Date Published: October 6, 2013

Format: Ebook

Source: Own copy

Date Read: October 26, 2019

Read for Halloween Bingo Romantic Suspense

Blurb

Ella’s always heard voices and because of them, she ends up institutionalized at a young age. Everyone calls her crazy and she believes she is too until the night she meets a vampire and for the first time in her life, the voices shut up.

Zane just wants to enjoy his usual blood buffet, instead he runs into a wisp of a woman who makes him feel emotions he thought long dead. Rescuing her from the insane asylum, he brings her home, determined to seduce and feed from her, a plan that is foiled by ghostly voices determined to keep Ella untouched. But not even poltergeists can stand in the way of a vampire in love.

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In my defense, your Honor, it was a freebie from the NOOK store and I needed more paranormal books in preparation for Halloween Bingo. Yes, I should have learned my lesson by now....

Ella with no last name hears voices in her head - lots, like hundreds, all clamoring for her attention or trying to make her do stuff to get into trouble. Her religious "parents" make her pray the demons away until they divorce and ship her to the first asylum/mental ward that would take a 7 year old. That was the prologue.

Chapter one starts with Ella being 25 and staying at a new asylum, when she wakes up to see a black floating figure moving through the ward, biting and sucking on the patients while they sleep. This black figure happens to be Zane with no last name and our hero in this "romance". He tries mind controlling her back to sleep, but she is immune to his control....and yet gets horny the minute he utters a word at her. 

It's a bingo of bad paranormal romance: quick insta-love, quicker insta-lust, a virgin heroine described as small, pixie-like, fragile etc, a virgin heroine who totally knows how to have sex in many different ways, lots of musky desire smells, a mustache-twirling villain,etc. Ella is desperate for love and affection, and she and Zane are horny for each other, so it seems in Ella's mind that they are soul mates. Ella's powers to control and direct the voices comes out when she flies into the most stupidest of jealousy rages.

Also a total lack of sensitivity in regards to mental health - the "humor" in the book rests on jokes about drugging patients so they are easier to rape by the medical professionals, a vampire thinking he is going insane from drinking from mental health patients for as long as Zane does. Then there is the farm....which is where the "sheep" (female humans) are kept so that Zane can feed at home. 

Nah, no more for me.

It’s bern nearly two months since I last picked this book up and current have no desire to finish it. While there are some deliciously steamy sex scenes the plot seems repetitive in the I love you but I hate you theme. It’s not badly written or anything it’s just not doing anything for me personally right now.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the review copy.

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Jonathan arrives at the office one cold December morning to find a little girl has been balled up waiting for him for an hour. Madison wants to hire him to take care of the ghost that haunts her house at Christmas and grabs at her.

I've listened to previous Jonathan Shade books and Joe does a great job, as he always does, with Jonathan. Joe knows Jonathan inside and out as he voices Jonathan when joking and being serious. You know what Jonathan is up to by Joe's voice. I'm so glad Joe has continued to carry through as the voice of this series. As always, the audio is clean and clear listening. I'm not distracted from the story in any way.

I love how Jonathan is with Madison. She's young, ten, and he treats her so well. When Esther tells him he wasn't going to not help this little girl, he is great at his payment as Madison only has change to pay with - all her money in the world. This is a small Christmas gift to the young girl so she can enjoy Christmas. Madison made me smile with her humor and personality. She could give Jonathan a run for his money on humors remarks. lol. She is a cute little girl. I enjoyed her interaction with Jonathan.

Jonathan finds that there's more to the ghost haunting than expected. In true Gary Jonas fashion, there is much more to the story than one would expect. Jonathan has a soft heart and it shows in this book. He's determined to do what's right but also what is wanted. The two do go hand in hand from time to time.

The ending brings the feeling of the heart of the Christmas spirit story, like many endings of Christmas stories. It made me smile as it warmed my heart. Also we have Jonathan in his fun remarks with Kelly as friends at the holiday.

The novella is marked at 9.5 in the series, but it's placed before the first book. There are things still in place for the first book or two. If you listen or read this novella, you can do so at any time. Read it before you get to the series or any time during the series. It gives nothing away for the events in the novels but gives a feel for Jonathan and Kelly, the major characters in the series. So, pick it up for the holiday this month!

Halloween Frost by Jennifer Estep

I didn't know anything about the world of Mythos Academy because I have never read the first installment but it sounds like the protagonist Gwen Frost, is training to be a kickass warrior. I like it a lot. I picked it up because it is near Halloween.
Gwen's friend wants to dress up and go trick or treating but their fun was lost on a monster and that is just how it is at Mythos Academy. Fight and kill as many of those things as possible. However, the one she has a crush on saves her, yet again. O be still my heart. Her sword, Vic, can talk and has a mouth on him. It was a gift from some god. I need to work out the details guys so don't @ me. It looks like their bags of treats was lost on someone playing a mean trick on them.

Meh. Dark and dreary. Dank and gloomy. Like the Duracell bunny, it kept on going. It felt like it would never end. Suffice it to say, I'm not a fan. What can I say? Julie is sweet, Red is an asshole, Bran is full of himself, Currin likes to play with his food, and by that I mean play games with Kate, Andrea's trapped in a world she doesn't belong in, those 3 oracle witches, Moriggan, Morfran and all other gods are as passive and non-existent as can be. Kate is wasting time and should get laid already ugh.