Review: Magic Burning (Carnival of Mysteries story) by Kaje Harper

Rating: 5🌈

Magic Burning is a perfect example of why I find these types of series so exciting. Kaje Harper’s story incorporates the central theme of a mysterious otherworldly carnival smoothly into her multi-layered narrative. The author weaves the Carnival of Mysteries seamlessly within the novel’s important topics of late coming out, parallel existing worlds, magical governments with its own governing bodies and laws, dysfunctional families, found families, and fighting for love once found.

And did I even mention fires and the firefighters?

Harper has so many elements here and uses them superbly. Some in combination and some are addressed individually.

The magical aspect, which has so many of its own unique features, is centered around the character of Alan Hiranchai. He’s gay, Thai-American , fourth grade teacher, and an unregistered sorcerer. That last bit plays into the magical universe that’s a part of a previous series of Harper’s and it’s folded into the world building here. One where sorcery has always been a part of human history, it’s use both for good and evil purposes leading to wars and political instability. Now unbeknownst to humans, the magical realm has made new rules and withdrawn, making magic users seem useless to the human world.

This is a beautifully crafted aspect of the story and deeply rooted for Alan as far as his history and his personal abilities. And it will play out into how his relationship with firefighter might be affected.

Jason, the human firefighter, is another fantastic character. A solid dependable person, leader of his team, but one struggling with his own sexuality. He’s afraid to admit he’s gay to his large conservative family which includes his firefighter family as well. His strengths as a firefighter are believable, the bonds formed between the group realistic. And the pain of his coming out to his family is heartbreaking.

Apart and together, Alan and Jason are a formidable team. And I haven’t even addressed Alan’s hilarious familiar, a conure named Sunny. I need more of every one in this book actually.

There’s quite a bit here I haven’t even delved into. Marvelous work of narrative storytelling that brings together side groups of characters you can’t get enough of, and more fascinating interactions from magical beings that begs for more time and tales.

It’s a fantastic story, magnificent characters and a great ending. And it leaves me wanting more.

Magic Burning (Carnival of Mysteries story) by Kaje Harper is a highly recommended book! Grab it up immediately! And prepare yourself for a delightful trip into a magical place!

Love these covers!

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

◦ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr – Aug 2,

◦ Assassin by Accident by E.J.Russell-Aug16

◦ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis – Sept 13

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy Link:

Magic Burning: Carnival of Mysteries

Description:

Alan

I haven’t been out with a guy in the last two years. Partly because I’m a gay elementary-school teacher in a fairly small, conservative town. Partly because I’m a sorcerer, and dating ordinary humans only leads to trouble. Sleeping with one though? That’s doable, so when my birdbrained familiar Sunny lines up a tall, muscular firefighter for me, I’m not going to say no. Just once, though. Maybe twice. I don’t need more trouble in my life.

Jason
I don’t regret moving back to my hometown and my big family. Well, not much. I’m not out to them, and I miss the anonymity of the big city, but I like the local fire house and the slower-paced life. Still, when I see my niece’s teacher, Mr. Hiranchai, in gray sweatpants talking to a mini-parrot on his shoulder, something inside me (or maybe something in front of me) perks up and says “I want that one.” I can’t have an actual boyfriend, but I sure wouldn’t mind getting laid, and Alan’s slim, dark-haired, smart-assed style rings all my bells.

It’s no surprise we turn out to be great together, even if my job and his responsibilities make it hard to find time. It is a surprise when I realize I want more than just an occasional night. But some weird fires out in the brush keep us firefighters hopping, and when this strange carnival comes to town and lands me with a pair of magical doll shoes, life gets truly confusing. There’s more to Alan than he’s telling me, and I’m getting a bad, bad feeling about all this.

Magic Burning is a story in the Necromancer universe, 60 years after Marked by Death, and is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a snarky, matchmaking bird, a lonely young teacher, and a gay firefighter finally coming out to his large family.

Review: Tournament of Losers (Legacy of Charlet Book 1) by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.5🌈

Another great story by Megan Derr. While it’s a bit predictable as far as the outline, it’s in the characters and the journey where the magic happens.

Derr starts with creating a sympathetic main character, Rath. A man literally beaten down by his life’s struggles and the daily catastrophes his drunken father manages to make him responsible for. Rath’s enduring power to survive his own father’s debts as well as provide for his mother put us automatically on his side. Then, the more we become acquainted with Rath, the deeper we dive into his empathy for others and his ability to understand the conditions of those around him. Derr has written us a beautifully human reluctant hero of the common folk.

Combined with a delightful romp with a high borne noble of mysterious lineage and a sudden need for money, Derr sets up her hero for a first class adventure.

It’s called the Tournament of Charlet but sense everyone figures it’s rigged it’s nickname is the Tournament of Losers for all the naive people who enter thinking they will win and marry into royalty and wealth.

As I said, it’s the journey Derr sets Rath out on after he enters the Tournament needing the money to settle debts. Nothing goes as planned and we love it and him that way.

The supporting characters are equally strong and one will find his way into his own book.

I throughly enjoyed this. Derr is a must read for me. And I’m happily waiting for the next to be released.

Meanwhile, if you are a fantasy lover and a Derr fan, grab this one up! Highly recommended.

Legacy of Charlet:

✓ Tournament of Losers #1

◦ Quest of Fools #2 – July 21,2023

Buy Link:

Tournament of Losers (Legacy of Charlet)

Description:

All Rath wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Unfortunately, his father brings him too much trouble—and too many debts to pay—for that to ever be possible. When the local crime lord drags Rath out of bed and tells him he has three days to pay his father’s latest debt, Rath doesn’t know what to do. There’s no way to come up with so much money in so little time.Then a friend poses an idea just ridiculous enough to work: enter the Tournament of Losers, where every seventy-five years, peasants compete for the chance to marry into the noble and royal houses. All competitors are given a stipend to live on for the duration of the tournament—funds enough to cover his father’s debt.All he has to do is win the first few rounds, collect his stipend, and then it’s back to trying to live a quiet life…

Rathatayen Jakobson, thirty-three, Robert’s sausage shop.””

— Tournament of Losers (Legacy of Charlet Book 1) by Megan Derr

Review: Step Right Up (Carnival of Mysteries) by L.A. Witt

Rating: 3.25🌈

Step Right Up by L. A. Witt is the second offering in the multi-author series, Carnival of Mysteries. The Carnival, a great mysterious place where nothing and no one is exactly what they seem, is a fabulous central theme for all authors to launch their own adventures from.

I wish I could say I liked the story better but, while there’s some interesting things about the Carnival scene here, there’s also some really muddy narrative waters flowing through the story.

Witt chooses a circle of nurses that work in a family practice , each close friends with their own Issues to draw from. This includes her main characters, Jason Richards and his friend (and longtime crush), Ahmed Kazimi.

So let’s just go ahead with everything together. Spoilers ahead :

Domestic Abuse:

Ahmed is in a long time relationship with an abusive boyfriend. One that won’t let him go anywhere without him or Ahmed can’t/won’t show up to the event. His friends are aware of it and say nothing. They all work in the clinic or practice that advises ppl about domestic violence issues. So they observe the signs, see the situation.

-Ahmed’s partner who, while not physically abusive, checks all the boxes for a domestic abuse case.

-However, the book/author’s through a discussion between the mc’s almost makes it sound as though the victim manipulates it that way in order for him to be with Jason.

The way the relationship is described, it seems as though Witt can’t decide whether to commit totally to a DA storyline or a lesser just a bad relationship that’s run its course.

“I think that’s basically what I did with Mark, even if I wasn’t thinking about it consciously. I didn’t know how to leave so we could have a clean break, so I just… stopped being the person he wanted to be with until he finally left.” Ahmed wrinkled his nose.”

This after his friend and colleague has reminded him he was a victim of DA even if it wasn’t physical. It’s as though the author can’t decide what the character is going through and waffles on the relationship itself.

For such a serious issue, it should be clearly defined and treated as such.

The Carnival itself:

There’s some really interesting ideas here. A game where the fish choose who they want to go home with. Ok loved that one. And the two most important features. A button game and a caricaturist. Oddly the author showcases both but narratively says one is clearly the one responsible for the romantic outcome than the other. But it doesn’t read that way.

🔷Caricatures: The caricaturist is a main element here. The artist somehow manages to capture the inner soul of the person in the portrait, whether it’s a happy one or not. These various images lead to the revelations that will be relationship saving. Or changing. Over and over it’s these paintings that make people think and then act .

🔹Lucas and Tina: caricature subheading. Not the way to deal with alcoholism. But again a clever way to show someone who has issues they are hiding.

But it’s not the main magical element. It is actually. But it’s not the one the Witt writes as “this is THE One “. SMH.

🔷The Button Game: The author’s One. this is the aspect where the small picture is won. No one understands what it’s about only you can’t destroy the painting. Like a Chucky doll it just keeps coming back. What does it do except spin bad luck? Idk. Muddy unexplained portion of the story. The woooo woooo one. Only the caricatures are so much better and makes sense.

🔷The Love Potion: Red Herring. Just thrown in there. Never explained. Does nothing.

Lack of world building. Ahmed’s background is briefly mentioned. And all that does is make a reader think of more questions. He’s out and gay in the Midwest with that background? And it’s reduced to a sentence?

“He’d mentioned at some point that his dad was Iranian and his mom was Syrian, and he had a photo of them on his desk.”

That’s indicative of the choices made here. Odd. As I said, there’s some interesting things running around in this story. But unfortunately, it’s a couple of the main points that’s dragging it all down.

Read this because you’re a fan of Witt or because you’re wanting to complete the series.

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

◦ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper July 26

◦ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr – Aug 2,

◦ Assassin by Accident by E.J.Russell-Aug16

◦ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis – Sept 13

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy Link:

Step Right Up: Carnival of Mysteries

Description:

Jason Richards is ridiculously in love with his friend and coworker, Ahmed Kazimi. Unfortunately, Ahmed is a package deal—he has a boyfriend who, as far as Jason is concerned, needs to be launched into the sun.

Then a mysterious carnival rolls into town, and Jason and Ahmed can’t resist going. Not even if Ahmed’s boyfriend can be depended on to make everybody miserable.

When Ahmed wins a strange prize from an even stranger carnival game, weird things start happening. First, a mishap with a friend’s newly purchased love potion. Then a cascade of steadily worsening bad luck starts to rain down on every corner of Ahmed’s life. Though he doesn’t believe in the paranormal, he can’t help but wonder if his prize is cursed. Just to be safe, he throws it away.

But it comes back. And it keeps coming back.

Upon learning about the prize that won’t go away, Jason suggests the only solution he can think of: return it to the place it came from.

Now Ahmed and Jason are on a mission to get rid of the cursed prize… assuming they can find that game again.

Step Right Up is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains some long overdue friends to lovers, a strangely insightful caricaturist, and a little magical realism.

Review: Taken Under Fire (Paranormal Investigative Service Book 3) by Cassidy K. O’Connor and Sheri Lyn

Rating: 4🌈

It’s been 6 months since I read Stitched Under Fire, the 2nd book in this series, so it took me awhile to remember what had happened to the characters and were we were in the various investigations.

Turns out Taken Under Fire it’s a very politically and racially charged atmosphere where xenophobia is ramping up, fueled by the revelations that the paranormal body parts could heal humans. Black market for paranormal body parts is off the charts.

Agents Maddox and Tristan have settled into a happy relationship, both personally and professionally. Tristan is still exploring his new, rare shifter identity as a Phoenix paranormal because no one is exactly sure what that means, and the P.I.S. (Paranormal Investigations Service) and the Police Department are coming together to try and figure out why their missing persons cases are overlapping.

The authors have so many storylines threading through their series and the above details don’t even include the personal aspects of Maddox’s and Tristan’s lives. Those are woven into the story too and will, obviously, have enormous impact on the main plot and main characters as the investigations and revelations continue.

And yes, there’s some whoppers as far as both shocking revelations and heart wrenching drama collide here at the end.

I love the universe that O’Connor and Lyn have created here that feels so very current and still so unearthly at the same time. Racism, or any ism appears , historically to have no ending time frame. That Xenophobia might be universal is an idea the authors are working with effectively, but also building in a horrific mystery/conspiracy that will continue forward into the next book.

It’s laid alongside the romance relationship of Tristan and Maddox, which takes a traumatic hit.

My issues with the story are that it’s so packed with drama and plot lines that the ending just stops. It doesn’t try to tie up anything but sets a path for the characters to move to the next stage in the investigations. Investigations that are getting murkier, higher up, and with greater danger for everyone involved.

So if that’s the sort of finish that leaves a reader a little frustrated, especially with no new book in sight, then perhaps you might want to consider waiting until the series is complete and binge reading it at that time.

This is a jam packed terrific paranormal thriller but it’s hard to consider it totally satisfying because of the ending. Love the characters, the shocking twists and emotional scenes. But it wasn’t enough. Close but no.

So I’ll wait for the next one to be released. And ponder my own reading decisions.

I love the series and will recommend it. You decide how to read it.

Paranormal Investigative Service:

✓ Faeted Under Fire #1

✓ Stitched Under Fire #2

✓ Taken Under Fire #3

Buy Link:

Taken Under Fire (Paranormal Investigative Service Book 3)

In a city divided, Agents Maddox and Tristan must protect the paranormal, unearth the truth, and prevent darkness from claiming all.

In the aftermath of the devastating destruction that befell the city six months ago, an ominous shroud now looms over them. Paranormals are vanishing at an alarming rate. As fear and suspicion cloud the minds of the city’s inhabitants, calls for drastic measures grow louder, igniting tensions between supernatural beings and humanity.

Maddox and Tristan receive a mysterious visitor who unveils a hidden truth: the supernatural realm they were told had been obliterated is not only intact but still has people living there. As the agents delve deeper into the enigma, they find themselves being threatened by an unknown opponent.

With the city teetering on the brink of an all-out war, the agents must act swiftly. They form an unprecedented alliance, uniting humans and paranormals in a new task force, breaking barriers that were once thought insurmountable.

Can they untangle the web of deception and find the missing paranormals before it’s too late? Only time will tell if their

courage and resilience will be enough to save the city and prevent a catastrophe that could alter the fate of both realms forever.

Books in the series:

Faeted Under Fire

Stitched Under Fire

Taken Under Fire

Review: Dominion : The Triad Series: Book Three by Cari Z

Rating: 4.5🌈

With Endurance, Cari Z’s Trilogy, The Triad, comes to an end. Maybe.

I say that, because it sounds as though from the author’s notes towards the end as though she’s not yet ready to say goodbye to these characters and this universe. That must have been weighing on her mind as she wrote this because it doesn’t exactly feel like a series finale to me.

A series finale is held to another higher standard than any other book in a series. It has a certain set of expectations to meet before the author can call a series wrapped up. The majority of plot lines should be tied up, no humongous storylines left dangling, no major or significant cast members left behind or their own stories left unfinished.

While the main characters should be happy with their own romance, the main issues should have narratively been laid out and carried forward in such a manner that the reader feels that everything, the other events in the other stories, were worth waiting for.

Did that happen here? I don’t think so. Dominion is a really good third story in a series, but it’s not a great series finale.

Cari Z does some wonderful stuff here starting with keeping the three person separate format she began in Endurance. It really let the reader into the mindset of each individual of this polyamorous relationship. We got to know and connect with each of them in depth. That becomes especially important here as the author sends each man off in a different direction and with huge implications for their relationship and stresses that they must deal with.

That’s aspect of this book is both a weakness and an interesting way of moving the arc forward. Before, the three way break in the book let us into the way each man starts to accept each other’s place in their lives. We watched , each figuring out their strengths and weaknesses, especially when there’s magic, shifters, political plotting, and a long term relationship that’s having to shift to accommodate a new partner and commitment.

Now just as Symon, Petur, and Deyvid have found a deep connection and relationship, they are pulled into different directions by family responsibilities and dire kingdom needs. Part of the joy was watching each become a part of the new family , revealing their true selves and growth.

Especially Symon whose magical abilities are apparently surpassed by almost none. That’s a storyline that gets lost here. Sy can do some amazing things, and the reader “hears” third hand about the magic he’s creating in a few sentences in events mentioned towards the end. That’s an issue seen here regularly.

Cari Z has set herself such a huge goal narratively for themes and plots to tie up that even with this file/page size, there’s no room for everything to be finalized.

So there’s a fair amount of battles that happen offscreen, important elements that should have been handled (the entire aspect of Deyvid’s journey afterwards , no mention of what happens to Deyvid’s father), Symon’s ex’s disappearance , etc. That’s pushed aside or just ignored in favor of getting the men back together.

Did I feel shortchanged in that area? Yes. I won’t go into details but for me it didn’t hold the emotional payoff it should have because of one element that was absent. I understand why the author chose to go in this direction but it negates some of the points made previously with this polyamorous family.

I did love Symon, the entire section with his father and dealing with the events at that castle. So beautifully written and it captures the essence of their father/son dynamic and love for each other perfectly. The same for Alie and Deyvid. Only Petur and his dysfunctional royal family is left behind here in terms of the emotional heft.

So Dominion has :

✓ A great 3-character format

✓ A three-character different location format that works in depth for two of them

✓ Multiple storylines that are only loosely finalized

✓ Missed opportunities to push and further character development (Symon’s magical abilities) and relationship dynamics between the three men.

✓ Some secondary plot points endings ignored, which bothers me even now.

✓ Disappearing character (Symon’s ex and best friend)

✓ A author who admits she’s not ready to let this universe go.

So enjoyed Dominion as a story. Not so much as a finale. I would definitely love seeing it continue as it feels unfinished with warring clans and plotting within Petur’s family clearly an issue.

Endurance was the outstanding novel of the trilogy. But the three books are remarkable and I highly recommend all three. Read them in order they are written to understand the events and relationships.

Triad Series:

✓ Alliance #1

✓ Endurance #2❤️

✓ Dominion #3

Buy link:

Dominion: The Triad Series: Book Three

Description:

Three parted lover who can only reunite once the war is won…or lose all hope of a future together.

Symon, Petur, and Deyvid have been torn apart, running in different directions as they work to prevent all-out war. Symon returns home to Bekkon only to find himself thrust into the role of king—whether he wants it or not.

With Petur hundreds of miles away raising an army of shifters and Deyvid pursuing his runaway daughter to make sure she’s not assassinated the moment she crosses the border, Symon must put his magic and his life on the line to keep the Harriers from overrunning his kingdom.

Petur and Deyvid are racing against time to come to his aid…but new enemies lurk around every corner. Before they can save Symon, they’re going to need to save themselves.

Dominion is a polyamorous M/M/M fantasy with enemies to lovers, graphic violence, snarky humor, and explicit sexual content.

Review: Fool Me Twice (Court of Pain Book 2) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Well, that was brutal. And ultimately satisfying.

It’s been a while, from the beginning of the year, since the first book of this two story series was released . So it took me a while to mentally catch up on the events that Fool Me Twice opens up on.

That the cliffhanger that Fool Me Once ends on and this novel opens up with. Our three characters , Lark, Arin, and Draven, fighting for their lives in a sandstorm.

But first a note about the triggers and the fact this is dark, dark, fiction. The author states that the reader should go to her website for all warnings pertaining to the subject and books but there’s only one for the first book and imo, the second warrants far more serious warnings.

From Ariana Nash’s website:

Potentially triggering content for Fool Me Once includes but is not limited to: attempted suicide (main character), incest (non-consensual, off-page, not between main characters), dubious consent (main characters).

Assume triggers are on-page, unless off-page is specified above.

However, in Fool Me Twice , there’s on page rape, rape of a corpse, torture, dismembering, murder . Make no mistake, this is extremely disturbing reading at times.

The person who’s the main villain here is Razak, the head of the Court of Pain. It’s a role he’s embraced, and embedded deeply within himself.

There’s so many storylines to keep track of within this universe. Each court in the Shatterlands have their own internal politics and affairs that are affecting the overall outcome of the game Razak is playing for total domination and the power of a god.

There’s the Court of Love, Justice, War, and Pain. Trying to remember who and what has happened to all the various groups and characters can be narratively burdensome.

But when Nash narrows her story line down to the traumatic events and harrowing relationships between the prince of Pain, physically and emotionally damaged Lark, brother to Razak, Prince Arin of the Court of Love, and Draven, warlord of the Court of War, as they navigate the treacherous landscape of their lives.

This is a story full of people who can’t or won’t communicate, people believing in the power of lies over truth, manipulation over trust, and fear over hope. It’s a compelling, tough and brutal journey Nash takes the reader on, twisting these men’s perceptions of life around. To do this, the author puts them and the reader through some truly dark, horrific situations and terrifying moments, which make such changes believable and raw.

Finally, after a hellish epic climatic battle , are the characters able to say they survived and won out when even they thought everything was over.

Bloody, done in, exhausted, and almost dead.

Oddly satisfying and the reader feels just as exhausted.

Not sure I would want to read it again. But it’s so well written I’m glad I read it once.

Who should I recommend this to? Those that love really dark LGBTQIA fantasy romance. Take those trigger warnings seriously and realize that Fool Me Twice is twice as dark.

If you’re seeking a light fantasy fiction, this isn’t for you.

They must be read in the order that they were written to understand the storylines and character development.

Court of Pain – 2 book series

✓ Fool Me Once #1

✓ Fool Me Twice #2

Buy Link:

Fool Me Twice (Court of Pain Book 2)

Description:

The epic, heart-wrenching conclusion to the Court of Pain duology. Spanning four courts, devious and doomed royals, and the most unlikely of loves between a prince and his fool.

They say in the darkest of times, the brightest star has no choice but to shine.

I’m no star, nor am I a hero. But I could be the villain. To protect Arin from Razak’s scheming, I’ll have to be.

He’s my shaft of sunlight through the storm, my hope in the darkest of times, but Prince Arin is also my weakness. And Razak knows it.

The shatterlands are under threat, the crowns are missing, and as the pieces of Razak’s puzzle begin to fall into place, its picture becomes clear.

It was never about the crowns, or the courts.

It was never about vengeance, or spite.

It was always about love.

And Razak will not stop until he’s destroyed mine, and all the shatterlands with it.

Court of Pain is a dual point of view, dark MM fantasy duology brimming with courtly spice, morally ambiguous characters, and the fool who plays them all.

This is a dark world with potentially distressing content. For more information on content warnings, please visit the author’s website.

Review: Wild Fire (Drake Security #3) by Mika Nix

Rating: 4.75🌈

This series just got immeasurably better. Wild Fire, the third in this series about a clutch of dragonshifter brothers finding their fated mates, is my favorite to date.

It’s not that I find the authors, K.M. Neuhold and Mia Monroe, have just written two really fascinating characters, it’s that I don’t remember reading anything that resembles them in another book before. And that’s even more compelling here.

A dragon who’s uncaring about assembling his own hoard , and thrives in the cities and masses away from the smothering isolation of his brothers. And a wolfshifter who has a compulsion to amass a hoard , who needs his space away from his pack, who’s more interested in his own world than his pack’s. A yin looking for their yang.

This switch in characteristics is unexpected and so narratively rewarding.

It makes for a sensational journey or hunt when both Arson Drake and Draydon start on their remarkable continental quest for art treasures and find themselves falling into a surprising relationship with each other. One that carries definite overtones of Romeo and Juliet, as dragons and wolves are enemies up to this stage.

The two person perspective works so well as Arson and Draydon fight the attraction that pulls them together from country to country, their inner beasts empowering their decisions as well. The authors writing as Nix have given the reader two powerfully defined beings that are unique and unable to stay apart. And are trying to explain to themselves why, and if it even matters anymore.

Anything outside of that narratively has to come across as being less interesting because of how rich and powerful these two are.

The elements with the vampires are necessary for being the tool to bring the Montagues and Capulets together, I mean , dragons and wolves , but it comes across as just that. A narrative tool.

Could have been anything, unless it’s going to be included in another story.

Which is set up here by bringing in a new character and younger brother from another “clutch” who’s in trouble.

Interesting but there’s still a couple of unmatched brothers from the original group needing mates. Guess Lord and Tino will have to wait.

Anyway, Wild Fire (Drake Security #3) by Mika Nix is a sure fire winner. Fabulous characters, marvelously plotted romance, and twisted personality traits I really appreciated.

It helps to read the series in order to understand the characters, the events, and the relationships. Lake especially. He’s so over the top divine!

Highly recommended!❤️

Drake Security:

✓ Hot Head #1

✓ Smoulder #2

✓ Wild Fire #3

Buy Link:

Wild Fire (Drake Security Book 3)

Description:

He’s my nemesis, my rival, and the man I can’t get out of my head. We may be star-crossed but there’s enough heat between us to start a wildfire.

I’ve never been one to follow the rules, but sleeping with a wolf shifter might be over the line, even for me. So, why can’t I get him out of my head? Or his scent out of my nose. Even on the other side of the world, I swear I can still smell him.

Everyone has a hobby, mine just happens to be stealing from the rich and powerful to give back to the rightful owners. A native art exhibit in Sydney is the last place I expected to see Draydon again. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s here for the same reason I am… and here I thought larceny couldn’t get any more fun.

I’m a dragon without a proper hoard and he’s too jaded to even trust his own pack. But we’ve already lit a fire that’s getting out of hand.

Stealing Draydon’s heart might be my most impossible heist yet.

Review: Last But Not Lease (The ABC’s of Spellcraft Book 5) by Jordan Castillo Price

Rating: 3.5🌈

With Uncle Fonzo’s return and an eviction notice on Yuri’s cabin door, things are getting cramped at the Penn house, when Dixon and Yuri move back in.

The extremely tight quarters are exacerbated by Dixon’s sudden arrival and his cousin’s new boyfriend. House hunting is a must.

But as with everything, that’s when things start getting interesting and going awry. Magically.

Price has so much fun with the awful flats and descriptions thereof that Yuri and Dixon visit in hopes of finding their own place. She’s says in her author’s notes they reflect some actual places that she saw or lived in in her life. Oh my!

The hunt for a place bit here got a bit lost in the shuffle of the story. Unusual for the author. It felt a bit muddled instead of a clear picture of magic going wrong.

But it ends well and with the usual path to the next book.

These are such enjoyable books and the couple just continues to grow in their relationship and surrounding family.

I’m recommending this and the series as far as I’ve read. It’s great ride! Binge read for your pleasure!

The ABC’s of Spellcraft series:

✓ Quill Me Now #1

✓ Trouble in Taco Town #2

✓ Something Stinks at the Spa #3

✓ Dead Man’s Quill #4

✓ Last But Not Lease #5

◦ Don’t Rock The Boardwalk #6

◦ What The Frack? #7

◦ Present Tense: A Spellcraft Christmas short #8

◦ Brownie Points #9

◦ Forging Ahead #10

◦ Mayor May Not #11

◦ Bucket List #12

◦ Comic Sans #13

◦ It’s All Relative #14

Buy Link:

Last But Not Lease (The ABCs of Spellcraft Book 5)

Description:

Location, Location, Location!

Yuri knew his idyllic beachfront cabin wouldn’t last forever—but he wasn’t expecting to come home to an eviction notice. And with Uncle Fonzo back in town, Dixon’s attic apartment is getting crowded.

Unfortunately, real estate in Pinyin Bay is surprisingly scarce. Good thing there’s an up-and-coming crowdsourced experience called Hunting Party that really moves the needle on the traditional rental acquisition model.

Okay, it really is as obnoxious as it sounds. But rentals are so few and far between, Dixon and Yuri are willing to give it a shot.

Pitted against a group of apartment hunters, the guys must compete with the other hopefuls to land a new place. It’s clearly all just a cheesy sales ploy, and the apartments they view are real dumps.

And yet…they’re also oddly appealing.

Since all the rentals are in the falling-down neighborhood known as Scrivener Village, it stands to reason Spellcraft is involved. But when exposing the magic could leave Dixon and Yuri without a roof over their heads, can they really afford to be so picky?

The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where MM Romance meets Paranormal Cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you’d expect. The books are best read in order, so be sure to start at the beginning with Quill Me Now.

Review: Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2) by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 4.75🌈

If this wasn’t such an exciting and exceedingly well written story, I’d be taking a smidge of rating points away for sheer frustration with Cody over that ending and the fact it’s probably going to be a while before we get around to finding out what happens next.

Yes, no surprise, it’s cliffhanger time again!

This whole universe is so weird and crazy that I have to look back at my notes to remember how things and Cody’s other books fit in with these stories. It’s like a madhatter’s 10, 000 pieces puzzle but cut out into insane shapes.

Thankfully, Cody gives us a recap why Lex is in a coma but mentally aware as the book opens. I had to dig through my memories about the last book for all the events as they happened, complicated as they were by a immense cast of characters, worlds accessible by portals, gods, dragons, aliens, slavers, you name it. Tied together by murders, mysteries, hellacious plots galore and the agents like Lex that work for The Inter-dimensional Immigration Agency—IDIA, the government agency that enforces the laws that govern non-humans on Earth.

So we pick up after that nasty explosion and the search is still on for Dominus, the being/person behind all the slave trafficking/inter dimensional world kidnappings and plain old horrifically bizarre goings on. His identity is unknown, as is why he’s able to make himself disappear into obscurity without a trace.

Cody has to address the blood hexes that tie a Geminatus to him so they’re unable to return to their homeland, as well as Lex being in thrall to Tor, an agent of the IDIA. A huge element itself.

But the author addresses each subject, separating them so they can have the impact and narrative development they deserve, while simultaneously being a fluid piece of the total story fabric. That’s quite the gift.

Tor and Lex especially, as it’s not just Lex that’s feeling the emotional attachment and passions of the bond between them. It’s the monsters he carries within him. And they have different opinions about Tor and the way he should fit into their lives. What a sexually dynamic and hot area of this book and one that adds to my frustration because the cliffhanger cuts short so much of the relationship follow up here , big stuff that’s waiting to happen.

Same for the Geminatus aspect. The “twin” Geminatus born on Earth get a chance to meet a Geminatus born on the planet, and it’s oddly very different and disturbing for both. This is such a huge element that it’s going to be explored in the second of the Geminatus books in the Hammer and Fist:Geminatus series.

That leaves this story with Lex’s character’s greater expansion into his background, current status, and interpersonal mingling of the beings within himself. It’s also the growth of his and Tor’s own dynamic as they search out what the curse means emotionally.

And finally, it’s the biggest threat and storyline. Who’s Dominus? Where are they? What are their plans and how does Lex stop them?

It’s mind boggling how much is dumped into this book and how well it all fits together.

The ending is shocking. There’s a character death, and then a several consecutive dramatic events that lead to one unbelievable cliffhanger.

Then an author’s note that the next book up is the second in the Geminatus series! Noooooo.

So how one goes about reading a series and they feel about multiple cliffhangers, should let a reader decide what they want to do about reading the series. Read them as then release acknowledging that there will be cliffhangers and a good amount of time between stories or wait and binge.

But one thing is for certain. This is a must read. However it’s resolved, whatever tragedy consequences or happy turns of events, however unlikely, it’s a great convoluted epic tale of worlds, gods, monsters and love.

A fabulous story.

One I’m highly recommending no matter how frustrating that ending still makes me.

Read each series in order. It won’t make any sense if you don’t.

Hammer and Fist Series

✓ Sledge and Claw (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 1)

✓ Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2)

✓ Inferno (Hammer and Fist: Geminatus Book 1)

◦ Gale (Hammer and Fist: Geminatus Book 2) July 2023

Buy Link:

Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2)

Description:

Lex:

Of course waking up from a coma wouldn’t come easy for me; thankfully I have friends willing to fuck me back to life. Once I’m on my feet again, playing catch up on the trafficking case makes me want to eviscerate someone. I hate that I’ve lost precious time hunting down Dominus, but I’m awake now and ready for action.

With weird things happening to the portals, an Ethensian hopping realms when he shouldn’t be able to, and trying to figure out how to end the blood hex I’m under, I feel like I’m drowning in tasks and making no progress. I want to end Dominus and put Knoxville behind me; instead, I get a one-off accidental prophecy taking me straight to a battlefield I didn’t even know existed.

Brick and Brass is a 65k MM Urban Fantasy. This is the second in the series and not a stand alone. Content includes: horror descriptions and gore, public sex and sex magic outside of the romantic subplot.

Review: Cypress Ashes (San Amaro Investigations Book 7) by Kai Butler

Rating: 5+🌈

Well that was as close to absolute perfection as I can remember reading in a series finale, especially one as intense, as incredibly complex as well as mentally challenging at times to read as this one.

I will miss this universe and characters so.

And it starts where Saffron Wilds ends, on that heartbreaker of a cliffhanger (spoiler alert for that novel) with the God Darkness having lodged itself firmly within the body of Nick King , San Amaro police detective/alchemist and now husband of Fae Parker Ferro, the Windrose of the Fae Courts.

But Kai Butler has created over the course of seven books a fascinating, magnificent labyrinthian plot that involves a World Tree with ties to worlds and thousands of realms outside of that of Earth, the Fae Courts and its duplicitous politics that extends beyond into eras long ago and the murderous schemes of the Gods, which can mean the end of everything.

And what Gods and power struggles Butler’s has thrown at us! Most are ones we have some knowledge of, even with the author’s twists and unique perspective on one’s such as the Mother, the Sun, Darkness, the Trickster (my personal favorite), and Santa Muerte, among the main gods.

Cypress Ashes offers up the most imaginatively beautiful to think about scenes and elements, one’s I’m still trying to wrap my mind around. Magical test battles between two great spirits, Reality and Distance, with one a titch drunk on the power being offered up. It’s witches, alchemists, Laurel (if you know you know), Nick, and Parker, trying to figure out a meaningful way to fight the Sun God and what that’s means to everyone’s moral compass and mental health. Huge questions the author is asking on multiple levels.

That’s only a tiny fraction of what this story has to offer up in terms of elaborate narrative design and exciting storytelling.

There’s Sugar, the incubus, Runt, the not cat, Prometheus, the demon not dog, all the great brownies characters from the garden, the blade Tremble that can bring lightning, the Five Dragons, every important element and character, and maybe quite a few that slipped under a reader’s notice from previous books. All have important roles to play here. Some villains even find a surprising redemption.

The power of family and love, whether it’s on a small or infinitely universal and complex scale is also a key here. Where Shannon, Parker’s foster mom is now a God, Mother , to be exact, the nurturing aspect of her being that saved Parker now becomes the element that helps save everything. And Parker’s love for Nick and San Amaro.

There’s so much that Butler pours into this finale , all the narrative threads that needed pulling together, the interwoven storylines of all sizes that we needed to know how they evolved and ended. We got it, as much as we could when gods are involved.

I expect Butler is ready to move on. But I’m not. So I’m diving back in, to experience this again and see what I missed out in the first reading.

What a wild ride, what a magnificent journey this has been! Don’t miss out!

But the books absolutely must be read in order for the characters growth, the revelations, and plot details to make sense. Enjoy the books and the ride! I’m highly recommending the series and this finale!

I’d rate it higher if I could.

San Amara Investigations Series:

◦ A Haunting at Midnight #0.5

◦ A Debt Unpaid #0.75

✓ Wormwood Summer #1

✓ A Belated Burial #1.5

✓ The Oak Wood Throne #2

✓ A Gilded Iron Blade #3

✓ A Shattered Silver Crown #4

✓ The Heart’s Blood Arrow #5

✓ Saffron Wilds #6

✓ Cypress Ashes #7 – series finale

Buy Link :

Cypress Ashes (San Amaro Investigations Book 7)

Description:

Parker Ferro is not okay.

In the heart-pounding conclusion to the San Amaro Investigations series, Parker faces down enemies on all sides, including one within his own family. With his city under lockdown, Parker is fighting for everyone and everything that he cares about.

The fate of the thousand realms rests on his shoulders. What’s a local PI to do?

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