Author: helenmaddix

Married, retired from the AAFES retail world after 39 years, love to read, take photographs, and am interested in a lot of things including gardening and genealogy.

Of Mates and Magic (Eliza Falls Book 1) by Maggie Francis

3 Stars

Short with silliness

This book is written very simply…and seemed to me more suited for a much younger audience.  A sweet witch/shifter story that would be good for a middle school aged teen.  It features Cora and Desi who are best friends, running a business together, and new witches.  Their small town is mostly a magical enclave, and draws in Seb and Tate, brothers and wolf shifters looking for a new home.  While Desi and Tate become friends, there is a tension between Cora and Seb.  At this point the story takes a lot of time for the characters to move forward.  At about 175 pages, the story needed to move more quickly through the “should we, shouldn’t we” be friends or something more.  Not a whole lot of conflict between the two, until finally a situation arises that forces the two main characters to make decisions.  This book had no editing issues.  Hopefully the next book, telling Tate’s story will have a tighter plotline.  I was given an ARC through BookSirens, and this is my honest opinion. 

A Royal for Christmas (It’s Raining Royals Book 4) by Alix Nichols

4 Stars

Changing life circumstances

It’s a month to Christmas, and we meet Camille Mussey, sister to the dead Jeanette Mussey who was accused of arson, and is the poorest person in the country of Mount Evor.  She is an outcast because of her sister, and a witch.  She’s working as a pantomime for pocket change.  One of the Royals, Marquess Louis-Philibert de Valois is grandson of the Duke of Arrago, is sent to collect her, and bring her to the ducal estate.  This sets up the story that takes place over the Christmas season.  Camille’s character isn’t the most likable one in this series, but she is smart.  Louis might be a playboy.  Unlike the prior books, this one doesn’t involve finding a key, but some loose ends may, or may not, be tied up with this story.  I enjoyed reading A Royal for Christmas and am looking forward to the next book.  I received this book from BookSirens, and this is my honest opinion.

King of the Unblessed (Realm Immortal: #1) by Michelle M. Pillow

4 Stars

The story grew on me.

The story starts with the reader meeting Lady Julianna of Bellemare and her brothers, who are preparing for her wedding to a much older neighbor.  Julianna wishes otherwise, but for her family she’ll do this.  Watching her from his kingdom from the otherworld is King Merrick of the Unblessed, King of Valdis.  He hears Julianna wishing in her room to be taken on a adventure; Merrick comes to her, and coerces her to leave Bellemare, and go to the Otherworld on a quest.  I found that the character of Julianna to be very immature for her age, and very colorless.  Merrick is a much better developed non-hero whom I couldn’t help but root for.  The story grew on me as I read further into it, but I never could care for Julianna.  I like the Faery Queen Tania better, even though she had a very small part in this story.  I plan on reading the next book Realm Immortal: Faery Queen.  I was given and ARC of the book from the author through BookSprout, and this is my honest opinion.

Iron Ember (Skye Druids #1) by Donna Grant

Iron Ember blurb

Delve into the thrilling first installment of the all-new Skye Druids series by New York Times bestselling author Donna Grant, where magic reigns and danger abounds.

Skye isn’t just an island. It’s a home. A refuge. But not to Elodie MacLean. Not anymore. Tragedy tore her world apart and then took the one thing she felt made her whole. She vowed she’d never return, but that’s exactly where she ends up. Now, surrounded by the ghosts of her past, Elodie must navigate her version of Hell and try to make peace with herself and her family. But someone or something doesn’t want her on Skye, and she finds herself attacked—and this time not by her personal demons.

Scott Ryan has a mission: uncover who has been killing Druids and why. When his quest takes him to the beautiful Isle of Skye, he doesn’t think anything could captivate him more than the land itself—until he lays eyes on the breathtaking and confident beauty his leader sent him to find. However, it’s clear that she has trust issues, and he can’t reveal his plans—at least, not yet. But he’s always been sure of his ability to sway a person, and she’s a challenge he’s more than happy to accept, especially when he finds he will do anything to protect her.

With so much history and so many secrets, victory is anything but guaranteed for the couple and their allies. And the forces at work, those who wish to rule the Scottish isle and all those who reside there, have a plan that nobody will see coming.

Buy Links

✦SIGNED PRINT→ https://dgrant.co/3zeFna8

✦Kindle→ https://amzn.to/3s9U63V

✦Nook→ https://dgrant.co/3dUxVXu

✦Apple→ https://dgrant.co/3GMGMXt

✦Kobo→ https://dgrant.co/3ENiGw3

✦Google→ https://dgrant.co/3xwilex

✦Audible→ https://dgrant.co/3T4Y352

✦Tantor→ https://dgrant.co/3kctHxm

Iron Ember (Skye Druids #1) by Donna Grant

5 Stars

Dark World continuation

This is the first book of the Skye Druids series, but follows immediately after Dark Alpha’s Command.  In this book we meet Elodie MacLean, who has come back to Skye to help her sister get their parents’ house ready to sell.  A terrible tragedy happened over a decade prior, but since neither sister, nor an absent brother plan on living in the house it needs to be cleaned, repaired and sold.  Elodie is a druid, but her magic has been gone since the tragic event.  She meets Scot Ryan, and the brother of his best friend are on Skye, having come from Edinburgh to try and solve the murders of Druids there.  They are looking for Elodie, and when they meet her, and hear she is looking for help to get the cottage repaired, they offer their services.  Donna Grant weaves an interesting story reminiscent of her earlier Dark World books.  She plots out an intricate storyline for the reader to follow, and while following we get glimpses of other characters from prior books.  I can say that the start of this book dragged for me-I couldn’t figure out who these characters were and why they were important.  But Donna Grant had a plot, and it is full of twists and turns, and leads the reader to a satisfying conclusion.  I received and ARC of this book from the author through BookFunnel and this is my honest opinion.

Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle

4 Stars

Enjoyed the ending.

I started reading this, and the main character, Bettie Hughes, is an absolutely horrible person.  She is self-obsessed and feels she is entitled to everything she wants.  As the book goes on, the author explains Bettie’s reasoning for feeling this way, but she continued to be such a whiney, revenge driven person, I almost decided to stop reading.  But upon the introduction of the Holiday Spirit, I wanted to see what would happen to Bettie since Hall (the Holiday Spirit’s earthly name given him by Bettie) is such a giving person.  I don’t want to give away the story, so I will only say that after Hall’s arrival, the plotline starts to make a slow climb to acceptable.  By the end of the book, I was glad I had continued reading.  I was given an ARC of the book through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion. 

A Guide to Being Just Friends (Jensen Brothers, #3) by Sophie Sullivan

4 Stars

Enjoyed the book.

I really enjoyed reading the first two books in the Jensen brothers’ series and anticipated reading this one.  In it, we meet Wes Jensen, the oldest brother, who has decided to join his 2 brothers by moving to the West Coast from New York.  But where Chris and Noah have a good outlook on life, Wes’ is more pragmatic and because of this he doesn’t believe in relationships and love.  Our second main character is Hailey Sharp who is open to new experiences even though she just went through a bad breakup.  She doesn’t want to rebound back into a serious relationship, so when she meets Wes, who tells her clearly that he only wants to be friends, she agrees to being his friend.  After this start, the books seemed to take a long time in telling us the readers that they were fine as being just friends, but in their minds that they might want more.  Finally, by the end of the book, Sophie Sullivan allows us to see how the two friends truly feel.  This is a well-written book, with fully developed characters.  It’s also book 3, and the author does allow characters from the first two books to be part of this book, but if you’ve read the first two, they are welcome additions to this book.  Question is will Sophie Sullivan give us the story of the 4th sibling, a sister who is still in New York?  This book can be read as a standalone, but for the best experience, read Ten Rules for Faking It and How to Love Your Neighbor: A Novel first.  I was given an ARC of the book through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion.

The Ice Duchess (The Duchess Society #0.5) by Tracy Sumner

4 Stars

Short but good.

At only about 100 pages, this is a quick read, a prequel to the series.  We meet the main character Georgiana Whitcomb, Countess Winterbourne who is also known as the Ice Countess.  She says she’ll never marry again, after her husband dies.  Along with her friend, Lady Hildegard Templeton, they have created the Duchess Society to help young women make advantageous matches for themselves.  Enter Dexter Munro, the future Duke of Markham, who has made a promise to his dying father to marry in less than 12 days, by Twelfth Night.   This is a fun read with well-developed characters and a solid story.  And a perfect lead into the next book in the series.  I was given an ARC of the book by BookSirens, and this is my honest opinion.        

A Vampire’s Midlife Crisis (Misfits of New Orleans: Book 1) by Valerie Twombly

4 Stars

Mid-life romance

Having reached a time in her life, Sabrina, 53, is about where she wanted to be.  Her daughter is attending college, and Sabrina is running her own business.  But, going out one night with friends to a Vampire club-yes vampires are real, and humans are aware of them-Sabrina is mugged on her way home, and dies, or close enough that a vampire who turns out is her daughter’s boyfriend has no choice but to turn her or let her die.  The story becomes more engaging after that, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  I was given an ARC of the book from BookSirens and this is my honest opinion. 

Fae Witch’s Vampire Guard (Dark Lords of London Book 3) by Jessie Donovan

5 Stars

Fated time traveler

This book gives us Reika Hashimoto and Stone Riley’s story.  As the prior two books in this series, one of this couple is moved from the present day back into Victorian England.  This is a short book, but very enjoyable.  Stone is the half-shifter half-vampire head of security for Leo Yates and his wife, the witch Yesenia.  Yesenia has the power to bring fated mates together, which is the premise behind the stories.  Each of the books can be read as a single story but are better when read in order so the characters and background story mesh together.  I received and ARC of the book from the author through BookFunnel and this is my honest opinion.