Book Binge

This book is available from Ellora's Cave. You can buy it in e-format here and here.

This book is available from Ellora's Cave in digital format only. You can buy it here.

This book is available from Ellora's Cave in digital format only. You can buy it here.

Christy Reece is with us today to celebrate the release of the fourth book in her Last Chance Rescue series. Considering this topic, I really appreciate the irony.

Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere Before?

One of the most enjoyable things about writing a series is the opportunity to create interesting secondary characters who will someday have their own book. Introducing a character several books ahead of their own really helps me get to know them. When the time comes to write their story, we’re very well acquainted.

I love reading related books because there always seems to be a character I want to know more about. If this person isn’t the main character, I’m often left wanting to know more. With related books, I get to find out.

When I began writing RESCUE ME, I never dreamed it would launch the Last Chance Rescue series. I began that first book with no intention of writing any related books. At least until I met an intriguing secondary character named Noah McCall. This man came to life so vividly for me and was so intriguing, I even considered changing the storyline of RESCUE ME to make him the hero. My heroine, Eden, wouldn’t hear of it. She was still in love with the man who’d broken her heart years before and no matter how much I argued with her, she refused to consider loving anyone else. So I was left with no choice but to write RETURN TO ME, which is Noah McCall’s story. From there, each time I wrote a book, an intriguing secondary character would appear and I knew immediately he or she would have to have their own book.

Gabe Maddox has been a secondary character in the three previous LCR books. In NO CHANCE, he finally gets to tell his story. In the books leading up to his, Gabe has become increasingly fascinating and mysterious. When he revealed several secrets in RUN TO ME, he solidified the need for his own story. I had to find out what made him tick…why was he so unrelenting and harsh? What had happened to turn him into the man he is today? When I found out he was married, I was stunned. Where was his wife? What had happened to tear them apart? And why were they still married if they were no longer together? When he finally told me what happened, I fell for him hard. Gabe is definitely hero material and deserves his own book.

Have you ever read a book with a secondary character and just had to know more? Did the author write a book for that character? If you could name one secondary character in any romance that you really want to have his or her story told, who would it be?

We have two copies of No Chance to giveaway. Leave a comment with your answer to Christy's question!

Casee's review of No Chance (Last Chance Rescue, Book 4) by Christy Reece.

Skylar James told a lie to the man she married, and eight years later she still bitterly regrets the deception. Unknown to Skylar, her husband, Gabe Maddox, now lives in the dangerous shadows of elite operatives who rescue victims. When Skylar tries to save a naïve young beauty, kidnappers come after her. For Gabe, Skylar had been his last shot at trust and love. But news of her disappearance battens down his anger and launches him into action. Saving Skylar is Gabe’s only chance for peace and his last chance for happiness.

No Chance had remnants of Paradise by Judith McNaught. I noticed that right from the beginning. I only thought about that once—during the prologue—before it went out of my mind. That was a good thing. I hate when I read a book that that seems to be a rip off of a almost identical to book that you really have no chance of living up to (I’m talking to you, Rachel Gibson).

Skylar James seems to be your usual poor little rich girl. When Skylar meets Gabe, he looks at her like a normal person. Not like the Skylar James. As they become friends, Skylar regrets her initial decision not to tell Gabe who she really is. After getting to know him, she is confident that Gabe will love her no matter what. That was before she married him.

Ruh-roh.

After being in a foreign prison for years, Skye is like a breath of fresh air to Gabe. He sees innocence in her that does something to him. He can be himself with her. That’s why he’s so pissed (which really is a mild word for it) when Skye’s dad comes knocking at his door offering him money to go away. Skye insisted on flying home to tell her family about the marriage so they could get used to the idea. It’s not until later in the book that the full deception with her family is revealed.

Basically it’s this: Skylar thinks Gabe is gone and Gabe thinks Skye realized that she could get better than him. Skylar now uses her notoriety and celebrity to help people. Gabe went into LCR which gave him a chance to belong. Their paths collide when Skylar is kidnapped and LCR is called in to find her.

Skylar befriends young women that need help. She mentors them in a way. Her current charge is Kendra, who goes for a modeling job and then goes missing. When Skylar shows up to the place Kendra went, she is kidnapped as well. While she’s held captive, she realizes that there is far more to her abduction than a simple ransom. When Gabe rides to the rescue, Skylar thinks she’s dreaming. It’s after that that Skylar realizes what her father has done.

This book was full of stuff. I have no idea how else to explain it. It was jam packed with information. Not boring information. Just relationship information, bad guy information, kidnapped girl information. I think that Reece could have gone with one less point of view. I loved the point of view of the bad guy b/c he was just SO bad, but it just added to fullness of the book. Actually, he was too bad to have his POV taken out.

The relationship between Gabe and Skylar obviously changes once he appoints himself as her bodyguard. He wants to trust what she says about her feelings about him, but eight years has left him leery of trusting anything having to do with Skylar James. Skylar has to accept the fact that while she thought that Gabe was dead, Gabe knew that she was alive and well and didn’t try (hard enough) to contact her. I was really happy to see their happy ending. After the way their beginning started (before the interference of her family) they really were perfect for each other.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ballantine. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

The series:

Rowena's review of The Warrior by Kinley MacGregor.

Hero: Lochlan MacAllister
Heroine: Princess Catarina

On a quest to discover the truth about the brother he believed dead, Lochlan MacAllister is stunned when he crosses paths with his beautiful adversary as she is being kidnapped! Unwilling to see even the shrewish Catarina suffer, he frees her only to learn that she has her own demons to fight. When their fates intertwine, two people who know nothing of trust must rely on each other, and two enemies who have vowed their eternal hatred must find common ground, or see their very lives shattered.

So in this book, we're finally getting Lochlan's book. It's been years since I've been waiting for this book to come out because I loved me some Lochlan in the other books and I wanted him to get his happy ending. I've had this book since the day it came out and I opened it once to read it and then lost it and didn't find it until like a year later and then...I forgot about it and just barely got around to reading it again now for the author spotlight.

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a bunch of great Dark Hunter novels and while I enjoy those books, I also enjoy her Kinley MacGregor books as well. I loved the MacAllister series and was so stoked to finally get Lochlan's story since it took her forever and a day to get it done (don't look at how long it took me to finally read it, I really was excited for this book!).

It was good to see everyone again, from the MacAllister brothers to the Brotherhood of the Sword guys. We finally get to see who The Scot is and man it was too crazy. I had forgotten what a beast the MacAllister's father was and just meeting the Scot and then seeing what happened to Keiran it was all to me, a let down. SK is all about gloom and doom and while I can appreciate that, she still writes romance novels. I didn't see the way she left Keiran's storyline as anything but a cop out. So he's a DH? Are we going to get his story? I doubt it since both of these series are written for completely different publishers.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed getting to know the characters from this story. Cat was a great heroine, one with enough feistiness to keep her interesting and then I enjoyed seeing Rowena and Stryder again and even Simon. I really enjoyed Stryder and Rowena's story and to see them back in action this time around was a definite treat. We only got a brief looksee at the MacAllister brothers and that was pure cheese but I didn't mind it so much. I just wanted more from the whole Keiran storyline.

Lochlan ended up being a really stand up hero. He had issues growing up with his father and he was tired of paying for his father's sins. The way that Cat grew on him was sweet but the story just didn't have that certain umph that I read in the other books. I can't even explain properly what it was, there was just something missing from this book. But it wasn't a bad book, I guess my standards for KM/SK's writing was pretty high and this just didn't live up to it but I did enjoy the book enough to give it a 3.75, it was good just not as good as the other books that I've come to love from MacGregor.

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Another exclusive excerpt from the lovely Julie James. I can't tell you guys how excited I am for the release of this book. It was such a good one. To show you guys just how awesome this book is, here's another excerpt:

“I told you, we’re not finished with our conversation.” Jack smiled slightly. “What’s wrong? Don’t trust yourself around me?”

Cameron raised an eyebrow. Hardly. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. Where’s your car?”

“Parked on the street in front of my apartment.” He pointed behind her. “We’re taking that.”

Cameron turned and saw a motorcycle parked in front of the building. She was no expert on motorcycles—far from it—so later when Collin interrupted her at this point as she recounted the details of the evening to ask her five thousand damn questions about what kind of motorcycle Jack drove, the best she could tell him was that, no, it wasn’t a Harley, and no, it wasn’t one of those crotch-rocket sport bikes either.

It was silver and black, and it was definitely a bad-boy bike, she decided as she looked it over. But bad-boy in a refined, understated sort of way. It suited Jack well.

But still. It was a motorcycle.

“I’m not getting on that,” she told him.

“Never been on a bike before?” he guessed.

“Ah, no. Not my thing.”

“How do you know they’re not your thing if you’ve never been on one?”

“For starters, they’re dangerous.”

“Not in the right hands.” Jack walked over to the motorcycle and climbed on.

Cameron had a retort ready, but it died on her lips.

Holy shit, he looked ridiculously hot on the bike.

Jack nodded. “Come on—let’s go.”

She walked over. “How am I supposed to ride that thing in a dress?”

He didn’t so much as blink. “That slit at your thigh should do the trick.”

So.

He’d noticed the slit of her dress.

Cameron hiked up her dress and climbed on, showing a lot of leg in the process. Oops. She adjusted her jacket to cover up, wondering how much Jack had seen. From the look on his face when she glanced up, he’d seen plenty.

“Oh yeah—the dress works just fine,” he said with a warmer gleam in his eyes than she was used to seeing.

Cameron looped her purse around her wrist and settled it into her lap. She searched around the seat for her handles. “What do I hold on to?”

“Me.”

How convenient.

*sigh*

Jack Pallas is another fantastic hero from Julie James. To spread the Something About You love around some more, we'll be giving away another signed copy of the book today. All you have to do is leave a comment here letting us know what you love about Julie James' books and if you haven't read Julie James before, then tell us why you want to check her out and your name will be thrown into the hat to win a signed copy of this book.

Good luck and the winners will be announced on release day, March 2, 2010!

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

If you're a regular reader of this blog then by now you should know that our final round is usually between the top 2 most voted for heroes for whatever author we're spotlighting that month. This month's voting madness has been so crazy that we've got not 2 heroes competing for the top spot but 3. There was a tie between Vane and Ash (I know, right?) so I kept them both in the running so you have just under a week left to get your voting done for your favorite hero.

Will Val snatch that winning title or will there be an upset with Ash or Vane sneaking in for the win?

You'll have to stick around and find out on 2/28/10.

So this final week of February, you're voting for:

Good luck!

(Holly says: VOTE FOR VANE!!)

With only one week before the new release from Julie James, Something About You, we thought it would be a great to bring to your attention the awesomeness that is Something About You and Julie James was nice enough to give us some exclusive excerpts to share with you guys. How awesome is she?

Check it out:

Jack Pallas made quite an impression on her the first time he and his partner walked into her office. Cameron suspected nearly everyone who met him had the same reaction: with predatory brown eyes, nearly black hair, and dark facial scruff, he looked like the kind of guy that women—and men—should avoid in dark alleys. He had a cast on his right forearm, presumably an injury inflicted by Martino’s men, and he wore a navy T-shirt and jeans instead of the standard-issue suit and tie most agents were expected to wear. From the look of him, she was not at all surprised the FBI had chosen him for undercover work.

And three years later—as he stood across from her in that hotel room that suddenly seemed far too small, with his eyes glittering with a low-simmering anger, and, yes, even despite the standard-issue suit and tie he wore this time—he looked not one bit less dangerous.

“I want to talk to a lawyer,” Cameron said.

“You are a lawyer,” he said. “And you’re not considered a suspect, so you’re not entitled to one, anyway.”

“What am I considered, then?”

“A person of interest.”

This was bullshit. “Here’s the deal: I’m tired and not in the mood to play games. So if you don’t start telling me what’s going on, I’m walking,” Cameron said.

Jack eyed her yoga sweats and Michigan T-shirt, looking unconcerned with her threats. Thank God she wasn’t still hanging out in her underpants.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He pulled the chair out and gestured. “Take a seat.”

“Thanks, but no. I think I’ll just stick with the plan where I walk out.” Before he could call her bluff, Cameron grabbed her purse and headed for the door. The hell with her stuff, she’d get it later. “It was nice catching up with you, Agent Pallas. I’m glad to see those three years in Nebraska didn’t make you any less of an asshole.”

She threw open the door and nearly ran into a man standing in the doorway. He wore a well-cut gray suit and tie, appeared younger than Jack, and was African American.

He flashed Cameron a knock-out smile while precariously balancing three Starbucks cups in his hands. “Thanks for getting the door. What’d I miss?”

“I’m storming out. And I just called Agent Pallas an asshole.”

“Sounds like good times. Coffee?” He held the Starbucks out to her. “I’m Agent Wilkins.”

Cameron threw a knowing glance over her shoulder. “Good cop, bad cop? Is that the best you’re capable of, Jack?”

He stalked across the room and stopped in the doorway, towering over her. “You have no idea what I’m capable of,” he said darkly.

As he reached over and took one of the coffee cups from Wilkins, Cameron made a mental note to be careful when taunting a man who carried a gun, blamed her for nearly wrecking his career, and who was over a head taller than she was. She internally said a few profanities for her earlier decision to put on gym shoes; she needed at least three-inch heels to face off against Jack Pallas. Although that still would have only put her at his chin level. Not to mention that she would’ve looked like a major jackass wearing Manolos and yoga pants.

I can personally vouch for how awesome this book is. To go along with getting the word out on this fantastic book, we're going to give away a signed copy of SOMETHING ABOUT YOU by Julie James!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and let us know what you love most about Julie James books and if you haven't read a Julie James book before, tell us why you'd love to win this book and we'll throw your name in the hat for a chance to win this book!

This book is available from Berkley. You can pre-order it here or here in e-format.

If you're thinking about buying a Nook (the new B&N e-reader) but wanted a real reader's take on it, author Shannon Stacey has offered one.

She's blogging about the Nook today and answering basic questions. I've been putting off buying one until all the kinks were worked out and Shannon's has been really helpful!

Go forth and check it out:

The nook: using it.

Also:

The nook: Shallow first impressions

Rowena's review of Something About You by Julie James.

Hero: Jack Pallas
Heroine: Cameron Lynde

Staying overnight in a luxury hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde overhears a high-profile murder involving a U.S. Senator. Special Agent Jack Pallas is assigned to the investigation-the same Jack Pallas who still blames her for nearly ruining his career three years ago. Now the pair will have to put their rocky past behind them, focus on the case at hand-and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension.

It just keeps getting better with each and every book. James has shown that she is definitely no one hit wonder with this latest installment into her backlist. Something About You was an entertaining read from cover to cover. It had everything you could want in a great contemporary setting. Characters that leaped off the page, a storyline that kept you interested and a hero that was just to smexy for words.

The chemistry between Jack and Cameron was crazy good. Even when they were hating each other, the chemistry was evident. They worked well together and they were just great characters that I came to love over the course of the book.

Cameron Lynde is an assistant U.S. Attorney who had floor troubles at home so she treated herself to sleeping in an upscale hotel room instead of on her friend's couch or guest bed or something. She thought she was treating herself but she was actually treated to the loud sex going on in the room next door. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the loud sex that was keeping her up all night stopped....only to start up again about an hour later. Fed up with all of the noise going on over there, Cameron calls the front desk and complains. She puts the phone down and waits for the security to come up and take care of her little noise problem but she hears thuds coming from the room, noises she didn't hear before and then she hears the door open so she peeks through the peep hole and sees someone walk out of the room.

Turns out that she witnesses the murderer of the woman in the other room walking out after the murder and so the FBI turns up on her doorstep. One of the FBI agents that shows up to interview her is the one guy that she'd love to forget for the rest of her life. It's none other than Jack Pallas, the FBI agent who told the entire nation that she had her head up her ass. They're not fans of each other and Jack holds her responsible for his transfer to Nebraska. So when Jack shows up on Cameron's hotel doorstep, to say that she's annoyed is putting it mildly.

...and of all the hotel rooms to show up at, Jack had to land on Cameron Lynde's hotel doorstep. Jack cannot stand Cameron because he felt like he wasted two years of his life gathering evidence and she wouldn't prosecute. It pissed him off but he was a professional so he was going to get this job done, even if it killed him or he killed someone. Either or.

Watching these two battle their feelings and then come together was such a treat! First they hate each other and then they grow soft on each other and then their together. The transition from hating each other to loving each other made for an enjoyable ride that I was absolutely adored.

Jack was a great hero who was stubborn, arrogant and yet lovable. He was such a man. A man's man who did man things and thought man things and I ate him up. He wasn't the cookie cutter perfect hero because he assumed the worst in Cameron at every turn and yet I never once hated him. I never once thought, oh get over yourself because he the way that he protected Cameron was just too hot damn sexy that I'd forgive him anything. He was normal and the way that Julie wrote him made his character real. He was a very three dimensional character and I absolutely loved him.

Cameron was one of those heroines that I can appreciate. She was smart and she was capable but she wasn't one of those heroines who thought she could do everything and tried to do it too. She didn't need to prove herself to anyone, she knew her strengths and she did her best to let the professionals do their jobs. I loved that about her. She wasn't the kind of heroine who hid from the bad guys and let everyone run her life but she wasn't a pushover either. She didn't think she needed to tell the FBI how to do their job and she trusted them enough to protect her and I admired her for that. She wasn't that heroine who did the most. She did what she was supposed to and I loved her for that.

Overall, this book was really good. It was perfect for what I was in the mood for and I trusted Julie to entertain the socks off of me and I'm so happy that she did. She's going to do big things in the publishing world and I'm so excited for her. The villain wasn't scary or anything but as far as villains went, he fit the bill and I was pretty bummed that we didn't get to see any scenes with Jack and his sister and nephew. Jack mentions that he wanted to spend more time with his sister and nephew now that he was back in Chicago but we didn't get to see any interactions with them, I thought it would have been nice to get to know her since the only people on Jack's side that we got to meet was his partner and his boss. It would have been nice to get some personal interactions but aside from that, I loved the book. I thought it was a great way to spend a few hours. James did a great job of keeping me interested in the romance budding between Jack and Cameron and she kept me entertain throughout the entire story which is exactly what I like in a book.

So really, kudos to Julie James on another winner and I think this is my favorite book by her so far. Would I recommend this? Heck yes!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here.

Back in 2006 when I would read things like "OMGawd, I just started the DH series. It's soooo good. I can't wait for Acheron's book! I can't believe I have to wait for two whole years" I wanted to cyberslap them and say bitch, please I got really annoyed. I've been waiting for Acheron's book since 2000. That's the year two thousand. I still remember talking to this friend I had that loved the series as much as I did at the time and just bemoaning over the fact that it was going to be YEARS before Acheron's book would come out. How were we going to wait that long? We would surely die if forced to wait that long. Back then, five to seven years seemed like an impossibly long time. Holding my baby and thinking that he was going to be at least five years old when Acheron's book finally came out was just unfathomable to me.

Not only was the publishing date sketchy (for years) but when it came to Ash's heroine, Sherrilyn Kenyon refused to give it up. In my post about forgiving her for anything, I don't think I would have forgiven her for an Ash/Artemis pairing. I used to make myself sick thinking about the possibility that Artemis would be Ash's heroine. The sole voice of reason was Holly. She would tell me over and over again that there is no way it could be Artemis. Even though she was WRONG about who the heroine was, at least she was right about Artemis.

When Acheron came out, I was at the book store first thing in the morning. I took it home, started it at 10am and finished it at 5pm. There was not the sense of disappointment that I was expecting when I finished it. I was just happy that Ash finally got what he deserved. My review of it is completely biased. There is no way I could have given that book anything less than a five.

Which brings me to this new fad that authors seem to be going through.

They introduce this extremely amazing alpha hero that makes a statement from the time he makes his first appearance to when said hero gets his book. Only HE'S NOT GETTING HIS BOOK.

1. Tohr from J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood. It started with Wrath and Dark Lover. It was going to end with Tohr. Then the series got popular and all of a sudden Ward pulled back and said "Tohr isn't ready". I have to write a gajillion books before Tohr will be ready. Look, I get that it's an author's creation that is bringing me reading pleasure, but I don't care if Tohr is ready. I'm freaking ready. Tohr is the new Acheron. The only thing is that I don't care. With Acheron, I would have waited until 2015 and still read the book when it comes out. My prediction is that Tohr's book won't come out until 2018. It will be the 52nd book in the series and by then the rfg's will have turned on Ward.

2. Hawke from Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series. Hawke was introduced in Slave to Sensation and I don't think there is a reader among us who didn't want his story, like, now. He was intriguing and cold, alpha yet so different than Lucas. He had a shadowy back story that only in the last few books started to reveal itself. Hawke and Sienna have the chemistry that explodes off the pages. Like Sherrilyn Kenyon and J.R. Ward, Singh has kept quiet on whether Sienna is really Hawke's heroine. I've begged her (no really, I have) and she just tells me "you don't want me to ruin it for you!". Yes I would, but that's beside the point. The point is that Singh has addressed Hawke's book very openly and said it will be within the next two years. I take that to mean that Sienna has to grow up and Hawke has to miss her. So why am I not annoyed with Singh like I am with Ward? Because I like the books that are coming out before Hawke's. I like the characters. I didn't care about freaking Rhevenge.

3. Alaric from Alyssa Day's Atlantis series. Alaric is a high priest aka celibate. In the first book, he meets Quinn and there is an instant attraction between the two. Alaric wants Quinn, but he believes in his duty as a high priest. If he isn't a high priest, he can't serve Conlan or Poisedon and Atlantis means a great deal to Alaric. Back when I actually checked the Yahoo Groups, Alyssa Day said that we wouldn't have to wait years for Alaric. I believe he was actually compared to Acheron and Day shot that down. Since then, I believe she went on a hiatus for personal reasons but has since returned to the writing world. Now that Alaric has found out that high priests haven't always been, in fact, celibate, can he be with Quinn? Day (it must be obvious by now) will not say whether Quinn is Alaric's heroine though she does say that she's rooting for them.

Getting so invested in one character just hasn't turned out well for me. The only characters that I will stay invested in are Hawke and Alaric.

Which characters are you invested in? What book have you waited for the longest? Who is your "Acheron"?

Casee's review of Master of Fire (Mageverse series, Book 10) by Angela Knight.

Giada Shepherd is a Maja – an immortal witch of the Mageverse. When vampire knight King Arthur asks her to protect his mortal son from an assassin, she’s willing to do anything she must to keep Logan MacRoy alive. But Logan is no ordinary mortal – he’s a handsome seductive cop, intent on a romance with his beautiful new partner.

Trouble is, Arthur has ordered Giada to keep her distance from Logan. But that’s a lot easier said than done....

This is one of my favorite paranormal series. It's the only series I've read that is centered around Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Angela Knight has put a spin on Arthur that is somewhat unexpected: he's a vampire. This is the 10th book, so we obviously know almost all we need to know about Arthur. Including the fact that he has a mortal son.

Logan MacRoy.

Logan knows his duty as Arthur's son. He knows and accepts that he will have to become a vampire in the very near future so he can join his Father's cause to protect the Mageverse. He just wants a little more time as a mortal man, time his father has given him.

Giada is instantly drawn to Logan. She knows that part of it is her magic (newly learned) feeling the power that lays dormant within Logan. She has been sent by Arthur to protect Logan from any unseen threat. She just can't tell him b/c Logan had a bad experience with a Maja in the past. So she poses as his lab assistant/partner.

The world really is intense. The love Arthur has for his son seems to pour off the page. He wants Logan by his side, but he doesn't want to force him to do something he's not ready for. The scene where father and son are working together was really wonderful. It had enough manly emotion that it wasn't girly.

Another interesting character was in this book. A cat/mountain lion/Sidhe/God. I think that the series really moved forward with this book. A huge step was taken toward the path that will lead to the next battle.

I really liked Giada. She was a witch that really didn't know her own power. She had no idea that witchcraft even existed, now she's walking through portals, talking to Arthur and Guinevere, and protecting a future vampire which turns out to be more difficult than she thought it would.

I liked how the book ended. I'm a sucker for a good cliffhanger.

3.75 out of 5.

This book will be available from Berkley March 2, 2010. You can pre-order it here or here in e-format.

The series:

Holly's review of Night Pleasures (Dark Hunters, Book 2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Dear Reader, Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be immortal? To journey through the night stalking the evil that preys on humans? To have unlimited wealth, unlimited power? That is my existence, and it is dark and dangerous. I play hero to thousands, but am known to none. And I love every minute of it.

Or so I thought until one night when I woke up handcuffed to my worst nightmare: a conservative woman in a button-down shirt. Or in Amanda's case, buttoned all the way up to her chin. She's smart, sexy, witty, and wants nothing to do with the paranormal---in other words, me. My attraction to Amanda Devereaux goes against everything I stand for. Not to mention the last time I fell in love it cost me not only my human life, but also my very soul.

Yet every time I look at her, I find myself wanting to try again. Wanting to believe that love and loyalty do exist. Even more disturbing, I find myself wondering if there's any way a woman like Amanda can love a man whose battle scars run deep, and whose heart was damaged by a betrayal so savage that he's not sure it will ever beat again.

Kyrian of Thrace

I read this as part of our Author Spotlight this month. I was really nervous going in because I wasn't sure it would hold up to the test of time.

I was more disappointed in parts of it than I remember being previously, most notably the way Amanda and Kyrian mentally lusted after each other at the most inappropriate moments. This has long been a pet peeve of mine anyway, but they're in the middle of a car chase and the bad guys are closing in and Kyrian catches a whiff of Amanda's scent and is suddenly so hard his pants are uncomfortable? Seriously? Amanda was no better. She's chased after, thrown into a knife fight and finds out Kyrian is the "good guy" equivalent of a vampire and all she wants to do is lick him? I can understand her not freaking out over being thrown into a paranormal world - she's lived it practically all her life with her parents and sisters. But the constant lusting was just to much.

Some things were just down right cheesy. The villain especially had me rolling my eyes. I remember thinking he was totally scary and badass when I first read this book, but this time around he was just dumb. His one liners were stupid and I didn't understand what made him such a formidable foe for all his bumbling around. Also, a lot of Kyrian's lines to Amanda were cheesy...and kind of sweet. I couldn't decide if they were eye roll inducing, or enough to catch my heart. An example:

"I'm only sorry I failed you. I wish I could have been the hero you deserved."

That's pretty freaking cheesy...but kind of sweet too. And that's the thing about this novel, for all the cheese (and there was quite a bit of it) it's very sweet.

When I was reading about Kyrian's torture my heart hurt for him. And despite knowing what was going to happen at the end, my stomach still flipped and my heart still squeezed for him. I really liked that Amanda stood by him, even when he was being dumb.

Overall I enjoyed it. It's a very readable novel, and though I spent some time rolling my eyes, I was still swept up in the story.

I'd say it held up fairly well, all things considered.

4 out of 5

The series:





This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can buy it here.