ARC Review: Lessons After Dark [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Lessons After Dark" the 2nd book in her series by Isabel Cooper.

Product Description

A woman with an unspeakable past

Olivia Brightmore didn't know what to expect when she took a position to teach at Englefiend School, an academy for "gifted" children. But it wasn't having to rescue a young girl who levitated to the ceiling. Or battling a dark mystery in the surrounding woods. And nothing could have prepared her for Dr. Gareth St. John ...

A man with exceptional talent

He knew all about her history and scrutinized her every move because of it. But there was more than suspicion lurking in those luscious green eyes. Even with all the strange occurrences at the school, the most unsettling of all is the attraction pulling Olivia and Gareth together with a force that cannot be denied.

About the Author

Isabel Cooper lives in Boston with her boyfriend and a houseplant she's kept alive for over a year now. She maintains her guise as a mild-mannered project manager working in legal publishing. She only travels through time the normal way and has never fought a demon, but she can waltz. For more visit isabelcooper.wordpress.com.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Original edition (April 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402264402
ISBN-13: 978-1402264405

My Review:

Olivia Brightmore was hired to be the new school teacher for a group of "gifted children" but she never expected to save a levitating girl from a ceiling or to fight off the dark forces surrounding the school.  Olivia married young and lost her husband.  To survive she pretended to be a medium and as she matured she found a mentor who taught her how to use magic.

Gareth is a doctor who was injured in the war and is aware of Olivia's medium past.  He doesn't trust her so decides to keep a close eye on her.

You can see the sparks flying off both of them and they can't keep their hands off each other even though there isn't any trust between them.  When they discover a demon is living in the woods they decide to team up to stop it.

I really hated the way Gareth treated Olivia but he couldn't keep his hands off her though.  

3/5

Thanks Sourcebooks for sending me this ARC to review, greatly appreciated!

No Proper Lady [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "No Proper Lady" by Isabel Cooper.

Product Description

It's Terminator meets My Fair Lady in this fascinating debut of black magic and brilliant ball gowns, martial arts, and mysticism.

England, 1888. The trees are green, the birds are singing, and no one has any idea that in a few hundred years, demons will destroy it all. Joan plans to keep it that way. All she has to do is take out the dark magician responsible-before he summons the demons in the first place. But as a rough-around-the-edges assassin from that bleak future, she'll have to learn how to fit into polite Victorian society to get close to her target.

Simon Grenville has his own reasons for wanting to destroy Alex Reynell. The man used to be his best friend - until his practice of the dark arts almost killed Simon's sister. The beautiful half-naked stranger Simon meets in the woods may be the perfect instrument for his revenge. It will just take a little time to teach her the necessary etiquette and assemble a proper wardrobe. But as each day passes, Simon is less sure he wants Joan anywhere near Reynell. Because no spell in the world will save his future if she isn't in it.

About the Author


Isabel Cooper lives in Boston with her boyfriend and a houseplant she's kept alive for over a year now. She maintains her guise as a mild-mannered project manager working in legal publishing. She only travels through time the normal way and has never fought a demon, but she can waltz. For more visit isabelcooper.wordpress.com.

My Review:

The ending of the first chapter was truly terrifying and scary!

Joan is sent back in time to Victorian England to save the world in the future.  When she first meets Simon he thinks she is weird because she's smeared with blood and is carrying weapons.  When she is being fitted for new clothes she only thinks how it would hinder her fighting because they are heavy.

Joan is a very courageous and deadly heroine who has been through a tragic event.

Simon wants to use Joan to get back at his former friend Alex because he used his sister to harbor a demon. 

3.5/5

Thanks Sourcebooks for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!