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The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne [Book Review] 15

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Summary

He is known only as The Rook. A man with no name, no past, no memories. He awakens in a mass grave, a magnificent dragon tattoo on his muscled forearm the sole clue to his mysterious origins. His only hope for survival―and salvation―lies in the deep, fiery eyes of the beautiful stranger who finds him. Who nurses him back to health. And who calms the restless demons in his soul…

A LEGENDARY LOVE

Lorelai will never forget the night she rescued the broken dark angel in the woods, a devilishly handsome man who haunts her dreams to this day. Crippled as a child, she devoted herself to healing the poor tortured man. And when he left, he took a piece of her heart with him. Now, after all these years, The Rook has returned. Like a phantom, he sweeps back into her life and avenges those who wronged her. But can she trust a man who’s been branded a rebel, a thief, and a killer? And can she trust herself to resist him when he takes her in his arms?

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book caught my attention on one of the stands in my library, just because it was the only romance novel on it and I haven’t read a bodice ripper book in a while. Most of the romance, if not all, that I read are by Nalini Singh, and when I say romance in this context, I’m talking about adult romance. I read fantasy romance and YA romance all the time, but I am REALLY REALLY picky about adult romance, a.k.a. erotic novels. 

Most of them have the girl needing the guy and pining after him to be saved. Like blech. If that’s your thing, then go for it, but I need me a girl who can kick butt and take names. So far I’ve only seen that in the Black Dagger Brotherhood and The Guild Hunters Series (suggestions are always welcome!).

So, I picked this book up because I hadn’t read one of these kinds in a while and I said why not.

The beginning had me a little weirded out – they were kids?!
So the first few chapters of the book were really unclear as to what was going on. I thought that the main character was an adult and was talking to the injured man, later named Ash. Turns out, she was like 14 while she was helping this dude and he was probably about 17 or something. So I was incredibly creeped out with some of the statements that Lorelei was making such as she was feeling things in her body she had never felt. Now, I get that that happens to young girls when they meet a cute guy, but writing about it for adults in a potentially sexual content made me a little weirded out. Additionally, their personalities did not match with their ages. I had no idea she was 14, especially with the way she was thinking as well as speaking until she blatantly stated that she was 14. So that kind of turned me off the book and I skipped ahead a bit until I found the adult age sections.

A little bit…rapey?
I kept getting this vibe, later on, that The Rook was kind of rapey towards Lorelei. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind when it’s like a dominant male scenario, but this, I felt, was a little beyond that. He kept saying he wanted her, kept referencing forcing her and such. But then suddenly the angle would change and it would become like they were old friends. Or that he never wanted to hurt her or something. Um, okay, you just abducted her so…that’s kind of off the table already.

Tough guy to broken and in love.
The Rook, or Ash, was this tough guy. I keep envisioning the Black Dagger Brotherhood characters – all big and muscly and scary and grrrr. But you never really got a good description of what he looked like so I just kind of made it up. He was a pirate, which was like what? And he conquered so much stuff in a short span of time and lived through all this horrible stuff. Like, okay, not terribly believable but okay. But as the book progressed, he’s like all tough and then suddenly he’s all weak and stuff and wanting her to love him. I get when someone opens up and reveals their inner heart, but it was just so sudden. One second he’s like “I’m the worst thing in the world” to “I love you Lorelie – please help me Obi-wan, you are my only hope.” Ugh, come on!

Overall, not terribly impressed.
Maybe my views have changed, and maybe my tastes as well, but overall this book was just so meh. I’ve read fanfiction with better developed stories than this. I’m sorry, it just really wasn’t my cup of tea. It was just so cringey.

As a romance story, a bodice ripper, I’m sure it’s just fine. But I don’t generally enjoy those books so it just wasn’t for me. I have ordered another one of Byrne’s book from my library to give it another chance, as just maybe this story wasn’t for me and I don’t want to hate on all of her books if I’ve only read one. But so far, I’ll stick to other genres for now.

Have you read this? Opinions?

3/5 teacups for my rating.

3 Teacups

 


Favorite Female Character? [Instagram]

Tell me in the comments who your favorite female character is, either from a book or a movie!

Mine is either Wonder Woman or Lorraine from Atomic Blonde.

From books it would be either Elena from Guild Hunters of Feyre from ACOTAR!


Archangel’s Heart by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh

[amazon template=add to cart&asin=0451488008]

Summary

“One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory.

Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is…

Nothing will ever be the same again.”

Review

Once again I am not disappointed in Nalini Singh’s books! I have been waiting since the last book, Archangel’s Enigma, came out. That was a side book with side characters however. This was with the main characters and it was following Lijuan again and her issues, however, she wasn’t actually in it. It followed a new group, called the Luminata. And yes, I did pre-order it so I got it the day it came out on November 1st. Which was SOOO exciting. Haven’t done that for a while.

Essentially they are Angels who search for enlightenment. But then shit hits and the fan and these secret people seem to be keeping a really  big secret that is bad. As it always happens to be with secret societies.

Now I’m not going to talk about the story exactly as you need to read it for yourself. And the fact that this is book 9 I believe means that you either love this series so far or hate it, so if you’ve been reading it, I just need to tell you that it has Raphael and Elena in it and you’ll buy it.

But if you’re expecting lots of steamy romance in this book, be prepared for a surprise. Out of all of the books, this one is in my top few that has the least amount of romance in it. This was about the story and the entanglement of characters and how they relate to Elena. Which, by the way, everything does. I’m waiting for Ms. Singh to just write that Elena has some prophecy about her or something because one way or another she is somehow intertwined into the lives of all of these Archangels and she has no clue how. Just one day she woke up and BAM, she found out her lover was an Archangel and people knew her ancestors, people who she herself doesn’t even know, and she’s somehow intricately entangled into their lives. I mean how cool is that? I wish my life was that exiting!

Anywhoooo, there were a lot of characters in this book as you had the new characters from the Luminata and then the entire Cadre was there as well. My only disappointment with this book was that the Legion was not in it. Yeah, remember those flying things from the end of the last book which were all cool and mysterious? I really thought they may have been in this book. But they were only mentioned once when Elena was talking about the new marking on Raphael’s head. So they were not talked about whatsoever which was kind of sad. But it was okay as we had this new group of characters which was interesting.

The story was not predictable as the ending I never saw coming and it ends with you wanting more and wanting some questions to be answered. So of course, I am going to have to wait another year for the next book to come out. Which really sucks. But it’s alright, I’ll have to read other good books in the mean time.

Also I love the cover. Just look at it and you’ll know why. I don’t really need to explain it. I mean those wings! That dress….ugh! Love it!

Which, BY THE WAY, I have not been doing. Schoolwork shoves wonderful literature in my face but it’s literature which is either in another language or is non-fiction and no one would ever read. Sadly. So finding time to read for fun is difficult. Except in the case of this book, I MADE time. Which I will be doing more and more now as I miss reading and boy is it a way to de-stress.

So anyhow, I really loved this book and it is another one in the series which you MUSTTTTT read. If you’ve read it, what was your opinion on it? If you haven’t read it, will you? And if you haven’t started the series….you’d better!

Happy Reading!

 


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

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!


Liebster Award

A huge thank you to Bridgett at Writing and Musing for nominating me for the Liebster Award. This is a blogging award for bloggers who have less than 1,000 followers to help promote smaller blogs.

Liebster Award

Rules

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
  2. Answer the 11 questions your nominator gave you.
  3. Tag 11 bloggers with less than 1,000 readers.
  4. Think of 11 questions for the bloggers you have nominated.
  5. Let them know you have nominated them through social media or their blog.

Amelia’s Quesions

  1. What music gets you in the mood for writing?
    Usually I listen to some type of epic sound track or just a movie soundtrack. It is pleasant to listen to as well as kind of like a wall paper so I don’t concentrate too much.
  2. In your opinion what is the best thing you’ve written so far?
    The best thing I’ve written so far…hm…well I honestly can’t just pick one thing. I’ve recently been doing short story writing with one of my friends by picking a random topic, like a word or phrase (ex: someones first snowfall) and then you have to write a short story about it, interpreting it however you want. I really think my writing for that has been quite good.
  3. Have you accomplished your goals for 2015?
    Well my goals for this year were increasing views on this blog, as well as followers, and getting good grades in University and so far I’ve done that! Which is awesomeeee!
  4. What is one thing you want to see happen in 2016?
    Well..that’s definitely a hard one. I’d love to see this blog grow more…but if I had to pick one thing it’d probably be more books to movies that are close to the book. I’d love to see more of that.
  5. What is your favorite book you read this year?
    My favorite book that I read this year was Poison Princess by Kresley Cole by far. But I also battle that with Archangel’s Enigma by Nalini Singh. Neither of them compete with one another though because the genres are so different so I have to pick both!
  6. Coffee or tea?
    Tea!!! Big time. Unless I’m studying…then coffee.
  7. Have you visited anywhere exciting in the past year? Where?
    Unfortunately I haven’t been able to visit anywhere exciting in the past year, but I’m hoping to be going back to the UK next year again (sadly couldn’t get there this Christmas). But does University count?
  8. What is your favorite thing about blogging/writing?
    My favorite thing is being able to share my love for books with others and find a community of people who feel the same. Even if I don’t know someone who comments on this blog, and probably will never get to know them, I feel like I know them just a little bit because of their view on a particular book.
  9. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
    I’d continue to go to university and pay for my tuition, but I’d probably get off campus housing, and then I’d also put some money into this blog, buy a car for myself, maybe give a little to my parents (maybe!), donate a little, and then use whatever is left for books and movies!
  10. What book would you like to see made into a movie?
    Gosh….that’s a hard one but I’d love to see Nalini Singh’s books made into a movie. But also Kresley Cole’s book too, just because it’d be cool!
  11. What is your current favorite tv show?
    Currently it is probably either American Horror Story or City Hunters which is a Korean drama.

My Nominees

ALPHA Reader

Death, Books, and Tea

In Bed With Books 

Knight Reader 

The Small Book Blog 

Dana’s YA Bookpile

Building Lifelong Readers 

The Geeky Blogger’s Book Blog

Avid Reader Musing

Fangirl Confessions 

The AP Book Club

My Questions

  1. What’s one habit you have when you read (ex: drink tea, special chair, etc)?
  2. What’s your favorite book of 2015?
  3. Favorite movie of all time?
  4. If you press shuffle on your music device, what’s the first song which comes up?
  5. What got you in love with reading?
  6. Favorite book to movie (if you have one)?
  7. If you could only eat one food forever, what would it be?
  8. If you could meet one book character, who would it be and why?
  9. What book would you want to be transported into?
  10. Pets? If so what are they, if not would you want one?
  11. One book you really want to read in 2016?

 

This has been so much fun, if not a little stressful. Good luck to the nominees!