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Soulfire #1
Kiss at Your Own Risk
He needed a killer woman...
Blaine Underhill is one lucky man after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. Now he's determined to save his still-enslaved friend, but in order to do so, he'll need the help of one of the world's most lethal women.
She was drop dead gorgeous, literally...
Trinity Harpswell is sick and tired of being a Black Widow. Having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she's one short week away from freeing herself from this killer curse forever.
When Blaine tracks her down and convinces her to help him, little does Trinity know that the next seven days are going to be murder!
Blaine Underhill is one lucky man after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. Now he's determined to save his still-enslaved friend, but in order to do so, he'll need the help of one of the world's most lethal women.
She was drop dead gorgeous, literally...
Trinity Harpswell is sick and tired of being a Black Widow. Having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she's one short week away from freeing herself from this killer curse forever.
When Blaine tracks her down and convinces her to help him, little does Trinity know that the next seven days are going to be murder!
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 22, 2010
65 people are currently reading
1573 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Rowe
112 books1,537 followersHailed as a "paranormal star!" by J.R. Ward, Stephanie Rowe is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty-five novels. She is the 2018 RITA® winner for Best Paranormal Romance, as well as a five-time nominee for this prestigious award. For more on Stephanie and her books, visit her at www.stephaneierowe.com, or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StephanieRow....
A life-long reader, she began crafting stories at age ten, but didn't realize it was her dream until she was an adult.
Once the light dawned, she immediately left behind "work" as the world defines it and went to "work" as she defines it, which means getting up every morning with a smile in her heart so she can spend the day doing that which makes her spirit sing.
Stephanie believes in learning to listen to your heart in order to figure out what your dreams are, and then opening yourself to the inspiration that will direct you there. She believes we all deserve the right to enjoy life, and for the ride to be as easy as we want it to be, and that we all should accept nothing less than making our dreams come true.
Stephanie lives in New England, and spends every day doing her best to fill it with people, observations and activities that uplift her soul, which include writing, tennis, dancing, friends, and her amazing family.
A life-long reader, she began crafting stories at age ten, but didn't realize it was her dream until she was an adult.
Once the light dawned, she immediately left behind "work" as the world defines it and went to "work" as she defines it, which means getting up every morning with a smile in her heart so she can spend the day doing that which makes her spirit sing.
Stephanie believes in learning to listen to your heart in order to figure out what your dreams are, and then opening yourself to the inspiration that will direct you there. She believes we all deserve the right to enjoy life, and for the ride to be as easy as we want it to be, and that we all should accept nothing less than making our dreams come true.
Stephanie lives in New England, and spends every day doing her best to fill it with people, observations and activities that uplift her soul, which include writing, tennis, dancing, friends, and her amazing family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
January 1, 2021
A solid 3.5 rounded up automatically to 4 stars. This was lots of fun to read as the author, Stephanie Rowe, picks up most of the standard tropes of paranormal romance and romantic suspense and bounces them around in a riot of comic confusion. Here's an exmple:
Of course, she's already killed four and there's only a week left before the five years of abstinence end.
That's the curse from Trinity's point of view, but to add to the confusion she's referred to as "a black widow" (that is, one of several?) by the hero Blaine and his buddies Nigel and Jarvis, who know the world that Rowe has created a lot better than the reader ever will in 389 pages. They were forced to torture each other for 150 years by evil Angelica and now they've escaped, but their pal Christian couldn't get out, so they figure they'll find a black widow (Trinity) and make her kill Angelica (because apparently black widows like Trinity can kill the unkillable, not just their true loves--did I get that right? I must have, because the plot depends on it) and then of course they'll have to kill the black widow (Trinity) as soon as Christian is rescued.
And there we are at the set-up for the quotation above. Blaine and Trinity are the protagonists in an enemies-to-lovers romance full of trust issues, as you can see. We get a jumble of points of view, all told in third person (thank goodness), and that includes evil Angelica, who turns out to think of herself as a really nice person who just tries to help everyone. Remarkably, you get to understand that point of view while she terrorizes the others.
After all, Angelica suffered heartbreak 300 years ago when she had a Romantic Misunderstanding with her true love Napoleon (whom she calls Nappy), who of course shows up in chaotic moments and declares he has always been in love with Angelica. Everybody in this story has major magical powers (Blaine is practically a fire demon when he's not cross-stitching), including Trinity's BFF Reina, who's an agent of Death. Death, of course, used to be named Prentiss until he took over the job from the Grim Reaper. Are you still in the picture?
Well, as I said, this was loads of fun. It doesn't make four stars on its own (without the automatic rounding up) because (1) it is only occasionally clear what is going on in the riotous action scenes, (2) much of the action happens in the heart of Boston but apparently nobody notices it, and (3) none of the characters are developed very far. The result ranges from some very sophisticated comedy of the absurd all the way to sheer silliness, with many authorial one-liners.
"...What I meant was that you're perfect for me."And it goes on like that. Trinity's delightfully idiotic curse compels her to kill any man she truly loves, via a magical holographic prism that shows her how to do it, and as soon as she kills five men this way she will be "harvested," meaning that she'll lose her soul to something called the Black Widow, but if she can go five years (to the minute and second) without killing anyone, she'll be free of the curse forever.
He raised one eyebrow. "Because I'm going to kill you?"
"Yes!" She hugged him. "That's just the lowest, most despicable thing a man could do to me." She pulled back, elation dancing in her heart, along with complete misery, betrayal, and devastation, of course. Because she really had almost fallen in love with him, and to have him rip that out from under her... yeah... completely sucked. "It's fantastic."
He raised the other eyebrow, and he looked more than a little wary. "Most chicks wouldn't be quite so happy about it."
"Most women aren't cursed." Trinity planted an excited kiss on him. ...
Of course, she's already killed four and there's only a week left before the five years of abstinence end.
That's the curse from Trinity's point of view, but to add to the confusion she's referred to as "a black widow" (that is, one of several?) by the hero Blaine and his buddies Nigel and Jarvis, who know the world that Rowe has created a lot better than the reader ever will in 389 pages. They were forced to torture each other for 150 years by evil Angelica and now they've escaped, but their pal Christian couldn't get out, so they figure they'll find a black widow (Trinity) and make her kill Angelica (because apparently black widows like Trinity can kill the unkillable, not just their true loves--did I get that right? I must have, because the plot depends on it) and then of course they'll have to kill the black widow (Trinity) as soon as Christian is rescued.
And there we are at the set-up for the quotation above. Blaine and Trinity are the protagonists in an enemies-to-lovers romance full of trust issues, as you can see. We get a jumble of points of view, all told in third person (thank goodness), and that includes evil Angelica, who turns out to think of herself as a really nice person who just tries to help everyone. Remarkably, you get to understand that point of view while she terrorizes the others.
After all, Angelica suffered heartbreak 300 years ago when she had a Romantic Misunderstanding with her true love Napoleon (whom she calls Nappy), who of course shows up in chaotic moments and declares he has always been in love with Angelica. Everybody in this story has major magical powers (Blaine is practically a fire demon when he's not cross-stitching), including Trinity's BFF Reina, who's an agent of Death. Death, of course, used to be named Prentiss until he took over the job from the Grim Reaper. Are you still in the picture?
Well, as I said, this was loads of fun. It doesn't make four stars on its own (without the automatic rounding up) because (1) it is only occasionally clear what is going on in the riotous action scenes, (2) much of the action happens in the heart of Boston but apparently nobody notices it, and (3) none of the characters are developed very far. The result ranges from some very sophisticated comedy of the absurd all the way to sheer silliness, with many authorial one-liners.
August 1, 2011
I don't remember laughing like this at a romance book in a LONG time! And needless to say, I'm loved it.
Trinity has a Black Widow curse on her, making her kill any guy she falls in love with. The curse will be broken if only she will go 5 years without killing anyone, and with only a week to go she is oh so close to her goal. Enter Blaine, a really tough macho warrior guy, who just escaped from 150 years of torture by an evil witch with an agenda to torture all her men into perfect mates for women. Did I mention that he was also forced to get in touch with his feminine side and he took especially took to cross-stitching?
Of course these two have to meet, and of course Trinity has to watch herself or she will fall in love with Blaine and kill him. Of course they fall in love anyways. I giggled throughout the whole book, especially at Blaine's cross-stitching and other typical female talk. But can you really blame him? After 150 years of brainwashing, he had to start thinking that way or he would be dead. Now they are on the mission to kill a monster, because Black Widow curse gives Trinity the ability to see how to kill ANYONE, then to kill the evil witch and save Trinity's father all the while trying not to fall in love.
Even the bad guys are likable, even lovable. The witch, Angelica, has her reasons for doing what she does and I can say that I don't even blame her. Still, it is no excuse and she deserves what she got but it's nice to see bad guys who are not black and white bad.
And don't even get me started on the supporting characters! They are a hoot! Especially Death :)
I think if you're looking for a good laugh with a good dose of action and romance, this is the book for you!
Trinity has a Black Widow curse on her, making her kill any guy she falls in love with. The curse will be broken if only she will go 5 years without killing anyone, and with only a week to go she is oh so close to her goal. Enter Blaine, a really tough macho warrior guy, who just escaped from 150 years of torture by an evil witch with an agenda to torture all her men into perfect mates for women. Did I mention that he was also forced to get in touch with his feminine side and he took especially took to cross-stitching?
Of course these two have to meet, and of course Trinity has to watch herself or she will fall in love with Blaine and kill him. Of course they fall in love anyways. I giggled throughout the whole book, especially at Blaine's cross-stitching and other typical female talk. But can you really blame him? After 150 years of brainwashing, he had to start thinking that way or he would be dead. Now they are on the mission to kill a monster, because Black Widow curse gives Trinity the ability to see how to kill ANYONE, then to kill the evil witch and save Trinity's father all the while trying not to fall in love.
Even the bad guys are likable, even lovable. The witch, Angelica, has her reasons for doing what she does and I can say that I don't even blame her. Still, it is no excuse and she deserves what she got but it's nice to see bad guys who are not black and white bad.
And don't even get me started on the supporting characters! They are a hoot! Especially Death :)
I think if you're looking for a good laugh with a good dose of action and romance, this is the book for you!
October 27, 2011
I really don’t know how to start. This book left me with a multitude of mixed thoughts and frustration without truly knowing why.
The writing style was good and fast paced and that kept me reading until the end. I also found some humor in the dialogues and I really appreciate witty humor in a story but here it seemed it was just the one that doesn’t make you laugh, it’s instead the “just-smiling” humor and sometimes it didn’t feel natural.
Besides, there was no background in the plot. I love paranormal romance and I know that there are always weird situations with supernatural beings. But here the lack of fundamental details made the story very difficult to follow. For example, no indications of how and why the warriors were immortals. I know that to report 150 years is very difficult without being boring but at least I wished to get more information of what really happened to them.
In conclusion, I think the plot was at times confusing leaving me with the doubt of what was really happening, arising so many questions that never find an answer. I hoped to get some explanations at the end, at least in the epilogue, but they truly didn’t come which made me feel a little lost in the story.
The writing style was good and fast paced and that kept me reading until the end. I also found some humor in the dialogues and I really appreciate witty humor in a story but here it seemed it was just the one that doesn’t make you laugh, it’s instead the “just-smiling” humor and sometimes it didn’t feel natural.
Besides, there was no background in the plot. I love paranormal romance and I know that there are always weird situations with supernatural beings. But here the lack of fundamental details made the story very difficult to follow. For example, no indications of how and why the warriors were immortals. I know that to report 150 years is very difficult without being boring but at least I wished to get more information of what really happened to them.
In conclusion, I think the plot was at times confusing leaving me with the doubt of what was really happening, arising so many questions that never find an answer. I hoped to get some explanations at the end, at least in the epilogue, but they truly didn’t come which made me feel a little lost in the story.
August 10, 2011
Well that's 4 days I can't get back. I rarely take more than 2 days to read a book, but this book took four. That's because I was on Facebook, twitter, watching TV or doing anything else I wouldn't do if I was really into a book!
There was absolutely no world building. Who are these people? Is EVERYONE in this book magical in some way? It appears so, but I'm not sure because the author never explained this. There were some cute lines, there was a hunky hero and a cool premise, but it just fell flat to me, and I wish I put it down after the first 30 pages when I wanted to, then at 60 pages I thought it might get better.....it never really did to me.
There was absolutely no world building. Who are these people? Is EVERYONE in this book magical in some way? It appears so, but I'm not sure because the author never explained this. There were some cute lines, there was a hunky hero and a cool premise, but it just fell flat to me, and I wish I put it down after the first 30 pages when I wanted to, then at 60 pages I thought it might get better.....it never really did to me.
June 18, 2017
This is a bit of a weird one to review. Part of me really, really enjoyed it, the rest of me thought it was kind of silly.
Let me try to explain.
The things I really liked were the originality of the characters in terms of what they are. There were some great new ideas here- Ms Rowe is clearly a very creative lady and she has written some brilliantly imaginative creatures and beings. Okay, so we've heard of witches before and we've heard of a black widow before, but the four warrior guys in the story and their abilities - they were really interesting. The only way I can think to describe them is as human mutants. They've been tinkered with by the witch who has held them captive for the last century and a half, using Black Magic. The main character we follow in this book, Blaine, is a sort of fire warrior....think of The Human Torch from the Fantastic Four movies and you'll be close.
The other thing I really appreciated was the overall plot. It was a great race against time thrill ride with high stakes and a love story that took place along the way. All good stuff.
What kind of spoiled it for me, I'm sorry to say, was the writing style. It was written in a sort of conversational tone- only it was like a conversation with someone with really weird speech patterns and a hard to understand accent. I found myself having to do the literary equivalent of lip reading for the first 50 or so pages of the book. She would also miss words off the beginning of sentences and substitute words for slang phrases and I had a hard time trying to understand just what the author was trying to convey at times. Also annoying was the overuse of brackets. It was like (Hello? Use brackets much?) every other paragraph. And the Hello? thing would have been annoying all by itself without drawing a circle around it.
Also, she just tried just a little too hard to be funny, to that point that it wasn't. I like humorous books, but it would be better if the humour was limited to the banter and dialogue between characters, rather than the entire prose sounding like some kind of comedy farce. I'm sure some people will appreciate the added humour, and to be fair, it did work in some scenes, but I personally found it was just trying too hard.
In summation, I'd say it's still a good book and people that enjoy light-hearted PNR should definitely give it a go. I just think the author could have made something more of her ideas than this type of paranormal comedy romp. I'd love for her to write a straight up paranormal series one day, with her great ideas and creativity it would certainly be worth a look if she did.
Let me try to explain.
The things I really liked were the originality of the characters in terms of what they are. There were some great new ideas here- Ms Rowe is clearly a very creative lady and she has written some brilliantly imaginative creatures and beings. Okay, so we've heard of witches before and we've heard of a black widow before, but the four warrior guys in the story and their abilities - they were really interesting. The only way I can think to describe them is as human mutants. They've been tinkered with by the witch who has held them captive for the last century and a half, using Black Magic. The main character we follow in this book, Blaine, is a sort of fire warrior....think of The Human Torch from the Fantastic Four movies and you'll be close.
The other thing I really appreciated was the overall plot. It was a great race against time thrill ride with high stakes and a love story that took place along the way. All good stuff.
What kind of spoiled it for me, I'm sorry to say, was the writing style. It was written in a sort of conversational tone- only it was like a conversation with someone with really weird speech patterns and a hard to understand accent. I found myself having to do the literary equivalent of lip reading for the first 50 or so pages of the book. She would also miss words off the beginning of sentences and substitute words for slang phrases and I had a hard time trying to understand just what the author was trying to convey at times. Also annoying was the overuse of brackets. It was like (Hello? Use brackets much?) every other paragraph. And the Hello? thing would have been annoying all by itself without drawing a circle around it.
Also, she just tried just a little too hard to be funny, to that point that it wasn't. I like humorous books, but it would be better if the humour was limited to the banter and dialogue between characters, rather than the entire prose sounding like some kind of comedy farce. I'm sure some people will appreciate the added humour, and to be fair, it did work in some scenes, but I personally found it was just trying too hard.
In summation, I'd say it's still a good book and people that enjoy light-hearted PNR should definitely give it a go. I just think the author could have made something more of her ideas than this type of paranormal comedy romp. I'd love for her to write a straight up paranormal series one day, with her great ideas and creativity it would certainly be worth a look if she did.
July 13, 2011
I am so excited about this book and this author. This is the first book I've read by Stephanie Rowe and I am gonna read every single one of her books until I'm done. This was mostly PNR and of all the PNR I have read this has got to be one of the more original themes.
Lets start with the book summary:
Trinity Harpswell is a cursed Black Widow-death and mayhem are all part of the job description. If she can manage to go just one more week without accidentally killing someone, she'll break this killer curse and put her Black Widow days behind her. When sexy Blaine Underhill III shows up at her door and asks for her help rescuing his friend from the clutches of Death's evil grandma, Trinity gets pulled into a daring high stakes adventure. As Blaine and Trinity join forces to take down a series of underworld assassins, they may just learn that love is the deadliest game of all.
Trinity has been cursed her whole life but didn't know until she fell in love as a teenager for the first time. This particular curse gives her the ability to see exactly how to kill the one she loves and the insatiable urge to do it. When she loses her virginity to her highschool love then promptly throws him off the back of the bleachers her parents explain why. Going five years straight without killing is the only way to rid herself of the curse but even though she picks the most obnoxious and mean men to date she inevitably falls in love and kills. Five kills and she loses her soul.
We meet Blaine and his friends in a place hidden from the outside world. A witch has kidnapped boys to raise them in a twisted way to make them worthy of women. She tortures them, makes them do needlework, experiments on them all to breed the tendency to betray women out of them. The clever way the author has created this witch and her environment made the story so much fun. Not only is this witch demented, she is someone you learn to sympathize with.
Stephanie Rowe's characters are layered. The plot is as well when all have to make decisions that are not easy to make. The action is great and I found no stereotypes within. Loved it!
Lets start with the book summary:
Trinity Harpswell is a cursed Black Widow-death and mayhem are all part of the job description. If she can manage to go just one more week without accidentally killing someone, she'll break this killer curse and put her Black Widow days behind her. When sexy Blaine Underhill III shows up at her door and asks for her help rescuing his friend from the clutches of Death's evil grandma, Trinity gets pulled into a daring high stakes adventure. As Blaine and Trinity join forces to take down a series of underworld assassins, they may just learn that love is the deadliest game of all.
Trinity has been cursed her whole life but didn't know until she fell in love as a teenager for the first time. This particular curse gives her the ability to see exactly how to kill the one she loves and the insatiable urge to do it. When she loses her virginity to her highschool love then promptly throws him off the back of the bleachers her parents explain why. Going five years straight without killing is the only way to rid herself of the curse but even though she picks the most obnoxious and mean men to date she inevitably falls in love and kills. Five kills and she loses her soul.
We meet Blaine and his friends in a place hidden from the outside world. A witch has kidnapped boys to raise them in a twisted way to make them worthy of women. She tortures them, makes them do needlework, experiments on them all to breed the tendency to betray women out of them. The clever way the author has created this witch and her environment made the story so much fun. Not only is this witch demented, she is someone you learn to sympathize with.
Stephanie Rowe's characters are layered. The plot is as well when all have to make decisions that are not easy to make. The action is great and I found no stereotypes within. Loved it!
January 11, 2011
Blaine Underhill has been Angelica, the Black Witch’s prisoner for one hundred and fifty years. There is only so much womanly domination that Blaine can take. I mean Angelica has forced Blaine and his friends to take on women tasks. This is her way of taming the men. Blaine and his friends have been plotting to escape for a long time. They will only get one chance at trying to gain their freedom again. Almost everyone escapes. Blaine’s friend, Christian is left behind. Blaine vows to find a way to rescue him from the black witch.
Trinity Harpswell is the Black Widow, a deadly assassin. Trinity is ready to hang it all up. All Trinity has to do is just keep from killing anyone for at least one more week. If she can do this than she will be free.
When Blaine enters into Trinity’s life and asks for her help. Trinity will have to choose between helping Blaine or her freedom.
I have never read anything by Stephanie Rowe until now. I have to say that now that I have discovered Mrs. Rowe, I will be checking out her prior novels. Kiss at Your Own Risk is book one in the Soulfire series. It is actually very endearing to find a macho man like Blaine who is not afraid to admit that he likes to cross stitch. Though don’t get the wrong impression about Blaine as he also has your back and he is smoking hot. Trinity evenly matches Blaine move for move. She and Blaine are a perfect match together. There is plenty of action and romance for everyone. Be warned…Kiss at Your Own Risk is addicting, hilarious, and will have you craving more!
Trinity Harpswell is the Black Widow, a deadly assassin. Trinity is ready to hang it all up. All Trinity has to do is just keep from killing anyone for at least one more week. If she can do this than she will be free.
When Blaine enters into Trinity’s life and asks for her help. Trinity will have to choose between helping Blaine or her freedom.
I have never read anything by Stephanie Rowe until now. I have to say that now that I have discovered Mrs. Rowe, I will be checking out her prior novels. Kiss at Your Own Risk is book one in the Soulfire series. It is actually very endearing to find a macho man like Blaine who is not afraid to admit that he likes to cross stitch. Though don’t get the wrong impression about Blaine as he also has your back and he is smoking hot. Trinity evenly matches Blaine move for move. She and Blaine are a perfect match together. There is plenty of action and romance for everyone. Be warned…Kiss at Your Own Risk is addicting, hilarious, and will have you craving more!
January 6, 2011
Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2011/01/rev...
Favorite Quote: “What kind of man eats your fish when you won’t sleep with him?”
Blaine Underhill has survived centuries of torture under the control of an insane witch. He and his team has escaped but were forced to leave one man behind. Now he needs the help of a lethal woman to save his friend.
All Trinity Harpswell needs is to make it through the next 7 days without killing anyone. Easy right? Wrong. Not when your cursed as a Black Widow who kills what you love.
When Blaine tracks Trinity down and convinces her to help, Trinity just knows the next 7 days are gonna be murder.
Meet Blaine, Jarvis, and Nigel. All kidnapped as boys, these smexy men have been living in The Den Of Womanly Pursuits; run by the very beautiful and very insane Angelica. Angelica, who also happens to be the grandmother of Death, decided when her husband traded her in on a newer younger model that men need to learn how to please a woman through whatever means necessary. Torture, extreme enhancements, and needlepoint.
When the boys decide enoughs enough and make a break for it, their friend Christian is caught and they are forced to leave him behind. But their research has shown them that one person can help them get back their friend and kill Angelica-A Black Widow.
When Blaine finds Trinity he is surprised by his attraction to her; considering what he’s lived through the last 150 years. But attractive or not, Blaine needs Trinity to kill Angelica and he’s not taking no for an answer.
Trinity doesn’t want to kill anyone. As the Black Widow she’s killed enough to last a lifetime and she only needs to stay kill free for 7 days and the curse lifts. But when her dad is targeted by an assassin who pink dusts him, she is tricked into agreeing to kill a monster terrorizing the city in order to save her dad’s soul. When Blaine appears demanding her help she strikes a deal with him; help her and she’ll help him.
And that’s the simple part.
This is my first time reading Stephanie Rowe and a sillier book I have yet to find. But silly in a fun “you don’t have to think much” kind of way. Our cast of characters includes needle pointing, water coloring manly men. A slightly dingy Black Widow and her bff- Death’s assistant. A crazy black witch and her wandering nympo narcasstic husband. Killer schnoodles, Death himself, and an assassin who kills you by turning you into pink dust and then stores you in a ziplock bag.
This is one wild mixed up story. Fast pacing, funny dialogue, and volatile characters makes for a crazy rambunctious story with constantly changing points of view and scene changes. Rather like a comedy of errors. Everyone is running around doing something that will screw someone else’s plans up. The main plot line is full of action and a bit of suspense. There is plenty of misdirection and plot changing that really keeps you on your toes. To much in fact. While I enjoyed the story overall, at times I found the constant POV changes and character updates bogged the story down. I found my attention wandering in the middle of the book when all we do is watch plans being made.
Blaine, our hero, is uber sexy and is hilarious as he maintains his macho manly ‘tude all the while giving color and technique advice on needle pointing. Trinity is a sweetheart but not a push over. She has no problem letting her feelings be known. I did have a problem with her not having a problem with some of Blaine’s plans. While I understood his whole “woman are evil” tirade, I don’t think I would have been so accommodating towards him in some aspects.
The romance between them is hot and you can feel the chemistry brewing through out the book.
The secondary characters are just plain crazy. Trinity's bff, Renia is a trip. Always there for Trinity, she has a comment for everybody and everything. lol Death is true chauvinistic yet watching him defend his psycho grandma Angelica is nice. Angelica’s errant husband is a tool and you love to hate him. Angelica herself is insane but you can’t help but feel sorry for her. Her original plan was good but she took it wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off into left field. I have to say that even though we don’t see a lot of him, Christian has to be one of my favorites from the book.
The ending is interesting in its resolution and I like how Ms. Rowe wraps things up nicely for our protagonists. All in all a very light weight humorous pnr with some wild characters. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Rowe and seeing what she has in store for Jarvis, Nigel, and Christian.
I give this a C+.
Favorite Quote: “What kind of man eats your fish when you won’t sleep with him?”
Blaine Underhill has survived centuries of torture under the control of an insane witch. He and his team has escaped but were forced to leave one man behind. Now he needs the help of a lethal woman to save his friend.
All Trinity Harpswell needs is to make it through the next 7 days without killing anyone. Easy right? Wrong. Not when your cursed as a Black Widow who kills what you love.
When Blaine tracks Trinity down and convinces her to help, Trinity just knows the next 7 days are gonna be murder.
Meet Blaine, Jarvis, and Nigel. All kidnapped as boys, these smexy men have been living in The Den Of Womanly Pursuits; run by the very beautiful and very insane Angelica. Angelica, who also happens to be the grandmother of Death, decided when her husband traded her in on a newer younger model that men need to learn how to please a woman through whatever means necessary. Torture, extreme enhancements, and needlepoint.
When the boys decide enoughs enough and make a break for it, their friend Christian is caught and they are forced to leave him behind. But their research has shown them that one person can help them get back their friend and kill Angelica-A Black Widow.
When Blaine finds Trinity he is surprised by his attraction to her; considering what he’s lived through the last 150 years. But attractive or not, Blaine needs Trinity to kill Angelica and he’s not taking no for an answer.
Trinity doesn’t want to kill anyone. As the Black Widow she’s killed enough to last a lifetime and she only needs to stay kill free for 7 days and the curse lifts. But when her dad is targeted by an assassin who pink dusts him, she is tricked into agreeing to kill a monster terrorizing the city in order to save her dad’s soul. When Blaine appears demanding her help she strikes a deal with him; help her and she’ll help him.
And that’s the simple part.
This is my first time reading Stephanie Rowe and a sillier book I have yet to find. But silly in a fun “you don’t have to think much” kind of way. Our cast of characters includes needle pointing, water coloring manly men. A slightly dingy Black Widow and her bff- Death’s assistant. A crazy black witch and her wandering nympo narcasstic husband. Killer schnoodles, Death himself, and an assassin who kills you by turning you into pink dust and then stores you in a ziplock bag.
This is one wild mixed up story. Fast pacing, funny dialogue, and volatile characters makes for a crazy rambunctious story with constantly changing points of view and scene changes. Rather like a comedy of errors. Everyone is running around doing something that will screw someone else’s plans up. The main plot line is full of action and a bit of suspense. There is plenty of misdirection and plot changing that really keeps you on your toes. To much in fact. While I enjoyed the story overall, at times I found the constant POV changes and character updates bogged the story down. I found my attention wandering in the middle of the book when all we do is watch plans being made.
Blaine, our hero, is uber sexy and is hilarious as he maintains his macho manly ‘tude all the while giving color and technique advice on needle pointing. Trinity is a sweetheart but not a push over. She has no problem letting her feelings be known. I did have a problem with her not having a problem with some of Blaine’s plans. While I understood his whole “woman are evil” tirade, I don’t think I would have been so accommodating towards him in some aspects.
The romance between them is hot and you can feel the chemistry brewing through out the book.
The secondary characters are just plain crazy. Trinity's bff, Renia is a trip. Always there for Trinity, she has a comment for everybody and everything. lol Death is true chauvinistic yet watching him defend his psycho grandma Angelica is nice. Angelica’s errant husband is a tool and you love to hate him. Angelica herself is insane but you can’t help but feel sorry for her. Her original plan was good but she took it wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off into left field. I have to say that even though we don’t see a lot of him, Christian has to be one of my favorites from the book.
The ending is interesting in its resolution and I like how Ms. Rowe wraps things up nicely for our protagonists. All in all a very light weight humorous pnr with some wild characters. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Rowe and seeing what she has in store for Jarvis, Nigel, and Christian.
I give this a C+.
December 11, 2010
When I first started this book I was wondering what I got myself into. It started with the most absurd scene of 3 kick ass men fighting their way out of a den of torture and discussing their talents at cross-stitch, painting, etc.and then being attacked by killer schnoodles (dogs for those who may be wondering). Seriously this is where the book was going? But once I gave into the absurdity and just went with the flow I actually found this a fun book that made me laugh and I had to keep reading until I was done.
The Storyline
Ridiculous plot#1
Trinity has been cursed to kill any guy she falls for which would be bad except she keeps falling for jerks, cheaters and serial killers. The Black Widow gives her a blue print view of how to kill the guy and super human strength to complete the task. If she manages to kill 5 guys she will be doomed to remain the Black Widow for the rest of her life but if she can make it to 5 years without killing she is free of the curse. She is one week away and one murder away from either being free from the curse when Blaine finds her. He wants her to use her powers to kill the witch who has been torturing him and his buddies but tells her he plans to kill her as soon as she is done helping him. So in her twisted mind she actually gets totally into him because he turns her on and she feels safe from ever falling in love with him. So she feels free to have sex with him without having to worry about her curse. Yes, it was ridiculous but it was funny seeing the guys she falls for, how she tries to refrain from killing these jerk of a guy she keeps falling for and the interaction between Trinity and Blaine. It was a bit much that she is so against killing that she builds a coffin for an insect she accidentally smashes but oh well.
Ridiculous plot #2
This uber-powerful witch, Angelica, has created this house of torture and has been kidnapping boys to torture them or have her "girls" torture them. Besides stabbing them, freezing them other painful scenarios she also instills a love for girlie past times like cross-stitching, water colors, etc. She's delusional and thinks that she is actually helping these men by making them into the perfect mate for her girls. She actually claims to love both her girls and the men she tortures and that she does all of this out of love. Yes, someone seriously needs therapy. This is the evil witch Blaine and his buddies have escaped from and want Trinity's help killing.
Then you throw in all these minor sub-plots like Death is Angelica's grandson but he also has a soft spot for Trinity because he used to baby sit her as a baby, there is an assassin that goes around turning his victims into pink dust and more ridiculous things but really it is a fun read.
The Characters
Blaine cracked me up once he escaped from Angelica and hooks up with Trinity. After all those years of torture and forced into more feminine pursuits it was funny seeing him trying to change his thoughts and actions to be more manly. He sounds sexy as heck even if he needs a needle and thread to really meditate and relax. Trinity was also enjoyable as she desperately tries to keep from making that final kill that will doom her to a life as the Black Widow.
The Romance
Things were definitely hot between Blaine and Trinity and I thought it was hilarious watching the two of them interact. I thought Blaine carried the whole "you are a woman, you will betray me" thing a little too far but other than that I thought it was a sexy, funny relationship.
All in all...
A great read if you need a laugh and are willing to suspend any sense of rationality.
The Storyline
Ridiculous plot#1
Trinity has been cursed to kill any guy she falls for which would be bad except she keeps falling for jerks, cheaters and serial killers. The Black Widow gives her a blue print view of how to kill the guy and super human strength to complete the task. If she manages to kill 5 guys she will be doomed to remain the Black Widow for the rest of her life but if she can make it to 5 years without killing she is free of the curse. She is one week away and one murder away from either being free from the curse when Blaine finds her. He wants her to use her powers to kill the witch who has been torturing him and his buddies but tells her he plans to kill her as soon as she is done helping him. So in her twisted mind she actually gets totally into him because he turns her on and she feels safe from ever falling in love with him. So she feels free to have sex with him without having to worry about her curse. Yes, it was ridiculous but it was funny seeing the guys she falls for, how she tries to refrain from killing these jerk of a guy she keeps falling for and the interaction between Trinity and Blaine. It was a bit much that she is so against killing that she builds a coffin for an insect she accidentally smashes but oh well.
Ridiculous plot #2
This uber-powerful witch, Angelica, has created this house of torture and has been kidnapping boys to torture them or have her "girls" torture them. Besides stabbing them, freezing them other painful scenarios she also instills a love for girlie past times like cross-stitching, water colors, etc. She's delusional and thinks that she is actually helping these men by making them into the perfect mate for her girls. She actually claims to love both her girls and the men she tortures and that she does all of this out of love. Yes, someone seriously needs therapy. This is the evil witch Blaine and his buddies have escaped from and want Trinity's help killing.
Then you throw in all these minor sub-plots like Death is Angelica's grandson but he also has a soft spot for Trinity because he used to baby sit her as a baby, there is an assassin that goes around turning his victims into pink dust and more ridiculous things but really it is a fun read.
The Characters
Blaine cracked me up once he escaped from Angelica and hooks up with Trinity. After all those years of torture and forced into more feminine pursuits it was funny seeing him trying to change his thoughts and actions to be more manly. He sounds sexy as heck even if he needs a needle and thread to really meditate and relax. Trinity was also enjoyable as she desperately tries to keep from making that final kill that will doom her to a life as the Black Widow.
The Romance
Things were definitely hot between Blaine and Trinity and I thought it was hilarious watching the two of them interact. I thought Blaine carried the whole "you are a woman, you will betray me" thing a little too far but other than that I thought it was a sexy, funny relationship.
All in all...
A great read if you need a laugh and are willing to suspend any sense of rationality.
December 23, 2011
Blaine Underhill III and his three comrades, Christian, Jarvis and Nigel had all been kidnapped or sold by their parents to the evil black witch, Angelica. Try to envision if Pam Anderson and Hannibal Lecter had a daughter who had spliced in DNA of a psychotic Martha Stewart. That would be Angelica. After hundreds of years of humiliation and torture in the Den of Womanly Pursuits, they finally escape, only to have Christian dragged back by his traitorous girlfriend and protégé of Angelica, Mari. The only way to get Christian back is to kill Angelica, something they have never been able to do, but they know who can……the Black Widow. Trinity had been cursed as a child to kill any male she fell in love with. So far her total was four, and luckily they were no big losses, she always fell for the psychos. If she can stay pat until she turns 25, the curse is nullified, so simple right. Stay away from good looking, sweet, generous men. Fortunately Blaine is not sweet or kind and intends to kill her, so no problem right.
This book was so off the wall smart, sassy and funny that it completely had me fooled into thinking it was a pretty erotic read. There is some sexual content, but not nearly as much as you think there is while you're reading. Ms. Rowe does such a brilliant job with the illusion of sex, you never notice until you're done. I mean the guys are walking sacks of testosterone. They just ooze sex. Seventy five percent of the dialogue has sexual content. Angelica even teaches the arts of pleasure to her captives. Her grandson Death has a horde of Honey Pots on call for scheduled hand jobs. You would think that the story would just connect the sexual escapades, but that is indeed not the case. The fascinating characters are the case. Blaine is an expert at cross stitch and can dissect a perfume to the most minute of essences. He also has a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest that catches fire and sets off explosions. Trinity's BFF, Reina is an apprentice to Death. The whole crew is beyond bizarre and endlessly entertaining. It's simply amazing at how all the characters wind up strangely connected, and the seemingly random twists that the story takes lead to a vastly enjoyable book. The only problem I had was the only true deaths in the book happened on the good guys side. I need a balanced score sheet, and heinous crimes call for equal or greater punishment and suffering. I would love to see a little more justice in the next book.
This book was so off the wall smart, sassy and funny that it completely had me fooled into thinking it was a pretty erotic read. There is some sexual content, but not nearly as much as you think there is while you're reading. Ms. Rowe does such a brilliant job with the illusion of sex, you never notice until you're done. I mean the guys are walking sacks of testosterone. They just ooze sex. Seventy five percent of the dialogue has sexual content. Angelica even teaches the arts of pleasure to her captives. Her grandson Death has a horde of Honey Pots on call for scheduled hand jobs. You would think that the story would just connect the sexual escapades, but that is indeed not the case. The fascinating characters are the case. Blaine is an expert at cross stitch and can dissect a perfume to the most minute of essences. He also has a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest that catches fire and sets off explosions. Trinity's BFF, Reina is an apprentice to Death. The whole crew is beyond bizarre and endlessly entertaining. It's simply amazing at how all the characters wind up strangely connected, and the seemingly random twists that the story takes lead to a vastly enjoyable book. The only problem I had was the only true deaths in the book happened on the good guys side. I need a balanced score sheet, and heinous crimes call for equal or greater punishment and suffering. I would love to see a little more justice in the next book.
December 19, 2010
I hope the above book blurb made sense to you and adequately explained everything you’ll need to understand the world Stephanie Rowe has created here, because that’s the extent of world building provided in the whole book. I like paranormal romances as much as the next person, but in order for me to get on board with whatever creepies, wolfies, or demons an author has created, I need, at minimum, something that explains how the world in which the author has set her book works. There is none of that in KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK. From beginning to end, I don’t understand why the people do what they do. I don’t understand how Blaine got fire inside of him. I don’t understand why pink dust kills. I don’t understand how stainless steel can be used for evil. I don’t understand any of these things because Stephanie Rowe didn’t bother to explain any of them.
At first glance, KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK seems reminiscent of Rowe’s previous paranormal Immortally Sexy series. In many ways, it is similar, with its bizarre characters, fast-paced plot, and perfectly matched hero and heroine. I wanted to like KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK much more than I did. I liked Blaine and Trinity; I even understood the basic plot. That was just about all I understood though, and my overwhelming confusion got to be too much and ultimately interfered with my enjoyment of the book as a whole. Book two in the series, TOUCH IF YOU DARE, will come out in July 2011. I’m willing to give it a try on the strength of Rowe’s previous work, and hope that my issues with her world building is limited to this novel.
At first glance, KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK seems reminiscent of Rowe’s previous paranormal Immortally Sexy series. In many ways, it is similar, with its bizarre characters, fast-paced plot, and perfectly matched hero and heroine. I wanted to like KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK much more than I did. I liked Blaine and Trinity; I even understood the basic plot. That was just about all I understood though, and my overwhelming confusion got to be too much and ultimately interfered with my enjoyment of the book as a whole. Book two in the series, TOUCH IF YOU DARE, will come out in July 2011. I’m willing to give it a try on the strength of Rowe’s previous work, and hope that my issues with her world building is limited to this novel.
June 14, 2012
The hint that this is not going to be the book I usually come across was right there in the first sentence I read: "he knew tonight wasn't the night he was going to get his newest cross-stitching tapestry finished..."
No, you did not understand it wrong. Alexander Blaine Underhill III, our main hero, likes to cross-stitch.
Why? There has to be some rational expalantion?
Well, of course there is. :p
He was imprisoned by the black witch in the Den of Womanly Pursuits for more than three hundred years. The evil witch (who by the way is Death's granma also) tried to emasculate him so she could control him.
But did learning to cross-stitch hinder Blaine? No, he is one mean-lean-killing machine.
And the first thing he plans to do now that he is free, is to kill the witch who kept him prisoner. To be able to do that he needs to enlist a help of reluctant black widow Trinity Harpswell, defeat hordes of schnoodemgons (poodles+demons+dragons mix monsters), act like a brute so Trinity does not fall in love and kill him, escape the witch who is trying to catch him again, defeat hired assain Oh Shit It's Augustus, catch cameleon monster that is killing people in the city and save his best friend from certain death.
Peace of cake!
If Monty Python's ever decided to write a paranormal romance novel, this is how I imagine it would turn out. Situations and characters are border-line absurd most of the time, but somehow Stephanie Rowe managed to make it work.
No, you did not understand it wrong. Alexander Blaine Underhill III, our main hero, likes to cross-stitch.
Why? There has to be some rational expalantion?
Well, of course there is. :p
He was imprisoned by the black witch in the Den of Womanly Pursuits for more than three hundred years. The evil witch (who by the way is Death's granma also) tried to emasculate him so she could control him.
But did learning to cross-stitch hinder Blaine? No, he is one mean-lean-killing machine.
And the first thing he plans to do now that he is free, is to kill the witch who kept him prisoner. To be able to do that he needs to enlist a help of reluctant black widow Trinity Harpswell, defeat hordes of schnoodemgons (poodles+demons+dragons mix monsters), act like a brute so Trinity does not fall in love and kill him, escape the witch who is trying to catch him again, defeat hired assain Oh Shit It's Augustus, catch cameleon monster that is killing people in the city and save his best friend from certain death.
Peace of cake!
If Monty Python's ever decided to write a paranormal romance novel, this is how I imagine it would turn out. Situations and characters are border-line absurd most of the time, but somehow Stephanie Rowe managed to make it work.
April 17, 2013
As I do *most* of the books I read on my Kindle, I got this book when it was available for free. There are some holes in the story, which have been mentioned by other reviewers like the fact that the male lead hasn't been in the real world since he was 4 yet he knows how to drive a motorcycle and has memories of drinking beer, or the fact that if she survives for 5 days without killing her 5th victim then she is free of the curse yet the book alludes to the fact that she is going to forever attempt to kill the man she loves and they have all these plans in place for how they're going to survive without her killing him. However, overall the storyline was good enough that it kept me reading. I don't have a certain type of book that I gravitate towards and I don't usually critique the actual writing style or grammar of an author because I read simply to escape the real world and this book was good for that. Would I pay $5 for it? No. But keep an eye out for it to go on sale for cheap or be free again and it's worth the time it would take to read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2013
Wow, this book was definitely very refreshing. It was full of funny moments and the villain (a witch) was even more hilarious. It's hard to see her as a bad character, she thought she was doing the world a big good kidnapping little boys and torturing them for centuries to make them the perfect men for her ladies, but she got what she deserved at least. And she is Death's grandmother.
Trinity is the main heroine - cursed to be a black widow, who is afraid to hurt even a bug and can sympathize with murderers who have killed a lot of women. She is a very sweet character, even through she has killed her previous boyfriends.
And Blaine of course. From one side you see the warrior and in the other the little things caused by the witch from the years of torture, I want go to any details, because I don't want to spoil.
But this book is not for everyone, it's a little strange and it won't be to everyone's tastes, but i loved it.
Trinity is the main heroine - cursed to be a black widow, who is afraid to hurt even a bug and can sympathize with murderers who have killed a lot of women. She is a very sweet character, even through she has killed her previous boyfriends.
And Blaine of course. From one side you see the warrior and in the other the little things caused by the witch from the years of torture, I want go to any details, because I don't want to spoil.
But this book is not for everyone, it's a little strange and it won't be to everyone's tastes, but i loved it.
July 22, 2012
While I appreciate the basics of this book the lead villain just pissed me off. I mean really, who in their right mind (yes, I get that she's not in her right mind) thinks that torturing men and then making them do girly things thus disempowering them would make ANY man worthy of love BUT wait she doesn't want love to exist at all. I was so annoyed and distracted by her stupidity that I couldn't count her as an actual villain or even stand to read her character. Everything else in the book was fine in a typical para-romance novel but I will not read the rest of this series if Angelica, or as I termed her "crazy, delusional orgasm psycho", would be in it. She really ruined the whole book for me because I couldn't take a character that psychotically written to be the lead villain.
I've read other series by this author and loved them but this one I just cannot take seriously.
I've read other series by this author and loved them but this one I just cannot take seriously.
January 20, 2011
Kiss at your own risk is book 1 in a new series by Stephanie Rowe and is a downright funny paranormal adventure that grabs ahold of you and makes you want more. Trinity is cursed with a Black Widow curse so any man she falls in love with she kills, but needs Blaine's help to save her father. Blaine can make his body light on fire and needs Trinity's help to save a member of his team who is trapped and needs rescued. Twists and Turns keep the book exciting and on the edge of your seat. I am hoping Ms Rowe brings out a book just for Reina, Trinitys BFF and one of Deaths assistants...I loved her character!
February 25, 2011
I know other readers have found this book zany and funny, but it fell flat for me and none of the characters were engaging. Part of a new series, but it didn't leave me wanting to know what happens to the secondary characters.
July 17, 2011
The first chapter made me feel like I was dropped in on an existing book or series, but I quickly caught on and was hooked. I hated putting the book down and all I wanted to do was sit and read it. This book is definitely one that I will read again.
July 31, 2011
I enjoyed this one. Had lots of humour, sarcasm, banter amongst the alpha males and reminded me a lot of Cold's IAD series.
January 21, 2011
My Review:
The Plot:
KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK boasts a convoluted and topsy-turvey plot making for one hell of a thrill ride. Trinity Harpswell is in quite the predicament. Just a few short days remain before she'll beat her killing Black Widow curse and resume the normal life she's always wanted. Of course nothing can be easy and Trinity soon finds herself contracted to kill not one but two people or her beloved father dies. Having had the two most understanding parents in the world, what with having to relocate during the course of her life after four unplanned murders, there's no way that Trinity is letting her father die at her expense and she'll gladly loose her soul to the Black Widow to save him.
You see, Trinity is not a bad person. She wants to fall in love, get married and have babies one day but her blasted curse always manages to get in the way. Once Trinity looses her heart to a man, she can't stop her curse from unveiling the perfect way to kill him and then following through with sickening glee. For the last five years she's done her best to look totally unappealing to the opposite sex, dating only the most disgusting of men to have some kind social life in the interim as she waits for the clock to tick down to the final moment. If she makes it five whole years without killing, the curse is broken. And her plan has been a success thus far but Trinity soon becomes number one on the Otherworlder's Most Wanted List and talk of being between a rock and a hard place is a universal understatement.
Blaine Underhill is in desperate need of a Black Widow and Trinity Harpswell is on his list as the most powerful and better yet, the closest. After he and his team of warriors escaped a centuries long imprisonment, they were forced to leave a good man behind but Blaine has every intention of rescuing his friend and killing the black witch that gleefully tortured them. Problem is, Angelica is one seriously whacked out bitch of witch and so far she's proved to be impervious to all murder attempts hence Blaine's need for Trinity. Her Black Widow will show them how the witch can be killed and he has plans of making very good use of Trinity's curse.
As lusciously hot as Blaine might be, Trinity doesn't find it all too hard to resist the bad ass warrior. The man wants to selfishly use her and then kill her! Yup, no heart-stopping, Black Window inducing attractive qualities there but Blaine's her only chance at potentially saving her father without having to succumb to her spider. Taking whatever boon she can get, Trinity agrees to help Blaine kill Angelica if he helps her save her father in return. Now it's just a waiting game to see who will renege first....
The Heroine:
Despite the fact that the girl has murdered four men, Trinity is immediately endearing. She doesn't want to kill and being stuck with her Black Widow curse has been nothing short of a nightmare. Imagine murdering the man you love the moment you realize you're in love? It helps that the reader is immediately introduced to a small but important group of people that care deeply for Trinity. She's surrounded by people who love her no matter what and there's obvious and deserved comfort in the arms of her parents and best friend Reina. But still, Trinity suffers understandably from low self esteem and a crippling sense that she's just as evil as the spider that crawls around her psyche. She just wants to be normal and find a wonderful man to spend her life with. She has every day dreams just like every day women making her incredibly easy to relate to and root for.
The Hero:
Blaine is rather ruthless but understandably so. He's also got a healthy complex where women are concerned and again, it's understandable. But the man has a heart and despite his immediate distrust of Trinity, her blunt honesty and sad self image quickly endears her to him. It might take the man a while to admit it, but he likes her and he feels pretty awful about using her but just like Trinity, Blaine's in a tough spot where he has to make a choice.
The best aspect of this hero is that Blaine fully and unquestionably accepts Trinity for who she is, curse and all. If there's one thing this warrior understands its death and her curse makes sense to him in a way that has Trinity striving desperately to see herself in the same light Blaine does without succumbing to the burgeoning love she's beginning to feel for him. There's something about Blaine's acceptance that make love the next step. It's not a given like with her parents and Reina, instead his acceptance is completely optional yet he offers it freely and without a second thought.
My Final Thoughts:
KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK hosts a throw-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plot that feels a bit contrived and over the top on numerous occasions but still made for a pleasurable but often times confusing reading experience. Fast paced and more than a little overwhelming, the author throws it all at you time and again reminiscent of an automatic machine gun. Pow! Pow! Pow! In addition to the ping ball plot, the humor felt a bit forced and too rehearsed as though everything is said after much thought and while made to look witty and random, instead it comes off as pre-planned and robotic. Buuuuut, there's a lot of page time here and a lot going on so I found that there was a teetering balance between what I liked and what I didn't. Upon closing the last pages, I felt both disappointment and pleasure making this rating an easy smack dab in the middle.
Trinity and Blaine are enjoyable characters and surprisingly perfect foils for one another. If you didn't notice already, I'm quite enamored with Blaine and his easy and unquestionable acceptance of Trinity. He helps her believe in herself as no one else can nor has. I think that's what we want from people we're close to, acceptance, and more often than not it's the hardest reciprocating emotion we can achieve both within ourselves and from others. Besides, the already burdened plot would have collapsed if Blaine was unwilling to accept Trinity along with her curse.
Finally, I was left with some unanswered questions. This is somewhat weird and doubly disappointing considering the complex plotting but I never once understood the how's or why's Blaine and his band of warriors were immortal nor was there any explanation for their "gifts". For instance, Blaine can light his whole body on fire, throw fire balls, and create numerous weapons out of flames but why??? There's no origin for anything, no back history. This is only one example but there's many questions as to why certain people have certain paranormal abilities. I would have liked more. Perhaps a slowdown on the quips and more detail on the how.
For Paranormal Romance lovers that crave snarky and abundant humor, constant no-time-to-rest action, and a whole lot of hunky man flesh, KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK might be worth all the peril and doom that the title implies. For you, it just might be worth the risk. Enjoy!
3 STARS
The Plot:
KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK boasts a convoluted and topsy-turvey plot making for one hell of a thrill ride. Trinity Harpswell is in quite the predicament. Just a few short days remain before she'll beat her killing Black Widow curse and resume the normal life she's always wanted. Of course nothing can be easy and Trinity soon finds herself contracted to kill not one but two people or her beloved father dies. Having had the two most understanding parents in the world, what with having to relocate during the course of her life after four unplanned murders, there's no way that Trinity is letting her father die at her expense and she'll gladly loose her soul to the Black Widow to save him.
You see, Trinity is not a bad person. She wants to fall in love, get married and have babies one day but her blasted curse always manages to get in the way. Once Trinity looses her heart to a man, she can't stop her curse from unveiling the perfect way to kill him and then following through with sickening glee. For the last five years she's done her best to look totally unappealing to the opposite sex, dating only the most disgusting of men to have some kind social life in the interim as she waits for the clock to tick down to the final moment. If she makes it five whole years without killing, the curse is broken. And her plan has been a success thus far but Trinity soon becomes number one on the Otherworlder's Most Wanted List and talk of being between a rock and a hard place is a universal understatement.
Blaine Underhill is in desperate need of a Black Widow and Trinity Harpswell is on his list as the most powerful and better yet, the closest. After he and his team of warriors escaped a centuries long imprisonment, they were forced to leave a good man behind but Blaine has every intention of rescuing his friend and killing the black witch that gleefully tortured them. Problem is, Angelica is one seriously whacked out bitch of witch and so far she's proved to be impervious to all murder attempts hence Blaine's need for Trinity. Her Black Widow will show them how the witch can be killed and he has plans of making very good use of Trinity's curse.
As lusciously hot as Blaine might be, Trinity doesn't find it all too hard to resist the bad ass warrior. The man wants to selfishly use her and then kill her! Yup, no heart-stopping, Black Window inducing attractive qualities there but Blaine's her only chance at potentially saving her father without having to succumb to her spider. Taking whatever boon she can get, Trinity agrees to help Blaine kill Angelica if he helps her save her father in return. Now it's just a waiting game to see who will renege first....
The Heroine:
Despite the fact that the girl has murdered four men, Trinity is immediately endearing. She doesn't want to kill and being stuck with her Black Widow curse has been nothing short of a nightmare. Imagine murdering the man you love the moment you realize you're in love? It helps that the reader is immediately introduced to a small but important group of people that care deeply for Trinity. She's surrounded by people who love her no matter what and there's obvious and deserved comfort in the arms of her parents and best friend Reina. But still, Trinity suffers understandably from low self esteem and a crippling sense that she's just as evil as the spider that crawls around her psyche. She just wants to be normal and find a wonderful man to spend her life with. She has every day dreams just like every day women making her incredibly easy to relate to and root for.
The Hero:
Blaine is rather ruthless but understandably so. He's also got a healthy complex where women are concerned and again, it's understandable. But the man has a heart and despite his immediate distrust of Trinity, her blunt honesty and sad self image quickly endears her to him. It might take the man a while to admit it, but he likes her and he feels pretty awful about using her but just like Trinity, Blaine's in a tough spot where he has to make a choice.
The best aspect of this hero is that Blaine fully and unquestionably accepts Trinity for who she is, curse and all. If there's one thing this warrior understands its death and her curse makes sense to him in a way that has Trinity striving desperately to see herself in the same light Blaine does without succumbing to the burgeoning love she's beginning to feel for him. There's something about Blaine's acceptance that make love the next step. It's not a given like with her parents and Reina, instead his acceptance is completely optional yet he offers it freely and without a second thought.
My Final Thoughts:
KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK hosts a throw-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plot that feels a bit contrived and over the top on numerous occasions but still made for a pleasurable but often times confusing reading experience. Fast paced and more than a little overwhelming, the author throws it all at you time and again reminiscent of an automatic machine gun. Pow! Pow! Pow! In addition to the ping ball plot, the humor felt a bit forced and too rehearsed as though everything is said after much thought and while made to look witty and random, instead it comes off as pre-planned and robotic. Buuuuut, there's a lot of page time here and a lot going on so I found that there was a teetering balance between what I liked and what I didn't. Upon closing the last pages, I felt both disappointment and pleasure making this rating an easy smack dab in the middle.
Trinity and Blaine are enjoyable characters and surprisingly perfect foils for one another. If you didn't notice already, I'm quite enamored with Blaine and his easy and unquestionable acceptance of Trinity. He helps her believe in herself as no one else can nor has. I think that's what we want from people we're close to, acceptance, and more often than not it's the hardest reciprocating emotion we can achieve both within ourselves and from others. Besides, the already burdened plot would have collapsed if Blaine was unwilling to accept Trinity along with her curse.
Finally, I was left with some unanswered questions. This is somewhat weird and doubly disappointing considering the complex plotting but I never once understood the how's or why's Blaine and his band of warriors were immortal nor was there any explanation for their "gifts". For instance, Blaine can light his whole body on fire, throw fire balls, and create numerous weapons out of flames but why??? There's no origin for anything, no back history. This is only one example but there's many questions as to why certain people have certain paranormal abilities. I would have liked more. Perhaps a slowdown on the quips and more detail on the how.
For Paranormal Romance lovers that crave snarky and abundant humor, constant no-time-to-rest action, and a whole lot of hunky man flesh, KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK might be worth all the peril and doom that the title implies. For you, it just might be worth the risk. Enjoy!
3 STARS
February 23, 2012
~* 3.5 Stars *~
Definitely Unique
He is fire, and after a century and a half of the grimmest of tortures at the hands of a black witch with a serious jones-on for males in touch with their feminine side, his escape from her realm at the expense of one of his warrior brethren has Alexander Blaine Underhill III raging like an inferno for revenge. He is intent on returning to the thrice-damned Den of Womanly Pursuits to rescue his comrade, and he's determined to end the life of the witch-bitch who had tortured him since he was four years old. And he's really okay with whichever comes first, so long as they both definitely occur.
Problem is, Blaine can't kill Angelica. Not alone, anyway. She's too powerful, has too much magic. He needs the help of the most deadly creature on the planet. The one person he knows who can kill anything, anyone, no matter how unkillable. He needs a Black Widow.
Trinity Harpswell is so close to achieving her goal. Seven days left and, so long as she doesn't kill again, she'll be forever free of the black widow curse that threatens to turn her into a monster. Compelled to fall in love, then kill the object of her love, she has already succumbed four of the five times she's allotted before it's set in stone. She's determined to not let there be a fifth. How hard can it be to stay out of love with someone for seven short days? It's been almost five years. Seven more days to that important milestone should be a snap.
And then Trinity meets Blaine, who wants her to kill the witch who had made his last century and a half an unmitigated nightmare. Before the warrior left behind gets tortured to death. Which will be long before her time is up, for sure. Shoot. And she was doing so well, too.
He's had the ability to trust in love tortured out of him. She's the epitome of love's demise. It's a match made in hell and it's going to be a bumpy, bumpy ride.
~*~
I honestly don't know if this series debut by Rowe is bizarrely brilliant...or just bizarre. It's definitely action-packed; it's certainly unique. I'd bet it's not for everyone. I'm still not sure it's for me, actually.
The concept is out there, that's for sure. I'm still not sure that the lighter elements of the story or the humor in the narrative worked well for me against the painful truth that these characters have been tortured, experimented on, and devastated by psychological and physical wounds. Had this been more serious in theme, this would have been a freakin' dark book. As it stands, I thought there were some flashes of truly funny bits, but the other elements prevented me from being able to relax into them.
I liked the story, but felt the book was hampered by a huge lack of world-building and character development. I don't mind having a few lingering questions at the end of a series debut, but too much was left without explanation or without clear definition. I have no firm grasp on the paranormal factions in the "real" world, not the first clue the scope or location of the witch's demesne. I don't even know what sort of paranormal - if any - Blaine and Trinity are, exactly. Hell, it wasn't until just now that I realized why Blaine's buds call him Trio. If that was explained in the narrative, I missed it.
It's also possible I'm just more slow-witted than I thought.
For the sheer level of twisted, freaky stuff in storyline and characters, this book would be hard to beat. The cross-stitching Blaine and the love 'em and kill 'em Trinity were quite the pair. There's definitely a part of me that was highly amused at the thought of all those warrior types being force fed a feminine side until it stuck. There just wasn't quite enough of the characters themselves in the book, either in definition or presence. It's far more a plot-driven story than character-driven. Other than the most obvious, I never really felt I knew anything much about either main character. In fact, I learned more details of Angelica's history than I did Blaine's and Trinity's, and even that wasn't really extensive.
That actually caused a bit of a problem for me, because there were things in the book, developments and discoveries and the like, that seemed to contradict previous information given (how'd a guy who'd been locked away since he was four get so good with a motorcycle?). I'm loathe to jump to hasty conclusions about plot holes, but significantly more exposition would have been appreciated for greater clarification. And I'm still not sure how the end of the book goes the way it does given what we'd already knew about Trinity's curse in particular. I was able to sustain disbelief only so far before I started to get a little antsy about the few things that didn't make sense, the myriad of answers I still didn't have, and the larger questions being raised.
The good parts, the strengths of the book, were fabulously weird and wonderfully freaky. I just wish some of the almost four hundred pages had set up the world and characters more thoroughly. I think I'll try the next book, but I have to admit, I may decide that this series is a bit too bizarre for me, even if more of the world is explained.
QUOTABLES:
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
Definitely Unique
He is fire, and after a century and a half of the grimmest of tortures at the hands of a black witch with a serious jones-on for males in touch with their feminine side, his escape from her realm at the expense of one of his warrior brethren has Alexander Blaine Underhill III raging like an inferno for revenge. He is intent on returning to the thrice-damned Den of Womanly Pursuits to rescue his comrade, and he's determined to end the life of the witch-bitch who had tortured him since he was four years old. And he's really okay with whichever comes first, so long as they both definitely occur.
Problem is, Blaine can't kill Angelica. Not alone, anyway. She's too powerful, has too much magic. He needs the help of the most deadly creature on the planet. The one person he knows who can kill anything, anyone, no matter how unkillable. He needs a Black Widow.
Trinity Harpswell is so close to achieving her goal. Seven days left and, so long as she doesn't kill again, she'll be forever free of the black widow curse that threatens to turn her into a monster. Compelled to fall in love, then kill the object of her love, she has already succumbed four of the five times she's allotted before it's set in stone. She's determined to not let there be a fifth. How hard can it be to stay out of love with someone for seven short days? It's been almost five years. Seven more days to that important milestone should be a snap.
And then Trinity meets Blaine, who wants her to kill the witch who had made his last century and a half an unmitigated nightmare. Before the warrior left behind gets tortured to death. Which will be long before her time is up, for sure. Shoot. And she was doing so well, too.
He's had the ability to trust in love tortured out of him. She's the epitome of love's demise. It's a match made in hell and it's going to be a bumpy, bumpy ride.
~*~
I honestly don't know if this series debut by Rowe is bizarrely brilliant...or just bizarre. It's definitely action-packed; it's certainly unique. I'd bet it's not for everyone. I'm still not sure it's for me, actually.
The concept is out there, that's for sure. I'm still not sure that the lighter elements of the story or the humor in the narrative worked well for me against the painful truth that these characters have been tortured, experimented on, and devastated by psychological and physical wounds. Had this been more serious in theme, this would have been a freakin' dark book. As it stands, I thought there were some flashes of truly funny bits, but the other elements prevented me from being able to relax into them.
I liked the story, but felt the book was hampered by a huge lack of world-building and character development. I don't mind having a few lingering questions at the end of a series debut, but too much was left without explanation or without clear definition. I have no firm grasp on the paranormal factions in the "real" world, not the first clue the scope or location of the witch's demesne. I don't even know what sort of paranormal - if any - Blaine and Trinity are, exactly. Hell, it wasn't until just now that I realized why Blaine's buds call him Trio. If that was explained in the narrative, I missed it.
It's also possible I'm just more slow-witted than I thought.
For the sheer level of twisted, freaky stuff in storyline and characters, this book would be hard to beat. The cross-stitching Blaine and the love 'em and kill 'em Trinity were quite the pair. There's definitely a part of me that was highly amused at the thought of all those warrior types being force fed a feminine side until it stuck. There just wasn't quite enough of the characters themselves in the book, either in definition or presence. It's far more a plot-driven story than character-driven. Other than the most obvious, I never really felt I knew anything much about either main character. In fact, I learned more details of Angelica's history than I did Blaine's and Trinity's, and even that wasn't really extensive.
That actually caused a bit of a problem for me, because there were things in the book, developments and discoveries and the like, that seemed to contradict previous information given (how'd a guy who'd been locked away since he was four get so good with a motorcycle?). I'm loathe to jump to hasty conclusions about plot holes, but significantly more exposition would have been appreciated for greater clarification. And I'm still not sure how the end of the book goes the way it does given what we'd already knew about Trinity's curse in particular. I was able to sustain disbelief only so far before I started to get a little antsy about the few things that didn't make sense, the myriad of answers I still didn't have, and the larger questions being raised.
The good parts, the strengths of the book, were fabulously weird and wonderfully freaky. I just wish some of the almost four hundred pages had set up the world and characters more thoroughly. I think I'll try the next book, but I have to admit, I may decide that this series is a bit too bizarre for me, even if more of the world is explained.
QUOTABLES:
"It would be a huge honor to have you kill me."
Felicia raised her brow. "You're immortal," she said dryly.
Reina waved her hand. "Semantics. I'll pretend to die."
Felicia's smile warmed. "I like your attitude. Maybe another time."
~*~
He let a single flame dance at the end of his index finger. Just a reminder of exactly what he was: a fire warrior (okay, yeah, he'd self-titled, but he figured it was better than cross-stitching girly man).
~*~
"You do realize you could put that bullet in my head and I'd be dancing the rumba within about a minute? Guns don't stop me."
She blinked. "You can rumba?"
He scowled. "I just said a bullet to the brain wouldn't hurt me, and you're impressed that I can dance?"
~*~
And then he remembered lesson #76.5 from Man Decorum 101: Never tell a smart, pissed-off female what to do. Ask her. Nicely. Preferably with roses in hand.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
June 23, 2017
First in the Soulfire paranormal romance series set in an alternate Boston about a quartet of men who have been enhanced to withstand the numerous tortures rained down upon them by a witch determined to make them into the ideal men…for women.
My Take
This is too funny, waaaay too funny. I mean, how can you not help laughing at lines like the following in the midst of battles to the death:
I was also impressed with how she solved all the kill–don't kill issues. I am very much looking forward to Touch If You Dare.
The negatives…hmm…I don't understand why the Triumvirate doesn't just ask Trinity for help??? Then there's that girly talk. I wish Rowe had put a little more emphasis on it. For a while, I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or bad writing.
The Story
It's a break-out! Four hot bad boys are finally putting their escape plan into effect. After 150-some years being tortured by an angry, abandoned witch, Blaine, Nigel, Jarvis, and Christian are battling their way out of Angelica's lair, the Den of Womanly Pursuits.
In the meantime, Trinity Harpswell has almost made it. It's been four years and 51 weeks…and she hasn't killed anyone…woohoo! If Trinity can hold out for one more week, she'll be rid of the black widow curse forever!!
So, naturally, Trinity is set up by the Triumvirate, the Otherworld's "ruling body of arrogant, over-sexed men and women who got to make rules and ruin lives". Part of Trinity's curse allows her to see how to kill anyone, anything, and the council has a vicious chameleon running loose killing people. Everyone they've sent out after it has failed.
A little extortion will force Trinity into helping, if only she can fulfill a few requirements.
The Characters
Trinity Harpswell is a Black Widow. Taken from her parents when she was four-months-old, Angelica injected her with the curse, forcing her to kill any man with whom she falls in love. Countering her deathly skills, Trinity works at the Jamboree, a women's shelter intent on helping women take charge of their lives and learn self-love with appliances…seems to be the counter to Angelica's Den of Womanly Pursuits.
Trinity's parents are Elijah, a sculptor, and Olivia, intimate with Mother Nature, which allows her a number of benefits.
Blaine Underhill is a master at cross stitch; he's also a human torch using fire to heal himself, burn through anything, and throw fireballs. He has also found it pretty handy to superheat the air to cushion a fall or to power up a leap.
Nigel Aquarian loves to paint when the blades popping out of his fingernails don't get in the way and has a healing energy.
Jarvis Swain can't be killed; he chooses to suck at knitting, and his special weapon is a samurai sword that can kill or incapacitate as well as absorb energies.
Blaine considers Christian Slayer his best friend, and he is determined to rescue him from Angelica…no matter what. Christian can cause his skin to mutate into a solid metal skin or millions of tiny scales poisonous to the touch.
Angelica was brutally abandoned by her husband some 320 years ago and has been building herself back up while imparting the same strengths and tools to young girls she kidnaps while torturing young boys into being the man she wished Napoleon had been for her.
…intended to teach men to get in touch with their feminine side: embroidery, painting, foreplay while, at the same time, she tortures them for every "misdemeanor" and experiments on their bodies to enable them to survive the tortures she forces them to inflict on each other…the disemboweling, the enhanced critter attacks… Mari is Angelica's right hand girl, caught between her love for Christian and Angelica's tutelage.
Death is Angelica's grandson. A hot lad with ever increasingly expensive suits and a bigger diamond stud in his ear every time Gram sees him. Caught up in his soul delivery, his harem, and figuring out more and more ways to make money out of his death delivery business. Reina Fleming is one of Death's assistants and BFF's with Trinity.
Napoleon is a premier assassin for the Triumvirate. He's also the asshole husband who abandoned Angelica some 320 years ago, taking off with two bimbos in his Lamborghini…makes ya wonder just what year we're in now if there was a Lamborghini back then… Oh. Shit. It's Augustus! Looks like a wizened old man, smells like rotting bananas and is Napoleon's rival for the title of top of the food chain, assassin-wise — his kills are in the seven figures, using pink stars to dust people into returnable oblivion.
The Cover and Title
The cover promises pain and passion with its flaming bottom and the tattoo of a horned skull gracing the left pec of a major hottie…and I don't just mean the flames.
The title is accurate as kissing Trinity is to Kiss at Your Own Risk.
My Take
This is too funny, waaaay too funny. I mean, how can you not help laughing at lines like the following in the midst of battles to the death:
"'You're like one of those mosquito zappers. You should rent yourself out for garden weddings.'I've always enjoyed the "witty banter" of men in battle, but Rowe just takes it to a new level, combining the girly talk of color value and perspective when painting or the loveliness of the texture of certain embroidery flosses with spitting blades and fireballs. Yup, Rowe has definitely taken it up a notch!
'I'll think about it. There's something really appealing about the idea of becoming a lawn ornament.'""…Nigel had painted an artistic rendition of the witch's death on the bandana. 'Nice accessory.'"
Nigel flipped the ends…'It inspires me…'
'Maybe it's the way the blood spatters look like smiley faces. Sets a friendly tone.'"
I was also impressed with how she solved all the kill–don't kill issues. I am very much looking forward to Touch If You Dare.
The negatives…hmm…I don't understand why the Triumvirate doesn't just ask Trinity for help??? Then there's that girly talk. I wish Rowe had put a little more emphasis on it. For a while, I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or bad writing.
The Story
It's a break-out! Four hot bad boys are finally putting their escape plan into effect. After 150-some years being tortured by an angry, abandoned witch, Blaine, Nigel, Jarvis, and Christian are battling their way out of Angelica's lair, the Den of Womanly Pursuits.
In the meantime, Trinity Harpswell has almost made it. It's been four years and 51 weeks…and she hasn't killed anyone…woohoo! If Trinity can hold out for one more week, she'll be rid of the black widow curse forever!!
So, naturally, Trinity is set up by the Triumvirate, the Otherworld's "ruling body of arrogant, over-sexed men and women who got to make rules and ruin lives". Part of Trinity's curse allows her to see how to kill anyone, anything, and the council has a vicious chameleon running loose killing people. Everyone they've sent out after it has failed.
A little extortion will force Trinity into helping, if only she can fulfill a few requirements.
The Characters
Trinity Harpswell is a Black Widow. Taken from her parents when she was four-months-old, Angelica injected her with the curse, forcing her to kill any man with whom she falls in love. Countering her deathly skills, Trinity works at the Jamboree, a women's shelter intent on helping women take charge of their lives and learn self-love with appliances…seems to be the counter to Angelica's Den of Womanly Pursuits.
Trinity's parents are Elijah, a sculptor, and Olivia, intimate with Mother Nature, which allows her a number of benefits.
Blaine Underhill is a master at cross stitch; he's also a human torch using fire to heal himself, burn through anything, and throw fireballs. He has also found it pretty handy to superheat the air to cushion a fall or to power up a leap.
Nigel Aquarian loves to paint when the blades popping out of his fingernails don't get in the way and has a healing energy.
Jarvis Swain can't be killed; he chooses to suck at knitting, and his special weapon is a samurai sword that can kill or incapacitate as well as absorb energies.
Blaine considers Christian Slayer his best friend, and he is determined to rescue him from Angelica…no matter what. Christian can cause his skin to mutate into a solid metal skin or millions of tiny scales poisonous to the touch.
Angelica was brutally abandoned by her husband some 320 years ago and has been building herself back up while imparting the same strengths and tools to young girls she kidnaps while torturing young boys into being the man she wished Napoleon had been for her.
"For a psychotic bitch, she was as impressive as hell."The Den of Womanly Pursuits is…
…intended to teach men to get in touch with their feminine side: embroidery, painting, foreplay while, at the same time, she tortures them for every "misdemeanor" and experiments on their bodies to enable them to survive the tortures she forces them to inflict on each other…the disemboweling, the enhanced critter attacks… Mari is Angelica's right hand girl, caught between her love for Christian and Angelica's tutelage.
Death is Angelica's grandson. A hot lad with ever increasingly expensive suits and a bigger diamond stud in his ear every time Gram sees him. Caught up in his soul delivery, his harem, and figuring out more and more ways to make money out of his death delivery business. Reina Fleming is one of Death's assistants and BFF's with Trinity.
Napoleon is a premier assassin for the Triumvirate. He's also the asshole husband who abandoned Angelica some 320 years ago, taking off with two bimbos in his Lamborghini…makes ya wonder just what year we're in now if there was a Lamborghini back then… Oh. Shit. It's Augustus! Looks like a wizened old man, smells like rotting bananas and is Napoleon's rival for the title of top of the food chain, assassin-wise — his kills are in the seven figures, using pink stars to dust people into returnable oblivion.
The Cover and Title
The cover promises pain and passion with its flaming bottom and the tattoo of a horned skull gracing the left pec of a major hottie…and I don't just mean the flames.
The title is accurate as kissing Trinity is to Kiss at Your Own Risk.
March 18, 2017
BACK OF BOOK SAYS:
BLAINE UNDERHILL IS ONE LUCKY MAN after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. now he's determined to save his still enslaved friend but into order to do so, he will need the help of one of the worlds most lethal women.
trinity harpswell is sick and tired of being a black widow. having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she is one short week away from free herself from this killer curse forever.
the story is light and doesn't take itself too seriously.
it's a quick read and shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
it's easy to follow, even thought there are 3 sets of characters to follow, but eventually they all blend nicely at the end.
the main jist of the story is her father tries to save her from the curse of the black widow, so she spends the whole book trying to save her dad and trying to help blaine too.
BLAINE UNDERHILL IS ONE LUCKY MAN after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. now he's determined to save his still enslaved friend but into order to do so, he will need the help of one of the worlds most lethal women.
trinity harpswell is sick and tired of being a black widow. having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she is one short week away from free herself from this killer curse forever.
the story is light and doesn't take itself too seriously.
it's a quick read and shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
it's easy to follow, even thought there are 3 sets of characters to follow, but eventually they all blend nicely at the end.
the main jist of the story is her father tries to save her from the curse of the black widow, so she spends the whole book trying to save her dad and trying to help blaine too.
November 28, 2017
The book started out weird and I didn’t know if I wanted to finish it, but I did and I ended up enjoying the characters Blaine was messed up and hot at the same time. If you can make it into the book and don't mind relaxing your reality of the world as we know it this might be something you like. I'm off to read the next installment in the series.
July 28, 2017
Quirky as hell, LOVED it! WOW, what a funny well written ORIGINAL story!! Great characters and world building!! I have read a lot of Stephanie Rowe but this is so VERY different from all her "normal stuff"!!!
August 10, 2021
Enjoyed the book.
February 8, 2011
Devilishly divine. Kiss At Your Own Risk is brilliantly fun, fast-paced and delightful.
Stephanie Rowe is to paranormal what Janet Evanovich is to mystery; laugh-out-loud fun and a non-stop tilt-a-whirl ride of excitement. I cannot express how much enjoyment Kiss At Your Own Risk brought to me. I literally found myself laughing out loud in the nice quiet library, while I read. Yes, for me, it was that humorous. I do have to admit that when I began reading the first few pages, I was thinking to myself "What in the world is this?!" The idea of men obsessed with cross-stitching and all things girly was a bit out there, even for me. However, once I read a bit further, I had no doubts that I was going to love this book. So, be warned, the very beginning may make you step back, but hold on, it is awesome.
Men, sex slaves, torture, the goal to make every one of the male species perfect and worthy of a woman. Yes, that is the goal of Angelica (the wicked witch, if you will). This is what Blaine Underhill and his friends have had to endure for the past century and a half. After coming together with a plan to escape, they finally find themselves free from the torture chamber of hell. However one thing went terribly wrong, Blaine's best friend did not make it out and is still left enslaved by the diva witch of all things unholy. Blaine will stop at nothing until he is able to rescue his friend and set him free.
Trinity Harpswell has had to live with a curse her entire life - if she falls in love, she has to kill the man she loves. Not such a great thing for a long term relationship. Trinity is a Black Widow and will remain so permanently after her fifth kill. However, she has managed not to kill a man for three years and if she can hang on another week, the curse will be broken and she will be free. Little did she know that final week would test every one her skills in resistance.
When Blaine realizes the the only way to kill Angelica is with the use of a Black Widow, he goes in search of Trinity. Trinity, however has problems of her own - her father has been turned into pink dust and will die if she doesn't kill the Smut Monster. However, if she kills Smutty, her soul will be lost forever. This doesn't stop her, however, and she will do anything to save her father.
Needless to say, Blaine and Trinity strike up a bargain - and what a bargain it is. These two characters are fiery, feisty and combustible. I have to say that I think they are one of my favorite character couples. Blaine is hot - literary and figuratively. Trinity is saucy and a spitfire - though very human in terms of insecurities and worries (she reminds me a lot of Stephanie Plum in the Evanovich series). The secondary characters are also great - Reina, Trinity's best friend, is delightful and it would be great to see her with a story of her own.
Overflowing with dark underworldly fun, Kiss At Your Own Risk is a book that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy paranormal and just want to lose themselves in laughter, a bit of romance and a whole lot of fun. Excellent writing and storytelling, great character development; Stephanie Rowe is an author I can't wait to read more of!
Stephanie Rowe is to paranormal what Janet Evanovich is to mystery; laugh-out-loud fun and a non-stop tilt-a-whirl ride of excitement. I cannot express how much enjoyment Kiss At Your Own Risk brought to me. I literally found myself laughing out loud in the nice quiet library, while I read. Yes, for me, it was that humorous. I do have to admit that when I began reading the first few pages, I was thinking to myself "What in the world is this?!" The idea of men obsessed with cross-stitching and all things girly was a bit out there, even for me. However, once I read a bit further, I had no doubts that I was going to love this book. So, be warned, the very beginning may make you step back, but hold on, it is awesome.
Men, sex slaves, torture, the goal to make every one of the male species perfect and worthy of a woman. Yes, that is the goal of Angelica (the wicked witch, if you will). This is what Blaine Underhill and his friends have had to endure for the past century and a half. After coming together with a plan to escape, they finally find themselves free from the torture chamber of hell. However one thing went terribly wrong, Blaine's best friend did not make it out and is still left enslaved by the diva witch of all things unholy. Blaine will stop at nothing until he is able to rescue his friend and set him free.
Trinity Harpswell has had to live with a curse her entire life - if she falls in love, she has to kill the man she loves. Not such a great thing for a long term relationship. Trinity is a Black Widow and will remain so permanently after her fifth kill. However, she has managed not to kill a man for three years and if she can hang on another week, the curse will be broken and she will be free. Little did she know that final week would test every one her skills in resistance.
When Blaine realizes the the only way to kill Angelica is with the use of a Black Widow, he goes in search of Trinity. Trinity, however has problems of her own - her father has been turned into pink dust and will die if she doesn't kill the Smut Monster. However, if she kills Smutty, her soul will be lost forever. This doesn't stop her, however, and she will do anything to save her father.
Needless to say, Blaine and Trinity strike up a bargain - and what a bargain it is. These two characters are fiery, feisty and combustible. I have to say that I think they are one of my favorite character couples. Blaine is hot - literary and figuratively. Trinity is saucy and a spitfire - though very human in terms of insecurities and worries (she reminds me a lot of Stephanie Plum in the Evanovich series). The secondary characters are also great - Reina, Trinity's best friend, is delightful and it would be great to see her with a story of her own.
Overflowing with dark underworldly fun, Kiss At Your Own Risk is a book that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy paranormal and just want to lose themselves in laughter, a bit of romance and a whole lot of fun. Excellent writing and storytelling, great character development; Stephanie Rowe is an author I can't wait to read more of!
December 20, 2010
Kiss at You Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe
Paranormal Romance –Jan. 1st, 2011
4 stars
Stephanie Rowe has created another crazy and wild paranormal romance. Readers who enjoy Katie MacAlister and Kerrelyn Sparks will find her this book entertaining. Even the villains are funny and sympathetic if somewhat corny.
Trinity was cursed when she was young. She is a black widow and knows how to kill anything. The problem is when she falls in love, the man of her dreams dies. In her case, love does kill. But she can break the curse if she doesn't kill anyone for 5 years. And this is the last week before the 5 years is up! Then she will be able to love and have a normal life again.
Meanwhile, Blaine and the rest of his buddies are staging a break out. He and his friends were all sold when they were young to a villain named Angelica. Angelica hates all men after her husband left her for younger women. She is determined to 'make' men good guys. But her treatments are tortuous for the men who she has been teaching and many have died under her ‘tutoring.’ All they want to do is escape and kill her. They realize the only way to kill her is to find a black widow that can kill Angelica.
This is a crazy story because so much is going on that reader will have to pay attention. Trinity is trying not to kill and break free of the curse. But her father is kidnapped and the only way to get him back is for her to kill and then lose her soul. Now a handsome man named Blaine wants her to kill for him, too. Blaine makes a deal with Trinity. He will help save her father if she helps him kill Angelica. But time is against them and everyone seems after them. Can Trinity save her soul, find love and live a normal life?
As mentioned earlier, this book is a whirlwind of action. Sometimes I found it hard to keep up with all the twists. There are some very funny moments, and I actually found myself very sympathetic towards the villain, Angelica, especially when her husband comes back! Blaine and his crew of men are super sexy, and I wanted them to be free from Angelica’s grasp. The interesting part of this story is the complicated relationship between the characters and how the author twists the plot so you really don't know what is going to happen next. And there is so much plot that the 2 main characters doesn’t really meet for a large part of the book. The only big thing that didn't make sense to me is why Trinity does not initially try to protect herself from killing someone involuntarily when she has a week left. If it was me, I would have locked myself away for a week until the curse passed. Trinity is a mass of contradictions which make for interesting reading, but sometimes made it hard to enjoy her character. There are several areas in the plot which take a big leap of faith and believability but the storyline is memorable and outrageous.
The funny, comedic characters make for a crazy and super zany story that you just have to keep up with!
Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club
Paranormal Romance –Jan. 1st, 2011
4 stars
Stephanie Rowe has created another crazy and wild paranormal romance. Readers who enjoy Katie MacAlister and Kerrelyn Sparks will find her this book entertaining. Even the villains are funny and sympathetic if somewhat corny.
Trinity was cursed when she was young. She is a black widow and knows how to kill anything. The problem is when she falls in love, the man of her dreams dies. In her case, love does kill. But she can break the curse if she doesn't kill anyone for 5 years. And this is the last week before the 5 years is up! Then she will be able to love and have a normal life again.
Meanwhile, Blaine and the rest of his buddies are staging a break out. He and his friends were all sold when they were young to a villain named Angelica. Angelica hates all men after her husband left her for younger women. She is determined to 'make' men good guys. But her treatments are tortuous for the men who she has been teaching and many have died under her ‘tutoring.’ All they want to do is escape and kill her. They realize the only way to kill her is to find a black widow that can kill Angelica.
This is a crazy story because so much is going on that reader will have to pay attention. Trinity is trying not to kill and break free of the curse. But her father is kidnapped and the only way to get him back is for her to kill and then lose her soul. Now a handsome man named Blaine wants her to kill for him, too. Blaine makes a deal with Trinity. He will help save her father if she helps him kill Angelica. But time is against them and everyone seems after them. Can Trinity save her soul, find love and live a normal life?
As mentioned earlier, this book is a whirlwind of action. Sometimes I found it hard to keep up with all the twists. There are some very funny moments, and I actually found myself very sympathetic towards the villain, Angelica, especially when her husband comes back! Blaine and his crew of men are super sexy, and I wanted them to be free from Angelica’s grasp. The interesting part of this story is the complicated relationship between the characters and how the author twists the plot so you really don't know what is going to happen next. And there is so much plot that the 2 main characters doesn’t really meet for a large part of the book. The only big thing that didn't make sense to me is why Trinity does not initially try to protect herself from killing someone involuntarily when she has a week left. If it was me, I would have locked myself away for a week until the curse passed. Trinity is a mass of contradictions which make for interesting reading, but sometimes made it hard to enjoy her character. There are several areas in the plot which take a big leap of faith and believability but the storyline is memorable and outrageous.
The funny, comedic characters make for a crazy and super zany story that you just have to keep up with!
Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club
August 30, 2011
Kiss at your own risk
By Stephanie Rowe
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release date: January 4th, 2011
Summary
Trinity Harpswell is a cursed Black Widow-death and mayhem are all part of the job description. If she can manage to go just one more week without accidentally killing someone, she'll break this killer curse and put her Black Widow days behind her. When sexy Blaine Underhill III shows up at her door and asks for her help rescuing his friend from the clutches of Death's evil grandma, Trinity gets pulled into a daring high stakes adventure. As Blaine and Trinity join forces to take down a series of underworld assassins, they may just learn that love is the deadliest game of all.
***spoilers***
«Welcome to hell Trinity Harpswell»
I truly recommend this book to all Otherworld lovers because I know you will find it awesome, wicked and funny! Reading this book will put a smile on your face and you will wonder why you didn't read it sooner!
So tell me, where do I apply to be part of that new kind of Otherworld???
I think it's the most funniest, the coolest and the most charming otherworld story I read this year so far! Sometimes I couldn't stop laughing, and my boyfriend was wondering what was happening to me. This was my first Stephanie Rowe book and I totally fall in love with her writing. She's creative, brilliant and she got a great sense of humour. And it's show in her book. The characters were funny and got great personality. I love all characters even the bad one!
At first I've got to admit that I didn't jump into the story. The first chapters weren't what I suspected them to be. They were a lot of actions but I didn't buy it in some way... When Trinity came into the story I was more incline into the story. Her Black Widow curse was new to me so I was intrigued... But when Trinity and Blaine finally met for the first time I wasn't able to put the book down! There is always something new to put you back on the track and keep reading.
Stephanie Rowe is able to take a sad scene and make you laugh at it. I also love the fact that the story is taking place in the actually century with problem that all girls have today! So you can really be related to the characters. You will ask to be Trinity's best friend or Blaine's lover (He's so yummy!) The man is sexy, strong and he's been train to be the perfect man for a woman. Personally I would love to work with Death... anyway!
I enjoy the fact that you can't predict the end. The Black Widow curse was new to me and I wasn't even able to find a happy ending by my own. I love to wonder what would happen to the characters. The whole story was different and interesting, I hope to have as mush fun with: Touch if You Dare, the next in the series.
I love the cover! We have a good looking man, no face so we can imagine who ever we wanted, tattooed; well that's my kind of cover!
By Stephanie Rowe
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release date: January 4th, 2011
Summary
Trinity Harpswell is a cursed Black Widow-death and mayhem are all part of the job description. If she can manage to go just one more week without accidentally killing someone, she'll break this killer curse and put her Black Widow days behind her. When sexy Blaine Underhill III shows up at her door and asks for her help rescuing his friend from the clutches of Death's evil grandma, Trinity gets pulled into a daring high stakes adventure. As Blaine and Trinity join forces to take down a series of underworld assassins, they may just learn that love is the deadliest game of all.
***spoilers***
«Welcome to hell Trinity Harpswell»
I truly recommend this book to all Otherworld lovers because I know you will find it awesome, wicked and funny! Reading this book will put a smile on your face and you will wonder why you didn't read it sooner!
So tell me, where do I apply to be part of that new kind of Otherworld???
I think it's the most funniest, the coolest and the most charming otherworld story I read this year so far! Sometimes I couldn't stop laughing, and my boyfriend was wondering what was happening to me. This was my first Stephanie Rowe book and I totally fall in love with her writing. She's creative, brilliant and she got a great sense of humour. And it's show in her book. The characters were funny and got great personality. I love all characters even the bad one!
At first I've got to admit that I didn't jump into the story. The first chapters weren't what I suspected them to be. They were a lot of actions but I didn't buy it in some way... When Trinity came into the story I was more incline into the story. Her Black Widow curse was new to me so I was intrigued... But when Trinity and Blaine finally met for the first time I wasn't able to put the book down! There is always something new to put you back on the track and keep reading.
Stephanie Rowe is able to take a sad scene and make you laugh at it. I also love the fact that the story is taking place in the actually century with problem that all girls have today! So you can really be related to the characters. You will ask to be Trinity's best friend or Blaine's lover (He's so yummy!) The man is sexy, strong and he's been train to be the perfect man for a woman. Personally I would love to work with Death... anyway!
I enjoy the fact that you can't predict the end. The Black Widow curse was new to me and I wasn't even able to find a happy ending by my own. I love to wonder what would happen to the characters. The whole story was different and interesting, I hope to have as mush fun with: Touch if You Dare, the next in the series.
I love the cover! We have a good looking man, no face so we can imagine who ever we wanted, tattooed; well that's my kind of cover!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews