So this is book two in this series and in order to truly understand this story and the relationships you really need to read book one. Just saying! This book picks up right where Wolf, book one left off. When I began reading this story I kept thinking, how much is this strong, beautiful man supposed to take? How much more pain is he going to have to endure before he gets his HEA? I really enjoyed our MC’s, Wolf and Gage, relationship and how supportive Wolf was during all the family drama. He really stood by Gage no matter what. Wolf has totally redeemed himself by lots of groveling, lots of loving and just being there for Gage. That part will make you smile.
Then comes the part that will make you angry and sad… his family. Family, you can’t choose them so some of us get stuck with trash. I wanted to throttle his family in the first book for how they treated Gage but was certain they were in the past. Then out of nowhere BAM, here they come like the plague. But Ms. Harper pulls a rabbit out of her creative mind and turns lemons into lemonade. Especially Claudia, his sister. This book made me spit flames, and made me laugh. At times my heart soared with joy and cry real tears for Gage. I love this series so far and can’t wait for more.
Centuries ago Lucien’s family and pack were slaughtered and betrayed by family. Lucien was then enslaved for five hundred years by the demon who killed his succubus mother.
One thousand years later his powers as Alpha and Incubus are growing. He is now ready to take his rightful place as Alpha Supreme, but first, he must claim a reluctant mate and escape from under the heel of his possessive Vampire master Sargon.
Lucien is a hybrid shifter in a world where being unpure is not tolerated. Lucien should have never been born. Enter a dark and savage paranormal world, where being weak is stamped out and exploited. Being dominant and unapologetic is key to survival.
Follow Lucien as he seeks vengeance against the uncle that betrayed him and the demon who enslaved him and murdered his mom. Where secrets, allies with hidden agendas, and political jousting determine the fates of many.
A dark, sensual, and paranormal fantasy series by new author Dora Esquivel.
Kimi’s thoughts:
As debut novels go, this was one offering I am glad I didn’t pass up. I picked this up via KindleUnlimited, which has been a fab way for me to try new authors (and to sate my hefty reading appetite without bankrupting us, haha).
This was definitely not your run of the mill shifter story. Esquivel took many of the tropes and stood them on their head, breathing new life into this popular genre. It’s not a light and fluffy romance, so if you need that, this is not going to be your cup of tea. Her characters were engaging and her prose sucked me in from the very first page. I ended up reading this in one sitting, luckily it’s a fairly fast read. Be warned though, there is a cliffhanger.
You can get it on Amazon, where it is in KindleUnlimited for those who read using the subscription service.
Vincent Hudson is a vampire hunter and his life is about to be ruined.
When a hunting trip ends in tragedy, he is forced to do the unthinkable—seek refuge in Sanctuary Hope, where each family must nominate a member to the city council. It is seemingly a minor price to pay in exchange for medical aid and refuge. But it is a dangerous trap, and unaware of the gut-wrenching reality, Vincent nominates himself.
Now a life of war awaits him. . . and captivity to a vampire master known as Maddox Caine.
This trilogy is for mature audiences only (18+) and contains scenes of graphic violence and high heat that will have you flustered and swiftly turning the pages. These books are dark, raw, gritty, and not for the faint-hearted. Please read with caution.
If you loved Dark Silence, you will adore this. It’s not a simple re-release with a new title and a new gorgeous cover (Jay Aheer’s art, is as always, stunning), but a complete re-write. All of the basic premises of the original release are here, but it is a new book with more scenes added. The writing was good to begin with, but with experience comes maturation and Katze’s writing in this has definitely done so. It’s grittier, with some scenes that made even me catch my breath and sent delicious chills down my arms.
I can’t wait to read book 2 and will be reviewing it here, so watch this space!
A percentage of the earth’s population has transformed into surprisingly functional zombies who returned to work the next morning as if they weren’t undead monstrosities. Justice Kinkead, officer in an elite zombie fighting force, gets called out when good zombies go bad, putting down the brain cravers and safeguarding the new economy. After several of his partners succumb to unfortunate deaths, Justice figures he’ll go it alone…until he’s assigned a mysterious and sexy new partner, Merlin Pride, who seems to know more about the zombies’ origins than he’s letting on.
Merlin also seems to sense that Justice needs a good fucking, but it’s complicated: Justice still lives with his undead ex-boyfriend. Can Justice make peace with his past? And if he does, should he take a chance on a man who may have something to do with destroying civilization as they knew it?
Crack, parody, camp counselor levels of camp, dad jokes, and enemies to lovers
55k words
Kimi’s thoughts:
Lots and lots of Dad jokes, puns, and a slaptick sitcom plot featuring zombies and wizards- that’s the recipe that makes up this book. Was it funny? yes, it was and like all good sitcom material, underneath the format was a very good story.being a romance, the story, of course, was a love story with a dash of mystery. Who or what caused the zombies to happen to begin with? Why are the zombies now acting different? If you like dry humour and zombies (there’s next to no gore in this, by the way), this is a great read to sit to down to chase the blahs away. This seems to be a stand alone, but it would be fun to see these two in a series, encountering magical mishaps, more scheming politicians, and saving the world, one disaster at a time.
Pride & Justice or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Crack
If I had to put a relationship status on my feelings about this work, it would be, “It’s complicated.”
That’s not true. I love it. What’s complicated is trying to get the right eyes on it, a needle that I either expertly threaded in fandom, or it wasn’t something that needed to be explained. The story is silly, deeply so, but it probably makes a lot more sense if you know things about me like that one of my first favorite books as a child was Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins. Add in some Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams and you start to get a rough picture of where I’m coming from.
Like, silly, but also make it sexy. And throw in some jadedness about capitalism, a slightly Eoin Colfer sensibility about puns and popular mythology, and some zombies, well…it is what it is. Is it an enemies-to-lovers romance? Sure. There’s a lot going on, but I’m not sure if it’ll really push your buttons unless you have a very deep commitment to the absurd.
The idea was that this would be a series; in fact I’d started a sequel when Loose Id originally released this story. Everything I’d thought was pretty fun about it, as it turned out, was not fun at all. I shelved it. Honestly, I’m still not sure what people thought it was going to be when the first chapter was called, “Panic at the Dildo Factory.”
But I guess this all comes down to why. Why would I do this to you or to me? Well, because I love crack fic. I love silly. I love dad jokes, ones that will make you roll your eyes and ones that kind of boomerang and get you later. Writing this made me feel like a wicked, crazy genius, cackling the whole way.
People who like it really like it. Those who don’t… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Sometimes I bottle things up to the point where it all comes out in a burst of mania, and this was one of those times.
About the book:
A percentage of the earth’s population has transformed into surprisingly functional zombies who returned to work the next morning as if they weren’t undead monstrosities. Justice Kinkead, officer in an elite zombie fighting force, gets called out when good zombies go bad, putting down the brain cravers and safeguarding the new economy. After several of his partners succumb to unfortunate deaths, Justice figures he’ll go it alone…until he’s assigned a mysterious and sexy new partner, Merlin Pride, who seems to know more about the zombies’ origins than he’s letting on.
Merlin also seems to sense that Justice needs a good fucking, but it’s complicated: Justice still lives with his undead ex-boyfriend. Can Justice make peace with his past? And if he does, should he take a chance on a man who may have something to do with destroying civilization as they knew it?
Crack, parody, camp counselor levels of camp, dad jokes, and enemies to lovers
55k words
Devon Murphy has never believed that there were fairies at the bottom of the garden, but when he’s in an accident on his way to his grandmother’s house and comes face to face with the biggest, baddest wolf he’s ever seen, he’s forced to reconsider.
When his grandmother asks him to look into a string of suspicious accidents, he finds a much bigger mystery to unravel. From his childhood best friend to the too-attractive Deputy Wade Hunter, everyone in Rowan Harbor seems to have something to hide. Devon has to get to the bottom of it all before the accidents turn deadly.
This novel is intended for adult audiences, and contains swearing and sex scenes.
It is the first of nine books in The Rowan Harbor Cycle, not a standalone. Devon and Wade will return in book four to continue their story, so this book contains a HFN, not their HEA.
Kimi’s thoughts:
I’ve not come across this author before and when I first read the blurb, I thought it sounded refreshing. I first took a peek at the author’s Amazon page and discovered he has another series already out but it isn’t paranormal, which I’m currently in the mood for, so passed them by (for now).
I really like the natural way Sam’s prose flows across the page. Nothing seems forced and I slid right into the world Rowan Harbor from the very first paragraph. Devon, Jesse, and the rest of his friends and fellow townsfolk are all very likable people. They are all familiar in a way that should we ourselves somehow find ourselves moving into this small town, we’d not be suspicious of anything. There are little quirks noticed by recent arrivals, such as how reverent everyone seems of the town council, and the way they view anyone whose family is less than a hundred years resident there as an outsider. There’s very good reason for that, as Devon finds out.
If you love stories of fated mates and paranormal creatures, but wish for variety outside the usual tropes, this is definitely a must-read. It’s fun and there’s a mystery to be solved, well two actually as it happens. The HFN ending is definitely happy with the knowledge that we get to ride along for their ‘ever after’ and that more couples are soon to find their One as well, without it being too terrible of a cliffhanger. One mystery is resolved, but the second promises to be an overarching plot point I look forward to following as it is resolved. I am very much eagerly anticipating book two.
“Sometimes when heaven strikes, it comes in the form of a fierce storm. A knock at the door. A phone number slipped into a back pocket. Sometimes it comes with the sweetest of circumstances or the hardest of lessons.”
Can love survive heaven’s wrath?
Artist Ted Armstrong lives a solitary and eccentric life. The survivor of child abuse disguised as religion, Ted has cut himself off from the world.
Then Ted meets Anderson Taylor, and it’s like being struck by lightning.
Anderson is a cardiac surgeon whose passion for his work has consumed him. He fears he’ll never find a partner—until he sets eyes on Ted. It’s happening fast, but both men know what they feel is right.
Confronted with an angry preacher, a scandal, and an act of God that threatens to destroy everything, their relationship will face its first true test.
Kimi’s thoughts:
This is a story that at its core is about love. We meet Anderson and Ted, who form the main couple, but also Anderson’s family, and Josiah and his family. Their lives are woven together in the organic way that those who live in the same community and live their lives naturally cross paths here and there. We get not just one love story between two men, but also those of the others, and not the least, that of familial love and friendship.
Feeley takes a hard look at the human idiosyncrasies and frailties that cause us to doubt, to lash out, to lie to ourselves, and to act out in anger. While Ted’s parents hide behind fundamentalism, it is made more than evident that these are not those that follow the words of the Christ they hold as a religious figurehead, but people who use the Bible to justify their own thirst for power. Power within the community, control over their lives, and the feeling of safety that gives them. It’s an unhealthy obsession that they cling to, rather than face their own inner demons, yet like other addictions, it falls flat and ultimately, a rock bottom is reached. It is from there that our characters learn the way from the bottom is to face their own fears and support each other on the way up, to where happiness waits.
His use of the storm as an allegory was done without a heavy hand. Anyone who’s lived in Tornado Alley, or anywhere prone to devasting other acts of natures, knows of the suddenness these can strike with and the utter devastation they leave in their wake. Lives carefully constructed often find it stripped away, with loss taking its toll even as the spirit of friendship and community blossom. Yet even as everything lies in ruins, people begin to rebuild and their new ties within the community add their own bright colors to the patchwork of their lives.
It’s a beautifully crafted tale, and one I heartily recommend. Available from Amazon to buy or to read with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
