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Book Review: Bride

Rating: 4 stars

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast-again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans she has been called upon to uphold an historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange. Again . . .

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was . . .

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory . . . alone with the wolf.

As I’ve never read a book by Ali Hazelwood before, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Bride. However, I enjoyed reading this book immensely. I enjoyed learning about the world surrounding the characters in the story, especially learning about the dynamics between vampyres and werewolves. It was interesting to see how they would initially interact with each other. I also enjoyed this aspect of the story because I love reading fantasy. It’s one of my favorite genres to read because I enjoy getting to learn more about the world the characters live in and seeing stories told from the perspective of supernatural characters.    

I also enjoyed the overall plot surrounding Misery’s attempts at finding her missing best friend Serena. I found myself sympathizing with her as I wanted her to find her best friend and loved seeing her and Lowe work together to learn more about what was going on. What I also enjoyed about the plot was seeing the dynamics between Lowe and the other werewolves who were in his pack. It was interesting to see how werewolves function in this world, and I loved seeing Lowe explaining things to Misery so that she could understand what was going on.

If there was one aspect of  Bride that didn’t work as well for me, it was the relationship between Misery and Lowe. Werewolves and vampyres are described as being enemies in this book, yet I didn’t feel like Misery’s experience with the werewolves in Lowe’s pack was all that terrible. Even Lowe didn’t treat her all that terribly like I was expecting once they were married. So this book being described as enemies to lovers didn’t feel accurate to me because these two didn’t act like enemies to me at all. Also, while I enjoy Misery and Lowe’s characters, their romance in this book sometimes felt awkward to me. Not with every interaction, but anytime the two of them were being intimate with each other, it felt extremely awkward to read. That’s not to say I didn’t feel a connection between them or anything, but I felt like it was rushed with no time for either of them to truly get to know each other enough to get through the awkwardness that I sensed in their relationship.

Overall though, Bride was enjoyable to read. I enjoyed the story and found myself continuing to read to find out what happened next, enjoying the characters and the world they live in and learning more about the supernatural characters that made up this world. I just wish the story had fully delivered on the enemies-to-lovers premise and that the intimacy between Lowe and Misery wasn’t so awkward to read.  

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Book Review: Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary #4)

Rating: 4 stars

Freedom never tasted so bitter.

A stolen love. A strangled curse. A heart of sin. And a fate touched in moonlight.

My men weave a tangled web around my soul, and I’ve formed a pack that will go to death and back for me.

The moon hangs low over my heart as the call of the endless sky draws me closer and I find myself lost in the abyss that was waiting for me out here.

Fate has left a bitter taste on my tongue, the haunting echoes of the past mocking me at every turn. But I’m not a pup anymore. And I won’t let another ten years pass without mending the rift in my heart.

Darkness draws near enough to devour me but I have forged a pack of wild creatures at my back and I won’t be pulled into the grip of despair.

I’ll find the stars in this endless night and force them to hear me howl.

I am Rosalie Oscura and I will claim my happy ending, even if I have to claw it from the hands of destiny itself.

This is the final installment in the Darkmore Penitentiary series.

This series is set in the world of Solaria five years after Zodiac Academy and ten years after Dark Fae and book one was previously published as Darkmore Penitentiary. There is some character crossover but all series can be read independent of each other without spoilers. The female lead will end up with more than one love interest.

I reread the previous books in this series before I read this last book, Wild Wolf since it had been a while since I had picked up the Darkmore Penitentiary series. And I’m glad I did as this book does a wonderful job of bringing you back into the world of its characters and the story told within its pages. Like with its predecessors, this book didn’t disappoint as it was a good way to end this series that I had come to enjoy.

What I enjoyed about reading Wild Wolf is that there was quite a bit of character development between all of the guys Rosalie cared about. I felt like they were all starting to get along once they were out of the prison, like they finally understood why Rosalie cared about each of them. I felt like I saw this through all of the guys working together to help Roary with what he was going through and then once again when they all fought together against the main antagonists. I especially enjoyed seeing Cain and Roary develop a good relationship with each other as the book went on because I wasn’t expecting it, so it was nice to see. I also enjoyed the connection between Sin Wilder and some of the characters from Zodiac Academy as it was a twist in his character that I wasn’t expecting but was happy to see as I felt like Sin deserved to find out where he came from and I’m glad that was included here.

I also enjoyed seeing the connection between Cain’s past and Zodiac Academy concerning the main antagonists involved. It made me feel like with this last book in the series, the authors were connecting all of these series together that are set in Solaria, and I enjoyed it immensely. I will say though that I was disappointed in how easily the antagonists are defeated here because I was expecting more of a fight than what ends up happening. But I am glad with how things turn out in this book.

What I also enjoyed with Wild Wolf was the story itself. I was curious to find out what would happen once they got out of prison and this book didn’t disappoint. Yes, what happens to Roary is terrible and I wish it didn’t have to happen after everything he had already been through in these books. But at the same time, I’m glad it did because it brought all of the characters together when I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen. I also felt like there were a lot of good moments in this book with these characters that made this book even more enjoyable for me to read and I was glad that I decided to finish reading this series.

If I had to choose anything with regards to Wild Wolf that I didn’t particularly enjoy it would have to be with how Hastings’ character is portrayed. I initially liked his character in this series but didn’t like that his character was in this book to provide comedic relief. Especially because I felt like his chapters weren’t necessary as they didn’t add anything to the plot of the story. I felt like he was just in this book as a distraction from what was going on and I feel like nothing he did help Rosalie and the rest of the characters. If anything, I feel bad for him in this series because he gets used by Rosalie while she’s in the prison and then once he leaves the prison, he is used again as a way to distract from what Rosalie and the rest of the characters are going through. Don’t get me wrong, I overall like his character. Just not the way he ends up portrayed in this book like he’s weak and can’t handle doing things on his own.

What I also didn’t enjoy with this book is what Roary goes through as I feel like saving him and helping him get what he’s lost takes over as the main plot of this book. Yes, I enjoyed it because his struggle here results in deeper character development for Cain, Sin, and Ethan. But at the same time, the focus ends up being on saving him with what’s going on versus stopping the antagonists from doing what they did to him to others. And I feel like it doesn’t end up mattering anyway because while he gets what he lost back, he also has something else that none of the other characters in this world have and I feel like it’s never explained what this truly means.

But as a whole, I enjoyed reading Wild Wolf. It was a good last book for this series, and it was nice to see all of the characters working together and to see them all get the happy ending they truly deserve. 

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Book Review: Restless Stars (Zodiac Academy #9)

Rating: 4.5 stars

Orphans. Changelings. Princesses. Queens.

We are all and nothing now, our fate weighed on the scales of the stars and counterbalanced by the forces that oppose us. The shadow of the false king spreads as thick as oil across the kingdom we were born to rule, and none remain untouched by its darkness. Our crowns lay within reach if only we can claim them. All souls are at risk now and when the final battle dawns, a new regime will rise. The time for the true reckoning is upon us and we have proven ourselves as savage as our father, as brutal as our mother, and as wild as the Elements which roar through our veins. We can only hope it is enough. When the last sword strikes the final death in this game of fate and fortune, only one side will be victorious. The Starfall Legion charges at first light. And our destiny rides upon our shoulders as we rush into the end. All hail the True Queens. May our rule last longer than this night.

This is a dark fantasy romance – don’t go expecting a sweet school for magic with friends around every corner. Fae fight for everything they own and Zodiac Academy is a cutthroat school for students aged 18+ where only the strongest prevail. There’s no Dumbledore here to save anyone’s ass and Lionel Acrux will give Voldemort a run for his money in the evil dictator category. So hold onto your stardust (broomsticks not required) and get ready for a bumpy ride.

As sad as I am that this series is now over, I couldn’t be any happier with the way this book turned out. I feel like the authors did a wonderful job in Restless Stars with tying all of the loose ends together, and giving these characters the ending they all deserve.

What I enjoyed about reading this last book in the series was seeing everything come together. I feel like this book gave me everything I needed with this being the last book in the Zodiac Academy series but in a way that made sense. This book also did a wonderful job at pulling at my emotions during certain moments in the story as I was reading just because of how much I was enjoying those moments and the way the characters were acting during them. Any moments in particular that involved the main cast of characters really had me in this book because it was wonderful seeing their love for each other in this book and seeing all of them together.

What I also loved about Restless Stars is seeing justice being served when it comes to Lionel. While at times I felt like this book dragged out too much for this moment to happen, when it finally did I was so happy and relieved because I feel like he got exactly what he deserved. Granted, how quickly it happened wasn’t my favorite, but I did love the end result from it, knowing he’s never going to know any peace because of the choices he made due to his greed for power. It wasn’t completely the end I was hoping for, but I was still happy with it because he was finally gone.

I also personally feel like out of the endings I’ve read in series by these authors, this one hands down is my favorite. All of the main characters get the happy ending they deserve, and it was nice to see it for them. It also felt realistic for these characters as I could very easily imagine it as I was reading it.

If I had to choose anything from Restless Stars I didn’t enjoy it was how much the plot dragged out in the story. While I did overall enjoy the story here, I feel like the middle of the book leading up to the final battle dragged on at times. I know there were some things that needed to happen before the climax of the story took place, but I feel like there were a lot of unnecessary chapters in this book that didn’t add anything to the story being told that made the plot drag for me. Yes, I enjoyed a lot of the sweeter moments when development in relationships took place, but there were some chapters that could’ve been left out because they didn’t add anything more to the story.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading the last book in the Zodiac Academy series, Restless Stars. While I’m sad to have finished a series I’ve enjoyed very much, I’ve already started doing a reread of Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac and will be doing a reread of this series as well which will make finishing this book not as sad to me. As a whole, I highly recommend reading this series for anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, paranormal romance with well-developed characters.   

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my review of Restless Stars! If you enjoyed my review of this book, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below or check out another one of my blog posts.   

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Book Review: Live and Let Lionel (Another Zodiac Academy Novella)

Rating: 4 stars

This is a bonus content novella to celebrate the series coming to a close and contains 100k words of bonus content from the Zodiac Academy Series.

Savage – a short story about Hail and Merissa Vega’s love story

The Shimmering Springs – that night Caleb and Seth did or didn’t kiss…

The moment Geraldine first saw the twins.

Seth on the Moon – one Werewolf’s wanderings on the moon.

Night – that time the twins met the Ruthless Boys – with a never before published chapter!

Orion ‘blue’ alternate POV – BRAND NEW

Orion ‘Fairy Fair’ alternate POV

Darius ‘throne room’ alternate POV

Darius ‘Stars’ alternate POV – BRAND NEW

Featuring the never before seen map of Solaria!

Each chapter is introduced by Lionel Acrux, looking back on how his enemies have thwarted him and how he overcame their insufferable rebellion – BRAND NEW

I know I read several Zodiac Academy novellas last year (see reviews of Origins of An Academy Bullyand the post I did here on The Big A.S.S. Party and Seth on the Moon). So when I heard about this one that released this February, I knew I had to read it. Live and Let Lionel is a novella featuring the narration of everyone’s favorite evil villain in the series, Lionel Acrux as he talks about those rebelling against him and reflects on his own shortcomings during the events leading up to the latest book in the Zodiac Academy series, Sorrow and Starlight. This book is a bonus novella that’s been written in celebration of the series coming to a close with the release of the last book in the series Restless Stars, which is set to release on April 23rd this year.

When I heard about this novella’s release, I was excited to read it for a number of reasons. I was curious to see how Lionel Acrux’s narrative was going to go at the beginning of each of the stories, I was excited to read more Zodiac Academy content, and I was happy to be back in the Zodiac Academy world again.

And let me tell you, Lionel Acrux didn’t disappoint. Hearing his narrative before reading each of these was amusing because of how clueless he was with regards to some of the things going on, including things happening with his own son. While he’s not a bad guy I would ever want to personally cross paths with, he’s very well-written and I enjoyed hearing his thoughts about those thwarting his plans. 

While I’m at the point where I’m ready for the final book in this series to be published, I’m also happy to get any content I can get about the characters in this world. This novella was no exception because I enjoyed reading all of the stories within its pages, even the one I’ve already read before (yes, I’m talking about you Seth on the Moon). It was nice seeing all of these characters again and seeing alternative perspectives from my favorite characters. Some of my favorites just to list a few were the Shimmering Springs, Orion ‘Blue’ Alternative POV, Orion ‘Fairy Fair’ Alternative POV, Darius ‘Throne Room’ Alternative POV, and Seth’s POV of the last chapter in Sorrow and Starlight. I enjoyed each of these stories because they featured several of my favorite characters and loved some of the hilarity that ensued in some of them.

What I didn’t enjoy about Live and Let Lionel with some of the stories is that I feel like I didn’t get enough story with the characters in them. Savage and Night are the ones that come to mind for me the most because while I enjoy the characters in both these stories, I felt like there just wasn’t enough for me. With Savage the issue I had was that I didn’t want to see just the moment that Hail and Melissa Vega’s love story started. I wanted to see what happened following and I don’t mean the stuff I already know from reading the series. I wanted to see their relationship develop into how its portrayed in Beyond the Veil. With Night, my issue is that the meeting between the characters from the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac and the Vega twins felt a little awkward to me. I can’t explain it exactly, but it just felt strange to me, almost like the Vega twins had met the whole group before and was just coming over to hang out with everyone. I think what probably didn’t help was that I couldn’t tell completely when this meeting of these characters was supposed to have taken place during the Zodiac Academy series. I know they had probably already met Dante before at this point because of him being a Dragon shifter and there are little hints regarding events that are in the series that’ve apparently already happened. But otherwise, I couldn’t sense exactly when Tory and Darcy had met them. And that bothered me while I was reading the story because I felt like I needed to know when exactly this meeting had taken place.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading this novella as it was a good way to bring me back into the Zodiac Academy world right before the release of the final book in the series. In fact, it has me contemplating on if I want to read all of the books in the series one final time before the release of Restless Stars, or if I want to wait until this last book has come out and then read the series again from the beginning. Regardless of what I do though, I recommend those who’ve enjoyed reading the Zodiac Academy series and want more content before the final book comes out to read this as I feel like anyone who’s enjoyed the series and wants to read more of this world will enjoy this novella.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my review of Live and Let Lionel! If you enjoyed my review of this book, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below or check out another one of my blog posts.          

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Book Review: Nightshade Trilogy

So I decided with this trilogy since I’ve finished reading all three that I would just do one blog post reviewing all three of them in order and talk about my thoughts on each book. So without any further introductions, below are my reviews of the Nightshade trilogy.

Nightshade (Nightshade #1)

Rating: 3 stars

Calla is the alpha female of a shape-shifting wolf pack. She is destined to marry Ren Laroche, the pack’s alpha male. Together, they would rule their pack together, guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But then, Calla saves a beautiful human boy, who captures her heart. Calla begins to question everything – her fate, her existence, and her world and the orders the Keepers have asked her to follow. She will have to make a choice. But will she follow her heart if it means losing everything, including her own life?

So what I have to say about Nightshade is that I do enjoy it as a whole. However, there are some aspects to this first book in the trilogy that I hated, which is why my rating isn’t quite as high. But before I get into any of that, let me talk about what I like about this book.

I really enjoyed the world building that takes place in this book. You learn there’s packs of wolves, but they are known as Guardians as they were created as protectors of Keepers, the ones who give the Guardians orders and are basically in charge of their lives. In this trilogy, you learn about how the Guardians first came into existence and what their role is in protecting the Keepers. And I really enjoyed it because you get to see how the dynamic plays out between these two groups from Calla’s perspective when she’s attending school. I also enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Calla’s pack, Nightshade and Ren’s pack Banes when the two of them decide to begin the process of getting the packs together before their nuptials. I felt like it gave me as a reader insight into what life with a pack of wolves would look like in these books. I also enjoyed it too honestly because of wolves being my favorite animal and reading a trilogy that has my favorite animal in them.  

I also enjoyed most of the characters in this book. In particular, I enjoyed seeing Calla’s relationship with Shay and Ren as well as the members of the pack. What I enjoyed about her relationship with these two guys was how different they were. So with Shay, you initially believe he’s an outsider to the world Calla has grown up in. However, you quickly realize he actually has a whole lot to do with the world she’s been a part of since birth. You also see Calla do a whole lot of rule breaking when it comes to Shay throughout the book with regards to what she’s allowed to do as a Guardian. From saving Shay’s life in the beginning to reading a book that talks about the true history of the Guardians and Keepers, Calla does a whole lot of things she’s not supposed to since she first meets Shay, things that not only put her pack in jeopardy but if discovered could turn her whole world upside down. Then there’s Ren, the alpha of the Banes and the man Calla has been chosen to marry in order to bring their two packs together. He comes across as confident, a leader and charming. I enjoyed seeing him and Calla’s relationship develop as I felt like I could see how much he truly cares about Calla. I also enjoyed their relationship because I could see the chemistry between the two of them in the interactions they had. What I enjoyed about Calla’s dynamic with the two packs was how well when her and Ren joined them together they all seemed to get along. They worked really well as a team, and I was interested to see how their dynamic would continue to develop.

So with Nightshade what I struggled with when reading was the double standards when it came to Ren and Calla with regards to their relationship. What I mean is that Calla was expected before their wedding to basically save herself for Ren for their wedding day. As a female alpha, she was basically expected to not participate in any intimacy with him before their wedding or anyone. Ren, however, as a male alpha, didn’t have such expectations placed on him. In fact, Calla mentions him having dated several of the girls at their school and that was seen as being okay since he’s an alpha male. And even though Calla is also an alpha, she gets told by her mother in this book that if an alpha male wants something from her, she’s to accept it even if she belongs to another. So even though Calla is supposed to be an alpha to her pack, she’s only one in name. And these double standards played a prominent role through this book so much that I couldn’t give this book a higher rating than 3 stars because I hated them so much. Overall, I enjoyed reading Nightshade though and can’t wait to share my thoughts on the next book in the trilogy, Wolfsbane.

Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2)

Rating: 3 stars

Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she’s certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer–one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack–and the man–she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

What I enjoyed when reading Wolfsbane was the continued world building that Nightshade did a wonderful job of starting the foundation on. In this book, you get the full story behind the Searchers who are seen as the enemies of the Keepers and find out the truth of their role in Calla’s world. We are introduced to their group and get to see their hideout and meet a cast of characters I found I immediately liked. A lot of this book involves explaining what’s going on to Calla so that she and Shay can help the Searchers in their quest, and I was perfectly fine with it because it gave me a wonderful idea of what was going on. I also enjoyed getting to see the Searcher’s hideout and finding out what role each of their members I was introduced to played.  

I also enjoyed how quickly the plot moves in Wolfsbane. After the events in Nightshade, everything in Calla’s world with regards to her pack has completely changed and Calla will need the help of the Searchers in order to rescue her pack and Ren. I enjoyed this plot because Calla and Shay were working with the group of people Calla had once considered her enemies in order to save those she loved. And it was nice to learn more about their world while planning their rescue of Calla’s pack as I felt like I learned a lot about the Searchers here that I didn’t already know.

I will say though that although I did enjoy reading Wolfsbane immensely due to the world building and what I learned about the Searchers, there’s several aspects of the story I wasn’t quite pleased with. Mainly that I felt like I was gaining more insight into Ren’s character without knowing it even though he was largely absent from this book in the trilogy until the end of it. I didn’t like that Ren wasn’t in this book all that much because I found that I didn’t like Shay’s relationship with Calla quite as much as I originally had when reading Nightshade. I think a big part of it was me struggling to see their attraction for each other but also because of how much Shay was actually starting to annoy me. I don’t know if a large part of it is because of him being the Scion and ever since he gets labeled that here, his character doesn’t go through any sort of development or because of how little support he shows in Calla going to save her pack. He basically writes off the members of her pack as being a casualty of war and is annoyed that they are spending any time going to save them, even though most of the members of her pack he has a wonderful relationship with. I know part of it is because of him not wanting Calla to put her life in jeopardy, but I feel like he was being selfish and showing he didn’t care about her pack who she sees as like family to her. And that made me annoyed with him here because I don’t see why he couldn’t have just supported her considering how much she’s done for him since they met. I also feel like what also played a role in me feeling this way is that I don’t think I enjoy insta-love with characters all that much as I don’t feel like you get as much chemistry between the characters in the relationship and you don’t get a full picture as to why they’re attracted to each other, which I feel like became a problem for me when reading this book as I found myself not understanding Calla’s attraction to Shay.  

What I also didn’t enjoy in Wolfsbane was that I felt like a lot of characters get killed off for no reason. I found this happened through out the book when Calla and the Searchers made their rescue attempts of her pack as during both attempts, characters were killed off that I don’t feel like should’ve been. Especially when as the reader you find out one of the characters killed off is related to someone else in the story and that what that character has been told about their parents is a complete lie. I found this character being killed off in particular bothered me because they were never given the chance to get to know/develop a relationship with their child and I feel like this character actually could’ve played a more critical role in the story instead of being introduced in this book and then killed off a little later. Overall though, I did still enjoy reading Wolfsbane despite these two issues I had with it and was excited to see how this trilogy would come to an end in Bloodrose.

Bloodrose (Nightshade #3)

Rating: 3 stars

Calla has always welcomed war.

But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is. In this remarkable final installment of the Nightshade trilogy, international bestselling author Andrea Cremer crafts a dynamic novel with twists and turns that will keep you breathless until its final pages.

As a whole, what I enjoy about Bloodrose is the pacing of the story with the action. I enjoyed how quickly the story moves along as everyone works together to collect all of the pieces of the Cross in the final fight against Bosque Mar. This action kept me engaged in wanting to find out what would happen next in this final installment in the trilogy as I wanted to know how this war would finally end. I also enjoyed the final fight because you get to see everyone working together to take down their enemies and there was a lot of action during it that I enjoyed getting a front row seat to. There are some aspects to the final battle I didn’t enjoy as well, but I’ll get into that a little later here.

What I also enjoyed in this book was Ren’s return. In Wolfsbane, you find out so much about his character even though you don’t see him again until the end of the book when Calla and the Searchers save her pack. And the way things end with him and Calla in that book made me wonder what was going to happen at the beginning of Bloodrose as its predecessor ends with her going to save him and convince him to join her and the Searchers. I also enjoyed seeing him return because you saw a little bit more of his relationship with Calla and you get to see his relationship with Adne begin.

In general, I also enjoyed seeing the relationships between the side characters of the story, particularly Ethan and Sabine and Connor and Adne. I enjoyed both of these relationships because I wasn’t expecting to really read too much about either of them but was happy that Andrea Cremer gave some of the other characters’ relationships that I could read about. I also enjoyed them because while I didn’t particularly care for Sabine too much when I first read Nighshade, once I’m given her backstory, I find myself liking her more and wanting happiness for her in these books. And what she ends up doing at the end for Calla’s brother really warmed me up for her even more because I knew that was probably a tough choice for her to have to make.

Now to get into the aspects of Bloodrose I didn’t enjoy. One aspect of the story I didn’t particularly care for here was the continued love triangle between Calla, Shay, and Ren. Mostly because even though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew who she was going to choose since I started reading this trilogy. I didn’t want to admit it to myself because she still seemed uncertain in this book who she wanted to be with so I found myself hopeful that she might make a different choice. But nope, she chooses the guy I felt like she had the least chemistry with out of the two and then to make things worse, she never tells the other guy that she’s made her decision. She also spends very little time with him in this book as well, which disappointed me because I was looking forward to seeing more of him and their relationship even though I knew she wasn’t going to choose him because I found their chemistry and interactions together so enjoyable to read. And then to make things even worse here, Cremer kills him off during the fighting and very little grief is actually shown by Calla and everyone regarding his death. Also the guy she does end up choosing shows more concern that his competition’s death will change the way Calla feels about him instead of being concerned that Calla is okay. But when he died, I cried because I felt like he wasn’t given a fair shot in this trilogy at all. He went through a lot of development in these books only to end up dead in the end when I felt like he should’ve been given the chance to live. Even if Cremer had him with someone else, I would’ve preferred that happening here over him dying the way he does, not knowing that Calla isn’t going to choose him.

What I also didn’t particularly care for with regards to Bloodrose is how this trilogy ends. I like the full circle aspect of it as once the rift is sealed, the Keeper’s magic can no longer be used for these purposes again and the Guardians will revert to their true selves. But everything else with it I wasn’t too pleased about, mostly because I feel like there’s so many loose ends that don’t get tied up here. One example that comes to mind would be if the rift were to open and Bosque Mar returned. With the way this book ends, Shay would be no help whatsoever here. Also don’t necessarily know what would happen here if that were to happen. Another loose end that doesn’t get tied up is now that the war is over, what the current state of their world is. Because Keepers still see the Searchers as their enemies and the Guardians that weren’t helping out the Searchers would more than likely be confused since they can no longer shift back and forth between forms. I believe some of the Keepers were sucked into the rift along with Bosque Mar but wonder about the ones that weren’t what’s going to happen with them. Also with the Searchers, since they’ve now accomplished their main mission, what will they be doing next. I feel like all of these are valid things that this book didn’t address that I feel like it should’ve and that made me not enjoy the way this book ended and this book in the trilogy overall.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the Nighshade trilogy as a whole, even though there was something in each book in the trilogy I didn’t particularly care for that made me not like the book as much as I wanted. I found each of these books intrigued me enough to continue reading to find out what would happen next, enjoyed seeing the dynamic in the love triangle between Calla, Shay, and Ren until I didn’t, enjoyed the overall story and lore as I felt like there was a lot that happened that interested me and made me fascinated with the world I was reading about and enjoyed getting to know these characters and their story. I know there are other books that the author has written that pertain to this world (a prequel series and what looks like a series that takes place after this trilogy) that I might consider giving a read just because of how much I enjoyed this trilogy. But with the way things ended in Bloodrose, I feel like I need a break from these books right now before I pick up other books by this author in this world.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my review of the Nightshade trilogy! If you enjoyed my review of this trilogy, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Book Review: Feral Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary #3)

Rating: 3 stars

A morte e ritorno. My family’s motto circles in my mind as I look this problem dead on and try to figure it out. I’ve faced worse than this. Survived worse odds than this. I won’t let this failure break me.

We have 72 hours to turn this around. 72 hours to make a new plan out of the dregs of the old. 72 hours until all hope is lost.

This task is impossible, but I still like my chances. I have an ace in my pocket and his name is Mason Cain. He might not want to help me, but I don’t plan on giving him a choice in the matter.

My name is Rosalie Oscura. And I refuse to let anything beat me.

This series is set in the world of Solaria five years after Zodiac Academy and ten years after Dark Fae and book one was previously published as Darkmore Penitentiary. There is some character crossover but all series can be read independent of each other without spoilers. The female lead will end up with more than one love interest.

In comparison to the rest of the books in this series, Feral Wolf felt like a slow read to me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed what I read, but the pacing of it just didn’t fit in to me like its predecessors.

What I did enjoy about this book though was seeing how these characters would now deal with the current obstacle that stood in their way: time. All of Rosalie’s plans to get out of Darkmore Penitentiary were now ruined and time was of the essence if she wanted to get out of the prison along with those who she promised to take with her. And it was interesting to see how all of these characters would come together to make what seemed almost impossible possible.

What I also enjoyed about Feral Wolf was continuing to see Rosalie’s relationships with the guys continue to develop. I was glad to finally see both Ethan and Roary do what they should’ve done when it came to their relationship with Rosalie since the beginning. I also enjoyed seeing her relationships with all of these guys and how they all seemed like they were finally starting to accept that she needed all of them in her life. And I especially enjoyed getting a little more backstory into Cain’s dark past as I feel like we did get some snippets in the previous books, but what gets discovered here I feel like helped me understand his character even better.

While I wasn’t overall a fan of the way this book ends, I knew that there had to be more to what was going on in Psych that was going to play a role in these books. So when the ending takes the turn it does, even though I hate it, I also found myself intrigued by it. I knew that there would be more involved with it than this book originally made me believe. So while I’m overall displeased with the way this book has ended, I’m also intrigued to see where things will go in the next book in this series when it comes out.

However, there is quite a lot about this book that I didn’t enjoy as much as the rest of the books in this series. I love Sin Wilder’s character because he’s very different from the rest of the characters in this series, and I can see how much he cares about Rosalie which is something even he wasn’t expecting. But I feel like I can agree with the rest of the characters in this series in that he doesn’t always make the best decisions that help Rosalie with her plans to help him escape. I feel like there’s something in each of the books in this series so far that he’s done that’s caused her more trouble than its worth. And what he did in this book in comparison to the others I wasn’t at all pleased about. So while I do like his character and he has developed quite a bit since Rosalie first met him, his antics in this book struck a nerve with me more so than the other books in this series. I still love his character though so I’m hoping this is just a fluke for me with regards to this book.

What I also didn’t enjoy in Feral Wolf was the overall pacing of this book. Rosalie and her crew only had a short amount of time to get out of Darkmore Penitentiary. But I felt like most of the book was spent with her and the guys screwing around instead of coming up with another plan to get out of the prison. Yes, I know things were made complicated by what happened in this book so she and everyone else had to figure out how to work around the obstacles that were now in their way. But at the same time, I don’t feel like they moved forward in coming up with a plan until close to the end of the book when things were only getting worse, and they were completely out of time to escape. And that bothered me because it almost felt like she was going to rely on whatever plan their group came up with at the last minute as their overall plan instead of trying to come up with multiple plans beforehand just in case.

I also wasn’t a fan of some of the points of views they decided to include in this book that weren’t in the other two books in this series. I don’t understand why Officer Hastings had to have a couple chapters devoted to his perspective. Yes, I like his character overall in the story, but I feel like he doesn’t play an important role in the story in any way. I see him as a minor character in this series more than anything else. I also didn’t really see the point of having a chapter told from Leon’s perspective either. Yes, I like his character and I know him, and Dante are involved in helping Rosalie and the others escape. But I felt like the chapter we had from him was something we could’ve had during one of Rosalie’s chapters in this book as it didn’t add anything to the story to me from what I could see.

Lastly, I also wasn’t a fan of how this book ended in comparison to the rest of the books in this series. I know I mentioned earlier about being intrigued about what was going on in the Psych unit and that I knew it would definitely play a role in this series. But the character who ends up getting hurt like those in the Psych unit had been makes me sad because I feel like he went through a lot in this book and that he didn’t deserve to go through this too. I also didn’t like the ending because I feel like I know what Rosalie is going to do since things didn’t go at all the way she had hoped. Yes, its interesting because it means there’s more going on in the prison that needs to be resolved. But I feel like the authors could handle it differently too by including more of that aspect of the story into this series instead of giving us little bits of it.

But overall, I did enjoy reading Feral Wolf, the third book in this series. Its not my favorite out of the books in this series, but it left enough for me to continue reading the series to see how things will play out for Rosalie and the guys once the next book is actually released.   

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Book Review: Alpha Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary #2)

Rating: 4 stars

I came here with a single goal in mind. An aim. A purpose. I will break out of Darkmore Penitentiary. But I was a fool to think that it would be so simple.

And now with more and more Fae relying on me to get them out of this slice of hell, I find myself unable to do a damn thing. Mason Cain stabbed me in the back and left me to rot in the dark. So now I have another goal in mind before I escape this place, because no one messes with the Queen of the Oscura Clan and lives to tell the tale. The moment I get out of here, my sights will be set on him.

Between the four alpha males luring me in, the psychopaths trying to kill me and the monster roaming the halls at night, I have my hands full in here.

But one thing is for sure. I’m not throwing my life away in this place. So I’ll do whatever it takes to escape.

This is a dark, hot paranormal romance series where the main character will end up with more than one male love interest. The series is set in the same world as Zodiac Academy and Dark Fae, with some character cross-over but each series can be read without having read the other series.

Alpha Wolf was quite the read from beginning to end. It kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next with Rosalie and the rest of the characters in this series. With the way this book started out due to how Caged Wolf ended, I was interested to see how Rosalie would get herself out of the predicament she found herself in.

What I was also interested in seeing with this book was how her plan to escape this prison would come together. In some aspects, the story itself moved along slowly, such as with the character development of some of Rosalie’s love interests. The guys that come to mind for me who had slower character development are Ethan and Roary, both of whom I feel like are in denial about their feelings towards her. There are certain points in this series where they admit their feelings, but they both seem to act so stubborn and hard headed about letting her know the truth about how they feel about her almost to the detriment of their relationship with her. In others, such as her plans to escape Darkmore Penitentiary, the story moved along quicker than I expected. I know some time was lost for her because of how events transpired in Caged Wolf, but I feel like things came together almost too quickly by the time she decided it was time to make her plans come to fruition. To where I was almost not at all surprised by how things transpired even though I was kept on the edge of my seat to see how everything would turn out for them. In comparison to the other series by these authors, I feel like so far the character development in this series is more of a slow burn than Zodiac Academy and Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, but the story moves along at a much quicker pace, which I find myself not minding here as I feel like I’m still learning about these characters without it taking up the entirety of the story.

What I also enjoyed about Alpha Wolf was seeing more of Rosalie’s Moon Wolf abilities. There isn’t much given to us so far in these books about being a Moon Wolf, but every time Rosalie ends up using her abilities, I find myself interested in learning more about them and wanting to see how they affect her and those around her. I was particularly interested in learning more about what she did to Cain and appreciated that he actually looked into what she did and how to try and break it. I know she doesn’t seem to know all that much about her Moon Wolf abilities, I still find them fascinating and hope as this series progresses we find out more about these abilities along with Rosalie.

I also enjoyed reading this book from Cain and Sin’s point of view. What I enjoyed from Cain’s perspective was him finding out what’s going on in Psych to the inmates who get sent down there. I have a feeling that’s going to end up playing a big role in this series even though I don’t particularly know how yet, and I was excited to see Cain actually trusting Rosalie on this and investigating it. And what I enjoyed from reading Sin’s chapters was seeing his relationship with Rosalie continuing to develop. But I also enjoyed seeing his relationship with Ethan in this book because while they aren’t the best of friends, I feel like I’m starting to see a friendship develop between the two of them and I’m completely here for it.

In comparison to Caged Wolf, I actually enjoyed the ending of this book. Yes, I knew Rosalie’s plans to escape weren’t going to go according to plan. But I enjoyed seeing the way they went wrong and how everyone reacted here when things went bad for them. I also enjoyed with the ending seeing everyone coming together to help Rosalie with this escape. Yes, Sin was annoying here in that he actually made things a lot harder for all of them, but him, Roary and Ethan working together to help Rosalie was wonderful and I can’t wait to see more moments like that as this series continues.

If I had to choose a criticism for Alpha Wolf, it would have to be Rosalie’s relationships with Ethan and Roary. So, I overall like both of these characters as I find them both interesting guys and wanting to learn more about them as the series continues. My problem with them with regards to Rosalie is how obvious both these guys like her but keep trying to be in denial of their feelings for her. While I get it as when the chapters are from their perspective, they do a good job explaining their thoughts when it comes to her and their feelings. But I still find myself annoyed with them both because I know how much they both care about her, they are just letting other things get in the way of admitting their feelings. Especially as these are things they both can work through with her instead of letting them ruin what they have with her.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading Alpha Wolf and can’t wait to see what happens in the next book in this series Feral Wolf as I’m sure it won’t disappoint. Even though it’s currently the last book out in this series as the fourth book is yet to be published, I’m still looking forward to reading it.  

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Book Review: Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #2)

Rating: 4 stars

There’s more to my brother’s murder than I realised… Shadows in the halls, mysteries lurking around every corner. Whoever killed him is covering their tracks well. And now I’m walking a dangerous line between getting close to the four kings for information and wanting to crawl deeper under their skin for my own desires. I can’t trust anyone. I can’t let my guard down. And I must keep the urges of my body separate from my heart. But I’m starting to break all of my own rules. I just hope I’m not falling for my brother’s killer.

Savage Fae, the second book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series, was an enjoyable read. It hooked me from beginning to end as I wanted to find out what happened next after its predecessor Dark Fae ended. While I wasn’t too fond of that ending due to the number of questions I had, I feel like we got a little bit more insight into it here once Elise discovered one potential Fae at her school that might be involved with that group. Otherwise, I feel like there’s still more that I feel like is still needing to be uncovered.

What this book did best for me was continue establishing Elise’s relationships with the four guys she believes might be involved in her brother’s death: Leon, Ryder, Dante, and Gabriel. I especially enjoyed seeing her interactions with Leon and Dante in this book and learning more about Ryder’s dark past. I also enjoyed seeing Dante’s point of view in this book especially with the times when he went home to see his family members. Seeing his family dynamic was cool to me as you can see how much he values his family despite being a leader of a gang. I also enjoyed seeing Elise’s interaction with Leon’s family in this book too as we now know that a Lion Shifter’s charisma doesn’t affect her at all, which I find pretty cool.

I continue to find Gareth’s point of view in these books interesting. Especially in this one as Elise is getting close to the guys Gareth himself is developing relationships with. We especially see his relationships with Ryder, Dante and Leon in this book and its interesting seeing how he interacted with them in comparison to Elise. And what he was willing to do to get the debt their mother owed paid off by doing what Ryder and Dante asked of him. Its interesting seeing his interactions with these characters in comparison to Elise as their experiences with them are completely different. And I find myself wondering how things would’ve happened if Elise had met these guys while Gareth was attending Aurora Academy.

In comparison to Dark Fae, I feel like there’s not all that much investigating in Savage Fae when it comes to finding out who killed Gareth. While I don’t mind it just because I’m interested in these characters and seeing how these relationships continue to develop, I feel like her investigating is moving at a very slow pace. I feel like she focuses more in this book on what happened to her at the end of the last book than in even seeing if there’s a connection between it and her brother’s death. While I understand that she’s trying to navigate every clue she does receive, I feel like its moving really slowly and that she’s making very little progress if any at all. In this book, I feel like she’s more focused on her relationships with these guys than doing any investigating. However, I do feel like a little progress is made too at least when it comes to Gabriel since he finds out who she is in this book and seems to be trying to help her find out what happened to her brother. So that’s some progress, though not all that much considering how many pages are in this book.

I did, however, find the ending of this book in comparison to its predecessor interesting as I wasn’t at all expecting it. We know there’s a divide in Dante’s gang between him and his uncle Felix, but I wasn’t expecting to see that play out in some way in this book. But it does and in a most interesting way too, which has me wondering how things will go between Dante and Felix next.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Savage Fae and seeing Elise’s relationships with these guys continue to develop. It was also interesting to see how they differed from her brother’s relationships with them as I continue to learn more about what he was up to during his time at Aurora Academy. Hoping we get to see more plot wise being uncovered regarding Gareth’s death in the books to come though as I continue on with reading Vicious Fae.    

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Book Review: Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #1)

Rating: 4 stars

What do a heartless Dragon Shifter, a cold-blooded Basilisk, an arrogant Lion Shifter and a brooding, tattooed Harpy have in common…? Me. Elise Callisto. Vampire. Angel of vengeance. And a girl on a mission to destroy one of them for murdering my brother. I just don’t know which one did it yet.

When I kicked the ass of a Werewolf who was high on a new and dangerous drug called Killblaze, his final words painted a dark reality for me. The King of Aurora Academy killed my brother. The trouble is, there’s four kings at that school and each of them have motive and cutthroat natures.

Aurora Academy isn’t a place for the faint of heart. To put it lightly, my town is the asshole of Solaria where the dodgiest Fae in the kingdom reside. The school itself is divided by the two gangs who run this town. The Lunar Brotherhood and the Oscura Clan. And guess what? Two of the kings run the gangs at the school, their hatred for each other so fierce I hear a day doesn’t go by without blood being spilled in the halls.

I might be a petite, lilac-haired girl who looks like a fragile doll, but they haven’t been introduced to my fangs yet. And they don’t know why I’m really here. Or that I’ll do whatever it takes to bring down the Fae who took my flesh and blood from me.

I don’t believe in fate, but I do know this… the King who killed my brother is a dead man walking. And I’m prepared to sacrifice my heart, body and soul to ensure I get my revenge . This is a reverse harem series set in the world of Zodiac Academy four years before the Vega Twins were Awakened. Expect some character cross-over, dark and hot romance, and a twisted murder mystery which will leave your head spinning.

Dark Fae is an interesting story told in a world I’m already familiar with that’s mixed with murder, mystery, and intrigue. What I feel like this story does well is the different points of view we get from the characters in this series. I feel like in this book, we get different perspectives that I find interesting to read. Also some that are familiar too since three of the characters in this series were also in the Zodiac Academy series too. What I find interesting about the perspectives we get in this book is that not only did I get to learn more about characters from that series that I was intrigued by when I read those books, but we also get some chapters about events that happened in the past from Gareth, Elise’s brother as well. I find his chapters interesting because we find out what exactly he was up to when attending Aurora Academy and his relationships with the Fae Elise believes are responsible for his death. We get to see his dynamic with the characters Elise is getting close to and get to see what his life was like.

What I also enjoyed when reading this book was seeing the different relationships Elise had with the guys who she suspects might be responsible for her brother’s death. Each of them are so different from each other that its interesting to see her interacting with them and seeing how they each feel about her as well as see what’s going on in their lives in this book. Each of the guys I find intriguing for different reasons, but I find the dynamic at Aurora Academy intriguing as well due to the two gangs that attend the school. I find the gang dynamic at the school interesting because Elise describes the clear division/territories at the school with regards to the gangs. I also find it interesting that if you’re not part of one of the gangs, the leaders will usually try and get you to pick a side even when you make it clear that you have no interest in joining their group.

I also found the two gang leaders themselves interesting as well. You have Ryder Draconis, the leader of the Lunar Brotherhood, who is of the Basilisk Order and has the word pain tattooed on one knuckle and lust tattooed on another. As Elise gets to learn more about him, you discover that there are a lot of dark parts to his past. Then you have the leader of the Oscura Clan, Dante Oscura. He’s a Storm Dragon in a family full of Werewolves and to me, gives off Italian Mafia vibes. He’s also a character that I’m already familiar with due to reading the Zodiac Academy series, which he also makes an appearance in, and is someone in that series I also liked as well and wanted to learn more about. What I found interesting about both of them is seeing their dynamics within their gangs in comparison to how they both act around Elise when she’s around. I also felt like I saw a lot of depth to both of their characters while reading this book as there’s more than meets the eye with both of them but in different ways. And I was invested with each page to learn more.

Another thing I enjoyed about reading Dark Fae is the murder mystery element that’s in this book and Elise’s character. I wanted to learn like she did about what had happened to her brother. And seeing her willing to do whatever it takes to get to the truth of it made me continue reading to find out what would happen next as I know I’m nowhere near close yet to finding out what happened. But with how much I enjoyed reading this book, I’m okay with that as I don’t mind continuing to get lost in the story to see how everything unravels. What I like about Elise is how strong she is despite her brother’s death. Yes, she has some moments where she’s extremely vulnerable, but I feel like those moments from her aren’t common and its understandable since she hasn’t really fully dealt with her brother’s grief.

If I had to choose something with this book to criticize it would have to be the end of this book. Its light in comparison to the books in the Zodiac Academy series, but I felt like I was left with so many questions by it because it felt so unexpected to me. I wasn’t expecting what happened to Elise to happen. It felt like the authors added something plot wise into the story for Elise to want to look into without giving any indication as to how it ties into her brother’s death and that was frustrating to me.  

Overall, I enjoyed reading Dark Fae, the first book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series. Really interesting read with characters I wanted to know more about and told from different perspectives with some familiar faces that I was more than happy to see. Enjoyed getting to learn what happened to Gareth during his time at Aurora Academy and seeing Elise’s dynamic with the guys she believes might be responsible for his death. Also enjoyed learning about how the two gangs operated along with learning more about the gang leaders and seeing Elise’s character continue to develop. Can’t wait to read the next book in this series Savage Fae, to see how the mystery in this series continues to unravel.

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