Category: Paranormal Romance
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
(Cover picture courtesy of Violet Crush.)
A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVERomance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.
Like The Demon King I’ve had my eye on this book for years. I just never really considered picking it up until I saw it was on for $4.99 as a promotion for the final book in the series. Why not give it a try for that price? It could be good.
I won’t say that I’m disappointed, but I wasn’t especially impressed either. There were decent enough characters, some humour, good world-building and so-so villains but that was about it. Hush, Hush never really made that transition from ‘decent enough’ to ‘good’ or ‘great.’ It’s one of those books that’s just mediocre, forgettable and generally undistinguished.
Nora is a decent enough heroine but she’s nothing special. She gets assigned to have the mysterious Patch as a lab partner and they insult each other back and forth for a bit and then denies her attraction to him for most of the book. Patch alternatively insults her and encourages her feelings before Nora finally asks him what he is and they begin to admit their feelings for each other. No huge surprises there but it’s not a bad storyline. It’s just predictable, much like the characters who are generally forgettable and occasionally act too stupid to live. Nora just loves going into danger.
The plot isn’t really fast-paced. It’s predictable with the whole Slap-Slap-Kiss sort of sexual tension that’s pretty much always present in YA these days. The problem with the plot is that there are huge bursts of energy and then it grinds to a halt for what seems like days. There are so many stop and starts that I really couldn’t buy into much suspense by the end. Sure, there was suspense, but there wasn’t all that much. Not enough for me to keep reading late into the night but it didn’t lack suspense so much that I wanted to give up on the book.
I liked the fallen angel part of this book. It has the potential for Becca Fitzpatrick to do a lot more with it in the next few books. I liked the glimpses we saw of Patch’s world and his downfall but it’s really not enough to judge whether or not the world-building is truly amazing or just good. Really, this whole book felt like sort of a set up for the rest of the series. First books should sort of be like that, but there should be a little more action going on and more information being given to the reader.
So overall? Meh. If I see the next book in the used section of a bookstore I might pick it up but I’m not going out of my way to finish the series.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
Sins of the Son by Linda Poitevin
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
When homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis sees a photo of Seth Benjamin on a police bulletin, she knows that Heaven’s plan to halt Armageddon has gone terribly wrong. As the only mortal who knows of Seth’s true nature, only she can save him. Aramael was a hunter of Fallen Angels until a traitor forced him into earthly exile. Now, with no powers and only a faint memory of Alex, his mortal soulmate, he will stop at nothing to redeem himself-even if it means destroying Seth in the name of the Creator…
[Full disclosure: I was originally supposed to review this for the Sins of the Lost blog tour, but my books got lost in the postal system. So now I’m reviewing it after the tour and, as always, my review is honest.]
After that massive cliffhanger at the end of Sins of the Angels I was very, very eager to get my hands on the second book. I had to know what happened to Alex and Aramael. Would they get back together and if they did, could it ever be the same for the two? Seeing as I’m actually emotionally invested in this novel, particularly the relationship between the two, I just had to know.
I wasn’t disappointed in Linda Poitevin either. She manages to juggle a couple of different viewpoints while at the same time writing a complicated story, plot-wise and character-wise. Seeing as I’m a huge fan of characters with depth, I’ll start with the latter.
Alex is a very different person from the one we met at the beginning of Sins of the Angels. Her love for Aramael changed her and honestly, it’s for the better. Despite the fact that he’s been banished and she may never see him again, she’s a much more accepting and tolerant person. The patience she showed with Seth later on would never have occurred at the beginning of Sins of the Angels. I was just astonished by how much she really does change throughout the novel because she goes through some pretty awful things. Still, Alex stays true to herself and I love her for that.
Aramael is changed as well. He’s immortal but without his powers and so he ends up on the receiving end of quite a few of the Fallen’s wrath. He gets kicked around and killed frequently in the beginning, until the enigmatic archangel Michael is introduced. From there on, Aramael’s character is so changed it’s almost like he’s a different person, more devoted to his mission to find Alex. I can’t say much more without giving things away, but Aramael is not perfect and sometimes his emotions get in the way of doing what’s best in a given situation.
I’m the sort of person that tries to predict the ending of books about halfway through. Usually I’m right, but in Sins of the Son I had no idea what was going to happen. Linda Poitevin had so many twists and turns in the plot that I was left reeling from the emotional shock by the end. She spares her characters no pain and has obviously planned the trilogy out well because all of the plot twists make sense.
If you read the first book and loved it, I’d highly recommend Sins of the Son. If you haven’t read the first book yet, go out and buy it now! If you love romance, awesome characters, great world-building and unpredictable plots you can’t go wrong with this trilogy.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Desired by Shadow by Cynthia Luhrs
(Cover picture courtesy of Paperblog.)
Betrayed…A modern-day ghost story with a twist.
Kidnapped on her way home from work, Maggie is thrown into a terrifying world of shadow. Narrowly escaping death, she flees her kidnappers only to come face to face with her greatest fear.
Helping a dying stranger, Maggie unleashes a terrible curse when she saves Robert. Now with only a week to break the curse, time is running out as they are locked in a deadly fight with forces that will stop at nothing to destroy them.
Intensely romantic and thrilling, Desired by Shadow portrays the struggle between redemption, retribution and the desire to find a love that transcends time.
If you enjoy persnickety gods, supernatural creatures and ghosts with the ability to manifest physical bodies, then Desired by Shadow is for you.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
What I found interesting about Desired by Shadow is that it continues on where Lost in Shadow left off by telling the story of someone else. That someone else is Maggie, a woman who can see Shadow Walkers and is kidnapped by the Day Walkers to spot them so they can be hunted down and killed. She already knows a little about this mysterious world when she accidentally saves Robert, the charming pirate from the last book, on the anniversary of his death while trying to escape from the Day Walkers. As for Robert, he is a typical playboy and doesn’t want anything to do with the whole soulmates thing his friend Colin and Emily went through.
Maggie is a very different woman from Emily in the first book. She’s spent most of her life out on the streets and things are finally starting to look up when she’s kidnapped by the Day Walkers. Maggie is a very capable woman and successfully escapes from the clutches of the Day Walkers all on her own, which was quite impressive. However, what I like the most about her character is that she learns to trust again. She learns to trust people in general, but more importantly she learns to love and trust Robert when circumstances bring them together.
The romance between Robert and Maggie develops similar to Colin and Emily’s but there are some nice, notable differences so it doesn’t feel like a complete repeat episode. The only thing I can really criticize is that the proofreading doesn’t seem to be as good as it was in the last novel. I caught way more typos than before and I’m not sure if it’s because I just noticed more or that there were actually more. None of them really take away from the story, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. They may have been corrected in the actual ebook now that it’s been out a few weeks and I was reading an ARC through NetGalley.
If you liked Lost in Shadow, you’ll probably like Desired by Shadow even more. It expands on the world-building from the first book, the characters are believable and the plot is fast-paced if a little predictable.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Lost in Shadow by Cynthia Luhrs
(Cover picture courtesy of Nomi’s Paranormal Palace.)
A relaxing vacation to Scotland turns deadly when a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger leads to murder. Shocked when she witnesses a man commit murder before disappearing in front of her eyes, Emily learns she possesses an extraordinary ability allowing her to interact with ghosts.
Unwittingly drawn into shadow when she intervenes to help Colin, igniting the ancient warrior’s long-buried desires, she unleashes a terrible curse. Now with only a week to break the curse, time is running out as they are locked in a deadly fight with forces that will stop at nothing to destroy them before they succeed. Intensely romantic and thrilling, Lost in Shadow portrays the struggle between redemption, retribution and the desire to find a love that transcends time.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
The whole unavenged ghost thing was really starting to wear on me before I read Lost in Shadow. Not because I had read many books about it, but because it seemed in pop culture there were no really new, unique takes on it. Pretty much every story sounded the same. That was until I read Lost in Shadow, of course.
Colin is now one of my new favourite love interests, not only because of that Scottish accent I seem so attracted to, but because he actually has a believable backstory for becoming a Shadow Walker. Despite his terrible past he’s also never that typical bad boy who needs to be shown the fun side of life by the heroine. It’s actually quite a refreshing change, especially when you consider how easily Cynthia Luhrs could have fallen into the cliché trap with the whole Scottish warrior/modern American girl dynamic.
At first Emily seems like a typical romance heroine in that she’s gone to Scotland to recover from a failed relationship and stumbles onto a great guy with a mysterious past. But what I loved about Lost in Shadow is that Emily is allowed to grow out of this two dimensional role and becomes a strong heroine in her own right. She doesn’t always just stand by waiting to be saved but at the same time she’s not one of these instant action girls that kicks butt constantly. Her past combined with Colin’s makes for an interesting relationship dynamic to be sure, but that added layer of the Shadow Walker curse makes it even more interesting.
I love how Cynthia Luhrs could have written a typical romance novel with very little world-building but didn’t. The Shadow Walker and Day Walker conflict is fascinating and we even get to see how the two types of ‘ghosts’ came into being. Throw in a mysterious way for Shadow Walkers to break their curse/gift and you’ve got the makings of a great fantasy novel as well. The romance between Colin and Emily is obviously still the main focus but despite my general distaste for romance novels, it didn’t bother me at all. In fact, the romance in this novel actually contributed to both the plot and the character development. It was a refreshing change.
I saw the ending coming a mile away, but I guess every once in a while you have to have endings like the one in Lost in Shadow, right?
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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Ignite by Erica Crouch
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Penemuel (Pen) fell from grace over a millennium ago, yet there are still times she questions her decision to follow her twin brother, Azael, to Hell. Now that the archangel Michael has returned, threatening Lucifer’s vie for the throne, she begins questioning everything she has always believed.
As Hell prepares for war – spreading a demonic virus and pilfering innocent souls to build an army – the lines separating the worlds blur. Fates erase and the future is left unwritten. Azael is determined that he and his sister will continue to serve as demons together, but for the first time in her life, Pen is not ruled by destiny. She has the freedom of choice.
With choice comes sacrifice, and Pen must decide which side she’s willing to risk everything fighting for: the light, or the dark.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I had mixed feelings about Ignite. On one hand, Erica Crouch overturned many old YA tropes in the course of her novel, especially ones about Heaven and Hell. On the other hand, she used a trope that I’m really starting to get tired of: immortals behaving like awkward teenagers.
Okay, so Michael is the archangel who comes back to life after being killed and having his soul trapped in Hell for a long time. Pen is a demon who is tasked with keeping him busy while her brother Azael helps Lilith start the apocalypse on Earth. Naturally, this leads you to assume that Pen and Michael will fall in love with each other and I don’t think it’s that big of a spoiler to say that yes, they fall in love. And yes, I know it’s okay for Michael to be so awkward because he has no memories of his past life but there’s no excuse for Pen. Yes, it’s her first time in love, but she’s thousands of years old! You would think she’d be a little less naive.
So other than the whole unbelievable forbidden romance angle, Pen was a decent enough character. She’s flawed but her love for her brother makes her sympathetic, even if her naivete is frustrating at times. I would have liked to see her struggle more over her changing views of Heaven and Hell, but I think that’s more of a personal preference than anything. Her backstory and her actions make her reasonably believable, though.
What I really enjoyed about Ignite is how Erica Crouch dissected some of the old Heaven and Hell tropes, particularly about the nature of the battle between the two. She raises questions about what led to Lucifer’s rebellion without really taking one side or the other, which was a nice change. She also managed to write about the looming threat of the apocalypse without making it feel like one of the many terrible documentaries the History Channel airs regularly about the apocalypse. For that alone, I love her writing.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.