Book Review: Cruel Shadows by Harper A. Brooks

 

Book Description

I’m caught in the shadows…

…and the shadows want to play.

I thought I’d dreamed up the shadow realm and the place I called Dark Castle.

But it’s very real. And he’s still here.

My prince, my savior, my captor…

The monster in my bed.

But this time, he’s not alone.

I must escape, but first, my prince and his shadow men want me to fulfill their demands.

All of them.

The longer I stay, the harder it is to resist their dark promises, their insatiable hunger. Because, while these monsters’ smiles are cruel, their touches are the most delicious torture.

But they aren’t the only threat in this world. The darkness that wanted me before has found me again, and like my Shadow Prince, it’s ready to claim me as its own…forever.

Cruel Shadows is book 1 in the Kingdom of Monsters series. It's a full length fantasy monster romance with some darker themes, lots of steam, and is a story where the heroine will end up with more than one love interest.

My Review

Stella used to have a very vivid imagination when she was a kid, so much so that she thought she was traveling to another world where she met Airic and since they were both kids at the time, they end up best friends. They go on like this for a very long time until when they are a little older he tells her to leave and never come back. She's not sure why he's so mean but she leaves and ends up in therapy because no one in her world believes that Airic exists. Years later, her life isn't great and she dreams that she's back in her dream world where Airic lives. She travels to the castle she knows he lives but things are different and now he's a cruel adult. He's not the same boy she remembers and the longer she stays there, the more she wants to go home but Airic shows her a small amount of compassion and love and she wants to stay there with him forever. But he locks her in her room and doesn't tell her what's really going on. She tries to escape and runs into Airic's cousin who she also seems to feel something for. Then there's the Knight that Airic sends to her to keep her safe, and she ends up sleeping with him. Stella ends up being this woman who wants Airic but sleeps with any man who flirts with her a little. 

Things are not the way she thinks they are and she finds herself in danger but not from the men in her life. Airic should have told her the truth about what was going on but he leaves her alone with other men and lies to her over and over. I didn't like him but this story had promise so I kept reading, only to get to the end and be disappointed by a huge cliffhanger ending. So disappointing. I won't be reading any more books in this series. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #288

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

The police had Antwon and some of the other druggies that live down at the end of my block outside and were questioning them. I think they might have found drugs on one of the guys because they arrested him and I haven't seen him since. 

---

The ambulance showed up one night at 2am for someone in the building where our pool is. The flashing lights is what woke me up. They are really bright and came right through my curtains. The next day I could see a small blood trail leading from the sidewalk to the pool courtyard but I have no idea what happened. 

On Friday around 7PM I heard two gunshots that sounded really close but after looking outside to the street, I didn't see anyone outside so I chalked it up to someone firing a couple rounds in the air. 

The high this week was 90F/32C

The low this week was 55F/12C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

RUST - "HATE ME"

I've been listening to this one for a while now. I hope you enjoy it. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

What did I receive this week?

A plastic plate from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

An assortment of perfumes from Macy's.

 Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum

I like the plate, it's cute and sturdy. 

Most of the perfumes smelled good, the men's cologne did not. I now have a couple of the night repair serum bottles. I don't think I'll run out any time soon. I like the stuff so that's good. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Captivity by Brenda trim and Tami Julka

 

Book Description

Lawson Scott has been a prisoner for three years. He's been subjected to torture, degradation, and numerous tests by humans wanting shifter blood. He's convinced he will spend the remainder of his life chained to a wall until sexy scientist, Liv Kimbro, is assigned to his case. She's the first human to show an ounce of compassion and their attraction is combustible despite his disdain for her species. An escape plan unfolds and Lawson sees how far Liv will go to set him free. Passion erupts and raw, primal need is unleashed when they succumb to their desire for one another.

Will Lawson reach his safe haven and find a life mate when Liv captures his heart or will their differences destroy them and everyone he loves?

My Review

One night when Olivia is at work and goes to find out how to turn the AC on, she shockingly finds out that her lab is kidnapping, holding captive and performing secret experiments on shifters. She doesn't know a lot about shifters since they tend to keep to themselves but when she witnesses the captive shifter kill a man right in front of her, she knows they're dangerous too. The next day when she returns to work, her boss confronts her about what she saw and there's video evidence so she can't get away with saying she saw nothing. Once that's cleared up her boss assigns her to get to know the shifter, Lawson and see if he will open up to her since he's been tight lipped with everyone else. Her boss wants him to shift and he has refused thus far. 

Lawson hates humans, especially the humans who have been holding him captive, beating and experimenting on him. But once Olivia walks into his room, he thinks he might be able to trust her because she doesn't seem like the rest of them. Olivia's boss is a complete sleezeball and I was hoping he would get what was coming to him. 

Once Olivia gets a better understanding of what's really going on at the lab, she knows she has to help Lawson and the other shifters escape. She enlists the help of some friends to help with the rescue and letting the right people know what's going on at the lab. Along the way Olivia and Lawson become closer and we watch as their relationship grows into a steamy romance. Whew, I need me a shifter boyfriend. I had such a great time reading this. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Jagged by Elle Wright

 

Book Description

The more pristine the veneer, the darker the family secrets. Jamie Yates has been living that truth for eight long years, and wants nothing to do with the parents whose DNA he carries.

Damaged and disgusted, he moved halfway around the world to start a new life in Melbourne, Australia, and he stayed away until his brother asks him to come back to be the best man at his wedding.

What seems like an innocuous ask is anything but. The past rears its ugly head, and things are worse than Jamie could’ve ever imagined.

To complicate matters even more, he meets Aurora, a woman he didn’t dare to dream was real. She’s everything he wants in a life mate, but his rage at what happened still tortures him, and he knows he should keep his distance so she’ll be safe. From him.

If he’s even a fraction of the man he wants to be, he needs to return to Australia before he hurts her in a way he’ll never be able to mend, even though leaving her will rip his heart to shreds.

My Review

Jamie comes home for his brothers wedding. He's happy to see his brother but not all that happy to see his parents. He meets Aurora at the party functions before the wedding reception and they hit it off really well. She ends up spending the night with him because, why not? They're both catching feelings really fast but he's going back home to Australia after the wedding so there's no future for them, or is there?

Jamie starts thinking about staying and not going back to Australia but the fact that he would be so close to his parents makes his blood boil. It took forever to find out why he and his parents don't get a long. When I read the description, it said, "She's everything he wants in a life mate." I saw the words "life mate" and thought this was some kind of paranormal romance. That maybe he was a shifter or vampire because that's how they refer to their spouses in those kinds of books. 

I was waiting for the big reveal to see what kind of paranormal Jamie was but he ended up not being a paranormal at all, he just referred to her as his life mate as in my human mate for life. So while I was a little let down with that aspect, the twists in this story just kept coming. This was more a family secrets revealed type of story and the romance between Aurora and Jamie. Because of the description I thought Jamie would beast out and become some sort of monster and that's why he didn't want to be with her or didn't think that he could be with her but the truth was he was just afraid he was going to be like his parents and that's what he meant by having the same DNA as them but not wanting to be like them.

 Turns out he's very human and he was just afraid that he was going to turn out to be as flawed as they are and boy, let me tell you they are the worst type of people. So I'm not surprised that he was worried he might become like them. Everybody in his family including his brother Griff seems to have some sort of personality problem and is it any wonder with parents like he has?

This ended up being nothing like the book that I thought it was going to be, but it ended up being really good. The family secrets that just kept coming we're big and a couple of times I was mad at some of these family members for the things that they were doing and secrets that they were keeping, knowing full well that in the long run it was going to turn out bad. So while it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, and ended up being really good. And the romance between Jamie and Aurora was hot, spicy and all consuming.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclosure: I was given an E-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon

Shaggy Mane Mushrooms

 

Have you ever heard of the Shaggy Mane Mushroom? If not, you're not alone because neither had I. My daughter has one of those apps on her phone where she can take a picture of a plant and it will tell her what it is. Apparently this is a Shaggy Mane Mushroom. I was wondering what it was after I noticed a few of them popping up in my courtyard after all the rain we'd gotten. 

According to what I've read they are also known as Shaggy Ink Cap, or Shaggy Mane and is a common fungus often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads and waste areas. They have cylinder bodies, covered in scales which is where they get their shaggy name from. The mushroom will turn black just hours after being picked and melt into a black liquid. So if you want to eat it, you have to cook it right after you pick it. 

We didn't pick them or eat them but I thought it was an interesting find. Has anyone else seen these growing in their lawn?

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #287

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

On Sunday, 4 guys from across the street got into a heated argument that turned into fist fighting a few times. This is just a small snippet of the 5 minute video I took because Blogger won't let me upload a longer video. But most of the video is like this. They were out of camera shot while throwing punches. But the loud arguing went on for over an hour. 

---

On Monday the police were at the end of my street. At one point there were 5 cop cars down there. I stopped walking all the way to the end of the street because of the gang member looking guys that are always down there. I see a lot of red bandanas being worn down that way, which makes me believe they are probably Bloods. The police arrested 2 guys for something this day. 

---

I realize this is an open carry state meaning that if you have a gun, you can wear it openly on your belt, holster ect. But I've been seeing several guys around my street wearing guns in their waist bands. I'm hoping there won't be any shootings going on in the future. 

The high this week was 89F/31C

The low this week was 58F/14C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Imminence - Infectious

I like the instrumentals as well as the vocals for this song. I hope you enjoy. 

Everyone Has A Story, Here's One of Mine

 

I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.

Uncle Jack

My grandmother (mom's mother) got married for the first time when she was 12 years old ( sometime in the 1940's) to a man who was much older than her. She lived in Ohio and she told me that's just how things were back then. She got pregnant right after she got married but her husband died (I don't know what from) before her son (Uncle Jack) was born. So she and her parents decided that she would give my Uncle Jack to one of her adult cousins to raise. There was no formal adoption, she just gave him to her cousin who sent her pictures and updates about him as he got older. My grandma didn't have much to do with uncle Jack when he was growing up although he knew she was his mother. 

Years later my grandma would meet my grandpa, they would get married and have my mom. My uncle Jack was jealous of my mom and was mad that my grandma kept and raised her while she gave him away even though he would say that he had a good life. When he was 18 he enlisted in the Army and did two tours in the Vietnam War. I was a little kid when he first came to my parents house for a visit sometime in the late 70's. My mom wanted a relationship with him even though he threw it in her face all the time that grandma kept her and not him. 

A few years later when I was 12 and living with my grandma after my parents divorced, uncle Jack would come over to grandma's house all the time. But he had some serious mental issues because of what he saw in the war and caused trouble all the time. One time when they had gotten into an argument my uncle Jack took one of my grandma's pictures, tore it up, put it in an envelope with a threatening letter saying her knew how to kill her and never get caught. And wrapped the envelope around a voodoo doll that he had stuck pins in and hung it from her fence one night while we were asleep. My grandma found it the next morning. 

She was so freaked out over what he did and she knew it was him from some of the other things he had done, that she took the envelope and voodoo doll down to the police station and got a restraining order against him. We didn't see him again for a few months when he apologized. But his wife Cecilia would come over to our house and tell my grandma that he was having night terrors and would try to strangle her or hold a knife that he kept under his pillow to her throat while he was asleep. They both tried to get him to go to the hospital for treatment but he wouldn't go and she eventually divorced him a few months later. 

Links to past stories. 

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

July 2023

Ausust 2023

September 2023

Book Review: The Alien's Sacrifice by Ella Maven

 

Book Description

“I don’t deserve her, but I’ll risk everything to save her.”

Tasha: We’ve carved out a little life for ourselves on Corin—me and the other human survivors. It’s not perfect, and I miss Earth, but we could never return. Not after what was done to us. Not after what we’ve become. So we keep to ourselves, hiding from anyone and anything that would do us harm, until our peaceful settlement is raided. Suddenly I’m a prisoner, and from the looks of it, I’m also about to be a sacrifice…

Lukent: Corin was meant to be a fresh start, but I knew better. I’d always be a scarred outcast from the rest of the Drixonian males, and no way would I ever have a chance to mate with the few human survivors we’ve rescued. Far from the happy villages, I plan to live out the rest of my days securing our borders and protecting the precious families of the fortunate mated Drixonians.

Until one day, my patrol leads me off my usual path and I find my entire worldview shift the first moment I lock eyes on the fighting, snarling human female in the grips of a deadly captor. Saving her means disrupting the peace for not only myself, but the rest of the Drixonians. Still, I’ll risk it all to save her… and to convince her she’s my fated mate.

My Review

In this book Kent belongs to a faction of aliens who are outcasts because of something their fathers did wrong. These aliens actually did nothing wrong but because of how they've been branded as outcasts they can never have mates. So when Kent happens upon a human female who has been captured by other aliens and is going to be sacrificed, he saves her. There's a language barrier but because of his implant he can understand her but she can't understand him. That leads to some funny moments but makes it a fun way for them to get to know each other. At least he can understand her. 

Tasha isn't fast to trust because of everything she and her other human friends have been through. They had been previously captured by other aliens and experimented on, giving them some gifts. 

He keeps her safe while trying to get her back to his camp where she'll be safe until they can get her to his people who aren't outcasts. But there is still a miscommunication between them since she thinks that her other female friends that were captured have been rescued and are back at his camp. It's only later when she can understand them that she realizes that they have to go back and rescue her friends. 

Tasha isn't sure at first whether she can trust him but quickly realizes that he's trying her help her. By the end of their journey to his camp, she fully trusts him and has feelings for him but he's not allowed to keep a mate because of his status. I loved Kent, he is a warrior and wants nothing more than to fight for his people until he finds Tasha and then he wants more. 

I really liked this book a lot. This is the first book from this author that I've read but I am definitely going to read more now. This was such a good book. I liked the action, world building on an alien planet, the different aliens and getting to know all the different characters. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Dark Memory by Christine Feehan

 

Book Description

Experience a connection that defies death in this captivating novel in Christine Feehan’s #1 New York Times bestselling Carpathian series.

 

Safia Meziane has trained since birth to protect her tribe, the family she holds so dear. All along she told herself the legends she was raised with were simply that. But now, she must call upon all of her skills to fight what lies ahead. Evil has come to their small town on the cost of Algeria, evil that Safia can feel but cannot see.

 

She is terrified she will not be able to protect the ones she loves. As her family’s “chosen one,” she has always believed she would face this task alone—until her family reveals she has been promised to a warrior who will join her. An outsider. A Carpathian. . . .

 

Petru Cioban is one of the oldest Carpathians in existence, and he has spent all that time without the soothing presence of his lifemate. For two thousand years he has waited for this woman to be reborn, only to find her in the sights of a monster he has fought before, a vampire risen again to finish a battle started centuries ago.

 

Now, Petru must face his greatest enemy and his greatest shame. He has no hope that Safia will forgive his betrayal once the memories of her past life return to her. But he will not make the same mistake again, even if he has to sacrifice everything for the woman who has claimed his immortal soul.

My Review

This book started out incredibly slow with all the backstory about Safia's people and how her grandfather is the head of her tribe and has trained her to speak the Carpathian language for when she meets her lifemate. But he never told her that until recently and now she is not happy that the person she's supposed to marry is not someone from her tribe. Her grandfather also didn't tell her that this male she's been promised to is an immortal who drinks blood to live or that she will have to become like him in order to become his lifemate. Safia has been trained since she was very young to be the defender of her people against vampires and demons but she has yet to actually battle any. But her grandfather knows the time she will have to is fast approaching.

Safia is a warrior and when she has to face down vampires, demons and insects being controlled by evil who is out to kill her, she does so easily. She is also a tarot card reader and the cards tell her the future. When she finally meets Petru and the five Carpathian males that have accompanied him to help rid her village of the master vampires and demons that were sent there to kill her, she's not sure what to think of the male who is to be her lifemate. 

This is not one of my favorites from this series because it's getting away from how this series started out with lots of Carpathians interacting with each other, nor did it bringing back characters from previous books. We don't see a lot of characters from previous books and that's a real shame, a missed opportunity right there. But I did like Petru, he was of course the typical Carpathian male who is bossy and likes to take charge but he saw Safia for the warrior she was and gave her the respect she deserved. So he at least had that going for him. 

Towards the middle of the book it did pick back up and I found myself again very engaged in the story. 

Dark Memory is book 37 in the Dark series by Christine Feehan, but I think it would be read as a standalone because we don't get a lot of backstory about the other characters from previous books. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #286

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

This week started out noisy because the apartment building right across the street got new shingles on their roof. The noise started at 6AM. Good thing I get up early with Falcor.

While most of the homeless people moved away a few blocks down the street with drug dealer and are now in his new area, there are a few homeless people that are still around my apartment complex. This woman sat here 3 doors away from my apartment, lit up her meth pipe, did some drugs, didn't care who saw her and then proceeded to pass out right there for a few hours. I didn't call the police because they do nothing. They would have woke her up and made her move, that's it. I feel bad for her. 

The police pulled up at the end of my building and were questioning some of the other homeless that were sitting in the rocks right in front of where their car is. They questioned them and then the police left. 

The high this week was 93F/33C

The low this week was 60F/15C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Pendulum, Bullet For My Valentine 

I used to listen to Bullet For My Valentine all the time but it's been a while since they had a new song I liked. I listened to this one and liked it. I hope you do too. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

What did I receive this week?

I received a free Nature Valley Smokey BBQ Savory Nut Crunch bar. 

I like the sweet Nature Valley bars but this one I didn't care for. My daughter on the other hand liked it so she got the rest of it. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Hell Hath No Fury by Skye Jordan

 

Book Description

As a high-profile Washington lobbyist, Jessica Fury has all the coveted trappings of DC: money, connections, and influence. But five years ago, she had something far more precious: happiness. She shared a firefighting career with her husband and the love of her life, Quaid. Then one day her hazmat team walked into a chemical inferno--and Quaid never walked out. Jessica has been through hell to piece her shattered world back together. Then a rumor surfaces that could bring a miracle or destroy her--again.

Q has been a prisoner for as long as he can remember. The men who hold him have honed his mind and body into weapons, and he's developed abilities no one understands. They wipe out his memory, test him like a lab rat, and lie. Even though his past has been erased and he doesn’t believe he has anything to live for, instinct tells him different: there is a woman out there who needs him. And what his mind can't remember, his body can't forget. . .

My Review

Jessica and their firefighting team get called to a burning building. Quaid goes in first and spots some barrels on fire and melting. So he tries to get the numbers on the barrels so they know what they are up against but then one explodes. He knows this stuff is bad news and tries to get out and let his team know not to come in because another barrel is about to explode. But before he can, the barrel explodes, giving him a big blast of the chemicals and throwing him across the room and into the wall, breaking many of the bones in his body. Some of his other teammates also get exposed to the chemicals but most make it out alive. Back at the hospital Quaid dies because his injuries were so severe, or at least that's what his team are led to believe. In reality Quaid is kidnapped by some government officials and held hostage, tortured and experimented on because he ended up with the most supernatural abilities from the chemical exposure. 

Some of the other teammates that were inside the building when it exploded also have new abilities and 5 years later they realize that Quaid, now known as Q, had been alive this whole time and they set out to rescue him. 

After the rescue, the government, mostly officials from the DOD are after Quaid and the teammates because they know too much and some of them have abilities the government wants to use. But Quaid has unique abilities that not even he fully understands how to use. 

While Quaid and Jessica get to know each other again because he has no memory before his time being captured by the government and being used by them, they also have to try and find a way to stay one step ahead of the people after them and to use their abilities to help themselves. 

While this book started out a bit slow, things started picking up after they realized Quaid was a live. A few twists are thrown into the story which made things more exciting to read and the pace really picked up. It was fun to watch them learn how to work as a group again, watch Quaid get to know his team again and to watch the romance blossom between Quaid and Jessica again. It ended up being quite the action, drama, military, mystery read. This is book 3 in the Phoenix Rising series but I didn't feel like I was missing much. So for me at least, I was able to start in the middle of the series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon

Book Review: Warrior's Hope by Rebecca Zanetti

 

Book Description

This thrilling novel in the New York Times bestselling author’s popular Dark Protectors series takes readers on a wild ride as the only female vampire ever born brings a love triangle to its explosive conclusion—deciding the fate of battling factions as the forces of good and evil gather for the ultimate showdown.

As the only female vampire ever born, and the heir to two powerful immortal families, Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood has always felt the weight of fate and destiny. Now her heart is torn between two men and two different futures. It’s a choice between duty and love, peace and war, with the fate of everyone she loves hanging in the balance.

As the leader of the Kurjan nation, Drake has always known that mating Hope is the best path to avoiding war. He’s counting on her to know the same. . . . Paxton has been Hope’s best friend and protector since they were children. He would kill and die for her without a second thought. In fact, he’s always known that would be his path . . .

With deadly factions at her heels, Hope must decide whom to trust and where her loyalty lies—before the choice is taken away from her . . .

My Review

I've been reading this series since the very beginning so I know all of the characters that show up in this book and there are a lot of them. So for that reason I would say it's better to read this series from the beginning so you know what's going on with this story. 

Hope, Paxton and Drake have known each other for years, since they were kids. Drake is now the leader of the Kurjans. Paxton is part demon and had a really bad childhood because his father beat him after his mother died. It was only after Hope found out about it and told her father who is the leader of their kind that Paxton went to live with his uncle and was treated better. Hope is the only female vampire hybrid ever to be born but she doesn't have any special powers and the doctors and scientists have been researching her blood since she was a small child trying to figure out why she gets sick and can't heal herself. 

The Kurjan nation is at war with just about everyone else because they are kidnapping enhanced females. Plus Drake is helping Ulric who wants to perform another ritual that could destroy the Universe and many of the enhanced females as a sacrifice for the ritual. So Hope and the other immortals are doing what they can to stop him. Drake says he wants to stop Ulric but does he really? 

I really thought I knew what was going to happen with Hope, Drake and Paxton but boy was I wrong. Even though Hope can dream walk and bring Paxton and Drake along with her so they can all talk, all three of them have been keeping secrets from each other for as long as they have known each other. And the secrets were big, really big. All of those secrets come to light in this book which made the story have so many different twists so that I was kept guessing what might happen next with these three.  But I liked the ending even though I was a little sad because these three weren't exactly like I thought they would be after watching them grow up. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.