Review: Kait Ballenger – Twilight Hunter

Execution Underground Series:  

Book 1:  

Twilight Hunter: Jace McCannon and Frankie Amato

 

 

Expected publication: August 27th 2013

Purchase on Amazon:  Twilight Hunter (The Execution Underground)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Hunters of the supernatural, the Execution Underground are an elite group tasked with protecting humanity…but what happens when danger collides with desire?

Jace McCannon has one loyalty: the Execution Underground. Despite his mixed blood, his hatred for the werewolves he hunts is legendary. But in his search for a sadistic killer, Jace finds himself face to face with a stunningly seductive packmaster…and longing for a night with his mortal enemy.

Nothing can stop Frankie Amato from defending her kind–or catching the rogue responsible for killing women in her territory. For that, this alpha female needs Jace’s skills more than she wants to admit. But as their investigation exposes evil truths, need burns into a passion that dare not be fulfilled. For to do so will have deadly consequences for them both…

Review:

Another great book from Kait Ballenger! TWILIGHT HUNTER is a sexy, dark, intriguing, action packed roller coaster ride of emotion and hard hitting action with a twist on my favorite supernatural species thrown in. The Execution Underground is an elite force to take out rogue supernaturals. Jace is the best werewolf hunter on the east coast, but this case is his hardest yet. Women are dying, and dying horrific death, mutilated beyond recognition. It’s been weeks and Jace is still no closer to catching the bastard that is killing these women. He’s hunting when he comes across Frankie. The attraction is instantaneous and fierce, but she’s a werewolf. The one species that he abhors even though he is half wolf himself, a secret he has kept from all of the Execution Underground, except his childhood friend and Demon Hunter David.

Jace is a lost soul with some serious daddy issues. Totally flawed, but good hearted despite himself. He is a total protector even if he doesn’t particularly think of himself that way; he would be the first to admit he can be an a-hole. Despite his many flaws and anger issues you really can’t help but love Jace anyway. As a character he has a lot of growing to do, he’s basically racist against his own kind and kills werewolves pretty much indiscriminately since becoming a hunter. He thinks all were’s are the same until he meets Frankie and he can’t keep his hands or his emotions in check. She has him questioning all of his beliefs. By the end of the book you are helplessly in love with poor Jace and happy to see how much he’s grown as a character.

Frankie is not hard to like, she has her packs best interests in mind and pretty self-sacrificing. She is basically slated to marry a man she doesn’t love because it is expected of her. She actually misses her mating ceremony because Jace took her captive. Jace is the first thing she takes because that’s what she as a person wanted and not what her parents or her pack wanted. For a while she just couldn’t seem to spit out what she really wanted to say, causing man a miss-communications and causing Jace even more hurt to his fragile self-worth when it comes to being loveable. I just wanted to yell at her, just say what you mean woman! But if there is no conflict then they can’t “make up”, so I couldn’t be too mad.

The story is fast paced and as previously mentioned action packed. From beginning to end, something is going on which keeps you captivated and those pages turning. There is no room to get bored. The chemistry between Jace and Frankie is explosive from the beginning, they can certainly steam up the pages and have you fanning yourself off. The side characters of Shane and David were great, I can’t help but look forward to their books. It is looking like David’s will be next and I am really excited for that one! Oh and Damon, damn, I know you had it rough at the end of your novella, but ish do you have to be such an a$$!?! He’s gonna have to have a lot to atone for once he becomes happy again, for now, I’m going to choose to forgive his attitude because I know how is novella SHADOW HUNTER ended and I know he is hurting, but he better make it up to us! I can’t wait to see where this series takes us! I am totally on board and looking forward to IMMORTAL HUNTER in January 2014.

Rating:

*This book was provided to me by the author and no other compensation was provided.

*This review can also be seen on http://paranormalromancenovel.com

Review: Kresley Cole – MacRieve

Immortals After Dark Series: 

Book 13:

MacRieve: Uilleam MacRieve and Chloe Todd

 

 

Purchase on Amazon:Kresley Cole – MacRieve (Immortals After Dark)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A Beast In Torment

Uilleam MacRieve believed he’d laid to rest the ghosts of his boyhood. But when a brutal torture revives those ancient agonies and destroys his Lykae instinct, the proud Scot craves the oblivion of death. Until he finds her—a young human so full of spirit and courage that she pulls him back from the brink.

A Beauty In Chains

Seized for the auction block, Chloe Todd is forced to enter a terrifying new world of monsters and lore as a bound slave. When offered up to creatures of the dark, she fears she won’t last the night. Until she’s claimed by him—a tormented immortal with heartbreaking eyes, whose touch sets her blood on fire.

A Full Moon On The Rise

With enemies circling, MacRieve spirits Chloe away to the isolated Highland keep of his youth. But once he takes her to his bed, his sensual mate becomes something more than human, evoking his savage past and testing his sanity. On the cusp of the full moon, can he conquer his worst nightmare to save Chloe . . . from himself?

 

Review:

Kresley Cole has long since earned her place on my auto-buy list as well as the top spot as my favorite author. Every time I pick up a Kresley Cole book it starts this spiral of need to go back and read the rest of the series all over again. I swear I do a re-read of IAD at least once a year. I know without a doubt that if I pick up a Kresley Cole book it will be a minimum of four stars EVERY time. MacRieve is absolutely no exception to this rule. This was not my favorite book of the series but I’d still say Ms. Cole has a winner on her hands. I DEVOURED it, staying up all night to finish and dragging my ass into work with almost no sleep but not caring. PS. I really wish release day was on a Friday or something so this wouldn’t keep happening to me with my favorite authors. LOL

 

As with Lothaire I gotta say MacRieve was kinda a douche in the middle of the book. He showed promise early on but events triggering childhood trauma and massive guilt changed that fairly quickly. I am glad to say that he did see error of his ways and did endeavor to change his attitude but it was some rough going there for a while. MacRieve totally earned his nickname of “Head Case” and I absolutely LOVED that nickname for him; it was so fitting and cracked me up every time someone used it and they called him it right to his face and he couldn’t even get mad since it was true. Lol Coming into this book, I had no idea just how traumatized MacRieve was, in reality we didn’t know much about the twins other then they are Hot and Hotter or is it Hotter and Hot?? A childhood event when he was nine lasting until it came to a head at thirteen shaped the rest of his life and then when he was picked up by the Order that just made everything worse. His torture was extensive as the pet of Dr. Nixon and then after the escape he barely dodged another bullet which dredged up the childhood memories. I couldn’t help but repeatedly say “pobrecito” (poor guy) throughout a lot of the book. He may have been a douche but it was kind of understandable and I couldn’t hate him for it. He even brought tears to my eyes a few times and I don’t think I have ever cried in a Kresley Cole book, because usually I’m too busy laughing.

 

Even though there were a few tears worry not my friends you’ll still laugh in this book because Chloe is quite the smart ass and I adore smart ass characters. Probably one of the reason I love Kresley Cole so much, most of her characters tend to be on the smart ass side and I can’t get enough of it. Chloe is also a pretty tough chica. In the beginning she is just a human professional woman’s soccer player with dreams of the Olympics but soon she realizes that something is happening to her. When her father disappears after handing her the living book of the Lore it is merely weeks when she is kidnapped to be sold to the highest bidder. It seems her father is enemy numero uno amongst the Lore. It is on the auction block when MacRieve finds her and “rescues” her. It is just when she is starting to buy into MacRieve’s matehood when he does a complete 180 after her transition. Chloe is not one to really put up with much shit so she gives back as much as she gets from MacRieve wanting nothing to do with him, but the nature of the beast rears its ugly head and circumstances what they are they have to stick together. What I really liked about Chloe is that she didn’t really freak out about the Lore and her transition. She had a “rub some dirt” mentality and tried to make the best of the situation. She remained her smart ass self and won everyone over including MacRieve. Although, I do wish that she would have been able to compete in the Olympics, it seems a bit sad that she had to give up that dream, but she took it in stride.

 

This book isn’t as action packed as some of the others as MacRieve is still pretty traumatized from being tortured so I think this was a good move, plus we still had plenty of drama with MacRieve and Chloe in their own personal battle between each other and MacRieves’ past. This is probably the steamiest book of the series, almost from the get go. As with all the other books in this series the side characters cannot be dismissed. I adore every single one of them in particular I loved the orphaned brothers. They cracked me up, especially the younger one. I’m drawing a blank on his name right now. We spend more time with Monroe then we ever have before and I like him, it’s looking like his book may be next in the series. He’s little to serious so I hope his mate drives him nuts! Kresley Cole is setting us up for something BIG so I can’t wait to see where we go in this series!

 

Well Done Kresley Cole, Well Done!

 

Rating: 5 Romanticals

This review can also be seen on www.paranormalromancenovel.com .

ARC Review: Molly Harper – A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses

Half Moon Hollow Series:

Book 3:

A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses: Nola Leary and Jed Trudeau

 

 

Expected publication: May 28th 2013

Purchase on Amazon: Molly Harper – A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses

 

Summary:

From goodreads.com

Nola Leary would have been content to stay in Kilcairy, Ireland, healing villagers at her family’s clinic with a mix of magic and modern medicine. But a series of ill-timed omens and a deathbed promise to her grandmother have sent her on a quest to Half-Moon Hollow, Kentucky, to secure her family’s magical potency for the next generation. Her supernatural task? To unearth four artifacts hidden by her grandfather before a rival magical family beats her to it.

Complication One: Her grandfather was Mr. Wainwright and the artifacts are lost somewhere in what is now Jane Jameson’s book shop.

Complication Two: her new neighbor, Jed Trudeau, who keeps turning up half naked at the strangest times, a distraction Nola doesn’t need. And teaming up with a real-life Adonis is as dangerous as it sounds, especially when he’s got the face of an angel and the abs of a washboard—can Nola complete her mission before falling completely under his spell?

 

Review:

I freak’n adore Molly Harper! She is on my auto-buy list for a reason. I count on Molly Harper to make me laugh every time I pick up one of her books not a fail. This is the reason I read Molly Harper! With this book I got exactly what I expected, a fun, light humorous book that I didn’t want to put down.

The Half Moon Hollow crew is back in this book in their supporting roles. You can count on Jane and crew to make you laugh, in this book we have newcomer to the crew Nola. She is on a task to find her families artifacts, if she fails, her entire family may lose their magic. Nola, has never been a big practitioner of her own magic but that doesn’t mean that she wants her family to lose their magic, their entire village in Ireland counts on it. Back in Ireland Nola is the most practical of her family; I like that in this book she loses a bit of that out of necessity. Her task in general is a bit crazy so she has to go outside her comfort zone quite a bit to reach her goal. Back home, she has a straight laced boring boyfriend. In Half Moon Hollow she has a gorgeous neighbor that tempts her more then he ought to, especially since she has a perfectly lovely boyfriend back home, or is he? While in Half Moon Hollow, things start falling apart between her and her man. And honestly you can’t even dredge up and remorse for that, not with Jed next door! Jed, is muscled, sexy and good with power tools! Plus he is a savior of small marsupials. I mean really how can you turn that down, for boring? Lola starts asking herself that question on a regular basis.

The romance in the story is a bit slow to start, for a while I was wondering if it was going to happen at all. However, that didn’t really detract from the story for me. I don’t necessarily pick up Molly Harper for the romance, although it is a nice benefit. I pick up Molly Harper because I want to laugh uproariously and that mission was accomplished with this book. I consider that a win! While this book is light on the romance it in heavy on the laughs. So if you want to laugh, pick this one up!

 

*This book was provided to me through Edelweiss for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

 

Rating: 4.5 Romanticals

 

*This review can also be seen at www.paranormalromancenovel.com .

Blood Prophecy (Son’s of Navarus #4) By Gabrielle Bisset

Check out our blurb on the cover!
“My go to author for hot romance, fast action, and magical adventures”

BuyLink: Blood Prophecy (Sons of Navarus #4) (Volume 4)

5 Romanticals
Gabrielle Bisset’s paranormal world is one of the best out there right now. She is a true story teller. This series gets better and better. Gabrielle’s world grows more fascinating as each new book comes out. A superb saga of good and evil.

I loved this book with a passion. I cried my eyes out. Gabrielle’s writing pulls the emotion right out of me. I am addicted to this series and I am already in withdrawal waiting for the next book.

Powerful emotion and intense passion fuel this book with page turning excitement. The emotion is raw, the action is packed, the pages are filled with danger keeping you on the edge of your seat.

This book has an alluring plot of power, dark romance, emotion and mystery all blending together taking you on the roller coaster ride of your life!

We meet more fascinating characters in this book bringing this series to the next level of epic…

Ramiel is a powerful vampire warrior. He sets out to help with his part in the prophecy. But he doesn’t realize the surprise he has in store for him.

These characters are unforgettable and so very special.

This series will grab you up and take your mind to places its never been before. You will not be disappointed. This book belongs on your list of keepers!

Review: Bec McMaster – Tarnished Knight

London Steampunk Series:

Book 1.5:

Tarnished Knight: Rip and Esme

 

Free on Smashwords.com (for now):

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

After a vicious vampire attack left him struggling to leash the dark urges of the craving virus, John “Rip” Doolan thinks he’s finally starting to master the darkness within. The only thing that threatens to shatter his hard-won control is Esme, his closest friend and the only woman he’s ever wanted. If the stubborn beauty ever realized precisely what was going through his mind, their friendship would be ruined.

For six months, Esme has waited for Rip to recover and take her as his thrall, not daring to hope for more. Too afraid to put her heart on the line, she is devastated when Rip reveals that he never had any intentions of making her his.

But when a savage gang of Slashers start causing havoc in Whitechapel, Rip and Esme have no choice. They must face up to the depth of the passion that burns between them and forge a new relationship…or risk losing each other forever.

Review:

I very quickly came to love this series! I am so glad that Anne from Under the Covers Book Blog recommended this series to me. It is a unique blend of historical, paranormal and steampunk. This book takes place approximately 6 months after the first book left off. Rip was given the blood-craving to survive a mortal wound at the end of the first book. It was Esme who provided blood for the first time to Rip so that he would survive. For the last six months Rip has been fighting his control of the craving. He has no intention of ever letting Esme be his Thrall. He believes that she is better than that, better than him. For the past six months Esme has been waiting for Rip to take her as his Thrall. She has would give anything to be so close to him, only he doesn’t seem to realize that he is her craving.

In this novella we are taken on a rollercoaster of misunderstandings which make for an entertaining read. Esme and Rip can never quite seem to get on the same page, he can’t believe that she would want likes of him and she can’t seem to make him understand that she wants him as more than just her friend. She is ready to take their friendship to the next level, more than ready, like years ago ready. But he never makes the move. Rip is a giant but a gentle giant at heart, Esme’s friendship means everything to him and he is not willing to do anything to jeopardize that. He can’t seem to make Esme understand that he respects her too much to take her to Thrall.

When the Slasher’s make a play for Blade’s territory, it is Rip that risks his life to take them out. Only the tasks becomes more than he can handle alone. When woman start disappearing he realizes that everyone is in danger. Could it be that Esme will be the next victim of this sadistic bastard. The danger that the Slasher’s pose adds an exciting element of danger to the story. This book may not be very long but it certainly packs all that it can in a short span of time. This book is an action packed tale with plenty of romance. It was a fantastic installment to this exciting new series!

Rating:

4 Romanticals

*This post can also be viewed at my other blog www.paranormalromancenovel.com .

Review: Bec McMaster–Kiss of Steel

London Steampunk Series:

Book 1:

Kiss of Steel: Blade and Honoria Todd

Purchase on Amazon:  Bec McMaster – Kiss of Steel

Summary:

When Nowhere Is Safe

Most people avoid the dreaded Whitechapel district. For Honoria Todd, it’s the last safe haven. But at what price?

Blade is known as the master of the rookeries—no one dares cross him. It’s been said he faced down the Echelon’s army single-handedly, that ever since being infected by the blood-craving he’s been quicker, stronger, and almost immortal.

When Honoria shows up at his door, his tenuous control comes close to snapping. She’s so…innocent. He doesn’t see her backbone of steel—or that she could be the very salvation he’s been seeking.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It came highly recommended from Anne from over at Under the Covers Book Blog and I have to say she has not steered me wrong yet. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I’ve never really read Steampunk before, so I wasn’t sure what it would be all about and I’m still not entirely sure what is so different about it besides the mention of clockwork mechanical automations, which isn’t something what would be so out of the ordinary for a paranormal read to begin with, so as far as the steampunk aspect goes it was barely noticeable. The world building is impressive. This new world is a lot to take on and it can at times get overwhelming but in the end you have a complete new world that has been entirely set up for the entire series. This is a historical with a paranormal twist.

I adored Honoria and Blade as a couple, the sexual tension was of the chains. Honoria has been taking care of her siblings for the past 6 months. Her entire world exists to take care of them. She is slowly killing herself to make ends meet, when the call comes. Blade is the Monster of Whitechapel, she thought she needed to escape his notice, she never thought he would end up being her salvation. Blade is intrigued by Honoria from the start. Her pride will be the death of her, but she still keeps on keeping on. Her strength of heart and her beauty keep blade coming back. He knows he wants her he’s just not sure what to do with her. LOL Every time they get near each other the sexual tension is bursting from the pages! It makes things interesting for us readers. I enjoyed watching their romance develop.

As individual characters I loved both Honor and Blade. Honor is a strong character; everything she does is for her siblings. She sacrifices everything for them, her health, her pride and her blood. I can get down with that. She is also very brave and does not shy away from doing what she needs to do, at times it can be heartbreaking. Blade, aw man, I love a bad guy that is actually the good guy. He cannot be seen as weak and the leader of the Rookeries. When the big bad comes to his territory it is up to him to take of it and he does not shy away from his duty. He knows he is on the edge, soon his time will be up and he’ll have to do, what needs to be done. He just wishes he could have met Honor before he got so close to the edge. He wants more than a couple of months with her and his adopted family. A monster to the rest but to his family and Honor they know the good man he is beneath.

This was a great start to this new series. I am looking forward to the rest of the books and have already put a dent in the series. I see good things to come.

Rating:

4.5 Romanticals

*This review can also be seen at my other blog http://www.paranormalromancenovel.com .

Review: Jeaniene Frost – Twice Tempted

Night Prince Series:

Book 2:

Twice Tempted: Vlad Tepesh and Leila

 

 

Purchase on Amazon: Jeaniene Frost – Twice Tempted: A Night Prince Novel

Summary:

From goodreads.com

Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges…

Leila’s psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn’t sure what the future holds. If that weren’t enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she’s also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won’t admit that he loves her.

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity…

Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.

Review:

Another great book by Jeaniene Frost! When you pick up a Jeaniene Frost book, you know that you are in for an entertaining read and this book is no exception. I have long been a Vlad fan, since he first appeared in the Night Huntress series. He is a total smart ass and has a brooding quality about him. In his own series, he is still a smart ass, but not quite as much as we see from him in the Night Huntress series. In this series he is a bit more serious, which is because we are finally seeing the full impact of being a Master of his own line. Vlad in Night Huntress seems more carefree because we do not see all of his responsibilities, in Night Prince he has heavy burdens placed on him by a crazy person that wants to take out Vlad by any means necessary and Leila stands in their way.

This book takes place within weeks of the big showdown in book one. Leila’s full abilities still have not returned to full power and Vlad is kind of acting like an a$$. Leila has finally had enough, and decides to leave Vlad, even though it’s tearing her apart. I love that she knows her worth and will not settle for second place. Vlad may be the big bad, but she is not afraid of him. She gathers all of her considerable strength/will and leaves Vlad and goes back to the States. Almost immediately she is attacked and everyone thinks her dead including Vlad. On the run AGAIN and kidnapped AGAIN she finds that she is stronger and more capable than she ever imagined. Leila has never really been short in the self esteem department but she is really just a bad a$$. She doesn’t hesitate to do what she needs to do to survive and goes toe to toe with one of the most powerful vampires in the world. There is no way she is going to let this newest baddy take her down!

As with all Jeaniene Frost’s books you can count on going on a roller coaster ride of action, humor and sensuality. From the first chapter poor Leila is kidnapped yet again. Poor thing she is always getting kidnapped by someone, good thing she can take care of herself! When kidnapping doesn’t work the assassination attempts really pick up, so you are guaranteed plenty of action and violence as we have come to expect from Jeaniene Frost. You know the infamous chapter 32 in the Night Huntress, there is a scene in this one, and I’d have to say is on par with that one. There are some serious smexy times in this book. I was not disappointed in this category. I do have to say this book is not quite as funny as some of Ms. Frost’s other works. There are still plenty of smart a$$ remarks but I expected more. Also, my number one and only issue with this series is we do not spend any time in Vlad’s head. I would really love some of Vlad’s POV. I know Frost always writes in the females POV but this is Vlad’s series so I would think we would have some time in his head. Tho he does have this moment on the plane that almost makes up for the lack of time in his head.

Rating:

4.5 Romanticals

ARC Review: Kristen Callihan–Winterblaze

Darkest London Series:

Book 3:

Winterblaze: Poppy Lane and Winston Lane

 

 

Release Date: February 26^th, 2013

Purchase on Amazon:  Kristen Callihan – Winterblaze (Darkest London)

Summary:

Once blissfully in love . . .

Poppy Lane is keeping secrets. Her powerful gift has earned her membership in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals, but she must keep both her ability and her alliance with the Society from her husband, Winston. Yet when Winston is brutally attacked by a werewolf, Poppy’s secrets are revealed, leaving Winston’s trust in her as broken as his body. Now Poppy will do anything to win back his affections . . .

Their relationship is now put to the ultimate test.

Winston Lane soon regains his physical strength but his face and heart still bear the scars of the vicious attack. Drawn into the darkest depths of London, Winston must fight an evil demon that wants to take away the last hope of reconciliation with his wife. As a former police inspector, Winston has intelligence and logic on his side. But it will take the strength of Poppy’s love for him to defeat the forces that threaten to tear them apart.

Review:

I absolutely love Kristen Callihan, she has quickly become one of my favorite authors! The planning, plotting and sheer talent it must take to write one of her novels amazes me. She just has this way of taking little bits and pieces, stringing us along and then BAM it all comes together in the end that has you thinking now why didn’t I see that. In a romance genre it can sometimes be hard to be surprised but with every Callihan novel, I am surprised at least once. This novel is no exception to that trend and Callihan pulls out all of the stops for this one.

At first I had a hard time liking Poppy, she just seemed so remote, she was hard to get a read on and she didn’t seemed very “flawed”, she is so controlled and keeps things close. Little by little you see cracks I her façade and she becomes more likeable, she is a fierce protector at heart and a lot of that control was to make sure everyone was safe. Poppy has not lead a safe existence, as a part of the SOS she has been undercover pretty much her whole life. Secrets are second nature to her, but if she doesn’t want to lose everything she has to open up her life to her husband and let him. Just the thought of bringing Winston terrifies her, there is so much that can go wrong. Poppy ends up being such a strong character, I loved watching her walls start to crash down. It is than that we see the real Poppy and not the one she has had to be for so long. But, with a very powerful Demon after her and Winston, either her or Winston may not live long enough to make everything right…

Now, Winston I really wasn’t into that much from the previous books, as an inspector he popped up in both FIRELIGHT and MOONGLOW. In this book from the get go we see another side of Winston. We see a venerable side; we see the scarred man, both inside and out. There is so much more to Win that we never knew in previous books. I loved learning about him, by the end I was quite smitten with him and his strength of character. He also has a sharp mind that can put things together that others cannot, and that makes him an opponent that you don’t really see coming. He is underestimated at every turn, even by Poppy in the beginning but he proves himself quickly. But quickly, may not be soon enough, as there is a price on his very soul and the demon is ready to collect!

This book takes us on twists and turns as we navigate the London underground scene. We learn things in this book about new supernaturals that we did not know in previous books. More comes out about the GIMs and they have more than a few tricks up their sleeves! Marie and Jack Talent are in this book quite a bit and their skirmishes are quite entertaining. There was a moment with Talent that had me in tears; just thinking about it has me tearing up again! (You make me cry, you get a five rule!) As a character I have always loved Talent and it just broke my heart, but he’s strong so I have faith that he will pull through. I also quite enjoyed the ending in this book, it pulled everything together quite nicely. It wasn’t looking so good there for a moment for Winston and Poppy and I was wondering how Callihan was going to pull it out, but in true fashion she pulled it off spectacularly. This book was another rousing success from a rising star!

*This book was provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Rating: 5 Romanticals

*this review can also be seen at www.paranormalromancenovel.com .

ARC Review: Cecy Robson–Sealed with a Curse

Weird Girls Series:

Book 1:

Sealed with a Curse: Celia Wird and Sisters

 

 

Release Date: December 31st 2012

Get the prequel: Cecy Robson – The Weird Girls: A Novella (A Penguin Special from Signet Eclipse)

Purchase on Amazon: Cecy Robson – Sealed With a Curse: A Weird Girls Novel

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they’re products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…

The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren’t aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders: are the vampires of Tahoe cursed with a plague?

Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha’s family to keep the region safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and oh yeah, not lose her heart to the wrong guy—or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, it’s coming for her and her sisters. This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

Review:

I loved loved loved this book! This book was everything I was hoping the last book I read would be. The characters are fun, they are sassy and kick major ass! “Because girls kick ass, it says so on a t-shirt”. (This was on some tv show or movie but I can’t remember which one) LOL A I adored Celia and all three of her sisters. Each had a fully developed and completely different personality. Anyone with a sister can certainly appreciate the sister bond they share! I know I did. 😉 Ms. Robson has such a funny, fun exciting writing style. I was captured from the first and it did not let me go until the very end, I didn’t want to let this world go and was sad when I saw the pages dwindling. I immediately checked to see what other books I could devour by this author and was glad to see a prequel was out but sad to see the second book in this series won’t be out for months! Waiting sucks!

So the story starts and we are in vampire court, it was a great way to throw us into this new world. You actually find out a lot about this new world from the vampire court and more about the sisters and their individual powers. Their powers are different and unique from any other being, they are not vampires or true were’s or witches and each sister has a different skill set. They are a result of a backfired curse. They were supposed to be cursed with illness at their birth but instead they developed super cool powers! Celia is our “alpha” and POV for this book. We get major time with the sisters but it’s Celia’s voice we hear throughout.

Misha is a Master Vampire who is losing all of her “family” to bloodlust. Vampires in the world are typically non-violent and more charming then scary. But when they fall into bloodlust no one is safe. When Tahoe becomes an epidemic of bloodlust driven vamps, Misha turns to the Wird sisters to help him save his family. They are not too keen on the idea but realize that this has become a bigger problem.

There is major action from page one until the last page. You know how some books lead you up to a major battle and then it’s over basically before it begins? Well this is so not the case here, there are several battles and each one is not a disappointment and continues to build to a final showdown that will not leave you hanging. I do have to say, I saw the bad guy coming from a mile away, but I still liked to see how the events unfolded and where they ended up. Each sister puts the smack down in their own way and only as a collective unit are they successful. I liked that they worked together as a team along with the other major players of the books. Even with all of the action this book was not lacking in emotion. You clearly knew how each sister was feeling especially Celia. Her emotions were right there for you to grab a hold of and feel along with her. A surprising emotion we got from Celia was loneliness and it would tear at your heart. She is surrounded by love from her sisters but they have a much easier time finding men to be interested in them. With the nature of Celia’s beast she scares men away more often than not and is often left alone while her sisters are out on the town.

Although, I wouldn’t necessarily consider this book a “romance” although there are plenty of love interests involved. I think it’s more intended to be an Urban Fantasy type of deal where we will be following Celia as the primary and her sisters. With this book we get a quasi love triangle. Misha makes it clear he has an interest in Celia but Celia meets a sexy Alpha of the new Were-Wolves that recently came into town. They have a tumultuous relationship and Celia has to dodge sexy vampire Misha at every turn. Each sister also get a sexy wolf to themselves and it’s fun to see how the whole group interacts. It’s like a quadruple date! It’s such fun!

I loved everything about this book and would recommend it to anyone. It was a joy to read and I can’t wait until the next installment.

This title was provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

Rating: 5 Romanticals

 

*This review is also posted on www.paranormalromancenovel.com

Review: Kresley Cole – Shadow’s Claim

Immortals After Dark Series:

Book 13:

The Dacians: Realm of Blood and Mist Series:

Book 1:

Shadow’s Claim: Prince Trehan Daciano “The Prince of Shadows” and Princess Bettina of the Deathly Ones

Purchase Book on Amazon: Kresley Cole – Shadow’s Claim (Immortals After Dark: the Dacians)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Shadow’s Claim features Prince Trehan, a ruthless master assassin who will do anything to possess Bettina, his beautiful sorceress mate, even compete for her hand in a blood-sport tournament—to the death.

He won’t be denied…
Trehan Daciano, known as the Prince of Shadows, has spent his life serving his people, striking in the night, quietly executing any threat to their realm. The coldly disciplined swordsman has never desired anything for himself—until he beholds Bettina, the sheltered ward of two of the Lore’s most fearsome villains.

She’s bound to another…
Desperate to earn her guardians’ approval after a life-shattering mistake, young Bettina has no choice but to marry whichever suitor prevails—even though she’s lost her heart to another. Yet one lethal competitor, a mysterious cloaked swordsman, invades her dreams, tempting her with forbidden pleasure.

A battle for her body and soul…
Even if Trehan can survive the punishing contests to claim her as his wife, the true battle for Bettina’s heart is yet to come. And unleashing a millennium’s worth of savage need will either frighten his Bride away—or stoke Bettina’s own desires to a fever-pitch…

Review:

For some reason I having a hard time writing this review, my thoughts are scattered and I can’t seem to start in the right spot. Erg! Do I have reviewers block? Does that even exist? LOL

Well anyway, I loved this book. From beginning to end it was passionate, fun, funny, action packed and the characters lovable. Trehan was a sexier, more lovable version of Sebastian Wroth. Both are scholarly, warriors, but for me, Trehan does it better, sexier, more brooding, a master assassin for the land of Blood and Mist. Yummy! I’ll take a Trehan any day! He’s an undercover alpha male he’s so calm and collected, that he can deceive you, then all of the sudden….he’s NOT! And then all hell breaks loose and you have an explosive alpha male on your hands. Oooweee! But our Master Assassin also has a soft side; he is so supportive of Bettina when she is struggling with her fears. He just looks at her and puts his faith in her that she could beat that deep seeded fear and his unwavering faith in her gets her past a huge block. He meets Bettina when he is drawn to her window by some inexplicable force. He is supposed to be hunting a demon Caspion for breaking his lands laws. When he enters Bettina’s room he finds his Bride in a beautiful maiden and she is responding to his touch! But she soon realizes that the person touching her is not who she thought it was and Trehan realizes his Bride doesn’t want him. He decides then and there that he does not want a Bride that does not want him, or does he?

Bettina is so damn cute, if I could have folded her up and put her in my pocket to take with me, I would have! She does an incredible amount of growing throughout this book. She goes from scared and a push over to a sorceress that other sorceri should fear someone ready to rule the deathly ones! She is half demoness and half sorceress. She grew up in her homeland where her demon father was king up until his death shortly following her mother’s death. She always felt out of place, taking on most of her mother sorceress qualities. She had no friends until Caspion a foundling orphan link up and suddenly she has a best friend who she secretly loved for most of her young life. When she is away from her realm in the human world she is viciously attacked by Vrekeners, not fully into her immortality it takes her 2 months to recover. Three months later her guardians decree that there will be a open tournament for her hand in marriage and to be king of her kingdom, which brings out all sorts of Loreans and a lot of them are not any creature you would want to be married to, ever! For years she has fancied herself in love with Caspion, he has been her childhood hero! She begs him to enter the tournament and finally he agrees if for no other reason than to avoid Trehans blade coming at his head for breaking Dacians laws. Bettina never expects to see Trehan again after that first night when he declares her his Bride and then takes off. But then he shows up for the tournament to win her hand and then all of the sudden she is having all these confusing feeling towards this stoic ancient vampire but she loves Caspion, doesn’t she??

As with the majority of Kresley Cole’s books you are taken on a merry go round of emotion and action. With the tourney to win the fair Bettina’s hand you are guaranteed to get plenty of fighting, because the Lore is nothing if not violent. Lol The sparks between Bettina and Trehan are enough to make you fan yourself off. They certainly have the sexual chemistry going on from the beginning. He leaves her panting and wanting more, even as he is confusing the hell out of her. Caspion added a fun love triangle-ish element to this story. The interactions between Bettina, Trehan and Caspion are sure to keep you entertained! We also have Bettina’s guardians, her demon godfather and her powerful sorceress godmother. The dynamic between these two make me think that there may be a future story brewing there. There are too many sparks flying there. Also, her evil-ish godmother is quite funny, she kind of reminds me a bit of Reign the Radiant who makes demons eat carburetors for fun. Add in a perverted former phantom and current phanTom as Bettina’s bodyguard and you have the makings of some good times and laughs. We get cameos from Munro, Nix, and Sabine and Lothaire who is at full crazy from previous IAD books.

This is a must read! Days later I still find myself smiling from this book. I think I’d have to say I enjoyed it even more than Lothaire, which was fantastic in its own right.

Sorry, for the disjointed review lol. I’ve been trying to write it for two days. LOL!! Damn reviewers block!

Rating: 5 Romanticals

*This review can also be seen on www.paranormalromancenovel.com .