Review: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: Febuary 25th, 2014
Finished Date: March 2nd, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: eARC  
Series: The Dark Elements #1
My Rating: 4.5/5!

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Blurb from Goodreads:
One kiss could be the last.

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.

But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

My Review

I'll be frank - WHITE HOT KISS reads more like a fan fiction, with a more colloquial, YA style of writing. In fact, most of JLA's works have the same tone of voice - snarky, witty, and ultimately enjoyable, but with a healthy dash of YA colloquialism thrown in. For me, sometimes it works out, other times it can really turn me off big time. I wasn't a big fan of the later part of her COVENANT series, I discontinued the LUX series after ONYX...but I loved UNCHAINED (JLA's adult PNR series). Fortunately for me though, WHK read more like UNCHAINED, and I inhaled the book in two sittings.

There is a lot to gush about WHK, and the first thing, of course, is the GARGOYLES! They're wicked cool and they're almost like dragons...but darker. Edgier. And cuter. Haha! They sleep in stone-form for defense reasons cause their stone covering is literally impenetrable. By force or by fire. Wicked cool reimagining of gargoyles.

Then there is Roth. Zayne...not that much. Other than his awesome name, he ain't got nothing on Roth. Not only does Roth possess the standard requirements for a sexy YA/NA hero - y'know, the whole sometimes-brooding-sometimes-hilarious, mischievous but protective thing they've all got going on - but the sacrifices he makes and the things he does for our protagonist, Layla, places him on a whole new level. My respect for him grew like tenfold after the end, and is making me CRAY^2 waiting for STONE COLD TOUCH to see what happens to him. (He reminds of Robin "Puck" Goodfellow from THE IRON FEY series by Julie Kagawa.) And Layla and Zayne, of course. Heh.

There was a lot of teenage angst in WHK, both in high school and in the relationship department, but there were the other complexities of the Wardens and Demons that made WHK a more engaging read. It's not all black and white with the races. The Wardens might seem like the good guys, siding with the angel and ridding the world of pesky, trouble-making demons. But as Layla hang out with Roth more often, there are certain things that the Wardens ingrain into the younger Wardens and Layla aren't true.

Being half-demon, half-Warden, Layla has always longed to fit in. To be one of the good guys. To be able to shift and take to the skies. Too bad all she got from her mixed blood is to be able to distinguish demon from human/Warden, tag them, lighting them up for patrolling Wardens to kill, and that pesky soul-sucking kiss from to hell. At least this skill allows her to feel more useful in the battle against the demons and ridding the world of evil. But Roth is determined to open her eyes to reality, that not all demons are as bad as they seem.

Are the Wardens brainwashing their young to hate the demons? What if there are demons that aren't, well, evil and she's been helping the Wardens kill them? And where does that place her in the entire scheme of things?

Another reason why I like JLA's writing style is her way of revealing things, and building her worlds bit by bit, letting the plot progress while giving us nuggets of information along the way. It's a smooth world-building process, and the pace never gets compromised. There's no huge info-dumping when it comes to the history of the Wardens and demons. But I can feel the tension between the two factions and shown just a nugget of the why and their history.

Altogether a very enjoyable, pretty steamy (and angsty), fast-paced read with a minor cliffhanger ending. I'd recommend this to fans of THE IRON FEY series, UNCHAINED by J. Lynn (JLA), and THE GUARDIAN LEGACY series by Ednah Walters.

*Review copy courtesy of Harlequin Teen via Netgalley*

My Rating

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Publication Date: May 21st, 2011
Finished Date: March 3rd, 2013
Publisher: Feral Dream
Format: Paperback
Pages: 254
Series: Penryn and the End of Days #1
My Rating: 5/5!!
 
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Blurb from Goodreads:
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

My Review 

It's just some bird flying by, that's all. That's all.
But I'm already panting with panic.
I force myself to look up. All I see is endless dark sky.
But then, I do see something. Another, larger feather floats down lazily toward my head.
Sweat prickes my brow. I break out into an all-out sprint.

ANGELFALL is nothing less than YA Dystopian at its best. It has everything this genre has to offer, and it gives back ten-fold. The action, the tension, uncertainties, the start of a budding rebellion, and the unlikely romance between mortal enemies when circumstances thrust them onto an adventure that'll blow all yer little asses off yer seats!

*Many spoilers ahead!*

A Summary
The apocalypse came, harolded by beautifully terrifying angels of destruction. Buildings collapsed or decayed, connection lines are a thing of the past, the streets are ruled by gangs that loot and kill in the day and by nightmare creatures in the night, and your home is not your haven anymore.

Penryn, her little, crippled sister, Paige, and their slightly unstable mother have been delaying migrating to a safer place for quite some time, but they have to get out now. When they set off at sunset, they're risking a lot by being out that late, and as they made their way hastily down El Camino, through Silicon Valley to Page Mill, things were still looking hopeful. They were doing fine, until a white feather, soft as down, floated down from the sky. That's when they knew that they were going to get screwed ten times over.

An epic - albeit gruesome - angelic battle was going on, and though the angel who had wings of such magnificent white was heavily outnumbered 4 to 1, the others are still wary of him. When Snowy Wings (as Penryn calls him in her little funny inner commentary) looked like he was about finished, Penryn and her family were spotted and Penryn did something to distract the other angels, unwittinly helping Snowy Wings turn the tides and angering one of the other angels enough to kidnap Paige as he flew away.

Penryn managed to get Snowy Wings - which turned out to be Raffe (Rah-fie) - to tell her that Paige was most probably taken to the angel's aerie. Raffe's wings had been brutally amputated in the battle previously, needs Penryn's help to travel on the ground, and Penryn needs Raffe's help getting to the aerie and getting into the aerie. So for now, they're on an uneasy truce, and set off for an amazing and heartpounding adventure.

My Thoughts
I had to put off writing this review because of my Term exams, but a week later and everything is still fresh in my mind! All that emotion and mindblowing awesomeness. If you'd known me before, you'd know that I was a huge hater of Dystopian novels because the first Dystopian I read (coughReaperscoughArecoughThecoughcoughcough) was SO BAD. But just recently, Julie Kagawa made me a believer, and now Susan Ee has made me a FAN. They're really amazing writers.

There's so much development and depth in ANGELFALL. All the characters, Penryn and Raffe especially, had their own personality, their own history, and their own distinct way of thinking. A few pages of Raffe talking and you know he's just not like us. He's proud and strong even when he's down on the ground or lying face down on a couch with his hands and feet tied and taped together. However as the book progresses, you see how he gains a little humanity while retaining his mysterious, very-sexy immortal persona. AND OMG, Raffe is...*hyperventilates* Raffe is...His true identity is OMG-ly cool. Penryn is a girl who had to toughen up due to very shitty circumstances, but when things got too much, she let her body handle it the way it knows, puked in some bushes and gathered up her Big Girl Panties. She's smart and resourceful in a very funny, sarcastic way that I liked her immediately.

Along the way, we meet characters like Obi and Boden. Obi's the rebellion leader while Boden's the rebellion thug. They're cool. Obi's the typical inspiring, good-looking military leader who has to make unpopular choices for the good of the rebellion, and Boden's the typical thug with the snarl and always picking a fight with the new kid on the block - in this case, Penryn. I liked that scene where Penryn was expecting help from Raffe when Boden picked a fight with her and Raffe not only didn't rush to her aid, he started betting with the other guys on who'd win! Haha, oh how Penryn pounded Boden to the ground in her anger!

I loved seeing how the arc unfold and how all the characters changed.

THIS is so true for Angelfall. Ee's descriptions are so vivid it's literally a movie in my head!

Ironically, since the attacks, the sunsets have been glorious. Outside our condo window, the sky flames like a bruised mango in vivid orange, reds, and purples. The clouds catch on fire with sunset colors, and I'm almost scared those of us below will catch on fire too.

~Para 1 of Chapter 1

When you see a starting like that, you know that you can expect some badass writing.

I loved the final battle. I loved how the humans made their stand, how they showed a united front in the face of such adversities unlike how most fiction novels protray humans as weak and expendable and ugly. Ugh. The ending was so, so, terribly bittersweet. What happened to Paige and all the other kidnapped kids was...disusting, inhumane and... Ee is one author who doesn't mind killing off some of her characters and roughing up most of the others. That's all I have to say about this. And poor Raffe! However, I did like how the story started and ended with Penryn, her sister and mother being together on the road, only with all the wounds and scars - both mental and physical - at the end.

Anyhoo, this review is getting long and all I have to say now is, if you're a fan of YA Dytopian novels, or not a fan at all, just as long as you can stand a little Dystopian, you'll 99.99999999% fall IN LOVE with ANGELFALL.

P.S. THERE IS NO DATE OF RELEASE FOR BOOK 2. OMG I CAN GO KILL ME AN ANGEL NOW.

P.P.S. Y'know that part where Penryn was at the rebellion camp and was talking to this woman called Dolores about training domestic dogs into a tracking/police/army one?

"This is the reason the guards are dog-free. It's hard to patrol when your K9 partner keeps running off to chase after rodents and barks all night long."
 

K(ca)-9(nine)? Hahaha.

P.P.P.S. Thank you Donna (@ The Happy Booker) for recommending this book to me!

My Rating

Quickie Review: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Publication Date: September 6th, 2011
Finished Date: October 26th, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 310
Series: Guild Hunter #4
My Rating: 4/5

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Blurb from Goodreads:
The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past...but Dmitri's need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel's right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality...the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting...and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more...

My Review

“So he held this hunter whose midnight green eyes said she saw him, shadows and all, who touched him as (view spoiler)Ingrede used to do, who made him imagine an impossible truth, held her so close that she was a part of his very soul.”

Usually I give every Guild Hunter novel an immediate and resounding 5 stars. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dmitri...and I still ain't one, but I'm starting to understand him more now. And respect. Wow, he gave his heart to this amazing village woman centuries ago, and even after her very tragic demise, his heart and soul still remained with her. Until now.

Enter Honor, a Guild Hunter who was very recently saved from some crazy vampire. Honor's sanity was on verge of cracking, and only after months of therapy and stuff, she just managed to walk out on her own. But she prefers locking herself up in the Guild library. That is, until a job at the Angel Tower required her expertise and Honor forced herself to meet up with Dmitri. From there, you can probably deduce the rest for yourself. As they spent more time together solving a series of murder cases in which Honor finds out how deadly--and sexy--Dmitri is and Dmitri finding out the side of Honor that made her a hunter in the first place, the courage and innate strength before her unfortunate abduction.

As always, Singh's delivery was AMAZING, and she knew just how to feed us little tidbits about Dmitri's past here and there, which was hard to piece together a complete picture until right at the very end when she gave a final piece and bam, everything just falls into place. And the gradual change in Honor and Dmitri in the end was really heartwarming. Quiiiiiite a typical wounded hero/heroine finding love and healing (that's why I docked off one star), but well, it's Nalini Singh, so naturally it is still in a league of its own.

A dark novel about an inspiring love that heals. A sort of spinoff to the main plot, so it is technically fine to skip this go directly to book 6 which is confirmed to be in Elena's and Raphael's POV where, I'm assuming, the main arc will continue but I have to admit it, now that I have read it, I do feel this bond to Dmitri (and Honor) now that wasn't there. I'll be noticing him more now. ;)

My Rating

      

 

Review: Black Howl by Christina Henry

Publication Date: Febuary 28th, 2012
Finished Date: March 25th, 2012
Publisher: Ace
Format: eCopy for Review 
Series: Madeline Black #3
My Rating: 3/5

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Blurb from Goodreads:
Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black's exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiance Nathaniel is out of the picture--or so she thinks...

My Review

I was hard-pressed to get the ARC of BLACK HOWL after reading book 2, BLACK NIGHT, which was amazingly engrossing, and looking at that cover? It potrays everything that I thought Maddy was - strong, badass and all ready to kick some demon butt. I was going crazy waiting for a reply from Henry's publisher (it took 1 to 2 days, but it was like a small eternity to me at the time), and when I got it, I jumped into it as soon as I could.

All that said, I'll be honest and say that BLACK HOWL did not meet my expectations. There were parts of it that dragged, were dull or just really monotonous.

HOWL started off slowly, with our heroine, Madeline "Maddy" Black, doing her first and foremost duty of being an Agent of Death, leading some poor soul who had a heart attack to The Door. However, much like the previous two instalments, her life takes a serious nose-dive straight off the beginning. It started with a visit from the infamously hostile Jude, second-in-command of the local wolf pack. Looks like Wade (alpha of said wolf pack) and the kids were gone, and one of the last things Wade told Jude to do was look for Maddy if something went wrong. Jude's not going to defy his alpha, even if it means visiting one of Lucifer's spawn, whom he hates with a terrible vengeance. Being the compassionate soul that she was, she agrees to help him even when Jude was being all rude and annoying. Now that's actually putting it lightly when all he does is question her, threaten to kill her, insult her, and express his reluctance to cooperate when SHE was the one helping HIM. Seriously, I don't see why Maddy puts up with his shit.

But anyway, along with J.B, Beezle, and an aloof Gabriel, they set off through a demon portal at the site where Wade and the cubs disappeared and starts to look for clues. Along the way, many curveballs are thrown at them, which I shall not spoiler, including twists in her ever-confusing love life.

Speaking of love life, everything happened so fast! Gabriel was actually being his mercurial self - one moment aloof, distant and annoying, another hot, passionate, and protective - when something happened that changed him and Maddy forever. And that something happened to be one of Lucifer's scheming plans. It was a real shocker, and one I didn't know how I felt about because it was quite literally thrown into my face. And then when the ending came... Let's just say that I wasn't too happy about it. That's putting it lightly; More like, furious and mortified; It was totally uncalled for! I can't believe Henry could be so cruel! All I can say is, it wasn't a happily ever after, and I'm holding onto my hope that there is something bigger planned for Maddy. Something fantastical and phenomenal that will either eclipse what happened or reverse what transpired, or really, heads will start to roll. The only good thing about the ending was how beautifully it was written. Vivid descriptions which it evoked deep feelings within me and made me cry a little.

I mentioned that HOWL was slow-paced, and that encompasses many aspects of the book - the action, plot, and romance. Oftentimes, there wasn't much progression, or if there were, there would be an interruption and everything would revert back to square one (referring to a certain making-out scene). Henry tends to describe too much sometimes, about the scenery, the details and whatnot. Like in Amarantha's castle laying in ruins (find out why it's in shambles yerself, lads ;P), the forest, and others. Imagery is important, yeah ok, but anything in overdose is still an overdose. Henry's writing style, though, is quite typical of an Urban-Fantasy author. The same first-person "I" of a snarky heroine.

The characters were pretty much the same as in the other books - Maddy: Tough, badass, sometimes too kind for her own good; Beezle: Cute, sarcastic, just the way I love him; J.B: Annoying boss, sexy love interest. The only two characters that changed much was Jude and Gabriel. Jude was initially still being an out-of-this-world pain-in-the-butt, but as the story progressed, there were things that were revealed that justified his annoying ways. At the end, I was actually starting to like him. Gabriel...ugh, let's not start about him. He was, I don't know how, even more annoyingly indifferent to Maddy. He keeps trying to distance himself from her in this way that makes me want to reach into the book, strangle him and give him a piece of my mind to "treat the woman nicer!" I know what he's doing is to follow the law, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Maddy's screwing the law for him, why can't he do the same? But then, there was that shockingly epic thing that happened which I mentioned in Paragraph 5, and he changed drastically. It was kind of unnerving, but it was definitely an improvement to how he was treating Maddy. (Let me enlighten you a little: He was giving in to his passion for her! Finally!)

Nathaniel was back, and his intentions seemed to be genuine and sincere initially, but Maddy just had to continue bringing up the past. A past where an illusion of Nathaniel had debased her. An event that came to past with Natheniel being powerless to stop. So she shouldn't be such a bitch to him over it since he had no hand in whatever happened.. He is the proud right hand angel of Azazel, after all. He's handsome, powerful, and wealthy, and she practically trampled all over him, which made him change in demeanour quite drastically. I was rooting for him actually, even though he isn't as morally upright as Gabriel, but at least Natheniel had a backbone and had fought for what he wanted, not cower and hide like Gabriel.


All in all, I was numb when the book ended because seriously, anyone else would too. It was unexpected to say the least, more like a punch-in-the-face jack-in-the-box. I'm holding out on my judgement for this, and I'm expecting something big to salvage the situation. Real big. It was a major cliffhanger, and because of which I do recommend that if you haven't read HOWL, you'd better wait for BLACK LAMENT (which happens to have a very nice cover! Very nice cover, indeed. ;) to be out first before you start on it.

*eARC courtesy of Ace via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating

Review: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

Published Date: January 31st, 2012
Finished Date: Febuary 6th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 516
Series: Angelfire #2
My Rating: 4.5/5
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Blurb from Goodreads:
Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.

Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

My Review

Disclaimer: If you haven't read ANGELFIRE yet or are averse to spoilers, please DO NOT read this review.

WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride - so full of action, tragedy, and romance. A great sequel to Angelfire that I loved. Every part of it was so intense and utterly memorable and I loved them all.

My Brief - albeit with a lot of spoilers - Summary
We return to the world of the reapers where Ellie, who is really the archangel Gabriel in the flesh, is still trying her best to maintain a balance between her reaper life and high school-normal teenager lifestyle. Things are getting tougher for Ellie, with Bastian becoming more aggressive and sending higher-level reapers after her - namely, Merodach and Kelaeno, two of the oldest reapers recorded in Nathaniel's history texts.

Add into the fray Cadan's shifting loyalties and frequent visits, the arrival of an old friend - and maybe ex-lover - of Will's, and the many deaths that always seem to shroud Ellie's future, she's still got to find a way to save the day. Cause, as the synopsis says, if she doesn't, there really will be hell to pay.

My Thoughts
I thought that WOW was written really beautifully - vivid, suspenseful scenes, thrilling action, forbidden romance, and to top it all up, an exciting plot with lots of curveballs. The anticipation for the release of WOW, personally, was all hyped up way before its expected publication date because of Moulton's amazing 10 weeks countdown at her blog. So naturally, my expectations were pushed way up the bar, and I wasn't disappointed. I just loved the way Moulton described each scene and her writing style. I loved the suspense and surprises - both good and bad - that were thrown at us throughout the book; It kept me on tenterhooks, and it kept the pages turning swiftly.

As for the characters, I must say that I could've done without all the parties and pink dresses on Ellie's part. I know she's trying her best to keep her normal, teenager life, but I think that that's going a little too far. She's a tough-assed heroine who still attends high school and who loves to shop, and I think that that's plenty cool already. Will is still his usual brooding self, but we get to see more into his past life as he opens up to Ellie and as she starts remembering her previous incarnations. (I love that Will likes it when Ellie combs her fingers through his hair!:P Just saying.)

Another bone I had to pick with Ellie is that, she's supposed to be the best fighter amongst her little group of friends. Like the ultimate, archangel, in-a-league-of-her-own best fighter, but Will seems to be the one who's saving her ass in every fight she gets involved in. I'm not a fan of weak heroines who depend on their oh-so-strong hero to come saving their day, so this part didn't sit that well with me.

There were more secondary characters that were introduced - Ava, Marcus, Merodach, and Kelaeno. Marcus is awesome, period; Ava's.....she's still on probation for me; Merodach's awesome too, in his own mysterious, powerful-villain way; Kelaeno's seems like the crazy-witch villain to me. Ok, she's beautiful and all (like every other reaper), but my subconscious just have this cackling-witch image whenever her name pops up. I wonder why...

Anyway, as for the ending, I wasn't a big fan of it. I'm just going to go ahead and reveal the big spoiler (not all the way, of course) - someone died. Someone who's very much an integral part of the story died, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. I know that there will always be casualties in war, but ARH. He's not supposed to go so suddenly!! And..ARHH! Ok, I'm incoherent, but you get the point. Not only that, it ends with a cliffhanger.

I will reiterate this again - WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride packed with a larger dose of action, tragedy, and romance. If you're still hesitating on picking this up, wary that WOW will not be as good as ANGELFIRE, then rest assure, WOW is as good as ANGELFIRE, and with more high-level-reaper fighting, sexual tension between Ellie and Will, and emotional scenes that will render you speechless.

*Won this book at a giveaway at CAM's blog.

My Rating

    

Review: Desperate Betrayal by Hildie McQueen

Published Date: September 10th, 2011
Finished Date: Febuary 19th, 2012
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Format: eBook for Tour
Series: The Protectors #1
My Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
Cynden Frasier (Cyn) is a member of a group of immortal warriors, the Protectors, assigned to protect humans in Atlanta, Georgia, the epicenter of a major uprising in demon activity. When Cyn is approached by a beautiful woman in a dirty alley, he is intrigued by the fact that she can see him for what he is, a terrifying demon slayer, and still dares to approach him.

Emma Blake, a half-demon, has to convince Cyn to help rescue her sister from powerful demons. Terrified that the Protector will kill her if he realizes what she is, she still goes against every instinct and approaches Cyn for help. Despite knowing that she is leading them both into territory so wrought with treachery, neither of them may survive.

Can Cyn and Emma overcome betrayal, the ancient rules that prevent Protectors from taking a wife, unless she is his one true mate? And if they do, will it even matter?

My Review

My Summary
DESPERATE BETRAYAL is about a group of immortal men who took an oath to protect the innocent from demons who mean harm. They are all lethal, and highly-skilled in battle; They are all loyal towards one another and sexy-as-hell; They cannot marry unless it is a marriage arranged by their leader, Julian, or if it is with their life-mates; They are called the Protectors.

Cynden "Cyn" Fraser is one such man. Born three centuries ago in Scotland, he undergone the transformation and took the oath to become a Protector, and is now assigned to keep the demonic at Atlanta at bay. He was slaying a group of demons in an alley one day when Emma walked into the scene. She has been looking for him for quite some time now. Her sister's been held hostage by the Supreme demon, Gerard, and he wants Emma to lure Cyn into his den. Briana's all Emma has left, and so she agrees to this bargain.

Emma is a half-demon, borne of a high-level demon for a father and a human mother, and so naturally, she keeps her heritage a secret when she first confronts Cyn, afraid that it will incite a negative response from him. Cyn refuses to help her the first time, something about his senses tells him that something about her is amiss, and his immediate attraction to her isn't helping matters either. But the second time Emma manages to find him, he caves in to her request.

As Cyn and Emma sets out to track her sister down, sparks fly, but many treacheries and betrayals abound at the same time. It's hard to trust each other, but it's hard to refuse each other too. Worse still, survival at this point is not certain, put into account all the other lives that they are risking... They're in it big this time.

My Thoughts
Well, that was an awfully long summary. Lol, that aside, I must say that DESPERATE BETRAYAL's main fous seemed to centre around the romance between Cyn and Emma. Not that it was a bad thing, far from it, being the romance-junky that I am. In a way, the PROTECTORS series resembles the BDB series by J.R. Ward. Each instalment in the series is the story of one of the "brothers". Lots of action, but with a larger dose of romance.

Emma is the type of woman everyone wants to be - smart, loyal, beautiful (apparently, this is a prominent trait of hers as many of the boys seem to take note of this point), courageous, stronger than and not fully human, but not fully demon with a compassionate heart. She gave her all in saving her sister, even gave up her love life. Cyn on the other hand, is a tall, intimidating Protector who was fiercely protective, and not only was he skilled on the battlefield, but in bed too. He may appear cold and indifferent on the outside, but he's actually quite the passionate guy when they get down and dirty. Even though it was more of a lust-at-first-sight relationship, they did make a really cute and sweet pair.

As far as the plot goes, it was not bad. One thing I can say about it is, it doesn't drag. The first part of the book flowed smoothly, and I thought the character development and all were done really well, but it detoriated a little as we get to the end. There was one part where the whole scene got rather confusing, and the sentences became a little abrupt. Even though McQueen's style of writing changed at the end, I was still hooked to its pages. I think I can safely say I finished DB within two sittings. :)

I actually got the review copy of DB for its blog tour late, so I'm only reviewing it now, but it was really good! I'm tending more towards romance than action now (but not so far as to go for contemp romance with no action at all whatsoever), so if you're like me, you may want to try DB out. I'd say that DESPERATE BETRAYAL is a mix between the BDB series and the Curse of Gremdon by Ciara Knight. So if you're a fan of either one, you might like to try this out too. :)

My Rating

ARC Review: Halflings by Heather Burch

Published Date: January 17th, 2012
Finished Date: January 26th, 2012
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing/Zonderkidz 
Format: eARC via Netgalley
Series: Halflings #1
My Rating: 1/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

My Review

I didn't enjoy HALFLINGS. There, I said it. I'll try to keep this review short and as objective as I can.

My Brief Summary

Nicole "Nikki" Youngblood is an artist who has a black belt in karate. She's a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl, and one who doesn't like to dress up much. She was in the woods one day when she was attacked by hellhounds. Therein enters our three heroes: Mace, Raven, and Vine - Halflings with a mission to protect our young damsel in distress.

Halflings and humans can never have a relationship, or the halfling in the equation will have to risk eternal damnation. But the moment Mace and Raven looks at Nikki, there's something about her that attracts them, and with the devils in hell targeting her, Nikki's in for a lot of trouble, drama, and heartache.

My Thoughts

Nikki didn't really make an impression on me; She's a very typical YA heroine who's apparently so beautiful that she looks like an angel, but obviously is too oblivious to know it herself. She is also very stubborn, so much so that she demands to know some answers when it's not her place to know, and when the truth gets too much, she says stop. Let me say this out front that I don't like impossibly gorgeous heroines who are overly-obstinate.

She and Mace were the first ones to confess their feelings for each other, but when Raven turns on his charm and brings her to a forest in Arkansas to teach her how to fend for herself, she ends up flirting with him. Another reason why I didn't like her.

Now comes our two love interests, Mace and Raven. Mace is the serious, stick-to-the-rules kind of person who started going against said rules to be with and protect Nikki. Nothing very special, actually, apart from his stunning looks, that is.

Raven. He is the brooding type of males, who is the most experienced of the three halflings sent to protect Nikki, and the one with the most inner-demons to contend with. I was actually rooting for him for the most part of the first half of the book which I read, and after some time when there was evidently going to be minimal action scenes, he was my motivation to forge on reading. I wanted to see him fight Mace for Nikki - not literally, of course - and I want to see him in action in all his lean, graceful glory. (Ok, I'm the fairytale type of girl, what are you gonna do about it?) But the part where I stopped, at the 70% mark, Raven did something that turned me off big time. When Nikki and her pet dog were again attacked by hellhounds and a demon, Mace, Raven and Vine swooped in to save her in the nick of time, but after the imminent danger was over, Raven carried Megan over to a hill and since this is the first time Megan's seeing them with their wings, he asks her what she thinks of it. I mean, seriously? Her dog lay dying in the forest and she's probably in some kind of post-traumatic stress and all he can think about is impressing her with his wings? This is really the epitome of self-centeredness. One thing I cannot stand is arroant, selfish men, and so when I reached this part, there was obviously not much action to keep the adrenaline-junky in me satisfied, and since I couldn't stomach Raven any further, the book was immediately sent flying into the DNF pile.

Burch's writing style is a little confusing. There was a lot of bandwagon jumping, and most of the time, her jumps were big leaps and then there will be a random revelation somewhere without showing the process of how the subject person got to his/her conclusion. For example, one minute Nikki still thinks the three halflings were human, and suddenly she bursts into their house and goes all, "I know what you are. Don't deny it! You're angels." Yep, perfectly sane and normal. And there was this other part where a student was quarrelling with a teacher and when the discussion got heated, the student pulls out a knife and almost killed said teacher. Raven moves with inhuman speed and grace toward the scene and knocks the knife out of the student's hand and voilà! The day is saved, and only Nikki was there to witness the unnatural phenomenon that was Raven. There is so much wrong in that one scene that I rolled my eyes like probably more than a dozen times.

Other than that, there were the multiple cheesy romance scenes in here, more so than the number of fight scenes, as can be seen from my summary that romance takes precedence over action in HALFLINGS. Another weird thing is that Nikki's parents somehow disappeared after the quarter mark, and Nikki somehow could do whatever she liked like storming into someone else's house and proclaiming that they're angels.

However, the two things that I liked about HALFLINGS was firstly, how Burch described Mace's and Raven's relationship with Nikki. Mace "embraced her destiny, saw her as a future warrior, and swore to see her through"; Raven was "the one who embraced the person she was right now. Odds were, he’d likely stand beside her and die to protect her as well, if she gave him the chance." There's a subtle difference, and one that makes their feelings for her unique from each other.

The other thing was Vine. He is one of the main characters, but more a younger brother persona. He's a little immature, but when it somes to morals, this guy's the one that has the most. And when it comes to fighting and looks, he doesn't lose out to Mace or Raven either. He's fun, and he keeps the tension out whenever Raven quarrels with Mace or Will, their caretaker.

All in all, HALFLINGS isn't the book for me. It has been quite a while since I've chucked a book into my DNF pile. The feeling's not great, but things just has to be done. I am a fan of love triangles, but in this case, it just didn't work for me.

*eARC courtesy of Zondervan Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Random Musings - which you will not get if you haven't read the book:

Y'know that part where Nikki and Mace went to that burning building? The one where Nikki was sketching out the building using this artist's technique by drawing in the negative spaces to see a picture? That one was just plain confusing to me. You don't have to draw out a building to see that it's ON FIRE. And you certainly don't need a sketch to see that THERE IS A PERSON DYING ON THE FLOOR in the burning building. The idea was cool, but not properly utilized.

My Rating

Review: Boyfriend from Hell by E. Van Lowe

Published Date: September 10th, 2010
Finished Date: Did Not Finish
Publisher: White Whisker Books
Format: eCopy for Tour
Series: Falling Angels #1
My Rating: 1/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Fifteen year-old Megan Barnett and her single mom, Suze, have a special relationship—they are friends, close friends, who do almost everything together.

“But come on, guys, she’s my mother… Can I really tell her that while we’re snuggled up on the sofa watching Spider Man Three, I’m secretly undressing James Franco with my eyes? Of course not…”

The special bond takes a turn for the worse when Suze decides to start dating again. She hasn’t had a man in her life since Megan’s father left ten years ago.

Enter two mysterious young men, Megan’s new classmate, sinfully attractive bad boy, Guy Matson, and the dangerously handsome art dealer, Armando. Before long Megan and Suze both wind up in steamy relationships.

But neither of the handsome pair is quite what he seems. In fact, one of them is Satan, with his sights set on a new bride. Megan has precious little time to figure out how to stop him. If she doesn’t, either Megan or Suze are quite literally going to HELL.

My Review

I ditched the book. Couldn't stand the male protagonist and the heroine. I don't even want to rate it.

The heroine was a bad friend and an even worse daughter who lies to her only kin - her mother. Her mother who only wanted another chance at love, which her daughter pretended to approve, but secretly backstabs her and her dates, and tries at every turn to ruin what her mother tries so hard achieve. It's nauseating. And when her two friends finally acts on their feelings for each other and are obviously way head over heels for each other, she says she's fine and wishes them luck, but inside she bitches about it, saying her friend is naggy (your friend just wanted to gush about her feelings, and you can't even listen?), and later on starts to develop a tinge of jealousy.

The hero? No better. He uses his influence over heroine to convince her to ditch school, play truant, and steal the school's letter to her mother informing mother about her recent rebellious behaviours. He is overly haughty, arrogant, and full of himself. I really couldn't stomach it any further.

And are all jocks really IQ-challenged? Cause there's that stereotype heavily enphasized here.

But there were a few redeemable qualities that I've noticed. For example is Lowe's phrasings.

"It was Sunday afternoon. The next day. We were seated at the food court in the Glendale mall, digesting my problem along with a double order of curly fries."

It was cool. And there was this one part that was super awesome. I loved how Guy could recite poetic lines but didn't come off as cheesy. Example:

"There can only be one hero,” he crooned softly, and he touched my hand.

Another jolt. No, bigger. Because of Guy’s touch, an electrical storm was raging inside me.

“Yeah.” The word fell from my lips, a soft tremor. Get a grip, Megan! This is what you’ve been waiting for.

“And to the victor goes the spoils. Right?”

Huh? What does that mean? He leaned in.

“Right?” he repeated, his breath on my face.

“Yes… Right.”

I guess he could be romantic if he wanted to. And badass. Sexy, smart. Just from a little poetry. Haha, yep, so there were good stuff, but the bad overrode the good, so.:/

Pity really - so much potential...

My Rating

Review: The Vampire, The Witch and The Werewolf: Chains of Silver by Louisa Bacio

Published Date: November 18th, 2011
Finished Date: December 4th, 2011
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Format: eARC for Tour
Series: The Vampire, The Witch and The Werewolf #2
My Rating: 2.5/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Adopted at birth, Silver Ashe discovers her blood-brother Trevor Pack is a werewolf, with a vampire and witch for lovers. All her teachings about the evils of the paranormal Others come into question. She runs to a family friend, Nick, for help.

Nick Stake takes his hobby as a vampire hunter personally. He strives to rid the world of evil bloodsuckers. When his best friend’s “kid” sister comes to him for advice, Nick discovers Silver’s more than grown up. He battles his growing desire for Silver and blindly holds true to his convictions.

Once Silver reaches her sexual maturity, she’ll inherit her full genetic heritage and turn into a werewolf. When death comes calling, Silver and Nick must face their darkest fears in order to break free from the chains that bind.

My Review

An Urban Fantasy-Paranormal Romance Erotica that includes explicit m/m scenes, it has the action that I loved both on the battlefield and between the sheets, if you get what I mean.

I wouldn't lie and say I loved CHAINS OF SILVER, in fact, the reading process was rather laborious. But I wasn't lying about the action. I loved how the characters always had to fight for their lives and even navigate emotional minefields since the couples haven't been living long together and are still getting to really know each other.

**Start of spoiler minefield**

Silver is an orphan, adopted into the family of a preacher, his wife, two sons and one daughter. She never was fully accepted into the family, and living in their home always felt temporary. Only Jude, her oldest foster brother ever made her feel welcomed. Enter Jude's best bud, Nick. Nick works as part-time vamp slayer and part-time waitor at the local Club Blood. (Not a very creative name, but let's not dwell on the inconsequential.)

Nick has always viewed Silver as a younger sister, sensing in her the girl that was his biological deceased one, but Silver's always had a crush on Nick, and it has been blossoming throughout the years, just like how she blossomed into the beautiful woman with silver hair she now is. And when a gorgeous, determined young woman set her sights on something, how can that something have the strength to reject her? When being with her's so natural, has been for years?

But now that Silver's come of age, she's been granted the right to open the envelope at the adopting agency that contains the only message from her biological family, and in that envelope is a way to contact her brother who was indeed alive. And mated to a female and another male. And that guy happens to be Trevor from Book 1. Now Trev's got the duty of breaking the news that Silver's actually a Were and she'll have her first change after she loses her virginity. Also, Nick's found a nest of vamps to clear, and this time, his "little" extermination escapade could very well kill him and Silver if they aren't too careful...

**End of spoiler zone**

I thought that the plot was a little dull and boring, to be honest. Nothing ever seemed to be happening and when it does get interesting, it tends to get solved conveniently. Though after the three quarters mark it did get a hell lot more interesting, the last battle was also a little anti-climatic. It consisted more of dialogues, getting to know each other, and sex. Yes, Silver was incessantly thinking about doing the deed, even when Nick and her were going into a closed down amusement park which was most probably the location of the group of vamps they were hunting. Talk about being horny..

However, I did like Bacio's writing style; The humor and unique phrasings were almost enough to cover the dull plot. Example:

"One drink, and she already acted tipsy. The head between his legs definitely wanted to take advantage of her. But the more elevated one on his shoulders knew that playing with Silver was dangerous business."

Head between his legs? LOL.

This book is written in a selective third person point of view where it changes from mainly Silver (heroine), to Lily (protagonist of Book 1, New Orleans Threesome), to Nick (hero), to Trev and Law (heroes of Book 1), then back to Silver. It's good in a way that the shifting perspectives only got confusing a few times, justifiable considering the multiple characters that had to be included, and we got to know what all of them were thinking. Bad in a way that the second-guessing and suspense factors were hence sorely lacking.

One thing I really couldn't tolerate at the beginning was Nick's insensitivity to Silver's feelings, but he slowly became more understanding and gentle towards her, so all's comin' along just fine by me. Silver's a little childish and gay initially, but you could see her mature as she went through some real tough adversities. She was an independent girl who knew how to keep her wits about her when the shit hits the fan, and I really liked that about her. Just the part I mentioned above where she kept wanting to get laid by Nick ticked me off a little, other than that, she's totally cool.

And another thing is how the focus of the book is a little scattered. Yes, I do want to know the goings-on with the Threesome (meaning Lily, Trevor and Lawrence), but shouldn't the focal point be fixated on Silver and Nick? This should be more of their story, but a big portion of the time it reverted back to Lily, Trev and Law's POV and them having sex. I'm fine with sex scenes, it's just I really can't appreciate m/m Eroticas, y'know what I mean?

A teeeensy weensy flaw I spotted. There was one part where Silver saw a ghost in her room in the Threesome's house (and I have no idea why Bacio wrote this scene because she didn't mention anything about the apparition nor the scene anymore in the book), she was asleep in bed with Nick and she jerked up and shrieked. Here's how the scene played out:

  "Someone else had joined them, and someone else watched them. Fearful of what she might see, Silver opened her eyes slowly. A small girl, about five years old, stood in a the corner of the room watching her, and Nick.

  Silver startled. How the hell did that child get in here, and in the building itself? Lily had mentioned something about ghosts, but Silver thought it was just to keep her from moving in. The lights of a passing car shone in the window, passing through the little girl, and illuminating her transparency.

  With a shriek, Silver sat upright, without disrupting Nick’s sleep."

Right, cause if you shriek in the middle of the night and the person sleeping beside you doesn't wake up, that's totally normal, right?

It wasn't that I didn't enjoy CHAINS OF SILVER, it was probably more of I had higher expectations and CoS didn't quite meet them. But otherwise, I thought that it was a pretty cool read, though a little lukewarm, but still fun and enjoyable.

My Rating

ARC Review: On A Dark Wing by Jordan Dane

Published Date: December 27th, 2011
Finished Date: November 28th, 2011
Publisher:
Format: eARC via Netgalley
My Rating: 3.75/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
"The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for.
And Death would be my willing teacher."

Five years ago Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s Ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death is with him because of her.

Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

My Review

A darkly beautiful, unexpected psychological thriller On A Dark Wing turned out to be. It did shock me, but in a good way.

Abbey and her mom got into a car crash when she was ten, and after the eighteen-wheeler crashed into them and silence descended, a glowing apparition-like boy made up of the sky and animal clouds adrift walked up to her. She felt warmth envelope her as he came closer, and when he stretched out his hand, Abbey almost took it, but then she heard her mother's broken voice call her name. Abbey pulled back, but Death was there to collect one soul, and thus when her mom died and she lived, Abbey took all the blame unto herself.

Now that Abbey's in high school and falling for her school's superstar, Nate Holden, her situation isn't much better. She prefers to keep a low profile, and she's a sort of outcast, what with her dad being a mortician and her living room and basement housing the newly-departed. Her only friend came in the form of the wheelchair-bound boy who was once a sportstar now turned outcast, Tanner Lange.

Abbey's been OBSESSED with Nate Holden for the past forever, and with his big climb up Denali coming up, she can't wait to stalk his progress up the mountain that could rival Everest herself. Tanner is a sort of a computer genius which he termed cyber-banditto, and he managed to snag this radio which could tune into the same frequency as Nate's team's. But Abbey forgot that the time has come for her and her dad to go to this cabin in Healy again to celebrate her mom's birthday and remember her. Well, Abbey throws a tantrum, but she went along in the end.

Strange things are happening aound Abbey and Nate, more so at the cabin in Healy. Ravens are appearing outside their houses, and whenever Abbey's out of her house or the cabin, she feels eyes on her. Usually when time comes for her father and Abbey to go to that cabin, she'll try to spend some alone time at this ridge near the cabin where she and her mother used to go, trying to remember the times before when her mother's smile would warm the peaceful, snow-filled setting. But this time, something's different. This time, when she looks up, dozens of ravens fills the trees surrounding her, and when she looks back, Nate Holden stands there. Why was Nate there? Isn't Nate climbing up Denali right now? Even though she's confused and a little unsure, she befriends him and lets Nate kiss her. But then she finds out that Nate did go climb Denali. But if Nate's in Denali, who's the one that she's spent hours talking to?

And when up on Denali, Nate and his friend gets caught in an avalanche, he's got a real chance at making it back alive, but Death has a funny way of working. And since Abbey's been on his shortlist since years ago and Nate has a special place in Abbey's heart, he has crossed paths with Nate already half-dead in the crevasse where he'd fallen, and Death may not want to let him off his hook that easily...

This review is so long already! Haha, ok, I'll try to keep it as short as I can.

I loved listening to Abbey's voice as she narrates her story. It switches occasionally to Nate's, Tanner's and Nate's mom's POV sometimes, but the majority is still in Abbey's. I loved the way that she was a little sarcastic, but not overly so, a little childish sometimes, but mature in others. Her train of thought and emotions were easily relatable and understandable, being a teenager myself. It was very realistic - her natural defiance/rebellious spirit towards her dad, her obsession over a boy (though I don't have one, but it's still relatable), her sarcasm and witty jokes. Her sarcasm really kicked a punch - it was SO funny! Haha, it made reading OaDW so very enjoyable. Example:

Earlier in the year, [Mrs. Akkerman a.k.a Teacher a.k.a. Akk the Yak] assigned a project to keep a daily journal of everything we learned in her class. I know, sounds lame, right? Well, it was crazy lame. I bought a notebook just for her class and started that journal, but on day one, I got drool on the first page from where I’d fallen asleep. After it dried, I wrote one line.

Fell asleep today. Will try again tomorrow.

By the time I turned in the assignment, every page had the same entry and enough dried spit to keep a CSI team busy for weeks. When she saw my journal, my teacher called my dad in for “a talk.”

......but Mrs. Akkerman ended up giving me a B+ anyway— for doing nothing. I knew other kids had gotten worse grades, despite filling their journals with enough excrement to fertilize the Matanuska valley.

She's not afraid of using a little cuss words here and there, but none too major, and never sounding uncouth or coarse. However there was one part that got a little too sardonic and emo, and her obsession with Nate got a little overboard (dreaming about him talking to and kissing you's fine, but don't do it so incessantly!). But it was just a tiny portion that I thought is negligible in the whole scheme of things.

Furthermore, I loved Dane's writing style, phrasings and diction. It was beautiful and mature in a way I find sorely lacking in many YA and some Adult Fiction novels.

The. Plot. Was. Amazing. And that's probably an understatement, but it was very well-thought of, very detailed, and it flowed like a movie. I can practically see the story playing out in my head! As she switched from Abbey's POV, to Nate's to Tanner's to Abbey's again, it never got confusing and it never dulled the suspense even though we knew things from both ends. It's really weird how she does it; It's like I know who's the "killer/criminal", but I still got so afraid and I still had to second-guess eveything! I thought that I've seen all types of YA, and normally I can pretty much guess the storyline and ending of a book, at least roughly, but I couldn't for On A Dark Wing. At all. It's extraordinary, I tell you. Really amazing.

The only negative point about OaDW is its slow pace at the start and middle portion, and since I'm not a fan of mystery and thrillers, I wasn't enjoying it all that much or overly-excited about it initally. It was only the humor and sarcastic wit of Abbey pushing me on. But I didn't need the push when it neared the three quarters mark. From there, it's heart-pounding action and cool revelation after the other. I LOVED the ending. One of the best I've ever seen. There was closure between the father and daughter, between old friends and new ones, and a beautiful new relationship forms. It was beautiful. Bravo Dane, bravo.

I was expecting a typical YA talking about Angels (suggested by the cover) and human heroine falling in love, lol I really did, but it turned out to be a mix between YA psychological thriller and mystery with tiny hints of paranormal romance (just a teeeensy tiny bit). Dane even addressed a very controversial topic about Death. What happens After? What happens WHEN you're about to make the transition? Other than the slow start On A Dark Wing will keep you glued to its pages and it will induce lots of emotions in you - an example would be fear (yes, I did feel fear. I read it at night and I literally got scared), and another is sadness, then contentment). It is a great book, and one that I will recommend to my friends.

*Egalley courtesy of Netgalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.*

Random Musings:

I went to read Dane's acknowledgement page, and lol, it was kinda funny.

"To my agent, Meredith Bernstein, I have nothing but gratitude for your common sense and good humor. You are my guard ian angel in designer shoes.

Special thanks as always, to my crazy family and..."

And a VERY COOL quote from Dane:

"I want to say: laughing is a vacation where you don’t come back ten pounds heavier."

My Rating

Review: Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles

Published Date: December 29th 2009
Finished Date: October 23rd, 2011
Publishers: Pocket
Format: Paperback
Pages: 329
Series: Succubus Diaries #1
My Rating: 3.5/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Who Knew An Angel Could Get A Girl In So Much Devilish Trouble?Jackie Brighton woke up in a Dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her familiar B-cups have somehow become double Ds, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever...with a fallen angel. All she remembers is gorgeous Noah's oddly hypnotic blue eyes...and then a dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a sexy itch. With help from Noah, Jackie begins to adapt to her new lifestyle — until she accidentally sends Noah into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands herself in a fierce battle for an ancient halo with the queen's wickedly hot righthand man. Who just happens to be the vampire who originally bit her. How's a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy's so hard to resist?

My Review

At times, this book made me want to throttle it, and at times devour it. Such conflicting emotions! But oh well, it is the truth. Know why? Cause the first half of the book was dominated by sex-crazed, dumb blondes with a fetish for being disloyal to their supposed allies and hot guys who fall for fat, nerdy girls, but the back was totally jam-packed with surprises, action, betrayal, and some very hot romance (hubba hubba...HEH)!

Let me just give you a quick rundown of the whole deal first.

Jackie Brighton is a fat museum docent with a bad boss and bad sex life. She wakes up one day to find herself in a dumpster and vague memories of a wonderful night of sex with an impossibly handsome man. After several encounters and weird conversations, she finds out that 1) She died and was left to come back to life in the dumpster, and 2) She is now a succubus who has an "Itch" that needs to be "scratched" once every two days. And that "Itch" happens to be this urge to have sex. Well, that's what being a succubus entails.

In case you're wondering what a succubus is, it is a female sex demon who is said to look like every men's dream, and who feed on those lusty desires. So now, Jackie is a crazy-beautiful woman with a huge rack. Lol, just had to add the last part. (My feeble definition. If you don't believe it, check the dic)

Anyway, Jackie gets turned but since she's new to the whole supernatural world, she goes and commits this grave error that started a whole string of catastrophes. At least for herself. She went and let an angel kiss her - which is a very bad thing, cause even tho the kiss suppresses her "Itch", it doesn't come without a catch. The angel, Uriel, told her about his suspiscions about how the vamps are acting suspiciously and since the angels and vamps are enemies, he asked her to fraternise with the vamps to get an idea of what the vamps are up to. And yeah, she failed, got caught by the Vamp Queen herself and was asked to do some other crazier shits.

Ok, back to the very unsatisfactory beginning. Jackie is supposed to be smart! She's a docent, so she must be really qualified (oh, by the way, docent is like a museum tour guide) to actually secure her job, so I thought she would be another kickass, headstrong heroine who stood up for what she believed (a little cliched with the whole kickass heroine thing, but well, there's a reason why it's cliche). But oh nooo, she turned into a gorgeous woman and totally succumbed to the pretty-snob syndrome. She was disloyal to her friend, and she let her sex-drive take control. Not only that, she cowered behind either her boyfriend or girlfriend whenever trouble arises, which pissed me off royally. I mean, ok, don't be a kickass heroine, but don't go whimpering behind your friends when the shit hits the fan; And may I remind you that three quarters of the time, you shitted out those shit that hits the fan, so man up to it.

One incident that I have to dedicate a whole para to: Jackie's friend was being held hostage and was probably being tortured and raped because of Jackie herself, and guess what she goes home to do? You guessed it - she went to get her "Itch" scratched. And you know what that means: sex.

Wow, really Jackie? And she had the audacity to feel hurt when her man thought to go save said hostage friend after her orgy, thinking that maybe her man was insincere and was thinking about another woman while they had their thing going on. Err, right.

Ok, scathing remarks are over, now to the good! (I know it's so ironic. Trust me, I know.)

I was giving thought to chucking this book into my Did-Not-Finish book pile, but then I was stranded in my school with no books to read, so I picked it up again. Imagine my surprise when Jackie morphed into the totally headstrong, loyal, courageous, and loving woman that I initially expected. I almost fell in love with her myself. Lol, kidding there. But yes, the story also picked up its pace, and Myles threw in so much more challenges, deception, romance, action, double entendres....wow! It was such a pivotal moment when I flipped the book open again. Drama, I know.

The boys, Zane and Noah. You can guess who's the vamp baddy and angel hotness already, can't you? Zane is the sexy vamp dude that stole my heart the moment he appeared in this dark room adjoining the vamp club space and the human club space. Sort of like a second layer bouncer system beside the human one out front. He requested Jackie and her friend to raise up their hands so that he could check for unauthorized gadgets, but instead started to feel Jackie up her rack. Pervy I guess, but the way Myles put it... That was sheer cheekiness and sexy. Noah is the calm, cool angel who was always the solid pillar for Jackie. But he chose to sacrifice himself for Jackie when the vamp queen was about to take Jackie away for god knows what, and became the torture-thing for the queen. So he went a little MIA after that, but oh well, I do still like him. But Zane's the man, man. Oh and I forgot to mention, not only is he a cheeky badboy, he actually had a bad past and is a tortured soul, and when he fell for Jackie (I'm sorry I'm spoilering so much)... Oh man, I'm a lost cause.

I loved the second half of the book, I really did. I would've rated this a 4.5, but the beginning's just not good enough.

Anyway, I can't wait to read this book's sequel, Succubi Like it Hot! Oh, and I just found out there's a prequel too, so I can't wait to read it too! Hehe.

P.S. I am not a fan of the book titles, by the way. Just saying.:)
P.P.S. If you're one of those who checked the dic for the definition, feel my flying fist! You doubt my credibility, you? Lol, kidding. But seriously, if you don't trust me, why are you reading this?
P.P.P.S. Sorry my review's so all over the place, I just let whatever comes out of my head flow into my fingers.

My Rating

Review: A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day

Published Date: October 4th, 2011
Finished Date: October 19th, 2011
Publishers: Signet Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 344
Series: Renegade Angels #1
My Rating: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Adrian Mitchell is a powerful angel leading an elite Special Ops unit of Seraphim. His task is to punish the Fallen-angels who have become vampires-and command a restless pack of indentured lycans. But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals- losing the woman he loves again and again. Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her-Shadoe-her soul once more inhabiting a new body, with no memory of him. And this time, he won't let her go.

My Review

Wow, what an experience! This book sure is a refreshing take on the whole PNR-UF-angelic novel genre. I thought the whole "she's my soul mate and I wouldn't let her go now that I've found her again" was very YA-ish, and a little cliched, so I took a little time to get past my prejudices and finally picked up the book. I have to say, I was - am - not disappointed.

Lindsay Gibson's mom was killed and sucked dry of blood right in front of her innocent, toddler eyes when she was five, and has been harboring this vengeance ever since. She wants to help people like her, so she trains and hunts paranormals which she can sense when the wind speaks to her. (And if you're wondering, no, she's not crazy. They really do speak to her. Lol, I thought of that too..)

Anyway, she was on her way to resettling in Anaheim for a wonderful new job when she looks up and catches sight of the most gorgeous man she has ever seen in her life - surprise! - and thus tries to catch his attention. Like every other girl/lady/woman in the airport. Thing is, he looked up and when their gazes met, she felt this sense of deja vu, familiarity, and a tingling of arousal. Lol, aroused in an airport.

Adrian Mitchell, head of Mitchell Aeronautics and Captain of the Sentinels, brings Lindsay to his house for dinner, but on the way, things happened and they were both forced to reveal who they were to each other. One an angel Sentinel, the other a mortal who hunts evil paranormals.

But things aren't all carnal sins and happy reunion, Lindsay actually has 2 souls in her - one of Shadoe, and the other is her own mortal one. Shadoe has been reincarnated many times over the past centuries, and she was Adrian's lover in every one of them. Turns out that she was originally the daughter of Syre - antagonist and head of the Fallen (fallen angels a.k.a. vamps). Syre has, for all the past lives Shadoe had, tried to "retrieve" her from Adrian and turn her into a vamp so that they can be reunited and live as a happy family.

Thing is, Adrian would give up his wings before he lets Lindsay be Turned into a bloodsucking fiend...

I'm not sure how to summarise this as this book presents a special case. You see, I pegged Syre as the antagonist, when there isn't really an antagonist in this book. Complicated, right? But let me enlighten you.

*You might not want to continue cause I may reveal some epic spoilers*

Syre is actually a great, loving father who justs wants his daughter back, not the usual bad guy crazies. No ulterior motives, no greed for power, no shit reasons other than to have his family back. And he is a Fallen only because he fell in love with a mortal woman and fornicated with her.

See my dilemma for word choice now? But then you'd be asking, if there isn't a true antagonist, how can there be a story? Well, leave it to Day to come up with such an engrossing, steamy-hot romance that'll leave you with wet dreams and swoon-faced aftershock symptoms, cause I am telling you, this book is good.

Adrian was HOT. H.O.T, hot! He doesn't reveal any sort of emotions, but Lindsay can tell from the howling winds and stormy weathers that seem to be affected by the Captain's reaction (remember the wind talking thing? Yeah, that's the one) what is actually going on inside that hot male husk of an angel. He is possessive of Lindsay, so the lycans know better than to get overtly friendly with her. He takes care of the people Lindsay calls friend, cause he knows that if they get hurt, Lindsay will get hurt, so he goes out of his way to protect them without her knowing. Oh, and the way he leads Lindsay to sin, WOW. Lol, sounds so wrong but I don't care! He's so... wow...

Lindsay's a cool heroine. I adore her. She is the epitome of self-sacrificing selflessness. She loves Adrian with her whole heart, but pushes him away because to bed him would be to cause him his wings, soul and life(a.k.a. forbidden romance). But above all those feminine traits, she's as tough as any Sentinel warrior. She trains under so much pressure and pushes herself to her limit without a single utterance of complaint, and oh god, I just love how she kicks ass.

However, I am giving it a four because it took some time to get into rhythm with this book. It may be because of my lingering prejudices, I don't know, but it may also be because the book wasn't as interesting at the start because of the instant connection thing that annoyed me. But I LOVED the ending. The ending is a total 6 out of 5 stars. I seriously gobbled up the ending (which is the last one-third of the book) in a span of half an hour. Which is record-breaking since I read at a toddler's pace. (I like to savor every word, thank you very much.)

This is a story of true, unconditional love between lovers and a father and his daughter (ok, not much on the familial love, but it's still there), and how they had to overcome obstacles thrown at them from their past. I would say I'm looking forward to the sequel, A HUNGER SO WILD, but it's going to be about Elijah, whom I sorry to say, am not really interested in. Come on, bring us more Lindsay-Adrian love, pretty please?:(

And anyway, Elijah's a wolf. Shouldn't he be in a Renegade Wolfs series, not Renegade Angels series??

P.S. This book reminded me infinitely of the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh, tho not as great. But if you're a fan of GH, you may want to try this.

P.P.S. Adrian's not a very manly name, in my opinion. Just saying. :)

Random Musing (which you will not understand if you haven't read the book):

Y'know, when Lindsay noticed and pointed out that Adrian doesn't only have 1 pair of wings, but three pairs, I kinda burst out giggling. "You kidding me? He's like a freaking mutated butterfly!"

My Rating