Author Archives: karenjvjohnson

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Witch’s Bell 2

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18910467

Witch’s Bell 2 (The Adventures of Ebony Bell #2)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first book in this series did not exactly grab me, but this one made me more of a fan. This time around I was ready and got into the story a lot quicker with a lot more interest in what was going on. The fact that Ebony seemed a bit more subdued and not so manic and annoying helped get me there. The plot here was a lot tighter and well thought out, at least for me, then the first which I completed but was not sure if I even liked the character. The characters felt more real to me here though I am still not fully invested in the world they inhabit.

After almost losing herself and being rewritten months ago Ebony has finally found her purpose and balance in life. She and Harry the bookstore are doing well and she has moved in to be closer. Things are going well with her job. The only thing seems to be that the police are busier than ever as magic seems to be running amok and her job seems to never end.

Something deadly and sinister is happening in Vale and Ebony is about to find herself at the center of trouble once again. And just to keep things interesting she is being courted by a handsome wizard from out of town named Aaron Heart who is in town to talk about security for a wizards convention. Meanwhile, Detective Nate Wall seems decidely jealous, though he hasn’t made a move of his own.

There is only one thing that really bugged me and that was the fact that so many words had been misused throughout the book. The word ‘where’ was used when they meant ‘were’ as well as ‘allowed’ for ‘aloud’. It kind of throws off your train of though while you try to make sense of it.

The books are sweet with a hint of danger and darkness with the potential for romance eventually. Ebony Bell is a likeable character most of the time but sometimes seems a bit naive for someone who grew up a witch. I hope to get better acquainted with the other characters who populate Vale.

“Magic is like silver cutlery, Ebony, you only bring it out to either impress, or stab, important guests.”
― Odette C. Bell, Witch’s Bell Book One
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Chained

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19035622

Chained (Brides of the Kindred #9)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Well here we are at number nine in the series and things keep getting more interesting with each new bride and each new warrior we meet. Even though I can see a bit of a formula in the construction of the stories but this does not take anything away from the development of the characters or each unique situation these couples find themselves in. The worlds they travel to are always so different and strange but at the same time familiar in some way that makes you feel like you could travel there and fit in. I am drawn in every time and am never disappointed when I start my adventure across the galaxy with my kindred guy.

Korexiroth, known as The Demon on the blood circuit has been bought by Lady Pope’nose as her newest body slave and she plans to break him or have him die, she really does not care which. Maggie Jordon is an earth girl and scientist who has been given permission to go on an expedition to Gaia with a married kindred couple but first they must make a stop on Yonnie Six to make a delivery to Lady Pope’Nose. Maggie is a bit of a klutz and knows it, when she is asked to go down to Yonnie Six anything can happen and none of it all good. Her simple mission to trade a collar for documents belonging to the kindred goes side ways when she decides to free the slave that Pope’nose has paid a great deal for. Kor and Maggie end up traveling a great distance together and apart before they find their way to each other.

There were a few things that bugged me about Maggie like the fact that she kept talking about her fiance who was obviously not a good fit for her, but you would have thought he was the greatest guy around. The more I heard about Donald the more he annoyed me, it also seemed as if someone likes The Big Bang Theory a lot because he reminded me a lot of Sheldon from his aversion to kissing to the way he talks.

These are some of the hottest books with some of the hottest alien men I have read. The love scenes are super hot and always leave me with a smile. I laughed a little, cried a little, and was ready to yell at everyone a lot. My emotions were all over the place and they were not settled even at the end. Enjoy this entry.

“Her hand shook as she raised the loincloth and she gave a little gasp at what she saw beneath. Even only half hard, he was big. Way bigger than anyone else in her limited experience—especially Donald whose equipment reminded her of a shy, skinny worm afraid to come out of its hole.”
― Evangeline Anderson, Chained  Evangeline Anderson
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Sin City

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9753487

Sin City (Hot in the City #2)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a very hot series and gets better every time I read one. I was grabbed right out of the box by the prologue which gave me all the incentive I needed to continue reading. It had one of the hottest phone sex scenes I have ever read and got me interested in both the characters who were involved. The characters were also all written extremely well from the mains to the side ones you get to know something about who they are. The situations depicted were beautifully written and definitely made the temperature rise for me. I loved the setting because I love the place, Las Vegas is my idea of heaven, partly because it was an anything goes place, not so much anymore.

Diana Marsh lives in Baltimore and has a great family, though they tend to be a bit controlling. When her sister in New Orleans breaks ranks and decides to go her own way for love, Diana decides that she must give up her bad girl ways and be the good girl her family wants. That is easier said then done since she has been flirting with a co-worker by phone and email for months, and she is very interested in him, even though they will likely never meet.

Marc Davenport works in the corporate office in Las Vegas and has been calling on Diana regularly for her help on various problems. He has also been flirting shamelessly with the attractive woman in marketing whose picture he has committed to memory. He knows she has a boyfriend, though she does not seem into him, but he really wants to get to know her better. That chance presents itself when a team member leaves and they need a woman to complete their task, and Adrianna calls in Diana to help them. How good can you be when there is a hot man waiting to do the most delicious things to you, how good would you want to be.

Great story with characters who are smart, sexy, and very human. This has BDSM play, mmf play, and mff play. Recommend to all.

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Embracing the Wolf

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18890922

Embracing the Wolf

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was looking forward to getting to know the other Ritter brother and it was well worth the wait. The writing here is crisp and expressive with characters who are as real as any I have ever seen. The story flows easily and pulls you along as the tension builds to a great conclusion. The language is perfect and makes me feel connected to everyone.

Kate Davis is a waitress at The Eatery and is working the graveyard shift when a man and a wolf come in to rob it. Unfortunately she is shot when she tries to protect one of her co-workers who wanders in not knowing what is happening and wakes without knowing what happened. Enter Richard Ritter who runs the security company which monitors the diner. He needs to speak to her and so goes to the hospital to continue the questions but never really got around to it. What he does find out is that Kate is the next target of a wolf who has been kidnapping and changing young women against their will. He feels drawn to protect her for a reason he is not sure about and the only way to do that is by taking a step he has avoided for years even while being nagged by his family. Has he found his true mate?

I really fell in love with these characters and the story fit what I would have expected from them. This was a sweet, sexy story with paranormal overtones. Not many wolves seen but a nice fight scene.

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Marked

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13320713

Marked (Eternal Guardians #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wasn’t looking for one but seems like I have found a new series that I have to read. This book just creeped up and grabbed my attention. I have a new author who knows how to lay it out and make you want to read until dawn. I started this and wasn’t particularly drawn in, then in the next instant I found myself unable to put it down. I kept telling myself I would read just one more chapter, but ended up still reading at 3am, not good for a work day. This was one of those books that you fly through because it is going at breakneck speed and you don’t want to wait to find out what is coming next. But then it ends and all you can think about is getting to the next one as soon as possible to continue to that next adventure. The romance here was just what you would want, not to fast, even though they are fated but with enough obstacles to make it interesting. The characters are so well fleshed that you come to know enough about them to really care for them and want things to work out for them.

This was a great take on Greek mythology which can be stale in some hands. Instead of trotting out the same old gods we get to see what happened to the half mortal children of those titans. There is only direct interaction with a few of the actual gods and they are the ones who are always interesting.

Theron is a direct descendent of Heracles (Hercules)and the leader of the Argonauts, those who sailed with Jason on his quest. He is loyal to the King and will do what is needed to save his race, even if that means sacrificing his own happiness. Casey (Acacia) is just a girl, or so she believes who works at a strip club at night to help make ends meet, by day she owns and operates a bookstore which had belonged to her grandmother.

Casey has no idea that a place called Argolea even exists or that the gods of mythology are real. She just knows that she has never seemed to fit in with anyone outside of her family and connections were something she could not make. Then a mysterious man comes into her life and things get a lot more interesting and dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Theron must help to fulfill the prophesy which could help save his race but is he willing to send an innocent girl to her death in order to do so, that is his dilemma.

Love, love, loved this! I think Casey has become one of my favorite female characters because she has a backbone and will not back down just because she is faced with someone bigger and stronger than she is. Give me a girl who can hold her own and I am hooked every time. This had the right balance of romance, violence, betrayal, revenge, redemption, and hot sex. Can’t wait to get to the next one!

“Some nights, a woman just wanted to bash her brain against a wall to keep from screaming.”
― Elisabeth Naughton, Marked
Elisabeth Naughton
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The Judge

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20431728

The Judge (The Elite #3)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have loved this trilogy from the first sentence of the first book and would be just as happy if I got to spend little more time with the characters. I feel like I know each and every one of them personally and that they are friends who are about to move away for good. This is a plea for maybe a chance to find out how things went after for them. 🙂 The characters have from the beginning been very well fleshed out and real, whether they were good guys, bad guys, or somewhere in between. They react and interact in a way that feels genuine to who they are supposed to be. They are a part of this world and you have no doubt about that for a minute. This story begins directly as the second book ends, with the Island playing host to many Elite families and preparing for war.

Connor Moore passed the ancient tests which would declare him as the Judge and been accepted by the five Elite families as their leader in this fight. The most important thing for Connor at this moment however is the fact that Laren has been taken and how quickly they can get to her rescue. Lu wants to run off without a plan but Connor and his father understand they need to be sure of what they do.

When Laren is found it is discovered that Vercin has found a way to turn off the Elite gene, which means he could destroy them without much effort if it is used as a weapon. Connor does not wish to kill but he may find that Vercin is not going to give him any choice, it is a matter of kill or be killed. The final battle for the future of both mankind and Elites is drawing near and everyone will have to sacrifice to keep from being overrun by a tyrant who would be king.

This had one of the best battle scenes I have ever read! It was seen from multiple points of view which give you a glimpse of how things were going in varying locations around the area of battle and allowed you to check in with characters who you may have been worried about. This was visual and visceral for me as I held my breath fearing that someone I cared about would be killed or injured badly. I think that everyone needs to read these books and enjoy the growth of a boy to a man.

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Poe

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18729914

Poe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I received this book for free through NetGalley for an honest review.

I was really happy that I decided to get this book, it caught me off guard and made me love the characters. The writing was fun but still managed to convey a feeling of menace, maybe because even the bad guy had a sense of humor. The characters are all well-developed and give you a sense of reality in who they are and who they may become. I could identify with each of the characters on one level or another and that just made it even better for me. I wondered about the title at first but it quickly resolved itself in an interesting way. I am a big fan of Edgar Allan and one of my favorite stories of his is The Tell-Tale Heart, which is referenced here. There was no lag in the story and everything played out quickly with just the right amount of tension.

Dimitri is a nice guy who has had his fair share of tragedy in his life. When his parents died on their way to visit him at college he decided to leave instead of completing the semester. He ends up taking a job with the local paper writing obituaries while he continues to work on his novel, a paranormal tomb about Rasputin, not exactly the life he had envisioned but it pays the bills. There is a girl he is interested in and he has not even asked her out yet, though he talks to regularly as a source, Lisa works at the local convalescent home and gives him information on the residents.

The real complications start when he is sent out to cover a séance at the local haunted house, the Aspinwall mansion, where a lot of people died years before. This assignment changes his life in ways he would never have been able to imagine. It is also the beginning of a rash of killings that are linked to his family which will shock and terrify the community he lives in.

I really ended up liking Dimitri, right from the start he was this gawky, self-effacing guy with a personality you couldn’t help but be drawn to. Lisa was is the cool girl that you wouldn’t expect to be with him but she has more going for her than just looks, she is everything that he needs and they fit together. While you have some good gory scenes they are not over the top but just right to keep the interest. I found myself laughing, smiling, talking back to the characters (out loud) and being worried for their safety. I had a great time reading it and am hoping for more time with them, not to mention Poe and Nachiel. Seems like things ended on a draw and payback would be nice. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a little romance, ghosts, demons, angels, and immortal exorcist.

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Pollen

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17660771

Pollen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I really don’t have a lot to say about this book. It was relatively enjoyable I suppose but did not really hold my attention, I found myself putting it down to read a Walking Dead comic I had read before. I never connected with any of the characters and they all just seemed a little dull to me, and if you can’t feel for the characters plight or like them. I liked the technology that was used and the concept behind the walled cities was pretty good too. The thing is it seemed to drag from scene to scene and never gave you enough of the characters or anything.

Rome Shackleton lives in New Hanoi and has managed to make something of himself after his stint as a celebrity for attempting to climb the wall and get a look at the outside world when he was a teen. Then he is given something which could not only change his life but that of everyone else in the city. Shunka resides in Little Tokyo and is a 19-year-old Farmer (not what you think) which means she has a good life and can indulge herself in her love of new mods (modifications). Things start to go crazy when her friend is accused of stealing data from the farmers and Shunka must clear her name.

What neither of them know is that their lives and world are not what it seems to be and someone wants to watch what happens when things are stirred up.

I got this because the blurb sounded so interesting and I love science fiction, but maybe it was a bit to subtle or maybe I was too dense to get it. It was alright but not anything I would read again. I would say give it a try to see what you think.

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Dust

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11327688

Dust

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a seriously short story and can be read in less than an hour, though I took longer. This was a well written short for me because I felt like a part of what was going on. I could feel things closing in as things grayed out. References to events that I had actually seen as a child made it that more personal for me. Though you may not get to know the main character as well as you like you understand him enough and get his motivations.

Clyde Jackson builds a bunker after the attack on the twin towers partly because of the loss of his daughter on that day. He was doing it for his wife and himself bu it didn’t work out. When our return to the moon brings back more than just samples the world is not prepared for the devastation, but Clyde is.

This is a story about how even though you may crave isolation, it is never as good as it would seem to be. A really good look at how we handle being truly alone.

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Guest Post by Georgiana Derwent, author of the Cavalier Trilogy

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Oxford Blood (The Cavaliers, book #1) by Georgina Derwent – Review  Georgiana Derwent

 

Me: I would like to know about your interest in vampires ?
Georgiana: I first got into vampires in my early teens (I’m now 27). I read LJ Smith’s The Secret Circle, which is about witches, and absolutely loved it, so decided to find out what else she’d written. The only other books in my school’s library was the Vampire Diaries, and I really wasn’t sure I’d like it – I didn’t think vampires were really my thing! But I decided to give it a go, and although I’ve since read books that I’d say are technically better, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed reading a book quite so much in my life.
I then went on a bit of a mission to track down similar books, and over the course of the next year or so, read pretty much every vampire book I could find – although this was in about 2001, and there were far fewer options. I didn’t really enjoy any of the others quite as much, although I did love watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Around about that time, I decided that at some point, I would write a vampire book, and I wrote a very brief outline. I then went off the university and forgot all about it. By the time the whole Twilight craze started up and triggered a flood of vampire books, I was pretty much over the genre. I read Twilight itself, but I really didn’t enjoy it. The vampires were just too nice, and fundamentally, too human for my tastes. And then someone lent me the first of Charlaine Harris’ True Blood books. It was a great read and really reignited my interest in vampire books. I was visiting my parents that weekend, so I dug out my old teenage notebook, found the note about the book (which had been lurking at the back of my mind for years) and immediately made a start on finally writing the thing.
There are several reasons I like vampire stories so much. I wrote about that in more detail on my blog here: http://georgianaderwent.com/2013/01/21/why-i-like-vampire-novels-so-much-introduction/
Basically, it’s a combination of the forbidden love, the element of danger, and the history and folklore. There’s something so sexy about a romantic scene featuring a vampire, partly because you know things could go too far at any moment. That said, I’m picky about my vampire books. If they are basically just super-attractive super-powerful humans, I’m not interested. To capture my imagination, they have to do at least some of kill/drink human blood/only be able to come out at night while still retaining some human emotions. I also like to see a really developed mythology.
Me: How did you decide on the setting?
Georgiana: I attended Oxford and absolutely loved it. I started writing Oxford Blood about two years after I graduated, when I was really missing it and wanted to reminisce. That said, I genuinely think it makes a great setting for a novel. Firstly, because it’s such a beautiful place, full of centuries old buildings. Secondly, because it has such strange traditions, lots of which I explore in the book. And finally, it gathers together some of the cleverest young adults in the country, about half of whom are quite rich, and the other half of whom have had to work super hard and defy the odds to get there. It makes them live close together (at my college, at least, everyone had to live within walls for all three years) and puts them under lots of pressure to succeed. It’s a recipe for rivalry, for close friendships, and for romantic tension. All of which combines to practically give you a ready made novel before you even factor in the vampires!

Me: Are some of the characters based on people you knew while you attended Oxford?
Georgiana: The characters who are closest to being directly based on someone are Tom, who has more than a passing similarity to my fiancé, and Adelaide, who is like an exaggerated version of my Mum (for better and for worse). Someone once claimed that first novel are always autobiographical, and while I hope she’s not just a carbon copy, Harriet certainly has a few things in common with me, or at least with me at nineteen.
At the other end of the spectrum, a few very minor characters (usually random Cavaliers and their victims) are named after and broadly based on people I’ve met once or twice.
What I do more often is take different aspects of different people and mix them together to create a character. So Josh, for example, looks like one music student I knew and has the broad personality of another. And there are certain scenes that involve one character, and in reality, something similar happened, but it didn’t involve the person they are based on.
I used to try to hide the fact I’d written these books from university acquaintances in-case anyone took offence, but several people have read them now and love to come up with theories about who is based on who. At least three people claim that George is based on them, which only goes to prove how arrogant some people can be!

 

BOOK TOUR REVIEW: Oxford Blood by Georgiana Derwent              Screaming Spires (The Cavaliers #2) by Georgiana Derwent                 21848242

 

Thank you Georgiana for giving a look into what made these books possible!