Review: Rogue Descendant by Jenna Black

Title: Rogue Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Descendants, #3
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Pages: 384
Rating:

No longer the leader of the Olympians, Konstantin has now gone into hiding. Konstantin is vulnerable, and Anderson believes now is the perfect time to destroy his nemesis. He orders private eye Nikki Glass to use her powers to locate Konstantin, and she balks at the idea until a series of attacks leads her to believe that Konstantin is gunning for her and Anderson instead of remaining safely in hiding.

Nikki’s search is complicated by Cyrus—Konstantin’s son and the new leader of the Olympians—who threatens retribution should his father be killed. The complications mount up as Nikki begins to suspect that Konstantin might not be behind the attacks after all. The only person who hates Konstantin more than Anderson does is Anderson’s estranged wife, Emma, who has joined the Olympians. And Nikki knows Emma would be more than happy if Anderson and his people embroil themselves in an all-out war against the Olympians—a war they cannot hope to win.

As Nikki tries to figure out who the true enemy is, she deals with her tumultuous relationship with Jamaal, who struggles to control his death magic. But being loved by a descendant of a death goddess is the least of Nikki’s worries…

“I’m the son of Death, Nikki. There is one way to kill me, and it was not in Konstantin’s power to do. But there is no power on earth that can contain me.” He walked through the snow toward me—leaving footprints this time—and crouched so he was about at eye level.

The Descendants Series is one of my new favorite Urban Fantasy Series and I just can't help but devour them. I spend the day reading this book and finishing before the day ended too! ROGUE DESCENDANT was not as good as the previous two books in this amazing series, but it was still a thrilling read. Konstantin has gone into hiding and now Anderson wants Nikki to track Konstantin so he can kill him once and for all. And to top it off someone is gunning for Nikki, hurting her in ways that has her wanting to track down Konstantin, but she suspects it may be Anderson's ex-wife, Emma behind it.

“I’ve known Anderson a long time. I even knew him back when he and Erin were together.” She gave me the apologetic smile again. “I can see the way he looks at you when you’re not looking, Nikki. It’s just like how he used to look at Emma when his relationship with Erin was going south. Emma’s a crazy bitch, but she’s not making it all up.”

I enjoyed a lot of the further character and relationship developments in ROGUE DESCENDANT immensely. We have Nikki and Anderson's relationship. I don't know what to make of it yet, but I love what I'm getting of their little relationship. Emma has been insanely jealous because she thinks something is going on between the two of them Obviously there isn't, but I would like there to be. I could see great potential there if a romantic relationship formed. Plus I may just be madly in love with Anderson to the point that I want them together so badly. But Hot Mama! That man does crazy things to me! Maybe it's a god thing.

“You deserve to have a life,” I told him, caressing the fullness of his lower lip with my thumb as I closed the last remaining distance between us. Almost against his will, he put his arms around me. There was a look very like fear in his eyes, and I was determined to extinguish it.

And we also have Jaamal and Nikki's relationship to discuss. It felt like things were going nowhere with them. Firstly, Jaamal has this supernatural tiger, Sita which helps to suppress his death magic. It helps him so he is in control, but Sita is jealous of Nikki, because Nikki gets most of Jaamal's attention, so things are a bit distant between them. Obviously, I didn't dig the whole tiger thing. I just didn't like it. The drop of the tiger being there just kinda felt sudden and it was like what?! huh?! But despite Sita, we still did get some smexy Jaamal and Nikki scenes, but yet again with the interruptions, but boy was it hot, so I forgive you, Jenna Black.

My cheeks felt cold and bloodless, and my mouth gaped open. My mind could barely encompass what he’d just told me, and I desperately wanted to dismiss it as some kind of hyperbole. A shudder ran through me.

ROGUE DESCENDANT did end up being draggy in quite a few parts and I really didn't dig the plot in this installment all too much. It really did feel like a filler book to me, that it was needed to get to the ending. And I gotta tell you, that ending was just WOW! It's nothing where it's an insane cliffhanger or anything, but it's definitely a game changer in the world of The Descendants. It's like what's going to happen now?

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Review: Deadly Descendant by Jenna Black

Title: Deadly Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Descendants, #2
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 355
Rating:

An ancient evil is unleashed in the modern world— unless one fearless P.I. can hunt it down. . . . Nikki Glass, Immortal Huntress, returns in this new novel in the acclaimed series by Jenna Black.

As a living descendant of Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down. But when an Oracle shows up, warning the Descendants about wild dog attacks in Washington, D.C., Nikki is afraid it might be a trap. The Olympians believe the “dogs” are really jackals, controlled by a blood-crazed descendant of the Egyptian death-god Anubis.

Whatever. . . . If Nikki hopes to muzzle Dogboy, she’s got to catch him in the act. But when she stakes out a local cemetery, she ends up face-to-snout with a snarling pack of shadow-jackals whose bite is worse than their bark. These hellhounds are deadly—even for an immortal like Nikki. “Dog” spelled backward may be “god,” but that won’t stop Nikki from teaching these old gods some new tricks. Like playing dead.

"He was beautiful and exotic and dangerous, all of which made him sexy as sin."

DEADLY DESCENDANT was absolutely AMAZING! For the life of me, I just could not put this book down. I couldn't until I flipped to the last page and STILL, I WANTED MORE! The Nikki Glass Series is one of my favorite new Urban Fantasy series and I am impressed at how much I am crazy for this series!

DEADLY DESCENDANT picks up right where Dark Descendant left off. Nikki is adjusting to life an immortal and learning more about it. This this thrilling sequel there is a serial killer out and about killing innocent people which actually turns out to be a death god descendant that is able to control a pack of jackals to do his killing for him and they turn out to be very lethal.

I moved to the other side of the room, Anderson following me. There’s no reason to be nervous around him, I told myself. He was still the same guy he’d been before I learned his secret.

Nikki seems to be quite terrified after the little revelation of Anderson in the previous book so things are a little awkward between them for a little bit. But I love Anderson and Nikki's friendship. It seems more like a father/daughter relationship so far. I know there are those who want them to be together-together and part of me wants to see if that will actually happen, but I don't know how I feel about that right now, but we'll see. But I love the relationship between them.

Even Emma didn’t know, and I doubted her finding out the truth would make their marriage any smoother. What Anderson saw in her—other than beauty—was beyond me.

Nikki found Anderson's wife, Emma at the end of Dark Descendant and she has just been through a major trauma. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought since this was Anderson's wife, she was going to be this sweet little flower and be another girl in the house that Nikki could grow a friendship with. BOY, WAS I WRONG!

Finding Emma was supposed to have cemented my position within Anderson’s Liberi. It was supposed to be the proof of my sincerity, the proof that I was not a secret Olympian spy. 

And it might ultimately turn out to be my downfall instead.

Emma is a little bitch! That caught me totally off guard. Threatening Nikki, being a bitch to everyone, possibly sacrificing innocents for her own selfishness? She is a manipulative little bitch. I mean, how can Anderson love a woman like this and why won't he open his eyes to what she has become? By the end I was happy what happened. I hope Anderson will come to learn that the Emma like he knew is gone.

Oh. My. God. I’d thought I was hot before. But that oh-so-tangible evidence of Jamaal’s desire seemed to set my very nerves on fire.

Nikki and Jamaal! I know there were some concerns from Dark Descendant because of all the shit that happened between Nikki and Jamaal, but it's a work in progress people! I don't have a doubt in my mind that they make each other better, that they are slowly strengthening each other. Both Jamaal and Nikki have had a bad past which I loved learning about and hopefully more will be revealed in future books. We had some pretty steamy scenes between these too and OMFG! THAT WAS SOOOO HOT! All I will say is, Jenna Black, please, I beg of you, I WANT MORE!

I’d been attracted to Jamaal practically from the first moment I’d laid eyes on him.

Overall, DEADLY DESCENDANT was simply amazing! I one concern would probably be that some characters were more centered in the book than others, so I felt like something was missing, but like I said it was simply amazing. I cannot wait for the next book in the series and I hope time flies by fast so I can get my greedy little hands on it!

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Review: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

Title: Dark Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Descendants, #1
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Pages: 336
Rating:

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . .

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy.

But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

An adult Urban Fantasy novel about Greek Gods? I have been waiting forever to pick up a book like this. And trust me when your read the first chapter of this book you will be hooked in a way you never thought possible.

I cannot express how much I love Greek Mythology, so the concept of there being immortals called Liberi that are the children of a Greek god was so fascinating and also this story is so very action packed at different times too. I mean every chapter you're at the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next? And we also develop strong feelings for characters we love and hate.

Nikki, our protagonist was quite an interesting character, but I took an instant liking to her immediately. She is your typical kick-ass urban fantasy gal. I think since the beginning of DARK DESCENDANT she has been through quite a bit and I look forward to her character growing more with each book.

Even though I loved this book, there was one thing that bothered me. There were a lot of trust issues throughout the whole book due to an incident at the beginning of DARK DESCENDANT and it really drove me crazy. I just wanted to shout out at some characters in the book, "haven't heard of until proven guilty, have you?" But I do think by the end of the book these trust issues have become a bit better.

"Anderson sent me to give you this," he said. "I believe the subtext was "kiss and makeup." This time I was sure I made a face. "I rather kiss a copperhead." I grabbed the envelop from his hand. He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Don't worry. It was only a figure of speech." 

There's not really a romance in this story except for some secondary characters and I am okay with that. I love to read urban fantasy books only if they have romance, but this book rocked my world so much that I didn't mind that there was no romance and I think it would be awkward if there was a love story with Nikki.

Things do tend to get a little bloody in the world of the DARK DESCENDANT but these are immortals and they come back. I loved watching the threats, the "I'm a bad-ass" talk and the ass kicking. This was quite a crazy world, but also a fun one too.

I admit that this book is a bit darker than what I am used too, but I loved it all the same. I am completely new to author Jenna Black, and I like what I see. This is a definite read for urban fantasy readers.

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