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Book Review: Wolf Marked, by Alexis Calder

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I purchased a copy Alexis’ Calder‘s Wolf Marked in order to read it as part of my Wolf Marked Reading Challenge. You see, three books titled Wolf Marked promoed on Sadie’s Spotlight within a very short time of one another. It amused me so much that I decided to read and review all three of them. Thus a mini reading challenge was born. This is the second Wolf Marked I’ve read. The first was by Veronica Douglas and the last will be Harper A. Brooks.

Knowing it ends on a cliffhanger, I considered holding off on reading this until I had book two in hand. I’ve agreed to read/review an ARC of Wolf Untamed, but it’s not available yet. But I also didn’t want to lose my Wolf Marked momentum. So, I went ahead and read it now. Wolf Marked

They tried to break me. Now I’m going to break them.

Cursed to never shift, the only thing I was looking forward to about the First Moon Ceremony was that the magic sealing me into Wolf Creek would break, and I could finally leave.

Instead, the ceremony reveals my true mate: Tyler Grant, future leader of my pack and the man responsible for my most recent concussion and black eye. He’s as brutal as he is handsome and fate is cruel to put us together.

There’s a rumor that a mating bond could break my curse and just as I’m getting my hopes up, Tyler destroys them all.

Instead of bonding with my mate, I’m beaten and left for dead.

A hot-as-sin feral shifter finds me and helps me back on my feet. But his help comes with a cost and I’m not sure I’m willing to pay the price.

With my former pack hunting me down, even an enemy might be a better ally than trying to stay alive on my own.

my review

I generally enjoyed this. Though the writing is good, I did find the beginning quite repetitive. Calder wants the reader to understand how abusive Tyler and his friends are, so we’re shown and told again and again. But once that tapers off the book smooths out significantly. The villains are a bit one-dimensionally evil, but it’s made up for with a feisty heroine and interesting side characters. The book does end abruptly at a high tension point, nothing at all is concluded here. But I went in knowing that, so I can’t really complain about it. I think I know how it’s all going to end (or at least what some of the big reveals will be). It’ll be interesting to see if I’m right. Either way I’m here for reading the future books and finding out.

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Other Reviews:

Wolf Marked:Moon Cursed 1 by Alexis Calder-Review & Giveaway Tour

Review: Wolf Marked ~ Alexis Calder

Don’t Judge Read – Review

 

 

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Book Review: T.A.D., by M.D. Neu

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I was given a free Audible code for a copy of T.A.D., by M.D. Neu.

t.a.d. m.d. neu

Tad bounces around in time and watches mankind grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people—he’s an Angel of Death.

Doug is a fun-loving drama queen. He’s an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams, but despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction.

When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his wings are stripped away from him, and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug, and they start a friendship that shapes them both and may last a lifetime. But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?

I thought that this was really quite sweet. I love platonic love stories. Not that no characters find romance or not even that the characters don’t have sex. But the primary love of the story isn’t a romantic love and I adored that. Given this fact, I think some people might quibble with it being called a romance. But I think it fits the genre, even if on the edge. Love is certainly the point.

Set in 2002, amidst the global unrest post-September 11, the book has an emotionally charged setting. And Neu uses it to it’s fullest, giving us characters who call New York home. I thought Doug is a lovely character, if a little emotionally messy for much of the book. Tad is more complicated, for obvious reasons, but I liked him too (though not all the time(s)). And there are a host of fun side characters, though you don’t get to know them too well.

The writing is quite readable and it’s well narrated (by Steve Connor). It did feel a little slow at times. But not enough to drag too badly. All in all, a strong showing, even if it probably won’t top my favorites list.

tad photo

Other Reviews:

T.A.D by M.D. Neu

T.A.D by M.D. Neu #LGBT #Review #Paranorml #GayFiction

https://mattdoylemedia.com/2019/11/06/tad-by-m-d-neu/

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Book Reviews: Sapphire Flames AND Emerald Blaze, by Ilona Andrews

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I borrowed audio versions of Sapphire Flames and Emerald Blaze through Hoopla. While these are books 4 and 5 of the Hidden Legacy series, they are also books one and two of the Catalina Baylor Trilogy.

I’m just going to write the one review for the two of these, since I listened to them back to back and they come to a satisfying stopping point.

Catalina Baylor books

catalina baylor blurbs

Oh boy, I’ve taken my time with this series. I read the first book in 2015, second one in 2017, third in 2018, the novella that comes between the third and fourth book in 2019, and now the fourth and fifth in 2021. Who knows when I’ll make it back for the sixth. Not until next year, at least, since that’s when it’s scheduled for release.

If you want to read the actual reviews, you can find them here:

Burn For Me / White Hot / Wildfire/ Diamond Fire

Luckily this was largely doable since the series changes focus and picks up with the second Baylor sister, Catalina, instead of the older Nevada (books 1-3). So, I mostly only needed to remember the events of Diamond Fire and could be hazy on the previous three books. Honestly, I think you could follow them well enough even if you hadn’t read any of the previous books, though you’d sense you were missing history.

I like Catalina a lot. I was so-so on Alessandro. I don’t feel like he was particularly well defined outside of Catalina’s longing for him and I found his arrogance annoying (even when it was clearly an act). However, as always, the writing is fabulous and I love the world Andrews has created here. I’ll be back for more.

ruby fever bannerSince Ruby Fever is book six in the Hidden Legacy series and/or third in the Catalina Baylor Trilogy, and I don’t anticipate writing a long review of it, I’ve just decided to bring it back here and add it to the post for the previous two books. (Even if it wasn’t technically even published when the original blog post went up.)

ruby fever coverAbout the Book:

An escaped spider, the unexpected arrival of an Imperial Russian Prince, the senseless assassination of a powerful figure, a shocking attack on the supposedly invincible Warden of Texas, Catalina’s boss… And it’s only Monday.

Within hours, the fate of Houston—not to mention the House of Baylor—now rests on Catalina, who will have to harness her powers as never before. But even with her fellow Prime and fiancé Alessandro Sagredo by her side, she may not be able to expose who’s responsible before all hell really breaks loose.

My review:

I thought this concluded the series well and I hope that the series picks up with Arabella and The Beast of Cologne, as the teaser suggests. However, I have to admit that I didn’t feel particularly connected to anyone in this book. I think this is just a symptom of it being a third book for the couple and a lot of the connection-making happened in previous books. But still, I was a little disappointed in that aspect of it. All in all, however, I’ll still read anything Ilona Andrews writes and I look forward to more.