In Ashlyn Macnamara’s stunning romance debut—perfect for fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries—two childhood friends in Regency England discover love with the most unlikely of partners: each other.

After watching her beloved sister Sophia pine over the ton’s Golden Boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly-named Earl of Clivesden…the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his Cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has set Julia in his sights, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover more than friendship driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when she refuses him and her father announces her betrothal, he fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society…

…and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures.

My Opinion:

I am biased about this, because the author has one of the most fascinating family-names, and I kind of want to marry her so I should probably only say nice things about A Most Scandalous Proposal.

The thing is, if I were to talk about the first third, there are few things I could actually criticise: The characters introduced were interesting and relatable, the established relationships are humorous and entertaining. I very much liked the way the already existing friendship between Julia and Revelstoke, and especially how their acquaintances seemed to root for them. It was adorable. I also connected to the beta-couple, Julia’s sister Sophia and Highgate.

But after mentioned first third, it went downhill. The initially witty and charming characters quickly became harder to like and enjoy. When Revelstoke intentionally manipulated Julia -giving her alcohol, using her sleepyheadedness to his adventage- and she ended up being “demure” of all things in the good last third of the novel, I gave up on the two of them. I had hoped for them to be intimate, instead all they had was sex.

Sophia and Highgate, too, didn’t live up to their potential. I think I have an issue with how the men used their position as men against the women in their lives, be it Highgate against his sister, or both Revelstoke and Highgate against the St.Claire heroines. It’s not a charming or protective “I’m the man, I’m supposed to take care of you.”, but a “Well, you can’t even vote, better go now and hush.” which.. is definitely not my cup of tea.

I do think that those are things the author could avoid in the future, and given the fact that this is her debut-novel, I’m definitely interested in what she’ll dish out next. The writing was good, and though I didn’t like it, there was obvious character-development, something I love in my romances. ;)

In Short:

A very promising debut-novel, that made me put Ashlyn Macnamara on my list of authors to keep an eye on. My issues with this novel are rather personal, so I would recommend giving A Most Scandalous Proposal a try.

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted and created by Jill from Breaking the Spine. This week I’ve been waiting on..

Shapeshifted (Edie Spence, #3) by Cassie Alexander

Nurse Edie Spence is once again called upon to save a life…and this time, it’s personal. Can her new community of zombies, vampires, and shapeshifters come to her rescue when she needs them most?

When Edie was fired from her paranormal nursing job at County Hospital, her whole world came crashing down. Now she’s is once again shaken to her core. Her mother is deathly ill and there’s only one thing that will save her: vampire blood. But with the paranormal community shunning Edie, where can she obtain it…without losing her own life in the process?

SHAPESHIFTED

Edie hopes to procure it at her new job at the clinic across town, where the forces of evil loom large. Vampire gang wars are rampant. Old underground enemies are rising to the surface. And Edie’s zombie ex-boyfriend has arrived at the scene—but is he the same man he used to be? And what should she make of the enigmatic doctor with whom she shares an unexpected connection? She’ll have to figure it out soon, because all hell is about to break loose—literally—and time is running out…

My Thoughts

I haven’t read the second installment yet, so I’m desperately trying to not read the blurb, which is kind of a hard thing to do when you have to copypaste it everywhere. Yaaargh! I should stop scheduling posts so much ahead in time! This would never have happened if I had waited, but then, if I had, I might have forgotten. In any case, I’m really excited about this series. I mean.. nurse.. dragons.. It’s kinda perfect like that. (The cover, on the other side, is slightly repulsive, especially in comparison to the first Edie Spence cover, which was puuuurrfect like the concept of nurses and dragons on the same plane. Then again, the cover WAS literally a nurse in front of a dragon, so.)

Expected publication: June 4th 2013 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

My Opinion:

I have to admit this: I was very disappointed with Requiem.

Yes, I’m shocked too, with the awesomeness that was Delirium and Pandemonium.

Now, I’m not saying that it was a terrible book. It was kinda okay, actually. My only problem was that it didn’t live up to my expectations, and it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be after Delirium and Pandemonium.

It was the pacing of the plot that kinda drove me crazy. It was a little bit slow paced for the first half of the book. The book was narrated by both Lena and Hana: Lena is now living in the Wilds with Julian and Alex, while Hana is preparing for her wedding with Fred. Lena’s side of the story is supposed to be the action- packed one, right? And it is, really, but honestly, I thought that her side of the story was kinda pointless in the beginning. Lena and the rest of the Uncured are just walking around in the Wilds, meeting fellow people who resist the cure, and escaping the ocassional brush in with death. It just felt like it was lacking direction until the last few chapters where they finally take some action.

Hana’s side of the story intrigued me a lot more, even if the danger present in her life was much more subtle. She’s preparing for her marriage with the mayor, Fred, and surprise surprise, he’s not exactly the perfect husband-to-be. I loved all the suspense and mystery surrounding Cassie as well, Fred’s former wife, and the way the Bluebeard tale was used as a reference. Yep, it was interesting to be able to get a glimpse into Hana’s head.

Wait- remember how I said it was the pacing that drove me crazy? Scratch that. It was the romance that I didn’t like. The Delirium trilogy is being pitched as a dystopian romance, right? Honestly, it had more drama than romance. The love triangle between Alex, Julian and Lena? It was… odd. And very, very frustrating. You find out literally in the last few pages, and it isn’t even wrapped up very well!

I’m happy with the guy Lena ends up with though. I’ve always been on his team, and even with the presence of the other guy, I firmly believed he was the right choice. So even though I had to wait until the very end, I’m pleased with the way things turned out. And the Solomon reference was a bit sweet, actually.

And was it only me who felt like the ending was a bit rushed? It was like Lauren Oliver spent the first 3/4 of the book slowly- and I do mean slowly- building things up, and then BAM! Rush whatever needs to be tied up in the last quarter. Things weren’t even properly answered. We don’t know what happens to Hana, whether the Uncureds will be accepted by the society, whether they’ll stop treating love as a disease- she just left it all hanging for us to draw our own conclusions! It’s a unique way of ending things I guess, but I prefer having solid answers. There should be a fourth book, in my opinion.

The Rating

I’m not sure how many stars to give this book- somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, I guess. I know my review was mostly about the negative stuff, but inspite of that, Requiem was a pretty fast and fun read. I just guess my expectations were too high, and I just got really disappointed. So do I recommend this? Well, Delirium is really good- it’s just more of romance than dystopian though, but I honestly liked the romance and I loved the book. Pandemonium’s more action packed, even though my heart got crushed at Delirium’s ending. So if you haven’t yet, give this a try and see what the hype is about. Just lower your expectations for Requiem so that you won’t be so disappointed. While a good read, it wasn’t as mindblowing as the first two books.

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Hadashi de Bara wo Fume by Rinko Ueda

Poor Sumi Kitamura… Her irresponsible older brother Eisuke keeps bringing home orphans for her to take care of even though they can barely afford their own basic needs! Just when Sumi’s financial problems become dire, wealthy Soichiro Ashida enters her life with a bizarre proposition: he’ll provide her with the money she so desperately needs if she agrees to marry him. But can Sumi fool high society into thinking she’s a proper lady? Moreover, is it worth giving up everything for this sham of a marriage?

My Opinion:

Stepping on Roses was a manga I picked up after a custom search on MU with the parameters Victorian Era and Slow Romance, I think. It’s a nine volumes strong story, that, especially in the first few volumes, turns out more series than the cover with it’s silly, fluffy Shôjo-esque look might suggest. Unfortunately, the last two or three volumes were so disappointing, over-the-top and badly thought out that they overshadow the potential the beginning of the series had: As most manga readers know, there are series that are slightly weaker in the beginning because of the expositional overload. There is turning-point, when everything is set and the actual story and character-development begins that can make or break a story. In this case, this middle part was badly executed, and only succeeded by the even worse ending.

The most obvious flaws are the way the author constructs the characters around the way she wanted the plot to develop, going as far as having one of the fan’s favourites have a mental breakdown in order to make him “unredeemable”, and casting the hero in the light the antagonist was cast in before. That has been a flaw in the first volumes, as well, but the lack of story and set facts probably made it easier for me to overlook. Too bad she backed herself in a corner she was only able to get out of by taking away the credibility of the characters – Especially when she gave basically everyone, including the “unredeemable” mental patient, a HEA.

Given this, I wouldn’t recommend the series, unless you -like me- want to read more “realistic” historical romance manga. Here some of the elements of the manga:

• Forced/Arranged Marriage, resulting in the heroine moving in with her now-husband.
• Love Triangle and Friends Who Become Enemies
• Painful Past and Traumatic Childhood, though that is a given with almost every story, I suppose.
• Yandere and Tsundere Characters, of course
• Beautiful Female Lead, with whom the hero falls in love first.
• A lot of unneccesary angst and drama, to the point where I wanted to rip out pages because it annoyed me too much.

I think if you manage to be enthusiastic about the first volumes, it’s easier/possible to enjoy the final ones, but I’m not certain. Truthfully, I’m working my way through all the manga there are, just to find another Yona, so I’m easily disappointed, which isn’t entirely fair to the manga. ;) But overall, this is simply not as good as it could have been, and there’s no way around acknowledging that. 2-3 stars max.

Goodreads · MangaUpdates · MyAnimeList

An author immerses herself in the frenzied fandom of Twilight, the young-adult vampire romance series that has captivated women of all ages.

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer’s young-adult vampire romance series, has captivated women of all ages, from teenagers who swoon over the film adaptations to college-educated women who devour the novels as a guilty pleasure. All told, over 110 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide, with translations into 37 languages, and the movies are some of the highest-grossing of all time. Twilight is a bona fide cultural phenomenon that has inspired a vast and unimaginably fertile fan subculture—the “fanpire,” as the members describe it.

Just what is it about Twilight that has enchanted so many women? Tanya Erzen—herself no stranger to the allure of the series—sets out to explore the irresistible pull of Twilight by immersing herself in the vibrant and diverse world of “Twi-hards,” from Edward-addition groups and “Twi-rock” music to Cullenism, a religion based on the values of Edward’s family of vegetarian vampires. Erzen interviews hundreds of fans online and in person, attends thousand-strong conventions, and watches the film premiere of New Moon with Twilight moms in Utah. Along the way, she joins a tour bus on a pilgrimage to Twilight-inspired sites, struggles through a Bella self-defense class, and surveys the sub-universe of Twilight fan-fiction (including E. L. James’s enormously popular “Master of the Universe” story, the basis for her erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey).

Erzen also takes a deeper look at the appeal of traditional gender roles in a postfeminist era saturated with narratives of girl power. If Twilight’s fantasies of romance and power reflect the fears, insecurities, and longings of the women who love it, the fanpire itself, Erzen shows, offers a space for meaningful bonding, mutual understanding, and friendship.

Part journalistic investigation and part cultural analysis, Fanpire will appeal to obsessed fans, Twilight haters, and bemused onlookers alike.

My Opinion

I usually refrain from requesting (and reviewing) Non-Fiction titles, but there are certain types of books that I can’t resist, like.. books about books and fandoms.

Mostly everyone knows that I’m not a big fan of Twilight. At the same time, I’m very much fascinated by how incredibly strong Twilight’s influence on us is: People started reading because of the saga, spent dozens of dollars on franchise, and can quote half of the dialogue by heart.

As someone who’s just interested enough to care, but not enough to actually attend any TwiCons or movie premieres or whatnot, getting to read about them from a perspective that I can actually appreciate, was the main reason why I ended up reading Fanpire.

It was an interesting read, and pointed out the good and bad things about the series, without being overly enthusiastic or ranty. Erzen certainly tried to avoid conflict there, and that’s not a bad thing, except that, because she focussed on the saga as a whole, the book lacked more in-depth chapters. Erzen attended many Twilight-related events, talked to people, shared her conclusions- though those aren’t about whether Twilight is great or horrible. It’s a widely-known fact: Twilight is popular and the people who enjoy the series are as different from eachother as can be: They are mothers and daughters, men, women, Mormons, atheists, etc.

She talks about the rather dysfunctional relationship of Bella and Edward’s, and makes it a point to also show how the majority of the fandom realizes (or has come to realize) that while enjoying their relationship in a book, they’d never want to actually live that.

The book basically consists of her summarizing the novels and talking about the events she attended and fans she talked to. She also spends some time talking about fan-fiction (including the Masters of the Universe FF, also known as the Fifty Shades of Grey series), male fans, how the series might affect relationships and why it is so popular despite it’s flaws. – I enjoyed those parts, even though I wish she had talked about several parts a little more and cut others. (Then again, I got a copy MONTHS in advance, so it’s definitely possible that the final copy has been edited a little more.)

In short

I do not regret reading Fanpire, and I think it was interesting to see some more mature women (and men, no matter how few of them) talking about Twilight. We all get to see and hear 15-year-old girls shrieking “Rob!!! Edward! OME!”, but it’s rare to get to see wives talking about the books or teenagers pointing out that while they love the books, they wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with a stalker. ;)

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Ascend (Trylle #3) by Amanda Hocking

With a war looming on the horizon, Wendy’s fate seems sealed.But everything she sacrificed might be in vain if she can’t save the ones she loves.

Her whole life has been leading up to this, and it’s all coming to an end.

My Opinion:

The Trylle Trilogy is pretty good, in my opinion. The trolls aspect, while a bit gross if you envision them as ugly creatures, is pretty unique for a paranormal romance.

Since it’s been about a year and a half since I read Switched, I don’t really remember how I felt about it. I just remember that I found it a bit mediocre, but I liked Torn a lot more than it. And yes, I really enjoyed Ascend as well.

The character development was really good. Wendy is now acting as Queen, with Elora dying, and she’s really owning up to the responsibility. I used to hate her, since I thought she was spoiled and selfish, but now she’s a lot better. Yes, there were times when she pissed me off with her selfcenteredness, but it’s all good now.

Like a whole lot of YA books, Ascend had a love triangle. There’s Finn from Switched, who Wendy used to think was a creepy stalker but ended up falling in love with him when whe discovered he was her tracker; and there’s Loki- the charming Vittra who sided with her. I honestly did not know who she would end up with, but I began having a pretty clear picture when I was around halfway through the book. She barely gets any moment with the other guy, and heck, even ends up sleeping with the guy, even though she’s married to Tove… Who’s gay. Yikes. But honestly, I didn’t have any violent reactions over the guy she ends up with. Why? I suppose I didn’t actually fall in love with any of them either: Finn, I sorta liked in the first book, but he pissed me off with the whole “we can’t be together!” tirade of his. Loki, he was charming with his devil-may-care attitude, but I always did find it a bit weird how quickly he fell for Wendy. (Like Cadan from Angelfire. Weird.)

The plot moved at a decent pace for most parts. I had a hard time starting the book- I honestly had no idea how Torn ended- but I soon found myself getting sucked in the book quickly. Though for me, it wasn’t that deep. The main thing the book revolved around was taking down the Vittra king, Oren. He was supposed to be an invincible immortal, and it took them so long to plan their battle! And honestly, the way Wendy defeated him was almost anticlimatic. Kinda disappointing, but at least the preparation was more exciting!

The Rating

I think I’ll give this book around 4 stars. Unique, but not really that memorable to be honest. But still, a good read. Ascend almost had that fairytale feel to it, but darker. (and with trolls) I recommend reading this book if you’re a fan of different paranormal creatures, love triangles, epic fantasy battles, and if you have the patience to wait out for the selfish main character to mature. ;)

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Charlotte and Oliver have been friends forever. She knows that he, Abe, and Trip consider her to be one of the guys, and she likes it that way. She likes being the friend who keeps them all together. Likes offering a girl’s perspective on their love lives. Likes being the behind-the-scenes wordsmith who writes all the lyrics for the boys’ band. Char has a house full of stepsisters and a past full of backstabbing (female) ex-best friends, so for her, being friends with boys is refreshingly drama-free…until it isn’t any more.

When a new boy enters the scene and makes Char feel like, well, a total girl…and two of her other friends have a falling out that may or may not be related to one of them deciding he possibly wants to be more than friends with Char…being friends with all these boys suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.

My Opinion

This is one of the titles I read ages ago but only now edit the review of. I feel deeply ashamed for myself, I assure you. But I couldn’t help but share this with the rest of you, because it was one of the Young Adult titles I enjoyed.

I’m starting to see a trend here, too. So far, I have read like one or two YA Contemporary titles that I truly disliked, while, if you look at my YA PNR reads, there are probably only one or two titles there that I would recommend. (Well, slight exaggeration) This might mean that Being Friends with Boys was exceedingly brilliant. It might also mean that I’m simply not as used to Contemporary tropes as I am to paranormals, and am therefore not nearly as critical when it comes to the genre.

Another thing I’m not entirely sure about is the “being friends with boys means less drama” thing. I can’t, for the love of it, remember if it’s just the blurb that hasCharlotte not realize that drama isn’t connected to gender or not, which really bothers me. I think it never came across as sexist, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t.

Regardless of that, Being Friends with Boys was a very good read. I enjoyed it a lot, though I wish certain parts had been more expanded: The entire Hansel and Gretel song, or the Notebook gesture, for example.

I liked how the author managed to create a more or less realistic “world”, in which the girl doesn’t just want the boy, or the good grades, or the friends. Charlotte’s life comes across as a blend of realistic wishes and experiences, and different types of relationships. Even though I’m not a very empathetic or forgiving reader, I understood her being blindsided and/or overwhelmed at times, with everything that happened in her life, and hoped for her to get a happy ending.

Truthfully, it’s not that easy to explain why I liked this story. It grabbed my attention very quickly, and in some ways I felt like the passenger on a great ride. The book was.. charming: The different relationships Charlotte had with the band-members, her entire personality, her non-girly attitude that never dismissed being girly as a bad thing. If I’m being honest, I’d probably watch a show about those guys.

In short

This is more of a slice-of-life read than anything else, and it’s truly adorable. A very comfortable (and comforting!) read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for.. a lemon-tea and bisquits-read. Yeah, actually.. scratch everything I said before. Summarized, Being Friends with Boys is the sort of novel I associate with lemon-tea and bisquits.

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  Broke and Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book. Please share your opinions in the comments! (Little note, though: “Instantly buying” for me means instantly checking out reviews on Goodreads, and THEN either buying, putting on my keep-in-mind list, or.. not.)

I don’t think I can come up with ten, but here are five I can come up with:

• Dysfunctional relationships. Whether we’re talking about romantic or platonic relationships, friends, lovers or family, any form of dysfunctional relationship intrigues me. The co-dependency, the enablers, the love-hate, the incest. Of course, most books containing dysfunctional relationships seem to be unaware of that, which, in turn, results in me giving them negative reviews.
• Cover blurbs by some of the authors I really like. (It’s like the opposite of the Cast-quote, or the “Fans of Twilight will love this.” Even though the latter is simply misleading and has been put on many actually GOOD books. Shame on you, “Fans of Twilight will love this.” Shame on you.)
• Alternate and parallel universes with paranormal elements, such as Ilona Andrew’s Edge or Kate Daniels world, Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling and Guild Hunter world, or Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts world! I just love it when there isn’t the heroine or hero stumbling into a world they’ve never heard of before. Instead, in all those worlds, the characters know most of what goes bump in the night.
• Reaccuring (and somewhat tragic) heroes. A well-known guy to bring up would probably be Acheron from the Dark Hunter series, or even Hawke from the Psy/Changeling world. I like to see certain characters time and time again until they’ve reached the point where there story truly begins. There are things authors can easier bring up with secondary characters than with their heroes and heroines, I think. (I think for many people Nyx, Lothaire, Blay etc. from the BDB and IAD series are that.)
• Not good-looking heroes. I mean, heroines already have lots to do, but boy, sometimes it feels like, unless the hero is really fucking good-looking, all his other qualities are for naught. Kelley Armstrong’s Derek and Stacia Kane’s Terrible are two of my all-time-favourites, though, and oh, would I love to get some more guys who aren’t absolutely handsome. (Not that I mind. It’s a general thing. Beta-heroes, brains over brawns, poor, just not the same hero all over again and again and again..)

In the middle of this post I realized that there are many topics I absolutely want to read more about, but can’t bring myself to pick up, because often enough they aren’t portrayed properly imo. Like, LGBT* characters, prostitution, POCs and so on. I’ll have to think a little about that.. In any case, let me know what you’re instantly intrigued by and don’t forget to click the CommentLuv button so I can drop by your blogs as well! :)

Q: Is there a song that reminds you of a book? Or vice versa? What is the song & the book?

What a great question! (though not because I have amazing answers. Truthfully, I really had to spent some time thinking about this and probably forgot the songs and books that are the most important to me. (What else is new)) I am absolutely excited to see everyone else’s replies! *giddy*

So.. I think Amanda Palmer’s “Runs in the Family” reminds me of quite a few books, though the most amusing picks are probably titles like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. I usually connect certain songs, for example “Civilian” by Wye Oak or “I don’t feel it anymore” by William Fitzsimmons with almost any headcanon I’ve got. Others I just heard at the time when I was reading the title, like Anna Nalick’s new album and one of Richelle Mead’s YA books. So, they don’t really ‘remind’ me of the books in the way that the lyrics or instrumentals seem apropos.

I’ll just go with some of the more amusing picks I’ve got on my playlist. (Genres/Types of books I usually read when I don’t skip the songs.)

• Young Blood, The Naked and Famous (Various, because of a Teen Wolf fanvideo by the amazing Heathyr. Now I want every book to feel the way the trailer does, so I listen to it all the time.)
• Bloodstream, Stateless (Weird ones)
• The Boys Are Too Refined, The Hush Sound (YA/Contemporary, silly books)
• Run Boy Run, Woodkid (Weird ones)
• Tristan, Patrick Wolf (Weird ones)
• Theme of Laura, Akira Yamaoka (Various; Fantasy)
• Hummingbird, Alex Clare (Bittersweet Romance)
• Vampire Smile, Kyla La Grange (Dysfunctional and Creepy Lovers that are supposed to be awesome but aren’t and so I need something to make it appear edgy on purpose except it really isn’t.)
• Skinny Love, Birdy (Whiny Breakups that I don’t get without background music.)

I usually don’t listen too much music when I’m reading, and if I do, seldomly any singing is happening, cause that just distracts me. *eye twitch*

The thing about my book playlists is.. I often got songs I don’t actually like on them because they fit the characters or atmosphere. Like, I’ve actually got some techno on a playlist for a romance novel, and it still confuses me profoundly, but it fits. *g*

Soo.. Seriously curious (maybe as I have never been before!) let me know your songs and books and whether you’ve got some soundtrack-excentricities, too! :>

Two souls. One Body. Sharing is not an option…

Terrible news has turned Anaea Salis’s life upside down. There’s nothing she can do to make it right and the stranger who stops to talk to her can’t help. But when that stranger, Hunter, an ancient dragon spirit, is viciously attacked and forced to transfer his spirit into her body, Anaea’s life takes a new terrifying twist.

Hunter should have known by now not to get involved with human affairs, but there was something about the woman that drew him to her and he just couldn’t help himself. Trapped in her body all he wants is to get out, except whoever is trying to kill him is now after her.

Their only hope of survival… plunge into the deadly world of dragons.

My Opinion:

Immortal Coil was a freebie, hence I expected it to be of inferior quality, filled with stereotypical, cliché plotlines and characters. What I’m trying to say: I was being stupid.

While Immortal Coil was, to some extents, the type of guilty pleasure Paranormal Romance novel I expected, it wasn’t in any case a poor excuse to write smut. On the opposite, it was a pleasant surprise and I’m glad I gave it a try. Truth be told, I really want to read more set in this world and if you all don’t get your asses down and read this, I might have to wait even longer, so shush, buy!

It starts with a scene written in the hero’s, Hunter’s, point of view. He’s trying to escape from a curse cast by some Greek folks, desperate and angry. He has to leave his real body, that of a dragon. It’s later explained that this ability to body-switch has been given to all of the dragons by their ‘God’, the Mother of All.

Then we immediately switch to Anaea’s point of view. The heroine of this story is suicidal after being told that her cancer is not curable. After chemo, operations and so on, she had hoped to finally get on with life. Unfortunately she has only a few more months left to live.

Standing on the bridge, contemplating life and death, her ex-husband, her estranged family, she suddenly meets Hunter. He tries to talk her out of jumping off the bridge when suddenly they get attacked and both fall into the water, where he kisses her and body-jumps again.

But body-sharing is forbidden for dragons. It’s possible to drive them crazy, and even if not, they have to kill their human hosts afterwards, because those a. can’t know about dragons and body-sharing makes keeping that secret a little hard, and b. the connection of dragon-spirit and body often results in awakening humans’ natural bond to magic. Only twenty percent or so of us apparently have that, but many dragons are deeply afraid of humans with magic, because the Greek guys who almost killed them used magic as well.

Too bad that Anaea has a stronger mind than Hunter, can push through all the walls he builds to keep his identity a secret, and gets hold of her body again, despite him being in it. But they start to build some sort of partnership, and the more Anaea fights for her life (and his) the more he falls for her, until in the end he realizes that she is his lifemate. (One would say “Too bad that her life is so darn short”, but this being a paranormal romance novel provides a solution.)

As much as I would enjoy talking about the rest, like the side-characters, I’ll try to keep it short from now on. The plot basically revolves around other dragons trying to steal the medallion Hunter owns, a medallion that makes reincarnation possible and him trying to keep his body-sharing-thing a secret, while plotting how to get out of the dragons’ realm to get Anaea to safety.

The romance was not bad, but it wasn’t very satisfying or captivating either. I very much enjoyed the fact that while they shared a body there was little they could do. They build a bond, though, and that was nice. So nice, in fact, that I wish the author had explored it further. Hunter was so stoic and un-funny at times. -sigh- Actually, the story had few humorous or even funny moments, which was okay for me given its nature, but would have been most welcome, too.

But back to the romance: I really had an issue with the body he got after Anaea’s, despite the fact that she obviously was able to deal with it in the end. It just felt wrong to me, ya know. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t her brother or ex-husband or something horrible like that.)

Overall, there were few things that bothered me. Mostly it was a lack of instead of the existence of. For example, it wasn’t that the characters were annoying, which they really weren’t as far as I recall, but that the author didn’t explore their mind-sharing a little further, which would have further strengthened the relationship/romance. It wasn’t that the story was too obvious, but that the seriousness made it a little too tense at times.

In short:

Despite its flaws, Immortal Coil was really good. I hope the author will write as fast as she (she?) can. There aren’t many dragon-stories that I have read so far, but this one seems to be the first one I actually enjoyed reading. I only wish the relationship had been stronger. 3-4 stars

Goodreads · Amazon · BookDepository