India R. Adams

Praying For Lightning is the 2nd book in the Royal Bastards: Wilmington, NC Chapter series by India R. Adams. I was looking forward to reading this book after reading Praying For Thunder and was unfortunately disappointed after reading it. This one is a Zeus and the Titans-inspired story, which I think made it even harder to understand a lot of it, among other things for me.
The book is told in 2 parts. The 1st part is of Thunder's mom Rosa and how she met and ended up with Onus and the hell she was put through until she died giving birth. It wasn't referenced who the characters were so it confused me and made it hard to understand. Then part 2 is basically a shorter re-telling of Praying For Thunder before the story finally continues where that book left off with Thunder and Rya finally being together. Once it got to the continuation part of the story, I started liking it more although we never actually got to read about Thunder starting his Royal Bastards chapter or anything like that. It just jumped ahead 1 year and said the chapter had started.
I had to give this one a 2-star rating and a 2-spicy rating much to my disappointment. Going through all the things that made me not like this book the one that sticks out the most is that I feel like I've read 2 versions of these characters and 2 versions of different events because of Thunder and Diablo being crossover characters. Diablo is from Nikki Landis' Royal Bastards MC: Tonopah Chapter. This also means that there are 2 versions of Lucifer. Both ladies have each written their own and the characters/events are the same but told in 2 different writing styles if that makes sense. I'm pretty sure that is what ruined it the most for me. I'm not done with the series yet though. I will be reading the next book to come out.
*I received this book for free. I voluntarily gave an honest review.*… (más)

I initially had the pleasure of reading this book when it was part of the anthology, The Institute. It was my favorite of the anthology, even though it was one of the saddest and heartbreaking of the book. Getting an epilogue now and insight of what is to come now that it is a single novella instead of part of a collection made me so happy, and it was EXACTLY what I needed.

This author never ceases to mesmerize me with her stories. Even stories that are dark or have darker elements (The Waters series) she still makes it poignant and beautiful when it shouldn’t be. This story was a great example of that. I loved the characters in this one. My heart hurt for them. It hurt what they had to endure but, moreover, it hurt that only had these moments to feel the gentle caress that love, and kindness offered.

BRAVO to this author on this one. It packed a lot into a little bit of space.… (más)

One of my favorite things about this author is her ability to create a scene that transcends from just that one particular moment and have it bleed into every moment from there on out. That was the case with this book. Even though each particular scene was separate, they were all pivotal in building the foundation necessary to have the biggest impact.

Having read the prequel of this book, The Girl with no Hands, I was prepared for it to be a bumpy ride. The author is known to do that. I figured this book would pick off where that book ended. I was wrong on that account. Instead, it went back to the very beginning and told the story from two different perspectives of those events and how they shaped this story. I wasn't expecting that. I will say that at first, I was a little disappointed. However, as the story progressed and I got to experience what shaped Angelo and Sal, it gave a new dimension to their experience with Scarlett.

This is a dark story. It hints at things that should never happen and of a world where these atrocities are commonplace, yet, it isn't for the most part graphically depicted, instead, it is inferred in many cases by just setting up the scene. That doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. Watching the connection form between Isabella and Angelo and knowing that their friendship set him on the path to saving Scar was beautiful.

This story took it's time, almost savoring the bond it created between me and the characters, until the end where it ended in a way that left me wanting more. When I say wanting more, it was not in the same way as not wanting a good book to end, but as more of a way of letting the audience know that there is still so much to these characters and this world. It says it is a standalone but I can see that there is a lot left to be said, questions answered, and villains that need to pay in regard to so many characters.

I highly recommend this author as one to look for whenever the urge strikes to read a book that shows that love and healing come in a variety of ways. It isn't always black and white. In the case of these characters, the beauty lies in the stories told that offer hope.… (más)