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: Soul Thief by Jana Oliver

 

Published Date: August 30th, 2011
Finished Date: September 9th, 2011
Publishers: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 339
Series: The Demon Trappers Book 2

Blurb from Goodreads: Riley Blackthorne is beginning to learn that there are worse things than death by demon. And love is just one of them…

Seventeen-year-old Riley has about had it up to here. After the devastating battle at the Tabernacle, trappers are dead and injured, her boyfriend Simon is gravely injured, and now her beloved late father’s been illegally poached from his grave by a very powerful necromancer. As if that’s not enough, there's Ori, one sizzling hot freelance demon hunter who’s made himself Riley’s unofficial body guard, and Beck, a super over-protective “friend” who acts more like a grouchy granddad. With all the hassles, Riley’s almost ready to leave Atlanta altogether.

But as Atlanta’s demon count increases, the Vatican finally sends its own Demon Hunters to take care of the city’s “little” problem, and pandemonium breaks loose. Only Riley knows that she might be the center of Hell’s attention: an extremely powerful Grade 5 demon is stalking her, and her luck can't last forever…

My Review

I tried to make myself like Soul Thief. I swear, it was an honest attempt. But it fell flat and dull, and I just couldn't bring myself to continue turning its pages.

My Summary for the first quarter of the book
(because that's where I stopped):

Riley Blackthorne goes in search for her father.

End of first quarter of Soul Thief.

Can you believe that? With an average rating of 4.30 on Goodreads(which is uncommonly high), you'd think that it'd be a phenomenal page-turner, a mindblowing novel that'll leave you thirsting for more, right? Well, I didn't enjoy THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER all that much, but decided to forego my better senses cause I thought that there would be more interesting characters that would come under the spotlight - mainly Ori and Beck:D. And need I say? I was sorely, greatly, and downright freaking disappointed.

Similar to its prequel, Soul Thief delved to much into the periphery. Too much side details that bored the bejeezus outta me. Not only that, nothing's ever happening! Riley just keeps going around, looking for witches and necromancers (ppl who raise the dead and in so doing, binding the newly reanimated's will to their own) and enquiring about her father's whereabouts and who the hell reanimated him. That's practically it!

The only bright point of interest for me is the mysterious Ori. Riley's romantic relationship with him was only just a subtle hint. Which, by the way, started from the previous book. Ori is stalking her, tho no perverted ulterior motives other than to protect her from the Grade 5 demon which seemed to have developed an unhealthy level of interest in our dear Miss Blackthorne. He only got three-liners at max and has dialogues lesser than Hello Kitty.

I-have-no-mouth Hello Kitty

Beck is still looking out for her, and she's still acting like the world's greatest and brat-tiest ingrate to him. I hate - not dislike, it's just too mild a word to use with Riley - and absolutely loath the way she treats Beck. He can be a jerk and bitch at times, yeah, but she's forgetting that he is putting his life on the line for her time and time again, looking out for her, protecting her, supporting her, and just, arh. But everytime he asks something of her to protect her, which she bloody hell knows, she just yells some rude crap at him and then brushes him off. Hate the hater attitude.

It was uneventful, the pace was impossibly slow, the protagonist had a hater attitude which pissed me off, and I didn't like the excessive scenic descriptions which had no relations whatsoever to what Riley was doing. (Now I know why my English teacher hates it when we insist on writing every bloody detail).

Bored me senseless. Did not finish.

My Rating

Review: Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

                

Published Date: May 7th, 2009 / July 20th, 2010
Finished Date: September 7th, 2011
Publishers: Puffin / Hyperion
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272 / 352
Series: Billi SanGreal Book 1

Blurb from Goodreads: As the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she wasn't normal. Instead of hanging out at the mall or going on dates, she spends her time training as a soldier in her order's ancient battle against the Unholy.

Billi's cloistered life is blasted apart when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from Jerusalem, gorgeous and with a dangerous chip on his shoulder. He's ready to reclaim his place in Billi's life, but she's met someone new: amber-eyed Michael, who seems to understand her like no one else, effortlessly claiming a stake in her heart.

But the Templars are called to duty before Billi can enjoy the pleasant new twist to her life. One of the order's ancient enemies has resurfaced, searching for a treasure that the Templars have protected for hundreds of years -- a cursed mirror powerful enough to kill all of London's firstborn. To save her city from catastrophe, Billi will have to put her heart aside and make sacrifices greater than any of the Templars could have imagined.

My Review

7 September 2011: 0.5 stars. All I can think to say to this book now is: "Utter crap. The stove is there, please see yourself there."

So I'm not going to do the review now. Don't want to cuss too much.

_________________________________________________________

8 September 2011: Right, here we go. This book, is utter crap. Have I said that already?

Bilquis "Billi" SanGreal's dad is the head of the Knights Templar, people who police the things that go bump in the night, so to speak. And to officially become one of them, you'll have to pass the Ordeal. True to its name, the Ordeal is a terrifying task which Billi dreads to take.

Her mom died when she was a kid, and her dad has been treating her like so much scum for all these years. The year that Billi had her Ordeal is also the year where her best and only friend, Kay, left for Jerusalem (or was it Isreal...) to train as an Oracle. So Billi was mad to see him return to London a day after her Ordeal because he wasn't there for her when she was downright terrified or when she passed it.

Now, I have very strong feelings about this particular point, and they are not positive strong feelings. You see, it was Billi's aggravating dad that sent him away in the first place, but Billi totally dumped the blame pile on Kay. And she acted like a total tarmagant to him. Which pissed me off royally.

Billi was resentful of her friendless, miserable Templar life. So when handsome Mike Harbinger (Can you believe this shit? Hi, I'm Mr Harbinger. Totally normal last name. Totally.) saved her from an assault from three thugs, her rebel spirit was somehow rekindled and she invited him into her house.

Turns out Mike really is a Harbinger. A big one. The one that scares the shit out of parents just seeing him look at their kids. Or maybe just seeing him from way over the horizon with their binoculars. Lol, end of sarcasm.

Sounds innerestin, don't it? Don't let the summary screw your judgement like it did mine. Cause I'm telling you, this book is not worth the trees that has to be so brutally sawed off.

Firstly: The cover is screwed up. Cause if the protagonist turned into a male in the end, then I didn't read about it cause I did not finish reading this. Too painful to the eyes, head, nose, ears, hands, physique. Anyway, yes, the protagonist is a girl. If it's about the antagonist, then I have to remind them that he only appeared about mid-way thru the book. (I'm talking about the cover with the red cross at the front). The other cover isn't much better anyway. Billi's supposed to look Middle Eastern. That girl suuuuure looks Middle Eastern to me.

Secondly: Billi has a sorry excuse of a romantic relationship. And the way she fell for them, is even more commiserable, and deplorable. One of them, she fell in love with under 10 min of meeting him after a traumatic incident. The second one, she fell in love with a day after she got dumped by the first.

In the synopsis they say that Kay is back demanding her attention with a vengeance right? Turns out that vengeance is only on day one when he hugged her, then after that deemed her unsafe for him (as in, she would be a fatal distraction to him being an Oracle). And the hot guy that she was supposedly dating didn't even reciprocate the feeling. He even manipulated and tried to kill her!

Thirdly: Billi the protagonist seems more of a supporting character.

"Templars: Oh no, who is powerful enough to save us?

Kay: Me!

Templars: Oh no, we are being attacked on all sides, who do we look to?

Head of Templars: Me!

Templars: Oh no, who's that big bad wolf outside our window?

Mr Harbinger: MOI!"

You see? There're all not about poor old Billi! And look at her name! It's not even a girl's name! *gasp in horror and pity*

But rest assure, Billi often voices her frustration with life throughout the book. Did you miss the keyword? Let me repeat myself. Ahem. "Often".

Fourthly: The entirety of the uneventful-ness of this book is astounding. Really. I'd expected so much more when I read the synopsis. Disappointing, to say the least.

Fifthly: This one's the best. This novel didn't follow the Bible/Quran correctly. Chadda somehow managed to twist the stories and.. Lol, they were original, and oftentimes so odd it became an unintended comedy.

This bitching session has been surprisingly draining. Lol. I shall stop here. I want some down time to mourn the loss of my time, and this complete let-down of a book that had so much plot potential.

PS. Sorry if there were a lot of grammer errors. Didn't want to check cause I don't want to renew the irritation that this book had incited in me.

My Rating

Review: Airel by Aaron Patterson and Chris White

Published Date: May 1st, 2011
Finished Date: August 12st, 2011
Publishers: StoneHouse Ink
Format: Paperback
Pages: 425
Series: Airel Saga Book 1

Blurb from Goodreads: All Airel ever wanted to be was normal, to disappear into the crowd. But bloodlines can produce surprises, like sudden mysterious illness. Then there’s Michael Alexander, the new guy in school, who is impossibly gorgeous…and captivated by her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she can hear the sound of pages turning, and another, older story being written. It is the story of an ancient family, of great warriors, of the Sword of Light, and the struggle against an evil so terrible, so far-reaching, that it threatens everything she hopes for even now. Airel knew change would be inevitable as life went on. But can she hold on when murder and darkness begin to close in and take away everything she loves? Will she have what it takes when the truth is finally revealed?

My Review: This book was (I'm sorry) utter trash. Seriously? All through the book, i was not touched by the story nor did i feel connected, in any way, to the characters.

So its about this girl called Airel (beautiful name, by the way) who was average and wanted to stay average and normal. Not that it's bad or anything.. Anyway, she met this guy on her way to school and acted the part of the drooling weak-kneed girl that she was in perfect sequence. Really, she gawked and then spilled her coffee on another guy. After which she..y'know what, i dont even want to talk about this book's summary because i really am in no mood after wasting HOURS of my time and leaving me feeling completely annoyed and unaccomplished.

First things first: She DROOLED at a complete stranger, poured coffee on another guy, lost her tongue whenever he talked to her at first, fell in love with him before her second meeting, and guess what? Cherry on top of the whole freaking dung cake - the guy wasnt even swoon-worthy bf material. Ok, i read lots of YA novels and have come to have very high expectations of the male protagonist in every new book that i'd pick up. I mean come on, he just showed that he "desired" her(quoted the word) and oh swoon..She "melts into a puddle of goo".

More complaints about the female lead cast? She cries a hell lot. Ok i get that her life hasnt been smooth and she's having a tough time taking it all in, but hello? Enough's enough. You'd think after bawling her eyes out 5 times would at least let some normalcy in her psyche settle in but noooo. She cries. Every. Freaking. Day. Why? I have no idea.

One plus point tho (and i tell you it will only be the only one): Lots of potential and awesome book cover. Actually, it was both of this that made me more inclined to start this book rather than the other books in my TBR list. Ok, plus point over. Now back to the bad.

Bad point number 2: On top of her not-very-independent character, it's that she blushes a lot (i dont know why, but i somehow found that irritating too..I think i was already getting close to losing it at this point. The book was awfully boring. To say the least) and she doesnt use the grey matter that i wonder if God actually bestowed upon her. Imagine this: you caught a killer red handed in a dark movie theatre and the killer saw you looking at him. Would you stay in the theatre with your friends and a whole crowd of unknowing people, y'know they say comfort in mass and all that, or would you run out of the theatre ALONE and trap yourself in a bathroom stall where the killer can obviously excuse himself politely and discreetly from the theatre and hunt you down like a trapped rabbit? Oh let's see..Option 1, option 2, option 1, option 2. Guess what? She went for..dun dun dunnnnnn. The great 2.

Bad point number 3: She talks to herself. Not often, more interspersely in the book. But..She talks to herself. I shant elaborate further.

Bad point number 4: Patterson uses weird descriptions sometimes. (Oh but there are some that are really stunning. Real ironic if you ask me. It's like this on and off thing. One moment the illustrations are vivid, magical and enchanting. The next? ..Not so) And i think her mind works too fast or something when she writes. Because the book's average pace is pretty slow, but sometimes at some random, totally non-climatical points in time speeds up real fast and then i get lost. Then she reverts back to the normal snail pace.

I have to admit that i truly am greatly disappointed with this book. There seemed to be so much potential, with the absolutely stunning cover with a gorgeous girl on it, and that cool switching back and forth of the era thing? I mean..I dont get it.. The book was absurdly..bad and i really felt like stopping so many times throughout the entire reading process, but then i still held on to around four fifths of the book cause i was still waiting for climax and the ultimate hooking feeling i get everytime i read a good book. It's like the feeling lingers just over yonder, you can actually graze it with your fingers, but you can never grasp it. Also, there was this once where the book came remotely close to being interesting, Patterson just changed scene abruptly and yeah. I mean, why keep the shit dangling right? Ok im getting vulgar and this is a sign to stop writing.

Actually even tho i've rated it a tragic one, you guys can still read it. I think it's mainly because of my foul exam mood that made me a little more impatient and grumpy. Or maybe not. Who knows?

Anyway, bottomline: Bad book. For me.

PS. I still feel so sad for my lost time.TT I took so long to read this because of how slow and draggy it was. Sigh. Haha, sorry this review seemed more like a bitching session, but it's an honest one, that i can assure you.

My Rating:

             

Review: Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter

Published Date: September 1st, 2005
Finished Date: June 26th, 2011
Publishers: HQN Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 372
Series: Atlantis book 1

Blurb from Goodreads: Searching for her missing brother, Grace Carlyle never dreamed she would discover a secret world populated by mythological monsters--or find herself facing a sword-wielding being whose looks put mortal men to shame.

But there he was, Darius en Kragin, one of a race of shape-shifting warriors bound to guard the gates of Atlantis, and kill all travelers who strayed within its borders.

Now Grace's life was in his hands, and Darius had to choose between his centuries-old vow and the woman who had slipped beneath his defenses and stolen the heart of Atlantis's fiercest dragon. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Review: This book was a pure whine-fest. The plot was horrendously predictable, and the heroine is a major whiner, and a B with an ITCH. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with her? She's like those anorexic, cheerleader whiner-babies that is totally unsatisfied with her life. And don't get me started on the male protagonist. He was an emotional wreck when he saw her, all "i should kill you but i cant cause i get all tingly with this insta-love shit that i still dont want to acknowledge is love thing". Dont get me wrong, im more than fine with insta-loves(what's not to love and all right?), but you've got to build and elaborate it, not just go straight into the face sucking. And so it was downright draggy and uneventful that i stopped reading quite soon after i picked the book up.

Here's how far i got: Darius shed any and all emotions he might have had way back ago after seeing his family get killed and having had his first kill(who was a totally innocent person who just so happen to have stumbled upon the entrance to Atlantis). Grace is a starved, lost girl in the Amazon jungle with a rifle in hand, and who has no qualms using it whatsoever(really? yeah because you go around shooting guys in their asses everyday in your very unfulfilling life like you just did earlier in the book right? totally understandable). She isnt happy with her life(have i said that already?), and is out being an adrenaline junkie when her tour guide, of sorts, bolted on her, taking with him all her supplies including food and the makeshift shelter. She stumbles upon this whole bunch of human-like apes which is a rip off of the funny baboon scene in Tarzan, and all of a sudden, this weird dragon necklace that her brother gave her started glowing and tugging her to this cave. She wandered further into the cave and got transported to Atlantis where she meets Darius at the cave entrance/exit. Both of them gets these lusty feelings INSTANTLY and omg..Yeah and so Darius managed to bring her to his private chambers in his palace(yes he is the king of the palace) and they knocked it off with lots of french kissing.

I stopped there. Cause it was filled in between with SOO much inner whining and draggy parts that i literally rolled my eyes(and i dont do that often cause i have a manly rep to protect ok..)and closed the book and was like, ah f*ck..this is a hell of a disappointment(sorry for the language. I think long term reading Hellion's reviews and the f word is flowing out of me like nobody's business). Because i had such high expections for this book which had an effing lot of plot potential. And i say effing lot cause apparently im a sucker for cool, reclusive, high-flying/status guys who fall for that one special, mortal girl with spirit. And Showalter is a rather renowned author with a hell lot of books to decorate her biography(ok awkward phrasing, but you get what i mean).

The female protagonist, Grace Carlyle, isnt endearing, at all. She's really like a crazy, wild and unappreciative brat who keeps getting into trouble and looking for hot sex(yes it was explicitly stated), and i dont get the lovey dovey chemistry that should be there(and this love or lust at first sight is hardly an acceptable excuse), like in Firelight by Sophie Jordan, that one i loved, and craved for more, but this one is just pushing it.

The male protagonist was ok...........weird, cool, but not ideal(maybe my impression was sullen-ed from all those repetitive "should i?but i shouldnt..Should i?but i shouldnt..SHOULD I?" oh god just effing make a freaking decision. My first impression of him wasnt bad tho..it just went down a steady steep decline as i progressed further into the book. but just freaking MOVE ON, dude. i should too..sigh.) There werent many side characters other than Darius' underlings. But they didnt really shine all that much..And especially with their rebellious, disrespectful attitude, it totally destroyed Darius' image as a commanding and well-respected king.

To sum it all up and tho i cant help repeating myself: Whiny. Draggy. Uneventful. Disliked female protagonist. Unendearing male protagonist(maybe just a little huh, not so unendearing). Not much plot building. Not much chemistry in the relationship. Appallingly predictable plot. Bad book. Did not even reach a quarter of the book. Painful reading process. And i repeat PAINFUL.

My Rating:

Review: Tempting the Beast by Lora Leigh

Published Date: November 24th, 2003
Finished Date: June 17th, 2011
Publishers: Ellora's Cave
Format: Paperback
Pages: 252
Series: Breeds Book 1 

Blurb from Goodreads: Book 1 in the Feline Breeds series.
Callan Lyons is a genetic experiment. One of six fighting for freedom and the survival of their Pride. Merinus Tyler is the reporter who will tempt him, draw him, until the fury of the "mating frenzy" locks them into a battle of sexual heat there is no escape from.


Deception, blood, and the evil Genetics Council are hot on their trail. Callan will use his strength to try and save them both...and do all in his power to keep his woman in the process.

My Review: wow, after reading more than half of this book, i still cant remember the protagonist's name..wait let me refer to the book...(ok maybe it's because i havent touched it in a few days but still..)

oh yes, Merinus is a journalist whose family of journalists are intent to save a man called Callan Lyons who was being hunted down by the Council, which is like a ruling government body(i think). Callan is an experiment of sorts, you see, of the Council's to merge the DNAs of an animal and human, and Callan ran away because he wanted to have a life where he could decide which underwear he wore. Merinus and her family, consisting of her father and what..7 brothers?, thinks that by letting the general masses know of the half-animals' existence, they can garner some support from them and effectively protect Callan and any of the surviving experiments from the nasty plans of the Council. Callan thinks its a stupid and naive idea and tells her to go f*ck herself(ok not direct quote). But he did quite soon after, cause apparently both their i dont what(genes? DNA? gamete types? cant remember)matched and so some chemical reaction's started occuring within them which they call the "mating frenzy", and so both of them cant seem to stop lusting over each other. I stopped where they FINALLY could stop having sex and get a grip, but just then the Council's people busted in and wanted to take Merinus away to do some experimenting on her after they've heard that Callan and her have successfully gone into the mating frenzy thing.

Well, this book has been just about one thing - sex. Yeah, violent ones. I didnt feel the connection between the two protagonists, the relationship wasnt well developed at all, and honestly at times i feel like there is so much hostility and tension between them, and a lot of times, Callan doesnt even respect Merinus. What kind of a joke is this? Sure he's not in his most stable of mental times what with the mating frenzy and all, but this just aint right.

Merinus is too stubborn and immature at times(dont get me wrong, i like headstrong and dominant females, but when it's overly so, then its a no-go for me), and Callan is also tipping onto the overly dominant side that they clash very often - which is where that tension came and builds from. And all this clashing, friction and not-very-nice feelings towards each other didnt even deter them from satiating their needs for each other like twice or thrice every day. And after those hard fucking sessions(and i stress on the 's' at the end of sessionSSS), they get back to their quarrelling. Maybe their need for each other are out of their hands, but i just think that the focus on the book is totally wrong and off-kilter that the effect rebounded and backlashed that it more than ticked me more often than not. And it made the reading process VERY laborious.

The SUPPOSED main plot of the book, which is about the bad ruling government body the Council re-capturing Callan and taking Merinus along with him for experimentation purposes, was only developed in the first few pages of the book and the last few tens or so pages, which is so insufficient for the real building of the climax. The content was dry and appallingly...tasteless? Y'know when a book is good, it's juicy? so just flip it around and get the antonym and you get tasteless:)

The book was uninteresting and it is clearly(for me at least)not worth your time. But if you just want a good, horny time and read,you can try this, even tho i know of a lot of eroticas that are better than this because the ones in this one are lacking in chemistry and left me feeling a little dirty instead of satisfied in the end.

My Rating:

Review: Hunter's Prayer by Lilith Saintcrow

Published Date: September 4th, 2008
Finished Date: June 11th, 2011
Publishers: Orbit
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Series: Jill Kismet Book 3

Blurb from Goodreads: Another night on the Nightside…


An ancient evil looms over Santa Luz. Prostitutes are showing up dead and eviscerated. And Jill Kismet just might be able to get her revenge against an old enemy.


There's just one problem. Someone wants Jill dead—again. And if they have to open up Hell itself to kill her, they will.


Sometimes, even when you're Jill Kismet, you don't have a prayer…

My Review: The rating is harsh, but i must say that the reading process was rather painful.

EXCESS inner commentating, a not-so-dominant Were lover, too much focus on one single thing- which was the case, and at places too unrealistic.

The fact that her lover, Saul, was passive and a by-stander when she kicked hellbreeds' butts was pissing enough. And with the seriously annoying, braggy inner commentating on Jill's part scrawled over more than half the pages was really pushing it. The final straw was the cases were all so gruesome and repetitive(continued from the first book) that i was immune to it even before i finished half the book. I initially was feeling a little sorry for the victims, but after the what, 10th case i just shut the book and was like ah heck..this is wasting my time. And chugged it aside. For weeks. I even renewed my library loan and couldn't finish it on time cause i was seriously getting bored of it. And weeks later, i sit here writing this review cause i was reluctant to even think about it before.

I'll give you the quick gloss over till the part i stopped(as much as i can remember anyway): She was tracking a hellbreed, or meeting one, and fought(with a lot of lame comments in her head again). Then went to Saul who was smoking cigar in the car. Jill gave him some commands(yes, SHE gave HIM commands and he didnt even show bristle with irritation or sth..ANYTHING.) and they drove off. No lovey dovey parts to soften the grim and emo world she lives in. She gets case after case after case from her police contact. After case. All of the bodies left along roadsides, all bloodied beyond recognition, but most of them miraculously having one fingerprint undamaged on that one finger pad for ID-ing. Well that's convenient. And i ended when things started to get interesting(just i minor spark of the brewing plot, but still boring to me)- the church was hiding something from their protector, which was her. She got pissed, almost hit the priest and left. Yep, i stopped there.

I liked Saintcrow's Strange Angels series, but this one fell REALLY flat in comparison. Tho her habit of excess inner commentating was omnipresent, the plot pretty much saved everything. But this...is just...sigh..

I dont know, i've got nothing nice to say so i'll just stop here. When i remember something then i'll update this review. If not, i'll end off with: I am NOT going to continue reading this series. Period.

My Rating: