Sunday, August 27, 2017

Book Review of Tamed by a Tiger (Eternal Mates Paranormal Romance Series Book 13) by Felicity Heaton



Book Title: Tamed by a Tiger (Eternal Mates #13)
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Pages: 174
Author: Felicity Heaton
Date Published: 5 August 2017

Synopsis:

A snow leopard shifter in the prime of his life, the last thing on August’s mind is tying himself to one female. He welcomes a different one to his bed each night, or at least he had until five months ago when he became alpha. The duties and pressures of running his pride have his libido dead on arrival—until a trip to London to discuss business with the former alpha lands him in the path of a beautiful, bewitching tigress who awakens a passion in him that flares white hot and a need of her that consumes his every moment.

Promised at birth to a male she has never met, Maya has left her pride behind to go to the tiger alpha who is to be her mate, but she can’t leave without saying goodbye to her older brother, Talon. A stop in London at Underworld to see him one last time turns out far different, and far more dangerous, than how she had imagined it when she sets eyes on an alluring crimson-haired stranger who stirs new, unbidden feelings in her, desires that rouse her fiercest and most frightening instincts and demand she stake a claim on him—her fated mate.

Will Maya be strong enough to place her pride and her family’s safety before the desires of her own heart? And will August unravel his feelings for the black-haired beauty before it’s too late and he loses her forever?

Review:


Tamed by a Tiger (Eternal Mates, #13)Tamed by a Tiger by Felicity Heaton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the thirteenth book in the Eternal Mates series. I loved it!

August is a wonderful character. I really liked him. I met him briefly in Craved by an Alpha (Book 5) as he's Cavanaugh's cousin, so I'm glad to get to know him better. He has taken on the mantle of Alpha of the snow leopard pride due to Cavanaugh abdicating to be with Eloise as her mate. August finds being alpha rather stressful, so visits his cousin to ask his opinion and get advice. He wasn't looking for love, but when he meets a female tiger shifter, he is instantly attracted to her. However, there's a problem, she's been promised to a tiger of another pride.

Maya is also another wonderful character that I liked. She is strong and feisty, but when her brother (and alpha) Byron insists she fulfil the pact that she marry the alpha of a rival pride made when she was born, she sets off to London with her brother Grey to say goodbye to her other brother, Talon. Knowing it's a political marriage, she is unprepared for the instant attraction she feels for her eternal mate, August. Will she follow her brother's instruction, or will she follow her heart?

I absolutely love the Eternal Mates world. I started to read this book and I was quickly pulled in. It kept me riveted from beginning to end.

The story is told through the eyes of both August and Maya, which gives the reader a chance to see their thoughts and feelings. The heat between the main characters blazed white hot. I would have liked to have had a scene where the two "meet" from August's POV. Maya's reaction was extreme, but August came across as rather cold and uncaring. Maybe this is because Maya realised he was her mate first. I don't really know. However, I felt that Maya came across as rather crazy. The transitional flow from that scene to the next was also not as smooth as it could have been.

Having said that, I love the way the story swept me up and spit me out on a roller coaster ride of emotion. The characters living within the Eternal Mates universe have a strength within them that helps them to survive. However, they also have flaws and fears, which makes them lifelike and relatable. I did feel that this story was a little rushed and I would have loved for it to be a little longer, with more of a plot line or sub plot/ story arc as I feel this series is beginning to tire somewhat. Nevertheless, I can't wait to read Grey's story, which is the next book in the series and is due to be released on the 9th September 2017.

Felicity Heaton has written another fast paced, sexy paranormal romance that I thoroughly enjoyed! I love her fast paced writing style, which flows effortlessly from scene to scene. She is on top of my favourite author's list.

I do not recommend this book to younger readers due to the extremely HOT and explicit sexual scenes. However, I highly recommend this book (and series) if you love sexy paranormal romances full of vampires, elves, werewolves, cat shifters, succubi, incubi, angels, dragons, demons and demonesses. - Lynn Worton

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About The Author:



Felicity Heaton


Felicity Heaton is a NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and International Best-Selling Author writing passionate paranormal romance books and series for adults.

In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.

Fans of paranormal romance books by authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione, Kresley Cole and Christine Feehan will love Felicity's books too.

Author Links:

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

Website ; Blog ; Facebook ; Twitter ; Tsu ; Pinterest ; GoodReads ; Amazon

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Book Review of Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James



Book Title: Fifty Shades of Grey
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Pages: 530
Author: E.L. James
Date Published: 19 March 2012

Synopsis:

When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind – until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out.

Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more.

As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Christian keeps hidden away from public view …

Review:


Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the series by E.L. James.

Anastasia Steel is a character that found myself neither loving or hating, though I found myself rolling my eyes at her inner monologue. She is a stumbling, bumbling teen in a twenty-something young body. She is so insecure and full of angst that I wanted to strangle her. Okay, having said that, her character does grow and mature as the story progresses, which I like when reading stories. When she interviews Christian Grey on her ill roommate's behalf, she finds herself enthralled with him. When he warns her away from him, she doesn't listen to him and finds herself thrust into a world that she was woefully ill prepared for.

Let me first say that I bought this book in 2012, but due to my large reading list, and then the subsequent social media storm about this book, I decided to hold off reading it until recently. I still haven't watched the movie.

I started to read and, as many others have mentioned in their reviews, I found myself shaking my head at Ana's inner goddess monologues. However, I also knew that this was a piece of fan fiction after the author had read Twilight, so I could see some of the influence in the writing. Ana knowingly enters into a relationship with Christian. She didn't sign any contracts, apart from the secrecy one which, in my eyes meant that she went into this relationship of her own free will. Christian could have pushed her to sign the contract. In fact, if he was a complete control freak he would have. Yes, he's a controlling a-hole, but to be fair, he warned Ana on several occasions to stay away.
That contract! Goodness me! If someone handed me that contract I would run for the hills! Some of them made sense (health and safety wise) but some of the rules had me scratching my head and a red warning light flashing.

As for the BDSM aspect of the story, I laughed at the scenes. They were more like mild kink and not hardcore BDSM. I have read several erotic romance novels with BDSM in them and those scenes were more realistic than in this book. I do not practice this lifestyle and cannot say for definite that the other books I have read are accurate either, but this felt more like titillation rather than any real BDSM. Several people have stated in their reviews that this book promotes an abusive relationship and to some degree I agree, that one scene with the belt comes to mind. However, I also think that Christian Grey has some serious issues from his childhood that were hinted at that need addressing with major therapy.

Having said all that, I actually enjoyed reading this book, even though it was like watching a train crash at times. I tried not to let anyone's opinion colour mine, so I hope those who read this review and then decide to read the book will also keep an open mind. There has been two camps saying you either love or hate this book. However, I find myself not able to definitively say which camp I fall into because I didn't love it nor did I hate it. I found it entertaining but it just didn't excite me either way.
Will I continue to read the other books? Unknown at this time, but I am not ruling it out in the future. As for watching the movies, I am not sure about that either. Only time will tell.

This was E.L. James' debut novel and as such I found her writing style rather amateurish, this is not a bad thing as one has to start somewhere and improvement can always be made. The story pace was not particularly fast, but I still found myself turning the pages to find out what happened next. The story flow could have been tightened up with some scenes being shortened, but for the most part it flowed well.

Due to the nature of this book, I do not recommend it to readers under the age of 16. I do, however, recommend this book if you love contemporary romances. - Lynn Worton

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About The Author:


E L James is a TV executive, wife and mother of two, based in West London. Since early childhood, she dreamt of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

E L James is currently working on her next novel...

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Sunday, August 13, 2017

Book Review of The Amulet: Journey to Sirok (The Elias Chronicles Book 1) by E.G. Kardos



Book Title: The Amulet: Journey to Sirok (Elias Chronicles #1)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 165
Author: E.G. Kardos
Date Published: 19 July 2017

Synopsis:

WHEN TWIN SWORDS COLLIDE, an incredible power is unleashed and a new world opens. Defeating the three-headed dragon is the only way for Elias to seize his treasure. THE AMULET- Journey to Sirok is a magical adventure as Elias searches to find a sorcerer named Zoltan to reveal clues to his search.

Review:


The Amulet: Journey to Sirok (Elias Chronicles #1)The Amulet: Journey to Sirok by E.G. Kardos
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book in an intriguing fantasy series. I enjoyed it but with reservations.

Elias is an interesting character. I really liked him. He is a young boy living in a remote village in Hungary. He is the son of a farmer, but he has no interest in being a farmer like his father or two brothers. He is an artist and loves to draw and paint the beautiful scenery and animals living in the forest surrounding the farm. When his Nattymama (Grandmother) tells him the tale of Zoltan, a sorcerer, who lives in Budapest and who can help Elias find his fortune, Elias sets off on a journey to meet him, but faces many obstacles and dangers along the way.

This is quintessentially a coming of age tale. When I first started reading this book I struggled with the author's writing style and it took me a while to get into it. Elias is only fifteen (nearly sixteen), so I was surprised at how harshly his father treated him. Just because a child doesn't want to follow in the parent's footsteps, a parent should encourage their child to follow their own path, not throw them out of the house. Unfortunately, it is more common than one would think. Having said that, Elias is a pretty level-headed boy and is able to keep his wits about him even when things look really dire at times. There is also a little folklore woven into the tale, with mention of monsters like the Sarkany, a three-headed serpent dragon that becomes a representation of a person's worst nature.

Elias meets several characters (including monsters) along his journey, but I found the majority of them to be one-dimensional and forgettable for the most part. Even the Sarkany didn't seem particularly scary or threatening. This made me feel sad. Nattymama was the only other character that felt lifelike besides Elias. However, I am not in the age range this book is aimed at, so younger readers may not have the same opinion as myself.

I reached the end of the story with mixed emotions. I was happy at the way it concluded, but also a little disappointed that the story left me feeling rather ambivalent to it. I don't like saying this but I don't think I will be continuing with the series. Although the character of Elias was interesting, there was not enough character development or excitement generated for me to want to read the next book in the series.

E.G. Kardos has written an interesting middle grade/young adult fantasy. The author's writing style felt a little stilted in my opinion, and I struggled to get to grips with it in the beginning. It is not particularly fast paced, however, it kept me turning the pages. The story flowed wonderfully from scene to scene, and is written in such a descriptive way I could picture the tale easily in my minds eye.

I highly recommend this book to children aged 10 upwards and to adults who love reading YA/Middle Grade Fantasy. - Lynn Worton

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About The Author:



I grew up loving fantasy and couldn’t get enough whether it was in books or movies. Art, too, of all kinds has played an important role in my life as long as I can remember.

I've written several books both for readers who are young and young at heart. My inspiration comes from the beauty that surrounds all of us—both in nature and in each other.

I am an avid “student” of Joseph Campbell and have read and studied the many books Campbell wrote. It fascinates me that the “hero’s journey” is so embedded in all cultures for thousands of years. THE ELIAS CHRONICLES are true to form of Campbell’s hero’s journey, as I explore what’s most important in our lives today with the mythology and magic that are the fabric of who we are as a people.

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