Review: Bitten by Kelly Armstrong

Hey All, time for my review of Kelley Armstrong's Bitten, Book 1 of the Women of the Otherworld series.

Title: Bitten

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Orbit

Release Date: February 2004

Series: Women of the Otherworld, Book 1
Source: Library copy

From the author's website:

Elena Michaels is the world’s only female werewolf. And she’s tired of it. Tired of a life spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts the worst in her–her temper, her violence–but requires it. Worst of all, she realizes she’s growing content with that life, with being that person.


So she left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she’s trying to live as a human. When the Pack leader calls asking for her help fighting a sudden uprising, she only agrees because she owes him. Once this is over, she’ll be squared with the Pack and free to live life as a human. Which is what she wants. Really.

Review:

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Bitten when I picked it up, I’d heard both good and bad things about it from friends. Some had loved it; others hadn’t even been able to finish reading the book.  I suppose my opinion fits somewhere between these two. I wasn’t a massive fan, but it was enjoyable enough to have me finish the whole 450 odd pages. Bitten starts following the daily life of main character Elena, who’s a werewolf trying desperately to prove she can function in normal society. She has a flat, a job and even a live-in boyfriend, something she had never expected. However her normal life all comes crashing down when Pack Alpha Jeremy leaves a mysterious message. Having promised to return home to the Pack when her Alpha called, Elena cannot ignore the message. Especially since no-one is picking up the phone at the house in Stonehaven or returning any of her messages. But Elena had run from the Pack for a reason...

There are few werewolves left and the vast majority are male, and by vast majority I mean all of them except for Elena, she is the only female werewolf in the world. However she was not born a werewolf like many, but bitten without her consent by the one man she trusted above all others. He’s the reason she ran, and the reason she won’t stay with the Pack longer than she absolutely has to.

When Elena returns to Stonehaven she finds the Pack members safe and well (though apparently unfamiliar with how to answer a phone). The townspeople however are another matter. There have been several deaths in Stonehaven. The police believe them to be the result of wild dog attacks, but the Pack knows better. A Mutt (a wolf not a member of the Pack) is killing the people of Stonehaven, leaving obvious signs of a werewolf killing. The Pack finds the murderer easily enough, but his death raises yet more questions. And when a member of the Pack is found dead it can only mean one thing....War.

To be honest, I wasn’t amazed by Bitten. I found a couple of characters a bit bland and the only one with any air of mystery is Jeremy and considering there are only 7 Pack members I had trouble remembering which was which (with the exception of the main 3, Elena, Jeremy and Clay). I mean, when one was murdered, I had to flick back to remind myself which one he was. I also found Elena a little annoying, she can’t forgive Clay for his betrayal, but she’s quite happy to sleep with him and by doing so betray her human boyfriend (who gets conveniently forgotten a lot).However, the interactions between Elena and the Mutts are great, and prove her to be a strong female who will not be intimidated or dictated to. This, and only this, improve my feelings about her character, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd have stopped reading about halfway through. I also will give credit for the plot line, it’s not half bad. It doesn't focus too much on the screwed up relationship between Elena and Clay and everything is linked back to the finding and executing the rogue Mutts. I found the ending a tad predictable but other than that I have no complaints. There is non-stop action in this book which saves it for me. 

Would I pick Bitten up and read it again? Hard to say... I guess I would give it another chance, just to see if I liked it any better second time around, but not for a while yet...

My Rating: 3/5

Review: Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Review time! This is the fantastic Sherrilyn Kenyon with her Dark Hunter Series, Book 1 of which is Night Pleasures, get ready for the world of Dark Hunters, Daimons and one spoilt Goddess.

Title: Night Pleasures

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Release date: 7th April 2005
Series: Dark Hunter Series, book #1
Source: My personal copy

From the author's website:
See how it all began...
Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be immortal? To journey through the night stalking the evil that preys on humans? To have unlimited wealth, unlimited power?
That is my existence, and it is dark and dangerous. I play hero to thousands, but am known to none. And I love every minute of it.
Or so I thought until one night when I woke up handcuffed to my worst nightmare: an accountant. She's smart, sexy, witty, and wants nothing to do with the paranormal.
My attraction to Amanda Devereaux goes against everything I stand for. Not to mention the last time I fell in love it cost me not only my human life, but also my very soul. Now I find myself wanting to believe that love and loyalty do exist.
Even more disturbing, I find myself wondering if there's any way a woman can love a man whose battle scars run deep, and whose heart was damaged by a betrayal so savage that he's not sure it will ever beat again.

Kyrian of Thrace

Review:
Ok then, first off, this book is NOT written from Kyrian's point of view despite what the passage above suggests. Also let me explain about who Kyrian of Thrace is just so no-one's confused. Kyrian of Thrace is the male lead in this book, he's an immortal warrior of the night and having been a General in the Greek army before he died and sold his soul to Greek Goddess Artemis, he's pretty kick ass, not to mention gorgeous. If you're wondering about the whole selling his soul to Artemis part, let me explain. Kyrian is a Dark Hunter. Dark Hunters are an elite group of warriors who died in their mortal life by suffering such a betrayal that their very soul screams out for justice. Enter Artemis, a Greek goddess who offers that person a chance at revenge in exchange for an eternity of fighting Daimons, and of course she also wants their soul.

For over 2000 years Kyrian faithfully served Artemis as a Dark Hunter, relishing in his job protecting the innocent, until one night when his battle with Daimons ended with him waking up handcuffed to his worst nightmare. An accountant.
Amanda Deveraux is quite content with her perfectly normal life, in fact she goes out of the way to avoid anything paranormal. Happy as the 'normal' twin (her sister Tabitha is a vampire hunter) Amanda is unprepared when she wakes handcuffed to an admittedly gorgeous man. Handcuffed together by a Daimon Kyrian is hunting Amanda wonders how she could have been caught up in this insanity...she's been mistaken for her sister. Running from the Daimon who has chained them together, Amanda and Kyrian have to fight for their lives. At the same time these two can't help but be attracted to one another, despite being exact opposites.
Together they face the strongest Daimon ever known and along the way they discover parts of themselves they'd buried deep inside. Together they must face the trauma of Kyrian's past, his betrayal at the hands of the woman he loved. Slowly Amanda reaches the heart of this warrior who shields himself from the world. But will she become the other half of Kyrian's heart or will she betray him to save herself?

I loved this from start to finish Kyrian and Amanda have such great chemistry, the way that this is written is just superb, the romance between Kyrian and Amanda does not detract from the general plot at all (as can sometimes happen). The humour in this is just genius, I absolutely love books that can mix a good sense of humour in with the storyline (I'm a sucker for a good giggle). We meet Julian again (who featured in Fantasy Lover...sort of the Dark hunter Prequel if you like) and we also meet Talon, whose book is coming up next. Finally we are introduced to the best character in the entire series, Ash a.k.a. Acheron, a.k.a. someone you do not mess with... or ask questions about...or question in ANY way...because he might decides the world would better off with out you, and you'd be in itty bitty pieces on the carpet. Ash has weird, scary-ass powers and is by far the most mysterious character I have come across in any series. I'd be happy to read the entire series just to find out more about him! The banter between the Dark Hunters is fabulous and constantly has me laughing, though I admittedly have an odd sense of humour. It just shows how much camaraderie these strapping warriors have and how much they care about each other, in a non touchy-feely way. Honestly can't see them having a group hug.

Thankfully this plot has enough twists to keep me interested but the character development is by far the best part. If Mrs Kenyon keeps this up I'm going to have to buy the entire series.. all 15 of them! Overall, a good read with fantastic parts (mainly Ash's bits). I loved the banter between the Dark Hunters and will happily buy the next one.

My Rating: 4/5

100 books by December 2011

Right well, I've just signed myself up for the 100 books in a year challenge...which means I have 100 books to read by December...probably stupid to join so late but it certainly should be interesting. Hopefully since I'm reading about 5 per week at the moment I might just make it...maybe I've taken on too much but hey, should be fun anyways.


If you want to join me in my stupidity just go to Book Chick City and sign up....

Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Hello again. This time it's the turn of Kresley Cole's fantastic Immortals After Dark Series. Technically A Hunger Like No Other is book 2 of this series, however since I haven't read the anthology that contains book 1 I'll have to start with book 2.

Title: A Hunger Like No Other
Author: Kresley Cole
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Release Date: September 2007
Series: Immortals After Dark Series, Book #2
Source: My personal copy

From Kresley Cole's website:
After enduring years of torture from the vampire Horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents--until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae--and their notorious dark desire--ebb as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be...?

Review:
Ok, first off despite this technically being book 2 in the series you really can't tell. It can be read as a stand alone book like I did and it won't make any difference. In fact I had no idea there even was a book before this one until I looked it up. This is something I quite liked about this, and it seems that the entire series is a bit like that, subtle interlinking of characters and plots in the different books but not enough to effect the story as a whole if you don't know the previous books.

The storyline for A Hunger Like No Other in short is that Lachlain (aka leader of the lykae/werewolves) has been captured by the Horde (Vampire clan) and chained beneath the streets of Paris, doomed to be burnt alive every minute of every day. His immortality makes this an eternal torment as despite his massive strength, the pain of the fire weakens him to the point he cannot escape but not so much that it kills him. Lachlain's torment seems ensured to last forever....that is until he catches the scent of his one true mate on the surface. The woman meant for him and him alone. Having waited over 1000 years for his mate Lachlain is not going to let her escape now. As her scent fades Lachlain, in desperation, pulls himself free of his chains, but before he gets his strength back to follow her, she's vanished. But Lachlain will not rest until he finds his woman...

Emmaline Troy is a half Vampire half Valkyrie searching Paris for information about the lives of her parents when she's confronted by a man who claims that she's his mate. The tall, muscular and ridiculously gorgeous stranger then insists she come with him to Scotland where they will live with his clan. The stranger introduces himself as Lachlain, king of the Lykae. However when Lachlain learns of Emma's vampire heritage he goes mad and attacks her, blaming her and her kind for the century and a half of torture he'd just escaped from. Dismissing her as not his real mate Lachlain is determined to drag her to Scotland and sort this all out. Timid little Emma is terrified of this man who attacks and brutally handles her. But despite all this Emma can't help but be attracted to him, nor him to her. Lachlain refuses to believe a Vampire is his mate and does not treat Emma gently, denying that she is the one for him, yet he is still drawn to her, all the time questioning whether fate could really have given him Emma as a mate....

The first part of the book is basically the journey to Scotland, where Lachlain is still denying Emma, and he attacks her several times, something I did not like about this book. Although the journey to Scotland is important to the development and the readers understanding of both Lachlain and Emma, I personally feel it dragged a bit. However after Emma is attacked by Vampires and the couple reach Scotland, the book vastly improved. Emma gets to prove she's not some meek woman when she's challenged by another lykae and Lachlain works on his temper and relationship with Emma and as a relationship blossoms I started to love the couple for all their faults. And the interaction between Lachlain and Emma's Valkyrie aunt's is just hilarious, especially Nix who is just awesome.

By the end of the book I was completely sold on the series, and went and bought the next one. So despite the problems I had with the beginning of the book I would still recommend it to anyone. Overall it's a pretty good read, you just have to persevere through the beginning, but the end is definitely worth it.

Rating: 4/5

Apologies

Sorry but due to moving to a new house that currently has no internet I will be unable to post here from the 4th July to the 21st July :(


Sorry Guys 


xxx

Review: Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur

Alrighty, time for another review. Here is the first book in the Riley Jenson Guardian Series by Keri Arthur. Here's Full Moon Rising...


Title: Full Moon Rising
Author: Keri Arthur
Publisher: Penguin Group
Released: December 26th 2006
Series: Riley Jenson Guardian Series, Book #1
Source: My personal copy

From Keri Arthur's website:

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before...


Review:
Well Full Moon Rising certainly gets off to an interesting start. Riley Jenson is heading home when she notices that the night is quiet...too quiet. Then she scents blood on the wind. Though not a Guardian (an enforcer of sorts) for the Directorate but an office worker, she decides to check it out. She finds a massacre and two vampires lying in wait, a messy fight ensues where Riley (not being a trained fighter) uses the only weapon made of wood she has to hand to stake the attackers....her high heels. Luckily she comes out on top, not too surprising when we learn she is a rare mix of vampire and werewolf aka. a dhampire, one who has the extraordinary strength of the two races behind her. 
When Riley thinks her night can't get any stranger she arrives back at her apartment to find an ancient, powerful and deliciously naked vampire on her doorstep. Having no idea who he is, and finding the vampire to be little help in that department, Riley assumes that the vampire (later discovered to be called Quinn) is trying to find her flatmate and twin brother Rhoan. Unfortunately Rhoan is missing having not reported back from one of his missions as a Guardian for the Directorate of Other Races. Riley's investigation leads her to be drawn deeper in to the heart of the Directorate as well as causing her to spend an awful lot of time with hansom Quinn. The investigation leads to a cloning laboratory and risks Riley's life multiple times as she battles to rescue her brother, and it starts to look like the perpetrator might be someone Riley knows. And before the investigation closes she is betrayed by one she holds close....


Well, this is certainly a new take on werewolves for me. Riley and other werewolves are driven by what's known as the moon-heat (the week before the full moon) to mate. Basically in that week she has lots and lots of sex, fortunately for Riley she has two partners, Talon and Misha, who are always around to help her through the heat. Vulnerable because without sex Riley will go mad with blood lust she takes 'relief' where she can, and this time Quinn (the naked vampire) is more than willing help her out as well. Naturally there are a few steamy scenes in this book but nothing too graphic. There is detailed exploration of the wolf clubs where werewolves go to 'dance' and humans are not allowed in case one of the wolves injures them in the process of 'dancing' due to the superior strength of the werewolf population.
The book is set in Melbourne, Australia where supernatural creatures live in the open and are policed by the Directorate of other races. It's well written and the characters are well defined, even Riley and Rhoan's lovers (of which there are many). I'm glad that Rhoan was written as a gay character and throughout the series you get to see how his relationships with both Davern and Liander change. Honestly I think Rhoan's love life and personal relationships are more interesting than Riley's, though Riley does have a strange and sometimes volatile relationship with Quinn as he does not like to share, where as it is Riley's nature to 'dance' with many wolves during the moon heat....something Quinn does not understand. By the end of the book you realise just how strong a woman Riley really is, she is tried and tested in every way and still comes out sane at the other side....just.


I do really enjoy this book, and have found it to be one of the best of the series, but if you enjoy paranormal romances where by the end the two main characters can't live without each other then this probably isn't for you. Having said that it is still a good read and I would recommend it to fans of the genre.


My Rating: 4/5

Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Another review coming up, Moon Called is the first book in the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Here's to Mercedes, the VW mechanic.


Title: Moon Called
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Penguin Group
Released: 2006
Series: Mercy Thompson Series, Book #1
Source: My personal copy


Synopsis from back of the book:
Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She's a mechanic - and a damn good one - who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens to belong to a vampire. Her next-door neighbour is an alpha werewolf - literally, the leader of the pack. And Mercy herself is a shapeshifter, sister to coyotes. As such she's tolerated by the wolves but definitely down the pecking order. As long as she keeps her eyes down and remembers her place, the pack will leave her in peace.
Hardly a normal situation, but then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly a normal young lady... and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.


Review:
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy....well what can I say, she's a shifter with an Alpha Wolf for a neighbour, a Fey for a mentor, and a Vampire who brings the Mystery Machine to her garage upon occasion (yes, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo). Needless to say Mercy leads an interesting life that not only becomes weirder but more dangerous when teenage runaway Mac shows up at her garage looking for work, because Mac is not an ordinary runaway. He's a Werewolf. A new Werewolf and therefore dangerous and unpredictable. But Mercy can't turn her back on a kid who so obviously needs her help, however knowing that Mac is Werewolf means Mercy is actually going to have to have a civil conversation with her hot tempered neighbour, Alpha Wolf Adam. Mercy's relationship with Adam is complicated at best due to the dominance of wolves over coyotes...well that and the small issue of Mercy being unable to help ticking him off, she's not too keen on Adam telling her what to do and is quite willing to retaliate in the best way she knows.
When there's an attack at her garage by two unknown Werewolves Mercy has to turn to Adam to help keep Mac safe. However when Adam is severely injured and his daughter kidnapped, Mercy is pulled back to where she grew up, somewhere she'd hoped never to return. She becomes embroiled in Werewolf politics and is kept under the watchful eye of the Alpha of all Alpha's (Bran) and his son Samuel (aka Marcy's ex). There are twists and turns along the way including witches, the Vampire seethe and a Werewolf community. Mercy will come face to face with her past among Werewolves while trying to find Adam's missing daughter and naturally Mercy will get into trouble along the way, she can't help it....


Well first off, the Mercedes Thompson series is more Young Adult than Adult Urban Fantasy. This is not to say that it won't appeal to older readers, but you can tell it's aimed at young adults. I enjoyed this book immensely, you're thrown into a world where the Fey live in the open but they're not the only supernatural creature that walks among us, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and of course the occasional Coyote Shape-shifter.
Mercy is an extremely strong, independent woman who has a serious dislike of being ordered about, though she isn't stupid her mouth has a tendency to get her into trouble (especially with Adam). She tries her best to stay out of werewolf business, considering her childhood and history with a certain wolf it's not surprising why, neither is it surprising that she hasn't been back to where she spent her childhood in a very long time. She's a brilliant lead character and if there is trouble about you can pretty much guarantee that Mercy is right in the middle of it....though not necessarily by choice. Adam is also a very well written character, the no-nonsense alpha wolf who has to put up with his pesky neighbour. Though there is a certain spark between Adam and Mercy, she seems determined to fight it. Mercy certainly does not want to be tied to this domineering man, yet they seem inexplicably drawn together.....at least until Mercy's first love Samuel re-enters her life, then things become rather complicated.


I applaud Patricia Briggs for this book as it is a very good introduction to the Mercy Thompson series, well written, even the background characters like Zee are done well. This is one of those unusual books that can appeal to both young adults and adults alike. I am a big fan of the whole series and can tell you now they are all definitely worth a read.


My Rating: 4/5