Lover Eternal (BDB #2) by J. R. Ward

Book Description:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret bound of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant to Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...

Christina's BookReview

“All I know is, she's a pounding in my chest that I can't ignore. . . hell, that I don't WANT to ignore."

I cannot believe I never wrote my review for this book!

The second installment of the BDB series sucked me right in. After this book I was lost to the BDB world. Happily lost that is. Just like Dark Lover, I could not put this book down. I read it in one day and automatically jumped into the rest of the books.

Book two is about Rhage, or Hollywood as we know him best. :-) I was looking forward to reading about Rhage because he was portrayed as such a ladies man so I wanted to see who would catch his attention. And Mary caught his attention alright, one look at her and she already held his heart in her hand.

I loved Mary's characters and was rotting for their relationship to work out even though she was human and Rhage wasn't. The complications and struggle with their relationship was so heartbreaking but also so sweet and beautiful.
I have to say that I was really intrigued with Rhage's "beast". He has struggle for a long time with it and it was heartbreaking when he turned and then turned back. I felt like i was feeling his pain. I loved that just like Rhage, Mary affected the beast as well and could control it. Those part where pretty great.
I LOVED this book just like the first and again would recommend it to anyone that loves a great love story and action.

Dark Lover (BDB #1) Review HERE

Lover Awakened (BDB #3) Review HERE

Dark Lover (BDB #1) by J. R. Ward

Book Description:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Christina's BookReview

“Thank you for caring for my brother."
He took his sunglasses off.
And looked at her with total adoration.” 

After much persuasion from friends I decided to give this series a try. And boy am i happy i did! I LOVED the book! I LOVE The brothers of The Black Dagger Brotherhood....everyone one of them. This book is about Wrath. Boy is he just HOT! Everything about him is HOT! from the bad boy persona to the sweet protectiveness. You can't help but fall in love with him. And Beth was born for him. They make the perfect couple. She isn't a weakling and isn't afraid to set him straight. Shes great!
And back to the brothers....OMG! I am moving on to book two immediately and will read them all! I am curious to read Thorments story and can't wait for 2012 to be here already. I think all the stories will be interesting to hear.

Jan. 2012-Reread

It has been a while since I read the first book in the series so it was great to be able to go back and reread it. Just like the first time around I could not put the book down. Beth and Wrath are awesome together and I can't wait to find out what happens down the line with them. And everyone of those delicious brothers are my favorite! Zsadist holds a special place at the top of the list!

I would recommend this series to everyone that loves romance and action. In fact, I do recommend it to everyone since its my favorite. :-)

 

Lover Eternal (BDB #2) Review HERE

Lover Awakened (BDB #3) Review HERE

Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman

Book Description:

He smiles. "Hello."

It's a deep voice. I can feel it reverberate in my chest and echo all the way down to my toes.

I know I should leave, but I don't want to. I want to keep my senses like this forever. I'm all eye, all ear, all skin.

Persephone lives in the most gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess, as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of escaping the life that's been planned for her, a mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises something more--something dangerous and exciting--something that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth itself.

In a land where a singing river can make you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to discover who--and what--she really is.

Christina' BookReview

 What can I say about this? Hmm.....

So its been a couple of days since I finished this and I'm still angry with the book! I had high hopes about this book. The storyline seemed interesting. Who wouldn't find an twist to mythology interesting? Well I did, and I hoped that I wasn't disappointed. I was.

The first line in the book catches your attention quickly:

"Persephone, Daughter of DEMETER, the harvest goddess. Kidnapped and forced to—”
Wrong! In every book of myths, the same; in every book, wrong!"

Because of that and the summary I was excited to get started with this book. And then we continue to read and through the first few chapters I tell myself, well this is just the beginning it will get better. It has to get better, right? Nope. Wrong.

One minute you see the glimmer that it is and then whoosh! back to the lousy writing. That was my problem with this book.

Not the storyline. The writing.

This book had so much potential but fell flat. I felt like this book was written for an 8yr old not teens. It jumps from one sequence of events to another without so much as a line break. Most of the characters come and go, you don't get attached to any of them and just wish that you could. The idea of the Underworld not being such a terrible place was intriguing and I wished that more time was spent on it as well as more time on the vale.

Unfortunately, I believe if this book was given to a more experienced author or the author spent more time on it,this book could have been a top seller. I also believe that it had potential to be a series.

I would recommend this book to those that love the Persephone and Hades story only if they can see past the horrible writing.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Book Description:

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

Christina's BookReview

 

Okay so I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to say in this review. I've never, at the end of a book, felt so confused on what my feelings are about what I just finished reading. Nine hours later, still the same...

Don't get my wrong, I thought the book was good. I thought the storyline was a good one. I loved the Victorian/Steampunk aspect of the book. The characters were good as well. I started off liking Bram right after his first POV and did not find Nora at all interesting after her first POV. She was kind of bland. Honestly, I thought all of Nora's first couple chapters were boring. It took me a while to get into the book because of that. BUT after Nora met Bram everything was okay in the world. :-) He really makes the book much better and his POVs were actually much more enjoyable to read. The Zombie/Living romance is a little weird to me, I'm still trying to warm up to it because honestly, Bram and Nora do make a good couple, its just this type of book relationship is new to me. I know! Vampires, fairies, angels, wolves, etc are weird too but this is the first zombie romance I've read so its weird to me. :-)

I enjoyed the secondary undead characters as well! I loved Chas and knew right away that Nora and she would get along well. Tom, Coalhouse and Ren were also great to read about. Getting a little about their "transition" story was a great part of the book. Honestly, the only live New Vic I liked was Pamela. I hope to see her in future books but not separated from Nora and the others.

My biggest problem with Dearly Departed is the multiple POVs. Every time the story left Nora and Bram's POVs I was frustrated. I understand it helped us get the whole story but I felt there was a POV overload. One is good, Two is great, three okay fine, four or more is overload. I felt like the author sort of didn't know how to go about writing Nora and Bram's lives/relationship and feared that she would run out of things to write about them. I wished for more interaction between the two and hope to get more in the next book. I would like to see what happens next so I will read the next book.

If you like Zombies and Victorian/steampunk romance then you will enjoy the story. I would recommend the book.