Review: MASQUERADE: Strong heroine FTW!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2014
Man, Nyrae Dawn knows how to deliver a powerful story. There are so many New Adult books I've picked up lately that start out so promising and then fail to deliver in some aspect that I find important in the stories I read.  Not Nyrae, though.  She writes characters that are strong when they should be, weak when they need to be and consistent in their personality.  No characters that magically turn into rainbow puking unicorns because love has seeped into their hardened little hearts.  (Dude. I would pay good money to see Maddox puke rainbows.)  Masquerade is another Nyrae Dawn title I'm adding to my list of recommended New Adult titles.Reading Masquerade was like going back to visit old friends.  Not only because we're back with the Cross family, but because we get to see Colt, Cheyenne, Adrian and, of course, Laney.  As you may remember from Facade, the Cross family has had their share of heartache and you'll see that come to a boiling point in Masquerade.  Maddox and Laney's relationship plays an important part in this story and watching them try to find the right mix of involvement in each others life is completely satisfying.  Those two have been through an awful lot together and I feel hopeful that they're somewhere together talking smack right now.As much as I love me some Maddox, the real star of this story was Ms. Bee Malone. Holy SweeTARTS I love her! As with many of the characters in this series, Bee has secrets of her own.  She's lived through situations that would make most people feel sorry for themselves and make excuses for their inability to cope with life. Not Bee. Oh, no.  She's taken her pain and used it to push herself forward into a life of her own making. There's certainly been a price she's paid for that pushing, though, and she finally has to take the time to face those pieces of her past. Between that and dealing with the intense feelings of what just might be love for Maddox, Bee has a lot on her plate. And she handles it like a superstar, yo. Mostly. (I kinda wanted to yell at her (and Maddox) at the hotel scene. GRRR to those hard headed characters, lol)  PLUS. She's a tattoo artist! A female tattoo artist with a male apprentice. THAT rocks my world.Listen. If you've been feeling a little "meh" about the New Adult genre, give this series a chance. Not only are they REALLY well written, they have characters that will *probably* drive you crazy at times, but their behavior is totally in line with their personality. (See paragraph 1, sentence 4)  Nyrae has made it onto my list of authors I will read regardless of what it is they're writing.  Pick up this series and see why for yourself.