 | Title: Vanish
 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
An Impossible Romance.
Bitter Rivalries.
Deadly Choices.
To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.
Being a teenage girl torn between obligations and dreams is never easy. When you’re a teenage girl who also happens to be a fire breathing draki shifter whose obligations include mating to someone you don’t love and giving up on a star-crossed romance with a human who hunts your kind, things are exponentially more difficult. VANISH picks up immediately after the cliffhanger ending in FIRELIGHT. Jacinda is forced to flee with her mother and sister again, but this time they aren’t escaping pride life, they are fleeing to it.
Much to my delight, the draki mythology that was only touched on in FIRELIGHT is explored in much greater detail in VANISH. Since the majority of the book takes place within the draki pride, we get to see more of the politics, relationships, distinctions, and practices of the draki. How they have remained a secret from the world, how their various abilities are ranked within the pride, and how they view humanity. It was all fascinating. I especially responded to the way the female draki were treated within the pride like possessions, with no choices, and severely punished for any perceived disobedience. I saw red so many times I lost count and can’t wait for Jacinda to finally and fully rise up against the pride.
I only wish that Jacinda had been more consistent in her thoughts. When she was within the pride and forced to submit to the barbaric subjugation of the elders, she rightly longed to escape. But when she was faced with freedom, she only remembered the too few benefits to pride life. I understand that she’s a teenager and therefore prone to conflicting emotions and indecisiveness, but I could not fathom how she could forget about the atrocities that waited for her in the pride just hours after escaping it.
VANISH is a very different story from FIRELIGHT. Jacinda isn’t trying to control her draki and blend in at high school. She isn’t struggling with a heart that keeps leading her to a draki hunter. Instead, she is forced to try and reacclimatize into the draki pride while weathering the animosity of her fellow draki who view her as a traitor, and ward off the attentions of two draki who want to claim her as a mate. Life is fairly miserable for her and promises only to get worse since her pride gives her no choices. So, yes, I missed the impossible romance from FIRELIGHT, and as interesting as pride life was, I preferred watching Jacinda in the human world.
Overall, VANISH mixes of dragons, danger, and despotism in a well written love story that while not burning quite as bright as FIRELIGHT, does still continue what is currently my favorite dragon paranormal YA series and sets up what promises to be another wild and romantic ride for the next book in the Firelight series.
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 | Title: Haunted by Your Touch Reading level: Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher |
USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost seduces readers into a forbidden new world as she teams up with romance stars Shayla Black and Sharie Kohler for a sizzling collection of original novellas featuring fallen angels, anarchistic demons, warrior wizards, and irresistibly dangerous creatures of the night.
Enter the dark realm of Nocturna in Jeaniene Frost's redhot tale, where blisteringly sexy Raphael dominates the demons of a lawless dimension and tries to help a beautiful young woman avenge her cousin's disappearance. In the shadowy world of Shayla Black's Doomsday Brethren, magical warrior Raiden vows to protect his woman and their unborn youngling from evil—and deliver her safely to another man. But once he's saved her, can he let her go? Lycans rule the night in Sharie Kohler's suspenseful story, as a fiery woman stalks mysterious Luc, the undeniably hypnotic being she believes can save her from turning . . . if she kills him. Danger beckons in these captivating paranormal tales that will tempt readers to the edge and leave them begging for more.
This anthology hinges around the forbidden and irresistible; the compelling touch of the person you know you shouldn't be with but just can’t deny. Of the three stories presented, Jeaniene Frost did not disappoint, Shayla Black’s story didn’t work for me, and Sharie Kohler’s Darkest Temptation led me to add her other books to my TBR pile. All in all, a well balanced collection and an enjoyable read.
Night’s Darkest Embrace by Jeaniene Frost (154 pages)
There are always neighborhoods where parents warn their children away, places with enough danger to be attractive to predators and prey alike. Jeaniene Frost’s Night’s Darkest Embrace is a novel twist on this concept, as this “bad neighborhood” is the gateway dimension Nocturna, an enticing middle ground between Earth and the wide multi-verse that can only be accessed by those with demon blood. The danger that drives the heroine, Mara, back to Nocturna also forces her into contact with Raphael, the powerful demon who raises both her suspicions and her heartrate. Night’s Darkest Embrace seemed like a great set up to a full length novel, showing us only a few parts of the Nocturna and the bumpy beginnings of Mara and Raphael. I would have preferred more detail and breadth, but what was there just whetted my appetite for more. 4/5 bats
Click HERE to read an excerpt from Jeaniene Frost’s Night’s Darkest Embrace
Mated by Shayla Black (122 pages)
Mated was strike two for me with the Doomsday Brethren series (this short story falls as #3.5 in the series). Both it and ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT include characters that have significant self-worth/trust issues, which can be a hard sell for me under any circumstances. When said characters go ahead and get halfway into a relationship before their issues kick in, the author has pretty much lost me. I really didn’t like that Raiden had allowed himself to get involved enough with Tabitha to father a child, but wouldn’t go any further without much jaw clenching and fence sitting and unprotected sex (Hey, you can only get knocked up once!). While his reasoning for wanting to leave Tabby is sound (he doesn’t want to endanger her by making her a target for his enemies or abandon his brothers-in-arms by “leaving” the conflict), the whole situation was a major turn off for me. Still keeping an eye out for future books that will feature Shock, but I no longer have any desire to read through the back catalogue. 2/5 bats
Click HERE to read an excerpt from Shayla Black’s Mated
Darkest Temptation by Sharie Kohler (106 pages)
By far my favorite story in the book, Sharie Kohler creates a fabulous mix of old-school werewolf myths and the more modern flavor of romance and redemption. I read this short story twice, and have put MARKED BY MOONLIGHT on my TBR list to get more of this series (and Abigail tells me “Sharie Kohler” is the pseudonym of Sophie Jordan, which adds FIRELIGHT to my list as well!). I loved Kohler’s take on the werewolf transition, human DNA dying and being supplanted by the lycan strain, and the ending of this short story was completely unexpected. In between that beginning and ending, there’s lots of “mindless attraction” (as well as the more sweet, emotional variety) to keep things spicy. 4/5 bats
Sexual Content: All three of these short stories have explicit sex scenes.
My Rating:
3/5
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Also reviewed by:
*This title will be released on September 7, 2010*
A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.
Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.
Book 1 in The Firelight Series
Sophie Jordan’s FIRELIGHT is about to do for dragons what Stephenie Meyer did for vampires. Dragons don’t get a lot of love in the paranormal YA genre (Carrie Vaughn’s recent Voices of Dragons is a rare exception) and I’m only just beginning to understand what a shame that is.
Jacinda is a draki, an evolved dragon who has the ability to Demanifest and appear human. Amongst her cult-like Pride, she is the only known fire draki, prized and guarded for a future she doesn’t want but cannot escape. When she steals a moment of freedom and comes face to face with a draki hunter, her mother seizes the opportunity to flee with Jacinda and her twin sister in order give them a chance at a new life. In the human world. In high school.
Torn between a life amongst the controlling draki and one where her mother is forcing her to abandon that part of her forever, Jacinda begins to shut down. The metaphor of her draki self forced to remain hidden underneath her human skin coupled with the discomfort and alienation she feels from most of her peers is one that every teenager can relate to. And when her draki begins to whither inside her, it made perfect sense to me that Jacinda would be drawn to the one guy who brought that hidden part of her to life: Will, the hunter who saved her life.
The relationship between Jacinda and Will in FIRELIGHT reminded me a lot of the early relationship between Buffy and Angel except in the reverse where he is the hunter and she is the enemy. They are drawn to each other despite knowing that their families are mortal enemies. Their forbidden meetings, stolen kisses, and very real fear of discovery was a delicious drug that hooked me from the first chapter.
The FIRELIGHT mythology, while not as explored as I would have liked (I’m very curious to learn more about the nefarious enkros), was vivid and creative. The draki are broken in up by various talents from the common Verda draki (plants/herbs) to the rare Shader (mist)draki. I’m hoping that more will be divulged about the Pride in subsequent books.
The only bad thing about FIRELIGHT is the ending. The cliffhanger is a killer! I know that Sophie is planning more books in this series (see the video below) but so far info is scarce. For my sanity and yours, I hope we get a sequel very, very soon.
Sexual Content: Kissing.
My Rating (out of 5):
Click HERE to read an excerpt from FIRELIGHT
Previous books in the series:
Reading level: Young Adult *Disclosure: I received this book courtesy of HarperTEEN
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