Stock Up Saturday Reviews

Can’t Hurry Love
Book 3 in the Three Kisses Trilogy
by Christie Ridgway
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 5, 2011


Vowing to her dying mother to take care of her younger sisters, Giuliana (Jules) Baci has always put her sisters’ needs first. Now that both sisters are happily married, Julies is ready to make some difficult decision about the family winery, Tanti Baci. She has given herself a one-year deadline to make the winery profitable or sell it. With that year just about up, the three sisters plan a huge wedding vow renewal event in hopes of saving the winery. As the event draws near, Jules hopes a secret she has been keeping will not come out. There is only one other person in the valley who knows the secret – Liam Bennett.

Liam Bennett cannot believe that after a decade of heartache and sorrow, he is still in love with Jules. With her back in the valley and working at the winery, images of young love haunt Liam daily. Though years have passed, the spark and passion of their love lingers (and sizzles) between Liam and Jules. Liam is not ready to give up Jules again. That is one mistake he is determined not to repeat.

When secrets of their relationship are revealed, Liam and Jules are forced to face their past and see the possibilities of a future. Between much loss and angst grows a love of a lifetime.

This book is a fabulous end to the Three Kisses trilogy. Full of emotion and passion, Ms. Ridgway delivers yet another wonderful read. While CAN'T HURRY LOVE can be read on its own, I would highly recommend you read CRUSH ON YOU and THEN HE KISSED ME so that you can understand the family dynamics.


~ Buffie

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Vampire in Atlantis

The Warriors of Poseidon, Book # 7

By Alyssa Day

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

Release Date: June 7, 2011

The most unexpected of all allies to Poseidon’s warriors has proven to be the fiercest---Daniel, a vampire and Nightwalker Guild mage. But even the strongest alliance can be destroyed when an eleven-thousand-year-old desire is reborn…

Daniel is an eleven-thousand-year-old vampire who has spent most of that time protecting humans from other nightwalkers, as well as being an ally of the Warriors of Poseidon. Daniel has also spent those many millennia mourning the loss of his first and only love, Serai, who was swept from his life when Atlantis sank beneath the waves.

Serai of Atlantis, a princess of Poseidon has spent the last eleven thousand years in magical stasis---locked in a crystal pod in Atlantis in order to ensure and protect the future of the Atlantean race. But due to a disruption from the Emperor---one of the lost gems of Poseidon’s trident which is now being used by a dark sorceress---Serai’s crystal pod shatters and she is free. Shortly thereafter she finds herself face to face with her long-lost love, Daniel who has been magically transported to Atlantis. Can these two lovers reclaim the love they once knew while they battle an evil that threatens all they hold dear?

Alyssa Day’s Warriors of Poseidon is such a fun series, and it is possible to read it out of order and not be lost---I started in the middle, even with my anal tendency to read a series in order. Serai and Daniel are such a romantic couple---eleven thousand is a heck of a long time to wait for your love, but true love, in this case, really does conquer all. This passage says it all:

“My heart has waited for you all of my life. I feel like I’m learning what a kiss is for the very first time, and I want to learn it with you,” he said, and she fell.

Fell out of doubt, out of insecurity, out of shyness.

Fell into love.

Now that’s what I call one romantic hero. I fell for Daniel as hard as Serai did. Plenty of heat, humor, suspense and romance---Vampire in Atlantis has it all. If you haven’t read this series yet, I urge you to get started. Those warriors of Poseidon put the ‘S’ in sexy!

~ Gannon

Review - Atlantis Redeemed

Atlantis Redeemed
By Alyssa Day
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 2, 2010

The Warrior's Creed
We will wait. And watch. And protect.
And serve as first warning on the eve of humanity's destruction.
Then, and only then, Atlantis will rise. For we are the Warriors of Poseidon, and the mark of the Trident we bear serves as witness to our sacred duty to safeguard mankind.

Atlantean warrior Brennan was cursed millennia ago by Poseidon to live his life without experiencing any emotions. When he meets his true mate, all of his long-denied emotions will rush over him all at once. And, to quote Poseidon:

"If that alone is not enough to destroy you, you will also be cursed to forget your mate whenever she is out of your sight. Only when she is dead--her heart stopped and her soul flown--will your memory of her fully return to you, thus allowing you until the end of your days to repent bringing dishonor upon the name of the Warriors of Poseidon."

Brennan's curse comes full circle when he meets Tiernan Butler, an investigative reporter.... and his soul mate. She is also blessed with the ancient Gift of truth telling, instantly knowing when someone is lying. Tiernan is working with the Atlantean warriors to delve into the heinous experiments that human scientists are performing on shape-shifters. Tiernan goes undercover and meets Brennan at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. While she is most definitely attracted to him--he's tall, dark, buff and incredibly handsome...who wouldn't be attracted?--Brennan is struck to the core with the knowledge that she is the one.

The face from those fragments of nearly forgotten dreams. He saw her face, and the entire world jolted and fell out of orbit. There was no sun. There was only her. Tiernan.

Tiernan is fighting her own emotional war. Instant attraction and desire for this sexy Atlantean and puzzlement at his behavior toward her, as if he'll die if he doesn't have her. And his absolute fear to be away from her for even more than a minute. But because of her gift of seeing the truth in others, Tiernan knows that Brennan is speaking the truth from his heart about his curse and why he believes she is his mate.

Tiernan and Brennan must work together to fight the evil that could spell the end for both of their worlds. Will they survive the battle or will Poseidon's curse be the end of their potential happiness?

Ms. Day blends action, suspense and fiery hot sensuality to create another winning book in her Warriors of Poseidon series. This is the first one that I've read-- but the fourth in the series-- and while I like to read a series in order, I had no trouble jumping right in to the story. Brennan is my favorite kind of hero: tall, dark, gorgeous and emotionally wounded. There's nothing better than watching a tortured hero--and is he ever tortured!--healed by the love of the heroine. Tiernan and Brennan are a match made in heaven....or Atlantis. *g* Brennan's complete and utter love and devotion to Tiernan had me sighing through this entire story.

"You are more than I could ever deserve, Tiernan Butler," he said, his voice low and husky. "I will see you safely out of this hell if it is the last thing I ever accomplish in this life. You are mine, my revelation and my redemption, and I will never let you go."

So if you fancy a sexy, tortured hero, I highly recommend Atlantis Redeemed.

~ Gannon