Wicked As She Wants (Blud Book #2) by Delilah S. Dawson

3.5 out of 5 flames

From BN.com

True love’s kiss isn’t enough for this Blud princess. But blood and music may win her heart forever. . . .

Delilah S. Dawson’s delightfully dark series takes readers into a clever new world of endless discoveries and sensuous encounters that will leave them breathless.

After four years crammed in a suitcase, drained and unconscious, Ahnastasia Feodor, Crown Princess of Freesia, is not sure which calls to her more: the sound of music or the scent of blood. The source of both is the handsome and mysterious Casper Sterling, once the most celebrated and self-centered musician in Sangland. Fortunately, bleeding one’s subjects dry is expected of Blud royalty. Much to Ahna’s frustration, however, the debauched and reckless enigma—he is definitely not a Bludman, though not exactly human either—is her only ticket back to her snow-rimmed and magical homeland. Ahna needs Casper’s help to defeat an evil sorceress and claim her throne—if she doesn’t drain him first. But as they team up for a harrowing journey filled with pirates and painted ladies, daimons and dashing Bludmen, her craving for blood becomes an unrelenting hunger of the heart. . . .

I still don’t know how I feel about this world in general.  It sounds like Hell and honestly would make me think twice about not signing a will that said if I’m in a coma let me die.   There’s nothing that makes me want to live in it for very long, which makes reading books set in this world hard.  

Dawson decided to rework the story of the doomed Anastasia and her family, and does a good job merging the familiar with her world.  Although I do find that at the end they got around Freesia a little too easily, but where there’s a little money and the will you can find the way.  I wish we could’ve stayed on the flying brothel a little longer since it was the most interesting place I’ve read so far in these books and in the end was far more dangerous than the actual Snow Ball in Freesia.  In fact, after the Maybuck and her denizens, the gypsy witch holding sway in Ahna’s home country seems weak.  And I did feel she was defeated a little too easily in the end.  All that build up and then…wah, wah.

Casper wasn’t a particularly interesting character in the previous book so I was kind of on the fence about his being the “hero” in this one.  Then he wasn’t even the main character, so it took me even longer to warm up to him.  But I did eventually.  Keen, the young lady he has taken under his wing, is far more interesting and I kind of hope that she’ll eventually get a story of her own – after she’s grown up a bit of course.

I will say that Dawson sets up her world well and the rules, beings, people, etc. are definitely well thought out.  I didn’t think it was possible to make vampire like beings unsexy without making them look like Nosferatu, but she’s done it.  Not saying that’s a bad thing, I think it fascinating that they can be so attractive and yet I never feel attracted to them. I feel exactly like what I’d be – prey.

Despite the slight disconnect, though, the chemistry between Ahna and Casper is sizzling and I’m surprised it doesn’t melt some of the snow in Freesia. 

I’d say if you enjoyed the first Blud book, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

*eGalley provided by Pocket Books via NetGalley

Phantom Wolf by Bonnie Vanak

Phantom Wolf by Bonnie Vanak
My rating: 3 of 5 flames

This looked interesting, and I thought it might be on the short side, so I grabbed it from netgalley the other day (hooray for auto-approve!).

The first half of this book is really intriguing. We’re drawn instantly into a world of mages, and their 2 classes—the Elemental Mage and the Arcane Mage. The Elementals are the ones who hold all the power (literally), and the Arcanes are little more than servants, or second-class citizens.

But when this story opens, we see the young love between an Arcane (Kelly) and an Elemental (Sam). Unfortunately they don’t have a happy ending. They see instead, Kelly’s father setting fire to Sam’s home, with his family still inside. Kelly never believed it was her father, Sam couldn’t handle the emotions of losing his family and having his girl defending her dad, so he bailed.

Fast forward to the present day, and we see Kelly has been kidnapped and is being tortured, but she’s trying to keep the bad guys from hurting the kid she came to rescue.

Sam is now a Navy SEAL on a paranormal team, and they are there to save the kid. He has no idea Kelly is there, and when he sees her, he figures she’s one of the kidnappers. She is then framed for everything. The Elementals want her to be executed, and example made of her, and her kind stamped out like cockroaches. This makes it hard for Sam and Kelly to have a relationship.

In the meantime, Kelly plans on going to Honduras to rescue the rest of the kidnapped children, but no one believes her. Not until it’s almost too late, that is.

I found this book to be hard to put down because I loved the idea of it. I loved the world, I thought the basic plot was great (I’m a sucker for betrayal plots), and I love when there’s a good romantic suspense element added in to the Paranormal Romance. But there were so many instances where the two Main Characters would get all hot and heavy, and then Kelly would say, “I want to be like when we were younger,” and it would ruin the mood. Once or twice, okay. But so many times! It wasn’t sexy, it didn’t build tension, it just annoyed me.

What I never understood is why Kelly was doing all these missions without any kind of survivalist training. She’s supposedly running a non-profit to save mage children who have been kidnapped, and yet she has only her magic to help her. No back-up, no super awesome skills, it was so weird. Like who in their right mind goes up against bad guys like that without any kind of training? It wasn’t a one-time thing, but it was her lifestyle, shouldn’t she at least have basic self-defense and survival training?

Then enter the SEAL team and I feel like once Sam and Kelly went off alone, it was so unrealistic. All SEAL training flew out the door (except when necessary), and at one point he was tricked into thinking he was rescuing a child, but it was a trap. So he put his gun on the floor when the child said he was scared. Sam had a perfectly good holster for his pistol! I don’t see any SEAL worth his salt putting his weapon on the floor for no reason. From that mid-point on, I had a harder time with some of the choices made by the characters. So many seemed ridiculous!

For instance, the bad guys catch them, and bind them in silver and then dump them in a slaughterhouse room. They turn on all the faucets, plug the drain, and leave. Sam breaks free of the silver mesh, but the faucets are all broken and can’t be turned off. Not once did they try to unplug the drain! Unless they had concrete poured into it, it shouldn’t have been a problem. Kelly nearly drowns during their escape! I was screaming “Unplug the drain you idiots!” at my nook. :/

Other than that, I thought that the whole plot was strong, the writing a bit repetitive, but good, I just got really annoyed at some of the things the characters did. I will read more from this author though, because her world was really interesting and the ending was really pretty good.


***ARC courtesy of Harlequin and netgalley

View all my reviews

Dark Nights, Dangerous Men + Twitter Party

Hey guys! Highland Hussy here just letting you know that there is an awesome deal out right now! You get 6 books for $.99 and they are really good books! (I've read all but one of these authors and I'm buying this even though I have 4 of the 6 books. You figure less than a dollar for all six? I'm in!)

Along with this deal is the twitter party on the 21st (this Tuesday!)  for 2 of the authors. I'm reading Cynthia Eden's latest, so stay tuned for the review this week. And I'll be posting one of Katie Reus' books later as well.

Click on the images for either the twitter party info or the amazon link to the box set.

Bonds of Need by Lynda Aicher

 4.5 out of 5 Flames

 

It feels like every BDSM story post Fifty Shades is somehow trying to make it an illness or a personality quirk that has to be "fixed" which makes Aicher’s books such a refreshing step away from that.  That may be why I’m giving it such high markings, but it’s honestly a really good read and a really hot one, too.

From Lynda Aicher’s website:

When Kendra Morgan attends a party at an exclusive sex club, she's not driven by mere curiosity. Hoping to prove she's put the past behind her, Kendra must instead face up to needs she's denied for too long. Despite her lingering fears, she can't resist the temptation to play…

Deklan Winters has had his eye on his attractive neighbor for months, but only senses Kendra is no stranger to the BDSM scene when she walks into his club. And he can tell that's not her only secret. What surprises him is his own overwhelming desire to give her what she craves—and to show her a side to the Dom/sub relationship she's never known.

With Deklan's guidance, Kendra begins to accept her forbidden needs and to recognize the fine line between pleasure and pain. But when her former Master returns to reclaim her, it will take all her courage—and all of Deklan's love—to defy her past.

What I really like about Aicher’s books is that the D’s are not egomaniacal, overly possessive a**holes who like to be D’s because they want control of everything.  They’re in it because it’s who they are.  And her Sub’s don’t come off as mindless ninnies who are so overpowered by the big power hungry and controlling man they’ll do whatever he wants.  Again, it’s just who they are.  Her characters are flesh and blood people – which sounds odd when talking about fictional characters – but their messy is believable and in most cases something the reader can relate to.

Another great aspect of this book is that through Kendra’s past traumas Aicher shows an understanding for what healthy and unhealthy D/s realationships look like. 

Getting away from the ‘serious’, let’s talk sex...

Hot, steamy, kinky, loving and sweet…this book has it all.  You get just the right amount of danger to make it exciting intermixed with the right amount of safety so you're not turned off.  It seems to be a rather difficult formula to perfect for most authors.  And they are made even more steamy, at least for me, because I was emotionally invested in these characters.

I cannot wait until the next book.  This is definitely a series worth reading and keeping on your bedside table…for whenever ;)

*eGalley provided by Carina Press via NetGalley

Mutual Release (Stewart Realty #7) by Liz Crowe

2.5 out of 5

From Goodreads:

Can two dark souls ever make a light?

As president of her own distribution company, Julie Dawson has all she ever wanted -- money, power, and respect. But her carefully crafted façade conceals a torment of abuse and helplessness. After years remaining emotionally aloof, she is finally independent, but alone. Because she refuses to rely on anyone but herself ever again.

Evan Adams is no stranger to success, or personal demons. The horrific trauma that destroyed his twin sister, and tore his family apart, forced him to craft a new life from the ashes of the old. He's content enough, focusing ahead and not dwelling on his murky past. But something important is missing. He knows what that thing is but refuses to acknowledge it.

When a chance encounter brings these two strong-willed but damaged people together, what seems like a long, erotic journey through hell could lead them to a match made in heaven.

MUTUAL RELEASE

A coming of age novel about trust...on the long road to love

I like the way the book focuses on Evan’s story then Julie’s before bringing them together.  It’s an interesting change of pace to get the full backstory and not the character telling you bits and pieces. It gives you a full understanding of how they got to where they are and helps the reader to understand where they are emotionally and psychologically at the time their relationship starts.  For the most part anyway.

I’d say the first 3 parts are a good read.  There are some over dramatic moments but all in all it’s pretty “edge of your seat” stuff especially involving Damian, the kid who moves in with Evan’s family and introduces Evan to his Dom side.  But Damian is not a real Dom and more a true abuser so it takes Evan a while to find the right balance, which is a fascinating journey to read. 

Julie was traumatized in her teens and has risen above it, mostly, and is a good dominant sub to Evan’s sometimes submissive dominance.  They get through the normal ups, downs and hang-ups people with their horrible pasts have and it looks like everything will be happily ever after.

Then the book just goes off the deep end of silly.

Like:

1.     Julie goes off birth control without telling Evan even though she knows he doesn’t want to be a father – guess what they break up.  

2.     Julie believes Damian when he tells her awful things about Evan, despite knowing Damian’s a master manipulator and liar.  She even tells Damian to his face she doesn’t believe him then suddenly she does.  Guess what, her and Evan separate, again.

In fact in Part IV (titled “The Marriage" – take from that what you will) they separate and come back together so many times I got whiplash.  What started as two people who might be able to heal each devolves into one of the most unhealthy relationships I’ve read in a while.  And the thrown together wedding?  Just so confusing. 

Sad really because it started with such promise…

I'd say read Part I because it is a fascinating story.  Parts II and III are decent enough.   Skip Part IV because I really can't tell you what the heck went on there.

*eGalley provided by Tri Destiny Publishing via NetGalley