The Creed Legacy by Linda Lael Miller

Title:  The Creed Legacy
Author:  Linda Lael Miller
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Series:  The Creed Cowboys #3
Source:  Sent by Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. in exchange for an 
              honest review

Rating: 4/5


Synopsis:

Rough-and-tumble rodeo cowboy Brody Creed likes life on the move. Until a chance encounter with his long-estranged twin brother brings him "home" for the first time in years. Suddenly Brody is in Creed territory—at thirty-three, he's a restless bad boy among family with deep ties to the land and each other. And a secret past haunts him as he tries to make plans for his future.

Carolyn Simmons is looking for Mr. Right in Lonesome Bend, as the ticktock of her biological clock gets ever louder. Then she falls for gorgeous Brody Creed, the opposite of everything she wants. Until lassoing his wild heart becomes everything both of them need.

Review:

Let me just go on record as saying, I LOVE THIS SERIES!  I'm very sad to see it end but I can hardly wait to see what the author brings to the plate next!  I want to thank the wonderful ladies at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. for contacting me about being a part of the tours for this series. :)

Our hero Brody Creed is back home in Lonesome Bend after being estranged from his family and living the hard and fast life of a rodeo cowboy.  Having made amends with his aunt, uncle and twin brother Conner, Brody is green with envy at all the happiness that his brother and their cousin Steven have found in their new marriages.  Brody wants some of what they have, so he's putting down roots and building his own place.

Enter Carolyn Simmons....

Carolyn Simmons  is pretty content with her life in Lonesome Bend.  She has a job, a roof over her head and a group of friends.  But there is something missing for Carolyn,  she wants her own Happily Ever After, complete with a family and a permanent home.  Many years ago she thought she found her HEA in younger Brody Creed.  Then Brody up and leaves her without a real explanation.  But being a child of "the system" Carolyn is used to being let down.

Enter Brody's "deep dark secret"....

There is a reason why Brody left Carolyn all those years ago.  Now it's a very tragic and painful place in Brody's life.  Right now though, Brody just wishes that Carolyn would open up enough and maybe let him get close enough that maybe they can have another shot.

I really enjoyed this book a lot.  There are plenty of emotions in motion throughout the course of this book that kept things very interesting for me.  I really enjoyed Brody's meddling sister-in-law the best.  I think that's what caused Brody to up his game.  Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a pretty happy read or enjoys reading romance novels centered around hot, rugged cowboy types.

Trace of Fever by Lori Foster

Title: Trace of Fever
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor #2
Genre: Romantic Suspence

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:


Undercover mercenary Trace Rivers loves the adrenaline rush of a well-planned mission. First he'll earn the trust of corrupt businessman Murray Coburn, then gather the proof he needs to shut down the man's dirty smuggling operation. It's a perfect scheme—until Coburn's long-lost daughter saunters in with her own deadly plan for revenge.

With a smile like an angel and fire in her eyes, Priscilla Patterson isn't who she seems to be. But neither is the gorgeous bodyguard who ignites all her senses. Joining forces to plot Coburn's downfall, Priss and Trace must fight the undeniable heat between them. For one wrong move, one lingering embrace, will expose them to the wrath of a merciless opponent….

Review:

I was approached about this series when Trace's book was just about ready to be released.  I had read the first book in the series and could not wait to read the next book.  Yeah for extremely sexy sounding alpha-male mercenaries who know how to "rock a girls world!"  Plus, Trace really caught my eye in When You Dare.

OH MY GOSH!  This book was a page turner.  The action in the book starts right at the beginning of the book and doesn't let up!  Trace and his team of highly trained mercerinaries are undercover trying to bring down a human trafficking ring.  Trace and his family have been victims of this despicable trade.

Priscilla has her own agenda for why she wants to bring Murray down.  She's out for revenge and she's not going to let anyone stand in her way, even Trace.  She was a pretty likeable character, very determined and has a pretty HUGE set of cajones!

I thought that the author did an excellent job creating chemistry between Trace and Priscilla that was White Hot.  I felt that the progression of their relationship was very realistic and wasn't rushed.  At times I thought that Trace was purposefully challenging Priscilla to see if she would "rise to the occasion" or shy away.  Let's just say that Ms. Priscilla can put on a show when she wants to!

I thought that the addition of Jackson to the story was a great build up to the next book in the series.  Again, another book I can hardly wait to read!  I also really liked how the author kept us in the loop about how things were going with Dare and Molly and Chris too.  Sometimes I feel like the characters from the prior book in the series are sort of forgotten about as the series progresses...NOT the case here.

There were only a few tiny things that gave me pause about the book.  The first thing was Priscilla's nickname, Prissoverally dramatic.  Other than those little quirks I really enjoyed Trace of Fever a lot.  The more I read of this series the more I don't want it to end.

Blogging Update

As I stated in the sticky post at the top of my blog.  I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus for a little while.  Mainly to try and come up with a way to combine ALL the things that I love, like books and knitting, into one blog so it doesn't make blogging feel like a job. 

On Monday July 4, I will be joining "Bumps," my pal in real life who wishes to remain anonymous in blog land, at Bumps in the Road and we will be tag teaming book blogging, knitting, digital photography and life in general.  A little FYI, any giveaways that are or will be taking place on Bumps in the Road are the sole creations of "Bumps."  I am in the midst of a major "operation" called "Operation get Jamie out of debt" and my budget just doesn't allow for giveaways right now.

Blog Tour ~ Creed's Honor by Linda Lael Miller

Title: Creed's Honor
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

 Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn't his dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life.

Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend….

Review:


Connor Creed has all but given up on his own dreams and has decided that he's going to follow in his uncle's boot prints and become a rancher in his hometown of Lonesome Bend, CO.  I thought that the name of the town was more than appropriate for Connor and the way he happens to be feeling.  Then his wild card twin brother, Brody, shows up which is difficult for Connor to swallow.

Tricia McCall ends up in Lonesome Bend after the death of her father and she decides to take over his trailer park for him.  She doesn't intend to stay long, just long enough to sell the trailer park and move herself up to Seattle.  However, her crafty grandmother is working double time behind the scenes to get Tricia and Connor together.  Slowly but surely things start to progress along, then a stray dog named Valentino and Tricia's goddaughter are added to the picture.

I really enjoyed this book a lot.  I can hardly wait until the next book in the series comes out!  The thing that I really liked about this book was it was a romance with some drama and pent up emotions thrown in to keep things interesting.  The dialogue and the interactions between the characters, major as well as minor, felt so natural and like your actually there witnessing the book play out.

My Friends new blog

Greetings and salutations!

I just wanted to give a little shout out to you all and let you know that my friend "Bumps" (blogger prefers to remain anonyomous) has started up a blog.  She's decided to take the book/knitting/everyday life blog route as well.  You can check her out at Bumps in the Road.  She'll be reviewing Blood Red Road in a day or two.

Tour Stop ~ The Lens and the Looker by Lory S. Kaufman

Title: The Lens and the Looker
Author: Lory S. Kaufman
Series: The Verona Trilogy #1
Genre: YA, Sci Fi

Synopsis:

THERE'S HOPE FOR THE FUTURE,
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PAST?

It’s the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s) have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. But not everything goes to plan.

In this first of a trilogy, we meet three spoiled teens in the year 2347. Hansum almost 17, is good looking and athletic. Shamira, 15, is sassy, independent and an artistic genius. Lincoln, 14, is the smart-aleck. But you don’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface to find his insecurities.

These three “hard cases” refuse the valuable lessons History Camps teach. But when they are kidnapped and taken back in time to 1347 Verona, Italy, they only have two choices; adapt to the harsh medieval ways or die. The dangers are many, their enemies are powerful, and safety is a long way away. It’s hardly the ideal environment to fall in love – but that’s exactly what happens. In an attempt to survive, the trio risks introducing technology from the future. It could save them – or it could change history.

Review:

I thought that this book was very interesting.  From the premise right down to the characters.  I'm very glad that I was approached about this book as well as the second book in the trilogy as well.

The story takes place in 2347 where humans have been able to create a utopian type society after a massive disaster nearly wiped out humanity and the world as a whole.  This is where we meet our main characters Hansum, Shamira and Lincoln.  Three privileged teens who have never known any other society besides this "perfect" society.  In their world they are babied by artificial intelligences that were created with the absolute sole purpose of keeping the kids safe and happy.  Which has led to this particular trio to be so spoiled I felt the need to slap them a couple times.  But in the book, this particular problem is solved by their schools and parents agreeing to send them to History Camp.  Which to me sounded like a futuristic version of Boot Camp.

Then these three kids are kidnapped by a rogue time traveler who transports and drops them in the middle of "real time" medieval Italy.

Which is where things get interesting...Really interesting.  Overall, I thought that the world and the characters that Mr. Kaufman created were very original and very realistic.  Personally, I was extremely fascinated by the A.Is. They too were written in a very realistic and believeable manner.  I was very impressed by all the descriptions of 12th century Italy.  It had to be a blast to research all that history?! (I'm a little bit of a history buff)  Though I did think that the futuristic world that was created was a little bit bland. Because of the blandness of the beginning I did have a little trouble getting into the book but once I go into it I was really happy with the results.

RATING:

3.75/5

If you are interested in this book, Mr. Kaufman’s website is here: http://www.history-camp.com/.

Taking a TEMPORARY break

Good morning.

I have been doing some thinking recently and I've come to the conclusion that I need to take a little break from book blogging. NOTE:  Any tour stops that I have committed to will be honored.  I have decided that I want to combine my love of books, blogging, knitting, movies, digital photography and life in general into 1 blog so that I don't feel so overwhelmed.  Right now I feel like my book blogging is a job, I already have one of those.  My plan is to come back in the near future with a new blog and a new plan.