Lora Leigh is my guilty pleasure. Her books are candy for my smut loving self. But even I have been left feeling a bit “blah” over her last few releases. They were ok, but something was missing for me. I went into this book expecting the same and expecting to be bored because Zeke and Rogue never really appealed to me in the previous books. I was also a little wary of the ongoing terrorist suspense plot. While Nauti Deceptions isn’t perfect, I was surprised to find I really enjoyed it.

In previous Nauti books Rogue was never very interesting to me. I can’t explain why, but I actually thought she was older than she actually is. I always thought of her as a bit standoffish and brutish and I wasn’t really sure what we would get from her story. This is one of those books I am so thankful for multiple points of view. I really loved getting into Rogue’s head and found myself liking her almost immediately. She is smart, tough as nails, stubborn, sarcastic, and yet vulnerable – something I never expected.

Zeke, oh what can I say about Zeke. He could be my favorite “nauti boy”, he was definitely the most alpha so far. He is very overprotective and totally aggravating at times, but somehow I was able to overlook that. It probably has something to do with this dirty mouth and tendency to growl – its a weakness of mine.

The romance between Rogue and Zeke was intense. I was on the edge of my seat more than once, my stomach in knots as I wondered if this would be the time they really connected or not. The romantic tension between them was some of Leigh’s best and the loving was so hot I had to check my breathing to keep from hyperventilating.

My only complaint is the suspense plot, it was weak and felt overdone. I feel like the terrorist organization in this tiny town plot is being dragged on and on and on through book after book in this series. If there is another Nauti Boy book I hope she finds a new angle to work the subplot through because this one can’t take another novel.

Overall, Nauti Deceptions showcases Lora Leigh’s sizzling romantic tension at it’s best. If you are a fan of the series, definitely do not skip this one.

FTC Disclaimer: Book purchased by me.

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A little of this, a little of that…

Was bopping around the blogs that had some review posted for the ARCs of BROKEN-one of the comments I saw was in regards to the commenter thought BROKEN was paranormal.

I get that a lot-people thinking most of my stuff is paranormal.

Eh, about…a little over half.

Maybe a little more.

But I’ve got a fairly decent amount of work that’s not paranormal. Because I get bored easy. I can’t just do paranormal, just like I can’t just do contemporary, and I can’t just do straight erotic romance, and I get bored if I just write Hunter books and I get bored if I just write vamp books.

I suspect I’ve probably got ADD. Put something shiny in front of me and my attention is gone…that’s what subgenres in romance are to me. Shiny objects and I can only focus on one shiny object for so long before it’s no longer shiny any more. Take it away from me for a while and then give it back to me in a couple of months, a couple of weeks? Even a day, and it’s shiny again. I swear, I’m like a baby with a toy-take it away for a few hours and give it back and it’s like you’ve bought me something brand new.

But this is why I write kind of allllll over the place.

It’s also the reason I don’t just focus on vampires with paranormal, or just with werewolves, or witches…or…hmmm. What was I talking about again?

For me, the more variety I have, the easier it is for me to focus, the easier it is for me to keep my stories fresh and the easier it is for me to keep writing.

So I’m not just paranormal, although there’s definitely plenty of that. Just not this time around…

This time? It’s romantic suspense….BROKEN

Borders | BAMM | B & N | Book Depository | IndieBound | Amazon | Powell's

Quinn Rafferty is working as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman in St. Louis when a new neighbor catches his eye. He’s tempted by her beauty—but he knows from experience that anyone desperate enough to live in his building is damaged goods. Besides, he has his own soul to mend before he can worry about anyone else.

Sara Davis is on the run, but not for the usual reasons a woman goes on the lam. She’s not an abused wife, and she’s not a criminal. But she does have a plan for her future. And as much as she finds herself attracted to her gruff, tough neighbor, she can’t risk telling him the secrets she’s hiding. There’s just too much at stake.

But Quinn must get closer to Sara when she turns out to be the target of his new missing persons case, and he discovers that there is something more complex and dangerous to her than he thought. Now, both Quinn and Sara will have to expose their true feelings—as well as their fragile hearts—if they hope their love will survive…

If you’d like to read more about my work, you can read an excerpt of BROKEN here at my site…and right now, if you buy BROKEN during release week, you can be entered to win a NOOK, the new ebook reader from Barnes and Noble.

Shiloh Walker
http://shilohwalker.com
http://shilohwalker.wordpress.com

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In the third installment of the Amanda Feral series Amanda is back, dirtier than ever. Her ad agency is on a downward spiral and her expense budget is in the toilet. In order to keep her condo and pay off her debt to the Reapers Amanda says yes to an opportunity to appear on a new reality show. Yet, things are never simple with Amanda and she finds herself in the middle of her very own murder mystery.

Amanda Feral books always makes me giggle and snort like kids do when they tell fart jokes. Battle of the Network Zombies was no different, it was funny, sarcastic, and disgusting. If you like crass humor with a side of wit, this series is for you.

Amanda and Wendy make a great crime solving duo even if when they seem to be at odds with one another. Gil once again provides comic relief and I found myself looking forward to his bits the most. He is definitely my favorite character of the series. Scott and Amanda’s relationship was a pleasant surprise and I look forward to more of him in the next book (fingers crossed!).

The book started off a bit slow for me, but the plot picked up the pace once wood nymphs started dying and the crazy character parade began. Amanda even shows signs of unexpected personal growth, proving her heart isn’t rotted out after all. Battle of the Network Zombies is another snort out loud story of zombies with killer fashion sense by Mark Henry. Fingers and toes crossed that Amanda Feral’s story doesn’t end here. Oh and the best part? Battle of the Network Zombies is only FREE for your kindle at Amazon right now. Go on, get the rest of the series too, you know you want to.

Other Reviews:

WickedLilPixie – 5
SmexyBooks – 4
Enchanting Reviews – 4.5

FTC Disclaimer: Book recieved from author for review

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Thank you Rachel for agreeing to this interview, I have been a fan for quite some time and I totally did a little dance and squealed when you said yes to my request. Thankfully no one else was in the room with me at the time. Congrats on the release of Shift, it seems each book you write is better than the last.

Rachel: Thanks! I certainly hope I’m getting better.

Shift, book 5 of the Shifters series is in stores now and Alpha, the last book in the series is set to release in October 2010. When you first started writing this series, did you have a set number of books in mind? If so, were you contracted for all of them from the start?

Rachel: Yeah. One. Seriously, I originally wrote Stray as a standalone, but then my mentor said she thought it could be the start of a series, so I went back and adjusted the manuscript, then wrote Rogue. The series sold in two separate contracts for 3 books each.

For any of my readers who may not be familiar with the series, can you tell us a bit about Faythe and the world she lives in?

Rachel: Faythe is a werecat shapeshifter who lives in our world, which doesn’t know anything other than humans exists. She is a rare female werecat (a tabby) in a strongly patriarchal society, which has no choice but to depend on her to provide the next generation of children for her Pride. But Faythe has other ideas. She’s just finished her undergraduate degree when the first book opens, and has no intention of going back home to get married and have kids. Fortunately, her parents are much more considerate and open-minded than most of the other Alphas and Dams. But even they can’t change the necessity of procreation for survival of the species. So over the course of the series, Faythe struggles to find her place in the werecat world, trying to find some compromise between what society needs from her, and what she wants for herself. Along the way, there are murders and kidnappings to solve, deaths to avenge, loves to sort out, and the ever-evolving influence that human society and technology exert on a culture older than the United States.

I like to think it’s a fun ride, and Faythe learns and grows with each book.

When plotting out a book, is there usually one part of the story that comes first for you (romantic events, bad guys, etc)? Additionally, my geeky mind wonders if have a giant flow chart hidden in your office somewhere?

Rachel: I actually don’t have a flowchart on paper anywhere. I do just about everything online, and only print out my receipts these days.

After the first book in a series, I tend to start sequels by organizing any plot threads left over from previous books. The story kind of grows from there, and the hardest part is always the main plot. That part feels like starting from scratch every single time. It involves a lot of post it notes and whiteboard action, and usually a lot of fajita dinners.

I know by your blog posts that Prey was difficult to write, did you find Shift any easier? I can say it certainly was not any easier to read! My heart was in my throat the entire time!

Rachel: Shift was also hard to write (though not as hard as Prey), but it was much, much easier to rewrite and polish, because unlike Prey, the plot in Shift didn’t need a huge overhaul. So it went much more quickly and smoothly. Fortunately.

Ever since the release of Prey, it seems fans have been very vocal about a couple of major plot points. I have a feeling you took a bit of heat because of a certain character’s death, though I think it took balls and I respect you for not taking an easy road. Did you ever have second thoughts about it, before or after the release?

Rachel: I did have second thoughts, in fact. That death was originally supposed to occur at the end of Pride, but when it came time to write the scene, I couldn’t do it. So I put it off, and it became even more heart wrenching than it would have been in the first place, because in Prey, Faythe spends the entire first half of the book with the doomed character, and we really got to see him shine. Right before he died. People were very, very upset about the death, and bunches of them demanded detailed reasons why it had to happen, and why it couldn’t have been anyone else. But in the end, the other controversial issue (not to mention the cliffhanger) seem to have outlasted the death is the most discussion-worthy topics of conversation.

Along with “the death”, fans have been pretty up in arms over Jace/Faythe/Marc. Did you expect the romantic subplot of the series to jump forward to center stage the way it has? Have any of the reactions surprised you?

Rachel: I didn’t expect it, and in fact, I was completely surprised that people do seem to see it as the focus of the books now. I never intended that. Each book still has a strong plot, which would stand unharmed if the romance were completely removed from the book. Faythe’s still finding people, and rescuing people, and fighting bad guys. She’s still doing what she’s always done best, but the emotional arc of the stories is what’s really grabbed people. That’s been an eye-opening revelation for me.

I’m really excited by how involved people are getting with my characters, because it means that I’ve written them well enough that readers think of them as real people. At least, I hope that’s what it means. But I have taken a LOT of backlash for this element. Evidently I’m breaking a couple of sacred tenets of romance. Which is interesting, because I didn’t know I was writing romance. I’m thrilled to have caught on with so many romance readers, but I’ve always thought of the series as urban fantasy, at its heart.

I try very hard to make sure that Faythe’s choices, while not always brilliant, are realistic. Real people often make very big mistakes and discover very important things about themselves and others in the grip of fresh grief. And that’s what happened here.

But not everyone’s happy about that. Multiple readers have written to politely (and not so politely) request that I kill off Jace, to make life easier for Marc. It’s been fascinating, watching the fervor build, and it’s necessitated quite a bit of peace keeping in my discussion group, where two different camps have formed around the details of Faythe’s love life, and they’re often at each other’s figurative throats.

On that same note, back in June of 2009 you did a release party Prey over at Bitten By Books. I posed the question to you in the comments – “were you ever tempted to let the Faythe and Jace chemistry go further?” — to which you replied yes, with a winky face. Did you always plan for Faythe to wind up in this little love triangle, or was it something that came about as you got further into the series?

Rachel: It was actually supposed to happen earlier. But I don’t think of it as a love triangle. I think of it as Faythe having two genuine options, and one very, very difficult decision.

In a world where authors don’t always get a say in their covers/titles, you seem to have been blessed by the cover gods. Each one is beautiful tho I think the covers for Shift and Alpha are my favorites so far. How much say did you have in them? The same question for titles…. were the titles of each book your own or suggested to you?

Rachel: Thank you! I have been very fortunate! The titles are all mine, and were all submitted with the original manuscripts. As for the covers, I’ve filled out forms for the art department, telling them where Faythe’s latest injuries are (and that’s generally where her scratch marks will show up) but the rest of the credit has to go to Mira’s art department. They came up with the clawmark branding, and the scratch patterns, and other bits of continuity. For Alpha, I told them that Faythe needed to look powerful and dangerous, and I may have mentioned the Alpha chair. And boy did they deliver! I can’t believe how powerful they made her look, without sacrificing any of her femininity. They didn’t resort to feet-spread power poses or weaponry she doesn’t use. No butt shots or exposed stomach in this one either, yet she’s never looked more beautiful, confident, or competent. Not to mention powerful. I am so far beyond thrilled with this cover!

With the Shifters series being 1 book closer to an end, are there any plans for other books in the werecat world?

Rachel: No. Right now, we’re not talking about more Shifters books. Faythe’s story is over, and I have a short story coming out early next year that features Abby. But no new Shifters novels have been discussed.

Lastly, any hints as to where Faythe and her crew go from here? It is going to be a long 8 months until Alpha’s release….

Rachel: Oh, it’s only seven months away! And hints… Let’s see…

The entire council will convene again. Old characters will return. Both sides will suffer losses. Faythe will make a decision in her personal life (though the road will be very rocky). We will finally meet someone we’ve only heard about before. And the civil war will be fought, and it will change the werecat world forever. For better or for worse.

But more important is what we will not see: Faythe will NOT get pregnant. That was never the goal of this series. Her love life decision will not be taken out of her hands. Neither Marc nor Jace will back down or die before she can make her decision. She’s not gonna get off that easily.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions! Good luck with the release and congrats on all the positive reviews so far!

Rachel: Thank you so much! And thanks so much for having me!

	Title: Stray (Shifters, Book 1) Release: June 1, 2007 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Rogue (Shifters, Book 2) Release: April 1, 2008 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Pride (Shifters, Book 3) Release: February 1, 2009 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Prey (Shifters, Book 4) Release: July 1, 2009 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Shift (Shifters, Book 5) Release: March 1, 2010 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Alpha (Shifters, Book 6) Release: October 1, 2010

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Upcoming for KindleVixen

First, a small group of us on twitter were talking about losing weight and came up with the absolutely genius plan to use twitter as a support group. That was followed by an equally smart idea of creating our own blog about it. So, twitloss will be coming to the blogging world on Monday, watch your tweets for the link!

Even more fabulous upcoming news? The talented and super evil author, Rachel Vincent, will be answering my questions here on KindleVixen on MONDAY! Make sure to mark it on your calendars or I will have to chase you down. Oh, she also posted to her blog this week one of the best book trailers I have seen yet. Well done Mrs. Vincent. Well done. (WARNING, contains PREY spoilers!)

All things Kindlicious

Get your free copy of Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking, book 1 in the Hollows series, from Amazon here.

Around the Blog World

Dirty Sexy Books (love the blog name!) posted a neat post, The Ten Biggest Mistakes Authors Make on Their Websites. I giggled a little at number 1 and found myself nodding along with all of it. Great post!

Danielle at Alpha Reader posted an all encompassing look at Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. I agree with all of it and highly suggest you check it out for motivation to start the series if you haven’t already.

Nat at WickedLilPixie posted “I buck the trend” this week – a post about the growing trend to affiliate with other book bloggers. I agree with her post and wrote my own novel of thoughts in her comments.

Keith Melton posted some really weird and creepy Unicorn photo on his blog this week. I have no idea why I am even linking it other than it left me speechless. I think its his attempt to distract us from noticing his absence on twitter this week. How are we supposed to harass him for super secret book info if he isn’t online 24 hours a day?!?!

All Things Urban Fantasy posted a great recap of new releases upcoming for March. I am especially looking forward to Silver Borne, Mind Games, The Devil’s Playground, Succubus Shadows (seth!), and the Mage in Black.

Katiebabs pointed out that there are only 2 more months until Lover Mine’s release and we are all hoping for some serious Team Qhuay loving. I am so stealing her button, which was made by sparklybearsy.

No books read and reviewed this week – I blame it on twitter.

Music listening to while writing this blog entry…Bust a Move by Cast of Glee

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I’ve been tagged by: by KC at SmokinHotBooks and WickedLilPixie was tagged by Peace Love & Pat.

WLP: I just can’t date a man with longer hair than me, nor do I like men with shaved bald heads. Anything other than that goes, but I like my men dark haired or dirty blondes (bleach was hot in the 90’s, not now)

KV: ha – I love the long haired hippie boys. But I also love the short or almost buzzed dark haired look. If there is a skull tattoo I am all up in it. No light blondes for me tho.

Eye Color & Facial Features
WLP: I’m all about the eyes, Blue or Green please. But a nice grey or hazel never hurt me either. I love dimples too, but not “bum chins”

KV: I am not an eyes girl I guess. I don’t have a preference *shrug*. As long as they are looking at me in that “I want to eat you up” kind of way, I don’t care what color they are. I don’t mind some sexy subtle facial hair…. the thought of beard burn gives me the shivers in a good way.

Height & Body Type
WLP: I’m 5′4 so everyone’s taller than I am but I like my men 6′ and taller, since I don’t want to be even height when I wear my stacked heels.

KV: I’m shorter at only 5′ so I tend to gravitate towards guys 5′9″ to 6″ — any taller than that and they are eating beans off my head.

WLP: Bodywise, no beer guts but he doesn’t have to be made of stone chisel either. I find the more chiseled the more they lack in brains but I do love me some George St. Pierre from UFC.

KV: I am with you on body. I don’t go for the super muscled guys… I like the lean but tough look tho… He just needs to be able to tackle me and hold me down if necessary *wink* OH and I have to have the hip cleavage…. nothing makes me drool like a glimpse of the lower hips. Prime example…. Ryan Reynolds. I need a cold shower after googling for this picture.

Visible Age
WLP: Visible age? Huh? I’m hitting 30 this year, so 28 – 40 works for me.

KV: It would be dirty for me to say 20-40 huh? hmmm I guess I will go with 25-40 so I look like less of a pervert than I probably am.

Bangability (kinky/bi/size)
WLP: Bangability? What are we 12 year olds? He can be as kinky as he wants, but there will be no 1 Nat, 1 Cup action EVER. But I do have a thing for goth guys, take Klayton from Celldweller as my favorite example.

KV: ewww…. you had to go there huh? What about 1 Nat, 1 Girl, 1 Cup? *gag* I am not sure I can get the image out of my mind enough to answer this question now. *shudder* Anyway, for me, he can be kinky – I am down. Tho I probably draw the lines at pain and ball gags. I like to talk (and be talked to) way too much for that. I am however not adverse to imprisoning someone to get my way, I am looking at you again Ryan (notice the scruff *drool*).

Human or Other
WLP: Human please, I don’t ever want to date a man that’s prettier than I am! Shifter are too hairy for me, I loath the hair. *shudders*

KV: *rawr* bring on the shifters for me! I like em all primal in that sexy protective way! Oh, but you are right, body waxing could be a requirement.

Paranormal Skills
WLP: Inhuman strength so he can lift the couch with me on it. And healing, so I can get over a cold quick fast. But again, I am all over Alexander (grr).

KV: Hmmm… healing good idea! I think I am going with strength and teleportation.

Interests
WLP: Me. Duh.

KV: Like there could be any doubt about that Me? I like a man who can talk geek with me. Oh and he must love all things Joss Whedon.

Special Skills
WLP: Okay, fine. He can have a tongue like a snake. I wouldn’t kick him outta bed.

KV: oooh. Good one. Skills – I like a guy who is “handy” heh. Geeky brilliant is a definite requirement as well.

Thank you all for taking part in this Meme with us…. we hope you enjoyed the fact that we take any reason we can to post gratuitous half naked pictures of men. We are supposed to tag 5 more book bloggers, but we are taking the lazy way out…. tag YOU are it!

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