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beckyrendon's review
4.0
4.5
The Warlord Wants Forever-
My first Kresley Cole and hot damn, not my last. If you like to mix your paranormal, then you will be in Valhalla.
Do not mistake you immortals! There will be hell to pay!
Valkyries
Vampires
Half-breeds
Demons
Ghouls
demi-gods
Forbearers..
oh my!
I definitely missed a few dozen mentioned breeds. But never before have I wanted to mix immortals like this story.
Steamy, erotic teasing doesn't begin to describe it but the storyline is incredibly intriguing. Especially the intense detailing of the Lore and each background, I can't wait to see the follow up for this new series.
Forsaken by Night-
Yummy! I am seriously rethinking my stance on loving all equally...because who doesn't lust after a vampire. But then a skinwalker or shifter, oh yeah!
I am a virgin to all three of these authors and it's obvious that that was a huge mistake on my part!
Lobo was thrown out of the only "home" (and I use that term loosely) he ever knew. He has lived in isolation and loneliness until he found Tehya.
Tehya has made his life more than just existing. But he longs for more...The woman in his dreams...A life...A future...
All of which he knows he can't have. He's content, well more like resigned, to the life he has- as long as Tehya is by his side. When her safety is compromised, he does everything in his power to save her even at the cost of his own life...
Things don't always work out the way we plan and Lobo's plan sure does backfire!
But you really need to read it to find out how...
Dark Swan-
Don't roll your eyes at the aliens! Aliens are friends not food!?! No, um, it's...To Serve Man. Not it either.
Ok, enough bad jokes.
There once were three sisters. Each was treated differently. One was dotted on, given beautiful things, and generally adored. The second was considered the control for the experiment. The third was treated cruelly as less than, told she was evil and ugly. The girls were aware of the tests and yet they couldn't fight them entirely.
The story that unfolds in these pages is heart squeezing. It is sad. It's a depressing history but make no mistake- they will get revenge.
Used as lab rats, created for that very purpose, the girls each adjust to their powers and situations. Until it's no longer a possibility. Trinity, the much loved, is no longer everyone's darling. She is the cause of some terrible things. Lilica, the evil one, will do anything to help her- not in her cause but to make her better.
What starts out as a rescue mission may well end up in a murder. The real question is how many will go down with her?
Are you one of those people who rolls their eyes at alien romance? Do you look at the word alien and cringe? I do. It's unintentional. For some reason, despite countless hours watching all the Star Treks and Star Wars, thinking about alien romance makes me think- bleh. I have read tons and love them. But I always get the same reaction, well, not any more. I will be scrambling to find the others in this series. I can't wait to see the other blooming connections from this book.
Trying to hide my smirk because Dallas should definitely be left to me. You can't handle him nearly as well as me- just FYI. Silica may have him wrapped in her tight fist...but that man is mine!
Book received in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed on behalf of Once Upon An Alpha
The Warlord Wants Forever-
My first Kresley Cole and hot damn, not my last. If you like to mix your paranormal, then you will be in Valhalla.
Do not mistake you immortals! There will be hell to pay!
Valkyries
Vampires
Half-breeds
Demons
Ghouls
demi-gods
Forbearers..
oh my!
I definitely missed a few dozen mentioned breeds. But never before have I wanted to mix immortals like this story.
Steamy, erotic teasing doesn't begin to describe it but the storyline is incredibly intriguing. Especially the intense detailing of the Lore and each background, I can't wait to see the follow up for this new series.
Forsaken by Night-
Yummy! I am seriously rethinking my stance on loving all equally...because who doesn't lust after a vampire. But then a skinwalker or shifter, oh yeah!
I am a virgin to all three of these authors and it's obvious that that was a huge mistake on my part!
Lobo was thrown out of the only "home" (and I use that term loosely) he ever knew. He has lived in isolation and loneliness until he found Tehya.
Tehya has made his life more than just existing. But he longs for more...The woman in his dreams...A life...A future...
All of which he knows he can't have. He's content, well more like resigned, to the life he has- as long as Tehya is by his side. When her safety is compromised, he does everything in his power to save her even at the cost of his own life...
Things don't always work out the way we plan and Lobo's plan sure does backfire!
But you really need to read it to find out how...
Dark Swan-
Don't roll your eyes at the aliens! Aliens are friends not food!?! No, um, it's...To Serve Man. Not it either.
Ok, enough bad jokes.
There once were three sisters. Each was treated differently. One was dotted on, given beautiful things, and generally adored. The second was considered the control for the experiment. The third was treated cruelly as less than, told she was evil and ugly. The girls were aware of the tests and yet they couldn't fight them entirely.
The story that unfolds in these pages is heart squeezing. It is sad. It's a depressing history but make no mistake- they will get revenge.
Used as lab rats, created for that very purpose, the girls each adjust to their powers and situations. Until it's no longer a possibility. Trinity, the much loved, is no longer everyone's darling. She is the cause of some terrible things. Lilica, the evil one, will do anything to help her- not in her cause but to make her better.
What starts out as a rescue mission may well end up in a murder. The real question is how many will go down with her?
Are you one of those people who rolls their eyes at alien romance? Do you look at the word alien and cringe? I do. It's unintentional. For some reason, despite countless hours watching all the Star Treks and Star Wars, thinking about alien romance makes me think- bleh. I have read tons and love them. But I always get the same reaction, well, not any more. I will be scrambling to find the others in this series. I can't wait to see the other blooming connections from this book.
Trying to hide my smirk because Dallas should definitely be left to me. You can't handle him nearly as well as me- just FYI. Silica may have him wrapped in her tight fist...but that man is mine!
Book received in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed on behalf of Once Upon An Alpha
sonja_ahrb's review
5.0
Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, and Gena Showalter are some of favorite authors and when I heard that they were going to be doing this anthology together, well, saying I was excited is an understatement - I was absolutely floored! Even though I had already read Ms. Cole's "The Warlord Wants Forever", I couldn't wait to read it again and neither could I wait to read Ms. Ione and Ms. Showalter's stories as well. I had high expectations for Blood Red Kiss and it not only met them, but far exceeded them - it was utterly wonderful and I can't tell you how much I loved it!
I've read "The Warlord Wants Forever" a few times now and I love it just as much as I did the first time I read it and it makes me love Nikolai and Myst even more! Conrad is my favorite Wroth brother, but Nikolai definitely takes second place with me. He's always had a special place in my heart and I enjoy whenever I get to see him. I don't care for Myst as much as I do for Nikolai, but she's a kicka*s Valkyrie and I love her to pieces. "The Warlord Wants Forever" is a sexy, fun novella that will tug on heartstrings, make you laugh, and leave you melting and good sighing by the end, so even if you've already read it, it's Wroth - I mean worth, wink wink - the re-read! Also you don't want to miss the goodies at the end!
Although I've seen Ms. Ione around before, it wasn't until almost two years ago that I actually picked up one of her books - that was all I needed though - I became addicted to her writing and immediately dubbed her as one of my authors! I haven't gotten to read the two books in her MoonBound Clan Vampire series yet, but after "Forsaken by Night", I'm going to read them as soon as I can. It's a fantastic novella full of heart-pounding action, smoking hot chemistry and a fierce, strong, protective hero/heroine duo!
Don't hate me for saying this, but Ms. Showalter's Otherworld Assassin series is actually my favorite series of hers that she writes. There's just something about those otherworldly characters that I just can't get enough of and speaking of that, I just couldn't get enough of "Dark Swan"! I had so fun reading it and I never wanted it to end. I loved the banter between Dallas and Lilica and how they fought their attraction to each other even if it was a losing battle. "Dark Swan" was one book that made my heart ache, brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh a lot, and enchanted me - it was amazing!
Blood Red Kiss goes in the order in which I wrote my review and while you can read in whatever order you want, I would really recommend reading them in order, even if you get this anthology for just one of these authors. They are all worth reading, they are all excellent, and you will have a good time with each of them!
~ Sonja, 5 Stars
I've read "The Warlord Wants Forever" a few times now and I love it just as much as I did the first time I read it and it makes me love Nikolai and Myst even more! Conrad is my favorite Wroth brother, but Nikolai definitely takes second place with me. He's always had a special place in my heart and I enjoy whenever I get to see him. I don't care for Myst as much as I do for Nikolai, but she's a kicka*s Valkyrie and I love her to pieces. "The Warlord Wants Forever" is a sexy, fun novella that will tug on heartstrings, make you laugh, and leave you melting and good sighing by the end, so even if you've already read it, it's Wroth - I mean worth, wink wink - the re-read! Also you don't want to miss the goodies at the end!
Although I've seen Ms. Ione around before, it wasn't until almost two years ago that I actually picked up one of her books - that was all I needed though - I became addicted to her writing and immediately dubbed her as one of my authors! I haven't gotten to read the two books in her MoonBound Clan Vampire series yet, but after "Forsaken by Night", I'm going to read them as soon as I can. It's a fantastic novella full of heart-pounding action, smoking hot chemistry and a fierce, strong, protective hero/heroine duo!
Don't hate me for saying this, but Ms. Showalter's Otherworld Assassin series is actually my favorite series of hers that she writes. There's just something about those otherworldly characters that I just can't get enough of and speaking of that, I just couldn't get enough of "Dark Swan"! I had so fun reading it and I never wanted it to end. I loved the banter between Dallas and Lilica and how they fought their attraction to each other even if it was a losing battle. "Dark Swan" was one book that made my heart ache, brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh a lot, and enchanted me - it was amazing!
Blood Red Kiss goes in the order in which I wrote my review and while you can read in whatever order you want, I would really recommend reading them in order, even if you get this anthology for just one of these authors. They are all worth reading, they are all excellent, and you will have a good time with each of them!
~ Sonja, 5 Stars
inmyhumbleopinion's review
4.0
I picked up this book because I love Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series and Gena Showalters Otherworld Assassins series.
The first story in this book is The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole. I’ve read this story several times and still enjoy it but I was hoping for something new. If you haven’t read IAD read this and get sucked into the insanely fun series.
I haven’t read Larissa Ione’s MoonBound Clan Vampires but her story Forsaken by Night has convinced me to check them out. A fun and sexy story of vampires, skinwalkers and a world on the precipice of war.
What can I say about Gena Showalter’s Otherworld Assassins novella, Dark Swan? I absolutely adored it! It made this whole anthology worth it for me. I really wish she would do more with this world. This is manwhore Dallas’s story and oh what fun it is watching him fall.
Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
The first story in this book is The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole. I’ve read this story several times and still enjoy it but I was hoping for something new. If you haven’t read IAD read this and get sucked into the insanely fun series.
I haven’t read Larissa Ione’s MoonBound Clan Vampires but her story Forsaken by Night has convinced me to check them out. A fun and sexy story of vampires, skinwalkers and a world on the precipice of war.
What can I say about Gena Showalter’s Otherworld Assassins novella, Dark Swan? I absolutely adored it! It made this whole anthology worth it for me. I really wish she would do more with this world. This is manwhore Dallas’s story and oh what fun it is watching him fall.
Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
naomilane's review
5.0
Disclaimer: this is a review for Dark Swan by Gena Showalter, I have not read the other two yet.
As always, Gena strikes again. I devoured this book, I seem to always say the same stuff when I review Gena's books but I am not lying, I am not pretending to love her work, I just do. I truly do. Gena is a treasure, she's precious.
Back to the actual book. Dark Swan is not a full novel but it's not a novella either, I think it's about 216 pages long, more or less. I usually have a hard time liking shorter books, it's hard for me to connect with the characters, love story etc but it wasn't the case with Dark Swan, from the very first word to the very last one, I was hooked.
We've all been waiting for Dallas's book, it's been years and Gena finally wrote his story for us. I've always been a big fan of his in the Alien Huntress series and so I was thrilled to be able to read and learn more about him. Trust me ladies, he does not disappoint! Dallas is as broody and sassy as ever in Dark Swan. Of course, it's a shorter book so at the end you may want more time with him but, don't fret, I have a feeling Gena isn't done with this world and these characters...
I strongly encourage you to read the Alien Huntress series before reading Dark Swan, for several reasons:
- it's an amazing, funny and kick-ass series
- Gena wrote it
- you'll get to read more about Dallas and his past
- and, obviously, you'll understand the book much better
Anyway, Dark Swan basically starts right where Dark Taste of Rapture ended. The AIR is still trying to find the Schon queen, the bitch is still infecting people and Dallas is still Dallas. Our heroine, however, is new to us. Lilica is not an alien, she's not human either, she was created by scientists along with her two sisters. Lilica meets Dallas through Devyn when the latter captures and tortures her for information about the Schon queen. I really can't say much more except that I hadn't read more than 20 pages before Gena dropped a small bomb on me and I was shocked. Well done, G, well done.
I honestly loved that book, I think Gena did a marvelous job with it. I mean, it's not easy writing about a character from 5 years ago, remembering all the little details about him but also about the universe, the secondary characters, the plot etc. I found myself right back into it, it was like Gena never stopped writing about them in the first place.
If you loved Dallas before you're going to love him even more now! He made me laugh right from the start with his oversized ego and his relationship with Devyn is so precious. I think their bromance is my favorite from all of Gena's bromances. I really liked Lilica as well, she too is very funny and quite sassy (Gena is the queen of sassy heroines), determined, strong and with a drop of innocence. And, if I'm not mistaken, I think Lilica is Gena's first black heroine. Which was a very nice change and something I really appreciated!
The sexual tension is off the charts in this book! Loved the playful relationship Dallas had with Lilica, he doesn't hold back at all with her and it's so amazing to read. I laughed in more than one occasion while reading this and it was mostly because of what Dallas said to her without restraint. Or vice versa.
Of course and to my delight, a lot of characters from the Alien Huntress series make an appearance in Dark Swan. Especially Devyn and Bride, both are important to the story. Devyn is one of my all time favorite characters, I love him so much and I was so happy to have more of his cocky self in this book. He is just so precious and hilarious.
All in all, I'm sure Dark Swan wasn't an easy book to write but Gena did it brilliantly, the plot was very well written and it gave a satisfying conclusion to the series...even if I'm sure we're not quite done with them yet.
As always, Gena strikes again. I devoured this book, I seem to always say the same stuff when I review Gena's books but I am not lying, I am not pretending to love her work, I just do. I truly do. Gena is a treasure, she's precious.
Back to the actual book. Dark Swan is not a full novel but it's not a novella either, I think it's about 216 pages long, more or less. I usually have a hard time liking shorter books, it's hard for me to connect with the characters, love story etc but it wasn't the case with Dark Swan, from the very first word to the very last one, I was hooked.
We've all been waiting for Dallas's book, it's been years and Gena finally wrote his story for us. I've always been a big fan of his in the Alien Huntress series and so I was thrilled to be able to read and learn more about him. Trust me ladies, he does not disappoint! Dallas is as broody and sassy as ever in Dark Swan. Of course, it's a shorter book so at the end you may want more time with him but, don't fret, I have a feeling Gena isn't done with this world and these characters...
I strongly encourage you to read the Alien Huntress series before reading Dark Swan, for several reasons:
- it's an amazing, funny and kick-ass series
- Gena wrote it
- you'll get to read more about Dallas and his past
- and, obviously, you'll understand the book much better
Anyway, Dark Swan basically starts right where Dark Taste of Rapture ended. The AIR is still trying to find the Schon queen, the bitch is still infecting people and Dallas is still Dallas. Our heroine, however, is new to us. Lilica is not an alien, she's not human either, she was created by scientists along with her two sisters. Lilica meets Dallas through Devyn when the latter captures and tortures her for information about the Schon queen. I really can't say much more except that I hadn't read more than 20 pages before Gena dropped a small bomb on me and I was shocked. Well done, G, well done.
I honestly loved that book, I think Gena did a marvelous job with it. I mean, it's not easy writing about a character from 5 years ago, remembering all the little details about him but also about the universe, the secondary characters, the plot etc. I found myself right back into it, it was like Gena never stopped writing about them in the first place.
If you loved Dallas before you're going to love him even more now! He made me laugh right from the start with his oversized ego and his relationship with Devyn is so precious. I think their bromance is my favorite from all of Gena's bromances. I really liked Lilica as well, she too is very funny and quite sassy (Gena is the queen of sassy heroines), determined, strong and with a drop of innocence. And, if I'm not mistaken, I think Lilica is Gena's first black heroine. Which was a very nice change and something I really appreciated!
The sexual tension is off the charts in this book! Loved the playful relationship Dallas had with Lilica, he doesn't hold back at all with her and it's so amazing to read. I laughed in more than one occasion while reading this and it was mostly because of what Dallas said to her without restraint. Or vice versa.
Of course and to my delight, a lot of characters from the Alien Huntress series make an appearance in Dark Swan. Especially Devyn and Bride, both are important to the story. Devyn is one of my all time favorite characters, I love him so much and I was so happy to have more of his cocky self in this book. He is just so precious and hilarious.
All in all, I'm sure Dark Swan wasn't an easy book to write but Gena did it brilliantly, the plot was very well written and it gave a satisfying conclusion to the series...even if I'm sure we're not quite done with them yet.
bibliophile90's review
4.0
I am only reviewing Gena Showalter's novella Dark Swan.
We are first introduced to Dallas in the Alien Huntress series (one of my favorite PNR series). So I was very excited when I read that the novella in this book would be featuring him. Lilica Swan, the main female character, was very intriguing and I liked her right away. Both Dallas and Lily were very likable and unique characters and they were the main reason why I loved the story that much. There are two other characters who I hope will get a book in the future because they were awesome!
I loved how they met and how their relationship developed. Dallas was still the outgoing player I remembered. The only thing I would've wanted was that their story was a full-length novel. But Gena did a phenomenal job with this story regardless the length. I really hope there will be more books set in this world because it is very unique and the characters are AMAZING!
alejandra_guerrero's review
3.0
I didn't read the Larissa Ione book. It didn't interest me. I don't like Myst, and I think Nikolai deserved way better. Same for poor Dallas, I deeply disliked Lillica.
dragon_lion64's review
5.0
Blood Red Kiss
Three Stories by Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione and Gena Showalter
These three authors are on my top five favorite author list.
The Warlord Wants Forever
By Larissa Ione
This story was steamy…as in dampen your panties and sit in a hot sauna surrounded by sexy men steamy.
Myst is a Valkyrie who meets Nikolai who is a Forbearer vampire while she is imprisoned in another vampire. When Nikolai and his army take over the castle, Myst tricks Nikolai into thinking she is his Bride. Forbearers get one chance at having a mate in life. Sometimes, they have to wait centuries to meet that Bride. Sometimes, they never meet her. When a Forbearer vampire is turned, he stops having any sexual desire and his heart does not beat. Once, they meet their Bride, their heart starts pumping and their desire comes back but they cannot ejaculate without their Bride being near. Myst purposely works Nikolai into a frenzy and escapes when her sisters come for her but before she leaves, she does one last cruel thing. She kisses him, purposely cutting her mouth on his fang to give him her memories to further torment him. You see, Forbearers are not allowed to take blood directly from the source because they fear going crazy and turning evil.
For five long years, Nikolai suffered with memories of Myst and with not being able to climax. Then one of Myst’s memories comes to him and reveals where she lives, New Orleans.
Myst and her family of Valkyries hate vampires. Fifty years ago, their queen went off to fight a vampire and was never seen again. Rumor has it that he chained her to the bottom of the ocean where she drowns over and over again due to her immortality. Most creatures of the Lore think of vampires as the lowest of forms so they shun all vampires. The Lore is what creatures such as vampires, Valkyries, Fae, demons etc., call themselves. They live right alongside humans yet humans have no clue they exist. The Lore views vampires as leeches so the shun them. Myst hates that she still has an attraction to Nikolai and even regrets leaving him to suffer when she should have killed him.
When Nikolai finds her again, she tries to run but he catches her around the chain that she has worn around her waist for over a thousand years. It breaks so she is able to get a head start running. Nikolai yells for her to stop and her feet just stop running. It takes him but a second to figure out that the chain controls her. He uses it to his advantage and kidnaps her. He takes her to his home in Estonia.
From this point on it gets a little stalkerish and raperish. Nikolai was not only out for revenge but also trying to get Myst to stay with him as his Bride but he orders her to do things that were a little over the top like pleasure herself in front of him. If she hadn’t decided that she liked it…and it wasn’t so steamy, I would have been out for Nikolai’s gonads. I was mad at Myst for the initial playing of Nikolai and making him suffer but I also understood that she isn’t human and plays by a different set of rules and that she wasn’t going to just accept that just because a male wants her for himself, doesn’t mean she is going to roll over and lose her freedom and life. Plus, her family and the rest of the Lore would make her into a pariah and put her at the bottom of the food chain if she ever got together with a vampire.
Despite their many faults or maybe because of them, I rooted for them. I wanted them to end up together even though it seemed impossible.
I actually read this story last even though it was the first one in the book because I have read it before. It is the first book of the Immortals After Dark Series and because I have been thinking about re-reading the entire series again and wanted this fresh in my mind.
Forsaken by Night
By Larissa Ione
This is the second story in Blood Red kiss and the thrid book in the MoonBound Clan Vampires series. I’ve been waiting for Lobo’s story and was not disappointed.
Lobo is a skinwalker vampire. He can shift into almost any living being including humans and vampires. Most vampire clans believe skinwalkers are evil and should be killed but some disagree. They do agree, however that shifting into the form of another vampire should be punished severely. Because of this, Lobo was banished from his clan decades ago and now lives a solitary existence in the vast forests in the Pacific Northwest.
In this world that Larissa Ione has created, vampires have been enslaved by humans and even though vampires are stronger and faster than humans and have certain powers, humans have figured out a way to control them. Humans experiment on them in labs and basically do anything they want to the vampires. But some vampires have managed to keep themselves hidden from humans with magic spells that hide their compounds and by other means.
Lobo has lived in a small cabin in the woods with a unique wolf who he found wounded in the woods. Tehya the wolf has been his only companion for twelve years. Sometimes, she projects and image into Lobo’s mind of a beautiful woman, a beautiful naked woman and Lobo believes Tehya might be this female’s spirit animal. When Tehya gets shot by poachers and lies dying, Lobo makes a decision that could cost him his life. He shifts into the image of the nearby MoonBound Clan’s chief, Hunter, and runs with Tehya in his arms to MoonBound’s caves where he sets her on a table in the medical lab and lets the doctor and his assistant take over. He begs them to save the wolf and they get to work immediately. He leaves, wondering if he will ever see his wolf again and knowing that he may get the death penalty for shifting into a clan chief’s image.
Tehya wakes up as a vampire in the lab. A little over twelve years ago, she was a human but was bitten and turned into a vampire. She had only been a vampire for a month when she had been injured and shifted into a wolf but couldn’t shift back into a vampire. Lobo found her starved and dying. She had tried for a long time to shift but just couldn’t so over time, her wolf mind took over and she just became content living as she was as long as Lobo was taking care of her.
When she wakes in the clinic, she’s frightened and panics. She pushes a female in her hurry to escape and realizes she was pregnant too late but it seems the female is okay so she takes off out of the compound which is a complex cave system. She run through the woods naked to find Lobo. She tells him who she is and what happened. He’s surprised but not totally shocked. He and Tehya have an immediate sexual attraction to each other but now they will have to run and hide because Hunter and the MoonBound Clan will hunt them down and kill them.
One of those in the hunting party will be a woman who has tormented Lobo since he was a toddler when Hunter’s father was clan leader and she wants Lobo dead. Hunter’s father had raided Lobo’s clan and killed everyone except for him who he brought back to the caves and put on a chain. He had to eat scraps from the floor and was generally treated like crap but one vampire took it further. Su’Neena liked to kick him and torment him. She enjoyed his suffering but that is not why she wants Lobo dead. She wants him dead because he knows a secret about her that she does not want her clan to know. A secret that MoonBound would kill her for.
This was an entertaining story and I am glad I got to read Lobo’s story. I wonder who will be featured in the next MoonBound Clan Vampire book.
Dark Swan
By Gena Showalter
This was the final story in Blood Red Kiss.
Although I have read many of the talented Gena Showalter’s book series, I have not read any of the books in this Alien Huntress series yet…well, besides this one now. I’m not sure exactly how many books have been written in the series so far but when I went to Gena’s website, I counted eight so this one is probably the ninth in the series. I usually like to start from the beginning because I feel like I’m missing something when I start in the middle but Gena Showalter did a great job of making this a stand-alone book so I could follow along easily.
The prologue begins with three twelve-year-old sisters Trinity, Jade and Lilica. The sisters, who were created in a lab, were being threatened by one of the staff members, Dr. Walsh. He frequently uses the sisters against each other to control each of them. The youngest sister, Lilica, is the stubborn one and tries to take on any punishment for her sisters but this time it is her sisters who won’t budge when Dr. Walsh threatens her. When they refuse, he tells them their dinner is taken away and then when they still won’t budge, he threatens to take away their breakfast too. Lilica lost it when Dr. Walsh took out a syringe with which he intended to tranquilize her. She used one of her many powers or gifts on him, the ability to use her voice in a certain way which controls the subject. She ordered him to stop and then to the orderlies trying to open the door, she told them not to enter and it worked until new orderlies to whom she hadn’t issued the order to came through the door but not before she had ordered the doctor to try to kill himself and if that didn’t work to kill all the staff members. Yikes!
Many years later…
Alien Investigation and Removal agents aka AIR help keep Earth free of dangerous aliens. Dallas Gutierrez works for AIR and is after the Queen of the Schön, a beautiful alien who is infecting people with the Schön virus which rots them from the inside out unless they constantly prey on other humans or aliens and pass the virus on. She calls them her army. The Schön Queen ends up being Trinity, one of the three sisters. Dallas needs to stop her before she harms anyone else.
We, the reader, find out that Earth had had an alien war decades ago and it now has many different type of beings living here.
Dallas keeps hallucinating which he learns are visions of the future. In one vision, he sees Trinity crawling towards him asking for help but the Schön disease had taken over her brain and she was just trying to trick him into coming near so she could infect him so he shot her. In another, he sees a beautiful naked woman sitting in his chair at home. These images are disturbing to him but when he meets the subject on his last vision, he is even more disturbed.
Devyn, his alien friend, has had her in a cage for three weeks torturing and interrogating her. Dallas recognizes her as the naked woman in his visions and, for some odd reason, feels protective over her and doesn’t want Devyn to torture her anymore. He volunteers to take over her interrogation by taking her away from Devyn’s.
He finds out that she is Trinity’s sister and she thinks she can save Trinity from the Schön virus but nobody has found a cure for it yet so Dallas insists on killing Trinity because she is much too dangerous and he thinks she has turned totally evil.
Meanwhile, one of Devyn’s associates named John has captured Lilica’s other sister Jade. John seems to have become fond and protective of Jade. Do I sense a future romance?
Lilica accidently or accidently on purpose bonds with Dallas because her dominant alien gene (she was created with a mixture of 23 different alien races plus human) is the Falle race which bonds with the person they choose as their husband or wife. When this happens, the urge to consummate their union is so strong that if they resist, the couple starts to get animalistic in nature as the urge takes over. They could even harm anyone who gets in the way of clinching the deal. Because of the bond, neither can hurt the other physically without feeling it too and they can read each other’s minds to an extent so their race against each other to find Trinity first will be difficult.
As his feeling for Lilica grow, he starts to worry that he will lose her if he kills Trinity but he must put the safety of others above all. How can a relationship where he kills her sister ever work out?
This book had a lot of sexual tension and erotic scenes but not so much that it took away from the story.
I will put this series on my to read list.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
Three Stories by Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione and Gena Showalter
These three authors are on my top five favorite author list.
The Warlord Wants Forever
By Larissa Ione
This story was steamy…as in dampen your panties and sit in a hot sauna surrounded by sexy men steamy.
Myst is a Valkyrie who meets Nikolai who is a Forbearer vampire while she is imprisoned in another vampire. When Nikolai and his army take over the castle, Myst tricks Nikolai into thinking she is his Bride. Forbearers get one chance at having a mate in life. Sometimes, they have to wait centuries to meet that Bride. Sometimes, they never meet her. When a Forbearer vampire is turned, he stops having any sexual desire and his heart does not beat. Once, they meet their Bride, their heart starts pumping and their desire comes back but they cannot ejaculate without their Bride being near. Myst purposely works Nikolai into a frenzy and escapes when her sisters come for her but before she leaves, she does one last cruel thing. She kisses him, purposely cutting her mouth on his fang to give him her memories to further torment him. You see, Forbearers are not allowed to take blood directly from the source because they fear going crazy and turning evil.
For five long years, Nikolai suffered with memories of Myst and with not being able to climax. Then one of Myst’s memories comes to him and reveals where she lives, New Orleans.
Myst and her family of Valkyries hate vampires. Fifty years ago, their queen went off to fight a vampire and was never seen again. Rumor has it that he chained her to the bottom of the ocean where she drowns over and over again due to her immortality. Most creatures of the Lore think of vampires as the lowest of forms so they shun all vampires. The Lore is what creatures such as vampires, Valkyries, Fae, demons etc., call themselves. They live right alongside humans yet humans have no clue they exist. The Lore views vampires as leeches so the shun them. Myst hates that she still has an attraction to Nikolai and even regrets leaving him to suffer when she should have killed him.
When Nikolai finds her again, she tries to run but he catches her around the chain that she has worn around her waist for over a thousand years. It breaks so she is able to get a head start running. Nikolai yells for her to stop and her feet just stop running. It takes him but a second to figure out that the chain controls her. He uses it to his advantage and kidnaps her. He takes her to his home in Estonia.
From this point on it gets a little stalkerish and raperish. Nikolai was not only out for revenge but also trying to get Myst to stay with him as his Bride but he orders her to do things that were a little over the top like pleasure herself in front of him. If she hadn’t decided that she liked it…and it wasn’t so steamy, I would have been out for Nikolai’s gonads. I was mad at Myst for the initial playing of Nikolai and making him suffer but I also understood that she isn’t human and plays by a different set of rules and that she wasn’t going to just accept that just because a male wants her for himself, doesn’t mean she is going to roll over and lose her freedom and life. Plus, her family and the rest of the Lore would make her into a pariah and put her at the bottom of the food chain if she ever got together with a vampire.
Despite their many faults or maybe because of them, I rooted for them. I wanted them to end up together even though it seemed impossible.
I actually read this story last even though it was the first one in the book because I have read it before. It is the first book of the Immortals After Dark Series and because I have been thinking about re-reading the entire series again and wanted this fresh in my mind.
Forsaken by Night
By Larissa Ione
This is the second story in Blood Red kiss and the thrid book in the MoonBound Clan Vampires series. I’ve been waiting for Lobo’s story and was not disappointed.
Lobo is a skinwalker vampire. He can shift into almost any living being including humans and vampires. Most vampire clans believe skinwalkers are evil and should be killed but some disagree. They do agree, however that shifting into the form of another vampire should be punished severely. Because of this, Lobo was banished from his clan decades ago and now lives a solitary existence in the vast forests in the Pacific Northwest.
In this world that Larissa Ione has created, vampires have been enslaved by humans and even though vampires are stronger and faster than humans and have certain powers, humans have figured out a way to control them. Humans experiment on them in labs and basically do anything they want to the vampires. But some vampires have managed to keep themselves hidden from humans with magic spells that hide their compounds and by other means.
Lobo has lived in a small cabin in the woods with a unique wolf who he found wounded in the woods. Tehya the wolf has been his only companion for twelve years. Sometimes, she projects and image into Lobo’s mind of a beautiful woman, a beautiful naked woman and Lobo believes Tehya might be this female’s spirit animal. When Tehya gets shot by poachers and lies dying, Lobo makes a decision that could cost him his life. He shifts into the image of the nearby MoonBound Clan’s chief, Hunter, and runs with Tehya in his arms to MoonBound’s caves where he sets her on a table in the medical lab and lets the doctor and his assistant take over. He begs them to save the wolf and they get to work immediately. He leaves, wondering if he will ever see his wolf again and knowing that he may get the death penalty for shifting into a clan chief’s image.
Tehya wakes up as a vampire in the lab. A little over twelve years ago, she was a human but was bitten and turned into a vampire. She had only been a vampire for a month when she had been injured and shifted into a wolf but couldn’t shift back into a vampire. Lobo found her starved and dying. She had tried for a long time to shift but just couldn’t so over time, her wolf mind took over and she just became content living as she was as long as Lobo was taking care of her.
When she wakes in the clinic, she’s frightened and panics. She pushes a female in her hurry to escape and realizes she was pregnant too late but it seems the female is okay so she takes off out of the compound which is a complex cave system. She run through the woods naked to find Lobo. She tells him who she is and what happened. He’s surprised but not totally shocked. He and Tehya have an immediate sexual attraction to each other but now they will have to run and hide because Hunter and the MoonBound Clan will hunt them down and kill them.
One of those in the hunting party will be a woman who has tormented Lobo since he was a toddler when Hunter’s father was clan leader and she wants Lobo dead. Hunter’s father had raided Lobo’s clan and killed everyone except for him who he brought back to the caves and put on a chain. He had to eat scraps from the floor and was generally treated like crap but one vampire took it further. Su’Neena liked to kick him and torment him. She enjoyed his suffering but that is not why she wants Lobo dead. She wants him dead because he knows a secret about her that she does not want her clan to know. A secret that MoonBound would kill her for.
This was an entertaining story and I am glad I got to read Lobo’s story. I wonder who will be featured in the next MoonBound Clan Vampire book.
Dark Swan
By Gena Showalter
This was the final story in Blood Red Kiss.
Although I have read many of the talented Gena Showalter’s book series, I have not read any of the books in this Alien Huntress series yet…well, besides this one now. I’m not sure exactly how many books have been written in the series so far but when I went to Gena’s website, I counted eight so this one is probably the ninth in the series. I usually like to start from the beginning because I feel like I’m missing something when I start in the middle but Gena Showalter did a great job of making this a stand-alone book so I could follow along easily.
The prologue begins with three twelve-year-old sisters Trinity, Jade and Lilica. The sisters, who were created in a lab, were being threatened by one of the staff members, Dr. Walsh. He frequently uses the sisters against each other to control each of them. The youngest sister, Lilica, is the stubborn one and tries to take on any punishment for her sisters but this time it is her sisters who won’t budge when Dr. Walsh threatens her. When they refuse, he tells them their dinner is taken away and then when they still won’t budge, he threatens to take away their breakfast too. Lilica lost it when Dr. Walsh took out a syringe with which he intended to tranquilize her. She used one of her many powers or gifts on him, the ability to use her voice in a certain way which controls the subject. She ordered him to stop and then to the orderlies trying to open the door, she told them not to enter and it worked until new orderlies to whom she hadn’t issued the order to came through the door but not before she had ordered the doctor to try to kill himself and if that didn’t work to kill all the staff members. Yikes!
Many years later…
Alien Investigation and Removal agents aka AIR help keep Earth free of dangerous aliens. Dallas Gutierrez works for AIR and is after the Queen of the Schön, a beautiful alien who is infecting people with the Schön virus which rots them from the inside out unless they constantly prey on other humans or aliens and pass the virus on. She calls them her army. The Schön Queen ends up being Trinity, one of the three sisters. Dallas needs to stop her before she harms anyone else.
We, the reader, find out that Earth had had an alien war decades ago and it now has many different type of beings living here.
Dallas keeps hallucinating which he learns are visions of the future. In one vision, he sees Trinity crawling towards him asking for help but the Schön disease had taken over her brain and she was just trying to trick him into coming near so she could infect him so he shot her. In another, he sees a beautiful naked woman sitting in his chair at home. These images are disturbing to him but when he meets the subject on his last vision, he is even more disturbed.
Devyn, his alien friend, has had her in a cage for three weeks torturing and interrogating her. Dallas recognizes her as the naked woman in his visions and, for some odd reason, feels protective over her and doesn’t want Devyn to torture her anymore. He volunteers to take over her interrogation by taking her away from Devyn’s.
He finds out that she is Trinity’s sister and she thinks she can save Trinity from the Schön virus but nobody has found a cure for it yet so Dallas insists on killing Trinity because she is much too dangerous and he thinks she has turned totally evil.
Meanwhile, one of Devyn’s associates named John has captured Lilica’s other sister Jade. John seems to have become fond and protective of Jade. Do I sense a future romance?
Lilica accidently or accidently on purpose bonds with Dallas because her dominant alien gene (she was created with a mixture of 23 different alien races plus human) is the Falle race which bonds with the person they choose as their husband or wife. When this happens, the urge to consummate their union is so strong that if they resist, the couple starts to get animalistic in nature as the urge takes over. They could even harm anyone who gets in the way of clinching the deal. Because of the bond, neither can hurt the other physically without feeling it too and they can read each other’s minds to an extent so their race against each other to find Trinity first will be difficult.
As his feeling for Lilica grow, he starts to worry that he will lose her if he kills Trinity but he must put the safety of others above all. How can a relationship where he kills her sister ever work out?
This book had a lot of sexual tension and erotic scenes but not so much that it took away from the story.
I will put this series on my to read list.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
starchild1996's review
4.0
I didnt hate it because it was from three different series , and the stories I liked.
chelseaj91's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole 5 stars!
OMG!! I loved Myst and Nikolai's story! It was interesting getting to see their start and I honestly just wanted this to be a full-length novel. The trouble those two could have gotten into! And I would have loved to see them fighting together more. I know they're present in the rest of the IAD books and it seems like people are starting to half consider coming around, but I just wanted more of them.
Forsaken by Night by Larissa Ione 3 Stars!
This was actually pretty interesting. I did feel like there was some world building that got left out because it was a novella so I was a little frustrated with that because I will admit to getting a little lost. I liked Lobo and Tehya's relationship and how it had sort of started before things were revealed. The end really kind of amped the tension and I would have liked more on Lobo's exile because there were clearly some dominoes that tipped at that point. I really wished there'd been more to Tehya's past and her secrets because it seemed a pretty big deal when things were revealed. Overall, I think I'm considering giving the main series this came from a chance.
Dark Swan by Gena Showalter 2 Stars!
This was definitely my least favorite of these novellas. If I'd been reading this as a book on it's own, I would have most definitely DNF'd. As it was, I skimmed about 80% of the story. There was just so much info that was skipped and it honestly felt like the author was expecting you to have already been familiar with the world. That being said, the story did have potential but it just never went anywhere. Dallas was such an eye-rolly ass (and I don't know why he pissed me off because some of those traits on other characters I absolutely love...). Lilica's character confused me. She was supposed to have been raised in this lab and it half seemed like the author wanted to give her a naïve quality because there were a lot of things that she acknowledged she'd never done. Yet she never had problems figuring out the city or potentially being slightly concerned about things. I don't know, it just struck me as odd. Overall, I feel like this just needed to become a full length novel because it desperately needed to be fleshed out.
OMG!! I loved Myst and Nikolai's story! It was interesting getting to see their start and I honestly just wanted this to be a full-length novel. The trouble those two could have gotten into! And I would have loved to see them fighting together more. I know they're present in the rest of the IAD books and it seems like people are starting to half consider coming around, but I just wanted more of them.
Forsaken by Night by Larissa Ione 3 Stars!
This was actually pretty interesting. I did feel like there was some world building that got left out because it was a novella so I was a little frustrated with that because I will admit to getting a little lost. I liked Lobo and Tehya's relationship and how it had sort of started before things were revealed. The end really kind of amped the tension and I would have liked more on Lobo's exile because there were clearly some dominoes that tipped at that point. I really wished there'd been more to Tehya's past and her secrets because it seemed a pretty big deal when things were revealed. Overall, I think I'm considering giving the main series this came from a chance.
Dark Swan by Gena Showalter 2 Stars!
This was definitely my least favorite of these novellas. If I'd been reading this as a book on it's own, I would have most definitely DNF'd. As it was, I skimmed about 80% of the story. There was just so much info that was skipped and it honestly felt like the author was expecting you to have already been familiar with the world. That being said, the story did have potential but it just never went anywhere. Dallas was such an eye-rolly ass (and I don't know why he pissed me off because some of those traits on other characters I absolutely love...). Lilica's character confused me. She was supposed to have been raised in this lab and it half seemed like the author wanted to give her a naïve quality because there were a lot of things that she acknowledged she'd never done. Yet she never had problems figuring out the city or potentially being slightly concerned about things. I don't know, it just struck me as odd. Overall, I feel like this just needed to become a full length novel because it desperately needed to be fleshed out.
gothauthor's review
5.0
As a long-time fan of Kresley Cole, I was thrilled to read this updated version of The Warlord Wants Forever for my first time. As expected, it was amazing. What I didn't expect, and was nonetheless super pleased about, was being completely mesmerized by the other two stories in the book. I had never read Larissa Ione or Gena Showalter before but let me tell you, I am now a fan and must find more!
Memorable characters, complicated worlds full of intrigue and danger, and lusty situations fill these pages. I laughed, I teared up, I had to fan myself. Amazing stories by amazing authors!
Memorable characters, complicated worlds full of intrigue and danger, and lusty situations fill these pages. I laughed, I teared up, I had to fan myself. Amazing stories by amazing authors!