Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Dare to Believe (The Grey Court) 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers.

Dare to Believe (Gray Court, #1)
4 of 5 stars false
He'll fulfill her wildest fantasies- but only if she believes. Leo Dunne has been searching his entire life for the one person born just for him. He finds her working in his own company, but the shy little Ruby Halloway constantly hides from him. He hatches a devilish plot with her best friend to bring her out of her shell, and the result proves her desire is more than a match for his own.
Ruby has had the hots for her boss for some time now, but she knows business and pleasure shouldn't mix. While that can't stop a girl from dreaming, she sticks by her guns and does her best never to be alone with the handsome CEO. Until the company masquerade party, where she discovers a passion with him that leaves a mark on her soul.
A family emergency calls Leo away, and rather than spend one night out of Ruby's arms, he convinces her to go with him. With his brother's life on the line, it's vital she learn how to deal with who, and what, her new lover really is--before it's too late.

Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, some violence, a bit of bondage, and a Sidhe Lord determined to claim and protect what is his.

 Review

Great start to a new series!
This book was a total winner for me. I love any story with a Fae theme and this one was packed full of it with leprechauns, vampires, seelie, unseelie, various courts (gray, white and black), definitely enough to keep my attention.
Mix all those in with a good storyline and a steamy hot couple and you have a pretty enjoyable book.
I really like Leo and Ruby although I would of liked to have found out a bit more about her background, especially why she thought she was so unworthy.
This was a short story though and usually you miss out on huge details not necessary to the plot. There was still a lot of information packed in there but not overmuch, really it was just right.
There was definitely enough to make me interested in finding out more, so a job well done in my book.
Can't wait for the next one with Duncan, Jaden and Moira, it promises to be a delicious little tale. 

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The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers.

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (Highland Pleasures, #1)
5 of 5 stars false

The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family--rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn't be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them--of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.
The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He's also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.
Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama--an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.
And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.
The first of a new historical series

Review

This truly was a romance novel of a different calibre. I don't believe I have ever come across a tortured hero quite like Ian Mackenzie. Truly tortured, you will have never met an hero like him.
Imagine what it was like back in the 1800's being born with some sort of high functioning autism.
Poor man, ice baths, beatings and electric shocks, what a nightmare. His own brother rescues him from the nightmare after there dad the duke dies,thank goodness, but he still believes himself truly mad and distrusts himself always.
Beth, a wonderful, genuine, caring, heroine seems to understand him as no other does, even his own family.
I do not think of him as Lord Ian Mackenzie, aristocratic brother of a duke and well beyond my reach; not as the Mad Mackenzie, an eccentric people stare at and whisper about.
To me, he is simply Ian.”
This review is going to dissolve in to a gush of feelings, but isn't that in itself a huge compliment? For a book to affect you so? I am not going to be able to do this book any justice going on and on about it, you seriously just have to read it.
Let's just say I fell in love with Lord Ian Mackenzie and his Beth. I felt such happiness knowing that he had found her and with her some comfort and happiness unlike he had never had before. If there ever was a man who deserved it, it's Ian.
This is simply historical romance at its best!
His story is emotional, mental illness is a difficult and misunderstood condition today,let alone in the 1800's. I think Jennifer Ashley did a fantastic job portraying Asperger's Syndrome in Ian, she made it really realistic.
Great read, with great characters and a very different storyline.
I will definitely be continuing this series. I am eager to read of his other brothers Hart, Cameron and Mac
 
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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh 2)

Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh #2)  
4 of 5 stars false 
 All Eden wants is redemption... but the road to redemption is never an easy one.
Travelling to Scotland to find her mother’s bloodline, Eden is soon embroiled in the politics and training of the Scottish Warriors of Neith. It is a world where some stand with open arms ready to welcome her as family, while others keep a wary distance, conspiring against her. Through it all Eden learns of love, friendship, and what it means to be a warrior. Her future has promise... that is until a man she thought forever gone from her life returns to threaten it all.
When the one person Eden loves above all else is endangered, she will have to make a choice. Him... or her?
YA Paranormal Romance recommended for ages 16 years and up

Review

I know in my previous review I noted that I think young adult is for 16+, I still believe that and I am really happy to see that it was noted on the book, I just had not seen it. Ok now onto Blood Past the second book in the Warriors of Ankh trilogy, I loved it just as much as the first book. There are many new and interesting characters introduced in this book as well as several new threats to Eden. At the beginning of the book Eden is still a soul eater and she while she know she can trust the Ankh she still does not feel like she can.Eden loves Cyrus and she is very close to Valeria, but she is still mad at Noah for lying to her and she feels like he has betrayed her. They go to Scotland and we meet Eden’s mothers Neith family. The grandmother gives blood and Eden gets it transfused into her and then she starts changing to full Ankh. She has to die to do this and this is the first time that we really see how much Noah loves Eden.Eden wakes up and starts adjusting to her new status as an Ankh. She becomes friends with Tobe and starts to learn how to fight. She is still mad at Noah and trying to get over Romany killing Stellan. Then Noah and Eden’s grandmother get kidnapped by Eden’s cousin and they fly back to the states. Her cousin gives her the choice of killing Mhairi or Noah; she doesn't have to make the decision because Darius shows up and kills all the soul eaters. You got to give Samantha Young some series kudos, she knows how to write. The characters are again very believable and have a lot of depth and personality. Emotions are higher in this book than the last one and we get more romance but it does not over power the story. The book is not just a copy of the previous book with a few new problems thrown in; Eden and Noah have grown a lot and changed. An old problem gets resolved but since its not the focus of the book it does not seem repetitive. New problems keep it fresh and unpredictable. I love the book; anybody looking for a good solid read should pick this book up. 

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Friday, June 1, 2012

Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh 1)

Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1)  
 4 of 5 stars false  
What would you do if you were born to be a predator? Would you fight your natural instincts or give in to your nature?
Eden is a soul eater closing in on her awakening. Her family has convinced her that soon she will have to take a life in order to save her own. It’s a decision Eden doesn’t want to deal with even as her hunger for souls grows stronger every day.
To complicate her impossible position, new guy in school Noah Valois’ determination to befriend her puts Eden in touch with a humanity she’s never known. Addicted to his company, his friendship and affection, she becomes more and more terrified that giving into her hunger will mean losing him forever…
… But when she discovers that Noah is not what he seems, his betrayal forces her to face two choices. One will offer her revenge and the destruction of a boy she loved. The other may offer her a life of eternal redemption…
YA Paranormal Fiction for mature teens+ (some content may not be suitable for younger readers)

Review

 First of all my opinion of what a young adult book and what other people think a young adult book is, is totally different. I think a young adult novel is for people 16+ maybe 15 depending on their emotional maturity level. So yes I believe that this book is a young adult book, even with the prologue describing the naked tortured woman, the screams that Eden continually hears from her fathers and cousins "play room" and the graphic descriptions in the fight scenes. Ok that being said I loved this book, yes I know after listing those things is sounds twisted, but this book was really well written. I loved how Young spent a lot of time describing the feelings of all the characters. She didn't make any of them perfect, the flaws she gave the characters made the story better. There was none of the boy meets girl and falls in love and the girl doesn't know why but she just can't live without the boy. No Eden and Noah are friends and when she finds out that he lied to her she gets pissed. She doesn't forgive him because he says he is sorry and was doing it for her own good. No she says frick you, leave me alone. Even though she is mad at Noah she still does not kill him, but its more her fighting her nature than actually forgiving him for what he did. I can't wait to read the next book to find out what happens next.

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