Adult

Ensnared by the Stone Freak by Vala Stone

Posted on by DragonSusie

We Want More!!

So, we have two drastically different people, meeting in colourful circumstances, but neither are who they seem from the outset.

We have Camryn “Cammy” Mayfield, a top-tier lawyer, who’s a workaholic but secretly fed up with her job.

Then we have Halvard the “Stone Freak”; no surname, but has Gargoyle* lineage.

And with a host of side characters, including a Seer, Cammy’s friend who she doesn’t know is a Siren, a Warlock stalker ex, and the absolutely fabulously wonderful and cute Wild Boar Hogzy!

So, Halvard is cursed to turn everyone he gazes upon to stone. Yet he’s told that his curse will be lifted with one glance. He doesn’t believe it one bit but, considering who the two main characters are, we know who it has to be… And she pushes his belief to the limit, just as he pushes hers, she having never known that magical creatures really existed.

And, with them together, she finally has the courage to face up to her stalker ex, whose powers have made him overly obsessive and on the edge of sanity.

I suppose there’s a little bit of adventure in here (perhaps I don’t see it completely so, as I’m so used to fantasy). But it’s romance with an edge of danger, really, overcoming themselves plus adversity, with a little nudge and help now and then.

Of course, the adult part was fun, too, and once they started they had to push all the way… But it felt a little unfinished, missing a couple of descriptors, going from all guns blazing, to just… Ending. I expected as much fire to end the second scene as the first.

Additional notes:
* Gargoyles are a pretty specific type of Grotesque, Grotesques being the statues you find on ancient buildings, and Gargoyles being the water features found at the end of guttering (think “gargle”, which has the same root). It’s a common misconception, so I thought it best to educate everyone at the same time.

All that aside, it took me time in the beginning to get used to the author’s voice but, once I had, the words just flew by! I was fully entranced and captivated, apart from the couple of niggles mentioned above, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Ms. Stone has a new fan.

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

*I received a free digital ARC via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Choice of the Winter Wolf by Arizona Tape

Posted on by DragonSusie

Somewhat Lacklustre

Compared to the first book in the series, plus the excellent prequel, I felt that this second book was a bit of a let down in comparison.

For me, it wasn’t Akira constantly putting herself down, as others have said bothered them, as I perfectly understand those sentiments, from personal experience, and it makes her decisions regarding the interactions with others more understandable.

If anything, I felt like it wasn’t played through enough. Yes, it’s nice how she’s opening up more to Ashleigh as the trip goes on, and the rivalry with Danny definitely needs more exploring, too. But there’s a piece missing to many of these interactions, and I can’t particularly say what. Maybe that it should just be more intense? She can think more, do more, and none of it needs to be always easily resolved with Ashleigh.

In the original I had liked how they were teaching Akira to fight. Maybe it’s coming, now they’re on their way again. And I hope that Akira teaches JP about the medicinal herbs in return, which she had kicked herself for not collecting on the way.

Akira is currently a complete pushover with a lot of self doubt, which is quite understandable considering her background. But there still could have been so much more here. And we, like Akira, currently know nothing about Darren or Regan (so little that I forgot their names and had to go back to check), or even Danny frankly, except that Danny and Regan are mates, which seemed surprising considering Danny’s suspicions of Akira being akin to jealousy.

Well, there’s one more book to go. Let’s hope we finish on a high.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆ – Sort of liked/OK

*I received a free digital ARC via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

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Heart and Soul of the Wolf by Arizona Tape

Posted on by DragonSusie

Does Love Conquer All?

This is a cutesy short second-chance love story based as a prequel to the Guardian of the Winter Stone series. It wasn’t around when I first read the series, but I love the extra little titbits it gives, as well as the story itself.

These are two people, best friends, with a hundred-and-one excuses for why they mustn’t say anything to the other about their feelings. As soon as they leave on the quest, they fall into a steady rhythm with each other, each complimenting the other. Yet it may take the fear of losing it all to break the silence.

A few squees, a few breath-holding moments, a little bit of steam, and these two young women are ready to face the world.

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

*I received a free digital ARC via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

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Duty of the Winter Wolf by Arizona Tape

Posted on by DragonSusie

So Much Better!

I read the original series, a couple of years ago, and there were several things I didn’t like about it.

But now, here we are, with an updated series, and wow – I can already see the improvements!

The simplification of the relationships helps a lot, as the partnerships became confusing in the original (if you know you know). I’m unsure what will happen next right now, but it’s not looking so dire (haha), even though this instalment has ended on a cliffhanger. It leaves me curious and expectant for the rest.

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

*I received a free digital ARC via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

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The Unicorn Herd by Arizona Tape

Posted on by DragonSusie

Absolutely Delightful

This book really did have me squealing in delight! It was so much fun, so light, with a fascinating air of mythical beasts.

It starts of with a hint of “enemies to lovers”, but that appears to be a bit of an extended story that isn’t quite resolved yet. There’s lots of “will they, won’t they?” between a few of the interns, but if it was a one-and-done book, perhaps more would have paired off. Yes, there is definitely something there that’s being saved for later.

The book fell off a bit towards the middle end, but the ending itself was wonderfully unexpected, even though it made a lot of sense.

I’m going to squeal a bit as I wait for the sequel to pop up at the top of my list!

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

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The Tea Witch’s Promise by Laura Greenwood and Arizona Tape

Posted on by DragonSusie

Somewhat Disappointing

I absolutely hated the start, and I’m unsure why. There was something missing, that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

The romance was also a too-slow build up for me, with all the “will they, won’t they?”, which is known to annoy me somewhat. It just felt like they kept recircling around the same ideas, not asking the right questions, before finally deciding all was OK. Once they got to that point, the flow was better, until it came to the issue of Oliver…

Banjo is a fun character, and I would have liked to have seen him fleshed out a bit more. Hopefully we’ll get more of other familiars, including Howie, quite soon. They’re magically-bonded familiars, but what that actually means, apart from a tattoo (no spoilers), and whether there are actually any magical properties there outside of that, I’m not too sure right now.

And I was a little confused about how the magic works, but hopefully that will come along, too.

This doesn’t mean that I will just dump the series. But I will just see it all as an introduction, and hope that the next book finds me better. We are all different in our likes, after all!

Final rating: ★★★☆☆ – Sort of liked/OK

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Alpha’s Blood by Renee Rose and Lee Savino

Posted on by DragonSusie

Fun yet predictable read

I haven’t read any other books in the Bad Boy Alphas series, Midnight Doms neither, yet it’s not necessary – this book certainly works as a standalone and, as far as I’m aware, all the other books in the two intertwined series do, too.

We start off with a slave auction, where wolf shifters are set to be auctioned off to a vampire master. They’re known as “sweetbloods”, generally for the fact that adrenaline makes their blood taste sweeter, and with shifters, it’s apparently more potent. These slaves are either forced, or are sold off by their families. They receive training, to make sure that they can please their new masters, but this one female wolf is neither a slave, nor truly willing.

Selene has been trained in warfare since the massacre of her family, and trained in submission since she turned twenty-one, by a vampire who apparently wants to help her get back at the vampire who conducted the slaughter: the Vampire King. Her goal – to be bought by the King, so she may have a chance to end his life in turn. Although things don’t quite go as planned, and her attraction to this vampire means that she’s going to have a hard time fulfilling her half of the bargain.

So then, enter Lucius, the infamous Vampire King. He knows something is up when he’s not only enticed towards the auction, which he isn’t particularly a fan of, but is shown a werewolf that is just to his tastes. She reminds him of someone, so of course he presumes it’s a trap. Yet how can he possibly resist? And how can he tame this defiant she wolf, so unafraid of him?

There’s plenty of fun back and forth. Indeed, the training sessions are as steamy as they are fun. Selene is so stubborn, yet can’t resist the lure, each new scene bringing something unexpected to her, despite her previous training.

Yet, somehow, once they appear to “fall in love”, things start to fizzle out, as they both start to settle and become “domesticated”. There’s a twist, which can be seen coming a mile off, and the ending is pretty unsurprising. Once you get into the final third, apart from a couple of little pieces, it becomes quite predictable.

Although, despite the ending, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read. Maybe I will pick my way through the rest of the two series…

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

*I received a free digital ARC via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

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Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller

Posted on by DragonSusie

Potential not seen through

I picked this book up as I absolutely loved the previous book I read by this author. And this book had so much potential! The beginning of this book had me hooked yet, somehow along the way, I started to be less engaged. By the end, instead of feeling elated at the immense HEA, I just felt disappointed.

I’m unsure what went wrong. I mean, long-term effects of PTSD is a thing and therapy doesn’t always help with completely taking away the anxiety and panic attacks, although it should help in easing them. Especially after a certain amount of time has passed. Eliza most definitely doesn’t have CPTSD (Complex PTSD), as that, as its name suggest, is a far more severe form of PTSD, caused by years of repeated trauma in childhood. Yet Eliza has never moved on from a severely traumatic event when she was eighteen (now being thirty-one). She’s achieved so much, is accomplished in so many ways, yet part of her is still stuck in the past. It is certainly possible, but for someone who is so strong in other ways, it’s not necessarily a hundred-percent believable. It’s not to say that otherwise strong and accomplished people do not have panic attacks and suffer from anxiety, but long-term PTSD is usually so debilitating that it prevents you from pushing yourself as much as you otherwise would, strong or not.

Then there’s Blake, broken in her own ways, still sore after losing her brother. She just gets on with things, only breaking down at the anniversary of his death. Yet she is still hung up about a bad breakup with a long-term girlfriend, from about the same time ago as Eliza. Blake has had a few short-term flings, but nothing serious in recent years, happy with that even if she does eventually want more. Eliza has barely dated at all since the accident, just going through the motions a few times hoping to find a spark.

How these two come together, through the understanding of loss, is cute. And when they eventually decide to call each other their “girlfriend”, that’s cute too. Yet their strange bout of miscommunication, not understanding each other, that wasn’t. Every relationship goes through it at some point, yet it was the lack of communication between the two that left me banging my head. They’re both stuck in their own world with their own fears, and neither wants to tell the painful truth of why they’re hurt. It takes yet another traumatic event to bring the two back together again.

I guess that parts of the story felt slow. Other parts felt predictable. Then there were little bits of repetition. Tension is good, but even the tense parts didn’t feel tense enough. I still had moments of rooting for both of them, with their slow progress towards going further in their relationship, yet something was still missing. I wish I could be less vague, but sometimes a book just doesn’t click.

All in all, not a bad read, but not as great as I was hoping.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆ – Sort of liked/OK

*I received a free digital ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

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Dead Silence by Robin Caroll

Posted on by DragonSusie

Christian political suspense

I should have paid more attention when picking this book up, that it was listed as Christian fiction, as I know that I have many problems with that. In fact, this book could also be surmised as “Mother of deaf child works her way back to God through additional trials and tribulations.” Yes, the substory was essentially that, which I felt a little uncomfortable with. It wasn’t too preachy, surprisingly, but as soon as a book goes into that sort of territory, I do hope that it’s not going to go too far.

But the main thing that invited me to read this book was actually the fact that the MC’s son is deaf. Sign language, lip reading, and deafness aren’t huge topics for a mystery suspense, so I liked the idea.

So, anyway, as for the main part of the story itself, we have a single mother, who lost her husband a few years previously, who now loses her difficult mother-in-law. She can sign and lipread, making her great as a court sign-language interpreter. But it also puts her into other difficult territory, when she reads the lips of someone without thinking, who turns out to be planning the murder of her mother-in-law, one of the state senators.

Well, of course, something comes in the way, so she can’t inform anyone, until it’s too late and the FBI are already at her workplace asking her questions. One FBI agent, who’s rude, abrasive, and incompetent. Another who is well meaning, but completely blind to how bad his partner actually is. When a leak puts Elise’s life in danger, all secrets are excruciatingly slowly forced out into the open.

In actual fact, it takes Elise herself, plus the assistance of a reporter who wants to help rather than going for the big money, and her ex-press step-father-in-law and sister-in-law, to crack the case. They somehow, between themselves, manage to uncover things that the FBI hasn’t.

How believable all of that truly is, I’m not quite sure. It was quite a ride, which left me wanting to read further at many points. Although it was pretty frustrating when it was revealed what Liliana (MiL) was actually working on and the penny didn’t even drop as to who the villain actually was. For me, it was blazingly obvious! So with the Christian elements, the FBI incompetence, and the supposedly ‘good sleuthing crew’ missing obvious clues, there were a few head bashing moments.

All of it put together, and it ends up as an OK read instead of a brilliant one. I don’t regret reading it, yet it doesn’t warm me to read any of the author’s other books.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆ – Sort of liked/OK

*I received a free digital ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

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Love’s Falling Star by B.D. Grayson

Posted on by DragonSusie

Love conquers all

This is not the first book I’ve read by this publisher, and it certainly won’t be the last! I’ve gotten off really lucky with the books from them that I’ve picked up, this one being no exception. And, to add to all that, this is the author’s debut novel! Seriously impressive!

I must say, however, before I start the main part of my review, that I’ve no idea what it’s like to be “in the closet”. As a cis female, it is of course not easy to understand the concept. But books like this certainly help in understanding. The fear of being rejected by peers, of potentially losing your career, losing your friends. But in this story it turns out, there was nothing to fear.

Could Lochlan and Vanessa be any more different? She, the popular Country music star. Vanessa, a med student. It just so happened that they were in the same library at the same time, albeit for different reasons, yet that chance encounter left an impact on both.

For Vanessa, she isn’t a huge fan, yet in that moment she sees the person and not the star. And with her naturally caring attitude, Loc is warmed to her whole person. Yet, it is an impossible attraction, as the star has a career where coming out could completely ruin it. It’s happened before, so of course it will happen to her, too! So that’s how life goes – she puts her career above everything, mostly at the advice of her best friend and manager, Jamie. Yet, in doing so, she risks losing the best thing that may have ever come into her life. And her sanity.

It takes Lochlan accidentally reaching rock bottom to see the truth. But will Vanessa still be there waiting for her when she does do the Country equivalent of the unthinkable?

It is a seriously cute love story. Yeah yeah, there are many like it, but it’s written beautifully. I wasn’t so happy with the ending, really, as it felt a bit dragged out and not as concrete as some of the rest. But all can certainly be forgiven for it being a debut novel. It was one of my quickest reads of the year!

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

*I received a free digital ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

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