Series Spotlight: Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Series Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on Once Upon a Series, where I will be highlighting a series that I would either like to read if I get a chance to, or would like to finish reading at some point. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas for other series to read... or if you've read something similar that you think other fans of the series featured would like, then please do mention it in the comments.

This is a series that I stumbled across on Goodreads that I think looks very good. Although I don't really like the covers and feel they are all so different that they don't really look like part of a series. Anybody else read these books yet? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments!

1. Slammed

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

2. Point of Retreat

Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart.

Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’

3. This Girl

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.

Waiting On Wednesday: Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week Chrissie has a "can't-wait-to-read" selection for you:

Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

At twenty-one, Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Catholic mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god Thor has his own complications. When he looked down the barrel of that gun he believed it was destiny: It’s been one year to the day since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, he and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head on, in a funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness,; about a virgin birth, a sacrifice, and a resurrection; about falling in love, and learning that things aren’t always what they seem—or what we hope they will be. It’s a novel about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need.

Review: At His Request by Silvia Rhodes (At His Request #1)

Publisher - Self Published
Genre - Erotic Romance

Source - Kindle Freebie

Rating - 2 out of 5: It was okay

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - 26 year old submissive Lara, leads a normal but boring life.
Until...
Lara's online exploits connect her with a guy by the name of "Narcissio."
What Lara doesn't know is that "Narcissio" is actually Padraig Mannix, a very successful Dom.
A brief encounter with Padraig will leave her confused and interested to venture even further.
Padraig will lay obstacles, but... is Lara willing to clear these obstacles in order to cure her curiosity...and "feed" her needs?

My Thoughts - I got this novella as a free download from Amazon, and I have to admit that I wasn't all that impressed with it. This will only be a short review though as it was only a very short novella.

The first problem that I had with this novella is that there isn't really much to either of the main characters. The reader really doesn't get to know much about Lara other than the fact that she works in a bank and that she enjoys being sexually submissive. And that just wasn't enough for me to get any true feeling of the kind of person that she is, so I ended up having real trouble connecting with her. As the whole story is told from Lara's first person point of view, we don't get to know anything about Padraig other than that which he chooses to reveal to her, and he is obviously a "somebody" and he feels the need to protect himself by not giving too much away. Hence his need for a non-disclosure agreement to be signed before anything can happen between them. Sound familiar, anybody?

Plus it was difficult to really pick up on the connection between the two. Apparently, Lara and Padraig had been communicating for quite some time online before they meet near the beginning of the novella. But the author doesn't really cover this very well and so they end up seeming more like strangers. I really didn't feel much between the two of them. I just feel that if this guy is already her Master (which is what she calls him at several points in the story) there should be some kind of deeper connection there, but there isn't. They barely know each other.

Summary - A story that seems to lack any kind of substance or depth of feeling between the two main characters. I had trouble feeling very much at all for the characters, their story or anything at all really. I don't think I'll be carrying on with this series.

It's Monday! What are you reading? (28th October 2013)

This is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey that gives us all a chance to list the books that we read last week and what we hope to read this week.

Books We Read Last Week:

Broken Beauty by Chloe Adams (Broken Beauty #1)

At His Request by Silvia Rhodes (At His Request #1)

Books We Reviewed Last Week:

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz (Original Sinners #3)

Broken Beauty by Chloe Adams (Broken Beauty #1)

Books We're Currently Reading:

The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz (Original Sinners #4)

Books Up Next:

Teardrop by Lauren Kate (Teardrop #1)

Stacking the Shelves (26th October 2013)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

For Review:

Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (Finishing School #2)

Does one need four fully-grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully-grown guests? Sophronia's first year at school has certainly been rousing. First, her finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised!). Secondly, she gets mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and has a cheese pie thrown at her. Now, as Sophronia sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than at first appears ...

Vampires, werewolves, and humans are all after the prototype Sophronia recovered in Etiquette & Espionage, which has the potential to alter human and supernatural travel. Sophronia must try to uncover who is behind a dangerous plot to control the prototype ... as well as survive the London season with a full dance card.

Long Live the Queen by Kate Locke (Immortal Empire #3)

Xandra Vardan thought life would be simpler when she accepted the goblin crown and became their queen, but life has only become more complicated. Everyone -- vampires, werewolves and humans -- wants the goblins on their side, because whoever has the goblins -- wins.

Queen Victoria wants her head, Alpha wolf Vex wants her heart, and she still doesn't know the identity of the person who wanted her blood. What she does know is that a project from one of the 'secret' aristocrat labs has gotten free and she's the only one who can stop the perfect killing machine -- a sixteen year-old girl. With human zealots intent on ridding the world of anyone with plagued blood and supernatural politics taking Britain to the verge of civil war, Xandra's finding out that being queen isn't all it's cracked up to be, and if she doesn't do something fast, hers will be the shortest reign in history.

Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

When Alex Munro learns that the love of her life is getting married to another girl, all she wants is to be alone - and as far away from Edinburgh as possible.

Moving to a Cornish cottage, which comes complete with the world's scruffiest dog, Alex finds that her new neighbours are determined to involve her in their madcap Christmas festivities.

Then she meets her sexy neighbour Ruan - and somehow Alex doesn't want to be alone this Christmas after all. But having lost one fiancé, Ruan has no intention of letting anyone get close to him again...

Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster (Love Undercover #3)

Charismatic bar owner Rowdy Yates isn’t the kind of man women say no to. So when he approaches waitress Avery Mullins, he fully expects to get her number. However, the elusive beauty has her reasons for keeping her distance—including a past that might come back to haunt them both.

Avery spends her nights working for tips… and trying to forget the secret Rowdy is determined to unearth. But when history threatens to repeat itself, Avery grows to rely on Rowdy’s protective presence. As the sparks between them ignite, she will be forced to choose between the security she’s finally found… and the passion she’s always wanted..

Kindle Freebies:

Natural Law by Joey W. Hill (Nature of Desire #2)

Mackenzie "Mac" Nighthorse is a highly respected homicide detective and a career cop. There isn't a dangerous situation that can back him down.

However, the personal becomes uncomfortably entangled in the professional when he goes undercover in a high class BDSM club as a male submissive in order to find a Dominatrix who is winning the trust and then murdering her chosen partners.

When his path crosses Violet Siemanski's, he realizes he's found a Mistress willing to be his ally in finding the murderess. But Violet is also going to shatter Mac's shields and make him question who he is and what he wants, a challenge more disturbing than any case he's ever worked.

All She Wants 4 Christmas by Jessica Lee

What if on Christmas Eve all your darkest desires came to life…could you handle it?

It's Christmas Eve, and all Monica Sims wants is for her fiancé, just once, to step outside his comfort zone. She loves him, and life is fine in their perfectly planned world. But Monica is ready for more. She takes a risk and shares with him her darkest fantasies: Domination. Submission. Surrendering to the will of more than one man. But her confession is more than her straitlaced boyfriend can handle—or so she thought.

Dane knows exactly what he wants in bed: just him and Monica, his fiancée—alone. Simple, easy, vanilla sex was all he ever needed. That was until the night he found his fiancée in her office, watching—enjoying—a very naughty movie on her laptop. Determined to be the one to unleash her control, Dane decides to surprise her on Christmas Eve with a trip to a private fetish club. But they won't be alone.

Review: Broken Beauty by Chloe Adams (Broken Beauty #1)

Publisher - Evatopia Press
Publication Date - 21st September 2013
Ebook - 85 pages
Genre - New Adult/Contemporary

Source - Received for review via NetGalley

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it.

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Sometimes bad things happen to beautiful people.

When socialite party girl Mia Abbott-Renou wakes up in a garden she has little recall of the previous night -- except that she is naked...hurt...terrified. Not only has she been raped, but she knows one of her assailants: the son of a wealthy politician who happens to be her own father’s political ally.

Mia wants and needs justice. Except this privileged boy has an alibi and her father forbids her from going to the police. It’s a critical election year, one that his party might lose if his image as a doting father is soured due to Mia being labeled a lush or worse, promiscuous.

Devastated at not having the support of her family, Mia finds herself in a tug-of-war with her conscience over what to do, especially since she can’t remember exactly what happened that night. Worse, the men who attacked her have hurt several other girls, and Mia may be the key to stopping them.

Mia tries to forget, until the unthinkable happens, and she’s left reeling once again, faced with a new challenge that will force her to take more control of her life.

My Thoughts - I have to warn you that this is a novella that is not for the faint of heart. It deals with a very difficult and heart-breaking topic, and something that way too many women have to experience and endure, including the author herself according to the introduction of the story. It brought a tear to my eye a time or two but I still could not put this book down. I just felt completely pulled into Mia's story and had to know how things would turn out for her.

As well as having to go through the horrific ordeal of being raped, she also receives absolutely no support from her family and I just found this heart-breaking. She is left alone to deal with the aftermath of the attack, which is something nobody should have to deal with alone. Luckily her best friend Ari is there for her, but even so, she should have had way more support than that. What made this story even more wrenching is that her father is around but he chooses to focus on his political campaigns rather than caring for his daughter. He is too concerned about his reputation and how he can use his daughter's attack to gain more supporters. And her mother is away in "rehab" although it sounds more like a holiday to both myself and Mia, and apparently has she has trouble getting away and still hadn't put in an appearance six weeks down the line at the end of this story.

And, as for the end of this story, another heart-breaking and gut-wrenching twist, although it was fairly obvious that it was going to happen. But that didn't lessen the impact of the ending in any way. But, as this is the first in a series of six novellas following Mia after the attack, there is a cliff-hanger ending, so do be warned. But I for one can't wait to pick up the next novella to see what happens next for poor Mia.

Summary - A story that will leave you feeling a whole host of emotions, not many of them good. But this is an important story. One that needs to be told and one that needs to be read so that more awareness can be gained about what rape victims have to endure every minute of their lives after the attack. A story that is very well told despite the difficult subject matter, and even though it was an emotional ride, I just couldn't stop reading. A very good novella that I highly recommend.

Other books in this series:
1. Broken Beauty
2. Broken World (Due for release November/December)

Series Spotlight: Crossfire by Sylvia Day

Series Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on Once Upon a Series, where I will be highlighting a series that I would either like to read if I get a chance to, or would like to finish reading at some point. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas for other series to read... or if you've read something similar that you think other fans of the series featured would like, then please do mention it in the comments.

The series I've picked this week is one that I've been wanting to read for a long time but have never got around to. I even have the first book sitting and waiting patiently for me on my bookshelf. Have you read this series? Let me know what you think about it in the comments!

1. Bared to You

Our journey began in fire...

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness—beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily...

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart...

2. Reflected in You

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction... my every desire... mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful... except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession...

3. Entwined with You

From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside–so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.

No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession…

Waiting on Wednesday: Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week Chrissie has a "can't-wait-to-read" selection for you:

Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter Series #6)

Angels are falling from the sky in New York, struck down by a vicious, unknown force.

Vampires are dying impossibly of disease.

Guild hunter Elena Deveraux and the Archangel Raphael must discover the source of the wave of death before it engulfs their city and their people, leaving New York a ruin and Raphael's Tower under siege by enemy archangels.

Yet even as they fight desperately to save the city, an even darker force is stirring, its chill eyes trained on New York...and on Raphael. Rivers of crimson and nightmares given flesh, the world will never again be the same...

Review: The Prince by Tiffany Reisz (Original Sinners #3)

Publisher - Mills and Boon
Publication Date - 20th November 2012
Paperback - 416 pages
Genre - Erotic Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating -  4.5 out of 5:It was amazing!

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...preferably in bed. That's always been Kingsley Edge's strategy with his associate, the notorious New York dominatrix Nora Sutherlin. But with Nora away in Kentucky, now it's Kingsley's chance to take her place at the feet of the only man he's ever wanted - Søren, Nora's on-again, off-again lover - until a new threat from an old enemy forces him to confront his past.

Wes Railey is still the object of Nora's tamest yet most maddening fantasies, and the one man she can't forget. He's young. He's wonderful. He's also thoroughbred royalty and she's in "his" world now. But Nora is no simpering Southern belle, and her dream of fitting into Wesley's world is perpetually at odds with her dear Søren's relentlessly seductive pull.

Two worlds of wealth and passion call to her and whichever one Nora chooses, it will be the hardest decision she will ever have to make... unless someone makes it for her....

My Thoughts - Well, if you have been following my reviews you will already know how I feel about this series so far and to recap for those of you who don't know... I am loving these books. And The Prince was no exception. I was literally hooked from page one, unable to put the book down to get on with my ordinary and mundane life because I wanted to stay in the world created by the author. I just didn't want to leave Nora, Soren and Kingsley behind and am loving these characters more and more as the series progresses. I'm sorry, I warn you now that this may be a gushing kind of review. Also, there may be some spoilers for the first two books in the series so if you haven't read them yet you should probably stop reading this review now... and head on down to the bookshop/library/Amazon/wherever to pick up  copies of The Siren and The Angel.

The Prince tells three different stories alongside each other, that all weave together and form a stunning conclusion, although I will admit that I did see where it was all heading with regards to who was behind the threats being made towards Nora and the gang. The chapters alternate between these three stories and this helped make the book even more compelling as I found I was always wanting to know what was going on with each of the other characters. The first was the tale of Soren and Kingsley's past and how they met and ended up falling in love with each other, which was beautiful and heart-breaking all at the same time. This again gave more of an insight into Soren and who he really is, as well as making me fall a little bit in love with Kingsley. Up until this book I've never really felt one way or the other towards Kingsley, he was simply there but I didn't really care much for him. But now, after seeing the way he felt (and still does feel) about Soren, he is a much more likeable and real character. This book shows the true depth of emotion that he is capable of feeling rather than him just being the King of the Underground who everybody fears.

The second tale was that of Kingsley in the present day as he is investigating who is making the threats towards Nora, Soren and himself. This part of the story was intriguing but as I have already said, I was able to work out from the stories of the past who was behind the threats way before Kingsley did himself. But what I loved about these chapters was the insight into Kingsley's complicated love/hate relationship with Soren.

The third part of the tale was about Nora herself. She has travelled south to stay with Wesley, the man who was her intern in the first book of the series and who is the third part of the love triangle with Nora and Soren. He is young (twenty I believe) a virgin still at the start of this novel and very, very vanilla. He is basically the complete opposite of Nora, but it is obvious that they love each other a great deal. And although these two are very sweet together, these chapters were probably the least favourite of mine in the book. In the first two books of the series, Nora is vibrant and loud and just leaps out at you from the page. I loved her, both as a Dominatrix and as Soren's submissive because she was never apologetic for who she was. She loved her kinky lifestyle and knew that it was a big part of who she is as a person so she made no excuses for the way she lived her life. In The Prince, she is staying with Wesley and his family, and she just seemed to lose a lot of her edginess as she tried too hard to fit in with her new surroundings. Don't get me wrong, there are a few glimpses of the sassy Nora that the reader has come to know and love within these pages, but because of the strength of the other characters and their stories within this novel, Nora seemed to take a bit of a backseat in this one. But I do still love Nora and she is one of my favourite characters from a series that I have come across in a long time.

And the ending. Wow, what an ending it was, although it is quite a cliffhanger so please make sure you have the fourth book, The Mistress, to hand before finishing this one as, like me, I'm sure you will need to pick up the next book straight away to see what happens to Nora.

Summary - An amazing series that is giving a very close look at the relationships between Nora, Soren, Kingsley and Wesley. What I love most is that the author doesn't shy away from raw emotions to deal simply with the kink element of BDSM. She also explores the deep emotional and psychological connections between Dominants and submissives. This series is a must-read for all fans of novels focusing on BDSM.

Other books in this series:
1. The Siren
2. The Angel
3. The Prince
4. The Mistress

It's Monday! What are you Reading? (21st October 2013)

This is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey that gives us all a chance to list the books that we read last week and what we hope to read this week.

Books We Read Last Week:

Keeper's Watch by Cynthia Roberts (The Wind #1)

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz (Original Sinners #3)

Books We Reviewed Last Week:

Unlocked by Courtney Milan (Turners #1.6)

Keeper's Watch by Cynthia Roberts (The Wind #1)

Books We're Currently Reading:

The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz (Original Sinners #4)

Broken Beauty by Chloe Adams (Broken Beauty #1)

Books Up Next:

Teardrop by Lauren Kate (Teardrop #1)

Stacking the Shelves (19th October 2013)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

For Review:

Not Another Happy Ending by David Solomons

With her debut novel, Happy Ending, Jane Lockhart pulled off that rare double act – critical acclaim and mainstream success. But now, with just the last chapter of the follow up book to write, she encounters crippling writer’s block. She has no idea how her story ends…

Struggling publisher Tom Duval, whose company is up against the wall, realises that the only way he’s going to get his star author to finish the final chapter is to make her life a misery. As he sees it, the trouble is that her success has made her too damned contented. So, to break her writer’s block, he sets about ruining everything in her life that’s making her happy…

Kindle Freebies:

Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux #0.5)

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in. Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence…and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

Selling Scarlett by Ella James (Love Inc. #1)

Elizabeth DeVille doesn't belong at a party like this - one where the gowns cost more than her Camry and cigars run higher than her grad school utility bills. Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.

Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail.

When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter's den of vices, she's a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn't have, and she's come up with a foolproof way to get it.

Follow Elizabeth - code-named Scarlett - to the lush Nevada brothel where she'll auction her virginity and risk the only thing that's not for sale: her heart. The highest bidder is a familiar face, with wicked hands and the devil's mouth. And a secret so dark that it could cost her life.

Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

Starfire Angels by Melanie Nilles (Dark Angel Chronicles #1)

They've been coming here for thousands of years, using Earth as a sanctuary to escape threats from their own kind. Mankind knows them as angels, and one of them left a child upon her death to be raised as a human.

Raea is now a high school senior and her life as a human is about to end. The crystal shard she bears is not a pretty pendant; it's a collective of powerful entities who chose her as their Keeper, a protector of one of the four shards that power a machine capable of destroying whole worlds. Those who desire the Starfire's power have sent an agent to find her, but she's too busy evading a nosy reporter ready to exploit her secret and dating a hot new foreign student to notice. Nevermind learning what she really is.

Only one person on Earth can help her, the last person she ever expected. But he's not from Earth. Life as a human would be so much easier.

Review: Keeper's Watch by Cynthia Roberts (The Wind #1)

Publisher - Self Published
Publication Date - 11th August 2013
Ebook - 340 pages
Genre - Romantic Suspense

Source - Received from author for review

Rating - 3 out of 5: I liked it.

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Detective Beth Tyler must decipher riddles left to her by her deceased father and protect his latest archeological find. She becomes a target for every ruthless privateer, collector and Federal agent, including the roguishly handsome, Jeremy Steele. When they first meet, one is fire and the other, ice.

Beth tries her best to thwart Jeremy’s attempt to join her excursion, but slowly she realizes it is best to keep her adversary close by her side. As the perilous journey unfolds, so too does a passionate attraction between them; and together they unveil a discovery that will change how history was once written.

My Thoughts - After being contacted by the author about a possible review for this book, I was excited to read it. And although I enjoyed Keeper's Watch, it wasn't quite what I was expecting and so that did throw me off balance a little bit as I started to get further into the book. But this was more from a personal point of view in that there are quite a lot of sci-fi elements in this novel and that is a genre that I'm not really a great fan of so it just took me a little while to adjust to the subject matter.

I liked the two main characters, Beth and Jeremy. They are both strong and fiercely independent characters who never like to back down from a challenge. Jeremy is incredibly arrogant, but as with most alpha males in romantic suspense novels, it was a sexy look on him. The problem that I did have with this novel though was that the romance element seemed a little too rushed for my liking. One minute, she is catching him breaking into her house and there is instant dislike laced with a good splash of lust just about hidden beneath the surface, then she is sending him away because she doesn't trust him (which I think was a wise move considering she'd just caught him breaking into her house) and then she is letting him join her on her journey as she tries to solve the clues that her father left behind because she realises that she can't do it without him and that she is in love with him. It just didn't feel right to me and I wish that they could have had some more time to get to know each other before apparently falling in love. But, I have to admit that once they were together they worked very well as a couple. Despite the fact the they are both very strong-willed individuals, they manage to work side by side on the task, they trust each other a great deal and there is a lot of chemistry between the two of them, which certainly heated up the pages more than a little.

The pacing of the plot worked well and there was a good mixture of excitement, quiet times where the reader could catch their breath along with the characters and the romantic elements. The author's style of writing is clear and easy to read, while some of the descriptions of the people they meet and the areas they travel through are simply breath-taking.

Summary - Although I did have a couple of issues with this book, it is a good romantic suspense that will have you glued to the edge of your seat.

Series Spotlight: Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on Once Upon a Series, where I will be highlighting a series that I would either like to read if I get a chance to, or would like to finish reading at some point. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas for other series to read... or if you've read something similar that you think other fans of the series featured would like, then please do mention it in the comments.

My pick this week is a series that I've seen all over blogs for quite some time but that I still haven't got around to reading myself yet. It looks amazing and I'm really hoping to get started on it soon. Have you guys read this series? What did you think of it? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

0.5. Shadows

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence...and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

1. Obsidian

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

2. Onyx

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks….

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town….

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes.

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies.

3. Opal

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

4. Origin

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together?