Tag Archives: PNR

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Book Review: Mated to the Monster, by Sarah Spade

I received a copy of Mated to the Monster, by Sarah Spade. I can’t quite recall if I won it or if the author was just offering review copies. Either way, I ended up with a copy.

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I really should’ve known better than to play around with that old book of spells…

How was I supposed to know that the incantations scrawled inside of it worked? That the first one I read would open a portal into a demon plane — or that the next one was an unbreakable vow to the seven foot tall shadow monster I unwittingly summoned into my bedroom?

He says his name is Malphas, that he’s something called a Sombra demon, and I’m his mate.

Monster, demon… whatever he is, his muscles are bigger than my head, and that club between his legs… I don’t know if mate means the same thing to him as it does me, but he’s gotta be kidding.

Spoiler alert: he’s not.

Mal has been waiting for more than a thousand years for the one woman meant for him. He’s convinced that’s me, and he’s willing to do anything to prove it. And maybe there’s something really wrong with me because, before long, I find myself eager to let him try…

my review

This was silly, fluffy, fun. Which was honestly all I was looking for from it. I wasn’t expecting anything deep or meaningful. Granted, it wasn’t anywhere near as spicy as I’d anticipated, mid-heat at best. And I did think it slipped over into the ridiculous on occasion. But Mal was super sweet (no alpha-ahole here), I like Shannon well enough, and the world/over-arching plot seems interesting. I’d read another in the series.

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Other Reviews:

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Book Review: Zeus, by Carly Spade

I accepted a review copy of Zeus, by Carly Spade, through Literary Bound Tours.
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A god-king disguised as a criminal defense lawyer…

Zeus/Zane, King of the Greek gods, holds the world in his palm in both his mortal and godly form… until Hera leaves him, forcing him to uphold Gaea’s clause: There must always be a Queen, or he loses his title and part of his power along with it. Time is short. Too bad the one woman he has his sights on wants nothing to do with him. Or does she?

An empath criminal prosecutor…

There’s nothing Keira Bazin dislikes more than defense lawyers. So when she discovers Zane Vronti, one of New York’s finest, has been brought in on her newest murder case, it’s anything but good news. Tensions flare as the two immediately butt heads, but there’s something about Zane she can’t put her finger on. His emotions are the strongest she’s ever felt–borderline overwhelming. Power. Lust. Command. Can she fight her growing attraction for him? Does she want to?

my review
Meh, this was fine, I suppose. The writing/editing worked. There wasn’t really anything wrong with it. But I find that I didn’t love it. I didn’t particularly enjoy the beginning because Zeus was just so smarmy. I liked the middle well enough, as he dropped some of that act. And then I disliked the end (just about everything after the wedding) because it was just too pat. She suddenly knew how to use her powers with no adjustments. She stepped into her role as goddess and queen (over significantly older, more experienced gods/goddesses) with no notable insecurity of learning curve, etc. And, IDK, I guess it just departed too far from the known Zeus of mythology. All in all, it was fine. I just think maybe I wasn’t quite the right reader for the book. But, hey, if you like the show Lucifer, I bet you’d like this a lot.

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Other Reviews:

Elle Cheshire: Zeus, by Carly Spade

 

 

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Book Review: Bad Girls Drink Blood, by S.L. Choi

S.L. Choi‘s Bad Girls Drink Blood has been featured over on Sadie’s Spotlight a couple times and, somewhere along the way, I ended up with an ecopy of it. I think I probably won it in one of the giveaways.bad girls drink blood cover
Part sun fae, part blood fae, all abomination.

There is only one hybrid fae in existence, and that dishonor goes to Lane Callaghan.

After a life spent dodging slurs, threats, and assassination attempts, Lane gave her past the one finger salute and ditched her former fae home for good. The detective agency she and her sisters run on the edge of Las Vegas continues to limp along, with Lane doing more debt collecting and intimidating than investigating, but anything to pay the bills. Between working for low-lifes to bring down even lower-lifes, eating cheesy poofs by the bucket, and flirting with the criminally attractive bartender where she conducts business, life is good.

That ends when a routine job goes sideways, leaving Lane with a sack full of stolen sun shards—the source of sun fae power. Without the shards, the sun fae face giving up their magic completely, or risk death if they use their power. Considering they would rather see her dead, good riddance, as far as Lane’s concerned—except her father and adopted sister are sun fae. Lane must choose—return home to save the fae bastards that almost killed her, or let them burn.

my review
I generally enjoyed Bad Girls Drink Blood. I liked that Lane was a strong female lead, despite her personal insecurities. I appreciated her love and loyalty to her family and that, considering two of the three sisters were adopted, it’s very much a found family. Teddy made for a good romantic partner. I especially liked how he supported her without ever trying to stifle her more dangerous tendencies. The world(s) seemed interesting, the plot moved along at a nice clip, and the writing was pretty clean. So, lots of good stuff here.

I did think it was longer than need be—maybe tried to cover too much ground—there were a couple notable inconsistencies, and I felt a little cheated out of the romance. I liked Teddy and Lane, but we didn’t really get to see them falling in love or either one romancing the other. It seemed to have happened prior to the events of the book. As such, I wasn’t overly invested in them as a couple.

However, if there are future books, I’d be up for reading them.

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Other Reviews:

Review – Bad Girls Drink Blood by S.L. Choi