Tag Archives: Paranormal romance

Book Review: Captured by the Dark Commander, by Ellie Pond

I picked up a freebie copy of Ellie Pond‘s Captured by the Dark Commander. It was pretty hyped on Tiktok. So, I gave it a chance.

As a merman commander, my responsibilities are protect my people and follow the council’s orders. Despite my rank, I’ve never been good at following orders. When we discover Annabelle Portsmouth has the gene we’re looking for, I know we need her. It’s a rare trait that gives her the potential to become a mermaid. But after one look at her, I’d want her even without it. And I’m willing to take down my own men who touch her without permission.

I do what I have to do – I take her from her apartment and bring her under the sea to the domed Veiled City. A world of magic and secrets, where the females have the freedom to choose as many mates as they wish.

I understood my actions would have consequences. My government, like me, doesn’t give second chances. I did it for my nation, and for Annabelle, to let her become her true self.

But now she’s mine.

And I’ll do anything to keep this human. Anything. And I’m keeping this human.

I’m afraid I just didn’t like this very much. It was basically ok, quality-wise. There were some inconsistency issues that annoyed me, and maybe some instances of wrong character names being used. (I’m not 100% sure about this one, but there were a couple of moments in scenes where I was like, did Pond mean for one of the male characters to be doing that when the other would make a lot more sense?) And several instances (especially in sex scenes) when I just didn’t know what was actually happening. But mostly, the issue is that I did not like it.

I understand that it is a dark romance. I understand that the “dark commander” is supposed to be dark. But dark romance is also…you know…a romance. But I neverever feel the spark between Nico and Annabelle. There is one sex scene that is so incredibly unpleasant I honestly thought it was rape. (I mean, the other male stepped in to remind the main male hero that he is supposed to be pleasuring his mate, and he is not.) And none of the other sex scenes felt authentic in any fashion. So, I never liked Nico. In the beginning, I gave him grace, room for character growth, etc. But he had not grown by the end. He remained unchained and unpleasant, and everyone just let him.

I did like Holter and Caster, but they are not the focus here. This book was very much about Nico at the exclusion of the other two men, and it felt wonky and off-kilter because of it. And I liked Annabelle well enough. Her character is inconsistent, but mostly I liked her, and the world seems interesting.

All in all, however, I do not feel the need to continue the series.

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Book Review: Inextricably Tied, by Aveda Vice

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I picked up a copy of Aveda Vices‘ Inextricably Tied on Amazon. I think it might have been on a Stuff-Your-kindle day.

Harbinger is reckless.

It only makes sense that she keeps the world at arm’s length. No one to answer to. No one to lose. No one to touch her banshee skin and become connected forever.

It’s a system that works — even if it means keeping her partner, Flint, from getting any closer to her.

Flint is restrained.

As Harbinger’s bodyguard, he has to be — until pulling her behind his gargoyle armor accidentally links them. Now Harbinger’s privy to the romantic feelings he’s denied himself for years…

And Flint’s no longer the only one connected to her.

Agony is unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

A night terror extracted from a serial killer, Agony doesn’t care who he hurts — and Flint and Harbinger look like perfect targets.

Forced together by circumstance, the three search for the remains of the murderer’s victims…and try to keep from killing each other in the process.

But as the mystery comes into focus, the lines between the three of them begin to blur. What started as begrudging partnership becomes as intertwined as their bodies in the dark.

The bond between Flint and Harbinger is fraying — but Agony isn’t the only one to blame. Not when Flint and Harbinger have painful histories they’ve spent their whole lives running from.

Every step toward uncovering the truth proves that the only way to untangle these complicated webs is to unravel them…and each other.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s predominantly smutty, though there is a fairly serious murder mystery ostensibly being solved. Both Harbinger and Flint have past trauma they are working through, and Agony is a new entity, just learning what it means to exist in reality. So, there’s some unexpected heft for a smutty book. Mostly, however, I liked the dynamic between the three of them a lot.

I wasn’t thrilled that the beginning of Harginger and Flint’s relationship happened in a prequel, and the reader feels the lack of it in this book. I mean, this is certainly readable on its own. But I regretted not having read the prequel, personally. I’ll be on the lookout for more of Vice’s books, regardless.