Tag: Carolina Valdez

Awaking the Alpha by Carolina Valdez

med_AwakingAlphaTitle: Awaking the Alpha

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Series: N/A

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Author: Carolina Valdez

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Genre: Dark Fantasy/Interracial

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Length: Novella (127 Pages)

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ISBN: 978-1-61124-540-0

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Publisher: Amber Allure, Amber Quill

Press (January 19th, 2014)

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Heat Level: Low

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Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts

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Reviewer: Lisa

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Blurb: Can Men who each bridge two worlds make a life together?

Blaze Canis is doing what he loves best. As a shooting range instructor just outside Yellowstone National Park, the former Navy SEAL sniper is still handling firearms. When Shoshoni native Logan Rider walks into his class one morning, the attraction each man feels for the other is sudden, almost mystical. Since Blaze’s teammates never knew he was gay, let alone a werewolf, he’s confident in hiding his wolf nature from Logan, too.

But will keeping his secret work, or will it blow up in Blaze’s face as his relationship with the American native deepens?

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This title is part of the Growl AmberPax™ Collection. To purchase this title individually, use the shopping cart below. To purchase this title as part of the entire AmberPax™ and receive a 25% discount off our normal price, use the shopping cart on this page.

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Purchase Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AwakingAlpha.html

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Review: This is part of the Growl AmberPax Collection but can be read separately. Carolina has a wonderful way with words, and can spin a tell that will bring you into a world that will help you disappear. This story is truly a work of art. I love the way the words just flow with such tender feelings. It almost made me cry in certain parts of it. Blaze is an alpha werewolf, sniper, retired SEAL and you can see the loving side of him. He teaches how to handle firearms at the shooting range and usually loves it. When Logan walks in, he is just loving it a lot more. He wants this man.

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Logan is a very gorgeous Shoshoni Indian, very gifted artist, and comes home to visit his grandfather. He wanted a refresher course on handling his gun, but when he meets his instructor, he is fascinated. It would seem they both want each other, but Blaze is still hiding his true self. There is danger in the forest, and Blaze realizes it is another werewolf.

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Logan finds out Blaze’s secret when Blaze saves him from the black wolf, fears that he is a skinwalker and runs. Blaze knew he should have told him, but he just hadn’t known the true feeling of what it really meant. When Logan comes back, he needs to trust this man with all of his secrets.

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I would recommend this story for anyone who loves the paranormal, shapeshifters, two very sexy men, hot sex, and dangers. They come together hot and fast, but when the times comes with trouble it leaves them hanging with concerns. However, they will learn to overcome their challenges and grow to love each other even stronger. I loved this story and cannot wait to read more by Carolina.

Make Mine a Bad Boy by Carolina Valdez

MakeMineBadBoyTitle: Make Mine a Bad Boy

Series: This title is part of the Dream Man AmberPax™ Collection.

Author: Carolina Valdez

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Military

Length: Novella (90 pages)

Publisher: Amber Allure (August 18th, 2013)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: You Were Born To Excel. Permission Granted is the enticing invitation on the Navy SEAL website. Lieutenant Shane Powell took that permission at face value, proving his excellence and earning a place on the foremost of the counter-terrorism special warfare SEAL teams. When traumatic physical injuries sustained in battle robbed him of the hard-earned excellence necessary for his job, however, he left the Navy. He slipped away, cutting ties with everyone he knew there to wrestle alone with his emotional turmoil.

Lieutenant Michael Fremont, Shane’s SEAL teammate and secret lover, is deeply hurt by the sudden silence and unexplained, abrupt end to their personal relationship. His search to locate the man he loves to demand answers turns up nothing, until a chance encounter brings about a reunion Shane resists.

Mike would be satisfied with a simple return to a platonic friendship if Shane isn’t up to anything more. But SEALs never leave a buddy behind, and Mike will not allow his former lover to withdraw from the wider world.

But considering Shane’s resistance to him, Mike’s success is up for grabs… 

Product Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/MakeMineBadBoy.html

Review: I love myself some military men. Yes indeed, they are born to excel and be strong. They are also human beings with a heart beating under their chest and limits. Perhaps their limits stretch further than those of us mere mortals, but there is a breaking point.

This story is all about that breaking point. It’s about when those limits are pushed beyond comfort, and the demons take your mind over.

Most of this read felt so sad to me. While I loved it and the main characters, that sad feeling never left. Each working with their PTSD after an op gone real bad, Shane and Mike (best friends and lovers) lose contact. Misunderstandings, bad feelings, dark emotions… Everything worked against them and for two years Shane had been trying to simply survive day after day with pain and loss, while Mike kept searching, kept wondering.

Now their paths cross one more time. Now there is a second chance looming in the air. Now things are even harder as time has played its trick on them, and one of them is off service while the other still on.

The prose is full of emotions such as sadness, longing, lust, and love. Most of the read they are felt easily, they grip you and take you under them. But then the narration seems so impersonal, so “telling” and they slip from you like water from your fingers. When the couple finally makes it together and the big confrontation scene occurs, it didn’t reach me and I felt loss at that. What should have been the breaking point for this book, the moment when all emotions went skyrocketing and fire cracking, was a lukewarm narration covered in haste, a rushing scene that frustrated the Hell out of me.

So while I loved two-thirds of this book the end was not so great for me. Still I enjoyed the book enough to rate it as much as I did. If you love yourself some military guys and don’t mind the aftermath of their glory I recommend this book for you.