Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Review: Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Title: Masquerade (Games #3)
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Published: January 7th
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime.
Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist-a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he's ever seen. She's wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.
Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker's body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more.
Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink.

I read Charade basically when it first came out. I remember raving about it, loving Colt and Cheyenne to pieces. Recommending it to everyone who took time to listen. Then came Adrian and Laney’s story. Façade was decent, but it missed that spark for me that I felt in Charade. Plus, the narratives were very similar to the first book. Then I read Masquerade. *sigh*

"Life is fucked up, it hurts, and it's not always pretty, but damned if it can't be beautiful too." 

Maddox was a character I very much liked in Façade and I was eagerly looking forward to his story, especially after having read the little teaser chapter at the end of Façade. I expected great things from him. I did get some of them, but mostly… it all fell flat in my eyes. Bee was seemingly a great addition to this cast of broken characters and I liked that she didn’t let anyone walk over her and the best thing about her? The tattoo shop, for sure. I’m pretty convinced that I won’t ever get a tattoo myself, but I love them on others. The first couple of chapters were great. They have a one night stand and expect not to see each other in the future. Well, Ms. Future here had other plans.

I usually love these kind of stories—broken hearts being mended, complete opposites (or, as it later turns out, not so very opposite after all) coming to care about one another and alllllll the physical attraction tension, of course. I found myself only caring about the latter, to be honest. Why? Well… it’s hard to explain. The make out sessions were hot, I’m not going to lie, but the parts where they took their time to heal from some pretty big wounds dragged so much that I really did not care. Plus, we have already seen almost the same story through Maddox’s sister Laney’s eyes. They went through the same thing in the past and now it’s Maddox’s turn to learn how to live with it. I, again, found myself not caring much.



Bee’s story was very different from what we have seen from the rest of the group. At first I thought it was rape or something, but once I realized it was not, her story really became interesting and it went down a route that we don’t see much of in New Adult literature. In any age group lit, for that matter. I appreciated that, but, again, found myself not caring much. It may as well have been the writing, because the narratives are so similar in every book in this series. They’re basically the same and that’s why I found myself wanting to skim the second half of the book, because I felt like I had already read this story.

There were some pretty quotes and thoughts in this book though and the example is in the quote above. If you’re a fan of Nyrae, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with it. If you like New Adult, angst, hot romances, lots of physical attraction and tension? Go and give this book a try. I don’t think that anything in this series lives up to the amazingness that was Charade, though. For me, this book fell flat and my high expectations weren’t fulfilled. For that, I feel sorry, but I’m not giving up on Nyrae’s books. Masquerade is the exception for me when it comes to her writing. 

Overall rating: 1.8 out of 5.0
Stars: 
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing, Forever Romance and Netgalley for providing a review copy. 

Meet the author

Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads

13 comments:

  1. Bummer you didn't like this one. I adore Facade, Colt and Cheyenne are my favorite! NA's are starting to sound repetitive to me which is why I'm taking a much needed break. Hopefully you like your next Nyrae book better :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sucks that you didn't enjoy this one. I understand when you say you've felt like you've read the book before. Sometimes, things get repetitive. And I've had my fair share of I don't care books. Great review and thanks for the honest opinion :)

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

    ReplyDelete
  3. I couldn't go through this one unfortunately. I just didn't feel connected to the story. While I loved Maddox in the 2nd book, I was sort of neutral to him in this one.
    It seems like you had the same issue of not caring much for the story.
    Great review!
    Sorry this was a let-down, Siiri! NA is just not doing it for me lately. Maybe, Maybe Someday, will bring us back those good moments we had with NA! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awww too bad on this one Siiri! It's always so disappointing when a series starts out so strong and then fails to meet the bar it initially set in subsequent books. I would much rather a series start out weak and get progressively stronger as it goes. Maybe you just need a break from NA? I often need to take extended breaks from the genre because a lot of the stories start to blur together and it helps to pick up something completely different. Hope whatever you grab next, NA or otherwise, is EPIC!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aww too bad! I have yet to try a book by Nyrae but I have seen a lot of good things said about her books. It sounds like a lot of us are starting to get tired of the same old NA book you know. I've stopped reading them pretty much. I find they're all more or less the same, now. It's a shame when a series you loved at first ends up being disappointing after 1-2 other books, though. :(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh also, the House gif is the shiz!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This one went to no-no list after the point in your review...I'll just quote you "They have a one night stand and expect not to see each other in the future" It couldn't be more annoying because I know the whole plot it seems now. I can only imagine how boring it was reading about those parts that you basically have already read about. I'm sorry to hear that Siiri. I hope your next read it awesome. Great review :)

    PS. I'll agree with Giselle. That gif is hilarious! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. When I started reading your review, the premise reminded me of the Marked Men series that I have just posted. With Fascade, being entwined with the other books it looked like a really good book. Bee sounds like an interesting character but I'm not sure she is something I would connect with very much. I will look out for this series with your huge praise for the first book. Lovely review, Siiri. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Interesting. Refreshing review since every other reviews I read for this one, pretty much gave it five stars and raved about it. So this is different.Sorry it fell a little flat for you, I do hate when it happens. But it sounds like it's a repeat of her other two stories or am I wrong? either way, I guess I will have to wait and see. I haven't even read the first yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Um, the first one was totally unique compared to the sequels, but the second book um.. the issues Maddox's sister had are the same that Maddox has, because they're family related. Lots of guilt and stuff. So, in some ways I felt like I was reading the same story, though more of it had to wo with the writing style since it's so similar in every book.

      Delete
  10. Oh, sorry you didn't like this. I did enjoy it, quite a lot. I do agree that Maddox's side of the story wasn't new, but he and (especially) Bee just worked for me.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have both this book and the second one I need to get to. I'm sorry to see you didn't enjoy it so much. I guess NA is becoming a little repetitive. I hope I end up liking this a little more, but at least I know to temper my expectations. Wonderful review, Siiri! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hmmmm...I'm wrinkling my nose at this one. It sounds way too similar to some of the other books I've read.

    ReplyDelete