How Not to Kill a Hellhound is the fifth book in the Hellhounds of Paradise Falls series by Shannon Mae, a fated mates paranormal/urban fantasy series set in Paradise Falls, a location where several of her interconnected series take place.
Maeās actually working towards an overall universe storyline that encompasses all her series and characters Iām guessing, and one of the ultimate main characters has an impactful role here.
I appreciate that it was left to Sebbie , mostly, to decide when he was emotionally ready for the next step in his quest to remember everything that happened and move forward. This is 90 percent Sebbieās journey. Who he is, the past and how those characters around him support this journey. Heās a sweet, engaging person and I loved reading his story.
Itās a good tale with many creative elements, including mythological aspects, but leaves the Hellhounds mostly removed from this even as Corbin is a major player as Sebbieās fated mate and Hellhound. The Crow familiar is on the same level with Corbin here. Except for the many sex scenes with the emphasis on Sebbieās appendage size being ācuteā.
I ended up wanting more exposition, less sex, more exploration of their developing relationship and each personās history as opposed to their body parts.
When things get interesting, things get misty. I did like the interpretation of Charon and the boat ride. Amazing.
And loose ends were tied up finally from Aidenās story while setting up Jude and the Sheriff for their fated mates romance. That should be interesting!
Cover design by Morningstar Ashley
Hellhounds of Paradise Falls: (Paranormal Romance)
How to Flirt with a Hellhound #1
How to Hack a Hellhound #2
How to Tame a Hellhound #3
How to Trust a Hellhound #4
How NOT to Kill a Hellhound #5
How To Catch a Hellhound #6 – Oct 1,2026
The Revenge Playlist: A Collection of Afterlifer Revenge Stories (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls)
Linked series:
Demonic Disasters and Afterlife Adventures (8 book series) fated mates romance set in Paradise Falls
Lifeās pretty good. I love my job, I feed the crows in my yard, and I have some awesome friends. Sure, I was kidnapped by a cult recently, but my friends rescued me, so no harm done. And, okay, people do tend to die around me, but I work in a hospital. Thatās normalā¦ right? Death isnāt scary anywayāitās just another beginning. Unfortunately, most guys I date donāt see it that way. My love life has been pretty empty, but I just met someone new. Heās ridiculously cute and even likes crows. I just hope heās not scared off when he learns about my job.
Corbin
I take great satisfaction in removing hellbound souls from the worldāespecially the ones who prey on the weak. With my pack and my familiar, Crow, at my side, life is steady and peaceful. At least, it was until Sebbie. The cute, bubbly man is far more than he realizes, and heās about to turn everything upside down. Thereās just one little problem: he doesnāt know the supernatural existsā¦ or that heās a supernatural being. I want to help him harness his powers, but thereās a catchāif Iām not careful, Sebbie might end up killing me in the process.
Tags: Crows hold grudges; Death is actually cheerful; Corbinās as obsessed with shiny things as his birds; The pack shows up to create chaos; Thea is determined to be Sebbieās new bestie; Jude doesnāt get arrested (or maybe he does?);
āWhen a city girl inherits a remote Arizona ranch, she discovers two things: dead bodies keep showing up, and she can see the ghosts who might have witnessed the murders. With a mysterious fox who won’t leave her porch and a handsome veterinarian who keeps stopping by, Claire must solve crimes the living can’t… and the dead won’t rest until she doesā
Thatās the hook for the book and series and itās a terrific one.
Death Rides The Desert is the first book in The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois, a completed paranormal murder mystery series that I just started reading.
But the story begins as she arrives weeks after the funeral. The ranch should be closed. But thatās not what she finds.
Itās the beginning of huge development in her character as she learns about her aunt, the supernatural beings , ghosts, and strange happenings , that make the ranch and land home. It includes a spiritual fox with one white paw that glows.
I love the cultural elements the author weaves throughout the story and series . Itās in the families and their food and history. Itās in the town and its traditions and tragedies. All conceptually important and beautifully rendered.
The mysteries that stem from the mines, the past territorial disputes, and the townās shady developments that impact the region and its inhabitants are inherently dangerous and real. The reader understands these issues and their significance to the people and their families.
By the end, Claire has become a strong advocate for herself and the people of the town. Sheās got a vision for the ranch. And this series is really ready to launch into remarkable status.
I loved the ghosts, the animals at the ranch, Luis the young ranch hand and TikTok enthusiast, and,, Claire, who absolutely grew on me.
I canāt wait for the next book to see what the ranch has become!
If you enjoy murder mysteries with a supernatural or paranormal aspect, this is absolutely charming.
A haunted ranch. A clever fox. Ghosts who won’t shut up.
Claire Caldwell came to Arizona to sell her great auntās ranch, lick her wounds, and escape back to Chicago.
Then the ranch decided it wanted a new owner.
A copper furred fox starts leaving gifts on her doorstep. Translucent cowboys appear in the barn. A woman who died in 1985 cooks tamales in Claireās kitchen like she never left. And somehow, the dead all seem to know one thing Claire does not.
She can see them.
When the most hated man in Perdido Springs turns up dead on Claireās property and the sheriff waves it off as an accident, the ghosts make it clear. Someone in town is lying. Someone is dangerous. And everyone had a reason to want the victim gone.
With a mystical fox at her side, a house full of chatty spirits, and a too handsome veterinarian who keeps showing up just when she needs him, Claire has to solve a murder nobody wants solved.
Before she becomes the next ghost haunting Whispering Saguaro Ranch.
Welcome to the desert, where the dead do not rest and the living keep secrets.
Readers of this series have been waiting on Izzyās story and finally we get it in How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin series Book 6) by G.A. Aiken.
Issabail aka Izzy, adopted daughter of Breic the Mighty and true daughter to his mate Talaith, former assassin, powerful Nolwenn witch, has had a long, dark journey with her mother to get to her current life. The reader has been able to see her mother and Izzy through much of their later dark years until they came back together under Queen Annwyn.
And we watched the drama happen between friends Izzy, dragon cousins Calyn, and Ćibhear become something that ends up tearing apart the friendship and bond between all of them fracturing.
Now 10 years later, Izzy is the terrifying General of the Eighth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-sixth Legions of Annwyl the Bloody’s army. Shes often accompanied by her best friend, Brannie, a Cadwaladr warrior dragon. And Ćibhear the Blue? Heās become Ćibhear the Contemptible, a ruthless vicious fighter, part of the feared Mi-runach, a death squad made up of warriors who were problematic elsewhere.
How to Drive a Dragon Crazy brings Izzy and Ćibhear together again for a mission that dives deep into both Izzy and her motherās past in the Desert Kingdom as well as returning characters, Gaius Lucius Domitus, who is ruling the Quintillian Provinces along with his sister,Lady Agrippina.
The real threat and overall series storyline starts to emerge as new religious zealotry appears. Terrific elements that become even more powerful and threatening as the story continues.
But itās old relationships to be renewed and damage repaired so that as the adults they are now can have a better chance of surviving and being happy.
Itās hilarious, action packed, and as Aiken is so fantastic at, believably layering emotional depths that swings from poignancy to anger to fear and finally to authentic uncertainty. Moments so real that it brings the readers so intimately into these characters journey that we feel everything along with them.
With each story, I always say, this is my favorite, while knowing Iāll feel this way about the next. But I love Izzy. Always have. Branny too.
And seeing her find her own roots. So amazing. Even if the series doesnāt return there, except to smack down Haldane again, this was truly wonderful.
Highly recommended as is the series which should be read in the order it is written.
Sanity is overrated in this ācaptivating, funny, excitingā fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Scarred Earth Saga (Smexy Books).
Some things never go away, like vile enemies, bad ale, and annoying kin. But I thought I was finished with the one dragon Iād have done anything for: Ćibhear the Blue, a big, gorgeous, blue-haired beast who thinks the world belongs to him. The world and, apparently, me.
So if Ćibhear wants to play the caring hero and travel into the most forsaken of Gods forsaken lands to protect the one woman who doesnāt need itānamely meāIāll let him. Because while Iām trying to fulfill a ridiculous
Have you ever read a book and been absolutely irritated by an authorās decision to make their main character an absolute idiot? Mostly because of the time that you spent trying to make sense of the narrative and that character before giving up?
No it wasnāt a comedy. It was a science fiction story. With a romantic plot included.
A story made up of cardboard characters, a MFC whoās so poorly written that I found her not just ludicrously incompetent but whose actions just compromised what her characterās ability, history, and experience says she was.
Plus a MMC so largely physically cartoonish that his face has a ābutt chinā (written term in the book) and a smile so white that you might expect that star twinkle when you see that flash of white teeth. Heās made so ābeautifulā that heās all she thinks about, even on a mission with a deadline that is high stakes and deadly to crew on an undercover planet.
Can I say SMH?
This isnāt to say that the book doesnāt have some interesting features or intriguing elements, because it does. Once again thereās a world divided into powerful Families, the top Five, the Ten Families next fighting for their own power and political interests, then the other Twenty families. And so on.
How that works or came about isnāt clear. That they are heavily modified genetically is. Or the most powerful are, and society isnāt a benign place.
Other interesting elements are secondary characters like Etzel, a crew member whoās also a former assassin cult member. More Etzel.
But instead we get a Capt who just acts as though sheās the newbie on the crew and itās her first encounter and mission.
Does she knowingly eat food that she thinks is suspicious when in a hostile environment/encampment? Yes, and is drugged and poisoned. Threatening her crew, mission, and the other person there.
On a hostile planet and mission where they have actively engaged with enemies, has she as the Captain of her ship set adequate measures to protect her ship and crew from attack or invasion? No.
Weāre not even at 50 percent of the story. How does a author present such a totally inadequate main woman character, so amazingly stupid in her choices and decisions, utterly hormonal that she appears to be thinking with her uterus 90 percent of the time, and with the tendency to flare up in anger like a toddler that I had to double check that a woman actually wrote this. Even a teenager is more credible these days.
This is a book where I felt myself losing brain cells the further I read. Passage after passage of just events that made my mind hurt. Dialogue that considering the status of their respective missions, the situations that they had maneuvered themselves into (honestly ,you rescued someone who didnāt want to be rescued and then donāt secure them? SMH), endlessly discussing things that have no relevance to the dire situation the crew and danger they are in.
Others were rating this story highly. I donāt understand why. Nothing made sense to me about it. Not the plot or characters.
No Iām not reading the sequel.
If you are interested, read it. Tell me your thoughts.
The captain of a ragtag mercenary ship is given an offer she can’t refuse by the ruthless head of an intergalactic noble family. The only catch? She’ll have to team up with his son–an upsettingly competent hardbody with his own agenda–to get her reward.
Sheās got a ramshackle spaceship, a misfit crew, and a big problem with its sexy newest memberā¦
Temperance Reed, banished from the wealthy and dangerous Fifteen Families, just wants to keep her crew together after their feckless captain ran off with the intern. But sheās drowning in debt and revolutionary new engine technology is about to make her beloved ship obsolete.
Enter Arcadio Escajeda. Second child of the terrifying Escajeda Family, heās the thorn in Temperās side as theyāre sent off on a scouting mission on the backwater desert planet of Herschel 2. They throw sparks every time they meet but Temperās suspicions of his ulterior motives only serve to fuel the flames between them.
Despite volcanic eruptions, secret cultists, and deadly galactic fighters, the greatest threat on this mission may be to Temperās heart.
This is a side story in the terrific urban fantasy Witchwolf series written by co-authors Burns and Fawkes. That series is currently awaiting its next release of its second book but in the meantime, the authors have published a side story in the same universe that they wrote on the authors’ Patreon page.
I enjoyed reading it. The characters are engaging, especially the cat shifter Landon Smith, whoās a far more fully developed personality than the other main character Dean St. James.
Deanās a big cat shifter but the story has the potential of becoming a much better version of itself. The entire tale has the feel of an almost completed outline of a novel than a finished story. One half of the couple, Landon, is more multi dimensional, given a better storyline and execution of his character and situation, while Deanās character sits needing more heft. In his history, shifter foundation, and, even tragic past romance. We really donāt feel even remotely close to him and those events. But we do with the fantastic cat shifter, Landon. We love his new crew, his bravery in relocating away from everyone he knew and family, just everything about him. Heās a fully fledged amazing personality. Heās the one we relate to.
It also took me a while to remember how this was connected to Witchwolf. The company and the pack. I wish the authors had brought that element of the series stronger into play here.
As a standalone, thereās absolutely no world building. Within an established universe but with a minimum connection, itās a good story with some terrific characters with great potential.
Read it for yourself and hope, like I did, that I will see Landon popping up again later on in this series. Heās a joy.
But a new coworker introduces him to a whole new circle of people, including the alluring Dean St. James. The lyrics Dean writes speak directly to Landonās heart, but Landonās not ready to jump into another relationship, and Dean brings his own baggage to the table.
A brutal illness stole Deanās childhood sweetheart, and with the walls he put up to survive, heās not sure heāll ever love again. But a fresh project sparks Landonās lost passion and opens a door to a future Dean turned his back on.
Their unexpected collab has the highest stakes of all: the last hope of healing two broken hearts.
This novella is set in the same world as Witchwolf, but features different characters and can be read as a standalone. It was originally published on the authors’ Patreon page.
How to Reap a Soul (And Fail Miserably) is the first book in the urban fantasy series, Soul Management Bureau by April Kelley.
Itās a fated mate romance between reaper and their soul mates, so itās instant love/instant sex romance with a plot thatās not always easy to follow because Kelley is trying hard to lay down all her histories and plotting for multiple characters, not just the main couple, and her world building into one story.
And itās not always effective because someone gets lost in the narrative. Some connection between her characters, some chemistry is left behind in the rush to get it all accomplished.
Itās interesting but Iām not sure Iām really engaged with this world or characters.
Try it out and see for yourself if Grym and Elliot Coyne work together for you.
Cover artist: Miblart
Soul Management Bureau
How to Reap a Soul and Fail Miserably #1
How to Reap a Soul (And Lose an Assistant) #2 – Dec 29,2026
Love was never on my to-do list, but now that I have it, Iāll let the world burn before I let anything happen to him.
Grym
Iāve reaped souls for three hundred years without a single mistake. Until Elliot Coyne. Iām supposed to ferry him into the afterlife, not bring him back to life and turn him immortal.
Now HR is threatening me, the world is acting like it might explode, and my reaper brothers are stress-snacking like itās Armageddon.
Even worse? My soul insists Elliot is my beloved. Reapers arenāt supposed to have those. Are they? Regardless, itās wildly inconvenient.
Elliot So I die, wake up immortal and able to walk between realms, not that I know what those actually are.
The guy responsible is an annoyingly hot reaper who apparently broke the universe just to keep me breathing.
Weāre suddenly stuck together, hunted by his supernatural bosses, and if we fall for each other it might tear reality apart.
Love isnāt supposed to end the world. Yet here we are.
This book was a recommendation so I picked it up to see what I would find. A Dragon Inside is a sweet, unsurprising fantasy novel that includes dragons, dragon riders, princesses and kingdoms in peril. But adds little to the already overwhelming world of books written about this genre.
Itās the first book in a series but wrapped up the first storyline and romance pretty well by the end of the novel. King realizes he has traitor close to him, his sister, the princess helps save the day, by rescuing the dragonrider. Who ends up with the princess.
King also looks to have a HEA too.
Thereās a weird magic aspect that unexpectedly occurs towards the end that doesnāt make sense and has no foundation whatsoever laid out for it.
Perhaps itās coming in the future books.
Some readers might excuse this by saying that the story is meant for YA but all writing, no matter what age the author is aiming for, should have depth in the characters, layers to the world building and intricacies of plot. None of which happens here.
The characters should be entirely believable or engaging enough for the reader to invest their time and emotions.
For me, I thought this was just a simple, sweet, and uncomplicated plot that didnāt ask much of the reader.
If thatās something that youāre looking for, hereās a book and series for you.
This author imo does not compare with KM Shea who was mentioned in the description. Not even close.
Cover art is by Turtle Trails Publishing. Interior art (part two) is by Legowo P. Interior art (after Chapter 31) is by Sidney Brady.
She is a princess. He is chained in the dungeon. They don’t trust each other, but they are Solvar’s only hope for escaping war.
Ellie
When I discovered that my brother imprisoned a dragon rider, I plunged head-first into a whirlwind of political drama, mysterious history, magic, and an alluring prisoner.
Now the secrets I uncovered keep growing deeper. I wanted to save my people from war, but that was only the beginning. My brother and our inheritance complicated everything, and I must find new ways to deal with rebellions, assassinations, and an attraction to an impossible prisoner.
Deryk
I expected to die, but everything changed when the fearless princess swept into my prison cell. Now I must choose between loyalty to my family and dragon or a dangerous trust to an unnerving princess.
Itās been a while since I read this series by G. A. Aiken aka Shelly Laurenston, a favorite author of mine, and I havenāt a clue why itās been so long. Maybe because I was binging the other series (Honey badgers) of hers and my book budget was just getting out of hand but anyway Iām back and thrilled to be here.
Once youāve immersed yourself in the world of the Dragon Kin, itās easy to slip right back into it. But you need to have read all the previous books first because none of these are standalone stories and build upon each other.
Rhona the Fearless, a great character among many strong women or female characters. In this case a dragon warrior who has been not only the one who has been the caretaker of her siblings, raising them in their warrior motherās absence but a renowned warrior herself, who left her real passion behind for duty and family.
I love her. Sheās a tremendous character and all her relationships are grounded in family and friendships, deeply rooted connections that the reader feels are vital to her and the story.
Vigholf the Abhorrent (I really love their names) turns out to be an interesting and unique match for her. One of the Northlands dragons, a Lightning, heās from the group weāve known before. They are a rough, tough lot thatās already connected to Queen Annwyn. And with each new story, we get intriguing new additions to the growing fabric of dragons and magical humans that is the Dragon Kin overall series arc mystery.
The two together, as they adventured off on their mission, was a great dynamic. It introduces more of Rhonaās family history and actual current situation. Her dad, the lava dragon blacksmith, the triplets who are amazing in their own ways, it just came together in a very satisfying highly emotional fantasy tale.
And sets up the next one nicely.
Highly recommend reading this entire series. Binge it if you can.
āThereās never a dull moment with these dragons. Fighting! Mayhem! Danger! . . . a fun readā from the New York Times bestselling author (Vampire Book Club).
I was raised for battle. And as the first daughter of a warrior family, Iāve earned my reputation the hard way. Yet now I fight alongside uncivilized male Northland dragons who think a female is only good for breeding and waiting back home in the cave. But itās the foolish and foolhardy who would try to stop me, Rhona the Fearless, from doing what I do bestādestroying the enemies of my kind.
So the smartest thing wily barbarian Vigholf the Abhorrent can do for me is stay out of my way as we risk all on a deadly mission in enemy territory. I donāt care if heās fascinated by me, even though he is as attractive as he is resourceful. Heās having far too much fun putting me in difficult situations and testing my sense of duty to the limit. And Iām going to enjoy challenging his insufferable confidence, outwitting his schemes, and making him surrender in the wildest ways . . .
Praise for the Dragon Kin Series
āAikenās patented mix of bloodthirsty action, crazy scenarios and hilarious dialogue have made this series a truly unique pleasure.āāRT Book Reviews (4Ā½ Stars)
āA chest thumping, mead-hall rocking, enemy slaying brawl of a good book.āāAll Things Urban Fantasy
Rating: 3.5š
This was a very hard book for me to rate because while I really delighted in this authorās world building and the diversity of the otherworldly creatures and elements of the story, the characters were the issues here.
One, Cinnamon āCinnā Saunders is a character who shows depths of personality and layers related to his background as the story develops. Cinnamon, definitely a doormat/enabler to a seriously addicted friend, is constantly surrendering his own future and safety to saving him again and again. How you view the authorās writing a character purposely so obtuse about another personās character will determine whether you connect with Cinn. Because heās constantly forgiving people for their awful actions against him.
That goes for the other main character, Julien, a son of a wealthy French businessman , who is now part of the hidden government institution in Switzerland that houses and teaches those with special magical abilities, āthe moteblessedā. Julien is the most problematic of characters for me. While both have tragic histories, the author uses Julienās to excuse selfish, egocentric, and frankly, oafish behavior. He has a goal that his other two friends, Elliot and Darcy, are aware of and are helping him to achieve. But itās extremely dangerous and potentially fatal.
How he achieves it, who he uses, even though his friends warn him against certain actions, doesnāt matter or matter much. Thatās a common refrain with Julien. He does what he wants. Others warn him of potential consequences. He thinks about it and does it anyway. And heās forgiven over and over. Because he has charisma. And a sad background.
Yet heās supposed to be a fantastic relatable main character and not a person with flags stuck all over his storyline. SMH
What is fantastic here is the system of magic, that āother dark world ā thatās so eerily similar to theirs but not. The fractured moon that hangs above a 1995 London writhing with sentient beings so dark and mysterious, and horrifying. The motes, another intriguing creation, makes this book. Sentient? Just donāt know.
If I continue with the duology, it will be due to the magical realm and the dark realm that pulls me forward. Not the human characters. So probably not.
Book cover design by @the.ravens.touch with artwork by Olga Panfilova
An action-packed MM romance duology featuring magic, mayhem, and two broken boys finding love.
Cinnamon āCinnā Saunders thought heād learnt to control his little ghost problem.
That is, until the moment he brings back a malevolent spirit from the shadowrealm, and quickly finds himself unjustly arrested for the murder of four people.
After breaking free of foster care and a stint in juvie, all Cinn wanted to do was keep his head down and work his way up to become a professional chef. Now heās forced to make a choice: life in jail, or allow a stranger to whisk him away to a mysterious institute in rural Switzerland with the promise of learning how to control his terrifying supernatural abilities.
Julien, the French charismatic charmer who is charged with warding over Cinn, also has a problem: the murder of his sister is still unsolved.
He needs help. Help that only Cinn can provide. Heāll do anything to get it, including making Cinn an offer that he canāt refuse. What Julien doesn’t expect out of the bargain is their undeniable connection, which only serves to complicate matters as they navigate uncharted territories together.
Between battling an uprising of deadly creatures that not only threaten the moteblessed community, but the entire planet, and fighting their ever-growing attraction, can this opposites-attract pair overcome their demons to save the world, and each other?
The Shadows Beyond is part 1 of an MM urban fantasy romance duology, and contains explicit content. Full content warnings can be found within the book and on the authorās website. The overarching plot continues into book 2, with the end of book 1 offering a āhappy-for-nowā for the main characters.
A Broken Blade, the first book in the completed The Halfling Saga by Melissa Blair, an indigenous writer from Canada, is a fascinating read.
Itās Blairās first published novel and itās a dark fantasy that features a bisexual woman protagonist, a Halfing, whoās as layered and realistic as I have read recently.
Starting from the very first paragraph, the reader is drawn into a dark narrative because Keera, the Kingās Blade or assassin is also a drunk who is losing her edge.
Sheās become a guilt ridden alcoholic, all the deaths of innocents sheās taken on the Kingās orders, most her own people, Halflings who only wanted freedom from slavery haunting her in a very specific way. Sheās self harming, a cutter.
Sheās also in charge of the Shades, a group of assassins of Halfling women, stolen as children and raised to become the monsters they are.
In a dying fantasy world of humans who hate the Fae and Halfings (those who have Fae blood), all of the Halfings physically are owned by the King.
Blair creates a realistic world where the poor are starving, lining the streets with their corpses while the King and his sadistic son live extremely well, shored up by his powerful assassins.
Until an enemy known as the Shadow strikes against the King, and he sends his Blade to find him.
This is a enemy to lovers dark fantasy with the main character having a strong tragic sapphic romantic backstory. The main male character isnāt as well written as she is, and that impacts their dynamics. Heās always a lesser character and while heās still a good one, this aspect of the story reduces the power of the relationship.
I found Keera a trapped and emotionally haunted character. Sheās constantly trying to escape her surroundings only to find that those around her havenāt been truthful.
Whether you as a reader find that is a betrayal to her or not is up to you.
Who and what she actually is remains part of the series mystery. It seems that it isnāt really revealed until the end.
As the series is finished, I did skim over the descriptions of the next stories (I know, bad me), and Keeraās journey is anguished, filled with deep tragedy, and relapse. Some people werenāt happy with the ending.
Was it dark? That would make sense because Keera actually said she should pay for the deaths of the innocent victims.
I donāt know. But as tough a read as this might be, Iāll probably continue reading. The main character is real and damaged by her choices. Iāll see her out.
Is this a series for you? Thereās trigger warnings plenty. SA, torture, self harm, violence, alcohol abuse, and other issues. So only you can make the decision.
Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the kingās favored assassin. When a mysterious figure moves against the Crown, Keera is called upon to hunt down the so-called Shadow. She tracks her target into the magical lands of the Fae, but Faeland is not what it seems . . . and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she learns, and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is: the King that destroyed her people or the Shadow that threatens the peace?
As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago, one that will test her in every way. To keep her word, Keera must not only save herself, but an entire kingdom.
Fans of fast-paced high fantasy such as A Court of Thorns and Roses series, The Inadequate Heir, and From Blood and Ash author Jennifer L. Armentrout, will enjoy the fierce female characters, sapphic representation, and fantasy romance of A Broken Blade.
This is the second series Iāve read by Jessie Mihalik and I find Iām actually enjoying it better. The world building is excellent and well laid out, itās less Regency in space and more galactic exploration/ based, which suits me.
And while the āalien race ā isnāt all that alien, Mihalik has given a ātheoryā thatās accepted for the similarity of physicality of species.
This series takes place after a horrific galactic war between two species, humans and Valoffs. The main characters, Captain Octavia āTavy ā Zarola, Eli, and Kee are all thatās left of their special military team , now living aboard their spaceship.
As veterans, each carrying their own nightmares, PTSD, from the war, the characters are engaging and relatable as a found family unit. Especially with their burbu, the animal they rescued while deployed.
When their former enemy comes in need of their assistance for a mission, old memories return as well as new relationships that are forged.
The Valoffs arenāt as strong an element as a whole. We donāt get a cultural or historical background on them, so as a people they are hard to grasp. Individually, they are characters that grow as events happen and relationships develop.
The stories are strong, the characters greatly expand into new areas of growth and itās a fast paced series thatās entertaining and romantically a little spicy.
Tavy and Torranās story is filled with adventures and battles and great moments. I love it.
Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew togetherāeven if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire
someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she canāt refuseāno matter how much sheād like to.
With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttonsāfor both anger and desireāsheās endured worse, and the massive bonus payment heās promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.
But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knifeās edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lieāwith the quiet Valoff whoās been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, sheās put her heart on the line.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 