Review: Temptation at Twilight by Jo Carlisle

Temptation at Twilight

by Jo Carlisle

(Lords of Pleasure # 1)

Wow!  I knew going in that this book was an erotic paranormal, I just didn't know to what extent.  I've read JD Tyler's work and love her, so of course I rushed to pick this up as soon as I saw this was her pen name.  Well, I can tell you a few things.  This book is very well written but it feels like it was written by a completely different person. =)  TEMPTATION AT TWILIGHT is highly sensual and enchanting, not so much romantic.

Why do I say that?  Mainly because I didn't think Soren and Harley had much of a connection past the fact that she just wanted to have kinky sex all the time.  The reason why I didn't give the book a higher rating has nothing to do with the premise of the story, which I found really interesting.  And it has nothing to do with how awesome the writing is or how hot the scenes are.  It's just that I thought the hero was a bit of a gullable idiot and the heroinem, well, see description above.

Basically the Lords of Pleasure are three brothers, vampires, that run what you could call a pleasure resort.  They don't sell themselves but they are welcome to participate in others scenes if they so feel the need and are invited.  They are all about sex.  Soren thinks he lost his mate and throughout the years has tried everything to bring her back.  Now he makes a pact with a voodoo priestess who promises she can bring her back from the dead and the price she wants Soren to pay is high.  But he does it anyway, without thinking.

At times it felt as if Leila, the priestess, was almost undefeatable.  She was larger than life and I guess you could consider her a great "bad guy".  I don't know if I can say I loved the resolution at the end but at least it worked when I thought that I was going to find it unbelievable.

Be warned that as you can see from my review, sex is a big part of this book.  Straight sex, m/m sex, menages, if you're there you can participate, no discrimination.  So if that's not your thing, then you might not enjoy this as much.

I do see a lot of potential with the next book as I enjoyed Luc's character a lot more than Soren from the little bit we saw of him.  I also hope to see more of Aldric in the next book (hopefully) because we really didn't "meet" him in this book.

Fave Quote:
"His shirt read, I'M SO GOOD IN BED, I SCREAM MY OWN NAME."

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Review: Her Wicked Ways by Darcy Burke

 

(More like 2.5 feathers!)

Her Wicked Ways

by Darcy Burke

Lady Miranda Sinclair has been sent away from London to the country with strict distant relations for her scandalous behavior, in the hopes it will tame her. However, her first act in Wooden Bassett is to kiss a highwayman as he robs their carriage...not the best of starts. Mr Montgomery Foxcroft, Fox to all those who know him, has had to resort to desperate measures to keep his orphanage safe, and has become a highwayman. But it doesn't seem all the bad when he steals a kiss from a beautiful young lady.

 There were a lot of things I did like about this book, the writing was good, the story was interesting and there were cute orphans, but for me it was ruined as I couldn't stand the heroin, Miranda, which in turn made me question the hero's, Fox's, taste (and yes intelligence).

 I could see what Ms Burke was doing with her, when she first arrives in Wooden Bassett she is a spoiled and arrogant Duke's daughter who judges everyone on appearance and what they have, and I grant by the end of the book she has vastly changed for the better. But despite her growth as a character and despite understanding some of their decisions she makes....I still couldn't stand her.

 But, despite not liking the main character I did enjoy the book and the hero, despite his questionable taste in women, was adorable and sexy. How can you resist a man who works night and day to keep cute orphans safe?

 Miranda's brother Lord Saxton was also an interesting character and I know the next book is about him and I am looking forward to reading it!

*Review copy provided by author

 

 

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Review: Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey

 

Undeniably Yours

(Kowalski #2)

by Shannon Stacey

Beth Hansen’s life turns around when Kevin Kowalski walks into her life. As a man who is used to having women throw themselves at him, Beth knows that Kevin is a good time. But despite her initial uncertainty about him, she just can’t resist his charm. So she follows him back to his room for a night of hot sex and nothing more. When she slips out the next morning, Beth finds the threads of her life intertwined with the man she was wrapped around last night.

It seems that Kevin has the special recipe for baby batter because Beth becomes pregnant with his child. While Kevin isn’t allergic to the idea of being a father, it seems that Beth is prone to hives just thinking about being in a relationship.

It took me about a month to read this book and this is not a good sign. Initially, I thought it was because I just wasn’t in the mood for a contemporary romance so I set it down for awhile, thinking to come back to it when I wanted something light and uplifting. Nope. Even weeks later I found myself dragging through these pages.

First off, I did not like Beth. At all. Shortly after starting this book, Beth was giving off warning vibes and I had a feeling she would be one of those heroines I wanted to strangle. I gave her time, I really did. A month in fact, and yet she was still the same. I didn’t like her attitude about the “no relationship” thing. That didn’t fly with me. Her constant rejection made me angry. I just don’t like the girl.

Which leads me to Kevin Kowalski whom I did like, but felt he was wasting his efforts on a woman like Beth. He was sexy, fun and sweet but I thought he could have done better. Her rejections burned and I felt sorry for him more than I actually liked him. I hope that makes sense. I think it was because of Beth that I found myself not liking this book. I have read romances where baby drama is a big factor but this one just didn’t work for me.

It dragged and I found it very hard to like or care about the characters. And when I don’t particularly care about the characters in a book, it’s hard for me to want to know what happens with their story. Maybe this book will be different for you.

 

 

 

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Review: Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead

2.5 Feathers

Shadow Heir

by Richelle Mead

(Dark Swan # 4)

It is with great sadness that I write this review.  Richelle Mead has beeen and, the events in this book aside, still is one of my favorite authors.  I have seen her end two wonderful series now and she has done so masterfully.  When I picked up Shadow Heir I was under the impression that this was the last Dark Swan novel, so I was expecting nothing less from her.

I was already going in with bitterness about certain things.  #1 Kiyo - Throughout the series Ms. Mead has managed to get me to actually hate the Kitsune with a passion *pulls out her Kiyo voodoo doll and stabs his head repeatedly* and I was prepared to only hate him more in this book, there was no going back for me on that.  Well, I wasn't disappointed on that!  He's still a slimy piece of crap, a rat bastard, and it's infuriating to see Eugenie having to work with him when all I want is for her to stand up to him and get some retribution for all he's done to her.  That didn't happen.  Until the end, he still sticks it to her and she just stands there with her mouth open in shock.  Oh by the way, I am writing this as a spoiler free review so maybe some of the things I say may sound a bit weird, you'll understand when you read the book.

Bitterness# 2 - Eugenie.  Yes I went in already feeling sort of hate for the heroine.  This has been slowly developing throughout the series and well, she didn't get any better in this book.  She sits around moping and doing the whole woe-is-me routine.  Get a grip, stop being so selfish and so stupid!  Stop listening to the dumb Kitsune and start appreciating the REAL man you have by your side!!  If not, I'll help Volusian kill you myself! *which I felt like doing repeatedly throughout this book*.

Now onto a better review of this book.

I wish the whole first 50% of this book would've been written in two chapters!  Seriously I considered putting this as one of my few ever DNF books.  Why? It is tediously boring, nothing happens, there's hardly any supernatural activity, nothing!  Eugenie goes on fishing dates and I felt like I was reading a depressing women's fiction book instead of an urban fantasy.

Once there's something that starts happening, it is not to follow the storyline that we were dealing with from the beginning but a completely randomly thrown in storyline that takes over the rest of the book and really doesn't do anything to close the series, this was more like another adventure of Eugenie, the moron Queen!  So I thought, perhaps, this could've been resolved faster so we would've seen something more in respect to an ending to the series.

Volusian - this storyline does deal in a small way with Volusian.  I have to say I love the little guy!  He is my favorite character in this series, apart from the all-perfect Dorian.  We learn about his past, Eugenie has to go to his homeland and she couldn't accomplish what she needs without his help.  So he gets closure and I really liked that part!

Dorian - I can't tell you enough how much Eugenie doesn't deserve this man.  First of all, with Dorian what you see is what you get.  You know he's sneaky and that he wants also what's in his best interest, but in this book he put Eugenie above anything and everything.  My heart breaks thinking of the fact that for the most part, she only uses him when it's convenient and this didn't change.

What wouldn't I do for you? *tear*

And I think this pretty much brings me to the ending.  OK, let me back up for the last 15%.  Everything you thought, was wrong, everything that we believed should've been one way was another.  In the last 15% of this book seems like all the loose ends that should've been tied throughout the series started rapidly weaving together.  That's all I can say about that without giving stuff away.  Just shock after shock.

Now for the actual ending.  What.The.Hell.Was.That?????  How can Ms. Mead end a series like that?  Actually, it doesn't surprise me just because I've known all along that Eugenie is a selfish bitch!  So we couldn't really expect more from her right?  But I don't see how that can be an ending.  No I cannot.  Sorry.  Very disappointing.

So why the 2.5 feathers if this is still very well written?  50% of the book was too slow, then from 60% on it was just ok.  Too many issues where left unanswered.  And you cannot end a series with those last few pages without expecting the reader to want to ring Eugenie's stupid neck! It is with great sadness I write this.











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Review: That Voodoo You Do by Myla Jackson

2.5 Feathers

That Voodoo You Do

by Myla Jackson

(Alluring Tales: Night Moves # 1)

I was so excited to have found this little series, or collection of hot short stories being released this month by some authors that I love. Of course, you know me. I have to read in order even when the stories are not related. At least if I can manage it.

So not knowing anything about Myla Jackson I picked this up. I mean who can resist the allure of the supernatural in Louisiana? It started off pretty good. Human rich girl dumps human douche boyfriend after he's being an ass. Enter sexy limo driver who wants to take her anywhere she wants. Great, right?

Except anywhere she wants end up being the middle of the swamp, his home. The home of the panther shifter pack whose land she just bought and plans on starting to drill for oil.

Him and his brother had planned to kidnap her to make her see reason and leave their habitat intact. Well... this is where the story lost me. I rolled my eyes so far I could see the back of my head.

This is a short story, and the main focus of the story is that it's a paranormal erotica. So if we leave it at that, yeah it was hot. But I'm not sure the hot makes up for the fact that the storyline seemed more like I was watching bad porn.

So, no this was not for me. Onto the next story!

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Review: Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall

2.5 Feathers

Darkness Dawns

by Dianne Duvall

(Immortal Guardians # 1)

Where can I start? This was one of those books that I felt was hyped a lot, the series in general. So what do I do? Rush over to audible and buy the audiobook. Expecting great things. Funny things happen when you're expecting great things.

Let me tell you what I got... I got a bunch of tofu eating, eco-friendly, organic supporter immortals (yes, the lot of them), who are not vampires but are made technically the same way as a vampire, except they are gifted humans to begin with so they turn immortal. Main difference between them, vampires go crazy, immortals don't. And the immortals' job is to rid the world of vampires.

OK, this is mostly a great idea. Up until the part that every single thing was over explained to death. There were chapters that felt like some bizarre vampire science class where we learn in great detail about how the blood is absorbed into the body, so they don't really taste it. Anyway. I'm moving on.

But this killed the book for me. It made a story which had some potential into a book that went nowhere fast, was boring, and I ended up so annoyed with the characters I was about to reach through the ipod and go start killing them myself.

Now, I hear book two coming out is amazing AND there are many series out there which I feel book one is a big heaping disaster because the author feels the need to explain the world. Well, we got that out of the way for sure so I will give book two a try and see where the series goes. But it won't be any time soon.

Purchase Links:Amazon