Book review: Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

Author: J. R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood

Rating: 4 stars

Blurb (from Amazon):


Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, seductive cloth as her brother. Imprisoned for eons by their mother, the Scribe Virgin, she finally frees herself-only to face a devastating injury. Manuel Manello, M.D., is drafted by the Brotherhood to save her as only he can-but when the human surgeon and the vampire warrior meet, their two worlds collide in the face of their undeniable passion. With so much working against them, can love prove stronger than the birthright and the biology that separates them?

Finally, the waiting is over and I got my hands on this book. I can honestly say I devoured it.

Lover Unleashed is a bit different from the other books in the series. There are a lot of new characters, one of which I understand is from Ward’s Fallen Angels series – didn’t read it, but soon, very soon – characters that I can’t wait to learn more about. Unlike the previous books, we don’t get scenes from inside the Lessening Society and that makes me very curious about the whys behind this absence. Maybe we’ll find out in the next book.

I loved Payne. She’s so much like her brother, Vishous, and yet different in some ways. I think there are a few details that we have yet to find out, since we don’t know much about the time Payne spent in the human realm before she was imprisoned. I hope we’ll find out more in the future. But like I said, loved the character. She’s such a strong female, stubborn and proud. It’s actually a bit funny to see her and Vishous having an argument and see how he realizes that there is another creature on earth that’s just as stubborn as he is. I also think Payne has no idea yet what her powers are, but I’ll bet they’re totally different that her twin’s.

Manuel Manello is the hero in this book. If you’ve read the series, you might remember him from Lover Unbound. He was Jane’s boss. I’m happy we got to see him again. I liked his character then and I liked it even better now. He’s a great surgeon and he always tries to make things right, even the surgery might seem impossible to some. He’s also full of surprises. I’m very curious about how his character will develop in the series in the future.

Vishous broke my heart in this book. If I thought in his book I’ve learned everything about him, I was surprised. He and Butch went through a very difficult situation and you can see their friendship is the real deal. Some of V’s scenes were really heartbreaking, but I think he’s going to be a lot better from now on.

Another thing that I missed were the scenes from the past. I was really hoping to read something from Payne’s or Manuel’s past, but unfortunately, we get only one scene of that. Maybe in the next books we’ll learn more about their pasts.

If you don’t know who’s getting his/hers story told next, I’m not going to tell you. All I can say is I can’t wait for this next book and I know it will be a looooong waiting period, no matter when the book will come out. But I’m happy we’re finally getting this book and maybe we’ll get some answers to the questions brought out by Lover Unleashed.

Book review: Premier Jour by Marc Levy

Author: Marc Levy
Original Title: Premier Jour
Country: France
Rating: 5 cups


If you remember, in February I decided to have a little personal reading challenge to help me get out of the "I don't want to read" phase, Book Around the World. The first stop was in Italy, with Federico Moccia's Three meters above the sky.

This week's stop is France, with a very well known French author, Marc Levy. If his name doesn't ring any bell, you might have seen the movie Just like heaven, with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. This movie is based on Levy's first novel, If only it were true (original title Et si c'était vrai...), which I believe it was WAY better than the movie.

The novel Le Premier Jour (The First Day) was published in 2009 and it has a really interesting plot. An astrophysicist and an archaeologist team up and find a strange object inside a volcano, object that might change history as we know it.

Adrian, the astrophysicist, has one big dream: to find out where the dawn begins. He's just returned in England after a 3 year research project in Chile when he reconnects with an ex-girlfriend, Kira.  After they spend the night together, she leaves him, leaving behind a note and a necklace. After searching for her, he finds out she's in Ethiopia, conducting some archaeological research.

As an archaeologist, Kira wants to find out who the first human being was, how many years ago he/she lived and how different was he than what humans are nowadays. Kira is convinced that the answers to these questions can be found in Ethiopia.

When Adrian arrives in Kira's camp, he convinces her that the necklace she left him is very special and that they need to find out where it comes from and if there are other object similar to it. At the same time, a secret international organization that wants to make Adrian and Kira to give up their research and the people in that organization doesn't stop from anything, whether it's murder, bribe, lying or stealing. The people in this organization are convinced that humanity is not ready yet for the secrets that the fragments could uncover if they are brought together.

I think this book is a mystery of sorts, a romantic mystery, a genre that I think fits very well with Levy's writing style. What I love about Levy's novels is the fact that each of them has a lesson. For example, in another of his novels, My friends, my lovers (original title: Mes amis, mes amours), the lesson is that real friends are there for each other always.

The book is light, easy to read. The ending is kind of surprising, but that is because the book has a second part, The First Night (Le Premier Nuit) which I am currently reading.

I just hope someone will make it into a movie.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My teaser today is from Kresley Cole's Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night.

“If I slake you, in return I get a smiling lass. I like this deal, kitten.”
“Damn it, MacRieve, if you keep calling me kitten, then I’m going to start calling you something equivalent, like hound dog—and then we’ll both be losers.”

What's your teaser this week?

Book review: Live Wire by Lora Leigh

Author: Lora Leigh 
Rating: 4 stars


Blurb (from Goodreads) :

"Meet Captain Jordan Malone. For years he has been a silent warrior and guardian, operating independent of government protocol or oversight, leading his team of Elite Ops agents to fight against terror at all costs. A legend in the field, Jordan’s true identity has remained a mystery even to his own men...until now.
Tehya Talamosi, codename Enigma, is a force to be reckoned with A woman this striking spells nothing but trouble for Jordan. Armed with killer secrets-and body to die for-she’ll bring Jordan to his knees as they both take on the most deadly mission they have ever faced. Because this time, it’s personal..."

 Today I am sad. I'm always sad when a series ends, when I know there probably won't be another story to wait for, another glimpse to the characters I love with all my heart. And no matter how many times you reread that series, it's not the same as the first time, when you were waiting and counting days till the publishing date of the newest book or when you spent countless hours on the author's forum, trying to see if there are new details, new hints or even rumors about the upcoming books.

I tried to avoid reading Live Wire as soon as I got it for these reasons. For six years Lora Leigh's fans have waited for this particular book, for big, bad Jordan Malone to finally find his match, his soul-mate. I have a feeling that maybe we were all hoping that the end would never come. And yet here it is.

Jordan Malone, a.k.a. Live Wire, always seemed untouchable, detached, almost cold. He was always the logical one, the one with all the plans, the one who had an answer for everything and the one who didn't mind stepping on a few toes if that got the job done. He never believed that love could last a lifetime, considering that love was just another name for lust.If in the other books from the Elite Ops. series I thought he was a cynical bastard, his story confirmed it. But he also is a very good friend, one that would risk his own life to help the ones he cares about.

Tehya Talamosi is the daughter of a terrorist. We first met her in Killer Secrets as the young girl trying to escape the fate that awaited her if her father ever found her alive. I liked her character very much and I always hoped that she would be the one who ended up with Jordan. I like way she evolved from the first time we met her. She's more confident, more daring than before.

I like the fact that we get to see the other guys too. I was a tad disappointed at first because the scenes with the others were few and short, but I think the ending scene made up for that. I like seeing all the couples being brought together and I think it was a good ending, even though bittersweet.

I also noticed that there were a few loose ends and that makes me hope for a new series tied to this one, but I'll just have to wait and see.

I didn't like was the editing. I hope maybe St. Martins will do a better job at editing in the future, because there were times when it was seriously annoying. Though I'll probably reread the book again and again, no matter the editing errors, because I loved the story.

I hope Lora Leigh will once again surprise us with a spin-off, a newer version of the Elite Ops. series and I hope it will happen soon. But if that never happens, I'm glad to have read this series. It was a very good one.

Sorry folks

Between friends visiting me and personal problems, I haven't had much time to post around here. The last weeks have been really weird and such. But now I'm back and I have tons of reviews to write. I'll give you a sneak peak on what you can read here next week.

On Monday I'll review Lora Leigh's latest  book, Live Wire 

 On Tuesday I'll review Marc Levy's Premier Jour. 

On Wednesday I'll be reviewing Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other

On Friday I'll review Brendan Connell's Metrophilias

 

So that's it for next week. Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Three meters above the sky by Federico Moccia

Author: Federico Moccia
Original Title: Tre metri sopra il cielo
Country: Italy
Rating: 5 stars


Background:

Last year in October, I saw a commercial on a Spanish television to an upcoming movie about two teenagers with different backgrounds and social statuses that fall in love with each other and the obstacles they come across. Now I've seen a lot of movies on this subject and it seemed like just another Romeo and Juliet story. Until I saw the guy's bike. When I saw that motorcycle I knew I had to find out more about the movie. And that's how I found out that it was actually made after an Italian book. I also found out that it had an Italian adaptation and a book and movie sequel. I decided to read the book after I saw the Italian movie on Monday.

My review:

The book's central characters are Babi and Step.

Roberta "Babi" Gervasi is a seventeen year old girl who's about to graduate high-school. Babi is the typical good girl from the upper middle class: she's always dressed properly, she has an acceptable boyfriend, she only hangs out with people with the same social status, she goes to a private school. The only wild spot in her life is her best friend, Pallina. Babi tries really hard to be the girl that her mother, Raffaella, wants her to be, even though part of her hates it.

When she meets Stefano "Step" Mancini, she sees him as the exact opposite of what proper means:  he doesn't come from a wealthy family, he's had troubles with the law, he doesn't have a degree, he doesn't have a job, he likes to party a lot, he's getting into fights whenever he feels like it, he likes illegal races.

At the same time though, Step is the one that makes Babi feel loved for who she really is, not for who she's supposed to be. He gives her the chance to be herself without judging her, even though she's not doing the same thing for him. She isn't able to accept the differences between them and she always tries to change him, make him "proper", acceptable.

The death of Step's best friend and Pallina's boyfriend, Pollo, changes everything. Pallina is suffering a lot and she finds it very difficult to be around Step, who reminds her too much of her lover. Babi and Pallina don't have much to say to each other anymore and that makes their friendship become weaker and weaker. Step suffers a lot because he considers himself guilty for the death of his friend.

Six months after the death Pollo, Babi tells Step that she's seeing another guy. Realizing that he lost her, Step decides to leave the country and go to the US to try and move on.

I thought the book was very good. And I liked the change it brought to the whole "first love" subject. Even though it might seem predictable, because you know that Babi will fall in love with Step and you also know that their love won't last because of their differences, it was still enjoyable.

I didn't like the fact that Pollo dies, because I think his love story was one that was meant to last a long time and because he was a fun character, a softer Step. Also, I  hoped that by the end of the book, Babi would become acting like a grown-up. But I guess that she thought that bad things happen when you're not acting properly and she got too close to tragedy and that scared her. And it made her fully embrace the lifestyle that was acceptable for her mother and for the people with the same social status as her.


I think it was a very good book, especially for a debut and I think I might try some of his other works.