Category Archives: books/book review

grizzly cove

Book Review: Grizzly Cove (Tales of the Were: Grizzly Cove #1-3), by Bianca D’Arc

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I picked up a copy of Bianca D’Arc’s Grizzly Cove (vol 1-3) during one of its Amazon free days.

Description from Goodreads:

Welcome to Grizzly Cove, where bear shifters can be who they are – if the creatures of the deep will just leave them be. Wild magic, unexpected allies, a conflagration of sorcery and shifter magic the likes of which has not been seen in centuries… That’s what awaits the peaceful town of Grizzly Cove. That, and love. Lots and lots of love.

This anthology contains:

All About the Bear
Welcome to Grizzly Cove, where the sheriff has more than the peace to protect. The proprietor of the new bakery in town is clueless about the dual nature of her nearest neighbors, but not for long. It’ll be up to Sheriff Brody to clue her in and convince her to stay calm—and in his bed—for the next fifty years or so.

Mating Dance
Tom, Grizzly Cove’s only lawyer, is also a badass grizzly bear, but he’s met his match in Ashley, the woman he just can’t get out of his mind. She’s got a dark secret, that only he knows. When ugliness from her past tracks her to her new home, can Tom protect the woman he is fast coming to believe is his mate?

Night Shift
Sheriff’s Deputy Zak is one of the few black bear shifters in a colony of grizzlies. When his job takes him into closer proximity to the lovely Tina, though, he finds he can’t resist her. Could it be he’s finally found his mate? And when adversity strikes, will she turn to him, or run into the night? Zak will do all he can to make sure she chooses him.

Review:

This is an odd book to review, because honestly, on Goodreads, I wrote the same short review for both of the first two books. I said, “Short, shallow, repetitive, and hokey. But cotton candy sweet if you’re into that sort of thing. Mechanical wring and editing seems fine.”

I had a little more to say about book three, but not much. For book three I quoted the review from the first two books, but added, “This holds true for this third book too. But I feel like the author did something different here. She tried to bring in a larger plot (the third book seems an odd place to do this, but ok), one that didn’t get resolved in this single book. So, while the romantic pairing stands alone, the actual plot does not.”

So, as you can see, these books didn’t particularly impress me. And being as short as they were, I didn’t take much time in crafting reviews for them. I might have even skipped bring the reviews here to my blog, except that I don’t have a D-author for my author alphabet challenge. Welp, now I do.

Review of Thorns and Fangs, by Gillian St. Kevern

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I picked up a copy of Gillian St. Kevern‘s Thorns and Fangs from the Nine Star Press website.

Description from Goodreads:

Nate is caught between two dangerously hot vampires who can compel people to do whatever they want and a ruthless necromancer who wants Nate for all the wrong reasons—and that’s only the start of his problems.

Escort Nate prides himself on two things: his ability to please his clients and his normality – living in the monster capital of the world, ordinary is rare. Hunter, a darkly charming vampire with more charisma than is good for him, decides Nate is just what he needs. Nate’s sympathetic nature and skill in the bedroom are put to the ultimate test. But Hunter wants Nate for someone else – his brother, Ben. Nate is immediately attracted by the control with which Ben holds his sensitive nature in force. Too afraid of becoming a monster to allow himself to feel, Ben struggles to resist Nate’s generosity of emotion. As a vindictive necromancer makes Ben his target of revenge, Nate discovers that making people feel good doesn’t compare to making Ben feel. As Nate’s normal world crumbles around him, and he desperately searches for a way to save Ben, Nate is unable to escape becoming the necromancer’s latest victim.

But Nate’s death is only the beginning. Coming back to life in the bathroom of Gunn, a Department Seven officer who hates the vampire family that Ben and Hunter belong to, Nate doesn’t know who to trust or even what he is. As the necromancer’s trap pulls tighter around himself and Ben, Nate is forced to let go of normal and embrace powers he doesn’t fully understand. In defiance of Ben’s vampire sire and hunted by Department Seven, Nate and Ben finally learn to trust and rely on each other. But when the necromancer succeeds in capturing Ben, Nate alone can come to his rescue.

Review:

I quite enjoyed this, but I’m not entirely sure it knows what it wants to be. It starts out quite erotic, heavy on the sex (including a 4-way ménage and double penetration). But then all that is set aside and most of the book is a paranormal thriller, with two leads who feel quite young. If not for the way it starts, I might call it a New Adult book. (The main character is 21, after all.) I had some similar complaints with pacing. The book feels longer than it is.

Having said all that, I did enjoy it. I liked the characters. I liked the paranormal world set up. I found quite a lot of humor in it, and the writing/editing is pretty sharp. I’d be more than willing to continue the series.

Siege Weapons

Book Review of Siege Weapons (The Galactic Captains #1,) by Harry F. Rey

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I snagged a copy of Siege Weapons (by Harry F. Rey) from the publisher, Nine Star Press.

Description from Goodreads:

Captain Ales is a lonely smuggler at the galaxy’s Outer Verge, and the last of his people. He’s been trying to move on from a life of drugs and meaningless sex, but finding love in this forgotten corner of the galaxy is difficult.

When he’s sent on a mysterious smuggling mission to a world under siege, he’s enticed by promises of the domination he craves. But soon Ales finds himself entwined in a galactic power struggle that could cost him everything.

Review:

Eh. Ok in some regards, icky in others. I’m just gonna start with my big one. There is exactly one black man in this book, the main character. He’s possibly one of the few in the solar system. And his goal is to find a master to submit to in a master/slave sexual relationship. I am 100% squicked out by this. Honestly, I don’t even feel like the sudden BDSM angle was well integrated into the plot. I also wouldn’t call it a romance, even though there is sex in it.

I found the science fiction aspect a lot more palatable. Unfortunately, it’s not particularly well developed, as it’s not really the main thrust of the book. It’s more just the setting for the rest of it.

The writing and editing are perfectly passable though. Some of the dreams didn’t read as smoothly as the rest of the text. But I have no other complaints about the writing. All in all, I’d just call this ok.