Author: debra

Books, fantasy, great reads, indie author, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance

The Final Calling by Angela Colsin

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The Final Calling is Book 5 of The Crucible series by Angela Colsin, an indie author whose books in this series I have really enjoyed.

The Blurb:  Prophecies, tyrants, assassins, and exiled royalty aren’t the things Edith Walsh thought she’d be dealing with when her training as a mage apprentice began. Her main focus is becoming an enchantress by completing the Final Calling—a grand scavenger hunt all apprentices undertake to gather items needed to craft their coveted staff and gain eternal life.
This challenge can prove lethal if care isn’t taken to watch one’s steps. But making matters worse, Edith has also been marked for death by the Steward of the Perosian Empire, a tyrant named Rothario, all because of a pesky prophecy made centuries before her birth foretelling his demise at her hands.
So what’s a mage to do? Simple; accept the assistance of a sexy Perosian who’s dealt with Rothario’s minions for as long as he can remember. Yet Isaac wants far more than Edith’s safety—she’s his mate, and his fiery gaze, wicked tongue, and shameless seductions inflame her more intensely than she’s ever known.
Convicted of murdering the imperial family of Perosia, Isaac’s spent centuries as a fugitive hunted by a homeland he doesn’t recall. But his ruthless talent for survival serves him well, and there’s nothing he won’t do to protect Edith from the forces threatening her life, even if it means sacrificing his own.

My thoughts:   I liked this book—a lot.  This book tells the story of Edith, a mage who is on a scavenger hunt to obtain items needed for her staff; and Isaac, a very interesting demon whose story may be more than meets the eye.  Isaac knows Edith is his mate but must wait while she is in mage training, but when it comes to The Calling, he is finished waiting for her, knows she needs his help and is determined to give it. Their adventures leads to a very good story.  I think this book is the strongest in the series so far. The writing is solid and the characters well-developed.  My favorite part of the story actually involves several battle/action scenes that Edith and Isaac and a few others that come along for the ride—I love action scenes and these are well-written.  If you haven’t tried Angela’s writing, give them a try but start back at Book 1 (Blue Moon)—you’ll be glad you did.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Books, fantasy, great reads, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Allegiance of Honor by Nalini Singh

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Allegiance of Honor is the latest book in the Psy-Changeling Series by Nalini Singh and this is one of my favorite series.  For me, this book is a bridge book between story arc 1 and story arc 2 that begins with the next book.

The blurb:  The Psy-Changeling world has undergone a staggering transformation and now stands at a crossroads. The Trinity Accord promises a new era of cooperation between disparate races and groups. It is a beacon of hope held together by many hands: Old enemies. New allies. Wary loners.

But a century of distrust and suspicion can’t be so easily forgotten and threatens to shatter Trinity from within at any moment. As rival members vie for dominance, chaos and evil gather in the shadows and a kidnapped woman’s cry for help washes up in San Francisco, while the Consortium turns its murderous gaze toward a child who is the embodiment of change, of love, of piercing hope: A child who is both Psy…and changeling.

To find the lost, protect the vulnerable—and save Trinity—no one can stand alone. This is a time of loyalty across divisions, of bonds woven into the heart and the soul, of heroes known and unknown standing back to back and holding the line. But is an allegiance of honor even possible with traitors lurking in their midst?

My thoughts:  This book is a big gift to her fans from the author.  It is an ensemble book where she gives us insights into the current status of all of our favorite characters in this series.  We are updated on their lives and finally see the birth of the “pupcubs” (an event fans have waited several books for).  I lost my bet on the number of births!  We also have a plotline of the attempted kidnapping of Lucas and Sasha Darling’s first child, Naya—the first child born of a mating between a Psy and a Changeling.  Her birth is the representation of love, understanding and hope for the future of all three races inhabiting the world (the Psy, the Changelings and the Humans).  But this hope is not something that the evil Consortium wants to see happen as they intend to take over the world and they don’t like the fall of Silence and the Trinity Accord that the races are forming in hope of all races working together toward peace and harmony.

I really enjoyed this book as I do all the books in this series, although of course, some I like more than others.  I do not feel it is as strong as some of the other books in the series, especially the last two books.  But, I believe that is because this book is a bridge between arc 1 and arc 2.  Those books must be difficult to write for an author I would think.  However, Nalini’s writing is as strong as ever.  I did feel she gave some background details from earlier books leading into the updates of the characters—this was a bit distracting for me because I know those details.  If a person is just starting this series, this book is not the place to start.  The author has created such a rich and detailed world that this series (in my humble opinion) must be started at the beginning.  This arc tells much about the world, leading to the fall of Silence.  I also was hoping for a few more details to lead us into arc 2, but that didn’t necessarily happen except for the kidnapping attempt and more trouble is on the way.  There was one loose end from arc 1 that I was hoping would end in this book but that line is still open into arc 2.  If you have not read the Psy-Changeling series, I highly recommend it.  It begins with Slave to Sensation and you will not be disappointed as the world evolves throughout the story.

 

Books, Reviews, Romance

Yours, Truly by Krista Lakes

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3.0 stars.  I hate giving this rating but for me, I truly feel it is accurate. First, I actually enjoyed the story. This is a modern day re-telling of Cinderella and I love fairy tales. Part of loving fairy tales is the willingness to suspend belief. I willingly do this to enjoy a story. However, a few things are hard to suspend belief in. Let me explain. AJ and Kat meet and hookup at a wedding. AJ is Kat’s boss, even though they have never met. This is not unusual, however the company is a national shoe company so I have to ask how do you work for a national company and not know what the owner looks like even though you have never met. Kat has to leave the morning after before AJ wakes up. She leaves a note for him (which subsequently is partially destroyed and AJ can’t find Kat with the leftover note) and she also leaves behind a shoe (a Loubatin). (This is the proverbial glass slipper). Now, I am not a shoe person, but I do know Loubatins are well known, sought after, expensive shoes. How do you leave behind a Loubatin and how do you not find the second shoe when you find the first apparently because we only hear about one shoe AJ found? AJ and Kat meet 2 weeks later when Kat makes a work presentation to AJ. Of course, they hook up again. Now, in the middle of all of this, AJ is dealing with his partner’s sex scandal with employees. Obviously, AJ and Kat decide to keep their relationship quiet because AJ needs to get past this scandal and save his company. Kat finds out she is pregnant and decides she is going to tell AJ (albeit, later than she should have). Before she can tell him, she faints and AJ rushes her to the hospital. Once he finds out about the pregancy, the happily ever after happens!! What??!! Where is the resolution to the company scandal? I don’t know where it went. This is my big problem–it does not get resolved in this story. The scandal that has occupied AJ’s thoughts and decision making just disappears from the page. This disappointed me and is the reason for the rating.

The author’s writing style was fine and I liked the characters. My rating is almost exclusively because of the lack of resolution for the subplot (that I felt was interesting). I have heard good things about this author’s books and would consider trying another one in the future.

Books, fantasy, great reads, paranormal romance, Romance

Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley

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The Blurb:  When half-Fae, half-Shifter Andrea Gray flees an abusive would-be mate, the only way she is allowed to relocate to the Austin Shiftertown is if a Shifter there claims her as mate.

Sean Morrissey, the Guardian of his clan and all of Shiftertown, is mateless, lonely, and has a tough job–to send the souls of deceased Shifters into the afterworld. He volunteers to claim her, sight unseen, but doesn’t realize that one look at the gray-eyed, dark-haired Andrea will stir the mating frenzy in him. Even though the mate-claim isn’t finalized, official, or yet blessed, Sean will do anything to get Andrea into his life and keep her there, forever.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. Primal Bonds is Book 2 of the Shifters Unbound Series. It tells the story of Andrea and Sean. Sean is the Guardian of the Shifters and Andrea is a half Lupine-half Fae woman he is helping. To protect Andrea and allow her to leave the pack she is being treated unwell in, Sean’s pack allows her to come to their Shiftertown and he mate-claims her to protect her from others. As Guardian, Sean wields the Guardian Sword–when a Shifter dies, Sean uses the Sword on the Shifter which takes them into the next world. The sword is very important to this story as we learn the history of the sword and how that weaves into the story of Andrea and Sean. I really liked the character of Andrea–she is a strong female and a great heroine for Sean’s hero.

We also see further into the world of the Shifters. This aspect of the story is very interesting, albeit I hate how our government/human world treats the Shifters. Twenty years ago, our world put collars on the Shifters as a way to control them. Whenever a Shifter becomes aggressive, the collar gives out a shock to the Shifter in order to control their behavior. Our world also treats them terribly in that they are not allowed certain items that we take for granted. They can not have cell phones, those that do have computers are crappy computers, internet, etc. They must live in Shiftertowns. Some of the Shifters are working on being able to bypass the collars and this should be interesting in the future.