Last Kiss Goodnight by Gena Showalter (Otherworld Assassin #1)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Pocket

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki

The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…

Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…

Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. Only, Solo is different—he protects her. But as hostility turns to forbidden romance, his feelings for her will be used against him…and he’ll be put to a killer test.

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As a first book in the series I found myself not able to get into the story line, which is rare for me. I usually love the first book because the author starts world building and it immerses me in information that my head can wrap itself around and visualize. At the end of Last Kiss Goodnight I found myself unable to like or dislike. The book was okay and it had all the prerequisites that I usually need to love something but at the end all I felt was “meh”

Showalter spends a great deal of energy painting Vika as the villain in her fathers paranormal circus. At least in the eyes of the captives. What they fail to see is that she has no choice and that her abusive father controls her every move making it difficult for her to help them. She does what she can and attempts to make them comfortable but their fear and hostility cause them to be reactive and threaten her daily. Her father’s newest captive, a being she has never seen before, is no exception and the battered male regards her with such intensive rage she is instantly afraid and intrigued by him.

Solo is intensely aware of the striking female but as part of the circus that has imprisoned him, he can show her no mercy.  Until she shows him some that is. Her patience and almost sad quality entice him to look deeper into her bruised personality. Keeping her safe suddenly becomes just as important as finding out who sold him and where his friends are.

I found both characters of Vika and Solo to be great on their own. However, together I found they missed the mark because I never felt the passion Showalter was trying to convey. I never got on board with them being together. Part of this was because they didn’t actually cave into their feelings until much further along in the book and while there was tension, nothing actually happened till towards the end. I felt for Vika at the hands of her brutally abusive father but I felt Solo could have been much more alpha and protective then he was. I wanted him to escape much earlier then he did but the wordiness of the book slowed everything down.

Vika is limited somewhat limited because she is deaf, a condition her father brought upon her in a fit of rage. She never let it get to hamper her daily duties and while she did hide it from the captives in fear they would use it against her, she found ways to overcome it and thwart her fathers attempts to beat her down. I found her strength is what gave me reason to like her.

The black ops angle was what interested me the most. I want to find out what happened to Solo’s friends the night he was sold and enslaved. The short span of time the reader is introduced to them promises an array of different males each with their own flawed personality.

Last Kiss Goodnight failed to excite me but I still feel that for an opening book it did okay. It does provide an introduction into a world I hope will just get better with time.

I give Last Kiss Goodnight by Gena Showalter 3 stars!

Lord Of the Vampires by Gena Showalter (Royal House Of Shadows #1)

Available: NOW Amazon/B&N

Type: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Harlequin

My Copy: Netgalley

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with a need for vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.

Nicolai the Vampire is renowned for his virility, but in a cruel twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” has become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remains is a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who can help him.

When the wanton vampire summons Jane Parker, she is helpless to obey. She’s drawn to his dark sexuality and into his magical realm. But for this human, all is not a fairy tale. For saving Nicolai could mean losing the only man she’s ever craved…

 

Nicolai knows one thing, revenge. His thirst for that is unquenchable. His target the king of a nearby kingdom. The memory of why he wants revenge eludes him. In fact his whole past eludes him. He is a sex slave. Kept only for the bodily pleasures of his torturer. His chance for escape lies with a human female named Jane. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his brain the answers lie. With Jane he may finally be able to remember. To exact his revenge and to live freely again.

Coming back after the car wreck that took her family and almost her life as well was the hardest thing Jane has ever faced. Now alone and very lonely she has turned to her dreams for comfort. To the man in those dreams that stares at her with such depth she can swear she sees straight to his soul. Finding out her dream is actually reality will put her to the another test. In a world where the impossible exists, ex-scientist Jane will have to draw on her work experience to help Nicolai.

 

Lord Of The Vampires turned out to be a solid start to a multi-author series! I love Gena Showalter’s voice in the writing industry. This one was no exception once I got into it. The beginning really drew me in. I liked the premise of Jane and her scarred past. Her ability to come back from such a horrible car accident was incredible and showed her sheer force of willpower. Coupled with the fact that she lost her entire family in that same wreck made her backbone seem that much more pronounced.

I really liked Nicolai. Even if he was planning on dumping Jane the minute she managed to free him so that he could run off and kill a king he couldn’t even remember why he hated. I was okay with all that because he was so damn alluring. With his dark looks and smoldering thoughts…*le sigh*… Of course when he ends up developing a instinctual protectiveness over Jane, well things get a bit more interesting. I do love a man that tears people limb from limb (literally) to get to his woman.

Admittedly, there were some slow parts. Mostly while Jane and Nicolai are traveling through the woods by the castle. I didn’t like when they were separated because it seemed to take forever to get them back together. This is mainly because this is the part of the book where all Nicolai’s memories decide to flood him at once. It felt a bit much all at once. I would have much preferred his memories came back piece by piece slowly instead of dumping it all at one time.There were also times that I thought Jane internalized way to much. Nicolai wasn’t the easiest person to talk to, granted, but I thought communication was a bit lacking…..vocally. Body language was spot on. Jane just seemed to be continually going over things in her head and then she’d voice it too.

Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Lots of action packed scenes, steamy smex with a man in only a loincloth and a good starting point story line for a series. I am anxious to see how each author takes the following books and makes this plot their own. I like the approach of a series wrote by different authors. I think this will keep it fresh and give each set of main characters a fresh perspective.

I give Lord Of The Vampires by Gena Showalter 3.75 stars!

Dark Taste Of Rapture by Gena Showalter (Alien Huntress #6)

Available: August 23, 2011 Amazon/B&N

Type: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Pocket Star

My Copy: Sent

With one caress, he can give unforgettable pleasure . . . or unending pain. . . .

Hector Dean is shaved, tattooed, and totally ripped—and he has a deadly secret. He is a walking weapon, capable of killing with a single brush of his fingertips. Little wonder he’s determined to remain on his own. But Noelle Tremain is a temptation like no other. She is beautiful and rich, with a party girl smile that hides a shocking vulnerability, and from the beginning his sizzling attraction to her is undeniable. For the first time, his stone-cold resistance is tested. But to be with her, he risks destroying her.

When a wealthy businessman is murdered in New Chicago’s seediest district, the two are partnered, and there’s no escaping what they both want: each other. Yet neither Hector nor Noelle knows what to fear more—the killer case, or their own lethal desires. . . .

If I were to say one word about Dark Taste Of Rapture it would be, LOVED. LOVED LOVED LOVED! This book was so awesomely awesome it simply knocked my socks clean off. I had not read a full length novel by Gena Showalter and now I’m wondering what the heck I was waiting for?

Dark Taste Of Rapture takes us to a world where humans know of alien existence. In fact they plainly walk around among humans. In true to human form, some are prejudiced against them and some embrace their differences. In this time a police force of sorts has been formed. One specially trained to deal with the alien race. Hector Dean is one of those specially trained. Now he does training of his own at a school built to weed out the potential new hires. Noelle is one of the prettiest new cadets he’s seen yet. She’s also infuriatingly stubborn, sassy and manipulative. For someone he pegged as a sure fire drop out, she’s giving him a run he never expected. Hector has a dark side though, one that he doesn’t reveal to anyone. One that is particularly deadly and Noelle is quickly lighting his fire.

Noelle doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. She’d much rather they think she’s a dumb bimbo when she strikes her blows. Hector though, he sees right through her act to her very soul. He keeps giving her the hot and cold act which leaves her completely confused. Men usually love her….if not for her money then for her supermodel looks. The man is getting her way more hot then she thought possible. He isn’t even her type! His all consuming fire is about to broach the one thing Noelle fears most…her heart.

*Le Sigh* Hector is so hot…literally…no really his arms become fire when he gets emotional. So no sexy sexy for him. Or at least that’s what he has told himself. I found his use of hookers sad…and his thoughts about masturbating (you know, hand of fire would kinda hurt) funny. I mean, it’s a completely valid concern. His one sexual experience ended with his girlfriend dead because his firearm went straight through her. I can see how touching himself might be a bit scary to try. You only have one appendage and it doesn’t grow back. Wouldn’t want to incinerate that right off now would we? Since sexual release seemed to calm him down the hookers came in handy. Hands off approach worked for him until he met Noelle. He immediately connected with her. He wanted her and spent a good chunk of the book convincing himself he didn’t. There is a TON of..I want her…no I don’t….yes I do….. Hector is super “on my god” sexy. At the beginning he had a bald head (which I love) and by the end its glorious dark locks I wanted to grip and hold onto for dear life. Covered in tattoos (drool) and with attitude to spare (sigh). HOT!

I totally loved Noelle too. She had this raw edge to her that just spoke to me. I loved her snarky attitude and her codependent relationship with her best friend. Those two were hilarious together. The underlying love though was very emotional. Since Noelle didn’t really have a stellar family life, Ava was it. They had developed this connection with each other that was unbreakable. Together they were willing to take on the world. Noelle hadn’t even wanted to join the force but since Ava did, she was making it happen. If along the way she found what had always been looking for…well that’s just icing.

Have I said that I loved this book? Heh. I never once got bored reading it. The interactions between the characters was well thought out and it set up the next book in the series. Since the world building was pretty much done in this book (since it’s book 6) I can honestly say it felt complete. I didn’t have a hard time understanding anything and Gena does an excellent job of getting the basics out to the readers that haven’t experienced the series before now. Not once did it feel like an information dump to get readers caught up.

The only thing that I found odd in Dark Taste Of Rapture was the time jump halfway through the book. There is a span of a year where everything seems to happen. Ave and Noelle go through some changes and then the readers are plunked back down in the middle of things. I thought this was a strange thing to do. I understood the meaning but thought it could have easily been reworked so that instead of jumping ahead a year, things could have been sped up when Noelle was in training. There was a ton of time spent on that when there didn’t necessarily have to be.

Dark Taste of Rapture is a book that won’t disappoint. Action, snarkiness and hard bodied men…hmmmmmm Nikki likey! GIVE ME MORE GENA, GIVE ME MORE!

I give Dark Taste Of Rapture by Gena Showalter 5 stars!