Tag Archives: The Viper

The Beast/The Viper (Emerald Kings 1&2) by Britney O’Neal-reviews

Posted on by
13

The Beast / The Viper (Emerald Kings 1 & 2) by Britney O’Neal-reviews

THE BEAST
Emerald Kings 1
by Britney O’Neal
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, dark, mafia, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 20, 2024

Behind Every Beauty Is A Beast

Zora

When I learned of my little sister’s quick wedding in Ireland, I booked the flight to watch her walk down the aisle.

When her fiancé bolted and a wedding had to take place, I wasn’t expecting the older brother and me to be the ones saying, “I do.” But he gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Conor is everything I need and everything I don’t. Yet, I still pray sometimes that he’ll decide to give us a chance. However, that doesn’t last long when his father threatens me.

Will we stay together, or will I let his father win?

Conor

My younger brother bolting at the wedding changed the outcome of the event.

I never wanted to get married, but when my father demanded I do it to keep the family’s reputation intact, I looked to the American girl, who piqued my interest. Keeping Zora nearby isn’t a part of the plan. She will create more problems than I have time for. Falling in love with her, was a twist I never saw coming, wasn’t supposed to happen.

Will she give me a chance after I’ve pushed her away for so long? Or will she say no and leave me heartbroken?

••••••••

REVIEW: THE BEAST is the first instalment in Britney O’Neal’s contemporary, adult EMERALD KINGS dark,erotic, Irish mobsters romance series. This is twenty-six year old,heir to the O’Shea Crime Family Conor O’Shea, and twenty-two year old, American art student Zora’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Conor and Zora) THE BEAST follows in the wake of the rushed wedding between our story line couple. Zora was in Ireland, attending her younger sister Sisi’s wedding to Conor’s younger brother Caysey when the groom ran out, leaving the bride alone. Determined to save face, Conor’s father and head of the O’Shea family, Seamus O’Shea demanded a wedding, and Conor made Zora an offer she couldn’t refuse but from the outset the marriage was destined to fail when Conor pushed Zora out of his life, and our heroine struggles with severe issues of jealousy in the face of perceived betrayal meant to hurt and destroy. Others are determined to break apart our story line couple, and in this, lives are threatened, relationships are lost, and the secrets and lies will destroy them all.

The world building follows the acrimonious and dysfunctional dynamics of the O’Shea crime family. The heirs to the power refuse to comply with their father’s demands, and in this, the approach of a potential war begins the target our story line couple.

The relationship between Conor and Zora begins as an impetuous and impulsive wedding when the original groom ran out on the original bride. Having only met hours before, Conor and Zora begin their married life until suspicious circumstances, and Conor refuses to place Zora in the direct line of fire. Back and forth, up and down, their relationships struggles in the face of distrust and heartbreak but Conor is determined to claim Zora as his happily ever after. The $ex scenes are passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Conor’s brothers Carrick and Caysey, as well as their controlling father Seamus O’Shea, and their mother Jeanie; Desmond, his daughter Vivian, and son Edmond; Conor’s best friend and right-hand man Benny.

THE BEAST is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, obsession, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is dramatic and intriguing; the romance is provocative; the characters are desperate and determined but the continuous lack of trust got old, really fast.

_______

THE VIPER
Emerald Kings 2
by Britney O’Neal
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, dark, mafia, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 20, 2025

Butterflies Are Meant To Fly

Sisi
He broke my heart and left me drowning in the wreckage.

Carrick once held my heart in his hands—then he shattered it. Now, marrying him is the only way to save my life, but it doesn’t erase the past. The betrayal still lingers, the scars still ache, and no matter how much he swears he’s changed, I can’t forget what he did. But the more time we spend together, the more I see glimpses of the man I once loved. However, that all changes when tragedy invades the family and I no longer recognize the man standing in front of me.

Carrick
I destroyed us, and I’ve been paying for it ever since.

Guilt is a relentless shadow, a weight I carry every second of every day. I pushed Sisi away, knowing I would break her, and I did. Now, I have one last chance to make things right, and I’ll crawl through hell if that’s what it takes to earn her trust again. But love isn’t enough when you’re haunted by words you never got to say. And when the loss of someone I love strikes, I realize I might not deserve forgiveness—because some mistakes are unforgivable.

••••••

REVIEW:THE VIPER is the second instalment in Britney O’Neal’s contemporary, adult EMERALD KINGS dark,erotic, Irish mobsters, romance series. This is twenty-four year old, Carrick O’Shea, and nineteen year old, American student Sisi’s story line. THE VIPER can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading book one as the events of THE VIPER cross over with, and run parallel to the events of book one THE BEAST.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Sisi and Carrick) follows the tempestuous relationship between Carrick O’Shea, and American Sisi. Sisi is in Ireland as a foreign exchange student when she will meet the man who will change her life but Carrick struggles with his need and attraction for our heroine Sisi, and in this, Carrick will sabotage the relationship, pushing Sisi out of his life. Meanwhile, the ruling families fight for control, and the O’Shea’ s will get caught in the crossfire, once again destroying the relationship between Carrick and Sisi.

The world building follows Carrick’s spiral out of control. Love, loss and retribution are at the heart of Carrick’s need for vengeance but Sisi is about to pay the price for loving a man who does not want to be loved.

The relationships between Sisi and Carrick is turbulent and stormy. Betrayal came at a cost, and the entire family would suffer for the mistakes of the past. As Carrick battled between head and heart, Sisi found herself alone in the wake of the ultimate sacrifice. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative.

The secondary and supporting characters include the return of Carrick’s brothers Caysey,and Conor, as well as Conor’s wife Zorra; their parents Seamus and Jeanie O’Shea, and crime family rivals Tristan and CK Kelly.

THE VIPER is a story of betrayal and vengeance,power and control, death and grief, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is dramatic and heart breaking; the romance is raw and twisted; the characters are desperate and broken.

Copies supplied for reviews

Reviews by Sandy

Share

The Viper (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp #3) by JR Ward

Posted on by
9

The Viper (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp #3) by JR Ward-review

 

Amazon.com / Amazon Hard Cover /Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2022.

Framed for the grisly murder of his shellan, Kane is condemned to the notorious prison camp—unaware of the dark truth behind his arranged mating. Centuries later, when he is horribly burned while attempting to save others, he prays he’ll finally be reunited in the Fade with his mate…not knowing what revelations await him.

Nadya is a self-taught nurse who does what she can to ease the suffering of the prisoners. When Kane comes under her care, she cannot help but empathize with his condition for very personal reasons—and as the guards take him away one last time, she fears he is facing a terrible death.

After a daring rescue, Kane is offered a treatment that will change his very nature. Choosing life, for the time being, he goes back for the female who took such good care of him—but his duty to Nadya sets him on a collision course with his own past. When long-buried secrets are exposed, his self-destruction is inevitable…unless true love can save his soul.

•••••••••

REVIEW: THE VIPER is the third instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD: PRISON CAMP paranormal romance series-a spin off/interconnected series from the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is vampires Kanemille aka Kane, and Nadya’s story line. THE VIPER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from third person perspectives, following several intersecting paths, using present day and memories from the past, THE VIPER continues to focus on the relocation of, and the Brothers search for the illegal supernatural prison colony used by the former Glymera to control the so-called deviants of paranormal society. No longer under the control of the once powerful Glymera, the colony has become the epi-center of drugs for Caldwell, New York.

Approximately two hundred years earlier, vampire Kanemille was sentenced to the original prison colony for a crime he did not commit. Along with hundreds of vampires and wolvens, Kane suffered abuse and torture at the hands of those in charge but a fire was about to force Kane to choose between the ‘Shade’ or something else. With the only light in his life, a severely scarred female named Nadya, Kane chooses something else, in an effort to go back and rescue the female with whom he will fall in love but all does not go according to plan when the vampires and wolvens set a plan into motion to rescue and release the prisoners inside, a plan that begins to crumble at the hands of their former jailers.

Meanwhile, the wolven Callum is falling for the vampire Apex, a vampire who once thought he was in love with Kane, but as the world begins to implode, Callum is captured, and the fall-out threatens his sanity and the man with whom he was falling in love.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the BDB; the requisite cameo from the Scribe Virgin, as well as the return of Lucan and Rio (The Wolf), and The Jackal.

THE VIPER is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, ethereal magic and mystery, acceptance and love. The premise is heart breaking yet engaging-both Nadya and Kane’s back stories are dark and raw; the romance is emotional but struggles in the face of past betrayals: the characters are broken but battling to move forward.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Jackal
The Wolf

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

Don’t forget to sign-up for exclusive Black Dagger Brotherhood original content:
HERE

 

Share