A VVivacious Review: Chasing Sunrise (The Darkmore Saga #1) by Lex Chase

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Sevon Marate is the puppet king of Darkmore (the country of the aisa) and the one pulling his strings is Lord Dominic Ravensgrove. But for Sevon, Dominic is also his lover, advisor and his abuser.

Dominic’s plan to capture the shifter land of Priagust leads to the capture of Jack, who turns out to be someone from Sevon’s distant past.

As Sevon and Jack begin to bond, will Sevon finally see Dominic’s true face and more importantly will he finally find the courage to stand up to his tormentor…?

For anyone who picks up this book, I advise you to read it to the end because looking at this book in its entirety makes it a much better story.

Sevon is a deeply damaged character and what is even worse is that he has never felt loved in his living memory. And compounding this fact is the knowledge that Dominic is the one who raised him, who slowly poisoning his mind to the point that Sevon doesn’t remember how to trust. Sevon hides his hurt behind the face of a haughty cruel king but in his innermost thoughts his beliefs are something completely different.

This book is written predominantly from Sevon’s POV with a sporadic sprinkling of the POVs of other characters in between. I feel that having the book written mainly from Sevon’s POV was a bit of a pitfall. One, because he knew all about the world of the aisa so he never explains exactly what is what. The author has provided a very helpful glossary at the end but I wished it was in the beginning of the book given how I had to manipulate the entire book thinking that the aisa are the same as vampires and frankly I wasn’t so of the mark. Second, because he wasn’t the most likeable of characters in the beginning and he has a bit of a mental breakdown towards the middle of the book which is quite disquieting but in retrospect it also lead me to have sympathy for the character so that actually kind of worked well. But the problem is I was very tempted to stop reading when all this was happening and I feel many others will be as well but the point I want to make is that the story and plot get better from here on out.

Jack is an ungati shifter. I really liked Jack while I hated Dominic from the get go. Jack has this quiet strength about him and when he is being tortured by Sevon and Dominic, I personally took him for a warrior. Somehow his fierce love and determination is what gets Sevon across his indecisiveness and into action. Personally Jack was one of my most favourite characters in this book.

Then there are the Armigers, who I really liked. They are like a band of amazons. Bianca is also one of my favourite characters in this book. I loved her strength and determination and the best part was the fact that she was so brave and good. Personally the Armigers were good enough to be the main characters. I loved Bianca, Chaney, Cassandra and Xo and I would love to read more about these four.

I must commend the author on her characterizations because even when her good characters do deplorable things she still manages to get the point across that they are the good characters. She has created some pretty strong characters in this book who are sure to stay with you.

Since this book is part of a series I was afraid that the final confrontation wouldn’t be in this book but the good thing about the book is that the author completely finishes this arc of the story so that we don’t have to wait for justice to be delivered. Once Sevon takes a stand the earlier pace of this book which is basically like a step forward followed by two steps backward is lost and we get a fast paced plot which is continuously shifting and the story accelerates from peacetime to wartime.

The only part of this book which I found absolutely deplorable was the fact that the aisa keep humans as livestock and that just doesn’t sit well in the pit of my stomach but since this fact is only mentioned once or twice in the book, I was happy ignoring it for the rest of the story.

Overall the writing in this book is really good with an interesting plot which only lacks a bit of world-building but I guess that will be taken care of in the following books (read post script). But the most beautiful part of this book is its phenomenal characters who leave an impression.

P.S. If you are one of those people who hate moving on to the next para without having fully understood the previous one (like me… guilty) I suggest a quick read of the glossary at the end of the book which will quell all doubts.

I loved the cover, the light play from sunlight to darkness is a manifestation of the veil and water enhances Sevon’s powers to work the veil. Also well the title is Chasing Sunrise and the cover depicts it quite well. Also the book is quite adequately named but you really need to read all the way to the last chapter to figure out why the book is named so.

Sales Links: DSP Publications | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 269 pages

Expected publication: April 5th 2016 by DSP Publications (first published July 24th 2014)

ASIN

B01DCG6S68

Edition Language

English

Series

The Darkmore Saga #1

A VVivacious Review: Souls for Sale Series (Books 1 & 2) by Asta Idonea

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Thomas Ives has a made a deal with the devil, for which he has given up his chance at heaven, or has he…?

Saul is a demon deal-maker extraordinaire, always ready to go the extra mile to secure a soul. But he doesn’t know the night he is in for when he gets Tom to sign on the dotted line.

In the weirdest twist of fates, a night of passion see these two beings falling in love. But hasn’t Saul already condemned his lover to a lifetime of misery in hell, isn’t Tom’s soul condemned to eternally burn in the fiery pits of hell, well not if Saul has a say in it…

This book comprises of two stories TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY DEMON and HELL TO PAY.

“Twenty-First Century Demon” is a short story telling us how Saul and Tom met while “Hell to Pay” follows these two as they are on the run from the demons of Hell.

These books are written (mostly) in first person, but what is unique about these books is that the reader is a known presence to Saul and Tom, but again mostly to Saul as he actually makes comments on what he believes to be are the reader’s thoughts, indirectly it’s like he is talking to us and we are following him all around, even when they have sex so basically he refers to us (the reader) as a demon-groupie and a voyeur (and he would be right). This was indeed a unique experience and what I liked about this way of writing is that it got me involved in the book really fast.

Now again if you remember I said mostly first person that is because we have three narrators – Tom and Saul who both use first person in a talking to a third person way and then there is Baruchiel who is talked about in the third person. But these are all technicalities that don’t detract from the reading experience, in fact Saul’s “talking’ really had me engrossed in the story from a very early stage.

To some extent it is hard to find the basis to Saul and Tom’s love, if you ask me the best explanation is love at first sight/sex because this is the one aspect of the book which is extremely vague. They fall in the ‘I am ready to take on hell for you’ way in the span of hours, this decision changes their entire lives, forces them on the rum from Hell and frankly I don’t understand how it is possible. This is exactly where Saul’s “talking” comes in handy because even though I am sceptical of their love which has sprung up out of nowhere, the fact remains that it seems like he is telling me a story which makes me give him creative liberty over the events.

Now if you just push the details of how they fell in love aside the premise of the rest of the story is really interesting. Tom, Saul and Baruchiel are all extremely likeable characters and you will get caught up in their drama.

While I loved Tom and Saul’s extraordinary love and all their small moments that they share, what I loved most about this book was the story of how a demon falling in love can rend heaven and hell into chaos. The story is interesting and appealing in the way angels and demons always are. I loved Baruchiel as the little angel trying to do good and taking on big bad demons in the name of love.

More than a love story this book is appreciable because it has an awesome plot given a nice execution with very likeable characters and the premise is such that it has a lot of potential which the book successfully delivers.

Overall if you like a good old angels and demons story with heaven and hell settling disputes because a demon falls in love with a human, this story is just for you.

Cover Art by 8th floor studio. I loved the cover it is vague but at the same time it is a picture trying to get something across, and it is eye-catching.

Sales Links: Wayward Ink Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 139 pages
Published February 5th 2016 by Wayward Ink Publishing
ISBN139781925222784
Edition LanguageEnglish
CharactersSaul, Thomas Ives, Adramalech, Baruchie

A VVivacious Review: Hoofbeats by A.J. Marcus and Nicole Godfrey

Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Cole Frasier, a famous horse trainer, has had a troubled year, so when he is offered work at triple his asking price. He jumps at it. But the horse he is working with is much more than just a horse.

Derek Dancing Hawk is stuck in his horse form, but something about Cole makes him want to shift. While the bond between the two men strengthens, the shift is brought on when Cole ends up in a fight. But shifting might have just made things worse for both Derek and Cole.

While their boss uses the secret to force the two of them in a money-making gimmick, the Enforcers who ensure that the secret is kept are not going to take Derek prancing about as a horse lightly. What fate awaits these two as they find themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place…?

The beginning of this story is bogged down with too many descriptions, most of them unnecessary which makes getting in sync with the book a little harder. As such the first chapter tries too hard to get everyone on the same page. But the moment we get to the second chapter things get infinitely better and the story becomes quite interesting.

As such what captured my imagination was Derek as Midnight Blood, there was something about his mannerisms as a horse that were true to both aspects of his being, as a horse and as a human. I commend the authors on getting Derek spot on. Because as a horse he is really able to get across the fact that he is a horse-shifter and a human being. All in all what works is that Derek really gets you on his side from the beginning, with his attitude and his personality.

While Cole who has his own issues, finds a challenge in Midnight Blood. But it soon becomes quite clear that Midnight is not just his outside facade of a horse but a remarkable being on the inside. As such Cole comes across as a well-mannered guy who stands up for his beliefs.

What I loved about the book was how the story weaves in and out of Derek and Cole’s relationship. How circumstances bring them closer. Also all the little moments they share together are adorable. More than anything seeing them together is the best part of this book and how the story brings about new aspects in their interactions with each other.

The story hits kind of a slow patch around the half way mark which seems to drag on forever. In fact this is where story fails to make a mark, the story builds up to a point where circumstances need to be resolved to ensure a future to Derek and Cole’s relationship and personally I don’t think things got handled so well. What should have been quick, decisive and a major relief becomes prolonged with too many unnecessary situations during which Derek and Cole who are the strength of this book hardly spend any time talking and things drag for a quite a long time and ultimately don’t bring a lot of relief.

As such a lot of things go unexplained in this book. A major chunk of side characters in this book are the villains. We have the head honcho Mr. Lopez who is a perfect example of a scumbag, Joe who has more brawns than brains and assorted body-guards who are just pains in the ass. And then there is Elizabeth whose character seemed quite unhinged from the very start and seems to be dealt with in the worst way possible and I never understood Cole’s sympathy towards her. While the side characters on the side of good are not much better, there is Mike who would have been a cute addition except he has no role in the story and is just unwanted baggage in the book. I didn’t quite understand Jean she just didn’t give off grandmotherly vibes. The side characters best depicted were the various enforcers Sebastian, Gabriel and Avorial they get the job down without tagging on when not required.

What the story needed was a tighter plot, fewer side characters and a bit more background on the retained side characters. But what convinces me this book is worth a shot is Cole and Derek, I mean seeing them together living their life is charming, seeing them tackle challenges and just enjoying life in each other’s company was worth reading the book.

The cover is by L. C. Chase. I loved the horses on the cover but the men on the cover didn’t quite match my idea of Cole and Derek.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published February 12th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634768122
Edition LanguageEnglish

A VVivacious Review: Einstein’s Peep Show by Josephine Myles

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars ★★★★★

Nathan is a gay cam model which basically means he does solo sex acts for money to pay for his education. But when his highest tipper wants a private show with Nathan aka Einstein blowing another human being, Nathan is in a bit of a fix.

Rory is Nathan’s next door neighbour and when Nathan propositions him, he agrees because, who can turn down a blow job. But before he knows it things get out of control and turns out he might be in a real danger of losing his heart if only, Nathan would return his feelings…

This is the most charming romance I have ever read. These two were just so cute they had me going aww… and between that and the humour, I had a big smile slapped on my face for the entirety of the book and that is truly saying something because Rory had me giggling by the end of the first paragraph and the smile on my face never dimmed from there on out.

Nathan is this adorable geek who takes everything literally, so he can be a bit dense at times and a little too sensitive at the others. But he has had his heart squashed in a previous relationship and doesn’t want to suffer from another hormonal imbalance (if you are unfamiliar by the term, you might refer to it by the name of ‘love’).

Rory is this adorable (yes he is adorable too, you can get why this book is so charmingly funny and cute and romantic!!) guy who made me smile throughout this book, with his actions and words. He is such a nice guy, I loved the way he was open to talking and how he was always smiling and also how he was always trying to get Nathan out of his shell, and trying to make him really enjoy life.

Nathan and Rory together were oh so cute and just fit so well. And this really geeky quote from the book sums them up pretty well –

“Rory’s legs and arms were wrapped tight around him, pulling him inside, like the two of them were no longer separate integers. Like they’d been added together to make the most perfect prime number. Indivisible by anything but themselves.”

This book is perfect in length; it is a complete story and covers all the bases. What I loved was how this story imparts the true essence of Nathan and Rory just through their words and actions; I mean I loved how the plot had them in these adorable yet sexy situations and how they were trying to navigate this quagmire of a situation with their hearts intact, but failed… quite horribly.

If I could put a big arrow with the words READ THIS next to this book, I would. It’s short, it’s sweet, it will make you fall in love with the characters, it will make you laugh and in the end will still be a very satisfying read. Josephine Myles has hit a home run with this one.

Cover Art by Lou Harper. I think the cover is really cute (I am falling abysmally short of adjectives with this book), even though Nathan probably might not smile so much, but then he totally would if Rory was making him smile. I think the cover about covers up the content of this book.

Sales Links: Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 90 pages
Expected publication: February 23rd 2016
ASINB01BLTEQ8K
Edition LanguageEnglish

A VVivacious Review: Mute Witness by Rick R. Reed

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Book Synopsis: When a little boy ends up missing, his parents’ lives are turned upside down and inside out. But the relief that comes when the boy is found is marred by the appalling truth that comes to light.

As Shelley tries to be strong for her son while holding herself together, things spin out of control. While Sean’s worry of how his homosexuality might be used as a weapon to keep him away from his only child in light of the abuse he has suffered, is realised. And will Jason speak up against his abuser or has this one event struck him mute forever.

The blurb of this book is very misleading. While I enjoyed the book so I didn’t really mind the misleading blurb but this book is actually about a child who is sexually abused and how this impacts his life and the lives of those around him. Sean being gay though deliberate on the part of the author is just another nuance to the story because this book is not about Sean being gay it is about Sean, a father whose son has been very brutally abused.

Now where this blurb is misleading is in the fact that I thought the events in this book would be narrated as per Sean or Austin’s POV or from their perspective. But this book has multiple POVs including those of Shelley (Jason’s mother), Paul (Shelley’s husband), Estelle (Shelley’s mother) along with Sean, Austin and Jason and all of them are equally important characters, if not more. Especially Shelley we spend quite a lot of time in her head.

This is also not a romance story and doesn’t focus on relationships outside of how this adverse event puts a strain on them. This story is about one horrifying precipitating event that leads to a chain of reactions that propels the characters in this story.

My one problem with the plot was the multiple POVs because as it so happens in multiple POVs the moment the narrative of a particular character becomes interesting we flip to another character who can’t add anything to the interesting titbit we just learned.

This book is a story of people under insurmountable anguish who must learn to live their lives all over again and how our actions at the time of adversity can have irreversible consequences. The characters in this book have a really gritty feel, like the reality of their situations makes itself known on the surface itself. As such the book focuses on a lot of people other than aforementioned six and we get to see their perceptions and motivations as well.

As such I see why multiple POVs work for this story as it helps to increase the scope of the story as well as to realistically portray the extent of damage one wrong thing can produce. Also I loved how we got two perceptions of people one of how they perceive themselves and one of how they were perceived by people who knew them and in some cases an additional third of how a casual bystander perceives them.

This story is riveting, once you start the book it is hard to stop in between as the story twists and turns with subtlety through the wide landscape of havoc that descends on the lives of two parents who love their son immensely.

A word of caution while reading this book is that you will need to keep an open mind and also the fact remains that this book is most definitely not a romance; it is more of a thriller with slight bits of mystery and suspense.

Cover Art by Aaron Anderson. I liked the cover a lot it aptly portrays the dumb horror of what the story holds in store for you.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 2nd Edition, 290 pages
Published February 9th 2016 by DSP Publications (first published 2009)
Original TitleMute Witness
ISBN139781634763455
Edition LanguageEnglish

A VVivacious Review: Save of the Game (Scoring Chances #2) by Avon Gale

Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Ethan and Riley find themselves as roommates, team mates and… boyfriends?

While Riley may have just discovered his interest in the same sex after a good look at Ethan, Ethan is still pretty clueless about the phenomenal change of perception he has undergone in Riley’s eyes. But a bit of good natured snooping in a sub folder leaves Ethan confused and a drunken haze later sees him lock lips with Riley. But is this kiss one of those never to be talked about moments or just the first of many.

People who are thinking of reading this book should probably know that this is part of a series. I say this because I haven’t read the first part and I really didn’t think that me not having read the first book, would be a problem since the books followed different characters.

While having not read the first book didn’t lessen my enjoyment of it, it definitely would have brought a reduction in the number of head scratching moments. This book is pretty entrenched in the world of its predecessor. Like there are characters who have already been introduced and they come into this book with no introductions whatsoever so I had to take some time to figure out who was who but leaving that aside the book was awesome.

Ethan is the enforcer of his team, he is the tough looking guy with his tattooed exterior hiding a guy who loves just as ferociously as he fights. For Ethan family is priority. His family is who he fights and lives for. This also translates to his team who he loves but while Ethan fights for everyone no one has ever fought for him, no has ever fought his fights as their own. So he is used to fighting his own battles and looking after himself.

Riley is the product of absentee parents. Hockey is his life but there is a distinct lack of passion in his life. But when Ethan enters his life, Riley’s entire view on life undergoes a sea change. Riley is the level headed goalie, who never lets anyone score on him. He was the rock in their relationship while Ethan was the drama queen (not really but if you are comparing with Riley then definitely).

Riley and Ethan together are golden. All the issues that they had they solved in a really understanding way. As such personally their relationship just worked on so many levels, there was chemistry, there was understanding and I really liked the way they communicated. As such I guess the thing that had me convinced about these two was the way they overcame the obstacles to their relationship and just the way they handled life together be it family members, team members or just day to day living.

This book had that rare combo of excellent side characters. I loved the guys on the team by the end of the book they were like just another family to me, but anyone reading the first book would be familiar with them, especially Jared and Lane who keep popping up in cameo roles. But Ethan’s family really took the cake, I loved them so much his mother and sisters were just so family, like those really annoying characters you can’t live without who are a constant presence in your life and make life worth living. Also I loved the character of Benett Halley the guy who replaces Lane in the Jacksonville Sea Storm. He was just irritating enough to always be on the horizon but also contained enough to not be a complete asshole. I actually really liked his character maybe because usually such characters in books are irredeemable assholes but he surprisingly wasn’t.

Also this book has hockey in it. I don’t know why but I have come to love Hockey reading MM Romances, I am not a hockey fan but reading books featuring hockey has really got me trying to figure out the game. As such if you want to read this book you don’t need any working knowledge of Hockey, but it definitely added another dimension to the book.

This book is written as a slice of life fiction so the pace of things remains the same from the beginning to the end but it does tell a story in a fascinating way and ends it on a satisfying note, leaving you wanting more. I loved the book for its simplicity and its characters and the story, told in a very engaging and realistic way. Overall this book has me convinced to read the first book as well as the next one in this series.

Cover by Aaron Anderson. I liked the cover for the book but it is way too dramatic than the story what with the raging sea and the thundering storm but I guess the imagery is to accurately depict the “Sea Storm”.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner eBook | Amazon | ARe | Kobo

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published January 29th 2016 by Dreamspinner
ISBN 1627980474 (ISBN13: 9781627980470)
Edition LanguageEnglishSeries Scoring Chances:

Breakaway (Scoring Chances, #1)

Save of the Game (Scoring Chances #2)

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Sales Links: Amazon | Buy It Here

Share this:

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

Share this:

Share this: