Crave the Night by Lara Adrian

 

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date published: August 5, 2014
ISBN: 9780345532633
Paranormal romance
Print
 

Reviewed by Gabrielle
 

Weblink: http://www.randomhouse.com/book/215747/crave-the-night-by-lara-Adrian

Obtained via publisher

Rating: 3.5 Hearts

 

All Nathan has known is being bred as an assassin and then the Order.  Emotions are not needed nor are they welcome. Yet Nathan cannot keep them buried forever especially after Jordana kisses him. From that moment on she is all he can think about. Jordana begins to find what she longs for in Nathan. She only knows what is expected of her not what she feels. The two find themselves brought together by fate and trying to decide if it is truly love that they feel and if they are willing to fight for it.

I enjoyed this latest addition to the Breed series by Lara Adrian. She continues to keep the stories fresh and exciting. With each new book I feel as if I am escaping in to a new world. Nathan and Jordana make a great couple. They complement one another very well. We get to see both of these characters grow in this story. Both have fought hard to be where they are now and continue to do so. As their story unfolds we learn much more about their world. There are new enemies to fight and new friends to make. As we continue to visit this world we are treated to the new generation and are also treated with visits from past characters, keeping readers intrigued and up to date on many of the characters that we have grown to know and love in this series. I enjoyed seeing how all the characters grow and live their lives.

I enjoyed the new twists and turns that this author is taking this series on with this new generation. I loved watching Nathan and Jordana open themselves up. Watching their relationship blossom makes for a nice read. While their story is hot the love that these two begin to have shows in abundance throughout their story. This is a fast paced tale full of emotions and actions that will keep your attention from page one and all the way to the very end.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

FALLEN IN LOVE by Lauren Kate

A Fallen Novel in Stories

Delacorte Press

December 26^th, 2012

978-0-385-74262-7

Young Adult Paranormal Series

Paperback

Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)

Obtained by Publisher

 

Love in many forms with a twist of fate thrown in to keep things interesting. In this in-between story, four wonderful love stories are played out amid the pages over a course of a romantic dinner on Valentine’s Day. Can these four couples find their way to their heart’s desires? Four stories, four couples to fall in love with.

I haven’t really read the Fallen series by this author though it is on my tbr list at Amazon. The stories are short but give enough meat so to speak in the story that you don’t think you are reading novella length stories instead of full length novels. Ms. Kate delivers a wonderful stand alone book packed with intriguing characters and fast paced stories to enjoy anytime of the year. The writing is tight, story moves at a nice even pace and the characters are very well written. Sometimes you get a hit or miss when you read a single author anthology set in a series and FALLEN IN LOVE is a rare exception to that.

Here we follow four people/couples on a specific date-Valentine’s Day in medieval England. Mike and Shelby find out that love can come at the most inopportune time. Roland learns an important lesson in loving and losing love. Arriane discovers the price of love isn’t with hearts and fires and someone always gets burned. Finally the last story is about Daniel and Luce as they spend a night together they can never capture again. Each story melds seamlessly into the next one perfectly. You never get that disconnect as you start the next story. It all blends perfectly together and amped up my enjoyment of this book as well as the stories.

Each story delivers into some aspect of love-painful, love lost, forbidden love, etc. Ms. Kate is a wonderful author who knows how to balance perfectly all the elements of the story perfectly without making one or more stories fall flat on their face. Each story is entertaining and as a whole, FALLEN IN LOVE is a perfect introduction into the Fallen series world. This anthology of sorts can be read as a stand a lone but I think it works better if you read the Fallen series in order then this one. You might get a better sense of all the characters in this novel better, especially as these stories are centered around some secondary characters of the Fallen world.

FALLEN IN LOVE is a perfect compliment to the Fallen world that Ms. Kate has created and kept me glued to the pages till the very last page was read. I highly enjoyed it and if you enjoy a paranormal/historical romance then you might enjoy trying this one out. I moved this series to the top of my reading list after finishing this book. I can’t wait to see where Ms. Kate goes with this exciting series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

 

Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian

Book 10 of the Midnight Breeds series

Publisher Delacorte Press

Date published February 2012

ISBN 978-0345530875

Paranormal Romance

Hardcover

Obtained via:   Publisher

Reviewed by danny.lrm@gmail.com

The Breed warriors are right in the middle of their war against the mad vampire Dragos.

After Sterling Chase met Tavia Fairchild in the previous book “Deeper than midnight” their story continues. When they meet again she is shocked that he is a vampire and to make matters even worse for her she is one, too, a Gen One, a first generation vampire. Her true self was repressed by meds, because someone had bigger plans for her. The people she trusted most, betrayed her. Tavia’s life is in great danger and the only safe place is the Order compound.

Chase planned to disappear, but before he was able to do that Tavia arrived at the compound and somehow he can’t stay away from her. Everything in her screams that she should stay a way from him, but she can’t resist the attraction that rages between them.

I have been a fan of this series since the first book was released and I couldn’t wait for this book to be released and I wasn’t disappointed. The book was a real page turner. Sterling Chase was already in the previous book a fascinating character and this time he was a great hero. Well done. Ms. Adrian.

DARKER AFTER MIDNIGHT is the tenth book in Lara Adrian’s famous Midnight Breed series and I highly recommend to read the books of this series in the right reading order, not only because for your reading pleasure but also because the stories are strongly connected. Sterling Chase gets finally his happy end and many more plotlines come to a satisfying end. Ms. Adrian brings certain plotlines to an end, but opens up many more.

I am looking forward to read the next book in the series “Edge of Dawn”.

THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW

FALLEN by Lauren Kate

Book One in Fallen Series

Delacourte Press

December 8^th, 2009

Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Young Adult

Paperback

Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)

Obtained by Publisher

 

Luce Price has no idea what draws her to the mysterious Daniel Grigori. He captured her attention the moment she spotted him at the Sword & Cross boarding school. The one bright thing in a place where cell phones are banned and it feels like you are being watched 24/7. But as Luce wants to know  more about Daniel, Daniel is trying to stay away from the girl who makes him feel things, things he shouldn’t feel and if Luce figures out what he is hiding, there will be death on Daniel’s hands.

FALLEN is one of those books where you can not, no way, no how put down even to go run to the bathroom or the kitchen for a drink. It is heartbreaking, otherworldly and more all wrapped up with a bow. Ms. Kate is a new author to me and one I fell in love with. Her world building is amazing. She completely had me transfixed for an afternoon as I flipped the pages, eager to see if Luce and Daniel will finally figure out they are made for one another even as forces conspire against them. The author does an amazing job in creating characters that fairly leap off the pages, right into the bedroom, acting out the scene right in front of you. I loved all the twists and turns this author delivered and after that last page was read, needed more.

There are some issues that made me wonder where the author was going, namely Luce’s constant look for answers yet at times, it felt like she never saw what was right in front of her. It made liking her a tad difficult at times because all I wanted to do was shake her silly and tell her to open her eyes. But it works in the end of FALLEN. Luce isn’t a kick butt heroine, she is just a young girl trying to keep her parents from finding out the boarding school is not a good one, that saving her friend means running into a graveyard at dark and to be thrown into a world where paranormal creatures she only thought where fiction lived and roamed. I have to give the author credit in creating Luce. She is definitely not one of the more action-y heroines but one that eventually grew on me. There were a few other secondary characters that were intriguing and the romance between Luce and Daniel was one where you didn’t know if you should root for them or not. That was okay for me. The premise of fallen angels was a different one for me and FALLEN delivered even if the ending had me going to the computer for book two.

FALLEN is one of those books where you need to keep an open mind to it. Yes, the pacing is a bit slow at times and it may seem like the main heroine is a bit dim but she doesn’t have any magical powers or anything which is a refreshing change in my opinion in a tired paranormal genre. Luce stands out as a young human girl who is in over her head but determined to do the right thing. I can’t wait to see where the author takes this series in book two. Ms. Kate has definitely become one of my go to authors now in the young adult genre.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

SHADOWFEVER by Karen Marie Moning

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: January 18, 2011
ISBN: 978-0385341677
Paranormal, Fantasy
Trade Sized Paperback
Reviewed by Gina
Obtained via Library


Lost in the Silvers, mourning not only Jericho Barrons’s death but the fact that she has killed him, MacKayla Lane vows revenge against the forces that led her to this moment. She sits and pours out her grief and then turns that overwhelming grief, to a strength no one would have ever expected from her. Her purpose firm, she begins her journey back to the now destroyed Dublin, only to find herself in the company of the Darroc, the Lord Master. The creature who destroyed her sister, or so she has believed through the agonizing months that led her to this point. With each step she begins to realize just who she is.

Or does she?

As she continues her journey, first to the White Mansion with its myriad changing rooms, then to Dublin, each time an answers appears, more questions come on its heels. Who is she? Where has she come from? Why didn’t she realize she loved Barrons before she lost him? Can she protect her parents and those she still loves while appearing to turn her back on them? Each time she steps forward with her vision clear, another situation blindsides her. Yet Mac will not back down.

Like pretty much every reader who has followed this series, I waited, at times not all that patiently for Karen Marie Moning’s SHADOWFEVER. Devoted fans will not be pleased with my review. I had to sit and consider was I rating the book or the author, because if it were the author’s prior books she is one of my favorites. This book, however, was a disappointment for me. While it is a decent read, it is not her best work. Not so much because it is written in the first person, with several characters all clamoring to tell their side of the story. It is a fantasy yet at times the fantasies inside the fantasy and again inside the fantasy become a bit much. There were threads that I felt could have been tied off although there is the promise of another book.

I was completely dissatisfied with what Barrons is or isn’t. There is a reference to traveling by boat but it doesn’t come up again. We don’t know why he is immortal and the author avoids having to answer, by having his men tell Mac they will kill her if she asks any questions about him. It’s a nifty way to avoid revealing information but it did not satisfy me as a reader. I was enticed by the aspects that reminded me of the Cathars and the legends that surround them, and I wondered if that was perhaps the root of his existence. Mac’s continual references to when she was Pri-ya became a bit over done. After the first twenty or so times I didn’t need to be told again.

The ending was a surprise. Very dramatic, as is the scene where Mac meets her real parents. I enjoyed the earlier books of this series more than SHADOWFEVER and while I felt let down by this latest installment, I’m not sorry I read it.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

A SECRET AFFAIR by Mary Balogh

Publisher: Delacorte press
Date published: May 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-34330-5
Historical Romance
Hardcover
Obtained via: Publisher
Reviewed by Susan



Hannah Reid wed the Duke of Dunbarton when she was nineteen years old. Eleven years later, Hannah is a widow and free to pursue her life as she pleases. And she is pleased to announce that she wants a lover setting her sights on Constantine Huxtable.

A SECRET AFFAIR is the final book in the series featuring the Huxtable family. Ms. Balogh has saved the most enigmatic member of the family for last. In the beginning, Constantine was cast in the light of a villain but his true qualities have been uncovered. He is a very complex man but readers know that he is a man capable of deep emotions. Hannah is very much a “Balogh” heroine. She is not a virgin nor is she very young. I have always enjoyed her heroines as they are usually intelligent and capable of standing up for themselves. Hannah is a woman who is matured and experienced in life. She is a very nice match for Constantine. It was very entertaining to watch the interplay between them.

Of course, the members of the Huxtable family make appearances and it was nice to seem them again. I have always enjoyed seeing what happened after the “happily ever after” and Ms. Balogh certainly gives us the opportunity.

A SECRET AFFAIR was an enjoyable read. It kept my attention and the pages turning. Readers will definitely want this book as it is a fine finale for this series.


THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW

DREAMFEVER by Karen Marie Moning

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: August 2009
ISBN: 978-038534165-3
Paranormal (suspense)
Hardcover
Obtained via: Library
Reviewed by Gina


This year the walls more than thinned on Halloween night in Dublin. This year despite the best efforts of the MacKeltars and Jericho Barrons, the walls between the Fae and Humans have crumbled leaving only chaos it its wake. Even more devastating to Mac (MacKayla Lane) is that over a four day period following Halloween she was repeatedly gang raped by three unseelie Fae princes at the behest of the Lord Master—the being, who her beloved sister Alina fell in love with and who ultimately killed her. It is not Barrons or even V’lane who comes to her rescue. Rather it is Dani, a young Sidhe-seer. While Dani was able to pull Mac’s body away from the devastating Fae, she can do nothing to restore her friend’s sanity. No one turned Pri-ya has ever survived, yet Jericho Barrons has the where withal to not only return Mac to the land of the living but she’s back badder and strong than ever. She doesn’t quite trust Barrons, after all, he didn't come when she needed him most on Halloween but then neither again did V’lane despite her calls for him. Still, Barrons may be the best chance she has to save the world. Although when the Lord Master captures her parents in far away Georgia, Mac soon finds herself on the hairest adventure yet.

Like many fans of not only Karen Marie Moning, but of the Fever series in general, I waited as patiently as possible for this latest installment. The Fever series is perhaps one of the most highly addictive series to date. Believe me when I say Barrons isn’t just a character in a story—his very presence steps off the pages and into your life. When he appears to rescue Mac in DREAMFEVER you want his bad-assed self to take you with him too.

I’m not sure what happened between the first three books in this series (DARKFEVER, BLOODFEVER and FAEFEVER) but it felt to me like something was missing from this book. It just did not have the punch the others had. While I understand being not only raped but gang raped is perhaps the most devastating experience a woman can have, perhaps even worse than the loss of a child, it got to where I wanted to tell Mac to move on or at least stop reminding her readers it happened. A number of threads were repeated far too many times to keep the story from being completely riveting. The early passages do create a dreamlike quality for the reader, but it became wearing and I wanted the story to begin. At times I wondered if this talented author lost her own punch to write the story. The final book in the series, SHADOWFEVER is about a year away. Will Barron’s true self be revealed? Will Mac choose V’Lane? Or will she find it was all just a bad dream? I for one can’t wait to find out.

THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW.

FAEFEVER by Karen Marie Moning

Publisher Delacorte Press
Date published September 2008
ISBN 978-0385341639
Genre Paranormal Suspense
Book format (E-book? Mass Market Paperback? Trade Paperback? Hardcover?)
Reviewed by Gina




Mac’s journal tells us that all this time she thought she should fear the dark when in fact, it turns out the greatest fear is the light.

As Samhain approaches, with the thinning of the veil, MacKayla “Mac” Lane cannot help but notice that her world, which turned dark with the death of her sister, Alina, is plunging deeper and deeper into a shadowy abyss. The Dark Zone encroaches closer and closer to her haven at Barrons, Books and Baubles sending her in desperate directions that even a week before she would not have considered. An alliance with Inspector Jaynes who recently tormented her with accusations about her part in the growing deaths in Dublin a tenuous friendship with Christian MacKeltar and fellow Sidhe-seer, Dani, with hints of an agreement with Rowena are evidence as to how the fabric of her life is unweaving. Even more so is her growing relationship with fae prince V’lane. It is during his sifts with her to hot, sandy beaches that Mac learns more of the Fae-Human history that threatens her world. Even Barrons is becoming a bit more forthcoming with the information that could aid Mac in her quest to save the human race.

When FAEFEVER opens Mac feels fairly in control, at least as much as she can, of her world as she has constructed it. She has set boundaries to keep the Shades at bay, has a job the likes, pokes around in Barrons’ world and feels, at times, she’s on the path to finding the man who killed her sister. When Barrons discovers that she has figured out how to track the Sinsar Dubh, he intensifies his demands she do so, as does V’lane. While V’lane bribes her to unveil her discovery with flirting, treats and visits to romantic beaches, Barrons bullies her. Barrons also undertakes to teach Mac “Voice” so she can defend herself against the Lord Master, yet there is a perversity, as only Barrons can enact, in the teaching.

When Barrons’ former lover, Fiona disappeared, Mac was certain the mysterious dark haired Barrons killed her. It is when Mac sees Fiona, looking like a fading movie star that the threat of what will happen on Samhain becomes a reality she cannot turn back from.

FAEFEVER is a painfully dark book. I sat up two nights in a row reading simply because I had to know Mac would be all right in the end. Some readers may wonder if, given the times we are living in, it is a good choice for a read. I would say that, despite the fact there is little light to the story and what little there is comes with V’lane’s appearances, it is a book to be read. Readers are given a bit more insight into him and why he’s the way he is, why the Fae prince really has no feeling at all for humans, yet at the same time, there is a tangible attraction to Mac and it’s not because Barrons is interested in her. There is a connection there, perhaps she give him a taste of humanity no one else has before and the taste has him considering the entire buffet. With the historical background he provides for Mac, there is a glimmer of hope. He gives the reader pause to consider their own humanity without being moralistic about it.

Jericho Barrons is still complex, confusing and compelling. And you want him for your own. You also want to sock him a good one with his enigmatic, gloom and doom, need to be in control attitude. Even with his overbearing need to command, there is something incredibly sexy about the character. You know, you just know that when he falls in love it’s going to be long and forever. The question is, will it happen in the Fever series? You have to wonder if love and romance has any place in the trauma and devastation that is unfolding in the Fever series. I would say yes, because the emotions of love give us hope and in the dark world created by Ms. Moning in FAEFEVER, there does need to be a glimmer of hope.

The first two Fever series books, DARKFEVER and BLOODFEVER, provide the foundational descriptions of the streets and alleys of Dublin as well as the interior of Barrons’ Books and Baubles and little is added to the setting in FAEFEVER. FAEFEVER is an intensely character driven story with the contrasts of growing up while hoping to hold on to a life we knew excellently drawn.

Ms. Moning pens a story that is so in sync with our times—darkness, loss of hope, lack of trust. The timing of its release is fascinating and one wonders if the next book in the series will begin the turning point to lighter times. On the surface the ending seems clear that Mac is not all right—yet the man that stands before her may be the very hope she needs to save the human race. FAEFVER is the perfect read for a creepy Halloween read; it is a do not miss for your reading any time.


FAEFEVER by Karen Marie Moning
Reviewed by Valerie
Obtained by publisher.
Rating: 4





FAEFEVER is the most exciting book I have read in a long time. In this, the third installment, we see Mac getting somewhat in control of her situation. She can arm herself against the Shadows. She has a weapon and she is a bit more confident. Jericho Barrons is still a big mystery. Even more so in this book, as Mac finds out more about him, but still doesn’t have all the answers. Personally, I think he’s rather delish, a bad boy with an attitude. V’lane is still trying to get control of Mac, but she is clever and doesn’t let him get away with too much. This was a dark, chilling read that had me almost crying to have to put this book down. It’s creepy and hair-raising. I often felt sorry for Mac, she seems so alone. She’s learning though to not trust everyone, but at the same time to use all the help she can get. Things are so dark, you may wonder if there will be any light at the end of the tunnel. I certainly hope so. But, unfortunately, it’s not at the end of this book. Mac is in big trouble and there is such a cliff-hanger at the end, you will be scrambling to get the next one.

THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE REVIEW. IT IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK.