Review: Bounty by Krystal Brookes

I really liked this story. It combined two of my favorite things: survival and a tortured heart. Rob had to endure a lot of heartache and pain, but he never would have met Gemma if things hadn't happened the way they had for him. For such a short story, there sure was a lot packed in there.

The world-building, descriptions, characters, interactions, dialogue, and situations were all very well done. It all flowed so smoothly and I couldn't stop reading once I had started. There was an underlying humor that I was amused to see how they pulled off, especially one situation that Rob orchestrated in order to make the other prisoners believe something. It was a dark humor, but I love that! While Gemma didn't think it was too funny and the situation itself really isn't all that funny, I thought only someone with a dark sense of humor could pull it off. I certainly don't want to give anything away, though.

Have I mentioned the romance yet? There is an abundance of romance. I'm amazed at how the author fit everything into such a short story so well. It has danger, suspense, romance, and a very happy ending.

http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Bounty-by-Krystal-Brookes-Dangerous-Men-Dangerous-Places.html

Review: Centauri Dawn by Cynthia Woolf

I am a little embarrassed to say that I put this book down for a couple of months after reading the third (fourth?) sentence, the one with the caramel and ice cream analogy. I didn't think I could take the book seriously after that. Then I figured that maybe I wasn't supposed to be taking it seriously, so I picked it up again. I still don't like that sentence, on more than one level, but I'm so glad I read more! It gets pretty exciting immediately after that.

I love the characters in this book. Other than the obvious ones, I was really into the secondary characters. Slavarien was a true and perfect villain that I loved to hate. He made my skin crawl and I love that the author was able to make me react to him in that way. I simply loved the little detail that he was the most handsome older man that Audra had ever seen. That just really cemented him in my mind, somehow making his injustices all the more diabolical.

I adore Maggie and Ray. Margareta has some amazing strength for everything that she had to endure and my imagination was running wild with how it all was effecting Ray. I don't want to give anything away by mentioning too many of the characters, as there are some enjoyable twists in the story that I don't want to ruin for any future readers, but I am looking forward to reading more about them in the next book.

The dialogue was a little stale in some places and a bit contradictory in chapters 4 and 5. However, I very much enjoyed the action and pace of the story. I really liked the plot and I just loved the dream sequences and what they all meant in the storyline.

There were a couple of neat concepts, in terms of the science fiction element of the book. I liked how Audra related things to what she'd seen on TV. I'd probably do that too, if I were in a situation like that. The comulator was a very cool concept and I loved the little detail thrown in about how one person has an older version of it, thus showing the technology is improved over time, much like iPhones and devices like that.

There was a lot of fun, well-placed humor. I laughed out loud several times throughout the story. "Hiding in clear water is not a wise plan." LOL! That threw me into giggle fits!

The ending seemed a little rushed with abrupt scene changes, but I'm betting that everything else that needs to be said and done will be in the next two books. Thinking about it, though, it could be seen as things happening very fast for the characters themselves. They were running out of time for something that had to be done and there was a lot going on at once, so things were happening very fast and abruptly for them too. I bet they'll be happy to find time to rest after all that, or worry themselves to death once they can process that huge revelation, lol.

All in all, I enjoyed reading "Centauri Dawn" and am looking forward to reading "Centauri Twilight." (Actually, I couldn't wait...I've already started.)

http://www.amazon.com/Centauri-sci-fi-romance-Series-ebook/dp/B005DUB1X2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1342288084&sr=1-1