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Book Review of The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (Nocturne Falls #1), by Kristen Painter

The Vampire's Mail Order Bride I picked up a free copy of The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride, by Kristen Painter, on Amazon. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town where Halloween is celebrated 365 days a year. The tourists think it’s all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better.

Living in Nocturne Falls means being yourself. Fangs, fur, and all.

After seeing her maybe-mobster boss murder a guy, Delaney James assumes a new identity and pretends to be a mail order bride. She finds her groom-to-be living in a town that celebrates Halloween every day. Weird. But not as weird as what she doesn’t know. Her groom-to-be is a 400-year-old vampire.

Hugh Ellingham has only agreed to the arranged set up to make his overbearing grandmother happy. In thirty days, whatever bridezilla shows up at his door will be escorted right back out. His past means love is no longer an option. Not if the woman’s going to have a future. Except he never counted on Delaney and falling in love for real.

Too bad both of them are keeping some mighty big secrets…

Review:
This was a cute, fluffy idea that turned out to be heavy on the fluffy and short on just about everything else. There’s an interesting set up, but that’s all it is, a set up. The situation that sends Delaney into Hugh’s arms pops up now and again, then drops away. It carries no tension and is never satisfactorily concluded.

Other predictable problems show up and resolve themselves with ease. Hugh has a pathological, phobic, paranoia-level fear that dissolves into thin air to such a degree that he goes to great sacrifice to obtain a magic to alleviate this fear and then starts the process in question before he even has it in hand.

Delaney is apparently a strong-willed woman because she speaks her mind (Yep, this is one of those he-loves-her-because-she-talks-back and isn’t feminine books.), but it’s never really believable because it lacks any sort of depth of character. All-in-all, that last comment kind of carries my opinion of the book in general. It’s cute, but lacks any sort of depth or character.

Oh, and there is no mail-order bride. There’s a vampire bride and a potential arranged marriage, but no mail order bride. It’s a cute title, sure, but maybe it should have been made relevant. It is a clean read though, if that’s your thing.

Book Review of The Lodestar of Ys, by Amy Rae Durreson

I picked up The Lodestar of Ys, by Amy Rae Durreson, at Amazon. At the time of posting it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:

Sjurd is convinced that Celyn of Ys is the most irritating man alive. It’s a good thing that Celyn is engaged to Sjurd’s brother, not him, because Sjurd loathes the brat, and it’s quite mutual. When an elopement and the threat of invasion force the two princes together, however, they have no choice but to marry and fake true love to keep their countries safe. Can warrior Sjurd and diplomat Celyn find any common ground?

Review:
I found this really quite marvelous. I adored all of the characters, from start to finish. However, I also found it quite spare, with large chunks of time skipped over. I felt cheated out of what happened in those years. Similarly, I would have liked some resolution on the I & H issue. But for the most part, I just enjoyed my time I spent with this novel.

There also happens to be a free side story called Emry’s Smile. It’s from the same world, but with different characters, and I thought it was absolutely lovely. Durreson has made my watch list.

Book Review of On the Accidental Wings of Dragons (The Dragons of Eternity #1), by Julie Wetzel

I picked up a copy of On the Accidental Wings of Dragons, by Julie Wetzel, when it was free on Amazon. (It was still/again free at the time of posting.)

Description from Goodreads:
When Michael Duncan is sent to investigate the disappearance of several dragon subjects, he finds himself in a bind. Locked in a dungeon, his only hope lies wrapped in a bundle of cloth tossed at his feet. One kiss and his life is changed forever. Hunted by his own people for crimes he didn’t commit, Michael has to learn a whole new life at the hands of a beautiful woman. Can she help him clear his name, or will just being in her presence get him sentenced to death?

Carissa Markel doesn’t know who this man chained to the wall is, but he’s her only chance for escape. She has power, but, born without a voice, she lacks the means to wield it. One choice, made in desperation, sends them running for his life. Does she have the strength to help him clear his name? And what will her brother, the King of Dragons, do if he finds out what she’s done? That’s immaterial, the real question is… can she keep her hands off him long enough to find out?

Review:
I went into this pretty much just thinking, “DRAGONS!” I love dragons, but that wasn’t enough to carry it through. The book is fluffy and I can’t say I hated it, but it is pretty flimsy in the plot, development, character and world departments. A lot of questions are left unanswered. Characters are introduced and then disappear when they’re not needed anymore. Most of the events are little more than a sketched out structure to hang the ‘romance’ on. The villain is a shadow, you never really even meet him. None of the side characters have any depth and the main ones have very, very little. It had a few cute bits, but that’s just not enough to make a book worth reading.