In “Turn Up the Heat” by Sherrilyn Kenyon (book 5 in the BAD series), Allison George wins the Heroine Hideaway sweepstakes and flies to a tropical island to enact the plot of her favorite romance novel. While there, she meets Vince and her safe, planned fantasy goes awry.
Vince Cappelleti is a mob hitman on the run from the “family.” His old childhood friend Z, now a rich and legit businessman, smuggles him out of the US and hides him on his island. Vince knows the mob will eventually catch up with him, so he keeps to himself and avoids people, but he’s bored and lonely. Then he meets Allison, a sweet woman who’s far too good for him.
Allison and Vince are in lust at first sight. I wish the novella would’ve been longer to give more detail about Vince’s past and to show the H/h falling in love, but at least there’s attraction to build their relationship on.
The head hopping annoyed me, but I managed to figure out whose POV I was reading in easily enough. I’m a big fan of Ms. Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series, but I haven’t read many of her BAD books. From what I know of the series, the BAD agency didn’t play a big role in this book, and I felt a little lost during the climax because I didn’t know who some of the people were, people who’d surely played a bigger role in the previous stories.
Still, this is a good, fast-paced action/adventure romance.
4 Stars

In “Hunter’s Oath” by Jaid Black, a civilization of Vikings flourishes beneath the surface of the earth and has done so for thousands of years. It’s custom for bride-hunters to go aboveground and find suitable wives to steal, so the men can bid on the women at the auction block.
As the leader of the Viking sector of Hannu, Lord Johen Stefsson only cares about helping his people and trying to make peace with his corrupt king. Though he’s not in want of a wife, especially an Outsider (a woman from aboveground), the naked blonde woman on the stage captures his attention.
Sofia Rowley flew to Alaska to attend her brother’s funeral, and then found herself kidnapped and hauled to a cabin in the snowy mountains. Her strange captors transported her underground, and she soon winds up married to the hottest, biggest man she’s ever seen.
Johen and Sofia are interesting characters. He’s totally smitten with her at first sight, and it’s so much fun to see a big, burly man fall head over heels for a woman. Sofia longs for freedom but can’t deny the happiness she’s found in Johen’s arms.
Though the novella ends with a HEA, there are loose ends concerning the bride-hunters’ punishment and the revolution that’s going to take place in New Sweden. If not for that (and a few typos), I would’ve rated this story with 5 stars because I really enjoyed it.
4 Stars

In “The Warlord Wants Forever” by Kresley Cole (the prequel to the Immortals After Dark series), Nikolai Wroth died as a human three hundred years earlier and awoke a vampire. As a forbearer, a turned human, he willingly serves the full-blooded vampire who turned and has pledged his loyalty to the vampire faction, which is made up of other forbearers. None of them know anything about vampire history or the history of other supposedly mythological creatures, and they’re desperate for information. He doesn’t breathe, his heart doesn’t beat, and he cannot feel sexual desire. Then he meets Myst, a strange woman who changes everything. She’s his Bride, and he has to have her.
Myst is a Valkyrie and is always used as bait by her sisters to catch and kill their enemies. Valkyries and vampires are mortal enemies, and she finds it hilarious Wroth doesn’t know that. Instead of giving him the information he and the faction needs to survive, she teases him and bloods him (she makes his dead-like body respond to her), and then leaves him in a state of sexual torment for five long years. When he finally catches up with her, the furious vampire will finally claim her as his own.
I liked Wroth for the most part, but I didn’t like Myst. She was selfish, cruel, and so hardened that she kept her gentleness far from the surface. She didn’t care how much she hurt Worth and wouldn’t apologize even when she felt a little guilty. Her Valkyrie sisters were just as slutty and heartless, but I hope a lot of if was just act.
I’ve heard great things about this series, and this is the first IAD book I’ve read. Unfortunately, I found it confusing. The history of the Lore was scattered throughout the story and wasn’t straightforward. I didn’t understand the animosity between the warring species and why they warred within themselves.
I plan on reading the other books, and hopefully, I’ll understand them better than I did this one.
3 Stars

Book Overall – 4 Stars ( )

3.75 Stars

The three stories were okay.
I had already read the 3rd story by Kresley Cole a while back and I liked it best.
All three stories could have been better, but each had their own special flavors for the reader to enjoy. ( )

Since this was an anthology I can't really review one book entirely. But What I do remember from reading all of them, is that they all hooked me into each of these series and though I haven't started Vikings Underground yet, the story captivated me, it was an intriguing new style of a story, With Time Travel, Dominant men, strong women, and in the end love and compassion. B.A.D. I love Sherrilyn Kenyon before I ever read this book so I knew I would probably like it and though it's not really in the norm of what I read I enjoyed and have since read another book in this series and enjoyed it and it will be reviewed on another page. Warlord wants forever had me so captivated that I instantly when out and bought "A Hunger like no other" and today I'm pretty far into the series. ( )

I bought this book to read "The warlord wants forever" and after reading that, I tried to read the other two stories and didn't find them nearly as engaging as twwf. ( )

Turn up the Heat by Sherrilyn Kenyon - 3
Vince is an ex mafia hit man hiding out and Allison is a grocery clerk on a fantasy trip to relive a romance from one of her novels. Very much a fantasy story, with instant lust, hot sex, running from the bad guys suspense.
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