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Being Lost: Satan’s Devils MC San Diego #1 by Manda Mellett – Reviewed by Roxsanne Lesieur

Being Lost (Satan's Devils MC San Diego #1)Being Lost by Manda Mellett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book should only be read by the over 18’s, there are lots of adult themed and violent scenes throughout, which are unsuitable for those any younger.

This book is a branch of the Satan’s Devil’s MC series and is based in the San Diego chapter, it revolves around the Mc’s Prez Lost and his inner turmoil as the President of the Club and as his name suggests, he feels lost since his club was torn apart and nearly broken, just like him.

The book starts as Lost is struggling with a nightmare of his club’s past troubles and this feeds his perceived inability to lead and lack of self confidence. He is reliving the events that nearly tore the club apart and is fighting against his subconscious in the form that it takes. He wakes up in a sweat, wrapped in the sheets and realising that sleep will now evade him, he gets up and gets ready to face the day. This doesn’t get any better as it is reported in the club “Church” meeting that a past member has reared his head where he shouldn’t have, but it is pushed to the back of his mind as the meeting progresses and other reports are given, including one that reported that the drive-by’s past the house that they have been asked to look out for by another chapter, haven’t noticed that externally, nothing has changed.

Next we meet Patsy, her son is on the run and she has made the tough decision to follow him and leave her daughter behind when he had to go into hiding from a past that, if they are found, would probably mean the end of them. They are trying to settle into their new lives in San Diego and as she is left alone in the house again, while her son is at work, she relives the worst event in her life and the reason why they had to leave their home. As she is looking at her business and debating with herself how to move forward with it, she hears the passing motorcycle again and wonders who they are and why they are passing by there again.

We next see Lost in Church again, when their technology expert reports that he has had a message he cannot track at all, say that “They know where they are” and they debate what they are going to do. The result of this debate is that Lost will go to discreetly visit the house and let those living there hear the bad news. This is where Lost and Patsy meet for the first time and not their last. As Lost and Patsy discuss the situation, the danger is made apparent to her and her son and this is where the real story begins.

As their paths become fraught with danger, passion, mystery and rebellion, they discover where their paths will take them and the costs that will hinder them along the way. For a passionate tale of new beginnings, overcoming past traumas and forging of loyalties, both new and old, prepare yourselves to become invested in another world.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Curse of Seduction (Dark Princes of Purgatory Book 1) by CR Robertson – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Curse of SeductionCurse of Seduction by C.R. Robertson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a story for those over the age of 18 only, there are many scenes of violence and an adult nature.

The story begins in the demon realm of Purgatory where the four dark prince’s Ezekiel, Valek, Raegel and Lycidas in a meeting room on neutral ground with the Blood Queen Ophelia where their fathers have agreed a truce, but unknown to them, Ophelia intends to curse the four princes. As her devious plan comes to fruition, as the princes try to fight the curse settling in, they lose and come under her thrall.

Next we are 200 years later and with Ilana, a vampire-human hybrid who is fighting in a battle for the Vampire Prince, and after she returns, showers and gets dresses, she finds that she has to attend a feast with everyone else, including her best friend Mia, she has a bag of blood before going as she can’t partake of the festivities like any normal vampire would. However, she hadn’t realised that the four dark princes including the Incubus Prince Ezekiel would be there as well and as their eyes meet as she tries to sneak out of the feast unnoticed, she immediately feels something strong and unknown. When Ezekiel sees that Ilana isn’t feeding like everyone else, he is intrigued as to why and when their eyes meet, he realises that there is more to this vampire than meets the eye.

The next day, the reason that Ezekiel and the other princes are there is revealed and it is to see how all the four realms can work together as a team to defeat the Blood Queen. Each demon type goes through a series of trials and this involves training combat with each of the other demon kinds. Ilana shows enough talent and mysterious abilities, however, she feels that she hasn’t done well and a certain ability shows itself when her life was in semi-danger during the training. When everyone finds out which teams they are in, Ilana is shocked and amazed to find that she has been picked by Ezekiel.

This is where their paths begin to intertwine and the mysteries in their past present and future seek to both tie them together, yet at the same time rip them apart. As they find out more about each other, the curse and the realms around them, how the future will turn out is unknown as every step of the way as there are barriers to break down, hurdles to cross and new experiences to have.

This has to be read to the end to be fully understood and experienced, it is a tale of passion, seduction, realisation and determination which will take you on a whirlwind ride in more ways than one!

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Eagle of the Empire (Relic Hunters) by Martin Ferguson – Reviewed by Roxsanne Lesieur.

Eagle of the Empire (Relic Hunters, #1)Eagle of the Empire by Martin Ferguson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a story of a long lost relic, brotherly love, adventure, danger and discoveries. It starts with Adam Hunter at school and up to his usual tricks, he is retrieving something from the teachers office and trying to do it without being caught, when he is back with his friends, one of his least popular teachers is calling his name and as he goes with his usual brand of cheek, they announce that it’s not about something he has done, it is about his older brother. We next see him arriving home to find his mother shouting at some visitors and being as unwelcoming as usual. It turns out that his brother has gone missing from his home, his job and his family and nobody knows where he is.

As the visitors leave, they ask Adam a question about his brother and when he doesn’t give the answer that they are after, they leave, but not without something going missing that belongs to his brother and because of this, Adam figures out where his brother has gone missing and the possible reason why.

Adam’s brother has found the possible whereabouts of the legendary lost Roman 9th Legion and their standard, but because of a warning from his brother, he doesn’t share the information with the visitors who his brother apparently worked with because he doesn’t feel like he can trust them.

As Adam embarks on the rescue of his brother, he defies everyone and goes it alone. He discovers that the way is not as easy as he originally believed and there are some dangers that cannot be fathomed.

This is a thrilling ride where reality, legend and mystery combine to create a journey and opportunity that do not come round very often. A thrilling race and what the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.

Will Adam find what he is looking for or will the others find it first?

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Tompkin’s School: For The Extraordinarily Talented (A Supernatural Academy Trilogy Book 1) by Tabi Slick – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Tompkin's School For The Extraordinarily Talented (Supernatural Trilogy #1)Tompkin’s School For The Extraordinarily Talented by Tabi Slick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a tale of transferring to a new high school, in a new place and let’s not forget that it is a boarding school as well. This tale starts with a landing plane and setting off to a new, unknown place and the one who pick’s the new passengers to take them to their new home, is none other than a local policeman who takes them to stay with him and his family for the night, before hitching a ride with his son to the new school the next day. While looking out of the car window, a realisation hits that the new school is in the middle of nowhere and that there will be nothing interesting there.

On arrival there is something a bit unusual and off about the new school and from driving up to the gates, the place and the people within it are astounding, but not all for the best reasons, being shown around, normality resurfaces with the meeting of roommates, finding out what the school year will look like and who the teachers will be.

As everyone at the school starts to settle in, that things are not as they seem and the people are not who they are perceived to be, and the fact that one of them has black wings and shifts into a demon on the full moon, is a lot to handle on top of everything else.

there are twists and turns in this adventure, but will the ties that they develop last the distance, or will this school break those bonds? There are discoveries to find, decisions to be made and mysteries to uncover, how can anyone still maintain who they are as they get through these new challenges and stay in control of the darkness within?

You can only find out by reading the book and it will keep you guessing about what will happen all the way to the end.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Dead Magic: The Sanctuary Chronicles by India Kells – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Dead Magic (The Sanctuary Chronicles #3)Dead Magic by India Kells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violet Shaughnessy is a witch with flaming red hair and a temper to match it. She is the first one to offer help to a friend in need, but not normally very good at asking for it in return, this until her world is turned upside down and a war begins inside of her that she cannot control, or decide what the outcome will be.

Finn O’Malley is one of the oldest vampires around, he has seen it all, done it all and all that is left now is to disappear and not to bother with his undead life anymore, this is until he hears Violet screaming through their blood bond. He realises that helping her is the last thing that he will do and even out the score for her sharing her blood with him and saving him in the past.

This unlikely pairing shows the other that they have to work together in order to overcome the barriers and challenges they will face, but working together, can they embrace the other, accept what needs to be accepted and face the outcome of that internal war?

This is one pairing which will keep you on the edge of your seat, as the tug of war is played out and keeps you guessing as to the who’s, whats, where’s and why’s are slowly revealed.

Review by @roxsannel

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Blind Magic: The Sanctuary Chronicles by India Kells – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Blind Magic (The Sanctuary Chronicles #2)Blind Magic by India Kells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sera Dover is an orphan, but she is also more than that, Sera is a witch. Ian Macon is a werewolf with a broken heart and darkness he cannot escape from.
We first meet Sera in the Sanctuary where she lives and join her as she wakes before sunrise and decides that she is going to go down to the kitchen for a cup of tea and to make some notes on her current research project.

It is on her way here that Ian Macon finds her and cannot turn away from the light she shines on him, the question is, does he want to? He is still torn up about losing his wife and mate and is caught between that and his wolf’s reaction to the light in Sera.

This is where the story really begins, as Sera loses an important part of who she is and discovers feelings that threaten to overwhelm her. She will need to uncover her past, present and future, how they all link together and what the consequences of these may be. While she does this, she is surrounded by friends and allies who rally around her and will protect her at all costs, but what will the costs be and how will she know what the right choices are?

You will be taken on a whirlwind ride and be there with her step by step as you become engrossed in the story, the characters and the world in which they all live. A definite page turner that keeps you guessing right until the end.

Review by @roxsannel

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Satan’s Devils MC Boxset 1 Books 1-5: Brothers protecting their own by Manda Mellett – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Satan's Devils MC Boxset Books 1-5Satan’s Devils MC Boxset Books 1-5 by Manda Mellett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is definitely a book that should only be read by those over 18, as there is profanity, extremely graphic and explicit scenes throughout, and not just of the adult variety. If you have any trigger points, or PTSD, this may be a series for you to avoid, but these books are great if you like hard hitting books that are full of emotion. They can be read individually, however, I would recommend reading them in the order in which they were written.

The stories are written from two viewpoints, the MC member and a woman and while you read about their experiences happening, it brings you even closer to the characters within each story as they have to battle their own demons, as well as help others to overcome theirs, an exhilarating ride (in more ways than one) and leaves you wanting to know what the next challenge over the horizon will be.

An exceedingly well written set of stories that leave you breathless and for a taste of the adventures awaiting inside, keep on reading!

Book 1 – Turning Wheels.

The book starts with a girls night out with Sophie talking to her best friend about their sex lives and jobs, you then follow their Friday night get togethers for another few weeks, until they stop altogether when sophie’s best friend meets someone and gradually stops meeting her. This is until her best friend turns up injured on her doorstep needing help getting away from her abusive boyfriend. Sophie helps her and then hears nothing for a while again.

We next see Sophie at home in bed, with someone banging on her door to get her attention. She decides between either her crutches or wheelchair to go answer, but chooses the crutches and ends up rushing and falling over. Upon hearing this, the person at the door kicks it in, thinking she is in trouble and after making sure she is, calls a friend to come repair her door.

While they are waiting, Sophie asks what is going on, her visitor introduces himself as Horse and tells her that he has been sent by her best friend and also tells her that she needs to leave her home, so that she is safe, she is admittedly shocked and doesn’t understand why.

This conversation carries on until the man’s friend arrives and starts to repair the door, Sophie then gets another visitor who comes to take her to see her best friend’s ex. It is at this point and after this visit and sophie’s demand for answers, he proceeds with an explanation of why he is there and she explains how she got injured in the first place. Sophie is asked to pack some items and after the confrontation between all three men and the conversation she has with Horse, the reality of her situation finally hits home.

She is whisked away and arrives with the Satan’s Devils Motorcycle Club and this is where she embarks on the journey that will change her life forever. This is a story with twists, turns, shocks, disappointments, hard work, but also happiness, celebration and a lot of sex.

Book two – Drummer’s Beat.

The book starts with Sam running out of gas on a trip to the Satan’s Devils Motorcycle Club, to confront one of its members. Drummer comes across her as she is considering what to do and starts to talk to her, she explains her situation and why she is heading to the club and decides to get her some gas and escort her there.

As she enters the compound, she is watched with eager eyes as she is a woman, but not one they know of with a vintage motorcycle that elicits questions and appreciation from the bikers.
Sam then goes to Drummers office, where she confronts the member she was searching for and explains her situation to him as well. This does not go to plan and she is not believed, she is then invited to spend the night at the club, as it is late, but that she has to leave the next morning.

When she wakes up, Sam is invited for breakfast and as she is preparing to leave, she finds the bikers crowded round her bike, only to find that it had lost all its oil and broken overnight. After a heated discussion, Sam is allowed two hours to fix it before another decision has to be made. Again, this does not go to plan and so Drummer decides to allow her to stay until the bike is fixed, much to the consternation of the other member.

This is where her story truly begins, as she fixes her bike, discovers that feelings she wanted to keep hidden come to the surface, there are fights, agreements, disagreements and sex. Boundaries are tested, broken and remade throughout the story as discoveries are made and life changes for all involved.

Book 3 – Slick Running.

This book starts with a link to “Turning Wheels” and a confrontation with another MC where the Satan’s Devil’s brought in a woman, Ella, to help them deal with the situation. She ends up getting hurt and although claimed by Slick, she abruptly leaves without a word to anyone apart from Drummer. We find ourselves revisiting her after she contacts Slick again, as she needs some help. Slick ignores the calls she is making and denies her his help (without consulting the rest of the club) in a spiteful manner because he is still hurting from when she left. She happens to call when he is in a meeting with Drummer and so he demands to know what is going on Slick explains the situation and Drummer demands that he goes over to see her and sort the issue out, as they owe her a lot.

When Slick goes to see Ella with one of the club Prospects, she is being harassed by her housemates boyfriend and when Slick sees that he is claiming that Ella is his. all the old feelings are brought back and neither of them quite knows how to deal with it, so when Ella makes it clear that she is not with the guy and gets into an argument with him, Slick and the prospect escort him out and tell him that he is not allowed back to the house. After this, Ella tells Slick why she has called him and why she needs the club’s help. Ella explains that she is worried about her younger sister because her behaviour has changed dramatically over the last few months, Slick agrees that he will ask the club if there is anything that they can do.

After this, Slick asks why she left him before and they both get angry and shout at each other, but she eventually gets to the point where she starts sobbing uncontrollably and the truth of her experience, that she has been hiding from everyone, comes out in all it’s foul reality. At this point she breaks down and Slick has to call Doc to come and see her. When Ella comes out of her faint, she finds that she is back at the club and doesn’t want to be there, in her mind, it is the last place that she wants to be. When the club find out exactly how much they owe Ella.

This is a story of revelations, revenge, protection, loyalty, trust being broken and remade, relationships being rebuilt and as always in this series, a lot of sex.

Book 4 – Targeting Dart.

This book starts with a sisters night out where we are introduced to Alex and Celine, they discuss their lives and what next steps that Alex needs to take, to become independent again and not to have to rely on her sister’s generosity for longer than she needs to. They notice and eye the two bikers entering the bar and start to discuss them and what they get up to, both professionally and personally. The older sister (Celine) tells her younger sister (Alex) about the club that they own and that they employ people as dancers and then Celine tries to convince Alex that it could be her perfect job as she is really good at it as a hobby and why not try! Alex takes a lot of convincing and muses on the suggestion while Celine goes to the bar. Alex then sees her talking to the two bikers and before she knows it, Celine has her set up with an audition at the club the next morning. Alex is shocked and appalled at the suggestion claiming that they won’t hire her because, for one, she is a woman of colour and two, not the typical body shape of what they would be looking for. In the end she agrees to the audition and goes to the club the next morning.

It is at the club that we meet Dart and another of the MC members who are going in to watch the audition as they have a spot that needs filling at the club. They know that they are expecting someone called Alex and what time she is turning up, but nothing about what she looks like, so they are shocked as well when Alex turns up bang on time. They take one look at her and do not approve of her looks, not her skin colour, but her body shape, so as Dart prepares to let her down easily, before they have even given her a chance, he goes over to talk to her. After inviting her to sit on a bar stool, her height issues come to the fore as she is unable to sit on it and after establishing that she is not a dwarf and that she is just short, Dart starts to discuss the position. During the conversation, Alex shows the fire within her when she is sure that they are going to dismiss her before even showing them what she can offer them, this show of attitude convinces the bikers to give her a shot on the pole and so she goes up and dances for them.

When she does this, Dart realises how good she is and what effect she has on him while she is dancing and it takes him by surprise, as it does the other members as well. This encourages him to make the decision to take her on, but when she says that she has conditions to attach to her employment, Dart starts wondering why she chooses the particular ones she does, he asks her to go into a bit more detail and when she does, he decides to take it back to the club to ask whether this is something that they may be able to help with.

As the story develops that Alex’s worries become reality, this is where she realises that she has to learn to trust, overcome and learn from the experiences she is going to have and Dart has to do the same. There are hurdles that must be crossed, decisions that have to be made and action that has to be taken. The MC has to decide whether to pull together and deal with hardship, friendship, relationships, sex and barriers to see whether their lives are going to change and what is going to come from it.

Book 5 – Heart Broken.

We start this time with Heart who we discover has been temporarily kicked out of the club after he was hospitalised by a motorcycle accident which killed his wife. Heart is out on a road trip which they had planned and is angry, grieving and lost in the feelings that this loss has left behind. He is just going through the motions, both physically and mentally, not really looking after himself and constantly berating himself for his wife’s untimely death. He is hurting deeply and cannot understand why he is doing what he is doing, apart from because it was the thing that they were going to be doing when she died.
He does not know what to do with himself and so, while he is trying to decide his future, he continues travelling until he can make that decision. There are things that he is remembering during this trip that remind him of his dead wife and he struggles to deal with it, all the while he is in contact with the police woman who has been dealing with the case from her side.

Marc (the detective) is struggling to convince her superiors that the report she has written about the case is valid and that she is certain of the facts that she has written in it. Unfortunately, her superior doesn’t want to hear any of it and maintains that her partner (who is, we find out, missing) is not involved in what she is stating in her report and that she is falsifying and twisting the truth to that end. She is put with another detective to work and sl;owly comes to the realization that he is just trying to keep her out of the way, so that she cannot work further on the case in question.

As Heart and Marc discuss the case over the phone and any developments within it, as they speak, they share some more personal details that they probably shouldn’t and so start to become more than just detectives and witness. This becomes apparent when Heart comes to a decision about his future and starts to plan how this will be realised. He receives a timely call from Marc who can sense what is going on and becomes someone who he realises has felt the same way as he is feeling now and their connection deepens because of this.

As this connection grows and becomes more complicated, life starts to get even harder for both of them and the reality of both their situations strike them in ways that they didn’t want or need in their lives. There is danger, sex, tenderness, beauty and hardship on the horizon and neither of them is prepared for it. As these issues arrive, loyalties are tested and reforged, life will never be the same for any of them, on both sides of the coin and deciding which side the coin lands on, depends on how the story will end.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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Hero High: The Figure In Flames by Mina Chara – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur

Figure in the Flames (Hero High, #1-3)Figure in the Flames by Mina Chara
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Friday Fitzsimmons is a 17 year old girl going to a new school, but she is no ordinary girl, she has superpowers and she is about to start Hero High in Icon City.

We meet Friday as she is flying to Icon City, so that she can support her family back home. Friday is anxious and shy, but is determined not to let them down. She arrives and is thrown straight into the glamour and all encompassing life that being a student at Hero High entails. There are reporters, photographers and video cameras ready to beam her student life to the world through their own reality TV show.
She and the other students are tested, grouped and placed with a mentor, before finally getting to meet the head teacher and see where they are going to live for the foreseeable future.
As Friday and the other students get used to their new life, as well as the rules, disappointments, advantages and disadvantages that come with it, they develop as people and have experiences they could never have dreamed of before this all started.
We follow Fridays adventures in this trilogy as she gets to grips with her new life, friends, classes and powers, as well as the life that comes with them.

The book starts as an interview with Friday and this style is intermittently dispersed throughout the book, where we learn tidbits that cannot be explained within the storyline. We meet and learn about the characters she comes into contact with and how all these relationships develop. This is done extremely well and keeps you guessing right up until the end.
It is an easy to follow story and flows very well, the “interview” sections do not disrupt this too much and do add to the story.
Various themes are explored throughout the story and deal with the emotional conflicts and turmoil that come along with these themes.It is a complex and engaging story that leaves you wanting more at the end and is a series that I want to finish.

Reviewe by @RoxsanneLesieur

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