Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 8

 

Vampire in Paradise by Sandra Hill

A Deadly Angels Novel

This book takes place before the one I posted about before. This reading challenge isn't about reading things in order! Except for alphabetical order...

Anyway!

According to my GoodReads account, I've read this before. I remember nothing about it. One point for bad memory!

Anyway!

Marisa is a single mom with a terminally ill daughter, Izzie. She needs 70,000 dollars for an operation that might save Izzie's life. In her desperation, her thoughts get a little... sinful...

Sigurd is one of the seven Sigurdsson brothers. The big sinners. And Sigurd's sin was envy. And in case you forgot, he is a Viking Vampire Angel. And he's gonna fuck those sinful thoughts right out of Marisa!

What?

Talking didn't work! Seducing did! Sort of.

As with the other books in this series, this was a fun read. A bit ridiculous at times. A little preachy on what counts as a sin, but hey, angels are supposed to be preachy.

Also, Izzie recovers. 'Twas a miracle it was. So yay for happy endings!

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 7

 

(pictured with Wicket, the reluctant book stand)

Seduce the Darkness by Gena Showalter

An Alien Huntress Novel

Bride is a vampire, and as far as she knows, she's the only one on Earth.

Devyn is the King of the Targons, an alien race, who after discovering space travel decided they wanted to rule themselves. They let him keep the title though.

Bride just wants to survive and find her friend Aleaha.

Devyn just wants to have sex with pretty much every woman he comes across. 

Then they meet each other.

Bride was a good character. Smart, witty, and stubborn. I didn't get annoyed by her at all. And I empathized with her choice. 

Devyn... Devyn is a lovable asshole. He was a womanizer, but he was upfront about just being in it for sex and only sex. I liked that. Yeah, he sleeps with any woman that he wants, but he doesn't lie to do so. Respect. 

I loved the banter between Devyn and Dallas. Give me more dudes being friends and acting like a married couple at points. 

Bride and Devyn's relationship went from "eeeehhhhh" to "fuck they're adorable" pretty quickly for me. Their banter and inside jokes, y'all *heart eyes*

I was almost crying at the end because there were only a few pages left and shit was not looking good. But happy ending for Bride and Devyn! So yay!

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 6

 

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Trigger Warning!

Mentions of rape

Cat Crawfield is a half-vampire who hunts vampires. As you do.

Cat's mother was date-raped by a vampire and five months later, Cat was born. When Cat was 16, her mother told her that her father was a vampire and that they were all evil and deserved to die. So, Cat starts killing vampires. One night, Cat meets Bones, a vampire. After failing to kill him, he offers to train her to kill vampires better. As one does.

You could cut the sexual tension between those two with a dull knife. So, I was applauding when they got together. And almost crying at the end of the book.

This is the first book in the Night Huntress series, so the ending leaves you slightly hanging. Good thing I have the other books!

Though, must wait until I'm done with this challenge of mine. But I might read the entire series after I'm done. Need more Cat and Bones.

Cat is a little naive and prudish, but those personality traits make sense and aren't annoying. She is a great character that does grow a bit throughout the book.

Bones is... Bones is dreamy. Seriously. He's a British vampire. Who doesn't love a British vampire? Seriously, though, Bones is fun.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 5

 

"Even Vampires Get the Blues" by Sandra Hill

On Archive of Our Own (my preferred website for my fan-fiction addiction), there is a tag "Crack Treated Seriously" and it popped into my head a lot while I was reading this book. Which, for those unaware, the tag basically means "I'm gonna take this ridiculous as fuck idea and treat it like it is a Serious Thing". Why did I think of that tag? Because this series is about Vikings that were turned into Vampire Angels by the Archangel Michael. This is not an insult to the book, the series or the author. Because I love this series and that tag. But, come on, that premise is fucking ridiculous. 

This book is paranormal about Harek Sigurdsson and Camille Dumaine. Harek is one of the Sigurdsson brothers that were originally turned into the Viking Vampire Angels to atone for their sinful nature. Each brother was pretty much the embodiment of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Harek's sin was greed. Dude was a greedy fuck. 

Camille is a WEALS (in the WEALS? Whichever works), the sister unit to the SEALs. And she is bad-ass. I really liked Camille. She was funny, smart, and had a great personality all around.

This book was a fun read, with a few serious bits thrown in. The whole series is pretty fun, though it's been awhile since I've read some of the previous books. It has a great dose of humor, which I fully appreciate. I recommend this whole series to anyone that enjoys fun and humorous paranormal romance books with plenty of steamy sexy scenes.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 4

 

Deep Kiss of Winter

featuring "Untouchable" by Kresley Cole and "Tempt Me Eternally" by Gena Showalter

Sooo... I might have climbed a stack of books to reach the top shelf of one of my bookcases so I could read this one so I didn't have to leave the Immortals After Dark universe quite yet. No regrets.

Untouchable is about Murdoch Wroth and Daniela. Murdoch is a vampire, Daniela is a Valkyrie that is part ice fey. Murdoch was a... Well... he was a manwhore back in his mortal days. Daniela cannot have skin-to-skin contact due to her ice fey heritage. So... Match made in heaven? 

There is a lot of conflict in their relationship, but in the end it all works out. 

The story takes place in the background of some of the other books in the series, so there is quite a lot of mentions of what happens in those books. Which just made me want to read the series more.

Highly recommend the entire series, and highly recommend this short story. But, if you're particular about spoilers, read this where it belongs in the series. 

Tempt Me Eternally is about Aleaha Love and Breean Nu. Aleaha can change her appearance after she has skin-to-skin contact with someone. Breean is an alien. 

I've read some other books that go with this series and enjoyed them. I enjoyed this story. Though, there were a couple non-consensual bits that made me cringe a bit. Other than that, solid story and characters. Made me want to read the books I've read before again. 

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 3

 

Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole

Another re-read.

I'm pretty sure this was the first book I read in the Immortals After Dark series. I am a pro at picking up books in the middle of a series, becoming obsessed with series, and having to find all the other books in the series. 

Okay. So. The book.

Néomi Laress is a ghost. She was a famous ballerina in the 1920s, but in this book, she's a ghost. A ghost stuck in her house. A house in which three vampires drag their half-mad vampire brother to and lock him up. They have a good reason. I promise. 

Conrad Wroth is the half-mad vampire. He is tormented by hallucinations because he drank a shitload of people to death. So, he thinks Néomi is another hallucination. And is kind of cranky about it cause, damnit, she's pretty.

Of course, they fall in love by the end of the book. It's a romance book. That's how it works. And I have no issues with it. The love story is cute. Has a solid conflict that you know they'll work through but you have that small bit of "what if they don't?" feeling as you read. 

Okay. I'm gonna just ramble about random bits I liked.

Conrad is a virgin. Look, a lot of straight romance novels I've read have had the female lead being a virgin. It's a trope. I don't hate it, but sometimes it can get a little boring to read that once again, the female lead is "untouched by man" or some shit. Not this time. Conrad, big bad sexy vampire, is a virgin. I liked that change-up. 

Like I said, this is a book from the middle of the Immortals After Dark series. It's book... Four? I think? And while things that happened in the previous books are mentioned, it's not enough to distract from the plot of this book. And there is a handy-dandy cheat sheet in the front of the book that gives some details about the various races of The Lore. A lot of the characters make appearances in all the books which is nice. All the races have their own strengths and weaknesses. And they are described fantastically. As are the settings. 

Nix.

I cannot talk about any of these books without mentioning the greatness that is Nix the Proto-Valkyrie and Soothsayer Without Equal. Nix became my favorite character rather quickly and I do a little cheer every time she pops into any of these books. She is a little crazy. Scheming as all hell. And just oh so fun.

All the characters are great. Each character has a solid personality. Every time someone new was introduced, you got a feel for who they were as a person. Which was outstanding since there is such a big cast of characters. 

Okay. I think that's all I have to say. Aside from repeating "Soooooo gooooooood" over and over. Highly recommend this entire series. And I really need to get on reading the entire series. There are a few of the later ones I haven't read yet.