Book Review: Darkness Rising (Darkness Series Book 9) by Katie Reus

FIVE STARS

In this exciting conclusion of the Darkness series, we meet a new dragon. Reaper has been hibernating for thousands of years and when he awakens, he discovers a whole new world; something he had to adapt to. But he’s also awakened with the feeling that he is going to meet fire and destruction. Being a general, one who led armies and knew violence and death, he was prepared for that. What he wasn’t prepared for was Greer. He knew she was his mate from the moment he saw her, but she wasn’t as sure as he was. There were times when he annoyed her and brought out the worst in her. He wanted to deny that she was his mate because she was a dragon/healer and he thought a warrior-type would suit him better. But he didn’t fight it. He pursued her instead.

If you’ve been following this series, you know that Drake was innocent, too. Reaper was right up there with him. Reaper was hysterical, though. He took things literally and it cracked me up. Greer called him a name. He didn’t know what it meant when she said it, but his response was…well, never mind what it was. You’ll have to read the book to find out. I laughed and laughed. In another scene, he was meeting with another supernatural who said. “You’re not even going to butter me up?” Reaper’s response was, “You want me to put butter on you?” It was so innocent and adorable. He was endearing right from the start.

Greer was undeniably attracted to him, but she was with him and Prima in New Orleans because Reaper was trying to find some other ancients who he hoped would help him stave off this impending war he knew was coming. Greer wanted to keep it business only, but she found she couldn’t and soon they were in a more than platonic relationship. The tension between them was crazy hot. It seemed like every time they were finally going to get physical, somebody interrupted them. The tension kept building like a pressure cooker. It was going to blow any second. There’s a lot of steam in the story between Greer and Reaper, but there’s also a little side story going on with Cynara and Justus.

Hold on now, there’s even more going on. The world is being destroyed and conquered by other supernaturals who want to obliterate humans. It gave the book a bit of a dystopian feel. I’m not keen on dystopian anything, but it fit in this novel. There were some well-written fight scenes and we get to see both Reaper and Greer at their finest.

The ending made me cry. I always say that any book can make you laugh, but it takes a great one to make you cry. I never like goodbyes and the closing scene with Conall, Greer, and Reaper had me crying crocodile tears. There’s more to come, though. As the author said in her note to the readers, “It isn’t goodbye. It’s more like I’ll see you later.” I’m looking forward to it.

This was a fast-paced, action-filled, page turner with loveable characters and a story that packed a punch. I was captivated from the moment I started reading.

*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review

Available at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yyg3qpt5

Book Review: Rotten Apple (Bennett Dynasty Book 1) by Kate Allenton

FIVE STARS

I’ve read 17 books by Kate Allenton, including this one, and they all have great characters and great stories, but this is a cut above the rest. It’s a romantic suspense with some steam and some fantastic sexual tension. It surprised me. After all I’ve read by this author, this is the first one that had that element. There might be more, I don’t know. This was just my first encounter.

Gwen Bennett works for the FDG (Fairy Damn Godmother) which is a security firm that works outside the regular three letter government agencies. They aren’t rogue and they do deal with the police. What separates them from the others is they aren’t restrained by rules and laws and from what I gathered, they’re all women with special skills and talents. Gwen was considered a chameleon. She played different roles to get what she needed and did it expertly.

But there was no role playing in this case. The book starts with her grandmother and numerous other residents being swindled out of their money by a conman. Nobody messes with a member of the Bennett family without some sort of repercussions and Gwen is hot on this guy’s trail. What she wasn’t counting on was having another case be assigned to her that involved kidnapping and death threats of a mother and child. She wanted to take care of her grandmother’s case first and told Carter Pierce he could wait. She really had no choice but to take the case. Fortunately, the conman was vacationing on a secluded island that Carter’s family owned. Gwen met Carter’s brother, Max, who was helpful in taking care of the rapscallion. Max had his own interests at heart and wanted Gwen to hurry up with the first case. Max’s sister and niece were being threatened and, like Gwen, he’d do anything to protect his family. Max and Gwen end up going to the island together.

There’s a lot of chemistry between Gwen and Max. Gwen was pretty salacious at times. She came right out and told Max that she wouldn’t mind having a tryst with him with no strings attached. He put her off time and again, not wanting to mix business with pleasure. After the case was closed, only then would they give into their desires. She knew not to mix business with pleasure, too because it would cloud her judgment and be a distraction.

I liked Gwen a lot. Normally, I don’t like a female main character that’s in charge, but her character wasn’t overdone. She didn’t emasculate Max or any other man in the book to make herself look bigger or more important. I loved her honesty and candor. There was no mistaking where she was at.

Max didn’t mind her being in charge, but at the same time he wasn’t whipped. He was still a man and acted like a man. He was her partner in the case, even though he isn’t called that. Ultimately, he broke her heart. When he spoke of “amateur hour”, I could feel Gwen’s heart shatter. She doesn’t let on that he’s hurt her, but that was just a damn mean thing to say. (I hope that isn’t a spoiler).

The characters were genuine, the story was fast paced with action, suspense, and twists and turns, the steamy scenes were well-written, and everything came together for a surprise ending. I thought I had it figured out earlier in the book, but I didn’t.

This was a great start to a new series and I’m looking forward to reading them all.

*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yykfe4vk