Best of 2013

Falling For The Backup by Toni Aleo

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Falling for the Backup (Assassins, #3.5)
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Assassins #3.5
Reviewed by Kay

This latest read from Toni Aleo’s Assassins series is another great addition. It focuses on Jordan, who is the backup goalie. He has been on the bench since a very significant injury. While he was healing, his replacement became a star goalie and basically took his place on the team. Now that he’s healed, he wants to play again and is talking with other teams. He also wants to settle down, get married and have kids, so he’s looking for his future wife.

Aynslee is a elementary education teacher. A red haired Irish girl complete with a big family. She transferred down to Nashville after a breakup with her longtime boyfriend. These two meet on a plane ride back to Nashville. Instant sparks and here you go. I love these novels, I really do. This series is an auto-read for me. When she has a new book come out, I  clear my schedule so I can sit down and read it. If you haven’t started reading her, you are sooo missing out on one of the best new authors there is out there. I can not wait for September when the next book comes out!

Caged Warrior by Lindsey Piper

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Caged Warrior (Dragon Kings, #1)

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Dragon Kings #1
Reviewed by Anne
379 pages
 
I picked this book up at the RT Convention and packed it in a bag to take along to my sister’s house.  I read the first 20 pages on the plane and I was hooked!
 
In the Dragon King world a dragon race lives among humans.  They look human in appearance, more or less, but they don’t shift forms.   They DO possess dragon powers, which vary from person to person, or rather, dragon to dragon.  Their race has problems reproducing.  Audrey was banished from the dragons and led a life with humans, until she and her human husband had a baby.  Then dragons arrived.  They killed her husband, kidnapped Audrey and her son, and delivered them to the sadistic Dr. Aster’s lab.  After a year of torture and experimentation, Audrey is separated from her son and sent to train to be a cage warrior.  (Think Gladiator type cage matches.)  She’s been promised that if she can stay alive for a year, her son will be returned to her.
In the warrior complex, Leto is assigned to train Audrey.  Leto’s success is tied to Audrey’s by Old Man Aster (who runs the Cage), and they come to realize they have to find a way to work together even though they hate each other.
 
This book really worked for me.  I know, I know, I don’t like angst, and this book is full of angst.  I also don’t like children in danger, and Audrey’s son, Jack is certainly in danger. That was all off page, though it’s Audrey’s constant focus, which made it tolerable for me.   But there’s fighting!  And there’s powers and brainwashing.  And it’s complex, but written well enough that I didn’t have problem tracking along with it.
 
Audrey is such a strong character! You get to see her gain self confidence and grow stronger. You get to see Leto come to admire her more and more as he gets to know her, though in the beginning he’s just the latest in a line of abusers.  I was ok with Leto’s asshole behavior because, from the beginning it was clear to me that it was all about the reality of training for cage fighting.  They had a short time to get her ready to fight, and Leto has a personal stake in her success.
 
The story line was really interesting with enough twists and turns to really keep me enthralled.  The best part was that they didn’t seem to come out of nowhere.  Each twist was an “ahhh!” moment for me, where suddenly things fell into place.  I thought the world was interesting and well written.  I want to know more!  The villains (Old Man Aster and his son, Dr. Aster) are a bit two dimensional.  That was fine with me.
 
Overall I give the book a 4.5 out of 5 and look forward to reading more. It was dark and gritty.  Lindsey Piper’s writing reminds me of Kresley Cole minus the screwball humor. I really enjoyed it and I’m putting it on my best of 2013 list.

SEAL of Honor by Tonya Burrows

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

SEAL of Honor (HORNET, #1)
Grade-A+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-HORNET #1
Reviewed by Kay

Where to start? I have read a lot of romantic suspense. I have read a lot of military romantic suspense. I have loved a lot of both of these things. This book…..I LOVED the hell out of it! I haven’t read a great romantic suspense in a loooong time. Too long as a matter of fact.

Gabe Bristow was a SEAL but after an auto accident he is a SEAL no more. Neither is his best friend, Quinn. He decided to take a desk job at the Pentagon that his father, the Admiral arranged for him. Quinn comes to him with the idea about working in the private sector, kind of like a mercenary. He would be with other ex-military or federal agency people. He rejects the offer but after some manipulating by his brother, he accepts. Their first case is to rescue a business man that has been kidnapped in Colombia.

Audrey Van Amee is a struggling artist with a very wealthy brother. While being on the phone with her brother, she sees and hears his kidnapping via a skype like thing. She meets the team sent to rescue him totally by accident. She ends up sticking with them as a translator kind of.

This was a great read and start to a new series. I can’t wait for the rest of the team to have their books! She reminds me a little of Suzanne Brockmann and Cindy Gerard. There is lots of suspense and plot twists here. I am a HUGE romantic suspense fan and this totally clicked for me. The romance was sweet and fast building. This was a win for this author in my opinion. The only thing I can say that would’ve made it better, was if her love scenes were a little more like Lora Leigh’s Tempting SEALs series.