Lovin' It! E.V. Evergreen - The Awakening (Divine Essence Chronicles) Book 1

The "Kindle Shuffle" is one of the best tools that I've found to this point for finding new authors, but I think I just scored big time on Twitter.

I've been on Twitter since just about the beginning, first with Pandora's Caja, then with the one that I created for my blogger personal Pandora Esperanza. While I try my best to follow others that have the same interests as me, the one thing that I always do is cruise through the accounts of people that follow me, like, or re-tweet my tweets. Recently I connected with an new author E.V. Evergreen. We hit it off and I do what I do best. I went to my Kindle App and downloaded her romance novel The Awakening (The Divine Essence Chronicles Book 1).

I'll be honest with you, this is going to make a beautiful series! It has the potential to be very powerful. For this to serve as book one in the series, it serves it's purpose, it lays down a fabulous foundation for all that it to come. It gives a good look into the heroine, Celéste, and the hero, Marcel. BUT it doesn't give so much away that there won't be goodies to discover in subsequent books. I also have to tell you that Celéste's character is all that and then some to me because...Oh, noooooo, I'm not going to give away any spoilers!!

I loved the book from the first page! It's a fairly quick read, fast paced action with a hint of the steamy "good good" that with more than likely occur in Book 2, Branded (The Divine Essence Chronicles). 

E.V. has one other book to her credit, Their Forbidden Rose. (Which I downloaded already *wink*). 

Bravo to E.V. Evergreen!!

To Sister Gurl E.V. - I LOVED IT!!! I Cannot wait to read the sequel! I'm a die hard PnR junkie, and I could see this being a movie or a television series. If this is your first work it is a killer first work. Brava! Brava!

Here's a sneak peak into The Awakening (The Divine Essence Chronicles, Book 1)

Much Love, 

Pandora Esperanza

"No one can choose their bloodline.
No one can choose their destiny.
In this world there was true evil, evil that only a select few could see.

Marcel was one of those few. Though his beginnings were less than ideal, the 22-year-old Hunter quickly made a name for himself. With a vow to protect the weak, hunt all that goes bump in the night, and silver axe clenched in his fist; Marcel seemed unstoppable. That was until he met Her.

20-year-old Celéste de Chevalier always thought her parents didn’t want her. Reared by her grandmother in the city of New Orleans since she was a newborn, ancient blood runs through her veins.


But there was something more here." E.V. Evergreen

Bonus Stories, The Death Nell For A Book (My Rant to Romance Publishers)

*I actually started this post quite some time ago, but I wasn't able to finish it then, and I', just getting aback around to it. The thought is just as relevant today as it was then, so I decided to get back into it*

I don't even know where to begin with this post. I am so disgusted right now! For the last 4 days, I've been trying to find a good steamy romance to sink my teeth into, but my search had been a BUST! Usually my Kindle App will do it's shuffle thing and produce a selection that yields at least one book that's appealing. I've stumbled across so many great authors through random searches that never in my wildest dreams would I think that I would come across one the worst books that I've ever tried to read. I try to live by the motto, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Which is why, I won't publish the name of this particular book. Truth be told, this isn't the first time this has happened to be, this is just the first time that I decided to vent about it.

So here's how it went. I did the Kindle Shuffle, and I see a book that I think looks pretty good, it was free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, so what the heck. (The cover art was suspect...I should have known!) Anyway, I get the book and start reading...it took me 20 minutes to read the title story just to find out that the 90% of the book was comprised of some of the THE MOST TERRIBLE bonus stories that I have every read! There were like 30 of them!.... If I had paid money for this book, I would have had to call Amazon Customer Service and ask for my money back!


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Part of me gets it. Publishers are trying to take a bunch of really short works and pack them in behind the title story, hoping that if you read them, you'll like them and purchase more stories from the author. This might work if it's one or two novellas tucked in after the main story, but if there's more that that, I guarantee you they're going to SUCK!

I don't begrudge any writer from trying to get their stories published, but DAMN, can publishers please put a warning label on these books and say, "Beware going forward! Reading this book bay cause you to want to slap somebody."



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So publishers, if any of you happen to read this, please for the love of Almighty God stop this practice. We just really, really great reads, long, short, it doesn't matter as long as their good. Thank you for your time.

And thank all of you for listening to my rant. This will be the last one for a while, I promise *fingers crossed behind my back*

Much Love,

Pandora

BBW Romance Is What You GET What You SEE?

Hola to all my beautiful bibliophiles! As of this writing, I'm currently reading a BBW romance and so far so great! With just one draw back, the  cover art would never give away that it was a BBW story. Why is that anyway?

When this random book came up on my suggestions from Kindle. I looked at the title and the cover art and thought, "This looks like a good one!" The cover art is of a beautiful, sexy couple in a passionate embrace.The leading man is a Michael Angelo work come to life and the woman looks like she was created from stardust and desire, of course she's the standard model build. The problem came in when I start reading the story. From the very first description of the leading lady, the reader knows that she's a BBW.

The name of the book shall remain anonymous because I'm really vibing with the story thus far; but I would have never been able to guess from the cover art that this was a BBW romance; the cover art and the story just didn't go together. So why doesn't the cover art reflect what the story's about.

I started thinking back on all the other romance's I've read that were supposed to be from this same genre, and I realized that they all had the same short coming. I'm going to be transparent with you, I myself am an AA/BBW. I'm not going to say that I don't struggle with self image from time to time, more often that I would actually like; however, how cool would it be to see a BBW represented by the cover art on the very genre that bears her name?

Is it that publishers think that BBW don't want to see a realistic representation of themselves on their covers? Well, in my opinion as a BBW I think their wrong! Do publishers even know WHY BBW read this genre? Because they want to read about women finding love that they can identify with.

In a world that's obsessed with the notion that all women should look like they just stepped off the runway of Fashion Week, there are so many women that struggle with seeing themselves as desirable. BBW are strong, beautiful, sensual, and sexual beings. We're not just relegated to being the side-kick BFF.

To all of the authors of BBW romance, please do your demographic a favor, insist that the cover model reflects the leading lady in your book. Hopefully you decided to write this genre because you saw a need. Part of filling that need is making sure that the cover reflects what's inside.

With all that being said, the next time I pick up a story that's supposed to be from the BBW genre I hope and pray that I see a BBW on the cover along with her Cover Hottie Man! Thank you in advance for talking the time to listen to my rant.

Much Love ~

Pandora

Celia Aaron Acquisition Series - The Best Dark Romance That You're Not Going To Want To Read

Today wasn't the best of day for me, (courtesy of seasonal allergies) but I couldn't let the day come to and end without getting through this book review. My last review touched on book one of this series, Counselor, but now I've finished the entire series and it's without a doubt been one of the toughest reads that I've had in a very, very long time; but not for the reasons that you might think.

I need to take a minute to tell you a little about about me in order for you to get the jist of where I'm going to go with this review. I'm the kind of person that loves to ride the highest, fasted roller-coaster that you have, but I'm going to scream the entire time. I love suspense films, but I'm going to cover my eyes and the intense parts. I've even been known to hit pause on a film just to take a smoke break to calm my nerves down! With that said, Celia Aaron's Acquisition Series was better that any roller coaster that I've ever been on!


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The Weather Is Finally Heating Up And So Is The Romance!

It has been TOO long readers, and for that I have no excuse. Life if just like that sometimes, BUT I have finally found some time (when I'm not exhausted, you know, working full time, taking care of an elderly parent, my kids, and a house. It takes a toll) to sit down and catch you up on all that is good out there in "Alphabet City".

The weather is finally getting warmer and so is the romance! There were actually a few surprises out there! So of course I had to share them with you.

I'm going to start with Rebekah Weatherspoon's Haven, the first book in her new Beards and Bondage series. As you know, Rebekah is one of my favorite authors, and while I haven't read all of her work, the ones that I have read I've thoroughly fallen in love with. Haven is no exception.

One of the main reasons that I enjoy Rebekah's work is her award winning ability to blend lovable characters, humor, and steamy sex into a story that's a true page turner. Haven was something that I just didn't expect. Like I said, I haven't read all of her work, so maybe Rebekah has other works similar to this; but Haven is a much darker type of romance than the other works that I've had the pleasure of reading.

Beards and Bondage falls in the  BDSM, Contemporary, Drama, Erotic Romance, Romance, Suspense genres.

*Personal Note* To Rebekah, thank you for what you bring to the world of romance, especially interracial romance. So many books in the BWWM realm seem to just be some thrown together, from who knows where, story where all the female character can do is simply be grateful to the billionaire boyfriend and "oops" somehow end up pregnant. Thank you for writing two characters that are strong even in their "brokenness".

Starting The Year Off Right! My Faves (List 1)

I know we're almost to the end of the first month of the new year, but there's still time for me to give a list of books that will keep your TBR List fat and happy for the next few months. I'll start with my top picks and then follow-up with my honorable mentions.

1. Rebekah Weatherspoon's
    So For Real

Let me start by saying Rebekah! Gurl! I love you and your writing!!! Please, please don't ever STOP!
*Whew* with my "Fan Girl" rant now over let's talk about Rebekah Weatherspoon's So For Real.

So For Real is the third book in the Sugar Baby novella series. This book went live on November 1, 2016. There are very few series that make me bite my nails while I'm waiting for it, but this is one of them. I just had to find out what was going on with the main characters Kayla and Michael! We have gone on a funny, sexy, loving journey with them and of course I wanted to see that happy ending. As expected Rebekah did not disappoint. Her writing is filled with well placed humor, pop your ovaries "good good", as well as creating characters that you will cry with and root for. Well done Sister Gurl!!

"Even the best laid plans can go completely off the rails…

After pulling off the perfect wedding, Kayla Davis, now Kayla Bradbury need only sit back and enjoy her wonderful life with her amazing husband, internet billionaire and NBA franchise owner, Michael Bradbury. The two are so head over heels for each other that finding creative ways to extend their honeymoon a whole year seems like the only logical next step in their fool-proof plan for happiness.

Too bad life has other ideas for the newlyweds. With personnel hiccups in her small business, a husband balancing dual CEO responsibilities, and news that there will be not one, but two unexpected additions to the Bradbury crew, Kayla needs to totally reconfigure her life if she has any hope of keeping things afloat." - Rebekah Weatherspoon 

M. Skye and Jenika Snow Two Halves Of The Same Delicious Coin

My life is still in hectic mode! Just bought a new house, so I've been packing and moving for the second time, but hopefully the last time. The process is a BEAR! But during that time I did manage to get some reading in.

The time that I did find to read I chose to spend my time with M. Skye and Jenika Snow. These two ladies are both home run hitters in the world of erotica/romance writing, but they each have a different style that will be sure to cure what ever is ailing you. Sometimes you want it slow and languid with an intense build, sometimes you want it quick, hot, and dirty. That's what these ladies will give you.

First let's start with slow, languid, and intense, that would be M.Skye. I read From Main Chick to Mistress. I don't do spoilers, but I will tell you that in true M. Skye form this is a full length read. The story is on point! I can tell you this, it's a fully flushed out story with characters that you will fall in love with and root for. There is loads of hot and steamy Good Good, as well a several plot twists that honestly, you just won't see coming.

After her husband of fifteen years dumped her, Elizabeth Pearson decided the best revenge would be to become the very thing she despised most a mistress…

Embarking on a racy affair with her ex-husband, Cedric, Liz gets the best of both worlds, while sticking it to him and his new bride, Felicia. Having the most fun and the best sex life she has ever had, Elizabeth soon discovers divorce may have been the best thing that ever happened to her.

With new players in the mix, and love and money on the line, Elizabeth has to decide if she wants Cedric, or if he’s just a loose end to tie in her quest for revenge.

I also recommend A Kiss Before Lying 1 and 2.

Dear M. Skye, I really, REALLY hope that there will be some sort of sequel or follow-up to this book! Loved it!

Renea Mason and Rebekah Weatherspoon Heating Up My Summer Reading List

First let me apologize for being gone for so long. I blame it on y pesky gall bladder that suddenly found itself in need of removal. You would have though that I would have had plenty of time to read and write, but actually I spent most of my time sleeping. The body just doesn't bounce back as quickly as it used to, old age, what a bummer. Anyway, when I was finally able to make my way back to my favorite past-time, steamy romances, I couldn't think of two better authors that I wanted to hop back on the train with than Renea Mason and Rebekah Weatherspoon.

Both Renea and Rebekah are celebrated Erotica Romance Authors in her own right. Rene Mason is a  Audie Award Winner for Curing Dr. Vincent, and Rebekah Mason's novella FIT (#1 in the FIT Trilogy) won the Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Erotica Novella and most recently SATED (#3 in the FIT Trilogy) was nominated for the the Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Digital Erotic Romance. With that being said, the least of your worries is if you will enjoy their work.

The first book on my list was Loving Dr. Vincent, book three in the Good Doctor Series (Renea, if you happen to read this, I REALLY think there's room there for a book four!) Anyhoo, Not only is this one of the best series that I've ever read, it's a perfect example of
excellent story and steamy menage good good that will have your toes curling and your forehead breaking out into and sweat and your lady parts trying to evolve into a sentient being!

Loving Dr. Vincent brings all of the characters full circle and the main story to a well thought out and developed conclusion.

Excerpt

"Elaine Watkins, Public Relations Advisor, is surprised when she receives a summons from the very attractive and enigmatic Dr. Xavier Vincent. She worships the talented physician and company icon responsible for developing the cure that saved her sister’s life and isn’t immune to his charm. Even though puzzled by his request, she is excited and eager to get started on his latest project.

But Dr. Vincent has other ideas. Instead of discussing cures, drugs and marketing strategies, he asks Elaine to join him in Paris to indulge his unique sexual appetites.

Torn between gratitude for saving her sister, her attraction for the powerful man and compromising her pre-conceived notions of sexuality, she must decide if it’s easier to feed his desires or walk away. Until she devises a plan of her own.

“Make no mistake, Elaine, I am a king. Kings command and conquer. They are brutal and uncompromising. You don’t want a king. Face it, you came here expecting a saint.” 
– Dr. Xavier Vincent"

From the first word of the first book to the final word of the last chapter, Renea will keep you enthralled. I look forward to keeping up with her.

Please check out her work on her website Renea Mason, Love Undefined. You can also follow her on Twitter, Google+, and Instagram.

Now! On to my beloved Sister Gurl, Rebekah Weatherspoon! This is the second installment in her Sugar Baby Novella Series. There are certain literary flavors that I've come to expect from Rebekah and So Right, does not disappoint.

Rebekah has, in my opinion  very unique talent of finding the perfect  balance of steamy, curl your toes Good Good, and humor that any reader will find genuine and refreshing. I also HIGHLY recommend her Fit Series, which is another one of my personal favorites.

Excerpt

First comes love. Then comes…the most ill timed proposal in history?

Kayla Davis never dreamt she’d meet sexy, considerate, and seriously sweet Internet billionaire, Michael Bradbury, but ten months after Michael went from Sugar Daddy to for real boyfriend she can’t imagine spending another day without him. Cohabitation is totally working—throw in a puppy or two and Kayla has her happily ever after wrapped up in a perfect little bow.

Until she finds out Michael might have bigger plans for their future, like marriage, kids, and ownership of a professional sports team. Kayla is more than ready to join Michael on this amazing ride through the next chapter of their lives, but first she needs to catch her breath and see if Michael is ready to be a part of a team and not just the boss.

Rebekah, this is from me to you. You are one of the very few erotic romance writers that ALWAYS manages to serve up exactly what I nee when I need it! Thank you for staying true to yourself. Continue exploring the depth and beauty of your unique voice, we don't have enough of them in the world.

You can follow Rebekah on her website, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Where Happily Ever Afters Are Always In Color, Twitter, and Facebook.

Stay tuned to more book reviews, I promise not to stay away this long again!

Much Love,

Pandora