Monsters

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.*

Join or Die by J. Adrian Ruth

Posted on by DragonSusie

The race to save Otherworld

This book is initially set in the human realm, before Alex suddenly receives a visitor who tells him that his absentee father is a “Creature”, the various monsters out of myths and legends, and that he most likely will transform into one, too.

So there Alex is, a half breed with a human mother, suddenly taken away to a private boarding school for Creatures in another realm, Otherworld, leaving behind his best friend, Carlos, his mother, and everything he’s ever known. Worse than that, he’s told that he’s the Scion Heir (leader of all the Creatures), being a descendant of the original Scion, and that he’ll eventually have to battle the other Heir to become the leader of all.

Luckily, he somehow manages to find his place in this new world, making new friends who gradually form a part of his Ciorcal (Celtic for “circle”), the group that will support, protect, and guide him, if and when he does fulfil his destiny.

In the meantime, however, he has no idea what Creature he himself is going to be, and has to face off a Creature who has been killing off all of the Heirs. Along with some other hijinks with his Ciorcal, it’s a fight for survival he hadn’t been warned of or planned for.

I must say that the beginning didn’t thrill me quite so much, but the last part of the book made up for that and was pretty good. I can only assume that this is because this is quite obviously the author’s first book, with it having at times too much information, then at others not enough. There are still quite a few typos in this book, but I’m guessing that that is because it is, at the time of ARC release, still not fully edited.

However, despite its similarities to other Paranormal schools, it has enough differences in it to make it a new take on the idea, somewhat familiar yet with unique elements.

Hopefully the sequel, once it’s finally released, will further develop the ideas here and, after reading the preview, it looks like we will find out more about the current Scion and the ongoing war against him.

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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Ogre King by Chera Zade and Fanny Mills

Posted on by DragonSusie

No time for monstering

As should be expected from the Zade/Mills combo, this is a very short short story. Although I should have reigned in my expectations, I still expected more from this.

The book is split into two parts, where we first hear the Ogre King Ugrort’s POV, who deliberately gets himself captured, and then the Princess Eleta’s POV, who had already been fantasising about “green monsters” before she even heard that there were ogres in the dungeon.

This ends on a cliffhanger, so obviously set up for the next book in the series. But, in this first part, the two lovers-to-be (as it’s obviously going to go that way) don’t even meet! It is all steamy enough in what does actually happen, including a consensual sexual “treatment” that the princess receives from the court physician. But far more is needed, and the second book isn’t even available as of yet!

I would have been much happier for a complete story, instead of these bits, but considering that the book isn’t published anymore, I doubt that we’ll ever get a conclusion.

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

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

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Goodreads