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Review of E.R. Davis’ Lunes and Lords bundle

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Lunes and Lords Bundle

I bought E.R. Davis’ (or Emily Ryan-Davis‘) Lunes and Lords bundle after reading Dragon Call  (previously titled Mating Call), which I grabbed from the Amazon free list. Book one is still free.

Description from Amazon:

DRAGON CALL
Insomnia does things to a girl’s head, drives her to perform acts she would have scoffed at if not for a bad case of desperation. Yoga. Meditation. Getting in touch with her inner Lune via witchy rituals she doesn’t even realize she’s enacting until she’s naked in the dark with an aggressive dragon…or two.

Cora Phillips has spent her life denying the Lune tradition but with two dragons–and their masters–hounding her with mating claims, her denying days have come to an end. Like it or not, the dragons have come.

And she doesn’t like it one bit.

DRAGON DANCE
A dragon knows how to find his mate no matter how far she runs, and Lune-witch Cora’s dragon knows exactly how to lure her back for another dance with his master. Returning to New York on a mission to save her Dragonkeeper from his own self-destruction, she discovers this waltz is even more complicated than the first.

When a Lune has three different partners, which one leads?

DRAGON BOUND
Wrists bound to a hotel bed. Wrong dragon in her head. Flavor of fire on her tongue. That’s how the end begins.

Cora can’t run anymore. Not ever again. The mysteries of her life, the heritage she’s denied, the lovers and enemies she’s fled have all caught up to her, ready to eat her from the inside out if she doesn’t embrace her birthright, bind her draconic subjects, and rule like the queen she was born to be.

Review:
Though it might be a little repetitive I think the best way to go about this review is just to cut and paste the three reviews I wrote for the books that make up the bundle. But before I do that a word or two on the series as a whole. First and foremost I see NO REASON that these are cut into three novellas. This is one story, literally. Books one and two do not wrap up or conclude in any fashion. Secondly, Cora is a whiny bitch who can’t seem to make up her mind about anything, but she is also systematically denied information with which to make decisions. Third, I would have liked a lot more interaction with the dragons. I got almost no feel for the personalities of these sentient creatures. Heck, I almost don’t even know what they look like. Fourth, I could have used a calm moment or two. It felt very much like a screaming bunch of second graders on the verge of panic. No one ever seemed to just stop and think for a moment before racing off into some ill-conceived action. Having said all of that. I do very much like the idea of the story. It is very imaginative. And the actual writing–word choice, punctuation, etc is all well done.

Mating Call
I basically thought the book was ok. I just thought it felt a little rushed all over. I liked Cora but didn’t have enough time to get to know her. I liked the Dragonlords (well until one went all crazy), but I didn’t feel like I was given much depth of character. I liked Cora’s sister and mother, as well as their odd family dynamic but it felt superficial since there was so little of it. I was intrigued by the calling of a dragon mate, but it all happened so fast I barely grasped what was happening. And then, AND THEN the whole thing just ended! This is not a cliffhanger. This is an abrupt cessation of the story. Nothing concludes here. This enrages me.

Now, as true a testament as any to the fact that I was enjoying the story is that I bought the bundle so I could finish up (’cause if one ended so abruptly, you know the next one will too). But I have to admit I did so begrudgingly. I have no qualms about buying sequels, but it rankles the hell out of me to have to buy the second half of a book. Which is what it feels like one is doing when books end mid-story with no, and I mean no, wrap-up.

On a positive note, I thought the writing was fine. I didn’t notice too many typos and I have to give major props to the author for having a sexy, beautiful, size 18 heroine. Yeah, that rocks big time.

Dragon Dance
I’m struggling between 2 and 3 here. The reason for the low rating is two-fold. One, I’ve kind of lost track of what is happening here. There is something about a pearl. One minute, Greg is forcing it on her; the next, he is beating her to get it back, and then he’s telling her to take it. I’m lost. I don’t know what he actually wants from her. Plus she’s supposed to choose a dragon, then seems to think she can claim one and mate one. I don’t know.

Two, like the first book (but worse), it just ends. I mean, it just suddenly ends. This is by no means a complete novel on its own. Nope, not even by stretching the definition of ‘novella’ does this qualify as anything complete. Irritatingly, it’s not the beginning of anything either, being the middle book. So on its own, it’s just the middle of a story. Who picks up a book and just reads the middle third? No one I know.

But why not just a one-star, then? Because despite my tenuous grasp of what is actually happening, I am invested in how the story eventually comes to fruition. (I just hope I don’t get to the end of the third one and find it’s not the end of the series.) And I generally think the writing is pretty good. Pending the third book contains an ending, I would strongly post my preference to see the story firmly ensconced in a single binding. There doesn’t seem to be any real reason for it to be three books. It just creates frustration for the reader.

Dragon Bound
I am thrilled to say the series does actually wrap up here in the third book. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t. There is so much potential to this story. I really, really wanted to love it. I just really didn’t. The whole thing was rushed, nothing was explained deeply enough, and though I initially liked most of the characters I didn’t anymore by the end. Cora especially. Her indecision and refusal to face things made me want to shake her by the end. Both because I didn’t appreciate her weakness as a character and because, as a reader, I wanted to see those things she avoided. Most of the other characters piqued my ire by simply refusing information that they could have provided and thereby avoided all of the drama. Cora’s mother especially. Then after forcing Cora to deal with everyone’s obfuscation, almost everyone was absolved in some fashion. In the end it felt like Ryan-Davis couldn’t allow anyone to remain a bad guy. I felt cheated of my anger. Cora deserved to be angry at these people, so by extension, did I, as a reader.

I also found the book full of small inconsistencies or matters that were unclear and I misunderstood. For example, one moment, Miranda is informing Cora that women can’t support dragons, and the next, she is claiming one of her own. One thing I can’t complain about, though, is the writing or editing. Both were fine. All-in-all I’m fairly torn on how I feel about this one.

Stone Guardian

Book Review of Danielle Monsch’s Stone Guardian

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Stone Guardian

Author, Danielle Monsch, sent me a copy of her Entwined Realms novel, Stone Guardian. I also happened to notice there is a Goodreads giveaway running to win your own copy. Go here.

Description:
Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.

Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets – that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.

Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.

In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.

Review:
I generally quite enjoyed this. It had a good story, a little humour, some romance, and a couple kick-ass females (always a plus). I’m thinking Fallon, Aislynn, Laire, The Oracle. Unfortunately Larissa, the heroine, wasn’t one of those awesome women. She was alright, not stupidly stubborn or so naive she practically begged to be victimised, but there didn’t seem to be much to her. She was a bit of a shadow puppet until Terak came along and gave her some substance. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed her well enough, but her life basically consisted of work and letting her father and brothers control her life in an incredibly patronising fashion.

As much as I might complain about the way Larissa caved to her male family’s whims I was also a little disappointed that the family, who played quite a prominent role in the beginning, had almost no place in the bulk of the book. The small inclusion of one of her four brothers was almost a distraction it held so little relevance. Her family was really important to her. Much of her life was structured around them and their overprotectiveness, so I found their absence conspicuous, especially at the end.

The mystery of why everyone was looking for Larissa kept me guessing until the end. Though I have to admit that I found it odd that she could just keep going home when so many baddies were after here. Did none of them know how to dial 411? Having said that, I quite enjoyed Reign as an antagonist. He and his obsession with Fallon piqued my interest for future books. As did Fallon’s strange conversant at the end. I have my guess, but we’ll see.

I liked Larissa and Terak as a couple, but I have to admit the sex scenes did little for me. The first one was too smooth for two virgins (and I’m still wondering about Larissa’s lack of hymen). The last one…well no, it was just wrong on too many levels to list. But beyond this one small complaint I liked them together. I especially liked Terak.

There were a few typos here and there, mostly missing particles. It wasn’t particularly distracting. The book was well written. The dialogue was comfortable and Larissa was quite witty at times. I look forward to the continuation of the series.

Book Review of Mystic Ink, by Casey Wyatt

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Mystic Ink

I grabbed Casey Wyatt‘s Mystic Ink from the Amazon KDP list. 

Description from Goodreads:
Welcome to Mystic, Connecticut, where a Satyr owns the local pawn shop, a Minotaur serves the tastiest pizza in town, and the nearest gate to the Underworld resides in the alley outside a tattoo parlor.

Nix–Sea Nymph, talented artist and proprietor of Mystic Ink–just wants to run her tattoo shop in peace and quiet. Peace and quiet, however, are the least of her problems. Mortal corpses keep springing up in her alley like daisies. Hades is angry that the mortals’ souls are missing. And to top it all off, the human authorities suspect Nix of foul play. 

Before long, the supernatural police force takes an interest. They dispatch Agent Calder Quinne to investigate. His assignment is simple: determine Nix’s guilt or innocence by observing her daily routine. Instead, he’s faced with an uncooperative Nymph who resents his presence and evades him at every opportunity. 

Nix finds Cal far too attractive and a challenge to her self-imposed ban on relationships. She wants him out of her life as soon as possible. When Cal’s soul is stolen next and Nix wakes up missing memories of the evening’s events, even she starts to wonder if she’s guilty. Now, she has only two weeks to locate Cal’s missing soul, or he’ll be doomed to spend eternity as a Shade.

Review: **Warning, slightly spoilerish**

Meh, it was alright. The writing was perfectly readable and it was well edited. I have no complaints on that front. But the story had a number of elements that I just plain dislike. For one, though Nix was the main character and the events centred around her, it wasn’t her who saved the day. Nope, Gods forbid the woman be in on the important action. Instead, she ran around from the start of the book until the end, encountering and being attacked by one mythological creature after another. Note, not intentionally doing anything but instead reacting to a presented stimulus. Then, in the end, all her male protectors went behind her back and saved the day. It was subtle, but all the impetus was taken by the men. At one point, Cal even asked her, Do you trust me?… Then hold your questions a little longer. In other words she not only wasn’t in on the action, she wasn’t even allowed to ask about it. This was all further exasperated by the fact that all of the power players were Gods. The only real Goddess you get to know is vapid and too busy with her facials and pedicures to be important.

Then there was the complete mishmash of pantheons. I get that this was intentional. The D.L. was, after all, an alliance of them. But come on, first we’re presented with the Greeks (including Sitars, Cyclops, Titans, Nymphs, Fates, Furies, Basilisk, etc), then the Egyptians. I’m still on board at this point. Then the Elves show up. Huh? And then Aliens! Really, WTF, it was just too much, too cluttered, too many disparate genres thrown together.

Then there was how easily everything wrapped up. The bad guy was defeated with absolute ease. More than once, problems were overcome almost miraculously. Nix being able to call in a favour based on winning the office raffle the year before, for example. Thats handy. Cal was given his prize and avoided a fate worse than death despite technically not completing his quest. Then, in the end, Nix rails at her father for three or four minutes and manages to convince him to change the rules that have been in effect for, presumably, millennia. I seem to recall stubbornness being a trait of the gods. Plus, these were pantheon-wide rules, so they affected everyone, not just her. It was just too easy.

Now I know I’ve bitched a lot. I was annoyed by the end of the book. But as I said, it was well written. There were some really fun characters. I especially liked Zeph and Devlin. I’m not discouraging anyone from reading it. Heck, I might even pick up the sequel if I come across it. I enjoyed the read, just not every aspect of the book.