Tag Archives: reverse harem

the messenger chronicles

Series Review: The Messenger Chronicles, by Pippa DaCosta

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I picked up the first book in Pippa DaCosta’s Messenger Chronicles, Shoot the Messenger, as a freebie on Amazon. I then borrowed book 2, 3, and 4 of the series (Game of Lies, Nightshade’s Touch, and Prince of Dreams) in audio through Hoopla. Lastly, I purchased an ecopy of book 5, Her Dark Legion.

I wrote a review when I finished Shoot the Messenger, but I simply flew through the rest of them all together. There’s no good way to go back and pick through the story for individual reviews. So, I just wrote one review to stand for them all.

But, if I’m honest, that works for me. I usually want to know how a series starts (is it worth picking up) and ends. Because if I like the beginning I’ll keep going, but like to know if it has an actual ending. The middle is….well, it’s the middle, isn’t it?

So, here goes.

Shoot the MessengerAbout the book:

“Lies aren’t her only weapons against the fae…”

In the Halow system, one of Earth’s three sister star systems, tek and magic—humans and the fae—are at war.

Kesh Lasota is a ghost in the machine. Invisible to tek, she’s hired by the criminal underworld to carry illegal messages through the Halow system. But when one of those messages kills its recipient, Kesh finds herself on the run with a bounty on her head and a quick-witted marshal on her tail.

Proving her innocence should be straightforward—until a warfae steals the evidence she needs. The fae haven’t been seen in Halow in over a thousand years. And this one—a brutally efficient killer able to wield tek—should not exist. But neither should Kesh.

As Kesh’s carefully crafted lie of a life crumbles around her, she knows remaining invisible is no longer an option. To hunt the fae, to stop him from destroying a thousand-year-long fragile peace, she must resurrect the horrors of her past.

Kesh Lasota was a ghost. Now she’s back, and there’s only one thing she knows for certain. Nobody shoots the messenger and gets away with it.

A new space fantasy series where the guys are hot, the perils are many, and one rebel messenger holds the key to the survival of the human race.

Review:

Ha, you have to admire the audacity of this mash-up, it’s old-school, all powerful fae…in space! And to my complete surprise, it works. I truly enjoyed DaCosta’s “Paranormal Space Fantasy.” My enjoyment was helped along by the fact that I liked both Kesh and Kellee, and was intrigued by the possibility of Talen. I’ll definitely be continuing the series.

However, I also thought it suffered from plot-drift a bit. A twist to Kesh’s character appears toward the end of the book that doesn’t feel believable, since the reader was in HER head for the whole book. That she might have tricked the other characters was certainly conceivable, but how it’s supposed to have escaped the notice of the reader who was in her head is a huge question. Thus, if felt as if the author simply changed directions in the plot.

Regardless, I want more.

Messenger Chronicles 2-5

And here’s what I said about the rest of them.

Review:

Prior to this series, I’d read one Pippa DaCosta book and, while I didn’t dislike it, I wasn’t particularly impressed either. So, I was startled to dive into this series and want to stay for a while. I really enjoyed it. It’s not perfect, but it’s fun and everything wraps around itself and comes to a satisfying conclusion (something I feel like happens more and more rarely these days). I liked Kesh as a character. I loved Sota as a comedic side-kick and I appreciated that, even though this is a reverse harem, it isn’t drowning in sex. It strikes a nice balance. All in all, a true success for me.

 

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Review of New Moon, by Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers (+ Giveaway)

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I accepted a copy of New Moon for review. It was also featured on Sadie’s Spotlight.

New Moon
Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers
Urban Fantasy, Reverse Harem

 

A Crimson Shadow & Scarlet Night spinoff novel…

It’s hard to hide when the forbidden magic you wield is written on your skin…

“Skin witch” Mikkie Locke has spent her life running; running from her past, running from hunters, and running from a destiny she doesn’t want. And when you’re a Taroe working in an “in plain sight” magic shop, that’s easier said than done. Every day she’s away from the protection of her tribe is a day she’s risking death. The enchanted tattoos that cover her body are a constant reminder of who and what she is are a beacon to her enemies that scream “KILL ME!” to those who hunt her and other nonhumans; other creatures of the mythos community.

And the danger has just become more severe.

A new group of anti-mythos hunters have come to town, and she knows that the time has come once again to run. But Mikkie is tired of running, and between her anger, her assets, and the small team of four strong, sexy men who have her back, she’s beginning to think she might have a chance.

But in an ever-changing world, this breed of hunter has decided to make changes of their own. The stage is set for a war, and there’s more on the line than their lives…

**Only .99 cents until Nov 3rd!**

Megan J. Parker lives in upstate New York and is normally found lounging in the writing office with her husband and fellow author, Nathan Squiers.

Since the debut of her first novel, Scarlet Night, Megan J. Parker has gained international recognition and has been a bestseller in paranormal romance and dark fantasy. Her first novel, Scarlet Night, also was a runner up for 2013’s Best New Series Award on the blog, Paranormal Craving. In 2016, she became a USA Today bestselling author and since then, has been on the list three times.

In her down time, she likes reading and designing new logos and videos. Her passion for telling stories is portrayed in all her work and when there’s a story to tell, you can be sure she’ll tell it to its full extent. She is finally fulfilling her dream of owning a design company along with her literary career at EmCat Designs.

Nathan Squiers, along with his loving wife & fellow author, Megan J. Parker, two incredibly demanding demons wearing cat-suits, and a pair of “fur baby” huskies, is a resident of Upstate New York. When he isn’t dividing his time between writing or “nerding out” over comics, anime, or movie marathons, he’s chasing dreams of amateur body building. If he can’t be found in a movie theater, comic shop, or gym, chances are “the itch” has driven him into the chair at a piercing/tattoo shop… or he’s been “kidnapped” by loving family or friends and forced to engage in an alien task called “fun.”

Ok, I have an admission before I get into this review. I did not know that this is a spinoff novel when I accepted it to read. But having read it, I don’t believe that it IS a spinoff. I believe it is part of a series, probably Behind the Veil if I had to guess. This book, in my opinion, does not stand on its own. It’s readable; I read it. But up until the VERY end, references are made to past events, comments are made that make little sense without the history, characters the reader has no attachment to come and go because they’re from past books. Being readable isn’t really enough when you’re reminded on every other page that you’re missing something important.

It’s such a shame that I had a deadline to review this book too. Because (after I got done raging at having unknowingly picked up what is, IMO, probably book 5 in a series) I quickly decided I liked the writing style and the authors’ obvious sense of humor. I would have otherwise set it aside to start at the beginning of the series. (I even have books one and three; though I have no idea why only those two.)

Once you get past the first ~8-10% and into the meat of the plot, you find a very sweet story, with characters you really just can’t help but like. Yes, there’s too much exposition and the plot remains quite shallow. But there’s an interesting discourse on what is a relationship and what qualifies as love. Plus, finding a polyamorous relationship in an M/F PNR is nice too. It calls itself a “reverse harem,” which is kind of a fad right now. But somehow, though the exact definition of RH is hazy for me, it feels more honest to call Mikki and ‘her boys” relationship polyamorous than a reverse harem. But I understand branding, so whatever.

I read an Advanced Readers Copy, which are usually pre-final edits, so, I can’t speak to editing. But all in all, as I said, I have some of the previous books and I plan to move them up the TBR and read them soon than later, which really tells you everything you need to know. I had complaints, but I want more.

Follow the tour dates HERE for further special content!

 

$25 Amazon gift card & hardcover copy of NOIR (book one of the Crimson Shadow series) & paperback of Scarlet Night
OR
 $25 Amazon gift card & e-copies for both books if international winner


 

 

tiny and fierce

Review of Tiny and Fierce, by Margo Bond Collins & Eli Constant

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I Picked up a copy of  Tiny and Fierce, by Margo Bond Collins and Eli Constant through Booksprout.

Description from Goodreads:

In a galaxy where humans are considered the least of all races, she’ll build a crew that adores her strength and style.

When Tommelise took over her family’s deep-space salvage company, she never expected to stumble through a wormhole into a whole other galaxy full of strange alien races ruled by a cruel empress.

She learns she’s not the first human to wind up there—but all the others were captured and sold as slaves. She’ll have to fight to stay alive.

She thought all she wanted was to find a way home. But then she fell in love—three times over—and learned that together, her men would fight three times as fiercely.

Now, to keep her loves alive, she’ll have to free an entire system.

Review:

Utterly and completely bonkers, but kinda sweet too. I appreciate that, of the three men in the harem, only one is truly humanoid. The others, walk up-right (most of the time) but have alien anatomies that make for interesting reading and one eye-opening sex scene (the only one in the book and it’s mild). The plot is pretty ludicrous and things happy pretty helter-skelter. (I mean Lise manages to trip and fall through TWO uncharted wormholes in occupied space, for example!) But it’s still enjoyable all the same.

I didn’t like that the women the crew rescued were continuously referred to as the “slave women,” “slave stock,” “slaves,” etc. Emphasizing their status as former slaves over that of autonomous women. There was only one group of women. “The women” would have sufficed and made them feel like actual individuals and less like commodities, serving the theme of the book better I think.

All in all, however, I thought it a pretty piece of fluff and don’t consider the time I spent reading it wasted.