Review: Supernatural by Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank & G.A. Aiken

Supernatural

by Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank and G.A. Aiken

(Lords of Deliverance # 1.5, Demonica #5.5, Guardians of Eternity # 7.5, Nightwalkers # 1.5, Dragon Kin # 4.5)

Paranormal Romance

This has been a highly anticipated anthology for me. Yeah, that's saying something considering I usually don't care much for short stories. But how often can I say 2 authors I love are in it and the other 2 are also supposed to be really good? My point exactly! I'll review them individually but just know that if for nothing else, I'd recommend this book for Ione and Aiken's stories!!

Vampire Fight Club by Larissa Ione
4.5 Feathers

I loved this story! Set in the Demonica/Lords of Deliverance worlds. We have cameos from our favorites from both series. Of course this story involves UGH because that's where Vladena originally works. After her brother comes into UGH pretty beaten up and dies they all start an investigation into where this all happened. As it turns out, there's a secret Fight Club, and no, it's not only vampires, there are plenty of shifters who fight in these underground events. That's what Vladena is, and her brother was. But she has a disadvantaged, she can't shift. And that is genetically a death sentence. She's almost come to terms with that. And now she wants revenge for the death of her brother.

Nathan is a vampire and leader of the Fight Club, but he's not the head honcho. He's someone else's puppet. And he has a lot of anger and resentment for things that were done to him that destroyed his soul. He's seen it all, nothing entices him anymore. Except when he sees Vladena, he wants her.

We get cameos from Eidolon, Shade, Wraith and even Con! As well as a BIG revelation at the end which I'm sure will play a part in the Lords of Deliverance series. See, Nathan is a day-walking vampire, and the key to that is who made him.

Darkness Eternal by Alexandra Ivy
3.5 Feathers

I'll be honest I have not read Guardians of Eternity, and this was actually my first read by Alexandra Ivy. I did like it, but I wasn't glued to the pages for it. Uriel is a vampire warrior and he hates jinns because one put a curse on him years ago during a battle and told him he would be his instrument in defeating his enemy. So he's lived thinking he can't be trusted around his own people in the event he will betray them.

Kata has actually been imprisoned by her sister and her mate, and when her sister finally dies and she believes herself to be free and able to search for her child. But Uriel is sent for her. And the attraction is immediate.

Except they are not home free yet, as it turns there's a trip into hell in their future. Along with some pretty hot sex.

This story was interesting, I liked the writing style, there was some romance, some steam, some action. I will definitely be reading more of her work soon.

Kane by Jacquelyn Frank
3 Feathers

OK... I have not read the Nightwalkers series but I have read Ms. Frank before, and I feel that in this story she did not get my interest. At all. I found myself even skimming through parts of it. *hangs head in shame*

Kane is one of the young ones, he is not 100 years old yet so he's still considered a child. They are not allowed to touch humans, but his desire for Corrine brings him to barely touch her one night. Just a soft caress. He is immediately forced to wipe her memory, he is punished and she is left alone. Except that touch started a change in her and she now needs to be close to him to live, and being forced apart for so long has made her very sick.

Now, having him shackled to a bed might not be a bad way to wake up, but she does have a lot to understand, and in a short period of time. They manage to do it mostly through his mind powers and her ability as his mate to read some of his thoughts.

Not bad... just mehhh

Dragon On Top by G.A. Aiken
4.5 Feathers

Oh the wonderful world of Ms. Aiken's writing! I am currently reading the Dragon Kin series but even though this is #4.5 it really could be read right after book 1 as this goes back in time not to the current set of brothers we are reading about, but their parents. In this case their aunt Ghleanna the Decimator.

She is the ultimate warrior chick, nobody mess with her. She knows she should need a mate that is as strong as her. But when she is tasked with escorting and protecting Bram, the smart and peacful dragon who writes up all the peace treaties that end her wars, she finds herself reconsidering that.

Ghleanna and Bram are just adorable, funny, sexy, hot and so damn entertaining! You can't help but love them! This story might just be my favorite in this anthology! 

Purchase from Amazon

Review: Noah by Jacquelyn Frank

Noah (Nightwalkers #5)

by Jacquelyn Frank

Paranormal Romance

Another book, another beautiful woman! Do I sound bitter? maybe. I long for a heroine that has some kind of physical flaw, instead of iridescently beautiful sugar white hair and perfect skin, I long for a blemish, some slightly adorable crooked teeth, hell I wouldn't even mind a bad haircut, or a bad hair day! Alas it is not to be, and all of us average looking, need-to-lose-a-few-pounds women are doomed to never be loved by a Nightwalker. Like I said I may me slightly bitter.

Okay, now that little mini-rant is over I can actually ge on with the review! I have mixed feelings on this book, in some respects I liked it more then the previous two, whilst in others I was a little disappointed. What I liked a bit more then the others was the romance, although it still have the over wrought and over long writing style which makes me feel like I am on a steady diet of sickly sweet it also had something a little different. Kestra seemed to resist more then the others and didn't give in almost immediatly to the Imprinting instead of a few days it took a few weeks which in Romanclandia is a really long time! But I liked it, I liked the push and pull between them. Of course she fell, and who can blame her with a sexy demon like Noah after her?

Noah; loyal, comassionate, stong and steady and god damn hot in more ways then one. As the only male Fire Demon and the Demon King he has a lot of responsibility and power; power he uses selflessly for the good of his people. But after seeing so many of his friends and family Imprinted he wants that for himself before it Beltane drives him out of control. I like Noah a lot, he isn't my favourite that great honour goes to Jacob, but he definitely gets second place! I liked the relationship between him and Kestra, the gender roles seemed to switch with Kestra being the aggressive and military minded and Noah being teh compassionate one who would always strife for peace. Don't get me wrong Noah was still alpha and RAWR about his woman, but he tempered that with control and gentleness, it was niceto see a male with such a soft side that ge displayed fairly openly.

What I didn't like about this book so much was the way the Ruth and Nico storyline was pushed aside I want to know more about what they are doing and planning next. Instead we had rougue vampires to contend with, which although exciting I was looking forward to more the driving of the main plot.

As you can probably tell from this review and the others is that this series isn't one of my favourites but I have enjoyed it so far and I am looking forward to the release of Adam.

Review: Seduce Me in Dreams by Jacquelyn Frank

Seduce Me in Dreams 

by Jacquelyn Frank

(A Three Worlds Novel # 1)

Sci-Fi Romance 

I have always wanted to read a book by Jacquelyn Frank. I think a lot of that has to do with the sexy covers. So when I found this on audio recently I decided to give it a try. I actually had NO clue what the story was about going into it so I was a bit surprised to find it had a bit of a sci-fi romance theme.

I do think in general those are hard books to write without getting a little cheesy, but I think Ms. Frank managed to write an interesting enough story. Of course we have an interplanetary military force of sorts, and one of the best teams is led by Bronse Chapel. He's your typical military guy. He lives, breathes and sleeps his job. He's good at what he does, but usually not much else. He is a bit lacking in the communication and interrelations department, and he only manages to have a good rapport with his team members. He tried the marriage thing, didn't work. But now, someone inside his own organization wants to kill him. He doesn't even know what he did, what he knows or why they want to eliminate him.

There's someone out there that senses his dilemma though, and she needs his help to escape herself. She is Ravenna, a member of the Chosen Ones, which we slowly learn about throughout the book but will become very important I think in later books. They are powerful beings. Each one has a different power. Her power is visions, to be able to see the future. She was captured along with her brother. And she knows Bronse is destined to come rescue her.

She first comes to Bronse in his dreams. Beautiful, ethereal, at first he thinks he's going crazy. But she leads him to her. They are immediately enamored of each other, even though they have to hide it so others don't suspect that he knew who she was before the rescue. His job, and his teams', is to protect the Chosen ones they've managed to rescue and to unmask and defeat whoever is trying to kill Bronse.

The pace of this book was a little slow for my taste, and it definetely had a certain something missing (spark?) that I can't put my finger on. The world building was really good, I do want to read more about where it will go from now on.

I also think it's worth mentioning that this book changes perspectives throughout the book with some of the team members. So at times you might yourself in the head of the first in command, or the pilot, etc. At times it was interesting, at times it felt a bit out of place and non-related.

And onto the side characters, I'm intrigued to read more about all the Chosen ones. A lot of them are still young, so it might seem wrong, but I actually thought it was really cute to see Ravenna's younger sister crushing for Masin, Bronse's first in command.

To sum it up, I did find it interesting, it had some hot scenes, I liked the hero, the heroine was ok, and the world is interesting enough for me to continue on reading!  

Purchase now from Amazon.com

Review: Damien by Jacquelyn Frank

Damien (Nightwalkers #4)

by Jacquelyn Frank

Paranormal Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

I am not a romantic person, which is strange given that my main genre is romance, I don't like romantic films and I am not very big on PDA. Which, is probably why romances I love the most are series like Shelly Laurenston's Pride series and Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole they all have the love stuff in, but they also have crazy females who are a little bit emotionally retarded and men whose main wooing technique is the basic shag-them-till-they-love-me, there aren't too many heart to heart exchanges and the ones that are are short and to the point like this:

"Bad things happened to stop me loving you, but I got over it and I just thought I would let you know I love you."
"Really?! What a co-inky-dink, bad stuff happened to me too! I am so glad we shared like this! I love you too."
"Shall we have sex to celebrate?"
"Only if it is hot and kinky"
"Sure, I will go and get the nipple clamps."

Okay so now you know what a truely unromantic soul I have, you may start to realize why I am not enjoying this series as much as everyone seems to. Basically it has too much mushy stuff and I find myself rolling my eyes so much that I think my eyeballs are unscrewing! This book was no different. I really liked the idea of all the different Nightwalker species and their cultures and how they relate to eachother, those are what always get these books a few stars, it is the romance that brings it down for me.

I also like the story and how with each book Ruth, the insane yet cunning former Demon council member, gets stronger and stronger until you do begin to wonder if the Nightwlakers will be able to defeat her. I like that hint of danger in this series and I can't wait till we get into a big confrontation with her.

So I love the plot and the world these books are set in but the romance aspect...just isn't for me.

Review: Elijah by Jacquelyn Frank

 

Elijah (Nightwalkers #3)

by Jacquelyn Frank

Paranormal Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

Elijah a Wind Demon, the Warrior Captain of the Demon armies he defends his race and his King against all enemies and up till the last decade he has spent last couple of centuries protecting Demons from the attacks of the insane Lycanthrope King. The new Queen, Siena, is determined not to give into their mutual need for one another. Although Siena is the one who ended the mad war with the Demons, how can she allow the man her people call the Demon Butcher be their King?

Much like with Gideon, the previous book in this series I wanted to like this more then I actually did. I have liked Elijah's character in the last two books he seems the more modern minded of all the demons he has a great sense of humour and strong ties of loyalties to his King and his people. So, when I saw that Elijah's book was next I was looking forward to it, paired with the fact that he was going to be getting jiggy with Siena a character I liked from Gideon I thought it was bound to be good. And it was, sort of.

So here is a list of what I liked and disliked, let's get the negative out the way first!

Disliked

- SIENA: Damn but that woman drove me mad in this book! I understood that she was shocked and disturbed by the Imprinting, she didn't want Elijah to become King of her people as she was worried that he could turn out like her insane father, but she acted like a child! As a Queen you would have thought she would have been looking for a sensible solution rather then doing her Ostrich impression (burying her head in the sand!) what Gideon eventually suggests I thought was rather obvious and I wondered why she didn't think of it sooner. And when eventually she does comes around to it, it happened so fast I had whiplash!

- SEX SCENES: Anyone who knows me, KNOWS that I love a good sex scene the kinkier the better! But, the scenes in this go on for too long and I don't really like the way they are written, there are too many eupemisms, can't she just say cock or pussy, rather then his red hot arousal and her wet heat, seriously!?! And there is such a thing as being too poetic, every touch is soul deep and every movement from the heart! I swear these Demons don't know how to have a quickie or some down and dirty shagging, every touch was to lyrical to be anything other then love making, which is nice but sometimes you just want them to get on with it!

Liked

- STORY: Again I liked the story development and how the plot has progressed further in this book. We see Ruth become even more twisted in her bid to try and destroy the people she feels have wronged her. It also brought up a few things I had been thinking were a flaw in the books but which I now think will be become part of the story, for example, why are all human magic users evil? Surely if they are born with the ability to do magic it is just how the apply it that makes them evil, not that the magic is innately evil in itself. I am hoping this will be explored further in the next couple of books.

- PAST HEA's: Another great thing about this series is that the characters from previous books, Bella and Jacob, Gideon and Legna, Noah, Damien etc are still a main part of the story, the last two couples haven't just disappeared now that they have paired up. I love checking up on a HEA so I love that you carry on seeing their relationships develop

Another good installment in the series although this series has still failed to wow me. I don't think this series is ever going to become a favourite but I am enjoying it.

Review: Gideon by Jacquelyn Frank

Gideon (Nightwalkers #2)

by Jacquelyn Frank

Paranormal Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

I was so ready for Gideon's book after reading Jacob's, Gideon is the eldest of all Demons, but of course still mega hot so don't fear there are no saggy man bums and wrinkly...other things! As the eldest, an Ancient, he is the most powerful Demon, but he has been living a solitary life as a self infliced punishment for the wrongs he committed in his long past. That is until Legna, the Demon King Noah's empath sister comes along and totally rocks his world.

I wanted to like this much more then I actually did I preferred Jacob's book, mainly as I didn't warm up to Gideon. He was at intially too distant, cold and arrogant (but not in a sexy way!) and although he did warm up and let his emotions out eventually I was stuck firmly in the meh camp complete with big cheery fire and toasted marshmallows. Another thing as well which kinda bugged me, the one of the big reasons he felt he didn't deserve Legna was because he encouraged and helped commit an atrocity and he feels intense guilt and regret about it and I was thinking YES! You should feel guilt and regret you committed geonicide, granted it was 900 years ago but still the Druids are no less dead. I mean he was forgiven but it niggled me.

I did like Legna though, probably more then Gideon, she was a good character and I liked that she wasn't scared to tell off all the strong alpha males surrounding her.

What I liked most about this book and what earnt it most of the stars was the progression of the main plot regaring the Hunters and Necromancers that hunt not only the Demons but all the other Nightwalker races. An act of betrayal with in the Demon ranks made the Necromancers even more dangerous in this book and although it is obvious who it is, it was still a good twist. We also see a little bit more of the other Nightwalker races when the Lycanthrope Queen Siena and the Vampire Prince Damien show up, we especially learn more about the Lycanthropes and I like that the shifters are a little different in these books.

I did like this book, a few places had my eyes rolling and I have mentioned my Gideon issues, but I will be on to the next book as I do like the series.

Review: Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank

Jacob (Nightwalkers #1)

by Jacquelyn Frank

Paranormal Romance

Find it on Goodreads!

I liked this book, it reminds me of the Demonica series in the sense that I like it bit I don't LOVE it. It doesn't inspire me to build shrines and write poetry and become genrally obsessed, not that I do that of course! *quickly hides Black Dagger Brotherhood and Immortals After Dark Shrine* But I did like it, it made me laugh, it was romantic and it had a little bit of action in it as well.

Set in a world where there is a whole different group of species collectively called Nightwalkers, this series is about Demons, but not the evil burning-in-a-fiery-pit kind, these Demons have a strict moral code and Jacob is the Enforcer who up holds these, seen across his race as the bogey man he lives a fairly solitary live. Until Isabella literally falls into his arms and not only turns his world upside down but also shakes up the whole Demon species as she uncovers some hidden truths.

Bella and Jacob! That brings back some bad Twilight memories, if there was an Edward in there I would have had to put the book down! Luckily there wasn't so I was able to read on! Unlike the Twilight Bella and Jacob, I actually really liked them in this book, I did have a few issues with Bella at first, I mean she literally falls head first out a window, she wasn't pushed she just...fell! I mean that is like TSTL personified, I had to put the book down at that point and just laugh it out! But apart from that I actually found myself quite liking Bella, she was sassy and funny and I liked that we didn't have lots of pages of her fraking out about the whole Demon thing, she adapted quickly and well. And who wouldn't when you have the gorgeous Earth Demon Jacob there to protect you and give you orgasms? I really liked him, he was a little tortured and also loyal and noble and lets not forget fricking hot, just my kind of man.

What I also liked about these book apart from the gorgeous Jacob was the new world the Jacquelyn Frank is building up, the Nightwalkers have lycanthropes, vampires and other races for Ms Frank to play with and I know she has done another series with some of these different races in them. I loved how she changed Demons so they were more like elemental beings with each Demon having power of certain elements I thought it was a great idea. I also can't wait to see what happens in the next book as the necromancers, the Demons enemies come back to try and destroy their race.

What put me off a little about these books is the writing style. I found it a little strange Ms Frank has a very descriptive flowery writing style and I found some of the descriptions to long and felt that they were a little over the top and strange, like she had the thesaurus out and was trying to make the sentences sound all fancy. But this style also reflects the Demon's themselves who area little old fashioned in their speech and in their customs.

But a good read, I really should have started reading it alot sooner, definitely a book I would recommend.