Tag Archive: Paranormal


Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

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July 19, 2015

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2)Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Normally, when I get a book that has no text-to-speech and isn’t lendable I give it fewer stars in the rating. But since I love this series so much that I would give it more than five stars for each book, you can only go down to the limit of five from above. Dar rationalization. I’m sticking to it! Besides, without the narration of Khristine Hvam, I think, this book would just be average. Who am I kidding? I think it would still be fantastic. Khristine Hvam is just the icing on the cake–but isn’t that the best part?

Book two starts off immediately where book one left off. Good think I reread book one to understand that. The adventure continues with all the same players and a few new ones. I love that there are more points of view introduced in this book. Zuzana now has her own part to play as does her boyfriend, Mik. Their thoughts and histories add humor and wonder to a crazy world that Karou and Akiva already knew and showed us in book one. I love Zuzana so much. I love her sense of humor and excitement. I may love her more than the main character, Karou. But Mik is adorable, too. They add a lot to the story.

I want to write more, but book three is calling so loudly that I can’t think of anything else to say. Please, give this series a chance, preferably with the narration. I think you may love it as much as I do. Now let me go bury myself in the next book. Bye!

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Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

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July 18, 2015

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-reading so I can remember the story and read the rest of the series. Done.

This reading was to make sure I knew where the story was going before I start on book two. I still loved it. Especially with the narration of Khristine Hvam. She reads this flawlessly. I can’t imagine reading this book without her talented voice in the background. I stand by the review I wrote in February 2014:

***
Oh. My. Gosh! I think this is the best book ever! Thank you to all that recommended it so highly. I, too, now sing its praises!

Laini Taylor is the storyteller’s storyteller. Once I started into the world that she created I didn’t want to leave. In fact, though the copies I had of the hardback and the CDs were borrowed from the library, I couldn’t bear to return them had I not gone ahead and bought the Kindle and Audible versions to read again. And while I was at it I picked up the next in the series.

Oh, and I need to sing a few praises to the narrator, Khristine Hvam. I was caught up in the sound of her voice and her ability to wring out every nuance each word and even syllable the book had to offer.

The main character, Karou, is real, palpable. I could see through her eyes, smell what she smelled, anguish in choices to be made or mistakes that resulted. The cast of characters surrounding her were also real. I keep trying to come up with another word, after all this IS fantasy, but that is all I can come up with, real.

Magic is in abundance in the book, whether it is meant to be or not. Yet it is highly believable. And always leads to hope. Hope is the theme, I think. It made me feel it deep inside in places that haven’t felt it for a while. Hope. How many books give you that? That is a priceless commodity.

Please read this book with the audio along side. It immerses you into this world and you will feel hope, too.

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Review: The Witch and the Englishman by J.R. Rain

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July 13, 2015

The Witch and the Englishman (The Witches Series #2)The Witch and the Englishman by J.R. Rain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hate when I don’t review within the day of reading a book. I am always already reading other books and find it hard to get back into the mindset of the previous book.

Let’s see, I finished this two nights ago. I was able to have the Whispersynch audible to listen to as I read. I must admit for Francesca Townes, narrator, this book seemed much better than the first one. She was able to handle all the voices male and female with great acting skills. Each character had their own voice and, well, character. The only voice I don’t like is the one of the detective. But he isn’t around so much so we don’t have to put up with that voice very much. Reading with her voice is so important for me now that I just don’t want to get into book three without it. So even though I want more of this series, I will wait to pick up the next book.

Meanwhile, the character Allison Lopez is gaining ground in her experience as a witch. It’s a good thing as the challenges she faces in this book seem harder, nearly impossible to solve. I love that she gets a new friend out of the deal. I love that we got to know her old friends in more depth. But is she ready for the demon realm?

This book was very intense in places but moved along quite well between. I look forward to more in this series, but please, add Francesca Townes’s narration soon!

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Review: The Witch and the Gentleman by J.R. Rain

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July 10, 2015

The Witch and the GentlemanThe Witch and the Gentleman by J.R. Rain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an unexpected surprise. First of all, it came to me as a Kindle freebie. I did pay $1.99 for the whispersynch audio which made the book even better. But my goal is that I read mostly books by lady authors with strong fem main characters. Occasionally, there will be a book with an author name that only has initials and a last name. Those can be tricky as the author is of undetermined gender. I picked this book up just hoping it was a fem. It is a guy.

So, there are things I look for if it is a male writer. How well does he portray his fem lead? How do the secondary characters react to the lead? And for either gender writer, I look at how realistic the fantasy person and world is.

In this case, I didn’t have a lot of problems with the fem lead, except…crying. Geez! Planning to go take a cry? Crying a lot! A real lady doesn’t respond to a person dying in front of her by planning to cry later. She might not cry at all. Shaking, maybe, but goodness gracious! For the rest of the book I think JB Rain got it right. Don’t be putting anything on a gentlelady that you wouldn’t put on a gentleman.

Apart from the gender issue is the realism of fantasy. Allison Lopez, the main character, is a psychic hotline operator. As one who already possesses some psychic talents, why have her so afraid when the ghost appears? Not just an initial reaction but over and over it is stated how scary this is. I think a true psychic wouldn’t have been afraid once the initial introduction happens.

BUT overall, this is a fun book with a main character I could relate to. (I have been a psychic hotline operator. I have encountered a ghost or two.) What I loved was the amount a truth in developing these talents and bits about Wicca and its practices. From what research I have done, most of these practices were well done.

Oh, a word about the narrator, Francesca Townes. I did enjoy the addition of her voice to the story. Her interpretation of the male voice wasn’t the greatest, but it worked once I got used to it.

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Review: Alpha: An Urban Fantasy Novel by S.M. Reine

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June 26, 2015

Alpha: An Urban Fantasy Novel (War of the Alphas Book 3)Alpha: An Urban Fantasy Novel by S.M. Reine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I was gifted this book for an honest review.

Maybe it was because my life has been so busy with fun road trips and not so fun hospital time for my husband, but, I had a hard time getting through this story. Usually, I can’t stop reading a Sara Reine book. There were just so many places where my mind wandered away from the story.

I think it is hard to make the main character a favorite for me. Deidre has no respect for Rylie our favorite Alpha werewolf. She doesn’t even have respect for her own alpha. But then he isn’t worth the respect. Meanwhile, Deidre Tombs goes all gooey about a dragon shifter and/or her alpha. It’s hard to know where she stands. She hasn’t much to stand on as she searches for her own animal to shift to. Once she finds it, she has a hard time making it happen.

Okay, all that aside, I am still looking forward to the next book to see what happens next. No, we weren’t left on a cliffhanger. We were left with many threads left undone, possibly fraying at the ends. How can our prolific author tie this all up? Wow!

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Review: Crux by Julie Reece

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May 24, 2015

CruxCrux by Julie Reece

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! What a wonderful, unexpected find! I think I mentioned that my husband recommended a book titled Crux to me a while back. Well, I found two titles of Crux and both were free. So I picked them both up not knowing which one he was alluding to. That cleared up, I read the other one, by Moira Rogers, first. Yep, it was grand. But then I didn’t feel it fair not to read this one by Julie Reece, just to make sure it got a chance. IT WAS TERRIFIC!!!!!

Okay, it wasn’t the erotic volcano that Moira Rogers’ book was. In fact, this one is tame enough that anyone could read it and not be embarrassed by sexual, much less sensual acts of the main characters. Okay, maybe there was a kiss or two, but that was expected. On the other hand, just in warning, it does have some very violent scenes. And I almost think that they were necessary for the whole picture. But otherwise, this was a fantastic read.

This was a longer than usual book. But it managed to tell the whole story without the need for a book two. Yet, I wish I could visit the characters again. I always feel like that. Birdie, the main character is a lovable young lady, homeless after years of foster care. The story is contemporary with throwbacks to early Viking/English wars. Since my studies don’t cover the Vikings (except for the glorious TV show, Vikings) I must admit to being a little out of my element at times, but it all starts to make sense after a while and it is always a fun read. And often it is on the edge of your seat exciting.

I highly recommend this wonder of a story to everyone, violence be damned, it’s worth it!

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Review: Crux by Moira Rogers

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May 23, 2015

Crux (Southern Arcana, #1)Crux by Moira Rogers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When my husband recommends a book, I grab it up. It will be good. And Crux is proof. Just a side note. When he first mentioned Crux to me, there was another book called Crux by Julie Reece that was also free. I will read that one very soon. I doubt it will be as steamy as this one. How could it be?

This Crux, by the writers who combine their talents and become Moira Rogers, author, has everything! BUT if you don’t like shapeshifters, great romance, complex characters with relationships to a seedier, yet more honest side, or hot steamy (wait, I used that word already), volatile (yeah, that’ll do it!) erotic lovemaking, don’t bother. I can’t remember gratuitous cussing. Maybe I was already enthralled and didn’t notice. Let that be a warning: THIS IS FOR ADULTS! even I might be too young! (LOL. 65!)

The thing is, the young woman is running for her life. No place is safe for her or those she may give her heart to. Someone is out to get her. When she learns why, it still doesn’t explain WHY. So what if she has an inner cougar begging her to shapeshift. That’s not a good reason to kill those who get too close.

By the way, Fifty Shades and the pain be damned. This is what turns me on. It is just as hungry, sexually, but more in the moment and involved.

AND there are witches and seers trying to help the young woman become all she can be while fighting the bad guy.

This book is free. The rest of the series is out of my reach for now, but not impossibly high. Go check it out…if you dare!

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Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

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May 21, 2015

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky, #2)Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Look, if the publishers and the author didn’t think of their pocketbooks over their readers, I would have been able to give this book five stars. As it is, the book, Kindle version (the cheapest) is $9.99. This isn’t loanable. It doesn’t have text-to-speech. For those of us who have poor eyes or other reading disabilities, there is no hope but to buy the Audible version to Whispersynch. That’s another $12.99. Twenty-three dollars for this piece of crap? No, the story is okay. It is as good as other YA dystopias out there. Maybe fewer mistakes, but not topping any of the indies. Are ALL young adults made of money? Do they care about reading books this much? And now I have to put out $23 more to read book three? Are you kidding me? I am putting no more money out for this. I don’t care what happens to the characters. If I can find the Kindle and Overdrive or CD versions I might check them out. Otherwise. I am done with this author and publisher. I don’t care if they are geniuses, storywise! There is plenty more out there that is equal if not surpassing these stories.

Now the story itself was good. I did like the characters. I thought the world interesting. I did pull for the good ending. And while I was reading/listening to the story, I forgot about the price. Michael Goldstrom is okay as a narrator but not the best. Since half the book is from a female point of view, hearing the male voice made the female seem less than a person.

I hope when I get ready to publish my own books I remember how I felt about this series and do what I think is the right thing for all.

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Review: Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey

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May 18, 2015

Dark Currents (Agent of Hel, #1)Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is for Kindle Version ASIN: B008RD2W58. And the Audible version.

Yeah.

Before I got mired down in the mystery and ghostly farts of Temple Secrets, I finished reading Dark Currents. I bought the Kindle and Audible versions a long time ago (a year, I think). I finally got into it, Friday, I think. It seems so long ago. Wish I would have remembered to write the review right after, but something happened and I only just saw that I hadn’t given this book it’s due.

First of all, I love Jacqueline Carey’s writing. I read almost all her stuff a while back. I still love her Kushiel’s Legacy series the best. This is a little different in that it is more on the lines of the demony-werewolfie stuff I have been reading a lot lately (wave to Sara Reine). Still Ms. Carey had a new take on the genre. I loved her characters and world. It all seemed believable, well, sort of.

Second, the narrator, Johanna Parker, was fantastic! She could change her voice according to character or mood and keep the story moving.

Oh and a note about the cat. Geeze, now I can’t remember his name. He was adorably real among all the werewolves, mermaids and other fantasy beings. As tense as the story got sometimes, Ms. Carey kept the banter light enough to not get to be too much.

There is a bit of romance but not sickeningly so. Mostly it is about Daisy, the half-demon, Hel’s agent (the goddess not the place), trying to live a useful life in this town full of fantasy creatures. And she and her partner have to solve a murder. Difficult enough with merely humans involved, but how did the boy die in salt water in Lake Michigan, fresh water?

Though the book didn’t leave us on a cliffhanger, I find myself wanting to enjoy the characters and the town more. So Now that I have my free credit on Audible I will download that version and buy the Kindle version when I get paid. I look forward to more.

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Review: Justice Calling by Annie Bellet

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May 14, 2015

Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, #1)Justice Calling by Annie Bellet

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure and confession: I was given this book for honest review. Sorry it took me SO long to actually read it!

This was a fun story. I love the main character. I love her nerdy game store. I can relate better to her next-door neighbor’s store of antiques, to tell you the truth. I just was born too late to get into gaming. Still my adult children and so many of my younger friends have been those gamers. So I love them dearly!

Annie Bellet wrote such a strong book that I felt like I was there in the scene. I felt I identified with the main character in how she deals with the problems that surround her. I love that inner voice of her thoughts. I laughed out loud at the occasional mental conversations.

Having read all of SM Reine’s shifter/demon/witch stories, I may be over-done on the subject matter. Though I can find no fault in Justice Calling, except that it is too short. Ya know, I think I just talked myself into raising the rating to five stars instead of four. I do like that Jade Crow is different than other shifters. I’m looking forward to reading and getting addicted to Ms. Bellet’s work.

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