DemonessTenebrae

*I received a copy of this book from the author through Goodreads giveaways in an exchange for an honest review

I have to say that this book brought back some good memories and a nostalgic feeling of how excited and happy and engrossed into the story I have been while reading fantasy books when I was a kid and even a teenager. It has that innocent tone to it that you lose as you grow older. Absolutely wonderful experience. 

I recommend this book to everyone, especially to those that feel young at heart and mind.

Quest Maker is the second book in the epic Last Dragon Charmer series and if you haven't read the first book this book will slowly let you catch up on the storyline not shoving the story down your throat which I truly appreciate in sequels. 

Prince Caden is still stranded in the Asheville, North Carolina where mysterious magic has transported him from his home, Greater Realm. He attends school which is run by an Elderdragon and staff which consists of banished villains from his realm. He surrounded himself with 'allies' who help him try to find his way home and protect everyone from the villains in school that 'normal' people know nothing of except that they are teachers, some hated more than others. 

In this instalment Caden has to complete a quest given to him by the Elderdragon. If he doesn't, she will eat him and his brother who is the newest addition to the banished people of the Greater Realm who are now stranded in Asheville. Caden needs to uncover a plot lead against the principle Elderdragon and find evidence that would count as evidence by the Ashevillean standard. He also suspects that this plot involves villains in Asheville as well as someone in the Greater Realm, someone he knows. 

I honestly enjoyed every chapter of this book. Fantasy set in our world makes it a lot easier to imagine the world author is bringing to us, and I am sure children fancy that as well because it makes it more believable. But I will let them decide on that. 

Action, mystery, plots, conspiracies, all wrapped up with a little humour and a lot of charm. I doubt anyone can ask for more when it comes to fantasy and especially so when we talk about books for children. 

Some say that Caden can be a pain in the tushy sometimes, especially when he says things like this:

"I'm fine," Brynne said, and smiled. "He's as he always is, difficult and troublesome."

Caden was neither difficult nor troublesome. He was charming and easy. He told the firefighter so but the firefighter looked skeptical.

No matter. Caden didn't have time to convince peasants of his likeable nature.

But it's totally appropriate for his character. He is a Prince in his world after all and he was raised as one. Although he is adjusting to this world, some things are very difficult to completely let go. And that is exactly what so often makes us smile as we see how he thinks and reacts to things we find normal.

Humour is very light and appropriate for children. I liked it and found it a refreshment from everything I have read recently. Definitely a big plus from me.

"He pointed at Brynne. "You've been training him."

"So?" Brynne said. "You've been training him, too. Why can't I?"

"I'm training him to become an Elite Paladin, not a thief."

"Actually I'm going to be an architect," Tito said."

I found no grammar or spelling errors which is very important to me. The cover is beautiful, very eye-catching. Paper, print, letters... all packed in a very beautiful package and it does the story justice in all ways. 

Fantasy world I'd love to read a lot lot lot more of. I hope the author continues down this road and makes our lives - magical. 

No no no no no no no nooooooooooooooooo !!!

I'm just going to come out and say it... WHY??? Zhubaal is a major prudish asshole and the only person who can call himself 'Z' is Zsadist. And Vex can be awfully annoying.

There is NO chemistry between them.

And we have another VIRGIN? Oh come on. Really. Really. Really?!

He waited for his soul mate for a century after she got reincarnated and he thought she will remember him in other lives and stay a virgin. Oh please.

Did I mention how boring this was? As in, so boring I almost gave up reading.

And sex scenes... bloody hell. She fucked a hot tub, one might imagine that would be fun, well it wasn't. Dry and emotionless.

I just don't have the energy to write any sensible review today. I might come back to it tomorrow. Maybe. Or I'll just try to forget all the time wasted.

"Hades had a lot of names. Lord of the Dead. Keeper of Souls. Jailor of the Baddies. Asshole. He owned them all. Ruled his piece of the underworld with an iron fist. Feared nothing. Correction. He feared nothing except the Grim Reaper"

Hades is one hell of a man (no pun intended here). Or the author is trying to present him as such. She keeps on saying how he is a badass, cold, loner, skilled torturer etc but really we see almost none of that. We only hear about it and we are supposed to take it as a fact. I really dislike that. I think it would be so much better if the intro to this novella was a short depiction of Hades actually torturing someone and enjoying it and then the transformation after that. 

Maybe I expect too much from paranormal romance books, I get that a lot actually. But somehow when I read the genre that is considered to be one of the genres "for the masses" or the "low genres" of literature, I want it to be the best possible in the range given. Which means establishing characters before throwing them in each other's arms. 

Okay, I will admit, they do have a past and it is mentioned, one fragment at a time. But I just didn't feel that half-evil emanating from Hades as I am sure author wanted us/me to. 

Synopsis.

Hades is the Jailor of the Dead, which means Azagoth's right hand man, person who is keeping all those evil souls in the Inner Sanctum and punishes them when they try to break out. He is a Fallen Angel, but not True Fallen. There is a quirk in that and I won't spoil it for you. He spent centuries alone trapped in the Inner Sanctum doing Azagoth's dirty work. It was his punishment. 

Cataclysm also had her wings taken away. She was helping Gethel and it cost her. No one really cared that she didn't know Gethel's real plans. Now she is working for Azagoth and Lilliana trying to get her wings back. She can sense good and evil in others through her skin, which is why she is exposing as much of it as she can, right right. Anyway, she sees Hades and she is smitten with him. Then her clumsiness causes some souls to enter the Inner Sanctum that shouldn't be there which starts a riot and she as stupidly as she can ends up trapped in there with the rioters. And Hades has to go save her and stop millions of souls from escaping.

My issues with this novella.

I'm sorry, I just have to rant a little.

1. Cataclysm aka Cat is a gorgeous Unfallen. Long, curly red hair, some freckles, flat stomach, big boobs and almost nothing on her at almost all times. But. She is a VIRGIN! Oh, you've got to be kidding me *faceplam*. I mean, seriously. 

2. How could she have been so utterly stupid to think that she can go to Inner Sanctum where the most evil of souls reside without any weapon or plan and fix her mistake? Which she didn't, she made it worse and she was the victim in the end. For someone who has portrayed as a person of intelligence and curiosity, she sure is dumb at times.

3. Hades went thousands of years without a woman. THOUSANDS. 

Good things.

Writing, grammar and spelling are top notch this time around, well done. I hate to see a grammar errors that divert my attention from the story.

I already mentioned but it doesn't hurt to say again. I love Larissa's way of writing and presenting the Demonica world and its characters to us. She has that special extra kick like Jeaniene Frost, Karen Marie Moning and J.R.Ward have. 

Hades, despite not being as bad of a boy as we would like, is still pretty badass. And I mean he has a fantastic butt apparently, and let's not forget his whole appearance ;)

"Hades, Azagoth’s second-in-command and the designated Jailor of the Dead, was walking next to him. No, not walking. With the way his thigh muscles flexed in those form-fitting black pants with every silent step, it was more like prowling. His body sang with barely-leashed power, and she shivered in primal, feminine response.

Son of a bitch, Hades was hot. Hard-cut cheekbones and a firm, square jaw gave him a rugged appearance that bordered on sinister, especially when paired with a blue Mohawk she’d kill to run her palm over."

Steamy parts are indeed steamy. Larissa knows how to build sexual tension between two characters. You just cannot love those scenes. Although sometimes they are a bit... too primitive for my taste.

„And what do you feel when you’re near me?” He knew he shouldn’t ask. Knew he was encouraging something that shouldn’t be encouraged, but holy hell, he was starving for female contact. Maybe this little bit would be enough. And maybe he was lying to himself.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled. “Like I want to climb your body like a tree so you can wrap yourself around me.”
Hot...damn. He wasn’t sure if the rum had gone to her head or if she was affected by his inner evil, but what she’d said made him want desperately to play giant oak for her so she could do whatever she wanted with his hardwood.
Giant oak. Hardwood. Man, he cracked himself up sometimes.“

The author Larissa Ione has an incredible sense of humour sometimes. That is why my rating isn't lower. Because when I reached the end of this novella I laughed for half an hour like a maniac and let me just say that it was 2.30 a.m. at that time. Thankfully, my neighbours are considerate and patient people. 

Part that made me laugh might be a humour-spoiler so I will tag it as such:

Maybe it won't be as funny to you but this has made me up my rating so trust me when I say that I almost burst into tears from laughing so much.

I thought this sentence as pretty amusing as well:

"Nope, because the curvy redhead was off-limits to him, and panting after her like a hellhound on the trail of a hellbitch in heat would only end in pain."

All in all.

Sometimes I can rant about some little things too much, I know I know. But that's only because I care about this series and the characters. If I didn't, I wouldn't have spent so much time writing reviews about it. 

I like Larissa Ione and I like the Demonica world. I like the easygoing nature of some characters and the depths and layers of others. I like that they can make me laugh and I can empathize with them. I also like that often they give out the right message, the message that is universally true, whether in fiction or reality. And this novella is no different than other titles in this series. 

I will end with messages from both of our main characters.

"Not everyone has to have badass superpowers to be something special." (Cat)

"Home is where the people who want you are." (Hades)

"Life was hard, and it only got harder when you had more to care about than just yourself. Inevitably, those you cared about had a nasty habit of kicking you in the nuts when they couldn’t accept who you were." 

And this is basically what this book is about next to the usual Demonica romance setting. We have two male demons, one is a Seminus demon and if you have read other Demonica books you know very well what they are. The other is a new species we haven't encountered yet and that is a Duosos demon. 

Larissa Ione is incredibly good with her paranormal romance books and I was very intrigued when I saw that we will have an M-M romance for once. And what piqued my interest even more is that it will involve a Seminus demon. For those of you who are new in the Demonica world, a Seminus demon is a sex demon. He needs to have sex multiple times a day every day just like he needs food and water for survival. And he can only be with females, any species will do as long as it is a female. All of the offspring will be male Seminus demon regardless of the species of the mother. 

Synopsis.

Raze is a Sem demon who works at the Underworld General and has abilities to heal like Eidolon. He also works at the club called Thirst which is located near his apartment. He likes his jobs and he does them well. But one thing that has been dragging him down for years is the fact that he is attracted to males and since he is a Seminus demon he can't finish when having sex with a male unless there is a woman present and finishes him off. And the woman who has been "helping" him with his needs every day for the last 30 years is Fayle, a Succubus demon. She has an arrangement with Raze. She will service his needs so he doesn't have to search for women every day and he will sustain her financially and otherwise.

Slake is a Duosos demon who has been given an assignment to track down and bring in Fayle to a certain law firm which is owned and run by one scary grim reaper. Slake has to do this as his last job at that place if he doesn't want to lose his soul to the grim reaper. Duosos demons are very secluded, isolated and not well known species and they are very good with weapons, creating and wielding unique weapons that is. You can say Slake is sort of a mercenary with his soul on the line.

As Slake tracks down Fayle he runs into Raze and instant sparks fly all over the place. 

Characters.

Raze is presented as a strong but vulnerable demon, with his secret eating at him, preventing him from being content in life. He is also putting up with a lot of Fayle crap she is giving him. Like... she never allows him to touch her, she's always reminding him how she is the one keeping him alive so he should do everything for her, when he wants to indulge his desire for men, she helps him in that moment but then punishes him for months afterwards. Is she doesn't get her way, she blackmails him with not helping with his sexual release etc. In short, she is a bitch. And he is a sucker letting her get her way. And after he meets Slake and Slake points it out, we get one of the lamest excuses...

“I guess I can see that.” Slake’s expression was troubled. “But she’s keeping you from being happy.”

   “Happy?” Raze snorted. “I gave up wishing for that a long time ago. I take what I can get.”

   Something flickered in Slake’s dark eyes. Sadness, maybe? “That doesn’t sound like any way to live.”

   Raze looked up at the ceiling again. “I’ve accepted my lot in life.”

The author is trying to present Slake as a cold mercenary who will do anything to get the job done. But that part is kind of lacking. Because right from the start we see his vulnerable side and him giving away one thing that could subdue Fayle in order to help others. I didn't really get that menacing cold feel from him at all. In fact, both of them were sort of like (and don't you laugh) wounded puppies to me. She describes them as men with hard, lean bodies, etc but in reality I imagine them as totally normal. Normal and "anomalies" within their species. One who is frightened to admit to others how he feels and the other who was rejected because he did just that.

Lacking storyline. (*possible spoilers)

I already mentioned that Slake is a Duosos demon but there is of course more to it than just that since Raze is able to finish with him and he was never able to do that with another man before. And no, it isn't just about love if that was your guess. Although it could've been. It would be equally or even more believable than what we actually got. 

So how is it possible? Well... I am confused about that too. It's not very well explained and there are a lot of missing information. Apparently, Duosos are mostly born female and when they are between 20-30 they can choose whether they want to stay female or do something to turn male. Don't ask me what, it's not really explained. And don't ask me why because that is not mentioned. We just need to take it as a fact. For some strange reason, their species can choose sexes at a certain age.

As you might have guessed, Slake used to be a woman and he chose to turn. Which is somehow "tricking" Sem demon's senses and he is able to finish with him. And no, I don't know how. Not explained. How can that be possible if that person completely turned male with nothing female remaining? Beats me. It's one of those things you need to turn a blind eye on otherwise it ruins the story.

Which brings me to Fayle, the bitch Succubus. She has been with Raze in this symbiotic relationship for over 30 years. There were times, quite a lot of times actually, when he was away from her for various reasons and didn't get off in time and was suffering. Each of those times she "magically" found him, even when he was kidnapped. And he never ever wondered how. I mean... I just can't buy that. No way. Sorry, dear author, I love your writing but please make more sense next time. I don't want stupid characters. 

Writing and errors.

I found two errors while reading. I don't know if there are more. I am not usually that concentrated on reading each letter like my life depends on it but this really burned my eyes. 

On p. 36:  „...he put his vampire ex out of him mind“

On p. 48:  „I can’t get drunk, but drinking still makes me want what I can’t have.” Rake’s lids lifted,...“ (note: there is no Rake, only Raze and Slake so I guess they morphed into a Rake for that sentence alone)

All in all.

I love Larissa Ione's style. You can call me a sucker for it if you want but Demonica world is one of my favourite fantasy worlds to visit when I want some steamy paranormal romance with a good world building and an intriguing storyline. Larissa, like all other authors, has a unique way of expressing herself and to be honest, she makes me laugh and grin a lot. And I like laughing, especially at this point in my life when everything else seems black and hopeless in a way. Books have always been my sanctuary and a place where I recharge my happy energy. Larissa succeeds in that. Although her stories sometimes have plot holes, I still enjoy them very much. Maybe I am just attached to them or I am used to that world, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Let me end with a nice Slake retort to Fayle ;)

“Because people who don’t cuss are silently judging you. Pulling a morally superior act, but it’s just an act. You know they’re thinking bad shit; they just won’t say it.”

   “Maybe they’re being polite.”

   “Or maybe they’re not being sincere.”

   She sneered. “Fuck you.”

   “See? That’s sincere.”

*Warning: This may be a slightly longer review since I have extracted quotes to explain my points.

4* for the BDSM and for some quotes I am adding to my collection but 2* for the forced four-way and for the lacking story.

This is an adult BDSM erotica novel. Those who do not like BDSM should really keep their distance. I know, I know, it's not for everyone. But for those of us who revel in it, this is my viewpoint on this book.

"He destabilized every ounce of her being with his presence alone."

Synopsis.

Aria Swift is struggling financially along with her brother Paul and at barely 19 she enters a billionaire Dom Stephen Black's manor for the sole purpose of stealing a painting from him that could ensure hers and her brother's survival for a long time but she is the one who gets something stolen as well and that is something no one could have predicted. She spends one night in Stephen's bed and that night will change her entire existence. But because of her immaturity and lack of trust in Stephen, she disappears along with the painting the morning after. Now, eight years later she is returning to the same place to retrieve something of hers that was stolen from her and she has no idea that she will end up in the same place she ended up all those years ago.

"From the first moment she met Stephen and in every minute of the short month she’d known him, a strange obsession to obey him, to please him, to give herself to him conquered her. In her innocence, she failed to comprehend the beauty of her fascination for him. She only understood the lively, provocative radiance coursing through her when he led and she followed."

Why I feel the storyline is lacking.

First of all, let me tell you right now what you can read in many other summaries out there, Aria was a virgin at 19 and beautiful as hell, quite believable, right? *notice the sarcasm*

Okay, let's say she is actually a virgin and she is with her brother Paul at Stephen's place to work in his vineyard. They were there for ONLY a month before they disappeared. In that one month, she managed to befriend Stephen's sister and gain constant access to the manor. She became her best friend. Upon which she accidentally stumbled on Stephen's Gold Room which was for some reason left with the doors unlocked and she tried on one of his contraptions and mind you, a virgin had only a short, see-through, flimsy nightie on her that completely exposed her when she sat on the aforementioned contraption. Stephen walks in and is completely smitten by this girl trespassing in his private chamber and soon he falls in love with her. Oh, he is 24 at the time and of course a billionaire because just because. And she falls for him too. After a month she completely gained his trust as well and he took her virginity on the night her brother stole the painting and they disappeared the day after.

"Did he forget the way he’d kissed her? Demanding she give him all her worth and more, always more until she had no choice but to hand herself over to him, for him to own? Did he forget the same night he claimed her as his submissive in the most beautiful subtle way imaginable? And how she, enthralled by his dominant passion, called him her master in all her innocence? She hadn’t understood the complete concept of ownership in her younger days, but he made her feel it right down to her soul. He’d wanted to possess her. She surrendered her body, her mind, and her heart to him."

But the painting just couldn't sell and she felt guilty so she returned it some 5 years later. And during this 8 year absence from Stephen's life she made her living as a Dominatrix at some BDSM sex clubs. Yup, she turned dominatrix even though she was completely Stephen's sub that night. Funny how this things flip like that. Anyway, so you might wonder why she is back now? Well, let me enlighten you. She came back for some necklace that he stole from her that has emotional value for her. I have no idea why and why was it so important that she had to come back, nothing of this has been presented in detail and in depth. You just have to believe it because the author said so. And one more thing about the chain. At the beginning we are led to believe this chain has been stolen recently from her but later we learn he had it for 8 freaking years? What??? If it had that much emotional value, she wouldn't wait 8 long years to get it. This is what I call inconsistency and lack of thinking.

She comes back, he catches her in her catsuit of course and high heels because all thieves are known to dress like that, especially the high heels, I imagine they are the most silent and inconspicuous wear one can wear *sarcasm again*. And the games of submitting her to his will begin.

"His pride demanded he make her pay, make her weak for him, make her beg shamelessly for a mere touch. He wanted her hot and soaking wet, bearing the mark of his whip—no, his cane. He wanted to hear her call him her Master."

One more thing we learn in the beginning, she says that this is her last "job" before she gets married to some completely irrelevant person. And okay, I can understand that. But later on we learn that she has only been to a couple of dates with the guy, he never even touched her and he never even asked her hand in marriage. What. The. Hell. ??? I might actually enjoy the storyline if not for all these inconsistencies, flaws and just complete lack of interest to produce some character depth. They might as well be anonymous puppets engaging in sexual activities at this point.

The biggest turn off.

I could go over the lacking storyline parts, I can make myself believe a lot of things and I would have looked the other way on all the stupidity like Aria waiting 8 years to retrieve her precious necklace. 

But there is one thing that made this book a big NO, FUCKING NO ! for me. That chapter containing a forced 4-way. 

Let me explain. So Aria is in Stephen's Gold Room and mister ultimate Dom thought that the best of completely breaking her and putting her completely under his control, for her to always be HIS and HIS ALONE is to call his three best friends over and have them lick, suck and finger her while he watches until she cries out the safe word. What the fuck is that about? It makes no sense. NO SENSE!!! He keeps on repeating how she is only his, gets pissed when she tells him she will marry some boring guy and then he proceeds to let his three friends mouth-fuck her in front of him? No, HELL NO!!! I could go along with this if the story didn't force their ultimate love, devotion and possessiveness of each other on us. That part just doesn't go with that. And it also shows Stephen's inability to subdue Aria himself. 

"“I need to break her in. I want her back the way she was.” Stephen looked at his friends—men he knew as well as he knew himself. Each had his business empire to run, and all of them shared the same dominant streak. The bond they shared went as deep as brotherhood and deeper. They had each other’s back no matter the situation. If he had to ask for help, these were the only three men in universe he would turn to.

 Just as they knew whom he spoke about, they also knew he needed them to help him fracture her stubbornness, crack open her vulnerability, and bring her back to where she belonged. He received three committed nods in reply."

"But those gentlemen are going to eat your cunt and suck your nipples and bite your toes, until you come again and again and again."

"He watched her being mouth-fucked by his friends with no expression on his face. "

There are good points.

Some of the aspects of BDSM are nicely portrayed. It is shown as a way of living which it is unlike some other books which portrays it as something that only happens once in a decade or on an impulse. I could go into more depth explaining the beautiful connection BDSM brings between two people but then this review just might be never-ending. One of the most beautiful and truthful quotes from the book are:

"Every time he entered his study, he relived the time she had crawled under his desk, tucked his shoe-clad foot into her side, curled her arm around his leg, and slept. After he finished his work, he pulled her out from under his desk and carried up her upstairs to a spare bedroom."

"This had been her fantasy for ages. Bound, bruised, and loved by Stephen."

"But the girl in his arms stole his heart and stripped him of his pride. Her touch made him both weak and strong at the same time. He was nothing without her"

"He filled her up and absorbed everything she amounted to until she was no one. A half-human who couldn’t exist without his touch. Her true self. She wasn’t her own person any longer. Her identity wasn’t hers to own. She became a miniscule part of him because he allowed it. He steered her with his commands, his knowledge that he knew what was best for her. In every sense and meaning of the word, she willfully and truly became his slave."

"How could she truly appreciate the gentleness of Stephen’s touch if she didn’t know the extent of how rough he could be with her?" 

And this is exactly what I was talking about. BDSM breaks the submissive and reshapes her into a new being, the roughness shows the true beauty and absolute appreciation of the gentleness afterwards. BDSM is about utter trust, trusting your life in your one and only Dom's hands. 

But even the BDSM was sullied by the four-way and the fact that during all those hours and following Aria's every moment, we have never ever seen her pee or poop. Which is not possible. After all those thousands of orgasms and practically complete insensitivity to it any more and all those hours of being confined and the fact she didn't use the toilet before the session and she could have:

"She turned away and went in the direction of the bathroom.

 “You have a minute, or I’ll come and get you as you are.”

 Worried he’d deliver on his threat, she used her precious minute to splash water on her face and realign her defenses."

Who wouldn't she use the toilet in that situation? Seeing she hasn't been on one because she attended a party before and had dinner with everyone etc. Really, the best you could do was splashing water on your face? Ah.... what to say to that honestly.

Real BDSM does not shy away from ALL bodily fluids, not everything smells of roses all the time as it does in this novel and not everything looks as beautiful as it would be on a pitch perfect photograph. That is another thing bothering me about it. This book is romanticising BDSM like some people romanticise war. Yes, it is a special connection between two people when they love each other and trust each other to the maximum extent. But, realistically speaking, some sounds, smells and scenes are not like in a romantic comedy movie when every time someone kisses, romantic music plays in the background and wind blows. BDSM is raw, real, absolute submission and absolute dominance. It takes on many forms. This book shows a romanticised version of it, from someone who never went to that extent but occasionally fantasises about it.

Conclusion.

I've said pretty much everything on almost all points in the book. There are more things that I disliked than I liked. And I wish it wasn't so. This author shows great promise, I like how she forms sentences and the passion with which she is describing some parts with but this is far from a real BDSM erotica romance. For an erotica romance it lacks connection, chemistry and character depth and for porn it lacks the rawness of real BDSM. 

I recommend this to someone who is in the possession of this book and has too much free time on his/hers disposal. For everyone else, please try a different book and I will read your review in return ;)

*I have won this book through Goodreads giveaways for an honest and unbiased review.

I tried, I really did. I have given it my best, every month I would try anew to read a little bit and a little bit more but I'm sorry to say that I just can't find any reasoning with this book or its author. If I could, I would go back in time and never ever enter this giveaway to begin with.

As you may have already concluded, I didn't like the book. I don't agree with it. I am not a believer and I know that scripture can be explained in many ways, depending on which side you stand on. I am not here to discuss religion though. Maybe this book would find more appreciation in the hands of a truly "blessed soul" as the author calls them and in the "perfect robot of the Lord" or "Jesus".

Main premise the author proposes is this:

"The sovereignty of God stands on the statute that God has allowed man limited control in the natural world, but no control in the Spiritual world. However, man can operate in the Spiritual when God programs and controls him, not exactly like a robot, but closer to a robot than a free independent agent. Spiritual Robotics is through faith, the DNA code of God, when planted into a human heart produces a righteous walk in step with the signals, anointing, commands and will of God. "

And in chapter three where the author explains the analogy to a robot he claims:

"When Holy Spirit is leading, man does not sin. The robot analogy is about the nature of God controlling the heart of man".

In chapter ten he goes even further to say this:

"Just as God can control nature, God can control man. Like a robot of Jesus, man writes Scripture, speaks in different languages, builds an ark and travels the land to evangelize. These acts glorify the Creator's ability to control man."

In chapter twelve there is no mistaking it:

"Man is blessed because His Creator is blessed and in control. If the Lord was not in control and the free will of man was honored without restraints, man would not be blessed. A robot of Jesus is blessed by the control from His Creator.

My viewpoint on the author's.

I cannot imagine what the author is saying. I just cannot imagine God having such a hold on man and his heart to say he controls him completely and all men are made with restraints to suit God's will. And those who aren't are the damned, right?

In total 255 pages of this book concludes to this: You are made and controlled, you are going through life controlled, you were never free, you will never be free because in the Spiritual, even more than in Natural world, God is controlling you, your heart/soul/body. You are not given free will. God is only blessed and happy when you obey his command.

Now, if you agree with the premise stated above, I recommend this book to you. Please, I'll even mail you my copy. But if you don't agree with the fact that even your heart is controlled by God then please move along. Because author to support all his claims goes even that far to dispute some of the Scripture's translations to suit his purpose.

Like I mentioned before, maybe I am after all not the best person to review this book but as Roman Catholic born and raised and as an agnostic now I can tell you I simply cannot bring myself to believe this premise.

About the book. Cover is done pretty nicely, font is done very visibly and easy to read, there are no grammar/spelling mistakes that I could see and the author does have a knack for writing and trying to make you believe something with his nice words and somewhat compelling Scripture explanations. But not to me, dear author. Thank you for the copy and I hope you truly believe what you're selling.

I'm... I'm... I'm at a loss for words really.

Why my dear author, I loved all your other books, all of them, why are you going down this path *sad*

So, let me start by shortly introducing the storyline. We have a big wealthy family who is in the Bourbon making business for generations and this family consists of a: shut-in-weak-never in the story-recluse mother, abusive-greedy-no heart-no emotions but sadism father and their 4 children, 3 boys and a girl. This particular town they live in is sort of built around them and their business. Everyone knows them, everyone envies them. They are the sort of people I hate from the bottom of my little black heart. Too wealthy, egoistic, self-righteous, pompous, womanising, whoring, abusing all others and can't see past their own egos and their money.

But of course, they all have their little problems which we ought to believe are more important than the problems of us, you know little insignificant people around them.

Let me shortly introduce the characters.

Mother was only a part of the story to produce children, for everything else she is shut in her room and is medicated all the time. Is she ill you might ask? Nope. Just weak. Must be all those millions wearing her out.

Father is trying to be portrayed as the abusive money-grabbing self-righteous as*hole but I really don't get that feel from him. Maybe because he was almost never in the damn story. Only people talking about him and children remembering the past when he beat them.

The eldest son, Edward, was the firstborn, smartest, most capable, most accomplished of the lot but after his kidnapping and some other things he survived in South America, he is out of the picture.

Lane, whom this story revolves around is a typical rich boy. Whored everywhere he could until he got one of those bimbos pregnant and because of a guilty conscience he married her although he was in love with Lizzie whose heart he broke by doing what he did. Lizzie is the second most important character. She works for the family as a horticulturist and all she does all the time is rearranging the damn flowers in all the rooms and the garden. Lane left the estate as soon as he got married to live on his friend's couch in New York and play poker all night for two bloody years. Yeah, what a catch indeed.

Max is a son we never hear anything about except that he is somewhere West. He is as you could have already guessed, a troublemaker.

And then there is the daughter, Gin. She is a whore. And I mean a slut, whore, bimbo, you name it. She whored throughout the town. And got pregnant young and has a daughter that is also nowhere in the story because she is at some boarding school or something. All Gin knows is how to look pretty and spend money. She is even willing to marry a person who will give her the lifestyle she is used to despite the fact that

and treats her like one of his properties.

And you practically know everything now. They keep going backwards and forward on stupid meaningless dialogues and monologues. They suspect that Father is ruining the company and that they'll be soon out of money. But that isn't as important as their self-righteous asses and the idea that other people who are below them just don't understand them.

Characters are extremely shallow. Unbelievably so which comes as a tremendous surprise for me knowing Ward's excellent writing.

I think that Ward just couldn't handle the contemporary romance drama genre. She is a master of paranormal romance but this is so beneath her level that I started to suspect she didn't even wrote it. I had to make myself read a little every day to finish it otherwise I would have dropped it in the first 50 pages. Characters have no depth, they have absolutely no chemistry, they are all sleeping around and are bad people and you just don't feel for them. Storyline is incredibly simple and unimaginative. All the so-called family secrets are described like a child would describe them.

I'd like my suffering to end now so I will just leave it at that. There isn't one good quality about this book. I only gave it two stars because it's a Ward book. And because it's freakishly long for this style books.

I'm sorry dear author, I love you but this book isn't you and I will not read any possible sequels to this nor will I buy a hard copy like I did with your other books. My recommendation is move along and don't waste your time on this book, it really isn't worth it.

I bought and read this book in the hopes I will be as delighted and entranced with it as with Laura Kinsale's other book called "Flowers From The Storm" which is one of my personal favourites when it comes to historical romances.

I will not go to great lengths in explaining why I find this book so bad, I will simply make small notes of things that bothered me the most and I will say right now that I do not recommend this book. I have read many historical romance novels and trust me when I say that life is way to short to be wasting it on such a mediocre/bad read.

My remarks:

1. Title is completely misleading. Lessons in French are only mentioned once or twice and are never really explained or at least once revisited in a form of a remembrance. Such a shame, I was really looking forward to it.

2. Characters have no built-up chemistry. They are placed in this book as we are supposed to immediately feel all the (non-existent) passion bursting between them. Well, tough, my dear author. This is not how things work in romances. You can't just literally say, 'They always loved each other', and expect us to take your word for it.

3. On that note, all their so-called passion from their past (when they were 17) is never really explained well, we only have a few memories given to us that are so vague and so badly portrayed I am surprised she even managed to finish this book.

*possible spoiler under number 4*
4. Inconsistency. The storyline is screwed up to unbelievable proportions. Main male character's story is still not clear to me. First he is supposedly in France rebuilding his fortune, then he is fighting for Napoleon, then he is captured and spends the rest of the war time as a prisoner in Belgium and at the end the heroine says to him: "But you never left England, did you". What. The. Hell. Oh, and let me just add that all that I have mentioned keeps changing, his story keeps on changing every time he talks about his past. So unnecessary. Instead of building up their intimacy, you're just driving them further away by making up all those different details as you go along. I should have never bought this book.

5. Heroine keeps on making up stupid unnecessary scenarios when talking to other people. Now she is a pirate then she is a damsel in distress and so on and so on and she imagines what she would do if she really were and it goes on for paragraphs and paragraphs. What could that possibly add to the story but make the reader bored out of his/her mind. I mean, use common sense.

6. Why do you keep trying to make the heroine look ugly. I mean really. We got it. She didn't have to say for the one thousand and fifty seventh time that she is ugly and stupid. First one thousand times was quite enough whereas I am concerned. And saying she is as beautiful as hay, is really not a compliment at all. I mean, really? Really?

7. First world problems. Heroine's main concern in life is that she won't live with her cattle when her sister gets married. Wow, just wow. That is really all I am going to say.

*possible spoilers under numbers 8,9 and 10*
8. Hero's hate towards heroine's father. I mean, he keeps talking like he would kill the man if he was still alive just because he defended his daughter's honour when finding him practically naked with her. This really isn't the old times behaviour, my father would have done the very same. Her father did nothing more to him and yet he has supposedly (maybe, I really don't know if he ever left England in the end) fled the country in shame and because of her father. What the hell, author? You really could have added a little bit of realism there and at least say he threatened to kill him or something. This makes no sense. Who would buy that stupidity?

9. Was she a virgin or not. At the beginning of the book, it's almost clear she is not by everything she recollects and how she behaves. Then in the middle we are really and I mean REALLY not sure is she is or isn't she because the author seems just as confused as we are. Towards the end we do however find out the truth and also the truth about a hero in this particular matter, which I must say is even more INCREDIBLE and RIDICULOUS and would never ever happen, especially not with him thinking she is long married.

10. The unnecessary complication. At one point hero, out of the blue without any prior build-up, suddenly suspects there is something wrong with heroine's promised money. Why you might ask? Well, just because. That's why. And they keep talking as in 'oh, boy, what could it possibly be' and then in just a few short sentences hero breaks into her cousin's office, checks everything out and it's all good and that's it. What in the name of all that is holy was that necessary to suffer through? Was the novel too short by any chance so you just thrown in half-thought-through stories and expected it would go unnoticed? For the love of...

Anyways, I have more remarks, I really do... but no strength or desire to waste my time on this book that is not worthy of it at all.

If you must read something from this author, re-read "Flowers From The Storm", that is the best advice I can give you right now.

Pročitano, napisano i objavljeno za portal www.citajme.hr

‘Nitko to ne radi utorkom’ je duhovit chick-lit roman koji čitatelje osvaja svojom izravnošću, nevjerojatnim i smiješnim situacijama, toplinom i živahnošću. Mnogi su čitatelji, pobornici romantičnih komedija, od ovog romana očekivali više romantike nego humora, no i uz obilje duhovitosti postoje mnoge situacije koje će razdragati čitatelja i ispuniti ga toplinom.

Godišnjica mature za mnoge je vrlo stresan događaj u životu, no za Katy ono će postati noćna mora od koje nikad neće moći pobjeći. Katy je, naime, na godišnjici mature završila u krevetu sa svojom tinejdžerskom ljubavi Matthewom nakon čega su se oboje složili kako će to zaboraviti i svatko će otići svojim putem. No, stvari rijetko ispadnu onako kako smo si mi to zamislili. Osam mjeseci kasnije Katy će opet sresti Matthewa i to na tečaju za trudnice. On će tamo biti sa svojom suprugom Alison koja očekuje blizance, a Katy će dovesti njen dečko Ben.

Problem se nalazi u činjenici što Katy ne zna tko je otac djeteta. Je li to bila jednonoćna avantura sa Matthewom ili veza sa mlađahnim Benom, učiteljem tjelesnog odgoja u školi i velikog zaljubljenika u nogomet koji nije spreman preuzeti tako veliku odgovornost kao što je očinstvo…

„Dakle, vidiš, moraš se nadati jednom lošem razdoblju jer si onda otvorenija za odgovaranje na zbilja teško pitanje jer promjena može biti jedino na bolje. Ukratko, ova trauma je zapravo odlična vijest jer sad možeš odgovoriti na zbilja teško pitanje… Voliš li ga doista?“

Junakinja romana Katy je žena koja se bliži četrdesetoj godini života i ima uspješnu poslovnu karijeru. Jednog dana shvati koliko je zapravo prerasla kostimirane odlaske u noćne klubove i kako joj u životu nešto nedostaje. U tom ključnom trenutku upoznaje mlađahnog Bena koji u svojim dvadesetim godinama uživa u životu punim plućima. Katy shvati koliko je zapravo privlače njegova opuštenost i njegov lagodan odnos prema životu i upusti se u vezu za koju u početku ne vidi budućnost.

Ono što će pospješiti njihov odnos je saznanje da je Katy trudna. Mlađahni Ben će tu vijest primiti na svoj vrlo opušten i poprilično nemaran način što će Katy teško prihvatiti jer će uvidjeti kako nema pravi oslonac u njemu, pogotovo kada se sjeti da dijete možda ni nije njegovo. U vrlo nezgodnim i nevjerojatnim situacijama, za koje mislimo da se uvijek događaju nekom drugom, zapaprene divljanjem trudničkih hormona, odvijat će se prave komedijske (ne)zgode koje će čitatelje nasmijati do suza.

Mnogi se neće složiti s izborima koje Katy radi u životu i tvrdit će da je ona sama kriva za sve što joj se zbiva, no isto tako moramo imati na umu kako nitko nije savršen i da nitko ne donosi pravilne odluke u svakom trenu svog života. Matthew je lik kojeg mnogi ne vole i kojeg će mnogi kriviti za većinu loših situacija, no mora se uzeti u obzir kako u ljubavi nema pravila i da je ona prevrtljiva koliko i sveobuhvatna.

‘Nitko to ne radi utorkom’ iznimno je zabavan roman koji uz ljubavni trokut, nezgodne i neočekivane situacije, trudničke hormone, Katyinog preosjetljivog gay prijatelja Daniela (koji je ujedno možda i najoriginalniji lik u romanu) nudi i napeti završetak kojeg nije bilo lako predvidjeti. A ako se pitate što to i zašto nitko ne radi utorkom, uzmite roman u ruke i nasmijte se do suza.

Bez obzira na sva događanja, glazba struji kroz ovaj roman, kroz svaki dio života likova, a njihovi osjećaji, misli i ponašanje ucrtavaju se u crtovlje i stvaraju savršenu simfoniju života.

*napisano i objavljeno za i na portalu www.citajme.com


Hrvoje Ivančić poznati je hrvatski bloger, reporter, pisac i vječni putnik. Njegov prvi roman ‘Dunavski blues’ o dvojici prijatelja koji se upute na putovanje od Zagreba do Crnog mora gumenim čamcem, oduševio je javnost i zasluženo dobio književnu nagradu Rikard Jorgovanić. Nakon dugog putovanja kopnom do Indije i boravka u toj zemlji, izdao je svoj drugi roman ‘Samsara: Put na Istok’.

Samsara u hinduizmu označava ponovno rađanje u fizičkom tijelu, a u ovom putopisnom romanu ona označava transformaciju u sadašnjem životu, odustajanje od jednog sjedilačkog načina života i prihvaćanje nečeg novog. Ovaj putopisni roman nastao je pet godina nakon autorova putovanja i sadrži mnoge autobiografske elemente iako ono nije autobiografsko djelo. Sam autor je izjavio: „Glavni lik Slaven je personifikacija mojeg indijskog osjećaja koji je nastao na tom dugom putovanju. Zbog svega što mi je Indija dala nisam mogao ići samo na čistu putopisnu formu, htio sam izvrnuti svoju unutrašnjost i svoj osjećaj pretočiti na stranice.“

Priča počinje željom mladog profesora Slavena da otputuje na istok. Nakon završenog školovanja i zapošljavanja u školi, Slaven osjeća kako postoji još nešto u životu što mora učiniti kako bi se nakon toga mogao mirno skrasiti sa svojom djevojkom i postati zadovoljan malim stvarima u životu, običnom svakodnevicom koja ga sada guši. U početku ima podršku svoje obitelji i djevojke, iako ga oni nisu u mogućnosti potpuno razumjeti. Pronalazi način da otputuje i upusti se u avanturu života, putovanje kopnom od Hrvatske do Indije. Prvo putuje sa Srećkom, a nakon Sarajeva i Istanbula, put nastavlja sam.

Put je započeo kao posljednji čin nemirne duše koja žudi za avanturom i slavom, a završio kao duhovno putovanje samospoznaje u svetom gradu Indije, Varanasiju. Slaven je kroz tisuće kilometara počeo ljuštiti kožu staroga sebe simbolično putujući sa sve manje i manje prtljage da bi na kraju završio bez ičega, u prljavoj odjeći proseći hranu na prljavim ulicama grada Varanasija uz obalu rijeke Ganges.

Roman ‘Samsara: Put na Istok’ počinje kao putopisni roman, prerasta u roman ceste, a završava kao priča o samospoznaji. Preobražaj koji doživljava glavni junak događa se postepeno preko introspekcije samoga sebe na dugom usamljenom putovanju na kojem Slaven uviđa da je dio univerzuma i da mu ne treba mnogo kako bi bio zadovoljan. On uči da ako samo ispruži ruke, naći će se neka dobra duša koja će mu udijeliti porciju hrane i da svijet obiluje dobrim ljudima koji su spremni pomoći.

Isto tako, autor se osvrće na činjenicu da Indija pruža mogućnost duhovnog preobražaja, ali da se ono ne može dogoditi trenutno za određenu svotu novaca. Naime, mnogi stranci dolaze u Indiju na kratko vrijeme samo kako bi se kasnije mogli pohvaliti da su doživjeli neko nadnaravno ili duhovno iskustvo jer su platili kako bi par sati gledali u svijeću i time se osjećali ispunjenima.

Svako duhovno iskustvo dolazi isključivo nakon mnogo truda, osobne želje i detaljne introspekcije. U svakom slučaju, Slavko je prošao kroz sve faze od ostavljanja obitelji i djevojke, napuštanja svih svojih materijalnih dobara i želje za slavom do života na ulici i prošenja hrane od prolaznika. Njegovo posljednje opraštanje od staroga života i staroga sebe dogodit će se ispuštanjem kamenčića iz svog džepa, upravo u nepreglednu rijeku Ganges.


**ova mi je knjiga dodijeljena od strane autora u zamjenu za iskrenu i nepristranu recenziju

You just can't win with this Series, I guess. When the romance is good, the story is just so presumptuous and unbelievable that you simply want to give up on it. But then you go to another book where the story is quite refreshing and the characters are the ones who make you grind your teeth while the steam is coming out of your ears...

This is the kind of a book in which we have a heroin who is so blatantly annoying and FAKE that I wanted to gouge my eyes out from just reading about it.

Let me introduce you to the heroin. She is Gwen Cassidy and guess what she is? A physicist. Oh, yeah. A real one. Which means she is the smartest person alive. Or just the smartest female in oh, what was that field again? Mmmm, science, right? *sigh* *eyes roll*

That's how we need to perceive this person. She didn't do anything great, didn't write anything important, didn't finish school but just because she studied physics for a bit, she is the most intellectual female you'll ever meet. And she knows it. Must be a tough burden... 

Gwen has arrived to Scotland on a vacation. She is so smart that she hasn't noticed that she booked a tour with an elderly group. Yeah, smarts indeed. She wants to meet a guy who will sweep her off her feet and take her virginity. Yes, she is a virgin. She is a virgin of the virgins because not only that she hasn't been with a guy, she was never really interested in anything male that crossed her path. What a plot twist in this kind of genre, right? I'm amazed as well. Anyway, she's 25 and she is a virgin because none of the guys she dated were right for her and none of them deserved her "gift" of virginity.

"The sight of a white tee stretched across his muscular chest might persuade her to catapult her cherry at him."

That him is a Highland laird Drustan MacKeltar, a man who was enchanted and put to deep sleep in the caverns where Gwen was sightseeing. He was sleeping there for 500 years until she fell on top of him and so rudely woke him up. I mean, really, desperate-to-get-rid-of-her-cherry-woman? 

So she wakes him up from deep slumber and he acts like any medieval man would, ties her up and forcibly takes her with him. Because the guy needs help getting around, of course. I'm sure he has no ulterior guy motives. No, it couldn't be. 

But yes, indeed it is. She is his soul mate. He felt it. Must be fate. So he drags her along and on their way they even manage to go back to his time. And back again. 

Yes. Science. That's why.

I gave this book three stars only because of the great writing style miss Moning has and because Drustan didn't behave in all ways like medieval highlanders in the historical romances usually do. 

He was actually quite passive and confused. In some moments he was really funny and entertaining. I have nothing against him but that woman...

Gwen is a not-officially and not-really a physicist who doesn't utter one smart and interesting sentence but expects everyone to respect her.... because science, that's why.

I don't even know why I'm reading the next book but I am. There must be something wrong with me. Some Moning-bug or Moning-virus that infected my body and against my better judgement is making me continue on with these cliched, ridiculous stories... *facepalm*

I've ran into a perfect summary / dramatization of this book on goodreads, also laughed my ass off while reading it:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/681167316

I know, I know. I shouldn't complain too much. This is a historical time-travel romance that isn't supposed to be a masterpiece. Most read these kinds of books, well let's be honest, for the sexy Highlander and the sex. 

But I don't care if I sound whiny and/or repetitive. YOU SPOILED MY PERFECT ENDING, MISS MONING !

Now, to explain what I mean by that. It is a happy ending for the couple, no worries there but it's such a let down that I can barely find the appropriate words to write this review.

This book was going to be the one. First two books in the Series were a slow build up, second better than the first in so many ways and the third was building up to be awesome and a true representative of this genre with a good drama which makes the story oh so much more powerful.

And then the author had to take all the drama away in a meaning of taking back (erasing in time) everything bad that happened to the heroine during her short life and making her life peachy perfect from the beginning to its end somewhere in the future.

How can you possibly expect that to make sense??? The heroine Lisa was a woman of a strong and resilient character with a whole lot of strength and inner wisdom exactly BECAUSE OF THE TRAGEDIES that marked her life. She was who she was because she went through more than almost anyone else on this planet. Those events made her a strong female with no fear towards life. Why erasing everything that made her such a person??? 

From an inventive and fresh story with a strong female character you went to let's compromise with the masses, let's give them all the FLUFFY, TOUCHY-FEELY-CRAP, SUGARCOATED version of life. You made your own book a complete and utter disappointment for any smart and sensible woman out there. I'm so pissed right now...

Other than that though, the story was really good. Karen Marie Moning has an impeccable writing style and even when she's doing something half-assed, she does it better than the most. Her descriptions of sex are especially well written. 

In this story, the heroine Lisa is pulled back in time when touching a certain bewitched flask. The flask is a property of the Fae, but Circenn was put in charge of keeping it safe. He put a spell on it to return to him when discovered... he didn't know that the flask wouldn't be discovered all the way up to the 21st century. So Lisa gets dragged through time back to the 14th century right in the room of a certain naked Brude who was bathing at that moment.

Although she finds Circenn attractive and this century not so bad as she would have imagined before, Lisa still wants to return to her time because her mother is dying of cancer and she wants to spend her last moments with her. She will find herself torn between the love for her mother and the love for an immortal Brude Highlander. Her guilt won't let her be happy knowing her mother has no one else to care for her in her last moments...

Adam Black was an ingenious addition to this story. He has fascinated me since the beginning and I was really pleased learning more about him, his history and his character. Also, we get a closer look to the Fae court and the Fae governing. That was also a good filler. 

Everything would be perfect if not for that stupid move... 

Circenn is someone you will most certainly love...

"Good night, Lisa. Sleep with the angels."

Her eyes stung from quick tears. It had been her mother's nightly benediction: Sleep with the angels. But then he added words her mother never had:

"Then come back to earth and sleep with your devil, who would burn in hell for one night in your arms."

"Sleep with the angels, my Brude queen," he said softly. But come back. This devil needs you like he's never needed anything before.

"One of the first lessons a warrior is taught is that denial of one's circumstances only results in failure to recognize real danger. And I assure you, Lisa Stone, there is infinite danger in your present situation."

"Aye. Lisa, I'd bring you the stars if it would cease your tears."

One thing I agree with the brute hero the most is in this paragraph:

"He would never understand - not even should he live to be five thousand - why women consistently protected villains. It was simple in a man's mind: Kill the man who tries to harm your own. But women made it much more complex. They held out hope that evil could be redeemed. A foolish hope, to his way of thinking."

Last but not least annoying are the usual stereotypes.

1. A virgin heroine (despite being gorgeous, smart etc.) aka damsel in distress 

2. A way too thick shaft:

"She couldn't see the length of it, but that wasn't what made her heart pound. It was the thickness of him. She would never be able to wrap her hand around it."

"She wrapped her hand around him, and, as she'd suspected, her fingers couldn't close."

I'll just say that I can understand why guys have complexes and why their self-confidence is so easily shattered by women. Women, as in all of the females who judge guys based on their love romance books, are delusional when it comes to this cases and live in their own little fantasy world somewhere far far from reality. 

"Jillian, please." His voice was so low, it was almost inaudible.
 
"Please what?" she whispered.
 
Swiftly he flicked his wrist and she was standing before him, captured between his thighs. His eyes were fixed in the vicinity of her navel, as if he couldn't summon the strength to raise them. "Kiss me, Jillian. Touch me. Show me I'm alive," he whispered back.

This book is definitely better than the first book of this series. The progress is evident. The story is more fluent, the characters are displayed in more depth and the well-known style of writing by this dear author is showing its true colours. 

And I know for a fact that the next book called "The Highlander's Touch" of the "Highlander" series is even better than this one. So I'm hoping that the fourth book in this series will reach the ultimate five stars. 

But back to the present matter.

"To Tame A Highland Warrior" is a book which is a strict middle. On one hand, it elated me, on the other frustrated. 

Unlike the first book of the series where we were dealing with the time-travel heroine, here there are no "supernatural" elements such as that but the hero is a character from the old Scottish legends so let's say we are still dealing with the unusual historical romance.

The hero is none other than Grimm Roderick, best friend of a hero from the first book. Grimm was an often mentioned character from the first book so his character in this (second) book is already well established. Grimm is serious, composed, well-behaved, grim, sarcastic and utmost loyal friend. He is also a proud undefeated warrior with many emotional wounds and none physical. 

Namely, Grimm is a Berserker. A line of warriors reaching far back who worshipped Odin and had supernatural strength and healing abilities. They were known for their intensely blue eyes. They also shifted in something more than a man when they were in their Berserker state. Blood was usually what set them off but rage was their companion all the time and they made good use of it.

Grimm suffered the death of his mother and many of his friends and companions when he was only fourteen which triggered his inner Berserker. Since he had some misconceptions regarding his mothers death, he disappeared from his home and lived alone in the wilderness until a fair looking young girl didn't "tame" him and took him in. Since that moment he became a part of her family. Until one day when he was past twenty years of age and his legacy endangered his new family. So he abruptly left them without any explanation. 

Now, years after, he received a letter from the father of that girl stating that he needs to go back and take his little girl Jillian. Since he swore he would always protect her and with that mysterious letter in tow he set off to see her.

Jillian St.Clair is a young lady who is well past her marrying age. So her father decided that it's time to speed things up. He ordered three men to come to his estate while he's away and look after Jillian. She knew nothing about it. The men learned what exactly was happening only after they arrived. One of the men was Jillian's childhood friend, the other a person who owed Jillian's father a debt and the third was - Grimm. He was Jillian's friend, her first (and only) love and also a person who hurt her the most and whom she sworn never to see again.

Three men competing for Jillian's hand in marriage while the parents are away and she is left with no supervision except for one of her father's friends and her maid. And the men couldn't be more different from one another. But the one thing they have in common is their fearlessness and their thick-headedness. None of them will back away. And they are betting all in. Let the games begin !

I got to hand it to the author, she certainly knows how to entertain.  

Jillian is courted by three men at the same time. Despite her heart belonging to one man alone, she still had other choices. Because that man is stubborn as they come and he thinks himself not good enough for her. So he tried everything to push her away into the arms of her childhood friend Quinn. If only love worked that way...

Jillian is a strong female character. And that is what I like about her. She knows she is only human and a woman not trained in fighting so she could never compete with these men strength wise but she also knows that she is intelligent and that she has advantage on that field. I like realistic characters. And Jillian was realistic when it counted. Many times she looked at things logically rather than swooning over every little obstacle she encountered. She fought for her man, and that is what counts in the end.

His gaze mocked her. "What would you know about man-made hells?"
 
"A woman lives most of her life in a man-made world," Jillian replied. "First her father's world, then her husband's, finally her son's, by whose grace she continues on in one of their households should her husband die before her. And in Scotland, the husbands always seem to die before the women in one war or another. Sometimes merely watching the hells men design for each other-that's horror enough for any woman. We feel things differently than you men do." 

Grimm is one of those characters you want to have in bed whilst kneeing him in the stomach (repeatedly) at the same time. He is dangerous, dark, menacing... deliciously sexy to cut it short. But he is also unbelievably set in his ways and doesn't want to see things as they truly are. - That. Is. Frustrating. 

He is a berserker, a warrior from legends. Instead of being proud of his heritage, he hides it and blames everything on it. He thinks himself a danger to everyone who comes close so he isolates himself from the world. Also, he is tortured by the events that transpired when he was fourteen. He is a misunderstood troubled soul.

Thanks to Jillian, though, we get to see the real Grimm. The one named Gavrael McIllioch. A man, a berserker, a lover, a devoted friend, son and husband. Everything one hero should be.

Truly a step up from the confusion of the first book in the series. Although we don't get to see any of the Fae world in this book, we do get to learn a lot about Scotland and its legends. In the next book, though, Adam Black is back (sigh). 

All in all, a very good read but it would be much better if any of the other men proposing to Jillian had even a slither of hope. We knew from the beginning that Grimm was the one. And of course he should be, but it should have been more vague until the end. That suspense would be - to die for.

Looking forward to the next book, I know it's even better than this one. Hooray :)

"The hatred. The betrayal.

Worst of all was the need.

The hunger.

The desire.

There was still a part of him that loved her. A part of him that was willing to forgive her anything.

Even his death…"

A short story staring Acheron, the first Dark Hunter and the making of the new ones, including one that will often be mentioned in a "Fantasy Lover" because he will be one true friend that Julian of Macedon will respect many centuries later.

Acheron is a Dark Hunter, he was long the only one of his kind. He killed Daimons and saved the world day by day. Until Artemis, a goddess who was once his love and now is his nemesis, decided to give him underlings to train, men who died with honour and pledged their servitude to her and won't be released under her service until she decides so.

Those men are taken from their lives and their families and thrown into the world unknown. All because Artemis wants to keep Acheron close and have him owe her something. For she knows that without those men who tie him to her now, he would never approach her again...

What amazed me in this short story is how much was said in such a short amount of pages and how this short simple story managed to have an unexpected plot twist in the end. Truly wonderful.

"She wanted to save him, and for the first time in centuries, he wanted to be saved."

I was positively surprised. And that doesn't happen as often as I would like it to. This book has offered me something new. Fresh. Different.

True, it is a paranormal romance but with a new concept. This time it isn't about vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, zombies... but about ancient gods in modern times and a certain Spartan general who has the appearance of the aforementioned gods, Greek to be more precise.

Julian of Macedon (it sounds delightful, doesn't it?) is the main hero of this novel. He was a Spartan general whose mother was Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation, for anyone who doesn't know) and because of his origin he was always shunned by society. Namely, he had good looks that wasn't of this plane and all the women only wanted him for his body and pleasure that the said body promised. Of course, all males hated him for the same reason. So, he was discarded by family, shunned by men, used by women and was only good in war. His life was anything but easy and pleasurable. 

Julian made a mistake of trusting the wrong person which consequently lead to his curse. His brother cursed him to a terrible fate. He was to be a love-slave entrapped in a book for as long as some woman doesn't summon him only to bring her sexual pleasure for a full month. After that - back in the book. His existence was devoid of everything but being occasionally used by selfish females. Through the passage of time, he learned not to feel. He acted as a machine. He lost himself for many many centuries...

Until Grace Alexander called out to him.

Grace is a young successful woman in all areas except love. The reason is that she was hurt so badly in the past that the wound still hasn't healed. She was used and hurt by a certain man that not only didn't care for her but also mocked her and made her the laughingstock of the entire group. Her trust in men disappeared after that. She went through life having her job and her one best friend Selena. Nothing in her life stood out and she didn't do anything crazy or careless... Until her birthday when Selena made her summon a love-slave to fulfil her long non-existent sexual life. 

She didn't believe in that crazy story but pleased her friend nonetheless. When Julian actually appeared, she was stunned. Her life turned upside down. But despite desiring this man and having no sexual contact for years, she still didn't instantly succumbed to his charm. She was the first woman ever who summoned him but didn't use him for her selfish needs. Not only that, she vowed to help him lift the terrible curse.

As they started their month together, little by little, they grew on each other. Julian finally started to feel and ultimately he found himself again, while Grace started to trust him as a man and slowly left her shell which separated her from the world. 

You have to admit that you haven't read anything quite like it. The concept of the story is insane as it gets. But it works. It really actually works. I was so sceptical when I heard about the "Fantasy Lover" that I put it off for a long time. It just seemed so freakin' impossible. But when I finally started, I finished it in one sitting, through the course of one night. 

Julian is a beautiful hero, aye. No one can dispute that. But unlike so many heroes before, he is emotionally scarred. And that makes him all the more appealing. His life was so horrible and he was betrayed on so many levels that one must wonder, how is he still alive and able to feel anything at all? It's amazing that he can still function as a human. He is also insanely sexual. Which would be great if this book had any real sex until almost the end. You'll see what I mean by that, that would be a huge spoiler. Which makes his sexuality and his protectiveness and that awwwww feeling all the more frustrating.

Grace can be really annoying sometimes, I have to admit that. But that just means she isn't my type of heroine. It doesn't mean she isn't someone else's type. I respect her character profile and I was lead by that and didn't lower the grade only based on that. No author can please everyone. She is a hard-working woman, emotionally damaged herself but who grew up having everything, from a loving family to financial security. She can hardly comprehend Julian's life. But that makes them so attracted to one another. The differences between them that were supposed to separate only made them feel for each other more and explore each other more.

But I think everyone will agree that if Grace hadn't had Selena in her life, she wouldn't end up as nearly as happy as she did. That woman is her saving grace (yes, yes, pun intended) and her light in the dark. She was given too little credit. She should have some stand-alone novel or some side-story short story. 

The characters were great. Julian with his troubled past, Grace with her sheltered distanced life and the eccentric Selena. The Aphrodite was also given way less time than I expected she would get. I mean, we do want to so more of the "modern" versions of Greek gods. But I have a feeling we will. This is the first book after all.

The storyline itself was a risk that paid off. This felt like an introduction to a whole new universe which, I am happy to say, I will continue to explore.

The constant sex vibe that hung in the air was ---- suspenseful. Difficult to handle. Made me hot, to be honest. That constant I want to take you right now and the sparks flying all around... brrrr... 

So, you may wonder if everything is so great, why not 5*? Because this book had some really dry chapters. Ones that didn't contribute to the story and were only there to prolong our anticipation. Which is okay here and there but not every so often. Also, that constant sex vibe without sex was hard to handle and the final act of joining wasn't as mindblowing as it should have been. It was more meh, kinda disappointed after a full novel of waiting for it.

Also, the author had a habit of throwing sentences like this at us:

"And all the while, he ravished her mouth masterfully like a Viking marauder bent on total devastation."

Personally, I have nothing against Vikings, but this analogy made no sense when her hero was a half Spartan, half Greek son of a Greek goddess. It just seemed really inappropriate and out of place.

All in all, this book wasn't far from 5* and I hope (I really really really do) that the rest will fulfil my expectations. Can hardly wait !

In the world of historical romances, particularly regency romance, it is difficult to find something refreshing and new. The stories are usually washed up, same-old same-old and a mildly amusing passing read (such as this is). But once in a while you do encounter some that make your blood boil and your heart beat faster. This book had a chance to be one of those but unfortunately it failed. 

If I would have to characterize it, I would say it's okay, good, somewhere in the middle. I know it doesn't sound inviting but for the fans of the regency romance it should be quite a good read.

I didn't know this was the second book of The Jordans Series so I read it before the first (which I will read next). Despite jumping to the second book, I didn't feel lost in the story which is a very big plus for the author. 

The story revolves around a womaniser (aren't they all?) called Noah Jordan who recently received his father title and now he has to run the entire family as well as all the estates. He used to be a spy for the Crown, same as his beloved sister. He loved the danger and the adventure as well as the enjoyment of the female "flesh" as he put it. Now he has to settle down for the sake of his family and his late father.

He wanted to be a good son and marry a respectable, suitable woman from a good family and with good connections but for whom he felt absolutely nothing. Thankfully, he decided to do one last adventurous act and help a friend find out if his daughter was murdered or not. So he returned to his shire and started with the snooping. But before anything could happen he met the most unusual woman called Marion Hawthorne.

Marion was staying along with her father at the suspect's home and she facing a future worse than death. Her father secretly wanted to sell her to an old man known for his cruelty to pay off some of his debts towards him. He even went that far as to promise the man he could force his daughter in bed. 

Now that the situation got really complicated and Noah found himself in a pinch, the destiny will take over and give us a promising love story.

There were a few things that bothered me but they weren't as great a factor in deciding on how many stars I would give this book as the (no)progress was. The story didn't flow in an interesting manner. Yes, we had a couple that wanted to be together but the obstacles they had to overcome were "huge". Yes, we had an indication of an interesting storyline that would make their union all the more heartwarming. So, what went wrong? 

The spy stuff, to put it bluntly. The rest of the storyline depended on the main male character formerly being a spy for the Crown who now had to investigate a man suspected of a murder of his late young wife. And what did we get? Only one snooping around the suspect's office. That was it! Nothing more. Everything else was dedicated to the love story of the main characters who really had no real obstacles to be together if you look at it closely but doted on them for so long that the story got boring.

Few of the things that did bother me...

1.  "..., he caught a tantalizing glimpse of shapely ankle and a flash of stocking-clad calf." 

Almost every regency tale has a shapely ankle and that started to bother me lately because it is such a stupid repeat that I feel my soul leaving my body every time I see it. Please stop with the ankles, will you? Either focus on the face and breasts or give us something more saucy. I just can't do ankles. What does a shapely ankle even mean/represent?

2. "Noah." Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He could feel her pulse pounding wildly through her veins." 

Shortly -> how? How could he feel her pulse through the veins on her arms/hands? That my dear author could never happen. Please don't treat us like idiots here. And do pay attention to what you say. 

3. "She stiffened under his hands now that they caressed her bare skin, but when he slid his fingers up to brush her pink nipples, she relaxed again with a soft, “Oh my.”
Marion had never realized how good being touched could feel. Her own life had been devoid of affection since her mother had died, but she’d convinced herself she didn’t crave physical touch." 

This is really my personal taste, but when we finally (!) get some real action, the author decided to bring up Marion's dead mother in the midst of it. It totally killed the mood. I mean, one moment I'm imagining them finally getting down to business while the next her dead mother pops in my head to say cool down, there's nothing here to get all fussy about. Not fair, dear author. Not fair.

I did like the story though, or the idea of it would be more accurately said. A womanising spy that is now a master falls for a smart and cocky girl who is far beneath his station and he dedicates his world to her. There were a few scenes I really liked. One of them being at the end of the book

If I had to say, would I recommend it or not, I would say that I do but only if you really enjoy regency romance because for the rest, the story might be a little dull. All in all, I will continue with this series.