Tag Archives: Blakely Chorpenning

SOULED OUT (Volume 1) by Blakely Chorpenning- a review

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Souled Out (Volume #1) by Blakely Chorpenning

SOULED OUT (released July 2012) by Blakely Chorpenning

Ell Clyne is a cypher: a twin: and without a soul. At twenty, she has been a cypher for the Members for 4 years. The Members are the vampire-elite-the political and legal structure for the vampires. With her ability to ‘decipher’ or read souls, she is called upon nightly to reveal the future. But Ell has a secret that she keeps deeply buried-only now it appears that the Members and the Mass have found out the truth.

Working as a cypher for the vampires has a few benefits. A longer life and more money then she knows what to do with. But it ends there. At 16, Ellenore was chosen as the next cypher, but with it came the headaches and the lost connection to her friends, her parents and recently, the connection with her twin sister Myranda. With a deepening depression, Ell continues to pull away from the reality of life and is determined to withdraw from everything. Yet each night, Gabriel continues to bring a parade of people and vampires that the Members need to be read.

Gabriel is a vampire. Working for the Members, Gabriel is charged with bringing anyone the Members considered important to their future. Reading souls was taking a toll on Ell, and Gabriel was one of the few who knew the reason. Gabriel too, had a past he keeps hidden. But there was more to their relationship than professional courtesy-the continuous battle of wills between Gabriel and Ell was cracking the façade that Ell wrapped tightly around herself-only Gabriel was aware of what drove Ell and he was hoping for something more.

Seth is another vampire who has crossed paths with Ell on a couple of occasions, but Seth is looking for something more as well. And when Ell suddenly finds the Mass (vigilante vampires) waiting for her return, it will be Seth and Gabriel who take it upon themselves to be bodyguard and guardian-only neither has the ability to stop the Mass from attacking their intended victim. And Ell will find herself beaten, near death and buried alive with no hope for rescue. But sometimes friends will reveal themselves at the strangest places and times.

When Ell is brought before the Members, it is Gabriel who will stand by her side. But when the truth is finally revealed, 2 sets of twins-one set once thought to be close-and the other set- still farther apart-will be pulled into a melee of betrayal and conspiracy of a jealous sibling. No one had ever said family was easy.

The character of Ell is in a world of hurt. Perceived rejection by her parents and her sister, as well as the continuous strain of the cypher, will pull Ell into a deepening spiral of self-loathing, self-doubt and anxiety befitting every psychiatrists nightmare. And it will take 2 strong vampires to show her that life doesn’t end, when your family calls it quits.

SOULED OUT is a fascinating look at the vampire storyline. Not your typical vampire genre, Souled Out is a mix of the paranormal and urban fantasy. A story replete with the powers of an aging witch, Souled Out is a dark tale of betrayal at the deepest level. Another unique and interesting vampire novel and a couple of vampire myths –shot all to hell. An excellent read.

LINKS TO PURCHASE:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Paper Book

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

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Frayed by Blakely Chorpenning – a Review

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Frayed by Blakely Chorpenning – a Review

Description:
Fray loves being a semi-pro fighter and free spirit. However, when a deadly faction begins abducting supernatural teens in the Blue Hills of North Carolina for excruciating experiments, she quickly learns there is more to life than glitzy opponents and late night trysts. Fray and a crew of unlikely allies must rescue the children before they are dissected alive. Being a leopard shapeshifter helps. Confronting personal prejudice and traversing feelings for a tempestuous ex do not mix. But Fray is willing to go all the way to stop her world from changing. That is, until the ultimate sacrifice forces her to realize just how overdue change is.

Her most shocking discovery: Everyone’s human. At least a little…

Review:

Frayed is Blakely Chorpenning’s debut book.  It is a novella leading into her new Madison Lark Urban Fantasy series.

We meet Fray early on, when she is in the midst of a semi pro fight.  Fray is a leopard shifter, who likes to fight, to use up her restless leopard energies, and she gets paid for it.  Fray is a tough, hard ass heroine, who is not afraid to speak her mind openly, no matter if it hurts, and she is very independent.  But despite her stubbornness, she cares, and this makes her an excellent heroine. 

We also get to meet Fray’s friends and pack members, as she lives with some of them.  I will get back to this, as part of this bothered me a bit.  At the end of the fight, Fray is met by her brother Darien, who has a stranger with him.  She smells him, and knows he is Vampire and we all know that all shape-shifters hate Vampires.  Fray is nasty to Nash, the vampire, but is told to behave by her brother.  Nash is there for a reason. 

Fray learns there are more missing children from various local packs.  She cares about the children, and is determined to help find them. Blaire, the head of the pack, feels Fray is the best person to team up with Nash, who has also been assigned to help investigate why the children are disappearing. Fray puts aside her immense dislike for vampires, and is willing to work with Nash.  Willing does not mean she will treat him nice.

There is no real romance in this novella, though you know there is past history between Blaire and Fray.  Something that is still very much alive, but at this time Fray is trying to fight her feelings by staying away from Blaire, as she does not want to get hurt again.

Nash and Fray work together meeting families of the missing children to try and understand what and why this is happening.  Finally we meet Lucy, who is also a vampire and Nash’s ex.  At this point, we learn a bit more about who is taking the children.  The story for the last half of the book is very exciting, tense, even sickening.  But it is well written and flows very well, and at times pulls on your emotions.  Fray is a wonderful character, and you can’t help but like her.  She takes much of what happens to her heart, and she knows that prejudices must change, and people must work together, if they are to survive.

This story had a lot of action, character building and many tense moments for a novella.  On thing I had mention is the secondary characters.  I thought the introduction of many of the pack members, was a bit too much at the same time.  It was hard to know who was who.  I got to know Lucy a bit more then Fray’s own friends.  However that being said, this was an excellent novella by Chorpenning.  I want to know what happens to Fray, how much has this case changed her and what will she do to; will she ever try to resume her relationship with Blaire; what happens with the packs and children; Lucy and Nash are interesting and I want to know more.  So Chorpenning has gotten my attention in this excellent first book, and now I want more. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author

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