Janice Y. (jai) reviewed Playing with Fire (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl, Bk 1) on + 310 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
An OK book. Some cheesy comic book elements to it (secret formula, evil bad guys with many henchmen), and the characters needed more depth, but also some interesting ideas as well. The main character - Belle Jamison, has trouble keeping a job even though she needs to work to keep her father alive, because deep down she's bored and sabotauges them all. The power over the 4 elements is thrust upon Belle suddenly, and soon finds herself anything but bored in the company of Rome Masters whose agenda she can't figure out. I thought this was not a bad book, but could be more. It feels like the plot was alright but wasn't as well thought out as it could have been. Some amusing moments, but also some moments where the glib comments were annoying. Overall - light reading.
Helpful Score: 8
This is one of the most interesting and funny superhero genre books I have ever read. The characters are spunky and sizzling...This book could definatly become a series and I hope Gena Showalter writes more about these characters.
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Playing with Fire (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl, Bk 1) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I've been wanting to read the Alien Huntress series by Gena Showalter forever. I picked this book up instead to get a flavor for her writing style without getting involved in another ongoing series. This was a cute book. If you like the Aisling Grey Guardian series or other similar funny paranormal romance books you would probably get a kick out of this one.
This book is about Belle. Belle is a girl who has a hard time getting and keeping jobs. She needs the money to help pay for care for her ailing dad. Then one day on break some guy in a mad scientist get-up runs out of an abandoned building into the coffee shop Belle is currently working at. Later she finds out he slipped something in her mocha latte. Suddenly Belle is like a Wonder Woman of the four elements and she can do things only super heroes can do. Fortunately this helps her meet up with another super hottie who has cool powers of his own. Unfortunately the bad guys want Belle for their own nefarious purposes.
This was a cute light read. There is a lot of imagining about sex and groping and a lot of talking about sex. So if that bothers you I would look the other way; I would say the sex talk is about the same level as the Aisling Grey books...maybe a bit lighter. There was a lot of action and suspense too and that really kept the book moving. The male lead Rome is sensitive, animalistic, and sexy. This book has a little of that alpha male thing going on but not that much.
Belle's powers were really cool; very X-men. I only wish that we had seen more of them. As with all of these paranormal romances I wish they had spent more time kicking butt and less time groping each other. But, what can you do? I knew what I was getting into.
All in all this book was fast-paced, a quick and light read, lots of fun, and just right for lifting your mood. I zoomed right through it. The story line wasn't the most original; and the characters somewhat stereotypical. This is another one of those books that if you know what you are getting into you'll have fun. If you abhor romance though, I would choose something different...maybe the Jaz Parks series would be more your style.
I am kind of glad this is a one book thing. It would be interesting to see Belle in a few more missions but I think the characters would get old in a few books.
This book is about Belle. Belle is a girl who has a hard time getting and keeping jobs. She needs the money to help pay for care for her ailing dad. Then one day on break some guy in a mad scientist get-up runs out of an abandoned building into the coffee shop Belle is currently working at. Later she finds out he slipped something in her mocha latte. Suddenly Belle is like a Wonder Woman of the four elements and she can do things only super heroes can do. Fortunately this helps her meet up with another super hottie who has cool powers of his own. Unfortunately the bad guys want Belle for their own nefarious purposes.
This was a cute light read. There is a lot of imagining about sex and groping and a lot of talking about sex. So if that bothers you I would look the other way; I would say the sex talk is about the same level as the Aisling Grey books...maybe a bit lighter. There was a lot of action and suspense too and that really kept the book moving. The male lead Rome is sensitive, animalistic, and sexy. This book has a little of that alpha male thing going on but not that much.
Belle's powers were really cool; very X-men. I only wish that we had seen more of them. As with all of these paranormal romances I wish they had spent more time kicking butt and less time groping each other. But, what can you do? I knew what I was getting into.
All in all this book was fast-paced, a quick and light read, lots of fun, and just right for lifting your mood. I zoomed right through it. The story line wasn't the most original; and the characters somewhat stereotypical. This is another one of those books that if you know what you are getting into you'll have fun. If you abhor romance though, I would choose something different...maybe the Jaz Parks series would be more your style.
I am kind of glad this is a one book thing. It would be interesting to see Belle in a few more missions but I think the characters would get old in a few books.
LAURA C. (Laura9691) reviewed Playing with Fire (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl, Bk 1) on + 119 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Very good story. I love the leading character, Belle, and her smart mouth attitude.
DANIELLE K. (Danni) - , reviewed Playing with Fire (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl, Bk 1) on + 49 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I don't normally read paranormal books, but I ABSOLUTLY LOVED THIS BOOK. It helded me from page 1.
A great read!
A great read!
