Tag Archives: Paranormal Romance

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Book Review, , , , ,

Overview

Grave WitchTitle: Grave Witch
Author: Kalayna Price
Series: Alex Craft #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fae, Ghosts, Grim reapers, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Roc Fantasy
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: Which still didn’t explain why it didn’t register as dead.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say.

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself – who happens to look fantastic in jeans – nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high-profile murder when she’s attacked by the “shade” she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off ehr day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around…

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something – though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex. But Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer who wields a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life… and her soul.

Thoughts

I need to start this by saying that my sister and I have now read this book so many times that my version is starting to lose it’s cover. That is the level of obsession that I have had with Grave Witch and Alex Craft since I first found it about five years ago. It has moved across all seven houses with me. And as much as I want to get a new copy, there is something wonderful about still having the first copy that both my sister and I have so completely loved.

There are a number of reasons that I love this series, and everytime I read one of the novels, I found a few more reasons to add to the list. But something that really struck me with this read through was the fact that Alex is broke. She is surviving off crappy food, and struggling with emotions and is just having an incredibly human existence. There is a constant battle for survival and money that most other stories I read don’t have. And yes, sometimes finances get in the way of a good story, but it’s a little frustrating to constantly read stories about people who don’t have to worry about where their next meal comes from. It just helps to make Alex all that much more realistic and relatable. At least for me, a PhD student with a book-shopping problem.

I also love the love triangle that starts in Grave Witch. It is organic, and confusing, and it’s really hard to decide which character I want Alex to end up with more. But it’s not annoying and angsty. It doesn’t involve the lead female half leading either of the men on and although there is a bit of steaminess in each relationship, it’s not overbearingly so. And even though I’ve read the next two books before, I can’t wait to see how this relationship unfolds all over again!

 <- Grave Ransom Review Grave Dance Review ->
Image source: Kobo

Earth Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

Earth BoundTitle: Earth bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #4, Sea Haven #11
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: I’d like to come if I have time.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

After escaping from a cult, Lexi found refuge with her sisters on the farm that more than sustained her body – it nurtured her soul as well. But she never forgot the terror she left behind or the always present fear that the cult would find her again, and claim her. Then her nightmare came true.

Lexi was discovered and threatened – only to be suddenly saved by a stranger. He is Gavriil Prakenskii, and he’s awestruck by the woman he has rescued. She is destined for him. He can feel it in his soul. But how can Lexi find happiness with a man steeped in secrets and shadows, one intimately acquainted with violence, and whose very love could be the death of them?

Thoughts

This was so heart wrenching. And heartbreaking. And just generally completely gut wrenching. Lexi is such a sweet and adorable character. And her past is stomach-curdlingly ill-inspiring. The fact that she ends up with the most damaged of the Prakenskii brothers too helps to make this both beautiful and… well, heartbreaking. There really is no other word. This seriously tore at the heartstrings and made it impossible to put the story down.

Where most of the other tales feature sex quite strongly, Lexi’s past makes it almost impossible to have this featured so strongly. And it was kind of a nice way to change the pace and trajectory of the storyline. This was also a lot more violent and bloodthirsty. Which was good. Because the whole cult at eight-years-old and all sorts made me feel incredibly bloodthirsty while reading this. I might have actually cheered when Lexi’s past is finally overcome. Also when she kicks Gavriil for being annoying.

Gavriil and Lexi’s story doesn’t strongly feature the noose around the Prakenskii brothers’ necks. But it does help to tighten the noose and set up the tale perfectly for Fire Bound. There’s also the surprise reveal about Lissa’s past which makes me want to read the next story all the more. But, really, I need to actually get some work done… I might just have to hide the book from myself in an attempt for some self-control.

 <- Air Bound Review Fire Bound Review ->
Image source: Pinterest

Air Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

Air BoundTitle: Air Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #3, Sea Haven #10
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: He was systematically destroying her world.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

For as far back as she can remember, Airiana Ridell has always been aware of her extraordinary gift. She can intuit revealing and illuminating “patterns” in the air around her – whether in a spary of mist, in billowing clouds or in the dense swirls of an impenetrable fog. Her abilities led to her placement in a secret government training facility when she was a child, but everything changed after her mother was murdered.

Airiana fled the program, but she couldn’t outrun the desperate members of a shadowy cabal who want her, who need her, who will kill to get her. Kidnapped and held abroad a ship bound for dangerous seas, her only chance for rescue is Maxim Parkenskii. He has his reasons for helping her, but he isn’t about to reveal them to Airiana. Not yet. Not as the two are drawn together as moth to flame. Not when there are so many secrets yet untold that could shatter the quaint community of Sea Haven and all who reside there…

Thoughts

I’ve been relating to all of the women throughout the Sea Haven novels in one way or another. But I certainly related to Airiana on a whole other level. She gets lost in numbers and her thoughts. And although I don’t get lost in patterns and numbers to the same degree, I honestly spend days on end in my own head, forgetting what else is around me. I’ve not really read any other stories that understand this level of distraction that your thoughts can drag you into.

This is the first of the Sisters of the Heart books that isn’t actually set on the farm. I also felt like Maxim helped to kind of destroy the no-killing thing that the previous two couples were trying to set up. In Water Bound and Spirit Bound, Levi and Thomas are sort of discouraged (and banned) from killing people as their first aim of defense or protection for the women. After all, they want to start their new lives together. And then Maxim comes along. He literally runs around this entire time killing. Where the previous nine Sea Haven books involving very little murder and mayhem, Maxim is more than able to make up for this. I found it kind of hilarious that all the hard-won “new life” that had been discussed for the Prakenskii brothers very quickly went down the drain. It was kind of hilarious.

Air Bound also helped to further twine the storylines together in a way that you know two epic showdowns are about to occur. It makes me not only want to read the next love story, but also to find out how these intricately intertwined stories are all going to come to a head in the finality of this series, Bound Together.

 <- Spirit Bound Review Earth Bound Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , ,

Overview

Spirit BoundTitle: Spirit Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #2, Sea Haven #9
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: He lives the way he wants to live.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

Lethal undercover agent Stefan Prakenskii knows a thousand ways to kill a man – and twice as many ways to pleasure a woman. That’s why he’s looking forward to his new mission. He must go to the coastal town of Sea Haven and insinuate himself into the life of an elusive beauty who has mysterious ties to his past and a link to a dangerously seductive and equally elusive master criminal who wants only one thing: to possess her.

Judith Henderson is an artist on the rise, an ethereal and haunted woman whose own picture-perfect beauty stirs the souls of two men who have made her their obsession. For years she has been waiting for someone to come and unlock the passion and fire within her – waiting for the right man to surrender it to. But only one man can survive her secrets and the shadow she has cast over both their lives.

Thoughts

I like damaged artists. There is something about them that just seems to work really well and makes a kind of perfect sense. Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s one that really works. Judith is haunted and stunning. She is the epitome of a feminine artist and wonder. And something about that makes this story feel kind of ethereal and stunning all of itself.

I’m still not really sure whether to call Thomas, Stefan or Thomas. Throughout the tale, Stefan almost seemed to suit him better and added an extra layer of mystery to him. Thomas is just so simply ordinary, and there is nothing ordinary about the leading man in Spirit Bound. Or the woman either for that matter. They are both withdrawn and spirited, a contrasting set of ideals that somehow work incredibly well. Add to this a backdrop of intrigue and mystery, danger from Judith’s past, and an amazingly not-so-sleepy coastal town.

Spirit Bound starts to set up a greater storyline and intrigue that has been hinted at in Water Bound. The defense system and man who Gavriil almost died for starts to tie himself in amongst the girls’ lives. As each storyline unfolds, the pieces click into place. As does the reason for their eventual demise (if the big, bad Russian man has his way). And now I can’t wait to find out how this will continue to unfold, and whether the Prakenskii brothers will finally find a way to their own happy endings…

 <- Water Bound Review Air Bound Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Fangs for Hire by Jenna Black

Book Review, , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of Vampire RomanceTitle: Fangs for Hire
Author: Jenna Black
In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Vampires
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Had he smelled it on my breath last night?

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

She is an assassin hired to take out a mark. But the mark turns out to be something far more than expected. And incredibly desired.

Thoughts

I loved this short story. The idea that there is a vampire hit woman. And she runs into another vampire. And of course, there is sexual tension (because it’s in a book of vampire romance after all). It was just cute and funny. Easy to read and a good bit to read just before sinking into bed to try and get some sleep.

I loved that the two vampires showed two flip sides to vampirism – the one who tries to kill the bad guys, and the ones who want to send others to their rest. The assassin and the carer (in a weird, twisted way). I’ve seen both tropes in a number of vampire stories, but never coming against one another. Certainly an enjoyable and slightly altered way in which to see vampirific interactions…

 <- Ode to Edvard Munch Review The Righteous Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Water Bound by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

Water BoundTitle: Water Bound
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Sisters of the Heart #1, Sea Haven #8
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Elements, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: She rubbed her itching palm down her thigh and then pressed her hand hard against her tummy.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

The last thing Lev Prakenskii remembered was being lost in the swirling currents of the ocean and getting sucked deeper into the nothingness of a freezing black eddy off the coastal town of Sea Haven. Just as quickly, just as miraculously, he was saved – pulled ashore by a beautiful stranger. But Lev has no memory of who he is – or why he seems to possess the violent instincts of a trained killer. All he knows is that he fears for his life, and for the life of his unexpected savior.

Her name is Rikki, a sea-urchin diver in Sea Haven. She has always felt an affinity for the ocean, and for the seductive pull of the tides. And now she feels drawn in the same way to the enigmatic man she rescued. But soon they will be bound by something even stronger, and their tantalizing secrets will engulf them both in a whirlpool of dizzying passion and inescapable danger.

Thoughts

This might have been one of my favourite paranormal romance books. Not because the romance was anything amazing. Not because the obstacle thrown in their way was momentously different from any of the other Feehan books (and other paranormal romance tales) that I have read. But, honestly, because the lead woman was autistic. I NEVER seem to find good books that deal with autistic people. Realistically delve into how differently the world is seen through autistic eyes, and, more than that, finding a way to make a great storyline and couple that doesn’t feature this aspect of the character, but has it there as part of who they are. Completely in love with this. There need to be more books out there about people who are not mainstream. About people being able to find love when they don’t fit into others’ ideals of the ‘norm’. I could honestly wax on and off about this all day…

Water Bound starts off a whole new sisterhood in the Sea Haven universe, and although the Drake Sisters are mentioned from the very beginning (it starts on the day of their wedding), they are not intimately involved in the storyline. Which I quite liked. Hidden Currents gave all of them a happy ending, and now it is time for a new batch of women to get theirs. The fact that I think these women are going to be a lot darker and more experienced with the horrors of the world actually makes me far more interested in this series than I thought. Rikki has a few horrors in her past, and although she manages to fall for a certified killer, he helps her to heal and move on.

Lev Prakenskii is the first of Ilya’s brothers to find his new home in Sea Haven, and although I felt like his story was mostly finished at the end of Water Bound, there are a few lingering doubts about their happily ever after that make me want to hurry up and read the rest of the story… so I suppose it’s time to crack the spine of Spirit Bound and find out what happens with the next brother to find his way to this amazingly picturesque town.

 <- Hidden Currents Review Spirit Bound Review ->
Image source: Christine Feehan

Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , , , ,

Overview

Hidden CurrentsTitle: Hidden Currents
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: Drake Sisters #7, Sea Haven #7
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: The Coast, Family, Magic, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: We made it faster than we expected, and the girls are waiting.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

From afar, Sheriff Jackson Deveau has always loved Elle Drake, the youngest telepath of seven sisters. After a long time away, she’s finally returning to the small coastal village of Sea Haven. But someone has other plants for Elle, someone who doesn’t want her to make it back.

When Elle fails to arrive home, her disappearance strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who loves her. Now it’s left to Jackson to uncover the mystery of Elle’s vanishing and rescue her from an unseen danger. But Sea Haven is no longer safe for anyone, and it will take the powers of all the Drake sisters and their men to survive the oncoming storm.

Thoughts

I picked this book up because I had had a panic attack, and the first six books in this series really helped to settle me. After all, they are filled with romance, family, love and all sorts of nice things. And while Hidden Currents is certainly like that – it was also the worst possible book to read when I wasn’t in a great headspace… Elle is in some serious trouble within the first three chapters. Trouble that was so bad I almost threw up, wanted to throw the book across the room, and was just generally feeling shocked and shattered. Feehan is such a brilliant writer that it wasn’t difficult at all to imagine all of the bad things that were happening. It’s the first time I’ve ever wished someone wasn’t that good at writing to be honest.

But it’s okay.

It gets better from there. In the fourth chapter the bad things stop, and it becomes about the love story and the two leads again. You just have to get over that initial HOLY CRAP, WHAT IS HAPPENING feeling. Then it is completely amazing, like the rest of the Drake Sisters stories and it becomes incredibly easy to immerse yourself in. The fact that I wanted to see the bad guy get his comeuppance also meant that I didn’t stop reading this book, even carrying it around the house and kitchen while I was cooking tea (very interesting to do one handed if you’re curious).

Although there is another series (Sisters of the Heart) that continues the Sea Haven world, Hidden Currents beautifully completes the overarching tale of the Drake Sisters. It is primarily about Elle and Jackson, but it pulls in the rest of the seven couples beautifully, giving a great insight into the ways in which they have all lived their lives since the completion of their own stories. A fantastic (albeit a little distressing) ending to one of my favourite series…

 <- Turbulent Sea Review Water Bound Review ->
Image source: Christine Feehan

Fade to Black by Sherri Erwin

Book Review, , ,

Overview

The Mammoth Book of Vampire RomanceTitle: Fade to Black
Author: Sherri Erwin
In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Vampires
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Wait, how was I watching?

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

Kelly has a boring, mediocre life and Connor Black wants to help her change her stars. But now that she’s agreed, she finds herself in a complex web of history, jealousy and a confusing future.

Thoughts

I feel like there needs to be more to this story. It is short, sweet and multilayered in its world construction. The fact that vampirism is treated as a virus and there is an ancient rivalry between the two male leads creates an engaging world. Yet, it ends so quickly when she hasn’t actually quite chosen which male she wants to try for. Mostly the lead makes a decision about herself, and kind of rides off into the sunset. With a lot of questions unanswered. This is generally why I didn’t give this tale as large a rating as I normally would have. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the world construction, but it just felt… open.

I like the fact that although this is a vampire romance story (in a vampire romance collection, who’da’thunk’it?), it’s a slightly different take on the idea. There is still the same slightly raunchy feel. There is still the same idea that the male is the aggressor and turns (rescues in this case?) tale. But it treats vampirism differently and in a way that I found to be incredibly unique. A fantastic start to a new anthology, I can’t wait to see where it’s going to go.

 <- The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance Review Ode to Edvard Munch Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Burning Wild by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Burning Wild

Title: Burning Wild
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: The Leopard People #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Animagus, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Candles.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

Bred by capricious parents for his innate leopard-shifitng abilities, billionaire Jack Bannaconni has spent his life in an emotional vacuum – especially after a tragic twist of fate left him to raise his infant son alone. But when his path crosses that of an enigmatic young woman, Jake’s life takes a detour he never fathomed.

There is something irresistible about Emma Reynolds – something Jake can’t live without. Hiring her as his son’s nanny will keep her close. And warm. And under watch. She’s the first human to stir something in Jake, something he’s never felt before. But Emma may not be at all what she seems. And what’s raging between them is pure animal instinct – out of control, burning wild and as hot as the lick of a flame.

Thoughts

Jake is kind of an idiot. And an ass. And it took me longer to read this novel than any of the other Feehan stories so far because he was kind of painful. But I absolutely adored and loved Emma. She was sweet and caring. Soft and nurturing. Yet she didn’t let Jake push her around and found her own ways to work with his little peeves.

I enjoy the paranormal romance genre, although sometimes it does hit my feminist bone. And this one certainly set it off. Which probably has a lot to do with the fact that Jake was a possessive, obsessive douche. At the end of the story, I certainly softened to him. And at the beginning I felt sorry for him. But during the middle? It was hard to like him. It felt a little too overbearing, and I know that if I was placed in a position with such a man, I wouldn’t be okay with it. But, as always, Feehan was able to write in such a way that I became engaged in and enthralled with the relationship anyway.

This is the first of all the stories that incorporates motherhood and children into the tale. And it made a much softer counterpoint to Jake’s tale and childhood. The two children and Emma are so incredibly beautiful. And reading about their lives together and the joys of day to day living is just… nice. It makes all the darkness that this story carries somehow less. And in doing so, let me completely sink into the storyline and be swept away by the passion and love that drives the tale.

 <- Wild Rain ReviewWild Fire Review ->
Image source: Christine Feehan

Wild Rain by Christine Feehan

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

Wild RainTitle: Wild Rain
Author: Christine Feehan
Series: The Leopard People #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Animagus, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Jove
Year: 2004
5th sentence, 74th page: Why would someone be so intent on killing you?

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

What has she done? With a new identity, a staged death, and a chance to flee the treachery that stalks her, Rachael has escaped from a faceless assassin. Now, thousands of miles from home, under the lush canopy of the rain forest, she’s found sanctuary.

Where can she hide? In this world teeming with unusual creatures walks the most exotic of them all. His name is Rio. A native of the forest imbued with a fierce prowess, he is something to be desired. Possessed of secrets of his own, he is something to be feared.

Whom can she trust? But as Rachael’s past looms as oppressively as the heat of the forest, and as Rio unleashes the secret animal instincts that course through his blood, Rachael fears that her isolated haven has become an inescapable hell…

Thoughts

I guessed that Rachael was somehow involved in gangs or something illegal through her family from the very first chapter. But that didn’t take away from the fact that her fleeing for her life was incredibly intense and even a little scary. I was even completely drawn in, wondering how badly her enemies wanted her. There were moments that I wondered if it was all in her head, and others where I was a little convinced that the assassins would win. So I loved this extra stakes that Rachael’s storyline added to Wild Rain.

I read Christine Feehan for a bit of a romance / a lot of a lust kick. The addition of the paranormal aspects and her amazing talent just help to make these stories impossible to put down. And I honestly found it a little more difficult to get into The Awakening, even though I liked the general premise of the storyline. So I was really hoping that the relationship in this one would be a little more two-sided, both characters would have a little more give and take than Maggie and Brandt. And it provided!

Rio is an incredibly masculine character – but I like how gentle he is with Rachael and the love that shines through their actions. I also love the fact that she is able to stand up to him and throw him off balance. It was this dynamic of constantly making each other a little ill at ease that really made me fall in love with this story. The idea of everything taking place in a rainforest and with leopard shapeshifters just made everything all the more engaging and interesting.

 <- The Awakening Review Burning Wild Review ->
Image source: Kobo