"City of Bones" (The Mortal Insturments) by Cassadra Clare

I had heard that there was a movie coming out on The Mortal Instruments series. I do love movies, but I really enjoy reading the book(s) before I go to see the movie.

Honestly, I thought I would get bored reading these books because they are young adult/teen books. However, I was greatly surprised! The storyline was excellent & the characters well described. I found myself routing for the heroes, feeling sad for the victims, and hoping they capture or kill the villain. The love interest in the series has its share of angst. There is always one or both who are in love, who fumble over themselves, can't decide what to do with their feelings, are scared, but then take the leap of faith, hoping that the other feels the same.

The main characters are Nephilim. Not the Nephilim you're used to hearing about. Nephilim are humans chosen by an Angel to become warriors, protecting this world from demons and downworlders. (Downworlders are creatures like vampires, werewolves, or fae.) However, downworlders don't seem to be an enemy any longer. The focus now, more than anything, is on killing demons and hunting down the Nephilim who has released them. Now the Nephilim & downworlders have a common interest & join forces to battle their mutual enemy.

If you're looking for a series that read fast, has great characters, and has a wonderful mixture of real world & a bit of fantasy, you'll really love this series!

Get a copy of Cassandra Clare's: The Mortal Instruments Series (5 books).

"Succubus Blues" (Georgina Kincaid Series), By Richelle Mead

The title of this book got the best of me with this book. I’ve seen TV shows of Succubi and I’ve read books about Incubi, but I never really knew what they were. I knew they lived off of the lifeforce of humans and that sex was described as being over the top with one. However, this book gave me a whole different perspective. I really thought this book would have had more erotic-ness to it, just by the nature of a succubus. However, it hardly touched on sex at all…It alluded to her needing sex, but there wasn’t any graphic sex in this book.

With that said, the book really was pretty good. Georgina Kincaid is a Succubus, but she doesn’t like living off of good wholesome people. So, instead she hunts low-lifes or those deserving of bad things. She really can’t complain too much though. There are worse jobs in hell and the perks of being a succubus are kind of cool. We are introduced to all different types of immortals in this story. We have vampires, demons, imps, a succubus, angels, and more. Many are Georgina’s close friends.

I love the fact that she can shape shift into anything or into anyone that she wants to and she can get men to do anything she wants. Although Georgina works for a demon, she’s really not evil. She is a caring person who sold her soul to the devil and was made a succubus. So she still has much of her humanity. She falls in love but can’t have the relationship she wants because she literally sucks the life out of the guys she’s dated.

Throughout the story, we begin to see immortals dying. Yep, some immortals can die. Actually, they are killed by a mysterious person. Georgina just can’t keep from digging in and looking for whomever or whatever it is that is killing these immortals. Of course, at a certain point the story becomes predictable and you can blatantly see who the killer is, but it was still worth the read. I give it 3.5 stars and hope the next book, “Succubus on Top” (“Succubus Nights” in UK). I did enjoy the plot enough to keep reading and by the end of the book, I wanted to see what the next book brought to the series.

“A Shade of Vampire” by Bella Forrest

A request came from this author to review her book, "A Shade of Vampire." Here is my take on this book.

"A Shade of Vampire" by Bella Forrest is about a 17-year old girl, Sofia Claremont, who is kidnapped and brought to an island where the sun is forbidden to shine, to serve as a slave to the prince of The Shade, the most powerful vampire coven in the world.

By reading the synopsis, this really has some great potential. However, there were many parts in this book that worked too fast and had now build-up to hook me into the story. I had trouble at the very beginning and had to restart the book twice because I became confused with what was happening. The chapters are very short. The whole book is in first person but each chapter is from another person’s point of view. Personally, I don’t care for this kind of writing. It’s tricky to write in this style and not lose your reader. As I became involved in one chapter, it would end and move on to the other person’s point of view and confuse the hell out of me.

The best way to describe my experience was that I was reading the high points of an outline. There was not enough material to it to fill in the gaps. With that being said, I do believe this could be a good story if you can handle the first person point of view from several characters. But it really didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I appreciated Ms. Forrest’s incredible imagination at creating the world that these vampires lived in, albeit very unrealistic and far-fetched.

I spoke with another reader who seems to like this story. She says the series gets better in book two. Sadly, I’m not captured enough in this story to want to read the next book in the series. Instead, I would like to see this book filled out a little more. As I said, I believe this could be a great story, but I think the author needs to really get into the head or heads of her characters. Fill it out and make it feel real. Make us fall in love or hate with her characters. Make us feel what they are feeling!

I've rated this 2 out of 5 stars. 

"Lover at Last," by J.R. Ward

Finally, J.R. Ward’s eleventh installment to the Black Dagger Brotherhood has arrived! “Lover at Last” was everything I had hoped for and more.

If you’ve read J.R. Ward’s previous books in this series, you will have seen the friendship, dedication, and love between Qhuinn and Blay develop. For me, the angst between the two was frustrating to watch. The on-again-off-again friendship made me want to slap either or both of these males. I really didn’t care which direction their relationship went, as long as both were happy. But to have Blay express is frustrated, matter-of-fact, straight talk to Qhuinn really gripped my heart. Then to watch Qhuinn wrap his head around what he truly and deeply wanted. To see him finally realize that he was living by someone else’s standard. Qhuinn brought me to tears. Being rejected by everybody in his family only to find himself accepted just as he is in a new family!

Although this book was expected to be all about Qhuinn and Blay, it was much more than that. There are so many different paths built into this book. If I didn’t already know what J.R.Ward’s next book is to be about, I would be hard pressed to know the next path we’re to travel next.

So many different facets open up in this book. There are exciting twists to Layla’s life. Remember, she is pregnant with Qhuinn’s baby. The Brotherhood make a decision that’ll blow you away and the Band of Bastards consider a new approach to winning the throne! We learn a little more of the shadow brothers, Trez and iAm. It looks like they will become more involved with the Brotherhood, but to what degree? Do you remember meeting Assail from “Lover Reborn”? He’s back and with more to his story as well! I think we will see more of Assail and maybe the new female that he meets in this book. I believe he may be an important factor with the battle between the Brotherhood and the Band of Bastards, even though he claims he wants nothing to do with any of it.

As you can see, there is a lot to this book. It will keep your head spinning and your heart pounding! This book has the makings of several stories to come. It gave me the feeling that it is has some kind of pivotal importance in the fight between the Brotherhood, Band of Bastards and the glymera. I have to give these book 5 stars. I was going to rate it with 4 stars just because there were SO MANY facets here to wrap my head around... There were some areas where it got a tiny bit confusing. However, by the time I reached the end, I realized that we're going to see much more to come.

I can’t wait for the next book, which J.R. Ward has announced will be, The King, and will come back to more of Wrath and Beth, who are trying to have a baby!

Awesome job, J.R. Ward!

"The Taken" by Vicki Pettersson

The other day, I came upon a book that was offered for free on Barnes & Noble’s, The NOOK Blog. I’ve never read this author before, in fact, I’d never heard of her. Now that I’ve done my research, I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of Vicki Pettersson. She has written fifteen distinct works and has written alongside a couple of my favorite authors. She writes urban fantasy, mystery-thriller, & supernatural stories. If you’re like me & you know nothing about this author, check her out. With all learned about this author, I do see some other books I may touch upon in the near future.

“The Taken” is Vicki Pettersson’s first book in her Celestial Blues series. She coins this series as a breakout new trilogy. In this book, she introduces us to an immortal realm called the Everlast where Centurions are given the job of guiding murdered souls into the afterlife. These Centurions are mortals turned angels.

In this story, Griffin Shaw, once a gumshoe, now Centurion is sent back to the city where he & his wife were mysteriously murdered back in the 50’s. He’s given the responsibility to take a murdered soul back to the Everlast, but screws up the take, which messes with the order of things on Earth. Wings plucked, he’s sent back to the mudflat (Earth) to make things right.

Katherine “Kit” Craig is a rockabilly die-hard and dedicated reporter, obsessed with unearthing the truth. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she needs protection. Shaw’s orders were to watch Kit’s death, but he isn’t having that! Together they work to solve the mysteries both old and new.

I don’t know if it is just me, or what… but this book was a slow read for me. I suppose, if I think back, there are many new series that I’ve started where the story just took forever to develop. If this were a book to stand on its own merit, I would say it was boring for the most part. It didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, dying to get to the next chapter. It was more of a slow burn… barely keeping me there, half tempted to start another book.

This story has the flavor of a gumshoe noir mystery kind of book. However, it takes on a bit of the ethereal too. Griffin Shaw is stereotypical gumshoe, who was deeply in love with his wife back 50+ years ago and is consumed by solving their untimely murder. His path crosses Kit’s when he’s sent to “take” her best friend’s soul to the Everlast. Kit is consumed with finding her BFF’s murder and the story that she tried to unravel before her untimely death. So, through most of this book, I’m trying to figure out why I even started it. I thought it would be a romance with more of a kick of angels.

Well, Pettersson pulled it off! This turned out to be a really good series to start. By the time I got to the last couple of chapters, I was hooked for the ending. I give this story 3 ½ out of 5 stars. What this means to me? It was a good read, written well, a lot of time developing characters, but not quite in a rush to get the next book in the series, “The Lost” which was just released March 19, 2013, but you can bet I'll get it! You can get your copy of this whole series at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com.

"The Lone Hunt" by L.L Raand

Last weekend I received a copy of “The Lone Hunt,” written by L.L. Raand, to read before it’s release. I am honored to have this opportunity. I have enjoyed reading every book in the Midnight Hunters series and am very excited to read the fourth installment, “The Lone Hunt”. It took me less than a weekend to read through this new book! I couldn’t put it down! Now, with that said, let me share some of what I experienced whilst reading this book.

I love Raand’s wolf Weres and their world. I don’t quite understand the anatomy of the Weres but I’ve marked it up as a part of the fantasy/fiction in the story. It doesn’t have to be completely understood, just believable. In this series, for the most part, the characters are lesbian but still procreate. This boggles my mind, but aside from that, I thoroughly enjoy getting into the story of the Adirondack Timberlake Pack wolf Weres.

In this book, “The Lone Hunt,” we get to see more of our favorite Weres, vampires, humans, and other praeterns, and the world they live in. We see more of the conspiracy that looms over Alpha Sylvan Mir and her pack. In this book, we see alpha become overly protective of her pregnant mate, Drake. And we’ll watch as loyalties and alliances form between the pack and other praetern clans.

 ----- W A R N I N G! -----

If you have NOT read this story yet, then please read no further because I don’t want to give anything away! Now, if you choose to continue, just understand that this MAY give things away.

In this book, along with the ever growing conspiracy that threatens Alpha Sylvan Mir and her pregnant mate Drake, we start to see wolf were turned vampire, Lara find her place within the pack and with the vampires. As Lara tries to find herself and where she belongs, she confronts an alpha cat were and her cubs that is trespassing on Adirondack Timberlake Pack land. As the pack’s centuri, she wastes no time taking down the cat were. However, something happens to Lara and she chooses not to kill this alpha cat. Instead, she takes her as prisoner but protects her closely. The wolf Weres and cat Weres are bitter enemies, which makes it difficult for Lara to protect her cat Were prisoner. As the story progresses, we see Lara falling in love with Raina, alpha to the cat Weres.

As with her other three books in this series, this is a beautiful love story with its continuing plot of conspiracies that we’ve become caught up in throughout the series. Although I enjoyed the story, I found myself wanting more. There were parts in this story that felt as if there should be more to build upon, more detail. I would have loved to have had some areas of the story filled out a little more. For instance, we read a little about cat weres in the last book, “Night Hunt” and then a bit more here in this book, but I still feel like I don’t know much about them.

Even though I did feel the book was short, possibly even rushed, I loved it and would recommend you read the whole series. I look forward to reading more paranormal by L.L. Raand! I can see so much more developing… I want to see where Ms. Raand takes us in this Praeternatural series.

You can get your copy from these online stores. Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, or Bold Strokes Books.

"Trauma Alert" by Radclyffe

Trauma Alert by Radclyffe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love the way Radclyffe writes her stories. She is excellent at building her worlds and her characters. Her stories are easy to believe and easy to picture it happening in real life. "Trauma Alert" is no exception! I could not put this book down!

"Trauma Alert" is the first book in Radclyffe’s First Responders series. In this story, we follow the lives of Dr. Ali Torveau, a trauma doctor and Beau Cross, a first responder firefighter. When these two first meet, you can sense the attraction spark between them. However, Ali sees Beau as a danger and concedes to stay away from this firefighter. Beau, on the other hand, is cocky and accepts a bet to pursue the doctor for a date. As they get to know each other, the both begin to realize that they are falling in love with each other. It takes a hostage situation to bring Ali to her senses about Beau. She finds she can’t deny her love for the first responder.

I really enjoyed the whole story. It sucked me right in and I didn’t want to stop reading until I knew how it would end.

I would definitely recommend this book for any who enjoy a good romance story that feels real, not contrived.

You can get your copy of Trauma Alert from Amazon.com.


View all my reviews

"Crossroads," By Radclyffe

I recently finished reading the book, “Crossroads,” written by Radclyffe. It was one of those page-turners where you just couldn’t put the book down. I first read one of Radclyffe’s paranormal books, which she pens under the name L.L. Raand. I loved the way she wrote and how she really spent time developing her characters. My thinking was that writing a paranormal book was a little different than writing something that is more real-life. Since I really enjoyed her paranormal series (and can’t wait for the next in that series to be released), I figured I’d try reading something that, although fiction, was more real-life drama and romance.


To start off, I’ll write what you’ll see on just about every website that sells this book, because I think it best describes the book.
The book description from Amazon.com reads,

“Dr. Hollis Monroe specializes in short-terms relationships, typically eight months or less. As an obstetrician dealing with high-risk pregnancies, she spends all her time and energy in caring for women at a nice, comfortable professional distance until she delivers their babies and can walk away. They're happy, she's satisfied, and no one gets hurt. The perfect relationship.
Pregnant mother-to-be Annie Colfax is alone and barely making ends meet—she didn't plan on starting a family by herself, but she's determined to succeed. All she had to do is survive.
Neither woman wants a relationship, but fate brings them together at a crossroads that will change their lives forever.”

The book starts with Dr. Monroe performing a cesarean section on a young mother who, although she’s bleeding out and very likely to lose her baby and her own life, pleads to this emergency doctor to not take her baby. The baby was still too immature to be born. The mother was more concerned for the maturity of her baby then her own life. However, Dr. Monroe is not used to losing any patient. This mother and her baby were not going to be the first. As with all deliveries, Dr. Monroe saves both mother and child, but the outcome of the delivery builds a deep seeded hatred within the mother.

As the story continues, Dr. Monroe is faced with the task of pulling together a committee of both obstetricians who deal with high-risk pregnancies and midwifes who deliver babies at home. She must build camaraderie between the two groups when both groups are on either end of the spectrum, fighting for their own cause. In walks Annie Colfax, midwife, tasked with the same goal to bring both professions together to work together. Before Annie and Hollis can work at getting their “sides” together in this professional camaraderie, they must first figure out how to work out their personal differences between the two of them.

As they begin to build their relationship, and each try to understand the other, they begin to see that they can’t stand being apart.

Radclyffe builds so much emotion in this story that you find yourself crying, laughing, and swooning for what might develop. I truly enjoyed and recommend this book, "Crossroads." You won't be disappointed.

I hope to get the chance to delve into more of her books. I know for certain I’ll be reading the next in her Midnight Hunters series, “The Lone Hunt,” under her pen name, L. L. Raand. It releases March 19, 2013. I’ve also heard excellent reviews of Radclyffe’s First Responders series and Honor series of which I hope to read someday soon. No matter which pen she uses, Radclyffe has a writing style I like.

You can purchase this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bold Strokes Books.

"The Midnight Hunt," by L.L. Raand

If you love werewolves, love female protagonists, and enjoy reading love stories, then The Midnight Hunt by L.L. Raand is an excellent book. I couldn't put the book down! This book is the first in Midnight Hunters Series.

This is L.L. Raand's first paranormal series and I think she did an excellent job. L.L. Raand is the pseudonym for bestselling romance author Radclyffe, who written over 30 lesbian romance novels.

I love werewolf, vampire, or any paranormal type story. So, when I read the synopsis on this one, I had to get it and read it. I was skeptical because of the lesbian twist in the story. However, this was a beautiful love story between a human and a wolf Were, both Alphas by nature. Raand did a great job creating her paranormal world and all it's characters.

I suppose the one drawback in this book was the fact that these wolf Weres, as they are called in the story, seem to be in constant heat. They are constantly looking to have sex whenever they feel challenged or fight. Aggression triggers the desire to hump just about anybody. It suggests that being preternatural makes you sex starved. Although, I felt it might have been a bit too much, Raand takes the time to explain why this occurs with her Weres.

As I said, this book has a lesbian twist to it, so if that bothers you, then don't read it. However, you'd be missing a very good story. I found as I finished this book, I wanted to continue the next book in the series.

"The Vampire Queen’s Servant," by Joey W. Hill

Synopsis: Lady Elyssa Yamato Amaterasu Wentworth is a centuries-old vampire who's been given a new servant-Jacob, a total alpha male unaccustomed to submitting to any woman's wishes. What really binds Jacob to her are not her sensual midnight hungers, but something far more provocative. It stirs her blood, renews her life, and awakens her soul like only true love can. The passion between Elyssa and Jacob yields something else unexpected -- a shared history that reaches back through the centuries and is fated to challenge their destiny like nothing ever will again.

The Vampire Queen’s Servant, written by Joey W. Hill, is a beautiful story of a Vampire Queen who has lived a very long life and suffered love, violence, and loss, only to have love find her again. At first, I was leery to read this story because of its graphic content of bondage, discipline, sadism & masochism. I’ve never understood why people would submit themselves to BDSM, but I know that some find it very erotic and fascinating. This book brought me to a new level of understanding. The draw that Lady Lyssa and Jacob have in this story is definitely worth reading!

Ms. Hill holds a fantastic writing skill. Her ability to write such detail so easily, and also write in such an understandable way, made reading this book a fast read and very addictive. By the time I finished reading this love story, I had to get the next in the series. During my reading, I kept wondering where we were going next. I tried to understand how they each seemed to be drawn to each other. What bound (no pun intended) them together and kept them coming back for more. My biggest question was, if this man, Jacob wanted to be Lady Lyssa’s servant, why did he fight being submissive. My theory was, he wanted to be her lover and perhaps his way of getting into her presence to prove himself, was to take on the role of her servant. I can only hope as I continue reading that I will learn much more of Jacob’s motives.

Excellent book! I would recommend this book, but understand, this book is graphic albeit, very well and tastefully written.

You can find @JoeyWHill's website on my sidebar.