Caris Roane - Gates of Rapture

As a vampire and a warrior, Leto Distra is deadly. But after years of being forced to drink dying blood, he is now part beast—a wild savage thing lurking beneath the surface.  With war on the horizon, Leto is determined to help the Guardians of Ascension destroy the enemy who turned him into a monster. And there’s only one woman who can help him.
Grace Albion is certain that she’s meant to be with Leto, but their future may be cut short by the impending battle. Now Grace must embrace her obsidian flame powers—and bind her powers with Leto’s—if they’re ever going to survive.  With the fate of the world at stake, they must tap into powers they never knew they had…and unlock their deepest passions.
Sexy and thrilling, Gates of Raptures is the breathtaking final book in Caris Roane's Guardians of Ascension series.

Comment: I've had this book to read since May, when I finished buying the series. Since the first book I've became a fan of the series for its imagination and unique world. However, as time went by, despite the good and fascinating parts, I always felt this could be even better. 

Still, I feel happy enough with the reading experience of the books, even when considering this is the final book published by St Martin's Paperbacks, as the author is now self publishing. I hope she can write more stories in this world but if she won't, this book had a good enough conclusion.

This is the story of Leto Distra, he's been a warrior for centuries and until recently he has been a spy in the enemy's side, which made him do and say things he didn't truly felt and that demanded a lot of his soul and now he feels unworthy in a way.

Grace Albion is the mate he didn't think he would have but the magical connection between mates happens between them. After the happenings in the previous book, Grace returns to be with Leto and to fulfill her place in the obsidian flame triad that will be key to destroy the enemy...

I liked this book but honestly there were times I felt the story was dragging a bit. Even so, I feel glad the author managed to give an idea of closure and finish despite her plans to keep up before the publisher told her this would be the end. I understand her position and considering the difficulty and probably the surprise, she did a good job in making this feel finished to the faithful readers who went with her in this journey.

I think all the sub plots were dealt with fine. Of course there were still some issues I feel were left on purpose to the imagination, just a slight thing here and there, but I think this is the author's tactic to keep up the story one day if she wants. If not, things were solved well enough to make the reader feel time was well earned with the story line.

The enemy was defeated in this book. I think some readers might feel his end wasn't the best one after all the things he did throughout the books, but in a way, his end was well served, after all, sometimes death isn't the worst punishment...

The romance was what to expect. Insta-love and connection even after centuries of knowing each other in the distance. I liked the way they felt and were stronger together and how everyone took a part in helping them be happy. This story has a lot of details one has to consider but I believe the author did a good job for the most part. I still think some things are a bit hard to digest, but one has to consider the world created.

There's a lot of sex too and to be honest I kind of skip those parts because they don't tend to add anything we don't know already.

All in all, this was a good conclusion. I don't think this is strongest book but plot wise it offered many scenes that are captivating to read. Plus we see most characters having a role and I think this is always important in a series.

I'll cherish the reading experience of this series and be thankful for its end if so.

Grade: 7/10

Caris Roane - Obsidian Flame

For a hundred years, Marguerite has been imprisoned and used for her powerful psychic abilities. Her only relief comes from her regular visits with Thorne, her vampire lover.  His every touch leaves her hungry for more..and aching for their next encounter. When Marguerite is finally set free, she returns to Mortal Earth to begin a new life for herself.  She dyes her hair white-blonde, paints her nails blood-red, and seduces a sexy-hot stranger. Why can’t she stop thinking about Thorne?
Now that Marguerite is gone, Thorne craves her more than ever..and follows her to Mortal Earth.  Unfortunately, he is not the only vampire who wants her. As one of three powerful women with obsidian flame abilities, Marguerite is a valuable treasure—and a dangerous weapon. For Thorne, she is a soulmate he must protect at any cost…even his own life.

Comment: This is another of the books in the Ascension series by the author. The series focus on a world where vampires ascend to another plane, where life is similar to ours on Earth, but where ascenders have wings and special abilities and powers. The main action revolves around a war between good and evil, of course, and how each faction grows an army to the final battle which I assume will happen in the last - and following - book.

This is Theron's story. He's the leader of the Warriors of the Blood, a group of special and more powerful fighters who combat the enemy all over the world. Recently all the warriors have met and fell in love their mate, with the exception, so far, of only three. Theron has been in love with Marguerite but their relationship is complicated. But now she is free from the sort of prison she has been and only wants her freedom. But Theron isn't able t let go, so he takes a break from his duty to pursue his heart's desire. However, things aren't as simple as that and the fate of many against the fate of two can really be a fair math? How will Theron convince Marguerite to be with him always?

This series' plot has been increasing in action and momentum, obviously ready to come to a point because the series will end. Or, at least, it will come to the end of the arc if one can say so, because accordingly to the author more stories were planned until the publisher decided to finish it will the remaining book. The author will self publish the last three warrior's stories afterwards, eventually.

Despite these facts, one thing is clear. The author wanted to take things to a new level and set up the jump into another arc or series. Maybe. Now I don't know because of the publishing issue. Anyway, this story is a goos continuation of the things happening in the previous books and manages to set up things in a very intriguing way in what we think will be a sort of epic finale, at least in terms of action.

The characters all play some sort of role here. The ones we know continue to be important and there are several new appearances to fulfill the plot development. There are new discoveries and actions that can be surprising and once again, despite one can read this as s tad alone story, I think it's one of those cases it would only ruin it because so many things are linked, it actually best to read in order, not only to best understand the characters, world and plot, but mainly to be able to understand the whys of so many decisions.

I liked the way things moved and the best part is actually the plot and character's conversations.

However, the romance really annoyed me. I don't like Marguerite, and the way the author kid of reformed her at the end wasn't enough. I think Thorne deserved someone strong yes, but different. Honestly I can't empathize with a character that only wants sex and as many partners as she can find. I understand the reasons she has and how her personality works, but sincerely, I didn't like her and felt sad Thorne, as one of the key players, had to be saddled up with her.

I liked they had a HEA but Marguerite will never be someone I care about. I just can't accept her choices although I can understand them.

I was so annoyed at this, the sex scenes I skipped, because they didn't mean anything to me, as I always felt Marguerite wasn't cherishing them as they should, in a way. They are mates, destined ones based on the details of the world, and she still wanted something different. Ok, but then it wasn't fair to Theron...I think in a way it was interesting to have this POV in a character, but still, not a favorite and not enjoyable to me.

I'm curious over the next and final story but this one wasn't as amazing as I hoped for, considering Theron and his role as leader and ho things are, in general terms of world structure. Still, enjoyable enough but never special or fantastic.

Grade: 6/10

Caris Roane - Born of Ashes

For years, she was kept as a human slave—one of seven unwilling “blood donors” for the death vampires who thirst for absolute power. Now, Fiona is a free woman, haunted by her memories of being strapped to a gurney, drained of blood, then revived at the last moment. She lives to avenge her captors—but only one warrior can help her...
Jean-Pierre has lived and fought for over two-hundred years. He knows the triumph of slaying a death vampire, but has never known anything like the feelings that arise when he becomes Fiona’s guardian. Her beauty, her pain, her passion—and her growing power—consume his senses. Now the warrior must draw his sword once more…and fight the gates of hell itself—for love.

Comment: Here's another installment of the Guardians of Ascension series. this time it's Jean Pierre and Fiona's story. As it has happened in every book, in the previous story we had the start of the relationship between these two. 
One of the funnier things in this series is how each mate smells their mate by one distinctive scent, something only he or she can smell. Fiona smells like pastries to Jean Pierre and he has the scent of coffee to her. I find this really cool and of course this smell intensifies in heated moments...the idea isn't original, but I like the mark the author has given to this with the different smells and different range of what can be. It's always fun to imagine what each one might smell like.

So, this is the story of Jean Pierre and Fiona. Fiona was rescued in the previous book from a life of slavery, her blood was used over a century and she was killed each time and brought back in the extreme to provide more dying blood, the ambrosia of death vampires. She isn't ready for a love life even if many other things in her life are getting shaped the way she wants.
Jean Pierre lived a terrible existence during the French revolution and he was marked by his first wife's treachery...but Fiona he can't resist and not only because she is his mate...

This is the 4th book and, so far, I have to say this is the weakest for me. I think this story didn't explore the best way the relationship between the main couple. Besides, I didn't like how weak the chemistry between them was. Yes there are plenty of sex scenes and moments where each one of them - or both - think how much they are falling for the other, but I wasn't convinced. Despite the lengthy pages of these books, in this case I wasn't fully convinced they were really in love.

Two things bothered me and were the reason this book was weaker than the previous ones. First what I've said, the main couple's relationship didn't feel well done, too many pages explaining things that, honestly, weren't as well explored as that and in the end I felt their romance weaker and very superficial.
The second was the heroine for the next story. Apparently she is a nymphomaniac. Ok....I'll be honest again, these types of heroines/people have my respect for their affliction but I usually don't feel very sympathetic towards them..I don't know how the author will deal with this in her own story, but since she shows up in this book and it's part of it, I have to use it as part of my reading experience too. And I didn't like it because although her actions can be explained as a result of her issue and even her mental process too, I still think she was a bit too unconcerned how that would feel like to the person who loves her and always wanted to help. I can't really judge, after all she has been secluded and in a sort of arrest for a long time, obviously her take on life is freedom and independence now, but being this a romance I had access to both parties and now I feel sorry for her guy...

I won't even mention the bad guy's parts, I skipped most of them. Yes, I know, shame on me skipping parts, but really I have no patience for so many pages of bad guy's intentions and acts and whatever, I pass them along.
As for the sex scenes themselves...the same old. Everything is amazing...the main couple was a bit reluctant to take that step for Fiona's sake mostly after all she didn't feel ready, but they went past that pretty fast after a good amount of pages and since then it was bring it baby. Ok, it's how things are in this series, this world...but sometimes a bit more of seduction and more sexual tension instead of explicit sex all the time would be sexier I think.

Still, this is a world I feel used to by now and despite the many flaws I find, I still feel curious enough to keep reading. I already bought the next two stories and will read them when I can. Sure I'd change things, but I do have to appreciate the author's efforts into creating this world, the species, the interactions, the rules...the effort to publish and respect readers. So far, only my personal taste finds faults here, so... let's see what's coming next.
Grade: 6/10

Caris Roane - Wings of Fire

By night, the winged warrior Antony Medichi fights the death vampires who threaten his world. By day, he hunts the rogue vampires who invade Mortal Earth. But deep in his heart rages the fiercest battle of all -- his soul-searing passion for the one mortal he is sworn to protect...the one woman he is doomed to love.
Parisa Lovejoy is so beautiful, and so powerful, that Antony cannot fight the feelings she arouses. But his unexpected love only intensifies his strength as her Guardian -- a strength that is put to the ultimate test when Parisa is abducted. Her captor, Commander Greaves, enslaves mortal women for their blood. If Parisa hopes to survive -- and ascend -- she must forge an even deeper bond with Antony...in the flames of eternity.

Comment. I've had this book to read since June. Each month since I told myself I had to read it, but I'd read the books I wanted to for the month and this one would be in the almost got to it in the end of said months, but well, it didn't happen. This time I picked it up and no more avoiding.
This is the third book in the guardians of Ascension series. Each book can be read as a stand alone but the main storyline is best followed from the beginning. Besides each romantic couple has their beginning in the previous book, which means Parisa and Antony had theirs in Burning Skies, the book before this one.

This story begins with Parisa still in captivity after being abducted by Rith, one of the bad guys, Antony is getting more out of control each days that goes by since that, because after they realized they were mates, the instinct to be close by is too strong.
Parisa is someone who's had a relatively quiet life and now she has to learn to deal with the fate of so many lives and decisions. Antony never thought he could find someone else to love but Parisa came along and fate doesn't care about things like doubts and fears. But the bigger challenge is to chose whether to be together completely or to ignore something that can be what they need to be more and better in the battle against evil.

What I like most in these books is how we get to see many characters playing an important part ll the time. The main focus is obviously in the protagonist couple and their relationship, but we get scenes with many people, which gives the books the feeling their lives are all important and everything matters, even what we don't think might be related to the plot in question. Plus, we always get the first scenes of the next book and it was quite interesting to see the setting for Jean Pierre's book, coming next in the series.

As for Parisa and Antony's romance, I thought it wasn't as fresh as that. I mean, I liked them and their struggle to make things work properly instead of just being together because it was what was expected. But at the same time I wasn't completely thrilled by how they felt for each other. I think their situation wasn't easy but it wasn't something new or unexpected. It was rather common to be honest. I'm talking about the feelings and relationship part, not the setting around them. This part is still amazing since we got the premises for the world in book #1. 
The whole idea there's more plans besides out Mortal one and they co-exist at the same time is rather imaginative. I like how the author described things in a way that isn't too difficult to imagine although this is a fantasy world but very similar to real world we know.

The plot follows Parisa's attempts to shut down a "business" of blood slaves and how this is a key element in the bad guys' existence. Things aren't easy and don't have a simple solution, but I was very interested in seeing Parisa getting stronger and having such an aim to have a fulfilling role in the story. I can't wait to see what happens next about this subject.
We also find two or three things about other characters, some things very unexpected. I like how, despite seemingly just another paranormal series, we still get surprised and twists to keep us interested. This is why, apart from wanting to know how the romances develop and how each one smells to their mates (in this world each mate of the Warrior has a special sent only the mate can smell, it's very funny, Parisa smells sage on Antony and he smells tangerines on her) that I want to keep up with the series. I'm very interested where this is going and what happens until then.

Caris Roane - Burning Skies

Enter a hidden world of winged vampire warriors -- bound by duty to protect humankind, and sworn to fight for the women they love....
A vampire warrior in exile, Marcus Amargi resists the call to return to the ranks of the Guardians who fight the death vamp armies. Here on Mortal Earth, Marcus has another battle on his hands -- the seductive lure of Havily Morgan. The woman meant for him. Whose blood he craves. The one who comes to him in dreams -- and demands his surrender...
A beautiful immortal with extraordinary powers, Havily lives in the realm of Second Earth but, in her fantasies, yearns for her winged lover Marcus. Soon, their bond will be put to the ultimate test. When their bloodthirsty enemies set the night on fire with sky-blazing weapons, Marcus and Havily must unite body and soul, to unleash the full power of their passion -- and fight fire with fire... 

Comment:  It’s been five months since I’ve read the first book in this Guardians of Ascension series. I really meant to read this second one closer to the other one, but as you know trying to follow any reading list isn’t as easy to accomplish as that. Still, as I enjoyed the first book, I was determined to read this one as soon as I could, but it kept being pushed further on until this month I decided I’d get it and that was it.

Burning Skies is the story of Marcus and Havily. As we know from the first book, mates in the Second Earth dimension recognize each other by scent and in the first book, Marcus and Havily met and realized who the other meant for them. Still, Marcus’ business in Mortal Earth (our world, let’s say so) and his desire to be away from the fighting that stole him his family didn’t allow him to pursue Havily or to consider anything serious with her. Havily, on the other hand, also didn’t look for Marcus because she thinks he’s a deserter, leaving his warrior friends without his help for so long. But when Havily is attacked at home and Marcus knows about this, all the instincts that he fought came to the surface and he went after Havily for good.

This series has a lot of interesting elements, like how each world is shaped the same way as the original, the Earth, but it’s like a different dimension where rules are different. I picture them one layer on top of the other and so on. Then there’s the mate scenting, which I find amusing as each couple has a different smell, in Marcus and Havily’s case, it’s fennel and honeysuckle. It’s really funny. Another interesting thing is the rules for the Second Earth world, and how every thing works; I think the author has created a very solid world in her books.

The story line follows the same pattern as the previous book, which is the fighting against the Commander, the enemy of the good guys. We also get to see a little bit of each one of the Warriors and, of course, the basis for the next book has been prepared, as we know who will be the next couple.

The romance was fun. It’s a bit weird, I confess, to see them talk about their past relationships and how long it was, and how they had families…I mean, there’s a certain trend in romances to see the main couple happier now than when they were with others before, but in this case, the characters live for so long, it’s understandable they could have been happy with other people before, and to have had families, actually both Marcus and Havily had had children a long time ago… in a way, it’s strange to think about it…but overall, it’s not such a big deal, but weirs it’s for certain.

In the end, Havily and Marcus understood each other and got their HEA. I think the path for their happiness wasn’t easy, but it suited their personalities and desires, I liked it.

The books are quite big, more than 400 pages, so lots of things happen, being a huge part of it the preparation for the book after. Things are prepared and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Caris Roane / Jessica Andersen

Alison Wells is no ordinary woman. Born with supernatural powers, she can never make love to a man without putting him in grave danger. But when her special vision reveals a glorious muscled man soaring overhead on mighty wings, she feels an overwhelming attraction she cannot resist -- even as he tells her: "I have come for you. Your blood belongs to me."
Kerrick is a vampire and a warrior who has fought his hunger for a woman's love for the past two hundred years. As a Guardian of Ascension, he is sworn to protect Alison from the death vamp armies who crave her blood and her power. But Kerrick has cravings of his own -- a forbidden longing to open his heart and veins to Alison. To share his blood... satisfy his thirst and seal their fates forever.

* * * 

Imprisoned and tortured by the demoness who tricked him into betraying the Nightkeepers and the woman he loves, Rabbit must endure excruciating pain to protect the diminished Skywatch army as the end-time approaches. Although an ancient prophecy says his unique powers are key to winning the final battle in the doomsday war, he hasn’t just lost his credibility -- he’s lost his magic.
Myrinne is far from the woman Rabbit once knew -- she’s got magic now, and despite emotional scars, she’s strong enough to help the Nightkeepers. And yet she’s not prepared to handle the fiercely driven man he’s become or the new, dangerous feelings that spark between them.
With the barrier ready to fall and a xombi outbreak in the human world, Rabbit and Myrinne must forge a new partnership amid dangerous instability and the threat of an undead army. In the end, it will be up to Rabbit to master his ferocious magic -- or all will be lost. For him, for the woman he doesn’t have the right to love anymore, and for the fate of the world…

Comment: The last two books from December. Once again, I'd have liked to write a bigger post about them but I just can't seem to find the time to write...today the plumber was here, tomorrow I have to take my kitten to the vet, and so on...I'll stick to shorter notes, at least I won't let too many books pile up.

Ascension is the first in a series about vampires with wings. I thought it wouldn't be very interesting although I knew some friends enjoy the books a lot. I tried this one because of their opinion and I ended up enjoying the book too. It was easy to read, with an interesting story about a girl who'll become a winged vampire too and all the other character's around her. I liked the writing style and despite the fact this is a first book full of new information and details, I thought it was engrossing and not boring at all. I'm quite interested in reading more and already purchased the next one.

Spellfire is the last in a series. It's the conclusion of ms Andersen 's tale on the Mayan prophecy and how the group of nightkeepers and their friends/help achieve saving the world. This last book focuses on Rabbit and Myrinne, two characters we've known since book #1. I liked the fact this series had a beginning, a middle and now an end. It's final and I'm sorry but rather prefer to see it end than to shrivel. I just thought there's a book missing before the previous one and this one. It was supposed to exist but the author couldn't manage to write it on time, but in a way it shows she had planned to, because several things feel rushed and a book of transition is missing, in my opinion. Still, I believe it was a win series, well written and now it has a happy ending all the characters deserved.

I'm also curious about the author's new contemporary series, this time about cowboys.Can't wait to try it.