The Invisible Library: 2 Stars

Author: Genevieve Cogman
Length: 10 long hours, 31 painful minutes
This book was a total flop for me, which is such a bummer because it had such great potential. I fell in love with the premise and when the book had a price drop last year I snatched it up. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations at all. The storyline was completely confusing and mindboggling, with the librarian Irene and her trainee Kai chasing down a missing book for unknown reasons and every circumstance possible managing to get in their way. The action was painfully underwhelming and didn’t do the story any favors. Instead of being exciting, the magic that the librarians have the ability to perform in some cases was written in a way that made it the exact opposite. How can cyborg, mind-controlled alligators, evil faeries and a rogue librarian who hijacks human skin be uninteresting?? I was bored out of my mind for 99% of the story with the 1% being the climax and part of my interest stemming from the fact that I knew the book was FINALLY going to end.

I think I wanted this to be like the Chronicles of St. Mary's series (see Just One Damned Thing After Another) which is the case when I come across any sort of time/dimension travel storyline, because that series is epically exciting. That’s never, ever the case and I never seem to learn my lesson.

Darkfever (Fever, #1): 4 Stars

Author: Karen Marie Moning
Length: 342 pgs.
So I finally got around to reading Darkfever and finding out what all the fuss is about!

This is one of the smarter urban fantasies I’ve read. The writing is really good. Details and definitions of magical items and beings are meant to be catalogued in the reader’s mind and remembered. And, surprisingly (to me), it’s pretty freakin’ scary.

The main character, Mac, becomes introduced to the faerie world after her sister is murdered. We’re given information little by little as it’s learned firsthand by Mac, so we share in her strange fascination with all this new and overwhelming knowledge. I loved Mac and her uniqueness, the way her peppiness and style clashed with those around her. She may be in a completely new world with no idea what the hell was going on but she definitely stayed true to herself throughout the book.

I loved that she and Jericho weren’t insta-lovers. In fact they’re completely the opposite, but they both must use the other to get the information they’re seeking.

I loved the faerie history with its creepy Unseelies, the super freaky Gray Man and the unprecedented V’Lane. Basically the whole world that was created here. No wonder this book is so popular and the series so beloved. I was not expecting it to be so dark but that made me love it even more. I can’t wait to get to #2 and find out what happens next.

Fashionably Dead (Hot Damned #1): 4 Stars

Author: Robyn Peterman
Length: 323 pgs.
This book was a lot of fun and completely unexpected! When it started I was taking it seriously…then the character was turned into a vampire by a hypnotist, met her guardian angel who looks (and talks) like Oprah and a faerie physical trainer who is a replica of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and began getting drafted into sorority-like vampire houses with gift bags. Cut to her seeing demon-like creatures on her ceiling and her friend finding out she’s some sort of faerie royalty and I realized this is not the kind of book to take seriously. It made me laugh out loud throughout the story and the action moved along really quickly. Despite its bonkers character list the writer managed to bring me to tears at a few points and throw in some little twists throughout to remind you that it’s a continuing series and there’s more good stuff to come.

I got the first book as a freebie from Amazon and added narration which was awesome and probably made me love it 10x more. The next book is not free but definitely reasonably priced so this series will go on my TBR!

Good to read if you love paranormal but are in the mood for something lighter!

Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter #1): 3 Stars

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Length: 309 pgs.
This was an okay read for me. I enjoyed it-but there were a few things that turned me off about the book.

The writing seemed a little more befitting of young adult or something along those lines. I’ve read a lot of PNR lately and found superior writing in other books like Pure Healing and Mated in Treason. That’s not to say the writing is bad. Maybe other people who have read the book will know what I mean. It just feels very bare-minimum at times and moves from day to day very quickly, but on the upside that made the book easy to get through. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that this is light reading.

Additionally in the beginning of the book the writer mentions some things offhand that confused me and made me doublecheck that this actually was the first book in the series and I hadn’t missed a prequel or something. It has to do with a character named Julian and his origins. She also very casually adds bits and pieces about Amanda’s sisters being involved in magic/supernatural forces in one way or another, but doesn’t ever talk about how this began or why Amanda’s family is like this which would’ve been very interesting to know. And then we meet Julian’s parents, and I was completely thrown off by that. Again, I checked to see that I hadn’t missed another book, but no, this is the first book in the series.

I did like the history of the Dark-Hunters that the writer created. Each vampire series has its own world-building and history and I liked the mythology aspect of this one with the addition of the Apollites and the other gods/goddesses who made appearances or were mentioned. That was definitely a plus for me that the author managed to combine mythology and paranormal in a unique way. I love that she imagined up different types of Hunters and Vampires!

I liked the ending and the little twist thrown in by the author there even if I did suspect that Amanda was up to something just before the climax. Overall I did enjoy this book and may continue the series at some point.

Mated in Treason (Kan Asma #1): 4 Stars

Length: 339 pgs.
Author: Christa Paige

This book was generously gifted to me by the author, Christa Paige, due to our longstanding friendship. Just kidding, I basically begged her for it and am so happy that she obliged!

With so many books out there in this genre, it's hard for a story stand out, but Mated in Treason is one of my favorite PNR books that I've ever read. The vampire world constructed here is unique to anything else I've come across for many reasons; one of them being that in this world (the world of Kan Asma) you can't choose your mate. Women must go through a horrific testing process followed by a goblet ceremony that ultimately binds them to their lifelong mate based on a DNA match and Council-selected applicants. Whether they love that person or not doesn't matter. They could be mated to someone and live a long, miserable life together, bound by resentment and unhappiness. Nadia's parents, for example, have been married most of their lives and share a child together, but not a bed-or even a bedroom.

Nadia is a female vampire who is nearing 40, works as a nurse in a vampire hospital and lives with her parents. Her mother anxiously awaits her goblet ceremony but Nadia feels otherwise when she meets Gunnar, who ends up in her hospital after being injured in an explosion. The attraction is instant as is their chemistry, but they both know there's no chance of them being mated by the Council due to their difference in social status.

That doesn't keep them from ultimately starting a secret relationship however. While this is going on Nadia's chosen for a Goblet ceremony and the archaic process she's put through during her DNA testing is disturbing to say the least. There's also an underground revolt brewing against the ruling members of Kan Asma, and Nadia and Gunnar soon find themselves among this faction.

I was on pins and needles throughout the book wondering how they were going to get themselves out of their mess, how Nadia was going to avoid a goblet ceremony-IF she managed to avoid it-and how they were both going to escape the faction without harm. Christa Paige is excellent at creating a tense environment - at about 75% I knew something wasn't right, and so did Nadia and Gunnar, but how exactly it was going to play out was anyone's guess.

I wish I could do the book justice with my review but there's so many aspects of the story that I loved from the writing to the origin of the Kan Asma, to Nadia & Gunnar together, to Nadia herself as a relatable character, to the Kan Asma hierarchy and traditions. I would recommend this book if you enjoy this genre because it will likely end up being a favorite. I will definitely be continuing this series.

Reviews to come

Corrupt, finished 04/10/18 (audiobook)

Darkfever, finished 04/10/18

Shifters (Jade Forest Chronicles #1): 2.5 stars

Author: Vivienne Neas
Length: 105 pgs.

(Setting record for shortest review)

A just-okay prequel novella to the Jade Forest Chronicles series. Wasn't feeling the insta-chemistry between the were and the fae and too much time was spent at the beginning discussing some land that was up for grabs and why this group or that group should get their hands on it. Nothing really grabbed me enough to want to continue the series.

The Vow (Lords of Action #1): 3.5 Stars

Author: K.J. Jackson
Length: 292 pgs.
3.5 stars

I picked this up as an Amazon freebie and read it as a Book of the Month with my Freebie chicks!

This was a pleasant surprise of a book. I'm glad it was chosen as BOTM because I wouldn't have gotten to it otherwise and it would just be stewing on my TBR. It tells the story of Ara and Caine, who are brought together after a mistaken rescue at a brothel virgin sale. Ara ends up working for Caine running his household, and together they run a secret operation rescuing other girls who are put up for sale. Over 6 years they rescue countless girls and fall in love in the process.

Of course neither Caine nor Ara admit their feelings for each other, and a lot of the book is frustrating in that they both push the other one away in mistaken attempts to do the honorable thing. This misunderstanding goes on for quite a while and you want to yell at them to JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. Seriously, a quick honest conversation could clear all of this up.

Fortunately while they're stewing over their suppressed feelings, there are other things going on. Word of their undercover operation may be getting leaked somehow, threatening both of their reputations and putting them and their rescued girls in danger. Caine learns he must find a wife in order to keep his estate afloat. And Ara is haunted by a horrifying secret she's been keeping about something that happened in the brothel all those years ago.

A few nice twists were thrown in which caught me off-guard and enhanced the story. Overall it was an enjoyable historical romance with a little mystery to keep it interesting.

Pestilence (The Four Horsemen #1): 4 Stars

Author: Laura Thalassa
Length: 382 pgs.
This book gave me all the feels.

I was able to read this via Kindle Unlimited. I started reading it mostly out of curiosity – a book about one of the four horseman bringing on the apocalypse? And he gets it on (supposedly) with a human female? And it has great ratings? How and why does all this come about?

Of course it was written much better than that. All my questions were answered and curiosities put to rest. I loved the main characters – Sara Burns and Pestilence (and let’s not forget Trixie Skillz). After Sara’s actions bring them irreversibly together, she and Pestilence journey through mostly evacuated cities as Pestilence spreads plague in his task to wipe out the human race. Along the way, the unlikely pair encounter drastically different members of the human race. They experience hostility, fear, hatred, and-most surprisingly of all-understanding and forgiveness. The author was great at bringing so many emotions to the page, emotions that are in turn seamlessly absorbed by the reader.

While reading this story I laughed, I cried, I felt alternately hopeful and saddened for the human race depicted by Laura Thalassa (which, let’s face it, isn’t so far off from reality). I really wasn’t sure how everything was going to wrap up and what kind of ending I had coming. Fortunately, the ending that we get is so much better than I could’ve hoped for. It was perfect and completely warmed my heart.

4 stars, definitely recommend reading for yourself because it’s hard to review without spoiling everything.

Audio Add-Ons

So I can't go too long without checking out my audio companions, I'm such a sucker. Today I added on narration to three of the kindle books I own:

I picked this book up as an Amazon freebie, narration was $1.99.
A smokin’ hot British player…
A jilted girl…
One night of mistaken identity…

Two weeks before her wedding, Remi Montague’s fiancé drops her faster than a drunken sorority girl in stilettos. Armed with her best friend and a bottle of tequila, she hops a plane to London to drown her sorrows before fall semester begins at Whitman University.

She didn't plan on attending a masquerade party. She sure didn’t plan on waking up next to the British bad boy who broke her heart three years ago—the devastatingly handsome and naked Dax Blay. Furthermore, she has no clue how they acquired matching tattoos.

Once back at Whitman together, they endeavor to pretend they never had their night of unbridled passion in London.

But that’s damn hard to do when you live in the same house…

One night. Two damaged hearts. The passion of a lifetime.

Also a freebie! Narration was $2.99.
Victorian London: For five years, Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn't raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time, her father banished her. This time, she brings even more trouble upon herself.

People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her.

Lincoln Fitzroy is the mysterious head of a secret organization on the trail of a madman who needs a necromancer to control his newly "made" creatures. There was only one known necromancer in the world - Charlotte - but now there appears to be two. Lincoln captures the willful Charlie in the hopes the boy will lead him to Charlotte. But what happens when he discovers the boy is in fact the young woman he's been searching for all along? And will she agree to work for the man who held her against her will, and for an organization she doesn't trust?

Because Lincoln and his ministry might be just as dangerous as the madman they're hunting.

I am most excited about this one! I purchased the kindle book for 99 cents and it was chosen for me to read as a Buddy Pick in my favorite Goodreads group a few months back- I think December, but I never got to it. It's on the longer side at 460 pages so the audiobook will help me get to it quicker and through it faster. I splurged a bit on this one - audio companion was $7.49. That's pretty much the typical going rate for all my books so I don't tend to purchase them at that price, but this book has been on the top of my TBR for a while.
Erika:
I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.

His name is Michael Crist.

My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.

But I noticed him.

I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.

Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.

Because he’s finally noticed me.

Michael:
Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.

My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.

Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.

In my city.

Unprotected.

The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.

We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.