Holly realized something was wrong when she noticed that everyone at her new job bought the same brand of pineapple flavored soda on the same day. In Mind-Blown by Michele Hart Holly and her immediate boss, the sexy Jon Paige, start to realize all the employees buying the same soda on the same day is just the first sign that nothing is quite what it seems at the medical billing complex where they both work. As Holly and Jon work together to get the bottom of what exactly the employees are being used for and exactly what mind-altering techniques the company is using against them, their very lives become at risk.

Raising a daughter has taught Holly not to get close to any man that is in a position of authority above her but as she and Jon work to unravel the mystery surrounding their job she can’t help noticing what a great guy he is and how she is tempted to let down the walls that she has erected around her heart.   Jon knows that Holly is everything that he is looking for in a partner; funny, smart, courageous and a great kisser but he is afraid that she will never let him into her heart.  When the chance comes to influence Holly to let down her walls using the mind-altering techniques they are trying to stop, Jon can’t resist but will the knowledge of his manipulation ruin whatever chance they had as a couple.

Mind-Blown is a sci-fi thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. The idea of a corporation influencing the minds of its employees and preying upon their need for an income was upsetting and believable.  Jon and Holly’s relationship progressed at a believable rate and I enjoyed the give and take between the characters.  I also really liked the scene where Jon convinces Holly to dress provocatively to distract the security guards while he broke into the company.  The novel did seem to drag a bit in places, where the characters seemed to be rehashing the same material and facts over and over again.  Other than that it was a good read and enjoyable.

You can read an excerpt here.

Rating:

Title: Mind-Blown

Author: Michele Hart

Format: ebook

Page Nos.: 215

Publisher: Siren-Brookstrand Inc.

Available for purchase: Brookstrand

Reviewer: Jessica

**I received a copy of this book from the author but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Tales From the Treasure Trove, Volume I, A Jewels of the Quill Anthology. “Jaded” {reincarnation romance} by Barbara Raffin (Dame Jade), “Sex with the Man in the Moon” {romantic suspense} by Christine DeSmet (Dame Moonstone), “The Ruby Kiss” {contemporary vampire romance} by Jaye Roycraft (Dame Ruby), “The Amethyst Angel” {traditional romance} by Karen Wiesner (Dame Amethyst), “Peridot Moon” {futuristic romance} by Julie Skerven (Dame Peridot), “Emerald” {contemporary fiction} by Debbie Fritter (Dame Emerald), “Diamond Magee” {contemporary romance} by Sherry Derr-Wille (Dame Diamond), “The Topaz Locket” {paranormal romance} by Carrie S. Masek (Dame Topaz), “The Best Kind of Opals” {western romance} by Alice Blue (Dame Opal), “Bloodstone Cure” {paranormal romance} by Cassie Walder (Dame Bloodstone), “Garnet’s Light” {romantic suspense} by Liz Hunter (Dame Garnet), “The Turquoise Mask” {paranormal romance} by Jane Toombs (Dame Turquoise).

I have to admit this review has been a challenge for me to write.  Most anthologies that I read have some kind of reoccurring theme that keeps the author’s story type similar, such as all ‘It happened at Midnight’ or ‘One Dance’ but this collection’s theme is gemstones, which gave the authors free reign to write whatever the wanted, and they did. I personally have a love/hate relationship with short story collections.  I love them because I get a chance to read new authors without the time investment of a full novel, nothing is worse than getting to the middle of a book and realizing that you dislike it. However,  I hate anthologies because when you find a great story with great characters, your time with them is over way too soon. Also, sometimes I don’t like the stories.

This book has something for everyone, and I mean everyone. The collection includes a western, paranormal futuristic, reincarnation, contemporary traditional, and others.  Obviously I can’t write a review of all the stories because it would make this posting huge so I have just mentioned a few.

The first story, Jaded, is set in contemporary times with ghost that appears to the heroine. This was a story that I would have liked to see longer, the minor characters staying at the boarding house were entertaining and I would have liked to see more of them.  It was a good story but felt a little rushed, it could have been longer and better developed.

The Best Kinds of Opal is a western with three brothers who travel from back East to the West in pursuit of opals for their parent’s jewelry shop.  Upon arriving to the western city they engage in a fist fight with some locals, who they then become buddies with.  (There is no understanding men.) The buddies convince them to go fishing with them and the buddies bring along their sisters and cousins, who all happen to have the word ‘Opal’ in their name.  The brothers start to suspect they have been set up by their parents but by this time they don’t really care because they have started to like the girls. The buddies were funny and I giggled several times while reading the story.

The Amethyst Angel, is a bit of a heart-jerker.  The heroine is a doctor who works at a hospital that specializes in children who have terminal diseases.  You get to know one of the small boys who is a patient there and see they way he impacts the doctor’s life for the better before he loses his battle with cancer.

It was a good read with a good glimpse of a bunch of different authors. It was interesting to read how each of the authors was able to incorporate a gemstone in each of the stories.  I have to admit I giggled when I read the name of the girls as being Opal as I was expecting an Opal mine with the story being set in the wild west.  Just be aware that most of the stories rate as a 5 is graphic detail. This review is also posted on Classic Romance Revival.

ISBN:1-59374-373-4

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press

Released: March 2005

Page Length:366

Type: eBook

Rating: 5

This is a review for Classic Romance Revival, The Phoenix Rebellion by Gail Delaney.  The Areth have come to be humanity’s salvation, or so we are told.  Providing medical advances and curing most diseases, the Areth have helped humankind but at what cost? Retired Colonel Nick Tanner doesn’t care, retreating to his cabin he just wants to be left alone.  Then Caitlin Montgomery, the woman he has never forgotten, shows up on his door with the earth shattering news that the son he was told died 25 years ago was alive and being held captive by the Areth.  Now Nick is not going to let anything stand in the way of rescuing his son, even if it means working with the woman who broke his heart.

Years ago Caitlin choose to believe the Areth’s philosophy regarding relationships and ended her relationship with Nick. Now she is aware of the truth and is working with an underground group called The Phoenix Rebellion to rescue those being held against their will.  Caitlin agrees to ruin her career to help atone for her poor decision to leave Nick years ago, despite the personal pain she feels in being in Nick’s company again, she is going to use everything in her power to help Nick get his son back.

When I first started reading this story I kept doing a mental comparison to the TV series “V”.  A group of beings that look like us have come down to be our salvation and it is only after they have taken control of the world peacefully that some individuals start to realize that we have lost all control of our lives.  The Areth have not shared their advanced technology with us, just medical care and their ships are circling above our world, keeping us from leaving or contacting any of the other life forms we now know exist.  I have to admit I struggled to get into the story at the beginning, the story starts with Caitlin going to Nick’s house to inform him that his son is alive.  The Prologue explains about the Areth coming but I was still confused until mid-way through the story.

That being said, once I was into the story I was really sucked in.  The plight of the small group working to save others from the horrible experiments being performed by the Areth was touching.  What sets us apart from others is our humanity, that inner spark that allows us to fight against insurmountable odds, believing that the rescue of even one soul is worth the sacrifice.

The novel is written from the view-point of several different characters. After the initial meeting between Caitlin and Nick, the novel switches to the view-point of Michael, Nick’s son who is captive. The story continues switching from several of the characters to explain things to the reader, without all the repetitive dialogue that can occur when an author has a lot of back story to cover. As the climax built, I couldn’t put the book down.  A resolution was reached but the story was left WIDE open for further books.  I will definitely be reading the next book in the series The Phoenix Rebellion Book II: Outcasts when it is released in February 2010.

Rating: 5