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Uncaged Review – The Infidelity Curse by Barbara Monajem

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The Infidelity Curse
Barbara Monajem
Historical Regency

The death of her cruel husband means freedom at last for Lucretia Tifton—until she learns that the guardian he chose for her longed-for baby is the latest in a line of earls known for separating their children from unfaithful wives. The elusive new earl is certain to hear the gossip about Lucretia. Will he believe it and prove to be as heartless as his ancestors?

Giles, the Earl of Netherbroke, wants nothing more than to work in his London shop, building furniture with beautiful marquetry finishes. If unexpectedly inheriting the earldom isn’t bad enough, now he’s saddled with an unwanted guardianship. What’s worse, the baby’s mother is the loveliest woman he’s ever seen.

Giles is almost certain Lucretia is an adulteress—and the more he learns about her, the more he understands why she might have betrayed her husband. Nevertheless, he is determined not to succumb, like his ancestors, to the Infidelity Curse.

But then Lucretia is suddenly in danger, and the only way to protect her is to make her his.


Uncaged Review: Lucretia was married off to an
older, cruel man, and she endured his abuse for years
before he died. Lucretia being pregnant, is fearful
that the new guardian will try to take away her baby.
But what she doesn’t know, is that the older earl that
Lucretia’s dead husband, Sir Matthew had arranged
had died before he did, so the guardianship went to
his son, Giles.

This is a slow burn romance, and a lot of things come
to light within the pages. There is romance, mystery
and even danger. Lucretia and Giles will need to learn
to trust each other and to love each other without
curses or secrets. Secondary characters are engaging,
and even the children in the story are likeable. Leave
it to this author to come up with an original story and
just the right amount of danger to sweep you deeper
into the story. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Book Review – Bear’s Dream by Christina Lynn Lambert

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Bear’s Dream
Christina Lynn Lambert
Shifter Romance

She had every reason to hate him.
Aiden “AJ” Shepherd’s mistake during a Shifter Army Enforcement rescue mission cost Ellie Ortiz’s brother, Marco, his life. Ellie hates AJ with a burning passion until a chance encounter with him on New Year’s Eve reveals he’s not the cold, heartless man she once thought him to be. Her attraction to him takes her by surprise, and she vows to ignore her feelings. When a new job puts her in contact with him every day, the heat building between them threatens to flare out of control. Her resolve to keep the sweet, sexy man in the friend zone is weakening by the day.

He’s convinced she’s his mate, but a secret could ruin everything
Whether they’re fighting off fanatics who target shifters or working together to get his shifter resort, Haven Forest, ready for the grand opening, AJ can’t get enough of Ellie. Convincing her to give him a chance, more than the one-night-of-fun idea she’s proposed, might be impossible, but he’s fallen too hard for her not to try. During a disastrous assignment with Shifters United, AJ uncovers some information that changes everything. Keeping the secret from Ellie is killing him but he might lose her forever if he tells her the truth.

When Ellie ends up at the heart of a reporter’s plot to prove the existence of shifters, she and AJ must fight their way to freedom. The survival of shifters everywhere depends on it.


Uncaged Review: This first book in a series is a good
start, and the main characters are easy to like. Ellie
leaves her job as she is being undermined in her work
by a spiteful co-worker. A chance meeting with A.J.,
the shifter who killed her twin brother in a special op,
shows her that he isn’t the heartless man she always
thought him to be. When A.J. offers her a job at a
shifter resort that his brother and him are opening,
Ellie takes the job because of being blackballed in her
town.

This book has a good amount of danger, bad guys
you will truly hate, and the romance heats up between
A.J. and Ellie. As they come to know each other, their
feelings grow stronger. But A.J. will find out the dark
path Ellie’s brother was going down before he was
killed, will it destroy the relationship? Nice story
with some fun moments, danger and hot sex scenes.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4.5 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Chieftan by Maeve Greyson

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The Chieftain
Maeve Greyson
Highlander Historical

No home. No clan. No need of a wife. Until her.

Alexander MacCoinnich fights for hire if the cause is worthy and the price is right. Life as a mercenary suits him—until a fierce beauty snatches him from death’s door after the massacre at Glencoe. Though he has nothing to offer her but himself, he can’t leave behind the sweet lass who risked everything to save him.

She made an impossible promise.

When Catriona Neal promised her dying mother she would do her best to shield the clan from her father’s maniacal whims, she didn’t realize her twin brother, next in line to be the chieftain, was far more dangerous than her evil sire. But the arrival of the wounded, Highland warrior her brother hates and fears gives her hope and so much more.

Conquer or be conquered.

Heartbreaking treachery melds a bond between Catriona and Alexander, but can they survive long enough to nurture the love they both so desperately need?


Uncaged Review: Alexander and his men live
their life as mercenaries, since illness took away
most of his clan. When he is on one of his missions,
he is shot and taken to a clan where Catriona
mends the injured and gives them sanctuary.
But Catriona’s brother is evil, and as the next in
line to be chieftan, with a fast ailing father wants
them gone.

This is a nicely paced Highlander, and it’s been
a minute or two since I read one. The romance
between Catriona and Alexander is one that they
must face danger and loss to get to their HEA.
The secondary characters will each get their own
turn at a story in the series and I’ll keep reading.
Eventually you come to a point in this book
where you just want to read it all the way through,
so make sure it’s not a work day the next day.
Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Big Balls and Brass Knuckles by James Cox

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Big Balls and Brass Knuckles
James Cox
SciFi Suspense/MM Romance

A dedicated detective meets a rich inventor who wants to play cop. Even in the future, money can get you everything…

Detective Brett Knucks is trying to find a killer. The last thing he needs is to be saddled with the legendary Chris Genius, aka Big Balls. But someone is using one of Genius’s inventions, the cook bot, to commit murders, and Brett has more questions than answers. The only way to find the truth is to dig through all the lies surrounding them. Working side by side with the sarcastic, flirty inventor is definitely not what Brett had in mind. Even more surprising is that they make a good team. Until one kiss changes everything. Meet Big Balls and Brass Knuckles—a dysfunctional partnership that may just save your life.


Uncaged Review: This is a good story that brings
you into the action right away. People are being
murdered by a cook bot, invented by Chris Genius.
This is a good suspense with some decent
intrigue and a slow burn romance between Brett
and Chris. When we first meet Brett, he has a boyfriend,
and this book jumps into some hard core
sex scenes pretty fast, but the boyfriend gets tired
of taking a back seat to Brett’s job, which is fine
by me, he was a bit immature to me anyway.

This is the first book in a series, and I’m sure the
slowly maturing romance between Brett and Chris
will get hotter and hotter in the books to come.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Psycho Therapy by Ryan Hyatt

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Psycho Therapy
Ryan Hyatt
SciFi Short/Dystopian

Tucson Police Officer James McCabe, traumatized by his past, must come to terms with an alien invasion.


Uncaged Review: It’s hard to write a review for a
very short story, but even though this is a very short
story, I actually got a decent handle on the characters
and the world. Aliens are in the form of a type
of killer doglike beast and instead of killing all of
the aliens when they could, the government captures
and experiments with them. How is that ever a good
thing? So this is a couple days in the life of one cop,
who was traumatized during the invasion as he was
enlisted as a marine in San Diego during the initial
invasion.

Overall, the author does a great job with 27 pages,
pulls the reader in and leaves us wanting to read more
in this world. Great job. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Faerie Magic by Anna Applegate

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Faerie Magic
Anna Applegate
Fantasy

Coraline Fray’s escape from foster care is about to turn into a fight for her life.

After Cora’s utter clumsiness lands her in a strange world, she’s immediately hauled off to jail by a Fae guard. Now the freedom that had been so close is a distant memory….because humans who learn of Faerie can never go back.

Imprisoned as an energy source for the Unseelie Kingdom, Cora now serves the heir to the throne: Noah Driscoll. And although Prince Noah disagrees with the practice of imprisoning humans for energy-feeding purposes, that’s a secret the future Unseelie King needs kept quiet.

Which means even if he’s against it, he needs Cora to pretend he’s feeding, and she needs to keep up the ruse, too. Because if Noah isn’t feeding on her, she’ll be assigned to another Fae who will.

And yet, somehow she’s found herself loyal to these monsters the minute they’re threatened, and starting to fall for the Prince of the Unseelie himself… Two mistakes that are about to cost her what little she has left.


Uncaged Review: Cora is a foster kid, almost
ready to age out of the system and get away from
bad foster homes, when she falls into a lake and
wakes up in the land of Faerie. Not knowing who
she is or anything about this world, she is taken
by the guard and delivered to the palace as a
feeder/servant.

As Cora learns her new place, and gets to know
other servants and the Royal Unseelie family, she
learns more about the world she’s found herself
in, especially the Prince, Noah, whom she’s been
assigned to.

This is a nice start to a new series, and Cora is a
strong woman, who learns that her own self worth
is enough with courage and tenacity. Her friend
Nicole is a trip. My one gripe is the romance
between Cora and Noah seems very slow and
one-sided, which I suppose will continue to grow
in the next books. Good series start. Reviewed by
Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Iron Queen by L.A. McGinnis

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Iron Queen
L.A. McGinnis
Dark Fantasy

The Darkfell Vampire Clan is ruled by one queen.

She has to be strong. Ruthless.

Willing to do anything to keep her crown and survive the royal court’s treacherous maze of deception.

Today, that queen is me.
Tomorrow…
Who knows?

When I killed Viktor and took the throne, I thought I’d rid our kind of their worst threat. But the joke’s on me, because there’s a new enemy on the loose. He’s stronger than any of us—seductive and cunning—and has his sights set on me.
Caine’s the worst of our species, and he threatens everything I love, but he’s in for a surprise, because I intend to be the last one standing.


Uncaged Review: The final installment in this
series brings more action, more angst, and secrets
that the reader has been wanting to know will all
be revealed. Caine is the biggest threat to Seraphina,
and even though he shows support for her, he’s
ruthless and has his sights set on Seraphina and
the throne, and will destroy the world if he doesn’t
get his way. On top of all the problems, Seraphina
develops an incurable blood disorder because of
the different magics competing against each other
inside. She needs to move fast to complete her
goals before the disease takes her life.

This was a great ending to this group, even though
the very last pages felt a bit rushed. The epilogue
was a great addition and I really wished authors
included them more often at the end of a series or a
book that it makes sense to. Even though this is the
end of the Darkfell Clan, the author is treating the
readers to more stories of other clans in this world.
And I’m all in. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Emperor’s Throne by Shannon Mayer

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Emperor’s Throne
Shannon Mayer
Urban Fantasy

Three against one is not the best odds in any fight.

But does she dare gamble on making an enemy into an ally?

The sixth installment in the USAT and WSJ bestselling Desert Cursed series blends epic and urban fantasy in a way that does not disappoint.

There might be no rest for the wicked, but there’s no rest for the exhausted either. We’ve barely survived one fight, and we have another blade at our throats-strike that, three blades.

I can see only one possible chance at surviving the three evils we face, no matter how much I might hate it.

I have to make my peace with one of them and pray that they will help me take down the other two before we turn on each other.

The only question is…who do I trust not only my life but with the life of my family? Because I have all those I love the best at my side.

Maks.

Lila.

Bryce.

Or do I leave them, and take the danger with me to face it all on my own?

One thing is for sure…even if I go down, it’ll be swinging with everything I have.


Uncaged Review: The last main book in this
series wraps up the ongoing storyline quite well.
The overall arc between Ishtar and the Emperor
comes to a standoff, and the truth will surprise
some readers, as the author did a great job twisting
it around. Whether everyone survives, well,
that’s for the reader to find out.

This is a great urban fantasy series, with a lot of
action, surprises and good character and world
building. This is a very hard series to put down.
The next three books are books that will tie up
loose ends with the remaining characters. I hate to
see this series end, it’s been a fun ride and when I
didn’t feel like reading – a few pages of this series
pulled me back. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Wyvern’s Lair by Shannon Mayer

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Wyvern’s Lair
Shannon Mayer
Urban Fantasy

The odds are stacked against her as she faces her greatest challenge yet…

But that’s nothing new in her world.

The fifth in the plot twisting, heart pounding, magic-riddled, USA Today bestselling Desert Cursed series.

I thought I had the next steps in my journey plotted out. I thought I knew where I was going and who I was going with—the usual crew of Lila the smart-mouthed tiny dragon, Ford the man who would be my mate if I let him, and Balder, the horse who has carried me through more danger than I can count.

Crap on a camel, I could not have been more wrong. My world is turned upside down when my crew somehow gains two people who would as soon kill me, as see me succeed.

Even with this new twist, I must get to the crossroads before the golden moon rises if we have any chance of dethroning the Emperor and bringing my brother back from the dead.

Along the way I find myself in treacherous waters facing new dangers, new enemies and a choice that no one should ever have to make.

Maks’s life is in my hands, and in the end, will love be enough to save him, or will I have to say goodbye to him once and for all?


Uncaged Review: With this being the 5th book
in this series, it’s to the point where I’m going to
have to read the last three pretty quickly now. This
is a nine book series and this one does not let off
the gas pedal. These characters truly need some
major downtime.

Everything is full speed ahead, and I don’t know
how Zamira actually pulls off some of the things
that happen to her, but their group changes with
the addition and subtraction of others.
I’m not giving away anything with these books. If
you like a good action-packed urban fantasy, then
this series is a good one to pick up. This author has
managed to pull me into this world and it’s been a
crazy fun ride. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Love in the Forest by Janina Grey

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Love in the Forest
Janina Grey
Contemporary Romance

Step into the mystical and magical forests of Upstate New York, where Earth and Sky camp photographer Brooke Meadows has taken refuge from the demons of her past as she uses her ability to communicate with the dead to heal loved ones left behind.

Unable to cope with the loss of his wife and daughters three years prior, Josh Quinn, CEO of the number one dating site Quirkyflirt.com, is ordered by his board president to take a break from his Big Apple Headquarters. He finds himself at Earth and Sky Retreats, where confronting his grief has led him to experience a life-altering transformation and re-evaluation of reality.

Will Josh leave behind his fast-paced, high-society life in the concrete mountains of New York City, for the magical, bewitching world Brooke reveals to him in the foothills of the Adirondacks?

Will Brooke acknowledge and accept her own journey of transformation and healing as she and Josh explore the winding paths and summits that lead them to find love in the forest?


Uncaged Review: From the first chapter I was drawn
in by the wonderful area and scenery that has me
wishing for a vacation in New York. When Josh takes
a leave to the Earth and Sky Retreats he never would
have known what an impact the area and one woman
would have on him. Both Brooke and Josh will transform
in the pages of the book, and find their way out
of their pasts.

These are characters that are easy to like and are real
enough that they could be your own friends, and the
author draws you in and makes you feel like you are
part of the story. This contemporary romance has a
slight twist, that only makes it more compelling.
Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars