by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 5, 2023 | Book Reviews
As romance novels go Claimed by My Brother’s Best Friend by Ella Sloane starts a little differently as our opening perspective is from the POV of Chris, the male lead character. I actually found it a little weird at first because I felt like I was reading from the middle of the story … until I read it as a flashback, then it made sense.
Reading on I was exasperated with Chris (short for Christopher) and Sav (short for Savannah) because it was obvious (to us) that they were totally into each other. Which begs the question … what is getting in the way of their being in a relationship? The obvious answer would be Sean, Sav’s brother and Chris’ best friend. While Sean has not expressed anything against their getting together, they just assumed it would be taboo.
But there is a bigger reason than that which stems from Chris’ past. Poor Sav!
This story is a slow-burn HEA so while their recovering friendship happens within the first few chapters, the romance takes a while to develop and titillating enough to get us hooked to keep reading. Promise, they get there! Another good reason to read Claimed by My Brother’s Best Friend by Ella Sloane … it is only $0.99 on Amazon! If you have Kindle Unlimited, it is free.
If you like a slow-burn HEA, go ahead and pick up a copy of this book. I had fun reading it and, yes, I am a victim of Chris’ smiles.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 2, 2023 | Book Reviews
If watching reality TV shows is one of your guilty pleasures then you will likely enjoy reading Bachelor and the Geek by Sofia Aves. The main characters are contestants in a reality TV show called Geekily Yours where the men are “The Beauties” and the women are “The Geeks”.
Sirius Weston is a retired military man with a business providing security to celebrities, rich folk, and politicians. With a name like Sirius, you can expect a lot of puns that play with his name. Joining the show/competition was not his choice. His brother, Mitch, submitted his entry and then blackmailed coerced him into pushing through with it when he got accepted with the promise of a possible national security contract if he makes it to the end. He is older than the other men in the competition so is often the recipient of the dad/grandpa jokes.
Annie Pillingston is an astrophysicist (you can’t geekier than that!) and spends her days looking at photos of outer space. She is also the daughter of a senator and does not fit into the mold her family wants to put her in. She ended up in this competition because of her boss. She isn’t involved with him so to be honest I’m not sure how he could have forced her to join.
As I was reading, the mechanics of the show was not clear to me. Are they supposed to create a love connection? The show begins with the men being paired with a permanent geek partner and the challenges they work through are not even done together. Meaning the men have challenges and the women have challenges and when they occur, their opposite is just the audience. There are no challenges that require them to work together and it appears that any connection made is organic. At the end of the show, 5 couples will remain and 1 couple will be declared a winner where they win a cash prize and the man gives the girl a ring that implies romance.
But let’s skip past that and focus on Sirius and Annie. Their first meeting was not what they expected! Tiny spoiler, Annie faceplants on Sirius’ crotch while trying to hide from him. What follows is us following their budding attraction and romance that is rife with funny moments and lots of heat!
I almost forgot to tell you about Sirius’ roommate who puts some glitter on this whole thing. Leon is a yummy-looking engineer but also a drag queen. How the production didn’t know that is still a mystery.
Bachelor and the Geek by Sofia Aves is fun to read! You should really check it out. It is available on Amazon for $2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Mar 30, 2023 | Book Reviews
I’ve read quite a few books written by Nicole Casey and Five Country Singers’ Betrothed is not my favorite. First of all, the title gives away the ending. Second, the five men in the story are actually the five members of a country music band called Amos and the Collectibles and the one who is actually a (famous) country singer is the female lead character, Delilah. In the band, Amos is the lead vocalist and the others occasionally do backup so we can’t really call the band “country singers”.
A good story always has a conflict of some sort and in this story, the conflict is with one of the members of the band, Ryder, who is Delilah’s first love who broke her heart. In the present timeline, Ryder has a girlfriend and their love is unrequited. In the meantime, Delilah finds herself attracted to the other gorgeous men in the band … Amos (lead vocals), Carson (rhythm guitar), Jesse (bassist), and Wyatt (drummer). Thankfully for her, her feelings are returned.
We can more or less know how the story will develop at this point as Nicole Casey’s books are always HEA. You know what they say, though … the journey is more important than the destination. Delilah’s love journey could be more exciting.
As far as the love scenes are concerned, it didn’t seem to matter which man she was with they all had the same pattern that it does not seem like she is with 5 different at all. I would have assumed each one would have even a slightly different approach depending on personal preference. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting acrobatics, but probably a little more creativity in how she could conceivably be with 3, 4, or 5 men at the same time.
The redeeming factor of this book is how it spent a lot of time showing us the creative process of collaborating on a song … music, lyrics, and laying down the tracks. I thought that was a good insight into how the recording industry works that does not focus on the glamour of the job.
Five Country Singers’ Betrothed by Nicole Casey is the 4th book of the Love by Numbers 2 series which you can find on Amazon for $2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Mar 25, 2023 | Book Reviews
I remember adding 101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire by Joleene Naylor and Jonathan Harvey to my books on Kindle in February 2013 for two reasons: 1) it was free at the time and 2) the title intrigued me.
When I open to the first page I wasn’t sure at first what I was reading … it felt like a teenage diary. Nevertheless, I just shrugged and continued on and laughed. It is exactly what the title says! Lol! If you had to travel with a vampire, these are the things you should keep in mind. Many of the things mentioned certainly make a lot of sense, whether or not your companion is a vampire. I’d say they’re common sense. Advice aside, though, if you look at the way it is written, you will get a giggle out of it.
If you are looking for something light and none stressful to read, you should pick up this book. You can still find 101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire by Joleene Naylor and Jonathan Harvey on Amazon but it is no longer free. However, at $1.99 it is still affordable so if this intrigues you, go ahead and get your copy now.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Mar 21, 2023 | Book Reviews
I encountered Accidental Surrogate for Alpha by Caroline Above Story on iReader when I was looking for something new to read (as if I don’t have any books I am in the middle of already, lol!) as a palate cleanser. I paused on this mostly because I was curious about how the FLC could be a surrogate for a werewolf, assuming she is human. Did she know he was a werewolf? In this story are werewolves and humans even genetically compatible?
Betrayed by her boyfriend physically and emotionally, Ella goes to the fertility clinic where her sister works to help her get pregnant. A mess-up at the clinic ended up with Ella being inseminated with Alpha Dominic Sinclair’s sperm instead of the handsome surgeon she chose from the file. And the story only gets better from there.
After reading all the free chapters, iReader charges 180 coins per chapter and I wasn’t willing to spend that so I tried to see if this story is on Goodnovel, and to my delight, it is! I spend over 352 coins to read 10 chapters and I look at how much more I will need to spend to catch up on all the chapters and its equivalent would be something like $24.99! Whoa! So I took a leap and checked Amazon. Lo and behold, the story is there but in two parts (so far) at $5.99 apiece. Doing the math, buying the e-book on Amazon still made more economic sense so I took the leap and bought the 2 books.
In hindsight, I should have just started on Amazon after the free chapters. I have no regrets. This is a wonderful story and worth the money I spent on it on Amazon. I’m only on Chapter 41 but I have a funny feeling that Ella is actually a werewolf but her wolf is suppressed. I can’t wait to know if I guessed right!
Caroline Above Story apologizes in her author’s description for her faulty English since she is Asian but, to be honest, her English is better than what I’ve seen from many authors who are native English speakers. Either her English really is better or she has a good copy editor.
If human-werewolf love stories are your thing, you can find Accidental Surrogate for Alpha by Caroline Above Story on iReader, Goodnovel, and Amazon. Sadly (for me) it isn’t on KU but if the story is good, it is worth spending the coin on.
If watching reality TV shows is one of your guilty pleasures then you will likely enjoy reading Bachelor and the Geek by Sofia Aves. The main characters are contestants in a reality TV show called Geekily Yours where the men are “The Beauties” and the women are “The Geeks”.
I’ve read quite a few books written by Nicole Casey and Five Country Singers’ Betrothed is not my favorite. First of all, the title gives away the ending. Second, the five men in the story are actually the five members of a country music band called Amos and the Collectibles and the one who is actually a (famous) country singer is the female lead character, Delilah. In the band, Amos is the lead vocalist and the others occasionally do backup so we can’t really call the band “country singers”.
I remember adding 101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire by Joleene Naylor and Jonathan Harvey to my books on Kindle in February 2013 for two reasons: 1) it was free at the time and 2) the title intrigued me.
I encountered Accidental Surrogate for Alpha by Caroline Above Story on iReader when I was looking for something new to read (as if I don’t have any books I am in the middle of already, lol!) as a palate cleanser. I paused on this mostly because I was curious about how the FLC could be a surrogate for a werewolf, assuming she is human. Did she know he was a werewolf? In this story are werewolves and humans even genetically compatible?
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