Author Archives: karenjvjohnson

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Lie To Me

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Lie to Me (Redemption, #1)

Lie to Me (Redemption #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I received this as an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

If I could give this more than 5 stars I would gladly do so! Sometimes romances can feel a bit stale or been there done that, it is so not the case here. From the first sentence I was ready for an interesting and engrossing story, which is just what I got. I think for me it was even better because we got to know them as teenagers as well as adults and saw the evolution of their feelings for each other. The bond was so much more than about teen lust, this was forged in tragedy and heartache. An added bonus is that you actually get to hear from both sides in their own voice with chapters devoted to their perspective on the situation as it develops.

  The Main Characters

Harlow Chase has been in a bad place since the love of her life left her 5 years ago without any explanations and a few texts which stopped abruptly. Though life has been hard she has been dedicated to giving her young brother the best life she can. Harlow is a study in contradictions, she is a fighter who never gives up yet she has all these quirks which make her appear weak. But she truly is a loyal and caring person who will stand by those she loves no matter the consequences.

Marcus Roma never had a happy home life, he attempted to gain acceptance through boxing, a sport that his father always loved. When he saw this young, lanky girl hanging around he spoke to her and an instant attraction was born. He came to love her and would do anything to make her smile or feel safe but there were things happening that he didn’t understand. When he left her to go across the country and work it was with the thought that he would be back for her soon. But now 5 years later he is back, and he knows that if he wants to be in her life again he is going to have to earn the right. A teen who made bad choices has grown into a man who wants to make them right.

Alex Wolfe is Marcus’s godfather and at first glance seems to be a very nice and generous man. But he has a dark side that shows itself as he manipulates Marcus and threatens those he loves. He got Marcus to leave the girl he loved and now wants to assure that it cannot be resurrected. He has targeted Harlow and wants Marcus to be the one to strike the final blow.

  Short Summary

Five years ago Harlow was fairly happy with her life, she had her love and the prospect of gaining custody of her younger brother after her parents died. But then her love, Marcus, left without an explanation and she never saw him again until one rainy day as she was trying to catch a bus in New York. With his return she has to not only fight to save her home but fight the love she still feels for the man who abandoned her and left her broken. Can she ever believe or trust him when she asks him to “Lie to Me”?

I knew I was hooked the moment I started talking to the characters, not as crazy as it sounds, and telling them what I thought they should do. This book had me laughing at certain situations, then I was crying with them or for them, but I smiled a great deal also. Marcus and Harlow are a couple I would like to see more of in the future. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a happy ending.
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NightDrake

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NightDrake

NightDrake

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a great short story! You were able to get the story fast and know exactly what was going on without having that feeling of something missing. Before the end of the first chapter I knew what was going on in this world and then just had to sit back and let things flow over me. Though things moved quickly I did not feel like I was being rushed to a conclusion, but that I was being led to the start of something.

The world changed in 2066 when the Earth’s axis was reversed and calamity reigned as deserts became a part of the ocean and wide swaths of the coast disappeared under those waters. Three hundred years later and mankind lives a harsh life, but there were others that had only been thought myth who surfaced with the change. The Strange are shifters, hobgoblins, telepaths, and all manner of creature.

Nisha the Heartless is a mercenary who will deliver anything, no questions asked, for the right price. She hates the Strange and just wants to make her money and move on to the next job. Drakor is the cargo she will be moving, though she is unaware.

I was ready to dislike Nisha even though she was obviously the focus, but she is much better than I thought.

I really liked this story and wish there could be more about these characters. Maybe if I wish really hard it will happen one day. 🙂

 

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My Wish

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My Wish (Time Guardians, #1)

My Wish

(Time Guardians #1)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The reason I gave this 3.5 stars is because it did not really give a great story
from start to finish. It started out slow and I was not sure what was
going to happen but once she arrives home things pick up. The plot is
simple and based on the cover obviously has something to do with genies.
Though the characters do not really have much personality in the
beginning as things progress they begin to seem more real as they share.
The language sometimes seems stilted but that may have been intentional
since the men are supposed to be from another time. While I did think
the characters did not have a lot of personality I must say that I came
to like them.

Alana does not have a personal life and spends most
of her time looking for antiques for her business. One Saturday she
purchases a vessel which appears to be very old and odd at an estate
sale. The strange vessel turns out to be the home of Sami & Hari,
two gorgeous, hunky Djinn who travel through time and space to bring
sexual enlightenment to those in need. Alana is their next assignment
and they will not be leaving until she has learned everything they can
teach her. While she tells herself constantly that she must be
hallucinating it does not stop her from enjoying the lessons these guys
have planned for her.

While the first half of the book may be
nothing more than a wild romp, it is an entertaining romp that may make
you laugh, sigh, or just wonder how did they do that. The last half
gives you heart along with the heat, when you get to see that these are
more than just sex teachers, they are men who have a sense of a higher
purpose and longings for tradition. I really liked Sami and Hari in the
end, they were really good guys for genies. Be prepared for some wild
sexcapades though, they are packing serious heat!

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Kiss Across Time

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Kiss Across Time (Kiss Across Time #1)

Kiss Across Time (Kiss Across Time #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love vampires and I love time travel and to have them combined is fantastic. I actually was pulled into this story after the first page and would have read it straight through if I had not had to work and sleep. There is nothing ambiguous about the story or the characters, it flows naturally from plot point to plot point and fully engages. The characters are true to life and you can imagine either knowing them or having seen their type around at some. The conversations are believable as far as language and tone which makes it easy to follow.

Everything begins because of Taylor Yates, a history professor who has been researching her thesis on a man who does not seem to have ever existed. When she is fired from her position because of this research she is less than happy but is astonished to hear the lyrics of a poem written in 5th century England blaring from the apartment of her neighbor. Upon finding out that it is being performed by a death metal band she insists on meeting them by any means necessary. At the concert for Nocturnal Rain she does make it backstage and meets with Brody Gallagher, lead singer, and his partner Veris, two very handsome and virile Vampires. What starts out as an academic search soon turns into much more for all three of them as a kiss transports them back in time.

There is a story of history in the dark ages, a quest to bring a lost poet’s contributions back into the light of history, there is guilt, pain, love, and lust. All the elements which make a story worth reading. There are also some very hot sex scenes! If mm play does not appeal to you I would say avoid this, also if  a threesome are objectionable I would give the same warning.

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The First Alpha

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The First Alpha

The First Alpha

I gave this 3 stars but I feel more like 2.5 stars. I can’t really decide where I should go with this. I liked the premise of the story and it did move along at a nice pace, but still it was lacking in some ways. I would have liked if the characters were fleshed out more, particularly the character of Lucius. We are told he is a cruel and sadistic guy but we don’t really get to see enough of him to get to explore that. Then there is Megan who is there one minute and gone the next but seems to have an important role in what is going on, no development of who she is or why she did what she did.

The idea behind the story is good and I did enjoy it. Adam has wandered for 3000 years looking for his mate and has not found her in all those years. Cassie is 23 years old and has been given to the cruel 500-year-old Alpha Lucius by her mother to cement a treaty which would save their tribe from disappearing. When Adam and Cassie meet they know they are fated for each other, but the question is can they get away from what has been planned for Cassie since she was a child?

Cassie seems like a weak, whiny wolf with no common sense but then morphs into this strong woman all of a sudden and there should have been more. Adam is way older than Lucius but does not really seem as dominant as you would expect from a wolf of his age, though he is said to feel like an Alpha. This has introduced them and I would like to see more to see if the characters can be brought more to the front and made more interesting.

A quick read with a nice story that may pique your interest.

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Witch’s Bell

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Witch's Bell Book One (Witch's Bell, #1)

Witch’s Bell Book One (Witch’s Bell #1)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Though I eventually ended up liking this book it was a close thing. From the beginning I was not sure what was going on or what the story was about, other than a witch who was really cocky, and worked for the police. Most books I will read between 1-2 days but it took me 6 days to get through this one, partly because I started reading another book that grabbed my attention. I kept going because I wanted to see where things were headed and whether there would be a payoff in the end. It did finally pick up nicely by the time I got 65% through. The only character I felt even remotely stood out was the main one, the others were not fleshed out enough to really form a good opinion of them one way or the other.

Ebony Bell is a summoner witch residing in the city of Vale which sits on a Portal or gate between worlds. She is the official witch consultant to the Vale police and helps them when magical crimes occur, and that is quite often because of the door. After revealing to a mortal that she is a witch Ebony has her magic taken away for a month and must live as a human. Though this is the worst thing that has ever happened to her she soon finds that things can be much worse than she had ever thought possible.

I do not require non-stop action in a book, or for the heroine to be in love by the third chapter, it would have just been nice if all the peripheral characters had been more interesting or just more involved. A little more background information on Senior Detective Ben, who had known Ebony since she was a child would have helped. Or more information on Detective Nathan Wall, who arrives with secrets and they are not revealed until the final chapters. There were so many characters who I felt could have been fleshed out and not focused so much on Ebony being whiny.

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Old Tin Sorrows

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Old Tin Sorrows (Garrett P.I., #4)

Old Tin Sorrows (Garrett Files #4)

 

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I love Garrett because I always have the most fun reading his exploits, he is such a romantic, aggravating, womanizing character.

Here he goes to help a fellow Marine who has a dying boss and former commanding officer. Garrett thinks it will be a simple matter to figure out who the culprit is, but of course he should know that when he gets called in things get weird fast. His world is populated with all manner of fantastic character like Morley Dotes, a black elf who owns a health food restaurant and does assassination work on the side, when he’s not sleeping with married women. The women are all shapely and rarely human but he goes for them no matter what they are, as long as they are beautiful.

This is just a fun read with elements of mystery, the supernatural, and mythical creatures. Enjoy it if you like a good noir type mystery with a fantasy twist. Think Raymond Chandler.

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CONTEST!!! How to enter!

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This is a chance to read something you may not have before. Great books!

Sadie Hart's avatarSadie Hart

contest

The Prizes:

ONE winner will receive a free copy of Christmas Moon (STE novella), Frozen Mercy (Northern Wolves #2), and the first book in my new series coming next year.

How to Enter:

All you have to do to enter is leave an honest review on one of my books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads, then email me with a link to that review along with your preferred format for eBooks. What books are included in the contest for reviewing? Hounded, Cry Sanctuary, Big Cats Don’t Purr, the Shifter Town Enforcement Box Set, and Cold Mercy. Every review emailed to me gets an entry into a raffle which will be drawn on October 25th.

So Sadie you ask, what if I review them ALL? You get an entry for every book you review AND for each of the three places you post your review as long as you…

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Before The Moon Rises

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Before The Moon Rises (Ritter Werewolves, #1)

Before The Moon Rises (Ritter Werewolves #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would and it has piqued my interest in other books by this author. I can say that I would have liked it to have been a little longer because I was really into it just as started getting to the end. This was a fast paced story that managed to introduce the characters in a way that made them real and give you the entire run-down on what was going on in their world. While the romance was almost instantaneous, it gave meaning to the males need to protect. Not to mention the fact that shifters always seem to fall in love/lust immediately.

Max Ritter is found in the middle of Los Angeles naked and unconscious, he is taken to the hospital and meets Janet O’Brien, the nurse taking care of him. Also at the hospital is Gorman, the werewolf he has been following. When he sees that Gorman has set his sights on Janet what else can he do but try to protect her. Though they have an instant attraction Janet has no idea what Max is and he does not enlighten her even though he knows the danger that stalks her. The Ritter’s are a family of werewolves who are sworn to protect people from being killed or turned but can they do it when it’s most important to them and Max.

This was a really good story about the good and evil that can be found within the werewolf community with a villain who was evil and had plans for everything and everyone. Our good guy was rich, handsome, and almost to good to be true. Then there is the nurse, Janet, who has found herself between two adversaries without knowing the real cost to her.

Fast, sexy, brutal, and engrossing!

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Luca’s Magic Embrace

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Luca's Magic Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans, #2)

Luca’s Magic Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans #2)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent read that moved and flowed so well that I read it one sitting. The story was engaging and kept me wanting to no more from the first page. The characters are well fleshed out and speak and act in a manner that is natural for them and makes it easy to relate to their various situations.In this second book in the Immortals of New Orleans series Luca has been captured after an attack as he was delivering Samantha and Ilsbeth to the coven house. When he is rescued by Kade and Sydney he is unresponsive, though once healed he is sure that the attack was intended to capture Samantha. She was traumatized by being kidnapped,brutalized,and turned into a witch. She has fled the coven house in the hopes of regaining her former life unaware of the danger she is still in, but Luca is going to retrieve her and bring her back to New Orleans for her own safety. Or so he tells himself. Samantha is being stalked by an unknown person who wants something she has no idea about but must find in order to go back to a normal life, if they will let her.

This story has suspense, love, sex, and a very deranged villain. Vampires are the least of their worries. The love scenes are hot and well-played out within the context of the story and make it worth a second read. 🙂

 

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