After Dark (Night Owl #3) by M. Pierce-a review

AFTER DARK (Night Owl 3) by M. Pierce-a review

After Dark

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ABOUT THE BOOK: March 24, 2015

At twenty-nine, Matt Sky is trying to return to normal, having faked his death and come back to life. He and Hannah move to a simple house in the suburbs, and strive to grow their relationship into something durable and honest. They become more and more entangled, in the best ways possible.

At twenty-eight, Hannah finally has the life she’s always wanted: she’s pursuing her career as a literary agent at Granite Wing Agency, she is writing her first solo novel, and she is living with her hot, passionate lover. For the first time, Matt and Hannah are able to explore intimacy without inhibitions—without lies, secrets, or jealousy—and the results are explosive.

Still life together is not as easy as it seems. Matt is estranged from his brothers in the wake of his cruel stunt; Seth Sky, embittered by his failed pursuit of Hannah, makes a play for Hannah’s sister; and the topic of Hannah’s novel—her relationship with Matt and the Sky family—is driving a wedge between her and Matt. The lovers are devoted to one another, having come through many ordeals, but is their bond strong enough to last a lifetime?

••••••••••

REVIEW: AFTER DARK is the third and final installment in M. Pierce’s adult, contemporary NIGHT OWL erotic romance trilogy focusing on reclusive and troubled author Matt Sky, and literary agent Hannah Catalano. Their continuing story finds our couple at odds about marriage, children, writing and the future. To complicate matters Matt’s brother Seth is spiraling out of control and his actions begin to affect Hannah’s life with Matt. AFTER DARK should not be read as a stand alone; there is too much backstory and history revealed in the previous two novels.

Told from alternating first person points of view (Hannah and Matt) the storyline commences immediately after the events of LAST LIGHT (book 2) where Hannah had proposed marriage to Matt. Seemingly shocked but happy, Matt announces to the world that the couple are getting married whereupon everything begins to collapse and degrade. Matt’s ‘fake death’ has alienated him from his family and his need for Hannah becomes all encompassing. Matt believes he and Hannah know nothing about one another and in this he goes about proving everything is wrong. Marriage is currently not in his plans

Matt is a troubled soul with issues of abandonment, anger management, manic depressive tendencies, masochistic tendencies…..and, well you get the picture that our hero or ‘anti hero’ is a psychiatric nightmare. He is prone to anger; he is more childlike in maturity and behavior with bouts of depression, jealousy, doubt and fear; he is a man who is unable to control his reactions to the woman with whom he has fallen in love. Everyday problems are amplified when the heart is unable to understand what the mind sees. Matt struggles with the outside world; his need for privacy; and his anger towards his brother Seth.

AFTER DARK is an emotional, heartbreaking and oft times frustrating storyline where the hero’s bipolar intensity is disturbing, frightening and graphic. There is an almost co-dependency between Hannah and Matt-a dysfunctional relationship-one where Hannah refuses to give up on the man with whom she has fallen in love regardless of the number of situations and issues that continue to arise. Matt is a man possessed by his need for control; his actions are intense; his obsession with Hannah an addiction and dramatic.

M. Pierce will captivate your imagination and pull you into a storyline that is discerning, complex and complicated. I have many concerns about the building of a romance hero with so many emotional and psychological issues-but it is a fictional story where almost everyone will get their happily ever after; and in the end, a happily ever after is what ever romance reader is looking for but reality is another matter –all together.

Reading Order and Reviews
Night Owl
Light Light
After Dark

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

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Shadow Hunter Blog Tour-Guest Post with Kait Ballenger

Shadow Hunter Blog Tour-Guest Post with Kait Ballenger

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Developing My Hero’s Storyline: The Beginning of Damon Brock

Guest Post=Black and Red

Click HERE for our review of SHADOW HUNTER

When I first started writing the Execution Underground series, I hated Damon Brock.

I began writing the novel which would later come to be titled Twilight Hunter with very little outline. The only two characters of the series I was really familiar with was Jace McCannon, werewolf hunter and hero of the novel, and Frankie Amato, werewolf packmaster and heroine. Aside from these two characters, all I knew was that there were going to be several other members of the Execution Underground Rochester division. I also knew that the division needed a leader, and even though I was writing his story first, that leader wasn’t Jace. It wasn’t until I wrote a scene in Twilight Hunter, in which all the hunters of the Rochester division are introduced, that I came to know the hunters—the five other men who would make up the series. Since I was writing from Jace’s perspective, through his eyes Damon Brock was an asshole.

damonAs the leader of the Rochester division, Damon is Jace’s boss. Damon is in charge of directing Jace and the other hunters, dealing with the division’s communications with headquarters, and of course, his own job of hunting vampires. Jace has a problem with authority figures and always has. I knew when I started writing Damon that immediately he and Jace would not get along. As a result, I wrote the entire book knowing very few things about Damon. My knowledge was restricted to the knowledge Jace has of Damon, which is very little. Honestly, when my agent and critique partner among others said they were excited for Damon’s book my initial thought was: why would you want to read a book about Damon? I was dreading, absolutely dreading the day when I had to write that novel.
Though I knew Damon would inevitably have to have his own book somewhere down the line—after all, he was one of the division members and they were each receiving their own book—I positioned Damon’s novel as the last in the series. I had no clue how to approach his character. When I wrote him into Twilight Hunter all I knew was that he was a bad ass vampire hunter, that he was made bitter seemingly by some unfortunate event in his life (though I didn’t know what it was), and that Jace McCannon was a major royal pain in his ass.

So when Harlequin contracted the first three novels of the Execution Underground series, I still felt I had all the time in the world to learn about Damon’s character. After all, he wasn’t going to have a book of his own until book six and I hadn’t even written book two. Then, Damon’s story came as a huge piece of news from Harlequin.

AfterDarkJPEGI received a phone call from my agent, Nicole Resciniti. She told me that Harlequin wanted me to write a 50,000 (or longer) word novella that told the origin story of the Execution Underground and how Damon came to be the leader of the division. What would later be titled Shadow Hunter, a prequel to the series, was going to be placed in a paperback anthology titled After Dark next to New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Gena Showalter. I was stunned by the news and I knew it was an opportunity that I absolutely couldn’t pass up. I needed to write that novella.

The weight of the massive task hit me later that evening once my initial excitement had simmered to a low boil. Not only did I have to write a novella Harlequin considered to be good enough to be in an anthology beside one of the paranormal romance genre’s biggest names, but I had to do it in a month and about a character I knew nothing about. When I sat down to write Shadow Hunter I feared the worst. I had no clue what to write about and I was afraid I wouldn’t meet my deadline, that I’d missed out on the amazing opportunity. Deep down I knew I couldn’t let that happen.

So I got to work. I spent probably a good week of that month planning out the possibilities for Damon’s character (but nothing fit) and begging, practically pleading, with him to tell me his story. Finally, everything clicked and I was able to start channeling his voice.

Describing how I came up with Damon’s storyline is something I don’t think I can put into words. I don’t know where it came from. It must be something on a subconscious level that suddenly and magically clicks into place. For me, if you were to ask me how I came up with Damon Brock’s novella, I’d be forced to say it was part subconscious, part forcing myself to sit down and start typing, and a whole lot of dumb luck.

About The Author beige

Kait BallengerBIO: Kait Ballenger is a full-time paranormal romance author, wife, bellydancer, graduate student, and soon-to-be-professor. She is the multi-published, award-winning author of the Execution Underground paranormal romance series. With a B.A in English from Stetson University, Kait is currently earning an M.F.A in Writing. Kait believes anything is possible with hard work and dedication. One day, she hopes to be a bestseller and to see her novels on the big screen. Look for the next two books in her page-turning Execution Underground series: Twilight Hunter, book one (August 2013) and Immortal Hunter, book two (January 2014). For more information, please visit www.kaitballenger.com or follow her on Twitter @kait_ballenger.

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Click HERE for our review of SHADOW HUNTER

AfterDarkJPEGBack cover blurb for Shadow Hunter:

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Vampire hunter Damon Brock’s newest assignment with the Execution Underground is Rochester, New York, a city crawling with the undead. But he isn’t the only hunter in town gunning for vamp blood. Tiffany Solow is fierce and ruthless when it comes to slaying the monsters that destroyed her family-and she works solo. But being alone is no longer an option when she meets the mysterious hunter who wants more than just her turf. Forced to unite against the local covens, the line between good and evil blurs when they must decide between their lifelong beliefs…and their newfound desires.

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Shadow Hunter (Execution Underground 0.5) by Kait Ballenger-a review

SHADOW HUNTER (Execution Underground 0.5) by Kait Ballenger-a review

AfterDarkJPEG

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

 

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 25, 2013

Shadow Hunter (Execution Underground 0.5) by Kait Ballenger

Vampire hunter Damon Brock’s first assignment with the Execution Underground is Rochester, New York, a city crawling with the undead. But he isn’t the only hunter in town gunning for vamp blood. Tiffany Solow is fierce and ruthless when it comes to slaying the monsters that destroyed her family-and she works solo. But being alone is no longer so desirable when she meets the mysterious hunter who wants more than just her turf. As they work to massacre the local covens, the line between good and evil blurs when they are forced to decide between their lifelong beliefs… and their newfound hearts

••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: SHADOW HUNTER is part of an anthology called AFTER DARK with Gena Showalter and Kait Ballenger. Shadow Hunter is Kait’s storyline featuring Vampire Hunter Damon Brock and Tiffany Solow-a woman he has loved from afar but never really knew.

Damon Brock has been desperate to prove himself worthy of the title vampire hunter, but when his best friend and fellow hunter at the Execution Underground was killed while on assignment, Damon cannot compete with his own guilt. Feeling he has betrayed his best friend, Damon makes it his mission to hunt down the vampire who struck down Mark Solow. And the last person Damon ever thought he would meet on assignment was Tiffany Solow-Mark’s little sister-all grown up and hunting the vampire who took her brother’s life. When Damon discovers Tiffany’s plans, he must decide whether to reveal the truth about his identity and relationship to Mark or continue to hide behind a cold façade of anger and pain.

Meanwhile there is a string of vampire killings that resemble something similar to zombie feasts. With no explanation, Tiffany and Damon seek out known vampire haunts and discover that the mysterious zombie-like behavior plaguing new vampires may not be a naturally occurring event. Hoping to take down one of the oldest vampires, Tiffany puts her life on the line and in doing so, discovers the truth behind the origins of the vampire virus.

The relationship between Damon and Tiffany begins as one of disdain and animosity then friends to lovers. When Damon discovers that Tiffany is willing to risk her life to take down the vampire who killed her brother, his hopes and fears for his best friend’s sister turns Damon into both protector and warrior. But Damon holds back a few secrets from Tiff, and if those secrets were revealed, Damon believes his relationship with Tiff would never be the same.

SHADOW HUNTER is a well-written, fascinating and amazing storyline that introduces the premise behind Execution Underground and the men and women who risk their lives fighting the supernatural creatures that stalk the human world. Kait’s fantasy world of vampire hunters and the undead they seek had me reading until the very end- and oh, what an ending it was. I hope to learn more about what happens to Damon and Tiff-but the ending was heart breaking and painful to read.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

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