Moonlit Watcher by Crystal-Rain Love

Finally! A new Crystal-Rain Love book. Moonlit Watcher is the sequel to Moonlit Dream.

Derek Kingston is a badass werewolf. He needs nothing from no one, except a good fuck every once in a while. And he never fucks humans.

Until he meets Juliana Van Alder, delicate ballerina. The last thing Derek needs is a delicate creature like her. He likes his women tough. He likes to be rough, surely he would break this prim and proper dancer in half. Unfortunately faith has decided that Juliana is Derek's soul mate and the full moon is approaching. No werewolf has ever been able to ignore the pull of the full moon to give a moon vow to his soul mate. But Derek is damn determined to beat it.

Maybe he shouldn't have slept with her then? I swear, men always thinking with their penises. When will they learn that once is never enough?

Derek and Juliana get closer, even when Derek fights against it. In the end her learns not to fight with destiny. And he also learns that Juliana is more than just a delicate ballerina.

Duuuuuude, I was just gonna read the first five pages and go to bed, but I ended up just reading the whole thing. It's a short read, but a great story. If you've read my previous reviews, you know I'm a huge fan of Crystal-Rain Love. She has such an amazing gift for storytelling, I'm quite envious and damn proud to be able to call her my friend. Her words flow so easily from the page. Even though the story is short you feel completely full at the end, yet you're left wanting more.

But when Crystal-Rain Love writes, you're always gonna want more. She's definitely one of my top five favorite authors of all time.

5 Big Giant Stars!

What Legends Are Made Of by Heather Beck

What Legends Are Made Of by Heather Beck is a paranormal anthology with four Goosebumps-like stories with a romantic twist.

The first story, Sir Tristan’s Estate, is by far my favorite of the four. It’s about a young photographer named Skye Huntington who is on an assignment for the magazine she works for. She arrives at Sir Tristan’s Estate in the middle of a small local scandal. The estate, which belonged to the state of Virginia after Sir Tristan’s death has fallen into the rightful owner’s hands. Sir Tristan was thought to have left no heir, but a small boy on tour of the estate, found the birth certificate of a daughter. Shortly after that, the heir appeared and took over the estate. The new owner closes the tours of the estate, but allows Skye to continue with her assignment, since she was hired before his/her arrival.

Skye is allowed to tour the estate. She meets up with the local historian and sparks instantly fly. Romance is in the air.

Unfortunately, that’s all I can reveal, because I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone interested in reading. But I will say this story has love, ghosts on meds, and a twist of an ending. Sir Tristan’s Estate is definitely a five star kind of story!

The second story, Blue Water, is less “scary” and more romantic. Two individuals of different social classes find a lot in common and a lot to admire in one another. Surrounding this story is shark attacks, mermaids, and the origin of the mermaids. A love-conquers-all type of story. Sweet.

Four stars for Blue Water.

Freaky Frank is the third story in this anthology. I found this story pleasing and amusing. It’s about a girl named Brittany Addams and her summer job at the carnival. Now, you know whenever there’s a carnival involved that the story is going to be interesting.

On her first day of training, Brittany meets Frank. It’s love at first sight. Frank, who is much older than Brittany, runs his own freak show. Stanford’s Freaky Shrieks Freak Show is Franks own business with real extraordinary creatures. Educated fish, unicorns with wings, and the main attraction, Frank himself.

Again, this one was more romantic than scary, but a lovely story. Frank reveals his freak show and himself to Brittany and offers her something that would change her life forever. Brittany must decide whether or not the love she feels for Frank is strong enough to conquer her fears and his “freaky” tendencies. (Ha ha)

Four stars for Freaky Frank.

The last story in Heather Beck’s anthology is One Stop Horror Shop. Newlyweds Karyn and Max Shields’ dream has always been to own their own magic shop. The dream seems to be coming true, as Max meets a man named Quentin who wants to sell his magic shop.

Karyn is hesitant at first, but after a little coercing she agrees. Soon, the Shield’s are the owners of their own magic shop. Things, however, seem to get strange from the moment they sign the papers. First, Quentin is struck with a weird illness. He seems to be in perfect health, yet is in a zombie-like state. Then, upon cleaning out a closet in the magic shop, Max and Karyn find a very real looking skeleton which Karyn names Boney and sets up on their display window.

A few days after the Shields’ grand opening, they being to suspect that Quentin might have forged his bookkeeping, since the only customers they had were a brother and sister that wanted to start their own magic show business.

Over on that end, brother and sister Mitchell and Jodie use the tricks they bought from the magic shop. Everything goes wrong. From wrong to worse, actually, as their burrowed rabbit ends up furless, the handcuffs don’t open, the squirting flower squirts out blood, and Mitchell disappears into thin air. Really disappears.

The Shields have inadvertently bought a cursed magic shop. The origin of the curse involves murder, and that’s all I can say about that. One Stop Horror Shop, also a four star story.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology. I liked all the stories, although I must admit that after reading the first one, I was a little disappointed to read the rest. I kept waiting for another twist ending like the first, and I didn’t really get that. It’s kind of as if the story lost a bit of momentum. Maybe if they would have left Sir Tristan’s Estate for last I wouldn’t be left feeling this way.

Still, What Legends Are Made Of is a really good book. And I will be sure to add Heather Beck to my list of authors.

Friends In Deed by T.M. Hunter

Friends In Deed by T.M. Hunter is the sequel to Heroes Die Young, from the Aston West series. For those who haven’t read the first part (you really should, it’s a great story), Aston West is a scavenger space pirate who tends to get into a lot of trouble considering his line of work is supposed to be of the humdrum variety.

In this installment, Aston finds himself reunited with his old friend, Elijah, and his twin brother Lars. The chance encounter, however, is not merely a coincidence. Elijah wants Aston to join “The Brotherhood”, a group of space pirates – led by the twins – that go around the galaxies stealing money and killing innocent people. This is too much action for Aston. Too much blood on his hands for comfort. He refuses the offer extended to him by his old friend.

Unfortunately, Elijah blackmails Aston into assisting on one mission. Just one. Then he’s free to leave.

But if you know Aston West, you know his life is never that easy.

Aw, man! What a story! Again, I’m not usually a sci-fi person, but I love Aston West. I love the adventures he goes on. I love that he tries to live a quiet life, yet is constantly thrust into danger. I love that even after years of cynicism, he’s still a good and honorable guy. And of course, I especially love the little romance that T.M. Hunter throws into the mix. Keep doing it, it works!

Friends In Deed by T.M. Hunter. Read it! But read it AFTER you read Heroes Die Young. Why? No reason, just really want you guys to read both of them.

Off to Toris with Aston!