to contact me @ traciella@aol.com, or if you are a fan who would like to connect, visit www.tracihall.com

#Review Always The One by Rochelle French

Title: Always The One

Author: Rochelle French
Rating: 2.5 stars

I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I have mixed feelings about it. I loved the set up, a small town sheriff and a local girl who shows back up in town after spending the last five years in prison. It made for an interesting dynamic.

As I said, this book had potential. And don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book. It's just not great either. Which, in my opinion, is sad because it could have been.

Remy and Coraleen were great characters. I loved their back story...how they met and everything that led up to her going off to prison. They were both good to a fault. Him going above and beyond to uphold the law. And her willing to do anything for those she loved including breaking the law.

What I thought needed work was the execution.There was a lot of repetition of situations and wording. The heroine was in a prison called AZ/PC and that must have been stated at least fifty times in the book. Also, the characters felt the need to continue to refer to the hero by both his first and last name. It felt odd and out of place in a conversation between friends.

I would recommend this book to those who like small town romances with characters willing to go above and beyond for the ones they love.

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Author Bio

Rochelle French is a contemporary romance novelist. She has been reading and writing fiction since childhood. Raised on a farm out in the middle of nowhere—without even a TV—as soon as she learned how to read, books became her best friends. 

Now she lives in Northern California, raising her own children in the same small town where she grew up. She still finds fabulous friends between the pages of novels and is grateful every day that she gets to create new friends in the characters she invents.

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#Review Beautiful Oblivion by Addison Moore

Title: Beautiful Oblivion

Author: Addison Moore
Rating: 2 .5 stars

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish this book. If not for the hero, Ace, I wouldn't have. He was the only character I really liked in the book and I wanted to see things work out for him. The rest of the characters...not so much. Some I couldn't stand and others made me want to pull my hair out with frustration or slap them for their immaturity.

This is an NA (New Adult) book, something I don't typically read. Maybe that was the issue. I tend to read books where the main couple is in their late twenties or older. Most of the characters in this book were in their early twenties.

The biggest issue I had with the book revolved around the heroine, Reese and another guy named Warren. Without going into details, their relationship was completely screwed up. There was a whole 'is she cheating or isn't she' aspect to this story that I didn't care for either.

The writing was good and the story flowed well. There also weren't any major editing issues.

I would recommend this book to those who don't mind immature characters or cheating.

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Author Bio

Addison Moore is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading.

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#Review - Loving The Senator by Mia Villano

Title: Loving The Senator

Author: Mia Villano
Rating: 2.5 stars

I don't like leaving bad reviews. Really I don't. When I picked up this book I was hoping for a great romance with a slightly taboo feel to it. At the beginning, that's exactly what I thought I was going to get. Unfortunately, my hopes were quickly washed away.

My first issue with the book is the pacing. It started off with a bang, and then...well things just went downhill from there. To be honest, there was very little story in this book. Everything seemed to be focused on getting to the next sex scene. I honestly think if the sex was removed from the book that there wouldn't be much left.

This book also needed a good editor. There were commas all over the place and places that were just outright missing other forms of punctuation such as periods at the end of sentences. 'Perfect' was used to describe almost everything and there were some descriptions that left me feeling somewhat gross.

I could list more but I think it's clear this book didn't work for me. It had potential, but the execution was lacking. This is the first book in a series, and I can definitely say I won't be reading the second book.

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Review: Home to Seaview Key by Sherryl Woods

Title: Home to Seaview Key

Author: Sherryl Woods
Rating: 2.5 stars


I picked this book up at the library. It's published by Harlequin, and while very few books by that publisher wow me they are usually a decent read. This, however, was the exception. 

Home to Seaview Key was a thoroughly disappointing read.

This is the first time I've read something from this author, but as I said I went into it expecting a decent read. A little over halfway through the book I was just wanting it to end already. 

Home to Seaview Key is the second book in the series. I didn't realize that going in, however, from reading some reviews this should be able to be read as a standalone. The story does revolve around Seth and Abby, neither of whom were in the first book. Luke and Hannah, the two main characters from the first book, appear prominently in this book as well. So much so that there are parts told from their points of view. For someone who hadn't read the first book, this was a little confusing. 

On that same note, I found the conflict between Hannah and Abby unrealistic. Could it have happened? Yes. But I felt it was resolved too easily and basically brushed under the rug when convenient. 

That brings me to Luke and his meddling. These characters, with the exception of Seth, are all supposed to be around the age of 40. Sometimes they acted more like teenagers. There was one time near the end of the book where I was so frustrated with Luke that I had to close the book for a few minutes. 

And that brings us to Seth and Abby, the two main characters of this story. While overall I liked them both, again, they were very immature for their ages. Seth kept rehashing the same issues over and over. Then, he'd get better for a while, say he'd worked through them, and the next thing you know we're back to square one again. This wasn't an issue of one step forward, two steps back. It was a constant one step forward, one step back, one step forward, one step back. I think he must have gone back and forth on this one issue at least a dozen times.

I liked the set up of the book, and I had high hopes. Unfortunately, it fell flat. After the first couple of interactions between Abby and Seth, I really didn't feel a connection. And the sex scenes, which took forever to get to, were basically nonexistent.  I want to feel the passion...the love...and in this one I didn't. Because of that, I doubt I will ever willing pick up another book from this author. 

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Author Bio

With two other careers to her credit before becoming a novelist and four states in which she's lived for extended periods of time, Sherryl Woods has collected friends and memories, along with way too much unnecessary junk.

"The friends are the only things I've brought with me through the years that really matter," she says. "I could probably live without one more chintz teacup, another tin-litho sandpail or another snowglobe, but I need those friends."

Author of more than 100 romance and mystery novels, Sherryl Woods grew up in Virginia. Over the years she had lived in Ohio and Florida, as well as California. Currently she divides her time between Key Biscayne, Florida and Colonial Beach, Virginia, the small, river-front town where she spent her childhood summers.

A graduate of Ohio State University School of Journalism, Sherryl spent more than ten years as a journalist, most of them as a television critic for newspapers in Ohio and Florida. For several years she also coordinated a motivational program for the more than 8,000 employees at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

Her first book, RESTORING LOVE, was published in 1982 by Dell Candlelight Ecstasy under the pseudonym of Suzanne Sherrill. Her second book, SAND CASTLES, under the pseudonym of Alexandra Kirk, was published later that same year by Bantam. She began using her own name when she moved to the Second Chance at Love line at Berkley Publishing. In 1986, she began writing full-time and also began her long career at Silhouette Books with the Desire title NOT AT EIGHT, DARLING, set in the world of television which she covered for so many years.

In addition to her more than 75 romances for Silhouette Desire and Special Edition, she has written thirteen mysteries — nine in the Amanda Roberts series and four in the Molly DeWitt series. 

When she's not writing or reading, Sherryl loves to garden, though she's not at her best on a riding lawn mower. She also loves tennis, theater, and ballet, even though her top spin has long since vanished, she's never set foot on a stage, and she's way too uncoordinated to dance. She also loves baseball and claims anyone who's ever seen Kevin Costner in "Bull Durham" can understand why.

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Review: Under His Command by Kristine Cayne

Title: Under His Command (Six-Alarm Sexy)

Author: Kristine Cayne
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Source: Amazon

I'd heard a lot about this book, so I decided to give it a try.

Under His Command is about a firefighter, Jamie, and his wife, Erica. The book opens with the night they met - a one night stand - then fast forwards the readers five years into the future. The two are now married with a young daughter. They are not, however, happily married.

The book centers around Erica embracing Jamie's Dominant side...a side she got a glimpse of that first night, but has rejected ever since.

This book had a lot of promise, but fell short in my opinion.

I wasn't sure I was crazy about Jamie after the first chapter, but as the story progressed, he started to grow on me. It was easy to relate to his struggle suppressing his Dom nature, yet loving his wife enough to keep who he is locked inside himself in order to make her happy.

My problems with the story came once Erica and Jamie started to embark on this new journey of exploration into BDSM. Other than their one night of kinky play, Erica has no experience in BDSM. She is a complete novice, which Jamie admits, yet some of the things he told her, and some of his thoughts were completely contradictory to that.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that I was disappointed in what I felt was the authors lack of research into the lifestyle. With that said, there is a scene toward the end of the book, while written well, it felt as though the author had read about it somewhere, found it fascinating, and decided to tack it onto the story. I certainly didn't feel that it was appropriate play for a woman who'd only decided to give being a submissive a try a few days before.

I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me, and I doubt I will be reading anything more from this author in the future.

Have you read Under His Command? What did you think of it? Share your thoughts below.

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Author Bio

Kristine Cayne is fascinated by the mysteries of human psychology—twisted secrets, deep-seated beliefs, out-of-control desires. Add in high-stakes scenarios and real-world villains, and you have a story worth writing, and reading.

The heroes and heroines of her Deadly Vices series, beginning with Deadly Obsession, are pitted against each other by their radically opposing life experiences. By overcoming their differences and finding common ground, they triumph over their enemies and find true happiness in each other’s arms.

Today she lives in the Pacific Northwest, thriving on the mix of cultures, languages, religions and ideologies. When she’s not writing, she’s people-watching, imagining entire life stories, and inventing all sorts of danger for the unsuspecting heroes and heroines who cross her path.

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