This next series is by a new author and I was kind of hard in my reviews I think. I hate to sugar coat how I feel after reading a book, but usually more I liked the book the more passionate my reviews are. This book is one of them. There were quite a few things that annoyed me in these books so I didn't hold back on my thoughts. I don't usually have much of a filter when writing a review so I always feel a little sheepish after writing reviews like the following, and then get a message from the author. Author Quinn Loftis sent me a message on Goodreads thanking me for my review and offered her 3rd book to me for free if I would write another review. She said she could see I was on the fence about her books and thought that her writing had grown a lot with each book and hoped I would like the 3rd a little more than the first 2. How kind is that? I rant and complain in 2 reviews of her books and she offers me the 3rd book for no charge. Now I can't wait to read the 3rd book.
Prince of Wolves by Quinn LoftisMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
OK I loved the story. I really got into it, but the dialogue was really annoying sometimes, and corny. I got so tired of Jacque and her friend's comments. I think it sounds like the characters are trying too hard to be funny. Sarcasm is funny in small doses, but it seemed like every conversation Jacque had to make a sarcastic comment, and she came off sounding kind of snotty. She didn't seem mature enough for Fane. I kept cringing when Fane's father, the ALPHA, was explaining things and Jacque's friends would make stupid little comments. Ugh, could they not keep their mouths shut and show some respect for like 5 minutes. It just got so annoying. Everyone acted like the girls were funny but I think a true Alpha would have had enough and put them in their place by making them shut up. (I wish he would have. It got to the point where I started skimming the words when Jen or Sally spoke.) Also, it didn't seem very realistic that a werewolf prince would take so much crap from some human girls and their big mouths.
I really liked Fane. He was easy to fall in love with. I just didn't see what he liked about Jacque. I realize she was his mate or whatever, but Jacque, as a person, was so annoying. I know he needed someone strong as his mate, but being sarcastic and having a temper is not the same as being strong. Her fits were more like a toddlers or a spoiled teenagers rather than a mature 17 year old, who was about to start training to become a female Alpha of the largest werewolf pack in the world. Which brings me to another thing, I don't like that she was just a human. I think it would have been cooler if once she found her mate and did the whole bonding ceremony and blood rites thing, that triggered the dormant wolf inside of her or something like that. I just think she should be a wolf too. Of course I haven't read the next book, which I think is the bonding ceremony and blood rites, but they already told her that she will not be a wolf. Thats stupid.
I was sort of surprised that her mother did not play a bigger role. It seemed like in all these conversations they had in the living room about life changing events that were about to take place, her mother would have had more to say. Her mother barely talked at all. Being a mother she should have been asking questions and letting her opinion be known. Trying to reason with her daughter when she would go into one of her childish fits. But she was very silent. It was weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite all the complaining I just did, I DID enjoy the story a lot. So here are some of the quotes I did like or found funny.
FAVORITE QUOTES
This is right after Jacque, Jen and Sally met Fane for the first time.
"First impressions?" Jacque finally prompted.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe something like, OH MY, stutter, drool, FREAKING, pant, deep breathing, GOSH!" Jen spat.
~Jacque and Jen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was Jacque's response to seeing Fane jump out of his bedroom window.
"What the hell was that? Do you make it a habit to jump out of two story structures? Were you thinking, 'hey the front door is such a typical way to leave a place why not mix it up a bit and fall out of the window instead'?"
~Jacque
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is one of the very few times that I thought Jen was kind of funny and not just annoying.
"Well, duh!" Jen responded. "Wouldn't it wear you out if you'd just met the man of your dreams? Then it turns out he's a werewolf, then it turns out you're his mate or whatever, then it turns there's this other pack of wolves with a psycho, werewolf leader who wants you as his mate, and then it turns out..." Jen paused. "You get the picture."
~Jen
Blood Rites by Quinn LoftisMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
OK I have to say, this book was a little better than the last one as far as the annoying dialogue goes. It was still there, and about 3 pages into the book I was asking myself why I just bought another book full of Jacque, Jen and Sally. But as it turns out, Jen and Jacque are unconscious for part of the book and then separated for another good portion. So it was more bearable when it was only 2 girls making dumb sarcastic comments at inappropriate times.
First what I liked about the book. Most definitely Fane. I loved his protective nature and the love that just oozed from his pores. I loved it. This story was kind of the same plot as the first book. Another wolf wants his mate, except this one took it a bit further and actually kidnapped her. That added a different element to the book that the last book didn't have because it came down to Fane rescuing Jacque, and I'm a sucker for rescues. :)
I also liked the thing that Jen and Decebel obviously have going on. It was fun seeing Decebel start to come out his shell and start throw some zingers at Jen that left her speechless. In fact those were some of my favorite moments, when Decebel left Jen speechless. HA! The next book is about Jen and Decebel, but I'm just not sure I can stomach a whole book about Jen. I'm gonna have to think on this one.
I forgot to mention this in my review of the first book, but I loved that Quinn Loftis added a lot of Romanian into the conversations. I LOVE books with different languages in them. Hott!
And this is a minor part, but I like that Jacque's dad ended up not being a douche. I like that he saw he was wrong and his reasons for wanting to take her away were more selfish than the reasons he was given. I mean come on, poor Fane can't be held responsible for a car accident. I felt so bad for him every time someone blamed him for that. It was completely out of his control. He can't predict the future. :( Poor Fane. But like I said, I think her dad redeemed himself.
LOVED the Bonding ceremony! I LOVED that he proposed to her and she accepted and married him on the spot. I kept thinking to myself, throughout the book 'why won't she just marry him?' Well she DID!! And I LOVED how it all played out. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT!
Some complaints.
First, what was up with Jacques mom after the car wreck? How many mom's go into such shock that they leave their ONLY child to burn to death in a car? That didn't seem very realistic to me. I think her mom would have moved heaven and earth to get her daughter out of that car and to safety. OK lets say that she did go into that terrible state of shock and later realizes at the hospital that she left her daughters teenage friends the job of getting her unconscious daughter out of the car and out of harms way. Hello?!! What parent wouldn't be wracked with horrible guilt? Another thing about the whole car wreck thing. I thought the girls SAW Logan standing there right before the wreck. Why didn't any of them recognize him when he was introduced later in the hospital? That didn't make any sense.
Speaking of Logan, I thought it was annoying that he had to go through and explain his whole plan chapters before implementing it. It kind of made it a little redundant to read it all over again when it actually happened. I think his planning should have been more vague so when it came time to take Jacque, we didn't exactly know what to expect.
One of my favorite scenes in this book was when Fane found out Jacque's dad was invoking Alpha rights and wanted to take her. Fane went into a rage and destroyed a waiting room. I loved it!! :) (Part of that will be in my favorite quotes.) Just the thought of her getting taken from him did that. And yet, when she actually was taken from him, he was very subdued... it wasn't consistent. I kept waiting for his wolf to burst out and for him to go tearing through the city howling for his lost mate. I expected SOMETHING after the scene he created at just the thought of losing her. I was disappointed however because he kept himself in check and didn't rage at all until he saw in her dream what Logan had done to her. But even then, his father was able to calm him. But in the hospital he actually defied his Alpha's orders before Jacque was ever taken. grrrr
My final complaint is of course about Sally and Jen. Could those girls not be serious for one second. They get in a car accident, almost burn to death, 2 of them end up in a coma with most of their body covered in burns. After they wake up Jacque starts screaming in pain and is taken to ICU, she disappears for almost a week and who knows what is happening to her at the hands of this crazed wolf, and Sally and Jen are STILL joking and being sarcastic at the most somber of times. It made me so mad. Could they not show some respect? Jen said that she feels its her responsibility to joke and lighten the mood because if she can joke then it will relax every one and give them hope that everything will all work out. But I didn't see it that way. I saw at as callous. Their friend is being tortured in a sense and you're making jokes? It's just not the time. It's disrespectful. It annoyed the crap out of me.
Here is an example. They are all in a burning car that has just wrecked and flipped over numerous times. Instead of screaming and freaking out and trying to GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!!! Jen is joking while they all sit there and await their death. Lilly, Jacque's mom, and this is before she goes into such a state of shock that she is practically catatonic, tells Jen to stop with the smart remarks because they aren't helping the situation. To which Jen replies:
"It's okay Ms.P. Not many of us handle being burned alive very well, it's a little traumatic,"What?! You're car is freaking on fire!!! Your friend is unconscious and you are joking. Ugh that is SO annoying!!
Here's another passage that didn't make sense to me, during the fire this is Jen's internal thought as she is trying to get her friend out of a burning car.
"DAMMIT SALLY JUST GO!" Jen hated yelling at her but she had to keep her focused, she was also beginning to realize that she cursed a whole lot more when she was under pressure. Oh well, could be worse, Jen thought.What could be worse? Is she talking about the fact that she could be cursing at a worse time? That the situation could be worse? Because I see it really COULDN'T get much worse at that point. That sentence made no sense. Annoyed me!
I seem to be on a roll here, so I might as well keep going.
Jen and Jacque have finally woken up from their month long coma's... within hours of each other I might add. Convenient. They are being wheeled into their new joint room where Sally is waiting.
And just like that I was already wishing their were back in their coma's. Because for the next 5 pages, it is the three of them going back and forth with comments like those. Pull my hair out ANNOYING!
"Oh, come on Sal. If you keep looking at me like I'm a sick puppy you found in a ditch I'm going to smother you with a pillow in your sleep." Jacque winked at her friend despite her tough words.
"Bloody hell, here I thought I was the reigning female dog in this posse." Jen grinned at Sally.
Despite all this complaining I have just done I did like the book, believe it or not. I think the reason I am complaining so bad about this book is because it has the potential to be one of my favorites. I LOVED the story, I LOVED Fane's love and fierce protectiveness for Jacque. I love the whole idea the author came up with about a werewolf searching for his mate and when they find each other they are drawn to each other in such a way that other unmated werewolves want it and try to take it even though it doesn't work that way. So I want to "love" this book not just "like" it. But I can't because of all the reasons I just listed. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAVORITE QUOTES
"I don't know what idiot thought it was smarter to let a woman enter a room before him. How does he know if it is safe for her to enter if he does not check it out himself? It's actually a much more caring act to go before her, therefore ensuring that nothing will harm her,"
~Decebel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"[...] Whatever it is, Fane is royally pissed off," she answered.
"No pun intended, but" Jen laughed, "get it? Royally pissed, cuz he's a prince... anyone, no... no takers? Okay then."
~Jacque and Jen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK this is a long quote. I just LOVED this scene!!! This was after Fane found out Jacque's dad wanted to invoke Alpha rights and take her away from Fane until her 18th birthday, that was 2 months away. Just to set the scene, this first quote is right after Fane was in a rage trashing the hospital waiting room and his father used his Alpha "power" to drive Fane to his knees with his head lowered not making eye contact in a show of submission.
This next part is a couple of pages later in Jacque's hospital room.
"Înţeleg cǎ sunteţi supăraţi, am înţeles sunteţi doare, dar eu sunt încǎ în stadiul alpha-ul tău, vă va prezenta la mine, Fane. (I undersand you are angry, I understand you are hurting, but I am still your Alpha, you will submit to me, Fane). You know I will not let anything happen to Jacque, trust me. If not as your Alpha, then as your father."
After a few moments of silence Fane finally stood up and looked at his father. "I don't know if I can do that. You ask too much, Dillon Jacobs asks too much. I may not be Pack Alpha of the Romanian Greys, but I'm more dominant than Jacobs. He will not take what is mine. I'm sorry Alpha, but in this I cannot obey." Fane didn't wait for his father to respond as he turned and left the waiting area, headed back to Jacquelyn's room.
(*sidenote- Alina is Fane's mother)
Jacque would have acknowledged her friends efforts to defend her had the door not flew open and a raging, pissed off werewolf prince walked in. His power swirled around them so strong that Alina let out a whine, sounding alarmingly like a wolf in pain. Even Jacque felt the dormant wolf gene in her wanting to submit to the power of the Alpha wolf in Fane. It was getting hard to breathe the air was so thick with his anger. He walked over to Jacque, whose head was bowed and turned so that her neck was bared. It was like she knew instinctively to submit so as to not provoke the dominant wolf and hopefully she would subdue him in her surrender. Fane's wolf must have been the one in control of the wheel because he leaned down over Jacque and growled low. He placed his face against her neck, breathing deep, and his voice was guttural when he spoke. "Mine."See? With a powerful scene like that I get so excited about the story! I wish the rest of the book could have captured me like this instead of annoying me with stupid dialogue.
Jacque turned her head slightly and did what no other would ever be able to do when this Alpha was at this point, she looked him in the eyes. "Yes, I am yours." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Fane pulled his power in and all of the sudden it was like a weight had been lifted and they could breathe again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last quote, sorry I know, I'm getting carried away. This is shortly after the scene above where Jacque is still trying to calm Fane and and get him back in control of his wolf.
"You sit," his mate told him.
"No, I stand."
"Me Tarzan, you Jane," Sally mumbled.
"Snap, you beat me to it. [...]"
~Jacque, Fane, Sally and Jen (In order of which they spoke)
So thats that. As soon as I finish the 3rd book I will post my review.
No comments:
Post a Comment