Broken (Broken) by Kelly Elliott Review

Series: Broken #1
Publish: November 17th 2013 by Kelly Elliott
Format: ebook, 354 pages
Rating: 5 / 5
Synopsis: Layton Morris and his brother Mike grew up not knowing what it would be like to live in a normal home. With no running water or electricity in their home, no parents around to protect them, they quickly learned how to survive and depend only on each other.
When a tragic accident takes Mike away from Layton, and the only other person that he ever let into his heart walked away from him, leaving his heart shattered, Layton focuses all of his time and energy into the ranch he and his brother dreamed of. He makes a vow to himself to never let love in again. The last thing Layton needed or wanted was more heartache.
Whitley Reynolds grew up in a privileged home in upstate New York. When she landed the star football player in high school no one was surprised, not even Whitley. She dreamed of a life with Roger living in New York City and happily followed him there.
The first time Roger hit her for arguing with him about a dinner party, she forgave him. The more it happened, the further Whitley withdrew from her friends and family. One fateful day things go to far. Whitley makes a promise to herself and finds the courage to do the one thing she thought she’d never be able to do.
Fleeing with her best friend Courtney, Whitley was determined to put her past behind her and start a new life in the small town of Llano, Texas, where no one would ever find out about her past.
Will they both ever learn to trust and love again, or will their pasts come back to haunt them, keeping them both alone and...
Broken.
Review:
  Kelly Elliott has an outstanding talent to create stories which are extremely sweet and steamy at the same time. Okay her books are a little bit predictable but not so much. She can create exceptional situations and can make the same situation a bit different every time giving them a novel feel, atmosphere. There is little bit of a similarity between this series and her Wanted series. Both takes place in Texas with cowboys and loveable best friends, whom stir up the events. But there are plenty of differences between them. First of all that in this book there is an older cast and has a more mature and darker topic.

  Both of the main characters have a lot of emotional and physical scars. They come from very different worlds, backgrounds still they have a similarly hard past.
  Layton’s father left him and his brother so they had to grow up really fast and only could rely on each other. If it wouldn’t be enough he lost his brother and the love of his life left him, too. While Whitley has a beautiful and good childhood but her taste in boys is not the best. The man she chooses for husband slowly turned into a monster and completely broke her. They hit rock bottom and thought there is no way out they met.

  Their first meeting is not roses and love; they are constantly at each other throat. However these little disagreements and the banter between them turn into attraction somewhere along the line. They learn to love again with each other help and thanks to this they get over the obstacles. The sexual tension and the chemistry are palpable. It’s impossible to put down the books until the two main characters confess their feelings and take the road to emotional healing.

  The plot is built typically in Kelly Elliott style, makes a full circle. It’s a fluidly flowing story that sucks the reader in completely. It’s full of romance, amusing little events, emotional debates and a lot of pleasant moments in the company of a freshly formed circle of friends. Of course there is a lot of drama and a bad guy too. The author not only endears her characters but makes the reader an addict. I can’t wait to read the next book, however not because of Courtney and Reed but because I hope there is more Layton and Whitley in it too. Courtney and Reed behavior with each other makes it hard to like them.

  About the cast? There is an extremely sexy cowboy, who is a bit closed up in the beginning but slowly opens up and shows his true personality. He is really passionate, caring and sweet and all of this without losing his masculinity. I couldn’t help myself; I constantly smiled during reading his point of view.
  Then there is Whitley who is the perfect damsel in distress, but still a very strong and persistent character. She is really honest and loveable; it’s easy to relate to her.
  We also get a very detailed description about the secondary characters too. And they are the levers for the main characters, whom on the edge of giving up in the beginning of the story. Despite this Courtney and Reed couldn’t get along, in each other presence they act like completely different persons and most of time it’s an ugly change. I know it supposed to prepare their story but it’s not really appealing.

  I absolutely love this book and hope there are a lot of people who agree with me. A fantastic story, I can recommend it to anyone who likes light romantic books.

By Viki

Firebolt (The Dragonian) by Adrienne Woods Review

Series: The Dragonian #1
Publish: September 19th 2014 by Fire Quill
Format: ebook, 394 pages
Rating: 5 / 4
Synopsis: Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year old Elena Watkins was no different.
Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.
Now Elena’s in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a Prince wants Elena’s heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh. And the only way Elena’s going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales. Now it’s time for Elena to believe – in herself.
Review:
  I’m not much of a fun of books about dragons, but the beautiful cover and the synopsis got my attention. The story’s not really what I was expecting, it was even better.

  I was expecting a medieval setting, instead we get world that is a more advanced but still full of magic and fairytale like creatures. It is a beautiful and colorful world, perfect for the mysteries and excitement the book presents. The author writing style is great and the story flows easily. The whole installment narrated by Elena who is new to this magical place so we experience every little detail alongside with her. Her reactions and emotions come through spectacularly. It’s strange how easily magic and technology work together in Paegeia, but if we break down the story, the bare core of it a simply fairytale where the heroic prince who saves the day is replaced with Elena.

  Beside the beautiful world the book has a fantastic cast, too. Elena, the heroine, has no clue about magic and dragons so everything is quite a shock to her. The acceptance comes slow and hard and however much hers is the most realistic reaction I ever read about, sometimes she acts so dumb and infuriatingly hysteric. Then in no time she accommodates to her new life and genuinely tries to understand her new surroundings. That is until the first hardship, when she returns to the dumb, hysteric girl from the beginning of the book, some instance she even acts as a brat. So even if she portrays the most realistic reaction from someone who just finds out about the supernatural world I was expecting a stronger and more resilient main character.
  Becky and Sam, her room-mates personalities aren’t constant trough the story. My first impression about Becky was that she is a quirky, scatter-brained, mouthy and more of a laid back person, later she shows a more badass but also entitled side of herself. Sam transforms from strong and free-spoken to a skittish and gentler character. But they have a really strong friendship and they quickly include Elena in it, too. They are also extremely loyal, understanding and have a rebel spirit. Then there is Lucian, the quintessential prince charming with more determination and stubbornness than anyone. He is a stereotype through and through. I wasn’t too happy about his advances but as my other reviews show I usually like the dark ones.
  Blake stays an enigma and acts like somebody with multiple personalities. There are also a lot of interesting secondary characters, whom add to the book complexity.

  I have two big problems with the story. One is the pacing or at least the pacing of Elena change. In the first ¾ of the book she struggles to adjust to her new life then in a blink of an eye she starts to plan her grandiose world saving mission. It’s too fast change for my taste. The other is a minor detail which is the fact that a lot of “mystery” or secret is really obvious and predictable. You can guess almost everything from the clouded stories if you play attention. Unfortunately it has the potential to ruin the further books. So I’m hoping for a twist in the installment.

  Despite the little kinks I really enjoyed the story. It is well constructed, exciting, interesting and has a little bit of everything a fantastic fairytale needs. Looking forward to Thunderlight.

By Viki

Spun (Kings of Chaos) by Shyla Colt Review

Series: Kings of Chaos #1
Publish: April 12th 2015 by Hot Ink Press
Format: ebook, ? pages
Rating: 5 / 3.5
Synopsis: Born to a King of Chaos patch holder with a case of wanderlust and a self-centered mother, twenty-one-year-old Nevada Weber is used to taking care of herself. She's spent her life skating by on her wits and pure determination. When she lands in a situation, she can’t haggle her way out of, she’s forced to rely on another brother for help.
Club enforcer Gage “Wizard” Carmody has done his job too well over the years. Icy and numb on the inside, he walks around in a prison of his making. When the bright green-eyed girl he helped raise winds up unclaimed and in need of protection he steps in seeking redemption. In a life where destruction lurks around the corner, they discover something with the potential to bring healing and happiness.
But when you live in Chaos nothing goes as planned.
Review:
  I randomly choose this book from my TBR list without rereading the synopsis and since I couldn’t remember it I ‘went in’ kind of blind. I even was contemplating to abandon it after it became obvious that there is a huge age difference between the main characters. I can tolerate a lot of gruesome thing in books but for some reason I don’t like books where is a huge age gap between the characters in a relationship, especially one where they could be parent-child and the older character helped raise the other since birth. That’s my limit. However this book has a really great writing style and the story sucked me in from the beginning so I continued. I didn’t regret it.

  The book has a very good structure and the story flow fluidly. It’s kind of short but it spans in a sufficiently long time. There is a bit jumping in the timeline but way it’s go by in it just makes the story more believable, more realistic and not as insta that in other similar stories.
  The book is narrated from two different points of view. We see thing from Nevada and Wizard side, too.

  Nevada is 21-years-old but has an old soul. She had a lot of hardship while growing up so she is a pro survivor but besides surviving she doesn’t do much else. She’s not living just existing or as she states in multiple occasions she floats through life. It’s hard for her to trust in anybody or even just enjoy herself. But she has a clear picture about life and a quite different personality under the hard, quiet and shy outer shell she formed around herself. It’s time for happiness. Oh, and I think she is the first character who doesn’t make a fit about how ‘her man’ treats her, she knows her place. Don’t get me wrong I don’t agree the way they treat woman in MC books, but if you willingly enter a relationship like that then don’t whine about it.
  Wizard is older than Nevy and known her form birth. He also had to grow up fast and had a hard and unusual childhood, but he found a family with the club. He is quite levelheaded, respectful and reasonable but also has a harder, scarier and more dangerous side he needs when dealing with club business. He is not a saint but not too bad after you get to know him.

  My only problem is that I think the story has a lot more potential in it than the author used up. It could have been more detailed. I also think that the ending is rushed.
  There is plenty of action, emotion and twist and my heart almost break a couple of time.

  I liked the, it gone full circle, has a beginning and a satisfying ending but still short. I liked how it relays emotions in times it’s almost palpable. It’s an MC book but not that harsh and crude than others. I think I’m gonna check the author other works, too.

By Viki

UnTouch Me (Angels Warriors MC Trilogy) by Dawn Martens Review

Series: Angels Warriors MC Trilogy #2
Publish: April 20th 2015 by Dawn Martens
Format: ebook, 220 pages
Rating: 5 / 4
Synopsis: The truth always comes out, no matter how deep you try to bury it. Secrets never make their way to the grave.
Lilly Mayer has always lived a simple life. She’s loyal—maybe too loyal since faithfulness cost her the love of her life. Keeping Eden’s whereabouts a secret from everyone, including Vinny, has ripped away Lilly’s future.
Vincent “Zippo” Torino knows he’s a goddamn bastard. And he’s willing to use Lilly’s loyalty to Eden as his own escape from a hell he created. He doesn’t give a damn that he’s leaving the woman pregnant with his child behind—not when he has to protect his own destructive secret. And not when he’s sure she’s going to beat him to the punch and leave first.
As the dangers to the club escalate, nobody’s hearts—or lives—are safe.
Review:
  I absolutely love Dawn Martens’ books. However the first book in this series was a huge disappointment for me. That’s why I was a bit reluctant to read this one, but with the way the first book ended I couldn’t help myself.

  Fortunately the structure of UnTouch me is so much better than UnKiss me, that purely this gave the story a better chance in my book. It has a clear timeline with a couple of well placed glance in the past here and there, but the most positive difference that it has a preceptible beginning and a more or less clean ending. Still has a cliffhanger but at least it’s feasible. This is what I was missing from the first book the clear, follow able and logical timeline.
  Sure there are still things bugging me but it would be strange if all of the books I read ended the way I want them.

  This story is told from different characters point of view but the books strongly intertwine with one another. We get to know Lilly and Zippo story but the conflict from the previous book starts to unfold on another thread, too. I like that we get some kind of explanation for things that happened, even if it’s not a full one, yet. Most of these connecting events are surprising and not even remotely predictable.

  Lilly and Zippo’s story is kind of heartbreaking and depressing. Honestly the characters in this series have a really twisted, screwed up values. All they do are making stupid mistakes and decisions. As in the first book with Eden and Angel, now with Lilly and Zippo the secrets rule and eventually destroy their relationship.
  I don’t want to rant about their screw ups because then my review would be full of spoilers and I don’t want that, but let me tell you this Zippo reasoning simply pissed me off. He has extremely strong double standards and in times even act disgustingly. More importantly he doesn’t have a remotely justifiable reason for his actions, like Angel has, other than being a prick.
  Lilly is kind of naïve, a bit too forgiving but loyal to a fault. Her loyalty causes her a lot of grief. In my opinion she deserves better than Zippo, but love is blind.

  Overall this book is much better than the first installment. It’s of heartbreaking emotions and drama with better structure for it. I liked it and it’s more like Dawn Martens other works.
  The way she lined up the stores in the series is a new idea, and it’s good when authors try new thing out but it’s not working, for me at least. In this genre I like when the story is clean cut.
  I hoping for a happy ending, and a triple one at that, in the next book and I’m quite curious about the mysterious ‘Unknown’ characters’ identity so I’m gonna read the next book and I hope the next story is going to be more like this one than the first.

  Oh and the cover is freaking amazing.

By Viki

Yield the Night (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #3
Publish: March 27th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 278 pages
Rating: 5 / 5
Synopsis: After surviving a round-trip to hell, Piper figures she can survive anything. After all, she just lived through the devastating loss of her Consul apprenticeship and a torturous stint at boarding school. How much worse could it get?
Well, she wasn’t expecting a group of crazy radicals to burn her home to the ground and take her prisoner.
The Gaians, a.k.a. the crazy radicals, plan to rid Earth of daemons and they need Piper’s help. In exchange for her cooperation, they promise her the answer to all her problems: magic. With her own magic, she could reclaim her apprenticeship, the only future she’s ever wanted. But her magic comes at price — it could kill her.
With the life she’s always known crumbling around her and her future slipping from her grasp, she needs Ash’s help one more time. But the greatest danger of all lies within her, and no matter what she does, she may lose everything — including him.
Review:
  The story starts a couple of months after where Bind the soul ended and as the previous books, starts with a dose of disappointment for Piper and quite a much action.

  We know the Gaians from Chase the dark and now they are back. Let me tell you Piper didn’t luck out in the parent department. With an emotionless, workaholic dad and a mother with a childlike delusion and a naivety what leads to overly grandiose and misplaced plans of world domination, it’s a miracle Piper hasn’t got a few screw loose. Okay as Piper states in the story to the Gaians have a couple of great idea but they also portray it through notions similar to the ones that led to the Third World War in their history. They also want to squash everything they don’t know or fear, even if they don’t have a chance. This part is typical in dystopian stories and I really don’t like it, so it’s true for the Gaians too. What pissed me of even more was Piper’s mother’s willingness to sacrifice her so called ‘destined to be together’ daughter. Unfortunately their angle doesn’t get a solution so I think they going to cause more problems.
  In the story we see into the Overworld, so we get to know all the planes there are in this magical world. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions about the places our heroes visit.
  After a while our trio reunites and their dynamic is back but not as intensely as in the first book and there is a couple of reasons for that.
  Piper is more confident in herself but her life turns so complicated through the course previous installments that her emotional stability becomes questionable. There are much more emotion in this story but is works spectacularly. We find fewer action scenes but a lot of answers for unanswered questions. Again a completely different atmosphere.
  Piper and Ash relationship reaches its peak and finally blooms, not with the best conclusion but they are so cute together its melt the heart. There is still hope for their happy ending.
  Ash’s sister is the biggest obstacle between them. She is really mean, manipulative and more like Samael than Ash wants to admit. As Piper states it they don’t know each other as much as they think, at least Ash still sees the little girl she once was. I hated her especially the way she tried to chase Piper away. She usually strikes where it hurts the most, breaking Piper even more with every jab.

  There is a lot of beautiful scenarios and otherworldly being in this book what proves the author has a really colorful imagination.
  This story isn’t that fast paced and has a little less action but its emotional depth gives that little plus I was missing in the previous books, thanks to this I gave it a 5.
  Originally I thought it’s going to be the last book in the series but it quickly became obvious that it’s not. I don’t really mind that there is gonna be a fourth book but I think Ash and Piper deserve a HEA especially after how this one ended. I’m curious about the next story since we already got three books with completely different undertone but the same plot thread.

By Viki

Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #2
Publish: January 9th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4
Synopsis: The most important rule for an Apprentice Consul is simple: Don't get involved with daemons. Well, Piper is planning to break that rule — big time.
After a near-deadly scandal with the Sahar Stone, she has the chance to return to the only life she's ever wanted. All she has to do to keep her Apprenticeship is forget about Ash and Lyre. Ash might be enigmatic and notoriously lethal, and Lyre might be as sinfully irresistible as he is irritating, but they’re not bad for a couple of daemons.
There's just one problem: Ash is missing.
Really, she shouldn't risk her future for him. He lied. He betrayed her. But he also saved her life, damn it. Wherever he is, he's in trouble, and if she doesn't save his sorry butt, who will? But with every dangerous secret she unravels, each one darker than the last, she slips deeper into Ash's world — a world with no escape for either of them.
Review:
  I loved the first book so I purchased the second and third installment in the series as soon as possible. The author doesn’t disappoint in this book either. However in the second story she shows us another side of the world she built. In Chase the dark we see how the Earth side of things work while Bind the soul plays mostly on the Underworld’ side. Or more like in a little pocket of it.

  The story starts with Piper and Lyre desperate search for Ash, whom wellbeing they worry about quite much. So our favorite trio is not together, what stays a common motive through the book. Actually it’s more like a Piper only mission. Sure Ash and Lyre show up here and there but until the last third of the book they don’t have much of a role. In this story there are a lot more dark elements than in the previous one. We get a glimpse how Ash grows up through Piper hardships, and thanks to this can understand a little better. Since the whole story is narrated from Piper point of view so it’s helps a lot to understand and relate to other characters.
  The story is not as fast paced either but has plenty of actions and complications enough to keep the reader’s attention. Piper is still struggling with her lack of magic and her father changed a bit either so he is no help at all. The fact that she gets a lot of new information about her dual magic and her capability to wield the Sahar stone just makes her work harder. So it’s safe to say she didn’t get more confident and content with what she has. Samael torture just gets her spirit lower and lower in a short period of time. Fortunately she is really stubborn and feels a deep loyalty toward Ash what helps her fight back. Before that in her desperation she shows her uglier and more manipulative side, too. Even her naivety shows, mainly toward daemons or mostly Mysis. However he bursts her bubble relatively fast. What I really liked were the subtle but noticeable romantic notions between Piper and Ash. These little scenes are quite cute, pure and honest but both of them try to deny them. There are still a lot of things they have to work out in that department.
  While Lyre doesn’t have a substantial role in the story, Ash is present quiet much. Although he truly feels like a secondary character some of the times. As I mentioned earlier we get an explanation about his actions and guarded personality. It also turns out that he is really honorable and would be a spectacular leader. On the other hand the connection between him and Piper that formed in the first installment starts to show more and more, you can clearly see how it gets stronger and how much trust he lies with Piper.
  There are a couple of new characters too but I don’t think either of them would be good. I had hopes for Mysis after his initial introduction but it turned out real fast how manipulative, condescending and power hungry truly is he.

  Overall this book has a completely different undertone than the first; I think it’s admirable ho the writer created an entirely different atmosphere with the same world, topic and cast. There is a lot of good, funny, heartbreaking and action packed part in it and I really liked it. I was hoping for a bit more positive or happier ending than we got. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki

Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels) by Anne Bishop Review

Series: The Black Jewels #1
Publish: March 1st 1998 by Roc
Format: ebook, 416 pages
Rating: 5 / 4
Synopsis: The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal...and the destiny of an entire world is at stake....
Review:
  I usually read books that are recently released, but some of the times I find little jewels from the past like this one, most of the time they are high fantasy and quite edgy. I found this book after finishing Murderer of crows, one of the authors other books. I really liked her style so I searched for her other works and I got The Black Jewels series.

  Anne Bishop has a unique talent to create interesting and original worlds for her stories and she did it with this book to. Although in this case we get an extremely complicated and dark world and it takes quite a while to really get an understanding about how the society works. So you don’t get a clear picture about the structure of it until almost the end of the book and even then you only see the life of the higher ups in the hierarchy. It’s an amazing world but incredibly deprived and most of the time disgusting. During reading it I often thought that there isn’t as many pervert, ugly and abusive people in the whole world as in this book. Even so I just couldn’t stop reading it. The story simply sucked me in and it was impossible to stop reading it. I can’t call the story beautiful because there is too much graphic negativity in it but it’s certainly fascinating and well developed. There is so much sexuality in it, savagely and vividly described but in case of the more crude words Bishop uses symbolism.
  The whole story is built around a really twisted, pleasure based politics but not the good kind of pleasure. They use it as a punishment, and all of the leaders have a sadistic, pervert and arrogant personality, so in my opinion their world is doomed.
  One of the strangest thing about it, that despite the fact that the story’s told from a couple point of view, maybe even from too many, but neither of them is Jaenelle side, yet we get a full picture. We don’t get into her head so it’s harder to connect with her but with a bit of persistence you got there. It’s a new solution at least for me, and I think it’s harder this way to give a balanced and complete story. Well the author executed it perfectly. So yeah, maybe there is a couple of unnecessary point of view in there which makes it feel like that the story has too much different angle, but as I mentioned previously in the end the writer balanced it out perfectly. But it’s true in the beginning this kind of multi- leveled plot makes hard to follow the storyline.

  Daughter of blood is a quite long book and covers a relatively long period of time, namely years if I remember correctly. Overall I would say that the whole first book of the series is about character introduction and world building, but there is a little bit action too.
  However I had a serious problem with it. There is a list of jewels and a short description about some of the titles in story, but honestly a world map or even just a detailed characterization about the people from different realms would have helped more in regard of following and understanding the story. It’s a minor oversight on the writer part.
  Thanks to the multiple POV there is a lot of important character. Almost all of them is dark, intense, and original and has a strong presence. Sure some of them are terribly arrogant and power hungry but the main characters still loveable despite their shortcomings. My favorite was Daemon with even with his cruel and mean moments. I think he has perfectly justifiable reasons for his actions. I think I would have loved Lucivar too, but unfortunately he has a really short appearance and in the end his accusations pissed me of.
  I surprisingly liked the book. It’s very well done even more so since this was the author debut novel. But I have to mention that you need a really strong and resilient mind if you want to read it since there are a lot of taboo and cringe worthy elements in it. The story is very dark, savage and harsh. The writer is extremely talented and has a twisted imagination, but I like her style. I’m certainly going to read the next book.

By Viki

Chase the Dark (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #1
Publish: October 17th 2014 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4.5
Synopsis: Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are precisely three obstacles in her way.
The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?
The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.
And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.
Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons... See problems one and two.
Review:
  This is the first book from the author that I read so I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially since the synopsis kind of suggests a story that starts in the middle of the action. And it’s really starts with a BANG but not like you would expect. First we get a proper introduction of the more important characters and the world.

  For one I think the slightly dystopian setting is a bit misplaced here because it hasn’t got much of an importance in regard of the story, but helps to explain the new world structure, so can be believable. And I actually liked how the author justified some elements in her story.
  It plays a bit further future from us and a lot of things could be possible she described about their history, at least the non supernatural part of it.
  The story itself quite fast paced and full of action and a bit of humor. We get to know about the structure of the society, how things work and actually it’s easy to understand and follow. Oh, also the way how the people and the government relate to daemon kind is believable. The existing hierarchy, however much it’s infuriates people, is more realistic as it is than it would be otherwise.

  To this exciting story the fantastic characters add a decidedly positive flare.
  Piper is a strong, determined and badass character, who works extra hard to satisfy others expectations, however much it is a losing battle. She has the shortcomings, mainly her blind yearning for magic. She thinks being able to wild magic would be the solution of all her problems and because of this she makes a couple of stupid mistakes and has a few self-pitying session. Those are her more pathetic moments. But I think she is extremely strong and admirable since she still can stand her own without magic. I like it about her. She is quite resourceful when it needed, not as overconfident and judgmental than other prefects and haemons. Thanks to this she forms a freaking amazing team with Ash and Lyre. I loved the dynamic and interactions between the three of them. I just hope that the budding love triangle gets nipped before it has time to really bloom. I don’t like love triangles. Her relationship with her father, who is the main source of her disappointments, is really heartbreaking. But after things she done to save and please him, he doesn’t deserve her attention anymore.
  Lyre is the team ‘peacekeeper’. He is an incubus and tries to lighten the mood in the hard moments which they have quite a lot. He is loyal to Ash but I think, he has a soft spot and feelings for Piper. Doesn’t really have a lot of chance thanks to the girl love history but certainly tries a lot. He is the light to Ash’s dark, they are like completely opposites in almost everything, in appearance and personality, but here and there we see his darker side, too. I like him but he is more like an overprotective and annoying older brother, than a love interest.
  Ash is the brooding, dark star. He is really strong, powerful and has a real understanding about how things go and what’s right but you can feel that he carries an enormous burden. The source of this however stays a mystery; it’s his upbringing, loyalties, his true form or even his past actions. We don’t really get to know. He does a lot of questionable things but doesn’t ask for permission or forgiveness, he is sure of himself and stands beside what he believes in, be it right or wrong.
  I am rooting for him in the love interest department since in this kind of books I like the brooding and dark types, the bad boys.

  After a while the bad guys’ identity becomes quite obvious. There are a lot of good scenes in the book and it flows so fluidly I couldn’t put it down, finished it in no time. I absolutely loved Piper fighting scenes in the ring and in the end of the story, too. She proves herself time and time again, it becomes obvious that she is good and stands a chance in the daemon world, even without magic, but unfortunately her hype doesn’t last long. I hope in the next book she gains a little bit of confidence. I loved the book and can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki

Infinity Bell (House Immortal) by Devon Monk Review

Series: House Immortal #2
Publish: March 3rd 2015 by Roc
Format: ebook, 368 pages
Rating: 5 / 4.5
Synopsis: Matilda Case isn’t normal. Normal people aren’t stitched together, inhumanly strong, and ageless, as she and the other galvanized are. Normal people’s bodies don’t hold the secret to immortality—something the powerful Houses will kill to possess. And normal people don’t know that they’re going to die in a few days.
Matilda’s fight to protect the people she loves triggered a chaotic war between the Houses and shattered the world’s peace. On the run, she must find a way to stop the repeat of the ancient time experiment that gifted her and the other galvanized with immortality. Because this time, it will destroy her and everything she holds dear.
Caught in a cat-and-mouse game of lies, betrayal, and unseen foes, Matilda must fight to save the world from utter destruction. But time itself is her enemy, and every second brings her one step closer to disaster....
Review:
  After getting over the minor gross details in House Immortal I got sucked into the series, so it wasn't even a question to read the second book. Especially after the cliffhanger. We get a wider picture of the original and quite complex world the story played in. There is a lot of new element in this book and is really exiting, too mainly because it doesn't spend that much time explaining the world mechanics. However I still think that it wouldn't be a functional world structure but that dosen't important in case of the book.

  The wonderful cast returned and there are a coule of new character, too. Matilda is still a really strong and badass heroine dispite the fact that she lived a really sheltered life. Her character developes in some regard, but we get to know her more naive side too. Especially when it's about his brother. She wants to protect the people and its good but her blind faith in Quinten is ine of her stupidest mistake. However at the end she starts to think for herself and that is a positive inprovement. Her relationship with Abraham blooms in this story, not in tha space I expected and after the last chapter of the book I have serious doubts about their future. My heart broke for her, but still hope for a happy ending.
  Abraham didn't change a bit, but we get to know a bit more about his real personality. He proves time and time again that he is a true leader, but not a uppity. Dispite this he still stays a mystery, and don't even start with his change in the end.
  For me this book is not perfect because of Quinten, I absolutly hated him. He is one of the most megalomanic and even egoistic character I ever read about. He was supposed to be so smart but didn't think that if you change a monumental event in the past the present will completly change. Oh and he even blamed Matilda for a lot of things, he didn't have a right. In Matilda place I would have leaved him behind.

  The cliffhanger in the end simply killed me and broke my heart. I really looking forward the next book and hope for the best. I think the author built a fantatic world and impressed me with her uniqe idea, made me thinking of trying her other series again.

By Viki

Until July (Until Her) by Aurora Rose Reynolds Review

Series: Until Her #1
Publish: April 13th 2015 by Aurora Rose Reynolds
Format: ebook, 215 pages
Rating: 5 / 3.5
Synopsis: Wes Silver wasn’t looking for love, but when July Mayson literally knocks him on his ass during their first encounter, his world is turned upside down by the quirky blonde, and every moment with her makes him more determined to protect her.
July Mayson doesn’t understand the pull she feels toward the bad boy biker Wes Silver, but she knows being with him is like nothing she’s ever felt before. Now all she has to do is tell her overprotective father, Asher Mayson, that she’s found her boom.
Review:
  I absolutely loved Aurora Rose Reynolds's other books, and I was really happy when I found out that her Until series gets not one but two spin off serieses. Oh and after I read the expert from Until July I was sure I was going to love this book too. Unfortunatley I was a bit dissapointed. Her writing style was still the same but I was expecteng more from the story than I got.

  First there was the fact that the MC world and the way how the Maysons view the world and what's right and wahts not is not exactly goes together. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of similarities between the two 'lifestyle' for example the 'alpha maleness' or the hot temper. Still somehow it didn't feel right, how they found the same page. And usually both life styles really strong on their own I felt that either of them got developed well enough in this story. It was a bit lacking from both sides. I could get over this but honestly I was expecting a little bit more exitement and action from the story.

  July was generally a likeable character but not my favorite. She had her funny momnets and had a really soft heart but this clashed with her so called temper I couldn't find anywhere, oh and i felt she had no will power whatsoever. In the beginning of the book every time there was a conflict point Wes just went near her and she forgot why was she angry or disappointed and so and so. The end result was good but I still didn't like this trait of hers.
  Wes was the typical alpha male, even more protective and secretive than the previous generation of the Mayson boys. Sometimes his behavior simply pissed me off, but his bad boy charm and good looks made it possible to overlook his bad traits. I like the alpha males in books so for me it was a bonus point.
  We got to know a lot of new character thanks to Wes but not so deeply than I would have liked an for my greatest dissapointment the Mayson clan presens wasn't as constant either. Well, they're going get their own book but still.

  Overall, I liked the book but I think it could have been better, still congrats for the author. The next book is going to be Jax's and I can't wait. The short description of the other Mayson girls I already know the June's and April's story will be my favorite.
  Those who liked the original Until series going to live ths to, those who didn'r read it yet I recommend reiding that first, it's hard enough to follow the family tree after reading it. ;)

By Viki