Review: The Rising Moon by Nilsa Rodriguez

Title: The Rising Moon
Author: Nilsa Rodriguez
Series: Rising Moon # 1
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: E-book
Source: FMB Tours
Pub. Year: 2012
Purchase: Amz/ B&N/ Smashwords
I receive a copy of this novel free of charge from FMB Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from Amazon:
How many lives do you have to live to realize that love is stronger than time and death? Orphaned at the age of five, Angelia (Lia) Lafosse was left with questions about whom and what she truly was. One thing was clear. Lia was different. Some might even say cursed. With the help of her best friend, Ryan Woodruff, she begins to unlock the secrets of her families past and discover answers that prove more startling than she ever imagined. Not only was she a werewolf, but a reincarnation of the immortal werewolf, a werewolf with immense powers beyond any of her kind. A werewolf that if discovered by the Lobison’s to have returned, can jeopardize both Lia and those she love. As destiny finds her love does too and they couldn’t be more different. Torn between Lyle Ulric, the charming werewolf whose bloodline is as ancient and powerful as her own. And Adam Ambrose, the mysterious and alluring vampire who’s determined not to allow fate or anyone tear their love apart again. Lia has to make a choice… Destiny or Love…Run or Fight…Live or Die

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Random: If being immortal means never dying, then how does the reincarnation of an immortal work?

This could have been a fantastic book because it has a unique storyline and has a Native American community at the heart of the book. It just falls short of being a fantastic book because the main character gladly drank the kool-aid.

Let’s talk about Lia. For someone who is a loner, she sure is popular. More importantly, she doesn’t have a loner’s personality. Lia finds out new information that changes her life rapidly and she adapts to it quite rapidly which is not a trait that is usually found in people who feel the need to be alone. She doesn’t question why people are talking to her whereas a loner would question the motivation behind people talking to her. Especially if no one notice her previously. It could be prank but she just accepts the people coming into her life. Any information that she is given is accepted as a fact. Werewolves exists? She believes after one person tells her that it is true. Either she is gullible or she isn’t smart enough to question it. When it comes to the supernatural world, there is no disbelief on her part. That’s not to say that she isn’t a strong character. She has a devotion to her family that is admiring. It is fantastic that she doesn’t break down when she learns about the mythology surrounding her (but at the same time, it makes her seem inhuman because she is not freaking out even a little bit).

The supporting cast are of Native American blood. Ryan is the one who befriends Lea. Why? He thinks he has a crush on her. Anyways, he introduces her to the woman who spills everything about werewolves and vampires to Lia. He is pretty much the only one who plays a strong supporting character because none of the other tribe members are fleshed out. Kima, a shifter, comes to a close second in being fleshed out but not really.

Even the love interests are not completely fleshed out. Lyle is a werewolf, well, a Lobison. When he transforms, he loses all sense of humanity yet somehow still manages to save Lia. He just loves Lia immediately so there is no background as to why he loves her. He just does. He is a strong character that goes against his family wishes to show that he cares about Lia. Adam is a vampire and he is also in love with Lia because she is the reincarnated soul of his loved one. He only likes Lia because she reminds him of a dead woman and Lia loves him. He doesn’t care for Lia because of who she is; he cares about Lia because a dead woman. That’s not love. At least Lyle cared for Lia for Lia yet Adam is the one Lia ends up choosing. Ryan was in the midst of this love triangle for awhile but it was one-sided on his side.

One of the the biggest issues that I have with this novel is how everything is introduced to Lia. Better yet, how secrets are just immediately told. Lia doesn’t have to work to discover that she is a shifter, someone tells her right away. Lia doesn’t have to beg to find out more information about her biological mother. People are drawn to tell the truth to Lia so the novel makes everything come easy to Lia. There is no suspense in learning about the world-building because everything is told directly. It is just too convenient. To make matter worse, Lia accepts it as fact. She has no disbelief about anything that is told to her. She was also kidnapped and accepts it. She doesn’t even struggled to escape because it was a loved one who kidnapped her.

In the end, there are some strong points in the novel. It has a unique storyline that could have been explored more. A different version of a werewolf that is much deadly than the average werewolf. If the book had made Lia a little less accepting and more inquisitive about what people were telling her, then the book would have been good even with the screwed-up love triangle.

2BB-Look for in the Library

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63rd in the 150+ Reading Challenge
Also qualifies for: E-book, YA Mythology Where are you reading?-Wyoming

Promo Post: The Rising Moon by Nilsa Rodriguez

Title: The Rising Moon
Author: Nilsa Rodriguez
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: E-book
Source:  FMB Book Tours
Pub. Year: 2012
Purchase: Amz/ B&N/ Smashwords

Blurb from Goodreads:
How many lives do you have to live to realize that love is stronger than time and death?

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Orphaned at the age of five, Angelia (Lia) Lafosse was left with questions about whom and what she truly was. One thing was clear. Lia was different. Some might even say cursed.

With the help of her best friend, Ryan Woodruff, she begins to unlock the secrets of her families past and discover answers that prove more startling than she ever imagined. Not only was she a werewolf, but a reincarnation of the immortal werewolf, a werewolf with immense powers beyond any of her kind. A werewolf that if discovered by the Lobison’s to have returned, can jeopardize both Lia and those she love.

As destiny finds her love does too…and they couldn’t be more different. Torn between Lyle Ulric, the charming werewolf whose bloodline is as ancient and powerful as her own. And Adam Ambrose, the mysterious and alluring vampire who’s determined not to allow fate or anyone tear their love apart again.

Lia has to make a choice… Destiny or Love…Run or Fight…Live or Die

Promo Post: Pack of Lies

Title: Pack of Lies
Author: Sara Dailey, Staci Weber
Series: The Red Ridge Pack
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pub: 2012
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes and Nobles

Blurb from Amazon:
Seventeen-year-old Allison Wright is convinced she’s losing her mind. Uncontrollable mood swings, hot flashes, and the urge to punch anyone who gets in her way are suddenly becoming everyday occurrences. Before her erratic behavior gets out of hand, Allison’s mother finally comes clean about her dark secret. Mom is a werewolf, and soon Allison and her brother Aiden will suffer the same fate. When Allison reaches her breaking point, the family leaves their life in Texas to move to Red Ridge, New Mexico where they rejoin the pack that Allison’s mother left behind almost 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Red Ridge is thrilled about Allison’s arrival, especially when she attracts the attention of the very handsome, very taken, soon-to-be alpha, Cade Walker. Little does Allison know, her mere presence is causing a rift in a once unified pack. Not only has Cade been forbidden from being with Allison by his father, the pack’s alpha, Cade’s girlfriend, Kendall Stuart, will stop at nothing to get Allison out of the picture. Well on her way to becoming the next alpha’s mate, Kendall expects to rule the pack by Cade’s side even if it means teaming up with a rogue werewolf with an agenda of his own. Determined to get rid of Allison permanently, when Kendall and the rogue join forces, all hell breaks loose and no one in the pack is safe, especially not Cade and his true mate.

 

 

 

Review: No Remorse by Marylynn Bast

Title: No Remorse
Author: Marylynn Bast
Series: Heart of a Wolf # 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: E-book
Source: Tour
Pub. Year: 2012
Purchase: Amazon
I received this novel free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from Amazon:
Due to her unusual birth, Amber has abilities no other werewolf has ever possessed. On the run since childhood, the lone wolf avoids contact with other werewolves at all cost, continually moving, constantly looking over her shoulder and always alone.

Everything changes when Amber saves a werewolf from the mere brink of death, Blake, the only werewolf to ever protect her. Love blossoms, but not without tribulations when Amber realizes she must help her new pack rescue a member who is being held hostage by a rival pack.

Warring with emotions of going from lone wolf to the pack leader’s mate, Amber must decide if she is willing to risk Blake’s life to know true family and friendship despite the fact that the Council is hell bent on locating her and will stop at nothing until she is found. Will Amber’s special abilities be enough to keep everyone safe?

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Random: I think I have a thing for older gentleman (only in books, not in real life).

It took me awhile to get into the book because I wasn’t sure where the novel was heading. Especially the beginning. It paints an unflattering view of Amber in the first 15 pages but we sympathize with her once we learned her history. I don’t like the introduction but the novel gets better as it goes on.

This novel really likes surprises. It enjoys making the reader believe certain ideas only to have another character come in and say “You know what they said, yeah, it’s all a lie, sorry.” Those are some pretty big lies and secrets that are being kept (and I did not appreciate some of the lies being told. One of them really pissed me off). Anyways, it is interesting to uncover the lies but at the same time, I have to question the trust that is realistic there. It was the secrets that Amber didn’t know existed that lead her to go on the run and kept her on the run. How can Amber trust the people around if all they have done is lie to her? What is to prevent them from lying to her again? Even if it was for Amber’s own protection the saying “once a liar, always a liar” is very true.

Amber is a strong character that is mostly true to herself. She is fiercely independent and doesn’t want to follow the pack. She doesn’t want to be submissive to a pack leader (or men). She is a runner who is tired of running so she wants to stay with Blake’s pack even as she claims dissatisfaction with staying in the pack. She is a strong woman with interesting abilities. She can evaporate and reappeared in new places which is odd for a werewolf. It’s a vampiric ability so guess what else she is. No, she is not half vampire but how she obtains the abilities of a vampire is interesting. I’m curious as to how vampires will come into play in the next book.

My favorite character has to be Gabrial, the grandfather of Amber. He has this really sweet and strong personality. He is funny, warm and inviting when he is talking with Amber about her origins. This might sound weird but he appears to be a sexy grandpa. He did the awkward cough when he mentioned sex, it was kind of cute. Lol, my mind is making him out to be really hot because there isn’t a lot of physical description. Just the repetition of his chocolate brown eyes. With his personality, he has to be charming and good-looking.

If I had to complained about something and I usually do, it has to do with the sex scenes. They were long and detailed (that’s not the problem); same position in a different room (a little problem) but my issue is the fellatio that Amber performs. This woman was a virgin before meeting Blake and on her second (human) sex experience, she is really good in giving fellatio. It just feels like there should be a little bit of awkwardness, considering it is her first time. Maybe Amber is really good at acting like she knows what to do.

I have to give this novel 4 black butterflies. I understand the lying but I’m not fond of how the trust issues are just dismissed. Don’t get me wrong, there is some struggling with forgiveness but most of the time, the idea that love is enough for trust to be there is forced through.

4 BB-Ready for capture

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32rd in the 150+ Reading Challenge
Also qualifies for: E-book, First in a Series,

Review: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klaus

Title: Blood and Chocolate
Author: Annette Curtis Klaus
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: Paperback
Source: Personal Purchase
Pub. Year: 1997
Purchase: Amz/ B&N/ TBD

Blurb from Amazon:
Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?

Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He’s fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.

Vivian’s divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really–human or beast? Which tastes sweeter–blood or chocolate?

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Cover Love: I love the red wolf there. At first, I just thought it was red paint splatter on it. Why? I have no idea, I’m just weird like that.

What I love about this book is the old perspective of werewolves and the “Old Ways.” It feels like the current werewolves have gotten demystify and declaw in favor of more attractive werewolves. The werewolves in Klaus’s novel considered themselves as different from humans, and at points, superior and feel pity towards humans because humans are not wolves. They also called themselves Humus Lupus to signify their difference. It is a different change from the werewolves that crave to be human again. They embrace what they are in life and that is wonderful because people should not hate what or who they are.

Let’s talk about Vivian. She is a wolf who is dating outside her gene pool. She was an interesting character because she was in conflict with her identity. She doesn’t like the current werewolf pack mentality because her father isn’t leading it but it also feels more aggressive than what she is used to. Vivian likes the quick romance with Aidan because it is sweet and non-aggressive.

I didn’t really like Aidan; he felt like those types of rebels that try to rebel without cause and in the end, follow his father’s footsteps. Besides when Vivian was with him, she wanted to be aggressive with him so she was hiding what she wants in order to not hurt him. It was a relationship based on secrecy and I felt that he was too weak to accept what she was.

I definitely like Gabriel as the packmaster of the werewolves. He was strong and assertive. He cares about the pack. The Five is a group of young male werewolves around Vivian’s age and they are not really differentiable. We know their names but never get to know as individuals except for the description that Vivian gives us. Still, they were a fun group; serenading Vivian when she falls ill. It’s cute.

One of the things I find odd with this book is the relationship that Vivian has with her mother, Esme. Vivian always refers to her mother as “Esme.” In very rare instances does Vivian address her as “Mom.” It makes wonder why is there such a huge tension between them.  There has to be more than her mother moving on from the death of her husband or  maybe it just that. I wonder if it just a style Klaus choose to implement but even if we are reading from the third-perspective, we are still inside Vivian’s head so why is Vivian addressing her mother by her real name. It is just odd to me. Nonetheless, it doesn’t really detract from the novel.

I’m going to give it a 4.5 because I really like the book. I understood where Vivian was coming from in terms of rebelling against the traditions of the werewolves. The werewolves and their beliefs are a breath of fresh air. I also love Gabriel’s short story at the end. It was a bit bittersweet like dark chocolate.

4.5 BB-Ready for capture, Total keeper

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31st in the 150+ Reading Challenge
Also qualifies for: Where are you reading?-Virginia

Review: Cameron’s Law by Mia Darien

Title: Cameron’s Law
Author: Mia Darien
Series: Adelheid # 1
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy, Vampire
Source: Smashwords
Format: E-book
Pub. Year: Dec.26, 2011
Purchase: Smashwords, Amazon
I receive this book free of charge from Smashwords in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from Smashwords:
Vampires are people, too. Cameron’s Law says so. Vampire and public face Sadie Stanton called Adelheid, CT home and it attracts a lot of attention. It attracts a lot more when vampires start attacking werewolves without provocation. Can Sadie keep the community from descending into chaos and war before it brings all of to harm? And can she do it when she herself gets thrust into the spotlight?

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What I will remember: Definitely not a Sookie Stackhouse book

I’m going to label this book as an oddity for now. It reads like a slice of life for Sadie Stanton running a preternatural agency with some paranormal elements thrown in for good measure. The book has vampires and werewolves (and shifters) but they are really reserved and conservative. This could be in part because Darien doesn’t show a more basic animalistic version of any of the characters except three times and they don’t feel right. So much of the action and suspense is happening off the pages and in locations where Sadie is not there that the book feels really tame.

This book is missing a heartbeat. It flows like one straight line with very few interruptions to that line. Sadie Stanton is the protagonist of this book; she is a strong female character because she can kick ass and defend herself….and I have no idea what she looks like except that she is 5’4. Her style of clothing, her hair color, her eyes, body build are completely not mention. Darien knows what her character looks like but I sure don’t. It bothers me that I don’t know but at the same time, it’s not like it stopped me from reading. Her actions scenes (plus the one romantic scene) are tame as well; they don’t spike my heart. I do have to applaud Darien for not having Sadie have sex with Vance in one book. There was something tragically broken about Sadie holding a torch for Cameron, an old flame.

Cameron was an interesting “concept.” I thought it was really tragic and nice that the he had a law named after him. He was the lover of Sadie who was killed during what I would called the civil rights movement for the preternatural. He’s an idea but also a person.

I personally like the secondary characters and minor characters better than the main characters. They had interesting “titles.” There was an  animator Summoner  who can summon demons, a lawyer that specializes in demon law, Dakota the bounty hunter, and a few others that I thought were interesting because of their abilities and uniqueness to the story. I especially like the medical examiner, Carl Wright with his lack of humor. I love how the medical examiner always tend to be a quirky character. Even  Gabriel, the pack master, was interesting and he wasn’t involved much in the book. Sad thing is that besides Dakota, they only showed up once and are forgotten…mostly.

The ending was unsatisfying in that its too neatly wrapped up. We conveniently find out why vampires are attacking werewolves and it has a scientific explanation which is great but the information is relayed through a third source; not through Sadie or the mad scientist himself. Sadie’s prison breakout is forgotten; Dakota conveniently calls the cops and rescues Madison and Sadie.  It’s too neat and easy. Endings for series are meant to be like a horror movie ending. The protagonists think the murderer is dead only to discover his body is missing and we have to see sequel to find out what happens next. Cameron’s Law doesn’t have that feeling. It can stand as a standalone which is a good thing but it is part of a brand new series and I feel there should have been plot bunnies drops in the book in order to build anticipation for the next book.

It’s an oddity for me, this book. I read it through one sitting and never thought “I have to stop reading” so it was entertaining. At the same time, there are things that are heavily lacking such as physical descriptions of the character, more bite to the supernatural creatures, and more intensity. I would prefer a messy ending but that it is just me. I like Cameron’s Law, I do but I’m not sure if it’s memorable enough for me to remember. With that being said, I’m giving this book a 3.5 because it is above a 3 but it doesn’t quite reach a 4. It would have garner a rating of 4 if there was more character description.

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3.5-Pretty to look at, maybe capture

1st book in the 150+Challenge
Other challenges it qualifies for: Self-Published, Why Buy The Cow, 1st in A series, E-book, Where are you reading? (Colorado)