Eternally Your Master by B.B. Blaque

Eternally Your Master by B.B. Blaque

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★
Story: ★★
Characters: ★★

Overall rating: 2.3

This is a tough one. The blurb drew me in, it put me in the mind of The Reluctant Dom by Tymber Dalton, but the book turned out to be *nothing* like that book, or this blurb for that matter.

"So, my sweet kitten, I've taken this out of your hands. You will need to serve. It's who you are. The decision is mine."

Calico's Master, Markus, saved her from the street, trained her well, and she was the perfect slave for him. Markus gets sick, and dies, we don't know what from, but we know that Cali is alone now.

"... she was all loose ends and heartbreak without him. What was a slave to do when there was no one to care for?"

But, even in death, Markus still has his hand on the top of his slave's head and guiding her path in life. What he does for her is so loving and so sweet.

And then...

"Ya' know, I've jerked off so many times with your surrender in mind, making you come until I feel the flood soaking my balls."

And then there is Derrick.

Well the *premise* of his idea was sweet.. until we meet Derrick. This character, he was just creepy. He sounded, and acted like a 20 year old virgin who couldn't wait to have sex. I can't, for the life of me, understand why Markus would choose someone like Derrick to help Calico. Yes, Markus and Derrick were best friends, and yes, Derrick is a Dominant. But beyond that, I just don't see why the choice was Derrick.

Marcus' letters, that arrived at particular times for Calico, were sweet, and firm. Letting her know what she was to do, and that he'd always be there with her. His words seemed to be that of a Master truly caring for his slave. His words were eloquent and sincere. So when Derrick comes into the picture, via Skype and in person, it was kind of a shock to the system.

This would have been a much better read if Derrick were more realistic, and less, what felt like to me, insecure.

Editing seemed to be a bit of a problem in this book also. Italics, when Marcus' letters were being read, or he was speaking in Calico's mind, were very helpful, it was the forgetting to *turn off* the Italics at times that caused a bit of confusion.

I don't imagine I'll be continuing with this series.

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Cruel Men by Shani Finn

Cruel Men by Shani Finn

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Writing: ★
Story: ★
Characters: ★

Overall rating: 1.0

I'm not even sure what I just read. There were parts of it, that actually grabbed my attention, only to stop short and fall flat.

The whole "book", (term used loosely), was nothing but trying to figure out who was cheating who, and who was about to die.

My thoughts on this book? Not much. The characters made no sense, and the plot had more holes than Swiss Cheese. There were areas that showed promise, that could be used to build off of and would make a semi-decent plot. But they passed quickly.

The author sure didn't have much "time for dat", that's for sure! The first story ended, just stopped. Didn't even have a period after the last word.

The author states, in the book blurb, that she's the queen of dark erotica. This was nothing more than a slasher book with rough sex thrown in so it could be called "erotica".

So in conclusion...

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Wolf By Nicole James

Wolf by Nicole James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0

What a ride!! This series just gets better and better with each book! And I love that each book has all of the characters that we've come to know and love.

Crystal meets Wolf at an Evil Dead party she attends with her boyfriend, and her best friend.. said boyfriend's sister. After her jerk boyfriend starts some trouble and Crystal is left behind, Wolf takes her home.

 

"She loved everything about the way he was with her, the way he let that animal inside him out when they were together, turning all dominant; an alpha taking its mate. His name was so appropriate. He was a wolf."

One look at Wolf and she's done. She's gone. Head over heels for the sexy man in the Evil Dead cut. And Wolf is just as stunned by Crystal, she's not the usual girl he sees in his clubhouse, and it's an instant attraction. But instead of giving into that attraction and seeing where it could lead, he just jerks her around. Uses her and walks out, time and time again.

It takes a lot to make Crystal finally see that Wolf is never going to commit, and she finally has enough of waking up alone, seeing him with other women; loving a man that will never love her in return.

"Now he just needed to figure out just how brave he was. Brave enough to go after her or brave enough to live the rest of his life without her?"

Will Wolf *ever* be able to step up and do right by Crystal? Will Crystal ever let the walls around her heart down enough to let him back in?

Lots of twists and turns in this one and just when you think all is going their way, the author throws in more twists.

I really do love this series, and looking forward to reading the next book, Ghost. The best thing is there are plenty more characters to build off of that I'd love to read about!

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Gwendolyn vs. the Band of Barren Hearts by Mary E. Palmerin

Gwendolyn vs. the Band of Barren Hearts by Mary E. Palmerin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 4.3

**** 4 "Stop the madness!" Stars ****

What I was reminded of while reading Gwendolyn vs. the Band of Barren Hearts, was that no matter how good a person is, no matter how well they were raised and how much love they had, that life shouldn't be taken for granted. It can change in an instant, in just one split second.

"A girl who has lost a lot. I lost who I was. My life. My parents. My memories. My hopes and dreams."


That is how Gwendolyn's life was. She had parents who were proud of her and loved her above all things. Then they were killed in a car accident, throwing Gwen into the foster care system where she slips through the cracks, and is afraid to speak up to her caseworker about all the horrendous things that are going on in the small trailer she shares with her foster parents and another foster child.

"The demons will soon come out to dance with the devil and I have front row seats to the show."


She tries to keep to herself, not wanting to be "friends" with the Welch, her foster brother. School is terrible, not only is she "the new girl", but she is singled out by Conner. A bully that takes great pleasure in making Gwen and Welch his daily targets, much to the delight of other classmates that don't want to get on his bad side. And there is Welch, constantly trying to talk to her, protect her, get her to trust him.

"Dysfunctional love at its finest, but it is us; true, real, always and forever. Nothing but death will change that."


Life at home is brutal. And I don't use that term lightly. Claude and Helen are the foster parents from hell. The terrible life they heap on Welch and Gwen is beyond abusive. When things reach the moment of truth for Gwen and Welch, they run from the inevitable result of their actions.

"I am his monster and he is mine. This is a flawless recipe for disaster that will equal deadly results."


Life on the run is dark and scary for Welch and Gwen. They have no idea where to go, and only a few dollars to get them there. They don't know if anyone is following them or if they were able to just slip away. The only thing they are sure of is their love for each other.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, except for the repetitive, constant, inner monologue in Gwen's head. Which is what brings this book down from a 4.6 to a 4.3 rating. I would have enjoyed being in Welch's head a bit more.

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Review: Altered State by Ella Dominguez

Altered State by Ella Dominguez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Female Narrator - Rebecca Roberts' Performance: ★★★★★
Male Narrator - Mateo Reaté's Performance: ★★

Overall rating: 4.0

This audiobook was provided by the narrator Rebecca Roberts in exchange for an honest review.

The Story:

"It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart." ~ Oscar Wilde"

This book is about infidleity, but it's not. It's about lying and cheating, murder and mayham, but it's not. What it is about is love and hope, and soulmates.

I loved this story! Lots of delicious twists! What I loved most, is I didn't see them coming! It was one of those major twists that made me stop and go, "Wait. What?" I had to pause, and go back, so to see if I just heard was really what I heard! This book is an erotic thriller with a punch to the gut, and the, heart that will leave the reader (or listener) reeling.

Miranda Delacruz is the wife of Zeke Delacruz, a man she loves and tries very hard to please, and at times even fears. She tries to be perfect for him when she doesn't feel perfect at all and because of this, her marriage is falling apart. Worst of all, she suspects that Zeke is cheating on her.

Could I tell you more than that? Sure. Will I? Hell no! This is one fantastic, roller coaster of a mindfuck that you'll have to read yourself.

Narration


Rebecca Roberts' Performance:

Ms. Roberts' narration was smooth and easy on the ears. I loved how she was able to differentiate the different female characters. I always knew which character was speaking. She slipped between characters easily.

Her voice made me *want* to listen, to invest in the audio format of this story.

Mateo Reaté's Performance:

I've never listened to duel narration done quite like this. Usually, if it's a chapter that is from the female's POV, then it's read by the female narrator, and them same for the male.

Mr. Reaté's reading was very monotone. It was hard to listen to him and come to terms with it being Zeke. Mr. Reaté's voice was disruptive at best. The story would be going along smoothly then all of the sudden there would be a male voice saying (for example) 4 words. There was no inflection in his voice. Zero. The accent wasn't believable. It sounded forced, and not at all like one would imagine Zeke sounding.

I think Mr. Reaté would have better served if perhaps he'd read the story first in order to get a handle on Zeke's character. I felt like he didn't connect with Zeke's character, and if he didn't, that made it hard for me to, (in the audio version, that is. )

Towards the end of the book, when we hear longer passages from Mr. Reaté, it was a bit easier to listen to.

Because of Mr. Reaté, I ended up, for the most part, reading the story on my Kindle, along with the audio.

This book would have been better narrated by one narrator.

Final thoughts:

The story was great, it was solid and I really enjoyed it. So it stood on it's own, regardless of the narration by Mr. Reaté.

I do believe that Mr. Reaté could be a good narrator with the right book, and spoken in his own accent. I would encourage him to take this, and/or other critiques, and use it to help improve something that he obviously enjoys.

I would listen to other audiobooks by Ms. Roberts. She had the perfect energy to bring Ms. Dominguez's book to life!

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New name, same blog!

Hi friends!

Since I post most of my reviews, from here, on my Facebook, I thought I should use Li'l Kit as my name here too. Why not, right?!

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Happy reading

Li'l Kit (nd)