Posts Tagged ‘amanda ashley’

Dead Sexy
Another agreeable, easy read, great for a rainy day, plane ride, boring business stay in a hotel…you get the picture.

The story is somewhat set in the future, where the the monsters of what was once considered myth, are officially “out”. The story line (or at least the vampire politics) are reminiscent of the vampires from Laurell K Hamilton and Charlaine Harris’s books. Female vampire hunter, prejudiced against vampires, getting mixed up with the Master of the City, synthetic blood, some good vampires, some bad, don’t stare them in the eyes, and all of that.

All in all, humans are still potential prey (and vampires are considered dangerous), so the vampires in the world are isolated (by some sort of invisible energy) to delegated areas. While humans can peruse the “vampire designated areas” during the day, all bets are off at night, and warning signs are posted everywhere. Because of the “synthetic blood” now available to them, society is forced to accept their existence. In fact, some humans and vampires form serious loving relationships. Some humans fight for the vampire’s rights, while others want them extinguished.

Regan Delaney didn’t have any idea how the force field worked or what it was made of. All she knew was that it kept the vamps inside but had no negative effect on humans. It was against the law to destroy vampires these days, unless you found one outside the park, but the force field made that impossible. Any vampire who wished to leave the park and move to a protected area in another part of the country had to apply for a permit and be transferred, by day, by a company equipped to handle that kind of thing. What Regan found the hardest to accept was that vampires were now considered an endangered species, like tigers, elephants, and marine turtles, and as such, they had to be protected from human predators. The very thought was ludicrous.

Despite the warning signs in the designated vampire areas, a slew of murdered and drained humans are discovered in New York’s vampire park. While the immediate suspects are of course, vampires, the loss of organs hints at something else. Regan Delaney, ex-vampire hunter (now working for the police) is on the case, and despite her hatred and mistrust for vampires, begins meeting with the enigmatic and incredibly sexy Joaquin Santiago (Master of the City). Working together to uncover the murderer, Regan begins second guessing her distaste of vampires when Joaquin proves to be the one thing that ignites her desire. Conflicted, she resists his charms. Regan soon finds herself in danger (after an attack by a werewolf – thought to be extinct) that forces her to accept Joaquin’s aid, and see the paranormal world in a different way.

“Please.” He gestured at a high-backed brown sofa. “Consider my home yours.”

She sat down because she wasn’t sure her legs would support her much longer. What was she doing here? What made her think being in here, with a vampire, particularly this vampire, was any safer than being outside, with a werewolf? They were both predators. And in the dark of the night, she was prey – for both of them.

While her conflicted resistance of Joaquin can get tedious, the friendship that develops between the two characters is pleasing enough. There were some beautiful moments, and some moments that irritated me. The end of the novel ends up feeling quite riushed. While the majority of the book unravels at an incredibly slow pace (especially in relation to the relationship between the two main characters), at some point it races through, and left me feeling disconnected.

What irritated me the most? The phrase “muttered an oath” appeared throughout the book, but towards the end, it felt like it was on every page! Everyone was muttering an oath at some point or another, and it became distracting.

What I liked the most? The little bit of jealousy that occurred midway through the book (for both characters).

Her whole body tingled with awareness as she dropped her handbag on the coffee table and laid her gun beside it. He was here instead of with the redhead.

Heart pounding, she slowly turned to face him. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Do I need a reason?”

“So you just came here because you had nothing better to do?” she prodded, thinking that if he said he had come for his car, she would smack him.

“I came because I wanted to see you.” He took a step toward her. “I came because I saw you with another man and I wanted to rip his heart out.” Another step. “I came because I missed you.”

She let out a long, shuddering sigh. “Oh.”

His arm curled around her waist. “I came because I hoped you missed me.”

Oh, and I also REALLY liked the cover model! Yup, picturing Joaquin was…delightful

A Darker Dream was the last book I read in 2009. It entertained me well enough for a day (or two), although I felt the the angst in the last quarter of the book to be drawn out longer than necessary.

This book takes place in the early 1900′s where a 15 year old girl (Rhianna) is presented to a gathering of wealthy men to be sold. As the trembling girl is made to disrobe, Rayven takes pity on her, tells her to keep her clothes on, and purchases her on the spot.

Rayven, one of the wealthiest men in town, is considered a recluse, and has been the center of town gossip for years. Rich beyond belief, living in a dark castle on a hill, barely aging and only coming out at night, there are whispers that he is a monster of sorts. Rhianna, terrified that she is going home with him, is quickly surprised when he tells her he has no intention of bedding her, or of having her do anything for him at all.

“I’ve no intention of bedding you, girl.”

“No?”

The relief in her voice caused a sharp pain in the nether regions of a heart he had thought long past feeling. “No.”

“Then why…” Her cheeks grew redder. “I thought…”

“I bought you for reasons of my own, sweet Rhianna,” he replied, his voice as silky as the gown she wore.

She is to simply “exist” in his home, doing whatever she wants, whenever she wants. She finds herself catered to by “Bevins” (Rayven’s butler of sorts). She is provided beautiful dresses, fed bountiful meals, and is taught to read, paint and play music. She lives this way for months, asking about Rayven, but barely ever seeing him (although unbeknownst to her, he occasionally visits her while she sleeps to feed from her).

She was so beautiful, this child-woman who wandered through his house by day and sustained him through the night. He knew her thoughts, heard the tears she sometimes shed at night. It pleased him to satisfy her every want, to dress her in fine clothes, to provide the best food and wine that money could buy. He took pride in her ability to learn, and ordered books and music he thought would please her.

It was the least he could do, he thought, for she gave him life, and no matter how he tried, he could never repay her for that.

After some time, Rayven begins to join her while she eats supper, sits with her while she reads to him, and converses with her. As he begins to develop an attachment to her (and her to him), he fears for her safety.

“It is not my wish to hurt you, Rhianna.”

“You weren’t hurting me.” Heat climbed up her neck and into her cheeks. “Quite the opposite, my lord.”

“Ah, child,” Rayven murmured, stroking her cheek. “If you only knew.”

In his past, his dangerous bloodlust has been known to takeover during intimacy, forcing him to live as a recluse with no intention of ever loving again. To keep himself from falling further in love with her, he sends her away to a school in Paris.

Four years later (now an adult) she returns to her hometown for her fathers funeral, and seeks out Rayven. This is where the angst begins. Rayven’s resistance of ever seeing her again, his forceful and even rude dismissal of her…

“And you?” he asked. “have you, in your few short years of life, found love?”

“Aye, my lord, though I fear he does not return my affection.”

“Then he is a fool!”

A faint smile curved Rhianna’s lips. “On that, at least, we are agreed.”

Rayven fought back his anger. The urge to destroy the cur who failed to return her love rose up within him, and with it an all-consuming jealousy. “Who is this man?”

“Can you not guess?” Rhianna replied, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

Rayven closed his eyes, pain ripping through him. If he survived another four hundred years, he would never forget this moment, the love shining bright and clear in her eyes, the wonder of it.

A long shuddering sigh escaped him, and then he opened his eyes.

“Go away from here, Rhianna,” he said, his voice brusque, his eyes as cold as black ice. “Leave my house and never come back.”

She recoiled as if he had slapped her, the hurt in her eyes scorched his soul.

“Be gone,” he said. “Pray I never see you again.”

…and her stubborn insistence that she be allowed back into his life will lure you in. The middle of the book is nicely detailed with their clashing of wills, their undeniable attraction to one another, and his jealousy when another man begins to court her.

I loved reading about the girl getting to know her new life, wondering about the dark stranger that she lives with and their time together as they become friends and she develops a crush on him. I enjoyed the view from his eyes as he realizes he is falling in love with her, albeit to his horror. But most of all I loved when she returns home as an adult and unabashedly chases him with all she’s got. That whole section from his angry outbursts, to her perseverance, their toying with each other, to their eventual union, had me hooked.

Here is one of my favorite, heartbreaking moments, as Ravyn joins her for supper. Her mind wanders as she begins to doubt a life with him,  realizing, too late, that Raven was just privy to her wayward thoughts:

This was how it would be when they were married, she thought. They would never share a meal, or walk hand in hand in the gardens in the morning when the dew sparkled on the ground. She would never know the wonder of motherhood. She would change her life to conform to his. The moon would become her sun, the night her day.

She was suddenly aware of the silence in the room. She could feel his gaze burning into her. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet his eyes.

Pain. Stark, unrelenting pain. And beneath it all, the loneliness of four hundred years. How did he bear it?

He said nothing, only stared at her, and she knew that he had divined her every thought, that he had felt her revulsion, her pity. She could feel the rage that bubbled beneath the surface, his anger, his bitterness.

She felt her heart skip a beat as he lurched to his feet. For a moment, he stared down at her, and then, his cloak whipping around his ankles, he left the room.

Poor Raven. After insisting that she move on with her life, warning her of his true nature, and finally relinquishing his guarded heart to her, he still manages to have it broken.

While there were some moments of danger to each of them, this is not a book of action/adventure. It is a tale of unconventional love and acceptance. Unfortunately, there was a point, where I felt it was simply running on, trying to find more reasons to delay the end with more of the same fears and apprehensions. You’d think they finally accepted each other and were ready to move into the next phase, and woops, back to the drawing board. At first, it was engaging, fully charged with delicious angst,   but then it became longwinded and somewhat eye-rolling…

The ending did have something that I wasn’t expecting (although I might have preferred an alternate ending) but so be it. Overall, it was a decent book to end the year with.

Guess what I get to do now?!! It’s time for J.Kaye’s 100+ Reading Challenge, and I’m gonna start it with a bang! I hear the Fever Series from Karen Marie Moning is to die for, and well, whatdo-yaknow? I received the series for Christmas (thank you hubby!), and it’s patiently awaiting me in my Sony E-Book. Yay for me!!

Off I go to meet this mysterious “Barrons” that has the girls in a frenzy…

Ohhh look what I found! A book by Amanda Ashley called “A Darker Dream”, that doesn’t appear to be part of a deeply involved series. It seems to be a historical romance with vampires…best of both worlds!

It goes something like this: Rhianna is sold by her father (due to extreme poverty) to a dark stranger (Rayven – a vampire). He ends up treating her like a queen (but he has that wonderful vampire angst that won’t dare to allow himself to love)… oooooh sounds like an easy one night stand of fun (reading that is )

Off I go to be titillated…hopefully.

Well, not actually new releases, but definitely some that I needed to complete some of the series I have already started.

• Sex and the Single Vampire by Katie MacAlister (DARN!! I already had this one – now I have it twice!) Does this happen to anyone else? See what I get for being lazy and not updating “My Bookshelf” list regularily? I use my “Bookshelf” list, on my iphone as my reference for what I already have, (when I’m browsing for books). It does me no good if I have’t updated it, though! grrrr!!!…I’ve done this a few times now! Most recently, I purchased “Dark Side of the Moon” from Sherrilyn Kenyon twice, but the cutie on the cover makes it somehow less painful… - tee hee!
• Sex, Lies and Vampires (The Dark Ones, Book 3) by Katie MacAlister
• Even Vampires Get the Blues (The Dark Ones, Book 4) by Katie MacAlister
• On the Prowl
• A Darker Dream (Love Spell romance) by Amanda Ashley
• The Hunted (Vampire Huntress Legends) by L.A. Banks
• Two By Twilight: Run From Twilight\Twilight Vows (Twilight Series Book 9) by Maggie Shayne
• Blue Twilight (Twilight Series Book 11) by Maggie Shayne

Right now, I’m actually reading an E-Book sent to me (about Vampires and other Paranormals during WWII) called “Release” (by Nicole Hadaway) and so far I’ve been entertained! I’ll write more when I’m done

I was in the mood for something quick and easy to pass the time on a rainy afternoon, and this one did the trick. While a little melodramatic, I still enjoyed the connection between the two main characters.

What I really liked about the book: the focus on the two main characters allowed us to indulge in the romantic bonding.

What I didn’t like as much: Both characters frequently overreacted, and made assumptions that created unwarranted apprehension (understandably, there needs to be drama or the book would be boring, so it’s a double edged sword…). While I love romantic tension, the internal conflict was somewhat far-fetched considering the original intent.

This story introduces us to “Shannah”, a terminally ill 24 year old woman. While she has nothing much to do with her final months, she spends them covertly following a mysterious dark haired male that she suspects might be a vampire (he only comes out at night, has no visitors, doesn’t eat or drink etc…). She figures he is her last hope for life, as he might be able to “change” her, and summons enough courage one late afternoon to approach him.

If he was agreeable, by this time tomorrow night she would be Undead. If he decided to make a meal out of her instead of transforming her, she would just be dead a few weeks earlier than the doctors had predicted. 

Ronan, IS, in fact, a vampire and although irritated by the interruption (and realizing that she’s the one who has been following him), he converses with her. While they are speaking, she faints, and he brings her into his home and cares for her.

Shannah, having been certain of Roman’s vampire status previously, and despite his undeniable “vampiric” tendencies, dismisses the obvious, and shrugs off the notion. She finds herself feeling stronger, but remains with Roman when he requests her assistance in a book tour he will be embarking on.

They forge a deep and sweet friendship, and Ronan finds himself falling in love with this mortal female (something he has avoided doing for centuries). He knows she is dying, and he is tormented by the thought of disclosing:

1. he is a vampire
2. he wants to change her so they can live together forever

He could keep her from dying, he mused. That was why she had come to him in the first place. But once the deed was done, would she love him for it? Or spend eternity regretting the night a vampire gave her what she had come looking for?

Here is where my “eye-rolling” started to hurt! She first approached him, revealing that she suspected he was a vampire, (and had intentions of asking him to change her). Unfortunately, her fainting cuts this conversation short, and the truth is never actually confirmed.

Throughout the tale, despite having connected emotionally, Ronan’s “vampire” situation remains a big secret, and he decides he must never reveal the truth for fear of revolting her. Knowing that he can “save” her and take away her pain, he continues to agonize over their options.

In spite of the fact that she had come to his house seeking a vampire he feared that she would run screaming from his presence if he told her that she had actually found one. He knew that her coming to him had been an act of sheer desperation

I won’t reveal much more, as their are plenty of ups and downs to read (including a particularly funny ”apple pie” situation). This book does allow us the opportunity to experience situations that are often glossed over in other similarly styled novels, so that was a definite plus!

You will experience many heartwarming (and heartwrenching) scenes that make the book worth reading.

1. Night’s Kiss (Book 1 in the Night’s series)
2. Night’s Touch (Book 2 in the Night’s series)
3. Night’s Master (book 3 in the Night’s Series)
4. Night’s Pleasure (book 4 in the Night’s series)