Hallowed (Guardian #3) by Samantha Long

I got a copy of the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

In the third and final book of the Guardian trilogy Sophie and her friends head out to demon realm to defeat Akeldama once and for all. But what is expecting them in there was quite unexpected to me. And I loved that. There are a few surprising things but I do not want to spoil too much - friends, or at least some sort of allies, reuniions and what not.
I loved Sophie in this book. She was brave, smart and very much the kind of heroine I like. Can't say the same for Tristan. He have been unreliable if you ask me and I have no idea how Sophie could still have any trust in him after he abandoned her to deal on her own not once, but twice. This is absolutely not the kind of a guy I will count on. I pretty much like Lily too, but can't say she is a favorite of mine. Think she have been missing too long and even in this book I didn't really saw much of her. Mostly I hardly felt her as Sophie's best friend. Morgan had a lot more character to her for example.
For the rest of the characters I can hardly say much. They were nice, but at some point I was feeling confused who is who and what his role in the team is, they were just too many of them.
I also wished that the ending was a bit longer. It felt rushed and not really that much of a culmination of a long fight as I expected it to be. Some of their previous adventures to get to that point were a lot better developed.
Altogether I liked the book and the trilogy a lot. I value high the fact that I am not able to guess half way in, how the things will happen. Will gladly read any sequels or spin-offs if the author ever write one.

Phoenix Rising by Heather R. Blair

I got this book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

Obviously I expected more. The summary sounded absolutely captivating and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the story. But... even if the plot was interesting, it wasn't really developed. The potential was there for sure, but got lost in meaningless sex scenes. The book is 86 pages long only and in 50 of them the main characters are either remembering how they have had sex, have sex or imagine to have sex.  The romance got lost too. For the same reason. We barely saw the characters have other interaction but sex. The only thing that came to mind to them when thinking of each other was sex and hurt. Nothing bad with that, it's just not love, it's pure lust. Or maybe it's just me, because I do not necessary connect sex with love. Love for me is in the time spent together - talking, joking, little things you remember about the other like how they like their coffee or tea, how they prefer to sleep and so on.  Things that weren't there.

Now enough of what I didn't like in the story. What I did like? First, the plot(as much as it was there) was actually good. Would have appreciated if they haven't figured out who the killer is so fast but the idea was good. Second, I loved Kelsey. Mostly because she didn't play the damsel in distress and waited for someone to save her. She is strong, she is smart and she knows it. She doesn't let herself be brainwashed and manipulated. I would love to see more of her and also more of Jules. Really hope next installments concentrate more on the plot than on the sex and will surely read them. Best part of the book - Miles' "No, I thought I will give her time to save herself." 

Taker(The Final Deity #2) by Patrick Wong

I was given the book free from the author in exchange of an honest review(Thank you, Mr. Wong!). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

First I will say I really liked the book. And Nicole is still in top 10 of my all time favorite main heroines. She proved herself as a smart girl in the first book and for most part kept that reputation in the second too. The situation on the plane was fast paced and really spiced up the book, mostly I liked the way Nicole and her friends dealt with it.

A few things that put me back thought. First, the book started exactly where Balancer left off, which was good as I hate wondering what happened in the mean time, but I would have appreciated a bit of a introduction. It have been a while since I read Balancer and 20-30 pages into Taker I had to leave it down and go back to the first book, because... yeah, who was Drake(for example)? And as I mentioned Drake, I will admit he was a nice guy, brave and... forgettable. Amy and Ben were a lot more memorable in my opinion, they had more character in them. I really felt for Amy when she was grieving. 

Another thing that bugged me a bit was how easy team Balancer trusted the professor down in the well. I know Ben vouched for him, but still I think they decided to go with him waaaay too easy. At this point I was thinking Nicole will be a lot more careful and maybe even a bit paranoid.

And one more thing - Nicole believed DuBois too easily, without questions. I sort of expected from a smart girl like her to doubt him a bit and think of options or possible consequences.

Agent Bishop is steadily on the path of becoming a favorite of mine too. He is smart and a man of action. Think he is someone worth having as a friend and dangerous to have as an enemy.

Now about the new hero in the book - Jason. I will admit I am not a big fan of instant love, but even I fell for him the moment I first met him. He is kind, brave and I didn't forget about him till he reappeared. His past remained a mystery thought and I would really love to know a bit more of him.

Overall the book was a very good read and I am wondering if there will be a next one. There were some answers offered in it, but still a few questions remained open. I am curious, very, very curious....

First Year (The Black Mage#1) by by Rachel E. Carter

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review might contain spoilers.

Rating 9 of 10

4am, not even 24 hours after I recieved the book and 9 hours after I started it - I am done. After a busy day at work, spending the whole night reading wasn't really what I had in mind, but.... I just couldn't leave that book down.What could I say more? It's captivating, dynamic, a real page turner, something I absolutely didn't expect when I signed up for it. Nice characters, should I say - mostly believable, even thought it's a fantasy book and you might often expect perfect heroes and perfect villains. Not that there isn't heroes in the book, they are just not perfect and I liked it. After all we all have our flaws and doubts.

Ryiah made it to my personal top 10 of main heroines. She strong-willed, passionate, stubborn, smart, friendly, loyal and altogether very likable. And as I already said - not perfect. Which makes her even more likable. She struggles, she fights, she fails, she stumbles, she falls ... but she doesn't give up and keeps going. I am definitely Ryiah fan.

Darren... the dark, mysterious prince. Friend or foe? Well made character and I would love see more of him. Extremely curious to learn more about his past, his relationship with his brother and why he decided to get betrothed....

Ella is sweet. The kind of friend we all wish about - kind, thoughtful, helping. Alec grew on me too. And I think I might like Ruth too if I see more of her.

What I would have liked to see more thought is world building. We get thrown  in directly into the story and we get bits and pieces of how Ryiah's world functions, but at then end of the book I still had no clear idea about it.

Overall, great read. I am already eager to see what happens next and can recommend it to everyone who likes fantasy books. 

Reckless by Jessica Miller (Wanderers #4)

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review may contain spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

I will admit I struggled reading the book. So... 5 stars for the plot, because I really liked the main idea in the book and 1 star for Josie - she sooo made my day. Let's start with what I liked in the book first.

The plot - demon possessions, power-hungry witches, old lovers, nothing sounds too original but somehow it all worked for me and made me wonder "what happens next?". And that's what kept me reading even thought there were times when I wanted to trow it out and say "I am done".And for that same reason I will most probably be reading the next book too. Come to think of it... I already can't wait for it.

I also liked how the book started. Ella was struggling with the fact she had killed someone and that was okay. If we had seen more of that by the end of the book - things would have been nice. And Josie telling Ella that she is selfish? I soooo wanted to read that from book 1. Absolutely made my day.

Josie and Billy's love story... sweet. I really like seeing these two together. They have a dynamic in them that I still haven't seen in any other couple in the series.

And we are to a point where things went down.... Ella, who at book 3 finally acted her age, went back to the hormonal teenager from book 1 - she couldn't make up her mind on anything, got moody and selfish and everyone was pitting her for having so much to deal with. Yeah, right, she wasn't dealing with anything - the only thing she did for 90% of the book was making out and have sex with Tristan(or thinking for Tristan). Which sort of was my biggest problem with the book, because the entire time it was like the real big problems were secondary to Ella's sexual life. A bit annoying for me. And we practically saw close to nothing from Roman. He was the one possessed but they didn't even kept an eye on him. Oh, and have I mentioned how much I dislike Tristan? He is annoying, self-obsessed, believes sex is the answer in every situation and he has the ability to bring out the worst of Ella. No idea what she sees in him but good looks.

Overall, bad balance in between a good plot and Ella's emotional struggles.  I hope that next books will be better on that part because I really want to know what will happen next.

Earth Power by Adam J. Black

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

I had some really good time reading that book. It's fast paced and intriguing. My favorite for sure was Doctor Dee. He believed he can beat the monster so he did. Hilarious!
Sam and Raphael make a good team. I like the fact that they are so different but respect and understand each other. They work well together.
I liked Gemini. She is real sweetheart and I would have loved to see more of her. Why she is putting up with Raphael thought, is beyond me. Still she can stood her ground when needed and I really hope we see her in next installments.
Denny is also a nice character. Not sure what her role will be in the future thought. I am curious how she will develop.
The plot was very interesting to me and I especially enjoyed the humor here and there. A bit more background on the characters and some more development would have been nice thought. How did Raphael became so sensitive for example? Training? What, when, where... And his back story with Riley is left absolute mystery too. Altogether I would really love to see what happens next. My curiosity about what Riley's game is, has no end.  

Alex's Destiny (Defender's Blood #1) by A.K. Michaels

I got the book free of charge in exchange for an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

I liked the book. A lot actually. It was sooo not what I expected and in a very good way. Alexina for me was a very nice heroine.She is a woman in mid thirties and seems to know her place in the world. The fact that her world got shaken the core is another matter. She still manages to find her place in it. Alex is what i really like in main heroine - a fighter. She doesn't give up.
I liked Zach too. The strong, scary warrior found his match. Think there is more too see, thought. Or at least I hope so.
The other couples in the book I really found cute too. All of them - Tadius and Tatyana, Vlad and Irina, Duncan and Margaret...
What I didn't like in the book.... First - too much sex. it wasn't needed for ll of it to be so descriptive. At some points it seemed like it was put to feel space. More of Alex training would have been better. Other thing I didn't like much was the whole insta love. I get that they were made for each other but still... Would have been nice to see that relationship growing a bit. The last thing I expected more of was the whole Amelia situation. It was resolved too quickly.
Overal, very nice read. Believable characters, not many things unexpected but enough and pretty sweet. The surprise at the end wasn't such a big surprise for me actually, but I think is a nice way to lead us to the next book. I can't wait to get it.