Book Review: 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Six

Author: Jennifer L Armentrout, Lorelei James, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Donna Grant, Rebecca Yarros, Kennedy Layne
Series: 1001 Dark Nights
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Military Romance
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Release Date: August 23rd 2016
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lorelei James, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Donna Grant, and introducing Rebecca Yarros and Kennedy Layne.

Seven Dark Tales. Seven Sensual Stories. Seven Page Turners.

DREAM OF YOU: Abby Erickson isn't looking for a one-night stand, a relationship, or anything that involves any one-on-one time, but when she witnesses a shocking crime, she's thrust into the hands of Colton Anders. His job is to protect her, but with every look, every touch, and every simmering kiss, she's in danger of not only losing her life but her heart also.

STRIPPED DOWN: A flirty game of sexual truth or dare between best man, Wynton Grant, and maid of honor, Melissa Lockhart during their BFF’s wedding reception results in a steamy hookup. But their plans for a one and done change when a family crisis leaves Wyn shorthanded at the Grant Ranch. Mel volunteers to help and gets way more than she bargained for.

RAGE: Rage has never had a problem charming the females. All except Lucie Gaudet. The lovely Geek is a born troublemaker, and it was no surprise to Rage when she was kicked out of the Wildlands. Now the Pantera need a first-class hacker to stop the potential destruction of their people, and it’s up to Rage to convince Lucie to help.

KILLIAN: Gorgeous, brutal, aggressive, and human, Killian O’Roarke wants only two things: to get rid of the Pantera DNA he’s been infected with, and get back to the field. Rosalie lost her mate to a human, and now the Hunter despises them all. In a time of war between their species, isn’t any chance of love destined for destruction?

DRAGON KING: Grace Clark has found the perfect spot to break through her writer's block. Until Arian, a Dragon King who has slept away centuries in his cave, appears and tries to force her away from the mountain. Unaware of the war she just stumbled into, Grace doesn't just discover the perfect place to write, she finds Arian - the most gorgeous, enticing, mysterious man she's ever met.

IGNITE: In Legacy, Colorado, I buried my father alongside his elite Hotshot team. Ten years later, I’ve followed in his footsteps—fighting fires in the mountains of Alaska with my brother.
Amid the flames, nothing ignites me like Avery Claire. She’s stubborn, strong, sexy as hell, and my best friend. She also has no idea that I’m in love with her.

FATED IDENTITY: Grady Kenton relishes the long seductive weekends with Brienne Chaylse, the beautiful CIA liaison who understands his boundaries and accepts things the way he needs them to be. When Brienne’s identity as a CIA special agent is leaked to the media, she and Grady must race to discover whose betrayal runs deep while their true feelings emerge.

Every Dark Nights tale is breathtakingly sexy and magically romantic.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from InkSlinger PR and Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or my opinion of this book.

I am slowly, but very surely, becoming addicted to the 1001 Dark Nights series, guys! Besides the fact that most of my favorite authors are writing for this series, I get to find out about more authors that need to be on my shelves ASAP.

Dream Of You by Jennifer L. Armentrout

When I saw that this bundle had an Armentrout novella in it, I did a happy dance. I may have squeed a little bit too (not a very nice sound, let me tell you). I can always trust Armentrout to write a really relatable female character. Abby was phenomenal, there's just no other way to describe her. She has, what is in my opinion, the perfect job. But aside from that, I love how strong she is. She was scared out of her mind, but she still did the right thing, and I respect her a lot for that. Colton was a great hero, and it was really sweet seeing how he viewed her in high school. I loved him mostly for his integrity, for his sense of right and wrong. He's a great guy, and I really loved him, and I'm super happy they found each other again, even in the most terrible way.

Stripped Down by Lorelei James

It seems that not long ago I found the perfect cowboy romance series, by Lorelei James. So when she comes out with another cowboy novella, I trust her to write great heroes, great heroines, but also really natural, real human interactions. There's just something about James' characters that make them feel like real people, and that's what I felt with Wynton and Melissa. They were funny and sexy together, there's no denying that, but I also loved reading about how they interacted outside of the bedroom. Melissa is struggling to come to terms with some really important developments in her life, and it was a really fascinating to read about that. I also loved seeing how even with what was going on with her, she still found it in herself to help Wynton when he needed it the most. I also loved the ending. I laughed at it, because it shows just how perfectly these two characters fit together.

Rage/Killian by Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright

I really need to go back and read the Bayou Heat series from the very beginning. Rage and Lucie have a very peculiar relationship. Lucie's childhood is filled with a lot of pain, and I was amazed by her strength and by how she managed to make a really good life for herself. I'm pretty sure Rage would have helped her had he known what was going on back then, as he even says as much. I was glad to see these two end up together.

Killian and Rosalie's story has a different tone than the previous one. Both of them have lost a lot, and they're both a little damaged. It was interesting to read about Killian's struggle to come to terms with what was going on with him. I would have wanted to read more about him and about his story prior to being exposed to the Pantera DNA. Rosalie is in a lot of emotional pain, and she's lashing out at everyone, including herself. I was really sad reading about her story and about her past. I like how, in the end, they both kind of help each other heal.

Dragon King by Donna Grant

I loved this take on dragons. I haven't read many books with dragons, but I was really happy with how Grant wrote them. This was my first Dark Kings book, so in a way, I understood Grace and how new she was to this world. I really liked Grace. She's a writer, she travels to Scotland to find her muse, and I really enjoyed reading about that, about her thought process, about her struggles to write a book under a strict timeline. Arian is a great character, and I loved reading about his past. He's really good with words, with explaining the history of dragons, and I found myself kind of lost in that. I know this book is part of a long series, and I am definitely going to check it out, because I need to read more about these dragons. Also, I'm really hoping the King of Kings gets his own story.

Ignite by Rebecca Yarros

River is the kind of guy you just have to love. Everything about him is perfect, from his sense of duty, to his little rituals when getting home from a fire, to his willingness to do the right thing even if it means he doesn't get the girl. He's a nice guy, and I liked him a lot. Avery is a girl who's been through a lot, much more than any person should go through. My heart was breaking while I was reading her story, because she's a good girl that's stuck in a really shitty situation. I respected her a lot, how she took care of her dad and her little sister, but at the same time I wanted to shake her. I was happy with how the story ended for her, but I would have wanted to see her have the courage to do what she did, earlier. I'm hoping there are more books in this series, because I am very curious to see how her life goes on and how her sister grows up.

Fated Identity by Kennedy Layne

The last novella in this bundle was a really powerful one. I kind of felt like watching scenes from NCIS, to be honest. There's a lot of intense scenes in this book, a lot of danger, the pacing is amazing. Brienna and Grady are really great characters, and it was fascinating to read about them. Grady is struggling to adjust to some changes in his relationship with Brienna, when they get the news that she's in danger. And I was really fascinated with how he reacted, and especially with how they were both willing to sacrifice themselves in order to see the mission complete. I also liked how Brienna stated some facts that Grady wasn't really ready to hear, but that he needed to. I am definitely going to check this author out, especially since this particular novella is part of a series.

OVERALL RATING

I was super happy to have received an ARC of this bundle and I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait for more 1001 Dark Nights novellas and bundles to come out, and to discover new authors and new series, as well as read more stories from my favorite authors.

2016 ARC August Wrap-up Post

Hi guys! I can't believe that August is over, and that ARC August has come to an end. I'm also sad, because this means my vacation is also over, but that's another matter. I was super excited to participate in this challenge. When I signed up, I had 27 books on my list. Here's what I managed to read:

That's 11 books out of 27, which is way more than I expected when I made up the list, to be very honest with you. 

I also read 2 books that were not on the list, that were also ARCs:

So I read a total of 13 books in August. I'm super proud of myself, given that I haven't read this many books in one month in a very, very long time. 

Since I still have some ARCs on my hands, as well as some other books I've received for review, I plan on reading (and hopefully finish) them in September. 

How was your ARC August? Did you read the books you planned on reading?

Wednesday Chatter #17: Blogging and guilt

Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks


WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Hello lovely book lovers! I hope you're having a great Wednesday.

Today's post was inspired by a recent discussion topic Tonyalee from Lilybloombooks wrote about reviewing every book you read. Reading that post and writing a comment gave me an idea to write about when I feel guilt in my blogging life, but also how I plan on changing that, because after 6 years of blogging, I feel like I've grown up as a blogger, and I want to keep doing this, so there's a few changes that I feel are needed. Sort of. Maybe. Moving on! Can't believe I'm doing this!

I feel guilty when:

• I'm not reviewing books on my blog, just on Goodreads

If you've followed me for a longer time, you probably know I don't review books I don't like or books that I DNF. I tried that once and I felt terrible. I try not to, but, especially with books that everyone around me loves, I feel so bad, because there's definitely a hidden message somewhere that I'm missing. So I tried writing small reviews on Goodreads, or if the books I DNF are from Netgalley, I simply send a note to the publisher to let them know that I couldn't finish the book. I feel so much guilt over not writing that review on my blog, that you guys wouldn't even believe. It's like I'm betraying my blog. I sound like a maniac right now, but that's how I feel.

How I plan on changing that? I might start posting tiny reviews for the books I DNF, mostly because I realize (and I always have realized that) it's not something to be ashamed of, and also because by doing it, maybe someone will find the aspects I didn't like compelling enough to read that particular book. OR we could have a nice, honest, respectful conversation about those aspects, in which we discuss what I got wrong or right. 

• I don't review books I picked up to read on my own

Look, I tried staying away from Netgalley. I really did. I actually did it for about a year or so. Then I went back to it, BECAUSE NETGALLEY IS AWESOME!! Also, some other sites that are just like Netgalley, work with other authors, and those are awesome too, and OMG HOW TO I STOP THE MADNESS? (You can't, Ruby, you can't!) And don't get me started on blog tours. Those are my weakness, guys! Especially when I see authors that I desperately want to read more books of.

This would be me, if you see Roger as the image of Netgalley, blog tours and the likes

Basically there's not a lot of time for me to post reviews of books I've read because one day I was browsing my shelves and picked one at random.

I actually have a plan to change this, and it's really simple. This year I did something really different with my reading habits. I picked a monthly theme, if you can call it that, and I stuck to reading only books with that theme. Kind of like ARC August, if you will. Of course, I'll probably keep September as an ARC-only month as well, just to get control over those ARCs, but I'm thinking of making November and December "shelf-only" reading months, so I'll probably try really hard to control myself starting with October and not request anymore books. That way I'll review those books that I picked up on my own and this guilt shall disappear. 

• I'm writing reviews for books intended to different age groups

This one is a bit difficult for me. When I started my blog 6 years ago (HOLY BANANAS, IT'S BEEN OVER 6 YEARS GUYS!!!), I read adult books exclusively. Starting my blog, getting to know other bloggers, opened up the world of YA to me, and for a while I managed to keep it kind of balanced, to read both YA and adult books, as well as review them. Then, about three years ago or so, I started reading more YA books, and therefore review more YA books, and not a lot of adult ones. Now I crave the more adult themes, and the darker side of fictional worlds, and I have this... I don't know if you can call it guilt, really, but it's a strange feeling for me, to write reviews for YA books in the same week as adult books. I do have an "age group" entry at the beginning of each review, and I do realize there's nothing to be guilty of when posting those reviews, but I still am confused over how to balance the two. 

No, I can't choose an age group. Because I like both

I was thinking of making a schedule. So for the last few months, Tuesdays are exclusively for comic book reviews, so maybe I'll do the same with the rest of the books I read. I don't know. Does anyone else have this problem? Or I'm just that weird?

• I can't come up with a discussion post topic every week

Look, coming up with stuff to talk about is a hard thing. I signed up for Book Blog Discussion Challenge and said I was going to post somewhere between 25 and 36 discussion posts, but it's not an easy thing to do. I've done only 5. Actually 6, if you're counting the present post. I have this idea that all of the topics I come up with have been done already, and there's nothing more to say on the matter, and that might be true, (or not, who knows?) but the point is that I don't always have something to say. And when another week passes and I've come up with nothing, I feel guilty. Because come on, lets be honest here for a second. Who reads reviews? I've had more views on cover reveals, memes, and book tags than on reviews. It's sad, because I and all of the other book reviewers out there, pour our hearts and souls into a review, but it's true. It's a thing that's happening. Or maybe my reviews don't get read all that much, which is sad too, but there seems to be a shift in blog readers' preferences. When I first started blogging, it was all about the reviews. For a few years now I've felt this change in focus, this need for more discussion posts than for reviews. I understand having a discussion post, because it's always interesting to have a conversation between blogger and readers, but I kind of find it sad that reviews are taking a backseat in terms of views. Sure, I don't stress over it, but I feel the pressure to come up with discussion posts that are new, fresh, interesting. And while I think I'm a smart cookie, my brain doesn't always come up with things to write about.

Do I have a solution? No. Do I want one? Maybe. Depends on the solution, really. And depends on the topic.

• I don't always feel like blogging

Balancing blogging and work and studying is hard. I know there are teenagers doing it, and kudos to them. But it's hard. Blogging actually feels like a second job sometimes. It starts as something you do for fun, but unless you're really dedicated, at some point in your life you'll realize it's not what you want it to be anymore. Collaborating with publishers, authors, and PR companies, means keeping an active presence in the blogging community, being social, writing new content every week, no matter the community you're in, be it bookstagram, book blogosphere, booktube, booklr, and so on. And I find that sometimes my daytime job sucks so much of my energy, I have none left for blogging. It's sad, and I hate it, and it makes me feel guilty, because I do this for fun, because I enjoy it, because I want to help people discover new books and new authors. So yeah, I feel a little guilty when time passes and I haven't written a blog post in a day or for a few days. 

I know the solution is to schedule posts, which is what I've started doing for a while now, but again, the inspiration/time/energy doesn't always come to me. 

I hope this post doesn't sound whiny or anything. I'm not really complaining, just merely confessing to my moments of guilt in blogging.

Let's discuss. Do you feel any guilt when you're blogging? If no, HOW DO YOU DO IT? WHAT IS YOUR RECIPE?? SHARE WITH THIS CONFUSED MORTAL. If yes, welcome to the club, have a cookie, and know you're not alone!