Books, great reads, Reviews

Blood Kiss by JR Ward

Karen

Oh hello there stranger…its been awhile. When Les and I started this blog the conversation literally went like this. Les: “Wanna start a blog?”  Me:”OK” not any real planning. So when we both hit our busy season at work, you all got neglected. Sorry about that, but lets talk books okay?

blood kiss

Whoa. Okay let’s do this properly, blurb, review, and then some randomness. But before we start I have a confession, I love the Warden (not thinking about the Bourbon Kings) and have been a fan for a while. So when she announced a spin off of the BDB I was naturally curious (or excitingly counting down, you decide). Okay now you know mentally how I went into this we can start.

Blurb: Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

The Review: I really liked this book. I didn’t fall over dead because of its awesomeness, but part of that I think was me. It’s important to understand that only half of the book is about Craeg and Paradise, the other half is a revisit on Butch and Marissa’s relationship. I devoured every page that Craeg, Paradise or any of the recruit were on. I found their relationship well crafted, interesting, and frankly hot, hot, hot. And the whole training aspect of this book, awesome. I’m eager to hear more from Peyton, Axe, Novo and Boone. It’s nice to get a little fresh blood in this series.

My favorite part is that this book reminded me why I love JR Ward. It was scorching right from go, the story didn’t feel one dimensional, and I laughed out loud more than once. I was reading at stop lights at one point I was so engaged. So why not a 5 star review? I think this was because I never really fell in love with the Butch and Marissa thing making me wish sometimes that the book was just about Craeg and Paradise. I didn’t want them to have to share a book. It’s not necessarily that I have anything against revisits, I love The King and can’t wait for The Beast, I just found them a bit boring compared to the rest of the book. This is why I feel like that’s just my problem, I tried to originally skip Butch’s book and go straight to V’s (which you can’t, you really have to read Butch’s book first) so I’ve always been a little rushed with them. If you like Butch and Marissa, then you’ll love this book. Even if you don’t, like me, you’ll still find the rest of the story engaging.

Overall I have to say this was a blow out of the water bounce back for Ward, it reminded me why I love her so. I have stopped buying the books after #9 but this is a purchase for me. And it makes me want to reread the series, which is always a good thing. This is a must read for any Warden fan but even if you don’t know JR Ward (sorry what rock have you been sleeping under?) you should still give this read a go.

Out of the Box Blogs

Christian by D.B. Reynolds

debra

Hey everyone,

Christian by D.B. Reynolds is the latest in her Vampires in America Series.  I love this series more as it goes along.  The Vampire Wars are starting.  Raphael (undeniably, the head honcho in America) has been building the North American Alliance throughout the beginning books in this series in order to defeat the coming threat from Europe.  The next area in North America to need a new lord is the South.  Christian is determined to become the South’s new Lord.  Along the way, he does find his mate in the person of Natalie, a human forensic accountant working for the current Lord, Anthony.  The Challenge for the lordship is on and Christian is more powerful than the other challengers.  However, Anthony has a plan for a successor which will enable him to remain in power in another area.  Twists and turns and strategy are strong on both sides (Anthony and Christian).  The skirmishes leading up to the ultimate battle are interesting, full of action and the ultimate battle is exciting and written very well.  We also get a big hint as to the next book battle at the end of this book.I personally can not wait for this next story, also.

Ms. Reynolds is great at world building and character development–two of my big things in reading.  Her dialogue is smartly written and the plot is tight.  She does not write filler in her books–she keeps her story moving along without alot of extra stuff that doesn’t add to the story.  When I found her VIA series several years ago, I was very pleased at a refreshing voice in the paranormal romance genre.  If you have not found this series, I recommend starting at the beginning with Raphael and just enjoy the ride all the way to Christian’s book.

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

Out of the Box Blogs

Reckless in Love by Bella Andre and Jennifer Skully

debra

Hey everyone,

Reckless in Love is Book 2 of The Maverick Billionaires, a new series by Bella Andre and Jennifer Skully.  I found Ms. Andre several years ago and enjoy her writing. This series is the first I have read of Ms. Skully.

Book Blurb:

Sebastian Montgomery rose from nothing to become one of the most powerful media moguls in the world. Yet beneath the seemingly perfect façade of his life, the past still haunts him. Because when he lost his parents in his teens, he also lost his faith in love. When he discovers Charlie Ballard and her incredible metal sculptures, he is awed, inspired—and he can’t help feeling things he swore never to let himself feel again. Soon, Sebastian wants not only Charlie’s art, he wants her as a woman, too. More than he’s ever wanted anything in his life. And what a Maverick wants, he always gets… 

For Charlie, Sebastian offers the commission of a lifetime. Creating a magnificent sculpture for his new headquarters is a dream come true, but falling for the spellbinding billionaire isn’t part of the plan…until his luscious kisses entice her into total recklessness. He fascinates and captivates her, and as Charlie learns more about the dark depths of Sebastian’s past, all she wants is to heal him with her love. But can a man who has grown up thinking love is toxic ever believe that true love is real? 

My thoughts:  The Mavericks are a group of 5 friends from very rough childhoods who found a wonderful foster family as teens and decided they were going to overcome their circumstances and become well-to-do moguls and ultimately “rule the world”.  In actuality, they are really good guys who have raised themselves above their rotten childhoods, took opportunity presented to them by finding their foster family and each other and are reaching their goals.  Sebastian is still haunted by his past, as I suspect all of them will be as the series progresses.  He finds Charlie because he is interested in her creative art—statues made literally from junk.  I don’t know if either of the authors have a background in art or have an artist in their lives, but I enjoyed their description of Charlie’s art projects, and her process of making the statues.  This was a pleasant surprise in the book.

The story centers around the immediate attraction between Sebastian and Charlie and Sebastian’s mistakes in trying to take care of everything for Charlie.  This leads to the ultimate problem of Charlie losing her artistic creativity and her struggle to figure that out and what to do about it.

I enjoyed both characters.  The authors develop their characters very well—Ms. Andre is known for character development.  I enjoyed how Charlie embraces her life as difficult as it is and how Sebastian jumps into wanting to fix everything for Charlie even as it leads to the ultimate problem.  Both characters have a real passion for what they do.

This was a quick, easy but very enjoyable read for me.  Give the series and Ms. Andre and Ms. Skully a look.  They are worth it.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds

debra

Hey everyone,

Blurb:

Specialist Amanda Sumner is one of the first to make contact on the Earth-like planet Harp and discovers she’s the only Earthling, who can hear the trees sing in the strange forest. Determined to remain and learn more of the planet’s secrets, Amanda sets out to become part of the elite Guild there…

But there is a secret involving some Guild members–one that could get her killed.

Shifter Rhodry de Mendoza wants the Earthlings off his planet before they destroy it—even if that means denying what he feels for the fierce and lovely Amanda. The pair is thrown together in what becomes a fight for their lives. And they might just lose everything–including each other–in their battle for the right to live in peace.

I really enjoyed this book.  I have been a long time fan of Ms. Reynolds since I found her Vampires in America series several years ago which is still on-going.  She writes very well and is wonderful at the craft of world building. Both characters of Amanda and Rhodry are well-developed.  Their motivations are understood throughout the book.  I think Amanda is especially strong and she shows it especially as what happens to her and then Rhodry unfolds.   She also did a good job of describing the antagonists in the story and what they wanted as well. One thing that I really liked about this book was that the relationship between Rhodry and Amanda was a slow build.  The author did not rush and it worked.  Honestly, once Amanda entered the trial to pursue entry into the Guild, she and then Rhodry were so busy trying to survive, they didn’t have time for a whole lot to happen fast.  Anyway, this really involved learning more about the planet of Harp, some of the history of Harp’s genetically altered shifters, Amanda’s ability to  “hear the trees” and get back to the City.

This was a great combination of some fantasy, some space travel, and paranormal. I am looking forward to more books in this series.  There are several very interesting characters that hopefully will have their stories told as well.

Happy Reading,

debra