The Vampire's Mail Order Bride is much different from Kristen Painter's House of Comarre and Crescent City series books. This book falls in the genre of Paranormal Romance, and is written lighter and funnier compared to her serious dark Urban Fantasy series I'm used to reading. It still has a serious storyline to it, but it doesn't take precedence. At least to me I was not focusing on that part of the storyline. I was focusing on everything else and the interesting characters that were being introduced. It also was fascinating to be introduced to the town of Nocturne Falls, where Halloween is every day and those vampires and witches walking around putting on a show for everyone is actually real vampires and witches.

You have Delaney (which is a very pretty name) who happens to run away to Nocturne Falls to get away from her mobster boss. She ends up assuming another identity and becomes a mail order bride to a man she's only read on paper. She has no idea that Hugh is actually a 400 year old vampire, who is just trying to please his Grandmother with his Mail Order bride deal. Hugh is going to realize not everything is the same as it was before and he's going to meet his match in Delaney. Secrets will come forward and that is when the story gets really interesting.

I really enjoyed this new world that Kristen has created. I loved being introduced to other characters in Nocturne Falls and following along with the characters around town. Kristen did an amazing job on describing in detail the main characters, secondary ones, and places around town. I did get bothered by Hugh and his crazy mood swings on handling Delaney, especially with when he couldn't make up his dang mind.

The ending did tear me up a bit though with what Hugh was going to do. I thought Kristen was going to go dark at the end and was going to put me the through the ringer, but she turned it around and made it a HEA.  Thank goodness.  =)

I look forward to reading more in this new series from Kristen and I give this book 4 'amazing' stars. If you're a fan of Kristen's other series she writes with Amanda Carlson Sin City Collectors, you will enjoy this fun PNR series she's created.

Be prepared for Halloween every day in Nocturne Falls. I know my kids wished this was a real town.  =)

P.S. I love the cat in the story…Captain. If you follow Kristen on FB, you'll realize she has a love for cats and the cat reminded me of all the pictures of her adorable cats throughout the day. I'm so glad she wrote in a very lovable kitty in the story who was dear to Delaney.

Thanks to the publisher for introducing Brighton Walsh to me, I now must look into the other books Brighton Walsh has written. Caged in Winter was my first to read from her and definitely not my last. In fact, immediately after reading this book I dived into the second book in the series…but let me first review Caged in Winter.

New Adult has been a genre I've loved for a while, but I'm starting to stray away from it. Too many New Adult novels have the same storyline and same kind of characters. Fortunately, Caged in Winter doesn't follow the same kind of story like all others. In fact the characters in Caged in Winter is what kept me clicking my Kindle to keep me reading.  I loved every bit of the chemistry of Winter Jacobson and Cade Maxwell. The moment they met to the very end of the book for their HEA.  They definitely kept me intrigued for their story.

You have the most independent female character, Winter Jacobson (which I just adore her name) who can handle anything that is thrown at her. She's had a crappy life from the beginning, but that is about to change once she graduates and leaves the job that just pays the bills. Although, Cade Maxwell is going to change her life and at first she's not liking it at all. She doesn't need a knight in shining armor. She even lets him know it.

Cade Maxwell has had a rough life as well, but his life has been amazing since the moment he decided to follow his dream. He's having a hard time grasping what the future holds, especially when it means leaving his sister and niece behind, but life is going to be even more complicated once he meets Winter.

The two characters clash at first and when I mean clash…I mean full on Winter is about had it with him. Cade though is determined to win Winter over.  The poor guy had to deal with Winter's attitude for a bit, but he doesn't really realize what Winter has gone through in the past until she finally comes out and tells him.

The only thing that bothered me was how Winter kept pushing off Cade in the story. She's not open to trust people and she doesn't want to need someone, especially when she's proving she can do it all by herself.  She's one hard-headed girl, but I have to give it to her.  She's one determined girl who is trying to prove she's strong. Once you find out what has happened to her, you will realize why she's the way she is.

Cade was lovable from the beginning due to his love for his family and how he wanted to take care of Winter.  Brighton Walsh definitely combined the two characters perfectly.  The story flowed well and kept my interest.  I enjoyed the ending tremendously.  Like I said, this is not your typical New Adult.

I give this book 4 full moons and definitely look forward to reading the next book(s) in the series.  Although, I did already read the next one in the series because of finding out who gets their story next.  =)

I received the opportunity to read At the Stars early for an honest review and I definitely enjoyed every bit of Elisabeth's first New Adult novel. I look forward to reading more of this genre from her because she definitely didn't follow in the usual path of New Adult novels. We didn't have the instant love from the main characters or the controlling male character that tends to tick me off. We have the two main characters running from their past, but in different ways.

Cassie is the strong-willed, but stubborn female character who wants to leave her hometown behind. She has nothing and nobody to really to keep her in her hometown, and she just wants to leave the past behind. Especially, since she had a traumatic event that changed her life and she just wants to forget about her past and move on. Unfortunately, her car has other plans. When her car decides to call it quits, she ends up meeting a boy who helps her. Jake (the sweet, lovable, caring guy…although he probably wouldn't think he was any of these qualities) has his own past that he's running away from. He doesn't want his past to creep back up and find him, and he's determined to not really get into a relationship. All changes once he meets the girl that he saves one night. He tries everything to stay away from her, but it's kind of hard to stay away from somebody that intrigues him.

Elisabeth introduces us to two characters that have had rough lives, but in different ways. She also writes a New Adult novel that doesn't follow too many similar qualities of what other New Adult novels have right now. At the Stars will leave you in shock on what really happened in Jake's past and what happened to Cassie in her past as well. It's no happy days with these two in their past…but there is a HEA in the end of At the Stars for them. =)
There were times that Jake drove me crazy on how he handled Cassie, but after it was revealed what happened in his past I was able to understand him better. He was a pain on his secrets, but so was Cassie. Cassie was more open in the book, but she was distant at first. She's stubborn when it comes to making up her mind on what she wants to do. She's still a very strong character for what she's been through.

I really enjoyed reading At the Stars and give it four full stars. I'm counting down to the next book in the series because I really want to find out more about the secondary characters from this book.

***Before I forget….I seriously LOVE this cover! =) It fits the title and the story VERY well!!!****

I really wish Crescent City would've been a series instead of a trilogy because I definitely wanted more of Augustine and Harlow.  I felt like I was just getting close to them and now they've been ripped from me.  =*(  I'm going to miss my sexy smoky Guardian and his adorable computer genius sidekick.

Garden of Dreams & Desires picks up where Kristen Painter left the characters off at in the previous book. Yes…I was one of those readers that didn't handle the cliffhanger well.  Seriously, how would you react to an evil spirit taking over the female lead like that?  I couldn't. I was shocked with the ending. Kristen threw me in a loop after the second book, so I was anxious to read the last book in the trilogy. Of course, Kristen has to throw in another loop with the evil spirit and what it's evil plans are. Ahhhh!!!  There's also the issue of what is happening in NOLA with the Fae and the humans.  The Guardian has his work cut out for him, especially with an important person gone missing and the Fae being held accountable for it. Augustine will do anything to find out what really happened. He gets put into situations that I'm surprised he survived in.

Let's not forget the crazy witches.  Yup… I said it the crazy witches.  They have a BIGGER plan that is going to change everything in NOLA.  The Fae and everyone that gets in the way of the witches will be in trouble. I really didn't like the witches.  Grrr!

I won't go into anymore details of the story because I'm afraid I'll give something away and I hate spoilers.

What I liked most about this book is how Harlow grew into a stronger character in this one.  Don't get me wrong, I was mad what she did in the previous book, but she made up for it in this book.  She still made iffy decisions, but she made up for it, darn it!

Augustine finally became a changed guy and realized what he wanted.  He became a stronger Guardian too in this book.  Although, he got caught up in certain things that prevented him on doing what he was supposed to.

I also enjoyed how the evil spirit was handled. I was hoping it would end the way it did.

The only things that did bother me was how fast everything went and how much was put in such a small portion.  This book could have been easily broke into two books to tell the story, but I understand why it couldn't be. I just wish I could know exactly what happened to the bad guys in the story fully. They deserved a lot more coming to them, after what they did.  Grrrr!!  I also would've loved to find out what happens to certain secondary characters.  Cy being one of them.  ****hint, hint***  =)

Thank goodness for Kristen writing another series though, after this one because her next characters should fill that gap I have of losing Augustine and Harlow so soon.  Don't get me wrong I enjoyed reading the last book in the trilogy, but I'm going to miss these characters.  I was just getting to know them.  =*(

I give this book 3.5 stars and I do recommend it to Urban Fantasy readers out there and readers that enjoyed Kristen Painter's other UF series, House of Comarre.

Although, this is not my favorite of the trilogy, I still enjoyed reading how it all ended.  Seriously...I'm really going to miss Auggie…my sexy smoky Guardian.

Dare to Hold is the sixth book in Carly Phillips Dare to Love series, and this reader just can't get enough of this series and the Dare family. From the moment I picked up the first book in the series, I knew I would be hooked. Oh and let's just say...I was really excited to read Scott Dare''s and Meg Thompson's HEA.  If you read the previous book you would've been introduced to Meg and Scott towards the end.
Meg is the female character who has had it rough from the beginning, due to the guys she has hooked up with in her past. She feels she'll never meet a nice guy. She's now pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby and she feels skeptical of what the future will hold with another man. She also wants to live her life without any help, and she'll do anything to prove it to her friends in her life. She'll even prove it to the one man who would do anything for her.
Scott Dare is what you call the gentleman of the Dare of the family. He's a police officer who has a heart of gold and doesn't like seeing anyone hurt. The minute he meets Meg, he wants to protect her from everything and anything out to get her…especially her crazy ex-boyfriend.
He knows she's pregnant and he knows it won't be easy, but he will do anything to prove to her, he's not like the other guys she's been with.

Be warned though, Scott is the alpha male in the story. He is very PROTECTIVE of who he cares for and he will resort to anything to help others. Yup….he will do anything, which means some drama comes into play other than Meg's ex-boyfriend drama.  I adored Scott every bit in the story. Meg tended to drive me batty at times with her not wanting help. I could understand why she wanted to protect herself, but darn it Scott definitely is that white knight she definitely needed.
I could go on and on about how much I loved Scott in the story, but don't want to give away all of his qualities. =)
Readers that enjoy contemporary romance books that follow a family that definitely have their own drama, but deserve every bit of happiness…this is the series for you.   Each book can be read as a standalone due to how Carly writes each book.  You won't get lost at all. I definitely recommend though, reading in order. You'll loved to follow each and every one of the Dare family members on their road to HEA. There may be even another HEA in Dare to Hold that Carly mention, which I believe this person definitely deserves just as much as happiness as everyone else does.
I give this book 4 stars and look forward to reading the next book in the series when it release late this summer. If you haven't read this series yet, you'll definitely missing out.