Review: Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu

HERS TO COMMAND
He looked completely out of place in Dela Reese's Beijing hotel room - like he belonged to a myth, was the tragic hero of some epic tale, exotic and poignant. He was like nothing from her world, neither his variegated hair nor his feline yellow eyes. Yet Dela had danced through the echo of his soul, and she knew this seven-foot warrior would obey.

HIS TO PROTECT
Hari had been used and abused for millennia; he was jaded, dull, tired. But upon his release from the riddle box, Hari saw new mistress was different. In Dela's eyes he saw a hidden power; himself within reach of all he had lost, of avenging those wrongs. This woman was the key. If only he dared protect, where before he had savaged; love, where before he's known hate. For Dela, he would dare all.

I love to discover fantastic new-to-me authors like I now have with Marjorie M. Liu. She was on a panel at NYCC on shapeshifters in pararoms and also signed autographs for fans and I thought to myself that I really needed to get on the ball and start reading her books. If I hadn't already had this copy of Tiger Eye at home I would have bought one as soon as I was ready to read it.

Tiger Eye is one of the best paranormal romance novels I have read in some time. It has an exotic flavor that is missing from most; the Beijing setting at the beginning lends some of that flavor but it lingers even after it switches to California. The plot moves along at the right speed so it doesn't give you any opportunity to get bored and the characters were all pretty compelling. Hari pulled at my heart with his quiet dignity and I wanted to jump in this book and tear at the Magi myself. Dela and her metal-sense was pretty darn cool; I mean, who doesn't think that chicks who know their weapons are sexy?

I am so excited to read more of Marjorie M. Liu's books and Tiger Eye was an excellent start for both of us. It is being rereleased at the end of this December by Avon Books.

A Book Review Roundup

Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James is written in James’s typical engaging style but her protagonists are utterly maddening to the point where this book almost became a wallbanger. I wanted to shake Charlotte vigorously and kick Alex in his private parts. Why in the world would James have these characters make such hideous choices? Worse than any plot of Three’s Company, the misunderstandings and assumptions made – mostly on Alex’s part – caused a disgusting amount of unnecessary heartache for everyone involved. By the end, I wanted to spit. The worst part? I want to read book two in this trilogy, Midnight Pleasures. Starring Charlotte’s good friend Sophie and Alex’s twin brother Patrick, I am confident that these two might not be so awful.


Nicole Peeler’s Tempest Rising, the first in her first series about a girl named Jane True, is a refreshing urban fantasy novel with lots of romance and has a likable heroine who is vulnerable yet resilient. Jane is introduced to the world of supernatural creatures, many of them right in her backyard. The town outcast with a painful past, Jane lives a quiet life of caring for her father and working in the town bookstore. A murder throws Jane straight into the investigation and a relationship with a vampire named Ryu. I liked Tempest Rising enough that I went out and bought book two, Tracking the Tempest, before I was halfway finished. I am curious to see what happens next between Jane and Ryu AND Jane and Anyan. Something tells me that the vampire won't be here to stay. Not for very long anyway.


Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley was an ebook I got through my nook when I saw B&N had cut the price to $2.62 (it has since gone up to 5.59). I have only read one book by Ashley - a historical romance - and I wanted to see how she handled the pararom genre. No surprise here; she handled it just fine. This was a good paranormal romance about werewolves and how they're integrated into human society with some social commentary on the side. Set in a version of our world where werewolves are "out" but not really "in," Pride Mates is about a defense lawyer who is given a murder case involving a shifter and how she gets dumped into the middle of shifter politics. She also ends up mated to one. I am mightily looking forward to the next chapter in this series, Primal Bonds, that focuses on Liam's brother Sean. He carries a big sword and knows how to use it.


In the Woods by Tana French is an unusual pick for me. A murder mystery written by an Irish woman is something that generally makes my eyes cross. That's my issue not theirs; fiction like that is too dense for me and makes me give up way too easily. In the Woods sounded promising with a cold case of the unsolved disappearance by two children from a group of three where the third was found in a wood, catatonic with no memory of what happened and blood soaked into his sneakers. This third grows up and becomes an incognito detective who catches the new murder case of a teenage girl who is found pretty much where he was twenty years prior. I loved French's style but with a frustrating ending and somewhat obvious mystery, In the Woods disappoints.

Review: Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

In a place where ecstasy can cost you your life…

She’s a demon-slayer who hungers for sensual pleasure—but fears it will always be denied her. Until Tayla Mancuso lands in a hospital run by demons in disguise, and the head doctor, Eidolon, makes her body burn with unslakable desire. But to prove her ultimate loyalty to her peers, she must betray the surgeon who saved her life.

Two lovers will dare to risk all.

Eidolon cannot resist this fiery, dangerous woman who fills him with both rage and passion. Not only is she his avowed enemy, but she could very well be the hunter who has been preying upon his people. Torn between his need for the truth and his desire to find his perfect mate before a horrific transformation claims him forever, Eidolon will dare the unthinkable—and let Tayla possess him, body and soul… (from larissaione.com/blog)

I don't remember where I first saw these books but I do remember hearing my mother's voice in my head telling me that I'm not old enough to read them. They look pretty naughty all around; with Pleasure Unbound, the first in this series, the cover, the title, the little tagline all suggest that you'll definitely get an education if you read it. That would probably be true if I hadn't been reading paranormal romances for a while now but you know what? If you manage to skip over the many sex scenes, it's a better than average book for its genre. In fact, it can hang with the big dogs like J. R. Ward, Lara Adrian, and Nalini Singh.

Obviously with a series name like Demonica, you can figure that demons are going to be pretty prominent here. There's lots of different demons, different races of demons, and that's interesting. There's also different religious beliefs here too; not all demons believe in Satan but instead worship God and yet others are atheistic. Our heroine, Tayla, is a demon slayer for an organization that considers themselves protectors of humankind. She's also got a personal vendetta against them and so when she discovers that demons are not all the slavering baby-eating types she thinks, her world gets turned upside down. She and Eidolon's, um, compatibility, makes it much more confusing. Tayla has had a pretty lousy life and she has devoted herself to the Aegis, the protector-people group, and holds on that much harder to her beliefs. Lots of angst and pain here.

Eidolon, on the other hand, is a surgeon. Trained at Harvard's med school no less and has his own preconceived notions about the Aegis and it's murderers. Saving Tayla's life was a difficult choice for him because of all he and his forty-odd brothers have suffered at the hands of the slayers. Eidolon is also facing some hard changes up ahead; he's a Seminus demon and he's reached a point in his maturity where it is time to either find a female demon who he can take as his mate forever and ever or become a serial rapist. Apparently Seminus demons are all about the nooky. Who knew? Eidolon doesn't want to lose his identity but doesn't want to be with just anyone - he wants love. He wants the HEA along with his mate and their children but is running out of time and the more he gets to know Tayla, the better she's looking to him as a woman, not just a slayer or a potential mate.

I liked both Tayla and Eidolon. I could have lived with less of the sexual innuendos from Eidolon and his brothers. I liked the hospital too; picture the tv show ER but replace everyone with demons, wargs (aka werewolves), vampires, etc. Decent plot too with lots of deception and revelations, betrayals and uncomfortable truths. I'm hoping to read the second book, Desire Unchained, very soon. Eidolon's brother, Shade, has a starring role in Desire, as well as a love-curse. Should be interesting.

I've had this book for a short while and have managed to collect the first four in the series over the last few months but what made me pick it up yesterday was something I recently saw on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Go HERE to read the article Sarah wrote about ebooks and customer service. As someone who recently bought a nook, it had me gnashing my teeth. Check out the comments and you'll see what I saw: one classy writer chick. Larissa Ione impressed me there that day and made me happy that I paid cover price for my copy of Pleasure Unbound. Larissa's fifth book in the Demonica series, Sin Undone, comes out on August 24th.