Novella Review of Worth Fighting For by Sondrae Bennett

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Title: Worth Fighting For

Author: Sondrae Bennett

Genre: Adult Parnanormal Romance

Release Date: May 7th, 2012

As leader of a fox skulk, Cody is used to feeling protective of his people. But when his best friend, Misty, gets attacked, the panic he feels has nothing to do with duty. Suddenly, he’s noticing Misty as a woman instead of the girl he grew up with. Is he willing to risk their friendship to pursue a relationship with her?

Misty has loved Cody for years, but he’s always viewed her as one of the guys. She’s tried everything to show him how perfect they would be together, without success. Now, he’s looking at her like she always dreamed he would. But every time she gets close, he pulls away.

Neither see the danger lurking in the background. Someone is plotting against the foxes, leaving them all in jeopardy…especially Misty. Can Cody overcome his fears in time to save the woman he loves?

My Review: I have admitted before that novella’s are not really something I read a lot, but Sondrae Bennett had opened me up to a whole new world with her Alpine Woods Shifters books. I read the previous three novella’s in this series in one weekend and did a mini-review of each of them (reviews here).

Cody has been a character we have seen before and I loved him from the first moment we met him. I was itching to get my hands on his story and was so psyched to see that his was up next. Since we have already met him and Misty, we are familiar with them and invested in their lives. The other books focus more on the wolves and we finally get a peek into the lives of the foxes in Worth Fighting For. Cody has grown up with Misty and has always seen her as a one of the guys and his closest friend. He never imagined they could be more than that to each other, but Misty did. She has been fighting for his attention for quite some time and has almost given up hope. It is not until Misty gets hurt in a fight that happened at the end of the previous book that picks back up in this one, that Cody sees how truly important Misty is to him. Once he finally gives into his feelings for her, wow! Those two are hot! Sondrae manages to pack some steamy scenes into these pages.

Even though this is a novella, Sondrae still packs in all the elements I love. I mentioned the smoking hot romance, but there is also plenty of action and an overall villain trying to spoil everyone’s plans as well. The villain is one that overlaps a little from the previous book and I liked that Sondrae tied in older plot lines and continues them on in Worth Fighting For.

There is a lot of humor laced throughout as well. The relationship that Cody and Misty share includes witty banter that comes with years of knowing someone. This led to some very cute moments between the two of them and had me laughing out loud numerous times.

Overall, this is another great addition to this series. I love these shifters and Sondrae continues to suck me in with each new story. I cannot pick these books up without reading them cover to cover in one sitting. My only complaint continues to be that I wish they could be longer. And really that is not a complaint at all, just me wanting more, haha. These could easily be turned into full length novels, but I will take whatever I can get. I would highly recommend these books to anyone looking for a good, fast, sexy read. You can read them out of order, but I would start at the beginning with Artic Winds and go forward from there.

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Posted in Adult Paranormal Romance, Novella

Interview with author Caridad Piñeiro

Posted on May 9, 2012 | 1 Comment

I am very excited to have author Caridad Piñeiro with me here today! Her new book The Claimed (review here) is the second in her Sin Hunters books and one that I really enjoyed! She has graciously taken the time to answer some questions for me today. Onto the interview:

A Bookworm’s Haven (ABWH): Can you tell us a little bit about The Claimed for those who might not have read it?

Caridad Piñeiro (CP): The Claimed is a paranormal Romeo and Juliet kind of story. The hero, Christopher Sombrosa, is a Shadow Hunter who is determined to make a better life for his clan. Unfortunately, he has to battle his father to do that. And I mean BATTLE in a major way. He also has to do something else: deal with his fascination with Victoria Johnson who turns out to be the heiress to the local Light Hunter clan and his mortal enemy.

(ABWH): The Sin Hunters are such a fascinating new mythology, where did you get the idea for them?

(CP): I wanted to do something outside the realm of the vampires, demons, etc. that people are seeing in many paranormals. As I thought about it, it seemed to me that there were so many cultures that believed in the existence of life forces in people and nature, like Chi or those who practice Rieke. When I discovered that the ancient Mayans used to rise and honor the sun as it came up, I thought, what if they could draw power from the sun? Then it became, what if they could draw energy from other living things? That’s how the mythology for the Sin Hunters was born.

(ABWH): Do you have a favorite scene from The Claimed? I personally think the hot tub scene was pretty good *grins* but I also loved the whole fight on the beach and all the revelations that came out of it.

(CP): LOL! That was a really hot hot tube scene! I loved the fight scene on the beach also, but one of my favorites was near the very end when Ryan needs the help of the other Hunters. I won’t say more ‘cause I don’t want to spoil it.

(ABWH): Do you have a favorite character from this series?

(CP): That is so hard to say. They all have such unique personalities and powers and I’ve grown to love them. I still think Bobbie was an awesome characters and Ryan really stole my heart.

(ABWH): If this series could be made into a movie, who would your dream cast be for Victoria and Christopher?

(CP): Awesome question. I’m leaning toward JD Cotrona for Christopher. You’ll see him in the new GI Joe movie. Victoria is harder to pin down, but I would say Evangeline Lilly or someone who looks like her. Maybe even Jennifer Garner.

(ABWH): What is something we can look forward to in the series that you are especially excited about?

(CP): Well, I do plan on writing another book – THE SHATTERED. It will feature characters you’ve already met, but also introduce some very unique Hunters to the mix. I hope to release THE SHATTERED in 2013.

(ABWH): On you website you talk about your love of writing since you were very young. What kinds of stories did you like to write about the most?

(CP): I’ve always loved writing stories with romance and adventure. Even before I wanted to be a writer, I would put myself to sleep by imagining princes and princesses fighting for their true loves.

(ABWH): What is your favorite book by another author?

(CP): I just love the IN DEATH series by JD Robb. I’m in the process of re-reading it from #1 because I missed some and read out of order due to time constraints.

(ABWH): Can you share what you are working on now?

(CP): Oh boy, can I! I just finished HER VAMPIRE LOVER a Nocturne Cravings novella which comes out in September. But even more exciting, I’m working on BORN TO SERVE, the first book in the relaunched CALLING/REBORN vampire series. This story features FBI Agent Diana Reyes and vampire Ryder Latimer and will be out in February 2013.

(ABWH): Thank you very much for answering these questions for me! Is there anything that you would like to add?

(CP): Just that I love hearing from readers whether via e-mail, on Twitter or on my Facebook pages. I really appreciate knowing how you feel about the books or just sharing some fun stuff with you.

Find Caridad Piñeiro online

Facebook | Website | Twitter | Goodreads

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Posted in Adult Paranormal Romance, Interviews

Book Review of The Claimed by Caridad Piñeiro

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

Title: The Claimed

Author: Caridad Piñeiro

Genre: Adult Pararnormal Romance

Release Date: May 5th, 2011

Victoria Johnson loves her life. She’s her own boss in a quaint beachside town, and has great friends who keep her grounded. If only they knew who she really is: an heiress to an ancient race who possesses astonishing superhuman powers. It’s Victoria’s duty to restore her clan of Light Hunters to their former glory by choosing the perfect mate. In Christopher Sombrosa, she just may have found him. Strong, smart, and successful, Christopher exudes a powerful energy. Their connection is sensual, irresistible-and forbidden.

A member of the Shadow Hunter clan, Christopher has defied his own father to lead his people away from affliction and violence. Yet he cannot ignore his duty to carry on his ancient bloodline. Stunningly beautiful and brimming with an erotic life force, Victoria is everything Christopher ever hoped for in a mate . . . but as a Light Hunter, she’s his mortal enemy. Together, they could unite their warring tribes. But murderous factions on both sides don’t want peace-and they’ll stop at nothing to keep light and darkness apart forever . . .

Summary from author website

My Review: I read the first book in the series, The Lost (review here) and really enjoyed it. It was a new mythology and had intriguing characters that I wanted to learn more about. So I was especially excited when Caridad sent me the arc for the second book, The Claimed. While I liked The Lost, I loved The Claimed!

We were introduced to the Sin Hunters in The Lost, but because Adam was new to this world we were learning with him as he navigated this new world. With The Claimed, Christopher and Victoria were raised knowing what they are, so we do get to put more pieces about the history of the Sin Hunters together. They are a fascinating race and Caridad gives the reader a lot of information about them without it sounding forced or repetitive. It kept the book moving along at a steady pace and kept me flipping the pages to absorb everything I could.

I think the main element that grabbed hold of me in this book was the romance. It almost has a Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lover’s vibe to it. Christopher and Victoria come from two opposing sides of the Sin Hunters, he being a Shadow and she being a Light. So their relationship is doomed before it even starts. They have many obstacles in their way, their families, their friends and a long history filled with distrust for each other’s clans. This is one of my favorite types of relationships because the couple can gain so much by working past all the obstacles they face. If they can work through all these issues they end up with a partner in life and their clans might be able to have some sort of peace between one another.

Christopher’s father, Alexander is still running around causing trouble and will do anything he can to keep these two apart. It was interesting to think of Christopher as the hero in this novel, since he was the enemy in the last one. However, once we get inside his head and see his true intentions it is easy to fall in love with him. Victoria was also a great character; she struggles between what is right for her clan and what she wants for herself. She is very loyal and loves her people, but it is time she needs to start thinking about what is good for her. It is difficult to gain her trust, but once you have it she will stand by you to the end. It is almost her downfall because there are Hunters that she trusts who ultimately betray her. The full weight of their treachery is still yet to be revealed, but I am sure future books will explore those outcomes and how Victoria will react to them.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the overall plot that continued on from the first book. At the end of The Lost, we know that Adam and Bobbie are together, but their lives are still intertwined with Christopher. I was so happy that Caridad let us see them and how they were connected with the events in The Claimed. She has done a great job of interconnecting all these people so the overall storyline flows well.

There are also some great secondary characters that are easy to get attached to. One of the ones that stuck out the most to me was Sammie. We saw her in The Lost when she aided Adam, but she is also really close with Victoria. She appears to be human, but many have suspected for a while that something is different about her. I love her attitude and the way she was self-reliant. I am keeping fingers crossed that we will get to see more from her in future books.

Overall, I am just in love with this series. Caridad stepped it up a notch in this book and has put herself on my must read list. I am so excited to see what she will bring us next in the Sin Hunter world! I would recommend this book to any lover of paranormal romance, but definitely suggest reading The Lost first!

FTC: A huge thank you to Caridad for sending me this ARC for review!

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Posted in Adult Paranormal Romance, Book Review