Thursday, January 28, 2016

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Dream of Me by A. Star

Book Blurb:

Wish For Me (The Djinn Order #1)

Three wishes. Two lovers. One destiny.

When the snarky Glory St. Pierre discovers the gold mechanical vase in her deceased grandmother’s basement, she has no idea that she has uncovered a priceless treasure: a genie lamp. With a real genie inside. A very sexy genie with a not-so-sexy grudge against the entire human race.

Irving Amir hates being called a genie. He’s a Djinn, and he is none too happy to be in the service of Glory, who is as intolerable, and beautiful, as humans come. Now he owes her his gratitude for freeing him and three wishes. Damn his luck.

But an arrow through the shoulder alerts Irving to the fact that he is being hunted, and after a truce dinner with Glory ends with them both almost being killed, hating each other goes right out the window. As feelings change and love starts to develop, they must dig through the secrets and lies to find the truth...a truth neither of them will ever see coming.

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My Review:

3 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Romance, Royal-Court, Steampunk, Supernatural--

Glory is cleaning out her deceased Grandmother's house, she stumbles across an interesting jar with a key that fits inside. Decided to keep her new treasure, Glory takes it home and tries to unlock it with the key, only to be disappointed since nothing happens. Well, little does Glory know that something did happen and she is now the Master to her own attractive wish granting Djinn.

I don’t really read a lot of genie or the more PC term of djinn books so I was interested to give this ago since I have a friend who absolutely loves them. Overall I found this to be a very fast read because the plot moves quickly and the book is really only like 130 pages. There was some character development and plot, but it felt a little like I was reading a novella instead of a full length book. When I reached the end I saw that this was the end of act 1 so this may be considered more of a serial than a standalone book in a series like I first assumed. I expected a supernatural adventure, but I think this may be more of a romance with some adventure thrown in because at least a good third of the book was kinky sex between the two main characters, which I found really surprising. I can honestly say this book was not what I thought I was getting so I think that kind of swayed me to be let down by the content. If you want a short and steamy paranormal romance then this is the book for you. My favorite part of the story was all the cool steampunky gadgets such as mechanical animals and floating airships. I am a lover of all the fashions and ideas involved in steampunk so this played to my love.

I am surprised at how comfortable Glory is with lying. She makes up elaborate stories left and right to explain things because she doesn't want people to know the truth (which makes no sense, because to me it seems like no big deal). Also, Glory does not really like Irving but lusts after his body and continues to summon him to act like friends and gets mad that he is not happy to see her (his master, but whatever) or romantically interested in her. And then like a light is switched, he wants to kiss her and returns her lust but she rejects him. I felt like a confused yo-yo the first third of the book.

Overall, I found this book to be an ok read but the ending built up a lot of what is to come so I am really excited for the next book.

I received this title from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Book Blurb:

Dream of Me (The Djinn Order #2)

Glory St. Pierre never thought so many lies could hold so much truth, especially when her entire life has been one of those lies. Now that she knows who she really is, she must find a way to come to terms with it before the Djinn sorcerer Rasputin and his steel army descend down upon the human and Djinn realms, wielding magic so dark even her own Djinn lover, Irving, is wary of it.

Their only hope to save the realms are a couple of hunters and the Lords of the Djinn Order, four powerful Djinn who have remained elusive for centuries. Armed with her only granted wish, a fabulous airship, and the Djinn she loves by her side, Glory will embark on a quest to find the four lords and enlist their help. But there is a reason the lords have been in hiding, and once this tiny band of adventurers awakens them from their slumber, they will set off a chain of events that has been in the making since the beginning of time.

There is no turning back now.

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My Review:

3 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Romance, Royal-Court, Steampunk, Supernatural--

Book 2 in the series picks up 2 weeks after book one ended, with Glory being brought back to life after her mother shot her. Not only does Glory have to come to terms with being alive, but also the facts that she is no longer Irving's master and her entire life has been a lie. Needless to say, Glory is not doing well with these truths. But she needs to put aside her hurt to focus on the fact that there is a war coming between the Djinn and the Hunters and she is caught in the middle. Glory needs to stand with what she feels is right, despite what the prophecy says. I found the book to be just ok. I really liked the world that the author created, full of steampunk animals and gadgets, with interesting weapons, outfits, a brewing war full of intrigue and lies, as well as all the different types of magical people that were introduced in this second book. Unfortunately, I did not really care for the main two characters. If they could have been replaced with people that I actually liked, I would have probably loved the book.

Glory drove me absolutely insane. She did the stupidest things over and over again even when she knew it was stupid. I just wanted to shake her most of the time, or maybe put a piece of tape over her mouth. Also, she was really inconsistent in her behavior. One minute she hated her mother, the next Irving treats her mother like a criminal and Glory is upset, and then the next minute she realizes that what Irving is doing is right and the best thing for his people, and then finally she fights to physically free her mother from the guards who imprisoned her on Irving's orders- which she agrees with. What??? This was how most of her thoughts and actions went, with no rhyme or reason as to why she behaves that way. She keeps doing naughty things and everyone believes she will betray Irving, which makes perfect sense she she has repeatedly. I would have been fine if she died at the end of book 1 and stayed that way (yes yes, harsh, but she drove me to want to commit fictional character murder).

Irving I had a love/hate thing with. At times I found him wonderful and caring, treating Glory with respect and love, but then other times he turned into a real tool and would be a domineering chauvinist and not understand the reaction he got from Glory and crew. I wanted to like him, but overall I was kind of apathetic towards Irving and his plight. Also, I feel like if Glory choose to stay in his kingdom she would probably be belittled and treated like a lesser being or servant due to being human and female so in my opinion it is in her best interest to politely decline.

I feel bad saying negative things about a world that I felt was so cool and complex, but I have a hard time liking a book when I don't like the characters. I found the ending of the story to be intriguing, but I am not certain if that is enough to get me to continue reading the series.

I received this title from the author in return for my honest review.

Author Bio:

A. Star is a fan of dirty passion. She loves to read it, and she damn sure loves to write it. She is the author of the Mythos: Gods & Lovers series and the Djinn Order series. She is a night-owl and a coffee junkie, and the only sneaker she would be caught dead wearing are Converses.

You can find her on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook and her website

*****Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win an ebook copy of Wish For Me and bookmarks*****

Tour provided by Xpresso Book Tours

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for hosting today, Katherine! This sounds like a unique series, and very character driven, too!

    ReplyDelete