Status: SM (saggy middle)
Reason: Sentence structure, unidentified time line, continuity inconsistencies

First, this was a phenomenal premise, but I didn't tag it with APPE because I felt that this could totally be my jam with a bit of editing.

It was grueling to read, not because of the scenes but because of the way it was said/written.

Basically, the writing could have been polished.

Snappy language (don't confuse that with word choice of the narration) kept me going, but the time line threw me off so much it was a distraction. I stopped several times trying to figure out where the couple were in their relationship.

I had no way of knowing when a scene was, as in, if this was past, present or future in any given place in the book which left my sense of connection broken.

There was no true way to tell what was happening when. The story seemed to jumble around from time-line to time-line. Or, the author didn't go back and fix the continuity of the story and just said, meh... they'll figure it out.

A second POV of the sister was not necessary and went nowhere. Not to confuse the character progression, but I saw the character grow without her POV.   So it really, really was unnecessary. 

I skimmed the epilogue because I was just done. It was all happy and was the happy ending we all wanted but I couldn't pay close attention because I wanted it to be over. 

Sad, I know. That's not the reaction a reader is supposed to have. 

I was not impressed with this writing so I won't be looking into other books from this author. Unfortunately, there are so many good books out there. I want to stick to authors I love and not have to "power" through.

The time it took to read this book slowed my progress down for all the books. In the time it took to read this, I could have read The Phy series in the time it took me to read this one book.

But, I want to leave on a good note.

​This book was worth the read for the hero and how a woman should be treated. I liked the initial vibe of the story and at first it did catch my eye. From the cover I thought this book would be up my alley, but it wasn't. I liked the premise and would love to see one of my favorite authors tackle this type of story. It would have more impact on me if read from an author I adore. 

Status: DNF (Did Not Finish)
Reason: too much back story, rape and violence

This is A Serena McKay Crime Novel, Book 1 and starts out dark, heavy but interesting.

​Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the rape, the beating, the rape, the more rape and more beating and the more rape. This was all within the first three chapters.

It's not that I'm opposed to showing rape, torture, beatings and all the bad things that happen in real life, but it becomes less effective when that's all that is happening within the story.

I know, I know, your thinking, how do you know when all you did was read the first three chapters? 

Well, I didn't finish because I believe in the promise of the author's delivery.

What's the promise of the author's delivery?

It means that more of the same writing in the beginning of the book will come throughout the story. 

Basically, it started out as a kidnapping mystery and went headlong into the MC's abusive training to become a detective. I think she was raped every other day from the sounds of it.

There was not one decent man in the book that did not rape her.  

It was dark, and I'm not in the mood for dark. At least not this dark. The cover depicts how dark this story is. 

Also, the main character was an introvert with psychological problems that I just wasn't into. 

If the main character gets over all the enormous things she has to get over, awesome. I just don't think I want to travel through it all to get to the main story of a kidnapped child.

Children in peril make emotional stories but going into the main characters background so soon turned me off.

When I did get to the point of the story that was promised in Chapter 1, I was no longer interested. 

You could say I had to exercise the demon of this book out of me.

by Annie Douglass Lima

Status: DNF (Did Not Finish)
Reason: Interviews of characters I have not met are not my thing

​
So, this was weird.

If I'd known Annie Douglass Lima better and I'd read her book that this leads into, I might be interested. 

But nothing the characters that were interviewed did or said anything of interest. 

Interview of a Vampire this was not.

It would be one thing if this were something I got after reading and loving her book that this relates to, but I have not and it doesn't make me interested. 

This should be a bonus at the end of the book. I think those that love the story would dig this.  

For me, I was quite confused when I started reading. I didn't know what was going on and figured out ohhhhh... these are interviews of characters I've never met. 

(duh, The Collected Interviews) Maybe not looking at the cover makes me dumb, but it also shows me that shoving a freebie after a whole bunch of freebies doesn't make me want to buy your book. 

I count this as a "I must have a lead magnet so let's throw these blog posts together and send it out". 

Yikes.

Left confounded and feeling used, I did not get the desired effect because I have not read the book yet. 

My hope is that the author doesn't give this out first in her newsletter expecting people to be interested in characters they haven't met.  

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

Status: APPE (awesome premise, poor execution)
Reason: too much back story, conflict came too late, writing style could not hold my attention

​
I skimmed this one after the point of what I call "no return".

Writing can only pull me in so much.

Phenomenal writing can make a story interesting but that's not the case here.

I felt as though the author wanted to show how happy the dragons were but it got to the point where nothing was happening. 

Props to the cover, just like The Dragon Collector, but I'm afraid this dragon story too has left me bereft and has killed my love of dragon stories just a little more. 

But I still have hope. 

If a 15 year old boy can make a great dragon story (Christopher Paolini author of Eragon), then I know there are others out there.

The search continues.

And, I will give Sheri-Lynn Marean one more chance with her other dragon book that I got for free because I'm hoping this was just a "oh  my gosh I need a magnet to get leads" type of thrown together story.

Because that's how this felt. 

I hope her other story will make-up for this one.  

Alfred Pennyworth is a boyishly handsome and charming young man from London.

As he was a special forces soldier in WWII, Alfred doesn't know how to reconcile the kindhearted boy he used to be with the calculated killer he was forced to become. 

He is instantly likeable with his respectful manner, polite overtone with a toughness that is often underestimated. 

Alfred's love interest is a beautiful, theatrical, and clever dancer with an upper-class flair. She's a determined, skittish spirit with a bohemian air.

She's an everyday Jane with a confident air that is not haughty that makes me relate to her in the first episode.

​Bazza was in the same corps as Alfred and they are lifelong friends.

Highly proficient at logistics, he's a valued member of Alfred's team. He often is the "realistic one" of the three man group of Alfred's security company. 

I would say he's the most stable of them all with what they've all had to endure during their time in war. 

​He's also a dashing dresser, I might ad, and I gravitate to his calm demeanor. 

Dave Boy is a wiry, haggard, Highland Scotsman. An unpredictable force of nature and a bit trigger happy, he's a close ally of Alfred and Bazza.

He's also very strong and can handle himself in a fight (as expected by a Highlander). His first answer to problems is usually violence but I see him as lonely and having the hardest time reconciling with his time with the special forces. 

​Thomas Wayne is a clean-cut, east coast, aristocrat billionaire. He's imperious but honorable and impeccably polite. 

​Martha Kane is a resourceful, sometimes lucky, American spy who is searching for and end to an underground war before it is brought out into the open.  

​Lord Harwood is an upper-class Englishman. Cultured, urbane, brilliant, a little mad and supremely sure of himself.

In Jason Flemyng's words, the character he plays is an aristocratic, arrogant, wealthy, pain in the ass, head of the Raven Society and far-right lunatic. Believing England for the English.

He believes in his cause and that it is just. 

​Bet Sykes is a wonderfully wicked and sadistic villainess. She most definitely has a screw loose.

​She doesn't seem to have a conscious or thinks about things very differently than most anyone else.