Reveiw: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.

Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

Before I begin this review I want to take just a minute to talk about reader expectations. I know I've mentioned this in previous reviews. Sometimes, as readers, we start a novel having certain expectations. Sometimes you have low expectations and then are pleasantly surprised by a book. Other times you have such high expectations that no book could possibly live up to and, every once in a blue moon, your exceedingly high expectations are met. Lover Mine is one of these books.

Fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood have been waiting for this book since we met John Matthew as a lonely, scared "pretrans" in Dark Lover. We watched him grow, mature, change, fall in love, and get his heart broken. In Lover Mine, John and Xhex finally get their HEA but, as per usual with the BDB series, not without heartache and pain.

At the end of Lover Avenged, Xhex disappears having been kidnapped by Lash and is now being held prisoner. The Brotherhood, John specifically, is losing hope of finding her alive. However, as we all know, Xhex is a fighter and is not about to sit around and wait to be rescued. Xhex busts through the invisible barrier Lash has erected around her thanks to his waning strength. The rest of the novel is basically John, Xhex, and the rest of the brotherhood hunting down Lash. After a few twists and turns and a road block or two our beloved, John Matthew gets his female. I know this isn't much of a summary but those of you who read the series know the plot, those that don't well, all those details would just be overwhelming!

I was really nervous about reading Lover Mine. This was John Matthew's story and I wanted it to be perfect. But how often does that happen? Like I mentioned, it seems I had such high expectations that I didn't know how Ward would be able to live up to them. But she did. Not only did I love John Matthew and Xhex's storyline but we finally got some more Qhuinn/Blay face time.

One thing I'm really sad about going forward from Lover Mine is, what I assume will be, the lack of John Matthew's point of view. Since Dark Lover, we've always had a glimpse into John Matthew's head. However, Ward usually doesn't revisit previous hero/heroine's POV after she's given them their HEA. One huge exception was the return of Wrath's POV in Lover Avenged as his sight continued to deteriorate. It's just so sad, for me, to think about not having John Matthew's POV anymore. I am looking forward to more from Qhuinn and Blay and I really hope we get their story!

Anyway, I've fallen, like many before me, into a post-Lover Mine funk. I'm not ready to move on from the Brothers just yet. So I started The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider's Guide, that's right I hadn't read that yet either. And reading through it I'm half tempted to re-read the entire series. However, I have sooo many books in my TBR pile the idea of re-reading so many books makes me feel guilty! But I'm seriously not ready to move on from the Brotherhood just yet. I am feeling another intesnse read though. I was thinking I might acutally tackle An Echo in the Bone, the newest Outlander book. But I'm not sure...

Lover Mine is vying with Lover Awakened as my favorite BDB novel!

Those of you that read Lover Mine did it live up to your expectations? Also, are there folks out there that STILL haven't read this series? If so, what are you waiting for? (No seriously, that's not a rhetorical question, I really wanna know!)

Rating:

Review & Giveaway: Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancee and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancee thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting.

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in law, and, of course, her jealous fiancee. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.


If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind…

Finally, a solo title from Ms. Crusie! I've read some of her co-authored works, the only one I liked was Agnes and the Hitman which was excellent but I was glad to see Crusie doing her own thing again.

Maybe This Time is Crusie's re-telling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I don't know this because I've read The Turn of the Screw, or because I was an English major, or a librarian. I know this only because Jenny told me. Well, not me specifically but the group of us that were at her book signing last night. It was pretty cool to hear how James had inspired Crusie but there were things about the story that she could not relate to (twenty year old virgin!) so she decided to write her own version and wha-la! We have Maybe This Time.


Jenny also said that Maybe This Time was a ghost story and not a romance. Wait! Romance folks, don't stop reading! While this is an excellent ghost story, it is also "classic Crusie." Long-time fans, you'll know what that means; newcomers, it means quirky heroines, hilarious hijinx, and a sexy hero. The only thing missing from this Crusie was a furry four legged character. This time around she's replaced (wo)man's best friend with....kids?!


Confession: I'm not a kid person. Sure I like some kids, usually a friend's kid. But I don't really enjoy kids. No offense to my lovely readers with little ones...I love seeing pictures of your cutiepies but am glad I don't have any or have to deal with kids on a regular basis. Wow, guess it's a good thing I didn't become a teacher eh?! So, when I see romance novels with kids in them I usually groan. But this was a Crusie so I didn't even think twice and Crusie, fantabulous writer that she is, totally sold me on the book's two kids, Alice and Carter. Although Carter is quite and withdrawn. I kept expecting to learn more about him. Especially after Andie, our heroine, had a discussion with her ex-mother-in-law about him. But nothing ever came of it. That was one of the only things the irked me about this book. Alice definitely gets the most attention. And, according to Ms. Crusie herself, we're going to get to see Alice star in her own book in the future!

Anyway, as far as the romance goes Andie and North are obviously still not over each other despite the ten years since their divorce. There's not as much interaction between Andie and North as I might have liked. The focus seemed more on Andie's relationship with the kids and trying to deal with those pesky ghosts. However, there's enough romance to keep those of us, who NEED romance, going!

Lastly, I have to say Crusie did a great job of building suspense where the ghosts and supernatural aspects were concerned. As I was reading I was thinking, "Wow, this is actually a little creepy." Which was something I wasn't expecting from a Crusie novel. But it's not nightmare worthy so those of you who don't care for scary stuff, it's not THAT scary!

Overall an excellent addition to my keeper shelf. Crusie, left to her own devices, never fails. If you haven't read any Crusie before, what the heck are you waiting for?!

Rating:

Giveaway time, my first! I have one SIGNED copy of Maybe This Time for a lucky reader!

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Review: Embrace the Night Eternal by Joss Ware

Everything they knew is gone.

From the raging fires, five men emerge with extraordinary new powers. They must learn how to survive this dark, ravaged world . . . but they cannot do it alone.

Simon Japp will never forget his violent past. But when civilization is all but destroyed, he sees his chance for redemption. Blessed with a strange "gift," he's determined to help the resistance against the Strangers, the mysterious force that stalks them at every turn. He can't afford to get distracted, even by the stunning, soft-spoken woman fighting by his side . . . Sage Corrigan has learned to be careful where she places her trust. But she sees something good in Simon, even if he can't see it in himself. Posing as lovers to infiltrate a group key to their fight, they find that their staged affection soon develops into a desire that will leave them fighting for their lives in the night eternal.

I really enjoyed the first installment of this series and immensely enjoyed this book. I still think the romance aspect is a little lacking but I love, love the world Ware has built.

This book is about Simon Japp who is truly an outsider. He was an outsider in his life before the global disaster all but obliterated the Earth, and when he awakes 50 years later to this post-apocalyptic world he is the outsider among the other men who also experienced this mysterious Rip Van Winkle number. I'm always a sucker for tortured heroes and Simon has quite a past. I think he really made this book for me. Although, I kinda felt like we didn't quite get all his past. We learn about his violent past, as the right hand man for one of Vegas' biggest mobsters, but we never really learned how he got into that position. At least, I don't remember if this was explained. I read this a few weeks ago and am just now getting to review it.

So anyone else who's read this series did we find out how Simon ended up entangled with the mob? When reading I kept thinking, there's something more to this story. Something about his childhood or upbringing that we're missing. So, Kristie(j), you're the one who turned me on to this series. Do you remember? I'm pretty sure we didn't get that info. In any case, I felt like if I had just a little bit more about his background it would have made it a little more satisfying.

I really liked the heroine Sage who, because of her heritage, is also an outsider. Judged because of where she comes from. I thought she and Simon made a good pair.

I was a little miffed with Theo in this one. I was really intrigued by him in the first book and he was kind of a dope to Sage in this book. But I'm still looking forward to his book.

All in all, a good second book. I'm impressed by the world building but still wish for a pinch more smexy lovin'.

The Envy Chronicles in order:

1. Beyond the Night
2. Embrace the Night Eternal
3. Abandon the Night

Rating:

Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

A man with no future...

When Dr. Elliott Drake wakes from a mysterious fifty-year sleep, the world as he knew it is gone. Cities are now desolate, and civilization is controlled by deadly immortals. Stranger still is Elliott's extraordinary new "gift" – he has the power to heal, but it comes with fatal consequences.

A woman with a past. . .

Jade barely escaped the immortals and is now hell-bent on revenge. She trusts no one... until Elliott. His piercing gaze and tempting touch shatter her defenses, but the handsome doctor seems to have dangerous secrets of his own. Is it safe to trust him with her heart?

If they are to survive in this dark new world, Jade and Elliott must work together to fight the forces that takes them beyond danger.

Beyond desire.
Beyond the night.

So thankful to Kristie(J) and Nath for bringing this series to my attention. I've been getting into the post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre for awhile now. However, most of what I've read has been of the YA variety, aside from a few adult titles, like The Road by Cormac McCarthy. So I was uberexcited to hear that this series combined both post-apocalyptic AND romance.

Part Resident Evil, part I Am Legend, throw in a little Atlantis conspiracy theory and add romance and you've got yourself the beginning of a fabulous new series! I really enjoyed this book, not necessarily for the romance but mostly for Ware's world building. As readers we're being introduced to this new version of our world after a catastrophic geological phenomena that remains a mystery. I'm really anxious to learn more about what, or who, caused this catastrophe that basically wiped out the planet. This bit of mystery and intrigue extends to both the Rip Van Winkle clan ( Why were they zonked out for 50 years? Why do they have new-found powers?) and to the Strangers (Who are they? Are they responsible for the apocalypse? What do they have planned next?) So many questions! I can't wait to find out the answers in the following books!

I rarely find the first book in a series to be my favorite (the exception being Outlander by Diana Gabaldon), especially in sci-fi/fantsay/UF mostly because the first book is usually setting up the entire world for the reader. I usually find the romance to be a little lacking in the first of a series. This was the case with Beyond the Night. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the romance between Jade and Elliot but one of the reasons I love reading a series is because authors often give characters a story arc that span several books. Some readers don't like this. I love it. I feel like I'm invested in these characters and usually enjoy their stories the most. Unfortunately, I lacked this connection with Elliot and Jade. The sexy bits are hot but I'm more interested in find the answers to the above mentioned questions and learning more about Elliot's companions.

All in all this book lived up to my expectations. I'm so glad there's a post-apocalyptic romance series! I can't wait to pick up the next book!

The Envy Chronicles in order:

1. Beyond the Night
2. Embrace the Night Eternal
3. Abandon the Night

Rating: