Not bad for a novella, but I feel like it just barely touched the surface of what could be and what is to come. I find it hard for authors to be able to convey all that they want into a short story, specially when their ideas seem too big for a short story. If I did not know this was apart of a series, I would be very upset.
But knowing that this is only the beginning of a series, I can take into account that the story isn't over and will be able to progress. "Love at first sight's" stories are usually cliche, predicable and embellished - this is no different, but adds the element of heroes. It's a good start despite feeling incomplete.

This was a very enjoyable, albeit it short, read. I kind of wish it had been longer. Kind of the only reason I didn't give it a higher rating.

I really liked the characters and the setting. But I would have liked to have more information on both the world and the characters. With this being a novella, things felt kind of rushed. There wasn't as much character development for me to buy the romance the way I would have liked.

There was also kind of a lack of worldbuilding in the sense that I don't really understand where the Superpowered people come from. If this is a world where supers always existed, or if an event happened that created them.

I was also a little confused about Valdis, and if she is a different kind of super since she talked about how her power can be transferred and that it came from 'The Goddess'.

I look forward to reading more from this series, and I hope more is explained in later books.

A short and sweet superhero romance which is aiming to set up a new rkmance franchise.

The Manhattan 10 are a superhero troop with almost unlimited resources in their arsenal to fight crime. On the trail of a superhero serial killer, shapeshifter Jag comes across a promising new superhero that he's intent on getting to join the team, and win over.

Jag and Ivory had excellent chemistry, and the quick crime story provided an interesting backstory to their developing romance.

Was a bit too.. cliche and full of tropes for me. A white woman who is a literal ice princess, a black man who is a jaguar shapeshifter. They are obsessed with each other.

Need I say anything else?

This wasn’t my cup of tea at all.
Everything went way too fast for my liking. I like a slow, well explained story. But this book just kept throwing information at me.
I also expected more superheroe stuff.

3.5 stars.

A sexually charged superhero short story from start to finish. If you want something that doesn't require a lot of depth but has some really great sexual chemistry with it's characters then look no further. A very quick read, action packed from start to finish.

That cover, wow. This cover is completely eye catching! It was the first thing I noticed when browsing books and after reading the description I had to put in a request.

Superhero type erotic romance it has everything I enjoy in a book. Quick, easy to follow and loveable characters. It was easy get captivated in the story. Nice flow and the romance was hot. I'll be picking up the rest of the series!

Thanks for the opportunity to read this book, I really enjoyed it.

I received a free copy of IVORY (Novella 1 of the Manhattan Ten Series) by Lola Dodge in exchange for an honest review. Valdís is in hiding from her evil family and is voluntarily suppressing her ice powers. Fully unleashing her powers would result in Valdís losing her morals, going insane, and returning her to her killer nature. Following a public incident wherein Jag witnessed Valdís use her powers, Jag conscripts Valdís into joining the superhero group called the Manhattan Ten. Jag and Valdís experience an immediate attraction and fall into bed. The publicity, surrounding the Manhattan Ten allows Valdís’ family to find her and to take Jag prisoner. Will Valdís return to her family and her formerly evil ways? Will Jag become a victim of Valdís’ family or her icy nature? Or, can they escape to their Happily Ever After?

I had to double-check to make sure this was the first in the series because, as an introduction to a new world, some exposition and world-building is expected. Instead, the tale started immediately with no explanation of what was going on in this alternate reality. This novella would benefit from an introduction, a prologue, or the addition of a new “Chapter 1” wherein some of the background could be given prior to the “meet cute.” The multiple action scenes and sexual encounters leave little room for the development of the romantic relationship. Thus, you’re left with the impression that any connection between the characters is based solely on adrenaline and pheromones.

#Ivory #NetGalley

This book tells the tale of Ivory an ice princess as she reluctantly takes her place among the Manhattan Ten a group of super heroes. This was a fast paced super fun story and I enjoyed watching the byplay between Ivory and Jag. I look forward to reading the others stories as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review!

For a novella, Ivory really packed a punch. Since this is such a short story I'm not going to dive deep into the synopsis. If you're interested you should check it out for yourself.

I will say that the characters are completely fleshed out and realized. The chemistry between Ivory and Jag isn't rushed. I really liked the back and forth between them as well.

Overall it was a fun and quick read. I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of Ivory in exchange of an honest review.


Listen, this was fantastic! Purrrrrr-fect! I wish it could have been longer, for sure wish there would have been more world building, but I enjoyed this story way too much.

It was such an easy read and I’m thankful for that, often these type of stories aren’t. I need more of these characters for sure. Even more after reading a short of the second book. Can’t wait to get my hands on that one.

This was a fun introduction to the Manhattan Ten, a group of superheroes that work together in New York.

I really loved this book, it was short and to the point, with an excellent plot, sizzling chemistry and a good few witty one liners. I’m not usually a fan of possessive men, but Ivory more than meets Jag in terms of power, so the balance is there in their relationship by the end of the book.

I love the set up of the world, I love the various powers of the ten (which I look forward to discovering more about in the future), I love the pacing (exciting action, but not too stressful for me). The author has really got this spot on, and I’ll certainly be reading future volumes!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ivory is the first book in the new Manhattan Ten series by Lola Dodge. I've read several books published by Ink Monster and never been disappointed but this is my first Lola Dodge book. She had me hooked right out of the gate. Her original twist on superheroes captured my attention and left me sleep-deprived. Ivory, the ice princess finds her perfect match in her hot partner Jag. I'm even more excited to see the next book in the series will arrive soon, check it out!

Lola Dodge kicks off a new series of superhero romance novellas with Ivory, the story of a Scandinavian goddess (maybe? it's never quite clear on this point?) who finds herself mixed up with a superhero team. It's 80% romance and 20% superhero fiction, if that's relevant to you.

This book didn't work for me, for a lot of reasons. I liked the premise: super-powered flight attendant kills someone on her flight and ends up having to lie low with a team of supers who are investigating a serial killer focused on supers. So far, so good.

The execution, however, was not my style.

We can start with Valdís, our heroine. I know that she's trying to lay low to avoid detection after having left her tribe of hunters in some undefined Arctic-ish part of the world. She talks about it a lot, without ever really explaining what that situation is. Is she immortal? How long has she been gone? Why would her people hunt her down if she's been sent into exile? Or did she just run away? Her mother will do what if she's captured? Val's backstory is never more than her desire to stay out of the public eye, and it's weird.

Then there's our hero, Jag. The author intends for this to be short for Jaguar--he's a shifter and that's his animal form--but it may be more accurate to think of it as short for "jag off" because he's a complete tool. I don't love aggressive, possessive heroes in romance: this guy *literally* growls when another man makes neutral contact with Val. For her part, Val shuts down his flirting on several occasions, but Jag will not be deterred. This is one of those stories where the heroine says no with her words, but yes with her body.

The final straw was that the turning point for her affections is when she witnesses Jag's transformation to his animal form. She fixates on petting him, and that rubbed me the wrong way. Not here for the aggressive brown hero who wins the standoffish Nordic lady when he purrs at her feet. She's not here for the caveman behavior until she can pet him? Please, no, thank you.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.

I love this superhero styled novella about an ice warrior queen (YES!) and her ferocious shape-shifting counterpart. My only complaint is that I wish there was more!

I got a free advance readers’ copy in exchange for my honest review.

It has been a while since I tried a romance story. This actually was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Ivory is an ice princess from Scandinavia. A literal ice princess, as in she was made of ice. She is working as a flight attendant while running away from her family. She is also forced to suppress her superpowers because using them triggers her inner warrior. However, on one of her flights, she is forced to use her power to defend herself and that is where Jag comes in. He is a member of the Manhattan Ten, a group of superheroes charged with protecting the citizens of USA. He sees her in action and falls head over heels and is determined to melt her icy persona.

This book was quite enjoyable. I read it in one sitting. This book was like a combination of X-Men and the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Ivory and Jag hit it off immediately but they are two extremely stubborn individuals and it was quite hilarious to check out their battle of wills.

The world the author created was amazing. I loved the descriptions of their powers and felt myself feeling as if I could feel Jag’s fur when he changed to his jaguar form. I also loved the other superheroes of the Manhattan Ten, especially Angel who could keep the testosterone levels under control.

My only issue was how short this book was, not because the story was left unfinished or anything. I just was really enjoying how the book was going. I cannot wait for the second installment of this series.

This book is definitely for adults. There are some very adult scenes in this book. The stars of this book are not paranormal, but fans of J.R. Ward should be able to enjoy this book. This was a fantastic start to what is shaping up to be a great series.

Val is a flight attendant hiding from her family and her power of controlling ice. After she uses her powers on a flight she’s approached by a jaguar shifter and asked to join a group of superhero’s.
She becomes part of the team and her name changes to Ivory.

I liked the mysterious element with the serial killer targeting supers. It added tension to the plot.
A also liked that Ivory was a tall, powerful capable woman.
The chemistry between jag and ivory was hot and even though the book was short it didn’t feel rushed. I liked the way Jag got under Ivory’s cool exterior, they complimented each other very well.
I’m also interested in Tank, his superpower of reading people’s minds is fascinating and I can’t wait to hear more when it’s his story.

This was like a cross between x-men and an urban fantasy shifter novel with some romance. It was enjoyable maybe a bit on the short side, but it just made me want to read more.

Thank you to netgalley and Ink Monster publishing for sending me this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

It was a good reading. Ivory & Jag are so good together with their flirtation and sassiness. Ivory is a bit hard at the edges, but with Jag's caring personality is a good balance.

I hope there's more about Ivory's homeland and I really wanna know more about all the super stuff.

I should start by explaining that this book has been published before in 2013, but it was bk 2 in the series then. The books have been switched around a little and it is now bk 1 in the Manhattan Series. I’ll be honest normally I would read “super heroes” and scrunch up my nose and think no immediately but the cover of this book really caught my attention enough to make me read the blurb and in turn interested in reading the book. I really love the cover in the neon-esque ice blue writing on the midnight blue background. Then with the Manhattan skyline at the top of the book, the jaguar head to represent Jag and the masquerade mask that symbolise the fact Valdis is in hiding at the beginning of the story. Then of course there’s the snowflake and ice spears that characterise Valdis.

At the beginning of the novella length story, Valdis or Val as her colleagues call her is working as an air stewardess, as she has been doing for quite some time. Today is only slightly different as the air craft is so hot which is causing the passengers to overheat and become more irritable than usual. It seems the more elite passenger in first class are wanting more attention and Val is moved up to offer help to the stewardess already there.

When Val is attacked which puts both her life and those on the plane’s lives in danger her cool façade and determination to hide what she truly is slips and she automatically takes her assailant down. There’s a mixture of shock, horror and gratitude from the passengers. Val is devastated as she had worked hard to remain off the radar. She had run away from her tribe and their way of life and wanted to fit in with normal society, and now it would all have been for nothing. There would be reporters, and meetings with the authorities, and maybe even people from her tribe sent to kill her now they knew where she was! Then along comes Jag, a “hot in the handsome sense” guy who says he is from the Manhattan Ten and they can help and protect Val.

Of course, there is much more to tell, Val the super heroes is renamed Ivory by the press and the name seems to be sticking. Then there’s the hot and cold relationship between Ivory and Jag.
We also learn more about what the Manhattan Ten do and in this novella, they are trying to track down a man or group intent on killing those with super hero powers of any sort. We are also briefly introduced to the other members in the Manhattan Ten. The leader is Tank, the organiser of the group is Angel, and there is the super-fast Jet.

I felt quickly pulled into the novella, wanting to know who Val/Ivory was hiding from and why. I immediately fell in love with the lovable, Jag even though he is a dangerous animal when he shifts. Jag is so laid back, yet at the same time gives off such a tough guy image. Yet he shows a softer, perhaps more vulnerable side when with Ivory. I also adored the banter between Jag and Ivory. It was kind of sweet how quickly Jag became so possessive over the woman he had just met on a plane, though took a while to realise that his animal side that was claiming her too.
I thought the mixture of kick ass tough female crossed with the vulnerability of not wanting to hurt anyone around her made Ivory a complex, interesting and lovable character. I think there is a great mix of characters and am looking forward to reading much more of this series. I am particularly looking forward to learning more about both Tank and Angel.

I should point out due to certain language and content I would agree with the categorisation of the book being 18+ Adult fiction. Don’t think all the super heroes are shifters though as they are not, they have different powers.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the novella were that I really did enjoy reading this one and am looking forward to reading more of this potentially great series.

To sum up super heroes aren't what I would usually choose to read, but the cover (the new ink monster version) initially caught my eye and I fancied reading something a little different and I have to say I really enjoyed reading it. I will be looking out for the rest of the series being released as I definitely want to read more!

If you’re in the mood for a superhero adventure with an added flavor of romance, this novella, Ivory, features both. Because it is a novella length the story reads like an episode with a beginning, a middle and an ending. But if you’re looking for a more detailed accounting of how these superhero’s gained their powers, how the Manhattan-5 formed, and when they formed, you’re not going to find your answers in this short story.

The writing style was easily read, and the adventure was engrossing enough that added details did not matter so much. I’m looking forward to the next episode!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.