Review: Where There’s A Will by Karen Kelley

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Where There’s A Will
Series: Good Girl #2
Author: Karen Kelley
Genre: Paranormal Romance

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

When good girl Haley Tillman is stood up (again), she prays for a dating miracle— and then slams the front door in its face when it appears! Ryder is half angel, half mortal, with powers to do whatever the hell he wants. When he hears Haley’s prayers, he is bound and determined to answer every single one of them.

MY THOUGHTS

Where There’s A Will is the second book in the Good Girl series by author Karen Kelley.  What girl hasn’t wished for the perfect man?  When Haley wishes for a man, she gets a half angel with sexiness in spades.  Ryder is determined to act out Haley’s fantasies and show her how beautiful she is.

I have to say that this book caught me by surprise.  I didn’t think it was going to be so great because everyone kept saying that Haley considers herself fat, ugly and unappealing.  Women deal with this every day in real life, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to read about it.  Granted, I am tired of the perfect size 0 women in romance, but why did she have to feel that average was a bad thing to start with?  Ryder was some hubba-hubba with some ooh-la-la thrown in.  He was every bit as sexy as the cover model on the front of this book.

The writing was good and I really didn’t have any more problems with this book.  It wasn’t blow me away great, but it was definitely one to keep you warm on a cold night of reading.  Even though this is part of series, I considered it to be okay as a stand alone read as well.  This is one series that I will continue reading and enjoying.

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Dead Until Dark
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 9780441016990

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much. Not because she’s not pretty. She is. It’s just that, well, Sookie has this sort of “disability.” She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He’s tall, dark, handsome – and Sookie can’t ‘hear’ a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the kind of guy she’s been waiting for all her life.

But Bill has a disability of his own: He’s a vampire. Worse than that, hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble – of the murderous kind.

And when one of Sookie’s colleagues is killed, she begins to fear she’ll be next …

MY THOUGHTS

I originally read this book around the time that True Blood first started airing on HBO.  At that time, the show had better appeal to me so I couldn’t remember how much the book differed from the show.  So after I quit watching the show for awhile, I decided to give this series another chance.  I am so glad I am giving them another try!

I think when I tried reading this book before, I kept comparing it to the characters and story line of the HBO show.  With the book I noticed certain characters are missing and the story plays out on a different time table at times.  I can definitely tell with the world building, character building and overall cast of characters that this book is more of a guilty indulgence than one that blew me out of the water.  It was even kind of childish at times with temper tantrums and a crew of Barney Five cops trying to solve the murders in town.

I am still on the fence about liking the cast of characters.  I can’t wait to read more about Eric, Pam and Lafayette.  Bill seems a little off to me but I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and keep my fingers crossed that he is better in the next one.  And then we have Sookie. Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. Just saying her name makes me laugh.  I wasn’t a fan of her in this book, but I am curious to understand why she has this disability and what it could mean.

Overall, it had cheesy moments, sexy moments, detailed moments, and bloody moments as well since this is a book about vampires.  I am going to keep going with the series though just so I can see how everyone’s roles will play out.

MY RATING

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Review: The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

The Shadow Society
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Genre: Young Adult
ISBN:  9780374349059

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.

Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up with the way he first looked at her.

As if she were his enemy.

When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . .

MY THOUGHTS

Borderline love/hate with this story is the only way I can explain my feelings on this book.  Its dark and different than what I am used to reading which was refreshing in the way that I got to step out of my box with it.

The characters were the main thing for me that kept me from rating it higher.  I think the main problem I had was that some characters were not needed to make this story great while others weren’t used enough.  Another problem is the cliched new boy who is dark yet sexy.  The plot was interesting enough that I didn’t need some of the problems of love triangles and cliches to lure me in.

Like other reviewers have said about this read — you will either love it or hate it.  Some will think it had the perfect balance and others will say it lacked in balance.  I, felt that it was walking a fine line between being great or it being bad.  This is the type of read that you will more than likely have to choose for yourself in forming an opinion.

MY RATING

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Review: Savage Hunger by Terry Spear

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Savage Hunger
Author: Terry Spear
Series: Heart of the Jaguar #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Kathleen McKnight is on a dangerous mission to help her army team take down a drug lord. She’s a tough as nails recruit, but when she’s caught in the crossfire, she has to rely on a mysterious man to save her. She has no idea that he has big plans for her…

Connor Anderson is a jaguar shifter who is looking for his mate. When he rescues Kathleen in the jungle-twice–he can’t help but be intrigued. Will a bite or a scratch turn Kathleen into the perfect jaguar mate?

MY THOUGHTS

Author Terry Spears usually writes about wolves in the paranormal romance genre. This time in Savage Hunger, the author decided to write about jaguars and I am one reader who is glad she decided to branch out.  There is just something about this authors writing that sucks me into the story no matter what is being told on the pages.

The plot and suspense of this story was written pretty well.  I liked each of the characters in the book as well.  Kathleen held her own as the main heroine and Conner was sexy and swoon worthy many times throughout the story.  I think the only problem I have is the way the author took the story of Kathleen and her transformation.  It was kind of a let down, but one that didn’t completely stall me from reading the remainder of the book.

Suspenseful, romantic, danger, and even some quirky bring a beautiful new series from a great author I follow.

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Velveteen
Series: Velveteen #1
Author: Daniel Marks
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Young Adult Paranormal
ISBN: 9780385742245

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days. 

It’ll be brutal… and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules… or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

MY THOUGHTS

Holy crap what did I just read? Wait…don’t go anywhere yet! This is a good thing! You know when you finish the last page of a book and you get that dumbfounded look on your face? That was me.  I can’t believe I liked this book so much.  There has been mixed reviews on this story and I was a little hesitant in reading it.  Granted, the cover is what initially reeled me into this one, but the story is what made it a great reading experience!

This book is perfectly balanced in details, dialogue, angst, dark scenes and at times, OMG moments.  Time flew by while I read it.  The characters were great and so was the plot.  I loved the theme of this book. I loved how the author created a great world within the scary thing we call Purgatory.  When I hear Purgatory, I think of all the evil that Hell can not hold.  Let me tell you, be prepared for lots of dark and evil.

Seriously one of the better books I have read this year.  I can’t wait to see what the author will come up with next!

MY RATING

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!