Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MaCalister

Love in the Time of Dragons
(Light Dragons, Book 1)
by Katie MaCalister

Genre: Paranormal Romance | Dark Fantasy

If you found out you were a famous fire-breather, you’d be freaked out too.

Tully Sullivan is just like any other suburban mom—unless you count the days every year that she zones out and turns base metals in to gold. Those are weird.

And now she’s woken up in a strange place surrounded by strange people who keep insisting they’re dragons—and that she’s one too. But not just any dragon. She’s Ysolde de Bouchier, a famed figure from dragon history.

Tully can’t shape-shift or breathe fire, and she’s definitely not happy being sentenced to death for the misdeeds of a dragon mate she can’t remember. All Tully knows is that she wants her son back. So she’ll have to find a way to solve the crimes of a past she has no memory of living…

Tully wakes up, away from home for over five weeks and within the care of people convinced she's someone she's not, especially someone who is a dragon! She struggles to remember her current life while being bombarded with memories/dreams of a past life and knows her two contrasting worlds could never lead to a good end. Thus, she must face some strange truths while trying to blend her past with her present/future.

I'll just say it . . . I'm not a fan of Katie MaCalister. I think I decided to check this book out since it was new in a series and sounded somewhat intriguing (plus I needed a new audio-book for walks around the park on Sundays), but then I forget how much I thoroughly dislike MaCalister's characters - esp. her female leads! The majority of her characters are way too kooky for my taste (I mean, come on...a dog demon...seriously?) and too oddly comical (not in a good way) without any enjoyable substance. I never really get the humor in the books either, but I did finish this tale hoping it would get better and felt utterly let-down at the end. It was a total 'MEH' read for me. Honestly, I just felt so lost listening to the chapters with the characters silly reactions to certain life-changing events and their NON-reactions to others that it just left my flabbergasted overall. Also, I had no emotional connection/bond with anyone pivotal figure in the story since the two protagonists were my least favorite people/dragon/whatever and many of the side-characters were just too irritating & peculiar (ex: son obsessed with mummification), so here's hoping more of you enjoy this book than I did.

Likes: I had high hopes that the whole concept of 'mate forgets mate, mate meets mate again' would be more substantial and momentous in a book, but this story was just so mellow about it that it felt so unexceptional and shall I say it . . . 'blah'.

Dislikes: Could Tully be more of an dull lead? She came off a so naive that I was truly shocked by many of her mannerisms and scatterbrained actions.

Rating:

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Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Infinite Days
(Vampire Queen #1)
by Rebecca Maizel

Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal Romance

“Throughout all my histories, I found no one I loved more than you…no one.” Those were some of Rhode’s last words to me. The last time he would pronounce his love. The last time I would see his face. It was the first time in 592 years I could take a breath. Lay in the sun. Taste. Rhode sacrificed himself so I, Lenah Beaudonte, could be human again. So I could stop the blood lust. I never expected to fall in love with someone else that wasn’t Rhode. But Justin was…daring. Exciting. More beautiful than I could dream. I never expected to be sixteen again…then again, I never expected my past to come back and haunt me…

Lenah awakes after sleeping for 100 years to find herself mortal and newly enrolled within a high school to slowly adapt to her new surroundings. Her sire, Rhode, sacrificed himself so that she may have a chance at mortality again and can experience a life that she gave up so many years ago. Yet, being queen of a powerful coven and stepping down from her responsibilities isn't something to be taken lightly, thus, her old "family" is on the hunt to bring her back . . . alive or (re)dead!

This book was praised rather highly and because of that, I eagerly anticipated reading it. But, sadly . . . I wasn't impressed. The main problem I had at the end was I felt none of the characters had any real depth to them. Sure, you learn their past stories and/or meet side characters that relay more facts about them but, when all is finished, I felt that I didn't really know these people any more personally than I did at page 1. Thus, Infinite Days was one of those tales were the blurb on the back of the book was better than the actual story overall.

I wish I could put my finger on the actual reason behind me not enjoying this (AUDIO!)book; perhaps the character development was lacking or the plot lagged too much - but the main part is - the story wasn't doing anything for me! I never got around to liking Lenah herself and I was not happy at all with her relationship with Justin (it just seemed so fake from the beginning) and of all the ways to end . . . blah!

I had also expected more from an old vampire soul like Lenah, maybe more knowledge of the world, more insight into love/relationships, but she just came off as a normal inexperienced teenager. Plus, she kept talking about how really horrible she was during her vampire reign that I so desired to hear more about that as well, but it was unsatisfactorily left out. The one praise I have for this book is that the concept was original, but I felt it could have been written into a much richer tale and for me, it was just so-so.

Likes: Great characters names like Rhode or Vicken.

Dislikes: *Spoiler* How Lenah had to kill her coven to stay alive and because of that . . . she came off as very selfish to me. She made her coven into what they are, she also made the decision to become human again and now she's making those of her past suffer for it. I could go on and on about this fact, but I'll stop at that.

Rating:

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You Are So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay

You Are So Undead To Me
(Megan Berry Book #1)
by Stacey Jay

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Young Adult

Megan Berry's social life is so dead. Literally. Fifteen-year-old Megan is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues. And things are about to get even worse. Someone at school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies and it's up to Megan to stop the zombie apocalypse...

Studying her Settler textbook is important, except Megan just wants to be a normal sophomore in High School. Her biggest worry right now is getting a date to the Homecoming dance, not the zombie on her doorstep. So, when an old friend shows up to teach Megan some new tricks and zombies begin attacking her all over town, she becomes a bit preoccupied and doesn't realize danger is closer than she thinks.

I've been on a big zombie fix lately since reading Dan Waters Generation Dead series, but I feel this book was written for a much younger crowd - thus I didn't find it really interesting. I found the plot lacking, the characters flat, and the all over story predictable. Megan was immature and she didn't really develop much throughout the story. I didn't find myself enjoying any of the side characters as well and the end was just plain CHEESY!!!! Stacey Jay's writing style was pretty boring to me as well, didn't flow well and I found myself skipping paragraphs to read ahead. If you're looking for a quick bit of fluff to read, this might satisfy your needs - but I think you'd be much happier looking elsewhere.

Likes: The idea of "Settlers" was growing on me, but the story didn't carry it through enough for my interest.

Dislikes: Too many similarities to Buffy; just switch the vamps for zombies and it's pretty much the same story line.

Rating:

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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bites
(Kate Daniels Book #1)
by Ilona Andrews

Genre: Urban / Dark Fantasy

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic…

One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels.

Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

Kate Daniel's story begins with her learning that the only family she has left -Greg Feldman, the city's knight-diviner- has been murdered. Normally, Kate works for the Mercenary Guild, doing odd jobs to get by, but she takes on this new mission of discovering what she can through the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, the guardians of the city. Along the way, she meets up with Curran, the Beast Lord, and gets a peek into his world.

I thought I might enjoy this series since I'm a fan of Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress books, but Kate Daniel came off as a little too overpowering for me. I don't like the "kick-ass" female characters that much and the setting has a very "destroyed world" feeling to it, but also too futuristic for my taste. The magic wasn't that interesting . . . almost too scientific with boring facts and I found myself having to re-read sections to fully understand where we stood. Overall, this book just rubbed me the wrong way & I couldn't really loose myself in the story, but I may move on to the most recent book just to see if it'll improve and to find out where Kate and Curran's relationship goes.

Likes: The doctor Crest. He came off as the most realistic character.

Dislikes: The whole concept of magic rising, falling, and affecting modern technology.

Rating:

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Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen
by Lauren Kate

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

Luce must spend her senior year at reform school after her boyfriend dies in a mysterious fire. She suspects that the dark shadows that have tormented her all her life had something to do with it. When she meets supernaturally gorgeous Daniel, she feels a familiar longing, making her believe they have met before. Although Cam is clearly interested in her, Luce only wants Daniel, who runs both hot and cold. He tries to keep Luce at a distance, telling her that the truth would kill her as it has many times before.

Luce begins Sword & Cross, a run down boarding school, due to a troubled past. Upon entering, she is instantly drawn to bad boy Daniel and secretly continues to deal with her constant hallucinations of shadows. Throughout the tale, she begins to learn about her past which in turn reveals frightening glimpses of what her future brings.

I listened to this story via audio book during a long journey. If I would have been reading along in an actual book, I may not have finished the tale. It was quite predictable throughout and during other times . . . quite boring. I had hoped to get caught up with MORE of why she had such a strong "love" for Daniel, but it didn't go there. The characters were somewhat flat, the overall story not engaging, and the main struggle at the end weak. Surprisingly enough, it's being made into a movie.

Likes: Daniel's remembrance of Luce's past lives.

Dislikes: Not really enjoying any of the secondary characters.

Rating:

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