Review: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Source: review copy provided by the publisher.

Warning: all the spoilers for previous books AND this one, so avoid if you haven’t read the book or don’t want to know. I have not marked the spoilers, so proceed with caution. 

First, yes, I’m still alive! This blogging mojo is not coming back no matter what I do, but I’m not quitting even if that means one review every three *cough*or six*cough* months.

Second, I’m feeling lazy, so I’m not going to describe the plot. Plus this what, book 9? So I’m sure at this point anyone interested in the book knows what’s up.

Let’s get to it! I didn’t love this book, I’m not sure I even liked it, but bad Ilona Andrews is still pretty good, so I’m not saying this thing was good, but it wasn’t terrible either.

(not quite a) Review: Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Warning: Mild spoilers for previous books in the series, but no spoilers for this one. Seriously, you don’t want to know what happens in the book, so avoid spoilers and reviews if possible (including this one, just in case I’m not as good at not telling things as I think I am). 

I have a weird reading history with this series. The first book I read was Night Broken (that’s the eight one, for those who don’t keep track) and as weird a choice as that sounds, I really liked it. I had no idea who any of the characters were, but I was pretty hooked regardless. And yet, I knew the previous books had rape, and I’m tired of the rape-as-rite-of-passage trope that seems so present in UF books, so it took me until last year to sit and read the whole series in order. But it only took me ten days to read them all. That’s how much I loved them. Yes, there’s rape and some unnecessary and surprising sexism, but I couldn’t put it down.

Currently Reading: Rock Stars, Vampires, Demons, and Maids

Source: Review copies provided by the publishers through NetGalley.

Are you feeling cheerful today? Here’s a bunch of mini doom-and-gloom reviews to help you with that.

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh

I was very excited when Ms. Singh announced that she was publishing a Contemporary Romance, but this book was a disappointment that I couldn’t even finish.

A rock star falls in love with the virgin, skittish heroine the moment he first sees her. There is absolutely no reason why these two would want to be together, not even to have sex. The problem here wasn’t the trite tropes and contrived plot, though, but how incredibly half-baked the book was. Nalini Singh’s books are all about complex world-building and interesting characters, and at first I thought that the shortcuts she was taking were the product of bad PNR habits that didn’t translate well to a contemporary setting. But whereas the fated mates in the Psy/Changeling series are nuanced people who take time to develop a relationship, this book had two stock, flat characters getting together for superficial reasons in what ultimately was an underdeveloped story. I hear the second half gets better, but I seriously doubt it, because the groundwork just isn’t there.

Grade: DNF
Purchase: Amazon

Review: Black Dog by Rachel Neumeier

Note: I received an e-ARC through NetGalley, but I also purchased my own copy to verify, so the quotes in this review are from the finished copy not the e-ARC. Also, the review ended up being really long, so you're welcome to go TL;DR on it. 

There are four reasons why this book appealed to me: I’m going through a Romance burnout (I know!) so I wanted something different (because werewolves are about as rare as unicorns, right? Right?); the main characters were Mexican; I’ve heard great things about Ms. Neumeier’s books; and the cover was pretty.

The werewolves in this story have a magic shadow that allows them to change at will. They are born that way and are known as black dogs. Regular werewolves, or shifters, are the product of a bite, and unlike black dogs, they can only change during the full moon. Then we have magic humans known as the Pure. Because their shadows hold a lot of power over them, the black dogs are in a constant struggle to control their natures, but the Pure have a calming effect over them (a bit like the Omega wolves in Patricia Briggs’ books), so they are considered valuable by some and useful by others whose intentions aren’t that good.

Heroine Week, Day 4 – Kickass Heroines for Kickass Readers: Jen’s Favorite Urban Fantasy Heroines

You probably know Jen from places such as Red Hot Books and the slightly NSFW Tumblr, Red Hot Men. I know her from my earlier days as a reviewer, because she was one of the first bloggers I met, and we have been friends ever since. If Jen were to become a heroine, she would get a book like Dirty (take a look at her Tumblr if you don’t believe me).

*****

Kickass Heroines for Kickass Readers: Best Urban Fantasy Heroines by Jen from Red Hot Book

I know contemporary romance is the Big Thing right now, but if you are looking for a little girl power, there is no better genre than urban fantasy to find it.  These women have it all: kick ass powers, sexy heroes, and often a razor sharp wit to round things off. True, they have their fair share of problems as well, but you can’t have a story without conflict! Here is a look at some of my all-time favorite UF heroines.

Heroine Week, Day 4 – Demons, Warriors and Machiavellian Caregivers: The Women of Meljean Brook’s Guardian Series

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead, especially for the third book, Demon Night.

To me, Paranormal Romance* has fairytale quality. The stories feel fantastic beyond the obvious, probably because, in some ways, it sticks to traditional genre conventions and gender roles. The men are strong, dominant and possessive; whereas the women, regardless of strength, most of the time need to be saved and are visibly weaker than their male counterparts.

However, in the past few years this has started to change. The women have reclaimed their agency, the heroes have discovered their sensitive, respectful sides, and the different relationships established between heroes and heroines have moved towards a middle that begins to resemble true partnership.

Meljean Brook’s books perfectly fit this developing pattern, and we should stand to attention and take note of it. Her heroines push boundaries, defy expectations, and question conventions. They have agency and know their strengths and limitations well. They save the day, but also know when it’s wise to let someone else do the saving. These are complex and interesting characters that make their heroes work hard to become worthy of such wonderful women.

Book Talk: Guardian Demon by Meljean Brook (A Long Post with Crappy Pictures)

Image credit: Horia Varlan

Important Note: this post is filled with very significant spoilers for the Guardian series by Meljean Brook. If you haven’t read the books, don’t read it (it won’t make sense if you’re unfamiliar with it, so you’re not missing much).

Today, our friend and fellow blogger, Nath, is joining us to talk about the last book in Meljean Brook's Guardian series (you can also find this post at Breezing Through). We're huge fans and can't wait to read the book, so in the meantime we're going to speculate all we can. 

Nath: If you've been around blogland in the past weeks, you’re probably aware that Ms. Meljean Brook finally unveiled the cover for her last book in her Guardian series, Guardian Demon. But the cover wasn't alone, we also got a blurb. Brie, being a huge fan of the series, was so excited that she shot me an email wanting to discuss and do some guesswork about what might be happening in this final installment. She also had the bright idea to share this discussion with fellow fans and have you join us! So feel free to add your two cents on the comments!!

Review: Archangel’s Storm by Nalini Singh

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book from the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes.

Nalini Singh is special. I don’t know how she does it, but she has created two very distinct, complex worlds. I admit that the Psy/Changeling books are closer to my personal taste, but I find the Guild Hunter series very compelling, especially now that we get to see the world through a different set of characters. I’ve been intrigued by Jason since he first appeared in the previous books, and I’m happy to finally learn what makes him tick.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, the Guild Hunter books take place in an alternate present where angels and vampires live among us in relative peace. Angels have their own society and rulers, and one archangel is in charge of each territory. Raphael, the ruler of North America, has been the protagonist of the first three books, but now we also get stories for some of his closer friends and protectors. Jason, with his dark wings and ability to blend and listen to the wind, is Raphael’s spymaster and our newest hero.

Review: Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

I've enjoyed most of the Night Huntress books, especially the first three, and I loved the spinoff books. When I heard about this book, I was excited about it until I realized that it was the first of a new series, which gave me pause. I decided to wait because I never paid much attention to Vlad (who happens to be a widower and you know how I feel about those). So I figured I could wait. Obviously I have no willpower whatsoever because I lasted one week. But you know what? I’m really glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was great fun and it made me very happy. 

If you’re a fan of the original series you already know who Vlad is. But for those new to the books –and you definitely can start here, it stands alone perfectly well—the most important thing you should know is that Vlad is the real deal, as in The Impaler, or Dracula (although he hates the name). He lives in Romania, has a castle and a huge entourage. He can also can control and produce fire (and not just with his hotness). But the book isn’t really about him; the real protagonist is Leila, our heroine.

Review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Note: this is more of a rant than a review. It won’t make sense unless you have read the books. If you loved this one, you better skip it because you won’t like what I have to say. And there are spoilers.

I’m considering this –writing the review- my random act of kindness of the day, you don’t deserve to blindly get this book without a warning first. If my review can save you the time and money I’ll consider my sacrifice to be worthy. I almost  DNF’d it, but I kept reading it as my punishment for no listening to myself; last year I said I would quit the series, and yet, here I am again, so I guess I deserve the pain.

Deadlocked has no plot, none whatsoever. Nor does it have anything else going for it that may keep the reader’s attention. There’s a party where certain powerful vampires are supposed to be, but nothing happens except that a girl’s body is found nearby. No one knows who the dead girl is; she has no connection to the characters or plot (but there’s no plot so that’s okay); and there’s no motive. It just looks like a random vampire killing. Unfortunately, there’s more to it, and I say unfortunately, because when you learn the real reason behind the whole murder and what I guess is the book’s plot, you will feel like killing someone. It’s that stupid.

Review: Irregulars (Anthology) by Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Astrid Amara and Ginn Hale

Source: We received an e-ARC of the book from the publisher for review purposes.


All four novellas in this anthology take place in a shared world. Said world is pretty much the same we live in but with a huge exception, all sorts of fantastic creatures -from fairies to vampires- are real and living among us. And when I say all sorts of creatures, I mean everything you can think of, and things that you can’t even begin to imagine. Some of these beings have their own worlds and alternate realities, and some live life as humans. All the governments in the world are aware of their existence, but the regular people aren't, so there are different organizations in charge of both keeping it a secret, and implementing the law and regulating them. One of these organizations is NATO Irregulars Affairs Division (NIAD), and each novella involves one Irregular agent trying to solve a crime.

Review: One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost

Note: This review contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.

Here I go again with a new review of Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Series, I know that One Grave at a Time came out a while ago but I am barely catching up with my TBR pile so please bear with me and my really late review.  There is also a Christmas Novella out there but I have yet to read it, I’ll probably write the review some time soon.

As I said in the review of This Side of the Grave, I am not expecting much of any book that comes after Destined for an Early Grave. Cat and Bones got their HEA so everything that happens after that is just going to make me angsty because I’ll be waiting for Cat and Bones to break up or die. In short, impending doom. However, what I got with the last two books proved me wrong and showed me that there are still a lot of things going on in their world which doesn’t necessarily means a book full of heartache.

Review: True Colors by Thea Harrison

True Colors is a Novella within Thea Harrison’s Elders Series, it comes after Serpent’s Kiss. I don’t know why, but I was really excited about reading this one. Don’t get me wrong, the series is still good and I’m looking forward for what is yet to come, but for me the series had lost some of its initial charm. That said, I’m happy to tell you that True Colors lived up to my expectations. In my opinion it was almost as good as Dragon Bound and a great come back for the series.

Review: Serpent's Kiss by Thea Harrison

Note: This review contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.

Sometimes the thrill of reading a series comes from the chance to revisit our favorite characters without jeopardizing their HEA. So when I started this series I was beyond excited about the whole bromance between Dragos and his sentinels, and the fact that Thea Harrison created a whole new world so well written that you can easily imagine living in it.

In this book I was expecting to read more about Dragos and Pia, and Tricks and Tiago, or maybe just have them be part of the plot. What I got was a cameo, yes they are in the background but really, really hidden so you forget about them, and the sad part is that apparently the tight group of sentinels is tight no more. I am saying this now because is basically my only complaint. It is a big issue to me, but Serpent’s Kiss ended up being an enticing story and a good addition to the series regardless of the lack of previous characters, and I enjoyed it more than Storm’s Heart which to me is the weakest book in the series.

Review & Giveaway: Demon Marked by Meljean Brook

In case you didn’t know, Meljean Brook is one of my favorite authors, not in the romance genre, or the paranormal genre, one of my favorite authors period. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that the Guardian series is my all-time favorite book series. I don’t usually preorder books because I mostly only read on my Kindle, but I made an exception with this one just in case they ran out of e-copies (impossible right?) that’s how much I wanted to make sure that I was getting this book as soon as I could.

Demon Marked is book seven in the series -not counting several novellas that are in between- and if you go to Brook’s webpage you will find an extensive guide to the series so you can have an overall idea of where the story is at should you decide to start with this book instead of the first one. But, to be honest, the reason why this series is so good is because the story is complex and full of twists and turns, if you don’t start with the first book (actually the first novella) then it won’t be the same experience, not to mention that if you read that guide then all the surprises will be spoiled for you. So what I’m trying to say is please read these books in order, besides, this is the second to last book in the series and why would you want to start here? Go back and read the Hot Spell anthology and Demon Angel and read the whole thing.

Review: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Warning: the review has a huge spoiler, one of those that might ruin the book for you, so if you haven’t read the book or want to be surprised please don’t read it. I hid it as best I could but just in case you want to read the review and skip the spoiler be careful.

Confession time: I’m not really a fan of this series. I did like the first book but the only reason I kept reading the others was because the secondary characters were fantastic, and even though Elena and Raphael weren’t my favorites I loved everyone else, especially Dmitri. I was so happy when Nalini Singh announced that she was writing his book but now that I have finally read it I honestly don’t know how I feel about it. There were some amazing things about the book, but I was also a bit disappointed.

Interview: Thea Harrison

Thea Harrison took the blogging world by storm when reviews of her new book, Dragon Bound, started showing up online earlier this year. Then, once the book was released, she took everybody else by storm with the fantastic world that she showed us. I honestly can’t stop talking about Dragon Bound and if you haven’t read it I think you should. Have you heard the phrase sexy beast? Well, that phrase takes on a whole new meaning once you read about the Wyrs.

As you can see I’m a huge fan, which is why I’m very happy to be doing this interview today. Please give a warm welcome to the wonderful Thea Harrison and remember that Storm’s Heart comes out tomorrow!

Review: Never Again by Michele Bardsley

I got this book because the synopsis sounded interesting, but it was an impulsive buy because I didn’t know anything about the author or the book. I was pleasantly surprised because it turned out to be quite an interesting book.

Grey is a powerful wizard that has been betrayed by his wife, and I’m not talking about cheating, I’m talking about sacrificing him to a demon (and also cheating on him with said demon…). Fast forward ten years later and Grey is now living like a recluse who wants to be left alone.  

On the other hand we have Lucinda, she is the little sister of Grey’s wife, and is in real trouble. Her last hope is Grey, but when she asks him for help he adamantly refuses. Obviously Grey feels guilty and decides to help her but this might prove to be very difficult since Lucinda’s problems are bigger than they seem.

Review: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

I first read about this book in February when reviews and comments started to show up on the blogosphere. It seemed to me that everyone was talking about it. So when the book finally became available I put it on hold because I wanted to savor it, and also because if it really was as good as everyone was saying, I wanted the gap between this one and the next one in the series to be as short as possible. Well, the book was everything I was expecting and more.

Even though I’ve been hearing about this book for months I didn’t know anything about it besides that the hero was a dragon. I think that part of my enjoyment of the book was due to that. So what I’m going to tell you is that the book is an urban fantasy romance. That Pia, the heroine, is a not-so-regular girl who steals something from Dragos. And that Dragos, our hero, happens to be one of the oldest and most powerful creatures in the world, and is not happy about the theft.

Review: Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2) by Jeaniene Frost

Last week I went on a Jeaniene Frost binge. I’ve been avoiding reading her series mostly because I’m not a huge fan of book series with a recurring main couple -I’m always concerned about them breaking up- and because judging by the reviews Cat wasn’t my type of heroine.  Since Marie has been telling me to read them for over a year now I decided to give them a try, and I’ve got to admit that I liked them. I can’t exactly pinpoint why I liked them because I did find Cat annoying as hell, but the books kind of grew on me and now I’m addicted. I’ll probably do a review of the whole series, but meanwhile you can find Marie’s take on This Side of the Grave here.

Not only did I read all of the Night Huntress books, but I also read the spinoff series as well, and of those two my favorite was Eternal Kiss of Darkness. Both this book and the first one First Drop of Crimson are stand-alone from each other but not from the Night Huntress series, this means that even though you can read one without having read the other, you can’t read either one without having read the Night Huntress series first -at least until the fourth book- because they are full of spoilers. So my suggestion is that you treat these two books as part of the original series and just read every book in order.