Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Book Review- All Things Wicked

All Things Wicked
by Karina Cooper


Juliet Carpenter, witch and survivor of a coo that killed members of her coven, she is struggling to find a reason for the treatment she received at the hands of Caleb Leigh. Hiding from those who wish to harm him, Caleb is surprised when Juliet manages to hunt him down when no one else has been able to. With enemies surrounding them, they work to get over their past and survive the attacks against them.

This is the forth book in this series and the most emotionally rending as it deals with deeply rooted psychological issues as well as dangers from old enemies which kept me on edge the entire story. I could not put this book down and was not disappointed with the characters or the plot line.

I highly recommend this book and give it a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 4 out of 5 for bedroom steaminess.

If you'd like to find out more information on Karina Cooper and her other novels, click here.

Book Review- Chosen by Blood

Chosen by Blood
by Virna DePaul


This novel involves FBI Special Agent Felicia Locke who teams up with local vampire leader Knox Devereaux in order to find a cure for the anti-vampire vaccine that is slowly starving the vampire community. Knox has wanted Felicia since the first moment he saw her and Felicia who finds it difficult to deny what she feels for him when she's in continued close contact with him. As they come closer to locating the cure, emotions heat up and the danger increases.

This novel was a joy to read as it took a whole new view on the vampire/human dynamic and makes it into a believable scenario where two people are brought together in an situation that makes their romance almost impossible. Her plot line and character development with both her first and secondary characters was well written and flawlessly put together.

My one complaint is that due to a quark in the vampire psyche a lot of the disagreements between the two main characters were cut short.

I give this novel a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 5 out of 5 for bedroom steaminess.

If you'd like to read more about Virna DePaul and her novels, please click here.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Book Review- Frostfire

Frostfire
by Lynn Viehl


This novel of the Kyndred is focused on Lilah, a genetically enhanced Kyndred that can control the minds of animals and Walker, a wounded soldier who will do anything to protect her. They are forced together and must fight together in order to escape their captors. That bond continues when they are snowed in at a small town located in the middle of nowhere.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and had a hard time putting it down. This book did what I was hoping it would do and connected Lynn's two story lines (the Kyndred and the Darkyn series) together and left me really excited to see where these series is going.

Her characters were believable and a pleasure to read. Her secondary characters were a great accompaniment to her main characters and helped move the plot along in an effective and pleasurable way. She provided a depth of character and a fear of the past that kept me on my proverbial toes as I waited to see what would happen next.

My one complaint is that her love scenes were short and extremely fast. I would have liked them a bit longer or more descriptive.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 3 out of 5 for bedroom steaminess.

If you'd like to find out more information on Lynn Viehl and her novels please click here.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Book Review- Dreamveil

Dreamveil
by Lynn Viehl
This book is an offshoot of her Darkyn series and involves Rowan Dietrich whose lived a hard life involving abusive parents and a love of man meant for another and Jean-Marc a renowned chief who takes her in when she winds up on his restaurants back door scraped and bruised after she drops her bike and Meriden, a bounty hunter who causes nothing but trouble. Jean-Marc is a man with many secrets and is instantly attracted to Rowan. He wants her and sets out to seduce her. He invites her to live in one of the vacant rooms above the restaurant which happens to be across the hall from Meriden, a grouchy man who whose so rough around the edges she gets friction burns.

As she struggles to fight her attraction to both Jean-Marc and Meriden, the past catches up to her and forces her to come to a dangerous conclusion.

This was an enjoyable read, as all of her other novels, and I can't wait to read her next novel in this series. Rowan was an enjoyable female character who was strong, dealt extremely well with her past issues and handled everything with her tough wit and rough humor. Jean-Marc was suave, intelligent and such a romantic. Meriden was rough, sexual and hot as hell.

Lynn has created an excellent world and her character match ups are extremely enjoyable and riveting to read.

I give this a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 5 out or 5 for bedroom steaminess.

If you'd like to find out more about this author and her other series, you can check out her blog here.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Men and their Dignity

After reading Awaken to Pleasure and Nalini Singh's other novels, I come to a realization (and maybe it's because her Silhouette novels really focus on the emotional aspect of her characters) that her male characters have a male dignity and are allowed to keep, for the most part, that dignity throughout their story. What I mean to say is that they are not unmanned or emasculated to illustrate how much they truly love their female counter part.

(I should briefly describe my version of male dignity: when a strong men who carries strong emotions, but is locked down so tight that it is hard for them to express it (usually due to past emotional stress), the woman who are starting to love them understand and take joy in the affection they show without demanding what their 'version' of love and affections is. Instead, in most cases, the men are allowed to generally come to the conclusion on their own of what they want and it tends to line up with what the female characters want as well. There is no, it's only my way or the highway between either of the two main characters. In place of that, the two characters slowly feel out their relationship and in the end get what they both desire.)

Nalini allows, and her female characters accept, that the men in their lives have dignity. In fact the heroine's are allowed to and find respect in the male characters point of views and emotional state. In her Silhouette novels, the men tend to be strong and have a lot of possessive tendencies (in a good way). Their female counter parts understand and work within their views, but that isn't to say that they don't stick up for their beliefs or argue when the moment is right. I should also say that even if the male characters don't initially like their female counter parts, they always display respect towards them.

The heroines tend to work with their men and up until a point in the novel (usually when the man starts to get out of hand) are willing to have parts of their relationship be guided by their views. It's at this point in her stories that the men in her novels have to come to a certain realization and take their blinders off to realize that they truly love their woman and they desire to spend the rest of the lives with them.

Her men, like almost any man, throughout the story starts to feel like it's their due that the heroine do as they request, whether if it's going to a party with them, allowing for their disagreements to be conversed about in private, or giving the woman in their life a little space (not much) to chose to be with them, they act like real men and the woman in her stories never allow themselves to be walked over, at least, not for long.

That isn't to say that her woman are emotionally submissive and that they are constantly prostrating themselves on their husbands to tell them what to do or how to think. All of her female characters are strong, have their own views and are willing to take the time to look back on their conversations/fights to reflect and decide where to go from there. It's this true almost 50/50 relationship that she builds that keeps me coming back for more.

When reading her novels, I truly feel that apart her characters would have a lackluster and unfulfilled life, but together they are made whole and turn out better for it. There is always an emotional sharing, a strengthening of both characters mental state when they are completely together in the end. It's as if she weaves her characters emotional halves together to create a whole and the end result is something that I would wish for everyone to find in real life.

I very rarely find this in any other author novels (Lisa Kelypas is another great novelist that does this well). In most cases, the characters come together in the end but the compromise is always uneven and a true meshing of characters emotional and physical lives is not there. Usually the woman ends ups staying home (I should say that this statement is geared more towards paranormal novels) while the male goes out and kills something before returning home. Even though the female is his 'heart' what has he given up or over come? While the female character tends to have either given up her world, her work or friends because 'they wouldn't understand' or 'shouldn't know the trueth', the men still get to run around like before and kill things.

No, I desire a man who can be a man and a woman who appreciates it and the love that truly makes them both stronger. That's what keeps me reading...

Book Review- Awaken to Pleasure

Awaken to Pleasure (Silhouette Desire #1602)
By Nalini Singh

This novel introduces Taylor Reid, a woman whose unpleasant experiences with dating and desire have left her scared and unable to cope with real desire. She struggling to overcome her conniving step father as he attempts to battle her for custody of her younger brother and her unwilling desire for Jackson. Jackson Santorini, a famous film director has desperately wanted Taylor for years but has lost his belief in trust and love a long time ago.

I really enjoy Nalini Singh's novel and after having first read her Phy and Changeling novels then picking up her earlier Silhouette novels, I continue to be amazed at her writing style and technique. Every character has its own unique voice and you feel as if you are actually listening to their internal thought processes as opposed to watching the scenes play out.

She is the first author I recommend when asked for suggestions on reading material, and one of the only authors that I lend out my books and want returned (normally I just give them away to interested parties). She is one of the people I'd like to meet before I die (the other is Liam Nelson, and don't worry I'll stop gushing soon). I highly suggest reading this novella. It won't disappoint and kept me reading to the end.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 4 out of 5 for bedroom steaminess.

If you'd like to find out more about this author and her other novels, please click here.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Book Review- Lucinda, Darkly

Lucinda, Darkly
by: Sunny


This book is a take off of her Mona Lisa series and delves more deeply into the Monere version of Hell and the people who rule it.

Lucinda, the ousted child of the current King of Hell has forced herself to live on her own for centuries, in her own personal exile. She is shocked to come across a rouge Monere Stefan and is forced to take action when humans attack. As she attempts to understand the impossible, that he's attracted to her even though she is a demon, she is called away to take fetch another rouge Monere who happens to be hiding out on her land and ends up resuing him and another of his group.

She fights to keep the distance she has created with the rest of the world, but when she becomes responsible for and starts to have feelings for the men in her life, she has a hard time convincing herself its for the greater good.

I have to say that I enjoy Sunny's Mona Lisa novels, but I love her Lucinda books. Something about the character growth of Lucinda and the fact that she is constantly fighting her nature, makes her character extremely realistic and more personable.

I did wish that this story was a little longer or went into a little more depth when dealing with her secondary characters as they played such a pivotal roll, but I believe it was also that since they were so unchanging that it allowed her Lucinda character to grow as much as she did.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 for storyline/romance and a 4 out of 5 for bedroom steaminess.

You can read more about Sunny and her novels here.