Review: Hunter's Prey

Reviewed by Jen
 

The more I read from the Bloodhounds series, the more I enjoy them.  They're this gritty blend of shapeshifter, old west, steampunk, and holy hot sex --and I am already jonesing for the next one. 

This story features Hunter, the man turned into a Bloodhound against his will and kept caged and tortured by the vampires in Wilder's Mate.  He is trying to aclimate himself to his new life, but he is having a hard time reconciling the man that he once was, to the beast that is now inside him.  He is living with Wilder, Satira, Nate, and Ophelia --and he is coming on his first new moon where he is not locked behind bars.

It's Ophelia who he wants to slake his lust upon during those three days of burning need, but he fights it. He is afraid he'll hurt her. But when the time comes, his beast will accept no other.

Thankfully, Hunter's feelings are not one sided.  Ophelia wants him too and only fears that the man in him doesn't want her as much as the Bloodhound does.  The story follows their path to mating, as Archer and Wilder search out a new vampire threat.  Oh --and some guys from the Guild come sniffing around to check out Hunter and Nate.

It absolutely must be said that the sex in these books hits all of my happy buttons.  It's just the right blend of dirty and needy and passionate without crossing the line into eye-rolling.  The sexual element of Hunter and Ophelia's relationship is awesome, but I also really liked their tentative romance as well.  They both have issues that make them fear rejection from the other, but I love that it's handled honestly between them.

There is action and violence and an interesting plot to go along with the loving too.  There is also a wealth of fleshed out secondary characters which give depth to the world and plant the seeds for future stories. It's just cool all over.  You should definitely check this series out.

Rating: B+

*Book provided by authors for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Hunter's Prey

by Moira Rogers

Release Date: March 6, 2012

Publisher: Samhain

Review: Merrick's Destiny

Reviewed by Jen
 

When you're working with half as many pages, you can't give the reader everything you would give them in a longer story.  Fortunately, Moira Rogers doesn't scrimp on the good stuff.

This novella doesn't have the same kind of story arc and action featured in Wilder's Mate, but it had plenty of heat.  Our hero, Merrick, is a Bloodhound who wakes from an aircraft accident with holes in his memories and a new mate at his side.  Paralee was the only other survivor in the crash and she has no idea how Merrick feels about her.

The two of them are in hostile vampire territory and must find their way to safety. And wouldn't you know it? They must also face the new moon --and the unbridled sexual hunger that brings out in Merrick.  Of course, Merrick's attraction to Paralee isn't one sided, so these two are on each other like white on rice.

The sex is as scorching hot as I have come to expect from this series.  Merrick is gruff and tough, but he treats Paralee with equal parts raging lust and gentle tenderness.  It's such an attractive combination! I only had one little beef.  I get that the mating thing kind of blind-sides the Bloodhounds. It can happen in an instant. But I thought Paralee's, er,  enthusiasm and commitment happened really fast. After all, she is a regular human. It was just one of those things you have to take in stride, I guess.

Really, the whole story was about these few days they spent together. I did miss the external plot a little, but the heat factor helped me get over it.

Rating: B-

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: All Romance

Merrick's Destiny

by Moira Rogers

Release Date: February 12, 2012

Publisher: ARe

Review: Wilder's Mate

Reviewed by Jen
 

Moira Rogers had seamlessly blended multiple genres to create a really cool series with the Bloodhounds.  It's got elements of steampunk, paranormal romance, and even the Old West.  And somehow, it works.  Amidst the vampires and shifters, steam-powered devices, horseback riding and really hot sex, I found a story I didn't want to put down.

Satira grew up the sort-of adopted daughter of a Bloodhound.  Once he was gone, she became an apprentice to an inventor named Nathaniel... and he became her family.  Now someone has kidnapped him and all that matters to Satira is getting him back.  When the Guild sends Wilder to help search for him, she refuses to remain on the sidelines and offers her help on the hunt.

Wilder is no ordinary man. He is a Bloodhound, and if you're wondering what that means, suffice it to say that he is an enhanced human. (Getting into more specifics would only spoil it for you as it all plays out.)   There is an attraction between him and Satira right away.  The story follows the two of them as they work together to rescue Nathaniel and eventually give into their desire to be together.

I really enjoyed this book. You'd think with so many different genres mishmashed together, it could overwhelm the story, but it doesn't. The world-building unfolds over the course of the book, but I didn't ever feel lost in the process. I was very much in the moment with Wilder and Satira.  There were times the heroine felt a little desperate, which made me cringe a bit. But thankfully, her attraction was not one sided.

The sexual tension was great and the sex was even better. It was hot and raw and Wilder was deliciously Alpha in the sack. He has all this barely leashed power and still a sweet vulnerability which makes him downright irresistible.

When she isn't emotionally needy, Satira is a pretty good heroine.  Her history with Bloodhounds allows her to understand Wilder in a way that not every woman could. She is loyal, determined and capable, despite the fact that society devalues her because she is woman.  And when all is said and done, she really delivers.

In the course of the story, we meet some intriguing secondary characters who will go on star in their own books in the series. But make no mistake, this is Wilder's book. He stole the show and blew me away.

Rating: B+

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Wilder's Mate

by Moira Rogers
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Publisher: Samhain

Review: Night of Fire

Reviewed by Jen
 

It's been three years since Tom left Rosa, running out of town in the middle of the night on a stolen horse. After her parents threatened him, he felt like he couldn't have a future with her, so he made a new life for himself in the Army. He never forgot her though, and now that he has finally been granted leave, the only thing he can think of doing, is getting back to her.

When he arrives back home, Rosa is a changed woman.  She's the new sheriff of Thornville and she's tough as nails.  It's obvious she has been holding her own, but Tom couldn't have picked a better time to come back. Outlaws are targeting her, and even worse, they seem to be simply paving the way for an even bigger threat to both Rosa and the town.

They have to work with one another to fight off the danger.  But together, their old sparks fly again. Can she ever forgive him for leaving her the way he did? And will they survive long enough to find out?

The story is a combination of steampunk, old west, and romance.  And it is set in the same world as Skies of Fire, though they are each completely stand-alone stories.  There is a similar thread, though, in that both books feature a couple reunited three years after one lover deserted the other.

It's hard to sympathize with a hero who unceremoniously dumped his heroine.  He's got a lot to atone for and despite his heroism in fighting off the bad guys, I felt like Rosa forgave him awfully fast.  The whole story takes place over just a couple of days.  The romance is at the center, but there is a lot of action as well. Maybe a little too much. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed by all the descriptions of the equipment and choreography of the fight scenes.

But I found myself interested in the setting.  The world building is clear and easy to understand --and the plot is pretty straightforward.  I liked that the authors changed things up so much from the last book.  I think steampunk fans looking for an action-packed ride will enjoy it.

Rating: C

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Nights of Fire

by Nico Rosso

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Review: Skies of Fire

Reviewed by Jen
 

Zoe Archer sets up an interesting, alternative steampunk world in this first installment of The Ether Chronicles.

Our hero is Christopher, captain of an ether-powered flying ship for the British Navy.  He's also a Man-O-War. Now part man and part machine, he is connected to his ship. A special metal fused to his flesh and bone allows the energies in his body to create the ether.  It's a job he loves. But as much as he revels in the skies, he still mourns the loss of Louisa, woman who got away... the woman who left him without a word, years ago.

Imagine his surprise when an SOS from behind enemy lines turns out to be from Louisa, herself.  Once he rescues her, he gets pulled into her spy-work, all the while battling the overwhelming emotions coming from being with her again.

I really liked Christopher and the concept behind the Man-O-War.  He is powerful and larger than life, yet emotionally scarred by his past with Louisa. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I got much of a chance to invest in their feelings for one another.  We're only told about the depth of their relationship, but didn't really get to see it.  Because it's telling versus showing, I didn't get the build-up necessary to feel what I needed to between them.  Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it, I just didn't care all that deeply.

The history between Christopher and Louisa does make it easy to believe the speed of their relationship development.   The world-building is laid out quickly and efficiently. And the pacing is good. It's a fun adventure with a second-chance love story.

Rating: B-

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Skies of Fire

by Zoe Archer

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Review: Archer's Lady

Reviewed by Jen
 

Grace has made a new life for herself in the Old West border town of Crystal Springs. She left her disreputable ways behind, reinventing herself as a school teacher --a lady.  But her town is now under attack by vampires and it's barely holding on.  They need help if they're going to survive.  That's where Archer comes in.

Archer is a Bloodhound, a shape shifting supernatural, sent in by his Guild to clean-up the vampire problem.  He's rough around the edges, but strong. And he's determined to save the town from the vampire threat.

Archer sees past the facade Grace hides behind. He senses a little something of himself in her, I think. Someone trying to rebuild themselves in the wake of past sins.  The two them find solace in each other, a simple honesty neither has ever had with anyone else.  It grows into more as they work together to figure out why the vampires have targeted the town and then to defeat them.

This is a bit of a departure from my usual fare in that it's set in an alternative Old West and it has some steampunk elements.  But I found that I liked it anyway. I think Archer is the biggest draw.  He's powerful and gruff, yet gentle and yearning in ways that even he never expected.  He's very sexy and that made the love scenes go from hot to muy caliente.  The sexy times were plentiful and highly enjoyable, but I thought they really helped build the relationship between Archer and Grace, and never threatened to overwhelm the story.

This is book three in the Bloodhounds series, and I can tell you as a new reader, it worked well as a standalone.  There were a few things, especially toward the end, which seemed to reference earlier stories, but I never felt lost. The world building was accessible and I felt like it was built seamlessly into the story without any obvious info dumps.

I liked it.  And I would read from this series again.

Rating: B+

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Archer's Lady

by Moira Rogers

Release Date: July 3, 2012

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Review: Tarnished

Reviewed by Jen
 

I don't usually read steampunk. It's not that I dislike the genre, but I'm still kind of new to it. Reading the blurb on this book, I found myself intrigued.  Cherry St. Croix leads something of a double life. By day, she moves among London society, while by night, she enters the the soot-filled underbelly of the city to work as a bounty hunter.

What the blurb doesn't tell you is that Cherry is an opium addict.  That her employers run a sick Menagerie... a den of iniquity, powered by slave-like pets.  Cherry takes gigs to pay for her drug habit, but operates on the fringe of the Menagerie --until she is hired to find a sadistic killer who has been targeting the prostitutes who work for her employers.  Soon the hunter becomes the hunted and Cherry gets wrapped up an ordeal of even more powerful drugs, threats to her life, and sexual situations beyond her control.

All this, as her life in society is shaken up as well. She is barely tolerated by the upper-crust because of her late father's reputation as a mad scientist.  While putting on a brave face to the sharks of the ton, she ends up in an unlikely sort-of relationship with the handsome Lord Compton.  I really thought these two might make a go of it. Then I thought maybe she'd end up with Hawke, her mysterious boss at the Menagerie.  Then everything went crazy and all the relationship stuff got shoved aside in place of outlandish experiments and near death experiences.

I was intrigued by the world building. The upper and lower London set-up was really cool. But I felt like there was too much going on. Especially in the second half, when it seemed to drop off the deep end a little. It all started out pretty straightforward, but when the story started dipping into magic dust and Frankenstein themes, it started to lose me.

I actually liked one of the two love interests more than the other, but I think she's going to end up with the other guy.  Either way, it was left very unresolved, which is a blow to my romance-oriented heart. In fact, when all was said and done, just about everything was left open ended. It's one of those stories that doesn't get finished in one book --and you should know that going in. 

I have mixed feelings about this one. The set-up was good, but the more I read, the less I felt like it was the right fit for me.

Rating: C-


*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: Amazon

Tarnished

by Karina Cooper

Release Date: June 26, 2012

Publisher: Avon

Review: The Blacksmith's Lover

Reviewed by Jen
 

Sarah has spent the past five years as a scullery maid for a wealthy couple. She's kept her head down and stayed out of trouble, until the man of the house tries to force her into a liaison.  To make matters worse, his wife walks in and catches them in a compromising position.  The man blames Sarah for seducing him.  The woman attacks her, sending Sarah on the run.  Determined to keep Sarah from spreading the tale, they send men to chase her down.

Sarah flees to another town, seeking refuge with the local blacksmith. He is searching for an apprentice and she begs him for the chance to fill the position.  He declines at first, but then takes pity on her. He takes her in and agrees to hide her under the guise of a young man, learning his trade.

Viktor is a big, burly Russian dude and Sarah is attracted to him right from the beginning. But it's months and months before the two of them act on their attraction.  I loved the idea of this super-manly blacksmith (though I could have done with a little less imagery of his wealth of body hair.)  He is definitely the strong, silent type and when push comes to shove, he really comes through for Sarah.

As for our heroine... well, she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.  She makes a couple of selfish and unthinking moves in the course of the story.  She also really likes, er, rubbin' her nubbin'. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against a little self-love, but I don't quite buy the idea that she was so overwhelmed by lust that she needed to go spelunking right out in the open at the well, or laying next to someone in the bed.

I liked the sexual tension between Sarah and Viktor and due to the elapsed time in the story, an emotional connection was more believable to me.  But I thought the steampunk element of the story kind of blew up at the end.  I was down with Viktor having some neat contraptions in his forge, but once we got to the showdown with the bad guys at the end... Suffice it to say, they lost me with the giant robot.  It's one thing to believe that Viktor has these advanced and special abilities, but that his adversaries could find and produce another inventor with similar skills to battle him, was just too much to accept.

It's hard to rate this one because there were things I did like about it, but the things that bothered me felt really "out there." I'm going with a C-.

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Blacksmith's Lover

by Heather Massey

Release Date: June 1, 2012

Publisher: Red Sage Publishing

Review: Victorian Scoundrel

Reviewed by Shelly
 

Blurb: It's 2010 and compressed natural gas has taken over the coal producing steam machines of the Victorian Age. Alice Windsor, Princess of York, follows her mischief-making cousin, Prince Edmund of Wales back to the past (1851) where Prince Albert is hosting Britain's Great Exhibition. Alice soon discovers Edmund has struck up a friendship with their great-grandfather, Prince Albert, and his mischief making entails leaving a dinosaur-sized footprint in history. She also meets Grayson Kentfield, Earl Swinton, and the Prime Minister, Sir John Russell. The Prime Minster finds her odd, to say the least. It's only when Alice falls for the handsome Earl Swinton does she realize the dangers of time travel. How can she give her heart to a man from the past while striving to stop Edmund from changing time with his forward thinking ideas?

Review: This is my first steampunk novel and first read from Stephanie Burkhart.  I will admit that this took a while for me to get started but once I did, it went relatively well. From the cover, I assumed along with time travel there would be some romance, and there was. Not because of the cover but I also assumed there would be some sex, there was - just not a lot, less than a page when it did happen. I thought there could have been more especially when main characters are involved. But I digress.  

The majority of this story is in a time travelled 1851 and while that might not seem like such a big deal – it’s all Victoria era ‘speak’.  There’s a lot of titles - “your Highness, Lord, Lady, Duke, etc.” – which may keep with the era, but for this reader it made for a bit of confusion.  Imagine a three/four person dialogue where titles are used. I admit to getting confused a few times and had to go back to see who was in the conversation.

I really liked the chemistry and subsequent relationship between Alice and Grayson. This was definitely not a quick romance, and although the passion/sexual tension was there the sex was non-descript.  Super disappointed there but I got over it pretty quickly. By the end, while still rooting for these two I really thought Grayson is hiding something. Burkhart has set it up (fingers crossed) for hopefully some answers in the next book. I’m also hoping that Alice continues to grow, especially a backbone as the series progresses – she seems a bit too dependent on cousin Edmund.

I gotta say that Edmund and Keira’s relationship has me the most curious as to where that’s going.  Edmund, as we were told a few times (13 if you’re counting but I’m not) is a bit mischievous and I’m waiting to see how independent Keira is going to deal with him.  But again, that’s gonna have to wait for the next book in the series.  

As I mentioned this book was written as the first part of a series and we’ll have to wait to find out if any of these characters have an HEA. With any luck we should find out what happens to some of the potentially wonderful secondary characters, Bryon and Edmund’s older brother, Richard.

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: C+

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Victorian Scoundrel

by Stephanie Burkhart

Release Date: June 29, 2011

Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing