Review: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #9)

*Minor Spoilers Ahead*

Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-Shift Atlanta is a dangerous business. But nothing she’s faced could have prepared her for this…

Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar…

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules…

ebook.

Full length novel.

First Person.

I don't think so but there is some messed up stuff in here... 

YES.

You need to have read books 1-9 or there is no point reading this.

No.

A happy for now!

Yes.

What I Liked: 

Erra. (Yes, I said Erra.)

Roman.

Baby B.

Christopher. (Totally shipping him and Barabas!)

Weddings.

Friends.

Family.

Ghastek. 

All of it. 

Everything.

It was awesome.

What I Didn't Like: 

Nothing, this book was so addictive. I couldn't read it fast enough and was pissed off when it ended because I don't want to be only one book away from this wonderful world coming to an end!

Oh ok, if I had to pick something to gripe about it'd be Jim but he's Jim and his reactions are within character so I can't even complain about him.

Other Thoughts:

Only one more book! I can't believe there is only one more book to go in this series! I mean, I'm glad the Roland stuff is coming to an end but I could read about Kate and Curran's adventures for the rest of my life and be quite happy... My one consolation is that the next book looks like it takes place a couple of years after this one so yeay! 

“You're like a crazy cat lady, but you collect killers instead of fluffy cats."

"I don't collect killers."

"Yes, you do, and those who aren't killers turn into killers by the time you're done. You made Julie into a maniac. That child has more knives on her than a squad of the PAD.” 

💬

“Did you run any of this by Curran?” 

“I told him I was about to do something idiotic and dangerous, and he told me to go ahead and let him know if he could help in any way.” 

“I don’t understand your relationship.” 

💬

“Where the hell would I go without you, Kate? No matter where I went, you would be there in my head. I would miss you every moment of my life.” 

💬

“I looked at Curran. “You killed an animal god and then you ate him?” 

“Maybe,” Curran said. 

“What do you mean maybe?” 

Book Blogger Hop: In Regards to Banned Books Week...

Question:

In regards of Banned Books Week, what are your favourite books that has been banned or challenged?

My Answer:

I honestly wasn't aware of whether I'd read a banned book. 

From what I understand, the only prohibition with regards to books in the UK is books on child pornography but this is part of a general ban on child pornography so it makes sense... I guess individual establishments within the UK, schools and the like, may have different rules on what books they'll make available and promote but they're not legally enforceable like in some other countries.

In order to correct my general ignorance on the topic, I did some quick googling and what I found was that the following books, which I own and/or have read, were banned, at some point or another, somewhere in the world:

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

The House of Night series, P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 

The Twilight Series, Stephanie Meyer

All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque

The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown

The Witches, Roald Dahl

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

I'm genuinely mystified as to the logic of banning these books but profoundly glad that I don't have to put up with it.

Review: Werebiker by Paige Cuccaro

Years after she thought she left town for good, Jillian is back and has enlisted the help of her older brother’s ex-best friend (and the man who broke her heart), Jack, to track down her sister-in-law, who’s fallen in with a rival biker gang—but Jack knows they’re werewolves, and that he has to protect Jillian at any cost, even if she hates him.

*Review Copy granted via netgalley*

ebook

Full Length Novel

Third Person

No.

Yes.

What I Liked: 

Not a whole lot. The best I can say is that the book got marginally better in the last third.

Warning:

I hate being overly negative and I wanted to keep the blog free of the negativity, and reviewing a book I rate under three stars naturally brings it out, but I'm realising that may not always be possible to keep my feelings to myself.

Werebiker is a perfect example of when I just can't keep a lid on it.

This book flipped my bitch switch and turned the snark meter up to 1000. 

What I Didn't Like: 

Jack and Jill. 

No joke, the characters are called Jack and Jill. Every time I saw it the nursery rhyme started running though my head but this is a very minor complaint all things considered.

Jill. 

She was annoying as hell. She never listened, thought she was a hard-ass, that she was the shizzle, but she was in actual fact none of the aforementioned. Jill was an immature little idiot who should have been eaten. (And not in a good way!)

Jack.

Oh noes, I don't want to be an alpha. Oh noes, I can't be with Jill, I may infect her. Oooooh, me horny and Jill kiss me. Me will screw Jill - in one of the most awkward depictions of sex I've ever read, fyi - and forget about infecting Jill. Oh noes... I've had sex with Jill but I still can't be with Jill cause she might get hurt. It's all so dangerous... But y'know, I'll screw her again cause my beast demands it.

Seriously?!

God, even the word 'moist' came out to play... It hurt my soul!

The writing. 

I hate to say it but the author's 'voice' just grated on me. The story was all over the flippin' place, the characters were inconsistent, the dialogue felt forced and the story was written without flare... It was like the reading equivalent of listening to someone talk for a few hours in a gratingly monotone voice.

Typos.

Typos everywhere. 

I'm hoping that this was because I had an arc/review copy and these were corrected before the release of the book.

Other Thoughts:

I requested this book as I thought that blending an MC with a paranormal could work really well but this was not a good example of genre fusion.

The only reason I didn't abandon this book at 20% was because I was granted a review copy and felt obligated to see it though to the end... Werebiker was my first Paige Cuccaro novel and unfortunately, I think, based on this, it'll be my last.

I like the cover for this one, it's what drew me to the book; A nice blend of biker, shifter and sexy.

Blog Tour & Review: Wicked Dirty by J. Kenner

Today, I'm taking part in the blog tour for Wicked Dirty by J. Kenner!

You'll have seen me talking about this book quite a bit lately and that's because I LOVED it!

Sometimes bad isn’t good enough… 

On the outside, Lyle Tarpin is a clean-cut Hollywood actor whose star is on the rise. Inside, he’s battling his own demons, shunning relationships and finding solace in the arms of a string of anonymous women paid very well for their discretion. 

But when he’s photographed in a compromising position by an over-eager reporter, the only way to save his career is to say that the woman he was with is his fiancée. And now Lyle has to play a very public game with the only woman who’s ever managed to get under his skin. 

Struggling waitress Sugar Laine agrees to spend one night with Lyle—but only because she’s desperate to save her family home. She never expects that a night of passion will turn into a pretend engagement … or that the heat between them will blossom into love. 

But sometimes love has a price. 

And now the only question is—can Lyle and Sugar afford to pay it?

ebook

Full Length Novel

Third person, alternating pov.

No.

No.

Yes. 

What I Liked: 

OMG, this book was hot! Highly sensual, emotive and just a little bit more than dirty, the story of Lyle and Laine rocked my freakin' socks off! The book wasn't all smoulder though, oh no, it had real characters with real emotions, real problems, painful pasts and enormous strength. 

It was addictive, beautifully passionate and not without drama but, despite the drama, it was light on the heartache. I loved Lyle and Laine as a couple and I could happily have continued reading about them for days but I inhaled this book in mere hours because I couldn't stop reading.

What I Didn't Like: 

Nothing. There was NOTHING I didn't like about his book.

Other Thoughts: 

Wicked Dirty is tied into the Stark books but you need no prior knowledge of any of the 'Stark', 'Stark International' or of the first 'Stark World' book to read and enjoy this one as it stands on it's own. 

If you have read any of the other books you'll enjoy passing glimpses of past characters and little details that those who are new to J. Kenner's world may not pick up on.

Also, one of my complaints about Wicked Grind (book 1 in the Stark World series) was that we didn't get to see the grand opening of Wyatt's photography show. Well, guess what? You get to see it in this one but through the eyes of Laine and Lyle! Yeay!

How could I not love the cover for this book? The black and white, with just a teeny splash of colour, along with the passionate couple on the front perfectly captures the feel of the book.

💬 

"Haven't you ever felt that way about something? Just knew in your gut that something was right?"

God, yes.

He felt the thrust of the answer, so quick and firm, like he'd walked smack into a wall. Her. She felt right. She'd slammed into his life like a bolt of lightening, and the world hadn't been level since. 

💬 

J.Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. 

Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit. 

JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them.” A five time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy). Her Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series (as Julie Kenner) is currently in development with AwesomenessTV/Awestruck. 

Her books have sold over three million copies and are published in over twenty languages. 

In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.