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Sentinel Wars #1
Burning Alive
First in an all-new paranormal romance series
Caution : readers may feel the heat coming off the pages.
They are the Sentinels...
Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes-the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
Helen Day is haunted by visions of herself surrounded by flames, as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her from across a diner, she attempts to flee-but instead ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine. For the man is actually Theronai warrior Drake, whose own pain is driven away by Helen's presence.
Together, they may become more than lovers-they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war and save Drake's people...
Caution : readers may feel the heat coming off the pages.
They are the Sentinels...
Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes-the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
Helen Day is haunted by visions of herself surrounded by flames, as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her from across a diner, she attempts to flee-but instead ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine. For the man is actually Theronai warrior Drake, whose own pain is driven away by Helen's presence.
Together, they may become more than lovers-they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war and save Drake's people...
358 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 5, 2009
About the author
Shannon K. Butcher
36 books1,214 followersBestselling author Shannon K. Butcher, who now writes as Anna Argent, has written more than thirty titles since launching her career in 2007. She has three award-winning series, including the paranormal romance series The Sentinel Wars, the action-romance series The Edge, and the romantic suspense Delta Force Trilogy. Her alter ego Anna Argent also writes several series with a fresh and interesting spin on paranormal romance (The Lost Shards, The Taken and The Stone Men series) as well as a contemporary romance series set in a small town in the Ozarks. As a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design, world building and to keep track of all those colorful characters, magical powers and alternate worlds. An avid bead and glass artist, she spends her free time turning small sparkly bits into larger sparkly bits. She’s rarely on social media, so the best place to find out news about upcoming releases under either name is via her newsletter. You can sign up at AnnaArgent.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 403 reviews
January 7, 2016
2 Potential-filled But Lackluster Stars
This book was seemed to be just on the verge of being good the whole time I was reading it...but just never could quite get there for me.
Being that this is the first in a PNR Series, it's supposed to set the backdrop and the "rules" for the rest of the series.
Wwwwwwwhelp...not so much...
The world-building was super convoluted and choppy and, quite frankly, I spent the majority of this book like this:
Obviously I got distracted on that last one there...
But between not knowing what was really going on and never quite completely understanding who's who in the zoo, I really struggled to connect with the characters and the story line.
As result, when I wasn't feeling what was reflected above, I was feeling like this:
You sympathy yawning yet?
Anybored, I'm not sure I'll continue with the series, even though I am very interested in Zach and Lexi's story.
I just don't want to get roped into a series that never reaches its full potential for me, book after book.
Which is a bummer because I really wanted to like this series.
This book was seemed to be just on the verge of being good the whole time I was reading it...but just never could quite get there for me.
Being that this is the first in a PNR Series, it's supposed to set the backdrop and the "rules" for the rest of the series.
Wwwwwwwhelp...not so much...
The world-building was super convoluted and choppy and, quite frankly, I spent the majority of this book like this:
Obviously I got distracted on that last one there...
But between not knowing what was really going on and never quite completely understanding who's who in the zoo, I really struggled to connect with the characters and the story line.
As result, when I wasn't feeling what was reflected above, I was feeling like this:
You sympathy yawning yet?
Anybored, I'm not sure I'll continue with the series, even though I am very interested in Zach and Lexi's story.
I just don't want to get roped into a series that never reaches its full potential for me, book after book.
Which is a bummer because I really wanted to like this series.
August 27, 2016
Nope. I can't do it. Sorry.
I maybe got thirty pages in before I decided that Drake was a big sack of shit and that Helen is possibly the most annoying female protagonist that I have ever, ever read.
"Oh, I have a vision of being burnt alive... this couldn't possibly be metaphorical! I think I'm going to run awaaaaaaaaay! La de da la!"
Or then you have the stereotype caveman complex that is Drake.
"You have plaits. Me Pull. You come now. Drake beat chest. Manly Drake. Ahhhahhhhhhahhhhhh!"
What, so you see a hot chick walk into a diner and you think it's perfectly acceptable to:
a) go up and creep her out to the point where her ninty-year-old grandma and waitress friend are physically attacking you.
b) Assault the ninty-year-old grandma and waitress friend or let your friends do it.
c)Kidnap ninty-year-old grandma AND object of your affection
and
d) Mind rape object of your affection.
I don't think I need to rant on about this.
I maybe got thirty pages in before I decided that Drake was a big sack of shit and that Helen is possibly the most annoying female protagonist that I have ever, ever read.
"Oh, I have a vision of being burnt alive... this couldn't possibly be metaphorical! I think I'm going to run awaaaaaaaaay! La de da la!"
Or then you have the stereotype caveman complex that is Drake.
"You have plaits. Me Pull. You come now. Drake beat chest. Manly Drake. Ahhhahhhhhhahhhhhh!"
What, so you see a hot chick walk into a diner and you think it's perfectly acceptable to:
a) go up and creep her out to the point where her ninty-year-old grandma and waitress friend are physically attacking you.
b) Assault the ninty-year-old grandma and waitress friend or let your friends do it.
c)Kidnap ninty-year-old grandma AND object of your affection
and
d) Mind rape object of your affection.
I don't think I need to rant on about this.
January 28, 2010
Burning Alive was a book that pulled me in from the beginning. For that, I definitely give it points. I liked the storyline about Sentinels and their war against the Senestryn, a race of demons. The origins of the Sentinels are fascinating to me. There is an element of the futuristic, teamed with the ancient in their conception and their millenias-long war with the Senestryn. It had me thinking of Flash Gordon--and the various races that Flash encounters when he goes to Space in Dr. Zarkoff's rocket--for some reason. Don't ask! Humorous aside: I kept thinking about Sinestro, who is an arch-nemesis of Green Lantern from the DC Comics Universe. Anyone else make that connection? I do have to say that Ms. Butcher charted a course along familiar ground, but somehow made this story interesting and distinct from the other series, in my opinion. As I read, I could definitely see how she was influenced by other writers that I enjoy, but I don't feel that she was trying to copy them. As my sister likes to say, "There is nothing new under the sun." But what I appreciate is seeing an author take a familiar concept and give it a new approach or new life. I feel that Ms. Butcher did that.
I really liked the aspect of the warriors pining for their mate, and how they have the tattoo of a tree on their chest that grows as they age, and eventually starts to die, unless they find a mate. The leaves on the tree die and fall off, and the closer they get to the tree being completely denuded of leaves, the closer they are to their souls dying. I thought that was pretty interesting. I liked the fact that the warrior is full of energy and his mate taps that energy and uses it to fight the Senestryn in tandem with him. Very cool. I love a strong, powerful warrior who longs for a true love. Sigh! I felt so bad for all the warriors who will die, never finding their mate, since most of the Sentinel women were killed. I hope that more women will be found. The hope will keep me reading this series.
The characters in this story drew me in, and I cared about them. Maybe too much. It broke my heart when a character I fell in love with died horribly. I almost threw my book across the room. I rarely do that. I felt intense pain, and disbelief. Part of me still wants to believe that it's not the truth. The circumstances of the death really cast a pall over this story. I had trouble caring about Drake and Helen's romance, knowing that this person was dead. But at the same time, I think it showed the cost of this war. The scene in which Drake shows Helen the Hall of the Fallen, in which the sword of the dead warrior is hung in remembrance, was very profound. I felt the awe and the anguish at seeing how very many swords hung there. It added to my grief that I felt at the beloved character's death.
As I said, I wanted to find someone to blame for this person's death. It is easy for me to blame Helen, because she flaked at a crucial moment, her lifelong fear such a burden that she couldn't come through and tap her power to defeat the demon in time. It was a dilemma for me. I could see that Helen was just human, full of frailties and flaws. How many times have I failed someone who counted on me? More than I wanted to. Fortunately, it hasn't cost anyone a life, but poor Helen has that on her conscience. Although she will go on to fight in the war at Drake's side, basking in his love, I think she'll always feel grief that she couldn't save this person. The grief I share. I think that the reasons behind this courage-crippling vision of burning to death were not explained as well as I like. I hope that this will be explored further in the next books.
Drake and Helen's romance was good. They had good chemistry, with some steamy love scenes. I liked that Helen was an average girl with a normal, perhaps too-curvy figure, but Drake thought she was the sexiest woman alive. I liked the powerful chemistry between them when they met. I did want things to work out for them, although I was still depressed about the death of that person I was in love with. I admit, I'm more intrigued to see what will happen with Zack and Lexie than I was drawn into Helen and Drake's romance. Why is the first in the series always the least compelling? To keep us reading! I'm wondering what's going to happen with Logan. Will he find a mate as well? More questions than I have time to list in this review.
The cast of secondary characters has caught my interest, and I look forward to reading more about them. I'd like to see where this war with the Senestryn will go. I think that Ms. Butcher will continue to add dimensions to this interesting series she had created. I just hope she doesn't get me to fall in love with anymore characters and then kill them off. I don't think my heart can stand it.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
I really liked the aspect of the warriors pining for their mate, and how they have the tattoo of a tree on their chest that grows as they age, and eventually starts to die, unless they find a mate. The leaves on the tree die and fall off, and the closer they get to the tree being completely denuded of leaves, the closer they are to their souls dying. I thought that was pretty interesting. I liked the fact that the warrior is full of energy and his mate taps that energy and uses it to fight the Senestryn in tandem with him. Very cool. I love a strong, powerful warrior who longs for a true love. Sigh! I felt so bad for all the warriors who will die, never finding their mate, since most of the Sentinel women were killed. I hope that more women will be found. The hope will keep me reading this series.
The characters in this story drew me in, and I cared about them. Maybe too much. It broke my heart when a character I fell in love with died horribly. I almost threw my book across the room. I rarely do that. I felt intense pain, and disbelief. Part of me still wants to believe that it's not the truth. The circumstances of the death really cast a pall over this story. I had trouble caring about Drake and Helen's romance, knowing that this person was dead. But at the same time, I think it showed the cost of this war. The scene in which Drake shows Helen the Hall of the Fallen, in which the sword of the dead warrior is hung in remembrance, was very profound. I felt the awe and the anguish at seeing how very many swords hung there. It added to my grief that I felt at the beloved character's death.
As I said, I wanted to find someone to blame for this person's death. It is easy for me to blame Helen, because she flaked at a crucial moment, her lifelong fear such a burden that she couldn't come through and tap her power to defeat the demon in time. It was a dilemma for me. I could see that Helen was just human, full of frailties and flaws. How many times have I failed someone who counted on me? More than I wanted to. Fortunately, it hasn't cost anyone a life, but poor Helen has that on her conscience. Although she will go on to fight in the war at Drake's side, basking in his love, I think she'll always feel grief that she couldn't save this person. The grief I share. I think that the reasons behind this courage-crippling vision of burning to death were not explained as well as I like. I hope that this will be explored further in the next books.
Drake and Helen's romance was good. They had good chemistry, with some steamy love scenes. I liked that Helen was an average girl with a normal, perhaps too-curvy figure, but Drake thought she was the sexiest woman alive. I liked the powerful chemistry between them when they met. I did want things to work out for them, although I was still depressed about the death of that person I was in love with. I admit, I'm more intrigued to see what will happen with Zack and Lexie than I was drawn into Helen and Drake's romance. Why is the first in the series always the least compelling? To keep us reading! I'm wondering what's going to happen with Logan. Will he find a mate as well? More questions than I have time to list in this review.
The cast of secondary characters has caught my interest, and I look forward to reading more about them. I'd like to see where this war with the Senestryn will go. I think that Ms. Butcher will continue to add dimensions to this interesting series she had created. I just hope she doesn't get me to fall in love with anymore characters and then kill them off. I don't think my heart can stand it.
Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2015
Burning Alive left me with a burning need to read something else. It took me a l-o-n-g time to finish and in hindsight, should have put it down and moved on. But, kept thinking (hoping) it would get better. Almost did a time or two, but overall I found the book a huge disappointment.
First of all, felt Burning Alive needed more "umph" and found the heroine, Helen Day (the name just didn't fit, either), very annoying. She needed to stop being such a wuss. There was WAY too much focus on her vision, convincing her of the Sentinel Wars (demons and whatnot), finding her power, etc. She was a dingbat and made my TSTL shelf!
Secondly, the characters were supposed to be pressed for time on several occasions, but would stop and chat like they had all the time in the world. Ruined the momentum of the story for me. Their discussions were annoying and too long. Many discussions were trying to convince Helen of various things--over and over again. Other plot problems, like letting the demons track them when they spilled blood. Annoying stuff.
Thirdly, the way that Helen and Drake had to stay in constant physical contact was stupid and way too much ink was used to carry that task along.
I was more interested in the secondary characters! Was bummed when something bad happened to one of them, but won't be continuing this series to read about the other one.
Finally, this whole concept seemed trite to me. I've read too many other PNR books that had similar "find the mate" themes; "species is dieing" because we've lost all our females, but wait, we found one and can't believe we did; females are human and have hang-ups; men don't want to tell the poor females everything because they don't think they could handle it; men break apart from their important mission to find other females, etc. Blech!
One and 1/2 Stars from This Reader.
First of all, felt Burning Alive needed more "umph" and found the heroine, Helen Day (the name just didn't fit, either), very annoying. She needed to stop being such a wuss. There was WAY too much focus on her vision, convincing her of the Sentinel Wars (demons and whatnot), finding her power, etc. She was a dingbat and made my TSTL shelf!
Secondly, the characters were supposed to be pressed for time on several occasions, but would stop and chat like they had all the time in the world. Ruined the momentum of the story for me. Their discussions were annoying and too long. Many discussions were trying to convince Helen of various things--over and over again. Other plot problems, like letting the demons track them when they spilled blood. Annoying stuff.
Thirdly, the way that Helen and Drake had to stay in constant physical contact was stupid and way too much ink was used to carry that task along.
I was more interested in the secondary characters! Was bummed when something bad happened to one of them, but won't be continuing this series to read about the other one.
Finally, this whole concept seemed trite to me. I've read too many other PNR books that had similar "find the mate" themes; "species is dieing" because we've lost all our females, but wait, we found one and can't believe we did; females are human and have hang-ups; men don't want to tell the poor females everything because they don't think they could handle it; men break apart from their important mission to find other females, etc. Blech!
One and 1/2 Stars from This Reader.
September 23, 2009
4 stars – Paranormal Romance
This is the first book in a unique, promising new PNR series about sword wielding, tree of life tattoo bearing immortal Sentinel warriors fighting a demon race called Synestryn to protect humanity and guard the gateway to an ancestral world called Athanasia.
Theronai Sentinel warrior Drake has been fighting in the brutal war with the Synestryn for centuries, and now it seems that they are waging a losing battle and the demons are gaining the advantage. With the loss of all females of the Theronai race, the warriors are unable to find life mates to bond with and are slowing dying off as a result of eventually succumbing to the violence and intensity of their power. The Sentinels are starting to lose hope, but then Drake encounters human woman Helen and feels an immediate, potent connection that could alter the delicate future for their race, forever.
All her life, Helen’s had a vision of her own death, burning alive, as a mysterious, dark, mesmerizing stranger watches with a smile on his face. So when she meets the enigmatic man from her dreams, warrior Drake, she fears that her doomed fate is at hand, but Drake refuses to believe that her vision of the future will come to pass and vows to protect her at all costs. Will the profound, passionate bond between Drake and Helen save them both? Can Helen bring much needed hope to the Theronai and restore the fragile balance to the Sentinel wars?
I’ve read and enjoyed Shannon K. Butcher’s romantic suspense Delta Force trilogy, and Burning Alive is a good debut read in a paranormal romance series that holds a lot of promise. There’s a nice balance of world building, explosive, fast-paced action, violent, gritty, demon ass-kicking, intense, steamy, passionate romance, and even some humorous quips by Helen that provide some comic relief. Drake is a strong, courageous, fierce, loyal, sexy, and tender warrior and makes a totally swoon-worthy hero. There are several warriors introduced in this that I can quite easily envision as heroes in upcoming books in the series. I’ll definitely read the next book, Finding the Lost, that’s slated for release in Nov’09! 4 stars!
This is the first book in a unique, promising new PNR series about sword wielding, tree of life tattoo bearing immortal Sentinel warriors fighting a demon race called Synestryn to protect humanity and guard the gateway to an ancestral world called Athanasia.
Theronai Sentinel warrior Drake has been fighting in the brutal war with the Synestryn for centuries, and now it seems that they are waging a losing battle and the demons are gaining the advantage. With the loss of all females of the Theronai race, the warriors are unable to find life mates to bond with and are slowing dying off as a result of eventually succumbing to the violence and intensity of their power. The Sentinels are starting to lose hope, but then Drake encounters human woman Helen and feels an immediate, potent connection that could alter the delicate future for their race, forever.
All her life, Helen’s had a vision of her own death, burning alive, as a mysterious, dark, mesmerizing stranger watches with a smile on his face. So when she meets the enigmatic man from her dreams, warrior Drake, she fears that her doomed fate is at hand, but Drake refuses to believe that her vision of the future will come to pass and vows to protect her at all costs. Will the profound, passionate bond between Drake and Helen save them both? Can Helen bring much needed hope to the Theronai and restore the fragile balance to the Sentinel wars?
I’ve read and enjoyed Shannon K. Butcher’s romantic suspense Delta Force trilogy, and Burning Alive is a good debut read in a paranormal romance series that holds a lot of promise. There’s a nice balance of world building, explosive, fast-paced action, violent, gritty, demon ass-kicking, intense, steamy, passionate romance, and even some humorous quips by Helen that provide some comic relief. Drake is a strong, courageous, fierce, loyal, sexy, and tender warrior and makes a totally swoon-worthy hero. There are several warriors introduced in this that I can quite easily envision as heroes in upcoming books in the series. I’ll definitely read the next book, Finding the Lost, that’s slated for release in Nov’09! 4 stars!
March 6, 2010
Argh! Why, why, why did I torture myself by reading, all the way to the end, this piece of dreck? This horrible, annoying, brain-damage-in-printed-form book? I wish someone could tell me because I sure as hell don't know.
I should forewarn you: I've written an essay here. I didn't mean to and I usually try to keep myself under control. However, though I've read my fair share of horrible books, never have I read one that combined so many points of stupidity into one story. I admit, I only have myself to blame. I read the back cover and front page excerpt and ran into descriptions which made my hackles rise, concerning explosive passion, small moans of passion, and jolts of lust-induced heat, among others. So I knew what I was in for, but I kept on going anyway, mainly because I was intrigued by the basic premise of the book: Three races of warriors, who have been fighting the good fight for millenia, protecting our world and theirs against things which slaver and rage and kill in the night. Sounds good, right? Yeah, that's what I thought and look at what that got me.
As anyone who has read through my reviews can attest, I'm not a fan of romance, in any genre; I'll suffer through it to get to the good bits, the stuff in between the heavy breathing and throbbing loins, which was the plan for this book. I had no idea that a) this book would come off like a stalker's/rapist's fantasy, nor that b) the female lead would be so damn infuriating, I would feel absolutely no connection to her or her story. Let me explain. First we have these warriors, nearly immortal, they're so long-lived, and skilled with the sword and deadly in their mission to kill monsters. However, these warriors are incomplete without a female partner (ain't it the truth) to aid them in battle. By some form of magical symbiosis, the two mates work off of each other, the man storing the energy, the woman pulling it out of him to power her magic. Fine and dandy, sounds fabulous. Sadly, most of the female warriors were massacred sometime in the past and the men are now slowly dying off as a result. Okay, we can work with that. The creepy and disturbing part comes when the warriors introduced in this book, Drake, Thomas, and Zach stumble across not one, but two half-blood warrior women in a diner, our "heroine," Helen Day, and a secondary character, Lexi the waitress. The phrase "Caveman attitude" is too tame to describe the men's reactions. "Jealously possessive and needy to the point of rape" would do better. The two men most reactive to Helen and Lexi, Drake and Zach, touch, press up against, trap, hold onto, and in various other ways, physically caress these women. Helen and Lexi meanwhile are shying away, cringing, fighting back, and doing everything in their power to make them stop and go away, which just makes the men smile and continue to assault them. Yeah, that's romantic, I want to meet a guy like that. That sort of possessive theme continues throughout the book, as concerns the interaction between Drake and Helen. His attitude is a continual litany of "She's mine, she completes me, I need her no matter what anyone says, and if any of my brothers-in-arms tries to take her away or touches her or even looks at her, I'll kill him. Oh, and if Helen runs away, I'll search the ends of the Earth to bring her back to me." Sorry, but that kind of psychotic, stalker attitude does not turn me on.
Then we have Ms. Helen Day. What an irritating, whiny, whimpy, unrealistic character. From the very beginning, we're told she's terrified of Drake because he's the man who's going to watch her die, according to this vision she's had all her life. She stubbornly holds onto this belief throughout the book, despite evidence which shows her vision might be incorrect, and what I want to know is, why? Has she had other visions that have come true? Apparently not. So why is she so stupidly fatalistic in her conviction that her vision will come true? I haven't a clue. Now we come to the "relationship" between Helen and Drake. He has a permanent hard on for her, wants to touch her "soft skin and soft hair and soft body" (seriously, the dude has some sort of fetish for touching soft things), yet from my point of view, she's not desirable. For one thing, she's a tease: "Ooh, yes, let me lick my lips and let you kiss me, and I'll just run my hands through your hair and over your manly-man muscles and--oh my! What do we have here? Ooh, it's so big! Okay, then, I want to stop now because I don't think it's a good idea to have sex with you. Good luck with that raging hard-on." Men tend to have a more descriptive, and accurate in Helen's case, phrase for that kind of woman, by adding a certain anatomical euphemism to the front of 'tease'. No man wants a woman like that, especially when it's compounded by the second undesirable thing about Helen: her "lower than a snake's belly" self-image, which seems to be ubiquitous in the Romance genre anymore. Despite the fact that she, and most other romance novel heroines, react to Drake's attraction in the same manner I would should a gorgeous man happen to look twice at me--"Which of the hotties standing behind me are you eyeballing with lust, because I know it can't be me"--I am so bloody tired of encountering that type of attitude I could scream. Where are the confident women, the ones who know they're attractive and are fun to be around, and revel in their ability to catch a man's eye? What makes it even worse is the women who are so doubtful of their sex appeal are always built like the proverbial brick shithouse. Give me a break! Be doubtful you could inspire lust in a hunka-hunka burnin' love if you've got thunder thighs, a pot belly, and swaths of cellulite. Don't whine about how fat and unattractive you are if you're built like a Playboy centerfold! Yeah, 'cause no man wants to hit that.
So not only did I have to contend with unrealistic, unlikeable characters (the only one I warmed up to was Miss Mabel), I had to slog through a messy plot. Every so often, Butcher paused the action to tell the story of another character, such as the above-mentioned Lexi, whether it was relevent or not. I get that she was trying to set up storylines for future books, but her attempts were clumsy, with no finesse at all. Some authors can weave multiple storylines into their novels with ease, while others shouldn't attempt it, especially when those attempts leave the reader bouncing around, wondering why they should care about this character's crazy mother or that one's life of deception, when there's no discernible reason. All I know is the more I read, the worse the book got until, just pages from the end, I was literally whimpering and screaming in frustration, so much so I scared my cat. Never again. I am glad to return the book to the library and avoid any future books as if they carried the plague...and smallpox...and anthrax.
I should forewarn you: I've written an essay here. I didn't mean to and I usually try to keep myself under control. However, though I've read my fair share of horrible books, never have I read one that combined so many points of stupidity into one story. I admit, I only have myself to blame. I read the back cover and front page excerpt and ran into descriptions which made my hackles rise, concerning explosive passion, small moans of passion, and jolts of lust-induced heat, among others. So I knew what I was in for, but I kept on going anyway, mainly because I was intrigued by the basic premise of the book: Three races of warriors, who have been fighting the good fight for millenia, protecting our world and theirs against things which slaver and rage and kill in the night. Sounds good, right? Yeah, that's what I thought and look at what that got me.
As anyone who has read through my reviews can attest, I'm not a fan of romance, in any genre; I'll suffer through it to get to the good bits, the stuff in between the heavy breathing and throbbing loins, which was the plan for this book. I had no idea that a) this book would come off like a stalker's/rapist's fantasy, nor that b) the female lead would be so damn infuriating, I would feel absolutely no connection to her or her story. Let me explain. First we have these warriors, nearly immortal, they're so long-lived, and skilled with the sword and deadly in their mission to kill monsters. However, these warriors are incomplete without a female partner (ain't it the truth) to aid them in battle. By some form of magical symbiosis, the two mates work off of each other, the man storing the energy, the woman pulling it out of him to power her magic. Fine and dandy, sounds fabulous. Sadly, most of the female warriors were massacred sometime in the past and the men are now slowly dying off as a result. Okay, we can work with that. The creepy and disturbing part comes when the warriors introduced in this book, Drake, Thomas, and Zach stumble across not one, but two half-blood warrior women in a diner, our "heroine," Helen Day, and a secondary character, Lexi the waitress. The phrase "Caveman attitude" is too tame to describe the men's reactions. "Jealously possessive and needy to the point of rape" would do better. The two men most reactive to Helen and Lexi, Drake and Zach, touch, press up against, trap, hold onto, and in various other ways, physically caress these women. Helen and Lexi meanwhile are shying away, cringing, fighting back, and doing everything in their power to make them stop and go away, which just makes the men smile and continue to assault them. Yeah, that's romantic, I want to meet a guy like that. That sort of possessive theme continues throughout the book, as concerns the interaction between Drake and Helen. His attitude is a continual litany of "She's mine, she completes me, I need her no matter what anyone says, and if any of my brothers-in-arms tries to take her away or touches her or even looks at her, I'll kill him. Oh, and if Helen runs away, I'll search the ends of the Earth to bring her back to me." Sorry, but that kind of psychotic, stalker attitude does not turn me on.
Then we have Ms. Helen Day. What an irritating, whiny, whimpy, unrealistic character. From the very beginning, we're told she's terrified of Drake because he's the man who's going to watch her die, according to this vision she's had all her life. She stubbornly holds onto this belief throughout the book, despite evidence which shows her vision might be incorrect, and what I want to know is, why? Has she had other visions that have come true? Apparently not. So why is she so stupidly fatalistic in her conviction that her vision will come true? I haven't a clue. Now we come to the "relationship" between Helen and Drake. He has a permanent hard on for her, wants to touch her "soft skin and soft hair and soft body" (seriously, the dude has some sort of fetish for touching soft things), yet from my point of view, she's not desirable. For one thing, she's a tease: "Ooh, yes, let me lick my lips and let you kiss me, and I'll just run my hands through your hair and over your manly-man muscles and--oh my! What do we have here? Ooh, it's so big! Okay, then, I want to stop now because I don't think it's a good idea to have sex with you. Good luck with that raging hard-on." Men tend to have a more descriptive, and accurate in Helen's case, phrase for that kind of woman, by adding a certain anatomical euphemism to the front of 'tease'. No man wants a woman like that, especially when it's compounded by the second undesirable thing about Helen: her "lower than a snake's belly" self-image, which seems to be ubiquitous in the Romance genre anymore. Despite the fact that she, and most other romance novel heroines, react to Drake's attraction in the same manner I would should a gorgeous man happen to look twice at me--"Which of the hotties standing behind me are you eyeballing with lust, because I know it can't be me"--I am so bloody tired of encountering that type of attitude I could scream. Where are the confident women, the ones who know they're attractive and are fun to be around, and revel in their ability to catch a man's eye? What makes it even worse is the women who are so doubtful of their sex appeal are always built like the proverbial brick shithouse. Give me a break! Be doubtful you could inspire lust in a hunka-hunka burnin' love if you've got thunder thighs, a pot belly, and swaths of cellulite. Don't whine about how fat and unattractive you are if you're built like a Playboy centerfold! Yeah, 'cause no man wants to hit that.
So not only did I have to contend with unrealistic, unlikeable characters (the only one I warmed up to was Miss Mabel), I had to slog through a messy plot. Every so often, Butcher paused the action to tell the story of another character, such as the above-mentioned Lexi, whether it was relevent or not. I get that she was trying to set up storylines for future books, but her attempts were clumsy, with no finesse at all. Some authors can weave multiple storylines into their novels with ease, while others shouldn't attempt it, especially when those attempts leave the reader bouncing around, wondering why they should care about this character's crazy mother or that one's life of deception, when there's no discernible reason. All I know is the more I read, the worse the book got until, just pages from the end, I was literally whimpering and screaming in frustration, so much so I scared my cat. Never again. I am glad to return the book to the library and avoid any future books as if they carried the plague...and smallpox...and anthrax.
October 9, 2012
I read Burning Alive as part of a group read with my fellow Gotta Have Paranormal Romance With a Kick members. I enjoyed this book, especially for a first in a series with a fantasy that needed a lot of world building. It was an interesting, unique concept and for that alone I’ll keep reading the series. I did however have some issues with the book.
One of the major problems I had—it was confusing in parts. Sometimes in the book the author would just introduce a new character and I would feel like I was missing something. Paul, for example, all of a sudden pops up in the story and he has a bond with the heroine Helen. I actually stopped reading wondering who Paul was (the way he was introduced made me feel like I should have known) I actually searched the book to see if Paul had been mentioned before. Then I spent a long time wondering if I was missing a chunk of the story. The introduction was so abrupt it was confusing. One minute Helen is unconscious in a cave and then this is the next sentence : “Was this some kind of trick? Paul searched for signs of a trap, but his excitement was distracting. The lure of his own lady was a potent one. “Even if we found another female Theronai, it wouldn’t guarantee she would be able to join with me.” “No, but if Helen was compatible with you and your power, then it stands to reason that another woman of her bloodline might be as well.””
This is how we are introduced to Paul and the fact that he apparently has a bond with Helen. As far as I knew he’d never met Helen, and we don’t really see anything regarding this character after. I found it unclear and made me wonder what the point of it was.
Another thing I found confusing is when the author would mention things as if it were memory, but the event hadn’t happened yet. It happened a few times but here is an example of one incident. Drake says, “Her soft, quiet voice sank into him, heating him further. He loved her voice. Especially when she was crying out his name in release.” I think it’s important to mention at this point Helen and Drake hadn’t actually had sex yet. I went back in the book to search and see if I somehow missed it, but I didn’t. There were a few inconsistencies like that in the story and unfortunately it pulled me out the story. I was thinking about them all the way through and it ruined the book for me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the concept a lot. I just wish it had been clearer in parts. Still, I will continue with book two. Hopefully the inconsistencies will be ironed out in in the second installment.
One of the major problems I had—it was confusing in parts. Sometimes in the book the author would just introduce a new character and I would feel like I was missing something. Paul, for example, all of a sudden pops up in the story and he has a bond with the heroine Helen. I actually stopped reading wondering who Paul was (the way he was introduced made me feel like I should have known) I actually searched the book to see if Paul had been mentioned before. Then I spent a long time wondering if I was missing a chunk of the story. The introduction was so abrupt it was confusing. One minute Helen is unconscious in a cave and then this is the next sentence : “Was this some kind of trick? Paul searched for signs of a trap, but his excitement was distracting. The lure of his own lady was a potent one. “Even if we found another female Theronai, it wouldn’t guarantee she would be able to join with me.” “No, but if Helen was compatible with you and your power, then it stands to reason that another woman of her bloodline might be as well.””
This is how we are introduced to Paul and the fact that he apparently has a bond with Helen. As far as I knew he’d never met Helen, and we don’t really see anything regarding this character after. I found it unclear and made me wonder what the point of it was.
Another thing I found confusing is when the author would mention things as if it were memory, but the event hadn’t happened yet. It happened a few times but here is an example of one incident. Drake says, “Her soft, quiet voice sank into him, heating him further. He loved her voice. Especially when she was crying out his name in release.” I think it’s important to mention at this point Helen and Drake hadn’t actually had sex yet. I went back in the book to search and see if I somehow missed it, but I didn’t. There were a few inconsistencies like that in the story and unfortunately it pulled me out the story. I was thinking about them all the way through and it ruined the book for me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the concept a lot. I just wish it had been clearer in parts. Still, I will continue with book two. Hopefully the inconsistencies will be ironed out in in the second installment.
March 13, 2011
All right, I must say, right off the bat, that this book dragged me in from the first sentence, "The man who was going to stand by and watch while Helen burned to death liked his coffee black."
Helen has had visions her whole life, well, one vision, that is. The vision of herself being engulfed in flames, while this amazingly handsome man stood by with a slight smile on his face and watched. and this first sentence refers to the first time Helen sees Drake in her favorite diner. She's hiding behind a menu hoping he doesn't notice her, and he's staring at the girl who's hiding behind a menu acting scared to death of him.
Drake has to find out why the random girl in a Kansas diner is afraid of him, so he, being the bid bad alpha male that he is, strides right over to her and tries to figure it out. Too bad that he gets caught up in her hazel eyes, and her lilac scent, and husky voice. When he touches Helen, the pain that every Theronai lives with from birth til death fades away. He vows to never let her go. Literally, since releasing her causes immense pain. Each of the Theronai males is born with a seed "tattoo" that grows as they do, and ages as they do, until around 500 yrs old or so, if unmated, the leaves fall off indicating the death of his soul. After the last leaf falls, he might still live on, but he has no moral compass. Bad news.
Meanwhile, Helen gets dragged into the Sentinel world in the sense that she is Theronai too! which should be impossible since their females were slaughtered centuries ago. Hmm...there might be more to that in the next book. Also, her friend Lexi might be the mate to Zach, one of Drake's warrior buds. I hope they get their story.
The only thing preventing this book from being a 5 star book is that Helen went from being brave to cowardly and then hid behind her cowardice excuse. She was brave standing up to the warriors, the vampire who searched her mind, even, but when it came down to it, she'd claim she was a coward, and then act like one. Lame.
***small spoilers***
Also, the death of Thomas was heartbreaking because Helen had the power to stop it, but didn't know how, okay, forgivable in my eyes, but Shannon Butcher should have given him a better death. he was eaten/ingested by a type of demon that he had been fighting for 500 years..a bit anticlimactic and kinda stupid. He would've been better prepared. But I liked the ending, and I like the allusions to the next books, but the epilogue was a little annoying since we'd never seen or heard about those characters, so although it was slightly intriguing, it was also out of the blue as far as being informative or sucking me in.
http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...
Helen has had visions her whole life, well, one vision, that is. The vision of herself being engulfed in flames, while this amazingly handsome man stood by with a slight smile on his face and watched. and this first sentence refers to the first time Helen sees Drake in her favorite diner. She's hiding behind a menu hoping he doesn't notice her, and he's staring at the girl who's hiding behind a menu acting scared to death of him.
Drake has to find out why the random girl in a Kansas diner is afraid of him, so he, being the bid bad alpha male that he is, strides right over to her and tries to figure it out. Too bad that he gets caught up in her hazel eyes, and her lilac scent, and husky voice. When he touches Helen, the pain that every Theronai lives with from birth til death fades away. He vows to never let her go. Literally, since releasing her causes immense pain. Each of the Theronai males is born with a seed "tattoo" that grows as they do, and ages as they do, until around 500 yrs old or so, if unmated, the leaves fall off indicating the death of his soul. After the last leaf falls, he might still live on, but he has no moral compass. Bad news.
Meanwhile, Helen gets dragged into the Sentinel world in the sense that she is Theronai too! which should be impossible since their females were slaughtered centuries ago. Hmm...there might be more to that in the next book. Also, her friend Lexi might be the mate to Zach, one of Drake's warrior buds. I hope they get their story.
The only thing preventing this book from being a 5 star book is that Helen went from being brave to cowardly and then hid behind her cowardice excuse. She was brave standing up to the warriors, the vampire who searched her mind, even, but when it came down to it, she'd claim she was a coward, and then act like one. Lame.
***small spoilers***
Also, the death of Thomas was heartbreaking because Helen had the power to stop it, but didn't know how, okay, forgivable in my eyes, but Shannon Butcher should have given him a better death. he was eaten/ingested by a type of demon that he had been fighting for 500 years..a bit anticlimactic and kinda stupid. He would've been better prepared. But I liked the ending, and I like the allusions to the next books, but the epilogue was a little annoying since we'd never seen or heard about those characters, so although it was slightly intriguing, it was also out of the blue as far as being informative or sucking me in.
http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...
March 4, 2011
Burning Alive is an interesting book to recap because my reasons for liking it are not the norm. The characters didn't really grab me, and I can't say that the story was one of the best I'd read recently (although it was still fun). Even so, the book had me on the hook right off the bat by throwing me right into the action, and the character origins were different from your average pnr. In a genre of similar stories, I feel myself getting excited anytime something comes along that makes me say, "huh...hadn't seen this before."
The only downfall was that my ebook document seemed to have been missing a couple of chapters in the middle, and I think I completely missed the big love scene (so no clue how that went...hah) and came back a little confused and had to fumble around for a little while before figuring out what was going on. I probably should have gone and loaded another copy, but I was being lazy on the couch and was able to get back into the story quick enough that I wasn't going to stress over it.
This book had such an impressively strong start. It felt like I was immediately thrown into the story without having to go through a bunch of painful world building, which is always a plus. So many PNR's/UF's start with such a slow build that I'm debating whether to throw in the towel by page 50.
There's nothing new to the concept of warriors or soulmates, but the sentinal world felt fresh to me. This is a pnr/sci-fi hybrid, in which alien warriors inhabiting earth are killing demons. Whoda thunk it? I wasn't wow'ed by the main characters in the book, but found myself invested in a few of the side characters and can't wait to see how their story goes in future installments. I will absolutely be continuing with this series.
The only downfall was that my ebook document seemed to have been missing a couple of chapters in the middle, and I think I completely missed the big love scene (so no clue how that went...hah) and came back a little confused and had to fumble around for a little while before figuring out what was going on. I probably should have gone and loaded another copy, but I was being lazy on the couch and was able to get back into the story quick enough that I wasn't going to stress over it.
This book had such an impressively strong start. It felt like I was immediately thrown into the story without having to go through a bunch of painful world building, which is always a plus. So many PNR's/UF's start with such a slow build that I'm debating whether to throw in the towel by page 50.
There's nothing new to the concept of warriors or soulmates, but the sentinal world felt fresh to me. This is a pnr/sci-fi hybrid, in which alien warriors inhabiting earth are killing demons. Whoda thunk it? I wasn't wow'ed by the main characters in the book, but found myself invested in a few of the side characters and can't wait to see how their story goes in future installments. I will absolutely be continuing with this series.
November 20, 2009
This was a promising PNR. The idea of the Sentential was well written and I enjoyed their world. My main issue was between the H/h. They had the usual "found mate, bond with mate" ritual for the first few hours of their being together.
Helen is a waitress in a diner. She spots Drake and her fearful vision of burning alive [with him watching:] hits her full force. Drake sees Helen and a force draws him. Her touch takes away centuries of crushing pain. See? Sounds good right?
This I shelfed paranormal lite. It never quite gets any deeper than Helen always afraid of her vision coming true [therefore never quite falling for Drake:] and Drake never wanting to let her go. The author never writes the struggle between them. A lot of time has to be spent world building and I think that is where the romantic spark was lost. Then suddenly the span of a couple days they are head over heels in love after the world has been established. Ha! I just never really seen a PNR written/created like this.
A LOT of reality suspension. If the intimate connection was more believable then, yeah, maybe. But Helen never really falls for Drake until like the very last page. Ugh.I think I just missed the feel of this one altogether.
So to wrap it up. Not a bad book, but if you want a dangerous, tortured, sigh-worthy hero and an independent yet vulnerable, kick ass heroine this just wasn't the story. I rated it because I did like the concept of the Sentenial and their war against the demons they fight.
Helen is a waitress in a diner. She spots Drake and her fearful vision of burning alive [with him watching:] hits her full force. Drake sees Helen and a force draws him. Her touch takes away centuries of crushing pain. See? Sounds good right?
This I shelfed paranormal lite. It never quite gets any deeper than Helen always afraid of her vision coming true [therefore never quite falling for Drake:] and Drake never wanting to let her go. The author never writes the struggle between them. A lot of time has to be spent world building and I think that is where the romantic spark was lost. Then suddenly the span of a couple days they are head over heels in love after the world has been established. Ha! I just never really seen a PNR written/created like this.
A LOT of reality suspension. If the intimate connection was more believable then, yeah, maybe. But Helen never really falls for Drake until like the very last page. Ugh.I think I just missed the feel of this one altogether.
So to wrap it up. Not a bad book, but if you want a dangerous, tortured, sigh-worthy hero and an independent yet vulnerable, kick ass heroine this just wasn't the story. I rated it because I did like the concept of the Sentenial and their war against the demons they fight.
October 25, 2009
The first in a new paranormal romance / borderline urban fantasy about the Theronai, an immortal Sentinel warrior race, protecting the humans from the demon race Synestryn.
These Theronai warriors are all huge, hunky brutes with tree tattoos that aren't really tattoos, but their life marks. When all the leaves fall off their soul dies and they become amoral killing machines. The only thing that can save them is finding that special woman. Sounds familiar? Well, give the hunks the inability to see color, fangs, and magical abilities and you get Christine Feehan's Carpathians.
But the Theronai aren't vampires, their fellow immortals the Sanguinar are (and also their healers), and they can't use magic.
They're actually walking and talking batteries, siphoning the energy from their surroundings and storing it inside them. Without an outlet, so they're in constant pain, which only speeds the "deleafing" process of their tree. Their only hope, as I said, is finding the perfect woman to work as their outlet, to take the excess energy and release it as a weapon. Oh, and apparently this woman could save more than one Theronai - if their powers are compatible all bets are off - but she always "bonds" with the guy who calls dibbs.
But since the last Theronai woman had been killed more than two hundred years, there is no hope for the poor hunky dudes.
Well, I guess Drake Asher was born under a very lucky star, because with only a few leaves left he finally found her. The woman who can take his pain away. The woman who draws him like a moth to a flame. The woman who is scared spitless of him. But he won't let something trivial like her vision of him watching her die (hence the scared spitless part) keep them apart. Now that he's found her, he's gonna keep her. No matter what it takes. Trickery, third-degree burns, guilt trips...Anything goes.
Boy is he in for a battle.
Interesting concept, though I couldn't shake the feeling of deja-vu. Mostly because of the rather conspicuous similarity with the Christine Feehan Carpathian series (and those similarities include the heroine I wanted to slap around until she grew a spine) and the smaller similarity with Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series (the Theronai have similar "serfs" as the Dark-Hunters going back for generations that keep them safe yadda yadda yadda).
Okay, so I wanted to like this impulse buy of mine, and there were aspects of it that were pretty awesome. A sword-wielding hunk of a guy that's a perfect marshmallow inside (what's not to go ga-ga over with that?), the amazing action scenes, hot sex scenes, creepy demon creatures...Okay, so there was a lot to like in there.
The biggest problem was the world building. I'm usually not very happy with series starters, because there is too much world-building and not enough action. This one had, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, a little too little world-building for the heap of information it smacked us with. There were tons of creatures with different abilities, two different Sentinel races currently living in a fragile truce, the history of how the Sentinels came to be and a "mythological" ancient race living behind closed doors in fear of the Synestryn and refusing to help the Theronai help them, the secrets the Gray Lady was keeping (though I have a pretty good idea what that was), the mysterious resurfacing of Theronai females (though they don't know it yet) etc.
Too much info, peeps. Way too much.
The other problem was the heroine. And what else is new? Sure, I could relate to the whole "I've been uprooted, my whole life is upside down and it's all this guy's fault" routine, but come on. Acting like a petulant child for almost the entire book ain't sexy (no matter what Drake thought, we all know which head men use for thinking!) and it ain't heroine-like. I didn't expect her to be kick-ass chick from page one, but I didn't expect her to act like a spoiled princess either.
And the whole "I'm gonna die, you'll watch me burn, I don't believe you care about be because you'll watch me burn" spiel that played on repeat and repeat and repeat at infinitum, instead of making me sympathetic to her plight, merely hurt my eyes with all the rolling they were subjected to.
Still, a pretty decent series starter, but change the heroine, save a couple of creatures for later perusal and it would've been a definite keeper.
I'm not sure I'll pursue this series any further. If Zach's story was next I could've been persuaded, though.
3-3 ½ stars
These Theronai warriors are all huge, hunky brutes with tree tattoos that aren't really tattoos, but their life marks. When all the leaves fall off their soul dies and they become amoral killing machines. The only thing that can save them is finding that special woman. Sounds familiar? Well, give the hunks the inability to see color, fangs, and magical abilities and you get Christine Feehan's Carpathians.
But the Theronai aren't vampires, their fellow immortals the Sanguinar are (and also their healers), and they can't use magic.
They're actually walking and talking batteries, siphoning the energy from their surroundings and storing it inside them. Without an outlet, so they're in constant pain, which only speeds the "deleafing" process of their tree. Their only hope, as I said, is finding the perfect woman to work as their outlet, to take the excess energy and release it as a weapon. Oh, and apparently this woman could save more than one Theronai - if their powers are compatible all bets are off - but she always "bonds" with the guy who calls dibbs.
But since the last Theronai woman had been killed more than two hundred years, there is no hope for the poor hunky dudes.
Well, I guess Drake Asher was born under a very lucky star, because with only a few leaves left he finally found her. The woman who can take his pain away. The woman who draws him like a moth to a flame. The woman who is scared spitless of him. But he won't let something trivial like her vision of him watching her die (hence the scared spitless part) keep them apart. Now that he's found her, he's gonna keep her. No matter what it takes. Trickery, third-degree burns, guilt trips...Anything goes.
Boy is he in for a battle.
Interesting concept, though I couldn't shake the feeling of deja-vu. Mostly because of the rather conspicuous similarity with the Christine Feehan Carpathian series (and those similarities include the heroine I wanted to slap around until she grew a spine) and the smaller similarity with Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series (the Theronai have similar "serfs" as the Dark-Hunters going back for generations that keep them safe yadda yadda yadda).
Okay, so I wanted to like this impulse buy of mine, and there were aspects of it that were pretty awesome. A sword-wielding hunk of a guy that's a perfect marshmallow inside (what's not to go ga-ga over with that?), the amazing action scenes, hot sex scenes, creepy demon creatures...Okay, so there was a lot to like in there.
The biggest problem was the world building. I'm usually not very happy with series starters, because there is too much world-building and not enough action. This one had, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, a little too little world-building for the heap of information it smacked us with. There were tons of creatures with different abilities, two different Sentinel races currently living in a fragile truce, the history of how the Sentinels came to be and a "mythological" ancient race living behind closed doors in fear of the Synestryn and refusing to help the Theronai help them, the secrets the Gray Lady was keeping (though I have a pretty good idea what that was), the mysterious resurfacing of Theronai females (though they don't know it yet) etc.
Too much info, peeps. Way too much.
The other problem was the heroine. And what else is new? Sure, I could relate to the whole "I've been uprooted, my whole life is upside down and it's all this guy's fault" routine, but come on. Acting like a petulant child for almost the entire book ain't sexy (no matter what Drake thought, we all know which head men use for thinking!) and it ain't heroine-like. I didn't expect her to be kick-ass chick from page one, but I didn't expect her to act like a spoiled princess either.
And the whole "I'm gonna die, you'll watch me burn, I don't believe you care about be because you'll watch me burn" spiel that played on repeat and repeat and repeat at infinitum, instead of making me sympathetic to her plight, merely hurt my eyes with all the rolling they were subjected to.
Still, a pretty decent series starter, but change the heroine, save a couple of creatures for later perusal and it would've been a definite keeper.
I'm not sure I'll pursue this series any further. If Zach's story was next I could've been persuaded, though.
3-3 ½ stars
June 15, 2014
I wanted to quit this so many times, but the paranormal/mythos whatever details were interesting enough that I wanted to know more. However, the two main characters, ugh. There were some sweet parts, but mainly TSTL & annoying so I didn't even care if they lived.
I really could've done without the whole side plot of Logan. He seriously got on my nerves. I won't read the next book, but I may read Lexi & Zach's book. They seemed interesting.
In conclusion, didn't like the book or the characters (maybe Zach), but the world building was semi interesting and I have a really hard time not finishing books. It's like eating only half a chocolate chip cookie, who does that?
I really could've done without the whole side plot of Logan. He seriously got on my nerves. I won't read the next book, but I may read Lexi & Zach's book. They seemed interesting.
In conclusion, didn't like the book or the characters (maybe Zach), but the world building was semi interesting and I have a really hard time not finishing books. It's like eating only half a chocolate chip cookie, who does that?
June 30, 2024
「 ✦ pre-read ✦ 」
my mom actually read this series with her friends years ago (released 2006) and she said that i need to read it since its one of her favorite series :)
「 ✦ my review ✦ 」
june 26th - june 29th
4.5 ★
✦ The only guarantee we are given when we are born is that we will die. - Sibyl ✦
phew, this was a super easy read for me and i never wanted to put it down. its only version is mass paperback, so it was so easy to take it around my Vegas trip in my lil black purse lol.
what really helped it fly by was that this whole book is in the span of . like when was it ever a good time to put the book down..? right, never.
now listen, i have only started reading in Jan 2024, so my "experience" is way different for many people. to me, this book was amazing, i'd give it 4.5 stars. but i feel like something was missing, and i think its my longing for more information, aka im excited for book 2! like what happened to those characters? will we get to find out? and i mean there is a war happening so i need to know what happens next.
i would say this book is a good intro into fantasy for new readers because there isn't much world building since it is urban fantasy, but there are a lot of creatures, powers, rules etc. to learn about.
the spice was also *chefs kiss* because it was very well written, in my opinion. it had just enough details about the physical for you to imagine it, but it also gave great detail on how the love and lust made them feel. basically, it didn't make you uncomfortable with just straight corn.
if you are an avid fantasy reader, you may notice a lot of similarities to other popular books. such as . but hey, i read simply for the pleasure. i am not trying to analyze the heck out of it and bash on the author. like some people write reviews and you can tell this book just wasn't for them because they hated basically the entire premise of the book lol.
even though there were similarities, there were some things that were pretty unique (to me) which i wont be going into bc the mobile version of goodreads likes to show spoilers. just trust me :-)
ANYWAY! i really enjoyed this book and i am very excited for the next one. i highly recommend this!
C - 10
A - 10
W - 8
P - 7
I - 10
L -7
E - 10
8.86 ≈ 4.5 ★
✦ ✦ ✦
connect with me here!
my mom actually read this series with her friends years ago (released 2006) and she said that i need to read it since its one of her favorite series :)
「 ✦ my review ✦ 」
june 26th - june 29th
4.5 ★
✦ The only guarantee we are given when we are born is that we will die. - Sibyl ✦
phew, this was a super easy read for me and i never wanted to put it down. its only version is mass paperback, so it was so easy to take it around my Vegas trip in my lil black purse lol.
what really helped it fly by was that this whole book is in the span of . like when was it ever a good time to put the book down..? right, never.
now listen, i have only started reading in Jan 2024, so my "experience" is way different for many people. to me, this book was amazing, i'd give it 4.5 stars. but i feel like something was missing, and i think its my longing for more information, aka im excited for book 2! like what happened to those characters? will we get to find out? and i mean there is a war happening so i need to know what happens next.
i would say this book is a good intro into fantasy for new readers because there isn't much world building since it is urban fantasy, but there are a lot of creatures, powers, rules etc. to learn about.
the spice was also *chefs kiss* because it was very well written, in my opinion. it had just enough details about the physical for you to imagine it, but it also gave great detail on how the love and lust made them feel. basically, it didn't make you uncomfortable with just straight corn.
if you are an avid fantasy reader, you may notice a lot of similarities to other popular books. such as . but hey, i read simply for the pleasure. i am not trying to analyze the heck out of it and bash on the author. like some people write reviews and you can tell this book just wasn't for them because they hated basically the entire premise of the book lol.
even though there were similarities, there were some things that were pretty unique (to me) which i wont be going into bc the mobile version of goodreads likes to show spoilers. just trust me :-)
ANYWAY! i really enjoyed this book and i am very excited for the next one. i highly recommend this!
C - 10
A - 10
W - 8
P - 7
I - 10
L -7
E - 10
8.86 ≈ 4.5 ★
✦ ✦ ✦
connect with me here!
June 11, 2009
Shannon K. Butcher has written what should be a pleasing paranormal, Instead this is a “been there, done that” mystical paranormal romance that has a close comparison to either J.R. Ward or Christine Feehan. Fans of those authors will probably enjoy this one. Shannon has created an immortal demon hunting hero who must protect an innocent young woman who is the key to this tortured hero’s salvation. Burning Alive is the first book in The Sentinel Wars, a new series about strong and hunky immortal men who must save humanity. At least these heroes have normal names like Drake, Thomas and Logan. I give Shannon a thumbs up for that.
Helen Day is a bit of a cliché character that keeps popping up in paranormal romance. She is the almost perfect heroine. She loves to volunteer and brings food to the sick and elderly. Helen is a loner and only feels comfortable around those she helps. She is friends with Miss Mabel, a spunky old woman. These two have a standing dinner date every Tuesday. This Tuesday will change Helen’s life because as she and Miss Mabel are having dinner at their favorite diner Helen sees a man sitting at the counter who will watch her burn to death. Helen has had a recurring nightmare of dying by fire while some strange man watches.
Drake is a Theronai warrior who has sworn to protect humans. As a Sentinel he must stop the Synestryn demons that have plagued the Earth for centuries. Drake notices Helen because she can’t stop staring at him. Helen should have really kept her eyes on the menu. He is very interested in her because suddenly the constant pain he feels lessens. The reason for his pain is because he has so much power building up inside of him and doesn’t have an outlet to release it. Drake and his other Sentinel friend, Zach are enjoying coffee waiting for a few of their brothers… erm sorry wrong series, other Sentinels to arrive. Drake is anxious because he feels the need to talk to Helen, or rather walk over to her and be all alpha and force her to tell him who she is. This gives Zack the perfect excuse to manhandle Lexi, the only waitress working in the whole place. (For some reason there are no other customers or diner workers around. Pretty convenient, wouldn’t you say?) Just as Drake feels the need to be with Helen, Zach feels the same with Lexi. But Lexi has one up on them. She knows what they are while poor Helen doesn’t.
Helen is about to faint and/or pee her pants when Drake invades her personal space. There is no way to escape him, especially when Drake touches her. He won’t let her go now because as long as he touches her, the excruciating pain he has lived with all his life disappears. Helen is his outlet. Again this sounds a bit familiar, much like Feehan’s heroes who see colors and feel emotions when they meet their mate. The same goes with Drake now and he will never let Helen go. And when those nasty demons invade the diner, Helen, Miss Mabel, Drake and his motley crew have no choice but to fight for their lives. Drake takes the two women to safety along with Thomas who is close to loosing his soul. Because Lexi is able to escape, she runs away to places unknown while Zach is hot on her tail because he needs her. I think we can assume that these two will have their own book in the future.
Drake keeps a strong hand on Helen and along with Thomas driving and Miss Mabel in the backseat they drive to safety. They go to Helen’s house but Drake fails to mention that the demons can track them because of his blood that has been spilled. The demons find them, destroy Helen’s house and off these super men take their booty and go to their super secret protected hideaway. Helen is somewhat of a wreck but Drake keeps her protected because he is quite the skilled fighter who can fight with one hand while he keeps his other hand on Helen at all times. At least Miss Mabel is still around to use her walker to defend herself.
Drake has to talk Helen into staying with him and accept her destiny, which leads to hot sex between the two. Helen is coming into her own powers that have been activated because of Drake. There is also something about a missing sword they must locate to defeat the demons that keep coming after them. Why would you need a powerful sword when you can use the Mabel walker?
Because the market is being saturated by so many immortal warrior men fighting against evil while finding true love, I have a strange sense of déjà vu while reading Burning Alive. I did enjoy what I read but not so much so that I would be invested in future books. I was interested more in the secondary story between Zach and Lexi than I was with Drake and Helen. Unfortunately Drake and Helen seem to be a rehash of every other paranormal series couple I have read in the past few years.
What a shame Shannon Butcher could not deliver something new and exciting to the paranormal world. Burning Alive may appeal to some fans who don’t mind having this feeling of, “been there, done that” when reading about a group of immortals who fight evil and still have time to find love and quench their lust for that one special lady.
Helen Day is a bit of a cliché character that keeps popping up in paranormal romance. She is the almost perfect heroine. She loves to volunteer and brings food to the sick and elderly. Helen is a loner and only feels comfortable around those she helps. She is friends with Miss Mabel, a spunky old woman. These two have a standing dinner date every Tuesday. This Tuesday will change Helen’s life because as she and Miss Mabel are having dinner at their favorite diner Helen sees a man sitting at the counter who will watch her burn to death. Helen has had a recurring nightmare of dying by fire while some strange man watches.
Drake is a Theronai warrior who has sworn to protect humans. As a Sentinel he must stop the Synestryn demons that have plagued the Earth for centuries. Drake notices Helen because she can’t stop staring at him. Helen should have really kept her eyes on the menu. He is very interested in her because suddenly the constant pain he feels lessens. The reason for his pain is because he has so much power building up inside of him and doesn’t have an outlet to release it. Drake and his other Sentinel friend, Zach are enjoying coffee waiting for a few of their brothers… erm sorry wrong series, other Sentinels to arrive. Drake is anxious because he feels the need to talk to Helen, or rather walk over to her and be all alpha and force her to tell him who she is. This gives Zack the perfect excuse to manhandle Lexi, the only waitress working in the whole place. (For some reason there are no other customers or diner workers around. Pretty convenient, wouldn’t you say?) Just as Drake feels the need to be with Helen, Zach feels the same with Lexi. But Lexi has one up on them. She knows what they are while poor Helen doesn’t.
Helen is about to faint and/or pee her pants when Drake invades her personal space. There is no way to escape him, especially when Drake touches her. He won’t let her go now because as long as he touches her, the excruciating pain he has lived with all his life disappears. Helen is his outlet. Again this sounds a bit familiar, much like Feehan’s heroes who see colors and feel emotions when they meet their mate. The same goes with Drake now and he will never let Helen go. And when those nasty demons invade the diner, Helen, Miss Mabel, Drake and his motley crew have no choice but to fight for their lives. Drake takes the two women to safety along with Thomas who is close to loosing his soul. Because Lexi is able to escape, she runs away to places unknown while Zach is hot on her tail because he needs her. I think we can assume that these two will have their own book in the future.
Drake keeps a strong hand on Helen and along with Thomas driving and Miss Mabel in the backseat they drive to safety. They go to Helen’s house but Drake fails to mention that the demons can track them because of his blood that has been spilled. The demons find them, destroy Helen’s house and off these super men take their booty and go to their super secret protected hideaway. Helen is somewhat of a wreck but Drake keeps her protected because he is quite the skilled fighter who can fight with one hand while he keeps his other hand on Helen at all times. At least Miss Mabel is still around to use her walker to defend herself.
Drake has to talk Helen into staying with him and accept her destiny, which leads to hot sex between the two. Helen is coming into her own powers that have been activated because of Drake. There is also something about a missing sword they must locate to defeat the demons that keep coming after them. Why would you need a powerful sword when you can use the Mabel walker?
Because the market is being saturated by so many immortal warrior men fighting against evil while finding true love, I have a strange sense of déjà vu while reading Burning Alive. I did enjoy what I read but not so much so that I would be invested in future books. I was interested more in the secondary story between Zach and Lexi than I was with Drake and Helen. Unfortunately Drake and Helen seem to be a rehash of every other paranormal series couple I have read in the past few years.
What a shame Shannon Butcher could not deliver something new and exciting to the paranormal world. Burning Alive may appeal to some fans who don’t mind having this feeling of, “been there, done that” when reading about a group of immortals who fight evil and still have time to find love and quench their lust for that one special lady.
October 3, 2012
So, this was a pretty strong book for a first in a series. There was world-building, but not too much. No longwinded info dumps. Things were revealed and learned as the heroine learned them. It didn't get piled on her (or readers) all at once. Some of the info was kept from Helen until Drake had no choice but to tell her, but at least it didn't result in being overwhelming
I really enjoyed this. The pacing was just right and man was there some hot sexual tension between Helen and Drake and that tension seriously paid off. Shannon K. Butcher did a lovely job with those scenes.
In the beginning, I was a little worried as to how I would feel about this book. The men can be extremely Alpha and they have a bad habit of pinning women in place. If a woman is trying to get away, she should be able to do so instead of being scared out of her mind. Even if the hero does seriously need her. I was hoping that there wouldn't be a whole lot of the hero basically taking over the heroine's life and not truly letting her make her own choices. In some ways, Drake did do that by not giving her total disclosure regarding his world and the way their connection completely changed hers until another warrior basically forced his hand and he had to fess up.
Besides that, I actually like these two together. Helen could be sassy, but she wasn't as kick butt as I would have liked. Lexie made up for that in spades, though. Hell, even awesome Miss Mabel did . Still, since the series was starting out, it made sense that Drake's heroine might be a bit meek. Considering the state of the world as it stands for the Sentinels and her not knowing anything, I could really only expect her to be but so fierce. At least she wasn't a whiner. Helen is quite admirable. She was emotionally strong in circumstances where most people would fall apart. The times she did freak out or lash out were understandable and she was always able to get herself back in control and handle most of the situations way better than just about anyone else would have. So, for a heroine, I'd have to say that I liked her.
Drake was almost super Alpha. At times, it was almost too much, but at least he backed off from time to time. He even let her order him to get naked that time, hahaha. I loved him, though. He was quite compassionate. He obviously takes what he's fighting for seriously. He truly believes in what he does and losing her brothers is a harsh blow to him every time. He could have been jaded as hell considering that no only was he fighting the good fight without any recognition from the people he was fighting it for, but he was in so much physical pain. I admired him for not being a jaded douchebag. He could be really sweet, too. Plus, all that sexy sure didn't hurt.
I enjoyed the POVs from other characters as well. I really want to know what that ass Logan is up to. I bet he has a good reason for doing what he's doing, but his methods totally put me off. I'm really curious to know how I will feel about his book and seeing him in the hero role. Right now, I can't forgive him . Gilda is in the same boat as Logan. I want to sink that boat in shark infested waters.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how Zach will win over Lexie. For his sake, I hope he does.
That's gonna be a tough nut to crack, though.
Anyway, I'm thinking this is going to be a series for me to keep up with. Good think Kick is doing a series read for it with a different book each month leading up to the newest release in 2013 and a Q&A with the author.
I really enjoyed this. The pacing was just right and man was there some hot sexual tension between Helen and Drake and that tension seriously paid off. Shannon K. Butcher did a lovely job with those scenes.
In the beginning, I was a little worried as to how I would feel about this book. The men can be extremely Alpha and they have a bad habit of pinning women in place. If a woman is trying to get away, she should be able to do so instead of being scared out of her mind. Even if the hero does seriously need her. I was hoping that there wouldn't be a whole lot of the hero basically taking over the heroine's life and not truly letting her make her own choices. In some ways, Drake did do that by not giving her total disclosure regarding his world and the way their connection completely changed hers until another warrior basically forced his hand and he had to fess up.
Besides that, I actually like these two together. Helen could be sassy, but she wasn't as kick butt as I would have liked. Lexie made up for that in spades, though. Hell, even awesome Miss Mabel did . Still, since the series was starting out, it made sense that Drake's heroine might be a bit meek. Considering the state of the world as it stands for the Sentinels and her not knowing anything, I could really only expect her to be but so fierce. At least she wasn't a whiner. Helen is quite admirable. She was emotionally strong in circumstances where most people would fall apart. The times she did freak out or lash out were understandable and she was always able to get herself back in control and handle most of the situations way better than just about anyone else would have. So, for a heroine, I'd have to say that I liked her.
Drake was almost super Alpha. At times, it was almost too much, but at least he backed off from time to time. He even let her order him to get naked that time, hahaha. I loved him, though. He was quite compassionate. He obviously takes what he's fighting for seriously. He truly believes in what he does and losing her brothers is a harsh blow to him every time. He could have been jaded as hell considering that no only was he fighting the good fight without any recognition from the people he was fighting it for, but he was in so much physical pain. I admired him for not being a jaded douchebag. He could be really sweet, too. Plus, all that sexy sure didn't hurt.
I enjoyed the POVs from other characters as well. I really want to know what that ass Logan is up to. I bet he has a good reason for doing what he's doing, but his methods totally put me off. I'm really curious to know how I will feel about his book and seeing him in the hero role. Right now, I can't forgive him . Gilda is in the same boat as Logan. I want to sink that boat in shark infested waters.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how Zach will win over Lexie. For his sake, I hope he does.
That's gonna be a tough nut to crack, though.
Anyway, I'm thinking this is going to be a series for me to keep up with. Good think Kick is doing a series read for it with a different book each month leading up to the newest release in 2013 and a Q&A with the author.
October 4, 2012
Loved it, hated it, got mad at it, cried, raged, lusted, almost tossed it across the room..ok not really it would have hurt my precious ereader but..a book that can wind you up that much ..is an example of *great* writing!
The Description:
They are the Sentinels...
Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes-the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
Helen Day is haunted by visions of herself surrounded by flames, as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her from across a diner, she attempts to flee-but instead ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine. For the man is actually Theronai warrior Drake, whose own pain is driven away by Helen's presence.
Together, they may become more than lovers-they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war and save Drake's people...
My Thoughts:
My friend Katya has been bugging me forever to read this series, Gotta Have Paranormal with a Kick has it as a group series read so I committed. What a book! Once again Katya didn't steer me wrong! In the beginning I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the characters. The men came off all slick and macho, Helen came off kinda mamby pamby, call caring for the elderly and such. I thought great...characters I am gonna hate!...Well...I did and I didn't in all the best ways. SKB is a talented author who tells a story by releasing bits and pieces as you go...Very shortly into the book I started to care about the characters..Loved Drake and Thomas...Lexi was my kinda girl..Helen not so much. Loved Miss Mable! Helen was too clueless for words...she didn't freak out finding out she was from an alien race but was so self absorbed with her fear of fire she let one of our beloved characters die!...*sob* I loved him so...SKB I'll get for killing him off. *grin* I admit I did feel sorry for Helen when the Grey Lady, who I thoughly dislike, gave her such a hard time. She really had no idea what she was doing and it seems it wasn't intuitive. However, she should have had strength of character to combat her fear and not let my sweet ...umm..never mind I won't spoil it for you> You can tell this is definitely the first book in a series as there was a lot of world building and background shared with the reader. It also left us with so many questions as to what will happening in the next novel and the rest of the series that I can't see why anyone would not want to hurry out and read the next book. Me? I have to wait til next month when the group will be reading book2 I can't wait!
I give this book a strong 3 1/2 stars and urge you to not put off reading this series..it is worth shelving the TBR list and moving on to Burned Alive!
Read it, Review it, Post it.....Readers and Author's thank you
The Description:
They are the Sentinels...
Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes-the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
Helen Day is haunted by visions of herself surrounded by flames, as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her from across a diner, she attempts to flee-but instead ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine. For the man is actually Theronai warrior Drake, whose own pain is driven away by Helen's presence.
Together, they may become more than lovers-they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war and save Drake's people...
My Thoughts:
My friend Katya has been bugging me forever to read this series, Gotta Have Paranormal with a Kick has it as a group series read so I committed. What a book! Once again Katya didn't steer me wrong! In the beginning I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the characters. The men came off all slick and macho, Helen came off kinda mamby pamby, call caring for the elderly and such. I thought great...characters I am gonna hate!...Well...I did and I didn't in all the best ways. SKB is a talented author who tells a story by releasing bits and pieces as you go...Very shortly into the book I started to care about the characters..Loved Drake and Thomas...Lexi was my kinda girl..Helen not so much. Loved Miss Mable! Helen was too clueless for words...she didn't freak out finding out she was from an alien race but was so self absorbed with her fear of fire she let one of our beloved characters die!...*sob* I loved him so...SKB I'll get for killing him off. *grin* I admit I did feel sorry for Helen when the Grey Lady, who I thoughly dislike, gave her such a hard time. She really had no idea what she was doing and it seems it wasn't intuitive. However, she should have had strength of character to combat her fear and not let my sweet ...umm..never mind I won't spoil it for you> You can tell this is definitely the first book in a series as there was a lot of world building and background shared with the reader. It also left us with so many questions as to what will happening in the next novel and the rest of the series that I can't see why anyone would not want to hurry out and read the next book. Me? I have to wait til next month when the group will be reading book2 I can't wait!
I give this book a strong 3 1/2 stars and urge you to not put off reading this series..it is worth shelving the TBR list and moving on to Burned Alive!
Read it, Review it, Post it.....Readers and Author's thank you
July 7, 2009
I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 just for some niggling little things, but I have to say this book is definitely a A- read.
This is the first book in Shannon Butcher's new paranormal series. All her life Helen Day has had visions of being burned alive while a dark haired warrior watches her die. So when she sees this warrior in the flesh in a diner she naturally freaks out. Making an attempt to leave only gets her noticed by Theronai warrior Drake.
When Drake touches Helen, all of the unimaginable pain he has lived with for centuries fades away. Determined to find out why this woman affects him so, he essentially kidnaps her. Which turns out to be a good thing because the Theronai's enemies, The Synestryn, have found them and want her as well. It seems Helen is the first (and only) female Theronai ever to be born in centuries. (All of their females were slaughtered by their enemy centuries ago)
Pros: Mrs Butcher writes an engaging, fast paced, can't-put-it-down story that keeps you turning the pages. The dialog is intelligent and even though its a paranormal, you aren't thrown into a world too far out to be unbelievable.
There was also a theme I especially enjoyed. It was very subtle but meaningful. A man and a woman are a team only when they are bonded together. They present a united front with a woman being the strong emotional warrior and her man being the "power reserve" she draws from; her protector. Anyone who enjoys a good marriage will appreciate this.
Cons: I realize that Helen has lived her entire life in abject fear of fire. Most likely this was a sort of brainwashing by her mother to protect her from what she knew Helen actually was. (This was sort of glossed over in the book) But when in one instance when someone's very life depended upon her using fire she freaked out and this person suffered a truly unimaginable, horrible death.
Drake, described as an incredibly alpha, almost gamma male, gravitates from strong and sure of himself to emotionally insecure (when it comes to Helen) in a matter of sentences. It was hard to reconcile this at times and luckily they are few, maybe 3 times in the entire book.
Overall, I'd give this an A-, the reasons why shown above. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.
This is the first book in Shannon Butcher's new paranormal series. All her life Helen Day has had visions of being burned alive while a dark haired warrior watches her die. So when she sees this warrior in the flesh in a diner she naturally freaks out. Making an attempt to leave only gets her noticed by Theronai warrior Drake.
When Drake touches Helen, all of the unimaginable pain he has lived with for centuries fades away. Determined to find out why this woman affects him so, he essentially kidnaps her. Which turns out to be a good thing because the Theronai's enemies, The Synestryn, have found them and want her as well. It seems Helen is the first (and only) female Theronai ever to be born in centuries. (All of their females were slaughtered by their enemy centuries ago)
Pros: Mrs Butcher writes an engaging, fast paced, can't-put-it-down story that keeps you turning the pages. The dialog is intelligent and even though its a paranormal, you aren't thrown into a world too far out to be unbelievable.
There was also a theme I especially enjoyed. It was very subtle but meaningful. A man and a woman are a team only when they are bonded together. They present a united front with a woman being the strong emotional warrior and her man being the "power reserve" she draws from; her protector. Anyone who enjoys a good marriage will appreciate this.
Cons: I realize that Helen has lived her entire life in abject fear of fire. Most likely this was a sort of brainwashing by her mother to protect her from what she knew Helen actually was. (This was sort of glossed over in the book) But when in one instance when someone's very life depended upon her using fire she freaked out and this person suffered a truly unimaginable, horrible death.
Drake, described as an incredibly alpha, almost gamma male, gravitates from strong and sure of himself to emotionally insecure (when it comes to Helen) in a matter of sentences. It was hard to reconcile this at times and luckily they are few, maybe 3 times in the entire book.
Overall, I'd give this an A-, the reasons why shown above. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.
January 29, 2016
I truly think this book deserves a shelf all of its own, called "DAFUQ DID I JUST READ".
I mean, what's with that absurd story? The guy is absolutely atrocious, and the girl goes from "so frightened I could actually die" to "omg I wanna rip his pants off" in what seems like miliseconds (it take a few hours, actually. But you get my point.)
The guy knows he frightens her to death, BUT HE STILL DOES ALL KINDS OF AWFUL THINGS TO HER. With no explanations. He manhandles her, abducts her, then decides he'll keep her "because he doesn't feel pain when he's with her"... And, of course, he fails to tell her that. Or anything, for that matter.
And since she accepts that and finds it (and him) attractive and oh so manly and hot, she's obviously NOT the kind of heroine I want to cheer on. She's actually the kind I want to kill painfully for being TSTL.
Enough said.
I mean, what's with that absurd story? The guy is absolutely atrocious, and the girl goes from "so frightened I could actually die" to "omg I wanna rip his pants off" in what seems like miliseconds (it take a few hours, actually. But you get my point.)
The guy knows he frightens her to death, BUT HE STILL DOES ALL KINDS OF AWFUL THINGS TO HER. With no explanations. He manhandles her, abducts her, then decides he'll keep her "because he doesn't feel pain when he's with her"... And, of course, he fails to tell her that. Or anything, for that matter.
And since she accepts that and finds it (and him) attractive and oh so manly and hot, she's obviously NOT the kind of heroine I want to cheer on. She's actually the kind I want to kill painfully for being TSTL.
Enough said.
July 29, 2012
I had this book checked out from the library for over a month before I actually read it. My husband saw it on an ad on Facebook and put it on hold for me. I wish I had read it sooner! I love this book and it's not often that I love the first book in a series, even BDB which is my favorite series I was not in love with the first book.
Loved it the second time too!
Loved it the second time too!
June 11, 2018
This will be full of spoilers, so read at your own risk.
There were plenty of times during the first half of this book that I questioned myself “why am I still reading this?”, at one point, I actually left my ereader appalled.
The first scene in this book was probably the first time I decided to DNF this. During that scene, our heroine, and her two friends were hanging out at a restaurant, when three men, also hanging out in the restaurant, noticed them, and each one of them physically restrained one of the women, this scene wouldn’t really have been a problem if these assaulters weren’t our heroes. Out of all the three, Zach’s restraining bothered me the most, it seemed like a picture scene from a violent assault; he was trapping Lexie with his arms while she was physically pushing him away and screaming, he didn’t care, so she resorted to stabbing him, which he laughed at. He then proceeded to mark her without her consent, when he knew she didn’t want this.
The second time I wanted to DNF this was when an 18 year old kept flirting with a 400 year old man, which also wouldn’t have been a problem if he didn’t consider reciprocating for a second. Ironically, the third time I considered DNFing this was also during this scene. When said 18 year old casually mentioned she was raped by her father, which was reacted with a vow to never have sex unless she falls in love... As much as I appreciate dark tones in my books, I prefer them to be taken more seriously, not mentioned as casually as the weather.
There were so many reasons to just drop this book and move on, but I managed to push through. Hell, I even came to care for one particular character, Thomas, the only man who actually cared about consent—I’d include Paul too, but he came in too late—and was actually sweet. But then the author decided to kill him off and there was no one else for me to care about. But despite all the the aforementioned, despite the cringe-y dialogues, despite the constant need for touching in the first half of the book, this book had potential. The actual plot, the one buried deep under the undeveloped characters and the terrible decisions, was actually... not bad. The whole dying race and sterile men and slaughtered women actually managed to grab my attention, I was even interested in the whole energy conversion thing. So to say, this series has potential, this book, however, is a lost cause. I’m willing to give another book in the series a try because I already have them, but this time, I will DNF by the first red flag.
There were plenty of times during the first half of this book that I questioned myself “why am I still reading this?”, at one point, I actually left my ereader appalled.
The first scene in this book was probably the first time I decided to DNF this. During that scene, our heroine, and her two friends were hanging out at a restaurant, when three men, also hanging out in the restaurant, noticed them, and each one of them physically restrained one of the women, this scene wouldn’t really have been a problem if these assaulters weren’t our heroes. Out of all the three, Zach’s restraining bothered me the most, it seemed like a picture scene from a violent assault; he was trapping Lexie with his arms while she was physically pushing him away and screaming, he didn’t care, so she resorted to stabbing him, which he laughed at. He then proceeded to mark her without her consent, when he knew she didn’t want this.
The second time I wanted to DNF this was when an 18 year old kept flirting with a 400 year old man, which also wouldn’t have been a problem if he didn’t consider reciprocating for a second. Ironically, the third time I considered DNFing this was also during this scene. When said 18 year old casually mentioned she was raped by her father, which was reacted with a vow to never have sex unless she falls in love... As much as I appreciate dark tones in my books, I prefer them to be taken more seriously, not mentioned as casually as the weather.
There were so many reasons to just drop this book and move on, but I managed to push through. Hell, I even came to care for one particular character, Thomas, the only man who actually cared about consent—I’d include Paul too, but he came in too late—and was actually sweet. But then the author decided to kill him off and there was no one else for me to care about. But despite all the the aforementioned, despite the cringe-y dialogues, despite the constant need for touching in the first half of the book, this book had potential. The actual plot, the one buried deep under the undeveloped characters and the terrible decisions, was actually... not bad. The whole dying race and sterile men and slaughtered women actually managed to grab my attention, I was even interested in the whole energy conversion thing. So to say, this series has potential, this book, however, is a lost cause. I’m willing to give another book in the series a try because I already have them, but this time, I will DNF by the first red flag.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2009
This is the first in the Sentinel Wars by Shannon K Butcher. It's a Urban Fantasy and I really enjoyed it! Helan Day is the protagonist in the story and I find I like her. She's not your typically strong and sexy type, but she' a strong willed a a good person.
PLOT from amazon: Her entire life Helen Day has haunted by dreams of burning alive while a man watches her and smiles. So when she meets Drake, the man of her dreams, in a diner, she knows she doesn't have long to live. Drake is a Theronai warrior, sworn to protect humans. He's been protecting humanity from demons called the Synestryn for centuries.
I really liked the scene where Helen and Drake meet. It's intense but interesting. The characters are fun and easy to relate to, even if they aren't from our type of world. The book has a good amount of action and romance and has some sizzling scenes. The book is really well paced and I can honestly say I'm stoked for the next book. .. The only thing I didn't love is his hair on the books cover.. haha! Everything else was a great find. I really enjoyed this book.
Synopsis:
There are worse ways to die...
They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes--the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
For too long, Helen Day has been haunted by visions of her own death, surrounded by flames as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her across a diner, she attempts to flee--and ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine.
The instant the Theronai warrior Drake touches Helen, the anguish he has borne for years fades away. He is determined to know why this beautiful, fearful woman has such power over him. The answer lies in his very blood--and in Helen's as well. For together, they may become more than lovers--they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war--and save Drake's people...
It's a great paranormal book, I loved it and recommend others to pick it up!
PLOT from amazon: Her entire life Helen Day has haunted by dreams of burning alive while a man watches her and smiles. So when she meets Drake, the man of her dreams, in a diner, she knows she doesn't have long to live. Drake is a Theronai warrior, sworn to protect humans. He's been protecting humanity from demons called the Synestryn for centuries.
I really liked the scene where Helen and Drake meet. It's intense but interesting. The characters are fun and easy to relate to, even if they aren't from our type of world. The book has a good amount of action and romance and has some sizzling scenes. The book is really well paced and I can honestly say I'm stoked for the next book. .. The only thing I didn't love is his hair on the books cover.. haha! Everything else was a great find. I really enjoyed this book.
Synopsis:
There are worse ways to die...
They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes--the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
For too long, Helen Day has been haunted by visions of her own death, surrounded by flames as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her across a diner, she attempts to flee--and ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine.
The instant the Theronai warrior Drake touches Helen, the anguish he has borne for years fades away. He is determined to know why this beautiful, fearful woman has such power over him. The answer lies in his very blood--and in Helen's as well. For together, they may become more than lovers--they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war--and save Drake's people...
It's a great paranormal book, I loved it and recommend others to pick it up!
June 7, 2010
Great read! I have a new 'must have' author.
I loved the opening with decrepit Miss Mabel whacking our hero with her walker because she thought he was hurting our heroine. The setup, secret warriors guarding the world from evil monsters, is not new but the author makes it her own.
The hero's people are born with a tattoo of a tree [lifetree:] which grows and matures as they do. As they move through life, their bodies suck up power and store it. This power is meant to be used by their mate to fuel their magic. Unfortunately most of the women were killed [no details yet on how:] 200 years ago leaving the men unmated. The power builds up causing extreme pain and slowly destroying their lifetree and their soul.
Our hero, Drake, finds Helen who takes away the pain and refreshes his lifetree and he mates her. He does not force her but he doesn't tell her all the repercussions, either. In his defense, when he tried to walk away he went into convulsions and would have died without her.
Helen has serious issues learning to use magic as the first thing they want her to do is call fire and Helen is terrified of fire. [She has a repeated vision of herself burning alive while a man, who turns out to be Drake, watches.:]
One thing that I had trouble with - although I'm not sure how else the author could have handled it - was the monsters. There are several different types [none of which have common analogues in our culture:] and they all look weird and have strange names. I really wanted a glossary - or at least a scorecard!
There are a lot of strings left for future books. There's a creepy little kid [who isn't a kid:] who has visions, a plot by the Sanguinar [they don't like to be called vampires:] and not much explanation of the source of the monsters.
There is also a teaser built in for the next book which leaves you hanging...
Sentinel Wars
1. Burning Alive (2009)
2. Finding the Lost (2009)
3. Running Scared (2010)
4. Living Nightmare (2010)
I loved the opening with decrepit Miss Mabel whacking our hero with her walker because she thought he was hurting our heroine. The setup, secret warriors guarding the world from evil monsters, is not new but the author makes it her own.
The hero's people are born with a tattoo of a tree [lifetree:] which grows and matures as they do. As they move through life, their bodies suck up power and store it. This power is meant to be used by their mate to fuel their magic. Unfortunately most of the women were killed [no details yet on how:] 200 years ago leaving the men unmated. The power builds up causing extreme pain and slowly destroying their lifetree and their soul.
Our hero, Drake, finds Helen who takes away the pain and refreshes his lifetree and he mates her. He does not force her but he doesn't tell her all the repercussions, either. In his defense, when he tried to walk away he went into convulsions and would have died without her.
Helen has serious issues learning to use magic as the first thing they want her to do is call fire and Helen is terrified of fire. [She has a repeated vision of herself burning alive while a man, who turns out to be Drake, watches.:]
One thing that I had trouble with - although I'm not sure how else the author could have handled it - was the monsters. There are several different types [none of which have common analogues in our culture:] and they all look weird and have strange names. I really wanted a glossary - or at least a scorecard!
There are a lot of strings left for future books. There's a creepy little kid [who isn't a kid:] who has visions, a plot by the Sanguinar [they don't like to be called vampires:] and not much explanation of the source of the monsters.
There is also a teaser built in for the next book which leaves you hanging...
Sentinel Wars
1. Burning Alive (2009)
2. Finding the Lost (2009)
3. Running Scared (2010)
4. Living Nightmare (2010)
May 7, 2012
4.25stars for this witty, fiery, funny tale
This origin story for Sentinel Wars pulled me in right away. I enjoyed the characters as the foundation was laid for what could be an extremely long running series depending on the authors choices as information about one of the three paranormal races and their ongoing invisible war held in sight of and about the humans. The dwindling Theronai are fighting time in addition to the Synestryn with the dubious assistance of the Genrai as the females of the race have been slaughtered years ago.
What worked well for me was the dialog, writing style, pacing and storyline and for the most part the characters. In some places it was laugh out loud funny, sometime just witty but it was always interesting. The world itself was intricate and layered with each race having its own hierarchy in addition to multiple castes for each. I loved the leaning into the stereotypical strengths of each sex to ensure a balanced union. With women providing the emotional/practical while men provide the strength/protection pieces of the equation teamwork is essential.
Hmmm what didn’t work was too much Helen. While it was understandable that this was a new world for her at times she was irritating and annoying, you wanted her gone. I also felt the story slowed when Helen was front and center in the latter portions of the book. Not to be outdone a little more consistency from Drake would not have been amiss – alpha males don’t question their actions.
I am quite on board for this ride and am anxious to get to the next episode!
This origin story for Sentinel Wars pulled me in right away. I enjoyed the characters as the foundation was laid for what could be an extremely long running series depending on the authors choices as information about one of the three paranormal races and their ongoing invisible war held in sight of and about the humans. The dwindling Theronai are fighting time in addition to the Synestryn with the dubious assistance of the Genrai as the females of the race have been slaughtered years ago.
What worked well for me was the dialog, writing style, pacing and storyline and for the most part the characters. In some places it was laugh out loud funny, sometime just witty but it was always interesting. The world itself was intricate and layered with each race having its own hierarchy in addition to multiple castes for each. I loved the leaning into the stereotypical strengths of each sex to ensure a balanced union. With women providing the emotional/practical while men provide the strength/protection pieces of the equation teamwork is essential.
Hmmm what didn’t work was too much Helen. While it was understandable that this was a new world for her at times she was irritating and annoying, you wanted her gone. I also felt the story slowed when Helen was front and center in the latter portions of the book. Not to be outdone a little more consistency from Drake would not have been amiss – alpha males don’t question their actions.
I am quite on board for this ride and am anxious to get to the next episode!
October 3, 2012
Burning Alive is a pretty good first instalment of a paranormal romance which is heavy with the world building, characters and rules of engagement between the Sentinel Races and their evil nemesis the Synestryn. The Theronai are warriors who are protectors of the earth and must find their mate to disperse their awesome power before their lifemark withers and their soul dies. The Sanguinar, their allies and a race that needs blood to survive with mysterious powers and the evil Synestryn a demonic race that gets their power from the Anthanasians an ancient race whose portal the Sentinels protect. Shannon Butcher does a nice job unfurling the world bringing in different facets as the book progresses without overwhelming the reader. As per usual paranormal romance there is the relationship between the featured couple, Helen Day and the Theronai warrior, Drake Asher but as well there are many questions posed, many characters with secrets held and lots more of this interesting world to be further explored.
A promising start to an imaginative paranormal series.
A promising start to an imaginative paranormal series.
August 7, 2010
A paranormal with a new twist. Instead of vampires, werewolves and the like, we see "sentinels" (the good guys who protect humans) and "synestryn" (the monsters who destroy humanity) with a whole lot of sub-characters in-between. Butcher writes a compelling "first in the series" that grabs the reader instantly and doesn't get bogged down with information overload as the story unfolds. Instead, she develops the background as the questions arise and continues it along with the action. The style and feel of the series is very comparable to J.R. Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series and is just as addicting.
April 17, 2017
Great start to a series. This has a few different types of characters that are all dependant on each other. Theain characters are sentinels. They have this tree tattoo that represents there life. When all the leaves fall their life is done. In order for them to not die they must find their female counterpart, not an easy feat because it is believed that there are not many, if any left to be found. Then Helen pops up.
Corny romance, first series world building, alpha males, and decent fighting action scenes. Book two is better, glad I continued with this.
Corny romance, first series world building, alpha males, and decent fighting action scenes. Book two is better, glad I continued with this.
April 25, 2010
The first chapter in this book was simply amazing, just because of that it gets a five star!! I enjoyed this book!!
December 12, 2022
Drake is literally like Andrew Tate in this book.
This book was so fucking awful. It is not well written at all and comes off as a little repetitive at times. It is also hard to understand some of the dialogue in this book because of how it was written. I found myself getting so confused at parts because of this. The two lovers in this book basically fall in love in one night and basically decided to spend the rest of their lives together. It definitely felt like Romeo and Juliet, if R+J was just shitty smut.
AND THE SMUT WASN'T EVEN THAT GOOD. There were only like two scenes and one of them was just kind of unethical? (idk if that's the word I'm looking for but just go with it). And then the final "smut" scene was just a fade to black and they both live happily ever after blah blah blah..
Also nothing really happened in this book. Most of it is just focused on Drake and Helen. I feel like it would have been better if we got maybe a little more world building. Like, I know its a smutty romance so most people are not reading it for the world building but it would be nice. Like take Ice Planet Barbarians for example. It is probably the smuttiest book out there but the world building in it is so good.
And before I get to my next part I do know that this is a series but nothing was really resolved in this book and there were a lot of unfinished plot lines that we only saw once or twice. We mostly follow Drake and Helen but there was one other character in the book that I found to be so so interesting to read from but I believe we only read from her twice?
Anyways this was just an awful book and I hope to read something good to end the year with a bang instead of with a dud. Also will not be reading the rest of this series (obvi)
This book was so fucking awful. It is not well written at all and comes off as a little repetitive at times. It is also hard to understand some of the dialogue in this book because of how it was written. I found myself getting so confused at parts because of this. The two lovers in this book basically fall in love in one night and basically decided to spend the rest of their lives together. It definitely felt like Romeo and Juliet, if R+J was just shitty smut.
AND THE SMUT WASN'T EVEN THAT GOOD. There were only like two scenes and one of them was just kind of unethical? (idk if that's the word I'm looking for but just go with it). And then the final "smut" scene was just a fade to black and they both live happily ever after blah blah blah..
Also nothing really happened in this book. Most of it is just focused on Drake and Helen. I feel like it would have been better if we got maybe a little more world building. Like, I know its a smutty romance so most people are not reading it for the world building but it would be nice. Like take Ice Planet Barbarians for example. It is probably the smuttiest book out there but the world building in it is so good.
And before I get to my next part I do know that this is a series but nothing was really resolved in this book and there were a lot of unfinished plot lines that we only saw once or twice. We mostly follow Drake and Helen but there was one other character in the book that I found to be so so interesting to read from but I believe we only read from her twice?
Anyways this was just an awful book and I hope to read something good to end the year with a bang instead of with a dud. Also will not be reading the rest of this series (obvi)
October 3, 2012
My Rating: ★★★½
Book Description:
They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes--the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
For too long, Helen Day has been haunted by visions of her own death, surrounded by flames as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her across a diner, she attempts to flee--and ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine.
The instant the Theronai warrior Drake touches Helen, the anguish he has borne for years fades away. He is determined to know why this beautiful, fearful woman has such power over him. The answer lies in his very blood--and in Helen's as well. For together, they may become more than lovers--they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war--and save Drake's people.
My Thoughts:
I think my status updates sum up where my feelings were about Burning Alive. I actually enjoyed the story very much. It definitely gave me some reader highs and lows.
Book Description:
They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes--the Synestryn. Now, one warrior must fight his own desire if he is to discover the power that lies within his one true love...
For too long, Helen Day has been haunted by visions of her own death, surrounded by flames as a dark-haired man watches her burn. So when she sees the man of her nightmares staring at her across a diner, she attempts to flee--and ends up in the man's arms. There, she awakens a force more powerful and enticing than she could ever imagine.
The instant the Theronai warrior Drake touches Helen, the anguish he has borne for years fades away. He is determined to know why this beautiful, fearful woman has such power over him. The answer lies in his very blood--and in Helen's as well. For together, they may become more than lovers--they may become a weapon of light that could tip the balance of the war--and save Drake's people.
My Thoughts:
I think my status updates sum up where my feelings were about Burning Alive. I actually enjoyed the story very much. It definitely gave me some reader highs and lows.
25%: I desperately need to know what happens to Thomas.So my closing thoughts on Burning Alive:
30%: I Googled it...I'm in tears and it hasn't happened yet. Poor Thomas!!! How could Butcher get me to like him so much only to take him away *sniffle*.....reading on.
55%: Thomas death by the kajmela....wrecked me...just wrecked me! Ok seriously...Thomas just died and Helen can't get over herself to call the fire?!?
59%: Helen's woe is me attitude is making me want to smack her. Hello....Thomas JUST DIED! Drake just lost his best friend and brother and she is complaining about being left out?!? Ridiculous!
65%: Helen!!!! I swear that she is TICKING. ME. OFF. She just experienced this close connection with Drake and now she is shutting him out. He needs to take his luceria and run far far away from that wishy-washy chic. Ugh!
75%: Seriously Helen! Drake is already suffering from Thomas' loss and now she is totally using Thomas death against him. Umm...excuse me but it's YOUR FAULT that Thomas died. If she had just gotten over her fear and channeled the fire he would still be alive. I'm really not liking her.
78%: Now she's feeling guilty for getting Thomas killed. Her emotions are all over the map.
92%: Helen really is melodramatic. She's now struggling to take the luceria off because she doesn't want Drake to die with her if she does. First off, she snuck off to "fight" the Synestryn by herself having zero battle skills. Seconly, she froze up again and the kajmela were eyeing Drake like a happy meal.
Ok...so YAY...in the end Helen was able to save the day....although I still never liked her.
• I loved Drake and his sexy alpha male "I'm going to save the world attitude"...YUM!
• Thomas *sigh*...dear, sweet Thomas. I really wish that he could have lived and one of the other less significant characters died. Thomas just connected so well with the readers that you just had to love him. I think that's why Butcher sacrificed him. Even after his last leaf fell off and he felt the change coming on him, he still fought on the side of good. In the end, his sacrifice saved Drake and Helen.
• I'm really looking forward to reading Lexie and Zach's story. The seem well matched and I bet their story will be humourous with their antics.
• I'm left wondering what role Sybil plays in the looming battle and will Gilda's secret and betrayal break down the Theronai infrastructure as it exists.
August 5, 2009
It drew me in from page one and I knew I would love Shannon K. Butcher! However, it doesn't deserve a higher rating from me because of a few things:
1) It lacked the emotional intensity and it didn't make me feel much of anything whatsoever.
2) It's far too similar to Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank (AN AWESOME BOOK THAT IS EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL YOU PARANORMAL ROMANCE FANS) minus the depth. Especially the paranormal phenomena. That was lame.
3) There were parts I didn't like such as Thomas' death. Even though Helen was suffering from a phobia, I still couldn't help but feel disappointed that she couldn't do anything to help save him. I was looking forward to reading a story about him! Butcher spent more time investing in the death scene than she did with Helen's vision coming true - which was very weak. When it reached his death scene, everything kind of felt like a bitter turning point in the story that made the rest seem bleak and passion-less... at least to me.
4) Another thing I didn't like was Logan and his blood oaths from Paul, Helen, and Drake. WTF was that all about? Why was it never explained? Why not just call him a vampire instead of Sanguinar? Why is he such a contradictory character? First, he's the ally then he betrays Drake by having Helen blindly swear to a blood oath, then he's all predatory and then he's got good intentions. So is he a good guy or a bad guy? What happened to Lexi and Zach? Why wasn't that explained? Is Lexi a female Theronai as well? If she was to be Zach's mate, why wasn't he in deep physical pain when they broke contact?
5) Why weren't details mentioned? Locations, times, ages, growing up .... usually stories have at least some minor background story to the characters (i.e. Growing up in foster homes, exes, experiences, etc.). Those three days could have spanned a little longer like a week. It feels too busy; three days and all of a sudden Helen and Drake realize they're going to be together forever? How long does each leaf on their tree last? (Btw, I thought the leaf on the tree thing to signify their soul span was odd.) What the heck was going on with the epilogue? How is that significant? Unless I just don't understand.
Overall, I enjoyed it as much as I could and I read it in a day and a half so I guess that says something. It's an easy read that won't take you that long but to me, a great book has to be something you can't put down even if you tried. I put this down so many times and didn't regret not going back to pick it up where I left off. Good dialogue and character development though. I did think the love scenes were better than most of what I've read; they were romantic and heated but not to the point where there is dirty language or any acts that are engaged to make the reader cringe or embarrassed. The story is realistic but slightly unnatural as well. I'd SUGGEST it but wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless you want to out of curiosity. 3/5 stars
1) It lacked the emotional intensity and it didn't make me feel much of anything whatsoever.
2) It's far too similar to Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank (AN AWESOME BOOK THAT IS EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL YOU PARANORMAL ROMANCE FANS) minus the depth. Especially the paranormal phenomena. That was lame.
3) There were parts I didn't like such as Thomas' death. Even though Helen was suffering from a phobia, I still couldn't help but feel disappointed that she couldn't do anything to help save him. I was looking forward to reading a story about him! Butcher spent more time investing in the death scene than she did with Helen's vision coming true - which was very weak. When it reached his death scene, everything kind of felt like a bitter turning point in the story that made the rest seem bleak and passion-less... at least to me.
4) Another thing I didn't like was Logan and his blood oaths from Paul, Helen, and Drake. WTF was that all about? Why was it never explained? Why not just call him a vampire instead of Sanguinar? Why is he such a contradictory character? First, he's the ally then he betrays Drake by having Helen blindly swear to a blood oath, then he's all predatory and then he's got good intentions. So is he a good guy or a bad guy? What happened to Lexi and Zach? Why wasn't that explained? Is Lexi a female Theronai as well? If she was to be Zach's mate, why wasn't he in deep physical pain when they broke contact?
5) Why weren't details mentioned? Locations, times, ages, growing up .... usually stories have at least some minor background story to the characters (i.e. Growing up in foster homes, exes, experiences, etc.). Those three days could have spanned a little longer like a week. It feels too busy; three days and all of a sudden Helen and Drake realize they're going to be together forever? How long does each leaf on their tree last? (Btw, I thought the leaf on the tree thing to signify their soul span was odd.) What the heck was going on with the epilogue? How is that significant? Unless I just don't understand.
Overall, I enjoyed it as much as I could and I read it in a day and a half so I guess that says something. It's an easy read that won't take you that long but to me, a great book has to be something you can't put down even if you tried. I put this down so many times and didn't regret not going back to pick it up where I left off. Good dialogue and character development though. I did think the love scenes were better than most of what I've read; they were romantic and heated but not to the point where there is dirty language or any acts that are engaged to make the reader cringe or embarrassed. The story is realistic but slightly unnatural as well. I'd SUGGEST it but wouldn't necessarily recommend it unless you want to out of curiosity. 3/5 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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