Room on the Shelf

Some of my current favorite genres are Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy.  I love a good mystery, a strong female protagonist, and a little romance.  A while back, I discovered Elizabeth Hunter through the first book in her Irin Chronicles series, The Scribe.  I instantly fell in love with her writing style, stalk….er followed her on Facebook, and began to search out more of her work.  When the opportunity to review Shifting Dreams, the first installment in her Cambio Springs series, presented itself, I jumped.  And I’m so very glad I did. Let me start by saying that it took me entirely too long to review this book.  Generally, I can finish a book on my Kindle in a day or two (depending on my children, my workload, and my schedule), but this was my first audio book review.  Those of you with kids know how hard it can be to “listen” to anything actively while at home with kids.  My life is a constant stream of requests for snacks, butt wiping, booger clearing, and playtime, so turning on an audio book was much more difficult than anticipated.  Just something to keep in mind as you decide in which format you’d like to purchase this book…

I don’t know about you, but I hate stories where characters are cliches and dialogue is stale and far from believable.  So, when I discovered Zoe York, I *may* have squealed a bit with delight. My first Zoe York book, Love in a Small Town, was a fun, easy read. There was mystery, there was conflict, there was romance, there was self-discovery, and yes, there was sex. The first book in the Pine Harbour series, Love in a Small Town is the story of Rafe and Olivia Minelli.  Rafe is a police officer and army reservist, Olivia is his small-town diner waitress ex-wife, and the sparks are definitely still flying after their divorce. When Olivia has to decide between an exciting new job or a fresh start away from Pine Harbour, she must also choose whether to protect her heart or give it to Rafe…again. What I liked most was that the main characters were genuine–they were at once likeable and obnoxiously stubborn, and that’s real life. In the real world, marriage is a difficult and delicate balance, and it’s not always easy to find a happy medium between the wants and needs of two people. It can be even more difficult when you…