Cardeno C.

Golden Valley (Pack Collection Book 3) by Cardeno C.: Quick Review

August 27, 2020 by Denise

A generous Alpha with a tragic past and a young Omega with hopes for the future overcome mistakes to heal a pack and find happiness together.

Life has thrown more than his fair share of challenges and losses at Alpha Morgan Peters. Despite his pain and disappointment, the shifter picks himself up and does right by his pack. As the years pass, Morgan establishes himself as a leader who is as kind as he is strong and Golden Valley prospers. But it isn’t until an Omega shifter enters his life that Morgan sees hope for a future where he can be more than an Alpha.

When Psi Omega Ricky Marx goes to Golden Valley as a representative of his home pack, he is thrilled to find his mate—the beautiful, powerful Golden Valley Alpha. Unfortunately, their first meeting doesn’t go well, and overwhelmed by his mistakes, Ricky sees no choice but to flee.

Morgan’s past makes him struggle to absorb more loss. Ricky’s youth makes him struggle to find his voice. But if these two shifters can overcome their challenges and come back together, they’ll heal the Golden Valley pack and fulfill their destiny.
Word Count: 41,524

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Somehow Cardeno C makes me read things that I would not normally read, and love them. I don’t normally read shifters, any kind, and yet, when I received this review request, I knew I had to get this one in, and I’m so glad I did.

This story takes place over a longer period of time than might be the case in a “normal” book. Lots of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and loads of longing. I really liked, as the story moved along Ricky becomes even more confident, and determined not to be a pawn in a pack struggle.

Both MC’s are sweet, caring people, who only want the best for everyone, they just didn’t communicate well enough to get to that point for themselves. Ricky choose not to really talk to anyone, which I did find somewhat frustrating, as he had a very supportive group of people behind him.

Overall, really enjoyed this new addition to the series, and loved catching up a bit with previous characters in the series. FYI. This does have mpreg, if that is not quite your thing.

4 pieces of eye candy

Smitty’s Sheriff by Cardeno C: Blog Tour

July 21, 2017 by Denise

Smitty’s Sheriff, a sexy, heart-warming MM romance by Cardeno C. is available now!

Todd is too flakey. Richard is too stubborn. Together, they’re perfect. A May-December couple get a second chance at love.

Retired soldier Richard Davis wants a stable life in a quiet town with a forever man. Becoming the sheriff of Hope, Arizona, accomplishes two of his three goals, but instead of finding a serious partner, he falls for too-young-to-be-committed and too-flakey-to-be-serious Todd Smitty. Richard won’t find the right man if he’s obsessed with the wrong one, so he walks away from Todd.

It’s lust at first sight when Todd meets his sister’s army friend. He sets his sights on the worldly, strong, stable older man, and the more time he spends with Richard, the harder he falls. But after three years together, Richard cuts off all contact with no explanation.

When a mutual obligation requires Todd to move into Richard’s house, he’s thrilled at the opportunity to earn a second chance. Ignoring Todd from across town was hard enough. Can Richard resist temptation under his own roof?

“Todd.” Leanne snapped her gaze toward him. “You’re not too young to know the nickname people used to call guys named Richard, are you?

“Uh.” Todd blinked and darted his gaze between Rich and Leanne. They were finally paying attention to him and all he wanted was to go back to being invisible.

“Dick,” she said. “Big D got his nickname before we met, but some of us in my squad figured it wasn’t just about his last name being Davis. So we had a bet going.”

She flicked her gaze to Rich again, as if expecting him to interrupt.

He didn’t.

“Problem is, we couldn’t agree on which side won because we couldn’t get solid evidence.” She focused on Todd. “But now I have an eyewitness.”

“I, uh, I don’t—” Todd stammered, hating being in the middle of what felt like an argument.

“Don’t let Sparky get to you,” Rich said, still completely unbothered.

“Some of the guys saw Big D in the latrines, and they said he’s big all over, but when they tried to collect on the bet, the other side made a good point.” She narrowed her eyes menacingly at Rich. “If the man’s a show-er, that means he isn’t grow-er, so he doesn’t actually have a big D, now does he? That means the other side should win.”

Todd drew his eyebrows together and tried to follow Leanne’s question. “Are you saying you guys have a bet going on the size of Rich’s dick?”

“Yep.” Leanne leaned against the chairback, looking smug. “And you, little brother, are going to settle that bet.”

Normally, Todd had no problem talking about a guy’s package. Hell, in the right situation, dicks were damn near his favorite topic. But he had never spoken to anyone about Rich’s body or, really, anything else related to Rich because he knew that was off limits. Of course, Leanne was asking him the question because she already knew he had the answer.

Flicking his gaze toward Rich, Todd said, “Am I allowed to…”

“It’s a simple question,” Leanne snapped. “Is he a grow-er or a show-er?”

Rich didn’t tell him to stay quiet so Todd figured he had permission to answer. “Both.”

She blinked.

“Seriously.” He bobbed his head. “Length, girth.” He held his hands far apart. “It’s awesome.” As long as he had permission to share, he figured he should be thorough in his explanation. “His balls too.”

Leanne coughed.

“I mean it. They’re huge. Each one’s a mouthful by itself.”

“Ehm.” Leanne cleared her throat. “Thanks.” Looking decidedly uncomfortable, she held her palm up in a stop motion. “I’m good on the details. You don’t need to keep going.”

“Are you sure?” After a lifetime of being the butt of the joke with his siblings, Todd enjoyed turning the table. “I can sketch you a picture, but I’ll need one of those extra-long pieces of paper if you want it to scale.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Leanne actually blushed. “I’m all set.”

Rich threw his head back and laughed. “Thanks, Todd. Eighteen years these jackasses have had the silly bet going and I do believe you just put it to rest.”

Thrilled with the praise and relieved to be playing and flirting with Rich again, Todd smiled broadly. “No problem. When it comes to your big D, I’m always willing to lend a hand.”

He settled into the chair, comfortable for the first time that night, and when the conversation turned back to stories about people he didn’t know, he truly didn’t mind. Eighteen years was a long time. If Rich had cared about putting an end to the bet, he’d probably had a dozen different chances. That he did it now, meant his goal had been less about the bet and more about a point. Todd knew something about Rich that nobody else did, or at least nobody who mattered enough to meet his friends. That meant Todd mattered. Leanne knew that now. And so did he.

SS-ANKU

(Free in Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2uGj4KU

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/d7gCWQ

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/m1T8tj

This is one of my favorite series by Cardeno C so I was so excited for this one. In fact I re-read McFarland’s Farm and Jesse’s Diner to revisit with everyone before diving into the new one. While Richard and Todd are far from my favorite characters in Hope, the story worked for them.

Todd is a 22 year old flirt who has been in love with Richard, the thirty something sheriff of Hope for some time. The two had a three year fling which Richard ended abruptly and for the past 6 months Todd hasn’t been able to figure out why. Then Todd’s sister, who also happens to be Richard’s best friend has to return to active duty in the armed forces and leaves care of her 6 month old daughter to Richard and Todd. Todd moves into Richard’s guest house to help take care of his niece hoping that he will be able to figure out where he went wrong in their relationship. Richard can’t resist his feelings for Todd with him being so close, the two will need to be honest with each other and see if they can overcome the hurdles to get to their happily ever after.

I’ll be honest, there were a lot issues with these two. I’m not sure how genuine Todd’s feeling were for Richard if he was still hooking up with other people. I get why Richard ended things, but to do it with no communication was a dick move. I also get why Todd was still hooking up, if he felt like a dirty little secret why would he think Richard was serious. So, I can see both sides of the story but I don’t feel like Todd ever expressed his concerns about their relationship.

Todd was a complete contradiction to me. In one sense he was young and immature, and when he was caring for his niece he was the picture of maturity. It was hard to wrap my head around at times. While Richard was strong and stoic, which is what I picture a sheriff to be. He also came across as cold and uncaring.

I was glad to see these two work it out in the end and I loved seeing the characters from the past books popup for a visit.

3 pieces of eye candy

McFarland’s Farm

Start the Series Today!

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Jesse’s Diner

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Cardeno C.—CC to friends—is a hopeless romantic who wants to add a lot of happiness and a few awwws into a reader’s day. Writing is a nice break from real life as a corporate type and volunteer work with gay rights organizations. Cardeno’s stories range from sweet to intense, contemporary to paranormal, long to short, but they always include strong relationships and walks into the happily-ever-after sunset.

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Blog: http://caferisque.blogspot.com

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Smitty’s Sheriff by Cardeno C. : Release Day Reviews

July 17, 2017 by Denise

Todd is too flakey. Richard is too stubborn. Together, they’re perfect. A May-December couple get a second chance at love.

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/m1T8tj

Amazon

Book 3 in the Hope series, I have to say, it is hands down my favorite, and I really enjoyed Jesse’s Diner. This one though, we have the hot sheriff that I feel like I’ve been waiting on forever, I knew it was going to be good. I was not prepared for how good it actually was! I should’ve been, shame on me!

In this one, we have Richard, once soldier, now Sheriff in the small town of Hope, he’s still smarting from a breakup with assumed playboy, Todd. Todd was also the little brother of Richards army buddy, Leanne, who was a single mom with a military career and needed to call in her friend and little brother to help care for her baby while she was on a 3-month deployment. What would that mean for Richard, who was still in love with the younger man that he was in love with but couldn’t have?

Todd, broke my heart. Simply put, he was not at all the kind of person I thought he was going to be. He loved Richard and couldn’t understand why Richard broke things off. These two, had a horrible problem with communication while they had their several-year tryst, and while Richard wanted someone he could come to; Todd was under the impression that Richard didn’t really care about him one way or another. He thought he was content with the way things were and he had Todd when he wanted him but otherwise didn’t say anything about a commitment or what he wanted.

I wanted to smack him for Todd, because he was hurting him too! Todd is the type that needs to be taken care of and he loved that Richard done that. He felt cared about. There was a D/s aspect to this story, though it wasn’t sexual, it was just the way things were with them. Todd didn’t like decisions and he was flighty and forgetful. Like I said, he needed Richard to sort him out, keep him on track. I loved that about them. They meshed so well because they gave each other what the other one needed.

If only they would’ve stopped and had the conversation months or even years ago, they could’ve avoided all the hurt. I hated how down on himself Todd was and how hard he thought he had to try. I hated seeing him try. I shed many tears for Todd Smitty, but it made the ending so much more worth it.

Finally getting their heads out, and true to any CC read, they worked it out and had the sweetest of sweet endings. I’m really looking forward to more from this series and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for DJ and Seamus!

Very well written, very sweet story with a very deserved 5 stars from me on this one.

Truly a great addition to an already great series.

I just loved Jesse’s Diner, there was such a sweet, strong love between those two that I couldn’t resist. It is still a read I come back to every so often, because it warms my heart every single time.

So, I was excited that CC continued the series bringing Richard, the sheriff, to his HEA. This was a second chance romance, and what was interesting was that nothing specific separated them, other than they just didn’t communicate to each other their own wants and needs. Richard wanted a monogamous relationship, stable, and he never thought he could have that with Todd, who was sleeping with other people, and didn’t seem to have a lot of focus in his life.

Meanwhile, Todd wanted Richard more than anything, but being bored was his vice, and if he was, and he had time on his hands, and there was never any mention of wanting monogamy, then he slept with someone. However, no one he cared about, and if the two men had spoken, they would have realized they wanted the same thing. Instead, Richard just stopped talking to Todd, because he couldn’t do that to his heart any longer.

What a dynamic! So often with men, communication is forgotten, and the assumption is that the other person should know what is in someone’s head. There is a definite Dominant/submissive piece here, with Todd wanting and needing to be directed, but also I think because it helps with his focus. At the same time though, Richard feels it is wrong to be that type of person, so they must learn to communicate what is best for each other.

They do a good job of finding that happy place in order to be what the other person needs, and I really enjoyed their journey towards an HEA.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

To Touch You by Cardeno C. Release Day Review

May 4, 2017 by Denise

“His name is Salvatore Rossi. He’s a vampire. And he’s my true mate.”

By not relying on anyone except himself, Salvatore Rossi escaped a dead-end existence and reached the height of corporate success. But just when he has everything he always wanted, fate throws Salvatore a challenge he can’t solve alone and a young wolf shifter comes to his rescue.

Since childhood, Yoram Smith’s family was certain he would grow to become Alpha and save their beloved pack from its slow demise. When the time comes for a new leader, Yoram is forced to juggle his duty to care for a splintering pack with his duty to care for an absent mate, and his own strength suffers.

Being turned into a vampire didn’t alter Salvatore’s life philosophy: if you don’t rely on anyone, nobody can let you down. But when the boy who saved his life becomes a man who needs his help, the icy vampire must find his humanity.

Title: To Touch You
Author: Cardeno C.
Publisher: The Romance Authors, LLC
Genre: Gay romance paranormal (shifter/vampire)
Series: Mates (each book is a standalone about a different couple)
ISBN: 9781942184690
ASIN: B072KY67NL
Cover Artist: J.K. Hogan
Release Date: May 4, 2017

Word count: 66,181
Page Count: 260

Amazon
Goodreads

I have been waiting for another Mates book for probably close to two years now and hot damn was it worth the wait.

Salvatore Rossi is on the fast track with his career. He has no time for friends, family or relationships. Then a chance meeting with a 7 year old boy in an alley in Miancarem sets his life on an entirely different course. His only salvation is choosing the long life of a vampire over the decidedly shorter life of a cancer riddled human.

Yoram Smith is a strong wolf, and he’s known since he was seven years old that he has a true mate out there. He’s even met the man, but as the years go on and Yoram grows into an alpha wolf he begins to wonder if his mate will ever come to him. 27 now, he hasn’t seen his mate in a decade with no signs of the man. He feels like he’s about to come apart at the seams now that he’s the Alpha and he’s being pulled in a million directions with no relief in sight.

Salvatore has made it a point to stay away. He doesn’t do any kind of relationship and he doesn’t understand the “true mate” thing everyone keeps telling him about. What he does know is that the pull to be near Yoram is getting harder to deny. When he can’t take it anymore he makes the trip from Vegas to Miancarem. He doesn’t expect to find his mate about to unravel at the seams. The stress of juggling pack needs with his own needs are wearing him down.

Sal and Yoram will need to work together to get the pack to embrace change and their relationship while learning to trust each other with their own needs.

This book was amazing. When Sal and Yoram were apart my heart was breaking for Yorry. You could feel the despair and hopelessness hop off the page at you. It made me want to throttle Sal for being so damn stubborn. Once they got it together, hot dog the chemistry was off the charts. If this is where the Mates series ends, it was a great story to end with.

“I’ll gladly give up forever to touch you.”

How does your heart not melt?!?

5 pieces of eye candy

Author Website: http://www.cardenoc.com/en/book/to-touch-you

Until Forever Comes by Cardeno C: Quick Review and Giveaway

April 30, 2017 by Denise

A sensitive wolf shifter and a vicious vampire challenge history, greed, and the very fabric of their beings in order to stay together until forever comes. Plagued by pain and weakness all his life, Ethan Abbatt is a wolf shifter who can’t shift. Hoping to find an honorable death by joining his pack mates in a vampire attack, Ethan instead learns two things: draining his blood releases his pain and his wolf, and he has a true mate – a vampire named Miguel.

Over four centuries old, strong, powerful, and vicious, Miguel Rodriguez walks through life as a shadow, without happiness or affection. When a young shifter tells Miguel they’re true mates, destined to be together, Miguel sends him away. But Ethan is persistent and being together comes so naturally that Miguel can’t resist for long. The challenge is keeping themselves alive so they can stay by each other’s side until forever comes.

Amazon

I love this shifter series and each book keeps getting better and better.

Ethan is the weakest wolf in the pack. His whole life he has suffered from weakness and chronic pain. He goes out with his pack to attack a coven of vampires hoping to at least die honorably so he stops being a burden to his family and his pack. The night doesn’t go as planned and Ethan discovers while he is pretty seriously wounded the process of releasing blood helps relieve his pain. He also finds his mate, a 400 year old vampire named Miguel.

Wolf shifter blood is poisonous to vampires, but oddly Miguel feels a pull to feed from Ethan. When Miguel discovers that they are mates he sends Ethan back to his pack. Ethan won’t take no for an answer, deciding that the fates made him with too much blood so that he could sustain his mate.

Miguel tries to keep distance between them, but the pull is too strong. Now Ethan and Miguel will need to work together to protect Miguel from a few rogue vampires and to help Ethan leave his pack and start a new life with Miguel.

I love the characters in this one. Ethan is a sweet as Miguel is vicious. They are the perfect balance to each other. I love that Miguel can be so caring and loving with Ethan and in a second turn into a vicious fighter the next.

The story is well developed and entertaining. This is my favorite book in the series. The audiobook is well done as well.

Pieces of Candy: 5

Cardeno C is giving away winner’s choice of any of the first three books in the series. Leave a comment and let us know your favorite thing about shifter/paranormal books.

Wake Me Up Inside by Cardeno C: Quick Review

April 29, 2017 by Denise

A powerful Alpha wolf shifter and a strong-willed human overcome traditions ingrained over generations and uncover long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny as true mates.

Regarded as the strongest wolf shifter in generations, Alpha Zev Hassick is surprised and confused by his attraction to his best friend. His very human, very male best friend. A male shifter has to mate with a female shifter to keep his humanity, so shifters can’t be gay. Yet, everything inside Zev tells him Jonah is his true mate.

Maintaining a relationship with the man he has loved since childhood isn’t easy for Jonah Marvel, but he won’t let distance or Zev’s odd family get in their way. When unexplained ailments begin to plague Jonah, he needs to save his own life and sanity in order to have a future with Zev.

Zev and Jonah know they’re destined for each other, but they must overcome traditions ingrained over generations and long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny.

Amazon

I love a good shifter book and this one takes the cake.

Zev has grown up being groomed to be the Alpha of his pack. A very powerful Alpha at that. Shifter lore states a wolf mates with another wolf of the opposite sex. It’s the way it has always been, so Zev is very confused when he is attracted to his male, human best friend Jonah. Something deep down tells Zev that Jonah is his mate.

Jonah and Zev have grown up together, been best friends forever so it only seem natural that things would progress romantically. Jonah is determined to keep their relationship strong, even when he’s away at college. When Jonah is plagued with weird ailments that can’t find a reason for, he tries to stay away from Zev until he can figure out what’s going on. In the end he runs to Zev because they are always stronger together than apart.

Together Zev and Jonah work to uncover what could be going on and discover that the Fates are never wrong and Jonah was made just for Zev.

Sigh. I love this story. Their connection is so beautiful,so pure and full of happiness and love. I have read this story so many times, their aren’t many authors that can pull off this level of chemistry and make it seem so effortless.

The story itself is entertaining and I couldn’t put it down. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read it, each time is like the first time.

Pieces of Candy: 5