Sunlight, Moonlight: Amanda Ashley, Madeline Baker

"TWO HEROES AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY...TWO LOVE STORIES AS DIFFERENT AS DAWN AND DUSK...

"SUNLIGHT

"He came from across the universe--a tawny, powerful stranger more perfect than any mere mortal. Yet when Micah crash-landed on earth, not even his boundless strength could help him resist the temptations of one stunning beauty. Trapped on a worls not his own, tracked by enemies bent on destroying him, Micah fought to preserve his very life even as he ached to claim the love that would take him to heaven and beyond."

This was definitely one of Amanda Ashley's more creative books. The plot wasunique and it really kept me interested. Though the beginning, several parts in the miffle, and the end were very fun to read; it was the few parts in the middle that slowed it a little for me. It's not that the writing was lacking; it was simply that the characters fell into a very typical routine. This should not be a deterrent bu any means. The writing was great and the plot was so interesting. Its twists and turns were excellent and made me want to keep reading.

"MOONLIGHT

"Long had Navarre dwelt in darkness, yearning to end his cursed solitude. A vampire doomes to eternal night, he had searched through the ages for a woman brave enough to desire him, a lover bold enough to embrace him. And when Navarre at last found her, he swore that together they would savor the joys of undying ecstasy and surrender the dawn."

Thus far, this has to be my favorite story by this autor yet. Navarre was so well-written. I pretty much ate this story up. Ashley created such an interesting world with her ancient religious cult and the unexpected turns in the plot made me fall in love with the story. I really enjoy it when an author transports me with her writing and Ashley definitely did this in the first half of this story. Though the "modern day" portion of the story didn't make me fall in love as the first part did, it was no less entertaining and I really did like this story.

I feel really bad that it took me so long to review this book...I finished it at least two weeks ago. Despite my delay, I recommend this book. I'm in the process of reading another of Ashley's books and will review it soon!

***So...it's actually December 31 2009 and I've been having problems with Blogger. Normally, I write the reviews in Word and copy and paste them into here. Now, for the past months, Blogger has not allowed me to do this and I've been pretty frustrated. I have several reviews all written up, but I have no way to put them on here other than sitting down and copying them word-for-word (like I did for this one). It's just frustrating because I don't have the time for it... That's not a very good excuse, though... As a matter of fact, I feel really bad because I've not been reading NEARLY as much as I used to. I'm shirking my duties a little. I'll do better in 2010!!! Promise!!***

Deeper Than the Night (Vampire): Amanda Ashley

“The townsfolk of Moulton Bay said there was something otherworldly about Alexander Claybourne. Some people whispered that with his dark, arresting features and mesmerizing eyes, the seductive stranger looked every inch a vampire. They never guessed how near they truth they were—or that after more than two hundred years of resisting temptation, Claybourne had found a woman he had to possess.

“Never one to be scared off by superstitious lore, Kara Crawford laughed at the local talk of creatures lurking in the dark. What harm could come of befriending the handsome stranger with the haunted look in his midnight eyes? No matter what shadowy secrets Alexander hid, Kara felt drawn to him, compelled to join him beneath the silver light of the moon, where the would share a lover…DEEPER THAN THE NIGHT”

So, I basically devoured this book! I loved the language and the how the settings were described. The dialogue itself was so believable—even if the situations were surreal.

I opened this book with one expectation and ended up running into the most unexpected plot turn that I’ve ever read! It was awesome! Normally I can kind of get an idea of what is going to happen (as you know if you’ve read my other blogs), but this book was entirely different! I was genuinely amazed with Ashley’s ability to hide what she was planning until the absolute opportune moment. (I’m not going to give it away, but it was AWESOME!) She even made the unbelievable situations believable and I was thoroughly impressed.

Again, there was the minimalistic romance scenes (…as I noted in a previous blog…), but this actually didn’t bother me at all. I think this was because Ashley manages to show the readers her characters’ emotions without being blunt in her language. As an author, I can really appreciate that.

I’m actually really excited to read her next book because her writing is such a refreshing change from what I normally read.