Review: Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

ebook.

 Full-length novel.

First person.

No.

No.

No.

The story in this book is wrapped up but there is an over arching plot just taking off so not all ends are tied off and tucked away.

This was labelled paranormal romance but it isn't paranormal romance. It's more Urban Fantasy, so while there is a nice bit of romance it isn't resolved in this book. 

I'd describe the ending of this book as a happy for now not happy ever after.

Yes.

This writing duo can do no wrong for me. I'll read anything and everything they write and I can guarantee you I'll enjoy it.

How many authors can you say that about? And this book wasn't just enjoyable, it was freaking awesome!

Burn For Me introduced a new fantasy world for us to live in, gave us a cadre of new and interesting characters to adore and the potential for a fantastic romance which started slow burning in this one but you just know is going to explode in later books.

The book was funny, full of heart, passion and danger. 

I couldn't put it down and when I finished it I wanted to go straight back to the start and read it all over again.

Thankfully, I was able to jump straight onto the next one.

😁

I'm very much in the 'meh' camp with this cover. It's... Cheesy. The book isn't cheesy. It isn't a bodice ripper, it's kick ass, so why did they need to make the cover look like a bodice ripper? The only good thing is that at least Nevada isn't fainting in the muscle man's arms. 

💬 

“Oh. So the best way to fight you is to strip naked and attack?"

His eyes flashed with a wicked light. "Yes. You should try it and see what happens.” 

💬 

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Grandma Frida asked. 

I put my hand over my face. 

“No,” Mad Rogan said. 

“A boyfriend?” Grandma Frida asked. 

“No.” 

“What about . . .” 

“No,” Mom and I said in unison. 

“But you don’t even know what I wanted to ask!” 

“No,” we said again together. 

“Party poopers.” Grandma shrugged. 

💬 

“Can you turn so you’re not pressed against me?” 

“I could,” he said, his voice amused. “But then you would have to lie on top of me.” 

My brain said, “NO.” My body went, “Wheee!” 

💬 

“They say a hundred-and-thirty-pound woman has no chance against an athletic two-hundred-pound man. That's a lie. You just have to make the decision to hurt him and then do it.” 

💬

Review: Trigger by J.L. Drake

 

I was raised by the Devil himself. 

Formed into a man who was unreachable. 

I went from the boy with bruises to the man with a trigger. 

Killing is the only thing that calms the itch. 

The demons inside were a constant battle… 

…until she changed everything. 

Problem is when you spend most of your time in the dark, is it smart to step into the light?

*Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review as part of a blog tour for book two, Demons.*

ebook

Full-length novel.

Alternating first-person.

Yeah, it's possible.

No.

Yes, but it's not a 'OMG I'm going to die!' cliffhanger.

Still infuriating though.

No.

Book one in a trilogy, so I guess if there is going to be a HEA it'll be in book 3?

No.

Trigger does have sex with someone else after meeting Tess but they were not in a relationship or anything close to it at that point.

Yes. 

Lots of bloody violence.

MC romances seem to have a scale from light to truly dark and grim. 

This one was toward the dark and grim side. 

There's violence, death, killing, drug taking (though not from the main characters), drug running, sleazy sex, sex without condoms (and any mention/thought of being clean), women galore with no self respect, asshole bikers who treat women like shit and grim childhoods. 

The characters were rough, prickly, harder to like than you'd expect. They're definitely not people who you'd want to meet out at night, nor would you be likely to want to be friends with them because their backgrounds, the lives they lead, are so foreign, so alien, to what most would be comfortable with.

It sounds pretty miserable, right?

But, here's the thing, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. 

I read well into the wee hours of the morning to finish it in one reading.

I was hooked on this book from the first couple of chapters.

I thought it was well written. It made me think of Sons Of Anarchy a lot (which I liked!) and over the course of the novel, I began to really care about these characters.

I loved the dynamic between Trigger and Tess. 

I want Tess and Trigger to work. I want them to live a happy outlaw life until they are old and pass onto the next life... They totally worked for me even though they were no ones idea of conventional;.

By the time I finished the book, my only thought was 'holy shit'. 

It was then followed by 'I NEED the next one'.

All the grim realities of this biker world, all the things that made me uncomfortable, they didn't matter. My only bitch at the end was that I still didn't know what Tess's big secret was from her past and considering everything that happens in this book? That means I ended up thinking it was pretty damn awesome.

I like the bikerness of but the cover model doesn't fit with Trigger in my head so, blah.

Review: On The Edge by Ilona Andrews

 

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.

ebook.

Full-Length Novel.

Third Person.

No.

No.

No.

Yes.

Some.

Another fantastic book, and wonderful new world, from Ilona Andrews!

It contains all the things you'd expect from this author duo:

- A spunky strong heroine who goes above and beyond for those she loves and considers her own.

- A strong, sexy, protective male with an agenda of his own. 

- A varied cast of quirky, likable, and loveable, supporting characters who you want to know more about.

- A well written, highly detailed, well thought out world.

- A story that keeps you glued from the first page to the last.

The romance junkie in me loves Ilona Andrews books because not only do you get all the awesomeness above, you also get a romance that is built authentically over time. Therefore, I was curious going into this as to how they'd work their slow-burning magic over the course of a single book - seeing as they tend to write about a couple over multiple books and with this series, each book focuses on a different couple - but I needn't have worried. 

Like with everything they do, it was very well done and extremely satisfying.

I hate the cover of this book. It's so cheesy! Hideously cheesy and the book isn't cheesy... It just doesn't fit. It's wrong. All wrong. Ugh.

“She handed him a glass of water and two Aleve gelcaps. “They’re anti-inflammatories. They will dull the pain a little bit and keep down swelling and redness. Swallow the pills, don’t chew.”

“Well, I thought I’d stick them into my nose and impersonate a walrus, but if you insist, I’ll swallow them.”

💬 

“I've never created a riot before. I did cause a brawl at the last formal. A large number of young women there actually arrived with the expectation of seducing me into matrimony, and a couple of their mothers came to blows. It was hilari—I mean, dreadful. Simply dreadful.” 

💬 

“One day, she’d find a way to live her life to the fullest. She was sure of it. She just had no idea how she would manage it.”