Blood Visions Author: L.J. Hamlin Title: Blood Visions Series: Visions 1 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/M Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://www.ljhamlin.com/ljs-books/ Summary: Private detective Ronan Bayne is a former cop who now runs his own agency specializing in all things paranormal. After several women go missing, and the cops and FBI are equally frustrated and at a loss, Ronan is called in to see if he can find answers they can't. After waking up from a terrible vision of a girl, darkness, and blood, Dustin tries to go to the police but to no avail. But on a visit to the crime scene, he crosses paths with Ronan. Reluctantly, the two men join forces to locate the missing, but both the case and the partnership prove to be more complicated than either man expects... Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Ronan is a private detective hired when a number of women started going missing under mysterious circumstances. Given his specialty is magical cases, he knows he's the best option to find the answer. Then he meets Dustin, whose visions might be the key to solving the mystery, but who might also distract Ronan and leave them all dead instead. Overall I liked this start to a new series. Dustin's visions and abilities were interesting and I liked seeing how he and Ronan, a regular human without any special abilities, were able to work together so seamlessly. Their characterizations just worked and that made the book that much more enjoyable to read. I didn't appreciate the overall plot. I won't go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but every conclusion they came to and every step forward they made in solving the mystery was a bit of a stretch for me. Even Ronan's being hired by the police didn't quite work. Given the police were forced to ignore magic's existence, I just don't see them reaching out to Ronan even thought Ronan is friends with the chief. There needed to be something more in the world building that allowed for all the stretches to work. Maggie's Recommendation: I really liked the overall characterizations, but I felt that much of the plot wasn't believable. Still, I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series and that is why I do recommend it.
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Alpha and Omega Author: Patricia Briggs Title: Alpha and Omega Series: Alpha and Omega .5 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/F Rating: Four Petals On the Author's Website: http://hurog.com/books/ Summary: Anna Latham never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the Chicago pack, she's learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But when she discovers wrongdoing in her pack, she has to go above her Alpha's head to ask for help. Charles Cornick is the son — and enforcer — of the leader of the North American werewolves. Now his father has sent him to Chicago to clean up a problem there. Charles never expected to find Anna, a rare Omega wolf — and he certainly never expected to recognize her as his mate... Maggie's Review:
Anna is suffering as a newly created werewolf in a pack that hurts her. Still, when she learns of an injustice committed she can't help calling for help. Except, when Charles appears, Anna doesn't know whether she'll lose her heart or her life first. When I first picked up this story when it came out a few years ago, I didn't know what to expect from a Briggs short story. I definitely don't regret taking that chance. Out of all of Briggs books, this one might be my favorite. This story has a ton packed into a few short pages. There's drama, and love, and an evil scheme, and it all flows together almost seamlessly. I have reread this story at least a dozen times and I know I will read it again a dozen more. The best part of it is that this story is so wonderful it even spawned an entire series. If I had one complaint about this story, I would have to say it's far too predictable. I could see where Anna and Charles were headed from the very start and I figured out the true bad guy the second they were introduced. However, the predictable plot doesn't diminish from the excellent characterizations and the expansive world building, which is why I still really enjoy reading this story. Maggie's Recommendation: I know sometimes readers don't want to pick up a short story in a series until after they've already fallen in love with the rest of the series, but this story is different. A, it's essential to understand what's happening in book one. B, it's just that good a story. That is why I recommend it and the rest of the series. EmbraceAuthor: Megan Derr Title: Embrace Series: None Genre: High Fantasy Pairing: M/M, Poly (M/M/M) Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://maderr.com/?page_id=31 Summary: Centuries ago, humans and vampires lived alongside one another, sometimes hostile, sometimes peaceful—but always tense. Eventually, that tension tipped too far, and now vampires are few in number and known only as Pets, kept by the wealthy as intimate companions, most of their history lost, the rest shrouded in mystery. Aubrey has returned home after spending many years away, though he is reluctant to live once more with his estranged father, his mercurial cousin, and the memories of his murdered mother. The very last thing he wants is the Pet given to him as a welcome home gift, a practice he has long despised and wants no part of. But Ruthven is like no Pet he's ever encountered, and only the beginning of the secrets Aubrey slowly begins to uncover... Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Aubrey has never wanted a Pet, but after returning home from being away at school for a few years, his father gifts him one. Yet, Ruthven is unlike any Pet Aubrey has encountered before and the secrets Ruthven and everyone else in the household are keeping might destroy them all in the end. I first read this story years ago. I bought it during LT3's earliest years (I actually have it in print), and at the time I thought it was completely indicative of LT3's work: It was in desperate need of better editing, which LT3 struggled with their first few years, but had a sweetness and charm to it that had me hooked regardless. It wasn't, however, indicative of Derr's work of the time. Derr was publishing light and fluffy romances that were heavy on the characterizations, but very light on plot. (Please don't take that as a complaint, because it's not.) Her books from that time are still very enjoyable, but they don't have the level of depth, nor the sheer brilliance of the twists and turns of her more recent ones. Embrace, on the other hand, did have plot and some very interesting twists. I honestly feel like Embrace was a gateway book that allowed Derr to blossom from good to great. There was so much potential in Embrace, particularly in the plot, but at the time it felt unfinished. Derr hadn't completed her transformation just yet, so there were still weaknesses in Embrace (which I won't go into detail here in order to avoid spoilers). Needless to say, I've always hoped Derr would republish and would clean the story up in the process. Unfortunately, the ARC I received was an exact replica of the original story. What this means to me is that Derr will likely clean up the missing words and improper grammar before it is officially published, but nothing substantive will be added. That said, the story is still very enjoyable. Watching Aubrey try to figure Ruthven out, Stregoni and Gilles' interesting courting, the mystery of the Pets, and the secrets everyone is keeping, definitely kept my interest. Overall, I had a good time rereading this story, and that's what really mattered to me the most. Maggie's Recommendation: The reprint appears to be completely unchanged from the original, which is good because I did enjoy the original story, but is also bad because none of the issues were solved. I still liked the overall plot and the characterizations of this story, so I do recommend it anyway. Cold Fire Author: Tamora Pierce Title: Cold Fire Series: The Circle Opens 3 Genre: High Fantasy Pairing: None Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://www.tamora-pierce.net/books/cold-fire/ Summary: Daja and Frostpine expect to have a peaceful winter's visit with old friends in Kugisko, a port in the vast empire of Namon. But there is no peace when mysterious fires begin to blaze across the vulnerable city. Daja assists Bennat Ladradun, a local firefighter with a tragic past, to fight the flames. The two become fast friends-until they realize the fires have been deliberately set, and their relationship is deeply tested. Daja's magic helps her track down the firestarter, but no magic can protect her or Ben from the effects of madness and betrayal. Maggie's Review:
Daja has traveled a long way to the north where snow and ice cover everything and she has to be bundled up in front of the fire most of the day. Except, someone is starting fires that are killing people and to find the arsonist, Daja must learn to step out on her own, even when she might be the next victim. This book was a turning point in Pierce's writing ability. Suddenly the books in this series went from being very juvenile in writing style, to very adult. The plot and the characters were fully fleshed out, including the two students Daja takes on (which was a nice change from the previous two books where the students were annoying afterthoughts). The mystery of the arsonist combined with Daja's real growth as a person made me want to love this book, but unfortunately there's something missing. I think my issue is with the bad guy. As a character, they appear to be fully realized, however, the motives that led them to do bad--while certainly real--just didn't feel like they fit. The bad guy's interactions with Daja also made me uncomfortable in a way that reminded me just how young and inexperienced Daja is. The way the bad guy took advantage of her makes me cringe every time I reread this book, and I don't think Pierce meant to evoke that much of an unpleasant feeling on her readers. Maggie's Recommendation: As I said for all the previous books in this series, yes, I recommend them, but I don't recommend this book as strongly as the others. While I liked the more adult writing style Pierce used for this book, the bad guy's interactions with Daja made me very uncomfortable in a bad way, which is why this is my least favorite story in this quartet. Children of the Night Authors: Christi Snow, Joanna Chambers, Maris Black, and Tinnean Title: Children of the Night Series: None Genre: Paranormal Pairing: M/M Rating: Two Petals On the Publisher's Website: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books... Summary: Wishing and Hoping by Tinnean—It's finally the day of Ioan's eighteenth birthday, and all that he's been waiting for will finally be his—including the love of the man he's secretly been in love with all these years. Everything is perfect. Until the love of his life shows up to his birthday party with a wife. Lamb to the Slaughter by Joanna Chambers—There is very little Lucien enjoys more than the hunt of young men: beautiful, innocent, eager to learn all that a mature man like Lucien might be able to teach them... Smolder by Christi Snow—All Zack wants is to be left alone. When Marissa, his boss, calls with orders that he take care of a new vampire in her area because she can't, he's absolutely certain this assignment is going to go any way but well. Lilac and Leather by Maris Black—Halloween night, and Matt would prefer to be anywhere but in an over-crowded club, especially when an old lover shows up, and he finally has to admit he's gay. But the night takes a turn for the strange—and hot—when he meets the beautiful, mysterious Nicky... All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to the Rainbow Railroad. Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. These four erotic tales of vampires figuring out their lives and loves is particularly positive because all proceeds go to a good cause. Check out the Rainbow Railroad for more information. Wishing and Hoping by Tinnean: Three Petals Ioan's got wonderful plans of what to do with the man he loves now that Ioan's of age, but when that man shows up married and uninterested, suddenly Ioan must realize that his true love has been with him all along. Overall I did like this story, particularly Ione's interactions with his twin and the characterizations throughout. Unfortunately, the story felt incomplete, as if it were only a few chapters pulled from a larger work. There were hints of an escalating political situation, and issues they might encounter in the U.S., but the story ended before any of the plot--aside from the romance--was fully realized. Lamb to the Slaughter by Joanna Chambers: One Petal Lucien loves his men young and inexperienced and this time he's picked out the perfect man for his bed, except Marcus turns out to be everything Lucien didn't know he really wanted. This story made me uncomfortable to read. There's a lot that in this story that comes across as just this side of not consensual, including Lucien's rather twisted plans and Marcus' even more twisted reaction. I have to say that I didn't guess the surprise at the end, but at that point I was so eager to be done that it didn't really matter. Smolder by Christi Snow: Three Petals Zack is a loner by choice, so when his boss forces him to take care of a baby vampire, Zack can't help being unhappy, that is, until he actually meets the man in question. I thought this was the best story in the anthology. I liked the world building of vampires fitting into modern society and how Nash is able to eventually figure his own life out. This story did suffer from lack of depth, particularly in the characters' backstories which were glossed over. It was hard to believe in the romance when I didn't have an emotional connection to, or any real understanding of, why Zack was initially so reticent. This book is part of a series, so I'm hoping more will be explained in a future story. Lilac and Leather by Maris Black: One Petal When Matt is dragged to a club he doesn't expect to out himself or to find a man he could love, but that's what happens and now he has to figure out his new life. I thought this was the weakest story in the anthology. The author appeared to have a number of good ideas for the story, but was never able to flesh them out properly. What was left was a jumble of scenes and emotions that never connected, leaving me as a reader to struggle through. Matt's coming out was painful to read in a bad way and the story never improved from there. Maggie's Recommendation: I'm not going to lie, I don't recommend this anthology. Overall the stories were weak, not well plotted, and lacked in depth. However, all proceeds from the anthology go to a good cause, so even if you're not getting good a quality story for your money, it's still worth it. Sunday's Child Author: Grace Draven Title: Sunday's Child Series: None Genre: Paranormal Pairing: M/F Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: https://gracedraven.com/sundays-child-2/ Summary: The holiday season has arrived, and museum archivist Claire Summerlad envisions a lonely Christmas for herself and her autistic son...until she meets a mysterious new co-worker who seems strangely familiar. The memory of a Christmas past is brought back to life when Andor Hjalmarson is introduced to the woman he once called Sunday’s Child. A thousand years of exile has made Andor a nomadic wanderer, but is a future with Claire possible with a centuries-old punishment hanging over his head? Maggie's Review:
Andor's punishment is banishment and being forced to work with Father Christmas every year to deliver presents to children around the world. He doesn't mind it too much, especially when he meets little Claire, who can see through his glamor. She's what's known as a Sunday's Child and Andor can't help feeling protective of her. Still, he doesn't see her again for approximately twenty years and that child has grown into a fine woman, a woman Andor can't help having forbidden feelings for. Overall I found this to be a sweet holiday short story. It ticked all the right buttons with a little bit of magic augmenting Santa, a love story, and a touch of conflict to make the true love feel all the more special. It was well written and interesting, but I've read stories like this before that were better than this one. It wasn't just that this plot was cliche and overdone, because dozens of them come out every year around the holidays and I still enjoy them. It was that this story didn't bring anything new. I've read about a spoiled fae prince having to work with Santa and falling in love with one of his charges before. I also didn't appreciate the romance, which I felt was rushed and therefore lacked depth. Plus, the fact that this story and the characters purposefully chose to lose their magic made me sad, when the story was supposed to be uplifting instead. Maggie's Recommendation: The story was well written and sweet, but I've read it before and I found those versions to be more interesting. This story didn't bring anything new to the holiday genre, the romance lacked depth, and the magic was disappointing. I therefore cannot recommend this story. Ink Bound Author: Holly Evans Title: Ink Bound Series: Ink Born 3 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/M Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: https://chaosfoxwriting.wordpress.com/ink-born/ Summary: I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a noose tightening around my neck. Fein is pushing me further into the criminal underground with each passing day. I’m supposed to be helping free slaves. It’s a noble cause, but every step I take is one step further from tattoo magician and one step closer to something else. Something darker. The ink network is playing games I want no part of, and there’s a bounty out for the ink magician. I never wanted to a hero, but I fear I have no choice. Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via the author in exchange for an honest review. Dacian's fight against the forces of evil on behalf of Fein is continuing to get more and more dangerous. All he wants is to tattoo, but instead he's learning to fight with his fists and with his magic. Yet, even as he gets stronger the enemy does too and everything he and Fein are working towards might just fail in the end. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the magic in this series is amazing. The intricacy of Dacian's ink magic and his connection to the ink network only grew more complex in this book. Plus, we were introduced to someone with connection to the blood magic network, which expanded just how intricate all the magic in this world really is. Unfortunately, Dacian's emotions were all over the place in this book. Some of it was purposeful, like when he was confronted with his ex while trying to build his relationship with his current boyfriend, but most of it felt totally out of control. His emotions are up, and down, and everywhere in between constantly in this book, which greatly hurt his overall characterization. So much focus is spent on his emotions that details on the battle he happens to be fighting at that moment--be it a physical or mental one--get completely lost. There was one moment where Dacian's literally in a hand-to-hand combat situation and he's so lost in his emotional state that when Evans returns to the actual fight it's written that the bad guy's "blade caught my eye" and I'm literally going 'why isn't he screaming in pain since his eye just got cut out?', only to realize it was an expression rather than an action. Basically what this all boils down to is Evans needed another round of serious content editing before this story was published. Maggie's Recommendation: I would recommend this series just based on the intricacy of the magic systems, but I have to say the overall plot held my interest too. I did have some issues with how the emotional state of the main character was written. Curses, Foiled Again Author: Sera Trevor Title: Curses, Foiled Again Series: None Genre: Paranormal Pairing: M/M, F/F Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://www.seratrevor.com/coming-soon.html Summary: Felix is a vampire—a fierce creature of the night who strikes terror into the hearts of everyone unlucky enough to become his prey. Or at least, that’s what he thought was true, until he met John. John is completely unimpressed with Felix, much to his dismay. Felix becomes fixated on proving his ferocity to John—and when that doesn’t work, he strives to make any impression on him at all. John is a witch, and as all witches know, vampires are notoriously stupid creatures who only have the power to hurt those who fear them. Besides, he’s under a curse much more frightening than any vampire. Felix’s desperate attempts to impress him annoy John at first, but gradually, they become sort of endearing. Because of his curse, John has pushed everyone in his life away. But Felix can’t be hurt, so there’s no harm in letting him hang around. Felix is technically dead. John has nothing left to live for. But together, they might have a shot at life. Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via the author in exchange for an honest review. Felix is a vampire and it is well known among the magical community that vampires are not very intelligent. John quickly figures that out about Felix, but that doesn't stop the feelings from slowly developing between them. Then John learns about the evil trying to take advantage of him and Felix and he knows that to defeat that evil he might have to sacrifice everything, including his relationship with Felix, just to survive. I really liked the personalities in this story. Felix is a bit too dense to be believable, but at the same time his sheltered and privileged lifestyle almost makes his complete lack of understanding about the world make sense. John is perfectly down to earth in contrast. Their relationship just plain worked because their personalities meshed so well together. The romance part of the plot was therefore really well done, however the fighting the bad guy part was abysmal in comparison. The bad guy was definitely a bad person--that much was made more than clear--but I still didn't believe in him. Nor did I feel that his actions, particularly in regards to John, made sense. Unfortunately, this lack greatly effected the ending of the story and left me feeling disappointed. Maggie's Recommendation: The beginning of the book when the romance was first introduced and began to grow was really enjoyable. The ending, unfortunately, was much less so. I do still recommend this story, but I wish the end had a bit more finesse. Getting Wilde Author: Jenn Stark Title: Getting Wilde Series: Immortal Vegas 1 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/F Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://www.jennstark.com/getting-wilde/ Summary: Using her well-worn Tarot deck, magical-artifacts hunter Sara Wilde can find anything—for a price. And the price had better be right, since she needs to finance her own personal mission to rescue several young psychics recently sold on the paranormal black market. Enter Sara’s most mysterious client and occasional lover, the wickedly sexy Magician, with a job that could yield the ultimate payday. All she’ll have to do is get behind Vatican walls… and steal the Devil himself. But play with the Devil and you’re bound to get burned. Pressure mounts for Sara to join the Magician’s ancient and mysterious Arcana Council, as militant forces unleashed by even darker powers seek to destroy all magic—including the young psychics Sara is desperate to keep safe. The Council may be their only hope. . . but it could also expose Sara’s own dark past. From the twisting catacombs of Rome to the neon streets of Vegas, Sara confronts ancient enemies, powerful demigods, a roiling magical underworld about to explode… and immortal passions that might require the ultimate sacrifice. But oh, what a way to go. No matter how the cards play out, things are about to get Wilde. Maggie's Review:
Sara is just trying to save gifted children from some sort of evil that is gathering them up and selling them to the highest bidder where the children are then slaughtered for their magic. It's hard work, but it's also rewarding and she's not doing too badly on her own. Then a pair of children are taken and she has to work with the mysterious Council to save them. Sara knows that once she's working for the Council it's too late to go back, but she doesn't know just how too late for her it really is. I have to admit that overall I did enjoy reading this story. The unique use of tarot cards as a magical device was very interesting and I liked how the culture that is unique to the world of tarot was also intertwined with the plot and with Sara's personality. That is what kept my interest the most. However, as is very evident in the summary, this story was full of cliches. The problem with cliches isn't that they've been done so often before, it's that it makes the story predictable. If an author relies too heavily on them, as Stark did here, without adding their own unique touch or twist, the story loses a level of excitement. It started to drag about halfway through and never really picked up again. Maggie's Recommendation: I'm honestly not sure whether I recommend this story. The use of tarot cards as the magical device in the story was very interesting, but the story itself was predictable and dragged a bit. I guess since I didn't immediately jump to pick up the sequel, I will say that I do not recommend this story. The Uncrossing Author: Melissa Eastlake Title: The Uncrossing Series: None Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/M Rating: Four Petals On the Author's Website: https://www.melissaeastlake.com/ Summary: Luke can uncross almost any curse—they unravel themselves for him like no one else. So working for the Kovrovs, one of the families controlling all the magic in New York, is exciting and dangerous, especially when he encounters the first curse he can't break. And it involves Jeremy, the beloved, sheltered prince of the Kovrov family—the one boy he absolutely shouldn't be falling for. Jeremy's been in love with cocky, talented Luke since they were kids. But from their first kiss, something's missing. Jeremy's family keeps generations of deadly secrets, forcing him to choose between love and loyalty. As Luke fights to break the curse, a magical, citywide war starts crackling, and it's tied to Jeremy. This might be the one curse Luke can't uncross. If true love's kiss fails, what's left for him and Jeremy? Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Luke's powers allow him to fix all types of bad magic spells and his family's dept to the Kovrov family means he has plenty of opportunity to use that power. Then he meets Jeremy and realizes that even his great strength might not be enough to save them both from the forces building to kill them. I really liked this book despite the fact that it had many flaws. The world building of gangs controlling parts of the city, in this case the Russian/Ukrainian gang of the Kovrov's, and fighting with other gangs was no doubt based on reality. I could feel that depth and appreciated everything it added to the story. However, the world building was also the greatest weakness. The magic that was inherent in the story was never fully explained. How it came into existence, how they learned to use it, or even how the curses worked. I could have used a lot more detail to fully flesh out this story. The plot was the same, with wonderful fairy tale aspects that kept my interest the entire way, but just lacking enough detail for me to be able to give this story a full five petals. Maggie's Recommendation: I really liked a lot about this story and I do recommend it. The world building and the plot were really interesting, but lacked in detail, which is why I couldn't give this story five petals. |
Magnolia's Reviews
Maggie reviews paranormal and fantasy novels and novellas. She also interviews authors and hosts giveaways. Archives
April 2018
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