Burn by Suzanne Wright -> Starting June 15th, 2024

[Alaina]

Part of a small demon lair in North Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or ‘anchor’, is a guy who’s rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue. The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed. She’s not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he’s more dangerous than anything she’s ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He’s also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive, and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has. Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He’ll have her, and he’ll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what’s his. He won’t allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

[Shan ~A~]

Ready for the 15th. It'll definitely give me time to get through the current upcoming books due before that date.

[Ela (Mouse333)]

I’m starting this now

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Chapters 1 - 6

(view spoiler)[ I’m liking Harper and Knox, and the story so far. I think that when the vote happens, the idea of a Monarch is going to win and eventually Knox will probably become the Monarch. It’ll be interesting to see what Knox is - does Isla know? Of course there’s Knox’s past to discover as well as actually seeing the powers the different demons have.

There have been some side characters that I really want to see more of - Raini, Devon, Tanner, Larkin. Also, I’m really hoping there’s going to be more scenes that show Harper’s/other’s imp nature - it sounds like it could be fun.

I know it’s very likely that Carla and her new family will appear so I’m curious to see how that confrontation will occur.
(hide spoiler)]

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Chapters 7 - 11

(view spoiler)[ The story’s still interesting, but I’m a bit bored of Harper and Knox’s relationship.

I really want to see more of Harper’s friends and especially her lair members. Also, I like Levi when he gives his opinion to Knox, but I want to see more of Knox’s sentinels.
(hide spoiler)]

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Chapters 12 - 17

(view spoiler)[ I didn’t think it was possible to guess what kind of demon Knox was. The demons are explained as they show up.

Harper’s analysis of Kendra (before it came out that she’s an imposter) was very similar to one made by Vienna in The Favor. Could the imposter be sent by Isla? Otherwise I’m curious what her purpose was.

Harper and Knox’s transition from anchors to mates seemed to happen without much development.

Since Isla is so delusional, I’m wondering if she’s met her real anchor and what their reaction might be to her convictions.

I don’t think I’m as invested in this book as I have been in other books by this author, but I do like Jolene and I want to see more of her, Lucian and Kellen.

Also, I really want to see a situation where Harper’s or Knox’s demon takes over and it takes a while for them to regain control over themselves.

Right now, I’m undecided if I want to continue with the series.
(hide spoiler)]

[Shan ~A~]

starting now, so I'll be back to read your comments and post as I go

[Shan ~A~]

Chapters 1-6

(view spoiler)[ I always enjoy a heroine that can kick ass and is self-assured and I get that from Harper. Knox a prime and is used to getting his way, so I've been finding it refreshing that Harper has been standing up to him. All alpha males need females who are just as strong, so they don't get bored. The need someone to keep them on their toes.

I definitely think that Carla's reasons for coming forward had nothing to do with wanting to have a relationship with Harper, but more a form of trying to manipulate the situation to make herself look like the victim. I loved that Knox asks why she hadn't tried to reach out to her since she's been there on her own since she was 18. All I was thinking is bitch stop lying. (Harsh but true).

Isla is going to be a problem. How can someone who knows how this whole anchor thing works really be this delusional all this time? Something isn't right with her.

Plus, I feel like she has something up her sleeve with the who concept of wanting to have monarchy for the demons. Why mention it, unless you think you can win?

And even though I loved the scene with them together intimately, it felt like Harper gave in too quickly considering all the times she denied it would happen leading up to that moment.

Also, who is Silas working for? Who is taking the strays? Is what Silas did, Isla's suggestions, and the missing strays connected?

I also would love to see a scene or more with her confronting Carla, but also meeting her siblings on that side to see what that dynamic would be.

It's been said multiple times that Knox gets bored easily and moves on to another partner. Do you think the fact that they are one another's anchors will make this different for them? Or do you think it would have been inevitable?

This story is more about the character development than the world building, so we definitely have more info that we need about demons in general. What are all the demon types, their powers, etc... (hide spoiler)]

I'm definitely with you about wanting to know they mystery of Knox, but from what he said I don't think Isla knows, but then again, she was there in the beginning before her delusion set in. I didn't even think to question that until you said it.

I am with you with the side characters, I want most of them to have their own stories, The ones you mentioned plus Khloe, Ciaran, Levi. It'll probably be more by the time I get through the book.

Suzanne Wright has a way of making you fall in love with all the characters on the side of good. I've completed two of her series (shifters) so far and they are always sexy, with a lot of ass kicking.

[Shan ~A~]

Chapters 7 -11

I was actually doing 7-12, but my device went dead, so I took it as a sign to stop and come here. 😂😂😂

(view spoiler)[ I just want to say that I wish my husband could use his mind to make it feel like several hands on me. That is definitely a great talent to have in that situation.

Carla and family introduces themselves to their prime's anchor and the meeting further solidifies my thoughts about Carla, because if she wanted to have a relationship with Harper, she would have told her new family about her.

I want to met Lucian. This man has to be something else. Why is he the way he is? Then to find out that a woman who doesn't like you is your half-sister and has slept with the man you are now sleeping with. She probably didn't like you already, but now her reason is compounded.

I'm glad to see that someone is having my line of thought for the missing strays. I wondered if it was connected to the person who sent Silas and the dark practitioners after Harper, as well as the election and it looks like I'm not the only one with that thought.

They finally have the meeting (or debate) for a monarch being put in place with the 3 individuals who would want to take that roll. I hope this doesn't become a thing, because I don't really know either of the candidates, but I don't trust either. It seems like it may be a disaster. And I definitely don't trust Isla.

I'm ready to see what Miss Thang really has up her sleeve. (hide spoiler)]

I agree that the story is still interesting. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Luckily, I like the MCs and their friends and family, so it isn't boring while we wait for whatever's to come.

I also really want to know all of the castes of demons and their powers, and what other supernatural's exist in this world.

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Chapters 1-6..."

(view spoiler)[ I completely agree about Carla and I really like how Knox is demanding explanations from everyone about what happened when Harper was a child too.

Yeah, Harper is supposed to be really hesitant when it comes to commitment and yet her actions don't reflect that.

Knox seemed to notice Harper before they realised that they're anchors (when he saw her fight and told his sentinels to escort her to him). Even though I don't think it's the anchor bond that's making him more interested in her, I do think that the anchor bond is providing them with an excuse to spend more time together and without it, I'm not sure that they'd be motivated enough to try to seek each other out. Maybe their relationship still would have happened, but after a lot more time.

I definitely agree about wanting more Khloe and Levi; I've kind of forgotten about Ciaran.

I like Suzanne Wright's writing too, but it feels like there's a lot of repetition when it comes to her books. Do you have a favourite?
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[Ela (Mouse333)]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Chapters 7 -11

I was actually doing 7-12, but my device went dead, so I took it as a sign to stop and come here. 😂😂😂 ..."

(view spoiler)[ Exactly! She's just trying to manipulate everyone around her.

I'm so curious about Lucian too! I can't wait to see him and I'm really hoping he's actually going to show up in this book.

Even though it would be easy for everything to all be orchestrated by one person, I'm wondering if the stray situation is unrelated, or at least not done by the same person as the practitioners and whoever's trying trying to attack Harper.

Of course, I don't trust any of the candidates either and I want to see why Isla thinks she has such an advantage - is this just another delusion she has?
(hide spoiler)]

[Shan ~A~]

Chapter 12-the end

(view spoiler)[ I think you're right that they would have ended up together, but that the anchor situation forced them to be in proximity of one another more.

And Ciaran was thrown to the wayside. I think I may have remembered him because my nephew has the same name just spelled differently.

So, in these chapters a lot happened, but I was still somehow not completely satisfied. Harper's parentage was revealed to all. It was a blow to Carla, since she was mainly keeping it hush, hush from the people in her life.

They found out Kendra was an imposter, and once her identity was revealed I felt let down by the whole situation.

I guess the dark practitioner's and Isla was not connected after all

We met Lucian and it was anti-climactic. I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I thought he would be fun, but also protective. He was just a man-child.

Harper tells Knox she loves him, and he finally reveals what type of demon he is (or has).

He takes her on this crazy ass birthday trip, which seemed apropos of nothing. Not that it was something for her birthday, that was briefly mentioned, but the context of the trip. I just wondered why it was there or why was it even in the book. What the heck did her birthday have to do with anything. I guess mentioning would have made sense if it affected anything. Well maybe because Lucian was coming home at that time. I don't know.

The election happens, Isla's smugness about the election was explained and her involvement in some of the other things that were going on. She definitely didn't get what she thought she would, and also got more than she bargained for.

Harper was taken to lure Knox into a trap. You're wish for a demon takeover is granted. (hide spoiler)]


Overall, this is nowhere close to the other books I've read by this author. I don't know if it was just me, but it felt disconnected in some way. It's like she was trying to make a lot happen but ended up lacking in some areas.

When I read a book, especially paranormal or urban fantasy, I like to know how the world the characters inhabit works. If not in the story, I know of author's who have indexes or appendixes to explain things that a reader may question. Or maybe since these characters are demons, they could have had a conversation at some point about the different types of demons, more details about how lairs are formed, and what it takes to become a prime or how.

I was somewhat confused about the anchor business (view spoiler)[ Since Carla and Lucian were anchors and didn't need to stay close to one another, but when Knox found out that he and Harper were anchors, he said they would always be in one another lives. If they share a psychic connection, then what happened to that part of the bond for Carla and Lucian, or since he rejected her as a mate, did he also not fully bond with her as an anchor (they may have said this and it went in one ear and out the other), but if that's the case and anchors are needed for sanity, what does that mean for them? (hide spoiler)]

I think I'm going to rate this book 3 stars and give one more book in the series a go at some point before I decide how to proceed.

I really like all of her shifter books and they are connected to one another. There are some of them that I like more than others. In The Phoenix Pack series books 5-8 were my favorites. In The Mercury Pack series 3-5 were my favorites, and in the Olympus Pride series book 2 was my favorite so far. I still need to read book 6 which released in March.

I read book 1 in the Deep in Your Veins series, and it was just meh. I may go back to it at some point.

There has definitely been more good than not so good with her books, so I try not to give up completely. Just space out the ones that didn't hit the way I wanted them to.

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Chapters 18 - 22

(view spoiler)[ I thought that there would be a cliffhanger considering the fact that the next few books are also about Harper and Knox.

I kind of expected that Harper was going to get wings, but I'm not sure I understood how that happened.

I don't think I understand the dark practitioners or their role either.

I liked the idea of Knox's sentinels and Harper's family, but I wanted to see more of them. Also, the meeting with Lucian was a bit anti-climactic and I didn't think that there was enough of Kellen, although I guess he might appear more in the next books.
(hide spoiler)]

[Shan ~A~]

We're basically on the same page.
(view spoiler)[ I'm glad there was no cliffhanger even though the next few books are about them, then if you don't like it you don't feel obligated to keep going to find out what happens next.

I thought she would eventually get her wings, but I thought it would happen when they first bonded due to his power being so strong, but I understood that she broke a barrier in their psychic connection, so his powers enabled this to happen at this point.

Yeah, I ended up feeling like the dark practitioners and the entire Kendra story was just thrown in. With the Isla portion there was an emotional component that made her reasoning for her actions make sense. Maybe this part could have been in another book, where just all of his enemies hired mercenaries to kill his anchor/mate or something. And are the dark practitioners witches or demons?

I believe that somewhere in this series some of the secondary characters get their own books. I saw there are quite a few books, but I didn't look to see who they featured. (hide spoiler)]

[Ela (Mouse333)]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "Chapter 12-the end..."

(view spoiler)[ I was thinking the exact same thing about the meeting with Lucian!

Yeah, the trip to the volcano seemed to come out of nowhere and while it might have been fun, it felt out of place and not fitting the occasion.

😂 Knox's demon did take over, but I don't know. I kind of wanted it to be longer so that there would more interactions between the demon and Harper. I think I'm just being picky now because I thought I was going to like this book more.

I'm glad it's not just me - I definitely thought that this book wasn't as good as her other books. It lacked a bit of everything - explaining the world/demons more, the side characters, the relationship development between Knox and Harper.

That's a good point. How are Lucian and Carla still sane and living normally? I can't remember it saying much about this, but I'm guessing that since they're not bonded anchors, they're just going to go insane as they get older.

I'm going to rate it 2 stars because it was fine, but I doubt I'll ever want to reread it.

I've been wondering if I should try another book in the series too and as you said, I might after a while, but I'm not sure that the descriptions are all that interesting.

Feral Sins is one of my favourites and even though I liked some of the other books in the series/world, they weren't for me. I've read Deep in Your Veins and in my opinion, only the first three were good, mostly because of all the action/powers.
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[Ela (Mouse333)]

Shan ~A~ wrote: "We're basically on the same page. ..."

(view spoiler)[ I thought the same about the wings coming when they first bonded, but then kind of forgot about it because their relationship just happened without much development.

I think the dark practitioners are witches because I think they're against all demons, but I'm not sure. I agree that they were thrown in and especially the whole thing with Kendra who was actually an imposter. Since I'm not that clear on anchors, I might just not understand something, but was it really possible for Isla to be that delusional until the very end? I guess it could be attributed to her being crazy.

I didn't look too much into the books about the other characters, but I'm pretty sure Tanner and Devon (the hellhound and the hellcat) are going to be together.
(hide spoiler)]

[Shan ~A~]

(view spoiler)[ I was wondering the same thing about the anchors. It seemed like Harper and Knox touched and then they knew, so why did Isla think Knox was her anchor if it is supposed to happen similarly to how it happen with the MCs??

I think the author got confused and that part of the story didn't add up.

I like what someone said (I can't remember who or the exact words) when they were asking Knox what he would do if Harper didn't think she was his anchor and he said he would continue to pursue her, so that said that's basically what Isla was doing. I don't think the part of realizing who your anchor is was thought out very well. Maybe it's being described better moving forward.

I will say that she did a better job in the shifter series when it came to mating. (hide spoiler)]