Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Covenant by Evangeline Anderson



SPOILER ALERT

The Covenant is about a female Paranormal Enforcer by the name of Kaitlyn whom is charged with taking a 300 year old vampire, Sumner Holden, into custody. The book starts off with Kaitlyn watching a recording of Sumner killing an innocent civilian. We quickly discover that Sumner has been trying to get a meeting with Kaitlyn for weeks and this is the only way that vampire Sumner can figure to get her attention.

What I first noticed about this book is that it is in the first person. Kaitlyn's point of view to be exact. I am not a fan of the first person narrative, but I still continued to read this book. Almost immediately I was hooked and extremely interested in why Sumner went to the extreme to get Kaitlyn's attention. What did he need from her? Was he really a evil vampire or just misunderstood? The more I read the book the more I realized it was not going to be one of my favorites. 


The first thing I didn't like about the book, besides first person, was how I felt teased with the sexual tension and situations. In my opinion, there's a fine line between sexual tension and being teased. I felt like I was being teased within an inch of my life. If a woman could get blue balls, I got them. I found myself, in my head of course, telling Kaitlyn to "make up your goddamn mind if you wanna sex him or not." Maybe I'm sexed crazed, maybe I wanted them to jump into bed prematurely, WHATEVER - I just know that is how I felt. By the time they finally did the do I could've closed the book (hit the red X) and would've been satisfied. But I pushed on.

The second thing I wasn't too fond of was the fact that the reader never knows what is driving the demon cloud to only pursue female Wiccans. Sumner explains how his wife, before he was turned, was 'gifted' and that is why the demon went after her, but I was still in the dark about why it hated women so much. The third and last thing I didn't like was how indecisive and torn Kaitlyn was about telling Sumner she loved him. I understand that telling him, or should I say admitting it to herself, too early would have cancelled out the meaning behind the book's title, but hell by the time I was at the end I was ready for this woman to just wake up and smell the vampire love.

I give this book my base rating because though I didn't like it - I didn't HATE it. 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Demon Hunting in Dixie by Lexi George



I’m going to start this review off by saying Lexi George must be my long lost cousin or best friend. I started to question our relation at the wonderful use of the word ‘coochie.’ Hilarious!! Demon Hunting in Dixie is the story of Addy, a florist, and Brand, a member of a demon hunting sect called The Dalvahni. The two meet up while Addy is out jogging with her dog Dooley Anne (I LOVE THIS DOG) when he saves her from a run in with a demon.

The first thing I can say about Lexi George and her writing style is she is a master of plain speech and present day vernacular. Quite a few times I found myself saying “Did she really put that in there?” Her characters are well thought out and beautifully developed, so much so that you can just feel their personalities jumping off the page. Each character is so different. I did notice that the friendships in this book compliment each other. Addy and her best friend Evie are perfect examples. An outgoing ‘tell it like it is’ blonde and a shy, reserved redhead. Brand is a dark-haired, sword-wielding warrior and Ansgar is a blonde, bow and arrow carrying warrior. Two sides to a coin.

I love when authors can wow and shake up my somewhat jaded reading palette. I appreciate fresh ideas and new plot directions. Ms. George takes a different approach and stays away from the played out ideas. The complexity of her character’s personalities makes them stick to your memory. Every time a new character was introduced I loved them (even bitchy Meredith aka The Death Starr). Addy’s dog Dooley and her aunt Muddy share the silver medal for my favorite characters. Muddy was a force of nature and her comments were off the wall and a level ten on the TMI meter. 

Ms. George builds the anticipation and tension like a seasoned veteran. I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails with my eyes moving across the pages like a ping pong match.  I love the way she inserted pertinent pieces of information. Her timing was A+. Her dialogue is genius.  
“Boom boom boom. Drums in the deep….We cannot get out.”
I love the Lord of the Rings references. I started to think that Brand was patterned after Aragorn and Ansgar was meant to be a buff Legolas. Regardless, the characters really stick.

The love scenes weren’t over done, but at the same time were very steamy. The story itself is so engaging I almost wanted to skim through the love scenes and the development of Brand and Addy’s relationship just so I could see how they’d defeat the demons. And that right there is the heart of it all. Her story is strong enough that if she were to cut out the love scenes, hopefully she’d never do such a thing ‘cause they were HOT, I would still read her book and purchase more. Great job! She is now a member of my auto-buy list.




Wednesday, May 18, 2011

"Blood Law" by Karin Tabke

 


Warning : MINI SPOILER ALERT

Blood Law is the story of two lycan twins Rafael and Lucien cursed to obey the Blood Law that is so much a part of their lycan culture. First off, the Blood Law is pretty much an eye for an eye. At the start of the book Rafael kills his brother Lucien’s supposed mate. The Blood Law says that Lucien now has the right to kill Rafael’s mate, Falon, and then they’re even steven.

With that premise in my mind it was definitely hard for me to get immersed in this story knowing that Rafael would have to sacrifice his mate because his brother wouldn’t accept that the woman whom he thought was his mate WASN’T. Because of this being in the back of my mind I can admit to being in a perpetual state of cardiac arrest. Though, I did enjoy the level of suspense. Will he or won’t he turn her over? How successful will he be at keeping himself from falling in love with her?

What kind of man would willingly mate with a woman knowing that he would have to give her up to Blood Law? Early on in my reading I didn’t know who to be upset with more - Rafael or the author's muse for driving her to create this impossible situation. Such tragedy, betrayal, hate – perfect soap opera material. :rubs hands together:

Karin Tabke did an excellent job of building the tension and expressing the pull Rafael was experiencing between duty to his pack and duty to his mate. Outside of my resentment I was still able to appreciate Rafael’s character. Strong, commanding and very sexual. When he and Falon were in the bedroom they burned up the sheets. The love scenes were smoking hot. Turn the fan on, open a window and grab a popsicle because you’re going to need it. If you can blush – you will.

The one thing that I was not 100% into was the ending. Maybe it was because as I got closer and closer to the end I expected a conclusion. The book ends with the most irritating cliffhanger. Once again, I reserve the right to have an opinion and I am not into cliffhangers. I expected to hear a ‘dun dun dun’ in the background as I got to the end. I actually scrolled up and down a couple of times to make sure that was the end. I could’ve killed someone when it became obvious that there wouldn’t be any conclusion. Chock it up to my love of a HEA. In defense of the author (watch me switch sides) in reality HEA are few and far between. And because this is the start of a series we, as readers, have to start somewhere.

Maybe I belong to a small percentage of readers whom do not like cliffhangers of this sort.

I am not saying I did not take pleasure in reading this book, BECAUSE I DID, and I do plan to continue the series. I am just pointing out little things here and there that I could’ve done without. Fast forward and it pretty much goes like this 

  • Main characters = complex
  • Love scenes = HABANERO
  • Story line = fresh and guaranteed to shake things up 


Friday, May 13, 2011

Laurann Dohner "Redeeming Zorus"



Redeeming Zorus is the sixth book in Laurann Dohner’s Cyborg Seduction series. The two main characters, Zorus and Charlie, are thrown together when Charlie breaks Zorus out of a government facility in order to keep her own brother from being killed by loan sharks. In the process of returning Zorus, whom happens to be a Cyborg council member, to his people Charlie finds their positions switched. She is now the one being rescued and Zorus is her liberator.
I am no new-comer when it comes to Laurann Dohner’s Cyborg series. I was first introduced to LD through her Zorn Warriors series (another fav series of mine). LD’s writing is so vivid and her character interaction leaves nothing to be desired. I can always count on being sucked in and immediately transported to the sci-fi world she has created. In my experience I’ve found that most futuristic, sci-fi [romance] novels seem to have the same plot layout – Earth is in jeopardy and we need to colonize a different planet, Earth has visitors and they want to trade resources for women, etc etc. LD has gone a completely different way and created a fresh approach.
Sidenote : these cyborgs are not Terminators with a sex drive. They are bio-engineering at its finest.
If you’re familiar with the Cyborg Seduction series then you’ll recognize Zorus, but if it’s your first time reading the series then you’ll go into without any preconceived notions. I expected Zorus to be a ‘proper @$$hole’, but found myself rooting for him 2 chapters into reading. This book is chocked full of fighting, sex, family squabbles, sex, possible treason, sex and two of the most unlikely people getting together. I went into reading this book praying Zorus got his comeuppance and boy did he ever. There’s no need to slap this review with a SPOILER ALERT just know its all good by the time you hit the end.
When I read Laurann Dohner I can always expect some kind of plot addition that I never expected. Just when I think I have a good grasp on which direction the book and its characters are going a shiny marquee with the words “THOUGHT YOU KNEW, BUT YOU REALLY DON’T” appear before my eyes. I nod to myself and say “Yes, Laurann you got me again.” It does my cynical heart good to know that there are authors out there that can still wow and surprise me. Don’t get me wrong -- I can still appreciate certain books where I can psychically predict the outcome, but I add the ones who make me say wow to my auto-buy list and Laurann Dohner was added 6+ books ago.



Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lori Foster "When You Dare"



“Molly got her eyes open, only to find that the blue of his were incendiary.”

:sighs: Who wouldn’t love such a heated stare.
I enjoyed this book and could not put it down. Lori Foster is not one of my auto-buy authors, but I took a chance because the summary sounded great. I was not disappointed. 

Dare Macintosh is a security specialist whom is in Tijuana to rescue a family friend. In the process of this, he also rescues Molly Alexander whom was kidnapped for reasons unknown to her. She hires Dare to protect her and at the same time help find out is behind the kidnapping. Amongst the investigating and protective custody a relationship develops. 

 
Personally, I never get tired of a good protector/protected love story. Dare is determined, full of resources and sexy as hell. I enjoyed his character because he had the right amount of confidence without seeming pompous and bloated on his own abilities. I absolutely loved Molly’s character. She was so in your face and had a “don’t have time to beat around the bush” personality. They balanced each other perfectly. When Molly had her weak moments Dare was there to support her and when Dare was feeling as if he wasn’t protecting Molly as he should she was there to tell him otherwise. 

From the little (and I do mean little) research that I have done this series was introduced in the Guy Next Door anthology that Lori Foster participated in. I have not read her participating story and had no problem whatsoever keeping up with character names, stories, etc in this book. One thing I did notice was that there wasn’t much exposition on Dare’s past. Don’t get me wrong there was a conversation where Dare talked a bit about his family, but I felt like I knew more about Molly’s past than I did Dare’s. It didn’t stop me from liking and investing in Dare, but I did note that.


The love scenes are hot, but not nuclear. If you’re looking for some raunchy, gutter sex you’re wasting your time. Don’t get me wrong the sex is still good. Hot enough to make you fan yourself. This book of chock full of gun fights, bombs, fighting and a fantastic mating dance between the characters with a satisfying ending.