An American Werewolf In Hoboken by Dakota Cassidy

Wooing a life mate can be hard enough for a wolf, wooing one while under the threat of a curse, even more so.
After being drugged and captured by Animal Control, Max Adams is on Hoboken’s doggie death row when his life mate adopts him, takes him home, and promptly names him Fluffy.
Wooing a mate while pretending to be her dog? Nearly impossible.
While JC, in all her new-pet-owner-ness, feeds “Fluffy” vile kibble, dresses him in mortifying dog couture, and schedules to have his manhood removed, Max’s human side gets to know JC. Especially in the biblical sense. Hopefully well enough to make her fall madly in love, mate with him under the full moon, and move with him to Cedar Glen to live happily-ever-after forever and ever amen. And fast.
Because the curse comes with a deadline…and the clock is ticking.
USA Today bestselling paranormal romantic comedy author Dakota Cassidy takes you on a laugh-out-loud roller-coaster ride from beginning to end, complete with werewolves, magic users, and shifters. Discover what happens when Max Adams, one strong alpha male, finds himself at the mercy of a woman who thinks he’s a big fluffy dog in An American Werewolf In Hoboken. Book 1 in the bestselling Wolf Mates series.
What readers are saying about An American Werewolf In Hoboken:
“Cute, Sassy, Funny”
“A barrel of fun!”
“Characters have great chemistry.”
*Not intended for readers under the age of 18. *Previously Published: (2014) Dakota Cassidy | (2006) Changeling Press.
Author Note: 
Dear readers: Please note, this book, originally published in 2006 with a small e-press, has been updated, revised, expanded, and in general, beaten into a whole new submission. If some of my earliest readers recognize the general concept, I hope you’ll enjoy the new, expanded version of this series.
Books in the Wolf Mates series:
1. An American Werewolf In Hoboken
2. What’s New, Pussycat?
3. Gotta Have Faith
4. Moves Like Jagger
5. Bad Case of Loving You

This was a fun book, and I say that with a smirk.

The main characters are so very fun.

Imagine being a werewolf pretending to be the pet dog of a woman you find yourself completely crazy for. She feeds you kibble, she pets you, she scratches behind your ears, and you are becoming more and more smitten by her as time passes.

And, imagine having to call home one day and tell your entire family that you’ve found your mate, but she thinks you’re a literal dog…named Fluffy. This is the life of Max Adams.

Max, the sometimes four legged, sometimes bi-pedal hero, is a strong lead, but also refreshingly sensible and kind. JC, his sometimes owner, sometimes love interest, is a hairdresser in Hoboken who just doesn’t want to be lonely and thought she was going to adopt a cat from a shelter.

Obviously, she adopts “Fluffy” instead and hilarity ensues. It’s a wonderful story. There is a satisfactory amount of comedy, but also a very touching, albeit hot, romance within the plot. The characters share a beautiful chemistry and the secondary characters are interesting, too.

Personally, if my dog starts talking and becomes a person one day, I’d probably not react so well to the transition. JC and Max, however, happily fall into place quite well.

I can recommend this book easily to any one of my booky friends. It would be a really fun book club read, too, perfect for lighthearted conversing.

Right now, it looks as though the only format A Werewolf In Hoboken is available for (on Amazon) is Kindle and Audible. 

 

Brothers Keepers by Donald E. Westlake

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW!
What will a group of monks do when their two-century-old monastery in New York City is threatened with demolition to make room for a new high-rise? Anything they have to. “Thou Shalt Not Steal” is only the first of the Commandments to be broken as the saintly face off against the unscrupulous over that most sacred of relics, a Park Avenue address.
Returning to bookstores for the first time in three decades, BROTHERS KEEPERS offers not only a master class in comedy from one of the most beloved mystery writers of all time but also a surprisingly heartfelt meditation on loss, temptation, and how we treat our fellow man.

Release date: February 5, 2019 
**Note– This book was first published in 1975 and is a re-release!**

If you keep up with my blog and my reading lists, you will note that I’ve read one of Donald E. Westlake’s books and reviewed it here before.  If you’re interested in hard case crime novels, as I sometimes am, you should check him out.

But, being that this novel was written quite some time ago, a reader must understand that the language and the story itself is very much a product of its time. For example, in the second chapter of Brothers Keepers, there is a small section where a monk is writing a letter to Miss Ada Louise Huxtable of The New York Times. There are many starts and stops to the letter, but the letter itself is set up in a style in which not many younger people today might recognize with a name and address in the left corner, date in the right, and a formal letter following. I was taught how to write a business letter in high school, but a lot of schools aren’t teaching this skill today and it’s becoming lost in translation with email writing as a preferred method of conveyance and text messaging coming in a close second. Obviously, it takes on a second to figure out what’s going on, but the difference in the times might come as somewhat of an amusement to some and makes this story even more fun to read.

A world without cell phones and internet in every device? How novel.

Mostly,  Brothers Keepers is a timeless story. The monks themselves are all very well written and their attitudes toward their home being scheduled for destruction in order to make way for modern growth within their city are well portrayed. Westlake’s writing–and the humor within–is absolutely delightful as usual. Whatever feelings and anxieties over a dire situation the monastery went through in the story can easily be translated into the issues and goings on of today. The story and characters will resonate well with a newer generation and likely generations to come.

Brothers Keepers is available from Amazon.com in Kindle ($6.15) or Paperback ($ 8.14) form. 

 

A Demon And His Witch by Eve Langlais

Release date: June 2012
Genre: Paranormal romance

Burning alive is nothing compared to the heat of his touch.

There are better ways to break up with a girl than having her roasted at the stake as a witch. Is it any wonder Ysabel has trust issues? She got her revenge, though, and it only cost her a slightly tarnished soul.

Working for Lucifer isn’t all bad, until her ex-boyfriend escapes the bowels of Hell and she’s forced to team up with a womanizing demon to fetch the jerk back.

As a minion in Lucifer’s legion, Remy’s seen a lot of things, but nothing can prepare him for the witch with the acerbic tongue – and voluptuous figure. The more she pushes him away, the more determined he becomes to seduce her. However, what’s a poor demon to do when he accidentally falls in love and wants to keep her forever?

Welcome to Hell where you’re screwed if you do and damned if don’t. And just so you know, Lucifer has a special spot reserved for you…

I have had this book resting on my Kindle device forever. I’m glad I dove further into the TBR pile this weekend because I really enjoyed this book and will probably soon gift myself with the rest of the series. There are six books in the Welcome To Hell series and this is the first one.

The main characters are fantastic. Ysabel is a very likable witch. I enjoy her quick reactions. She is certainly not a damsel in distress, though she does find herself in a bit of a hot pickle. Being that A Demon and His Witch is a shorter read, the reader (that’s us!) doesn’t get to see too much into Ysabel’s past, which I thought would have made for an interesting novel in itself, possibly several volumes (lol).

BUT… (Drumroll)

As Ysabel is such a strong, smart character, I find it difficult to believe she didn’t see the betrayal from her lover in the end of her life. I do get that sometimes people only see the good in others, but Ysabel was written sharply–little hidden, speaks her mind…I felt like she would have been more likely to have seen him for what he was eons ago, but had she, this would have been a totally different story.

The hero in this story is an alpha male, in case that matters to any of you. Remy is a half demon, half mortal. In the story, we readers meet his demon mother and learn that his mortal father was accidentally killed by his mother (who says she loved him, but…). We quickly learn that Remy is a take charge sorta guy, he’s toying with the idea that he might settled down to a forever relationship, although it goes completely against his previous dating practices (in which he just sort of meanders from bed to bed, I suppose lol).

The plot of the story is basically strewn right out in the back cover blurb, so I won’t get into too much description of it here and I certainly don’t want to give you any big spoilers because people who do that suck. The gist of it is that Ysabel and Remy are tasked with bringing five escaped damned souls back to hell. These particular souls were people responsible for Ysabel’s death, so obviously it’s personal for her. Remy and Ysabel are quite the match and their constant banter was hilarious.

Four stars! YAY.

A Demon and His Witch by Eve Langlais is available at Amazon.com for Kindle at $2.99 and Paperback at $7.99. 

The Smoke by Simon Ings

Quick FYI before we begin this review…

You know when you’re a kid and you’re minding your own business, just sitting down somewhere behaving, and then out of nowhere your older sibling comes along and sideswipes your entire head with a giant, heavy, feather pillow, knocking you into the floor? And before you even knew what happened, they just keep hitting you with the pillow? That’s what this book will do to you if you’re not carefully paying attention. 

Simon Ings’ The Smoke is about love, loss and loneliness in an incomprehensible world. 

Humanity has been split into three different species. Mutual incomprehension has fractured the globe. As humans race to be the first of their kind to reach the stars, another Great War looms.

For you that means returning to Yorkshire and the town of your birth, where factories churn out the parts for gigantic spaceships. You’re done with the pretentions of the capital and its unfathomable architecture. You’re done with the people of the Bund, their easy superiority and unstoppable spread throughout the city of London and beyond. You’re done with Georgy Chernoy and his questionable defeat of death. You’re done with his daughter, Fel, and losing all the time. You’re done with love.

But soon enough you will find yourself in the Smoke again, drawn back to the life you thought you’d left behind.

You’re done with love. But love’s not done with you.

To be completely honest, there is a lot going on in those pages. This novel is not for everyone. However, Simon Ings has clearly grasped and delivered to his readers an unmistakable grief and the loss of any need to go on. Those are emotions I find hard to describe when I’m writing and I know other authors do too. To do this well is commendable, particularly in an alternative history setting.

But, reader beware. It is extremely easy to get completely lost in this book. As a matter of fact, I’ve had it on my night stand a few months and it has taken me a while to put myself into the right head space to read the story and be able to give it the attention it deserves. That does NOT mean I didn’t like it or couldn’t get into it, but alternately that after reading a fair bit I realized I needed to be able to concentrate in order to not get completely lost. Books with later release dates were finished before this one as The Smoke is not a particularly easy read. Not by any measure.

With most difficult tasks, though, I found the reward to be satisfying. Characterization and writing were both wonderful and I enjoyed the plot, too. The story will break your heart if you’re not careful.

For a reader only just beginning to enjoy the science fiction genre, if you’re looking for a novel to get your literary feet wet, maybe try something else until you’re ready. Or maybe buy it read it slowly in order to keep track of what’s really happening within the plot. I most certainly do give my recommendation, though. Well done, Simon Ings.

Here We Go Again

I apologize to my readers! I haven’t been blogging in quite a while. Hear me out, though. I was unable to access my blog! I don’t know what has suddenly changed, but here we are.

This is not the first time this has happened, either. I’ve looked into possibly moving to blogspot, but I don’t want to leave a readership behind, so I decided to write my reviews in other places–Amazon, Goodreads, etc–and just wait. And, apparently, I’ve waited a few months.

For those who don’t know how my process works, I’ll explain it now.
I get galley copies of books (and ebooks) from a few different places. Some books are sent to me (email for ebooks and my PO Box for paperbacks and hardbacks) and others are obtained through request. Requesting a book for review doesn’t always work the way I plan, though. For example, I doubt George R.R. Martin would even read my email, much less just send me a free book for no reason (LOL). There is a process, certain avenues a reviewer must sail through before he or she can receive galley copies of books.

And, as it happened, I just sort of stopped requesting so many books while my blog was “down” and I haven’t gotten a shipment of books from anywhere until a bit ago. I am just now ready to dive in. Honestly, I was afraid my readers would have jumped ship while I was temporarily away, but a peep into my blog stats has just revealed that you haven’t!

Bless your hearts! Thank you for staying and being so wonderful.

I have some incredible book reviews coming your way, too. As always, I cover many genres and I’m looking forward to sharing with you guys!

XOXO Rhiannon