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I received an ARC edition of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As the title says, this is book 2 in the Eternal Mates series and as such I recommend reading Kissed by a Dark Prince first, although this is not altogether necessary.

A lunar month has passed since the end of Book 1 and during that time Sable has been dreaming of King Thorne but keeps telling herself that she isn't interested. She is aiming to be Commander in Archangel and is determined to make the mission to help King Thorne a success - but only for career options, of course! Thorne has also been dreaming of Sable and knows that she is his fated female but is at a loss on how to proceed. During which time he is also trying to find a way to stop his kingdom from being overrun and how to improve his subjects' lives (if they survive the coming battle).

Felicity Heaton has written another fantastic series that you can lose yourself in. There are aspects of most characters that you can either relate to or admire... and trust me, I did a lot of admiring of Thorne! But with elves, werewolves, dragons and vampires there is someone there to interest everyone. And I just have to say that I love how the Vampire Erotique Theatre makes a show (another fantastic series if you haven't read it yet).

This book has everything from shapeshifters, vampires, demons (obviously) to war, battles, portals and angels. It is a book to immerse yourself in and not come up for air until you've finished it. Claimed by a Demon King is smoking hot and if Thorne is inexperienced, then all the angels in heaven won't be able to help Sable once he gets some experience under his belt! A perfect blend of innocence and pure, unadulterated male who has found his match in Sable. May the gods help Hell, because with this pair, anything is possible.

Highly recommended for all fans of Paranormal Romance and Felicity Heaton.

http://archaeolibrarianologist.blogspot.de/2014/02/claimed-by-demon-king-eternal-mates-2.html
  
Audible – audio books, original series & podcasts
Book, Entertainment
6
8.3 (48 Ratings)
App Rating
Yay to content, nay to app
I'm torn between giving this a good rating for its content and a bad rating for the app itself, which is the worst on my phone.

Audible itself, is an absolutely brilliant service for those who listen to a lot of audiobooks. For one, the collection is mammoth, much more than Kobo and Scribd. And while one credit doesn't seem like much per month for a book, the daily deals are pretty great and reasonably priced. As a result, I'm able to read two books simultaneously, as well as multitask while listening.

The app on the other hand, is the bane of my existence. While you want to look at your stats as it collects the number of hours you listen to per day, if you pause it for a second, it resets to zero. This is for Android in particular. The bugs are a serious problem, which is why I've complained to Amazon several times about this to no avail. So content yes, app itself no.
  
M(
Manic (Rook and Ronin, #2)
J.A. Huss | 2013
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Manic picks up shortly after TRAGIC leaves off. Ronin and Rook are loving their time together, and the TRAGIC campaign has wrapped up, and now we are prepping for the new STURGIS campaign. Rook quickly discovers that she is going to be part of a reality based show based on the STURGIS campaign. When she hastily signed the contract while angry at Ronin she didn't read the contract quite as closely as she thought. This is a three month contract where she ultimately has no privacy. She signed the contract so now she's obligated to do it.

The STURGIS campaign is a body art campaign. Spencer Shrike will be painting Rook's body to match the different motorcycles he is taking to Sturgis. Throughout this book you can see that Rook becomes more and more conflicted. She is constantly under the watchful eye of the reality show, and Ronin is always gone helping Clare (a former model in rehab).

Spencer, Ronin and Ford are a hard trio for Rook to juggle, and trust me, they make the story that much juicer. This book is a great follow up to TRAGIC. You get to see more of the supporting characters. I absolutely loved it.

These two books are a breath of fresh air. There is nothing else out there like them. I love the basis of the stories in these two books, and as I said before, the characters are so easy to love. The books are fast paced, easy to read, and equally as hard to put down. These are great summer reads, and I will be recommending them to everyone I know.

*** I received this book in exchange for an honest review! ***
  
I read A Note of Madness a little while ago and absolutely loved it. Flynn is a great character, and the story of his struggles with mental health is just fantastic. There can never be too much awareness, especially in boys/men.

This book was even more... emotional for me. I don't want to go into too much detail, but Flynn really reminds me of my boyfriend. The ending of this novel - while fantastic and honest - was not very comforting at all.

Jennah and Flynn started dating after the first book, and so in this book we alternate between the two narratives. Hearing Jennah's thoughts on what's happening with Flynn was amazing. I related to a lot of it.

In case you haven't heard about A Note of Madness, it's about Flynn Laukonen, a young uni student in London. He struggles with mental health problems and is misdiagnosed at first, but eventually correctly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He suffers from extreme manic episodes, followed by severe depression. Fitting his music - especially competitions - around these episodes is quite a feat.

As I mentioned earlier, the ending is great. It was extremely bittersweet. I think it's good to be honest about things like this, though, and not just throw together a stereotypical happy ending.

In this book, Flynn goes through a few treatment methods. Following attempted suicide (which may be hard for some people to read about, so be warned) he is sectioned and sent to a residential unit for a month. He also has some issues involving his medication and the side effects they cause.

The most noteworthy thing about Jennah's take on Flynn's illness is her admitting that Flynn can be horrible and can hurt her sometimes, and it's okay to recognise that. Just because he is ill does not mean he is excused for harmful and mean behaviour. This is so important for anyone to realise when dealing with a loved one with any kind of mental health problems.

A really good book, realistic and reassuring but really quite emotional. 4 stars.
  
DO
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the second book in Quinn's Rome series, but confusingly the action here takes place chronologically before the first one. The setting for this book is 69AD - the Year of the Four Emperors, so plenty of plotting and back stabbing all round.

Many of the characters in this novel did exist historically. Obviously the further back in time you go, the less information there is generally available about what actually went on, which I suppose is a good thing for the historical novelist! The novel centres around four female cousins; two sisters and their two first cousins to be precise. The sisters really did exist, although more is known about one than the other (this is clear when you have read the book and read the historical note at the end). The cousins are invented to drive the plot along; Lollia starts off almost like a WAG - seemingly a bit empty headed and marrying whoever is in favour that month, but she does develop into a more likeable, rounded character. While Diana is difficult to dislike she is a pretty flat character; she's beautiful and completely obsessed with horses and 'The Reds' chariot racing team - a bit like a football bore today I suppose! The sister-in law, Tullia, is another very one-dimensional character, probably best summed up as 'fishwife'.

Many events are based on historical fact, but there are some bits, like the cousins escaping from Rome, that seems a bit unrealistic.

Overall, I found this quite a quick (for a 400 page novel) and entertaining read, but I suspect that like Quinn's Mistress of Rome, I may well be pushed to remember any plot details in a few months time and I probably wouldn't read it again.
  
TB
The Barefoot Queen
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Finally, I have finished this book. It has taken me over a month to read it, which is a record for me.

Caridad is a Cuban slave. She is being brought to Spain by her master when he dies on the ship. After arriving in Spain she is given her freedom papers and then she has to try and find a new life for herself in a place where she knows no one. Only in Spain a few days, Caridad meets an old gypsy named Melchor. He brings Caridad home with him to be a companion for his granddaughter, Milagros. But who is she really there to be a companion for. The girls become fast friends. But no longer a slave and far from gypsy, Caridad is not sure exactly how she should or would fit in.

Follow Caridad on her journey through Spain to find all the things she never had; freedom, friends and love.

This book took a long time for me to read. There were days that I didn't even pick the book up. The story as a whole was very interesting and I know a lot more about gypsy law than I ever thought I would. Family is everything to them and they will let nothing come in the way of that. While Milagros and Melchor were welcoming to Caridad from the beginning, it took the rest of the family some time to do the same. They all learned from each other. This book spans over many years and you get to see how Caridad learns to embrace her freedom. There are lots of trials and tribulations for her along the way. How Milagros grows from a love-struck teen to an adult with a daughter to care for. Melchor on the other hand is an old gypsy who really only learned one thing.

This is a very good book with strong characters. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to read.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."