Yield the Night (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #3
Publish: March 27th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 278 pages
Rating: 5 / 5

Synopsis: After surviving a round-trip to hell, Piper figures she can survive anything. After all, she just lived through the devastating loss of her Consul apprenticeship and a torturous stint at boarding school. How much worse could it get?
Well, she wasn’t expecting a group of crazy radicals to burn her home to the ground and take her prisoner.
The Gaians, a.k.a. the crazy radicals, plan to rid Earth of daemons and they need Piper’s help. In exchange for her cooperation, they promise her the answer to all her problems: magic. With her own magic, she could reclaim her apprenticeship, the only future she’s ever wanted. But her magic comes at price — it could kill her.
With the life she’s always known crumbling around her and her future slipping from her grasp, she needs Ash’s help one more time. But the greatest danger of all lies within her, and no matter what she does, she may lose everything — including him.

Review:
  The story starts a couple of months after where Bind the soul ended and as the previous books, starts with a dose of disappointment for Piper and quite a much action.

  We know the Gaians from Chase the dark and now they are back. Let me tell you Piper didn’t luck out in the parent department. With an emotionless, workaholic dad and a mother with a childlike delusion and a naivety what leads to overly grandiose and misplaced plans of world domination, it’s a miracle Piper hasn’t got a few screw loose. Okay as Piper states in the story to the Gaians have a couple of great idea but they also portray it through notions similar to the ones that led to the Third World War in their history. They also want to squash everything they don’t know or fear, even if they don’t have a chance. This part is typical in dystopian stories and I really don’t like it, so it’s true for the Gaians too. What pissed me of even more was Piper’s mother’s willingness to sacrifice her so called ‘destined to be together’ daughter. Unfortunately their angle doesn’t get a solution so I think they going to cause more problems.
  In the story we see into the Overworld, so we get to know all the planes there are in this magical world. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions about the places our heroes visit.
  After a while our trio reunites and their dynamic is back but not as intensely as in the first book and there is a couple of reasons for that.
  Piper is more confident in herself but her life turns so complicated through the course previous installments that her emotional stability becomes questionable. There are much more emotion in this story but is works spectacularly. We find fewer action scenes but a lot of answers for unanswered questions. Again a completely different atmosphere.
  Piper and Ash relationship reaches its peak and finally blooms, not with the best conclusion but they are so cute together its melt the heart. There is still hope for their happy ending.
  Ash’s sister is the biggest obstacle between them. She is really mean, manipulative and more like Samael than Ash wants to admit. As Piper states it they don’t know each other as much as they think, at least Ash still sees the little girl she once was. I hated her especially the way she tried to chase Piper away. She usually strikes where it hurts the most, breaking Piper even more with every jab.

  There is a lot of beautiful scenarios and otherworldly being in this book what proves the author has a really colorful imagination.
  This story isn’t that fast paced and has a little less action but its emotional depth gives that little plus I was missing in the previous books, thanks to this I gave it a 5.
  Originally I thought it’s going to be the last book in the series but it quickly became obvious that it’s not. I don’t really mind that there is gonna be a fourth book but I think Ash and Piper deserve a HEA especially after how this one ended. I’m curious about the next story since we already got three books with completely different undertone but the same plot thread.

By Viki

Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #2
Publish: January 9th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4

Synopsis: The most important rule for an Apprentice Consul is simple: Don't get involved with daemons. Well, Piper is planning to break that rule — big time.
After a near-deadly scandal with the Sahar Stone, she has the chance to return to the only life she's ever wanted. All she has to do to keep her Apprenticeship is forget about Ash and Lyre. Ash might be enigmatic and notoriously lethal, and Lyre might be as sinfully irresistible as he is irritating, but they’re not bad for a couple of daemons.
There's just one problem: Ash is missing.
Really, she shouldn't risk her future for him. He lied. He betrayed her. But he also saved her life, damn it. Wherever he is, he's in trouble, and if she doesn't save his sorry butt, who will? But with every dangerous secret she unravels, each one darker than the last, she slips deeper into Ash's world — a world with no escape for either of them.

Review:
  I loved the first book so I purchased the second and third installment in the series as soon as possible. The author doesn’t disappoint in this book either. However in the second story she shows us another side of the world she built. In Chase the dark we see how the Earth side of things work while Bind the soul plays mostly on the Underworld’ side. Or more like in a little pocket of it.

  The story starts with Piper and Lyre desperate search for Ash, whom wellbeing they worry about quite much. So our favorite trio is not together, what stays a common motive through the book. Actually it’s more like a Piper only mission. Sure Ash and Lyre show up here and there but until the last third of the book they don’t have much of a role. In this story there are a lot more dark elements than in the previous one. We get a glimpse how Ash grows up through Piper hardships, and thanks to this can understand a little better. Since the whole story is narrated from Piper point of view so it’s helps a lot to understand and relate to other characters.
  The story is not as fast paced either but has plenty of actions and complications enough to keep the reader’s attention. Piper is still struggling with her lack of magic and her father changed a bit either so he is no help at all. The fact that she gets a lot of new information about her dual magic and her capability to wield the Sahar stone just makes her work harder. So it’s safe to say she didn’t get more confident and content with what she has. Samael torture just gets her spirit lower and lower in a short period of time. Fortunately she is really stubborn and feels a deep loyalty toward Ash what helps her fight back. Before that in her desperation she shows her uglier and more manipulative side, too. Even her naivety shows, mainly toward daemons or mostly Mysis. However he bursts her bubble relatively fast. What I really liked were the subtle but noticeable romantic notions between Piper and Ash. These little scenes are quite cute, pure and honest but both of them try to deny them. There are still a lot of things they have to work out in that department.
  While Lyre doesn’t have a substantial role in the story, Ash is present quiet much. Although he truly feels like a secondary character some of the times. As I mentioned earlier we get an explanation about his actions and guarded personality. It also turns out that he is really honorable and would be a spectacular leader. On the other hand the connection between him and Piper that formed in the first installment starts to show more and more, you can clearly see how it gets stronger and how much trust he lies with Piper.
  There are a couple of new characters too but I don’t think either of them would be good. I had hopes for Mysis after his initial introduction but it turned out real fast how manipulative, condescending and power hungry truly is he.

  Overall this book has a completely different undertone than the first; I think it’s admirable ho the writer created an entirely different atmosphere with the same world, topic and cast. There is a lot of good, funny, heartbreaking and action packed part in it and I really liked it. I was hoping for a bit more positive or happier ending than we got. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki

Chase the Dark (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #1
Publish: October 17th 2014 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4.5

Synopsis: Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are precisely three obstacles in her way.
The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?
The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.
And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.
Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons... See problems one and two.

Review:
  This is the first book from the author that I read so I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially since the synopsis kind of suggests a story that starts in the middle of the action. And it’s really starts with a BANG but not like you would expect. First we get a proper introduction of the more important characters and the world.

  For one I think the slightly dystopian setting is a bit misplaced here because it hasn’t got much of an importance in regard of the story, but helps to explain the new world structure, so can be believable. And I actually liked how the author justified some elements in her story.
  It plays a bit further future from us and a lot of things could be possible she described about their history, at least the non supernatural part of it.
  The story itself quite fast paced and full of action and a bit of humor. We get to know about the structure of the society, how things work and actually it’s easy to understand and follow. Oh, also the way how the people and the government relate to daemon kind is believable. The existing hierarchy, however much it’s infuriates people, is more realistic as it is than it would be otherwise.

  To this exciting story the fantastic characters add a decidedly positive flare.
  Piper is a strong, determined and badass character, who works extra hard to satisfy others expectations, however much it is a losing battle. She has the shortcomings, mainly her blind yearning for magic. She thinks being able to wild magic would be the solution of all her problems and because of this she makes a couple of stupid mistakes and has a few self-pitying session. Those are her more pathetic moments. But I think she is extremely strong and admirable since she still can stand her own without magic. I like it about her. She is quite resourceful when it needed, not as overconfident and judgmental than other prefects and haemons. Thanks to this she forms a freaking amazing team with Ash and Lyre. I loved the dynamic and interactions between the three of them. I just hope that the budding love triangle gets nipped before it has time to really bloom. I don’t like love triangles. Her relationship with her father, who is the main source of her disappointments, is really heartbreaking. But after things she done to save and please him, he doesn’t deserve her attention anymore.
  Lyre is the team ‘peacekeeper’. He is an incubus and tries to lighten the mood in the hard moments which they have quite a lot. He is loyal to Ash but I think, he has a soft spot and feelings for Piper. Doesn’t really have a lot of chance thanks to the girl love history but certainly tries a lot. He is the light to Ash’s dark, they are like completely opposites in almost everything, in appearance and personality, but here and there we see his darker side, too. I like him but he is more like an overprotective and annoying older brother, than a love interest.
  Ash is the brooding, dark star. He is really strong, powerful and has a real understanding about how things go and what’s right but you can feel that he carries an enormous burden. The source of this however stays a mystery; it’s his upbringing, loyalties, his true form or even his past actions. We don’t really get to know. He does a lot of questionable things but doesn’t ask for permission or forgiveness, he is sure of himself and stands beside what he believes in, be it right or wrong.
  I am rooting for him in the love interest department since in this kind of books I like the brooding and dark types, the bad boys.

  After a while the bad guys’ identity becomes quite obvious. There are a lot of good scenes in the book and it flows so fluidly I couldn’t put it down, finished it in no time. I absolutely loved Piper fighting scenes in the ring and in the end of the story, too. She proves herself time and time again, it becomes obvious that she is good and stands a chance in the daemon world, even without magic, but unfortunately her hype doesn’t last long. I hope in the next book she gains a little bit of confidence. I loved the book and can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki