Monthly Archives: January 2014

Review: Knight & Stay (Knight #2) by Kitty French

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Title: Knight & Stay
Author:  Kitty French
Publisher/Year:  Kitty French 5/7/13
Length:  200+ Pages
Series: Knight #2

Overview

Knight and Stay is the much anticipated sequel to the erotic best-seller Knight & Play.

Sophie Black has turned her back on both her cheating husband and her sexy, enigmatic boss Lucien Knight.

When she hits rock bottom, she finds herself drawn back into Lucien’s high stakes world of intensely erotic encounters.

Who will she chose when her husband returns with his tail between his legs?

My Thoughts

It was a nice ending to the first book when not only was Sophie forced to address her husband’s indiscretions, but Lucien decided that he wasn’t going to let her do it on her own.  Fists fly, and then, well, Sophie is ultimately left to herself.  She came to the realization that while Dan wasn’t for her since he cheated, that what she had with Lucien also wasn’t real, so she couldn’t have both.  and that made matters even worse given that it meant that she was out of a job since she couldnt’ go back to how things were as his PA.

So the story kind of fast forwards just a little bit so that a few weeks have passed, where Sohpie really hasn’t started to pick up the pieces much, she’s still living in her shell, not even leaving home, even at the urging of her best friend Kara.  It’s only when Kara strongly urges Sophie to take a shower and rejoin the living that things start to turn around.  Because she’s desperate, Sophie goes back to her old job and is miserable.  It’s when literally just within the first few hours that her boss tries to grope her again that she decides that she needs to get out.  So she does, and the only other option that she has is to go back to Knight Inc.  so she does.

Imagine Lucien’s surprise when she walks back into his office, and we know that Sophie’s able to surprise Lucien since she never does what he expects.  This is a happy turn of events because he’s slowly beginning to realize that he doesn’t want her out of his life, he just doesn’t know what he wants her in his life as.

From here on out, the story really takes a different controlling nature than we’ve seen before.  Sophie tries to lay the ground rules, Lucien tries to abide, but they are both too strong willed for their own good to really listen to what they are saying v. what their bodies want.  To give him credit, Lucien really does a great job at keeping himself at a distance…and i guess it’s for good reason.

Where this story takes us is from London to Paris and back, and brings back characters to complicate things even more so.  Lucien’s father plays a larger role in this 2nd installment, and we get to learn more about why Lucien is as is he.  Dan of course comes back, and we knew that he would based on his little snippets in book 1 while he was on holiday with Maria.  I’m surprised that it took this long, but he definitely tries to stir the pot.

I think that overall it was pretty decent, there were a few flaws that bug me.  We don’t quite get the depth of Lucien’s back story which would have been nice.  I’m always a sucker for these powerful alpha males who have a dark past, and we really only get to the gray bits of the darkness with him.  The other piece that frustrated me a bit is that the ending came up VERY quickly on us.  when i got to the final chapter and saw that it said ‘Epilogue’ i was a bit shocked since i feel like the ending was a bit rushed to get to the point in time that Kitty French wanted us to be at.  I’m hoping that when i start reading Knight & Day that i’ll get a bit more out of this story.  while i don’t think that the focus is on Lucien and Sophie as much, i’m hoping that we’ll get more of their story none the less. Oh well, average, or slightly above average, but i’ll chalk it up to being a book 2 in a series.

Review: Knight & Play (Knight #1) by Kitty French

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Title: Knight & Play
Author:  Kitty French
Publisher/Year:  Kitty French 2/22/13
Length:  200+ Pages
Series: Knight #1

Overview

There’s only one thing in life Lucien Knight really hates, and that’s husbands who cheat on their wives.
There’s only one problem in Sophie Black’s life. Her cheating husband…
From the moment Lucien & Sophie meet, the seal is set.

Romantic, emotional & intensely erotic, Knight and Play is the perfect read for lovers of international bestsellers Fifty Shades & Bared To You.

Let yourself be swept away by Part One of the Knight series from Kitty French, a romance so hot it’ll burn your fingers…

CEO of Knight Inc. Lucien Knight is catch-your-breath gorgeous and damaged by his troubled past in Norway. All grown up and relocated to London, he’s built his empire of adult clubs from the ground up to become the gorgeous patron saint of the sex industry. No one knows the dark childhood secrets that have given Lucien a backbone of steel and a heart encased in ice.

No one until Sophie Black, that is…

From the moment girl-next-door Sophie accepts the job as Lucien Knight’s PA, she understands how Alice must have felt when she tumbled down the rabbit hole.
Lucien takes her safe, vanilla life away and plunges her head first into a huge dish of fantasy flavours. Rich, spicy chocolate covered with dark, oozingly lickable sauce? Check. Tutti-frutti with indecently red, glistening cherries on the top? Yes please.

Lucien strips away all of Sophie’s inhibitions, and when he instructs her to select three new toys, she soon realises he has more than a game of Monopoly on his mind…

He’s opened the door to a whole new pleasure packed world without limits, and Sophie is utterly intoxicated. But how far is she willing to go? And what happens when she has to step back into reality again?

Lucien & Sophie’s is a story of star crossed love and forbidden passion, a sexual odyssey that spans the globe and changes both of their lives forever.
Let it change yours, too.

My Thoughts

I’m a sucker for a story that has a powerful man leading the charge, which we have with Lucien, and a women who’s clearly powerful, but doesn’t quite know it yet.  which is what we get with Sophie.

This is a ‘coming of age’ in a sense, where Sophie is trying to learn about herself, based on what’s missing in her relationship with Dan, her husband, but we get a story that’s so much more complex.  She’s in a job that she isn’t thrilled with – it’s dull, and she’s being groped by her boss at every chance he gets.  It’s because of this that she answers an ad for a PA role in Knight Inc – definitely stepping out of her comfort zone, all in the mindset of adventure and doing something for herself.

Convincing Lucien to hire her was the first way that Sophie showed that she’s got some balls, and trying her best to make the job work is the 2nd.  While she’s there, she actually comes to terms with the fact that her sexless marriage isn’t because of her, it’s because her husband has been having an affair with her, and therefore she feels like she’s justified to explore more about herself.  Can’t blame a girl – can you?

Just on a personal note here, i like that the way this is written is that it’s not entirely like Sophie didn’t know that her husband was stepping out, she 1) didn’t want to believe it or admit it to herself but 2) she kind of did know, based on his travel patters for work and how he’s been towards her, so it’s more of an ‘if it aint broke, don’t fix it’ mentality than being in denial.

Where this story takes us from there is quite interesting actually.  Lucien, as we know is emotionally closed off in the sense of never having loved and not willing to love…and we know that it’s because of his background which he doesn’t really share.  We know that his father cheated on his mother and that drove to her to her death, and cause the big riff in Lucien’s family.  With the entrance of Sophie into his life, things are turned upside down, and he’s forced to look at things a bit differently.  He has this huge feeling of protectiveness over her that’s not typical to how he has felt about any of his past conquests, and that’s something that he’s afraid to take pause at.

With Sophie’s bit, we see a woman who’s struggling with her self worth, coming into her own personally and professionally, and kind of fearful about where her journey with Lucien since she’s beginning to feel like it could be more.

From UK to Norway, and tons of places in between, we’re taken on an educational journey.  Not just about the passions that happen between these 2 which are certainly growing throughout the book, but of Lucien’s business of toys, since there are a few even that i’m not familiar with.  The story itself is well written, really making me pleased given that it’s based in the UK, with British characters and i have come to expect several things from this type of writing.  Verbiage that is overly british and references that are of the same nature.  SO not the case here, so i really enjoyed the smooth read.  Regardless of that, you really just want to hope for the best here, hope that there’s relationship development on more than just a physical level, but emotional too.  i think that we’ll get there.

Where the story took us towards the end, while very expected, didn’t necessarily tick off all the boxes that i had in my mind.  We knew that certain things would come to a head with sohpie/Dan and as a result, Sophie/Lucien, but i’m not sure that i was fully expecting it to happen as it did.  The good thing though is that i have book already so i don’t have to wait much longer to find where the story goes.  I’m already a few chapters into Knight & Stay and we’ll just have to see what happens next.  i’m sure we won’t be disappointed.  

Review: St. Barts by Emma Cross

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Title:  St. Barts
Author:  Emma Cross
Publisher/Year:  AuthorHouse 11/7/12
Length:  456 Pages

Overview

Have your ever wanted to escape the humdrum? Find yourself in paradise? That is where Sunny O’Hara has landed. She’s in St. Bart’s, a slice of Southern France in the Caribbean. But this is no vacation. After the death of her father, she decides to build rental villas for high-end tourists. But her idea of putting down roots is set aside when she meets a famous actor. After putting her personal life on hold for years, she decides to indulge in herself and convinces him to act as her sexual mentor. Sven Larson may be jaded, but he’s not stupid. Sunny is the best thing that ever happened to him. But can their love affair transcend geography? And someone who wants him-desperately- refuses to let him go. This is a story about a curious love affair between a virgin and a movie star and the challenges they face trying tor turn fiction into fact

My Thoughts

Based on the excerpt that i read on this book, i was really looking forward to the story that would unravel.  I love it when we have an established male lead, which is exactly what we get with Sven – he’s basically names the ‘Sexiest Man on the Planet’ and he’s coming into his own in Hollywood, becoming more of a mainstream actor.  The other piece is that we have a VERY innocent female lead in Sunny – and while she’s been really sheltered her entire life, she’s traveled and has had life experiences, none of which count when you want to make the transition into womanhood.  (cliche right?)

Anyhow, this story picks up when Sunny’s on her way home to St. Barts – a place that she hasn’t been since she was roughly 7 years old, so that she can return her father’s remains to be beside her mothers, and to reclaim the home on the island that her father left her.  Sunny has made it her goal to try to reinvent herself on the island, and to find some peace and happiness.  In doing this, she also decides that part of her future is to take the land next to hers and make it into something that can provide a future and an income to her, by creating a villa destination for the wealthy.

Sven and Sunny’s paths cross when Sven is on the island to film a movie, which just happens to be produced by Sunny’s father’s old boss, someone that Sunny knows typically has ulterior motives for, and is weary of because she learns that he wants her land.  All that aside, this story really takes the focus away from that stuff and more towards Sunny growing up and asking for Sven’s help to do that.

Throughout this story, we see a teacher/student relationship build between Sven so that he can teach her all things sensual and physical, all the while, trying to keep emotions at bay.  In the background of course is Sven’s best friend Clyde who seems quite jealous that Sunny is taking his best friend away from him as a wingman.  There’s also Eden who’s an actress and a social climber who’s trying to use Sven’s celebrity to further her career.

While there’s really at best some lukewarm scenening between the 2, meaning that their encounters are quite tepid in my opinion, we get the expected tension and anxiety when Sunny and Sven part ways because the movie wraps and on that same night, Sunny is attacked.  What’s a story in this genre without that right?

It took me until the last 100 pages or so to start to get into it and really begin reading at a faster clip.  I feel like it took a while to build up and i kept waiting for things to heat up and i feel like they never really did.  There were moments perhaps when we were righto n the edge of something steamy, but i guess my expectations are a little higher since i’ve read quite a few books in the genre – so i was left wanting a little bit.

All in all though, what we get here is an average book, that has an interesting story that would have been better if it were taken just a bit further.  The bones are there, just not elaborated on quite enough.  Some of the flowery writing detracted from it a bit as well, trying to paint a picture of surroundings and things a bit more than were necessary.  At least i can say that it wasn’t so bad that i had to put it down.  I just didn’t love it.  I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts though.

Review: Independent Study (The Testing #2) by Joelle Charbonneau

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Title:  Independent Study
Author:  Joelle Charbonneau
Publisher/Year:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1/7/14
Length:  320 Pages
Series: The Testing #2

Overview

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

My Thoughts

I knew that i wasn’t going to be disappointed in this 2nd installment since i love the genre, and The Testing and ‘Study Guide’ were both really great.  In this 2nd book, we come upon the group of students that had passed through the testing and are in their ‘Early Studies’ while they are waiting to find out what their Area of Study will be.  There’s a lot of tension of course though because as was the case in the Testing, if you don’t pass, you fail, and if you fail, you get redirected and no one quite knows what that means.  Because of this Cia is extra nervous because she’s worried that she won’t pass, and while taking her exam, she doesn’t have enough time to fully complete it so she’s worried that she will be redirected.

Low and behold though, she passes and instead of being placed in her preferred area of study (Mechanical Engineering), she’s put into Government, the area that she’s LEAST excited about, and this worries her more since she feels like this is setting her up to fail even more.  That’s not where her troubles end of course.  As an ‘Induction’ test for the department, she and the other first years have to go through a challenge that will determine who’s a good leader, and who maybe isn’t strong enough to make it.  Through this test, Cia continues to be challenged on who she can trust and who’s out to see her fail.

She makes it through the test of course, but obstacles keep getting thrown at her.  If you remember Michal from the first book, the official that was on Cia’s side and helped her out a bit, well, he’s back and plays a large role.  He’s there with his own mission, perhaps not with the agenda of the government of course, and he’s trying to direct Cia in the right ways to both survive and to help his cause. Cia and Tomas are still together in this book ,and since she trusts him (sort of), she enlists his help in managing through these first years.

What makes this story great though is that there’s a LOT going on and why in the Dystopian genre, much is expected, the path to get there is amazing.

Cia begins to get some of her memories back from the Testing, and paired with what she recorded on the transit communicator that she took from her brother makes her wonder who/what she can trust

Cia’s guide Ian and her confidante Michal seem to be leading her in a direction and protecting her all the same – and what does that mean for her future?

We learn that the heads of the Testing and University have it out for Cia and wonder what this will mean to her success and survival.  Will she manage through her 9 classes (most students have 5, even the heaviest workload historically other than Cia has been 7) or will she fail?

Will she get a coveted internship and where will that lead her

Rebels, rebels, rebels.  what does that all mean for everyone’s safety and future?  We begin to learn that there’s not just 1 rebel faction but 2

Redirection – what does that mean – really.  What this brings to mind when we get a sense of what happens is The Hunger Games and District 13.  Mind you i really hate to draw comparisons between stories  i try not to do it, but in this sense, i think that it’s interesting.  We’re constantly told throughout the series that if students are redirected because they are found not to have the skillset that is needed for their job, they are sent to other colonies to work.  We don’ think that this is the case given that Cia and Tomas have NO recollection of anyone coming to Five Lakes that wasn’t from there or was an official.  so, does it mean that they are killed? or sent out to areas that aren’t revitalized yet?  curiosity here on my part, and i’m sure that Cia will figure it out.

So, the ending of this bridge book in the trilogy was both surprising, and saddening.  I’m a bit surprised on the turn of events of the final chapters, but i’m not surprised on the actions that are implied for book 3.  I can’t wait until Graduation Day comes out – it can’t come out soon enough in my opinion.  I love the perspective that this story has taken so far on what the earth has become after war and environmental upheaval….and i can’t wait to see who will survive and thrive.  enjoy!

ARC Review: A Betty’s Pledge (Volume 1) by Emma Husher

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Title:  A Betty’s Pledge
Author:  Emma Husher
Publisher/Year:  The Writers Coffee Shop House. 4/24/14
Length:  265 Pages
Series: A Betty’s Pledge #1

Overview

There is an exclusive group known as the Grants who only allow the most seductive women into their circle, and Madeline “Mady” Chase would give anything to get in. After years of mundane, disappointing sex, Mady is ready for more. Much more. Too many men out there favor the trashy crap that often parades around the local bars and college hangouts. To Mady, it seems like they’d rather drool over a girl with a fifty thousand dollar plastic surgery bill and clothes that would better fit a five-year-old than find some substance and passion in a woman. She wants more than stale, bland, fake sex, and the Grants could be just what she needs.

Isaac Wilson has been dissatisfied more times than he can count in the past two years. Being one of the Grants definitely has its privileges, but now he finds himself wanting more. Usually, it just meant another long month of disenchantment on his part when the Grants realized their new batch of women were no good. Each year, the program found several candidates that fit their needs, but as was often the case, they lacked that certain spark Isaac was looking for. To him, it didn’t matter. Either way, he’d have a lot of fun wading through the rejects.

My Thoughts

This is an interesting story and take on a sex club type environment.  What we get here is a school of sorts, where women apply and are accepted into a program to be a Betty pledge and learn about various different perspectives of their sexual nature in the hopes of finding what it is that they need in life and possibly to be ‘mated’.  The guys however, they are there for another reason i’m learning.  The ‘Consorts’ are being paired with these Betty’s through various ranking scales based on the information that the ladies have provided.  It’s interesting to say the least since it’s not clear to the women that they are paired, and the guys are really just having fun having lots and lots of sex.

The Grants – the family that has started this program are quite wealthy and decided that it was in their interest to keep the program open to only those who could afford entrance.  Mady is accepted through a scholarship of sorts via her best friend who’s gone through the program as Mady is from an entirely different background from everyone else.  This continues to play a role throughout the book since she feels inferior to everyone from time to time.

I have to say that I kept wondering where the anxiety and peak of this book was going to happen.  While we get several really steamy scenes between Mady and her ‘Dame’ Diane, as well as with Isaac and Mady as well, there wasn’t the tension that i’ve come to expect from this genre.  Not a bad thing, just wondering….

It’s also interesting to me that the end of this book kind of just dropped off – while there was a little bit of an event at the very end to make you wonder what would happen, it wasn’t nearly as anxiety ridden as we usually get (you know, because of these books have someone being kidnapped or threatened).  Here – it’s just a jealousy/relationship tension i think….and maybe a creepy guy who’s going to try to take advantage.

Anyhow, i’m looking forward to volume 2 to see what happens – although i have no idea when it comes out 🙂  (maybe 2015 is what i read).  Enjoy

Review: All He Needs (All or Nothing #2) by CC Gibbs

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Title:  All He Needs
Author:  C.C. Gibbs
Publisher/Year:  Grand Central Publishing. 12/17/13
Length:  432 Pages
Series: All or Nothing #2

Overview

Brilliant. Wealthy. Powerful. Dominic Knight is one of the hottest tech developers in the world—and the most demanding lover Kate Hart has ever known. Whether in the boardroom or the bedroom, he is always in charge. But there is one thing he cannot control: Kate’s fiery heart…

As a master in her field, talented Kate surpassed Dominic’s wildest expectations. As a woman of uncommon intelligence and beauty, she unlocked something deep within him. Yet since their professional relationship—and erotically charged affair—came to an end, the fire in him has only grown stronger.

Now, the man who has everything will do whatever it takes to reclaim the woman he lost. From Boston and Paris to Singapore and San Francisco, he will lure Kate back into his elite world of privilege and passion. Together, they will test the limits of desire and the boundaries of discipline. For both, this is uncharted territory—naked, reckless, and uninhibited. But when Dominic’s deadliest enemies target Kate, he must face his darkest fears…and admit to himself that she is all he needs.

My Thoughts

After book 1 left off, the biggest question for me was how long they were going to stay apart and what was Dominic going to do to get Kate back.  The lucky thing here is that while it’s the core to the beginning of the story, there’s so much more.  What i’ve come to love and expect about this genre is that you not only get a passionate love story, but you also get one riddled with anxiety since someone is always being ‘hunted’ so to speak, either kidnapped or there’s a hit on them.  This story is no different.

We join the duo when Kate’s trying to find her legs again after learning too much about Dominic and walking away – while he kind of walked away all the same (literally – flying in the middle of the night i believe).  So Kate’s trying to figure out what her next steps are in her life when an AMAZING offer comes in for a job in Singapore that she just can’t pass up.  We know that ‘Nick’ has helped make this happen, but she doesn’t.  The question is for a smart girl, how long is it going to take for her to realize it.  It’s not until he shows up at her hotel there one night that she begins to put the pieces together.

From there on, there’s a fast romance and re-introduction to the passion that they’ve shared.  That first night together turns not only into a reunion, but into a flight in the middle of the night because of intel that Dominic has learned of that may put Kate’s life in danger.

Where this story takes us from there is the journey that they have in getting back together, avoiding conflict and fear of Gora – the man who’s out to do harm to Kate we think because she found the money that he had tried to steal from Dominic’s company….and then a big twist in the end.

C.C. Gibbs does a great job of keeping us really interested in the heat and passion that this relationship has – i mean they can hardly keep their hands to themselves.  I enjoy that the scenes are well written, make you blush, but aren’t over the top.  There’s also a fair share of emotional connection being built here which is nice since we often don’t see that this early in a trilogy.

I have to say that i was a little bit surprised by one of the forks in the road here, in what the negotiating point was that Gora had, and whether Dominic would take it or not.  The other twist is not so much of a surprise, given that I’ve read quite a few books in this genre and know where stories tend to take us.

Regardless, i’m semi-bummed that i’m not in the UK to get the ARC of book 3, but i’m happily waiting to see how things resolve since i have a feeling that we still have quite a roller coaster to overcome.  I mean really – when do things ever work out in the timing that you want in these stories.   I hope you enjoy it and welcome your thoughts and opinions.  Enjoy!

ARC Review: The Initiation of Ms. Holly by K.D. Grace

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Title: The Initiation of Ms. Holly
Author: KD Grace
Publisher/Year: Sourcebooks Inc  2/4/14
Length:  256 pages

Overview

She had no idea membership would be this exclusive.

Will she succeed in her lengthy and lusty initiation? Sex with a mysterious stranger aboard a train leads Rita Holly to an initiation into the exclusive and secretive Mount club. Sophisticated and erotic rituals await Rita, as do the endless intrigues and power struggles within the organization. Rita learns that club membership is not for the sexually repressed. During her initiation, sex with her lover from the train, Edward, is forbidden, but Alex and Leo are happy to step in. With more and more titillating punishments in store and the club’s leader intent on her failing, will Rita pass her lengthy and lusty initiation?

My Thoughts

Wow – what a creative story we have here.  I mean, this isn’t the first story that i’ve read about ‘initiation’ so to speak into a secret sex club, but this one really took things to another level.  There’s was a lot of diversity in what Ms Holly’s tests were and that was nice.

So let’s back up a second, we meet Rita Holly when she’s on a train back to London that has just lost power.  There she meets a man in the dark who helps her relax from her fears of claustrophobia since she can’t see anything, and relax her he does….in a sexual sense.  It’s something that she never would have done with a stranger before, but didn’t really have any qualms against doing in the dark.  Before leaving, he gives her his number and this is where their journey begins.

Edward, the man in the dark is part of The Mount, this secret society of sorts, and makes it his quest to get her to join and initiate her because his feelings of pure sexual want have begun to develop into more.  He hides himself behind a mask for reasons unknown throughout the book, and helps guide Rita through her different tests.

What makes this more challenging as well is that Rita is a journalist and at a point in the tests begins to question motives, and decides that she can write an expose since no one has ever been inside The Mount, and then things would be looking up for her career.

What’s so nice about this is that what were once thought to be secondary characters in the council at the Mount each take their moments in the spotlight as leads.  Alex, Leo, Lorelei, Morgan, Vivienne, and Aurora all have their chances to test Rita to see what she’s willing to do and how much pleasure it will bring her.  I don’t know where our lovely author KD Grace comes up with some of these scenarios, but clearly they were all researched well and well written.

The nice thing about this story is that there’s a big twist in the end.  While throughout you’re hoping that Rita will second guess her need to write an article, there are folks that come into the picture that have ulterior motives and take choices out of some people’s hands.  There are those that are setting Rita up for failure, those that have their own wants and needs at the forefront, and even a really big surprise character that we haven’t fully met until the last few chapters.

All in all, there was a nice balance of reality and passion/imagination that kept this story flowing nicely.  You knew were things would go, but not how you would get there, and that was the nice thing.  I hope that you guys get a chance to pick this book up – it’s a nice twist on a story that’s not necessarily original, but had a very original spin on it.  Enjoy!

Review: Endless (The Violet Eden Chapters #4) by Jessica Shirvington

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Title: Endless
Author: Jessica Shirvington
Publisher/Year: Sourcebooks Inc  10/1/13
Length:  480 pages
Series:  The Violet Eden Chapters #4

Overview

LOVE WILL KILL US ALL

Violet Eden thought she was getting things under control. Then all hell breaks loose—literally. In the war between angels and exiles, she’s about to face the biggest baddie of all time. Except she’s not nearly ready.

The dark exile Phoenix is still messing with her head—not to mention her heart. And her undeniable attraction to Lincoln has gotten downright dangerous. When Hell unleashes its worst, Violet must embrace every facet of her angel self to save the people she cares about and the world as she knows it. But death is not the worst thing she will face…

My Thoughts

Each time i begin reading the next installment in this series, i wonder what’s going to get thrown at us next.  I mean, seriously, there’s so much pent up frustration between Vi and Linc that i really wonder when they will make the choice to be together – and while we got the big proclamation from Lincoln at the end of the last book, i still wonder if they are going to join souls. BIG conversations on this happening throughout Endless.

Where we left off in the last story, Violet and Phoenix end up releasing Lillith from Hell and along with her comes Evelyn, Violet’s mother.  SHOCKER right?  So now the questions lie in what’s going to happen since we know that Lillith wants to kill off all of those that are yet to embrace so that there won’t be any more Grigori.  She’s downright evil!

Everyone treks to the Academy in New York where Violet’s mom and dad are put in a cell, and violet is forced to train to be ‘tested’ to determine if she’s fit to be a Grigori.  While all of this is going on, Dapper, Steph and Onyx are trying to track down the ingredients to the healing potion that’s been a secret for ages that will hopefully save the world.

Griffin and Lincoln continue to reinforce the need for Violet to hide some of her powers since no one other than them knows that her angel maker is The Sole and that she’s so powerful.  Could mean for big problems.

Of course, nothing ever happens w/o Phoenix showing up and making things even more complicated.  What we get in this 4th book though is a reminder that there’s actually a nice guy in there – the same guy that Violet sort of fell for at the very beginning, but the question really becomes whether he can be trusted or not.

A lot happens in this story – we get to see resolutions to a lot of stuff, however i have to say that my heart was breaking and i was getting a bit teary as i was in the final few chapters.  It’s nice when you see things resolved as they should be, but that doesn’t come without a price.  Characters that we really grow close to die, and that’s never a good thing.  I’m also really sad about some of the decisions that had to be made towards the end for everyone’s ‘safety and happiness’ but i guess we’ll get to see how that plays out since i’m happy to say that i saw there’s another installment coming out in a few months.

My never ending questions with this saga are:

1) will violet and Lincoln ever get together, stay together and be happy?

2) What’s next with Phoenix – he really is a roller coaster in this series

3) is the relationship with Violet’s mom and dad destined to be?

4) are we done with lillith yet?

5) what does the bargaining that Violet did at the end mean – are there going to be repercussions?

enjoy!!!!

Review: Dazzled by Silver (Layers Trilogy #0.5) by Lacey Silks

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Title: Dazzled by Silver
Author: Lacey Silks
Publisher/Year: MyLit Publishing 7/17/13
Length:  150 pages
Series:  Layers Trilogy #0.5

Overview

Private Investigator, Gabriel Silver is healing from a deadly loss, burying himself in work and avoiding relationships of any kind. When he agrees to help a friend who’s tangled up with drug dealers he has no idea the job will change his life.
Samantha Connor is recovering from a terrible relationship. She’s on the prowl for a hot hook-up, with no strings attached. When she meets Gabriel, she thinks she’s found the perfect man to fulfill her deepest yearnings. But Gabriel turns out to be more than meets the eye.
Soon, she’s knee-deep in his latest case and on the run with Gabriel and her sexy friend Kendra. As they plot to trap the drug dealers, Samantha and Gabriel begin a thrilling game of cat and mouse. With growing feelings, danger at every turn and seduction on the table, anything can happen.
Can they both let go of their shattered pasts long enough to find true love, or is Gabriel Silver about to find out that history repeats itself, and lose everything he ever cared about?

My Thoughts

I Loved this novella and story about Gabe and Sam.  I have to say that Lacey Silks really knows how to bring on the passion and really bring on the anxiety.  There’s something to be said about a story line that can stand on it’s own even without the sex.

I don’t know how everyone else has read this series, but i’ve clearly read books 1 and 2 already, and felt that since i now know the fate of Sam and Gabe (through book 2) that i owed it to myself to get their story.  Glad that i did!

We meet Sam when she’s at the opening of Kissed – the club that Tristan helped open for Kendra in the hopes that it would get her back on her feet and maybe keep her sane and sober.  That night changes everything for Sam.  She not only sets her eyes on the hottest ‘bartender’ ever, (Gabe) but she also crosses a line in her best friendship with Kendra in the sense that we see that there’s more than just friendship there – they are obviously quite attracted from one another and act on it.

What we quickly learn is that Gabe’s not a bartender – he’s the silent partner in the club, and he’s completely enamored with Sam, and makes it his goal to learn about her and protect her since he fears that she’ll become a target of some not so nice people who are going to be after Kendra.

What quickly happens in this story is that there’s an attraction that Gabe and Sam cannot fight, and they start to act on it, but not full gusto at first.  then we see Sam almost get kidnapped, which sends the whole story into a tailspin, and across the world into hiding.  What we get from there is a story of fear, anxiety, and the potential for healing and love.

I really enjoyed this because while you come to expect that the main characters will be damaged from past relationships, the way that these 2 come together is nice.  Gabe is trying to heal from the murder of his wife which he feels he was responsible for, and Sam isn’t fully healed from losing her first love (in high school) to lukemia.  So coming together for them is a battle of wits, and what starts as a fling never lasts as a fling.

And the cliffhanger – while i know the outcome since it’s woven into the other installments, was a nice ending to their tale.

Review: Horde (Razorland #3) by Ann Aguirre

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Title: Horde
Author: Ann Aguirre
Publisher/Year: Feiwel & Friends 10/29/13
Length:  432 pages
Series:  Razorland Trilogy #3

Overview

The horde is coming.

Salvation is surrounded, monsters at the gates, and this time, they’re not going away. When Deuce, Fade, Stalker and Tegan set out, the odds are against them. But the odds have been stacked against Deuce from the moment she was born. She might not be a Huntress anymore, but she doesn’t run. With her knives in hand and her companions at her side, she will not falter, whether fighting for her life or Fade’s love.

Ahead, the battle of a lifetime awaits. Freaks are everywhere, attacking settlements, setting up scouts, perimeters, and patrols. There hasn’t been a war like this in centuries, and humans have forgotten how to stand and fight. Unless Deuce can lead them.

This time, however, more than the fate of a single enclave or outpost hangs in the balance. This time, Deuce carries the banner for the survival of all humanity.

My Thoughts

I’ve been trying to read this final installment of the series for quite some time, and finally finished it.  I don’t know why – but when i started it back a few weeks ago, i got only a few chapters in and it wasn’t sticking.  Lucky for me, i had a long plane ride yesterday and picked it back up to read since it’s airplane friendly reading…..and i’m thrilled that i finished it.

In this third and final book of the series, we are finding ourselves hanging in the balance again – where something needs to be done to kill the Horde of freaks before they kill the humans, and Deuce needs to find a way to convince people that they need to fight.  The Huntress in her comes out full force in this story and we see her growing up quite a bit.

After making an agreement with Colonel Park to get information from one of the other settlements, she has been given permission to try to create an army that’s not tied to one town, but that will band together to fight at One.  while at first she finds little success outside of her settlement, she continues to push forward.  Through the help of traders that are trusted by the other towns, word begins to spread that they are forming, fighting small battles and winning, and somehow manage to gain more recruits.  Deuce finds herself with a set of new confidantes that are amazing resources to him.

What’s really nice about this book is that we see a lot of relationship development and that really helps bring the plot along.  there’s the continued struggle with Deuce and Stalker on how to make any friendship work or not….and how to make it work with Fade.  Tegan begins to come into her own as a medic since her skills are needed now more than ever because of things that happen in Salvation and across the land.  Deuce helps put her ‘family’ (the Oaks) back together and grows it too…and she reunites with Stone and Thimble somehow

Now i’m kind of sad to see the series end, since i really enjoyed where it took us.  There were characters that were adored that didn’t make it to the end of the book, and that made things all that much more bittersweet.

the off point for me though is that usually i find an epilogue to be really helpful and a great way to provide closure.  I’m not sure that this one really did that – or was necessary  but i get why the author wrote it.   Is it bad of me to hope that maybe there will be another novella that would give us another look into the underground and maybe where their story continues?  i feel like there’s room for it now that Topside keeps changing.  Just a thought – Enjoy!