This was brilliant. I believe that's not an overstatement. This second book in the Secret Histories series illustrates that you either like Simon R. Green or you don't. His sense of humor might turn off some readers, and some of the prose can have a repetitive aspect. I think he likes to repeat things for emphasis. I had to look this up. It's called analepsis: repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis. Yeah, Green loves analepsis. As for me, everything I love about him is showcased in this novel. His silly but clever sense of humor. His belief in heroism. His cynical viewpoint of human nature. His understanding of the way people think. His love for fairy tales, mythology, folklore. His ability to write horror in a way that really gets you in the gut. His kooky characterization. It's all here.

The intersection of fantasy and spy literature is very appealing about this book. It's clear that Green loves Bond and can also poke fun at its motifs and conventions in a way that only a Bond fan can. I like that this is a part of the story, but it doesn't stay in pastiche territory. There's a nod to it several times, but Green has something a lot more interesting to explore with this book. He even throws in a little Lovecraftianesque elements.

The story starts with Eddie trying to pull his family back together and get the Droods back on track. He gets a lot of resistance in this endeavor, but Eddie is not the type to give up. He has Molly Metcalfe, the Witch of the Woods at his side, and some help from his uncle Jack, the Armorer. The rest of the Droods are more than happy to watch Eddie fall on his face. Eddie knows what many of us had to figure out for ourselves, family complicates our lives, makes us crazy, but they're family, so you can't just walk away from them, unless you have to.

Eddie decides they need a big bad to fight, so he decides they'll take on the Loathely Ones. I can't tell you more, because so very much happens and you'd have to read it to even get it. So much goes into this one.

I listened to this on audio, and I'm so glad I did. At first I was meh about the narrator. But he won me over but good. He's British, and also talented in voicing many dialects. Each character sounds distinctive, and he even changes the cadence of the speaker. He knows how to build drama, and also inject sarcasm and pathos into the dialogue and prose.

This was awesome action, now shying away from gore, but also quite horrific at times. I think the action balance was better in this one than The Man with the Golden Torc. Green takes more time with the exposition, and that's very crucial with this story. Eddie has a lot of plotting and planning to do, and he can't make these decisions on the fly. The fantasy is solid and the ideas are all over the place, but everything comes together very nicely. I was pretty upset about one character death, and I don't think Eddie is going to take what happened lightly or let it go. Revenge is a dish best served cold. The characters are all interesting, and add something to the story. If you think a character is wasted, keep reading and wait for it.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Eddie and Molly. They challenge each other, support each other, and accept each other, which is crucial, considering who both of them are. I think Eddie would be screwed in many cases without Molly, and while she's very independent, it's clear that Eddie is very important to her.

This is a crap review and I need to recharge my laptop. I'll end it by saying I loved this book and it just makes me love Simon R. Green even more than I already do. Highly recommended.

I was in a mood to read this since I was looking for a good interracial romance. I have enjoyed this series, although it's been years since I read Boss Man. It's not perfect. The writing needs some extra tweaking. It's serviceable and a little forced at times. But it's also very charming and Cole and Lauren are a good couple. Lauren is a sweet girl. I loved her and I wanted the best for her. It's hard when people are used to seeing you a certain way and they can't get outside of that when you grow up.

Cole's a bit of an idiot and he knows he. He knows he threw away a good thing. Now he wants to convince Lauren they belong together. Lauren should have moved on, but she hasn't. She still loves Cole just as much as she always did. But she's not going to put herself in the same emotional danger zone with him. It's going to take some serious convincing on his part, if he can get his head straight and acknowledge what he really wants.

I loved seeing the couples from the first books. Fancy and Headley are friends with Lauren, but also Fancy is Cole's best friend. She is the voice of reason and gives Cole some truths he needs to hear, although he's reluctant to listen. Max and Troy are settled down and very happily married. They want to help their friend be happy too. Cole feels left out because they have families and he doesn't. Although he always thought that wasn't what he wanted anyway. He's come to realize that they have real lives and not just playboy lives. That gets old after a while. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." That's what Cole has to do.


It's true that this wasn't as good as the first two books, but it's very enjoyable. I liked seeing Lauren get the man she loved, and for Cole to realize what he wanted was something he had almost thrown away.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this. I wasn't sure I'd get into the story, with both of the characters dealing with angst at their past failed matings. It was such a great book. I don't know why I was surprised because Nalini Singh is a fantastic writer. I've tended to be more of a Psy fan for a while, and the latest books in the series that were Changeling/Changeling mating weren't my favorites. However, this book broke that negative streak for me. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Psy storyline is so prominent!

Riaz is a cool guy. He's a strong dominant, but he's also a very caring man. He comes off as being a jerk at first, but it's just him trying to deal with his soul-deep hurt. He's attracted to Adria, another dominant soldier in the SnowDancer pack. It's inconvenient and powerful. When she suggests they become lovers to deal with their need for skin to skin contact as changelings, he rebuffs her in a hurtful way. But he isn't able to stop his feelings for her.

I liked how Nalini Singh dealt with the idea of fated mates not working out like one would expect. In this case, Riaz fated mate is someone else and he can't have her. Adria chose a partner who wasn't strong enough to handle her as a dominant female. It broke her heart. She's not in a position to fall in love again. I like that she isn't going to let Riaz walk all over her. He has to earn her trust and she does continue to guard her heart because of the fact that she's not Riaz's true mate. However, their love grows naturally and deeply. It's almost as though the whole concept of fated mates is turned on its ears in this book. But it's done so well, I was happy with the result. I loved how Riaz continues to woo Adria and show his love for her.

The ongoing suspense story about the PsyNet breaking down--and Pure Psy's attempts to destroy it so that people can go back to their rigid and pure form of Silence--continues. This book follows up after Kiss of Snow and Sienna's manifestation as a powerful X-Psy, and what that means. Sienna and Hawke's relationship is still prominent in this book, but that's fine with me. I love them as a couple, and it's great to see how well things are going for them. The Arrows have their own plans in helping their people, and they form an alliance with Kaleb Krychek, a powerful Psy who has some motivations that aren't 100% clear. And there's some very good news for a past mated pair.

This storyline just continues to grow and the connection between the Psy, Changelings, and Humans becomes more rich and complicated with each book. The Humans aren't the frail, ineffectual agents in this world that one might believe. Far from it.

I'm so excited to read Kaleb, Vasic and Aden's book. When I started this book, I was mainly just reading it so I could make it to the next books, which are Psy-oriented. But I ended up enjoying this enormously.

This was a reread, but this is my first time reviewing it. I love this book. One of my old favorites. Michael is unapologetically arrogant and used to getting his way. His aggressive businessman tactics have gotten him to the top 50 wealthiest men, but he wants to be in the top ten. He's bought up sweet real estate all over New York, particularly in one area, to build his planned towers named after himself. But one building stands in his way, the Glass House. One stubborn woman refuses to sell it. He's going to have to go in person to convince her that the worst place for her to stand is in his way. He knows he can handle her, as long as he gives her something she really wants. He never expected her to be what he wanted all along.

Laura is one determined person. She might have grown up in a privileged family, but her life hasn't been easy, with self-absorbed, demanding, and immature parents. She's determined to hold onto the familial legacy her grandmother left her specifically because she'd keep it safe. And one bossy, ruthless businessman isn't going to convince her otherwise. Laura decided that she didn't want any messy love affairs since her disastrous first time, and when she settles down, it will be with a sweet, compliant, controllable man. Too bad she has the hots for a man that isn't so easily manipulated, and in fact, manages to get her to let go of her own sense of dominance over her world.


This old favorite of mine still stands up to reread. While the secondary romance between Laura's right hand woman Susan and Frank, a male model, isn't quite as dynamic as the push and pull between Laura and Michael, it's still very satisfying, an unrequited love story. You don't know if Frank has had a thing for Susan but didn't act on it for professional reasons, or if the recent events have clarified things for him and he realizes that his shallow lifestyle was a dead end one.

The spark and the attraction between Michael and Laura still sizzle after so many years. Laura is feisty and acerbic, but inside has a vulnerability that speaks to her lack of affirmation as a young girl. Michael is very much an alpha hero, and at times a bit on the edge of being a jerk. I think he retains his appeal for me (despite not being my type, not into businessmen really) because Laura can definitely handle him, and he wouldn't do well with a woman he was more accommodating. I liked that both characters realize that their life plans are based on a narrow focus with goals that aren't achievable, because human beings can't be controlled, and we can barely control ourselves most of the time. Even though Michael is the boardroom shark type who thinks he can have whatever he wants, not usually my favorite, he was very sexy and I liked that deep down he had a good heart and had his family roots which grounded him.

The POV of the new arrival to town who's supposed to be the next big face, but is morally bankrupt and calculating underneath her flawless beauty is a good counterpoint to the two romance stories. You realize that this woman can't love anyone other than herself, and the people in her life who don't know that, soon figure it out the hard way.

I read my ebook copy, which was released about a year ago. I couldn't tell if this was rewritten slightly, but I suspect it might have been. I don't remember the Harlequin American Romance books using the 'f' word or a-hole. I'm really glad that this was released as an ebook, because it was such a good wind-down from a long day to curl up in bed with my Kindle to read this.

This definitely gets five stars this time around. JR Ward wrote her own version of beauty and the beast but with some important changes. The beauty is the beast and the heroine is a 'Plain Jane' in her own eyes. I loved how hard Rhage fell for Mary. He heard her voice and dropped like a ton of bricks. His steadfast love for her throughout this book was so appealing. Mary didn't want to believe that she could have a man who loved her that way, not with all the loss in her past, and the loss sure to come. She didn't know how to live in the day. Rhage had learned the hard way to temper himself and to show self-control, and along comes the one female who makes that even harder than it's ever been.

The Beast itself was such an interesting idea to the story, and risky. I mean, you don't think of that outside of high fantasy, but it's such an integral part of Rhage's story and the way it's written sells itself. I love the Brotherhood books, always will, and it was such a treat to go back and revisit one of the early stories. I didn't really have time for a reread, but I had to do it, and boy and I am glad I did. I will end up rereading through Lover Mine, I think. Not a hardship for me, since I love those books. It was so much fun going back and seeing how the original brothers: Wrath, Rhage, Vishous, Tohr, Phury and Zsadist expand their circle. Zsadist as before got my attention and stole my heart and had me on a high as I saw the genesis of his story and where it goes (he stole the book away from poor Rhage the first go around, to be honest). Butch makes me sigh (what a guy), Vishous is so fascinating and has this wow factor, and Phury, oh my darling Phury. And let's not even talk about how much I love John Matthew. Okay, let's. I adore him so much. My heart was breaking for JM as an abandoned pre-trans. I wanted to hug him so bad. I'm glad he found the Brotherhood. My heart is wrenched thinking about all the anguish he is soon to face, but happy that he will find his mate in future books as well. I realize how much I under-appreciated Rhage. He really is a lovely guy (on the inside). What he was in the past, he's learned the hard way, wasn't the best he could be, so when Mary comes along, he grabs at her with both hands (even though he has logical fears that his curse could hurt her and keeps a distance as much as he can).

Mary, wow, what a woman. What she's gone through. First nursing her dying mother, and then herself facing an illness that robbed her of so much, even her hope and faith. When Rhage comes along, she doesn't have anything left to believe that a gorgeous guy like that could want to be with her. I had forgotten how low her confidence was in her appearance. It was hurtful to see that, but the fact that Rhage was all about her (she was it for him, sigh) really compensates for that. I can certainly understand. While most of us aren't ugly, we'd think we were on a Candid Camera show if a gorgeous guy like Rhage showed up and was intensely interested in us too. Let's be honest. So the fact that she pushes him away for a significant part of the book I felt was understandable.

The Lesser storyline has not ever been my favorite, but it feels more solid than it does later on in the series, more thought-provoking. While not my choice of villain, it works for this story. It is the bane of the vampire species and the reason why the Brotherhood exists.

I can see that these characters are real for Ward. Because she believes in them, they feel so real to me. I loved the thoughtful way she has written this story, with a lot of pop culture, but deep true things about humanity and the feelings that are universal to the human existence. Who would have thought that a story about vampires and other so-called mythical things could be so authentic. They are treasured characters to people who consider themselves Black Dagger Brotherhood fans, flaws and all. I feel like I've gone through a family album with this reread.