Not bad, but not my cup of tea
924231
I tried these strings on a friends advice. They are decent enough strings for the price, however the tone is a bit muddy & they fall out of tune exceedingly easily. Maybe they'd be ok on a very bright, harsh student violin - but I've already switched back to my old strings (Eva Pirazzi's)
321831
Very light reading. The author's writing isn't bad, but the story is not really my cup of tea. I will finish it, though.
4889410
I thought this had a good plot and the writing is fine.  It just was not suited to my tastes.  The heroine is a virgin, she doesn't curse and she comes from a religious family.  The main male characters are sexually experienced and worldly, but definitely aren't alpha males.  At times it felt like the author wanted to explore the heroine's conflicts about chastity and sex in general, but it never really went in that direction.  Much of it was the ramblings of a heroine and hero who are like teenagers in love.  To be fair, before reading this I had just finished reading Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde and Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan, which are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, so that probably led to my feeling that this book was a little too sweet and innocent.  And if that is what you are looking for, then this fits the bill very well because it does not become too cloying.  However, if you're used to something harder and grittier and sexier in the romance genre, this will probably be a disappointment.
156814
Not really my cup of tea. Interesting premise but not depraved enough  for  my tastes. It seems like Ms. Patriot gets off too easily, and not just in an orgasmic sense.. Obvious punishments are ignored. A good read, I suppose, if you are fond of girl on girl action, but not what I was expecting. The writing is a bit better than serviceable but uninspired, sort of like this story. I will NOT be buying or reading any other installments in this series.
1278701
Just not my cup of tea and though it is very well-written, I just had a really hard time into it.
282030
I received this book on arc. I lived the first two books but this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't bad and had a good story just wasn't my cup of tea. But will still keep up with the series!
3164072
(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I'd rate it a 2.5 rather than a 2, because I can't say I didn't like it, but it wasn't totally OK either. Although this novel contained a few things I liked, Im afraid it won't leave me with a lasting impression, mostly because of the characters themselves.

I enjoyed the archaeological-related plot: ancient artifacts whose purpose isn't known in the beginning, a relic (Pandoras box) that Ive seldom seen in urban fantasy and other contemporary books, travelling through Europe in search of clus, trying to find out sites to dig in (literally) Ive always had a soft sport for Indiana Jones-like stories, and for what its worth, I think the level of details in Seven Kinds of Hell was just the right amount for me: believable without turning into lessons. A real archaeologist might disagree, I don't know; its not my area of expertise.

Theres a lot of action going on, too, and while I may not have wanted to read such a story in one of my most introspective periods, right now this kind of reading agrees with me. Someone looking for characters running away, fighting unknown enemies, finding unexpected allies in the middle of a fight, and so on, will likely appreciate this side of the novel.

On the other hand, the characters didn't work for me. Zoe had her shortcomings and her good moments, like any proper character should, should I say, but I was extremely annoyed with her for a couple of decisions she made, that had catastrophic consequences. The guy who gets abducted? She led her enemies to him, instead of immediately leaving town, like her mother told her to do on her deathbed (and like she had done for most of her life). I could understand a normal person hesitating, trying to see her friends a last time. Someone used to doing that? Not so much. Then, later, a character dies, who wasn't saved because Zoe missed a big time opportunitysomewhat understandable, considering the circumstances. Less understandable is how she basically ditched said character at some point, even though she knew something fishy was going on; if she hadnt, Im positive things wouldve turned out very differently. From the beginning, I had a hunch this poor person was here only to die, and unfortunately, I was right. Zoes decisions sometimes bordered on the Too Stupid To Liveor to allow other characters to live.

The secondary characters looked interesting, but I never got the feeling I knew them enough to really care, especially Ben and Ariana, who seemed to be dropped in there. (Gerry and Claudia felt like they had some kind of back story, at least.) As for the bad guys, they were the classic kind. No surprises here. I admit I rolled my eyes at the Russian villain.

The plot, mostly in the beginning, is slowed down by a few flashbacks. While not uninteresting per se, they distracted me, and enforced my will you get out of town at last, Zoe? reactions. I also found the ending a little too convenient to my liking, with Zoe getting help from someone she briefly met years ago. That person had reasons to act in such a way, but it still came out of the blue.

I have mixed opinions about the mythology. Fangborn society had a nice weve been watching over you for ages aspect, and I wouldve liked to know more about it, about its vampires that are more like shapeshifting snake-like creatures, about its oracles, too. On the downside, they seemed just a little too perfect and deluded sometimes, which mad them somewhat bland.

In the end, this novel held my attention mainly because of its race for artifacts side, but definitely not for its characters.
1161822
This book was so so , I enjoyed it but wouldn't be my favoirite
2159270
Eh. It's not terrible, but I just didn't find myself caring about any of these characters. There's also no real chemistry between the leads. On the plus side, the story has potential and I appreciated that it wasn't a coming out story.
2490463
While the story wasn't terrible I had to force myself ahead in reading. I haven't read the Twilight books but my friendmade me see them in the theater with her. I found myself comparing this book to the Twilight movies. That's not an insult of course but for me personally its just not my cup of tea. The story was well written but I just couldn't connect with the characters.
4130038
I actually purchased this book from Wal-Mart a while ago.  This is not a book that I would be reading again.  The writer was competent and the plot was an interesting premise.  However, the characters weren't memorable at all.  I didn't feel that the male and female leads were interesting or had much chemistry.  I also do not feel that they had very natural conflict either.  It certainly isn't a bad book, but it isn't one that immediately comes to the forefront of my mind for good interracial books.  Maya and Nic are the two main characters who come together when Maya provides Nic's daughter, Taylor, with shelter during a rainstorm.  Then a friendship and attraction forms from that point forward.  The story is 'cute', but it was hard for me to understand why these two were together.  I didn't buy their attraction or love because they lacked chemistry and passion.  I feel like the race issue was made bigger than it needed to be, and it was somehow thrown around unnecessarily throughout the book.  If I could describe the book in one word, it would be 'forgettable'.  I can't bring myself to read anything else by the author because of it.
3295522
The characters are not very likable...I didn't know who or if I should be cheering for any of them. It is an easy read, but not my favorite.
1949402
Kidnapped woman I assume falling in love eventually with one of her keepers.  Plot was bad and while I don't mind walking the edge a bit, this was a little to over the edge dark for me and I bailed on it a few chapters in.  I give it a 2 over a 1 though because the story may be someone else's cup of tea, just not mine.
4760958
I don't mind retellings, but this one I just didn't get into much. The characters were okay, though he was a bit obnoxious and what you would expect. I'm not into the whole fighting/ring scenerio, so that part didn't hold my interest, and I found it hard to believe that they haven't seen one another for so long and it just goes from point A to B without much in between. I don't know. Just thought it would be more than it was. It wasn't horrible though so can't say anything bad about it. Just not for me.
I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review!
248030
This wasn't bad, but just wasn't what I was looking for in a chai latte in terms of flavor.  To me it seemed like the flavor was lacking, almost watered down, and I tend to use the minimal amount of water the Keurig will allow.  Still it is certainly tolerable, and I'm still drinking them, just not my favorite.
438591
This is just not my cup of tea.  I did like the characters of the brother and sister, but this was too far-fetched a story for me.
3279435
I usually don't mind unsettling books, but I honestly did not like this one very much. I didn't really like any of the characters. Actually, I despised basically all of them except the little boy, and I actually found him annoying at times, so I didn't like him as much as I feel I should have.
I liked the beginning of the story, but as it progressed, I liked it less and less. There were parts in this book that actually made me feel ill, and the ending was far from what I'd hoped it would be. The end felt a bit rushed as well, and with that on top of the fact that it also felt incredibly wrong and unsatisfying, I was very disappointed. After reading the last page, I just sat there for a few minutes with my stomach upset thinking to myself, "...that's all? Is that really how it ended? Are you kidding me?"
The author's writing was pretty good (although the various insect metaphors got a bit old after a while), but not good enough to bring up my rating. For me, this book is a pretty solid three stars.