Tag Archives: romance

Nocturne

Book Review of Nocturne (Hours of the Night #2), by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt

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I received a copy of Nocturne, by Irene Preston and Liv Rancourt, from the authors for review. I reviewed others in the series here, here and here.

Description from Goodreads:
For generations, the White Monks have treated the vampire Thaddeus Dupont as a weapon in their battle against demons. However, when a prominent matron drops dead at a party, Thaddeus and his lover Sarasija are asked to find her killer. Their investigation leads them to an old southern family with connections everywhere: Louisiana politics, big business, the Church, and an organization just as secret as the White Monks.

Meanwhile, an esoteric text containing spells for demon-summoning has disappeared, Thaddeus is losing control of le monstre, and Sara is troubled by disturbing dreams. These nightmares could be a side-effect of dating a vampire, or they could be a remnant of his brush with evil. As the nights wear on, Sara fears they are a manifestation of something darker – a secret that could destroy his relationship with Thaddeus.

Review:
I really think this was my favorite so far in the series. I liked seeing a bit more of Thad’s “le monstre.” I liked that there wasn’t so much angst about his perceived sins and I liked that Sara had struggles of his own, outside of getting Thad to accept his love. Plus, they were sweet together and I thought the writing was just really good.

I did think it dragged just a little and I was disappointed to end the book not knowing what’s up with Sara’s situation. I assume this is the next book, but it was a pretty big issue to go not only unresolved, but undiscussed even.

All in all, I can’t wait for the next one.

Sightlines

Book Review of Sightlines (The Community #3), by Santino Hassell

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I received a copy of Santino Hassell‘s Sightlines through Netgalley. I reviewed the first two book in the series, Insight and Oversight, earlier in the year.

Description from Goodreads:
Chase Payne is a walking contradiction. He’s the most powerful psychic in the Community, but the least respected. He’s the son of the Community’s founder, but with his tattoo sleeves and abrasive attitude, he’s nothing like his charismatic family. No one knows what to make of him, which is how he wound up locked in a cell on the Farm yet again. But this time, the only man he’s ever loved is there too.

Elijah Estrella was used to being the sassy sidekick who fooled around with Chase for fun. But that was before he realized the Community wasn’t the haven he’d believed in and Chase was the only person who’d ever truly tried to protect him. Now they’re surrounded by people who want to turn them against their friends, and the only way out is to pretend the brainwashing works.

With Chase playing the role of a tyrant’s second-in-command, and Elijah acting like Chase’s mindless sex toy, they risk everything by plotting a daring escape. In the end, it’s only their psychic abilities, fueled by their growing love for each other, that will allow them to take the Community down once and for all.

Review:
I hate to say this, but I think my love affair with Santino Hassell’s books is over. On the sites I’m forced to use a numerical start rating, I almost gave it 2 stars. The end dragged it up to a third, but it was a close call. I simply didn’t like it. I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t like the narrative style. I didn’t like the pacing. I. did. no. like. it. And if I’m honest, the last several books by Hassell that I’ve read have skirted this same edge. And it makes me so sad, I lovedhis early works. But all his characters feel the same now and here I felt Chase was taken to such a grumpy extreme that I couldn’t overcome it enough to enjoy his character. And Elijah was a shadow, barely there. As always, the mechanical writing is good but this book was a bust for me.

Book Review of The Scot Beds His Wife, by Kerrigan Byrne

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I won a copy of Kerrigan Byrne‘s The Scot Beds His Wife through Goodreads:

Description:
Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne, is a notorious Highlander and an unrelenting Lothario who uses his slightly menacing charm to get what he wants—including too many women married to other men. But now, Gavin wants to put his shady past behind him…more or less. When a fiery lass who is the heiress to the land he wishes to possess drops into his lap, he sees a perfectly delicious opportunity…

A marriage most convenient

Samantha Masters has come back to Scotland, in a pair of trousers, and with a whole world of dangerous secrets from her time spent in the Wild West trailing behind her. Her only hope of protection is to marry—and to do so quickly. Gavin is only too willing to provide that service for someone he finds so disturbingly irresistible. But even as danger approaches, what begins as a scandalous proposition slowly turns into an all-consuming passion. And Gavin discovers that he will do whatever is necessary to keep the woman he has claimed as his own…

Review:
This book had a lot against it when I started it. It isn’t a genre I naturally gravitate toward, I tend to avoid books with ‘bodice ripper’ covers, and it’s 5th in a series. (Though I didn’t realize this last point until I’d already started it.) Despite all that I found I mostly enjoyed it.

I won’t claim to have loved it. It did still have several of the elements I dislike so about the genre in general. Like the scene where the heroine is angry and the hero shuts her up by grabbing her roughly, trapping her hands and kissing her against her will. The heroine then of course melts into him and kisses him back instead of being righteously angry for the assault. (God, how many such books have the same exact scene in them? Is it somehow required?)

Those like me who haven’t read the rest of the series, know that I followed it just fine. The writing is perfectly readable and the editing seems clean. I did think there were some inconsistencies in some of the characters, but on the other hand, I very much appreciated the presence of an elderly, monogamous gay couple. All in all, about the best I could hope for from a book that started with so many demerits.