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In the Arms of the Dark Elf #1
In the Arms of the Dark Elf
When Marla gets lost off-trail during a holistic herbalism class, she injures herself with the edge of a deadly thorn. She knows the thorn well enough to know it's poisonous, but the antidote hasn't been covered in class, and she suffers the horrors of knowing why she's slowly losing consciousness.
When she awakens to the handsome face of a gorgeous dark elf, she soon realizes he's saved her life. But he's got an enemy who could place her in danger, and there's the little problem of the undeniable attraction between them that makes it impossible for her to stay away for long.
When she awakens to the handsome face of a gorgeous dark elf, she soon realizes he's saved her life. But he's got an enemy who could place her in danger, and there's the little problem of the undeniable attraction between them that makes it impossible for her to stay away for long.
56 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
103 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 9, 2016
Alright guys.
I rated this 2 stars and that's being nice.
Never once have a hated a book. But this one. Ugh. So frustrating!!! It's like you met the guy yesterday and you're already "in love" with him! Ugh grow up people. I'm not happy. At all. Grrrr. Such a let down. I thought before I started this book it would turn out as a 4 star maybe. I was so wrong. The story is all over the place and too rushed, not enough detail. It was horrible. I actually do feel bad saying these things but grrrrrr! So frustrating. The end.
I rated this 2 stars and that's being nice.
Never once have a hated a book. But this one. Ugh. So frustrating!!! It's like you met the guy yesterday and you're already "in love" with him! Ugh grow up people. I'm not happy. At all. Grrrr. Such a let down. I thought before I started this book it would turn out as a 4 star maybe. I was so wrong. The story is all over the place and too rushed, not enough detail. It was horrible. I actually do feel bad saying these things but grrrrrr! So frustrating. The end.
May 11, 2015
This is a very,very short book to read. And I clawed my way desperately to end my agony...
I honestly hoped I would like... Sadly it was not meant to be.
Please!
The cover, though very beautiful, was wasted on a short not very well enchanced story. It was sad to realize the lack of depth and character build up. It doesn't even reach the minimum requirement to take itself seriously...
It's so sad!
The plot is as simple, as its plain cardboard characters. So simple one dimentional that it disengagesthe reader and makes childrens stories more thrilling and relatable!
Why!!!!
So simple and narrow minded, that characters actions didn't even matter to me. They just happened and it didn't make me feel a single thing for it! It goes soooo fast, that you could read the first chapter and skip to the last chapters, because whatever is in the middle is irrelevant and predictable. To the point of frustration!
The worst thing is... I like our main heroine!!! Her interests in herbalism, her personality and the reason why she met the elf. And that makes me angry and dissapointed!
To summarize this review this way... Imagine yourself in front of a small chocolate cream cake, that looks so good your mouth waters in anticipation.
Like this one
Then...You take a bite and it tastes like...
That's all I have to say... 1 star for the cover and another for the potential heroine. Such a waste!
I bid you farewell and hope your future reads are fab!
I honestly hoped I would like... Sadly it was not meant to be.
Please!
The cover, though very beautiful, was wasted on a short not very well enchanced story. It was sad to realize the lack of depth and character build up. It doesn't even reach the minimum requirement to take itself seriously...
It's so sad!
The plot is as simple, as its plain cardboard characters. So simple one dimentional that it disengagesthe reader and makes childrens stories more thrilling and relatable!
Why!!!!
So simple and narrow minded, that characters actions didn't even matter to me. They just happened and it didn't make me feel a single thing for it! It goes soooo fast, that you could read the first chapter and skip to the last chapters, because whatever is in the middle is irrelevant and predictable. To the point of frustration!
The worst thing is... I like our main heroine!!! Her interests in herbalism, her personality and the reason why she met the elf. And that makes me angry and dissapointed!
To summarize this review this way... Imagine yourself in front of a small chocolate cream cake, that looks so good your mouth waters in anticipation.
Like this one
Then...You take a bite and it tastes like...
That's all I have to say... 1 star for the cover and another for the potential heroine. Such a waste!
I bid you farewell and hope your future reads are fab!
August 20, 2015
This is short so, I went into this not expecting much of a story. Everything g that happens is: pouson, rescue, sex, poison again, big kick, sex. Bleck! Boring characters, which all I know about them is that one is an elf, one can do a karate kick, and they like to fuck. Plus half a star cause at least the sex was hot, even though if I had to judge the character's intellegence I would compare it to that of a rabbit. I said rabbit because they like to screw a lot too. Waste of time.
If, after I am not hurting, I change my mind about this later I will change this review. I doubt I will though.
If, after I am not hurting, I change my mind about this later I will change this review. I doubt I will though.
July 30, 2014
A large number of spelling and grammatical mistakes. The author really should know the difference between "your" and "you're". This is basic stuff, especially when you're publishing your work. I simply can't read any further.
I love reading about faeries but the writing and loose plot lets the subject matter down.
Sorry, but I'm not impressed. I will not be reading more from this "author".
I love reading about faeries but the writing and loose plot lets the subject matter down.
Sorry, but I'm not impressed. I will not be reading more from this "author".
December 4, 2013
Short but sweet but missing important details....a little choppy in my opinion
September 19, 2019
Love, LOVED this! I cannot wait for 2 and 3.
I've seen a few people mentioning the fast pacing, which intimidated me a little bit since I've always been the slow burn type. However, the chemistry between these two is phenomenal. I also found Marla to be very "real" - as I too am interested in herbalism - but possess the memory of a peanut when it comes to recalling its name and properties.
There is a generous amount of erotic description, balanced with the moments of tenderness Marla and Toke share. If you love the "human meets non-human and fall in love" trope, this is right up your alley.
I've seen a few people mentioning the fast pacing, which intimidated me a little bit since I've always been the slow burn type. However, the chemistry between these two is phenomenal. I also found Marla to be very "real" - as I too am interested in herbalism - but possess the memory of a peanut when it comes to recalling its name and properties.
There is a generous amount of erotic description, balanced with the moments of tenderness Marla and Toke share. If you love the "human meets non-human and fall in love" trope, this is right up your alley.
May 13, 2019
Not a bad story
It can do with some more work. I was a bit lost at times. I am still trying to figure out what time period the writer is using because their are cell phones but some persons live like they are in the mid evil times. Also explain more how humans came to know about the existence of mythical creatures. If some of these things were explained a bit more, it would have been an even more intriguing read.
It can do with some more work. I was a bit lost at times. I am still trying to figure out what time period the writer is using because their are cell phones but some persons live like they are in the mid evil times. Also explain more how humans came to know about the existence of mythical creatures. If some of these things were explained a bit more, it would have been an even more intriguing read.
October 30, 2019
Good but rushed
The book starts off good. I loved the girl personality and the elf's.
But it was a fast paste book. Other than that, it had great writing, good use of different words. The Author did an amazing job, just a little to fast.
The book starts off good. I loved the girl personality and the elf's.
But it was a fast paste book. Other than that, it had great writing, good use of different words. The Author did an amazing job, just a little to fast.
June 1, 2020
Too Short
Had a good plot, beautiful cover, but failed in detail, was too short, character not well developed, some areas I could not follow because jumped to something else. This could be a good story if the author takes more time to add more to this.
Had a good plot, beautiful cover, but failed in detail, was too short, character not well developed, some areas I could not follow because jumped to something else. This could be a good story if the author takes more time to add more to this.
January 16, 2018
Pretty nice read
Pretty nice read for the first book. Kept me interested through the whole thing. Just ready for more of it
Pretty nice read for the first book. Kept me interested through the whole thing. Just ready for more of it
February 28, 2022
It was a cute novella.
April 2, 2025
Short and quick read. Although I don’t really know what I just read. Definitely needed some more details.
June 18, 2018
This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.
Note: This book features adult content.
Synopsis:
When Marla is separated from her holistic herbalism class, she is pricked by a deadly thorn without the antidote. She slowly loses consciousness and awakes in the care of a handsome dark elf herbalist. Toke has saved her from death, but he has an enemy stalking him. Moreover, Marla and Toke are attracted to each other.
Review:
This book has been hanging around my iBooks account for a while now. It was there since the dark elves were my favorite characters in D&D. It proved to be an interesting paranormal romance. It is also short and easy to read. However, there were many elements to it, and 56-pages was not a lot of time to develop them. If you are offended by adult situations you may want to give it a pass. Otherwise, it was not a bad read.
Note: This book features adult content.
Synopsis:
When Marla is separated from her holistic herbalism class, she is pricked by a deadly thorn without the antidote. She slowly loses consciousness and awakes in the care of a handsome dark elf herbalist. Toke has saved her from death, but he has an enemy stalking him. Moreover, Marla and Toke are attracted to each other.
Review:
This book has been hanging around my iBooks account for a while now. It was there since the dark elves were my favorite characters in D&D. It proved to be an interesting paranormal romance. It is also short and easy to read. However, there were many elements to it, and 56-pages was not a lot of time to develop them. If you are offended by adult situations you may want to give it a pass. Otherwise, it was not a bad read.
April 22, 2014
Toke the elf has lived quite some time in isolation from his tribe. But he does not expect that isolation to be disturbed one fine day by a quirky girl named Marla who accidentally poisons herself during a holistic herbalism class. Unlucky for her, the antidote has not been covered. So he saves her life, and in doing so, in some weird way he saves himself.
At first he seems a bit guarded toward her. And even when feelings obviously are starting to form between the two, he seems to want to push her away. Not in a rude way, mind you, but gently, as if he would have loved to be with her in another life but for something keeping him from acting on his feelings in this one. Marla slowly reveals his true feelings, though, by kind of pushing his boundaries. Even his disciplined exterior cannot resist her touch.
I am actually glad that the author made a sequel to go with this first portion of the story, because it does indeed set itself up for more. After a really good fight at the end and basically the fact that someone was hired to end Toke or at least harm him in a way that he would be useless and easier to get rid of makes me want to see the person behind it all defeated. I desperately want the good guys to win in this case, and hopefully that means that Toke and Marla can be together in the end.
I really enjoyed reading this, and I hope that you all do too.
At first he seems a bit guarded toward her. And even when feelings obviously are starting to form between the two, he seems to want to push her away. Not in a rude way, mind you, but gently, as if he would have loved to be with her in another life but for something keeping him from acting on his feelings in this one. Marla slowly reveals his true feelings, though, by kind of pushing his boundaries. Even his disciplined exterior cannot resist her touch.
I am actually glad that the author made a sequel to go with this first portion of the story, because it does indeed set itself up for more. After a really good fight at the end and basically the fact that someone was hired to end Toke or at least harm him in a way that he would be useless and easier to get rid of makes me want to see the person behind it all defeated. I desperately want the good guys to win in this case, and hopefully that means that Toke and Marla can be together in the end.
I really enjoyed reading this, and I hope that you all do too.
March 3, 2015
A couple elements kind of piqued my interest. Marla is studying herbology, and she’s a vegetarian. Unfortunately she is apparently not very smart, because she doesn’t seem to be learning the subject, nor does she seem to care about it. I kind of like the way she gets rescued when she’s mysteriously separated from the class and gets pricked by a poisonous thorn.
The romance element of the story, however, falls very much into the conventions of romance/porn. The writer makes a point of telling us how hot Marla is, even as the story is told from her point of view. She knows the hot guy nursing her back to health is an elf, but we don’t know why. All we know is how muscular and hot he is. And yet, the descriptions aren’t vivid enough to make me care about the characters. There’s a lack of imagination in the writing.
For all that, I was surprised how long it took to get to the sex scene, and how uninspiring it was when it took place.
There’s a nice plot twist, when a seemingly unimportant character is revealed to be the villain, but he’s unconvincingly evil, and cartoonishly flat.
I didn’t hate the book, but I wouldn’t read more from this author.
The romance element of the story, however, falls very much into the conventions of romance/porn. The writer makes a point of telling us how hot Marla is, even as the story is told from her point of view. She knows the hot guy nursing her back to health is an elf, but we don’t know why. All we know is how muscular and hot he is. And yet, the descriptions aren’t vivid enough to make me care about the characters. There’s a lack of imagination in the writing.
For all that, I was surprised how long it took to get to the sex scene, and how uninspiring it was when it took place.
There’s a nice plot twist, when a seemingly unimportant character is revealed to be the villain, but he’s unconvincingly evil, and cartoonishly flat.
I didn’t hate the book, but I wouldn’t read more from this author.
December 27, 2016
Umm... What did I just read? I'm sorry to say but this was... awful! It was a short read, meant to be steamy with a hint of fantasy and I thought it would be a great way to fill in time while staying with family but after finishing I was glad to return to reality.
I can see the author has tried very hard with this however it seems very rushed with little explanation of anything other than what Toke looks like. Of course! But what about the creatures hunting them, where did the come from and what did they look like? Why was she studying this particular subject? Did she travel to another land or reality? Or are we expected to believe that mystical creatures exist in the woods bordering civilisation with no one ever seeing them before Marla?
With every book we read we no doubt always have questions but there was just too many unanswered ones with no hint that they would ever be answered. Sorry, I wouldn't recommend.
I can see the author has tried very hard with this however it seems very rushed with little explanation of anything other than what Toke looks like. Of course! But what about the creatures hunting them, where did the come from and what did they look like? Why was she studying this particular subject? Did she travel to another land or reality? Or are we expected to believe that mystical creatures exist in the woods bordering civilisation with no one ever seeing them before Marla?
With every book we read we no doubt always have questions but there was just too many unanswered ones with no hint that they would ever be answered. Sorry, I wouldn't recommend.
August 13, 2014
This is a short story, which is easy to read in less than 2 hours. Even though she describes the look of each character, I don't feel as though I know them. I also don't like that absolutely all men desire Marla. Her sex descriptions make me giggle, because of the names she gives certain anatomy parts - I can honestly say it is the first time I've heard 'nature' and 'honeypot' in a sex scene. I hate that it totally dead-ends in the middle of the story. I do care enough to try book 2, and since I feel as though it will drop you in the middle of the story, I will need book 3. I don't feel happy about paying $1.99 apiece for 2 & 3. I think that is too much for 60 pages, but I will probably do it at some point. I think the concept is good, but wish descriptions were better and grammar/editing was cleaned up.
Read
November 16, 2013This book was a quick read with some steamy romance, but it fell short in my opinion. The plot was interesting but there was no character development or depth at all. The writing was interesting, unique to every author but the whole book felt rushed. It seemed all the main character thought about was sleeping with some random guy she just met and that's what the story centered around. I read the reviews on amazon for the second book, and I will not be purchasing the other parts of the series. I love paranormal romances and this story had so much potential but I just couldn't get into it. If you want a quick read with some steamy sex then this book is for you, if you want some depth in a story I'd look elsewhere.
December 15, 2013
This was ok. The whole thing wasn't very smooth for a reader, so my time in this story wasn't very enjoyable. The moments she had with her dark elf weren't as eventful as I'd pictured when reading the synopsis. Short stories can be great but this fell a little short for me, one of the reasons being the lack of detail (for the 'current' situation or how the characters feel) or connection usually made between story resident and reader.
The story itself was promising, but not much happens between the two, and when it does, it feels rushed, like I couldn't connect or feel 'aw' towards anything that happened.
The story itself was promising, but not much happens between the two, and when it does, it feels rushed, like I couldn't connect or feel 'aw' towards anything that happened.
February 7, 2014
A short story that could have been great but failed to draw me in.
The plot had promise but I felt it was written so simply that the world in which it was based and the characters just didn't come to life, it was just words on a page.
The main character was called Marla, was studying plants, and had a sister, that is all there was to learn about her, she just didn't seem real.
I think if this book had had more depth, had more time spent on it instead giving just a brief touch of information before skipping to the next scene, it would have made me continue with the story. As it is I'm afraid I'm not going ti bother.
The plot had promise but I felt it was written so simply that the world in which it was based and the characters just didn't come to life, it was just words on a page.
The main character was called Marla, was studying plants, and had a sister, that is all there was to learn about her, she just didn't seem real.
I think if this book had had more depth, had more time spent on it instead giving just a brief touch of information before skipping to the next scene, it would have made me continue with the story. As it is I'm afraid I'm not going ti bother.
September 30, 2015
I was drawn in by the writing and the theme. The story involving an elf and the mystery surrounding him was intriguing. I am interested in seeing more by this author if it will tell me more about the male protagonist and why he is the way he is when the female protagonist encounters him.
My only regrets with the story is that it was too short. As mentioned, I am more than little curious as to the origins of the dark elf and his world. I was left with more questions than answers. Given that this story is a free ebook, I can only guess the author wants to draw us in. I would recommend this for fantasy lovers but offer a caution that it will leave you a bit unsatisfied.
My only regrets with the story is that it was too short. As mentioned, I am more than little curious as to the origins of the dark elf and his world. I was left with more questions than answers. Given that this story is a free ebook, I can only guess the author wants to draw us in. I would recommend this for fantasy lovers but offer a caution that it will leave you a bit unsatisfied.
February 8, 2015
2015 PopSugar challenge: Book with magic
1.5 stars. short...was kinda expecting more.
Marla is saved by Toke when she accidentially stumbles upon a poisonious thorn on a herbal field trip. Here is where Marla just accept she saved by a Dark Elf & its OK.Her herbal professor is more then meets the eye too & it ends making the reader wonder about Toke's brother...not sure I'm going to read the next book. The author writes under the assumption the reader (apparently just like Marla) is fully aware of all mythical creatures and other random magic lore...didn't appreciate that.
1.5 stars. short...was kinda expecting more.
Marla is saved by Toke when she accidentially stumbles upon a poisonious thorn on a herbal field trip. Here is where Marla just accept she saved by a Dark Elf & its OK.Her herbal professor is more then meets the eye too & it ends making the reader wonder about Toke's brother...not sure I'm going to read the next book. The author writes under the assumption the reader (apparently just like Marla) is fully aware of all mythical creatures and other random magic lore...didn't appreciate that.
September 6, 2016
Am disappointed . The basic story line was okay but I felt it was disjointed in parts and jumped too quickly from one scenario to the next. It's a short story however so some allowances have to be made. Will try another book by Willow.
February 20, 2014
I really like the character Toke. And I liked that the story was different.
However I only rate this as a three. If it had been a little longer the story could have been developed more. And there could have been better character development. The story seemed very rushed and chaotic.
That being said it intrigued me enough and the reviews are better on the next books that I will continue with the next book.
However I only rate this as a three. If it had been a little longer the story could have been developed more. And there could have been better character development. The story seemed very rushed and chaotic.
That being said it intrigued me enough and the reviews are better on the next books that I will continue with the next book.
October 1, 2014
Meh, story was moderately interesting but felt rushed and the characters were kinda flat. A common mark against short stories. It did not have anything to grab me, what save the 'good' short stories. I got this book as a free download on amazon so no money lost and it was a fast read. That said, if there were a part 2, also free, I will likely not read it.
December 9, 2013
With a female lead called Marla and a dark elf called Toke don't expect too much.
The words don't flow as they should, leaving you confused at times.
"all the women in her family were shaped like caramel-skinned coke bottles"
Hmmm. Okay. I've heard of vanilla coke but not caramel.
The words don't flow as they should, leaving you confused at times.
"all the women in her family were shaped like caramel-skinned coke bottles"
Hmmm. Okay. I've heard of vanilla coke but not caramel.
December 15, 2013
I definitely enjoyed this. Maybe it's just me, but the villain seemed ripped right out of one of those weird Hentai-animes. But overall, a fun story. Will check out the sequel.
September 2, 2014
In the arms of the dark elf
in the arms of the dark elf is a good read has quit a few twists an turns give it a read
in the arms of the dark elf is a good read has quit a few twists an turns give it a read
October 3, 2014
I didn't connect. Sadly. It was also predictable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews