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Uncaged Review – Knightly Dreams by Anna Markland
Knightly Dreams
Anna Markland
Knightly Dreams
Anna Markland
Contemporary/Medieval Romance
Peter Bateson is an accomplished graduate student whose doctoral thesis proves conclusively that the Templar treasure no longer exists. (Sorry Dan Brown). His well-researched theories and his comfortable lifestyle are challenged when he meets Susie, a university drop out who insists the treasure still exists because the Templar Knight who visits her dreams told her so.
Uncaged Review: The sub-genres this book is marketed in is a bit confusing, but it’s really not a historical romance, but a contemporary with a historical twist, and it’s definitely not for the young adult audience, I would caution strongly against that.
This is a charming story that has a ghostly presence – a Templar Knight visits Susie in her dreams to try to lead her to a Templar secret. When Susie meets Peter and his friends at a local bar she works in, they tell her about Peter’s thesis he’s giving on the Templar Knights. But when Peter offers to give Susie a ride to a Medieval weekend, in the place that the Templars used to be, the day turns into something more for both of them. What does it mean that the Knight keeps coming to Susie, what is he trying to tell her?
This is a short story that is nicely paced and even though the romance is a bit too fast to really believe, the nice ending was a great touch.
Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – Fairy’s Touch by Ella Summers
Fairy’s Touch
Ella Summers
Urban Fantasy
The games of gods play out upon the backbones of mortals.
Leda Pierce has come a long way since she left her home on the frontier of civilization one year ago to join the Legion of Angels. She is a soldier in the gods’ army, has crossed swords with demons, and shares an apartment with her angel lover in New York.
Every day brings Leda closer to becoming an angel herself—until a promotion ceremony goes horribly wrong, leaving her powers in magical limbo. Worse yet, the gods have taken over her training at Crystal Falls. Leda’s failed magic and the gods’ impossible challenges are the least of her worries, however. Someone is using the challenges to expose people’s most-guarded secrets, and the skeletons in Leda’s closet would mean her execution.
Fairy’s Touch is the seventh book in the Legion of Angels series.
Uncaged Review: Sometimes when you get this deep into a series (this is the 7th book in the series) the series starts to slow down and get repetitive and monotonous. This is not one of those series. This time out, the suspense and secrets that are revealed ramp up the book in different ways than previous installments. The action sequences are spot on without overdoing them, and the connection between Leda and Nero is stronger than ever.
We learn a lot more about the gods, and their secrets and the dangerous games they are playing. Keeping her own secrets safe from being known, is getting harder and harder for Leda and Nero. There is more than one twist and turn in this book, and it’s a great ride. I also like the fact that this author keeps her main characters together and makes their bond stronger and doesn’t break them apart just to create tension. Well told and written, even the few small typos didn’t detract from this story and I’m looking forward to the next one. Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
Uncaged Book Reviews – April 2019, Issue 33 now LIVE
Check out the latest issue of Uncaged Book Reviews!
Feature authors: Genevieve Jack, A.L. Long, Anna Hague, J.H. Brown, Ginny Sterling, L.M. Spangler, John Hunt, Elle Lewis, Hope Malory & Blaze McRob.
Uncaged Reviews of: Shayne Silvers, Orlando A. Sanchez, Mary Lancaster, Hildie McQueen, Tony Urban, Anna Lowe, Leia Stone, K.F. Breene, Deborah Wilde, Kellie McAllen, Dawn Husted, Ellen Mint, Vera Sparks, Anna Markland & Ella Summers
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Uncaged Review – The Merging by Logsdon & Young
The Merging
Logsdon & Young
Urban Fantasy
Sin City is always running amok with disturbances and glitter, but sometimes those two items merge and the nightlife gets out of hand.
Kind of like mixing Hell and…well, more Hell.
Ian Dex is the captain of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department, the crew responsible for kicking the crap out of any supernatural stupid enough to mess with the Strip. He’s a cop, a millionaire, an amalgamite, and a horndog—and makes no apologies for it.
When an ubermage appears on the Strip, strutting around in his Chippendales-style outfit and sending out other ubernaturals to kick up dust and unleash destruction, it’s up to Ian Dex and his team to do what they do best: bust heads and shred souls.
Casinos are clamoring for help, cops are fighting tooth and nail just to survive, and tourists think it’s all part of the Vegas experience.
The weather forecast for tonight on the Strip is dark… with a chance of bloody.
Uncaged Review: This urban fantasy kicks in pretty fast – and set in Las Vegas, because – well, why not? There is some fun comedic moments and good action sequences. To be honest though, I didn’t like Dex as much as the authors want the readers to. He’s a little full of himself but if that was toned down a bit, he’d be more likeable. In this series, the team is better together than apart, and the secondary characters are well thought out.
I’m definitely going to continue on with the series to see where the authors lead us next. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – Quiet Vapor by K.E. Landry
Quiet Vapor
K.E. Landry
YA/Dystopian
Two will live. One may die.In a world where the State controls what you eat, where you live, and when you die, three students are about to find out just how far that goes.When Bree Carter finds out the ordinary school project she’s been working on will determine her work assignment for the rest of her life, she immediately tells her project group. They must make a choice: tell the rest of the class, even the school bully who doesn’t deserve to know, or use the knowledge to their own advantage.
They knew one project would determine the rest of their lives. They just didn’t know how.Bree and her team must face the consequences of their choices and their circumstances. Together, they must complete their project. Separately, they must learn how to survive.
Uncaged Review: This is a nice intro to a new Young Adult series that gives you a good feel for the world this author is building. It does not tell you enough about how the world came to be, but that will probably be better explored in the full length novels. What it does do, is give you a strong character lead in Bree, who is forced out of her own comfort zone to work within a group. Bree is also a champion of students that are relentlessly bullied.
Secondary characters are well flushed out, and the novella does it’s job to interest the reader in reading more. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – Fangs and Fairy Dust by Joynell Schultz
Fangs and Fairy Dust
Joynell Schultz
Urban Fantasy
Why is she alive?
Eleven murders, all connected by severe loss of blood. Each of the victims is male…and dead, except for a stunning young woman named Aliza.
Is she a victim or the perpetrator?
Ryker’s trip to Dubuque should be quick and painless—swiftly laying down vampire law before the humans get suspicious. When Aliza reminds him of what it’s like to be human and the love he lost right here in this city eighty years ago, feelings he had locked tightly away begin to emerge. Feelings of betrayal, guilt, and love that haunted him for nearly a century.
But can he overcome his past to see the present?
How is Aliza connected to the crimes he came to prevent?
Uncaged Review: A shorter novella that can introduce you to the Angels of Sojourn series. Ryker is an older vampire, working for an organization called the Blood Board, that tracks and eliminates rogue vampires to keep their secrets safe. When he is tracking a rogue, he comes upon a survivor – and is determined to get information from her about the attack if he can. Little does he know, that she isn’t all that human herself, although she doesn’t know it yet.
I liked the premise of the book and it has my interest for the series. This is easily a standalone and you don’t have to read the series to catch on, but it doesn’t waste a lot of pages with stuff it doesn’t need, so it never weighs down. This is a new-to-me author, and is now on my radar. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – Beyond Forever by Rhonda Frankhouser
Beyond Forever
Rhonda Frankhouser
Contemporary
Wise beyond her thirty-three years, advice columnist, Lily Anne Fincher, relishes being the consummate wall on which everyone leans. It gives her life purpose and makes her feel needed and loved even when people ignore her advice. She never considers the possibility of her own happily ever after, until she catches the shy, handsome guy in a three-piece suit, watching her from behind a newspaper in the downstairs coffee shop.Stoic investment banker, David Morris, never plans on falling for a younger woman, especially a stubborn, rough-around-the-edges, journalist. They come from such different backgrounds. It seems unfathomable, but her easy confidence and flirtatious smiles makes his blood pressure rise. When she finally works up the nerve to approach him, he can’t avoid her. Determined not to allow anything to ruin their chance at forever, Lily ignores the signs of looming disaster. Is this the end of their fairy tale? Or just the beginning?
Uncaged Review: I’ve never read a book quite like this one. So emotional, so heartbreaking, so heartwarming. Just make sure you have a tissue box handy, because you will cry over the heartbreak, and over bittersweet moments, and over the love shared between Lily and Kisa. This is a sad story, but full of wonderful and beautiful moments. And even a happy ending, of sorts. One I re-read a couple of times.
It will break your heart but it will also fill your soul. It will also give you hope – and warm your heart with an end that you wouldn’t see coming as you read. One thing this book will do, is not only dare you to put it down and quit reading, but it will also remind you that every day is a gift, and there are no guarantees. So truly live your life, don’t back out of it. And what I can say about this book, is don’t back down from the book either, keep going, even if you feel you can’t. After the author wrings you dry, she will give it all back in final chapters and have your heart soar. Five stars isn’t really enough. Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
Uncaged Review – Tanked by Joshua C. Chadd
Tanked
Joshua C. Chadd
Horror
FREE READ
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Allen Hook is your not-so-typical twenty-something-year-old dude living each day just to get by. He spends his time consuming copious amounts of alcohol and playing endless hours of video games. But when he’s not living every bachelor’s dream, he’s working a dead end job he detests more each day. He knows things need to change soon… and they do, the world ends. Now he spends his time fighting the undead as he tries to escape a crumbling Fort Collins.
Uncaged Review: This is a good prequel to a series that didn’t drag, and actually is the first in a long time that has me interested in reading the first book in the series. The main character, Allen, aka Tank, is better equipped for the apocalypse than most, being a major video game player. When he gets involved with a group, they will have to find a way through a lot of obstacles and blocked roads of vehicles and the dead and undead. Trying to find his way north to his friends who prepared for a doomsday.
This is a short, action packed read that isn’t sluggish, and you’ll find that Tank is someone you’d like on your side during an apocalypse.
Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
Uncaged Review – To Tame a Viscount by Jenn Langston
To Tame a Viscount
Jenn Langston
Historical Regency
Kaylee Shepherd knew there was much more to life than marriage when she’d left her stepbrother’s house to begin Lady Constance’s House of Reform three years ago. Now, more than ever, she is determined to experience everything she is able before she is too old to enjoy it. When Simon Highgate, Viscount Washburne, makes his interest in her known, she seizes the opportunity. One night with him is more than she could imagine and one she will never forget.
Once Simon reached his twenty-fifth year, a special stipulation in his father’s will was revealed to him. Regardless of his desires, he must wed a maiden of proper breeding whose behavior is above reproach, or his birthright will pass to his cousin. Duty-bound, he engages the House of Reform to aid his search for a bride. Unfortunately, the more time he spends with the enchanting woman assigned to the task, Miss Shepherd, the more he wishes Kaylee fit the requirements. Instinctively, he knows Kaylee would make him a perfect wife. If it weren’t for his sisters, he would go against his father’s wishes and claim Kaylee, regardless of her social standing. With his hands tied, he plans to make the most of the time they have together until he must wed another.
As Simon’s attention toward Kaylee increases, she finds denying him more difficult. Although marriage isn’t what she wants, she can see the merit in sharing stolen moments with him. However, each instance she gives in to him makes it more difficult to control the building passion she feels for him. Worse yet, she’s beginning to wonder if she will be able to handle watching him wed another and leave her to live out her life alone.
Uncaged Review: Kaylee Shepherd works as an instructor at Lady Constance’s House Of Reform. Where ladies go to brush up on talents and men go to find a wife. Kaylee loves not being tied down by marriage and doing her own thing. But suddenly this is about to change. This is the second book in the Series but can be read as a standalone novel. Upon reading this as I started with book two it took me a while to get a grasp of the characters in this. Even with them only been briefly mentioned in the previous book. At times I did get annoyed with Kaylee as she was rather naive in certain circumstances. But soon redeemed herself. This was an enjoyable read and after reading a bonus sampler of book three. I’m excited to continue with this series. Reviewed by Jennifer
5 Stars