This Week's New Releases

What the heck! How did it become August??? It's still incredibly hot here but my kids go back to school on Wednesday. Yes, this Wednesday, August 3rd. Crazy right?

Do you make to-do lists? I making book lists. Books to buy. Books to read. Books to review. Books I'm wishing for. I make other to-do lists too but those are work not fun.

Here are some books to add to your list!

Julie Cross made me a fan with her novel Letters to Nowhere. I have yet to read anything by Mark Perini so this should be interesting to see how they collaborate.

You Before Anyone Else
Julie Cross/Mark Perini
Young Adult/Contemporary

Model Finley needs someone to help her shed her "good girl" persona, so she'll try Eddie on for size.

New York City model Finley is fed up with hearing the same feedback at castings: she needs to take some serious action to wipe the "good girl" stamp from her resume if she wants to launch to stardom.

Enter Eddie Wells. He's shallow, predictable…and just as lost as Finley feels. Deep down, Finley is drawn to Eddie's bravado, his intensity. Except Eddie is hiding something. A big something. And when it surfaces, both loving and leaving Finley will become so much harder.

Lorelei James has written some sexy cowboy romances. She switches to a more urban setting with this series about the Lund siblings.

Just What I Needed
Lorelei James
Need You Series/Book 2
Contemporary Romance

Trinity Carlson might be having the worst day ever. And that was before she started drinking in a dive bar, right across from her ex and his new girlfriend. So when she finally decides enough is enough, she grabs hold of a hot, blond stranger and gives him the kiss of his life.

Walker Lund never expected that a chance at love would hit him right on the mouth. Since the moment his brother decided to settle down, Walker has been dodging his family’s hopes that he’ll do the same.  He’s never been interested in following in anyone’s footsteps. 

But when he discovers his sexy assailant has given him a fake name and number he suddenly finds himself in the mood for a little hot pursuit...

Colleen Hoover. Have I read anything by her I didn't like? Don't think so. :)

It Ends With Us
Colleen Hoover
Contemporary Romance

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

Book #26 in the series and I'm still enjoying it. There are similarity with the heroes and the snarky banter is always present but the series is still entertaining and the extensive character descriptions on Kenyon's website help immensely!

Dragonmark
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dark-Hunter Series/Book 26
Paranormal Romance

Centuries ago, Illarion was betrayed– a dragon made human against his will, then forced to serve humanity as a dragonmount in their army, and to fight for them in barbaric wars, even while he hated everything about them. Enslaved and separated from everyone he knew and from his own dragon brothers, he was forced into exile in a fey realm where he lost the only thing he ever really loved.

Now he has a chance to regain what’s been lost— to have the one thing he covets most. But only if he gives up his brothers and forsakes the oaths he holds most dear. Yet what terrifies him most isn’t the cost his happiness might incur, it’s the fact that there is just enough human in his dragon’s heart that he might actually be willing to pay it and betray everything and everyone– to see the entire world burn...

I'm reading this right now and have been caught up in the story from the beginning. Watch for the review shortly.

A Promise of Fire
Amanda Bouchet
The Kingmaker Chronicles/Book 1
Fantasy

Catalia "Cat" Fisa is a powerful clairvoyant known as the Kingmaker. This smart-mouthed soothsayer has no interest in her powers and would much rather fly under the radar, far from the clutches of her homicidal mother. But when an ambitious warlord captures her, she may not have a choice…

Griffin is intent on bringing peace to his newly conquered realm in the magic-deprived south. When he discovers Cat is the Kingmaker, he abducts her. But Cat will do everything in her power to avoid her dangerous destiny and battle her captor at every turn. Although up for the battle, Griffin would prefer for Cat to help his people willingly, and he's ready to do whatever it takes to coax her... even if that means falling in love with her. 

Review: No Mercy

No Mercy
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance
Dark Hunters/Book 19
St. Martins/September 2010

*Spoilers for previous books*

From the author's website ~

Live fast, fight hard and if you have to die then take as many of your enemies with you as you can. That is the Amazon credo and it was one Samia lived and died by. Now in contemporary New Orleans, the immortal Amazon warrior is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before.

Shapeshifter Dev Peltier has stood guard at the front of Sanctuary for almost two hundred years and in that time, he’s seen it all. Or so he thought. Now their enemies have discovered a new source of power- one that makes a mockery of anything faced to date.

The war is on and Dev and Sam are guarding ground zero. But in order to win, they will have to break the most cardinal of all rules and pray it doesn’t unravel the universe as we know it.

And here's another series that I'm still reading - 19 books and no end in sight. I'm not sure if it's always been so full of snark but everyone, and I mean every supernatural being, was full of the snark in this one. It got old after awhile. I expected it from Dev, he's always been a smart ass, but everyone else from the Dark Hunters to the Daimons had a quick smart mouthed comeback no matter the situation. Running for your life - snark attack. Fighting off hordes of Daimons - snark attack. End of the world - snark attack. I would have liked a few more serious, mature characters. Considering some of these guys are thousands of years old, I don't think that's too much to ask, right?

Dev Peltier is a bouncer at his family's club. That simplifies his life because he really is so much more. He's a good brother, a good uncle and a good friend. You would think he would have close relationships but he holds himself apart, even from his family. Until recently the club, Sanctuary, was under the protection of Savitar. It was a place where supernatural beings and humans mingled with no violence allowed. But in the previous book, Bad Moon Rising, Savitar revoked Sanctuary's protection and the club burned down. It's been rebuilt but Dev and his family are always on the alert for any new threat. Dev's an easy werebear to love. He's just so darn cuddly! LOL

Samia (Sam) is an Amazon and a Dark Hunter (DH). But she's not just a regular DH, she's one of the Dogs of War. Which just means she's even more kick-ass and she's not easy to control. She and the other Dogs give Ash a hard time. I liked Sam but she had some major issues and by the end of the book I couldn't help but wonder how she had stayed alive for thousands of years. The thing about any DH is that they can lose their powers if they focus on the memory of why they became a DH, usually it was their death or betrayal. This happened a lot to Sam. She's fighting, all kicking ass and taking names then - Wham! She's remembering her death and the death of her family. Results - no powers. Then she either gets kidnapped or Dev swoops in and saves her. When she did fight she was amazing, even impressing Dev, but you'd think after all these centuries, she's like 5000 years old, she would have learned to control her emotions and not get sucked into her past.

The overflowing world of Kenyon's is just so hard to keep track of anymore. There are the characters that have been around for numerous books, there are recently introduced characters that may have only been mentioned a couple of books ago, and the new characters that keep popping up in every new book. I really wish some of these characters would just tell their story, take their HEA and fade off into the sunset. LOL I like many of them but that's the problem, there are just too many! Kenyon does have an extensive characters list on her site which is nice as a refresher before reading the next book but I found myself referring to it more and more while reading this book.

The story is about Dev and Sam falling in love while being hunted down by those nasty Daimons. In between fighting off Daimons, searching for the holy grail of all girdles and getting over their past failures, there is some hot loving going on. Dev and Sam are a good fit as a couple but have so many issues to work through that some serious intervention was needed by some very powerful beings before the HEA was attainable. I would have preferred less external conflict and more focus on their internal conflicts. There was too much going on, too many subplots that took the focus off of Dev and Sam and left me wondering how they went from "Hi" to "I love you".

So, I'm still reading this series and I might read the next book, Redemption (August 2011). I'm on the fence since it's about Jess/Sundown (DH) and Abby, new characters. *sigh* I think Sundown has been mentioned before but just briefly. I might skip it. I do want to read Savitar's book but it's not even a glimmer on the horizon. He's the only one I'm holding out for and at this rate I might have stopped reading the series by the time his book rolls around. I guess if you're a fan of the series, then I would recommend reading No Mercy but it's hardcover so try getting it from the library.

Rating: C+

Review: Bad Moon Rising

Title: Bad Moon Rising

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Series: Dark Hunter/Book 18

Published: August 2009

From the inside cover ~

Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. And when the woman Fang loves is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever.

The war is on and time is running out...

Finally, Fang and Aimee's story. They're sort of the Sam and Alyssa of the Dark Hunter world. LOL It seems like we've been waiting a long time for their story. Pretty much since Night Play (book 5). I did read some reviews and heard some grumblings about how Bad Moon Rising was a repeat of what has already been told in previous books. I can see why there might be some less than happy fans, especially if they paid for the hardcover but overall I liked getting Fang and Aimee's POV and what was going on behind those closed doors of theirs. :)

Aimee Peltier is a waitress at her family's restaurant and bar. She's just a normal young woman except for the fact that she's a wereswan, a shape shifter who can turn herself into a bear. I really liked Aimee. She's been in previous books and while I had a sense of who she was, Bad Moon Rising let's the reader into her heart and mind. She's very devoted to her family and has a kind heart for the underdog or underwere (LOL) as the case may be. But don't think she's a pushover. She has brothers galore that have taught her how to stand up for herself, otherwise they would smothered her with their love and protection and she wouldn't be allowed out of their sight.

Fang is such a stubborn, irritating, in-your-face, itching for a fight, pain in the ass hero. LOL Dang, that was a mouthful! He's also one of the most loyal and honorable Were Hunters around. Fang isn't easy to like because he doesn't want to be liked but once you get past that tough guy exterior he's such a wonderful, beautiful and caring individual. Fang had a terrible family life and the only things that made it bearable were his sister Anya and brother Vane. When Anya dies and Markus, their father, has Fang and Vane beaten and left for the Daimons, Fang ends up in the Nether Realm, spending some time in another dimension that leaves him less than whole. I kept hoping he would catch a break and all the bad shit would stop landing at his door. But in this of course wasn't the case, had it been the book would have been a lot shorter.

The plot is one that readers of the series are very familiar with. I kept having a sense of déjà vu. Bad Moon Rising starts before, most notably for me, Vane, Fury and Ash have their HEA so it was a bit odd to have them single and all cranky cause they weren't getting lucky with their mates. Almost all of the book has already been told in previous books so you know the basics of what will happen if you've read them. But Bad Moon Rising is different by giving us Fang and Aimee's POV we get a whole other story of what had been going on that we didn't get to see. With new characters, both good, not so good and all out bad, Kenyon puts a new twist on the old story arc. Some questions are answered while some new ones crop up. There are a number of characters to keep track of and being a lover of graphs, charts and glossaries, I do wish some type of glossary would have been included. Oh, one of my favorite Dark Hunters does spend some time on the page. Valerius in all his well dressed glory showed up to remind me why I like him so much. :)

So would I recommend? Yes, if you're a fan of the series. It's a decent story and I do like Fang and Aimee a lot. It kept me entertained and still wanting to read more from the Dark Hunter world. Is it worth the hardcover price? Hmmm.... that's not so easy to say. I waited and got mine from the library so no cost but my time. If the only way I could have read it was to buy the book new, then I would have waited until I could get it used, which would probably be a long wait. But I'm cheap. :)

Sherrilyn Kenyon has an extensive website with tons of info on her books, characters and worlds. Check it out here but plan on spending time some time looking at the eye candy. :)

Rating: B

Review: Acheron

Title: Acheron
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Dark Hunters/Book 12

The anticipation of this book for many readers has been years in the making. For myself, I started reading the Dark Hunter(DH) series last year. Having read all the DH books there were some that I found less than stellar and a few that I consider favorites. But overall this is one of my favorite series.

While I have been looking forward to Ash's book it was with hesitancy and some trepidation. Would the book live up to all the hype? Because there was a hell of a lot of it. 2008 was proclaimed as "THE YEAR OF ACHERON". MySpace, websites, ComicCon and even TV commercials were all plugging the book.

Now for those of you that aren't familiar with Acheron (that would be you two in the back) here's the synopsis:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly... or more fun.

Ash has made an appearance in most, if not all of the DH books. He is one of those characters that readers feel they know well and yet know so very little. His book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with Ash's life and death as a human and his early years after he acquired his god powers and became a DH. Part II occurs in present day and is the story of Ash and his heroine and what they must go through to get their HEA.

Part I

Hell, hell and more hell. That pretty much sums up what Ash went through as a human.

Part I starts out as told from Ryssa's point of view as she writes in her journal. Ryssa is Ash's sister and is the only human that really cares about him. While there were some short periods of almost normalcy or what could pass for it in his screwed up existence, overall his life was filled with pain and suffering. Ryssa did attempt to give Ash affection and love but she was limited in what she could do. Her father, a Greek king and her brother Styxx, Ash's twin, hated Ash and would do anything to degraded and punish him.

I won't go into details of the numerous abuses Ash suffered. And they were numerous. Too much at times for this reader. This for me was not a "sit and read for hours" type of book. There were times when I simply had to put it down and read something else. Kenyon does mention in the Author's Note that she "pulled no punches" when writing the first part and she wasn't kidding.

Ash's human existence is a very brutal, often graphic display of the cruel treatment he suffered at the hands of those who should have loved and cherished him. From his human father, uncle and brother Ash received nothing but horrendous treatment at their hands. Even Artemis asked to be friends with him but then showed him that she was also capable of using and abusing him.

The stark reality of what he survived made me wonder how he managed to survive intact. How strong he is to have become such an honorable man. His abuse was so horrific that he did beg to be killed a number of times. Since his life was tied to Styxx's the king dare not allow Ash to die. Instead he had him nearly tortured to death. All of this happening at a very young age. He was only 21 when he died.

When Ash dies as a human he is brought back to life and given his god powers. He now has to figure out how to use those powers. This is where Savitar comes in to help. He also must hunt the Daimons that Apollo helped create with his curse. We find out how Artemis tied Ash to her and convinced him to help with the Dark Hunters that she created to fight the Daimons.

Part II

Fast forward to present time and we find Ash in Nashville listening to a woman lecture on her search for Atlantis. It turns out this woman knows too much and has uncovered evidence to prove the existence of Atlantis. Ash must stop the rest of the world from finding out what new evidence has been uncovered and discredit the lecturer.

The word gets out about the new evidence and it seems like everyone is after the it. Ash must now not only stop the world from finding out the secrets of Atlantis but also keeps his enemies from hurting the only woman who won't be intimidated by him.

There are characters from previous books that come to help Ash as well as long time enemies that are out to get him and his heroine. There are some unexpected twists and answers to many of the questions readers have had about Ash. We find out what's in his backpack that he always carries and where his soul is.

The characters of Jaden and Savitar also get more page time. We've seen bits of them in previous books but have very little knowledge of their background or what they are really capable of. The series is set to continue with Jaden's part next, then Savitar's then an unknown character for the fourth part of the series.

So now the question is did I like the book? It's not an easy answer. While Ash's back story was critical to understanding him and did answer some questions about his relationship with Apollymi, Artemis and Savitar, it was just too long. I think it could have been done with fewer pages of the details of his abuse and still given the reader a very good understanding of him and what shaped him into the man he is. The other problem I had with Part I is the language. I didn't get any sense of historical setting from the language. It came off sounding very modern day. Now I don't know how people spoke 11,000 years ago but I expected it to sound less 21st century.

The second part set in present day was an easier read and I found myself far more interested to find out what would happen. It read and felt more like the other DH books and by itself I would consider it a good addition to the series. But this is Ash's book and because he is so much more than just a Dark Hunter I was expecting something extra special, something epic.

Rating: A-