Tempting the Light
Bonnie Gill
Paranormal

Bad luck magnet Abby Fitzpatrick gets fired, catches her boyfriend cheating with a mime, and is cursed by an evil genie who pops out of a tampon box. She’s bound and determined to remove the spell and, as fate would have it, the hottest guy she’s ever met is out to kill her.

River Stone, a Cryptid hunter for Legends and Myths Police Squad (L.A.M.P.S.), poses as sheriff for Abby’s hometown of Haber Cove, New Jersey. He’s out to find and capture a man-eating gnome and bag the legendary Jersey Devil monster. Little does he realize, the woman who catches his heart is the same creature that he was sent to destroy.

Excerpt

Abby Fitzgerald didn’t expect a surprise birthday party when she got home today. She didn’t expect bold colored daisies or pretty wrapped gifts. But most of all she didn’t expect to find her live-in boyfriend Burt, engaged in a spooge-a-paloosa fest with a chick dressed as a mime. Her crazy old grandmother warned her she would be cursed on her twenty-fifth birthday, but who would have believed it?
Burt slapped his body up against the mime from behind in a vigorous frenzy on the sleigh styled queen-sized bed. The woman’s hands and painted white face pressed up against an invisible window with his arm wrapped around her waist to keep her vertical.
Seeing Abby, her lips parted into an “O” breaking the sex-me-up red heart painted across them. She covered her mouth with her gloved hands.
Abby stared in horror at Burt with his mouth open and eyes closed, savoring the sheer ecstasy of screwing the mime. Her heart shattered shooting pulmonary shrapnel up her throat. He never looked like that when they were together.
“You’re freaking cheating on me?”
Burt’s eyes popped open, before he leaped from the bed. “Son of a . . .”
Abby dashed into the hallway bathroom, and rummaged in the crowded cabinet under the sink. “Where’s the damn Scrubbing Bubbles? Or better yet, the Borax?” She tossed a mildewed loofa and a half used bottle of honeysuckle hand lotion over her shoulder. They landed not far from Burt’s bare feet.
“Abby, I’m sorry. I was going to wait until after your birthday to tell you.” He placed his hands on both sides of the bathroom door trim and leaned into the room. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find something to scour the sick image of you and your mime girlfriend from my eyes. Better yet, I’ll get the melon ball scooper.” Unable to contain herself, she whipped a can of lemon scented shaving cream at his head.

He ducked but the foaming missile bounced off his hair-sprayed-until-bullet-proof hair. His nostrils flared like an enraged bull. Too bad that was all he had in common with the animal. “You’re acting irrational. Stop it.”

True. Right now she couldn’t even think straight. “Get away from me.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” he said under his breath.

She ignored his statement and shoved his skinny five-foot-four-inch unclothed body aside and marched back into the bedroom.

The mime perched on the edge of the bed with a sheet wrapped around her naked body. She held up both hands in a stop gesture and waved them back and forth.

“Abby. Please settle down.” Burt trailed behind her.

“Settle down? Do you know why I came home early?”

“No.” He glanced at his watch then looked absolutely baffled.

“Because I got fired today, Burt.”
He tilted his head to the side and wrinkled his rather large forehead. “Oh. Well, how were you planning to help me pay the rent then?”
She wished she had a gun to shoot the stupid out of him.
“Get out of my house.” She jerked on the mime’s cover-up sheet. The mime pulled back. Abby yanked again but then let go, the mime did a back-flip somersault off the bed. Her pasty white face popped up on the other side of the mattress like a demented rodent in a whack-a-mole game.
“This is my apartment,” Burt raised his voice louder and pointed at the mime. “You don’t have to go anywhere.”
The mime amplified her smile by pointing to the corners of her lips and twisting her fingers in her imaginary dimples, then she proceeded to skip and do a naked happy dance in circles around Abby.
Abby gave her a little shove out of her way. “What the heck is her problem? Doesn’t she talk?”
Burt shrugged. “I don’t know. She hasn’t said a word since we met. It’s one of her perks.”
Abby slammed her fist into the side of her leg to keep from punching the detestable smart-ass smirk that spread across his face. Her fantasy of a blissful marriage and white picket fence shattered in one measly, heinous moment.
“How long has this been going on? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.” She marched over to the closet, grabbed her blue duffle bag, and stuffed a few pairs of her size two jeans into it. She then looked down at his exposed mini-manly parts and raised a questioning brow.
Burt’s eyes widened to a bug-eyed look and then he scattered to pull on a pair of whity-tighties.
She stalked over to her dresser, pulled out different colored T-shirts, and a stack of clean underwear to shove in her bag. She hesitated for a moment. “The other day, I saw you in the jewelry store buying something. I—I thought you might.”
Before she could finish, the mime flashed the back of her hand at Abby. A pink princess cut rock set in a platinum setting adorned the ring finger of her left hand.
Burt sent a reprimanding scowl in the mime’s direction. “It just happened.”
Her heart went numb first, before the shredding feeling of a weed-whacker tore through it.
“Wonderful.” She stormed out of the room and into the kitchen, pulling worthless knick-knacks from their displayed posts and cramming them in her bag. A satisfied smile lifted her cheeks when she held up Burt’s prized Fifty States Commemorative Quarter collection for him to see.
“You wouldn’t dare. Put that back.” He swiped at the coins but missed.
“Yes, I would and I’m leaving you.” She jammed the cardboard display in the duffle, and swung her bag of belongings over her shoulder. “I hope you have many ugly clown babies.” She slammed the apartment door behind her.
While trudging to her car the whooshing blood of each heart beat thumped like sonic booms in Abby’s ears. She tossed her bag into the trunk and marched over to Burt’s pathetic yellow Volkswagon Beetle. She pulled back her foot and gave it a hard kick in the tire. I wonder how many girlfriends he can cram into that thing at one time?
She sat behind her steering wheel in silence. Too bad she couldn’t pull a do-over for the day. Her grandmother must have been psychic.

Uncaged Review

On the first day of her period, Abby becomes a Jersey Devil – literally, because of being cursed by an evil genie that popped out of a tampon box. Taking a woman’s mood swings during that time of the month to a whole new level. With her friend Pepper, they start searching for a way to break the curse.

This is a fun book. Ms. Gill doesn’t stick with the normal Supernaturals that are so common in many of the books these days, and goes off the beaten path with her twists on the characters. The characters are easy to like, and even with all the humor, there’s romance and action, and a hilarious twist near the end that made me laugh out loud. Even the secondary characters are interesting. When River’s partner shows up, more hilarity ensues. And you think those little garden gnomes are cute in your garden? Think again… Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Pursuing the Light
Bonnie Gill
Paranormal

L.A.M.P.S. hunter Leif Gunther grew up as an only child. He has a system for keeping order in his life while hunting Cryptids. He enjoys the solitude and quiet the job provides. Until a chatty redhead is assigned to assist him in his quest for the pack of Goochies terrorizing West Virginia and his systemized life gets turned upside down.

Cleaning up after Cryptids is not Holly McClure’s favorite job. She’d rather be hunting like her four brothers. Her boss pairs her with the same man who stole her hunter spot. Now she has an opportunity to show she’s a better hunter. Not to mention she has to keep her fairy godmother, who just happens to be a Sheepsquatch, a secret from Leif.
Leif just has three rules. Keep quiet, stay out of my way, and don’t touch my stuff. Too bad Holly can’t help breaking them repeatedly. Drawn together by the chase, Leif and Holly find that if they work together they make a great hunting team and their passion grows as they pursue their prey.

Uncaged Review

In this installment, we are following the adventures of hunter Leif, and a cleaner – Holly. Holly’s family are all hunters, her brothers and her father had been before. So all Holly wants is to pass the trials to become a hunter, and only one person is in her way, Leif. When Holly doesn’t pass the trials because of Leif, she is assigned as a cleaner – who cleans up the Cryptid messes from hunters. When she’s assigned as a cleaner to Leif near her family’s old property, things get to be a lot more interesting.

This book just slams out of the gate and doesn’t slow down. And it’s not only action packed, it’s also a whole lot of fun. The Cryptids that they are chasing are Goochies, small fluff balls that may seem cute enough, but will tear anything in their path apart. And let’s not forget Tilly, Holly’s godmother who is a Sheepsquatch. Fun ensues all along the way, and I laughed out loud many times. Where Ms. Gill comes up with her supernatural characters is a place many don’t even think about, and they are some of most uncommon ones you read about, if at all in today’s books. The romance between Leif and Holly is earned – by both the characters and the reader. Fun, action, danger and romance. There is not much more you could ask for.… Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Koivu
Laurie Olerich
Paranormal Romance

Team Lucifer?

This Band of Brothers Will Steal Your Heart!
Introducing the Demons after Dark series! It’s hot paranormal romance featuring unlikely alpha heroes who will make you laugh, cry, and swoon. Known as Trinity demons, this band of brothers was stripped of their powers and violently exiled from Hell. Forced to live as humans, they’re left with no power and no weapons while a secret society quietly plots Lucifer’s demise. For these big, bad demons, adjusting to life as a human is, well, harder than Hell!
Former Hell’s Fury champion, Koivu, is desperate to return to Hell to reclaim his title and stolen life. As an extreme athlete, he had fame, glory, and more pleasure than he probably deserved. He was a freakin’ rock star! Being exiled in a broken human body is his worst nightmare. Stripped of his powers and unable to fight, he’s consumed by frustration, counting the seconds until he can go home. His future looks bleak until he meets a sexy, soft-hearted physical therapist who heals much more than his shoulder.
Physical therapist Micki Glass knows something about damaged people. She’s been struggling to get over her ex for three long years when this crazy man crashes into her life. He’s crude and intense but irresistibly charming. With his feral eyes and sexy smile, Koivu takes her on a sensual joyride that makes her feel like a woman again. As their affair heats up, she craves him like oxygen until she discovers what he really is. With more than her heart on the line, can she accept his past and love him for who he is now?
The day of reckoning is looming closer and the sacrifices have begun. Can Koivu stop the murders, find the rest of the Trinity, and convince the woman he loves to give him another chance before it’s too late?

Warning: This story contains intensely hot sex, an irresistibly-damaged hero, and a damsel with a steel backbone. Have a box of tissues handy. The author takes no responsibility for missed work or grouchiness from lack of sleep.

Note: This title can be read as a stand-alone story, but for the full backstory, start with “Vanek.”

Excerpt

Sunday night dinners were a Glass family tradition. Micki’s mother had four kids and expected each of them to show her the respect she’d earned by coming for dinner after mass. Her parents were good, faithful Catholics. They absolutely did not miss mass—ever. Death and childbirth were the only legitimate excuses available. Micki was raised in the church, but to her mother’s shame fell short of being faithful. Her brothers—Danny, Marcus, and Brody—were just as lax, but got much less grief about it. Apparently women needed communion more than men. Ha! On Sundays, since she rarely went to mass and was the only female child, Micki was expected to show up early to help her mother in the kitchen. Sexist? Maybe. In her family, male and female roles were crystal clear and written in stone. Her father, and later her three brothers, did the manly work; they mowed the tiny lawn, repaired the ancient Toyota, and unplugged anything that was stopped up. Her father could fix anything that had the balls to break down in this house. He passed that love of problem solving on to his sons. Back in school, when other girls snickered about her parents old-fashioned values, Micki only smiled. She wouldn’t trade her parents for the world. She was comfortable with old-fashioned. Her mother always said that men should be men. Micki tended to agree. She wasn’t interested in academic, polished, or glamorous men. She liked strong, arrogant men who were a little rough around the edges. Most of the time, anyway.
“Hi, Mom!” Danny exploded into the gorgeous new kitchen and caught Micki around the neck in a strangely affectionate chokehold. “Hey, baby sister.”
She dropped the mixing spoon and elbowed him in the gut. “Get off me, you moron! Can’t you see I’m working here? This potato salad’s not going to make itself.”
“Daniel.” Their mother tsked him from her side of the cluttered marble island and chided firmly, “That’s no way to greet your sister. You have no manners?”
Danny gave Micki a little shove and laughed, “She’s my sister, not the queen of England.” He talked a cocky game, but politely handed her spoon back and patted her on the head. “How’d your date go? I see you’re alive.”
Their mom perked up at the word date. “You had a date? Oh, baby, I’m so happy for you! Tell me all about him! Is he Irish? Is he Catholic? What parish is he from?”
All the important questions! Micki smacked Danny with the mayonnaise-covered spoon, hissing, “Thanks, jerk!”
“Yeah, Micki, tell us about your date,” her youngest brother, Marcus, chimed in from the dining room doorway. “Joey says you left the bar with—”
Her sharp gasp cut off his words. Was he a complete idiot? They had an unspoken agreement as siblings; no one shared their social adventures with their mother. Her disapproval was nearly a physical blow. None of them wanted to be on the receiving end. Marcus flushed a brilliant scarlet that clashed horribly with his carrot-colored hair. He cringed at the fiery glare in Micki’s eyes.
Mom set down her carving knife, the brisket forgotten. Her eagle eyes darted between her three children, assessing guilt, assigning blame, probably counting off the expected Hail Mary’s in her mind. “What bar?”
“Yeah, what bar?” This question came from the other side of the screen door. “Who’d you leave with, Micki?”
Micki groaned inwardly and turned around with her heart in her stomach. “What are you doing here, Jake?”
Her brothers turned into a couple of guard dogs, heading straight to the backdoor with hands clenched into fists. “You have some nerve!” Danny snarled on his way through the door. “I’ll beat your f**king ass!”
“Daniel!” Mom scolded.
“It’s fine, Mom. Danny, back off!” Micki pushed past Danny to tow Jake to the other end of the plant-covered porch. “Are you nuts? My brothers are just waiting for an excuse to beat the hell out of you. Why would you come here?”
His dark eyes glinted with a meanness that he usually reserved for opponents in the cage. His hands were clenched into fists at his side. He was clearly pissed off. Despite being in full view of the Callahan’s after church cookout crowd, he grabbed her by both arms and hauled her up against the side of the house. “You won’t see me, but you’re out f**king around with someone else?”
“Yo, Micki! You okay?” Danny’s buddy, Jamie, hollered from his lawn chair next door. Three Callahan cousins turned to stare. One by one, they set their beers on the picnic table and got to their feet.
Oh, great. Just what she needed. A Sunday afternoon brawl in her parents’ flower beds. God only knew the Callahans were always up for a good fight. Today wasn’t the day though. She wasn’t in the mood to disappoint her mother, so she affixed a plastic smile on her face and shouted back, “I’m fine, Jamie. No worries, ‘kay?”
Jake managed a stiff smile and a nod in their direction. Jamie and his cousins watched them for another minute then went back to their grilling and beer drinking.
“Have you lost your mind? Why are you being such a dick?” She’d never seen him like this. He was beyond simply mad. He was edgy, desperate, strung out like a caged lion. “You’re hurting me. Let go.”
Instead of letting go, he crowded her closer to the wall, his breath hitting her in the face. The reek of stale cigarettes and beer made her eyes water. She wrinkled her face and tried to turn away. His fingers dug into her skin. “Who is he? Who are you f**king?”
“None of your business! You’ve got everything you wanted back in Vegas. You made your choice three years ago. Get out of my life and go home. I don’t answer to you!”
He bounced her head off of the wall, snarling dangerously, “Is it that guy who was at your house yesterday? I’ll f**king kill him!”
Her vision was spotty; her ears ringing. She opened her mouth to shout for help when he smashed his mouth over hers, crushing her lips, drawing blood while she struggled to get free. Her knee connected with his balls; he punched her in the face. Twice. She must’ve screamed because suddenly all hell broke loose. Danny and Marcus barreled out of the kitchen. The Callahans sprinted into the yard. And the spots in her vision turned into one big sunburst that swallowed her up. The last thing she saw clearly was Koivu’s furious expression and a flash of black and white.

Uncaged Review

To start with, I did read this as a standalone, I had not read the first 2 books in the series, and I didn’t feel lost at all. I think reading the first books will only enhance each other, as the characters are recurring in this series. This book was about Koivu and Micki – and it will grab and use every single emotion you have within its pages. Anger, grief, humor, love and some very hot sex scenes will have you laughing one minute, mad the next, and standing in front of a fan the next.
This group of “brothers” are Trinity Demons, one of each of Lucifer’s origin families, exiled from Hell and trying to get back – even though it’s an impossible task. Finding all their brothers is priority as someone is torturing and killing them one by one. They’ll have to use all their skills to stop the murders in their human bodies.
I loved all the characters. I even enjoyed the exchanges with Lucifer and his demons, and with Raphael – an archangel – his brother. Uniting the whole story is two broken people, Koivu – an ex champion fighter from Hell, now exiled to a human body, and Micki – who’s had her heart ripped out and stomped on in the past.
I had a very hard time putting this down, and yes, I did miss some sleep from this book, but book hangovers are well worth it with some books, and this one is one of those. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars