Category: October 2013

Book links:

Amazon  ~  Barnes & Noble  ~  Goodreads

Synopsis:

When Cait Douglass resolves to get over her broken heart, throw off her inhibitions, and start really living, she’s unprepared for the two sensual men who cross her path. Torn between them, she doesn’t know which to choose–or what kind of dire consequences could follow.

Jim Heron, fallen angel and reluctant savior, is ahead in the war, but he puts everything at risk when he seeks to make a deal with the devil–literally. As yet another soul is unwittingly caught in the battle between him and the demon Devina, his fixation on an innocent trapped in Hell threatens to sidetrack him from his sacred duty…

Can good still prevail if true love makes a savior weak? And will a woman’s future be the key, or the curse, for all of humanity? Only time, and hearts, will tell.

Selene’s Review:

I will admit here and now that Possession is my absolute favorite book of the series.

I will also freely admit that it has 99.9% to do with the fact that my favorite character from anything EVER, John Matthew of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, made a cameo appearance. WOW. One mention of his muscular buttocks and I’m in heaven!!!

So many deliciously wonderful things happen in this book – not necessarily all good, but so very fascinating and even downright shocking!

J.R. Ward is the queen of interweaving story arcs and character interactions and this is very present in Possession. She reminds us of everything that has happened so far in the novels without making the new series of events suffer as a result. The only small, miniscule gripe I had (and have had with this author) is that I would have liked to see more of the main couple; they sometimes get a little drowned out by the other equally as intriguing story lines.

Female protagonist, and former brunette, Cait Douglass is probably one of the more relatable female leads in the series so far. She’s imperfect but very kind, caring, mature, and incredibly protective, as seen during the intense climax of the story. She’s strong, but not the in-your-face kind of way – she makes her own choices, discounting obstacles that may sway her decisions. Plus, she has two very, very scrumptious men after her.

Enter G.B.; long, lean, gorgeous, irresistibly charming, and a presence that you cannot escape.

Enter Duke; big, muscular, temperamental, and so singularly focused he’d make you feel like the only thing in the universe.

These brothers (big shock) are similar in their wants, namely Cait, but so very different in every other way conceivable. So when single lady Cait meets both in one significant evening, it’s easy to understand that she would want to spend time with both. Fortunately for Duke, and us readers, she decides to *erm* get to know Duke a whole lot better. Whereas G.B. eventually makes Cait, and the audience, feel uneasy, Duke has us all leaning in our seats for just one more tiny little glimpse of him. From the start, Ward has us rooting for them to get together and, in the end, they almost miss their chance. Luckily, the author, as well as myself, loves happily ever afters so we do get to see those two come together… while G.B. takes a trip down south.

I absolutely cannot get enough of the heaven vs. hell match featuring heavy contenders Jim, Devina, Adrian, Sissy, Eddie, the ever-amusing archangels, and, of course, Dog. I could go on and on about the shocking revelations and the amount of detail that J.R. Ward provides us with in Possession but instead what I’ll do is demand you go out and read this book!

I’d almost give my soul to have the next installment in my greedy little hands already…

 Five Loves

About the author:

Jessica Rowley Pell Bird was born on 1969 in Massachusetts, USA. She is the daughter of Maxine F. and W. Gillette Bird, Jr. She began writing as a child, penning her thoughts in diaries as well as inventing short stories. She read her first Harlequin Presents novel in a rose garden when she was in her teens. She was hooked immediately. By the time she went to college, she had boxes and boxes of Harlequins and Silhouettes. Every year, her mother would ask why all those books had to live in the house and Jess would reply that if even one of them disappeared she would know. (She’d catalogued them.)

Jess finished her first romance manuscript the summer before her freshman year of college. She attended Smith College and graduated with a double major in history and art history. She then received a law degree from Albany Law School. Shortly after that, she began working in the healthcare industry in Boston. She spent many years as one of the premier medical center’s Chief of Staff. While working as a lawyer in Boston, she completed two novels more and started a number of partials. In 2001, Bird married John Neville Blakemore III. Both her mother and her new husband kept telling her to send something in to an agent, a publisher, the Tooth Fairy, anyone. She thought they were nuts, but eventually got her nerve up and bought a lot of stamps. Since getting published, she has written contemporary romances as Jessica Bird and paranormal romances as J. R. Ward. She has been a Rita Award finalist, received two Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice nominations and has been a HOLT medallion finalist.

New England born and bred, Jess is surprised to find herself living south of the Mason Dixon line. (But that’s what happens when you marry a Southern gentleman.) She and her husband live with their golden retriever, who oversees her writing in a supervisory role.

Book links:

Goodreads  ~  Dreamspinner Press

Synopsis:

Some mistakes are worth making.

Reclusive comic book artist Trip Spector spends his life doodling super-square, straitlaced superheroes, hiding from his fans, and crushing on his unattainable boss until he meets the dork of his dreams. Silas Goolsby is a rowdy FX makeup creator with a loveless love life and a secret streak of geek who yearns for unlikely rescues and a truly creative partnership.

Against their better judgment, they fall victim to chemistry, and what starts as infatuation quickly grows tender and terrifying. With Silas’s help, Trip gambles his heart and his art on a rotten plan: sketching out Scratch, a “very graphic novel” that will either make his name or wreck his career. But even a smash can’t save their world if Trip retreats into his mild-mannered rut, leaving Silas to grapple with betrayal and emotions he can’t escape.

What will it take for this dynamic duo to discover that heroes never play it safe?

My review:

Prologue:

No, that’s not a typo.  Yes, this may be the only review in the history of reviews that has a prologue, but I feel like a bit of backstory was needed here. You see, this story holds a HUGE spot in my heart.  Ginormous. It all began when my good friend, Rina, and I went to NYC for the day and were able to spend some time with Damon.  We had known him for a bit at that point and absolutely LOVE spending time with him.  He’s pretty incredible.   Rina and I were gearing up for a zombie run we were participating in a few weeks after being in NYC and naturally, this came up at lunch.  Zombies and burgers really go well together, apparently.  Anyway, here we are, chatting it up with Damon and talking about this crazy zombie run and apparently the thought of us running through the woods like loons being chased by people dressed as zombies sparked an idea.  So when you read this book, and you really do need to read this book, you may notice some familiar character names, oh say like, Jillian and Rina.  Yep….that’s us.  There are also two guys in this story who are quite familiar to me, Ben and Max….my real life husband and son.  So now you can see why this story holds such a huge spot in my heart.  Damon has not only written one hell of a story, he’s given me a tremendous gift in giving me the honor of being included in his work.  For that, I will be forever grateful and I have no words to describe what an honor it is.

Now, don’t worry, my review isn’t the slightest bit biased, I promise. I will admit that I was a bit nervous to read it, because what if I hated it and had to write a not-so-hot review!? Luckily, Damon is a talent beyond measure and gave me nothing but good things to write a review on……so, enjoy!

My review:

Bad Idea is the newest work from author Damon Suede and I was SO excited to be able to read an early copy.  Well, the excitement only grew from there and with every page after….this book was incredible.

Trip Spector is an uber talented comic book artist with an unhealthy crush on his straight editor and the secret longing to draw something other than the comic he has been drawing for years.  But Trip can’t bring himself to ditch the status quo.  He really is thankful for the success he has but it seems like something’s gotta give.  He’s not happy…really, truly happy.  His two best friends have been trying to get him into a relationship for what seems like forever, but he just can’t bring himself to jump into that just yet.  Show all his quirks and his insecurities with dating and life to a stranger?  Not likely.  Well, that’s until he’s dragged to a zombie run by those two best friends and meets Silas….suddenly the notion of staying single seems as ridiculous as a zombie not eating brains.

Special FX makeup artist Silas Goolsby has just about had it with his empty sex life and may be ready to look for something more.  He can hardly believe it himself, if he’s being honest.  But he’s had his share of meaningless fun and is ready to find someone to share his zest for life with.  He knows right away when he meets the shy, sneezing, allergy-laden Trip at the zombie run that he may have met just the guy he’s been looking for.  Now, he’s just gotta throw caution to the wind and make it happen.

The beautiful thing about Silas and Trip’s story is that is it just so real.  The feelings, emotions and insecurities are things most of us have gone through when starting a relationship.  It’s what Silas and Trip decide to do with all of that baggage that is a treat to read.  There were so many parts during this book that I hurt for these two. I wanted to hug Trip and reassure him that he was so amazing and to give love a chance.  I wanted to sit down with Silas and tell him to just bear with Trip and I had faith that everything would be ok.  That’s just how real they were to me.  I can’t think of any book couple that balances one another out more beautifully than Trip and Silas do.  Where Trip is shy, Silas is outspoken.  Where Trip is hesitant, Silas goes for it.  The best part though was seeing Trip’s personal growth thanks to Silas and their relationship.

The rest of the cast of characters is equally as fabulous.  Jillian and Rina are strong and loyal friends who love Trip like family and want only the best for him and for him to find real happiness.  Even one of the love-to-hate characters turned out to be a favorite of mine in the end.  So much depth was written into each personality, it played out like a movie in my head while I was reading.  I could picture it all.

I also want to add that the geeky, quirky aspects of this story were like pop culture gold!  So different and fun and fresh….I loved it.

In the end, this book left such a lasting impression on me.  I laughed and I cried and I fell I love with Trip and Silas.  Thank you, Damon….for giving us the gift of Bad Idea.

to sum it up:  Quirky and fun, emotional and sexy….Bad Idea was all that and so much more. It plays out like a romantic comedy chock full of comic books, superheroes and pop culture starring colorful and charming characters with easily relatable emotional baggage and relationship hang-ups.  I adored Trip and Silas.  I laughed with them and cried with them and they go down as one of my favorite book couples EVER.

Five Loves

About the author:

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. Having lived all over (Houston, New York, London, Prague), he’s earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director… but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for nearly a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet.

Damon’s first novel was published by Dreamspinner Press in 2011. Though new to M/M, he is an award-winning author who has been writing for print, stage, and screen for two decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He’s won some awards, but he counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.

Cravings: sweetness that isn’t sentimental, wit that isn’t bitter, strength that isn’t cruel. Loathings: professional victims, half-assery, clichés. Damon is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America and the Rainbow Romance Writers. He would love to hear from you… you can get in touch with him here.

Email  ~  DamonSuede.com  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Dreamspinner Press  ~  Amazon  ~  The Romance Reviews(less)