Tag Archives: PNR

Justice calling

Book Review of Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress #1), by Annie Bellet

Justice CallingI picked Justice Calling (by Annie Bellet) up as a freebie at Amazon. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Gamer. Nerd. Sorceress. 

Jade Crow lives a quiet life running her comic book and game store in Wylde, Idaho. After twenty-five years fleeing from a powerful sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her powers, quiet suits her just fine. Surrounded by friends who are even less human than she is, Jade figures she’s finally safe. 

As long as she doesn’t use her magic. 

When dark powers threaten her friends’ lives, a sexy shape-shifter enforcer shows up. He’s the shifter world’s judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one, and he thinks Jade is to blame. To clear her name, save her friends, and stop the villain, she’ll have to use her wits… and her sorceress powers. 

Except Jade knows that as soon as she does, a far deadlier nemesis awaits.

Review:
While there is nothing new here, it’s entertaining enough. I think I’d have preferred to see it bulked into a full novel, instead a novella, in order to allow for more plot and character development. But it was at least a full story arc, with a beginning, middle and end. Yay and thank bloody god for that. I liked what I knew of the characters and, though the plot wasn’t really given the time to deepen, it’s not so rushed as to be unenjoyable. I’d read more of the series.

Dark Warrior Unleashed

Book Review of Dark Warrior Unleashed (Talions #1), by Alexis Morgan

Dark Warrior Unleased

I posted about Dark Warrior Unleashed, by Alexis Morgan, a couple months ago, when I picked up four Morgan’s books at a second hand story and was shocked to see them autographed and dedicated to Mom & Dad. How did the end up in a charity shop? I, of course, don’t know. But it intrigued me. I gave the first a read.Alexis Morgan signature 2

Description from Goodreads:
The rough and rugged Talions, sexy warriors who stop at nothing to deliver justice, star in this steamy new paranormal series from Alexis Morgan.

He’s on a mission to annihilate the enemy. 

A Talion enforcer, Ranulf Thorsen has served his people for a thousand years, delivering the eye-for-an-eye justice by which his kinsmen live. Weary of the centuries-long fight, the fierce warrior with icy blue eyes has secluded himself on a mountain far from the chaos of the modern world below. Now he’s been summoned to face the most dangerous battle of his life — and the fate of his people is on the line. But when he meets the beautiful woman he has sworn to defend… 

Ranulf and his bitter rival, fellow Talion Sandor Kearn, must find the rogue Kyth who set a violent fire in a nightclub. The near-deadly blaze’s unlikely heroine, Kerry Logan, is also a Kyth, possessing the ancient Nordic people’s unique ability to manipulate human energy. She just doesn’t know it yet. …who will protect his heart? 

Kerry finds more than comfort in her warrior’s embrace, and Ranulf hungers to both defend and claim the petite powerhouse for his own. But with time ticking away and their lives on the line, will Kerry believe the wild tale he’s telling her, and master her powers…before it’s too late?

Review:
Pretty bog standard, unimpressive paranormal romance. Not bad, just not in any way special or impressive. I appreciated that the heroine stood up for herself frequently and often got her own way. She seemed smart and determined.

But honestly, the villain was evil for no reason except that he was evil and he was a pretty cliched baddie too. The attraction between the H and h was almost instant. The Talions are supposed to be a group but no other Talion is ever actually mentioned. In fact, it felt like there was a whole dearth of people in the world. Like Morgan couldn’t be bothered to flesh it out.

Worst of all, though ,was that there was very very little tension in the book. We’re told frequently that this was the hardest mission of Ranulf’s long life and that the villain had to be hunted, etc. etc. But the characters went dancing, ate, made love repeatedly and then the climax was brief and uninspiring. After all the villain’s grandstanding your never shown his realization that he’ll be defeated. Meh


What I’m drinking: Iced, cold-brew chicory. Chicory is a habit I picked up when I last gave up caffeine (cold turkey, even) and needed something more robust than herbal tea. Chicory tastes enough like coffee to sooth the beast and, hey, it happens to be good for you too.

Knight after Night

Book Review of Knight after Night (Vampire Assassin League #1), by Jackie Ivie

Knight After NightI downloaded a copy of Jackie Ivie‘s Knight After Night from Amazon. It’s a perma-freebie.

Description from goodreads:
THE VAMPIRE
Highland Vampire Thoran MacKettryck’s lonely. Bitter. Vengeful. For centuries now, he’s taken lives for profit and drained blood for free. Just like always. But then he’s gifted what every immortal craves: his mate. He just can’t believe his eyes when he finally hunts her down. 

HIS MATE
Jolie Pritchard’s young. Studious. Driven. Studying Medieval Literature is her life and this scholarship – her dream. She’s the last thing an arrogant, gorgeous, world-class playboy should be pursuing and she knows it. If only he wasn’t the most thrilling male she’s ever imagined…

THE CURSE
She was warned. She didn’t listen.

Review:
Man, what a waste! Ivie can write. There’s witty dialogue. There’s a cute, kind of clueless alpha male who begs. (I love me some begging man.) There’s smart female lead. There’s vampires. Really, this should have been a slam dunk for me. But no. No. No. No. NO. NO!

It’s not even half as long as it needs to be to allow for a believable plot. So it’s incredibly rushed and almost every aspect of it is underdeveloped. Thornan is apparently some sort of vampire assassin (the series is even called Vampire Assassin League) but that’s not addressed anywhere in the book.

Jolie is unnecessarily rude to Thornan from the moment they meet. Really, people usually present a little social grace when confronted with new people before turning mean. He bullies her into a date by threatening violence against anyone she tries to call for help and ignores all her attempts at agency. Then, despite the author trying to show Jolie angry at the idea of being materialistic, a full on third of the book seems to be dedicated to describing his wealth and Jolie’s response to it.

There is slut shaming and the requisite naive virgin whining about how his big penis will tear her. WTF? Jolie just accepts everything with ease by deciding not to think about it (what happened to the smart girl in the beginning) and seems to have some sort of personality transplant about halfway through the book. Then they declare ever-lasting love after one night together.

I am so disappointed!