Kennedy Layne

Finished Reading April 5, 2017

[b:Untold Devotion|27431621|Untold Devotion (Red Starr, #4)|Kennedy Layne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446700282l/27431621._SY75_.jpg|47483353] (Red Starr, #4) by [a:Kennedy Layne|7266600|Kennedy Layne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615168348p2/7266600.jpg]
An Adult Action/Adventure Mystery/Suspense Contemporary Romance. (Military)
4.5 Stars.
This is one of my favorites of the Red Starr series so far. There seems show more to be more action and suspense in this one. The technical talk of weapons etc., is not overdone and easier for my simple brain to follow without zoning out then some of her other books.
The world build and ALL the characters are well defined. I swear my brain often thought I was Jade!
There are a few spots that started to drag just a little bit for me. Then bam..... it was back to full on action. Sometimes it was of the 'Steamy' romance type action. Other times it was 'Kick' butt action.
I can so easily see Bruce Willis or The Rock in these books. Kicking butt and screw taking names baby! And the ending! Oh, now I got to read the next book in this series. It is an Imperative Priority!

Purchased from Amazon November 15, 2016 show less

2.5 stars

I read this for the TSTL square for Romance Bingo and for my Kindle Freebie selection.

The first thing you need to know is that this world's apocalypse involves a SUPER-VOLCANO. Enough said, right? You already want to read this.
Look, I know nothing about Yellowstone and it's volcano's ability to send us all into a volcano ash winter for a decade but I believed the author does. There was enough real feeling (again, I don't know) facts to bolster the story and I was totally locked show more into this part. I loved how this took a bit of a different route from a lot of current apoca-rom and starts us off at the beginning instead of a couple years into the apocalypse. The suspense and fear was heightened, not knowing what was going to happen and dreading it.

What didn't work for me was the romance and to be fair, how does one fit in a romance as it starts to become clear the world as we current humans know it will be ending. I had a pretty big dislike for the heroine and her TSTL attitude. Out of no where immaturely and weirdly blaming the hero for 3yrs about something he wasn't even guilty for and any other adult woman would have handled better. She also had a TSTL tendency to think/feel/attack the hero over what she perceived as him treating her like "the little woman" but instead of coming off strong willed it made her seem immature and brittle as the situations never really warranted her attitude; there's strong attitude and then there's strong and smart attitude. Her constant desire to get the townspeople to do what she wanted them to do grated, too. The apocalypse is coming, if some want to flee, let them! More food for you.

I'll definitely look for the second in this series because the apocalypse storyline has me riveted. Who knew SUPER-VOLCANOES were my jam?!
I hope the romance shows up stronger in the next but it's a tricky formula, life and death danger and sexy times, to perfect. I also hope the heroine is strong but in a smart way. show less

I don't want much from my life atm, just for this semester to end and to get the final two books in this series. Just when I thought that this was going to be the most boring book from both the romantic and the suspenseful perspective the last few chapters came and we got not exactly answers, but something even better and sicker. Well played dear author, well played. I don't know how anyone could stop reading the series. We are getting close to finding what is going on and who is the killer show more and I cannot wait! I will admit that I wasn't a big fan of the romance in this book and I found it lacking and that's the reason this book doesn't have 5 stars from me. As for the suspence, the ending made everything work, so the book got some extra points for that. The book was balanced and I had a good time reading it, which is why I am recommending it. If you haven't read the series you can pick book one right now and share my pain on waiting for the 4rth and 5th book. The fourth book will be the story of the only female sibling which will make the last single brother (whom we met in this book) as the one who will solve the mystery. I am sure the sister will be a great person and I want to see how the killer will include her in his twisted game. show less

Spirited Blend is a fun and unique mystery. It's a nice low-key read when you're looking for a relaxing cozy mystery that isn't too suspenseful. Unfortunately, for me, the mystery was a bit too low-stakes for my liking.

My favourite part about this book was the premise behind the mystery. It's a non-murder, non-violent mystery where protagonist and witch Raven investigates the mysterious appearances of ghosts around the town of Paramour Bay. In a genre where there are a lot of commonly used show more tropes, I really appreciate seeing authors taking different approaches.

However, the risk with a non-violent mystery is that it can be difficult to build up suspense and a sense that the mystery itself is high-stakes. I think this is where the book most faltered for me. The mystery is more so presented as an interesting problem that needs to be addressed, not a mystery with real and serious consequences. It was difficult to me to see why the mystery mattered and why I should care about it being solved.

This may also be because this book is best enjoyed with knowledge of previous instalments, as it heavily refers to larger overarching storylines. While I have already read one book in the series, I'm the type of reader who enjoys jumping around. I don't think that this series is great for readers with this kind of habit.

That being said though, I enjoy the magic system that this series features and I think Raven is a fun character to read about!

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