Special thanks to Leontine from Leontine's Book Realm for the super header.


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Lions and Tigers and .... No, just lions today

Happy Sunday. Winter has come to our fair land, although I think it's actually even colder in the UK so go figure, but we do have some snow on the ground but it's supposed to be +8C on Wednesday with rain so I don't imagine it will stay until Christmas.

I've had a few things I've been working on that haven't been reading but I did read these two books. Some of you may remember I had serious issues with book 1 in this series and nearly didn't finish but with some encouragement from the masses I did. I didn't love it, because I didn't love the main characters, however I was curious about some of the other lions in the book and so I was motivated to read about them. I find them easy reads, fast, kind of brain candy.

Marrick's Promise by Kim Dare (103 pages)
Resplendence Publishing

Marrick is an adrenalin junkie who hangs out at the BDSM clubs and figures it will be a lark to be thrown to the lions. Another rush. Were-lion Mates Blaine and Luthor are instantly attracted to him and despite knowing it's only one night, start stalking him. Finally they "rescue" him at a BDSM club and Arslan agrees they can "court" him. Sure it's all fun and games, two hot sexy guys, however Marrick likes it rough (as in scar inducing rough) and the lions have been taught that you have to be gentle with your pets and have taken it to heart after their first experience with a human didn't go well and he was injured. But if Marrick can't get one he needs from the two hotties, is there any hope. Blaine and Luthor are not too bright, in fact none of the lions except the boss seem that bright. They live in human society but seem totally oblivious to how it works. I also understood part of Marrick's reason to live life to the max given a childhood illness, but needing to draw blood and be scarred permanently to feel alive may mean you need to see a therapist. LOL There was an amusing scene as Blaine and Luthor show up at Marrick's parents house and have tea with them. It was okay, I had been curious about the couple so was happy to read more about them, but they were a bit too bratty and annoying to really appeal to me.

Ellery's Duty by Kim Dare (117 pages)
Resplendence Publishing

And so we continue with more lions. Ellery is a local dom who's a bit concerned about all the subs in town being thrown to the lions so he decided to do it to make sure they are okay. He is chosen by Kefir, the smallest lion who knows there is something different about him, but Ellery tells him he'll never be a pet. Knowing that Kefir is "different" than other lions, the pride leader invites Ellery back to witness another person thrown to the lions to see what it's really like. He instantly recognizes that Kefir is an untrained sub and is in seventh heaven. However, two dominants in the house makes for some tense moments and the other members of the pride, especially Blaine and Luthor do NOT like the fact that a lion is not the dominant member of a mating and make plans to show Ellery how it's supposed to work. Well, we all knew Kefir was a sub right cause he was small and soft spoken. *eye roll* But I just wanted to take him home and hug and care for him. LOL Lions appear to have no recognition of things like sarcasm or subtlety or reading between the lines. Everything is face value and Kefir was so eager to please his master that I really think he'd do anything, whether he wanted to or not, including allowing whipping even though every indication showed that it freaked him out. But of course his Dom would KNOW he likes it even if Kefir says no. Sigh. There were safe words for the lion sacrifices but none for the humans. Hmmmm. I found Ellery a bit of a he-man Dom which was annoying. It was okay, but I just never felt comfortable that Kefir wasn't going to allow himself to be pushed farther than he should.

So there. There was mumbling about the pride leaders brother who disappeared and rumours of a stripper/prostitute who was a were-lion so I imagine his story is up next. Not sure I'd get it. Maybe. I only got these because I'd been curious about these particular characters in the series. Oh and they all needed Muggle Studies classes to figure out humans. Why wasn't Ryland doing that for them? Or they need to watch TV or something (even though that was said to be an inaccurate picture) at least they'd have half a clue.

11 comments:

Lily said...

I read the first one and liked it but haven't felt the pull to continue this series. I think I like her other stories better. Maybe one day.

Chris said...

I like this series a lot better than you do! :) Although I do find Blaine & Luther to be annoying, too. The situation with Kefir and Ellery didn't seem too out there to me, because I have a friend who would never use a safe word - he has to be with someone who knows how far is safe.

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

Oh wow, being thrown to the Lions so to speak. Not sure this would be for me. But you gave tue review your honest thought and that is all we can ask!
I hope you are having a great wknd! Hugs!

Tam said...

They are okay Lily, but not "must reads" for most.

But how do you KNOW how far is safe Chris? Until you reach that edge and he can say "that's the limit" that is a lot of expectation to put on another person to know your limits and in this case they knew each other 4 days. I mean maybe if you go slow, but at some point the limit is going to be reached (there can't be an endless limit unless you count that as death) so the sub is going to have to speak up at sometime or else I suppose they never truly reach the limit. I guess I just didn't trust that Kefir would ever speak up for himself and say "that's it" (safe word or not).

Tam said...

It's definitely not for everyone Cecile. I was curious about the other characters from the first book, my curiosity has been assuaged, now I can let it go. LOL

So far staying warm and in our jammies. :-)

Chris said...

Four days is pretty fast to figure that out about someone else. But my friend wouldn't EVER speak up and say that's enough, so... :(

Tam said...

You just hope someone finds the right person who understands that. It can be scary though.

Erotic Horizon said...

Not reading because I have it and your snippets normally leads me down the path of dropping my current reading material...

Happy Sunday to you and the kidlet...

:)

Tam said...

Well, if you haven't read book 1, definitely don't start with these. In fact there are probably much better ones, but they were okay time wasters.

Jenre said...

I love how the lions are a bit dim and don't understand about humans! Despite your reservations, these sound a bit different from the usual. My TBR pile is over-bursting at the moment, but I'll consider them when I'm next in the mood for a shifter book (which admittedly isn't too often, lol!).

Tam said...

It is a bit different I suppose Jen, as usually the shifter is the alpha in all ways and while they may be physically stronger in these books they aren't the ones running the show on other fronts. Not bad, but when your TBR is full, not ones I'd say you must run out and buy either.