Tag Archives: challenges

Book Review of Omega’s Touch & Omega’s Fate, by Wolf Specter

Since the last two books for my Omega Weekend Challenge turned out to both be short(ish) stories by the same person (Wolf Specter), I’ve just combined them into one post. Here are Omega’s Touch and Omega’s Fate.

Omega's TouchDescription from Goodreads:
An Omega who can kill with a Touch. An Alpha determined to save his son. Will they clash- or will they accept their bond?

Brilliant, indolent Dilyn spent years hiding his power as an Omega. He doesn’t want to bond to an Alpha, doesn’t want to lose control of his life, or his gift. But when called upon by his Alpha to do something useful, Dilyn reluctantly travels to a strange pack in order to Heal a dangerously injured new wolf.

Gwyr promises he won’t try and bond the Omega to him. But resolve flees when he sees the snarky young wolf for the first time. His wolf knows they were meant to be together- but Gwyr can’t break his word. And Healing his son, Tanner, is more important than convincing a skittish Omega that he is worth the risk.

Dilyn struggles to Heal, struggles to retain his independence in the face of unexpected temptation… should he trust that Gwyr isn’t a tyrant, but is an Alpha willing to allow Dilyn his freedom? Is a mate bond worth risking freedom?

Review:
Hmmm, simplistic and rushed but not all together bad. Characters seemed to  make instant, unprovoked changes in attitudes and the bit at the end, about dragons, seemed irrelevant (probably for a future book).

My main problem with this, however, was the way Dilyn was forced into something he didn’t want. It’s clear from beginning to end that he doesn’t want to mate, but he’s forced to anyway. And I simply couldn’t believe that love was supposed to have developed  (making it all ok in theory) when the whole danger to Dilyn in the first place was that ANY ALPHA WOULD BE ATTRACTED TO ANY OMEGA AND TRY TO CLAIM HIM, which suggests to me that there was nothing any more special between him and Gwyr that any other alpha and omega, no matter how hard the author tried to pretend that the world she set up didn’t work the way she set it up.

25633475Description from Goodreads:
The Mating Ball used to be a yearly event where bachelor Alpha werewolves meet potential mates, but now it’s a party mostly used to hook up with as many people as you can. 

Ethan, one of the humans hired to entertain the werewolves, goes into the event with only one expectation: getting paid for having fun. The prospect of maybe meeting an Alpha female is only a bonus. 

Max, a successful Alpha, has been getting pressure from all sides to settle down and prove his Alpha genes. Two problems: he doesn’t believe that the Mating Ball works and he is only interested in men. 

Once there, he meets Ethan, who catches his attention immediately, but the man insists that he isn’t gay, or interested in Max. As the ball comes to an end, the two men can no longer deny their attraction and take off together. Only to wake up to a very special surprise. 

Review:
You know how sometimes when you listen to an audiobook you can put it on faster than real life? That’s what this story is like. The plot rockets at an unfollowable pace. The characters morph from screeching harpy, to sulking child, to hesitant lover, to enthusiastic lover, to morning sickness at light speed. The Mpreg is thrown in at the last as unbelievable attempt at a twist. The world isn’t explained at all. I’m not even certain if Omegas are wolves or the humans who come to the party. I don’t know if they actually mated for life or just mated, as in had sex. The reader isn’t given enough information and the whole thing is just ridiculous. The idea could have been interesting if had actually been developed. But it hasn’t been and that negates any charm it might have had.

Book Review of A Demon Bound (Imp #1), by Debra Dunbar

A Demon BoundI downloaded a copy of Debra Dunbar‘s A Demon Bound from Amazon while it was free.

Description from Goodreads:
Samantha Martin is an imp, enjoying an extended vacation from Hel. All she wants to do is drink beer by the pool, play mischievous pranks on the humans, and get her hot neighbor in the sack. It’s a relaxing break from her infernal home, as long as she manages to avoid the angels, who won’t hesitate to execute her on sight.

But when her naughty hellhound lands her in trouble with the local werewolf pack, Sam is blackmailed into helping track and catch a killer. The steps she must take to appease the werewolves will put her right in the crosshairs of the angels. And with angels, there is no second chance. 

Review:
I almost gave up on this book at about 50%. Honestly, the only reason I didn’t had more to do with not wanting to DNF two books in a row than anything to do with the book itself. Because for the first 50% I thought it was just awful. I thought Sam was contrary and dysfunctional impulsive. I disliked her voice and she annoyed me in general. Yeah, I get it, she’s an imp; mischievous and un-serious is the name of the game. But all her antics just read as ineffective slapstick to me. Plus, I found the characters flat and poorly developed.

Past 50% the story balanced out a little. There were more characters to dilute Sam’s all but suicidal tendencies and a plot, beyond I want to f*ck my neighbor, finally developed. I still wouldn’t go so far as to say I liked it, but it did get better. I will grant that the book’s world and angel/demon politics seemed interesting and there is potential. This may just be a case of a rough start.

Perdu

Book Review of Perdu (Redire de Vampyrus, #1) by Raeden Zen

PerduI’ve had Perdu (by Raeden Zen) for quite some time, having picked it up from the Amazon free list over two years ago.

Description from Goodreads:
Ruth and Eugene Flowers desired the American dream: two kids, a big house, and a dog. But it wasn’t meant to be–at least not initially. When a surprise package literally fell into their laps, however, the Flowers would finally get their wish (sort of). Soon, it all goes awry, as mysterious deaths followed by a disappearance permanently disrupt their lives. Meanwhile, many years later, a grown-up Valerie Green, a nearby neighbor’s daughter and high-school sweetheart of their son, Zan, hits it huge in the Big Apple, first landing at Columbia University, then at the New York Pioneer, the hottest online periodical in the city. When she is forced to cross the path of hotshot FBI special agent, Dr. Devean Rasr, she doesn’t realize she is also wading much deeper into the biggest, most dangerous, and most challenging killing spree in the history of NYC.

Review:
This book is a mess. There’s no identifiable main character. It has no consistent timeline. Characters make absolutely unfollowable leaps of logic. Clues conveniently pop out of nowhere. The villain is a character that literally isn’t in the novel until the reveal and then isn’t in it after, so a nobody. There are several info-drops, most of which is pointless information that is never utilized. There is constant head hopping. Characters appear and disappear as needed. No one have believable emotions. The dialogue is stilted. The love is unfounded and baseless. Pretty sure I have nothing positive to say about any of it….Ok, it was short and I like the cover.