Sabina's Adventures In Reading: Review: The Curse of the Rose & A Dance for Fools by Julieanne Lynch

Hi Guys!!!

Tomorrow it's Author Take Over, and this week I have the pleasure to introduce Julieanne Lynch, author of the Rose Saga, Shadow World, and her new book coming in March; The Taken. To prepare you for tomorrow, I have reviewed The Curse of the Rose & A Dance for Fools.

The Curse of the Rose:

Just to make it clear, in case anyone should be in doubt. Curse of the Rose is erotica. As you know, I have been avoiding erotica in the past, mainly since I want more than just sex in the books I read. I want a story, a plot in there as well. Julieanne delivers everything I need and want. And then some.

Bianka is nothing more than a child when she is chosen to be the next Rose. If she truly had known what it entailed, I’m quite sure she would’ve run the other way as fast as she could.

Iona is the current Rose, and the one who chooses Bianka. All Bianka know is that it is NOT an option NOT to be selected, why, she doesn’t know. It has long been a tradition for the Townspeople in Hollóko to lead their virgin daughters to the castle. The price is high, but the reward is that no one else disappears during the year.

What caught my attention was the story behind the Bianka we meet centuries later, after she was chosen. The woman she has evolved to is just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, she has fun by sneaking out of the castle with Batar (the King’s son) to feed of unsuspected humans, fooling around with Batar (the sex scenes are filled with need, want and are toe curling). Secretly she is longing for her freedom, to be able to run away and never look back. In a way, she is still a child inside. Hoping for something to happen, but she is adult enough to know that she has to do something herself.

Reality… well, Bianka has a choice, and her mind is set. The question is if she is prepared to pay the price for her actions?

I truly enjoyed Curse of the Rose, and I found the different characters to be fascinating, intriguing, and frustrating. (I never claimed to be easy to please *smiles*), and I can’t wait to read more from Julieanne.

Young, beautiful and naive, a young Bianka doesn't truly understand the price that comes with being the chosen one.

Taken from her family, her future is unknown to her, but one thing is for sure: an eternity of need, want and greed.

Can Bianka break the curse that leaves her insatiable, or will she just be another night-walker bound to the Rose?

You can buy The Curse of the Rose here

A Dance for Fools:

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t read The Curse of the Rose, there will be spoilers in this review. Fair warning!

Oh wow…. I thought The Curse of the Rose was a great read, but in A Dance for Fools Julieanne truly shows what an awesome author she is.

Bianka is furious. I don’t think that covers it, to tell the truth. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Bianka is about to prove to all around her that pissing her off and belittling her is the wrong thing to do.

True, Bianka is in the situation due to her own actions. Killing Iona wasn’t a good choice for her since she wanted her freedom. Instead, she gained more restriction. See, by killing the Rose, she took her place. But Bianka isn’t going down without a fight, and the old king and all the nobles are about to find out what she has in mind.

But when someone close to Bianka turns on her and random attach is happening, she needs reevaluate her strategy, find the guilty one and end this fight before it goes into a full blown war.

I couldn’t put A Dance for Fools down. It was insanely good. The characters are more developed, there’s more depth to them, the sex is… well, more than what they were in The Curse of the Rose. There’s more edge to them, a kind of desperation in a way, that wasn’t there before. And still toe curling. I am happy I didn’t read these in public, I tend to blush easily. ;-)

Something even MORE amazing and wonderful is Julieanne’s talent for making a plot filled (and I do mean PACKED) with more twists and turn than you thought was possible. Just when I thought I had it figured out, she turns the table on me. I always love when an author does that. Well… not always, to tell the truth, I can bitch about the events like anyone else, the fact is still there; the books will never get boring to read when an author gives you a great spin. :-)

If you’re not into erotica, do not despair. Julieanne has spread her talent to more than one genre, and I’m sure you can find a book (or more) that will intrigue you. Just follow the different links underneath her Author Bio, and happy hunting!!

Bianka, a vampire with an insatiable thirst and desire for the body unlocked Pandora's box when she disposed of Iona,and instead of getting the freedom she desired, she condemned herself to a curse.

With her new found fate as the Rose,comes the responsibility of choosing her own courtesan and fulfilling her pledge to Artemis and the Oracle, but Bianka is hell bent on revenge, and if she can't have her freedom then at least she can play the King and his court for fools.

Of course, nothing is never simple, and as Bianka puts all her energies into revenge, she doesn't see the ensuing chaos that she unleashes.

A dance for fools is only the beginning of the end...

You can buy A Dance for Fools here

Julieanne also writes under the pen name J.A. Lynch.

Shy and reserved Julieanne Lynch is an author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Julieanne lives in Northern Ireland, with her husband and five children, where she works on her Shadows World novels and other series full-time. Before becoming a writer, she considered a few different career paths, a rock star being one of them. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at The Open University, and considered journalism as a career path. However, she decided writing was the way for her and is thankful for each day she lives her dream.

An avid reader, Julieanne has always had an encompassing fascination with folklore. When not writing, she enjoys crime series such as Criminal Minds, CSI, NCIS and Cold Case, and loves anything with Vampires, listening to metal, meeting new people, drinking lots of green tea, and sharing her dreams with her children. She is a self-professed goth wanna-be,and is happy when left to write into the early hours of the morning.

Julieanne's YA series, the Shadow World novels, is published by Vamptasy Publishing and thus far contains Within the Shadows & Escaping Shadows, the third installment, Fighting Shadows is being written. It follows the war between vampires and shadow creatures. Giselle Bergman, an 18-year old human girl, falls victim to a scheme by one of her closest childhood friends, and embarks on a journey that sees her become the center of a battle between good and evil.