Sunday, July 30, 2017

Melanie's Week in Review - July 30, 2017




I can't believe that the summer is half way over. Waaaaaa! August is right around the corner and with that it means I am one step closer to having to wear tights (aka nylons) and long sleeves. Waaaa x 2! To help me through the trials of the passing seasons I turned to my Kindle. So what did I read?


**** Avert your eyes if you haven't read White Hot by Ilona Andrews****


I did a little 'whoop whoop' when the third and final instalment of the Hidden Legacy trilogy - Wildfire - appeared on my Kindle. When I first heard the news that Andrews wasn't able to publish book 2 - White Hot - last year I was a tiny big put out even though both books would be published this year. It couldn't have worked out better. I loved reading both books within weeks of each other.
Wildfire starts immediately after the events of book 2. Nevada is back from her mini holiday to deal with the fact that her evil grandmother knows where the family live. There is only one alternative which is to form a House but that brings its own problems and could jeopardize her romance with Mad Rogan. When Nevada arrives home to find Rogan's ex sitting at her kitchen table she didn't think things could get worse....but it does...waaay way worse. On the trail of a kidnapper Nevada and Rogan are put to the test and not just magically. Can their love survive? Or more importantly will they survive? Read it and find out.

I loved the Hidden Legacy series. I wasn't sure I was going to when I first read the description of the series but it only took a few pages of book 1 - Burn for Me - before I was hooked. I believe part of the reason why I liked it so much was that it was only a trilogy. I didn't have to read 2 or 3 books before the romance started to happen or to discover one or two minor plot points or have to buy book 10 or 11 to find out 'who dunnit'. The plot moved quickly but Andrews didn't skimp on world building or characterisation. This series has heaps of both. Wildfire not only wraps up the overall plot arc of the mysterious conspiracy that wants to bring down the magical hierarchy (sort of) but also, wraps up Nevada's magical growth from untrained truthseeker to powerful Prime. The story was interspersed with quite a bit of romance as Nevada and Rogan navigate their way through their danger filled relationship. Wildfire is an action and romance laden end to the Hidden Legacy series. If you haven't started the series then don't miss out and start with book 1.


The second book I want to tell you about is Dark Horse by Michelle Diener. As by coincidence this book was recommended by Ilona Andrews while I was waiting for Wildfire to be released. Dark Horse appealed to me as it won the SFR Galaxy Award and the Prism Award for Best Futuristic in 2016. I thought I was also onto a winner.

Dark Horse tells the story of Rose McKenzie who has been kidnapped from her home (on earth) and finds herself a prisoner on a spaceship millions of miles away in another galaxy. When Rose teams up with an artificial intelligence to escape she ends up one of the only survivors on a class 5 battleship. Alone, in another galaxy far, far away from home with a evil alien race on her trail Rose takes matters in her own hands and teams up with a much more friendly (and good looking) alien race in order to survive. Captain Dav Jallan can't believe his luck when the class 5 battleship ends up abandoned in his area of space. When he discovers that a frail female alien has been a prisoner on that very ship and now is one of only a few left alive he knows there is more to this than meets the eye and Rose is smack dab in the middle of it.

There are quite a few 'female human gets kidnapped by hunky alien' science fiction books out there and having read one or two I try to avoid them at all costs. Normally they veer too close to erotica for my liking. After reading the book description I was a bit surprised that this book had won so many accolades. I questioned this again when I got to the end. Dark Horse was very predictable and Rose and Dav were pretty generic characters. If this had been just a standalone novel I would have probably enjoyed it more but it is part of a series and I suspect that the plot is just much of the same. Book 2 - Dark Deeds - sounds very very similar. In fact one reviewer complained that it was just a re-hash of the first book. I was a bit disappointed with this book and unless you are a big fan of rather bland romantic science fiction then maybe give it a miss.


That is all for me this week. I hope you have a great week ahead and a even better book to read. Until next week happy reading.





Wildfire
A Hidden Legacy Novel 3
Avon, July 25, 2017
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

From Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author, the thrilling conclusion to her Hidden Legacy series, as Nevada and Rogan grapple with a power beyond even their imagination…

Nevada Baylor can’t decide which is more frustrating—harnessing her truthseeker abilities or dealing with Connor “Mad” Rogan and their evolving relationship. Yes, the billionaire Prime is helping her navigate the complex magical world in which she’s become a crucial player—and sometimes a pawn—but she also has to deal with his ex-fiancée, whose husband has disappeared, and whose damsel-in-distress act is wearing very, very thin.

Rogan faces his own challenges, too, as Nevada’s magical rank has made her a desirable match for other Primes. Controlling his immense powers is child’s play next to controlling his conflicting emotions. And now he and Nevada are confronted by a new threat within her own family. Can they face this together? Or is their world about to go up in smoke?


Book 1
Book 2





Dark Horse
Class 5 Series 1
Eclipse (June 15, 2015)
Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 380 pages

Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.

She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.

Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.


Book 2
Book 3

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