Alien's Prize by Zoey Draven

 

2 star

Kate finally had it all until she’s kidnapped by aliens and put up as a prize.  She’s selected to be mate to Prime Leader of Luxiria Vaxa’an after he won his fight.  All she wants to do is get home to her life but he’s not willing to let her go.  He finally decides to make a deal she spends some time with him and if she still wants to go home, he will make it happen.

I wanted to like this book more than I did.  It was a bit too much non-consent throughout the book for me.  Kate is literally kidnapped and held to be a pleasure slave.  She is given no options and just kind accepts her fate.  I’ve read other books similar to this that handled this storyline way better.  You don’t see them rescuing the rest of the women held until much later.  It just frustrated me. 

Book 1 Warriors of Luxiria

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Kiss of the Blood Prince by Alessa Thorn

 

 

3 Star

15 hundred years ago Prince Kian and the rest of the fae were betrayed.  They are back and want revenge.  While the war has begun Prince Kian finds Elise and he can’t bring himself to kill her, so he takes her.  He lusts for her blood and for her.  Will she be able to break the curse he’s under and save him and the rest of the fae?

This book started off so incredibly slow as the author built the world.  It was worth it in the end, but it took a while to get into the book.  I enjoyed how resilient Elise was and how even though she was kidnapped and held against her will she still gave as good as she got.  Ultimately it was a good start to a series.

Book 1 Wrath of the Fae

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Neanderthal by Avery Flynn

 

4 Star

His cousin has fallen but Griff knows he won’t. He will set up a profile and do the dates, but he is the silent man who never talks. When he meets up with his sister and her friend for lunch, he KNOWS he’s not going to lose. He wants Kinsey but she’s engaged, and he won’t poach. Kinsey learned long ago working in a male dominated field and being a child prodigy, it was easier to pretend to be engaged to gain some respect and be left alone at work. The issue comes in when she meets someone she’s interested in and doesn’t know how to “kill off” her fiancé so she can be happy with Griff. When she finally extracts herself from the situation it smooth sailing for them until some dirty deeds pop up at her work. Will this be what breaks them apart?

I LOVED Griff and Kinsey.  He was dealt a shit hand with his parents, and I get why he tried to do what he did with Kinsey because he was always having to sacrifice what he wants because of his father. I loved that Kinsey saw what he was doing and tried to get him to see reason and when he finally did, she didn’t just go all is forgiven. I really loved these two together.  It was an insta love story, but it didn’t feel that way as they take their time getting to know each other.  Cannot wait for the last book.

Book 2 Last Man Standing

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Mama's Boy by Avery Flynn

 

4 Star

Dixon Beckett treats women right but never wants to fall in love again after being burned. When his grandma dies and leaves one wrapped Christmas present for one of the older boys, they decide to have a challenge to see who is the last man standing with love. The rules are create a profile on a dating app, go on 6 dates with whomever responds first and whatever you do don’t fall in love. He creates the most obnoxious ad possible assuming no one will respond. What he doesn’t expect is Fiona Hartigan who needs him to help her grandma. She tried the legitimate route and he bailed on every meeting so now she will date him and find the perfect time to slip in her grandma’s cosmetics. Since she is a disaster at dating, she doesn’t see how this could possibly fail.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It is a spinoff of the Harbor City series. Does it help to have read all the books before this one…of course. Do you need to have read all of them? No.  It was nice to see some of the other Hartigan’s and makes me want to read all about how they each find their loves. This book gives Fiona her happy ending. There were several hot and heavy scenes that were fun to read but there were just as many serious ones. I really need to know what is in the present.

Book 1 Last Man Standing

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Prince of Firestones by Zoey Draven

 

3 Star

After escaping from Madam Allegria Krave and Eve are trying to live their lives quietly and peacefully.  There are still things missing from their lives.  Krave wishes to know what happened to his mother and brother.  He starts looking for them.  In the middle of the search Eve finds out she’s pregnant.  When she tells him she does not get the response she was looking for.  Will Krave discover what he’s looking for and keep Eve safe?

This is a short story that takes place right after Kraving Khiva that concludes Khiva and Eve’s story.  I enjoyed seeing him take back his heritage.  He was a dick to Eve when she tells him about the pregnancy, and she did make him grovel a little bit for the reaction.  You do need to read book 1 to get book 2.

Book 2 Krave of Everton

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Kraving Khiva by Zoey Draven

 

3 Star

Eve has led a very boring life and she is ready to live for the first time.  She books in for a night with the exclusive Krave aliens.  What she wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with Khiva.  She wants to help him escape from the slavery he finds himself in, but he will have to help himself.

This was an interesting alien story.  It was definitely a spicier book for sex scenes.  I did get frustrated with him when he was refusing to do anything to help himself and I get he was a slave forced to do things he didn’t want to do but when given several outs and he keeps refusing it did get old.  I loved watching Eve come into her own and blossom into a confident woman.

Book 1 Krave of Everton

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Erebus by Alessa Thorn

 

4 Star

For 15 years of being used as a test subject Medea is a lot crazy.  She is livid that Erebus took away her chance at revenge at the facility she was kept at and is determined to keep him far away from him.  What she doesn’t realize is that Erebus let his monstrous side loose to save her because he saw what they did to her and wanted them all to pay.  Will he let her get her final revenge with the last remaining evil man?

This wraps up the series nicely.  I enjoyed seeing how the series ends though it does have a spin off series I will be checking out with the Egyptian gods.  This was a pretty good series that showed new ways to look at the Greek myths and give it a little twist.  I liked Medea and Erebus.  It was interesting to see them come together and get their happy ending.

Book 7 The Court of the Underworld

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Hades by Carly Spade

 

3 Star

As a digital forensic examiner, Stephanie sees the worst of the worst.  She’s burned out and her BFF insists she needs a vacation.  Since she won’t Sara takes matters in her own hands and schedules a trip to Greece for the two of them.  First day there Stephanie sees a mystery man at the bar looking dark and deadly but also sad.  Will she be able to handle his secrets?

I enjoyed this story though Stephanie irritated me some what throughout the story.  I enjoyed the retelling of Hades mythos.  Zeus still irritated me like he always does.  There were parts of the story that felt unresolved.  Like the murder investigation that started the book.  Overall, a good start to a new series. 

Book 1 Contemporary Mythos

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The Tracker’s Dilemma by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Sergeant Heath “Tick” Hawthorn has had his eyes on microbiologist Lauren Keys, but she is too focused on her science.  She also doesn’t think highly of relationships.  He decides to become one of her subjects to get extra time with her and maybe woo her.  Problems start soon after that lead to him hearing peoples’ thoughts and seeing the future.  He’s not sure why this is happening, but he is able to prevent people from being hurt.  Will they be able to figure out why this is happening, and will Heath be able to win her over?

This was a super cute story.  Lauren had had bad experience with relationships and was perfectly content with science, so she had major blinders on for Heath.  It was so sweet seeing him try and win her over.  It was also interesting to see how the experiments were working out and how that all would work out.  Overall, this is currently the last story out and it fits with the rest of the series.  Here’s hoping the author writes some new stories.

Book 7 Mandrake Company

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Charon by Alessa Thorn

 

3 Star

Charon is asked by Thanatos to track down Circe, Hecate’s niece.  Finding the cursed island, she’s on is hard but the harder part will be to convince her he’s there to help her and not hurt her.  They need her skills to find and save Medea but will those skills scare Charon off?

Circe is another one of those myths where she got the short end of the stick in myths and this one gives her a happy ending which made me happy.  I really enjoyed getting to know her in this book and seeing her work with Charon and the others to track down Pithos et al.  I loved that when she revealed her true self Charon was more concerned about her than the fact, he should probably fear her.  I enjoyed this book a lot and can’t wait to see what happens in the “last” book.

Book 6 The Court of the Underworld

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Haunted House by Heather Graham

 

4 Star

Kylie is woken from a vision dream by her friend Brenda needing her to help with the dead bodies in her wall.  Kylie and her FBI husband pack up and go to Salem Massachusetts to find out who had been murdering people and placing them in the walls of this house.  As they get closer to the murder they will need to keep their wits about them to stay safe. 

This is a really cute short Halloween mystery.  There's ghosts, murders and a mystery to solve and it all comes together to make for a nice mystery for Halloween.  I enjoyed reading it.  I liked the Jon and Kylie as they were super cute. The only issue I could probably point to is the way they catch the bad guy.  It was a bit weird for me.  There weren't any pacing issues.  It ran smoothly and quickly to the ending which makes me want to go back and reread the other books in the series.  It is a part of a long running series that if you wanted to read all of it would give more context but isn't necessary.  This book stands by itself as I am several books behind in the series.  Overall, good addition to the Krewe series and 1001 Dark Nights collection.  

Short Story in the Krewe of Hunters series

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Thanatos by Alessa Thorn

 

3 Star

Thanatos is having nightmares about Hecate.  He needs to find her and save her like she once helped him.  When they finally track her down, she is in a deep sleep.  They are able to wake her with the help of Selene.  Hecate is now stuck in a world she doesn’t understand and is unsure if she is willing to train another student as her other two were cursed.  When they are finally able to track down Pandora they discover the true treachery.  Will they be able to handle the coming war?

I’ve always been a huge fan of Thanatos as the Titan of Death is incredibly interesting.  Several books in I realized why I like these so much.  I love mythology and these books do a good job blending the myths we know with new paths for the characters.  I loved see Thanatos and Hecate taking on Pithos.  As well as them finding their happy.  The nice thing about these books is the more you read the more you learn about what is going on.  One of my biggest issues with the first couple is you don’t know exactly what all is going on, but you get more of the picture the more you read.  Well worth the time for a quick light read.

Book 5 The Court of the Underworld

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Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb

 

3 Star

Dallas is called out to a body left in a dumpster.  She was a homeless woman who was known for letting the police know of every infraction anyone did.  Dallas will have to discover what she saw that led to her murder.  In the process of investigating the murder another body is discovered but this one from years ago.  Are they connected or is it just a coincidence?

This is right on par with the other books in the series.  It wasn’t my favorite, but it also wasn’t the worst book in the series.  It was interesting to see who killed the homeless woman and why.  The more interesting case was the older murder and the whole case was just sad.  I will say I am getting really really really tired of the conversation about what clothes Eve wears.  If you haven’t read any of the other 52 books you can still read this one and understand what is going on in the book.  Here’s hoping the next one is better.

Book 53 In Death

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Firebourne by McKenzie Hunter

 

2 Star

Erin is a retrieval specialist with a magic problem.  She wants to use her magic but can’t as it could kill.  When her sister asks for her help with a case, she is all set to help even if it means breaking her promise to try and not use magic.  Will she be able to close the case for her sister?

I wanted to like this book way more than I did.  It was slow and boring, and parts were just annoying.  No one really listened to what Erin was saying about her magic.  She was in therapy, and the therapist thought she should just go cold turkey and never use her magic.  Her sister felt the same way.  It wasn’t until the end when her sister lost access to her magic that she finally got it.  It is a part of a series and I have no intention of reading any more.

Book 1 Raven Cursed

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Hades by Alessa Thorn

 

3 Star

Hades is tired of being on the defensive with Pithos and wants to take the fight to them.  When a money trail leads to an ally Demeter, Queen of Athens he decides to take her daughter to see if he can get the answers he’s looking for.  The problem is Persephone is the mystery woman he’s been looking for and he doesn’t want to torture her he just wants her.  When he discovers her magic, he is even more invested in helping her no matter what. 

Everyone knows the myth about Hades and Persephone, and this is a nice twist on that.  I really liked seeing Persephone coming into her own and giving Hades a run for his money.  We do finally get more information on Pithos in this book.  These books aren’t the best books, but they are well written and a good guilty pleasure.  Definitely picking up the next book.

Book 3 The Court of the Underworld

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Bad Girlfriend by Elise Faber

 

4 Star

Tammy doesn't do relationships.  Whenever someone gets to close she cuts them off.  She is happier alone.  When her co-worker Fletcher begs her for a massive favor she will have to reevaluate he stance.  Fletcher has to go to his brothers wedding where his ex fiancé will be with her new husband.  He already told his family he's moved on but he hasn't.  The biggest slip up was telling his mom Tammy's name and now he has to talk her into helping him.

I really loved these two.  It was super cute co-workers to lovers story.  I loved how Fletcher wiggled his way into her heart to the point she didn't want to walk away from him.  The big blow up was incredible funny.  I don't know if it was meant to be but I liked how Fletcher stormed into the big boss' office to ream her out for hurting Tammy.  Then when Tammy finds out the truth it was so cute.  I really enjoyed this story and it was a good addition to the series.

Book 13 Billionaire's Club

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Medusa by Alessa Thorn

 

3 Star

Perseus is trying to go legit when his sister is taken, and he is ordered to steal from media giant Medusa.  They want him to steal something from her and give it to them.  Once he does his sister will be released.  He wasn’t planning on running into Medusa when he stole from her or walking in on her in a compromising situation.  He promises to make it up to her.  Medusa is incredibly mad and embarrassed that she was walking in on and stolen from and tracks the thief down.  When she does, she decides she’s going to keep the thief until she’s satisfied. 

I enjoyed the story.  It was super cute, and I liked both Perseus and Medusa.  The story somewhat sticks with the mythos about Medusa who in my opinion gets a bum rap for being the bad guy.  It was interesting to see how they worked out the best way to rescue his sister.  The only real issue was the ending was kind of anticlimactic and didn’t really interest me.  I am really enjoying the series so far and can’t wait to read the next one.

Book 2 The Court of the Underworld

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Shielding Ember by Susan Stoker

 

3 Star

Delta Team 2 is sent to the Olympic Games to keep people safe from threats.  Craig “Doc” Wagner has actively avoided the spotlight since he was a child and there were issues.  When the team gets to the Olympics, they run into Ember who is always in the spotlight on social media.  She looks like she’s in need, so he brings her over to sit with the team. 

It was an interesting story and I enjoyed it.  Not one of my favorite books by her but it was good. The best part of the book was literally the last page and makes me wish it was January so I could read the last book in the series.

Book 7 Delta Team 2

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