For the last six months, Detective James Ralston has worked the nightshift as security for the Pacific Blue Hotel, and every night at 2 a.m. his rounds lead him to the radio room where the handsome and mysterious Franklin Fairchild sits listening to waltzes as old as the hotel itself. James is drawn to Franklin, but Franklin is a man at the end of his rope, and James has no intention of getting caught up in whatever trouble Franklin is in. A heated encounter late one night sends James down a disturbing path and has him questioning everything around him, including his very sanity.
Review
James is ex military, ex cop, ex detective and a current security guard for an old hotel. He meets Franklin in the hotel on his sweep of the hotel each night at 2 am. Eventually he and Franklin move past just exchanging pleasantries to becoming more “involved” with each other.
Once he begins to dig deeper into Franklin’s life, he realizes that Franklin may be in danger – and that maybe there’s more going on around him than he really knows.
**
This is a short story and unique, not quite like the other books of Charlie Cochet’s I’ve read. It’s definitely coming out at the right time of year, but I don’t want to give too much else away.
There is a twist – to be sure – and a very satisfying HEA.
I really enjoyed trying to keep up with the twists and turns the story takes us on and appreciated the subtle language cues Charlie gives us to help solve the mystery.
I recommend this to fans of Halloween stories and detective stories.
Chaos reigns in The Sleepless City, and it’s really beginning to piss Detective Jonas Forge off. He’s got inner demons to battle and a life to build with his new soul mate, Blair Turner. Nothing is going right, and he already feels the universe is conspiring against him when a turn of events he never saw coming flips his world upside down.
Hallucinations grip the town and everyone in it, threatening to tear their precariously built family apart, and the only way forward is to bare all to each other. This means Declan and Blair need to learn to accept one another. Lucas Coate has to move forward without ties to his werewolf pack and live a monogamous life with Declan.
But while Forge and Declan confront horrors from their shared past, Simon learns a terrible truth about vampires—one he couldn’t have imagined in his worst nightmares.
Review
Our boys have all mated, but are not necessarily “settled”. Forge and Blaire are still working on their trust issues and this book focuses on their relationship.
There’s another “mystery” to solve, this time involving a creature that causes paranormals to attack one another without provocation.
The creature attacks Forge, forcing him to reveal some “truths” he had hoped to keep to himself.
There is quite a bit of back history relayed, mostly from Declan about Forge’s early days and some about Declan’s turning, too.
There is a little bit of fun with the couples in general, but the focus is Blaire and Forge.
**
I liked this installment, though maybe a little less than the previous books. It was good to see everyone again, and lovely to see the relationship deepening between Forge and Blaire.
The mystery stuff is exciting and creative; I loved the new “powers” we get to see in Declan and Forge.
I’m a big romance fan and the focus in this book was still on the romance, but was maybe a bit more weighted to the mystery.
The writing was excellent and the world-building was extensive and compelling.
I’m not sure if this was the last installment – it could be, but there is room left for more – but it was a nice way to end, if it is.
I’ve enjoyed this series very much and recommend it to fans of paranormal romance.
The freedom to love comes with a cost.
As a guardian angel, Drake’s destiny is written in the stars. Choice is not part of an angel’s life. Drake never thought twice about it until he’s unexpectedly thrust into watching over Grey, who inspires passion in Drake but endangers his very identity as a guardian angel. Grey is more than just another human—he can see angels. When he discovers that unlike his previous angel Drake will talk to him, Grey becomes determined to pull Drake off the sidelines and into life. Attraction flares between them from the beginning and causes Drake to question his purpose for the first time. His distraction results in a decision that changes everything—and not just for him and Grey.
Review
Drake is a guardian angel, who despite protocol, feels compelled to “remember” each and everyone of his charges, even after they’ve passed. He gets placed on a case mid-stream when one of his fellow angels “goes corporeal” (turns into a human and gives up being an angel).
Grey is a human who has always been able to see guardian angels, but Drake is the first he’s gotten to talk to him and even touch! Grey acts as his own sort of guardian by patrolling his neighborhood streets to keep things as safe as he can for his people.
Drake and Grey are attracted to one another, though Drake knows absolutely and literally nothing about such physical and emotional things. Grey delights in showing him the wonders of “being alive” and experiencing life rather than just observing.
When things get very “real” and Grey gets hurt while Drake is on the job, Drake decides it’s too much to risk and asks to be pulled from Grey’s guard duty, though they’ve both admitted their love for the other.
However – it’s too much for them to take AND there’s something brewing among the angels that has Drake’s friends getting involved to bring Grey and Drake together in the hopes that their relationship will serve a higher purpose.
**
First let me say that I’m a Diane Adams fan. I really enjoyed her series “The Making of a Man” and was really excited about a paranormal book from her.
I’m not sure the order of writing, but I do know this is a re-print of an earlier title. That being the case it may have been one of her earlier books, I don’t know. But what I do know is that it lacked some of the tightness her other stories had and that there were some basic flaws that made enjoying the creativity of this story a harder for me.
The premise and the world-building were great. Angels aren’t vehicles of heaven – they just “are”. They don’t have an agenda, they just protect. They don’t judge don’t necessarily even care about what they see, they just observe. This has some consequences and in the past has led to some rebellion. Currently, there are angels worried about another rebellion. I liked this take on the angel theme, and was glad to see a departure from some of the more historical/religious way angels are usually portrayed.
I also loved the idea of a guardian angel falling for his charge. Sure, it’s been done before, but it’s a lovely idea and in this case has some interesting twists.
What I found difficult was all the inconsistencies around what angels were to do, why they would “go corporeal” and how they would come to that decision, what happens when they cross over, why Drake was so fixated on memories, what roll Grey was to play in the end and what the other pair of lovers had to do with things. It felt kind of vague in some ways and didn’t seem to follow a discrete set of “plot rules” in a way that made me understand character motivation well at all.
Though it may sound silly, it was hard having two MCs with names like Grey and Drake. They were so similar I kept forgetting who was who and had to re-read passages over and over because I’d gotten confused.
The gang stuff really didn’t work for me and the attack on Drake just felt awkward and strange for a modern story.
By the end I wasn’t sure what exactly was happening with Grey and Drake and just who they were and what they were going to be doing for the foreseeable future.
So… though I really liked parts of this story, the fact that felt so rough around the edges had me giving just a bit lower rating.
As a Collections Demon, Zavier grants his “clients” one wish in exchange for their souls. His job sucks, but once you make a deal with Corporate South, they own you. The trouble is, Zavier’s not a very good Collections Demon, with his tendencies to spurn authority and find loopholes to help deserving clients out of their contracts. He’s under scrutiny from the head of his department, who would quite literally like to see him burn. He just needs to close a simple deal to get upper management off his back. Instead, he meets Ryan.
Ryan is desperately searching for a way to save his dying sister. He doesn’t believe in magic and demons, but he’s out of options. Zavier’s not what he expects in a demon, and even more unexpected is the strong sense of familiarity—very intimate familiarity.
While trying to free Ryan from his contract, Zavier discovers secrets unscrupulous even by South standards. Exposing them could cost Zavier everything, but it might be Ryan’s only hope.
Review (Warning, spoilers.)
Ryan’s sister is dying of cancer – in a desperate move he makes a deal with a demon for his soul in exchange for her health. Zavier is the demon called on to make the deal, only Zavier and Ryan have a history.
Together they realize that all is not how it seems and that even in “hell” mistakes can be made. With some help from a friend in high places, they find a way to beat the system and try for a second chance at a lifetime together.
**
I see that I might be in the minority here, and I really wanted to like this book, but I didn’t.
The pluses: I liked the characters: Ryan is funny but nicely stubborn and not always in a good way. Zavier is impetuous but has a heart full of love. Adrian is appropriately mysterious and sexy and I hope he gets his own book next. Maggie is sweet and supportive. Serena and Mr. Simon are good at being bad.
The minuses: There were so many plot holes I couldn’t keep track. There seemed to be no “rules” in this alternate reality where hell is like a corporation that deals in souls but still makes people work every day in a remarkably “earth” like environment. I didn’t get it. How is it selling your soul to be granted an eternal life with an apartment and a job and restaurants and… ? It didn’t make sense.
Then there’s the “clerical error” thing… huh? How is that not monitored and fixed and isn’t there some sort of checks and balances going on? If not a heaven/God, then what do the angels do? Why in the world would that even happen and since it did how do you explain Ryan and his “deal” the first time around? Who is keeping track and promoting people? Surely there is some “higher being or thing” keeping track of this stuff. Why wouldn’t they catch all these mistakes and misdeeds? I just didn’t understand the corporation analogy.
I also didn’t get Jason’s role at all. If he’s such a good friend why in the hell would he recommend Ryan sell his soul in the first place? And once he realized that he had wouldn’t he be overcome with guilt? And how is he allowed to “know” all about demons now?
Then there’s the bickering between the two lovers about which Ryan is the real guy… come on, really? There isn’t enough to fight against, we have to fight over an earlier incarnation?
To me this story needed someone sitting down and simply pointing out plot inconsistencies. It bugged me so much that I was completely thrown from the story over and over to the point that I didn’t really care about Ryan and Zavier making it because the whole thing was so implausible to begin with (even given a total acceptance of demons and souls and angels and magic etcetera).
So, I will be a voice of dissention, but I cannot recommend this but give it 2 of 5 hearts for the attempt, the cover and the original idea.
Blurb
