Happy New Year! Update and Reviews: Bound and Determined by Shayla Black, Fire Rising by Donna Grant

Good evening fellow bloggers,

How are you all doing tonight? 

First, before I get started I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year (a little late I know) and I hope you all are sticking to your resolutions. I've been meaning to update for a while now, but I just haven't had the time. But I am here now and that is all that matters. So lets get into it, shall we?

As everyone knows, Eternal Earth is still in the process of being completed. I just about half way done with it, but I still have a lot more to write before Harmony and Adien's tale is over. The same can be said for SnoWolf, DarKnight: Dawn of the Red Sun, and Twisted Midnight. All of them are currently in process. Hopefully, I can have at least two of them done by the end of the year. 

I am still working on Seducing the Black Prince, I had challenged myself to complete it by the end of the month and here we are at the end of the month and I've reached the middle of the book yet. :(. However, the book is coming along nicely and should be finished soon....

Since I am drained from lack of sleep, I am going to jump right in to the reviews... annnnndddd here we go :)

Bound and Determined by Shayla Black: 

When I saw that this book was on sale at Barns and Noble, I was excited to read it. Thinking that is was just like her previous books that I have read; Decadent and Wicked Ties, I dove right into the book. For the first few chapters I was interested in the characters and story. After getting a few chapters in my enthusiasm for the book died down. It was easy for me to put this book down for days at a time and not think about it. In fact several times I found myself wanting to put the book back in my bookcase and never look at it again. However, with that being said I tried to give the book the benefit of the doubt since it had been published years back and was the first in a new series.

However that doesn't  change the fact that there (for me anyway) are serious issues with character development  and the over all excitement for the plot, which was very predictable and took me all of five seconds to figure out once all the characters had been introduced.  Granted, this is a romance/erotica novel and not a mystery or thriller novel there is still something  to be said for a decent plot.

I have several issues with the plot and characters. For one the heroine comes off as a dependent and whinny young girl, who is so infatuated by the first hot guy to give her attention that it is sickening. I considered her a dumb blonde type for most of the book and her half wittiness didn't  add anything mentionable to her character. Without giving away too many spoilers, ill give an example of what i mean, for instance, once Kathy and Ralph come up with a plan to catch the bad guys, Kathy is told not to mention their plans to anyone . And what does our lovely Kathy do? She spills the beans. One would think common sense especially  when you are not sure who you should trust you do not tell one of the suspects you plans unless you are ten steps ahead of them... in which case Kathy is not.

Then there is Ralph, our drop dead sexy hero who is a asshole but you can't  help but like him. For me Ralph was the best part of the book and out of all the characters  was the only  one who actually had any character growth. He goes threw a wide range of emotions that he had to deal with and fears he couldn't  run away from. I admit i have a little crush on Ralph simply because he is hot has gray eyes and is a sexual animal.

As far as the plot is concerned...i didn't find much to it and the ending seemed like a forced and rushed happily ever  after.  I was no impressed nor was i pleased with its lack luster ending. The heroine  had no change or growth, she was still the same cry baby 20 year old we met in the beginning of the book, and Ralph seemed like some desperate  child looking for the affection his father didn't give him.

Overall this book was a disappointment and not what i expected.

Would i recommended  this....no

Rating...2/5

Fire Rising by Donna Grant

After reading the first book in this new series, darkest flame, i knew i found a new series that i couldn't  wait to get my hands on. Fire Rising  was just as good as i expected it to be. While i haven't read the books in the other series that are also involved in the dragon kings world and didn't get to know Duncan and the warriors, i didn't feel as if i was missing anything regarding Tristan's past as Duncan. In fact as his story continued i found myself more and more interested in Tristan as a dragon king rather than a warrior.

Like all series this book picked up where the first left off. And all the characters i loved from the first book, especially  Rhi and Con were back in full force. I feel like this book makes you think about normal life choices that we all have to make, such as if there was a side of your family that you didn't know about is it better if you never meet them or should you try and build that connection to them. Obviously  in a paranormal  romance its always better to make as many allies as you can. But fire rising also focuses on the topic of trust. The trust of a newbie vs the group, the trust between old friends and the secrets  that they hold. Add to that you are fighting  to save not only an entire race of dragons but also a stubborn woman who drives you insane. Makes for an entertaining  story that i couldn't  put down.

Tristan like any other shape shifting king alpha male, is a sexy, mysterious  and brooding man that you cant help but swoon over. Like all characters he has his own set of problems. Struggling with desire is a trait that all romances have in common, but i enjoyed watching Tristan  struggle with his memories and deciding if he wanted to know who he was before he was a king. His growth was a slow and natural thing that given the circumstances added to the story line.

As for his heroine, she did get on my nerves for he first few chapters with her stubbornness but soon she grew on me and i was happy that she wasn't some hopeless female. Well for the most part. But an important  part was that she was fully human and was pretty normal and not some secret agent or spy. So of course when dealing with dragons and fae there are situations that  she simply cannot handle. I like that as it gave a sense of realness to the story. Nor was she a nitwit or clueless, her stubbornness  was what usually led to her bad situations.

Of course there was a lot more going on, such as kidnappings, battles, and internal conflicts that set up for the next books which i am excited to read. Especially, Con's book. Whenever it comes out that is.

Would i recommend. .. yes

Rating....4/5