Seeing Night Reviews: {Book Tour: Review + Guest Post Giveaway} of Wonderfully Wicked by C.J. Burright

Thank you so much for having me on Seeing Night! I’m so excited to be here!

Wonderfully Wicked was inspired by a mind-flash, one of those inspirational scenes that pop out of the ether into the subconscious for reasons unknown. No, I’m not crazy! Maybe it’s just a writer thing…so, shhh. Moving on. Kalila Montgomery (the heroine) was standing in line at a coffee shop. Mr. Dangerous in line behind her (the love interest, Lydon) was definitely not there for coffee. He stalked her, and I wanted to know why. But more than that mysterious element or the paranormal world or even the romance itself, what I enjoyed the most about writing Wonderfully Wicked is the emotional journeys of Kalila and Lydon.

Kalila comes from a rough childhood. She’s a dreamcaster, which means she leaks nightmares, and this made it hard on both the foster families she was placed with and Kalila herself. She never stayed in one location long, never felt accepted, never had a family. No one enjoys rejection, and some rejections hurt worse than others, but when the rejections pile up, the resulting emotional scars can be tough to conquer. To find her HEA, Kalila has to learn to accept who she is, flaws and all. On top of that, she has to believe she can be loved and deserves to be loved despite her freak factor. I love that aha moment when it finally sinks in.

Lydon, on the other hand, comes from a different cookie cutter. He’s a V’alkara, a man who invades dreams and feeds off nightmares. He’s been conditioned to box away his feelings, a necessity for survival in his world, so when he meets Kalila and she ignites his emotions, he’s faced with a major problem. He’s done some mighty bad things in his lifetime and doesn’t believe he warrants forgiveness, redemption, or love. But that doesn’t stop him from pursuing Kalila with everything he has. J She’s the one person who makes him want to be a better man, to fight against the monster he was raised to be, and become more human. Because of his past--and really, who he still is, since he faces a long journey to change--he knows Kalila can never truly love him. He’s totally wrong, of course, but that’s his moment of awestruck wonder, when he realizes she honestly loves him. No manipulation required.

Acceptance and redemption are major themes in my stories, Wonderfully Wicked included. I believe everyone deserves to be accepted and loved, no matter who they are, so bam! I write what I love.

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He haunts her dreams and embodies her nightmares…

A dreamcaster with the ability to channel creatures from her nightmares, headstrong and cynical Kalila Montgomery longs for a peaceful, picket-fence life…until the man literally of her dreams kidnaps her. Survival quickly becomes her number one goal, yet a growing attraction to the man featured in her nightmares is impossible to ignore. While she fears he will kill her, other, more terrifying enemies surround her, and Kalila succumbs to his scheme to escape.

She may be his one hope for freedom…

A deadly combination of power, cunning, and cold-hearted charm, Lydon v’al Endrian fears nothing. Feels nothing. Chained to a brotherhood of men with the supernatural ability to invade dreams, he hunts dreamcasters to be harvested for their dreams and killed. His target: Kalila Montgomery. But Kalila awakens an undeniable dark desire and a longing for a freedom long-lost. To gain everything he craves, Lydon must seduce Kalila before his plot is discovered…a hopeless challenge which, if failed, will earn him a death-sentence.

Caught up in a dangerous world of secrets and obsession, doubt and betrayal, Kalila and Lydon face the nightmare of their lives, where love will either deliver them—or destroy them both.

REVIEW:

Wonderfully Wicked is a hard book to review, not because I didn’t enjoy it because I most certainly did but because there is so much that happens its hard to explain it without giving away all the good parts. Burright created a beautifully crafted and unique world of nightmares and dreams. It reminded me a little bit of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphics novel, as Lydon reminded me so much as the dark and mysterious Sandman.

Wonderfully Wicked follows Kalila as she is brought into the world of Dreamcasters and a group of men known as the Valkara. With Kalila wanting a normal life, it’s hard for her to grasp that she is different and her nightmares are actually harming people. As a Dreamcaster she is brought face to face with The Black of the Valkara, also known as Lydon. But their connection both in attraction and fear changes everything and Kalila life will never be normal.

The world building is very important to being able to follow Wonderfully Wicked, as it takes some time to get use to the names and meanings of what each V’alkara are and whose good and whose most likely bad. It took me a bit to grasp all this and I did get confused at some points, as well as some moments dragged on a bit too long. However any scene with Lydon and Kalila was all I needed to get hooked. These two had some fantastic banter and serious chemistry, even when Kalila made some bad decisions by not listening to Lydon.

For me I adored Lydon the most because he’s all dark mysterious and trying so hard to be a mean guy, but deep down he cares for Kalila. He is the second highest rank among the Valkara, making him powerful as well as he can change into anything he finds in dreams. Which is creepy but super cool. He test Kalila limitations and with her attitude and not so nice and trusting persona he gets hit with a lot of fire from her. But he takes it and enjoys her strong demeanor.

Overall this was an action packed start with a lot of characters to keep up with. Lydon and Kalila may be the leads but we also have Mel her bff who has some special skills of her own. As well as Lydons fellow Valkara who make some trouble for the duo. I look forward to what’s next for these two and after the bit of a cliffhanger I’m interested to see what Kalila is going to do next.

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C. J. Burright was born and raised in Oregon and loved it so much she never left. While she has worked for years in a law office, she chooses to avoid writing legal thrillers and instead leans toward urban fantasy, paranormal romance, or—since all things medieval and magic fascinate her—fantasy romance. A member of Romance Writers of America and Secretary for the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal special interest chapter, C. J. also has her 4th Dan Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and believes stories should always include a gratuitous fight scene. In what spare time she has, she enjoys working out, reading, gardening, and rooting on the Seattle Mariners with a nice glass of wine. She shares a house with her husband, daughter, and a devoted herd of cats.