Tag: bookworm

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

The Beast by JR Ward

Karen

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I loved this book! There I said it. I thought it felt like the books of old when the original brothers were getting together, and I’m kinda partial to the originals. But blurb first, let’s follow the rules!

 

Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. After avoiding war with the Shadows, alliances have shifted and lines have been drawn. The slayers of the Lessening Society are stronger than ever, preying on human weakness to acquire more money, more weapons, more power. But as the Brotherhood readies for an all-out attack on them, one of their own fights a battle within himself…

For Rhage, the Brother with the biggest appetites, but also the biggest heart, life was supposed to be perfect—or at the very least, perfectly enjoyable. Mary, his beloved shellan, is by his side and his King and his brothers are thriving. But Rhage can’t understand—or control—the panic and insecurity that plague him…

And that terrifies him—as well as distances him from his mate. After suffering mortal injury in battle, Rhage must reassess his priorities—and the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his world…and Mary’s. But Mary is on a journey of her own, one that will either bring them closer together or cause a split that neither will recover from…

 

This book delivered as a good read. But for me it was more than that. The more I read this the more I realized that there were two other reasons that this book was so good. (1) I like Mary and Rhage. It makes a difference because I haven’t really liked the couples pretty much since books 9, I didn’t like Tohr/Autumn, Payne/Manny, Qhuinn/Blay love the boys just not my thing, and I despised Selena sooo yeah. Found the princess weak and pointless. Yeah I guess it’s nice to read about people I like. Problem I see in the future? I love Assail (and he is AMAZING in this book!!!) but his chick?? Eh I could take her or leave her. In fact I never really saw what the big deal was about Assail, then take that chick away and Bamn! he became interesting! But put them back together in a book? More boringville for me. Oh and don’t even get me started on Layla….seriously guys I don’t think I can read a book about her if Ward writes one I dislike her that much. (2) Things actually happened in this book, the plots carried and some story lines actually got completed. Lately I’ve been feeling like new stuff been added but nothing is getting resolved. Finally this fixes some(not all but that’s okay) of those loose ends.

All and all it felt the Warden of old and I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT!

So in my opinion if you have read part of this series or all of this series go and get it, you’ll like this one. If you’ve never read any of the BDB and you’re a PNR fan or someday want to grow up to be a PNR author just remember this when deciding if you should pick it up. The USA Today said about JR Ward “J.R. Ward’s urban fantasy romance series is so popular I don’t think there’s a reader today who hasn’t at least heard of the Black Dagger Brotherhood” just get the book.

The first book in this series is Dark Lover if you want to begin at the beginning:

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Books, fantasy, great reads, Reviews, Urban Fantasy

Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

Karen

Marked in Flesh

Oh wow this was an emotional roller coaster for me. I actually waited 24 hours before I wrote this post. First the blurb and then I’ll tell you how I feel, and keep it spoiler free.

Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn, see the new, closer companionship as beneficial—both personally and practically.


But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don’t realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others—and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs…

The first 50% I spent just wanting anything to break the suffocating tension. And the last 50%? It wasn’t like a bubble bursting, more like something dropped down a steep incline, you never will stop it but at first you think you can catch it then it moves faster and faster until you just have to let it go. And the end, ugh just a touch of sweetness. Amazing! I would tell you more but I feel it’s impossible without discussing something that might spoil it for you.

If you follow the series read the other three don’t short yourself and miss this. I would not recommend starting this series with this book though, start at the beginning with Written in Red

trust me it’s amazing!

Books, fantasy, great reads, Reviews, scifi

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Karen

Six of Crows

I just finished this book and I must discuss! I loved it…loved, loved, loved it! But this book broke two of my rules as a reader so it leaves the question, can a book be good enough that no matter what the author does we will forgive?  Let’s talk about the book first because frankly this book deserves it.

This blurb: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

If you feel like this blurb doesn’t give you enough information don’t feel bad, the whole book is like that. Getting info is like squeezing water from a rock, you are always desperate for more and never feel as though you have enough. But it’s so successful in this sorry because it keeps you in suspense the whole time, always wondering what is going to happen next, always curious about the main characters themselves. It’s beautifully done too, I never wanted to put the book down because I was lost, I always wanted to find out that next secret or see what the next part of the plan was.

The characters themselves: they were so dark, damaged and honestly somewhat bad that it was refreshing. They rarely did what I wanted them to do, or reacted the way I expected them to at first, so I was forced to really get to know them and once I was fully committed to what they were doing and truthfully…I liked them. Ugh the anxiety! The odds are always against them and no matter how smart Kaz is, things don’t always go their way, I felt like I need an anxiety pill halfway through this book (or some Vodka) I was so stressed, and dedicated to knowing what happened.

******THIS PART MAY FEEL LIKE A SPOILER***** Though I don’t spoil any of the story itself I do make a reference to the ending, if you don’t want to read about that be done with this blog, thanks for reading! Otherwise read on but you have been warned!! If you decide to stop here hey that’s okay I recommend you read the book, you can always come back..

 

 

 

Now let’s talk about the things I usually hate that this author did that I forgave or overlooked. (1) The multiple POV. This is a personal preference for me but usually I DNF books that are written from multiple POV’s. I don’t care if it’s in the first person or third person but when it jumps from person to person to person and I’m constantly having to adjust to a different personality and style per chapter I usually get frustrated. For some reason it worked in this book, because the characters are so closed off I feel I would have never learned anything personal if we didn’t jump between people. (2) The cliffhanger. Ugh this is a deal breaker for me. Now there are degrees of a cliffhanger and as far as this one goes it’s borderline. I feel like authors write cliffhangers for two reasons, because they can’t decide/or can’t write an ending or they want you to read the next book. This felt like the latter. I hate that. I’m going to read it anyway, 90% of the book is resolved, why, why, why?? Maybe you read it and don’t feel like it was a cliffhanger? I did. That being said I will still read the second book, I fact I just preordered it on Amazon. I just like it when my stories are tidy, all finished up with no lose ends.

Okay that being said this book was still amazing, you need to get it and read it. Now!