Seleste deLaney

First things first, anyone familiar with Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" will see shades of that running rampant with the way that Marissa goes under deep cover. At first I had a lot of trouble with that. It did make for some mighty awkward scenes for poor Trevor though. The guy couldn't catch a break. His hot crush is coming onto him in the smallest nightie set in existence and he can't lay a finger on her skin because its not REALLY her.

That's what happens when you have scruples folks. They get in the way of getting laid. I'm mostly joking--I did feel really bad for him because the guy was unnerved as heck. She thought he was her loving fiancee, and much like knocking boots with her would be taking advantage of her, Trevor could not bring himself to hurt this "false" Marissa.

What I found aggravating about him was that every time he would get close to the real Marissa he'd fling himself so far back that it was a wonder that he didn't wind up in a different state. His reasoning, that she was a crook and would likely jump at the chance to become one again given half a second to herself, grated on my nerves. Not quite as much as Marissa constant self-flagellation, but it was pretty far up there. They treated her former life with her parents less as youthful misguidedness and more like a disease that at any moment would flair to life and take over. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but can conning/stealing be as thoroughly addicting as a drug? So much so that you lose ALL sense of self?

The story got lucky though because I wanted to see when Trevor got his head on straight. Marissa wises up about how to deal with her crush on him and from there it seemed the best move she could have made. I liked watching him squirm. A lot.

While I definitely enjoyed this second TRAIT novel, this is a much spicier read then GAMING FOR KEEPS was and was less on the humorous side. A bit more scifi too. Still I'm hoping there's more in store for this spy network because I'd love to know what's up with Josh...… (más)

I think this might be my favorite installment of the series—the way it wrapped up all the prior books and had mini cameos from some of the other characters hit all the right notes. I loved the James-Bond-style spy parts as well as the character development, and the friends-to-lovers romance was perfectly sweet. (And a couple of times very spicy.) Additionally, though I didn't see it ever called out, Greta reads to me as an autistic woman and that representation was great to see in a main character. (Actually, it might be better rep for NOT being called out. She just is who she is, and if an underrepresented group can see themselves in her, all the better.)

The paranormal aspect is a little stronger in this installment than the others, as far as I recall, since this time both of our main characters have some kind of "thing" that sets them apart—Greta can see patterns in events in a way that average people can't, and Nico is incredibly persuasive when he wants to be, able to persuade (nearly) anyone of something that they don't actively object to doing. However, this is not the standard PRN with werewolves or vampires or really even zombies. (Yes, I know, they call some of the bad guy characters zombies. They aren't actually zombies.) You could read this without being a PNR fan and still very much enjoy the ride.… (más)

This is an enjoyable paranormal romance, in spite of the way the characters got on my nerves at the start of the book. Both of our MCs (dual POV narration) have baggage from their past, and it takes a while for them to move past that. They do start working through their issues at about the same time that the plot picks up, though, and I really enjoyed the read from that point forward.

The paranormal part of this book is minimal, but it's there. It felt like it made perfect sense to me in the context of this book, and I don't think that it would get in the way for people who don't normally read PNR. However, do be sure that you're ready for spicy scenes if you decide to read this one! There are multiple on-page sex scenes here. (Though, if you prefer to skim them, there's no plot development during the sex. Character development yes, but not plot.)… (más)