Broken Promises

                                               
                                                          Broken Promises

All Bri wanted to do was spend her Friday night with the man she loved and adores.  Little did she know leaving her home would result in her relationship with Quinn being tested beyond its limits.
Fae have been organizing to invade Earth, and their devious plans are culminating now, colliding with Bri's very existence.  Using a powerful glamour, the Fae trigger each person's violent tendencies, turning the streets into a battleground and strangers against each other.  In a crushing blow, Quinn becomes affected and Bri finds herself battling to save her lover from himself as he stalks her relentlessly, taunting her at every turn.
But fighting for her love isn't her only worry.  As the battle ensues, Bri discovers a startling truth about her own heritage that she must come to terms with.  She has no other choice but to fight, leading her to a confrontation that will change her world forever - and threaten to leave her with broken promises.

Author: Belinda Boring
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A good, fast read.  The book is well written, with good turn of phrase, many humorous moments, and an intriguing plot.  There is not much direct depiction of the Fae, but their impact on the story is deep and far-reaching.  It was a little hard for me to get my head around the characters because they are almost all archetypes - flawless, physically perfect, dashingly witty beings - but this made their descent into the violent madness of Fae-possession all the more shocking.  Bri is warm, funny, lovable, clumsy, and a little vulnerable, but also strong and stubborn.  Overall, a good book that is worth reading.

Spoiler Alert: There is lots of sex, but the sex is almost always tied in with violence, and comes near rape on several occasions.  I found this hard to reconcile in a book that is labeled as a romance.  Bri's constant attempts to redeem Quinn despite his threats and acts of violence toward Bri crossed the line for me into willfully blind stupidity rather than passionate devotion to her man, but did not detract much from my enjoyment of the story.  But you be the judge.

The Silver Cross

                                                                
                                                               The Silver Cross

The Silver Cross

There are two things Boston detective Lacey Gardner knows about killing vampires. Slicing off a head or a hit directly to the heart are the only surefire ways to kill one.  Silver is their Achilles heel.  A vampire never wears silver.

When she meets bartender extraordinaire, Damon Harte, her heart does a quickstep for the dark hunky guy. She's learned the hard way that having a love interest in her line of work can be heart-wrenching.  She's kept to herself for years, but something about Damon captivates her and draws her to him.  When she learns Damon's devastating secret, she knows what she has to do: kill the man who has stolen her heart...

Authors: Debra L Martin & David W. Small
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I enjoyed this book.  It is well conceived, well written, and with characters that each have a distinct personality, appearance, and motivation.  There are a wealth of details, but not so much that they bog down the fast-paced action, or makes the slow and seductive romance too over the top.  The authors do a good job of introducing layers of story that are not evident from the above teaser-review, and his story is more than just "girl falls for vampire and has to choose between love and loss."  It was a fast read - I finished it in a little over an hour, but I will probably re-read it more slowly to really enjoy the unfolding of the plot and characters again.

Spoiler: Absolutely written to be the first in a series (there had better be more!), and there is no definite conclusion for any of the primary characters.