Tag Archives: Fantasy

Unknown's avatar

The Mating

by

7785207

The Mating (Law of the Lycans #1)

 

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was not expecting to enjoy this so much when I started it. Once I started it was impossible for me to stop because I became so wrapped up in what might happen next. The characters were really great and made me care about what was going on and how they would react to what I already knew. The plot was simple and yet still complex enough to keep you turning the pages as the action played out. I had never read anything by Nicky Charles but can see why so many people have said such good things about these books, they are able to really take you away.

The story starts out simply with a girl, Elise, being informed that she will be mated to a man that she has never met. While she is less than happy about it, because she thinks herself already in love, she would never think of not doing it. Her intended, Kane, has agreed to mate her because he is an Alpha and it is time he started a family. Elise must leave home and start life in unfamiliar territory, with people she does not know and there are things going on which she cannot understand within this new group. Things which could be dangerous to her and those around her.

I started not liking Elise because she seemed so whiny and childish, and I really hate whiny people, but she came around and grew a backbone. Kane I liked from the beginning because he sounded impossibly hot but also understanding and sweet. The rest of the people around him were well drawn out and I ended liking all of them except for Marla who was a snake and done just as well. Nothing like having someone to really dislike in a story, makes it more interesting and fun.

I suggest reading this book and the rest just like I plan to do!

 

Unknown's avatar

Ghost Betweens

by

13644342

Ghost Betweens

My rating 4 of 5 stars
I usually like my horror a bit more bloody and dark but for this I will make an exception. While not bloody it did have a dark edge to it. It was an easy read that allowed you to get to know the characters in increments as the book progressed. Some were better represented than others but you still had an idea of who they were in relation to each other. The reasons behind the haunting was never made completely clear but the story was still good even without knowing every detail. It was able to keep my interest and keep me turning pages wanting to find out what would happen next. The term Ghost Betweens was a new one on me and I think I like it, it seems very apt for the teens here.

Citrus Valley is located somewhere between Los Angeles and Orange County in California. There is a farmhouse just outside the town which is said to be haunted and no one can say how long it has been empty. The local kids don’t party there and no one has even stayed for a night in the abandoned house, but it has a feeling that keeps people away. There is a sign out front which changes year to year or month to month and sometimes day by day, yet no one has ever been seen doing it.

Josh and Zach are high school boys who decide to go out and take pictures around the old farm and maybe capture some ghosts on film. They definitely get there wish and when the pictures are shown to one of their teachers he enlists them to continue their search for ghosts. They in turn bring into it Kendra, the girlfriend of Zach, and a new girl in school, Whisper who at first thinks she is joining a photography club. They wake up an evil that wishes to use them and they must race to master skills which will keep them alive and save more than their town from what could be released.

While light on scares it gives a nice story of young love blossoming in the face of horror. Finding the person who completes you before you are even complete yourself and learning to work together for the greater good. There was only one thing that bugged me and that was we never really got any answers about the teacher, like how he knew so much about ghosts, and spells, and evil entities, he was a history teacher after all. But that was a small thing and did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. This book is YA and so has no major heavy content.

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

Story Time

by

15708814

Story Time

 

3.5 stars for the story of how the world came to an end. It was a little bit of slow going to start but started to pick up by the time things started really going wrong. The narrative was a bit choppy because you had one individual supposed to be telling the story but what you get are multiple stories going at once, which could get a confusing sometimes. So the flow was a little off but you can still follow where they are going, particularly if you catch some of the hints they throw out. Some of the characters are more believable than others, Naomi and her idealisms are a little hard to swallow after everything that happens, but most I could see living down the street.

In the year 2045 people have come together to hear NaNa Nay tell the story of the survival of humankind after the destruction of Earth. In 2010 the planet started to tear itself apart with earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, everything the Earth can throw at us. Naomi was a 20-year-old college student who was just finishing up her teaching degree when her world fell apart. She is lucky enough to be in a relatively safe location with her brothers and does not suffer as so many others do as time goes by. It is six long years before they are able to start to rebuild. Humans can learn from their mistakes, even if it takes world annihilation to do it.

This is a story of hatred, love, redemption, loss, heroism, and the human spirit to survive. Along with the natural disasters you get some pretty bad aliens and some pretty good aliens. A lot for such a small package.

Related articles

 

Unknown's avatar

The Beast Within

by

The Beast Within

The Beast Within (The Elite #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a great and exciting book! I was pulled into the story immediately and could not put it down. You may go in thinking you are about to read another vampire/werewolf story but you get so much more than that. The characters are well-defined and real, they have personalities which will make you run the gambit of emotions when you read about them. The plot starts with a kick and makes you want to keep going from chapter to chapter in order to see what will happen next.

Connor Moore is your average eighteen year old, he’s graduated from high school and lost his girlfriend of the last two years when she breaks up with him. His world is one of working for his mother, working out, and trying to figure out how to tell her he is not going away to college but staying close by, just your normal everyday things. But when he meets Laren Abelardus in the woods one day after a run things start to change for him, both for the better and the worse. Connor is drawn into a world that has been hidden but living alongside humans for generations, a world of human like creatures who live among us but do not interact with humanity on a daily basis.

Connor finds that what he always thought to be true about the world and himself is a far cry from where the truth lies. People he has known for years are not who they appear to be. He is not who he thought he was and things he has always held to be true are not.

If I say anything more I will likely give away to much and I wouldn’t want to do that. There is action packed moments, villains, heroes, sorcery, shifters, and betrayal. There is not a lot of teen angst, which I am happy for. If you like YA or even if you only read it on occasion you should give this a try. It is well worth the time.

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

My Wish

by

My Wish (Time Guardians, #1)

My Wish

(Time Guardians #1)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The reason I gave this 3.5 stars is because it did not really give a great story
from start to finish. It started out slow and I was not sure what was
going to happen but once she arrives home things pick up. The plot is
simple and based on the cover obviously has something to do with genies.
Though the characters do not really have much personality in the
beginning as things progress they begin to seem more real as they share.
The language sometimes seems stilted but that may have been intentional
since the men are supposed to be from another time. While I did think
the characters did not have a lot of personality I must say that I came
to like them.

Alana does not have a personal life and spends most
of her time looking for antiques for her business. One Saturday she
purchases a vessel which appears to be very old and odd at an estate
sale. The strange vessel turns out to be the home of Sami & Hari,
two gorgeous, hunky Djinn who travel through time and space to bring
sexual enlightenment to those in need. Alana is their next assignment
and they will not be leaving until she has learned everything they can
teach her. While she tells herself constantly that she must be
hallucinating it does not stop her from enjoying the lessons these guys
have planned for her.

While the first half of the book may be
nothing more than a wild romp, it is an entertaining romp that may make
you laugh, sigh, or just wonder how did they do that. The last half
gives you heart along with the heat, when you get to see that these are
more than just sex teachers, they are men who have a sense of a higher
purpose and longings for tradition. I really liked Sami and Hari in the
end, they were really good guys for genies. Be prepared for some wild
sexcapades though, they are packing serious heat!

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

Kade’s Dark Embrace

by

Kade's Dark Embrace by Kym Grosso   Kade’s Dark Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans, #1)
by Kym Grosso

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

This book was just WOW! I am totally and completely in love with Kade Isaccson. The start of this book is so laid back at first you have no idea where it might take you, then Kade spots a woman he is drawn to and you know that their paths are going to cross before long. I knew I was going to enjoy this at that point. If I am intrigued within the first few pages I have to be ready for an all night read.

Kade has been called to Philly from his home in New Orleans by his friend Tristan (an Alpha) who says that a rogue vampire is rumored to be in the city. When a body is found on washed up on the dock apparently drained of blood and with the looks of a ritualistic killing Kade is sure he is right. Detective Sydney Willows is assigned to the case and does not like working with supernaturals but she does not have any choice if the case turns out to be a vampire kill. An attraction between these two could cause more problems for their investigation than either is ready to deal with.

This is a sexy, romantic story with a killer who uses magic, voodoo, and vampire powers to wreak havoc on a city as well as those looking them. This story flows seamlessly from start to finish and pulls you in as it builds to the final showdown with an evil that has no limits.

Sydney and Kade are hot together and would make me blush if I weren’t enjoying it so much. This is a great read for anyone.

 

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

Rocky

by

Rocky by Bianca D'Arc   Rocky (Tales of The Were, #4)
by Bianca D’Arc

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A solid 4.5 stars for being a good fast read that made me like the characters within the first 20 pages and giving me a grizzly bear shifter. I have found another author and series of books that I really want to read. The writing is tight and concise, the characters are well fleshed out, and they seem real in how they react with each other.

Rocky Garibaldi, Maggie , and Antonio Fernandez grew up together and in the end only one could get the girl. Tony and Maggie were married and Rocky moved away because though he was happy for them he could never have the girl he loved. Years later Maggie shows up Rocky’s doorstep in labor with twin male cubs and the news that Tony has been killed by a mage and she has been running from him for the past eight months. Rocky is shocked at the news since his best friend and clan brother was also a powerful Shaman and whoever killed him would have to be as powerful or more. He is happy still to have Maggie come to him and vows to keep her and her children safe. Will she let him be more than a protector however?

There was not a lot of action here but you do have a few hot scenes, cute baby grizzlies, sweet love story, and a great vanquish. This may not be for everyone, but I’m a sucker for a long lost love story. Plus it has a guy shifting into a big bear!

 

Unknown's avatar

Come Alive

by

Come Alive (Experiment in Terror, #7)Come Alive by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Zombies and Ghosts and Bokors, OH MY!!

Perry and Dex have settled in after their terror filled time in the Canadian Rockies. With no footage, thanks to its being confiscated, they are faced with the threat of cancellation. Their boss proposes that they take on another member to their team, and guess who it is, Maximus has managed to get himself made their babysitter. Maximus makes plans for them to head to New Orleans and film some haunted locations, but he does not know that he is leading them into one of the most dangerous situations they have ever been in. With their relationship being tested by outside forces and the threat of an evil Bokor raising zombies, Dex and Perry do not know where or whom to turn to for help. This time there might not be an escape for either of them.

We meet a small group of people here who help and hinder our couple. There is of course Maximus, an ex-friend of Dex from college who he is not happy to work with. Especially since he seems to be lusting after his Perry.
We also meet Rose a girl from Max’s past which he would like to forget but can’t. Rose is also special like Dex and Perry and is recruited to help them.
Ambrosia Paris is an apprentice to a Voodoo Mambo and seems sweet enough on the surface, but you can see the corruption beneath that pretty exterior.

This series just keeps getting better and better! Was I surprised by some of the revelations we were given? Yes. Do I think it fits with all the information we have gotten in the past? Yes. Can I patiently wait for the next installment? No! But I will because I have no other choice. Karina Halle has given us a rich world inhabited by complex characters who react like anyone would to the things which are thrown in their path.

Perry, I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you. I’m not going to stop showing you off or rubbing it in to everyone I know anytime soon. Especially not to him and especially after tonight. You’re mine. And you’re mine alone. From now until the end…

Love can conquer all.

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

Dead Sky Morning

by

Dead Sky Morning (Experiment in Terror, #3)Dead Sky Morning by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say that has not been said before. Dex and Perry have a chemistry that leaps off the pages and makes you root for them whatever situation they find themselves in.

This time they are heading to D’Arcy Island, a former leper colony where the occupants were sent to fend for themselves. The history of the Island is sparse since no one was left to tell the true story of what happened there. And in true Dex and Perry style they stir up the locals (ghosts) and find themselves trapped and turning on each other. What they think they are feeling has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the residents of the Island who are making themselves known to the only people who can truly feel their presence.

I have truly fallen in love with this series and am playing catch up as fast as I can. It is scary, romantic, frenzied, and just downright mesmerizing.

Related articles
Unknown's avatar

Convergence

by

Between Their Worlds (Noble Dead Saga: Series 3, #1)Between Their Worlds by Barb Hendee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fairly nice beginning to the continued exploits of Magiere, Leesil, and Chap as they continue in their quest to thwart The Ancient Enemy. Because they have been separated from Wynn for more than a year this book acts as a bridge to bring them back together and combine their stories before they are separated once again.

Wynn is no longer the wide-eyed observer she was in the beginning and has grown into a woman of strength, which annoys her previous companions. She has allowed a Nobel Dead, Chane, to protect her and work alongside her. Particularly since Magiere had killed him and hates him as does Chap and Leesil they feel as if she has betrayed them.

The story centers around the Guild of Sage Craft and the fact that they have locked Wynn in her room and the grounds. Things have become complicated and scattered because you have multiple factions working for multiple goals throughout the book and sometimes it is hard to figure out what is going on from minute to minute. This is not a place to start this saga if you have not read the previous novels as the characters from many of those novels converge here.

Not a lot of action but the story does move us to the next step and allows us to become re-acquainted with friends who have been absent for so long. If you like this series then it is a must read.