What A Boy Wants

What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Series: What A Boy Wants #1

Genre: Contemporary, Young-Adult, Romance

Published: April 6th 2012

The Plot.

Courtesy of watching his mom’s relationships, Sebastian Hawkins knows what girls need to do to get a guy. He has what he considers a PHD in hooking up. When he needs extra cash for a car, Sebastian starts up an online venture as The Hook-up Doctor, to anonymously help girls land the guy of their dreams. Of course, his services don’t offer a happily-ever-after guarantee. He’s seen firsthand getting together never means staying together.
And then he falls in love…
With the last girl he would expect…
Totally not in his game plan.

Suddenly, Sebastian finds himself muddled in the game he’s always prided himself on. He can’t even pick up girls at parties anymore! Why would anyone want to be in love when it turns you into a stuttering, screwed-up, mess with really lame stalker tendencies? Stalking? Totally not his gig.

But the Hook-up Doctor won’t let himself go down easily. He’s always known how to give a girl what she wants and now it’s time to figure out what a boy wants… and he definitely plans on getting it.

The Review.

What A Boy Wants was a huge disappointment for me. I expected something light, funny and just an easy read and I got this for the first 40% and could have easily awarded the novel four stars for that without a thought, but then once we got past this the novel began to drag, the plot fell apart and it became exactly why I stay away from contemporary novels. Sebastian who had wormed his way into my heart became a possessive crazed teenage boy that wanted to posses his girlfriend as well as being a huge jerk. He did things that I didn’t like and couldn’t really forgive him for. I didn’t understand his girlfriend all that much and there was very little substance to the novel. It might be light and fluffy but that doesn’t mean the characters should have no background.

Sebastian claims to be the “Hook-up Doctor” and he’s cocky, arrogant and assured in his sexuality and ability to attract girls. He was humorous in his all knowing state even if he was a little annoying, but I could deal and he made me laugh. He was a charmer and a guy that was fairly easy to like and his easy going relationship with Woodstock his best friend was really nice. However, there was no mention to how he become the “Hook-up Doctor” or why which annoyed me, his family history and his mum’s inability to keep a guy was brushed over and his raging possessive attitude that showed him to be pretty misogynist frankly annoyed the hell out of me. I am far from being a feminist, but his objectification of women was blood boiling. He just saw them as disposable and that he was protecting them from himself. I don’t claim to be the worlds expert on the mind of a guy, but it seemed a little extreme.

“Don’t be an asshole.”

“I’m not. I’m just sayin’. You go over there all me-Tarzan-my-woman before she even knows you’re into her and you’re going to look like an ass. You need to chill. They’re just talking.”

Woodstock Sebastian’s best friend was fun enough, but I didn’t feel like we ever got to know her through Sebastian. The novel seemed to assume that because she was Sebastian’s best friend that he knew everything and therefore the reader did and we didn’t need to know anything about her. I liked her enough, but I don’t think there was that much depth to her character or her relationship with Sebastian. I liked the nickname and her supposed family that we never really met and I have to admit, Sebastian did touch me when he made a grand gesture for her, but it still wasn’t enough to redeem himself.

The secondary characters consisted of their two best friends Jaden and Pris who seem to be a couple brewing that are the next novel and this novel seemed to set those two up in the process as well. There was also Bastian’s mother who was a huge influence over his life. It was nice to see a caring parent who clearly loved her son, but there weren’t many secondary characters in the novel that really rounded it that makes up my favourite part of a novel.

Pris: “You’re such a cerdo.” She turned to face Aspen and they started girl talking about clothes and that British guy who sparkled in all those vampire movies.”

The plot was utterly predictable and although the author attempted to make a plot twist, it wasn’t honestly that believable and still didn’t really surprise me. I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy this novel so much and I think it’s put me off contemporary for a while again.

Overall I wouldn’t really recommend this novel even being so short because of Bastian’s behaviour. However it can be fun and entertaining in parts and I think the author has lots to offer if she draws it all together a little more.

Descension

Descension by B. C. Burgess

Series: Mystic #1

Genre: Young-Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Witches

Published: April 4th 2012

Hosted by AToMR Tours. The full tour schedule can be found HERE.

The Plot.

The Angel
After three years caring for her dying mother, Layla Callaway learns she was adopted under unusual circumstances. Following a cryptic message to seek her birth family in Oregon, Layla uproots her lonely life, quickly finding she descends from witches and wizards. Magic is in her blood, and a handsome family friend is eager to prove it. Through a ring imprinted with her birth parents’ memories, Layla’s enigmatic past comes to light, presenting possibilities and trials more chimerical than her wildest dreams.

The Guardian
Quin’s natural charisma yields plenty of witches, but he longs for the lost witch – the mysterious Layla. He’s dreamed about her his entire life, envisioning the day he would lay eyes on her face and aura. When that day arrives, not only is he breathless, he’s confronted with the challenge of a lifetime – an innate need to keep her safe and forever by his side.

The Hunter
Employing fiendish manipulation and manpower, Agro uses the arcane force of others to elevate his supremacy and wealth. Nothing pleases him more than latching on to a mystical vein, and never has there been a more enticing source. The divine witch will be his.

My Review.

Descension was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for me. I signed up to this tour thinking the premise sounded really interesting and was eager to read the book, but at the back of my mind I had doubts about whether I’d like this book. Concerns aside, Burgess captured my attention with Descension and I’m certainly eager to get my hands on the next book in the series. However, I do feel like Descension was a more introductory novel to the series than one filled with action, whilst this didn’t detract from my enjoyment and Burgess maintained my attention throughout the whole of the book with the two entwined romance stories across two time spans, I feel like to keep my interest the next novel will have to kick up the action. Despite this, I was fully invested in the idea and growth of the characters and the love story that Burgess delivered.

I find that the synopsis is rather misleading because at first I believed the novel would be about angels, but in fact it’s witches. Either way it fulfilled my love of the paranormal. I haven’t read a witch novel in a while and I thought Burgess approached the dynamic in an interesting way, but I want to see how she develops the witch dynamic further because we only began to touch on the idea of witchcraft and spells in the present day. I felt more invested in witchcraft in the time jump to the past with Layla’s parents and I feel like we are still left I felt with many questions to the witches and their story as a general. However, I thought they were entirely realistic and believable in their powers that manipulated the earth elements and I liked the community feel of the covens.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said, opening his eyes.

“What did I… I didn’t mean.. Did I hurt you?”

“No,” he answered, “bur it’s an uncomfortable feeling when you’re not expecting it.”

“What did I do?” she squeaked, beyond mortified and so ashamed.

“You used magic on me.”

Burgess splits her novel into two, the present day and Layla’s story which didn’t really move anywhere in terms of actions and the story of her parents who abandoned her as a child (not through their own choices) and that was particularly where we saw more action, but nothing that got my heart racing. Burgess focuses on the relationship between Layla’s parents in the past and Layla uncovering the truth of her life in the presetn. However we don’t really explore much after her parents story is uncovered by Layla and this left me disappointed because I was expecting to see a reaction from Layla and I think the first novel would have benefitted Layla in terms of character growth to explore her response. I however did enjoy the time jump and I think Burgess worked the slip really well into the past and kept my interest, I just wish it had been a little shorter.

There is a strong focus on the relationships in this novel and romance is certainly a focal point, this helped to drive the novels. However I do feel that the characters immediately jump into their relationships rather quickly, the parents of Layla particularly. In addition to this Layla taking to Quin so quickly disturbed me a little when he was a total stranger, I felt she should have been more cautious. Despite the “insta-love” kind of romance, they built up the foundations for Layla’s parents relationship and I hope to see Layla develop further in her romance with Quin since there was very little chance for this. I liked that we also met the majority of characters through Layla’s parents and that these foundations will be useful for the many characters I feel will be coming shortly. The dynamic of the two relationships also gained to give the novel more substance, but I fear Layla’s parents relationship in the end overshadowed her story. However there were some cute moments between Layla and Quin.

“As they walked to her car, he remained remarkably close without touching her, his gaze rarely left her long enough to look where he was going. When they crossed the street, one of his palms lightly touched the small of her back, shooting tingles up her spine and vibrating her shoulders. She was sure he felt her tremble, but he didn’t mention the ridiculous reaction.”

My one disappointment with the novel is the fact of the hunter who I feel I know very little about, and whilst we have met Agro he does not appear to be the main villain. I hope Burgess explores this aspect to strengthen the novel as whilst the romance is incredibly touching and the family bonds in this novel are felt strongly, I feel there needs to be more to the series to sustain my interest. There was a touch on the hunter in the epilogue, but this only left me confused and it needs to be approached in the next novel to keep me on board.

Burgess certainly crafts the idea of a strong family unit and I liked that I really sensed family love and affection because many young-adult novel seem to discuss parents who don’t care. This is where Burgess steps away from the others and focuses on family which fits perfectly with the witch covens. This also builds up a plethora of secondary characters who I hope will be explored more in future novels as they are one of my favourite elements to a novel.

The characters in general I feel like I don’t know them well enough because I didn’t spend enough time with them so I knocked half a star off for that. By the end of I felt disconnected from Layla because her parents story had detracted from our time with her and I felt more invested in them as a couple. Therefore I hope this will be rectified in the next novel and I become more attached to Layla as I don’t feel like I could particularly talk about her character at the present.

Overall I enjoyed Descension but it didn’t blow me away so I struggled writing my review. However, I do recommend trying the book as I think it’s well written, engaging and it’s emotional that makes it an enjoyable read and it sweeps you away to a different place filled with love and family strength. I think Burgess has kicked off a great start to a series and I’m sure lots of people will indeed fall in love with it as I’m looking forward to reading more of her work too!

You can enter HERE to win a chance at a e-copy of Descension and it’s open internationally.

Links:

• Facebook
• Amazon Author Page
• Twitter: @BCBurgessBooks
• Author’s Website
• Amazon UK / US

Contemporary Blend #2

So here is the second half of my contemporary binge, with the last two reviews on the four novels I read whilst I was feeling rather sick.

One Night with a Hero by Laura Kaye

Series: The Hero #2

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Adult

Publication: October 20th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

The Plot.

He wants just one night…

After growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father, Army Special Forces Sgt. Brady Scott vowed never to marry or have kids. Sent stateside to get his head on straight—and his anger in check—Brady’s looking for a distraction. He finds it in his beautiful new neighbor’s one-night-only offer for hot sex, but her ability to make him forget is addictive. Suddenly, Brady’s not so sure he can stay away.
…what they need is each other.

Orphaned as a child, community center director Joss Daniels swore she’d never put herself in a position to be left behind again, but she can’t deny herself one sizzling night with the sexy soldier who makes her laugh and kisses her senseless. When Joss discovers she’s pregnant, Brady’s rejection leaves her feeling abandoned. Now, they must overcome their fears before they lose the love and security they’ve found in each other, but can they let go of the past to create a future together?

The Review.

One Night with a Hero started out alright, but it quickly went downhill, it’s probably my own fault for not reading the premise, but the word “pregnancy” I should have noticed. It’s not the kind of thing I really wanted to read about, luckily it didn’t play a major part for the first part of the novel, but I didn’t enjoy the relationship between Joss and Brady once she was pregnant. I didn’t hate One Night with a Hero but it wasn’t my favourite contemporary novel, I just didn’t enjoy the direction of the plot and felt that it was a little repetitive in places in that Brady and Joss always seemed at each others throats or rejecting each other and whilst I enjoy certain aspects of tensions within a relationship I felt that this dragged on too much.

I didn’t like Joss and that was probably my biggest problem. Not being able to connect with the main character is always an issue and it tends to put you off when reading. She felt cliché to me and she was supposed to be a smart women and then she was blindsided by this pregnancy that she just seemingly allowed to happen. I can’t fathom it really.

“Having spent so much time alone, reading had always been her biggest source of escape. When she read, she lost track of what was happening around her. Many time in her life, that had been a damn good thing.”

Brady was a rather sexy solider, however we didn’t really witness anything about his solider side other than he had problems he needed to deal with to get a promotion. So for all I cared he could have been a nurse who had to go through some training to get a new job. It just didn’t matter other than that he kept in shape. There was very little focus on this and when it’s supposed to be his life and focus, it seems a little bizarre to me.

On the plus note, the novel wasn’t that long and there were some fun flirty moments. However I felt like the characters fell too quickly into a physical relationship and the emotional repercussions were clear that they spent the whole novel restraining themselves from killing the other.

Recipe for Satisfaction by Gina Gorden

Series: Madewood Brothers #1

Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Romance

Publication: January 1st 2013 by Entangled Publishing

The Plot.

Being the financial caretaker for her deadbeat parents isn’t the life professional organizer Sterling Andrews dreamed of. Tired of being the dependable—and boring—daughter, Sterling decides to have a little fun. And what could be more fun than seducing rich bad boy chef, Jack Vaughn? Except, after one scintillating night together, Sterling’s not only lusting for Jack, she’s working for him. And remaining professional becomes harder every day.

Already a major success thanks to his exclusive restaurants, Jack Vaughn is looking for something more. Ultra responsible Sterling is unlike anyone Jack has met…but she’s his employee. Unwilling to give her up, Jack makes Sterling an offer she can’t refuse—for four sexy weekends, he’ll indulge her most wicked fantasies with no professional strings attached. But will mixing business with pleasure spell disaster? Or will they find the recipe for satisfaction?

The Review.

Recipe for Satisfaction doesn’t really contain recipes of the cooking king, in fact, there is very little cooking to be seen, except for a couple of choice moments which I enjoyed so I think there was more than I expected there to be because the food element that’s hinted in the innuendo as the title does fulfil in the novel which I liked. The romance isn’t quite straight forward and the synopsis I found to be a little bit misguided, whilst Jack does give Sterling four sexy weekends, they’re of his choosing to surprise her which I liked. Overall, Recipe for Satisfaction was fairly satisfying –(pun intended).

However, again I found myself not really connecting with Sterling. I could see her problems and understand why she behaved the way she did, but it made her appear like two different people and it was clearly giving Jack a wrong idea of her by the end of things because of how she behaved. She seemed to be this quiet, conservative girl that she was saying she was, but for most of the story I found that she was a rather wild child and that it would take a lot more than “having fun” to do some of the things she did as it didn’t seem to ‘fit’ her character for me. It wasn’t that she was dislikeable because I found myself smiling from the start, but I thought she was honestly a little thick and insensitive in places to other people and she annoyed me.

“Jack wasn’t a violent man, but he wanted to hit the asshole who’d made her feel this way, something fierce. “You want to do things that please you and only you?” It had been a long time since he’d done something for pure pleasure. And to experience it with the first woman to stir up his latent desire would no doubt be unforgettable.”*

Jack was all good fun, and there was an emotional aspect to his character that tends to come with the genre of him being a little brooding and misunderstood. He appears to be the typical playboy, but he’s a lot more than that, and I liked Jack and his siblings. He could be serious and have fun and I liked the balance the author got with him. He seemed to understand Sterling really well and he was always thinking about her and putting others first. He had a couple of stupid moments, but all around he was charming, entertaining and my favourite character.

The pacing of the novel was pretty quick, things kept up and there were a few plot twists and changes, mainly predictable ones, but it still made for an entertaining read. I liked the dynamic of the four brothers that make up the Madewood family and they were all down to earth and lovely despite the wealth they’d been adopted into and I’ll be interested to read future stories with the brothers in because I presume each will be getting their happily ever after. Ultimately, Recipe for Satisfaction isn’t a bad novel with it’s fun and flirty attitude, but I prefer something with a little more substance.

*Quote taken from an uncorrected eARC copy provided by NetGalley and thanks to Entangled Publishing.

Aristotle said that “What gives a story unity is not as the masses believe that it is about one person but that it is about one action.”

Therefore this indicates to me that plot is integral to any novel whether it’s contemporary or not, so I think this clarifies not only to me how important it is to a novel even if it’s just fluffy which is what I think contemporary needs to do more for me, focus on a plot.

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!

Contemporary Blend #1

All of you may be surprised to note, my recent binge on contemporary romance, a genre I usually stray far far away from. However, I recently found Entangled Publishing’s Brazen collection and I found they were semi-decent so I devoured four of their books in as many days and here is my first two reviews on the books. Look out for the other two shortly.

Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Adult

Series: Fighting for Love #1

Publication: July 20th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

The Plot.

Mixed martial arts fighter Reid Andrews’s chance to reclaim his title as light heavyweight champ is shattered when he’s injured only months before the rematch. To make sure he’s healed in time, his trainer sends him to recuperate under a professional’s care—Reid’s best friend’s little sister, all grown up.

Disorganized and bookish Lucie Miller needs some professional help of her own. She’d do anything to catch the eye of a doctor she’s crushed on for years, so when Reid offers seduction lessons in exchange for 24/7 conditioning for the biggest fight of his career, Lucie jumps at the chance.

Soon Reid finds him himself in the fight of his life…winning Lucie’s heart before she gives it to someone else.

The Review.

Seducing Cinderella was my first contemporary book I picked up by Entangled Publishing and I have to say, it is by far my favourite. There was something about Seducing Cinderella that entranced me from the first moment and had me hooked, flipping through the pages trying to get to the end. I think the fact that it wasn’t such a short 100 and something e-book also made the reading more enjoyable because I felt like there was some substance to the novel.

Reid Andrews was a man I could appreciate from the very first moment. He was tough and he had issues, but he genuinely cared about Lucie and I liked that there was a connection between the two characters from the start that wasn’t purely sexual and this is my general problem with contemporary books that they are overly sexualised and whilst this one had it’s moments I felt that we touched on the relationship between Lucie and Reid much more and managed to bring Lucie out of her shell to blossom. She was a character trapped in a general cliche that she hid herself away in books and baggy clothes and was smitten with another doctor. However I felt like we explored a fun side of her and I wanted to smack her half-way through the book because as usual she overlooked the best character so easily. Reid also had a great sense of humour that I really liked.

“Wait, why does my chart say Randy Johnson?”

Reid chucked at the ridiculous name he used for anonymity. “It’s an alias.” Wanting to erase the pained look from whatever had happened before he arrived, he gave her a wicked smile and added, “And sometimes a state of being.”

Her brother featured very little in this novel with not even a physical appearance, but I liked his character from the brief moment he appeared and his connection to Reid I felt could have been explored a little more since they were supposedly best friends and yet they never talked.. Rather bizarre if you ask me. Hopefully he’ll appear in the next book of the series with his own little story meaning we’ll get to see a little more of Lucie and Reid.

Overall, Seducing Cinderella was entertaining and enjoyable and it happily led me to finding more Entangled Publishing books to read.

No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Adult

Series: Love Required #2

Published: August 23rd 2012 by Entangled Publishing

The Plot.

He’ll give her everything she desires…except his identity.

Flower shop owner Alexa Conroy had it all before the recession hit and her customers fled to cheaper shopping grounds. Desperate to make ends meet, she sells her dream home and moves into the rundown apartments above her shop. When she spots six feet of sexy distraction—complete with muscles, piercings, and tattoos—ripping up flooring, Alexa knows the karmic windfall she’s due just landed on her doorstep.

And the attraction’s definitely not one-sided.

Dillon James, reluctant heir to the corporation about to foreclose on Alexa’s shop, is not about to jeopardize their scorching chemistry by admitting he’s not the building’s handyman. But with only weeks until her business goes under and his identity is revealed, Dillon must find a way to convince Alexa cooperation isn’t a dirty word, help her save the shop from his brother’s greed, and persuade her that he’s not the enemy…or risk losing the only woman who’s seen the real him.

The Review.

No Flowers Required was much shorter, much more fun and a little more humorous than Seducing Cinderella but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much. I skipped the first novel in the series because at 61 pages, it was more of a novella and I prefer reading something a little longer. It wasn’t really necessary to the plot to read it, so I don’t think I missed out on much, since this one seems to wrap itself in a whole different romance rather than a continuation of the last story.

Dillion James is a man that I liked a lot. He had a lot going for him, but I liked that he didn’t appear with his money first and that we met him when he seemed like an average guy and the dynamic of not unveiling his true identity made for an interesting plot. However, I felt this could have been played upon much more. Overall, he was sexy, wise and all around nice guy which tends to be the case in most contemporaries so I had no complaints.

“No kids. My hobbies are fishing, painting and riding my bike.” He scratched his scruffy chin. “Oh and I’m a Leo.”

Alexa I didn’t particularly like all that much. I appreciated her stubbornness, but she seemed to be two different people, the struggling shop owner and damsel in distress and then the sophisticated party goer with the collection of designer clothes and I could never quite mesh the  two sides together to create one character in my brain. It’s like she was two entirely different people and she went from being poverty stricken to snooty in an instance and I didn’t like when she got on her high horse about things.

Overall the romance was fun, flirty and quick and the pace kept you turning the pages. No Flowers Required is an easy rainy-day read or something to cheer you up if you’re a little down.

Mockingbird

Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig

Series: Miriam Black #2

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

Published: August 28th 2012 by Angry Robot

The Plot.

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.

But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis–who’s on the road half the time in his truck–is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.
It just isn’t going well. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability–to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them–in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.

Then comes one bad day that turns it all on her ear.

My Review.

Chuck Wendig’s sequel to Blackbirds in the Miriam Black series took to a different direction than I expected in Mockingbird and I didn’t quite connect with it as much which is unfortunate to say. Blackbirds unexpectedly surprised me and I was looking forward to starting Mockingbird however it was a little more dark and twisted than I expected and maybe could stomach. Miriam seemed to kick up the violence, language and lonely solo act in this novel and I didn’t appreciate the move away from the romance that kindled in the previous novel which I think represented a light of hope in the novel. However, I felt things were really strained in this novel and they took a lot darker approach in the aspect that the characters really looked inside themselves.

I think my main problem came with Mockingbird in that I didn’t actually like Miriam’s character as much. Before she was bad-ass problematic woman who was a little eccentric. However, Miriam pushed everybody away in this novel, she seemed to be hating on the entire world and she took a trip into the past. I think I’ll be more intrigued to witness the resolving off the issues that Miriam has in the next instalment because we’ll finally be getting to the core of her issues. I just felt like as a character she didn’t make a lot of progress in this novel, she seemed to bounce of walls and fire insults at everybody. She did make some character connections with new people, but these were all underlying with foreboding and death which makes my stomach churn at the thought in nervous anticipation. I can appreciate that Wendig does not creep around the idea of death and destruction and he shows this through Miriam pretty brutally which is why I didn’t like her character for this novel because she became a little harder and colder. However, he has to be applauded for stepping where other authors tend to shy away from.

“Each song of an album, each page of a book, every panel of every comic, they’re all doorways, little escape hatches where Miriam can flee the sad shadows of this life.”

Louis is a character that seemed to make some development in this novel with uncovering some of his issues with Miriam. However again, we’re still not at the bottom of his problems and I hope he returns to resolve these because just like Miriam his life is full of problems. Wendig certainly doesn’t sprinkle fairy dust over people and Louis has lots of demons I feel still left to fight, so I hope we haven’t seen the back of him.

Nevertheless what I did love was the return of the crass humour and eccentric behaviour that occurred in Mockingbird that so reminded me of Blackbirds which was a new venture for me into a book I probably wouldn’t usually read. Mockingbird is not for the faint-hearted and if you are a little queasy or put off my bad language, death and lots of violence I would suggest avoiding this series all-together. However if you want something that delves into the darkness of humanity, something crazy with talking-birds, visions, death warnings and all kinds of crazed happenings then Mockingbird and Blackbirds are the perfect book for you. I think Wendig manages to develop his very own genre with these two books that isn’t alike anything I’ve read and this unique nature that he brings is a reason that I still manage to enjoy this book.

One thing I did love about Mockingbird were the chapter titles. They always manage to make me chuckle and I think Wendig has something very new and encapsulated Miriam’s character perfectly who is our protagonist and narrator and I think this engages your attention before the chapter even begins to keep reading and explore further into the mind of Miriam Black.

“Lords of Google, Hear my Plaintive Cries.”

Despite not enjoying Mockingbird as much as the first novel in the Miriam Black series, I will be continuing with it and looking out for what exciting adventure comes next because dark and gritty this series is and I think it still manages to be innovative and exploring into the dark nature that lays latent in so many books.

*quotes taken from an uncorrected arc copy so may change on the original version provided through NetGalley from Angry Robot.

Chuck Wendig has a rather awesome blog that runs under the name terribleminds and there are lots of cool features over there with short stories he has free and all about his other work in the world of gaming, writing novels and short stories and screenplays. A very cool guy. He also has lots of interesting, awesome pictures on his blog too.

Unravel Me

Unravel Me by Kendall Ryan

Series: Unravel Me #1

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Adult

Published: September 22nd 2012 by Createspace

The Plot

Psychology student Ashlyn Drake’s neat, orderly life takes a turn for the crazy when she finds the perfect subject for her amnesia thesis – a young man without any memory of his previous life, including the murder he’s accused of committing.
Against all common sense, Ashlyn’s drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it’s that he’s so incredibly male, and even handcuffed to his hospital bed he could pass for a cologne ad – Scent de Insanity. Or perhaps it’s because she’s spent too many lonely nights studying. Either way, she’s determined to help him solve the mystery of his past. She begins to unravel who he was before, using his cryptic tattoos, and his paintings that scream of a dark past as her only clues. When she finally learns his secret there’s no telling which one is the real him, the gentle lover she’s fallen for or the troubled man with a dark past.

My Review.

Unravel Me disappointed me a lot. Contemporary isn’t my usual genre, but lately I’ve been broaching more into it just because I find it to be a quick, fun read. However, whilst Unravel Me was a far reach from being a bad novel, it was a long distance from what I was truly expecting. The word that particularly stands out to me when first reading the blurb for Unravel Me is the word “Psychology” so I expect something a little darker and more twisted, maybe something suspenseful and a little like Nicci French’s Killing Me Softly that I read recently. Sadly, Unravel Me lacks a lot of suspense, a lot of darkness and contains a lot more sap, sex and a sexy man.

Ashlyn was a protagonist that I rather disliked. She was so immediately overcome by waves of lust for her subject. For me, this intense first emotion was a little disconcerting especially when she is taking her masters, I would have expected a little more indifference to begin with to building up to a bond that would lead to such feelings towards the guy she was studying. Otherwise her feelings seem a little unfounded and it doesn’t really set a great picture for her character that she is so easily swept away in all the emotion of things. Ashlyn then progresses to become a simpering, mopping Bella-esque when the man isn’t in her life of he disappears. She seems incapable of managing without him and her dependency on her subject grated on my nerves. We saw no side to her student life and intelligence that clearly had to be present and she didn’t develop as an individual and I think Ryan would have fulfilled the novel much more to characterise her character rather than depend upon the romance to develop her character.

“I knew it was selfish to want to keep him with me, especially if it turned out he had loved ones waiting for him, but that wouldn’t stop me from enjoying him while I could.”

The plot wasn’t a bad idea, it kept pace and it kept me turning pages which is a large reason why I enjoyed this novel because it wasn’t too long and the short length managed to keep me entertained for the duration of the novel because the plot wasn’t overly complex. I liked that there was mystery around the mystery subject and his past that had to be uncovered and that there were glimpses and paintings that reminded me of one of my favourite American TV shows from a while back, Heroes when one of the main characters, Isaac used to paint the future. However, I felt like Ryan could have expanded upon this more for the novel to gain ground and potential as a work of literature, rather it felt like she skimmed over this element and issues that faced the mystery man and how he dealt with these through he painting. I felt that she tried to promise something traumatic and trying with including this, but changed her mind to turn the novel into a more fluffy romance part the way through.

The mystery man I have to say I liked more than Ashlyn, he seemed to be grounded despite not knowing anything about his past and when he pushed Ashlyn away he gained a little respect in my mind that he try to create boundaries between the two of them and he wasn’t dependent upon Ashlyn despite his situation which he could have easily fallen into. He was rather sexy and a man with a presence. He didn’t quite sustain the dangerous thrill for me throughout the whole novel which disappointed me. I felt like Ryan had spent more time crafting his character, but still he lacked something for me. Whether it was his continual fleeing act and lack of staying to face his problems or that he didn’t seem entirely rounded by the end of the novel in all aspects, something about him still seemed askew, I can’t quite say.

“The murderer said to the weak, young girl. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and met his eyes. They were sincere and kind, and locked on mine, seeking forgiveness. Trust.”

I have to admit, whilst enjoying this novel and no seeing it as bad. There were a few thoughts that plagued me throughout reading. A man who remembered absolutely nothing of his life before, not even his name could remember his sexual prowess straight away. It might seem a little bizarre and I know that people remember things slowly, but he never once doubted himself. Surely a man that has just lost every memory he has ever owned would have some doubts? I think this is probably the point that baffled me most about the mystery man.

Secondary characters are something that clearly lacked in Unravel Me. There was only Ashlyn’s friend that really centered in the novel and only for short periods of time that I cannot even remember her name. There were several other characters that made minor appearances and had no central focus in the narrative which again leads Unravel Me to depend entirely upon the romance and the relationship between Ashlyn and her mystery man. Therefore, this is why Unravel Me lost esteem in my eyes because it became so absorbed with the romance that reflected Ashlyn’s character and it failed to explore the world outside.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Unravel Me, but I can’t say I will be eager to read it again anytime soon. I think other contemporaries such as Pushing the Limits work much better on a psychological aspect even when this isn’t the central focus of the novel and that a little more time spent on Unravel Me could unlock the hidden potential that is so clearly seen in Unravel Me. I’d say it might be a raining day read if you have a spare couple of hours to give it a chance, and if you’re not quite expecting as much in the darker direction, you’ll probably enjoy Unravel Me.

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So off on a little tangent from Unravel Me, I commented on my love for heroes and one of Isaac Mendez’s pictures seemed to reflect Unravel Me to me perfectly. He was a character from Heroes that used to draw the future and if you never saw it, it was brilliant. Save the Cheerleader.

Wild Encounter

Wild Encounter by Nikki Logan (GR)

Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Romance

Published: September 9th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

A wildlife release mission in Africa turns deadly when the convoy is hijacked by smugglers, and veterinarian Clare Delaney is taken hostage. Terrified for her life and her animals, the intrepid Clare establishes a rapport with the man she believes is the criminals’ leader, and reluctantly finds herself under his protection…and falling hard for the enigmatic man.

Alpha-to-the-max Simon deVries sees right through his sexy captive’s attempt to seduce her way to freedom. So when their simmering attraction flares into true passion, it takes them both by surprise. Now he’s torn between completing his secret mission and letting her escape without telling her his true identity. He knows if he lets her go, he will be risking his career, his life…and his heart.

My Review:

Contemporary isn’t my usual genre, I much prefer fantasy, but there are moments where I enjoy reading it because it doesn’t require that much brain power to read and enjoy and it was relaxing. It helped me get back into reading too which was always a plus. Wild Encounter was rather surprising because it was exciting and suspenseful, whilst it seemed predictable, there were elements that surprised me and I was very opposed to putting down my kindle when reading this. It had me hooked and that’s definitely what I want from the best of stories!

Simon deVries is a character that I felt very torn over to begin with. Although he’s not how he first appears, there is a complexity to his character and his ‘morals’ had me screaming at him because he’s a frustrating man. However beneath that he is a master of seduction and when he’s filthy and playing the bad man he certainly appears to be pretty hot. By the end I was in love with his character. I can’t admit to him being my favourite male love interest of a novel, he certainly has a lot to offer. Although the Alpha side of things I felt could have been seen a lot more, he was commanding and his presence filled the room which I liked. He was just a little bit thick when it came to Clare’s emotions and he needed his head hitting against a wall.

“She’d been scared, vulnerable, and stark naked, and to his shame he’d hardened up in that moment. Not a sterling recommendation of his character.”

Clare Delaney is a heroine I admired. She was smart, resourceful and most of all brave. I don’t think many women in her shoes would have been capable of the feats she achieved and the situations she put herself in. Most of all, she did this for her animals, her African Wild Dogs who were her project and that was what made her actions so touching. She clearly cared and her actions weren’t made out of some misplaced attempt to be a heroine, she did it because of her love and affection for the dogs and what was right and wrong and this is what made her so likeable. She was a strong female protagonist and somebody that easy to like.

“They stared at each other for a moment. “Last chance, Clare. I’m serious…” This was it. Do or die.”

The romance wasn’t insta-love or immediate either, it built slowly with indications that something was brewing between the pair and it blossomed. It wasn’t without its fraught complications but that only added to the excitement. I tend to appreciate it more when romances are far from simply achieved because it draws out the suspense and there was quite the bit of longing and misunderstandings between these two that added up to make an engaging and entertaining read. The tension and the sexual undercurrents are definitely the best bits of a novel for me and this book was full of them so I was in my element because they are so much more thrilling than the actual sex scenes for me. I liked how Logan slowly pieced things together for us and gave clues that foreshadowed their romance and the feelings they held for each other over time.

“And almost certainly a nasty case of the Stockholms.

And yet… Perhaps he’d felt it too, because he’d made two major errors, and she figured him for a man who rarely made a mistake.”

Overall, I’m incredibly glad that I gave Wild Encounter a shot and the setting out in Africa was refreshing and different. I really liked that element of it, especially with the animals and the abduction, it made for a different setting for a contemporary romance and I think this is why I enjoyed it much more than I would have otherwise. I have Rachel over at The Reader’s Den who’s review convinced me to pick this one up and give it a read otherwise I probably would have never heard of it! Definitely give this one a shot, especially on a rainy day when you have lots of time to just sit and read!

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The African Wild Dog is only found in Africa weirdly enough and they can also be called the painted dogs and have only four toes. They make up part of the canidae family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals which includes the domestic dog, wolves, foxes, coyotes and other such creatures.

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And here is a pretty picture of an African Wild Dog. I certainly wouldn’t want to run into one of them…

Legend Unleashed

Legend Unleashed by M. Latimer-Ridley

Genre: Fantasy, Werewolves, Romance, Young-Adult

Published: Published October 26th 2012 by Cranmer Publishing

When an infamous criminal is unleashed from his prison, it has consequences for everyone in Carwick. Temperance Levinthal in particular…

Temperance is satisfied with her ordinary life.

Dealing with her eccentric, childlike parents is all the excitement she needs. That changes when Alastair Byron returns home.

After a failed matchmaking attempt by her father, sparks fly between her and Alastair-just not the good kind.

They are forced together though, when they are implicated in a grisly murder. Their search for the truth leads them to a secret world beneath Carwick, filled with werewolves, wizards and other magical faey.

However, uncovering the truth is far more dangerous than they’d ever imagined.
There are secrets within secrets.

Even Alastair may be more than he seems…

My Review:

I simply adored this book because from the very first moment I stumbled across Latimer and Ridley’s blog I was intrigued by the premise of this book and all the art work, youtube videos and little teasers of the book being formed excited me and when they asked me to review, I just knew I couldn’t say no. I’m so glad to say this book didn’t let me down, not one bit. I didn’t want it to end, I kept stopping just because I couldn’t bare to see the end of this book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect, but it’s quirky, original and everything that I adore so for me this is the werewolf book I’ve been looking for, this is exactly what I want a book to do. It drew me in, excited me and I engaged with the characters and it’s safe to say a book of 2012 I will not forget.

This book has a little bit of everything. Romance, fantasy and mystery in abundance. It’s clearly the driving force that makes the book so engaging and whilst I will admit there were points and still points that have left me a tad confused, this book was undeniably a guilty pleasure. Oh and this book was gory too and exciting. It was thrilling on all kinds of levels as well as having this low level romance that bubbled throughout, but didn’t take over the story.

“A bloodcurdling howl echoed throughout the cavern. Claws dug into his back, slicing through the muscles. A piercing scream ripped from his throat. Fangs nicked at his neck; the warm rush of blood blurred his vision and his head was yanked back.”

On top of all the gore, mystery and adventure that happens in abundance there is the romance. Now don’t be put off by this book because first appearances are very much deceiving. When you begin to read it appears to become a point where we meet a love triangle, but what makes the book so entirely loveable is how it completely eliminates this direction and surprises you in doing so. Meanwhile, enjoy the bubbling tensions and antagonisms between the characters because it is so deeply entertaining!

“Halvard stalked over to her, invading her personal space. She gasped and bumped back up against the wall away from him. His handsome face drew level with hers. He was growling.

He brushed a fingertip over her cheek, drawing back a strand of her hair. His striking amber eyes bored into hers.

“I’m not an adolescent pup. I don’t show just any female affection. All you need to do is tell me to stop…”

Temperence isn’t the highly intelligent super-freak that seem to have become normal or entirely stupid, she’s a nice balance somewhere in-between and there was only a rare moment where I wanted to bash her head against a wall because she was so oblivious. However, I think this only makes her character more realistic and how much there was for her to unravel about the time was exciting because little pieces of information were slowly released to you to fit together a puzzle as Temperence was too. There was lots of surprising elements about Temperence that really made her a victim, but she was a strong character even though she was put into this position and I appreciated this about her. She was a very likeable character.

The plot for this story is eccentric and weird, but this makes is so engaging and creative. It drew me away from the real world and really immersed me in every element of Temperance’s story and all the little associations and mysteries of Carwick that surprise you at every turn. One of my favourite little quotes to share.

“Little Alice here is taking a trip down the rabbit-hole with you then,” Winthrop mused.”

Overall, I would recommend this book without a doubt and suggest that everybody get themselves a copy of Legend Unleashed because M. Latimer-Ridley have some real talent and I cannot wait for more from them!

There is an actual mental illness called lycanthropy or clinical lycanthropy where the patient believes they have actually transformed into or can transform into a animal such as a wolf.

 

 

This video has to be one of the quirkiest things I’ve seen. I’m not usually a fan of book videos, but this one works really well with the shadows and giving you a brief, but intriguing overview of the novel. And it’s only 54 seconds long so it doesn’t take much time at all.

Fulfil the inner nerd and find out even more here!

• Goodreads
• Author’s Website

Katya’s World

Katya’s World by Jonathan L. Howard

Genre: Science-fiction, Young-Adult

Series: Russalka Chronicles #1

Published: November 6th 2012 by Strange Chemistry

The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.

Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.

There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.

My Review:

Katya’s World is a novel unlike most I’ve read recently. I’ve been agonising over this review for a while in how to phrase the experience of reading. This novel isn’t perfect, but I don’t think anything truly can be; it’s an ideal that doesn’t exist, but it’s a brilliant concept! It blends the young-adult genre and the technicality of science-fiction into something that’s enjoyable, understanding and engaging.

Russalka. A world inhabited by descendants from Earth who are Russian. Sounds simple enough, until you add into the fact they are no outer space, long estranged from Earth and their original culture and all they hold is the name. Howard creates an entirely new race of people, with a different system and a very different form of survival. Submarines are not our common commute method, but Russalka is basically water with different communities built on these platforms. The world building is pretty fabulous and all this background built around it really impressed me. Howard really makes his writing an craft rather than an art.

“The first act of the thousands selected was to name their new home. They looked to folklore and chose the name Russalka, after a race of mermaids, beautiful and mysterious. If they had looked deeper into the myth, they might have changed their minds – a Russalka was a predator that would use her charms to draw men to the water, where they would be drowned and fed upon.”

Our main character is Katya Kuriakova who certainly has her share of turmoil. Katya to us seems rather young and this makes her all the more astounding as a main character. She’s forced to grow up quickly and she shows all the intelligence and maturity she shows reflects the harsh, gritty reality of Russalka. If you’re looking for a tale of flowers and happiness, don’t expect to find it here because whilst Katya’s World isn’t without hope, it’s not one for the fainthearted. I liked Katya as a character and I thought she was intuitive and caring, however my one criticism of the novel would be that we didn’t get to know her. The novel is seen through her eyes in first person, and I think Howard kind of forgot to tell us about her. What she looks like and her personality. It unveils rather slowly and not entirely by the end, so I’d just like to know a little more about her as a person that seeing the world through her eyes because when she talked about herself I really visualised her in my head.

“Her damned nose. She  was just going to end up looking sweet and, in all likelihood,  adorable. It always happened. She could drown a hospital and they’d still let her off for being in possession of a button-nose.”

Then there is Kane. I’ll not tell you a lot about this guy because there is so much to learn about him and be unveiled as you go along and he’s pretty mysterious. I wouldn’t want to ruin that for you, but he’s a very rugged, surprising character that has a lot of depth and a lot of skeletons in cupboards. He really didn’t turn out to be who I thought he’d be and I really appreciated that fact that he was different. I’ve been tired of the mundane male characters that have to sweep the heroine of their feet. He wasn’t dashing or noble and don’t expect to be finding romance in Katya’s World because this does not focus in the novel. It’s a tale about friendship bonds, mysteries, betrayals and loyalty that allow it to bumble along and blossom.

“Kane raised his hands. “Sorry. She’s armed and a bit nervous. I should shut up.”

Ultimately, something that sold Katya’s World to me from the beginning was the fact that it was so unique and engaging. I didn’t expect what happened in Katya’s World at all. It was entirely unpredictable and all the more fabulous because of it. I felt that at every turn a new twist was being thrown in and we were exploding both literally and figuratively in a whole new direction. It was most impressive.

Then we add in the plethora of secondary characters from Uncle Lukyan, The Chertovka and all the Feds, martials, pirates really round the novel off. This is where Howard flourished with his characterisation, and I felt if this depth had been added to Katya this novel might have just gone above and beyond.

Katya’s World might lack romance, but that should never go against the novel because at the moment it really isn’t needed. At all. The novel has so much to offer on a plot basis that doesn’t need a romance to fill its pages and detract from the story which makes it truly refreshing and engaging. I urge each and everyone of you to go out and get yourself a copy of this novel because hoping on the Russalka Chronicles train that is set to be a trilogy I’m sure is not going to disappoint you.

Look out for my interview with the author Jonathan L. Howard where I tackle romance, science-fiction and the YA genre and the all important what does he have in store for us next?

• Goodreads
• Author’s Website
• The Book Depository

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

* Quotes are taken from and uncorrected proof copy and may change in the final draft.