Review: Immortal Unchained by Lynsay Sands

Immortal Unchained by Lynsay Sands

Argeneau #25

Ever since Domitian Argenis recognized Sarita as his life mate, he’s been waiting for the perfect moment to claim her. Those fantasies did not include him being chained to a table in a secret lab or both of them being held hostage by a mad scientist. Somehow, they have to escape…

Sarita has seen some crazy things as a cop, but nothing to rival Domitian. A vampire? Seriously? But his healing ability, incredible powers, and their mind-blowing physical connection—none of it should be possible, yet her body knows differently. Now, not only do they have to save each other, but other innocent lives are at stake. Failure is not an option, for Sarita intends that Domitian show her exactly what an eternity of pleasure feels like…

I really enjoyed reading IMMORTAL UNCHAINED. Books with the fated mates trope are always a favorite of mine, and this spun things up a bit. Domitian met his destined mate, Sarita when she was much too young for him, and has been quietly keeping tabs on her since. Then despite his instincts, he didn't even jump to "claim" her the moment she became of age, but still waited until she had time to live her life first. Of course the whole fate thing always is a bit tricky and he meets her earlier than he expected in the most unfortunate way, bringing in a second trope of forced proximity. And boy did that bring an interesting twist. Sarita gets one heck of a crash course on the Immortals, and I was amazed at how well this firecracker took everything. Her sassiness made for the perfect compliment to Domitian and boy did she give him a run for his money. Add in all the danger and craziness of the plot, and you have a heck of a read.

What better endorsement can I give this book other than to simply say it's the 25th book in the series and I am still completely hooked. Every book is full of romantic fun with a lot of humor, a bit of sass, and always some danger to spice things up, and IMMORTAL UNCHAINED was no exception. Definitely a favorite in the Paranormal Romance genre, the Argeneau series, is not to be missed!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     All Things Urban Fantasy
     Tome Tender
     Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

Previous Books:
     1. A Quick Bite
     2. Love Bites
     3. Single White Vampire
     4. Tall, Dark, & Hungry
     5. A Bite to Remember
     6. Bite Me If You Can
     7. The Accidental Vampire
     8. Vampires Are Forever
     9. Vampire, Interrupted
    10. The Rouge Hunter
    11. The Immortal Hunter
    12. The Renegade Hunter
    13. Born to Bite
    14. Hungry for You
    15. The Reluctant Vampire
    16. Under a Vampire Moon
    17. The Lady is a Vamp
    18. Immortal Ever After
    19. One Lucky Vampire
    20. Vampire Most Wanted
    21. The Immortal Who Loved Me
    22. About a Vampire
    23. Runaway Vampire
    24. Immortal Nights

Review: Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

Everlife #2

My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning.

With her last living breath, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.

Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future—and the enemy wants her neutralized. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?

But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget—the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice. Love…or victory.

I have to admit while I still really enjoy the concept behind this series, Ten's character made this a struggle for me. To be honest, Ten bothered me in the first book as well, but I chalked it up to being a new series and all the growing pains involved with that. I had hoped since she finally made her big decision by the end of the last book, she'd be less wishy-washy. Unfortunately, I think she was actually worse in this book now that she's chosen a side, but her romantic interest is on the opposite warring side. I can't count the number of times I growled in frustration at her actions and choices. It just made it hard to fully enjoy the book when I spent most of the time annoyed at the main character.

That being said, I did find myself looking past those main character frustrations and enjoying the rest of the characters as well as the very fascinating world. I feel like I had a better grip of the various elements at play this time. Sure it's at its core a story about good vs evil, but it's told in an incredibly interesting way, with no clear answers to who is really good and who is really bad. Both sides had their pluses and minus, with Troika admittedly seeming more the *good* side. The dynamic between humans and the two afterlife warring sides are incredibly fascinating and should only get more so as things progress.

Main character woes aside, LIFEBLOOD was an intriguing read that added new depth to this rich series that I overall enjoyed. It will be great to see how things turn out next!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     (un)Convntional Book Views
     Shell's Stories
     Under the Covers Book Blog

Previous Books:
     1. Firstlife

Review: Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

The Others #5

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…

As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.

With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave.

ETCHED IN BONE was an utter treat. I have to admit while all the happenings in previous books centering around the major changes in the world were interesting and gripping, I missed the lesser focus on the Courtyard and Meg/Simon. They've had a very slow burn building up in a romance and I really appreciate how it was all woven together in ETCHED IN BONE. The slower pacing allowed for much more character focus this time around and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Don't get me wrong, there's no massive movement in said romance department, but enough that it satisfied my inner romantic, while still staying true to the characters. Very well done!

The first half of this book felt like the aftermath of a storm, a storm in the name of claw and teeth. So while the first half doesn't have much action, it paves the way for how everyone is going to adjust to the new ways, and it was enjoyable to watch them all trying and figure things out. Even more interesting, we get a more personal look into the claws and teeth. You can imagine how well their direct interaction with the courtyard turned out, leading to both some very tense moments and also strangely hilarious ones as well. 

That being said, while the first half or so of the book was about new beginnings, the second half took off with a massive bang. Things literally hit the fan, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I found the balance between the various pacings to be incredibly well done, with just the right amount of character focus, yet also adding in intense plot points to thrill. 

All in all this was a very good somewhat ending to a much loved series. The author has announced she'll be back to this world in the future. But for now, I'm more than satisfied with how everything played out. It was a perfectly fitting goodbye, and I know I'll be back to re-read this series again!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Between Dreams and Reality
     My Guilty Obsession
     Just Read

Previous Books:
     1. Written in Red
     2. Murder of Crows
     3. Vision in Silver
     4. Marked in Flesh

Early Review: Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson #10

In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy's bond with the pack and her mate is broken, she'll learn what it truly means to be alone...

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise...

I had a lot of fun while reading SILENCE FALLEN. The author gives fair warning at the start to pay attention to Mercy’s notes at the start of the chapters, and that the timeline would be less than linear. This back and forth in the timeline made the book even more interesting in my opinion. Rather than detracting from the story, it added an interesting element to see how it all panned out. Very fun!

I’ll keep things vague to avoid spoilers, but I have to talk about my absolute favorite part of this book. There’s one hell of a twist near the end of MERCY BOOK that is simply utter perfection. I was thoroughly enjoying every moment while reading, especially all of Mercy’s penchant for trouble, but once we got to the twist part, I literally cheered out loud, disturbing my husband in his sleep in the wee hours of the morning. It just answered a long running question/issue for me with the series, and I couldn’t adore the author possibly any more for her choice in this matter. In fact, this twist was so incredible that as soon as I finished the book, I already made plans to start a re-read the next evening in order to catch all the clues that had been leading up to that incredible twist. If it says anything about the quality of this book, it was even better the second time.

I adore each and every Mercy book, but this one? It simply blew it out of the park for me. This book proves once and for all the Mercy series is by far one of the best there is. Run, do not walk, and get this book immediately!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Books Over Coffee
     Just Read
     SnoopyDoo's Book Review

Previous Books:
     1. Moon Called
     2. Blood Bound
     3. Iron Kissed
     4. Bone Crossed
     5. Silver Borne
     6. River Marked
     7. Frost Burned
     8. Night Broken
     9. Fire Touched