Review: Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case by Kristen Painter

Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case : A Nocturne Falls Mystery

Author: Kristen Painter
Publisher: Sugar Skull Books
Series: Jayne Frost #1
Pages: Kindle Edition, 217 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: March 8th 2016

Summary:

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year.

Jayne Frost is a lot of things. Winter elf, Jack Frost’s daughter, Santa Claus’s niece, heir to the Winter Throne and now…private investigator. Sort of.

Needing someone he can trust, her father sends her undercover to Nocturne Falls to find out why employees at the Santa’s Workshop toy store are going missing.

Doing that requires getting to know the town, which leads to interesting encounters with a sexy vampire, an old flame, and an elevator that’s strictly off-limits. The more Jayne finds out, the more questions she has, but the answers lead her deeper into danger.

Will her magic save her? Or will she come up cold?

Review:

Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case is a spin-off from the cute Nocturne Falls Series. It totally works on it's own, so it's a fun book to read even if you haven't read that series.
While it is set in Nocturne Falls, the world building being the same, this novel has a quite different feel. It has more a Agatha Christie does Urban Fantasy vibe than the PNR cuteness of Nocturne Falls.

I love the mystery part of this novel. I love Jayne's POV. The entire book is told from her POV. Jayne, though sent on a mission by the Winter King, her antics reminded me of a young Miss Marple at times. The story line was extremely fun, the mystery was good- made me, think hard and yet solvable if you pay good attention...Just like I said, a good the butler did it anyway kinda mystery a la Christie. Right down my alley.

This is like the Nocturne Fall series light on world building. Vampires are vampires ( they don't sparkle in the sun *snickers*), elfs, were-animal, gargoyles, witches and fae- all present and while Painter doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to the paranormal beings, she very cleverly makes this her own with amazing and imaginative details. I love the snowglobe for example, and the snowy cussing... But then if you have read Painter, you would come to expect that, just like I have. Still, it's an absolute pleasure to read.

Since I basically been reading nearly everything Painter publishes, I think it's safe to say I love her writing style. Jayne Frost #1 just cements why I love her writing. There are some really brilliant moments, amazing descriptions and a well paced story line

I like Jayne -mostly. And I love her relationship with Jack Frost, Buttercup and Juniper.
Painter did a stellar job at the world building when it comes to most of the support cast. We even get to see some of our beloved Nocturne Falls characters again...
Cooper is the all around golden boy and I really liked him. I like the big resolve when it comes to him, btw. I kinda suspected something like that, but it was interesting how Painter did it, though I do hope that Jayne will take it up, I am not sure I like how it was left.
Greyson for some reason reminded me of Jonny Depp, and even when Painter kept saying his style didn't look gordy but sexy- I kinda thought it did. LOL
Honestly I liked Greyson, would like to know more about him and think he is an interesting love interest.
BUT and there lies probably the biggest issue I had with this. I didn't see the chemistry between Jayne and her love interest. I mean she seemed too calculated. Too, I dunno... I just didn't see it.
While I loved the mystery and thankfully this is more a mystery than a romance, it had too much romance in it for me. Maybe because I personally didn't much enjoy the romance bits
This is mainly due to Jayne's behaviour. And while this doesn't have a love triangle per se. Jayne's dating life and at her at times calculation behaviour didn't lie well with me. Juts my personal preferences.
Don't misunderstand me.. I so wanna know how things are going to go for Jayne romantically. LOL

I am not so sure I was satisfied with the villains in this one. Well I was to a degree. I got some of the motives, but I didn't with others. (view spoiler)

Jayne is an interesting character, and I enjoyed taking this journey with her, it was interesting to see the changes in her and how she made friends - how much her life changes because of it all. Best part how she dealt with everything, embraced the changes and made it her own.

So I am looking forward to the next installment- I am wondering where Painter will be taking it, hope there will be more intriguing mysteries and some of my answers and the romance will be solved.



Rating: 

Cover Reveal: Abandoned by Elisa Dane

Abandoned
Elisa Dane
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: February 15th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

My name is Tierra Owens, and I like to kiss. A lot. It numbs the hollow ache in my chest and—for a few minutes—makes me forget how truly alone I am. My mother is an alcoholic. She hates me and insists I’m the reason she’s not married to my father, whom I have never met. My best friend, Kaylee, is the only person who knows the real me. Everyone else sees what I want them to: a happy, confident, popular girl who has the world at her feet.
I am a fraud.
Relationships are forbidden. I avoid them at all costs. Sex? Emotions? Those things make a person vulnerable, and vulnerability always leads to heartbreak. When my childhood crush, Mattie shows up at school my world tumbles off its axis. The shell I surround myself with feels more like a pathetic crutch than a protective barrier, and I find myself wanting things. Daydreaming about what it would be like to have a boyfriend, a relationship—love.
The sad fact is: I’ll never have any of those things. I am unworthy—trash. Which is why my mom abandoned me.

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Author Bio:

ELISA DANE is a self-proclaimed book junkie. A lover of handbags, chocolate, and reality television, she's a proud mother to three All- Star cheerleaders. Writing is her absolute passion, and it's her mission to create stories that will not only take you on a romantic journey that will warm your heart, but help you find a new respect and interest in the sport of All-Star cheerleading.
Elisa is no stranger to the publishing world. She writes steamy paranormal romance under her real name, Lisa Sanchez. Her adult works include the Hanford Park series (Eve Of Samhain, Pleasures Untold, and Faythe Reclaimed), Obsessed (an erotic suspense), and a paranormal novella, Cursing Athena. Elisa lives in Northern California with her husband, three daughters, and a feisty Chihuahua who stubbornly believes she's human.

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Review: Revenant by Larissa Ione

Revenant

Author: Larissa Ione
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Series: Lords of Deliverance #6, Demonica #11
Pages: Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages
Genre: PNR
Release Date: December 16th 2014

Summary:

HELL HATH NO FURY . . .

For five thousand years, Revenant believed he was alone in the world, a fallen angel beyond any redemption. Now he finds he has a twin brother who had all the light and love Revenant was denied. Caught in a tug of war between Heaven and Hell, he must weigh his thirst for revenge against his desire for a mysterious female named Blaspheme—a female whose very origins could deliver him into salvation . . . or destruction.

LIKE AN ANGEL SCORNED

Blaspheme has a deadly secret: she's the forbidden offspring of an angel and a fallen angel. Hunted by both heavenly and satanic forces, she has survived only by laying low and trusting no one. When Revenant claims he can save them both, how can she possibly believe him? But the powerful angel is persistence incarnate and for Blaspheme, there's no place she can hide in Heaven or Hell where he won't find her . .

Review:

This is the sixth book of the Lords of Deliverance series or as I renamed it, "Welcome to Revenant's pity party" .

I really loved the 5 books of the Demonica series as well as the firsts three of the Lord of Deliverance. But after the uneven and tepid-ish Reseph's as well as Reaver's books I wasn't that excited about Revenant's book.

Where Reaver's character was introduced very early in the Demonica series and had steady appearances through out both Demonica and Lords of Deliverance series, Revenant only appeared in Reaver's book. As the Lords of Deliverance series is about the four horsemen of apocalypse, when I heard that a fifth book was coming my first thought was "$, here I come", but on the other hand given Reaver's part in both series, I understood that Larissa Ione wanted to write a book dedicated to his story. But, not only the book was a disappointment, but LI managed to finagle a sixth book out of it by giving him a twin.

Here's a short list of the things that didn't work for me in this book:

1/ Beside what's in the blurb, we have little back story about Revenant but it was repeated many times as Revenant whined and bitched about his fate. As if we couldn't understand it, and needed many reminders of his sad sad past and so unfair present. *rolls eyes*

Note to author: whining heroes are NOT sexy.

2/ Same goes for Blaspheme. Like Revenant, despite the fact that she was a minor side character in other books, she too had no character development.

3/ Not only Revenant and Blaspheme had no character development but their "love" story suffered of the same fate.

-> The result of this is that I couldn't care less for either of them or their supposed love story. And don't get me started on the sex scenes.

4/ A super weak plot that was inexistent for most of the book and was solved in one chapter... Yeah, that was thrilling. Not.

5/ Beside Eidolon, most of the major characters in the series acted like asses. As if Revenant needed any more fuel to his pity party...

Listening to this book I longed for one of Anne Stuart true and unabashed gamma heroes. The reason I rounded up the rating to 2 stars is that despite the bore that was Revenant's book, Larissa Ione managed to close the loop between the 2 series.

Last but not least, I want to say that the dull narrating didn't help


Rating:    What The Hell?

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Review: Bound by Fire by Jeaniene Frost

Bound by Fire

Author: Jeaniene Frost
Publisher: Avon
Series: Night Prince #3
Pages: Mass Market Paperback, 342 pages
Genre: PNR
Release Date: January 27th 2015

Summary:

Play with fire, pay the price.

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

Review:

Well that was....


Disappointing.


It was simply disappointing. EXTREMELY so.

Around halfway through I was actually going to DNF. But I didn't. Only because I do love Frost. She is a great author. Her writing style is awesome, she writes great action scenes, enticing smut and makes my jaded heart sore- and always gets me at least smirking.
And she did do all those things in Bound by Flames.
Buuuut the plot?! It's the variation of the same story over and over and over. I felt seriously annoyed by it- even cheated.
So I went and read two other books- and came back to BbF and struggled-STRUGGLED- through it.
And I was glad for it. While at 70% I was going to give this 1.5 Stars and rounded it down... The last 10% made this well worth it.
The bromance was just simply and utterly worth it. Really. Trust me, it's what saved the series for me. Oh and the one little twist in the super boring plot I didn't anticipate...


Well, let's list the good, the bad and the ugly shall we?

Great writing- Really! Frost does know her craft. She is still one of my fave PNR authors, probably will have to do way way worse than this for it to ever change.

Smut - Let's face it: We all still reeling from the Cat and Bone ones- but Laila and Vlad's have nothing short on those. Frost does write incredibly good smexy times - and this is coming from someone who does not care much for smut usually.

Laila and Vlad chemistry - It's what got to me in the first two books of the series- and it's still there. Still amazing, still not only believable, but desirable. They strengthen it and build on it even more, and most importantly that is written in the most believable way.

The world building - in some ways not much new,but a slowly ever growing world, that is still freakn awesome.

The humour - Frost gets to me with her dry witty humour. Every. Freakn. Time.

“Want it in English? Fine. You’re the bastard daughter of a diseased whore.”
I snorted. “Have to give it to you older vamps. Your insults are much more colorful than my generation’s variations on ‘fuck you, you fucking fuck.’
...
“Nice try,” I said evenly, “but fuck you, you fucking fuck.”"

Character building - some of this is awesome. Other bits not so much. So this is the good and the bad. Some of it, was totally been there done that, other bits were soo soo good. I am not sure I fancy the villains in this. And by fancy I mean, they are kinda unbelievable.

Motives - Sooo they are what? 500years old?! And some of their motives are.. DADDY issues?! for real?? or petty jealousy?? FECKN HELL! sorry. Excuse my french, but I am in my thirties. AND I am freakn over shit like that. 500 years... and you still groveling over THAT crap? Childish much? I really find it beyond UNBELIEVABLE.

Plot - it's the same every book. Fight, make up, getting captured, getting tortured, fighting free, making more enemies and allies, big show down, death, throw in some magic and new abilities..... oh and getting hitched.
The end.

WHY???- This made me wonder WHY this has FOUR books. I don't see the merit of this one. AT ALL. Why not write 3, cut out some of the repeating bits, or most of them anyway. I could have just loved the series felt all gushy and happy. And Frost could have used the time to write a new series.. Or an Ian book? You know use our time for something better, it would have been beneficial to both of us. I am thinking of the greater good here.. just saying.

The rating- it pains me, honestly it does. I wish I could give it 3Stars.. but really until the last 10% I would have given this ONE miserly star. So 2 it is.
But I will be reading the next one... :)


Oh I nearly forgot my absolute FAVORITE :

The barest smile twitched Vlad's lips."Rather ruins the moment doesn't it?"Maximus's mouth curled faintly as well. "Good thing neither of us is sentimental."

Rating: 

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Review: Dark Skye by Kresley Cole

Dark Skye

Author: Kresley Cole
Publisher: Gallery Books
Series: Immortals After Dark #14
Pages: Hardcover, 1st Edition, 432 pages
Genre: PNR
Release Date: August 5th 2014

Summary:

In this highly anticipated fifteenth novel in the Immortals After Dark series, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole spins a sultry tale of a mighty warrior scarred inside and out and the beguiling sorceress with the power to heal him—or vanquish him forever.

ETERNAL OBSESSION

As a boy, Thronos, prince of Skye Hall, loved Lanthe, a mischievous Sorceri girl who made him question everything about his Vrekener clan. But when the two got caught in the middle of their families’ war, tragedy struck, leaving Thronos and Lanthe bitter enemies. Though centuries have passed, nothing can cool his seething need for the beautiful enchantress who scarred his body—and left an even deeper impression on his soul.

ENDLESS YEARNING

Lanthe, a once-formidable sorceress struggling to reclaim her gifts, searches for love and acceptance with all the wrong immortal suitors. But she’s never forgotten Thronos, the magnificent silver-eyed boy who protected her until she was ripped from the shelter of his arms. One harrowing night changed everything between them. Now he’s a notorious warlord with a blood vendetta against Lanthe, hunting her relentlessly.

CAN THE HEAT OF DESIRE BURN BRIGHTER THAN VENGEANCE?

With their families locked in conflict and battles raging all around them, will Thronos and Lanthe succumb to the brutal chaos that threatens everything they cherish? Or will the fragile bond they formed so long ago spark a passion strong enough to withstand even the darkest doubts?

Review:

I'm a huge fan of the first 12 books of the IAD series. For me, things started to go sour with the first Dacians book and continued to go downhill with MacRieve (that promised so much). With this one I think that I'm definitely out of love with this series.

Before I start, I would like to say that after the epilogue in MacRieve, I didn't understand why the next one was about Lanthe and Thronos and not about MacRieve's twin since that's what the epilogue is about.

If I had to resume my review in one word, it would be B O R I N G

Why boring?

- Because of the too many mulling over thoughts/talks/resentments about the same themes. Damn but if it's something they are expert at it certainly is moving in circles. This alone suffices to bore me to tears.

- Then nothing much happens and the little that does happens are bad recycling of things already done and re-done or roll eyes festivals. The landing in the belly of a beast was done in Star Wars, to name the most obvious reference. Han Solo landed the Millennium Falcon and here they teleported themselves but it's the same thing, different mean. Same with the beast feeding them hallucinogens while digesting them alive. That one is an X-Files stuff. In the X-Files Mulder and Scully are the victims of a huge mushroom organism, but again, same thing, different mean. Dragons sitting on huge piles of gold... Rings a bell anyone? And so on...

I'm not against the recycling of used ideas or even clichés, but at least do it well and cleverly.

- The "blindness" of Thronos toward his brother's wrongdoings for centuries... I mean, really? He wasn't a recluse, they are neighbors on a tiny island and for most of these centuries they were close, and he never got the smallest hint that things weren't as they should have been? Is he dumb or dumber?

- If that wasn't enough, I couldn't care less for the heroes, and at time it was so sweet my teeth hurt. So yeah, boring.

- The end was a WTF festival. I mean, really?????

The saddest thing is that even Nïx didn't manage to make things more interesting and with the little tidbits KC gave us, I'm more and more convinced that the following books are not going to get better.

This series is based on enemies become lovers with lots of adventure, and while it worked it was great but Kresley Cole obviously ran out of juices.

You can have the most beautiful pieces of fabric (which was definitely not the case here), without the thread to bind them, you'll never be able to have a patchwork quilt. Same goes with stories telling...



Rating: 

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Review: Alpha Divided by Aileen Erin

Alpha Divided

Author: Aileen Erin
Publisher: Ink Monster, LLC
Series: Alpha Girl #3
Genre: PNR
Release Date: October 14th 2014

Summary:

Life has been crazy since Tessa McCaide moved to Texas. She’s gone from being a normal-ish girl with visions to a super-powered werewolf. She’s fought off vampires and broken a nearly unbreakable curse. And she’s got a hot mate, Dastien Laurent, to keep her busy.

Things are looking up until the full moon ceremony rolls around. Before Tessa can strengthen her bond with Dastien, the local coven crashes the gates, demanding that Tessa—their heir apparent—be returned. If the pack wants to avoid a war with the witches, handing Tessa over is the only option.

Tessa doesn’t want to cause an all-out fight, but joining a dark-magic coven isn’t on her to-do list, especially if embracing her magic side means parting with Dastien. When the coven leader tries to control Tessa with dark-magic, Tessa realizes she has to dismantle the coven or prepare the pack for war. Either choice will change her life—and her world—forever.

Review:

Alpha Divided deed indeed leave me divided.
But let me start at the beginning ...
I was really looking forward to this one, actually. I love Erin's writing style. Well, clearly I do, since this is the third book of hers I am reading. But this series is did however change my view on shifter novels. Just when I thought, I might chalk this genre up as being not for me, I read Becoming Alpha. Her take was the same - it's shifters after all- but yet so different. And just like that, the genre was back on board.
Simple.
The second book was really good as well. But a tad bit to over dramatic for my taste... I was so looking forward to the conclusion of the series....
AND therein lies the problem. Halfway through this one, I realised this is never going to have a satisfying end. Which kinda put me off the book, until I discovered that the series is not going to be over yet! There are going to be at least 2 more books.
So this is good. But also bad.
Simply put:
The good obviously, I might get my satisfying end. The bad, it will take a while. A long while.
This is exactly where I am left absolutely divided.

Sounds so simple if I put it down like this. But seriously I promise this isn't just about having to wait at least another year to get my satisfaction. Nope. I really is not. Though that does naturally kinda suck.

As I said Erin's prose is beautiful. She is a master at getting Tessa's feelings through.

Her character building is meticulous. I have seriously grown to like the crew. In fact going back to the series was partly not quite as satisfying because half of the book did not have the crew in.
The attraction and relationship between Tessa and Dastien is sizzling as ever. I adore Dastien and somehow Erin still has me gasping and sighing on cue when ever he is around. I totally love the couple and more so I believe it. EVEN with the whole true mate thrown it. I kinda just cobble it up... which in itself is proof of both great character building and wonderful writing.

The world building is getting better and better. After exploring mainly the shifter world- in this instalment we get an insight into the world of the brujas. There is loads about magic in it. AND there is mention of fay.... not sure if Erin will will explore this part in either of the next instalment. But there will be definitely more witch and magic stuff in the next book- it being call Buja and all. So another reason to look forward to more...

But my worries honestly lie in the plot. I am worried that Erin won't be able to keep my attention. Because I found myself kinda thinking, oh more drama for nothing. Let's face it. Each book had the exact same pattern, intro and a great build up until about 40%, then big turn of events, struggling and angst until about 80%, the big show down and in the end a temporary solutions with hope for the future.

Don't misunderstand me, it works. At least it worked for the first two books, but in this one, I felt like nothing much happened in the end. I did wonder why Erin didn't write just 3 or 4 books. And at this point in time I really doubt that with this pattern she can keep me wanting more.... BUT I would be the first to celebrate if she proves me wrong.
So while divided and apprehensive I am sure as hell going to read the next instalment.

Rating: 

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ARC Review: My Life from Hell by Tellulah Darling

My Life from Hell

Author: Tellulah Darling
Publisher: Te Da Media
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #3
Pages: Paperback, 279 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Mythology
Release Date: March 20, 2014

Summary:

To say that Sophie Bloom is at the top of her game with one only week until spring equinox and the final showdown with Zeus and Hades would be, well, lying. The Goddess of Spring feels more like the Goddess of Bzz Thanks For Playing than the savior of humanity. And could her relationships be any more messed up?

Good times.

Sophie is convinced that things can’t get any worse than crawling back to her mother Demeter and begging for help. But she’s about to find out how very wrong she is.

It’s a race against time for Sophie to implement the big battle strategy in the YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology finale My Life From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book three of this teen fantasy romance series. Save herself; save the world. Humanity may be screwed.

Review:

When the series started with My Ex from Hell I felt a bit iffy about it. I wasn't really a fan of Sophie, wasn't sure about Kai- and Hannah didn't get raving reviews of me either. I wasn't sure if I liked this version of Persephone's story. I just.. wasn't quite sure.
Then came the sequel in the dreaded sequel year of 2013. After so many of them being beyond disappointing- I was worried about this one. BUT I liked My Date better. My issue this time- a tad bit too melodramatic.
So how did the third and last book in the series fare? Well it was not only a good ending to the series- it was also my favorite.

The plot is action packed- as in the previous two books. There is so much going on. Literally never a dull moment! And I enjoyed the ride thoroughly!
It's another action packed page-turner. The ending is sweet but more so extremely satisfying.  While I did see some twists coming, I still was shocked by them or rather how much they actually effected me.
I actually do attribute that to the character building. It was great to visit the odd-ball crew again. While there is still lots of drama- we talking drama-queen-Goddess after all- there is also way more depths. Sophie does do a lot of growing up. And I mean A LOT!
All of the characters were way better done this time around. Theo is still my fave, but they all grew on me! All the characters even the badies, were given way more depths. So I feel like I know them, I cared for them. The twists and turns, mattered to me- because they affected the characters.
In the end suddenly the drama-queen left the room- things became clear and I really loved the conclusions Sophie came to. A good reminder for all of us. Love does matter. Love changes things. But we chose, we need to make the choice first.

The world building was one of my favorite things in this series. I loved it in the first book, adored it in the second- and I feel Darling went all out in this one. My Life from Hell takes the world building to the next level. So many more places visited, so many ends tied up and all in an elegant, exciting and beautiful way. It's like Darling added about 5extra layers to the picture- taking it from 2D to 3D.

I feel in love with Darling's smack-down, fun and snarky humor in Sam Cruz and having read everything she published to date I very clearly like her prose. But to my surprise I got more than I expected. I think this is possibly even better than Sam Cruz- which was my reigning favorite of Darling's books so far. While this is still fun, fast and yeah it's full of that great humor- it also is beautiful and has depth, while still being cute and fluffy and kick-ass.


Darling managed to bring it all beautifully together in this last installment of the series. Leaving me happy-gooey and wanting more.
Seriously does anyone know what we can expect next from her? Or even better when is Darling's next book coming out?


Rating: 

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