Customer Reviews

Holy Smokes (Thorndike Romance)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Holy Smokes" is the fourth in a series and it's immediately apparent, on reading the book, that it very much helps to have read the previous novels. There are a lot of characters and is a huge amount of world building that isn't explained in any depth in this novel and it's quite hard going for someone new to the series to follow all the different situations, people and powers.

Aisling Grey seems, in a rather Anita Blake manner, to have picked up a number of different skills/roles in the course of this book series. Not only is she a Guardian but she is also a Demon Lord, a Dragon's mate, a Prince of Abaddon and various other things. She has a voice in her head trying to encourage her to the dark side, a demon familiar that's a dog and various other assistants who appear at various times. Her love interest, Drake (a dragon) spends a lot of this book disappearing, being kidnapped and keeping things from Aisling - they are meant to be getting married but things keep getting in the way so that one or other of them doesn't make it to the church. A side note, here, that if you didn't arrive for your wedding in a Church of England church on Saturday there is no way you could have the wedding the next day instead - things just don't work like that!

Anyway, the wedding is a theme throughout the book as various things crop up that require Aisling and Drake to go off and do some troubleshooting. They travel around a lot, both in Europe and to Abaddon, various old foes reappear, along with some new friends (or are they friends?) The plot has many strands taking place at the same time and Aisling seems to spend most of her time rushing ahead where angels fear to tread, getting in the way of things that she doesn't know about, and requiring Drake to tell her he loves her. But despite all this she's an appealing character despite her blundering and her desire to trust people comes across well, if a little naive.

For those who have read this series from the beginning they will enjoy this latest episode. For newcomers to this series this isn't a great book to start with as there is too much backstory to catch up with and too many plot threads to give it an overall shape.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

Yes!!! Yet another hit by Katie!! I LOVE this series (as much as her wildy entertaining vampire series). It's fun and funny, has plot twists and turns, very sexy guys and great love scenes, great villains (and such a variety!), and don't forget snarky Jim. Katie is able to sustain a series without having it droop like some authors. I love that Aisling (pronounced Ash-ling) doesn't have a clue about her powers or Otherworld social practices, but plows her way through; and also that Drake, although very protective--especially in this book--doesn't always come to her rescue, but rather she often rescues herself. My only regret is that the next installment isn't due out until a year from now. If you like paranormal romances, you will love this series. All of the books in the series are "keepers."

Aisling Grey, Guardian, Demon lord, Prince of Abbadon, and wyvern mate is finally going to be made an honest woman by Drake (her dragon "sweetie"). She will have to overcome a few things first, of course, since nothing is easy where she is concerned.

To start off the fun, the Red Sept has not given up its feud with Aisling, Drake and the Green Sept; they are causing all kinds of trouble for them. Aisling is trying to keep all of this and the Otherworld stuff from her human step-mom and dad, along with her tough Uncle who are in town for the wedding. Then Drake goes missing on their wedding day!

Aisling starts being proactive and sets out to find and rescue Drake; in the process learns a lot more about the different Dragon Septs and regains some trust for Gabriel. As always Jim is by her side offering his colorful comments and whining about food or how he is being treated. Through all of this the Dark voice in her head won't shut up and Bael requires something from Aisling that she is not prepared to give.

What can I say but "Holy Smokes! That was Awesome"! Katie MacAlister continues to deliver with this fourth installment in her Aisling Grey Guardian series. Action, sexy dragons, magic, sarcastic sidekick demon (in a wonderful Newfie form), Lord of the Underworld, relatives, a little B & E, a wedding and did I say sexy dragons, all delivered with her signature humor and style.

What I loved most about this book is that we got to see Aisling step up to the plate and really figure things out this time (without getting herself deeper into trouble) and that the romance is still there between Aisling and Drake. There is a major amount of closure at the end and I am not sure if this means there will be no more Aisling books or not; but do not fear for she has a new book due out in May also set in this world. I do not know how she keeps coming up with these great stories but they are golden to me and they are on my keeper shelf (maybe I have a little dragon in me).

Aisling Grey books in order
1. Playing With Fire
2. Fire Me Up
3. Light My Fire
4. Holy Smokes

...but there's TOO MUCH SEX in this book!!! By which I mean, honestly, it's just boring. Too much fire, too much panting, too many little bites and kisses, etc etc etc, frankly, ad nauseum. I have long enjoyed Ms. MacAlister's writing, plot and character development, and sexy love scenes, and recognize that I'm not reading Proust here (or whoever), but enough is enough -- and is, in fact, too much! Bleah. Who knew you could be bored by sex scenes?! But as it turn out, you can! I only hope my next read of hers focuses even just a little bit more on the story arc and character quirks at which she's usually so expert (which, by the way, is why she gets 2 and not 1 star for this effort).

I LOVED the past 3 books in this series. I found Aisling and her sidekick hilarious, Drake absolutely delicious, supporting characters great, and the wyvern story line fascinating. However, this newest addition left me cold. I found Aisling quite annoying here, she seemed to go off in a tangent a LOT--she seemed very silly at times. The game of wedding-tag was a bit much, you would think all those times they didn't get married would put them off the whole deal. We see a bit more of Aisling's family here..and let me tell you, I was not charmed. The thing I love about Katie's books is how she effortlessly makes me laugh..this time, it seemed like she was TRYING TOO HARD for hilarity. At times, Aisling seem to come off quite brainless and definitely clueless. As for the pregnancy thing...ehh, the whole thing seems like a hard after thought.

I really hope that the fifth installment would have some of the charm of the first three books. I would hate to stop reading this like I did with the Christine Feehan series.

Katie doesn't quite pull off a completely satisfying read this time around.
Others have mentioned that Aislings's continued clueless state about her powers and the ins and outs of the septs and guardians is wearing a little thin.
I have to agree.
If you are living with dragons and demons and powers of darkness, you would think a person would try very hard to learn more about what she is in to. I know, that would take away some comedic possibilities. But, I do think it would advance the series to "smarten" up Aisling.
It seems like a case of trying too hard to me.
I enjoyed it to a point. Jim and Rene are great characters.
I could follow the plot for the most part.
But there isn't a whole lot of evolving going on with Aisling and Drake after four novels. I think we need less boinking and more bonding with these two.
Forget reading this if you have not read the others. There is just so
much going on, you practically need a character compendium to follow along.
I love the way Katie writes. This very slightly disappointing effort has not put me off her books in any way.

I'd like a little closure with some of these books. I enjoy the characters even though Jim is annoying and Aisling is helpless and airheaded at times, but I wish more would be resolved. Hardly anything happened in this book to further the plot. There was danger, people were running around after people, nothing was getting explained to Aisling (and therefore us), and then more issues were presented, with no resolution. I've had about enough of books that keep building and building with no end in sight. I've read the 15 book series that go on and on about nothing, and it's not fun. I enjoy authors that plan out a series, set a book number, and resolve things as the books go along. When you write without planning books become dry and pointless-this series is getting there. I was very annoyed at the lack of closure in this book. It's sad because I really like the dragon septs and the secondary characters, but interesting plot lines get left behind in place or unimportant ones. More questions arise than are answered, it's frustrating.

I loved the first 3 Aisling Grey books, and while I did enjoy Holy Smokes, and am happy with the way the series has concluded, I also found it to be the weakest of the four books in the Aisling Grey, Guardian series. All the great characters are still there, and there's still plenty of action and chuckles, but I found the story to be very jumpy. Ideally, the whole Vendiger situation could have been resolved in Light My Fire, making for a more focused novel for the final chapter in Aisling's story. I also found the many unsuccessful wedding attempts didn't so much enhance the story as distract from it. But it was nice to see Aisling finally come into her own as a Guardian, and to see that she's now on the right path both in her `career' and in her relationship with Drake. Not the best book of the series, but definitely a satisfying ending to the series.

I think I like this book just because it means that the series is over. Still well-packed with smut. Still same old annoying Aisling. The other characters are what make this book worth it to me.

This is the fourth, and so far last, book in the Aisling Grey Guardian series. This book follows much in the same vein as the third book in the series. It is light, easy to read, and an entertaining story. Although there are strong aspects of romance to this book; I think fans of the paranormal genre who like action more than romance will also like this book.

The book starts with Aisling getting stood up at the alter by Drake. Of course it's not Drake's fault. Again Aisling has many things coming at her from all directions. She is pregnant, they are at war with the red dragon clan, she has been proscribed and is trying to get rid of her dark powers, her guardian mentor-ship is on hold, and she has to perform duties for the blue dragon clan. All of this is complicated by her family being in town for the wedding.

As with the other books, a lot happens in this book. I was happy that the plot was very finely crafted and all of the intertwining events made sense and were resolved. There are still some cliff hangers at the end of the book, but they have more to do with other characters than with Aisling and Drake.

Aisling is a little bit less of an airhead in this book. She actually gets things done, as opposed to just screwing them up. Her and Drake make more progress towards a decent, modern-day relationship, so at least they aren't as messed up as in the previous books. Aisling, herself, is not my most favorite character but the side characters more than make up for her shortcomings.

Previous to this book I said the third one in the series was my favorite, well now this one is my favorite in the series. I plan on reading the Silver Dragons series by Katie MacAlister too. These are fun books for a quick read when you want something light. They don't really overextend your brain and are a nice vacation from heavier reading.