Great story. Held my attention throughout. It has earned a place in my top 10 books I've read. ( )

The concepts are intriguing but the execution was lackluster. The characters red like paper dolls that the author was moving around in the story. Everyone was either really really good or really really bad. And never mind the horrible editing. At one point, a character said "rabbis shot". From contacts, I'm pretty sure that she meant "rabies shot". Not the worst book I've ever read. I finished it, after all. But definitely not great. ( )

"I know it's too soon, but I can't change how I feel. I love you, Sera." - Talon Rede

Well, it seems like shapeshifters are my thing these days or something. I've been reading way too many books with them - especially military romances WITH shifters in them - lately. Now, this works in two ways. One of them is, I'm all hyped and stuff about them, which is what happens whenever I stay focused on one genre for more than one book. The other... Well, the other is sort of negative. Since I'm used to the theme from book to book, it's easier for me to find faults between the stories - faults that usually bring the rating down for no apparent reason, other than the fact that I sense something is missing.

In this book's case? Not. A. Single. THING!

From the phone call during which Sera and Talon felt the instant attraction, to the very last moment, the book was perfect.

First of all, falling in love at first... word? Priceless! It shows that those two didn't just have the looks going on for them. Their pulling towards each other was deeper than that. They fell in love because their personalities matched so perfectly, it would be a crime for them to NOT be together. Throughout the whole book, not only did they both realize that, they also kept muttering to themselves about the fact. They knew, and it was only a matter of time before the inevitable.

Now, that doesn't mean everything was peachy between them. If it was, this would have been a rather boring story. But no, Sera and Talon kept arguing till the very end - I mean, even the marriage proposal was hilarious the way they did it. Not just to argue, by the way, but because they really had different opinions on certain matters, and weren't afraid to defend them - nor were they willing to suddenly change for each other without some serious trust bonds formed between them first.

The action was over the top, and the suspense thrilled me like there was no tomorrow. There was constantly danger that just couldn't be shaken off - nor could it be found easily - and that, added to the fact that those monsters were pretty scary in description, worked wonderfully to create an atmosphere that didn't just combine paranormal, romance, and mystery with military-trained characters - it damn well turned them into one thing, a perfect, undividable mixture!

Now I can't wait to read Jame's book - well, actually, the main reason for that is Drake. Boy, that interrogation scene was the hottest thing ever!

P.S.: Tina Moss managed to make me like the vampires more in this book than I did the shifters! One of them was a delicious Texan hunk, and the other was like Spike from Buffy. Holy heck I love Bull and Drake, like, seriously!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** ( )

I really dislike when I don't love a book. I hate having to write about what made it bad for me and I hate trying to decide what star rating to give it in the end.

I had a really hard time getting into CODE BLACK. The first thing that pops into my mind on how to explain it to you is this. You know when you are watching a sub-par movie and the actors sound like they are reading a script instead of actually living what they are saying? That is exactly how CODE BLACK read to me. It made it very hard to enjoy the events that were happening and I couldn't really connect with the characters because it all felt fake. It got a little better as the book went on, but I still couldn't connect with the characters and let's face it, if you don't care about the characters, you are going to struggle with the story.

Because I just wasn't into it, I drifted a lot while reading CODE BLACK. I don't know if its because of this, but I had a hard time following all the characters and mythology involved in the story. There seemed like there were way more questions than answers and I found myself confused at times. I am pretty positive that I won't be continuing with this series.

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )