Destined for one who broke her heart, and in love with one she never thought she could trust.
Blood defines who a person is and how they're treated in Araya Crush's world. Before she was a powerful hybrid, she was a victim of the vampiric system, one where hybrids are discriminated against and punished for being different, while being groomed to become a weapon if they're among the gifted. It wasn't expected for her to fall in love with a full blood vampire, especially after having her heart smashed by her hybrid counter. Brazen was there to pick up the pieces, and though she hated the full bloods for the torture they put her through, Araya learned Brazen was different.
Araya distanced herself from Hale, doing her best to never need him or see him again, but fate had other plans. When dark forces arise, the United is forced to gather its best, and she and Hale are among the elite. His love for her hasn't wavered, and he refuses to let her go without a fight. Brazen is just as determined, so Araya becomes the rope in a desperate game of tug of war.
I purchased this trilogy after reading another trilogy by this author. She has the amazing ability to capture your attention. I quickly devoured this trilogy. LOL!! It should come with the warning of "HOT". You will need tissue for your eyes and a fan to cool you down. LOL!! This trilogy was awesome. It does have a love triangle, but I have to admit, the ending works for me. There were some typos and grammar mistakes throughout the book, but those did not deter too much for the story. I found the characters to be intense, funny, and there were times I just wanted to ring necks. It has mystery, suspense, intrigue, actions, abilities, hot romance and betrayal. I was swept into the world of hybrids and full bloods. This world was made so realistic by this author. Her attention to detail was right on. It has many twists and turns, and amazing supernatural abilities. Araya is a gifted hybrid. Her life hasn't been easy. Despite traumatic events in her life, she has managed to make a life for herself. She is kind and caring, but can be a force to reckoned with towards those who would violate those of lesser class, especially "The Forgotten". She is a lead interrogator for an organization, "The United". Her love life is somewhat problematic. She loves her counter hybrid, Hale, but he has left her devastated too many times and there is Brazen, a full blood who is nothing but kind and loyal. She will face many obstacles that threaten her life and others. Eventually, many secrets will be revealed and she will be faced with tough/tragic choices to make. She will develop new abilities and meet new people along the way that becomes special to her. To find out what happens, you gotta' read this trilogy. Also, as a side note, there is another trilogy that will follow this trilogy several centuries in the future (The Gifted Trilogy). Word of Caution: the love scenes are HOT!!LOL~!! Happy Reading! Cheers!!!!!
I loved this trilogy. In the beginning it makes you wonder if you missed a previous book but only for a couple chapters. It was a love Triangle with Araya , Hale (her Counter) and Brazen (her full blood) There is love, hate, power, powers, control, torture,sex, fighting, war, making up, making out, family and closeness. It hits so many different emotions. There was times it pissed me off and then times where I was happy and had sad tears going down my cheeks. It's vampires and half-bloods. They have so many obstacles in their way that they have to fight. Overall this book was wonderful. Easy read.
Summarized- Him: You cheated on me you wild, crazy, cardinal, half-breed! Her: I'll fucking kill you {bam, he hits the wall}. Him: Oh, it was a blood fuck? Well, then, shit, why didn't you say so! Please forgive my harsh words.
ROMANCE
^ the summarized breakup above is just one of the many in the most turbulent & quick, multiple transitioning love triangles I've ever seen. Who she'd ultimately choose was obvious, but the author made sure to make a spectacle out of it again, again, again, and again; suffice to say that the female MC was engaged to these two guys FOUR different times, two a piece, in the span of the series.
My sweet bejeezus, everything these SOBs say is a "coo," "grunt," "grumble," "whimper," or "mummer." And, I do mean literally every single quote was followed by a descriptor of how the person said their line. Yes, I'm an idiot and need to know she cooed a seductive line or grumbled a line of irritation...Pssst.
Way too much sex, way too often! I felt like I had jumped down a really cheesy vampire love triangle porno rabbit hole. Every three paragraphs involved extensive screwing, and I do mean extensive as in screw, oral, screw, & oral again within the same damn shower scene. I like fantasy & a steamy scene as well as the next housewife, but the sensationalism in the repetitiveness & libidos here went beyond fantasy to just plain old unfuckingbelievable:/ The constant bed jumping between the guys was a little off putting since "I love you" was also being thrown around.
SPOILER: She does finally make a decision between the guys, but the author wimped out and made it very clear that the female MC would be able to have her cake and eat it too through a shared immortality with the guy not chosen. Sorry, but 700-800 years of pinning over someone that you were second place with just seemed harsh, unfair, and tragic for the character not chosen!!!
PLOT
The plot takes awhile to surface. It really seems this is All About That Bass during book1 , but the plot slowly starts to leak out around the torrid sex scenes & is fairly interesting by the third book. The human/ full blood/ hybrid/ new hybrid concept was unique for vampire books.
However, there were a lot of leads, interrogations, suspects, and purported bad guys that seemed to just be thrown in the mix for the sake of having something/someone for the MCs to chase. A lot of it seemed to abruptly come to a standstill never to be explained or returned to as something else was presented.
The finale was way too nicely tied up with bows to make everything perfect for the characters. If it was that easy for change, why centuries of mistreatment between the multiple races? It was all just too easy and perfect for such a harsh, dangerous world. In the Shatter Me series, I wanted more; I wanted to know the characters would be okay and have a happy ever after, but the reality was that the genius author understood she couldn't give readers that after taking them through a horrid world of danger and uncertainty. Such a bow tie ending wouldn't have been real or applicable in Shatter Me, and it was no more applicable here even if this author decided to give it. For example, the "unspoken" wasn't realistically going to just be accepted after centuries of being forbidden and a death sentence.
CHARACTERS
Araya is an interesting mix of badass, sexual vixen, and vulnerable victim of past abuses. She cries as much as she kicks ass in the book. She could be an unwavering loyal ally with a tender heart or your worst f'ing nightmare that'd show you no mercy. She was relatable, even if I didn't care for how she handled her sexual relationships.
Hale had me hooked on his cocky ass until he hurt her in an inexcusable way. I understood the excuse for it, but only an idiot would think what he told her to push her away from danger would be any less harsh and heartbreaking than the physical & mental torture she'd already endured from those he was trying to protect her from. His love was clear, but I never got over the stupidity.
Brazen was steamy and proved his devotion to her with a love that was sweet, albeit tragic for him. I felt terribly sad for his character and what the author decided his LONG fate to be with Araya.
VERDICT
I'm torn on what to overall say about the series because it was a very love / hate relationship for me. The cheesy porno crapola normally turns me off in a DNF way, but for some reason I continued onward and found myself overlooking it for the otherwise strong characters & unwrapping of the plot.
If you like a lot of sex scenes scattered with paranormal kickassry & a little side mystery... All to be neatly wrapped up in shinny bow at the end, then you'll love the series.
Since the entire series is only .99 cents, I will say it was worth the money.
It's not that I particular like or dislike supernatural books, it's the fact the CM Owens I'd a brilliant writer. You just get drawn into the world she's creating. Loved it. Again it's a pleasure to read something which has depth to it and takes time to read, rather than it be over in an few hours.
Full reviews are available, the review below contains snippets from each.
Book 1: Gifted Curse It's a 3.75 star in my book. And the reason being; it's filled to the brim with sex, blood, vampires and hybrids, a good storyline, action, and most of all ... I didn't skim through any parts. The reason I'm on the fence with my rating is that it reads somewhat monotone and there are LOTS of errors (mostly missing words).
--Steam - 4.5 stars - PACKED FULL!!! Like, legit pages upon pages. But some scenes are repetitive, others are lackluster, and the author seemed squeamish to talk about 'going down' and used weird, nondescript words to try and make the scene work. --Storyline - 3.5 stars - lots of action, everything flows together well, and is well developed. --Writing - 3 stars - comfortable to read, but it wasn't noted that the POV changed from Araya to Hale in the last chapter and I was confused for a couple pages as to why the MC was being referred to as 'he'.
Book 2: Forgotten Curse Around page 440, I started skimming. The drama gets a little monotonous and it's a constant back and forth between Araya, Brazen, and Hale....I just wanted to find out what the next major plot twist was and move on. Book 2 reads exactly like book 1, so expect the same level of steam, drama, gore, and spelling/grammar errors.
--Rating - 3 stars - quite monotonous, lots of drama this book. --Steam - 4 stars - same level of steam as book 1. Yummy! --Storyline - 3 stars - despite the well developed storyline in between major moments, I thought it took too long to get to the point. --Plot twists - 3 stars - pretty major for the story, but we knew something was off with what information we were begin given, so you're definitely expecting it.
Book 3: Lifted Curse While book 3 still has all the spelling and grammar errors that the first two books have, it's a much more interesting read. However, I did end up skimming the middle because, again, monotonous. As well, Hale and Araya bring up their former sexcapades a few times, but then their new scenes are all pretty much the same sequence of events over and over. Still steamy, don't get me wrong, but nothing out of the box.
--Steam - 3 stars - it's still abundant, but nothing crazy like you would think hybrids would have (considering they talk about all the 'positions' they've found themselves in over the years, and about how hybrids are super kinky). Just lots of normal sexcapadaes in bed and up against the wall...over and over in the same sequence. --Emotional Pull - 2 stars until the last chapter, then you'll need some tissues. --Writing - 3 stars - slightly uncomfortable to read at times when words are mistakenly repeated or omitted...or incorrectly spelled. --Denouement - 3 stars - poor Brazen
Overall Review --Rating - 3 stars - monotonous amounts of drama. same stuff over and over. --Steam - 4 stars - abundant, but repetitive --Storyline - 5 stars - very unique --Plot Twists - 3.5 stars - lots of twists and turns, some are foreseen while others are shocking --Emotional Pull - 2 stars - all clear and simple until the very last chapter --Writing - 2 stars - so many wrongly repeated words, grammatical errors and spelling errors. --Denouement - 3 stars - not a fan, because you're left feeling unfulfilled --Cliffhanger? - No, but a lead into a spin off series --HEA? - yes, for most
I downloaded this trilogy as I've read a couple of series by this author (under a different name) and found them incredibly engaging and enjoyable. I figured her other work under a different name wouldn't be too dissimilar...
it's okay... not great. to be able to put that many sex scenes in and it not feel completely repetitive until the last few is quite an impressive achievement.
the kindle version however, is full of just really terrible English and grammatical errors. it takes away from the story.
the actual storyline, I don't feel like either man in the love triangle really had to work for her to get her back. This was very much fated mate Vs chosen mate vibes and she was pretty much led by her biology the whole time.
The thing with her blood family ... I don't think she was angry enough. the things she was angry about, I was totally on board with but the way she was basically just not allowed to be angry after she was betrayed by everyone... nah, screw them. that needed to be drawn out longer. why does she always have to be the bigger person? they fucked up, then they run to her to fix the problems while blaming her for it... and then she forgives them... yeah, no. that's where you lost me.
I know this book was supposed to be erotica but it was too much. Like I just didn’t understand their need for sex so much. I also hated her being flip floppy with Brazen. He deserved so much better. I understand why Hale didn’t tell Araya but still I just didn’t like the back and forth. Araya got mad that Brazen and Hale were keeping secrets when she did the same thing when Brazen wanted to know what Hale did to break up with her. Also she said told Brazen she was excited to marry him but she literally was thinking about Hale when she said yes. And how many times can a girl get engaged? Also for someone who’s had to build up their tolerance due to their abandonment, she cries so much. I actually don’t like that Brazen has to wait 700 years for Araya. Especially, since I find it odd that Araya won’t have her counter eventually.
Bemused, mused were used way too often. Jealously was used instead of jealous.
Basically Araya bounces back and forth between Captain Jake a hybrid and Captain Brazen. When I say bounces I mean one minute she is engaged to one and blood screwing and the next second she is with the other. And yes I said second.
Oh and than you have the occasional fight scene inbetween her going back and forth.
I skimmed most of it considering it is so repetitive, but and least book 3 was a little better.
The first book in this series was okay/good. I love this author, but this didn't have the same style as her other books I've read. The funny/witty lines I love were missing. The main character drove me a bit nuts. The story was a bit confusing. It was also a love triangle, which is hard to do well. This one fell short. The main character was wishy washy and fickle. I read half of book 2, but I think I'm going to move on to something else.
I am not a fan of the love triangle AT ALL. I have enough drama in real life, thank you. That being said, I gave it a shot because CM Owens is a killer author and I have great respect for her. This was not for me and I dnf at 7% - its a bundle of 3 books and I didn't relish the thought of 20 more hours spent on this... Moving on!
This was a little harder read them other C.M. Owens books. I loved the idea of it... it it just did not keep me interested enough.
I had a hate/ love relationship with Hale... it was cute and I could see how much they loved each other. I am happy for Brazen too... he will also get his HEA.
The mystery behind the girl and the love triangle that kept me wanting more! This was the best twist on vampire life that I've read while making me wish this was a movie! Great job!
It is so repetitive that in between the story line there are pages and pages of the same thoughts, words and sex. I'm so tired of reading the same thing over and over again to get the story line to move on. I am opting out. Such a disappointment of a book.
I loved these books! Araya was a little wishy washey with hale and brazen but it wasn't that bad. I liked how she had attitude but was still sweet at times.
Good storyline, interesting characters, lots of passion and intrigue.... I really enjoyed reading this and would definitely recommend it for fans of dystopian romances.
Yet again another fantastic read from the talented cm Owen's. I devoured the trilogy in a matter of days and cant wait to be lost in the world of th e next books
I really liked the main character on this series and it catches your attention to the point where it’s hard to put down. I can’t wait to read the spin off