Black Soul by Odessa Black ~ Review

The Forbidden Series #1

Half man, half angel, all soldier.
The souleaters will stop at nothing, even death, to uphold divine law. When duty brings Noah Kavanaugh into Nurse Caroline’s path, he is unprepared for the intense desire igniting between them. Rejecting the impulse to take Caroline as his mate becomes unbearable. The limits of his own self-control are tested. So is his loyalty to the law he upholds.
A forbidden human Caroline is determined to find a cure for the mysterious Noah’s illness. With her blazing attraction to him, she’d willingly sacrifice her heart, body, even her life to end his suffering. However, can she bring herself to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save them both?

My View

Noah is a Souleater, who after angering the head of the souleaters, the evil Amon he is sentenced to a long and excruciating death, Noah is dying because he isn’t feeding on souls and as such he is living amongst humans, his carer Gertrude has a fall and send her daughter Caroline in her place. Noah and Caroline soon fall for each other and Noah soon finds that he doesn’t have the same urgency to die than he did before and finds that Caroline is making him fight and making him stronger just by her presence in his life. That is where Noah’s problems start, evil Amon finds out about Noah’s new lease of life and now he has new ammunition to torment Noah. Caroline.

I haven’t read a book in this genre before, and from the back blurb it did intrigue me but unfortunately  I did find that the back blurb did slightly differ from where the story was going. I am in two frames of mind about this, on one side it is actually quite disturbing and not my usual type of book and not something I think I would have picked up off a shelf. Then on the other hand it is oddly addictive, it is engrossing and I did find that I was unable to put it down, I had to finish it.

It is a sweet if eerie story about a fallen angel who has to pull his way back from his death-bed to save the planet and the human his has fallen in love with. It’s not so much good versus evil as our hero Noah is a bit of both he is supposed to be a good Soaleater, only taking evil from the world but he has a predatory evil streak and it was that side of him that I wasn’t keen on. His good half, the halve that falls in love with human Caroline is charming and sweet but the overriding gruesome-ness does tend to take over and it is a little of putting. But there are some really lovely scenes those between Noah and his three brother Souleaters; Luke, Matt and Zach are particularly sweet and very funny.

I’m not a huge fan of supernatural/sci-fi and I did find that Dark Soul does lean very close to that side, whether that was intentional or maybe that is just what I took from it, but either way the further along the story goes the more supernatural we get. I am afraid there was parts where I was just confused as to what was going on.

It didn’t help that this is written in first person, we see everything play out through Noah’s eyes. It is very rare that I pick up books written in first person as I like to get to know all characters, and personally I can’t relate to the other characters when all I see is one characters views.

All in all, I found Dark Soul intriguing and in parts enjoyable but over all It’s not my cup of tea, I have not doubt that this will be a hit for those that read and throughly enjoy this genre, but as it is Black Soul wasn’t for me.

This was gifted to me from the author for an honest review.

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Never Judge A Lady By Her Cover by Sarah MacLean ~ Review

Rules of Scoundrels #4

By day, she is Lady Georgiana. Sister to a Duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking – in London’s darkest corners she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has undiscovered . . .Until now.

Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and debauchery. He knows she is more than she seems and vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secret’s laying bare her past, threatening her present and risking all she holds dear. . .including her heart.

My View

The fourth and final installment of the Rule os Scoundrels series is just as charming and vibrant as it’s predecessors, we have been building up nicely to finally know who the elusive Chase is and how his/her story is going to play out and I can say that is isn’t disappointing.

Georgiana Pearson daughter and sister of a Duke is the Tons greatest scandal, ruined and pregnant at sixteen she goes underground – literally she found’s The Fallen Angel, the greatest gambling hell in all of Britain under the alias of Chase, she stalks the gaming floor under the alias of prostitute Anna and she does all of this for one reason – her daughter. There is just one chink in her little world and that is the fact that she has fallen head over heels in love with non other than the Scandal Sheets owner and greatest journalist in London; Duncan West. She knows that getting close to West could end up with her secrets being revealed and her daughter thrown into further scandal. . .Georgiana knows there is only one way to solve this problem and that is to marry a respectable title and give her daughter the future she deserves, but to do that she must make a deal with the very devil that could destroy her and her heart. West.

She stiffened at the thought and he felt the change in her. Lifted his lips. “And there it is,”he said, the words cooler than she expected. Cooler than she would have liked. “Memory returns.”

She hated that he so easily understood her. She sat up, pulling her feet from the water, her knees to her chest. Wrapping her arms about her. “I don’t know what you mean,”

He raised a brow. “You know precisely what I mean. If you didn’t , you would have reentered the pool instead of leaving it.”

She smiled. “would you not prefer a bed?”

“Don’t,” he said, “Don’t bring her here. Not now.”

“Who?”

“Anna. Don’t offer me her false smile and her falser words. I’m not. . .”

When he didn’t finish, she asked “Your not what?”

He swore, soft and furious, and swam backward, distancing himself from her. From the moment. “I’m not Chase. I don’t want her. I want you.”

“We are one and the same,” she said. . .

I like Georgiana a lot, she is a complicated character she has so many layers that she has built up around her to protect her and as you start to strip those layers away you see a vulnerable and brilliant young woman hiding out of view. Georgianna is an enigma she isn’t quite sure who she is since she was ruined at the tender age of sixteen she went into her a shell and only emerged as the elusive and manipulative, Fallen Angel owner Chase and vivacious and daring prostitute Anna. Georgianna is confused over her identity she is sort of stuck in limbo she knows that she must eventually show her true self to be able to do her best for her daughter but she has been in the shadows playing her two different roles for so long she isn’t entirely sure of who her true self is. . .All Georgianna knows, is the game she has been playing for the past ten years.

Duncan West is just as complicated as Georgiana, he too has scandalous secrets that could destroy him and the people he loves. Duncan is a sarcastic, arrogant and thoroughly, irritatingly handsome man who is so sure of himself, but yet so unsure of his feelings. He is unpredictable with an explosive, yet caring personality that keeps you sticking around, waiting to see what he will do next. He has his own layers that he keeps well wrapped up and this is what makes this couple very special. They are really two peas in a pod, they are both as secretive and manipulative and fragile as the other, but once together they show their true selves and when this happens it is very beautiful.

The relationship between Georgiana and Duncan is fiery, volatile and sexually charged, they want each from the moment go, but yet as they are both hiding and lying about so much they try to keep away from each other. . .it’s just that there is so much going on in each of their lives and each of their personal lives is so entwined with the other, they are thrown together again and again and again.

He opened his eyes, his gaze landing on a pair of brown boots a foot away. He looked up, his heart knocking in his chest.

Georgiana!

She stared down at him all seriousness. “May I tell you now?”

“How did you get here?”

“Langley drove me,” she said before repeating, “May I tell you know?”

“Tell me what?”

She sank to her knees, then to her hands , bring herself closer to him. “May I tell you that I love you?”

He reached for her, cupping the back of her neck and pulling her close. “You may not,” He said , his heart threatening to beat from his chest. “Not unless you say everyday. Forever.”

She smiled. . .

I have absolutely adored this series, the plot’s are flawless and entertaining, with unexpected twists and turns that keeps you guessing, but the thing that make The Rules of Scoundrels such a hit with me is the characters, each are brilliant, strong and vulnerable in their own way. From page one you just fall in love with our heroes, they are flawed and courageous individuals that keep you coming back for more. It is sad that this is the last in the series but in a way a good thing too as we have got to know our foursome, we have seen them struggle and come out the other side. We have watched as each has got their HEA and Sarah MacLean has left it in exactly the right place.

It was a joy to get to know Bourne, Cross, Temple and Chase and I really hope that anyone who hasn’t read The Rule of scoundrels that they go out and read this series.

Highly recommend and highly enjoyable.

 

A Little History; Heroines In History

It has been a while since I wrote a post for my “A Little History” series and for its return I thought I would share with you some of my heroines in history. Unfortunately I can’t list all of the brilliant women in history that I have looked up to over the years, my post would go on for days if I did. So I have chosen these five women who were so very different and yet so incredible in their own right. These five women were strong and independent and courageous.

Grace Darling

Grace Darling

I don’t know if anyone knows about Grace but she was a brave and brilliant young woman in the Victorian era. Grace lived with her father in a lighthouse on the Farne Isles, off the Northumberland coast when in Autumn 1838 she spotted the ship wreck of the SS Forfarshire on the rocks on a nearby Island, while looking out of her bedroom window. She and her father determined that the rough sea was too harsh for the life boat so together her and her father got in their own little row-boat and set off towards the wreck. Grace and her father rescued 13 people and then made their way back to the safety of their lighthouse home.

Grace was after that inundated with gifts and accolades because the bravery she showed on that day, I can’t even think how much courage it must have taken to step into that tiny row-boat and row out on to that turbulent sea.

Grace later became ill and in October 1842 she died at the tender age of 26 from Turberculosis, Grace was an ordinary young woman who selflessly put her own life on the line to rescue other’s and because of her bravery she changed how women were perceived in that era.

Flora Sandes

Flora Sandes

Flora Sandes was the only British woman to serve as a soldier on the frontline and in the trenches during WWI, but she didn’t just serve as just a regular soldier she worked her way through the ranks to become a Sergeant Major. The story of how Flora managed to get there is just as incredible, she was a St Johns Ambulance volunteer , she shot a man in self-defense and went to Serbia to serve as a nurse. Once in Serbia she was separated from her colleagues and she did the only thing she could to survive and that was to join the Serbian army as a soldier.

The fact that she was a 40-year-old British women and the daughter of a clergyman didn’t mean a thing, she fought side by side with the men – The Serbian army accepted women at that point – and she fought so well that she was quickly promoted. Flora was injured by a grenade which put an end to her military career but the Serbian Military honoured her with their highest award – the Order of the Karadordes Star for her bravery.

Violette Szarbo

Violette Szarbo

Violette was by far one of the bravest women in British history, she was an incredible woman. Violette was half French and half English, in 1940 she married a French officer who died in battle the same year, following his death Violette wanted a bit of excitement and adventure she joined the FRench Section of the Special Operations Executive or SOE and worked as a Secret Agent in occupied France.

It was on one of her missions that she was captured and taken tp Ravensbruck concentration camp, where after months of interrogations and she refused to speak, she and two of her SOE colleagues were executed.

In 1946 Violette Szarbo was the first British woman to be posthumously awarded the George Cross, the medal was pinned to the chest of her daughter Tania who was wearing a dress her mother had bought her on one of her missions to Paris. There is a brilliant film about her called “Carve Her name With Pride” which stars the amazing Virginia Mckenna.

Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte

Emily was an absolute hero of mine when I was growing up, Wuthering Heights is just about the best piece of literature there is, I just loved how raw and real it is. How she captured how powerful and moving the moors and it’s inhabitants can be.

From all accounts about Emily she was a shy, home-loving recluse who loved nothing better than wandering around the moors, happy in her own little world and on her own. She is often refered to as intensely creative and passionate, a free spirit and an iconic tortured genius. and going by the brilliance that Wuthering Heights is, I thing k I would agree. She was strong in her own way, by all accounts she didn’t want the whole husband and family thing, she was more than happy in caring for her family and doing what she wanted when she wanted and I really admire that.

“She should have been a man – a great navigator. Her powerful reason would have deduced new spheres of discovery from the knowledge of the old; and her strong imperious will would never have been daunted by opposition or difficulty, never have given way but with life. She had a head for logic, and a capability of argument unusual in a man and rarer indeed in a woman… impairing this gift was her stubborn tenacity of will which rendered her obtuse to all reasoning where her own wishes, or her own sense of right, was concerned” Quoted by Constantin Hegar

Queen Elizabeth 1

Queen Elizabeth I

It may be an obvious one but I do like how strong and resilient Elizabeth was, she was an incredible woman who was living and ruling in a mans world she was under constant prejudice because of her sex and under constant pressure from her advisors telling her that she needed a husband to succeed in their world. I admire her for her stiff upper lip and fact that, yes she was a woman in a powerful position but she didn’t cave in under the pressure and she protected her people and her country when they needed her the most.

Most men in that position would have crumbled with all the back stabbing and underhand goings on that circulated the court, but not Elizabeth, she proved that a woman can survive a man’s world. All my heroines have that same courage and passion and each one of them have gone out into a mans world and made it her own, they have proved that we women don’t need knights in shining armour to ride in and save the day. . .We can save our selves.

If you want to know more about my heroines then check out the links below.

Grace Darling / Violette Szabo / Emily Bronte  / Queen Elizabeth I / Flora Sandes

The Crown Spire by Catherine Curzon & Willow Winsham ~ Review

Scotland, 1795

When the coach carrying Alice Ingram and her niece, Beth, to Edinburgh is attacked, they’re grateful for the intervention of two mysterious highwaymen who ride to their rescue. Beth is thrilled by the romance of it all, but Alice, fleeing her brutish husband, has had more than enough drama in her life.

As the women find sanctuary in a tavern on the Great North Road, Beth is thrilled to meet Edward Hogan, the roguish publican. Despite the difference in ages and backgrounds, the couple have instant chemistry and when Ed invited Beth to visit his Edinburgh tavern, she resolves to get to know him even better. Yet Beth is also taken with the highwayman who rescued her; after all, there’s something irresistible about a rogue.

Shaken from the attack, Alice grudgingly allows herself to be seen by Doctor James Dillingham, Ed’s best friend. Though Dillingham sees the telltale signs of physical abuse on Alice, she refuses to speak of it. Dillingham is dour and Alice frosty, and the two take an instant dislike to each other, so why does their shared coach journey to Edinburgh the following day seem to sizzle?

Once in Edinburgh, Beth starts secretly spending time with Ed, who she begins to think might know more about those highwaymen than he is letting on. By day, Alice sorts Dillingham’s paperwork at the charity hospital he runs yet by night she sneaks off to meet her own highwayman, travelling the back roads of the city with the masked figure. Slowly, Alice is coming back to life. But will the husband she is fleeing find her out? And will her highwayman come to her rescue again?

Set during the heady days of the Georgian era when bodysnatching and highwaymen were never too far away, The Crown Spire is a thrilling romantic adventure rich with excitement and packed with historical detail.

My View

Alice and her niece Beth are on the run from a life of cruelty, blackmail and terror, they are making their way to Edinburgh when in the middle of the night on the Great North road their carriage is come upon by a gang. Both ladies of forcefully taken off into the woods and off to an uncertain future, both unaware where the other is and scared of what is going to happen to them. But materializing out of the tree’s and darkness comes their rescuers and their rescuers just happen to be a pair of highway men.

On first meeting their highway men our ladies fall for their irresistable and roguish charm in a heartbeat, not unsurprising really! They are saved and taken to an inn where they meet the cheeky, charming Innkeeper Ed Hogan and the shy, gentlemanly Doctor James Dillingham. There is something irresistable and provoking about these two handsome Scotsmen, not to mention something very familiar, could it be that Alice and Beth may have met these two rogues before?

I love this, the chemistry between both our couples is rich and sensual and very sexy, like all Historical Romance fan’s I do particularly like a good rogue and The Crown spire doesn’t disappoint, in fact we are spoilt as there are two highway men to get to know and adore. It’s going into the super market and getting a two for one deal. Catherine and Willow have created two strong and charming heroes, that you are bound to fall for.

Alice froze in place, not daring to look around for fear that it should be nothing but a breeze playing tricks with her too-fertile imagination, the form just a shadow turned to flesh by her hope. slowly she lifted her gaze to the mirror once more, heart hammering “You came”.

“I thought” he replied in the voice that she had first heard on the Great North Road, “That I would look once more, just to be sure.”

“Forgive me,” she turned , her gaze drinking in the welcome sight of the masked man. “I was afraid.”

“I hope my note wasn’t too presumptuous?”

Not at all, she was quick to reassure him, thinking with a jolt of the paper she still treasured “I had wanted to contact you but did not know how. . .”

“You wanted tp see me?”

I did” she flushed to the roots od her hair at that admission, adding impulsively as she got to her feet, “I do.”

James and Alice, at fist you don’t think that they will work together, they are chalk and cheese they tend to constantly rub each other the wrong way and the bickering they do is actually really funny. But once you get to know each others past and how they became to be as lonely and detached as they are, you find that they have got more in common then first appearances.

James is a shy gentleman, he is unused to attention from the opposite sex and he is isn’t exactly sure of himself and his capabilities to woo, but once he has put the mask into place his true personality come to the service and he is romantic, enticing and arrogantly sure of himself that he literally sweeps Alice from her bed and off her feet. It is so lovely to see how with Alice he comes to lean less on his alter ego and become more the man that he is, which is exactly the same with Alice. While with James and her highway man she starts to live and her frosty mask gets replaced by a youthful, happy Alice.

“Hello” she murmured, leaning back against his touch.

“fancy,” he held up an ornate mask of bright blue silk, decorated with glittering beads, “being the most glamorous highway robber in Edinburgh?”

beth gave an excited squeal, eyebrow raising as she asked, “How could I say not to that?”

“I thought this was your colour,” Hogan laughed, kissing her cheek. “Get dressed, we’ve work to do!”

“Can I have a kiss first?” He was happy to oblige her request, lips soft against hers. Beth held it for a long moment, leaving him in do doubt as to her feelings until she finally broke the kiss to murmur, “I love you. . .”

“How could you not?” The reply was teasing, though he told her then. “I love you too.”

I have to say that my favorite has to be Ed, he is a proper rogue whether that be as himself the Landlord of the “Rum Duchess” or as the cheeky highway man. He is so sure of himself that he does border the line of arrogance but he doesn’t care, his joyful and exuberant persona is catching and you can feel your self just smiling as he charms his way around Edinburgh. But he is a loyal and good-hearted man, the chemistry between him and Beth is electric after just one meeting te=hey can’t keep their hands off each other, it is steamy and fun and sweet, he his protectiveness of Beth is absolute.

This is a charming foray into Georgian history, the story is fast and exciting, you know where the story is going with our couples but the way we get to there is thrilling, the only flaw I have for The Crown Spire is that because it is character driven we don’t get as much history and detailing about Georgian Edinburgh as I would have liked, but apart from that it is a great book, very entertaining and one that I would recommend.

 

Miss Bradshaw’s Bought Betrothal by Virginia Heath ~ Review

She’d done it! Plain, invisible Evelyn had escaped. . .

Fed up with being a doormat to her evil stepmother, heiress Evelyn Bradshaw pays a dissolute rake to pose as her betrothed to she can secure her freedom. But then her fake fiance leaves her with his estranged brother Finn Matlock and disappears!

Having withdrawn from the world, Finn knows the last thing he needs is the temptation of a woman, especially one like Evie. She has an irritating habit of causing chaos wherever she goes and being in places she shouldn’t. . .including, as he soon learns, his heart!

My View

Evelyn Bradshaw is trapped in a household with her stepmother and her daughters; people who hate her as much as need her, she is bullied daily about everything from her appearance to her personality, she is treated with no respect and even less dignity, but yet her venomnous stepmother, Hyacinth needs Evie around for one thing only and that is money. Evie has obviously had enough of how her life has panned out so she come’s up with a plan to finally escape her horrid step-family. . .Pay the most notorious rake in London to pretend to be her fiance, move to Yorkshire and live out her life in peace. Simple right?

Not quite! Fake-fiance Fergus has other idea’s, he unceremoniously dumps Evie into the care of his estranged twin brother Finn and does a flit. Evie may be a bit put out at first to be left and lied to, but she soon realises that this is better than her original plan. She has freedom to do what she want’s, no step-family or rake to contend with. . .there is just one blip. . . Brooding, handsome Finn!

Virginia Heath is becoming my go to author for good-natured, sweet Historical Romance and this is just as charming as her previous work, it is fun, sexy, a veritable tangled web of emotion and conflict between our two lead’s. Miss Bradshaws Bought Betrothal is based loosely on the well-loved Cinderella story. I do have to admit that as a child I was never drawn to Cinderella as most little girls were – I think it was the fact the she didn’t really have that much of a personality, she was a little “to badly-done-to” for my liking. Unlike other fairytale ladies such as Belle (Beauty and the Beast), I always thought Cinderella was too much the damsel. But I am so pleased to say that Evie, yes! maybe down-trodden and she is certainly bullied, but she is strong in her own way and resilient.

There is something very genuine and normal about Evie, something that all woman can relate to in one way or another, she is an insecure, normal woman. There is a beautiful paragraph at the beginning of the book, that can really resonate with a lot of people and it was this that single paragraph that really stuck with me, that really brought Evie to life something that doesn’t happen with a lot of character’s.

She could reinvent herself, be happy and finally climb out of her chrysalis. She did not expect to emerge as a butterfly – butterflies were far too lovely an insect for Evie to aspire to – but she was quietly confident that she could perhaps be a moth. In the dark, where nobody saw them, moths flew.

She an imaginative, resourceful and naive  young woman, who has suffered greatly from the hands of her family, that psychological abuse is ever-present in her not matter how much she tries to over come it, she holds on to those memories of how she has been treated over the year’s making it difficult for her to move on. But on top of all that she is stubborn, bossy with such a beautiful kind heart.

I like the relationship between Evie and Finn, at first they come across as chalk and cheese but once you delve deeper into each of their pasts and personalities you soon realise that they are just perfect for each other, they tend to bounce off one and other. He gives her the confidence to go out there and do what she wants and banish the constant dark self-conscious thoughts, that she harbours. Whereas Evie is the light and life that Finn desperately needs in his life, he is a haunted, and guilt ridden man who has closed hisself off from the world. I heard a saying once “He doesn’t say much, but when he doe’s you have to listen” that is Finn Matlock in a nutshell. He reminds me of my all time literary hero; Heathcliffe. He is a brooding, monosyllabic, irritating and achingly handsome man who just needs a bit of love. But then again, Finn Matlock is a Yorkshireman through and through, and they don’t tend to announce their inner most feelings to people, so we can’t be too hard on him.

“I told you to stay on the chaise lounge!”

The sound of her slippers on the stone steps gave him mixed emotions. He could not deny that there was intense relief at being saved. However, his appointed saviour was the one person in Matlock House he did not want to do the saving. He had only succeeded in giving the woman more ammunition against him.

“Go away, madam. I can manage well enough on my own!” His legendary stubbornness made one final attempt at mutiny and Finn used his weaker arm to haul himself up one more step before she came alongside him and took control. . . .

. . . .He narrowed his eyes and scowled back at her. She might have his servants tripping over themselves to do her bidding, but he was his own man and the master of this house.

“Perhaps you have trouble understanding what I said. No. Blasted. Poultice!”

“if you refuse to listen to reason, then I shall have to have the physician called for and he can deal with your surliness.”

Finn was going to strangle the stubborn wench “Stop threatening me with the blasted physician, woman!”

I think Virginia has done a really good job with the Cinderella theme of this story, the aspects of the fairytale are all there; young girl being trodden on by her evil step-family only to be rescued by a handsome prince. That is just about where the Cinderella theme ends, as Evie is much sassier than old Cinders and no one would call our Finn “Just Prince Charming” He is charming in his own brutally blunt, boorish and rudely honest to a fault way.

This is much better than the original fairytale and one that I thoroughly  enjoyed, it is a fun, clever and interesting take on a well-loved tale and one that should be read.

This was an ARC version provided by the author for an honest review, Miss Bradshaws Bought Betrothal is released on 17th January 2017.