Kit Rocha's Beyond series is a post apocalyptic dystopian series where after the apocalypse the world is split into sectors where each one is pretty different. Think the Hunger Games without the explicit child abuse but with a hard pornographic edge. The entire series is EXTREMELY adult content and features sexual relationships in a variety of configurations, voyeurism, and BDSM. There is no real info dumping so you glean information about the world and culture around the characters as you go through the stories. Personally I tend to prefer that approach, but if you are the sort of person who needs more background at the start, then this is probably not the series for you.
I sat down and devoured the entire series in a couple of days so I am just going to post all the reviews on this one post.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Seth (Cyborgs: More Than Machines #5)
Seth (Cyborgs: More Than Machines #5)
by Eve Langlais
This is the fifth book in Eve Langlais Cyborgs series, which chronicles the adventures and the relationships of cyborgs who became self aware and revolted from the humans.
Seth is a cybernetic spy model, as is his wife. This means they not only seem more human, but they also have retained more of their human memories.The book wasn't quite what I was expecting. The tone differed dramatically from every other book in this series. I also didn't enjoy the infidelity angle, though I appreciate that Langlais didn't leave one of them faithful as it made it slightly more palatable. Overall it was enjoyable, but I expected more from Seth's story.
by Eve Langlais
This is the fifth book in Eve Langlais Cyborgs series, which chronicles the adventures and the relationships of cyborgs who became self aware and revolted from the humans.
Seth is a cybernetic spy model, as is his wife. This means they not only seem more human, but they also have retained more of their human memories.The book wasn't quite what I was expecting. The tone differed dramatically from every other book in this series. I also didn't enjoy the infidelity angle, though I appreciate that Langlais didn't leave one of them faithful as it made it slightly more palatable. Overall it was enjoyable, but I expected more from Seth's story.
Wild Wolf
Wild Wolf (Shifters Unbound #6)
by Jennifer Ashley
"Twenty years ago, shape shifters of all kinds banded together and announced themselves to the world, only to be shunted to areas no human wanted ("Shiftertowns"). They are forced to wear Collars that control their hunting and fighting instincts (referred to by Shifters as "Taking the Collar")."
Graham is an alpha wolf shifter and Misty is a human florist. Much like the rest of this series there is a strong sexual element to this book, and that part of their relationship is quite compatible. The rest of their relationship didn't quite work as well for me until the very end, but it wasn't bad.
This series has some pretty nice world building and it is completely in keeping with the human race that if people came out as so wildly different, governments would set up concentration camps for them. Up until this point however, the books have mostly been character and relationship driven. This appears to be the point where the story is becoming more story arc and world event driven. It wasn't badly done, and this seems to be a common theme in longer running series, but that isn't always my favorite part of the story.
by Jennifer Ashley
"Twenty years ago, shape shifters of all kinds banded together and announced themselves to the world, only to be shunted to areas no human wanted ("Shiftertowns"). They are forced to wear Collars that control their hunting and fighting instincts (referred to by Shifters as "Taking the Collar")."
Graham is an alpha wolf shifter and Misty is a human florist. Much like the rest of this series there is a strong sexual element to this book, and that part of their relationship is quite compatible. The rest of their relationship didn't quite work as well for me until the very end, but it wasn't bad.
This series has some pretty nice world building and it is completely in keeping with the human race that if people came out as so wildly different, governments would set up concentration camps for them. Up until this point however, the books have mostly been character and relationship driven. This appears to be the point where the story is becoming more story arc and world event driven. It wasn't badly done, and this seems to be a common theme in longer running series, but that isn't always my favorite part of the story.
The Arrangement
The Arrangement (The Survivors' Club #2)
by Mary Balogh
This is the third of the seven stories of six men and one woman, all severely wounded in one way or another during the Napoleonic Wars before ending up convalescing together at the home of the Duke of Stanbrook.
It took a me a little bit to write this review because while I knew I liked it very much, I had trouble parsing precisely why I did.
The blind viscount Vincent Hunt has run away from home to escape his family's matchmaking attempts only to land himself within the reach of a grasping family's matrimonial schemes. So when Sophia Fry (the mouse) rescues him and thus loses her home, he decides to marry her.
I think what I liked about this book was that they were both so needy and so concerned about whether or not they could make a good spouse for the other. And there is something terribly touching about two sweet and dependent people working so very hard to shore the other up and make them less dependent. Most books you read are about how at least one of the main characters just can't survive, thrive, or live without the other that it is nice to see ones who know very well they can, but chose love and stay together.
by Mary Balogh
This is the third of the seven stories of six men and one woman, all severely wounded in one way or another during the Napoleonic Wars before ending up convalescing together at the home of the Duke of Stanbrook.
It took a me a little bit to write this review because while I knew I liked it very much, I had trouble parsing precisely why I did.
The blind viscount Vincent Hunt has run away from home to escape his family's matchmaking attempts only to land himself within the reach of a grasping family's matrimonial schemes. So when Sophia Fry (the mouse) rescues him and thus loses her home, he decides to marry her.
I think what I liked about this book was that they were both so needy and so concerned about whether or not they could make a good spouse for the other. And there is something terribly touching about two sweet and dependent people working so very hard to shore the other up and make them less dependent. Most books you read are about how at least one of the main characters just can't survive, thrive, or live without the other that it is nice to see ones who know very well they can, but chose love and stay together.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Escape
The Escape (The Survivors' Club #3)
by Mary Balogh
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third of the seven stories of six men and one woman, all severely wounded in one way or another during the Napoleonic Wars before ending up convalescing together at the home of the Duke of Stanbrook.
by Mary Balogh
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third of the seven stories of six men and one woman, all severely wounded in one way or another during the Napoleonic Wars before ending up convalescing together at the home of the Duke of Stanbrook.
The Escape is a story about journey's, a journey to a place, but also a journey through loss and grief and acceptance to joy. A journey where at the end a person can say of themselves "I am as I am."
This is also a story with a great deal of introspection, a story where the hero and heroine work slowly through their issues. So this isn't a fast paced or even an exciting book, it isn't a book that just invites you to settle in for a lovely stroll, it absolutely requires it. For me, as with most books, I jumped in expecting a whirlwind that would whip me off my feet and into my imagination, and that isn't the tactic this book takes. But, once I settled in to the slower pace I found the story to be lovely. The settings and the emotions were vivid. The characters had real emotional baggage and their thoughts, actions and feelings seemed to accurately portray them. The characters also held very true to their own personalities and motivations as they changed and grew. I cared about Benedict and Samantha, I cared about their relationship and their resolution, and better their changes and resolutions actually made absolute sense with the story that was told, which seems to be a fairly rare trait now.
Overall I give this book 4 stars and I will be looking into the rest of the series.
Overall I give this book 4 stars and I will be looking into the rest of the series.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Against the Cage
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Against the Cage (Worth the Fight #1)by Sidney Halston (Goodreads Author)
In her Loveswept debut, Sidney Halston turns up the heat as a sexy cage fighter shows a former bookworm how delicious a few rounds between the sheets can be.
For Chrissy Martin, returning to her Florida hometown always seems to bring bad luck. The day starts with a breakup text, followed by a jailhouse phone call from her troublemaker brother. Now a routine traffic stop has ended with her accidentally punching an officer . . . in a delicate place. Then Chrissy realizes that the hot cop on the receiving end of her right hook is none other than the man from her teenage fantasies.
Jack Daniels knows how to take a hit. After all, when he’s not chasing reckless drivers, he’s kicking ass in a mixed martial arts ring. So what takes his breath away isn’t the low blow, but the woman who dealt it: a gorgeous knockout with legs Jack wouldn’t mind being pinned under—who just so happens to be his best friend’s nerdy little sister, all grown up. Soon their instant chemistry leads to a sizzling affair, but Jack and Chrissy are fighting an uphill battle if they want to make love last beyond the final bell.
Against the Cage is mostly a pretty humorous book. The two main characters have quite a bit of history together so the relationship progresses rapidly. The plot mainly revolves around the heroe's fighting and the heroine's opinion about his MMA fighting, as well as her opinion about her brother's fighting (both in the cage and out), so it looks like this will be a series similar to Lori Foster's SBC fighters series. This looks like the author's debut to publishing, and as such she did a bang up job. There were a few instances where the heroine's mood was a bit bipolar, and a few spelling and grammatical issues like "you're" for "your" but overall it was an interesting story with engaging characters. The set up for future characters and future books was intriguing without detracting from the current story and I look forward to the rest of the series.
Against the Cage (Worth the Fight #1)by Sidney Halston (Goodreads Author)
In her Loveswept debut, Sidney Halston turns up the heat as a sexy cage fighter shows a former bookworm how delicious a few rounds between the sheets can be.
For Chrissy Martin, returning to her Florida hometown always seems to bring bad luck. The day starts with a breakup text, followed by a jailhouse phone call from her troublemaker brother. Now a routine traffic stop has ended with her accidentally punching an officer . . . in a delicate place. Then Chrissy realizes that the hot cop on the receiving end of her right hook is none other than the man from her teenage fantasies.
Jack Daniels knows how to take a hit. After all, when he’s not chasing reckless drivers, he’s kicking ass in a mixed martial arts ring. So what takes his breath away isn’t the low blow, but the woman who dealt it: a gorgeous knockout with legs Jack wouldn’t mind being pinned under—who just so happens to be his best friend’s nerdy little sister, all grown up. Soon their instant chemistry leads to a sizzling affair, but Jack and Chrissy are fighting an uphill battle if they want to make love last beyond the final bell.
Against the Cage is mostly a pretty humorous book. The two main characters have quite a bit of history together so the relationship progresses rapidly. The plot mainly revolves around the heroe's fighting and the heroine's opinion about his MMA fighting, as well as her opinion about her brother's fighting (both in the cage and out), so it looks like this will be a series similar to Lori Foster's SBC fighters series. This looks like the author's debut to publishing, and as such she did a bang up job. There were a few instances where the heroine's mood was a bit bipolar, and a few spelling and grammatical issues like "you're" for "your" but overall it was an interesting story with engaging characters. The set up for future characters and future books was intriguing without detracting from the current story and I look forward to the rest of the series.
Alpha's After Dark
Alphas After Dark (Takhini Shifters #1)
by Vivian Arend, Deanna Chase, Marie Hall, M. Malone, Crista McHugh, Roxie Rivera, Kit Rocha, Mimi Strong, S.M. Reine
I like picking up anthologies and bundles because they are an economical way to introduce myself to new authors and find new series to read. I picked this one up specifically for Vivien Arend's Copper King.
by Vivian Arend, Deanna Chase, Marie Hall, M. Malone, Crista McHugh, Roxie Rivera, Kit Rocha, Mimi Strong, S.M. Reine
I like picking up anthologies and bundles because they are an economical way to introduce myself to new authors and find new series to read. I picked this one up specifically for Vivien Arend's Copper King.
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