Bloodmark by Aurora Whittet

Title: Bloodmark

Series: Bloodmark Saga #1

Author: Aurora Whittet

Buy Bloodmark:  Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

RATING: 5 STARS

Received for Review 

Sixteen-year-old werewolf princess Ashling Boru is different from other wolves—she was able to shift to wolf form at birth. Rather than bringing pride to her family, it brings fear, and as a result, she is forced to live in seclusion in Ireland’s countryside. Ashling’s reputation is further blackened when she refuses her betrothed and defies the ancient laws. When her pack’s oldest rivals begin hunting her, she finds herself in the small town of York Harbor, Maine—far from everything she’s ever known. 

In Maine, she crosses paths with the dark and rebellious Grey Donavan, and something ignites within her soul. There’s just one problem: Grey is human. Their instant connection turns into a passionate romance, and Ashling begins to believe she can create her own life outside of wolf laws. When she begins to uncover long-buried pack secrets—secrets that threaten to destroy all she holds dear—Ashling’s courage and tenacity are tested. Will she choose her deep and enduring love for Grey, or will she follow Old Mother’s path to her destiny?

~MY THOUGHTS~

I will start this review off by saying I completely enjoyed this book. Hands down, one of the best paranormal books I’ve read in a while. I used to be all about paranormal books: witches, vampires, shifters, all of them. And that’s all I read. But then it got to be the same story, over and over. So, I tried to stay away from that type of story. But for some reason, I signed up for this review tour on a whim. I think subconsciously I knew I would love it. And love it I did.

Ashling was a breath of fresh air as a main character for me. Especially in these type of books. Usually the main character seems to have it all together and knows what they are doing right away in terms of the supernatural aspect of the world. But Ashling was real. She struggled to fit in with her family, and had conflicting emotions about so much in the book. She didn’t know what to do next, and that was nice. I hate reading books where the main character just inherently KNOWS what to do. It gets old, because it is a huge plot hole. The author really took the time with this book, and with the characters of this story. Giving them weaknesses, as well as strengths. Letting each character play differently on another in the book. I loved it.

I haven’t read a werewolf book like this before. It was such a surprising twist that I was sucked into the story from the first few chapters. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Ashling. And wanted to know more about her father, and family as a whole.

The mystery/plot points of this book made it a fast paced read. I was constantly in a state of need to know when reading this book. Ashling has an enemy after her, and throughout the book I wanted to know why. And how she was going to escape. And would he turn out to be good? Would they fall in love instead of the character that is presented as the obvious love choice? I love when authors are able to elicit these questions even while finding out the answers. Each page answered something, but then caused me to ask three more questions.

I would highly recommend this read to anyone who loves paranormal who thinks they might be over the genre. I think this offers something new to the genre, and is a wonderful read. I am looking forward to getting to the next book soon.

Author's Bio:

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love is just the latest in a string of acclaimed works. Her first official writing endeavor became The Bloodmark Saga, featuring a werewolf princess-turned-ruler who falls in love with a human boy. Her first novel in the Bloodmark Saga, Bloodmark, came out in 2013, followed by Bloodrealms in 2014 and the final book Bloodmoon in 2016.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram

Roma, Underground by Gabriel Valijan

Title: Roma, Underground

Author: Gabriel Valijan

Series: Roma Series #1

Got: For Review

RATING: 3.5 STARS 

~MY THOUGHTS~

This book fulfilled a challenge in the Spooktober Read-a-Thon: Read a book with a creepy cover. The stairs in this cover kinda give me the creeps...so it fit.

I really did enjoy this book. I'm not always a mystery reader, as sometimes I don't enjoy the buildup of the plot of mysteries. I get impatient a lot of the time. But I found myself really enjoying the pacing of this book. It had just enough mystery, at the same time giving away details that kept me wanting to know more. I guess I never really gave mysteries a try, but this book makes me want to read more.

I liked the concept of this book. It is so unlike anything I see mysteries as. It had a financial twist in it, which I really liked. It just was an avenue of mysteries/suspense that I don't hear a lot about.

So, the story centers around Alabaster Black (love the name) who is hiding in Rome as Bianca. She was part of a secret organization that investigated financial issues in companies and uncovered crimes going on it that manner. She is hiding due to an issue she had with her last assignment.

Enter Dante. He has to be one of the most layered characters I have ever met. I mean in the beginning he is kind of painted as this Italian who is an auditor. But as the book kind of progresses, he is found out to have other "hobbies." Hobbies that are quite similar to Alabaster's life she is trying to hide from.

I will say that I enjoyed the mystery and plot of this book. As well as the characters. I didn't so much like the spattered Italian, as I had no idea what it meant, and kept having to look it up online. It just threw me out of the story. I understand that it takes place in Italy, but it just got confusing to me.

I loved the writing of the story. It flowed nicely and the pacing was spot on. For somebody who isn't into mystery pacing, it hooked me and kept me wanting to read. So for that, kudos. I think it takes a great book to introduce somebody into a new genre of reading, and I am glad I started mysteries with this one. I can't wait to get onto the next one in the series!