Tag: Silhouette Nocturne

Retro Review: Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard

Posted May 24, 2017 by Holly in Reviews | 6 Comments

Retro Review: Raintree: Inferno by Linda HowardReviewer: Holly
Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard
Series: Raintree #1
Also in this series: Raintree: Sanctuary
Publisher: Silhouette
Publication Date: May 1st 2007
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

Two hundred years after the Raintree clan defeated and abandoned them on a small Caribbean Island, the Ansara wizards are rising again to take on their bitterest foes. Despite their extraordinary powers and supernatural origin, the Raintree have largely blended into the modern world. They are bankers, cops, husbands, wives and lovers in the society of humankind.

But now, from Nevada to North Carolina, the rejoined battle will measure the endurance of their people. It will test their loyalties and relationships. And it will force upon them all new lives they could barely have imagined before.

******As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.

I think about this series every now and again. I may have to go back and re-read it at some point. Just to see if my opinion of it still stands. 

This review was originally published May 14, 2007

I’ve been hearing a lot about this book the last few weeks, most of it not so good. Jane at Dear Author and Rosie both reviewed it and neither had very good things to say about it. I’ve been a LH fangirl for years now, but her last few releases, with the exception of her Blair Mallory books have left a lot to be desired, so I wasn’t too keen on reading this before I read the bad reviews. After? Yeah, so wasn’t going to touch it.

But then last week I read Tara Marie’s review and changed my mind. You see, there are some things I find I can’t stomach in a novel, and brain rape is one of them. From what Rosie and Jane said, I was under the impression there was quite a bit of that in this novel. But Tara Marie shed a bit more light on the subject and I decided to see for myself how bad it truly was.

Side Note: Spoilers below. I don’t think I can say what I truly felt about this book without them. :End Side Note

Lorna Clay has been spending a good amount of time in Dante Raintree’s casino. Normally that wouldn’t be cause for concern – quite the opposite in fact – but she never loses. Never. She’s not winning massive amounts of money at one time, but she’s walking away with enough to make Dante and his main casino dude a bit skeptical. They can’t seem to spot how she’s cheating via video, but they’re sure she is. So they drag her upstairs to “question” her and both she and Dante seem to have a rather…electric connection to one another.

Now, Dante is a Raintree, which is a psychic type of people that have been around for hundreds of years. They have a feud going on with the Ansara clan that’s lasted for centuries, and as soon as Dante figures out that Lorna has psychic abilities, he starts to wonder if she’s Ansara.

To quote Lorna about the Raintree/Ansara situation:

“You’re the weirdo equivalent of the Hatfields and the McCoys?”

She’s not. Lorna doesn’t even realize she has powers. She just thinks she’s really lucky. While in Dante’s office, a fire breaks loose in the main part of the casino, 19 floors below them. As one of Dante’s powers is the ability to control fire, he immediately heads down to help fight it, dragging Lorna along with him.

Now, this is where Jane and Rosie seemed to start having major issues with the book. I’m just going to tell you what happened. This is still relatively early in the book (the 2nd or 3rd chapter, I think) so you probably won’t be hurting yourselves if you read this part, but beware, major spoilers below:

Dante goes down to the main part of the casino to fight the fire and he can’t. He isn’t sure why – if it’s because his powers have been depleted trying to help the guests get out, or if it’s the fire itself – but he can’t get it under control. At this point, he and Lorna are pretty much surrounded by the fire. There’s no way for them to get out alive. He’s placed a protective “bubble” around them, but it’s starting to crack and he knows they don’t have much time left. Plus, the hotel that’s attached to the casino is at full capacity and he’s afraid of how many lives will be lost if the fire spreads that far.

He knows if he had another Raintree there to connect minds with he’d be able to pool their power and contain the inferno, but there’s no one but him and Lorna. That’s when he realizes – duh – she has powers and he could use them to boost his own. That’s when he “brain rapes” her by pushing himself into her mind and combining her powers with his.

I honestly don’t see what the big deal is. When weighing a situation like that, your death along with possibly hundreds of others, or forcing yourself into the mind of another for the greater good, well…I just can’t say I blame the guy. No, it wasn’t pleasant for Lorna and yes it was a gross invasion of her privacy, but he didn’t do it to find out if she was Ansara, or to purposely cause her pain. He did it to save her life. And his. And possibly hundreds of others. No big deal.

What comes next is a bit harder to swallow. He uses a mind “compulsion” to keep her from running once the fire is under control and they’re out of the building. Basically, if he tells her “Don’t move” she’s literally stuck in one spot. Because he’s not convinced of her innocence – in either the gambling or the fire – he binds her to him and forces her to remain against her will. At one point he even orders her to silence.

I had a hard time with this. Perhaps it’s because I’m a fairly independent woman and I would hate to have all control of myself taken away. Or perhaps that has nothing to do with being independent or a woman, but simply a human being. In any case, the next chapter or so was hard for me to get through. The way Dante pretty much forced her home with him and then checked her out to see if she was Ansara left a bad taste in my mouth.

But I persisted and you know…I ended up really liking the book. Really liking it. I can’t say it’s LH’s best work, but it more closely resembled the classic LH I fell in love with than anything else she’s produced in recent years.

Lorna was a fabulous heroine. She suffered numerous shocks in a short period of time, but rather than bowing under them, she kept her chin up and her sense of humor. She was sassy and sarcastic, and though I thought she forgave Dante a little too soon for his mind control of her, her reasons for doing so made a lot of sense.

As for Dante, he was a typical Howard Alpha and I thought he was great for what he was. For those of you who enjoyed some of her earlier category type books and works like Dream Man, you should enjoy him.

The ending was a major cliffhanger, but the relationship aspect of the story was all wrapped up. Since this is the first of a trilogy, I wasn’t too upset with the ending. I am annoyed that I have to wait for the next 2 installments, but otherwise? I highly enjoyed it. Well, once I got over being pissed at Dante, that is.

I’m giving this a 3.5 out of 5.

I’m not sure how I feel about the whole 3 author trilogy, though. Having never read the other 2 authors, I can’t say for sure how excited I am to read them. On the other hand, I am anxious to see what happens next, so I’m sure I’ll purchase them.

The series is as follows:

Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard
Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (to be released June 1, 2007)
Raintree: Sanctuary by Beverly Barton (to be released July 1, 2007)

This book is available from Silhouette Nocturne. You can purchase it here.

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: Scions: Resurrection by Patrice Michelle

Posted January 17, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance


Melissa‘s guest review of Scions: Resurrection by Patrice Michelle. The first book in her Scions trilogy.

EVERYONE BELIEVED VAMPIRES WERE EXTINCT. EVERYONE WAS WRONG.

When Ariel Swanson wrote a novel about vampires, she hoped it would exorcise her fear of the creatures that had, not so long ago, terrorized the human population.

Instead, it brought her to their attention.

And to the attention of Jachin Black-a man banished from the Saguinas, a vampire pack, and forced to hunt among the despised humans. For he clung to the prophecy given years ago, of a better way for his kind to live-a prophecy Ariel unknowingly used as the basis of her novel.

Ariel hates and fears vampires. Jachin despises humanity. But the prophecy-and passion-binds them in ways they could never have imagined. Ways that may heal past, and change the future….

A little romance, government conspiracy, vampires, werewolves, and tons of action.

The part that caught most of my attention is that the government created vampires to fight biological warfare. Can we say bad idea? USMC wife here, yeah, I could totally see some dumb-ass government official doing that.

Anyway. Jachin, is banished from his vampire pack, the Sanguinas. He wronged the head vampire, Braeden…girl trouble. So for the last 10 years he has been a paid assassin. The Sanguinas are not surviving, human blood has become toxic to them. By banishing Jachin, they believed they were giving him a death sentence. Jachin, tired of surviving on his own and wanting to see his race survive, figures the cute little author, Ariel, will be his ticket back into the pack.

Jachin is doing his best to ignore his attraction to Ariel, she is meant for Braeden. But there is nothing like a (or multiple) life or death situation to light the sparks. The Sanquinas want her bad to fulfill the prophecy, so all the bad guys are after her. Ariel is terrified of vampires, they murdered her whole family. But fights the whole way, not only for her life, she fights the growing attraction to Jachin. The plot, very simple, easy to follow…Boy abducts girl, they fall in love, live happily ever after. The prophecy, still unfulfilled, is suppose to unite humans, vamps and weres. Hmm, interesting thought, considering humans made vampires to do their dirty work, and vampires made werewolves to hunt for fun??!! Even though I wasn’t all that impressed with the book, I am interested in book two, to see how we all live in harmony.

I can’t exactly say what I didn’t like about the book. Maybe it was just a little to far out there for my historical preference.

3.0 out of 5

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


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Book Watch: The Avenger by P.C. Cast

Posted July 20, 2010 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

I think the premise behind this series sounds really interesting. It was released with Harlequin Nocturne last October, but it was released with Mills and Boon Nocturne for the first time on July 12th.

For the first time, P.C. Cast brings her unique brand of paranormal passion to Mills & Boon Nocturne as part of a thrilling new quartet, steeped in mystical powers, intrigue and passion.

Enter the world of The Avenger as the Time Raiders continue their desperate quest for the key to peace… by casting another of their own into the dangerous unknown – with passionate results!

Alexandra Patton is no ordinary woman. A military secret agent and reluctant psychic, Alex never felt like she fitted in. Until, that is, the Time Raiders project sends her back to 60 AD Briton – a world where she can barely understand the accents, let alone its culture of brutality and superstition, but where at last she can use her skills as a psychic to help solve an ancient crime.

Arriving in Britain just as Queen Boudicca is rallying her army to battle, Alex must find the Roman Centurion who has stolen the Queen’s Torque and will ultimately be responsible for her death. Knowing that she can’t change history, Alex must try to find the Torque before everyone around her is dead. But as all those who know of its whereabouts are being brutally murdered, Alex must summon the dead to find out where the Torque has been taken. Disguised as a High Priestess, Alex befriends Caradoc, a local Druid who teaches her how to harness her psychic skills. The two soon become inseparable in their quest to protect history and love soon follows.

Torn between duty and love can Alex carry out her secret mission and return to her own world, or will she give in to the burning passion that has awakened her soul and risk everything to begin anew in this strange and mystical land?

Doesn’t that sound interesting? I’m not much for vamps or weres, but I really love the psychic paranormals. The setting really appeals to me, too.

Here’s an interview with P.C. where she talks about the series:


Have any of you read this? Do you want to?

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


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Review: Scions: Resurrection by Patrice Michelle

Posted April 21, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Scions: Resurrection by Patrice MichelleReviewer: Holly
Scions: Resurrection by Patrice Michelle
Series: Scions #1
Publisher: Silhouette
Publication Date: January 1st 2008
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Everyone believed vampires were extinct. Everyone was wrong.
When Ariel Swanson wrote a novel about vampires, she hoped it would exorcise her fear of the creatures that had, not so long ago, terrorized the human population.
Instead, it brought her to their attention.
And to the attention of Jachin Black—a man banished from the Saguinas, a vampire pack, and forced to hunt among the despised humans. For he clung to the prophecy given years ago, of a better way for his kind to live—a prophecy Ariel unknowingly used as the basis of her novel.
Ariel hates and fears vampires. Jachin despises humanity. But the prophecy—and passion—binds them in ways they could never have imagined. Ways that may heal the past, and change the future.…

It took me almost a month to read this book. Can you believe that? And the worst part about is it had nothing to do with the book itself, but whatever weird reading funk I was in.

I think Scions: Resurrection started off kind of slow. It took me a good 40 pages or so to get into it, but once I did I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of action and adventure, and it was really fast paced. Unfortunately, I think that worked against the romance element.

Ariel hates and fears vampires because they murdered her family. So as a form of therapy, she writes a novel about vampires, depicting them not as the bloodsucking villains she knows them to be, but as a race struggling to fulfill a prophecy so they can live a better life. What she doesn’t realize, however, is that the prophecy she thinks she made up is in fact real, and one the vampires of the world think she’s the key to.

Even though Jachin was baned from his clan 10 years ago, he still believes in the prophecy and knows if they can fulfill it his race will finally begin to heal and find peace. So when he realizes Ariel is the key to the prophecy he knows he needs to bring her to Braeden, the leader of his clan. Only there are few small problems with this. First, Jachin isn’t the only vampire who wants to bring Ariel in, only the others aren’t willing to be as kind about it. Second, Jachin is attracted to Ariel and wants her for himself. But the biggest problem of them all? Ariel’s blood doesn’t poison Jachin. And it’s been a long time since he’s had pure human blood.

I think this book read like a fun, fast paced Sci-fi adventure I’d find on t.v. There were explosions, vampires, werewolves, a prophecy, action, adventure, and a little romance. The problem? I think there was just a bit too much going on.

I don’t think the characters were fleshed out quite enough. Though I enjoyed them, I never really connected with them. I also think they were somewhat contradictory. Take Ariel for example: She’s terrified of vampires, but within a few hours of meeting (read: being kidnapped by) Jachin, she’s already attracted to him and considers that he’s probably worthy of her trust. As the story progresses, she continues to trust Jachin, but not any other vampire. Which makes sense to a point, since they were bad vamps and not too worried about not hurting her. Still, the way she just flipped around and did a 180 in her feelings about vampires didn’t make much sense to me. Especially since she continued – in her internal monologues – to profess her belief that all vamps were monsters and evil and blah blah blah. Yet her actions clearly didn’t convey that. Jachin also seemed contradictory, constantly wanting Ariel but determined to give her to someone else. I don’t even think he liked her half the time.

Toward the middle of the story, however, I think things evened out and I was drawn to the story despite my issues with the characters. Ms. Michelle really put a new twist on the vampire mythology that I enjoyed. The idea that our government created them to be weapons against biological warfare and then abandoned them when they couldn’t be controlled isn’t all that far fetched. And vamps creating werewolves so they’d have something to hunt for sport? Interesting and different.

As I mentioned before, the action is well done and the background relationships are interesting. I’m especially curious about Landon, the werewolf Jachin interacts with (I believe his book is next in the series).

Overall, the plot was interesting, the action well written, but the romance and character depth somewhat lacking. I am anxious to read the next book in the series however, so I’m going to give it:

3.75 out of 5

The series is as follows:

Scions: Resurrection
Scions: Insurrection (Available May 1st)
Scions: Revelation (TBA)
This book is available from Silhouette Nocturne. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

three-half-stars


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