couldn’t put it down


Dark Lover: The First Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward

Summary

“The only purebred vampire left on the planet and the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who killed his parents centuries ago. But when his most trusted fighter is killed—orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate—Wrath must put down his dagger and usher the beautiful female into another world.

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of the Brotherhood and blood frighten her. Yet his touch ignites a dawning new hunger—one that threatens to consume them both….”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Okay….brace for serious fangirling.

THIS BOOK WAS TOTALLY AWESOME. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! I CAN’T EVEN! LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH I’M IN LOVE. This and Nalini Singh’s series are definitely my favorites!

This and the Guild Hunters series are so similar in so many ways. The writing styles aren’t the same, but the fuzzy feeling I get in my tummy is….Oh…wait….that’s with most romance novels xD

Anyway. This story had badass guys, kick-ass women, and a really good story. There are 9 books in the series and one insiders guide and the next two in the series are on their way…and I’m dying to read them (update: reading the next one now and almost done xD).

The romance in this series wasn’t explicit or anything like that. They didn’t use really any crude words and it was all pretty gentle unlike some other things I’ve read in the past. Honestly there isn’t tons to say about this book and its series because it’s just so good and I’m literally in love and there are 9 books.

One thing that I do like is that the author has created another world completely. In the beginning of each book is a few pages with definitions of words that you may need to know for the book; definitions of words that relate to the vampiric culture in this particular series and I always love when they do that. You have the generic idea of vampires, then you have the Twilight vampires, Dracula vampires, Van Helsing vampires, and then you have vampires from books that are based off these types of creatures. In romance books they usually make them more sexy and deadly…not sparkly. So I love the vampires in this series and also in Singh’s as they use the same idea.

In addition to this I LOVE the character names and how they twist their spelling. Wrath is Wrath; can’t really go wrong there. But then you have Zsadist, Thorment, Phury, Rhage (I believe there is another or two but I can’t remember their names right now x.x) I really liked that because you still have those really bad-ass names with this awesome spelling.

Anyway, if you like romance, then this is definitely a book for you. It’s obviously supernatural and I know that some people don’t like it, but this doesn’t have a serious supernatural feel to it. The vampires are mostly human except for a few things that they can do and drinking blood is not common in the novel; in fact it’s extremely rare which is nice.

So enjoy and happy reading!

 


Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh

Okay. So this is going to be on MASSIVE post about the ENTIRE Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh because there were 7 books (not including the novellas which I still have to read) and I feel that one LARGE post would be good. Otherwise you will see 7 posts of me ABSOLUTELY FANGIRLING!!!!!!!!

I. AM. SO. IN. LOVE. WITH. THIS. SERIES.

I will say this now. This is a mature reader series as there is graphic violence and….quite graphic sex scenes so this is a 17/18 year old or older book…NOT YA AT ALL!

MATURE READERS ONLY!

So lets start with the books in the series. They are…..

  • Angels’ Blood
  • Archangel’s Kiss
  • Archangel’s Consort
  • Archangel’s Blade (side story with one of the main characters)
  • Archangel’s Storm (side story with another one of the main characters)
  • Archangel’s Legion
  • Archangel’s Shadows (comes out in November 2014!!!! Another side story)

Click here to see the covers and read the descriptions of the stories on Nalini Singhs website.

Okay ~ So now it is time for my serious fangirling review.

This is currently my favorite series out there by a LONGGGG way. I found this story on one of the romance shelves in B&N and I was interested so I bought it. I thought it would be stupid romance or something like that. Boy was I SOOOO wrong. This is one of the most detailed love stories I have read by a modern writer. The romance was a small part on the side. Well…it was a massive part of the story, but there was so much going on that it played only a small role in the overall story.

The character development in this story was absolutely massive. The characters developed drastically from book to book, or in the side books, over the course of the entire book. Some characters personalities flip-flop, or do 180’s…or even a 360. Most romance novels has the main female character fall for a man and it was just all head over heels after that.

This honestly catered to all the different types of tastes out there. There was romance, hatred, betrayal, violence and just so much going on.

I will say that the violence was very graphic though. It was like written, “The blood coated the walls.” It would have been something like, “The blood pattern on the walls indicated that there had been a massive fight, the crimson droplets adding a chilling quality to the already dull room. The corpse on the floor, which was mutilated beyond recognition, was the other indication that the fight had been brutal and someone had clearly lost.” (No duh, I was just making some junk up for this.)Now…it would have gone into detail about the corpse in great detail…so if you aren’t into violence and such like that..then this may not be for you because it was a very large part of the story.

Since this series is so long and complex, you really get attached to the characters really fast. Each character is connected to another one and they pop up here and there throughout each of the stories, with some of the minor characters in the main series of books, getting books to themselves (like Dimitri and Jason). I really liked that because you got to know the character as one type of person in one book, but in their individual novel, you saw who they truly were and it changed your perception on them as you understood where certain actions came from and why their personality was as it was.

Honestly I loved the series and I recommend that you read it but please over the age of 17/18 as otherwise it is quite inappropriate.

Otherwise happy reading!


Archangel’s Blade (Guild Hunter) by Nalini Singh

Summary

“Trying to discover the identity of a murder victim brings together the vampire Dmitri and a hunter for the Guild, Honor. And as the gruesome murders continue, a lethal sensuality explodes between them.”

– From Amazon.com

Review

This is not the type of book that I would usually read but I am glad that I read this one. Yes, it is part of a series and this is not the first book, as I wasn’t aware that it was a series when I started it, but you didn’t need to read the other ones to understand it. I am waiting for the first book to arrive at my library so you can be expecting a review of the ENTIRE series sometime soon.

This book was incredible. It was romance, but that wasn’t the entire premises of the story. Most romance novels don’t have a story except the exploding relationship between a man and a woman. This had SO much more. There was a story behind it, lots of characters,  LOTS of character development, and just so much happening overall.

This story kept me turning pages and wanting to read more because of what was happening. Dimitri was such an incredible character. He was charming, sexy, but deadly underneath. Kinda like an immortal bad-boy XD . I did sometimes want to smack him because he was hard-headed but he was also quite persistent. He was also quite arrogant. But that is kinda understandable considering he was a 1,000 year old vampire. Then there was the main girl character, Honor.

She was such a strong character and I loved that about her. Often these types of novels write the main character as wimpy and weak and submits to the man, but Honor did not do that at all. She stood up to Dimitri and wouldn’t fall to his special ‘powers’. She constantly tried to kick his ass and used words to keep him in check. She did a pretty good job at it and that intrigued him because no one had ever said no to him before.

But besides there being just vampires there were angels and they were pretty cool as well. This book didn’t focus on them even though the first book does, so I can’t comment on them too much, but I will talk about them later in the other reviews

But the vampires in this novel were quite interesting. As most of the times that vampires are portrayed (except in Twilight), they had a thirst for blood and sex. But then there was Dimitri. He had been like that until he met Honor and everything changed. She reminded him of his wife who had died when he was still a human (I believe), about 1,000 years ago or so.

So the entire story was about their relationship and them dancing around each other, testing the waters and such. And then the ending was like a brick wall to the face. I WASN’T EXPECTING IT! I was shocked to a whole new level.

But wow! It was incredible. This book is definitely mature YA, about 17/18 or older because of some of the sexual themes and some of the violence which got pretty graphic a few times.

I recommend that you read it but probably start with the first one of the series Angel’s Blood. But if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world. I do recommend that you read this but it is for MATURE READERS ONLY!


Embrace by Jessica Shirvington (Embrace Series)

Summary

“It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, EMBRACE is a compelling novel of good and evil, seductive desires and impossible choices. A centuries old war between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity chooses a new fighter. It’s a battle Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. If angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden.

LINCOLN: He’s been Violet’s one anchor, her running partner and kickboxing trainer. Only he never told her he’s Grigori—part human, part angel—and that he was training her for an ancient battle between Angels and Exiles.

PHOENIX: No one knows where his loyalties lie, yet he’s the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln’s lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray.

Two sides: Angel or Exile.
Two guys: Lincoln or Phoenix.
The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity…”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I have to say, I think that this is my new favorite series now. I have been reading a lot of angel and demon literature recently and absolutely love it and so I saw this sitting on the shelf in B&N the other day and just had to pick it up. The cover was what got me initially because the color of it stood out from the rest and so it sparked me to pick it up. Reading the back made it sound interesting as well. I always love a good romance and fight between the two boys for one girl (I mean what lucky girl wouldn’t?)

And I have to say, I really love this book. It had EVERYTHING that I was looking for. Action, romance, love, desire, troubles and great character development. You really saw the main character, Violet, develop through the entire story and face troubles and have to conquer her own problems.

You then had her good friend, Lincoln, who was her trusty friend and loved her but had lied to her, thus breaking the trust and hurting Violet severely. Linc was still there for her but Violet couldn’t trust him anymore. That was when Phoenix stepped in.

He was a rock to stand with and she trusted him. The only problem, he’s was an angel. Doesn’t really matter whether he was an angel of light or dark, but he had powers. He tried to manipulate her from day one and in the beginning she knew that, but as time passed it seemed like he was backing off with the powers and that it really was love. Oh, the poor naive girl.

You also had some other great characters. Griffin who was the mentor and you just loved and thought was awesome. He reminded me of Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (anyone out there a fan….or even remember that TV show?).You also had a woman, Magda, who I just wanted to smack a few times. She was kind of obnoxious but you didn’t get to know much about her which I was happy about.

Then there was also the romance.

O.O

Just wow. I mean Phoenix loved her and he really did seem to, but manipulated her slightly (sometimes a lot). Lincoln absolutely loved her as well and showed it and did everything that he could to stop Phoenix from being with her and in the end, was right (but won’t say how hehe).

There was also a nice fight between Lincoln and Violet when she got to let out some pent-up anger, and then an epic fight in the end between the good and dark (won’t say who :P).

The fight scenes were put together quite well, but maybe a little more detail would have been good. I understand that it really is quite hard to write a good fight scene (believe me, I’ve tried and it takes practice), but the good thing about leaving it a little vague was that you got to use your imagination. But god forbid, the younger generation now a days can’t do that. I love using my imagination which is why I love to write so I didn’t mind it at all, but I know others won’t find it as easy.

There was some romance in it that was more than what younger readers should know about. Sex was mentioned, but it was very vague. So for that reason I recommend this book for 16 and up. And I don’t think that language was an issue, if I remember correctly. Just some using the Lord’s name in vain….but I mean it did fit the situation and events.

But I have to say, overall, I just absolutely LOVED the book and am totally in love with this author. I had never come across her works but I saw this book next to one of her newer ones and I just had to buy the first two books (just starting the second one now). I really never buy series books just because my library usually has then, but I am so glad that I did buy them. It was a good choice on my part.

So please do go and check out this book as it was amazing and I am sure that you will love it. It is fast paced, exciting, and a page turned. I finished it in a day and it is a 369 paged book. So proud of myself. 😛

I am also really happy that angel/demon books seem to be making a come back and seem to be doing well. They are always interesting to read and fun to write as well (yup……….I have no life). But they aren’t too religious so you don’t have to worry about those issues. This book talked about God but the protagonist didn’t even believe in God in the beginning and never went to church. So you can write books about angel’s, heaven, and hell and not have to make it religious. But I am sure that many people will love this book.

Read and enjoy. Happy Reading!


Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

“He is nothing. The mission is everything.”

Summary

“They needed the perfect assassin.

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn’t stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend’s family to die-of “natural causes.” Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.

But when he’s assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program’s mission.

In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.”

-from Amazon.com

Review

I will start off by saying that this book was quite unlike any other book that I have read. It was written differently, there were more flashbacks, and it just, overall, had a completely different feel. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, because I feel that for this book, it worked quite well and fit in with the overall theme.

It was quite a fast paced book, even though the majority of the book only spanned over about 5 days. In those five days a lot happened…..betrayal, mysteries, rebellion, death! It definitely kept you on your toes until the very last page. The entire time you thought it was one thing, but by the time you got to the last page…you were like ‘whatttttt’.

And then after the book, you were left sitting there thinking how quickly everything escalated.

There was very little dialogue in this book which is completely different from most books. If I remember correctly, this entire book was in first person point of view, but it was mostly feeling, thoughts, and things that the main character saw. Since this was a kind of secret espionage, soldier, mysterious thing-y (yes, I used that word) book, it really did add to it.

The only thing which I found a little confusing was when there was a flashback. There was nothing to really indicate that it was a flash back; no font changes or little things in the beginning to say what year it was or where it was. If you pay attention you will get it, but if you skim chapter, then you will be lost. SO DON’T DO IT! (you probably shouldn’t be anyway)

This is a hot off the press, as it only came out in June of this year, so if you look for it, it will probably be on your new YA shelf.

You should definitely go and check this book out as it was really an extremely well written book!

If you love stuff to do with government’s (or mysterious Programs) and where the main character is a young teenager (in this case, a young boy (about 16 I believe)), then this is definitely your type book. Also it is a quick read so with all of the school work, you will still be able to finish it in a few days.

So go and check this one out and let me know what you think.