Where the Night Kind Roam

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam

I was actually looking forward to this one. This first book showed promise and I quite enjoyed it. I mean who doesn’t love a dragon shifter book? Well when they are done well...

This one, it was mostly just sex, which I don’t mind but that was basically the entire plot. SO there was little plot beyond making a baby and very little character development. Which I guess isn’t that uncommon for a novella but I had just finished another novella that was probably shorter than this one and it had a lot more character development as well as an actual plot. So I can't really use that this was a novella as an excuse. Plus I am not entirely sure how a Nega (serpent shifter) fits into the whole dragon world. I mean it’s a snake not a dragon... Some of the dialogue was pretty cheesy; I think I groan from the cheese that was oozing through the pages. The most interesting part of this book was the missing cousin and mentions of Stig and Cora. Maybe I'll read the next book in the series because I am slightly curious what happened with the cousin and the girl and it’s not like these books are all that long.

If you want a steamy read with a dragon shifter, this book is for you. If you want an actual plot with character development don’t put this one as a priority on your TBR. Oh I do like that this series is interracial. That adds some diversity to the erotica/romance genre.
Rating:

3

*Copy was provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

4.5
For a quick read this one was surprisingly good. I was pulled in from the beginning and it kept my engaged for the entire thing. I wouldnt mind reading about these two again.

Maybe a full review to come.

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam

So I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. I’ve probably read 2 books in like two weeks, this being one of them. Even in my reading slump I enjoyed this book. Per the typical Rachel Gibson it made me chuckle and it was light fun read. Stella, is a bit of a late bloomer, she hasn’t found her niche yet as far as work goes and has never felt like she could live up to her sisters accomplishments. So when her biological fother kicks it and some GI Joe of a man comes looking for her with a message from her long lost sister she is not having it. As with most of Gibsons female leads Stella is strong and she is sassy. She might not view herself as a strong female but she is a survivor who stands up in the face of danger and even to the hard assed Beau. I quite enjoyed Stella and her attitude, she doesn’t let much really get her down and she bounces back pretty quick even with the mob chasing her. I like the way she handles uptight Beau and gets him to relax a little. Beau seriously has a bit of a pole up his ass in the beginning. He is very ridged and well military. Little by little he starts to relax a little, but is still a bit uptight, but I’m sure eventually she’ll wear him down. Beau is not my favorite of Rachel Gibson men but I still liked him as a character. Stella, I enjoyed more she was funny and kept on trucking even when she’s lost pretty much everything.

In Run to You by Rachel Gibson you can pretty much look forward to some good laughs, likeable characters and a fun story. This was a quick read that I couldn’t put down, even though it’s not my favorite Gibson novel.

Rating:
4

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam

Bound by Night by Larissa Ione is the first in a brand new series featuring vampires. This book was a good opening to this series, we get a crash course into this world where the humans have taken vampires as slaves and few vampires live in clans as free vampires. The worst of the humans to the vampires are the Martin family. With their company they have killed and oppressed more vampires than any other. Now on the brink of war with a neighboring clan the MoonBound clan needs an insider and Nicole will have to do. Riker kidnaps Nicole, so that she could release their vampire who had been taken by her company.

The story and the world are interesting. The vampire clan’s origins begin in Native American history which adds an interesting twist to vampires as a genre. We get bits of legend and lore with how Vampires came to exist and this is definitely a new version on the origins of vampires and I got to say I like it. It brings an interesting element into the mix. All of the characters are interesting and I quite enjoyed all of them. As individual characters I liked both Riker and Nicole. Riker is a hard headed alpha male; he holds a lot of guilt in how his mate died 20 years ago. For 20 years he’s been holding onto his guilt and lusting for revenge against anything Martin. He’s in turns angry and sexy, all brooding, but in turns sweet. Nicole is pretty feisty, she’s intelligent, she makes her own decisions and she knows that things are not adding up in her world and she wants answers as much as she wants to get that vampire back. Each character is flawed in a good way. They are likeable and go through their own personal journeys.

As a couple, for most of the book I wasn’t really buying the romance. I don’t know what was missing, I really don’t, but for about 75% of the book I wasn’t really feeling the love between these two. I felt the attraction, which was obvious and real, but deeper than that I wasn’t feeling it. It wasn’t until pretty much the end that it felt like there was some real love going on and not just lust. While I wasn’t necessarily feeling the love, I was feeling the story. It was interesting and action packed a lot goes on and keeps everything moving fast paced. We get a loaded ending that promises to be a doozy and really sets up the next book, which I have to admit I am already looking forward to it.

Rating:
3.5

*I received this title from Edelweiss for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

Rating 3.5

Very steamy thats for sure.

Rating 3.5

Very steamy thats for sure.

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam

So I read my very first Cara McKenna book when I read After Hours and I am still in love with that book, it’s been about 6 months and I am completely smitten with both After Hour and have fallen into new girl crush on Cara McKenna. When I saw Unbound in NetGalley, I HAD to have it and read it as soon as I got it. I was hoping against hope that it wouldn’t let me down and I am ecstatic that she did not.

Unbound is a story of acceptance, new beginnings, love and of course kink. Merry, recently lost her mother and subsequently almost 100 ibs. She decides to backpack across the highlands. She is almost at literal crossroads both mentally and physically when she falls ill in front of Rob’s door. Rob has spent years living in solitude, in shame, hiding from his past and his secret. He has barely spoken to a single person in years, when Merry collapses at his door. He finds that he cannot leave her when she is sick.

Merry is a wonderful character, she quite lives up to her name. With some other books I have read where there was weight loss the character is almost obnoxious with their weight loss and it kind of takes over the book and she would tend to be super self-conscious and low self-esteem. With Merry while it was a part of the book and her it didn’t take over the book, and while at times she didn’t seem 100% comfortable in her new body which is to be expected for the most part she had a self-worth and a healthy self-esteem. Part of her journey is to make peace with her body and her mind set, she knows that a lot of her weight gain and then lose was about mind set which I actually found a bit inspiring. With Rob she is super cute. I don’t want to give away their roles, because part of the fun is discovering it yourself. But she really comes into herself in her role with Rob, giving into his needs almost helps her find out more about herself. Merry is probably one of the most accepting characters I have ever read about. Her father is gay and her mother unconventional so they raised a pretty accepting and adapted child, that understands that not everyone fits into a cookie cutter mold. In her acceptance she finds not only herself but Rob is able to find himself.

Rob is absolutely tragic, he about breaks your heart. He is just so damaged by his past and all the guilt he carries around with him. His 20’s and early 30’s were not lived well and he hurt a lot of people. He carried the shame of his desires and could not learn to accept himself. When Merry enters his life he has basically put himself on hold. He has isolated himself so that he can no longer hurt anyone or himself but he has not healed, not really. Merry quickly learns one of his deepest secrets, and his shame and desire to hide kicks in but he finds that she accepts who he is, kink and all. Rob has the most growing to do in this book. At the beginning he is this lost man, who is hiding from the world and himself, by the end if he wants to keep Merry he has to find himself and come to terms with his past and his future. There are times when he does about break your heart and may bring you to tears. I know I was close.

I loved this freak’n book! I mean loved it, its one of my favorites of the year. It gripped me from the beginning and weeks later I am still thinking about it. I have so many thoughts swirling around and its actually taken me days to write this damn review. I mean what else can I really say except I adored it. It was all I was hoping for in this book. My only issue with this book was the ending. It was left more open ended then I would have liked unless and I hope this is the case Ms. McKenna has plans to revisit this couple. I would LOVE a sequel to this couple. The ending has no real solid conclusion so with no real knowledge of if there is going to be a sequel, I am not satisfied with the ending.
Rating:

4.5

*This book was provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam and Lets Get Romanatical

A Rake's Midnight Kiss by Anna Campbell is the second in the Sons of Sin Series which is about a group of three friends whose circumstances of birth are questionable. Richard may have had it worse than his two friends as his “father” was gone for 18 months when he was born and his mother never bowed down to the Ton. Born and raised in scandal. One night Richard determined that by obtaining a family jewel that had disappeared he would finally get the redemption that he so badly needed. Enter in Genevieve, by a strange twist she inherited Richards family jewel and she has refused to sell to him multiple times. He will stop at nothing to get his jewel, even if it means seducing the delectable Genevieve.

From the beginning I liked Richard, he is pretty hard not to like. He is affable, a bit rakish but a good guy underneath it all. He cares about his friends and would do anything for them. You feel his pain on how he grew up, you definitely understand the façade he has had to develop to deal with his birth circumstances. From the first he sets out to charm Genevieve, she’s a hard sell but he cracks her armor little by little. He definitely puts in the work; it very quickly becomes less about the jewel and more about the woman. As a character he grows and finds himself, consider him a late bloomer. Genevieve as a character I had trouble relating to for a while. She can come off as cold and hard to please. After a while she started to grow on me, she starts to thaw out a little bit. She has basically grown up with her own father ripping her off on a regular basis, that’s got to hurt. He doesn’t particularly care about her and her well being is not one of his priorities unless it directly affects him. So I get it. Richard does a pretty good job on getting her to lighten up little by little. So by the end of the book you even like her, if not love her.

For about the first quarter of the book I had troubles getting into the story, it was a bit on the slow side. After about 25% it starts to pick up and I found myself really getting into the story We get some betrayal, thefts, passion and a case of opposites attract. Our two characters develop a lot over the course of the book both together as well as apart. Anna Campbell remains one of my favorite historical authors. She writes very well, her characters are fully developed, her stories passionate as well as humorous. I will definitely be looking out for the next book in this series!

Rating: 4

This copy was provided to me through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

I wish it had more of a convulsive ending but it was a quick enjoyable free read.

Reviewed for:
Where the Night Kind Roam
Lets Get Romantical

What a great story! I read the first book in the series and really liked it, but I got to say this one was better! I had loved Ronnie’s hard ass attitude but adored Meagan soft heart. We met Meagan in the Valentines Arrangement, she was Kale’s friends with benie’s before he found Ronnie. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of her coming into this book, but I found she was a pleasant surprise. She has a great sense of humor, she’s that kind of quiet one that out of nowhere cracks a smart ass comment and has everyone laughing. That’s almost my favorite kind of humor because you never quite see it coming. Romantically, her dating life has been a disaster. She is coming up on the big 3-0 and always thought she would be married with kids by the time she was 30. To escape a bad dating pattern she picks up and moves when her best friend Eva (who I also loved btw) came up on orders. Only, she falls right into the arms of her very first one night stand, Reed Porter, only its 8 years later and he doesn’t recognize her. This time Meagan is determined to break the pattern and to not sleep with the irresistible Reed. But Reed has other plans for her.

Reed is our adrenaline junky! Meagan nicknamed him Mr. Thrill and it fits. He will do anything for a rush, and right now chasing Meagan is giving him a rush of a lifetime, but he’s not a forever type of guy. Meagan has made it clear what she is looking for, but Reed wants to give it a go anyway. Although Reed comes off as a fun loving guy, he has demons of his own. There is a reason he doesn’t form many lasting attachments. When you lose the other part of your soul it leaves a pretty lasting impact. Reed leads on a fun pursuit of Meagan and it is definitely fun to read, the push and pull between these two strong willed characters is entertaining. I didn’t want to put the book down and when I did I couldn’t wait to pick it back up to see what these two get themselves into next. Ultimately I saw the general outcome coming, yet not. Kelsie Leverich definitely threw a wrench in what I thought was going to happen. I have to admit it brought a tear to my eye and I’m sure it will bring others to a full out ugly cry. But this made me love Meagan and Reed all that much more. Ultimately Reed has to decide if his adrenaline filled lifestyle is worth his happiness whether he thinks he deserves it or not.

This was a fun entertaining ride which was enhanced by the side characters. I loved each and every one of them! And I am looking forward to each and every one of their books! So yeah, Kelsie Leverich, Im going to need you to get on these books ASAP!

Rating:
5

*This book was provided to me through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

*And on a side note, I met the lovely Kelsie Leverich at the Naughty Mafia Las Vegas signing and she is a super sweetheart!

Reviewed For: Where the Night Kind Roam
Lets Get Romantical

Jessica Sorensen has quickly climbed the list to one of my favorite authors. She creates such in depth emotional characters. From the very prolog we are taken on one of the most emotional books I have read in a while. I swear I was almost crying from the prolog, I mean seriously who gets emotionally attached to the characters from a prolog, but it is IMPACTFUL!

Both Nova and Quinton about break my heart, the sadness and loss they both carry around just tears at your heart. Nova and Quinton are both characters that will pull at your heart strings and you’ll remember long after you’ve finished the book. In fact I’ve been thinking about these two since I finished the book about a week ago. While I was reading the book I didn’t want it to end, I saw the ending approaching and I was dreading it.

I’m not going to say a whole lot happens in this book, because not a ton does. This story is about the characters and their emotional journeys. Nova lost her dad at a young age, she was there when his heart gave out, that stayed with her. When she met Landon her new neighbor, he quickly became her best friend and then later her boyfriend. When he left her too, what was left of her heart was shattered and man can you feel it. Her pain is palpable, when she gets to college, things get a little better but come crashing around her when she goes home for the summer. At home, everything is too raw and fresh and she starts on a downward spiral.

Quinton, his pain if possible is worse than Nova’s. A year ago, he was a good guy with ambition and a drive to do well, he wanted to be an artist and to marry his girlfriend Lexi. **spoiler** Then an accident happened that killed Lexi, his cousin and…him… only Quinton was able to be revived. **end spoiler** Since that fateful night, Quinton has been doing his best to forget life and to slowly drown himself in alcohol and weed. The angst, oh the angst.. so good is this angst…

I’m not usually all about the angst, but with this book it was so very good. Nova and Quinton find in each other kindred spirits. Both are carrying around so much loss and heartbreak, as each spirals further out of control in each other they find some peace, but the guilt they carry around may destroy them both. Through the entire book you want these two to find the peace they both so desperately need. Nova and Quinton take you on this emotional rollercoaster that will have you in tears or close to it. There are certain aspects of this book that I really identified with. **spoiler** having lost three friends from suicide I could really identify with the thoughts that swirled around in Nova’s head when it came to Landon. The thoughts of were there signs? Was there something you could have done to save them? Why didn’t they love everyone enough to stay? **end spoiler**

The only thing I didn’t adore was the constant references to smoking, it gets to the point, where you are like ok, I get it, they are all pot heads. LOL! At times it was over emphasized but the rest is so good, I could live with it. When you pick up this book and you definitely should, make sure you have your Kleenex handy!

Rating: 5

Reviewed for: Where the Night Kind Roam
Lets Get Romantical

Blue By You by Rachel Gibson is another hit in the Rachel Gibson collection. It is no secret, that I adore Rachel Gibson, she is one of my favorite authors because every time I pick up a Rachel Gibson novel, I know I am going to laugh and it’s going to be a heartwarming tale. Blue By You is no exception to this rule. For the first time by Rachel Gibson we are taken to the Louisiana New Orleans area, which I really fell in love with. True to RG style, she gives us a small town that is quirky and fun. The rival families is quite fun and I loved how they joked about their ancestors.

Kasper (loving the name) and Blue had one night together 20 something years ago and now they meet again and the attraction comes back just as strong as it was when they first met. Blue is rightfully pissed about how Kasper hit it and quit it all those years ago, I mean a girl always remembers her first. Kasper is determined to make up for his Houdini act, he is finally ready for the feelings that Blue inspires. He has his work cut out for him, but he is a man determined to get what he wants and he sets out to put in work. I quite enjoyed Blue and her non-conformance attitude; we opened with Blue drinking on her front porch while everyone else was at church. It had my chuckling on the inside. She also doesn’t give into Kasper too quickly; she does make Kasper work a little.

In this novella we flash from the present to the past and back to the present, which for me worked for this book. It gave us the history between Kasper and Blue, which was needed. The past and present plotlines were seamlessly plotted out. There was plenty of humor to keep you chuckling throughout the book. My biggest and really only issue with this book was it was too short; it really needed to be a bit longer for it to really develop. I truly hope that we get more books in this setting. I really enjoyed this setting and hope we get to visit it again.

*This book was provided to me through Edelweiss for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

Who knows how many times I've read this book over the years and it never seems to get old. =)

Hell I dont even know what to rate this, definitely disturbing with shocking subject matter, definitely well written, definitely compelling and intriguing. What do you rate something that both disturbs and compels you at the same time? For some reason you cant truely hate Caleb, maybe the reader gets Stockholm Syndrome along with Livvy?? Or maybe his character is just so, so, so something... irrevocably damaged, a product of his "upbringing", torn, confused a shadow of what he could have been? I don't know, he mysterious and complex, I'm not sure he knows himself at this time any better then we do. Livvy is both timid and strong, when it comes down to it, she finds just that little bit of fierceness she needs to survive. Her self-worth has long since been beaten down by her mother and now she has to contend with Caleb and his constant swinging emotions. Don't worry Livvy he has us just as confused as you. She handles what is dished out to her admirably, she comes out strong. I only wish she didn't cry so damn much. Granted it is much deserved and understood crying, I just hate reading about constant crying, like on every other page. If that's the only thing I would change about this book, then I'd say its doing pretty good.

If you can handle a really dark story with some very disturbing situations I say definitely read this one.

Reviewed for:
Lets Get Romantical
Where the Night Kind Roam

Another great book from Kait Ballenger! TWILIGHT HUNTER is a sexy, dark, intriguing, action packed roller coaster ride of emotion and hard hitting action with a twist on my favorite supernatural species thrown in. The Execution Underground is an elite force to take out rogue supernaturals. Jace is the best werewolf hunter on the east coast, but this case is his hardest yet. Women are dying, and dying horrific death, mutilated beyond recognition. It’s been weeks and Jace is still no closer to catching the bastard that is killing these women. He’s hunting when he comes across Frankie. The attraction is instantaneous and fierce, but she’s a werewolf. The one species that he abhors even though he is half wolf himself, a secret he has kept from all of the Execution Underground, except his childhood friend and Demon Hunter David.

Jace is a lost soul with some serious daddy issues. Totally flawed, but good hearted despite himself. He is a total protector even if he doesn’t particularly think of himself that way; he would be the first to admit he can be an a-hole. Despite his many flaws and anger issues you really can’t help but love Jace anyway. As a character he has a lot of growing to do, he’s basically racist against his own kind and kills werewolves pretty much indiscriminately since becoming a hunter. He thinks all were’s are the same until he meets Frankie and he can’t keep his hands or his emotions in check. She has him questioning all of his beliefs. By the end of the book you are helplessly in love with poor Jace and happy to see how much he’s grown as a character.

Frankie is not hard to like, she has her packs best interests in mind and pretty self-sacrificing. She is basically slated to marry a man she doesn’t love because it is expected of her. She actually misses her mating ceremony because Jace took her captive. Jace is the first thing she takes because that’s what she as a person wanted and not what her parents or her pack wanted. For a while she just couldn’t seem to spit out what she really wanted to say, causing man a miss-communications and causing Jace even more hurt to his fragile self-worth when it comes to being loveable. I just wanted to yell at her, just say what you mean woman! But if there is no conflict then they can’t “make up”, so I couldn’t be too mad.

The story is fast paced and as previously mentioned action packed. From beginning to end, something is going on which keeps you captivated and those pages turning. There is no room to get bored. The chemistry between Jace and Frankie is explosive from the beginning, they can certainly steam up the pages and have you fanning yourself off. The side characters of Shane and David were great, I can’t help but look forward to their books. It is looking like David’s will be next and I am really excited for that one! Oh and Damon, damn, I know you had it rough at the end of your novella, but ish do you have to be such an a$$!?! He’s gonna have to have a lot to atone for once he becomes happy again, for now, I’m going to choose to forgive his attitude because I know how is novella SHADOW HUNTER ended and I know he is hurting, but he better make it up to us! I can’t wait to see where this series takes us! I am totally on board and looking forward to IMMORTAL HUNTER in January 2014.

Rating: 4.5

*This book was provided to me by the author and no other compensation was provided.

That was one crzy a$$ ride! WOW! There was so much wrong with it but I couldnt stop reading. It touched my two usual two DNF triggers (Cheating and unprotected sex) yet in this one while disturbing I still couldnt stop reading. As the book tells you in the beginning this is NOT a typical romance and it is a F'ed up ride but I wouldnt take back reading it. If you're gonna read this one you have to throw all of your "romance novel" ideals out the window. This is a WTF, did that really just happen, oh yes it just did, sorta book. It has plenty of shock appeal and it is ugly in places but still I read on waiting to see what would happen next. Just when you think happy will happen, its yanked out from underneath you. Eventually we get there but a lot of bad happens before we do.