Book Review: Lover Unbound by J. R. Ward

Review: Lover Unbound
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood – Book 5
Author: J. R. Ward
No of Pages: 502
Release Date: 25 September 2007

In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against its will...

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter, possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father’s war camp, he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the time – until a destiny he didn’t choose takes him into a future that cannot include her...

My Thoughts:

Lover Unbound almost surpassed Lover Awakened as my new favourite in this series, until the ending.

Vishous is the intelligent one, the ruthless one, the cursed one. With his birthday just around the corner he gets a visit from the Scribe Virgin telling him that he is destined to become the Primale, a warrior who lives amongst the Chosen and is charged with replenishing the race. But when he gets shot in the chest and rushed to a human hospital, a wrench gets thrown in the works in the form of Jane, the doctor who saves him.

I have loved Vishous from the first book. He’s dark mysterious ways and his unique, calculating nature was all explored in Lover Unbound. His odd sexual tastes that seem to stem from his violent and traumatic past involving his father all come to the surface as Vishous is ripped apart and put back together again because of his attraction for Jane who was at the centre of his first vision in a long time.

Jane is a strong woman, nothing much fazes her and she is only interested in surviving and saving lives with her work. After losing her sister when she was young Jane went into the medical field to try and save as many people as she could, so they would never have to go through what she went through.

I loved Lover Unbound; I loved exploring Vishous’ nature and the inevitable barriers of falling in love after being traumatised by people he should have been able to trust. I loved Jane’s and Vishous’ relationship in general Jane’s no nonsense attitude when it comes to what she does best. She doesn’t care if Vishous is a dangerous monster as long as he is well.

Lover Unbound was beautifully written as the others are in the series and gave us further insight into John’s story and that of the Scribe Virgin. Lover Unbound was almost perfect, I say almost because of one thing. The last fifty pages.

The ending of Lover Unbound was absolutely atrocious. Ward created an unneeded problem and then created an even worse solution. She had laid all the ground work for an ending that would have worked perfectly giving each party what they wanted in the end, but no, she had to rip one apart and give all of the control to the other.

It was unfair on the couple, and unfair on Vishous what she did to them, she couldn’t just leave him alone to finally be happy. Perfect ending right there, I’ve found what I’m looking for, I am a complete person now let me take my woman home and be happy. But no.
The ending disappointed me, not because it didn’t end how I wanted it to, but it ended stupidly and unnecessarily. It makes me worry about what is in store for the rest of the series if Ward is willing to destroy a perfect book in the way she did.

Of course I am eager to continue on, because I want to get to John’s story, but I have become wary of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series in general now because it was moving along swimmingly, until this.

Also in this series:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Enshrined
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine
Lover Unleashed

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: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Review: Dead to the World
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 4
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 321
Release Date: 3 May 2005

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. She’s pretty. She does her job well. But she has only a few close friends, because not everyone appreciates Sookie’s gift: she can read minds. That’s not exactly every man's idea of date bait - unless they’re undead; vampires and the like can be tough to read. And that’s just the kind of guy Sookie’s been looking for. Maybe that’s why, when she comes across a naked vampire on the way home from work, she doesn’t just drive on by. He hasn’t got a clue who he is, but Sookie has: Eric looks just as scary and sexy – and dead – as the day she met him. But now he has amnesia, he’s sweet, vulnerable, and in need of Sookie’s help – because whoever took his memory now wants his life.

Sookie’s investigation into what’s going on leads her into a battle between witches vampires and werewolves. But there could be even greater danger – to Sookie’s heart – because the kinder, gentler Eric is very hard to resist.

My Thoughts:

Another dive into the world of Sookie Stackhouse, and now that Bill is out of the way, it’s getting interesting.

Sookie once again is just getting better, taking Eric in after he suffers amnesia to help keep him safe to me is just so good for her and her growth in this society. Sookie still remembers her place in the supernatural society, but she also is starting to come into her own. Things aren’t quite as scary anymore and when Sookie finds out about witches actually existing she doesn’t freak out like she would have in earlier books.

Eric is just getting hotter as far as I’m concerned. Suffering from amnesia at the hands of the witches Eric has forgotten that he is a 1,000 year old Viking vampire that people bow to and cower in fear from as soon as he enters a room. Eric’s tender side in Dead to the World made me fall even more in love with him than before, because it proves that he’s not just an evil overlord, but that he may have a sliver of humanity left.

Eric is a little bit of an odd character for me, I don’t want him to be gentle; I want him to be hard hitting, evil and funny. But in Dead to the World, his tender side was just so perfect; it didn’t even seem like Eric. So although I missed witty Eric, I absolutely loved gentle Eric and although it fits him I can’t see the two sides of him ever reconciling into one being and if I had to choose it would definitely be evil Eric.

Alcide and his wolves also play a major part again in this book and with the addition of Alcide it once again adds more of a plot mover to the story.

I was so glad that Bill barely made an appearance in Dead to the World, as in Club Dead because I really don’t like him. Sookie doesn’t need the distraction that Bill causes and I am hoping that the series continues on this broader path of the extended set of characters.

Dead to the World also introduces witches, which for me wasn’t that big a deal. They seemed more like the hippy Wiccans rather than full blown cackling witches for most of the story. They made for an interesting dilemma for Sookie to deal with though.

Dead to the World was yet another excellent instalment in this fabulous series.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and GoneDead in the Family

Book Review: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Review: Club Dead
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 3
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 274
Release Date: 1 May 2003

Sookie Stackhouse always found it a little difficult to date – she’s cute, but not many guys are comfortable with her mind-reading abilities. But vampires have no problems with Sookie’s talent – she can’t pick up much of anything with the undead.

But there’s only one vampire Sookie Stackhouse is with – at least voluntarily – right now, and that’s Bill. But recently he’s been a little distant – in another state distant. His sinister and sexy boss Eric has an idea where to find him, and next thing Sookie knows, she’s off to Jackson, Mississippi, to mingle with the underworld at Club Dead. It’s a dangerous little haunt where the elusive vampire society go to chill out and suck down some Type O – but when Sookie finally finds Bill, he’s not only in trouble, but caught in the act of serious betrayal. Should she save him, or sharpen some stakes?

My Thoughts:

Thrown back into the world of Sookie Stackhouse the story gets even better with the addition of werewolves.

Bill is missing and Sookie has taken it upon herself to find him. Eric enlists the aid of a werewolf who knows the area called Alcide, as he owes Eric a debt.

Sookie just keeps getting stronger and funnier as far as I’m concerned. She still knows her limits and the fact that she is a human among supernatural beings. But she doesn’t seem as naive as she once was back in Dead Until Dark.

Eric is still as irresistible as ever showing up once again as Leif the faithful friend of Sookie Stackhouse. It’s because of Bill that Sookie gets into most of the messes she’s in and it’s always Eric that is there to back her up.

And then we come to Alcide. The big bad wolf who is as gentle as a puppy dog. Taking Sookie under his wing as she tries to navigate the seemingly huge city of Jackson he is the perfect gentleman and the most promising introduction to this series yet.

I loved that Sookie could feel at home with Alcide whether it was just over dinner or while at a club or even while burying a mysterious dead body they found in a closet. They were at an ease with each other that was refreshing in a series where Sookie is usually seen as an outsider looking in, even with the vampires.

My favourite love-to-hate character so far would now have to be Debbie, Alcide's ex. Her big crime? Dumping Alcide the were-wolf for a were-owl but still not wanting anyone else to have Alcide which she makes blaringly obvious to Sookie by not just burning her clothes with cigarettes, but also occasionally trying to kill her.

Sookie Stackhouse is only getting better as it goes along not only do we get the comedy of watching a human in the mix of some dangerous people, we also get the well written mystery of “Where’s Bill?” which if anything kept me more involved with the story than the rollercoaster ride of Sookie’s love life.

Club Dead was an excellent third instalment to this increasingly fantastic series. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into Dead to the World.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and GoneDead in the Family

Book Review: Crazy by Eve Langlais

Review: Crazy
Author: Eve Langlais
No of Pages: 52
Release Date: 22 November 2010

Institutionalized at a young age after the breakup of her parents, Ella’s always heard voices. Even worse, the voices in her head like to act. She thinks she’s crazy and destined to be a patient for life until the night she meets a vampire and for the first time in her life, the voices shut up.

Zane just wants to enjoy his usual blood buffet, instead he runs into a wisp of a woman who makes him feel emotions he thought long dead. Rescuing her from the insane asylum, he brings her home, determined to assuage his lust; a plan that is foiled by ghostly voices more determined to keep her pure than a steel welded chastity belt.

Together they discover Ella might not be as crazy as everyone thinks, but even as they discover her innate power, someone from her past wants to hurt her. Will crazy and un-dead prevail against covetous evil? And most important of all, will the voices ever allow them to indulge in the desire that consumes them?


My Thoughts:

Although Crazy was definitely intriguing it didn’t live up to my high expectations of Langlais’ abilities.

Ella is crazy, literally. She hears voices and sometimes has violent tendencies that she can’t control. She has been in mental hospitals since she was seven years old, now she’s twenty-five. Ella is resigned to her existence; relying only on a prophecy the voices told her when she was young of a man coming to rescue her.

Ella was definitely interesting but a little too naive and flimsy for my tastes. She was constantly flinging herself into Zane’s arms whenever he entered a room. It crossed me as more childish rather passionate or loving. She provided the comic relief with her constant battle with the voices in her head which was quite an interesting storyline when she explored what the voices were capable of if provoked.

Zane was also a little off for my tastes, yeah sure vampires have a tendency to find a woman they can’t resist or realise instantly that they can’t live without but his thought process was to “take her home to seduce her”, then later on he decided he couldn’t live without her, but I couldn’t feel that.

Crazy was well written in its ideas like much of Langlais’ other work but it just didn’t work for me like I was expecting. It was good, but not great. It was funny but not overly. It was passionate but it was transparent.

They may have been professing their love for one another, but it was hard for the reader to see or feel that for themselves. It was very tell with no show.

The action in Crazy was also short lived. A total of four paragraphs with no suspense housed the action and the bad guy of the plot; almost to the point where he wasn’t even needed Crazy would have been just fine without him and his weirdness.

I love Mrs. Langlais’ work and I will continue reading it as fast as I can get my hands on it but Crazy, whilst keeping me entertained with its superb writing and fairly likeable characters just didn’t do it for me.

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

Available at:
Amazon
Book Depository

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