Review: Deal with the Devil by Cynthia Eden

Deal with the Devil is the fourth book in Cynthia Eden's Purgatory series. Purgatory is the prison where paranormals are kept. Earlier in the series the prison was infiltrated, but has since been cleaned up and Eric Pate is in charge.

All along there's been something a bit shady about Eric. Sure he's the "good" guy, but it was clear he was keeping secrets and had some ulterior motives.  His intentions were never straightforward. This is the book in which those secrets are finally revealed.

It's been a few weeks since I've read the book, so my memory is a little cloudy, but I believe the heroine of this story, Ella, was first seen and rescued in the third book, Charming the Beast. I might be wrong. I began reading this book as soon as I finished the third, as in on the same flight, and the two stories have sort of merged in my head.

Ella was being held prisoner and she wants to escape, but Eric feels as though she needs to be protected  What exactly Ella is is something of a mystery. But she feels a connection with Eric that she can't quite explain.  She thinks she has finally found someone like her, but she's in for a few surprises.

This book provided some very interesting backstory about Ella and the paranormal creatures origins.

Like all the books in this series and everything I've read by this author, the story was fast paced, action packed, full of suspense and very heavy on some steamy romance.

I liked this book a lot. Highly recommend to fans of paranormal romance.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Charming the Beast by Cynthia Eden

I sort of feel like all of my reviews of Cynthia Eden's books sound the same. Fast paced, lots of action and danger, plenty of mystery and suspense and smoking hot sexy times.  Something like that. But if it works, stick with it. That's why I love these books.

Also, they've become my perfect travel companions. Stuck for hours in an airport, long, uncomfortable flight, boring train ride - these books provide the perfect escape. This one I read on my flight from Dallas to Milan and it worked well.  Nice to be able to open up a book and all of a sudden, you're not in some grimy airport anymore, you're running for your life, alongside some sexy as sin werewolf.

This was the third of the Purgatory books, and it's been a few months since I read the first two, but it seems like I enjoyed this one and the next book much more than the first two. Could have just been my mood or the setting in which I was in when reading them.  Not sure.  But thoroughly enjoyed this book.

In this book Connor - who was sort of a bad guy werewolf in previous books - is now having to work with the "good" guys.  He's been assigned to guard Chloe. Chloe just wants to be free, despite her attraction to Connor, she's tired of being a prisoner. But she's not safe on her own.  There are too many people after her and she doesn't know who to trust.  So they're together, reluctantly, at first. But they can't fight their attraction for each other. I think Connor is one of my favorites, something about the bad guy doing good, even though he still sees himself as a bad guy, always gets me.

This book has everything you need for a perfect escape: action and romance, with a heavy dose of paranormal. Highly recommend if that's your sort of thing.  

Review: Beyond the Moon by Michele Hauf

I liked this book so much.  I started reading it this morning and couldn't put it down until I finished it.  This is the third book of Hauf's I've read, all three books being part of the Company of Vampires series.  I love these stories and these characters.  Vampires, witches, shifters, werewolves and vampire hunters, all living in Paris.

The characters are interesting, the stories are full of danger and romance.  Just the right blend of supernatural, violence and sex.

In this book, Verity, a witch is attacked by vampires and saved by Rook, a vampire hunter.  The two feel an instant connection, which baffles both of them.  Also, this connection they feel seems to be linked to the pendant worn around Verity's neck.  Years ago, acting on some inexplicable compulsion, Verity sensed a soul within a tree, and she carved it out and felt obligated to protect it until she found its owner.  Just so happens, many years ago, Rook made a deal with the devil that involved his soul being taken from him and buried in the ground.

But on the night of the attack, shortly after their initial meeting, the pendant is lost, and Verity is bitten by a vampire.  She has until the full moon to figure out a cure (her attempts at spells aren't working) or hope Rook can stake the vamp who bit her before she transforms.

So this is the story of Rook trying to reclaim his soul, and Verity trying to save hers, all while trying to handle the intense attraction they feel for each other.  Verity has a three date rule, but she figures out fairly quickly she wants more than three dates with Rook.  And discovering Verity is a fire witch, and seeing her perform with fire brings back some terrible memories Rook would rather not revisit.

I don't want to give too much away in this review, because part of what makes the story interesting is the way the backstory is gradually revealed.

Overall, this is a really great book.  I loved both Verity and Rook.
Lots of action, plenty of magic and some very hot sex.  I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys steamy paranormal romances.

Review: A Vampire's Christmas Carol by Cynthia Eden

A while back, I decided I would begin my holiday reading a little earlier this year.  I always stock up on holiday reads, and then never get around to half of them because I tend to wait until the beginning of the winter break to start reading them.  So this year, I decided I would begin reading nothing but Christmas stories after Thanksgiving.  And then, after making that statement, I added that I was doing this to turn my brain to candy – because maybe that would make the holidays more tolerable.

Having spent the week of thanksgiving binging on Cynthia Eden’s Mine series, I decided to begin my Christmas reads with her novella, A Vampire’s Christmas Carol.  In terms of candy, I would consider it delicious, sinful dark chocolate, with just a hint of peppermint.  (And in case you haven’t guessed, dark chocolate with peppermint is my favorite holiday indulgence.)

I love vampire stories, especially when the vampires are tormented and guilt-ridden, angry and desperate and broken-hearted.  I don’t like boring vampires, I like them hot and sexy and Ben, in Vampire’s Christmas Carol is very hot and sexy and angry at the whole world because of all he’s lost.

As indicated by the title, the story is a twist on Dickens’s Christmas Carol.  Ben, a vampire who hates Christmas, is visited by a demon to show him his past, an angel to show him the present, and a shifter to provide him a view to his possible future. 

After becoming a vampire, Ben lost the love of his life, the woman with whom he’d planned to spend forever, and it was around Christmas time.  He’s been angry ever since.  This particular Christmas, he’s in a place called Desolate.  He thinks he’s doing the right thing by killing people he feels don’t deserve to live.  But the ghosts of Christmas are about to show him the error of his ways and the things he’s missed through his haze of anger. 

I really enjoyed this story.  Not too sappy or simple.  Had the perfect mix of danger and emotion and romance.  And did I mention hot and sexy? Yeah, I think I probably did.  It was short, easy to read in one sitting.  Definitely marking this as one of my favorite holiday stories, one I can return to when I need a guaranteed good, steamy read with a nice holiday message. 

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Night Thief by Lisa Kessler

Lisa Kessler’s Night Thief begins along the streets of Paris, as crowds are gathering to watch Napoleon’s remains beings transported down Champs-Élysées to Les Invalides, making the year 1840. Already the story has scored bonus points with me – I enjoy a well-described historical setting, and I love Paris.

Marguerite, or Rita as she is often called, is trying to “earn” money for her escape from Paris. The police authorities refer to her as the “Golden Thief” because the golden-haired beauty is able to distract men with her charm as she swipes their valuables. Her plan is to sell what she takes and then use the money to travel across the ocean, away from the man for whom she works. I really liked this character, she’s tough and determined. There is absolutely nothing weak about her. She isn’t looking for someone to save her, she has a solid plan to save herself, as well as her cousin.

Her whole life, she’s been betrayed by men who claimed they would take care of her. With each man, her situation only grew worse. Now she is going to take care of herself.

Then she meets Kane, who can’t stop thinking about her after noticing her pick pocketing. For weeks he searches for her, though he’s not even sure why he feels so drawn to her. He’s a Mayan god, a night walker with the ability to transform into a jaguar – not that he ever does, at least not in public, because he’s fairly certain that wouldn’t go over well on the streets of Paris. For centuries, he’s avoided getting involved with humans, but he can’t seem to resist Rita.

While Rita is attracted to him, she’s no stranger to immortals and she isn’t too eager to get involved with one. She’s also a bit put off by his desire to rescue her. She’s not ready for another so-called protector to turn into a monster. She’s certain she doesn’t need him, she’ll be just fine on her own.
Kane isn’t about to give up that easily, and he’s not going to stand by idly while Rita is in danger. These are two strong characters that challenge each other before eventually realizing they should be together.

I don’t want to give away too much. That would ruin part of the fun of reading this yourself. But I will add that even though this is a novella, there’s quite a bit happening here. This is packed with action, danger, lots of emotion and quite a few very steamy scenes. The descriptions are written in such a way to elicit plenty of feelings – both good and bad. There are some horrible, gruesome things happening here to contrast against some truly beautiful parts. I’m a painter, and I’m going to cringe every time I see a paintbrush for a while. You’ll understand why if you read this.

This is a quick, fun read. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. I was going to read a few pages before going to sleep and ended up staying up until it was finished.

I should mention, this is considered part 1.5 of The Night Series. I haven’t read the first book in the series and didn’t feel as if I missed anything. The back-story, at least all that is necessary for this story, is explained thoroughly. This has sparked my interest in reading the book before this in the series.