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bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really fun story! I haven’t read a lot from Candace Havens but she’s got a really fun voice. The oldest of the Caruthers sisters, Gillian, may just seem like a high society party girl but she’s actually hiding her family’s mission of protecting the world. Each of the Caruthers children is blessed with powers that lead them to different paths and Gillian’s specialty is in demons. Her strength and speed make her the perfect defense against demon’s entering our world. When on a diplomatic mission to meet the newest demon king, Gillian’s blown away by how human he seems, and how attractive he is. But she can’t become too distracted because demons are jumping over into the world at an astonishing rate and she and her sisters have almost too many battles too fight. But when the fight is brought to their home they have to find unexpected allies to win. I did wish there was just a little bit more world building. I had a few questions remaining about the various worlds that the sisters fought to protect. And in case you were expecting it, this story isn’t filled with a lot of smexy times. It is a fun, action story with a relationship building amid some pretty big obstacles. But overall a really enjoyable story and I’m excited for what comes next!
onedayrobots's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly, this would have been great as a 90s low-budget tv show with terrible cgi and a boundlessly fond cult following that would fund infinite present-day conventions, but it just doesn't work as a book. Still fun, though.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Bought from Bookstore
What I Loved: Snark? Check! Kick Butt Leading Lady with great clothes? Check! Hot Half-Demon Stubborn Man? Check! This was snarky fun at its best and you just couldn't help but fall in love with Gillian and Arath. They were perfect for each other despite the fact that she has been deemed with the responsibility to kill any of his kind that uses the portals to earth. That is the price you pay when you are a Caruthers sister and guardians of Earth. Oh well because Gillian's dating life has always been messy. There were some great storylines in this book and some teases into the future books that make you want to pick up the next one soon!
What I Liked: The Caruthers family in general. They are complicated, smart, fashionable, and multi-taskers that make you go WOW! This book was defiantly a good launch to this series.
Complaints: None
Why I gave it a 4: Snark, Fun, Hot Leading Man, and my face was in a permanent grin when I finished :) Reason enough for a 4!
Who would I recommend it too: PNR readers that like Chicklit because this was a great cross between the two!
Author Website: http://www.candacehavens.com/
Other Books in this series:
The Demon King and I
Dragons prefer Blondes
What I Loved: Snark? Check! Kick Butt Leading Lady with great clothes? Check! Hot Half-Demon Stubborn Man? Check! This was snarky fun at its best and you just couldn't help but fall in love with Gillian and Arath. They were perfect for each other despite the fact that she has been deemed with the responsibility to kill any of his kind that uses the portals to earth. That is the price you pay when you are a Caruthers sister and guardians of Earth. Oh well because Gillian's dating life has always been messy. There were some great storylines in this book and some teases into the future books that make you want to pick up the next one soon!
What I Liked: The Caruthers family in general. They are complicated, smart, fashionable, and multi-taskers that make you go WOW! This book was defiantly a good launch to this series.
Complaints: None
Why I gave it a 4: Snark, Fun, Hot Leading Man, and my face was in a permanent grin when I finished :) Reason enough for a 4!
Who would I recommend it too: PNR readers that like Chicklit because this was a great cross between the two!
Author Website: http://www.candacehavens.com/
Other Books in this series:
The Demon King and I
Dragons prefer Blondes
andimontgomery's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I enjoyed this new series on the Caruthers sisters, and especially the interactions between Gilly and Arath. It was a light and fun read, and once again, Candace did not disappoint!
izzyizreading's review against another edition
1.0
Got this at a used books store for like 5 or below and thought it was going to be dumb fun. I only got to page 5 before i said nope.
vernavenisa's review against another edition
1.0
Picked up this book on a whim, just needed a quick something that I could knock out in a few hours.
While Havens had a lot of good ideas with her first book in this series, her execution wasn't quite up to snuff. Random plot lines thrown together does not a book make, and in her case she didn't even have likable enough characters to keep me happy. Gillian's alright as female leads go (at the very least she doesn't complain too much) but I didn't get a good sense of what kind of a person she is. She battles/negotiates with an entire demonic universe... is a lawyer... an art collector/curator... and an international celebrity? As well as somehow finding time to become a master in twenty-whatever martial arts styles. I mean, come on now, this seems like a bit much, doesn't it?
Arath was also so moody there were times in the book that I didn't want him to come back whenever he ran off to deal with some conflict he psychically knew about.
In addition, so many details and subplots were thrown into the mix that I found myself skimming over huge blocks of text to finish it faster. Long-lost family members, red-carpet worthy fashion ramblings, random murders of supposed "close" friend and family members, it's all just too much for me to even begin to take in, let alone appreciate.
A good first try but I think simplicity is the key with this. Give it a shot if you like, but I'm going to forgo the rest of this series. I have other books I'd rather be reading
While Havens had a lot of good ideas with her first book in this series, her execution wasn't quite up to snuff. Random plot lines thrown together does not a book make, and in her case she didn't even have likable enough characters to keep me happy. Gillian's alright as female leads go (at the very least she doesn't complain too much) but I didn't get a good sense of what kind of a person she is. She battles/negotiates with an entire demonic universe... is a lawyer... an art collector/curator... and an international celebrity? As well as somehow finding time to become a master in twenty-whatever martial arts styles. I mean, come on now, this seems like a bit much, doesn't it?
Arath was also so moody there were times in the book that I didn't want him to come back whenever he ran off to deal with some conflict he psychically knew about.
In addition, so many details and subplots were thrown into the mix that I found myself skimming over huge blocks of text to finish it faster. Long-lost family members, red-carpet worthy fashion ramblings, random murders of supposed "close" friend and family members, it's all just too much for me to even begin to take in, let alone appreciate.
A good first try but I think simplicity is the key with this. Give it a shot if you like, but I'm going to forgo the rest of this series. I have other books I'd rather be reading
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed with this one. It felt extremely rushed and lacked any kind of bulk or substance. At times I felt like I was reading the author's outline rather than a fully fleshed out story. The plot jumped from random event to random event, Gilliam made unfollowable leaps of logic, and the dialogue felt really stiff.
There were also an awful lot of descriptions of how awesome Gillian and her family were supposed to be, but precious little showing us that same awesomeness. Example, while having a contrived tender moment with Mr. Demon King he and Gilly are called back to his castle where he locks her in her room. We get to see her storm around a bit and get angry about being locked up and then be told, 'oh yeah, we were under attack.' (Um, why wasn't the warrior Guardian in that defensive battle again?)
She is then returned home, where said attack is reported and we, the reader, get to see her and her sisters decide which dress to wear to the ball. Leaving aside the whole, 'oh shit, the universe is seriously endangered and maybe we aught to blow off the charity public appearances' I'd be much more interested in seeing the outcome of a pitched demon battle than whether Gillian or her sisters chooses to wear a pink Carmen Marc Valvo or a coffee-colorer Zac Posen. But the latter seemed to be much more important, since it and other such scenes were the only ones that seemed to be related real-time.
This sort of issue reared its ugly head again and again. Even the final conclusion was spent telling the reader what had been discovered in the last days of the investigation instead of showing us the investigation. If I wanted a memo on the highlights of the events I would have chosen something bullet-pointed instead of a novel. The reader is given far, far more firsthand information about what characters are wearing, or driving, or what event they are attending than the actual fight scenes, romance, or mystery solving.
Further, I'm not certain how I'm supposed to really feel the tension of the universe almost being overrun by evil when it's of so little importance to the characters in question that they don't even bother to rearrange their social schedules. Yes, I did gather the fact that the Caruthers sisters lead this double life, but their (and the book's) strong focus on fashion and celebrity meant that nothing else felt important--least of which the supposed universe-wide war that was being waged.
Add to that the fact that I felt like the actual plot point that tied everything back to Gillian made little sense. There really isn't a way for me to address this without spoilers, but it was shaky at best. I saw no reason any aggression should have been directed at a single Guardian. I do see what the author was probably trying to infer, but it really didn't come across.
I also thought there were some inconsistencies. Arath, for example, didn't know who Jesus was or what seat belts were, but recognised Fall Out Boy, DVDs and Dancing with the Stars. What? Really?
Lastly, another side-effect of the bullet-point like plotting was that, with the exception of the fact that you know it's coming by virtue of what type of book it is, the romantic element amped up out of nowhere. I can't even call it insta-love because until the very end, where a perfunctory and very brief sex scene was shoe-horned in, there wasn't any love expressed. Sure Gilly told herself she was in love with this man she had spoken to a mere handful of times, but that's it. There was no sexual tension, no flirting, almost no whispered sweet nothings--she was just suddenly in love. Go ahead and check that bullet off, will ya?
Now all this isn't to say I hated the book. I like the idea of the strong female warriors. And since Gilly didn't do a lot of actual fighting she didn't pull any of the horrid heroine cliché moves, like falling and twisting an ankle so the hunky hero has to carry her home. All right, he carried her home. But at least it was after a fair, if rushed and unprovoked, rare fight scene.
There were also an awful lot of descriptions of how awesome Gillian and her family were supposed to be, but precious little showing us that same awesomeness. Example, while having a contrived tender moment with Mr. Demon King he and Gilly are called back to his castle where he locks her in her room. We get to see her storm around a bit and get angry about being locked up and then be told, 'oh yeah, we were under attack.' (Um, why wasn't the warrior Guardian in that defensive battle again?)
She is then returned home, where said attack is reported and we, the reader, get to see her and her sisters decide which dress to wear to the ball. Leaving aside the whole, 'oh shit, the universe is seriously endangered and maybe we aught to blow off the charity public appearances' I'd be much more interested in seeing the outcome of a pitched demon battle than whether Gillian or her sisters chooses to wear a pink Carmen Marc Valvo or a coffee-colorer Zac Posen. But the latter seemed to be much more important, since it and other such scenes were the only ones that seemed to be related real-time.
This sort of issue reared its ugly head again and again. Even the final conclusion was spent telling the reader what had been discovered in the last days of the investigation instead of showing us the investigation. If I wanted a memo on the highlights of the events I would have chosen something bullet-pointed instead of a novel. The reader is given far, far more firsthand information about what characters are wearing, or driving, or what event they are attending than the actual fight scenes, romance, or mystery solving.
Further, I'm not certain how I'm supposed to really feel the tension of the universe almost being overrun by evil when it's of so little importance to the characters in question that they don't even bother to rearrange their social schedules. Yes, I did gather the fact that the Caruthers sisters lead this double life, but their (and the book's) strong focus on fashion and celebrity meant that nothing else felt important--least of which the supposed universe-wide war that was being waged.
Add to that the fact that I felt like the actual plot point that tied everything back to Gillian made little sense. There really isn't a way for me to address this without spoilers, but it was shaky at best. I saw no reason any aggression should have been directed at a single Guardian. I do see what the author was probably trying to infer, but it really didn't come across.
I also thought there were some inconsistencies. Arath, for example, didn't know who Jesus was or what seat belts were, but recognised Fall Out Boy, DVDs and Dancing with the Stars. What? Really?
Lastly, another side-effect of the bullet-point like plotting was that, with the exception of the fact that you know it's coming by virtue of what type of book it is, the romantic element amped up out of nowhere. I can't even call it insta-love because until the very end, where a perfunctory and very brief sex scene was shoe-horned in, there wasn't any love expressed. Sure Gilly told herself she was in love with this man she had spoken to a mere handful of times, but that's it. There was no sexual tension, no flirting, almost no whispered sweet nothings--she was just suddenly in love. Go ahead and check that bullet off, will ya?
Now all this isn't to say I hated the book. I like the idea of the strong female warriors. And since Gilly didn't do a lot of actual fighting she didn't pull any of the horrid heroine cliché moves, like falling and twisting an ankle so the hunky hero has to carry her home. All right, he carried her home. But at least it was after a fair, if rushed and unprovoked, rare fight scene.
krisrid's review against another edition
3.0
This was thrill ride and a fun romp of a book. Gillian Caruthers and her three sisters are, in addition to being heiresses and jet set party girls, the guardians of the worlds, ours and all the others.
They all go around fighting supernatural bad things and generally doing other magical things.
The characters are likeable (well, except for the bad guys - who are monsters), the story moves fast, and the ending is satisfying.
It's an easy read (took me two days) and the perfect choice for a lazy rainy weekend. If you like supernatural stories, I recommend this.”
They all go around fighting supernatural bad things and generally doing other magical things.
The characters are likeable (well, except for the bad guys - who are monsters), the story moves fast, and the ending is satisfying.
It's an easy read (took me two days) and the perfect choice for a lazy rainy weekend. If you like supernatural stories, I recommend this.”
wonderly's review
4.0
Pretty good. Fast paced. Actually more urban fantasy than romance. Put out by one of my favorite editors Anne Sowards (who does the Dresden files, etc). This was a good read and she's come a long way since the first Charmed book...
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