New Releases ~ week of 05/01/2017

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas (#3 Court of Thorns and Roses)

A Piece of My Heart by Sharon Sala (#4 Blessings, Georgia)
A Purely Private Matter by Darcie Wilde (#2 Rosalind Thorne)
A Worthy Man by Jaime Reese (#5 The Men of Halfway House)
Alien Education by Gini Koch (#15 Katherine "Kitty" Katt)
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (#3 To All the Boys I've Loved Before)
Avenged by Amy Tintera (#2 Ruined)
Battle Born by Caitlin Ricci (#3 Robbie & Sam)
Borrowed Souls by Chelsea Mueller (#1 Soul Charmer)
Cold Reign by Faith Hunter (#11 Jane Yellowrock)
Count All Her Bones by April Henry (#2 Girl, Stolen)
Darkship Revenge by Sarah A Hoyt (#5 Darkship)

Dating the Undead by Juliet Lyons (#1 Undead Dating Service)
Dead and Berried by Peg Cochran (#3 Cranberry Cove Mystery)
Death and Night by Roshani Chokshi (#0.5 The Star-Touched Queen)
Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley (#2 A Writer's Apprentice Mystery)
Free Space by Sean Danker (#2 Evagardian)
Ghostal Living by Kathleen Bridge (#3 Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery)
Hard Rock Sin by Athena Wright (#3 Darkest Days)
Haven of Swans by Colleen Coble (#6 Rock Harbor)
Heat Storm by Richard Castle (#9 Nikki Heat)
Hunted by Maggie Shayne (#5 Shattered Sisters)

I Do, Or Dye Trying by Aimee Nicole Walker (#4 Curl Up and Dye Mysteries)
Just Dreaming by Kerstin Gier (#3 Silver Trilogy)
Killer Characters by Ellery Adams (#8 Books by the Bay Mystery)
Little White Lies by Robert B. Parker, Ace Atkins (#45 Spenser)
Locke and Key by Cristin Harber (#9 Titan)
Lord of Pleasure by Erica Ridley (#2 Rogues to Riches)
Love Me Again by Jaci Burton (#7 Hope)
Marry in Haste by Anne Gracie (#1 Marriage of Convenience)
Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong by Emily Brightwell (#35 Mrs Jeffries)
Murder in the Bowery by Victoria Thompson (#20 Gaslight Mysteries)
Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison (#4 Honeychurch Hall Mysteries)
Netherspace by Andrew Lane (#1 Netherspace)

Nightshade for Warning by Bailey Cattrell (#2 Enchanted Garden Mystery)
Pawn by Timothy Zahn (#1 Chronicle of the Sibyl's War)
Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen (#3 Brooklyn Bruisers)
Proving Ground by Peter Blauner (#1 Lourdes Robles)
Quest for the Golden Arrow by Carrie Jones (#2 Time Stoppers)
Quickening by Amy Lane (#5 Little Goddess)
Random Road by Thomas Kies (#1 Geneva Chase Series)
Reconciliation Day by Christopher Fowler (#31 Bibliomysteries)
Red Wolf by Jennifer Ashley (#10 Shifters Unbound)
ReV by Madeline Ashby (#3 Machine Dynasty)
Texas Fire by Gerry Bartlett (#2 Texas Heat)
The Battlemage by Taran Matharu (Summoner #3)
The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey (#2 The Girl With All the Gifts)

The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan (#2 The Trials of Apollo)
The Fallen by Eric Van Lustbader (#2 Bravo Shaw)
The Farmer's War by Elise Kova (#3 Golden Guard Trilogy)
The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller (#20 Liaden Universe)
The Graves by Pamela Wechsler (#2 Abby Endicott)
The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis (#1 Signal Airship)
The Homestead by Linda Byler (#1 Dakota)
The Song of the Dead by Carrie Patel (#3 Recoletta)
The Untamed Vampire by Kate Baxter (#4 True Vampire)
Threads of Suspicion by Dee Henderson (#2 Evie Blackwell Cold Case)
Walking on My Grave by Carolyn Hart (#26  Death On Demand)
Wedded Bliss by Celeste Bradley (#5 Worthington)

Book Review ~ Lord of The Abyss

Lord of The Abyss (Royal House of Shadows #4)

by Nalini Singh
published by Harlequin Nocturne
Released: November 22, 2011
genre: Adult, Romance, PNR,

**Originally received from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Summary (Goodreads): Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

***Book 1: Lord of The Vampires by Gena Showalter, Book 2: Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe, Book 3: Lord of The Wolfyn by Jessica Anderson.

My Thoughts: I rated this book based on it being a Harlequin couple book rather than the final book in a PNR/UF series. As a couple book I really liked and enjoyed Lily and Micah's story. I'll get into why this didn't work as a final in a series book later.
We start with the last and youngest of the King and Queen's children. Micah was sent to the abyss where he was kept in a kind of sleep/stasis until he was old enough to learn how to be the Lord of The Abyss.
Lily grew up with her father, the Blood Sorcerer, and though her mother was around she didn't know she was Lily's mother. We find out how horrible her younger years were and the things that her father did to try and break her and bring her more fully to his side. Instead she endured the beatings and other things and when she was able ran away to try and find the last one needed to defeat her father.
Due to the way both Lily and Micah were raised there was a very naive innocence to them at times and no real social skills. At one point this did cause me to pause during one of the couple parts because the way it was worded sound more childish than naive. Luckily it was just one line/part in one scene but still gave me pause.
Throughout their story I kept waiting for them to start on their way back Elden to meet up with the other three siblings and spouses to face off with the Blood Sorcerer. This is the part that did not work for me. We spent 3 3/4 books hearing about how horrible and powerful this man is and when Micah and Lily finally make it to Elden it takes them longer to cross the moat with people eating fish than it did to finish off the Blood Sorcerer. Not only was he dead within a couple of sentences it took only one person to kill him. None of the other siblings or their spouses were even needed to defeat this all powerful man that we had been lead to believe was so powerful he destroyed the King and Queen and decimated their kingdom.
As I said this completely worked as a couple book. Watching Lily and Micah grow both as people and as a couple learning how to love someone for the first time was done very well in this book. For me, this series should have been five books, four for the couples and then a final to have them all come together to save their kingdom and defeat the Blood Sorcerer.

Rating: 4 (based only on it as a couple book)

This Week's Reads

Blood Trade by Faith Hunter
Jane Yellowrock #6 (Goodreads)
**I've really been enjoying this series and cannot wait to find out how the tether between Leo and Beast messes everything up for everybody. Still ready for Rick to disappear for good but have a feeling he's still going to be around.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1 (Goodreads)
**This one's been around for a bit and I've been wanting to read it since it came out, but never got around to it. Hoping for better results than the highly rated one that I'm forcing myself to finish now.

New Releases ~ week of 04/24/2017

A Good Day to Buy by Sherry Harris (#4 Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery)

A Taste of Temptation by Heather McGovern (#3 Honeywilde)
A Time For Grief by Adrian Tchaikovsky (#2 Tales of the Apt)
Antiques Frame by Barbara Allan (#11 Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery)
Arranged by Lexi Blake (#13.5 Masters & Mercenaries)
Big City Heat by David Burnsworth (#3 Brack Pelton)
Blade Bound by Chloe Neill (#13 Chicagoland Vampires)
Celeste Files: Primal by Kristine Mason (#6 Psychic CORE)
Champion: The Graphic Novel by Marie Lu (#3 Legend: The Graphic Novel)
Darkest Hour Before Dawn by Charlie Cochet (#9 THIRDS)
Deathless by Anne Malcom (#2 The Vein Chronicles)
Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry (#9 Joe Ledger)
Donut Go Breaking My Heart by Suzanne Nelson (#5 Wish)
Eternal Reign by Melody Johnson (#3 The Night Blood Series)

Every Body on Deck by G A McKevett (#22 Savannah Reid)
Feels Like the First Time by Marina Adair (#2 Destiny Bay)
Fur Fox's Sake by Milly Taiden (#2 Shifter Undercover)
Golden Prey by John Sandford (#27 Lucas Davenport)
Grant by Beth Williamson (#4 Circle Eight - Millennium)
Grunt Hero by Weston Ochse (#3 Task Force Ombra)
Hard-Hearted Highlander by Julia London (#3 Highland Grooms)
Hideaway by Fern Michaels (#7 Godmothers)
King by Eve Langlais (#4 Space Gypsy Chronicles)
Legion by Julie Kagawa (#4 Talon Saga)
Lost Rider by Harper Sloan (#1 Coming Home)

Making Waves by Laura Moore (#1 Beach Lane)
Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead (#2 The Glittering Court)
Midnight Target by Elle Kennedy (#8 Killer Instincts)
My Defender by Alanea Alder (#8 Bewitched And Bewildered)
No Charm Intended by Mollie Cox Bryan (#2 A Cora Crafts Mystery)
No Easy Target by Iris Johansen
One Good Thing by Wendy Wax (#5 Beach)
Quanta Rewind by Lola Dodge (#4 The Shadow Ravens)
Rachel's Dream by Lisa Jones Baker (#3 Hope Chest of Dreams)
Ride Rough by Laura Kaye (#2 Raven Riders)
Seized By Seduction by Brenda Jackson (#2 Protectors)

Six Impossible Things by Elizabeth Boyle (#6 Rhymes with Love)
Snared by Jennifer Estep (#16 Elemental Assassin)
Tempted By Fate by Cynthia Eden (#6 Bad Things)
The Black Tempest by Ryan Dalton (#2 The Time Shift Trilogy)
The Darkest Night by Rick Reed (#6 Detective Jack Murphy)
The Enforcer by HelenKay Dimon (#2 Games People Play)
The Hangman by Mary Burton (#3 Forgotten Files)
The Last Good Cowboy by Kate Pearce (#3 Morgan Ranch)
The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase by Greg Cox (#2 Librarians)

The Taken by Elicia Hyder (#4 The Soul Summoner)
Though This Be Madness by Penny Richards (#2 Lilly Long Mysteries)
Too Hard to Forget by Tessa Bailey (#3 Romancing the Clarksons)
Trumpet of Death by Cynthia Riggs (#13 Victoria Trumbull)
Wicked Abyss by Kresley Cole (#18 The Immortals After Dark)
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (#5 Memoir by Lady Trent)

This Week's Reads

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver
The Demon Trapper's #1 (Goodreads)
**This has been on my tbr since it came out. Found it on the shelf when I was looking for another author and decided it was time to read. Different than the normal assassin type books but sounds like it has the same feel to it.

Paper Princess by Erin Watt
The Royals #1 (Goodreads)
**This is a little more contemporary than I usually read. Something about the description made me bring it home and give it a try. I've seen a lot of good reviews and one really bad. The bad one worries me more than all the good ones but we'll see.