Happy Follow Friday

Hi Everyone! This is my first Follow Friday so Thank you for stopping by!





Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee. It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

Here’s this week’s question:

Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

1.     The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Nefenegger

2.    Memoirs of A Geisha – Arthur Golden

3.    Comfort Food – Kitty Thomas

4.    Mercy – Annabel Joseph

Black Dagger Brotherhood Love! Books 1, 3, 5, 7

5.    Dark Lover – J.R. Ward

6.    Lover Awakened – J.R. Ward

7.    Lover Unbound – J.R. Ward

8.    Lover Avenged – J.R. Ward

9.    Dreamfever – Karen Marie Moning

10. Shadowfever – Karen Marie Moning

Waiting On Wednesday: Tender Mercies

 
Tender Mercies
by Kitty Thomas

Release date: May 2011

“Grace. That word that finally meant something again. 
Mercy. Favor. Good will.”

Fed up with play kink, Grace Warner moves to an island that embraces erotic slavery to be with a man she met online. Within hours of her arrival, everything is ripped from her, and she quickly learns play is preferable to the realities of actual enslavement.

Asher Collins has spent the past year mourning and blaming himself for the death of his slave, Darcy. When Grace catches his eye at a showing, obviously abused, he becomes obsessed with buying her and finding a way to atone for his own past sins.

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to showcase the books we can’t wait to get our hands on.

Review: Devil's Descent II: impure by Claudia D. Christian

Devil’s Descent II: impure 
by Claudia D. Christian
Publisher: DelSin Publishing, LLC

Release Date:  February 10th 2011

Series: Miserable Love Series, Book 2

Devil's Descent I: purgatory sees Julian finding Lily before abandoning her in an uncharacteristic moment of conscience. This sequel takes us to where it all began.

Lily Walker, resident Resurrector for a town that doesn't exist, finds herself contemplating murder.

Julian Douglas, Pureblood Vampire and Lily's former love, finds himself contemplating the same.

However, attempted murder of the other leads Lily and Julian to realize love and hate aren't so simple when sanity is a fleeting thing and obsession cannot be killed...

~ From Goodreads

I first starting reading Devil’s Descent I: purgatory (DDI) late last year but was so confused about what was going on I had to stop. Then Devil’s Descent II: impure (DDII) came out. I knew that this was the prequel to Julian’s and Lily’s story so I thought it might help me if I read this prequel first. I asked the author, Claudia D. Christian if it would ruin the story if I read DDII first and she said it wouldn’t hurt the story and that it might actually help since I was so confused. So with Claudia’s blessing I launched into reading Devil’s Descent II: impure. 

This installment in the “Miserable Love Series” begins in Chapter 8 and takes the reader back two years. Nineteen year old, Lily Walker is the current Resurrector of the secret town of Vickery Hill. Lily is a foul-mouthed heroine with a violent temper.  Devil’s Descent II: impure is the prequel to Devil’s Descent I: purgatory. We find out where Ian came from and learn a little more of the back story between Lily and Julian. The history of Vickery Hill and it’s residents is also revealed. Secondary characters like Lily’s Handler, Jonathon are introduced. It’s through their conversations that Julian’s psychotic history is exposed.

Lily has just found out that her mentor Ian is gone and will never return to Vickery Hill. Ian is a vampire who was sent by Nephilim to train Lily when she becomes the Resurrector at the age of twelve. Lily and Ian become best friends and eventually she falls in love with him. But even though Ian is good and pure he has a secret that he cannot reveal to Lily. Lily is despondent and confused. She doesn’t understand what has happened. Why is the man known to her as Ian now calling himself Julian? 

Lord Julian Douglas is a 325 year old pureblood vampire. He has been away from the “real world” for 150 years and returns to Vickery Hill with vengeance on his mind. When Julian first meets Lily he hates her and actually wants to kill her. He begins to stalk and play head games with Lily even going as far as getting permission to court her. There were a lot of vicious verbal and physical exchanges between the two of them. Julian and Lily fought each other mercilessly. As a Resurrector Lily has supernatural strength and healing abilities so she is able to battle with Julian blow for blow. 

I was fascinated and sickened by the way Julian treated Lily. At times I felt sorry for her but then at other times I didn’t want to care. They both torture each other with their murderous threats against one another. Julian is a total sociopath and treats Lily with a cold, evil, detached manner that sent chills through me. Despite their twisted mind games with one another, I still hoped that there really was just a little bit of real love between them. I mean they really were perfect for each other. Once again, Claudia D. Christian has masterfully woven together a miserable dark love story that had me on the edge wanting more. 

I give Devil’s Descent II: impure 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Devil's Descent I: purgatory by Claudia D. Christian

Devil’s Descent I: purgatory 
by Claudia D. Christian

Publisher: DelSin Publishing, LLC

Release Date: July 13th 2010

Series: Miserable Love Series, Book 1

Julian Douglas exists solely for the night he finds his human pet Lily.

Lily Walker exists solely for the night she finds peace from the nightmare that is Julian Douglas.

Julian finds Lily.

Lily suffers Julian.
In the end, who finds freedom? The master who is a slave to his pet? Or the pet who never wanted to run away from her master?

WARNING: If you like your romance sweet, your vampires gentle, and your heroines flawless---this isn't for you. This is a dark, unconventional love story meant for readers who prefer morally ambiguous tales. 
~ From Goodreads

Please take notice of the warning in the Goodreads blurb. This book is an extremely dark love story. There is nothing beautiful about it except for the protagonists. Anyone that is uncomfortable with anything besides romantic sweet love stories should not read these books. These characters are really dark and this “love” story is pretty twisted. But if you’re ready to step outside your comfort zone, buckle up and take a ride into this “Miserable Love Series.”

Devil’s Descent I: purgatory starts in the middle of Julian and Lily’s story. Julian Douglas has chased 21 year old, Lily Walker to Montreal, Canada. Lily has been on the run for 2 years, ever since she was expelled from the town of Vickery Hill, Georgia. Lily is the former Resurrector of this secret town that is inhabited by twelve families of mixed human and vampire lineage. 

When Julian shows up at her apartment Lily is both shocked and relieved to see him. Though she knows she should make him leave, Lily’s sick need for her vampire lover has her submitting to him all over again. Lily is so obsessively in love with Julian that she allows him to physically and emotionally torture her. Beatings, drowning, forced orgies, infidelity - it doesn’t matter what twisted,  humiliating things Julian subjects her to, Lily always comes back for more. Julian is a sick, sadistic bastard who gets pure joy out of breaking Lily down. He knows that she craves the violence and disturbingly she enjoys it. But Lily also yearns for Julian’s love only he doesn’t seem capable of giving it to her.

”Time has proven to me that I’m not worthy of sustaining love, only destroying it. That’s what I do. That’s all I am…all I’ll ever be. I won’t survive love. I’d rather be dead than know I’m in love with this pet.” ~Julian

Julian and Lily have a love hate relationship with each other. As a reader I had those same feelings for these two characters. I wished both of them would just finish each other off. But at the same time I was completely captivated by their perverse obsession with one another. Oh and the sex scenes were jaw-dropping, twisted goodness. 

Claudia D. Christian is a gifted storyteller who draws her readers into this warped and miserable tale. As I said before this is an intensely dark read but I found myself wanting to know more about these complex characters. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this Miserable Love Series. 
I give Devil’s Descent I: purgatory 4 out of 5 stars.

Under Construction

As you can see this blog is still under construction while I try to figure out what the bleep I'm doing! =D