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:

 

More stalking available here:

• Goodreads
• Author’s Website

Let me know what you think!

Glitch

Title: Glitch

Author: Heather Anasasiu

Series: Glitch #1

Genre: Young-Adult, Dystopia, Romance, Futuristic, Science-fiction

Expected Release Date: August 7th 2012 by St. Martin’s Press

Plot: In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network. When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers. As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse. In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

Review: I thought this book was very unique!

The idea of lacking emotions was a concept I struggled to understand and fully comprehend to how it could work in this situation of a society, never mind a love triangle. However, once I began reading the book, the story begins to unravel and the situation becomes clear of how emotions can develop and the innocence behind it is really profound!

My main issue with the emotion came when I realised the novel was from a first person narrative. I didn’t understand how a lack of emotion could be interpreted through a first person narrative, but surprisingly for the moments where emotion is not present or at the back of Zoe’s mind, it works effectively with the clean cut, and factual statistics of the surrounding area.

The novel takes a real look into society and its hierarchy and how we realistically can move to this direction. I felt the novel distinctly set up a history that could provide the resulting society and its functioning. The idea of a V-chip to control the people and how their history has been manipulated is much more believable than certain dystopia novels and although the idea does border on science-fiction it works effectively to balance the two.

The characters: Zoe. Zoe is the girl we follow through the novel and we’re fully centred into her mind. I liked how we managed to uncover more than Zoe did about herself. Despite being in first person narrative, it works and it added to the excitement that Anasasiu created. I’ll admit I’ve yet to read a first person narrative where we’ve known more than the main character in the sense that Glitch allows us. Zoe is a character we watch mature and grow into her own self and kick-ass heroine by the end! She stands for what is right and what she believes, something at times we fear she may allowed to be trampled down by the bossy boys who surround her. However she pulls herself back from teetering on the edge where at times she’s in fear of being swallowed up by the commandeering presence of other characters.

The boys. They were interesting enigmas on their own and each offered very different traits that gave a good contrast. I felt despite the society they were from, we could still place them within our society as everyday people we know and this allowed the book to drop again to a realistic level. They added to the excitement and twist and certainly added an ever present friction and tension in the books that built the anticipation. However, having said that Max is a character I found I could not like in any way, shape or form (literally!). I tried to like him and he even seemed like he would hold redeeming qualities, but by the end of the story all hope was lost on his character.

The love triangle is something I think some people may feel like its been overdone before. To me, the love triangle was not what I expected and it’s made clear once you get into the space of the characters and understand the way they work, it becomes much more clear why the love triangle is required in this situation. I immediately sided with one of the boys, which cleared up any conflicting emotions one can sometimes feel with a love triangle.

I have to admit this story made me a little weepy in places because the turbulent emotions Anasasiu takes us through are certainly extremes and they had me clutching the edge of my seat and reaching for a tissue over the situations Zoe managed to get herself into. This book manages to play on all the emotions and never allows you to fall into a sense of comfort. There are twists and turns at every corner! Predictable this book is not!

The only other dystopia novel I’ve read is ‘The Hunger Games’ and this was nothing alike! However I enjoyed this book with equal vigour and devoured it eagerly. I will very much be looking forward to buying a copy to install on my book shelf! So while I urge you to flock and pick up this book, stick with the book because certain parts are better than others!

Rating:

More stalking available here:

• Goodreads
• Author’s Website

Let me know what you think!

Night Play

Title: Night Play

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Series: Dark-Hunters #5

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Were-shifters

Publication: August 3rd 2004, St. Martin’s press

Plot: Bride McTierney has just been dumped via FedEx. There’s not much that could ease such a broken heart until Vane Kattalakis wanders into her shop and her life. Their whirlwind affair feels too good to be true. Deadly and tortured, Vane isn’t what he seems. Most women lament that their boyfriends are dogs. In Bride’s case, hers is a wolf. A Were-Hunter wolf. Wanted dead by his enemies, Vane isn’t looking for a mate. But the Fates have marked Bride as his. Now he has three weeks to either convince Bride that the supernatural is real or he will spend the rest of his life neutered—something no self-respecting wolf can accept … But how does a wolf convince a human to trust him with her life when his enemies are out to end his? In the world of the Were-Hunters, it really is dog-eat-dog. And only one alpha male can win.

Review: This was by far my favourite of the series so far!

Vane has an emotional side to him that allowed me to make an instant connection, which was amplified by out past introduction of him from ‘Night Embrace’. His character had yearned after Bride then and here we meet him 8 months on from then, now emotionally traumatised and a little broken. He’s a tough, sexy man who’s truthful and naive in human ways. This makes for a light-hearted humour at his expense as well as interesting plot twists to how he behaves as a human to ‘woo’ Bride.

Bride for me was an interesting character because she wasn’t your average skinny woman that exists in a large amount of paranormal books. She was a real women, who was independent, successful and looking for a husband to marry and have children with. She’s an ordinary character that made her easy to relate to. Her problems with weight were a genuine issue that many women suffer with or the feelings of being uncomfortable with ones body allowed me to relate to her. Vane allowed her to become comfortable and feel beautiful in her skin, and this was a major reason I enjoyed the book so much because the promotion of feeling comfortable in your human skin brought the paranormal to a realistic level that we could dream about. Despite paranormal being there to make us desire the fantasy, this brought a realistic touch that only enhanced the read.

The mixture of old and new characters offset the story for an interesting pace, which ranged between speedy and slow, but there was never a dull moment. The old characters allowed us to reflect on their progression, whilst the new characters only bolstered the past of the old, and brought in future glimpses of tales to be told.

This story has an exciting mixture of lovin’, romance and dirty-fighting. It was an all around, very enjoyable read that would certainly thrill me to read again. The characters were ones that you can attach to well and the story had a great balance of realism and fantasy that made it perfect for me!

Rating:

More stalking available here:

• Goodreads
• Author’s Website

Let me know what you think!