Category: This one’s a Keeper

2015 Fur & Fangs Reading Challenge

Posted February 1, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Fur & Fangs 2015 Challenge

Hosted by Phantasmic Reads and Novel Heartbeat – click on the graphic or on the written links to be taken to the signup page.

This year I discovered Challenges (see this page for proof of my addiction) .. and they all sound fun… and I”m going to be reading anyway so why not.

I know, right now, that 40% of my reading in 2015 is going to involve vampires, werewolves and shifters in many forms.  It’s what I read.  So joining in on the 2015 Fur & Fangs Reading Challenge was a natural choice.

The rules are simple.  You can find them on the signup page through the links above.

My list of Fur & Fangs novels that I’ve read will be on a sub-page HERE.  (it’s just easier for me to keep track of)

If you love reading about the creatures of the night (and day) be sure to check out this Challenge.  I’m certain that you’d have fun, too.

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Stacking the Shelves #4

Posted February 1, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 8 Comments

StackingTheShelvesStacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Hosted at Tynga’s Reviews If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

It wasn’t a huge haul for this week. In fact this post is a day late because of working on the blog – it’s a major pain to combine two blogs into one.  Anyway, here’s my short haul for the week of January 24 – 31.

Viper Game by Christine Feehan GhostWalker Wyatt Fontenot knows the price he paid for the secret military experiments that gave him his special catlike abilities. After all, he left his bayou home a healer and came back a killer. While Wyatt and his GhostWalker brother Gator may have known exactly the sort of game they were getting into, Wyatt never anticipated where it would lead — or to whom.

Viper Game CF The swamps hold many mysteries, but few are as sinuously seductive as Le Poivre de Cayenne. The woman the locals call Pepper is every bit as enigmatic as the three little girls she’s desperately trying to protect. From what, Wyatt is soon to discover. Right now Pepper needs a man like Wyatt. Passionately. But her secrets are about to take them both deeper into the bayou than either imagined — where desire is the deadliest poison of all.

 

The Warning Sign M MarloweThe Warning Sign by Mia Marlowe

Sara’s been hurt. Badly. Her cheating ex has her doubting everything about herself. But after graduating from Boston College, she’s trying to start fresh with a new job. A new guy in her life seems more complicated than she needs right now.

But Ryan’s too hot to pass up. Too bad he brings new problems to the table. Which is something Sara totally doesn’t need–especially after she figures out an accidental drowning wasn’t so accidental and ends up on a mob hitman’s “to do” list.

And the only cop who’ll believe her is her cheating ex…

And from NetGalley:

Soul Crossed (of Demons and Angels, book 1)Soul Crossed (of Demons and Angels book 1) by Lisa Gail Green  Josh lived a reckless, selfish life, so upon his death, escaping the eternal torments of Hell by assuming the role of a powerful, soul-corrupting demon is an easy choice. His first soul assignment doesn’t seem too hard: the mortal Camden is already obsessed with weapons, pain, and torture. If only Josh wasn’t distracted by Cam’s beautiful friend, Grace.

Grace never expected to die violently at age sixteen, but now she’s an Angel, responsible for saving a soul. She can already see past Camden’s earthly flaws, so the job should be be easy. If only that handsome, playboy Josh would stop getting in the way.

It’s forbidden for an Angel to be with a Demon, so if Josh and Grace stop resisting each other, the results would be disastrous.

And only one can claim Cam’s soul.

Kittens Can KillKittens Can Kill (A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir) by Clea Simon The dead don’t keep pets. So when animal behaviorist expert Pru Marlowe gets a call about a kitten, she doesn’t expect to find the cuddly creature playing beside the cooling body of prominent Beauville lawyer David Canaday.

Heart attack? His three adult daughters angrily blame drug interactions, feline allergies—and each other. And begin to feud over their father, his considerable estate, and that cute ball of fluff. While the cause of death is pending, each sister has an axe to grind –with arguments that escalate when David’s partner reads out the will.

Pru’s special sensory talents and sensitivity to animals that caused her to flee the cacophony of Manhattan for the quiet Berkshires add further problems. The local vet is overwhelmed with money running out. There’s that needy Sheltie and some invasive squirrels? But the dead man’s kitten, his former partner, and his troublesome family keep drawing “wild-girl” animal psychic Pru back in.

Despite the wry observations of her trusty tabby Wallis, now the wrongfully accused kitten’s guardian, and the grudging compliance of her cop lover, this may be one time when Pru can’t solve the mystery or save the kitten she wants to believe is innocent. A single witness knows the truth about that bright spring morning. How far can Pru investigate without risking her own hidden tale?

I have to admit that when I saw the cover for Kittens Can Kill I immediately pictured my ragdoll Leia on that cover – it looks so much like her.  Only Leia is a hefty 25 pounds of muscle and fluff.  But she was a cute little kitten like that one, once.

So that’s my haul for the week.  What did you add to your growing piles.  🙂

 

 

 

 

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Review: Nothing but Velvet by Kat Martin

Posted January 31, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Nothing But Velvet KMGet ready for another Historical Romance romp.

Title:  Nothing but Velvet
Series:
Author:  Kat Martin
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  Original July 1997  (reprint: October 28, 2014)
Source:  owned

From the glittering ballrooms to the scaffold’s dark shadow,
Lovely Velvet Moran has renounced all thoughts of love. To save her family from ruin, she will wed the hard-faced Duke of Carlyle. But instead of becoming a nobleman’s bride, Velvet finds herself a notorious highwayman’s prize—her resolve to escape his forest lair warring with the wicked heat sparked by his caresses.

the path of temptation keeps unfolding…
Falsely branded a murderer, Jason Sinclair has secretly returned to clear his name and stop the wedding that would deny him his stolen dukedom. In an outlaw masquerade, he’ll kidnap this sensuous minx and detain her as long as is necessary. But can he bridle the surge of passion that has captured his soul…and could imperil them both?

This is the Kat Martin that I love.  Historicals with want to root for them to fall and stay in love characters, a deep storyline, of course sexiness and a satisfying conclusion.

Original Cover from 1997

This is a re-issued novel.  So buy it for the new cover if you want – but know what you are buying.  Nothing but velvet small orig

 

Read on for my thoughts on Kat Martin’s Nothing but Velvet.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: Plaid to the Bone by Mia Marlowe

Posted January 31, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Plaid tothe BonePlaid to the Bone is the prequel novella in the Spirits of the Highlands series.

Title:  Plaid to the Bone
Series:  Spirits of the Highlands
Author:  Mia Marlowe
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  August 2013
Source:  owned

A Bride Comes to Bonniebroch

But Cait Grant is hardly dreaming of wedded bliss. As a duty to her father, she must marry Adam Cameron, laird of Bonniebroch. And then, because of a blood oath to her clan, she must murder him…

If only her new husband weren’t so devilishly handsome. If only she didn’t have to play the loving wife for one long, languorous month. If only she didn’t surrender to his softly sensual touch, she would be able to fulfill her oath. If only she didn’t fall in love…

Cait and Adam’s love story was a joy to read.

Marriages are not always welcomed as a love match in the 1500’s.  Often they are politically based on territory or simply keeping the enemy close through marriage.  Unfortunately for Cait and Adam this is how their marriage started out.

Although it was a marriage of convenience, Adam believed that in time and with mutual respect it could blossom into a deep affection, if not love for he and Cait.  To this end he gave his new bride time to get to know him, or as much as he could considering how much he wanted her.

Cait, on the other hand, doesn’t expect much from this marriage at all.  Except to become a widow rather quickly.  After one month of marriage, Cait has made a promise to kill Adam.  If she can now… dammit, why did she have to go and fall in love with him?

Who wins in the end?

It’s a short love story, so there is not a lot of time to develop Cait and Adam as fully as I would have liked.  But with it’s magical touches, tormented love and triumph at the end it was a very good read that sets up the following novels in the series. (Plaid Tidings and Once Upon a Plaid)

Why?  Because of the curse.

Plaid to the Bone is available at Amazon on the Kindle.

 

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Review: Plaid Tidings by Mia Marlowe

Posted January 31, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Plaid TidingsPlaid Tidings is the second installment of Mia Marlowe’s Spirit of the Highlands series.

Title:  Plaid Tidings

Author: Mia Marlowe

Genre: Historical Romance, Christmas Romance, Paranormal

Published: October 1, 2013

Source:  owned personal copy

Christmas in the Highlands…

Not any dashing English lord’s idea of a good time. But now that Lord Alexander Mallory has won a Scottish estate in a hand of cards, he is the unlikely laird of the wild, snowy Bonniebroch. Worse yet, the ancient pile of stones comes with a betrothal. To a fiery red-headed virgin. And a curse. Alex will have his hands full honoring the first, seducing the second and breaking the third … all by Twelfth Night.

What happens when you mix up a

  • a handsome former spy for the crown
  • a beautiful, if unknown to the former spy, betrothed
  • a betrothed who talks to her own personal ghost
  • his own, newly discovered personal ghost
  • an evil curse that has a time limit on being lifted
  •  a hot, sexy couple who can’t keep their hands off each other

You get Plaid Tidings, of course.  🙂

This is a delightful, funny and sexy romp of a story. And I’m not going to say a lot about the story, which is odd considering this blog.  I just think that to say too much would take away from the enjoyment of reading about Alexander and Lucinda’s romance, and the crazy, fun, and loving things that happen at Bonniebroch.

It helps a bit to have read Plaid to the Bone, which is a novella set much earlier than this current story.  You don’t have to in order to enjoy Plaid Tidings, I just think it would give you a bit of background to some of the events in this love story.  You will love Brodie.  Just saying – you will.  🙂

I have a container full of only Christmas books.  I usually pull this out around November to get myself in the mood for the holiday season.  This is in that container.  Because I enjoyed it enough to re-read it every Yuletide.

Plaid Tidings is available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

 

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Review: Once Upon A Plaid by Mia Marlowe

Posted January 31, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Once Upon A PlaidA wife may be courted, too…

Many would count Katherine Douglas fortunate indeed. Laird William Douglas is broad-shouldered, gentle-handed, everything a lass could dream. But after four years of marriage, Katherine still knows little of what goes on in his heart. And she has yet to bear him an heir. The distance between them is too great—and so she flees over the snowy highlands to Glengarry Castle, home of her childhood, to set her husband free.

But William won’t let his wife slip away without a fight. Before long, he’s at her father’s threshold himself, witness to the rumbles of discontent in Glengarry, the bright joy of Yuletide at a family hearth, and the hidden needs of his own beloved…

Once Upon A Plaid is the third installment of The Spirit of the Highlands series by Mia Marlowe. (Plaid to the Bone, Plaid Tidings are the first two)

This historical romance deals with a subject not often covered in romance novels of any genre.  Infertility.   It is a heartbreaking subject for any couple who want to have children with all their heart.  Imagine how emotional the inability of a wife to bear children for her husband was in olden times – when the need for an heir often cause women to lose their husbands if not their heads.

Be prepared for an emotional story.

Read on for my thoughts on Once Upon A Plaid.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Please Excuse The Mess This Upcoming Weekend

Posted January 30, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

book pileThis post is an apology to all those that get updates from Keeper Bookshelf through Bloglovin’

I’m sorry for blowing up your feed.

🙁

I have a weekend planned of major updating posts and adding new reviews from a website I no longer keep active.  It’s moving day around here.  And things might get ugly.  Between putting up new reviews here, on Goodreads – adding reviews from an older website – well, you might get more updates than you’d like from me.

I promise it’s only going to happen this weekend (in about 4 hours when I’ll start)  Then it will be finished.

Please don’t unfollow me because I broke your feed.  I’m sure the nice folks at Bloglovin’ can fix it.  😉  Thanks, you’re the best.

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Feature & Follow #3

Posted January 30, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 32 Comments

FeatureFollowParaAlisonThe Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

This week’s feature blog is:  A Writer’s Dark Corner

Today’s Question up for discussion is:

Hard print (real thing) or Kindle/Nook, which is your favorite? 

I love the feel of a physical book.  The weight of it, the smell, and the anticipation of opening it up to the first page.  I will always buy some favorite author’s novels in “real” books to keep on my bookcase(s) and know that “old friends” live there to visit at any time. Yet. I love my Kindle for the convenience of having a new book in moments (no dragging myself out on release day to the store through storm, snow and such) is such a pull to use my Kindle more.  And the E-reader is so easy to take with me.  I can read in line, during lunch, when stuck in traffic.  I enjoy the portability of a really huge novel on a lightweight Kindle.  So, I can’t give a real answer to this one because I love them both.

Now it time to get following – hope you find awesome new blogs today.  🙂

Because this blog cannot use GFC – I prefer Bloglovin’ please.

Bloglovin button

FetureFollowbloglovin

 

 

 

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Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts #1

Posted January 29, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 4 Comments

unConventionalBookViews_Meme-ThirstyThursdayHungryHeartsThere is a fun new meme going on over at (un)Conventional  Book Views.  Lexxie is hosting the Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts weekly list of food and drink.  😉  More specifically what food or drink from a recent read of yours would you like to try or never in a million years touch.  You can find details, sorta rules and the sign up linky by clicking on the graphic or on the bold link above.

I really wanted to join in on this because it sounds fun – and get to be in the very first part of a new meme.

But for the life of me I could not remember a mention of food or drink in anything I read recently.  🙁

Then it hit me:  donuts

A dozen donuts.  Pure bliss.  Not the last meal of legends, but it worked.

Box balanced on her knees, she fished out a white powdered donut and crammed half in her mouth.  Strawberry filling coated her tongue.  Hand under her chin, she caught a little red glob on her palm before it escaped and licked it off.  After the trouble she’d gone through, she wasn’t wasting a drop. ~ from Eternal Neverland: Steps Before the Fall by Natasha Rogue.

*wipes brow*  Yay, found one in the memory banks.  Now I’ll have to keep an eye out for food as I read.  😉

A favorite fantasy of mine is to eat however many donuts I want – and it would never add an inch to my hips or a pound on the scales.  Yeah, right.  A girl can dream.

How about you?  Read any good food or drink lately?

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Throwback Thursday – The Dark Prince by Christine Feehan

Posted January 29, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Dark Prince cfThis is where it all began.  My addiction to Ms. Feehan’s amazing vampire saga.

Enter the enchanting world of the Carpathians, where dark adventure, mystery, and love await, and the desires of two daring hearts unite in one irresistible passion.

A telepathic hunter of serial killers, Raven Whitney helps catch some of the most depraved criminals. But her work keeps her from getting close to others, and has drained her body and spirit. In need of rest and rejuvenation, she embarks on a vacation far from home.
Mikhail Dubrinksy is the Prince of the Carpathians, the powerful leader of a wise and secret ancient race that thrives in the night. Engulfed by despair, fearful of never finding the mate who can save him from the encroaching darkness, his soul cries out in loneliness. Until the day a beautiful voice full of light and love responds, softly soothing his pain and yearning.

From the moment they meet, Raven and Dubrinksy are helpless to resist the desire that sparks between them. But just as fate unexpectedly brings these life mates together, malevolent forces threaten to destroy them and their fragile love. Yet even if they survive, how can these two lovers – Carpathian and human – build a future together? And how can Dubrinksy bring Raven into his dark world without extinguishing her beautiful goodness and light?

Read on for my thoughts on The Dark Prince

You’re welcome.  😉

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Review: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Posted January 28, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The Here and Now A BrasharesI received a copy of The Here and Now from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title:  The Here and Now

Author:  Ann Brashares

Source:  NetGalley

Publication Date:  January 1, 2015

 

Book Blurb:

Thrilling, exhilarating, haunting and heartbreaking, The Here and Now is a twenty-first-century take of an impossible romance.
There are rules.
Never reveal where you’re from. Never be intimate with anyone outside the community. And never interfere with history.
Seventeen-year-old Prenna James emigrated to New York when she was twelve. But Prenna didn’t come from a different country, she came from a different time – a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth and take the lives of her younger brothers. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan.
She might be able to save the world … if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

My Review:

Our planet’s future is not secure, in fact it is in great danger.  Because of climate changes that raise the water levels around the world mosquitoes have become a menace to mankind.  They carry blood plague and humanity will eventually die off from this pesky insect overpopulation.  People hide in dark homes, sleep under netting and spray toxic fumes around them in an effort to avoid being bit by these miniscule carriers of death.

But nothing can stop the coming destruction.  Then.

Time travelers are sent back in time to assimilate into today’s world.  To escape the future and presumably to stop what is in our future from becoming reality.  Or not.

There are rules for our time travelers.  Strict rules that when disobeyed… well, people tend to die shortly after breaking them.  In perfectly natural conditions, of course.  Or so it would seem to anyone outside of the closed community.

Prenna and Ethan are teenagers, in the same school and friendly.  Ethan has known Prenna longer than she knows at first – but he is her champion, often explaining things that she should know, teaching her ways to fit in with society and eventually bring her to a homeless man who will play a large part in her life and in everyone else’s as well.

Prenna must make a choice to interfere with the history that is or the history that could be.  Doing so could be the most difficult decision of her life.

My Opinion

I really enjoyed Prenna and Ethan’s story.  Putting time travel along with world destruction makes a very interesting and compelling story.

I have a pretty good imagination and I could, often, put myself in a person’s place who came from a very different future and look at the world with both fear and wonderment.  But mostly fear.  Afraid to do the wrong thing at the wrong time to completely change history.  Change one thing here, another thing changes over there where you can’t see.

But at some point Prenna comes to no longer trust the closed community of time travelers.  I was so glad to see that point come to her.

The teenage romance of Prenna and Ethan was presented very believably.  Overall, I enjoyed this novel very much.

I’m hoping for another book.  Time will tell.

 

Yes, this is an Amazon affiliate link.  The cover is different than the one on NetGalley.

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