mignon mykel { reviews }: review || CHARMING THE BEAST

Friday, November 7, 2014

review || CHARMING THE BEAST

I never got into the Twilight fandom. My first brush with YA-turned-grade-A-movies was Hunger Games. I could imagine those books a heck of a lot better than the whole vampire/werewolf/mere mortal thing.

When CHARMING THE BEAST first popped up on NetGalley, I very deliberately passed on it. Like I said... I don't do vampires and werewolves.

But I like Cynthia Eden (oh, look... another review I forgot to put up here... MINE TO HAVE. And here I go, started yet another draft so I can share my thoughts on that book, which I finished by 9/17....). And every time I'd open Facebook, another author I follow would add a recommendation to read CHARMING THE BEAST...

...so I decided to go for it.

You know... I really shouldn't be surprised I liked it.

Charming the Beast by Cynthia Eden

Publisher: Hocus Pocus Publishing, LLC (10/23/2014)

Series: Purgatory, book 3

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Source: NetGalley

Buy It For Your Kindle | Nook || Goodreads

My Rating: ★★★★★

He’s a man with a beast inside…

Connor Marrok never intended to work for the Seattle Para Unit. He’s not one of the good guys—he’s a real monster, and the beast he carries doesn’t exactly play nicely. But now he finds himself being blackmailed into a new assignment. It’s supposed to be his last gig. His mission? Protect the beautiful Chloe Quick. Keep her alive. Destroy her enemies. Easy enough…until he starts to fall for Chloe.

She just wants to escape.

Chloe is tired of being a prisoner. She wants to get away from her Para Unit guard and run fast into the night. So what if Connor is the sexiest guy she’s ever met? Chloe knows trouble when she sees it, and Connor is one big, dangerous package of trouble. But, when an obsessed werewolf begins stalking Chloe, she realizes that her paranormal bodyguard may just be the one man she needs the most.

Their attraction is primal.

Every moment that Chloe and Connor spend together increases their attraction. Chloe has never felt a need so strong or a desire so dark. The beast that Chloe carries inside has always been silent, but Connor is stirring up her animal instincts. And as the danger and desire begin to twist together, Chloe wonders just how far she’d be willing to go…in order to spend one more night in Connor’s arms.

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Connect with Cynthia || goodreads | twitter | website

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Connor and Chloe's relationship is that of jailer and captor...

At least that's how Chloe sees it.

When she runs from her prison, she expects for him to find her -- and he does -- as much as she just wants to get away.

'A hard hand grabbed Chloe. She was yanked into the darkness. Pulled against a strong, muscled male body.

'"This is what happens," Connor Marrok told her, his voice a low, lethal whisper in her ear, "when you run from me. I have to deal with stupid shit like that fool out there."

'Her breath heaved from her lungs as relief swept through her. Connor wasn't there to kill her--he was the white knight. Well, a very, very tarnished white knight.'

Chloe's father has made her into something she doesn't want to be -- a prime piece for mating. As Connor describes it, her scent is that of strawberries and sex, and as such, she attracts other wolves from miles around.

Chloe fears that Connor's attraction to her was due to this scent, and now that he's 'marked' her as his... She's afraid that whatever emotion she starts feeling for him will never be truly returned.

However, Connor is a bit of a hybrid, being both part wolf and vampire -- therefore, her scent doesn't affect him. His feelings for her are true and full, and when said feelings are tested, he nearly crumbles.

I'm afraid that if I go much deeper into this review, this review will become a complete spoiler post, so I'm going to have to keep this at what it is.

Just know -- I loved this book. I will revisit this book. I've also purchased book one, and have book two on my to-purchase queue -- even though it might be a bit before that happens.

But Chloe and Connor? Thank you for bringing me into the paranormal romance world and allowing me to love it so much..!!

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

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Friday, November 7, 2014

review || CHARMING THE BEAST

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