I know. I'm surprised too. My feelings about the Caster Chronicles series that spawned this new Dangerous Creatures series were mixed, and I never got around to finishing the previous series after seeing some spoilers for the end of book 4. I was unsure whether or not to try the spin-off books, until I saw that there was a prequel short story offering, and figured that I could spare a few minutes of my time. 

This prequel was pretty much all Ridley and Link, which hooked me instantly. I never fully got on the Ethan and Lena bandwagon with the last series, but was always a big R&L fan. 

Link is the offbeat stoner-type kid who makes fun of his best friend for being "whipped."

Ridley is the siren who uses her sexuality to bring all the men to their knees, including Link.

What trouble are these two going to get in to next? My guess is that it's going to be trouble of epic proportions.

So the big question is this : Can you read Dangerous Dream if you haven't read Caster Chronicles? I would hesitantly say yes, you can. It might take you until about 50% in to start to get a handle on what's going on (but it's a short story, so 50% is really only a few minutes). I don't know if you'll completely understand just how awesome Link and Ridley are if you haven't gotten to know them before now, but by the time you get to the club scene and find yourself immersed in Ridley's predicament, you will probably get a feel for whether or not you'll like where this story is going. If you'd really like to know more about the world background and difference between light and dark casters, but don't want to have to read through 4 books of Caster Chronicles, you could always rent the movie Beautiful Creatures for a quick crash course and introduction of the characters, even though R&L are side characters in that movie.

If things keep going as they are, I have the feeling that this series is going to be a big hit with me, and I'll end up liking it more than I did Caster Chronicles.

Troublemakers always make for more interesting stories. Link and Ridley have never marched to the beat of the traditional drum, so I look forward to what's up next. 

A free copy of this story was provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Magical vag strikes again.

Fion. Lancelot. Arthur. Mordred. Spin the wheel of fortune, and hope you pick the right man. I probably would have taken Fion right off the bat and would have never gotten a chance to meet the others because I thought he was pretty awesome. The very first guy who takes an interest is a hot, nice, witty guy with an accent, who is also a king? Sold. Story over.

Actually, since Gwen didn't sleep with all of the men, she must have a magical aura instead. 

Spoilers ahead. Yes, I mean it. This time, I'm not going spoiler free. I notice that I tend to want to post spoilers when something is bothering me and I need to write it down for my own sanity, hah. Please don't read on if you don't want the book spoiled. 

Queen of Camelot would have been a solid 4 but there's one thing I can't get over. WTF was up with that foreshadowing prologue? The way it tied in with the end...uh...yeah. 

Gwen had a few moments which made me scratch my head. The reasoning of hers that it was okay to kiss Lancelot on the lips as long as Arthur was around hurt my brain. And don't get me started on the "we're almost about to die" scene where she missed a big opportunity. For the sake of the reader, that loyalty should have been put on the back burner when good ole Lance and Gwen were convinced that they'd never live to see Arthur. I wanted the famous scandal. WHERE WAS THE SCANDAL?!?

Lancelot had a few moments of his own. He started off so swoon-worthy, then the hardcore loyalty sort of fried his brain. Did I detect a few moments of simpering? I think I might have. MAKE ME SWOON, PUPPET. 

Arthur...I don't even know what to say. His faith in Gwen was admirable, if a little stupid. 

But I kid, sort of. My men complaints are so minimal. I felt Lancelot's loyalty, admired Arthur's justice, and yearned alongside Gwen as she longed for both men who were equally brilliant in their own way. 

Do I believe that Arthur was Gwen's soul mate in the end? NO. I believe that she loved and admired him. I believe that she felt him worthy of her undying devotion. However, I had a hard time believing that she shifted all of her focus from Lancelot to Arthur at the end. Why? Because Arthur died? So she can't love Lancelot in close proximity now, even though THEY FLAUNTED IT IN FRONT OF ARTHUR FOR ALL OF THOSE YEARS?

You'd almost think with my capslock ranting that I disliked the book, right?

The writing was beautiful. The emotions were powerful. The story had me by the throat. I honestly loved the book...up until the end sort of pissed me off.

I didn't expect a super happy ending. But the self-sacrificing seemed pointless when there came a time that it wasn't necessary anymore. 

That said, for any story to have me wanting to discuss and hope and speculate like this one did, I do consider it to be a success. There were so many powerful and emotional quotes that I would have liked to have included, but then I would have been here all night copying them. So, no. It's not happening. 

Oh, and mothereffing Mordred. Not that any of his behavior was unexpected. But still.

I'm honestly glad I read the book, and hope to read Galahad's (Lancelot's son) story in the near future. 

Thanks Leea for the buddy read/discussion thread/phone question & answer session!

Rapey. Rapey. Rapey. And a little more rapey - as in "up for a gang bang?" rapey. 

...and not in the implied McGangBang kind of paranormal romance novel writing via Kresley Cole uncomfortable rapey vibes but not actually rape (off topic, but my teenager is obsessed with these sandwiches for some reason).


Uh...no. It was rape. And more rape. And then some attempted rape. 

The most bizarre thing is though, the story was strangely readable in a "train wreck I couldn't look away from" type of deal. 

But yeah. I'm not even gonna rate the story because I don't even know what to say. I went into this as a group read, having been warned that there was non-con, so I can't really go off on a mad tangent if I knew what I was getting into.

The scene with the vampires shrugging off what the sheriff was doing really bothered me, yet there I was a few chapters later thinking that Cole was probably the lesser of all the evils in the book and accepted that he was going to just go ahead and insta-love-bond his way into Rachel's heart...err pants anyway, whether I liked it or not.

Strangely enough, I thought Cole was almost too humanized. This society is down with the gang rape (and the book uses the term several times). So why was Cole almost sort of being pushed as a protector type with no real character development morphing him from bad to good? 

The wtf-ery of not sticking to a "good or bad" ethics system was where the ball was dropped, imo. I say go one way or the other and commit to it. Either be taboo or be romantic. The mashup of cold and warm was a bit odd. 

I didn't like that I had to be told by other people reading the book that the content was rapey. As of Feb. 12, 2014 (this may have changed by the time someone reads my review in the future) I see that on Booklikes the warning is in place, but GR still doesn't have one (and I could be wrong, I'm thinking that this is the book another person complained about not having a disclaimer quite some time ago). I'm sure a librarian could add one, but the author should probably make the request in order to ensure that the warning is to her specifications. 

I wasn't a fan of how the friend was tossed off with no concern. That was a crappy moment which wasn't necessary to the plot in order to show Rachel's individual situation as a breeder.

But I won't deny the strange readability. Because yeah. I was unexpectedly curious to see what would happen next. The story was creepy and weird but it had me turning the pages. Take what you will from that.

I figure there's probably a market for the story, even with the mixed signals. Fans of mate-bonding and super-protective (she's mine!) male types might well enjoy the read if they can get past the graphic rape scenes upfront. Read on at your own risk. O.o

*edit* If you are super curious about parts 2 and 3 (which I didn't review separately, but added to my review for part 1 on Goodreads, you can check out my thoughts at the bottom of this review here : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/852188282

I love how every person who reads the Elementals series has a favorite and a least favorite book or character, then a second favorite or second least favorite book or character. Hardly anyone will agree on the order of what goes from first to last. With most series, there's a general progression from okay to better or better to worse, and a good portion of the time, fans will wholeheartedly agree where a series "started to pick up" or "started to go downhill." But there's something special about this particular series and its entire set of characters and experiences which speaks differently to every person. My favorite character is Michael, but my favorite books are Gabriel's and Nick's (so far). Chris's book was awesome, and Hunter's book was decent, but not a favorite. One of you might have Hunter for a favorite character, or Chris's book as your favorite. But I think most of us fans can agree on one thing : We love the Merricks.

The rest of my review is going to be a little different from my normal reviews. I'm going to be writing it only for the people who have read the Elementals series. If you have not read the series up to this point, you'll want to avoid the rest of this review because I'm just wanting to talk about my feelings - with tissues handy. If you're curious about this series, you might want to check out my earlier reviews for the series prequel (0.5) and book 1 if you want to get a feel for what these books are all about.

I knew as I was reading that there was no way I'd be able to write a public review stating the pros and cons of why people should read this series. There was just no way to do this when my heart was getting pummeled.

So I want to talk with you fellow fans about why Secret is tied for my favorite book of the series. It was really all about the emotion for me. 

"You're safe here," he said softly. "Okay?"

"Sometimes I wish you weren't...you know."
"I know."

Nick always did what his brothers expected.

"What do you want? Does anyone ever ask you that?" 

Those lines has me emotional, but the following scene with Nick and his mom broke me down into a blubbering mess :

He'd leaned into her contact, and she'd said, "You're the only one who still lets me do that. My gentle boy." 

I don't even know why the dam burst there. It just did - and it came from out of NOWHERE.

But then it kept going. Of course Michael had to come along and be wonderful. Was anyone else having the same emotion?

"He wouldn't fall asleep at night unless Mom put you in his crib." 

FFS, Can it GET any more emotional? 

"I'm not his best friend, Nick. You are." 

Why yes, yes it can.

Nick kept going. And Adam never said stop. 

Even though Nick was the star of the book, I was just as pleased with Quinn's story with Tyler. Tyler wasn't the "normal" romantic lead. He smelled like beer and cigarettes. In a weird way, I liked that. He's a young man being a young man with the same habits that a lot of young men have. Quinn's story never felt forced to me (as "I was abused" stories often do), and I was happy that she wasn't tossed aside in the wake of Nick moving on. 

So that's it. I just wanted to talk to the other fans about why this particular book resonated with me. Even if this wasn't the specific Merrick book to shoot to the top of your favorites list, I'm sure you might understand why we all have our reasons to find a Merrick book (or two) to love, even if we don't all agree on which one should be at the top. 

This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I can't believe it took me almost 2 months to readThe Fiery Heart. I got stalled out by the midway point and didn't have any motivation to want to pick the book up again. Was my love affair with Richelle Mead coming to an end? Say it isn't so!

I really couldn't figure out what was up with the "whole lot of yawn" happening in the first half. Even having Adrian's PoV didn't really perk up the non-events going on. Maybe the alchemist side of the story and all of the new characters just don't do it for me.

I'm still also trying to reconcile in my head how much magic humans can do now. Back in VA, it almost seemed like the magic that alchemists had was borrowed through the use of vampire blood and infused items. Now, humans are just going around left and right and kicking ass alongside the vamps. Are we heading into a world where the poor guardians can go extinct because yet another race ends up having more value with them?

...and Hopper. WTF is this thing? It's alive. Oh wait, it's not. Oh wait, it is. What is the point of Hopper? We didn't have cutesy gimmick creatures before.

I'm starting to feel like the further we get into this series, the more the rules change. Adrian's character growth has almost turned him into an unrecognizable character, and I can't decide how much of this is for the better. At least he didn't forget to call Rose "little dhampir." Score a point there. 

The second half of the book finally brought it all back though. Even a weaker Richelle Mead book still ends up being better than 90% of the stuff I read, so I have to give credit where it's due. When I decided to come back and try again, I ended up loving the rest of the story.

What Jill did after the fight scene : I was mentally cheering her on. 

Sydney and Adrian : Not as exciting as I'd been hoping for. They're sweet, but this spin-off series just doesn't have the heart-pounding and epic romance of the prior series.

Dimitri : I laughed at Adrian joking about him not being able to hold his liquor, and him having a WTF? reaction.

Eddie : Is it too much to ask for more Eddie time? He's one of the actual characters who came over from VA, yet he is still background fodder. I know that Mead probably doesn't want to write Dimitri part deux, but when she teases me with phrases like Eddie was magnificent. I'd nearly forgotten that the adopted brother I joked and ate lunch with was a lethal warrior. or He was one of the most badass, capable guardians out there, but he couldn't believe that about himself, not when he kept seeing those failures laid at his feet. DOESN'T THAT SCREAM for more character time? We have another brooding person who wants to save the world and he's delegated to being the designated driver. It's wrong, I tell you.

Anyway, even though the book slipped off a little, the strong and exciting second half somewhat made up for a weaker first half.