The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1) by Helen Hoang

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic... 

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was not as dramatic as other romances can be which I loved. It felt more real to me but with a smidgen of angst thrown in for good measure. The Kiss Quotient is definitely not a YA due to the graphic nature of intimate scenes between Stella and Michael. If something like that doesn't bother you then I would definitely recommend reading this sweet romance about learning to accept yourself and others. 

Stella seems to believe that the way to a man's heart and into a relationship is threw learning how to be intimate. Intimacy seems to cause her extreme anxiety and do she seeks out Michael for help to be better and more comfortable in the bedroom. 

I loved each of the main characters. Michael is so patient and tender with Stella as the book progresses which endeared him to me. Stella stole my heart from the beginning of the book though. I felt for her as she struggled to calm her anxiety and interact with others. She is what made this book real for me. I'm a sucker for main characters with flaws because no one is perfect in real life. Relationships are not always sunshine and roses. You have to put in the work. Each of these characters were flawed and Stella found it hard to communicate at times with Michael because everything was literal to her. 

  

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Based on a true story.
Seven-year-old Chellamuthu’s life is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in India, sold to a Christian orphanage, and then adopted by an unsuspecting couple in the United States. It takes months before the boy can speak enough English to tell his parents that he already has a family back in India. Horrified, they try their best to track down his Indian family, but all avenues lead to dead ends.

Meanwhile, they simply love him, change his name to Taj, enroll him in school, make him part of their family—and his story might have ended there had it not been for the pestering questions in his head: Who am I? Why was I taken? How do I get home?

More than a decade later, Taj meets Priya, a girl from southern India with surprising ties to his past. Is she the key to unveil the secrets of his childhood or is it too late? And if he does make it back to India, how will he find his family with so few clues?

This is not a book that I would normally pick up and read. I had no thoughts about it going into it. I thought that the beginning of the book was interesting. I enjoyed getting to see what life was like in India for a family that was not well off as well as what the culture / religion was like. There were quite a few times when I wanted to yell at Chellamuthu because he was doing things that I knew would have consequences that he wouldn't enjoy. As the book progressed, my heart hurt for him and the different trials that he was forced to endure because of the actions of others. 

I think that what I liked most about this book was the focus on identity and family. How much of your identity centers around knowing where you came from? Taj goes through a period of forgetting and then remembering again. It is only after this point in the story where he feels he is whole again. It was both a devastating and touching story about a boy who was taken and who was trying to find his way home again. 

Blood Drenched Conquest (Ryze #3) by N. Isabelle Blanco

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Soleria 

When a human male breaks your heart, it can feel like your life is ending.
When an immortal goddoes it . . . well, I learned the hard way that can lead to actual death.
The last few years I’ve been isolated except for my two best friends Ismini and Evesse.
Until they both went missing.
Until I started searching for them and connected with the last thing I expected.
A pair of white eyes.
He ruined me. All because I was stupid enough to give in.
Too weak to fight him.
His scent.
His taste.
Everything about that god possessed me. I knew he’d be the end of me. I knew it.
I couldn’t stay away regardless . . .
And he drove me to suicide.
Now I’m back.
I’m different.
A monster I cannot recognize.
A monster thirsting for blood . . .

Ianthen 

The end of the last war is a day I’ll never forget.
How could I? It’s the day my best friend prophesied I would one day die.
I, the primal God of the Hunt, the first of his kind, dead. Gone.
All because of a female.
I lived nearly fourteen millenia waiting.
No, running.
Until shebarreled into my dream and turned everything upside down.
I ran again.
I hurt her.
I tore out the very heart I would die for.
Because of my actions, I had to watch her die.
Now she’s back.
She’s more different than any of us could have ever predicted.
Lost to the obsession for Conquest that has awakened in her veins.
A female I’m determined to save before death finishes consuming me. 

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37804955-blood-drenched-conquest

PURCHASE LINKS 

US: https://amzn.to/2MNM2lp
UK: https://amzn.to/2P7UmtG
CA: https://amzn.to/2oefPWw
AU: https://amzn.to/2PDp4fj
B&N: http://bit.ly/2MzWCgv
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2MNUfWN
iBooks: https://apple.co/2BPeJtR

ALSO AVAILABLE

Start the series for FREE today!

#1 Blood Flows Deep – FREE!!

US: http://amzn.to/2h67Bim

UK: http://amzn.to/2w4rQzo

CA: http://amzn.to/2h6OyEr

AU: http://amzn.to/2w47C9l

B&N: http://bit.ly/2Nie4m4

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2oefzXy

iBooks: https://apple.co/2wrZ7Gz

#2 Blood Stained Tranquility

US: http://amzn.to/2tNznWM

UK: http://amzn.to/2vNcK2d

CA: http://amzn.to/2eRMnnx

AU: http://amzn.to/2uCqkXI

B&N: http://bit.ly/2wvLb0T

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2wlajqx

iBooks: http://apple.co/2xquv7c

Or get the Ryze Series Box Set (Books 1 & 2)! 

US: https://amzn.to/2PBNSo5

UK: https://amzn.to/2NjjrBf

CA: https://amzn.to/2BLuCRY

AU: https://amzn.to/2wfDY39

Free in Kindle Unlimited

Review

*ARC recieved in exchange for an honest review*

N. Isabelle Blanco provides an interesting take on Gods and Goddesses in this third book of the Ryze series. There are more elements added into Blood Drenched Conquest that are hinted at in the previous two books. This book focuses more on Soleria and Ianthen's relationship dynamics and how they come to meet. I had been wanting to know more about Ianthen since the first book. He intrigued me due to him being a hunter and also a wolf. This adds a different dynamic to how he relates to those around him as well as his relationship with the opposite sex. I didn't like Soleria as much as the other female leads in the series thus far but enjoyed that she is a witch which gave her a different take on realizing that there are Gods and Goddesses. Ianthen was definately my favorite part of this book. I loved getting to know him better through his back story and seeing him interact with everyone. I'm glad that the author decided to have snippets from the other couples we have already met in the first two books of the series. I loved getting to know them as characters and would have been disappointed if they didn't at least make an appearance in Blood Drenched Conquest. 

AUTHOR BIO

N. Isabelle Blanco is the Amazon Bestselling Author of the Allure Series, the Need Series with K.I. Lynn, and many others. At the age of three, due to an odd fascination with studying her mother’s handwriting, she began to read and write. By the time she’d reached kindergarten, she had an extensive vocabulary and her obsession with words began to bleed into every aspect of her life.

That is, until coffee came a long and took over everything else.

Nowadays, N. spends most of her days surviving the crazy New York rush and arguing with her characters every ten minutes or so, all in the hopes of one day getting them under control.


AUTHOR LINKS

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/2ogIF74
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nisabelleblanco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nisabelleblanco
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-isabelle-blanco
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nyddi 
Website: https://www.nisabelleblanco.com

Austin by Lauren Runow, Jeannine Colette

AUSTIN: A Sexton Brothers Novel by Jeannine Colette and Lauren Runow! AUSTIN will hit your kindle on September 20, 2018! Don't forget to add it to your TBR and pre-order your copy now!

Title: Austin: A Sexton Brothers Novel

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: September 20, 2018

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40811915-austin?from_search=true

Book Description

Jalynn

I’m the girl who’s always picking up the pieces of other people’s mistakes. 

Until tonight.

I accidentally cause one false start, and now I’m being pulled into a guy’s car—who everyone only knows as Falcon—before an illegal street race.

He may not want anyone to truly know who he is, but he’s met his match. 

Game on, Falcon.

Austin

People know I run these races. 

They know not to mess with me, or my car.

When the identity of the girl who causes a false start is revealed, I have to make an example of her.

Letting her see who I am was never the plan.

Neither was running into her the next day as my brother’s new assistant. 

She said she wanted nothing to do with me, but when I yank her into a janitor’s closet, making sure she keeps my secret is the last thing on my mind.

She may want more than my secrets, but my racing may be the last thing I try to hide.

PURCHASE HERE-->

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2BsaofQ
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2QrM0hV
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2N6FDmd
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2Mr0GdW

Lauren Runow is the author of multiple Adult Contemporary Romance novels, some more dirty than others. When Lauren isn't writing, you'll find her listening to music, at her local CrossFit, reading, or at the baseball field with her boys. Her only vice is coffee, and she swears it makes her a better mom!

Lauren is a graduate from the Academy of Art in San Francisco and is the founder and co-owner of the community magazine she and her husband publish. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons.

You can also stay in touch through the social media links below.

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/laurenjrunow

Instagram at https://instagram.com/Lauren_Runow/

BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laure...

Twitter at https://twitter.com/LaurenRunow

Join her reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/16285...

or sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/btD6j9

Jeannine Colette is the author of the Abandon Collection - a series of stand-alone novels featuring dynamic heroines who have to abandon their reality in order to discover themselves . . . and love along the way. Each book features a new couple, exciting new city and a rose of a different color.

A graduate of Wagner College and the New York Film Academy, Jeannine went on to become a Segment Producer for television shows on CBS and NBC. She left the television industry to focus on her children and pursue a full-time writing career. She lives in New York with her husband, the three tiny people she adores more than life itself, and a rescue pup named Wrigley.

Jeannine and her family are active supporters of The March of Dimes and Strivright The Auditory-Oral School of New York.

http://jeanninecolette.com/

Fantasy of Frost (Tainted Accords #1) by Kelly St. Clare

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Sometimes it takes death to show you how to live.
I know many things. What I am capable of, what I will change, what I will become. But there is one thing I will never know...

The veil I've worn from birth carries with it a terrible loneliness; a suppression I cannot imagine being free of.

Some things never change...

My mother will always hate me. Her court will always shun me.

...Until they do.

When the peace delegation arrives from the savage world of Glacium, my life is shoved wildly out of control by the handsome Prince Kedrick who, for unfathomable reasons, shows me kindness.

And the harshest lessons are learned.

Sometimes it takes the world bringing you to your knees to find that spark you thought forever lost.

Sometimes it takes death to show you how to live.

This is not my first Kelly St. Clare book but it is my absolute favorite! I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from Fantasy of Frost. I had heard that it was different from other fantasy books out there which is a tall order considering a lot of them start to blur together after a while. Nevertheless, I was excited to read something different in the fantasy genre. I wasn't disappointed! From the moment the book began I knew that I was going to have to read the entire series. The world that Kelly St. Clare created was thoughtful and interesting without it feeling too much like an explanation from one of the main characters. I was immediately intrigued by Olina not only because of the veil she was forced to wear but also because of her spirit. She was not like the rest of her race and was genuinely kind to everyone despite what she was forced to face. She refused to break no matter how much hate her mother spewed her way. 

I loved the fact that the author managed to surprise me at every turn. Every time I thought that something was going to happen she surprised me with the book taking a different turn. The only part of the book that threw me was the ending. I'm not sure where the author is going with the series exactly but I wasn't expecting that. Believe me when I say that if you are looking for a book that is different from other fantasy books out there you should pick up Fantasy of Frost. It is refreshing and really well written!

Blood Flows Deep (Ryze #1) by N. Isabelle Blanco

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ismini 

He wants to kill me . . . More than that, he wants to see me die.
I don’t know him. I’ve only heard about him throughout my short life.
It is my destiny to die at his hand when he sacrifices me to the Fates . . .
All so that my death can bring back his obsession.
The woman he loves.
He’s my death.
But he’s more than that.
He’s the air that destroys me with each breath. An addiction I never planned on having.
I’ve mated to my killer.
Either way, I’m going to die.
The question now is if I can survive long enough for him to complete his sacrifice and bring back the woman he truly adores.

Dyletri 

Fourteen-thousand years ago, I locked away my powers.
The loss of one woman took everything from me. I made a deal to wait. To sacrifice an innocent that would be born in the far future to bring my beloved back.
Then I laid eyes on that girl . . . and everything I thought I knew got shredded to shit.
She’s reawakened the monster in me.
The madness.
The hunger.
The creature that demands a taste of her flesh.
Even worse, for the first time in my long, brutal existence, the monster is demanding her blood.
I’ve mated to my victim.
I’ll have no choice but to keep my promise. I have to sacrifice her. And the moment I do . . .
We’re both going to die. 

I had read a few books by N. Isabelle Blanco before and enjoyed the darkness that she is capable of bringing to a story. Blood Flows Deep intrigued me because it is more of a fantasy than her other books. I thought that the premise was interesting in that Ismini is a sacrifice for a god and she is aware of that fact. When I read that I wondered what would drive a person like that and how could they be okay with that. The author was able to write such a compelling book with a sacrifice mated to her own killer and vice versa. I knew that I had to read this story to find out how it progresses. 

I loved the tension between the two main characters. It seemed so natural and I thought that the emotional turmoil that they both go through is portrayed really well. As far as characters go, I connected much more with Ismini than I did with Dyletri. He seemed very childish and entitled at times which annoyed me. 

All in all I really enjoyed the book. The only critique that I would give would be more world building. I feel like I was dumped into a world that I didn't completely understand. I was aware that there was bad blood between some of the gods resulting in betrayal and bloodshed but didn't understand much else about it. 

The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3) by Emily R. King

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Despite the odds, Kalinda has survived it all: Marriage to a tyrant. Tournaments to the death. The forbidden power to rule fire. The icy touch of a demon.

That same demon now disguises itself as Rajah Tarek, Kalinda’s late husband and a man who has never stopped haunting her. Upon taking control of the palace and the army, the demon brands Kalinda and her companions as traitors to the empire. They flee across the sea, seeking haven in the Southern Isles.

In Lestari, Kalinda’s powers are not condemned, as they are in her land. Now free to use them to protect those she loves, Kalinda soon realizes that the demon has tainted her with a cold poison, rendering her fire uncontrollable. But the lack of control may be just what she needs to send the demon back to the darkest depths of the Void.

To take back the empire, Kalinda will ally with those she distrusts—and risk losing those most loyal to her—to defeat the demon and bring peace to a divided nation.

I had taken a break from this series but recently began reading it again. I was not disappointed at all! If anything, I loved The Rogue Queen more than the first two books. This surprised me because I loved The Hundredth Queen. The Rogue Queen begins right where the story left off with our heroes fleeing in order to live another day to fight the demon again. Kalinda is running out of time and the rest of the characters are tormented by their own thoughts and actions. I was happy to see that the world building and introductions to characters in the first two books paid off to deliver quite the story in this book. Characters we were introduced to join the fight and stories we were told about the gods come into play in the characters actions during the battle. The Rogue Queen was a nonstop action packed ride! There were moments that I felt were predictable but I still found this book thrilling!