BOOK REVIEW: INSTITUTE OF MAGIC by LINSEY HALL - DRAGON'S GIFT: THE DRUID # 1 - URBAN FANTASY

By: Linsey Hall

Published By: Bonnie Doon Press

Released: Available Now

Details: Kindle purchase, 246 Pages

RATING: 4.25 LACHLAN STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Where winning means survival.

According to legend, I’m supposed to be some kind of all-powerful DragonGod—gifted with the magic of gods. Instead, I’m a dud. In fact, I'm currently failing out of the Undercover Protectorate’s magical institute.

It's the supernatural version of Scotland Yard, and I’ve got one chance left to earn my place here. To do so, I have to compete in a deadly race across the world. In order to win, I need to survive. And I’ll need the help of a sexy and powerful shifter mage named Lachlan Munroe.

When we figure out that the race is rigged, Lachlan and I must rely on each other to make it through. But will I be able to learn enough magic to save my life?

BOOK REVIEW:

I was drawn in by the beautiful cover art for my first Linsey Hall read...One click!

I really enjoyed meeting Ana and Lachlan and the whole cast of interesting characters, including the Cats of Catastrophe. They are this fun trio of sidekicks.

The first chapter starts off fast-paced as we follow, Ana, a Dragon God, whose magic hasn’t developed fully yet as she battles demons and anything else thrown in her path during the trainee obstacle course, in Edinburgh.

The Undercover Protectorate Institute is dedicated to helping supernaturals with problems that were so dangerous the magical government didn’t want to handle them.

Ana Blackwood is training at the Academy to eventually graduate and join the Protectorate like her sister, Bree, who joined the Paranormal Investigative Team.

Enter Lachlan Munroe. He has a job that needs all hands on deck, including the trainee, Ana.



The man standing at the front was insanely beautiful—in a raw, powerful kind of way. He had to be well over six feet tall. Though he wore dark jeans and a black jacket, it wasn’t had to see that he was built like a boxer.

But his face…

Like a fallen angel, here to deliver justice. But a dark angel, with black hair and eyes. Handsome, yet a tiny bit scary in his perfection.

I really like Lachlan’s character. There is this insta-attraction and naturally, he picks Ana to work closely with on a retrieval mission.

Sparks fly, hearts flutter.

Ana is intelligent and has a good heart. She works well with Lachlan at her side and when she needs to, takes the initiative.



I sprinted around the pool, naked as a jaybird and way too close to getting hit in the face with my own boobs.



This book is a page-turner where visually I saw it all play out well in my mind. The action and battle scenes were choreographed well and painted an exciting picture in my mind as it all played out.

I have not read the other Dragon’s Gift series’ as yet, where some of the sub characters that pop up in The Druid # 1 have their own stories.

The Dragon’s Gift reading order is:

The Huntress (Cass Clereaux)

The Seeker (Del Bellator)

The Protector (Nix Knight)

The Valkyrie (Bree Blackwood)

The Druid (Ana Blackwood)



Linsey wrote this first book in The Druid series as though I didn’t have to know the characters from the previous spin-off series’ to read this one. Usually, I would read in the best reading order the author recommends, but this time I decided to go a little crazy and be a rebel to my own rules.

I do love what I read about Bree’s character in this book, so I am keen to read The Valkyrie series next.

Overall, I am excited to read more of Linsey’s work.

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****SALE .99C A LITTLE FAITH BY EMMA JAMES****

****SALE .99c A LITTLE FAITH****

3RD JULY 2018 - 15TH JULY 2018

Powerful 

Unique Cast of Characters 

True Friendship 

Laugh

 Cry 

Bite Your Lip 

A Surprise Read

US: http://amzn.to/2COYf0z

UK: http://amzn.to/1LntFZt

AUS: http://amzn.to/2ulskla 

CA: http://amzn.to/1KOdBoF

3 Books Released in the Men Of Ocean Beach Series

 "This is such an original story." 

"The characters are fun loving and complex, 

they draw you into their lives."

 "This book…ooohhhh this book."

"This is one of those books where you can’t say much about the plot because there are so many unforeseen twists and turns along the way…you just don’t want to ruin it. From the very beginning, I was completely blindsided! I honestly wasn’t expecting to have such a strong reaction within the first few chapters of this book."

"I had so many laughs and tears reading this book..."

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BOOK REVIEW: DOG WITH A BONE by HAILEY EDWARDS - BLACK DOG # 1- URBAN FANTASY

By: Hailey Edwards

Published By: Hailey Edwards

Released: Available Now

Details: Free Kindle Purchase

RATING: 4 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

Half-bloods with Thierry’s skill set are given two options. They can join the conclave’s marshal program, or they can pack their bags. Turn down the job offer, and you’ve just shredded your residency pass for the mortal realm and booked yourself a one-way ticket to Faerie.

Texas is the only home Thierry has ever known, and she’s not going anywhere. Even if it means following in her notorious father’s footsteps as a peacekeeper. But pinning on the badge opens her eyes to the fact sometimes fae need protection too, and that sometimes humans are the real monsters.

BOOK REVIEW:

I’ve not read any Hailey Edwards before Dog with A Bone. I picked it up because A) It was a freebie and B) It is a short read. I’d just come off reading two books, one after the other, 400+ pages each, and I needed a short read in my system. Hailey’s book caught my eye, while scrolling about Amazon (not that I needed to look for any more books to purchase if you knew how many I have on the cloud).

This story starts off with a brief jaunt in the scrapyard where Thierry passes her cadetship and becomes a marshal. In the scrapyard opening scene, I meet Shaw and Mai and then after a few days off… (no spoilers here)

Bam! Marshal Thackery (Thierry) of the Southwestern Conclave was reporting for duty and receiving OJT (on the job training) with Marshall Shaw on Monday morning. Then we are rushing head first into a case, that wasn’t a whodunit. I was looking forward to having some suspects, throwing about other characters and getting into the thick of it, but it didn't actually go that way.

I did enjoy this introduction to Thierry and Shaw and a rather erm… confusing start to this series. When I say confusing, I am not easily confused, but I kept feeling a bit baffled as to the rushed world-building and the Richardson case. I felt like I was missing some pieces and I was floundering about, but I kept rolling with the story and then my eye was twitching because I felt a bit lost with the speed and lack of solid world-building to put me in that comfy place.

Finishing the ebook, the end book matter actually states: Dog With A Bone is a prequel to the series in the sense that the novella cuts a hole into the ceiling of Thierry’s past and gives us a glimpse of those first steps that set the events of the trilogy into motion one year later.

Cool. I appreciate those words from the author. I think I would have preferred to get to know Cadet Thackery a lot more in this prequel and the hints dropped by the author between Thierry and her instructor having some sort of crush or something that happened during that cadetship.

Thierry is eighteen and Shaw is…I may have missed his age, but he is a lot older or felt that way in this prequel. Not that that matters.

I feel I missed actually getting that introduction into Thierry and her cadetship at the marshal academy. It was totally a glimpse and then we were onto the Richardsons without really learning much about the world the author has created and those hints of something between Thierry and her instructor.

I have purchased several more books by this author from her other series' as well as this series for me to sink my reader teeth into. 

I did like the action and I do like Thierry and Shaw. 

I enjoyed this read and I will be onward bound for more Hailey Edwards’ books in the future.

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BOOK REVIEW: VISION IN SILVER by ANNE BISHOP - THE OTHERS # 3 - PARANORMAL/URBAN FANTASY - ROC

By: Anne Bishop

Published By: Roc

Released: Available Now

Details: Hardback from the library, 400 Pages

RATING: 4.25 OTHERS STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before; both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn’s help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him.

Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon’s only hope of ending the conflict.

For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon’s doorstep…




BOOK REVIEW:

This series is raved about and gets so many five stars and glowing reviews, and that is absolutely freakin’ fantastic!

I do personally find it very, very slow-paced.

I am addicted to reading the series…but not a lot happens inside each book for such thick books.

But I’m addicted.

This series is so different, and it really is Simon’s series, he kinda owns it with Meg playing side-character, even more so in this installment, but yet she is the reason for the series. But this story was also shared with Monty and Lizzy.

I don’t have any quotes that stood out and that annoys me because I feel as though I should have some.

Visually I see everything so clearly, but it is like a slow stroll in the park the action side to the story, and that kinda bothers me too for a paranormal/urban fantasy read.

There was one fighting scene that stood out for me. Simon got hurt, shit went down, and tragedy happened. But Meg is still giving out sugar cubes, sorting the mail and thinking about her feelings for Simon. Now the girls have banded together to help the other Blood Prophets survive outside of their previously controlled existence.

Simon is a smart wolf, but he seems so clueless with Meg. He owns a bookstore, he needs to order in a self-help book on ‘How to have a relationship’ and have a thorough read. I get that Anne is showing us two individuals having a hard time working out how to hold hands and what it means, but, this is the third book in the series.

Time to grab that hand and… well, we are halfway there. ;)

I like the introduction of the mysterious ‘other’ above Simon and the da…da…da…daaaaaa moment.

I feel as though I need a break and will continue Marked In Flesh at a later date.



Signed: Addicted

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BOOK REVIEW: BLOODY MARY by J.A. KONRATH - JACK DANIELS MYSTERY # 2 - CONTEMPORARY CRIME

By: J.A. Konrath
Published By: J.A. Konrath
Released: Available Now
Details: Kindle purchase, 252 Pages

RATING: 4.5 JACK STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Feisty female police officer Jack Daniels is back to solve her most compelling case yet! From major new mystery talent J. A. Konrath comes the latest intoxicating cocktail in the Jack Daniels series -- Bloody Mary.

Start with a tough but vulnerable Chicago cop. Add a hyperactive cat, an ailing mother, a jealous boyfriend, a high-maintenance ex-husband, and a partner in the throes of a mid-life crisis.

Stir in a psychopath littering the city with body parts. Mix with equal parts humor and suspense, and enjoy Bloody Mary -- the second novel in the funny, frightening world of Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels.

Join Jack as she struggles to repair her train wreck of a personal life while tracking down and convicting one of the scariest serial killers in recent memory -- a killer for whom getting caught is only the beginning . . .


BOOK REVIEW:

Another blood-thirsty installment in the Jack Daniels series, with a villain worthy of being labeled a top-notch psychopath.

J.A. Konrath gives the reader enough detail for our minds to grab his gruesome descriptive, tuck it under our arm, and act out our own scene visually coloring it in technicolor.

Yuuuumee. 

Konrath is very good with letting our minds take the reins and letting our own imagination disgust ourselves with what we see from his pages of villainous debauchery.

Little side stories are weaving in and out of Bloody Mary. Jack’s partner, Herb, is having a mid-life and he’s not handling it well.

Mr. Friskers has his moments of stardom with his catty behaviour—pun intended—and Harry, who I am not sure if I should like or hate, is there to assist using his own brand of assistance.

Throw in an ex-husband; a mother who is trying to rekindle/do a little matchmaking; a necrophile, and a very patient Latham (boyfriend), and Jack finds herself up to her eyeballs in blood, sex, and fears.

Sometimes you can tell (don’t hit me with a pillow) when a male author is writing a female lead character because of the lack of emotion in said character’s inner layers. I hope that came out right. Jack can be a bit blokey sometimes, and that is great, but sometimes you want a little more of what is underneath. Her job does come first but unlike Eve Dallas from In Death series, there is that layer underneath we get to see, even though her job also comes first and she is in a male-dominated, tough field. Eve is both feminine and also tough as nails. She is better than some males in her field at what she does, but she can also show us the other side of her personality.

Latham was a bit of a doormat in this story, and Jack acted a bit like a guy with her attitude towards the ex-husband turning up and her current boyfriend and how she should go about juggling those two.

Wrong!!

What J.A. does so well, is getting inside a psychopath’s head. He is really good at the descriptive and the inner workings of their mind.

This series is dark, unapologetically gory and comes with banter in good and bad taste, and I am ridiculously addicted.

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BOOK REVIEW: HIGH VOLTAGE by KAREN MARIE MONING - FEVER WORLD # 10 - DELACORTE PRESS - URBAN FANTASY

By: Karen Marie Moning

Published By: Delacorte Press

Released: Available Now

Details: Hardback from the library, 480 Pages

RATING: 6 STARS! ALL THE STARDUST STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

There is no action without consequence…

Dani O’Malley was nine years old when the delusional, sadistic Rowena transformed her into a ruthless killer. Years later, she’s tough, hardened, yet achingly vulnerable and fiercely compassionate, living alone by her own exacting code. Despite the scars on her body, driven by deeper ones carved into her soul, no one is more committed to protecting Dublin. By day, she ensures the safety of those she rescues, by night she hunts evil, dispensing justice swiftly and without mercy, determined to give those she cares for the peace she has never known.

There is no power without price…

When the Faerie Queen used the dangerously powerful Song of Making to heal the world from the damage done by the Hoar Frost King, catastrophic magic seeped deep into the earth, giving rise to horrifying, unforeseen consequences–and now deadly enemies plot in the darkness, preparing to enslave the human race and unleash an ancient reign of hell on Earth.

There is no future without sacrifice…

With the lethal, immortal Ryodan at her side, armed with the epic Sword of Light, Dani once again battles to save the world but her past comes back to haunt her with a vengeance, demanding an unspeakable price for the power she needs to save the human race and no one—not even Ryodan who’d move the very stars for her—can save her this time…



BOOK REVIEW:

“Keep the light shining in your heart; death is a hungry darkness. 

It wants to swallow us. 

You’re different and will always be misunderstood

— never let that touch you. 

You’re a terribly real thing in a terribly false world.”

Be still my heart.

This book was ALL the stars for me and then some.

Just lay on your back under a clear sky and look up, and that is how many stars.

Ryodan and Dani… I love them.

I've loved them so hard since Iced.

I got so upset when Burned wasn’t about Ryodan and Dani—but, I got over it. I didn’t realize until I was heavily into the book and my dynamic duo were hidden under Mac and Barrons.

This book was everything.

The emotions.


I kissed him with the rainbow-colored shattered hopes and dreams of a child betrayed in ways too damaging and numerous to count, and I kissed him with the yearning to be the one making joy blaze from his eyes.



The deeper layers.



“Ah, Dani,” he said tightly, “you beat me. You tell me what to do. I seem to have forgotten which of us is the man. Perhaps you need a reminder.”



Finally, Ryodan and Dani.



The second thing baffles me. I often feel like crying. I’ve wept on his flawless, crisp shirts more times than I care to remember.

“Because I understand,” he murmured, staring down at me with those glittering silver eyes. “And I can take it. I wasn’t sure about the happiness, though. Nice of you to clear that up.”

“What part of ‘stay out of my head’ didn’t you understand?”

“Your face, Dani. Everything you feel is on it. I rarely need to delve deeper.”


“Ah, Dani.” Ryodan touched my cheek, brushing a stray curl back and tucking it behind my ear. “Men can be bloody bastards. But not all of them. Don’t let it shut you down. Be fearless. Don’t be afraid to fall. Taste it all.”



Dani has so much heart to give. I adore reading her. I loved her fourteen-year-old self in Iced, and I loved her more in High Voltage.

So cool finding out Ryodan’s full name. Totally suits him.

Christian. So glad to see you again. I can see more storyline opening up from what we are shown in this book.


"Scotland is enchanting. And now I know why angels have wings. It's their reward."


Dancer, and his Mega. *sniffles*

I was faltering a little with my enthusiasm for this series since Burned, probably because I felt burned by Dani and Ryodan disappearing after Iced and being replaced again by Mac storyline. This book made up for it. The writing is superb. The ‘feels’ will stab at your heart.



“Never. Tell. Me. I. Don’t. Care. You can fling any insult you want at me, but not that one. Never that one.”



A quote that hit my heart deep.


“Prolonged grief is self-mutilation; a blade you turn on yourself. It doesn’t bring them back and only keeps you trapped in misery.”



Very hard to find that off switch.

I need more Dani and Ryodan. There are so many secrets to discover within High Voltage, and they will make your heart hurt and fly.

I highly recommend this book. Simply amazing storyline.

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BOOK REVIEW: STAR WITCH by HELEN HARPER - THE LAZY GIRL'S GUIDE TO MAGIC # 2 - URBAN FANTASY

By: Helen Harper
Published By: Helen Harper
Released: Available Now
Details: Kindle, 271 Pages

RATING: 4.5 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

Lights. Camera. Inaction.

Ivy Wilde, the laziest witch in the West, is still entangled with the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. That's not a bad thing, however, because it gives her plenty of excuses to spend more time with sapphire eyed Raphael Winter, her supposed nemesis. And when he comes knocking because he needs her to spy on the latest series of Enchantment, she jumps at the chance. Hanging around a film set can't be hard ... or dangerous ... right?



BOOK REVIEW:

When you have a fling after a night of drunken Karaoke, things always seem a little emotionally messy afterward.

Winter and Ivy basically act like teenagers. LOL. They are unable to have an adult conversation about what happened, instead, Ivy resorts to taxi stalking.



If Adeptus Exemptus Raphael Winter, with his lapis-lazuli eyes which could stop a herd of stampeding women in their tracks, happened to be finishing work around this hour…



I did have to google lapis-lazuli and it is a very nice color. But all googling aside… these two are kinda cute the way they behaved. 


lapɪs ˈlazjʊlʌɪ,ˌlapɪs ˈlazjʊli/

noun

a bright blue metamorphic rock consisting largely of lazurite, used for decoration and in jewelry.

a bright blue pigment formerly made by crushing lapis lazuli.

a bright blue color.



One thing leads to another and Ivy is back on the job, but this time undercover in Scotland, working as a runner for the T.V. show she adores, Enchantment.

Think Survivor, but of the magical kind where everybody playing seems to get a role, some a little deadlier than others.

Ivy sees the bitchier side of being on a reality show while doing some super sleuthing with Rafe. Naturally, with shenanigans-a-plenty, the writing ensures the pages will turn rapidly.

I liked the curveballs thrown in and the whodunnit is hard to pick this time around. The obvious is too obvious.

Brutus ups his ‘tude in Star Witch and you can’t help wanting to read more of him among the pages. He is rather a cheeky little guy.

Rafe is becoming more of a rule-breaker around Ivy, mainly because she’s already breaking the rules so he has to go with the flow.

Star Witch is fun, witty and easy to read.

And oh… my to that ending!

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