Iceberg by Clive Cussler

 Iceberg by Clive Cussler--340 pages

3rd in the Dirk Pitt series.  Quite an adventure with a lot of twists and turns and one astonishing surprise.  I enjoyed the read.

Fresh Meat by Alice Henderson

 

Fresh Meat by Alice Henderson, 355 pages

When a suspicious number of hikers mysteriously disappear from the trails surrounding Lake Tahoe, Sam and Dean Winchester team up with Bobby Singer to hunt a suspected wendigo. But once on the mountain, they find themselves fighting not only monsters, but nature itself, in order to survive.

Fresh Meat takes place in the seventh season of the show, and contains spoilers for season six. The book was a fun ride, but the story dragged a little, especially in the beginning. The characters would have felt flat and interchangeable if I hadn't already been a fan of the show. 

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1 by Sarah J. Maas

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1 by Sarah J. Maas - 804 pages

In Sarah J. Maas's first "adult" series, Bryce Quinlan faces the challenges of figuring out who she is as a half-Fae, half-human in Lunathion when her life is completely flipped on its head. Her best friend and many of her other friends are brutally murdered while she parties on the town. Years later, while Bryce is still attempting (or not attempting) to cope with the tragedy, an incredibly horrifying lead changes the entire investigation. It's up to Bryce and her new "guardian angel" of sorts, Hunt, to find Danika's killer... but not everything is as it seems as romance blossoms and Bryce learns that nearly everyone is a suspect.

This was my very first Sarah J. Maas book after hearing from so many people to read from this legendary YA author. I finished House of Earth and Blood in September of this year after finally graduating from college and finding time to read for leisure again. This was the perfect transition, for me, back into leisurely reading. Granted, the first 400 pages were *dense* (hear me out) but the *last* 400 pages were absolutely immaculate. The first half of the book is a lot of world-building and minor character development, while the last half is pure action and drama. I was absolutely enraptured by Lunathion once I was able to fully grasp it. I can't say that it is often that a book makes me cry... but I sobbed through the last fourth of the book - several times - and I can't say I feel any shame about that. Maas definitely makes you feel emotionally attached to these characters and their wellbeing. Follow that up with some incredible plot twists, this book will melt your mind in the end. It's a beautifully crafted universe and, by the end, I could definitely count this book as one of my favorites of all time. 5/5 stars

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - 641 pages 

*** CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE FIRST BOOK A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES***

After escaping the clutches of Amarantha and surviving imminent death, Feyre can finally return home - to Tamlin and to the Spring Court. However, she feels more trapped and less "free" than she ever has before. She begins to understand her new power as a reborn High Fae and must uphold her end of the bargain she desperately made with Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court... but is something even deeper there? This sequel, with even more twists and turns than its predecessor, is action-packed and full of surprises.

Somehow, lately, I've been reading sequels that are way better than their preceding books. First the From Blood and Ash series and now the ACOTAR series. This book was innumerably better than the first. I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads about 2/3 of the way in... and by the end, I was shaking and giggling and my jaw was dropping - it was *intense* and I loved every bit of it..... except the whole "mate" word again. And the "male" and "female" thing again. Some of the plot twists were predictable but there were also a few that I really didn't see coming. The world-building became even more elaborate, there was incredible character development, and lots of action and drama. It was great and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. 5/5 stars.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - 432 pages

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in this titular, well-known YA series by Sarah J. Maas. Feyre is a huntress, driven by the need to keep her family alive after her father squandered away their fortune in his merchant dealings. One day, she kills a wolf and is swept away into a land of the Fae, who were known to have killed and tortured humans like herself for centuries. However, everything Feyre has been told about the Fae seems to be untrue. In fact, in this loose re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, you can probably guess how she begins to feel about her "captor", Tamlin. But trouble is afoot, as a fierce and mighty force is sweeping the lands of the Fae, threatening to encompass and destroy the entire world.

I have been meaning to read this series for years. The fandom that surrounds the works of Sarah J. Maas is huge and I've tried my best to avoid "giving into the hype". However, I did cave a few months ago and read the first book in her new adult series, House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1. That book captured me and I was told that this series and Throne of Glass were must reads for any YA fan. So I decided to start..... and I'm so glad that I did. This book was very good. I really did enjoy it and ended up getting sucked into the phenomenal world-building. There were some phrases and terms used that made me feel a little weird, like "mate" to refer to one's partner. Another one was the constant use of "male" and "female", instead of "man", "woman", "person"... literally any other word, please. Some of the action was heavy with typical YA tropes and unrealistic sequences, but the overall plot was very good. 4/5 stars.

Police Cat by Enid Hinkes

Police Cat by Enid Hinkes - 32 pages

Noodles the cat takes his responsibilities very seriously, keeping the police station and neighborhood safe and free from rats, but he is not an official member of the police department until after he performs a heroic rescue.

What a great story about a cat you ends up saving a family from a fire and becomes Police Cat.

Kept by Maya Banks

Kept by Maya Banks- 310 pages

From the author of Mastered and Dominated comes the third Enforcers novel—the searing story of a woman who finds sanctuary in surrender...

He can’t change who he is...

A horrific childhood has made Silas the man he is today: dangerous, distrustful, and demanding. He’s lived in self-imposed solitude, convinced that no woman could ever accept his need for absolute control—in business and pleasure. That is, until a young violinist walks into one of his buildings and into his life.

She can’t change what she wants...

Haley has been struggling to fulfill her father’s dying wish: to attend a prestigious music school in New York City. But even working two jobs, she can’t afford the tiniest of apartments. Seeing her hopeless and near tears, Silas vows to help and protect her, no matter the cost to himself. But when Haley meets his every demand with unwavering acceptance and love, he is overwhelmed by her goodness and gentle spirit. He knows that the dark stain on his soul can never be erased—and rather than risk destroying the most beautiful thing he's ever experienced, he knows he'll have to do the hardest thing he's ever had to face. Let her go. But he's totally unprepared for the lengths Haley will go to fight for his love and a future brighter than the sun...

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole- 356 pages

Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire—unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her...

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy...

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire...

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Mastered by Maya Banks

Mastered by Maya Banks- 368 pages

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Breathless Trilogy comes the first novel in the Enforcers series—a bold new direction in erotic romance that explores the games men and women play, and the price they’re willing to pay for pleasure.

What he wants, he takes with no remorse or guilt.

She stood out in his club like a gem, unspoiled and untouched. A lamb among wolves, she clearly didn’t belong. Drawn to her innocence he watched as she was surrounded by men who saw what he did—but no one but him could touch her. He summoned her to his private quarters. He sensed her fear. He also recognized the desire in her eyes. And he knew she wouldn’t leave before he possessed her. She had no need to know his secrets. Not until he had her under his complete and utter control.

What he wants, she isn’t sure she can give him.

The moment he told her want he wanted, she couldn’t resist. Instinct told her to run, but her heart said stay and walk the fine line between pleasure and pain. Though she wasn’t sure she could ever completely surrender, the primal part of her wanted to try, even knowing this man could break her in ways she never imagined. Because once he possessed her, he owned her and it would be too late to turn back. She can only pray that he doesn’t destroy her in the end.

Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks

Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks- 297 pages

A sizzling story of a woman who risks her life and her heart to find a wealthy man’s missing sister — the first novel in a sexy new romantic suspense series from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Maya Banks.

When Caleb Devereaux's younger sister is kidnapped, this scion of a powerful and wealthy family turns to an unlikely source for help: a beautiful and sensitive woman with a gift for finding answers others cannot.

While Ramie can connect to victims and locate them by feeling their pain, her ability comes with a price. Every time she uses it, it costs her a piece of herself. Helping the infuriatingly attractive and impatient Caleb successfully find his sister nearly destroys her. Even though his sexual intensity draws her like a magnet, she needs to get as far away from him as she can.

Deeply remorseful for the pain he’s caused, Caleb is determined to make things right. But just when he thinks Ramie's vanished forever, she reappears. She’s in trouble and she needs his help. Now, Caleb will risk everything to protect her — including his heart....

Dominated by Maya Banks

Dominated by Maya Banks- 352 pages

To save her, he had to betray her...

In Drake’s shadowy world, his enemies would exploit any weakness he had in order to bring him to his knees, and so he’s never allowed himself to care about anyone...never exhibited any vulnerability, and it made him a force to be reckoned with. Until Evangeline—his angel. A woman who slipped past his defenses like no one had ever managed. She was his to protect and ultimately, to do that, he had to do the unthinkable and drive the only good thing in his world away.

But he will stop at nothing to get her back...

Devastated and destroyed, Evangeline doesn’t know what made Drake turn on her in such a shocking manner. She only knows she’ll never be the same. He once freed her from all her inhibitions, only now she is a prisoner to never-ending pain. But when Drake finds her again, she realizes there is more to his world than she ever imagined, and she must decide if she can once more trust—and submit—to the man who holds her wounded heart in his hands. And he must convince her of just how far he’ll go to regain her love and forgiveness.

Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks

Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks- 352 pages

In Highlander Most Wanted, a reclusive woman content to live in the shadows shows a Highland warrior the true meaning of love.
  
Genevieve McInnes is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.
 
Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.

The Professional by Kresley Cole

The Professional by Kresley Cole- 400 pages

He makes the rules...

Mafiya enforcer Aleksei “The Siberian” Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss knows no bounds, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, feisty redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Aleksei will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken…

Grad student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the dark and breathtaking Sevastyan before the professional enforcer whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. Every day under his protection leads her deeper under his masterful spell.

Are you ready to play?

Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true..

Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks

Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks- 372 pages

Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love

The Viper by Monica McCarty

The Viper by Monica McCarty- 381 pages

The war for Scotland’s sovereignty rages on—as Robert the Bruce is crowned king and the Highland Guard, his elite fighting force of legendary warriors, battle for land . . . and love.

Prized for his snake-like stealth and deadly strikes, Lachlan "Viper" MacRuairi is a warrior to enlist but not to trust. His only loyalty is to his purse, his indifference sealed by bitter betrayal. All that changes when Lachlan is tasked to protect and deliver Bella MacDuff to the king's coronation—and the proud, lushly sensual countess unwittingly challenges him to his greatest battle yet: to love again.

Passionate and devoted, Bella has defied Britain's king and her own husband to place the crown on Bruce's head—and pays a terrible price. She loses her daughter and her freedom to her husband's vengeance. Imprisoned with barbaric cruelty, she vows to reclaim her child, even if it means selling her soul—and her body—to a dark, lethal warrior whose eyes glint like steel, but who makes her skin tingle and her breath race. Together they embark on a rogue mission with sinister twists and turns that threatens not only Bella's gamble to save her daughter—but also her heart.

The Ranger by Monica McCarty

The Ranger by Monica McCarty- 398 pages

Chosen to help Robert the Bruce in his quest to free Scotland from English rule and claim his crown, the legendary team of warriors known as the Highland Guard battles on.

Embedded deep behind enemy lines, Arthur “Ranger” Campbell is prized for his razor-sharp senses and his ability to blend into the shadows. But when Arthur infiltrates the clan of the chieftain who murdered his father, his heart is locked on revenge. Inside he faces unexpected resistance from the sweetest of obstacles—a honey-haired siren who is his enemy’s daughter.

Intrigued by this ruggedly handsome newcomer to her father’s forces, the vivacious, enchanting Anna MacDougall is a woman whose skill at uncovering deception rivals Arthur’s own. Though yearning for a quiet life with a good man to love, Anna is drawn to this mysterious knight whose eyes devour her but whose words push her away. As danger, treachery, and the threat of looming war draw them closer into each other’s arms, a warrior made of steel must make a choice from the heart: love or revenge.

The Hawk by Monica McCarty

The Hawk by Monica McCarty- 382 pages

Handpicked by Robert the Bruce to help him in his quest to free Scotland from English rule, the elite warriors of the Highland Guard face their darkest days. When Bruce is forced to flee, his bid for freedom rests on the shoulders of one extraordinary warrior.

Erik MacSorley is a brilliant seafarer who has never encountered a wind he could not harness or a woman he could not win—until he drags a wet, half-naked “nursemaid” out of the waters off the Irish coast. Ellie’s ordinary appearance belies the truth: She is in fact Lady Elyne de Burgh, the spirited daughter of the most powerful noble in Ireland. Worse, this irresistible woman is determined to prove herself immune to Erik’s charms—a challenge he cannot resist.

Her captor may look every inch a rugged warrior, but Ellie vows that it will take more than a wickedly suggestive caress to impress her. Yet Erik will sweep away Ellie’s resistance with a desire that resonates deep within her heart. Still, he is a man driven by loyalty, and she is a woman with secrets that could jeopardize Bruce’s chance to reclaim his throne. As the battle for king and country sounds across the shores, will Ellie’s love be enough to finally tame the legend known as the Hawk?

The Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty

The Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty- 352 pages

An obstinate girl who will not be married. 
A soldier desperate to prove himself. 
A kingdom on the brink of war.

With a sharp tongue and an unruly temper, Sage Fowler is not what they’d call a lady―which is perfectly fine with her. Deemed unfit for marriage, Sage is apprenticed to a matchmaker and tasked with wrangling other young ladies to be married off for political alliances. She spies on the girls―and on the soldiers escorting them.

As the girls' military escort senses a political uprising, Sage is recruited by a handsome soldier to infiltrate the enemy ranks. The more she discovers as a spy, the less certain she becomes about whom to trust―and Sage becomes caught in a dangerous balancing act that will determine the fate of her kingdom.

The Great Pursuit by Wendy Higgins

The Great Pursuit by Wendy Higgins- 512 pages

Lochlanach has traded the great beast for something far more terrible, a Lashed enemy veiled in beauty, deception, and a vengeance passed down through generations: Rozaria Rocato. And she’s offering the hunter Paxton Seabolt power and acceptance he could never receive in his homeland. Pax must decide how far he’s willing to go under her tutelage, knowing she is the opponent of Princess Aerity Lochson.

In a land where traditionalists dread change, the Lochlan throne must contend with mysterious foes and traitors, while attempting to keep revolt at bay. As dire circumstances strike the royal family, matters of the castle are left in Aerity’s hands. It's time to put aside her fears and grasp the reign, taking actions that have the potential to save or destroy her people.

One hunt has ended, but the pursuit for love and justice continue. In this sequel to The Great Hunt from New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins, political intrigue and romance intensify in another thrilling fantasy. Princess Aerity embraces a quest for identity and passion before making the ultimate sacrifice for her kingdom.

The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins

The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins- 416 pages

When a strange beast terrorizes the kingdom of Lochlanach, fear stirs revolt. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity knows her duty to the kingdom but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger... until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. There’s no denying the unspoken lure between them... or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the perilous secrets he’s buried begin to surface.