TBR Challenge Review: Frostfire

Frostfire
Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance
Kyndred/Book 3
Signet/January 4, 2011

From the back cover ~

As one of the genetically enhanced Kyndred, Lilah can read and control the minds of animals. Rescuing a group of kids form a wayward bear brings her to the attention of GenHance, the shadowy biotech company willing to murder to acquire superhuman DNA. After being drugged and abducted, Lilah wakes up handcuffed to a half-dead man in a refrigerated truck.

Walker, a soldier critically wounded in Afghanistan, is brought back to life by Lilah's warmth and determination, and resolves to do anything he can to free and protect her. But as the two struggle to escape their grim fate, they stumble upon a remote town hiding a dark secret, and learn that Lilah is also being hunted by someone she never expected to fear: A Kyndred friend.

It's a day late and probably more than a dollar short once you factor in inflation but I finally got my TBR Challenge review up. I won't go in to details but let's just say I've been... distracted. :)

Lynn Viehl's Darkyn series is a favorite of mine so when she began the spin-off series of the Kyndred, I knew I had to read it. With the next and last book of the series due out 1 November, I decided to get ready for release day by reading the third book in the series.

Lilah Devereaux has a way with animals. Unfortunately, it didn't come naturally but through genetic enhancement done when she was a baby. Now those that experimented on her want her and those like her back. Lilah is a survivor and that is never more evident than when she is kidnapped and forced to work with a stranger to stay alive. Lilah is a tough heroine, she was the driving force behind her and Walker escaping and surviving. Walker did it more for Lilah where as Lilah did it for both of them.

Walker Kimball is a contradiction. He is soldier who was thought to be dead but in reality he is more than human and much harder to kill. When he and Lilah are kidnapped, he is protective of her, then his more baser nature comes out and he can't decide if he wants to rip out her throat or have sex with her. I have to say, there were times when Walker confused me. But, all is not lost because in the end his actions made sense. I just wish it would have made sense a little sooner.

The romance happens very fast. And it's not very romantic since Lilah and Walker are in danger for most of the book. They do find some alone time to let loose but the falling in love didn't feel right. It felt too rushed and not believable.

There is a lot going on that isn't necessarily spelled out but inferred through the actions and reactions of the characters. Sometimes I found myself re-reading certain passages to make sure I understood what was going on. It's a complex plot with a number of secondary characters having a large impact on Lilah and Walker's lives. I did enjoy the tie in of the Darkyn characters - Nick and Gabriel. Since I preferred that series over this one, it was good to see some familiar faces of the Darkyn.

Frostfire was a whirlwind story with a number of sub-plots all tying in to the two main characters and their story. While I enjoyed the action and suspense, I do wish there had been more time devoted to the romance and not felt that it was rushed for the sake of the overall world building.

Rating: B

Books in this series ~

Shadowlight
Dreamveil
Frostfire
Nightshine

Review: Dreamveil

Dreamveil
Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance
Kyndred/Book 2
Onyx/June 1, 2010

From the back cover ~

Rowan Dietrich knows how hard lie can be. After running away from her abusive home life, she struggled to survive on the streets. The brutal lessons she learned while there still resonate in her mind and heart. Now she wants to start anew, find a job, and keep her identity as a Kyndred - as well as her ability to "dreamveil" herself into the object of others' desires - secret.

She isn't using her gift when world-class chef Jean-Marc Dansant helps her after a motorcycle spill. He's genuinely attracted to Rowan's own beauty and strength. But just as Rowan begins to find a life for herself, the GenHance corporation pursues her, eager to take her back to where sh ewas created. And a bounty hunter hired by a ruthless millionaire wants Rowan for his own sinister reasons...

In Viehl's second book of her Darkyn spin-off series we are reunited with Rowan Dietrich, who was a secondary character from the first book, Shadowlight. Rowan was a strong character in the first book and she continues with that in Dreamveil. Rowan is making her way to Boston and decides to make a quick stop in New York City but things don't go as planned and Rowan finds herself accepting a job offer from the alluring Jean-Marc Dansant.

The story starts out with Rowan crashing her bike and deciding to stay a while in New York and work for the handsome and mysterious chef Dansant. Rowan knows her way around the kitchen and finds herself in awe of Dansant's mastery of cooking. A man who cooks, and cooks well is a sexy thing indeed. Rowan is attracted to her new boss but she's also curious about the mysterious air that surrounds him. Add to that her grumpy but very fine looking neighbor and she's in for some serious sexual frustration. I liked the love triangle. I don't want to give away any spoilers but it was certainly different!

There is a lot going on in Dreamveil and Viehl does an admiral job working in the background of the Kyndred and GenHance's involvement. I did find myself doing a little back-tracking and slowing my reading down in order to absorb all the details. It's a complex world of genetics and supernatural abilities that Viehl has created. Rowan's ability is particularly intriguing and sad at times.

Rowan and choosing between the two men in her life is not the only drama in the story. There is a mystery girl that hangs around the alley behind the restaurant. Rowan tries to make friends with the girl. She's skittish and doesn't run as long as Rowan keeps her distance. It all comes together in a twist of fate that I thought Viehl choreographed well.

The more I read of this series the more I'm pulled into this world. Granted I'm only two books in so far but I'm liking it. Not as much as Viehl's Darkyn series with the vamps but still, I like the twists of fate and the characters are certainly unique.

Rating: B+

Books in this series ~

Shadowlight
Dreamveil
Frostfire

TBR Challenge Review: Shadowlight

Shadowlight
Lynn Viehl
Paranormal Romance
Kyndred/Book 1
Onyx/October 2009
Purchased

From the back cover ~

With just one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone's darkest secrets, thanks to whoever tampered with her genes. What she doesn't know is that a biotech company called GenHance has discovered her talent and intends to kill her and harvest her priceless DNA.Gaven Matthias is forced to abduct Jessa himself so he can protect her, but Jessa has a hard time believing the one man whose secrets she can-t read. As a monstrous assassin closes in and forces them to run, Jessa will have to find another way to discover if Matthias is her greatest ally-or her deadliest enemy.

This month I picked a book that I bought when it first came out last fall. It hasn't been on the pile for that long but it's one that I wanted to get to soon since the second book just came out. I enjoyed Viehl's Darkyn vampire series so I was intrigued by her spin-off series about human's with special powers. This month's suggested challenge theme was "unusual professions or not your usual setting". I think this could fit that. The hero's profession is not something he could put on a resumé - I'd say it falls in the unusual category. :)

The story has a few flashbacks, which I'm not a fan of, but they do add to the plot and explain character motivation. I didn't find it too distracting, so I was okay with them. Little bits and pieces are unveiled to the reader as the story progresses. Sometimes this worked but sometimes it left me wishing I had some confirmation on what I thought was going on.

Jessa Bellamy runs a company specializing in background checks. She has a unique ability she utilizes in her work. It's that ability that GenHance wants and will do anything to get. Jessa finds herself running from an enemy, saved by a man who wants her to trust him. She only knows what he tells her but her instincts are telling her to trust him. Jessa is smart and a survivor. I liked how she didn't hide in the corner but used her brain, trying to outwit Matthias. She's thrown into stressful situations, her life in danger but she didn't completely panic, although she had her moments but she's allowed. She didn't resort to tears but used logic and reason when dealing with Matthias.

Gaven Matthias is hard man to describe. He's not a typical 21st century alpha hero. He doesn't play games but is very serious. Sometimes I wasn't sure if he knew how to be playful. English is not his native language so it was fun to see him try to understand the some of the slang that came his way. He's a very focused man - focused on his mission even when Jessa proves to be a distraction. He wasn't an easy man to know. He doesn't open to Jessa easily, telling her very little about himself.

The romance between Jessa and Matthias was just okay. I never felt I completely connected with either one of them. I liked certain things about each of them but it was from a distance for the most part. I do wish their backgrounds had been revealed sooner and that Jessa and Matthias could have moved on from there. I found I liked the internal dialogue of the villain and the action scenes more than the romance.

An added bonus is the appearance of my favorite couple from Viehl's Darkyn series - Lucan and Samantha. They show up to extradite a convict and start investigation the horrible murders because of the brutality and the possibility that the murderer might be Darkyn.

So, while I wasn't blown away, Shadowlight proved to be a decent start to the series. The second book, Dreamveil, is about the secondary character Rowan. She's intriguing - I'm not sure what to make of her so I'll be reading her book to find out more. Curious to see her story unfold.

Rating: B

PBW ~ Left Behind and Loving It Workshops...

Author Lynn Viehl hosts a series of workshops during the week of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. The RWA Conference is known for it's massive book signing but there are also a variety of writing and publishing workshops held during the conference. For those of us that for whatever reason choose not to attend RWA, Ms. Viehl hosts a week long mixture of virtual workshops.

Starting next week the Left Behind and Loving It (LB & LI) virtual workshops will be hosted online at PBW blog. In addition to the workshops held on PBW there will also be daily links posted to other virtual workshops. More information and the schedule for PBW can be found here. The workshops are centered on writing or publishing and can be very informative whether you write professionally or simply for your own pleasure. I participated last year and found it not only enlightening but also a lot of fun.

Anyone who's familiar with Lynn Viehl and her blog knows that she is very good when it comes to promoting authors she enjoys and very generous with her giveaways. LB & LI is no exception. She will be holding a giveaway each day as well as grand prize of either a Netbook or a Sony Digital Reader. All this information can be found at PBW.

Cover Love ~ Shadowlight

PBW has posted the cover for the first book in her new Kyndred series. It's called Shadowlight and has a release day of November 3rd. Here's a link to an online excerpt.

The cover is pretty but also similar to many of the covers out there (glances to Daring Time cover on right and Hard and Fast cover in post below). Her name is huge ~ guess that's the trend after an author hits the NY Times list. I do like the colors. And that tattoo has me wondering if it extends to his back and what other tattoos he might have.

As a fan of her Darkyn series I'm looking forward to reading this new series. Judging by the excerpt, is a crossover set in the same universe with some of the Darkyn characters making appearances. I'm all for guest appearances if it's Lucan and Samantha, my favorite couple from that series.

Review: Stay the Night

Review: Stay the Night
Author: Lynn Viehl
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Darkyn/Book 7
Published: January 2009

Robin of Locksley, yes, that Robin, is still very much a thief. He is out to steal a book that he has been after for nearly 700 years. The book is the Maiden's Book of Hours and federal agent Chris Renshaw is in possession of the book. She's also working undercover to nab an international thief and guess who that thief is. When the two meet it's not exactly love at first sight. Robin, who is used to woman falling for him, actually has to work for Chris' attention. But when the book is stolen out from under them the two work together to find the thief and retrieve the book.

This is the seventh and as of now, last book in Lynn Viehl's Darkyn series. There is a slight chance she will write more in the series, it's still up in the air. She does have another series that is an offshoot, the Kyndred, with the first book being released this fall. I have read all of the Darkyn series so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I started reading Stay the Night. While most of my expectation were met the ending didn't necessarily feel like the end of a series. A few doors or maybe that should be windows, were left open.

So we have Robin who has kept up his thieving ways, not letting the fact that he has become a vampire (Darkyn) stop him. He travels to Atlanta with the intent of stealing the book. It's there he meets Chris and, like the alpha male he is, he must have her. She on the other hand is searching for the thief known as the Magic Man. The international thief that has been in business for decades so she doesn't suspect Robin of being that man. When they first meet it's in a bar and it's an engaging scene. Robin is captivated by Chris. There is a scene where they dance and Robin thinks of how dancing in this time is so much better than his time since he can hold the woman close. It just emphasizes the different worlds they come from. I do like Robin and have been interested in his story ever since the last book Evermore.

Chris is a very strong heroine. Being an FBI agent she has had to work hard to get to where she is and she takes her job very seriously. Her focus is on catching the Magic Man and when the book is stolen she is determined to get it back. Robin at first is a minor blip on her radar. Sure she finds him very attractive but he's a distraction for a night. At least that's all he's suppose to be until they end up working together.

Robin and Chris chase the book across the globe and fall for each other along the way. They run into bad guys and have to fight their way out of dangerous situations but they do eventually save the day, as if there was any doubt. The love scenes are hot and Robin puts all of his centuries of experience to good use.

The usual secondary story with Michael and Alex is present and further develops the Darkyn world and the fight against the Brethren that the Kyn have been enduring for centuries. Overall this was a good addition to the series. Like I said, it didn't exactly feel like the end of a series, possible scenarios are still left to write if Viehl's publishers decide to extend the series. Lynn Viehl is also the author of the Stardoc science fiction series written under the name S. L. Viehl. You can visit her very informative blog Paperback Writer to find out more about this talented author.

Rating: A-