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One Line Reviews Of Some Books I Read This Year (April – June 2022)
This is a round up of the books I read on the 2st quarter of this year that I’m too lazy to do a full review.
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LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(December 9, 2020)
This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.
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LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(December 2, 2020)
This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.
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REVIEW: Prophesy Book II: Bringer of Wrath by A.E. Via
King & Alpha: Prophesy Book II: Bringer of Wrath – A.E. Via
Shifter and Vampire True Mates story.
Alek’s older brother, Justice—the Alpha Zenith—was the first shifter to mate with a vampire in many generations, and it was believed the rare, fated pairing would stop at him. But, it hadn’t. Aleksei ‘Alek’ Volkov was second beta, next in succession to the most powerful shifter in the world. He was proud of his title and he took his duties seriously. It was all he had. Until his true mate literally showed up on his doorstep.
While his brother—the overachiever—excelled at having a vampire as a mate, Alek wasn’t that optimistic he would. He wasn’t averse to love, and he’d often thought of how different his life could’ve turned out if he’d ever experienced the emotion. His life was a mess and he’d worn a mask of stability for a majority of that time, only showing his siblings and pack what they needed to see—a strong Volkov alpha. Not the damaged man he was, with a tortured soul and a rogue wolf.
Alek dropped his heavy head in his hands.Now, for some reason, I’ve been granted a true vampire mate.And not just any vampire.The intimidating Belleron Liatos.Lord High to the King and the leader of his army.
Belleron ‘Bell’ Liatos had come to the states for one reason—his best friend and Vampire King, Chadwick Bentley. He certainly didn’t come to be pounced on by a wolf that could act independently of its master. Not only was his destined cherished a complicated and confused man; but he was also unaware of the powerful presence that lurked in the shadows of his soul. Bell didn’t know he’d be the key to unlocking an exceptional triad that would play a critical role in fulfilling the prophesy.
This story DOES NOT contain or even mention MPREG.
No multiple pairings. No cliffhangers. Ends with a very HFN.Warning:This book is M/M paranormal:If you DO NOT like alpha men shifting into large wolves, or vampires feeding from their destined beloveds, than this may not be the novel for you.
I liked this better. I wanted to like it more.
The second book of the King & Alpha series brought together the second-in-commands. Belleron is the bestfriend of King Bentley and Lord High of the Vampires. He is always impeccably dressed and strove to excel at all things. Aleksei was the second beta and next in line to the Alpha Zenith. He’s a genuine, down to earth guy who has a lot of inner conflict. Their story had more things happening compared to the first book, starting with Alek having multiple personalities.
Alek has his human self, his wolf self and something much darker within him. He can transition seamlessly between all three if they so willed. This created an interesting dynamic with his mate. It was, in a way, an MMMM love story involving two individuals. I totally loved how Bell embraced all of Alek’s selves unconditionally. Though, I kind of suspect his favorite is the dark one because that’s my favorite too.
Back in book one, Prophesy, Alek lost control of his wolf and latched on to Bell when the vampire showed up at their doorstep. Alek was filled with shame and was too embarrassed to meet Bell again. The second book started with Alek and Bell trying to get to know each other.
The first quarter of Bringer of Wrath was the exciting part. Bell had to go on a mission to London to apprehend rogue vampires raiding their tombs. His troops were overwhelmed and he was captured. Alek decided to go rescue him despite his natural shifter fear of flying. His younger brother and sister went with him. Things were pretty intense here.
I liked that this first quarter brought focus to bigger issues in the vampire/shifter world. But sadly, the rest of the book fell short. I wasn’t exactly bored but I wasn’t that excited either. It wasn’t a Mating 101 thing, like Wick and Justice. The romance was actually sweet and enjoyable but it took over the book and completely overshadowed the politics and the world-building.
Some work could have done to make the world-building much more solid, like providing more details on what exactly are these antagonists fighting for? Because for all appearances, Wick was a good king and so is Justice as the AZ. What is the say of humans in this scenario? Since gods were mentioned, what kinds of pantheons exist and how do they influence the world? And that damn prophesy. The book only paid lip service to it. You can take it out of the story and it would still work just fine. I’m guessing there’s a huge endgame in store so here’s hoping the prophesy aspect will be put to good use.
The strength of this series lies on the characters. Many characters stood out. I liked them all enough to make me want to follow their stories. The villains were throwaways though but I’m okay with that.
I was disappointed with the ending. I wanted Bell to have his moment but sadly his much awaited revenge was pre-empted by the introduction of a new character. Said character had the third brother, Mac’s hackles up. Their butting of heads almost made up for Bell’s lost moment.
Overall, Bringer of Wrath is a much improved sequel to Prophesy. It has similar issues when it comes to balancing the elements of the plot but it has more substance and more developments. I do wish the author strengthen the plots and the overarching threads because the backbones of the series is interesting. I want to find out more about what’s happening in the King & Alpha world so I’m still here for the next one.
P.S.
Prophesy review here
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked itSoundtrack: You Belong To Me
Artist: Cat Pierce
Album: CP1 -
REVIEW: Prophesy by A.E. Via
King & Alpha: Prophesy – A.E. Via
An Enemies to Lovers
Shifter, Vampire True Mates story.Justice Volkov is the youngest Alpha Zenith to ever lead the wolf shifters. Following in his father’s large paw prints was a responsibility he met head on. Now at age thirty-three, he is alpha of the alphas. As a direct descendant of the original Siberian pack, his wolf is bigger and stronger than Justice, himself is sometimes able to control.
His wolf howled long and hard but Justice kept it inside. It felt like a bass drum beating against his rib cage. The harsh breaths, angry snarls and the determined pacing inside him was overtaking him.
Justice takes his role of leadership and his legacy very seriously. He has little time for romance, not to mention a true mate. His packs are his priority. With a human government trying to regulate them, an uprising of rogue shifters, and a violent team of scientists trying to experiment on them, Justice has his hands way too full.
Chadwick ‘Wick’ Bentley is not enthusiastic when the captain of his escort tells him he has to leave his comfortable London home and go back to the States. As the Vampire King, he has no choice but to get his species back in line before they cause anymore chaos. At over one-hundred years old, Wick is no one to trifle with, but his smooth, charismatic manner makes him quite unique, despite the negative reputation vampires have. Wick has had nothing but time up to this point. He doesn’t feel the need to make issues pressing. Nothing is urgent in his life. Until he meets Justice. His beloved.
“Natural enemies can’t be mates.” Or so Justice thought. He knows his skepticism and rejection is hurting his mate, so while he fights their connection, Wick gets help from a source very close to Justice to help him win his beloved’s heart. Wick is a force all on his own, but when he’s blessed with a special gift from the Mother herself, not even Justice’s powerful wolf can prevent the prophesy from being fulfilled.
This story DOES NOT contain/mention MPREG.
No multiple pairings. No cliffhangers. It ends with a very HFN.Warning: This book is MM paranormal: If you DO NOT like hot, alpha men shifting into large wolves, or vampires feeding from their mates, this may not be your read.
Tsk! This could have been epic. This could have been the vampire/shifter series of my dreams.
Instead, it was so focused on Mating 101, it lost sight of the much bigger picture. That of the prophesy and IMHO, the more interesting vampire/shifter politics. I was mentally urging Justice and Wick to hurry up, sate their mate lust and focus on their duties at hand. As the Alpha Zenith and the King, they have jobs to do, for fuck’s sake.
Don’t get me wrong, I signed up because I wanted to see a vampire mate with a wolf. I was all hyped up for those hate-filled USTs. Their first meeting, holy hell, that was something! But after they got along and started resolving their tensions, I got bored. And that was practically what 90% of the book was about. It felt like nothing was happening.
It also felt like going through a checklist of shifter mating rituals. The sniffing, the mating, the marking, the possessiveness, the challenging and so on. This is fine. I get it. I could appreciate it. But can they please do something else too? Like deal with the threats to their world?
The ‘things that were happening’ were unfortunately crammed in the last 10% of the book. There were humans who were experimenting on shifters and vampires and rebel packs working with them. It irked me that these were barely talked about at all, practically almost an afterthought. They were dealt mostly off-page. Meh.
And that titular prophecy. It should have been a big deal but the impact was minimized due to the aforemention non-events. Again, meh.
Rant, I did but I will read the rest of the series. This is me hoping things will get better as it progressed. And like I said, I do get a kick out of a vampire+shifter couple. I love enemies-to-lovers stories. Add paranormal elements and I am all heart-eyes.
So yeah *sigh*, I wanted to like this so much.
Rating:
2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a likeSoundtrack: I Found
Artist: Amber Run
Album: 5AM
