Tag: Alexis Morgan

Throwback Thursday Review: Dark Warrior Unleashed by Alexis Morgan

Posted August 9, 2018 by Casee in Reviews | 3 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Dark Warrior Unleashed by Alexis MorganReviewer: Casee
Dark Warrior Unleashed (Talions, #1) by Alexis Morgan
Series: Talions #1
Publisher: Pocket Star
Publication Date: July 29, 2008
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 334
Add It: Goodreads
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The rough and rugged Talions, sexy warriors who stop at nothing to deliver justice, star in this steamy new paranormal series from Alexis Morgan.

He's on a mission to annihilate the enemy.

A Talion enforcer, Ranulf Thorsen has served his people for a thousand years, delivering the eye-for-an-eye justice by which his kinsmen live. Weary of the centuries-long fight, the fierce warrior with icy blue eyes has secluded himself on a mountain far from the chaos of the modern world below. Now he's been summoned to face the most dangerous battle of his life -- and the fate of his people is on the line. But when he meets the beautiful woman he has sworn to defend...

Ranulf and his bitter rival, fellow Talion Sandor Kearn, must find the rogue Kyth who set a violent fire in a nightclub. The near-deadly blaze's unlikely heroine, Kerry Logan, is also a Kyth, possessing the ancient Nordic people's unique ability to manipulate human energy. She just doesn't know it yet. ...who will protect his heart?

Kerry finds more than comfort in her warrior's embrace, and Ranulf hungers to both defend and claim the petite powerhouse for his own. But with time ticking away and their lives on the line, will Kerry believe the wild tale he's telling her, and master her powers...before it's too late?

Every Thursday, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books. Enjoy!

This review was originally posted on August 13, 2008.

I am a long time fan of Alexis Morgan’s Paladin series. I’ve read the series from the beginning and really enjoyed Morgan’s world building as well as her character development. While I enjoyed this book, I didn’t love it. I think it has great potential, but there was something missing for me. I think it was that I didn’t really connect with the characters. They were just meh.

Kerry Logan has no idea how her life is going to change when she saves a club full of people from dying by fire. She’s clueless to the fact that she, and she alone, saved the lives of people that would have been otherwise dead. She does know that she will be targeted by the arsonist and doesn’t look forward to the news of her heroism getting out.

Ranulf Thorsen has been called upon by the leader of the Kyth to bring the arsonist, who is also Kyth, to justice. The Kyth are a race that feed off the energy of other people. Energy to them is like food to a normal person. They need it to survive. They don’t have to kill people to get energy, though there are those like Braden (the arsonist) who do exactly that. The energy that comes with fear and terror is dark and addictive. Ranulf strips the traitors of their energy and it has taken its toll on him over the years.

I found the idea behind the Kyth and the elite Talion warriors interesting. Needing energy to survive is fascinating when you (or I?) think about it. Kerry is a special Kyth, though. She has the ability to heal. Hence all the people that survived the club fire. Also, only someone with her abilities can lead the Kyth and they’re going to need her to step up.

The whole thing was just a little too pat for me. Kerry has no idea any paranormal elements exist, yet by the end of the book she is gung-ho to lead a race of people that she really knows nothing about. So while I think the series has potential to be as good as her Paladin series, this book isn’t as strong as it could be considering it’s the first in a new series.

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

Talions

three-half-stars

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Review: Defeat the Darkness by Alexis Morgan

Posted April 6, 2010 by Casee in Reviews | 2 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Casee‘s review of Defeat the Darkness (Paladin Series, Book 6) by Alexis Morgan.

Hard-eyed and hard-bodied, Hunter Fitzsimon isn’t what Tate Justice expected in a tenant for the apartment above her garage. Terse and intensely private, Hunter’s mission is to protect a narrow stretch of the barrier between Earth and Kalithia against the Paladins’ ruthless enemies — a job that would be much easier without his sexy landlady nosing around. So when she follows Hunter into the woods late one night, he decides to teach Tate a lesson with a passionate kiss that brings her to her knees…and unexpectedly ignites red-hot desire deep in his soul. But the warrior’s dark and dangerous world is no place for his fiery lover. Does possessing Tate mean turning his back on his brethren…or will Hunter forsake the woman of his dreams for the harsh duty he’s always known?

This is a series that tends to fall off my radar. Then when I pick a new book up, I wonder why b/c it really is a great series. I’ve enjoyed each book that I’ve read. I haven’t read the last one or two books so I knew that I missed Hunter’s backstory. Perhaps the reason I wasn’t too lost was b/c I’ve read most of the books int he series. I didn’t get that feeling you get when you know you’re missing something.

Hunter was tortured by Other warriors. I’m sure he wasn’t meant to survive, but survive he did even though it was a little worse for wear. All Hunter really knows is how to be a warrior which is seriously affected when he injures his knee. Not being able to fight on the front lines, the head of all Paladins sends him to watch over a little strip of barrier in the middle of nowhere.

Tate Justice rents her garage apartment to Hunter against her better judgment. It’s obvious that there’s something going on, but Tate goes with her instincts and agrees to let Hunter move in. She’s drawn to the big stranger that limps and feels a protectiveness for him that he really doesn’t appreciate.

After scouting around for a few days, Hunter sees signs of activity around the barrier. Instead of checking it out, he’s forced to figure out a way to divert his nosy landlady’s attention. Tate is too nosy for her own good. She thinks of Hunter as a person that needs help even though he could protect her more than your average man, even with his injury.

One thing that Alexis Morgan touched on was PTSD. It’s clear that Hunter is suffering from a rather severe case of it. The irony in the fact that he ends up befriending a Kalith warrior speaks volumes. There are times that you just hurt for Hunter b/c his struggle was so apparent.

Tate was a little too pushy for my tastes, but other than that I don’t have any major complaints about this one.

3.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here.

The series:

Book CoverBook CoverBook CoverBook CoverBook CoverBook Cover

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What I’ve Been Reading This Week & Lots of Other Stuff

Posted April 6, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 19 Comments

Hello my fellow Book Sluts! Thanks to all of you who broke free from your chains and freely admitted to being one of us. I felt my heart swell with pride at the wonderful admissions. sigh That’s good stuff right there. Now, according to the poll on the blog Ad #2 won the contest. But when I tally from the comments it would have been #3 but apparently not everyone voted and since I have no idea who voted and who didn’t I’m going to have to go with the poll and take #2 for the win, Bob.

On to other things…CELTICPIXE was the winner of the Highland Warrior Book Giveaway a couple of weeks ago but I’ve not heard from her. When I click on her account it goes to Bebo which I don’t have so unless you contact me sweetie I’ll have to pick someone else. Sorry. You can email me at redneyrae AT ca DOT rr DOT com to send me your snail mail address.

Let’s see we took the girls to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D last night. What a cute movie. I laughed and laughed. Very funny. The kids loved it and the 3D was really good. Didn’t take over the movie at all – very subtle, which I liked.

I got new glasses this week. It’s amazing what a difference such a slight change in my prescription made. I only need to wear them for driving and distance stuff like movies or tv but it’s so nice to not be blurry at all…which is about where I was with the old ones. AND I got new frames! Here’s the old (left) and the new (right). My oldest daughter had to get glasses for reading too and she picked out the cutest frames but I’ve not been able to pin her down for a photo but as soon as I do I’ll post it.

My oldests State project was due this past Monday. She got an A+ on her display board but she forgot part of her speech (I’m not sure how since she had flash cards) so it was too short and she ended up with a C on that part of it. So she got a B on the whole project which is stil A-OK with me. The display board had to have specific items on it and there had to be 10 interesting facts about the state on the tower part of it. Here’s a picture of her board…she had Kentucky. Yes, we know that Bluegrass music doesn’t have a saxaphone but she needed filler! lol

I need to apologize to those of you whose blogs I’ve not been to in a while. I don’t think I’ve done a full blog crawl in 2 weeks – it’s horrible. However I work at a church and since Holy Week is upon us I’ve been hella busy..and will continue to be until Thursday. Thank heavens I have Friday off. I’ll need lots of R & R by that time. So again, if I haven’t been to your blog in a bit don’t take it personally…I’ll get there soon, I swear!

Ok – finally on to what I’ve read this week:


I started off the week with a bang. I read Crash Into Me by Jill Sorenson. I didn’t really get the romance part of it. I just wasn’t feeling it between the h/h…but the end was wonderful and of course the rest of the book was fab. I did have the villain picked out almost immediately but it certainly didn’t stop my enjoyment of the book. So in the end: Really good book. I loved it and will definitely be reading more of her work in the future.


Enticing Elliot was the next edition in the m/m Moon Pack series by Amber Kell that I started last week. Do you ever start series and wonder why you’re still reading it after a certain amount of books? That’s how I feel with this one. There incredibly short stories but they’re not fabulous, they’re entertaining though. That doesn’t seem to stop me from reading them. IDK…they are going in alphabetical order so maybe by the time I hit H I’ll be done. lol

My TBR challenge book for the week was Show and Tell by Jasmine Haynes. I picked this one up last Sept. when I went to RAW and it’s been on my shelf ever since. I recently read a review on The Book Binge that Casee did and decided to finally pick it up. It’s the story of Trinity who caught her hubby of 6 months in the shower with another woman. She couldn’t stand to be at home so she goes to a hotel for the night. She decides to pleasure herself and the guy next door is getting horny listening to her. He decides to knock on her door and ask to watch. She lets him and it begins a phone sex/sexual affair between the two of them. This was not a bad book but I kept having to talk myself into picking it up again. I wasn’t a fan of how the relationship was run or how it began. Yes there are other things happening in the book – Trinity’s personal growth, the problems she has at work (her 1st job at age 30) and Scott’s decisions about his job that he makes but it just still felt lacking to me. This had a ton of hot sex in it but it was just an ok book for me in the end.


I read The Secret Wedding by Jo Beverley for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when the review is up.


I won The White Knight by Josh Lanyon this week on DIK so I read The Dark Horse first since TWK is a prequel/sequel to TDH. I really liked this book. There was a lot going on with the characters. Sean’s been stalked for the past year and Dan was put on detail to be his bodyguard. The stalker is supposedly now dead but he’s still “seeing” the villain and getting postcards from him. Is he going crazy? When the story begins Sean and Dan have only been together for 1 week and I found it terribly interesting to see the play between the 2 men and how they reacted to each other in such a stressful situation. I’ve just loved Josh’s writing in the past and this one proved no different. I can’t wait to read TWK.


Darkness Unknown by Alexis Morgan was my next read. I’ve read all the books in this series so far and I’m enjoying them. I’m thinking that it might have been my last book in the series though. As much as I like her writing there’s just not a lot changing and going on to pique my interest further. It was a very cute romance and it did have a new challenge involved but I don’t think it was enough for me. IDK I’ll have to see what the next one has to offer.

And last but not least a category that Barbara sent me -just cuz…isn’t she sweet? Thanks again Barbara! It was called Bound to Please by Hope Tarr and it was really cute. A young girl and boy meet at a fair one day when she’s 14 and he’s 12. He falls immediately for her and she’s pretty taken with him. They do a blood pledge that neither will marry another. Now it’s 10 years later and the girl, Brianna, is now Laird of her clan and the boy, Ewan, has been captured for crimes that his twin brother supposedly commited. But Briana just wants a baby by Ewan to end the blood feud..at least that’s what she’s telling herself. But when these two come together they realized that those innocent feeling they had 10 years earlier haven’t faded at all and were only growing stronger. I very much enjoyed the story (I had no idea that there were Blaze historicals – have I been living in a bubble? I thought they were all contemporaries) and will definitely be checking out some other books by this author.

That’s it for me for the week. If you feel like having a little fun hop over to Kris’s blog and help her write a short story. She’s given several elements to be included in a story. You pick the ones you like best and the ones with the most votes will then go to m/m author Sean Kennedy who will have two weeks to write a short story for her blog. Fun stuff Maynard.

Have a great week and Happy Reading!

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Redeemed in Darkness by Alexis Morgan

Posted December 7, 2007 by Casee in Reviews | 6 Comments

Book description:

A fiercely beautiful female leader from the Other world, Lusahn q’Arc can’t forget the Paladin warrior she met in battle — his chiseled body and piercing, thoughtful eyes still haunt her dreams. While investigating the smuggling of the mysterious blue stones used to light her shadowy world, Lusahn receives word that her missing brother, Barak, is alive — and working with the Paladins. Although angry at his betrayal, she arranges to meet him. But at the appointed time it is not Barak who arrives, but Cullen Finley — the enemy warrior who torments her memory.

Intense attraction immediately burns between Lusahn and Cullen despite their rival loyalties, and they can’t help surrendering to passion. Their time together is limited, though, for soon Cullen must return to his own world — with or without Lusahn. But when carefully laid plans go awry, together they must fight to keep their forbidden romance a secret — and keep each other alive.

I love this series. I think Morgan has done some fantastic world building here. In the first book of the series, it seemed pretty clear: The Paladins were the good guys, the Others were the bad guys. It was the sworn duty of all Paladins to fight whenever the barrier went down between worlds. It’s not long before we realize that it’s not so black and white. Not all of the Others are crazy killers. Some of them are just like the Paladins, fighting to protect their world.

Redeemed in Darkness picks up right where In Darkness Reborn left off. Cullen Finley crossed the barrier. After fighting a female warrior months before, Cullen could not get her out of his mind. When he finds out that he fought Barak’s sister, it gave him an excuse to seek her out. Not telling anyone his plan, he crosses the barrier to give her a message from Barak. Though he intended to toss it across, he couldn’t help but step into her world.

Lushan q’Arc was waiting for her brother. Though it breaks her heart, Lushan is prepared to execute him on the spot for being a traitor. The only kindness she can show him is getting it over quickly. The last person she expects to see is the warrior she fought and almost lost to. Her instincts tell her not to listen, but Lushan is attracted to the human. When he tells her why he is there, she agrees to help him.

This book was nowhere near as good as the previous three installments. First of all, Lushan was portrayed as this fierce warrior that is so dedicated to her duty in protecting her people that she planned on executing her own brother. Then Cullen comes across. As someone that has fought her, killed numerous people of her world, and who could quite possibly kill her, her reaction to Cullen was unbelieveable. It actually bordered on ridiculous.

I think what Morgan intended to do here was make is seems as though their attraction was so fierce and falling in love was so swift that Lushan could do nothing other than help Cullen. I just didn’t buy it. While Cullen had the whole “I am alpha-must bed woman now” attitude, Lushan’s flopped back and forth. She seemed so fascinating at first and I was really looking forward to learning more about her. After being a warrior for so many years, it took less than two weeks for Cullen to insert himself into her life and basically make all the decisions. I just didn’t buy it.

As in the prior books, the Paladins are still trying to discover who is luring Others’ over with the promise of freedom if they bring “blue stones”. We still didn’t find out who on Earth is trying to get their hands on the stones. We do learn that Cullen wasn’t the first human to cross the barrier.

While I intend to continue reading the series, I don’t consider it a bad thing that Morgan’s next book will be the first in a new series. Maybe a break from the Paladins is in order.

3 out of 5.

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