Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Series: Abandon Trilogy #01
Format: Kindle
Pages: 320
Release Date: January 1, 2012
Publisher: Point
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

Read the back of the book

My thoughts:

I’m not going to write much about this book because really, it wasn’t very good. Most of the book meandered along with very little plot whatsoever, other than to listen to Pierce whine and give us drips and drabs of her past that for some reason has to be kept secret from us for so very long. She spends most of her time trying to avoid John, the angel/whatever, until suddenly she’s not avoiding him any longer, she’s making out with him. All of the characters are either boring or blatant stereotypes. This is supposed to be a dark retelling of the Hades & Persephone myth, but I couldn’t tell you anything about it based on this book. Needless to say, I won’t be bothering with the rest of the trilogy.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• “This was my first book from Meg and I’m already reading the sequel to Abandon now, that comes out next week – Underworld.” — Once Upon a twilight
• “Although the characters were a bit ho-hum and the first half or so of the book is a little slower paced and oddly structured, when the novel moves into its final act, things really kick up – and certainly left me hungry for the next installment.”– The Book Smugglers
• “Abandon had everything I hate in a book. Controlling, violent, abusive male. check. Submissive, passive heroine with very little common sense. Check. Insta-love. check. Mary-sue. Check. Poor plot. Check.” — Cuddlebuggery Book Blog

Back of the book:

Abby has just arrived in Summerville, Ohio, with her placid Newfoundland, Bowser. She’s reluctantly inherited her grandmother’s coffee shop, but it’s not long before she’s brewing up trouble in the form of magical baked goods and steaming up her life with an exasperating college professor.

And then there’s Daisy, a web code writer, and her hyperactive Jack Russell, Bailey. Her tightly-wound world spins out of control when she discovers the chaos within and meets a mysterious dog trainer whose teaching style is definitely hands-on.

Finally there’s Shar, professor of ancient history at Summerville College, who wakes up one morning to find her neurotic dachshund, Wolfie, snarling at an implacable god sitting at her kitchen table, the first thing in her life she hasn’t been able to footnote.

What on earth is going on in this unearthly little town? It’s up to Abby, Daisy, and Shar to find out before an ancient goddess takes over Southern Ohio, and they all end up in the apocalyptic doghouse…

My thoughts:

This was fun, but don’t start looking at it too closely. One of the things the authors did do right was manage a consistent voice, which couldn’t have been easy with three of them writing it. The different women do have their own sub-voice, but overall the tone was very consistent. Also, the dog sidekicks were rather entertaining, and it wasn’t particularly difficult to tell the difference between them.

The part that doesn’t really hold together is the mythology, from the overall goal of the ancient goddess to the fact that an ancient temple had been moved to this small town piece by piece and was now being used as a home. There were seven goddesses total, but it seemed that everyone but Abby, Daisy, and Shar didn’t really matter.

But, when push comes to shove, we don’t really read a book like this for an air-tight plot. We read them because we want something fun and sexy, and that’s exactly what we get.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• ” I read the story happily for the dogs, and they totally deserve their share of the book’s title. The dogs are marvelous. “ — Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
• “I’m all down with humor, you know, but if you’re going to make jokes out of your own characters, I’m not going to feel much empathy for them.” — Alpha Heroes
• “I actually found the love stories a little thin because there were three love stories going on at the same time. I think the authors should have focused on the struggle with the godess (sic) Kammani.” — I Read Pulp Fiction

Past reviews:

2011: Bloody Mary (J.A. Konrath)
2010: Eat This, Not That (David Zinczenko)
2009: All Night Long (Jayne Ann Krentz)
2008: Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)
2007: The 5th Horseman (James Patterson)
2006: The Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Miserable Mill (Lemony Snicket)

Back of the book:

WARRIOR, HIGHLANDER, VAMPIRE

Meet the MASTER OF ECSTASY. Darach MacKenzie is everything dark, dangerous, and delicious. His voice is a tempting slide of sin, and he’s the primitive need that lives in every woman, no matter how much she denies it. But even five hundred years of sensual knowledge haven’t prepared him for the woman who awaits him in his clan’s ancestral castle.

HAPPINESS IS HER BUSINESS

In a distant future, Blythe works for Ecstasy Inc. to make people happy. That’s her job, and she does it well. Company policy forbids the use of sensual solutions to cure unhappiness, and Blythe agrees that sex is a short-term fix. When her abilities are called into question, Blythe travels back to the Scottish Highlands of 1785 to prove that she can make anyone happy. She hasn’t counted on a centuries-old vampire for a client.

Darach believes that sexual pleasure is the key to happiness. Blythe thinks that Ecstasy Inc. has all the answers. Neither one considers love as an option. They’re about to discover how wrong they can be.

My thoughts:

Master of Ecstasy is a paranormal romance that lean towards erotica without actually being erotica. It certainly has its share of sex, but I don’t think it has anything more than a lot of other romances I’ve read. What it also has is its fair share of humor, which cuts the sexiness quite a bit. The world-building is very odd, a mixture of 1700s Scotland and the future. I’m not sure that I’ll read any more in the series. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t really hold my interest much.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• “When it comes to combining sexy situations and humor, Bangs has it nailed.” — RT Book Reviews
• “This was a great start to the Mackenzie Vampire series.” — Book Love

Past reviews:

2011: Crazy Hot (Tara Janzen)
2010: Tongue in Chic (Christina Dodd)
2009: The Stupidest Angel (Christopher Moore)
2008: Loyalty in Death (J.D. Robb)
2007: Tokyo Woes (Bruce Jay Friedman)
2006: The Surgeon (Tess Gerritsen)
2005: One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

Back of the book:

Lily Yu is a San Diego police detective investigating a series of grisly murders that appear to be the work of a werewolf. To hunt down the killer, she must infiltrate the clans. Only one man can help her–a were named Rule Turner, a prince of the lupi, whose charismatic presence disturbs Lily. Rule has his own reasons for helping the investigation–reasons he doesn’t want to share with Lily. Logic and honor demand she keep her distance, but the attraction between them is immediate and devastating-and beyond human reason. Now, in a race to fend off evil, Lily finds herself in uncharted territory, tested as never before, and at her back a man who she’s not sure she can trust ….

My thoughts:

This is pretty much your run-of-the-mill paranormal romance. Lily is human, for the most part. She does have some psychic powers. Rule is not only a werewolf, he’s the prince of the local dominant pack. Of course, sparks fly, and angst ensues.

There is one major flaw. I felt that you’re thrown into the story a bit suddenly. The book opens with the murder scene, and there you are in the middle of everything with very little world-building. It took me several chapters to feel like I had a handle on the world and its various creatures and politics. I was so confused I actually checked to make sure this was indeed the first book in the series. This meant it took me that much longer to connect with the characters.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad read, it just could have been better. I’m sure I’ll read more in the series.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• “In the hands of a less skilled writer, Tempting Danger probably would have been fairly mind numbing.” — The Romance Reader
• “I can’t wait to read the next book in the series” — Badass Book Reviews
• “This is definitely a series with great potential.” — A Book Obsession

Past reviews:

2011: The Cypress House (Michael Koryta)
2010: Little Children (Tom Perrotta)
2009: Summer (Edith Wharton)
2008: Dead Witch Walking (Kim Harrison)
2007: Between Friends (Debbie Macomber)
2006: The Rule of Four (Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason)
2005: D is for Deadbeat (Sue Grafton)

It’s a predator eat predator world for the Were-Hunters. Danger haunts any given day. There is no one to trust. No one to love. Not if they want to live…

An orphan with no clan that will claim him, Wren Tigarian grew to adulthood under the close scrutiny and mistrust of those around him. A forbidden blend of two animals—snow leopard and white tiger—Wren has never listened to anyone when there was something he wanted. Now he wants Marguerite.

Marguerite D’Aubert Goudeau is the daughter of a prominent U.S. Senator who hates the socialite life she’s forced to live. Like her mother before her, she has strong Cajun roots that her father doesn’t understand. Still, she has no choice but to try and conform to a world where she feels like an outsider. But the world of rich and powerful humans is never to meet the world of the Were-Hunters who exist side by side with them, unseen, unknown, undetected. To break this law is to call down a wrath of the highest order.

In order to have Marguerite, Wren must fight not just the humans who will never accept his animal nature, but the Were-Hunters who want him dead for endangering their world. It’s a race against time and magic without boundary that could cost Marguerite and Wren not just their lives, but their very souls…

This is your typical Dark-Hunter book, where the reluctant supernatural being falls in love with the human woman who is unsatisfied with her own life. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! I picked this up because I wanted a quick mindless read, and that’s exactly what I got. There were some interesting themes here, mostly revolving around the Were community and its politics.

I did just have a thought…. Are there any female Dark-Hunters? That would certainly make for a nice change of pace.

Other reviews:

Unleash the Night {book review} * * * « 25 Hour Books
Book Review of Unleash the Night | A Bookworms Haven
Review: Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark-Hunter #8)
Book Review – Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Geeky Blogger’s Book Blog: Book 75: Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Page count: 384 (’11 total: 19,283) | Word count: 84,362 (’11 total: 6,834,669)

2010: Broken (Karin Slaughter)
2009: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl (Belle de Jour)
2008: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Kim Harrison)
2007: Death on the Nile (Agatha Christie)
2006: The Deep (Peter Benchley)
2005: Charleston (John Jakes)