Review: Mine to Crave by Cynthia Eden

I really like Cynthia Eden's Mine series.  Reading this series reminded me of how much I used to love good mystery/suspense novels.  I was so happy to get this fourth book in the series, I set aside everything I was doing or was supposed to do, and read the entire book beginning to end in one sitting on a Saturday morning.  Suffice it to say, time well spent, loved this book.

This series focuses on a group of men who share a very dark, dangerous past.  They were involved in the military, went on some top secret missions and did things they don't like to talk about or think about now.  They've moved on, each successful in their own business - security, hotels, and in this case, casinos.  They bonded over the shared events in their past and are always there to watch out for each other.

Mine to Crave is Drake's story.  In the earlier books in the series, we've seen his friends succumb to obsession, or in other words, fall in love and get married.  He thinks he's above all that "falling in love" stuff, thinks his friends are fools for falling as hard as they've fallen.  Then one night he notices Jasmine sitting at the bar as a casino he owns in Vegas.  Some time with Jasmine has him thinking all kinds of things he's never thought before.

I especially like the heroine in this book.  Jasmine is tough and knows what she wants and what she has to do to get it.  There are so many layers to her character. Nothing weak about this woman at all.  She's the perfect match for Drake. 

I enjoyed reading about how their attraction develops.  While it may be instant lust, it's their time together than turns that into something more.  (One of my big complaints about some romance novels is the lack of buildup before the characters decide they're "in love".)  This book handled that well, had me thoroughly convinced of their feelings for each other.

As always with this series, the suspense and danger is there.  Lots of bad guys, mystery, secrets from their pasts, cool Vegas and New Orleans settings, explosions and trips on private jets.  So good.  And did I mention how hot Drake and Jasmine are together?        

If you are a fan of romantic suspense - the kind with all sorts of action, twists and turns and no clue who the bad guy is until the very end, and lots of hot, hot sex - this series is for you.  Anxiously awaiting the next in the series.  

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Phantom Evil by Heather Graham

I love New Orleans.  I hope to someday live in New Orleans.  It's part of that long-term plan I've been putting together for years. 

I picked up this book because of the cover, which seems to scream New Orleans ghost story.  Part of what I love about New Orleans are the ghosts.  But I didn't like this book much at all. 

This is the first in a series, so I guess the author was trying to introduce everyone to build up future stories.  But the result was too many characters and too many story lines.  I couldn't keep all the names straight and after a while I quit trying.  I was also under the impression that this was something of a romance, but "romance" wasn't very well developed.  I didn't know enough about the "lovers" involved to care much about what happened between them.

Also, the ghost story didn't really have anything to do with the crime the group was trying to solve.

I thought this was going to be a quick, fun read, but it took me weeks to get through it because it just never held my interest.  I had to force myself to finish it, hoping it would get better.  When I finished reading it though, I wished I hadn't wasted my time on it.  There are better New Orleans ghost stories out there.

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue

The title is what drew me to this book. The cover featured the hazy image of the back of a young woman. The saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover" but in truth, a nice cover and an enticing title does quite a bit to make a book stand out among the many books on display at the bookstore.

In this case, the description of the story sounded as intriguing as the cover. Set in New Orleans, a woman, dead 70 years, exists in a realm of "in-between", seeks information about the man she once loved, while observing a newlywed couple struggle with the trials of the living.

I was hoping for something beautiful and tragic and dark. And it was, to some extent. But also, the story possessed a strong sense of practicality that I thought detracted a bit from the intensity it might have had otherwise. This wasn't quite the story of ghosts and lost lovers mired in voodoo that I'd hoped it would be. I liked this book, but I wanted to love this book.

There almost seemed to be too many storylines running through this book. We learn bits and pieces of different people's lives, past and present, enough to make me curious and interested, but not enough to make me care or connect to the people. It felt like maybe too much was attempted. I didn't feel like enough attention was paid to the ways in which the stories connected. The connection is somewhat surprising, but it felt rushed in the end. I felt like I didn't learn enough to fully understand what had happened or more so to really feel the effects of what happened. I had questions at the end -- and if anyone else has read this book or does read this book and would like to discuss, get in touch with me. Seriously.

I'd summarize this book as being about people who met the love of their lives -- their soul mate, the person who set them on fire, the one -- then lost that person. The story lies in how each person manages to move forward, knowing they will never feel love like that again, and in each instance settling for someone comfortable and safe. A practical love. The stories are presented in a way that assumes that this is what a person is supposed to do -- settle for someone you know you can never love as much as the person you lost. This idea bothered me immensely, because while I understand that this is the most logical choice, a person cannot build a life with a ghost, I also believe that in some situations a person would be better off alone with their memories than sharing their life with someone they don't passionately love. Why should Amy settle for Scott? Nothing about his character makes me think he was worthy of her love.

In life, we're forced to live in a logical and practical manner, but in my fiction, I want the characters to find a way to surpass those boundaries and refuse to settle.