Readers' Isle

    Stealing Justice is the first book in The Justice Team Series by Misty Evans and Adrienne Giordano and the only books I have read by these authors and was free on Amazon when I picked it up. To be honest, it's not very often that I am not 100% happy and totally in love with a book, but Stealing Justice let  me down.     The story has a good plot, good characters and plenty of action, but as the chapters roll on it gets tiresome quickly. The whole thing is so predictable. I knew who the killer was long before the characters ever came to the same conclusion, and were still chasing the "red herring," And the"red herring" was not believable, even for a minute, making me doubt the investigative abilities of the hero, CIA Agent Justice "Grey" Greystone. On top of the predictability was the redundancy.  The scenes and terms where all so repetitive. Fight, angry sex, make up, stake out, cupcakes,  fight, angry sex, make up, stake out, cupcakes, over and o...

   The Lies That Save Us is the first JL Redington book that I have read, and now I am a fan. This was a great read. The novel keeps you guessing from beginning to end, Redington gives nothing away and the surprises keep coming. In The Lies That Save Us, Redington brings us a ton of action and conspiracy with a little romance thrown in to keep things spicy and the pages turning.   The Lies That Save Us is the first book of The Broken Heart Series and was available as a free promotional download for Kindle on Amazon when I caught it. The series revolves around a FBI Agent Max Menetti and his team. The Lies That Save Us stars Max's daughter Alexa and his teammate Cayman in a whirlwind of confusion, chaos and conspiracy.   The Broken Hearts series is "mystery- suspense romance," and my warnings fall in line with the genre. There is a lot of action and graphic violence in the portrayal of that action. However, there is no graphic sex. There are some steamy make out sce...

I often brag on Maggie Shayne and The Littlest Cowboy just gives me more to talk about. Shayne flawlessly combines all of my favorite attributes in a book. She gives us a lot of amazing characters with great personalities and physical descriptions. Then there is the deep suspense, a ton of action, and a great romance. When Shayne tells you a story, you’re there. You can feel the tension and smell the gunpowder. The book and the entire series are “romantic suspense” so my warnings for them seem obvious. There is graphic violence, a lot, in many forms. Also, it contains graphic language and some sex. The sex isn't extremely graphic, nor is there a lot of it but it is there. Last, this is not a light fun happy read. It's tense and emotion packed. I know I had a tear or two come to eye.  The Littlest Cowboy is the first novel in The Texas Brands Series. The Series revolves around the Brand family, brothers Garrett, Wes, Elliot, Adam, and Ben and their sister Jessi and a bunch ...

   I know I have been on a thriller/ suspense kick lately and Deathwatch by Dana Marton is the latest one I've read. This was a great book. It is like ice cream with all my favorite sprinkles on top such as, explosions, killers, car chases, fight scenes, and of course romance.  And the cherry on top of that, it was a free download for Kindle when it snagged it.    Marton has you hooked from the first line, literally. The first line is,  " Kate Bridges thought attending her own funeral would be the hardest part." I mean, how can you stop after that. I couldn't. I had to know what the hardest part would be. The book keeps you guessing, and turning pages through all the tension, danger and action.     Deathwatch is the first installment in the Broslin Creek series. The Broslin Creek series is a collection of books revolving around the small town of Broslin Creek, of course. Deathwatch read very well stand alone, and I'm sure the rest are just ...

            Maggie Shayne is another one of my favorite authors. I will read anything with her name on it, as soon as I get one I read it. And it seems I’m not the only one as many times as she is on the big bestsellers lists. Dream of Danger is A Brown and De Luca novel, revolving around Homicide Detective Mason Brown and author Rachel De Luca.             Dream of Danger is true to Shaynes style. It has great characters, tons of suspense, a dash of romance, and a hint of the paranormal thrown in on top all wrapped up and written fabulously. I loved this book and hope to get my hands on the rest of the Brown and De Luca novels.             My warnings for this book are graphic violence, action and language. As in the title Danger is everywhere else in the book too. There’s no sex in Dream of Danger, just the implied memories. I can’t say for s...

If you are looking for a light fun read, the books of the Laurel Heights series by Kate Perry will do the trick. I have read book 4, Looking for You and 5, Dream of you. I really liked both of them. Laugh out load funny with romance and great characters.             Laurel Heights is an upper crust community/ shopping district in San Francisco (fictionally, of course) and the series revolves around the shop owners and their crazy lives. From what I can tell, all the shop owners are bas ass females ruling the world, or well their stores at least. Perry does a great job with these girls and all the rest of the characters. You can picture them in your head and feel their distinct personalities. The books are written from multiple view points, giving you even more insight into what’s going on in the neighborhood.             My main warning for this series is graphic sex, bu...

     Heather Graham is one of my long time favorite authors. I will read anything with her name on it,  without reading the synopsis. And of course, she didn't let me down. Grave Danger is A Love is Murder short story.    Grave Danger was great. Really short story, but very well written. It has a great plot full of action and suspense, with a little love and a serial killer. Graham wraps up the story well in the end, leaving us with no cliff hangers and a happy ending. The characters aren't as well defined as in a full length novel, but you still get a pretty good sense of Ali and Greg, and Graham fills that space with some nail biting tension to make up for it.    My warning for Grave Danger is violence. There is no sex or partying. Just a serial killer on the loose with a little bit of the paranormal mixed in for fun. I didn't notice any grammatical issues either.  From what I can gather on the world wide web, Love is Murder is a suspe...

    Hot Pursuit (A Hostile Operations Team novel) by Lynne Raye Harris was a GREAT free download. I really enjoyed this book. It has great characters, both in their physical attributes and personalities. Plus, it has a great story line with lots of action and romance. And did I mention it was free?     Hostile Operations Team, or HOT, is a top secret special forces unit of the Army staffed by sexy bad-asses, of course. The guys in the team,  Matt, Sam, Billy, Kevin, Jack, Nick and Garrett each get their own book. Hot Pursuit is Matt's book and the first in the seven book series.     My warnings for the  HOT novels are graphic sex, language and graphic violence. There is a ton of action, fight scenes, shoot outs, kidnapping and explosions and it all ties together smoothly. The story line was really good as well, and it kind of rang close to home for me. Not only because I have an obsession for men in uniforms or dog tags, but because of the small...

    I have finished reading The Other Side of Us by Sarah Mayberry, and I loved it. There are a lot of intense emotions but they are covered up with humor. This book was hilarious. It took me a couple chapters to realize that the story is happening in Australia. Once I did, the characters took on an Aussie accent and the story became even funnier. We all say "LOL" so much lately, but Mayberry actually had me Laughing Out Loud numerous times through the book. Consider this fair warning before you start reading this at work, or school or anywhere else reading is probably not appropriate, you'll get caught.   Also, I loved the characters. They are very well developed. You get a very good sense of their physical attributes as well as their personalities.Which seems to be a hard thing for some writers to accomplish, Mayberry does it fabulously.  The are the two main characters, hero Oliver and heroine Mackenzie, as well as two canoodling canine co-stars who will keep you...

       The Love in Bloom Series by Melissa Foster is actually several connected series that tie together."The Snow Sisters" series are the first books in the collection, and "The Bradens" are the second set in the series. Then "The Remingtons," "Seaside" and "The Ryders." All together there a ton of books in the collection, that all correlate with each other. I have only read books from the Snow Sisters and The Bradens so far to give you info on, this series is way larger than I originally thought.         The entire Love in Bloom series is romance quite obviously, but there are also a lot of deep emotions and issues each character has to face in their book. They were not quite the light "feel good" read I was hoping for, but now I am roped in.  I have read the fist book of each set (free downloads) and really want to read the rest. The Snow Sisters set, is obviously about the Snow sisters, three sisters Danica, Kaylie, and L...

Cowboy With A Cause by Carla Cassidy is just one of the Cowboy Cafe Series by her. The Series is set in a fictional small town called Grady Gulch, Oklahoma. And being born and raised in a small Oklahoma town, I really enjoyed and related to the small town way of life Cassidy writes of. The Series is classified as "Harlequin Romantic Suspense" and this book lives up tp that description. It has the romance, but nothing to graphic. And it has the suspense, as a seriel killer tears through the little town, and a new criminal emerges from an unlikely place. Cowboy With A Cause was very well written. I didn't notice any grammatical or spatial errors. The story flows smoothly. Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and I am looking into getting the rest of the series. The only "problem" some people may have, is that like most Harlequin series, this book doesn't completly tie up at the end. It leaves the backstory going to continue on to the other books. Harlequin show...

      Safe by the Marshal's Side is the first Shirlee McCoy book that I have read.  This book was a free download on Amazon when I picked it up, and for a free read it was a good one.  The book is about Annie, a widowed mom in the witness protection program and Hunter, the U.S. Marshal tasked with keeping her safe until trial. There is a little action, some suspense and a sweet romance with a good story line to keep the pages turning.       I didn't notice any errors while reading this one. Which is unusual for a free read. I was impressed. Also there is NO sex, or foul language or gritty violence. It is classified as "inspirational romance" which basically means that it involves more God and religion than kisses and naughty pages. The characters and emotions are well developed. This was a great download. The only thing I noticed that I did not like, was the cliffhangers. It seems that the only thing wrapped up in this book is the romance. The pl...

  It's official. I have a new favorite series. Maya Banks is a long time favorite of mine and her KGI Series adds to that. Currently there are 8 KGI books and a novella, but the story is still growing. The ninth book, When Day Breaks, is due to release on the 24th and I'm excited, to say the least. I have already read each of the others twice, and could probably read them again before the next one comes out.    KGI: Kelly Group International is a private protection/rescue agency owned by the 6 Kelly brothers Sam, Garrett, Ethan, Donovan, and twins Nathan and Joe. So far 5 of the brothers have their own book, the rest of the books are other team leaders and part of the extended Kelly family. Each book is packed with action. There is all the great stuff I love like, kidnapping, gunfights, helicopter crashes, and so on, with the addition of a great romance. Each book tells it's own story and could be read alone, but they are so hard to put down you move onto the next one wh...

     I have long been a fan of Brenda Novak, but Coulda Been a Cowboy is much different than other books of hers I have read. Previously, I had read her summer "Heat" series, three books about a private investigation agency. Lots of murder, crime and suspense. Coulda Been a Cowboy, is most definitely not like those.  Coulda Been a Cowboy is about a famous NFL Player, Tyson, and all the whirlwind and scandal surrounding him and his new son. The only thing this book seems to have in common with the others is the romance, and the fact that it was a great read.    Coulda Been a Cowboy is the eighth book in the Dundee, Idaho Series but it reads great stand alone. This is the only book I have read from the series and I don't feel that I missed anything "need to know" in the others. I only want to read them now to get to know some of the characters more. (And because once I start a series I tend to obsess until I know everything I can about them,  *sigh*.) ...

  The Daddy Pact by Kristy K. James is the first installment of her series The Coach's Boys. This book was impressive for a free download. James gives us some pretty strong lead characters,Jess and Dan, and a wide range of deep emotions.   This was not the light read  I was hoping for when I started it. This book is pretty deep, with characters dealing with grief, loss, anger, suicidal thoughts and then hope, joy and love.  The emotions are wrote well and will get you wrapped into the story. It did get a little slow in the middle, to me, but I do love action. No action here, just constant drama.    I have no warnings to give for this book. There is no sex, drinking, drugs, or graphic violence. It's only implied. I would say it is a mature novel and not for children or younger teens, due to the nature of the deep emotions and implied sexuality.  Overall The Daddy Pact is a good read, and a great free read. Also, it is part of a series and I am sure t...

  Play Hard is a box set containing three different novels by three different authors. All of the books revolve around sports but they aren't connected in any other ways. Each book had completely different characters and plot lines. Also, they each are the start of their own series.   The first book in the box is Fastball by V.K. Sykes. Fastball is about Jake Miller, professional baseball player, and sportswriter Maddie Leclair breaking the rules. Next, we have Offside by Juliana Stone. In Offside, former Olympic hockey player Billie Jo Baker returns to her small hometown and stirs up all kinds of trouble. Last in the set is The Proposition by Jennifer Lyon.  The Proposition tells us the story of retired UFC Fighter Sloane Michaels and the unsuspected trouble he finds when he falls for baker Kat Thayne.   Overall I really enjoyed all of the books. Good characters, pretty good stories. I only noticed a few errors, and they were not major. There where a few name mix ...

  Well folks,  I'm back and I absolutely love The Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks. (I have read them all twice.)  They all have the great unique characters that I praise so often, but they are also, well, spicy. Very spicy.    The first book in the trilogy is Burn, and it tells Gabe's story. Fever, the second novel, is about Jace. Third in the trilogy is Rush, which is Ash's story. Gabe, Jace and Ash are best friends and very successful business partners. But don't let me leave out that they are all extremely sexy, dominant billionaires.  When I said spicy, like whew, people you might need to keep a fire extinguisher handy.   Each book has it owns unique story and plot line. New drama, laughs, and even some action. But they all revolve around Gabe, Jace, Ash and the family they make themselves. The characters carry throughout the series and you're introduced to new ones along the way. And Maya Banks rocks on characters. You will love them.   ...