Mikhail by Lauren Smith – Review & Giveaway

Mikhail by Lauren Smith – Review & Giveaway

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MikhailAmazon / B&N / Kobo / iTunes

DESCRIPTION

A dragon never leaves his hoard unguarded. His heart is another matter. 

The second eldest in an ancient line of Russian dragon shifters, Mikhail Barinov had one job: protect one of the family hoard of jewels. Distracted by the English virgin queen Elizabeth, who was as dazzling as she was devious; he lost everything. Five centuries of exile later, news that a construction crew has unearthed a massive trove of gold and jewels sends him racing to London, determined to steal back his family’s treasure…and his honor. 

Professional gemologist Piper Linwood can’t wait to bury herself in her newest project, evaluating a hoard of Elizabethan-era treasure. But both her life and career are threatened when a mysterious, brooding man with a dangerous smile—and an even more dangerous kiss—snatches the lot. 

Unwillingly swept along for the ride, Piper discovers Mikhail is no mere thief. And the dragon on his back is more than a tattoo. It’s a living, breathing extension of a bad boy she’s finding harder and harder to resist. But his heart is a treasure she can never own…because to save her career, she’ll have to betray his trust.

 

 

REVIEW

5 out of 5 for this reader folks!

Dragons and dragons and dragons .. OH MY!  Love me some yummy dragon shifters and boy did this dragon shifter ever turn up the heat! 🙂

Mikhail by Lauren Smith (love it when book titles come with just a name) is the second book in her “Brothers of Ash and Fire” series and I have to say this one delivered as well as the first one did.  This series is based on a family of dragon men who are guarding their “precious” and finding their mates.  Obviously a paranormal romance but it’s the dash of history that really nailed it for me.  You will get some adventure, intensity, a good myth story line and some hot yummy dragons who journey towards their eternal happiness .. and the sexy is a super bonus.

Mikhail Barinov is a dragon shifter who had been responsible for guarding precious gems for his family but was betrayed by none other than Queen Elizabeth I and had those gems stolen from him.  What made it worse was that the Queen was his mate and inflicted serious pain and humiliation his way.  Now hundreds of years later, Mikhail learns that those gems have been uncovered and he does all he can to make sure he gets them back to save face.  Mikhail is dark but not so that he is annoying.  He is loyal and losing his gems really hit him hard, so he became focused quite intensely on recovering them.  This led to him being broody and a little stand offish.  When he meets another woman who can potentially ruin his chance of turning things around he take extreme actions to ensure she won’t.  This includes sweeping her away and showing her his world.  Little did he realize that there is possibility of another mate being found, but this dragon isn’t sure he can trust second chances.

Piper Linwood is a gemologist and is excited about the find that makes all her hard worth it.  Piper is spunky and sweet and knows she has literally struck gold when gems from 500 years ago come across her path.  She comes to realize that there is another as interested in these gems and she finds herself strangely drawn to him.  NOTHING will distract her from her job though .. until it kinda does, and she finds herself swept away to a place that only exists in books and stories.  When broody dragon shows his scales, she realizes that she is in a world of danger, and her losing her heart may be the mot dangerous thing she has done yet.

I LOVED these two together.  What a perfect match they were.  They each took chances on the other and boy can you ever appreciate Lauren’s writing when it comes to the passion.  You will find yourself totally rooting for these two.  Once again I was swept away in a world that Lauren created and I am eager for more.  Always writing with a natural flow and ease, I never once fell bored during the story.  I will say the historical twist was epic as I am a huge Tudor lover, so having two genres merged the way this is was a real treat.  

This is not a long read and I do recommend that you read the first book of this series before this one.  Mikhail is introduced there and you can appreciate his character far more by understanding what other around him feel.  Trust me on this one.

Another grand slam Lauren Smith .. please keep them coming!

HAPPY READING!

Reviewed by Rachel

Copy supplied for review

 

 

Giveaway-Green/Gold

Lauren is graciously offering a  signed paper copy of a book of your choice from Lauren’s backlist to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please LIKE and Follow Lauren Smith on Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Giveaway open USA only

8. Giveaway runs from January 10 – 15, 2018

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Grigori by Lauren Smith – Review & Giveaway

Grigori by Lauren Smith – Review & Giveaway

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GrigoriAmazon / B&N / Kobo

DESCRIPTION

He’s one of the last of a powerful but vanishing bloodline

Grigori Barinov is the eldest in an ancient line of dragon shifters and the guardian of his family’s lands and fortune. Sworn to protect their history and magic, he won’t rest until he neutralizes any threat to their existence. When he discovers an ancient manuscript that exposes his family and their dragon lineage has fallen into a mortal woman’s hands, he knows he must get the book back by any means necessary. If that means seducing a nosy American woman with an intoxicating scent, he is more than willing to carry her off to his palatial home deep in the heart of Russia.

She’s the one woman who could expose him to the world…

Madelyn Haynes has never fit in. As an adopted child she grew up in a loving home but never felt as though she belonged. Plagued by mysterious dreams she’s had of a silver scaled beast ever since she was a little girl, she is convinced dragons are real. While in Russia working on her PhD in mythology in order to escape the ridicule from fellow professors, she unexpectedly crosses paths with the sexy and dominating Grigori, and after just one night with the man whose eyes seem to burn, she starts to change inside. Isolated in the Russian wilderness Grigori calls home, Madelyn can’t help but fall under his sensual spell, yet something deep inside her calls out that she can’t trust him. She has to show the world dragons are real to salvage academic reputation, even if it means costing her the heart of the dragon she’s falling in love with.

 

REVIEW

5 out of 5 for this reader folks!

Lauren Smith New Series = MORE YUMMY BOOK BOYFRIENDS!  LOL

There that says it all, the end!  Just kidding!  I could never leave one of my fave authors books hanging like that .. and most definitely not the first book of a new series.

Grigori by Lauren Smith is the first book in her new series called “Brothers of Ash and Fire”.  If you like paranormal romance, particularly dragon shifters, then this may be the book for you.  I have read all of Lauren’s books be it historical and/or contemporary romance, and I love that she is breaking into paranormal as well.  A quick read I would say that absolutely flowed page to page.  A slow build with real tangles of russian history, she really nailed this one and certainly has set up nicely for the next book.

Madelyn Haynes is a sweet girl, a virgin, a little boring to be honest, has an obsession with dragon mythology, believes dragons are real .. oh and she just happens to be a true mate to a real life dragon hottie and she doesn’t know it yet.  She does however come across some serious information about dragons that she needs to exploit, but fate has something else to deliver.

Enters fate .. Grigori Barinov (that name .. seriously .. sexy), is an elder ancient dragon shifter who is in charge of guarding his clan, he is rich, successful, powerful and not liking it one bit that a sweet woman is making inquiries and getting a little too close for comfort.  So to get to the bottom of it, he whisks her away to a remote location so he can get the answers he needs.  Well his answers come in the form of mate material and a whole lot of hell is about to be unleashed because of it.

These two were PERFECT together.  This was a beautiful romance with some sexy moments shared.  I thought that Lauren did a wonderful job detailing this new new world she has created with the proper balance of character development.  We were given peeks into characters to come, introduced to enemies, given real history with story weaved into it, and another way dragon shifters can get the blood pumping.

Totally impressed Lauren, this was amazing!  I am so pumped to read the next book!  So again, if you like Lauren Smith, like paranormal and/or like dragon shifters, snag this one up for sure.  Take a chance if you aren’t familiar, I promise it is worth it!

Reviewed by Rachel
 
giveaway
Lauren is graciously offering a $25.00 Gift Card (Amazon) and a signed paper copy of a book of your choice from Lauren’s backlist (Sins and Scandal not included)  to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please LIKE and Follow Lauren Smith on Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Giveaway open Internationally

8. Giveaway runs from October 7 to 11, 2017

 

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