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Books, fantasy, paranormal romance, Reviews, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

Karen

Wow. I am so sad because Patricia Briggs has been one of my top 5 authors for a long time. This is going to be hard. First the blurb..

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf–but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills–his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker–to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Alright now that everyone has been warned let’s talk about the book.I didn’t like this book and allow me to explain why.I felt that characters I have grown to love were changed on a whim or to suit a new plot, let’s go through them each:

Anna was mean in the beginning of the book though she has always been kind and sweet. She does something to Leah (I know Leah is suppose to be the bad guy, but Anna is suppose to be the Omega and above all this) to hurt her emotionally. She knows it will make her feel terrible,and she does it for spiteful, petty reasons. It makes her appear bitchy and childish. Then she has a conversation with Charles that makes her appear manipulative. Isn’t Anna suppose to be sweet and kind? But wait we are constantly reminded how smart she is, at nauseous amounts. By chapter two I started to dislike her and she started to grate on me.

Leah the lead bitch is suddenly dumb though she has survived as the Alphas mate for centuries. I liked Leah better horrible. And the destruction of other characters to try to defend her was worthless.

Charles is a murderer, he killed a submissive without even talking to him and we all know submissive wolves can’t disobey dominant, and is a complete ass. That everyone is so terrified of him is getting old, aren’t dominates suppose to protect those weaker than they are? So why does everyone live in fear of him?

Bran is a pedophilia who at some point fell for a 2-16 year old. That is when Mercy lived in his pack. And if you are thinking I read to much into the story or that’s not what Patty meant, nope a Goodreads reviewer emailed her assistant and someone asked her during a signing. It’s exactly what she meant. Basically, everyone should have stopped asking for more on Bran and we got what was coming to us. Oh and he is suddenly too weak to handle problems in his own pack? Seriously..this is Bran now???

Then the rules of the world keep changing, Charles tells a story of how he couldn’t disobey his father because he’s alpha. Then Charles gets mad at another wolf for not disobeying his alpha. What? Literally the same thing. It’s like in this book Anna and Charles live by a different set of rules and judge people who do the exact same things that they did.

I thought that this might be a fluke, I know Patty has had some terrible emotional things happening but all the feedback I’m getting is it’s not, Mercy will never know but everything is true and it won’t be changed. This is a second series/author that I have followed for over 10+ years that I might be losing. I hope she changes her mind.

Books, fantasy, great reads, Out of the Box Blogs, Reviews, Romance

Who is going to see 50 Shades darker?

Les

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So who is going to see the movie 50 Shades Darker? I am just wondering. I am going to see it.

I was rereading the book “Grey”yesterday and I was thinking about doing a piece on all the books and the movies so far.

I am just going to say this, I am not recapping the books in the piece, people know what happened.

I actually like the 50 shades of Grey books. Funny thing is that I like them, but I absolutely dislike Anastasia. Which is terrible since she is the main character and it is written from her perspective. She annoys me to no end. She is whinny, and tries to stand her ground at the wrong times, and because of it shit happens and she wonders why he is angry.

I think Christian is messed up too, however I think he is more of an adult than Ana. I also just like him more. He does need to let go, but damn he is trying to have a dominate/submissive relationship here. Bad idea on his part to ask Ana the cry baby to do that.

The movie: The movie was bad! I was so disappointed. The soundtrack was really good. They cut too much and Christian looked like nothing more than a rich stalker/abusive control freak. The Actors are all wrong for this movie. Jamie Dornan may be hot, but he looks like he is struggling to play his role. He looks like he is in pain most of the time or like he is going to throw up. Dakota Johnson is even worse. Am I the only one who was trying to figure out why she was moaning all the time in the sex scenes before he ever really touches her? It was so annoying and they made her seem stronger than she was in the book, but also made her seem less smart. These people look nothing like the book describes them at all. They butchered this book and I think that is why E.L. James has taken over for the second and third movies. Hopefully these will be better!

I know what your thinking. If I disliked the movie and the main character so much, why am I going to see the second movie? Well, I am seeing it to give them a second chance, and because I freaking love Christian Grey and I am hoping they will do a better job of portraying him this time.

 

I love the book “Grey” from Christian’s perspective. It was a breath of fresh air to get out of Ana’s inner monologue. His thoughts are crazy sometimes, but others make me laugh. Like when he is like “I still want this, why I don’t know. She is so difficult.” I was like I keep asking myself the same thing, Christian.

Before anyone comments, It is so poorly written, I don’t know how anyone could read it. Well, I have read way worse, and I have read way better. I tend to like the story line and whether or not I can let myself run away with it. If I can picture the characters, or relate to them and see them as possibly being real, then I will read it anyway. I am faithful to one author, whose books always have errors. I love her stories and she is great at telling them.

So I think this turned into a rant! Oh well!

Peace,

Les

Books, funny, great reads, Out of the Box Blogs, Reviews, Romance

“Mr. President” By: Katy Evans

Les

mr-president

Hey everyone! I was reading this book, and thought how fitting that I finished this book the day before we officially get a new President. *This is not a political post!*

Here we go!

Charlotte is a young girl when she meets the President of the United States and his son. Her father is a Senator. Her mother says she should write a note to thank the President for being at dinner. She instead writes a letter to his son Matt, telling him if he ever runs for President she would help him. (His dad told her one day Matt would be president) Fast forward eleven years, and Charlotte is working full-time, her father and mother are still in politics, the President she met was assassinated, and his son Matt is now running for President.

Matthew Hamilton is America’s sweetheart, they have watched him grow, lose his dad, and he has decided the country needs change and is going to run for President. He hasn’t forgotten Charlotte, and still has her letter. He plans on keeping her to her word to help him win.

And this, ladies and gentlemen is where the fun begins. Charlotte realizes that her childhood crush on Matt hasn’t gone away and is as strong as ever. Matt realizes that Charlotte has grown up into a beautiful, and smart woman.

Problem: Matthew doesn’t want a First Lady. He doesn’t think it is fair, because he watched his mother take a back seat to the country. He refuses to do that to anyone he loves.

And….. the shit gets real hot! They are sneaking around, trying not to get caught by anyone. They are campaigning and traveling together and sneaking off to remote locations, so the staff, and the press don’t find out and ruin the campaign.

You will have to read the book to find out if they get caught or not!

So, my opinion. I really liked this story. I like the characters, the story line and the idea behind it. Charlotte is an honest, smart girl, who realizes the truth in her situation. Matt is a strong man who has always been in the public eye, and who is very close to his mother. Charlotte’s parents are strange to me, however their concerns and views make sense, since they are also in the public eye.

Let me be clear, if we ever have a super hot, young smart man running for President, I will be signing up to work on that campaign. Matt is super hot! I love him. He is a guy next door type (well I wish he lived next door to me!).

What I really like about this story is that the sex, and the sneaking around is coming as a secondary thing to them working and campaigning. This book is about the entire journey, not just their relationship.

This is a series and I am going to buy the second one as soon as I am finished writing this. It ends in a cliff hanger, so I NEED to know what happens next.

Give it a chance, go read it!

Peace,

Les

 

Books, fantasy, great reads, Reviews, scifi, Urban Fantasy

*Audiobook* Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Karen

magic-bites

I LOVE THIS SERIES!! I didn’t want there to be any doubts. But I’m not a huge audio book person, and I will admit when it comes to the first two books of this series I tend to skim some when I reread, so when give the opportunity to review this, I thought this was a great chance to be objective. First and foremost, the blurb..

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

This book is a well written, has fantastic world building and some of my all time favorite characters in it, but when forced to actually listen to the whole thing I must admit it isn’t the strongest in the series. That’s not to say it isn’t amazing, how about we just break it down..

Pros: The book leaves no doubt where you are and what the world is about. You are in this post magic Atlanta and you never doubt the world building in it.

There are some fantastic character introductions in this book, and a lot of them remain key for many books to come. I understand who Kate is and I get her purpose. Also it is so nice to have a strong female lead that doesn’t have to be mean or crazy. She just kicks ass, I love her.

Story. I love that, though this becomes a 10 book series, this is a self contained story. It has a beginning (will talk about that) a middle and an end. No cliffhangers or underdeveloped plots.

Now remember I said this wasn’t the best of this series, so let’s talk about what I didn’t like about it.

Cons: It can be very slooooowww, especially the beginning. I’ve developed a very deep liking for Kate and her band of misfits so I have patience for anything she is doing but if you don’t know her (and for all intent and purpose you don’t since this is book one) the beginning does tend to drag. Hang in there!

World building. Wait wasn’t that on my pros list? I know this is one of those quirky things that was both a pro and a con. You see when I originally read this book there was already three books out and I knew I was going to read them. This world building is A LOT for just one book. Is it necessary for the series? Hell yes! Is it too much if this is the only book you read? Maybe. So just don’t let it be the only one, you are only hurting yourself.

This was an audio book so I would also like to comment on the narrator Renee Raudman. I thought she was fantastic! I thought a first she was a little dramatic, but then the more she read the more I fell in love with her. What an amazing job, I hope to hear her again soon.

If you like to listen to your books grab this audio here http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=magic+bites+kate+daniels&sprefixRefmarker=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11&sprefix=magic+bites