Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Publisher: Signet Eclipse      

Publication date: December 31st 2012
My rating: 2 stars

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twenty-something girls—with one tiny exception: They're the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weird…
The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders if the vampires of Tahoe are plague-ridden.
Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the area safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and—oh, yeah—not lose her heart to the wrong guy or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, he's coming for her and her sisters. 
This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

There are 3 reasons why I wanted to read this book. 

#1- Urban Fantasy! I love me some UF investigation scenes in the dark with a hottie by the MC's side. 

#2- Vamps! I love vampires ever since I was a small kid wishing I could be one. 

#3- The pretty cover of the second book. Yes! You've read it right. I wanted to read Sealed with a Curse so I could enjoy some quiet time with A Cursed Embrace. I want to live in that cover. It's not anything special but I just adore it. 

Buuuut... I guess I won't be reading the second book after all because the first one made me say I can't even... so many times. It had so many elements I usually love to read about but they just didn't work well in this case. The author would introduce paranormal being as one thing but she would change things around really quickly. For instance, The Wird Sisters are bad-asses with brains or so I thought. There were so many things they knew nothing about(basic paranormal things about their world) but they knew some things which weren't as obvious. It didn't make sense. It's like they knew abstract algebra but didn't know anything about algebra 1.0.1. 

I don't even want to discuss the vampires, werewolves and witches... 

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Plume Books      

Publication date: September 4th 2004
My rating: 2 stars

Living in Toronto for a year, Elena is leading the normal life she has always dreamed of, including a stable job as a journalist and a nice apartment shared with her boyfriend. As the lone female werewolf in existence, only her secret midnight prowls and her occasional inhuman cravings set her apart. Just one year ago, life was very different. Adopted by the Pack when bitten, Elena had spent years struggling with her resentment at having her life stolen away. Torn between two worlds, and overwhelmed by the new passions coursing through her body, her only option for control was to deny her awakening needs and escape.
But now the Pack has called Elena home to help them fight an alliance of renegade werewolves who are bent on exposing and annihilating the Pack. And although Elena is obliged to rejoin her "family," she vows not to be swept up in Pack life again, no matter how natural it might feel. She has made her choice. Trouble is, she's increasingly uncertain if it's the right one.
An erotically charged thriller, Bitten will awaken the voracious appetite of every reader, as the age-old battle between man and beast, between human and inhuman forces, comes to a head in one small town and within one woman's body.

As a long time Kelley Armstrong fan I was excited to start her adult urban fantasy series in hopes of being engrossed with all 13 book. I was hoping to find another engaging story about werewolves with a couple of ahem steamier scenes. 

I've been reading this book for days and I came to the conclusion- I've read another version of Bitten. Not the one everyone else was reading, that's for sure. Obviously, I read the most boring version available while everyone's been having a blast and giving 5 stars to their books. 

I just can't deal with the cheating, lousy chemistry between the two main characters and the boring story line in general. Hell, Elena has more chemistry with the alpha Jeremy, who's her father figure than with Clayton Darlin' Danvers. 

I've read both Kelley's YA trilogies and while the writing style was similar, all the magic was gone. It was one dull scene after the other. I'm not sure if it's mine, the book's or the author's fault. 

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Dutton Adult    
Publication date: June 4th 2012
My rating: 2 stars

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of Xseries, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academyand Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

Eh, what a disappointment this book turned out to be. I'm really upset. As you may know, Richelle is my favorite author. I would read anything she writes. Well, the only exceptions were Dark Swan series and Age of X which is the title of this new series. They just didn't click with me the way that Succubus, VA and Bloodlines did. 

When I found out I got approved for this egalley I was ecstatic and I started reading it right away. That was months ago, in February and it was finished a couple of hours ago. The reason I didn't completely abandoned it is that it's Richelle freaking Mead we're talking about!  

I don't think this will be a long review because I don't feel comfortable giving my favorite author a negative review but I have to write something. 

Gameboard of the Gods did require a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Richelle obviously did put a lot of effort to create this new world but it was just too much of everything. She used mythology references like she usually does in her novels mixed with a dystopian world. I'm not usually for info-dumping this time it was necessary. We get snippets of information and then we have to wait to find out later what it all means. I'm not talking about revealing the big secrets. We didn't get general information till later which didn't make me a happy camper. It was so confusing and hard to keep up. How can I like a book I don't even understand? 

Book Review: Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Title: Storm Born
Author: Richelle Mead
File type: Audiobook
Release date: November 20th 2009

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants...
Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.
Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her...

Eehhh. What a mess! 

Here is the list of unnecessary things in this book(in no particular order):

1. Hot main character who I don't think is hot
2. Every man/faerie wants to shag her
3. Love triangle
4. Having sex with two different guys on every 70-100 pages
5. Idiotic main character
6. Having almost rape scenes at least 4 times

and so on. As you can see,my two biggest concerns were with Eugenie and her wild sex life. She jumps from Kiyo to Dorian all the freaking time. And of course everyone wants a piece of that so she has to deal with potential rapist very often. You would be surprised how many supernatural creatures want her. 

If you liked Georgina Kincaid series and are planning to read this one as well,don't! It was so much different from the usual Mead's adult fiction. There was a lot of swearing and I feel like she wrote this series in order to show her dirtier side. But it's not that good. Even though Georgina was a succubus and had to have sex at least she was a fun character while Eugenie is not that interesting. Sorry,but that's the truth. 

The only thing I did enjoy about this book is Volusian. He was a killer who is now serving Eugenie as a ghost/supernatural being,IDK. He is really intense and constantly threatens to kill her which made me laugh. 

“Hey, Volusian, you haven't been checking me out, have you?"

He gave me his trademark bland stare. "I assure you, mistress, the only allure your bare flesh has for me is to remind me how easy it will be to slice open."I laughed. If not for the fact he was actually serious, he'd be so much fun.”

2 stars