Book Review: Bargains and Betrayals by Shannon Delany

Review: Bargains and Betrayals
Series: 13 to Life – Book 3
Author: Shannon Delany
No of Pages: 303
Release Date: 16 August 2011

Locked away at Pecan Place, Jessie finds her situation to be even more dangerous than she feared. While she struggles to maintain her sanity and discover answers about the group that seems less and less like any legitimate government agency, Pietr fights to keep their relationship alive. But very aware that his mother’s time is running out, Pietr makes a deal he doesn’t dare tell Jessie about. Because the deal Pietr’s made could mean the death of far more than the tenuous relationship with the girl he loves.

My Thoughts:

Bargains and Betrayals was definitely an improvement on Secrets and Shadows.

Jessie is locked away at Pecan Place, an institute for the mentally unstable, and she quickly learns that Pecan Place is hiding some pretty big secrets when it comes to what they are doing to their patients.

Jessie matured between Secrets and Shadows and Bargains and Betrayals and although it was only minor it was definitely an improvement, yes she was still pining after Pietr but at least she has a real reason to this time. By the end of Bargains and Betrayals Jessie was actually a likeable character again, putting others with bigger problems before herself and stopping to think about her actions before running after Pietr every ten seconds.

Pietr was still a little annoying being his typical I am seventeen therefore I am a grown-up and can make huge decisions for myself. Uh yeah buddy, no you can’t. Pietr was still irrational and mildly irritating in this book but we didn’t see that much of him compared to the previous two books.

For the first time in this series, the POV was spilt between Jessie and Alexi and I absolutely loved it. Reading from Alexi’s POV was absolutely fascinating and definitely kept the book going, we had a mature outsiders impression of the situation, sure Alexi decided to become a drunk about halfway through for a little while, but his blackouts were reverted back to Jessie’s mind so it didn’t impact too much.

Alexi is a very interesting character, having done everything he can for his family and still being shunned, watching his inner turmoil as he continues fighting for those he loves is amazing. He left the love of his life for his family and it’s only after Cat becomes human again that she really starts to bond with him.

Bargains and Betrayals was definitely much better than the previous two books, I will admit that I was reluctant to pick it up after finishing Secrets and Shadows and it was only because I had a review copy that I read it at all, but I devoured it quickly and it was on my mind from the moment I put it down right up until I dived back in once again.

The story actually moves this time around, it moves quite a bit to be honest, we are still lacking many answers but they are more answers to questions like how can people get away with these evils things they are doing. I think Delany may have shorn off a few plot points a little too abruptly, it was almost like she didn’t want to continue having that bad guy as a problem, so she just killed them, every time a character got too in the way she killed them off which was a little weird, but I suppose you can’t have all these characters antagonising the mains when the mains have making out and devoting themselves to each other to do.

I am interested in this series, and this book has definitely redeemed some of the series more horrible qualities but I am not sure if I will be continuing on. Considering there is another book whose release date hasn’t been announced yet and this series general lack of memorability I will probably end up just as confused as I was when I picked up Secrets and Shadows a year after 13 to Life.

Others in this series:
13 to Life
Secrets and Shadows

Book Review: Elizabeth's Wolf by Lora Leigh

Review: Elizabeth’s Wolf
Series: Breeds – Book 3
Author: Lora Leigh
No of Pages: 304
Release Date: 30 June 2005

Dash thought himself alone, a soldier, a fighting machine and no more.

Elizabeth made him realise he was a man.

Danger surrounds the woman his soul marked as his mate, death and blood and treachery that go beyond even his worst nightmares. But he will protect her and what she claims as her own. He was created to kill, trained to do it efficiently, and only a man bound to her, heart and soul, will have the strength to save Elizabeth and her prized possession.

My Thoughts:

You don’t really read Breeds books for their riveting plots, but for me Elizabeth’s Wolf was just too far-fetched in how she brought the pair together.

Dash is a soldier, a soldier who has been wounded very badly. He starts receiving letters from a little girl in a school program. Cassie writes to Dash telling her about her life, about her mother, her troubles and her search for a new daddy as she doesn’t have one. Through a brief, two line description of Cassie’s mother, Dane falls in love with her.

After being on the run for the past two years Elizabeth is running out of steam both physically and mentally, and when Dash walks into the restaurant she’s sitting in with her daughter and introduces himself, she goes with him.

For me, this storyline was just a little too off with the pixies, if I had been on the run from criminals for the past two years and had no trust in anyone, no way would I trust a guy who had just walked into a random restaurant I had picked to eat at after tracking me for the past few weeks. I would not get in his car with my baby and go off with him. And yet Elizabeth, the strong willed, stubborn woman did.

Like I said, you don’t read Breeds for the plot and although this plot was too stretched for my tastes the sex as always is good, even though Leigh took it a little too far in this aspect as well. I will spare the details of the nitty gritties, but there are certain things in certain areas of one’s life and ones anatomy that just don’t work like that regardless of the person on the other ends DNA.

And then there was the shaving scene. There is not much in this world that will make me cringe, and this raised the bad kind of goose bumps. Not only would I be monumentally embarrassed to have someone shave me, let alone my lover, but I would also be inconsolably enraged at the gall my lover would have to even attempt doing such a thing, and for those who haven’t caught on yet; he wasn’t shaving under her arms...

Elizabeth’s Wolf is good in a sense if you want to use it for dirty smutty relief, but if you’re going in there for a good story I really suggest you don’t waste the time or money. I will not warn you off the rest of the Breed’s books though just because this one for me was a flop. I will continue the series, mainly because I need my occasional dosages of smut relief.

 Also in this series:
Tempting the Beast
The Man Within
Kiss of Heat
Soul Deep
The Breed Next Door
Megan's Mark
Harmony's Way
Tanner's Scheme
Wolfe's Hope
Jacob's Faith
Aiden's Charity
In a Wolf's Embrace
Dawn's Awakening
A Jaguar's Kiss
Mercury's War
Christmas Heat
Coyotes Mate
Christmas Kiss
Bengals Heart
Lions Heat

Book Review: 13 to Life by Shannon Delany

Review: 13 to Life
Series: 13 to Life – Book 1
Author: Shannon Delany
No of Pages: 308
Release Date: 22 June 2010

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But while showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent – he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid.

My Thoughts:

13 to Life was a quick, engaging read, even though it was missing a few details.

13 to Life follows the story of Jessica, a sixteen year old girl who recently lost her mother in a car accident. Jessica is given the assignment of showing the new kid, Pietr, around for his first weeks at school, a task she instantly takes a disliking to.

They clash instantly and the tension only rises when he becomes the centre of every female’s attention (including a couple of teachers’). Jess seems to be the only person immune to his powers of attraction, so therefore becomes the centre of Pietr’s attention.

Jessica is an extremely likable character, even though some things she does puzzle me. She is on the school newspaper, seems to have friends to sit with in all of her activities and is a fairly nice person. What I don’t understand is her friendship with Sarah, former Queen Bee turned nice, it just seems odd moulding somebody into what you want them to be, and it grated a little that she was trying so hard even though it is apparent that Sarah staying a nice person, isn’t going to happen.

Pietr came across as somewhat arrogant at the beginning of 13 to Life, not caring about school, ignoring Jessica or winding her up, but as we delve deeper into him, one can’t help but like him. Pietr is reckless, brave and a little innocent in his ways. Add that to the hotness factor and you have one sizzling male lead.

We are also given a smattering of secondary characters that were really well developed. Amy the true best friend is not only funny but brutally honest, Catherine, Pietr’s sister, is bright and really friendly (she actually reminds me of Alice from Twilight) and Annabelle Lee, Jess’s bibliophilic younger sister, who seemed extremely out of place with her love of old classics.

What I absolutely loved about 13 to Life was the relationship between Jessica and Pietr. With Jessica not wanting a relationship “like that” they fell into what became a close friendship helping each other through tough times when the loss of their parents hit them hardest. Of course that friendship had a couple of benefits, like sordid make out sessions in the stables when they were supposed to be shovelling horse poop. It wasn’t one of the I-must-have-you-now relationships, it was a friendship first which made it that much sweeter.

What I didn’t like was the lack of information about, well, everything. We didn’t find out about the werewolves until the last 100 pages which is when all the action started. We didn’t find out about the details of the car accident until halfway through, or the weird crush Jess had on Derek, which seemed to just disappear suddenly. There are still a lot of unanswered questions for me, and although I think a good 70% could have been answered just fine in the first book, I guess I will just have to wait until the second.

Others in this series:
Secrets and Shadows

Book Review: Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

Review: Touch the Dark
Series: Cassandra Palmer – Book 1
Author: Karen Chance
No. Of Pages: 307
Release Date: 6th June 2006

Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits – talent that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. The ghosts of the dead aren’t usually dangerous: they just like to talk...a lot.

The undead are another matter.

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with a vengeance on his mind, she’s forced to turn to the vampire senate for protection.

The undead senators won’t help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members – a dangerously seductive master vampire – and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

My Thoughts:

I’m still unsure about this book.

Touch the Dark was interesting; it had some intriguing twists and turns. But it’s not a pull-you-in-and-not-let-go-until-you-finish type of book. If I had something better to do, I would do it.

Cassie is a good character, just good. She can communicate with ghosts and see people’s pasts. Which would usually make me squirm in anticipation and possibly drool, but Cassie as a person is a little boring, a whinger and slightly stupid. Not in a learn your lesson the first time type stupid. Cassie as a character without her powers over-shadows the entire book.

The storyline is a pretty good one, one in which I would like to see unfold. It follows Cassie's journey from her secretive life in hiding from Tony, the mob boss master vampire who has been after her ever since she ran away from his house.

In running she gets caught up with Thomas, her supposedly homeless roommate, who also turns out to be a master vampire. He takes her to the senate of the paranormal world.

One thing that I absolutely love about Touch the Dark is the fact that it’s not just vampires in this, we get weres of every kind, mages, witches, fairies, ghosts and more. Although Touch the Dark is centred around vampires, there is obvious potential to explore the other species as we continue on in the series.

The scenes in which Cassie was pulled back in time were interesting, but a little repetitive; I liked how Chance used the figures from history to help portray her characters. Jean-Paul was an over-bearing but interesting character; he was supposedly the infamous man in the silk mask. Then there was also Dracula’s brother Mircea who must’ve survived his fate brought to him in the Dracula books.

Mircea started out as an interesting and likeable character, but then he also became over-bearing and quite annoying with his constant demands.

Touch the Dark has a very interesting concept, and I will continue the series, but it’s not anything special. Hopefully, now that we have laid the ground work for the world the series will pick up.

Also in this series:
Claimed by Shadow
Embrace the Night
Curse the Dawn

Available at:
Amazon
Book Depository