A Hunger Like No Other

 

After years of torture at the hands of the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, king of the Lykae Clan, is pissed to find his destined mate his waited thousands of years for is part vampire. Half vampire and half Valkyrie, Emmaline Troy or Emmaline the Timid is on a quest in Paris to learn more about who her father was when the powerful Lykae claims she belongs to home and he drags her back to his ancestral home in Scotland. But when an evil from both of their past resurfaces will their love be enough to save them both?

 

 

Review

A Hunger Like No Other is the first book in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark Series. This series is one of my favorite paranormal series out there today. And despite having amazing characters, sexy chemistry, and being based in my home state of Louisiana, these are not the reasons I enjoy reading this series so much. No that has to do with one word, Nix. Nix is by far the most entertaining character I have ever read. In A Hunger Like No Other Nix is only in a few scenes but those that she's in steals the book. Don't get me wrong, the story of sweet Emma and the broken Lachlain was great and this book is one of my favorite re-reads. I love how Cole throws little nibbles of up coming stories into the mix, like little hints and nudges to keep you wanting more. This series is for anyone who likes sexy, funny paranormal books.

Black Howl

 

There's something wrong with the dead of Chicago, souls are walking the streets and Madeline Black wants to know why. At the same time the alpha of the local werewolf pack along with its cubs have been taken. As a friend of the pack Maddy promises to find the missing wolves, and being the Lucifer's heir it shouldn't be to hard to figure out who or what is responsible. Right? But things are never as easy as Maddy hopes, the fallen are still in a tiff over her harboring of Samiel. Can Maddy put her personal problems aside and find the missing before it's too late, or will death come for those closest to her.

 

Review

Black Howl is the third book in the Black Wings series by Christina Henry and by far the best book so far. I don't know where to start with this review the ending of this book is so heart breaking, I cried. I don't want to go to far into it and ruin the ending. The characters are the foundation of this story. Through the first two books Maddy has built this group of badasses who has her back, there's her half nephilim love interest and his half brother, there's the alpha of the werewolf pack and his second in command, her fairy prince boss and last but not least her smart-mouth over weight gargoyle. This book is filled with monsters and action from start to finish. And Jude's back-story was so unexpected, but so good I loved it.



Black Night

 

Madeline Black longs for the days where all she had to worry about was delivering souls to their happily ever after-life. But some one is killing werewolves outside of the natural order of things and Maddy is being targeted by foes both in and outside of her family, so of course it would be a perfect time for Lucifer, her dear old granddad to send her on a diplomatic mission to negotiate with the faery queen. Never mind the fact the last emissary lost their head, quite literally. Maddy has never been a people person and when her gargoyle Beezle and her love Gabriel go missing the last thing she wants to do is play nice for Lucifer's benefit. Will she find those who matter the most and avoid an inter realm war or will it be off with her head?

 

Review

Black Night is the second book in the Black Wings series by Christina Henry. This book begins on a high note and sets the pace for a fast read. Within the first chapter Maddy, Beezle, Gabriel, and J.B. find themselves in a dark alley containing the mangled and massacred remains of a werewolf. From there Maddy's life once again goes spiraling out of control. We are introduced to new species and characters, like the werewolf pact and the fairies. We also learn a great deal more about characters who were introduced in the first book but didn't get much page time, like J.B. who I absolutely am crushing on, and Maddy betrothed Nathaniel who much like Maddy herself I have mixed feelings about. By the end of this book I was tired of the male b.s. and was cheering for Maddy when she ballsed up and stood up for herself. This book was way more entertaining than the first and I hope the next one is even more so than this one.    

Darkness Becomes Her

 

New Orleans was ravished by hurricanes, now known as New 2 it is the home for weirdoes, outcasts, and things that go bump-in-the-night. Ari has always been different and when a message from her absentee mother sends her deep into New 2, she feels like she's finally found somewhere she came belong and a group of outcasts she can call friends. But as she searches for answers on her family, she finds herself being hunted. Will Ari find that that she seeks or will the mysterious threat that's been haunting  her finally make her its prey.

 

Review

Darkness Becomes Her is the first book in Kelly Keaton's Gods and Monsters Series. This book is difficult for me to recap without giving anything away. About 90% of this book is who is Ari and where did she come from? And I found that extremely entertaining to try and guess who she might become. I would hate to ruin the big reveal by saying too much. I can say I liked New Orleans as an almost sanctuary for the weird and paranormal. My favorite character is Violet, the little goth girl china doll, with tiny fangs and love of Mardi Gras masks, and a tiny albino alligator named Pascal. She's this strange mixed of frailty and bravery, she's the only one who stands up for Ari after they find out her true nature. This book is so different from other books out there and in a completely positive way. I would recommend this book to those who are searching for fresh take on the paranormal genre. 



Vicious Circle

 

Tarot card reading, column writing witch Persephone Alcmedi is at the end of her rope. Her nana has recently moved in with her after being kicked out of her nursing home and she's in some hot water with some of the things she's written. But when tragedy falls on a friend of hers, she's called in by the local high priestess to hunt down and kill the vampire responsible, Goliath Kline. Persephone is all about dishing out justice for her friend and her friend's daughter, but she might have bitten off more than she can chew. With the help of here werewolf friends and her chain smoking nana, Persephone must figure out if she's witch enough to save the day.

 

Review

Vicious Circle is the first book in the Persephone Alcmedi series by Linda Robertson. Let me start by saying I'm pretty tired of vampire vs. werewolf books that it's not even funny, that being said this book, though it does feature both a vampire and werewolf vying for the main characters affections this book is not about that. This book is about a normal everyday woman with family problems and work stress, and yes even a fandom that she obsesses about, but just happens to be a witch. Persephone is so realistic I could easily see myself being friends with her.  Persephone is just trying to do what's right by the people she cares about and like most of us it doesn't always go as she plans but for those she loves she more than happy to keep fighting.  Her nana is hilarious, I adore her relationship with the sexy Johnny, and her fierce instincts when it comes to the devastated Beverley. This book is flowing with Greek mythology that gives it such a fresh take on most paranormal/fantasy books. All in all I would recommend this book if you like magic and sass and sexy rockstars.



Half - Blood

 

Children of Pure bloods and mortals are Half-bloods. Looked down on by the Pures, Half-bloods have two options in life, to become a slave and work in servitude for the Pures or to become a trained killer and hunt daimons. Seventeen year-old Alexandria "call me Alex" Andros would rather risk her life than ever scrub someone's toilet for the rest of her days. Forced to follow rules she hates, Alex is having the hardest time with rule #1: Relationships between Pures and Half-bloods are forbidden. Which sucks because Alex is crushing hard on Aiden her totally swoon worthy Pure blood instructor. But falling hard for her unobtainable crush is the least of her worries. Staying alive to graduate is. If she fails in her duties she might face a fate worse than death or slavery, she might become the thing she's training to fight and be hunted down by the boy she wants. 

 

 

 

Review

Half-Blood is the first book in The Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I have read a lot of reviews that claim all of Armentrout's books are the same, and as a huge fan of her Lux series I can understand why they would say this. Much like the Lux series Half-Blood centers around a girl who is falling for a guy she can't have, but that's where the main comparisons end. Yes she likes to write about guys who are unnaturally sexy, but most romance authors do. To me Half-Blood was less like Armentrout's Lux series and more like Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Both series is about a special girl training to fight beings who used to be just like her but were changed into a dark counterpart and feeds on there less evil brethren. In Half-Blood it's Alex and the daimons, in Vampire Academy it's Rose and the Strigoi. In both books the main character falls for her attractive instructor in Half-Blood it's Aiden, Vampire Academy it's Dimitri. Those were some of the biggest similarities, but the list does continue. Despite the parallel story lines, I enjoyed Half-Blood just as much as Vampire Academy. I like Half-Blood wit and I really liked the relationships between Alex and her uncle and Alex and Seth. I'm hoping Alex and Seth become best friends and one of them doesn't do anything too disappointing to screw it up. I guess only time will tell But all in all I really liked this book. 

 



Awaken Me Darkly

 

Mia Snow is a huntress for A.I.R., the Alien Investigation and Removal team in the city of New Chicago. This petite and feminine chick is no lady, she's known as the Angel of Death and she's earned her reputation. When a string of missing persons becomes a string of murders, Mia and her partner, Dallas set out to track their alien suspects. But when a sudden act of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life, Mia will do whatever it takes to save her partner. Even if it means teaming up with the dark and seductive alien stranger, Kyrin en Arr. Kyrin's blood holds the key to saving Dallas and he's willing to help for a price, Mia. She's walking a razor edge and the closer she and Kyrin become the closer she comes to losing not only her badge but her life as well. As they fight to find the one responsible a secret reveals she's a lot closer to  the killer than she ever knew. 

 

 

Review

 

Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter is the first book of the Alien Huntress series. Much like her Lords of the Underworld series, this book contains a strong female heroine, a fantastic crew of supporting characters, and a fabulous story line, with a nice little twist thrown in. I enjoyed about 85% of this book. I liked the dynamic between Mia and her team and I liked the world Gena Showalter created filled with  all kinds of alien beings. I had three major problems with this book.

 Problem #1: the ending was super anti-climatic. There was no epic battle or even a kick-ass fight scene, it just happened and the end, plus there was no tying of loose ends. I was left felling unsatisfied with the last chapter.  

Problem #2: one word Kyrin. He's the male lead and the love interest, yet his personality is flat. I'm so used to Gena Showalters' characters have so much spunk and life, Kyrin was lacking.

Problem #3: The dialogue during the "love making". This was my biggest annoyance. I'm not going to go into it to much, but it was not good. 

But besides these things I liked most of the book and I'm willing to read the next book in hopes that this was just a fluke.