I haven't whipped through a book this fast in a looking time. Loved it. The MC coming into her own. Ernie. Remo. It was *chef's kiss*

I didn't find myself enjoying it as much as I thought. It was interesting to read. I found myself putting it down a lot and trying to finish, and which I did. Halfway through I wanted to know more about world around the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but then I have a fondness for paranormal fiction and before becoming too ill to work i had hoped to open my own bakery/patisserie/cake decorating business so the character resonates well with me. She is somewhat naive, and submissive to begin with, but by the end of the book she has started to find herself and develop a strength of character to go with her new form. Loved it.

Welcome to Seattle, where nothing in this world is as it seems, and the Greek gods aren’t dead. They’re just in hiding, and some in plain sight. There’s a deadly virus going around. It’s the type of virus that only a supernatural person can pass on. It’s been said there is no coming back from that virus. Once you’re, sick you die. But what if there’s a cure? What if you can become whatever you wanted to be and better? Be forewarned. It comes at a pretty high price, and one you must be willing to pay.

Alena owns a successful bakery in Seattle until she becomes infected with the deadly virus. She’s offered an opportunity to receive the cure but is she strong enough to take it? Hey, when Merlin shows up with a cure, you don’t turn it down! But like everything that is too good to be true, there’s a catch. You have to give up your old life and become a supernatural. Drama and action ensue. It’s all good until a goddess wants you dead because of your heritage! Alena must defeat Achilles and save her brother, if she wants to save the human race. Can she learn to adjust and accept who she is now to do this or will she revert back to being subservient?

The story was interesting. It started off a bit slow, but if you can get through the first couple of chapters it picks up. The writing was good and entertaining. It was a nice piece of fluff and an easy read. There are humorous moments and moments where you ask yourself, “But why?” I have no regrets and I plan on reading the next one!

I was looking forward to this book, but didn't find myself enjoying it as much as i thought. It was interesting to read, but i found myself putting it down a lot and trying to finish, which I did, but it took a while.

I only got half-way through before I gave up on this. Alena's voice was quite annoying. Her naivety about everything happening to her was not cute or funny. It made me not know what was going on either, and when you're halfway through the book, you should at least know a little bit about the world around the characters.

I really love urban fantasies but this one just was not what I was looking for. The world was seriously lacking and the main character was annoying. I ended up leaving the book unfinished at 74%,

A funny and fast read. Toss vampires, shifters, Greek mythology, and a female main character who's non cursing is quite creative together in the mixer and what do you get? A great beginning to a paranormal comedy. I can't wait to read the next book.

Title: Venom and Vanilla
Author: Shannon Mayer
Series: The Venom Trilogy #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: 47 North
Pub Date: November 1, 2016
Pages: 240
My Copy: Courtesy of NetGalley and 47North

Book Summary:

Successful Seattle baker Alena Budrene doesn’t want to die. But when she’s infected with a lethal virus spread by supernatural beings, her only chance for recovery is to make a deal with the devil—or in this case, a warlock.

Though he saves her life, it looks nothing like the life she once knew—and neither does she. Alena is a new breed of “Supe” no one has ever seen before. Even the supernatural police don’t know what she is. Now exiled to the northern side of the Wall, which marks the divide between humans and Supes, Alena is thrust into a dark and magical new world.

But just as she begins to adjust to all things supernatural, she realizes that her transformation is the least of her worries—and it was no accident. She was chosen…to be killed by a Greek hero trying to make a name for himself once more.

Alena was brought up to be subservient, preferring creating to fighting, and vanilla and honey to blood. But that was then. Now, to survive, she must stand up for herself—and this time she’s got fangs. But will she be ready to use them?


Book Review:

A wickedly good fun novel that really shows that sometimes life can have other plans for you. Alena Budrene is not a person who expects that while she is dying, that her life is going to get a lot more complicated.

I like that Alena is someone who at the start of this book is accepting of her situation, but yet her friends and relatives, think that there might be a way out of her illness. Yet Alena’s douchebag husband has already moved on with another woman and asks Alena to transfer her bakery to him. Her relatives are upset, but her grandmother knows a warlock who might be able to cure her illness. Alena knows there is a cost to dealing with a warlock and the cure might be more painful than she thinks. We find out that there is a cost but Merlin is quite a character himself. He doesn’t sell it to her quite as well. Yet, eventually she agrees to become a paranormal.

When Alena becomes a paranormal or a Supe as they are called in this wall, she learns that her brother, Tad was the one who paid for her to become a paranormal creature. We learn that Alena is now considered dead and no longer can have legal rights. Yet we learn that Merlin made her into something very interesting, a Drakina, a Greek mythological creature. We also learn that there is a conflict between Zeus and Hera.

Then we also learn that Achilles wants to kill Alena. She doesn’t know why this is happening. We learn that there was a curse place on Alena’s family from a long time ago, because of Zeus having an indiscretion with one of Alena’s ancestors. This leads to Alena and Achilles having some fights with one another. Achilles believes himself to be the hero and that it’s his mission to get rid of certain supes, who he believes are evil.

This book was really good. I also enjoyed a lot of the other characters we got introduced. Alena has to make some deals and decisions that she would haven’t made pre supes life. Remo, Tad, Dahlia. This world is filled with vampires, snakes, Gods, Warlocks, and other creatures. The characters are interesting. I think this makes me much more interested in what will happen next in the series.

Achilles gets beaten, but not in the way you expect. Alena finds out that she is much more powerful than she thought possible. I also love how we learn how many people have secrets. Yet, we haven’t even scratched the surface of this world.

I really enjoyed Alena and the cast of characters in this world. Can’t wait to read the next few books in this series.

Rating:

Four Hearts

I am writing his review after reading the entire series and this is the way I prefer to read a series because of continuity. In the world the author has created countries and continents have built a wall that keeps the humans on one side and the supernaturals on the other. It turns out that there are werewolves, vampires, witches, mermaids and many other out there and because of them many humans? are getting the Aegrus Virus which kills them quick, but not so quickly that they don’t suffer horribly before they die (think the worse type of cancer on steroids times 100). There is no cure for the virus? and once contracted you are put in a hospital as far from populated areas as possible; your family is urged not to visit you and you are just left alone under minimum care of a medical staff made up of super naturals because they are immune to the virus; they’re the carriers.

The setting for the series is set in Seattle where Alena Budrene has worked hard to become the owner of the most successful bakery, Vanilla and Honey. She was raised as a member of a church called Firstamentalists who believe that anyone who doesn’t follow their teachings are doomed to eternal “He double hockey sticks” and that all supernaturals are all demons. She was a devout believer until she met Roger, the man she eventually married. Her husband is worthless, unable to perform the simplest tasks and has been content to let his wife support him by working up to 18 hours a day and living in the very nice house her grandparents left her which was remodeled using the money the money they left her.
Several years ago she lost her brother Todd to the virus and is still grieving over the loss. She still believes most of the churches doctrine and still dresses like they do and follows most of the tenets. When she gets the virus part of her believes it is because she slept with her husband before marriage and married someone outside the church so she deserves this punishment. Her roommate in the hospital is a woman named Dahlia and they have managed to form a bond of friendship despite knowing that their time is short and they will day within days of one another. Alena has told Roger that she does not want him to grieve for her, that he must carry on with his life. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know what a louse he has always been and that he has no intention of waiting for her to die. She is surprised and horrified when her Yaya shows up to visit her because she is not in a hazmat suite; she urges her to leave but she tells her to hush and listen. She says there are things that she needs to know but now is not the time, that she will explain everything later but that she must not make any stupid decisions in the meantime and that everything will be fine. Alena believe that her grandmother is in denial but she just wants her gone so she won’t get sick so she agrees.

After discovering what Roger has planned her roommate tells her there is a chance to beat the virus but she would have to become some type of supernatural; she explains that her parents are trying to raise the money and that a warlock named Merlin will be coming to see her. Alena is unsure whether she believes that anyone can be saved but she doesn’t want to burst her friends dreams and tells her she hopes she get what she wants. When Merlin arrives, Dahlia discovers that her parents have given the money to a church believing that is the only way to really save their daughter; needless to say that she is heartbroken. When Merlin turns to Alena and tells her that her fee has been paid and she can choose to be turned into anything she is shocked, but turns it down and tells him to use it for Dahlia instead. They both try to talk her out of it, but she refuses and Merlin takes Dahlia and leaves sifter she professes her eternal gratitude to Alena.

Although Alena doesn’t regret letting her friend have a chance to live, she realizes that she is truly going to die alone now. Roger has made it clear that he won’t be back and her parents think that this is her just punishment for turning her back of the believes she was taught as a child. The next day she decides that she isn’t going to wait the last few days for the virus to kill her that she’s going to help it along. It’s the middle of winter and she knows that her immune system has been destroyed and decides to get to the roof and lay in the cold until she dies. She tricks a nurse into removing her catheter and with much difficulty she is trying to make it to the stairwell so she can get to the roof when she runs into Merlin. Merlin realizes what she is trying to do but tells her that the person who had paid her was not happy with her decision and that she has another chance, she tells him to go away, but he keeps talking and encouraging her to use this opportunity. She is getting weaker by the moment and eventually collapses but Merlin catches her and tells her despite her believe that all supenaturals are monsters that is not the case; it’s the type of person that they were before they were changed that decides what they do afterwards and she could be different. Alena doesn’t want to die and tells him that she wants to be changed into something unique; something unlike anyone else and he agrees. She doesn’t realize that Merlin has his own agenda and that despite being paid an enormous sum he has no care for her well-being. Once she is turned she finds out while she is now safe from the virus and no longer has to worry about slowly wasting away before she finally dies that she has bigger problems than she could have imagined.
While there are reviewers that say that this tale is wrapped up be the end I disagree, there’s not the usual cliffhanger where we don’t know if our protagonist will live, but we know that she is still not out of danger either. I think this was a good story and while there isn’t any sex in the book there is a lot of sexual innuendo and adult humor so I think of this as a book for NA/Adults.

4/5 STARS: **I want to thank the author and/or publisher for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are mine.**

I got this book a while ago on NetGalley but I knew that once I started it I would need to read the other ones right after it, so I decided to be patient and wait for the others first.

So now I've finally read it. I must say I didn't love it, but I liked it. There is just something about Shannon Mayer writing style that makes her books so easy and fast to read.

I really liked how Alena's character developed in the building of this story. She started out as a cute little wallflower and the more the story progressed the more she embraced her more confident side.

I was really intrigued by Alena's possible love interest, but at the same time I was sad that we didn't see more of him.

Rating: 3,5 stars

I love all of Shannon Mayer's books, there is not one that disappoints! This is a fun fast read that keeps you hooked throught out the whole time.

Alright this took me two attempts to get into.
I think the biggest problem with the plot is that it tried to be a bit of everything all at once.
In places it worked and more often than not the story line fell flat.

A good idea that may improve in the next book.

Title:  Venom & Vanilla
Series:  The Venom Trilogy Book #1
Author:  Shannon Mayer
Genre:  Paranormal, Romance
Blurb:   Successful Seattle baker Alena Budrene doesn’t want to die. But when she’s infected with a lethal virus spread by supernatural beings, her only chance for recovery is to make a deal with the devil—or in this case, a warlock.

Though he saves her life, it looks nothing like the life she once knew—and neither does she. Alena is a new breed of “Supe” no one has ever seen before. Even the supernatural police don’t know what she is. Now exiled to the northern side of the Wall, which marks the divide between humans and Supes, Alena is thrust into a dark and magical new world.

But just as she begins to adjust to all things supernatural, she realizes that her transformation is the least of her worries—and it was no accident. She was chosen…to be killed by a Greek hero trying to make a name for himself once more.

Alena was brought up to be subservient, preferring creating to fighting, and vanilla and honey to blood. But that was then. Now, to survive, she must stand up for herself—and this time she’s got fangs. But will she be ready to use them?
Thoughts: If you happen to be looking for a less-serious, lighthearted paranormal book, this one would fit the bill. I actually enjoyed the premise of the book and the storyline, however I did have a bit of a problem with our main heroine. Alena was just very immature and timid for the most part and even when she’s being a ‘big bad’ she just never quite pulls it off. Of course, all the other characters she encounters in the book are fascinated by her – which I just don’t get at all. Something about the story and the author had me continuing the book, however, and I didn’t feel that her character was so awful that it rendered it unreadable. It was actually an ok book, though I probably won’t continue with this particular trilogy.
Rate:  B