Review: Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Nightwatchers #2

Release Date: February 26^th, 2013

Number of Pages: 440

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: eARC from NetGalley

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MY KISS CAN KILL.   

I used to be ordinary Samantha Day, but that's changed. Now, after one dark kiss from a dangerous boy, I can steal someone's soul...or their life. If I give in to the constant hunger inside me, I hurt anyone I kiss. If I don't...I hurt myself.   

Bishop is the one whose kiss I crave most, but if I kiss him, I'll kill him. Then there's another boy, one I can't hurt. One whose kiss seems to miraculously quell my hunger. They're both part of a team of angels and demons that's joined forces in my city to fight a mysterious rising darkness, an evil that threatens everyone I know and love. I just wonder if I'll be able to help Bishop-or if I'm just another part of the darkness he's sworn to destroy....   

NIGHTWATCHERS   

When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising...

Wicked Kiss is the perfect sequel to Dark Kiss. With no third book in the making as of right now, Wicked Kiss ties up some of the ends that were still loose at the end of its predecessor. Natalie might have been defeated, but the grays are still there, and worse, they are changing. We also have a new angel joining the troops, Cassandra, and two new threats are also bringing trouble to Sam, Bishop and Co. One thing I liked a lot about this sequel was how fast paced it was. No time to get bored with this book, that’s for sure. If you were hooked by Dark Kiss, this sequel won’t be any different.

One thing is for sure, Michelle Rowen isn’t afraid to kill off her characters, nor is she afraid to make them go through hell (no pun intended). Sam is still the same girl deep down that we met in Dark Kiss, but she has a lot more to deal with than before. She has to deal with her Hunger, the loss of her best friend Carly, her missing soul, and her so complicated relationship with Bishop. I can’t forget about Kraven, and his actions towards Sam, which makes things more complicated for Sam. What I loved about Wicked Kiss is the new back-story we are given about Bishop, Kraven, the other angels, and Sam’s parents. This changes what we might believe about the characters we loved and hated. It made Bishop and Kraven a lot more interesting, and it gave them more depth.

Wicked Kiss was definitely a strong sequel to Dark Kiss. I enjoyed the story Michelle Rowen created. I really appreciated that we have a great ending that gives us some kind of closure with the series. This is a fun and addicting series that will keep you hooked, and I can’t wait to read more from Michelle Rowen. The Nightwatchers series was a really great surprised, as I had no expectation when I first started it. Wicked Kiss gave us a great ending!

About the Author

From GoodReads

National bestselling author MICHELLE ROWEN writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy, both light and dark, sexy and sweet, long and short -- it all depends on the story! She's won a Holt Medallion for Best First Book and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Vampire Romance.

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Review: Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Nightwatchers #1

Release Date: May 22^nd, 2012

Number of Pages: 352

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: Bought

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I don't do dangerous.  

 Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing-and I don't know if I can get it back.  Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me....   

NIGHTWATCHERS   

When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising... 

Angel novel these days need to have a little something more to really catch the reader’s attention. After all, there have been so many of them in the last few years.  Dark Kiss gives us angels and demons working together against one kind of enemy, a soul-sucking creature. I didn’t really know what to expect with this book, but it didn’t take me long for me to get hooked into the story. Samantha’s voice captivated me. Her voice made this book stand strong on its own, despite its imperfections.

Samantha was an interesting character. I didn’t always understand her choices. She seemed to have many sides, which made her a little unpredictable by moments. That was definitely something I liked about her. Now, Sam’s love interest didn’t really sweep me off my feet. Bishop, an angel sent from Heaven was not that interesting. Their insta-love putted me off a little, almost making me hope for a love triangle. That would have spiced things up a little. There were some interesting sides to him, especially when it came down to his past with Kraven. Kraven was a lot more interesting than Bishop. He appears like a bad guy with a good side, a side he tries to hide most of the time.

I think what can make or break this story for most readers will be the main character. I do believe those who will like Sam will find this story addicting. Despites the clichés, I found this novel to be interesting and captivating. I’m really curious to see what will happen next to Sam, Bishop, and of course Kraven.

This book will please many readers, but I wouldn’t recommend it to those who can’t stand angels novels, as this book doesn’t reinvent this genre. Those who still find interest in this kind of book will find this book to be interesting. For me, Nightwatchers is a series I will continue reading. Wicked Kiss is already on my Kobo, ready to be read.

About the Author

From GoodReads

National bestselling author MICHELLE ROWEN writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy, both light and dark, sexy and sweet, long and short -- it all depends on the story! She's won a Holt Medallion for Best First Book and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Vampire Romance.

Her Website

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Blogtour: Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms #1

Release Date: December 11^th, 2012

Number of Pages: 412

Publisher: Razorbill

Source: ARC from BEA

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In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:  

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.  

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.  

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.  

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...  

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

For some books, it’s the characters that make me fall in love with the novel. For others, it is the writing. For Falling Kingdoms, it is the WORLD that made this book simply addicting. I may not be the biggest high fantasy reader (though I do read one once in a while), but this one was the most exciting one I had read in a while.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this novel is that, despite having three kingdoms, we still get a pretty good vision of them. One of the reasons we get this much knowledge of the world is the various point of vies, all of which added something really important and interesting to the novel. Yes, I was slightly lost at first, unsure where this book would take me, but this made the book that much more thrilling. It got me really excited to turn the pages and to discover what would happen next to the characters. Despite the different point of views, I did not feel like some of them were lacking. Even if the book was only 400 pages (well, 400 can be deemed short for a high fantasy like this one, as there is a world that need to be build… and because I would have taken more since it was REALLY good…) I did end up having a preference for Cleo, but it doesn’t mean I did not feel for Magnus, Lucia, Jonas and company…

The novel was a good balance of everything you could want from this kind of novel. You get some bloodshed, some romance, some family drama, and a pretty amazing world. This made me want to devour the novel, and I just kept on reading and reading until I found the next page to be blank. I read it in a matter of hours, and I was so glad to have spent the afternoon hidden in my bed with this book as my only companion.

This novel will really captive many readers, and it will bring you in a world fan of high fantasy will fast fall in love with. I’m already dying for the sequel, which will be high on my TBR list. A book I highly recommend!

About the Author:

From Goodreads

Morgan Rhodes lives in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess -- the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, reality TV, and is an extremely picky, yet voracious reader of all kinds of books. Under another pen name, she’s a national bestselling author of many paranormal novels. Falling Kingdoms is her first high fantasy.



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