Older Readers

A Lady’s Submission (The Warriors of Ar’mora Book 1) by Frank Carlyle

 in Adult / Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Fiction / Older Readers by

Book CoverSummary

“Last of a clan that once ruled over a vast trade network and determined the fate of empires, Mahlon Arn, has the task of reclaiming a place once lost and now hidden within the jungled corridors of a tributary river that feeds into the mighty Amazon River. It’s a past that almost no one remembers except for the few who dare to return and once more reclaim all that once was and begin to build what is to become.

Journey deep into the jungle and follow the story of a warrior who reclaims a kingdom, only to ache for the completion of a prophecy spoken over him by a dying father. A prophecy that comes in the form of a red haired fantasy lady, who is born up the river by chance and circumstance or perhaps by Divine will, and that must be claimed and utterly brought into submission by the man, who has been tasked to not only reclaim a past but to build a future based on righteousness.

A Lady’s Submission is the beginning of a five book journey into the exotic realms of a place that has never been spoken of and is now just beginning to be realized through the lives of the five remaining blood heirs of the House of Arn, of the kindred of people known to the ancient world as the Ar’morians. This is a tale of overcoming faith and erotic conquest. A reality of an ancient place comes alive in this tale of Christian Erotic Themed Fantasy Fiction.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I was lucky enough to have Mr. Carlyle contact me over this book and ask me to read it and I’m so glad that he did because I really did enjoy this book. I will start off by saying that this is adult literature, as it is erotic themed. And while I don’t usually read blatant erotic literature (while Nalini Singh’s books (as well as others) do count but it’s much more than that), this one definitely needs to be reviewed.

First off, it’s written by a guy. I mean how rare is that?! All the erotic literature that I know is written by women, usually older women as the younger ones don’t want to write it, and so this book automatically caught my interest when I received the email as I was intrigued as to what a male author would be able to do with such a feminine topic. I have to say, I was definitely impressed. Instead of a lot of it being from the females perspective, it was mostly from the main male protagonist of the story which was quite interesting. I thought that reading about sexy thoughts from a guy would be strange, but it didn’t change how I read the story at all. It was just as enjoyable and an interesting touch. I wouldn’t have known that it was written by a guy at all and the different perspective was awesome. So kudos to Mr. Carlyle.

Next, this book falls into a new-ish category (one I’m not terribly familiar with) called Christian Erotic Themed Fantasy Fiction. Now, this is kind of interesting. It’s erotic literature with a christian twist which is different. This means that in the story the main female protagonist spent time praying to God and there were references to Jesus. Now I don’t have an opinion for or against something like this, but I know that some people may view strongly against this, due to the fact that sex and the bible don’t necessarily go hand in hand perfectly. No I’m not trying to start a war here, so please don’t bite my head off. I’m merely stating that when the bible and sex get mixed together, sometimes things can get messy which I respect and understand, but I don’t feel, that in this book, such a problem came up, so if that is a worry for a reader, I don’t believe that they need to feel that way. The writing was respectful and the incorporation of the religion and belief was interesting and added to the story in a very unique way. I was confused when God and Jesus references appeared, but once I realized the genre, then I understood instantly. So another bonus point for the author because he broke two barriers so far: being a male author and adding religious aspects.

Now, more about the story. It was a very decent story. It fit perfectly into the traditional erotic romance category. Think of a basic Harlequin novel, with the two aspects above mixed in, with a little historical kind of feel to it. For some reason, when reading it, I kept having this image of like Conan the Barbarian mixed with Game of Thrones going on. Maybe I’m just loosing my head but that’s what I was picturing the entire time.

The story was interesting and it was nice to see a real commitment between the male and the female. A lot of times the sex scenes which happen is more superfluous sex. I guess you could call it a hook-up a lot of the time and then the love develops through the novel. This one the love was there and it was an interesting story and development.

As a reader, I would have liked more of a story line, a little more something in the story, but that’s just a personal thing as I always like lots going on. But for erotic literature, this fit the bill perfectly in my opinion.

Overall, I thought it was fantastic and I would recommend it. It was only about 135 pages or so and I was able to read it in just over an hour or so (I read fast so maybe more like 2-3 for some readers) so it wasn’t a difficult read. I would say to check it out if you have some spare time and are looking for something. It is unique in my opinion and is different from other erotic literature stories, but not so different that it’s bad. A job well done in my opinion.

Happy Reading!

Debt Inheritance (Indebted #1) by Pepper Winters

 in Adult / Book Reviews / Books / Older Readers by

Indebted #1, Debt Inheritance Book Cover

Summary

“”I own you. I have the piece of paper to prove it. It’s undeniable and unbreakable. You belong to me until you’ve paid off your debts.”

Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Being the first born daughter, her life is forfeit to the first born son of the Hawks to pay for sins of ancestors past. The dark ages might have come and gone, but debts never leave. She has no choice in the matter.

She is no longer free.

Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his twenty-ninth birthday. Her life is his until she’s paid off a debt that’s centuries old. He can do what he likes with her–nothing is out of bounds–she has to obey.

There are no rules. Only payments.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This review is going to be extremely blunt and to the point and unlike any other ‘gentle’ review I’ve done before.

So that is my disclaimer.

I absolutely hated this book so much. The only reason that I actually finished reading it was because I was curious to see if it may get better due to the fact that so many people gave it a positive reviews and seemed to love it. This book falls into the dark romance genre, sub-genre is dark erotica and it completely fits into that genre, no questions asked. This book was pretty damn dark and that was one reason I hated it so much. I’ve read dark books before, more apocalyptic books, but this was dark sexually.

Technically the author is known as a BDSM writer (apparently according to research on her) and she has made the NY Times best seller list and a lot of people love her but this writing was just beyond messed up. No, there wasn’t any rape, per se, but there was a lot of coercion and sexual threats. The main characters were Nila and Jethro and I despised them both.

Jethro was cold and he was supposed to be hated, as that was his part, but he was beyond horrible. He was controlling all around, kind of like Mr. Grey from 50 Shades, although instead of readers having to infer that he was insane, it was blatantly obvious that Jethro was beyond screwed up in the head and I would define him as a psychopath. By the BDSM terms, based on the reviews I’ve read, he was considered to be a Dominant, but he was not even close to that. Jethro was a killer and more than a lot deranged in the head and I wanted to just run away from the book. But having a good and hated main character is great, so it was talent to make him hated so much, but my serious problem rested in Nila.

Nila was essentially Anastasia Steele, from 50 Shades, on steroids and a hell of a lot dumber. She knew, the moment that she met Jethro, that he was dangerous and didn’t have an option to say no to getting a drink with him, but everything after that went downhill. All of her ‘creep’ warning bells were going off and she was smart in the beginning, choosing to leave him (not a spoiler because it doesn’t affect the story), but then…THEN she decided to go back and met up with him to get revenge on a guy she didn’t even know. A little back story, she was texting a guy who had been a wrong number a long time back, and he pissed her off, a guy she didn’t even know, so she wanted ‘revenge’ or some rubbish like that.

As the story progressed, she pushed Jethro’s buttons soooooooo much. I mean, pardon my french, but she was a dumb bitch, big time. Sure, there are times you fight when you are technically being taken hostage, or kidnapped, but there are times you don’t push it. If you think your captor is going to snap and potentially kill you, you do NOT push the buttons of someone who would snap your neck in a second. Like no!

The story continued and eventually Nila was degraded to no more than a slave, due to a debt which had happened with the family hundreds of years back.

I kept thinking that maybe Nila had Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon where you have empathy, sympathy, or feelings towards your captor,  or something, but she knew what was happening was wrong, but would continue to push Jethro. AND THEN! IT GETS BETTER! She’s technically a captive and wants to have sex with Jethro. She doesn’t care that he is cruel. She’s just a lustful young woman who has ABSOLUTELY NO SELF-PRESERVATION SKILLS!

This absolutely infuriated me. I wanted to reach into the story and beat the hell out of her and tell her to wake up and stop being so god-damned stupid.

As you can gather, I absolutely hated this story. And I would NOT recommend it at all. It gives an extremely twisted view of sex as well as BDSM since apparently this has those qualities in the writing. I didn’t see it though – all I saw was some serious messed up stuff.

Yes, it was free on iBooks so that’s the only reason I downloaded, and I am so glad it was free because I’d be annoyed if I purchased it.

Best part(?!) is it is a series and there are 6 books in this series. Will I read them? Absolutely not. I don’t want to know where this story goes now and I can make my own ending.

So please, avoid this romance book at all costs unless you’re into dark erotic romance.

Happy reading!

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles) by Kresley Cole

 in Adult / Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Creative / Fantasy / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

“Watch your six, Reaper, I’m on the hunt.”
A rasping chuckle. -Your Death awaits.-

-Page 368

Poison Princess cover Summary

“22 Arcana cards. 22 Chosen Teens. Let the cards fall where they may.

Sixteen-year-old Evie Greene’s horrific hallucinations predicted the apocalypse, and the end of the world brought her all sorts of new powers. With the earth scorched and few survivors, Evie teams up with handsome and dangerous Jack Deveaux in a race to find answers. They discover that that an ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens have been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side… “

-From Kresley Cole’s website.

Review

Okay, this is just going to be an absolutely love fest. Because this book was absolutely fantastic! It was nothing like any of the other YA books I have read and it was just so well written. I will start off by saying that this is definitely an older YA book because of certain themes as well as some of the violent content. There are no curse words, and the few curse words that are used, Cole cleverly changes up so that she switches letters around to make the word something different. If you know the word then you’ll know what it should be, but if you don’t, it will just look like some made up curse word, which is extremely clever.

The violence in the book is a little graphic at times. Especially when it jumps to the present day. How the story is set up is that the main character, Evangeline, is telling the story to someone who welcomes her into the home and by the end of the story, the past has been told and her arriving in the home is the present and that is where the book ends to set up for the next book in the series. Parts of the themes in the book, especially the guy who she is telling the story to in the present, is extremely creepy and pulled on some nasty themes. There are a lot of implications of rape, though nothing happens. A younger reader wouldn’t completely get that but as an older reader, you know exactly what is being implied. Then the guy who she is telling the story to, think of like one of the creepier episodes of Criminal Minds (I hope most people know this show) and think of how twisted they get with dungeons and torture. That is kind what the guy is like, so it gets a little brutal.

Now the rest of the story is just lots of apocalypse stuff. Something happens, called The Flash, and everything goes to shit, essentially. You’re never clear exactly what The Flash was, but you’re told it was a solar flare, though it’s never clear exactly what caused it, and leaves questions to be answered later on in the series. Out in the world, there are some horrible people, and some nasty themes brought up again. Mentions of cannibalism as well as the enslavement of women too. It seems like during The Flash, when most people were killed, a lot of them were women, so women were scarce, so they were wanted by slavers and stuff. Younger readers would just think that women were special though older readers would know exactly what was going on.

The two main characters, Evangeline and Jackson, are traveling together and it follows them from when they met before The Flash to surviving together after it. There is some great character development between the two of them and a lot of advances as well as steps back too, though I did sometimes want to smack Jackson so damn hard. There was definitely some sexual undertones going on, sometimes a little more prevalent, so you can definitely say that there is a romance theme to the book, but it is by no means a major theme in the book at all.

I also really like the fact that this is called The Arcana Chronicles. I have never once read a book about the Arcana cards. I have once seen an anime about the Arcana cards, Arcana Famiglia and it was really good, but besides that I have not seen anything about these cards and this was totally awesome!

Overall this was a fantastic book and I definitely do recommend it. I can’t read the second and third book for a little bit as I have to wait for my next school break, so I’ll have to wait for the new year, and until then it’s going to kill me, this wait.

But until then, definitely check this series out and enjoy it!

Happy Reading!

The Young Elites (A Young Elites Novel) by Marie Lu

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Older Readers / Young Adult by

The Young Elites book cover Summary

“From the New York Times bestselling author of the Legend series 

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.”

-Qtd. from the Amazon.com

Review

So I’m back for Thanksgiving break and get a little bit of down time. Well…down time between writing research papers, studying and other bits and pieces, but I’ve found time to read! And it’s beautiful. I stopped by my local library, of course, and went to the recommended reading section as I just wanted something that looked good and was recommended and while I was going through the shelf, I picked this book up and my YA librarians voice carried over to me. “I just finished that one and it’s really good!” I didn’t need any more motivation to give it a book. If it’s on the recommended reading shelf and my librarian suggests it, I’m totally down to read it, and boy am I glad that I did. It’s exactly what I wanted!

So this book follows the protagonist and she essentially doesn’t fit into the society because of what she is, a malfetto. Malfettos are creatures that essentially had a sickness when they are younger and now have magical abilities and are marked. The people of the world view them more demonic because they get their abilities, in a way, from the gods. So of course they are naturally terrified of them and the governing people want them gone, but for other reasons. A small group of malfettos, known as The Young Elites want to overthrow the government due to the fact that they are surpassed. They also constantly look out for others who have abilities that are as powerful as theirs and such. That is where the protagonist comes in. She catches the eye of them and is brought in to use her abilities, though they are not exactly what they were expecting. Instead of just being abilities, they draw on emotions that are way stronger than expected, such as hate and fear with a mixture of passion, and some view that as an explosive mixture. Thus, she is unstable and it follows her journey of her time with the group and is, of course, a cliff hanger to lead into the second book, The Rose Society (which I still have to read).

Overall I thought this book was fantastic! It was a fantasy book, more medieval in nature, and that is why I loved it so much. I have always enjoyed books with the supernatural/fantasy element to them and this was perfect because it brought in YA protagonists. I will say that there are some more mature themes in this, such as brothels and hints towards gay relations, so I do recommend it for older YA readers, but other than that it was fantastic.

It was nice how the main characters developed and it kept you on your toes. Not everyone was who you thought they were and you weren’t always able to figure that out, which is nice. Sometimes in books you can see certain things coming and other times not, and this was definitely a ‘you-cannot-totally-see-it-coming’ book. But that was why I loved it! It kept you guessing as to what was going to happen and who was going to try to kill who.

There was also a little bit of romance in the book but nothing that it distracted you from everything going on. It was a nice little side thing going on but it wasn’t to the point that this could be called a romance book by any means thought it was also there enough to keep you interested and wondering what may happen as well.

It wasn’t a huge book, only about 344 pages which is average for a YA book and I read it in a few hours, which is just me. But it is also quite a simple read which is nice as well. The sentence structure wasn’t difficult to follow and it fit perfectly in the modern YA genre.

And that ending! Ugh. Don’t even get me started. I need the next one like ASAP!!!

Honestly, I thought this was a fantastic book and I can’t wait to read the next one! It just came out in October so it’s definitely hot off the press. I’m also excited to read her other series, The Legend Trilogy, the first book which I already have and am ready to start-up as soon as possible!

Happy reading!

Archangel’s Enigma by Nalini Singh

 in Adult / Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Older Readers / Otherworldly by
Book cover Archangel's Enigma by Nalini Singh a forest scene slashed with eyes peering through

Archangel’s Enigma Nalini Singh

Summary

“Naasir is the most feral of the powerful group of vampires and angels known as the Seven, his loyalty pledged to the Archangel Raphael. When rumors surface of a plot to murder the former Archangel of Persia, now lost in the Sleep of the Ancients, Naasir is dispatched to find him. For only he possesses the tracking skills required – those more common to predatory animals than to man.

Enlisted to accompany Naasir, Andromeda, a young angelic scholar with dangerous secrets is fascinated by his nature – at once playful and brilliant, sensual and brutal. As they race to find the Sleeping archangel before it’s too late, Naasir will force her to question all she knows…and tempt her to walk into the magnificent, feral darkness of his world. But first they must survive an enemy vicious enough to shatter the greatest taboo of the angelic race and plunge the world into a screaming nightmare…

– From Amazon.com

Review

Oh.My.God!!!!! LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND!!!!!!! This book arrived at my University at like 11 in the morning and I got all my homework done so that I could read this book and I read it in like literally 5 hours. All my friends are like ‘what? how?!’.

But like UGH! I have to wait about 2 years to get the next book and that is like so depressing! So much character love and I’m literally in love with Naasir because he’s so adorable! He’s like a damn cub and I just want to meet him and nuzzle him and just like…UGH!!!! My fangirling with this book, and the series, is strong.

So overall this story followed on from where the last one left off with Lijuan destroyed Manhattan and Lijuan was partially destroyed. So, essentially it followed that Lijuan was a complete bitch and then became more of a bitch and then this followed her wanting to prove herself to others and take over the world. Again.

But this time the main characters are Naasir and Andromeda (and I completely love that name by the way!) and how Naasir is looking for a mate but Andromeda has a vow of celibacy and so it follows the two of them on their journey to save an Ancient (if you read the books you’ll know what that is) from Lijuan. It had all the traditional story points which came up in the other books but there was also a twist with Illium which I can’t spill, but in the end I just sat there like “WHATTTTT?!” I’m dying and I cannot wait until the next book comes out.

I honestly cannot give high enough praises to this book. There was a lot less violence in this book, compared to the other ones where there was a lot of dead bodies. I mean there was violence and such, but it wasn’t as bad and graphic (not like the sex was graphic before-ish but the violence was more gruesome), and the sex didn’t come until towards the end of the book which was a change. It was similar to the last book in the series, Archangel’s Shadows, how there was not a lot of sex and that it was really quite tame. Teasing, yes, but explicit sex, not really, which was nice.

Overall my praise cannot be higher for this series. Yes, I am biased, but if you find the Facebook groups which are filled with follows of Ms. Singh and her books, you’ll find that I am not the only person who loves her books (granted they are all women). I give this book a million out of 5 stars! As I did with all the other books. Definitely check this book out and let me know what you think of it! I hope you like it as much as I do.

Happy reading!

>Goes off to cry as she realizes she has to wait about 2 years until the next book comes out<