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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
This is an anthology of four short paranormal romance stories by Lora Leigh, Jory Strong, Michelle Rowan, and Ava Gray.
Series:
"Primal Kiss" (Breeds, 23)
"Bleeding Heart" (Nightshade, 1.5)
"Skin & Bone" (Skin, 2.5)
"Angel-Claimed" (Ghostland World)
The Stories
Lora Leigh's "Primal Kiss" is part of her Breeds paranormal romance series. They're not shapeshifters, but men and women who were genetically created in a lab using the DNA of felines, wolves, coyotes, and marine life. They've broken out of those torturous, inhuman labs, and they are finally finding life although the Breeds must still fight for their freedom from those who don't believe they should exist…or, at least, not as humans with human rights.
The Breeds are still desperately searching for a cure for a months-old infant injected by Brandenmore as part of an experiment. In this particular story, Jonas has Creed Raines (Lion Breed) working as undercover security for Horace Engalls, brother-in-law and partner of Philip Brandenmore in researching drugs to restrain Breeds. Raines has escaped detection for over a year. A year in which he's had plenty of opportunities to attract Kita Engalls, the daughter.
"Primal Kiss" advances the primary storyline and, yes, the sex is good, but the story itself doesn't have much tension to it.
The primary characters in Michelle Rowen's "Bleeding Heart" are a dhampyr (half-human, half-vampire), Declan, who hunts rogue vampires for an organization and his charge, Jill. While held as a hostage, Jill was injected with Nightshade, a poison which, when mixed with human blood, will cause any vampire who bites her to go up in flames (see Nightshade, the first in the Nightshade series). That's the positive side. The negative side is that it's killing Jill, and she and Declan are desperate to find a cure. In Bleeding Heart, they believe they've found that cure until everything goes tits up.
I like the storyline but I could wish the writing were better.
Jory Strong's "Skin & Bone" makes me think of Lora Leigh's Breeds series. There are some humans who have paranormal abilities, and there are labs scattered throughout the world dedicated to capturing and experimenting on them…sound familiar? In this episode, Silas is caught in an earthquake in Ecuador where he's fled after he escaped one of those labs. Rescuing a young woman, Juneau, sets Silas off on a heroic stint in which he spends days in little Puerto Lopez helping Juneau care for other quake victims before he gets worried about detection. Juneau seems to have the same need to hit the road, and they take off together. Unused to a woman accepting him, Silas and Juneau have an uneasy trek which is made worse when Silas has to use his power to gather supplies. Juneau becomes very accepting until that detection becomes reality. Thank god for the counter-organization which is looking to recruit those gifted individuals!
In the five years he spent in the lab, Silas managed to fool the scientists into believing that he was stupid and had no powers. I have a problem with just how gullible the scientists were, if they actually believed that a professor of theoretical physics was stupid.
That's my only quibble. For the rest, their abilities seem fascinating, and I'd like to know more about Mockingbird, Tanager, Finch, and the rest. Juneau's family is warmly accepting, and I'm curious as to how their existence fits into the story.
Ava Gray's "Angel-Claimed" is a different fantasy. The humans lost the Last War, and now the vampires are at the top of the hierarchy. Having taken over a number of cities, humans must bond themselves as blood-slaves or companions to the human child(ren) of a vampire. Think Mob family loyalties. In this story, the San Francisco-based Sajia is companion to Corrine Tucci who turns up missing. Major problem for Sajia as she could lose her life…brutally…as well as see harm come to her family. Frantic, Sajia starts her search in a magic shop in Oakland where she encounters a hunk who sets her body afire with desire. The hunk, Addai, is an angel, one of the powers on Earth, and he knows what Sajia does not. That she is the reincarnation of his long-lost love and he will allow nothing to stand in the way of his claiming her.
Although he seems a bit of a pushover as Sajia gets him to give way in everything major: he wants to take her to his lair in the Sierras while she refuses to ignore her sworn oath to the Tucci family, and then she insists on starting the search of the Bay that afternoon when he would prefer to wait 'til morning. Of course, Addai does make use of her resistance to push memories and sexual images of her submitting to his bondage, so I suspect he doesn't mind the major and minor rebellions too much.
It's actually an interesting little story in which Gray has managed to cram a ton of information about this world. I'm curious to find more.
yodamom's review against another edition
4.0
4 sizzling stories of lust, need and even some love. I don't follow any of these series and I enjoyed all of them very much.
romancejunkie1025's review against another edition
3.0
Not a bad read. I must say the first three stories were not my favorites... a little too convoluted and hard to understand since i hadn't read the series they belong to, but the romance was interesting and hot.
Primal Kiss was definitely my favorite in the quartet and worth every second of confusion with the others. I am definitely gonna have to look into reading more in this interesting and sensually charge series. Primal kiss is the reason it's getting 3 stars as apposed to just 2.
Primal Kiss was definitely my favorite in the quartet and worth every second of confusion with the others. I am definitely gonna have to look into reading more in this interesting and sensually charge series. Primal kiss is the reason it's getting 3 stars as apposed to just 2.
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of short stories by some of my favorite authors. Some, like Lora Leigh and Ava Gray, I wish were full-length stories. This was my first in the Nightshade series by Michelle Rowen. I've loved her Dead End Dating series so now I know I'll love her newer stuff and I should go pick that up ASAP. This was my first story by Jory Strong and without a bit more background to her world, it was a little hard to get in to. But it intrigued me so much that it makes me want to try the first in the series so I can really understand her characters better. One of the great thing about novella collections, reading something by the people you really love and finding something new by people you've never read before. Mission accomplished with this collection!
angels_gp17's review against another edition
3.0
** Please not that this review/rating is for Lora Leigh's "Primal Kiss" only.
Primal Kiss - Rated: 3.5 Stars
This one takes place at Sanctuary.
We have Kita a human and air to a pharmaceutical company that use to help the Council that hurt Breeds. Then we have Creed a wolf Breed who does covert undercover work. He’s been hired by Mr. Engall’s, Kita’s father, to protect his daughter.
Everyone wants Kita: the Breeds, the Council, and the Human groups all because they think they can get her father to give them information on the Breeds that has been hidden away. This story gives you information pertaining to the Phylip Brandenmore storyline. There's much more going on then Kita or Creed know about.
It was a hot and sexy novella. Very quick and good to have a storyline wrapped up.
nikkisreadingx's review against another edition
4.0
Bleeding Heart by Michelle Rowan; 1 star.
I did not read the first book for this series and I haven't read this author before. However, I hated this book so much, I will not be reading anything else in this series and I probably won't read this author. I have a love-hate relationship with 1 person POV, more hate than love, and this one really dug into why I hated it. The writing style and characterization told the story and showed nothing, not even the growing attraction between the two characters. It also repeated so many different 'realizations' that I couldn't wait for the book to be over.
Skin & Bone by Ava Gray; 3.5 stars.
I haven't read the books in this series and haven't read this author before and probably will look to change that. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were established well, the chemistry slowly building, but present, and a great pace, especially for a short story. My biggest criticisms for this on is that I have no love for the supporting cast. They seemed a little 2D, but that could be due to my limited reading of the series. It's also not a good one to read standalone. There's limited information to gleam, so I was floundering some to get an idea of what was going on.
Angel-Claimed by Jory Strong; 4 stars.
Good characters, really interesting plot, seriously interesting world. I am definitely interested in looking further into the series because there was just so much to play with. There was a wonderful balance of supporting characters that were well-fleshed out, but didn't take away from the main characters. The chemistry was definitely there and there were a lot of sex scenes. Thing is, they still didn't pull away from the plot so I definitely enjoyed it.
Primal Kiss by Lora Leigh; 4 stars.
I've read bits and pieces of this series throughout the different anthologies and this was the first one I read where I was a little lost at first. However, the further into the plot I got, the clearer everything became and for where in the overall series plot this book falls in, Leigh did a wonderful job giving out the needed information. Love the characters. Absolutely love them. I want to seem them in a full novel of their own. I really liked how they paired against each other and the chemistry between them was building as soon as the story started.
Overall, I recommend this anthology. Outside of the first story, I enjoyed what I read and they all do a great job of keeping to the same theme. There's something in this story for everyone and overall a great read.
I did not read the first book for this series and I haven't read this author before. However, I hated this book so much, I will not be reading anything else in this series and I probably won't read this author. I have a love-hate relationship with 1 person POV, more hate than love, and this one really dug into why I hated it. The writing style and characterization told the story and showed nothing, not even the growing attraction between the two characters. It also repeated so many different 'realizations' that I couldn't wait for the book to be over.
Skin & Bone by Ava Gray; 3.5 stars.
I haven't read the books in this series and haven't read this author before and probably will look to change that. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were established well, the chemistry slowly building, but present, and a great pace, especially for a short story. My biggest criticisms for this on is that I have no love for the supporting cast. They seemed a little 2D, but that could be due to my limited reading of the series. It's also not a good one to read standalone. There's limited information to gleam, so I was floundering some to get an idea of what was going on.
Angel-Claimed by Jory Strong; 4 stars.
Good characters, really interesting plot, seriously interesting world. I am definitely interested in looking further into the series because there was just so much to play with. There was a wonderful balance of supporting characters that were well-fleshed out, but didn't take away from the main characters. The chemistry was definitely there and there were a lot of sex scenes. Thing is, they still didn't pull away from the plot so I definitely enjoyed it.
Primal Kiss by Lora Leigh; 4 stars.
I've read bits and pieces of this series throughout the different anthologies and this was the first one I read where I was a little lost at first. However, the further into the plot I got, the clearer everything became and for where in the overall series plot this book falls in, Leigh did a wonderful job giving out the needed information. Love the characters. Absolutely love them. I want to seem them in a full novel of their own. I really liked how they paired against each other and the chemistry between them was building as soon as the story started.
Overall, I recommend this anthology. Outside of the first story, I enjoyed what I read and they all do a great job of keeping to the same theme. There's something in this story for everyone and overall a great read.
tomokizu's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know what I should think about this book. The only story I really enjoyes was the Breeds story by Lora Leigh. I didn't even like the Ava Gray story, even though I'm a big fan of her. I would not recommend this book, but that's a personal opinion.
Edit: I gave this book another chance and read it yesterday. Some of the stories in the book seem to have been a continuation of a story previously released. Due to that some of it was hard to follow, because I didn't know the stories and worlds created there. I actually stumbled around a lot in this book, had to reread parts and finally was able to figure out what the story was about. I do have to say that I'm still not a big fan of the book, but I enjoyed it more than I did the other time.
If you like Djinn/Angel stories check it out. If you're a Breed fan, do read it, because the story in here seems to be important for the continuing storyline. If you enjoy Dhampyr/Vampire stories you might take a peek, but be aware, that this is the continuing story of a novel and could be confusing. And if you like stories about a second chance, why not, grab it.
Edit: I gave this book another chance and read it yesterday. Some of the stories in the book seem to have been a continuation of a story previously released. Due to that some of it was hard to follow, because I didn't know the stories and worlds created there. I actually stumbled around a lot in this book, had to reread parts and finally was able to figure out what the story was about. I do have to say that I'm still not a big fan of the book, but I enjoyed it more than I did the other time.
If you like Djinn/Angel stories check it out. If you're a Breed fan, do read it, because the story in here seems to be important for the continuing storyline. If you enjoy Dhampyr/Vampire stories you might take a peek, but be aware, that this is the continuing story of a novel and could be confusing. And if you like stories about a second chance, why not, grab it.