Sherrilyn Kenyon’s DragonSworn
I have long been a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan and continue to be one. Although the newest series did not live up to my expectations, I am a fan of her worlds. I love the complex mythology and am constantly amazed by how varied her world has become. It is a vast network of various mythologies and yet somehow they all seamlessly interact. This is truly an amazing feat given that Egyptian and Greek and Sumerian Pantheons were never meant to mix. This book promised explanations of Falcyn’s origins and perhaps even his orneriness. This book did indeed explain Falcyon and his surliness.
I love the Dark Hunter world as well as the Were Hunter and Lords of Avalon worlds. I loved this book, as it returns to the stories that are as typical as a book by Sherrilyn Kenyon can be in that they are all atypical. This book was a little bit difficult for me as there are so very many story lines and interrelationships to try and keep straight. Even using the website as a cheat sheet, when the Lords of Avalon, dragon, were hunters and dark hunter worlds intersect things can become complicated and this book added in the Apollites as well. Put a cameo in by Simi and you have all the parts of Kenyon’s world in one place. It seems that this book may be a two for one in that Blaise makes a romantic connection as well.
So, my review of this book is overwhelmingly positive. My only complaint is that I have trouble keeping everything straight and that is a failing on my part but given that we book 28 and the length of some of those novels, I’m going to give myself a break. And admit I used Sherrilyn Kenyon.com as a cheat sheet when I got a little confused, but I figure that is why the character directory is there.
Fiction
Dark-Hunter Novels (Hardcover)
2017-08
352
There is nothing in the universe the cursed dragon, Falcyn, hates more than humanity . . . except Greek humans. In a war he wanted no part of, they systematically destroyed everything he’d ever cared for. Now he waits for the day when evolution will finally rid him of the human vermin. Medea was born the granddaughter of the Greek god Apollo, and among the first of his people that he cursed to die. But she will not let anyone rule her life. Not even her notorious grandfather. And when Apollo sends a new plague to destroy what remains of her people, she refuses to stand by and watch him take everything she loves from her again. This time, she knows of a secret weapon that can stop the ancient god and his army of demons. Once and for all. However, said device is in the hands of a dragon who wants nothing to do with politics, the gods, humanity, demons or Apollites. And especially not her. He is the immovable object. She is the unstoppable force . . . When Apollo makes a strategic move that backfires, he forces Falcyn back into play. Now Medea either has the weapon she needs to save her people, or she’s unleashed total Armageddon. If she can’t find some way to control the dragon before it’s too late, Falcyn will be an even worse plague on the world than the one Apollo has set loose. But how can anyone control a demonic dragon whose sole birthright is world annihilation?
a Quote along with some Other Things
“She’d called him a coward, running away whenever she pulled him toward something he didn’t like. It was not so much cowardice as ego, and not even so much protecting his ego as safeguarding the supports that kept it intact. Success bolstered his ego. Doing what he was good at and avoiding failure in every possible way. He’d first realized that in high school, when he’d dropped out of geometry, not because he disliked it but because he wasn’t good at it. Algebra came easily. Calculus was also fine. But there was something about geometry that he could not wrap his mind around. So he dropped the course. The moment he discovered he did not have the knack for something, he stopped trying to do it. Empathy, friendship, dating, relationships in general. He embraced a challenge only if he knew he could succeed. The hard truth of the matter was that Gabriel was spoiled. He got what he wanted, and did not want what he could not get. “ Kelley Armstrong Rituals
I am thoroughly enjoying my quest through Cainsville this time around. It never ceases to amaze me that every time I read one of my favorite authors my mind finds little parts of the story to delight over. The plot of each novel, for the most part remains the plot. There are a few slight deviations from that rule where knowing the plot in its entirety changes the substance of the story. This happens with Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, when the overarching hatred between mages and the Carpathians leads to the discovery that their lack of fertility comes from an evil wizard’s working of a spell. It definitely happens in Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I think it is beginning to happen in the Anita Blake Series as we see more challenging foes as well as more powerful allies.
Sometimes, I find myself amazed though how much knowing one of the larger series in paranormal romance leads to the calm acceptance (to some extent) of fantastical creatures from myth and lore. One of the things I have greatly enjoyed in the Cainsville series is the interweaving of some pretty obscure Celtic imagery, characters and lore. Would the imagery of the Wild Hunt as a biker gang be so easily accepted had it not sort of appeared that way in the Dresden files? And now, Kelley Armstrong has introduced the slaugh which plays a large role in Laurell K Hamilton’s Meredith gentry Series. This Slaugh is a very different incarnation from the one in Merry Gentry’s world, but the idea itself is more easily accepted since it plays such a large role in Merry’s world.
I guess that the point of this general ramble is that everything is connected and , no I am not going into deep philosophical questions of identity or politics. I am just remarking upon the fact that so many have before–everything is possible and yet nothing can ever truly be new. And now I go back to Cainsville a little bit sad because I know the end is near but a little bit happy to as I never know quite what to expect until a story actually reaches its end.
Fiction
Random House Canada
August 15, 2017
496
The fifth book and the exciting conclusion to bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's "impossible-to-put-down" Cainsville series, in which she mixes hard-hitting crime writing with phenomenal world-building to create a brand of fiction all her own. When Olivia Taylor-Jones found out she was not actually the adopted child of a privileged Chicago family but of a notorious pair of convicted serial killers, her life exploded. Running from the fall-out, she found a refuge in the secluded but oddly welcoming town of Cainsville, Illinois, but she couldn't resist trying to dig out the truth about her birth parents' crimes. She began working with Gabriel Walsh, a fiendishly successful criminal lawyer who also had links to the town; their investigation soon revealed Celtic mysteries at work in Cainsville, and also entangled Olivia in a tense love triangle with the calculating Gabriel and her charming biker boyfriend, Ricky. Worse, troubling visions revealed to Olivia that the three of them were reenacting an ancient drama pitting the elders of Cainsville against the mysterious Huntsmen with Olivia as the prize. In the series' fifth and final novel, not only does Gabriel's drug addict mother, who he thought was dead, make a surprise reappearance, but Kelley Armstrong delivers a final scary and surprising knock-out twist. It turns out a third supernatural force has been at work all along, a dark and malevolent entity that has had its eye on Olivia since she was a baby and wants to win at any cost.
Review of Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price
Kalayna Price’s Grave Ransom
Let’s take a second and catch up to the storyline when Grave Ransom starts. Alexis Craft started out as a grave witch at the beginning of the series—one who is able to make “death” and other ghosts visible. She is the daughter to the governor, but since he is a fae hiding as a human and a member of the “Humans First” Organization which demonizes all things magic witches and fae included, he has distanced himself from her and created a clean identity for her that buries their familial ties. But as weird cases start cropping up, Alex is slowly revealed to be more than just a Grave witch. She is actually fae and a plane bender. This means that she is able to merge realities. And since there has not been a plane bender in a really long time, all of the fairy courts want her to join them. The most vehement of these is the Winter Queen, who badly wants Alexis to join her court. In the first novels it is revealed that the annoying Fae Investigation Bureau agent who has been driving Alex crazy is actually the Winter Knight, but not before Alex and he begin a sexual relationship that quickly develops into true love. But the Winter Knight is bound to the Queen and must follow her orders in all things. This has led to a horrible situation for Alex and the Winter Knight. And , just to complicate things a little more, through the series Alex’s relationship with the soul reaper whom she calls Death has also become a physical and sexual one.
This book was a great addition to the series, but unfortunately ends on a somewhat sour note. I am trying really hard not to write spoilers in this review, but its’s difficult. In this book, Alex goes up against a true necromancer who is putting peoples souls in other peoples bodies. In her quest to find the necromancer, she and Death end up on opposite sides of the issue.
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BestBooklovernet-336745780072074/
If you want to help support this website, donations are accepted at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
Alex Craft
Penguin
July 4, 2017
384
In the thrilling new novel from USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price, Alex Craft comes face-to-face with the walking dead.... Grave witch Alex Craft is no stranger to the dead talking. She raises shades, works with ghosts, and is dating Death himself. But the dead walking? That's not supposed to happen. And yet reanimated corpses are committing crimes across Nekros City. Alex's investigation leads her deep into a web of sinister magic. When Briar Darque of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau gets involved, Alex finds herself with an unexpected ally of sorts. But as the dead continue to rise and wreak havoc on the living, can she get to the soul of the matter in time?
Review Of Karen Chance’s Ride the Storm
I have long been a fan of Karen Chance’s body of work. I am a loyal fan and have remained undaunted in the face of all the machinations of the publisher and publishing machine. Karen Chance has long kept the faith with her readers. She often offers free stories that add to her published works to create a more complex, multifaceted and fulfilling world in which all her novels take place. Readers who only read the novels from the publishing house lose a lot of the details and the joy of seeing the characters in multiple lights. All that being said, Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer novel Ride the Storm has been one of the most anticipated novels in my memory. This is not the fault of Karen Chance and that cannot be said firmly enough. The publishing house has been moving dates on this novel for over a year with little to no explanation.
The previous book, Reap the Wind was judged too long by the publisher when submitted by the author. This led to a quick rewrite and the split of the book almost in half. This also left an unfulfilled feeling at the end of Reap the Wind. Many plotlines were left hanging, which left some readers unhappy and the continuous manipulation by the publishers with moving dates and little communication lost even more of the fan base. Ride the Storm is the second half of the previous book with a little bit of newer information which furthers the plot of the Cassandra Palmer novels.
I was recently asked by a friend to explain the Cassie Palmer novels and I drew a bit of a blank—how do you explain such a complicated and multifaceted storyline as the one Karen Chance has created? I told her she just needs to read it and we will talk about it once she has. To say that all of the Cassie Palmer novels are fast paced is kind of like saying a quadruple shot espresso is a little bit energizing. These books move along at a frenetic pace and always have plot twists that are unexpected to say the least. It is impossible to have predicted where the main characters end up at the beginning of this book, let alone at the end of the book.
So much happens in this book to move the plot along that after reading it 3 times, I am still finding new details to enjoy. This is not a book to start when you have a deadline coming up or really anything planned. Depending on your reading speed and availability, you should plan to be unavailable until you can finish the book. This is not one you are going to want to put down as there are no really good stopping places. My recommendation is to start it on a Friday so you can have the weekend to take a break from reality and a trip into the Cassandra Palmer universe.
This book brings resolution to a lot of the ongoing plot lines that readers have been gnashing their teeth to know. We find out why MIrcea is so interested in Pythias. We get to see Pritkin rescued. We get to see Cassie find her feet and establish her own space independent of all the forces tearing at her. We learn more about Cassie’s parents. Dorina and Cassie finally meet. We go careening through the story and learn so much along the way that it’s hard to even begin to summarize it so I am not going to even try. Despite this, there is a seeming resolution to the love triangle between Cassie, Mircea and Pritkin but it is open ended enough that I see it more as an affirmation of the fact that Cassie has complicated emotions and feelings for both men.
This book is a solid addition to the Cassandra Palmer world and yet leaves a lot of storylines open for more exploration. It is my sincere hope that Karen Chance continues to publish Cassandra Palmer books for a very long time. In order for that to happen, fans have to not only buy this book, but review it. Talk about it with friends and build it up so that the publishers contract with Karen Chance for more Cassie Palmer books.
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BestBooklovernet-336745780072074/
In the interest of full disclosure, I received an ARC ebook in return for this review.
Ride the Storm
Cassandra Palmer
Paranormal
Berkeley
August 1, 2017
606
The New York Times bestselling author of Reap the Wind returns to the “fascinating world”* of Cassie Palmer. Ever since being stuck with the job of pythia, the chief seer of the supernatural world, Cassie Palmer has been playing catch up. Catch up to the lifetime's worth of training she missed being raised by a psychotic vampire instead of at the fabled pythian court. Catch up to the powerful, and sometimes seductive, forces trying to mold her to their will. It's been a trial by fire that has left her more than a little burned. But now she realizes that all that was the just the warm up for the real race. Ancient forces that once terrorized the world are trying to return, and Cassie is the only one who can stop them...
Nothing but trouble as Cory settles into her role in the hill! Book Review of Bound Volume 1 by Amy Lane
Wounded, Volume 1
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
Little Goddess: Book Three
Vol. 1
Humans have the option of separation, divorce, and heartbreak. For Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick, sorceress and queen of the vampires, the choices are limited to love or death. Now that she is back at Green’s Hill and assuming her duties as leader, her life is, at best, complicated. Bracken and Nicky are competing for her affections, Green is away taking care of his people, and a new supernatural enemy is threatening the sanctity of all she has come to love. Throw in a family reunion gone bad, a supernatural psychiatrist, and a killer physics class, and Cory’s life isn’t just complex, it’s psychotic.
Cory needs to get her act and her identity together, and soon, because the enemy she and her lovers are facing is a nightmare that doesn’t just kill people, it unmakes them. If she doesn’t figure out who she is and what her place is on Green’s Hill, it’s not just her life on the line. She knows from hard experience that the only thing worse than facing death is facing the death of someone she loves.
Loving people is easy—living with them is what takes the real work, and it’s even harder if you’re bound.
A great Paranormal read with emotional relevance!
Cory is reeling from the loss of Adrian in book one. In an attempt to be what Green’s Hill needs, she goes to college and takes Renny with her. The thought is that the two of them can heal together and come back to the hill whole. Cory doesn’t want to be a burden on Green, and so even the sexual healings that Green excels at aren’t working. Then the unthinkable happens, and Cory is attacked by a new supernatural threat, and Green rushes to her side when he hears her psychic scream. A new shapeshifter is stealing women’s memories of their first times, which are so very vital to Cory, as those are her most precious memories of Adrian. While they investigate and try to find a way to get those memories back, they discover that the Supernatural community had some complicity in the attack that killed Adrian and the battle lines are drawn. Goshawk, the leader of the Avians has been attacking the supernatural community and has taken advantage of the schisms already present, since the elves have a sense of entitlement that is divisive. The vampires, shapeshifters (other than the Avians), and lesser fae join forces with Green. Even the Avian who attacked Cory becomes a part of the effort to overthrow Goshawk. Just when it looks like things are going Cory’s way, Goshawk attacks again trying to take more of Cory’s firsts. But this time she is bound to two men who love her, Green and Bracken, and she fights Goshawk. She even gets the memory of her first kiss back and injures Goshawk, but he gravely injures her in the attack….
Wounded, Volume 1
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
Little Goddess: Book Two
Vol. 1
Cory fled the foothills to deal with the pain of losing Adrian, and Green watched her go. Separately, they could easily grieve themselves to death, but when an old enemy of Green's brings them back together, they can no longer hide from their grief—or their love for each other.
But Cory's grieving has cut her off from the emotional stability that's the source of her power, and Green's worry for her has left them both weak. Cory's strength comes from love, and she finds that when she's in the presence of Adrian's best friend, Bracken, she feels stronger still.
But defeating their enemy is by no means a sure thing. As the attacks against Cory and her lovers keep coming, it becomes clear that their love might not be enough if they can't heal each other—and themselves—from the wounds that almost killed them all.
Nothing but trouble as Cory settles into her role in the hill! Book Review of Bound Volume 1 by Amy Lane
Bound, Volume 1
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
Little Goddess: Book Three
Vol. 1
Humans have the option of separation, divorce, and heartbreak. For Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick, sorceress and queen of the vampires, the choices are limited to love or death. Now that she is back at Green’s Hill and assuming her duties as leader, her life is, at best, complicated. Bracken and Nicky are competing for her affections, Green is away taking care of his people, and a new supernatural enemy is threatening the sanctity of all she has come to love. Throw in a family reunion gone bad, a supernatural psychiatrist, and a killer physics class, and Cory’s life isn’t just complex, it’s psychotic.
Cory needs to get her act and her identity together, and soon, because the enemy she and her lovers are facing is a nightmare that doesn’t just kill people, it unmakes them. If she doesn’t figure out who she is and what her place is on Green’s Hill, it’s not just her life on the line. She knows from hard experience that the only thing worse than facing death is facing the death of someone she loves.
Loving people is easy—living with them is what takes the real work, and it’s even harder if you’re bound.
Bound Volume 2 by Amy Lane Book Review– How Cory wins the day!
Bound, Volume 2
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
https://www.amazon.com/Bound-Vol-Little-Goddess-Book-ebook/dp/B018ZTKYUI/ref=pd_sim_351_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7EZ5EG8V84CEHFZ6GWMK
2nd Edition
Little Goddess: Book Three
Vol. 2
Cory’s newly bound family is starting to find its footing, which is a good thing because danger after danger threatens, and Green can't be there nearly as often as he’s needed. As Cory learns to face the challenges of ruling the hill alone, she’s also juggling a ménage relationship with three lovers—with mixed results.
But with each new challenge, one lesson becomes crystal clear: she can’t be queen without each of the men who look to her, and the people she loves aren’t safe unless she takes on that queendom with all of the intelligence and courage in her formidable heart.
But sometimes even intelligence, courage, and steadily increasing magic aren’t enough to do the job, and suddenly the role of Cory’s lovers becomes more crucial than ever. Nobody is strong enough to succeed in every task, and Cory finds that the most painful lesson she and her lovers can learn is not just how to deal with failure. Cory needs to learn that one woman is only so powerful, and she needs to choose wisely who sits outside her circle of family, and who is bound eternally in her heart.
Review of Amy Lane’s Rampart Volume 1 — Yay Cory’s Back!
Rampant, Volume 1
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
https://www.amazon.com/Rampant-Vol-Little-Goddess-Book-ebook/dp/B01LW8X5KJ/ref=pd_sim_351_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7HQC62EF4FZHTK4QDJ0K#customerReviews
2nd Edition
Little Goddess: Book Four
Vol. 1
Lady Cory has carved out a life for herself not just as a wife to three husbands but also as one of the rulers of the supernatural communities of Northern California—and a college student in search of that elusive degree. When a supernatural threat comes crashing into the hard-forged peace of Green's Hill, she and Green determine that they're the ones in charge of stopping the abomination that created it. To protect the people they love, Cory, Bracken, and Nicky travel to Redding to confront a tight-knit family of vampires guarding a terrible secret. It also leads them to a conflict of loyalties, as Nicky's parents threaten to tear Nicky away from the family he's come to love more than his own life.
Cory has to work hard to hold on to her temper and her life as she tries to prove that she and Green are not only leaders who will bind people to their hearts, but also protectors who will keep danger from running rampant.
Review of Amy Lane’s Rampant Volume 2 : Chaos, War, Grief, Love and a human bimbo who won’t accept no for an answer…
Rampant, Volume 2
Little Goddess
Paranormal Romance
DSP Publications; 2 edition
e book
305
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M1C29R3/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
Little Goddess: Book Four
Vol. 2
Lady Cory has carved out a life for herself not just as a wife to three husbands but also as one of the rulers of the supernatural communities of Northern California—and a college student in search of that elusive degree. When a supernatural threat comes crashing into the hard-forged peace of Green's Hill, she and Green determine that they're the ones in charge of stopping the abomination that created it. To protect the people they love, Cory, Bracken, and Nicky travel to Redding to confront a tight-knit family of vampires guarding a terrible secret. It also leads them to a conflict of loyalties, as Nicky's parents threaten to tear Nicky away from the family he's come to love more than his own life.
Cory has to work hard to hold on to her temper and her life as she tries to prove that she and Green are not only leaders who will bind people to their hearts, but also protectors who will keep danger from running rampant.