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Spaz Reviews: Heart of Darkness – Lauren Dane

November 29, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Price: $7.99
  • Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (November 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425244512
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425244517
  • Lauren Dane’s website

To purchase Heart of Darkness (A Bound By Magick Novel):

Someone is illegally siphoning magic from the font of the Clan. When Meriel Owen, next in line to control the largest organization of witches in the country, discovers that it’s the hot owner of a notorious underground club, she strokes an unusual deal that may plunge them all into the heart of darkness.

What a nice new PNR gem Heart of Darkness is! Meriel Owen is second in head to Clan Owen, and she must visit a newcomer violating Clan rules by tapping in to the Magick source without asking Clan permission first. It turns out that violator is Dominic Bright, a smoking hot owner of the human and supernatural club Heart of Darkness. I adored Mariel right from the start. Because of her status and upbringing in the Clan, she could have come across as a total bitch, but she charmed and flirted with the best of them and showed Dominic she was his match in all ways. She knew when and how to be forceful, yet still playful, too. She was highly intelligent and I just wanted her to really come out on top of this, and maybe wanted to secretly be her too. :P

Once she arrives at Heart of Darkness to reprimand Dominic and sees him across the room: boom. It’s on. Dominic is that fine dominant bad boy variety and from the moment the two characters see one another, the heat simmers. Throw in another very enticing character in to the scene and I was like, “Oh, I love this book.” And what do you know… turns Mariel and Dominic really are more than just simply hot for each other. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about who they were and why, and I enjoyed them learning to give the other one a chance with their trust and hearts.

The world building was quite well done. It was not overly complicated, but had enough oomph and unique twists to the way Magick works to keep it appealing. The supernatural element that brings Meriel and Dominic closer is very interesting, and discovering more about Clan versus un-Clan traditions and practices were well thought out. With this all being said, where Lauren Dane’s extraordinary abilities lie are with her relationship building. The couple could be in outer space, or at Disney World, and she consistently provides two compelling characters that I want to see win each other. She adds very real emotional elements that gave me goose bumps at one point, I just loved the true emotional journey this took me on. Lauren Dane always gives us highly sensual descriptions of her characters, and it will get your heart pumping!

If you are looking for a fast and fun sexy adult read, with endearing main characters very comfortable in their sensuality and a solid paranormal twist, look no further than Heart of Darkness. I will definitely be reading the second book in the series and I think this is a fantastic start to a new Paranormal Romance series. Way to go, Ms. Dane!

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ARC Review: Angel of Darkness – Cynthia Eden

November 28, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • List Price: $14.00
  • Publisher: Brava (November 29, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0758242174
  • ISBN-13: 978-0758242174
  • Cynthia Eden’s Website
Buy Angel of Darkness at:
As an angel of death, Keenan’s job is to collect the souls on his list. He’s carried out his duty for two thousand years and never faltered once. Until he meets Nicole St. James. When the moment of death comes, Keenan hesitates, and instead of taking Nicole, Keenan touches the vampire who’s attacking her. Cast out of heaven for disobedience, Keenan plummets to earth. Six months later, he finally manages to track Nicole to a bar in Mexico. He’s stunned to discover that the woman he remembers has undergone a dramatic change – she’s become a vampire. And when he realises that she’s the target of all manner of enemies – other vampires, demons, even shifters – he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if all hell breaks loose…

Angel of Darkness is the first book in a new series called The Fallen.

Keenan is the angel of death, one touch from him sends your soul straight to the otherside. Nicole was marked for death, until for some reason Keenan falters on his job and instead touching her he kills the vampire that was attacking her. Thus he falls, but it’s never simple when you fall and your senses come into play. You know, LUST.

I’m a Cynthia Eden virgin no more! Angel of Darkness is the first book by Ms. Eden that I have had a chance to read and I can say I wasn’t disappointed. I am not usually a fan of anything having to do with Angels, which many of you know. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Keenan wasn’t “that” kind of angel, he wasn’t typical and in fact he was downright unique. He’s a death angel, so he isn’t all pure goodness. Thankfully!

My major issue with the novel was that the romance felt forced and moved way too fast. I get it, it’s a PNR but I missed the slow build up and tension. You don’t just start making out right away! I was a bit disappointed there.

I loved the development of the world and the characters, more so Keenan then Nicole, I just couldn’t relate to her. Maybe it was the six month time gap between the prologue and chapter one. I would have liked to see how she developed from innocent to what she became, even if only for a chapter.

If you are looking for a new PNR series to start, get Angel of Darkness but be warned the romance aspect moves a little fast.

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Mitch Reviews: Jessica Andersen’s Lord of the Wolfyn

November 27, 2011 in Reviews

  • Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
  • List Price: $5.50
  • Publisher: Harlequin (October 18, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0373618700
  • ISBN-13: 978-0373618705
  • Jessica Andersen’s Website

Buy Lord of the Wolfyn at:

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

For practical Reda Weston, nothing could explain how reading a sexy version of Little Red Riding Hood catapulted her into another realm—face-to-fang with the legendary wolf-creature who seduced women. A wolf who transformed into a dark, virile man….

Dayn cursed the Sorcerer that turned him wolfyn and damned him to a lonely fate. As a beast, he mated with women to gain strength. Strength he needed to save Elden. But as a man, he craved Reda’s heated, sizzling touch. With little time left, Dayn had to either embrace his wolf to save his kingdom…or fight it to save his woman.

Lord of the Wolfyn is book three in the Royal House of Shadows quartet. Each book is written by a different author and gives that author’s reimagination of a classic fairy tale. Lord of the Wolfyn is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and after reading the first three books I have to say that each one is more closely related to the fairy tale it is inspired by. The first book, Lord of the Vampires, was a reference to Alice in Wonderland, but I don’t think I’d have realized that if I hadn’t read it online. The second book, Lord of Rage, had a very cute and funny scene pulled right from Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this third book Little Red Riding Hood is not just an inspiration for the story, but an integral part of the plot.

Reda, the heroine, grew up to her mother’s fanciful telling of a classic version of Little Red Riding Hood. When she finds a copy of the book identical to the one her mother read her it opens a door to another world full of magic and danger. Although she is lost and confused in this world, Dayn (the hero) insists that she is there to be his guide and help him reclaim his family’s throne from the Blood Sorcerer who stole it.

Both hero and heroine are damaged by their pasts and unsure how to build the future they want. Reda must find a way to accept the magic that is part of her life and forgive her family for the walls they have built around her. Dayn is haunted by the dying words of his father to ‘remember who he is’ and struggles to understand their meaning and his purpose. As they begin to fall in love each of them continues to question their purpose and if their happy bubble in time can have any place in their futures.

He hesitated momentarily, wishing he could say something that would unravel the tangle they had wound up in together, connected yet not, and with so much confusion around them. The perfect words didn’t come to him, though. They probably didn’t even exist.

Pg. 215

What I Liked:

  • Both lead characters were strong and conflicted, playing off of, but also against each other. It made for a great journey.
  • The references to Little Red Riding Hood were worked into a creative werewolf mythology and the two stories blended together well.

 What I Didn’t Like:

  • In comparison to the series, this book gives more emphasis to when and how the four heirs must reunite to save their kingdom. It just jangled a bit because in this book everyone needed to reunite at a certain time, but in the first two books they just seem to get there when they can.

Overall a good read and a good addition to the series. I look forward to reading the forth and final book this month. I give Lord of the Wolfyn three-and-a-half stars.

The four books in the Royal House of Shadows Series come out in four consecutive months. Books in the series are:

  1. Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter (read my review)
  2. Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe (read my review)
  3. Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen
  4. Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

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Seleste ARC Reviews: Hushed by Kelley York

November 26, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 242 pages
  • Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (December 6, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1937044742
  • ISBN-13: 978-1937044749
  • Kelley York’s Website
Buy Hushed at:
He’s saved her. He’s loved her. He’s killed for her. 
Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another—Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.
Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.
But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer’s committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn’t get what she wants… And what she wants is Evan’s death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

When this came up as a review request, I practically jumped on it. I will be honest, part of that is I’ve been curious about Entangled since they first hit my author radar several months ago. But I’ve been looking for a good thriller to read, and this seemed like it was right up my alley. Plus, the cover drew me right in, and I knew Hushed was a book I had to read.

So let’s start with the good stuff.

First, the relationship between Archer and Evan. Watching it grow through Archer backing away from the friendly new guy and Evan just kind of always being there as one of the very few positive forces in Archer’s life… loved that. It wasn’t a heavy-handed “Oh, I thought I was straight, but I like you so I must be gay” thing. It was subtle and about their connection, attraction, and developing romance. The characterization of both boys was really well done. Even when he was killing people, I felt for Archer–his pain, his anger. And Evan–beautiful, sweet, patient Evan–I’m not sure I’ve ever met a real person quite like him, but I still believed in the picture Ms. York drew.

My favorite passage:

“Hey. It’s Evan. I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I overstepped myself last night. I know it’s…dammit. I’m just sorry, okay? Call me if you want. I’d like to know you’re okay.”

Evan. So concerned. So worried.

“End of messages. To replay this message, press one…”

He pressed one.

Again. And again.

And again.

Plot is where things got a little trickier for me. I really liked the way the murders, in general, were dealt with since it dovetailed so well into the character of Archer. But–and I will own my part here–when I read the blurb, I envisioned Vivian as a “puppet-master manipulator”. The type of girl who through her words or actions made Archer think she’d love him if only he just took care of these problems for her. So, I expected her to be an active driving force in him killing people. That wasn’t the case, and it took me a long time to push aside those expectations and just enjoy the book I was reading. A big part of the reason for that was I went into the book expecting to hate Vivian, and I didn’t. I didn’t like her, but she was the type of girl who I pitied as much as disliked, which isn’t a great recipe for hate. And I so wanted a major character to hate (there were minor ones I hated, but…uh…they were on the kill list already). However, once I got past all that, I was enjoying the book again and just waiting for the big climax to hit.

(Major spoiler below)

In reading the blurb, it straight out says that Vivian wants Evan dead. This time it wasn’t my wonky interpretation, it’s right there. So I was waiting for a big show-down. It never came, and I never felt like Evan was in danger. Not really. That made the entire end of the book fall a little flat for me. It wasn’t that it was a bad ending, it just wasn’t big enough for my taste. It wasn’t “thriller-ish” enough.

(End spoiler)

Having said that, a lot of things about the ending were very touching, and that was something I really liked about the entire book were the moments of tenderness. There was honestly a lot to love about this book, and as a character-driven love story with a backdrop of murder, it worked fabulously. As a thriller… not so much. That disconnect between the blurb and the pages just made me enjoy it a little less than I’d hoped.

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Ghost Files – Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson

November 24, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 560 pages
  • List Price: $18.00
  • Publisher: Gallery Books; (September 13, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451633106
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451633108
Buy Ghost Files at:

FINALLY IN ONE BONE-CHILLING VOLUME, TV’S GHOST HUNTERS SHARE ALL OF THEIR CREEPY TRUE STORIES OF UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA!What did a paranormal investigation uncover at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the hotel built in 1903 that inspired Stephen King’s The Shining?What is the chilling history behind the Rolling Hills Asylum in Batavia, New York?

What happened when a man was overcome by an evil entity as Jason and Grant surveyed his home?

How can a Connecticut woman seem to exist in two places at once?

In this hair-raising omnibus, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (T.A.P.S.), reveal the memorable and spine-tingling cases featured in their smash-hit collections,Ghost Hunting and Seeking Spirits. From their never-seen-on-television adventures as budding paranormal investigators to the behind-the-scenes accounts of heart-pounding supernatural encounters featured on their popular show, these fascinating and frightening real life tales will keep you up at night!

If you are a fan of the show, you’ll love this book. If you haven’t followed the show closely, you might actually enjoy this book more. I’ve watched the show on and off since it started but to be honest I can’t sit through all of it most of the time. I really liked the way this book was laid out, where we get the behind the scenes look at the show with a nice narration. It feels more like someone you know sitting you down and telling you ghost stories.

My only issue with the book was sometimes it felt like I was watching a repeat of the show, there wasn’t enough of the new stuff in some of the chapters. I would have liked a little bit more “new” information that even a casual viewer like myself wouldn’t already know.

You can even space out the reading and not have to devour it all at once. And you might want to, some of it is downright creepy. Like the hotel where the glass on the beside table cracked and the closet door opened, with no one there to do it. If you want something that might creep the hell out of you, grab a copy of Ghost Files. Hell, it’s a great gift for fans of the show!

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