Kishaz Reading Corner: Dragonmark by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Disclaimer: I received no compensation from the author or publisher for this honest review.

About the Book

Centuries ago, Illarion was betrayed– a dragon made human against his will, then forced to serve humanity as a dragonmount in their army, and to fight for them in barbaric wars, even while he hated everything about them. Enslaved and separated from everyone he knew and from his own dragon brothers, he was forced into exile in a fey realm where he lost the only thing he ever really loved.
Now he has a chance to regain what’s been lost— to have the one thing he covets most. But only if he gives up his brothers and forsakes the oaths he holds most dear. Yet what terrifies him most isn’t the cost his happiness might incur, it’s the fact that there is just enough human in his dragon’s heart that he might actually be willing to pay it and betray everything and everyone– to see the entire world burn

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AMAZON

Here's what I'm giving it:

Rating: 3.5 stars

Here's why:

Sooo...I liked this book except for two things. 1) Some of the sections in the story were confusing because of the jumping around in the timeline of events. I don't mind "time travel" plots but this one created confusion and that I don't like. 2) I thought this was a stand-alone set in the Dark Hunter universe, which is fine. I expected a couple of appearances from others in her series. What I wasn't anticipating was how many jumped in and I got lost in the cramming of some characters' back story into Illarion's story.


What I did like, was the fact Illarion and his leading lady were both strong characters in their own right. The parts that focused on them were well-written.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, especially if you are a reader of the Dark Hunter series.

Kishaz Reading Corner: Crimson Death by Laurell K. Hamilton

Disclaimer: I received no compensation from the author or publisher for this honest review. I got this book from the public library.

About the Book

In her twenty-fifth adventure, vampire hunter and necromancer Anita Blake learns that evil is in the eye of the beholder...

Anita has never seen Damian, her vampire servant, in such a state. The rising sun doesn’t usher in the peaceful death that he desperately needs. Instead, he’s being bombarded with violent nightmares and blood sweats.

And now, with Damian at his most vulnerable, Anita needs him the most. The vampire who created him, who subjected him to centuries of torture, might be losing control, allowing rogue vampires to run wild and break one of their kind’s few strict taboos.

Some say love is a great motivator, but hatred gets the job done, too. And when Anita joins forces with her friend Edward to stop the carnage, Damian will be at their side, even if it means traveling back to the land where all his nightmares spring from...a place that couldn’t be less welcoming to a vampire, an assassin, and a necromancer: Ireland.

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AMAZON

Here's what I'm giving it:

Rating: 4 stars

Here's why:

Now that Anita has gone back to being the character I enjoyed in the first ten books of the series, the story flows better. This book is the largest of the series (I read the hardcover and it was 708 pages long)

The action was nicely paced and I didn't feel that characters were "shallow." I'm a speed reader so I glossed over the "sex/erotica scenes" because I felt like I've seen/read it all before.

I will warn you that it takes a little bit for the story to truly get going.

Though the Harlequin follow Anita, I still find them creepy and suspect in many of their behaviors. Anita's complicated love life is still going on but it isn't drowning out the other areas of her life any more (at least story wise they aren't.)

I am truly looking forward to the next Anita Blake book.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, because Ms. Hamilton is finally getting back to writing Anita the way she did in the beginning that made me fall in love with the character & series.