Posts Tagged ‘Review’

The Adrien English Series
Josh Lanyon
Buy Kindle Versions: @ Fictionwise or at Loose-ID
Rating: 3 to 5 Stars

Fatal Shadows – 4 stars

Goodreads entry here.
Someone’s out to get Los Angeles bookseller Adrien English. His best friend has been viciously murdered, now he’s getting weird phone calls and sinister gifts from a mysterious “admirer.” The cops think he’s trying to divert suspicion from himself-with the exception of sexy and homophobic homicide detective Jake Riordan. Is Riordan really such a great detective–or does he have a few secrets of his own? Is his offer to help Adrien on the level or is he out to nail his favorite suspect — to the wall?

A Dangerous Thing – 3 stars

Goodreads entry here
Suffering from writer’s block and frustrated with his tentative relationship with hot but closeted L.A.P.D. Homicide Detective Jake Riordan, gay bookseller and mystery writer Adrien English travels to northern California where he finds a body in his front drive. By the time the sheriffs arrive, the body has disappeared, and Adrien once again finds himself playing amateur sleuth. But when the game turns deadly, Adrien turns to Jake. Jake may be confused about some things, but keeping his lover alive is not one of them–no matter what the cost.

The Hell You Say – 5 stars

Goodreads entry here
The long anticipated third novel in the Adrien English series finds the “ill-starred and bookish” mystery writer and bookseller battling demons–maybe literally.

And, oh, yes, murder…

Death of a Pirate King – 5 stars

Goodreads entry here
Gay bookseller and reluctant amateur sleuth Adrien English’s writing career is suddenly taking off. His first novel, Murder Will Out, has been optioned by notorious Hollywood actor Paul Kane. But when murder makes an appearance at a dinner party, who should be called in but Adrien’s former lover, handsome closeted detective Jake Riordan, now a Lieutenant with LAPD — which may just drive Adrien’s new boyfriend, sexy UCLA professor Guy Snowden, to commit a murder of his own!

The Dark Tide – 5 stars

Goodreads entry here
As if recovering from heart surgery beneath the gaze of his over-protective family wasn’t exasperating enough, someone keeps trying to break into Adrien English’s bookstore. What is this determined midnight intruder searching for?

Jake is only too happy to have reason to stay in close contact with Adrien, but there are more surprises in Adrien’s past than either one of them expects — and one of them may prove hazardous to Jake’s own heart.

It is 3:40am and here I am typing away on my laptop writing a review for a series I just finished reading. I should have packed it up and called it a night as the girls will no doubt be pestering me for breakfast bright and early, but the last book of the Adrien English series was so perfect, so sigh worthy that I absolutely had to get my thoughts out before I could fall asleep.

I started this series not knowing what to expect. It came highly recommended by Smexybooks and she has never steered anyone wrong before, but I have never read a M/M romance before. True to form, Ms. Smexy did not disappoint and this series is a must read. Fictionwise has this series classified as M/M erotica but I have a hard time classifying it as erotica. Yes, there are some smexy scenes in it, but the plot and relationships between characters steal the show in every book. Because of the strength of the last 3 books, I am giving the series as a whole 5 stars.

Adrien English is likable and funny, often sarcastic but not overly so. He is curious, finding himself close to far more dead bodies than one would think is possibly. The relationship between him and Jake is an unlikely one where they seem to knock heads more than kiss. I would have liked to sit them down and stage an intervention more on several occassions. They seemed to take turns being unable to be emotionally honest and often saying the wrong words. On one hand I am glad this series was only 5 books long, I am not sure my heart could take the emotional turmoil that their relationship caused me!

The plots for all 5 books were well done. The mysteries were interesting and demanded equal footing with the romantic plot. I did find the storyline in A Dangerous Thing, book 2, to be less interesting than the others. I felt the changes in Jake and Adrien’s relationship were most important to the series, but the plot kept trying to push them out of the way.

Ultimately, book 5 left the biggest impression on me. I laughed out loud at the one liners and sighed at the tender side Jake finally showed us. I held my breath during many scenes hoping one of them would say the right thing and happiness would be in their future. Never have I read a series that was completed so well and did so without compromising the characters or the growth they had to experience. Even upon finishing The Dark Tide I kept hitting the “next” button trying to deny the book was really done. Realizing it was truly the end, I actually grinned and hugged my kindle for a moment in gratefulness.

Thank you Mandi for helping me spread my book horizons and thank you Josh Lanyon for giving readers a little piece of joyful perfection.

FTC Disclaimer: These books were purchased by me

The Fever Series
Karen Marie Moning
Buy Kindle Versions: here
Rating: 4 to 5 Stars

Darkfever – 4 stars Goodreads entry here.	Bloodfever – 4 stars Goodreads entry here	Faefever – 5 stars Goodreads entry here	Dreamfever – 5 stars Goodreads entry here

You can find my review for book 1 of the series here. The plan was to review them all by themselves, but each book is so closely linked to each other, I think its impossible to do without spoiling things! Because of that I am going to be vague and hope you trust me that you absolutely must read this series if you haven’t!

Darkfever and Bloodfever were good. They weren’t OMG YOU HAVE TO READ THIS good for me, but I read them quickly and really enjoyed them. The same can not be said for book 3 and 4. Faefever and Dreamfever are OMG YOU HAVE TO READ THIS good. They are full of surprises, storyline, and action. A small warning, both do end with cliffhangers…. Dreamfever probably being one of the worst I have read…. EVER! It is going to be a long wait for book 5, Shadowfever.

There were things I absolutely loved about this series. There are also things that made me frown and things that disappointed me. Most importantly, this series grabs you by the shirt and drags you in, makes you care about the characters and what is going on in their world.

I love Mac, I especially love Mac version 4.0. Her character arc and the growth in her is captivating.

Barrons…. still an jerk. But book 4 warms me up to him and I can see all the soft goey nugget inside. I know I would happily volunteer to poke around with him and try to find more of it.

Barrons and Mac together…. they make me swear like a sailor. They are stubborn and pigheaded and I just want to hit both of them upside the head.

*sigh* How much longer until Shadowfever?

FTC Disclaimer: These books were purchased by me

Title: DarkFever (Fever Series, Book 1)
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Release: October 31, 2006
Buy Kindle version: here
Goodreads Entry: here
Rating: 4 Stars

I have been putting off reading this series. I have heard about its painful cliffhangers and I am generally not a fan of that sort of thing. My theory was… I can put it off until the last book comes out and just read them all at once. However, I am weak when it comes to peer pressure and I was pretty sure @smokinhotbooks was going to beat me up if I didn’t read it soon. So I gave in and dived in.

The synopsis above gives a pretty good teaser into what happens in this book so I won’t rehash it. I liked Darkfever enough to read it in 2 sessions… in one day. It was addictive, like those Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

I found Mac to be an interesting lead character, even if she does obsess about her nail polish and the color pink a bit much. She is stubborn, often to a fault. I like where the author is pushing her character by forcing her to change her appearance – I look forward to lots of growth of Mac as a person and woman.

Barrons just plain annoyed me in this book. He is obviously sexy, but I did not find him likable Instead I found him arrogant, selfish, and untrustworthy. I am curious as to what he is and where he goes from here considering all the crazy book bloggers who adore him as much as I adore Bones. Obviously he has to have some redeeming qualities and we just don’t get to see them yet.

All in all, I give Darkfever 4 stars. The writing was good and I enjoyed the first person narrative. My only gripe is I dislike the way foreshadowing done. Phrases like “I would come to know just how wrong I wass…blah blah blah” just irritate me. (BTW – not a direct quote). I get thats it is part of the cliffhangers, but argh. The book does end with things unresolved, but I was prepared for it and it seemed like a natural place for things to take a pause. Now, I must get started with book 2…. thankfully hubby is home today to feed me and the kids so I feel no shame in doing nothing but sitting on the couch in my pajamas with BloodFever.

FTC Disclaimer: This book was purchased by me.

Title: Dawnbreaker (Dark Days, Book 3)
Author: Jocelynn Drake
Release: September 29, 2009
Buy Kindle version: here
Goodreads Entry: here
Rating: 4 Stars

My first reaction when I finished this book? “ARGH I FRICKIN HATE THIS SERIES”. But really I love it, i am just impatient and want answers NOW! Its like the TV show LOST – you want to boycott because it constantly makes you question what the hell is going on, but you can’t because its just too good to ignore! Dawnbreaker is another great installment in the Dark Days series.

Mira is nightwalker, but she is a nightwalker with a unique gift. She can control fire and uses it to her advantage whenever she can. Mira is tasked with stopping a race of supernatural beings called the naturi from opening a portal that would allow them to cross into our world and destroy both humans and supernaturals.

Mira is not a character that is immediately likable. I read the first book and was a bit taken aback by her, but I have to admit she grows on you. She can be ruthless and violent. At 600 years old she knows what is necessary to protect herself and her people and is willing to do it without question. But she can also be sarcastic, funny, and protective of those she cares about or feels a duty to protect.

Mira’s unlikely partner in crime is a vampire hunter named Danaus. He is dark, dangerous, and deadly. The two call a tentative truce in book 1 in order to fight the naturi and it has carried throughout the series so far. Dawnbreaker gives us a tiny bit more insight into the relationship between Mira and Danaus. In between light hearted jokes about killing each other we get little hints that maybe these two feel for each other more than they are willing to admit. I certainly hope they do get it on soon…we could all use a little relief in the “will they/wont they” tension! When they do get together it is going to be good. I can’t image smex between Danaus and Mira as anything but rough and primal and all things yummy.

In Dawnbreaker the action starts immediately! The author wastes no time plunging Mira into danger and things never seem to slow down. The plot is dark and violent and it seems that someone is always bleeding. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, even the threat of my kids making a mess in the kitchen couldn’t pull me away! There were a couple spots where I felt like things skipped ahead or paragraphs were left out at the end of a chapter. Not enough to make it unreadable, but enough that I had to go back and page and make sure I hadn’t missed something.

My only other gripe is that for all the violence, I was still left feeling a tiny bit frustrated. I wanted more answers to questions about the developments in Mira’s powers over the last 2 books, as well as the relationship between her and Danaus. For being 384 pages long, the book seemed to end too quickly for me. There is resolution to the main story arc, but with that resolution comes so many new twists and turns. What lays ahead for Mira? What about Danaus? I guess its a good thing there are at least 6 books planned for the series!

Dawnbreaker is one of those great reads that has you loving it, cursing it, and finally scratching your head at all of the possibilities to come.

FTC Disclaimer: This book was purchased by me.

Title: Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, Book 7)
Author: Rachel Caine
Release: February 17, 2009
Buy Kindle version: here
Goodreads Entry: here
Rating: 3.5 Stars

As I first sat down to write this review I had a hard time writing my own quick synopsis of the story, without giving away spoilers. I can’t explain why, other than I don’t really think there was much story for the first half of the book. I enjoyed the book, as I always enjoy Rachel Caine’s writing, but this one fell short compared to previous Morganville books.

With the demise of Bishop and his clan, Morganville is a much more relaxed place. I think the entire first half of the story focused around the daily activities of the kids, there was very little action or suspense in it. It wasn’t until the second half that a new character, Kim goes missing and we get into the real plot of book 7.

As I said above, I always enjoy Rachel Caine’s writing. She is good at what she does – she somehow managed to bring me into Morganville again without skipping a beat. I didn’t have to sit and try to remember what happened in the last book, as soon I started reading it all came back. The strength of her writing is the only thing that really kept me interested in the book enough for me to get past the middle point.

The first half of Fade Out deals with the kids and their daily life. They have jobs, Claire is working on her studies and with Myrnin. We also meet Kim. Claire sees Kim as a threat to her friendship with Eve and her relationship with Shane and she immediately despises her. Claire’s reactions seemed far too immature for the person she has proven to be in past novels, but maybe teenage love will do that to you? I admit it has been a while There is also some signs the problems with Amelie, who appears to be lost in grief for Sam still. It looks like Oliver is going to plan a takeover and that will be the major plot line of the book, but then it is dropped. I admit that Oliver is in this book fairly briefly and all of it felt like it was filler, but I imagine it is setting up the next book in some way.

When we finally did get to the big bad and the sinister plot, I have to say I was disappointed. I expected more oopfff and was left feeling…. underwhelmed. The writing is good, so definitely not a wasted read, but without having the next book in hand it felt like this one didn’t do much to move the series forward at all. There were some developments in the relationship between Michael and Eve, but I didn’t feel they needed this particular story line to create them. I think significant move in the overall storyline of the Morganville Vamps centers around what happens with Ada in this book. I do think that situation is worthy of its own novel, I just think the plot line that was created around it was weaker than Ada deserved. I wish I could be more detailed, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone!

All in all, a decent read, just not as action packed as I am used to from Rachel Caine.

FTC Disclaimer: This book was purchased by me.