Book Review: Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Emblaze
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 3
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 409
Release Date: 11 October 2011

The games are over. Now, the battle begins.

Violet Eden knows her life will never be as it was. Phoenix, the exiled angel who betrayed her, is back and he’s willing to do anything to get what she has.

With the help of surprising new allies, an ancient Scripture is deciphered and a destination set. All that is certain – a brutal battle looms. With innocent lives at stake, Lincoln and Violet must work together, denying their soul-crunching desire for one another.

Seemingly holding all the power, Phoenix is always one step ahead. And when he puts the pieces of the terrifying prophecy together, he realises exactly who he needs in order to open the gates of Hell.

My Thoughts:

Can this series get any better?

Violet has some huge choices to make in this book. Where she stands with Phoenix, how much she should be telling her father who is getting increasingly nosy, how she can better protect the friends who know about her life as a Grigori, and probably the most important one, how does she stop Phoenix from freeing one of the most evil people ever known to walk the earth.

Violet once again stuns with her depth and emotion. She feels so alone after she figures out that Lincoln, her soul mate, his not only distancing himself from her because of their connection, but is shielding himself from her as well. They are growing ever apart and it hurts Violet more and more each day she sees him and it’s driven home once again that she can’t have him.

Shirvington has done such a good job in building this story that one can completely see where Violet is coming from. Usually when teenage girls feel that they have no choice but to do something stupid if they had just talked to someone about it everything would have been solved in the first ten pages, and I am normally so frustrated I want to slap them or throw the book across the room. But Violet really doesn’t have anyone she can talk to when it comes to the crunch in this book. Lincoln has for all intents and purposes rejected her, Griffin her leader and mentor is in a different country and if she doesn’t make a decision people she loves and who are helpless, will get hurt.

The one thing that did start to grind on me though towards the end was her continuous mentioning of her soul hurting. Yes, we know Lincoln is your soul mate. Yes, we know you can’t be together. Stop whining about your stomach ache because you have a broken heart and get on with it. It was mentioned just a few too many times for me especially towards the end. It probably grinded a little more because I am still on team Phoenix and still don’t like Lincoln that much.

I will admit, Lincoln grew on me a bit in Emblaze, but only in the “oh, so he is a person with feelings” way. Lincoln is too aloof for my tastes whereas Phoenix shows his vulnerability and his bad boy charm for Violet to see. Phoenix also has his heart in the right place, he may eventually kill Violet, but he does still care in the fact that only he is allowed to kill her, and he will kill anyone else who tries, I like that in a man.

Once again I loved the history woven into this story. The integration of Lilith and historical events that Shivington has linked back to the Angels, everything is so seamless and seems so effortlessly part of the story that it makes everything about the world she has created that much more believable and grounded.

I really can’t say too much more about Emblaze without falling into squee territory, it is absolutely fantastic. Shirvington once again drew me in with her incredibly emotional yet action packed writing. She once again left me with a two day book hangover because I just can’t get this series out of my mind. October 2012 is far too long to wait for Endless but I will still be waiting with eagerness.

Also in this series:
Embrace
Enticed

Book Review: Enticed by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Enticed
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 2
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 413
Release Date: 29 March 2011

CONSEQUENCE HAUNTS EVERY CHOICE

Violet Eden is Grigori – part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengeance of exiled angels.

Knowing who to trust is key but when Grigori reinforcements arrive it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know...Phoenix’s hold over her is more dangerous than ever.

The race to find the one thing that could forever tilt the balance of power takes them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet’s own powers will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

My Thoughts:

Enticed made for a brilliant sequel that had me glued to every page.

Violet is still reeling over Phoenix’s deception and what she saw in the desert when she embraced, so when Lincoln deserts her again to go off on a secret mission while she is left to figure out why Phoenix wants the sacred Grigori scriptures, and when he is going to come after her.

Violet once again astounded me with her strength. Granted she is not the sharpest tool in the shed and not nearly the strongest, but her sheer will to power through her troubles and not let anyone get her down has me cheering her on through each new obstacle she faces. Violet is coming into her powers now and hopefully it seems, her fighting ability but she is still getting distracted by Lincoln, with whom she is still in love.

Lincoln is so far from being in my good books that he is going to have to do something astounding in Emblaze to even begin to make me like him. His character is a good one because you know he is the good guy but he is just so incredibly mean to Violet. He’s on a crusade to avenge his mother and instead of telling Violet what is happening, instead of being there for his partner when not only she, but his race needs him is incredibly selfish. I would want to avenge my mother too, but for a guy that was in love with a girl for two years and able to control himself every time he was around her to a loose cannon that doesn’t care what happens to him as long as he destroys this one exile is awful.

Phoenix crops up from time to time in Enticed as well, to remind Violet that he is all powerful and can kill her with a single thought, but there is still that connection between them that has me rooting for him to come good.

I also can’t wait to see more of Onyx – the exile turned human – who has taken on the role of comedic relief to help ease the tension of impending doom. Shrivington’s secondary characters all have their own personalities and aren’t hidden by the main which takes this series to that extra level.

Enticed was yet another whirlwind dive into the beautiful picture that Shrivington’s created with her words. Her superb historical elements of the story and completely believable explanations for how some exiles have lived out their existence on Earth has had me looking at the skies from time to time over the last couple of days.

Violet’s story has me enthralled with intense anticipation of what is to come in Emblaze and I absolutely cannot wait until I can get my hands on it as soon as possible.

Also in this series:
Embrace
Emblaze

Book Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Review: Embrace
Series: Violet Eden Chapters – Book 1
Author: Jessica Shirvington
No of Pages: 382
Release Date: 1 October 2010

THE WRONG CHOICE COULD COST NOT ONLY HER LIFE, BUT HER DESTINY.

All Violet wants is to be with Lincoln. But he has a secret so great it could tear them apart.

Then there’s Phoenix. He’s intense and enigmatic, but always there for her.

Caught up in a battle between light and dark – where angels seek vengeance and humans are warriors – Violet must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice. And who to trust...

My Thoughts:

Embrace was more than I expected, and I absolutely loved it.

Violet Eden’s life is turned upside down when she finds out that her best friend and man she is secretly in love with has been keeping a secret, about her. Violet is a Grigori, a half angel-half human protector of human kind against exiled angels, evil fallen angels that wish to control mankind.

After finding out that Lincoln has been keeping such a terrible secret about her identity she shuts him out of her life, a hard thing to do to your closest companion over the last two years. She meets Phoenix, an exiled angel who seems to have a darkness about him, but is fiercely protective of Violet when other exiles are around.

Violet was an interesting and well fleshed out character. After losing her mother at birth and being terrorized by a former teacher at school she has developed a habit of not letting much get to her and never fleeing from something too hard or scary. She broke that rule when it came to Lincoln and her destiny of becoming a Grigori leaning on Phoenix to help her get through her life upheaval.

Lincoln was a hard character to like for me if choosing between the two boys vying for Violet’s attention, he keeps secrets, lies and is condescending when around Violet but he also had that irresistible charm that Violet has been in love with ever since they got close. Violet’s and Lincoln’s love for each other was obvious from the first page, no matter how much Lincoln tried to keep his distance from her it was still clear that he loved Violet as much as Violet loved him.

Phoenix on the other hand is your typical bad boy; he is an exiled angel who takes a liking to Violet when he meets her. Violet tries to stay away but is inexplicably drawn to him. She admits that she doesn’t love Phoenix, but he can give her so much more, and is willing to give so much more than what Lincoln is.

Embrace was beautifully written, if a little confusing. I had a hard time keeping track of which angels were what and up until mid-way through the book exactly who the bad guys were. Even the motions of Embracing were a little sudden and rather confusing.

Other than the slight confusion Embrace was an engrossing read. Each time I was forced to put it down all I could think about was getting back to it. Having had some bad experiences with angel books in the past I highly encourage everyone to give Embrace a try.

Embrace is an addictive read, and left me salivating for more not just answers but for more beautiful prose and engaging characters. I cannot wait until I can dive into the next instalment in this intriguing series.

Also in this series:
Enticed
Emblaze

Book Review: Snowballs In Hell by Eve Langlais

Review: Snowballs In Hell
Series: Lucifer’s Daughter – Book 2
Author: Eve Langlais
No of Pages: 67
Release Date: 14 January 2011

Hi, I’m Muriel, misbegotten daughter of Satan, and once again my life is in turmoil. The cowled one who tortured me left a curse on my mind, one that makes me afraid. Completely unacceptable, but in order to remove it, I have to do something even worse—betray my beloved by bringing another man into our bed.

As if having to participate in a threesome isn’t traumatizing enough, Hell has frozen over, and as much as I think Hades looks pretty in a blanket of white, the repercussions are severe. It’s a good thing this princess of Hell has two lovers determined to charge my magic in pleasurable ways.

I'll admit, it's not easy having nympho magic, but I’m prepared to suck it up—and swallow—for the sake of saving the world.

My Thoughts:

This series is only getting better, and while I still like Lucifer’s Daughter a little better, Snowballs In Hell makes for a very strong sequel.

After her encounter with “The Master” in the finale of Lucifer’s Daughter a curse has been placed on Muriel to feel fear, not something that this princess of hell is used to. Terrifying nightmares have her screaming herself awake every night and whenever she is confronted with a figure in a hood she passes out.

After speaking with the Mages of Hell Muriel discovers that she must bring a third into her bed to help give her enough power to break the crippling spell on her mind. But Muriel can’t stand to break her conceptions of a proper relationship which should only consist of a man and a woman. She loves Auric and can’t bear to give herself to another man, let alone his best friend.

Auric however wants David – the shape shifter – to join them if it will help his soul mate and he does everything in his power to ensure that he sees that, including going on a sudden mission and leaving David as her bodyguard.

Muriel is only so strong, and it seems that her Nympho-magic is stronger.

Once again I loved Muriel; she is everything I want in a female lead. She is strong, and can back up her tough words with some serious action. She is also a little bit selfish which is true of every woman. She wants her man all to herself and doesn’t want to share. She also has her values – absolutely hated by her father of course – that to have a proper loving relationship shouldn’t include another man. But when it comes down to the crunch Muriel can also, eventually, see what is best. Even if that includes her making the sacrifice of having two men pleasure instead of one...poor her.

Auric once again was not my favourite of characters, a little too overprotective and hard headed. One just can’t connect with him because he refuses to share his feelings. Only once do we get an insight to him throughout the whole story that he may actually be normal and not want to share Muriel but after that he goes back to being just a man who is there for Muriel to bed.

David I could actually connect with, but he seemed to have a character change halfway through. Going from cute and shy to domineering and stubborn, it didn’t ruin his character, but I just liked him before the change.

The only real disappointment that came with Snowballs In Hell was the complete lack of sexual adventure. For being the Devil’s daughter Muriel is actually quite vanilla when it comes to the bedroom. Although hot the sex is quite repetitive and mundane.


Snowballs In Hell was a fantastic follow up to Lucifer’s Daughter and while not quite as witty is proving to be a superb set-up for a third instalment in this fantastic series.

Also in this Series:
Lucifer's Daughter

Book Review: Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Review: Succubus Blues
Series: Georgina Kincaid
Author: Richelle Mead
No of Pages: 343
Release Date: 1 March 2007

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

My Thoughts:

I went into Richelle Mead’s adult series with high expectations. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Georgina Kincaid is a succubus. But she is a good person, which in turn means being a bad succubus. Georgina refuses to feed off what she constitutes a good person which means she only feeds on low lives that have a low moral fibre and are looking to do naughty dirty things with and to people anyway. This wasn’t originally part of Georgina’s job description, but after you have been making men stray for a few millennia, sometimes it’s fun to stir the pot.

But Georgina isn’t all good, she likes to flirt, antagonize her Demon boss and come up with extremely snarky and well placed comments. Georgina is funny, and whilst not being the strongest supernatural in the playground she still knows how to hold her ground, not being limited to a human form.

Seth is one of Georgina’s romantic interests and to be honest he is a little boring, made of good moral fibre and who can’t really hold a conversation with anyone but the characters in his head. But he is also a character who you can’t help but love. When Georgina gets sick, Seth cares for her, all purely because he wants to help her, not get into her pants. As Seth comes out of his shell one discovers a passionate man who is shy but in a very cute way.

Roman is another of Georgina’s romantic interests and he is hot. He is persistent, intelligent and can hold a conversation with Georgina about almost anything. Roman is loveable in a weird way right from the beginning, one can’t help but wonder why he is so adamant about getting on a date with Georgina, but that doesn’t take away from his appeal.

Succubus Blues was extremely clever in its ideas, and its problems. Who would have ever thought a Succubus would refuse to have sex with nice hot men. They have all the tools, the power and the reason. But Georgina refuses to. She won’t taint men who don’t deserve it which makes it extremely hard for her to get close to Seth or Roman, and it’s kind of heart-breaking to watch. Finding someone who cares about you, whom you’re attracted to, and who is a genuinely good guy and you must keep pushing him away. It’s sad.

Mead impressed me with her writing once again, I will be honest and say that it took me quite a while – at least one hundred pages – for it to hold my full attention but once it grabbed me it refused to let go. Mead tantalizes you with snippets of information about Georgina’s past and how she became what she is today and once they take hold as well as the addictive storyline of whodunit you literally cannot put Succubus Blues down.

Succubus Blues is an addictive read once it gets going. It is yet another exhibit of Mead’s fantastic writing and once again she has me salivating for more.

Also in this series:
Succubus On Top
Succubus Dreams
Succubus Heat
Succubus Shadows
Succubus Revealed

Book Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Review: Blue Bloods
Series: Blue Bloods – Book 1
Author: Melissa De La Cruz
No of Pages: 302
Release Date: 27 March 2007

THEY’RE YOUNG, FABULOUS AND FANGED...

And they rule Manhattan from the trendy uptown clubs to the downtown boutiques. Fifteen-year-old Schuyler Van Allen has never quite fit in at her exclusive prep school – she’s more of a vintage than a Versace girl – but that’s all about to change...

Because Schuyler has just found out she’s a Blue Blood. The Blue Bloods are the city’s glamorous and secret vampire elite. They’re young, beautiful and powerful. But now they’re being murdered. And Schuyler must find out who – or what – is behind it, before she’s next.

My Thoughts:

Gossip Girl meets Twilight, and dies.

Blue Bloods follows the lives of the New York teen socialite scene, that scene being full of vampires. Primarily focusing on Schuyler Van Allen, a fifteen year old girl whose family was once powerful, but is now poor, both her parents have died and she is being raised by her Grandmother.

After finding out she is a Blue Blood, Schuyler also finds out that the Blue Bloods are being killed off, and not in a it’s-ok-because-we-will-regenerate-later-on kind of a way, but in a dead-and-not-coming-back way.

Blue Bloods had a suck you in element that made you want to keep reading, but now that I think back to what I felt during and after reading it, well, I’m not entirely impressed.

Why? Because the characters were under-developed and changed too much, Schuyler was completely unlikeable and a lot of the concept was just confusing. No one is really related because they are all actually fallen angels who are trying to get back to heaven because it is their “right”, oh and twins are in love with each other.

What absolutely killed Schuyler for me was not only the fact that she “dressed like a street urchin” but was still beautiful underneath (please), but she was actually filthy in the way that she “hadn’t washed her hair in a few weeks anyway”. I’m sorry, but eww, and she was picked to be a model looking like that? Hello, unrealistic. And of course, she is the only one who can solve the mystery of who is killing the Blue Bloods, because no one else is capable...uh-huh.

The characters reactions were forced and they were all a little too superficial for being so old, they didn’t care about the right things, only who was going to the next party and what they should wear.

The name dropping was atrocious and the wrong things were described. I’m sorry but I don’t care about what the nuts at the table looked like. Sure New York is pretty, but I’m not an architect, and I don’t care about the swirling on a fence that has nothing to do with anything.

But is this the next Twilight? Because even now as I describe all the wrongness, I want to go back, yet I don’t know why. Maybe I’m hoping Schuyler will die.

Others in this Series:
Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Allen Legacy
Misguided Angel

Book Review: Astoroth: Her Final Sin by Stella & Audra Price

Review: Astoroth: Her Final Sin
Author: Stella Price; Audra Price
No of Pages: 14
Release Date: 15 June 2010

***I received this book free of charge from the publisher through my association with Book Lovers Inc***

Meet Astoroth, high duke of hell. When a woman at the end of her bucket list meets him in a bar in Las Vegas, he sees the possibility for some harmless fun with a human just at her expiration date. What he doesn't count on is deciding to keep her...


My Thoughts:

I always find it hard to review short stories, purely because there simply can’t be the character development that a longer novel can achieve. Short stories however can create intense emotions and I found that Astoroth succeeded in creating those emotions.

Sarah is dying, she has a list of things she wants to do while she still can, one of those things being to flirt with a fallen angel. But Astoroth wants to do more than flirt, and with Sarah’s lack of inhibitions he quickly goes about getting her alone, naked and screaming for more.

For fourteen pages, the Price’s sure packed a lot into them, and after the first couple of pages, definitely found a beautiful relationship between words and actions. I got a glimpse (if only brief) into how and why Sarah is doing what she is doing even though the sex felt a little fast and awkward when it began, by the end it was smooth and flowing.

As I said, the first few pages, in the lead up to the coupling were awkward, not everything made sense and some of the dialogue felt forced and unnatural, but it was quickly reconciled when the couple got their gear off.

The only other thing that seriously took away from the experience of being lost in the affair was the somewhat severe spelling and grammatical errors. It wasn’t easily overlooked and sometimes needed a backtrack to be understood.

Astoroth: Her Final Sin was seriously sexy, and left me somewhat hot and bothered. It is a simple, easy read that makes for a perfect quick fix of sinfully, angelic fun.

Book Trailer: Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick

Here is the book trailer for Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.


Review: Complete - Click for Hush, Hush Book Review

Book Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Review: Hush, Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
No. Of Pages: 391
Release Date: October 2009

FALLING FOR THE FALLEN...

“His eyes sliced into me and the corners of his mouth tilted up. My heart fumbled a beat and, in that pause, a feeling of gloomy darkness seemed to slide like a shadow over me. It vanished in an instant, but I was still staring at him. His smile wasn’t friendly. It was a smile that spelled trouble. With a promise.”

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgement.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora can’t decide whether to fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is in the middle of a centuries-battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and the wrong choice will cost her life.