Nicole North (1)Reseñas

I thoroughly enjoyed Nicole North���s Laird of Darkness. Ms. North has a talent for crafting characters you���d like to meet. Duncan MacDougall (Scottish, hawt and a fey Laird ��� whew!) was yummy, troubled and kind. Alana Forbes was sexy and caring, and far from simpering. The heat between them practically melted my Kindle!

Even Kinnon MacClaren, Duncan���s half-brother and villain of this story, had depths. I found myself rooting for his own happy ending, which Ms. North cleverly foreshadowed. I sincerely hope she of will treat us to more of these fey Scottish Highland men and their feisty women.

Nicole North definitely has a talent for creating sexual tension and this book bears testimony to that talent. Seth and Lori are strong characters who steamed up my Kindle with their pent-up yearnings for each other. As a fan of Ms. North's work, I found this new erotic short story quite the satisfying read!

This is an erotic novella. Lady Alana is on her way to meet her betrothed, but is kidnapped instead by his half-brother. The two siblings have been feuding all their lives over a magical bow they need to keep night demons at bay.

Duncan, Alana's captor, hopes he can trade Alana for the bow. Kinnon, Alana's intended, has no intention of giving it, or her, up. Stalemate. But neither brother could have predicted Alana would decide to choose her own fate...

Alana isn't no longer chaste. Although she hopes for a kind husband, she also wants a lusty one. She knows that makes her a wanton, but she can't help it. Duncan isn't at all what she expected. He's dark and brooding, but he also takes care to see that she's comfortable. The contradiction surprises her. It also surprises her that she's falling in love with him.

Duncan is determined to trade Alana for the bow...until she starts sharing his bed. Then he isn't sure he can give her up.

This is a short story, but it was very engaging. I enjoyed all the characters, especially the brothers. They each see the other as the villain, but the situation isn't black and white.

My only disappointment is how short the story was, and how the author left it. I hope she has plans to continue it in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nicole North’s Laird of Darkness. Ms. North has a talent for crafting characters you’d like to meet. Duncan MacDougall (Scottish, hawt and a fey Laird – whew!) was yummy, troubled and kind. Alana Forbes was sexy and caring, and far from simpering. The heat between them practically melted my Kindle!

Even Kinnon MacClaren, Duncan’s half-brother and villain of this story, had depths. I found myself rooting for his own happy ending, which Ms. North cleverly foreshadowed. I sincerely hope she of will treat us to more of these fey Scottish Highland men and their feisty women.

Nicole North definitely has a talent for creating sexual tension and this book bears testimony to that talent. Seth and Lori are strong characters who steamed up my Kindle with their pent-up yearnings for each other. As a fan of Ms. North's work, I found this new erotic short story quite the satisfying read!

Very short story that I felt could have gone on for a few chapters more. I always thought "nay" should be spelt "nae" if you're going to do Scots and this bugged me throughout the story otherwise a likeable read.½

Reviewed b Morgan

Blade of the Wolf by Nicole North is hot! The novel starts out explaining how Syrena has psychic powers that an incubus wants to obtain, which ultimately puts her at risk and even at death. So Ronan, a werewolf, is assigned to keep Syrena safe by watching over her constantly. Syrena has no idea what Ronan is, but she has an undeniable attraction to the Scottish beauty. Ronan is not supposed to engage in pleasure with Syrena, but pretty soon the attraction is too much to handle for both of them.

I really enjoyed this novel. The story is well written and the plot kept me turning pages. Ronan is a great character, and not because he has a sexy Scottish accent (which didn’t hurt). He is so kind and protective over Syrena which will make any reader fall in love with him. Syrena is more self conscious of her body, but she’s kind and tries to do whats best. But her sister is annoying, at best, offering a blow job to Ronan, when she knows Syrena likes him.

Other than the self absorbed sister, I loved this book. I recommend it to werewolf fans and fans of paranormal romance. Nicole North has created a wonderful story and I’ll be purchasing her other novels very soon.

http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2011/08/review-blade-of-wolf-by-nicole-north.h...

LAIRD OF DARKNESS by Nicole North is an intersting paranormal.It is written with depth and details.The plot is easy to follow.The characters are engaging,charming,
enchanting, and will easily capture your heart. It has faes,otherworld creatures, love,sweet sensuality,highlanders,Scottish myths,suspense,romance,action and sexual tension.This is the story of Duncan and Alana,who wouldn't love their story of half fae and half human fall in love. Duncan is a dark,sexy,Scottish Laird in a kilt(what not to love),he has the reputation of the Laird of Darkness,he has trouble sleeping due to the otherworld creatures haunting him,his mother died giving him birth.He has a half brother,who was given a magic bow by their brother,to keep the otherworld creatures away.This is what Duncan is after when he kidnaps his brother's intended. Alana,is sweet,spunky,beautiful, innocent virgin,has never met her intended,and only hopes he will be a good lover,and kind.But Duncan sees his chance to get his hands on the magical bow,so when he unexpected comes across Alana,he kidnaps her to ransom her to her intended for the magical bow. Duncan and Alana are attracted to each other from the start and what follows can only be described as something Scottish legends are made of. This is a fast paced,quick read full of sexual tension,action and suspense. A must read. This book was received for the purpose of review from Net Galley and the publisher and details can be found at Carina Press and My Book Addiction Reviews.

Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:

Laird of Darkness by Nicole North is a Scottish historical erotic romance with light ties to the paranormal. Nicely written, this novella was fast paced with some great action and some wonderfully steamy romance that proved to be an extremely quick read. If you love brooding, misunderstood heroes of the Highland persuasion full of passion then this is definitely a tale for you! However, while this may have been a good read, I felt that there was a lot missing from the story and not as fully developed as it could have been.

The world development was wonderfully pitched with great settings and atmosphere that brought the world of the story to life. The times of drafty castles and battling clans was perfectly descibed serving to pull you into the time period and the lives of the characters. There was also some great paranormal elements that North perfectly wove into her tale creating a nicely superstitious tone ripe with the potential of fantastic magic. You literally never knew what to expect to show up with the underlying mystery surrounding Duncan's half Fae heritage drawing creatures to him from within his dreams. However, while I loved the potential presented in this aspect, I felt that it was truly wasted as nothing really ever comes of it. The dreams and creatures stalking Duncan are never fully explored, nor is the Gaelic magic that Alana conjures to weaves as healing spells.

But, this aspect also adds an nice element to the characterization as it provides some great opportunities for emotional appeal that was used to some advantage, creating a sort of connection that made it easy for these two seemingly opposing characters bond. Alana, as well as being a powerful healer, is also a remarkably resourceful and intelligent woman. But, like Duncan she is forced to hide her fear of the dark, a scar from her past which plagues her, and her amazing abilities from the world. Duncan, being half Fae, has numerous abilities that have all contributed to his frigthening persona as the Laird of Darkness giving him the instant impression of being the barbaric villain of the story. However, things are not always as they appear and we quickly learn that he has merely been trying to survive the horrors of darkness as well as struggling to protect his clan. While he may be a strong and skilled warrior, he is also both noble and vulnerable, creating an interesting inner dynamic that I truly enjoyed seeing explored. As well as these key players though, there is also Duncan's half brother Kinnon, the man to which Alana is supposed to be wed. Now here's where the characterization sort of failed for me, as we never really learn much about Kinnon, only that we know as little of him as he knows of his brother. There was a lot of room for exploration that would make the story more dimensional if we could have gotten at least a little more of a glimpse at him and the misunderstanding between the two brothers.

And then there's the romance of the novel which is without a doubt deliciously steamy. North does a marvelous job at bringing the passion of her characters to the forefront, creating a strong bond that sucks you in. And truly, the erotic aspects of this tale are sinfully delicious and capturing a tenderness that isn't seen in the characters' interactions. But, at the same time I also felt as if the relationship was only two dimensional and not as truly developed as it could have been. I know this is hard to accomplish in under a hundred pages, but I felt as if their connection came about rather too quickly as the chemistry was good, but not what I would call combustible. However, as the story progresses I came to really like these two together, but only wished there would have been more of a connection rather then mostly sex....not that I have anything against that! I just think with more development this would have gone from merely a good to an amazing one.

My other issue with this story lies within the paranormal aspects as my initial impression of this novella definitely had me believing that the paranormal would have as much of a stock in the tale as the romance. How wrong I was! While North creates an enticing world of Fae and magical possibilities she seemed to back away almost instantly leaving so much potential under developed and unexplored. Instead of being a plot point, it became background noise leaving so many questions to linger about Duncan's heritage and abilities as well as the nightmarish world that plagues his dreams. Also unexplored is the history behind Alana's healing abilities. Obviously a witch to some extent, it was left open as to what exactly where her family's ability came from or the extent of her powers. And how does this all end? With lots of lingering, unanswered questions as the ending ties up rather abruptly leaving no hint of answers to come and me sitting there glaring at my Nook like it was the one responsible.

Overall, this novel delivered big on the romance front while leaving me lacking on the supernatural one. But despite this, this novella still proved to be a good, quick read. I would, however, be interested to know if North plans to do a follow up in which she would hopefully give more development to the anemic plot that held so much potential because honestly this is a world I would love to see more of. But, as it stands, this is a decent enough read, but doesn't quite manage to deliver all that was promised.

The description of the book leads you to believe that you are going to be in for a thrilling action packed ride. Unfortunately, instead of getting a long and winding roller coaster, you get a short kiddy ride.

The idea was too big for the amount of space she opted for. This should have been fleshed out into a full fledged novel instead of a way too short novella. There was just not enough time to understand all the nuances between the different characters.

Another thing that I noticed is that this is supposed to be historical fiction. However, the author seems to have trouble staying in period. You either have to write it with period verbiage or write it with modern verbiage. You should not switch back and forth.

This one has to be rated a nice try, but not enough.

In conjunction with the Wakela's World Disclosure Statement, I received a product in order to enable my review. No other compensation has been received. My statements are an honest account of my experience with the brand. The opinions stated here are mine alone.