Winter Lost

Winter Lost

by Patricia Briggs

When Life Gives You Vampires

When Life Gives You Vampires

by Gloria Duke

After a night that she doesn't remember, Lily awakens to discover that she's now a vampire. Apparently made undead by accident, Lily and her maker, Tristan, must navigate vampire politics and try to avoid being killed permanently.

Between her BFF and font of all fiction vampire lore giving her advice, a work colleague who suddenly seems to really hate her, a backstory that Tristan refuses to share, and a master vampire threatening her, Lily has quite a bit to learn and she must learn it in just a few days.

Final thoughts: Messy. No chemistry and the constant use of the phrase "obvi" is extremely frustrating by the end. This could have been cute but it just doesn't gel.

Rating: 2/5

Big Bad

Big Bad

by Lily Anderson

In an alternate dimension Sunnydale, the skies over the town are permanently dark and the vampires and demons rule the newly named "Demondale". As the Trio work together to try and help Warren ascend, a teen girl appears and Warren ends up in pieces around the room.

The teen girl is Buffy and she's determined to destroy all demons in all dimensions.

It's up to Jonathan, Andrew, Anya, Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla to try and save their dimension and all the demons and vamps who live there. 

With all of the various characters from the Buffyverse making appearances, they must work together to stop the slayer.

Final thoughts: This is mediocre fanfic that's jammed up reference after reference, which takes away from actual storytelling. Pretty much every demon and vamp who Buffy fought over seven seasons are at least mentioned in this novel. The ending doesn't feel like it fits in with the character who we've grown to love over seven seasons. Those who don't know the Buffyverse and/or aren't fans won't get into this and those who are fans may just be distracted by the references without being able to enjoy the plot.

Rating: 2/5

Soul Taken

Soul Taken

by Patricia Briggs

When people start disappearing, the wolf pack of the Tri-Cities area takes it seriously. When vampires start disappearing, that wolf pack gets very serious about protecting those around them.

During a meeting to discuss one issue, the magic around them is broken and a damaged ally appears with an ultimatum for the pack, and especially for Mercy. Find the vampire, Wulfe, or be blamed for his demise.

On the hunt for the missing vampire and trying to make sense of the other disappearances, Mercy and her pack are introduced to the legend of the Soul Taker, a sickle that is possessed and possesses those who hold it. It needs souls to reach its goal of releasing an ancient god and Mercy's soul may just be the last one it needs.

With time running out and the people around them starting to blame the pack for the dangers, Mercy needs to solve yet another magical mystery before it's too late.

Final thoughts: I LOVE Mercy, but this one was a mess. It's choppy. It lacks direction. The characters are all just a little off from their normal state. Was this meant to be messy? Is this just a setup for the final book or two? There are issues with timing and timelines, as well as her just ignoring some issues that keep coming up like the phone calls that can't be tracked. It's possible that my re-read of the series before I read this one tainted my overall view of this story. There are so many better ones before this and this just felt like Patty was distracted as she wrote this.

Rating: 3/5

Not the Witch You Wed

Not the Witch You Wed

by April Asher

 

Violet Maxwell is the "Maxwell Dud". She's the first born of triplets in a magical family but she seems to have no magic. She's grown up to be pretty ok with this but it has affected her prospects within the supernatural community. Though she's supposedly magicless, she is still being told she must marry a supe by a certain point due to an archaic tradition.

Lincoln Thorne is the Alpha of the North American Pack and he has his own bonding deadline coming up. If he doesn't bond by his thirty-third birthday, he will have to withdraw as Alpha and also as being a member of the Council.

Violet and Lincoln have a rocky history, but they have a common goal. They need to get their respective supes off their backs and a fake dating arrangement would be just the thing. 

Unfortunately, Lincoln betrayed Violet years before so faking it may not lead to making it. 

Final thoughts: Completely formulaic and full of all the romance tropes that are out there, but still a fun ride. This is cotton candy from start to finish. The author seems to be having some fun with this and does a pretty good job working with the formula and tropes. Read it with the cotton candy mindset and you should have some fun.

Rating: 4/5

Wolf Girl Series

 

Wolf Girl

 

Lost Girl

 

Alpha Girl

Mated Girl

all by Leia Stone

Midnight Sun

 

Add caption

Midnight Sun

by Stephenie Meyer

Too much to say so I said it in my podcast. 

Smoke Bitten

Smoke Bitten

by Patricia Briggs

Mercy has survived miniature zombie goats, vampire attacks, the fae, angry werewolves, a rapist, and her own bad luck. Now she needs to survive an unknown fae who has escaped Underhill, a rogue group of werewolves, the tension in her own marriage, and killer bunnies. (Monty Python would be so proud.)

For some reason, Adam, her husband and werewolf mate, has shut down their mating bond, while also spending late nights at work and sleeping in the guest room, effectively cutting Mercy out of his life. Mercy is trying to be patient and wait him out, but some people need a little offense instead of waiting in defense.

Tilly, the physical manifestation of Underhill, has dropped a door to her land in the Hauptman backyard in order to be closer to their semi-adopted son and former Underhill resident. Upon entering this world, she lets out an unknown fae who can take over the minds of its victims and make them do evil things to the people around them. 

There is a group of werewolves who have decided that now is the perfect time to try and take over their pack.

There's Wulfe, who has become radically changed after the events of the last book and who is now even more scary and unstable than ever before.

And there are killer bunnies...

With all the juggling that Mercy must do now, she should probably join a circus. 

Final thoughts: I love new Mercy books and this is no exception. She is such a strong character who knows her own mind and heart. She also seems to be the focus of a lot of bad juju, compliments of her father, Coyote. I hope that she gets a few days off of the crazy someday, although that will probably mean that I won't have anything to read and that would be sad. As with all of her books, Briggs has a complicated and convoluted story that makes sense at the end and makes better sense after a reread or two. I LOVE the return of some characters that we haven't seen for a while. I can't wait for the next book.

Rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Join or Die

Join or Die

by J. Adrian Ruth

Alex Ayers is a regular kid with a bit of a temper, a best friend, a single mom, and a pretty good life in Las Vegas. That all changes when his absent father's best friend shows up and tells him he has to leave to attend an exclusive magic school before he Changes into some sort of mythological/magical creature.

At 14, he doesn't have any choice, so he's sent off to Fios Academy to learn about his past, his present, and his possible future as the next Scion who, with his ciorcal of friends, keeps the Creature community in line.

He's got competition for the Scion job, though, and also a few Creatures who aren't happy with any Scion being in charge. 

Alex has to learn about his own half-Creature self and history before things get out of control.

Final thoughts: I enjoyed the book while reading it, but I can't help comparing it to Harry Potter. He's about the same age. He si half-human (Muggle) and half-Creature (Wizard). He's a Chosen One. There are forces against him from the start from competition in the school to dangers from without. There's a barrier to protect the school from outside harm. There's a mysterious headmaster. He's forming a circle of friends who all specialize in different things that he'll need as time passes. The list goes on and on. But, again, I enjoyed the read. If I see the sequel pop up, I'll probably read it, too. And it does look to be at least a few books if it goes year-by-year at the school.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC.

Storm Cursed

Storm Cursed

by Patricia Briggs

One by one, 

Two by two,

The Hardesty witches

Are traveling through.

With a storm of curses,

They call from their tomes;

They will drink your blood

And dine on your bones.

Set three months after Silence Fallen, Mercy and Adam have settled into a pretty good routine and she's even gotten her garage back. They lead the Tri-Cities and help to keep the peace. As Adam and Mercy work to help the government and the Fae to come to an accord, other more sinister forces come to the area to try and destroy everything. 

It all starts with a goblin and some miniature zombie goats. Or maybe they are zombie miniature goats? And then just goes downhill from there. 

This may be the most difficult problem Mercy has had to face, and that's saying a lot. Even worse, Mercy will have to ally herself with the one creature she's sworn to avoid at all costs. 

This could be rough.

Final thoughts: Nice addition to the series with solid writing and some great moments. I loved learning more about one of the newer characters but I also missed seeing a number of others. The only problem that I have with this universe continuing is that the cast keeps growing and we start to miss out on seeing our faves. However, each new character helps to grow Mercy's story and adds to her, as well as the world itself. Can't wait to read the next.

Rating: 5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Sugar Spells

Sugar Spells

by Lola Dodge

Anise Wise barely survived her last dangerous encounter. She very nearly died and had to be brought back by a little dark magic. Now that dark magic is infecting everything that she does. Her recipes are deadly... literally. The death magic in her is so strong that she can't even walk near plants without killing them.

Anise must either wait for magic to fade, learn how to harness it so she can at least live her life, or both. 

Anise chooses both.

Now Anise must try to burn off the death magic and find a way to get her Shield, Wynn, out of the worst magical contract ever constructed.

Maybe she can do both at the same time.

Or maybe she'll end up worse than before.

Final thoughts: I still love Anise. It took me a bit to get back into the swing of things because it's been a while since I read the first book. But once in, I was hooked. The ending felt a bit rushed but that may be because I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't want it to end. Now that it's done, I'm curious to see what happens next and eagerly await the next story.

Rating: 4/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

Written in Red

Written in Red

by Anne Bishop

When Meg Corbyn arrives at the Howling Good Reads doorstep in the middle of a storm, Simon is more than wary about what else she might be bringing to him. However, hiring her as the new human liaison is better than the alternative and the job needs doing, so he agrees to allow her in as the only human in the community of Others.

What Simon could never have prepared for was Meg's past following her or Meg's own innocence in understanding the world being the thing that unites the Others around her. 

Now, the people who lost Meg want her back and the person who wanted Meg's new job wants her gone so Simon and the rest of the Others must figure out how everything ties together and how to protect their new human before the prophecies that Meg brings come true.

Final thought: A new series for me! This is my first Bishop novel and I'm wondering why I never read them before. This book has so much depth of character and story that I even got emotional a few times. No tell vs. show here! All of the characters come together so well and the world building was great. I can't wait to read the next one!

Rating: 5/5

Until Midnight

Until Midnight

by Erin R. Bedford

Clara has always been out of place. As the overseer's daughter, she worked alongside the farmers but they would never trust to her or talk much with her. As the stepdaughter to a wealthy seamstress in the Inner Circle, she's always been too dirty, too unkempt, and too close to common people around.

But now Clara has the chance to change everything. She's been selected for the Election, an annual event to choose people to work for and with The Fold to run the land of Alban. 

Maybe Clara is the breath of fresh air they need to make Alban the place it should always have been.

Final thoughts: This is billed as Hunger Games meets Cinderella. There's also some Selection in here, too. But it's just all too obvious and annoying. None of the characters are built well; they are all shallow and empty. There is no real connection for any of them and people come and go as necessary for the story instead of organically through the story. It's all over the place and things just keep being brought in and then tossed out whenever it's convenient. This is just bad overall. The ending is both obvious and annoying. The revelations made me just so angry and dropped in from nowhere. It is written more like stream-of-consciousness or like a kid telling a story out loud. Nope. Not going to read the next one.

Rating: 2/5

Blade Bound

Blade Bound

by Chloe Neill

The wedding of the century is coming and Merit is the bride-to-be.

Also coming is some sort of evil that people are struggling to identify and it's threatening everything that Merit and her groom, Ethan, have fought so hard to protect.

And when werewolf Gabriel stops by to remind them of the impending prophecy, Merit just knows that the honeymoon will have to be cancelled.

Time is running out to save Chicago from the supernatural powers that threaten it and the humans who think that they can handle it.

Final thoughts: After all of the many books that seemed to drag this story out, it now feels rushed. It's almost like Neill was so eager to start a new series (probably with a certain prophesied child) that she pushed this one to an awkward end. I still love Merit and Ethan, and I definitely love how Ethan has finally accepted Merit as his equal, deserving of the chance to make a difference, but the luster has gone. I'll miss some of Chicagoland, but I'm really not too sad to see it end.

Rating: 3/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

Phantom Kiss

Phantom Kiss

by Chloe Neill

In between the proposal and the wedding are all those planning sessions, showers... and exorcisms.

Final thoughts: It's short, like a couple of chapters from a regular Chicagoland novel, so it doesn't have a lot of "meat" to it. It added some depth to the characters and the story, but it's not unforgettable. More than anything, I'm just worried about how this will all finally end in the next book, especially because we've had no further information on a Merit/Ethan kid, despite that being pretty dang important in the early books.

Rating: 4/5

Silence Fallen

Silence Fallen

by Patricia Briggs

It was just meant to be a quick run to the Stop and Rob to get some eggs and chocolate chips so that she could finish a huge batch of cookies for the very hungry werewolves that were at her home, pretending to be pirates in a pitched online battle.

It turned into a kidnapping that nearly killed her and took her halfway across the world to Italy. She's been taken by the most feared vampire in the world and her future does not look good.

And even IF she manages to make it out of his makeshift prison, she's still in Europe with no money, no passport, and no way home.

What's a coyote's only resort? Chaos, of course.

Final thoughts: I've now read this twice because I felt a little caught out the first time once I got to the end. Did I miss the clues? Was something not made clear? Was I just blind? Maybe. In the end, even looking harder, I still feel like that twist wasn't really predictable, so it took me out of the story when it came. However, I still love Mercy and Adam and this was another solid entry. It's funny how Mercy is slowly taking over the world without even trying, and maybe without even knowing.  On a side note, can someone please explain to me Mercy's ever-evolving and changing tattoos on the covers? (esp. when Briggs repeatedly states that she only has one coyote paw on her stomach and that's it??)

Rating: 4/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley. THANKS!

Alpha Unleashed

Alpha Unleashed

by Aileen Erin

Just a few months after becoming a werewolf, Tessa is still figuring out how all her witch/were powers work, but she doesn't have time to keep studying. Luciana, the dark witch of coven Tessa had been chosen to lead, has gone completely demonic and is raising demons everywhere.

There is no more time to waste.

And there is nowhere to hide.

Luciana has even managed to reveal the existence of weres and witches to the human world, so Tessa now has to deal with that, as well.

The world has turned upside-down and Tessa's most recent vision of the future shows only destruction and the death of all she loves.

Now Tessa must find a way to change her visions before Luciana raises the final demons necessary to destroy the world.

Final thoughts: I read through all of the other books (2-4) in an effort to get to this one since it's a NetGalley ARC and hasn't yet been released. Overall, the series was decent. I didn't love everything about all of them and I was not a big fan of the fourth book, which followed Claudia instead of Tessa. However, I still liked most of what I read. I wish we'd had more character development over the series because the action was sometimes overwhelming. The final book seemed to drop in a TON of stuff in an effort to finish out this series quickly and not go to a sixth. Decent read throughout though quite a few typos in the galley that I hope they can clear up in the final publishing.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Dark Debt

Dark Debt

by Chloe Neill

After a year as a vampire, Merit finally feels like she knows who she is and what she's meant to be. She is Sentinel of the Cadogan House, lover of the Master of Cadogan, and one of the most famous vampires in Chicago.

When a human is nearly murdered by vampires in front of at least a hundred witnesses, Merit and Ethan are forced into the politics and financial desperation of another vampire House. At the same time, a vampire from Ethan's past comes back into his world and threatens to take everything Ethan has built up over time.

The timing is more than a little suspicious and there's a definite urgency to stop the vampire and the organized crime group that's holding the House financially hostage.

Final thoughts: Okay. I really like Merit and Ethan, but this story is beginning to drag. It's now been eleven books spanning about a year of Merit's life as a vampire and I'm getting tired of the soap opera quality. There's still the prophecy about a child and we're nowhere near that, apparently. Can we please get to the end already? Neill needs to remember Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time series. Having one book that only covers three days is just pushing things too far for too long. Let's get this thing moving.

Rating: 3/5

Monster

Monster

by Carmen Caine

Cassidy Edwards was born when she shouldn't have been. Her mother was pregnant with her when she was changed into a vampire, which should have meant that Cassidy died before she had a chance to be born. Instead, Cassidy was not only born, but she was born a monster.

She doesn't crave blood. She can barely tolerate human food. She only really feeds off the mana that every person carries around. Luckily for her, she only needs a brief contact to get the sustenance she needs.

Unluckily for her, she tried to feed off the wrong man.

Now she's been forced into a contract with that man to search for a dangerous vampire with a werewolf, a demon, and an addicted imp.

Maybe she can do this, but it would really help if she knew what the hell she was supposed to do.

Final thoughts: Interesting story with a few good parts.  I can see a lot of potential here, but Cassidy's naivete about her own existence and life is frustrating, as is her single-mindedness about revenge.  There's a soap opera quality to the story that gets a little strange. I'm interested in the next one, but I may not even remember that I wanted to read it when it does come out.

Rating: 3/5

Fashionably Dead Down Under

Fashionably Dead Down Under

by Robyn Peterman

She'd just saved the world so you'd think Astrid would get a break... but, noooooo... she had to get dragged down to hell to meet her uncle, Satan.

Now she has to find a magical sword that can kill any True Immortal, solve a few crimes, stop her crazy grandmother (Mother Nature) from having tantrums that could literally destroy the world, and find a way to make sure the Vampyre love of her life doesn't turn to dust while visiting her in Hell.

It's just a day in the life of the Chosen One.

Final thoughts: Messy.  Too many jokes and not enough development.  One of the things that bothered me with the first book was that everything happened so quickly.  This book is worse.  It's like the story's on crack.  Problems are solved almost as soon as they're mentioned.  Ethan could turn to dust if he doesn't get out of Hell in a week?  Fine!  Have grandma stop time on Earth.  Problem solved.  Demon sets off a magical disaster in the dining room?  Fine!  Talk a few minutes and it's solved.  Jokes fly left and right about Hell and what it looks like, but there's just no time to develop it all.  This one book could have been so much more detailed, and could have been split into two or three to do it, if necessary.  I also missed some of the great characters from the first book who don't even get a mention in this one.  Plus the chemistry between Ethan and Astrid was completely gone this time.  I'm disappointed.

Rating: 2/5