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Motorcycle Man is the last book in the Dream Man series by Kristen Ashley. Tyra Masters has a one night stand that ended up being the best sex of her life. She thought the man; Kane Tack Allen was everything she wanted for her dream man: tattooed, muscled, drool worthy on a bike. That was until he kicked her out the next morning.  If Tyra wasn’t humiliated enough by being booted out of his bed, she shows up the same day at her new job to find out that Tack is also her new boss.

 

Kane Tack Allen has made it a rule that he does not sleep with his employees. So when the sexy lady he had sex with the night before comes into the garage and claims to be his new office manager he quickly fires her. Fortunately for him, Tyra take no shit from anyone, including him, and this catches Tacks interest. Things start heating up in the Chaos MC world in which Tack is the leader and he has to do everything to keep Tyra safe while keeping his hands off of her. Something he finds hard to do when he realizes that he could lose her. Tack finds himself breaking all of his hard headed rules and changing things in his life for his new hottie office manager.

 

Tyra was my favorite kick ass female in this series. I thought she was smart, witty, sweet, and she had a serious vulnerable side where she couldn’t deal with peoples treating her sweetly without busting out in tears. I feel like she is someone that I would want to be my friend because she gave her world to hers in the book, while making sure that her bestie knew she thought she was making a mistake.

As with the other women in this series she is fiercely loyal and very protective of those that earn a place in her heart. She also refused to take any of Tack’s shit, which just so happened to be a lot.

 

“Actually, handsome, I don’t want to kiss you. I want to kick you.”

 

His smile came back. “Bullshit games.”

 

“No, seriously, Tack, if I could land one right now, I’d kick you. Unfortunately, you have me pressed to a wall so I don’t have room to move.”

 

He attitude works so well with Tack because as much as she doesn’t take his bullshit, he doesn’t take hers either. Especially when she tries to leave on multiple occasions. This works though. She needs someone that proves to her that she is worth it.

 

Tack was over the freaking top fantastic. We met tack in the first book of this series and he seemed to make a cameo in all of the other books to help out. It was only fitting that he got to keep playing his hero/protector role in his HEA. Tack is a hard core motorcycle biker man and is a little hard to get used to. That is until you realize that behind his sexy rough exterior that there is a vulnerable man inside ready to take on the world for those that he protects and Tack protects a lot of people.

 

I loved this series. I loved the world Ms. Ashley created and the bonds that formed with all of the major players throughout this series. Elvira is a hoot and Cosmo nights were some of my favorite scenes in the series. I’m sad to see this series come to an end, but it has made a permanent home on my book shelf, which is saying something.

Mystery man is the first book in the Dream man series. After meeting a man at a bar and taking him home with her, Gwendolyn Kidd has a mind blowing night of sex. What she doesn’t expect is that this man would keep coming into her room in the middle of the night for the next year and a half giving her repeat performances. Hoping that she can get him into a relationship, Gwen doesn’t mind these naughty romps in the sack. Problem is she doesn’t know anything about him, not even his name.

While trying to decide to end the crazy relationship with mystery man, Gwen’s sister, Ginger gets in a boatload of trouble and drags Gwen right in the middle of it. Gwen has no idea what is going on with Ginger, but she knows it is no good and that her life and that of her sisters is in serious trouble. Gwen’s mystery man has been keeping tabs on her since she took him home with her. He knows she is in deeper than she can imagine and he steps up to keep her safe.

This begins the rocky and oh-so-fun relationship between mystery man Hawk and Cosmo Girl Gwen. They must endure drive-by shootings, firebombs, kidnappings, and hot pursuits by a biker hottie and sex-on-a-stick police detective. Gwen has to make some tough choices. Save her sister or be with the man of her dreams.

This is the third book I have read by Kristen Ashley and I think it is safe to say I am officially a fan of her novels. This book was fantastic!

Gwen was so funny that I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts of the book. It was nice to have the comedic relief to some very serious situations in the book. I appreciated that she was kind of flighty, so much that she let a man come into her room to have sex with her for a year and a half without asking anything more from him.

Under any other circumstances I’m not sure this would have worked, but it totally did for Gwen and Hawk. Her sister was a total bitchy nut-job and in my opinion Gwen should have kicked her to the curb and let her to deal with her own mess. Alas, Gwen proved to be a better person than me.

Hawk. Oh my Lawd! Where can I sign up for some of that! Seriously. I want it and I will do anything to have it! Not to mention the other super sexy men that wanted a piece of Gwen. Let’s take a moment to appreciate detective Mitch Lawson and biker bad-ass Tack.

So many sexy men. I seriously think I need a cool shower now!

I loved the plot and the book size was perfect. This read wasn’t long like I have come to expect from the Colorado Mountain series, but just the right size for me and it had everything. On a side note, I found myself comparing this book and some of the characters to the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I feel like Hawk was Rangers dirty twin and Elvira was a spitting image of Lula. It felt like there were some striking similarities, but in no way did it take away from the awesomeness of Mystery Man. I wish I could gush about how much I loved this book, but I will spare you from that. Just read this book. You will be happy you did!

 

A dying millionaire enlists the help of scientist and two psychics to find out if there is life after death. He pays the three people to go into Hell House and see if there is more than endless nothing when we die. Tension is very high between the people that go into the house. There is a scientist and his wife, a religious medium, and the sole survivor of the last Hell House tragedy. They all must find out what is causing the craziness in the house and not lose their minds in the process.

The beginning of this book is a lot of set up. Not much happens except some foreshadowing of awful things to come and the history of the main characters and the house. Things begin to start happening about half way through and when they do there is a lot that happens. There are a lot of psychological aspects to this book. Is it imagination that is haunting the house or is it really the ghost of the owner that turned the house into a house of debauchery? Are ghosts the ones keeping the investigators on their toes or is it normal manifestations of energy? The attacks that the investigators face are definitely rated high on the creepy factor and I only read this book during the day because I would not have been able to sleep otherwise.

I was disappointed in the ending and the characters incessant need to keep returning to the house. I guess I just have a stronger sense of survival than the investigators in the book, but what can you do? I wish there would have been a stronger ending once everything was done, but it did wrap up nicely and took care of all of the loose ends. This book was not my typical reading material, but I am glad that I gave it a try. I recommend this book to anyone that loves a good haunted house mystery or ghostly horror.

 

Sweet Dreams is the second installment in the Colorado Mountain series by Kristen Ashley. Lauren Grahame left her old life in Phoenix after she found out her husband had been cheating on her fort 5 years. If that wasn’t bad enough the woman he was sleeping with was her best friend and everyone that she thought cared about her knew and didn’t say a word about it. Lauren arrived in the town of Carnal after divorcing her bastard husband and applied for a waitressing job at a biker bar. Lauren is immediately rejected for being too high-class, but works her way in after proving to one of the owners she can do it.

 

Enter Tate Jackson. Tate is an asshole. He is quick to temper and says horrible things that he doesn’t mean when he gets angry. So, of course he sticks his foot in his mouth when he comes into his bar and finds that his work partner has hired a rich bitch from the city. Tate soon comes to realize that everything that he thought about Lauren was wrong and finds himself wanting to claim Lauren as his own. When violence threatens to take away something he wants, he knows he has to work to prove himself good enough for Lauren and make sure she is safe.

 

I loved this book. It took me a little while to warm up to Tate and the way he talked, but after I did I really warmed up to him. Tate was sexy, protective, loyal, loving, and a beast in bed. After he revealed his big secret, which I won’t expose, I fell in love with him even more.

He had such big dreams for his life and lost everything so it was only natural to want to control Lauren and make sure that she couldn’t be taken from him too. I liked how he was bossy and didn’t let Lauren get away with some of her bullshit, especially when she kept trying to pack up and run from her problems. He made her face them and even though he was a jerk about it sometimes, he was there to help her figure out her hold-ups.

 

Lauren was totally likeable and I was silently rooting for her the whole time. I hated her husband who showed up to try and get her back and I really hated her best friend.

She and Tate handled it perfectly and had me cracking up while doing so. She was able to build wonderful friendships and stood on her own which was extremely important to her.

 

This book was long. About as long as the first book in this series, The Gamble. I feel like it did not need to be so long to get the story of Tate and Lauren out, but with the events that happened and the murder going on in town that there was a lot of plot to be told. It also felt like the author didn’t know what to do with a certain character and killing her off was the easiest route.

I feel like there could have been room for conflict resolution with this character, but taking her out of the equation was simply easier.

 

Overall, I loved it. Tate was great (and he had a beard!),

Lauren was great, the city folk were great, and the plot was fast and engaging. I already ordered the next book in this series and know it won’t be disappointing.

Camille Preaker was just 13 when her sister died and she began struggling with her grief. Fueled by the devastating loss of her sister, Camille began carving words into her flesh, eventually covering every exposed inch of her body. Ten years later, Camille is a now a journalist for a washed out newspaper and is sent to her hometown to report on the unsolved murders of two young girls. Camille is soon caught up in the happenings of her home town. She has to deal with the twisted half sister she barely know, a mom who doesn’t love her, and a town that is torn apart by a serial murder. Camille gets dragged into the murder investigation and struggles with her own demons that force her to take a blade to her skin.

 

I have read other books by Gillian Flynn and absolutely loved them. Gone Girl and Dark Places blew my mind. However, this one was lacking something for me. I was disappointed that I figured out who the murderer was fairly early on in the book and for me that meant that the fun of the book was over. I felt like Camille was a boring character and she had no energy to bring to the table to propel the story forward. I found myself fascinated with her family and the way that they interacted, so much that I was skimming over parts to see what other twisted shit her sister was going to do or say. I didn’t like how slow the investigation was, or how many clues were not given, but it was still obvious as to who the killer was.

 

 I went into this book, knowing that the topic of cutting and self harm played a role. Having said that, I was very surprised how well done that aspect of the book was. Camille explained her cutting urges and her rehabilitation journey, which I thought was a critical element of Camille’s development.  I appreciated the fact that many questions of the role of women were brought up and the ideas that a woman can do just as much harm to a child as a man, and that was a very nice change indeed.

 

Overall, I am glad that I picked this book up, if only to get another glimpse of what kind of writer Gillian Flynn is. This book is a definite psychological thriller and is not a happy story. It plays on a lot of dark elements a town with a lot of secrets, so if you are looking for a happy-go-lucky book, this one is not for you.

**I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review**

 

Tied is the first book in the Fire Born novels by Laney Mcmann. Let me start off by saying that I have been trying to stay away from YA novels that involve paranormal aspects, especially ones that involve the fae. I have read some pretty terrible ones in the past and it has just turned me off of the genre. Having said that, this book was the diamond in the rough! I can’t give away too much of the plot without ruining the big surprises, but here’s some of it:

 

Layla Labelle thinks she is going crazy. She keeps having dreams that don’t seem like dreams, but more like memories. These dreams haunt her. She dreams of a magical place with a boy that stole her heart and left her. She yearns for this boy who was her best friend and the only person she can say she has ever loved, Max. When she asks her mother and her reliable friends Benny about Max, they tell her they don’t know what she is talking about, making Layla feel like she is losing her mind. Once Layla starts learning the truth about who she is and what her life is destined for she realizes that she is not crazy and that she will do anything to protect the ones that she loves.

 

There is so much goodness in this book. There is a rich sense of lore with the background of the Irish and the Fae. We are introduced to different types of mythical beings, including gargoyles! There are portals to other worlds, kick-ass powers, and fiercely protective friends.

 

My favorite aspect of this book was the relationship between Layla and Max and the whole destiny epic love aspect. It was so deep and not written in a shallow way where it wasn’t explained or explained to death.  Their love was very genuine and not just because they were attracted to each other, but because they were best friends. Isn’t that the way the best love stories go?

 

This book sucked me in and wouldn’t let go, so much that I finished it off in one sitting. I was dying to see what was going to happen next and what new lie would be uncovered. This book was well written and had a solid plot. I felt a plethora of emotions and even though the ending wasn’t everything I hoped for, it was still an excellent read. I will definitely be picking up the next installment of this series.

This is the first book in the Magnus Pack series by Shelly Laurenston and I have to say that I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. Sara is very witty, has a hell of a mouth on her, and is not willing to just lie down and succumb to Zach, like a perfect mate should. She is deeply loyal to her friends, so much so that I thought they could have been actual sisters, and it gets her in trouble at times. She lost her mother as an infant and her father in an attack by mountain lions as a kid. During the mountain lion attack she was left with some nasty scarring and a leg injury that causes her pain every day. She ends up living with her grandmother, who was a mean old bitch and treated Sara terribly, while hiding Sara’s true heritage from her. After the death of her grandmother Sara is happy to move on from that part of her life. The problem is, the pain in her leg is to the point where it has become unbearable and she doesn’t know what to do.

 

Enter Zach Sheridan. Zach was tasked with the mission of letting Sara know who she really is and take her with him back to her parent’s pack. He gets into town to scope her out and finds her drunk in a bar. When she gets into some trouble with a couple of jerks at the bar, Zach steps in to help her, only to be rewarded with the hottest kiss from a woman he can’t seems to take his eyes off of.  The next day, Zach hunts her down to her work, finding that the sweet woman with the hot mouth the night before has been replaced by a she-devil with a bitchy attitude. He tries to resist her because he wants to step into the position of pack alpha, but he succumbs as well as Sara.

 

Overall, I liked this book. It was an exciting quick read for me. I loved the banter between Zach and Sara!

 

“And you annoy the shit out of me, too. You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re a psychotic bitch.” His head slipped down and he dragged his tongue across her nipple, causing her back to arch. “But, I’m pretty sure I could fuck that right out of you.”

“Well…”

 

Zach was hot and if Sara won’t take it, I'm sure there are others that will!

 

Side characters, for me, are usually as important when I read a book as the main. This book was no different. Sara’s friends have a big role in this book and as much as they try to be funny and protective, I found them to be annoying and bitchy. Not cute bitchy either, just downright nasty at times. I feel like they tried too hard at times and by the end of the book I was happy to get more interaction with Zach and Sara than of Sara and her friends. Zach’s friends however, were quite amazing. I liked Conall a lot! He was so cute and determined!

 

Overall, Pack Challenge was a fun read. The plot was fast and kept me on my toes. I found myself laughing and shaking my head at parts of this book, which is always a good thing for me. The pack hierarchy was easy enough to understand and it had some really good characters in it. This is not my first Shelly Laurenston book and it certainly won’t be my last.

DNF at 72 pages. So much was awful about this book. So much. Let’s make a short list shall we?

• I feel like the scenario of Zara’s arrival was plagiarized from Twilight. For instance, Zara is sent to Maine to live with her grandma where it has horrible weather and no sunshine. When Zara arrives she is gifted with a car. Hot guy drives a sporty car that the author blabs about endlessly. Any of that sound familiar?
• Who the hell are all of these people that are being introduced and how the hell am I supposed to remember them all? There is such a thing as too many side characters.
• Where’s the chemistry? So far all I’ve gotten is that Zara is “hooked” onto our supposedly main bad boy. Why? What has he done but touch your arm and walked you to the entrance of the school door. She hasn’t even had a conversation with him?! Nor has she described why he is so fucking amazing that she is “hooked”.
• 
• Pixie dust?! Are you effing kidding me? Some authors can pull off crap like this. If and ONLY if they have strong character development and seriously solid plot lines. That just is not happening here.
• The writing is beyond terrible. Nothing flows together smoothly. It is all choppy and I have had to re-read more than not to be able to try and understand what I just read.
• 
• Foreshadowing hell. I didn’t even finish the book and I already know what is going to happen and what all of the big mysterious creatures are that are luring about Maine.
• Stupid girl problems. After getting stuck in a ditch because the roads are icy and she is driving home she gets saved by Nick (rolls eyes). But, she sees someone at the edge of the woods. Not having enough of a stupid adventure by wrecking her car in a ditch, she decides to run after the guy she saw standing there. Even after Nick pushed her car out of the ditch. Why did she do this? Oh wait, just to add another scene of the ridiculous pixie dust into the mix. Please.

 

Nina Sheridan is on a time-out from her fiancé Niles. She suspects that he is not the man that she is meant to spend the rest of her life with and take a break to the Colorado Mountains. She arrives at the A-frame house that she rented for 2 weeks to find a deliciously aggravating man name Max at the door telling her that the house is his and the booking has been a mix up. Planning to drive to town to find a hotel, Nina ends up in a snowy ditch. After falling asleep in the back seat, Nina wakes up in Max’s bed and is terribly sick. Max spends the next few days nursing Nina back to health in his house and the next two weeks convincing her that she should stay with him in Colorado.

 

Nina struggles with her attraction to Max, especially when there is so much mayhem happening in the small town. They have to wade through the waters of their attraction while dealing with friends, family, visits from people thought gone, and a mysterious murder.

 

This was the first book I have ever had the pleasure of reading by Kristen Ashley and it was not a disappointment.

It seriously blew my mind. From the second Nina arrived at Max’s doorstep and he took the right thing and took care of her, until the end of the book and we got closure with Charlie and Anna in such a blindingly sweet way. This book was a great ride. Nina was funny and had a great fiery spirit. She was passionate about people she cared for and even took care of those that she didn’t when she had to lawyer up and help Max’s bitch of a sister. And don’t get me started on Shauna!

At least Nina got the smack-down in a few times with her. Nina was really believable character. She was insecure, but rightly so. I have to admit I was slightly irritated she couldn’t just buck up and ask Max what she wanted to know, but I get why she didn’t. Nina and I just have different personalities I guess. I loved her quirky mom and their relationship. It is how every mother and daughter should be.

 

Max. Whoa. Max was a-fucking-mazing! He was dominating and sweet and the best part was he could admit when he was wrong!

He was a guy that you know would take care of you, even if you were not being your best self. As we saw him do with Nina a few times. He was loyal, protective, did I mention sweet? He has such a rough exterior, but just by the way his friends and family, hell the whole town, acts towards him, you can see how pure his intentions are. He may have had a painful past that he had not been able to get over until Nina showed up on his doorstep, but he overcame it in the most wonderful way.

 

Having never read a Kristen Ashley book before I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was shocked to see how long this book was, having clocked in at well over 600 pages, but it didn’t feel like a long read. I plowed through this book wanting to know what was going to happen and to find out who the elusive killer was. This book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I laughed, a got pissed, I shed a tear or two, and thought I was going to squeal with glee.

After reading this first book in the Colorado Mountain series and reading the teaser for the next book Sweet Dreams at the end, it is safe to say I am hooked on this series!

Fighting Destiny is the first book in The Fae Chronicles by Amelia Hutchins. Syn works for a branch of supernatural heroes called the Guild. She finds out, in a rather twisted way, that she is to be put on an assignment where she has to work for the Dark Prince Ryder. To say their relationship is complex is the understatement of the year. Syn has a deep burning hate for Fae and is disgusted to be put in the position to work for the Dark Prince. Ryder has his own agenda and is bossy and lived up to everything Syn expected from him. He is sexy, alluring, able to muck up your mind in a heartbeat, and extremely dominating. He hates that he is attracted to something beneath him. Syn is a lowly witch and not willing to submit to his demands. She drives him nuts. Charged with solving the deaths of Fae and Witches alike, Syn has to work hand in hand with the Dark Prince. The problem is, somehow along the way, the tables turn and she can’t seem to keep resisting and neither can he.

Hands down, I loved this book. We got off to a shaky start Ryder and I, but the ride smoothed out along the way. Some of the content at the start of the book did not go over so well with me, but when it was all laid out in the master plan and why Ryder did what he did made sense to me and I could understand the necessity of it all. I loved Syn. I loved that she had a secretive life and a big twist in her past. I felt for her through her pain with Adrian and the horrors that she survived and thankfully she didn’t give in to the victim mentality and kicked her past’s ass to become a survivor.

Ryder was OMG hot. No joke. He had this aura of dominance around him and that secretive bad boy charm going on. Not to mention he could melt panties with a thought and make women want to have his babies without batting one of his luscious lashes.

He comes off as such a dick, but he has a sweeter side. We don’t get to see much of it, which only makes it that much sweeter when we do, but lord that man has a way with his words. C’mon now, taking someone out for making Syn cry? Who doesn’t want a man that can protect as well as cherish. And the sex. The sex and even the almost sex between Syn and Ryder was smoking hot. So good. Just so freaking good.

This book had a host of side characters that I loved too. Adam was charming and that perfect guy friend that is there for you when you need him. He was protective of Syn, but only because they had a history and it was genuine friendly, almost brotherly, love. There was no hidden agendas with either of them which was a nice change.

I need to read the next book in this series. It left us with not so much of a cliffhanger, but more like an, “oh shit, what is going on!” Ending. I can’t believe I took so long to get to this on my TBR list. If my review wasn’t enough to tell you how much I liked this book and you haven’t figured out that yes I do recommend it, then listen to this: Read this book.

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.

 

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

 

My thoughts

 

Since I lived in the Denver Metro area of Colorado and was personally affected by the school shooting at Columbine, this book hit very close to home for me, especially since I was a sophomore in high school when it happened.

 

Valerie was a victim and an enemy is this book that spoke volumes about the seriousness of the words that we speak and how our actions, no matter how insignificant, affect other people. Nick was such a likable villain in this book and it made it a very emotional read. I felt every emotion under the rainbow while reading this and at the end, I still wasn’t sure what word I could use to describe what I felt about this book. I feel like it was so realistic in the bullying and how Valerie tossed out how much she hated people and wanted them to pay. She said on numerous occasions that she wanted certain people dead and that was what they used the Hate List notebook for. She didn’t understand how powerful words like “hate” and “dead” are and how final they can be. The trauma that she suffered, as well as the pain, and healing were also very real. What was not real to me was the friendships that formed after the shooting. It was easy to believe that the girl Valerie saved during the shooting would try to reach out to her, but to me it seemed just too far-fetched. I think that this part of the story was supposed to reflect how powerful forgiveness is, because Valerie really didn’t start to heal until her classmates showed her forgiveness, but it was too unbelievable to me.

 

It is hard to say if I liked this story or not, but I do think that it is an important one to read. YA books touch on subjects like this for a reason. The same reason that 13 Reasons Why was such an important book to read. Teens (adults too) need to see how life changing words and actions can be. Suicide, bullying, and depression are very real issues and if reading a book about what causes these issues or what heals them can help, then everyone needs to be reading them.

Set in the world of the Guild Hunters, Archangel’s Storm is about one of Raphael’s seven, Jason. Jason was a child that came from parents that loved him deeply, but had an abusive relationship. His father was jealous and possessive and in the end murdered his mother because of it. After he was found as a child, he couldn’t speak, and Raphael took him under his wing and began his recovery. Jason grew into an angel that was happy to stay hidden in the shadows, having perfected the skills over hundreds of years, but when he has to give a blood oath to find out just how mad one of the Cadre has become, he has to step into the spotlight and take his place in the court of angels alongside Neha’s stepdaughter Mahiya.

Mahiya is a product of an affair and has been treated such her whole life. She may be a princess in title, but is treated with distain by her father and step-mother. She wants nothing more than to escape her home where she is waiting for death by Neha, when her father is brutally murdered and she must make a blood oath to a foreign angel to put off her execution for a little while longer. Mahiya has secrets and trusts no one, until Jason manages to work his way into her heart. They must solve the murder of her father’s death and find out who is killing innocent angels in Neha’s home before they both end up dead or worse, in love.

I have always been an avid reader and crazy fan of Nalini Singh. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it like I did Archangel’s Blade.

The story building was phenomenal. The set up for the murder and the intricate weaving of mystery into the plot line was what kept me reading. There was a nice twist in the story and it could have just been me being so dense to the reality of whom the killer was that I didn’t see it coming at all.

Which was a nice change of pace since endings can sometimes be terribly predictable. Where it fell flat for me was in the chemistry between Jason and Mihiya. It was very slow building and not fiery passion which I have come to expect from Guild Hunter and Psy-changling books. I think that it could be that is just the way Jason works. He would not be in character if he fell madly head over heels in love and stood at the top of Archangel Tower declaring his love for all to hear. However, it was mildly sweet and in the end they got the HEA.

My favorite part of this book was the continuation of Dimitri and Honors story. We got to see the painstaking process of a turning through Dimitri’s eyes. I loved revisiting these two and seeing how strong their love is. We also got a small cameo by Elena and Raphael and learned a little more about his mother awakening.

Overall this book was a necessary part to the Guild Hunter collection. I was happy with it, but not giddy in love like I was with the last few books. However, I do still recommend this book to fellow Guild Hunter readers and anyone that enjoys Nalini Singh’s books. She definitely takes the cake when it comes to world building and sucking you in to a good story line.

 

 

Joe Ledger is a Baltimore detective that is recruited by a super secret government agency called the Department of Military Sciences. The DMS is responsible for taking out terrorist threats, and this time they have to beat a terrorist group that made a biological weapon that turns its victims into zombies.

 

 

The author does a fantastic job of throwing you into the mix of plot line and you are introduced to the big players of this story right away. Joe is hard-core, funny, extremely likeable, badass, and sticks his humanity out to the core. He has some fascinating partners that he works with such as the mysterious Mr. Church, the kick-ass female Grace, and his best buddy therapist Rudy.

 

 

My favorite line:

 

 

“I’m not sure I could trust a man who would bypass an Oreo in favor of vanilla wafers. It’s a fundamental character flaw, possibly a sign of true evil.”

 

 

The book switches back and forth between the perspectives of the major players of this book. It begins with Joe in America and the terrorists in Afghanistan. I think it was a brilliant way to do it since I got to see how exactly this terrorist cell was working, and they had their own drama backstabbing working in their midst too. I had in my mind that this book was going to be completely about zombies, but it was more like a special ops military type of book. Don’t get me wrong, that in no way derailed from my opinion on the book, but it was more focused on the military operation that the zombies. It is just something to keep in mind if you pick it up to read it.

 

 

I really liked the science behind the virus that was used to create the zombies. It was well written and entirely believable and quite frightening since it made so much sense to me. The scientists that they used in the terrorist sections of this book were quite brilliant and terrifying since they were playing for the wrong team of people. It was entirely believable that something so awful could actually happen.

 

 

 

This book had it all for me. It had humor in the protagonists, mindless zombies, action, suspense, drama and backstabbing, and a subtle underlying hint of romance between Joe and Grace. Not to mention the solidarity of men in uniform and the bond of brotherhood that comes from it. I loved this book and will definitely be picking up the next book in the Joe Ledger series.

 

 

Set in the world of the Guild Hunters, Archangel’s Storm is about one of Raphael’s seven, Jason. Jason was a child that came from parents that loved him deeply, but had an abusive relationship. His father was jealous and possessive and in the end murdered his mother because of it. After he was found as a child, he couldn’t speak, and Raphael took him under his wing and began his recovery. Jason grew into an angel that was happy to stay hidden in the shadows, having perfected the skills over hundreds of years, but when he has to give a blood oath to find out just how mad one of the Cadre has become, he has to step into the spotlight and take his place in the court of angels alongside Neha’s stepdaughter Mahiya.

Mahiya is a product of an affair and has been treated such her whole life. She may be a princess in title, but is treated with distain by her father and step-mother. She wants nothing more than to escape her home where she is waiting for death by Neha, when her father is brutally murdered and she must make a blood oath to a foreign angel to put off her execution for a little while longer. Mahiya has secrets and trusts no one, until Jason manages to work his way into her heart. They must solve the murder of her father’s death and find out who is killing innocent angels in Neha’s home before they both end up dead or worse, in love.

I have always been an avid reader and crazy fan of Nalini Singh. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it like I did Archangel’s Blade.

The story building was phenomenal. The set up for the murder and the intricate weaving of mystery into the plot line was what kept me reading. There was a nice twist in the story and it could have just been me being so dense to the reality of whom the killer was that I didn’t see it coming at all. Which was a nice change of pace since endings can sometimes be terribly predictable. Where it fell flat for me was in the chemistry between Jason and Mihiya. It was very slow building and not fiery passion which I have come to expect from Guild Hunter and Psy-changling books. I think that it could be that is just the way Jason works. He would not be in character if he fell madly head over heels in love and stood at the top of Archangel Tower declaring his love for all to hear. However, it was mildly sweet and in the end they got the HEA.

My favorite part of this book was the continuation of Dimitri and Honors story. We got to see the painstaking process of a turning through Dimitri’s eyes. I loved revisiting these two and seeing how strong their love is. We also got a small cameo by Elena and Raphael and learned a little more about his mother awakening.

Overall this book was a necessary part to the Guild Hunter collection. I was happy with it, but not giddy in love like I was with the last few books. However, I do still recommend this book to fellow Guild Hunter readers and anyone that enjoys Nalini Singh’s books. She definitely takes the cake when it comes to world building and sucking you in to a good story line.

Joe Ledger, Patient Zero