Tag: pnr

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, indie author, Out of the Box Blogs, paranormal romance, Romance, scifi, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Questions on Multiple Series

debra

How many series can an author successfully write at one time before the series start to suffer?  When do you know it is time to let a series go?

These are questions I have been pondering for some time and I am interested in opinions that you guys may offer, especially anyone who may be an author. Please understand I am not an author so I approach this only from a reader’s viewpoint.

Can an author successfully give multiple series the attention each deserves without any of them suffering?  I have been reading an author for many years, but this author is now writing five series—the fifth series just started with book one a week ago.  I really enjoyed this book and will write my review very soon.  The series I started with is now nearing release of book number 30.  Personally, I feel this series needed to be ended some time ago, but we now have new characters whom will undoubtedly have books written for them and the overall story arc is still not finished.  It is the series that will never end!!  I also have to wonder, in the author’s defense—how much of this is the author and their muse and how much of it is the publisher continually trying to capitalize on an author’s popularity.

I read several authors who have multiple series, and it is normal for those authors in my experience to release one book a year in the series.  When we are talking about  3 or more series, how can that possibly happen?  Therefore, we are probably looking at over a year between books.   One of my favorite authors generally writes one series at a time and we get a book usually every 6 months and then they start another series.  Granted, these series usually contain 4 to 5 books.  However, the series is completed and then we get to start another one.  With the author who is on book 30, I could literally be in my mid 60s before it finishes and I am already 53!! Some of the recent books have disappointed me with much repetition—hence question 2—when do you know it is time to let go?  I have many years invested in this series and I want to see the end, but I’m tired and don’t receive the level of enjoyment that I used to.

Have any of you faced a similar dilemma and how did you decide?  Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

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

Blood Shadows by Lindsay Pryor

Karen

image

I recently picked up this book because I always participate in the Vampire Book Club’s Alpha Showdown and Kane, the main male lead in this series, killed all my favorites. I later found out that the author added a link from her website so all her fans would go and vote, now normally I’m down with this kinda stuff but clearly they knew none of the other competitors (mostly UF and PNR powerhouses like Kate Daniels, Barrons, Vlad, Charles Cornick, etc) and never voted on anything else. In fact it got kind of ridiculous with us regulars attempting to keep in our favorites and us just getting crushed by people who asked things like who’s Kate??? I shudder. I tell you this because I think I didn’t go into this book with the best mindset but it did have two things going for it (1) the cover is smoking hot (2) I got it for $1 on Amazon. Now you know where I’m at mentally here is the official blurb:

For vengeance – would you trust a vampire?

For justice – could you betray your family?

For love – are you ready to question everything you believe in?

Gifted with the ability to read the shadows of ‘third species’ beings, Caitlin Parish is the Vampire Control Unit’s most powerful agent. Despite that, her mission to hunt down Kane Malloy – a master vampire – comes with a death wish. Many have tried, but few have survived.

For Caitlin, tracking Kane is about more than just professional reputation. With her parents both mysteriously killed 7 years apart to the day, Caitlin knows that without Kane’s help she is next.

She has four days to make a deal with the wicked, the irresistible, the treacherous Kane Malloy. The vampire who despises everything she stands for.

Or die.

I’m going to warn you right now, this review contains spoilers and lots of bitching. I severely disliked this book so if you loved it, stop here. If you don’t want any further information on the story, please stop here. If you think you may like it in the future for the love of all that is holy…STOP HERE!!! You’ve been warned..

 

 

Let’s talked about the first half, now stop me if this starts to sound familiar at any point. Ready?

Caitlin is a vampire hunter with a grudge who thinks she can take down any vampire. I mean she hates them because of family issues so she has something to prove, and the little power she has she uses to hunt them. Kane is a master with a mess of power and skill. She goes after him, gets in way over her head, thinks shes captured him when in reality he ends up capturing her. Then Cat and Bones..errr I mean Caitlin and Kane end up having sex. Yeah. It was like a bad copy but all wrong somehow.

But this is the part that made me hate this book. She starts to talk about how her heart is falling for him…blah blah blah I mean the real mushy stuff girls just can’t resist. Oh her soul practically belongs to him (literally) and she just can’t help her heart. Oooooh and Kane this all powerful vampire just can’t control himself around her! you get the picture. During all this she somehow escapes, calls for back up and runs into some shifters guy. He tells her that her father, stepdad and ex boyfriend participated in the rape and murder of Kane’s sister. She doesn’t believe it. Kane, whom she’s falling in love with, tells her and he’s a liar. Her stepdad and ex boyfriend capture Kane, admit the truth and they are torturing him..here is the kicker, what does she do? As for his forgiveness? Nope! She won’t release him from the torture unless he promises to not hurt the douche bags that participated in the RAPE AND MURDER of his sister, help her escape some monster, and let her boss the puppet master of all this go. Oh and when he doesn’t agree immediately!?! She threatens him, the guy she loves and her heart aches for, yeah she’s gonna read his soul even though he’s begging her not to and is too weak to resist. You know from all the torture her family and friends have inflicted on him. But she’s not sure if she can trust him. What a peach. This makes me absolutely love her and want to read more about her. Listen she can say a million times her heart aches for Kane and his sister, but as far as I  concerned her actions say she’s a self centered bitch. Sorry, don’t like her. Not. One. Bit.

The sick part is I think I would like Kane if he wasn’t constantly fawning over Caitlin. Ugh I’m so done.

 

 

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

Fallen Hearts by Angela Colsin

debra

Fallen Hearts is Book 4 of The Crucible Series by Angela Colsin, an independent author I recently found.

As always, first the Blurb:

Most humans live in blissful ignorance of the supernatural, unable to see what they don’t believe exists. Such used to be the lot of Stephan Forrester, a normal mortal leading a regular life, at least until the day vampires abducted him. With his family murdered in the attack, Stephan finds himself alone and dying of an obscure, incurable illness contracted in the vampires’ lair.
Using what time he has left to seek justice, Stephan sets out to eliminate the offenders until only one remains. However, locating this final target means doing something he doesn’t think possible—actually working with a vampire.
Entombed against her will and forced to hibernate for seventy years, Maddox only awakens when a mortal with a vendetta frees her from the grave. He needs help locating the same vampire who buried her alive, and ironically, she senses a connection to her human savior in the form of a blood link. But Stephan’s intense hatred for vampires makes honoring that link impossible.
Even so, Maddox is unlike any vampire Stephan’s ever encountered. As charming and intelligent as she is beautiful, she reminds him of what it means to actually live, mending his wounded heart. In turn, Maddox finds it hard to separate from Stephan, or resist the passionate responses he elicits, and their unexpected bond strengthens as time goes on.
But time is the one luxury Stephan doesn’t have, and saving him from his illness could prove fatal to them both.

My thoughts:  I have really enjoyed finding and reading this author’s books.  I have enjoyed each story a little more than the previous one.  I have enjoyed this book most of all so far.  I thought the story very good with the right level of emotional angst, especially on the part of Stephen.  He had to most change in this story.  After everything he went through at the hands of the vampires, being forced to work with one threatened to take its’ toll on him.  He already has enough to deal with concerning the death of his family and the disease he contracted.  Forced to come to terms with Maddox not being like all the other vampires he encountered was difficult for him.  Maddox had her own angst to work through, albeit for different reasons.  And, she had to deal with the many societal/technological changes that have occurred since her forced hibernation.   We saw a couple of characters from previous books that play a role in this story as well as have a large part of a previously started story arc realized. I just knew something was out there in the previous books and glad to see it come to fruition.  I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Happy Reading,

Debra