Book Review: Take Me Under by Rhyannon Byrd

Book Name: Take Me Under
Author: Rhyannon Byrd
UK Release Date: 2013
UK Publishers: Headline Eternal
Summary:

Ben Hudson had a thing for shy, sexy Reese Monroe from the moment he first saw her three years ago. Back then, she was married and living in Boston—two very good reasons for the Miami detective with a bad boy reputation to stay away.

But that was then…

Now Reese is divorced and moving to Florida, where her mother has rented her a small beach house—one that happens to be owned by Ben. Living right next door, he can’t get Reese’s soft curves out of his mind. He’s waited three long years to touch her in all the ways he’s been dreaming about, and this time he won’t let anything get in his way.

For Reese, Ben’s sudden advances are thrilling, but leave her stunned. With her limited experience in the bedroom, she never expects a man with such a wicked reputation to go after her. She knows she should be on guard, but he’s a temptation she can’t resist. And when trouble follows her down from Boston, threatening her life, Ben may be the only one who can help her

 

Praise for Rhyannon Byrd:

'Lip-biting sexual tension and sizzling romance.' Shayla Black

'A gift for beautiful, sensual storytelling.' Cheyenne McCray

'Raw, addictive, and blisteringly hot!' Romantic Times

Review:

 

I'm going to start off and say that I received a copy for an honest review. This does not affect my opinions.

 

The book starts off where Ben has seen Reese for the first time and he's pining for her. She looks pretty, but there's something else about her that burns his skin. And I found it to be great because we got to see the real Ben. However, three years later, he's not changed at all. I didn't see any maturing in his character.

 

In my opinion I don't think this was the best written book. It's not E L James bad, but it isn't anything great. Rhyannon was very repetitive and I think she used 'I want to fuck her long and hard' at least 15 times through out the entire novel. She also over used the word wry and I kind of felt like that was the only emotion she actually knew because it came up everywhere. And my biggest hate was the ... these came up everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE! Even in sentences when they were not needed. I think Rhyannon relied on them to add depth, but it fell flat in my opinion.

 

And sadly, Rhyannon created my biggest book pet peeve. Characters meeting and kissing in the first chapter. It doesn't feel real, I know you can say it's fiction, but who meets someone and kisses them on that night? Only someone who's drunk, and Reese was not drunk. She moved into her house.

 

That was the bad stuff about the book, but there was a few positives as well. I liked Reese's character and I felt Rhyannon knew her well, I also liked the friendship between Ben and Brit because they had banter and it worked well. The premise had so much promise, it was a shame it hit a dead end for me.

 

Overall, I gave this book a 2/5 STARS!

Book Review: Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

 
    Book Name: Dirty Magic
    Author: Jaye Wells
    UK Release Date: January 2014
    UK Publishers: Orbit Publishers
     Summary:

The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn't expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.

The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she's convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she's been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she'd never use dirty magic again.

Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never

Praise for Jaye Wells

'A fresh, magical world full of potion junkies and alchemists that promises to break new ground in paranormal thrillers.' Laurell K. Hamilton

'A sharp, high-speed paranormal thriller.' SciFiNow

'Dirty Magic is like nothing else currently happening in urban fantasy. Grim, gritty, and great.' Seanan McGuire (aka Mira Grant, author of FEED)

Review:

 

First off I must say that I was sent this from the publishers for an honest review.

 

I've never read an Urban Fantasy before, and if I am honest I was scared going into it because I knew from the summary that this was a novel that I wouldn't be all that into because detective novels are something I've always struggled with. But I really did enjoy this book.

 

 

The beginning was really hard to get into, the characters were just living normal, boring lives and it was really slow. I did think it was going to be quite fast paced and action packed from the beginning, but after a few chapters it really did pick up. New characters were introduced, and my favourite protagonist was Morales. He was witty, cocky and just a general guy you'd expect to see in a detective novel.

 

Along the way, I did start to notice that the mysteries became more predictable, however, the first twist did shock me. I had suspected another character: Either her uncle Abe or her boss. It was neither of these people though. It was a character you would least suspect.

 

Now even though I liked the book, I did not love it. There were quite a few typo's: missing words or just unusual sentence structure. And, sadly it did take away from the book. But as for a first book in a crime/urban fantasy series I really do think it got off to a good start and I am certainly looking forward to the sequel Cursed Moon. Especially since the ending of the first book was so incredible.

 

Overall, I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5 stars.