This is not a romance story but there is a romance in it and even more importantly there is one seriously good story to be had.

Aside from this book the one thing that i know Alex Whitehall and Adam R. Watson  have in common is that they're both new to me, which is kind of a scary combination because....'ohmygod!!! I said I'd review this and what if I hate it because I can't say I love something if I didn't that's just not something that I like most people would be comfortable doing...so in a nutshell...I was a little nervous going into this. Enough that I actually listened to the first few minutes and went off to listen to something else but that's only a good deflection for so long and then I had to make myself come back to this and thankfully that turned out to be a much better life choice than I had anticipated..

In the interest of being fair I started back at the beginning and the one thing I realized right away was that the lack of success on my first listen was just me not in a good frame of mind so I'm not sure that much of anything would have worked for me that day but on my second try I was barely past where I'd stopped the first time and I was all in and more than happy just to sit back and enjoy the story.

If I had to classify this one I'd probably call it historical fantasy with a touch of romance but regardless of that I'd definitely call it good. 

Veier has spent the past 5 years of his life trapped in his bear form and held by a magic spell as the pet of a king. When a neighboring kingdom overthrows the king, Veier becomes their prisoner and while most are of the opinion that Veier has lost his humanity and shouldn't be allowed to live...not all share these feelings and the new king's brother, Elrid believes that while Veier's humanity maybe be a little misplaced it's still there. 

As much as Veier tries to fight it he comes to respect Elrid and appreciate that Elrid is both honest and trustworthy and that his choice to try and help Veier find his humanity and ultimately return home to his family is sincere. 

Most of this story focuses on Elrid and Veier's efforts to gain his freedom but in doing this the men spend time together getting to know each other and helping each other to learn about their people. It takes an actual threat to Elrid's life to make his brother the king see that Veier's humanity is very much intact and working and sadly it's the realization that Veier's humanity has been restored and is firmly in place that also brings about their separation when Veier is allowed to go home to his people. 

From start to finish this book had such a soft and gentle feel to it. In spite of the battles and attempted assassinations it was the chemistry between Eldrid the strong, powerful yet gentle and soft spoken magician with Veier, the kind and compassionate ursine shifter whose pure physical size and strength was intimidating enough without the knowledge of the power he wielded in his ursine form that shaped this story. 

I loved the overall feel of this story and listening to Adam R. Watson's narration of this story was every bit as delightful as the story and definitely reinforced the the overall feeling of the story itself for me. As much as I enjoyed the entire story for me the icing on the cake was definitely the ending and the epilogue...both were added the perfect touch to make this a 5 star story for me. 

Maybe the first time around was a case of right story wrong day but the second time around was definitely a case of right story, right day for me.

************************

An audio book of 'Magic Runs Deep' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

On one hand, this book was less superficial than I expected, considering the blurb. I love the fake boyfriend trope, and I was looking forward to a fun book. While there was lots of humor, the depth within surprised me.

On the other hand, I would have liked to repeatedly smack Isaac over the head, not only for continuing to hide Logan being his boyfriend, but also for not realizing that family isn't always determined by blood, especially when your parents are homophobic racist jerks. 

I think what bothered me the most is that Isaac often sounded much younger than I was told he is, especially when he's around his parents, and that he was too blind to realize that he was hurting Logan, and his friends, with his ridiculous stance. While I could understand his fears, those fears blinded him to what he already has, and he only saw what he stood to lose. He lives a couple of hours away from his parents, and he's out to everyone in his life, except for them. But every time he goes home, it is very clear that not only does he not like his parents, especially his father, but he also mocks and ridicules them. And thus I couldn't for the life of me understand what was stopping him from telling them to shove it and tell them who he truly is. 

The romance is definitely whirlwind, much like the blurb promises, and there is hot sex and cheesy puns, and I believed that both Isaac and Logan had feelings for each other. They have a lot in common, and the growth in their relationship felt realistic to me given the timeframe of this book. 

I guess Isaac still needed to grow up. And I guess he does by book's end; he just leaves a whole lot of hurt in his wake that could have been avoided, had he been more emotionally mature. 

The entire book is written from Isaac's POV, so we don't get a whole lot of true insights to Logan, and Isaac's friends, since his view is somewhat skewered and distorted though his lens. The humor was fun (not cheesy, really), and outside of Isaac's behavior with his parents, I did like him as a person. He's kind and considerate to others - just emotionally stunted. Which is likely a result of his upbringing, but I didn't see the same in his sister, and she grew up in the same emotionally stunted home. 

I liked the writing style, and I'm definitely going to check out more books by this author. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

Isaac meets Logan at Christmas, as his sister's boyfriend.  Talk about your forbidden choices.  He will just have to put what he wants aside.  He does not believe he is worthy of a great relationship.

Logan has no problem telling Isaac he wants him.  He is only doing a friend a favor.  Their attraction is obvious to anyone who looks at them together.  

The characters had an obvious connection.  The sparks definitely fly around them being together.  Very realistic, with a slower pace than I expected.  I give this a 3/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review only, by Netgalley and its publishers.

'Changing the Earl's Mind' by Kristen McLean is book Three in the "The Lords of Whitehall" series. This is the story of Drake Ramsey, the Earl of Saint Brides and Sarah Tindall. I have not yet read the other books so for me this was a standalone book. Although I enjoyed this one so much I hope to read the others soon!
Sarah is from America and has only been in London for 1 month. Sarah married a man she thought she could trust. They had made a deal that she would get half of her dowry and he would get the other half. This way Sarah though she could live her life independently on her own with her money. But her 'husband' gambled everything they had and left her with nothing. Then someone seem to have killed him and now she is being framed for his death. So Sarah went on the run but it didn't take long for her to be found by Drake.
Drake is in Home Secretary but has take a break and leaves to return to his home. Drake goes by his father's old hunting cabin and finds Sarah there. Drake gets most of her story out of her and even covers for her when the local law comes looking for her. But Drake assures her that she is pretty much in his custody .
Drake has pretty much cut himself off of emotional ties but can he keep that attitude around Sarah when he is finding her the most attractive and interesting women he has met?
Can Sarah convince him to believe her?
"My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read."
https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A2HX0B5ELOPP5Z?ie=UTF8&ref_=sv_ys_3
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1831318-sissy-s-romance-book-review-for-you
https://www.facebook.com/RomanceBookReview
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1709181636033417/
http://sissymaereads.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/soapsrus68
https://romancebookreviewforyou.wordpress.com/
http://booklikes.com/blog
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/romancebookreviewforyoublog
https://plus.google.com/+SissyHicks
https://www.pinterest.com/u2soapsrus/