Review: Tempt the Stars

Tempt the Stars by Karen Chance

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



These books are wonderful and torturous at the same time. Cassie is such a tough main character, but it's really unfair how much they throw at her in back-to-back situations. There were some big plot reveals and a teeny tiny bit of Cassie relationship progress (which is enough for me!).

This book picked up after Pritkin's sacrifice, with Cassie determined to rescue everyone's favorite war mage (yay!). There wasn't a whole lot of Mircea, which I rather enjoyed, but might be a downer for the Team Mircea readers out there. While constantly trying to ditch her bodyguards, Cassie hops through time, gets in trouble (obviously), and manages to further grow into her role as Pythia. We learn more about Cassie's past, her mom, her dad, and her powers.

The biggest surprise of the book -- in between dodging attacks, I found myself really starting to love Cassanova in this book. Shocking, I know, but he is thrown into a bunch of really horrible situations and is the only one to retain his sarcastic humor. In reality, the big bad surprise really caught me off guard at the end of the book. It's not really a horrible cliffhanger because there's big events on the horizon, but it still stressed me out pretty badly.

The book is filled with a roller-coaster of emotion -- there's truly depressing scenes, romantic scenes, scary scenes, sexy scenes, and scenes that shocked and amazed. Of course, I'm dying to see what the next book has in store. If there's not some good Cassie romance, I'm going to be seriously pissed. She deserves some happy after all this craziness.



View all my reviews

Review: Cold Iron (Cold Iron, #1)

Cold Iron by D.L. McDermott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really great start to a brand new series! There were Fae, Druids, lying ex-husbands, and lots of seduction scenes in this addictive read. It all combined to make an engaging and exciting story.

Beth is a struggling archaeologist in a bad situation. Her ex-husband used her and continues to use her (and her extraordinary skill) to identify locations of Celtic treasure. Using just her mind and a map, she can “feel” where these things are located. At their latest dig, they both find a little more than they bargained for in the form of Conn, an ancient Fae warrior. Seductive and sensual, he emerges from his long sleep thinking he can just seduce and discard the enchanting woman who has found his resting place. It is through this interaction that Beth discovers that she has a lot more powers than she first thought, giving her the ability to resist and see through the glamour that Conn employs.

Through the book we see the slow progress of Conn from evil Fae warrior to a more humanized version (who is still extraordinarily protective and hot). The struggle between Beth and her ex-husband and the quest to reclaim an ancient Fae relic were two engaging storylines that wove through this tale. The characters we meet along the way were interesting enough that I want to hear more about them in future installments – will we get to see more Fae/human pairings? Will there be an end to the turmoil in the Fae clans in and around Boston? Will there be more Druids discovered? I’m filled with questions that only more books can answer! This book really hooked me on this series and I am eager for more installments, so when is the next book coming out?


View all my reviews

Review: Cursed (Voodoo Nights #1)

Cursed by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow -- as a fan of all things Lizzy Ford, this book was something completely different and unexpected. It's filled with a rich world that revolves around voodoo and some really in depth history. This might be the most original story I've read from this author.

The story itself follows Jayden and Addy. They are a sort of high school Romeo and Juliet. She's a scholarship girl who embraces her paranormal upbringing. He's a rich kid who laughs at his mom's "backwards" thinking and superstitious paranoia. It's a mix of love at first sight and destiny pushing these two adorable characters at one another. Jayden appears to be the more level headed one of the pair, being forced to grow up to take care of a house filled with 3 girls and trying to take care of his mother from afar. Addy is definitely the more emotionally charged one, whether she is flying off the handle about boys or school or life in general. Throw them together, and the sparks were just starting to fly in this book.

Of course, these two kids can't just get to know one another and overcome preconceived notions. Instead, there are hexes flying around, cursed families hurting their chances at finding love, and zombie sisters leaving creepy notes. Oh, and another boy that's hot and protective -- just to throw another wrench in the mix. This book was filled to the brim with mystery, history, and your good old fashioned teenage romance (with lots of voodoo twists). If any of the above interest you, I urge you to check out this great read.

View all my reviews

Review: Night's Promise (Children of the Night, #6)

Night's Promise by Amanda Ashley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first "Children of the Night" book, but I think it read well as a stand alone.

Sheree is a wealthy woman obsessed with vampires. Derek is a born vampire, son of the most powerful queen of the vampires. They run into each other in a vampire bar (of course) and immediately begin their start and stop romance. Between the two of them, there are enough doubts (about themselves or their partner) to stall their relationship at just about every turn -- and that's before Derek finds out some shocking news about his genetics.

There's a lot of quick love and even quicker decision making in this book. There are vampires, werewolves and meddling old ladies thrown in for good measure. We also got a lot of POV swapping between short chapters. While there are bad guys (vampire hunters), the book was definitely more about Derek and his journey to acceptance.

View all my reviews

Review: Scintillate (The Light Key Trilogy, #1)

Scintillate by Tracy Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was wonderfully written and totally engaging. It was a unique story that had lots of twists and turns. The characters, writing style, and pacing all combined to make a quick and easy to read book that completely sucked me in. As the start of a trilogy, this was a very strong book that left me eager for more.

We dive right into Cora's story without much preamble. She's changing, she can see auras, and she's not sure who to trust. Her friends are hilarious and helpful, earning smiles and laughs from me during almost all of their interactions. Enter hottie Irish exchange student Finn. He's dreamy and wonderfully poetic in his declarations of love and infatuation. The chemistry between them is off the charts! There's a lot of secrets and mystery that keep them from being 100% honest with one another, which only leads to more trouble.

The story travels all over the world and does not give a neat and tidy ending. There's no promised puppies and rainbows to give this book a very happy end for the characters. There are tough roads ahead, but with a trilogy you really should expect there to be a building plot. This book is most definitely worth a read if you're interested in YA romance with a paranormal twist.

View all my reviews

Review: Sophia (Vampires in America, #4)

Sophia by D.B. Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt like two books for the price of one! We get lots of updates and POV from Raphael and Cyn with the added bonus of a new couple: Sophia and Colin. There’s the typical sexy times, crazy vampire action, mystery, and vampire lord drama.

Cyn and Raphael are on the hunt for whoever is killing executing his vampires in their daytime lairs. Sophia is a powerful vampire on a mission to find her guilty sire (who also happens to be the vampire lord of Canada). Colin is the local Sheriff (and ex-Navy SEAL) of a town inhabited by vampires that are getting killed. Through a bit of manipulation by vampires and bad guys alike, all four of these characters end up in Seattle teaming up to track down both the killers and the missing Canadian Vampire Lord.

My favorites are still Cyn and Raphael. It’s nice to see their relationship grown and change them both. The usual characters that surround them in a bodyguard or power structure capacity are also nice to see again. Duncan in particular is one of my favorites and I can’t wait to see what happens with his story. After some not so unexpected events in this book, we get to see most of the characters stripped bare, which gave a lot of unexpected insight into their true feelings.

Sophia and Colin are not your typical paranormal romance stars. They had a relationship that ended under false pretenses only to get blown wide open when they run into one another again. There wasn’t a lot of romance involved but there sure were a lot of naughty times. This story almost felt like a separate book and didn’t get as much focus as Raphael and Cyn’s. I think that was probably for the best, as a lot of story was jammed into this book and it had to happen at a pretty rapid pace.

Overall, I still love this series and each book delivers something different. It isn’t formulaic at all and it’s a nice reprieve from the expected paranormal romance book.


View all my reviews

Review: Moon Child (By Blood, #2)

Moon Child by Tracy E. Banghart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having read By Blood (#1), picking this book up was an easy decision. This read really took you on a rollercoaster ride of emotion and shocked me at every turn. It’s a mix of paranormal (sort of), romance, YA, and a good mystery. Yes, it’s a little dark, but it has grit and realness to it that I find I enjoy in good books.

Diana is Emma’s friend (remember? From Book#1?). She’s a dancer with a hippie mom and a hopeless crush on some guy she just met in the cemetery. As if meeting Nicholas in the cemetery wasn’t enough of a red flag, he only meets her at night, is very standoffish, and has super pale skin. After she relays all these facts to Emma, she makes the natural (for her) jump to deducing that Nicholas is a vampire. From there on out, the book just gets stranger and more mysterious. There’s a murder mystery trapped inside this YA romance that had me guessing until the big reveal.

This book really had me convinced of one thing only to slap me in the face with the grim reality of the situation. No spoilers, but I felt like we really were put in Diana’s shoes on this one. We got to feel her betrayal and shock and embarrassment first hand. If you’re looking for a unique spin on your typical paranormal YA romance book, this is the book for you. It can certainly be read as a standalone, or as a companion to the first book.


View all my reviews