Tag: Bound by Magick series

Guest Review: Going Under by Lauren Dane

Posted March 6, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Going Under by Lauren DaneReviewer: Tracy
Going Under by Lauren Dane
Series: Bound by Magick #3
Publisher: Berkley, Penguin
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Format: eARC
Genres: Paranormal Romance
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

 

In the wake of the Magister’s rampage, chaos rules. Left reeling, the Others and the humans scramble to create a some sort of unity in the face of growing unrest and violence from anti-Other hate groups federation—and ruthless PR guru Molly Ryan is the witch who can do it. She grew up in the human world but there’s nothing left for her there. She’s lost her PR firm, her friends and she’s decided to put all her fight toward aiding the Others in this dark, new reality. If there’s anything left for her there, she’s going to fight for it. But Gage Garrity, one of the few Others who survived the massacre, fears that the crusade will expose Molly to greater dangers than ever before.

Now, together, with magick on their side, they’re on the road in a desperate struggle to unite a torn world. From state houses to television news to legislative conference rooms across the country, they’re fighting the good fight. And it’s bringing out a passion in both of them they never expected—one as volatile, intense, and all-consuming as their relentless battle for world unity. A battle that could be their undoing…

The Magister has come and gone – been defeated by Clan Owen. Now witches are known to humans and all hell is breaking loose. Groups like PURITY are calling the paranormals “Others” and outing them on tv shows and websites. No one is safe.

Molly is a PR person with a human mother that didn’t know she was a witch until she was 13 years old. She hasn’t hidden who she is but she hasn’t broadcast it either. Now the PR company that she helped build is firing her for being a witch. She wants her job but knows there’s no way she’ll be able to go back to the way things were. After seeing a show that hosted Meriel Owen in an interview Molly decides that being the face of Clan Owen is what she needs to be. She contacts Meriel, offers her services and after a thorough background check and an interview she starts her new job in Seattle.

Immediately Molly is thrust into defending the Others from attack and humans saying that they should be killed, put in camps, tagged with GPS chips, sterilized and much more. Not all humans are saying this but the ones who don’t feel this way aren’t speaking up and being heard. It’s tough going but Molly is pretty much made of steel and works her magic on crowds around the country. She still needs a bodyguard though, especially after her first death threat. Though she’s assigned to Faine at first, Gage Garrity soon makes excuse after excuse to be the one that guards Molly. Molly and Gage become friends and then lovers but neither is looking for more. Don’t they say (whoever they are?) that things happen when you’re not even looking for them to? Yep, that’s the case here.

This book was a bit different from the other two that preceded it. I think in this story, while there was definitely a romance going on, the main part of the story was the struggle of the Others and what they have to go through to survive.

Terrible, and I mean horrible things happen to Others all over America and its heartbreaking. I have no idea what America would do if we actually found out there were witches and other paranormals all over the place but I would hope and pray that it would look nothing like it did in this book. shudders The Others try to deal with the tragedies and Molly keeps telling the Other groups (weres, vamps and witches) to hang in there but eventually even Molly realizes that by trying to talk to the people that they’re getting nowhere. They don’t want to show force but they don’t want to be thought of as weak either.

While all this is happening we see Molly and Gage who are travelling with each other whenever Molly has a speech or a meeting. They’re great together…to a point. Gage is pretty messed up from what’s happening and while both of them realize that they can be “real” with each other, be truthful and tell it like it is, Gage seems to take this a step further and at times is really quite mean to Molly when they argue. I didn’t like that about him at all and at times I wanted to crawl in the book and hit the man. The romance was a new friends to lovers story but there was nothing truly explosive about it that made me sit back and sigh. It was kind of like I knew they would have their issues but wasn’t real concerned that they might not end up together. Unfortunately this wasn’t a plus. Yes, it was nice, but the story definitely concentrated more on the plight of the Others than Molly and Gage.

I do want to see what happens next in the world that Dane has created.   Hopefully things will settle down for the Others and we’ll get another great romance like we did in the first 2 books.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Series:

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three-half-stars


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Guest Author (+ a Giveaway): Lauren Dane – Alpha Males and the People Who Love Them

Posted June 5, 2012 by Holly in Giveaways, Promotions | 35 Comments

Today Lauren Dane is back with us to celebrate yet another release. Chaos Burning, Book 2  in the Bound by Magick series, is available today!

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Alpha Males and the People Who Love Them (and keep them from being jerks) by Lauren Dane

I love to write alpha males. It’s not really a secret to anyone who’s read a few of my books, I know. But to me, an alpha male without a strong female to counter all his pushiness sometimes renders him into the “alphahole” slot. You know, he’s so bossy and controlling that he pushes the heroine around and she ends up a doormat and he’s a jerk.
So to me, it’s absolutely imperative that when I write a character like Simon Leviathian, I have to pair him up with a strong woman to soften his alphahole tendencies and keep him on the right side of the alpha spectrum.
Simon is Lycian. Lycians are from the other side of the Veil where their world is ruled by packs of men who can shift into beasts. Their beasts are giant wolves, sort of like werewolves, only larger. Anyway, Simon is not only Lycian, but he’s a prince in line to rule the pack if his father and two older brothers can’t rule. He spent five hundred years as a warrior at his father’s right hand. He is used to getting his way. Used to people obeying him.
He’s come to this side of the Veil to make his own pack in a sense. He is his own alpha, not beholden to anyone else. Not in anyone’s shadow. He’s built a successful life in Seattle when he meets Lark. He co-owns a club with Dominic Bright called Heart of Darkness. He’s a successful businessman who knows what he wants and makes it happen for himself.
But he’s not expecting Lark and he doesn’t even know at the beginning of the book that she’s what he wants.
Lark is a warrior too. She’s pretty badass as the hunter from a related clan, Gennessee and she’s in Seattle to help militarize their hunters to face the rising threat of the mages we met in Heart of Darkness.
She’s also funky, odd and dances to her own beat. On the surface, she and Simon are opposites. He’s designer suits and aged Scotch and she’s blue hair and thrift store clothes. He enjoys her a great deal. He loves how strong she is. Her sense of humor and definitely her competitive streak.
But when that friends-like develops into a far-more-than-just-friends feeling, he is old enough to know what it means. He accepts it with ease, though Lark isn’t so convinced.
There’s definite push and pull between them. He is a protector. It’s not only his personality, but he’s been bred for it. It’s who he is to the very bone. What they face is dangerous and there are many times when he’s tempted to pick her up and run for the hills with her on his back to save her from what is coming.
But he can’t. Because it’s who she is as well. Lark is a protector, a warrior and her job is to protect her people. He respects that about her more than he wants to protect her.
Not always, of course. He is an alpha male after all. And he does overstep and when he does, she pushes him right back. She does not let him control her or make her choices, though she does understand it’s part of loving a male like Simon and she respects that about him as he respects her.
It’s a delicate balance to keep. He does toss her over his shoulder a few times and she lays down the law about it. That energy between then never goes into a place where his actions are abusive. She’d never tolerate it and I’d never write a hero who wasn’t, well, heroic. Abusers aren’t heroes and neither are alphaholes.
So they have this dance of push and pull but there is always mutual respect. Her of his personality and need to protect those he cares about, and his of the same things about her. They have a rhythm that I loved writing and in the end, he’s a definite alpha male – but never an alphahole.

Lauren Dane
www.laurendane.com
https://twitter.com/#!/laurendane
http://www.facebook.com/LaurenDane

The story goes like this — Seven years ago, Lauren Dane decided to quit her job and stay home with her brand new second child. As a result, she had lots of conversations in a sing-song voice but no real outlet for adult thoughts and words. While on bed-rest with her pregnancy with the tiny monster, Lauren had plenty of down time so her husband brought home a second hand laptop and she decided to “give that writing thing a serious go.”

Lauren had no idea how fabulously wonderful it would feel to actually make a go of her writing and she’s thankful every day people actually want to read what she writes! She’s well aware of her good fortune and loves every moment of it, even when she has to edit and put Barbie’s dresses back on over and over again. She still hasn’t managed to figure out how to shut out the sound of Wizards of Waverly Place so she can write a love scene, though.

Lauren is giving away a copy of Heart of Darkness, the first book in series. For a chance to win, leave a comment telling us how you feel about alpha heroes. Contest ends: 6/9/12 @ 11:59pm. Please note: you must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible.

The series:
Book Cover Book Cover

This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: Chaos Burning by Lauren Dane

Posted June 5, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, PenguinGenres: Paranormal Romance

Tracy’s review of Chaos Burning (Bound by Magick #2) by Lauren Dane

The life of Lark Jaansen, hunter in Clan Gennessee, has been shaped by violence and unrest—and it defines her future. Well-trained and resilient, she’s met her militaristic match in Simon Leviathan, a warrior not of this world. Locked in mutual admiration, and a desire so hot it burns, Lark and Simon have something else in common: they love the dark, and as a shadow is cast over their world, they’re each coming into their own.

A mysterious war has been waged among the Others. As witches and humans turn against each other, as faes retreat in fear, and as vampires rise, Lark and Simon discover that an unseen force is behind it. A single, hungry entity older than recorded history has returned to gorge on the magick of his victims. It is the Magister, nothing less than the end of time. Finding it is Lark and Simon’s first hope. Surviving it is their last.

Lark Jaansen, who is a witch that is a hunter in the Gennessee’s Los Angeles witch clan, is in Seattle to help train the Owen clan about defensive spells and other important things. She’s not a witch who relies strictly on her magick and uses guns when necessary to take the bad guys down. She’s had a bit of an awkward relationship with her sister who is also the head hunter in LA and Lark looked at this time in Seattle as a nice away time to maybe find some focus.

When Lark arrives in Seattle she immediately meets Simon Leviathan who is runs a business with Dominic (from book 1) and is also a Lycian – a type of shifter that comes from across a Veil (an alternate universe/reality). Simon and Lark become fast friends and love spending time together while Lark does a great job of amping up the hunter section of the Owen clan. The witches are still under threat from the mages and turned witches that are kidnapping witches, weres and vampires to suck the magick from them. Nell, who is the head hunter for the Owen clan, needs to star taking it easy because of her pregnancy and Meriel, The Owen, asks Lark to step in temporarily. Lark accepts and right after that they find out that not only do they have to fear the mages but now there is an even greater threat – the Magister. The Magister is something that they were told about as kids – kind of like the boogeyman but never though actually existed. Now they have to find out what it is, how to defeat it and keep the clans across America safe from it.

In all of this Simon realizes that yes he’s friends with Lark but he wants more. She is the perfect woman for him and his human side as well as his beast side have decided that she is the one mate for them. Simon is a bit possessive and bossy but Lark is just the type of person who gives it right back to him. She’s bad-ass and doesn’t take any shit from anyone but she also has an incredibly soft and caring side to her as well that speaks to him on so many levels.

This was a great second installment in the series. I loved seeing all of the characters from book one in this story and adding Lark to the picture just amplified everything. Lark is just an awesome character she is smart and savvy and knows what she’s doing but she’s not opposed to new ideas and being questioned about things. I loved her sense of humor and when Lark and Simon would flirt it just made me smile because it was so adorable.

I was interesting to see a bit more about Simon in this book and of course learn about his family behind the Veil. Though they didn’t get too much into his past and growing up years we knew by the end of the book that his family loved him a great deal and would do anything to help. He was an honorable man and a great hunter.

The part of the story to do with the Magister was intense. Not knowing what the Magister actually was, what it was trying to do, how it would accomplish this goal and how they could defeat it had me on the edge of my seat for most of the book.

There are some surprises in this one – ones I didn’t expect but that just made the story that much better as it made it more realistic. Yes, I know this is paranormal/fantasy but the way the stories are written it could really be happening.

I will definitely be reading more in this series and can’t wait to see what happens next. If you haven’t started the series yet I recommend you do.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

The series:
Book Cover Book Cover

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane

Posted May 30, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Tracy’s review of Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane.

Meriel Owen, next in line to control the largest organization of witches in the country, is asked to investigate the owner of a notorious club reportedly siphoning magic from the font of the Clan. It’s a direct violation of the Clan Code of Conduct, but one look at Dominic Bright and Meriel’s willing to make a deal. One taste of the sexually feral outlaw witch, and she’s eager to go further: he’s her bond mate, a legal conduit into the world of Clan witches and their magic.

Playing by the rules isn’t Dominic’s style, but bonding with Meriel—night after explosive night—is. However, Meriel has unwittingly invited someone else into her world: Dominic’s mother, a dangerous and poisonously influential magic addict whose lust for death and power corrupts all she touches. Now her shadow is closing in on Meriel, her Clan, and the man Meriel loves, and it’s casting them all into the inescapable heart of darkness.

Meriel Owens is next in line to run her Clan of witches. She gets assigned to go talk to a local man who is a witch and began a nightclub but started pulling from the Own “font” which is power. Since he’s not part of the Owen clan that’s a big no-no. When Meriel meets Dominic Bright she knows immediately that he is her bond-mate. Meriel is a nice person though and doesn’t insist that he accept it right away as he grew up not even knowing about bond-mates. Meriel lets Dominic take his time and decide whether a life with Meriel is what he wants. Luckily for Meriel Dominic decides quite quickly that this is definitely the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Some bond-mates are just magickal mates and still marry others but for Meriel and Dominic it’s definitely a romantic bond. They are more than happy to explore that side of their relationship as they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other and frankly love being around the other person.

While the couple is exploring all there is to know about the other there are mages running around with “turned” witches and anti-Other hate groups to steal power and magick from other witches. Unfortunately this group which Meriel believed was just on the East coast was now in Seattle and getting closer and closer to Meriel. Dominic’s not thrilled with this at all especially when he finds out that one of the turned witches is a family member.

I’m not normally a fan of books involving witches but this was one that I really liked. Meriel was just a kick-ass witch. She wasn’t really soft even though she could still be sweet with Dominic. She knew her job with the clan and didn’t take it lightly. Dominic was infatuated with Meriel from almost the moment he laid eyes on her and that didn’t change at all throughout the book – it just go stronger. That’s pretty much how the relationship went through the whole book as they just kept getting stronger and stronger. I loved how Dominic was more than happy to learn more about spells and his magick and wasn’t cocky with thinking he knew it all. He was a great hero and was perfect for Meriel.

The mage/turned witch story line was great as well. It was done really well and was told in a way that I got a real feel for who those people were and the damage they were doing to the “real” witches. I loved the secondary characters as well with Gage and Nell who were hunters in the Clan, Nell’s husband William, Meriel’s mother Edwina and of course Dominic’s friend and business partner, Simon.

This was a great book and I can’t wait to read more books set in this world.

4.25 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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