Scars of Seduction and Sacrifice Review Spotlight

Birth made her a slave. Love made her a martyr. He’ll make her his queen.

Scars of Seduction and Sacrifice is the second book in the Dark Eden series. If you have yet to dive into this series, you're missing out. Book two, to an extent, can be read as a "stand-alone" if you haven't read book one, but I recommend that you make time to go back and dive in from the beginning. I say this because characters from book one surface in book two, but not immediately. But keep this in mind, this is a series, the books are all connected, and there's going to be a third book. So...just go ahead and read them in order. LOL!

Scars of Seduction focuses on Vaza and Brex, a zealot, intent on sacrificing her sister to a dead god to bring an end to the death and destruction plaguing their people. Vaza will do whatever it takes to protect her sister, and if it means taking on this zealot...then so be it. 

Brace yourself for some epic drama, because this book is going to be gooooooooddd!!

This book starts out with Zava playing the role of a "rogue." She's a queen, and creates a pheromone that sends the males into a mating frenzy. It's restricted for a reason. The water is infected with red tide that once it gets into their lungs...it kills. There is no help or hope beyond that point. So she has to be very careful when she goes on her excursions. But when she crosses paths with Brex, well, things just got a little bit complicated. But there is more going on than even she fully knows. 

The relationships between Zava and her two sisters is truly interesting. Her twin sister is a queen like herself, but her other sister pushed herself to become high priestess. One would think that this means she'd have her sisters' best interests at heart...yeah...no. No, Zwara has her own interests and she harbors some resentment towards Zava especially. 

Of course, this book isn't solely about Zava and her zealot "friends." LOL! No, we get characters from book one, as well. Renae and Liam (from book one) are continuing their story, and it is a strange one (especially if you haven't read book one). Liam is trapped on an island (not of this earth) and Renae has joined him. He's given up hope of finding a way out/off, but she's determined to get out. But what will be the price? Something is keeping them there, and it won't let go easily. 

The author goes back and forth between the various characters giving readers pieces of what is going on with them. Wondering what the connection is? Well, let me tell you...it's coming and it just might blow your mind in the process. 

The ending isn't one that you're necessarily going to like, but trust me...it's going to have you wondering what is going to happen next. I know that you'll be eager for book three just like me. 

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, J. Ember Hintz, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book! I look forward to what comes next! Stay tuned for a review of book one coming soon! 

                                                        Scars of Sacrifice and Seduction

Expected Publication Date: October 28, 2023

Genre: Sci-fi Fantasy with Spice/ Enemies to Lovers

🖤Enemies to Lovers
💘Fated Mates
📜 Ancient Prophecy
🌶️ Cult Rituals
💕 Multiple Couples
🪦Touch Her and 😵 Vibes
🫶🏻 Found Family
💀Afterlife Mythology
🤐 Forbidden Knowledge
👽 With with x2 🍆
💥 Supernatural Powers
😈 Villain’s POV
➕Addiction & Recovery Rep

Birth made her a slave. Love made her a martyr. He’ll make her his queen.

Welcome to Eden. Born without magic into a brutal world where mage abilities determine survival, Vaza didn’t think her life as a breeder-queen could get any worse.

Not until a cult leader declares her identical twin must be sacrificed to resurrect a dead god. Vaza plans to destroy the prophet’s credibility by seducing him into breaking his sacred vows. To get close enough to ruin him, however, she’ll need to infiltrate The Order and do the one thing she fears most-open her heart and allow Brex to claim more than just her pleasure.

Meanwhile, in the prison world of the dead…

All his life, Liam Riley has been told he’s an abomination. Turns out it’s true. He never asked to be cursed with the powers of a living god, but now that he has them, he’ll use every one of his new gifts to protect his soul-bonded mate. Even if it means locking her up to keep her from discovering the truth about the entity holding them hostage.

Too bad Renae has no intention of being kept in a cage. Not when she sacrificed everything to save him. The version of Liam she finds in the Void isn’t the same man she fell in love with. A decade of solitary confinement in the Void has turned him into something more. Something inhuman.

Book two in the Dark Eden sci-fantasy series, where the lines between enemies, allies, loyalty, and love blur beyond recognition.

Told in two colliding and scorchingly hot timelines that will leave readers questioning who the real monsters are.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

J. Ember Hintz writes sci-fi and fantasy romance. She loves building dark contemporary worlds and lush alternate realities ripe with mythology and magic.

You’ll meet ghosts, gods, and monsters in her stories, but never a damsel in distress.
Her debut novel was a 2022 Book Life Prize by Publisher’s weekly Quarter Finalist and 2021 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence Finalist.

Fun Facts: J. Ember is her real first initial and middle name. She goes absolutely feral for enemies to lovers, grumpy protector/body guard romance tropes, and whatever the opposite of a meet-cute is. A meet-disaster? She also believes the villain or antagonist is the most important character in every story.

She lives near the ocean with her husband, two rescue poodles and the occasional ghost. Her alter ego enjoys a successful career in the wedding industry. Job perks include an unlimited supply of cake, champagne and IRL HEAs. When she’s not making dreams come true, or breathing life into fictional characters, you can find her in the studio throwing paint at a canvas and hoping for the best.
To learn more about her upcoming releases, visit https://jemberhintz.com/ or follow her author life shenanigans on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

J. Ember Hintz

Book Tour Schedule

December 4^th

http://rrbooktours.com Landing Page

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0cFA7bLUWe/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/beastreader - Review

https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website - Review

https://www.instagram.com/shelbe_reads/?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/angels_gp17/ - Feature

https://www.ladyhawkeye.com/ - Feature

https://www.tiktok.com/@robinmannon?_t=8g9zzik5psu&_r=1 – Feature

December 5^th

https://www.instagram.com/dana.loves.books - Review

https://www.instagram.com/Justagirlwithaloveofbooks/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/ripples_and_embers/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/vellumandvillains/ - Review

December 6^th

https://www.instagram.com/countrymamaswithkids - Review

https://www.instagram.com/emerald.moon.reads/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/lit.and.Elle/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/emmabeeslibrary/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookish_lady_night/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/squeakeysundergroundlibrary/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookloversamantha?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng%3D%3D – Review

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/samanthainfantasyworld/ - Fantasy

December 7^th

https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/ - Review

https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com - Review

https://www.instagram.com/ilovebooksandstuffblog/

https://www.instagram.com/bookdragonstbr/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/molina_lovestoread/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/nvl_reads/ - Review

https://darkfantasyreviews.wordpress.com – Review

https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/ - Feature

December 8^th

https://www.instagram.com/bibliophilebookstackswithdi/?igshid=Mzc1MmZhNjY%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/littleredpandareader/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/books.and.salt/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/itsonemorechapter/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/fathomsamidstthelines/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/_marinainwonderland/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/jlreadstoperpetuity - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookgrlobsessed/ - Review

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

 

Secrets of Jane Review Spotlight

 

Seriously, how gorgeous is this book?! Have you read The Secrets of Jane yet? We highly suggest you do! Read on for more details, and visit one of Bookstagram hosts to win 1 of 2 book boxes.

Secrets of Jane is the first book in Charlotte Mallory's The Improper Bastards series and this book took me by complete surprise. So, brace yourself! This book is going to sweep you away from page one and keep you page-turning to the end! Sound like your kind of book? Then dive in and enjoy! 

Secrets of Jane is the first book in Mallory's The Improper Bastards duet and this book is insanely good. Of course, the first thing that is going to grab your attention is that gorgeous cover. Readers who like to be drawn in with a tasty piece of eye-candy cover will definitely be drawn to this book. You won't be able to look away. Next thing you know your eyes will be moving towards the blurb and then it's game over. Just go ahead, click "buy" and settle in for a delicious story. LOL!

From the beginning, Secrets of Jane is gripping and it's just Jane leaving a pub with her best friend! LOL! How the heck does that work?! Well, good story-telling, let me tell ya. LOL! Of course, the story starts off "innocently" enough, but then it shifts into darker territory, and it all starts with the smell of smoke. 

Shortly after that? Enter the mercenary!!! Soren brings a sense of danger and power to the story immediately. You get the sense that he's not someone to be trifled with. I love it. LOL! Of course, unless you're like one particular idiot who still is sulking because Jane "read him the riot act." LOL! He deserved it. Well, back to Soren...he's something else! He comes off as dangerous and he knows it. But he's here on the hunt...for Jane. Looks like she has caught the attention of some people and now she has to answer for it. She probably should have toned down the fighting...too late for that now! 

This book is crazy good! You're going to be in for a lot of chaos, drama, and some deliciously steamy scenes. Could it be a little hotter? Heck yes! I'll never turn down to pages that burn with steam, but it's still really good. 

The author weaves together a great storyline and epic world with this book. You get magic, pirates, drama, steamy, secrets and more! I rode the fence a little concerning some of the morally grey aspects of this book, but it honestly works so I can't complain. LOL! Too much. LOL! 

This book does end on a cliffhanger. Just fair warning for those who don't read all the way to the end of an author's warning. There is A CLIFFHANGER!!! Be prepared for it! It is going to happen! Don't get the book and then complain about the cliffhanger. Don't do it! Seriously. Don't. 

For readers who enjoy a good cliffhanger...you're going to devour this book and then howl for more...in a good way. LOL! This book is entertaining from beginning to end and will have you looking forward to the second half of this duet. 

Definitely recommend this story.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, Charlotte Mallory, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to what comes next!

                                The Secrets of Jane: Forgotten (Improper Bastards Series #1)

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

Genre: Dark Romantasy

🗝️ Enemies-to-Lovers
💀 Empath Daddy
🗝️ Everyone is Morally Grey
💀 EPIC Pirating World
🗝️ Secrets and Mysteries
💀 One bed/ One Horse
🗝️ Captor becomes Protector
💀 Steamy, Angry Scenes until Alphahole Catches Feelings First

“I’m a disciplined man, Jane. I can stay here for as long as you need before the lesson sinks in that you don’t run from me while in my charge.” — Soren.

He’s a Mercenary with powers that allow him feel the hearts/desires/fears of others.
She’s his target, and must guard her identity at all costs.

My village is aflame, and a deadly legend becomes my captor.

I’m to appear before the most elite faction of mercenaries and warlords, commanded to answer for a crime they refuse to explain. Even if my only guess for why they want me is wrong, they cannot have me. I’ve sworn to never return to Skull’s Row, home to thieves and killers; the graveyard of my childhood.

He plans to unbury every memory until my soul is stripped bare: Soren, my captor, is strangely fascinated by me. By what I hide. Of the scars I have.

I’m unwillingly drawn to him. To his brutality. He harbors the same viciousness that coats my veins. He even seems persistent in taking me for himself…

He’ll either be my reckoning, or my undoing.

The Witcher Meets Pirates of the Caribbean

This Dark Fantasy Romance is a Duet full of foul language, sensual scenes, and improper bastards.

Content Warning 18+: This series contains explicit scenes (3.5 chili peppers), depictions of war, battle violence, abduction, graphic depiction of violence, drugging, and overall a very crude world.

Add to Goodreads

Available on Amazon

Signed Copies

About the Author

 Charlotte Mallory is eager to share her love for Dark Fantasy Romance stories, and dabbling in a few Contemporary Romances. What she enjoys most is taking well loved tropes and adding her own take on them. Right now, she greatly enjoys anything with Fantasy or Contemporary with an Alpha male lead, paired with a female lead that can absolutely handle her own! In her spare time, she enjoys nature, bonsai trees, coffee, and taking random art classes.

Charlotte Mallory

Book Tour Schedule

October 16^th

http://rrbooktours – Landing Page

https://www.instagram.com/ohthebooksyoucanread/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/ashtonsbookworld/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/over.on.my.bookshelf/?hl=en – Review

https://www.instagram.com/rantingbooklover/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/squeakeysundergroundlibrary/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/niveditha_preeth/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookishbeccah/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookshelfofmydreams/ - Review

October 17^th

https://readingstewardess.wordpress.com/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/inkspit.blog/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/romantasy_reads/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/katslovesbooks/ - Review

http://www.tiktok.com/@katslovesbooks

https://www.instagram.com/_kellymariewrites – Review

https://www.instagram.com/808bookdr/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/lilyreadsandotherthings/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/readingdiaries/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/Justagirlwithaloveofbooks/ - Review

October 18^th

https://www.instagram.com/elissa_a22/ - Review

https://www.tiktok.com/@elissaarmitstead7

https://www.instagram.com/spookys.study/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookboundwithjen/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/jojos_library/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D – Review

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ - Review

https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/ - Feature

https://www.ladyhawkeye.com/ - Feature

October 19^th

https://www.instagram.com/adlynsreadingcorner/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/crooks_book_nook/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/page_turning_mama/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/copyrightxcasey/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/newre_ader/?igshid=ZDc4ODBmNjlmNQ%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/mommyandherbooks/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookish_lady_night/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D – Review

https://www.tiktok.com/@kbrookereads?_t=8cFzWdBLwyM&_r=1 – Review

https://www.instagram.com/littlebarnbooknook/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/rachels.reading.again/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D – Review

October 20^th

https://www.instagram.com/blooming_reads - Review

https://www.instagram.com/jennsbookreviews1321/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/stepintothepages - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bingingbooksandcoffee/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/bookishmom1/ - Review

https://www.instagram.com/mommas.all.booked/ - Review

https://starsbooksandtea.com - Review

https://www.instagram.com/slushireads/ - Feature

https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com - Feature

https://www.instagram.com/amartinez8877/

Book Tour Organize by @rrbooktours1

Fires of the Forsaken Review Spotlight

Welcome to the tour for Fires of the Forsaken, a sassy, adult, romantic fantasy by Stephanie E. Donohue! Preorder a copy today!

Welcome to the book tour for Fires of the Forsaken by Stephanie E. Donohue! Love a good fantasy novel with a gripping storyline, and dialogue that will have you in tears? Then you've come to the right place! Because Stephanie E. Donohue has knocked this book out of the park. Did you read "sassy" in the headliner above? Well, let me tell you something "sassy" doesn't cover what you're going to read in the pages of this novel. Try...oh I don't know...frickin' HILARIOUS! Try...HOWLING with LAUGHTER. This author is going to give you small breaks, but be prepared to either be laughing or having empathy for Addie as she navigates the world she is dropped in. 

She won't be the only one you're having empathy for. While Addie gets dropped into a new world where war is ravaging the land, there is another character who has struggled with what this world has forced on her. She only has been called "Lass" after the loss of her only loved one, but the world has dealt her a cruel hand. What is the point of what has happened to her? Your heart will break as you read Lass's story, but there is hope and that is all one can cling to. 

Fires of the Forsaken is a dynamo of a novel and it will keep you coming back for more. These characters are going to haunt you, so be careful when you decide to put this book down to go do a task around the house or even THINK you're going to catch a few hours of sleep. LOL!

The good news is that this is the first book in the Across Time series. Bad news? You're going to be stalking this author for book two immediately after you're done. So....ummm...Stephanie...when IS the next book coming out? Because ummm...I need it. Now. I have to know what happens next!!! Please don't make me wait forever! LOL!

Addie is a hoot. Poor thing has suffered her own traumatic experiences as a child. These events have created a bit of a breakdown in her brain-to-mouth filter. LOL! You know what I'm talking about. You THINK you're keeping your thoughts to yourself, but in reality, you're saying every thought that is crossing your mind. LOL! That's Addie in a nutshell. Can you blame her though? It's quite a lot to go from getting a pizza to being thrown into the middle of a battlefield. 

The author alternates between Addie and her shenanigans to Lass and her struggle for survival. It's easy to distinguish which chapter is going to be about which character. Addie's chapters start with the image of a horse, and Lass's chapters have fire images. These characters are absolutely well done. I found Addie to be absolutely hilarious, but I will confess that she did get on my nerves a few times. I get it though. I told myself, image being thrown into a similar situation. I might handle a bit better since I'm an introvert, but boy howdy once I start talking? Yeah, I'd be a mess, too. LOL!

Looking for and hoping for some romance? Well, it's there! I love that it isn't one of those "BAM insta-romance" type scenarios. You get a nice development between the characters. Of course, when the world is a battlefield, danger lurks around every corner, and you just never know what is going to happen next. 

This book is packed with tons of drama, and let me warn you right now...you're getting a cliffhanger. Hate cliffhangers? Well, TOUGH! Do you seriously want to miss out on this book because of cliffhanger hatred?! No! You don't! It's that good! I literally devoured this book! I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, I loved the fact that the author kept me coming back for more. I can't wait to find out what happens next. 

I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. Grab this book! Don't miss it! Stalk the author (the appropriate way only folks!) and prepare to be on pins and needles for book two! I can't wait!

Thank you to the author, Stephanie E. Donohue, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book! I look forward to what comes next and revisiting Addie and Lass in the next book to come! 

Thank YOU for taking the time to come and visit my blog and read my thoughts on Fires of the Forsaken! I hope you come by again for there is more coming soon! Feel free to follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my blog! Be sure to check out my fellow bloggers and bookstagrammers as they share spotlights and their thoughts on this novel!

Fires of the Forsaken (Across #1)

Expected Publication Date: May 2023

Genre: Adult Fantasy/ Romantic Fantasy

Addie wanted a gosh-darn pizza. 

Lass wanted to avoid being cooked over a spit.

Neither figured they’d end up with a one-way ticket to the end of days.

Addie did not have “getting plucked from the 21st century and thrown into a rudimentary fantasy world” on her “fun things to do at 30” checklist. Yet here she is, struggling to survive in the hellscape known as Sakar, a place where Wraiths flame-broil humans and Celestial armies wage war with each other over a centuries-old spat. Thankfully, Cheriour, the hunky commander of the human army, takes her under his wing—although he’s allergic to giving straight answers. And talking.
 
As Addie reluctantly starts to care for him, and the rest of the Sakarians, she also learns why she was sent to this world. And it’s a doozy…

The violent society of Sakar is the only home Lass has ever known, and it’s been a wretched one. She has spent her life being tormented and twisted into an inhuman hybrid by the Celestials and hunted by the humans who fear her. But she finds solace with a cocky, blue-eyed boy who comforts her, even after she accidentally slaughters innocents.

As Lass struggles to control her volatile powers, she slowly transforms into the monster the humans believe her to be. And even the boy she loves is in peril…

At the end of time, there is only fire. And neither Addie nor Lass will escape unscathed.

Pre-Order Here!

About the Author

As a child, Stephanie E. Donohue roamed Narnia with the Pevensie siblings and rode the Hogwarts Express with Harry and his friends. She never tired of discovering new and magical worlds through the pages of a book. And, when the yearning to explore still wasn’t satiated, Stephanie turned to writing. With a pen and a few sheets of paper, she learned to craft new worlds, and vibrant characters to explore with.

That passion has never died. Stephanie still enjoys writing stories that take readers on exciting, and sometimes dangerous, adventures.  

When she’s not writing, Stephanie can usually be found cuddling with her two cats, obsessively re-watching The Office, or rocking out to a Pound Fitness class.

Stephanie E. Donohue

Book Tour Schedule

April 24^th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

@word.addict914 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/word.addict914/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

@amber.bunch_author (Review) https://www.instagram.com/amber.bunch_author/

@over.on.my.bookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/over.on.my.bookshelf/?hl=e

@bingingbooksandcoffee (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@bingingbooksandcoffee

 @squeakeysundergroundlibrary (Review) https://www.instagram.com/squeakeysundergroundlibrary/

@in_todaysreads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/in_todaysreads/

@_toris.thoughts_(Review) https://www.instagram.com/_toris.thoughts_/

 Book Reviews by Taylor (Spotlight) https://www.bookreviewsbytaylor.com/

April 25^th

@my_books_and_coffee (Review) https://www.instagram.com/my_books_and_coffee/

@_kellymariewrites (Review) https://www.instagram.com/_kellymariewrites

@mandioyster (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mandioyster/

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

Bunny’s Reviews (Review) https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/

@magicalmushroombookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/magicalmushroombookshelf/

I Love Books & Stuff (Spotlight) https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com

April 26^th

@its_b.e.l.l.e (Review) https://www.instagram.com/its_b.e.l.l.e/

@mymagicalbookself (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mymagicalbookself/

@bonggirlinabookworld (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bonggirlinabookworld/

@mybookworld96 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mybookworld96/

@seetaylorreview (Review) https://www.instagram.com/seetaylorreview/

@through_the_booking_glass (Review) https://www.instagram.com/through_the_booking_glass/

@darling_book_mage (Review) https://www.instagram.com/darling_book_mage/

@feyasbooks (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/feyasbooks/

April 27^th

@thestarlitbooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/thestarlitbooks/

Riss Reviews (Review) https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website

@bookswithstacie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookswithstacie/

@dreaminginpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/dreaminginpages/

@rozanne_visagie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/rozanne_visagie/

Freelance Writer, Janny C (Spotlight) https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/

Books + Coffee = Happiness (Spotlight) https://bookscoffeehappiness.com/

April 28^th

@elissaarmitstead7 (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@elissaarmitstead7

https://www.instagram.com/elissa_a22/

@bouviebooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bouviebooks/

@books.and.salt (Review) https://www.instagram.com/books.and.salt

@justsokristin (Review) https://www.instagram.com/justsokristin/

@itsabookthing2021 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/

 @bookishlyrieka (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookishlyrieka/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

Stine Writing (Spotlight) https://christinebialczak.com/

 

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

 

Unshaken Review Spotlight

 Looking for something new? An academy series that will keep you page-turning to the end and begging for more? Well, welcome to HellNight Academy. This academy is dangerous no matter how you slice it. But it’s the place that Micah is about to find herself after years of being rejected by the angels to be accepted into their academy to finally become a Light Guardian like the rest of her family.

Unshaken is the first book in Dreia Wells’s HellNight Academy series. Readers of dark paranormal romance novels will absolutely love this book and devour it. Micah is about to be in for a serious of surprises in her life when she’s accepted to this dark academy after waiting for years to be accepted into Caelum Academy. Her brother has been accepted already, and he’s younger. So, why not her? Well, maybe they too know the truth about who and what she really is.

The prologue of this story will set the stage for Micah’s story and then move forward to what her life is like currently. You’re going to feel a wave of empathy for her as you learn what she has dealt with over the years. It would appear that resentment has begun to build up in one of the family, and she is the focus of that resentment. Unfair, right? Well, that’s typically how things go. But there is a silver lining and it comes in the form of a mysterious package. It will hold the “key” to the next stage in her life. And boy are there a lot of surprises in store for her!

As you read this book, settle in. We say this because there is a slow-burn element to this story. Sparks will fly between Micah and other characters pretty quickly, but the author is going to want you to enjoy the storyline before things get hot and heavy. You’re going to appreciate this because it gives the characters a bit of a foundation to build on. That is something that is always nice to have. It really keeps things from feeling too rushed. But trust and believe that there are going to be a ton of surprises as well.

Readers who enjoy strong female characters are going to truly like Micah. She’s not just strong mentally, she’s strong physically and emotionally. She doesn’t let her emotions rule her. She has soft moments, but that doesn’t mean that when the chips are down she won’t come at you full force and kick your ass. LOL! Because she will.

One element that many are going to enjoy is that the author doesn’t restrict Micah to just males being drawn to her. Does that mean that there will be sexual situations with the girl as well? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what unfolds. There is the potential for it, but that will be up to the characters really as to what goes down between them.

Academy style novels tend to follow the same trope of classes, drama between classmates, outside issues, and things typically going the way of the heroine entirely too much. While Unshaken does follow some of these tropes it’s refreshing to see some deviations as well. We get a taste of a couple of the classes, but we don’t get too bogged down in them either. Normally, that would bring a round of complaints since I like to have classroom scenes. However, we get just the right amount of balance with this book. In one particular class, the author uses that opportunity to reveal to Micah something that her family has been keeping secret. Think that it simply ends there? Well, you’d be wrong. I know what you’re thinking. There’s more?? Yes! There’s more! It’s such a twist and gives credence to even further speculation concerning Micah’s background. It’s fantastic!

This book is an absolutely delicious page-turner. You get so much from this story. The darkness and dangers of the academy itself, the drama between siblings, the budding and developing romance, and then twists that will have your jaw hanging to the floor. Oh, make sure you pick that up by the way. Don’t want anything strange crawling into your mouth.

Hate cliffhangers? Well tough! Because you’re getting one and it’s going to be wild! Don’t worry though! The author gives you a nice little epilogue to tide you over. Yeah, let’s be real that just creates a double cliffhanger. LOL! So you don’t get just one...you get two! Even better, right?! Think this means more twists and surprises? Well, guess what! You’re right! It’s honestly awesome. LOL!

Unshaken, book one in the HellNight Academy series, is a must-read for readers who enjoy dark twisted storylines packed with drama and building romance. Nothing is truly what it seems and you never know when that particular day may be your last. Hey, as long as you get indoors before nightfall...you should be fine...emphasis...on should be.

Good news though! With book two being out now you can easily finish book one, rage about the ending, and then immediately go and devour book two! Sounds like a good plan, right? Well, what are you waiting for?? Go grab Unshaken and prepare to clear your schedule, because you’re not going to want to put it down until you’ve read the last page.

Pros:

- Well-developed storyline

- Twists and surprises

- Romance develops before steamy scenes

- Page-turner and hard to put down

- Engaging and dynamic characters

Cons:

- None!

Unshaken earns 5 out of 5 stars