Tag: Paranormal Fantasy

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. 

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

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.

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. 

Dark Alpha’s Command (Reaper #15) by Donna Grant

5 Stars

I love this book!

This book is one of the best in this series!  Donna Grant uses her Dark World effectively in writing her books, and this one doesn’t disappoint.  We first met Balladyn in her Dark Kings series, and he’s become an important part of this, her Reapers, series.  Balladyn is a complex character, and this book brings almost all of his facets together for the reader to enjoy.  This is the only part that I have a concern with, and it’s from prior books he has been in love with and in hate with another character.  Here in Dark Alpha’s Command, he has completely moved on…after thousands of years invested in his feelings, he’s over them in a blink of an eye.  But if I ignore that concern, this book is outstanding.  The two main characters are well-developed, both have interesting back stories, and present themselves as people you’d want to know.  The continuing story is intricate and the arc from the last few books continues to build, and because of that, additional characters from Donna’s Dark Sword and Dark Warrior series make appearances.  With a tight story line and fast pace, I didn’t want to stop reading.  This book is not a cliff hanger, but the overall story arc isn’t finished yet.  But Dark Alpha’s Command is a satisfying read.  I cannot wait for the next book.  Well Done Donna Grant!  I received and ARC of this book from the author through Book Funnel and this is my honest opinion. 

Vampire’s Fae Witch Healer (Dark Lords of London, #2) by Jessie Donovan

4 Stars

Book 2 of the Dark Lords of London

This second book of the series gives us the vampire sister of Leo Yates (Book 1), Nora who has lived a traumatized life while she was a teenager, and the brother of Yesenia Vale, Dr. River Vale.   Yesenia was attempting to use her Witch Time Bender powers to bring into the past a Fated Mate to a vampire.  She did not focus on Nora, but Nora’s Fated Mate is who she has brought back in time- who turns out to be her brother.  The story continues as the two try and reconcile their different lives.  Jessie Donovan gives us quite a bit of backstory for both of these main characters, which would allow a reader who hasn’t read the first book to read this one with minimum problems.  The characters are well developed, and the plot is easily followed.  This series is a new direction for the author and shows that her imagination knows no bounds.  I was given an ARC of this book by the author, and this is my honest opinion.

Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings Book 4) by Donna Grant

4 Stars

On Zora

I have to say that I miss the Dragon Kings having stories located on Earth.  The challenges that were presented here were mostly believable; at least if you believed in dragons.  On Zora, and Earth clone, I know that they could be real, but more than likely not.  So, my review is for the story between Shaw, a Dragon King, and Nia who is a courtesan for the ruler “the Divine”.  They meet in the city that belongs to “the Divine” because Shaw and Merrill, another King, have been sent to gather information on this person, and the inhabitants of the city.  Shaw becomes enamored of the beautiful Nia, and because of Shaw, she starts to question her own actions in acting on behalf of “the Divine”.  The story takes a while to move to the exciting ending, with bits of what is happening with Merrill, and with the Dragon part of Zora.  Donna Grant gives us just a glimpse of what is going on with Con and his fellow Dragon Kings, Rhi, and the dragons who have made Zora their home.  Wish that more had been written on this part- for as important a character as Constantine is, it seems that his intelligence and abilities as King of Dragon Kings isn’t useful on Zora.  The interplay between the Dragon Kings is what kept me involved and interested in prior books. 

  This book is well written, and the two main characters are fairly well developed.  The story that takes place in the city is interesting, if a bit long.  The ending is definitely a 5-star ending.  But the overall book only deserves 4 stars- scenes of personal interaction are great but don’t make the slower parts deserving of more stars.  Donna Grant is a wonderful writer, who writes interesting books.  She continues to give readers reasons to enjoy her books.  This book is interesting, but the first half or so seemed to take forever to read.  A new reader should read the prior books in this part of the series- Dragon Kings- so that they understand the world it’s written in.

  I did receive an ARC of the book from the author through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion.

Ghost of the Gaelic Moon (The Gaelic Moon Series Book 1) by Carol Maschke

4 Stars

Better as it goes on

I had a bit of a hard time with the start of this book.  Mary Kelley to me came across as a bit spoiled and whiney.  As I got further into the story, she became more tolerable.  The story has her as and IT director, and she and her co-worker and friend are sent to Ireland to work on a project for their company.  The two get a flat to share and start going out in the evenings.  While at a pub, Mary meets Sean Calhoun.  The two seem to form a connection, but of course nothing is as it seems.  For me the story got better at about the halfway point.  The two main characters didn’t change much, but the story became more interesting, and the ending was very good.  No grammatical errors, and well written, if you like a ghost or two in your reading, this book might be good for you.  I probably will read the second book, and hope that the 2 main characters have grown up by then.  I was given and ARC of the book by BookSirens, and this is my honest opinion.

Eversong (The Kindred Book 1) by Donna Grant

5 Stars

Enjoyed it more the second time

I originally read this in May 2019, and only rated it 4 stars.  This is an updated re-release by Donna Grant, and I’ve enjoyed it more this time around.  I cannot pick out where changes were made, which is a good thing.  The story centers on Leoma and Braith, who meet while trying to find a witch.  Most witches are evil, but not all, and Leoma can pick out a witch easily.  The story flows, and for our 2 hunters they have a book about them.  But the larger story continues with Everwylde, book 2 in the series.  Characters are well-developed and the plot is interesting.  I have a copy of book 1 but received a new copy from the author.  This is my honest opinion.