Tag Archives: romance

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Book Review: Pizza Shop Exorcist series (#1-2), by Dakota Brown

I picked up a copy of Dakota Brown‘s The Price of Possession as an Amazon freebie. Then, I purchased a copy of The Price of Exorcism.

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When my family died at the hands of a demon prince, I hung up my exorcist hat. I’d failed to protect them, and while I was willing to risk myself, the price had risen too high.

Now I’m serving up hot, fresh pizzas to everyone who wants them. I was the only person left to inherit the family business and I’m doing my best to keep it up and running in honor of my loved ones.

These days, my biggest challenge is telling off a rampaging customer, and endless paperwork. That is, until he shows up again.

Darius was the only guy I couldn’t say no to, the one who dragged me into the world of the occult in the first place. When he shows up and begs me to assist with an exorcism, I reluctantly agree. He’s still using me; because I’m the best exorcist around and he only calls when he needs my help.

Before I know it, I’ve got an incubus in the living room, a hellhound marking around my yard, and a demon prince who can’t decide if he wants to kill me or… you know. Not to mention the vampire and the nephilim I seem to have collected. Normally I wouldn’t work with the supernatural, but we all have a common goal. Prevent the crime syndicate from summoning a demon prince and becoming more powerful than we can hope to handle.

If I can keep my cool, it will be a miracle. If I can hold on to my soul it’ll be an even bigger one. No one ever claimed being an exorcist was easy, but to protect those I’m coming to love, I’ll pay whatever price necessary.

my review

I read The Price of Possession and The Price of Exorcism back-to-backs with no break between. So, I’m just going to review them the same way. I generally liked what I read of this series. I liked the characters. I liked that the heroine is a little older and established. I liked the easy-going nature of the relationship(s). (One is even still platonic after two books, but there is no doubt he’s one of the group, and there is no angst about it. I like that.) The world seems interesting. And other than an annoying tendency to overuse names in dialogue, the writing is pretty good.

However, I gave up after two books rather than continue the series because it became apparent that Price was becoming so all-powerful and gathering such a powerful harem that I was already becoming bored. Too powerful characters kill tension because there is no chance of them not easily defeating the villains. Similarly, she was just SO WORSHIPED by her men that it just felt redundant. It all left too little room for nuance.

Now, that’s why I stopped after two books. But there was also enough interest to keep me reading for two books. So, this review is a bit of a mixed bag. Ultimately, if I found freebie copies, I’d continue. But I chose not to buy any more.

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Other Reviews:

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Book Review: Semi-Charmed, by Isabel Jordan

I picked up a freebie copy of Isabel Jordan‘s Semi-Charmed about this time last year.
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She’s infamous.
He’s legendary.
Together, they’ll be epic…or a complete train wreck. It could go either way, really…

Psychic and paranormal PI Harper Hall isn’t that surprised when her business partner skips town. She never really trusted the jerk anyway.

But if Harper wants to consult for the police on a high-profile case, she’ll need a new partner– preferably one with some supernatural talents of his own.

Noah Riddick, a slayer left jobless when vampires went public and earned human rights, is perfect for the gig. Too bad he’s grumpy, anti-social, and completely resistant to the idea of working with her.

Riddick’s dark secrets and shady past forced him into exile from human society–an exile he was comfortable with until gorgeous and exasperating Harper waltzed into his life. Now, all too aware of how unlifelike his life has been, he realizes partnering with her might be the best thing that could ever happen to him…even though it might be the worst for her.

Fighting vampires, making immortal enemies, staging daring rescues…it’s all in a day’s work. But falling in love? Well…that’s a little trickier. Even for the Semi-Charmed Harper Hall.

I enjoyed the heck out of this. The world is interesting, being 5 years after vampires have come out to the public and involving characters who had previously been part of the (now disbanded) secret organization to hunt them. Those characters are likable, each in their own way. Harper is snarky and feels genuine, and Riddick is dark and broody but not in an alpha a-hole way. The plot ticks along nicely, so I was entertained. I didn’t even mind the pop-culture references, which oftentimes make me gnash my teeth. (Pop culture references aren’t endearing if you’re not up to date on pop culture, just saying.)

I did think Riddick’s insta-love needed an explanation, Mischa and Hunter’s subplot (with a POV) felt out of place, and some of the characters were a little cliched. But all in all, I’d be happy to read another book in the series (and by the author more generally).

Funny side note: For the longest time, I looked at this cover wondering what a pick axe had to do with the plot. I finally figured out that it is a cross-bow and things made a lot more sense. LOL

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Other Reviews:

Review: Semi-Charmed by Isabel Jordan

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Book Review – Carnal Cryptids: East Coast, by Vera Valentine

I picked up a copy of Vera Valentine‘s Carnal Cryptids: East Coast as an Amazon freebie. I read it as part of both my yearly Author Alphabet Challenge (I didn’t have a ‘V’ yet) and my Mothman Challenge.
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Desiderata needed a drink. After a long day of dodging darts and heckling tourists from her balloon game booth on the Wildwood boardwalk, she just wanted to forget her looming housing angst for an hour. When heavy flirtation and a cocktail from a suave substitute bartender shakes up her evening, things are looking up.

Until, of course, she catches him making out with a hot college guy not five minutes later.

In an attempt to forget the sinfully sexy stranger from the night before, Desi agrees to a dinner date with the eyeful of tall, dark and handsome that shows up at her job the next day. There’s just one little catch: he’s apparently already dating the two guys from the bar.

For JD, a shift behind a Jersey shore dive bar was always the same: predictable, boring, a little bit sticky. So what was it about this gorgeous brunette that instantly had him on the rocks? One look at her brought out the beast in him – and a desperate hope that she might be what he and Penn need to save Will for good. After over a century of struggle, they were due for a win – and someone who really believed in them.

One night.

That’s all they’ll need to get Desi to agree to.

But it’s going to be one hell of a night.

my review

I wanted to like this. I really did. Unfortunately, I did not. I liked aspects of it. I thought the writing was pretty good. I feel like I know New Jersey despite never being there; it’s so well integrated into the story. The world of Concepts seemed interesting. I liked that the men were in a healthy and loving triad, and I liked seeing how they related to one another. But despite liking what the book could have been, I disliked what it turned out actually to be for a few big reasons.

One, I strongly dislike fantasy romances based on WHAT a person is as opposed to WHO a person is. You always get a little of this with mate-bond romances. So, I’ve learned to tolerate it. But it is SO STRONG in this book that I couldn’t overlook it. The men in this book are only interested in Desi because she is a Believer that can grant them a permanent power bank. Sure, the author shoved love in eventually, but the damage was already done, and it wasn’t believable.

Even well past the time that they were supposed to be in love with her, we get sentences like this: “It was the whole situation—this was the only Believer we’ve ever run across personally, and we trusted the bond to do our work for us.” In case you missed it, the ‘this’ in that sentence is Desi. Not ‘she,’ no referring to her by name, ‘this.’ It could have been anyone else in the world (or a table lamp); Desi as a person was irrelevant. The whole book felt like she was an object they desired, not a person they were meant to love.

Similarly, the three men had a strong bond, and I never felt like Desi became part of it, such that they became four lovers. Instead, it felt like the throuple had a girlfriend. They were a unit, and she was outside of it. Which, honestly, doesn’t really even feel like a Why Choose romance.

Two, the whole fear plotline made no sense with the Believer plotline. The reader is somehow supposed to believe that there is a magical, sacred, loving bond between Concepts and Believers, but also that Concepts have to terrify their beloved, sacred Believers to survive (and that Believers will love them in return). Make that make sense.

This point exists in parallel to the fact that both were thrown at the reader suddenly, in a drastic change of tone during the first sex scene. One minute everyone is talking essentially about dating her in hopes of more. The reader knows she can provide a needed power boost to one of the characters. But that’s about it. Then, BAM, all of a sudden, they’re terrifying her because they need her fear, enacting ritualized phrases, and chaining her to the bed, waiting for the Believer Bond to set in. As a reader, I was like, wait, what? None of that had been previously mentioned—not the need for fear, not that the Concepts form mate-like bonds, not that there was innate, ritualized wording that has to be said (or why), none of it—and the tone of the whole book changed.

This leads me to the contradiction of chaining someone to a bed until the magic Stockholm syndrome kicks in and overrides her will and makes her want everything while simultaneously ritualistically insisting she has to ask for it (i.e., give consent). It made no sense.

carnal cryptid photoLastly, I thought the whole Dom/Sub dynamic felt entirely shoehorned into the plot and cliched. I could have done without it.

All in all, I didn’t feel any relationship growing here. Sure, we’re told they love her. But all we really see is her getting hurt, them being cruel to her, and then the bond making her unable to live without them. I find nothing about any of that sexy, especially since this isn’t intended as a dark romance!


Other Reviews:

Romantically Inclined: Carnal Cryptids: East Coast by Vera Valentine