Love at Stake Series Review

Hey guys, I'm back to do another series review for you. *Yes, it is another romance novel series* This one will be pretty short because I mostly just wanted to get something out for you guys and as I said in my last post I have been swamped lately. So here we go!

Much like the Dark Hunter series which I reviewed the Love at Stake series is also based in the paranormal/supernatural genre. However, this series bases mostly in just vampires and wear animals and doesn't expand too much outside of that zone. Even though the world it is set in isn't as complex as the DH world, it is still a fairly interesting and a bit more relate-able considering it is mostly based in New York.

This series is more on the comedic side of things, it definetly makes you laugh with the humor in the writing. There are currently 15 books in the series, including two novella/mini story books. Check out the complete reading list and summaries here. My favorite books so far in the series are "How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire" and "All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire." They all have pretty punny titles.

Generally, I feel like this series would also target the same audience as the Dark Hunter series. Side note: the three main romance novel series that fall in this paranormal catagory are: the Dark Hunter series, Love at Stake series and "the Others" series. I may wind up doing a post on my favorite romance novels/what is on my kindle/bookshelf. Let me know if you think that would be fun.

Overall, the characters are pretty well developed with decent backstories. While the basic outline of the sories can be generic or a bit "jolty" (some books I feel end too fast or just don't 100% follow through). But in the end this is a decent series if you are looking for a fun, whitty read.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

<3 Kimmie

Dark Hunter Series Review

Imagine entering a world where all the demons, beasties and gods and goddesses that we learned about in mythology were real. In Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, she develops the most incredible world of myth’s, magic and fantasy. In her world the Greek God, Apollo developed a race, which he called “Apollites”, which he felt were superior to humans. However, when a couple Apollites killed his pregnant mistress, Apollo, in a fit of rage, cursed all the Apollites to die a slow, agonizing death at the age of 27 (the age of his mistress). Eventually the race discovered how to steal human souls to prolong their lives.

In response to this new threat on humanity, Apollo’s sister Artemis, created a group of warriors called “Dark Hunters”. Dark Hunters were created when someone died and their soul cried out for revenge, Artemis would grant them that revenge and immortality in exchange for their soul and becoming an eternal warrior.

The Dark Hunter series is one of my favorite books series of all time. Sherrilyn Kenyon is a brilliant writer who can make you laugh out loud, cry and truly become invested in the characters and their journey. The world that Sherrilyn has created within the pages of her books is incredible to say the least! The extensive amount of research she must have done to blend so many different myths and cultural lore is mind boggling.

If you like myth, fantasy, suspense, mystery, action or romance, or all of the above, you will definitely love this series! For all those out there reading this review, keep in mind these books are romance novels, meaning they do have sex scenes. If you don’t like those kinds of books then I am sorry, or you could just skim over those parts. Unlike a lot of romance novels I have seen out there, the ones I read are focused more on the story line and plot. I love the fact that the scenes that she does put in actually kinda further the plot a bit and they don’t consume it or take it over.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this series; I just truly love it so much. I own all the books, even the companion. The only downside for some people could be the fact that it is a romance novel, I know a lot of guys who tease me and call them chick novels or smut novels, but whatever.

All in all, if you are looking for an amazing mystery, paranormal, fantasy novel and are willing to put up with a few sex scenes then you should definitely check out this series.

Thing Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Book Review

Things Fall Apart is a wonderful African Literature novel that discusses the lifestyle of an African village, Umuofia and the struggles of the main character Okonkwo. The novel also discusses the impact upon African indigenous tribes and religion when the imperialists and missionaries moved into Africa to “educate the savages.”

I really like this book, even though there are some really screwed up parts, it is a brutally honest representation of what life was like.

The book centers on Okonkwo, a powerful man and warrior in this village who has three wives, two titles, several children and a large compound.  Okonkwo is the kind of man who rules his house with a heavy hand. He despises laziness and really anything that reminds him of his father who died shamefully and in debt. (Okonkwo has daddy issues.) However, his fatal character flaw is that he is so overly masculine, he beats his wife when it isn’t “justified” by their culture, but just because he is upset and he refuses to let himself show any emotion.

Following Okonkwo, you can see how he struggles with himself and how he feels he must keep up this appearance of being overly masculine to be everything his father isn’t. He has this whole struggle of man vs. self, man vs. society and man vs. destiny. Okonkwo’s struggle is seen at many points throughout the story and in the end I feel like it is what leads to his downfall because he is so rigid and unable to adapt that he becomes obsolete when the western culture moves in. So if you like historical fiction and viewing other cultures then you should definitely give this book a try.

I did want to make one note, this book does include scenes where Okonkwo beats his wife and there are traits of sexism, however I ask you to keep in mind that this novel is set. The entire world was sexist towards women so you have to take that with a grain of salt and realize that Achebe is merely portraying the culture as it was.