Phoebe Jordan

• Rated 5 stars

“I found out about newly published author Amanda Ashby through the amazing website/blog called Free Book Friday, that is founded by author Jessica Brody. I'm so glad that I read and even heard the wonderful podcast interview of Jessica and Amanda about her first novel You Had me at Halo. Listening to the podcast about how Amanda came to write her first novel was so wonderful to listen to and understand how the concept come to be. I had to find out more about this novel and to get it immediately so I can read it. I also recommend that you all listen to it also so you can decide for yourselves if you agree with me about this book and Amanda Ashby's inspiration for writing it. I'm glad that I bought this book because it didn't disappoint and now I'm a fan of Amanda Ashby's work and I look forward to any of her future novels. Especially since I found on her website that she will have a Young Adult novel called Zombie Queen of Newbury High, about high school kids and zombies, which is a wonderful combination in my opinion.


Now for the book I thought that Holly Evans is such a wonderful character that needed a reality check and her dying and then coming back in a man's body is a BIG reality check. Holly seemed like a self-involved person with only her own personal gain on the top of her list and she doesn't seem to notice anyone who isn't of her status level. So here comes in Vince Murphy the computer geek who use to be friends with Holly when they were children until he moved away. They also work for the same company but don't hang with one another because they are both in totally different status levels at the company. These two characters are very different but yet so much alike that they completely make a wonderful couple together but don't know it. Holly has some mortal baggage to unload first, starting with the matter of how she died because she drowned in her bathtub under suspicious circumstances, but she did not kill herself. Holly had too much to live for, from her recent promotion to taking the next step in her relationship with her boyfriend who also works with her at the company.


Her life had a few loose ends in her life but her heavenly shrinks wants her to resolve them before she can get into any of the upper levels of heaven. He says she has to return to Earth to straighten things out but the problem is, she’ll need to borrow someone’s body to do so, and the body in question belongs to none other than computer geek Vince Murphy. Although Vince was supposed to have vacated the premises, he apparently never got the memo because he was only unconsious for a couple of hours before he came too with Holly in his body. This was one book that I will always remember and will always treasure because it was funny, romantic and exciting to read. I really had a hard time putting the book down the entire time I was reading it and by the time I finished it I really wanted Amanda Ashby to have written a sequel because it looked like Holly's life was only getting more exciting at the end.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Sunday, January 18 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Jessica Barksdale Inclán is a new author to me and I was pretty glad when she got in touch with me about being interviewed and having her latest Second Romance series books reviewed by me. I'm a bit late in posting this review but it's better late than never and I really enjoyed reading the first book Being with Him so much and this series got really good with the second book Intimate Beings. This is a paranormal romance that I didn't at first really understand completely in the being of the first novel but I really got into towards the end and then the beginning of the second novel. So from my review of the first novel you can say that I was very anxious to read more about Milla, Garrick and her brother Eden and her sister Sophia who she only just found out she had. I was glad that she found her brother but now they had to find their sister Sophia who could be anywhere on Earth.

The heroine of this book is Claire Edwards but she's also known as Sophia when she was a young child on the other planet. She has the ability to go anywhere on Earth as long as she knows what the place looks like before she thinks about going there and is there. She has never told anyone about her special ability but her problem is that she can get to any place she wants but she can't get back home the same way she has to find another way. On top of that she can't bring anything with her except herself and the clothes on her back so that means no money either. Then an intensely attractive man who suddenly materializes in her car one day is any indication, Claire’s not the only one with a special ability. Ever since Darl James learned of his true origins, he has been searching for his partner and life mate, the one whose gift will complement and complete his own. Darl is Claire's other half so that means that he can be anywhere in the world but if he thinks of home he's there in an instant.

Now that he’s found Claire, he vows to never lose her again, or their soul-searing, sensual connection, but keeping her safe won’t be easy when they’ve been marked for destruction by an evil, power-hungry race. A fierce battle is brewing, one that will test Claire and Darl’s new bond to the limit, and decide the future of all their kind. So if you thought that what Milla and Garrick faced in the first book was very hard and heartbreaking for them Claire and Darl have a more intense time of this new life they have. Towards the end it seemed like things might have calmed down a bit for Milla, Garrick, Claire, Darl and Eden but I know that with the last book in the series the two books were just the beginning of a very large and epic battle to come. By the time I finished reading this novel I was so sad that there was no title or release date for the third and last novel in Jessica Barksdale Inclán's terrific Second Romance series. I did love the excerpt of the novel at the end of the book and it gave me hope because it said it will be release in Fall 2009 which isn't that far away.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Saturday, January 17 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I love mystery novels especially when they have a a mix of romance in the plot so when I won an autographed copy of one of Linda O. Johnston's Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mystery I knew I had to get all of them to read. I also thought this series was very intriguing because it involved animals which even though I've never had any pets of my own I've got family who have had dogs and cats as pets. There are 6 books in this series so far but the 7th book in the series called Never Say Sty is going to be coming out on Tuesday, April 7th which is a day I look forward to because it is going to be good. Sit, Stay, Slay is the first book in the series and the book that captured me from the very beginning to the very exciting life of Kendra Ballantyne. Kendra was one a litigator with a high-powered L.A. law firm until scandal forced her resignation and when at wit's end, desperate, and broke, she's now had to rent her Hollywood home to strangers.


So she's had to move into the maid's quarters above her garage for a place to live and even jumped at a new job offer as a freelance pet-sitter. Her life has gone to the dogs and who'd have guessed it would be so dangerous when Kendra finds one of her first pet-sitting clients stabbed to death in his upscale Toluca Lake home. The only witness to the apparent break-in is a mutt in mourning but when another client suffers the same fate, Kendra fears she’s being set up to take the rap. With the help of sexy detective Jeff Hubbard, she’s got to find out why—and she’d better do it fast because this killer’s bite is a lot worse than his bark. Jeff is her first pet-siting client and a very sexy P.I. who has an adorable Akita named Odin and he happens to travel a lot and Kendra stays at his house to pet-sit since her current apartment over her home's garage isn't exactly the place she wants to be living at right now with her license suspended.


I really enjoyed reading this novel very much even though it's in the first person and I always try to stay away from those types of novels since they are limited to the characters point of views. So it was nice to find out that it was just as good as a third person novel and I couldn't put the book down until I found out who was the murderer framing Kendra. I finished the novel very quickly and I immediately picked up the second book in the series because I had to find out more about Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter and mystery solving genius.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Friday, January 16 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Jessica Barksdale Inclán is a new author to me and I was pretty glad when she got in touch with me about being interviewed and having her latest Second Romance series books reviewed by me. I'm a bit late in posting this review but it's better late than never and I really enjoyed reading the first book Being with Him. This is a paranormal romance that I didn't at first really understand completely because the two main characters are from another plant placed on earth for their own survival by their parents. They have a similar species to them who are after them for evil purposes that could kill them in the end because they are the ones who destroyed their planet and parents in the first place. I did really start to get the hero, Garrick, and heroine, Milla, as the novel progressed and the reason for the special abilities became more clearer to them and the reader.


Milla is a very creative woman who has the ability to move time forward but she doesn't know what she missed between the time she was in the present and to the time she moved forward. So she missed minutes and hours and maybe days that she can never relive again because she can only move time forward. She also has never told anyone not even her beloved parents about her ability but that all changes for her when she is set up on a blind date with Garrick. Now Garrick is the other half of Milla because he has the ability to move time backwards and so he has relived the past over and over if he wasn't careful. But unlike Milla he told his parents that he kept reliving the past again and again as a child, which really freaked his parents out. Garrick had to spend many days and years of his childhood in mental hospitals with doctors trying to figure out what is wrong with him.


Until Garrick final stopped talking about his ability did he finally get on with his life as a semi-normal man but his parents were never the same with him again. Then he met Milla on a blind date that his aunt set up for him and everything changed for him as well because they both felt that deep soul mate connection between them. That is a turning point for both Milla and Garrick in this lovely and creative tale of two halfs of one whole coming together after years of separation. But that is also the turning point where things get really hard for Milla and Garrick because they finally find out what happened to their parents and their people with the special abilities. They find out about the people who want to use them for their own nefarious purposes or they die if they don't comply. By the time I finished reading this novel I had to immediately pick up the second book to find out what happens next with Milla and her brother and sister who she just now discovered she had.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Friday, January 16 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“I have a couple of Lori Foster's books but this series is fairly new and I love it. I don't know much about sports especially Supreme Battle Challenge (SBC) Fighters, which I didn't a clue about what that sport is about and I still don't know much about them. When I read the first book in this series I at least started to get what SBC Fighters do and in this fourth and upcoming book in the series things take are very 180 turn from what the first 3 books were like. This is an Advance Readers Copy of Lori Foster's upcoming February 2009 release which I have had the honor of reading and reviewing for her. We met Michael "Mallet" Manchester in the second novel Simon Says and he was also a bit in the third novel Hard to Handle, so we know a bit about Michael but in this novel we get to know him a whole lot better.

In this novel there is a very big twist that will surprise you and take you to a whole different place than the first three novels. It was such a pleasure reading this novel because it was so different and took me to a whole new place that really gave me a thrill with each passing chapter in the novel. Michael is such a strong wonderful charater that like the other previous heros in the SBC Fighters series is a man who respects women of all types and is a fighter to the core without being a egocentric jerk about being a strong and good fighter. He right leg is so severly damaged from a car accident that the doctors tell him he'll need extensive physcial therapy just to walk and so fighting professionally again is out of the question and his career, which has been his life, is over. Then this mysterious woman Kayli Raine appears in his hospital room out of thin air and she's a tougher woman than Michael is use to, but he's immediately captivated by her. What he doesn't expect is for her to offer him a second chance at becoming whole and even though Michael things it's the drugs talking, he accepts her challenge that brings in to the different place that I have mentioned.

I don't want to spoil this new and wonderful place that Lori Foster has created because it is something I can't really decribe fully without ruining the whole novel for you. I will say that it a place that gives Michael the chance to become a whole man again and also gives him the love that his SBC fighting friends have and which he didn't think he was looking for until he met Kayli. Kayli is a strong fighter herself and that is something that is new for Michael but it's what he has been waiting for his entire life. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read an ARC of this amazing novel, My Man, Michael, and I will be buying the book when it comes out in February 2009 because that is one hot cover that will motivate me to read the novel over and over again in the future. The only thing that got me a bit frustrated is that when I finally got to the last page it got wondering whether we've seen the last of this amazing place that Michael has found or if Lori Foster will take us on another trip sometime soon with her future SBC Fighters series. Now that is something to think and consider about while we waiting for the future novels in the series to be announced.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Saturday, December 27 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“This is my first book by the author Lauren Dane and it is one amazing first book for me to read especially since it is a really large ARC of her first Berkley Heat December release. I was lucky enough to have one this ARC of Undercover and I knew it was going to be very different from any other books I've read because it is Futuristic, Erotic Romance, Menage and BDSM all rapped up in one very excitingly awesome novel. I've read futuristic books since I'm a fan of J.D. Robb's In Death series but I haven't read many erotic romances before especially with Menage and BDSM so this is going out of my relam of reading experience. I was warned by the author just in case because she didn't want me to feel uncomfortable reading and reviewing this novel and I told her not to worry because I love reading new things every chance I can get since I want to become a romance writer one day. First off I have to say I'm super glad that I won the contest because I was only one of a very long, long, long list of readers and authors who wanted to get their own ARC of Undercover. Now onto the very honest review of this book that I promised to deliever to the author Lauren Dane.

Sexy, pulse-pounding, arousingly erotic and another world with restrictive laws and a dangerous truce between the Federation and Imperialist. A world with a social cast like any other but one that can ruin the lives of those who love above or below their station in live. This is a fast past novel that I enjoyed from the start to the end because it had one strong woman and two very sexy and different men working together to save their way of life. The heroine, Sera Ayers isn't your typical woman since she lives in a very harsh society that looks down on her kind for being unranked and a woman. Sera's life isn't one filled with joy and blissful happiness not since her heart was broken by a ranked Family man who had held her heart in his hands but crushed it when he had to marry politically to save his family. To make it worse he even dared to ask her to be his mistress and so she left him as cruelly as he broke her tender heart.

Now 10 years later Ash Walker the man she had loved is back in her life along with Brandt Pela who are there to recruit her into their 3 man team to bring down Federation traitors. I had fun reading about Ash Walker and Sera Ayers past relationship because it gave them the personalities that they have in the present of the novel but also to understand what they were to one another was great to read. I had a bit of trouble with some of the new words that are used in this futuristic world but it didn't stop me from enjoying all the adventures that Ash, Sera and Brandt go through in the novel. There were a lot of very erotic sexual encounters between the three of them that I enjoyed to read especially since they feel such emotions that make their threesome relationship work so well for them all. It was nice to see that the men weren't jealous of one another because of their love for Sera and I liked that they all have an unexpected but much enjoyed Happily Ever After. I recommend this book to all Laren Dane readers and to anyone who likes trying out different types of romances and isn't afraid of what people will think about your reading material because this is one novel you can't miss out on. I have this book on my wishlist even though I have my Advance Readers Copy because I love the cover and the copy I have is a bit too large for me to carry around.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Saturday, November 29 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I love Lori Foster's novels and I've heard so much about her novels about the Winston men but never had the chance to read their books. So when Lori came to me about reviewing her December Berkley Anthology release of Double the Pleasure which features an all new Winston novella I knew I had to get the books that started it all. Wildly Winston is a four-in-one novel with the first 4 books about the original 4 Winston brothers which I have to say I'm amazingly pleased that I finally got to find out all about the Winston brothers and next onto the wild Winston cousins. Tangled Sheets—Cole Winston and Sophie Sheridan's love story and the first book in the Winston family series. The Winston brothers are an interesting bunch of very virile and sexy men who I enjoyed getting to know. The oldest Winston brother falls head-over-heels in love in this first short story entitled Tangled Sheets. Cole Winston is oldest brother of four and he is the parental figure in the family since their parents both died when the boys we young and Cole was in college.

They own a bar, previously called The Stud by some macho former owner, but changed to merely the Winston Tavern after Cole bought it to keep his family financially steady. Cole has known boutique owner Sophie Sheridan for 7 months because she has made it a routine to stop in at the Winston's bar for a cup of hoht chocolate with whipped cream. Cole is very attracted to Sophie since he first laid eyes on her and so the same went for Sophie but she was too shy and tongue twisted around Cole to do anything. During those months Cole and Sophie have become friends since he always made it so that he would deliever her regular order of hot chocolate whenever she stopped by. But things change for Sophie when she comes into the bar with a flyer advertising the Winston brother contest where every woman who takes a picture of themselves and pins it up to the wall at th bar.

The Winston brothers will then pick one of the pictures and that lucky lady then gets a picture with all four Winston brothers and a special dinner date with the brother of her choice. When Cole sees her with the flyer he wants her to enter but Sophie is too tongue tied and tells him that she would never have the nerve to enter the contest but that her twin sister would love to enter instead. Cole was intrigued by this news especially when Sophie says that she's coming to visit her for a few days. This is when things get very interesting because Sophie has a secret she's keeping from Cole about her "twin" sister. I was already falling for the Winston brothers by the end of this too short story in my opinion. I wish it could have been a bit longer but I'm happy with this story because there was a beautiful Happily Ever After and another wonderful Winston story to follow.

Tangled Dreams—Chase Winston and Allison Barrow's love story and the second book in the Winston family series. The Winston brothers are an interesting bunch of very virile and sexy men who I enjoyed getting to know. The second oldest Winston brother falls head-over-heels in love with his new sister-in-laws friend and employee Allison Barrow in this second short story entitled Tangled Dreams. Chase hasn't really noticed Allison as a woman even though he has known her ever since she's been working for Sophie. But Allison sure has noticed Chase Winston because what red-blooded woman wouldn't notice him then one day all things changed for Chase and Allison. Chase could hear and even see some of the very graphic thoughts Allison had going on in her head when he looked at her but when he asked his youngest brother Mack to look at her and see if he could hear what she was saying but he couldn't and looked at Chase like he was crazy. Chase and Allison have a paranormal beginning that could get them in some serious and dangerous trouble if they aren't careful. It was a pleasure reading how their HEA came about in the end because it was something to remember.

Tangled Images—Mack Winston and Jessica Wells' love story and the third book in the Winston family series. The Winston brothers are an interesting bunch of very virile and sexy men who I enjoyed getting to know. The youngest Winston brother falls head-over-heels in love with Jessica Wells an older woman who use to be in one of his college classes and is now the photographer working for his sister-in-law Sophie in this third short story entitled Tangled Images. Jessica Wells is an older divorced woman who went back to college in hopes of making a better living for her young daughter. Mack Winston was in the same class and was instantly attracted to Jessica even though she wouldn't give him the time of day but what he didn't know is that she secretly wanted him but thought he was an all fun guy like her ex-husband.

But after two years they both can't forget one another until Sophie Winston tricks Mack into modelling some her new male loungewear for a catalogue she wants done for her boutique. When he goes to the photographers place of business he finds out that it is Jessica Wells the woman he has been thinking about for two years and couldn't get out of his mind. They both have some issues to get over especially since Jessica is a few years older than him and he has a teaching career that could be taken away from him if something doesn't happen soon. I enjoyed this too short story very much because I got to read how the two older Winston brothers were doing in their marriage along with how the youngest got his HEA.

Wild—Zane Winston and Tamera Tremayne's love story and the fourth book in the Winston family series. The Winston brothers are an interesting bunch of very virile and sexy men who I enjoyed getting to know. The middle Winston brother falls head-over-heels in love with Tamera Tremayne a gypsy woman who works next door to his own computer business in this fourth book entitled Wild. This book had all the Winston brothers back and some new and interesting characters which was such a joy reading about. Zane Winston is the wildest of all four brothers and the one who is the most resistant to the "Winston Curse" which happens to be that when the Winston men find the love of their lives they fall hard and fast. Zane has been resisting from falling in love like his brothers but that all changes when the gypsy woman from next door comes to his story and whispers "I want you" to him.

That is when things start to get interesting because Zane has turned down any advances from Tamera and even now when she whisphered those husky words to him he turns her down. Then he can't stop thinking about her without thinking graphic and intimate thoughts about what he wants to do with her and to her. Tamera has always been attracted to Zane since she first met him from a distance. She has even visited his brother's bar from time to time and saw him and his family interact with one another and know he was the man she needed for what she had in mind. There is a lot of heated moments between them but some are interrupted by Tamera's gypsy family members that consist of a large bear of an uncle and two small and weathered aunts who want Tamera to be a gypse even though she is the white sheep of the family with her blond hair and green eyes.

Tamera is also having some troubles with her business and that could be something that will but a stop to her budding relationship with Zane which is getting serious even though it was only supposed to be about sex. There are some excitingly dangerous moments and we get to meet another Winston who is a sexy and dangerous cousin that will have his own story to be told soon. Now to finish this very long review I'm so happy to have gotten this book full of wonderful Winston stories and I can't wait to read more about these ridiculously sexy Winston cousins I've also heard much about.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Friday, November 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I love Lori Foster's novels and I've heard so much about her novels about the Winston men but never had the chance to read their books. So when Lori came to me about reviewing her December Berkley Anthology release of Double the Pleasure which features an all new Winston novella I knew I had to get the books that started it all. Wildly Winston is a four-in-one novel with the first 4 books about the original 4 Winston brothers and also the book Say No to Joe? which comes after Wild. After reading all four Winston brother's love stories and reading their cousin Joe Winston's love story I have to say I was excited about reading this book. I've never had the pleasure of reading any of Jacquie D'Alessandro, Penny McCall and Deirdre Martin's novels but after reading their novellas in this novel I'm going to be check out some websites and bookstores and seeing what new novels I will be trying out next year.

Deuces Wild by Lori Foster is the first novella of the book and is another wonderful Winston story to capture your heart from the beginning of this awesome novella. This novella is about twin Winston brothers Dexter and Hart Winston who have used their identical appearance to fool their family and even women to thinking they were one or the other twin. Dexter Winston, the hero, is helping out his twin brother Hart who is an artist but wants to become a professional SBC fighter but doesn't want the family to know about it yet until he was official signed on and would make it. So Dex has agreed to pose as Hart and live in his apartment while he's training and battling to make it as an official SBC fighter. That is when Dex meets his soul mate Christy Nash who can tell that this new Hart was very different from the Hart she knew a couple of days ago. Their courtship is short and sweet but very wonderful to read especially since by the end of the novel I got the feeling that Hart Winston would have his story told in another novella because there was some unfinished business going on.

The Luck of the Irish by Deirdre Martin is the second novella in this anthology and is an introduction to this new author for me and it is also the novella that kicks off her new series, The Wild Hart Saga. I don't know if you know this but I love the Irish ever since I read Nora Roberts novel Three Fates and when I read this title I knew this was going to be a good novella no matter what and I was right! The heroine Maggie O'Brien has been through a horrible marriage and then divorce that has her jaded against me especially charming and attractive men like her cheating ex-husband. Then Maggie has taken an instant attraction to the Irishman Brendan Kelly who is working with his uncle to give her family's pub, the Wild Hart a face-lift. Brendan came to New York to work for his uncle Joe when the economy in Ireland was at an all time low and he needed a way to make a living. Brendan is also working towards getting his citizenship in order to stay in New York and take over his uncle Joe's business when he finally retires. I really loved this novella and I'm looking forward to find out more about Deidre Martin's Wild Hart Saga because as long as it's filled with the interesting Irish characters I read in this novella I know it will be a good read.

Your Room or Mine? by Jacquie D'Alessandro is third novella in this lovely anthology and is also another introduction to a new author for me. At first I didn't know what to think of this story because it was kind of slow going for me but that all changed when I got into the plot of the story that came just in time. I loved the hero, Jack Walker, and the heroine, Madeline Price, because they both seemed like such fascinating characters that have personal issues that could be a problem for the relationship. Jack and Madeline clash very badly in their work place because Madeline is the consultant who is helping Jack the Chief Financial Officer of the Java Haven company. But everything changes when they are all made to go on a fun-filled weekend of team building at Casa di Lago and that is where things get interesting because Jack and Madeline are the first to get there before everyone else. I enjoyed this novella after things got interesting in the second and third chapter and I'm glad I didn't skip the novella.

Double the Danger by Penny McCall is the fourth and last novella in this anthology and it is yet another introduction to a new author for me. I enjoyed this novella okay but it wasn't as good as the other novellas and don't get me wrong I did enjoy the characters very much but it didn't captivate me as much as the first novellas. The heroine, Dr. Abigail West, was an interesting character and so was the hero Drake is an FBI agent who she had a previously serious relationship with in college for two years before he left her without a good-bye. He some how ends up dead on her autopsy table or that is what she thinks when she opens up the body bag he came in. Then she notices that he is still alive and he grabs her by the throat and that is when things get dangerous. I had fun reading all the exciting trouble they both get into and it was nice to see that even after years apart they felt something strong for one another. Over all I'm so glad that Lori Foster contacted me about reviewing this AMAZING anthology full of wonderful authors and you all should go out and buy it because I can tell you that you won't regret it. If nothing else buy it for that lovely and sexy cover that I love looking at whenever I was reading the novel.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Friday, November 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Alison Kent had 19 ARC of her Kensington December release Maximum Exposure that she was giving out to readers who would review them before December so other readers could read the reviews before the book comes out. I was one of those lucky readers who received a copy to read and review before it was released. I was very intrigued with the blurb of the book when I first heard about the ARC giveaway so I was really excited about reading the book. When I started reading the novel it wasn't exactly what I was expecting because the heroine, Olivia Hammond, isn't the kind of character that I was expecting and she is someone I really had trouble understand as I continued to read the novel. I loved the hero, Finn MacLaine, though very much and he seemed like a very understandable charcter that was sexy and very into the heroine Olivia.


For some reason I had some trouble really getting into this novel from the beginning and I guess some of it has to do with me not really relating the heroine Olivia that much and also I was trying to catch up with all the things going on in the novel. It felt like it was two novels in one where it was about the hero, Finn, and the heroine, Olivia but also with the two important secondary characters Roman/Roland and Jodi. I had to set down this book more than once in order to get my thought in order about what was going on in the novel. I did think of putting it aside and reading something else but I knew that this book was a very good read because I liked the complex characters and all the sexual tension between Olivia and Finn and also between Romand and Jodi.


But all this changed after it got to a very interesting part in the middle of the book which I won't mention because it would totally be a spoiler for anyone who hasn't read it. I will say that it was the part that had me totally captive and now I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to see how the entire story ends. Overall I can honestly say I was glad that I had the opportunity of reading and reviewing Alison Kent's ARC of Maximum Exposure because even though I had a hard time with the beginning by the middle of the novel I couldn't wait to find out the characters Happily Ever After.”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Monday, November 24 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I've never had the pleasure of reading any of Lori Handeland's novels until I entered to win an advance readers copy of her new series the Phoenix Chronicles. I also signed up to read her short story In the Beginning which is a story of the heroine, Elizabeth Phoenix's, life before the first book Any Given Doomsday. I have read this first book in the series and will be reviewing it too but I wanted to say that you should really signed up and get the short story before you read the book Any Given Doomsday because it would help you understand Elizabeth Phoenix so much better. I read it before I read the first book and I have to say that it was very good and helped me get to know Elizabeth Phoenix more as a character and it gave me insight into her personality before getting into the really book about her life.

Now on to my review of Any Given Doomsday which like I said is my first novel by Lori Handeland but it definitely won't be my last because she has got me hooked! Elizabeth Phoenix is one complexed character that had my complete attention since the beginning in the short story and in the first book. I felt like I understood her more as I began the novel and I knew more about her past as the novel got more interesting and very informative. I also love to read paranormal romances because they are full of all these historical myths and legends that have always made me wonder if they were actually real. It is so interesting how each paranormal romance author that I've read has such a different view on all these mythical and legendary creatures that may or may not be real. There is so much mystery and suspense in this novel as Liz gets more involved into the supernatural world that has been apart of her entire life but something she has never really wanted to believe in.

The death of her beloved foster mother was the thing that has sent her on the new path to what she was meant to be her entire life. Her first love Jimmy is part of this new life but she isn't all that happy with him because he broke and tore her heart from her chest long ago. He is also suspect in the murder of Ruthie her foster mother but she doesn't believe that Jimmy would kill Ruthie because he loved her just as much as she did. Jimmy opens Liz's eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. This has totally blown her mind and she has a hard time accepting it but then things start to happen that show that this is real and it is happening. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them and now with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy.

This attraction could be very deadly to Liz because Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril. Now doesn't that capture your attention and make you want this novel so much more than you thought possible? Well if not it should because you would be missing out on a wonderful series that gets only better with each novel in the series. The second book in the series called Doomsday Can Wait comes out in May 2009 which is not that long of a wait and the third book in the series Apocalypse Happens comes out in the Fall of 2009. ”

Phoebe Jordan wrote this review Tuesday, November 11 2008. ( reply | permalink )