Synopsis

In the Company of Shadows is a series about two people who are thrown together as partners in a secret agency; their mission is to disband rebels who have propagated in a post-war future, but they have to deal with everything that comes with an unlikely partnership as well.

Miscommunication, periods of distance, fleeting smiles and learning to trust someone when a person can't even trust himself, these are what they struggle with while still trying to do their jobs. One is a psychopath, called a murderer and monster and generally deemed subhuman by nearly everyone who knows of him; the other is an introvert, cold and emotionless and so lost in thoughts that he would agree that he can be called a monster of inhumanity. But what makes a person human; is it humanity, compassion, or is it simply the ability to reason? Can a monster be human, and general humanity breed monsters?

While they learn about each other, they learn about themselves; where their loyalty and morality lies, and how learning to trust another person can be incredibly difficult, bittersweet, and rewarding all at the same time. Join Hsin Liu Vega (aka "Sin") and Boyd Beaulieu as they struggle to find where they fit in a world slowly recovering from war.

Mini Review

This is the unedited version, so it's much longer and wordy than book 1. It took me some time to read it but I really enjoyed it. 

I found it a bit slow, especially at the beginning. I found it too introspective and the inability of Boyd and Sin to really talk to each other, though understandable given their background and current situaiton, was really frustrating.  

Boyd and Sin go through a lot here; though they are separated most of the time and their relationship hits an all-time low here. I  feel so much for Sin that I'm ready to accept/excuse his behaviour no matter how inappropriate it was. Boyd, on the other hand, made some spectacular msitakes. I realize he meant well and he needed to take care of himself, but his actions did make me so angry and sad. I 'm struggling with myself to forgive him.

I love how emotionally invested I'm in everyone we meet in this series. The authors introduce a lot of new characters in this installment and they have quickly warmed their way into my heart as well (Kassian, especially but also Cade and Emma and the rest of their group). We see some old secondary characters in a new light - Ryan, Ann, Carhart and I particularly appreciate how multilayered the both the plot and characters are becoming. 

Ais and Santino make a perfect blend of compicated relationships, interesting plot full of unexpected turns and lots of action and heartbreaking moments of honesty and intimacy. It feels like a truly epic story, painfully real despite the dystopian setting. 

This whole series is available for free on http://www.inthecompanyofshadows.com/

Synopsis

In a post-apocalyptic future, the Agency works behind the scenes to take down opposition groups that threaten the current government. Their goals justify all means, even when it comes to their own agents.

Sin is the Agency's most efficient killer. His fighting skills and talent at assassination have led to him being described as a living weapon. However, he is also known to go off on unauthorized killing sprees, and his assigned partners have all wound up dead.

Boyd is not afraid to die. When his mother, a high-ranking Agency official, volunteers him to be Sin's newest partner, he does not refuse. In fact, his life has been such an endless cycle of apathy and despair that he'd welcome death.

In the newly revised Director's Cut of Evenfall, the first volume follows these two cast-offs as they go from strangers to partners who can only rely on each other while avoiding death, imprisonment, and dehumanization by the Agency that employs them.

Review

Vol. 1 started slow with a lot of descriptions and the introduction of many characters. They were necessary to set the stage but I found them overwhelming at times. On the other hand, I did enjoy the slow development of the relationship between the main characters, Boyd and Hsin.

In terms of plot and even romantically, things picked up around the middle and the ending was the perfect cliffhanger.

The story flowed very smoothly and had me captivated from the start. We got to know the characters in real time, just as they were getting to know each other. It felt natural and realstic if that is a suitable description for a dystopian novel.

The intensity of the realtionship between Boyd and Hsin was beautifully done. They start off as strangers, both of them resigned to their fate and pretty much dead inside and gradually became true partners and friends and ultimately lovers.

It's a pleasure to read the transition in Boyd and Hsin. In the beginning Boyd is lost and desperate, there is no spark or desire to live left in him. He makes more than one mistake but they only make him human and more real. Hsin's transformation was even more amazing. I just felt so much for him. It was not a magical change happening overnight, love/sex didn't cure him. It was a slow process, painful and often misguided, yet it was Boyd's acceptance of Hsin as a human being that ultimately made Hsin see himself as human as well. Their relationship explored a lot of issues, such as self-image, vulnerability, strenght and (self)conrtol. 

The romantic aspect of their relationship took center stage in the first half of Vol. 2. It was intense, and passionate and raw and tender and beautiful. This was a time of first for Hsin and I loved they were presented as unique and unfamiliar experiences for him, yet they reflected his experience in life so far. It was a re-awakening for Boyd who had loved and lost before.

The world building kept expanding, there was lots of action and the plot twists kept me on the edge.

I loved the complexity in both plot and character development and how they balance each other out. The romance is never completely lost even in the roughest times of battle and it never overtakes completely the military aspect of the story.

There are so many supporting characters I met in the series so far and I'm curious to learn more about them. Off to the next book in the series, Interludes.

Recommended read for fans of complex military stories with unexpected twists and turn and hot romance. 

- Most author publsih some free stuff on their sites or send it in their newsletters. I strongly recommend following your favourite authros on your preferred social meadi. My expreience with newsletters so far has been only positive. Penny Reid sends great newsletters and Nalini Singh offers a wealth of free short stories both ion her site and via newsletter. 

- There are sites like Wattpad and SwoonReads - they offer a platform for aspiring and establih authros to share some of their works with readers for free.


These are the ways I use to get (free) books to read and review. If you other suggestion, feel free and welcomes to share them. 

Teasing Trent (The Alexanders 0.5) - M. Malone - romance, prequel novella - Amazon

Synopsis

Review

Synopsis

Rush 

Women in his bed, celebs and rockers in his chair and a killer bank account at his disposal, life is pretty freaking swell. Then she walks back into it again. With her mismatched eyes, perfect pink mouth and a laugh that still haunts him, she gave him nothing but marvelous misery. Now she wants his hands on her again. Not for pleasure, but for pain. For Ink. A bleeding heart to match the one she left him with five years ago. 

Addison 

She can’t forget him. No matter how hard she’s tried. The pain she caused him in the past eats at her daily, and she can’t move on with her life. But she has a plan, a hope for redemption – a way for him to take his revenge out on her flesh. But it’ll only work if he lets her inside his exclusive world, under his famous artist’s needle and into his bed—and heart-once again.

Mini Review

The story is told form dual POV and it's all about getting back together after a break-up. I liked a lot of things about it - the heroine, Addison, who has made a mistake but has come to realize it and is doing her best to remedy it. You have to respect her for strength and determination to fight for her love. The hero, Rush, is deeply wounded, unwilling to forgive but unable to resist the physical attraction. I liked them both, him especially - his struggle with himself, his resistance to risk his heart again with the girl who had hurt him so much. 

It's a light steamy read but I'd have liked there to be more substance to the story. There is a lot of potential but not enough depth. I wanted to know more about the characters, the things from their past were just hinted upon and it would have been nice if they were further developed. We see Rush's life in the present - he is a successful tattoo artist in Las Vegas but don't learn much about Addison besides the fact that she is a college student somewhere. Despite the happy end, I feel that there are too many things about them as a couple which are left unresolved. 

Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend me it anyone who is looking for a quick, light and very, very sexy read.

The second book, Shattered Ink, which continues Rush and Addison's story, is just a novella and it is currently available for 0.99$.

Goodreads Blurb 

My Mini Review

This story is available for free on these sites: 

http://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/tag/shukyou/ 

and 

http://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysisyphus

Goodreads Blurb

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

My Review

Rescue My Heart (Animal Magnetism #3) by Jill Shalvis - I loved the whole series but this is one of my favouites (my review). It is currently on sale for 1.99 $ - Amazon