Prime Obsession (The Prime Chronicles #1)

Available at Amaszon.com

Prime Obsession
Monette Michaels
Prime Chronicles, book one
ebook, 197 pages
Published September 28th 2009 by Liquid Silver Books
ISBN 9781595785800

Melina Dmitros is a seasoned battleship captain for the Galactic Alliance. Calls from ships in distress are not all that uncommon in the outermost spirals of the Milky Way. Calls from the warlike Prime were. Now that they were allies, Mel figures she’d better get used to working in conjunction with the chauvinistic race. She never expected to be attracted to one of them.

The Prime, one of the oldest species in the galaxy, were known for going their own way. But with problems on Cejuru Prime and increasing attacks by the Antareans, the Prime joined the Alliance to lend their expertise in battling the warlike reptilian species--and ultimately, to survive as a race.

Captain Wulf Caradoc, the eldest son and heir apparent of the Prime leader, looked forward to the trip to the Alliance ambassadorial planet. His mission is ostensibly to deliver the diplomatic team to the new Prime embassy. His real mission is to meet his fated mate, his gemate, one of the Lost Ones. Wulf hadn’t anticipated the diplomatic mission being attacked by pirates--and he especially hadn’t anticipated his gemate, Melina Dmitros, being the one sent to rescue his ship.

Two strong people pulled together by biology and fate. Their union will be forged in a crucible of survival, treachery and duty.

In the Prime Chronicles, the Prime are a race of hardened warriors who, years ago, suffered a devastating attack wherein they were forced to evacuate their females. Many did not survive. And a significant number that did never made it back home. Those were deemed the Lost Ones.

Since that time, their numbers have dwindled. In the face of extinction, they have chosen to join the Galactic Alliance and forego their historically revered isolation in hopes of finding mates among the neighboring populations. A gemate. For the Prime, upon meeting their gemate even in youth, they develop a mark upon their skin. Matching in design, it appears itself upon the hip of the female and the breast of the male and signifies a biological pairing of the two.

Maren, along with the youngest heirs of the Prime leader, Huw and Iolyn, ambassadors of the Prime, are shocked to witness said mark displayed on the hip of Melina Dmitros, an Alliance captain convinced she's not Prime, but Terran. A mark matching that of Huw and Iolyn's eldest brother, Wulf, who had been paired to his gemate when he was but three years old. Melina, the true nice of Maren, was just a few months in age at the time.

Weeks later, Wulf, with Maren and his brothers, find themselves and their ship victims of a pirate attack and the traitors who gave them aid. Barricaded in the engine room, they kill power to the ship before sending out a mayday and triggering the clock on the self destruct, thereby forcing a stale mate between the two forces until help can arrive.

Their call is answered by the very woman Wulf has come seeking.

And they spend their first encounter arguing over the intercom while Melina traipses through the ship's air tunnels, kicking the asses of rogue pirates still looking for a thrill. For a guy like Wulf, from a race of chauvinistic males hell bent on the protecting and coddling of their women, the whole ordeal is a punch in the face, kick in the gut, and laugh quietly to yourself whilst you picture the horror it all kind of experience.

Seriously, Monette does great dialogue.

Melina takes the news of being Prime easily enough. Wulf affects her in ways no man ever has. Makes her feel a kind of safety not even her loving, devoted parents ever made her feel. But she's not about to lay aside her hard won military career and respect to be somebody's little woman. If Wulf wants her, he's going to have to fight for it. So she up and runs off, leaving our dear Wulf to take up the hunt. If he's willing to accept her as his battle mate, she'll be ready and waiting to be courted. That's my girl!

Adding to the drama is a second in command with an unrequited love for Melina, and a group of Purists who orchestrated the whole pirate attack on Wulf's ship. Then theirs would be assassins coming out from behind every corner. If something can go wrong, you bet it does in this book.

It's been a looooong time since I've read anything this sappy. Total gag worthy, lovefest, all of it. Which is a positive for me. Maybe not so much for others out there. Most of the book is Melina kicking ass while the guys stand around or arrive too late for the party. The rest is Melina and Wulf making goo-goo eyes at one another and mindspeaking all of the lovely things they adore about the other and also the things that drives them absolutely bonkers but turns them on all the same.

Like I said - total lovefest.

3 out of 5 stars.

Dying Wish (Sentinel Wars #6)

Life's hard. Wear a fucking cup.

Available at Amazon.com

Dying Wish
Shannon K Butcher
Sentinel Wars, book six
ebook, 400 pages
Published March 6th 2012 by Penguin Group
ISBN 9781101576892

Jackie Patton has been rescued by the Theronai from her captivity and torture at the hands of the Synestryn, only to learn that she's a potential match for the Theronai warriors who need a woman to literally save their lives.

Forced to choose, she unexpectedly selects Iain, a cold-hearted warrior who doesn't want to be saved. Iain is convinced that it's too late-that his soul is already as dead as his former betrothed, killed by the Synestryn. Still, he is the only one she wants. But is Iain indeed beyond saving?

Iain lost the last of his leaves some time ago. Soulless, with no hope of salvation, he fights on in order to give what help he can to those of his brothers also nearing the end of their time. Having collected ancient artifacts bearing the power to slow the process of the their withering lifemarks, Iain has forged what he calls the Band of the Barren. Madoc was one such member until Nika saved him. The newest of them is Cain.

Having survived two years of being a prisoner and food source to demons, Jackie was rescued by the Theronia warriors as they quested to liberate Nika and Andra's baby sister Tori. All she wants is the life that was taken from her. Her job. Her independence. Alas, Jackie finds that can she never again be the human she never actually was in the first place. She is a Theronai. Destined to mate one of her people's warriors and wield magic she never before dreamed of.

It's a destiny she will risk her life to avoid.

As it becomes clear that Jackie is compatible with every single Theronai warrior she comes into contact with, Joseph presses her to choose one to save. Holding her hostage until she does. Desperate, Jackie manages a bargain: She'll choose a man if he'll let her go.

So the men assemble, filling the auditorium and lining up one by one to swear their lives to her. Their touch pains her. Their hope-filled eyes guilt her. In the end she decides on the one person whose touch has silenced the horrors since he freed her from her prison. A man who can't be, nor wants to be saved. Iain.

Meanwhile, Torr is in agony over Grace's sacrifice to trade her life for his. He evens dares to threaten Jackie to choose him so they might be strong enough to save the woman he loves. A woman who is very much human and, therefore, doesn't have the power to save him by taking his luceria and wielding his harnessed power. I am beside myself with how all that is going to play out.

Tori, traumatized child that she is, continues her fantasies of finding and destroying, Zillah, the demon responsible for her ten year spanning torture and rape. She even goes as far as hoarding weapons and trying to steal Andra's car. Gets herself caught by Nicholas in the process and shoves a knife into his chest. The guy gets off a few wise cracks, feels a moment of hope when he realizes she's compatible with him, then rejects the idea and leaves her to Andra to be dealt with. At this point, I don't know when Tori's story will come but I do want her to end up with Nicholas. Guy's had it rough, and I'm beyond tickled that those two are a possible match.

Hope continues to remember her life from before coming to this world and has ideas that making contact with her old people, through the stone that served as a portal to bring her here, will bring a chance at saving Grace's life. Which, it does. A healer named Brenya comes through and when she departs, she takes both Grace and Tori with her. Leaving behind Madoc and Andra, both sworn to her as her champions.

It was bound to happen. When Gilda died, her daughters, Sybil and Maura, were released from their vow to never grow up. While neither are present in this book, it only stands that Gilda's power to sterilize the Theronai men would fail as well. And it did. Nika's pregnant! Madoc, our beloved hooker-addict's gonna be a daddy!

I saw it coming, Dreaded it. Hoped to hell that it wouldn't be so predictable as to happen. But it did. Serena, Iain's long lost love, returns. Having disappeared one night during a demon attack, Serena has spent the last two hundred years in a stasis prison by her own mother's hand. Being with Iain was like yesterday to her, and she's devastated and irate when she discovers him bonded to someone else.

As much as I hated such a cliche turn, it played out so well that I couldn't find it in me to be upset about it. Here, these two people, forced into a bond that neither wanted, finally had to fight to stay together. With Serena being Iain's match, he could go to her, freeing up Jackie to save another Theronai. Meanwhile, Iain felt nothing of what he once did for Serena and resigns himself to death after Serena reveals his barren lifemark.

Joseph's such a respectable, callous bitch. And damn, if Jackie isn't the one woman to stand up to his bullshit. She was throwing Iain's power all over the place. Joseph. Drake. Helen. And finally we figure out why it is that she's capable of bonding to any of the men. She's holds a connection to other Theronai females.

And, although it takes eighty percent of the book to get there, we finally get Lyka back in Joseph's picture and find out the real reason she was chosen as a hostage from the Slayers. Girl's half Theronai.

I wasn't drawn to Iain. Not like Zach or Logan. So imagine my surprise as it began to dawn on me how much I was loving this story. It's easily the best of the first six books, and I daresay my favorite. The ending is a little stretched, but being the crazy chaotic world it is, it kinda worked.

But seriously... Stan?!

5 out of 5 stars.

BTW, Iain's going to be a daddy, too!

Previously in the series:

Queen of Starlight (Sheerspace #1)

Had anyone ever wanted to be his sky?

Available at Amazon.com

Queen of Starlight
Jessa Slade
Sheerspace, book one
ebook, 133 pages
Published July 20th 2014 by Red Circle Ink
ISBN unknown
FREE read from Amazon

Her body is his prize, but he'll risk the stars for her love.

Transformed by empathic crystals into the perfect paramour, Benedetta Galil is the last treasure of her fading world. When raiders attack—seeking to corrupt the crystals and conquer all of charted space—she gives herself as a prize to the one man in the universe who values freedom over power.

Mercenary sheership Captain Corso Deynah left oppression behind him on a burning planet and has no use for a sex slave, even one as seductive as Benedetta. But while he stubbornly resists her body, her fierce spirit tempts him, and he will risk everything—his ship, his seclusion, the very stars—to win not just her passion but her love.

*Originally published as "Enslaved by Starlight" in Hotter On The Edge: Science Fiction Romance Anthology.

I've only read one other book by Jessa Slade. That being, Seduced by Shadows. It was not one of the greatest reads of my life. It was actually closer to being one of the worst. That said, when Queen of Starlight popped up on my Recommendations list, I figured what the hell. Let's give this another go.

Opening up, Captain Deynah is abruptly contacted by Benedetta, a slave-whore as he so eloquently refers to her, with the promise of credits and ownership of her very self if he will come to the aid of her planet and defend it against those who would claim their precious crystals for their own. Crystals that have the power to create bonds between two people and thus create a form of mind control.

The money isn't much. And the idea of owning of pleasure slave is not only bothersome to Corso in the no need for it sense, but also in that he can't fathom why someone would willingly allow themselves to be sold and owned. Prepared to turn down the offer, Corso's plans immediately change when Benedetta threatens him with the destruction of the only thing he has left that matters to him- his ship.

Successfully blackmailed, Corso heads straightaway for a world that holds the balance that could mean the complete and utter control of the sheerspace and freedom as they know it.

Benedetta wasn't raised to just be some male's plaything. She'd been educated and trained to be more of a help-mate. An adviser. A partner. But even with romanticizing her role in life, Corso's perception bleeds into her way of thinking and even she must agree, a pleasure slave has no place with a mercenary.

This story has a rough, drawn out start, but once the romance kicked in, the temperature, as well as my interest, sparked to a more favorable height. Until now, Corso has only craved the blackness of space with its wild freedoms and endless wonder. In meeting Etta, he finds that maybe the darkness of his life could use a bit of light, Maybe, he doesn't want the same things he once did.

In the end, Etta comes to terms with being nothing more than a glorified slave and breaks free from her torque and the binds of its key. Of course, she does this on the heels of Corso's confession of his desire to be with her... his willingness to buy her key despite having refused that very thing as payment for his aid. Apparently, she wanted exactly what she was about to get but on her terms. Yays for freedom of choice.

3 out of 5 stars.

Blood Hunt (Sentinel Wars #5)

When you look at me like that, I forget who I am.

Available at Amazon.com

Blood Hunt
Shannon K Butcher
Sentinel Wars, book five
ebook, 303 pages
Published August 1st 2011 by Signet Book
ISBN 9781101517190

Hope appeared out of nowhere, naked and alone, a woman without a past. The only thing she knows is that she is imbued with a strange power. It's in her blood. And two men want to posses it. One is Logan, a Sanguiner demon-fighter who needs Hope's essence to survive. The other is Krag, a Synestryn lord whose desire is to enslave Hope, and drain her of the lifeforce.

When Hope and Logan both fall prey to Krag, a powerful desire grows between them. But is it enough to thwart their captor's diabolical plan and his demon warriors, and survive a vampire's destiny written in blood?

Ah, Logan. Loved and loathed alike, Logan, with his unnatural beauty, has never failed to capture a woman's notice. Any woman. Every woman. But not one, in a very long time, has ever made him feel anything in return. Until Hope.

On the hunt to uncover the mystery of an address left in blood on a mirror in book four, Logan finds himself at an abandoned building where one of the couples brought together through Project Lullaby is under attack by a demon. The battle leaves Logan poisoned, weak, and near death.

Selfless to a fault, Hope is on a hunt of her own. For answers as to who she is, and what she is. And where the homeless people she helps at the local shelter are disappearing to. Over a decade ago, Hope awoke, naked and alone in the same building in which Logan fights to survive, with no memory of who she was or where she came from. Taken in by a nun, Hope has made a small success of herself as a photographer and volunteers faithfully to those in need. On her ritual walk through the streets, packed with sandwiches and blankets, she's drawn to the battle. And ends up saving Logan with light, a pipe, and eventually, her blood.

Blood that empowers Logan in a way he's never known. For the first time in centuries, his hunger is sated. His body feels warmth. And he's aroused. A gift and curse he can't do away with whenever Hope is near. Alas, there's nothing to be done about it. If Hope is a Theronai, as the power of her blood suggests, she's off limits. If she's human, she's a prime specimen for Project Lullaby wherein Logan and his fellow Sanguiner match-up humans to mate and bear children that will one day feed the blood dependent Sanguiner race.

A race currently dying of starvation.

Meanwhile... Yay! Joseph, leader of the Theronai, meets his destined, Lyka. Sister of the Slayer's leader (Andreas), Lyka is a force all her own as her brother strips her naked, bags her in a sheet, and drags her to the Theronai stronghold as a means to initiate a truce between the Theronai and the Slayers. Long explanation made short: It's custom to arrive naked to show proof of being unarmed and Andreas offers Lyka as a hostage to further endear Joseph to his honest plight. His sister may be a thorn in his ass, but he loves her more than anything else in this world. She and Joseph's story comes in book nine, due out in March.

The rescued Theronai, Jackie, continues to lengthen her list of compatible partners as, with Joseph's response to her touch, it appears any of the Sentinels could be saved by mating her. Having lived far too long as a prisoner, whose blood sustained the demons that feasted on her, Jackie is haunted by the looks of hunger and need on the faces of her captors. Seeing the same mirrored by the Theranai men sends her running. Her destined match? Iain, who has lost the last of his leaves and merely pretends that his soul remains. He feels very little. And his apathy is growing.

The search for a mate for Hope begins. So far no luck with the Theronai. And then, Alexander brings in the Slayer, Eric Phelan, brother of Andreas and Lyka. And much to Logan's regret, he finds his blood to be a perfect match for Hope. Their children would powerful. But let me tell you, this guy's no prince. Despite being willing to bed and mate Hope, with his brother's permission of course, he doesn't give a damn whether he cares for her or her for him. His sense of duty is strong. His grip on the heart not so much.

As it turns out, Hope isn't Theronai. Nor is she human. She's like Logan. But from another planet.

Logan and Hope go through a few levels of hell before they find a peaceful end. An end that was far too abrupt. It wasn't a cliffhanger, but sure felt like one. One more scene, is it too much to ask?

4 out of 5 stars.


Previously in the series:

Scent of a Mate (Sassy Mates #1)

I wasn't asking for permission. You're already mine.

Available at Amazon.com

Scent of a Mate
Milly Taiden
Sassy Mates, book one
ebook, 250 pages
Published September 20th 2013 by Latin Goddess Press
ISBN 9781301183388
Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited
Read for Free with Kindle's Lending Library

Mission: Scent a Mate

Jordan Alvarez knew that a promise to her best friend involved staking out the local wolf pack's scenting ceremony and recording the graphic details, but she was the writer and the only one with the balls to finish the task. No one would know that four human women had sneaked proof of their rituals, or at least, that was the plan until Aric Wolfe showed up.

Mission: Stake a Claim

Aric Wolfe knew his baby sister was up to something, and expected her best friend, Jordan, to be in on the chaos. He finally had an opportunity to lay claim to a mate that had been under his nose for years. Jordan's scent called to both the man and the animal, and he was done fighting the call of the beast. It was time to mark his mate.

Mission: Survive an Alpha

When a good intention creates a problem for the Wolfe family, Jordan finds herself being stalked by a woman intent on claiming Aric as her own. Battle lines will be drawn, love will be put to the test, and Aric will have to fight Jordan's strong personality to keep her alive. Two alpha hearts seeking control will either find the balance or risk losing their love forever.

This was my first read from Milly Taiden and I'm having a difficult time understanding why. She's credited with about thirty books, most of which fitting into the genre I've spent the last eight years exploring and yet I just now picked up one of her wolf shifter stories.

It won't be the last.

Jordan fell for Ellie's eldest brother, Aric, when she was a mere thirteen years old. Coming from a shattered home and raised by alcoholic parents, Jordan found a lifeline to normalcy from Ellie and her family though, strangely enough, they're a family of wolf shifters.

Aric was changed the day he met Jordan. His wolf sensed his mate in her, despite that she was human and six years younger than he. So Aric distanced himself and for years, once Jordan was older and mature enough, begged his sister to help him make Jordan his.

Then one night, where the wolves gather from packs all over for scenting and match making, he finally gets his chance. As do the rest of Ellie's brothers with her other friends: Jake with Nicole, Nathan with Karla, and Mason with Emma. Ellie, meanwhile, has a semi complicated relationship with Caleb who faces the challenge of becoming Alpha to his own pack.

There's a good amount of time jumping in this story, and it's not always done smoothly. And damn, does Jordan take a beating. A few times actually. But not once does she consider the idea of not being able to handle being with a shifter. Other things, yes, but not that.

Ellie's friends are all taken from the same mold. They're curvy, supposedly sassy, and all deeply infatuated with the Wolfe brothers. For that alone, I'm pushed to skip the other three brothers' stories altogether and dive right into Ellie and Caleb's book. Unfortunately, it hasn't been published yet.

3 out of 5 stars.

Living Nightmare (Sentinel Wars #4)

Maybe when it came to Madoc, Nika was crazy.

Available at Amazon.com

Living Nightmare
Shannon K Butcher
Sentinel Wars, book four
ebook, 368 pages
Published November 1st 2010 by Signet Book
ISBN 9781101445068

For nine years, the Sentinel Nika has had one goal-to save her younger sister from the Synestryn who hold her captive. Now, the psychic bond Nika forged with her sibling on that terrible night is fading, and time is running out. But the one man who can unlock the power inside her may be the greatest danger to her.

Oh, Madoc. How I love to hate you.

Madoc and Nika's story started a while ago. Nika, a victim of a Synestryn attack nine years ago, has spent every day since haunted by what their taking of her blood has done. Fearing being fed blood and human flesh, she's refused to eat and has been locked in a psychiatric hospital since childhood. When Paul came for Nika's sister, Andra, in book two, Nika was also rescued and came to meet Madoc, a bastard as rough as they come but so very capable of gentility too. Which he solely bestows upon Nika.

Despite Madoc's addiction to killing and fucking, the first of which being Synestrian and the latter being prostitutes, I couldn't help but fall for his way with Nika. The guy slammed her with the tough love angle while everyone else coddled the hell out of the broken woman. But despite the draw the two had toward each other, Madoc's ring never swirled with the colors indicating he'd found a potential mate. Convinced she wasn't for him, and too damn scared to be near her let alone touch her without hurting her, Madoc hit the road and stayed away. For seven months.

Seven long months in which Nika yearned for him.

[ SPOILERS]

Sadly enough, this is my least favorite of the series thus far. Nika is whiny and clingy and, like, Madoc with his 'I'm too dangerous for you' mantra, running her mouth like a broken record. But what really let me down the most was the total lack of oomph when Madoc finally realized that Nika had been right all along--that she was his match. It was completely opposite his reaction as he realized she was physically healthier than he'd last seen her. At that moment, he'd stared in awe. I expected the same with his ring.Granted, his was soulless at the time but, like most things in life, the excuse excuses nothing.

The back stories make great progress in the meantime. Gilda finally comes clean in her part of the Theronai sterility (at least to her husband) and the story of how the twins came to be twins and were sworn to never grow up came to light.

And then, there was Torr and Grace. With Gilda's help, Grace obtained the means to cure Torr of the poisoning that has left him paralyzed and very much near death. The cost, however, is taking the poison into herself. A bittersweet turn that won't get its conclusion until freaking book eight!

Two new females do finally make it home. The first: Andra and Nika's stolen baby sister, Tori, who has spent the last nine years as a prisoner of the Synestryn, raped and impregnated with a child she loses in the end. The second, is Jackie, the long lost sister of both Helen and Lexi. A sister they hadn't always known they had. Much less, that they were even related.  Also a hostage of the Synestryn, Jackie has the opposite problem Nika had, Whereas Nika was only found compatible with Madoc, it appears Jackie has a growing list of possible mates to choose from. Iain, Nicholas, and Morgan to start with.

And finally, Angus and Gilda's story concludes as they free their daughter, Maura, from her path of evil, and die. A justly deserved death in Gilda's respect.

3 out of 5 stars.

Previously in the series:

Nightkeepers (The Final Prophecy #1)

I. Don't. Fizzle.

Available at Amazon.com

Nightkeepers
Jessica Andersen
The Final Prophecy, book one
ebook, 453 pages
Published June 3rd 2008 by Signet Eclipse
ISBN 9781436222082

The end of time looms, and Mayan demons have surfaced from the underworld to trigger an apocalypse. But as the final day approaches, the descendants of ancient warrior-priests prepare to fight back...

As a Miami narcotics detective, Leah Daniels never knows how her day will turn out. But she certainly doesn't expect to be strapped to a stone altar as the human sacrifice in an ancient Mayan ritual meant to coax a demon from the underworld - or to be saved by a handsome warrior-priest king, who claims to recognize her from his visions.

Striking Jaguar thinks he is the last of the Nightkeeper warrior-priests, but as the end-time approaches, his mentor reveals there are twelve others. In reuniting them, Strike - king by birthright - gains the power to summon a Mayan god to combat the demons. But the woman of his visions is the gods' chosen sacrifice. Now he must decide between love and duty...or find another way to invoke otherworldly magic in a death-defying race against the end of time.

The kickoff to my 2015 Read The Series challenge... Where I plan to complete those series that I've already started as well as begin a few that have gone under the radar for far too long. Such as this, The Final Prophecy series, which began in 2008 and concluded in 2012.

Ah, dream sharing. Is there anything more romantic?

Complex, yet riveting, this story has a start that is all that and a bottle of Awesome sauce.

[ WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ]

The prologue takes us twenty-four years into the past behind the scenes of a battle that decimated the Nightkeepers, their winikin, and took the lives of their king and his wife. Jox, a young winikin himself, manages to get the king's two children to safety and flash forward to the present, picking up in chapter one, we find Jox living what he can of his dream--to own a plant nursery with business partners, Red-Boar, a fellow Nightkeeper survivor, and thirty-three year old Strike, the Nightkeeper prince. Anna, Strike's sister, took off on her own years ago.

Since the battle's end, the powers Strike was born to claim are nonexistent. The portals are shut down. Earth's realm has been closed off from Heaven and demons alike. But they are mere years away from the prophesied 2012 Apocalypse and those serving the demons are active in their quest to bring it to fruition.

Enter Leah Ann Daniels, a Miami detective whose brother was recently sacrificed in the cult of the Survivor2012 following. As her meeting with an informant goes south fast, Leah finds herself the newest would be victim in the slew of human sacrifices in a scene that, while I have no experience with the subject, was the most believable I've ever read. Kudos to the author for her imagination and research into demon sacrifice.

The action. The suspense. The heartache of finding who could have been his mate, also a godkeeper, and losing her as human "collateral damage" as the magic awakens inside Strike and Red-Boar's son, Rabbit. Again, Oh My Damn.

And as he stepped through the doorway into the entryway of the king's mansion, where the past and future ran together and made his heart hurt, he wished like hell that he could've been just a man, could've been her man. But he wasn't and couldn't be.
He was a Nightkeeper.

And that was only part one of four!


PART TWO: APHELION
In part two, most of the protagonists from the upcoming sequels begin to invade the spotlight as the other Nightkeeper and winikin survivors come pouring out of the woodwork. These include: Alexis, a finance gal just coming out of a relationship with a million dollar guy who used her for her expertise and promptly turned around and cheated every chance he got. Her love interest for book two? Fellow survivor, Nate, who lost his winikin just weeks out of the battle and has grown up without any knowledge whatsoever of his true identity. Raised an orphan, Nate ended up in jail after getting himself involved in a gang. Presently he's running a video game company he founded himself wherein his leading heroine, Hera, has quite the resemblance to Alexis. To say the least, the guy is seriously questioning his sanity. Especially after his first meet and greet with Strike got him teleported to a roof and dangled off its edge.

Next, is Patience. And this is where I got thrown for a loop. Patience, whose winikin, aka godmother, is Lox's lost love Hannah, has managed a hidden life from her winikin ever since waking up one morning in bed with a man from a drunken stupor with fresh tats on each of their arms. She went on to marry the guy, whose name is Brandt, and gave birth to twin sons. The kicker? Brandt, too, is a Nightkeeper, and the two have been keeping their identities a secret from one another all along. They have the honor of starring in book five. Can't wait for that!

Cara, may the gods bless her, has grown up hearing the stories of the legendary Nightkeepers and their guardians. When the portal opens and her dear father confesses all of the stories are real, she is beside herself with excitement. Until the buzz is killed when she learns she isn't the magic wielding Nightkeeper of her fantasies--she's the winikin. The side-kick. And her Nightkeeper is her ass of a 'step-brother' Sven. And yeah, I don't like him much either. Their story comes in book seven.

Strike goes in and out of Leah's life for much of part two. Meeting again when he allows compulsion to drive him or when she nearly gets herself killed at a Survivor2012 gala event. By the end of the fist half, Strike is forced to choose whether to guide his people in their first portal jump, or save Leah from strangulation. At the gods' urging, and his father's dreamlike appearance, Strike chooses his woman. And catches hell from Red-Boar and Jox alike who'd rather he mate with one of his own people. Leah's memory blocks are lifted, and it looks like she's sticking around for a while.


PART THREE: THE VENUS CONJUNCTION
Part three brings Lucius into the spotlight, and my question on whether or not Strike's sister, Anna, was ever going to come climbing out from under her rock was finally answered. Lucius, currently working on his thesis revolving around the Mayans, including the sworn to protect and thwart the end of the world prophecy, Nightkeepers, is actually working under Anna, who's now married to a man named Dick. A marriage rumored to be failing. With an unrequited affection for Anna, Lucius is left with only dreams of being something more. To her, and to the world.

The remaining Nightkeepers begin to train, breaking off into teams of two, or less. Sven makes the decision to send Cara away since she has little college left and doesn't want to be there anyway. Michael and Jade hook up, then break up. Nate and Alexis grow closer. Meanwhile, Strike pulls away from everyone. He can't be with Leah, for numerous reasons including the most dire... he's destined to make a sacrifice. A sacrifice he believes will be killing the woman he loves.

An outsider among outsiders, Leah watches as the Nightkeepers fall away from one another and takes it upon herself to bring them together as one team. Thus, Skywatch is born, the new name of their home and a motto of their mission.

"It's-"
"If the next word out of your mouth is 'complicated,' you'd better be ready to race me to the bedroom for the MAC, because so help me, God, I'll shoot you."

PART FOUR: THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

In the final quarter of the book, Strike finally becomes the king of his people, accepting the royal scepter and forcing his place in the hierarchy. Red-Board, meanwhile, truly devout in the old ways doesn't accept him so easily and even pushes Leah to make the ultimate sacrifice and kill herself. When that doesn't work, he intends to do the job himself.

"You are my king." ... Four words that made one hell of a scene. And probably my favorite of the entire book. Although, spitting at the feet of your king isn't necessarily a sign of submission in my mind. Alas, it works.

As the final member of the group, Sascha Ledbetter, comes into the picture, all of the pieces of the happenings twenty-four years ago come as well. Turns out, Leah and her brother, Matty, were basically at the right place at the wrong time and the god of light and darkness chose them to be his shell on earth. Matt took the darkness. Leah, the light. Both were needed to bring the god to our realm. With Matty's death, the god became trapped. And so... to set the god free, and to save the skyroad, Leah needed to die.

Despite the "impossibilities" established by the entities possessing the knowledge the Nightkeepers, desperately needed, Strike and Leah, with their people, both fail and succeed in saving the world another day. Yes, a demon is released. But so is a god. Leah doesn't die and becomes a godkeeper, a queen, and a mate.

Absolutely amazing! And how awesome is it that we are there at the very beginning of every story to come, as each Nightkeeper and winikin join together, hook up, break up, jack in, get their glyphs, and just.... become.

Three months earlier they'd been normal people, CEOs and screwups, therapists and number crunchers. Now they were magi. The were the Nightkeepers.

4 out of 5 stars.



Book 2: Nate and Alexis
Three: Michael and Sascha
Four: Lucious and Jade
Five: Brandt and Patience
Six: Dez and Reese (bounty hunter)
Seven: Sven and Cara
Eight: Rabbit and Myrinne

Books Are My Music

When it comes to music, I can leave it as easily as take it. Am I an enigma for this?

So many people "can't live without music". My husband listens to it all day at work and other members of my extended family are beyond enthralled by it.

Even Neena has an addiction to the stuff.

Not me.

Books are my music. And while there is some music that conjures indescribable levels of emotions, I get that same high from a good book. From the emotions bleeding from characters that aren't just fabled heroes on a page.

So why am I writing about this?

Because I find myself obsessed with The League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon and even now, memories come seeping into my consciousness as I read other stories or go about my daily routine. Mostly of Syn, or as I like to refer to him by his true name-Sheridan. Because yeah, he's strong enough to carry such a feminine name.

Anyway, Kenyon went the extra mile and made a playlist for each of her books. Today, I accomplished something I had considered doing ever since discovering her website all those months ago... I googled each song she'd assigned to Syn's book and now own the complete Born of Fire playlist, to which I dearly labeled: Sheridan's Synful Mix, because, yes, I'm a child of the eighties. It includes:

1. Winter Born: Cruxshadows
2. Objects in the Rear view Mirror: Meatloaf
3. Two Steps Behind: Def Leppard
4. My Last Breath: Evanescence
5. Sound of Madness: Shinedown
6. Bad Attitude: Meatloaf
7. Lips of an Angel: Hinder
8. Carnival of Rust: Poets of the Fall
9. Inject the Venom: AC/DC
10. Careless Whisper: Seether
11. Never Again: Nickelback
12. Gone Forever: Three Days Grace
13. Open Your Eyes: Lords of the New Church
14. Salvation: Five Finger Death Punch

While I was familiar with many of the bands, this was my first introduction to Poets of the Fall, and I have to say, "Carnival of Rust" is a new fave... and so very fitting for Syn and Shay.

I also grabbed up some of what I could from the playlists of Born of Night, Born of Silence, Born of Fury, and the upcoming Born of Defiance. They were dearly entitled: Nykyrian's Ballet, Darling's Sounds of Silence, Hauk's Tunes of Tribulation, and Talyn's Chants of Defiance.

Revenant (Lords of Deliverance #6)

You have my ear.

Available at Amazon.com

Revenant
Larissa Ione
Lords of Deliverance, book six
Demonica, book eleven
ebook, 400 pages
Published December 16th 2014 by Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 9781455526994

HELL HATH NO FURY

For five thousand years, Revenant believed he was alone in the world, a fallen angel beyond any redemption. Now he finds he has a twin brother who had all the light and love Revenant was denied. Caught in a tug of war between Heaven and Hell, he must weigh his thirst for revenge against his desire for a mysterious female named Blaspheme—a female whose very origins could deliver him into salvation... or destruction.

LIKE AN ANGEL SCORNED

Blaspheme has a deadly secret: she's the forbidden offspring of an angel and a fallen angel. Hunted by both heavenly and satanic forces, she has survived only by laying low and trusting no one. When Revenant claims he can save them both, how can she possibly believe him? But the powerful angel is persistence incarnate and for Blaspheme, there's no place she can hide in Heaven or Hell where he won't find her.

Abandoned to Hell. Forgotten by Heaven. Rejected by all, Revenant's memory was wiped long ago of everything he truly was and is. With Reaver's discovery of his own identity being a Radiant, and memory returned, the same was mirrored by Revenant being his twin brother. And Revenant is now going through the motions of feeling abandoned, lost, and rejected all over again.

Hell wants to control him while Heaven won't even look his way much less grant him the oh so needed audience to finally put together the pieces of what his new rank in this crazy, mixed up existence we call life means.

So Satan, soon to be the father of the reincarnated Lucifer, summons Revenant for two reasons: 1) to bring to Hell a doctor capable of assisting in Gethel's pregnancy, and 2) to bring him the head of an angel. The second of which set to damn him once and for all. For Revenant is not the Fallen Angel he always thought himself to be. He never fell from grace.

Quite different from Reaver, who fell, rose, and fell again. Then, deemed a Radiant, could no longer fall, rise, or otherwise because well, he's just beyond that.

So, living eons in Hell, Revenant has become accustomed to being tortured by his masters and, when that's not happening, screwing any female who strikes his fancy. The latest of which to do so, is the Fallen Angel disguised as a False Angel, Blaspeme-who outright rejects his ever so eloquent offer to let her suck his dick.

And being turned down by a woman is so alien a concept to Rev that he's left flabbergasted. Perplexed. And more than ready to rise to the challenge of bedding the untouchable Blaspheme.

Moonbeams and sunshine, the clouds and the seas,
All part of the many worlds I want you to see.
Fear not the unknown, nor the depths of the night,
For nothing can harm you when I hold you tight.

Being the last of the series, at least until the spin off picking up with the next generation, I expected a lot from Revenant. I expected more from the Horsemen. And as always, expectations are a big No-No.

Honestly, I liked the idea of Revenant more than Revenant himself. I was more engrossed by what he could be than what he delivered. A guy whose default form of communication was sexual innuendos and sarcasm, Revenant only succeeded in endearing me to him when he was in pain. When he was serious. When he was tormenting himself about the past and the raw deal he got from fate.

I would have liked to see more action from the Horsemen and their mates. Would have loved more Reaver and Harvester. Although we did get a teensy bit of Reaver as he and Rev sought to build a brotherly bond.

What I would have been oh so thankful for was less in the sexual come ons. Yes, it made me laugh a time or two, but too much of a good thing is definitely a bad thing. And a total turn off. When we finally got down to the actual sex, it was wild... but lacked heat.

Don't let my little checklist of negatives turn you away from this book, especially if you're familiar with the Demonica, because it is a good read and a fine compliment to the series. For me, it was the least favorite of all the Lords of the Deliverance books and sadly, that is where I leave you.

3 out of 5 stars.

Previously in the series:

Welcome, 2015

Reading goal for 2015:

The Final Prophecy (AKA Nightkeepers) by Jessica Andersen: Books 1-8

• Nightkeepers
• Dawnkeepers
• Skykeepers
• Demonkeepers
• Blood Spells
• Storm Kissed
• Magic Unchained
• Spellfire

Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter: Books 1-11

• Darkest Night
• Darkest Kiss
• Darkest Pleasure
• Darkest Whisper
• Darkest Passion
• Darkest Lie
• Darkest Secret
• Darkest Surrender
• Darkest Seduction
• Darkest Craving
• Darkest Touch

Angels of the Dark by Gena Showalter: Books 1-3

• Wicked Nights
• Beauty Awakened
• Burning Dawn

Doomsday Brethren by Shayla Black: Books 2-5

• Seduce Me In Shadow
• Possess Me At Midnight
• Entice Me At Twilight
• Embrace Me At Dawn

Sentinel Wars by Shannon K Butcher: Books 4-9

• Living Nightmare
• Blood Hunt
• Dying Wish
• Falling Blind
• Willing Sacrifice
• Binding Ties (due out in March)

and the best of all...

The League by Sherrilyn Kenyon: Books 9-10

• Born of Defiance
• Born of Betrayal