Lisa Kessler Archives - Proud Book Reviews

August 8, 2022July 30, 2022

Pirate’s Protector – Lisa Kessler

This book contains:

Murder
Torture
Mind control
Theft
Manipulation.

Duke is the loyal and protective First Mate of the Sea Dog crew. He’s steadfastly avoided romantic entanglements for the past 200 years, even with many of his crew mates falling in love, because he doesn’t want to watch them grow old and die.

Annika is a mermaid that’s been around on Earth for a couple thousand years, and yet has maintained minimal contact with humans until now. After some incidents that happened with her family, she’s pretty much alone on Earth and was quite happy like this until she met Duke and he somehow managed to sneak past her defences.

Annika seeks out the Sea Dog after following it in from the Atlantic at the end of the previous book (Pirate’s Paradox) thanks to the Atlanteans giving her comb to them. When she can’t find it, she’s forced to confront someone on the crew in the hopes of finding it, which turns out to be Duke’s position.

After Annika shoots Duke in an attempt to get her comb back, he offers to help her in exchange for answering questions about mermaids. After accepting his offer of help, Annika and Duke work together to find an unlikely enemy, unexpected returns and the missing comb.

Another highly enjoyable and exciting read where Lisa adds twists to old folklore and myths to create her own universe. My only fault with the details is about the chemical make up of Neptune.

If it’s a gaseous planet, made up of the same gas components as water but in a gas form. How do the mermaid swim? And how do they breathe underwater?

And another one that just bugged me coz I’m odd. How do they sleep underwater?

All probably irrelevant and don’t impact the story but my woozey brain as I read this while quite sick struggled to comprehend and make the connections, or just move on from these details.

In terms of the story itself, it was full of twists and turns with a major development that I didn’t see coming. Well, I did, but then Lisa added a comment that made me change tack and it turns out I was right initially. So, I got a small shock when that was revealed!

After learning more about Captain Flynn in this, I’m now quite excited for his book to come out so I can find out what happens on his romance/relationship front!

August 1, 2022June 19, 2022

Pirate’s Paradox – Lisa Kessler

Diana is a psychic local to Savannah who’s helped the crew in the past, even if only a couple have met her before. She’s strong willed and refuses to let a man get in the way of what she wants from life, especially after the stunt her ex pulled on her in college.

Caleb is the Sea Dogs navigator and has his head 100% committed to science and the tangible world. With multiple doctorates in a range of fields, he considers himself an expert in many areas. Yet when he starts getting dreams he can’t explain, his answer is to stop sleeping to avoid the nightmares.

Diana and Caleb are getting very similar dreams that are pushing them out to sea by some unknown force. Diana convinces the crew of the Sea Dog to go to some coordinates in the middle of the Atlantic telling them it’ll stop the tsunami that she believes is coming to Savanah.

From all the research they’re all doing to try and understand what’s out there, it looks more and more likely that Atlantis has something to do with it.

I was a bit hesitant about how I felt about this in a few ways, but then in others I quite enjoyed it.

The hint of something to do with Atlantis had me suckered in, but then the development of Caleb and Diana’s relationship felt odd to me. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. There was just something that kept niggling at the back of my mind that I couldn’t quite place.

In the end I think I enjoyed the Atlantis vibes more than the romance. That seemed to intrigue me so much more than the romance did. Or maybe I’d been on a binge of romances at the time and so the Atlantis stuff just caught my attention more coz it was a bit different. I’m not sure.

Still a great book, and it reminded me I still haven’t gone back to the start of the series to read those. Hopefully in 2022 I will get around to doing that.

July 25, 2022June 19, 2022

Pirate’s Promise – Lisa Kessler

Greyson is a Scottish pirate who’s over 200 years old and has been living in Savannah since their ship sunk just off the coast. He loves his crew and will do anything to protect then, which is how he first ran into Aura.

Aura is an Agent for Department 13 and hates Greyson after he blew her last mission. Since then, she’s been desperate to prove herself and secure hew position in Department 13 since she feels like it’s on edge and could be taken away at any moment since Greyson blew her cover.

Greyson and Aura are teamed up together to find the elusive blade that thirsts for blood and has been discovered missing from the Department 13 vault. Since taking a mythical sword that can cut through any material on an international flight from Scotland to DC wouldn’t be smart, let alone challenging to get through customs, they sailed the Sea Dog all the way from Savannah to Glasgow.

Once there, they need to find and retrieve the sword, without getting killed.

I’m really enjoying this series. The development of the characters, the levels to their personalities and the trauma they’ve experienced in the past is so well thought out. While I haven’t read all the earlier books to get a sense of whether their personalities and histories are consistent, I certainly got the sense they were.

Even the little details Lisa includes about how they became the person they are today is amazing. I really should go back and read the first three books, and of course keep an eye out for the remaining books!

September 25, 2020February 5, 2021

Pirate’s Persuasion – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, after reading and reviewing Lisa Kessler’s she mentioned that she had a new book available on NetGalley. So of course I had to go and check it out!

I knew I was coming in part way through the series so a few things might be spoiled for earlier books. What I wanted to know was whether this as another series I wanted to invest time in.

And my answer is yes. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series as they’re released and looking into getting the previous books.

Immortal pirates wasn’t something I’d thought of when I’d imagined the various ways paranormal beings could be described. The piracy coupled with psychic gifts made for an interesting read! The way Heather’s ability to speak to the dead was described and used, it felt like it added a lot of value (both for the main story but also a couple of funny and sweet moments) to a few different characters development.

The bit at the end where she uses her gift had me chuckling. Trying to imagine who she could’ve been talking to has me really intrigued to read Flynn’s story now!

I also loved how Heather was able to combine something that Drake enjoys, with modern technology to gain his interest. The poor guy can’t stand modern technology and yet she manages to kinda change his mind on how bad it is.

Lisa has woven together mythology (Davy Jones and other well-known relics), the supernatural (mediums, root doctors etc) and an ongoing battle happening in the modern world in a similar way to the Muse Chronicles series. Yet still unique!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing The Unexpected Inlander by Kellyn Thompson.

May 30, 2020January 30, 2021

Song of the Soul – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, I can’t believe we’re finally at the end of the series! How?! Why?!

I’ve loved this series more and more as I’ve gotten further into it. Normally this isn’t the case. Especially when each book built on the last one and none felt like the ball had been dropped.

Every character had a reason for being. Every character had a purpose at every part of the journey, and it didn’t feel like it was sticky taped together or anything.

The way Lisa was able to pivot the story from hate and revenge to forgiveness and love was amazing. Even though I’m not sure how “believable” the very ending bit was, especially given how much Lisa stressed that there was only one set of Muses born each generation.

I also would’ve liked to have known what ended up happening with the Gods. We can only assume the ended was what the Muses were trying to achieve. But how did their relationships change? Did they change their views on anything?

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, next week I will be reviewing The Daugher of Victory Lights by Kerri Turner.

May 15, 2020January 30, 2021

Dance of the Heart – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, I loved this book, even though it felt very light on with the romance.

All the pieces are falling into place. The gods are in play, the masks are taken off, the bad guys and the good guys are redefined, and its action packed the whole time!

Although I loved the romance of the early books, I’m loving how it’s developing even more. The changes in dynamics based on the information that’s available is amazing.

I even got a surprise at the end!

The start of each book we figure out who the next Guardian and Muse couple are. Yet this time we find out at the end of this book. And the way we find out is so cool! With 2 gods, 7 Muses, 7 Guardians and some kids present it was not the discovery I expected.

And his gift! OMG!

I can’t wait to get to the final book to understand how and why he has that gift!

I feel like that final couple of chapters overrode everything else about the book that was great. It was all just so unexpected that it’s all my mind is latching onto and wanting to focus on. Especially because it’s driving me nuts trying to figure out what’s left to cover in the final book.

You know when a series feels like it’s reached its end, but you know there’s still another book, episode or movie to go? That’s how this feels!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Daughter of Victory by Kerri Turner.

April 17, 2020January 30, 2021

Devoted to Destiny – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, the Muse Chronicles are back and the trend of the storyline changing has continued.

In the previous book — Light of Spirit — I noticed a trend where the Order of the Titans was included more, and their focus seemed to be shifting. In this book, it feels like it’s about 30-40% of the book. Which means the series is becoming less about the romance, and more about the action.

I’m not against this trend, but it wasn’t expected so I’m still trying to figure out if that was planned or not. It doesn’t feel like the romance is suffering because of it, so maybe it was planned.

A few pieces are also starting to fall into place that tells me why certain decisions were made by some characters in previous books. Although (thanks to me being sneaky) I know who the final guardian is, I’ve got NO IDEA who the next one will be even though we’ve been introduced to them in previous books for the last 3.

Maybe we’ve met the next guardian, but we just don’t know it yet? Which is kind of driving me crazy wanting to read the next book, but I need to wait coz I have a few other books I need to read first.

When I think about the feeling I want to be left with when I finish a book in a series, the feeling I want is an obsession to read the next book NOW! To me that says the books was great, I’m still hooked, and there’s a clear intent for the story that I want to know about.

Fingers crossed I can hold out on reading the next book so I don’t fall behind on the reviews I’ve agreed to between now and the next book!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, tomorrow I’ll be reviewing The Gin Lovers Guide to Dating by Nina Kaye.

April 3, 2020January 30, 2021

Light of the Spirit – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, we’ve reached the tipping point in the series. We’re over halfway!

If you’re familiar with the Greek Muses you’re probably wondering how I’m halfway through the series with four books down and three to go when there are 9 Muses. Well I’m not going to spoil it for you!

The previous three books were pretty action packed, yet this one felt like it had something else to it that I just loved. I’m not sure if it’s the introduction of more mythology and deities or not. Yet it’s becoming increasingly more like the Dark Hunter series.

There’s another character we’ve met previously becoming a central figure. There are unknown immortal beings wreaking havoc. Both sides of the battle are slowly having more and more information revealed to them.

There’s even that crucial input from the bad guys to keep it interesting. Unlike previous books, this one has more input from the bad guys including more people’s points of view rather than just Ted’s. Between this and me reading the blurbs for future books I’m starting to map out my ideas of who’s who, who’s going to do what and why.

Let the conspiracies fly!

I have no idea how right or wrong I’ll be but I’m loving the drama, the additional input without lacking on the story of the two characters we’re meant to be focusing on. The balance still works even with more input from the bad guys.

Come back in another month to find out how the story develops in the fifth book!

March 6, 2020January 30, 2021

Breath of Passion – Lisa Kessler

Welcome back everyone, we’re into week 2 (second month) of the Muse Chronicles and the third book.

To recap, by the time this book recap’s we’re probably a yr on from the start of the first book, 2-3 months on from the previous books main timeframe, one Muse down with two paired up with their Guardians.

I was confused for a little bit about how Reed’s talents were going to be useful as Erica’s Guardian. But as the story developed, showing us more of each of their lives, the shift in the Order of the Titans etc it made sense.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked the shift that was going on. Yet, as I got further into the story, I found myself enjoying that the series had more to it than the predictable. By changing up the pace, the enemy and the focus of the book (slightly) it felt like I got a deeper sense of their overall story in a way that’s much more relatable.

I don’t expect every aspect of a paranormal romance to be relatable, yet I love it when elements are brought in that are super relatable. Or at the very least, more normal, more human. However, an element that I found similar to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s style is introducing future characters in each book.

At least, I’m guessing that this is the case. It seems odd to give side characters names that the main characters then focus in on if that’s not going to be the case. So, I’m guessing the girls have found two more Guardian’s by the end of this book. And I will add, I haven’t started the next book yet so I have no idea if this prediction will come true!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, the next couple of months will follow a similar flow to this past month as there’s still a few books to go in each of these series. Once they are done, I’ll just flow into a new series to replace it. Maybe one day I’ll be done? Who knows!