September was an eclectic mix of random romance, fantasy, horror, and YA. Ranging from stories that I loved to ones I will never reach for again.
Fallen Prince By: Julia Sykes
Max is the heir to his father’s mafia empire. He is also the family disappointment. In attempt to regain his family’s confidence, he kidnaps the mayor’s daughter to gain damning information to blackmail her father.
Allie is convinced her father is an honest politician who scoffs in the face of corruption. Seriously, despite mounting evidence (though all circumstantial) she is rock-solid and ready to die on that hill of oblivion.
Early into the book I wanted to shake the dumb out of Allie. Familial loyalty and denial is one thing. But at some point you’d have to admit that if it looks like a dog and barks like one, it just might be a corrupt politician.
She goes to stupidly great lengths to try and convince Max that the barking dog is really a giraffe.
Ah, Max. One minute he has blood on his hands and the next he’s a helpless puddle of goo as he falls for Allie. Those to sides are like oil and water and don’t belong in the same character. At least how Max was written. It did not come across as a man with no morals until the right woman came along and melted his frozen heart. Personally, I side with his family. He is not worthy to be the heir.
This did end on a cliff hanger. The only reason I would read the conclusion is to see Allie’s world crumble when she inevitably discovers the truth about her father. I really don’t care to see how Allie and Max’s relationship turns out.
Hot Blooded By: Donna Grant
I am still loving this series! This book follows Iona and Latih.
The plot thickens as the mastermind behind the threat to the dragon kings brings an innocent into the mix – again.
Iona’s family has guarded an entrance into the dragon king’s land for centuries. Her father died before he got a chance to tell her anything about to do with the dragons and their family’s arrangement with the dragons.
Returning to deal with the aftermath of her father’s death, she is thrust into this fantastical war. Discovering that most of her adult life has been manipulated so she would act as an unknown pawn before ending up where they wanted her.
Fortunately Laith is there to patiently guide her through everything.
More and more was revealed about the once banished dragon king who is supposedly behind the attacks on the dragon kings and their lands.
Four books in and we’ve gathered quite the cast of characters. They are all starting to rally together to defend against the Dark, the banished king, and whoever else is vying for the kings’ vulnerability. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t completely centered around Laith and Iona. While they were the main focus, character wise, we got to see and interact with so many more. Keeping it that much more interesting.
Knight’s Redemption By: Sherilee Gray
I really liked the concept of this book. Half-demon/half-angels fighting against evil even as they fight against giving into their own demonic half. Striving to keep things in balance.
Lazarus has closed himself off due to a traumatic loss that resulted in one of his brothers giving into his demon side. While out patrolling, Lazarus stumbled across a ‘demi’ just coming into her powers – Eve. Who also happened to be Lazarus’ other half.
Unfortunately, this story had no personality. It was like reading in drab monotone. Yes, there was action, conflict, steam, and a gambit of recurring emotions. But it all fell flat.
Lazarus pushed Eve away so much, broke her heart, and used her all to ‘protect’ her feelings. Eve was trying hard to convince herself she wasn’t falling for the
gorgeous jerk that was causing her so much pain. Despite all that, the reconciliation – too manufactured and barely believable. Took all free will from the fated mate concept.
I was a bit interested in the next installment, but I’m afraid the writing style would ruin it for me.
Leather & Lace By: Samantha A. Cole
I liked this much more than I anticipated.
Firstly, the characters actually got to know each other rather than relying purely on physical attraction, lust, and sexual comparability to build a relationship. And it was done without a lag in the story – for the most part.
There is a fairly wider variety of BDSM than most that barely delve past spanking and basic D/s dynamic. But if you are looking for a BDSM romance, this really wasn’t that either. It was a romance where some characters are involved in the lifestyle and a whole lot of explanation that was more suited for an encyclopedia than upping the romance.
Devon and his ex-SEAL buddies are being picked off one by one. Fortunately, through the SEALs and the security firm they own, their connections reach far and high up. Oh, and they also own a high-scale BDSM club.
Kristen had written a series of steamy best-sellers and needed some experience and knowledge of BDSM for the next book. She and everything she has written has been purely Vanilla and she herself has had very little experience of anything. A chance meeting with Devon and his SEAL friends, gave her the opportunity she needed. But also, supposedly, put a target on her back as her and Devon grew closer.
The story was a bit underwhelming in terms of Kristen’s life being in danger. After reading the back copy I was expecting a big ‘save-the-girl-from-the-bad-guy’ moment. In all, the threat was handled in a very mundane way. A great opportunity was missed! The stage was perfectly set for an epic ending battle, guns blazing, fear and suspense, blood, injuries. Yeah, that would have been awesome.
The HEA was sweet but rushed. Like the author had already met her word count and had to quickly wrap it up. At least it was all wrapped up nicely.
Masters of Death By: Olivie Blake
Once in a while a modern day novel is written with such prose as this; it is a welcomed change. The reviews of this book were either very positive or a hard pass. I can understand both sides. Personally, I’m on the loved it side!
Intricate plot, characters, and banter. If you’re looking for a simple, linear story line with a small, intimate cast, this is not the book for you.
There is the accidental godson of Death. a vampire, a ghost, snarky archangels, demons, and many more legendary/mythical beings. They are all brought together because of some game played by immortals experiencing, well, immortality and boredom.
It is not fast paced. There is a considerable amount of setup and backstories before the true plot even comes into play. But without that foundation, all the connections would fall flat and the intricacies would be lost.
Reading this was a big ask concerning ‘trust in the process’. In my opinion it was worth it.
My only criticism; ALL the characters have the same witticism as a personality trait. Verbose and, at times, exhaustive. Simple answers were no where to be found. Sometimes that’s great. But really, a ‘yes’, ‘no’, or straight answer could be just as powerful as tiring sarcasm.
Pucking Ever After Vol. 2 By:Emily Rath
This one took a while to get through. I binged all the others, but by this point I may have just been over it.
The first half about Tess and Ryan I found pretty boring, hence this sitting untouched for some time.
If you read my review on Vol. 1 and Pucking Around (Jacksonville Rays #1), you know I did not like Rachel – the FMC. So I was glad her appearances were minimal.
The last chapter, however, was worth powering through the rest of the book. A chapter dedicated to Caleb and Mars. Something I didn’t know my life was missing!
If I had to choose, I would say you could miss this and be just fine since it is nothing but a collection of epilogues.
I just started the third installment in the main series, Pucking Sweet. Make sure to check back for the review in next month’s reviews.
The Suffering By: Rin Chupeco
I think I actually liked this one more the the first, The Girl from the Well. And I really liked the first one.
Unlike the first book, this one is told from Tarquin’s POV. Which was needed. The space in Tark that had been previously occupied in the last book was now taken up by Okiku. Turning the pair into a set of powerful super anti-heroes! But in a vigilante sort of way.
There was more mystery to this story, multilayered with several twists. With Tark telling the story we get to know more about his relationship with Okiku. There was also more rituals, death, and gore.
Centered around Japanese mysticism and legends. Tark, Callie, and Okiku must travel back to Japan to help the women that helped them. Kagura and an American ghost-hunting crew have gone missing while searching for a town hidden deep within the famed suicide forest.
Loved the dynamic between Tark and the outside ‘normal’ world as he began to come to terms with who he really was as a person and not just as a vessel for a dark spirit. The intrigue and reveal of what happened in that mysterious town was dragged out just enough. Highly recommend!
Our Valentine By: Liz Gavin
I was expecting this to be a story as an excuse to write smut. It was and it wasn’t.
It was like the author had an idea for a full-length novel and just got too lazy to write it. Instead she pulled a few major plot points, an introduction so we knew how all four MCs converged, then added three nearly pointless epilogues that were a waste of my time.
With less than 150 pages in a story such as this, their needs to either be a great story with multifaceted characters or well-written steamy scenes with a bit of interesting story line strewn between,
This had neither.
There is no reason to attach yourself to any of these characters. The steam is subpar when it was even there. It jumped around so much I couldn’t even classify it as a story.
This is not a Stuff-You-Kindle win.
The Wild Robot By: Peter Brown
I began to read this with my daughter because it was really popular amongst one of our homeschool groups. Then they go and made it into a movie! It was perfect timing.
First impression, it was dark for a juvenile book. As the story went on, it was true to life in the sense that the reader is not protected from the cycle of life.
A crate of robots crashed against the shores of a small island. Only one robot survived and spent her time acclimating to the island and its inhabitants. Going from being known as the monster, Roz eventually found her place on the wild island. But of course, humans intervene.
The chapters were short, sometimes only a single page. The story didn’t flow smoothy and was a bit choppy but didn’t take away from the story at all.
Not a lot of action, more following Roz and those around her during everyday life with a robot on an undeveloped island. There are moments of suspense, especially toward the end. It was a great story that gave all the feels to both me and my daughter. We can’t wait to read the second in this series.
