Recommendations from Freya for May 2015.

In order to bring some more variety to my blog, I have asked some of my bookish friends to tell about the books they have in the past month, and to give us a recommendation. Today’s post is made by Freya from Holland.

Freya:

The books I’ve read this month are:

- Anthology: Masters of seduction 2 by Lara Adrian, Donna Grant, Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright



- Gini Koch: Alien Research



- Shelly Laurenston: The Unleashing



- J.D. Robb: Obsession in death




These were all great books, I’ll write more about Gini when I’ve finished her latest book. And J.D. Robb needs no recommendation on this blog. The Masters of seduction anthology was a bit of a disappointment, mostly because the story arc that was started in the first anthology wasn’t followed through. These were interesting and hot stories, but I had expected more.

So the one I want to recommend is: Shelly Laurenston – The Unleashing, even though it is not her best. I’ve been a fan of Shelly since I’ve read Pack Challenge and never regretted it.
She is the only one I buy in trade paperback. I love her shifters and her books are the ones I reread when I’m sick or otherwise down.




Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn't for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even have seen her die. In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig "Vig" Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life - but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the marines. But Vig can't give up on someone as special as Kera.
With a storm of oh-crap magic speeding straight for LA, survival will depend on combining their strengths: Kera's discipline, Vig's loyalty...and the Crows' sheer love of battle. Boy, are they in trouble.



But The Unleashing disappoints unfortunately. The story is interesting, the women are kick-ass as usual. The men are strong but also somewhat goofy. But it doesn’t sparkle as the other books I’ve read, when she’s on the top of her game.
Shelly always uses a lot of characters in her books, and I am used to that. In her Shifters and Dragon books it came gradually, adding as the story goes. Here it comes with a big bang, which can get confusing.

Then why recommend her book? Mainly because I love Shelly’s writing. She sets up a very interesting world, one she started in The Hunting Season. This is not a sequel, but a ‘reboot’, with the same kind of characters. Female Crows, followers of Skuld and male Ravens, followers of Odin. And they are fun, crazy and no-holds-barred group of women.
And one other major selling point is Brodie, a rescue dog, Kera takes with her to her new life and has become a Crow by itself. She was fun!!!
I’ll probably reread it when the next book comes, and buy that one too, hoping it will get as good as her Shifters and Dragons books.




Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Freya! You’ve hooked me on her Shifter books, and I definitely want to read this one as well. Even if you did not like it as much as the rest of her books. How about you reader, have you read this one? Do you want to?

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian