(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

There’s kind of a funny story behind winning this book in a Goodreads giveaway. When I was looking through the books to enter to win, I saw this one… and I saw the prequel (which I have read). But I didn’t clock that this one was the sequel to the one I’d previously read and enjoyed. It wasn’t until my win was confirmed that I realised.

Anyway… it was really good to return to this world. What was interesting was that there were very few new characters introduced. Almost without exception, I felt like I was meeting a group of friends again. There were times I felt fully immersed in the action… like a part of the world. That’s a feeling I don’t often get now, but it’s nice when I do.

Despite my personal dislike for love triangles, I did find the one in this book bearable. I won’t say I liked it – love triangles are so over-used now, the presence of one is a red flag for me – but it was good to see that the love triangle didn’t take over the book; and the characters’ feelings seemed real and easy to understand.

I think I liked Mai a bit more in the previous book. In this one, his personality seemed to keep changing. It was really good to see politics used in the Guild. The danger the characters faced seemed real and kept the book intense… but a lot of the casualties were unnamed characters, which made it harder for me to care about them when they fell.

I liked the descriptions used in this book. I especially liked the fact that, in my head, I could picture Mai and Kara fighting side by side.

I particularly liked Celana and Ellah and I would have liked to see more of Kyth’s foster brother in this book. I also really liked Kyth’s evolution through the course of the story and I felt he’d really grown as a character by the end.

If there’s a third book in this series, I would definitely be interested in reading it. I got pulled into this world and it would be really good to see where the author takes it next.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was another series where I read the first book and then jumped at the chance when I was offered the opportunity to read the second.

I really didn’t want to like Lucino in this book, but I found myself growing more and more intrigued by him as the book went on. I liked him and Jeslyn together and I found it easy to get behind their gradually growing relationship.

I’m still not a fan of the multi first-person POVs. I did get somewhat confused with who was narrating at times. I do think I would have found it much easier to read if the whole book had been in third person.

I did find most of the characters to be well-written and well-rounded, even though I really didn’t like the love triangle there was. I was also really intrigued by Lucy’s character. I would have liked to see a bit more of her… and get some glimpses into her motivations, similar to how Lucino’s thoughts and mechanisms were shown.

I liked the fact that there was a bit more detail in this book, both about the human world and about the world Lucino came from. I did lose a lot of sympathy towards his people, though, considering what they planned for the humans.

I really liked Haddo in this book and I would have liked to see more of her kind and how she was there. It was also interesting to see more of the Order, particularly given that they clearly had a bad reputation in the previous book. I don’t really understand much of their motivations, though, and there was really only one member of the Order that I really liked.

I did find this book a really entertaining, easy, quick read. The characters were engaging and interesting and I liked learning about the world. I would definitely be interested in reading the third book in this series at some point in the future, when it comes out. I think you do need to read the first book to understand what’s happening in this one… but I do recommend this as a good, well-written young adult fantasy series.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first book in this series, I was pretty happy I already had the second book… and I had a much better feeling while I was reading this book. I liked the women, but there were times I got a bit confused with them. The ones who weren’t the main characters seemed almost grouped together into one entity and there were a few who weren’t actually named.

It was nice to see other characters as well in this book. I really liked Alex’s relationship and I liked the fact that he was a fairly interesting character and it was nice to see that the author spent quite a bit of time on his subplot.

I really find it unique that the vampire-race can’t actually get physical with anyone until after they’re bound. It’s an interesting and unique take on it and I felt it kept the relationships real, with just enough sexual tension to indicate that, yes, these two characters are strongly attracted to each other.

I would like to know how the Dragons are formed. If it’s a genetic thing, I would have thought that at least some of the Dragons would be physically related to each other.

I really didn’t like the police officer in this book. I didn’t like him in the previous one, either, but he was particularly annoying in this one. There were a couple of the bad guys that I found fairly intriguing, even though I really dislike them. Not their leader, though – he’s a complete jerk and I really dislike him. I can’t feel any sympathy towards him… or really understand the reasons behind what he’s trying to do.

There were a few emotional scenes in this book and some things that really made me angry. I ran a gauntlet of emotions through this book and that’s a sign of a book that really draws me in and keeps me hooked all through reading it.

I definitely intend to read book three at some point in the future. I also have a short story that’s set in the world as well. If you’d like a more unique take on the vampire paranormal romances… this series is it.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve ready quite a lot of books about vampires and by now, I have felt that they’re very over-used in fiction. But despite that, I did think that the author did a good job of creating a unique world that had some really good world-building and quite a different twist on the normal vampire myth.

I quite liked the female characters in the book, but I did think that the males kind of came across as jerks. I could understand why they were acting the way they did, though I did think they should have listened to the women.

I liked the relationship between Toni and Jacken and I thought that the author did a good job showing the development of it and that it came across as really realistic and natural. I found myself rooting for them, even though I felt that the blurb of the book did give away a bit too much of the storyline.

I did get a bit confused with how there were different types of the bloodlines, though, and I would have liked a bit more explanation about it. I did notice, also, that the male heroes fall into the normal category for paranormal heroes – exceptionally large and abnormally handsome. I have to say that, when that was pointed out in the book, I liked the explanation for it. There was also a really interesting twist that I felt worked particularly well… and kind of went against the normal cliche in paranormal romances.

Although the main focus of the book was the romance between Toni and Jacken, it was also nice to see the relationships between the other characters. I also really liked Alex as a character. I’d like to see more of him in later books. Hopefully, there’ll be someone for him.

All told, I really liked this book. After having a few disappointments with other paranormal romance series, this one looks like it might be a really intriguing one with well-written characters and a society that’s believable and entertaining to read about. I do have book two ready to read and I will probably read the later books in the series as well.