The line between love and hate has never been so thin, and Blake and Sebastian return in this sequel with bottled-up hurt that somehow just brings them even closer.
Sebastian was right. I was a coward. I ran my closeted tail all the way back to Georgia. Once I got there, I had no place left to hide. My life imploded. But when I was welcome nowhere, I still had to go somewhere.
I could barely look my sister in the eye, facing Sebastian didn’t even exist on my radar, and I was prepared for my brother-in-law’s protective hostility. I just didn’t have a choice. For once in my life, I wanted redemption. I wanted to belong somewhere, and I was ready to work for it.
Sebastian was the exception—hard no. I might have screwed up royally, but he wasn’t so damn innocent. He’d hurt me too, and he better not push me. In fact, it was best we avoided each other altogether.
So it didn’t make a lick of sense for me to seek him out to provoke a reaction.
I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.
There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly.
Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.
I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.
Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.
I’m a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write.
Handcuffs chaining her to a sterile hospital bed. Weird occurrences that no one can explain. No memories of who she is or what came before.
They say she’s been a patient at the Blackbriar Institute since childhood, that she’s sick, alone, and nobody’s coming for her.
But someone’s already here—a mysterious man in her therapy group with unfathomable pain in his dark eyes—and she can’t deny her draw to him, no matter how much he tries to keep her away.
He doesn’t speak, but he seems to know something the others do not. Is she really sick, or might it be magic? What other dark secrets hide behind Blackbriar’s gates, and will she ever find a way to break free?
Equal parts puzzle and page-turner, Of Snow and Roses is a modern take on the classic fairy tale Snow White & Rose Red. We promise you’ve never read anything quite like it before.
When Neve wakes up in the Blackbriar Institute without her memory I suspected that there would be an evil doctor holding her against her will – and there was – but it was done a lot differently than other stories with similar tropes and themes. Neve will need to tread carefully to figure out who she can trust as a friend, and who is trying to hurt her.
While Neve was the main character, and I enjoyed her story, I found some of the side characters to be more intriguing and enjoyed their time on the pages a lot. Lily was one of my favorites, and the mysterious Tala is still a character I wonder about. Torbin, the strong silent one, had a somewhat predictable part of the story, but he was still fun.
The rest of the characters, including the bad guy and his friends, sort of blended into the background. I never got a real feeling for why they were the bad guys. I like my villains to have depth and backstory as well.
I like that while this featured some familiar characters from Snow White and Rose Red, it wasn’t an actual re-telling of their story (although I’m not super familiar with the original). There were a few spots that were a little repetitive or drawn out a little too much that I found myself skimming through.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Sexy wolves and heart-stopping action await in Claimed by the Moon, the highly-anticipated continuation of the Royal Shifters series by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author L.P. Dover!
In his 200 years of life, Zayne Lyall has made his share of enemies. The most ruthless of all being Knox Channon, who seeks vengeance for a pack war that took place over a hundred years ago.
To gain information he can use to bring Zayne down, Knox reconnects with Amelie Graye, a past love who joined the Royal pack Zayne belongs to. Unfortunately, Amelie doesn’t know much about the royal arctic… despite a longing within her to be near him.
Amelie and Knox have a tumultuous past that ended after she and her family went rogue following an attack by the Sierra pack. While she has no details to offer about Zayne, Knox sniffing around her leaves his inner wolf snarling.
More than anything Zayne wants to charge in and protect the woman his heart aches for. But he has a secret… and it could cost him everything. Amelie is his fated mate. If Knox were to discover this, he would know hurting her would be the key to destroying Zayne. Torn between his desire to claim Amelie as his own and his ferocious passion to protect her, can Zayne find a way to bring down his malicious enemy? Or will an age old vendetta rob him of a blissful future with his bonded mate?
The door to the cabin opens, and Amelie steps out with her caramel-colored hair in a ponytail and dressed in a tank top and yoga pants. It’s fifteen degrees outside, but the cold doesn’t bother us. The smell of snow approaches, and I can tell it’s going to come down hard within the hour. Looking up at the sky, it’s dark, and the clouds are thick.
Amelie plugs in the Christmas lights on her porch and looks up at them when she gets into the yard. I’ve never seen someone so fascinated with the holidays. But she’d be appalled if she could see my house at Christmas time. I’ve never cared about decorating or celebrating, at least not in the last thirty years after losing Alina. Something tells me I might have to change that. If this is going to work between us, I’ll have no choice but to see things differently. The only problem is that I have no idea how to do that.
Amelie runs through the woods in human form, and I follow behind her, making sure to keep my presence hidden. I’m not ready for her to know I’m there yet. The lake is a few miles into the woods, and her movements are smooth and concise as she swerves in and out of the trees. The only other people I’ve seen move like that are my brothers. She had to have learned it from Micah. I’ve envied him for being so close to her. It’s even made me a little jealous, but I know he’s never tried anything with her. When he comes back to town, things might be a little different. I’m hoping Amelie will let me train her instead of him.
The lake comes into view, and I slow my pace. Amelie stops by the water and blows out a breath, watching the steam billow into the wind. She raises her arms in the air and stretches, exposing her bare stomach as her shirt lifts up. The need in me rises, and I close my eyes. All I can think about is taking her in my arms and making her mine. “Fuck,” I hiss under my breath. My cock hardens at the thought of her naked and spread out beneath me. Stepping behind the tree, I lean against it to regain my composure. I’m always in control, but around Amelie, I’ve lost all sense of it. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slow until everything goes back to normal. When it does, I unleash my power so Amelie can sense me.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Everything’s sweeter in the South has always been her mantra and she lives by it, whether it’s with her writing or in her everyday life. Maybe that’s why she’s seriously addicted to chocolate.
Dover has written countless novels in several different genres, including a children’s book with her daughter. Her favorite to write is romantic suspense, but she’s also found a passion in romantic comedy. She loves to make people laugh which is why you’ll never see her without a smile on her face.
L.P. Dover is represented by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency
