Deep, Dark and Dangerous (Pocket) by Jaid Black is up first. I didn't go into this one with high hopes, having read the previous stories in her 'New Sweden' series, and I wasn't surprised by my feelings when I was done. Madalyn Simon, yet another starts-out-smart-then-turns-stupid-by-sex heroine, finds herself kidnapped with her sister by Otar on his woman-hunting expedition and has to decide whether to marry him or face the auction block and take her chances with some completely-unknown guy, also bent on breeding. My initial feeling when I started this series was 'yuck'. It hasn't changed. I don't find these in the least bit hot, just sad.
Devil's Knight (Pocket) by Lucy Blue is next, with Siobhan Lebuin fighting alongside her brother to recover her family's lands from Tristan Dumaine, whom she belives has wronged her family. This one starts off violently and keeps up the pace throughout much of the rest of the story. That, combined with the vampire aspects of the story, overshadowed anything else for me, and there were scenes so dark, I imagine there will be readers who simply put the book down and walk away. Even putting these aspects aside for a moment, Siobhan and Tristan are so hateful to one another from the start, it's impossible for me to imagine them in love, to believe in that portion of the tale even a little bit. I had higher hopes for this one, having heard good things about its predecessor. Too bad.
Until next time, happy reading!