Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Supernatural Anthology by Jacquelyn Frank, G.A. Aiken, Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy



I’m not familiar with Larissa Ione as an author, but after reading Vampire Fight Club I love her. This whole world of vampire fight clubs with different creatures is awesome. I already love shifter books and for her to create a shifter fight club I was all in. I wasn’t too fond of the Nate character from the start, but I understood and sympathized with his plight. Alive so long that the desire for revenge had faded into dust. I was rooting for Lena from the get go. She was a good balance of honest feistiness to Nate’s icy emptiness. She came from a caring background minus the amount of violence that was natural to Nate’s world. I was definitely on board for the destruction of the villain, Fade, whom was responsible for Nate and Lena’s predicaments.  This story was nonstop action and heat. The fact that Lena was on borrowed time was very sad, but I knew that she would find some way to survive at the end of the book. I loved the fact that when the plot had been sorted out there were still enough sideline plot devices to push the story along for a couple of pages.
Note: Don’t need to have read the Demonica series to be able to follow along.
Once again I am not familiar with the writing of Alexandra Ivy (AI), but I know for a fact some of her books are in my TBR pile. The first thing I noticed was that the vampire clan chief of Great Britain put me in mind of Victor from the Underworld movie series whom was also a clan chief of vampires. Though, the names are the only similarities. The main male character Uriel has a definite backbone and isn’t what I would call a ‘yes man.’ He questions things, requests information and doesn’t just follow orders. I love bread crumbs of information and the teasing tidbit behind Uriel’s reluctance to rescue Laylah’s mother Kata had me chomping at the bit. AI drew me in with a small morsel and I was hooked. His history with the Jinn fired up enough curiosity inside of me that I wanted to finish this story. Curiosity quickly morphed into obsession when the triangle between Kata, her evil twin Marika and Uriel unfolded. I was a little dissatisfied with how quickly Uriel and Kata gave in to their mutual attraction. I understand that the timeline in a novella is shorter so they had to move quickly, but it was still a little fast and in your face. Though, I did enjoy it. I was glad there was a HEA for Kata based on her soul being tied to her evil twin. I’m very tempted to read the rest of the series.
I have read some of the Nightwalker series books and because of this I was comfortable following the story of Kane and his mate.  In my honest opinion I feel that it’s necessary to have some previous exposure to the Nightwalker books. Though, you can read this story and be able to follow along I would strongly suggest having a familiarity with the Nightwalker series. Even though Kane is over five decades old I still had a hard time seeing him as an adult. There was particular stress put on the fact that in his culture he was considered an adolescent until his next birthday so in my mind I continually saw a teenager. However, that picture quickly morphed into something else once he and his mate Corinne get hot and heavy. Due to the length of this story I appreciate that there wasn’t too much of an involved plot. It was strictly surrounding Kane and Corinne. There weren’t any outside villains nor were there any heinous plots against them.  It wasn’t my favorite in the anthology, but it is still worth reading.
I am intimately acquainted with Shelly Laurenston as an author. (I faithfully stalk her Pride and Pack series books) I have enjoyed her G.A.Aiken books and this one was no different. If you’re familiar with her Dragon series then the characters in this novella will ring familiar, but if not you’ll still enjoy the story. Ghleanna is the captain of the guard charged with protecting Bram who is a court negotiator. His job is to set up a peace treaty between the Desert Dragons and his Queen. I loved the spin on the traditional heroine and hero i.e. the woman Ghleanna is the hero. I enjoyed how unpredictable this story was. It wasn’t solely about Bram chasing Ghleanna. Yes, there were limited love scenes, but the story is strong enough that it didn’t matter.


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