Tag Archives: PNR

Book Review: Monsters of Midlife, by Melle Amade

I picked up a copy of Melle Amade‘s Monsters of Midlife as an Amazon freebie.

I’ve dreamt about dark, ravenous monsters my entire life. Last night I found out…all my darkest dreams are real.

At forty-five I didn’t think life had many surprises left, but I was so, so wrong. Monsters do exist and last night their demigod, Ryder, came to me asking for help.

I would have been more willing if Ryder wasn’t my younger, too-hot-to-handle ex-husband.

Apparently, he was hiding a few things during our marriage. I thought it was girlfriends when I divorced him. But according to him he’s been protecting the world by keeping his kind at bay. I wouldn’t have believed him except he turned into a creepy black monster with fangs, three glowing eyes, shiny black horns, and pointed ears right in front of me!

Having Ryder back in my life releases something inside me I didn’t realize existed. It’s overbearing, angry, and chaotic. And I realize I still have feelings for him, but this time, they’re unleashing the monster buried deep inside myself.

I’ll help him save the world, but the one thing I can’t afford to do is fall in love with him again.

Not now. Not ever.

I’ll lose more than my heart, I’ll lose my humanity.

Look, I fully expected this to be a silly, ridiculous read. I was not looking for great literature or anything serious. But the simple fact is that this book is poorly done. No one is likable. He shows no moments to appreciate, and she is consistently too-stupid-to-live. The emotions are all overwrought and over-amplified. You feel no chemistry between the characters. The world is not fleshed out. The dialogue is cringy. (So is the single sex scene). The plot jumps around willy-nilly, and then the book just ends practically in the middle of a scene. So, the whole thing feels incomplete on top of everything else. I will not be continuing the series.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: Threads of Fate, by Lexi Esme

Leave a reply

I picked up a copy of Lexi Esme‘s Threads of Fate as an Amazon freebie.

A woman hunted. A monster broken. A desire that may just consume them both.

RHIANNE

With my car dead, and no way home, an inconvenient night quickly takes a turn for the worse.

I’m pursued deep into the woods, my heart pounding with unbridled fear, and I’m certain this is it. I’m going to die out here, in the cold and dark. Just when I think all hope is lost I’m saved by the most unexpected rescuer.

My savior is a monster.

I don’t know whether I should be terrified or enchanted. Hidden in the shadows, his bright red eyes lure me, drawing me in until I can no longer resist him.

SEPHTIS

Until that fateful night, I’d fought my desires for so long. I would have stayed away from her if that were possible, but I needed her…

Dark and smooth, captivating and delectable, she is gorgeous, a feast for my senses. My desire for her burns in every fiber of my being, my lust undeniable. She is my every fantasy made real, temptation embodied… The very thought of being her lover is devastating torture.

I’m a monster. She is a human.
I’m dangerous. She is untainted.
But I want her.
My feelings for her are consuming me.

I should stay away from her but the temptation is too great, the need too deep. Rhianne has captured my heart, and now the threads of our fates are tied, she is bound to me as I am to her.

Despite the gorgeous cover, I’m afraid this just wasn’t very good. I think that the author had an interesting idea, but it was not well executed. While I liked the characters, they were not well-developed. It’s more tell than show. The plotting is inconsistent and herky-jerky; scenes and plot progressions do not flow well from one to the next, etc. It’s plenty spicy, especially if you are into light bondage kind of scenes, and I liked the ending. But, all in all, this was a flop for me.

Other Reviews:

Threads of Fate by Lexi Esme

Book Review: Magical Bureau of Investigation series, by Albany Walker

Leave a reply

I picked up a copy of Albany Walker’s Homecoming Homicide as an Amazon freebie and then bought Creeping it Real and Perfectly Wicked.

“Hey Frankie, we need ya.”

One phone call, five words, and I’m back in the town I swore I’d never return to.

Hill Crest Library smelled bad, and it wasn’t just the corpse in front of me causing it. The once beautiful building had fallen into disrepair over the past few years.

Belinda the new librarian was doing her best to clean it up, but a dead body wasn’t helping matters.

Dad needs help to solve the murder, so that’s what I’m here to do, then get out of town before anyone even knows I’m back

The case should be easy for an MBI agent, even a newly minted one like me, but before I can check into the hotel my three reasons for leaving, corner in the lobby.

My life just got a lot more complicated.

This review covers all three books.

Honestly, I liked this series. But I wanted to like it a lot more than I did; I could have liked it a lot more than I did. It is mostly a series of magical investigation bureau mysteries (almost bordering on cozy mysteries) with a poly second-chance romance subplot. I liked the mysteries. I liked the romantic subplot. I really liked the way the men had an important relationship between themselves. The problem is that the subplot is too much plot for a subplot, and as a subplot, doesn’t get the attention it needs. This means that the reader is left feeling unsatisfied by it. There were a lot of conversations that needed to happen that just didn’t, a lot of groveling and forgiveness that needed to be on-page and just wasn’t, etc. It left the books feeling lopsided and ill-weighted.

The reason I didn’t rate it higher than I did, though, is for a single big reason (and this is a spoiler, be warned). The basic premise is that Frankie and her guys had an “oops” misunderstanding while casting a spell as teens and then, despite being inseparable since they were children (and one being a freaking empath, another reading magical intent), and as a result, she ran away. But she only went 45 minutes away, they knew where she was (secretly checked on her once a month), and she knew where they were (in her hometown with everything and everyone she loved). And I’m supposed to believe, as a reader, that, despite missing one another, they all went somewhere between 5 and 10 years (the exact time is not stated, but long enough to start and finish university, go through bureau training, and get ensconced in careers) none of them ever even tried to make contact. She never had reason to visit home? None of that is even remotely believable, especially with the way the men structure their lives around the assumption that she’d be back at some point. That’s the foundation of the book, and it is shaky at best. I tried to suspend disbelief, but it was a struggle. It’s simply that unbelievable and undermined the entire plot.