Once Burned

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

Series: Night Prince #1

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Vampires

Publication: June 26th 2012 by Avon

The Plot.

She’s a mortal with dark powers…
After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude…until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire…
He’s the Prince of Night…
Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

The Review.

Once Burned has reaffirmed why I fell so deeply in love with Jeaniene Frost. Reading her books are like taking long country walks, something enjoyable and refreshing and comforting because I always know that I will get lost in the wonderful world she paints and feel enveloped by the presence of her characters. Particularly her male characters who are always well developed and brooding and I always fall in love. Vlad was a character I loved in the Night Huntress series and I enjoyed his relationship with Cat, but here he was a little more cold and reserved, but the little cracks that came about showed his humour and personality that I fell in love with in the Night Huntress series and I’m so infinitely glad that he’s got his own spin-off. The last Night Huntress book wasn’t quite as enjoyable for me, but the new direction with Vlad is something I’m eagerly looking forward.

I want more Vlad. Yes, Frost left us hanging here. She could have given us so easily a summed up happily-ever-after that so many other authors fall into doing and I applaud her for not resolving the issues so easily because I don’t think it would have done the characters justice to do so. Frost is an author I adore so much because she doesn’t focus solely on the romance, she looks at the plot most heavily and the action and adventure that occurs within the novel and all the different events that unravel. The romance is far from being ignored, but she builds it on a realistic level. She starts at the bottom and forms foundations between the characters that can amount to relationships and this is clearly what occurs in Once Burned between Leila and Vlad. We get the sexual tension and eventually the sex between the two as we expect, but things aren’t fine and dandy like some authors create and there a lots of little pieces that I can see Frost carrying through that make for an intricate plot. However, I didn’t get nearly enough Vlad action in this novel. He is a man that’s dark and brooding, cold and calculated, but he’s so suave and archaic and I love it about him. He’s got a strong sense of loyalty and this is a man I would want, he’s not some cave man that claims Leila without a thought, there are reasoning’s to him and he’s smart. I just love everything Vlad.

“I led my armies from the front, Vlad said. The proof was all over his body, from the scars that adorned his skin in random white patterns to the muscles that flexed and bunched with his slightest movement.”

Leila is one of my favourite heroines. She’s headstrong, she takes matters into her own hands and she really doesn’t depend upon Vlad. She even goes behind his back and I liked that she wasn’t afraid of Vlad. She was strong in her own right after everything that occurred to her and she certainly was kick-ass with her powers. There was lots of elements to Leila that made her a really likeable character that I could connect with. She also had this humorous edge to her that I loved. And she accepted the powers that she had and what this meant to her character rather than shunning it and going crazy about it, Leila made a refreshing character to this genre and I’m looking forward to her return in Twice Tempted where I hope she pursues Vlad with everything she’s got.

“You’re hot, big deal,” I shot back, refusing to let his knowledge of my most intimate thoughts daunt me. “I’m attracted to a lot of hot guys. If Chris Hemsworth were here, I’d light him up like a firecracker with how fast I’d jump on him.”

“And that would kill him,” Vlad noted.”

The plot was fast-paced and full of action. I really enjoyed that side of things and I liked the peak of Cat and Bones that we saw, but whilst they were present for a very short time, they didn’t overshadow the novel which is Vlad and Leila’s story. Whilst Once Burned does not have to be read in conjunction with having read the Night Huntress series because it is a spin-off and the fact that the Night Huntress series is so brilliant, I would definitely suggest you go over and check it out right this instance. I find that Jeaniene Frost rarely disappoints and she has kept me entranced with her characters from start to finish. Her novels are well rounded with great characters both secondary and the protagonists, scorching romances and whirl-wind, guns-blazing plots that manage to become the focus of the novel whilst not detracting anything from the romance. Frost is an author for all kinds of people and I thoroughly recommend her!

Dark Lover

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Vampires, Adult

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #1

Publication: 2007 by Piatkus Books

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Review:

Well, this is my second reading of the book and I loved it just as much as when I first picked up the series. I find that J.R. Ward is a refreshing addition to paranormal-romance when she brings in a multi-perspective third person view of the story and we delve into multiple plots with the romance at the forefront, it’s truly thrilling.

For our female protagonist we have Beth, but due to the multi-perspective Ward writes from, we feature Wrath as a strong male protagonist to balance the novel out and give us a level of both male and female time that can appeal to either gender. Not only do we feature these two, but then we have the Lesser society who feature strongly as the enemy and being able to track both sides of the field only adds to our anticipation and excitement.

Beth is stuck in the human world, unaware of her vampire heritage and longing for something she doesn’t realise. Whilst some of you may be a little perturbed by her throwing herself straight at Wrath and the high sexual energy and sex that enters the story early on, the romance develops across the story and unfolds to represent a strong relationship. I felt that the sex really gave a zing to the early plot whilst things were just starting to build and really kept you hooked for how the relationship between Beth and Wrath could pan out. As a character, her personality and profile are relatable and you just can’t help but root for her character. She’s strong and doesn’t allow the dominant male aspect of Wrath’s character to push her around and she represents a strong female counterpart which I like to see in romance.

“Woah. Fangs. She had fangs.

She leaned in, prodded them a little. Eating with those puppies was going to take some getting used to, she thought.”

Beth’s thought patterns were certainly amusing and watching her move towards a new direction in life and grow as a character was really entertaining.

The plot is pacey and intermingled with lots of different aspects that make it enjoyable. I find that we get humour, soppy moments, sexy moments and raw action that really keep you turning the pages and gritting your teeth.

I found that Ward gave us lots of twists and turns and that we were never at any moment expecting the direction. Whilst certain points of the plot could be called “predictable” we were always guessing as to what was going to happen in large for the thrill side of the plot. In amongst the tenser side, the humour lightened things up and I think the male characters of the Brotherhood have a really dry, entertaining humour.

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“And how’s that going to go? You’re just going to walk up to her and say, “Hey, I know you’ve never seen me before, but I’m your dad. Oh, and guess what? You’ve won the evolutionary lottery: You’re a vampire. Let’s go to Disneyland.”

I think without this humour, the Black Dagger Brotherhood series would be much darker and overshadowed by the darkness that surrounds the world of Caldwell with murder, violence and death. However, with the humour the tone of the novel is much lighter and it makes it easy to lap up the words that Ward feeds us.

In addition, we get some fantastic secondary characters that make up the brotherhood, with Rhage, Torhment, Vishous, Zsadist and Phury. The introduction to these characters is just the tip of the iceberg. Be prepared to meet a tonne of characters all with their own backstory which are slowly unveiled across the series.

Two negatives I have of the novel are the acronyms Ward uses, such as SOB. It took me several books to realise this meant Son of a Bitch and then there was another which I still haven’t worked out. I wish she’d just write it out because although it’s part of the character traits of the brothers and their rugged edges, I don’t quite understand the acronyms and it’s annoying to try and work them out.

Ward does have her own terms from the vampire world, but she gives us a dictionary at the start for these words which is really useful and I enjoy reading through to discover all the vampire words and culture they have.

Leelan: Aterm for a female bride of a male vampire, term of endearment roughly meaning “Beloved”.

The other point I have is at times I get bored of the lesser society interludes and I have to admit in my re-read I did skip a couple. However, they do add to the novel and are interesting. It’s just sometimes I find that I really hate the lesser society that I can’t bring myself to read about them.

Other than that, I think the novel is really good solid addition the paranormal-romance genre.

I’d suggest to everybody male or female to give this series a try and even if you don’t quite appreciate the first book of the series, move on to the second because once again the tone changes and things really start to move along with the world building and character developing of all the characters we’ve recently met in this one. So give the Black Dagger Brotherhood a try if you haven’t already!

My Rating:

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When Darkness Hungers

When Darkness Hungers by J.K. Beck Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult Series: The Shadow Keepers #5 Published: June 26th 2012 by Random House Publishing Group FBI agent Alexis Martin knows that vampires exist—because one of them killed her sister. Assigned to investigate a series of bizarre homicides in Los Angeles, Alexis believes the murders are the work of rogue vampires—perhaps even the monster responsible for her sister’s death. Now she finally has a chance for retribution. Even better, Alexis receives unexpected help from a sexy stranger as hungry for rogue blood as she is. Serge is a centuries-old bad boy who stays off the grid—keeping his secrets, his hunger, and his heart safe from exposure. A new breed of vampire that feeds off other shadowers, Serge finds sweet torture in Alexis’s arms. Loving her is a chance to be free from the hiding, the loneliness, the secrecy. But the truth about what he is, and what he’s done, may banish him to the dark confines of his own private hell—and destroy the beginnings of their love.

Review:

I’ve never read any of the books in this series so I can’t speak for the rest of the books and how it interlinks with the series. However the premise for this sounded great so I just had to scoop it up of NetGalley! I’m glad to say I did because it was a very good paranormal-romance book and I think I may have to invest in the previous books to this series.

Lets start with the bad parts first. There aren’t many. I felt like this was predictable a lot, but I guess when you come to read paranormal-romance books you expect the guy to get the girl and all to end happily. So that probably is something I’m going to have to accept, but nevertheless it can make the reading a little redundant at times. I also found aspects of the plot to follow my assumptions and this makes it a little tedious. Although I’m quite perceptive at times, but it still makes me feel like J.K. Beck could have altered things a little to make it less of what we expect and more spicy and new.

However, on the good side I found the book well written and engaging throughout. It was enjoyable and full of action. We integrated lots of different aspects that I haven’t read in other paranormal-romance books with the FBI, paranormal divisions in government made up of other creatures and little gangs of vampires. It certainly made for an exciting read when we had many different aspects dragged into this book to keep a changing scene regularly.

Alexis was a strong female character and I appreciated her kick-ass enthusiasm and personality. She was set upon tracking down the killer of her sister and avenging her. Her morals were strong and she could fight for herself. We witnessed a build up of history and a tragic past. I suppose that could become predictable for most heroines these days since they tend to have to have a reasoning for their behaviour. She wasn’t all that smart at times, but her physical strength tended to overrule this and I enjoyed the aspect of her training herself to be a fighting machine. I found that she didn’t push Sergius away in a whiny way because she hated vampires, but she accepted him and who he was and this allowed me to enjoy the novel more.

Sergius was the character I fell deeply in love with. He was a tormented, sexy man who never believed himself good but recognised the world as it was. I found it very easy to fall in love with the man and he certainly swept Alexis of her feet. He was a brooding man, who could easily seduce Alexis and me! The seduction was rather satisfying and not overdone or crude which I appreciated. I felt like we lacked a real build up to the actual relationship, but this was probably due to the whole relationship being a whirlwind one of instant attraction. At the end I don’t think we covered a real talk to satisfy my need of their relationship being solved, but it fitted well-ish together to be appreciated.

I appreciated the novel starting in the past where we witnessed Sergius in his youth as a vampire and a key event that has moulded his life. It also allowed us to see characters that would be seen in the future and create real problems and I enjoyed being able to link past and present together. It also added to the ability of being able to reflect the length and torment of Sergius’ long life.

Something that I thoroughly loved was Beck bringing lots of the paranormal aspects and creatures into this story. We concentrated more on witches and vampires in this one, but other creatures were mentioned and lingered upon to open the world up wider. I feel that sometimes in the paranormal-romance sector we focus on a single type of creature and don’t witness the intertwining of the paranormal world and I really enjoyed reading about more than just one supernatural creature. It was nice to see a broad width of the paranormal scope rather than a sheltered view.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and happily read it. Whilst it wasn’t mind-blowing I’d be happy to read the other books in the series! A nice addition to the paranormal-romance genre. I’ll also be looking out for the next novel in the series out later this year!

*This was provided to me by the publishers in exchange for a review*

My Rating:

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Lord of Misrule

Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine Genre: Young-Adult, Vampires, Romance Series: Morganville Vampires #5 Published: January 6th 2009 by Signet In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat. Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.

Review:

Wow! It has been an awfully long time since I picked up the Morganville vampire series. I own them all, but I just never seem to find time to read them. It was around last August I think that I read book 4 and I just haven’t found the right time to read this one. All I can say it, why didn’t I pick this book up sooner? It was fantastic!

I think Rachel Caine has such a talent with this series and the premise for the town overrun and ruled by vampires is fantastic. We don’t get sparkly teen angst from the Twilight series or the indestructible vampires she creates, but we get a hard core grit and pain from these vampires along with the towns folk that makes Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series so brilliant. The humans are almost ‘pets’ kept by the vampires and they control the town and who comes in and out. It’s quite sordid in an effect and really suspense building.

Not only do the books read well, she has some fantastic covers. I love looking at the covers of her books and this one is no different. We get some very pretty ones and it always boosts you up to read a book that is easy on the eye and just as good to read.

This one picks up exactly where the last one left off. However, I love that Caine gives us a little run down on what has previously happened in the last four books to jog our memory. My memory is pretty good, so most of it I’d remembered anyway, but for those of us that don’t have quite the memory, it’s really good to have that there to rely on. Another reason why Caine is such a wonderful author!

I didn’t find myself bored at a single moment of this book. I read it in around one sitting with a couple of breaks and I literally couldn’t stop turning the pages.

Claire is a fantastic character! She’s highly intelligent, brave and concerned for her friends. She puts herself into danger to save others and even to those she doesn’t like she always finds herself lending a hand. It’s refreshing to see a forward thinker like Claire in young-adult novels who is so highly intelligent and forward thinking on her own. She is literally a child genius and it’s a reason that I love the novel so much!

And, a real bonus to this novel was how highly unpredictable it was. I found that we were dotting everywhere like a ping-pong ball and it was exciting. It’s so easy for authors to fall into a stereotype of predictability and this makes Caine a very refreshing read!

The relationship between Claire and Shane is certainly developing in a positive direction and I find those two highly adorable. I am definitely a Team Shane man all the way. He’s protective and honourable and whilst he may have been the bad boy at the start, he really cares for Claire and it’s incredibly sweet. Shane is one of my favourite love interests that I read about and it’s safe to say I am entirely enamoured with the guy. The guy is humorous, quirky and caring and he steps out as brave even though he might be a little stupid, you have to appreciate his character.

The only thing I had about the whole novel was that Claire didn’t really learn much in this one or do much in the case of her brain or scientific. There are hints that she’s going to learn all about the portals with Myrnin, but it would have been nice to see more of an active intelligence side to Claire that we have seen in previous instalments to this series. Nevertheless it was a highly enjoyable read!

I felt like we got progression from the previous novel and Caine left us on a rather a cliff-hanger. It was highly unfortunate I didn’t have the next novel with me otherwise I know I would have started it straight away. Nevertheless I’m sure I’ll be picking it up soon, I know that I won’t be able to stay away now.

My Rating:

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Embrace the Dark

Title: Embrace the Dark

Author: Caris Roane

Series: The Blood Rose Series #1

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Vampires, Adult

Expected Publication: July 1st 2012 by Spencerhill Associates, Ltd.

Plot:

Enter a world of blood-starved mastyr vampires and the rare women who can satisfy their deepest needs…
How can he resist his blood rose…
Gerrod, mastyr vampire of the Merhaine Realm, never thought to have his blood-needs satisfied by a mere human. But Abigail is no ordinary woman. She stuns him with her telepathy as well as the richness of her blood. However, her human DNA makes her an unacceptable mate. Yet how can Gerrod turn her away when she alone has satisfied his blood-starvation for the first time in a hundred-and-fifty-years?
Will she fall to temptation and give herself to a vampire…
When the dreaded enemy of all realm-folk, the Invictus, attacks at a fae wedding, Abigail’s simple human life gets turned upside down. She doesn’t know if she has the courage to pursue a path that means giving herself body and soul to a mastyr vampire. Will she return to her normal existence in Flagstaff, Arizona? Or will she embrace the dark…
Embrace the Dark is the first in The Blood Rose Series.

Review:

I just can’t continue…

This book had such a great premise and I was really excited to start it. I thought this short novel was really going to grip and thrill me and I felt like it fell too far flat on it’s face. In general most of the short stories I’ve read haven’t been fantastic and I’ve been searching for one to wow me because surely every short story cannot be dreadful? I know as a child I found many fabulously written ones, and now it seems for an adult audience authors simply cannot provide.

Unfortunately when I began to read, I found it stilted, hard to bear and just drab. There was moments that looked like they were about to be fantastic where we were just introduced to Abigail and she seemed a strong, independent woman and then suddenly she’d just thrown this all away and jumped on the Gerrod bandwagon. Personally I just couldn’t finish which is a rarity for me, usually I’m resilient and push my way to the end, but with this one, I couldn’t do it. I managed to get over half way through this short novel and then skim read and just gave up, it really didn’t thrill me. That’s probably the biggest disappointment that nothing was exciting or adrenaline pumping, it felt more of a fluffy romance tale.

Gerrod as a character was perhaps swoon-worthy and redeemable in the sense that he cared about his people and had a conscience, but he just didn’t work for me. There wasn’t a spark that made me yearn after him, nor did I find Abigail’s sudden epiphany that the male protagonist is wonderful and kind and other fluffy things. He starts out to be a brooding man with problems and this seems to vanish from the start of the story. I just couldn’t understand him… He didn’t stick to his traits and the gushing that eventually came from Abigail was surprising.

Especially when the two have very little emotional connection and suddenly we find ourselves drawn into their bed and euphemisms passing easily between them while they engage in intimate acts, that was really upfront and a little bold for this story which had been flowing at a sedate pace until then.

It felt like the author forgot the characters and plot she was writing and just turned them into perfect people who were suddenly in love. Abigail for me gained a Mary Sue quality and along with the stilted writing I found it hard to engage with the story. Nothing really drew me in and I couldn’t find something to latch on and enjoy.

For me this is a poor example of paranormal romance when I compare it to the likes of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the Psy-Changeling series that I’m currently reading, it’s probably safe to say the high expectations I had would not be met.

I’d suggest bypassing this one and moving onto something more time worth. That’s not to say it’s irredeemably terrible, I just couldn’t face to read any more.

My Rating:

 

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Lover Mine

Title: Lover Mine

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #8

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Vampires

Published: November 30th 2010 by Piatkus

Plot:

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. Long divided as a terrifying battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.

Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

Review:

These books only seem to get better. I have to admit, I have a weakness for J.R. Ward and her books and they are a true pleasure. I find this is exciting in a society where many of us has branded vampire books the “same” or unoriginal now, or even cast them aside after the “disaster” of Twilight, depending on your personal view, but J.R. Ward really brings a refreshing twist to the paranormal-romance sector. Her books continue to engage me and don’t fall at any hurdle. I’ve yet to find one that I didn’t like!

For me, “Lover Mine” was the book I’d been highly anticipating in the whole series since we were first introduced to John Matthew and his history, I wanted to really delve into his life. However his story is not the part I enjoyed the most, believe me, his story is fantastic, mind-blowing, thrilling, hot, emotional; you really have it all! However, I felt like it was eclipsed by the dynamic that was Qhuinn and Blay. You may have noticed my post of the cover which is to be their book, being released next year which I’m very excited about.

Qhuinn and Blay although they didn’t take up a large proportion of the actual book because we did focus largely on John and Xhex seemed to have an aura around them that drew me in and really had me clenching my fists and turning the pages to find out more about them. By the end my heart was certainly in a twist and I’m looking forward to picking up the next BDB book.

This book really links in where we left off from the previous book and I think Ward has a real talent to interlink her stories at key moments to keep the flow of the tale. I don’t feel like we’ve stilted or skipped anywhere along the way across the series that has been detrimental to reading and this flow is really great! It’s also good that the stories are separate entities whilst linking to the whole series and this enables you to read it without having to remember everything from the previous novel. Nevertheless these books are not a series you can just start reading in the middle. They are complex narratives, filled with lots of characters that you need to be introduced in order too.

In this instalment we get some very tense and emotional moments that I enjoyed because although the book is in the paranormal realm we connect to the characters and the situations. I think the idea that Xhex is gone and John is in morning really can connect to a lot of people who have lost somebody.

Another part of the novel allowed excerpts from Darius’ past life and I’m loath to admit that I usually find these parts boring, at least I did in Vishous’ past, but in “Lover Mine” I lapped them up eagerly and found them really connecting to the storyline.

I also felt that we gained a different perspective to Xhex than we’d previously seen and I really enjoyed that! If’ you’ve read any of the other BDB books, I’m sure you’ll understand Xhex is a tough character and whilst we know lots of John’s past, I think this novel worked to develop her past through both John and her. Unlike the other novels which in large focus on the male and developing his past, I felt although this one centred on John, we learnt more about Xhex through him which brought a different twist to Ward’s previous books.

Overall this book is well written, thoughtful, entertaining, light-hearted whilst being deeply emotional and it works really well together. Ward manages to make each novel unique and never feel repetitive like some authors fall into a pattern of repeating the same ‘format’ and I adore that about these novels. For me, there hasn’t been a fault to find yet, and I hope I continue to read on without them. I urge you to go stock your shelves with Ward because you’ll find it hard to be disappointed with her!

My Rating:

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The Immortal Rules

Title: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden #1

Genre: Young-Adult, Vampires, Dystopia

Published: April 24th 2012 by Harlequin Teen

Plot:

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Review:

This book has had an awful lot of hype surrounding the story, and I had a lot of expectations riding on this book after I’d heard about it. It DID NOT disappoint me in any way! It is an OH MY GOSH book.

I have to start with the vampires of this book. They are not the sparkly, insta-love, friendly vampires. They have fangs, they are all grit and raw action and they have no morals. I adore them! Humans are literally blood cattle and nothing changes that view, not even our main girl becomes all preaching of humans being the greater population. They are the food and they stay that way! The vampires stick to their nature and for that alone this story could rock into the five stars! These vampires really are REAL vampires. You can’t get anymore gritty than these.

Then we have the rabids, they remind me of zombies and are similar in a way. These are epitome monsters that don’t hold back. If you watch ‘The Walking Dead’ they remind me of those zombies because these rabids are not something with a thought, they are following a desire for blood and they will kill.

Allie, she was nice, maybe a little annoying for the first part of the story and then she rocketed into ‘wowdom’. She became a realistic, gritty character who faced hardship, had real emotions and I just all around fell behind her and supported her. Kagawa has made a realistic teenage protagonist that isn’t dumbed down. She is an independent thinker who is kick ass enough as her own female lead without a guy to lean on.

Zeke. He was sweet, a little naive, but brave and kind. You couldn’t help but feel he was cute and get a little enamoured with him, but he didn’t have enough substance for me. We had a real connection to him and his love built for Allie and was entirely realistic. It was heart-breaking and emotional to read, but utterly realistic! Zeke overall was an easy character to like and he was everything a leading male should be, but ultimately I fell for Kanin in the first few chapters of the story. He was intelligent, witty, tormented and he had this aura that screamed masculinity.

Kagawa doesn’t hold back on the gore and brutality of a dystopia world that I think some dystopia authors can lack and I think this is part of the excitement of her story because it makes it RAW and powerful!

This book is descriptive without it taking away from the fast pace of the plot. There is plenty of action to keep your entertained and angst is certainly in buckets full. But it’s not cheesy. I found myself near tears at certain points, but I am rather emotional. Not only is it descriptive, but it doesn’t fall into simplifying language, it really attempts to stretch one as a reader, which I think is vital for young readers of today.

Without a doubt I can say, this is a refreshing addition to the young-adult genre. This is definitely the type of book young people should be reading. It’s exciting enough to keep them interested and of a great quality that makes it one of the best books I’ve read in a while. To me, this holds in the ranks of Harry Potter and I only hope the story can continue to be so fantastic in the rest of the series to come!

It’s fantastic and I cannot help but gush!

My Rating:

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Lover Avenged

Title: Lover Avenged

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #7

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Vampires

Published: November 27th 2009 by Piatkus Books

Plot: As the vampire warriors of the BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD defend their race from their slayers, one male’s loyalty to the Brotherhood is about to be tested – and his dangerous mixed blood revealed.

Caldwell, New York, has long been the battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the Lessening Society. It’s also where Rehvenge has staked out his turf as a drug lord and owner of a notorious nightclub that caters to the rich and heavily armed. His shadowy reputation is exactly why he’s approached to kill Wrath, the Blind King, and the leader of the Brotherhood.

However, Rehvenge has always kept his distance from the Brotherhood. He’s a symphath and the revelation of his deadly secret will result in his banishment to a colony for sociopaths. And a plot within and outside the Brotherhood take their toll against Rehvenge, he turns to the only source of light in the darkening world: Ehlena, a vampire untouched by corruption that has its hold on him – and the only thing standing between him and eternal destruction.

Review: Damn this book was long, but it was utterly fantastic.

J.R. Ward really leaves little space for me to criticise. She manages to envelop secondary characters with individual storylines that are all interwoven with the main pairing, Rev and Ehlena and makes everything exciting and interesting. Despite the secondary characters all gaining their own attention it doesn’t take it away from the main storyline.

It was lovely to see the reappearance of Wrath and Beth who we meet in the first book, Dark Lover. I advise you all if you haven’t read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series to go rush and buy them! They are utterly fantastic and only get better! However, don’t read them out of order because they really require the precise order to make any form of sense because of the character depth and storyline.

By the end of the book I was in the state of happiness and despair. The action Ward creates is indescribable and the ending makes sure we cannot wait for the next book!

Rev has to be one of my favourite all time characters! He was on the peripheral for most of the previous books and somebody I failed to connect with, but Ward brought him in at the perfect moment. He’s everything your lead male should be and by the end I was a gooey mess on the floor. A sweet kind of over-indulged mess!

Me:

After all, he manages to be the strong, sexy male throughout the whole book with this unwavering devotion to protect those he cares for. What more could a girl ask for?

Saying that, these book shouldn’t just be labelled as for the female population, because it is clear to me, that both women and men can love them equally. The third person perspective that Ward presents that allows her to adopt the view of so many characters allows you to delve into the story from your own perspective and rather than attempt to view the plot from a female/male perspective you can take it as your own and really enjoy it.

My only problem if I had to pick one with this book, is the villain. I truly detest him beyond belief. I think that’s the point, but it’s to the extent that I skim read the sections that follow his life. However, having said that his character is brilliant as a leading villain, but for me, I cannot stand to read about him!

This book really does contain everything and the suspense is fantastic. We get a build up of so many key events that it becomes almost the perfect ‘Disney’ moment.

I fail to see how Ward can truly offer us more in one book, because she seemed to surpass her usual standards with Lover Avenged and I know I’ll certainly be picking ‘Lover Mine’ up very quickly in deed!

Just read the series because you will not regret it!

More stalking available here:

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