Book

Born of Night (The League #1) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Born of Night (The League #1) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Plot:

In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption . . .

Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.

As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.

Review:

This was the first Sci-Fi Romance I ever read. That was years ago and I’ve read a few since then so I decided to go back to it and see if I still liked it.

Unlike a lot of the Sci-Fi Romance I’ve been reading there’s a lot more world building and character development. It’s not just fall into lust, bang, fall into love, overcome some meaningless obstacle. There’s a lot going on in this book and series.

I did notice this time around several plot holes and things that just didn’t make sense. She starts the book with an introduction saying that at one point the book was something different and that she went back and added stuff when she got the rights back so maybe that caused the issues. Not sure.

Overall I still really enjoyed the book, it’s fairly violent and crude for a romance but sometimes that’s what you need.

4/5

Dark Currents (The Emperor’s Edge #2) By: Lindsay Buroker

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Dark Currents (The Emperor’s Edge #2) By: Lindsay Buroker

Plot:

It’s been three months since former enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon and the notorious assassin Sicarius thwarted kidnappers and saved the emperor’s life. The problem? Nobody knows they were responsible for this good deed. Worse, they’re being blamed for the entire scheme. With enforcers and bounty hunters stalking them, and the emperor nursing a personal hatred for Sicarius, it’s going to be hard to earn exoneration.

When Amaranthe’s team discovers mutilated bodies in the city aqueducts and a mysterious illness incapacitates thousands of citizens, she and Sicarius see an opportunity to solve the mystery and prove their loyalty. But they’ll have to defeat vengeful shamans, man-eating predators, and deadly mechanical constructs, all while dodging imperial soldiers who would rather kill them than accept their help.

Nobody said exoneration would be easy.

Review:

I love the fact that romance is in these books but it’s very much on the back burner for most of it. Buroker doesn’t make the hero or heroine do anything truly stupid because they’re in love it’s all for their cause. Mainly. I like that.

The world didn’t really grow much in this book, though you did learn more about outside kingdoms, just not a lot.

The other characters didn’t really grow either, though we got to be in Books’s head. Feel kind of bad for him.

The kingdom still thinks they’re bad guys and I’m not sure if that will ever change. If it does it’s not going to be any time soon. I’m also not sure why Amaranthe likes Sicarius. Every few chapters you find out something horrible he’s done. I get that he was brain washed basically and doing it because his emperor told him too, but it just seems like an excuse with how easy he kills people. Not sure how I feel about the relationship.

Anyway, enjoying the series but I might take a break before reading the next.

4/5

The Emperor’s Edge (The Emperor’s Edge #1) By: Lindsay Buroker

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The Emperor’s Edge (The Emperor’s Edge #1) By: Lindsay Buroker

Plot:

The adventure starts here…

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire’s most notorious assassin, is in town. He’s tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills… or someone wants her dead.

Review:

This was a nice follow up after reading the Aeronaut’s Windlass. It didn’t have quite the same fleshed out world that I was looking for, but I loved Amaranthe. She was so capable that I really enjoyed reading her. Some of the other characters were better fleshed out than others and I like that things didn’t work out completely perfectly in the end.

This was the first book in what I can see could be a very fun series. The fact that the next few books are already written is awesome too. No waiting for me!

4.5/5

Sweet Cinderella (Klaus Brothers #4) By: Penny Watson

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Sweet Cinderella (Klaus Brothers #4) By: Penny Watson

Plot:

Just one night.

Hannah De Luca Andersen has been battered by the worst year ever, but even that can’t squash her love of the holiday season. She has one night to forget life’s hardships and enjoy the magic of an elegant Christmas gala. If she’s really lucky, maybe a handsome prince will ask her to dance.

Gregor Klaus, Director of Finance for Klaus Enterprises, has completely lost his Christmas spirit. One look at Hannah thaws his icy demeanor and gives him a new sense of purpose. If he can only figure out the key to Hannah’s heart, he might have the best Christmas of his life.

But one night isn’t enough for Gregor Klaus. He won’t be satisfied with anything less than forever.


Review:

This was a cute little Christmas romance that I cried throughout. I blame pregnancy hormones. I just couldn’t handle a widow with twin boys being swept off her feet by a burly, rich man that fell in love at first sight.

I hardly remember the other books in the series, but it didn’t matter. The other characters were there but you didn’t need to have read the others to understand what was going on. I’d still recommend reading in order, though, because there were nods you wouldn’t have picked up on.

Cute book and series.

4/5

The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) By: Jim Butcher

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The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) By: Jim Butcher

Plot:

Jim Butcher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors…

Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…

Review:

One hundred and thirty-five pages into this book and I loved it. I knew it was a part of a series, but I didn’t realize the next book hadn’t been written yet, which immediately made me sad. I ended up putting the book down several times just to prolong it, something I normally only do with Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews books. It’s been a few years since I read a Dresden Files book but I seriously think I’ll have to go back to the series just to tide me over for the next book in The Cinder Spires.

I loved the fact that there were strong female characters, each of them unique and with their own weaknesses. I loved that the men worked well with them, were smart, and didn’t question their ability to do anything. I loved the way cats were used. I loved how freakin creepy the female villain was. I loved the world and the fact that the book wasn’t filled with minute detail, there was enough to paint the picture and build everything but you weren’t overloaded with all the fine details. I loved the fight scenes and the battles.

I seriously loved everything about this book. I can’t think of anything I didn’t like. There were large spider like monsters and I still loved this book and I am terrified of spiders. The only negative I can think of is that I haven’t found a release date for the next and I just don’t want to wait.

5/5

 

Side note: If anyone has any recommendations of books like this I would love them.