Book Review: Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (Extremely Hot! You may need to take a cold shower)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Emma

Book One in the Riley Jenson Guardian series

I picked this up in a second-hand bookshop on a recent trip to the beautiful city of Galway in the west of Ireland.  The moody cover is what captured me.  The contrast of the red font against the navy sky immediately drew me in. Riley Jenson is a werewolf-vampire hybrid. In this world humans know about supernaturals. There’s a lot of sex, so if that’s not your cup of tea don’t bother picking this up.

Set in Melbourne, Australia, Riley’s brother goes missing in the week before the full moon when were creatures are in heat, not the best timing.  Sex is not optional during this time; it’s a necessity to stave off the bloodlust that can literally drive a werewolf insane. Riley has to balance her need to mate with finding her missing brother.  She works for the Directorate of Other Races and finds herself in one dangerous situation after the next.

I couldn’t get into Riley’s character straight away. She’s so confident and empowered that I found it hard to relate to her.  Even the way she speaks to strangers, cursing and being so forward had me wondering if a person like her could really exist, but as the story progressed I understood and even appreciated her no-bullshit personality.  The arrival of the lovely vampire Quinn O’ Connor also helped!

Riley’s mate Talon is a misogynistic pig and I never warmed to him, even at the start when I had no reason to be suspicious of him.  I would have liked to get to know her brother Rhoan more, but maybe he’s explored in greater detail in further books of the series.  As a supernatural creature, you’d expect Riley to be able to handle herself physically.  She is a skilled fighter and there are many scenes of her battling with other creatures of the night.  It’s great to see a woman taking care of herself and not relying on being rescued by a man.  Riley is definitely not a damsel-in-distress.  She’s tough, smart and self-reliant, all things I can admire but she never reveals a softer side.

Riley and her brother were thrown out of their packs for being half breeds and their mother turned her back on them both.  I wanted to find out more about how this affected Riley but we never see any vulnerability or a glimpse of pain.  I get that she’s an ass-kicking, alpha female, but she’s also got a heart and emotions like anyone else but we never get to see them.

Overall, I found Full Moon Rising to be a fast-paced, action-packed read, but I would have liked to be able to relate to Riley more. ***

Check it out on Amazon HERE

Here’s my question:  If you had to become a supernatural creature, would you like to be a vampire, a werewolf or a vampire-werewolf hybrid?

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Book Review: Search for the Vampires’ Curse by Lauralynn Elliott

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Emma

A delicious conclusion to the fun, paranormal romance series Vampires’ Curse.

 As the last in the Libby Fox series, reading it was a mixture of excitement and sadness for me.  I wanted to see what would happen between Libby and Adam, and was hoping they could reach a compromise in order to begin a relationship.  To read my reviews of the first two books in the series click HERE

At this point in their story, we know their attraction towards each other has turned into love.  Book number three sees the search for Fiona, the anti-vampire zealot from Dark Relic begin in in New Orleans, my favourite city I have never actually visited.  I would have liked to read a more detailed description of New Orleans and spent longer there but Libby and her gang move further south once they realise Fiona has already moved on.  Werwolf Blake is along for the ride too, yay for us readers!  Adam and his fellow vampires realise that having a werewolf and a human with them is an asset, since the vamps can’t  be around during the daytime.  Later on the hunt moves to the Amazon rainforest.

The story comes full circle, going back to the artefact from the first novella, the powerful relic that has the capability of wiping out the entire vampire population.  Fiona is still on her messed up mission to purge that world of vampires. Libby and her supernatural comrades are determined to bring this crazy woman down once and for all.

One part of the story had my eyebrows raised. Why didn’t Libby and her crew just warn the other vampires on the yacht about the impending danger so they could work together to apprehend Fiona?  Hmm, this had me very puzzled.     We get another Spike reference from Libby (that woman has great taste in vampires :)).  Every supernatural creature is jaw droppingly beautiful, a plus when you’re reading paranormal, romantic fiction.  Blake and Adam are both physically attractive men but it is the way they regard Libby for her smarts, independence and confidence that really makes these men shine.  They admire and appreciate Libby’s strengths.

One of my favourite scenes involved Blake and Libby.  After a particular horrendous night of supernatural shenanigans, they turn to hard whiskey and fall asleep together.  Libby’s last thought before sleep claims her is how funny it is that her best friend is a werewolf and she’s in love with a vampire.

I have to say I preferred the first two books in this series, probably because I felt there was time still to explore Libby’s and Adam’s relationship, but altogether I found the Libby Fox books a light and enjoyable supernatural read.  They’re damn good fun and hopefully we’ll hear from Libby again in the future.  ****

Check it out on Amazon HERE

How about you? Read any fun, paranormal romance recently?

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