Snow Day Reading

5. 
Title: [The Darkest Secret]
Author: Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 23, 2014
Rating: ***1/2

I find a great deal of consistency throughout this genre: paranormal warriors (both men and women), epic quests unknown to the general population, often hot romance, and personal doubt that leads to new revelations.  I have a few personal qualms with elements of the genre that will probably keep me from rating the books as five-stars (the speed with which characters fall in "love," for example, or the similar speed with which they can forgive terrible actions...), but I appreciate the evenness of certain authors, and that I can rely on them to provide just the entertainment I am looking for.  Though Gena Showalter and her Lords -  keepers of the demons of Pandora's box - are not my favorite of the genre, I enjoy her character building and attempts to balance action and romance.  In The Darkest Secret Amun, keeper of Secrets, finds his voice and his place, and the idea of enemies and righteousness are explored.  This was just the entertainment I was hoping for on yet another snow day.  


6. 
Title: [Incubus Wolf]
Author: Bonnie Vanak
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 23, 2014
Rating: *

Boring, and completely unsatisfactory conclusion. 

7. 
Title: [Seduced By the Wolf]
Author: Bonnie Vanak
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 24, 2014
Rating: *

Bleh. 

Well, that's one author I won't have to bother with in the future. 

8. 
Title: [The Darkest Surrender]
Author: Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 27, 2014
Rating: ***1/2

It seems like Gena Showalter reads Kresley Cole; in The Darkest Surrender (2011), Harpies gather for battle games against other clans, engaging in challenges and conflicts only immortals could survive ... much like the Valkyries, and the yearly hunt that sets the scene for Cole's No Rest for the Wicked (2006).  The similarities don't stop there, but there is one big difference between Showalter and Cole: the former is much less interested in the rape-and-forgive plot that drives much of Immortals After Dark.  So, bonus points for that.