Review : Last Kiss Goodnight by Gena Showalter (PNR)

Goodreads

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Book Blurb

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter ignites a thrilling new paranormal series with this breathtaking tale of a warrior enslaved by desire, and the woman who frees his soul.

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION . . .

Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE . . .

Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. Only, Solo is different— he protects her. But as hostility turns to forbidden romance, his feelings for her will be used against him . . . and he’ll be put to a killer test.

To buy, click here
Last Kiss Goodnight: An Otherworld Assassin Novel

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Toot's Review

So I just finished this one this morning and I kind of have mixed feeling about this story as well. I'll also preface this review by saying, I'm a huge Gena Showalter fan. I have read everything I can get my grubby little paws on and I'm on her street team for AIZ (Alice in Zombieland) as well. Needless to say, I love her work. With that being said, I'm still not sure how I felt about this book. I can babble all day about what I did and didn't like about this book but it basically boils down to this.....there is a major religious theme going through the book, like major and I'm not talking Angels being in your PNR. I'm talking, even the chapters all begin with a bible quotes. So.....*swishes finger in a big circle* talk amongst yourselves and decide how much this is going to bother you before you read it. Will it get in the way of the story? Will it add to the story? Is it a gimmick, that has potential to ruin said story for you or add to it? That's all I'll say on the matter, case closed.

This book is a spin-off of her Alien Huntress series called Otherworld Assassins. Rather than working for AIR, these guys work for the Black Ops. We did see a few cameos from some Alien Huntress characters like Kitten and Dallas but for the most part, the story revolves around our hero Solomon or Solo for short. He is part of the Black Ops team comprised of John No Name, Corbin Blue, Michael and Solo. While meeting together for their next mission, there's a huge explosion and the men are scattered, injured, kidnapped and who knows what else, maybe killed. Solo ends up being sold to an evil circus where Otherworlders are placed on display, in cages, instead of your typical circus animals. This is of course where we meet our heroine, Vika Lukas. She is the circus owners daughter and caretaker to the Otherworlders. She is also under the tyranny of the circus owner. He may be her father and have an F'd up idea of what love is but he will not tolerate disobedience of any kind. He also is entrenched in dark magic. The underlying story is your typical good versus evil in its rawest form. It's not till the last 25% of the book that it sort of opens up and becomes your typical PNR story. The first 75% is more history telling, scene building and character development. There were parts in that first 75% though that I found difficult to get through, Gena makes it abundantly clear that these people including Solo and Vika are being kept worse than any circus animals would be. They are drugged, molested, stripped of their dignity, humiliated and more. It is definitely not an easy light read but like I said before, the last 25% is definitely the classic Gena Showalter PNR that we love.

So with that being said, I liked it, not loved it. If I knew before hand about the religious theme, I'm not sure I would have gone through it because I like my PNR without all the righteous stuff but was the last 25% worth it.........Yep!

Now you can decide if you want to read it.

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3 out of 5 books