Book Review: The Fallen Star by Jessica Sorensen

Review: The Fallen Star

Series: The Fallen Star – Book 1
Author: Jessica Sorensen
No of Pages: 447
Release Date: 9 April 2011

For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she’s around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma’s life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn’t be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death.

My Thoughts:

The Fallen Star didn’t live up to my expectations at all; it was an extremely frustrating read.

From since before she can remember, Gemma hasn’t been able to feel emotion of any sort, she has gone through life with no friends and no family she can talk to. Until one seemingly unimportant day, when she feels her first emotion ever, and things spiral downward from there.

Gemma was an extremely stupid, naive, boring character, she encompasses everything that is – stupid teenage girl. From day one she made inappropriate decisions that simply cannot be passed off as adolescent immaturity.

My biggest pet peeve with her was her constant running to Alex and her non-committal statement confirming that she shouldn’t be doing it but she just wants to have a bit of fun after so many years of not feeling blah blah snore. Alex lied to her, kept things from her, deliberately distracts her and is obviously using her for not only selfish but dangerous purposes.

Gemma never followed anything up, Alex would let something important slip about her past and Gemma would constantly make a point of saying “you are not going to get out of telling me this”, but does she ever follow through? Of course not, which gives Alex the go ahead to continuously lead her on without telling her anything and lying to her the whole way.

Even after confirmation that she was being lied to and a perfectly good reason not to go with Alex, she still chased after him.

Gemma was a weak character and extremely dull. Sorensen tried to make her witty by talking to the reader even going as far to say “oh, don’t look at me like that” but it just didn’t work. Gemma was not only boring, but extremely dumb. After seeming to develop visions of the past and possibly the future, Gemma is given all of the pieces of the puzzle about halfway through the novel to piece everything together, even after the reader was told what was going on at the end of the story, Gemma whose POV we are in, still didn’t seem to know what was going on.

I’m not quite sure what Sorensen was trying to achieve with the character of Alex, but whatever it was, she didn’t pull it off at all. Alex was a complete tool. He was not a handsome broody guy, he was a complete wanker, there is absolutely nothing to like about him, he is a brainwashed, pathological liar. He tries to hide behind the “I’m just a moody guy” excuse but no, he is just a malevolent character. At one point I actually swore out loud at the book because he promised Gemma that he “would tell her everything” my kneejerk reaction to that was bulls***!

I also found it hard to get through The Fallen Star because of the horrible editing. Usually a few mistakes here and there don’t bother me, but whened a sentencing is contantly reads like this and these author seems to haves no concepts of the correct uses of the word “there” it becoming very frustrate.

It read like a first draft basically, errors were everywhere and the book probably could have been at least fifty pages shorter if you simply took out the amount of times certain facts were repeated, sometimes the same line used consecutively over the course of three chapters.

The Fallen Star was a big disappointment for me, the characters had no life and were complete contradictions of themselves, the story line relied too heavily on the characters so it never seemed to move and the book was so badly edited that I was tempted to line edit it myself.

Book Review: Cleopatra's Men by Eve Langlais

Review: Cleopatra’s Men
Author: Eve Langlais
No of Pages: 97
Release Date: 14 January 2011

One former Egyptian queen plus two vampires equals a threesome with lots of bite.

I’ve paid my dues in Hell for my mistakes, but Satan thinks I’m too dangerous to keep around so he’s kicked me out into the modern world for a second chance.

Ambushed by a pest from my past, I’m rescued by a seriously hot vamp. I vowed to not allow men to use me anymore, a pledge forgotten with Michael’s first kiss. And when Julius, my first love, shows up bitter and angry, I can’t help but want him too.

Maybe I do deserve the nickname Whore Queen, for I’ve decided I shall keep them both—naked in bed.


My Thoughts:

Cleopatra’s Men was yet another hot exhibit of Langlais’s writing ability.

Cleopatra is alive and well in modern times, having been kicked out of hell for nearly forcing Lucifer to marry her, Cleopatra is now fending for herself in the real world once again. She is immortal, powerful and currently blonde.

But Cleo has made many enemies in her time, one of those being Antony, her ex, who has an annoying habit of continuously trying to kill her by sending demons her way. On her first night out, these demons attack her and things are looking bleak if not for Michael, the mysterious dark stranger who jumps from a building to save her.

Cleo is definitely my kind of chick, I would have preferred more actions behind her words though as she seemed to be playing damsel in distress too much, but for a quick, hot story like this, I didn’t really mind. Cleo was not only tough and sexy but she also had an added element of wit that kept the story light.

Michael was everything and more, sexy, powerful and a gentleman. Michael was everything Cleo wasn’t used to after being used for most of her life and although it made for some questioning on her part as to his intentions, it also made for some really hot sex and quite a few swoon moments.

Cleopatra’s Men was a quick hot dive into the world of a paranormal Ménage a trois with the addition of Julius Caesar, Cleo’s first love into the mix it made for some comical but very hot reading. I loved Cleo’s dissection of her feelings for each man and how she didn’t try to hide behind an equal love excuse for her actions.

The massive deux ex machina at the end did put a slight dampener on the rest of the story. It was expected, but I was hoping it wouldn’t happen.

Cleopatra’s Men was another excellent example of Langlais’s incredible writing and has left me wanting even more of her yet again.

Book Review: The Shadow Seer by Fran Jacobs

Review: The Shadow Seer
Series: Ellenessia’s Curse – Book 1
Author: Fran Jacobs
No of Pages: 337
Release Date: 2 April 2009

For generations prophets have foreseen the birth of the Shadow Seer, the oracle of dark visions and fallen kingdoms. But by the time of Sorron, King of Carnia, their warnings have mostly been forgotten and his name is known only to a handful of scholars. When Sorron's grandson, Prince Candale, falls deathly ill, the Seer's legends are brought to light once again by his saviour, a witch named Mayrila. She believes that Candale is the fulfilment of those long forgotten prophecies. She believes that he is the Shadow Seer...

My Thoughts:

The Shadow Seer was an extremely interesting read, but it was a little slow in its movement.

Candale is a prince with a secret; he is having prophecies, hearing voices, and seeing people that aren’t there. The Shadow Seer starts with Candale being gravely ill and close to death. All we hear are snippets of conversation between his relatives, arguments between his father and grandfather about how to best help him.

His grandfather sends for a woman named Mayrila, a conniving, gold-digging witch, who seems to be the only person who can help him. Mayrila saves Candale, but she also changes his life forever, revealing herself as his birth mother and him as the Shadow Seer, a dark prophet whose visions will only ever be of death and destruction.

Candale is an interesting character, if a little naive. He is intelligent and easily relatable being a quiet, odd child who fits in well enough at court, but is always dreaming and looking for something more. Candale did get a little infuriating at times when he went off by himself without thinking things through only to nearly get killed by his enemies. At times I wanted to shake him, but mostly I felt empathetic and a little sad about his situation.

The Shadow Seer was well written and completely engaging because it didn’t seem like you were racing to the finish line. Each new event in the timeline was well paced and flowed seamlessly into the plot.

The only problem with The Shadow Seer was that we never really get answers to our questions, the world of Carnia that Jacobs created was superb, but there was so much groundwork to lay that we only got to see snippets about the myths behind the shadow seer and those myths were relentlessly repeated.

The Shadow Seer was an excellently written story with an engaging main character who kept me entertained and continuously coming back for more. The mystery behind who Ellenessia is and how she is going to affect Candale in the long run has me itching to get my hands on the second book in this promising fantasy series.

Book Review: Strange Familiar by Hunter Cassidy

Review: Strange Familiar
Author: Cassidy Hunter
No of Pages: 146
Release Date: 14 December 2010

Fate finally brings Olivia her Familiar… too bad fate is a bored bitch with a dark sense of humor.

At last, Olivia Brew's Familiar has found her. Now that the search is over, her weakened powers and strength will be restored, and she can get on with her witchy life. But there's a problem. Her familiar's not exactly what she expected. And she just might be falling in love with him.

Kane Oliver's got problems of his own. He's not interested in being anyone's pet, and he's got secrets so deeply buried even he isn't aware of them. Though he can't deny the powerful connection between himself and Olivia, he's not exactly Familiar material. And there are beings more powerful than either of them who want to keep it that way…

My Thoughts:

Strange Familiar was hot, but extremely shallow.

Olivia is a witch in need of a familiar. Kane is a man who has a sickness he can’t cure. Both are weak from what they lack and are drawn to each other when they meet. Olivia senses it immediately, as strange as it seems, Kane is destined to be her familiar.

Olivia is an easy, shallow, mildly stupid character. Although at times she was good for a laugh, as soon as anyone touched her, all she could think of was sex. That could have been a good thing, but she used sex in ways that just annoyed me, instead of telling Kane when something was wrong she would throw herself at him and forget with the use of pleasure. At times she shone through as a tough, intelligent witch, but all of it was overshadowed by her easiness with not just Kane but anyone else who touched her.

Kane was a stubborn egotistical male, but he was also a fairly well rounded character. He had an element of realness to him in that he would walk away to think and not just use sex to forget like Olivia. Kane didn’t really seem to care for Olivia though, he thought he was under a love spell so wouldn’t reveal himself to her, it was just shallow sex. Even when Olivia told him she loved him, he would never say it back, he could imply it, but would never say the words.

Strange Familiar just seemed to keep going. More than one plot seemed to be playing out even though it was extremely frustrating that we never got any answers to the big questions. There was no real background into the dynamic of witches and their familiars or why it was so strange that Olivia bonded with a part human, there was no back ground into Kane’s story or answers to questions like who Aunt Herman really was or if Olivia’s father ever told the truth to his wife about his heritage.

Strange Familiar had the potential to be a whirlwind of a story, but the sex overshadowed every element of it. The characters were two dimensional and were only ever detailed enough for their small part in the plot to move forward, nothing but the sex was explored and although it was very hot even that became mildly repetitive toward the end.

The thought actually crossed my mind of “ugh, not again” when the characters took another sex break as it felt forced and completely unnecessary. There was no real bond between Kane and Olivia, and it was painfully obvious. All they had was the physical side to their relationship, nothing more was developed.

Strange Familiar kept me interested because of the shred of a plot we got to witness, but other than some hot sex and a few flash in the pan characters it won’t be a memorable experience.

Book Review: Demonic Persuasion by Mahalia Levey

Review: Demonic Persuasion
Series: Prophecies Implied – Book 1
Author: Mahalia Levey
No of Pages: 75
Release Date: 15 November 2010

Born of a Navajo healer and a high-level prince of Hell, The Dine Gods demanded Fatal be turned over to her mother's tribe to learn their healing arts and kept away from demon hands. But with her tutelage came cruel segregation and disrespect because of her father's heritage. Not knowing why her life has suddenly come under demon attack, Fatal sets out, armed with her knowledge and her fighting skills, to take out any evil that getsin her way.

As prince of a lower level of Hell, Orobus signed a contract in blood that he be betrothed to Fatal, the high prince of Hell’s half-breed daughter. Oracle by birth, he isn’t privy to complete visions with regard to himself. Having forgotten the fateful night he signed the agreement, he’s thrust into the fight of his life—the fight to claim his woman! Come Hell or high water, he will take care of what is rightfully his, even if it means making her face both sides of her heritage and teaching her there is no shame.

My Thoughts:

I was expecting great things from Demonic Persuasion but I was left confused and mildly irritated.

Fatal has been shunned by the community she was raised in because of her half demon heritage. She leaves to strike out on her own and winds up fighting in demonic bars to earn her keep. When Orobus spots her in his bar he is drawn to her presence before he enforces their contract made at her birth and whisks her off to Hell.

Fatal really wasn’t a strong character, she was one contradiction after another. She acted tough was tough but then seemed to fall apart about halfway through. She has the training of the Navajo healers, her birth mothers people, and hates her demonic side. She also hates her parents hates Orobus and hates the life she has been forced to lead. But then all of a sudden, she can’t be without Orobus, loves her brother and runs to her mother’s open arms a day after telling them all she hated them.

That was the entire tone of Demonic Persuasion, that and trying to confuse the reader to the point of violent frustration. Every third page I was re-reading entire paragraphs just to figure out if Fatal was still in Hell or on Earth.

Orobus who apparently has this highly valued contract with Fatal’s father giving him possession of her and the right to mate her against her will didn’t even know who she was even after she stated her true name. Then six chapters later he is telling her how he had been waiting so long for her to come to him.

Not to mention the complete character change when Fatal is forced to go to Hell after being knocked unconscious, and waking up in a strange room, does she try to run? Does she put up any sort of a fight against the being she hates most in this world? Of course not, the next course of action is to so clearly jump into bed with a demon prince of Hell and wake up the next day like this is the life you have been living for the last ten years even though you still hate the person you just woke up next to.

The real killer for me was when Orobus was beaten to within an inch of his life for covering for Fatal, he told her it would take him two weeks or so to recover from the poison infested wounds and yet he’s up the next morning for another exciting round of I-don’t-like-you-and-there-is-no-logical-reason-for-me-to-be-doing-this sex.

Demonic Persuasion was a buffet of absurdity. Levey took a good idea and hacked it to pieces with incoherent writing, jumpy timelines and a very shaky main character that didn’t seem to know who or what she was.

I have been known to have masochistic tendencies, but even I will not be sitting down the next instalment of this trainwreck.

Book Review: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Review: Blood Bound
Series: Mercy Thompson – Book 2
Author: Patricia Briggs
No of Pages: 292
Release Date: 30 January 2007

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places – and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favour. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary – and neither is the demon inside of him...

My Thoughts:

Mrs. Briggs you have won me over with this novel.

Blood Bound picks up about 6 months after Moon Called finished and opens up on Mercy receiving an early morning phone call. Stefan the vampire needs her to come with him on an errand to check out a rogue vampire who may have some extra powers, supplied by a demon. Mercy has to be in coyote form though, so she can hear without being seen.

Blood Bound was very fast paced and now that the ground work was laid with the characters and Tri-City area set down in the first book, we had a lot more time for action in this one. Maybe it was the added element of vampires that did it for me or maybe it was just that this series is turning into something awesome, but I literally couldn’t put it down. Which is saying something since Moon Called put me to sleep.

Mercy has turned into a very intriguing character. She can fight when she needs to but she knows when to keep her mouth shut and just listen to what is going on around her. She has a nice attitude when it comes to everyone but Adam. I love their tension and I love her beat up old car that she deliberately leaves in the way of his perfect view.

Blood Bound wasn’t just character driven though. It was also an interesting mystery driven by who this rogue was and what he wanted. Where he would strike next and who would be in trouble. It kept me on the edge of my seat, just waiting for the next twist to arise. Briggs brought in so many different characters to help with the telling of Blood Bound, witnesses, families, leads but she didn’t bog us down with any of their back story or repetitive problems. We got on with the mystery, unravelling the whodunit which is what kept me so on edge.

I will admit that I was hesitant about reading Blood Bound. After the train-wreck that was Moon Called and the mildly redeeming qualities of Cry Wolf it took me a while to step back into the world of Mercedes Thompson. But boy am I glad that I did.

Unfortunately one can’t skip Moon Called because there is too much detail about the characters and the world but don’t let that stop you from diving into Blood Bound because this is where the series truly comes alive.

Also in this series:
Moon Called
Iron Bound
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked

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: Blood Song by Cat Adams

Review: Blood Song
Series: Blood Singer – Book 1
Author: Cat Adams
No of Pages: 364
Release Date: 8 June 2010

Bodyguard Celia Graves plies her trade in a world where vampires roam the alleys of Tinseltown and movie stars openly practise witchcraft, where street corner psychics have real powers and cops use memory enhancement spells on witnesses. An ordinary human, Celia relies on street smarts and charmed weapons to protect the rich and famous from mortal and supernatural threats.

She’s landed a plum job protecting the prince of a small but politically vital nation while he tour’s Los Angele’s least savoury hot spots. But what should be a routine assignment goes badly wrong: Celia is attacked by a master vampire and knows she is about to die.

To her shock, Celia wakes on a cold metal table in a university lab. Celia Graves has become an abomination, neither fully mortal nor fully vampire. Her “master” is hunting her, to destroy her or finish what his bite began. She’s accused of murder, and the cops aren’t sure whether she should be locked up or staked. And then there’s the demon she glimpsed during the vampire attack....

Struggling to cope with her new powers and trying not to terrify everyone she meets with a flash of fang, Celia reaches out for help from her once (and future?) lover, a powerful mage; his warrior-priest brother; a handsome werewolf who keeps his lupine nature concealed from the world; an elderly clairvoyant; and one trustworthy cop.

Celia Graves has three days to save the world, her sanity, and her soul.

My Thoughts:

Blood Song was definitely not what I expected, but I am in two different minds about whether or not I like it.

Blood Song follows the story of bodyguard Celia Graves. On a very high profile assignment, she is attacked and turned into an abomination a partially turned vampire. She can still go out in daylight, but the sunburn is terrible, isn’t affected by holy items but can only consume liquids.

Celia is tough; there is no questioning that, she has the training, the knowledge and the intelligence to put it to good use. Yet I didn’t connect with her at all. I think this was my main drawback with Blood Song. We were told that she was traumatised as a child, but that was it, no depth to that, no details no show of emotion. Instead of feeling what Celia was feeling, we were just told. For a good chunk of Blood Song I thought she was a weak minded whinger because we weren’t told anything.

Blood Song was a shallow read, even though it kept me coming back for more. There was an extremely funny part that had me laughing out loud, but I can’t actually remember it. There was a smattering of secondary characters that made no impact on me and I had a hard time remembering who they were when they were mentioned later on.

I loved Adams version of vampires though. They are the old-fashioned truly evil mind controlling kind. Not sexualised with people wanting to join their ranks, but with people holing up in Holy places just so they feel safe.

The world of Santa Maria de Luna was interesting enough. Adams created it from scratch, although not everything made sense, it was easy to picture and the strongest imagery was created when they described the ocean through Celia’s eyes. I could hear the gulls and taste the air as well.

From the description, you expect a story about a bodyguard. You don’t get one though, you get a half vampire chick that is constantly driving somewhere and losing weapons. But that in itself is realistic in an odd way. The way Celia reacted, fought and dealt with the situation – sometimes crumbling, trying to keep it together, looking for help – was realistic. I think that was the draw point for me. She was playing tough chick, but not to the point where you thought you wouldn’t do it yourself.

Although I had trouble connecting with Celia, or really feeling much of what was going on for the duration of the story. I want to go back into that world. I want to find out what happens even though we seem to be taking a completely different turn. I want to find out if anything will ever happen with the obviously forming love triangle.

Blood Song draws you in, and doesn’t let go even if you are confused for a good chunk of the story. It becomes a need to find out what will happen, and I intend to find out.

Also in this series:
Siren Song

Book Review: Shadowfae by Erica Hayes

Review: Shadowfae
Series: The Shadowfae Chronicles – Book 1
Author: Erica Hayes
No. Of Pages: 267
Release Date: 13 October 2009

Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their songs, and big green trolls bust beads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape...

Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shape-shifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she does, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah – and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

My Thoughts:

Shadowfae was as interesting as it was hot.

Jade is your perfect gritty character. She was a nun who has pretty much turned into a paranormal crack-whore. To live she needs to feed off the energy of a person’s climax and the energy of her demon master, Kane.

Our story is set in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne is infamous for it’s dangerous night life and gang land wars. According to Hayes, a lot of the side gangs and drug runners are supernatural beings. We see their stories unfold in the Chronicles to come. But for now it’s focused on Jade the succubus.

As soon as Kane wills her to do something, she must do it because of the bands that circle her arms, she is indebted to Kane for a thousand years, after which, she will die. For Jade it is a lonely existence because she hates Kane for his part in what she has become.

Enter Rajah, her sexy rival who is an incubus, for Jade to be free Rajah must die, but can she kill the man she is beginning to love? Rajah is sought after by nearly as many who want Jade as he himself wants her.

Together they embark on a journey to freedom and also to each other. Only they know what it feels like to be indebted to Kane and so they find solace with eachother.

Shadowfae was a hot read, the intimate scenese between Jade and her patrons had an edge of darkness to them, whilst her and Rajah made the pages steam with the intensity of their joining.

I love how the book flowed smoothly, even though we were constanly changing characters between Rajah, Jade and Kane. For Kane being such a bad guy, i started to like him aswell, with his vulnerability and soft-spot for Jade.

The trip into the Supernatural underworld that lies beneath the lights of Melbourne was intriguing, it’s like a paranormal Underbelly, but better. The scenery was vivid and detailed without taking time out from the story, everything just flowed together and it was an intense read.

I will definitely be picking up Shadowglass as I would love to read the next chapter in the life of Melbournes supernatural crime.

Others in this series:
Shadowglass

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Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Review: Hex Hall
Series: Hex Hall – Book 1
Author: Rachel Hawkins
No. Of Pages: 323
Release Date: 3 March 2010

When sixteen-year-old Sophie Mercer discovers she’s a witch, she imagines like will be full of magic, fun and...well...broomsticks! But her first attempt at a love spell goes disastrously wrong and, as punishment, Sophie is shipped off to Hecate “Hex” Hall, a reform school for witches, shape shifters and faeries.

By the end of her first day among her fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like super-models, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person on campus and the only vampire.

Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students and her only friend is the number-one suspect...

My Thoughts:

When I first opened Hex Hall I felt Harry Potter, by the middle I felt Evernight and by the end I felt something so spell bindingly interesting that it could only be unique.

Hex Hall is a magical school for delinquents. Not all Prodigium (magical beings) go there, only the ones that place the magical world in danger of exposure, like a fairy flying to catch the school bus, a werewolf losing control and eating someone or in Sophie’s case, a love spell that caused her school formal to come to a crashing halt.

Sophie is a unique character, she knows some of what she can do, and practises! But she has not reached her full potential just yet. Sophie is quite normal for being a witch; she doesn’t always have a snappy comeback and usually thinks of them after the fight is over. She gets scared like normal people do but can toughen up when the time comes.

The secondary characters weren’t too fleshed out in Hex Hall but it didn’t take away from the story, the coven was a nice touch, Sophie wasn’t trying to be part of the bitchyness that came with who the coven were, no matter how many times they asked her to join, she continued to refuse. Watching the cat-fights between Sophie and Jenna and the Coven was interesting, and some of the pranks, although dangerous were quite unique.

I loved how Hawkins took the time to give the history of witch hunts and of the Prodigium without making it boring, I devoured the history parts.

The romance though, I’m not so sure. Archer Cross was described as “slender, almost to the point of skinny” and “strange guy who was not that hot”. I couldn’t understand how Sophie had a sudden flare up of emotion for him after being adamant about the not liking him factor, I mean, he’s not even hot...

I devoured Hex Hall just because it was completely enchanting. Hawkins draws you into her world of mis-matched tables and psychotic gym teachers and won’t let go until she gives you the final curve ball at the end, which I did not see coming at all.

Hex Hall would have been an awesome stand-alone book as it didn’t stick to normal YA clichés and didn’t leave you with an airy-fairy feeling at the end, but one that makes you think long and hard about possible repercussions of one’s actions and people actually getting their come-uppance in the end.

I originally thought Hex Hall was a stand-alone, and with the ending (cliffhangerish) it left a lot of room for thought, but then I found out that there was a second book in what is supposed to be a trilogy. So we might get some whacked HEA after all.

Others in this Series:
Demonglass

Reviews by Others:
I Just Want to Sit Here and Read
Sarah's Book Reviews

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Book Review: Embers by Laura Bickle

Review: Embers

Series: Embers – Book 1

Author: Laura Bickle

No. Of Pages: 359

Release Date: 30 March 2010

TRUTH BURNS.

Unemployment, despair, anger – visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya – who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern – suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil’s Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya – with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team – can stop it.

Anya’s accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she’s risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.

My Thoughts:

Embers wasn’t what it could have been.

After an interesting start things started happening that were just plain odd, and not in a good way.

The storyline about a fire investigator was intriguing, it’s just a pity that we had about two chapters of investigative work and the rest was filler.

Anya presents as an interesting character, she is intelligent, quick-witted and gutsy. Anya is a Lantern, a fire elemental, and I just wish in one book involving powers that someone would actually be inquisitive enough to explore what they can do and be completely ignorant of them until halfway through the middle of the story. It became quite boring seeing how much Drake, the evil guy who is also a Lantern could do that Anya couldn’t.

My favourite character would have to be Sparky, which would be inevitable for most people as he is a funny little creature who is like a playful puppy. Sparky is a salamander with a taste for electrical currents and a love for his plastic glow worm.

The other secondary characters didn’t really fit in with the story, some were meant to, but others just didn’t work.

Ciro was excellent, smart and dependable. Jules was annoying because he was an overbearing bible basher that took everyone around him for granted, he was too narrow minded to really fit in with what he was supposed to be doing. Max was a pointless character who caused too much trouble, not in a funny way though, in a what the hell are you doing kind of way. Max didn’t bring anything interesting to the table at all. Katie is a witch, but I kept getting the feeling that she was fake, for all of the magical beings around her she just didn’t square up with her massages and salt throwing, and yet she relied upon for her “talents”. She just didn’t really work as a character.

Brian goes both ways for me; he’s almost a nerdy version of tall, dark and handsome. He also seems too good for Anya, and he was. He fell into a coma early into the novel, and it seemed like that was just so Bickle could get him out of the way while Anya consorted with other men whilst trying to convince herself she was in love with Brian.

The sex scene was kind of pointless, and I’m a person who likes a bit of smut in her novels, but the fact that the love scene was lacking the love interest and was just a one-night stand with some dude was completely irrelevant.

I have been taught when writing that if it doesn’t attribute to character development or the storyline, it’s not worth putting in. Bickle has obviously never heard this saying.

I know I went on a lot about the characters, but they are what stood out to me this story. There was no storyline, it fizzled out in the first four chapters, it was all Anya, and it was boring.

If I manage to snag a free copy of Sparks, from a sale or a contest, I will read it, but I’m not going to go out and buy it based on Embers.

Others in this Series:
Sparks

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Book Review: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Review: First Drop of Crimson

Series: Night Huntress World – Book 1
Author: Jeaniene Frost
No. Of Pages: 371
Release Date: 9th February 2010

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shape shifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.

My Thoughts:

Mrs. Frost, you have done it again.

I knocked this book over in a day; it was of the same quality as the Cat and Bones books.

I always loved Spade, ever since his first appearance in Halfway to the Grave he has been a character that I have wanted to see more of. Spade was a Baron before he was turned so he still has those gentlemanly qualities that we wish would crop up in everyday life. Even something as small as him helping people out of the car would make me sigh.

Denise is a strong woman; she was never one of those characters that made an impact for me though, just a person in the background. In FDOC though she absolutely shined, I know that is the point, but still the character that was portrayed was not what I was expecting at all. Denise was strong minded, strong willed and stubborn. This to me is a beautiful combination.

The banter between the two had some laugh out loud moments, which was also something I wasn’t expecting. Denise was a character I think that so far I am most like in how she talks, and also with the constant worry of the cost to other people. The moments when she was trying to calculate in her head whether her entire house would cover the expense to Spade on their journey was very funny.

As for the storyline, it was another huge surprise. Usually I can tell what’s going to happen during most of the novels I pick up. FDOC was a complete rollercoaster ride for the entire book. Everything was exciting, new and completely unexpected. After reading the Cat and Bones books you think to yourself “yes, this will probably continue on with their war and their story” but it is completely different. I love that Frost has incorporated such a closeness between the characters yet such a separation because they can go for two years without seeing each other and still be best friends.

The demon storyline was very interesting as I have only covered demons recently in one other book. I love the vampires, but for a vampire series with a focus on a demon, just because they feel like it, is refreshing.
Cat and Bones showed up late in this novel. It was almost wrong in a way not to be reading from Cats point of view when she showed up, just because I love her so much. But that awkwardness (and my stupidity) only lasted about two sentences before I was grinning because I got to hear Bone’s voice in my head again.

The romance in FDOC was different to Cat and Bones story, because Spade and Denise had both suffered a loss. I was so grateful to Frost for how she addressed the issue and didn’t wipe out the previous feelings with undeniable love and mind controlling lust. The characters accepted the past for what it was and also came to terms with the fact that they weren’t replacing their loved ones or forgetting them but that the new love was love as well and it is possible to love again. It is inspiring, especially for me.

I think that, if I had to choose, the only thing that I don't like about this book is the cover. Even when I first saw it months ago, that is not how I see Spade or Denise in my head. It looks trashier than what this book is. FDOC is tender and very caring, but that cover portrays Spade as dirty and Denise as easy, which neither of them were, in any way.

Overall First Drop of Crimson is of the same calibre, and fits perfectly into the Night Huntress world. The romance was beautiful, the characters were a scream and the storyline was unique. I have to undoubtedly play favourites and say that I still love Cat and Bones more (probably because they have four books), but that Spade and Denise’s story is not one to be missed. FDOC would definitely work as a standalone novel if one hasn’t previously read the Night Huntress series.

Content Warning: First Drop of Crimson does contain sexually explicit material and some swearing.

Others in this series:
Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Others who reviewed this:
Obsessed!

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