Rant: If You Dare

If You Dare by Kresley Cole
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.3 stars 

 The kind of couple that makes people tweet if the heterosexuals are alright 

If you like constant yelling and bickering this is your holy grail

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Reading Update: 30%

I think...I'm liking? Cade. He has a certain sassy wild je ne sais quoi I'm digging.

Review: The Warlord Wants Forever

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this for the Terrifying Women square for Halloween Bingo

Into the blood-splattered snow, the lone warrior fell to one knee and shuddered with weakness. Still, an arm shot out to raise a sword against the oncoming legion. Her dented breastplate swallowed her small form. Though the winds howled, whipping her hair, she heard the twang of the bowstring unleashed. She screamed in fury when the arrow punctured the center of her armor, the blow sending her flying back.
The arrowhead had pierced through metal, then barely through her breastbone, just enough that her heart met the point with each beat. The beating of her own brave heart was killing her. But her scream had woken two nearby gods sleeping together through a brutal, wintry decade.
They stirred and looked down upon the maiden, seeing in her eyes courage burning bright. Bravery and will had marked her entire life, but the light ebbed with death and they mourned it.
Freya, the female god, whispered that they should take her courage and preserve it for eternity because it was so precious.

The first in the Immortals After Dark series, we get the origins of the Valkyrie and an introduction to the lore. This was also a hot little number with Myst and Wroth rubbing all up on each other.
It's an introduction novella, so the shorter word count leaves some to be desired with flushed out world but I loved our leads. Myst was kickass and Wroth, for all his confusion, was commanding but tolerant beast.
The conflict comes from Myst's trust issues with men and Wroth not knowing how to navigate it and some hints as to the series future enemies may be.
I enjoyed the hotness and excitement of it all.

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Review: The Player

The Player by Kresley Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

That was the thing about the beast from fairy tales; he didn't want to be a beast. He didn't want to be alone.



Ugh. If I had an impressionable, just becoming aware of gender issues, dynamics, etc. teenage daughter, would I want her to read this? Probably no. Then why do I find myself giving it three stars?!

"I'd rather have an honest madman than a sane liar."



I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say the hero has issues, deep heartwrenching ones that involve abuse and other ones I'm afraid get excused away because of the sympathy you feel for him, his wealth, looks, and the way the heroine rationalizes it all.

"What do you want from me now?"
"I want the wedding ring you bought for me that you think is hidden, the one I've tried on daily since its arrival."

It's a compelling story because told exclusively from the heroine's point of view, you sort of become her and internalize her fears and hopes; waiting for the other shoe to drop and wanting to believe it won't. Our heroine's tough, in control attitude was an illusion and I didn't get enough real felt emotion between the two. The hero is a bit like a blank screen, not in regards to his backstory or stated components but in that he never felt real to me. Giving characters abusive pasts doesn't automatically provide depth. It's a basic money focused rescue (there's some emotions but let's be honest with ourselves, his billionaire status is the main draw) story that I hate falling for.

This was definitely a beauty and the beast story, I'll beat myself up over liking it, but liked it I did. I don't know, I was completely absorbed as I was reading, less towards the end with some revelations that made me uncomfortable and snapped me out of my fairy tale daze, but when I finished, I'm not sure I felt good about what I read.

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Reading Update: 20%

“Would I be your slave?”
He shook his head. “I would free you, Victoria. And then I would buy you the entire goddamned world.”