Maureen

This is my second review concerning Zoe Winters' books. I was so moved with her writing that I had to rate & review this one as well. This story involved Anna who's the new owner of a house that she knew from childhood and Luc-an incubus who's bound to the house by a curse on him from the previous owner.
The situation involving Anna-who naturally wants to be rid of a "ghost" haunting her- and Luc-who wants to be free of the house- runs the gamut from scary to a complex love story. Along the way, the various methods that Anna uses to rid herself of Luc involves an exorcism,"ghostbusters", gypsies and witches.
Since Luc is an incubus, Anna doesn't want to be his "meal ticket" or tempted by his voice that is- oh so
deeply and sensually baritoned(wonderfully performed by Chet Williamson) and the beguilingly handsome
masculine barechested vision who is only dressed in jeans- that she gets him a 'harem' of prostitutes to
keep him "well-fed and sated". Although Luc is primarily concerned with breaking the curse and thereby
his freedom-he's entralled by Anna. So much so that when he sees her being terrorized by Kane-he protects her by 'binding' her to him. He even saves her from an attempted rape by former high school classmate when he brings Anna home one night.
I thought it was a little too soon for Luc to be enamored by Anna so quickly, but since he's an incubus it
wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. It isn't until later as the story progresses that we find out why. The
methods that Anna utilizes to be rid of Luc is at times hilarious. Who would think to get a harem for an incubus just so that he "feed" off of them instead of going after you?! Luc told Anna what would free him-
but she was unwilling to either burn down the house or give her soul to him. After all the other methods failed-by which time she ultimately fell in love with him-Anna gave Luc her soul to keep them together.
I LOVED this story-it was bittersweet with a surprise ending. I LOVED Luc!!!!!

Give me Vane!!!!

I loved that the main female character was not stick-thin but close to my own body type-a size 18. I'm so tired that all the female leads are so short (5'4" or under)-what happened to 5'6" women and anyone over size 6. Full figured gals are always overlooked or in a secondary role. They aren't worthy of a look by the handsome, hunky, leading male- much less being enamored and adored over or (God forbid!) sexy! Ok I had my soapbox moment. I LOVE VANE KATTALAKIS!! We were introduced to him in Night Embrace when he was guarding Sunshine and Bride bought an art piece done by Sunshine. Vane was instantly captivated by Bride. Vane is a drop-dead gorgeous, hunk of a man(wolf). He meets Bride again in her shop and is moved by her sadness over a breakup. He wants her to be happy even though his situation is more serious(he and his brother are being hunted to death; his brother, Fang, is trapped in wolf form and is in a coma from the last attempt on their lives). Vane considers her beautiful and buys an expensive necklace to cheer her up. Vane is a were hunter, rich, handsome, muscular, hunky, magical being who loves Bride for the lovely, kind person that she is. After they have sex, they find out that they are fated to be mates-according to his laws. If Vane doesn't convince Bride in two weeks to be his mate-he will be rendered impotent until SHE dies(were-hunter law gives the female the decision to either take the male as a mate or not). He now has to 'woo' her as well as tell her about what he really is-not human like her. Vane does this while dealing with everything else in his life and he now has to protect Bride because other were hunters could smell her as Vane's mate. In effect, she is in danger because of him. I liked how Vane protected Bride whether it was other were hunters or her ex-boyfriend or HIS family.

There was the scene when they first had sex- but the most hysterical was when Bride'sfriend, Tabitha, was being told by her sister Amanda and her husband about Vane's true identity in the kitchen while Vane and Bride were in the living room. You could hear Tabitha's voice screaming "Whaddaya mean he's a dog!!"

When Bride realised how she truly felt about Vane from the fact that he would abide her decision on whether they become mates or not. Vane's care of her and the way that he got along with her family and how he fought(physically) his family when she was in danger.

Although I loved this story and Mr. Berman's narration-I felt that Bride's voice shouldn'thave been southern. I understand that it takes place in New Orleans-but that's just my opinion.

Seth-obviously! For all of the punishment & tortures that he has endured-he hasn't lost his capacity for kindness, empathy and caring for someone other than himself. He cloaked all of these emotions through his bravado and intimidation of 'ruthlessness' because he had to survive his servitude to Noir and Azura. These same characteristics are seen as 'weakness' to his master so he knows better than to have any evidence of them lest he be punished more because of it. It was a little hard to take with Seth's interaction with Noir. With all of the sadistic punishments-physical and mental character assasinations, Seth's self worth was loathsome at best. The only emotions that remained were violence and hatred. But in spite of it all- Seth wanted to be loved and cherished. Learning about his childhood-self serving bitch of a mother; who to gain favor of Seth's total bastard of a father, broke a five year old's legs and left him to die in a desert. A father who rejected him as an infant. Being sold by his foster family to indentured servitude just before his demi-god powers were starting to develop. Amongst the repeated beatings- he was also raped. NO ONE ever helped Seth through all he indured-so much that even a mere touch was sheer agony for him. Despite all that- he kept Lydia away from his master because he knew what tortures that she would be subjected to. Although Seth initially was using Lydia as a bargaining chip to trade her for the 'key ' that Solin had to bring back for Noir to overtake Olympus- he hid Lydia in his room and did't tell Noir about her. The interaction between her and Seth develops over his learning how to use a laptop. During the times that Seth was summoned to either Noir or Azura for respective tortures-he cared for Lydia with food, clothes and use of his elaborate bathroom. Seth let Lydia sleep in his bed while stayed up-mainly because he has nightmares, but also because he wanted to protect her from prowling demons. When Lydia discovers what Seth has gone through his whole life-her heart aches for him and she wants to free him from his miserable life. Despite his constant distrust in people- Seth fell in love with Lydia. Lydia recognizes how much inner strength Seth possesses and his reaction to the world when they escape Noir's realm. Lydia discovers that she is in love with Seth-she shows him that touch and tenderness can and does exist between people. I also liked Jared-who was sincerely sorry for his part in Seth's enslavement and wanted to help him despite his own tortured situation.

Acheron- his story was similar to Seth's. Also Zarek's story had some elements that were similar. Both Acheron and Zarek had to endure unending servitude to others who were sadistic in their treatment of them. Yet they still possess the innate capacity to empathize
with others and willingness to care for someone other than themselves. While they berate themselves for showing such "weaknesses" when they weren't shown the same courtesy-they do so all the same. Because it was the right thing to do. They would even protect
those whom they love with their very lives.

Ah-yes! Mr. Berman was the narrator for my favorite Sherrilyn Kenyon book - Night Play. I always liked this book in print, but when I heard it on audible.com- I was in love!!! His narration of this book made it come alive for me with excellent portrails of Vane and Bride. Mr. Berman also narrated Ms. Kenyon's other books Dream Hunter (which was my first book in print of hers), and Dream Chaser (which first introduces us to Seth). I love Mr. Berman's voice and his characterization of Ms. Kenyon's books. The accent that he uses for Seth is very compelling and sexy. When he reads the bedroom scenes-they are hot! I often find myself looking for either Mr.Berman or Holter Graham as the narrators for her books. They both put such conviction and passion into their narrations. So much so that you believe that you are not only being read to but that you are participating in the story and the male leads are talking to you. Mr. Berman and Mr. Graham could both read the phonebook to me and I would melt. Love them both!!!!!!

Yes but unfortunatley I didn't. It took me over two days to listen to this book.

It does have a happy ending-although it left me wanting to learn more about what happened to Seth, Lydia, Jared and Noir.

This short story by Mina Carter follows many of the typical romance 'formula' with a bit of not so graphic sex thrown in. Main character-Vixen is a warrior who protects her supernatural society with her fellow warriors. Vixen is the only female warrior, however, she is secretly in love with another warrior named Kalen. She was unaware that Kalen felt the same way about her as well. In spite of their warrior attitudes- they have a brief albeit hot coupling. Vixen was typically beautiful; Kalen is handsome; both had 'bad ass' attitudes. At this point it was still an ok story.
Then Vixen was kidnapped! Yes, by the typical 'evil' villian-with all of her warrior training, how did this happen? Whatever. Anyway Kalen goes to rescue her and to Ms. Carter's credit-Vixen performs well in a fight. Her character is empowered in her physical strength and hand to hand fight training. This in a lead female character is refreshing- not being frail and incapable of taking care of herself. Several things occur during the rescue that makes Kalen realise the depths of his affection for Vixen.
This is where it surprised me! I had to go back to listen to the last part again a few times.
I love, love, LOVED this story!!! Although she wasn't the best female narrator- Ms.
Flannery could work on some improvements regarding her voice. She was capably believable in performing both male and female voices-pleasantly surprising, in fact. Sometimes a narrator can make or break an audiobook because their voices (tones, depths and inflections) and acting abilities doesn't reflect the story and characters effectively. There was a reference to Vixen's warrior partner Feral-who later had a story featuring him in a following book.Ms. Carter needs to write a follow-up regarding Vixen and Kalen's lives.
All in all- I really loved this story!!!