Tag Archives: paranormal

Demon Possession

Book Review of Kiersten Fay’s Demon Possession

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Demon Possession

I nabbed Kiersten Fay‘s sci-fi romance, Demon Possession from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
After being enslaved on the spaceship Extarga for most of her life Analia has no memory of her life before, and has lost all knowledge of her people. Her mysterious gift and pointed ears are the only indication that she is different.

Analia is alone, and for all she knows, she’s the last of her kind. By chance Analia escapes her captors, and hides herself on the merchant ship Marada, planning to get off at the very next stop.

Unfortunately for her, there is no next stop. The crew is planning a delivery that could take months, and according to a stipulation in the newly signed contract, no one is allowed on or off the ship until the package is delivered. 

When Analia is found by a handsome demon, and captain of the Marada, she must adapt to her new role on the ship, and try to control her newly awakened desire for the brutal, and devastatingly erotic demon.

Review:
Demon Possession was an enjoyable read. I liked Sebastian’s tortured self-restraint, the way Anya came out of her shell and the interaction of all of the demons. Calic was a particular joy. There was a pretty little twist at the end and even though it wasn’t all that hard to see coming, it was still fun getting there.

I feel compelled to mention that I thought the way Sonya (and by extension Anya) dressed was cheesy, for two reasons. One, it was a little cliché that a ‘demon’ dressed in short, black, leather skirts, corsets and stiletto heals. Second, how is it that we could be millennia in the future, galaxies away and stripper/hooker outfits are still considered the ultimate in sexy? Really, you couldn’t come up with anything better than that? It also clashed with Anya’s innocent persona.

The ending seemed a little rushed. It felt almost like the author wrote the romance between Anya and Bastian, then wrote the lead-in for the second book and then stitched them together. There was noticeable change in pacing, and a lesser change in tone.

A number of other reviewers have made mention of poor editing. I did notice some errors, more prevalent in the last half. Oh, and if I have to read the word ‘chit’ one more time I might scream! Seriously, it’s not flattering and was used a lot. But the editing wasn’t as bad as I expected from the reviews. I have definitely read worse. Maybe I have a later edition.

I did noticed a few linguistic inconsistencies written into the story though. Anya seemed able to converse with ease, for example, but then wouldn’t know the meaning of some very simple word. (A word that would allow for a the development of a plot progressing event. They felt very much like convenient omissions.) I also wondered how Anaya knew how to read and write? I can’t imagine Darius taking the time to teach her that.

I would have happily continued the series to see how Marik fairs, even looked into buying the sequel, Demon Slave. But it was $7.99! That’s just too much for an ebook in my world. Anyone have a Kindle copy to lend?

Hunter Moon

Book Review of Cait Lavender’s Hunter Moon

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Hunter Moon

I grabbed Hunter Moon, by Cait Lavender, from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Bawling cattle tore Shelby Flint from her bed. With lawyer fees to pay in her struggle to keep her ranch from the clutches of her greedy cousins, she couldn’t afford the loss of even one calf. When she sees a large wolf circling her cows, she aims and fires. While the wolf escapes, Shelby can’t seem to get away from her troubles when a marijuana grower sets up shop on her land, sabotaging her property and eventually coming after her. Adding to that, a handsome game warden is poking his nose into her business and working his way underneath her skin. Shelby will have to fight harder than she ever fought before to keep from losing heart and everything she ever loved.

Review:
I really quite enjoyed Hunter Moon. I found Shelby’s prickly cowgirl persona appealing. I liked her sarcastic narration (even if it was largely in first person). Cash was sexy and protective without falling over into overbearing territory too often and I adored his exposed, vulnerable moments. The side characters were colourful, the writing easy to read, and it was really quite clean. There was a lot of sexual tension, but no actual sex. All-in-all a satisfying read.

A lot of page-time was dedicated to describing what Shelby owned, especially in the beginning (vehicles, animals, guns, guns, and more guns). I found this distracting, but at the same time I also appreciated that it made it apparent that she was of a normal socio-economic strata. She lived in a trailer instead of a quaint cabin. She had more than one car/truck, but they were as old as her. She owned a ranch, but wasn’t making bank with it. She seemed normal in this respect. I sometimes feel like normal is a rare bird in fantasy. (Who wants to read about the norm after all?) But in this case I liked it. It made her more relatable. Which was good because I couldn’t really relate to the gun crazed cowgirl that she was the rest of the time. I liked her, but couldn’t relate to her.

I did feel like the three primary threads (romance, mystery, and family/legal drama) didn’t really weave together. I kept waiting for them to and had even decided how it was most likely to happen, but it never did. However, they may come together later in the series. In once sense this is good. I would be calling the plot out as predictable if it did, but as it stands the whole family/legal drama seemed unnecessary. It didn’t seem to contribute to the story much.

The book ends on a cliffhanger. [I’m getting so tired of reading books that don’t end.] It’s not as precipitous as some I’ve come across, but there is obvuously more to come. I looked into buying the sequel as soon as I finished this one, which is solid evidence I enjoyed Hunter Moon. The problem is that the next one, Cowboy Moon, appears to be a prequel instead a sequel, is very short, AND is also a cliffhanger. Serial cliffhangers are something I avoid. As much as I enjoyed this book and would like to know what happens to Shelby next I don’t know that I’ll read anymore.

Haunted on Bourbon Street

Book Review of Deanna Chase’s Haunted on Bourbon Street

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haunted on bourbon street14031401I grabbed Deanna Chase‘s Haunted on Bourbon Street from the Amazon KDP list…twice it would seem. (Thus the two covers) I didn’t even know it was possible to download the same book twice on Amazon. I guess the ASIN changed at some point or something. Anyhow, as the time of posting it appeared to be free again.

Description from Goodreads:
Jade loves her new apartment–until a ghost joins her in the shower.

When empath Jade Calhoun moves into an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street, she expects life to get interesting. What she doesn’t count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord.

Being an empath has never been easy on Jade’s relationships. It’s no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it’s up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she’ll need Kane’s help–and he’s betrayed her with a secret of his own–to do it. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?

Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by Deanna Chase’s Haunted on Bourbon Street. I think I expected something a little more H.P. Mallory-ish…more sexual tension and humour. I don’t mean to suggest that there wasn’t plenty of both, but rather it isn’t the focus of this book. In a sense this is as much a mystery as a paranormal romance. They have to investigate and identify the ghost, find out what he wants, find out how to defeat him, and find out how to get on with life.

I liked Jade. While she came in with some preconceived notions about strip clubs and those that work in them, she eventually proved herself to be open minded and mentally flexible. She also had a good strong backbone… though one of these days I swear I am going to do some sort of research project on how often otherwise healthy, well-balanced women in romantic fiction manage to twist ankles while in the presence of sexy men who can carry them away…and maybe even go on to explore how often they then end up in said sexy man’s bed. Here we find a woman who apparently can’t even turn 90° to the right without injuring herself. Sheesh!

Dodgy balance aside, I really did like Jade. It was also nice that her empathic ability was integral to her personality, but not to saving the day. Well it was, but you know how sometimes in books the main character will have one strong skill and somehow it is the only thing that is needed to single-handedly save the world? Not so much here and that was refreshing.

I thought Kane was not only super sexy, but a sweet heart to boot. Pyper was a firecracker. I did have a little trouble deciding what an LSU graduate (one presumes she graduated in the absence of information to the contrary) was doing working in a strip club, but I was willing to accept it. Kat, Dan, and Ian filled their roles, but I felt little for them.

The twist wasn’t all that difficult to guess, but it also wasn’t so obvious that one felt there wasn’t a need to finish the story. I did think things got a little convoluted there at the end. Yes, I suppose I could call it action packed, but the whole feel of the novel changed with the increased pace. Plus, it all felt a little convenient. I know a week was supposed to have passed, so obviously the group worked hard to pull it together. But since the reader isn’t party to any of this it felt wrong. Does that make sense?

I’m glad to have given it a read at long last and would be more than willing to read the continuation of the series.