Existence by Abbi Glines

Existence
( Existence Trilogy, Book #1 )

by Abbi Glines 

Genre: Young Adult | Dark Romance | Fantasy

What happens when you're stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course. Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him. Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn't let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he's dead. Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn't realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all. He is Death and he's about to break all the rules.

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When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

When Beauty Tamed the Beast
by Eloisa James

Genre: Historic Romance

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. He's a Beast.

Miss Linnet Thynne is one of the most exquisite young ladies ever to grace London's ballrooms. She's a Beauty.

But wait—there's more! Piers is a doctor: brilliant, lame, and impossible to get along with. There's a version of him on Fox TV, named after a habitation. Linnet has been involved in a scandalous flirtation with a prince, and everyone in the ton thinks she's carrying a royal child: she needs a husband.

Linnet estimates it will take two weeks—at the outside—to bring the earl to his knees. Piers knows that he will never fall in love, and definitely never marry.

Being seen with a prince is enjoyable, but that happens to be Linnet's downfall as well - that, and a poorly chosen dress that adds fuel to the "royal baby" rumors circulating around London. Now she is a ruined women, whether she was truly naughty or not, and is practically banished to Wales to marry a horrid doctor that she's never even meet. Sure, her family has given up on her and sure, her father & aunt lied about some things (ie. baby matters) to obtain this 'marriage' to the Earl, but Linnet believes her charms & beauty could actually win out against this brute of a man. What she's not expecting is for the doctor to spot her lie on their first visit and how much heat & chemistry to two actually share. Can Linnet actually carry out her original plan for a proper marriage or will she willingly become a ruined women as so many people believe of her already?

I liked this book. I liked it a lot actually. I enjoyed Linnet's innocent manners toward her 'maternity styled' clothing, her silly household servants, the vulgar memories of her mother, and her oddly non-existent father figure. They all added some comical humor to Linnet's life, which was hilariously spiraling out of control. When she finds herself in Wales, in a castle (mock hospital) surrounded by even more chaos, she bravely decides to take control of her "new" way of life and actually live a little - thus she takes up swimming at dawn, freely argues with Piers and so many other things she would never have done back in London. Since she's now a "ruined" women about to be married, she feels rejuvenated and adds some much needed care to Pier's drab hospital and his patients. Also, it was nice to see Pier's hard "tough" shell begin to melt throughout the tale. Overall, the two characters blend so well together that the book was hard to put down!

Likes: The bet between Linnet's & Pier's servants was fun!

Dislikes: Pier's is for sure a beast, lots of rude manners and extreme name-calling -- almost hard to see how Linnet kept her cool much of the time.

Rating:

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Sin Undone by Larissa Ione

Sin Undone
(Demonica Novel #5)
by Larissa Ione

Genre : Paranormal Romance | Urban Fantasy

HER TOUCH IS DEADLY

As the only female Seminus demon ever born, master assassin Sinead Donnelly is used to being treated like an outcast. She spent decades enslaved, and now vows she’ll die before she’ll relinquish her freedom again. Then Sin’s innate ability to kill her enemies goes awry: She creates a lethal new werewolf virus that sparks a firestorm of panic and violence.

HIS HUNGER CAN’T BE DENIED

Half-werewolf, half-vampire Conall Dearghul is charged with bringing in Sin to face punishment for the plague. And she’s no stranger: He’s bound to her by blood, and the one sexual encounter they shared has left him hungering for her raw sensuality. Worse, Sin is the underworld’s most wanted and Con soon learns he’s the only one who can help her . . . and that saving her life might mean sacrificing his own.

Sinead (aka Sin) has always felt left behind and non-deserving of anything good in life. Her Mother tried to kill her when she was a baby, her twin Brother deserted her when they discovered their demon heritage in her early 20s, and all those she knew from her mortal life (i.e. caring Grandparents) have died, thus she now focuses only on herself. Yet, upon discovering some new family connections (three brothers) work at the UG, under-ground demon hospital, she stumbles across a paramedic there -Conall (aka Con)- who begins to push Sin's buttons in ways no one else can. As a connection between them grows, Sin must dodge her assassin co-workers who are out to kill her for her job and assist with the deadly genocide disease that she started before either she, her new mate, and those close to her with the virus end up dead.

This was a nice genre switch for me since lately I find my reading list is consumed with Historical Romances or Young Adult novels, thus it was great to get a little down & dirty with demons in this steamy book. I'm also a huge fan of this series, so it was enjoyable catching up with past characters and seeing the Demonica world expand. I wasn't that big of a Sin fan in previous books, but getting her POV really softened her for me and I'm happy with her relationship with Con. Certain points were a little cheesy here and there with Con trying to break down Sin's emotional wall (had me remembering a particular Family Guy episode) and some of their lovey-dovey quotes had me smirking as well, but overall it was a great read that I devoured in two days and couldn't put down. Plus, those love scenes were yummy!

Likes: Sin slowly opening up to her Brothers was nice to read about in the end and seeing their sibling bond grow.

Dislikes: Even though I'm a fan to the series, the overload of multiple vampires, dhampirs, various demons, werewolves, and shifters can get a bit confusing at times and I don't like that distracting me from the story itself.

Rating:

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