Title: Short-Circuit His Soul Series: Microchips and Purity # 2 Author: Alana Ankh Genre: Science Fiction Length: Novel (188 pages) Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 13, 2015) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts Blurb: Noah wasn’t born. He was created, a clone of Guiding Light Uriel, someone superior to him in every way. Noah is an instrument, and he knows it. He believes it, sees it in his mind and in his skin, breathes it every single day of his life—except for the moments he spends with Logan Maxfield.
Logan makes him feel loved, makes him think he might have worth beyond being his brother’s copy, and allows him to hope that his secrets and sins might not own him. Even if he knows he has no right to Logan’s affection, he cannot help but seek refuge in Logan’s arms. He cannot help but love Logan.
Against all odds, Logan feels the same. But when Noah’s nightmares start to come true, when the images haunting his dreams invade his reality, their love threatens to be extinguished before it can fully flare into being. Noah is a clone, fading away like the imperfect copy he is. But Logan isn’t about to give up so easily.
He belongs to Noah, and he will do everything in his power to save his lover, even if it means short-circuiting his own soul.
Review: I loved the first book in this series Electrify His Heart and looked forward to the sequel. The book recaps the first book at the beginning as it progresses further. While I liked the fast pace of the story I felt it was missing something.
Noah and Logan seemed well matched together. I loved the chemistry between the two. Intense at times yet sweet and loving at others.
Lots of action and of course a plan to wipe out the cyborgs as well. Interesting storyline to say the least. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next as it seemed like it ended in a cliffhanger to me.
Good read.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Title: Splat! Series: N/A Author: Alana Ankh Genre: Urban Fantasy Length: Novella (127 Pages) Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 11, 2015) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5 Hearts Blurb: When a small creature has an unfortunate run-in with his car, Deacon Hearst wonders what in the world hit his windshield. A bird? A butterfly? No, that would make Deacon’s crazy life too simple. It is a fairy—or rather a Sidhe—with a gaze the color of the moon and thus eloquently named Mooneyes. The little creature’s wing is broken, and it’s shivering in the rain, and well… Deacon has a heart, after all.
While nursing Moon back to health, Deacon discovers Moon’s beauty is more than skin deep. Though they’re very different, especially in size, they’re alike in their loneliness, their need for affection. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Deacon finds himself falling for his not-quite victim.
Deacon thinks it’s a hopeless—gah!—love, but what if it isn’t? Moon might just have a few secrets of his own, secrets that could change everything in an instant and weave a different path for them both.
Review: This story was the first book I have read by Alana and I was amazed by it. It is a fantasy, one that draws you in and keeps you captivated by it. The way the story is told has you upset and wondering how families can be so stupid.
Even in the end most of the families stayed with their reasons, but there is a bit of acceptance with the brother. To be pushed to be someone you are not and to marry those you cannot love is a horrible feeling. I cheered at the ending for these two gorgeous men and would love to know about the rest of their lives.
Deacon’s family is pushing for him to marry a female, even knowing he is gay. They still think it is just a phase and are driving him crazy with it. So much so that on the drive home, something hits his window. At first, he feared he had hit a bird, but realized that it was speaking to him. He was shocked to say the least, but in the end did the right thing.
He took the little guy home and took care of him. Things turn to friendship and then to love. Especially when he realized that Moon had a human form. A human form that turned him the hell on, although to be fair even when he was in his fae form he still got turned on.
Moon was running away from his family when they kept pushing for him to mate with a female. Once they found out that his gift was singing, they treated him somewhat different. He knew that it was wrong to leave as he did, but he just couldn’t stay. He had gotten lost and then ended up on the windshield of a human. At first fear was his reaction, but then it turned into love.
When his family located them, he knew he had to give Deacon up, but things do not turn out the way he thought. His mate was immune to his powers and even though they had been separated for a few days, their love brought them back together.
I had a blast reading this story and look forward to reading more by this amazing author. It is her first book that I have read and was impressed by the way. It just flowed off the pages. There is a hint of humor that makes it even better for me. It gave me what I needed for this book to be a wonderful read. Gorgeous men, a paranormal and fantasy tone, a feisty little fae, excitement, dangerous situations, suspense, fear, and a happily ever after ending. Although they have lost a lot to gain so much.
I would recommend reading this book. It will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and cheering these two men on.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Title: Beyond the Rift Author: Alana Ankh Series: Elemental Lovers, #1 Genre: High Fantasy Length: Novel (260 pages) Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 27th 2014) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts Blurb: Across the centuries, the Nikari, a race of vicious elemental mages, have built an empire, bringing an entire continent to its knees. The course of history seems set… until one innocent Andari mage changes everything and claims a greater prize—the heart of the Nikari emperor.
Behnivyr ‘Ivy’ Erethe knows his duty is to wed another Andari Pure-Blood. Craving one moment of freedom before his loveless bonding, he escapes his father’s suffocating protection and goes to a masquerade ball, only to unexpectedly meet a mysterious Nikari named Kris. Kris makes Ivy ache with a need he barely dares to acknowledge.
One kiss, one dance—and Ivy’s life changes forever. Unbeknownst to Ivy, Kris is actually Kristelien Fezenda, the Nikari emperor. Forced to make a difficult choice, Ivy picks love over duty and becomes Kris’s concubine.
Poorly prepared for the whirlwind of emotion Ivy summons inside him, Kris now faces the hardest battle of his life. In a ruthless world where all weakness is exploited, where allies become enemies in the blink of an eye, where love can mean death, he will have to defeat more than his own personal demons to breach the rift between him and Ivy.
Review: Ivy is Andari royalty, a prince who has led a sheltered life and is being basically pawned off to a Lord for the status the union will bring. Longing for just a taste of freedom before he is shackled to a loveless union, he sneaks out one night and attends a local fair where he meets a Nikari that stirs something inside Ivy he is required to keep bound until he is bonded. Of course, his father’s come looking for him, but not before Ivy has his first dance, his first kiss.
Kris is ill prepared for the feelings Ivy stirs in him. As the Nikari emperor, it would not be in his best interest to bond with an Andari, but don’t we always want what we can’t have? The Nikari emperor can have whatever, and whomever he pleases though. Kris sets an elaborate stage disguised as a masquerade ball, inviting Ivy and his father’s of course, all in an effort to get the man who has already captured his heart, into his bed.
Against all odds and almost everyone’s wishes, Ivy becomes Kris’s concubine, and eventually his bound concubine, yes there is a difference. But the relationship is not without its difficulties. Ivy is Andari for starters, and this does not make the Nikari people happy at all, especially Kris’s cousin slash brother (can’t even get into that, you’ll have to read the book) and uncle. And the same can be said for Ivy’s people where the Nikari emperor is concerned. But the attraction, the connection and the love that Ivy and Kris share is palpable and real and they are determined to make a life together.
I absolutely loved the elemental magic and the rifts between worlds that the Nikari and their Nightwolves use to travel and fight. There are words and languages used in the story that are unique to this story, but the Author starts the book out with a glossary of terms and an explanation of this world she has created so you would be hard pressed not to understand what is going on or what is being said.
Ivy starts out as a sheltered, naïve and innocent young man who wants nothing more than to be loved and appreciated. And he finds that love and appreciation in the last place anyone would have thought. The arms of the enemy. Kris wants someone to see him. The man that he is and the man that he wants to be, and Ivy truly sees him. It was beautiful watching them grow as individuals and as a couple throughout the book.
Kris’s beloved Nighwolfe, Attcha, almost stole the book. Overbearing and fiercely loyal, the nightwolves are companions to the Nikari and watch over them, travel the Rift with them. Attcha is immediately drawn to Ivy and just as protective of him as he is of Kris. It’s very much like a spirit animal sort of relationship, which blends perfectly with the root of this story, this world being based in magic.
I think this story will appeal to many readers, it is rich with content, and unexpected plot twists. The romance is passionate and electric, while being innocent and tender when needed. The storyline and the world Ankh has written here are very original as well, fresh, and enticing.
Full of magic, danger, suspense, romance and an underlying threat, a battle for Nikari that is just beginning. I’m very excited to see where the next book, Fractured Souls, takes these characters and their peoples.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Title: Electrify His Heart Series: N/A Author: Alana Ankh Genre: Science Fiction Length: Novel (200 pages) Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 10, 2014) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.75Hearts Blurb: It is the year 2441. A deadly virus has swept over the planet, short-circuiting cybernetic implants, killing billions. In the aftermath, the newly formed state of Eden is led by the one newborn that survived that dreadful day, Uriel Noah of the House of Zion—the Guiding Light. Unbeknownst to all, Uriel lives in a gilded cage, deprived of basic affection, used as a pawn, craving freedom and love.
Cyborg Raze Hartman is the leader of the resistance. His kind—cyborgs with a high cybernetic coefficient—were hit hardest by the virus, the few survivors crippled and enslaved by the purist system. Struggling to keep his father alive, Raze resorts to investigating the Guiding Light, the symbol of cyborg oppression. What he finds changes his life, and Uriel’s.
After sneaking into a purist ceremony, Raze sees past Uriel’s facade of strength and aloofness. He sees the lonely young man behind the mask of the Guiding Light. The instantaneous attraction between them is literally electric. But a chasm separates them, as wide as the difference between flesh and metal, and the secrets of Uriel’s past may be the undoing of them all.
Review: Raze survived the virus that wiped out most machine people. Now he intends to get the guiding light, Uriel, to help his father. Uriel has never been outside the walls of his city. His mother won’t let him do anything. In my opinion, it was almost like he was a prisoner instead of her son. I didn’t care for her, his father or the council.
Interesting story of how one man can heal people and one man who is 80 percent cyborg needing his help. Dangerous missions and adventure all throughout.
The details of the story were amazing. However, I didn’t understand completely how the virus was started in the first place. Well-written story that keeps the reader intrigued.
Good read.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review throughhttp://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com*
Title: Short-Circuit His Soul
Title: Splat!
Title: Beyond the Rift
Title: Electrify His Heart