Book Review - Captive Dreams by Angela Knight & Diane Whiteside

Captive Dreams by Angela Knight and Diane Whiteside is a sizzling hot paranormal/futuristic erotic romance. The storyline is great by erotic romance standards, and is just one sexy, kinky read. An absolute 4.5 Pink Hearts material.

Summary:

Both Celeste and Corrine Carson were successful writers of science fiction and romance novels. It wasn't until one day, when they materialized and kidnapped the two sisters to their world that the girls realized that the hot sexy alpha male heroes they created in their novels actually existed, and they had revenge on their mind.

In Bound by the Dragon, Mykhayl Tibronson, High King of Torhtremer, kidnapped Corrine to a his world of dragons and spells. Convinced that Corrine was a sorceress, he accused her for causing all his tortures and misfortunes in the past, and he intended to punish her for all that she had done. Intrigued and sexually drawn to the insatiable Mykhayl, she realized it was true that by writing her novels, she truly was his tormentor. Plagued with guilt and other feelings she'd rather not face, she was determine to help cure his sterility, no matter what it may cost her.

In Bound by the Dream, Jarred Varrain was finally able to get his hands on Celeste, the woman who made his life a living hell. He intended to exact his revenge on her, make her a sex-sub, and then give her to his friend. There was no escaping for her, as he was a cyborg, who was physically enhance, a sensor implanted in his brain, and incomparable skills in bed. Now it was just a matter of getting her out of his system in 14 days so he could give her over to his friend.

What I liked:

As an erotic romance story, both Bound by the Dragon and Bound by the Dream had a rich romance plot with scenes so hot that it sizzle off the pages. That made a very good balance between the romance plot, paranormal/futuristic elements, and erotica, which is difficult to find in other erotic romance stories. I also really liked the fast pace in Bound by the Dream. Angela Knight did a very good job in throwing us right into the story, wasting no time at all, which made it all the more engaging.

What I didn't like:

Bound by the Dragon, however, was slow to start off with as a novella. Unlike Angela Knight, Diane Whiteside chose to describe a lot of elements in her mystical world. That would have worked if the story was a novel; however, as a novella, the pace was just too slow, failing to capture my attention right from the beginning of the story.

Conclusion:

I would admit that I do like Bound by the Dream quite a bit better than Bound by the Dragon, hence, the high overall rating. But as erotic romance stories, they were both above average. So I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes erotic romance that has a well balance romance plot and sizzling sex scenes. Angela Knight will be on my radar from now on, and I will definitely be reading more of her works from now on.

Book Review - Dark Gold by Christine Feehan (Carpathian/Dark Series)

Dark Gold is the third installment of the Carpathian/Dark series by Christine Feehan. It is an intriguing, sensuous read that I've very much enjoyed reading. However, due to certain flaws, which I will discuss later on in this post, I had to debate whether to give it a 3.5 or a 4 Pink Hearts rating. But I guess 4 Pink Hearts it is, because I enjoyed it very much despite that I did not like part of the story.

Summary:

Alexandria Houton loved her little brother and would do anything to protect him from harm. As a psychic, she could be safely turned into a Carpathian and become one of the few that could save the dying race, and now the Vampires hunted her, wanting to claim her as their own. Plunged into the mysterious, yet dangerous world of Carpathians and Vampires, her body turned into a Carpathian by the hands of the powerful Aidan. But, as much as her body embraced both her bond with the attractive stranger and her physical changes, she had yet to accept her fate mentally.

Aidan Savage was a hunter for the mysterious Carpathian race, and the only one that lived with a human family. After 800 years of life without a lifemate, his inner demons were strong, and was close to turning, but that was until he found Alexandria. To heal and cleanse his lifemate's tainted blood from the Vampire's attack, Aidan turned her into one of his kind without her consent. He was determined to give her time to cope, although he found his fight with his inner demon more of a challenge everyday, yet she continued to defy him, continued to deny her new existence and their unbreakable bond. And the latter, he would not allow.

What I liked:

Again, Christine Feehan was really the master of creating perfect men. I love how Aidan loved Alexandria so unconditionally that he was willing to risk himself to allow her time to adjust. I love how he accepted her little brother and gave him the best and everything he wanted just because he was someone Alexandria loved. And I loved it even more that, despite being 8 centuries old and without emotion for the most part of it, once he found his emotion back by meeting Alexandria, he was the most fun and loving person you'll ever meet.

In Dark Gold, I also really liked the fact that Alexandria did not accept the whole concept of Carpathians and Vampires immediately, and that she was in a denial state for quite a bit of time. This part of the plot was handled quite well by the author for most of it, as it was very real and very believable for a normal person to react the way she did when thrown into such a dangerous and foreign world.

What I didn't like:

Although Christine Feehan did handle the "denial-state" quiet well for the most part, it also caused me to dislike some parts of the story. First of all, Alexandria's denial-state dragged on for 3/4 of the story. First she wouldn't believe the existence of Carpathians and Vampires, then when she finally did, she wouldn't believe that she became a Carpathian, then when she finally did, she wouldn't believe the bond of lifemates in her new world. And the whole thing just dragged on and on as if she was just trying to find something to not believe in.

Now the second problem came when she finally was able to accept everything including her love with Aidan. One minute she was still denying that she was not human anymore and that she does not love him, and a minute later she turned around 180 degrees, accepted everything, and was willing to give him whatever he wants/needs...? I couldn't help but keep thinking from that point on towards the end of the story if I've missed part of the story. The transition was just not natural to me.

Conclusion:

Despite the problem with the heroine's personality of extremely repetitive denial and defiance (do we see a pattern here yet?) and a not-so-natural transition to the romance plot of the story, Dark Gold, the paranormal romance novel by Christine Feehan is a very good read that I would recommend to anyone who like the paranormal romance genre. As usual, I loved the hero in this story, and the plot definitely had me turning the pages. If it wasn't for the overdoing of the denial state and the unexpected (in a bad way) transition, I would have no doubt given this book a 5 Pink Hearts, and classified it as a must read.

Read my reviews of the other novels in the Carpathian/Dark series by Christine Feehan

Book Review - Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark-Hunter Series)

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon is the second installment of her Dark-Hunter series. This fast paced, action packed paranormal romance novel is a wonderful 4 Pink Hearts read for all those who are attracted to hot fanged immortals.

Summary:

Amanda Devereaux was an accountant, conservative and uptight, she actually came from a family obsessed with the supernaturals. Her own twin sister thought herself as a vampire slayer, and even went on patrols every night. Amanda didn't believe any of this and thought that she was the only sane member of the family, until, mistaken for being her twin, she was knocked out cold, kidnapped, and handcuffed to a complete stranger who happened to have a pair of fangs of his own.

Kyrian of Thrace was a Macedonian general from centuries ago betrayed by his beloved wife only to be tortured and crucified by his Roman enemy. Burning for revenge, he sold his soul to Artemis and became a Dark-Hunter, a member of the immortal army she created to defend humans against Daimons, a vampire-like being. When he woke up one night handcuffed to Amanda, the solitary life he enjoyed was about to change.

He was intrigued by her. She was smart, by no means afraid of him, and he wants her for his own. But Dark-Hunter codes states clearly that he cannot have a significant other. The secrecy of their existence and the danger he was constantly emerged in just wouldn't allow it. And now, they were in grave danger. Something out there knew Kyrian's weakness, and worse, it was stalking Amanda.

What I liked:

Night Pleasures is a very entertaining paranormal romance novel. I really liked the world Sherrilyn Kenyon created, and this story is action packed. Her characters were also a great load of fun to read, especially the dialog between Kyrian and Amanda. It was also great to see Julian and Grace and some other characters from the first book Fantasy Lover making guest appearances in this book.

What I didn't like:

Like Fantasy Lover, there were too much "telling", too little "showing" when it comes to explaining Kyrian's past. As much as the rest of the book was fast paced, the part where Kyrian spoke about his betrayal to Amanda slowed down the story by quite a bit. Luckily, his story wasn't as long as Julian's, and the pace picked right back up after that particular section of the book.

There was also this one part of the story where I thought Amanda was a little OOC (Out of Character). She was described as conservative and a bit shy when it comes to dealing with men, but when she tried to help him overcome his worse nightmare, it seemed all her original personalities were gone - like poof. Don't get me wrong, I liked that part of the story, but if she didn't have a personality change all of a sudden, it would have been so much better.

Conclusion:

I really recommend Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon. For those who enjoys action packed paranormal romance novels, this book will open up a whole series of sizzling novels for you in the Dark-Hunter world. Although some books in the series I didn't quite like, which I will be discussing in later posts, most of the stories so far were above average. They could all be read as standalone novels, but reading according to the sequence is highly recommended.

Read Reviews of Other Novels in the Dark-Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Book Review - Dark Desire by Christine Feehan (Carpathian/Dark Series)

Dark Desire is the second installment of the Carpathian/Dark series written by Christine Feehan. This is a great sensual read, for those who likes intense fire-crackling emotion paranormal romance novels. And since I do, I'm giving it a 4 Pink Hearts rating.

Summary:

Jacques Dubrinsky was a once powerful Carpathian who was betrayed and handed over to the human butchers to be tortured and killed. After days of inhuman sadistic torturing, he had given up on life, and even welcomed death when they drove a stick into his chest and buried him in his cellar. During his seven years of imprisonment, the only thing that kept him alive was his mental connection with his lifemat across the ocean.

Shea O'Halloran was an American surgeon, who believed that she has a rare blood disease. For the past seven years, she heard summons of an unknown voice, felt the anguish of an unknown man across the sea. Drawn to the Carpathian Mountains, she found him, tortured, ravaged and mad, yet she felt compelled to save him.

Even though he believed that she was cruel enough to ignore his summon when he needed her the most, he recognized her as his lifemate, and he was determined to claim her as his own, but he was barely sane, and her courage and compassion was the only thing that could keep him from madness. She could see in his eyes his burning desire and unconditional love that she have so desired all her life, but she was afraid to have him become a part of her. And now, the betrayer, the vampire who handed Jacques over to the human butchers, was back, and he wanted Shea.

What I liked:

Dark Desire is very sensual and emotionally intense, and it kept me turning the pages. Although Jacques wasn't quiet sane towards the first half of the novel, he was, nevertheless, hot and yummy. And it was especially touching when Shea was under attack, and he tried to save her although he could barely move in his physical condition.

I also liked how Shea struggled mentally trying not to fall in love with her destined lifemate, because of her past. It made a lot of sense to me, and helped to intensify their relationship on the way. I couldn't help but smile from my heart when she finally accepted their love.

What I didn't like:

As with her previous Carpathian novel, Christine Feehan's heroine likes to defy the hero in whatever way she can regardless of the situation. Although Shea was not as annoying as Raven in Dark Prince, because she was less dumb, and a little more powerful, I was still annoyed by her. It would seem like Christine Feehan had a problem with distinguishing "independence" and pure "stupidity." Sometimes, it seemed that Shea defy and refuse Jacques' protection just for the sake of defying, nothing more. And that, I didn't appreciate.

Conclusion:

Although I do have a slight problem with Shea's stupid moves in the book, it is still a very nice read. Christine Feehan, although, in my opinion, not so good with developing her female characters, is extremely good at making the heros of her paranormal romance novels the man of any women's dreams... well, unless they really dislike alpha males. Once again, if you don't mind a slightly stupid women trying to be independent, Dark Desire is novel I would recommend to all paranormal romance novel fans out there.

Read my reviews on other Carpathian/Dark series novels by Christine Feehan

Book Review - New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga)

New Moon is the second book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga. Continuing on with the incredible paranormal love story between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, this book is guaranteed to make you cry and break your heart. It is certainly worth a solid 4 Pink Hearts, great read in the paranormal romance novels genre.

Summary:

With Bella recovered from the Vampire, James', attack, she was all the more in love with Edward, and well blended in with the Cullen's family. Until a paper cut on her birthday party ruined everything. Just a week after the episode, Edward broke up with her, and the whole family of Cullen's moved out of Forks in a fortnight, leaving Bella torn and heart-broken.

After being in a zombie-state for months after the breakup, Bella accidentally discovered that she would hear Edward's worried voice in her head if she begin to do things that are reckless. So, when one day she saw some broken bikes to be disposed of by a neighbor, she brought them to Jacob Black, her friend in the reserve, to fix up. The two became very close friends as Bella slowly recovered from her depression, but Jacob wanted much more than friendship from her.

What I liked:

The story was, once again, well-written for the Young Adults genre, and is definitely engaging with many surprises (good and bad). Stephenie Meyer did a fantastic job in describing the emotions Bella went through during and after the break up, and made every single one of her actions thereafter very believable and logical. The reader is bound to be led into a series of emotions throughout the book along with the heroine, Bella Swan.

What I didn't like:

Although the hero remained to be Edward Cullen, the leading male character in New Moon was actually Jacob, as Edward was MIA for almost 3/4 of the book. In the beginning, I didn't really mind having Edward out of the story for a little while, as the book was written in a first person POV, a separation between the two is bound to have him missing for a while. Unfortunately, that part had dragged on for too long. Jacob was not a character I particularly enjoyed reading. Throughout the whole series, for me, he was more of a necessary evil, a character that was necessary only to have the story move on the way it should. Therefore, having him present throughout more than half of the book was somewhat annoying. I couldn't help but to flip through the pages to see how much longer must I endure his presence before I see Edward appearing in the story again. (I was a good girl, and did not skip through chapters though)

New Moon was also not much of a re-reading material. I did re-read some parts a couple of times after I finished the book, however, because the majority of the story was so sad, I wouldn't even want to touch most of it again.

Conclusion:

As much as I did enjoy New Moon of the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, and as much as I would recommend the book to those who liked the novel Twilight, please be warned that reading this novel will require the accompaniment of a full box of Kleenex. Be prepared that Edward would not be present for most of the novel, and instead, you will be reading a lot about an immature Jacob. Also, this book cannot be read as a stand-alone, without reading Twilight, New Moon will not make any sense whatsoever.

All Reviews for the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Book Review - Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark-Hunter Series)

Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon is an imaginative and original paranormal romance novel that is bound to make you want more. Listed as the first installment of the popular Dark Hunters series, it is more like a prequel as the elements of the Dark Hunters world was not mentioned in the book at all, it is definitely a fascinating read that is well worth 4 Pink Hearts.

Julian of Macedon was a ancient Spartan general cursed into the pages of a book, only to be released for a month at a time when summoned - as a sex slave. During his time, he was a demi-god, powerful in the human world, and which such good looks that almost any women will fall at his feet. Summoned by Grace Alexander, he arrived naked in her living room ready to pleasure her, but was soon surprised by both her refusal and her caring for him that he never had by any other women from before.

Grace Alexander was a sex therapist living in modern day New Orleans, who has been celibate for the past four years... until her eccentric best friend, Selena, brought a mysterious book to her, and she was drunk enough to go through with a spell per Selena's, persistent, request. When Julian actually appeared in her living room, she was beyond shocked. Although he was what every women dreams for, she wasn't about to use him as a sex slave, partly due to her previous experience with her self-centered jerk ex-lover. Suggesting that he should find a way to break the curse, they quickly found out, from Julian's half brother, Eros, the Greek god, that Grace was the key. But helping Julian would mean that she, herself, would have to overcome one of her own demons.

Fantasy Lover is a great read with a lot of sexy materials in it. Sherrilyn Kenyon did a great job of creating a whole new world with funny Greek gods and ancient characters. Although the whole concept was a little far fetched, the author made it believable and it was easy to be absorbed in her world. Julian was sexy and lovable throughout the novel, but what made me really fall in love with his character was the sacrifice he was willing to make, and have made, for Grace in order to spare her from facing her biggest fear. Grace's character was a little more average, down to earth, but her gentle and caring personality had made it very believable when Julian fell in love with her.

Two of the reasons why I've rated Fantasy Lover as a 4 Pink Hearts instead of 5 was the delivery of Julian's history and the time allocation of the story. There are many ways that Sherrilyn Kenyon could have talked about Julian's past, but she chose to have a dialog between the two protagonists. In some cases, this choice could have not been a problem at all. However, in this case, it didn't work well at all. Julian had a very tormenting past, and it ran right from his birth all the way to the point when he was cursed to being a sex slave, and from then to his multiple summons from the past. And to deliver all that in dialog format, it was just a little too much. Half way through, it just became him ranting on and on. Should his past be "shown" to readers by flashbacks or other methods, the quality of this book will definitely increase dramatically.

The time allocation of the story was also a little out of proportion. The time frame of the whole story was about 30 days, yet from the time Julian was summoned until the end of the day after, when they found out the way to break his curse, Sherrilyn Kenyon had written so much that it lasted for half of the book. Therefore, we ended up with half a book talking about the first 1.5 days, and then the other half covering the rest of the 28.5 days. Although this allowed the thorough development of the Sherrilyn Kenyon's world, it limited the interaction and the action of "falling in love." If she had spent a little more time to describe how the two fell so deeply in love with each other, it would definitely earned a better rating too.

Fantasy Lover is a great read that I would definitely recommend. Just be aware that this is one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's earlier books, so her writing was not as fluid as her newer novels. But if you are interested for a imaginative paranormal romance novel that is a little different from the others, this story of Julian of Macedon and Grace Alexander is definitely worth a try.

All reviews of the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon