Taken at Dusk by C.C. Hunter

With Derek gone Kylie can finally investigate her feelings for Lucas, but that doesn't mean they can be together. With his pack, and his grandmother, both against her, their relationship will be far from easy. On top of that, animals are saving her from death, and someone is trying to kill her.

The problem I had with this book is that it's really full of non-action. I think as the third book in this series it really stalled as far as plot goes, because really nothing happens. All the development happens in the last few chapters. Kylie has really long conversations with everyone she talks to, and nothing ever comes out of them. They talk in circles about the same problems over and over again, and it gets hard to stay interested. Even the big climax is pretty bad, because all the excitement happens when Kylie isn't there, and she just rolls in later. Then the confrontation leaves her completely unscathed, and someone else dead.

I had a lot of hope for this series, and absolutely loved the first book. But at this point I'm losing interest. The little progress Kylie makes as far as finding out who she is leaves you wishing the author would just tell you already. The love triangle is annoying because Kylie ends up not being with either Lucas or Derek for most of the book, and then when she finally is with someone, she expects him to be perfect and judges him for every little thing he does wrong. Newsflash, Kylie, you were ridiculously judgmental when you first showed up, so what if he's not perfect all the time?

All in all this installment left me frustrated, and not exactly dying to read the next book in the series. I'm afraid to wait though, because I feel like I've lost all my enthusiasm, and will end up never finishing the series. Either way, I really didn't like this book in the series, which bums me out because I loved the series at the beginning. The plot is too slow, and Kylie whines too much.

Two Stars

Rosalie Williams

Taken at Dusk on Goodreads

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

The final book in the Across the Universe trilogy, Shades of Earth takes place on the distant planet once thought to be far from reach.

The series began with Amy awakening to be trapped on a space ship where corruption and secrets abound. Initially, she is told that they are fifty years from planet landing, and will be an old woman before she ever sees her parents again. Through numerous challenges and discoveries, her relationship with the future leader, Elder, strengthens and weakens. Though they clash on many ideals and even fight over the death penalty, in they end they come to love each other.

Shades of Earth was by far the best book in the series. Beth Revis did a fantastic job of describing the new planet, and the world both in space, and on the planet is colorful and intriguing. It is fantastic the way all the loose ends and mysteries from the first two books wove together to finish off the series. There is enough of a world here to write an entire new series based on the planet, and I sincerely hope she decides to do an extension series.

The first two books really established Amy and Elder as characters, but it isn't until the third book, when they are faced with the most dangerous decisions, does their character really come to fruition. As a couple they gain a lot more substance, and they no longer seem so immature.

This is definitely the best book in the series, and I enjoyed it immensely. The claustrophobia of the space ship is finally alleviated, and made the finale much more meaningful.

Four Stars

Rosalie Williams

Shades of Earth on Goodreads

Absence

Hello!

Long time no posts! I apologize immensely for my long absence from the blog and my previously quick reviews. With finals week in school and an increasing work load plus state for my debate team coming up, I've had my hands full!

Currently, I am working on three books. I'll admit that I've read a few since I last posted, and yes, they were great. My favorites, however, I plowed through so quickly that I could never have reviewed them without giving away things from the sequels, so, my apologies. As I finish the immediate books I'm reading I'll be sure to review them, and I promise to work on getting back to regular postings!

Thanks for baring with me!

What am I reading right now?

Across a Star-Swept Sea (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #2) by Diana Peterfreund

Fire (Graceling Realm, #2) by Kristin Cashore

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1) by Julie Kagawa

The Nymph King by Gena Showalter

The Nymph King is the third book in the Atlantis series by Gena Showalter. This story encompasses the tale of Valerian, the king of the Nymphs, and the third species to be addressed in the series.

Unable to resist the call of beautiful surface women, Valerian and five of his warriors use the forbidden portal to leave Atlantis and travel to the surface. Once there they round up every beautiful woman in sight—including Shaye Holling—and return to Atlantis with them. Shaye, embittered by her mother's foul treatment and many husbands throughout her young life, is resistant to love, despite the fact that she is Valerian's soul mate, as each Nymph has only one. Shaye must allow herself to love, or risk being taken from Valerian forever.

First I would like to say that the world of Atlantis is shockingly original and intriguing. The races all living together in a drowned city with only a few portals to the surface is so peculiar that it inspires the mind. All the characters are wonderfully vibrant and have their own distinct personalities. With romance series the author always runs the risk of creating characters too similar to each other. While the physical appearance of most of the males is the same (muscular and devastatingly handsome), they have very different personalities. Similarly with the women, Ms. Showalter manages to have each one embody a different kind of beauty. I very much respect that in an established romance author.

On to the characters…

I'm not going to lie, Shaye did get annoying. Of all of Gena's characters, Shaye is by far the most stubborn of all of them so far. While at first I can respect her resistance, at some point it just gets ridiculous. The first sixty pages focus solely on the time it takes to get Shaye into Atlantis, and I daresay it was highly amusing. Yet after that the majority of the book is heated conversations between Shaye and Valerian, all about Shaye rejecting him. By the end I rekindled my respect for her, but in the middle it was buried deeper than Atlantis itself.

Valerian was wonderful. Perhaps a tad bit more aggressive than the other men in Gena's stories, he is still the perfect guy. He doesn't give up on Shaye, even when she's being so annoying that even I would have slapped her. He protects her even to the point of almost dying, and gives her times to realize she loves him. He looks to please her, and does several incredibly sweet things throughout the book. I love his protectiveness, and his repentance over his previously tempestuous ways.

The sub plot of this stories I will admit I did not like very much. I've noticed in Gena's writing that she adds these when she realizes that, a) the story will be too short without them, b) there aren't enough sex scenes between the main couple or c) the plot is lagging. While the main plot of this story was fun, not much actually happened. Hence the sub plot, which honestly I ended up skipping most of those chapters because they were rather boring.

All in all I really enjoyed this book, and I do like the series. No plot is perfect, but as far as originality and entertainment go, this is a fantastic series. There is one more book left for me to read and I am excited to get around to it.

Four Stars

Yours Truly,

Rosalie

The Nymph King on Goodreads