Update and Reviews: The Last Concubine by Catt Ford, Darkest Flame by Donna Grant, and Srae: Iss-Ka-Mala by Chaeya

Hello and Good Evening Fellow Bloggers, how is everyone doing tonight?

I know it has been an extremly long time since my last post but as I am sure everyone knows that life sometimes compliacates things. A little side note, I went to RT in Dallas this year and I have to say that I had more fun at this RT than I did in New Oreans, granted I loved the panles that were done in New Oreans, it's just that in Texas I met so many new and asweoms  people that I was able to be my self around (well fr the most part anyway) that it turned out to be amazing even though I only went to one panel this year. Anyway with that being said I have some news, updates, and of course reviews for you guys.

First off, Eternal Earth is still in the process of being written and with each new chapter that I write the book takes deep and more twisted turns that I orginally thought as I lay the set up for the next 3 to 4 books in the series. As Harmony and Adien's story comes together the world of the Trinity is introduced to new enemies and charcters that help and shape the world. I truly look forward to everyone's reaction to this story. Also I have made a cover for the book that I simply fell in love with. I can't wait to show you guys what it looks like as the book gets closer to its ending.

Secondly, I am participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Wrting Month), granted I started about a week or so late (because that's just how I roll) I am no where close to my 50,000 word count but each day I work on a little at a time. Hopefully, by the end of the month I will reach my word count. Now, because this was a challenge I decided to not use one of the tittles that I was already working on. Instead I created a new tale and I am absolutely loving it. Seducing the Black Prince, is the tentivite tittle of the book and it is my adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale (Not the Disney one). Thing is, because I enjoy series most of the times, espically when I become deepy invested in the characters, I haven't decided if I am going to make this book the first in a series that I am thinking about naming, A Beastly Prince Tale, or if it will simply be a stand alone story. But the deep I go into the story the more inclined I am to make it a series and write my own adaptions of famous fairytales. I might do it any just for the hell of it. As of right now I have a little over 10,000 typed words. I haven't finished typing our the chapters that I have hand written already but I'm pretty sure that once I do that over the weekend I will have over 20,000 words. Either way this one will be done in time for RT in Vegas next year, where I might give out little previews of the book like I did last year. Only thing I haven't given much thought to was the cover for this story but once I am done actually writing it I will deal with that.

Third, SnoWolf and DarKnight: Dawn of the Red Sun, are the two titles that I have worked on the least. But I am aiming to have those done next year sometime

Lastly, I am currently working on a co author work entitled Oria, in the future I will be able to give you guys more information about this book...

Now on to the reviews... here we go:

The Last Concubine by  Catt Ford

Now this book was one of the books that I received from the RT Convention in New Orleans last year. At first I was a little hesitant to read it. However, the back blurb of the book interested me enough to pick it up and finally start reading it. At first I wasn't that interested in the book and was bored with the characters, so I ended up putting the book down for a while and then picking it back up. It took me a few chapters to get into the book but once I did the over all story of the book was pretty good, actually reminded me of a lot of Manga's I've read but that's besides the point..

The basic plot of the story revolves around a ruler and the last concubine< (hit the title) that he acquires from his enemy A beautiful woman and the general is instantly enchanted. However all is not as it seems and the general soon comes to realize that what he thought was a beautiful woman was actually a beautiful man, the brother of his enemy, sent to be used as a weapon against him. Now the first thought of most generals after realizing that the have been made of fool of would probably have been to kill the "Princess" but not our general, much like a Yaoi manga, the general finds himself in love with the Princess and the Princess in love with him

Needless to say this love causes some commotion and issues within the harem.  But some how everything ends up working out in the end.

That's it for the plot of the story, of course there are other things going on in the background, such as jealous wives, poisonings, and a love affair with a eunuch and the second in command (that I am still not sure how that worked and I would of been interested to see how that relationship worked) But as for the overall character development of the story it was ok. For me nothing truly motivational happened, it seemed that the general was more interested in the Princess because of her beauty and her physical attributes, rather than her mind at times. Especially since it seemed they were having sex at ever turn of the page.Now don't get me wrong we all know I am for sexual relationships in a book and sometimes the more graphic the better however it got to the point where I started skipping the sex scenes because they didn't ass anything to the story. So that took away a little from the book.

Also the use of language in the book for it to be a period pieces was too modern and I couldn't picture feudal lords saying a lot of the terms that were used in the book. Not that it was all bad, in fact it seemed a little comical at times but still awkward

The ending was a little lack luster but not as bad as some other endings. Since I don't want to give away anymore spoilers than I already have I will leave you with this:

Rating: 3-3.5/5

Would I recommend this? I'm in between on this one

Next up is:

Darkest Flame by Donna Grant

Okay, another book I acquired at RT but this time I actually brought and got signed. The Darkest Flame is the first book I read of Donna Grant. For a long time I had been looking  at staring one of her series but unsure as to which series to start with but then I saw the cover for this book and I was like "okay, I like this cover let me check it out," and needless to say I brought the next two books in the series.

The Darkest Flame is a love story about a old dragon king who is supposed to be the record keeper of the dragon kings and an assassin who set up by her own team to die and expose the dragons as wicked and evil creatures. As you read the book you get taken on a dark journey with a sex dragon and a woman that pushed his buttons yet held him down when she needed to.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Donna's story reminded me a little of G.A. Akien's Dragon Kin series that I love so much, where you meet memorable characters and you can't help but get excited to hear their stories. In fact I loved all the Dragon Kings and their personalities, however me being me, since I always tend to lean towards the leader who is the ass hole of the crew I found myself drawn to Con who is the current leader of the Dragon Kings and I am excited to learn more about him as the series goes on. However that's not to take away from Kellan, he was indeed a sex and powerful dragon able to take care of his own and one of the only dragons who could challenge Con. Kellan is in no means a weakling, strong headed, smart battle skilled and ruthless there was nothing that he wouldn't do to protect his woman, Denae, who was just as dangerous as her dragon. My only problem with Denae was the fact that her need to create a new identity and basically become a ghost started becoming repetitive and annoying at times but I understood her need to be free and at the same time keep not only the secret about the dragons safe but also Kellan.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how the two of them worked as a team and kicked ass as a team. Definitely a perfect fit for each other.

Rating: 4/5

Would I recommend this? Yes to anyone who is a fan of G.A. Akien and the Dragon Kin series and anyone who loves Dragons and hot men :)

Last but not least is:

Srae: Iss-Ka-Mala by Chaeya

Again another book I happily received during RT. I had the privilege to sit down and actually get to know the author of this book and it added a depth to the book that I truly did appreciate. However, being that I am more into ancient myths and what not, it takes me a long time to get interested in futuristic tales  so it took me a while to truly get into the book but once I did I wasn't able to put it down and found myself excited to see what happened next.

Srae is definitely a unique tale that reflects its author and her essence and love of music. While at times it reminded me of one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's League Series Novels, Srae's world was truly one that was built from the ground up and beyond. Everything from Earth, to the Ships to the Alien Plants where described with enough detail that you could see the people/aliens and environment yet wasn't so detailed that you feel asleep reading elaborate details about a rock.

The pacing and development of the characters and the events that followed were done perfectly. Also I liked the fact that there was a diversity of women in the story and that they all weren't set to one stereotypical body type. As for the main characters, I adored Srae even though there were times when she got on my nerves. But her courage and bravery out shinned what little things about her that might have annoyed me. Her reactions to the changes around her and the new life she gained were believable and had me wondering how I would react if I had been taken away from everything I've ever known by so seriously tall and hot men and tossed into the middle of a war I knew nothing about. Needless to say Srae handled it better than I would have.

Then there is Mendon. who at first seems to be this crippled and ugly man but in fact turns out to be this sexy and dominating man that continually pushed Srae and protected her the most. Truly there must be nothing better than literally meeting the man of your dreams even if he is a little bit of an ass and commanding but that only added to his charm.

While I don't want to give too much away, I will say that just about all the characters are flushed out and you begin to care about each one little by little, even the minor ones. Which I think is an amazing thing and something I try to do in my own works. I look forward to the second book in this series ad the story of Srae's mother and father.

Rating: 4/5

Would I recommend this? Yes, espcially to those who are fans of Sherrilyn Kenyon's League Series and other series like that.

Until Next Time