The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1)

The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kerrigan Byrne has to be one of my all time top favorite authors. She has a knack for blending the fiercest alpha males with their equally feminine counterpart. I have read almost everyone of her books and swooned accordingly.

Dougan and Farah's story will sweep you up like a tornado. It gives and gives and gives all these complex situations and furiously I read on. I have a large portion of this book highlighted due to the carefully constructed passages that were breathtakingly poetic and moving!

Their bond started while both were young and in an orphanage. Young love is the purest kind. To have that love and acceptance was something foreign to Dougan. One taste of love and Dougan was hooked. The orphanage was where they came together and it was also what forced them apart.

Fates cold caress never left Dougan he was imprisoned at a very young age and suffered what no human should. Every kind of abuse imaginable was forced upon him and Dougan perished while in prison. Through the darkness the Blackheart of Ben More emerged (Dorian) demolishing Dougan's enemies in his wake. While incarcerated a gang of boys formed an alliance and together nothing could stop them. They remembered all the memories Dougan shared of his Fairy and those cherished moments helped them all face the shadows.

Farah leads a bluestocking life as a clerk in a police department. The startling and curious response she had when encountering the Blackheart alarmed her to no end. This chance occurrence lead her truly down a rabbit hole, for everything she knew was about to be turned upside down.

This book was one of the best historical romance I have ever read, it's like all Kerrigan's books lead to this new series. OMG I cannot wait for the next installment. It grips you much like the Maiden Lane series be Elizabeth Hoyt. If you enjoyed her writing you will without a doubt ADORE this book!! The writing is smooth and fluent. Some parts were so poetic that I had to reread them over and over. The love , strength and endurance her characters go through is astonishing. They preserver but sometimes when you have been drowned and submerged in the darkest moments of your life you are forever tainted and even though you made it through part of you can be lost. Good thing I believe in Fairy's.

I was overwhelmed with emotion and hope while reading this. Holding my breath with every encounter Farah had with Dorian Blackwell. The intensity at which he needed to possesses her body and soul makes you yearn for that kind of adoration. The moments when he did take her were exquisite delicious. When they were intimately engrossed with each other these moments they are small works of art the heat and passion is molten. Carefully written and constructed vividly descriptive and leaves you quivering.

I received this for an Honest review. I honestly think you should read this book and ALL the other books this women writes!!


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Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs, #1)

Stolen and Forgiven by Alexandra Ivy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Stolen

This collaboration has a familiar shifter feel in totally unique setting. Kind of like a dystopian shifter romance.

Years after a virus thinned out human existence shifters came forward to help save the human race.

Their thanks was incarceration, branding and why not collar them as well for good measure.

Small community living has enormous down fall for a large group of people suck in tight quarters. With that being said imagine being a shifter, knowing that if you haven't found your true soul-MATE you probably never will. How could you? You are locked up with the same people you have been for decades.

Holden the Alpha has hard choices to deal with everyday between being forced to brand and collar all of his people even the children and the feeling of being trapped and at his wit's end all comes to a halt the instant he smells her. The thought of just letting her bleed out and die when there is a way she could be saved is unacceptable. Not to mention the retribution his pack will suffer if a dead human is found in their compound.

Ariel has had a less than perfect life. Parents are dead, growing up in an orphanage was her all time low or so she thought. I think lab-rat and a real live game of operation just made it to the top of her shitiest moments list. Tossed away like garbage into the Wolves compound with death closely nipping at her heals. In that moment of darkness she never imagined emerging a wolf.


I found the plot to be inventive but the usual flow was not there. Not to mention the sex, it was really choppy. You didn't get any heat from it, no titillation or yearning to run home a strip it down. It felt clumsy. What also brought the rating down for me was the first chapters seem to have an abundance of repeating going on. The need to run, the way the submissive wolves where described. No poetic eloquence. Not to mention the part where she just wants Holden to "Make her feel good" totally made me think of Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball. No Romance.


Forgiven

Now for the second installment Forgiven, this one was very different. Like night and day. The chemistry was bubbling and overflowing. Loved it. The story had a building up tempo that had you powering through the pages.

Holden's pack feared retaliation from what happened with the doctor. They expected punishment just not in the form of sharing the small living compound they had. With the tigers no less. Higher Powers that be expected them to just fight and let themselves thin the herd. The shifters where smarter than that. They have been in communication for years and the key players in each community already had some history. The in the sheets kind.

Cora the tiger princess is less than happy to see the only male her cat wanted to mate with, Soren. Soren took one for the team and mated in his own pack. Back then the Alpha wasn't mated the pack needed stability. Yet the guilt he holds due to his young mate dying is a palpable thing, so strong that even after she passed away he couldn't approach Cora. But that too is in the past. All they have between them is the walls they built themselves. Which happen to be paper thin...lol They each have a strong mating pull towards each other their other half have absolutely no qualms with human emotion or pride.

When they do come together, fireworks are ignited and the passion that has been tempered pour out. With life seemingly good, of course that is when the other shoe drops. The SAU wants to force the packs to change people of their choosing into a shifter. They got this bright idea that having Cora would make her father more pliable to their whims. What wasn't accounted for was Soren and his determination to have her with him now and always. They just pissed off the wrong wolf.

AS I mentioned before this was gripping and action packed, this story sheds light on new players and gives you an idea of all the possibilities the series can go.

Very good read.

I received this for an honest review. I truly enjoy Alexandra Ivy's writing. This collaboration was not quite what I expected. I just finished Blood Assassin and I was thrilled to pick this book up. But not a total loss.


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Blood Assassin (The Sentinels, #2)

Blood Assassin by Alexandra Ivy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Love is a powerful motivator.
What wouldn't you do for someone you loved?

Blood Assassin has been on my to read list for a while and I swear I am kicking my own ass for waiting so long to read it! It was a fast paced read, one that was unpredictable and refreshing.
The absolute best part about it was the hero and the villain both had the same motivator! So in essence how can you dislike someone who you can empathize with? Crazy & exciting!


You have an ex-assassin who is trying to obtain his child by any means necessary, so manipulating and poisoning a person is not above him. Especially when the abductors threaten the man that usually is considered the threat!

Then there is Serra and Fane their relationship is a rocky road that leads to nowhere. She has all but stripped down and begged him to be in his life and or his bed. No such luck on either account and she's just done with it all! Yet when it becomes obvious she is in danger, come hell or high water he will do whatever is necessary to assure her safety above all else!


OMG, I just loved Fane if I didn't have a book boyfriend or 2 he would be the one. His charm and witful remarks surprised me throughout the book. He was this deep well of thought and at first glance he just didn't come off that way. I don't know who was more surprised me or Serra...lol With carefully guarding her heart against yet another painful rejection she really is in awww of Fane and his course of action. She refuses to be the damsel in distress and he proves that when he claims her it's for keeps.

I have just moved all things Alexandra Ivy to the top of my reading list. Her book just really struck me and peeked my inner romance addict. Enjoyable and sensual on several levels, what a read! Her passion seeped into her characters, they were deep and well constructed. Even the Bas and his sidekick, I was rooting for them as well.

I received this ARC for an Honest review! If you adore Alpha Males, Tattoos and action packed romance than what are you waiting for~


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