Friday, March 29, 2024
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Uncaged Review: Sexy Scott by Cecelia Mecca & Julie Johnstone

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Sexy Scot
Mecca & Johnstone
Time Travel/Historical

A modern man, a medieval woman. Fate brought them together, but will history tear them apart?

When his older brother disappears before his eyes, Greyson McCaim is determined to find him—even if he has to travel back in time. Because it turns out their “crazy” father was right: their mother didn’t leave them willingly. She’s a time traveler, and someone pulled her back to her original home in medieval Scotland. Now Rhys is there too while the other McCaim brothers are stuck in modern-day New Orleans. They keep reciting the chant that sent Rhys back, and it finally works—but only for Greyson. Miserably unprepared for medieval life, he is saved by fate’s choice to dump him at the feet of the uncle he never knew he had. The two set off to learn what happened to Greyson’s mother and brother, but their mission is derailed when they encounter an earl’s daughter in need of help.



Marian is sent from the only home she’s ever known to marry a stranger—a Scottish noble with a poor reputation. But her fear of the unknown is soon replaced by a completely different terror when her traveling party is viciously attacked by reivers. The Scot who saves her is unlike anyone she’s ever met—his accent is strange, his words stranger, and he’s completely oblivious to etiquette. And yet this man awakens something in her, as does her newfound freedom from her father. 



Greyson’s secret opens a whole new world for Marian, and her love makes him a stronger man. But Greyson’s family is at the center of a conspiracy that promises to change Scotland forever, and from the perspective of history, he knows it doesn’t turn out well. Can Greyson and Marian possibly find a happy ending?

Uncaged Review: We start out in modern times, with 3 brothers trying to find out if their older brother Rhys, and their mother actually time traveled to ancient Scotland. As they try to figure out the chant and the wording, Greyson suddenly chants it exactly as his brother Rhys did and poof – he’s gone. Which leaves the other 2 brothers scampering to find out what happened. Then our story stays in Scotland.

This is a fun time travel book, and I didn’t read the first one in the series, but this stands well on its own and catches you up easily. Fate would have it that he would land right in the path of his Uncle Ross. And when his uncle agrees to help him find his brother and his mother who disappeared 5 years ago, they happen upon a group attacked by reivers – or ancient time bandits. And Grey meets Marian…
I won’t give any clues, but the characters are well developed and it’s funny to hear Grey try to talk in an old brogue way, and fail miserably. What I really like about this, is that the writing team is so cohesive, I have no idea where one ended and the other begins. There is drama, some action, romance and a nicely developed plot and world. I’m planning on going back and reading the first book to learn the story of Rhys. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review: Death at Peony House by Krista Walsh

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Death at Peony House
Krista Walsh
Paranormal Suspense

Sorceress and journalist Daphne Heartstone heads to Peony House, the city’s abandoned hospital, in search of a headline, but what she discovers is a dead body and a clue to a hundred-and-fifty-year-old cold case. Detective Hunter Avery, the man Daphne loved and lost, warns her away from the case, but the ghosts of Peony House have demanded her help, and her job is on the line if she doesn’t have a story on her editor’s desk for Saturday’s edition. Daphne has worked hard to escape her past of dark magic and blind ambition, but as she walks the balance between light and dark, she’ll learn how many promises she’s willing to break to protect the people she loves.

Uncaged Review: This is the first in a series and in the wide arc, it’s about 6 people of different magical abilities, that pooled together and escaped a magical sealed room alive. This first book starts us out with sorceress Daphne, and we learn of her descent into a dark world, and clawing her way out to change her life to the better. As a journalist, she discovers a murder of a young man, a runaway that lives on the streets trying to find a place to rest in the old Peony House, a house that was a hospital and is now abandoned – or so people think. When Daphne realizes the place is swarming with ghosts in anguish, she tries to find a way to help them – without managing to go into the dark side again and to try not to get in the way of the police, especially Hunter Avery, her former flame.

This book has just about everything I like in a book. The suspense, the twists and turns, the action, and even a smidgeon of romance, this book hits all the marks for me. The odd cast of characters are spot on and well developed and the originality is on cue. This book borders on paranormal, occult and horror – but not severely in any direction – and it’s a great page turner. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review: Lost and Found by Maggie Clare

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Lost and Found
Maggie Clare
Romantic Suspense

Dr. Lissa Morgan has had a crush on her best friend’s older brother since they were kids, but handsome, brooding Cam Taylor has never given her a second glance. When Cam unexpectedly shows up on Lissa’s doorstep bleeding and bruised, his personal life in shambles, things between them take a steamy turn.

After an incredible weekend with the sweet, sexy doctor, Cam realizes what he’s been missing. But he’s run from intimacy his whole life, sure he doesn’t deserve a woman like Lissa. He’s doing her a favor by walking away – or so he tells himself.

Frustrated and hurt by Cam’s distance, Lissa has no choice but to rely on his private security firm when an annoying admirer turns threatening. The more time Cam spends with Lissa, the faster his defenses crumble. When the disturbed stalker finally makes his move, Cam will do whatever it takes to save the woman who’s helped heal his wounded soul.

Uncaged Review: This is the third book in a series, and I hadn’t read the first two, but I really didn’t need to. These work well as a standalone, although I did notice characters that were featured in the first two books that make an appearance here, and I will definitely go back and pick up the other two. I’m not a huge suspense reader, but this book hit all the sweet spots. Lissa lost her parents at a young age and was taken in by Dani and Cam’s family. Cam was older, and already off to college when Lissa moved in, and although they knew each other, they didn’t hang out together much, but Dani was Lissa’s sister in every way except blood.

When this book throws the two of them back together, Cam will see Lissa as an accomplished adult, a doctor in an ER that works brutal hours. This book is packed with action, danger, violence, suspense with a few twists I didn’t see coming, romance and love and loyalty from Cam’s amazing team. Romantic suspense lovers will enjoy this one. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review: Hollywood Heartbreaker by Alexa Aston

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Hollywood Heartbreaker
Alexa Aston
Romantic Comedy

From internationally bestselling romance author Alexa Aston comes a stunning new Contemporary Romance series. Book One in the exciting Hollywood Name Game series has arrived. Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Being late to an interview lands her the biggest job opportunity of her life.

He may be rich and successful—but he’s just this side of miserable.

Can a wannabe be The One for the biggest star in Hollywood?

Cassie Carroll came to Hollywood with big dreams that never materialized. Acting isn’t even on the back burner anymore—it’s completely off the stove. Working for a third-rate agent, Cassie hopes to land a new job that will give her credibility, as well as help pay the rent. Late to her interview, she swerves to avoid hitting a dog—and totals the car of Hollywood’s leading action superstar. Surprisingly, she walks away from their encounter with a job—as the sexiest man alive’s personal assistant.

Rhett Corrigan is bored with the movies he makes and the drop-dead gorgeous model he’s dating. He’s afraid that Hollywood has typecast him—and that he’ll never be able to break out of his action mold and try new acting challenges.
When Cassie Carroll literally slams into his life, she brings a breath of fresh air and common sense to his world. She pushes him to be a better actor and a better man.

Can these friends become lovers—and can their love survive—in a tabloid-happy town that thrives on rumors and backstabbing?

Uncaged Review: I love a good romantic comedy, it’s the one contemporary sub-genre that I can really get into. I read this book in one day. It was impossible to put down. I knew this author as a historical romance author, but she really hit it out of the part with this Cinderella story. I laughed, cried and cheered the main characters on throughout this story and I’m glad I read this during the day as this would have kept me up way too late. She gives us Hollywood stars that are down to Earth and likeable. There is some action, some grief, some maddening moments, some laughter and romance. It’s a great formula and the author makes you feel a part of the story. This is the first book I’ve read from this author, but I’m definitely on board with the author and this series. Great read. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars


Uncaged Review: Angel Fire by Ella Summers

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Angel Fire
Ella Summers
SciFi/Fantasy

Cadence Lightbringer, daughter of an archangel, has trained from birth to one day drink the Nectar of the gods and ascend to the angels’ ranks. She’s always been the perfect soldier. She’s always known exactly where her life is headed.

Until she is assigned to a mission with Damiel Dragonsire, Master Interrogator of the Legion of Angels.

Powerful, paranoid, and brutally intelligent, Damiel has built up a reputation for hunting down each and every traitor hiding within the Legion’s ranks. And his latest suspect is Cadence. Convinced she is not the perfect soldier everyone believes her to be, he will stop at nothing to expose her.

Uncaged Review: This is a prequel trilogy to the Legion of Angel series, and we learn about Nero’s parents and their journey and that will give us better insight into Nero’s magic and according to the author, will enhance our reading of the Legion of Angels series, which is one of my favorite series. And the first book does not disappoint.

Cadence is a perfect daughter, perfect soldier and has been molded by her father since birth. Damiel is a Master Interrogator – hard, concise, and unforgiving – and doesn’t trust anyone. When the two are assigned together on a mission, they both will find out that neither are what they were led to believe.

There are a few good twists in this, and you don’t see Cadence moving up the ranks like we’ve watched Leda, this is much quicker and the romance – although a slow burn throughout this book, it’s much faster than Nero and Leda. I can’t say that I liked this one as much as the main series, but it’s very enlightening, and I am beginning to have a much clearer picture of Cadence and Damiel. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 1/2 Stars

Uncaged Review: Ignition Point by Jami Gray

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Ignition Point
Jami Gray
Fantasy

When a questionable, but lucrative delivery job takes an unexpected turn, will Rory survive the collision or crash and burn?

Rory Costas, Premier Transporter, has a plan for her future and the first step includes getting out from under her debt to the Arcane Guild. When an anonymous party offers a lucrative side job with shady details and a hefty paycheck, the professional implications of a successful delivery override her personal reservations.

The seemingly simple contract takes a challenging turn when two mercenary mage crews attempt to seize the package and permanently divert Rory’s delivery. When she realizes her package is the ultimate prize in a lethal battle of magical heavyweights, she must choose between salvaging her reputation or her conscience.

With her reputation and life on the line, will Rory survive a hazardous delivery or end up buried under the wreckage?

Uncaged Review: This is a good jump off to a
new series. I still want to know more about these
two main characters and this world and back
story, but I’ve read this author before, and she
always delivers. This was a shorter novella that
introduces the character of Rory and Zev. Rory
is a transporter of Arcane/Magical items and the
magic we’ve seen Rory wield so far is mostly
defensive.

I am looking forward to how this series
and characters develop. This is an action packed
novella, with the attempted kidnapping of a kid
and quite a bit of violence, but not overly gory.
The author achieved her goal with getting this
series on my must read list. Great start. Reviewed
by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review: The Fall of Arcades by Azriel Hope

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The Fall of Arcades
Azriel Hope
Fantasy Romance

Though I am the darkness…let me be your light!

Farrow Latimer, Prince of the Arcades:

I am the prince of darkness, the executioner and fallen angel royalty who is forbidden love. No matter how many men or women I take to my bed none capture my heart.

As the Arcades teem with lust, debauchery, and destruction, I neither relish nor abhor my role as the most brutal of all and then I catch her….the small fairy halfling who changes my world.

Rayelynn Astraides, first daughter of the Commander of Landharn’s West Shore:

The fallen angels litter the skies coming to claim us. I am running from the monstrous man my father is to make me marry for failing battle school when they attack. Fallen angels are all about us and in my fear I tuck myself away.

There, beside the tree where I hide, he stands, tall, majestic, handsome… and deadly. He lets me run and I return to the battlefield to tend our wounded as I am a gifted healer. When the beguiling dark angel returns, he takes me as his prisoner.

I see such horror and sadness during my incarceration, but none greater than that which lies within the fallen prince who is disallowed love yet risks all for it.

Uncaged Review: This is a well written first novel in
this series – and the play on the author’s pen name is
not lost on me. Well, at least I “think” it’s a pen name.
The world that is built here is dark and tragic, and
brutal and evil and corrupt. Rayelynn is part fairy, a
gentle soul that is gifted at healing. Farrow’s life is
thrown into disarray– a fallen angel who is forbidden
to love when he comes into contact with Rayelynn.
Rayelynn will change Farrow’s life – and he will see
who he truly is because of her.

This is a well written fantasy, and one that was hard
to put down. This newer author did a good job pulling
me into the story, and it was different than most of
the fantasy romances that I’ve read. This book does
have quite a bit of violence, and there is a love scene,
but it’s toward the back half of the book. If you like
fantasy romances that have fallen angels, fairies and
immortals to name a few, this could be a good selection.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars


Uncaged Review – By the Unholy Hand by Kathryn Le Veque

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By the Unholy Hand
Kathryn Le Veque
Medieval Romance

1200 A.D. – In the time following the death of Richard the Lionheart and the ascension of his brother, John, to the throne of England, a plot against the new king is hatched from an unexpected place – deep within the bowels of The Lateran Palace in Rome. It is rumored that the Pope himself is behind it. It is a plot so dark, and so dastardly, that William Marshal needs men who specialize in dark and dirty games in order to save a king they all hate, yet a king that England desperately needs.

The Marshal needs the men known as The Unholy Trinity -the Executioner Knights.

Sir Maxton of Loxbeare is the leader of this unholy band of cutthroats. A big man with dark hair and dark eyes, Maxton fostered in the finest houses, but there is something unsettling about him. He is a man who easily kills without remorse, and he never questions an order, no matter how unsavory it is. William Marshall tasks Maxton and his comrades with seeking out the papal assassins, and the duty soon becomes a high-stakes game of chess, with checkmate being the life of the King of England.

Enter Lady Andressa du Bose. A great heiress who was cheated out of her inheritance by a conniving aunt, Andressa has spent unhappy and bitter years serving in the convent she was essentially sold to. A chance meeting with Maxton introduces Andressa to a world she wants to be part of, and a man she is greatly attracted to, but in that meeting, she has unknowingly given Maxton a lead on something he very much wants – a clue to who the assassins really are. All signs point to papal operatives. Maxton has a job to do and he’ll use anyone he can to complete it, including the lovely pledge who is increasingly on his mind… and in his heart.

Join Maxton and Andressa in a deadly game of cat and mouse, where all is not what it seems, and even those most devout can sometimes hold a terrible secret. It soon becomes clear that Maxton must make a choice… give in to his feelings for Andressa, or save a king, and with that, England’s sovereignty.

It’s a showdown of good against evil, and the power of love against a knight’s sense of duty, in this larger-than-life Medieval Romance.

Uncaged Review: The first book of The Unholy Trinity series and the Executioner Knights, and this one is focusing on Maxton. The Knights are tracking an assassination attempt on King John, and when this story unravels all the twisted and dark knots of this story it will be quite surprising. The reader is brought into this intricate tale like they are right in the story watching it unfold in person.

There is a romance here, it’s not the main part of the story, but it’s also a story of equals, as equal as a man and woman can be in this age. Lady Andressa is as smart and cunning as a Knight, and proves her worth time and again. The epilogue in this book was almost a story in itself, and gives us a good idea where we may go next in the 2nd book in the series, and shows us what life has been like for Max and Andie a few years down the road.

I’ve never been disappointed by this author’s books, and this book didn’t let me down, and she has a knack of yanking me into her story very early in the book. I am very much looking forward to the next book. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars


Uncaged Review: Wagered in Winter by Scarlett Scott

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Wagered in Winter
Scarlett Scott
Historical Regency

Lord Ashley Rawdon has agreed to accompany his painfully shy brother, the Duke of Coventry, to a country house party with the goal of securing him a wealthy bride. A dedicated rake, Ashley is so confident he can help his brother to ensnare the lady of his choosing, he offers him a wager. It’s too bad the lady his brother selects is Miss Prudence Winter, who is infuriating, stubborn, and far too alluring.

Pru has no patience for sophisticated, handsome scoundrels like Lord Ashley. Nor does she seek a husband. All she wants is to spend the house party in peace so she can return to her charity work in London. But Lord Ashley is persistent. And far too charming.

Ashley’s plan is proceeding splendidly. Until he finds himself alone with Pru, and he cannot resist stealing a kiss…

Uncaged Review: So we are back with the very fun Winter sisters, and this one focuses on Prudence, who is the oldest sister who has decided she doesn’t want to marry, but instead start a foundling hospital. Lord Ashley is playing wingman to his brother, the Duke of Coventry to help him find a wife, since he is painfully shy and not socially adept. When he finds himself attracted to Prudence, the woman that his brother has selected, he struggles to contain his emotions.

Again, this is a fun book, with some great banter, a nice romance and that dang book. Slowly but surely this book is making it’s rounds with the sisters and it causes quite a few moments of hilarity. A nice romance that’s a easy, light read. Reviewed by Cyrene

4.5 Stars

Uncaged Review: Day of the Dead by Nikki Landis

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Day of the Dead
Nikki Landis
Occult/Horror

My Cosan is broken …
One of my guys has been taken and I’ll do whatever it takes to bring him back.
No one messes with my family.

Torn between my duty and my heart, I have to make a choice that could destroy the council and everything my ancestors fought so hard to build. The Salem Witch Trials began our fight for independence, but the true test of honor and skill has just begun.
There’s only one tiny problem.
I’ve been magically restricted by the council.
I’m forbidden to leave Mystic Hallows.

The ancestors reveal a shocking twist that changes everything. Forced to return to the fade, I have to confront the recent past and the bitter taint on my soul.
Worse, I have to save the person I love most in this world while fighting off the demon Beelzebub and his group of damned witches.
And to do so, I’ll have to walk among the dead.

Uncaged Review: In the fifth episode in this series – Cassie’s mother, Elizabeth has been stolen and her soul is in the Fade. With Ryder missing, she will have to break a lot of rules to go in after her, and she’ll have to depend on a couple of beings that she has never trusted. There are a couple really good twists that show up near the end of the book, that are scene stoppers. I won’t give anything more away, but not everything is as it seems in this story. Cassie has been magically grounded by the counsel, so she’s going to have find a loophole, and the one they use could be a matter of life or death.

I would caution anyone that wants to begin the series to start at the beginning. The author does a nice job catching you up in the front of the book, but it’s a good series. And the heat level is rising fast, as the author promised. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars