Posts Tagged ‘Kresley Cole’

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Michael Scott – The Necromancer

Sophie and Josh have returned to San Francisco.  They must protect themselves from the Dark Elders, but they’ve not yet mastered the magic they’ll need to do so.  Their trust in Nicholas Flamel is shaken, and their friend Scatty is missing.  Unbeknownst to the twins, John Dee has amassed an enormous army of foul creatures, with which he plans to battle Nicholas and his wife, Peronelle.  In order for his plan to work, he must train a necromancer to raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead.  The twins of legend will make the perfect pupils in his diabolical scheme.

Richard Jay Parker – Stop Me

Forward this email to ten friends.  Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends.  Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends.  If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends?
Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears.  His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth?  The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email.  A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police.  But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent.  Has the killer spared her life?  Why?  And for how long?  For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Library:

Kresley Cole – No Rest for the Wicked

A vampire warrior who yearns for death…  Three hundred years ago, Sebastian Wroth’s brothers forced him to become a vampire – a nightmare in his mind.  Shamed and alone for ages, he longs to die.  Until an exquisite creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.Â
A beautiful assassin dispatched to destroy him…  When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow – accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions.  Yet whenever she encounters the vampire with his grave eyes, her feelings – particularly lust – emerge multiplied.  For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.  The prize is a key powerful enough to resurrect her sisters.  Not understanding the key’s import, Sebastian hinders her against other opponents by using her new feelings to seduce her and earn her love.  But when Kaderin is forced to choose between finally killing Sebastian and reuniting her family, how can she live without either…?

What was in your mailbox this week?

 

Publisher – Pocket Star
Publication Date – 2nd June 2008
Paperback – 384 Pages
Genre – Paranormal Romance
Series – Book 1 in the Immortals After Dark Series

Source – Library

Book Information - A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire.  Or partly one.  This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents – until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle.  There, her fear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire…
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Review – The story starts with Lachlain MacRieve, a Lykae who has been held prisoner and tortured by vampires for 150 years.  He finally finds the strength and courage to break free from his imprisonment when he scents his mate somewhere near by.  Lachlain has been searching for his mate for centuries and he is not going to let her get away from him now he has finally found her.  However, he is disappointed when he catches up to Emmaline to realise that she is a vampire – one of the creatures that has tortured him for the last fifteen decades – and he readily shows his disgust of her and the rest of her species.  But he soon finds out that Emmaline is nothing like the vampires that held him captive and he starts to fall for her.  Emmaline feels very differently about Lachlain though.  She sees him as a monster who wants to torment and hurt her.  But soon danger surrounds them from all sides and they realise that they are willing to do anything to keep each other safe.
Both Lachlain and Emmaline go on an emotional journey throughout A Hunger Like No Other, and I loved reading about this journey.  Lachlain starts off as a (literally) tortured soul who has trouble keeping his animal instincts in check.  But as he spends more time with Emmaline, he becomes a lot more content and, although at times he does lie to his mate or treat her in a way that is perhaps not quite right, he would do anything for her and do anything to keep her at his side.  And it is easy to forgive Lachlain for his little indiscretions when you consider that he has not had any contact with others (apart from the vampires torturing him) for 150 years.
Emmaline, however, starts off as a very timid creature who is used to the protection of her aunts – a coven of vicious Valkyries.  Although she is part vampire, she has never drunk ‘from the source’ and wants to protect living things (a way of life that earns her a lot of ridicule from her family).  But during her time with Lachlain, she finds herself in many dangerous situations and she finds strength from them.  The result of this is that by the end of the novel she is an incredibly strong female who can hold her own in a fight as well as refusing to be walked over by her family and Lachlain.
I loved both of the main characters and the relationship that develops between the two of them – there is certainly a huge amount of sexual chemistry between them, even if it does take them a long time to realise that their feelings run a lot deeper that just this physical connection.  I also found the storyline of the book, involving all the threats from their enemies, to be intriguing, well-written and full of action.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading A Hunger Like No Other and I can’t wait to read the others in the series.

Other books in the series:
1. The Warlord Wants Forever (in the anthology ‘Playing Easy to Get’)
2. A Hunger Like No Other
3. No Rest for the Wicked
4. Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
5. Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
6. Dark Desires After Dusk
7. Kiss of a Demon King
8. Untouchable (in the anthology ‘Deep Kiss of Winter’)
9. Pleasure of a Dark Prince

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

Purchased:

Philippa Gregory – The White Queen

Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets.  They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.
The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty.  While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown.  From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.
With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author.

Library:

Kresley Cole – A Hunger Like No Other

A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire.  Or partly one.  This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents – until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle.  There, her fear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire…
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Nalini Singh - Angels’ Blood

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best — but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job.  Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear — failure is not an option… even if the task is impossible.
Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track.  It’s an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other… and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion.  Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may.  For when archangels play, mortals break…

Elizabeth Noble – The Girl Next Door

What makes a house a home?
For Eve Gallagher, home is miles away in England since she and her husband relocated to an apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side.  And life isn’t remotely coming up roses.
What makes a neighbour a friend?
Violet has lived in the building for decades but she’s always kept herself apart, until Eve’s loneliness touches her heart and friendship blossoms.
What makes a wife a lover?
Jason Kramer in Apartment 6A is no longer sure he loves his wife, but he’s head-over-heels for Rachael Schulman in 6B.
What makes the girl next door the woman of your dreams?
Meeting Emily Mikanowski from 3A turns Trip Grayling’s world upside down.  It’s love at first sight, but he needs help from Charlotte, the shy romance addict in 2A, if he’s going to win the girl.
Dreams come true, hearts are broken and no one is left unchanged when the secrets and desires hidden behind closed doors are finally brought into the light.

Jill Mansell – Nadia Knows Best

When Nadia Kinsella meets Jay Tiernan, she’s tempted.  Of course she is.  Stranded together in a remote Cotswold pub, with a snowstorm raging outside… let’s face it, who would ever know?  But Nadia’s already met The One.  She and Laurie have been together for years — they’re practically childhood sweethearts, and she still gets goose bumps at the sight of him.  Okay, maybe she doesn’t see that much of him these days, but that’s not Laurie’s fault.  She can’t betray him.  Besides, when you belong to a family like the Kinsellas — bewitchingly glamorous grandmother Miriam, feckless mother Leonie, stop–at–nothing sister Clare — well, someone has to exercise a bit of self–control, don’t they?  I mean, you wouldn’t want to do something that you might later regret…

What was in your mailbox this week?