Tag Archives: paranormal

Book Review of Bound by Blood, by Cynthia Eden

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Bound By BloodHere at the Sadie Forsythe blog, it is Bound by Blood week. I set myself the challenge of reading all five books on my TBR list titled Bound by Blood and I started with this one, by Cynthia Eden.

Description from Goodreads:
Vampires and werewolves have been blood enemies for centuries, but now a new threat is rising…demons are escaping from hell and those demons are intent on wiping out both the vamps and the werewolves.

In order to stop the demons, pureblood vampire princess Morgan LaBeaux agrees to the treaty offered by werewolf alpha Jace Vaughn. She’ll mate with him, share her blood with him…and in return, the wolves will aid the vampires in this battle.

But Morgan doesn’t realize just how dangerous the wolves can truly be. Jace has been waiting years to claim her. He’s set a trap for his princess, and now that he has her, Jace doesn’t plan to let her go. He’ll send the demons back to hell, and he’ll keep his vampiress—forever.

Review:
Soooo, this is a novella. I’m not a big fan of novella length stories and this is a perfect example of why. It has an interesting plot, a growly alpha wolf who manages to be extra alphay and sexy without being a jerkface, a strong, self-possessed heroine who knows what she wants and goes for it, Machiavellian machinations, some interesting double dealings, a good side character, etc. But at 89 pages none of it, NONE OF IT, is developed. There is no character development, no world building, no time for relationships to progress, nothing. So despite some pretty good writing skills this remains a complete let down.

I, of course, don’t mean this review to be, ‘I don’t liked novellas. This is a novella, thus I don’t like it.’ It is what it is and what it is is a good story that is unfortunately rushed and unsupported because the author tried to cram it into 89 pages. Such a shame too, it could have been really good with another 150 pages.

Book Review of A Touch of Midnight & Kiss of Midnight, by Lara Adrian

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I grabbed Lara Adrian’s A Touch of Midnight from the Amazon free list and Kiss of Midnight from my local library.

A Touch of MidnightDescription from Goodreads:
Savannah Dupree is halfway across the country from her Louisiana bayou hometown, a freshman studying at Boston University on a full scholarship. But academic excellence is only one of Savannah’s gifts. She possesses something even more remarkable than her quick mind and insatiable curiosity for learning. With a simple touch, Savannah can see an object’s past—a skill that puts her life in danger, when her studies bring her into contact with a centuries-old English sword and the secret hidden within the blade’s history: the vicious murders of twin boys by a group of fanged creatures borne of the worst kind of nightmare.

In all his three hundred years of living as one of the Breed, vampire warrior Gideon never dreamed he’d see the blade again that spilled his young brothers’ lives ages ago on that blood-soaked night in London. Ever since the boys’ deaths, Gideon’s been on a personal quest to rid the world of Rogue vampires, but now he can’t help wondering if the brutal slayings of his only kin was something more sinister—an act perpetrated by an unknown enemy. An enemy who is apparently living in hiding somewhere in Boston. There’s one certain way to prove Gideon’s suspicion, but it will mean using innocent, gifted Savannah to help uncover the full truth—a truth that will shatter everything she knows about herself and the world around her. And with danger closing in from all sides, the passion that ignites between Gideon and Savannah will tempt them to risk their hearts and lives for a love that might just last an eternity…

Review:
Pompous, overwritten, rushed and containing every cheap PNR cliché known to man. However, I think (though I may be giving it too much credit) that since this was published well after the bulk of the other books, it is intended for pre-existing fans of the series, whose well entrenched love of the Breeds would carry the day. Perhaps it has more meaning and resonance for such readers. This is the first of the Midnight Breed books I’ve ever read and I WAS NOT IMPRESSED.

Kiss of Midnight

Description from Goodreads:
He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell’s deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night—or this man—is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed—a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.

Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind—and the unwitting humans existing alongside them—from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.

Here, in the arms of the Breed’s formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all. . . 

Review:
Blerghhhh. Let me just pause to clean up the vomit…ok, moving on. I absolutely, 100% do not understand why people love this series! It’s horrible. I picked this book up from my local library, but prior to reading it I read the freebie prequel A Touch of Midnight. Of it I said, “Pompous, overwritten, rushed and containing every cheap PNR cliché known to man…I WAS NOT IMPRESSED.” This one wasn’t rushed; I’ll give it that. But the rest of that sentence is true. It was also incredibly, I mean INCREDIBLY predictable. 

The dialogue was stiff and overly dramatic. There were numerous large, dull info-dumps. I knew what would happen at every stage of the game. A lot of hated PNR tropes were simply strung together and called a book and the plot was so thin cheesecloth would feel more substantial. 

What’s worse, I hated the characters. Lucan was just a selfish jackass and at no point did I feel he redeemed himself. And Gabrielle was TSTL. I mean, with the exception of the times they were in bed, she spent the whole book being angry, annoyed, or scared of Lucan. So…what exactly did she fall in love with? Then, of course, because she has to throw herself into stupid danger (can’t miss that tripe…excuse me, trope) she decides to leave all safety behind in a huff because she’s mad at Lucan. Dumb. 

Plus, can I just vent a moment on how much I hate how common it is for heroines to doubt their own sanity. It’s just a cultural reaffirmation of the idea that women aren’t as strong in the mental department as men. She’s made to look emotionally and mentally weak so that she needs a strong smart man to make all her decisions for her. Ugh. Gross.

And, and, while on hated tropes…being seduced in her sleep, denies her volition and accountability of her own sexuality. Not to mention, seriously people, no woman would sleep through a man sneaking into her bedroom and performing oral sex on her. The first dip of the mattress would have most women up and screaming in fear, not pleasure. I hate this romantic trope so much.

Yeah, so, so, so, yeah, I have no more words for how much I hated this book.

The Accidental Demon Slayer

Book Review of The Accidental Demon Slayer (Demon Slayer #1), by Angie Fox

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The accidental Demon SlayerI grabbed a copy of Angie Fox‘s The Accidental Demon Slayer from the Amazon free list. I believe that it is perma-free.

Description from Goodreads:
It’s never a good day when an ancient demon shows up on your toilet bowl. For Lizzie Brown, that’s just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she’s seen it all, Lizzie learns she’s a demon slayer-and all hell is after her.

Of course, that’s not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you’ve never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn’t work, how dangerous could a little seduction be…?

Review:
Meh. I’ve seen it done before and done better. Mechanically the writing was fine, as was the editing but the story itself and the plotting…disastrous. It’s a longish book. There should have been ample time to develop characters, a world and relationships However, Ms. Fox appears to have not bothered.

If this book was a cake, the eggs would still be in the shells (maybe even still in the container), the flour in its bag, the butter in the dish, the milk in the jug, etc, all tossed in a bowl to sit next to each other. All the ingredients are there (a hunky love interest, an unavoidable destiny, an evil antagonist, a spunky side-kick, etc), but not mixed, measured or cooked.

There is no depth to any of the characters and some, most notably Dimitri, are wildly inconsistent, as is the plot. Time is indeterminate. The whole book takes place in 2 or 3 days (not sure which), but characters talk about things happening days ago that appear to have happened hours earlier, at most. And at one point someone goes on what must have been an extended adventure in the time it takes Dimitri and Lizzie to sit up and say, ‘hi.’

A shirt is ripped open a page after it was slowly unbuttoned. Dimitri admits to a lie that couldn’t have held water with the rest of the knowledgeable coven. Plus, he talks like he just showed up but is also supposed to have been hanging out with the witches and werewolves for a while. The antagonist, who has been killing and absorbing the power of all the witches in America for a hundred plus years (so, you know strong and skilled), is somehow easily defeated by a slayer with two days of “training.” Honestly, how believable is that? I could go on, but you get the point, I imagine.

The book’s one real redeeming quality is the humour, but even it’s so over the top and ridiculous it can’t carry the load. No doubt, this will appeal to some. I’m just not one of those people. Too bad too, I spent forever deciding to read it.

Edit: Why the hell is she holding a sword on the cover? She uses a “switch star” (think Xena’s….round thing…with points). Not once does she use a sword. What’s more, the ONE TIME anyone does, it’s a katana.