Book Series Review: From Blood and Ash Books 2-4 by Jennifer Armentrout

 

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their June so far. I will jump into the post without doing all the typical Goodreads info. Since I will be talking about three books at once, it will be challenging to do all of that, making this post extremely long. I'll provide some of the information as I go, if I can think of a succinct way. If you want to see my review of the first book, you can find it here.

The genre listing for this series is: Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Vampires, Fiction, Paranormal, and High Fantasy, and it covers books 30-32 for my Goodreads yearly Challenge. For the 2023 Reading Challenge, I ugh... got a little creative with how I fit these in there. For Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, I listed that as the Folklore prompt since I feel like Vampires/Werewolves/mythology kind of fits into that. I put The Crown of Gilded Bones as a book that motivates you to be a better version of yourself. There's a lot of discussion of relationships that I found inspiring. The War of Two Queens was more straightforward, and I could slot that in for A book that involves a lot of traveling. You can find the entire 2023 challenge here. I'll eventually get around to doing an updated post of where I'm in the challenge. My Goodreads challenge for the year is done. I was going to increase the goal, but I'm going to count it all as extra since it's arbitrary anyways.

(If you can't tell by the fact that I burned through 4 books (all over 600 pages) within a few weeks, I really like this series. So much so that it has dethroned the His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFever as my favorite. I am OBSESSED with From Blood and Ash. I don't know if I have ever been this captivated by a series. All I have thought about since I started this series is reading more. Sadly, book five isn't out until July. To tell you how obsessed I am, I was actually considering buying it on audiobook to listen to them while I work. I can't do audiobooks well, so this is a big deal. I've already got book 5 pre-ordered.

I love the writing style and how it's fantasy and romance but uses modern-day language and slang. It makes it really engaging and easy to connect with the characters. I love seeing actual character growth for all of the characters. I love that Poppy is a badass. I love that Casteel is arrogant but also extremely sweet. I adore how Kieran is with both of them. The Blood Queen feels like a proper villain that you can understand their motives but also hate and want to root against. I could go on and on and on and on some more about how much I love this series.

If you like fantasy/paranormal/romance, read this. It is so worth it. I will caveat this with, if you do not like very descriptive violence or sex scenes, you will probably not enjoy this series. It definitely gets more violent and sexual as it goes.

Book Review: Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

 

Goodreads Summary: Set in contemporary Paris and London, and the American colonies during the upheaval and unrest that exploded into the Revolutionary War, a sweeping story that braids together the past and present.

On the battlefields of the American Revolution, Matthew de Clermont meets Marcus MacNeil, a young surgeon from Massachusetts, during a moment of political awakening when it seems that the world is on the brink of a brighter future. When Matthew offers him a chance at immortality and a new life, free from the restraints of his puritanical upbringing, Marcus seizes the opportunity to become a vampire. But his transformation is not an easy one and the ancient traditions and responsibilities of the de Clermont family clash with Marcus’s deeply-held beliefs in liberty, equality, and brotherhood.

A passionate love story and a fascinating exploration of the power of tradition and the possibilities for change, Time’s Convert will delight fans of the All Souls trilogy and all readers of magic, the supernatural, and romance.

Goodreads Rating: 3.93 stars with over 49,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Witches

Previous Reviews on the Series: A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life

Goodreads Challenge: 12/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #31 Read a book with the word "time" in the title (Find the entire challenge here

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! Surprised to see an actual book review post from me? Yeah, I am too. I'll likely go back to this format. I withdrew from my classes recently. I decided that 3 degrees were enough, and I was only torturing myself by trying to pursue a doctorate. So we are returning to my routine of promising more content and never fulfilling that promise. Please let me know if there are some discussion or content suggestions.

Anyway, on with my thoughts on Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness. Fair warning, there are spoilers ahead. This is a recently published (2018) addition to the All Souls Trilogy. I'm not sure if this is considered a spinoff or if it's lumped in, and the other 3 are still being marketed as a trilogy. It takes place after The Book of Life ends and mainly follows Marcus and his fiance Phoebe. Diana and Matthew are still in it, but take a backseat and become supporting cast. Because of this, the vibe of Time's Convert was a bit different.

The story switches between the present day and Marcus's life as a new vampire during the Revolutionary War. It also provides Phoebe's point of view as she becomes a vampire and Diana's while she and Matthew help Marcus come to terms with things that happened in his early days. Because of this, the story felt more introspective instead of driven by events or drama like the other books. I appreciate that Marcus's reflections on his life happened chronologically. It made it a lot easier to follow.

I liked that Deborah Harkness provided snippets of Diana and Matthew's lives as parents to twins. They weren't the main characters, but they were there enough to feel they were still involved and took on the role of parents to their crew. The ending was really sweet. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more books following Marcus and Phoebe, but it also ended in a way that feels like the story could be closed.

Overall, if you like the All Souls series, I recommend this. However, I would only read this if you have read the other three. There are a lot of characters, and their personalities wouldn't make sense with this out of order. 

Book Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Goodreads Summary: "It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can't stop society's collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Goodreads Rating: 4.02 stars with over 204000 ratings

Genre Listing: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Vampires, Paranormal, Dystopia, Thriller

Goodreads Challenge: 36/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #6 Read a book that was recommended to you (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hi Readers. I hope everyone is doing well. I finally finished a book. I'm so proud of myself. The Passage took me nearly a month to complete. Readers. Let me offer you some advice that you didn't ask for. If you and your spouse both work full time and are in Grad School full time, a 700-page book may not be a quick read. Had I been an intelligent human and looked at the number of pages before I selected this, I would have waited to read The Passage. This was recommended to me by one of my co-workers, who is also a huge bookworm. The sales pitch for it was, "Hey, you like vampires, right?" It doesn't take much for me to want to read a book, honestly. 

I'm not really sure where to go with the review for this one, which is part of why it's taken me four days to get around to writing. I liked The Passage by Justin Cronin. I thought it was an interesting concept. However, I felt like the book was really disjointed. I don't know if it was actually the book or my state of mind right now. Just as soon as I got into a character's story, the Point of View switched. There were so many different views that I just couldn't keep track of all the characters. Once I finally started getting into the story, the timeframe shifted, and it was 100 years in the future. Because of this change, there was a whole new set of characters that I had to get used to. It made it really hard to stay in the moment of whatever was going on.  I felt like I was reading two separate books. 

One big piece of the puzzle that I still feel like I'm missing is the why. That part never really felt clear to me. There was a group of scientists initially, and I don't really understand why they took the actions they did. I don't know if it was to find a cure or some other reason. I never really had a good grasp of why they brought Amy into it. 

All of the confusion aside, I did enjoy the story, as I said earlier. I was more entertained by the dystopian aspect of the story just because things had started to make a little sense by then. I felt more interested in Peter, Theo, Lish, Sarah, and the others in their group than the other characters earlier on. They felt more well-developed to me. Auntie was probably my favorite character in the book, and I wish she would have gotten a little more time in the story. I'm really hoping that her journals at least play a more significant part in the later books. 

I'm keeping this review short today. Overall, I really wish I liked this book more than I did. I don't know if I would have liked it more if I had read it at a different time. I'm not writing off the rest of the series; it just may be a bit before I get into the rest of the books. 

Book Review: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

 

Goodreads Summary: Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.
For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey-poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there's something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film's producer believes he's the target of a sinister entropy curse-but it's the women around him who are dying in increasingly spectacular ways.

Harry's even more frustrated because he only got involved with this bizarre mystery as a favor to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can't quite figure out until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas's oversexed vampire family. Harry is about to discover that Thomas's family tree has been hiding a shocking secret: a revelation that will change Harry's life forever.

Goodreads Rating: 4.29 stars with over 118,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Magic, Vampires, Wizards, Supernatural

Goodreads Challenge: 11/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #11 Read a book with exactly two words in the title (Find the complete challenge here) 

Other reviews on the series: Death Masks, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Storm Front, Summer Knight

Book Review:

Happy weekend, Readers! I am delighted that it is finally Friday. I'm currently spending it doing an Amazon Watch Party with Tress as she introduces me to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I never really hopped on the hype because it started airing when I was around 10 or 11. So far, I'm really enjoying it. We're nearly done with season one.

Anyways, on to a whole different universe of Vampires, the ones that Harry Dresden, wizard extraordinaire, sometimes fights and sometimes befriends. Blood Rites is the sixth book in the Dresden Files series that follows Harry Dresden. If you aren't familiar with the series, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, funny urban fantasy. 

With Blood Rites, I kind of lost track of what happened in the last book but was quickly caught up thanks to a Fandom Wiki. Now that I've finished this one, I have mixed feelings about it. There were a lot of good background story reveals, which I loved. There was a healthy dose of sarcasm, which is always appreciated, but the book just felt different. I felt like it lacked a lot of overall plot and character development. It was primarily focused on the Raith Vampire Clan, and honestly, it made Dresden seem like a giant pig. That stuff usually doesn't bother me much beyond an eye-roll, but it just seemed really over the top and excessive. 

I felt like the entire book was Dresden either drooling over Lara or someone hitting on Murphy and just being downright gross. Apparently, at some point, it became necessary for Karrin to take her pants off to diffuse a bomb because her ass might trip the tripwires. For the vast majority of the book, I felt like I was reading those memes of male authors writing female characters. 

The thing that really saved Blood Rites from all of this was the fact that I enjoy the series and the sarcasm. We got some interesting back story about Dresden's mom and some other long-lost relatives he didn't realize he had. There's also quite a bit of story behind why he was sent to Ebenezer. I'm really intrigued by these inclusions and am curious to see where it takes the story. 

Overall, I enjoyed parts of the story and look forward to continuing the series at some point. Hopefully, in between books 6 and 7, Dresden takes a cold shower and calms down the caveman behavior. I'm somewhat begrudgingly giving Blood Rites three moons. I don't do half-moons, and I don't feel it warranted a two. I'm not sure what's up next for reading yet. I have a massive to-be-read list, per usual. So many books, so little time. 

Book Review: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

 

Goodreads Summary:  The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night
Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.

Goodreads Rating: 4.17 stars with over 115,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Witches, Vampires, Magic, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Paranormal Romance

Goodreads Challenge: 8/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #28 Read a book published in the 2010s (find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

Apparently, today is Easter. If you celebrate it, Happy Easter. I usually have no clue of when Easter is until right before since I don't celebrate. Case point, my husband and I got married on Easter Weekend and didn't know until we had people decline invites because of it. Whoops. Anyway, if you don't celebrate happy Sunday, or whatever day it is in your part of the world. 

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness could have landed in a few places on the challenges this year, most likely. However, putting it on #28, a book published in the 2010s, completes a category that requires thinking and research on my part. So the less I have to use my brain, the better. So with this being published in 2014, it felt like a good fit. 

I think it's been a bit since I read the second book of the trilogy. When I first started The Book of Life, I had a hard time getting into it because I couldn't remember what happened other than they time traveled and Diana got new powers. Once I got four or five chapters in, my memory was mostly refreshed, and I started enjoying the book again. 

Like its predecessors, The Book of life follows star-crossed lovers Matthew and Diana and their battles with the covenant that forbids their relationship. They've got all kinds of enemies because, now that Diana returned pregnant, the number has only increased. There is speculation on whether the offspring will be a witch, vampire, or something in between. I thought that the science that Deborah Harkness put into this was exciting. I'm not a science person, but she does it in a way that still sounds realistic but not overly technical. For the world she's created, the genetics discussed seems plausible. 

The way that Diana's powers evolve in The Book of Life is like nothing I've ever read before. It's really unique, and I found it fascinating. Also, I feel like she became who she was supposed to be. I loved reading her transition through the series from a meek university professor trying to ignore her magical roots to being an absolute powerhouse.

As usual, Matthew was overprotective and brooding. He did have some sweet moments. His mom is my favorite in the series (I can't figure out how to spell her name. It's hard.) I would really be interested in reading a prequel about her and Phillip. We get a little more of her backstory in this one. There are some admissions from Glassgow that aren't really surprising, but I do feel sorry for him. 

Overall, I really liked it and found it hard to put down. I think this is the end of the series. I know there's a fourth book, but it seems to focus more on Marcus and Phoebe and Matthew's past. I have it on Kindle, so I'll probably read it eventually. When I originally got into the series, I thought the academia aspect would be really dull, but it's not. It's definitely a unique and creative story, and I highly recommend it for paranormal romance fans. 

Book Review: Hexed by Kevin Hearne

 

Goodreads Summary: Atticus Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.
With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Goodreads Rating: 4.22 stars with over 56,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic, Mythology, Supernatural, Witches, Vampires

Goodreads Challenge: 47/60

2020 Reading Challenge: #23 Read a book recommended by your local library's website (Find the full challenge here ). Get ready for the 2021 Challenge (here)

Previous reviews on the series: Hounded

Book Review:

Happy New Year's Eve, readers! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to finish this book before 2020 ended, but I just made it! I'll do a full review of the books read in 2020 later this weekend. For now, on to talking about Hexed.

So, I kind of cheated for this prompt. My library had recommended Hounded, but I decided it was a series recommendation and picked up Hexed instead since I already read the first book. Truthfully, I just wanted to read it and needed a place for it. Whatever.  As Co-Creator of the challenge,  I do what I want. :)

Hexed picks up a couple of weeks after Hounded ends. Atticus is trying to clean up the mess from his last battle and finds himself facing a new enemy in an unlikely alliance with the local witches. It's effortless to get back into the story, though, for some reason, I had forgotten Atticus's name and, in my head, had been referring to him as "Iron Druid." 

I think what I like most about Hexed is I get Paranormal, Mythology, and Humor. I feel like this series doesn't take itself too seriously. There's always a joke or a snarky comment, even in the most serious action moments. It doesn't ever really feel cheesy, or out of place though, it just feels like Atticus's personality to make light of things. There were many times when I just started cracking up because of some of the dialogue, especially between Atticus and Oberon. 

I think my favorite characters in Hexed were The Widow and Oberon. They're just too pure, and the Widow is just so sassy. She just seems like a fun old lady that would have some great stories. I could not stop laughing at her scene towards the end of the book when Atticus is trying to protect her. It was probably one of the most hilarious book chapters I've read in a while. I really needed the laugh that it provided.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you've probably realized that when I read, I get really weird and random pop culture references in my head (See any Wheel of Time review for proof where I let it be unchecked in Tress's twitter thread of our conversation.) I can't help it, and this is how my brain operates most of the time. I don't know if I mentioned this in Hounded, but when The Morgaine is described, the only thing I can picture for her is Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove. I don't know why this is the image my brain conjured up, but it's there to stay. Which made a particular scene with Atticus incredibly terrifying.  I would like some kind of brain bleach, please.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about when I say Yzma:

Anyways, back to the review. I really liked the Mythology and history that was in Hexed. I don't remember if, in Hounded, Atticus gave any great detail about specific points in time, but I enjoyed that we got a glimpse of what he was doing in WWII. I think it just gave great context for how old he actually is. I really hope that there are more glimpses into his history in the rest of the series. 

I absolutely adored Hexed, and I can't wait to read more in the series. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Urban Fantasy and likes to laugh. The books aren't terribly long; I think Hexed was around 300 pages. It's a quick and fun read, and not hard to stay into the story between books. 

Book Review: Darkthirst by Bella Forrest

Goodreads Summary: "Without us, evil will continue to grow. In the end, it will consume everything. Everyone."
Sink deeper into the enthralling world of Darklight...
Goodreads Rating: 4.2 stars with over 1200 ratings
Genre listing: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Vampires
Other Reviews on the series: Darklight by Bella Forrest
Goodreads Challenge: 17/60 (currently 4 books behind)
2020 Reading Challenge: #12 Free Space, pick any book! (Find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

Oh, hey. I used up my first free space. I am pretty sure when Tress and I started including those, we solely put them in so she can do her series rereads and so I can get lost in some kindle unlimited tunnel and never see the light of day again. This year's series that is going to completely derail my challenge progress is Darklight. I burned through the first book and then promptly got the second one immediately after I finished. I'm not even going to pretend like there's hope for me at this point. There isn't. Just let me dig further into the random paranormal KU series I find and let me be. Unless you have snacks. 

Alright, so Darkthirst takes place right about where Darklight left off. If there's any time gap, it might be a week if that. All through Darkthirst, the Vampires and Humans who defected are on the run from the bureau. There's a lot of continued action and fighting, lots of strategy on how to defeat the corrupt bureau. It's kind of nice to read a really action-forward book. After some of the longer books I've read where it's been about quests and day to day activities, it's a good change to have all of this movement and planning. 

I had like four or five hours of sleep last night, mainly because of this book. I had about 100 pages or so, and decided I needed to be up until 2:30 am because of reasons. Hopefully, this post is coherent because of that. I really didn't want to put this book down, if you can tell. It really kept my interest throughout the entire thing. I felt like there were a lot of twists and turns. Some of them I expected, some of them I didn't.

Most of the characters were reoccurring. I don't know if there was a ton of character depth in Darkthirst, but I also don't know if it was needed. I don't really feel like any of the characters really grew a whole lot. I still think Lyra and Dorian are kind of adorable. I also kind of hate myself for liking them as much as I do. Should I be reading better literature than vampire romances? Yes. Am I going to? No. Do I care? No, not really. Read what you want, honestly.

There is a character who gets introduced later in the story that I absolutely adore. Bryce's sister Morag makes an appearance, and she's kind of amazing. I really hope that she's going to be a future addition to later stories.

I really wish that I had a more coherent review for readers on this one. I'm tired but wanted to get this done so I can move on to other things. The short version of it is that Darkthirst is action-packed and unexpectedly enjoyable. Bella Forrest's vampires in the Darklight have a unique premise to them, which I love. Yes, there's paranormal romance, yes it's cheesy and adorable, but there's also interesting characters and a good plot. It's an action-packed quick read that I think a lot of paranormal readers would love.

Housekeeping bits: 

1.) I've got two author requests for reviews in the reading queue. The first of which, I am currently reading and am about halfway done with it. I expect to have a review up for it by this weekend, if not sooner. Once I'm done with that, I'll start on the second request. If you are an author and would like me to read your book, please check out my review request page here.

2.) If you've been to my page recently and have seen political ads, I apologize. I am not an overly political person. I really don't want politics on my blog, and had no idea that those ads were being shown. I've since figured out how to block political ads, so they shouldn't be showing up again. Any ads displayed on my website are not actually indicative of my thoughts or products I use. 

Book Review: Darklight by Bella Forrest

Goodreads Summary: "Vampires don’t exist. At least, not anymore..."

I celebrated when vampires were declared extinct.

Those beasts had preyed on humanity for millennia, committing senseless, brutal murders. Like the rest of my colleagues at the Occult Bureau, I looked forward to a world where we could all sleep at night—where constant cover-up jobs were no longer required to keep the public calm and unaware.

But the end of vampires wasn’t the end of our problems. It was only the beginning.

Other blood-sucking creatures began to lurk in the night. As soon as I turned twenty-one, I became a ground agent at the Bureau because I wanted—no, needed—to join the fight.

And then Dorian Clave burst into my life—turning everything I thought I knew into quicksand. Vampires like him were killers who devoured humanity’s inner darkness until shadows danced beneath their skin. Yet there was more to him than that.

He showed me that light cannot exist without the dark and that trying to fight this balance would have consequences our human minds couldn’t even comprehend.

Because sometimes darkness needs to exist.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.64 stars with over 7,900 ratings

Genre listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Vampires

Goodreads Challenge: 16/60

2020 Reading Challenge: #5 A book that has the word Light in the Title (Find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

I feel like an old person right now. Blogger has moved things around and updated how everything looks and I'm struggling to find the things I need. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. I've been fortunate that my husband and I have had to change very little about our lives. The biggest change is just trying to be mindful about going out and limiting it to needed shopping and now I work from home. Which is fine, because I don't have to wear dress clothes or go into an office that might as well be a petri dish. To all of my momma readers- Happy early Mother's day. I hope your loved ones still find a way to show you appreciation. Given that I haven't known what day it is for the past two months, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting gift deliveries scheduled for the Mother-in-law and the Sister-in-law. 

In some exciting news, my first book is getting shipped off to an editor in the next couple of weeks. I am super excited and terrified, but it's been a long time coming. I've been writing this book for around twelve years now. It's a kid's fantasy book and my dad is going to be doing illustrations for it. So stay tuned. Assuming I don't die from my editor crushing my soul, I'll be self-publishing it. 

Alright, so moving on to Darklight. Obviously, this worked well for #5. There were some other choices I could have gone with, but I settled on this one because one of the Amazon reviews was complaining that there wasn't any romance and it was all war strategy. Choosing a book based on a bad review is probably a first for me, but hey it made me curious.  The concept of Darklight by Bella Forrest is pretty interesting. Essentially, there are different planes on Earth. The immortal plane and the mortal late. Instead of Vampires just feeding off whoever, they are supposed to be the balance between the two planes and feed off of only bad people. They do this by sensing their darkness. The vampires end up having to seek refuge on Earth and end up coming into contact with Lyra, a solider in the Occult Bureau, whose team is trying to rid the planet of some vampiristic birds. Sounds kind of silly, but I thought it worked pretty well. 

The characters were a little flat but still managed to be enjoyable. I actually thought the friendship between Lyra and Dorian was pretty cute. Each human character and vampire character did manage to have their own personality. The only real issue I have is fairly minor, and that's that Bryce is portrayed as being Scottish in the beginning, but it kind of gets dropped in the middle of the book only to be picked back up towards the end. It's not really a huge deal and doesn't really take away from the story, it just felt a little inconsistent. 

I think what I liked most about this paranormal novel is that its fast past. It starts on one of Lyra's missions, and it just seems like constant action until it ends. It makes the story move pretty quickly. The book is about 400ish pages, and it felt like it took me no time at all to read. It was actually hard to find a good stopping point at night because it's just so action-packed that I wanted to keep reading. I will say that if action movies aren't really your thing, this probably wouldn't be an ideal read for you. The main character is military personnel and it takes place on a military base. They go on a lot of missions, so there's a lot of battles, and some violence (it's mostly mentioned casually, there isn't much gore at all). The "romance" is pretty understated and mostly just limited to crushes and tension between the involved parties. It's pretty tame, and probably could be considered YA. The main character is 21, but it's pretty clean. I don't really remember any swearing or anything like that. 

Overall, it's a pretty quick and enjoyable read with an interesting premise. I instantly dove into book two when I finished Darklight, but I'll probably put the rest of it on hold to fulfill an author request. It's on Kindle Unlimited, so if you use the service you're not really losing anything to give it a read. 

Book Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Summary: Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.
Goodreads Ratings: 4.07 stars with over 150,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Vampires, Witches
Previous Review on the series: A Discovery of Witches
Goodreads Challenge: 4/60
2020 Reading Challenge: #10 A book that takes place in Winter (find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

One moment, please. I have to let out a giant Fangirl squeal... 

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...

Okay, so I don't know if that will tell you anything, but I LOVED Shadow of Night. I think I liked it more than A Discovery of Witches, which is kind of weird for a second book. It starts up right after the first book leaves off, and we're instantly whisked away into the 1500s and Matthew's past. Matthew picks a fascinating time in his life for them to go. He thinks it's going to be an easy trip and only take a couple of weeks, of course, if it was the Shadow of Night would be a lot shorter book. Mayhem ensues around every corner for our main characters. 

Writing-wise, the main thing I appreciated about Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness is that it is more action-packed than A Discovery of Witches. I feel like the academic side of it is easier to read. In Discovery of Witches, it was kind of overwhelming at times, if I remember correctly. The scientific stuff is in Shadow of Night, but it's more spread out and for me only got really confusing when it was the actual alchemy stuff.

We get introduced to a lot of people from Matthew's past, which centers around his companions in the School of Night.  There's an interesting dynamic to the friends. Matthew definitely seems to be the leader of the group and here are some lovable characters in it as well as some that were definitely not enjoyable. We also get introduced to Phillipe and Goody. I so badly want to go into who they are and what they're about, but I feel like if I do I won't stop giving spoilers. Just know that they're my favorites in the book. 

Diana really gets in touch with her powers in Shadow of Night. Her power is actually really unique and interesting. I thought the idea for it was a pretty original concept. I really hope book three goes even further into what she can do. I always love reading the specifics with magic that authors give their characters, I think it has so much potential to showcase creativity. It usually ends up being my favorite part of a book, if I like it. Diana's power is very visual the way it's explained, and I felt like I could picture her performing her spells.

Matthew kind of lets some of his guard down in Shadow of Night- Eventually. He's a broody overprotective vampire for a lot of the book. He doesn't really let his guard down with other people, but he does eventually let Diana into more of his secrets. They actually have a real wedding ceremony early on and is a really sweet scene. 

I honestly don't have anything critical or bad to say about Shadow of Night. Even in some of the worst parts I was grinning like an idiot because I was just so into the story and loved it so much. If you've read Discovery of Witches definitely take a chance on this second installment of the story. There's a lot of fun story developments with Matthew and Diana's relationship, the sciency stuff, and how them being in the past affects the future. Plus, if you need a book for #10 on the 2020 Reading Challenge, most of this takes place in the winter.

Book Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Summary: A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.
Goodreads Rating: 4 stars with over 300,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Witches, Magic, Supernatural
Goodreads Challenge: 18/50
2019 Reading Challenge: #11 A New York Times' Best Seller (Past or Present). Find the full challenge here.

Book Review:

Hurray! I finished a full tier on the 2019 reading challenge. This worked out well for A New York Times' Best Seller, especially considering it was already on my kindle. I thought I was going to have to buy something specifically for this category.

I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to like A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I had a few people tell me it was good, but the description above mentioning Twilight made me cringe. Seriously, if you ever want to recommend a book to me do not compare it in a positive light to Twilight or 50 Shades. That is almost a guaranteed way to get me to not read it. Early on in the book, I couldn't really take Diana seriously. I felt like there was a lot of hypocrisy surrounding her magic and lack of using it. I also rolled my eyes a lot at Matthew's initial mood swings and possessive creepiness. Because of this, it made getting into A Discovery of Witches kind of hard. I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't completely engrossed in it. I also expected to completely detest it. I mentioned to some friends that I was "torn between liking it, being completely annoyed by it, and disgusted with myself for liking it."

I eventually got into the book. I think it was somewhere around 40% where I really took an interest in what was going on. I think most of what initially kept me going was the fact that two of my closest friends had highly recommended it. Neither of these ladies has steered me wrong so far in their book recommendations. Once I hit that moment of where I got completely absorbed into A Discovery of Witches, I couldn't put it down.

A lot of Diana's story is based on her unwillingness to use her magic and her study of Alchemy. I thought that with how the story played out, it felt destined that she was a Historian with a specialty in Alchemy. I want to dive more into this topic, but I feel like if I do, I'll just give out all kinds of spoilers. I'll be honest, I didn't understand a lot of the Alchemy stuff. It's not something I've really read anything on (fiction or otherwise), however, despite my lack of knowledge, I found it really interesting. I would have loved to see an image of the alchemy books and pictures described. I think it would have added so much to the story.

I loved the history in A Discovery of Witches. There's a lot of witch history and urban legends as well as Vampire history. I was amused when Diana and Matthew had an entire conversation based on what was true about witches (in their world) and what was made up by humans. I also liked that Matthew and his family are very ancient vampires. I feel like in most vampire stories, the age range is around 500 years. Matthew is much older than most vampires. Because of his age, there is a lot of history involved.

I liked that Deborah Harkness provided a glimpse of life with each very different family. I think that I liked Matthew's family a bit more than Diana's. Because of the tension between Vampires and Witches portrayed in the story, both families were a little standoffish when meeting the spouse. I feel like Matthew's family was quicker to accept Diana, and it felt more genuine than when Diana's family met Matthew. House wise though I loved Diana's house more, except for Matthew's library. The Bishop House is a fantastic character in its own right. It's moody, opinionated, and has a life of its own. The Bishop House finds and loses objects, adds rooms on when it thinks there will be guests, and slams things around when it wants attention. It's a perfect addition to a witchy house.

I was actually kind of bummed when I finished A Discovery of Witches. I think when I bought it, I got it on sale, so I couldn't dive right into the second book. Why, you ask? Because I'm cheap as hell and not going to pay $14 for an e-book. I don't even pay that for paperbacks. The BFF, however, has a copy of the 2nd and 3rd books and promised to mail them to me. I can't wait to indulge. Now that a Discovery of Witches is finished, I'm moving on to the second tier of the challenge. I'm currently working on "A book with a color in the title." So, stay tuned for that post!

Book Review: Lucky Charm by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: New witch Emma Hart is at her wit’s end and, this time, it’s not the result of her vampire ghost roommate, her snarky owl, or her feelings for a certain fallen angel. Key members of Spellbound society are acting like children, and it’s wreaking havoc on the town’s regulation-happy infrastructure. When Emma is turned invisible during the investigation, she realizes that the spell was no accident and that someone is out to silence her—permanently.
Lucky Charm is the fourth book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.
This is a full-length, humorous cozy mystery novel.

Goodreads Rating: 4.39 stars with over 1,000 ratings
Genre listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Witches
Number of Pages: 190
Book in series: 4/10
Previous reviews for the series: Curse the Day. Doom and Broom, Spell's Bells
Goodreads Challenge: 25/30

Book Review: 

I think it's safe to say that I'm addicted to the Spellbound series by Annabel Chase. Every time I finish one I have to dive into the very next book. I keep telling myself I'm going to read something else, but obviously, I have not. I keep staring at my unread bookshelf and mentally apologizing to it. On the bright side, I'm at least getting close to meeting my Goodreads Challenge for the year. The 2018 Reading Challenge, not so much. Which reminds me, I should probably start working on 2019's. 

A little recap on the series for those of you just tuning in: Emma Hart finds herself stuck in Spellbound, a cursed Paranormal town, thanks to Fallen Angel Daniel Starr. To boot she's found out, she's a witch and has been placed in remedial witch classes to get her up to speed, Oh, and she's also taken over the position of the town's public defender that was vacated when her vampire predecessor was murdered and became a ghost that only she can see. 

As much as I enjoyed Lucky Charm, it definitely wasn't my favorite book in the series so far. I didn't really get a good feel for the mystery at hand in this one. It felt like an afterthought to all the chaos that happened in the book. I don't even remember who she had to defend (or why) in this one. I will say that having a bunch of well-respected council members spelled to act like children was fairly entertaining. I think that Emma taking charge the way she did also really secured her place in Spellbound. 

I think what I enjoyed most about this cozy paranormal mystery is that Emma learns a lot about who she is. She gets to figure out why she's so different from the other witches in Spellbound, and how powerful she could actually be. I feel like because of this her bond with Sedgewick is strengthened. By the way that Owl amuses me. I love sassy side-kicks! 

As I write this review, I'm already mostly done with the fifth book. A new love interest is introduced in the very last part of this book, and it had me intrigued. I'm a sucker. There are ten books in this series, so far. I have a feeling I'm not going anywhere else in the literary world until I finish this series. Luckily all of the books are pretty short, and I'm getting through them in a couple of days time. It's a good series to get into if you want something to binge, something quick to read, like paranormal or cozy mysteries, want something that's slightly humorous. The entire series is on Kindle Unlimited, which is making it extremely easy for me to binge. I think as of right now, each of the books is around $3.99 each.

Book Review of Doom and Broom and Spell's Bells by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: 
Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

Emma Hart hasn’t had a moment’s peace since her arrival in Spellbound. Her fear of heights hits an all-time high when she’s tasked with mastering a broomstick. It doesn’t help that Lady Weatherby seems determined to make basic witch training feel more like the magical ninja warrior championships.

When a werewolf is found dead and Daniel is named as the prime suspect, Emma takes the initiative to prove that the angel’s halo is firmly intact, once again stepping on the hooves of the cranky centaur, Sheriff Hugo.

The heat is on as Emma struggles to get a grip on her broomstick and identify the killer before it’s too late.

Doom and Broom is the second book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.
Goodreads Rating: 4.33 stars with over 1,100 ratings
Number of Pages: 294
Book in series: 2/10

Goodreads Summary: Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

When a sleeping dwarf is found entombed in a glass coffin and remedial witch Sophie is blamed, Emma Hart must defend her friend while trying to get to the bottom of the enchantment. The investigation lands Emma smack dab in the middle of Spellbound’s matchmaking scene, where plenty of the town’s residents are eager to find her an appropriate suitor.

Emma knows it's time to kick her witchy skills up a notch if she expects to survive Thursday night speed dating and keep sweet Sophie from a life in paranormal prison.

Spell's Bells is the third book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.

Goodreads Rating: 4.36 stars with over 1,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Paranormal, Supernatural, Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Fantasy
Get the Books: Doom and Broom Spell's Bells
Goodreads Challenge: 23 and 24 out of 30.
Number of Pages: 274
Book in series: 3/10
Previous Review: Curse the Day

Book Review:

You may be wondering what's going on with the format above. Well, the thing is I have problems. I downloaded Doom and Broom from Kindle Unlimited right after finishing Curse the Day, the first book in the Spellbound Series. I finished the cozy mystery either late Friday night or Saturday night and read Spell's Bells until 4 am in the morning. When I finally put it down, I was about 88% finished with it. Since I read both books back to back like that they've merged in my brain, so I figure I'll do one post for them. Plus, I'm lazy.

So, as you can probably tell from the binging, I adore this series. I think I relate to Emma with the whole working and going to school full-time thing. There's a lot of details that make the town of Spellbound enjoyable to read. I can tell that Annabel Chase put a lot of effort into including a broad mix of species in her stories. I like that she's slowly getting into Emma's background as far as being a witch goes. I think that's what I want to read the most. Towards the end of Spell's Bells, there is some interesting foreshadowing going on.

Daniel's growing on me the past two books. I won't say I'm entirely for team Daniel, but he's a better option than some of the other choices that she's presented with. I do feel like she's using the Vampire friend a lot though. I can't remember his name at this moment in time. I guess he's not making a huge impact in the story if I can't remember the name.

I'm keeping this short and sweet tonight. I'm recommending the series for anyone who needs something quick and enjoyable to binge read on Kindle. The books are under 300 pages. The stories move quickly. There's good detail, but not so much that it bogs the story down. The characters are enjoyable for the most part. Interesting mysteries. I won't say they're complete shockers, but the conclusions seem reasonable. I will say that I pegged who the murder was in Doom and Broom fairly easily. I was admittedly wrong about the crime in Spell's Bells.


Here's a couple of quotes I liked from the books: 

"This was supposed to be the remedial class. We should all suck equally." -Somewhere around 12% in Doom and Broom

"I had people I cared about, then I risked losing them. In my experience, the negatives far outweighed the positives." -Somewhere around 57% in Doom and Broom

"Maybe you want to be tall, but your DNA has other plans."- Somewhere around 73% in Doom and Broom. (Also, my life.)

"Unsurprisingly, he was mistaken. I never set out to make him look like an idiot. He managed to do that all by himself." Somewhere around 7% in Spell's Bells.

""I'm warning you, Silas. Get your genie butt out of here before I shove you inside the nearest lamp.” She gave him a pointed look. “And I won’t be rubbing it.” - Somewhere around 27% in Spell's Bells. I audibly cackled at this one, I think. 

I'm giving both books 4 moons :)

Book Review: Curse the Day by Annabel Chase

Goodreads Summary: 

Welcome to Spellbound, where paranormal is the new normal.

The only magic Emma Hart believes in is caffeine and the power of the dryer to lose one sock per load. A public interest lawyer buried under a mound of student debt, Emma’s whole life has been one turn of bad luck after another.

Her streak seems to continue when she gets lost on the way to see a client in the remote Pocono Mountains. A chance encounter with a suicidal angel lands her in Spellbound, a town where supernaturals have been cursed to remain for centuries--probably not the best time for Emma to discover that she's actually a witch.

Between the recent murder of the town’s public defender, a goblin accused of theft, remedial witch classes, and the attention of one smoking hot vampire, Emma struggles to navigate this unfamiliar terrain without losing her mind...or her life.

Curse the Day is the first book in the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.

This is a full-length, humorous paranormal cozy mystery novel.

Goodreads Rating: 4.19 stars with just over 1,400 reviews

Genre Listing: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Get the Book: Amazon
Number of Pages: 290 pages
Book in series: 1/10

Goodreads Challenge: 22/30

2018 Reading Challenge #3, A Cozy Mystery. See the full challenge here

Book Review:

After I finished up Thunderhead, I wanted to start something quick and relatively easy to read. I figured it was a good time to knock out the Cozy Mystery category for the 2018 reading challenge. It took me a while to find one, but I'm glad I took my time and decided on Curse the Day by Anabel Chase. It's around 290 pages and is fairly fast-paced. I finished it in a day. Which with my current insanely busy schedule is pretty impressive. (When I say busy, I'm not kidding. I work full time, go to school full time, run a jewelry business, and run this blog. Send help in the form of coffee!)

Curse the Day by Annabel Chase was an enjoyable cozy paranormal mystery story that was entertaining from the start. I found Emma to be a likable main character. Her inner monologues with herself are pretty funny. I found myself laughing (out loud, even) quite often while reading this story. I enjoyed that she gets shoved into a remedial witch class with several misfits who take her under their wing. I ADORED that she gets them to watch The Craft. It's one of my favorite movies. Oh, and there are several Harry Potter references in the story. 😍

Anabel provided a nice variety of paranormal species in this one story. The entire town is paranormal, so I was glad to see it wasn't just the typical weres, vamps, and witches. These types are there, but there's also goblins, harpies, fairies, incubus/succubus, elves, gorgon, and of course a grumpy hairless cat that's an insult to all cats. (That's a reference to the book. It'll make sense if you read it.)

I like that Emma's background is a mystery. It sets up the series for exciting twists and turns, especially since she's not quite like the other witches in Spellbound. I imagine it'll be an ongoing mystery in each book. I will say I thought the actual conclusion of who the killer/thief was in Curse the Day came out kind of abruptly. It's revealed around 80% into the book, and while it makes sense, the reveal didn't necessarily wow or surprise me. I will say I'm glad that it was a logical character choice instead of some random off the wall surprise with nothing leading up to it.

There are a couple of potential love interests already lined up, but both make me roll my eyes. The suitors so far are the typical love interest of "He's so HAWT" and zero depth. I'm reserving judgment for now. Maybe they'll grow on me. One of them certainly isn't going away any time soon.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and already started on book two. Now hopefully I can get a chance to finish it soon. I recommend it if you like cozy mysteries, paranormal books, or need something quick to get you out of a reading slump. The entire series is on Kindle Unlimited for those of you needing a series to binge on.

I only had one part that I highlighted during my read, but it's a good one.

"Sometimes we seem to forget that the entire reason we're trapped here is because we mistreated someone. It's important that we strive to do better and look out for one another." - located around 70% of the book.

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Book Review Pale Demon By Kim Harrison

Goodreads Summary: New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison takes her indomitable heroine on a wild journey of dark magic and supernatural adventure.

Pale Demon
Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches' convention and clear her name or be trapped in the demonic ever-after...forever after.

But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.

For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight - freed at last to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

Goodreads Rating: 4.45 stars with over 40,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Witches, Demons, Vampires
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
Goodreads Challenge: 15/30
2018 Reading Challenge: #60, The Main Character has the same hair color that you do (Find the challenge here.)

Previous reviews on the series: Black Magic Sanction,  White Witch Black Curse, For A Few Demons More, The Outlaw Demon Wails

Book Review:

I went into this book thinking it was going to be not as entertaining as the other books in the series. All of these characters in a car to go on a road trip? This is going to be boring. I should have known better because one minute I'm like 15% into the book, and then I'm at 65%, and it's 4:30 in the morning.  At this point, I didn't want to put it down, but my eyes were watering, and I had to force myself to take a break for some sleep. 

I was thrilled to see Rachel embrace her Demon status, and I loved what she did to the Everafter after accepting this new status. I was kind of hoping she'd stay there a little bit longer, but she quickly went back to the Hollows and found a way to stop her demon magic. A lot of her survival in this book is because of Trent, granted a lot of the trouble is because of Trent too. Given how the book ends, I think I see how the series is going to end as well.

I felt like this book was the start of some growing for Rachel and her friends. Ivy comes to terms with things and mentions how they're all starting to go different ways, which is true. I've already begun the next book in the series, and it touches on this quite a bit. So, I'm curious to see where Rachel's character grows from here.

I've been trying to think of what series' I can compare this with to give readers an idea of whether or not they'll like it or not. The series is highly regarded by Charlaine Harris, from what I can tell. So fans of Sookie Stackhouse will probably enjoy it as well. It actually reminds me of female-centered version of Jim Butcher's Dresden files as well. The entire series has a lot of snarky humor, a lot of action, an exciting world, a fantastic backstory for the characters and the magic, and is all around just great urban fantasy. I can't recommend this series enough.

Book Review of Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Goodreads Summary: After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire Water, Earth, and Spirit. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends (or Nerd Herd, as Aphrodite calls them)
Goodreads Rating: 3.79 stars with over 379,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Young Adult, Vampires, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Fiction,
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository

Book Review:

So, this is not a new read for me. I read most of the series what feels like forever ago. I've been thinking about it a lot though and wanted to start rereading it. It's amazing how much of the first book I've forgotten, but then again I think I might have read it around the time it first came out. Despite how much I had forgotten it was just like catching up with a long-lost friend. 

Rereading this made me remember why I fell in love with the series. I love that it combines a variety of different beliefs to give Vampirism a unique twist. The intricate tattooing and the importance behind it is still fascinating to me. While I'm usually not a spiritual person, I really enjoy the spirituality that surrounds Nyx and her children. I'm assuming a lot of it is based on Paganism, but I should probably research that to be sure. Regardless, I enjoyed reading it the first time and still enjoyed it the second time around. 

I forgot how incredibly awful Aphrodite was early in the series. I think the thing that bugs me the most about Marked, and I don't know if it did previously or not, is the inconsistency in the language. There are a lot of parts that just mainly use regular swear words and then all of the sudden it will switch to things like "Poopie." It completely drives me nuts. Pick one, preferably the swearing. I don't mind swearing in books and given that the characters are 16ish actual swear words makes them seem more their age. I cringe every time Zoey reverts back to things like "poopie." It makes her seem so completely juvenile, even though she's supposed to be the most powerful fledgling and future High-Priestess. 

Aside from that annoyance, I still really enjoyed Marked the second time around. I'm going to be hopefully diving into the rest of the series soon. It'll be nice to reread everything somewhat close together. I know when I read it before there was a lot of gaps in between each book because I was generally waiting for the next one to come out. Now I have a dilemma, do I finish rereading this series or dive into my library books? Hmm.

Oh, and I'm not putting this on my reading challenge since I've already read it. That seems like it'd be cheating to me.  When I originally read it I gave it a five, and I'm content enough to keep it there.

 

Book Review of Influential Magic by Deanna Chase

Goodreads Summary:  It’s tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires… especially when their very existence drains your life-force.
Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death, Willow’s life is threatened, and the director saddles her with a new partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other specimen of the undead.

To save Willow’s life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.

Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

Goodreads Rating: 3.8 with over 1,700 ratings
Genre Listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Fairies, Vampires, Romance
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository

Book Review:

I'm probably going to gush a lot about this book. I've had it on my Kindle forever, and I wish I had read it sooner. The world that Deanna Chase creates in Influential Magic is amazing. I'm a sucker for a well-detailed world, and this world delivered. 

Influential Magic is different than any fairy/fae book I've read previously. I thought that this book put a fascinating spin on the culture, and put so much care and thought into developing Willow's vampire-ridden world. I thought it was interesting how there wasn't much need for the paranormal to hide. They were out in the open and magic seemed like it was just a regular thing. 

I was completely absorbed in the details of this book, and I don't feel like I can talk about them enough. Deanna Chase went as far as even discussing the unique clothing Willow had to wear for her wings. I loved the fact that it explained how certain things weakened her and nature recharged Willow, to the point where her house had an enchanted tree growing on the inside where she slept.

How Willow's magic worked was fascinating, and I enjoyed how each fairy/fae had their unique abilities. Willow's ability to enhance plants was impressive to me, and I liked how she used it to build a successful bakery and uses her product to try and help the community.

It's not often that I get to say a book completely surprised me. There were so many twists and turns in this book that I had no idea where it was going. I was impressed because usually, I can somewhat predict what's going to happen, but I couldn't predict much at all in this one.

I appreciated the relationships in this book. I know, that's probably shocking considering my normal rampages about romance in books. Both of Willow's relationships made sense. Her relationship with David served its purpose and came full circle. She pined for him, but it wasn't because of how pretty he was. She talked about how sweet and caring he had been in their relationship. I'm so happy with how things developed between Willow and Tal. I love that they started out as mostly flirting, but never pursued anything for the sake of Willow's brother Beau. I adore that they started out as friends and grew into something a bit more. I'm a sucker for those types of relationships. 

I liked Willow as the main character. She didn't like being treated like a Damsel in Distress and hated the secrets that were forming to protect her. However, she also accepted that she wasn't a match for Vampires and Witches. She tried to do things her way, though, which I appreciated. I also liked how she thought things through before acting and didn't just jump in making things worse. I loved her little sidekick Link. I thought his shifter ability to just turn from a regular dog to a wolf was a different take on shifters.

Phoebe was an interesting witch, and I liked how she would do just about anything to save Willow. She was a good side character, and I liked her different spells she used. For most of the book, I thought that "Aunt" Maude was vile, like Delores Umbridge level of vile. Yes, you read that right.

I don't have a single bad thing to say about this book. I truly enjoyed it, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!