julieclarkjones

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars! I first started reading this book on Feb. 16, 2015 and as of today, March 18 (more than a month now) I'm still at 17% of this book!? *faints* 

I don't know what happened to me and why I just can't find/make the time to read this book. For one, the cover is GORGEOUS!!! Just stunning - and did I mention, GORGEOUS??? *fans self* 

The background characters are so engaging and entertaining, and Lyla (the female lead) has an interesting storyline, but I guess I had problems with Oz, the male lead's (or who I think the male lead is) storyline and the world building in this book. 

Lyla is a 1000+ or so, year old jinn who just wants to ride out the last few years of her curse and live out her life in freedom, not having to fear being bound to a Master. She has escaped to Detroit and is hiding out in a strip bar of all places. 

Her co-performers are all close friends and paranormals themselves. They look out for each other and make sure no one gets close to Lyla to entrap her. Everything seems to be going well and the groups' main concern is getting Lyla a man since she seems to be going through more than her share of one-night stands which lead nowhere. 

Lyla tells her group of friends that she's fine, but in the back of her mind she wishes she could just live in peace and find someone to settle down with - without having the threat of being bound looming over her head. 

Just as she's performing one night, she spots someone in the audience - a Magi (Oz) - the only beings who have the power (or in this case the magic words) capable of binding her to them. 

Before she can escape, Oz says the magic words and presto she's bound to his every wish/desire. 

This was where things got muddled for me. Oz had no clue to his Magi background and he comes from some Middle Eastern country where he was doing God knows what and while he was there, he met a family he befriended. The family goes missing and they eventually end up dead, but it seems one of the family members is still alive. Oz is desperate to find them and somehow he got in touch with his magical roots and voila! he's a Magi now.

Supposedly, this isn't Oz's first rodeo. He's bound other jinn to him in his journey for this lost family member, but oddly enough he's let them go. He "accidentally" runs into Lyla's power and decides to see if maybe Lyla can help him on his quest.

Hmm...why not just ask her instead of forcing her? It just didn't make sense. And what questions was he asking or what was he doing with the other jinns that he couldn't find this missing family member? Obviously, if the others couldn't muster enough magic to find this missing person, what made him think Lyla could? Her short, skimpy skirt and big boobs? *smh*

I just didn't get it.

All of this coupled with the fact that the author tried to worldbuild a whole new storyline behind genies and magis when all along I just kept envisioning Aladdin, I just couldn't keep things straight.

Besides, it was pretty evident how things were going to end up. Lyla was going to fall for Oz and it was all going to be happy, sexxy times while solving the mystery of the missing family member.

I don't even know why I held out as long as I have to this book - probably I secretly just loved seeing the cover on my Kindle and I hoped it would make me want to continue the story. I really wanted to shelf this book for now and continue it at a later date, but who am I kidding? It's a really LONG book - about 374 pages and I just don't have the time.

I also didn't want to skim through it - the author does a really great job of writing it, I just couldn't wrap my head around the backstory, nor did I have the patience to figure out why. *le sigh*

So disappointed in myself. I truly wanted to LOVE this book and show off the cover to everyone. *sad julie* Can someone just tell me how this book turns out? Give me the short and sweet version :)  

At 17%, this book features: 

• paranormal romance
• sexual tension
• sexual content
• magic
• mystery
• suspense
• kidnapping