So Still The Night by Kim Lenox

Lord Alexander, Marcus Helios, is on a mission to save himself. Once a Shadow Guard, the elite force of immortals charged with protecting the world from disintegrating souls, Mark must now save himself from becoming one of those souls. His only hope is written in two ancient Akkadian scrolls and Willomina Lippett is the key to those scrolls. Is Mina also the key to fixing the immortal soul that was wandering long before it began to disintegrate.

So Still The Night by Kim Lenox is a continuation to her Shadow Guard series. The story picks up right where the first novel, Night Falls Darkly, ended so you are not left with gaps in this ongoing story. This book also gives you more information on the Shadow guard filling in some of the questions left open by the first book. Mina and Mark (Lord Alexander and Willomina) make a great couple, complimenting each other's strength's and weaknesses.

Despite these good points So Still The Night lacked on a few levels. This book was missing the excitement and anticipation you would expect in such epic fight against good and evil. I was waiting for something to make me feel the urgency of the situation and it just did not happen. The romance factor was lacking as well. I liked both Mina and Mark. They made an interesting couple and as I said earlier, they complimented each other but I felt no real spark. There was nothing to make me fall in love with this couple. There romance felt rushed and a little forced. I know some of that was because of the circumstances of the book this is still a romance novel and I expect to feel like these two can not survive without each other.

I had to rate So Still The Night a 3. It had lots of potential. But the work and follow through needed to make it an excellent paranormal romance was just not there.

Not His Type by Chamein Canton

Review posted in BBW Reviews & Sexy Ebony Book Club reviews)

Plus-Size (size 16), literary agent Cathy Chambers has a great life or so she would have everyone believe. The literary agency is doing great. Her twin sons are doing well at school and it is baseball season so she can watch her beloved Yankees just about every day. Love is not an issue. A past filled with disappointments in love, size and weight insecurities, and some emotional issues from her childhood have made it easy to retreat into a routine of work and Yankee games until she meets the Yankee's top player Marcus Fox. Will Cathy be able to deal with her weight issues as her relationship plays out in the media that surrounds Marcus' life.

When I first picked up Not His Type I was not sure what to expect. Since I had previously listened to an interview with Chamein Canton, I hoped for a book that gave a well rounded story that showed the issues many plus size women have as they face the challenge of being plus size in a world that does not always see beyond your size. I was not disappointed. Chambers is able to covey the struggles of the plus size woman without making her plus size character the funny fat girl. She was a real woman ,with real concerns that were amplified by the public interest in her relationship.

The story is filled with an interesting mix of characters and personalities, that shape Cathy and Marcus' world and help them deal with the media blitz that surrounds their very public relationship. I enjoyed watching the romance between Cathy and Marcus develop. It was great to see these two fall in love despite the media hounding them and an ex-girlfriend with serious control issues. I was happy to see Cathy work through her personal issues to make things work with the type of man that comes only once in a life time, if ever.

My only complaint was that the book was a bit wordy. There were scenes that just seemed unnecessary. Canton paid great attention to detail in her novel. In most cases this would be a plus but for this book it was a bit overdone. Despite this I really enjoyed the story and would recommend it to both romance lovers and lovers of plus-size literature.

Rating: 3.5 (Amazon 4)