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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Steamy goodness and hilarious fun.
Opening Sentence: The man in front of her was crazy.
The Review:
Fate does indeed smile upon those who are willing to be kind to their fellow man. When Harry agrees to...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Steamy goodness and hilarious fun.
Opening Sentence: The man in front of her was crazy.
The Review:
Fate does indeed smile upon those who are willing to be kind to their fellow man. When Harry agrees to fill in as manager of a teen-pop band headed for a gig in Greece as a favor for a sick friend, the planets align and serve up her destiny on a rather large silver platter. A gorgeous, loveable, and rather hot silver platter.
Iakovos is a gorgeous, playboy gazillionaire extraordinaire. I mean the man even owns his own private island. When he agrees to hire his baby sister’s favorite band to play for her birthday, he thinks he is just being a good older brother. What he doesn’t realize is that the one who is to be the love of his life will also be traveling with them, and his life will never be the same.
When the pair meet amidst a scandalous incident involving a member of the band and Iakovos’s almost as handsome brother, the two instantly butt heads. However, just as quickly, the sparks begin to fly, and we find them locking lips in a hospital hallway, and a short time later, the rest of their body parts get to join in on the fun.
As their whirlwind of a courtship ensues, the two must overcome a few obstacles, a lewd drunk of a younger brother, a temperamental lead singer, a jealous ex-girlfriend, and tabloid rumors… not to mention a rather surprise pregnancy when one of the parents wasn’t even supposed to be able to have kids. But in the end, the two do find their way, make more beautiful babies and live their HEA.
I, for one, am jealous. These two are living out their days inhabiting a private island off the coast of Greece. It’s a beautiful place, next to a beautiful country, with beautiful people. But that’s now all. They have an apartment in Athens, home of gods and goddesses, myths, legends and awesome sites. With just enough time spent in the States so you wouldn’t get homesick, a girl would be insane not to sign up for this deal.
Also, I have to ask, who names their poor, innocent little baby something like “Eglantine”? Where exactly did her parents come up with that one? If that were my name, I’d have people call me something like Harry as well.
I love an irreverent, smart-alecky main character. Harry is one sassy lady, overflowing with sarcasm and rather adept at the witty comeback. Some of the lines given to her are things I could only come up with an hour after having a conversation. You know, when you’re in your car on the way home and you’re like, “Dang, I wish I had said such and such.”
I also love a delectable foreign leading man. One who can love with his whole soul, and isn’t easily intimidated. Who can be surrounded by beauty, and still only have eyes for his wife. The kind of guy that opens his home to a gang of teen musicians just to make his baby sister happy. If he weren’t fictional, I’d take him myself, even though I already am a married woman.
Put those two together, watch for the fireworks, and be careful you don’t get burned. These pages are so chock full of hot steamy goodness, I found my blanket and slippers unnecessary, even in this weather. As a warning ladies, this book requires reading when you have some serious alone time, because by page 35 it’s already not-safe-for-work, children or great Aunt Sally, but will definitely benefit the man in your life! *wink, wink*
Notable Scene:
“Why, if it isn’t Harry,” came a cool voice from behind her. “We haven’t seen you in weeks.”
Harry turned, her smile growing when she realized that her day really was going to be the best ever. “Hello, Tess.”
Tess Hayerson, it was whispered around the gym, was a woman who chewed men up and spat them out, usually after marrying them. Rumor had it that her third ex-husband had agreed to a divorce settlement that paid her in enhancement surgery, rather than money. In her early thirties, with long auburn hair, and an eye for the male of the species, she was the sexpot of their little group.
“Been putting on a bit of weight, sweetie?” Tess asked, giving her a scathing once-over. “I think a little extra time at the gym and a little less sitting around eating bonbons is in order, don’t you?”
“I can honestly say that I have never had a bonbon in my life,” Harry said. “Nice to see you, too.”
Tess opened her mouth to make a response, but at that moment she caught sight of Iakovos and his swarm of ladies. “What do we have here?” Tess asked, her voice a purr. “My god, he’s gorgeous. Just look at those legs! And that chest.”
“He’s something, isn’t he?” Harry asked, fighting to keep her lips from betraying her. She leaned closer and said softly, “Rumor has it that he’s packing, too.”
“A man that big? I wouldn’t doubt it at all. I bet he’s a handful in bed. Or should I say, two handfuls.”
“Two, definitely,” Harry said, pretending her nose itched so she could cover her mouth.
“He looks familiar. What is he doing here?” Tess asked, her gaze all but eating Iakovos up. “Is he a vendor or something? No matter, I don’t care if he’s here to fix the toilets, it’s clearly time to separate the girls from the women!”
She oiled her way forward, all sinuous hips and out-thrust breasts. Iakovos had evidently reached the saturation point of female adulation, for he managed to extricate himself from the gaggle of ladies and headed straight for Harry. Tess stopped in front of him, cooing, “Hello there.”
“Hello,” he said politely, not pausing until he reached Harry.
“I love you,” she told him before she leaped on him, wrapping her legs around his hips. He chuckled as he hoisted her up, kissing her with the passion that never failed to flare between them.
She heard more gasps behind him, followed by a smattering of applause.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked as she lowered her legs to the ground.
“In just one sec.” She turned back to the ladies, her hand on his arm. “Tess, I don’t think you got to meet my fiancé, Iakovos. If he looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen him in magazines. I’ll miss you all, but you know you’re welcome to visit if any of you ever come to Greece.” She hugged each one of her friends, Tess included, accepting their best wishes and promises to stay in touch.
As they left the building and headed for Harry’s car, Iakovos slid her a glance and asked in a misleadingly bland tone, “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”
“Oh, that and so much more.”
FTC Advisory: Penguin Group provided me with a copy of It’s All Greek to Me. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Not your average fairytale. Quick and easy read. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.
Opening Sentence: The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle.
The Review...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Not your average fairytale. Quick and easy read. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.
Opening Sentence: The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle.
The Review:
Welcome to the world of the future, and things are a bit different. After two more world wars, the countries have been conglomerated into fewer but larger empires, and are again ruled by a monarchy. In this time frame, the world’s people are also again fighting against a viral pandemic. It seems that a new form of the plague is touring the globe, taking everyone it infects. Interesting twists are put on what the symptoms are and where the contagions originated.
We have also learned how to construct true to life cyborgs, and we didn’t even need the help of the Borg. Yes, I do know that statement dates me a bit, and pretty much makes me seem geekier. Live long and prosper.
Oh, and I forgot one more major thing. There is a whole separate race of people living on the moon. A people who come complete with “magical” powers and a ruler who puts Hitler to shame. And now she wants to rule the Earth.
In the city of New Beijing resides, Cinder, a some-teen-year-old female cyborg. I know it says her age in the book, but I can’t seem to find it again. Anyway, Cinder is the local fixit girl, so good even the Prince has heard of her. And the rest of this story gets really hard to tell without a ton of spoilers. So I will only say that Cinder meets the prince, and after a few minutes spent together, they fall madly in “like”. There is also another major story arc involving the plague and Cinder’s being forced to be a subject in cyborg testing of vaccines, in search of a cure. And finally, the Lunar Queen shows up and there are conflicts surrounding her presence and her terms regarding a peace agreement between the Earth and the Moon. For the rest of the gory details, read the book. It’ll do you good.
Following along with the traditional fairytale line, Cinder has the usual name(ish), the evil stepmother, two stepsisters (one not so evil) and similar duties, and let’s not forget Prince Kai. Not so traditionally are the plague, the deaths and the whole biological family storyline, which mixes in a bit of the tale of Anastasia.
It’s nice to take in the occasional YA novel. Keeps my speed-reading muscles limber. I literally went from beginning to end in one session of preschool…2.5 hours. That is also a testament to how good the storyline was and how well it was written.
By no means am I a YA connoisseur, but I did indeed enjoy this book. And I call dibs if we get the privilege to review the coming titles.
Notable Scene:
The guard pulled away, releasing Cinder’s wrists.
Planting her feet, Cinder barely caught herself from toppling forward—at the same time that her hand reached back as if with a mind of its own, and snatched the gun from the guard’s holster.
She stiffened, feeling the heavy gun so abruptly, unexpectedly in her steel hand.
Her finger slipped over the trigger as if it were an extension of her. The gun felt comfortable in her gloved hand. But it shouldn’t have. She’d never held one before.
Her heart thudded.
Cinder lifted the gun, pressing the barrel against her own temple. A shuddering cry escaped her. A strand of hair clung to her parched lips. Her eyes darted to the left, unable to see the gun or the traitorous hand holding it. She looked at the queen, the crowd, Kai.
Her whole body was shaking, but for the confident arm holding the gun poised to kill her.
“No! Leave her alone!” Kai rushed for her, grasping her elbow. He tried to yank it away, but she was immobilized, solid as a statue. “Let her go!”
“K-Kai,” she stammered, terror seizing her. She urged her hand to drop the gun, urged her finger to pull away from the trigger, but it was useless.
The Lunar Chronicles Series:
1. Cinder
2. Scarlet
3. Cress
4. Winter
FTC Advisory: Macmillan provided me with a copy of Cinder. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A satisfying blend of adventure and romance. This sexy tale delivers clever dialogue, passion and sexy vampire brothers.
The Review:
Viva Las Vegas! Today for your reading pleasure we have two q...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A satisfying blend of adventure and romance. This sexy tale delivers clever dialogue, passion and sexy vampire brothers.
The Review:
Viva Las Vegas! Today for your reading pleasure we have two quirky novellas featuring two sets of siblings. Our tasty brothers, Sebastian and Aidan, are centuries old vampires, of the mostly traditional variety. Our boys are night dwelling, blood sucking, filthy rich characters, but with no aversion to garlic, take a good photo and have hardly a kill in recent years. Our lovely sisters are a pair of gorgeous identical twins, one a nightclub showgirl and the other an intrepid tabloid writer. All of them carry a secret, and all are in for a surprise.
“Vampnapped”
This first story features a love match between Sebastian Raines and Charlotte “Chuck” Lamoreaux. Chuck is a writer for the Tattler, a sensation tabloid featuring the likes of Big Foot and Bat Boy, when she spies her chance for the big time. What better way to make a star of yourself than a breaking story of a real life vampire running one of Vegas’ top casinos. But her investigating turns up zilch and she must go undercover in an attempt to gain inside access. So she plans to switch places with her twin, one of the showgirls for the casino, and use her identity to gain entrance to the owner’s private domain. But, as she exits the stage, she is met by a handsome stranger and taken off to his place.
Sebastian has noticed a person bearing a remarkable resemblance to his younger brother’s girlfriend following him around as of late. So in an effort to find out what exactly she is up to, he meets her after a performance and takes her to his private quarters for a little heart to heart. When it is finally revealed that Chuck is not her twin Chloe, and that she is on to his big secret, Sebastian finds he is already half in lust/love with this woman. It’s the perfect opportunity for a bit of companionship, and a lot of fun between the sheets. Besides, he can just erase her memories after he’s through, right?
As time goes on, the span of a whole day mind you, the couple realizes that maybe their mutual feelings could form a relationship that will last, and that maybe a change should be made to their original plans.
Rating: 5/5
“Married With Fangs”
While those two lovebirds were finding each other, their siblings were off getting married…in true Vegas style, fake Elvis and all.
Chloe has been a showgirl for the past decade and has decided the time has come to move on to bigger and better things. What better way to do that than marry a filthy rich business man like Aidan Raines. That he’s also unbelievably HOT is an added bonus.
Aidan hasn’t met a girl like Chloe in many, many years. When you’ve lived as long as he has, you know when something like that feels so right it has to be right. But will Chloe accept him as he is?
Only a few hours into their honeymoon, you find these two in some rather uncomfortable circumstances. Aidan has admitted to Chloe his true nature, but she doesn’t believe in the supernatural. So he is left with the burden of proof as it were. But what he doesn’t know, and soon finds out, is that Chloe is a single mother of a three year old named Jake. Oh, and she originally only wanted him for his money.
But all is forgiven as they realize that outside of all their secrets, they really do have honest love for each other.
Rating: 5/5
FTC Advisory: Kensington Books provided me with a copy of Must Love Vampires. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Three light-hearted reads that are good for any day of the week.
The Review:
“HOT!” by Kathy Love
This story takes place in the brutal world of high fashion publishing in the otherwise beautifu...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Three light-hearted reads that are good for any day of the week.
The Review:
“HOT!” by Kathy Love
This story takes place in the brutal world of high fashion publishing in the otherwise beautiful present day New York City. A one-time small town girl from Kansas, Addy Wellmeyer, now known as Ava Wells, has sold her soul to a demon in exchange for a promise of fame and fortune. Now she just wishes for the simple things in life. Charlie Bowen is still that same small town boy from Ohio, willing to risk it all for a chance at his own fame and fortune as a high profile fashion photographer. But little does he know that he may very well be risking everything to work for these particular “people”. He is a little more talented than he thought, and the world is quite a bit stranger than even he dreamed. Cute premise, cuter story… wondering if there are more.
Rating: 4/5
“What Slays in Vegas” by Angie Fox
This story takes place in current day Las Vegas and has a rather human like premise; basically What Happens in Vegas meets CSI. You see, succubus Shiloh and undercover demon slayer Damien meet each other in a casino and end up married after a night of sex, drinks and rock and roll. When reality sets in the next morning, neither can remember what happened that night, but both are quite obviously wearing rings on their fingers. For entirely different reasons, neither of them are supposed to take on a spouse, or have any deeper feelings for anyone, much less each other. After the truth is revealed, Damien feels he must find a way to satisfy both his job and his soul, by taking down the demons he was after while saving his half-breed wife.
There is, I am assuming, some conceptual tie-ins with the rest of Angie Fox’s Accidental Demon Slayer series, but it is not necessary to have any back story to enjoy this novella. And I certainly enjoyed this story.
Rating: 4/5
“The Bride Wore Demon Dust” by Lexi George
Welcome to Hannah, Alabama. Your average sleepy little town…..or is it? Bunny Nicole Raines is a small town librarian with a name that belongs in the lineup of your closest gentlemen’s club who suddenly lands a man straight out of every woman’s personal wet dreams. When a whirlwind courtship leads to a perfect wedding, Bunny thinks she has it all…until something happens during her reception.
Rafe Dalvahni is a groom with a rather large secret, one he’s even been keeping from his bride. You see, he’s an immortal demon slayer from another planet. And, when he has to fight a demon to protect his bride, well, you could say the cat gets let out of the bag. Needless to say, the bride isn’t all that happy, and Rafe must spend the rest of the story convincing her that he is best bet. That is, if he can convince himself first.
I definitely felt completely out of the loop while reading this novella. I am left with more than a few questions about her species, concepts, settings, and the all around plotlines. Maybe, reading the previous story, Demon Hunting in Dixie, would shed a bit of light upon the subject. I think I’d like to revisit this story after reading the first one. Maybe I would like it more.
Rating: Not Sure
FTC Advisory: Kensington Books provided me with a copy of So I Married a Demon Slayer. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Such fun to read, wild and witty.
Opening Sentence: Alec Darwin was dying, or as close to it as one could be without having that last little spark of life flutter away into nothingness.
The Review:
This...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Such fun to read, wild and witty.
Opening Sentence: Alec Darwin was dying, or as close to it as one could be without having that last little spark of life flutter away into nothingness.
The Review:
This is the story of Corazon Ferreira, a budding real estate agent, and known vampire hater, well serious vampire dislike-er. As the story opens, we find Cora taking pictures of an old mansion along with the woman who stole her husband, who also works at the realty agency. While Cora is exploring the basement, she gets mixed up in some sort of demonic tool theft, and it’s “Welcome to Hell” time…well, Hell/Purgatory. Thankfully she stumbles upon someone who should be able to help, but needs a little saving first. But *gasp* the creature she saves is none other than the vampire that has been haunting her. Actually, he is haunting her dreams, and past life regressions, but I digress.
Alec Darwin has been sentenced to Akasha (sort of like purgatory) for crimes against his kind. Just as he has decided to fade away into nothingness, along comes Cora to bring him back. Which, by the by, was the exact opposite of his wishes. Having lost his beloved some centuries ago, Alec has merely existed all this time, and wants his time to come to an end. However, now that she has given herself to him, in every way…ahem… Alec cannot find the will to turn Cora away, especially when he finds out what a real mess she is embroiled in.
Alec and Cora, once out of the Akasha, must enlist the help of their friends, and some of their enemies, to rid themselves of the dangers of death, destruction and perpetual imprisonment. And in doing so together, they realize that even after all this time, they truly are meant to be.
Set in the age of cell phones and credit cards, Much Ado About Vampires takes place in several countries and on many separate planes of existence. Ms. MacAlister seems to have that knack for tying the dramatic into the funny, and I found myself chuckling out loud, much to the consternation of those sitting by me at the restaurant I was in while reading a good chunk of the book.
The only thing I wonder about is if some of the concepts in this story are covered in some of the previous books. It would have made some of the more bureaucratic and political situations a tad bit easier to follow.
Otherwise, as I stated before, this book was a lot of fun. Makes me want to run out and grab books 1-8 and all the other related stories. If only.
Notable Scene:
“You know, this doesn’t look like hell.”
“That’s because it’s not Abaddon. It’s the Akasha.” Alec strolled beside me as we walked down a long hallway, our footsteps echoing slightly along the smooth walls and stone floor.
“Yeah, but that greeter person told Diamond and me that this was a place of perpetual torment, and that sounds like hell to me. However, this…” I waved a hand around our surroundings. “This just looks like any old office building. I don’t see anything tormentish about it.”
“Try opening one of the doors,” he said, nodding to one as we passed it.
I paused. “Why? Is something ghoulish going on in there? Are people being dismembered? Tortured? Eaten by fire ants?”
He crossed his arms and nodded toward the nearest door. “Open it and see.”
“All right, but if it’s something gross, I’m aiming at you when I barf up my breakfast.” I opened the door and looked in, braced for the worst.
A group of a half-dozen people sat around a long table, papers scattered across its surface, which was also littered with half-empty bottles of water, and a rainbow of highlighters. Crumpled paper spilled off the table onto the floor, leading in trail to a whiteboard covered in several different styles of handwriting.
“We are agreed, then, are we not,” said a man in a business suit at the head of the table, “that examining the cost-savings that will accrue from our cutback on the performance-related functions will make good any and all productivity shortfalls we experience this quarter?”
A woman shook her head and tapped at the table with one of the highlighters. “I believe that if we realign our organizational aims to better benefit the enterprise, we can absolve our office of the clearly unsustainable redundancy of not only the expense claims, but of the external consultants, which I think we all agree will lead to the downfall of this and other management teams within the venture.”
“No, no, no!” a third man said, hoisting his pants up over his beer belly as he rose to his feet. “If we form a task force to investigate the benefits of a mentor program—“
“Good god,” I said softly, closing the door. “It’s worse than I thought.”
Alec nodded. “Middle-management committees. Still think this isn’t a bad place?”
I shuddered. “We have to get out of here.”
The Dark Ones Series:
1. A Girl’s Guide to Vampires
2. Sex and the Single Vampire
3. Sex, Lies and Vampires
4. Even Vampires Get the Blues
5. The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires
6. Zen and the Art of Vampires
7. Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang
8. In the Company of Vampires
9. Much Ado About Vampires
FTC Advisory: Penguin Group provided me with a copy of Much Ado About Vampires. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: This delightful anthology delivers romance, plenty of interesting characters, and will leave readers wanting more.
The Review:
This is my first story by all three of these authors, at least that I can ...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: This delightful anthology delivers romance, plenty of interesting characters, and will leave readers wanting more.
The Review:
This is my first story by all three of these authors, at least that I can recall. Each of these stories features a paranormal lead male of the “vampire” variety and a not so vampire-ish leading lady. All of the stories are set in the Highlands of Scotland in the time of kings and lairds…
“Dark Embrace” by Hannah Howell (MacNachton Vampires series)
A touching tale of an innocent maiden, on the run from a psychotic madman, who is saved by knight on a black horse instead of a white horse and without the shine. You catch the drift. However, Una Dunn is not your typical damsel in distress. This girl can kick butt and take the pursuant names, all without breaking a nail. A genetic mix between ordinary human and the clan MacNachton, Una has always been stronger and faster than the average bad guy. While being held captive with eight others like her, Una escapes to search for help. But, after being starved and bled for weeks, she finds herself surrounded by henchmen and in danger of being recaptured. Then, just at the right moment, in marches, or rides as the case may be, Sir Raibeart MacNachton, resident hot guy on a horse and, it turns out, he’s pretty good with his sword too…ahem. After hearing her story, he offers his and his fellow clansmen’s aid in rescuing her fellow captives. The bad guys are defeated, the captives recovered, and in the end Una realizes that Raibeart has not only rescued her friends, but also her heart as well.
Rating: 4/5
“A Knight Beyond Black” by Jackie Ivie
Just looking back through my notes for this story, my first reaction is “Ummmmm” shortly followed by “Huh?” I will say that this story starts off a tad bit…. randomly. It took me a full three chapters to understand fully the premise of the story. And in a story with only sixteen chapters, that kind of seems like a long time. Anyway, this story starts off at a ball in London, where the almost beautiful Miss Tira Coombs is scandalously swept off her very feet by the enigmatic and very fan worthy Iain Duncan Evan James Alexander MacAvee. The IV. Duke of MacAvee, Earl of blah blah blah, chieftain of clans so on and so forth. She then finds out that Iain is her arranged betrothed, her parental unit having kept this news from her for the entirety of her 21 years. Love those good old days. Imagine on his part, waiting 21 years for his bride to mature, that’s a long wait. Especially when, on the day of her birth, the very earth whispered to him that his soul mate had arrived. Eventually, Iain wears Tira down and the couple is married. So the “happy” couple leaves London after their nuptials and they board a ship to his homeland. While on the ship she finds out her new husband is a… *gasp* …a vampire and on top of that bad news he has turned her into one as well.
This is the one thing that I dislike the most when I see it in any historical or paranormal romance. I know it’s the way things were, and I get it, but I hate when a characters free will is taken from them. Really! Aside from that point, the story is a good one, and I liked it. And they do eventually find their HEA.
Rating: 3/5
“The Guardian” by Michele Sinclair (McTiernay Brothers series)
This novella tells the story of Dorian, a centuries old nosferatu who is bored with life and searching for something. We are also introduced to Moirae Deincourt, enigmatic social outcast who runs around at night protecting the innocent, a la Bruce Wayne. After an attack and subsequent fire leave her physically damaged at age seventeen, Moirae vows to find those responsible. Dorian, a mystery himself, takes up residence in a nearby castle, and also takes over the role of Batman, or in this case, “The Guardian.” When the new guardian repeatedly out performs her, and saves her life, once or twice, Moirae decides to use Dorian as an asset and she bribes him into training her in physical combat. Dorian, on the other hand, is aiming for another type of physical training altogether. By the end of the story it is revealed that not only does Dorian have a touch of the paranormal within his chromosomes, but Moirae is also special within her own right. And that ensures a rather long HEA in their future.
Rating: 4/5
FTC Advisory: Kensington Books provided me with a copy of Highland Hunger. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick and Dirty: Not your typical vampire paranormal YA novel that’s fun with characters who eat sarcasm for breakfast. It’s enjoyable and so relatively easy going that I recommended it to my own son.
Opening S...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick and Dirty: Not your typical vampire paranormal YA novel that’s fun with characters who eat sarcasm for breakfast. It’s enjoyable and so relatively easy going that I recommended it to my own son.
Opening Sentence: “I am a socially awkward mandork.”
The Review:
Infinity is the first book in the Chronicles of Nick young adult series from Sherrilyn Kenyon. Nick is ever the brash, smart-alec we met early on in Ms. Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series. Smart mouthed, irreverent and moody too and that’s why we love him, or love to hate him at the very least. But there are sometimes, as a mother, I want to reach through the pages of the book and give him a smack upside the head. And that is the only complaint I have, but I am an adult reading a YA, so I guess I’m not exactly the target audience. Though I suppose we as readers should give Nick due credit. It’s not every day a kid finds out they are a being of potentially awesome powers, living in a world teaming with things that are only supposed to go bump in the night. *cree-eepy* I do think he handles it much better than I would have if I had been handed these same facts at 14.
Accompanying Nick in this series of unusual circumstances is a cast of; well I guess we can call them quirky, characters. With the notable exception of Nick’s much beloved mother, Cherise, some of these guys could give crazy a run for its money, a lot of money. But I digress. In this book, we also begin to overlap with her Dark-Hunter series. But this overlap in no way requires knowledge of the Dark-Hunter series, which is nice for readers like my son, who aren’t capable of the level of the Dark-Hunter series, but want a different side of the usual paranormal titles.
As for her world building, Sherrilyn sets this in modern day New Orleans with an added touch of the extra freaky. Though in New Orleans, the threshold of freaky is a bit on the high side of life. Ms. Kenyon is absolutely fabulous at irreverent sarcasm, and supernatural oddities.
In this first installment of the Chronicles of Nick, we have chaos and mayhem, all with the added touch of the supernatural. A tortured prep school geek fine tunes a video game with the intention of making the football team leave him alone. Little does he know that his fine tuning will turn these people into, well, people eaters, and not the purple one from the song, either. (Showing my age there, I know.) Nick and his schoolmates, many of whom he now realizes aren’t quite human, must band together to take on these real life zombies. And when a work of evil mixes their hand in, well who knows what will happen next.
I’ll finish up by saying I have always been a fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s work, and Nick has always been my favorite of her characters. I am enjoying this series, and its fresh look into Nick’s past. Or, a look into his “fresh” past, as it were.
Notable Scene:
“Should we head back?” Alex asked.
Bubba shrugged. “That’s what common sense would say. What do you think?”
Nick leaned back in his seat. “Far be it from me to ever let my common sense get in the way of my stupidity. I say we press on. Caleb?”
He flashed a cheesy grin. “What’s an arrest record anyway? Me, Alex, and Nick are all minors.”
“To infinity then.”
Nick frowned at Bubba’s words. “What’s that mean?”
“It’s something my dad used to say when I was a kid. To infinity, meaning you’d see something through to the end.”
Nick didn’t get it. “Infinity is never-ending.”
“That’s right, which means you keep going and going no matter what happens or what obstacles you meet. Over, under, around, or through. There’s always a way. And if you have to chase something to infinity, strap on your big-boy pants, hikinh boots, and go.”
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, something slammed into the SUV. One minute, they were fine.
The next, they were spinning out of control.
Chronicles of Nick Series:
1. Infinity
2. Invincible
3. Infamous
FTC Advisory: St. Martin’s Griffin provided me with a copy of Infinity. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Truly animalistic. A wild and sexy read.
Opening Sentence: 1979. The year the Psy race became Silent.
The Review:
Kiss of Snow is the 10th installment in Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling paranormal...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Truly animalistic. A wild and sexy read.
Opening Sentence: 1979. The year the Psy race became Silent.
The Review:
Kiss of Snow is the 10th installment in Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series featuring changelings, a race of shape shifters and the Psy, a race of humanoids with the powers of the mind, telekinesis, telepathy, etc.
I sometimes find it hard to write a review for a book so far along in a series such as this. You see, it's kind of like soap operas. These books feature a whole cast of characters that you have been reading about for months, all their stories are intertwined with each other. It's difficult at times to review when so much of today's stories depend on the knowledge of yesterday's news. So for this review, I will just concentrate on the romance between Hawke and Sienna, and a bit of the general world building.
Sienna is a Psy with a power only rumored to exist, at a level that is completely off the charts. For a woman so young, 19, she has been through a tremendous amount of tragedy in her life. Because of her extraordinary gift, she was subject to intense experimentation from a young age, often being forced to do inexplicable, soul altering things. When the lives of her newly found pack family are on the line, she is willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to keep them safe.
Personally, I had to ignore the references to her age. It is hard when the heroine is the age of your niece and you really do not want to think of your niece doing things of that nature...lol. Otherwise, Sienna is a well written character, as are they all. You really connect with her throughout the story. I admit to wanting to rail a couple of characters upside the head for her, I wanted to cry for her, pray for her.
As for Hawke, well he can be my alpha any day. As a virile changeling male and leader of the SnowDancer pack, he is the stuff of legends, some nightmares and even the occasional daydream. Hawke has always been portrayed as tough as nails, and take no prisoners with the capacity to be sensitive and caring. It's nice that we get to see his light and playful side as well as the side that makes you fan yourself and whisper "oh my."
Aside from Hawke's being such a man (please insert the requisite sarcasm and head shaking), he has always been my favorite wolf. The way he cares for the others, and even those not born wolf just gives you hope for the human race. Though, I guess he really isn't one of us, but the idea is the same. His love for Sienna also makes him willing to make the ultimate sacrifice towards the end of the book, and that dear readers, is positively unimaginable.
Oh and on a side note, I'm so sad to find that Walker's past was such as it was, and love has given him a new lease on life.
These stories take place in the California wilderness and the nearby city of San Francisco, with an occasional trip to South America and elsewhere. With the Psy and the changelings "out of the closet" in this case unlike in other paranormals, there is no need to hide and be secret, so we can imagine the events as if they are happening today, right in our own back yard. It's incredibly realistic.
Overall, this latest piece of the future Ms. Singh sees for the world she has created is as riveting as those that came before it. She is a master at crafting scenes that get you hot and bothered. She is also great at scenes that make you tear up and the ones that have you pumping your fist in the air saying "take that, bad guy!" I read this book through twice, and could not put it down either time. Seriously, I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Notable Scene:
It was time.
Abandoning any attempt at secrecy, she walked out into the night-cloaked battlefield bathed in the crimson and gold shimmer of cold fire. The enemy might have been Silent, but they went pale at the sight of her. An instant later they began to shoot. She would’ve taken evasive action … except the flames around her repelled everything, melting the bullets down to nothing, reflecting the lasers back at the shooters.
It was then that she realized Judd couldn’t have acted as a failsafe. No bullet would’ve gotten through. That wasn’t the scariest part—her link to the LaurenNet was shielded by cold fire even Sienna wouldn’t be able to breach, the ultimate defensive measure from a martial mind. But that was no longer an issue. She knew what to do now, and she would do it after the battle was done and her pack was safe.
Angry and sickened at the sight of the broken and hurt SnowDancers around her, Sienna spread out her arms, palms facing the sky. And the fire with the cold, cold heart touched the enemy, and they weren’t there anymore. She aimed the most powerful wave at Henry Scott, knowing he’d try to get his men to teleport him out.
The bastard screamed high and shrill before he disappeared. She didn’t know if he was dead, but she did know the attacking force should’ve retreated at the sight of her. Yet bullets continued to fly, now aimed at the fallen changelings.
No.
Something arctic and dark and deadly rose up inside of her as the X-fire emerged in a straight line on either side of her body, cutting the enemy in the way in half and cauterizing the massive wounds with such flawlessness, it appeared the men had fallen into two neat pieces. The rest of them were trapped beyond the wall of voracious flame, but they continued to shoot. And then her mind, a huge, vast endless thing that saw and heard every sigh, every heartbeat, caught the whisper of more of them coming down through the mountains. They’d slipped in past the defenses when the sonic weapon took out the changelings as well as the feral wolves, and now they thought to flank them from behind.
“Traitor!” The word came from the throats of those in front of her and she knew them then. Pure Psy. Zealots. They would not back down.
Very well.
The cold, dark thing inside of her shoved aside all else…and the flames began to feed. Screams filled the air, filled her consciousness, filled the sky. The monster inside of her, she thought with a small part of the endless vastness that was her mind, had seized control.
The problem was…the Psy weren’t the only targets in the vicinity.
The Psy-Changeling Series:
1. Slave To Sensation
2. Visions of Heat
3. Caressed By Ice
4. Mine to Possess
5. Hostage to Pleasure
6. Branded By Fire
7. Blaze of Memory
8. Bonds of Justice
9. Play of Passion
10. Kiss of Snow
FTC Advisory: Berkley provided me with a copy of Kiss of Snow. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.(less)
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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick and Dirty: Dark, sexy and one heck of a ride.
Opening Sentence: Crouching on the concrete pier lit only by the dull yellow glow of a flickering streetlight several feet away, Dmitri tilted the severed head...moreReview Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick and Dirty: Dark, sexy and one heck of a ride.
Opening Sentence: Crouching on the concrete pier lit only by the dull yellow glow of a flickering streetlight several feet away, Dmitri tilted the severed head toward him with a grip in the dead male’s damp hair, not bothering with gloves.
The Review:
The setting of this fourth installment of Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series is “modern day” New York with an added twist. In Ms. Singh’s world the angels and archangel’s run the show and vampires are common place. In order to become a vampire, a mortal must submit to testing, and be physically compatible to the venom secreted by the angels that turns mortals into vampires. The vampires are then required to serve under those angels for a period of time before they are given their freedom. Then there are the Guild Hunters. These are mortals put in charge of policing the rogue vampires, ones who break their contracts with their angels, or break the rules of living within the mortal realm. It is these hunters that the series is based upon.
Honor, this novel’s heroine, is one of the Guild Hunters. Well, she used to be anyway. After being kidnapped and tortured for two months by a group of vampires, Honor finds herself unable to perform her duties, and hides out among the archives. But, when her expertise is needed, she faces her demons head on and teams up with a vampire *gasp*to solve a string of murders and find her kidnappers.
I am a lover of Ms. Singh’s writing in this and her other series. She has a knack for writing characters that are truly believable, and admirably strong and resilient. I am in awe of Honor’s tenacity in the face of adversity (and I believe I’ve heard that somewhere before). A quote from Dmitri says it best. “So soft,” he murmured. “Feminine, beautiful, and tough to break.”
Dmitri is the baddest of the bad. As the archangel Raphael’s second in command, he is the vampire that all others of his kind and everyone else fear. Dmitri was also kidnapped and tortured, long ago, but by an angel named Isis, who also murdered and tortured his wife and children. When this bit of bad news rises up from the past, Dmitri must bring in Honor to help him find out who and what is going on. Also, after meeting the lovely Honor, he makes it his personal mission to hunt down those vampires that tortured her, and make sure they pay in kind.
In every book in this series, Dmitri comes off as one scary SOB, and I’ll be damned if that isn’t what makes him so sexy. Gifted with the ability to attract with his scent, and who wouldn’t want a man who smelled of “a drugging whisper of champagne and desire molten as gold, orchids under moonlight, chocolate-dipped berries kissing a woman’s skin.” I don’t know where Ms. Singh gets her inspiration for her heroes, such as Dmitri, but I think we’d all like a chunk of it. Add into the mix his tortured soul, and this vamp reaches heartthrob status.
All in all, Archangel’s Blade is a perfect follow up to Archangel’s Consort, and Nalini Singh knows when to give her readers exactly what they want. So, this reader would like to put in a request for a book for the delectable Bluebell. Pretty please?
Notable Scene:
When Valeria bared her teeth at Honor, refusing to answer the question, he shot the other woman through the thigh, in almost precisely the spot where the female vampire liked to feed.
Valeria screamed high and shrill.
Honor understood that the punishments used for immortals, their bodies able to recover from brutal injuries, weren’t the same as for mortals. But she’d never been up close and personal with the merciless reality of it. “Does it bother you at all?” she asked Dmitri when Valeria’s screams died out into sobs.
He shrugged, shoulders moving with muscled grace beneath the thin cotton of his T-shirt. “No.” Putting his gun down beside the crystal bowl, he said “Valeria, be a good hostess and answer Honor’s question,” before popping one of the chocolates into his mouth.
“I don’t know anything else,” the vampire sobbed, her eyes rimmed red with her tears. “J-just about T-Tommy.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Honor said, remembering how Valeria had sipped at her own tears, how she’d giggled when Honor screamed so much her throat turned raw, her voice gone, “we’ll get to Tommy.” She didn’t know what Valeria had heard in her voice, but the vampire suddenly looked afraid in a way Honor would have never expected in a vampire of her age and power.
“He did everything, remember?” Valeria said, hands rising to her throat again as the wound began to heal around the heavy hunting knife.
“I wouldn’t.” Dmitri ate another chocolate.
Dropping her hands in spasming fear, Valeria continued to speak to Honor, eyes shimmering with tears. “He was the one who hurt you—I just wanted to feed.”
Yes, Tommy had hurt her, as only a man could hurt a woman. But only because Valeria had egged him on. Before that, his psychical assaults had been relatively minor in the scheme of things—the bastard had enjoyed her blood more than anything else. Valeria, however, has always been very inventive when it was just her and Honor in the dark.
“Oh, did that hurt?” A whisper-soft laugh. “Naughty me. But a girl has to feed.”
“Dmitri,” Honor said, “I’ve changed my mind.”
And then she shot Valeria through the other thigh.
Guild Hunter Series:
1. Angel’s Blood
2. Archangel’s Kiss
3. Archangel’s Consort
4. Archangel’s Blade
FTC Advisory: Berkley Sensation provided me with a copy of Archangel’s Blade. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don’t receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site.(less)
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