Showing posts with label Jocelyn Adams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jocelyn Adams. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Midnight Dawn Review

Midnight Dawn by Jocelyn Adams (ARC Review)
Mortal Machine Book 2
Published August 4, 2014 by Entangled Embrace
4 Galactic Stars

"Sometimes your soul knows exactly what it is you need, even if your mind has yet to realize it."

Synopsis -

A new adult title from Entangled’s Embrace imprint…

Her soul remembers his touch, even if she doesn’t.

With only three days until the wraith king turns the earth into an all-you-can-eat buffet, Addison Beckett is forced to enlist brooding sentinel Asher Green’s help to unlock the Mortal Machine. According to the founder, all she has to do is find the sanctuary—the same sanctuary she can’t remember because Asher erased her memories.

Trying to save humanity while navigating Asher’s lies is a royal pain. But the more time she and Asher spend together, the harder her soul tries to remind her what else he’s made her forget—that he loves her, wants her, needs her.

When she’s trapped by the wraith king and forced to pick who will stand by her in the coming battle, Addison is faced with an impossible choice: the sentinel she loves who refuses to love her back, or a powerful stranger who insists they’re meant to be together. Her decision will decide the fate of humanity, and once decided, can’t be undone.  (Goodreads)

Review -

Think The Mortal Instruments minus the incest and with a much more complex storyline. Adams brings a brand new world to the page, one that may have readers second guessing their beliefs.  And while Addison may still be viewing everything through lust-filled eyes, she has finally decided to be the Architect she was always meant to be.  Though a lot of her obsessive musings about a man who seemingly wants nothing to do with her, and does his best to drive him away at every turn, do distract from the story and will have readers wanting to slap the stupid out of her.  In the end it will be explained why she has such an infatuation with him, and it goes even deeper than the brief relationship they had in Book 1, Darkside Sun

Addison has no memories of her life before the Machine, which makes it that much easier for her to accept her role as the Architect.  Sadly, not many others trust her enough to follow her lead.  Trying to convince the other Guardians that she is there to help and rebuild the Machine will be an even bigger battle than facing the Wraith King.  Especially after she has killed Marcus, and tells them what she believes each and every one of them to do, have physical contact with one another.  After what happened with Taka's girlfriend decades ago, only a handful of people are willing to take that risk.  The problem is if they do not the Mortal Machine will never reach its true potential, nor will they have enough power to defeat the wraiths and save humanity.  Addison also must deal with the wholes in her memory.  She knows that she asked Asher to erase her past in order to protect her father, but there are even more wholes than there should be.  Memories from after she was already in the Machine, and echoes of those memories are haunting, and taunting her.

Asher has been plagued by what he believes to be premonitions of Addison's death.  So he has convinced himself that taking away her memories of the two of them together, of the love they shared, and staying away from her, he can prevent it.  What he fails to realize is the two of them together are much stronger than either of them are apart.  And when the Wraith King continues to call Addison by the name of Adaline, teasing that the two of them have no clue who they truly are, will he realize those premonitions just may be echoes of his own memories.

Enter a strange new Guardian who comes in just the nick of time to save the day.  One willing to go to any length to get Addison, and the Machine, whole and ready and at the apex of their potential.  Only question is, why is he so determined?  Why has he been exiled from the Machine all this time?  More importantly, do they have yet another trader in their mists?

Midnight Dawn is one of those can't-put-down-until-I-finish type of book, the kind where you tell yourself, 'Just one last chapter...'.  A true must read for PNR and Sci-Fi fans.  There is romance, but not so much that it exceeds the entire plot.  Just ignore some of her inner monologue.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Darkside Sun Review

Darkside Sun by Jocelyn Adams
The Mortal Machine Book 1
Published March 10, 2014 by Embrance
4 Galactic Stars


"The beginning was so slow I almost gave up on the book, I am so glad I didn't."



Summary -

Addison Beckett tries hard to pretend she’s normal, but she’s far from it. Since she was six years old, she’s seen the world around her unraveling, as if someone is pulling a thread from a sweater and it’s all slowly coming undone. When she ignores it, it goes away, so that’s what she does. 
Enter her arrogant-but-hot professor Asher Green. He knows all about her special brand of crazy. In fact, he might be just as nuts as she is. Asher insists that the dead from a parallel dimension are trying to possess the living in this one. And since Addison seems to be the only one who can see these “wraiths,” she just might be the key to saving the world. 

Addison wants nothing to do with Asher or his secret society, The Mortal Machine. But as their animosity grows, she finds it harder and harder to ignore the chemistry between them. And when she discovers that Machine laws forbid her from touching him, she realizes that’s all she wants to do. 
Stop the wraiths. Break the rules. Save the world. All in a day’s work.

Normal was overrated, anyway.  (Goodreads)


Review

The first several chapters, while extremely detailed were also extremely long and unnecessarily drawn out. CFBS, Classic First Book Syndrome, where the author is trying to balance the scales between enough information to form the plot, and too much.  This one tipped towards too much, almost to the point of making readers feel as though they are forcing themselves to keep going, not to mention a triple dose of teenage hormones.  But when the actions does begin readers will be more than pleased they decided to continue on.  

The Mortal Machine is a group of individuals with extrasensory skills and abilities.  Skills they use to keep this world from being overrun by the dead; wraiths, dead beings able to take over human bodies with a weak link in the mind.  Each having his/her own function within the Machine; Outfitters, Soldiers and Sentinel, only what their functions may nothing more than a lie.  They have been lead to believe that their soul purpose in life was to destroy Wraith's, even if that meant killing the host in the process.  And not being able to touch one another without risking death.  Going through life by doing just that, getting through it and not actually living it.  The very laws meant to keep them safe may have been twisted by one of their own to instead keep them weak.  Until a eighteen year old redneck comes in and flips all of their lives, and the Machine itself, upside down, Addison.   Not only has she been seeing the rifts within the veil since she was no more than six years old, but she can also see the Wraith's true form, something that has been unheard of, until now.  

Addison was abandoned by her mother the very day she was born.  Never knowing there may very well have been a true reason for her doing what she did, all she knew was how much it broke her Father's heart.  So she vowed to never to to him what her Mother did to the both of them.  Which makes her decision of entering into the Machine that much harder.  Though the choice may not be hers to make.  And to make matters worst, the person destined to train her, and maybe more, has too much fear in him to do either.  Even though the two of them are quite literally stronger together than they could ever dream to be apart; their minds, bodies and powers calling to one another. 

Though in the beginning it appears to be one of those books that will be a struggle to get through, it turns out to be truly a worthwhile read.  Once you get past all the hormones that Addison has going on, I do believe there may be a tie between her amount of hormones and powers; and all the power within her packs a huge punch.  After the rough bump in the first few chapters, it is non-stop action from the middle to the end.  So much so that it will become harder and harder to even put the book down.  Adams does know how to make characters readers will wonder what will happen next for them, or to them and feel there emotional breakthroughs as they go through them.  Not to mention wondering when Book 2 is due to come out.

There is no hot sex, only some heavy petting, and a lot of fantasizing.  And the person who turned out to be the traitor, of Misgiver, shocked even me.



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