Burn by Suzanne Wright

Part of a small demon lair in Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or 'anchor', is a guy who's rumoured to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue.

The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed.

She's not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he's more dangerous than anything she's ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He's also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has.

Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He'll have her, and he'll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what's his. He won't allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

“Harper was also a person who preferred to avoid complications. Like parking tickets, speed restrictions, and red lights – which was why she no longer had a driver’s license.”  

Looking at all the reviews for this book makes me think that there might be something wrong with me. Everyone seems to love this book, they are raving about it! They love the romance, they love the dominant Knox, and they think this book is steamy hot...then there is me, who thinks the opposite of all these things.

The thing is, well, I really didn't like this book at all.

I had issues with it from beginning to end, storyline, romance, characters, I couldn't get on with any of this.

Ok so my first issue is that I feel like I have read this book before. Strong minded, sassy woman meets arrogant and possessive billionaire. She tries to be independent, he does anything in his power to control her. There are so many books out there with this dynamic that I struggled to find this original. I liked the paranormal setting, I also quite liked the world building and I felt like there could be real potential in this world but the romance just brought the whole thing down.

The second issue: 'psychic fingers' what in the actual...? OK, so firstly a man who cannot be bothered to take off my pants to give me pleasure is not my kind of man, secondly the thought of being touched, you know, down there, by a mind weirds me out. Thirdly, and most importantly, these 'fingers' are used to control Harper. If she does something Knox doesn't like, if she fights against him, he just whips out them old 'mind fingers' and she has no choice but to give in. I found it yucky, I found it weird and completely invasive. She had no real defence against it and he used it in the wrong way.

And my big third issue was substance giving way to sex. There was just too much of it. I like a bit of spice in my books, maybe even more than the average reader but this was too much for me.

There were other issues but these were the main ones. Maybe I will carry on with this series maybe I won't but one thing is clear a lot of people are seeing something I am not.

2 stars

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A free copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.  Published November 1st 2016 by Piatkus.  Dark in You book 1.

Book Review: Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep

 

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

 

The Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep is fast turning into one of my favourite Urban Fantasy book series. I loved Spider's Bite, the first book in the series and I enjoyed its follow up, Web of Lies just as much. Jennifer Estep has created a dynamic and interesting world packed full of characters you can't help falling in love with.

One of the things I love about this series is Jennifer Estep's writing. She knows how to weave a good story and keep the reader entertained. She is creative and her writing is full of atmosphere but it is also easy to read. There have been some negative things said about Estep's tendency to reiterate things a little too often and I have to say I agree. This book would have been a lot shorter if she didn't keep repeating herself. By this point readers know what the Pork Pit looks like, they know that Finn likes Chicory Coffee and that he and Gin slept together when they were younger. I have already started reading book three and everything is repeated again in that book. This repetition is my only complaint about the book and this series as a whole.

Plot wise I found Web of Lies as entertaining at Spider's Bite. There was not as much going on but it had a little bit more depth which made up for it. There were some really interesting parts and I like where the story is going and the growth Gin is making.

What really makes this series so great is its characters. I love Gin, she is my kind of girl. She is tough, smart but capable of feeling sympathy. She is hard on the outside and gooey soft in the middle. I think I liked her in Web of Lies more than in Spider's Bite. She faces some real challenges in this book she feels slightly betrayed by Fletcher the man she saw as a father, she has learnt that the sister she thought was dead is alive and well, and she has man problems in the form of Donovan Caine. Things are not looking great for Gin but she manages to hold herself with dignity despite all of that.

Donovan Caine is another complex character. Most reviewers do not seem to like him very much and I can understand that but I saw him a little differently. I really quite admired Donovan Caine. He has confusing and powerful feelings for Gin, he wants her as much as she wants him but his morals cannot let him be with a criminal, with a woman who takes life without remorse. His beliefs crush the romance giving it no chance at all but I can't help but think he done the right thing by leaving Gin behind. I like him for staying true to himself and what he believes in.

Web of Lies is a great addition to the Elemental Assassins series. I liked it a lot and I've already moved on to book three. I can't wait to see where this series goes in the future.

3 stars

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Web Of Lies by Jennifer Estep, Elemental Assassin book 2, Published May 25th 2010 by Pocket Books.

 

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Book Review: Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction... especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

 

Finally! After what has felt like months I have managed to find an urban fantasy/romance book that I loved. I enjoy romance books a lot but recently they have not been doing much for me. Then Spider's Bite came along and my dry spell is fixed. It was just what I was looking for. I came very close to giving this book those elusive five stars but there was a couple of things that held me back, (getting five stars from me is difficult stuff.)

I knew I was onto a winner from the first page. Jennifer Estep writes in a style that suits my taste. Spider's Bite was humorous and dark, it's characters were layered and blunt. I cannot fault her writing, I found it engaging, and I cannot fault the plot which I found wickedly entertaining.

The characters were brilliant. I loved Gin, she is a straight talking bad ass with an attitude problem. My kind of girl. Gin is an assassin and she loves what she does. There is no conflict or guilt over what she has done. She kills people for a living and doesn't give a shit. I like that Estep took this approach, it would have been so easy to try and make Gin a nicer person by having her be full of angst and guilt. She also isn't afraid of sex, or of wanting sex. I like that too. In my opinion the romance genre could do with a few more Gin's.

The other characters were great too. Finn was awesome, he was cocky and arrogant but I liked it. It suited him and I found him endearing. Donovan was also great, he is probably the only person in the whole book whose morals are in perfect working order. This causes him issues when it comes to Gin, he despises her but he also wants her. I found that dynamic interesting but felt he was maybe being a little to stubborn at times.

I liked the romance between Gin and Donovan but I didn't love it. As individuals they were great, Gin especially, but together it didn't quite work for me. There was lots of chemistry, but I couldn't get behind it. I think my issue is that I can never see this relationship working, Donovan is never going to get over the fact that she is a killer and that fact that she feels no guilt about it. His morals are never going to let him be with her fully, even if he fell in love with her. I think Gin needs someone who can challenge her, who can meet her half way, she needs someone who wouldn't be ashamed of their relationship.

Apart from the romance this book was just what I was looking for and I fell in love with it. I am moving onto the next book in the series straight away and I cannot wait to see where Estep takes Gin next.

4 stars

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Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep.  Book one in the Elemental Assassin series.  Published January 26th 2010 by Pocket Books

 

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BOOK REVIEW: Close To You by Stacia Kane

Churchwitch Chess Putnam has seen, and banished, her share of ghosts, but not of the Christmas Past variety—the holiday has been illegal since the Church of Real Truth defeated the undead and took control of the world in 1997.

Yet when she and her boyfriend, Terrible, make a trip to an abandoned auto junkyard, they find more than the rusted auto parts and spare tires they’d bargained for. They also run across a creepy Miss Havisham-type hell-bent on reuniting with her long-dead husband just in time for Christmas—even if it means taking Chess and Terrible down with her into the City of Eternity…

If Chess and Terrible don't manage to keep these ghosts in the past, they won't have a future…

 

Quite a few years ago I read a book called Unholy Ghosts, the first book in Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series and I absolutely loved it. It was dark, gritty and at times plain gross which is everything I love in an Urban Fantasy book. Yet despite falling in love with it I never carried on with this series. Other books just seemed to fall in my lap and despite wanting too I never got round to buying the second book.

I probably should not have read Close to you considering that it is book number 5.5 in the series and I have only read number one but when I was offered a chance to get my hands on this book I just couldn't stop myself.

For me Stacia Kane has to be one of the finest romance authors of our generation. I am constantly astonished by the depth of emotion she manages to get into her books. No-one else writes romance like this. She makes it feel real in a way that no over romance author has managed for me. It isn't over done or cheesy. It feels genuine and I wish there were more authors out there that could make me feel the same.

Stacia Kane's talent for writing doesn't stop at the romance. Her plots, world building and characters are also spot on. She isn't afraid to take her books to dark places and have characters who are far from perfect.

Close to you, despite being short had all of that. It was spooky, festive, dark, romantic and touching which is pretty amazing considering that this novella is under 100 pages long. The characters were just as great as when I first came across them. Chess is my kind of girl, a tom boy with a bad attitude and some questionable habits. And then there is Terrible. If there is some real life Terrible out there please send him my way because that is a man I would definitely want to meet.
In short, I loved this book and I have seriously got to invest more time into this series in the future.  

4 stars

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Close to you by Stacia Kane book 5.5 in the Downside Ghost series.  Published October 8th 2013 by St. Martin's Paperbacks

 

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