[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Eternal Captive

Laura Wright Born and raised in Minnesota, Laura didn’t start out as a reader or a writer until after high school.  She was heavily into theater, song, dance, commercials, and… boys.  She was smitten by romance, but had never read a romance novel until her late teens.  She can still remember the day she read her first Jude Deveraux novel.  She couldn’t put it down, and afterwards, went straight to the library to get another, and another, until she’d consumed everything that Jude had written.  After Deveraux it was McNaught, Howard, Schone, Kleypas, and the Silhouette line, Desire.  She instantly loved the emotional, sexy reads - so much so that she began to carve out ideas for her own stories – themes that were unique to her and that moved her personally. 

In 1997 she enrolled in UCLA extension writing classes, met her mentor and critique partners, and has never stopped writing since.  She was committed then, and still is; the need to tell her own romantic tales a full on obsession.  Her first manuscript was rejected, and though the second one was as well, the editor who rejected it wanted to see more.  She had more and sent them in right away.  The day she got the call telling her that Desire wanted to buy “Cinderella and the Playboy” was the best day of her life – UNTIL she married her husband and had her beautiful children. 

Eternal Captive, Mark of the Vampire Book #3

Author:  Laura Wright

Synopsis:  Since feeding her his blood, Lucian Roman has struggled with his obsession with Bronwyn Kettler-fighting an uncontrollable desire to kill her, if he has to, and the vampire she has sworn to wed. But when a dangerous enemy threatens Bronwyn, only Lucian can save her life. Even if it means sacrificing his own...
Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:

From the moment I picked up Eternal Hunger, Mark of the Vampire became one of my favorite paranormal romance series.  Laura writes with such passion, such intensity, it’s hard not to be drawn in immediately. 

After reading Eternal Kiss I knew that this series was destined not only to be great, but really and truly special and I couldn’t wait for Eternal Blood and Eternal Captive.

After devouring Eternal Blood,  I was lucky enough to receive an Advance Reading Copy of Eternal Captive, book #3 of the series, from Laura and put aside all other reading to dig in...

In a word, Eternal Captive was incredible!  I’m not sure there are enough positive adjectives in the English language to describe everything this book has to offer, but let me try a few: 

• It was completely riveting and captivating.  From the first page Laura hooks you as a reader, especially if you’ve invested in the 2 ½ installments prior to EC, and it doesn’t let go… ever, because after the last page, you STILL want more.
• It was thoroughly sensual.  All Laura Wright fans know that Laura packs the heat, but this book was downright scorching.  Take Laura’s sexy, sultry narrative coupled with Luca’s smart-ass nature and you have one hell of a combo.
• It was insanely action-packed and thrilling.  The series plotline of Mark of the Vampire has been exhilarating the entire way with the Romans fight against the Order, their internal struggles with themselves and within their small family, etc, but this installment was so intense I literally felt myself holding my breath at times.
• It was all together intriguing and intense.  The twists and turns, the secrets revealed, the continual flow of story and evolution of character… all made for one heck of a ride.

This book gave so much to me as a reader it’s really hard to write a proper review for it because a) I feel like I’m not doing it justice, and b) I can’t tell you anything without spoiling it, so let me just say that this book was everything I wanted and more, and recommend it and its 2 ½ predecessors to EVERYONE..

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Eternal Captive 5 Skulls and suggests that everyone go and pick up this book the instant it is released!  If you haven’t already taken the time to read Eternal Hunger, Eternal Kiss, and Eternal Blood you have a little time before Eternal Captive hits your mailbox or eReader.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Eternal Captive:

[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Demons of Granite Rock

Kara Lee Lovell won the Quill and Scroll award for her published poetry garnering her a scholarship to Ricks College in English.  She grey up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and lives there still with her three children, son-in-law, granddaughter, and husband

Demons of Granite Rock

Author:  Kara Lee Lovell

Synopsis:  Barker and his minions have taken over the small town of Granite Rock, Utah and the founder’s are in danger of more than just losing their town. Emily Stewart, one of the founder’s daughter’s goes undercover trying to destroy the threat that has taken over. But Barker begins to suspect her and closes in. That’s when J.C., the mystical ghost leader calls me in—however, I’m no ordinary ghost. I’m brave. I’m strong…. But I’m a little crazy and I have my own demons to conquer. I don’t know there are worse things than my voices—demons of the mind. Even my betrayed past, my inability to trust is nothing compared to what is residing in Granite Rock. These are demons you can slather with jelly and they will still taste foul. I am about to find there are things… things that go slithery-kerthumpity bump in the night and things that suck your soul dry during the day. And there is also the girl, Emily, who needs my help. For her I will do anything, stand up to anything, brave anything. So, again and again I try to defeat the evil Barker but he’s a demon and he seems to be able to best even a ghost. Can I learn to trust? Should I let my own demons take over my mind to save Emily, the founder’s, and the town? And will my demons release me when it’s over?
Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:

Kara Lee Lovell’s debut book, Demons of Granite Rock, was a wonderful surprise.

A thriller full of beautiful riddles and purposeful vagueness in the prose, it had me hanging on every word to see what would come about.

Mark is ‘the ghost’.  He’s an enigma.  A bipolar consultant for the even more mysterious J.C, whose sole purpose is “the job”. 

Granite Rock, Utah is “the job”.  A small town in the  middle of nowhere, founded by 2 sisters, it is now overrun by a cult mentality community.  Mark’s job is to fix it, along with the rift that has torn the sisters apart.

While attempting to do just that, Mark encounters more than he ever bargained for.  The town isn’t being overcome by a cult, it’s being possessed by demons, and the innocent are being destroyed one by one.

Demons of Granite Rock isn’t just a horror/thriller.  It’s a peek into the human psyche, an instruction on trust, a dissection of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, and a test of faith.  It’s a mysterious foray into the life of ‘the ghost’, the founding families of Granite Rock, Utah, and the greater good. 

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Demons of Granite Rock 3 1/2 Skulls and would recommend it for anyone who is looking for an up-and-coming author with small similarities to early/mid-career  Stephen King and Dean Koontz, or anyone who wants a thriller with diverse layers and action.

For the sake of completeness I have to mention that there are some editing issues in this first release of Demons of Granite Rock, but I firmly believe that if you go into it knowing that, you can overlook them for the sake of the story.

I think Kara has a winner with her debut novel.  I’m interested to see what she comes up with for us next. 

Demons of Granite Rock:



[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Eternal Blood

 

Laura Wright Born and raised in Minnesota, Laura didn’t start out as a reader or a writer until after high school.  She was heavily into theater, song, dance, commercials, and… boys.  She was smitten by romance, but had never read a romance novel until her late teens.  She can still remember the day she read her first Jude Deveraux novel.  She couldn’t put it down, and afterwards, went straight to the library to get another, and another, until she’d consumed everything that Jude had written.  After Deveraux it was McNaught, Howard, Schone, Kleypas, and the Silhouette line, Desire.  She instantly loved the emotional, sexy reads - so much so that she began to carve out ideas for her own stories – themes that were unique to her and that moved her personally. 

In 1997 she enrolled in UCLA extension writing classes, met her mentor and critique partners, and has never stopped writing since.  She was committed then, and still is; the need to tell her own romantic tales a full on obsession.  Her first manuscript was rejected, and though the second one was as well, the editor who rejected it wanted to see more.  She had more and sent them in right away.  The day she got the call telling her that Desire wanted to buy “Cinderella and the Playboy” was the best day of her life – UNTIL she married her husband and had her beautiful children. 

Eternal Blood, Book #2.5 of the Mark of the Vampire series

Author:  Laura Wright

Synopsis:  An Original Mark of the Vampire Novella

Gray Donahue is crippled by the guilt he feels for his father’s death. An Impure vampire cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of others, he indulges in blood and sex to stave off the pain of his existence. He is then abducted by the Eternal Order of Vampires, who subject him to a nightmarish ritual. But when he is rescued by the icy pureblood vampire Dillon, he finds something that is worth living for, dying for, killing for….
Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:
I adore Mark of the Vampire.  It’s no secret.  Having this eSpecial was just what I needed to tide me over until the release of Lucian’s book, Eternal Captive, in February.  What I didn’t expect was for this novella to be so explosive.
Eternal Blood throws the reader into the mind and life of Gray just as he’s starting his work with the Impures for the cause.  After an unusual twist of Events that literally had me gasping, Dillon comes to the rescue and we’re treated to the sarcastic banter that we’ve come to love from these 2 characters, only more intense because there is loads of sexual chemistry. 
Laura definitely knows her stuff!  It was hot, action packed, and dramatic and left you wanting so much more; in short, an amazing teaser and nibble to hold us over until Eternal Captive in February.

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Eternal Blood 5 skulls and recommends it for all Mark of the Vampire fans!  If you haven’t picked up Laura’s Mark of the Vampire series yet we highly suggest that you shuffle it to the top of your TBR list ASAP and get reading, because there is a doozy of a book coming next month!    

Eternal Blood:

 

[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Third Grave Dead Ahead

Darynda Jones would pick up a pencil and paper and scribble nonsense on it even when she was a toddler, asking her mother to read her literary genius aloud.  Soon after, she started writing plays for the neighborhood kids, making up stories for her brother, and creating age inappropriate fantastical stories for Barbie and Ken to enact.  In high school she almost finished her first manuscript, and even then, was dabbling in romance and the paranormal. 

Darynda took a break from actively writing for several years, wherein she got married, had a couple children, graduated Summa cum Laude from UNM and got a job as a teacher and sign language translator.  She missed writing though, and started up again in 2002 with the goal of getting a publishing contract securely in her mind’s eye.  After 3 complete manuscripts, she finally landed an agent, a three book deal, and won the 2009 Golden Heart award for Best Paranormal Romance in 2009.

Third Grave Dead Ahead, Book #3 of the Charley Davidson series

Author:  Darynda Jones

Synopsis:  Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer.

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him.

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.
Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:

I’m a Darynda Jones groupie.  A Charley Davidson fangirl.  I’m not afraid to admit it!  I loved the first two books in this series, and when I was lucky enough to get an ARC from Darynda’s publisher for Third Grave, I was giddy. 

Like the first two books of the series, the novel was a smart, sexy, sassy, sophisticated breath of fresh air and utterly fantastic from start to finish!  I was literally laughing out loud 2 pages into this book.

As usual, our heroine, Charley Davidson, grim reaper and private investigator extraordinaire gets herself into bind after bind without even trying.  Add in the fact that she’s been awake for over 2 weeks straight and she’s more of a hot mess than usual.    

Reyes starts out this book incredibly angry with Charley for what she did to him in Second Grave on the Left.  They can’t ignore their attraction though, and he can’t stop from being there when she needs him regardless. 

Also as usual, the supporting characters are fabulous.  I especially love Cookie in this book.  I’ve loved her all along, but she’s grown and I feel like we as readers have grown with her. 

Aside from the incredible dialogue, intense action, and remarkable characters, the mystery of the storyline was genius.  I’ve loved each plot along the series so far, but this one, with all of its different twists and turns may have been my favorite to date.

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Second Grave Dead Ahead  5 Skulls, and would recommend it to everyone!    

Another phenomenal read by Ms. Darynda Jones.  Please don’t stop… we need more!

Third Grave Dead Ahead:

[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale

 

Christine Warren Born and raised in coastal New England, Christine Warren lived in the South and the Mid-Atlantic before hopping to the other side of the country to take up the life of a transplant in the Pacific Northwest. She completely bypassed those states in the middle due to her landlocking phobia. Hmm, need to research a scientific term for that...

When not scrambling frantically to complete her latest writing project, Christine spends most of her time as a crazy animal lady, hanging out with her dog Levi (he’s the one with the hair) and pretending to train him to have some manners. She also hangs out with her horse, Cal—a thoroughbred with a craving for strawberry licorice twists—her goddog, Merlin; and her best friend, fellow author Hannah Murray. In addition to playing with her pets, Christine’s hobbies include identifying dog breeds from photos of their underbellies, appreciating fine and not-so-fine wines, shopping for the perfect pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, and most of all reading things someone else had to agonize over.

 Not your Ordinary Faerie Tale, Book #12 of the Others series

Author:  Christine Warren

Synopsis:   
After her two best friends marry a blood-sucking vampire and furry-faced werewolf, Corinne D’Alessandro is making a vow of her own: NO interspecies dating. But when her editor asks her to investigate “leprechaun” sightings, the sassy New York reporter finds herself on the trail of the hottest story of the year—and the sexiest man alive…
His  name is Luc, and he’s as gorgeous as any Prince Charming in any bedtime story. There’s just one problem: He’s not human, he’s fae. A captain of the Fae Queen’s Guard, Luc is on a dangerous mission—and he could use the help of a certain leprechaun-hunting reporter. But when their two worlds collide, the sparks begin to fly. If Corinne and Luc can’t control their lust—and focus on the villains in this story—their faerie-tale romance won’t end happily ever after…

Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:
This book came up in my Amazon recommendations list.  I snatched it up because it looked good, only to read it and find that it was the best Fae book I had ever read. 
Christine Warren is an amazing story teller.  Her characters are witty, strong, independent, and identifiable and her story is well crafted and fluid.
I found out after starting this book that it is actually the 12^th of the Others series, but I wasn’t lost at all (though I did read somewhere that this was actually a rewrite of a story done with Ellora’s Cave and therefore was more standalone than the other of the series). 
Corinne is a reporter with multiple friends who have become involved with or married members of the supernatural community.  She has basically sworn that while she loves them, she will never be one to date outside of her species. 
Luc is the captain of the guard for Queen Mab of the Summer Court.  He is sent to the human realm to find and bring home the queen’s nephew, Seoc, before he can cause too much trouble and spill the secret of the Others. 
The minute Luc sees Corinne he feels something he has never felt before, and 1 touch is all it takes for him to know that it’s more than just idle attraction.  Once some things are brought to light, Luc can no longer deny that Corinne is his heartmate and he knows that he’ll do anything to keep her by his side.
Corinne plays coy and puts on a good poker face, but she can’t deny the feelings that Luc imparts.  After teaming up to find Seoc together, thus getting her story for her boss, keeping her friends safe and helping Luc with his mission, one things leads to another and she is helpless to do anything but feel.

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Not your Ordinary Faerie Tale 5 skulls and would recommend it to everyone – Paranormal Romance lovers, Urban Fantasy readers, and anyone who likes strong, witty female leads, sexy, alpha, sensitive male leads, and a story with just enough twists and turns to keep you engaged from the 1^st to the last page.

Not your Ordinary Faerie Tale: