Dark's sophomore effort is a great urban fantasy with more of a focus on relationships and romance than the first in the series. It's teh hot. I enjoyed it so much, I read it twice. :)
Twist, by Danika Dark, is the sequel to Sterling (Mageri Series: Book 1), a book about a woman who is brutally attacked and turned into a mage and finds herself part of a dangerous, magical side of the world she never knew existed.
This one starts off with Silver chafing a bit under Justus' tight restrictions. She clearly respects him and understands that's he's trying to protect her, but she has her own ideas of how her life needs to be. Throughout the book, she disobeys him to either do things that she thinks is right or that she has a right to do. This dynamic could have come off like a self-centered teenage rebellion against a father figure/love interest, but I think the author succeeded in crafting an arc for the relationship between Justus and Silver that makes sense for two adult characters. She is a grown woman with very understandable issues about control and independence, and he is a controlling, honorable, very old (very hot) man who is uncomfortable with affection and not really human. They don't see eye-to-eye, but they both want their learner-ghuardian relationship to work. I don't know if it worked evenly throughout the book, but overall I liked it. I also liked what the author did with Silver's other relationships in general. More on that in a minute.
I really wanted to like this YA paranormal romance. The heroine is an elf that blends into human society, and the story looks like it has yummy romantic tension with less emo angst than the typical vampire YA PR. But in the end, I couldn't suspend enough disbelief to enjoy it. It may work better for younger teens.
Coexist, by Julia Crane, is the first book in a YA contemporary paranormal trilogy. It's a story told mainly through the POV of sixteen-year-old Keegan, the light elf heroine, although the story does show scenes from her brother Thaddeus, friends, and her Chosen (soul mate) Rourke.
The way Chosens work is that each elf has someone that's chosen for them when they're born (in a mysterious way that isn't explained), but they are not allowed to meet until they turn eighteen (it's also not explained who makes that rule). Once they're both eighteen, the Chosen bond flares to life, and they instantly fall in love and can sense each other from far away et cetera. At the beginning of the book, Keegan's learned Rourke's name, so every time she thinks about him, he feels it and can see of what she's doing. Of course, being a teenage girl that knows she has a perfect soul mate out there somewhere, she thinks about him a lot, so he's constantly being distracted by her and desperately wants to meet her, but knows he should wait until she turns eighteen.
Great world-building and three-dimensional characters help this YA paranormal romance stand out in this crowded sub-genre. And I have to give the author extra kudos for basing the paranormal part of her story on Samoan mythology instead of just having the typical vampires and werewolves (not to say I don't love werewolves...). Recommended, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Telesa, by Lani Wendt Young, is the story of Leila, teenager who travels to Samoa to get to know her long-deceased mother's family and heritage. She also is trying to escape her very rich, very white grandmother, who is her guardian now that her beloved father passed away. She starts to get settled into her new environment, but strange things start happening to her and pretty soon she falls down the rabbit hole of the exotic paranormal.
It's a good set up. By having the main character come recently from the States, Young introduces us to Samoa very smoothly. And she does a great job of immersing the reader in the locale - sounds, smells, speech patterns, attitudes, etc. - without it feeling like a flowery travelogue. The book is rooted in a sense of place that I found almost as appealing as the characters and plot. And I found the characters and plot pretty darn appealing.
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Time Mends takes up where Destiny Binds left off, both chronologically and emotionally, so read that first, then come back for this riveting and rewarding read.
Time Mends, by Tammy Blackwell, is the second book in the The Timber Wolves series, it reminds me a little bit of the Empire Strikes Back in that it's an emotionally darker story that is clearly serving a different purpose than the first one. This is Act II, not more of the same as we saw in the first book.
At first blush, the Timer Wolves series looks like it would be just another Twilight-wannabe, with its beautiful-yet-unpopular girl, slow introduction into a paranormal world, and a love triangle between the the girl, a longtime friend, and a mysterious new comer. It gets beyond that quickly though, by having a strong heroine with both agency and integrity and a plot that gets away from the manipulative "team this" vs "team that" and into a riveting star-crossed lovers story.
I had some issues with this vampire-type paranormal romance, but I've definitely read worse.
First the good.
I liked the characters.
I liked the heroine and how she's introduced. She's strong in a regular human way, not in the sense of having special powers.
I also liked the hero. He's dark and brooding in a humanizing "don't always know the right thing to say" kind of way rather than in the overly melodramatic kind of way. There are also a bunch of secondary characters and the author seems to be trying to breathe some life into them.
I also liked the arc with the head good vampire and the mystery woman. It isn't resolved by the end of the book, which bugs me a little, but I think overall the author does a good job of juggling different arcs in the book.
Smexy, paranormal steam punk romance set in the wild west. The premise is hot, but the execution left me wanting.
Wilder's Mate, but Moira Rogers, is the first in a series. It tells the tale of the inventor Satira, whose mentor has been kidnapped and taken into lawless vampire country. She's aided by Wilder, a werewolf (in this universe called bloodhounds). Bloodhounds are created to combat vampires and are governed by a quasi-governmental guild. They have their furry couple of days in the full moon as expected, but they also have a few days of sexual frenzy during the new moon.
I liked the setting and the overall plot. For some reason, though, I just didn't enjoy the relationship. It was one of those stories where they instantly lusted for each other, but it just felt jarring. I liked her and I mostly liked him, but being inside their head when they thought of each other didn't do it for me.
This is a nice urban fantasy novella that blends family with pack dynamics and investigative action. It's surprisingly approachable for readers new to the Otherworld series. Series fans will really enjoy seeing the next milestones for Elena - getting to know her twins and seeing part of her transition to alpha.
Hidden, by Kelly Armstrong, was a nice read. I've read most of the Otherworld series, and they're really uneven for me. Elena POV books (of which this is one) are my favorites so factor that into your evaluation.
The Otherworld is our contemporary world with a modest amount of paranormal-acy. There's only one werewolf pack of about a dozen members in North America. Other than that, there are scattered non-pack werewolves, called mutts, that aren't allowed to settle down in one place. There are other paranormal races, but they don't factor into this story and aren't really powerful in this world. Elena Michaels is the only female werewolf, and she's been chosen to replace the current alpha.
Summary: Good stand-alone novella set in the Elder Races universe. Recommended for fans of paranormal romance.
True Colors, by Thea Harrison, has likable characters and a sexy-yet-believable relationship at its core, with a little bit of a thriller thrown in. I liked it, and, if you're looking for a quick read of the werewolf-meets-soul-mate variety, then this fits the bill.
The premise is that a serial killer is targeting the rainbow chameleon shape shifters, and it looks like our sweet school teacher/chameleon heroine is next on the list. The hero is a werewolf policeman (more or less) who leads the case. They almost immediately recognize in each other their soul mate and the rest of the story is them getting to know each other and settling into the relationship while figuring out who the killer is. HEA, the end.
OK. That all being the case, I'm a little torn in looking back at this story. I think if it had been written by almost anyone else, I would be able to end this post with a happy "I liked it" type of statement and go along my merry way.
Summary: Holy cow, these books were great! The premise sounds like a typical intrepid-hero-attends-a-magic-academy that clutters YA. But it's YA in the same way that Ender's Game is - which is to say that it magnificently transcends the age of the protagonist. And the voice is a lot more Harry Dresden than Harry Potter. I can't recommend them enough.
Zero Sight and Zero Sum, by B. Justin Shier, are the first and second books in the Zero Sight Series respectively. They're set in a broken-down, near-future America. Dieter Resnick, the protagonist, is a young man with a single purpose - getting the hell out of his current life and into something better. His master plan involves keeping his head down, getting an academic scholarship to an Ivy, and living happily ever after somewhere far away from the gangs and poverty and abuse of his current life.
The first part of his plan hits a snag when he gets in a fight with higher stakes than he hoped for, and things take an unexpected turn. If you've read much in the genre, you have some idea where things are headed in the first book, but you won't care because the journey is fantastic. The second book tops the first - fleshing out secondary characters and starting them on their own arcs, having more unexpected twists, and really turning up the slow-burn love triangle. It's a better crafted story in general, although the first one was very good to begin with.
This series came out of nowhere for me. Zero Sight is Shier's debut novel, and it was dang good. So good, that I didn't have the patience to write a review before starting the second one. Part of that rush to read the next book was the ending though - it feels like the book is the first half of a two-part novel rather than the first novel in a series. The second book's ending is more successful, although I'll still be waiting with bated breath until he releases the third book.
It's a series that doesn't condescend. He's telling the story of a brilliant, honorable, and driven young man in a richly detailed world and emotionally complex circumstances. This first person POV gives us the chance to be inside one of my new favorite minds, but you can't sleepwalk through it. Not that you want to - it's a gripping read.
Summary: I liked it. This anthology features four well-crafted stories of true love and hot sex in a fantasy, paranormal, or steam punk setting. Although all the authors each have popular series, all of the stories stand alone and can be enjoyed by non-fans. Woo hoo.
Burning Up totally works as an anthology. Although the stories were pretty disparate in terms of setting, it felt like they hang together in terms of personality, if you will.
Whispers of Sin, by Nalini Singh, is the first story. In it, a Chinatown resident is attacked by a thug trying to shake her parents down for protection money. She's saved by a changeling (were-leopard) member of the pack that's trying to claim San Francisco as their territory. It's true lust and protectiveness at first sight, and it evolves into something deeper as they continue to spend time together. Their respective family and pack really enrich the story. I've never read her popular Psy/Changeling series, but I've heard of it, so will probably look it up based on this story.
Summary: $.99 e-book price and high reviews made this a tempting read, but I just couldn't get into it enough to finish the book. Meh.
Irish Moon, by Amber Scott, is a romance set in an alternate dark age Ireland where druid magic really works. I feel like I should like it more than I do. I went back to check on the Amazon reviews afterward to figure out what other people saw in it (because it has an average review of 4.5 and the only two negative reviews both said they thought the story was nice) and I still didn't get it.
So, maybe it's just me. Maybe it's a really great book but I'm just in a bad mood or not the intended audience or something. I don't know. But I did notice how just about everyone commented on how much they loved the Irish setting. So, if ancient Ireland+romance+magic is your thing, then this may be a good book for you.
Summary: Bodyguard, a short story in the "Shifter's Unbound" universe, is a fun and sexy paranormal romance read at a great price.
Bodyguard, by Jennifer Ashley, follows sometime between the second and third book in Shifter's Unbound. I like the first two and recommend them, but if you want to use this short story to try out her writing cheaply, then you can start here without needing any of the plot from the previous books.
The setting is one where Fae (who mostly live in their own world) created canine, lupine, and bear shifters many centuries ago and enslaved them, but the shifters broke free and lived in hiding in our world since then. Shifters are clannish, long-lived, and don't mix with humans as a rule. About thirty years, they were discovered by the human world, which didn't react well to the news. In the US, where this is set, that meant they were rounded up, put in government-created shifter towns, and are treated to prejudice and discrimination by most people, laws, and businesses. They are also all required to where magic collars developed by the Fae that shock shifters when they get violent.
Summary: The first in the Elder Races series, Dragon Bound takes a supernatural type that I usually hate and makes it totally work. It's a funny, sexy, well-paced, emotionally true romance set in a well-imagined, creative alternate reality and spiced up with great action and rich secondary characters. Five stars *plus* a purple heart-shaped rhinestone spangle sticker. I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats! I'd read it again.
Dragon Bound, by Thea Harrison, kept popping up in my recommended list on Amazon. It was highly-rated, but by an author I'd never heard of, charging full-price, and had a premise (dragon finds soul mate) that seemed destined for gag-inducing cheesiness. It didn't seem worth the risk. But like an infestation of mold, it wouldn't go away. So eventually I tried out the "Click to Look Inside" and started reading and got totally hooked. Because it's just that good.
It starts with Pia (heroine) going on the run after she steals from Drago (hero), the dragon shapeshifter. He soon catches up to her, but he finds himself intrigued and decided to keep her instead of killing her outright. They get caught up a series of adventures while they fall in love. HEA.
The story is has no real weakness and many strengths, but what really bowled me over was that it has a dragon shapeshifter as the main character and it was completely authentic. OK, here's a little interlude with
My Theory on Paranormal Romances
As a broad generalization, paranormal romances can be split into a categories based on they male lead's supernatural species and its real-life analog.
Werewolves and other shapeshifters are muscle-bound, physical, loyal, (usually family-oriented) but with a real wild side. Essentially, they're extreme versions of bad boys from the wrong side of town.
Vampire and demons are selfish, decadent, ancient, sensual, and baaaaad. Usually the heroine is their redemption. Basically they're a souped up version of the amoral celebrity/rich townie, which tells you why vampires and werewolves rarely get along.
Elves and other fae are magical, powerful, and pretty. They're either idealized metrosexuals Prince Charmings, complete with hunky sauce and rainbow sprinkles.
Immortal warriors are devoted to fighting for a cause. They're mystical SEALs with swords. Yum.
Humans don't stay that way for long - at some point they sprout fangs or get injected with mutant virus or something. They start off as well-trained demon-slayers and true-love-to-supernatural-woman types, but basically this fills the underdog/everyman role which is usually not what you're looking for when you read paranormals. So a book or so in, they morph into something else or are are superceded by another character.
Angels are definition-of-good authority figures with occasional punish-wrong-doers duties. I'm not saying "daddy-issues", but I'm just saying.
Writing likable, authentic point-of-view characters takes skill. Doing so when the characters are supernaturals is tougher, because it shouldn't feel the same to be inside their head as it does to be inside a human's head. Someone, for example, who has been eating people for the past 250 years is going to have unusual emotional reactions to things. And that's why I think dragon shape-shifters are particularly prone to feeling unbelievable.
Dragons. They're what you get when you want someone wilder than a werewolf, more ancient than a vampire, more magical than an elf, and more alpha and a better fighter than all of them put together.
Because they're even more everything than all the other supernatural types put together, they're that much harder to make believable. But Thea Harrison, the genius, pulls it off. And she doesn't cheat by calling them dragons but then ignoring the things that make dragons dragon-y. No. HER dragon is as old as the solar system, a secretive, solitary, carnivore who hoards treasure, flies, and breathes fire. Shazam! She make's Pia's race work too, but telling you what that is is a spoiler (albeit one that you'll guess before Dragos does), so you'll just have to wait to see.
More in the Series
Dragon Bound
Storm's Heart: A thunderbird shapeshifter and a 300 year old dark fae princess - she makes them work too!
Serpent's Kiss: An immortal gryphon shapeshifter and the 1,000 year old Vampire Sorceress Queen - and it works too!
Oracle's Moon: A djinn demon prince and the oracle - not out yet, but I have it on pre-order
: A thunderbird shapeshifter and a 300 year old dark fae princess - she makes them work too!
: An immortal gryphon shapeshifter and the 1,000 year old Vampire Sorceress Queen - and it works too!
: A djinn demon prince and the oracle - not out yet, but I have it on pre-order