Garridan’s Mate by Rebecca Hefner

These two bad-ass Vampyre soldiers are committed to doing whatever is necessary to save their fellow countrymen, and each other, from the forces of evil.

What’s it About? 

Lose yourself in the magic…

General Garridan has lived for centuries without a bonded mate. Born an aristocrat, he chose to forgo his family’s wealth and privilege to fight in the Vampyre immortal army. After the centuries-long War of the Species ended, a new foe emerged, reaffirming his vow to protect his people. Although his father wants him to bond with an aristocrat and settle down, Garridan only has eyes for one woman.

Siora is a natural warrior. When the immortal army finally allows women to join, she pledges to become the first battalion leader as conflict consumes the realm. Once they defeat Bakari, she can settle into a security role at Lynia and help her father at his farm. Dreams of the amber-eyed Vampyre who relentlessly pushes her during training have no place in her world, even if the general is the only man who’s ever made her long for a bonded mate.

Consumed by her skill and effort, along with her inherent natural beauty, Garridan offers to help Siora secure a leadership position as they near the final battle. Although she swears they have no future, Garridan finds himself longing to claim the stubborn woman as his mate, no matter the cost. Can two warriors from different paths find love amid their blazing desire, or will fear douse their spark before it’s barely begun to burn?

First Impressions

We were initially introduced to Siora in the sixth novel of the Etherya’s Earth series “The Cryptic Prophecy”. I distinctly remember the first scene where she was introduced to interact with one of our main characters in that book and immediately thinking, “Mkay, so she’s definitely gonna need her own book one day.” Lo and behold, wish for something with every fiber of your being, and you shall receive.

While Siora and Garridan don’t get their own full-length novel, we get this perfect intermediary novella which essentially takes place in the last few weeks leading up to the epic battle which took place at the end of book six, and concludes with us in the same timeframe as when that book also ended. This novella was truly the perfect vehicle to tell the story of these two soldiers. It makes sense with their combat training that their love would blossom in the close quarters leading up to the final battle. Had there been an attempt to squeeze their story into book six in between the scenes of Callie and Brecken’s romance, I don’t think it would have received the attention it deserved. Therefore, this novella provides us with the perfect opportunity to see their story as a stand-alone rather than an afterthought, while still fitting into the overall general timeline of the series. Smart move by the author for sure!

An Activity Better than Sex?

Do you know how I realized this book was going to be amazing within just the first few pages? Easy. Battalion commander + soldier = sparring. Lots…and lots…of sparring. And lemme tell ya, that is Siora and Garridan’s physical activity of choice throughout the vast majority of this read, which of course inevitably leads to a more sultry pastime. When Garridan first offered to train with Siora for a few hours in the evenings I immediately said to myself, “If these two don’t end up with Siora flat on her back and Garridan splayed out over her thighs with her hands held down by both of his at some point, you can revoke my romance novel fan-card right now.” Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long at all for this blessed scenario to occur. The true benefits of a novella: you don’t have to wait around before you get to the good stuff. And believe me when I tell you there was plenty of delicious stuff to enjoy in this one.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Etherya’s Earth, book 6.5. Part of the Hearts Unleashed Anthology. While I didn’t read the rest of the anthology in which this novella appeared, I can tell you that Etherya’s Earth is definitely one of my favorite series ever.

Final Impressions: Sometimes I don’t always understand half-books in between full-length novels of a series, but in this instance it really worked. We get just a small glimpse of the suspense of battle at the very end of this short read, but for the most part this novella provides us with a welcome breather in between some of the more intense action happening in the series as a whole. We primarily get to indulge in the passionate scenes of Siora and Garridan learning how perfect they are for each other. I also appreciated that Garridan never pushed Siora into admitting they were destined mates before she was ready. When she expressed hesitancy over a future with Garridan, he had the wherewithal to give her the space she needed to realize on her own that they were meant for each other. Absolute perfection!

Smut Level: So…much…sparring!! The fact Garridan had the strength to literally tear the sports bra from Siora’s chest on more than one occasion was a pure delight. We’ve all come across scenes of panty ripping, but sports bra ripping is a special category all on its own.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $0.99 Kindle Price. Naughty Nights Press, LLC. 

Christmas on the Beach by Tori L. Wilson

Well I’ll be a son of a gun! We have a male lead with the name Erik, ending in a ‘k’. Just like my brother! It’s such a rarity to find an Erik that doesn’t end in a ‘c’. Oh boy, and now I’m thinking of my brother in reference to the male lead of a romance novel. Great, can’t wait to see how long it takes me to separate that concept!

What’s it About?

Aria spends her days living in a small one bedroom apartment on Jekyll Island with her adorable cat, Salem. Every day, she lives out her dream creating new paintings and selling them to customers online. Despite all of this, however, she still feels as though she is missing something. One crisp December morning, she meets a man on the beach by chance. Erik, a handsome Korean man, is visiting the island for Christmas. Will their love blossom regardless of the freezing weather or will tragedy grip Erik’s heart in its icy clutches?

First Impressions

Now I know what you’re thinking. It’s May, why the hell am I featuring a romance novel set during Christmas?! I can’t even use the whole excuse of it being Christmas in July, or something silly like that. Well, what can I say? This is what happens when you host a romance novel blog, and you get severely behind on reading through your author review requests! Only 26 more to get through and I’ll be officially caught up. Which means…yeah I’ll probably never get caught up, and next thing you know I”ll be reviewing a book set around Halloween in June. Anywho, let’s get down to the nitty gritty details of this little novella, shall we?

First things first, “little novella” is about as accurate as a description as we can have here, seeing as this tale is just 49 pages in length. That miiiiiight just be a record of the shortest story I’ve ever featured. Although we are dealing with a short novella, this story incorporates quite a lot of heavy subject matter involving the feeling of loneliness which can surround the holidays. Aria is experiencing Christmas alone in her beach house, and we are reminded that during winter the beach can be a cold and foreboding place. For Erik, it’s an extremely sad and solitary family Christmas vacation by the beach seeing as the rest of his family isn’t actually present. His parents both met an untimely death the week before during a home invasion gone wrong, and the rest of his family is all back in Korea for the funeral. Man, I feel like I need a shot of tequila to make it through this one! Despite the sad premise, these two lonely souls are able to come together to find a moment of happiness, and maybe even love during the holidays.

Finding Love on the Beach

This novel starts off very strong! I always get worried when we have a romance set in such a limited number of pages, as it usually feels like our lead couple comes together way too quickly for my liking. However, when it came to this tale of woe, you really are rooting for Erik and Aria to come together so that they can provide comfort for each other during such a difficult time. The setting of the beach also provided some very interesting symbolism towards the beginning, as we open on the cold gray of the ocean which surrounds our characters during their lonely holiday, but as their time together progresses they are able to rediscover the beauty of the island. They also spend a delectable amount of time together drinking hot chocolate, and cuddling under blankets on the couch whilst watching Christmas movies. Honestly, I see nothing wrong with this.

Tapering Off at the End

Unfortunately, there is one crucial scene in this novella which wasn’t my favorite, and it surrounds the discussion we all knew was coming: Erik’s inevitable return to Korea. Erik admits the day after he and Aria first have sex that he’ll be headed home within 24 hours. In my humble opinion, Aria gets a bit overly emotional when he reveals this little detail. She accuses him of just using her for sex, and proceeds to kick him out of her apartment. And he just leaves. Mkay, a few issues here. First of all. The dude’s parents were just murdered! He’s heading home to be with his family. Give the guy a break!

Now, to be fair, Aria quickly realizes her mistaken overreaction later that evening, but my goodness in the moment it just made me cringe. And then there’s Erik. When Aria told him to leave, he just put his head down in sadness and left. Again, to be fair, I can’t really blame the guy. He’s got other more worrisome things on his mind right now than to argue with a woman he just met two days ago who is upset he has to go home to grieve with his family. I just wish that he would have fought just a bit more for their relationship. Yes, they came together very quickly, but if he had stayed back to try and make any kind of argument for why she shouldn’t throw him out in the cold, I think I would have warmed to this relationship even more.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Part of the Snowman Anthology.

Should you read it? I just love that we have a male lead who can make bibimbap. I’ll take him for myself if you don’t mind! Would have preferred a Korean male for the cover art, but what can ya do? This novella has a strong start, but as the story goes on there is quite a lot left unexplored. For example, we never really learn why Aria was alone for Christmas, seeing as she mentions her parents and sister at multiple points throughout the story. Also, even though I was rooting for these two to get together, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of their emotional connection was based on true love, and how much was because Aria happened to be there to comfort Erik at a difficult time in his life. Will this be a forever romance? I’m not 100% sure as of right now, but I would absolutely love to get a follow-up to this tale. I’d definitely read it, no question.

Smut Level: We don’t really have any explicit detail when it comes to the sex scenes in this one. There’s several kisses, waking up the morning after tangled together in the sheets, and even the discussion of whether or not to take a shower together. Nice!

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $1.99 Kindle Price. Books to Go Now. 49 Pages.