Hit the Road, Jack

Hi everybody! You guys might have noticed that I've been a bit scarce. Sorry about that... I haven't given up on the whole blogging enterprise, I just decided to mosey on over to Wordpress. No particular reason, just felt like a change. 

So if any of you are missing me (I hope so) check me out at CrackedSpineTingling. I've changed things up a little bit, and I'm dealing almost exclusively with books, with occasional sprinkles of perving.  

So from now on, nothing is going to be happening here at Third World Hustle. 

Thank you, Blogger. It's been fun. I'll see you guys on the other side!

Lords of the Underworld: The Darkest Night

The Darkest Night is the first book in the Lords of Deliverance series by Gena Showalter and, man, do I like the premise for this book! Seriously, it's friggin' awesome.
The series is about, you guessed it, the Lords of the Underworld. These guys once served as the immortal members of Zeus's army. They were the fiercest of the fierce, the baddest of the bad. And yet, for some reason, they were passed over for the job of protecting a box containing the most evil demons in existence. That job was given to a woman named Pandora (see where this is going?). To say that their egos were bruised is an understatement. In retaliation for this slight, the warriors stole the box and opened it, freeing the creepy-crawlies from their prison. The gods were obviously pissed, even more so when no one could find the damn box to stuff the demons back in. Since Zeus and Co. couldn't allow the demons to roam free, they cursed the jackass warriors to house the demons within themselves. Thus, the Lords came into being and the warriors needed to learn how to control their demon halves. 

See what I mean? Isn't this such a cool idea for a book? I absolutely adore it when authors incorporate the whole Greek mythology thing into a story. 

Before I tell you about the book, let me first introduce you to the Lords:

Maddox aka Violence.

Torin aka Disease. 

Lucien aka Death.

Reyes aka Pain.

Aeron aka Wrath.

Paris aka Promiscuity.

We meet these guys in the first half of The Darkest Night. The next half-dozen rock up during the second half of the book.

Sabin aka Doubt.

Gideon aka Lies.

Kane aka Disaster.

Strider aka Defeat.

Amun aka Secrets.

Cameo aka Misery.

Now... on to the book. The Darkest Night is Maddox's story. As the keeper of Violence, it goes without saying that it's going take someone spectacularly brave, or stupid depending on your politics, to take this guy on. Adding to his already exceeds-the-weight-limit baggage, Maddox has an additional curse to deal with: Because Maddox killed Pandora, he has been sentenced to die every night at midnight in the exact same way that he killed Pandora, only to revive in the morning to endure the whole process all over again. Like I said, lots of baggage. 

Our leading lady, Ashlyn isn't exactly average Jane either. Ashlyn can hear every conversation that's ever taken place in a given area. That's a lot of chatter, and has pretty much driven her to the brink of madness. So, when she travels to Budapest for her job and she hears about a bunch of strange men living on a mountain who are capable of extraordinary things, she hopes that they'll be able to help her. She climbs the mountain in the middle of a blizzard (the dumbass) and runs into Maddox. The attraction is immediate and intense, even though they both try to resist it.   

Honestly? I thought this book was just this side of good. I know, right? After all the fanfare, I just thought it was, meh...? I enjoyed the story, but the leads didn't really grab me. The time frame for this story irritated the crap out of me to be honest. Like, seriously? They fell in love after two bloody days? I had to pretend it was taking place over two weeks (not much better, I know) to preserve my peace of mind. Another thing I noticed was that these boys punch the wall a lot when they're cross. Like, a lot a lot. I kept thinking that the way things were going, they should have their house collapsing around their ears any second.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the secondary characters. I'm dying to learn more about the other Lords, and what their respective torments are. In addition to the Lords, we meet Anya and Danika. Danika, for some reason, has been targeted by the gods, who have instructed Aeron to kill her. She and Reyes have sort of been making goo-goo eyes at each other. We don't learn much about Anya but she's going to be Lucien's HEA, so we'll obviously get more of her in the next book. 

While I didn't love this book, I love the idea for this series, and I'm definitely going to get my butt into gear so I can catch up. I'm about eight books behind. 

 

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series: Lover at Last

I don't know if you guys picked up on this, but I was pretty excited about Lover at Last coming out. I think I was pretty subdued...

No?

Anyway, I finished it the other day but I had varsity related stuff to deal with so I didn't get a chance to tell you guys just how FREAKING AWESOME it was!!!

Warning: there will be fangirling. Lots and lots of fangirling.

Blay and Qhuinn... these boys just broke my poor little heart. The WARDen didn't pull any punches, and right from the beginning she started pulling on your heartstrings. The prologue was just so damn sad! And the emotional torment just kept on coming. There were times where it seemed like Blay and Qhuinn were never going to get their shit together. It was so stressful! Just when you thought they were making some progress, meeting each other halfway, then BAM! Misunderstandings, a lack of communication, and the WARDen's refusal to make things easy on her readers had me sitting on the edge of my seat. These two worked so hard and they only got their HEA riiiiiight at the end. But, holy crap, was it worth it! Honestly, the way this book ended had me choked up and I almost never cry while reading. I cannot remember reading a more beautiful HEA.

Now on to the side stories: since this is J.R Ward, there were a lot. I'll discuss them all separately.

  First there's the whole Layla/Xcor thing. I have always liked Layla. And now I like her even better because she's discovered her backbone! Man, I got such a kick to hear Layla going all grrr... on Phury. She was fierce! 

In the Old Language, she hissed, “If any harm shall befall him, I will come after you, and find you where you sleep. I do not care where you lay your head or who with, my vengeance shall rain upon you until you drown.”
That last word was drawn out, until its syllable was lost in more growling.
Dead silence.
Until Doc Jane said dryly, “Annnnd this is why they say the female of the species is more dangerous than the male.”

As for Xcor... he had me feeling really conflicted. One moment I wanted to give the guy a hug, the next I wished somebody from the Brotherhood would just stab the bastard. I kinda hate him for messing with Wrath, but his response to Layla is just too damn sweet. It's like, why can't you all just get along?!?!

Speaking of Xcor and his Band of Bastards, we now know all their names. We obviously have Xcor, the leader of his merry band of crazies, and Throe, his second in command; Zypher, the group's resident can't-keep-it-in-his-pants, and the three cousins, Balthazar, Syphon, and Syn. The last gent's name isn't actually Syn, but he's so bad they all just call him that.

Then we have Assail and new girl, Sola Morte. I can't decide if I like Assail. He's... a little sociopathic, if I'm honest. While this isn't outside the norm for the WARden's leading men, he seems a little bit nuttier than the others. I also don't like that he has any form of cooperation with the Lessers going on. Nuh-uh. Not cool. Assail's really hot but he's just a little too aggro for my liking. I think I like Sola. She seems like quite a toughie which is nice. I like it when Ward gives us strong heroines. Most times it seems as though the guys have majority shares in the whole badass enterprise.  

Now to my favourite side story: Trez and Selena. Trez and his brother iAm have been in the BDB universe for a while, but we haven't really learnt a whole lot about them. I'm happy to announce that the WARDen is working on rectifying this. These boys... wow. They sizzle. That's about all I can say. We don't know much about Selena either besides the fact that she's a Chosen, so I can't decide if I like her or not. What I loved about this particular side story was when Trez met Selena for the first time. It was just too freaking adorable for words. For most of Trez's perspective in this book, you see him acting like an utter manwhore. To see him getting all tongue-tied over Selena was just so "awww..."-worthy" and also so funny. I was hee-hawing like a donkey. I'm glad I read this part while nobody was home, otherwise I'd have had some explaining to do.

I just want to share a few of my favourite quotes from the book with you:

Here, John Matthew and Qhuinn are in one of those 24-hour stores and spot a cardboard cutout of the Biebs... I don't really have anything against the guy, but this was funny.

"The little shit is everywhere." To prove the point, he motioned to a greeting card display featuring Short, Cocky, and Fifteen-Minutes-Are-Up. "I swear, that kid is proof the Antichrist is coming."

This is the scene where Blay comes out to his mom over the phone. It was such an emotional scene, I got a lump in my throat while reading. This is how every parent should respond in this situation.

"...as long as you're happy, that's all I worry about. I want for you what you want for yourself."

*sniffles*

I am so damn sad this book is over. I think it may well have been my favourite book in the series. Easily. But I have a feeling that the next book is going to blow this one right out the water. You've undoubtedly already heard the news about whose book is going to be next, but even four days after the announcement I'm still excited as fuck!

It's titled The King, and no prizes for guessing who it's going to be about. Also the WARDen said that there's a strong likelihood of some of our old favourites getting another book. If you want to check out what else was said at the signing go here. 

Scandalous Brides: A Beginner's Guide to Rakes

A Beginner's Guide to Rakes is the first book in the Scandalous Brides series. I absolutely adored this book. Seriously, this is a prime example of why I love reading. An awesome story line, a kickass leading lady, and a charming bad boy hero. 

Our leads are Oliver Warren and Diane Benchley. These two have a past, and as a result are somewhat... hostile towards one another. Diane has learnt the hard way that you can't rely on anyone but yourself. Her husband was a compulsive gambler who gambled their wealth away, leaving Diane destitute. But that's okay. She's got a plan to get back on her feet, and it involves a very unwilling Oliver. 

Diane plans to profit from the very vice that left her penniless. She set on opening a gentlemen's club, but in order to do so she needs... an expert's assistance. That's where Oliver comes in. Oliver has spent most of his adult life frequenting gambling halls and gentlemen's clubs, so if anyone knows how they operate, it will be him. 

These two spend more than half the book bickering. Given their history, and Oliver letting Diane down in a big way, their relationship is rocky to say the least. I have to be honest here: I loved the cracks and barbs these two flung at each other. Diane wasn't one of those insipid heroines who just fell at the hero's feet. Oliver disappointed her when she needed him most, and she wasn't ready to simply forgive and forget. I think Diane may well have been my absolute favourite female character in a historical romance. In fact, in the face of Diane's sheer awesomeness, Oliver was somewhat overshadowed. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the guy. I just thought that maybe Diane was a little too much for him to handle. 

An example of Diane setting Oliver back on his heels happens early in the book, when they're discussing the opening of Diane's club. See, Diane doesn't want some typical gentleman's club. She wants her club to stand out. The best way to do this, she thinks, is to employ an all-female staff. This is a little snippet of Diane's conversation with Oliver:

"That explains the lady butler at your door. You do have an elderly fellow in your stable, however."

"I never said men aren't capable of shifting manure. You seem supremely well suited for it in fact."

The first thing that went through my mind at this point?

Once the problems were solved though, these two were an absolutely adorable couple. I loved this story, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a historical that doesn't follow the same old patterns.

Minions Assemble

 Peeps, your help is needed. I'm surethat many of you are aware that the DABWAHA tournament is on right now. I'm sure that a whole bunch of you have already voted for your favourite author/series/book. 

But I need your help. No, we need your help. 

Stars and Stripes, book six in Abigail Roux's Cut and Run series is on the very brink of making it into the final 8. And we're doing pretty well already. But we're also up against a book by four authors, count them, four, including Josh Lanyon who is a legend.Four fan bases versus just one little, albeit rabid, fanbase? 

It's going to be a tough one guys. Soplease, pretty please, will you go vote for Stars and Stripes? 

Now, I know what you're thinking: whyshould I?

That's a fair question.

 You should go vote because theCut and Run series is one of the best series I have ever read ever! Youshould vote because the Minions (Abi's fanbase) are up against some seriousheavyweights. It's a little bit of a David versus Goliath situation. 

But the most important reason? IfStars and Stripes gets through to the next round, Abi will release a snippetfrom the as yet untitled book 8. And since things look dark for our boys, Tyand Zane, in the upcoming book Touch and Geaux, some reassurance that they'llbe okay would be greatly appreciated. 

So... I've made my case. 

Please go vote. 

If you have no idea what I'm talkingabout, first go vote for Stars and Stripes, and then go read the first book inthe series, Cut and Run. I won't tell you to read the rest of the seriesbecause once you've read Cut and Run, that will go without saying.  

Lover At Last: Teaser XIV

Assail closed in and assumed control, taking the female’s face between his hands, tilting her head back, and kissing her hard. In response, she moaned, as if the unexpected advance was something she not only welcomed, but hadn’t dared expect...
-Lover at Last, pg. 344

This is the last teaser before Lover at Last's release tomorrow (oh, my God, it's coming out tomorrow!!!) and it features Assail and an unknown female. No clue as to who the lucky lady may be.
To those lucky bitches getting Lover at Last tomorrow I just want to say one thing: I hate you. 

Okay, not really.

Well, maybe a little.

Happy reading people! I'll just bite my nails until Blay and Quinn arrive on my doorstep. 

Lover At Last: Teaser XIII

Resuming his form in a wooded area south and west of the

compound, Quinn steeled himself against  making any inferences

about what had detained the guy- although the fact of the matter was, the fighter had

gone up to his room and hadn't come back. And whereas most accidents happened in 

the home, it was a good guess that he  hadn't had a slip-and-fall.

Unless Saxton had been playing throw rug 

on the marble in their bathroom.

-Lover at Last, pg 106  

Oh, my word! I sat around laughing for a good five minutes after I read that! Seriously, I dare you to read this with a straight face!

And despite the fact that Saxton stands in the way of Blay and Quinn's HEA, I actually like him. I hope the WARDen doesn't do anything totally evil like kill him...

Lover At Last: Teaser XII

Leaning in, Assail dipped his chin and glared. “I am not upset. Yet.”
One of Benloise’s hands surreptiously dipped out of sight. A split
second later, Assail heard the door down at the other end of the room open.
Keeping his voice low, Assail said, “This was a courtesy to you. The
next time I find anyone on my property, whether you sent them or not, I shall not be even half so polite.”
With that, he got to his feet and ground the lit cigar out upon the
desk.
“I bid you a fond good evening,” he said, before walking away.
-Lover at Last, pg. 104

I love him- I can't lie!!

The WARDen makes me laugh. She is so totally crushing on one of her own fictional characters. 

Not that I can blame her. Assail is pretty intriguing... 

Immortals After Dark: A Hunger Like No Other

I had heard some really good things about Kresley Cole. Great things, in fact. So I knew that this book was going to be, at the least, very, very good. But I had no idea what to expect in terms of the actual story. The blurb mentioned things like Lykae and Valkyrie. I had no clue what either of those were so I was quite keen on finding out. 

As it turns out, the Lykae are sort of werewolves, and the Valkyrie are very similar to the Amazons in that they're both groups of warrior women.

Our hero's name is Lachlain and he has, shall we say, issues. He was captured by vampires, and they really pulled a number on him. For the past one hundred and fifty years he's been tied to a big rock sitting at the edge of a ginormous fire. Everyday for that length of time, he's basically had his flesh cooked on his bones and because he's immortal his ordeal can't kill him. So, it goes without saying that Lachlain hates vampires. Passionately.

Emmaline is half vampire, half Valkyrie. Her mother died when she was very young and she's never met her vampire father. But she plans on rectifying this by visiting Paris, where her parents once lived together. Emma's been raised by her Valkyrie aunts who are a little on the bloodthirsty, crazy side. However, Emma isn't even a little like her aunts. She's timid and she avoids any and all conflict if she can.

Emma and Lachlain meet in Paris, and things do not go well. Lachlain is totally bewildered by these modern times he's suddenly found himself in, and is absolutely horrified to learn that his mate is a vampire. To say that he doesn't take the news well is an understatement. He treats Emma really badly in the beginning, and I did not think much of him for about half the book.

But once Lachlain got over his prejudices, he could actually be really sweet. Emma was a little bit of a wuss, but I could understand where she was coming from. It can't be easy being physically weaker than almost everyone you know. But being with Lachlain toughened her up. In fact, after a moment of epic jackass-ness on Lachlain's part, Emma punches him so hard she dislocates his jaw. While I'm not keen on couples whacking each other, Lachlain so had it coming. 

Even though the main characters did grow on me after a while, and by the end I really liked them, I found the secondary characters far more interesting. Emma's aunts were quite fierce, and I'd really like to learn more about them. I especially like Nix and Regin. Both totally crazy ladies, just different types of crazy.

I was fascinated by the world that Ms Cole's created. It was super interesting and I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series.   

Lover At Last: Teaser XI

Abruptly
Qhuinn shifted his position, pivoting around, tilting his head back, sluicing the water through his dark hair, that incredible body arching.
He’d kept his PA.
And holy sh*t, he was aroused—
-Lover at Last, pg. 79

This little snippet takes place shortly after Quinn sees Blay not lifting weights (you know what I'm talking about), and it seems to imply that these are thinking along similar lines. 

Once I'd wiped the drool from my chin though, I found myself scratching my head in confusion. I know I'm not the only one who was wondering what in the hell a PA is. The only PA I could think of was a personal assistant... and that would obviously make zero sense in this situation.

So, I did what every reader of this series has done at some point: I consulted Urban Dictionary. As it turns out, PA stands for Prince Albert, and is -as one Facebook user so eloquently put it- a "piercing on his junk".

See? You learn something new every day. Although I don't know that I wanted to know that...  

Lover At Last: Teaser X

My day has been totally made! I woke up this morning and I remembered that there's only one week to go!!! until Lover At Last is released. I am in the happiest place right now...

Communicating via hand signals, they split into two groups, with
him and John taking one side of the mammoth double doors, and
Rhage, Blay, and Z zeroing in on the smaller entrance.
Rhage went for the requisite handle while everyone braced for
engagement. If there was a football team’s worth of lessers in there, it made sense to send the Brother in first, because he had the kind of backup nobody else did: His beast loved slayers, and not in a relationship sense.
Talk about your thin mints.
-Lover at Last, pg. 107

Now, speaking of Rhage, does anyone have any idea when his and Mary's novella is coming out? I'm not normally one for novellas, but I wouldn't even dream of missing this one.

Highland Pleasures: Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

This series could quite easily become one of my favourite historical romances. Ms Ashley just has this way of creating characters that you can't help but adore. While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I enjoyed the previous one, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage was still a cut above the rest.

Lady Isabella and her husband, Mac, have had a rather tumultuous relationship. They met at Isabella's debut ball when she was only eighteen. They'd known each other for barely a few hours when they decided to run off and elope. 

In the years after their marriage, they had one of those "love the way you lie" relationships. They were either crazy in love, or fighting like cats and dogs. Then, when the fighting got to be too much, Mac would bail in the middle of the night and only come home weeks later. There was very little middle ground between them, and eventually Isabella decided that she'd had enough.

So, this book starts three years after Isabella and Mac separated. Both are a little bit miserable, but do their best to act like their separation doesn't bother them. However, after years of avoiding one another, Isabella and Mac get thrown back into each other's company when Isabella discovers that someone is forging Mac's paintings. Mac is somewhat blase by the whole situation, while Isabella is determined to find out what's going on. However, Mac soon realises that the person responsible for mimicking his art isn't as benign as he first appeared.

I loved Mac and Isabella together. They could be so sweet, although they did frustrate me a time or two. Isabella would sometimes be all, "Oooh, I want you!" and then turn around to be all, "Eeeek, get away!"

Another bonus about this book is that we saw quite a bit of Ian and Beth. It was so funny to hear Ian giving Mac relationship advice. It was a little bit surreal.   

The next book is the Many Sins of Lord Cameron, and I can't wait! I absolutely love Cam and his son, Daniel.

Lover At Last: Teaser IX

‎"I must needs go-"
At that moment, Elan's eyes went to the window across from him, and he saw the reflection of his killer in the glass.
-Lover at Last, pg. 404

I have to admit, when I first saw this I was a little... underwhelmed. Like, who the hell is Elan? But then I remembered. A quick consultation with Lover Reborn, and I realised that I was right.

Remember that little weasel in the Glymera who's helping Xcor and his buddies with their plan to overthrow Wrath? Well, it looks like he's going to get what's coming to him.

That realisation made this snippet a whole lot more interesting. I'm now waiting with bated breath to see who kicks this little worm's ass.

Lover At Last: Teaser VIII

This particular snippet is an excellent example of the WARDen's cruelty. Seriously, she seems to take a vast amount of pleasure in torturing her fans. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but -holy shite- this has me positively squirming for this books's release!

Qhuinn went over to the door and leaned in, listening for Rhage’s
voice, closing his eyes, waiting for the hall of statues to be clear.
Jesus, he could be a selfish prick sometimes; he really could— 
"Qhuinn.”
His body turned on a dime, sure as if Blay’s voice was a ripcord
that yanked him around. “Yeah?”
The male walked forward. When they were eye-to-eye,
Blay said, “I still want to f**k you.”
-Lover at Last, pg. XXX

Hot, right?

Lover At Last: Teaser VII

Qhuinn froze.
On the other side of the blue mats, Blay was on the machine closest to the door, sittting as still as the weights he was not lifting.
The expression on his face was volcanic. But he wasn't mad.
No, he wasn't.
He had a h**d-on big enough to see from across the room. Maybe across the state...
-Lover at Last, pg. 73

Hmmm. Well. Ahem.

I'm not entirely sure how to respond to this other than...

 

Just as a so by the way, how is it possible that these guys still manage to be hot while pulling those faces?

Lover At Last: Teaser VI

By the looks of it, no one is safe from the WARDen's evil genius. The latest victim: the Chosen Layla. Don't even know what to think about this little snippet. 

Layla opened her mouth to shout. Tried to reach for her savior. Strained against her body's still-glowing deadweight.
But there was naught else she could do.
The last thing that registered before she lost consciousness was her concern for the other female. And then all went dark.
-Lover at Last, pg. 316

Why isn't it 26 March yet?!?! The suspense is killing me...

Lover At Last: Teaser V

“So be it,” Wrath murmured. “Eight’s a good number. A lucky
number.”
That low growl of agreement rippled through the air once again,
the sound one of complete and utter solidarity.
This was the future, Wrath thought as he smiled and bared his
fangs. And it was right.
-Lover at Last, pg. 165

This teaser was released last night, and it sounds like there's going to be a new member of the Brotherhood. The only question is... who's it going to be? I'm guessing that it's between John Matthew and Quinn. But I was thinking, could it possibly be both of them? My reasoning is that Wrath can't fight with the Brotherhood anymore because he's blind, right? So we have six Brothers: Rhage, Zsadist, Butch, Vishous, Phury, and Tohrment. I don't think I'm leaving anyone out...

Maybe both JM and Quinn could be becoming Brothers?

What do you think?

Dragon Kin: Dragon Actually

Dragon Actually is the first book that I've read that centres around dragons. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

The book is divided into two stories: Dragon Actually, and Chains and Flames.

Dragon Actually:

Annwyl is leading a rebellion against her brother's rule. He's is an all-round heartless jackass. And Annwyl... well, she's pretty fierce. I mean, you'd have to be to have earned the title of Annwyl the Bloody. This title has come courtesy of the fact that she likes to chop off  her opponents' heads.
Our male lead is the mighty dragon, Fearghus the Destroyer. He's a fairly grumpy dragon who values nothing more than than his quiet time. He also doesn't spend all his time as a dragon. He can also turn into a human. 

Annwyl and Fearghus met just as Annwyl was on the brink of death. She'd just fought a bloody battle against her brother's soldiers, and she was bleeding out. Fearghus, for reasons he can't even explain to himself, saves Annwyl and burns the remaining soldiers to a crisp. Most of the book is spent with Fearghus taking care of Annwyl as a dragon, and training her to fight as a human. The catch? Annwyl doesn't realise that her knight and her dragon are the same person.

We also met Fearghus's siblings. I enjoyed most of them, especially Gwenvael and Morfyd. Gwenvael was a little on the touchy-feely side with Annwyl. After repeatedly telling the man to keep his hands to himself, Annwyl breaks his fingers. My kind of lady...

I liked both Fearghus and Annwyl. Fearghus was actually really sweet in how he tried to find a way to explain to Annwyl what his situation was. Annwyl, while I liked her kickass attitude, was a bit dense. I mean, really? I could actually buy her not being able to tell that her dragon and her knight were the same guy. But what I didn't believe was that she'd repeatedly do the nasty with a guy and not ask his name.

Chains and Flames:

Chains and Flames was the shorter of the two stories. It follows the spoiled princess Rhiannon and the blood thirsty warrior Bercelak. These two are Fearghus's parents, and they were very odd ducks.

Rhiannon is betrothed to Bercelak by her mother, who hates her guts. Rhiannon, apparently, hates everyone's guts. Bercelak absolutely adores Rhiannon. It makes me question his intellect. While Rhiannon is waiting for Bercelak to officially Claim her, her mother has trapped her in her human form. No flying and breathing fire for Rhiannon. Although, if you ask me, Rhiannon did not need scales and claws to be downright terrifying.

I must admit, for most of the book I did not like Rhiannon. At all. She was an arrogant, mean, ungrateful bitch. I didn't expect to like Bercelak, but I actually felt quite sorry for him. I couldn't even begin to see Rhiannon's appeal. It was better in the end though, once she'd let her guard down. 

  

But besides that, I thought this book was lots of fun. It won't make my all time favourites list, but I'll definitely keep up with this series.

Lover At Last: Teaser IV

Oh, dear. Poor Quinn. What has our tormented hero gotten himself into this time? I almost wish that the WARDen would stop being so bloody mean to our leads. It's like, why do you take so much pleasure in making them miserable?!?!

But the HEA wouldn't be quite as sweet if there wasn't some proper angst, right?

“Is this real?” he mumbled.
John looked momentarily confuzzled.
It had to be real, Qhuinn thought. Because the Honor Guard had
come to him in the summer, and the air he was inhaling was cold.
Are you okay? John mouthed as he signed.
Shoving his hand into the snowy ground, Qhuinn pushed as hard
as he could. When he didn’t budge more than an inch or two, he let that speak for itself . . . and passed the f**k out.
-Lover at Last, pg. 20

Hey... Isn't this a scene from after Quinn killed Lash? In Lover Avenged? 

Right? 

Maybe?

No?

Lover At Last: Teaser III

This is the third teaser released by the WARDen on her Facebook page. She released it just yesterday, and there has been lots of speculation as to what it might mean.

She was a hunter.
And the man in that house, whoever he was, was her prey.

The WARDen really hasn't given us much to work with here, has she? My first reaction when I saw this was, "This can't be it. Is that all?"

So, who is she and who is stupid enough to be wondering around her house?

Any theories?

Lover At Last: Teaser II

This is the second spoiler for Lover At Last which was released by the WARDen yesterday. She hasn't actually let us know who's in on this conversation. I'm thinking it's between Trez and iAm. 

Anyone else have any theories on what's the what?

“Your sex life is out of control. (...) You’re not behaving in a professional manner.”
“You eat your own food at Sal’s.”
“My linguine with clam sauce doesn’t require a restraining order
when I decide the next night I want the Fra Diavolo.”

I'm pretty sure this is going to be my reaction when Lover At Last comes out. Some restraints are going to be necessary...

Lover At Last: Teaser I

Those of you in the know will know that Lover At Last is coming out at the end of the month. If you're anything like me, you'll be absolutely salivating to get your hands on this book. It's book 11 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and we'll finally get a HEA for Blay and Quinn. These two have been through so much and I have a feeling that the WARDen is going to have me in tears with this book. 

I. Cannot. Wait.

Just a word of warning for you who aren't aware of it (don't know how that's possible, but in any case), Lover At Last is going to be about two guys. Please do not let this put you off. It's going to be beautiful. I can feel it in my bones...

Enough fangirling for now.

This is a little teaser that the WARDen posted on Facebook earlier today. As an ardent Bella/Zsadist fan, this has me feeling a wee bit queasy.

“Zsadist! Zsaaaaaaaaaaaaadist!”
The scream carried all the way across the glowing blue lawn as, up
at the terrace, a lone figure shot out into the snow at a dead run.
Lots of people shouted back at Bella, but he doubted she heard a
thing.“Zsaaaaaaaaaadist!”
As she skidded into range, Blay immediately reached for her- (...) (A)nd, oh, God, he was never going to forget the expression on her face— it was more horrific than any war atrocity he’d ever seen, as if she were being flayed alive, sure as her arms and legs were strapped down and pieces of her very flesh were being peeled from her body...
-Lover at Last, pg 152 (edited a little bit)

Midnight Breeds: Midnight Rising

Midnight Rising is book four in the Midnight Breeds series. I was really looking forward to this one since it's Rio's book, and he's been really sad since his mate, Eva, proved to be a traitorous bitch. So I was really looking forward to him finding his special someone and being happy again.

Midnight Rising takes place five months after Midnight Awakening and starts off in the Czech Republic. Our leading lady, Dylan, is on holiday with friends when she runs into something a little out of the ordinary. Dylan is a reporter and she can see ghosts. Not a la Sixth Sense but creepy enough in its own right. The ghost tells her that there's somebody up on that mountain that is in some serious need of saving. Dylan, against her better judgement, goes to investigate. It's there that she runs into a slightly Loony Tunes Rio. 

Rio has been hanging out in the cave that the Order discovered at the end of Midnight Awakening, They were looking for some Big Bad that was apparently buried there, and they were set on destroying it for good. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found, and they were left with a great, big empty cave that needed to be closed up in case any nosy humans got too close. Rio volunteers to blow the place up before he heads off to Spain. 

Needless to say, Rio doesn't have any plans on heading on over to his homeland. Rio's decided that he's had enough and spends the next five months working himself up to ending it all. He's just about to blow up the cave, with him inside, when Dylan stumbles onto the scene and sees more than she ought to. And being the nosy reporter that she is, she takes some pretty compromising pictures of both the cave and of Rio. 

It's then up to Rio to make that Dylan's pictures and article don't blow the entire Breed's cover. 

And so the story progresses from there.

I have decided that from now on I will have no expectations for this series. When I have low expectations, I'm blown away. When I have high expectations, I'm disappointed. 

The latter is exactly what happened in this book. I was so excited for Rio, and then it all fell a little flat. Maybe his HEA happened to soon? I hesitate to say this since I'll probably come off as an insensitive bitch, but I actually found Rio a tiny bit... whiny. I know that sounds awful, because the guy has been through a lot, but there were times where I just wanted to scream. It's like, stop feeling so sorry for yourself! 

I love a tortured hero as much as the next girl, but this was getting a bit much for even me. As for Dylan, I thought she was okay. I didn't really connect with her, which also diminished my enjoyment of this book. The story line is definitely still there, although this was probably the least action-packed book in the series so far. I think Ms Adrian is working up to making the new villain really bad. Won't take much, I think. This guy is already making the last bad guy, Marek, look like a wuss. 

But on a happier note, we did hear more from some of the other characters and we found out that Tess and Dante are expecting. That was one bright spark in an otherwise pretty angsty book.