New content alert
Thank you so much for sticking with me. I am going to be posting a lot over the next month or so! I have a few ARC’s that I am insanely happy to review…Please enjoy the quotes that will be coming over the next few weeks of posts.
I post some reviews here that I post on Amazon and Goodreads. The rest of the time I am rereading old favorites and new releases. I try not to post spoilers, so I take the quotes that most strongly speak to me and make posts. I find it interesting that each time I reread an old favorite DIFFERENT quotes appeal to me. Sometimes there is overlap but it is infrequent. The human brain is an amazing thing!
Happy reading!
Some Quotes from Recent Reads, reviews may be forthcoming or may be not…
“It was difficult to believe that less than six hours ago, I’d been laughing and happy, and feeling like the world was finally starting to go my way. That would show me not to relax. It was just an invitation for life to kick me in the teeth as hard as it could” October Daye The Brightest Fell Seanan Mcguire
It’s understandable to a point, their loss, so great, so unimaginable. No one should have to bury a child. No one should bear that burden. And yet…people do. All the time. Children die, incrementally, all the time, whether their hearts stop or their babysitter decides to teach them the birds and the bees or their parents do drugs and beat them. They all die, little pieces falling off them as they age. Some go in the ground; others, the ones who are still breathing, are stripped of their inner joy. It is inevitable. It is life. Even if they make it out of their adolescence, especially then, the sparks that flame them into individuality are extinguished. Is it better to be a walking corpse, a shroud of who you could be, or leave this world before the disappointment of your lack of potential emerges? Philosophy. Such a devious monster. J.T. Ellison Lie to Me
His heart turned over. It hurt. Hearts didn’t hurt because you loved someone too much, did they? Because his did. It was a physical pain and he rubbed his palm over his chest to ease the ache. There was no easing it, not when she was looking up at him and he knew all that beauty was his. Inside, where it counted, she was everything a man could ask for. Christine Feehan, Dark Legacy
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?
Goodreads Review
Ride the Storm by Karen Chance
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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/BestBooklove…
In the interest of full disclosure, I received an ARC ebook in return for this review.
Chloe Neill’s Blade Bound
I have to be completely honest here. I just couldn’t see it. I mean we all knew going into Blade Bound that it was going to be the last Chicagoland Vampires book. And yet, how could we possibly say goodbye to Ethan and Merit, Jonah and the Red Guard, Mallory and Catcher or Gabriel and the North American pack? And, as with so many of the books in this series, the villain seemed unbeatable and the craziness just plain off the charts. We got to see a vampire wedding, a warning from Gabriel that the vampire child may not be coming and we all knew that we had not seen the end of Sorcha.
About halfway through the book, I started to get really scared though. Ethan had already returned from death, much to all our surprise. But I started to wonder if maybe the way this book ended the series was with everyone’s death or confinement. And so it took me a while to wrap my head around finishing this book, come what may. I had carefully avoided all reviews and spoilers while I wrapped my head around the fact that this ending was here. But about halfway through, I had to have a little faith–in Chloe Neill and in myself. I could take whatever came in the series.
I won’t spoil the ending. But I will say that my faith paid off in ways unimaginable. And that is the key to this whole series. Despite being a jaded paranormal romance reader who thought she had seen everything, this series constantly came out of left field. Consistently, we found ourselves wondering how all our heroes could possibly pull this one off. And they always, somehow did. It’s sad to be saying goodbye to our intrepid heroes but the series ended on a high note rather than disappointment.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I highly recommend this book, and the series itself. It’s lighthearted and campy and unbelievable at times, but these characters will soon hold a piece of your heart, as they did mine!
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/
Fiction
Penguin
2017
384
"Continuation of New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series"--
The thrilling final installment of Chloe Neill’s New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series sees sinister sorcery advancing across Chicago, and it might usher in the fall of Cadogan House....
Since the night of her brutal attack and unwilling transformation into a vampire, Merit has stood as Sentinel and protector of Chicago’s Cadogan House. She’s saved the Windy City from the forces of darkness time and again with her liege and lover, Ethan Sullivan, by her side.
When the House is infiltrated and Merit is attacked by a vampire who seems to be under the sway of dark magic, Merit and Ethan realize the danger is closer than they could have imagined. As malign sorcery spreads throughout the city, Merit must go to war against supernatural powers beyond her comprehension. It is her last chance to save everything—and everyone—she loves.
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