Category Archives: Paranormal

4 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review, SAFE

How to Ruin a Librarian – Tansy Applewood

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How to Ruin a Librarian
The Hollow Heart Series: Book 2
Tansy Applewood

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Very cute, whimsical romantic comedy fantasy

Blurb

A cozy spicy monster romance with small town autumn vibes, found family, and a gnome book club.

I’m Roslyn Vellore. Librarian. Lorekeeper. Emotionally repressed human-shaped disaster.

I do not have time for monsters who flirt with their eyes and unpack your trauma with cocoa-dusted confidence. I especially do not have time for Santos Wildmere, Wren’s Hollow’s dangerously tender Velvarkin chocolatier whose magic-infused truffles taste like everything I’ve tried to forget.

My boundaries are ironclad. My wards are gnome-certified.

And I’ve never once accidentally made out with a man behind a bookcase.

Until now.

Because the soulbond between us? It’s real. It hums beneath my skin every time he looks at me like I’m made of sugar and starlight. And when ancient tomes go missing from the Loreloft, stirring long-buried magic in Wren’s Hollow, I’ll have to work with the one monster who makes my knees weak and my shields glitch.

Together, we’ll chase down forbidden magic. Unravel the mystery. And I absolutely will not kiss him in the back of the library.

Or the chocolate shop.

Or… okay, listen. This is getting very inconvenient.

A spicy cozy monster romance about a feral librarian, a chocolate empath Velvarkin with wreck-me eyes, and the most dangerously sweet soulbond Wren’s Hollow has ever seen.

This is filled with very whimsical similes and metaphors that mean we can only guess what. But I like them. It makes me feel immersed, like I’m part of this world, so I should know what they mean. For example, “Sharp with cinnamon want. Laced with spice and sorrow.” And, “And it tasted like library dust and bare skin, whispered arguments and pressed spines.”

This is a very sweet romance and is SAFE. No cheating, Other Person Drama, or coercion. Santos is very patient and waits for Ros to come to him.

Because he’s patient and tender and absurdly respectful and I HATED HIM. (Not really. Just enough to want to climb him again and set myself on fire.)

Ros takes an emotional journey to get to Santos, cheered and jeered along by a great many gnomes, small creatures that can hide within bread boxes or ride dogs. They have a Smut Book Club and provide commentary. I feel like the gnomes are us readers. “your gnomes are reading reverse harem again.”

“You’re the future star of this week’s reading,” Letty said cheerfully.

“I am not in the book,” I said immediately.

Every gnome screamed like they’d been hit with a romance novel cliffhanger.

It’s filled with terrific humor. I highly recommend this for a feel-good, entertaining read. I really liked it and will definitely read more in the series. But I don’t think it’s a future re-read for me, so 4 stars.

Contains graphic sex scenes.

Occasional foul language.

1st person past tense from Ros and Santos.

Errors: 10 – 3 punctuation, 1 spelling, 2 tense changes, 1 inconsistency, 1 transposed words, 1 missing space, 1 missing word. Totally readable.

I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

270 Pages

$3.99 at Amazon and part of Kindle Unlimited.

3 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review, Shifters

A Luna’s Dynasty – JM Snap

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A Luna’s Dynasty
Celestial Book 1
JM Snap

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Great lore-building werewolf romance marred by errors, repetition, and slow pacing

Blurb:

OUTCAST. REJECTED. UNWANTED.

Pack life wasn’t for Lita. A fated mate would only mean heartbreak. Until she met HIM. The alpha who fought for her when no one else would. But her secret? It’s powerful, and a demon wishes to covet her for himself. Their love could save everything, including the world. Their destiny is for their line to bring balance but, in order to do that, they’ll have to win the war.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and they are much loved. So the fans are going to hate me!

I wanted to love this book! I’m a huge fan of werewolf romances and paranormal romance in general. But I just couldn’t even like it very much. 😦

The Pros:

Great lore-building! There were some very creative additions to the usual werewolf lore, including fairies, centaurs, kelpies, selkies, and more, with twists on the usual lore as well. I did love that!

A Great Start!
At its heart, this is a great story. It’s interesting, with some spicy romance, good action, and some laugh-out-loud humor.

Both main characters are virgins!
I love this! While there is irritating Other Woman Drama, neither main character has been sexually active with anyone before. It’s a very nice diversion from the all-too-often used manwhore cliché.

The Cons:

Omniscient Narrator
I can’t remember the last time I read a romance novel in omniscient narrator, and it really bothered me. We dip into everyone’s head! Secondary characters, tertiary characters, villains, and characters that only appear for a paragraph or two. And all within the same chapters. It’s so confusing and feels so very wrong.

It’s an author’s choice. But I personally can’t stand it. Most modern romance novels are written in 1st or 3rd person close narrative from one or duel POVs, and I vastly prefer it that way. I think the book should come with a warning in the blurb saying it is in omniscient narrator because I would have avoided the book and therefore not left a negative review.

Conflictingly Sometimes Weak FMC
Lita, the FMC, can be strong at times, very strong. So when Lita is weak, it conflicts with the character I want her to be. She passes out three times! Fainting is ridiculously weak unless someone has been choking you for a while or knocks you out with a hit to the head. Lita faints for poor reasons.

Lita is naïve and clueless. It’s kind of funny at times but often irritating. Her self-esteem is very poor. She is at times Too Stupid To Live.

Other Woman Drama
Asher had a fiancé until he found Lita. And then this Other Woman is a villain in the story. I hate Other People Drama, especially in a fated-mate world. If werewolves have fated mates, they have no business starting romantic relationships with Other People. The jilted woman villain is a very tired cliché that bores and irritates me.

Repetition, Length, and Pacing
There is far too much repetition, adding to the length, and slowing the pace. The book is 679 pages long! I got very bored at around 400 pages but kept at it because I wanted to discover what happened with the overall story arc, with the bad guys, but then— I never got it! The romance part gets a Happy Ever After ending, but we never get a final resolution. This will come in Book 2 of the series I presume. But I don’t think I can stand to read the omniscient narrator any more to find out what happens, which makes me very sad.

As I said before, this is a great start to a novel. But it is in severe need of an editor and a re-write. I would prefer the omniscient narrator and Other Woman Drama be removed. But at a minimum, the repetition needs to be taken out and the length cut massively. If I were editing this, I would slash paragraphs left and right, whole scenes, and entire chapters. There is one chapter where they go to a water park, and it feels like a teen romance.  

Hate me if you must, but I can only give this three stars. I hope my criticism is constructive. If it ever did get that re-write, I would be thrilled to change my review!

Contains graphic sex scenes. They start off with somewhat flowery language but get a little more “graphic” later. There really aren’t many of these scenes. Some intimate moments are fade-to-black.

Occasional foul language.

Omniscient narrator past tense.

Errors: Far too many to count! It’s readable but sloppy, with commas instead of periods at the end of sentences and other, easily avoidable, errors. These are things even Word should find if spell check is run! All CAPS and double punctuation marks, ?!, are used for shouting or emphasis. SPLAT, SPLASH, and the like are used like this is a comic book. And there are some inconsistencies and contradictions in the story.

679 Pages

$4.99 at Amazon.

I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

2 star reads, Action, Erotic Sex Scenes, Military Romance, Paranormal, Review, Shifters

Ranger’s Justice – Delta James

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Ranger’s Justice
Lone Star Wolf Rangers: Book 1
Delta James

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Wolf-shifter action romance marred by too many story inconsistences

Blurb:

They told me to stay out of it… I should have listened.

I was raised to believe in justice. To hunt down the truth no matter the cost. But when that truth led me straight into the sights of the Del Toro cartel, I realized too late, I might have bitten off more than I could chew.

I was tracking a shipment I thought would lead me to my corrupt stepfather. Instead, I ended up in the middle of a bloodbath, staring down the barrel of a gun. And then he showed up. Zane “Rush” Rushton, Lone Star Ranger, all raw power and barely restrained fury. He dragged me out of that hellhole, kicking and cursing, warning me that I was in way over my head.

I don’t like taking orders, least of all from a man who thinks he can control me. But Rush isn’t just any man. There’s something different about him, something dangerous simmering beneath the surface. When he shifted, right in front of me, I realized just how deep this danger runs.

Now I’m entangled in something far bigger than I ever imagined; cartel secrets, human trafficking, and the undeniable truth that my own bloodline is tied to it all. I should run. But Rush won’t let me. He says he’s the only one who can protect me. That he won’t let me go.

The scariest part?

I don’t want him to.

A pulse-pounding, western paranormal, romantic suspense, for fans of fated mates, fierce heroines, and ruthless alpha protectors.

The good: Most of the action scenes are suspenseful and well written. The writing itself is good, and the pace is fast. This is a quick read. I also liked that Cassidy isn’t weak. She knows some self defense and how to shoot.

But then there’s the bad:

Far too many inconsistences in the story!

  • How the hell were they tracked? Are they tracking a phone? If so, they will track them to the next location. – But that doesn’t happen, and we never find out.
  • Why did he shift to show her the truth and then immediately try to lie about it?
  • And then Cassidy is shocked by seeing Rush transform into a wolf two more times as if she hadn’t seen it already.
  • How would he know what’s in shifter romance novels?
  • A character studies a laptop and turns fully around in his seat while he’s driving. Pay attention to the road!
  • The sequence of things is rewritten in places and timings change.
  • Other things happen with no explanation. For example: Rush and Cassidy get out of the SUV, he pushes her up against the back of it, and then suddenly the back hatch is open, but no one opened it.

There are some graphic sex scenes, but they are over far too quickly. There is hardly any foreplay and no dialogue, which is usually the hottest part for me.

There are some interesting differences from the most common werewolf lore, but they aren’t explored in detail. The world-building and lore-building is lacking, as is the character-building. I don’t feel like I really got to know the characters. This has fated mates, so the instalove is expected but not fleshed out.

The climax action is over far too quickly and leaves questions unanswered. We don’t get an epilogue, which leaves me with more questions about the overall story arc. I’d really like to know what Cassidy’s mother has to say for herself.

So overall, I was disappointed. It’s the start of a good novel. The inconsistences could be fixed easily, which makes it feel like the author didn’t care enough to critically re-read through it.

Contains graphic sex scenes.

Occasional foul language.

1st person present tense from Rush and Cassidy.

Errors: 5 – 1 missing ending quotation mark, 1 misspelled word, 1 wrong name, 1 missing verb, 1 dialogue formatting error. So not bad.

I received a review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

211 Pages

$5.99 at Amazon and part of Kindle Unlimited.

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals After Dark Book 9) – Kresley Cole

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2010
2010
2016

Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Immortals After Dark Book 9
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Runaway Valkyrie mate and her
Lykae stalker on an adventure
on the Amazon river

Blurb:

A dangerous beauty…

Lucia the Huntress: as mysterious as she is exquisite, she harbors secrets that threaten to destroy her—and those she loves. ​

An uncontrollable need…​

Garreth MacRieve, Prince of the Lykae: the brutal Highland warrior who burns to finally claim this maddeningly sensual creature as his own. ​

That lead to a pleasure so wicked…​

From the shadows, Garreth has long watched over Lucia. Now, the only way to keep the proud huntress safe from harm is to convince her to accept him as her guardian. To do this, Garreth will ruthlessly exploit Lucia’s greatest weakness—her wanton desire for him.

Back in 2012, I stumbled upon this book. It was the first Kresley Cole novel I read. But I stopped in the middle because I loved the Lore so much, I wanted to start from the beginning. So this is the one that made me fall in love, even before I read the entire novel.

It’s still one of my favorites. It has everything – action, adventure, an alpha male who is also super sweet, a kickass female, hot sex scenes, and great writing. The connection between Lucia and Garreth is one of the strongest in the series, perhaps because they can’t have sex immediately.

Lucia almost died when she was just 16 and traded healing and unparalleled skill at archery for a vow of chastity and loyalty to a goddess. So she can’t give Garreth what he wants – her, as his mate.

Understand me, MacRieve, I’m a Valkyrie. I’m not bound by your . . . animalistic needs.”

His voice a low rasp, he said, “After one night with me, Lousha, you will be.”

I’d put in a lot more quotes, but there is so much I don’t want to give away!

Contains graphic sex scenes. Some touching could be seen as non-consent.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Lucia and Garreth. We also get a chapter section from Lachlain.

I found 4 errors, wrong punctuation and wrong words.

425 pages. The Kindle version ends at 78% with the rest an excerpt from The Master.

$5.99 at Amazon.

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

Deep Kiss of Winter “Untouchable” (Immortals After Dark Book 8) – Kresley Cole

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2009
2016

Deep Kiss of Winter
“Untouchable”
(Immortals After Dark Book 8)
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Part Valkyrie, part Icere (Ice Fey) who can’t be touches without pain and the vampire she bloods

This contains two novels. One by Kresley Cole called “Untouchable” and one by Gena Showalter called “Tempt Me Eternally”. This is only a review for “Untouchable”.

Blurb for “Untouchable”:

KRESLEY COLE delivers a breathtaking tale of a brutal vampire soldier about to know love for the first time…and a Valkyrie aching to be touched.

Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden — the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can’t be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them?

Murdoch Wroth was the manwhore among the Wroth brothers before they were turned into vampires.

Though he’d once been a rake, bedding a new woman each night, Murdoch hoped it never happened to him. To be mystically tied to a single woman sounded hellish, especially to a woman he didn’t choose, and one who could spurn him, as Myst had Nikolai.

“In my time, taking a virgin meant one risked a sword-point wedding.” Beget no bastards, deflower no maids. As long as he’d followed those two simple rules, he’d always gotten to do as he pleased.

In his mortal life, he’d been considerate in bed. He’d made sure he brought great pleasure to every woman he’d been with. This wasn’t out of selflessness. Quite the opposite. At an early age, he’d learned that the more word got around that he was a skilled lover, the more women dallied with him.

Daniella the Ice Maiden is part Valkyrie and part Icere (Ice Fey). Her body is naturally cold. She thrives in ice and snow, bare-skinned. Overheating is dangerous for her. She can’t touch or be touched by others without extreme pain. But somehow she bloods Murdoch Wroth.

“Vampire, I think you’re afraid to settle down—with anyone. You were single for years and celibate for three hundred more. And now you have bachelor’s panic.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“BP? It’s when a man irrationally fears a woman he especially likes. He gets ascared of said woman’s toothbrush breaching the perimeter of his man cave, et cetera.”

“Panic? I don’t panic,” he sneered the word. “Daniela, you can’t be touched.”

The frigid one. Enough of this. “No, you can’t! Your heart’s colder than mine. You are the untouchable one.”

There is a time lapse of many months, fall to winter to summer to winter again, with Murdoch and Danii living together but unable to have intercourse or touch.

We get bits of other stories from previous books in the series. This starts before Book 1 but ends after all Book 7. We get the endings too, so this should be read in order.

This is one of my favorite couples. Perhaps it’s because they have to wait for actual sex, and they choose to be together even when they can’t touch. I definitely don’t feel like it’s only the Bride connection between them. But I also love the Iceren – ice elves, how I’ve never seen them before, and the answer to how Danii and Murdoch can be together. Cole has an amazing imagination!

Contains graphic sex scenes. No triggers. No non-consent here.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Danii and Murdoch.

I found 3 errors, mostly with formatting.

“Untouchable” is 256 pages. The entire book is 444 pages.

$5.99 at Amazon.

The second half is Gena Showalter’s “Tempt Me Eternally”, book 7 of the Alien Huntress Series. I didn’t read it, planning to read it 7th in that series later on. I have read some of Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series. I don’t remember if I stopped or had read them all. I wasn’t as big a fan of them as I was of Kresley Cole, but I do remember enjoying them. Showalter is an extremely prolific writer, having written almost 100 books so far!

Blurb for “Tempt Me Eternally”:

GENA SHOWALTER puts a daring spin on a tale of huntress and hunted…and concocts a sensual chemistry that is positively explosive.

Aleaha Love can be anyone — literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself…. “

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark Book 7) – Kresley Cole

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2009
2011
2015

Kiss of a Demon King
(Immortals After Dark Book 7)
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A rage demon good guy
and a Sorceri bad girl

Blurb:

His obsession…

Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions: the evil beauty who surrenders her body, but not her heart.

Her downfall…

Rydstrom Woede: the ruthless warrior who vows to keep her at all costs.

They were never supposed to want each other this much…

With each smoldering encounter, their shared hunger only increases. If they can defeat the sinister enemy that stands between them, will Sabine make the ultimate sacrifice for her demon? Or will the proud king lay down his crown and arms to save his sorceress?

Rydstrom is a rage demon, like his brother Cadeon, whom we met in the last novel in the series. Rydstrom was their king before Omort the Deathless stole the crown from him. If you are reading the series in order, you know all about this. You also know that Rydstrom was captured by Sabine.

“I plan,” she began matter-of-factly, “to become pregnant with your heir.”

“With me in control of your heir, the last of the rage demon rebellions will be quelled.”

Rydstrom shook his head hard, even as his mouth went dry. In fifteen hundred years, he’d never felt so attracted to another female. What if she were his? To find his queen after waiting so long? To find her as Omort’s sister? “No, fate isn’t that cruel.”

She quirked a brow at that. “Fate is indifferent.”

“Even if you are fated to be mine, Sabine, I’ll never have you.”

“Oh, you’ll have me.” Her lips curled in a knowing, sexual grin that made his heart pound. “Again and again until this deed is done.”

Again and again. Taking her soft body, learning that perfect pale flesh . . . No! Resist her.

He clenched his jaw, unable to deny what was so obvious. “Of course you’d kill me after our babe is born?”

“Well, I wouldn’t be a very good evil sorceress if I allowed you to live.”

If this female weren’t so evil, she’d be glorious.

In that instant, he decided, I’ll claim her as my war prize when I escape.

And he would use her to get free.

Sabine is Sorceri. And she is Rydstrom’s fated mate.

He tried to remember what he knew about the Sorceri in general. He recalled that they were greedy for wealth, merry hedonists who lived their lives in pursuit of pleasure—and gold. But they were also secretive and paranoid, suspicious of strangers who arrived at their doorstep. Most tended to live in the farthest reaches of the earth.

Yet they weren’t an inherently evil race. You’re just thinking this way because you want her. Maybe, but the fact remained that it was a possibility. Right now, it was the only one that seemed viable.

This is one of my favorite series of all time and this still gets 5 stars, but having said all that, this may be my least favorite in the series. There isn’t as much adventure, and I don’t feel the connection between the characters as much as I usually do. But I’m spoiled here! So this is still great and shouldn’t be skipped.

Contains graphic sex scenes. There are bondage scenes – real bondage, as in chained up to keep from escaping, not pretend stuff with safe words. Some sexual scenes can be seen as non-consent.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Rydstrom and Sabine.

I found 5 errors, missing punctuation and misspelled words

413 pages. Stops 77% of the way through. Excerpt from The Master at the end.

$6.99 at Amazon.

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark Book 6) – Kresley Cole

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  • 2008
  • 2011
2015

Dark Desires After Dusk
(Immortals After Dark Book 6)
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A demon that reminds me of Indiana Jones and a Valkyrie figuring herself out

Blurb:

A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can’t resist…

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can’t deny…

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon’s wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires…

Yet just when he earns Holly’s trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs — and claim his heart?

Holly was a PhD student at Tulane University, teaching remedial math to athletes.

She wondered what she’d be erasing tonight. Some of the past offerings included “Got it bad, sooo bad, I’m hot for teacher,” “I’ve been a naughty boy, Ms. Ashwin,” and “Professor + Ginger = Holly Ashwin.” They’d crossed the l’s to make them t’s.

Holly wanted a normal life, but she had some quirks. OCD. Nearly killing men when getting into sexual situations. Nothing she couldn’t handle with extreme discipline.

Cadeon knew Holly was his, but he couldn’t claim her because she was human.

Humans were forbidden to demons. Because they never survived the initial claiming.

But Cade hadn’t been able to stop himself from watching her from afar, studying her, growing more and more fascinated with the young mortal. Becoming more convinced that she was his.

Then one night, Holly was kidnapped by a bunch of evil demons bent on raping and impregnating her. She was the Vessel. The immortal reaching sexual maturity at the start of the Accession, which happens every 500 years. The Vessel is fated to give birth to a warrior for ultimate evil or ultimate good, depending on the father. Yes, immortal – It turns out Holly is half Valkyrie, half Furie.

Cade was taxed with finding The Vessel and delivering it to an evil sorcerer in exchange for a sword that could kill the evil sorcerer’s evil brother, who had stolen Cade’s brother’s crown, which was Cade’s fault.

“You know all those creatures you thought were myths?” When she shakily nodded, he said, “Well, they’re not. And you’re changing from a human to an immortal.”

Which meant it had become possible for Cade to claim her for his own.

And you’ve just become my target—the Vessel. The means to pay for a sword to kill our enemy.

She equaled the crown he’d worked for nine hundred years to reclaim—the unyielding pursuit that had given him a reason to go on living.

Never had it been so close….

All he had to do was use and betray the woman he’d waited just as long to possess.

What’s a demon to do?

“Kidnap women? I can hardly keep the chits off the jock as it is, pet.”

Eyes wide, she said, “Chits? Pet? Are you from the nineteenth century or just trying to be misogynistic?”

Cade and Holly remind me so much of Indiana Jones and Willie Scott (Temple of Doom). He’s brash, cocky, dirty, and practical. She’s a girlie-girl who hates to get dirty and finds him rude, crude, and socially unacceptable… until they end up in bed together.

There is some great humor in this alongside the action and chemistry I’ve come to expect from this series. I loved both of the characters. I especially loved how Holly came into her kickass-self.

Contains graphic sex scenes. No triggers. No non-consent here.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Cade and Holly. We also get a chapter from Rydstrom, Cade’s brother and the lead in the next book.

I found 9 errors, mostly misspelled or wrong words.

388 pages.

$8.99 at Amazon.

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

Dark Needs at Night’s Edge (Immortals After Dark Book 5) – Kresley Cole

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  • 2008
  • 2011
2015

Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
(Immortals After Dark Book 5)
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A crazed vampire and a ghost sizzle even when they can’t touch

Blurb:

A RAVEN-HAIRED TEMPTRESS OF THE DARK…

Néomi Laress, a famous ballerina from a past century, became a phantom the night she was murdered. Imbued with otherworldly powers but invisible to the living, she haunts her beloved home, scaring away trespassers — until she encounters a ruthless immortal even more terrifying than Néomi herself.

A VAMPIRE WARRIOR CONSUMED BY MADNESS…

To prevent him from harming others, Conrad Wroth’s brothers imprison him in an abandoned manor. But there, a female only he can see seems determined to drive him further into madness. The exquisite creature torments him with desire, leaving his body racked with lust and his soul torn as he finds himself coveting her for his own.

HOW FAR WILL HE GO TO CLAIM HER?

Yet even if Conrad can win Néomi, evil still surrounds her. Once he returns to the brutality of his past to protect her, will he succumb to the dark needs seething inside him?

Néomi was very lonely, unable to leave the grounds of the manor she haunted. She was entertained and intrigued when the Wroth brothers arrived and imprisoned Conrad in her home. Then absolutely thrilled when she realized that Conrad could see her when no one else ever had. Conrad was just glad she wasn’t one of his hallucinations.

Whenever she comes to him, so do flashes of lucidity. He doesn’t understand the connection, just knows he’s beginning to crave the focus of his thoughts.

A mystery. How could a figment of his mind clear his mind? Even as he’s debating her existence, he realizes that something is making him coherent enough—to fucking debate her existence.

There are some very hot scenes between the two even though they can’t touch each other. The more Conrad is around Néomi, the clearer his mind becomes.

Feels . . . feels . . . felt . . . He felt clearer. Conrad felt centered. His very thoughts seemed to arise differently. They were more focused, each one distinct in his mind.

Being close to Néomi causes Conrad’s text to go from present tense to past tense, as it should be to fit with the rest of the novel. This indicates he becomes sane around her.

So Néomi needs a body to actually be with Conrad and possibly blood him. Nïx, the Valkyrie soothsayer, helps orchestrate this with Mariketa from Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night. I love Nïx; she is hilarious.

“Am too,” Nïx said. “Mike Rowe, the star of Dirty Jobs, is soon to realize I’m his beloved.” She sighed dreamily. “He even got his lawyers to contact me on the pretext of a”—she made air quotes—“ ‘restraining order.’

This is another fast-paced read with great chemistry between the characters, hot sex scenes, and thrilling action.

Contains graphic sex scenes. No triggers. No non-consent here.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Néomi and Conrad. Conrad’s point of view is in present tense partway through the book, indicating his insanity. It changes to past tense the moment he becomes sane again. I really loved how that was done. We also get a chapter from Cade, the male lead in the next book.

I found only 3 errors. Great editing!

401 pages. Ends at 3907 or 72%. Kindle version doesn’t have page numbers.

$6.99 at Amazon.

5 star reads, Erotic Sex Scenes, Hate To Love, Paranormal, Review

Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night (Immortals After Dark Book 4) – Kresley Cole

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  • 2007
  • 2011

Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
(Immortals After Dark Book 4)
Kresley Cole

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Hot adventure romance with a witch and a Lykae

Blurb:

Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed—until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It’s rumored that no one can tempt Bowen’s hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul—or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

If you’ve been reading along, you’ve already met Bowen. He’s a shell of a man, or Lykae, as he lost his mate 180 years ago. Nix, the Valkyrie soothsayer, told him the Talisman’s Hie would lead him to his mate. When the final prize turned out to be a key that would allow you to go back in time, Bowen thought he could go back and prevent his mate from dying. He became ruthless in his attempt to win, along the way trapping six competitors in a Mayan tomb, including Mariketa.

Before her birth, she’d been predicted to be the Awaited One, the most powerful born to the House of Witches in centuries—but four years ago, it was also foretold that a male from the Lore would recognize her as his own and claim her. He would seek to lock her away, guarding her with a ferocity that no magicks could defeat, thus robbing the House of her powers.

Mariketa was disguised when Bowen met her and trapped her in the tomb. She wasn’t disguised enough for him not to be attracted to her. But that only made him angry and guilt-ridden, thinking he had betrayed his dead mate.

Witches had no purpose but to spread discord and hatred. To plant destructive seeds in a once-proud family.

Bowen believed all witches to be evil. When he returns and frees Mariketa, his instinct tells him she is his mate. But he thinks this is an enchantment. If it’s not, then the way to fix her is to force her to never practice her magick again. But Mari is having none of that!

Bowen and Mariketa both grow tremendously on the journey they take in this novel. Bowen was almost a zombie, lost in his grief and guilt. He had to let go of those. He was a relic, stuck in his preconceptions. He had to break free and accept that things are not black and white. There are good witches, bad witches, and badass good witches. Mari is the third kind. She couldn’t control her powers at the start but grew in confidence. They take a journey through rainforests to other dimensions and cross as much space in their minds to meet each other.

There are several very hot sex scenes. No triggers. No non-consent here.

Contains graphic sex scenes.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Mari and Bowen.

There was one missing period. So that’s great editing.

401 pages. The book ends at location 4258 or 72%. The Kindle version doesn’t have page numbers. The rest is excerpts from other books.

$5.99 at Amazon.

5 star reads, Action, Erotic Sex Scenes, Paranormal, Review

No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark Book 3) – Kresley Cole

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  • 2006
  • 2011
2015

Rating: 5 out of 5.

No Rest for the Wicked
(Immortals After Dark Book 3)
Kresley Cole

Fast-paced adventure peppered with wit and steam and not dark

Blurb:

Centuries ago, Sebastian Wroth was turned into a vampire against his will. Burdened with hatred and alone for ages, he sees little reason to live. Until an exquisite, fey creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.

When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters to a vampire attack long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow—accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions. Yet whenever Kaderin encounters Sebastian, her feelings—particularly lust—emerge multiplied. For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.

And when the prize of a legendary month-long contest is powerful enough to change history, Kaderin will do anything to win it for her sisters. Wanting only to win her, forever, Sebastian competes as well, taking every opportunity—as they travel to ancient tombs and through catacombs, seeking relics around the world—to use her new feelings to seduce her. But when Kaderin is forced to choose between the vampire she’s falling for and reuniting her family, how can she live without either?

Woosh! This is a fast-paced adventure peppered with wit and steam. It isn’t dark like many of the others in this series. There are no triggers, no non-consent, no captivity. Sebastian is shy and inexperienced with women. He grows in confidence as he is able to arouse Kaderin’s passion again and again. He is hot, strong, and a skilled warrior. But he doesn’t have the alpha male attitude of our previous heroes, Nikolai and Lachlain. Sebastian quickly realizes that Kaderin is not like the women he knew in the 1700’s, and he likes it.

Kaderin had been in Scotland with other Valkyrie when they’d received the call about a “vampire haunting a castle and terrorizing a village in Russia.” She had gladly volunteered to destroy the leech. She was her Valkyrie coven’s most prolific killer, her life given over to ridding the earth of vampires.

Kaderin finds Sebastian in a crumbling castle in Russia, and she can’t kill him. This baffles her.

As if this were a matter of conscience! It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. She had no conscience. No real feelings, no raw emotions. She was coldhearted. After the tragedy, she’d prayed for oblivion, prayed for the sorrow and guilt to be numbed.

Some mysterious entity had answered her and made her heart like ash. Kaderin didn’t suffer from sorrow, from lust, from anger, or from joy. Nothing got in the way of her killing.

She was a perfect killer. She had been for one thousand years, half of her interminable life.

Emotions strike Kaderin in rapid succession as she remembers incidents from her past. Pain, sorrow, joy, humor, and lust hit like bombshells. The lust consumes her, and she has an indiscretion with Sebastian. Afterwards, she comes to her senses.

“Not a Bride to one of your kind. Never—”

“But you’ve made my heart beat.”

She hissed back, “You’ve made me feel.”

Kaderin is in danger of losing her hard-won reputation among the Lore.

When Myst had been in a Horde prison, the Forbearer rebels took the castle, and one of their generals had freed her to make love to her. Before the Valkyrie could rescue her, things had gotten out of hand in a dank cell. Myst’s status among the Lore—which she’d built over lifetimes—was ruined. She was shunned, an outcast. Even the nymphs ridiculed her. There was no ignominy worse than that—

Kaderin runs away from Sebastian and starts the Talisman’s Hie, a contest held every 250 years. Competitors travel the world searching for mystical objects, gaining points towards a final race to the last object. So there is some tomb raider action, which is written very well.

I love these characters. They both deal with issues from their past that have stunted their emotional growth. They feed off each other, evolving together as they get to know each other and themselves. They are always equal in this process. And the sex scenes are scorching hot.

Contains graphic sex scenes, several more than in the first book.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Sebastian and Kaderin.

I found no errors in this. Fabulous!

384 pages.

$7.99 at Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MGATUI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000MGATUI&linkCode=as2&tag=vblawnola-20&linkId=646891844af2a94b05322003a3c13907″>No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark Book 3)