Review: Marked by Midnight - Lara Adrian

Determined to solve a string of brutal slayings in London, vampire warrior Mathias Rowan is forced to seek the help of Nova, a fiery tattoo artist who ignites an unexpected, yet undeniable, passion in the grim Order enforcer.

Nova’s shadowy connections and dark talents may be Mathias’s best hope of unmasking a treacherous enemy . . . but falling for a woman with her dangerous past will risk both their hearts and their lives.

The Midnight Breed Series:
A Touch of Midnight (Novella included in The Midnight Breed Series Companion, now also available separately)
Kiss of Midnight
Kiss of Crimson
Midnight Awakening
Midnight Rising
Veil of Midnight
Ashes of Midnight
Shades of Midnight
Taken by Midnight
Deeper than Midnight
A Taste of Midnight (Novella)
Darker After Midnight
The Midnight Breed Series Companion
Edge of Dawn
Marked by Midnight (Novella)
Crave the Night
Tempted by Midnight (Novella)
Bound to Darkness
Stroke of Midnight (Novella)
Defy the Dawn
Midnight Untamed (Novella)
Midnight Unbound (Novella)
Midnight Unleashed (Novella)
Claimed in Shadows
Break the Day

Hunter Legacy Series:
(A series of standalone romances set in the Midnight Breed world)
Born of Darkness
Hour of Darkness
Edge of Darkness

Visit Lara Adrian's website  for more information about the Midnight Breed series you will find excerpts from each of the books.  Lara can also be found on Facebook & Twitter where she posts regular updates or you can join other fans to chat about the books over at the LAMB (Lara Adrian Midnight Breed) Forum

Review:
I'm a huge fan of Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series, it was the first paranormal romance series I discovered and I've even got a Breedmate mark tattoo so you could say I'm a little obsessed with these books. It's felt like a very long wait between the last two books but I was able to dive straight back into this world without any problem. Fans of the series will already be familiar with Mathias and remember him working alongside the Order in Boston and I was really pleased we were going to finally get to see him find his happily ever after.

Mathias is now living and working in London where he runs the local branch of the Order, he still reports directly to Lucan but he also works alongside JUSTIS (the Joint Urban Security Taskforce Inititaive Squad) a human and Breed law enforcement group. JUSTIS are investigating the murders of several gang members and Mathias has offered to help them discover who is behind the killings. His investigation leads him to a tattoo shop where he finds Breedmate Nova working as a tattoo artist. He knows immediately that Nova isn't telling him the whole truth but what he isn't sure of is whether she is innocent and just scared or whether she is guilty and trying to hide it from him. He is determined to get to the bottom of her secrets and the closer he gets the more he starts to realise how special she is.

I enjoyed Marked by Midnight but it is a fairly short novella so you have to be prepared for Mathias and Nova's relationship to progress at quite a rapid pace. This doesn't usually bother me as much in paranormal romance, especially not in novellas, but I have to admit that even I found the declarations of love came a bit too quickly and that made them slightly less believable. I think I would have preferred things to have been left more open ended or for there to have been an epilogue set a few months after their first meeting to tie up their love for each other.

I've always liked Mathias, he's a man with principles who is very protective of those who fall into his circle. He is quick to add Nova to the list of people under his protection and nothing will stop him from looking out for her, even if it means keeping things from the Order which goes against everything he's ever believed in. It was interesting to see him a bit unsure of himself, he's not used to feeling that anything is more important than his brothers in the Order so it throws him off balance when he starts to care for Nova. As for Nova I thought she was a really interesting character, we are given hints of some terrible things that happened in her childhood and I would have really liked to see this as a full length novel so we had more time to delve into her background and really get to understand her. I liked her character, she's spunky and very capable of standing up for herself but I felt she let Mathias get close a little quickly considering what we know about how she was treated by other Breed males in the past. Extending the story would have given more time for her to get to know him and for Mathias to slowly earn her trust.

Marked by Midnight is a fun instalment to the series, it's nice to get out of Boston and visit London for a change and I'm hoping we might see more of Mathias and Nova in future instalments to the series. I think fans of the series will enjoy this story and it's definitely whet my appetite for the next full length book, Crave the Night.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Battle Lines - Will Hill

As the clock ticks down to zero hour and the return of dracula, the devastated remnants of Department 19 try to hold back the rising darkness.

Jamie Carpenter is training new recruits, preparing them for a fight that seems increasingly futile. Kate Randall is trying to plug the Department's final leaks, as Matt Browning races against time to find a cure for vampirism. And on the other side of the world, Larissa Kinley makes a shocking discovery.

In the midst of it all, Department 19 faces a new and deadly threat, born out of one of the most shameful moments of its own long and bloody history.

As the darkness gathers, and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear.

It's only a matter of time until everything goes bang.

Department 19 Series:
Department 19
The Rising
Battle Lines
Zero Hour

Visit the Department 19 website for more information

Review:
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Department 19 series and the previous two books are both firm favourites so I had high expectations for Battle Lines. I'm happy to say that once again Will Hill hits the ball out of the park with an action packed story full of brilliant twists and shocking discoveries for our favourite characters.

We have really seen Jamie and his friends come such a long way since the beginning of the series. Jamie is now an experienced Operator who is in charge of training new recruits and keeping his team safe as they search for Dracula. Matt is desperately searching for a cure for vampirism and Kate has taken on the difficult task of trying to uncover the remaining spies in the Department who have been feeding information to Dracula and his followers. At the same time Larissa is on secondment to the American NS9 department helping them to train new recruits and it is there that she makes a very surprising discovery that could change everything. As well as catching up with old favourites this book also introduces new characters and it also ups the ante with some powerful new enemies for the short handed department to try and handle. Nothing is quite what it seems and in some ways I think this story was even more gory and shocking than the previous ones.

As with the earlier books in the series Battle Lines is quite a doorstop and comes in at just over 700 pages but for such a huge book I found it incredibly easy to whiz through and I finished reading it within a couple of days. This series is a complex one, there are multiple points of view and a lot of different plot threads but they are so masterfully written that I never seem to have any trouble keeping track of people or remembering what is going on even with a year long wait between book releases. That is probably one of the best compliments I can give these books, they are incredibly addictive and each chapter leaves you desperate for more. Thankfully because I ended up leaving it so late to read this book I already have a copy of Zero Hour and I'm excited that I won't have to wait to find out what happens next. The stakes are getting higher and Dracula is close to rising so things are going to get even more interesting from here onwards!

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Take Me Under - Rhyannon Byrd

A seductive temptation . . .
A thrilling chase . . .

Ben Hudson - a Miami detective with a bad boy reputation - fell for shy, sexy and married Reese Monroe from the moment he first saw her three years ago. Now Reese is divorced and renting a Florida beach house - which happens to be owned by Ben - and he can't get his new neighbour out of his mind.

For Reese, Ben's sudden advances are thrilling but leave her stunned; she never expected a man with such a wicked reputation to pursue her. She knows she should be on her guard, but he's a temptation she can't resist. And when trouble follows her from Boston, threatening her life, Ben may be the only one who can help her . . .

Dangerous Tides Series:
Take Me Under
Make Me Yours (Novella in the Wicked and Dangerous anthology)
Keep Me Closer

Visit Rhyannon Byrd's website for more information.

Review:
Ben has had a thing for Reese ever since he saw her at a party 3 years ago, he's seen her at many family events since then and his feelings have just grown stronger but there has always been something getting in the way of him making a move - the little fact that she was already married. When he found out that she was getting a divorce and moving back to the area he went out of his way to make sure they'd be able to spend time together and he's determined to finally make his move. Reese is shocked when she realises her new landlord and the guy living next door is Ben, she hadn't expected to see him again and had no idea that he was interested in her. After her ex Reese is wary of letting another man into her life but when Ben makes it quite clear he's looking for fun not a long term relationship she can't resist the chemistry that flares between them.

Take Me Under is the first book in the Dangerous Tides series and it was a quick, fun read that I was able to finish in a couple of hours. Overall I'd say I liked both of the main characters but there were things about them that irritated me. Reese has spent years being belittled by her ex-husband and is very down on herself, she doesn't feel sexy or attractive and has no idea what Ben could possibly see in her. While I could understand where she was coming from I did find it a little frustrating that she had such a low opinion of herself and it didn't quite ring true that she would be able to jump into bed with Ben quite so quickly considering her previous experiences. I was also annoyed with the way Ben kept telling Reese that he didn't want a relationship but then getting irritated with her for refusing to let him spend the night. He was giving her so many mixed signals that it wasn't surprising that she didn't have a clue how to react to him!

This book has a LOT of sex and that isn't something I'd usually complain about but here I did feel that it took away from the main story a little too much. The suspense side of the story could have been so much more interesting if they had spent more time trying to figure out what was happening rather than going at it like bunnies. Reese was being stalked and spent a lot of time feeling like someone was watching over her shoulders but it didn't stop her getting down and dirty with Ben outside where anyone could be watching them and that didn't vibe for someone who was as alpha and possessive as Ben. I'm not sure if it was partly because there was just so much sex but I also found some of the terminology used and conversations they had were crude and cringe worthy rather than a turn on. It's not often that I find myself skimming over the sex scenes but that happened more than once here.

The story wasn't all bad and I was pleased with the way things turned out in the end but I do think it could have been a lot better. I did like the side characters though and I'm curious enough about Ben's brother Alex to want to try the next book in the series. If you're looking for a hot beach read with a dominant, dirty talking alpha hero then it would definitely be worth giving Take Me Under a try.

Source: Received from Headline Eternal in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Ruin and Rising - Leigh Bardugo

The Darkling pressed a kiss to the top of my hair. "I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no other shelter but me."

For Alina, time is running out. To destroy the Darkling, she must find the elusive firebird, and she must find it soon.

The Darkling's power is growing. And so is his connection to Alina. Can Alina escape the hold he has over her? Does she want to?

Mal is the one person Alina can rely on. But could giving in to the bond between them be the most dangerous decision of all?

The Grisha Trilogy:
The Witch of Duva (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Shadow and Bone (Originally published in the UK as The Gathering Dark but now re-released as Shadow and Bone as per the US)
The Tailor (Short Story) (Can be read online on Leigh Bardugo's Facebook page here)
Siege and Storm
The Too-Clever Fox (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Little Knife (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Ruin and Rising
The Language of Thorns (anthology of fairytales set in the Grishaverse)

Six of Crows Duology:
(spin off series set in the same world but featuring different characters)
Six of Crows
Six of Crows Collector's Edition
Crooked Kingdom
Crooked Kingdom Collector's Edition

Visit Leigh Bardugo's website for more information

Review:
I completely fell in love with this series from the moment I picked up the first book two years ago and I've been captivated ever since so I was both excited and nervous about reading the final book Ruin and Rising. I was so invested in the lives of these characters but I had a very definite opinion about how I wanted things to turn out and who I wanted Alina to end up with. It's really, really hard to review the final book in a trilogy without giving spoilers though. There are so many things that I want to talk about but I can't because I want everyone to have the chance to going into this story blind, I want you to be able to discover the plot twists on your own and I don't want to ruin the surprises that Leigh Bardugo has in store for you.

Therefore I'm going to keep this review deliberately short and vague and instead focus on how reading this book made me feel. I think I must have gone through every single emotion possible at one point or another but one thing I couldn't do was put the book down. This is definitely a story you need to clear your diary for because once you start you'll be completely hooked. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked, horrified and outraged one moment only to find myself grinning and cheering the next. There were moments that broke my heart and others that made me sigh happily. I'm not going to say it was all a bed of roses, there were moments when I was unsure about where the author was taking us and when I was almost too scared to look at what was happening on the page but even though she took me places where I didn't want to go Leigh Bardugo ultimately left me feeling satisfied and with a huge grin on my face.

I know that not everyone will be happy with the way this series ends, the trouble with having more than one love interest (although to me there was really only ever one contender!) is that not everyone will be happy with the way things turn out. However, I personally thought the ending was perfect, it was everything I'd hoped for and more. The whole Grisha trilogy has a special place in my heart, I'm sad it's over and would love to revisit these characters in the future but I'm also excited that the author is planning further books set in the same world but introducing new characters for us to fall in love with. I was at an event with the author a couple of days ago and she read an unedited passage from the first spin off book, The Dregs, and trust me it was amazing. I have a feeling I'm going to love the new characters even more than I loved these ones and I've already pre-ordered my copy! If you're a fantasy fan then I really don't think you can go wrong with these books.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Quick Review: Little Knife - Leigh Bardugo

In this third Ravkan folk tale from Leigh Bardugo, a beautiful girl finds that what her father wants for her and what she wants for herself are two different things.

It is a companion story to the third book of the Grisha Trilogy, Ruin and Rising, and the stories “The Witch of Duva” and “The Too-Clever Fox.”

The Grisha Trilogy:
The Witch of Duva (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Shadow and Bone (Originally published in the UK as The Gathering Dark but now re-released as Shadow and Bone as per the US)
The Tailor (Short Story) (Can be read online on Leigh Bardugo's Facebook page here)
Siege and Storm
The Too-Clever Fox (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Little Knife (Short Story) (Can be read online on the Tor website here)
Ruin and Rising
The Language of Thorns (anthology of fairytales set in the Grishaverse)

Six of Crows Duology:
(spin off series set in the same world but featuring different characters)
Six of Crows
Six of Crows Collector's Edition
Crooked Kingdom
Crooked Kingdom Collector's Edition

Visit Leigh Bardugo's website for more information

Review:
Little Knife is the third free short story that Leigh Bardugo has written for the Tor website (you can find it here) and it's just as good as the others. These stories don't feature characters from the Grisha series but are in fact Ravkan fairytales that would be told to young children by their parents.

This is the story of a young girl who is so beautiful that everyone who looks at her face falls madly in love with her. Even when she was a baby servants tried to steal her but now she is a teenager men are willing to fight to the death for the chance of winning her heart. I'm not going to say much more but the story has great themes and remind readers to be careful what they wish for!

These little freebies are a great way of testing out the author's writing style and for fans of the series they just add even more depth to the world building in the main books. This is one of my favourite series and I can't recommend it highly enough but you can read the short stories (The Witch of Duva, The Too-Clever Fox and Little Knife) in any order whether you've read any of the full length novels or not.

Source: Read online at the Tor website here

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Review: Long Live the Queen - Kate Locke

Xandra Varden thought life would be simpler when she accepted the goblin crown and became their queen, but life has only become more complicated. The vampires, werewolves and humans all want the goblins on their side, because whoever has the goblins - wins.

With human zealots intent on ridding the world of anyone with plagued blood, and supernatural politics taking Britain to the verge of civil war, Xandra's finding out that being queen isn't all it's cracked up to be. And if she doesn't do something fast, hers will be the shortest reign in history.

The fantastic conclusion to the series which started with the undead steampunk debut God Save the Queen.

The Immortal Empire Series:
God Save the Queen
The Queen is Dead
Long Live the Queen

Visit Kate Locke's website for more information

Review:
I have really enjoyed the Immortal Empire series and am actually quite sad to see it come to an end but I would rather Kate Locke ended things on a high note and that's exactly what she has done with Long Live the Queen. As much as I'm hoping she'll change her mind and continue to explore this world and it's fantastic characters I'm happy that she has tied up all the loose ends and given readers a satisfactory ending. Do I think there is room for a spin off series? Absolutely yes, but I won't be upset if there isn't.

Xandra has come a long way since the first book, not only has she accepted her goblin heritage she is now proud of it and she has really come to care for the goblins who fall under her rule. She never wanted to be a queen but she is determined to be the very best one possible and she will do anything in her power to prevent her goblins being taken advantage of by the rest of the supernatural population. The goblins are a powerful force to be reckoned with and even Queen Victoria has come to realise that she will have to work with Xandra if she wants to prevent a war between the humans and the supernatural races. The alliance between the goblins and the werewolves is a natural one considering Xandra's relationship with Vex but they are all much more wary of the vampires and Victoria. Especially when it is clear that someone high up in the vampire hierarchy is behind the missing halfies and the gruesome experiments that are being carried out on them.

There is a lot going on in this book as Kate Locke ties up the various outstanding plots from the series. We finally get to uncover who is behind the experiments but we also see some very interesting and unexpected results from the time Xandra spent in captivity. Xandra is betrayed by people she should be able to trust but she also makes some unexpected allies that are sure to change everything. We get to see her spending time with her siblings which I've always enjoyed and we also see some progression in her relationship with Vex. I've said it before but I'll say it again - I love them together! Most of all I love the fact that Vex sees Xandra as an equal, he may be a powerful alpha and his instincts tell him to protect her but he would never try to stop her fighting for her people, he just stands up and fights right alongside her.

I don't want to say too much more but I'm sure anyone who has enjoyed the previous books will love this final instalment. I am sad it's come to an end but I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from Kate Locke in the future and she's already on my auto-buy list!

Source: Received Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Winner: Felicity Heaton eBook Giveaway

I have a winner to announce today with the help of Rafflecopter! The lucky winner gets to choose an ebook of either Kissed by a Dark Prince or Claimed by a Demon King by Felicity Heaton.

Without further ado I'm happy to announce that the winner is:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Congratulations Janie! I have sent you an email and you now have 1 week to respond with your choice of ebook or a new winner will be chosen. Your prize will be sent out directly by Felicity Heaton so you'll need to give me permission to pass your details to her so she can send the prize.

Thanks so much to Felicity for allowing me to host this giveaway for her!