How to tame a beast in seven days (The Embraced) By Kerrelyn Sparks

Buy Link: How To Tame A Beast In Seven Days

From the brilliant imagination of Kerrelyn Sparks comes a bold new fantasy romance series in which passion and magic collide. Behold the Embraced...

As one of the Embraced—one born with magical powers—the beautiful, innocent Luciana escaped certain death after her father hid her away on the Isle of Moon. Now, nineteen years later, her father has returned with a frightening request. He will be executed unless Luciana returns to the mainland and marries a man feared throughout the land: a terrifying brute known as the Beast.

Luciana accepts her fate and agrees to wed the Beast—Lord Leo—in order to save her father. Soon she learns that her betrothed is also one of the Embraced. With the ability to wield lightning, Leo’s immense power strikes fear into the hearts of men. . .and his mere touch can put an end to a woman’s life. But Luciana cannot deny the passion that burns between them. How can she resist the man who scorches her soul and makes her feel intoxicated with desire—even if surrendering to him could destroy them both?

I didn't think I'd like this book, but I've been finding out more lately how much I enjoy different types of genres and time zones. 

I got into this book straight away. The Scottish accent (I think, don't quote me) was a little off putting. It was hard to read, but it soon disappears once Luciana is off the island. The book seemed to flow much easier. 

As an Embraced, Luciana has a gift of her own. She can see the dead. So haunted by her dead sister, who seems to be a little bitchy and spoiled, Lucianna has a lot to deal with when she moves. But it's not only that, she's also thrown into a whole new world. 

Leo, I loved right away. I felt so sorry for him. He seemed to keep himself secluded, always worried he'd hurt those around him, but then he meets Luciana. He knows she's not who she says she is, but he doesn't care. He wants her anyway. He just wants to know her secret and has his good friend set out to find out. Another embraced (I think) Who can shift into a dog... amongst other things. He keeps close to Luciana, listening to everything whilst she's unaware of who he really is. 

The connection between the two felt so real. They were perfect together. And the way he protected her... So romantic. Made me swoon. Hard. 

But there's more to the story then someone who can control lightening, or absorbs lightening, and someone who can speak to the dead... There's an evil king who wants Luciana's fathers land and will do nothing but get his hands on it. Even kill Luciana like he did.... (You'll have to read) 

There's so many twists and turns. The drama is unreal and had me turning the page. I just couldn't put it down. I wanted, no, needed to find out what would happen between the two. 

I will be continuing this series. I'm desperate to find out how the story will go with other characters. 

But let this book be a lesson to everyone. Do not judge a book by it's century. I was so wrong not to read this type of book before. I fully enjoyed it and it consumed me to the very last page.

5*

Midnight Soul (Fantasyland series #5) By Kristen Ashley

Buy Link: Midnight Soul

Against his will, Noctorno Hawthorne, an undercover vice cop, finds himself embroiled in magic, mayhem and parallel universes. Too late, he meets an amazing woman only to find she’s destined for his identical twin in another world. 

And things aren’t going real great there.

Noc is recruited to help save that world.

What he doesn’t know is his destined love resides there.

Franka Drakkar wears a mask. A mask she never takes off to protect herself in a world of malice, intrigue and danger. 

When Franka meets Noc and he discovers her secrets, convinced she carries a midnight soul, having shielded herself from forming bonds with anyone, she struggles with accepting his tenderness and care. 

When Noc meets Franka, over wine and whiskey, her mask slips and Noc knows it’s her—only her—and he has to find a way to get her to come home with him.

And then make her want to stay.

Franka redeems herself in the other book. Not many like her and as a character, she really is unlikable. 
But she has her reasons as to why she shuts people out and became the snake people know her to be. 
The mask she wears is what people see, and all they believe. 
But then Noc, the Noctorno of the other world sees her for who she really is and saves her from years of torture, other people start to see it. 

Her character was actually really nice. She just wants love and to be loved in return, but she still finds all the caring and sharing, uncomfortable. 

Now, as much as I loved the Franka, and I adored Noc from the other series, I never actually got to finish this book. It kind of dragged to the point I got bored. I couldn't go on. I forced myself for 6 chapters to keep on reading but I felt like the book wasn't going anywhere. 
It could be because I read them one after the other, but for some reason, this one didn't hold the same attention as the others and I actually wanted Noc to get a book of his own. 

:( 

NO RATING AS IT WOULDN'T FAIR SINCE I DIDN'T FINISH IT!!!

Broken Dove (Fantasyland #4) By Kristen Ashley

Buy Link: Broken Dove

Far too young, Apollo Ulfr lost Ilsa, his wife, the love of his life and the mother of his two children. The grief of her loss does not settle in his soul, it solders to it. But when he discovers there is a parallel universe where his wife may have a twin, he feels there's hope and sets about bringing her to his world so he can have her back.
But Ilsa Ulfr of our world is married to the parallel universe's twin, Pol, who is not a good man. Not in any way. She's on the run from him and the last thing she wants is to be transported to a fantastical world and be forced to take his side as his wife, even if he is not Pol. And Apollo finds the broken Ilsa nothing like his beloved, and further, wants nothing to do with her.
But darkness is looming and evil is amassing. Apollo must protect his land and keep his family safe, including the new Ilsa.

Ahhh, the things we do for love. 

But Apollo, he goes a little too far. However, it's a bit of a good job he does because the Ilsa who is alive in the real world, the love of his life, is actually in danger from the other Apollo, who is a drug lord or something and abusive. 

But he rescues Ilsa, who he leaves to deal with the new change. She's accompanied by his best men who she becomes very close with. But when the time comes to be with Apollo, she struggles on what to do. 
She knows he isn't her ex husband, and she knows he'd never hurt her physically, but emotionally, she isn't sure. 
She's also reminded every day of who she is to Apollo, and I think sometimes, she finds it hard to put her and his dead wife in two different categories.   

I loved Apollo. I liked him in the first book of the series and we only had a glimpse of him. But sometimes, he could be a real jerk. 
But you couldn't fault his love for Ilsa, who actually adopts a new name on her travels with Apollo's men. 


I also loved the ending of this book. So many surprises as all of the previous characters come together. It was worth the wait to read this one, to see an end as such as to why these four women were brought to this world to find their other halfs.

5*

Fantastical (Fantasyland Series #3) By Kristen Ashley

Buy Link: Fantastical

Cora Goode has woken up in a fairytale world where she can understand what birds are saying to her, men ride horses and have fluffy feathers in their hats and furniture zigs, zags and whirls in miracles of construction.

The problem is, she thinks she’s in a dream but she’s actually taken the place of the parallel universe Cora and without realizing it, our Cora does something that starts a centuries old curse that will sweep the land if she gets captured by the evil Minerva.

At this point, her dream world becomes a nightmare.

Luckily, hot guy, fantasyland Noctorno is there to save her from the clutches of the grotesque vickrants sent by Minerva to capture her. Unfortunately, hot guy, fantasyland Noctorno doesn’t like the Cora of his world all that much (to say the least) and he thinks our Cora is her. And no matter what our Cora says or does to try to convince him, he won’t be convinced.

But Cora needs Tor to keep her safe and guide her through this fantastical world as she hopes one day to wake up in her not-so-great apartment in her not-so-great life in her world. The problem is, the more time she spends with the gorgeous warrior Tor, the faster she falls in love with him.

Okay, this one I found the most interesting. 
I've always wondered what people considered bad luck when the bride sees the groom before the wedding, but this... This is something else. 

I loved Cora and Noctorno. He's HOT!!! But the other Cora, the one who swapped places with Cora, is a BITCH!!! And that's putting it mildly. She doesn't get a long with Noctorno, even though they are married. YES!!! MARRIED. 
They don't even live together. 
So when Cora, the one from the real world starts the new curse, thinking she's actually in a dream, Noctorno is furious. More so than he normally is. 

And although he sees a change in Cora, he doesn't believe her story about being from another world. But he goes along with it, liking the act he seems to think she's putting on. 
It actually hurt to see Cora being used the way she is by him, but it does all work out in the end. 
Until... 

The evil queen switches the two back... 
Dum, dum, dummmmmm!!

5*

The Golden Dynasty (Fantasyland series #2) By Kristen Ashley

Buy Link: The Golden Dynasty

Circe Quinn goes to sleep at home and wakes up in a corral filled with women wearing sacrificial virgin attire - and she is one of them. She soon finds out that she’s not having a wild dream, she’s living a frightening nightmare where she’s been transported to a barren land populated by a primitive people and in short order, she’s installed very unwillingly on her white throne of horns as their Queen.

Dax Lahn is the king of Suh Tunak, The Horde of the nation of Korwahk and with one look at Circe, he knows she will be his bride and together they will start The Golden Dynasty of legend.

Circe and Lahn are separated by language, culture and the small fact she’s from a parallel universe and has no idea how she got there or how to get home. But facing challenge after challenge, Circe finds her footing as Queen of the brutal Korwahk Horde and wife to its King, then she makes friends then she finds herself falling in love with this primitive land, its people and especially their savage leader.

Okay, I thought the first book in the series was good, but this one was REALLY good. I mean, really good. 
The two main characters kind of reminded me of Daenery's Targaryen and Khal Drogo from GOT.
The beginning was a bit much to read since he actually rapes Circe when he wins her. 
But it changes through the book. I know I should hate him, but I just couldn't. He was incredibly sweet to her in the end. he'd do anything for her.
Even though he couldn't speak english, he does learn some of the words. It was cute with the way he reacted to her. 

I also loved how Circe, after everything she'd be thrown into, got used to the way of living. It was like she made for it. 

I couldn't put this one down. I enjoyed it so much and after talking to a few fellow Lisa's Book Review followers over on FB, so did they. 

I've read all of the books in the series now, but this one, is by far, my favourite. 

5*

Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland series #1) By Kristen Ashley

Buy Link: Wildest Dreams

Seoafin “Finnie” Wilde was taught by her parents that every breath was a treasure and to seek every adventure she could find. And she learns this lesson the hard way when they perish in a plane crash. But she never forgets and when she discovers there is a parallel universe where every person has a twin, she finds a witch who can send her there so she can have the adventure of a lifetime.

But upon arrival in the Winter Wonderland of Lunwyn, she realizes she’s been played by her twin and finds herself walking down the aisle to be wed to The Drakkar.

Thrown into inauspicious circumstances, with years of practice, Finnie bests the challenges and digs into her adventure. But as Frey Drakkar discovers the woman who is his new wife is not Princess Sjofn, a woman he dislikes but instead, his Finnie, a free-spirit with a thirst for venture just like him, without her knowledge he orders his new bride bound to his frozen world, everlasting. 

But at the same time Frey plunges Finnie into a web of political intrigue that includes assassination plots, poison, magic, mystery and… dragons.

I wasn't actually sure about this series. I'd been told to read it so many times, but the blurb didn't stand out for me. 

But, been on a book hurdle, I decided to give it a go. 
And I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner. 

I loved it. 
I loved the time change, the difference in worlds and how well Finnie adjusts to her new life. 

I wasn't sure about Frey at first, but once the book got going, I loved him. 

Dreamy. 

I won't give anything away story wise and I will advise to go in without reading the blurb. I don't know what it was about it that put me off, but it really did nothing to draw me in. 

5*

Cursed Hearts By Light and Lowell

Cursed Hearts

...Rarely when we’re down does the world offer us a hand up instead of a sharp kick to the ribs. But when Rome Navarro, a penniless kid with home issues, receives a scholarship to a prestigious school in his hometown, life is starting to look suspiciously hopeful. Little does he know, Vardel Academy houses an old, deeply guarded secret, and Redwood Bay is harboring mysteries of its own that are just as unsettling. Things become stranger still when he learns of a curse that his family is supposedly plagued by. A curse that involves the shy redhead he has his sights set on. Throw in a guy with an unhealthy fascination for him, and a love rival with cruel intentions, and you’re left with a recipe for both a devilish good time, and inevitably, disaster. 

Read on for my review ....

The Hunger Games Series By Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games Trilogy

One boy, one girl, chosen from twelve different districts are forced to battle to the death, for a live show called The Hunger Games. 

In the game there is only one rule: Kill or be killed. 

So when Katniss Everdeen volunteers her little sister's place as she new it was a death sentence, Katniss does the one thing she knows how to do. That is survive .....