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The Lines of Marsden #1
Rules Are Meant To Be Broken
The lines of Marsden were born into existence for a to right the wrongs that had once taken place. Destiny fated that they must destroy the Eldren before Evil wins.
Michael Marsden wants to die - for real this time. He wasn't meant to lead the half-life that he does. He chooses to let it go and let death take what it had already claimed.
But Christian Risely isn't about to let that happen. He is drawn to Michael and will do anything to ensure that he lives, even if that means keeping him alive against his will.
Michael Marsden wants to die - for real this time. He wasn't meant to lead the half-life that he does. He chooses to let it go and let death take what it had already claimed.
But Christian Risely isn't about to let that happen. He is drawn to Michael and will do anything to ensure that he lives, even if that means keeping him alive against his will.
ebook
First published June 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
N.J. Nielsen
41 books119 followers NJ is just an ordinary person that has a million stories in her head that she needs to get out and share with the world. I began writing at the age of Twelve with a book Called Admetus Gaea-Untamed World... which I have only recently just found and finished writing.
I love reading anything, and I have worked my way through a few over the years. My own writing features it all from the paranormal/preternatural, fey, demons & human... I start with just a picture or a title and sit back as the stories unfold.
I do not plot, preferring to write in Utter Chaos. I was raised in Gladstone, Queensland and now live in a small country town with my family.
I love reading anything, and I have worked my way through a few over the years. My own writing features it all from the paranormal/preternatural, fey, demons & human... I start with just a picture or a title and sit back as the stories unfold.
I do not plot, preferring to write in Utter Chaos. I was raised in Gladstone, Queensland and now live in a small country town with my family.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 16, 2014
I've had this book for a long time, and this is my second attempt to finish this book which is a dnf. But the convoluted, awkward writing, confusing plot and unlikable characters have defeated me again. Life's too short to get so frustrated with a book in which the author is sparingly giving information. I am neither amused or interested in continuing.
March 17, 2013
Intriguing story about a group of vampires that have clustered together yet don't know where they came from, they were just drawn to each other over the years. Some twists and turns, some hot loving, jealousy and a cliffhanger ending since this is part one of a series. Downside, the writing is extremely awkward to read with pov shifts and lengthy passages or character impressions that don't lend anything important to the whole.
June 9, 2012
Review posted at The Armchair Reader.
3.5 stars
This is a bit of a difficult book to review. I wouldn't say I had a hard time getting into it, but I did take some breaks early on while reading, trying to wrap my head around what was going on. There's no mistaking that this book is the setup to a series, but I found on one of my breaks a comment by NJ Nielsen on GoodReads that this is a 3-part series (3 Lines of Marsden, which are family descendant lines), which total 18 books, 12 of which were already mostly written. So that helped me wrap my brain around why I felt like the questions were mounting and mounting and I wasn't getting many answers… at the least, this is much like a 6 part, very long novel. That helps, because I like reading vast works and now that I know what I'm getting into and I can understand that this book is The Setup.
The difficulty I think with writing a review for the first part of such a long story is that we're still really getting into the story by the time the book ends. I still have WAY more questions than answers, and while I'm a pretty lax reader when it comes to this kind of thing, reviewing such a setup book does pose some challenges. Mostly, my rating of Pretty Good reflects this, because I have to rate how I feel about this novel as a standalone book, and that is difficult. So while I feel like later installments of this series could really wow me, the rating for this first one is probably on the low side.
I won't say much beyond the blurb, because I liked how little the blurb reveals. With the nature of this first book, a book that is really about setup of the world, the characters and their relationships, and beginning the lines of questions, I think it was important for me as a reader to go into this story knowing very little. The characters know very little. They've in essence, all woken up as some type of vampiric creature and for a couple years been trying to figure out what they are. What does it mean that they feel they've been "chosen" to be this way and live this existence? Their only answers have come from gravitating to each other and forming a family.
Of the family, there is Kerr (who I loving call Jam, because of the canning jars :D), who is the big brother, first of the family and all around leader of the group. Then there is Charm, who like her name is the heart of the family even while driving them all crazy with her prophetic dreams. Then, there's Doyle, who remains a real enigma to the end of the book. Is he gay? Is he straight? All we know is that he seems to have a very secret and important role in the future. Lastly, we have Christian, who in a sense is the strangest of them all. He's covered in scars he can't remember getting, nor can he remember his previous life at all. Sometimes he remembers things and then forgets them again, and he often has wild mood swings, wise at one moment and downright childish in mind at others, as if someone else is controlling him. And from the moment he sees Michael, our main character, dying in the park as the change overcomes him, he's in love (or obsessed?) with him. He saves Michael's life by feeding him blood, and then takes him home.
Though these four have been a family for almost two years now, Michael really becomes the sun in their solar system once he joins them. He's also the catalyst for the changes that start happening in their lives. It seems like someone is following them. They're all having strange, sometimes conflicting prophetic dreams about him and others in the family. At the same time, while Christian and Michael both say they aren't gay, they feel an almost visceral pull towards one another and the sexual nature of their feelings surprise them. They both have a bit of angst trying to reconcile their feelings in this book, and why they feel them so strongly. Lastly, there's a side plot. Michael misses his real family, especially his twin sister Gypsy and wants to try to find a way back to them, even though to them he's been missing for over a month.
I did had a few problems. There's quite a bit of head-hopping in the first half of the book, and while it doesn't switch sentence by sentence, it does often switch every few paragraphs. I would have loved a little separation between these POV switches, just so they didn't jar me as much while reading. I was worried as I got further and further into the story. I knew there was a lot coming in future books, but I didn't want the story to end without answering enough of my questions to tempt me into reading the second book. I think there's a very subtle and sometimes difficult line to maneuver in this situation between using answers or a cliffhanger to resolve this, and I was partly happy with the way it was finished. I didn't get as many answers as I wanted (and I wasn't asking for a lot, there's so much setup for what is coming in the future, including names of characters we haven't met or have barely met, and whole factions of this story only glimpsed at), but there was a cliffhanger as well. Perhaps that's unavoidable in a series with so many parallel story lines, so I let it slide. Plus, though there is a cliff, the author took the high road, I felt. There could have been a terrible cliffhanger, and we weren't forced to endure that. So while the story does end in the middle of much action, it isn't at the height of it, and I really thank the author for that! Still, here's hoping that if 12 of 18 books are nearly completed then we won't have to wait long for the second book.
I'd recommend that readers interested in this stick around for future installments and reviews. Unless you're a reader that likes to read as books are released, no matter what, then go for it. But I know many of you would much rather wait until you can get much of the story at once.
I'm definitely intrigued by this story. I can't say I'm in love with it, because I'll have to wait until there's more to read, but I liked this one and I'm eager to see what happens to the characters in the future. I have a feeling they have a shitload of crazy plot-twists coming in the future :)
Just a Note: This is one of the best covers I've seen from MLR, so kudos! It was what drew me to the novel in the first place.
3.5 stars
This is a bit of a difficult book to review. I wouldn't say I had a hard time getting into it, but I did take some breaks early on while reading, trying to wrap my head around what was going on. There's no mistaking that this book is the setup to a series, but I found on one of my breaks a comment by NJ Nielsen on GoodReads that this is a 3-part series (3 Lines of Marsden, which are family descendant lines), which total 18 books, 12 of which were already mostly written. So that helped me wrap my brain around why I felt like the questions were mounting and mounting and I wasn't getting many answers… at the least, this is much like a 6 part, very long novel. That helps, because I like reading vast works and now that I know what I'm getting into and I can understand that this book is The Setup.
The difficulty I think with writing a review for the first part of such a long story is that we're still really getting into the story by the time the book ends. I still have WAY more questions than answers, and while I'm a pretty lax reader when it comes to this kind of thing, reviewing such a setup book does pose some challenges. Mostly, my rating of Pretty Good reflects this, because I have to rate how I feel about this novel as a standalone book, and that is difficult. So while I feel like later installments of this series could really wow me, the rating for this first one is probably on the low side.
I won't say much beyond the blurb, because I liked how little the blurb reveals. With the nature of this first book, a book that is really about setup of the world, the characters and their relationships, and beginning the lines of questions, I think it was important for me as a reader to go into this story knowing very little. The characters know very little. They've in essence, all woken up as some type of vampiric creature and for a couple years been trying to figure out what they are. What does it mean that they feel they've been "chosen" to be this way and live this existence? Their only answers have come from gravitating to each other and forming a family.
Of the family, there is Kerr (who I loving call Jam, because of the canning jars :D), who is the big brother, first of the family and all around leader of the group. Then there is Charm, who like her name is the heart of the family even while driving them all crazy with her prophetic dreams. Then, there's Doyle, who remains a real enigma to the end of the book. Is he gay? Is he straight? All we know is that he seems to have a very secret and important role in the future. Lastly, we have Christian, who in a sense is the strangest of them all. He's covered in scars he can't remember getting, nor can he remember his previous life at all. Sometimes he remembers things and then forgets them again, and he often has wild mood swings, wise at one moment and downright childish in mind at others, as if someone else is controlling him. And from the moment he sees Michael, our main character, dying in the park as the change overcomes him, he's in love (or obsessed?) with him. He saves Michael's life by feeding him blood, and then takes him home.
Though these four have been a family for almost two years now, Michael really becomes the sun in their solar system once he joins them. He's also the catalyst for the changes that start happening in their lives. It seems like someone is following them. They're all having strange, sometimes conflicting prophetic dreams about him and others in the family. At the same time, while Christian and Michael both say they aren't gay, they feel an almost visceral pull towards one another and the sexual nature of their feelings surprise them. They both have a bit of angst trying to reconcile their feelings in this book, and why they feel them so strongly. Lastly, there's a side plot. Michael misses his real family, especially his twin sister Gypsy and wants to try to find a way back to them, even though to them he's been missing for over a month.
I did had a few problems. There's quite a bit of head-hopping in the first half of the book, and while it doesn't switch sentence by sentence, it does often switch every few paragraphs. I would have loved a little separation between these POV switches, just so they didn't jar me as much while reading. I was worried as I got further and further into the story. I knew there was a lot coming in future books, but I didn't want the story to end without answering enough of my questions to tempt me into reading the second book. I think there's a very subtle and sometimes difficult line to maneuver in this situation between using answers or a cliffhanger to resolve this, and I was partly happy with the way it was finished. I didn't get as many answers as I wanted (and I wasn't asking for a lot, there's so much setup for what is coming in the future, including names of characters we haven't met or have barely met, and whole factions of this story only glimpsed at), but there was a cliffhanger as well. Perhaps that's unavoidable in a series with so many parallel story lines, so I let it slide. Plus, though there is a cliff, the author took the high road, I felt. There could have been a terrible cliffhanger, and we weren't forced to endure that. So while the story does end in the middle of much action, it isn't at the height of it, and I really thank the author for that! Still, here's hoping that if 12 of 18 books are nearly completed then we won't have to wait long for the second book.
I'd recommend that readers interested in this stick around for future installments and reviews. Unless you're a reader that likes to read as books are released, no matter what, then go for it. But I know many of you would much rather wait until you can get much of the story at once.
I'm definitely intrigued by this story. I can't say I'm in love with it, because I'll have to wait until there's more to read, but I liked this one and I'm eager to see what happens to the characters in the future. I have a feeling they have a shitload of crazy plot-twists coming in the future :)
Just a Note: This is one of the best covers I've seen from MLR, so kudos! It was what drew me to the novel in the first place.
September 4, 2014
I managed to read about 30% of this book and still didn't know who the MC or MCs were, what they were doing or why. There was a group of people hiding from something, no one knew from what, and trying to survive outside society. There was no plot to speak of and the story was going nowhere.
And on top of that the villain was proving to be total cartoon character with long speeches about how HE knew better than his superiors and how he would totally over throw them and be the baddest of the bad in the world. We also got rants about our good guys and how they were nothing and what he would do them and how it was going to be like taking a candy form a babe...
Not interested wading through the rest and see if it got better.
And on top of that the villain was proving to be total cartoon character with long speeches about how HE knew better than his superiors and how he would totally over throw them and be the baddest of the bad in the world. We also got rants about our good guys and how they were nothing and what he would do them and how it was going to be like taking a candy form a babe...
Not interested wading through the rest and see if it got better.
September 6, 2015
I started this book and for a while was very confused. It seems like there is so much that isn't understood. It does slowly fall into place. This is a first book in a much longer series so there are LOTS of unanswered questions. There actually isn't much answered in this book. The story is very different and interesting. I've become very curious as to what will happen to the MC's in the following books. I'll be looking forward to the next in the series.
June 2, 2012
Finally!
June 13, 2017
This story had great potential, but there was quite a lot that I didn't like about it.
- For one, it was written in a quite confusing way. The pov changes so often and without a clear distinction of another character's narration taking over which made me have to stop every time to figure out who it was.
- The writing style was a bit underdeveloped. There was a lot of repetition, for example all characters keep wondering why something or someone was like that, which made the writing a bit on the childish side.
- I didn't really feel the characters much. I didn't form any sort of connection with them, which made the reading really not enjoyable.
- For one, it was written in a quite confusing way. The pov changes so often and without a clear distinction of another character's narration taking over which made me have to stop every time to figure out who it was.
- The writing style was a bit underdeveloped. There was a lot of repetition, for example all characters keep wondering why something or someone was like that, which made the writing a bit on the childish side.
- I didn't really feel the characters much. I didn't form any sort of connection with them, which made the reading really not enjoyable.
September 17, 2012
4.5 Kisses
I’ve read a couple of book by Ms. Nielsen and I’ve liked every one of them. She really seems to get into the heart and soul of her characters and in Rules are Meant to be Broken, she created an inventive and unique spin on a well-used vampire inspired romance.
This book will be difficult for me to review because I don’t want to spoil it. I also want to point out that this is the first book in a long series of books Ms. Nielsen plans on writing. After I read it, I checked out her website, http://normanielsen.blogspot.com/p/li..., and there looks to be at least 15 more books that will be written in this series. So, I need to warn some readers that there are many unanswered questions, and the story also ends with a cliffhanger. I know this will probably keep some readers from reading this book immediately, preferring to wait until more books in the series are published, and in all honesty…I’m usually one of these types of readers. But now that I’ve started this series, I’m addicted to it, and now I’m waiting on pins and needles wondering what in the world is going to happen next!
I thought the characters in this book were very well-written. Although the blurb gives the impression that this is mainly a romance between Christian and Michael, there’s really a lot more to it than that. There is also a vast array of characters that all give something important to what’s going on in the storyline. To my best guess, at one point they will all be focal points in either their own stories or they’ll continue to be just strong supporting characters. Also, there are a lot of points of view told as the story progresses. There’s quite a bit of head hopping that goes along in this book, and although I understood why the author does this, at times I did find that a tad bit distracting and it brought me out of the story a little bit.
Also, we find out pretty quickly that there are a prophesy of dreams that will determine what will happen in these characters lives. *spoiler so please skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know* Including how Michael and Christian will not end up being together in the end. I’m not going to lie and act like this doesn’t bother me because it does. I normally would shy away from this because well…the romantic in me wants the heroes I’ve invested time in to be together. Also, I really LIKED Michael and Christian as a couple, so both of them finding someone else they’ll love even more disturbs me a little. I also have a feeling I MIGHT know who Michael in particular ends up with and well, I’m not sure about that either. But saying this, I also have to put my trust in the author and hope that as the story continues to evolve, all of these things will make sense. *end of spoiler*
Both Michael and Christian are interesting characters. Christian in particular really stole my heart and the mystery of his past really fascinates me. He’s so sweet and innocent one minute, but in the next I could see where he could be a dangerous force to be reckoned with if he was to be pushed too far. Also, I liked how Michael’s character really seemed to start coming into his own and I appreciated the deep love and respect he has for both his family and his adoptive family of friends.
Another thing I really liked about this book was: It’s very obvious that these characters are still young people. They still make mistakes and don’t always make the most mature or smart decisions, but in my opinion this just makes them read a little more realistically. I know I personally made some very STUPID mistakes when I was in my early twenties, so I could identify with this.
Now that I’m addicted to this book, I’m really looking forward to reading the next one. The future is certainly unsure for these characters and I for one hope that in the end, they all get the happy ending they all deserve. Recommended.
I’ve read a couple of book by Ms. Nielsen and I’ve liked every one of them. She really seems to get into the heart and soul of her characters and in Rules are Meant to be Broken, she created an inventive and unique spin on a well-used vampire inspired romance.
This book will be difficult for me to review because I don’t want to spoil it. I also want to point out that this is the first book in a long series of books Ms. Nielsen plans on writing. After I read it, I checked out her website, http://normanielsen.blogspot.com/p/li..., and there looks to be at least 15 more books that will be written in this series. So, I need to warn some readers that there are many unanswered questions, and the story also ends with a cliffhanger. I know this will probably keep some readers from reading this book immediately, preferring to wait until more books in the series are published, and in all honesty…I’m usually one of these types of readers. But now that I’ve started this series, I’m addicted to it, and now I’m waiting on pins and needles wondering what in the world is going to happen next!
I thought the characters in this book were very well-written. Although the blurb gives the impression that this is mainly a romance between Christian and Michael, there’s really a lot more to it than that. There is also a vast array of characters that all give something important to what’s going on in the storyline. To my best guess, at one point they will all be focal points in either their own stories or they’ll continue to be just strong supporting characters. Also, there are a lot of points of view told as the story progresses. There’s quite a bit of head hopping that goes along in this book, and although I understood why the author does this, at times I did find that a tad bit distracting and it brought me out of the story a little bit.
Also, we find out pretty quickly that there are a prophesy of dreams that will determine what will happen in these characters lives. *spoiler so please skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know* Including how Michael and Christian will not end up being together in the end. I’m not going to lie and act like this doesn’t bother me because it does. I normally would shy away from this because well…the romantic in me wants the heroes I’ve invested time in to be together. Also, I really LIKED Michael and Christian as a couple, so both of them finding someone else they’ll love even more disturbs me a little. I also have a feeling I MIGHT know who Michael in particular ends up with and well, I’m not sure about that either. But saying this, I also have to put my trust in the author and hope that as the story continues to evolve, all of these things will make sense. *end of spoiler*
Both Michael and Christian are interesting characters. Christian in particular really stole my heart and the mystery of his past really fascinates me. He’s so sweet and innocent one minute, but in the next I could see where he could be a dangerous force to be reckoned with if he was to be pushed too far. Also, I liked how Michael’s character really seemed to start coming into his own and I appreciated the deep love and respect he has for both his family and his adoptive family of friends.
Another thing I really liked about this book was: It’s very obvious that these characters are still young people. They still make mistakes and don’t always make the most mature or smart decisions, but in my opinion this just makes them read a little more realistically. I know I personally made some very STUPID mistakes when I was in my early twenties, so I could identify with this.
Now that I’m addicted to this book, I’m really looking forward to reading the next one. The future is certainly unsure for these characters and I for one hope that in the end, they all get the happy ending they all deserve. Recommended.
June 10, 2012
Written for Gayrotic Reviews.
Read for the M/M Romance Group's Book Bingo.
This is going to be hard to review. I liked almost everything about this book, but there was one thing that kept niggling at me throughout. I'll get to that later. This is a very long series (18 books in three parts - first part is 6 books), so a lot of questions are still blaring at the end of the book, but I thought it ended in a good place. The author is Australian, so this is not US English, but I had no trouble reading it and it felt charming.
I'll start with the writing. I liked the little italicized lines at the beginning of each chapter. The writing was great and this didn't read like most other m/m books I've read. It was...new. The writing style and the voice. I don't think I can compliment it enough.
The beginning of the book was very intriguing. The head hopping was a little confusing, but it wasn't enough to make me want to stop. I couldn't stop. I've read a lot of m/m books, but not many have kept my attention from the very beginning quite like this one. Every time there was a chapter break I kept muttering "Oh my god!" with a big grin on my face.
The characters were fantastic. I loved Christian right away. He's funny, lively, and sweet. Him feeding Michael in the park that first night was HOT. The same goes for their every sexual encounter between them. This author really knows how to write hot guys and hot scenes. That's not to say that Chris and Michael jumped into sex right away - it developed nicely and slowly and I liked that. It felt realistic. The love in this story is so beautiful it makes me want to fall in love myself.
To read the rest of this review, please visit Gayrotic Reviews.
Read for the M/M Romance Group's Book Bingo.
This is going to be hard to review. I liked almost everything about this book, but there was one thing that kept niggling at me throughout. I'll get to that later. This is a very long series (18 books in three parts - first part is 6 books), so a lot of questions are still blaring at the end of the book, but I thought it ended in a good place. The author is Australian, so this is not US English, but I had no trouble reading it and it felt charming.
I'll start with the writing. I liked the little italicized lines at the beginning of each chapter. The writing was great and this didn't read like most other m/m books I've read. It was...new. The writing style and the voice. I don't think I can compliment it enough.
The beginning of the book was very intriguing. The head hopping was a little confusing, but it wasn't enough to make me want to stop. I couldn't stop. I've read a lot of m/m books, but not many have kept my attention from the very beginning quite like this one. Every time there was a chapter break I kept muttering "Oh my god!" with a big grin on my face.
The characters were fantastic. I loved Christian right away. He's funny, lively, and sweet. Him feeding Michael in the park that first night was HOT. The same goes for their every sexual encounter between them. This author really knows how to write hot guys and hot scenes. That's not to say that Chris and Michael jumped into sex right away - it developed nicely and slowly and I liked that. It felt realistic. The love in this story is so beautiful it makes me want to fall in love myself.
To read the rest of this review, please visit Gayrotic Reviews.
January 14, 2013
"Christian felt so confused. "I don't understand".
You and me both Christian....you and me both!
The first half of this book lacked focus. I kept thinking…"there is a storyline in there somewhere"…. but for the life of me I could not find it! Even the characters were confused…no-one seemed to know what was going on. The secretive…yet ever-present... but strangely incompetent villain, added further confusion to the story. Then there were the multiple POVs (which I normally really appreciate…but here it just did not work for me).
In the second half of the book, Michael and Christian start their romance, a storyline finally emerges but then ends abruptly to continue in book 2. I guess it was good that I did not give up on this book. Not sure if I will read the next book in the series though…
You and me both Christian....you and me both!
The first half of this book lacked focus. I kept thinking…"there is a storyline in there somewhere"…. but for the life of me I could not find it! Even the characters were confused…no-one seemed to know what was going on. The secretive…yet ever-present... but strangely incompetent villain, added further confusion to the story. Then there were the multiple POVs (which I normally really appreciate…but here it just did not work for me).
In the second half of the book, Michael and Christian start their romance, a storyline finally emerges but then ends abruptly to continue in book 2. I guess it was good that I did not give up on this book. Not sure if I will read the next book in the series though…
June 4, 2012
I love everything by this author and this book is no exception.
July 29, 2012
I really enjoyed this book....but left me with so many unanswered questions.....but then again I do love a good cliffhanger......can't wait for the next installment.....
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews