Review: Ashstorm by A.D. Starrling

Ashstorm 
by A.D. Starrling
Series:  Seventeen #3
Pub. Date:  June 9, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  376
Format:  eARC
Source:  Author
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

The Hunter who should have been king.
The Elemental who fears love.
The Seer who is yet to embrace her powers.

Three immortals whose fates are intertwined with that of the oldest and most formidable enemy the immortal and human societies have ever faced. 

1599. While hunting a deadly adversary who has eluded him for two hundred years, Asgard Godard falls into an icy tomb that leaves him frozen in time.

1969. After more than a century on the run, Ethan Storm finds himself at the mercy of the man who ripped his family apart and sent him into exile.

2013. Following a hundred years of solitary existence, Olivia Ash wakes from a nightmare to find the home where she has lived her entire life under attack by a deadly foe. 

Linked by an incredible destiny and with time very much against them, Asgard, Ethan, and Olivia must keep ahead of their common enemy and the rogue branch of the US army at his command. When an unlikely ally crosses their path, they come into possession of a set of clues that help them unearth their opponents’ devastating plans. 

With the future of the whole world at risk, the three immortals and their allies must draw on all their skills and unique abilities to defeat the man who has inflicted so much loss and misery upon their lives.

The fascinating and furious fourth installment in the award-winning, action thriller series Seventeen is here!

A.D. Starrling has done it again! The books of the Seventeen series never fail to get my adrenaline going. I don't give many 5 star ratings, but Ms. Starrling has already gotten 3 from me this year. Seriously Hollywood, someone needs to option this series for the big screen! Any time I am in a reading slump, one of these books has pulled me right out! I have read every one in a single sitting - I don't think I could go to sleep without finding out what happened first. The books are totally out of my normal genre, but I can't get enough. The plot is action-driven and the stories are engaging, well-researched, and quite detailed. Each installment has also carried just enough romance to keep my smutty little heart happy. Ashstorm even got a few tears out of me, though I still think King's Crusade is my favorite (it's a very close call).

In Ashstorm, we meet Asgard Godard - who is the son of Thomas Godard from Soul Meaning. Asgard was on the tail of his immortal enemy in 1599 when he fell through a glacier and was frozen in ice for nearly 400 years. I am so glad that we get the backstory on Asgard because I am a stickler for details, and I have found many of the books I have read this year to have been sorely lacking in details when it comes to a character's past. No need to worry about this with Ms. Starrling, she takes us on wonderfully detailed forages into the past that are both historically accurate and entertaining. (Well, not so much of a historical event in this book as was the Ottoman Empire in Greene's Calling, but it was a nice foray all the same.) Asgard was a lovable character in that father-figure type way. He made me have lots of feels in this book, particularly when he got to meet Lucas, Anna, Tomas and Lily. I was so stinking happy for him.

Asgard is not our sole main character of this story though, we have a triad to include Ethan Storm and Olivia Ashkarov. I can't tell you how everyone meets without giving spoilers, but I am going to say that it was very very tense and dangerous and everything you expect from this series. Ethan and Olivia are two more of our special immortals with the unique birthmarks - and they have some very cool powers! Ethan is an elemental and can manipulate things around him, and Olivia can do freaky things with her mind. While I liked Ethan's character, I was more drawn to Olivia. Her world was turned topsy turvy when she meets Asgard and Ethan, and she handled it with grace and determination. I couldn't help but like her.

The villains in this story may have been the worst yet - they are connected to evil deeds in prior stories, but they were sooo much worse. There were several times that the bad guy antics made me squeamish. (I will have close my eyes if they ever do make this a movie.) So these bad guys all needed to die, and in a very bad way. They were despicable humans and immortals alike. I know I'm being redundant, but I am trying not to give spoilers and I really really didn't like these guys - who you will know as Jonah, the General, and Scoleri. Scoleri was particularly bad, I would not have minded seeing him get some "an eye for an eye" type punishment. Blech.

Okay so you know (if you are are smart enough to be reading these books) that the overall theme is a good vs. evil type scenario, with a little bit of religious conspiracy and mysticism thrown in. Same goes for this story - good guys fighting the bad guys to save the world. As in the previous books, our special immortals are brought together at some point for the meet and greet, and we get some time with the children, Lily and Tomas. I love these little buggers. I am looking forward to seeing them continue to grow in the series - they are sweet and special and powerful. I anticipate even bigger evil and greater powers as the series progresses. Write fast Ms. Starrling! (Do you really need that day job as a doctor? I told ya these books are intelligently written - our author is a baby doctor!)

Favorite quote from the book: "You should have told me Mr. Godard was intending to kill Mr. Titus. I would have prepared less food."

I was honored enough to receive an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Ms. Starrling!

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Review: Beauty's Curse by Tamara Hughes

Beauty's Curse 
by Tamara Hughes
Series:  Love on the High Seas #2
Pub. Date:  June 9, 2015
Publisher:  Entangled Scandalous
Pages:  175
Format:  eARC
Source:  Publisher / Netgalley
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

England, 1722

Amelia Archer will be the ruin of her family. Her extraordinary bad luck is burden enough, but her sweet, trusting nature often lands her in impossible scrapes. After the last straw, Amelia's harried father ships his unfortunate daughter off to the Colonies to live with her aunt. But wherever Amelia goes, bad luck is sure to follow...

Pirate David Lamont is taken with the lovely young Englishwoman the moment she's pulled aboard from her sinking vessel. But sailors are already a superstitious lot and Amelia is unwelcome. In a feat of chivalry, David defends and claims her for himself...

Now their fortunes—for good or ill—are invariably tied. But as much as she longs for him, Amelia cannot allow a romance. For a lady of misfortune can only bring ruin to those she loves… 

Note that this is the second book in a series, and some of the characters apparently were featured in the first book. I didn't know that until the author's note at the end and it's driving me a little bonkers.

Despite this book being in a pirate trilogy, it wasn't so much a pirate book. Our main character, David, is not your average swashbuckling pirate out to loot and pillage. He is a musician, carrying his violin everywhere that he goes. He is also chivalrous and has higher moral standards than we normally see in pirates. I liked David, I just happen to like my pirates to be a bit more alpha male than he was.

Poor Amelia has the worst luck of any fictional character I have read. She is clumsy as an ox, and this unfortunate aspect, along with a shrew of a stepmother, has given Amelia horrible self-esteem. She also has the odd habit of trusting anyone she meets, which has caused her grief on more than one occasion. I also liked Amelia, though I did find myself doing an eye roll at her nature or antics on occasion.

For me, this story was somewhat slow-paced. There was adventure, but not a whole lot of action. We follow along with Amelia (and later David) as one tragedy after another befalls them. Given that sailors and pirates of the time were a superstitious lot, you can imagine that Amelia's little black cloud makes her an outcast. I sympathize with this as I get that black cloud following me around sometimes too. But David tries to show her that she is not cursed and they fall in love along the way. However, when you have two people with low self-esteem, it does not an easy relationship make.

Overall, this was a nice way to pass the time. I haven't read a pirate book in a while so it was a nice diversion from the standard regency era historical romance. I really wish I had known to read the first book before this one though (hopefully a Goodreads librarian can fix that). 

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Love on the High Seas Series

Review: Rules of Seduction by Joya Ryan

Rules of Seduction 
by Joya Ryan
Series:  Serve #7
Pub. Date:  June 9, 2015
Publisher:  Entangled Brazen
Pages:  142
Format:  eARC
Source:  Publisher / Netgalley
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

He'll be the dream and the dirty fantasy...

Through with both her controlling ex and relationships, Ava Webber is determined to explore the spicy and sometimes forbidden appetites of the exclusive BDSM nightclub, Serve. Here, she'll get exactly what she needs...as long as it's from a man she doesn't know.

Nolan Hart ensures that Serve's clients get what they want, how they want it. But with one look at the curvy brunette, Nolan knows he’s the man to fulfill her desires. As the anonymous lover, he's Ava’s dirtiest fantasy. Outside of Serve, he's her charming, smartass friend. 

But Nolan wants more. More than Ava is willing to give. And as long as the blindfold stays on, she'll never discover that the two men she's falling for are one and the same... 

This was a super quick steamy story, perfect material for bedtime reading. I didn't realize it was book 7 in a series - and this seems to be a common theme with me over the last month. I really need to pay better attention when I'm signing up to review stuff, but sometimes a cover or blurb just sucks me in and I've hit that "request" button before I even blinked. (sigh) From some of the other reviews, I see that there was not much character crossover, but it still bothers me. There was at least some, and I found myself wondering who people were or what their story was in relation to Serve.

Anywho, our abso-yummy main male character is Nolan Hart, who is the manager of an exclusive sex club called Serve. I really expected Nolan to be all alpha male and dominant, but he is more of a sweetheart when it comes to Ava, the female lead. Ava is somewhat broken by a controlling ex-husband and she is looking for some NSA anonymous sex because she is afraid of being controlled again. It was kinda weird she would go to a BDSM club for that, but whatev. I was expecting a BDSM romance going into this book, but it turned into a sweet sappy love story. I actually didn't mind it though as I liked both characters for the most part, and the sex scenes were pretty steamy. Ava got on my nerves a bit with her hemming and hawing over Nolan, but the story was short enough that it didn't have time to work into full-blown aggravation.

Pick this one up if you are waiting for the hubby to come to bed... or maybe read some scenes aloud and see if his attention stays on the football game. 

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Serve Series

Review: Fate Undone by Linsey Hall

Fate Undone 

by Linsey Hall

Series:  Mythean Arcana #5

Pub Date:  May 28, 2015

Publisher:  Bonnie Doon Press

Pages:  270

Format:  eARC

Source:  Netgalley

   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

A god in disguise

No one in the Prison for Magical Deviants knows that prisoner Logan Laufeyson has secret identity. He is the ancient trickster god Loki, in magical disguise on a mission of his own. A mission that will come to a sudden and disastrous end… 

The woman he's never forgotten  

Demi-goddess Sylvi has spent eight hundred years trying to forget her long-ago affair with Loki, which destroyed her dreams and got her banished from her home. When Loki escapes from prison and stumbles through her door with a problem that threatens both their lives, she must set aside her anger while trying to resist a passion she’s never forgotten. The fact that her magic can be enhanced by sex makes ignoring Loki even harder—especially when they must utilize her rare talent.  

A threat of ultimate evil 

Thrown together, Loki and Sylvi must foil a masterful plot that threatens not only their lives, but every god in existence. It will take all of their power, and all of their long-buried love, to face the ultimate danger - or vanish and be forgotten forever… 

This is the fifth installment of the Mythean Arcana series, yet I didn't realize this when I requested to review this book through Netgalley. My OCD will usually not let me start a series in the middle, I have to read all the preceding installments. I tried to do that here, but I didn't have time to add 4 books to my schedule this month. So to compromise, I read Braving Fate so I would get an introduction to the world and characters. It seems to have worked out okay. I was not lost, and had met at least some of the characters before.

This is the story of Trickster God Loki (now Logan) and demi-goddess Sygin (now Sylvi). Sylvi is the daughter of Freya and magic, and starts her life as a slave to the gods hoping to win their favor so she can be promoted to full godhood. Sylvi hates groveling to the arrogant gods and admires Loki for the way he stands up to them. As both outsiders, Sylvi and Loki are kindred spirits and fall in love. Then fate happens and they are torn apart after they have been banished from Asgard to Midgard (Earth). The majority of the story takes place 800 years later (with flashbacks to their time in Asgard). Loki and Sygin have been separated this whole time and have not seen one another, and Sygin has never forgiven Loki for the hurt he caused her 800 years ago. Loki must get Sygin to trust him again so they can work together to stop a plot to imprison all gods, themselves included.

I didn't know much about Loki, other than what I have watched in the Thor movies where Loki is Thor's nemesis and bad guy. Ms. Hall's Loki is nothing like that Loki - he represents the oppressed, stands up for the little guy, and acts as a balance to the gods. He is also very caring and does what he thinks is best for other people, even when his view of what's right doesn't line up with theirs. Sygin is a bit of a lost soul, she has always felt like an outsider and she was devastated by Loki's rejection and her banishment from Asgard. Unfortunately, she does not know how to forgive and nurtures those hurts like a best friend. So while I liked Slyvi, she did get on my nerves quite a bit by pushing Loki away when he was trying to win her back, even after she learned the real reason he pushed her away 800 years ago.

Other than that, this story moved along at a nice pace, had a good storyline and some steamy sex. Having just read Braving Fate, Ms. Hall's debut novel, I can tell that she has improved along with the series. The writing was much more smooth and I connected with the characters better in this fifth installment. Now I shall have to go back and catch up on the series before the next book comes out! 

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Mythean Arcana Series

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