Thursday, April 3, 2025
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Uncaged Review – Making Waves by D.K. Marie

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Making Waves
D.K. Marie
Contemporary Romance

He’s a risk she shouldn’t take. She’s a complication he can’t have. But when currents of desire run deep, can they resist the tide of passion?

Lilith Brooks was desperate to begin a quiet new life—one with her young daughter and without her narcissistic, gaslighting husband.

So, of course, when she fled to her childhood lake house, she promptly flooded her kitchen and was rescued by her handsome neighbor, Asher Crowley, when he removed a sex toy from her sink (yes, her sink. Get your mind out of the gutter and back into Lilith’s pipes.)

She’d love to avoid another run-in with her hot neighbor, but that’s easier said than done in a small town, especially when their daughters meet and become best friends.

It looked like she’d be seeing a lot more of Asher. Not that she was really complaining…

The single dad had always considered himself too busy raising her daughter and running his construction company for love. That was until his shy, sweet, and sexy neighbor flooded her kitchen and his life with laughter and pleasure. His new neighbor was everything he hadn’t realized he’d wanted.

Too bad she was in the middle of a messy divorce, and the last thing on her mind was dating her new best friend.

Or was it?


Uncaged Review: It’s been awhile since a book captured me right from the first chapter and kept me hooked throughout the book. This is a genre that I don’t read a ton of books in, but once in awhile, I find a book that really grabs my interest. Both Lilith and Asher have past events that get in the way of their blooming relationship, and both will need to come to terms with it before they can both truly move on. Lilith was married to a jerk of a husband and Asher needed to come clean about his past. Both characters have young daughters, who fortunately for them, become best friends. The kids are likeable, and the secondary characters are fun and interesting. There were times I laughed out loud, especially with Hope and Tate.

This is a good, steamy romance that goes at a good pace, and even though it’s a normal sized book, it felt like a quick read. Can’t beat that. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Duke’s Masquerade by Maggi Andersen

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The Duke’s Masquerade
Maggi Andersen
Historical Regency

Tate faces a nefarious criminal in the fight for his love and his estate.

A duke fighting to keep his estate. A lady intent on discovering what the man she loves hides from her. In disguise, beneath the very noses of the curious ton, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey, works to solve a mystery and get the better of a villain intent on stealing all that he holds dear.

At the death of his father, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey’s safe world, turns upside down. His historic estate, Cloudhill, is soon to be snatched away. Tate must go undercover to discover why his father, who never gambled, lost the family fortune, and he has little time to do it. And worse, he must face the possibility the woman he loves will marry another man before the spring Season has ended. But when Tate’s carriage stops in a village on the way to London, he meets a man with a remarkable likeness to him, and an idea is formed.

Lady Ianthe Granville has loved Tate since she was in the schoolroom, and believed they would someday marry. She is shocked when he not only fails to propose, he seems to accept he will lose her to another. Her come-out is a bitter disappointment, and as her father is intent on marrying her to a man she does not love, Ianthe takes it upon herself to discover just what it is that has caused this change in Tate, and why he has adopted an extraordinary disguise.


Uncaged Review: All the elements for a good historical romance is here in this book. We have a slow burn romance, deception, danger and a mystery. Tate’s father died before he could tell him that he’d been taken by a con man and with Tate inheriting the Dukedom and facing to have everything taken away from him by a criminal who had almost the classic mob boss mentality. Donovan who owns several gambling hells has Tate concealing his identity to infiltrate the gambling hells and find a way to get the paperwork that he knows his father never signed to prove innocence. On the way, he runs into Brett, a man that looks very similar to Tate, so the two of them set up a deception so Brett will take Tate’s place in the tons season, and Tate will be free to investigate. During this time, the women that Tate loves is being courted by a different man, and Tate is losing hope that he’ll be able to finish in time.

This is a good story, with good secondary characters. I wasn’t all that attached to Ianthe, but I liked her well enough. It’s not that she did anything wrong, just seemed immature. All in all, this is a fast paced historical and fun to read, but pay attention as the story jumps from chapter to chapter. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 1/2 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Stalking Dead by Eva Chase

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The Stalking Dead
Eva Chase
Paranormal Romance


Kinda dead. Straight-up psycho. Totally obsessed with her.

I did a bad, bad thing.

Thanks to a blank in my memory, I’m not sure what that thing was, but it was horrible enough to get me locked up in the mental ward for seven years. Horrible enough that my little sister won’t even speak to me.

But when I’m released back into a town determined to rub my unknown sins in my face, the past isn’t the only thing that’s haunting me. The four “imaginary” friends who made my childhood bearable barge into my life in a very real way.

They’re crude, criminally inclined, and more than a little unstable after ages trapped in afterlife limbo. All they want is to protect me. Worship me. Avenge me.

So they’ll bludgeon, maim, eviscerate—tear a strip of havoc right through this sleepy town.

Even rise from the dead.

Maybe I’m still not all that sane either, because part of me finds them strangely appealing. In ways very different from how I felt as a kid. And that’s not the only strangeness stirring inside me…

I promised myself I’d stick to the straight and narrow from here on. But what if the only way to set things right is to get a little ghoulish?


Uncaged Review: This is perfect book if you’re looking for something different in the paranormal landscape. Lily has lost several years of her life, not knowing why she was put into an institution. When she was a young, she spent time at a marsh, making up imaginary friends to help herself cope. Little did Lily know, is that those imaginary friends were actually real ghosts, and when she gets released from the mental institution and is off to university, she gets a lot of bullying from the other students. All Lily wants is to be close to her sister, whom she hasn’t seen since she was put away. But the ghosts that entertained Lily as a kid, are now wanting to help protect her, but they can’t do it without bodies. One of the ghosts, Kai, devises a hair-brained scheme to get bodies and all chaos erupts. Eventually, they convince Lily of who they are.

This is a bit slow at times, but overall, it’s got a sense of humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It looks like it’s a slow burn to a reverse harem and the book changes from chapter to chapter with each character’s POV. Good start to a series, and I’m definitely planning on continuing. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – A Sky Like Blood by Everly Frost

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A Sky Like Blood
Everly Frost
Fantasy

I belong to the Vandawolf.
My heart and my power are his to control.


I am a Blacksmith, a wielder of the arcane magic that once scorched our land and brought blood-storms to our skies. Now, I live at the mercy of the Vandawolf, the dark king whose power forced the Blacksmiths to their knees.

But the price for my life is high.
When his enemies scheme against him, I cut them down.
And when the storms rage, I’m sent to fight the monsters that rise from our damaged land.

To fail is to betray the Vandawolf, and my family will pay the price.

Then a breathtakingly beautiful man steps from the blood-rain, and I’m faced with a terrible choice.

Do I end him or save him?

Is he a man or a beast?

Betrayal is only a step away.


Uncaged Review: A fantasy like no other I’ve read in recent years, and that’s a good thing. This book is the first of a trilogy and even though the 2nd book won’t be out until 2024, the cliffhanger was not the type that bothers me, since the overall arc in the book is ongoing.

Asha is a Blacksmith, and in this world, Blacksmith’s would form tools with magic and protect their city. But part of Asha’s family, including her Uncle and her parents used the magic for power to rule and devastated the lands with their cruel magic and by killing many of the people. Asha’s brother and sister were sent to live with adoptive parents as their magic was drained, but Asha is used by the leader of the city, the Vandawolf who was transformed by the dark magic and is half beast, to guard the city from the horrible creatures that pop up outside the city walls.

This world is different and interesting, and you will find out more as you read along. Not all is as it seems. The beast part reminds me of the beauty and the beast, but that’s really where the similarities end. This is a decent fantasy start, and I’m along for the ride. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Pirate Duchess by Rue Allyn

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The Pirate Duchess
Rue Allyn
Scottish Historical

The fate of two strangers collides in a midnight brawl.

Esmeralda Crobbin inherits her ship and her letters of marque from her adoptive father, an infamous privateer. She plans to leave the sea on a quest to find her birth family when she encounters a man who haunts her dreams.

Brandon Gilroy will inherit a duchy but would prefer to remain a captain in the royal navy.
Then he meets a sunset haired woman more alluring than the endless changes of the ocean. He expects he will never see the her again, yet she fills his every fantasy.

Fate tosses Esmeralda and Brandon into destiny’s path more than once. Will secrets and betrayal force the pair into a gut-wrenching choice between love and death.


Uncaged Review: Whenever it comes to a good
pirate story, I’m all in. And this one was definitely
different than most, with Esmeralda the pirate and
Brandon Gilroy out to arrest her and bring her after
her crew defeated his ship and she left him and his
crew stranded on an island. During his time on the
island, Brandon plans his revenge on “Irish Red” as
Esme is known. Esme can’t seem to forget about the
man she left behind on the island.

A chance storm has Esme and Brandon stranded at
the same Inn, and even though Esme has concealed
herself by dying her hair and wearing dowdy gowns,
Brandon knows her immediately.

This is a good, well-paced read that did have a few
slower parts, but all-in-all, it was enjoyable and kept
my interest and the enemies to lovers trope works
pretty well here. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – A Lady’s Addiction by Angelina Jameson

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A Lady’s Addiction
Angelina Jameson
Historical Regency

*** A very steamy romance. ***

A Foreign Office linguist returning to England from self-imposed exile. A recent widow who wants a family above all else. Can these two very different people find happiness together?

Anna, a widow battling alcohol addiction is convinced she is worthless unless she bears a child. She hires a lover to prove she is not frigid and may marry again and have children.

Devlyn, believing he is sterile from an accident, has returned from an assignment for the Foreign Office and inadvertently becomes Anna’s lover.

Anna and Devlyn join forces to protect an innocent child from a blackmailer. Can they come to terms with their feelings for each other, and is love enough?


Uncaged Review: This is a good story, but it took
me a bit of time to get into it. Anna, who is battling
addiction to alcohol, wants to prove she’s not a frigid
lover as she’s been told by her dead husband. Anna
hires a man to find her passion and with a series of
mistakes, she gets Devlyn to her room instead of the
greasy man that was hired. Devlyn, being the gentleman
that he is, waits until Anna is sober before he
becomes her lover.

After the initial meeting, the book gets going a bit
better. The mystery and suspense kept me turning the
pages to see what happens. Although I didn’t really
get too attached to Anna in this book, Devlyn was a
character that was easy to like. This is a good story
with a few twists you don’t always read about in the
historical genre. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

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Kiss of Midnight
Lara Adrian
Paranormal Romance

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell’s deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night–or this man–is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed–a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.

Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind–and the unwitting humans existing alongside them–from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.

Here, in the arms of the Breed’s formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all. . . .

About the Midnight Breed series

Part human, part otherworldly, the Breed has lived among humankind for thousands of years, maintaining a tentative peace built on secrecy, power, and the dark justice carried out by the formidable warriors of the Order.

But now, a blood war within the race is set to ignite. Vampires are going Rogue in startling numbers, feeding without discretion, killing humans in the streets. It is up to the Order to stop the spreading threat of Rogue domination–and in so doing, each of the warriors will be forced to confront private demons, darkest secrets, deepest fears. Some will know triumph, some will know loss, but each warrior can count on one thing: Love, when it finds him, will often come at the worst possible moment, with the least likely woman . . . and it will bring each of these powerful males to his knees.


Uncaged Review: I read some of this series many
years ago, but I had forgotten a lot of it, but I
did remember how much I loved Ms. Adrian’s
writing. I never reviewed back in those days.
This book opens up the Midnight Breed series
of warriors that protect humans from the rogues.
If you like the Black Dagger Brotherhood from
J.R. Ward, you will like this series too. There are
some similarities as to the extent that the warrior
class live together in a large compound while the
vampires that are not under the warrior class are
protected in the Dark Havens. In this series, the
original vampires were aliens, that came to Earth
and adapted to live by drinking blood. Some of
these vampires have gone Rogue with bloodlust,
and use human minions to work during the day
for them. The warriors do their best to keep them
in check. There is a larger arc running through
this series, but this book concentrates on the
leader Lucan and Gabrielle. The Breed can’t procreate
without a special woman, one is designated
as a Breedmate with a small tattoo somewhere
on their body as a drop of blood inside a crescent
moon. Most of the Breedmates have no idea what
any of it means until they are faced with the truth
and their destined mate.

This is great start to this series, Gabrielle won’t
take any gruff from Lucan, and with Lucan being
the leader, there are a lot of road blocks in the
way of him claiming Gabrielle. This is an invocative
read, with hard hitting but tasteful sex scenes,
and great battle scenes. The warriors you meet
you will like immediately, and I can’t wait to get
into the rest of them. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Brother’s Curse by Christine M. Germain

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The Brother’s Curse
Christine M. Germain
Horror

A year after the brutal death of her parents, Crystal Francois moves back home to the eerie small town of Lakeview Falls. When one of her neighbors goes away abruptly leaving his home to be watched by a young man named Jason Warwick, Crystal finds herself falling for him instantly because of his charming ways and dashing good looks.Two weeks before her 25th birthday, she receives a rare antique purple amethyst stone necklace that is left for her by her late mother; A necklace with a deadly past and horrible consequences when being worn. She finds out that wearing the necklace causes her and her friends to be the target for two sadistic tyrannical evil 18th-century old Shapeshifter brothers who will not stop till they find her and retrieve the chariot stone necklace that holds their father and 24 demonic Shapeshifters captive. When young men from town go missing, and bodies showing up eaten or skinned alive. Lakeview Falls is on high alert. It doesn’t take long for Crystal to discover that the new guy in town isn’t who he claims to be or if he is even human.


Uncaged Review: This is an engaging read that
the author balances the horror with a bit of romance
and some humor to level out the horror.
And this is a horror book and it can be a bit scary
at times but the dark humor balances it out. There
are a lot of characters to keep track of, and the
author does a great job keeping them all separate
with unique personalities. I, as a reader, had a bit
of a challenge keeping up with them.

There are some great twists and turns in this book,
and the world building is well done. I didn’t find
many slow spots and it grabbed my attention right
away. This is a series that horror and dark fantasy
fans will enjoy. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars


Uncaged Review – Given by Amy Pennza

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Given
Amy Pennza
Paranormal Erotica

The day I rode to the Rift with my brother the king, I never expected him to deliver me into the hands of our enemies. Desperate to stop the Deepnight from covering his kingdom in shadow, he’s pledged me as a blood slave to King Laurent, ruler of the vampire kingdom of Nor Doru.

Survival means giving Laurent my vein and my body. And when his cruel and arrogant general, Varick, demands the same, I must obey.

But all is not as it seems in the vampire court. King Laurent has secrets, not the least of which is how much he enjoys his general’s company. Almost from the moment I enter the twilight world of the Deepnight, I learn my journey across the Rift was so much more than a barter. And it’s not just Laurent and Varick I need to be wary of. There are rumors of darkness stirring—of long-forgotten danger rising in the old elven lands.

Something is stirring in me, too. As I unravel the secrets of the vampire court and discover my own hidden abilities, I must choose between love and survival. Trapped between two powerful men, will I become a pawn in the battle for power, or will I take control of my own fate?

Author’s note: The Bitten and Bound Series must be read in order. Mind the cliff.


Uncaged Review: The author warns us to “Mind the
cliff.” As in, the major cliffhanger at the end of this
book. And it’s a doozy. One thing going for it is that
the 2nd & 3rd books are out now, so you can continue
on immediately. This is a hard hitting paranormal,
with MM, MF and MFM. If that’s not your style, then
this isn’t for you. If that doesn’t bother you, you will
find a book that twists and turns and a well thought
out story and world. This can be a bit confusing at
first, when you are trying to keep the worlds separated
but it will fall into place as you keep reading.

Given is a half human/half vampire, and the growth
and strength we see in her as the book goes along is
noticeable and terrific. When you get to that ending,
don’t toss the Kindle or cuss out the author. Just go
get the second book. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – A Pool of Crimson by Suzanne M. Sabol

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A Pool of Crimson
Suzanne M. Sabol
Dark Fantasy

Killing vampires is easy. Trusting one will be the hardest thing Dahlia Sabin has ever done.

Dahlia has lived a lonely existence as a killer of the undead. Known as The Blushing Death to those that fear her, Dahlia uncovers a plot by Columbus’s Master Vampire, Ethan. He intends to raise a demon from the depths of hell to destroy the city, cement his power, and take control.

In her pursuit to stop a demon from manifesting, Dahlia sinks deeper into the city’s supernatural underworld and discovers that vampires are not only deadly; one in particular could be dangerous to her very soul and her heart. Patrick, the Master vampire’s second-in-command with dark penetrating eyes and a cool, deadly sophistication, can’t stay away and Dahlia can’t tell him no. There’s something that neither of them knows, Ethan wants Dahlia’s unleashed power for himself and is willing to do anything to get it.

Dahlia is in a race against time to send the demon back to hell, at war with her better judgment, trusting a dark and intriguing vampire with his own agenda, while struggling to save her own neck. As the portal to hell opens, Dahlia has only herself to rely on in order to survive, if she can …


Uncaged Review: I really enjoyed this first book in
this series. Dahlia is a vampire hunter, but when she
has to work with one to stop the top vampire in the
city from raising a demon, she’ll face the fight of her
life. This book doesn’t slow much, Dahlia is in over
her head throughout the book, but she’s pretty bad
ass and the fight scenes are terrific and gory. This is
a good start, and I am definitely looking forward to
the next book in the series. Dahlia is a strong character
and gets herself in more trouble with her snarky
comebacks, but it’s very entertaining. This is a hot
urban fantasy which is sounding like it will become
a reverse harem in the future books, which is always
fun. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars