Book Review – Shiver: 13 Sexy Tales of Humor and Horror with Giveaway

Shiver: 13 Sexy Tales of Humor & Horror

Romantic Comedy Anthology. Proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

The Shiver Anthology is 13 fun and sexy stories by some of the top authors in romantic comedy. 100% of the proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Some stories are funnier, some are sexier, none are horror, despite the title. Some stories totally stand alone, some are related to series but can stand alone, and others leave you salivating for the next book in the series.

One thing I realized while reading the SHIVER anthology: even if I love the stories inside, I really dislike anthologies. I feel like I have to read every book, and I hate not knowing when the one I’m reading will end. That being said, there are some really cute, fun stories in the Shiver anthology  It took me all month to read this because I really needed the bite of a full length book. So I would probably have liked this even more if I read it even slower, say…one story after each full length book I read.

BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Belle Aurora

“When you know, you know.”

This was one of my favorites in the book. Bastien, the doorman at the hottest club in town was a total heartthrob. I had a huge crush on his fun and charming texts right from the start. Em is sweet, fun and normal, and I loved her and her fun friends. But Bastien hasn’t told her everything….

I really enjoyed the couple. It was a little quick & silly in the story department, but hey, that’s what this anthology is.

5 Stars. 3.5 Heat

 

LIGHTS OUT by Jodie Beau

“A single mom, a single dad, a common enemy. Will their feelings come to light on Halloween?”

This one is another I really enjoyed. Cora is a widowed mom, who doesn’t have her shit together like the snotty perfect mean girl moms, “The Fucker Mothers”. Ben was a single dad who walked his daughter to school on Fridays the same way Cora did. They had made out in high school during ‘7 minutes in heaven’, but haven’t seen each other since, and neither is sure the other remembers.

But they do.

I will look into the author’s other books after reading this, and I would have loved a whole book on this couple.

5 Stars. 3.5 Heat

 

SPANDEX IS FOR SUPERHEROES by Ruth Clampett

“Beware of the terror of your Halloween costume not fitting.”

Nathan is an animator and comic book artist, and decides to throw a huge super-hero Halloween bash at their apartment, complete with life-size sets. They have a previous book about them getting together, and they were a cute couple. Think about superhero suits: all unforgiving spandex. Then watch both a guy (who tucks) and a girl squeeze into Spanx first!

3.5 Stars. 4 Heat.

 

MACABRE MAGIC by L.H. Cosway

“Halloween, a bet, one spooky magic trick.”

Jay is an illusionist who has a Vegas show. His wife manages his wardrobe, and they are on their Honeymoon. She thinks she can’t be scared, he thinks she is wrong, and they bet on it. This has a previous book where the characters meet and fall in love. I think I would have enjoyed that a lot more, this was all about the bet.

3.5 Stars. 3.5 Heat

 

CANDY, DENTURES, AND WAY TOO MUCH SPANDEX by R.S. Grey

…or My Night Chaperoning a Nursing Home Halloween Party

“He stole my heart in between gyrating geriatrics.”

Ruby is a nurse an a nursing home. It isn’t the job she wanted…she was thinking more ER, and less wrinkles, but she deals with it. She becomes very close with one of the residents, Anne, who helps her get dressed for the Halloween party. Her son, Sawyer was stopping by, and Ruby has been crushing on him for a while.

I loved the flirting during the Halloween party. I enjoyed the fun murder mystery with the blue-hairs party, and this was a sweet, fun read.

4.25 Stars. 2.5 Heat

 

MYSTERY, MATZO BALLS, AND MOXIE by Z.B. Heller

“The mystery weekend gets steamy and stuffed…with food.”

This story was one of the four I really wanted to read in this anthology. I hadn’t read The Chronicles of Moxie yet, but it was super high on my TBR list. Moxie is a plus sized Jewish girl, and I totally thought I’d relate to her.

Moxie has some really funny lines, I mean REALLY funny. This was definitely the most laugh-out-loud of the bunch.

Moxie, Miles and their friends all head to a resort for a Murder Mystery Weekend…

I found Moxie to be just too over the top with her jokes and sarcasm, and her funny lines were tinged with a bit too much snark to be likable for me. And liking the heroine is the key to liking the book for me. Add to that the ridiculous amount of errors in this story, and I was disappointed. I really wanted to love this one, and maybe it was all of the errors that gave me a bad taste, but I just didn’t love it, despite the most funny lines in the book. I still don’t see why Miles fell for her, she is so abrasive!

3 Stars, 3 Heat

 

A HALLOWEEN HOOK-UP by Jennie Marts

“Scary just got sexy”

A sexy physic and a private eye solve a ghostly murder.

Finn is a P.I. and Zia is the psychic in the office next door. I liked the whole opposites attract thing in this story, and it seemed very full with a back story to the couple. Someone has been trashing their offices, and they, and their group of zany friends are out to investigate.

I really enjoyed this one, and would look into more from this author.

4.5 Stars, 4 Heat.

 

PECKERS by Liv Morris

“A hot cop with handcuffs and a dimpled smile can be frighteningly sexy.”

Trish is forced to return home to her small town as stated in her grandmother’s will. Thomas is her friend’s brother, now a cop in the town . The women in town held a “Pecker Party” with shirtless men to raise money for breast cancer (sounds good to me!). This was a sweet, small town, second-chance romance, with a cat that kind of stole the show.

The epilogue by the cat was my favorite part.

4.5 stars, 3.5 Heat

 

BEWITCHED by Daisy Prescott

“A crush. A love spell. What could go wrong?”

Madison was a student teacher who didn’t believe in magic. But growing up in Salem, and having her entire family from the town means she may have some witchy blood. As the town gets ready for Samhain, Madison accompanies her BFF to the witch store, where she is convinced to take a love spell home with her.

Andrew is the RA in her dorm who seems to totally get the witch culture in the town. Madison is totally crushing on him. Will the spell work? I really enjoyed this sweet, magical story.

4.5 stars, 2 Heat

 

RED RUM by Ashley Pullo

Trick o’ treat, a girl to meet, blood sangria wicked sweet.

At this point in the book, I was tired of short stories and the other 3 I really wanted to read were after this, so after about 5 pages and I couldn’t get into it, I skipped it.

No rating, unfinished. (NOT a DNF, I didn’t get far enough to form an opinion)

 

DOUBLE DARE by Penny Reid

“Never play truth or dare with identical twins.”

Oh! I totally loved this one!!! This is actually the beginning of the Winston Brothers series (the bearded brothers were in Beauty and the Mustache, and this will be a spin-off series).

Duane and Beau are the gorgeous, bearded twin brothers in the Winston family. Jessica has been away for 4 years, but is back in town for the big town’s Halloween event. There she spots her childhood crush (obsession), Beau.

I absolutely loved the smart, quirky, naive heroine, and the sexy twin. And damn….Penny brought the sexy in this one! It is absolutely not necessary to read any of Penny’s books before this, even though the family was introduced in Beauty and the Mustache.

The full Double Dare book will not be available until the summer, but Penny left it at a good spot, where you are excited for the next, but not mad for being left hanging.

5 Stars, 4.5 heat

*Meet Penny at Wicked Book Weekend 2015

 

NIGHTMARE IN NIGHT COURT by NM Silber

“When lusty lawyers meet creepy criminals.”

I read Braden and Gabby’s story, so it was fun to revisit the couple, and the group of fun friends. They are back in court, but there are some strange things going on with one of the cases….perhaps Halloween is not the best time for night court. Braden and Gabrielle are more in love than ever, and can’t keep their hands off of each other.

This was a cute Halloween story, and it’s nice to see an established couple who are still so hot and heavy. Great mix of funny, sexy, and story.

5 stars, 4.5 Heat

*Meet N.M. Silber at Wicked Book Weekend 2015

 

ONE LITTLE BITE by C.C. Wood

“Even the big, bad wolf can fall in love.”

I think this was a favorite for me. I love the series to begin with, and Bite Me & Once Bitten and Twice Shy are two of my favorite books from last year, and are perfect beginner paranormal books. This awesome group of girlfriends look like they are each going to get a man….but that man may not be human. We had Donna, who met Conner, and brought them all into the Vampire world. The we had Ivie and Lex. Lex is a vampire Dom, and let me tell you, that book was HOT! This book is Ricki’s book, and she is dressing to go to a party. A party with vampires and werewolves. In a corset. She will be waving a red flag in front of a bull….Donna warns her, but to no avail.

Calder smelled Ricki the day he helped rescue her months before. They never officially met, but her scent has been burned in his brain. Since he is a werewolf, and she is a human, he has to learn self-control. I forgot how sexy it is to read a book where the guy can literally eat you. One Little Bite was SUPER hot, and I can’t wait to read the whole thing!

This one did end in a bit of a cliffy, and it’s going to kill to wait for March or April for more. Luckily, Bewitched, Bothered and Bitten will be out November 10th, and although it features Kerry’s character, we will see more of Ricki and Calder.

5+ Stars, 5 Heat

*Meet CC Wood at at Wicked Book Weekend 2015

 

Overall Rating

 100% of PROCEEDS GO TO ST. JUDES

Amazon (all) | BN.com

 

 

I am giving away 3 e-copies of Shiver

 

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