Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kaje Harper

I love this book. I can't say that enough, I loved this book. Lyon came to life for me. First he was a sorcerer then a hermit. Lyon was trained to be a sorcerer, a profession that is dying out as magic seems to be vanishing and young men want more dashing jobs. It was during his training that Lyon learned what true evil was as he watched his beloved master become consumed by a dark power until there was nothing left. Fearing for his life and sanity Lyon fled in the night letting everyone believe he was dead. He found a small home and for fifteen years he lived as a translator and then the ghost from his past appears when Tobin, his best friend appears at his door and tells him he must do the bidding of the king. I could feel his fears as he took the first steps down the road all in order to help a friend in need.
There wasn't a lot of sex, in fact the sex that did happen wasn't in great detail but that didn't bother me. Granted I kept yelling at the book to hurry up and do it but that is beside the point.

I got to meet Kaje at GRL and I will admit I became a fan girl. I screamed out "Nor Iron Bars a Cage. I LOVED that book." So now I look like a crazy fan but that is beside the point.

Ghost of Alcatraz By Carol Lynne

The blurb made the book sound a whole lot better that it was. This is a very quick read, a little over 100 pages. It is a good idea, the prison of Alcatraz has been remodeled and now houses cyber criminals. Everything is going great when the first dead body appears. Now these are not hardened criminals in these cells but computer geeks so when a second and third body shows up the Warden knows he has problems. Jenson Black  calls for help and what he gets is a paranormal investigator. What is discovered is that the prison may be remodeled some very dark spirits still linger and those spirits are string enough to cause injury and even death to those on the rock.

For me it needed to be a longer book. I had a hard time getting into the story just because it was short and to the point, no building up, no getting to know and feel the stars of the story. This story would have been great had I had some feeling for the prisoners that where being murdered in their cell or if I would have had a stronger connection with Jensen, the warden who didn't know what to do to protect his men and the convicts yet at the same time had feelings for the investigator. It is a good Halloween quick read, and for that I would recommend it.

The Name on my Wrist By J.M. Snyder

I must say this was a very short story. I'm not even 100% sure I would call it a story since it was only 11 pages long. Does that make it more of a prose? How to review this without giving anything away. Well when I first picked it up to read I was expecting to need some tissues. It did come with a warning that this was very sad. Did I cry? Nope, Did I feel a tear forming? Nope. I didn't connect with anyone enough to actually want to cry.
This is a story of a man who is remembering his first love. It is when Vietnam was being fought and innocence was lost when those you love are called up in the draft. As I said it is 11 pages and that includes the cover  and all the other stuff that goes into the front of the book.

It is a free read at B&N though so I can't complain that much. If you want a five minute read by all means grab it up, if you want something that will make you grab the tissue box this isn't it.

Gilt By JL WIlson

I want to start out by saying I had never heard of JL Wilson before the RT convention. I picked up some of her swag and the book intrigued me so off to B&N I went to buy it. I wanted to love the book, the blurb made me want to love it. What happened was I simply liked the book.

Gem is plagued with gilt after her husband John dies in  fire. All she can think about is arguing with her firefighter husband  moments before he rushes into a burning building to save a small child, a fire where they both die. She can't help but wonder if maybe he was distracted by her angry words.

On the Anniversary of her husbands death she discovers the case is being re opened.  It is then that Gem finds out she can see the ghost of her dead husband. I know you would think this wa a ghost story but it isn't. It is more of a murder mystery with a ghost tossed in. Gem meets Dan whose wife also died in the fire. It is believed that the fire was started to cover up her murder. A little digging though proves that this is much more than a fire but something that has ties to embezzlement and a major crime family.

The book is good, I can't say it isn't. It does have moments when it really seems to drag out and I found myself saying "get on with it all ready". There is a romantic relationship between Dan and Gem but she never lets it go far because she is still carrying gilt over her husbands death and sees moving on as betrayng his memory.

I will also admit there were a couple of places that I grabbed a tissue.  If you like crime drama then by all mean grab this one to read in front of the fireplace on a nice fall day.

Been busy

I know I haven't been posting for a little bit but I have been busy with work. It seems like this is the busy season when it comes to candy. I am currently working six days a week and that along with working on my own stuff and judging some local things have kept me from reading all I should.

Don't fear though I have been reading and I will be posting more book reviews.

Fire Burn and Cauldron bubble. by H.P. Mallory

I have to say that on the whole I loved this book. Yes at times it did get a little drawn out but still I wanted to read more. When it ended I was heading to Amazon looking for book two of the series.

This is a book full of hot guys. Rand the warlock who has feelings for Jolie the witch he is training yet he refuses to act on them. Trent the werewolf who Jolie decides to date if she can't have Rand. Sinjin the vampire who is nothing but a flirt and we still don't know what his agenda is. Add to all this male sexiness an evil with by name of Bella who wants to rule the other world creatures.
 The story moves long fairly well, I find myself relating to Jolie as she struggles to come to terms with being a witch, being taken from her home and shown  world she didn't even know existed.

What's even better I at the moment amazon is offering this book for free on kindle. Head over there and get it, it's a very entertaining read and you will be hurrying out to buy the second book just to see what Sinjin is up to and if Jolie will finally make Rand understand you can mix business and pleasure.

Claiming Mariah by Pam Hillman

I had a hard time putting this book down and that is a rare thing for me.
 Mariah has been struggling with running the Lazy M ranch since her father died. Thinking she is doing the right thing after she finds out her father had stolen the money to buy the ranch she contacts his one time partner in mining. Slade Donavan and his brother Buck show up at the ranch showing the dead to the mine and claiming ownership of the ranch. Slade agrees to let Mariah and her grandmother stay at the ranch until his own mother shows up. Neither one expects to fall in love with the other and when Slade discovers cattle rustling going on the danger he brings to Mariah causes him to prove that love.
I don't read a lot of western romances but this one was a really good book. I didn't want to put it down and hated that I had to go to work because it meant I couldn't read. I hated that it ended, I wanted it to go a little further. I need a book with Buck finding his true love, I want to know more about Slade's mother and sisters. This is an author who I will read more of.