Posts Tagged ‘Contemporary’
Lyra Black is determined to defeat all the other werewolves at the next Proving, becoming the Second to her father’s Alpha. Midnight Reckoning by Kendra Leigh Castle, Lyra has spent her entire life being told what to do and being forced to abide by the werewolf law. Leaving the town she grew up in she is determined to learn from the new vampires about changing tradition but her past catches up with her in a deadly way. When she is saved by Jaden she decides to return home to confront her problems head-on.
Jaden Harrison is a Cait Sith, a vampire cat0shifters, who saves Lyra and then can’t get her out of his mind. When Jaden finds a necklace belonging to Lyra he has the perfect excuse to follow her to her town but when her father requests Jaden help Lyra, Jaden ends up dealing with more than he bargained for when old enemies show up in Lyra’s town. As that wasn’t enough, Jaden and Lyra must fight their attraction together because history has decried that cats and dogs don’t belong together.
I struggled to get into Midnight Reckoning mostly because the beginning of the novel covers so much of the different tribes and I had a hard time keeping them straight. I also struggled to keep the different tribes’ special characteristics straight, especially where the different paranormal characters mixed together. However, once I got into the novel it all started to make sense and the story pulled me in. Lyra is a women struggling to get her pack to change with the times, allowing women to have more of a say in the running of the pack. Jaden is a vampire cat who has lived for two hundred years and just years for a normal life. Castle’s world is a bit on the dark, complex side with intense characters with a lot of emotional baggage they had to work out. I enjoyed Midnight Reckoning once I got into the story, if you are a fan of the darker side of paranormal you will like it also.
Dark Dynasties Reading Order
Shadow Rising (release July 2012)
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Title: Midnight Reckoning
Author: Kendra Leigh Castle
Format: Paperback, eBook
Page Nos.: 384
ISBN: 978-1609418380
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: January 2012
Available for purchase: Amazon
Reviewer: Jessica
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.
In the novel Danger on Her Doorstep by Rachelle McCalla, Maggie Arnold is trying to get over her father’s fatal accident. However, when certain things start happening around the house where he was murdered, Maggie can’t help but wonder if maybe his death wasn’t an accident after all. Maggie wants to just get the renovations done on the old Victorian house and go back to her own life, but things just never work out quite right. The only person in town that is willing to help her is the handyman Gideon Bromley, whom no one in Holyoake is willing to trust. Maggie just wants to get everything put into order so no one else gets hurt trying to figure out what’s going on.
I enjoyed Danger on Her Doorstep because it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! I was so worried about what was going to happen next and didn’t set it down after I started reading the book. I had a good time trying to figure out what was going on, especially when several new pieces of evidence came to light through the course of the story. There were some things that happened during the novel that shocked and surprised me. They definitely added some additional twists to the storyline!
You can read an excerpt here.
Holyoake Reading Order:
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Title: Danger on her Doorstep
Author: Rachelle McCalla
Format: paperback, hardbound, ebook
Page Nos.: 222
ISBN: 978-0373444274
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Available for Purchase: Amazon, eHarlequin
Release Date: January 2011
Reviewer: Jillian
Torrie Masters has had to work hard to convince her family to let her captain one of the freighters in their space transport company but she could lose that right when space pirates capture her ship on her very first run. Unmasked by C.J. Barry begins with Torrie about to go down with the ship after having sent her crew off in a escape pod, but then the computer malfunction corrects itself and she finds herself being boarded by space pirates. Torrie isn’t about to let some space pirate ruin her flight, she is determined to track it and deliver it no matter who gets in her way.
Qaade has never left a captain alive from one of his pirate raids but something about Torrie makes him decide to let her live. He never suspects that Torrie will track him down and almost cost him everything he holds dear. Qaade decides to teach Torrie a lesson but as they spend time together they both are forced to reevaluate their preconceived notions. As they are drawn together, will these differences keep them apart?!
Unmasked is the fourth book in the Unforgettable series. After three books in the series, I was a little nervous that Unmasked would be a bit too formulaic but this was not the case. I was excited that Torrie got her own story after her initial appearance in Unleashed. Torrie is a strong female lead, which she has to be with so many older brothers, but she has a soft gooey center that makes her so loveable. Qaade is the strong hero who takes on the sins of the world onto his own shoulders, never giving himself a break and seeing the small picture instead of the big picture that could help relieve him of some of the responsibility resting on his shoulders. The interplay between the two characters was great and in a small way tied into Unleashed but not enough that if you haven’t read the book you would be lost.
You can read an excerpt here.
Unforgettable Series:
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Title: Unmasked
Author: C.J. Barry
Format: eBook
AISN: B005JSK21U
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: October 2011
Available for purchase: Amazon, eHarlequin
Reviewer: Jessica
**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.
Tru Van Dye lives in the prestige think tank planet but in order to stay she must prove that her theory is correct but the only way to do that is to leave the planet and hire a pilot to take her to the dangerous planet where her theory focuses. Unraveled by C.J. Barry, Tru hires Rayce Coburn but after running several scenarios in her alternate-world, she is very concerned about how the rogue pilot will react to her request.
Rayce has been working and spending all his money to fund his dream, a five-star, first-class space station but he is running out of money and time so he must take any job that comes his way that will get him money. But Rayce has never met anyone like Tru and despite his best efforts he finds himself drawn to her.
I loved Unraveled! Rayce reminded me of Han Solo (yes, I am a huge Star Wars fan) which is part of the reason I loved it. He is a smart aleck who is focused on his own dreams and fights against anything that might get in that way. Unraveled is a true space adventure with visits to numerous exotic planets, chases on those planets and fighting leads. Out of all four Unforgettable books, Unraveled was my favorite, which is saying something because I enjoyed the entire series.
You can read an excerpt here.
Unforgettable Series:
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Title: Unraveled
Author: C.J. Barry
Format: eBook
AISN: B005JSJY0A
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: October 2011
Available for purchase: Amazon, eHarlequin
Reviewer: Jessica
**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.
