Review: Red Wolf (Shifters Unbound Series 10) by Jennifer Ashley

Red Wolf by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fighting the Fae

It seems like eons since I read the first part of this series. This book has sat in my library languishing for a very long time. After being unable to get into any of my newer books over the last few days I decided to read this, as I knew I enjoyed the series and the characters were familiar. Sometimes we need the comfort of familiarity, even in books.

This book revolves around Jaycee, a leopard shifter, and her Tracker partner and best friend, red wolf shifter, Dimitri. They were raised from their teens together and are inseparable. Recently they had sex after their community leader went into a mating frenzy and dragged them with him. In the aftermath, Dimitri mate-claimed Jaycee and she has yet to decide if she will accept or reject him. She thinks he did it because he thought it would help control her and keep her safe during a dangerous interlude.

Their leader Kendrick decides to send them on a mission to assess if shifters are betraying their own kind by siding with the fae who enslaved them for centuries. They are eventually approached by a wolf shifter who invites them to New Orleans.

There are all sorts of antics in New Orleans, with a goblin, a sentient house and fae. They have to decide if they are going to fight for their relationship, or try to do their duty.

Theirs is an interesting relationship because they’ve been friends for years. It makes a nice change to have shifter relationships not being insta-love ones.

This series is well written and interesting. The characters continue through the series, which is always nice, as it often covers the main characters of previous books so it’s almost like a continuing epilogue. Having a continuing battle with the fae and the human authorities gives the series cohesion and means a new plot doesn’t have to be established in each book.

The book is enjoyable and helped me get out of my reading funk.

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Review: Friends With The Monsters by Albany Walker

Friends With The Monsters by Albany Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Weirdly Endearing

This book is strange and captivating. There is a lot of mystery involved revolving around the MFC, Damiana who lives by herself in a huge expensive house in the middle of nowhere. The only companions she has are monsters that visit her in the night. They are, and have always been, her only friends. Even as a child she scared her parents and was sent away to boarding school very young, and she never saw her very wealthy parents again.

We don’t know what kind of supernatural creature Damiana is, but we do know that she feeds on sins. Though she has her monster friends she is still isolated and lonely. She doesn’t trust easily after being cast away by her parents. Then one day a severely injured man turns up in her house. Instead of attacking him, she feels herself drawn to him and needs to help. This is the start of a brand new adventure, when she must learn to trust others.

There is a lot left unsaid by the end of the book. There is a bit of a cliffhanger, but it didn’t leave me screaming in frustration. It’s at times funny, weird, dark and sexy. It’s definitely an enjoyable read, and I’ll be looking out for a new book when it comes out.

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Review: Well of Magic: An Urban Fantasy (Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill Series Book 4) by BR Kingsolver

Well of Magic: An Urban Fantasy by BR Kingsolver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Invasion by The Knights of Magica

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

This book is from one of my favourite authors. I always love the stuff BR Kingsolver writes, but I was a little uncertain in parts of this book. One of my uncertainties arises from Erin meeting Oriel, a half fae/half witch who is her friend Lizzy’s cousin. He is an unseelie fae and therefore a little darker than Lizzy. He’s also got horns and bits of fur in odd places. He’s very good at glamour though, as well as being a Smith, or a fae metal worker, which is why Erin initially wanted to meet him. Their relationship strikes me as odd, in that Erin just jumps straight into it, with hardly any hesitation, despite being concerned about her instant intense attraction to him. However, as the book progresses I got over those feelings.

The book, away from the romance part, is as anticipated, it’s usual fantastic self. It seems an enemy of the Illuminati has come to Westport and they want to eliminate all the supernatural beings they can find, and they don’t care who gets caught in the cross fire. They are a religious order and are mostly zealots.

Erin believes they are trying to fill the vacuum left by the, now mostly destroyed, Illuminati and she ends up being roped in to pass on her conclusions and any information she has buried in her brain from her years as an Illuminati Hunter, to the Supernatural Council.

A lot happens in this book, with fighting off the Knights of Magica, as well as the romance part, so there is no surprised that this book has a cliff hanger. At the end of the book it states the next book will be out in Winter 2020. Of course this felt a very long time to wait, so I checked with the author and they said it would probably be March at the earliest for release, which is a lot sooner than my panicked brain had it, with was next winter, rather than the one we are currently in. I do love it when an author is accessible for this sort of thing.

As always, I recommend the book, despite my misgivings early on with the romance part of the story. I got over it quickly, so I’m sure you will too!

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Review: Wicked Wings (Lizzie Grace Series Book 5) by Keri Arthur

Wicked Wings by Keri Arthur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such A Good Series

I’ve been a fan of Keri Arthur for a long time, but this is one of my favourite series of hers. I love Lizzie Grace and her best friend, and familiar, Belle. Their friendship is the centre of these stories, and I love that it’s more important than the romances that come and go. The two witches are aware of each other at all times and can psychically communicate and draw on each other’s strength in times of need. It may not be romantic love but it’s something almost stronger.

This is just as well because though Lizzie is with Aidan and has fallen for him, they both know there can be no future in their relationship, because as an alpha werewolf he has to marry and have children with another werewolf. This time limit gives a sweet poignancy to their relationship, despite their obvious feelings for each other.

In this book the dark danger facing the reservation is a demon that murders and then strips flesh from the bones. Throw in a White Lady ghost who wants to get revenge on the demon and signs of Lizzie’s husband getting close to tracking her down after 12 years of running from him and their forced marriage at age 16.

With a long standing series there are always multiple strands to tug on and weave in and this is where the strength of the writer comes into it’s own, with Ms Arthur’s craft shining through with each turn of the page. It takes real skill to take each component of a long running series and weave it around the immediate threat, without letting either part getting lost and becoming weaker. This book is a perfect example of a writer at the height of her powers creating a wonderful set of characters and weaving a gripping story around them.

Read this series, it’s brilliant.

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Review: Shattered Bonds (Jane Yellowrock Series Book 13) by Faith Hunter

Shattered Bonds by Faith Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Culmination of several story arcs

I make no secret of loving Faith Hunter and this wonderful world she has built, containing both Jane Yellowrock and Nell Ingram, two my favourite female characters. This book is number 13 in the series, and by now you’d think that everything would have been said or done with this character, but you’d be absolutely incorrect.

This book takes several long standing story arcs and ties them together in a way that you will not see coming. Some of those are arcs you won’t realise were still not tied off. This book is a gift to long standing Jane fans.

All the characters get to show their depth as Jane deals with the possibility of her powers killing her. At the end of the Dark Queen, Jane understands that her time travelling ability has given her cancer, because arcenciels are the only beings meant to do it. She has just become the Emperor of the European Vampires and she is unbelievably sick. She immediately abdicates and slinks away in the night. It was a heartbreaking end to a great book and waiting for Shattered Bonds was hard.

Thankfully, Alex Younger is a genius hacker who easily traced Jane, so the Youngers and Bruiser showed up to look after her. Jane’s instincts are always to stand isolated and alone, because for most of her life it was just her and Beast to rely on. Her family is still so new she can’t bring herself to hurt them with watching her die, so she leaves.

This book shows what happens when you walk away from your responsibilities and try to do everything on your own. The book explores Jane’s heart and soul. It explores Beast’s heart too and their connection and love for each other. Jane must look inwards in her usual mix of Cherokee ceremony, visions, prayer and magic.

There is less action in this book than some of the earlier ones, but that is because there is so much to handle in order to finish this chapter of her life. For a while I thought this might be the last book, until I remembered quite late on that there is a contract for one more book in the series, so I know there is still good stuff to come. Jane gets her Happy for Now ending, but know there is still a barrel load of work still to be done as Dark Queen and Emperor of the European Vampires!

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