the vampire's curse

Book Review of The Vampire’s Curse (Things in the Night #1), by Mandy Rosko

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I think I picked my copy of Mandy Rosko‘s The Vampire’s Curse from Smashwords. Though if I’m honest, I’m not 100% sure.

Description from Goodreads:

With this kiss… In a city that cannot be found on any map that is inhabited entirely by witches, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves, Kyle McKane is seeking a cure for a curse that turns him into a blood hungry vampire during the night, and leaves him an exhausted, sleep deprived human during the day. …she will cure him… Jackie Moore is probably the worst witch in the city apart from her ability to heal wounds and illnesses with a touch of her lips. She rarely sees outsiders and is stunned to come face to teeth with Kyle when he finally succumbs to his hunger and attempts to bite her. …whether she wants to or not… Instead she grabs him by the ears and kisses away his curse before he can sink his fangs into her. The problem is that the cure is only temporary until Kyle turns again the next night, and then goes out in search of Jackie so that she can cure him again, whether she wants to or not.

Review:

This simply wasn’t all that great. But more important in terms of my personal review, it didn’t push any pleasure buttons for me. So many times I stopped and asked myself, why do authors do that. Why do they never truly punish the villains? Why do they use the protagonist’s capacity to forgive to prove how good they are, even when the person doesn’t deserve (hasn’t done work toward) forgiveness? Why do they think sappy backstories make them forgivable? Why do they give the male half of a mystical pairing special powers, but not the female? Why do they make female characters so wishy-washy and internally uncertain? Why do they set the bar so low for male characters that they get credit for being wonderful for doing almost nothing? Why do they make twist so damned obvious? Why do some authors make the ultimate villain literally the only other named character in the book (not too hard to figure out when there is only one person on the board)? So many times I found myself asking why did this author have to ruin this book this way. Plus, it took me 3 whole days to finish it. So, it felt like it went on forever.

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.