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Showing posts with label Ellen Connor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ellen Connor. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday Snippet #93
Daybreak
Author: Ellen Connor
Publisher: Berkley
6 December 2011
Satisfied with that plan, he settled on his blanket with the intention of turning in. Not because he was exhausted, but because he was tired of people. Tired of conversation. If it wouldn’t be an impractical allocation of resources, he’d shift and sleep as a lion to further discourage interaction. And unwelcome memories.
As before, Adrian went to sleep first. And then Pen did something unusual. She came to him.
“What do you need?” He didn’t want to argue with her, nor did he want to negotiate.
“Have you forgotten the terms of our agreement?”
Doubtless she was about to produce some clause that required him to do her bidding. He arched a brow in what he hoped was a discouraging fashion.
“Two kisses today, you said.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered. “We can defer them.”
“I pay my debts.”
“I don’t want ‘debt kisses’ tonight. And I’m in no mood to persuade you to make them something else. So it’s better if you leave me alone.”
“What’s the matter?”
As if she hadn’t created the problem with her constant talking.
There’s only one way to shut this woman up. When he claimed her mouth, Tru kissed her with driving demand and a thrusting tongue. He permitted no distance, no reserve, and pushed past her lips to delve into her mouth. She made a small, surprised sound, but he ignored it and dragged her into his arms. She had been treated with too much delicacy, not like a woman a man intended to fuck.
After settling Pen astride his lap, he made love to her mouth for endless moments. It gave him a jolt of intense satisfaction when she wound her arms around his neck and pressed closer. Her lips warmed as he nuzzled them, went swollen from the little nips, from the way he sucked gently at the lower, before teasing her tongue with his own. He wrapped his hands around her hips and rocked her against his hard cock as she learned how to kiss. God, he could almost swear nobody had done this with her before. But she was a quick study, working out how to breathe through her nose. Her response became hotter, more ferocious, as he cupped her ass and worked her body against his.
He nibbled his way down her jaw to her throat, sucking, kissing, licking. Her nipples peaked and grazed his chest. An actual moan escaped her. Fucking beautiful. Music to his ears.
And that was when he stopped.
Her eyes were glazed, mouth parted. She panted, hands on his chest. “That was more than two kisses.”
“Technically, no. I never broke contact.”
Labels:
Friday, December 23, 2011
Review: Daybreak
Daybreak
Author: Ellen Connor
Release Date: Dec. 6, 2011
Publisher: Berkley
Dark Age Dawning #3
ISBN: #978-0425243404
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): Paperback (312 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book:
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Their mission was to save the world.
Their destiny is to fall in love.
Their destiny is to fall in love.
It’s been twelve years since the Change, and Penelope Sheehan is one of the few still practicing magic for the good of humanity in this dark, dangerous world. Determined to infiltrate the notorious O’Malley organization, she poses as an abducted girl–until a furious lion thwarts her mission. When the beast turns into a devastatingly handsome man, she recognizes in him the troubled boy she once knew.
Since becoming a skinwalker, Tru Daugherty has allowed his animal nature to take over. Aloof and cynical, he takes no interest in making the world a better place. He’s a creature of instinct and impulse, living only to satisfy his senses–ignoring the scarred heart nobody has ever reached. He’s also the best man to help Pen bring down the O’Malley crime ring.
Fighting alongside the last holdouts of humanity, they unleash a passion that tempts them to risk everything for love. But if they succeed, Tru and Pen hold the power to brighten the Dark Age for all time.
What G & U are talking about:
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Gikany and Una are so honored that we were able to be on the fabulous ride that is the Dark Age Dawning trilogy. As in many really well done trilogies, we are both thoroughly satisfied with the ending and yet a little sad that it is over. If you haven’t read this series yet, you can jump in and read Daybreak, but we highly encourage you to read all three books. Each novel in this trilogy illustrates a very distinct point in time along the change from a technologically based world to one that functions solely on magic. Though the characters Tru and Pen, the story is truly brought full circle. This story does not have Happily-Ever-After ending, but implies that people and the world will continue and thrive.
The Dark Age Dawning world is rich and intriguing. The way the “Change” occurs and what it does to the world in wiping away technology and introducing magic is incredibly fascinating. How the different characters in the three different books are affected and how they survive is gripping. The characters are engaging and jump off the page. The world is vividly described and we found ourselves lost in it. We particularly enjoyed we seeing “our” world transformed by the Change. The extent of these changes is made humorously clear in a scene where Tru is talking with Adrian, a boy who was too young to remember “our” world. Tru is talking about a moment that occurs during Midnight (review HERE) when he was off on his own. This is a snippet from Tru and Adrian’s conversation from Daybreak:
“I wasn’t thinking about them. I just wanted to see the world. Find my place in it. And it’s not like I can just call home.”
“You’d have to live right next door.”
Wow. That was how the world had altered in a generation. Chills washed over him. In Tru’s time, the word “call” meant phones. In Adrian’s, it meant yelling for somebody, or maybe a magical thing like they did from the island to contact the mission. No technology anymore. He and Pen were among the last bridges, joining what had been lost to what would come after.
One aspect that we loved in Daybreak is the reunion of Tru and Pen. They were children in the first book, Nightfall, not seen in the second book, Midnight, and reappear as adults in Daybreak. If you did not read Nightfall, you won’t realize the true depth of maturation and growth that occur in Daybreak. Both of our main characters are deeply scarred by witnessing the Change and seeing the transformation of the world. Tru also bears scars from his poor family situation prior to the Change. Though Tru and Pen are adults, they haven’t finished maturing by the time they are reunited. Through the course of this book much needed healing and emotional growth occurs. What we truly loved is that neither character had to change, but their transformation comes from within and the choices each makes. Once they make these decisions and learned what being an adult truly is, the bond between them solidifies.
If Gikany and Una were able, we would give Daybreak a 4.75 stars rating, however we do not have that option, so we are giving it a 4.5. The trilogy overall is a 5 star, it is certainly a must read. Please go out and pick up the Dark Age Dawning books: Nightfall, Midnight, and Daybreak. Trust us, it is so worth it! And if this review doesn’t convince you, come back on and catch our Sunday snippet from it!
Their Ratings:
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Daybreak Rating:
Trilogy Rating:
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday Snippet #77
Midnight
by Ellen Connor
Berkley Sensation
September 6, 2011 God, what had she said?
“Cristián.”
Release hit him like a sledgehammer to the back of the head. With a hard grunt, he shot against the wall. He used his free hand, fisted tight, to bang the slippery stucco. Pleasure washed over his skin.
Chris came back to the world with the sudden feeling of being watched. Shit. With as much confidence as he could muster, he turned.
Rosa was leaning against the opposite wall. A small bundle of bath supplies waited at her feet. She wasn’t standing in the doorway as if she’d just walked in. No, she had settled in. To watch him.
“All done?”
“Yeah,” he gritted out.
He was still stark naked, holding his flaccid cock. Shit. Shit. Shit. He grabbed his washcloth off a nearby hook and wiped his hands, then ran a little water to rinse the wall. As calmly as he could manage, he found his towel and began to dry off.
Rosa didn’t budge. She followed his every movement with a dark, unreadable gaze. “Don’t do that again unless you want a hard-up bravo to help you out. There are one or two.”
“Lay off, all right?”
She looked perfectly relaxed, her hands tucked behind her back. That pose thrust her breasts against a white button-down, one long enough to just cover her ass. Did she use it as a nightgown? It looked rumpled as if she’d slept in it. Beneath the clinging cotton her nipples were rock hard.
In the dream he’d been arrogant. He’d known what it was to be wanted. Maybe that was because she’d looked at him the way she was doing just then. Stark appreciation shone from her luminous brown eyes. He could knock down trees with his bare hands when she ate him up with her stare.
Chris wrapped the towel loosely around his waist and eased nearer. Any minute she’d pull a gun on him, but he didn’t care. She was the inspiration behind two of the most satisfying orgasms he’d had in years. And he felt like paying homage to his muse.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“Letting me finish.”
She licked her lower lip and smiled. “I won’t lie, Cristián. I enjoyed the show.”
PURCHASE INFO:
Midnight (A Dark Age Dawning Novel)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Review: Midnight
Author: Ellen Connor
Release Date: September 6, 2011
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Dark Age Dawning #2
ISBN: #978-0425242995
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): Paperback (327 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book: |
Their desire destroys her defenses.
Their love gives him a reason to live.
Their love gives him a reason to live.
Three years of wandering the post-apocalyptic wasteland has stripped Dr. Chris Welsh of humanity and hope. He’s a dangerous man now, full of dark energy and yen for violence. A harrowing loss drove him from his home, and he hasn’t stopped moving since. Grim and sardonic, he never found anything worth sticking around for–until now.
Rosa Cortez runs Valle de Bravo, a haven of civilization amid the chaos of the Change. Soldiers take their orders directly from her–the iron hand within a velvet glove. The last thing she needs is a feral loner upsetting the town’s tentative balance. However, for the good of her people, she lets the sexy doctor stay. He evokes a delicious new longing, but she won’t submit to any man.
Tension rises as bloodthirsty raiders strike again and again, bent on possessing Valle and its resources. Together Chris and Rosa battle hellhounds and dust pirates while also fighting desperate attraction. To save them, love must overcome the pain of the past–and build a future in this brutal Dark Age…
What G & U are talking about: |
Midnight is the second novel in one of the best new series this year, Dark Age Dawning. Gikany read the first book, Nightfall while Una did not. We do recommend that you read the first book due to the fact that it sets this new world up. Plus, Gikany says the first book is awesome. Una is going to go back and read it because she loved Midnight and wants the back-story she knows she is missing (since it is alluded to in this book).
This story begins in Valle de Bravo with our heroine, Rosa Cortez. We loved her. She is a no nonsense woman who works very hard to keep herself and those she “adopts” safe. She has taken an abandoned town and turned it into one of the few safe havens left in what was the United States. Rosa maintains order by walking a tightrope between being the unattainable and stoic “la jefa” and the Madonna. Everything is going fine; she is able, with the strength and loyalty of her bravos, men who have pledged themselves to her service, to hold back the hellhounds, skinwalkers and most importantly the dust pirates. Until, Dr. Chris Welsh shows up and changes…everything.
We loved the interplay between Chris and Rosa in Midnight. It is very entertaining to watch the way they “danced” around each other – between their attraction to each other, their prejudices and their passions. Chris has been wandering in the desert, alone, after the first book, feeling that he is not worthy to be around people. However, he finds himself in Valle de Bravo, and once he meets Rosa, unable to make himself move on. Despite his best efforts, he finds himself an integral member of the community and, surprisingly, likes it.
The world that has been created in Midnight is as rich as it is stark and desolate. As the change has eliminated the technology and magic has taken its hold, it has a feel of a futuristic wild west. However, it does so without being cliché or trite. It seems highly unlikely that it could actually happen (you would have to believe that magic exists AND that its rebirth would wipe out technology), but the writing and characters make it feel real to the reader.
Gikany and Una thoroughly enjoyed the novel. It was a fast paced, imaginative, nail-biting ride. We eagerly look forward to the third novel, Daybreak due out later this year.
Their Rating: |
Loved it - enthusiastically recommend (A)
PURCHASE INFO:
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