Feature Friday ARC Review: Black Rose by Karina Halle

*Feature Friday ARC Review is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to review books not yet released.  

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Self-published 
Release Date: March 19, 2023

Pages: 410 

Genre: Adult Romance

Source: E-ARC 

THE STORY:

From the New York Times best-selling author of River of Shadows and Black Sunshine comes a new dark gothic romance duet about how love can transcend the ages, but at a deadly cost.

Is it her destiny to love him?

Or is it her destiny to die?

Valtu Aminoff is no stranger to tragedy. Though many know him as the enigmatic vampire that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Valtu’s complex life is far more horrific than any fiction could imagine. When you lose the love of your life over and over again, it can do more than break your heart—it can corrupt your soul.

It's up to his new lover to decide if Valtu's damaged soul is even worth saving.

But destiny isn’t done with Valtu yet. And tragedy is always around the corner.

Black Rose is the sequel to Blood Orange and is not a standalone. 

Please check inside the book for content warnings.

LINK: Goodreads 

RATING: 

ONE-WORD REVIEW: SPICYYY

TAG LINE: Every vampire has a sad love story to tell.

OPENING LINE: "She is dead."

REVIEW:

Huge thank you to Karina Halle and her PR team for an ARC of BLACK ROSE!

BLACK ROSE is a dark romance retelling of Dracula and the sequel to BLOOD ORANGE. It mostly takes place in modern-day times but twenty-one years after the ending of BLOOD ORANGE. Like its predecessor, BLACK ROSE follows the sad love story of  Valtu "Dracula" and his reincarnated Mina who is Rose in this lifetime. But get this, this time she is a vampire too! And she immediately remembers all of her past lives with Valtu when she turns. But will their undying love story finally have its happily ever after or is this their final chance to beat death? 

𝐼𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓂? 𝒪𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒹𝒾𝑒? 

Valtu remained the sad boy character who tiddled on the line between bloodthirsty, angry, grief-riddled Dracula and the "man" Mina and the humans deserved and needed.

Rose was a complex character who was interesting to read because she was so many people built-in-one. Takes skill to write an FMC like this with individualism—without all of her selves melding together. 

𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.

BLACK ROSE was well written and immersive. The pacing was fast-paced and Karina didn't dally on jumping right into the story. And I love watching how Valtu and Rose's gut-wrenching, enduring love story unfolded between two characters who have gone through so much grief, change, and a world bent on keeping them apart.

𝑀𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒.

And don't get me started on the SPICE! If BLOOD ORANGE left you hot and bothered, BLACK ROSE will have you ready to rip your clothes off. Karina didn't shy away from the smut. What made it so much more delicious was Valtu's darker, more dangerous character this go around.

𝒲𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁, 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓌, 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒹.

All in all, BLACK ROSE was a great sequel to BLOOD ORANGE and I had such fun reading it—so sad seeing their story end. I recommend this spooky, spicy romance of reincarnated love to fans of Dracula and Mina and supernatural romance.

TROPES:

- Reincarnation

- Supernatural creatures

- Dual alternating POVs

- Dracula re-telling

- High spice

- Dark Academia

- Gothic Setting

- Vampires vs Witches

- Spooky vibes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Dirty Angels and over 20 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books. Halle is represented by the Root Literary and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.

Connect with Karina

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3LCSTIw

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3LHKB21

Join her Reader Group: https://bit.ly/3wAzpQt

Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her newsletter here: 

https://bit.ly/3PAEqQy

Website: http://authorkarinahalle.com

Happy Reading!

 

Feature Friday ARC Review: Made of Stars by Jenna Voris

 

*Feature Friday ARC Review is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to review books not yet released.  

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: PenguinTeen
Release Date: March 28, 2023

Pages: 368

Genre: YA Sci-fi Space opera

Source: ARC 

THE STORY:

Inspired by the lawless love story of Bonnie and Clyde, Jenna Voris's heart-stopping tale of passion and crime will have you seeing stars.

Shane and Ava are a team. He steals the aircraft, she charms their mark, and together they take what they need. Not even their distracting chemistry could get in the way. Until Shane was caught and left to rot on a prison moon. Now, freshly escaped from confinement and simmering with anger, he has his sights set on their biggest job yet.

Cyrus just graduated from the flight academy with a shiny new position lined up reporting to a well-respected general. On his very first assignment, he stops the outlaws in their tracks--or, he would have, if the annoyingly handsome Lark hadn't fallen for Ava's deception.

But when Shane uncovers a top-secret plot that would leave his home world at the mercy of Cyrus's military leaders, he makes it his mission to thwart them at all costs. It isn't long before Shane and Ava make interstellar headlines with each new heist. And thanks to a chance run-in with the rebels, Cyrus is caught between two versions of the truth. He must pick a side and fast. Because Shane and Ava will bring the planet to its knees...or die trying.

LINK: Goodreads 

RATING: 

ONE-WORD REVIEW: DAZZLING

TAG LINE: He wants revenge, She wants fame. Together they’re wanted—dead or alive.

OPENING LINE: The young ones died first.

REVIEW:

Huge thank you to Karina Halle and her PR team for an ARC of MADE OF STARS!

When I tell you I was excited when I heard MADE OF STARS was Bonnie and Clyde in space, that’s an understatement! 

“Inspired by the lawless love story of Bonnie and Clyde, Jenna Voris’ heart-stopping tale of passion and crime will have you seeing stars.”

The premise of MADE OF STARS is a fresh, unique take on the classic lawless romance brimming with romantic tension, high-octane action, explosive heists, and humor. The story is fast-paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire read.

The story follows three main characters on a mission to thwart a top-secret plot involving the military leaders that rule Cyrus’ home planet. The space Bonnie and Clyde couple are Ava and Shane. Ava is an absolute BADASS. She’s explosive, shows no mercy, and takes no prisoners—especially when she when to makes shit happen. And let me tell you, Shane is very much a “touch her and you die” MMC.

"𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃," 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹, 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒜𝓇𝑒𝓈'𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓈. "𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝓊𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀. 𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹?"

"But if you touch her again," Shane whispered, pressing the barrel of his weapon between Ares's ribs. "If you so much as look at her, I will let her break every bone in you body before dumping you in the airlock. Do you understand?"

My only qualm about the couple is the slowburn. Gahhhh, the slowwwwwburn. 

𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝒻𝓇𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒, 𝓉𝑜𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅, 𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓈𝓂. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝑔𝓃𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝒜𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓈 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈. 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝑔𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓅 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓋𝒾𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓈𝑜, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒𝓈, 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝒹 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝒹𝑔𝑒.

And caught in the middle of the couple’s escapades is Cyrus, the goody flight school valedictorian. He’s also like the space version of a cop with a very black-and-white sense of morals. It was interesting seeing his character arc change and soften as he gets to know Ava and Shane and falls for Lark.

All in all, MADE OF STARS was a fun read and perfect for fans of space heists, and lawless romance.

TROPES:

- Friends-to-lovers

- Space

- Dual alternating POVs

- Bonnie & Clyde

- Fast-paced

- High action

-Heists

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jenna Voris writes books about ambitious girls and galaxy traversing adventures. She was born and raised in Indiana—where she learned to love roundabouts and the art of college basketball—and now calls Washington D.C. home. When she’s not writing, she can be found perfecting her road trip playlists and desperately trying to keep her houseplants alive. Made of Stars is her debut. Follow her online @JennaVoris and at jennamvoris.com.

Happy Reading!

 

Feature Friday ARC Review: Chaos & Flame by Justina Ireland & Tessa Gratton

 

*Feature Friday ARC Review is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to review books not yet released.  

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: PengiunTeen
Release Date: March 28, 2023

Pages: 336 

Source: E-ARC 

THE STORY:

From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another.

Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him--even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon.

Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother's erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon's hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he's ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she's the key to everything.

Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they'll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world.

LINK: Goodreads 

RATING: 

ONE-WORD REVIEW: FEROCIOUS

TAG LINE: They were sworn enemies. Fate had other plans.

OPENING LINE: The first time the scion of House Dragon painted the eyeless girl, he was only six years old. 

REVIEW:

Huge thank you to James and PenguinTeen for sending me an ARC of CHAOS & FLAME!

𝒜𝓃 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃, 𝒶 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 . . . 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝑔𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝓊𝓁𝑒𝓈.

CHAOS & FLAME was fast paced filled with romantic angst, stunning action scenes, dazzling prophesies, political intrigue, and dragons! The world building was so fun! The fantastical concepts were interesting and unique—there were separate house factions and each bloodline had unique abilities called boons. It was also written in dual POV—Talon’s and Darling’s.

𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀. 𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉,𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓈,𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓊𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀, 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓌𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒, 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓈.

Talon Goldhoard, the MMC, was the House Dragon King’s younger brother and the War Prince. He was serious, loyal to his family, a skilled warrior. Darling Seabreak, the FMC, was brave, a skilled assassin, loyal to her family. Original of House Sphinx she was orphaned at age 10 by the war led by House Dragon and adopted by the scion of House Kraken. To add the frosting to the cupcake, she was also a Black MC! Loved it! Their chemistry sizzled off the page between the two. Their romance started as enemies-to-lovers and turned into something more.

And that cliffhanger ending! Lord, I can’t wait for book two.

All in all, CHAOS & FLAME  was a quick, fun read that I recommend to fans of The Color of Dragons by R.A. Salvatore and Nemesis by Anna Banks!

TROPES:

- Enemies-to-lovers

- Forced proximity

- Warring House factions

- Ancient prophecies

- Found family

- Mythical creatures

- Supernatural abilities

- Dual alternating POVs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine, and queer the Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur. Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. Queer, nonbinary, she/any.

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including Dread Nation and its sequel Deathless Divide, the middle-grade novel Ophie's Ghosts, which won the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction, and a number of Star Wars books including Flight of the Falcon: Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance, A Test of Courage, Out of the Shadows, and Mission to Disaster. She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award. She holds a BA in History from Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Georgia Southern) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.

Happy Reading!