BOOK REVIEW - SACRIFICE THE WICKED by KARINA COOPER - DARK MISSION # 4 - AVON BOOKS - 4.5 SMEXI SIMON STARS!

By: Karina Cooper

Published By: Avon Books

Released : Available Now

Details : Paperback from Library, 375 Pages

RATING : 4.5 SMEXI SIMON STARS!!

Blurb: Goodreads

Parker Adams has always done what’s expected of her . . . until a double agent with nothing to lose ignites a passion she doesn’t dare give in to.

Mission Agent Simon Wells is everything Parker Adams has been trained to fight: manipulator, murderer, spy… witch. But for her, what makes Simon most dangerous is his mesmerizing sexual magnetism, powerful enough to tempt even the famed ice queen of the Mission. Though she knows better, each encounter with the deceptive agent leaves her craving more.

Simon isn’t a man to let go of what’s his, and his pursuit forces Parker, a woman he can’t get out from under his skin, to make a stand that could destroy her. If they can work together, they might survive the politics that have enslaved their devastated world—or fall victim to the pitfalls of desperation, bone-deep mistrust, and a hunger that threatens to consume them.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:


Location, topside, New Seattle, and is the proverbial poop flying about in this installment.

Mission Agent Simon Wells, and Director Parker Adams, as Parker must keep reminding Mr Wells, she is the Director, he is the Agent, are getting themselves in and out of a pile of doo doo continuously in this installment.

Fast paced scenes with some time out for Simon to get a tumble between the sheets with the straight laced, by the book, Parker.

That book is getting thrown in the shredder.

Simon is rewriting it.

Corrupt agents, who does Parker trust? Can she, should she, place her trust in Agent Wells? Does she have a choice?

Parker has to dig deep and decide does she go with her gut feeling and trust nobody, not even her own people? Things are not adding up. There is a political game being played and she aims to find out who the players are.

But she can’t do it alone.

Parker didn’t figure into Simon’s big picture. She was a means to get what he needed done. He is dying like all the witches. He needs answers and quick. He has selfish motives, but then he can’t seem to get Parker Adams out of his heart, out of danger, out of his bed, out of his mind.

Back to the drawing board.

Parker is in trouble, up to her eyeballs. Simon is playing on two teams. Parker does not like what she is uncovering and the powers above want her snooping stopped.

Permanently.

Kayleigh is finding her world turned upside down. Who does she trust? Something isn’t feeling right. But her father would not lie to her....would he?

The witches are just subjects, nothing more.

Aren’t they?

I like Danny, I hope he gets a bigger role in future installments. There was something very engaging about the guy.

Jonas...sweet Jonas.... Karina you had me worried. Don’t do that to me! Not nice!

Executions, corrupt team members, loyal friends who had been tucked into the background coming into play, new friends, political terminations, dying witches, lust, and fast paced action makes this series very intriguing to read.

Book 1 to book 4, so much has changed, been uncovered. Who is loyal, who is trustworthy? Can the remaining witches be saved from a horrible death..... or an execution?

What is worse?

Who is 100% batting for good and who is only appearing to bat for good?

I think you will be surprised!

If you enjoy Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghost series, I think you would enjoy this series.

I just happened to get an email showing me a novella, just after I wrote this review.

Bouncy. Bouncy.

Now I get Jona’s novella...Woot!! Wicked Lies # 4.5 .....and ummmm....from the blurb, me thinks it may be Team Jonny J

I did a double take!

* waggles eyebrows*  

Bring . It. On!

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - ALL THINGS WICKED by KARIINA COOPER - DARK MISSION # 3 - AVON BOOKS - 4.5 SECRETS REVEALED STARS!!

By : Karina Cooper

Published By: Avon Books

Released : Available Now

Details : Paperback from library, 

RATING: 4.5 OMG!!! SECRETS REVEALED STARS!!

Blurb : Goodreads

Juliet Carpenter thought of the coven as family, but when she falls for a man who betrays them all, she's left alone and desperately searching for a reason why. Caleb Leigh has spent the past year in hiding, unable to escape his demons. When Juliet finds him again, her need for vengeance clashes with the hunger still burning between them.

It's a fight born from the embers of a half-forgotten attraction and the wounds of a past too raw to ignore. With enemies circling and secrets threatening to consume them, Caleb has no choice but to fulfill a promise made long ago--protect her, save her. Even if it costs him his blood, his body . . . and what's left of his mind.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

Loved this instalment! What I find so intriguing with this series is all the bed hopping from The Church to the Witch’s side of the fence.

Caleb Leigh, Jessie’s brother, I am still unsure of his rather evil in appearance behavior in ‘Blood Of The Wicked’. I mean the dude appeared to want to harm his sister......now I am unsure if he is this dark , evil witch, or was there a plan that had some goodness in the outcome from all this nasty ritual killing.

So much more comes to light, but is it going towards redeeming Caleb, in my eyes....I am still not sure. I know he loves his sister, but there was some pretty horrific rituals going on in book #1.

Juliet Carpenter and Caleb have history. It is history that both are fighting to forget.

Juliet becomes the centre of attention for the ...... well, are they bad guys or good guys or a combination.

Caleb knows how to get his smexi on, but Silas is still my fave.

This book was very exciting , boy, did some dirt get turned over. Lordy there are some corrupt people in authority, working behind the scenes.

Juliet has a good heart. Caleb.....is his heart too blackened by what he has had to do? The promises he has had to make. Keep.

It took me a while to click , but there was a rather interesting thing with Caleb.

Jonas Stone, I just love his loyalty. He is one of those that makes up his own mind who to stay more loyal to. He is very intelligent and keeps in contact with those who have jumped ship. He knows there is some shit being flung about. He also knows and remembers who his friends are, no matter what side of the fence they sit on.

I got told by somebody to watch out for Simon.

.......Enter Simon.

The other man didn’t wait for an introduction. He slid into one of two chairs arrayed in front of Parker’s borrowed desk, kicking one ankle up over his knee in easy comfort. “I’m Simon Wells,” he offered, tipping an imaginary hat. His brown hair was longer, the same shade as the coffee-coloured desk between them. His eyes twinkled at her, an odd mix of green and brown, and his lips curved into an engaging smile that she didn’t return.

Flirt. She knew the type.



Simon Wells lounged in the frame, fingertips caught loosely on the upper ledge and muscles idly bulging. His blue tank top sported a vee of sweat, his hair damp against his forehead. Work-out pants slung low on his hips, button-down legs open at the bottom to fall over trashed sneakers.

The pose showed off every mouthwatering muscle in his arms and shoulders, and the smile shaping his mouth could only be called easy. Indolent.

This book is very gritty and tough on its characters. We go back into the bowels of Old Seattle. New Seattle can make you almost forget that the world has changed. There is a facade of normality. The witches and missionaries know what is lurking under this facade.

Power breeds evil.

I can’t wait to read more about Simon. He gets book # 4, Sacrifice The Wicked.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - NO REST FOR THE WITCHES by KARINA COOPER - DARK MISSION # 2.5 - NOVELLA

By: Karina Cooper
Published By: Avon Books
Released : Available Now
Details: Digital, Amazon , 100 Pages

RATING: 4 SILAS STARS!!

Blurb : Goodreads

New Seattle is changing. Witches and witch hunters have become allies, and the Order's grip on the city is slipping. But they won't go down without a fight...

After the disastrous end to their last mission, Jessie, Silas, and Naomi regroup at their sanctuary far beneath New Seattle. But their brief rest is shattered when Jessie "sees" two of their own attacked topside. Dodging bullets and black magic, they risk it all on a treacherous rescue mission. Already stretched to the limit, danger waits in unexpected corners. If the Holy Order finds them, the team is as good as dead. But they can't hide forever..

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

This was a great novella, a little bridge between Lure of the Wicked #2 and All Things Wicked #3. I do recommend not skipping over this book. It is around 100 pages so it is a reasonable sized novella.

What did I like about this book? I liked Silas and Naomi . Silas’s heart is taken by Jessie, but Naomi is special to him too. You can tell they have that working, growing up history. He knows how to talk to her.

I love Jessie and Silas as a couple. Jessie has such a good heart. She just wants to help and she is pushing herself to the extreme, dangerous extreme.

I loved watching Naomi reluctantly accept the new power she possesses and being in a slightly uncomfortable place where she is healing and helping a witch , rather than being a killing machine. Not a natural reaction for her.

Naomi is at odds handling the man she loves and not really liking that she needs someone. She cares about Phin’s mum and she has these new emotions running through her that are foreign to her. Her hard exterior is being tampered with, by love.

I am watching Matilda’s home slowly filling up with new faces, the Church and the witches are slowly finding each other and I wouldn’t be surprised that Matilda see’s it all coming before it happens. She seems very relaxed about ex Missionaries landing in her secret hideaway and falling for witches or witch sympathisers. 

Naomi and Phin have a complicated relationship because Naomi is still coming to terms with all the change in her life. I enjoyed this novella as there was more to say. One book was not enough for Naomi and Phin, they still had more emotional rubble to sort through.

All in all it was a great read I enjoyed. I love reading about Silas, he is just gorgeous and has a good heart underneath all that muscle and man.

This is a really good series that I am totally invested in reading to the end. Somebody on facebook told me about a character that beats Silas, in her book. I was like , do tell. Well, that would be Simon. I am now reading 'All Things Wicked', and guess who is all smexi and manly and bats for the opposing team , who is a missionary...... Simon. Giddy up!

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - LURE OF THE WICKED by KARINA COOPER - DARK MISSION # 2 - AVON BOOKS - 4.25 FINE PHINNEAS STARS!!

By: Karina Cooper

Published By : Avon Books, Harper Collins

Released : Available Now

Details : Paperback, 364 Pages from Local Library

RATING: 4.25 FINE PHINNEAS STARS with a DASH OF SILAS!!!

Blurb : Goodreads

Naomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke—the most seductive man Naomi has ever met—may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning—and dangerous—secrets. Whatever the cost.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :

I am really enjoying this Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance series. Karina kept me entertained with peeling the layers back on Naomi West aka Naomi Ishikawa , the kickass, tough as nails missionary from Blood Of The Wicked.

In Blood Of The Wicked, Naomi is a killer who doesn’t ask questions first, she shoots first. She completely belongs to the Churches way of thinking and their mission to kill all witches, period.

In Lure Of The Wicked, Naomi is like a blank canvas , her body void of all her piercings, except for the two she kept, deposited in the one place that is so alien to her character, topside, in an exclusive high end Spa.

Naomi doesn’t know how to be girlie, she only does kickass, she wears kickass like a glove. She breathes kickass. The piercings are part of her attire. She is a killer. She doesn’t do massages, facials....until now.

There is a rogue missionary, witches need to be dealt with and she has been given the mission of sorting through Timeless and finding some answers, posing undercover.

Phinneas Clarke and his mothers, yes plural, run Timeless. I loved the scenes where Naomi is about to crack and Phin takes charge and gives her a massage. All above board people, this is a respected and above board ,high end establishment. I really liked his mothers and their relationship with Phin. He could have come across as a mummys boy, but he didn’t, as he has such respect for these two women who have raised him. He is also a whole lot of man who has a whole lot of heart.

What he does for Naomi ....

Book # 1 had the reader below ground in the dangerous Old Seattle, the broken city, buried by the earthquake. In this book we are topside , where Naomi is not comfortable, where Naomi does not fit in. By birth she deserves to fit in, but life has not been kind to Naomi. Life has broken her and even Phin is finding it hard to mend it.

Naomi only trusts herself and even that is starting to waiver. Her own emotions are playing games on her. She doesn’t want to ‘feel’. She wants to kill. It is what she is good at.

This is a character coupling that will take more than one book to fuse together, for Naomi to trust, for her to believe she is worthy of being loved.

Phin and his family have their own secrets and all hell is about to break loose.

Betrayal is a bitch.

Silas Smith gets some air time. I do love Silas. He has a gorgeous, manly personality who is so fiercely in love with Jessie. He knows how to handle Naomi, about as much as you can. He has known her a long time. He knows some of her pain.

Sometimes in life you are forced to take a good hard look at yourself and you find you don’t quite like what you see. Sometimes decisions are made for you and you just have to make the best of it, roll with it and see how it all pans out.

Looking forward to reading No Rest For The Witches # 2.5 and then onto All Things Wicked.

This was a slick read that I really enjoyed. I found myself turning the pages in this series full of hard knocks, a corrupt Church , missionaries jumping ship because power can be too inviting for those with evil on the brain.

Sometimes the least likely wind up with the power and responsibility to use wisely and for good.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - BLOOD OF THE WICKED by KARINA COOPER - DARK MISSION # 1 - AVON - HARPER COLLINS - 4.25 HOT SILAS STARS!!

By: Karina Cooper
Published By : Avon, Harper Collins
Released : Available Now
Details: Paperback from library , 348 Pages

RATING: 4.25 HOT SILAS STARS!!

Blurb: Goodreads

When the world went straight to hell, humanity needed a scapegoat to judge, to blame . . . to burn.

As an independent witch living off the grid, Jessie Leigh has spent her life running, trying to blend in among the faceless drudges in the rebuilt city. She thought she was finally safe, but now she's been found in a New Seattle strip club—by a hard-eyed man on a mission to destroy her kind.

A soldier of the Holy Order, Silas Smith believes in the cause: trawling the fringes of society for the murderous witches who threaten what's left of the world. Forced into a twisting web of half-truths and lies, he has to stay close to the most sensuous and electrifying woman he has ever seen and manipulate her into leading him to the he witch he has to kill: her brother. Silas doesn't know that Jessie's his enemy, only that he wants her, needs her, even as he lies to her... and must protect her until his final breath.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

Jessie and Caleb Leigh are both witches. Jessie hasn’t seen her brother in a long time, after he took off, abandoned her. He is blocking her so she can’t find him. She lives a nomadic life, changing jobs and places to stay one step ahead of the all too present danger that awaits her kind.

Silas Smith, soldier, packing muscle , works for the Holy Order. He is a missionary.

A witch hunter.

He ALWAYS gets his witch.

Caleb is the witch he is after, but to get to Caleb he needs Jessie. Jessie has stayed under his witch radar for some reason. She isn’t suspected.

Silas Smith is all soldier, he is on a mission to retrieve Caleb and to kill witches. Bodies are turning up of females, ritually slaughtered.

Has Caleb turned to the dark side? Is he behind these killings?

There is something about Jessie, Silas can’t resist. He badly wants to resist. He is all anger and grit, packed into a hard bod.

When his anger starts to sizzle....* waggles eyebrows * ...it is hot!

New Seattle is built above Old Seattle. Scrapers made of metal and glass. Built atop the underground, buried ruins, of the original Seattle, where danger lurks and villains kill.

Survival is hard.

Jessie works the strip clubs...... strictly bartending.

I really like Matilda. Can they keep her secret? Will Silas keep her secret?

Josh shows us the Silas that can’t forgive himself. Where some of his ..err... hardened attitude comes from. I like Josh, he is a cool dude and makes no excuses, holds no grudges.

Naomi, the jury is still out on her, for me. She is a good soldier, maybe to good to see the corrupt, the evil that is lurking below the surface.

Power is an addictive , consuming thing, to some.

This is a high octane read. Fast paced. Gritty. Smexi. A world that is unforgiving and brutal if you are a witch. A world that is just hard to survive if you are a human. The world has changed, it is darker and it just got a whole lot more dangerous.

This book was a gritty romp in Urban Fantasy that I really enjoyed.

Michelle