Review: Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1) by Richelle Mead

Succubus Blues 
(Georgina Kincaid #1)

by Richelle Mead

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid. 

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical? 

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't. 

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

Genre: Adult, Paranormal

Publication Date: March 1st 2007

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

Format: Paperback, 347 pages 

Series: yes

Source: bought


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My Review

For some reason I thought I would dislike this book immensely, and so it took me forever to finally start it. But, just as these things go, it was love from the first page. LOL.

Georgina Kincaid is a manager at a local bookstore, she has a thing for white chocolate mochas, she absolutely adores the ground the author Seth Mortensen walks on and, last, but not least, she is a Succubus. She has to take sexual energy from human males to survive. Oh, and she can shapeshift into whatever and/or whoever she wants, as long as she has enough energy to do it. Her immortal friends are all either vampires, imps, demons and angels.

Georgina, filled to the brim with energy from a virgin who sold his soul for sex, is very excited to meet her favorite author at the signing her bookstore will be holding...but discovers she already had met him, confusing him with another fan, and told him some very embarrassing things, such as complaining about how long he takes to write the books she loves so much and how she would be willing to become his sex slave in exchange for advance copies of the next volumes. She is mortified and can barely look at him, but somehow she's the one who's chosen to take him out on a tour of the city. Turns out that the author who can write such witty and bright dialogues can barely keep a coversation in real life. But, weirdly enough, his silence doesn't bother her much. His e-mails crack her up, his thoughtfulness enchants her and his books are her drug of choice... too bad she can't date.

But this other guy, Roman, sure is trying to get her to go out with him. Roman is the total opposite from Seth. He's charming, daring, almost insolent in his self-confidance. And Georgina is hopelessly attracted to him, which is a very bad thing for her decision never to date good guys again. But is Roman really that good?

When someone starts to murder people with whom she just had fights with, she's suddenly the prime suspect... until she, too, is attacked. But who is doing this? Who is attacking the lesser immortals, and why can't the victims not feel the attacker's presence? The only ones who can mask it are the most powerful immortals, like demons and angels... So, is the murderer an angel? Could it be Carter, the local angel? Georgina, against her boss's orders, starts an investigation that leads her to one of the immortals' greatest secrets...

I thought the story of how she became a succubus was so sad! And the ending was so ironic! Not to mention surprising! I only discovered who the bad guy was a few pages before he was, indeed, revealed, which is a first for me. Usually it's so obvious it's annoying, but not this time. :)

I'm not sure who I want her to end up with, if with her favorite lovely author, with a certain angel who kept saving and comforting her or this other 'angel', who, I think, can still make up for his mistakes.

I loved, loved , LOVED thsi book, and am about to start the second volume.

If you like good writing, creative settings, complex and lovable characters, nice, vulgarity-free sexy scenes and a very smart heroine, this is your book!

Review: Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens / Reading Romances January Challenge

This post is part of the Reading Romances Challenge. For January I chose the following option:

- Read a book that is first of a series, by an author that is “new” to you or a debut novel by an author.

Heavenly (Heavenly #1)
by Jennifer Laurens 

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. 


Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.

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Review

I knew this book would be good because of all the great reviews I've read about it, but I wasn't really ready for the impact it made on me.

Jennifer Laurens was able to make me feel much of everything with Heavenly. I was surprised, then sceptic, sad, mad, scared, sad again and happy. 

Zoe is a teenager with many problems. Her sister is autistic, which brings many hardships to her family and their lives together. Her mother is very tired and looks older than she should. Her father is always trying to control her moves, but at the same time doesn't give her much attention at all. Her brother is almost never home and is involved with drugs. She feels as if their worlds all revolve around her little sister's needs, which are many.

To escape all that tension, to try to forget and relax, she drinks and parties with the wrong crowd.

One day, after taking her little sister Abria to the park, Zoe gets distracted while texting and realizes the girl is nowhere to be found. Trying not to panic, she scans the surroundings and sees nothing, no one, anywhere. She's ready to call her parents and the police when an attractive young man appears hand in hand with Abria, who is strangely calm and subdued.

Zoe is suspicious about the guy's inner motives at first, because he seems to be everywhere they are, always close to the little girl. She starts to think he could be a sex offender or something of the kind, but later on discovers he is the definition of all that is good. He is Abria's guardian angel. And, with the exception of her sister, she's the only one who can see him.

Matthias is everything the guys Zoe is used to hang out with are not. He is kind, respectful, he pays attention to her, cares about her. He really looks at her. And he doesn't look at her sister with fear or disgust like other people usually do. 

He helps Zoe see the mistakes she is making in life. She learns to not be so impulsive, to respect and try to help, but not force people to do things they should decide to do for themselves. She learns to see all the happiness, goodness and purity in the handicapped sister she used to think was empty and, therefore, unhappy. She is even able to help her brother defeat his addiction, one step at a time. (and many mistakes in the middle)

With small changes, the whole family gets more united and happy.

I have to admit I didn't see that ending coming at all, but I suppose it had to happen. Zoe became a much better person, who touched many hearts and changed many lives, all because she was first touched by an angel. Love really is a very strong weapon. :)

There were many second characters that brought life to this book. Zoe's "friends", who were always trying to hold her back and use her in any way they could, a guy from school who also knew about angels and always supported her, the suffering parents who didn't know how to handle with their problematic children, but made up for it... I liked them all.

I recommend this book to everyone with a heart. LOL. If you enjoy YA with real-life situations and a paranormal touch, or just enjoy romance and/or angels, go for it.

I have won this book from a giveaway made by the author. I'm very grateful for the opportunity, Mrs.Laurens. :)

Review: Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione

 
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Immortal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #2)

by Larissa Ione

Published  November 22nd 2011  by Grand Central Publishing

The signs are everywhere...disastrous world events. Evil rising up, unleashed upon the innocent. The prophecies were there...but no one listened. Until now. The time has come for those who can either usher in Doomsday...or prevent it. They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Arik Wagner, a soldier with the U.S. Army's paranormal unit, the R-XR, kissed a girl and liked it. And then he went to hell as punishment. Where he's spent weeks being tortured...and plotting revenge.

Limos, Horsewoman of the Apocalypse, isn't your average girl. She's immortal, dangerous, and her fiancé is Satan himself. In a moment of weakness, she gave in to her desire and kissed Arik, triggering her fiancé's wrath - and his claim on her. In order to save Arik, and theworld, Limos must make a dangerous pact with her recently turned evil brother, Pestilence. A deal that might just cost her her soul...and her heart.

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Review:

really liked it!

I bought a copy of the Eternal Rider a couple of months ago and loved it, so when I saw Immortal Rider available on Netgalley, I ran and requested it. I'm so happy they allowed me to review it. Man, I can't possibly stress how much I LOVED this book. 

I can't possibly stress how much I LOVED this book. Except that I can: GO AND READ IT RIGHT NOW!!!

The book starts with Ares and Cara's wedding party (Immortal Rider), in which Arik Wagner is very happy to meet with the attractive Limos, Ares's sister and the third Horsewoman of the Apocalypse, again.

The thing is, Limos was promised by her succubus mother to Satan. Yup, she is to become the Bride of Satan. Needless to say, Limos is trying her best to avoid that outcome. She's been trying her best to not let her Seal break, she doesn't step on Sheoul, the demon realm, or gives her affection to any male...

That is, until Arik goes and kiss her. Demons then surge from underneath and drag him down to hell, and the last thing he hears is Limos screaming: "Don't say my name!", because if the male who incites jealousy (in this case: kiss) utters her name while in agony, then The Dark Lord can have her.

Limos was one of the strongest heroines I ever read about. I loved reading about her kick-assing and her relationship with her brothers. The author really makes us feel what she feels, how she fights her emotions (especially guilt), and I thought that the scales in her back that can pend to 'bad' or 'good' were a very nice touch to the story. Very creative. Her chastity belt was a huge LOL, too. ;)  Innocent-looking pearls that can chop fingers off. Priceless

Arik was such a cutie! He was so sweet with Limos. In the book we see a bit about his horrible father and difficult past, not to mention how much he suffered in the hands of demons. The guy had some serious balls to stand up to the other Horsemen to protect his wife when the sh*t started to hit the fan. 

I loved the story, how things started to fall into place so perfectly just as I was starting to pull my hair out with worry. LOL. Larissa Ione really knows how to get us excited, nervous, sad and mad in just a handful of pages. The action scenes are so good! Man, she's brilliant.

I can't wait to read the next book, Lethal Rider!!! Thanatos is SO hot! *-* We see a lot more about him in this book, and, oh, boy. Just... oh, boy. I didn't care much for Regan, but the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse already has my heart.

Oh, I can't believe I'm writing this, but Satan should have made an appearance. I would like to actually have seen him in the book, not just mentions of him. LOL. Things would have been a LOT more interesting. Just saying. ;P

*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: Halflings (Halflings #1) by Heather Burch

Halflings (Halflings #1) 

by Heather Burch

Expected publication: January 10th 2012 by Zonderkidz

After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret---and the wings that come with.A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys' powers, as well as her role in a scientist's dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

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My Review:

  　
it was okay

 "For Halflings, to fall in love with a human is the unpardonable sin."

Seventeen-year-old Nikki Youngblood was calmly drawing in the forest when four huge black beasts appeared out of nowhere and started to chase after her.

Up in the sky, three Halflings, half-angel and half-human, stand and watch, waiting for the right time to interfere.

Raven, Mace and Vine are the 'Lost Boys', or the "sons of God". They are outcasts in both Earth and Heaven.

After they save Nikki from the hellhounds, she happens to see Mace's eyes before passing away, and their beautiful cerulean color stick to her mind. She sees them again when Mace saves her yet another time, but from a motorcycle accident. That way, Mace's feelings for her start to blossom. He wants to be closer, always protecting her. He wants to touch her, kiss her. Things that should never even cross a Halfling's mind. And Nikki wants to know more and more about him...

Will, the halflings' caretaker, enrolls them at Nikki's school. A triangle starts to form. Nikki is attracted to good, sweet boy Mace, but also loves the freedom and rebellion that bad boy Raven makes her feel.

I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy this book. It was hard to keep on reading, the writing seemed to drag and I felt the growing urge to skip a lot... the plot was interesting, but it wasn't able to fully grab my attention. Raven had some very funny phrases and Mace could be very cute at some times, they were both attractive with their pretty eyes and wings, but that just wasn't enough for me.

We still don't know who Vessler is... and what about Richmond? Does he have something to do with Nikki's birth? The author never fully explains those things or why Nikki was being targeted by hellhounds and demons from the very start, and that bothered me quite a bit. A lot hasn't been explained at all, making the book seem unfinished. (maybe they'll be explained in the next books?).

Nikki was a very contradicting character. She was always ranting about how great she was at karate and at defending herself, but at times she would act like a very silly, useless heroine. And how come she simply found out they were angels so soon and so suddenly? She had very little clues and I expected her to be at least a bit more skeptical...

Oh, and not to mention the part when her dog was found dead... hell, that was the end of my patience with this book. That was SO not necessary. :(

On the other hand, a lot of people seem to have REALLY enjoyed Halflings, so I think it's a good idea to check out their reviews too. Maybe they found something very good in it that I've missed.

If you like your YA filled with angels, love triangles and mystery, this might be your book. ;)

*I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.*