Blog Tour: Animal - Nikki Rae + Review + Book Trailer + GIVEAWAY!

Synopsis:

Ava has spent her life running from the monsters that lurk in the shadows, always the prey. She finally thinks she can settle down, have a normal life, and work on not being so scared of the world around her. That is until she runs into her worst fear. 

He has finally found the potential family he has always wanted. All he has to do is make his little bird sing. Will Ava escape with her humanity intact?

Review: 
I am in awe over this book. I am not really a huge fan of paranormal stuff but when I came across the synopsis of Nikki Rae's book, I knew I had to read it. I am so excited that she was kind enough to allow me an opportunity to review! 
I connected with the main character Ava right from the beginning because of her love and affection for animals. Ever since the accident that took away Ava's family, she's moved around from place to place with her cousin Toni and as a result she does not do well with interacting with other people. Animals love people unconditionally and do not judge others which is what draws Ava to them. When she and her cousin Toni move to a new neighborhood and she starts her new job a pet store, she meets two men who purchase a yellow canary. While her encounters with these two men seem really strange at first, she tries not to put too much thought into them because she is trying to keep from being so afraid of things. Little does she know that she will be meeting those men again soon. 
Ava's parents worked with vampires. And Ava blames them for her parents death. She's been terrified of vampires ever since. She's scared of being alone at night and is usually very cautious. On several different occasions at night she's heard a cat crying outside so when a young girl knocks on her door one morning asking her to help her look for her lost cat, she thinks nothing of helping her. This would be Ava's undoing. 
Ava's perseverance had to be my favorite element of her personality. Instead of giving up and letting the torment and torture happen without putting up a fight she tries on more than one occasion to escape the hell she's been forced into. She puts all of her energy into focusing on how to get away from the nightmare come to life. 
I'm scared if I talk about anymore of the other characters I'll give away too much of the book because I loved it so much and I won't be able to help myself. Michael is one of the best written characters in this book, in my humble opinion. Nikki writes him so well that you can't help but hate him. He's just that evil. And Evan is so endearing that he easily becomes of the favorites in the story. 
This is the first story I've read by Nikki Rae and I can honestly say that I will be reading more from her. I will be reading her Sunshine series as soon as I get a chance. I need some more of Nikki's dark, creepy writing in my life. And more surprises like the ending of this book. I didn't see it coming but it was a very good way to end it! 

Author Links:

Author Blog: http://nikkixrae.blogspot.com/

Editing Website: http://metamorphosiseditingservices.b...

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nikki-Rae/e/B00...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nikki-...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikkiRaexX

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/NikkiRae

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Review: Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance - Edited by Mitzi Szereto

Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance

Edited by Mitzi Szereto 

Foreward by Kate Douglas, author of the Wolf Tales series 

Afterword by Rachel Caine, author of the Morganville Vampire series

ISBN: 978-1-940550-00-8

Published on the Winter Solstice, December 21, 2014 

 Love, passion and sex…it’s all here in Darker Edge of Desire.

Gothic literature has always possessed a dark attraction ripe with the promise of the forbidden and the sensual. In Darker Edge of Desire, Mitzi Szereto takes the sexualized Gothic and ratchets it up a few notches into the danger zone, opening the door into the darker side of lust and love that only the courageous dare to venture through. Venturing even further into the world of mystery and romance than she did in the critically acclaimed Red Velvet and Absinthe, Szereto creates an atmosphere with a distinct Gothic flavor where we explore our more forbidden desires. In these tales, love and lust (and kink!) know no boundaries, and all nature of beings—from vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts, succubae—abound.

Tread carefully, danger and desire lie ahead!

I wasn't really sure what I was expecting with this book but I really enjoyed it! It was definitely dark and sexy! Mitzi Szereto definitely knows her stuff when it comes to Gothic erotica. I didn't really think I could get into erotica involving vampires, werewolves, and the like but the way these writers unfolded these short stories really drew me in. 

My favorite story was by Mitzi. I loved reading about the trip to Transylvania; a place I've often dreamed about visiting myself. The two locals she meets and the adventure she has with them was also very steamy and sexy. And there's an unexpected twist that left me a little speechless. I wasn't sure whether to be turned on or terrified! It was definitely a once in a lifetime sort of trip that made me want a cigarette at the end! 

Reynold's Tale by Adrian Ludens also stood out to me because of a character who very closely resembles Edgar Allan Poe. VERY CLOSELY. I definitely would not have imagined that sort of scenario for a this character but it was intriguing. The only thing that bothered me is the fact that I never found out what the secret was Reynolds whispers in Poe's ear. 

If you're into the darker side of life, or are looking to expand your reading horizons and try something new, I recommend this book. These tales are sexy enough to have you craving the lights off but are spooky enough to have you thinking about turning on a night light. 

Happy New Year Book Rant

Happy New Year. 
Lieutenant Dan's face is pretty much how I feel right now about the new  year. 

I'm trying to be as incredibly optimistic as all the assholes on my social media feeds who are posting narcissistic "selfies" (what a horrible "word" added to the dictionary, by the way) of themselves getting ready to go out and get so trashed that they forget about all those resolutions of how they're going to be a better version of themselves in the new year. All these "millenials" who are finally old enough to drink are at the bar drinking themselves deeper and deeper into their delusions of entitlement. 

All the while, I'm getting grumpier and grumpier by the second. I've tried to distract myself by doing some writing on this bullshit I call a book and it's not working. Something was bothering me and I wasn't sure what it was until I got on Bloglovin' and started perusing other book blogs. I came across this Perpetual Page Turner End of the Year Survey on Cuddlebuggery.com where I saw a comment about Fifty Shades of Grey which lead me to this Review of Fifty Shades of Grey which summed up my feelings on that book so well that I thought I was Pennsatucky for a minute. 

And then it hit me. That's what's bothering me. From the book blogs to GoodReads to Amazon, I keep seeing these damn books that are thinly veiled mimics of Fifty Shades of Grey and that sparkly vampire shit Twilight. Billionaire abusive assholes who prey upon "plain" looking, insecure girls because they have some tortured past does not a book make. Oh, but as an author I can fix all of that by making him good-looking. You'll forget every single one of his negative traits and abusive behaviors as soon as I describe his chiseled jaw and washboard abs. You'll loose all of your cognitive senses and be hypnotized by him. 

Shut up. Just shut up. I seriously cannot deal with this level of bullshit. Emotional abuse and manipulation is never okay. Being good looking does not excuse that. Can please all remember that Ted Bundy was a good looking guy? 

I LOVE reading. I LOVE writing. But I REALLY hate this new trend I've noticed in popular books. It's shit. Pure shit. And more shit. And this is probably not a popular opinion and will probably alienate some people from this blog but that's okay. I'd rather be honest and have 1 reader than be fake and have a lot of readers. I am TIRED of vampires. I am TIRED of werewolves. I am TIRED of billionaires. I am TIRED of whiny, anorexic, hypocritical bitches who manage to land themselves as the lead of one of those shit stories. Not every book I read has to change my life. I sometimes read purely for entertainment. That being said, I want to be entertained not verbally assaulted by terrible writing. Is that too much to ask? 

Is anyone else suffering from an overload of book bullshit or is it just me?