This was very short. Also I am glad that it wasn't the first in the series, because it would have set the wrong tone.
Artemis was different, it tried tThis was very short. Also I am glad that it wasn't the first in the series, because it would have set the wrong tone.
Artemis was different, it tried to show her more sympathetic, but I still don't like her, and this didn't make me want to change that opinion.
It had Simi in it, but I'm glad that I knew her previously, this would not have been a good introduction to her. (Also there is lots of conflict going on with Simi. (view spoiler)[In the last book Acheron said that she was his daughter, but didn't clarify if that meant actually of his blood or not. And this, he likened her to a gift given to him.)
But all in all it wasn't horrible. It was depressing though, and does explain why Acheron is and isn't keen on releasing souls.
This one was enjoyable. It took me forever to find a copy of The Mediterranean Caper, because here in the UK it was printed as MayDay!
However, it is sThis one was enjoyable. It took me forever to find a copy of The Mediterranean Caper, because here in the UK it was printed as MayDay!
However, it is so remarkable how dated these books are. I kept having to remind myself that this book was written 40 years ago. And even more still, the subject matter they were talking about was from another 40 years earlier than that! So wow, what a step back in time it was. Because of the dated nature of it, it really did make me realize just how far technology has come, as a lot that was happening in the book, couldn't and wouldn't happen now. The times have just changed far too much.
I think in another 20 years, this book will be relegated to the same shelves as The Three Musketeers and the like like that when it comes to reading it. The last of the Nazi War Criminals, or even just soldiers are nearly extinct, same goes for the allies. So future people who read this will definitely lump them in the same category as long dead Kings and Queens and religious men who secretly ruled the world. - Not sure if any of this rambling makes sense, it is far too early for me to be having such thoughts.
I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to Valerius' story or not. Since I was a huge fan of Zarek, and also loved Kyrian.
However, that iWow. Just wow.
I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to Valerius' story or not. Since I was a huge fan of Zarek, and also loved Kyrian.
However, that is exactly what made me love this story so. There was a lot of preconceived notions and a lot of book cover judging when it came to our Roman.
Now, not so sure about Tabitha. I liked her.. but dude, she is a spaz. She did warm on me a lot, and in fact grew up a lot as well.
Now to the story. Ooooh boy.
Oh the feels.
Damn. I honestly do not know how to process some of the things.
Rest behind spoilers.
(view spoiler)[ NICK. Oh my god. NICK. I loved Nick from the the start (or at least I think I did), I cannot believe what has happened to him. I know I liked Nick's mom. I want to cry about it all.
And the part where Kyrian and Amanda were actually dead? Holy crap. I didn't actually think that they were going to 'come back'. But of course there was a HEA. Not sure if I am happy about that or not. Maybe I've just been listening to too much A Storm of Swords.
And Simi is actually Ash's daughter? Wow. Okay.. Nick.. again oh Nick...
We got to see a lot more of the real Ash, which made me squee so much. (hide spoiler)]...more
Do not read this one if you are currently waiting to find out if you are (not so expectedly) expecting. It will probably cloud your judgement when it Do not read this one if you are currently waiting to find out if you are (not so expectedly) expecting. It will probably cloud your judgement when it comes to this book.
Which I'm sure is why I didn't enjoy it nearly as much.
I liked Wulf. I liked Chris. (Reminded me a lot of Nick, which makes sense since they are the same age and friends) I loved Ash as always. I think Urien will be an interesting character in the future.
I didn't care much about Cas. Kat was ehh.. and her plot twist never got resolved.
But for the most part, the plot was ehh to me. But that could have just been because I wasn't in a happy baby place. I only perked up reading literally at the end when Zarek, Talon, Julian, and Kyrian (as well as Ash and Simi) showed up. Otherwise... I was ambivalent.
Oh, and I just really do not like Artemis in this. And that still really bugs me. ...more
I knew I loved Zarek from the moment he walked in on the scene in Night Embrace. He did not disappoint at all in this one. I love him still.
Astrid, waI knew I loved Zarek from the moment he walked in on the scene in Night Embrace. He did not disappoint at all in this one. I love him still.
Astrid, was awesome. I really liked her. And more importantly I didn't instantly dislike her or think she was stupid like Sunshine! (from Night Embrace)
I thought the story was interestingly done.
I did find the implausibility a little hard to deal with when it came to Astrid running around in only a sweater when it was supposed to be so cold that even an immortal would have a hard time. (Mostly the crying while out in the elements. Umm... liquid. Freezes. Especially at those temperatures that it was supposed to be.)
Otherwise, I enjoyed it all. Though why are the Three Fates such man haters?
And gods do I love Ash even more.
Simi and Sasha were both hilariously wonderful.
Artemis, I'm still annoyed at how she is portrayed. I don't like her. But we aren't meant to. Still don't like it....more
So I've held off reading this one for a long time. I don't know exactly why, other than it took me two tries to read
[image]
. Perhaps that is whatSo I've held off reading this one for a long time. I don't know exactly why, other than it took me two tries to read
[image]
. Perhaps that is what had me gunshy about starting this one?
The audiobook was well done. Lenny Henry did a great job with all the voices. And even more awesome was just last week I was at Neil Gaiman's reading of
[image]
, and Lenny was one of the special guests! (Who had some very naughty thoughts on the sonic screwdriver if the Doctor were to ever be a female!)
The story it's self was not as strong as
[image]
, but it was certainly quite good! Fat Charlie was relatable. Spider was who we all wanted to grow up to be. Rosie was... well I couldn't quite relate to her simply because of her views on premarital sex, but that is due to my views on it. Daisy was quite likable.
All in all, I liked the people I was meant to like, and I disliked the ones I was meant to dislike.
I also love Izzy more than I ever thought I would.
But you know what? It was good.
Éibhear Oh I was so worried about this one.
I love Éibhear So SO much.
I also love Izzy more than I ever thought I would.
But you know what? It was good.
Éibhear was definitely... different. But he has grown up a bit after all. He didn't entirely loose that sweet boy that he was, but he definitely has become a fearsome dragon.
I'm still not sure about the twins. But I think I've decided I like the boy twin more than the girl twin. I think I'm just not sure about them because of the 10 years later speedy growing up.
And Rhi... well, she's a 16 year old girl. It's generally hard not to be annoyed. But she wasn't too bad.
All in all, I did like the story. I'm sad that I actually have to wait for the next one to come out.
I'm conflicted over this one. I think I'm going to end up bullet pointing here.
On one hand, it was so much freaking better than the last two books witI'm conflicted over this one. I think I'm going to end up bullet pointing here.
On one hand, it was so much freaking better than the last two books with their whole psychic mind melding crapiness.
Yes, PJ has always been a badass. But I think the level of Badassery just was a bit too unbelievable. And I still always have issues with characters that are/were 'the first female SWAT team member' of their respective units. It just is so cliche. Plus in Denver, there percentage of female police officers is still only 11%, and in the nearly 18 years that I was living there, I don't think there are any female SWAT members.
Ms Banks, please research a place before you write about it. Denver is not a honky tonk town. Really, it's not. Yes, there are some more Western style bars but they are very few and far between. You are more likely to run into someone wearing a tek vest driving a Subaru with their dog than you are to find someone wearing a straw cowboy hat. (Unless you are on the Eastern Plains, or Northern Colorado, which is NOT Denver.) Oh, and it has been illegal to have smoking in a bar for the last 10 years at least. We like our fucking clean air, thank you very much.
Back to the story.
Cole: I love Cole. I always have. Since he's carried a torch for PJ for several years (easily obvious to anyone who has read the previous books) there was a lot less of the instant love connection that the previous books (especially the more recent ones) have had.
The plot....
Well... I think it was a very interesting way that Ms Banks 'showed' what happened to PJ. I personally liked it. I'm glad we weren't in the room with her, but instead were 'seeing' it through the audio the boys had to listen to. So we were there, but not there.
To those who were bitching about the lack of badassness of PJ while she was getting raped, ehhh did you forget that she was drugged? That was made pretty clear, several times through the book so what exactly is the problem? Had she actually been able to fight back etc, I think it would have slid it much more into the unbelievable category.
So to me, that scene was believable. What happened afterwards, less so. Her being able to walk out of the hospital? Eh maybe. Unlikely, but maybe.
Her going into Rambo mode when getting shot in the leg and still having to take out several baddies? Much more unlikely, but adrenaline is a funny thing... after all women have been known to lift up cars to get after trapped babies due to adrenaline.
I think Cole got shoved in the corner when it came to the end of the book. Yeah I can see how Ms Banks needed PJ to be the one to handle the baddies, but at the same time... it was a bit much. As someone else said, she was no longer Wonder Woman, she was now the Terminator.
I think the reality of what PJ did is going to really come back and bite her in the ass later on if she is actually human. She has a lot of blood on her hands, and though she was a sniper, as it was pointed out several times, this was revenge, not righteous.
There was a distinct lack of sexy fun times in this book. It was a hell of a lot darker than the others. I'm not saying this was a bad thing. The lack of sex was appropriate for what happened to PJ.
All in all this was much better than the last two, which is why I'm giving it the rating I did. Mostly because I love Cole enough that I can forgive the things I had issues with. ...more
Current Reread: February 06 - 09 2016 I was looking forward to this one a lot more than I have previously, because I really enjoyed it. I still have isCurrent Reread: February 06 - 09 2016 I was looking forward to this one a lot more than I have previously, because I really enjoyed it. I still have issues with the continuity (Qhuinn's in and out colorblindness). But I really enjoyed it.
First read: January 17-19 2014 So, I hadn't been looking forward to this one. The first time we met Payne, I didn't much care for her. I was frankly ambivalent. The second time I met her (via a reread of Lover Avenged and then the first read of Lover Mine), I was less ambivalent, but still didn't much care. Same goes for Manny. I just didn't really care very much.
Oh boy. This book sucked me in something fierce.
I thought Payne was going to be much different in temperament than she actually was, and she didn't rub me wrong like Xhex ever did.
Manny, oh I wish I had loved him sooner, because he.. wow. Yeah. I love him.
I love how it all tied together.
Now, one thing I didn't love was the blinding inconsistency that popped out in this book. Literally the first real thought I had of this book was "Since when is Qhuinn colorblind. That's never been mentioned before." Then my second thought was "Why is he focusing on Layla's green eyes so much? Is he selectively colorblind?" And then his whole vision thing, it just irked me further since it was so very set on the COLOR of something even though earlier in the book it was announced (again FOR THE FIRST TIME) that he was colorblind.
I know that J.R. Ward hired someone to keep the continuity straight for her. But sadly, they failed on this one. BIG time. What sucks too is if it hadn't been for a pretty pointless paragraph towards the beginning of the book (where Qhuinn announced that he was colorblind), it wouldn't have been an issue, since again that was the one and only time it was or had been mentioned. But because he was now colorblind, it made the later scenes (about Layla's eyes) that were supposed to be profound and everything fall rather flat. It just kept irking me, which I know was not the reaction J.R. Ward had intended. Yes, I know that mistakes happen when writing. I've made a few myself. But how did NO one catch that before it went to print? It wasn't like it was trying to keep an obscure little reference from the first book intact. No, it was a comment made only 300 pages earlier in the same book. Argh!
But other than that, I really really enjoyed this one.
The fact that it had a lot of Vishous was just... well... Oh my....more
Current Read: January 29th - January 31 2016 This one still really kicks me in the feels. I still get really upset about Xhex and what she does to John Current Read: January 29th - January 31 2016 This one still really kicks me in the feels. I still get really upset about Xhex and what she does to John Matthew, but I think I finally was less angry towards her. The rest... still just... yeah. Also one niggling thing. Phury was all like 'I want to come back and fight as well'. But the thing was, he wasn't off of fighting because he was the Primale. There were OTHER reasons. Were those reasons forgiven?
Original Read: September 29th - October 3rd 2013 Oh wow. This one kicked me right in the feels. Many times.
My first thoughts within the first 50 or so pages "Yay, Wrath is actually doing more than just paperwork behind a desk!!!" - Oh how I soon regretted that statement, along with Wrath.
He seriously broke my freaking heart in this book. I started crying at work while I was reading, it got me that much. But I wouldn't change anything of it. (Well, other than the one thing that I know every other BDB fan would change in regards to Wrath.)
Rhev also broke my heart. He really is an asshole with a heart of gold. And I loved every moment.
I was so hesitant about this book because in the last one, I really didn't like the whole Princess storyline that was going on. This time, I liked it. It worked.
Ehlena. I think this was the first time in a long time where I honestly didn't dislike her in the beginning. I genuinely liked her from moment one. And I was really glad that she was actually the Nurse with the gun in the last book during the hospital raid. Nice touch. She got on my nerves the tiniest bit after Rhev pushed her away, but I totally understand the whys of it, so I didn't hold it against her at all.
Lash - Well, that was interesting. But his storyline with the Princess actually worked quite well.
Tohr - Bout damn time my man. Unfortunately, when it comes to the feels, it's as much as I'm in your corner, it's a little too little too late. But I still love you, and I hope that John Matthew forgives you in time as well.
That brings me to John Matthew- Oh my sweet John Matthew. That cold bitch did a number on you, and how dare she. You deserved so much more than she gave you. I know you love her, but it's going to take an effing lot for me to forgive her.
Xhex - You goddamn bitch. How could you do that to him??! He was the perfect male. He was a GOOD male. He was kind, and sweet, yes he was a little broken, but he deserved so much better than what you did to him. He will never be the same, and that is your fault. I know your book is up next, but right now I am so mad at you. You are not a female of worth.
It was really good to see Rhage do his thing again. It was good to see Mary... well not see her, we only heard her since she was only in scenes that were from Wrath's POV.
I LOVE GEORGE. And I love that the reason Fritz chose him was because Goldens are notorious shedders, and thus would give the Doggan's more work. I love that. And it was awesome to see Boo again!
Did I cover everything? I think I got the main points. This book definitely had me right in the feels. And was a vast improvement over the last book. I seriously wasn't reachable or on Facebook for the entire time that I was reading this book. People were worried about me. The bestie got frantic texts from me whenever certain plot points happened. Life was amusing.
Edited to add: I'm really happy to see José de la Cruz again. I really liked him from the first book (and second book if I remember correctly). So it made me very very happy to see him again, and I hope we get to see a little more of him. I know he'll never be a Brother, but he is a good guy and a good cop. And oh my god, wouldn't it be just dramatastic if he ever saw Butch again? It would totally just rock his world if he accidentally came across him....more
I was so worried about this one. Current read: February 1st - 5th 2016 I think I enjoyed this more this time. I still love it to death. And Xhex, I feelI was so worried about this one. Current read: February 1st - 5th 2016 I think I enjoyed this more this time. I still love it to death. And Xhex, I feel better about all around. Everything in my previous review still stands.
First Read: November 29th 2013 John Matthew has been one of my favorite characters since the very first scene he was in. And I was none too please with how he was treated in Lover Avenged.
Having said, I must say OH MY. I LOVED IT. Honestly. Loved it.
I don't want to say more for spoiling.
The only thing I am going to really comment on will be behind a spoiler tag.
(view spoiler)[ Yeah, okay the weird thing about it, not so sure I like the fact that JM/Darius was the one who literally brought Xhex into the world. And named her! That just seemed a little wiggy, but considering the context of the rest of the story.. just wow. It was very well done.. and wow. (hide spoiler)]
Oh, and Blay and Qhuinn broke my damn heart....more
Current Review: January 25 - 27 2016 You know... I wasn't bothered by this one nearly as much as I have in past readings. Sure, Phury still annoyed me Current Review: January 25 - 27 2016 You know... I wasn't bothered by this one nearly as much as I have in past readings. Sure, Phury still annoyed me at times. But I didn't get as annoyed. I think I might have focused more and more on Qhuinn, John, and Blay.
I liked Cormia more this time. However, I still felt that the romance between her and Phury was a bit... dull.
First Review: August 17-19 2013 I was a little hesitant about reading this one.
Phury's story line had started to grate on my nerves a bit the last couple. He just seemed so whiny. So I knew this one was going to be extra 'great-I'm-a-freaking-virgin-in-love-with-my-brother's-shellan'.
Surprisingly there was a lot more to this book than Phury's story. Really, his story was kind of just filler between the other plots.
Qhuinn, Blay, Lash, and John Matthew. Holy eff a lot happened there.
I love Qhuinn. I love Blay. Those boys are breaking my heart. Seriously, BREAKING MY HEART. I hate Lash. Hated him before. Hate him even more now.
John Matthew. Oh my John Matthew.... His scenes with Cormia made me actually like Cormia. Otherwise she was a bit dull.
Cormia- As I just said, a bit dull. Very bland. Very much the white on white on white of the other side.. that was her personality as well.
Phury was definitely a whiny bitch. But I am happy with the place he is at at the end of the book.
Tohr. Oh my gods, Tohr you broke my heart as well.
The Fallen Angel Lassiter was introduced. I'll be interested in seeing more of him.
Rehv's story line actually messed with my dreams. Didn't like it one bit.
Xhex... She is definitely growing on me.
Bella and Z- D'awwwww. I am so glad. I am so glad to hear Z sing again. I love him so. I also realized that out of all the females, we have seen the most of Bella than any of the others, including Beth. Guess it's a good thing that I like her a lot....more
It wasn't horrible. It also wasn't that spectacular.
If you liked Dan Brown, you'll like this. That should about sum it up.
I bought this as an emergencIt wasn't horrible. It also wasn't that spectacular.
If you liked Dan Brown, you'll like this. That should about sum it up.
I bought this as an emergency paperback while on vacation, I only quickly scanned the back cover as I only had a few minutes. It wasn't until after I had purchased it that I noticed the "Plot twists worthy of The Da Vinci Code." review on the cover. I admit, I slightly groaned at that, as after Dan Brown, the market for 'treasure-hunting-historical-secret' thrillers got saturated, and unfortunately like the Urban Fantasy genre after Twi-shyte, not all of it was well done.
Kate was likable. Ben was admittedly luring.
The baddies were slightly predictable.
A few of the connections, especially regarding Roz's lineage felt ever so slightly forced.
The relationship (I mean interaction, not romance) between Kate and Matthew felt very rushed and forced. I'm sorry, but going from hating someone to crying on their shoulder just happened far too quick.
There was also huge amounts of Info-Dump. I mean seriously, Info-Dump from hell. The realities of all the travel were completely glossed over. As was the British police involvement while on US soil.
I'm really giving it 2.5 stars, as it did keep me guessing as to who the actual baddy was (even though like I said it was slightly predictable due to the Dan Brown Adventure Formula)
This one did have a lot of potential though.
I may or may not read the next one. We'll see. Perhaps I'll save that one for another emergency vacation book?
Current review: January 19-22 2016 I disliked Jane less in this book. I've read it several times now, and I think I've finally come to terms with Jane. ICurrent review: January 19-22 2016 I disliked Jane less in this book. I've read it several times now, and I think I've finally come to terms with Jane. I still hate her parents with a fiery passion. I still hate the Bloodletter. I still love V. I still love V and Butch together.
First read in July 15 - ? 2013 Read while on holiday without internet connection, so I am posting my thoughts many days later.
As always, I love this series so much.
I love V a lot.
I am sad that V and Butch didn't get at least one night together if ya know what I mean.
Jane was... interesting. I'm very protective over the boys. I like her, but at the same time I didn't.
Everything that V went through was heartbreaking I must say.
All in all I loved the book and I am forcing myself to not just start reading the next one immediately no matter how much I want to.
Oh, and I'm not entirely sure I'm happy about John Matthew lusting after Xhex. We'll see how that plays out... I love John too much.
Oh and I saw the Phury situation coming long before it actually did. That'll certainly be interesting....more
I'm pretty sure I'm never going to pick this book back up.
The audiobook was atrocious and had to stop listening to it, and my paperback copy... well iI'm pretty sure I'm never going to pick this book back up.
The audiobook was atrocious and had to stop listening to it, and my paperback copy... well if I even bothered packing it for my move to England... that means it's still in storage, and probably won't survive the next cull of books before I finally ship everything. I've been in England for 5 years after all.
It just didn't thrill me. I'm over it. I'm finally calling it quits....more
Current read: January 16-18 2016 I used to not like Marissa. And she still slightly annoyed me in this book... and I still have strong feelings for my Current read: January 16-18 2016 I used to not like Marissa. And she still slightly annoyed me in this book... and I still have strong feelings for my Vutch pairing... but she has definitely grown on me.
Returning to this book, made me smile, laugh, gasp... everything. I love this book.
Original read: June 22 - 24 2013 This one had been building for a while. Since the first book really.
Butch and Marissa.
And it was good.
It was very good.
But what really drove it home for me was V and Butch. I cannot go into it without spoilers. But wow oh wow, I just loved this book.
Butch really went through hell in this book. Almost more abuse, mental and physical than any of the other brothers had. (Well... not talking of Z, as his torment was in the past)
Most recent read: January 13-15 2016: This book. This book still just gets me right in the feels. Every single time. I still cry. I still want to reach oMost recent read: January 13-15 2016: This book. This book still just gets me right in the feels. Every single time. I still cry. I still want to reach out and cuddle... all of them. I still think Bella is such a strong character.
June 21-22 2013: Oh my god. This book. I honestly have no words as I am just so overwhelmed with the feels. THE FEELS!
Zhadist intrigued me since the very start. So I was so worried about his story. This one was perfect. So perfect.
I cried. I gasped. I loved it.
Tohr- Oh my god... I just... mreh!
John Matthew- Love him so much.
Butch - MEEP!!!!! OMG OMG OMG OMG!
I could go on and on... But omg. I love it all. It seriously prevented me from working on my own writing. I'm wary to start the next one tonight for the same reason. I did absolutely nothing today but read. I'm fine with it, but really, the laundry is starting to stack up.
I seriously called my best friend as soon as I was done reading it and was squeeing. I then went out and bought the physical copies of the series because I need them that badly....more
Current review: January 10- 13 2016 I need to stop reading this book. Every single time I read it, or do a rereade... someone dies of Cancer. I'm not kiCurrent review: January 10- 13 2016 I need to stop reading this book. Every single time I read it, or do a rereade... someone dies of Cancer. I'm not kidding on one reread? A very close friend of the family got diagnosed with Stomach cancer. The next reread? Another friend got diagnosed with another cancer. (might have been the same reread.. it's blurring together now)
Reread later in the year? They both died.
This reread? David Bowie, my first fictional boyfriend (in the form of Jareth the Goblin King), died of cancer.
That does not detract from how much I love this story. But man... it seems a bit... and aptly cursed.
Original review: 06/ 19-20 /2013 What can I say but wow.
I was disappointed at first knowing it was Rhage's story, as I thought with him being such a playboy it would take longer. But I must say, I am quite content now.
I loved it.
I do wish Beth and Wrath had been a bit more active in it, but that's alright, I'm sure we'll see more of them.
Oh my god, do I love Rhage. I love the others as well, but something about Rhage. And his beast... I love it.
I cannot wait for the next one. I'm actually having to force myself to not immediately start reading it as it's preventing me from working on my own writing.
The plot was good, I like the addition of Bella and John Matthew.
I thought this was going to be Butch's story. Nope, it's not.
Oh and Z... oh Z.... I cannot wait..
I could keep babbling, but I'll stop. I just loved it, that's all there is to it....more
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