Review: Fury of Desire by Coreene Callahan

Title: Fury of Desire (Dragon Fury Series #4)

Author: Coreene Callhan
Publication Date: October 15, 2013
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N
Source: Purchased

No warrior of the Nightfury pack is more complicated or damaged than Wick.

Scarred from a childhood of slavery and torture, Wick cannot bear the touch of another person. But all bets are off when he meets J.J. Solares. When she is unjustly imprisoned, Wick agrees to help rescue and keep her from harm. But Wick lives a life of self-imposed isolation and venturing into the world to seek justice for J.J. may be more than he can bear.

Brutalized by the harsh reality of prison, J.J thinks she is hallucinating when a majestic dark-haired god sweeps in to save her—and Wick is shaken to his core by the attraction he feels for J.J. But neither is out of harm's way yet. When they find themselves at the center of a Dragonkind war, they are forced to make the ultimate choice—surrender to their fears or accept each other’s love.

FURY OF DESIRE is the fourth book in the Dragon Fury series by Coreene Callahan. It is a story of dragon shifters who live in packs.  The Nightfuries (the good guys) are at war with the Razorbacks (the bad guys).  Each book to date has focused on one of the guys in the pack and the female that he ends up falling in love with and mating.  In addition to the relationship between the hero and heroine, there is a continuing conflict arc that has been going on since the first book.  I do not way to say to much in case someone still hasn't read the earlier books.

So...I have mixed feelings about this book.

What I loved about the book:

Readers are introduced to the hero, Wick in the first book (Fury of Fire) and we learn that he does not typically communicate in more than a few word sentences, and consistently he is described as one scary dude.  He also has a very tight relationship with Venom (another member of the Nightfuries).  I have always been intrigued by Wick and wanted to learn more, especially since he seems to have a ton of secrets.  In the third book (Fury of Seduction), we are introduced to the heroine, Jamison Jordan Solares or J.J.  I was not surprised to see them paired together in this book and for me the relationship made sense, even if it was truly insta-love.  Additionally, I liked seeing the other guys from the previous books, and their mates.

What I wasn't so happy about:

In Fury of Seduction (book 3), I noticed a change in Callahan's writing.  Despite her books having approximately 400+ pages, there seemed to be an increasing dependence on descriptive vernacular that went on and on.  A similar style was used in the first two books but not to the same lengthy extent. Unfortunately, this made me want to skim through parts of nearly every paragraph in both Fury of Seduction and Fury of Desire.  It also resulted in Callahan not really developing her story as effectively as she could.  The side story with Ivar and the Razorbacks (which continues throughout each book) feels more diluted and less focused.  Additionally, important pieces of the story are never developed, such as how Wick's relationship with J.J. results in a significant change for Wick and Venom.  It is alluded to but never really explored.

Fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward will see striking similarities between the two series. I didn't realize this at first since I started the Dragon Fury series before reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (BDB). The Dragon Fury Series, even more so than the BDB series is extremely formulaic so if you enjoy predictability - you get it here.

Since the price of the e-book is reasonable, I will probably continue to "read" (skimming the sentences that aren't needed) the series but I wish the author had a stronger editor that could help her really develop this series.

Check out the official book trailer:

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Visit the author online at www.coreenecallahan.com, her , like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter @coreenecallahan

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You Slay Me - Review

You Slay Me (Aisling Grey: Guardian #1) by Katie MacAlister

Publication date: 07 September 2004 by Onyx

ISBN 10/13: 0451411528 | 9780451411525
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Category: Adult Urban Fantasy
Keywords: Urban fantasy, paranormal, mystery, dragons, witches, Paris
Format: Mass market paperback, eBook

Thuy's synopsis:

Aisling Grey is a down on her luck 30-something working for her uncle as a courier. Unfortunately while on a job delivering a prized artifact in Paris, Aisling finds her client murdered and herself as the main suspect. She also loses the artifact to a mysterious and sexy stranger who claims that she is a Guardian (more on that later). Suddenly thrust into a new and frightening world filled with witches, demons, dragons, and talking dogs, she must prove her innocence and get the heck out of Dodge (or Paris as the case may be) and hopefully not lose her job or get killed in the process.

Thuy's Review:

I knew I was going to have a problem with this book when, a few pages in, an airline clerk read the contents of Aisling’s passport back to her and we conveniently get her physical description. This book is definitely a case of telling, not showing, the reader what is happening. Instead of letting events unfold naturally, there are long passages where characters are explaining things to each other. Aisling also talks to herself in long, rambling monologues to explain either what’s happening in front of her or what she’s thinking. And I know this isn’t the author’s fault but my copy of the book was also riddled with typos, which made for a distracting read.

My biggest problem with the book is the main character. Aisling Grey is a Guardian. Don’t know what that is? Don’t worry - Aisling doesn’t either. In fact, she doesn’t know much of anything. She’s a total ditz who has no clue what’s going on most of the time. I don’t love dumb characters but I don’t mind them as long as they have some redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, there’s nothing endearing about Aisling and she’s more annoying that anything. As I mentioned before, she has a habit of babbling incoherently to herself and others. She is always asking questions but then either doesn’t believe or doesn’t understand the answers. She’s totally clueless most of the time and does and says many dumb things. It’s really a miracle that she manages to survive at all.

There is also a lot of very awkward dialogue in the book. I think the author was trying to go for funny and clever, but it comes across as forced and unnatural. Not everything has to be a joke, but if it is, it should at least be a good one. I also found the author’s depiction of France to be cliche and outdated. Do Americans still think that all French people are rude and snobby? Judging by this book that still seems to be the popular opinion. And the ones who weren’t cliche tourist haters were unrealistically friendly, offering to chauffeur Aisling around for cheap while telling her about Paris’ underground occult scene, and helping her with dangerous breaking and entering missions.

There were a couple of bright spots in the book. I liked Aisling’s demon dog, Jim. He probably had the funniest lines in the whole book. It was weird that everyone kept referring to Jim as “it” though. He’s clearly a male but everyone refers to him as “it” instead of “him.” Maybe all demons are supposed to be referred to as “it” but it just sounded wrong. My favorite part of the book, though, was Drake. Dark, mysterious and predatory, Drake is a real live dragon housed in a gorgeous male body. I was really intrigued by the idea of a dragon that also has a human body. I wish we could have learned a little bit more about the history of the dragon clans. Drake’s also very attracted to Aisling, for reasons I cannot fathom, and they have great chemistry. I really enjoyed the scenes that they had together, especially the sexy ones. Aisling’s dreams were h-o-t. I just wish the rest of the book had been as captivating.

As you can see, this book was not for me. I was actually quite relieved when I finished the book and was happy to be done with it. While I want to see where the relationship between Aisling and Drake goes, I will not be picking up the next book in the series.

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Visit the author online at katiemacalister.com and follow her on Twitter @katiemacalister