Ripper (Hunter #1) by Lexi Blake

Ripper by Lexi Blake
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

About the Book

A New Heroine Rises...

Kelsey Atwood is a private detective with a problem. She came from a family of hunters, growing up on the wrong side of the supernatural world. Tracking down bail jumpers and deadbeat dads may not make her a lot of friends, but it’s a lot safer than the life she turned her back on. She was hoping to escape from the nightmares of her past, but her latest case has brought them right back to her door.

A young woman has gone missing, and she didn’t go willingly. When Kelsey discovers that the girl is actually a shifter, she knows she should drop the case and walk away. But this shifter was a sweet kid, and she’s in serious trouble. More females are missing and the evidence points to a legendary killer. Bodies are piling up, and her case is becoming center stage for a conflict that could shatter the fragile peace between wolves and vampires.

As the hunt intensifies, she finds herself trapped between two men—Gray, a magnetic half-demon lawman, and the ancient vampire Marcus Vorenus. Both men call to her, but when a shocking secret about Kelsey’s family is revealed, it could ruin them all. To stop the killer, she will have to embrace the truth about who—and what—she truly is

The Review

Originally this book was just rubbing me the wrong way, but I'll get into that later. After continued reading my opinion began to change and I began to enjoy this first entry of the series despite the pessimistic, sarcastic and slightly suicidal female lead. Ripper had an average start (meaning it is very similar to other entries in the genre) with regard to the leading female character. Kelsey has a shadowed past, powers that she does not want or acknowledge but ends up embarking on a journey bring her powers to the forefront. All in all its pretty standard stuff. 

In comes the male lead, (though I don't believe he really was or deserved to be for that matter) Gray Sloane. To make a long story short, he was hinky from the beginning. I mean, they have known each other for all of two days (TWO DAYS!) and he was throwing around "I LOVE YOUs" like your grandmother handing out her famous pie on Thanksgiving. He trapped her in much the same way a good piece of pie would (I mean no one says “no” to good piece of pie). I did not like the relationship and I am glad that it was resolved (at least to some degree because it's obvious that he still will have some influence in her story later on). I personally like Marcus and hope their relationship will be able to flourish. 

Otherwise, I enjoyed this story and the action sequences were great. Additionally, I liked the world that the author created and I am anxious to see what happens next, see what else unfolds and what other mystery Kelsey will stumble onto. 

About the Author

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn't until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem. 

Her first novel, Their Virgin Captive: Masters of Ménage, Book 1, was a collaboration with New York Times bestselling author Shayla Black. There are five more books available in the series: Their Virgin's Secret, Their Virgin Concubine, Their Virgin Princess, Their Virgin Hostage, and Their Virgin Secretary. The next book in the series, Their Virgin Mistress, is releasing this April.

In addition to the Masters of Ménage series, she is the author of the Masters and Mercenaries series. There are eight full-length novels and four novellas available now, with more coming in 2015.

In 2013, Lexi also began releasing her urban fantasy series, Thieves. The first five are available now, with Ripper, a spin-off to the series, coming in 2015.

Sign up for Lexi's newsletter at http://lexiblake.net/contact.html#new....

For more information about her books, her appearances and her wacky life visit her Facebook page (http://goo.gl/q2IHnJ) or her website (http://www.lexiblake.net)

Review: Under My Skin

Under My Skin by Judith Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by this twist of the usual supernatural lore. I literally did a little happy dance when I finally settled down to read this book. I had been going through a slew of strange, poorly written and downright terrible YA books. It was refreshing to find a good action packed and funny YA book. Eryn was a highly amusing character with an equally sarcastic dry humor. It was surprising how the author was able to slip in the very creative sense of humor that she has. Also I was happy to see that this was not another vampire vs werewolf deal ( I had personally grown tired of that). But the fact the she acknowledged both lore; the gory disgusting SciFi werewolf and the skin changing werewolf (wolven in this case) was a welcome change. I have to commend the author because when Eryn was thrown for a loop so was I and I liked that aspect about the book. I am excited to see what happens in the next book.

Review: Darkness of Light

Darkness of Light by Stacey Marie Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is literally Twilight with fairies. Ember is a pseudo- Bella with a bad attitude. And Eli is literally Edward Cullen with a foul mouth. Although well written, to a point (there were still some mistakes) I had a lot of issues with this book, therefore I going to give it 3 stars. As the reader, we were privy to listening to her ramble on for the majority of the book questioning what she was. I figured this out (partly anyway, the half demon thing eluded me until the end of the book and I’m not sure how I feel about that) in the beginning of the book when she mentioned her severe allergy to iron. Then we spent the other half of the book listening to her inner monologue on why Eli hated her so much. You know they had that whole “It’s unsafe for you to be around me and we are not supposed to be together but come here let me kiss you!” syndrome. What she should have been questioning is how he always turned up where she was and what he was. That for me was the best part of the book, questioning what Eli was. For the majority of the book I thought he was a wolf and I was pleasantly surprised when he was a Dark Dweller instead. What was awkward was that she spent the majority of the time telepathically talking to him? I don’t know that whole thing was kind of hazy. I mean I just think they were staring deeply into each other’s eyes and she was having a conversation with herself not with him. Also there was only so many times you could listen to her waxing poetic about how sexy he was every single time she saw him. Along with all this going on between Eli and Ember, there is Torin the boy of her dreams…literally. I guess he could be Jacob. I mean she had such a fiery reaction to him in her dreams, and felt so safe with him but she had the exact same reaction with Eli if not more. I honestly don’t understand what is going on in this book and if I’m being honest I probably won’t continue the series.