Category Archives: 3 Flames

Handbook For Hot Witches
Author: Dame Darcy
Source: Publisher
Genre Young Adult NonFiction
ISBN: 9780805093797

Combine a graphic novel with a dash of crafts, a sprinkle of feminist fairy tales, and a whole cauldron of spells—voilà!—Handbook for Hot Witches. Ever wondered what your dreams mean? You can look them up here. Want to learn to knit? This book can get you started. With sections on witch holidays, love, crystal ball gazing, meditating, and much more, this fully illustrated guide is the handbook that will send girls on their way to independence, creativity, and magic.

I don’t consider myself a witch, but I do love to read about anything within this realm of reading.  I love thinking that there could be special gifts that some people have and what could be done with them if it were possible.  When I was offered this book for review, I jumped on the chance to read it and offer my thoughts on it.

While I found the illustrations to be rich in fantasy — even without coloring — they were about the only thing I really enjoyed.  There are many things in the book that readers of the paranormal would already know and understand.  It does provide a sort of quiz in the beginning to help you get a feel of what type of witch you could possibly be.  According to the quiz, I would be considered a Mystic Witch.  I am not sure if it is spot on, but I read it with an open mind.

The section of the book that interested me the most was the palm reading section.  It goes in depth with the correct way to read palms and try to understand what the lines could mean.  It just worried me a little though because my life line isn’t as long as it should be. Uh-oh!

If you just want a fun book to read and you don’t believe too much of what you read in it, then this could be a fun book to have for teenage girls when they have slumber parties.  It does include some games that could be done at the parties and some stories to read out loud.

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

The Chase
Fast Track Series #4
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: Personal Purchase
ISBN: 9780425240144

SUMMARY
From Goodreads

What can I say about this series that I haven’t already said?  I am loving the characters and was waiting anxiously to read about ladies man Evan Monroe.  He is funny, sexy, and charming as hell and I wanted to see who the author was going to pair him up with.  I hoped the author was going to pair him up with someone just as strong and funny as he was.  Evan needed someone equal to him to keep him in line and I didn’t want to be disappointed.

Kendall and Evan dated years ago and were in love with each other.  When a misunderstanding caused them to break up long ago, they each went on to their separate lives in the hopes of finding love again.  Neither one of them could get over the other though and they are quickly thrown into partnering up for sponsorship.  Kendall is wanting to prove to everyone that she can be a race car driver just like any man and she has had to deal with the torment and teasing from others because of it.  Evan thinks it is great that she is living her dream of racing and the two finally clear the air about their break up years ago.

While I enjoyed the romance between the two, I didn’t enjoy how the author took the path she did with Evan’s racing.  While the path did help for the ending of the book, I was just disappointed with the outcome. I wanted a turn around for him in racing, but it never came.  I also didn’t like how the author threw in the proverbial wrench in the relationship with Sara.  I think the author could have skipped that part and still made a different decision in creating a climatic finish.  It is left unresolved and I am hoping it is explained in the future books for the readers.

Again, not one of my favorites in the series, but one that kept me interested enough to keep on reading the series.

Tuesday didn’t sound offended, but Kendall still felt guilty that she had implied she couldn’t trust Tuesday.  “I know.  You are a good friend, and I’m damn grateful to have you around to keep me sane.  But I don’t want to be the biggest news to hit stock car racing just because I have a uterus.”
“I don’t think it’s your uterus most men are concerned with.  It’s your vagina.  Va-jay-jay. Your man hole.”
–Kendall and Tuesday, page 5

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

HOT FINISH
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: Personal Purchase
ISBN: 9780425235942

SUMMARY
From Goodreads

Not all marriages last forever!


Suzanne Jefferson is broke, which is why she’s given up charity work for wedding planning. Fortunately, she has a high-profile client,and best of all, he’s paid in advance. There are just two teensy problems: The bride is a bona fide bridezilla, and Suzanne’s ex-husband is the best man. At least she thought he was her ex-husband!


But this one might…


Two years after their marriage fell apart, stock car race driver Ryder Jefferson still can’t stop thinking about Suzanne. Which is why he isn’t too upset that, due to a glitch, the two are still technically married. Now he’s imagining easing Suzanne’s woes by satisfying her needs in the bedroom. After all, that’s the one room they never argued in. Besides, with wedding bells ringing all around them, Ryder is wondering if,even though they’d quit the race a few laps too early,they can still come on strong with a big, romantic finish!

After reading about Ryder and Suzanne in the last two books, I was looking forward to reading their story.  Suzanne has been entertaining with her snark and wit so I was looking forward to the brave front she was going to portray in her happily-ever-after.  Ryder has always been the nice guy but he does have a sexy streak in playing the field at times.  Put these two together and I was looking for some fun and smexy action! Unfortunately, their book was not as entertaining and as romantic as the first two books.  Don’t get me wrong!  There was sexy time and there was humor, but their romance just didn’t click for me as the previous books have.

I think my main problem with this book is the character of Suzanne.  Yes I love her smart mouth and the funny lines she comes up with, but I was clearly on Ryder’s side of the fence in the romance.  This woman does not know how to talk and work things out.  She would rather run than talk about anything. She walked out on her marriage of two years instead of just talking to Ryder.  They clearly still love each other and I give kudos to Ryder for attempting to try and work things out.  He may not have been romantic in some of his actions, but you could tell he was serious and trying the best way he could.  Whenever he did try to do something nice for Suzanne, she would twist it all around and make him look like a bad guy.  I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy her character in the romance department.  When it came to the fun dialogue though, Suzanne and Ryder are pros at getting a chuckle out of the reader.

While this wasn’t my favorite book in the series, it still had its moments of enjoyment.  What I love the most is how the author includes previous characters and weaves them into the current story.  Usually in a series, previous characters are forgotten and the plot moves on.  With the Fast Track series, they are such a big family of friends that they are included in the plot and remembered through out the story. I am anxious to start reading the next book and can’t wait to see what the author has in store for the still-eligible bachelors of the race track!

Suzanne got two feet into her kitchen then couldn’t hold back.  She whirled and smacked the envelope and stack of papers against his chest.  “This says we’re still married!”
Ryder’s eyebrows shot up.  “No shit?  Does that mean we can have guilt-free sex then?”
Oh, yeah.  She was going to kill him.
–Ryder and Suzanne, page 13

She gave him the look, the one that made his nuts want to withdraw back into his body.
–Ryder, page 27

“You have sixty seconds to get your butt in this car or I’m hitting the gas, and I don’t give a shit what I run over on you.  Your pretty dick is going to lose its place on the penis pageant after it’s had an SUV roll over it.”
–Suzanne to Ryder, page 92

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Dark Kiss
Author: Michelle Rowen
Source: Author Submission
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

I don’t do dangerous.  Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that’s me. But I just couldn’t pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me…something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It’s like part of me is missing-and I don’t know if I can get it back.


Then there’s Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he’s keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he’s what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me….

I waited a full day before writing this review because I was afraid that my review would be confusing.  Not because I didn’t know what to write, but because I was a little confused with the plot line at first.  Author Michelle Rowen is one of my favorite authors.  Her Demon Princess series is one of my favorite young adult themed series.  Her Adult series are just as well written with just the right amount of snark and witty dialogue to keep the reader entertained while having a great plot.  With Dark Kiss, I will admit that I was confused more and more with each page I read.

I think the main problem I had with this book is the fact that there were so many characters to keep track of.  A team of 2 demons and 2 angels, a bunch of neutral grey’s, a best friend, several cute boys from school, and then our main character all became too many characters.  While I enjoyed the characters of Bishop and Samantha, I think my favorite character by far was Kraven.  He made the bad boy so much fun that it was hard not to enjoy him.  Bishop had the hero appeal, but Kraven had the snark and oh-so-evil personality.

The one character that was a major downer in this book for me was Samantha’s best friend Carly.  This girl was annoying and not much of a best friend. When she also succumbs to the dark kiss, Carly turned into a friend that I would never want.  While she appears to be the same Carly, I felt that she was more of a user than a friend.

Another thing that was confusing for me was the fact that the questions were answered slowly.  I can handle a book waiting until the end to reveal major plot points, but the story kept adding more confusing twists with no answers to much of anything along the way.  By the time some of them are revealed, I found myself having to go back and reread some things to get it all to click in place.

Having said all of the above, I still enjoyed the story.  I thought it was creative and raised my interest in the Angel department again for my paranormal adventures in reading.  I will say that it was also darker than the normal writing that the author usually brings us.  Yes there was still witty dialogue, but the whole feel of the book has a darker tone than the others. On a side note — Am I the only reader who thinks that the guy on the cover looks like Edward from the Twilight movies?

Bishop’s brows went up.  “Okay, fine. Yes, I followed you here.  Better?”
“Yes.  Stalkery, but better.”
“I’m not stalking you.”
“Spoken like a true stalker.”
— Bishop and Samantha, page 79

Panic gripped my throat.  “That’s not what you promised me!”
His brows drew together.  “Yes, it was.”
“Uh-oh.  Trouble in paradise.” Kraven murmured.  “News at eleven.”
— Bishop, Samantha and Kraven, page 239

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Darkness Before Dawn
Author: J. A. London
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: HarperTeen
  (May 29, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-0062020659

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters….

This is one of those books that captures the readers interest with the first few chapters then starts to drop off halfway through the book.  I seriously wanted to love this book because of others claiming it was great.  While there were good things about this book that I absolutely loved, the bad things that I didn’t like were also present and made the book fall lower in my ratings.

First thing I want to discuss is the cover.  I know it is beautiful, but it is so similar to the Fallen series that it confused me at first.  If I hadn’t known that this was a different author, I would have assumed that it was spin off from that series with the author taking on a different pen name.  Since we shouldn’t really judge a book by its cover, I am not going to use this flaw in my overall opinion.  I just wanted to get it out there in writing so others are aware of it.

Like I said before, this book starts out with great potential.  We are reading about the future of our country after vampires are revealed to the public human race.  There was a great war that lasted thirty or so years with the Vampires and Humans finally coming to a truce of sorts. After Dawn’s parents are killed, she is forced into the life of becoming the next Delegate.  She is the neutral party forced to intervene and communicate between the Vampires and the Humans.  She knows this comes with great responsibility but she also has her own thoughts on everything.  After meeting the Head Vampires son named Victor, she is starting to question the belief that all vampires are monsters.  She starts to realize that not all of them are bad and that the good ones are trying to make things right so that Humans and Vampires can live together without fear.

Now this is where I started having problems.  Victor started out to be a great character.  Then the author sort of has him fade into the shadows of the book for awhile.  I kept waiting for more of him and he didn’t.  I understand that the characters each have to make an appearance and only so many characters can have page time.  Since Victor is a main and pivotal character in the book,  I just felt that he should have been around for more than only part of the story.  I also didn’t like all the ups and downs that the author used personality wise for Michael.  First he is protective of Dawn, then he is pushy.  First he is loving and devoted, then he is angry and flirting with another girl.  That brings me to that other girl of Lila.  She was introduced as the daughter of the man who is against Dawn being the Delegate.  She also wants Michael for herself.  It never explains what happens to her or why we were even given this information as a reader.

The showdown near the end was rushed and weak.  I will point out that there are actually two showdowns, but both happen within a few chapters of each other.  The second one is also one the reader can figure out early on and can figure out the why of it as well.  It just feel jumbled up at the end.  The closing scenes were left with lots of questions as well.  Climaxes are one thing, but leaving too many questions unanswered leaves the reader with the feeling of disappointment.  I expected some things to be cleared up but so many were left   without closure.

Will I read the next book in the series? Probably.  I need to have this book answered and reading the next one is the only way that will happen.

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*