Review: Hypnos (Seeking The Zodiacs Book 1) by RJ Blain

Hypnos by R.J. Blain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High Paced Urban Fantasy

I decided to read this book based on the fact that Faith Hunter (one of my favourite authors) likes this book. It’s tenuous I know but I really really like her books. This one is pretty good.

Olivia is a woman of dual cultures, with her mother being born in China and her father being American. She looks like her mother and thinks like her father, much to her mother’s dismay. Both parents adore their daughter but they are slightly crazy and bicker. Olivia’s father is a Police Commissioner and is disappointed his daughter joined the FBI rather than become a cop.

The world in which they live is one riddled with magic, caused by the dropping of nuclear bombs during World War III. Olivia is a rare survivor of the bomb that took out New York. Those that survived were very high powered magic users. Olivia is a supervisor of magic units called Quads made up mainly of drafted magic users. Olivia works incredibly long hours, can get by with little food and was at the limits of her body and power when disaster struck her city of San Francisco.

I liked how the book started out with her being weakened and struggling to stay awake. It showed that she wasn’t all powerful right from the beginning. I also liked how her main team flocked around her to try and make her take care of herself. It showed a strong woman, who is respected and cared for. I like it when the main characters are already established in their powers.

The world building was very good and the characters were all interesting. The plot was complex and kept me reading late into the night. However, the level of banter felt a little excessive to me. It was over the top and felt forced. It dropped off a little as the book went on, which made the read much more enjoyable, but it did make me hesitate a bit at the beginning. I’m glad I stuck with it.

I think future books in this series would make for a good read and will definitely read one when they become available.

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Review: Times Like These: A Rock Star Romance (Blue Is The Color Series Book 1) by Julia Wolf

Times Like These: A Rock Star Romance by Julia Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really Enjoyable Rock Star Romance

I love a rock star romance. This was a pretty good example of the genre. I’d not read any Julia Wolf before but I liked the look of the blurb.

The story revolved around Dahlia a mature(ish) student. She’s 25 and about to embark on her last semester at college after working all the way through to fund her education. She lives with her younger sister who is also at college. She has a fabulous French Bulldog called Flamingo or Mingo for short. She has crazy red curly hair, wildly colourful tattoos and is incredibly outspoken and acts without worrying what other people think. Dahlia certainly didn’t think about other people's thoughts when she tweeted a video and ranted about a member of her sister's favourite band keeling over during the concert she was dragged to.

As a result of that ranting tweet, Nick, the lead singer of Blue is the Color, called her a really bad swear word, that lead to her being hassled on twitter, and at work by reporters and finally by her boss when he fired her.

As a result Dahlia ended up on tour with the band to work as a PA. Nick was not happy about her being there and gave her a hard time, even when the rest of the band really took to her.

This was a great set up for enemies to lovers romance and I like that though this story had predictable elements to it, the way those elements were handled were done in a way I really liked. For instance, Dahlia thought Nick gorgeous but was really turned off by his attitude. She stood her ground but didn’t attack.

I like that both characters spent time apart whilst on tour and we got to know their full personalities through their interaction with other people. They were fully rounded people that slowly got to know each other.

The story was a slowly evolving one which is much more believable than insta-love and feels more satisfyingly real to me. The book wasn’t completely serious and there were times I sat grinning like an idiot whilst reading - I’m thinking of Dahlia’s penguin impersonation here. So there was fun as well as the usual romance angst.

As a result of my enjoyment of this book, it is very likely that I will read the next in the series when I’m in the mood for another good Rock Romance.

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Review: Antidote (Love and War Series Book 1) by R A Steffan

Antidote by R.A. Steffan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Straight Forward Sci-Fi Romance

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

This is a straight forward sci-fi cross species romance. Skye is human and is on course to crash on a moon. Her father has just been killed in front of her and she has vital life saving information on her person, only she doesn’t think she’ll have a chance to save herself, let alone anyone else.

On the moon, she is about to crash into, is Hunter and his small group of friends, who make up Shadow Wing, those fighting against the oppression of The Regime. Hiding from The Regime on a moon in the middle of nowhere sounds like a good idea until a shuttle crashes into it.

Hunter decides to rescue the lone occupant of the shattered shuttle, in order to find out how she found them and if anyone is following her. When he discovers a very battered human female, something awakens in him, a primal need to protect her.

From this introduction you can pretty much tell how it goes. The plot is very straight forward, there are no real surprises, however the author’s writing style is fluid and easy to read and the characterisation isn’t bad either.

This is a fun easy read, and as I got it for free, I’m certainly not complaining!

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Review: Blackthorn Grove (Katie Bishop Series Book 2) by Luanne Bennett

Blackthorn Grove by Luanne Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More Dragon Fire

This second book in the series is as enjoyable as the first. The writing style is smooth and the characters compelling. My personal favourite is Sugar, a larger than life drag queen with a voodoo Mama, who still calls her Raymond. Sugar is protective of her friends and has no respect for those who treat her with none, and isn’t shy about saying it.

In this book a dead witch is trying to come through the Crossroads, using the bones of a dead god, to wreak vengeance against the individuals who have treated her line with disrespect. The dead witch is channelling power through the unsuspecting and people are dying. The dead witch is a fire witch and The Society believes that Katie’s dragon may be the only thing that will save Savannah when the witch comes through to their realm.

Amongst all the trials and tribulations of Savannah as a whole, Katie is having her own problems with balancing her human and dragon half and learning how to take help when it’s given.

The plot in this book is well constructed and nothing is obvious at the outset, which I enjoy very much. It’s a great urban fantasy series and I will continue to read it.

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Review: Crossroads of Bones (Katie Bishop Series Book 1) by Luanne Bennett

Crossroads of Bones by Luanne Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dragons, Tattoos and Voodoo

This book was an unexpected gem. I picked up the book for free because it sounded ok and I’m so glad I did. I love Urban Fantasy and this was right up my street.

Katie Bishop is a tattoo artist who owns her own shop, in Savannah. She also happens to have an amazing dragon tattooed on her back, that occasionally moves around. She hasn’t lived in Savannah long but has made a few good friends, including her employee Sea Bass (Sebastian) and Lady Sugar a big, beautiful, black trans-gendered woman.

Katie has been keeping her dragon a secret from her friends but one day a man walks into her shop asking for a strange tattoo, she has seen in her dreams, and everything about her life in Savannah changes.

This is my favourite type of Urban Fantasy, with a strong female protagonist with a good group of friends around her. I particularly like that Katie has such good friendships with Sea Bass and Sugar, both of whom are fantastic characters who really care about her well being.

I like that we learn about Savannah’s supernatural community and history alongside Katie as it is revealed to her throughout the book, as she is a recent transplant, but I feel that there are some things that are half explained about Katie’s past. I felt that there was some information I was missing and it was a little annoying.

I can see from the Author’s Goodreads page that she has a series set in New York, so I wonder if Katie’s character was introduced in that series as a support character, as that is where she originally lived. Plus, there are references to all the weird stuff that happened in New York, so this is what has led me to make assumptions about previous books. I’d be interested to know if I’m right, but not interested enough to read the other series, just to find out.

I really enjoyed this book as it has an interesting plot and the characters are great. The world building isn’t perfect but it’s still good enough to keep me within the moment as I read. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

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