Book Review: Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Born of Shadows
The League #4
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pages: 418 Hardcover
Reading Level: Adult
Published: April 28th 2011
Review Source: Purchased
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) In a world where the League and its assassins rule, where betrayal and treachery are everywhere . . . the only survivors are those ones who are . . . 

BORN OF SHADOWS

For Caillen Dagan, a defiant soldier of fortune, survival isn't a right, it's a brutal daily battle. Moving through the Ichidaian universe like a wraith, his brushes with the law and death are legendary. But when an act of rare heroism reveals his hidden birthright, he's forced into a world much more dangerous and cold-hearted than the bloody streets where he was raised-one of obscene wealth and lethal politics.

Ferocious and determined, Desideria serves as an official bodyguard for her queen. Born of questionable genetics, she will do anything to prove herself worthy of the weapons she carries and the position she's won by combat. But when she uncovers a ruthless plot to assassinate the queen and overthrow her country's government, Desideria is caught in the crosshairs.

With assassination contracts out on both of them, Caillen and Desideria must learn to fight together or die alone. And if they fail, their governments will fall into the hands of an unimaginable evil.

Book # 4 of the League Series did not failed to impress, is better than expected. I am a total fan of the series.

Caillen, (a member of the powerful & secretive Sentella ) expected his life to be difficult and to find trouble in every turn but never what happened with new findings about his past and new relatives. Desideria lives in a world isolated from the outside, being trained as a guard to the Queen, her mother. She is taught from the beginning that to show some kind of weakness is a death sentence and showing any kind of feelings is considered a weakness, so she learns early on to hide any kind of feelings including and foremost to her family.

These two by a fickle act of fate are thrown together in an adventure, where the only constant is that someone is after them and trying to kill them, They soon find out that they are magnets for bad luck and that the only way to uncover who is trying to frame them and win the fight to stay alive is by mutual trust in each other . Considering the other books in the series, this one is pretty tame sexually, but with all the action and twist and turns it is enough to make it dynamic and interesting. Don’t get me wrong you still get a taste of great looking guys and exercise your imagination.

I love that we are regressing to the beginning time and to the original characters, they are all well deserving to have their own story told. My feeling is different from other series I don’t want to reach the end of the series. I want to know more, about the originals and also some of the new ones that are earning their own place in the series. This is my hope.

Book Review: Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love

Alterant
Belador #2
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love
Pages: 384 Paperback
Reading Level: Adult
Release Date: September 27th 2011
Review Source: Pocket Star Books
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indiebound

Summary: (from goodreads) From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love comes the second book in the Belador series—featuring a league of international warriors with extraordinary abilities who rise up to save mankind from supernatural terrorists.

On the heels of saving mankind from destruction at the hands of the Medb coven, Evalle attempts to convince the Tribunal that she is an Alterant who can be trusted around humans. But the gods and goddess ruling over this Tribunal twist words she’d uttered in the heat of combat and hold her responsible for three dangerous Alterants that escaped their prisons. She is given a choice to either recapture those three who will lose their freedom forever or face the same sentence. Unsure that she can condemn another Alterant to a life she’d die before accepting, Evalle takes on an impossible task only to learn that the entire future of the Beladors rides on her success—and the only person who can help her is the one who wants to gut her.

Book #2 of the Belador Series, is about our human world being protected by an honor bound group of Beladors, a supernatural species that fight against magik and other unrecognized species thought to be dangerous. Just as the 1st book , expect to be glued to your seat until done reading. This book pretty much starts at the same point the 1st one finished, for this reason it is recommended to read Blood Trinity first, to avoid being a bit lost about the characters and what this world is about.

Once again Evalle, an alterant (considered a half breed between Beladors and so far another unknown species) is put in the position to prove herself as worthy of trust and along the way prove that her race is just as worthy to be recognized, just as others and be equally treated and not considered beasts. Again, racing against time to prove to the Tribunal, and being prohibited to use the help of her friends and allies, she is forced to go to Tristan, another Alterant that she had imprisoned and seek his help. With Tristan we get more details about her species that he supplies at his pace to use as his leverage. Kizira, from the Medb again gets the upper hand to jeopardize their plight for freedom and even injects doubt about someone very close to her.

On the other hand we get a glance at how she is learning to trust and starts to peel away that wall that keeps her feelings locked away. We learn a little more about Storm, the person that has been able to get the closest to her heart strings, but not enough to disperse the mystery behind him and keep us guessing to what is next.

This is a futuristic adventure, with a little romance, treason and danger all blended in a mix that keeps teasing you mind. My only complaint is that I have to wait to read that next installment Cathbad’s Curse, leaving me with a case of Alterant withdrawal. 

Book Review: Blood Trinity

Blood Trinity
Belador #1
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love
Pages: 352 Paperback
Reading Level: Adult
Published: October 7th 2010
Review Source: Simon & Schuster
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) Atlanta has become the battlefield between human and demon. All her life, Evalle has walked the line between the two. Her origins unknown, she’s on a quest to learn more about her past and her future.

But when a demon claims a human and there’s no one else to blame, Evalle comes under fire. It’s no longer a question of learning about herself, it’s a question of survival. Through the underground of an alternate Atlanta where nothing is as it seems to the battleground of where her VIPER allies have become the force that is now hunting her, Evalle must prove her innocence or pay the ultimate price.

But proving her innocence is the least of her problems if she doesn’t stop the coming apocalypse. The clock is ticking and it’s about to become a lot hotter in Atlanta.

This the 1st Installment of the paranormal urban fantasy series The Belador. This book introduces a world where we are no longer the only ones, there are supernatural beings known as the Beladors, there are demons and also Alterants which are half breeds. Beladors are govern by a code of honor that protect humans and is enforced by deities, they fight the demons to protect the humans and Alterants are persecuted and caged because are believed to have an uncontrollable side that will attack indiscriminately. 

This installment relates to Evalle, an alterant that has sworn loyalty to the Beladors and their goddess and to be govern by their code. She is picked upon and is constantly in need to prove her innocence and that she is capable of controlling her humanity . Once again she is framed on the murder of a young girl and is given 48 hours to prove herself innocent, but that is not the only problem facing her. She is assigned a new partner to search for a stone that if found by indiscriminate parties could be the end of the human world and theirs as we know it. On top of all her problems, she has feelings for this person, that she believes is looking for a way to prove that she is dangerous, but will have no choice but to trust him with her secrets. This is not easy for her, after the wall she had built around her feelings due to the abuse and rape that she suffered from a doctor she trusted.

There isn’t a boring moment in the story, from the beginning you are immersed in constant action and lots of unexpected turns. I have great expectations for the next installment.

Read Yara's review of Blood Trinity HERE. Look out for our review of Alterant the next installment in the series soon. 

In Other Worlds Book Review

In Other Worlds
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pages: 304 pgs
Reading Level: Adult
Published: July 6th 2010

This book contains 3 stories of romance, fantasy and magic, they are quick and fun to read.

Fire and Ice: This is part of Kenyon's League series and always it leaves you with the feeling that you wish there were more books to keep reading without having to wait. Futuristic romances between two characters both physically and mentally damages but with great hearts. They heal each other physically and mentally with their love.

Knightly Dreams: The story behind this one is the concept that a book chooses it's writer before they are completely written and they finish the story. The characters in this book revel against their story and finish it differently using the power of their love.

Dragonswan: Part of the dark hunter series, even if you haven't read the series, this book is fun and magic. You get your heroine, your good looking-hot dragon and you get your fantasy love story. What more can you ask, maybe that it could have been longer,

Great book to introduce yourself to these series if you are not familiar with them.

Summary: Together for the first time in one volume...

Three dazzling stories of magic, fantasy, and romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Three of the author's most thrilling stories in one fabulous volume...

Fire and Ice 

On the run, a beautiful virgin crosses paths with a sexy ex-assassin.

Knightly Dreams 

The dashing hero of a novel comes to life.

Dragonswan 

A woman must help a shape-shifting dragon trapped between two worlds.

Book Tour: Blood Trinity Review

Blood Trinity
Belador #1
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love
Pages: 352 Paperback
Reading Level: Adult
Published: October 7th 2010
Review Source: Simon & Schuster
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) Atlanta has become the battlefield between human and demon. All her life, Evalle has walked the line between the two. Her origins unknown, she’s on a quest to learn more about her past and her future.

But when a demon claims a human and there’s no one else to blame, Evalle comes under fire. It’s no longer a question of learning about herself, it’s a question of survival. Through the underground of an alternate Atlanta where nothing is as it seems to the battleground of where her VIPER allies have become the force that is now hunting her, Evalle must prove her innocence or pay the ultimate price.

But proving her innocence is the least of her problems if she doesn’t stop the coming apocalypse. The clock is ticking and it’s about to become a lot hotter in Atlanta.

We were lucky to be invited to participate in this blog tour but due to shipping reasons several books didn't make it in time to bloggers. We still Thank Simon & Schuster for the review copies.

I'm a fan of Kenyon for a long time and I was glad to know she had a new series coming out partner up with Love. This is not your typical fantasy book at all. There is a lot of new material mixed in with the real human world. I will admit it took me a little bit to get familiar with all the new terminology and things mentioned in the story. Once you get over that, I was deep in Atlanta riding along with Evalle. Evalle is a half breed and not accepted in her Team. She is part Alterant and Belador. The Alterant side of her is what no one accepts, they fear she will shift and attack the Beladors. She has 2 members of her team she trust with her life because of a situation all 3 help each other out with in the beginning of the book. She then has to deal with her boss you can say Sen, he has it out for Evalle. She gets involved in to a few things happening at the same time, that she needs to figure out to keep her job and hide. Then we also meet 2 certain males that you can say start confusing or making Evalle loose her focus. I will say I love Evalle Strength through out the whole book! Get ready to be immersed in a book full of Demons, Half-breeds and Magik.

New Book reviews

New Series by: Sherrilyn Kenyon

The League "In Morte Veritas"

First Book in the series is: Born of Night
Pages: 539

My Stars: 4 stars

Second book in the series is: Born of Fire
Pages: 540

My Stars: 4 stars

Third book in the series: Born of Ice
Pages: 352

My Stars: 4 stars







Again Kenyon does not disappoint with a new series. if you are a Fan of her Dark-Hunter series then you will eat this series up the same. It was only going to be a trilogy but she has decided to continue with the series.

Here is description of the series:
Hell's New Heroes

In the Ichidian Universe no one was safe. People were dragged from their homes and killed in the streets- victims of a ruthless tyrant who was bent on being the sole ruler of their entire empire. Those who opposed him and his army formed an alliance called The League which fell under the leadership of the Quorum.

The Quorum realized that the best way to keep trouble from starting was to cut it off at its knees. So a separate group of soldiers was needed, The League Assassins. Highly trained and highly valued, they are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption...

Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everything and everyone- because sometimes the cure really is worse than the illness. It's kill or be killed. You're either the hunter or the prey.

But there are those who will protect you. Men and women who come from the streets and from bloodied backgrounds of survival. You just have to decide is they're better than the ones chasing you...

Or worse.

Sarcastic, loyal, highly trained and lethal, these men and women are the next generation of heroes. They know how to laugh in the face of madness and danger, and to endure the worst The League and their enemies can hurl at them.

Most of all, they know to fight and protect.

Welcome to the madness...

Next in the series I will read a Fire and Ice, found in In the other worlds anthology. Then next release will be Caillen's Story TBR soon.

Now if you have not read Kenyon before you will also want to pick up her Dark-Hunter series. You have Vamps(Dark-Hunters), Weres and Dream-Hunters to enjoy. Over 18+ books written in the Dark-Hunter Series.

and as always,
Love,Peace and Twilight!