Review: Mr. Wrong (The Clan McLeod Series Book 1) by Megyn Ward

Mr. Wrong by Megyn Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quick and Easy Read

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the first book in a series of stand-alone books that revolve around the same family. There is no cliffhanger.

Elle is just about to start work for a Hollywood A-Lister when her best friend takes her out for drinks to celebrate. She ends up hooking up with a gorgeous stranger in a bar, after all, she needs to get over being dumped by her ex-boyfriend after he tore her dreams to shreds.

The next morning she realises her mistake when she discovers that the gorgeous one night stand is actually her new boss’ brother. Oh and he fired him so Elle could have his job.

This is such an easy read that I devoured it in one sitting. It’s fun, flirty and filthy, in other words, a perfect snack of a book. The characters are interesting, the set-up is simple and the writing is smooth and natural. You get sucked in and don’t have to worry that they’ll get their HEA or not. It’s not complicated plot-wise, but that’s not why you would read a book like this. You read a book like this to kill a few hours when you need a palate cleanser of a book, or to cheer you up on a grey day.

A really enjoyable book.

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Review: Falling for the Single Mom (The Great Lovely Falls Series Book 1) by Alie Garnett

Falling for the Single Mom by Alie Garnett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A House of Many Women

This is the first in what appears to be an ongoing series based around an unusual family of 7 women. Seraphine, or Sera as she prefers to be called, got pregnant at 19 and married an older man who wasn’t the father of her daughter. In exchange he got a wife to help him with his 5 daughters, which his ex-wife had abandoned. Then a few weeks after the wedding he disappeared to South America and was never seen again! A few years after his disappearance Sera had another daughter from a one night stand.

Sera is only a few years older than the eldest daughter so she has more of a supervisory friend relationship with her stepdaughters. They all live together in the big old house that her now ex-husband bought for his family. It’s a house filled with chaos, arguments and love.

Harrison is a lawyer who works at the same firm as Sera. He thinks she’s a prude, but a gorgeous one. They’ve worked together for 10 years and have never got along. Then Harrison’s PA makes a harassment claim against him and Sera as head of HR has to look into the allegations.

This is an incredibly weird set-up for a romance novel but it strangely works. This author has a very vivid imagination and is clever about making all the strangeness hang together in a realistic and believable manner.

Harrison and Sera have a prickly but passionate start that grows deeply loving as time goes on and the author is good at helping you accept that change. Both characters have their flaws and the author doesn’t shy away from that. They also have redeeming qualities that help you forgive the flaws.

This is an interesting romance novel and I think I will try the next book because I really like the Lovely girls.

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Review: Hasty (Do-Over Series Book 4) by Julia Kent

Hasty by Julia Kent
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Life Hands You Lemons Go Home and Make Cheese

This was a freebie and it wasn’t until I started reading that I realised that I’d already read Fluffy, which was about the MFC’s sister. So though this is part of a series, you don’t really need to have read the other books to enjoy this one, even though it’s about the same loose group of people.

On the day of her greatest triumph, Hastings is plunged into her deepest darkest low. Hauled away in handcuffs in front of her clients and her arch-nemesis Ian, a gorgeous billionaire, is the most humiliating experience of her life. After spending a month in jail, she is finally released with nothing but a few suitcases filled with a tiny fraction of her possessions and $700 that the FBI has allowed her keep.

With her whole worldview shaken to the core, Hastings returns home to her childhood bedroom and the knowledge that no one will touch with a barge pole in finance, with the exception of Ian. She may have to bite the bullet and accept the offer because hundreds of applications later it’s obvious no one wants to hire her.

This was well written, as most of Julia Kent’s books are. The characters were well thought out and there was humour as well as raw emotions. This book is less a romance and more a few life lessons learnt for the MFC.

However, I did find it all a bit hypocritical that Hastings was supposed to learn how to be a better person because she’d been ruthless and hard-charging in business, that her success has been a prime motivator and that made her a bad sister and friend. On the other hand, Ian who is also all of those things was ok as he was. That made me a little crazy, to be honest. Basically, Hastings needed to learn to be a softer and more emphatic person in order to gain happiness, so essentially she had to radically change her personality in order to recognise true happiness. These changes were required in order to understand Ian’s motivations and allow her to forgive him and move towards true romantic joy.

I want to know why Hastings had to change to get a relationship but Ian didn’t. It’s hypocrisy of the worst sort and I kind of hated it. It tainted my earlier enjoyment of the book because it took the changes way too far. It was sloppy plot construction and it disappointed me because up until then I was enjoying the book as much as I can a rom-com. I don’t read these books to want to slap the author, I do it for relaxation and this did not relax me because I was grinding my teeth too much.

I probably won’t be reading this author too much in the future, because I’m fairly sure this isn’t the first book of hers that I’ve been frustrated by.

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Review: Shadow Reaper (Shadow Riders Series Book 2) by Christine Feehan

Shadow Reaper by Christine Feehan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shadows and Shibari

This is the second book in a series and though it can probably be read as a standalone novel, there is information in the first book that makes the second book more easily understood. In the first book, we hear about the years away from the family they did as teenagers, training, and this book explores what happened to Ricco when he was sent to Japan for his training.

Ricco interested me a lot in the first book as he was always the ‘edgy’ brother who drove cars really fast and was into extreme sports and threesomes with twin actresses. He was not a happy person and we find out why in this book.

Ricco has been unhappy for a long time and things have reached an impasse. Nothing he does to make himself less unhappy is working anymore. Then he has a racing car accident and it’s a wake-up call. He decides that one night stands are not helping and he wants to have a long term contract with a shibari model to practice his art. At the last minute, Mariko turns up with no experience except she’s a shadow rider and she calls to him.

Mariko is half Japanese and half American but raised in Japan by a Japanese family. She was treated as less than a servant and the family claimed that they found her and her baby brother abandoned on the street and took them in out of the goodness of their heart. Mariko was given training as a shadow rider but was never accepted by the community. The only thing she has confidence in is her ability as a shadow rider.

When Mariko applies for the job with Ricco she is desperate. She needs to find out enough about him as a man to make a decision on whether to kill him or not in order to save her brother’s life.

I much prefer Ricco and Mariko as characters to Stefano and Francesco as they both have interesting personalities without being caricatures. Both are loyal and honourable people who have been hurt by the actions of others, but they have not completely broken.

The plot for this book is interesting, with plenty of mystery to keep you entertained. I will however say that I felt there was a little too much shibari content. I find it interesting as an art form but focusing on this made the sex scenes a little too cerebral rather than passionate to me. I still enjoyed the book but found myself skipping over some of the shibari scenes, and that’s not something I usually do. Usually, if I’m reading a book I either DNF it or I read every word. I’m hoping the next book engages all part of my brain again. Going on my past experience with this author I’ll give the next book in the series a go and see what happens.

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Review: Tormented Girl (Neighpalm Industries Collective Series Book 3) by Lexie Winston

Tormented Girl by Lexie Winston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Plot Thickens

This really is a multi-faceted story. There is the complexity of Harlow finding her new family and her place within it. Then there is the story about making new friends and becoming more confident in herself. On top of that layer we have the romantic relationships that are developing with the adopted sons of her father. Finally we have the story about the stalker.

After the last book’s ending, it should come as no surprise that there is a horrendous cliffhanger at the end of this book too. Just putting that out there, in case it’s something you can’t tolerate, but if that were the case you wouldn’t have got this far, so I don’t know why I’m worried about it.

As I was reading this book I was in awe of the author. I’m absolutely stunned that she managed to make me believe that a strong and independent thinking woman like Harlow would forgive the way she has been treated by her new ‘family’. The very clever writing had me understanding and sympathising with the transgressors and accepting that Harlow could forgive them. They all moved forwards towards forgiveness at their own pace, on individual journeys. I also liked how Jacinta did her own soul searching.

At the end of book 2, I was so sure I knew who the stalker was, but by the end of this book, I haven’t got a clue. There seem to be all sorts of conflicting situations that confuse who could be to blame and why. No one has a clue and there are all sorts of mysteries surrounding Harlow’s mother’s death too.

Basically, there is tonnes going on in this very cleverly structured book, and as I get to know each character I find myself learning to love them a little bit more. Every character is complex and interesting. I love the way they all interact with each other. I also appreciate there is some actual sex in this book, as after all the fooling around in the previous two books, there needed to be some action in this one. It was worth the wait! (fans face with the heat!!!)

This series just keeps getting more interesting and I can’t wait to see where the next book takes us.

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Review: At Blade's Edge (Goddess With A Blade Series Book 4) by Lauren Dane

At Blade's Edge by Lauren Dane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marriage

This book is about the marriage of two people but also about marrying the cultures of two peoples. Clive is a 500-year-old born vampire, a Scion of the Vampire Nation, ruler of North America and Rowan is a 30-year-old human, a Vessel to a goddess, foster daughter of the First vampire, and Hunter of rogue vampires. They are two very different people, he is uptight and proper, she is vulgar and abrasive, and they shouldn’t work as a couple, but they do and it’s really lovely to watch that happening slowly through this book.

Defeating Enyo does not appear to have solved the problems of the Vampire Nation and Hunter Corp. Enyo was just part of the problem. Hunter Corp and the Vampire Nation both have bad seeds buried deep inside, feeding vital information to an unseen enemy that has got their own people killed.

This book follows Rowan seeking out the culprits from inside Hunter Corp and trying to decide if she can stomach continuing to work for an organisation that does not value her safety. At the same time, she has to settle into becoming a wife. She is marrying someone who has an extensive family and a history in London, where they are currently visiting. Meeting the family, trying to investigate and learning how to be a wife of a Scion is a difficult time even for the Vessel of a goddess.

The thing I really loved about this book was the subtle building of a connection between Clive and Rowan. The steps they take in order to fulfil their own needs and at the same time leave the soul of their partner intact. Clive in particular is driven to protect and shelter what is his and Rowan is never one for allowing to be hidden away and cosseted, but she learns to accept some of Clive’s needs to protect and treasure her at the same time he allows her to stand on her own and face her own battles without interfering. This is a very cleverly written romantic relationship. The romance isn’t effusive, not is it sweet, but it is real and deep and beautiful. The subtlety with which Lauren Dane writes about the love between these two people is superb and a joy to read.

The relationship aspects of this book rather dominate, but the plot moves on and the reader is once again left wanting to know what happens next.

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Review: Taut Strings (River Valley Rebels Series Book 1) by Gabrielle Sands

Taut Strings by Gabrielle Sands
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Taut Strings, Tight Plot

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I’ve had this in my mental TBR list for a while as even before it was published the blurb interested me. I wish I’d read it as soon as it came out because it’s a fantastic book. You would never think it was a debut novel as it’s so well written.

Adeline is 21 and the guardian of her 17-year-old sister as they were orphaned 2 years previously. Adeline gave up her dreams of a music career several years before she lost her parents, but becoming the sole guardian of a teenage girl probably didn’t help any. Still, she had a hobby band where she played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals, but it was mainly a covers band.

One night she was playing at one of their biggest gigs when they realised that Bleeding Moonlight, the local boys who hit the big time, were in the audience listening to her play one of their songs. The band had come back to the small town where they grew up to bury their lead guitarist and to record what they decided was to be their last album, their tribute to their deceased bandmate and the last material he wrote. The only thing they were missing was a lead guitarist and Adeline looked like she could be the session musician of their dreams.

This feels like it should be a predictable rock romance/RH book, but it’s anything but predictable. I really wasn’t sure how it was all going to get resolved at several points in the course of the narrative. This was a beautifully paced book, with layers of emotion and plot being carefully unveiled with each turn of the page.

The author takes a seemingly simple idea and breathes life into it by making her characters believable. The real strength and beauty in this book is the character creation and development. Each character has a fully realised personality and history and though we don’t get to see all of that history, you feel like it’s there. The characters don’t just start when you begin chapter one. Each character has strengths and flaws in a way that feels real. With such strong characters, the carefully subtle plot works really well.

This isn’t a book filled with big explosive reveals and denouncements. It has a few charged emotional moments but they aren’t things that make you drop your jaw in shock. Everything builds on what has gone before in a way that makes the next moment inevitable rather than surprising.

This isn’t a big showy book, but I like it more because of that. There is passion and heat which are explicitly articulated but it isn’t the focus of the book, which is always the emotion. The emotions aren’t all about the romance either. The individuals in the band and Adeline all have their own issues surrounding their work and where they are going from that point forward. That future and their friendships are as important as the romantic feelings they might have.

I am definitely interested in the next book in the series, which covers Cole’s little sister and it appears to be set before this book takes place. This author has tonnes of promise and I can’t wait to watch her develop.

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Review: Erratic (Arcane Mage Series Book 3) by TS Snow

Erratic by T.S. Snow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Plot Thickens

This book is mainly about Char, her relationships, the men who surround her and their feelings towards her. We also get to learn a bit more about Bastille and the Necromancers, though there is still tonnes of information about them and their abilities still to be uncovered. Whilst finding out about the necromancers Char finds out there is an awful lot about her world that she didn’t really understand because of the stranglehold the houses have over information.

Whilst Char’s magic has gone on the fritz, she has to remain in hiding. She’s also trying to keep her head down at work because she broke protocol to rescue one of the house heirs, without backup, from a murderous relative whilst having erratic magic.

I really enjoyed the way that this book contributed to the layers of information and character building that has gone on in the series so far. The plot, world-building and character development are woven together cleverly. Whilst I’m enjoying the slow build, the plot was a little slow in this book, which often happens even in the best series because other stuff needs to be focused on, in this case, the relationships and world-building.

I have to say that I really like Bastille. I think he’s a fantastic character and a great bedrock for Char, who to be honest needs someone to bring her down to earth. Bastille seems to be the mage for the job as he’s endlessly patient with her. To be honest, as much as I love Char as a character I think I’d want to bash my head against a brick wall if I spent too much time with her in real life because focusing seems to be a skill she is lacking unless she’s sat in front of a computer.

I’m looking forward to the next book because we still have much to learn about the problems in the Arcane world. We don’t know who is running the Rebellion, who has been targeting Char and who killed Annie. So much information, so little time!

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Review: Goddess with a Blade (Goddess With A Blade Series Book 1) by Lauren Dane

Goddess with a Blade by Lauren Dane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really love the main female character in this book, Rowan Summerthwaite. Rowan is a woman who has given her life up to the service of others. She is the vessel for the goddess Brigid, and as such serves during rituals and blessings. Raised from infancy by the First vampire she was taught with ruthless efficiency to be a perfect weapon and servant. Then she found out that her foster father had her parents killed. She was just a teenager and ran to Brigid’s Motherhouse for safety and became a hunter of vampires for revenge and in service once more the unaware human population.

I loved the world-building in this book. There is a careful treaty between vampires and hunters, where punishments are laid out on both sides and tribunals govern over disputes of actions taken by both parties. Hunters like Rowan are the blades that execute the vampires that go rogue. I love the idea of checks and balances between humanity and vampires.

Rowan covers Las Vegas and is returning after an absence of 8 months, during which she was being questioned by a series of tribunals and committees after killing the previous Scion of Las Vegas. She has returned to a new Scion who has taken a very deadly broom to the vampires left to him. He has got a ruthless grip on business for the Vampire Nation. The new Scion, Clive, is 500 years old and was born a vampire. He’s British and very proper, Rowan is not and when they meet sparks fly. Those sparks inevitably lead to them bumping uglies, despite themselves.

There is a series of brutal murders taking place in Las Vegas that have been brought to Rowan’s attention. Young women, junkies, are being murdered in a vicious manner and very obviously by a vampire. It’s up to Rowan to discover the murderer before vampires become exposed to the world, which breaks the Treaty.

This is a really enjoyable book with lots of wonderfully detailed world-building. There are also some really interesting characters that have depth and realism. This is a great first book in a series and introduces the world and the characters really well. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of this series.

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Review: Snow and the Shadows (Roteran Shadows Series Book 1) by Cara Carnes

Snow and the Shadows by Cara Carnes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not Enough Depth

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It started with lots of promise. I really liked my initial introduction to Snow, a slave, born to another slave, who’s father was the king. Trapped on an old space ship, travelling around empty space for years at a time, with only a single caregiver and three guards. Of course, her guards trained her to fight, because what else were they going to do for years at a time floating through space.

One day their ship is boarded and everyone except her is killed. Her father and his new bride are there to make sure that she can’t access a well of power, which the Queen currently holds sole power over. Of course, Snow can, but she hides it, with the aid of seven Shadows. The Shadows are ruthless fighters from a neutral empire and Snow is surprised to find them in the employ of her step-mother. The Shadows take away Snow with orders to sell her at the slave market. Only they don’t do as they are told and in actual fact are there to rescue Snow because of her access to the Well.

This book had lots of ingredients that should have made it an excellent book. The general outline of the world-building, the magic system and the general outline of the characters and plot are all excellent until you dig down into it. I felt like this book sketched across what could have been really good, instead of layering the characters and plot with lots of interactions, they were skimmed over. This meant I didn’t really connect with the characters and the further into the book I got, the less I cared about them.

If you just look at the ingredients of this book it should have been 4-4.5 ⭐️, but when you actually read it, I can’t see it being more than 3.5 ⭐️ because there simply wasn’t enough depth to everything to make me care. I think if I hadn’t had such high hopes for this book I would have enjoyed it more, but because it didn’t fulfil the potential I am more annoyed than entertained and thus gave it a lower rating than if I’d not read any reviews and came into it cold. Part of me feels guilty for that, but not enough to give it more of a positive review, sorry Ms Carnes!

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Review: Edge of Eon (Eon Warriors Series Book 1) by Anna Hackett

Edge of Eon by Anna Hackett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun and Feisty Main Female Character

Eve is in a prison orbiting Earth, after being falsely imprisoned due to a well-connected captain covering his own backside after causing the deaths of innocent civilians. When she’s blackmailed into taking an impossible mission she thinks she is probably going to her death but needs to go in order to keep her sisters safe.

Setting off to kidnap Eon Warrior Commander Davion seems a futile activity, especially as it requires taking him off his own space ship and getting past the alien symbiotic life form that helps keep him healthy and provides armour and weapons at the speed of thought. I should be impossible, except it isn’t and they wind up in a ship she can’t steer, heading towards a hostile artificial planet that’s set up to test the Eon Warriors.

This was a really fun and easy to read book. It was uncomplicated and it got devoured in a few hours. The plot was very straight forward but the world-building is pretty interesting and I liked both the main characters a lot. Eve is strong, fierce and loyal. She’s got a good sense of humour and laughs even when it’s not appropriate to the situation. There’s also plenty of sexy encounters and romance too.

It’s a fun easy read and I’ll probably read more books in the series.

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Review: Diamond Girl: A Sci Fi Reverse Harem Romance by Cady Austin

Diamond Girl: A Sci Fi Reverse Harem Romance by Cady Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun Alien Sci Fi Reverse Harem

Beth was stolen by slavers from Earth when she was 8 years old. She’s spent the last 15 years held captive by a King who wanted a bestiary, that she was to be part of. As a daughter of zoologists, her love for animals shone through and she became a trusted member of his staff as she created a happy and safe environment for the alien beasts that she raised and cared for. She hated being a slave and it wasn’t happy for her but her animals gave her sense of belonging.

After the death of her master and his family she was sent for auction where she was bought by a ruthless general and before she could be taken was stolen by a group of thieves who wanted to blackmail the general. Given her first small taste of freedom since she was 8 years old, Beth launched herself into her new life with love and happiness, even knowing it was going to be short-lived.

I really love alien romance when the aliens actually look like aliens rather than just big humans with different coloured skin. The men in this book are very definitely aliens and the author has thought very carefully about their physical differences and how that makes a difference in how they approach relationships. These differences are very evident in the pretty steamy sex scenes.

I’m glad that this the first book in the series because there were lots of breadcrumbs, dropped in this book that I hope are picked up in future books. The breadcrumbs are enough to be very intriguing about the history of the universe in which they live and the cultures on the different worlds. There are also the drips of information about the big bad enemy lurking out on the fringes of civilised space to stir the imagination.

I enjoyed this book and the way the relationships built up gradually over the course of the book. I liked that it wasn’t all plain sailing and that there were difficulties in the harem, including jealousy which isn’t often shown in these books. I liked that it was included because unless a culture expects an RH situation, there are going to be jealousies and unsettled feelings until everything becomes normal.

This wasn’t a very emotionally taxing book. There isn’t really any angst, which for a book about a slave is unusual, but I enjoyed reading something relaxing. There was plenty of steam, sweet exchanges and enough plot to keep me happy, but there was also some good world-building that I hope to see expanded in a future book. As the first book in a series, it has a lot of promise.

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Review: Dead Space by Leigh Kelsey

Dead Space by Leigh Kelsey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clever Twist

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This stand alone novel was quite entertaining, but didn’t have a lot of depth. It refers to itself in the blurb as a dark sci-fi with horror elements, which I suppose is accurate, but it isn’t very good at conveying true horror. If you take away the horror elements it leaves a story that isn't particularly dark. It is however, a sci-fi alien romance.

Julia is human and has an alien mate, Kiv. They are stranded on board a ship that has been dispatched to aid a planet that is in distress, only to find themselves in a similar situation. Members of the crew have gone missing and the ship is dead in space.

Julia and Kiv, her friend Sinna and their annoying colleague Ruhar seem to be doomed to never get back home, but teaming up together has it’s benefits.

Personally I didn’t think it was very scary, the characters didn’t have much depth, though the connection between the characters both emotionally and sexually was believable. The connections seemed to be the only important thing about each character. They all seemed to exist only for the book’s timeline. There were only a couple of references to the time before the book was set but they were never followed up on. This made the characters feel one dimensional.

The actual prose was articulate and smooth, but it felt a little like a novella that had been padded a little bit to make it a book. However, like I said, it was enjoyable and the twist at the end was quite interesting. I might try another book by this author to see if I enjoyed it more, but it won’t be straight away because I have plenty of books in my TBR pile.

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Review: The Healer (The Order of Intergalactic Peace Series Book 1) by Kelly Lucille

The Healer by Kelly Lucille
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Interesting Sci-Fi Fantasy

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This book was recommended on one of my Facebook groups and when I read the blurb was sufficiently intrigued to read it straight away. I have to say that the book lived up to the blurb, which isn’t often the case.

This book is set far in the future where the Order of Intergalactic Peace rule with an iron fist. When they discovered that there were humans who manifested powers they immediately conscripted them into their armies and indoctrinated them into complete loyalty to their masters. They control everything from where they live to who they have children with. Opposing them is The Rebellion (obviously!).

Earth has become a backwater planet, destroyed over the years, and only attractive because they produce the highest number of people with powers. On Earth is a healer of extraordinary power that has managed to stay hidden with help of her powerful hunter father. Until it comes time to repay a debt that pulls her directly into the conflict between the two opposing forces in the galaxy.

I really enjoyed this book. It had really intriguing world building and I liked the development of the powers that were described. I really liked the MFC, Serenity the healer. Her character was compassionate but at the same time focused, calm and composed. She was mentally strong and able to control her fear.

On the other hand the men she came into contact with, both of The Rebellion and the OIP are not that sympathetic. They are strong and ruthless and coldly determined to use every tool at their availability to achieve their goals. Neither side has Serenity’s best interests in mind.

There are some very obvious parts to the set up of this book, with the two opposing forces, both willing to do anything for power. Also the idea of genetically mutated humans developing powers is not uncommon in fiction. What I did like is the focus on the main character, who is a healer. She is someone almost incapable of doing physical harm to another being, but she is powerful. Most novels focus on someone who is capable of doing great damage as being strong. Serenity’s name is very appropriate as she stands like granite as adversity washes off against her.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next in this series, because I believe it could go anywhere!

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Review: Hectic (Arcane Mage Series Book 2) by TS Snow

Hectic by T.S. Snow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

More Magical Mayhem

I’m going to start this review by saying I didn’t want to throw my kindle across the room at the end of the book, unlike last time. The ending has more of a kerbhanger than a cliffhanger. There is definitely a lot more story to come but the ending comes at a natural break in the plot (thankfully).

As you may have gathered by the sheer existence of a second book in the series, the main character Char is not, in fact dead. Dum Dum DUUUUUHH! She is however, very, very injured. When Char wakes up she comes face to face with her ex Theo, who desperately wants to get back together with her, which is why he was there when her apartment blew up.

The AMIA wants Char to stay in hiding and to pretend to be dead so that they can flush out the mole that allowed the rebellion to escape from their round up and got Char almost killed. Char ends up in a safe house with Blaze and Blair, a fellow agent.

This book is the same as the first in the way the plot keeps you turning pages quickly. There’s so much going on, I didn’t want to stop for lunch. The male characters start to show themselves a lot more clearly in this book, though this is still a slow building RH. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of heat, just not between multiple men yet.

The world building is getting a lot more interesting, with more of the social structure being explained, though there are still very large gaps in the information given to the reader. I think there are some pretty good reasons why it's still missing and they are all plot related. I get the feeling that the author has fleshed out the society, magic system and plot in her head and is only revealing what we really need to know for everything to be unveiled in the best way possible.

As you might have guessed I really love this series. The characters are great and the story is anything but straight forward and I can’t wait to read the next book. When’s it due out again?????

ETA: Erratic is out on 11th March 2021 That's so far away (sobs)

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Review: The Devil's Advocate (The Devil's Advocate Series Book 1) by Michaela Haze

The Devil's Advocate by Michaela Haze
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Being Queen of Hell Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

I decided to read this book after reading Red City, a more recently written book, as I wanted to know more about the world in which it was set.

This author has a great imagination, with some decidedly dark turns to it. This book is probably not for people of slightly nervous constitutions, or probably around meal times. We are talking about demons here and they author doesn’t shy away from the basic evil of them as a species, though she does imbue them with more human emotions too, that are quite a lot less evil, such as love and loyalty.

Two hundred years ago Lucifer banished his consort, Dahlia, to the human realm. He gave no explanation why, after more than a millennia together, he cast her out. She has been working as his broker with humans ever since because he can only come to the human realm for 66 minutes and 6 seconds each day. Though Dahlia is banished from hell she is still fed by it and is infinitely more strong than many other demons and than all daemons (humans changed by demon blood and sin into immortals that need to feed on sins directly created by humans). Dahlia is still devastated at the loss of Lucifer and hates him for casting her out at the same time as longing for him.

This author conveys loss and longing so brilliantly you can understand how someone who has been betrayed can still want the person who betrayed them. Lucifer’s motives are unclear almost until the end of the book and following Dahlia’s confusion and reactions to his actions leaves you at as much of a loss as she is.

For a demon queen, Dahlia is a very sympathetic character. This is probably because she doesn’t come across as outright evil. She appears to have a little empathy, which is surprising.

The plot is complex and compelling and draws you in. I devoured the book as the story was excellent. I will say though that there are lot of typos and grammatical problems in the book. I don’t think I noticed this problem in Red City, so it may be that because this was an early book there wasn’t enough money for an editor. It’s only a little distracting, but I know someone people hate books like that so I wanted to give the information in case it’s important. I think it would be a shame if this put you off, because it’s an imaginative and interesting novel.

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Review: Dissonance (Unrequited Series Book 3) by Julia Wolf

Dissonance by Julia Wolf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Frenemies To Lovers

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I’ve fallen quite hard for the Unrequited boys and their loved ones. This book follows the relationship between Alex and Yael. Yael is feisty, collected and ice cold. Alex is a skater boy, rock star, guitarist goofball who everyone loves. In previous books, no one could understand why Yael seemed to dislike Alex so much and in this book we find out.

We learn about their hidden history that no one knew about, from meeting at 16 years old, right through to today. We learn about how what could have been a wonderful friendship changed early on into something bitter and hurtful.

When Yael is invited to a friend’s wedding she intends to decline because her ex would be there, but somehow after a few drunken texts she ends up saying she would be going with Alex as her plus one. When Alex agrees to the scheme and says they have to fake date they learn to start communicating and putting aside their hurts.

It’s a beautiful story with some witty banter soothing the sadness of two people who keep damaging each other despite themselves. We get to peel back the layers on these two key characters from the previous books and it’s obvious how much thought the author has put into these two because they leap off the page.

I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it as a great trope-mashing read.

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Review: Red City by Michaela Haze

Red City by Michaela Haze
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hell on Earth

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I tried this book because it was free and sounded quite interesting. I’m really glad I did because I really enjoyed this journey into a demon city on earth. I have a feeling that though this is a standalone, it may have made more sense if I’d read the books set in the same world previously. However, I enjoyed the journey into understanding this darkly captivating world.

Jane Doe is a prisoner who has chosen to transfer her sentence to a place in Red City, the city for demons, and to become their plaything and their food in exchange for no longer living in a cage. Jane has no memory beyond waking up in the psych ward in the prison 5 years ago and has been tormented every day since waking back up. She was so sure that Red City couldn’t be worse, but then she is bought at auction by the head of one of the houses in the Lust sector and she is terrified of what is to come.

But whilst there is beauty in cruelty and the warmth of friendship in the cold and the dark, there is also fear and weakness in a world of power where she has none.

This book created a dark and captivating world that really drew me in. I also really enjoyed it was written by a fellow Brit. It did my heart good to see the word ‘bum’ used in a ménage book!

The characters themselves were intriguing on so many levels. The initial rush of introduction hooked me and as each page turned and more about each of them was revealed, the more I needed to learn about them.

The plot was different enough to keep me reading late into the night and wake up early to finish the book. I wanted to know what was going to happen next as it was carefully, slowly and tantalisingly revealed. It was gripping at the same time as tortuously slow. It was an interesting dynamic that I really enjoyed.

I will definitely be looking out for the other books set in this world because I think I will enjoy learning more about this wonderfully dark world created by Michaela Haze.

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Review: Omens (Dark In You Series Book 6) by Suzanne Wright

Omens by Suzanne Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Imp and The Incubus

I listened to this book on audible, and as such, the review reflects that experience and includes information about the narration.

This book is part of the Dark In You series and has the same characters as earlier books, but focuses on different protagonists than the first few books. This book focuses on Khloe, Harper’s cousin and co-worker, who is an Imp and Keenan, an incubus who is one of Knox’s sentinels. They have been dancing round each other for a long time but they have both got serious fears about commitment and that has kept them apart. Finally, a bet tips them over the edge and they realise that they fallen into something they can’t control, for once.

It’s no secret that I love Suzanne Wright’s work and this has to be one of my favourite series. I find the idea of demons being bonded with their human side fascinating, add in the idea of an anchor to help balance the demon, often becoming almost like a sibling, and the obsession of the demon when it claims it’s mate, plus random powers and the politics of demon Lairs and you have a great mix for paranormal romance.

Khloe is a character that could drive some readers crazy. She’s quixotic and annoying (on purpose). However, she’s loyal, amusing and unassumingly powerful. Keenan is one of the more rigid characters in the series. He’s usually quite serious and has iron control on himself. Pushing those two characters together has always created fireworks and this book is no exception.

One thing I liked about this book was learning more about Khloe’s Lair, which is headed up by her and Harper’s grandmother, Joleen. It’s nice to visit with her family and find out more about their relationships with each other as imps are hilarious.

As always, Cat Doucette does a great job narrating. She captures the characters’ personalities really well and is engaging to listen to. The narration definitely adds to the enjoyment of the book, and I recommend listening to it instead of just reading it.

There were a few hints dropped about who might be in the next book and I’m intrigued as to how that might go, but I’ll have to wait patiently for it to come out to see if I’m right.

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Review: Abandoned Girl (Neighpalm Industries Collective Series Book 1) by Lexie Winston

Abandoned Girl by Lexie Winston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Family Tensions

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

Harlow has a difficult past. She’s just qualified as a vet and is just about to decide where she’s going to practice when her junkie mother dies. Harlow has lived with a wealthy family since she was quite young and grown up with the daughter being treated the same by the family, but not by outsiders. Her solace was in the animals she would rescue and the horses that the family trained for movie stunts.

On the death of her mother, Harlow finally discovers who her father is, after her mother always refused to tell her. It turned out to be a friend of her foster family, and she already knew her biological grandparents from visits to her foster family's home. She is persuaded to come and visit the father she never knew and get to know him and his 7 adopted children. She reluctantly agrees though her experience of wealthy people is not good. That reluctance is prescient.

I really liked Harlow. She’s down to earth, she’s struggled with her mother and the experiences she had with her, but she has always appreciated her foster family’s love and support. She still doesn’t truly see herself as one of the family though. She has worked exceptionally hard to qualify early, getting herself ahead by two years by taking college classes during the final two years of high school. I like that she just keeps on going, no matter what happens, she keeps getting up in the morning.

It is the first book in the series and it does end without a HEA or even a HFN. However, it’s not an awful cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the next book though!

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