Kim Lenox

In book 1 in the Shadow Guard series, Elena has severe, permanent amnesia (she lost all her memories from birth to the “accident,” which happened a year earlier), but her guardian, Lord Black, provides everything she needs financially. Even though she lives in his manor, she’s never met him since he’s been aboard. When he returns, she hopes he’ll help her uncover her lost memories.
Archer, Lord Black, is an ancient immortal and the oldest of the Shadow Guard. For his age, the book states he’s been around since the beginning of time. He saved Elena’s life the year prior and purposely gave her amnesia to protect his immortal secret. When they meet again, he’s torn three ways: he needs to concentrate on finding Jack the Ripper (a Transcending soul who’s part of a larger conspiracy); he wants to spend time with Elena because she’s intriguing; and he wants to avoid Elena because his immortality forbids him from falling in love with a mortal.
Archer and Elena barely talked or spent any time together, so I didn’t feel much romance between them. There’s only one sex scene and it was breezed over.
I couldn’t relate to the H/h. Archer destroyed Elena’s chances for medical school because he wanted her to marry and have kids like a “respectable” woman should. Also, what kind of hero gives the heroine amnesia?
Elena is infatuated with Archer and forgives him very easily for stealing her memories. She also spurns the love of a much better, more decent suitor. Her actions didn't seem logical.
The Shadow Guard is a special warrior branch of the Amaranthines race, and their job is to kill corrupt human souls that are in the process of Transcending. Their special power is that they can literally turn into a shadow to better stalk their targets and use immortal blades to kill with. (This information is revealed in bits and pieces. Most of it didn’t make sense to me.)
The beginning captured my interest, but then the pacing slowed. The book could use a light edit to add in missing periods and fix stray POV shifts. Even though this story just wasn’t for me, opinions are subjective. I have two other books in the series and I’m interested in reading those.
2 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion.… (meer)

Night Falls Darkly
4 Stars

Synopsis:
Archer, Lord Black is an immortal warrior whose only goal is to reclaim corrupt souls. That is until the day he saves Elena Whitney from a maniac and makes her his ward. Now, he has returned to London to reclaim the soul of Jack the Ripper and must come to terms with the emotions that Elena evokes in him before they prove to be a fatal distraction.

Review:
An intriguing mix of paranormal romance, historical romance and historical mystery. The traditional Jack the Ripper tale is engrossing as always and the additional twist as to his identity is unique to say the least. The author intersperses historical figures, such as Bram Stoker and Queen Victoria, among her fictitious characters, which adds an air of credibility to the paranormal elements and the gothic Victorian atmosphere contributes a chilling quality to the overall reading experience.

The hero is wonderfully drool-worthy and despite the fact that he initially comes across as moody and unfeeling, he is slowly revealed to be fiercely protective and intensely passionate. His chemistry with the heroine and the gripping buildup of their relationship is one of the highlights of the book.

The characterization is good but there is insufficient detail regarding Archer’s background and his relationship with the other Shadow Guards. The reader is unceremoniously dropped into the midst of their ongoing conflict and it takes a while for the circumstances to become clear. Elena’s motivation and emotions are better detailed even if her background is murky (this is explained by the fact that she suffers from amnesia). The other Shadow Guards evoke a certain amount of curiosity even though they are not particularly likeable characters.

While it is easy to follow the plot, Lenox’s writing style can be a little disorganized, and requires more exposition and explanation. Nevertheless, I will continue reading the series as its underlying mythology is very appealing.
… (meer)

This is book three in the series One Scandalous Season and I can’t tell you how much I loved all three books.

These three sisters have given me hours of entertainment and I thank the author for writing such strong-minded women.

In this book, we finally get to see Clarissa’s happily ever after and I honestly didn’t see this one coming and the reason is that the author was very clever in presenting it to us throughout the series.

Our heroine is the youngest granddaughter of the Duke of Wolverton and the only one unmarried but not for long. She is madly in love with a respectable young man and she just knows that he is ready to propose on her come out ball.

Mr. Kincraig was not the man I as a reader of this series had seen as a potential suitor for our young heroine, but then I only knew about him the little tidbits here and there that the author has given me and what I did know wasn’t that good, yet he did stand out as a character with potential to disrupt someones life.

I am very impressed with this authors plotting of this series and with her characterization. I loved each story and greatly anticipated each book because I knew she’d throw me a curve ball with each story, and this one was the best! Lily Dalton is an author to watch out for. Her stories are well told and very exciting to read.

She doesn’t just write the romance, she writes a love story, especially in this book. I adored the slow build-up and natural progression of their love. The slow build-up fueled the couples chemistry very well.
As for the plot and pace, it moved quickly and coupled with a few twists and turns, kept me on my toes.

I really, truly enjoyed this tale and highly recommend it, but if you’re going to read this one, I beg you get the other two as well. It really is worth it.

Melanie for b2b

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher… (meer)