Really Short Reviews: New Adult titles from Nalini Singh, Rachel Vincent and Hailey Edwards

Rock Hard

(Rock Kiss #2)

Nalini Singh

Release: March 10, 2015

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Really Short Review: After the first book in this series, Rock Addiction, I was really looking forward to Charlie and T-Rex's story. He's a famous rugby star turned CEO and she's a shy records clerk in the company he just took over. She's also recovering from an assault by an ex and has a lot of PTSD issues to work through. He's surprisingly patient with her and tries to help even before she realizes his interest. Plus, he's a world champion dirty talker so even though it takes quite a while for their relationship to get physical the steamy is there.

 

Charlie's best friends with Molly from Rock Addiction and the stories overlap with many of their conversations repeated from Charlie's point of view. I always like those opportunities to check in with other characters in the series. Though Molly's really the only that shows up here so it's not obvious who the next couple might be. I wonder if any of T-Rex's brothers are going to appear later on. His family was a lot of fun!

 

I got off to a bit of a rough start with this series, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I'm really enjoying it.

 

ARC provided by the publisher

 

4 stars
 

Lion's Share
(Wildcats #1)
Rachel Vincent
Release: February 23, 2015
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Really Short Review: Lion's Share is a little different from Vincent's Shifters books because it's a romance, but it still has all the pack politics and the hunt for a killer stray. It's also got a lot of the characters from the first series. It felt good to back in that world again. Lion's Share is really a continuation of the story in the short story Hunt, which takes place a few months earlier. I would  recommend reading that first, though it's not absolutely necessary.

I liked Jace and Abby for the most part, but I did have a few issues. Abby manipulates her way into the murder investigation in order to cover something up. (What that is exactly is revealed at the end of the book.) She committed to that course of action and she stuck with it way too long. It got frustrating. And Jace knew that she was manipulating him, but went along with it rather than trying to find out what she was up to. He really did not act like an Alpha where Abby was concerned. He admits as much in the end, but I don't know if that makes it any better.

I knew how the story would end, more or less, because I knew the premise of the series. And I think that this book is serving as a transition from the Shifters setting to the Wildcats one. But to accomplish that end, Abby did something that completely contradicted her mission in the rest of the book. I think it's possible that will be addressed later in the series, but I wish it were handled better here.

I think this is one of those books that falls apart when you analyze it too much. (I have that problem with romances sometimes.) I enjoyed it while I was reading it, so I'm going to choose to remember it that way.

 1/2

3 1/2 stars

 

Heir of the Dog
(Black Dog #2)
Hailey Edwards
Release: January 30, 2015
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Really Short Review: I'm loving this series! The first book, Dog With a Bone, about Thierry's first case as marshal was a pretty straightforward paranormal police procedural. And while Heir of the Dog starts out that way, it's mostly a fantasy adventure with Thierry running all over Faerie. Her father, the Black Dog, is missing and the Faerie High Court can't solve their succession problems without him. In an attempt to avoid a war, they ask Thierry to take his place. The only problem is she's only half-fae and doing the job will probably kill her.

I loved Edwards' version of the Fae realm which often resembled Wonderland, especially when Thierry ran after a puka in rabbit form. I also loved the prince who may or may not be Thierry's ally.
But I missed Thierry's partner in the marshals, the incubus Shaw, who sort of bookends her trip to Faerie but is absent from most of the book. It looks like dealing with their complicated relationship will wait until the next book. And it's only gotten more complicated after the events in this one.

    

4  stars