Watch This! Angel (Pt. 1)

Welcome to Part One of a three part post series on Angel. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a show that was unique at the time and became iconic, to the point that many shows and movies have since tried to capture it's particular brand of appeal, with varying degrees of success. It seems natural that such a larger than life show would deserve a spin-off. Angel was a natural character choice for a spin-off series. His history and mythology are deep enough to be expanded upon over the course of many seasons. It's still surprising to me that the series only went on for five seasons, when it rightfully could have gone on much longer, as evidenced by it's continuation in comic form. But let's just work with the show we have, for now. This initial post will focus on the main cast of characters, with heavy bias on the ones I find the most interesting.

Angel, Out of Sunnydale

Angel himself is far more interesting in his own series than he is in Buffy. One of the problems with his existence in Buffy is the fact that he is supposed to be centuries old. Buffy, throughout his entire tenure as a main cast member, is a high school student. However wise, worldly, and jaded Angel is supposed to be, however tortured he is, we don't get to fully appreciate it because he's  in the role of high school boyfriend. And that, my friends, has an undeniable ick factor to it. Whether or not you like Buffy and Angel together, whether or not you think they're soul mates, you have to see the truth that as long as Buffy is not grown up, Angel cannot act his age. The writers have to temper his maturity so that it doesn't come across as ridiculously skivvy.

Once Angel gets to LA and starts his mission for redemption, all of the sudden you start to feel his age. He is written as a tortured, reluctant super hero. Suddenly his backstory as a vampire with a soul seems darker, and it fits with the darker tone of the entire show. We see, for example, that he isn't mindlessly good all of the time. He makes questionable choices and get's caught up in the need for revenge. In season two, he becomes so focused on taking out the bad guys of Wolfram and Hart that he completely severs himself from his friends. His mistakes are what make him engaging.

Cordelia, All Grown Up

Cordelia is our second transplanted Buffy character. She was originally a shallow, privileged, mean
spirited foil for Buffy. Gradually, however, she was given more depth. She's shown to be smarter than she let's on, and more complex than the typical cheerleader character is usually allowed to be. She dates the comically unpopular Xander, hangs out with the Scooby Gang, and survives some of the bigger battles of Sunnydale. So while you might initially think that she seems like a rather random choice for a main character in the spin-off series, it actually makes some sense. She's already well established, and at least redeemable if not likable.

One of the things I  appreciated about Cordelia's development is that she kind of continues to be a little vain and a little shallow, despite learning empathy and the need for a higher purpose. She's given the gift of visions of people who need Angel's help. The visions are painful and rob Cordelia of the possibility of a completely normal life, time and time again. As a result, she becomes less of a socialite and more of a fighter, though she has much fewer opportunities to kick ass than the boys do.

In terms of how well she functions as a romantic interest for Angel...well, that never rang true for me. While I'm not the biggest fan of the Buffy/Angel pairing, I never felt like Angel's chemistry with anyone else was really complete.

Wesley

In Buffy, Wesley was best described as Not Giles. He's there to try to replace Giles when the council determines that Giles sucks at his job. He comes across as irritating and even a bit comedic, and his character continues in this fashion throughout his initial appearances in Angel. His character development takes a series of turns, however, beginning with the episode in which he's captured and tortured by Faith. From this point on, he becomes steadily darker and more complex, making some morally questionable decisions, but always trying to fight on the side of good. Like Cordelia, I initially disliked his character, and like Cordelia I felt he remained flawed throughout the series. However, his character get's a better treatment in terms of both romance and send off. I really liked him with Fred, is what I'm saying.

Gunn

The first non-transplant character in Angel is also the most manufactured of the main characters. I urban character, a tough guy who has lived on the streets, maybe even been in a gang of sorts, but is still on the right side of the good/evil line." And out of that mold springs Gunn, with his tough sounding name and his tough attitude and his tough toughness. Still, it's hard to dislike the guy, who frequently serves as the team's muscle despite a lack of formal training or super powers of any kind.
can almost hear the writers cooking this guy up. "Okay, we have this urban fantasy set in Los Angeles. We need a really

Angel has a lot of other recurring characters who, depending on what season you focus on are part of the main cast. It would be impossible to fairly cover all of them. In terms of which recurring characters I liked the most...

Darla seems like a natural addition to the cast, since she's Angel's maker and a huge source of conflicted emotions for him. During one of the shows more interesting arcs, she brought back to life as a human with a soul, and she struggles with how to deal with that. Later she's given the Mystic Pregnancy treatment, and her character basically becomes a plot device. I'm mostly okay with the way the writer's handled this, however. I like that, while she's mostly a villain, we do get a sense that she has a good side, a part of her does actually love Angel, and she is capable so sacrifice.

I also really like Lindsey, both as an antagonist and reluctant ally. He's a cynical, jaded character with a murky sense of morality--basically he's the clichéd lawyer from all shows and movies. During his time at Wolfram and Hart, you kind of get the sense that he's in over his head, that he doesn't want to become entirely evil. Yet he's not above some underhandedness, and he does stay with them despite a chance to jump ships. He's the kind of character that I really enjoy, because you can see his motivations, but you're never sure how evil he actually is. And, in fact, he's probably mostly just selfish.

That's the run down of Angel's most interesting characters, or at least as much as I'm able to do in a reasonably sized post. In Part 2, I'll be discussing the world building and How Things Work in the Angel/Buffy universe. The final part of the posting series will of course be a top ten episodes list, and then we'll be moving on to other things. Stay tuned.

Review of Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione

It's fair to say that Larissa Ione has her fair share of duds, even in an otherwise lovely series. That was certainly the case here. In the interest of full disclosure, it's not like I went into this book expecting a terrific read. As a hero, Reseph failed to excited me. He spent the previous three books as the vile, villainous version of himself. We were never given enough information on good Reseph to make me feel like I wanted to see his redemption story. Nevertheless, I was willing to try.

So, to recap, Reseph had been turned into Pestilence, and committed all sorts of crazy evil. In the last book, Pestilence was stabbed with a dagger that turned him back into Reseph. Now, Reaver (the guardian angel of the four horsemen), erased his memory and dropped him in a snow bank. Our heroine, Jillian, discovers him, takes him home to her cabin, and romance ensues. Jillain was once attacked by demons. When her neighbors start dying under very demon-like circumstances, she's determined to believe that Reseph is not to blame, despite the fact that he doesn't know who or what he is.

The first and most obvious issue with this book is pacing. We spend a lot of time with Reseph and Jillian in her cabin, just kind of waiting on something to happen. It is boring as hell. To rub salt in the wound, the payoff following all that boredom isn't particularly grand. There is just nothing within the plot that captivated any part of me.

Sadly, I was not enamored with Reseph. He has his charming moments, I'll admit. He's sweet and protective toward Jillian, and yet he appreciates her ability to take care of herself. I was regrettably distracted by the fact that he has amnesia, which of course I knew would come crashing down at some point. I was distracted by the nasty things he did while evil, however involuntary, and by whether the author was going to get around to resolving all of that angst. I wasn't crazy about the way his family handled his return, either. No one could decide whether it was okay to be pissed at him for what Pestilence did, or if all should be forgiven because it was all against his will. At the risk of getting a tiny bit spoilery, I was also really unsatisfied by the fact that he doesn't earn his redemption or return to sanity--the heroine kind of does it for him.

Jillian, who initially seemed bland and uninspired, actually turned out to be the more engaging of the two. She's survived a horrible ordeal, coped by living alone and working her ass off on her farm, and she makes huge sacrifices for what she believes is right. Her judgment in blindly trusting Reseph very questionable, but I'm willing to assume she simply has good instincts.

Whatever my expectations might have been for this book, it did not surprise me and it did not elate me. I can only hope Ione's next book will be better. 2 stars.

Review of The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter

One of the things that persuaded me to get back into this series was the fact that I knew Paris had a book. Not only do I sort of grudgingly like Paris (I'll explain the grudging part in a minute), but the set up between Paris and Sienna, which took place earlier in the series, was really excellent.

Paris is possessed by the demon of Promiscuity, and one of the consequences of his possession is that he can only sleep with a woman one time--after which, he will fail to respond to her sexually ever again. Sienna had the distinction of being the first woman to arouse him twice, before she was abruptly killed. Now Sienna is a spirit, and is also possessed by the demon Wrath. Paris still wants her, and is willing to brave all kinds of hell to get her back.

The secret society/band of brothers trope in paranormal romance usually features some predictable cookie cutter personality types. There's always the leader/series strategy guy. There's the hacker/technology savvy genius. The legitimately crazy/genuinely scared one. The unusually normal guy who is the most in touch with the human world. The smurfette.  And then there's Captain Super Dick--the one who sleeps with approximately all of the women. I generally hate Captain Super Dick. I even had problems with Rhage from BDB, though admittedly he won me over in the end. But generally, I hate unapologetic man-sluts. I hate that their behavior is rarely seen as bad and is often actually lauded for behavior that would get a female character blacklisted.  And Paris is, of course, Captain Super Dick.

What distinguished Paris to the point where I'm kind of fond of him is the fact that he actually doesn't like the revolving door to his bedroom. Showalter describes his dilemma in such a way that I can see why that would get really depressing after a hundred years or so. She actually made me sad that he has so much sex. I don't think any author, not even Ward, has made me feel the plight of the ever-horny in quite this way. What's more is that, this dilemma makes Sienna valuable to Paris even before he really loves her, and that gives us an interesting premise to build the entire quest of this book on.

Sienna, if I'm being honest, is still a bit bland in personality. Despite Showalter's attempts to load up her back story and give her solid motivation, in the end I don't feel that I'll remember her. When I compare her to some of the other heroines in the series, who stand out both for their huge personalities and grand powers, she just falls short. No matter who's power she absorbs or how big a deal she is.

Anyway, the romance in this one is more than adequate, and I found the plot quite engaging. I would say that among the books in this series, it is far from the best, but it is certainly not the worst. 3.5 stars.

On Harpies: A Review of The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

Okay, so, remember in the faraway past of 2011, when I said screw this goddamned series, I'm done with it? Yeah, I should learn not to say things like that. When I looked at all of the authors I've rated highly in the past, I realized that I really liked a lot of what Gena Showalter had to offer, and I really liked this series, in spite of the fact that it certainly irritated me at time. At that point, I felt that it merited revisiting. So let's revisit.

This book tells us of the Harpy Games, where harpies compete in teams in bloody battles and games of skill, for a grand prize and bragging rights. When Kaia was very young, she was set to compete, but made a mistake that resulted in a lot of death and Kaia's shunning. Now she's been invited back, and she and her sisters will be competing for an ancient artifact that the Lords of the Underworld need to complete their quest to find Pandora's box. Kaia has been attracted to Strider for some time, and actually believes that he's her consort (fated mate), so she wants him to come along. He agrees, despite an insistence that he wants nothing to do with Kaia. He has his own agenda to steal the prize before anyone can win it, but he soon gets caught up in Kaia and her quest for respect among the harpies.

One of the things like I appreciate about Showalter is her mostly equal treatment of male and female characters. Some of our heroines are weaklings, yes, but that's mostly because they're human, and they're always given some power or ability to compensate. I freaking love the harpies. They are badass chicks who break all of the rules. And yet Kaia has insecurities, makes mistakes, and has major regrets. She's an accessible, fun, and fascinating heroine. I like how she openly pursues Strider as her consort.

Going into this book, I had no feelings about Strider one way or another. He's not the sexiest of the Lords, but he isn't the most annoying either. Getting inside his head for the duration of this book actually made me like him more. His relationship with his demon is interesting. Winning gives him physical pleasure and inflates his ego, but he's pretty self-aware about all of it. Once he decides to be with Kaia they're great together, which is obviously a plus. The downside of his character is the rather unfortunate way that he views sex as a result of his demon. Once he discovers that Kaia has slept with Paris, he doesn't want her, because he doesn't think he can outdo Paris sexually. Yeah, I was not a fan of that plot point. It seemed trite and immature somehow.  Thankfully there are many good scenes later to make up for it.

I'm happy to be back with this series for however long it can hold my interest. I found it pretty easy to slip back into, even after years away from it--not sure whether that's a positive or negative. In any case, I can recommend this book to casual fans of the series, and I look forward to more. 3.5 stars.

On Shadow Lords: A Review of Pledged by Gwynneth White

You know, I spent a lot of time with this book. I dragged it to work, read during lunch, on the ride home, on the coach, in bed, late into the night...it felt like I spent ages reading this book. Yet, it's hard to articulate how I feel about it. I can say for sure that it's neither the best, nor the worst book I've read in 2012...But beyond that, what can I say?

I was asked to read this for the purpose of participating in the blog tour, and the synopsis provided really didn't give me an accurate idea of what I was getting into plot wise...I don't know if I can describe it any better, but I'll try. Seth's brother is marrying Erin's sister, and so the two meet in Botswana on the way to the wedding. Seth has agreed to help his brother (Kyle) find an ancient diamond that turns out to be the key to making or breaking an ancient curse. Guardian angels swoop down and grab Seth and Erin and promptly tell them all about soul mates, and how they knew each other before they were born, and how their are many couples just like them, and isn't it wonderful? But in order to be together, they need to break the curse tied to the diamond. To understand the curse, they have to peer into the ancient past and watch how it has kept other couples from their happy endings. The remainder of the book mostly takes place in the 10th century A.D., with Seth and Erin as invisible witnesses to the loves and losses of a would be Shenayan leader.

Positive Comments

I really liked a lot of the concepts that the book presented. I find the idea of a soul mate, someone you met and loved before you were born, to be very intriguing. Suspense is created when the reader is informed that having or meeting your soul mate doesn't necessarily mean a happy ending--you need to work for that yourselves. That's a very balance view of fated romance, and I like it.

Critical Comments

When Seth and Erin travel back in time to watch the events of the past unfold, it brought to mind for me the sixth Harry Potter book, where Harry spends most of the book watching people's memories in order to try to understand Voldemort's seeming immortality, and also his potential weaknesses. I really enjoyed the concept in that book, so...why doesn't it work as well here? Well, I think the difference is that with Harry Potter, we had already had five books to build up stakes, make us care about what's going on in the present day, and curious about what happened in the past. With this book, we are only given the most vague descriptions and accounts of our main characters before they are sent to the past as invisible onlookers. I don't know enough about them, or feel enough toward them, to care about how the colossal pile of info-dump and back story relates to them. Stylistically, it just doesn't flow well, and it failed to keep me invested.

Seth and Erin have no real chemistry...because an inadequate amount of time is spend building that chemistry. So it's not a very romantic book.

Seth, and pretty much every male character in the book, is selfish, short sighted, and stupid. He gets better, but for me it was too little and too late.

It has more pages than the content of the story justifies, taking 100 pages to tell us what could be said in 50. The pacing is snail slow. You feel every page of the book, because you're waiting for the main characters to be able to do something. But they just watch, and you just wait, and not much comes of it.

I couldn't get invested in what went on in the historical portion of the story 1)because the characters are unlikeable 2)because I know the stories end badly, or we wouldn't have the present day story 3)because nothing in the narrative makes it feel like I'm in 900 something AD. I'm not anal about historical accuracy. However, I do find it distracting to have foreign characters in an ancient time using super modern language. Terms like "sleep together" (as a euphemism for sex), or being told that the warlord of this time has a desk...those sort of things feel out of place. There was nothing to really create the proper tone of being in a different time and very different culture.

Recommendation

Obviously, for me personally, cons outweighed the pros for this one. I did not enjoy the experience. What kind of reader would really like it? Well, I'd say if you like stories with dick-ish heroes that eventually see the light, and if you really get into angels and demons and curses, and you don't mind wading through back story, this is a good book for you. For those who like a deeper romance, a faster pace, and a more concise plot, don't bother with this one. 2 stars.

On Serial Murders: A Review of Haunted by Kelley Armstron

It's impossible for me to talk about this book without mentioning how I felt about the previous books in the series. Bitten is my all-time favorite werewolf book, and may rank in my top ten books of all time in general. I liked Stolen just fine. Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic, on the other hand, were both insanely slow for me. I was able to get through Dime Store Magic and see the good in the story, but I really struggled with Industrial Magic. The simplest explanation I can offer is this: Paige does not work as a narrator for me. She's a nice enough character, likeable enough, but does not possess enough edge or personality to keep me engaged. Eve, on the other hand...

Eve is the narrator of Haunted, and her story was so much more compelling to me, it's hard to describe. This is the point where I have to warn you that I may spoil a few minor points from books 1-4. Click to read at your own peril.

A Review of No Good Deed by Bill Blais

No Good Deed is an urban fantasy that puts a different twist on the idea of the unlikely heroine.

Kelly is a mother to twin eight-year-olds, and the wife of a man with M.S. She was just let go from her job when she unwittingly takes down a demon in a back alley. As a result, a secret organization offers her a job opportunity hunting demons full time. The job includes money and benefits that Kelly's family desperately needs, but is she right for the job?

Positive Comments

I really love this concept. Heroines who already have husbands and children, who we might typically think of as "settled down", make the most deliciously unlikely of action heroes. You really want to see Kelly become awesome, because she represents the Average Jane in all of us.

I liked the mythology behind the demons, and the fact that it wasn't presented as "All of these monsters are real, let's go kill them." It's a little more complicated than that, because even the organization that Kelly joins isn't sure what is real and what is purely myth.

Critical Comments

Kelly, Kelly...Kelly. A few things bothered me about her. Primarily, her wishy/washy attitude toward her new "job" drove me bonkers. First, she's understandably uncertain as to whether she should accept the position. I was fine with that. But then, having committed to it, I expected her to go into hard core training mode, and really give a shit about getting herself ready to battle demons. Instead she's kind of whiny about having to diet and exercise, and even just reading information on the monsters she'll be killing. This is life and death, Kelly! Take it seriously! I would think that knowing that monsters are real would outweigh the temptation  to eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream, but maybe I'm wrong.

I was also a bit bugged by Kelly's husband, Shawn, and how perfectly understanding he is of her. When she tells him, in vague terms, that she was offered this job that pays well and has instant benefits, but she doesn't know if she wants it...he's just way too quick to tell her it's okay if she stays unemployed for awhile. Really? Any real husband would be hard pressed not to say "Take the job, right now, for the love of GOD!" And he's not suspicious about why she's uncertain about it. She keeps saying "Oh, I don't know if it's for me..." And I was waiting for him to conclude that she'd gotten mixed up in a drug cartel or prostitution, because she was acting so freaking jumpy. Again, no real husband is going to be that disinterested.

Recommendation

Are there better UFs out there? Absolutely. But this one had some really good moments, and it kept me engaged and curious. I won't necessarily be reading the next one in the series, but I'm not totally put from it either. 3 stars.

On The Stock Exchange: A Review of Breaking the Devil's Heart by H.A. Goodman

I love being a book reviewer. Ever since I started this whole blog project, my reading has expanded in scope and diversity, and I absolutely love that. Breaking the Devil's Heart is just one more book that I would probably never have read on my own, but I'm so glad that I did.

I guess this is technically book 2 in a series, but it stands well on it's own. The premise is that Stewart and his girlfriend, Layla, are trying to infiltrate Hell in order to stop the human suffering caused by it's residents. Stewart was once alive and human, but died tragically and became an Observer in order to embark on this Satin killing mission. The author's version of hell is a lot like Office Space, if it were horror instead of comedy. It includes neurotic businessmen, a telemarketing scheme, and a stock exchange system--all of which run on human souls as currency.

Positive Comments:

I loved the settings and the ideas. I loved Goodman's take on hell, on souls, and on evil. I liked that it wasn't as simple as "The devil makes you do bad things." It suggests that human beings have a natural capacity for evil, and that while they can be persuaded in any number of directions, they are ultimately responsible for their actions. At the same time, the demons benefit from any evil act and will buy and sell souls in the hopes of those souls doing evil. Because evil...gives them peace or something. That's the point where the logic of the world building kind of breaks down, but even with that major flaw, the world building is still awesome.

I liked Stewart and Layla. I sort of wished for more relationship building, or more character building, but then again there was nothing that made me dislike either of them or their relationship. I liked that they were smart and cunning, but firmly dedicated to achieving their ends. Stewart really believes in good, and his willingness to sacrifice all for it is what endeared him to me.

I like the sort of "twist" near the end. I can't say more, for obvious reasons.

Critical Comments:

There were definitely some leaps in logic, or a total lack of logic in some cases, that gave me pause. I like the world that Goodman has created, but it's a little hard to swallow the "how" and "why" of it all.

In the end there was a sense of uncertainty in terms of how much was actually accomplished and whether anything was really resolved. There is a lot of build up to a moment where you would expect huge changes in the world. Instead, things are fairly ambiguous. I don't care for that sort of ending, because it leaves me feeling extremely unsatisfied.

Recommendation:

Yes, I recommend it, with a few notes of caution. If you are particular about world building and want things thoroughly explained--don't read this book. If you like nice, tidy, happy endings--don't read this book. Also, it's worth noting that this book paints religious fundamentalists in not the nicest light--it actually directly states that they cause problems in multiple passages. So if you are very deeply religious and inclined to take offense, it's best you steer clear of this one. Readers that I would recommend this to are: urban fantasy lovers, who are interested in an imaginative take on hell and human nature. 3 stars.

Buy from Amazon: Breaking The Devil's Heart: A Logic of Demons Novel

On Death: A Review of Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione

First, there were the Underworld General books, in which we learned about demon hospitals and sex demons. From those, grew this series--The Lords of Deliverance, featuring the four horseman of the apocalypse as the romantic leads.

This, book 3, puts the spotlight on Thanatos (who would be Death), and his relationship with Regan, a demon huntress of special talents. And guess what, guys? This is a secret baby book! No joke! In the last book, Regan forced Than to sleep with her, believing that their baby could stop the apocalypse. Because Than has been in a coma-like state for the past 8+ months, he doesn't know about the baby. When he finds out, he's launched into a world of uncertainty regarding how to raise his baby, protect Regan, and take down his now evil brother, Pestilence.

Positive Comments:

I really liked Than. He makes an interesting death figure. I found his struggles, his pain, and his way of dealing with everything to be highly sympathetic.

I like the mythology. After having so many books to build this world, Ione has found a balance between too much and too little world building that really works for me. The angels, the demons, the what, where, and how of the apocalypse, are explained just enough so that you don't feel lost--but not at just length that you get bored.

There's, umm, pregnancy sex. Which is interesting. Than and Regan have great chemistry, and the sex is hot...But I'll admit, I was surprised to see them getting it on while she was 8 1/2 months pregnant and knowing that the baby has this huge part in the apocalypse and they need to time the birth just right...whatever. It didn't bother me, but use your judgement.

Critical Comments:

Regan is given these sort of off-hand flaws and issues. She has OCD, but it's not really a problem. She was bulimic once upon a time, but she's over it now. She has abandonment issues that kind of get solved with no fuss or bother. I just felt like the author half-assed her character development. She's got issues...poof, they're gone. Happy ending! I felt blind sided by it.

Recommendation:

I continue to recommend Larissa Ione to anyone who likes their paranormal romance a little on the dark side. If you like demons, sex, and a touch of horror, you'll like these books. If you've kept up with the series so far, I can assure you that Lethal Rider does not disappoint. 4 stars.

Buy the Book: Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance)

On Gifts: A Review of a Job From Hell by Jayde Scott

A Job From Hell is probably about as stereotypical of a vampire book as you can get. I can't really say why I decided to read it, but I can tell you that it did not knock my socks off.

Despite a distinct lack of domestic skill, Amber accepts a job as Aiden's housekeeper and quickly discovers that there's something odd about him. He sleeps all day and never seems to eat and...you know the drill. Amber is Aiden's fated mate, so she's obviously stuck falling in love with him. Then she ends up unwittingly participating in a paranormal race where the prize is a supernatural power that will make her a walking target.

Positive Comments

The dialogue and character interactions are actually very clever. At times it might be a little forced, but at least it's amusing.  I liked the cast of secondary characters, perhaps more than I liked either main character.

The plot approached interesting, but it did so from a sideways route. I kept thinking that if the author had focused the book on different elements--the prize, the magic book thingy, all of the darker stuff introduced in the world, the book might actually be really good. This actually gave me vague hope that the sequels might be decent, although I have no immediate plans to read them.

Negative Comments

Fated mates. Don't like them. End of story.

To be more specific, I do think that fated mates can be a good trope, but you cannot use it in place of relationship development. You still need to have your characters go from meet cute to happy ending via a well paced, logical route. This book doesn't do that. A lot of the emotions, especially on Aiden's end, are "I must be with her because she is my mate." There's nothing specific that makes them work as a couple.

It's just terribly cliched. Aiden is a rich vampire. Amber is a financially struggling human. Come on now, can't we rise above this old gambit? And then there's the "will he or won't he turn her" plot. Boring. Boring. Boring. Nothing new to add, the plot goes exactly where you'd expect it to, and you'll feel like you've wasted hours of your life.

Amber is a flaccid, dull heroine. She surprised me a bit near the end, when she actually became somewhat useful. Otherwise she's incredibly boring. She's an ordinary girl with ordinary goals. She takes a job she's not qualified for. Finds herself in a fish-out-of-water situation when surrounded by rich supernaturals. Reacts to it exactly as you would expect her to. Even her flaws are boring--she's clumsy and she can't cook.

Recommendation

There's nothing wrong with the writing style, and the book wasn't a total disaster. For me, it was mostly just dull. So I'm going to warn you off of it, but gently. If you're a huge vampire fan, for example, this might be a satisfactory book for you. It just wasn't for me. 2 stars.

Buy From Amazon: A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

On Gambling: A Review of Devil's Kiss by Zoe Archer

Zoe Archer became cemented in my mind as "author of great historical/adventure/romance" when I read her Blade of the Rose book last summer. This newer series, the Hellraisers, i more of a straight paranormal romance, in a historical setting.

The Hellraisers are a group of bored and disenchanted men who make a deal with the devil for powers that suite their individual vices. Whit, the hero of our story, is a gambler, and he gains power over the odds. Zora, a young gypsy woman, tries to stop the deal from happening. When she fails, he is bound to Whit to do with as he pleases. Whit finds that he wants to seduce Zora, but without forcing her or using his powers. Sensing that there is still good in him, Zora sets out to help Whit undo the work of the devil and reclaim his soul.

Positive Comments

You know what's a fun quality for a romance novel hero? Deep seated psychological addiction issues. No, really. I've noticed this trend, especially in paranormals, where the hero is messed up in all kinds of interesting, angsty ways that lead to bad habits and occasional substance abuse. The thing is, for reasons I can't and don't want to explain to myself, I love damaged heroes. Whit is an interesting character. His boredom with the world and his fascination with gambling give him just enough of an edge to make him a memorable hero.

I really like how Archer writes heroines. I like that they're always useful. Zora has legitimate power, she's smart, and she's not afraid to tell Whit off. She saves the day just about as often as she's saved.

So, predictably, with a likeable hero and a likeable heroine, we get an enjoyable romantic relationship. It's got tension and sex appeal and fire. Literally. There's ghost voyeurism. Great stuff all around.

Critical Comments

Let's face it, the premise is a little tired. A lot of authors have done the band of brothers thing (you can't blame them, it's an excuse to write an extended series). Plus I've seen the souls-damned-to-hell-because-of-worldy-vices plot about a hundred times. At least it isn't a seven deadly sins theme. Gluttony isn't sexy.

I miss the wide scope of mythology that we saw in the Blades of the Rose books. Maybe it's not fair to compare, since this is kind of a different genre, but I can't help it. I like the unpredictability of a magical quest in some exotic place, where zombies or clay monsters might pop out at any moment. The pattern this followed was a lot more predictable, and a lot less captivating.

Recommendation

This is still a passably good paranormal romance. If you're new to Zoe Archer, I suggest trying the Blades of the Rose books instead. Otherwise, this book has it's merits and is fairly entertaining. 3 stars

Right now this book is available on Amazon for $1.99, a really sweet deal:  Devil's Kiss

On the End of Days: A Review of Angelfall by Susan Ee

I wish I could remember which reviewer first recommended this book to me, because I owe her a big thank you. Despite some minor flaws, which I'll address later, this was a pretty fantastic novel.

Angelfall takes place in a version of our world after it has undergone an apocalypse at the hands of the angels. That's right, the angels in this one are the bad guys. Penryn is a teenage girl struggling to survive in the now broken world, while taking care of her disabled sister, Paige, and their schizophrenic mother. When Paige is kidnapped by a group of angels, Penryn considers it her responsibility to rescue her at all costs. Even if it means forming an alliance with Raffe, a wingless angel of unknown loyalties.

Positive Comments

I loved the plot. It reminded me, a bit, of seasons four and five of Supernatural. You've got angels, demons, an arguably non-exist or uncaring God, and the humans caught in the crossfire. You can feel Penryn's motivation as she storms headlong into danger to rescue Paige. It's an excellent story of survival and heart.

I loved the characters and their relationships with one another. Penryn is supposed to be 16 or 17, but her maturity level makes her seem older, so she's a character that I could connect with. Penryn's mother has no grip on reality, and is arguably quite abusive. You can feel the pain that this causes Penryn, but at the same time you can understand her loyalty and the love she has for her mother. Of course, there's also Raffe, the ostensible love interest. Is his relationship with Penryn glowingly romantic? No, not at all. In fact, he keeps her at arms length for most of the book. But, they save each others lives, take care of one another, and begin to form an emotional connection despite themselves. I prefer reluctant love over insta-love any day.

Critical Comments

Just one, really. I hate cliffhangers. Oh God, do I hate cliffhangers. I could see this one coming, too. A lot of crap was not resolved, and my Kindle was telling me I was at the 98% mark, and I was ready to throw the damn thing because I knew I was getting cliffhanged (cliffhung?). So I'm sorry, Susan Ee, I love your book, but this cliffhanger cost it half a star.

Needless to say, I do recommend this book. It has a lot of action, a lot of horror and gore, all of the things that you expect in a post-apocalyptic novel. 4.5 stars.

On Horsewomen: A Review of Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione

Immortal Rider is the second book in Larissa Ione's Lords of Deliverance series (read my review of book one HERE). Lords of Deliverance is a spin off of her Demonica series, but I think you are supposed to be able to read it separately. It's hard for me to say for sure, since I've read and enjoyed both.

In any case, this book is about Limos, who would be Famine if she were to turn evil and help the Apocalypse to start. She's been betrothed to Satan, the ultimate evil, since birth. The engagement contract states that he can claim her when a man who she has given affection to utters her name in agony. Thus when Arik, a human soldier fighting on the side of good, makes the mistake of kissing her, he's dragged to hell and tortured. But Arik is made of strong stuff, and refuses to say her name, even as he vows revenge against the woman who he believes has doomed him to hell. Limos sets out to rescue Arik, break her engagement, and hold on to her good side in order to stop the Apocalypse and save the world.

Positive Comments:

Every time I read a new Larissa Ione book, I'm reminded of how much I like her style. She's one of a small group of authors that can mix horror and romance effectively. I trust her to take me to some dark and creepy places, and still deliver a satisfying happy ending. I haven't figured out exactly what it is about the tone or the mood of these books that makes them work, but there's definitely some magic there.

I love twisted biblical mythology, and Ione uses it very effectively. I love that we have a female Horseman. The overarching plot of the series has me firmly invested.

I love that Ione is unafraid to write deeply flawed, even potentially evil main characters. Limos is on a rocky road to redemption and remaining good, and to me that is far more interesting than a nice character doing nice things. One of her primary flaws is that she loves to lie. Arik has a history that makes him hate lies and liars, so this alone creates a huge point of conflict for the two of them. I did think, at times, that Arik was almost too understanding and forgiving toward Limos when it came to the secrets and lies. But overall, there's a lot of rich and realistic conflict between Limos and Arik, and seeing them overcome it is very rewarding.

Critical Comments:

The romance between Arik and Limos is a bit drawn out. Especially the physical aspects. One obstacle after another gets thrown up to stop them from consummating their relationship and fully committing to each other. As a reader, I found it tiresome.  Perhaps fewer conflicts would have made the romantic development a little less frustrating.

A lot of the conflicts, both between Arik and Limos and between Limos and her brothers are based on miscommunication and misunderstanding. The book would have been 100 pages shorter if everybody just talked to everybody else. Again, lies are a big weakness for Limos, so naturally it took her the entire book to fully overcome them, but what about everyone else? What's their excuse? There's a rather big, spoilery incident that I can't mention in this spoiler-free review, that could have been End-of-the-World bad--and was fully avoidable through a quick conversation. I tend to dislike miscommunication as a means of creating conflict, so that was a flaw for me.

Overall, though, I count this book as another good one. Yes it's longer than it needs to be, yes it frustrated me at times, but it also left me wanting more. I highly recommend this series and this book to all paranormal romance fans. 3.5 stars

On Teenage Witches: A Review of Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Dime Store Magic is the third book in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, but the first with Paige as the narrator. The previous two books focus on Elena, a werewolf. The first question I usually ask with these types of series is "Does order matter?" In this case, I would say yes. You need to at least have read book two, Stolen, for this one to make sense. And you need to have read Bitten for Stolen to make sense. You can find my review of Stolen  HERE. 

This book focuses on a Paige, a coven witch, and her struggle to retain custody over her thirteen-year-old ward, Savannah. Savannah was the daughter of a witch who practiced dark magic and fraternized with many supernaturals whom the coven considers highly undesirable. One such undesirable, a sorcerer named Kristoff Nast, shows up claiming to be Savannah's father. Paige struggles with nasty rumors, her coven's prejudices, and outright attacks from various parties, as well as winning over the trust and affection of her ward.

Dime Store Magic was kind of slow going for me. Partly because I've been insanely busy, and partly because it has a pretty slow moving plot. I don't at all mean to imply that it was boring, because I found it quite entertaining, just that is isn't as lightening fast as your typical fantasy novel. I really enjoyed the details about witches and sorcerers and they're history, the process of spell work, and Paiges quest for lost magic in ancient grimoires.

The part of this book that I liked the most, however, was the character building and the relationships. Paige is pretty young (23?) and untried, and not physically tough at all. She certainly wants to be a stronger witch with more offensive magic, but that's something she has to work very hard at. Furthermore, offensive magic is against the rules of the coven. Added to this, she's trying to figure out how to raise a teenage girl. Paige and I are of a similar age group, so I found myself imagining what I would do if asked to care for someone like Savannah. The conclusion I came to was that the task would be herculean. But Paige does her best, and she does start to make some genuine emotional connections with Savannah.

The romantic interest of the book is Lucas Cortez, a lawyer working on Paige's case. His strengths, like Paige's, are more intellectual than physical. He's smart, articulate, and a bit of a nerd. I thought they were a good match. Although it isn't a romance novel with a happily-ever-after ending, I was satisfied that something meaningful was happening there.

So in sum, while it took me a little longer than anticipated to finish this book, I really enjoyed it. It has a different tone from Bitten or Stolen, and in my opinion that was a positive thing. 4.5 stars.

On Sins: A Seven Deadly Sins Double Review

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that demons, sin, and fallen angels have become a big trend in paranormal romance (and to some extent urban fantasy) over the last several years. Being a curious penguin, I've tried to dip my toes into many of these series. I love Larissa Ione's Demonica work (see reviews here and here) and I'm cautiously optimistic about J.R. Ward's Fallen angels (see here). And then there's Erin McCarthy's Seven Deadly Sins series. It had so much potential, and a pretty strong start...and then it kind of fizzled. I thought the world building was pretty weak and unclear, and while there were other problems, it's the world build that stopped me from continuing. In any case, here are my reviews.

Book One: My Immortal: This is the first in a series of books about demon servants, charged with the task of promoting sin amoung humans for their master's dark purposes. It was darkly fascinating and deeply disturbing.

The bulk of the book is told in two parts--one an account of the past, told either through letters or the characters themselves, and the other in modern times. In New Orleans, circa 1790, we learn that Damian du Bourg is a selfish, cheating, semi-abusive husband to Marie. In addition to this, he makes a deal with a demon that gives him immortality in exchange for his servitude. That is, he shall spend eternity encouraging the sin of lust among all he meets. Even shy, frail Marie succumbs to his irresistible lure--to her ultimate doom. In present day, Damien is simply trying to get by, quietly repenting for his sins while doing enough to satisfy his demon master. As it turns out, this means throwing sex parties. Marley, a reserved and moral school teacher, shows up on his doorstep looking for her sister who disappeared after one such party.

I was very surprised that the author managed to redeem Damien as much as she did. I still find his history disturbing in the extreme, but not something I couldn't get past. Marley is fairly easy to relate to, though a little bland.

The plot is quiet, no action to speak of, and yet I was never bored. I wish we were given more background on the demons themselves, but the author seemed more intent on character development.

Overall, this was quite a page-turner. I caution that it might be disturbing for some readers. But I enjoyed it, and I recommend it: I think it can stand alone from the series quite nicely. 4 stars.

Book 2: Fallen: I only made it through about 150 pages of this book, then started skimming, then gave up altogether. This book moves very, very slow and I was just plain bored.

In 1849 Gabriel (a fallen angel) was accused of the murder of a prostitute, Anne, who died while he was drunk/high from opium and absinth. Gabriel doesn't know whether he committed the murder or not because the drugs caused him to forget many events. In the modern day, the now sober immortal writes true crime novels and continues to pursue the long cold murder case. He comes across a recent case that parallels Anne's murder, and contacts the victims daughter about investigating and writing a book on the case. Sara is herself a recovering addict, struggling to make peace with life after her mother's death. What Gabriel doesn't realize is that Sara is Anne's descendent, and the women in the family have a long history of being murdered. Sara dives into both investigations in hopes that she won't be next.

The romance aspect of this book had potential. I liked the concept of two former addicts finding strength and understanding in one another. Like everything else in the book, however, the relationship doesn't seem to progress at a natural pace. Gabriel is apparently cursed when it comes to women, so he's afraid to touch Sara. In my opinion this was a pretty lame road block for the author to throw up.

The murder mystery unfolds through newspapers, letters, and documents put in the book. They slowed the plot down even more and were at times repetitive. The murder issue is not complex, and the description of it's solution could have been told in 100 pages if you took out the filler.

SPOILER, Highlight to read: The plot point that really broke me was when the heroine decided to try absinthe, to know what it's like. I realize that her addiction was to sleeping pills, not alcohol or the like. Fine. But is it really a good idea for a person with an addictive personality to try something so potentially addictive. Why would she think that was necessary? If she wanted to know what the substance was capable of, couldn't she ask someone who's done it. Bare in mind, Gabriel HAS done absinthe (at this point Sara is unaware that Anne's lover and Gabriel are the same person), so you would assume that he would discourage Sara from trying it. But he gives it all of two seconds thought before he breaks out the bottle.

This book might have been great, but in the end my impatience got the better of me. I would only suggest reading this if you are found of slower, milder, less complex paranormal stories. I also want to point out that the connection to the first book is pretty weak (or was up to the point where I read). Don't look to this book for complex world building or fantasy. DNF

Final thoughts: My Immortal is worth reading for any paranormal romance fan. Fallen is something I would recommend only to people who like a lot of mystery (slowly paced mystery) in their books.I don't intend to read any more Erin McCarthy books, but I won't go out of my way to avoid them. Happy Reading!

On Horsemen: A Review of Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

Hmm, I always thought hellhounds would look like Yorkies.

This is the first in Larissa Ione's Lords of Deliverance series, which is a spinoff of the Demonica series. For those unfamiliar, I think it would be best to start with the Demonica series before trying this one, because it sets up a lot of the mythology. For those who are fans of the Demonica books and wondering if this one measures up, I can tell you you won't be disappointed. I was initially skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised.

Plot Summary: MINOR SPOILER ALERT. This series focuses on the four horsemen of the apocalypse, each of whom has a seal which, when broken, causes them to turn completely evil. When all the seals have broken, the end of the world will begin. The first seal, belonging to Pestilence, has broken. The other three horsemen are desperate to avoid turning evil and signaling the end of the world. This book focuses on Ares (War), for whom the seal is contained in a person--if the person dies, the seal breaks. That person is Cara, a human woman of mild supernatural talents. Ares tries to keep Cara safe while finding someone to pass the seal to, because harboring it is slowly killing her. Cara is also bound to a hellhound puppy, who's life force is helping to sustain her--but if the puppy dies, she will die also. In the meantime, Pestilence is free to cause disease and suffering in the human world, and the only weapon that could take him down has been lost.

The book starts out a bit slow while all of this is laid out, but it improves tremendously. It's stylistically diverse, mixing fantasy, romance, and horror in an almost seamless blend. I was very impressed by Ione's efforts in world building, which are steadily improving with each book she writes.

The characters were fairly three dimensional and interesting. Ares has a long and violent history, and it really comes through in his attitude and emotions. Cara initially seems weak, helpless, and even naive, but you quickly learn that there is more to her and she grows into a surprisingly tough heroine. I liked them as a couple, and I though Ione did an excellent job of developing their relationship from misunderstanding and dislike to love and acceptance. A few new characters are introduced, and all intrigued me sufficiently that I'm looking forward to their books. And yes, many of the characters from the Demonica books show up and play strong roles in this book.

Overall, this is an excellent choice if your looking for a dark paranormal romance. 4.5 stars.

Snippet Reviews: Immortals After Dark

Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark books remain among my favorite paranormal romance series. Even after nine full sized novels and several novellas the stories haven't lost much momentum.

The overarching plot involves all of the creatures of the Lore (vampires, valkyries, witches shape-shifters, and so on) heading toward war with one another in a classic good vs. evil epic battle. Each book features a different couple on a mission or journey. The timelines of each book overlap with one another, giving the overall series a fun nonlinear style.Cole uses a lot of traditional tropes and plot devices found in paranormal romance, but she also has a talent for turning some of those tropes on their ear. The variety of story types will keep even a jaded reader intrigued.

Book 1: A Hunger Like No Other: Lachlain, the leader of the Lykae, escapes from years of torture at the hands of vampires when he catches the scent of him fated mate. Emmaline, half valkyrie and half vampire, is the last person Lachlain would have chosen or expected as a mate, but he's determined to claim her anyway. The interactions between them are intense. I was struck by the familiar imbalance of power between the too--Lachlain being extremely powerful and overbearing, Emmaline being somewhat sheltered and helpless. This is a sexy, if somewhat irritatingly anti-feminist trope. It's forgivable in this book because Emma really comes into her own by the end, and Lachlain becomes a bit gentler (without being totally de-clawed). Really great first book. 4 stars.

Book 2: No Rest for the Wicked: Kaderin the Cold Hearted, a valkyrie known for her skill in slaying vampires, competes in an Amazing Race style tournament for immortals, hoping to win a prize she covets desperately. Sebastian, knowing that Kaderin is his Bride (fated mate), competes as well in hopes of winning Kaderin over. I liked that Kaderin was such an alpha female, while Sebastain (though quite alpha like in his own right) is not quite as domineering as your typical paranormal romance hero. I loved how much action and adventure this book featured, and I really got into the competitive nature of the plot. 5 stars.

Book 3:Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night: Bowen, a Lykae, once lost his mate when she tragically ran from him. Now, a witch named Mariketa appears to be his mate. Bowen struggles with his prejudice against witches and Mariketa's desire to build her power. Unfortunately this wasn't a favorite book for me. I didn't care for Bowen as a hero, I found him irrational and overbearing most of the time. I liked Mariketa, but I didn't feel like she and Bowen were a good match. 2.5 stars.

Book 4: Dark Needs at Night's Edge: Conrad, a mostly mad vampire, is locked in a house haunted by Naomi, the ghost of a former ballerina. This is the most successful attempt I've seen at using a ghost as the protagonist of a paranormal romance. It makes for such beautiful imagery, comedy, and an extremely touching romance. I also liked that the hero was inexperienced when it came to sex and women--you don't see too many virgin heroes. 5 stars.

Book 5: Dark Desires After Dusk: Holly is a half valkyrie who knows nothing of her heritage. It turns out that she's the Vessel, a special woman destined to carry a child that will become a warrior for ultimate good or ultimate evil. Cadeon, a demon mercenary, initially intends to kidnap for his own purposes, but ends up in love with her instead. Holly has some rather adorable nerd tendencies and OCD, which I quite enjoyed. I wasn't quite as enthusiastic about Cadeon as a hero. He felt underdeveloped to me. 4 stars.



Book 6: Kiss of a Demon King: Dethrone demon king Rydstorm falls in love with the evil sorceress Sabine. I was really excited that the heroine had such a dark personality, and I found her back story intensely interesting. Rydstorm is not quite as interesting, but still manages to be three dimensional. The romance is surprisingly satisfying. The plot drags a bit in some places, but for the most part it keeps your interest. 4.5 stars.

Book 7: Pleasure of a Dark Prince: Garreth, prince of the Lykae, discovers that Lucia the valkyrie and master archer is his mate. Lucia actively runs from him, busy pursuing her own mission. Lucia has some old scores to settle and an apocalypse to avert. Lucia and Garreth are probably my favorite couple of the series, I feel that they have a lot of chemistry. The timeline of this book goes all the way back to book one, and I thought that was pretty impressive. 5 stars.

Book 8: Demon From the Dark: Carrow the witch is blackmailed and sent to Oblivion, a hell plane, to apprehend Malkom (a half demon, half vampire). Malkom is pretty violent and isolated by nature, for good reason. I found him intensely interesting. I liked Carrow as well, and she develops a great deal throughout the book--from carefree party girl to responsible guardian. I felt their chemistry was a bit forced, but it still had it's moments. 4 stars.

Book 9: Dreams of a Dark Warrior: This one has an ambitious plot. Regin, a valkyrie, meets Aiden the berserker when she's very young. He fully intends to make her his mate, but dies before he can win his immortality. Several incarnations later, he's back as Declan Chase, a human involved in the capture, torture and murder of immortals. Regin remains one of my all time favorite characters, with her humor and fierceness. With Chase, I felt that Cole struggled to go from villain to fully redeemed hero. It was a little unbelievable, and I just didn't connect with him as strongly as I wanted to--and therefore didn't fully buy into the romance. 3.5 stars.

All things told, this remains an above average series and I always look forward to new releases.Happy Reading!

The Trouble With Labels: A Fallen Angels Double Review

Classifying books can be difficult. Some books fit really neatly into one section, one genre, one sub-genre. Others could easily be labeled under multiple genres depending on the point of view of the person doing the labeling. The most common example that I encounter is the paranormal romance vs. urban fantasy debate.

To me "paranormal romance" implies a book that contains fantasy elements, in which the central plot involves the relationship between the two protagonists. "Urban fantasy" is a book that contains fantasy elements in a contemporary setting, and may or may not have some kind of romantic undertones. To me it's all about the main plot, and whether or not "romance" is the main point. Sure, I've encountered one or two books that fit both classifications equally, but more often than not I can place them in one or the other. The problem is, my classification often doesn't line up with the publishers and bookstores. Rachel Vincent's Shifter books are always put in the romance section, although to my mind they aren't that romantic. Same goes with Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. The last time I was in Barnes and Noble I saw Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress book in both the romance and the fantasy section (couldn't they just flip a coin?).

You would think that since I read both romance and fantasy with equal pleasure, the classification issues wouldn't bother me.The problem is the labels create expectations. If I buy something labeled as romance from the romance section, it's because I'm in the mood for a love story. If I buy an urban fantasy, it's because I'm in the mood for action. Having my expectations fall apart midway through a book damages my opinion of that story. That's not fair to me as a reader, and it isn't really fair to the book itself.

In my opinion J.R. Ward's books, particularly the Fallen Angels series, are victims of mislabeling. I'm not really sure who's responsible for the problem--author, publisher, marketing team, all of the above--but they are marketed as romance, and I just don't find them particularly romantic. It isn't that there's anything wrong with them (although they have their issues). It's that I keep waiting for the big, heart warming romance and I'm left cold. So, with all of that said, here are my reviews of the first two Fallen Angels books.

Book One: As is typical of Ward, the point of view jump around a lot. We meet Jim, a 40-year-old ex-assassin construction worker who, following a near death experience, is charged with saving seven souls from sin and damnation. The first of these souls is the leading man of the book, Vin. Vin is a very wealthy man who is basically always unsatisfied with what he has and greedily seeking more. Vin's world is turned upside down when he meets Marie-Terese, a prostitute who is desperate for a normal life. They pretty much immediately and inexplicably fall in love (another typical theme for Ward). However, they are both in danger as Vin's greedy past and Marie-Terese's less than pleasant current circumstances catch up to them. Jim must help them find there way out of danger and to each other.

The romantic moments in this book are surprisingly touching. If you can suspend disbelief and assume love at first sight, that is. There's no build-up, just instant knock out attraction followed quickly by "the L word". I actually enjoyed this aspect of the book, because it made their love seem urgent and fated. I had some trouble liking both characters at first, because they just aren't that easy to relate to. But Ward quickly explains why they are what and who they are, so I was able to start to sympathize with them. Similarly Jim takes some time to warm up to, but you like him by the end. Most importantly, I can't say I was ever bored by this book.

Having said that, there were a few not so good things about this book. I felt like it changed points of view a little too often, even cutting into romantic moments to tell us what Jim is up to. While he's vital to the plot, he's not the romantic lead and in my opinion he got just a little more air time than was necessary. Also, there is a stalker subplot that made almost no sense and could probably have been left out entirely. Meanwhile, we are given a lot of background on how Marie-Terese ended up where she was, and in the end those background circumstances pretty much remain the same--i.e. the abusive scary ex-husband is still out there to pose the same threat as before. Loose threads like that, as well as Vin's special ability, are left to hang so the reader must guess and assume (or perhaps they will be tied up in future books). Overall there was a little to much "Buy The Next Book To Find Out" going on at the end of the story--it doesn't function as a stand alone at all. 3 stars.

Book 2:(Contains Spoilers From Book One) The war for human souls rages on. Jim is in charge of guiding each soul (with the help of some angel warriors). He's never certain which soul might be next. He's working against a very powerful and terrifying demon, named Devina, who makes it a hobby to collect and torture human souls. Jim believes that his old military buddy, Isaac, is going to be Devina's next target. Isaac, meanwhile, is trying to hide from his old life as an assassin when he's busted for illegal cage fighting. Grier, his attorney, is desperate to help him whether he wants her assistance or not. The plot had its interesting points and its drawn out points, but overall it was passable. The themes and settings are definitely getting darker as the series progresses, which I enjoy. This book is definitely an improvement on Covet, which was full of plot holes and loose ends.

Jim Heron is a very cool character, and I found myself relating to him and cheering him on. He seems like an average guy, but he has a shady past and a lot of personal demons in addition to the flesh and blood ones being thrown his way. If I continue reading the series it will probably be to see how Jim fairs over anything else. Grier was a moderately likeable character. Supposedly she's very intelligent but her actions don't demonstrate much logic. She has a lot of heart and she's very willful. She's literally haunted by a tragic past. I found Isaac extremely intriguing but he was underutilized. He's sexy and dangerous, but still oddly gentlemanly and honorable. I feel like he could of and should of gotten an entire book from his point of view alone, but of course that would have been useless to the demon/angel plot of this series. As for their relationship, there is definitely chemistry but as stated above its underdeveloped. It needed a few more scenes with just Isaac and Grier to really be touching or believable.

Stylistically, this book is much like Wards others--the conversational tone, the frequent changes in point of view, scenes that don't really seem relevant to the plot, and the odd slang that doesn't quite fit. If these sort of things bothers you, be prepared to be bothered some more. For myself, I just power through it and try to ignore it. It does always knock her books down half a star in my mind though, so I have to make note of it.

Overall, rating this as a dark urban fantasy I give it 3.5 stars, but 2.5 if I'm forced to call it paranormal romance.


Such is my opinion of this series so far. I intend to read Envy when it comes out, but I'm not sure what to expect from it. I'm left wishing that The Powers That Be who are responsible for these books would get their ducks in a row and figure out what the series is actually about.

Snippet Reviews: Demonica

It's time once again for me to revisit one of my favorite series and attempt to describe what it was that made me keep reading. Larissa Ione's Demonica books are the best attempt at demon centered paranormal romance that I have come across so far. Dark, a little creepy, and very steamy. I would definitely label these as erotica. That being said, erotica is so subjective and difficult to apply a fair grade to. I will endeavor to do my best.

The overarching premise is that three brothers (who happen to be incubuses (incubi?)) run a hospital for demons and other creepy crawlies. Demons of their breed go through several stages of sexual maturity, and in the final stage they must either choose to bind themselves to one mate or go kind of crazy and start raping people. The mate bond, incidentally, is not exactly a fated mates thing. Readers are told up front that it goes wrong more often than not and one member of the pair kills the other to escape the bond.

My first comment applies to all of the books: I hate the naming scheme. They're all "Something Un-something" and I can never remember which is which. I've dealt with this a lot in my tenure as a paranormal romance reader--the Carpathian books are "Dark Something", J.R Ward's BDB books are "Lover Something", Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniel's books are "Magic Something". It's shorthand for readers to figure out which books belong to the same series. The same thing could be accomplished by just labeling and numbering them. Just a thought. Ok, end rant.

Book One: Pleasure Unbound  : I liked Eidolon, the hero, quite a bit. He's a doctor and a big brother and an all around stand up guy, despite being a demon. I never cared for Tayla, the heroine, quite as much. She's a demon slayer and she has a certain toughness about her that seems forced to me. I found her character arc pretty weak. It's erotica, so they fix their problems with sex quite often, but in Tayla's case I felt like sex was the last thing she needed (the first being a psychologist and the second being a solid ass kicking). I really liked the creepy demon hospital setting, and between that and the mate bonding system my interest was captured enough to continue with the series. 3 stars.

Book Two: Desire Unchained: Shade is probably my favorite hero of the series. He's pretty rough around the edges and has some dark tendencies (BDSM, because there just HAD to be one in the series somewhere). His relationship with Runa starts when she is still human, and he freaks out because he feels attached to her--this is a concept I'm fond of. I liked Runa, and I felt she and Shade both had satisfying and well balanced character development. I really enjoyed their love story. 4.5 stars.

Book Three: Passion Unleashed: Without a doubt I was not a fan of Wraith going into this book, but he redeems himself quite strongly. The heroine, Serena, annoyed me a bit because she projects virgin/martyr/helpless tendancies initially, but she gets more interesting. Wraith is the one that goes through the most in terms of emotional development. The plot had more in the way of mythology than the previous two books, and I really enjoyed that. 4 stars.

Book Four: Ecstasy Unveiled : Lore (the hero) is an assassin sent to kill Kynan, and Iness is essentially Kynan's guardian angel. I loved that premise, and I loved all of the world building employed in this book. Lore and Iness make a very interesting match. Unfortunately the pace of this book was a bit off and the plot is a bit disjointed at times. There are plot holes, as tends to happen when an author increases the complexity of their world. 4 stars.

Book Five: Sin Undone: In my opinion this book has the most coherent plot. Sin, our demon heroine, has actual demonic tendencies (other than the impulse to screw things) that she can't always keep from using. I really liked her and enjoyed her character arc. Conall is a good match for her. I felt a genuine emotional connection between them. This was a good, strong conclusion to the series. 4.5 stars.

If you like dark paranormal romance/erotica, I recommend these. Incidentally, there is a spin-off series called Lords of Deliverance in which many of the same characters appear. I will be reviewing the first one, Eternal Rider, soon. Happy Reading!

Secrets and Series

I mentioned in a previous post that I had every intention of reading The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter despite the fact that I found The Darkest Lie to be skim worthy at best. I had a fairly positive experience with the early books in the series, and I really wanted to go on reading and enjoying them. So I'm very sorry to say that I really can't seem to get through The Darkest Secret either. Here I will try to explain why.

This book is about Amun, Keeper of Secrets. In the previous book he went on a quest to hell and was unfortunate enough to become possessed by many demons, and is now in anguish as a result. Haidee is a Hunter with a very long history. Suffice it to say she was once responsible for the death of a Lord--Baden. She has been reborn many times, each time losing happy memories. Strider captures her and puts her in a room next to Amun, where upon they find out that she calms him and keeps him sane.

I want to start off my mentioning the things that did work for me, lest I give the impression that this is a completely horrible book. I was really excited the have Amun as a lead character because he's one of the Lords that we don't know very well. I wanted him to be a wealth of interesting mystery and intrigue, and there are times when this book does give that impression. I also thought Haidee had potential and I liked her back story.

Right of the bat I had some issues with Amun and Haidee meeting under the circumstances that they did. They have some kind of magical/spiritual connection that heals his wounds...and that's fine. I can swallow that. But, she's also been dreaming of him and at first mistakes him for her boyfriend (who looks similar). Taken together that amounts to a pretty contrived initial interaction. Furthermore, the first third of this book is snail-pace slow because Amun is in a sick bed.

My next issue came with Amun's overly cavalier attitude toward Haidee's past. Remember, she helped to kill his friend. She had valid reasons for her actions, and I'm not at all trying to say that she's some sort of horrid villain. But I expected Amun to have feelings of conflicted loyalty--centuries old friendships vs. girl he just met that untrustworthy magic has connected him to. Some sign of an internal struggle would have gone a long way in helping me to connect with Amun.

I also want to mention some stylistic oddities. I don't know if I didn't notice these things in the previous books because I was too busy enjoying them, or if the editing has gotten more lax. Readers familiar with this series will know about Gilly, a teenage runaway, and how she has a crush on William. Their interactions are often sweetly awkward (and just a touch creepy) but in this book...let me show an example.

"Big, wide eyes of the purest chocolate. Sharp cheekbones that hinted at the passion she would one day be capable of giving. A pixie nose, slightly uptilted at the end. Lush pink lips. And framing all that beauty was a cascade of midnight hair." --Gena Showalter, The Darkest Secret

This is how William sees Gilly. I count eight adjectives in that short little paragraph--purple writing if ever I saw it. And I don't even know how exactly cheekbones hint at passion. And it gets weirder when he calls her "Gumdrop", or "Little Gilly Gumdrop". I guess that's supposed to be cute? For me it provoked nervous giggles and feelings of disturbance. I don't mean to imply that the whole book is like this, but there are certainly more examples of the like. Enough to have me cringing and wishing that Showalter had considered further editing.

The reason I really decided to give up on this book was simple boredom. I didn't feel a lot of emotional chemistry between Haidee and Amun. Sexual chemistry maybe, but that alone doesn't work for me. I found the premise unoriginal and the plot slow. I just didn't care what happened next, and after a week and a half of plodding along I felt it was time to raise the white flag. There are other books, after all.

According to my trusty Kindle, I made it 60% of the way through this book. In the interest of fairness, I'm not going to assign it a star rating. But I will say, if you have any doubts about this book, I recommend not even bothering. The early Lords of the Underworld books are decent, but I'm afraid the series has lost it's magic. DNF