Tag Archive: urban-fantasy



The Choice (The Dragon Heart Legacy, #3)The Choice by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think Nora Roberts is now my favorite author and Barrie Kreinik is my favorite narrator. This Dragon Heart Legacy series has been a blast. I loved every minute of time I spent in that world with those characters.

Fantasies and romances get boring and predictable. Mostly predictible in that I know the writer is going to try to make the book more exciting. But I am not looking for exciting. I’m looking for connections and travel and quieter life with similar problems solved differently, or finding talents in being with folks who are supportive. And even if the one you love starts out gruff, he can learn new ways of thinking and acting.

As soon as I can I am going to buy the Audible version of this series. This version was from Libby. A great series I already miss.

View all my reviews


The Awakening (The Dragon Heart Legacy, #1)The Awakening by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can’t decide which person I am most impressed with: Nora Roberts with the writing, or Barrie Kreinik and her versatile storytelling.

Fantasy usually bugs me. Too scary, too weird that ghosts, vampires, werefolk, etc. interbreed. I like the adventure and opportunity to travel to new lands, but the rest… Anyway, this book followed a different path. The romance wasn’t a gaga kind of love, but rather, different kinds of love are featured: friends and family, and a bit of romance. The main character’s trainer is tough and doesn’t take any flak from his new trainee, but you see that it isn’t out of hate or meanness, but rather out of a hope to instill enough fear in the newbie to take it seriously.

Apologies are always handy in this story. I rarely see that kind of person written about. I get upset with most books that they don’t take responsibility for actions or emotions.

Some would say this was boring, but I loved it more than I do most fantasy. And as I said before, the narrator was fantastic.

No sooner did I finish this book than I went back to Libby to borrow the next book in the series. I’m loving it, too!

View all my reviews



Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Because I am already on book 6, I am including the blurb to remind me what was in the second book.

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire, is back in this sexy, suspenseful novel of supernatural shenanigans.

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend, who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she canโ€™t help but wonder what Cookieโ€™s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously?

Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a womanโ€™s name. Mimiโ€™s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple of weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan, yes, literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. Heโ€™s left his body because heโ€™s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes canโ€™t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, theyโ€™ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heavenโ€ฆ well, letโ€™s just say it wouldnโ€™t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Even with the blurb, I am having a hard time zeroing in on any one of the five books. So I’ll be general in my review. These books are a fun mix of Ghost Whisperer, Ghostbusters, and other silly paranormal detective stories. Every one of these books keeps me laughing. My favorite parts are the chapter titles from T-Shirts, bumper stickers, and posters.

Darynda Jones writes with levity. Tongue in cheek or outright humor. We all need that right now. Lorelei King, as the narrator, makes the stories more fun. In fact, I love Ms. King’s work so much that I ordered her book about learning to narrate.

Libby has all of the books available. I hope you get the chance to listen to these.

View all my reviews


First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, even if I give you the blurb, I don’t know if it would help you decide to read/listen to this book. Oh, heck:

A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper. Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light”. But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice.

Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life… and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

This is a thrilling debut novel from an exciting newcomer to the world of paranormal romantic suspense. The audio includes a sneak peek of Second Grave on the Left. (From the GoodReads page for the book).

Don’t think of it as dark or twisty. More like, “Sarcastic much?” Yes, that was a leaning toward Buffy and similar shows and books. Tongue-in-cheek and other kinds of funny. Hard to read at bedtime as guffaws blurt out and wake my husband.

My friend, Cher, recommended this series. After the wonderful Outlander tomes, I needed something light and fun. I want to thank Libby for having the series ready one right after another.

View all my reviews


A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun, young adult read. The writing amused me. Naomi Novik presented literary fun.

Anisha Dadia narrated the audiobook from Libby, which I was privileged to read. Sometimes I wish I could have glanced at a word in a real book. There were fantasy/magical words that I didn’t recognize. Still, Ms. Dadia kept the characters and story more fun than I think it would have been in a dry paper book read.

I think if I were into YA right now or Harry Potter-type stories, I would love this, but I just didn’t love it. I think it is me not the book. So I don’t think I will move on to the rest of the series. But, hey, you may love it. Give it a try!

View all my reviews


Kat Drummond Ten Book Box SetKat Drummond Ten Book Box Set by Nicholas Woode-Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series took me a while to read. A South African monster slayer, post-apocalypse, still in college in a time when monsters now roam. Kat Drummond is a ghost-inhabited student just trying to get by. She can be sassy, but mostly a new adult full of the normal insecurities we all have in our late teens and early twenties.

This was fun, if not downright bloody. The gross scenes were vivid and not the best for a bedtime read. But before long, the characters grow on you, and the story holds up over the scarier or grosser parts.

I can see young adults and new adults loving this series.

The coolest part of this book was that it took place in South Africa. It is a nice diversion from the usual books we can access here in the States. This is a fun series if you can handle monsters to learn about how real people operate in less than the best circumstances.

View all my reviews


Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2 by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vivienne Leheny narrated this audiobook. I had attempted to read the text-to-speech Kindle version. It was difficult to stay in the story as Kindle’s TTS read a main character named Nine Inch Nails and called fingers finJa. Nin was the person’s name. She didn’t show up often, but that moniker didn’t work.

This series is a great distraction from all the worries of our day. Who doesn’t need a dragon who becomes human. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

View all my reviews


Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons, #1)Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sorry for a repeat. I finished reading/listening to the Kindle Text-to-Speech edition a week ago. And though I liked it overall, the story was lost to me as the person named Nin was referred to as Nine-Inch-Nails, EVERYTIME! It pulled me out of the story, and I felt very distracted while attempting to read.

It is on Audible! I can’t tell you what a marvelous book it is with a narrator! Vivienne Leheny told Lindsay Buroker’s story with enthusiasm. It felt like a totally different story. Ms. Leheny acted out all the characters, making it easy to differentiate who’s who.

I don’t think I discussed location in my last review. I felt right in the story with the places, including Bend, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and points between. I felt I was right there in the story. I hope everyone gets the chance to read this series.

View all my reviews


Crumbs and Misdemeanors (Great Witches Baking Show #6)Crumbs and Misdemeanors by Nancy Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because of the availability at Libby, I am reading this series out of order. After the fun of GingerDead, I found book 6. I dislike reading things out of order, but I figured Nancy Warren does such a nice job of filling in the needed details from the previous books. I didn’t feel I’d get lost. And I don’t think I did.

This book went nearly as fast as the Gingerdead novella. It was a fun ride.

Hollis McCarthy narrated this one, also. She could voice all the characters so well that I often forgot it was just one woman reading aloud.

Nancy Warren’s series are all so light and cozy, yet engaging. I don’t like that mysteries are always about murder. But everything else is fun. It’s always an adventure.

It was one of those sleepless nights, so I not only finished this one, but I went on to the other one Libby had available. Again, way out of order. On to number 5!

View all my reviews


Written in Red (The Others, #1)Written in Red by Anne Bishop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After starting to read this in Kindle with text-to-speech from Libby, I decided to listen to the Audible version. I prefer the narrator, Alexandra Harris, to the TTS. It was a good read.

It has been a week or so since I finished the read. A little case of COVID got in the way of reviewing reads. Still, I do remember this fondly and look forward to more in the series as I can buy them. In the case of fantasy beings this was a different take. It was fun!

View all my reviews

Godinterest

Godinterest for Churches, Ministries, Businesses, Creators, and Believers Worldwide

moon.child โ™ก

๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด

venture

"Collect moments, not just destinations. Travel well."

Sebastian Stead - My Photography Blog

Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.

My Awesome Blog

โ€œLog your journey to success.โ€ โ€œWhere goals turn into progress.โ€

THE AVOERIA ARCHIVE

The Depth Behind The Ordinary

Life of Chaz

Books, games, music, and life โ€” filtered through the mind of a writer, drummer, and philosopher who thinks too deeply about all of it. If it moves something in your chest, I'm interested.

Pieces Of My Heart

"Words & Wonders - Where thoughts meet art

๐Ÿ’ซThe Afterlove Voice๐Ÿ’ซ

Justice,Spiritual,Astrology,Tarot,Healing

Amin Academy

Education, Information, Motivation

Luso Loonie โ€” Devin Meireles

Exploring Portuguese Culture, Azorean Heritage, and Luso-Canadian Identity Through Writing

UNDER THE WILL... OVER THE DRAMA...

Inheritance. Narcissism. Turf. Welcome to the family.