Review: SOS HOTEL: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay by Adam Nex , writing by Ariana Nash

Rating: 4.5🌈

SOS HOTEL has the feel of a terrific serialized fiction story, with a fast paced narrative, a first person point of view, and many, so so many mysteries contained within the storytelling.

In other words, it’s highly entertaining as well as a lively, sexy, mysterious paranormal romp. I really enjoyed it.

Nash, writing as the main character Adam Nex, is having a blast here with all aspects of this story. There’s an underpinning of darkness that makes this interesting and gives the characters and their personalities a needed sharpness. Murder and bloodshed does that.

But then there’s an undeniable quirkiness about so much of this too. Whether it’s the bargain bin AI bartender bought from a shady Fae , the run down, shabby quality of the hotel itself, or any of its denizens, these characters start lightly, humorously weird, and then their personalities gradually change and acquire unexpected depth. Albeit with humor to go with the flashes of dark seriousness.

Then there’s the mysterious main trio of Adam, a person hiding so many secrets, and Zee the succubus ex porn star who’s also a part owner along with Adam of the hotel. Zee has his own secrets and background to be revealed. And there’s Victor, billionaire businessman and vampire who’s strangely interested in Andy and the hotel. Along with the villain of the story.

So much is going on here that it’s a page turner. Be prepared to read until it is finished. And then need more. Honestly, what happened to Clayton?

Moving quickly to book 2, and leaving a definitive , yes, read this, right here.

SOS Hotel:

✓ For a Supernaturally Safe Stay #1

◦ Friendly Sanctuary for the Fiendishly Fabulous #2

◦ Sleep with Us #3 – May 2024

Buy link

SOS HOTEL: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay!

Blurb:

Guaranteed a supernaturally safe stay!

(Definitely no murders)

A scandalous, ex-porn star demon and a morally shady, billionaire vampire walk into a bar…

But this is no joke. It’s opening day at the SOS Hotel, and that lust demon? He’s my business partner. I know. What was I thinking? The sexy, suave vampire however? He’s something else…

Creating a sanctuary for the supernaturals left here when the tear in the veil sealed was always going to be difficult, but it’s all I have, and I’m going to make it work. Despite the murders, the missing humans, and the psychotic real estate mogul who wants to bulldoze the hotel…

The SOS Hotel must thrive whatever the cost. Because if it fails, I’ll lose everything. Including my life.

My name is Adam. I’m just the boring human who works here, and I absolutely, definitely do not have any secrets.

Welcome to the SOS Hotel. What can possibly go wrong?

Warning: SOS Hotel contains explicit language, situations, and content that some readers may find uncomfortable. For full warnings, please see the author’s website or the paperback “look inside sample”

• Publisher: Crazy Ace Publishing (April 19, 2024)

• Publication date: April 19, 2024

• Language: English

• Word Wise: Enabled

• Sticky notes: On Kindle Scribe

• Print length: 174 pages

Review: Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts Book 5 by Michele Notaro

Rating : 5🌈

There’s always so many thoughts and emotions one has when approaching a finale novel in a beloved series. When that series is a dark urban fantasy about a particularly extremely violent, torturous dystopian world, the range of emotions will be deeply varied as the storylines. Especially here where in a world where a different US is at war. A almost recognizable one we’ve seen before where the humans in charge have used other species (or races) shifters and mages, as weapons and tools, things. Those in charge inhumanly categorizing them as objects to be abused, used and discarded as the humans wanted.

Make no mistake, as gorgeously written and powerfully conceived as The Magi Accounts series is, these books are often equally wrenching and disturbing to read. The compounds the magi are bred and raised in like stock animals, as well as the abusive, torturous, often deadly nature of the treatment they were subjected to there, is harrowing reading. And the subject of more than one trigger warning. The same is said about that of the narrative treatment of shifters, although not necessarily in the gore-ridden way.

Through four books, we’ve found all the members of the now combined Ono-Nai tribe, watched them grow, in some cases learning to deal with the pain and abuse that brought them into the tribe, and for others form mate bonds with each other, until this enlarged family has become a greater whole that means something deeply special to us as readers. It’s not just the mage dyads Madeo aka Mads and Jude. Or the main bonded pair of mage Mads and alpha lion shifter Cosmo Ono-Nai. It’s Jude, and his bond mates. And the rest of the tribe, shifters, mages, humans, even pets. All have made an indelible impression and contribution to the heartfelt rightness that has developed into the Ono-Nai diverse family/tribe. One of the unity of the title and one that Mads and his family is striving for their future.

It’s a truly agonizing epic showdown, one that’s been long awaited between Mads and his tribe and the horrific, terrifying Anderson, the Red Cloak witches, with their plan to destroy all the mages and shifters for a human only universe.

Did I end up sobbing buckets of tears? Yes, yes I did. As I expected to. There’s so much going on in the narrative. From beautiful scenes of family life and laughter, to sheer terror and heartbreak, memories of darkness and pain, blood and death, all that has to come , realistically in this world, before even large battles can be won.

Is everything solved at the end? No. But the majority of the problems are resolved in a manner that leaves the characters and readers in a better place . One that makes sense and leaves us with a sense of completion and satisfaction .

Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts Book 5 by Michele Notaro is a fantastic finale and a perfect way to end a magnificent dark urban fantasy.

I highly recommend this series. Read it in the order it’s written and with regard for its trigger warnings.

Just a side note. I wished for more for the Taragorians. Logan had it right. That the rift or a magical aspect of it seemed sentient was fascinating. I wish for more of this place please.

The Magi Accounts:

✓ The Scars That Bind Us #1

✓ The Shackles That Hold Us #2

✓ A Purpose That Restores Us #3

✓ A Ruse To Unchain Us #4

✓ Only Unity Will Spare Us #5 -Series Finale

The Magi Accounts Companion stories:

✓ Our Hearts That Tie Us: The Magi Accounts Prequel

✓ A Kiss To Revive Me: The Magi Accounts 1.5

✓ A Date to Impress Him: The Magi Accounts 2.5

✓ A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

✓ An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magi Accounts 3.5

✓ A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magi Accounts 4.5

Buy Link:

Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts 5

Blurb:

I made a promise to the enemy… and I intended to keep it.

Thank the goddess I have my pride and my wonderful, amazing mate—whose patience matches no other—because the world is in chaos, and Cosmo is my rock, my safe place inside the storm. If only I could find the time between witches, work, politics, and family to prove it to him.

The Shifter and Magi Equality Act is in full effect, supposedly making us equals, but the people themselves—the humans—are still treating us as lesser. Every time I turn around, we’re running into trouble between humans and non-humans.

To make matters worse, witches are everywhere in Fairview City, and the Red Cloth is encouraging humans to join their forces and challenge the equality my people have fought so hard to get.

And now, Anderson is back. Back and gunning for me.

But he doesn’t realize I’m gunning for him, too.

Only Unity Will Spare Us is the fifth and FINAL book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts. It’s recommended to read the series in order because the romance and plot progress throughout the series.

*Intended for adults only. Please read the trigger warnings at the beginning of this novel.

• Publication date: April 19, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 417 pages

Review: His Realm (House of Maedoc Book 3) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3🌈

As much as I’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series, His Realm was just a disconnect for me in many ways. From certain aspects of the character of Jason specifically to moments in the plot that weakens the couple and their dynamic, I just found I had issues here.

Which is a shame because I do enjoy so many of the scenes that the author has created here for the main characters and between others just as important.

House of Maedoc is an entertaining series that, in books one and two, creates a unique world and populates it with dynamic characters. It’s been wonderful to go along with Jason and Varic throughout their journey from their first meeting to their current position in their relationship. It’s been a tumultuous journey with both individuals undergoing major changes in their lives and their personal emotional development.

I’ve loved watching them. Up to now. Because it’s worked til now. Each story has contained huge amounts of dramatic elements and forward momentum in the vampire world and relationships. Even with characters who are not readily likable or beings seen as worthy of emotional connection, like the King himself.

It is Jason who should anchor his own story alongside his Prince, Varic. But Calmes makes some interesting choices for the story and characters that , for me as a reader, dilutes their impact as a strong couple and for their personalities, which spend so much time apart.

Here, Jason’s emotional responses to various highly complex or tragic situations just seem off. These ‘light hearted’ sort of particular personality traits are ones we’ve seen before in other Mary Calmes characters. But usually they were contemporary characters and the events that caused some of the same reactions were less likely to be as violent or extreme as the events that occurred here.

A grin or teasing comment from Jason when one would necessarily or reasonably expect a serious, thoughtful response to a question or situation where it’s been a an ongoing tragedy or people have lost their lives or subjected to loss.

It’s so jarring that it causes the reader to question whether the character’s actions are credible and think how shattered you’d be in the same situation.

There’s more. Repeatedly, Jason warns of serious threats and is dismissed. Even after being informed his advice won’t be ignored anymore. But Jason himself is a major problem. He,as the consort of the Prince, and therefore a member of the royal household, refuses to adhere to security measures and protocols. He constantly goes out without his guards, not reflecting on the ramifications of this for Varic and his staff.

He’s become an inconsistent character. As has Varic in relation with communication with Jason, what distance does to their relationship, etc.

It’s one element after another which weakens them, the story, their relationship, for the sake of a narrative drama that involves so many frustrating scenes and dysfunctional dynamics that it’s hard to care at times how it ends.

With a wedding and more things that just are pulled together quickly enough for the sake of the series rather than in keeping with everything that’s gone on before, with all the threads and characters’ personalities.

I like this author and feel that she has other, stronger series and characters to choose from.

Read this if you’re a fan, and to finish this series.

House of Maedoc :

✓ His Consort #1

✓ His Prince #2

✓ His Realm #3

Buy link

His Realm (House of Maedoc Book 3)

Blurb:

On their first meeting, Varic Maedoc, prince of the vampyrs, told Jason Thorpe that loving him was not for the faint of heart. He wasn’t kidding. In the past two years, Jason has been kidnapped, lived through several attempts on his life, and foiled a coup. Now, his new life as the prince’s consort and adviser to the king is made even harder by Varic’s prolonged absence. With his prince off hunting down a traitor, Jason must fend for himself.

While the separation doesn’t last, even Varic’s return won’t stave off the wicked plotting of others, and Jason soon finds himself—again—fighting for his life while navigating ancient betrayals and revenge put in motion before he was even born. And he must prevail because his prince needs him to bring a place without honor back into his realm.

But what festers in rage and bitterness is something Jason never expected, and nothing he’s experienced in his human life, or in the decadent court of the king, could’ve prepared him for the wrath that’s about to be unleashed.

Varic needs both his crown and his consort to be the king he’s always wanted to be, and it’s up to Jason to make sure their bond never breaks.

• Publication date: April 16, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 334 pages

Review: Oracle: Chosen Champions Book Five by Macy Blake

Rating: 5🌈

Oracle is a book that most readers will bring a compendium of knowledge about the universe, characters, and the impending crisis that the main characters immediately face. That’s really necessary.

For Macy Blake has been building up to this book through multiple series and standalone novels in the Chosen One universe to culminate in the events that occur during this story.

The gods, the magical warfare, all the stolen children that were used as experiments, all the ongoing trauma and battles, along with the mate bonding. Its leads to Oracles’ story and the being tormenting those around him, the manticore. Plus the gentle bear shifter , Dr Ben Jerrick, who has come to love Koios and his family.

Blake has written a beautifully balanced, excellently crafted novel that keeps the main character of Koios aka Oracle, in the narrative spotlight while also being able to continue with the forward movement of the other important universal themes. That’s the mystery behind this corrupt manticore, its background and the dark magical schemes behind its heinous actions.

It takes many of the main characters from all the series, banding together, to investigate who the manticore is, and begin the counterattack against it. That’s a storyline that’s not only thrilling but compelling as we’re introduced to new characters and another enlargement/explanation for Koios’ damaged body and magic.

All the while, along side, Koios, is Dr Ben Jerrick, healing, listening, giving him the support he needs and quietly loving him. Ben has been a strong staple of this universe since he was first found by Sam as a frightened young bear cub trying to escape with his younger “siblings “ from the horrors they’d endured as experiments. We’ve watched Ben grow and develop into the wonderful, thoughtful being and doctor he is here. So it’s everything that it’s his story as well.

Blake pours her heart into her characters and her excellence into the plotting to bring them and all the many themes and threads together to a great completion that’s satisfying and emotionally rewarding and powerful.

It makes me want to go back to when Sam first finds this young frightened, hurt group of mixed young shifters and his world and theirs is forever changed. What a journey!

That’s Sweet Nothings in case you’ve forgotten. I’m heading back to it now.

In the meantime, I’m highly recommending Oracle: Chosen Champions Book Five by Macy Blake . It’s outstanding but read the entire series. There’s a reading list of the book titles and series order on her website. Also at the end of each book.

Here too.

Happy reading!

Chosen Champions:

Logan #1

Gideon #2

Aleron #3

Scout #4

Oracle #5 – series finale

Oracle: Chosen Champions Book Five

Blurb

Koios, AKA the Oracle, is a man with a mission: hunt down and destroy the manticore who’s been tormenting his pack. There’s only one thing standing in his way…a giant, stubborn bear named Ben Jerrick.

• Publisher: (March 23, 2024)

• Publication date: March 23, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 295 pages

The Chosen One Suggested Reading Order

1. Sweet Nothings – Prequel – The Chosen One

2. The Trouble With Love – Nothing But Trouble, Book 1

3. Santa Trouble – Nothing But Trouble, Book 2

4. All or Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 1

5. Nothing Ventured – The Chosen One, Book 2

6. Hell on Earth – Hellhound Champions, Book 1

7. Double or Nothing

8. Next to Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 3

9. Hell To Pay – Hellhound Champions, Book 2

10. Give Him Hell – Hellhound Champions, Book 3

11. Nothing Gained – The Chosen One, Book 4

12. Stop at Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 5

13. Sweet Spot

14. All Kidding Aside – Magical Mates, Book 1

15. Stop Kidding Around – Magical Mates, Book 2

16. I Kid You Not – Magical Mates, Book 3

17. Sugar Honey Iced Tea – Magical Mates, Book 3.5

18. Hell Breaks Loose – Hellhound Champions, Book 4

19. Logan – Chosen Champions, Book 1

20. Gideon – Chosen Champions, Book 2

21. Jamal – Chosen Champions, Book 2.5

22. Cosmo and the King*

23. Aleron – Chosen Champions, Book 3

24. Scout – Chosen Champions, Book 4

25. With Kid Gloves – Magical Mates, Book 4

26. Oracle-Chosen Champions, Book 5

• I suggest putting Cosmo and the King before Oracle but that’s my opinion.

Review: Cosmo and the King by Macy Blake

Rating: 4.75🌈

While the author lists this as a standalone book, it’s not. It falls strongly before the last several books in a couple of the Chosen One series, specifically because Cosmo plays such an important role in the events that happen there and are referenced here.

And most significantly, I believe it exists as a huge part of the foundation knowledge needed for the finale book in the Chosen Champions series, one that feels like it ties up this universe. That would be Oracle, fifth book that brings everything and everyone together.

But first, back to this joyous journey of Cosmo back to his mate , King Silenus. Or perhaps more precisely, Silenus’ own development and path back into Cosmo’s life in the human realm. Their shaky reconnection, and the absolutely perfect courtship that follows.

Blake pulls in new characters and old friends to help them out and let them find their way back to each other, building new strength and confidence in their bond and ability to grow with each other.

I loved every second of the time I spent reading this romance. And it makes what’s coming even more precious and grounded.

Cosmo and the King by Macy Blake is an amazing story with fantastic characters. It’s a must read within an outstanding universe of series.

Buy Link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Cosmo…Cosmo and the King by Macy Blake – Kindle

Audio

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Digital

Published: February 7, 2023

Edition: 2nd Edition

Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza

Audio

Listen Length: 02:35:00

Narrator: Michael Dean

Blurb:

When Cosmo learns the faun king is in the human realm, he panics. See, Silenus happens to be his fiance… and he’s never told any of his friends in the human realm that he ran away on his wedding day, leaving his king at the alter.

Silenus made a deal with the devil–the queen of the fae–when he learned the human realm was going to be closed, keeping him separated from his mate and betrothed. He has to track down Cosmo and convince him that they are meant for each other, even though his stubborn fiance seems determined to challenge him at every turn.

Cosmo doesn’t know Silenus’s secret, though, and now the hunt is on. Silenus is facing a dark and dangerous path, and he wants nothing more than his consort at his side. He’ll follow his mate anywhere, even to the depths of the human realm, to prove to Cosmo they are meant to be together..

Now he only has to convince his stubborn mate to stop running…because no matter how long the chase lasts, Silenus will eventually catch him.

The Chosen One Suggested Reading Order

1. Sweet Nothings – Prequel – The Chosen One

2. The Trouble With Love – Nothing But Trouble, Book 1

3. Santa Trouble – Nothing But Trouble, Book 2

4. All or Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 1

5. Nothing Ventured – The Chosen One, Book 2

6. Hell on Earth – Hellhound Champions, Book 1

7. Double or Nothing

8. Next to Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 3

9. Hell To Pay – Hellhound Champions, Book 2

10. Give Him Hell – Hellhound Champions, Book 3

11. Nothing Gained – The Chosen One, Book 4

12. Stop at Nothing – The Chosen One, Book 5

13. Sweet Spot

14. All Kidding Aside – Magical Mates, Book 1

15. Stop Kidding Around – Magical Mates, Book 2

16. I Kid You Not – Magical Mates, Book 3

17. Sugar Honey Iced Tea – Magical Mates, Book 3.5

18. Hell Breaks Loose – Hellhound Champions, Book 4

19. Logan – Chosen Champions, Book 1

20. Gideon – Chosen Champions, Book 2

21. Jamal – Chosen Champions, Book 2.5

22. Cosmo and the King

23. Aleron – Chosen Champions, Book 3

24. Scout – Chosen Champions, Book 4

25. With Kid Gloves – Magical Mates, Book 4

26. Oracle-Chosen Champions, Book 5

Review: Two Thousand Tears (Kings of Chaos Book 2) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 5🌈

This is exactly the type of story and series I emotionally want as a reader. I absolutely wallow in it, appreciating what Jocelynn Drake is accomplishing narratively, while also still being totally immersed in the universe and the characters storylines as they are unfolding.

If I adored the first book, Two Thousand Dreams, then my deep love for this novel is for all the beautiful creativity and passion that Drake pours into this second story.

None of these are standalone novels, but intricate layered parts of an epic that’s yet to reach its climax. It’s pulling together characters from other series that form important political and mystical factions, while simultaneously creating new characters and expanding the existing world in ways we hadn’t anticipated.

It’s ancient China, the Fae, the current human world imperiled, witchcraft, necromancy, vampires and their mates . Even the Underworld and demons play an important role here. There’s skeletons on the march with varying eras making retain a piece of their long gone personality. Such an amazing foundation for the main storylines to be threaded into.

After Blood Witch Moon Mullins and 2000 year old Chinese vampire Chen and the rest of their clan of ancient Chinese vampires found the Gate the Fae were arriving through, they arrived early to rescue their family member, Yichen, who had been kidnapped 100 years earlier and disappeared into the Fae realm.

Here Yichen reappears with the Fae Prince Rei, in tow. Their 100 year old relationship clearly has been one of pain, trauma, and more brought on by the Fae King and Queen . What they’ve done and gone through is never explicitly stated but implied. But as they work together to keep themselves safe, understanding the new implications of their status, it’s the emotional state of their shaky bond that affects them and their family the most.

Imprisonment doesn’t allow for any thought beyond that of escaping. Then it’s one more goal. But Drake starts to allow the reality of their new safety to let other possibilities open up for them. It’s a story that pulls the reader into their dynamic and won’t turn us loose. Not even at the end.

Additionally, into this found family are so many fantastic characters. A Huli and its attachment to a member of the family. The other members that are extraordinary in their powers and personality.

Including the one that is the heart of the next book and the dramatic ending here. For while they have been successful in achieving their goals at the end another shattering climax awaits them .

I will undoubtedly read this again before the next book arrives. Just for the sheer pleasure and satisfaction I received from the author’s words.

I’m highly recommending this series and novels . Pls read them in the order they are written.

The Kings of Chaos :

✓ Two Thousand Dreams #1

✓ Two Thousand Tears #2

◦ Two Thousand Blades #3 – May 24,2024

The Kings of Chaos is the third series to the Lords of Discord and Princes of Mayhem series. See both below and the order to read them in.

Lords of Discord series:

✓ Claiming Marcus

◦ Saving Rafe

◦ Waking Bel

◦ Embracing Winter

◦ Healing Aiden

◦ Visiting the Variks: A Short Story Collection

Princes of Mayhem :

✓ How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Ruined Saved My Life Disaster #1:

✓ Fun with Family Disaster #2:

✓ Pet Problems Disaster #3:

✓ Date Night Disaster #4: Who Woke the Dead?”

Kings of Chaos- three books

Buy link

Two Thousand Tears (Kings of Chaos Book 2)

Blurb

He was supposed to be my enemy. Not my lover.

Yichen is free at last…sort of.

He has escaped his imprisonment, but he’s still blood bound to the crown prince of the fae.

Oh gods, how is he going to explain that to his clan?

Finding a way to break the bond might not be too hard. Killing the king of the fae even seems possible.

But there’s no way he can let go of the elf who protected him, risked everything for him for a hundred years?

Rei is the breath in his lungs, the blood in his veins, and the beat of his heart. Somehow, he has to find a way to keep him.

An elf can fall in love with a vampire, right?

Two Thousand Tears is the second novel in the Kings of Chaos series, which is a spin-off from the Lords of Discord series. This book contains a somewhat broken vampire falling in love with an elf who should be his enemy but is actually his everything, shifters, meddling witches, other non-human surprises, snark, angst, car surfing, found family, brotherly bickering, magic, chaos, pouting, vampire cuddles, and an endless love that crosses lines drawn by war.

• Publisher: (March 22, 2024)

• Publication date: March 22, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 379 pages

Review: Two Thousand Tears (Kings of Chaos Book 2) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 5🌈

If I adored the first book, Two Thousand Dreams, then my deep love for this novel is for all the beautiful creativity and passion that Drake pours into this second story.

Additionally, into this found family are so many fantastic characters. A Huli and its attachment to a member of the family. The other members that are extraordinary in their powers and personality.

Including the one that is the heart of the next book and the dramatic ending here. For while they have been successful in achieving their goals at the end another shattering climax awaits them .

I will undoubtedly read this again before the next book arrives. Just for the sheer pleasure and satisfaction I received from the author’s words.

I’m highly recommending this series and novels . Pls read them in the order they are written.

The Kings of Chaos :

✓ Two Thousand Dreams #1

✓ Two Thousand Tears #2

◦ Two Thousand Blades #3 – May 24,2024

The Kings of Chaos is the third series to the Lords of Discord and Princes of Mayhem series. See both below and the order to read them in.

Lords of Discord series:

✓ Claiming Marcus

◦ Saving Rafe

◦ Waking Bel

◦ Embracing Winter

◦ Healing Aiden

◦ Visiting the Variks: A Short Story Collection

Princes of Mayhem :

✓ How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Ruined Saved My Life Disaster #1:

✓ Fun with Family Disaster #2:

✓ Pet Problems Disaster #3:

✓ Date Night Disaster #4: Who Woke the Dead?”

Kings of Chaos- three books

Buy link

Two Thousand Tears (Kings of Chaos Book 2)

Blurb

He was supposed to be my enemy. Not my lover.

Yichen is free at last…sort of.

He has escaped his imprisonment, but he’s still blood bound to the crown prince of the fae.

Oh gods, how is he going to explain that to his clan?

Finding a way to break the bond might not be too hard. Killing the king of the fae even seems possible.

But there’s no way he can let go of the elf who protected him, risked everything for him for a hundred years?

Rei is the breath in his lungs, the blood in his veins, and the beat of his heart. Somehow, he has to find a way to keep him.

An elf can fall in love with a vampire, right?

• Publisher: (March 22, 2024)

• Publication date: March 22, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 379 pages

Review: The Ashes of Ackonir by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 4.75 🌈

The Ashes of Ackonir by Jennifer Cody is a fantastic standalone novel that has the breadth and depth to be the foundation of a great series.

The author has gone to incredible detail in creating the world of Maldrin. Cody has referenced at the beginning of the book a glossary of terminology, cultural references, historical and geographic information. It’s astonishing. Right after this comes a list of the Deities, starting with Ackonir, god of blood, seduction and immortality. A god worshiped by vampires.

Then, equally important, comes a list of trigger warnings. They’re too complicated and long to repeat. But do read them carefully before making your decision to continue on.

The story is a two person narrative, which is hugely important as there’s a purposeful power imbalance from the beginning to the relationship of the main characters. It’s implicit in their political stations and more importantly, in their personal dynamics.

Sparrow, whose painful adolescence is slowly revealed over the course of the story, is the son of King Edrick’s roaming late wife and Consort, Mara.

Both Sparrow and his mother share a complex relationship and labyrinthine history that weaves together cult like religious beliefs, hidden ancestry, and, heinously, an abandonment that left Sparrow to his father’s cult members for raising. A child raised within such an environment has no connection to the outside world or any idea that some of the rules or practices aren’t common elsewhere. That’s Sparrow. And sexual activity was practiced by all members .

Edrick is a son of Ackonir. What exactly that means will become clear later on in the narrative. However, what Cody’s story brings is an immediate, and perhaps inevitable mating between the two men.

Edrick’s character is powerful, supernatural, explicitly sexual in nature, with that base of seduction and dominant sexuality laid out everywhere, from the clothes he’s wearing to the designs within the palace. Their sexual dynamics is layered with the dominance and submission that’s part of each man’s nature, carved into them by their past history, and current roles. Cody has built a very strong and compelling relationship. One that reveals itself to be even more complex than it initially appears.

The narrative is equally complicated, containing multiple storylines and all woven together to create a mystical experience and unforgettable tale of love, death, and gods.

I’m highly recommending this and hoping that Cody continues on with this universe and characters with another story.

Buy Link:

The Ashes of Ackonir70Kindle Edition$0.00or $5.99 to buy

Blurb:

Sparrow:

Life beyond the walls of Eoam, the commune where my mother raised me, has never tempted me. My needs are fulfilled as long as I work, and if my life is full of more sorrow than most, it’s because I was born for it. But even I have my limits, and when the people who’ve raised me do the unthinkable, I burn the walls down and walk away.

My first steps away from the commune lead me straight into the company of someone I barely knew existed. Edrick was once married to my mother, but the life she lived in the palace never touched me, and I’m surprised when Edrick brings me there.

I thought I’d be walking into a world similar to what I’d been taught, but the more I see of Maldrin, the more I realize that I was made powerless by the people who were meant to love me. As my anger stirs, so does Edrick’s, and he decides to empower me with a title, tutors, spies, and maybe even real, actual love.

I’ve never known what love is, but if anyone can convince me I was born for more than sorrow, it’s Edrick Dastropha, the Emperor of Maldrin.

Edrick:

I never got to live in my wife’s company more than a few months at a time, and as much as I wanted her to myself, I couldn’t keep her wild heart caged in the palace. She lived in a commune with her other lovers when she wasn’t with me or traveling, but she kept that part of her life private because she knew my ability to control my jealousy had limits. Now, more than a decade after she’s gone, she has one last surprise for me.

Sparrow is as beautiful as his mother was and far more tempting. I invited him to live with me to honor her, but when the first thing I notice about the young man is how needy he is and how beautifully he fits in my arms, the best I can offer is my solemn oath that he will always have a place under the wing of my protection.

Preparing him for life in the palace requires more than I expected, and as I spend time with him, it becomes clear that the commune I allowed to exist because my wife loved it hurt him in infuriating ways. I will do everything in my power to give him what he needs, even if that means making another sacrifice to the god of blood and seduction.

If anyone can rise from the ashes of Ackonir, Sparrow was born for it.

The Ashes of Ackonir is a MM steampunk fantasy romance between an emperor with vampiric tendencies and the tempting little lost lamb with blood that sings to him. This book includes a heavily imbalanced power-dynamic, political intrigue, war, and other complex tropes. Readers should consult the content warning at the beginning of this book before reading.

• Publication date: March 19, 2024

• Print length: 323 pages

Review: Paranormal Protectors: Atlas (On Guard #0.5) by Michelle Frost

Rating: 4🌈

Michelle Frost has written a fast-paced, urban fantasy short prequel for her new series, On Guard. This uses the same universe and characters as the previous series, Mated to a Human so knowledge of that world and those themes is necessary.

This was an action filled story that includes a romance that almost but not quite falls into the insta love category. That would be the relationship between Council mage Atlas and human Gavin, a barista.

The story picks up from the events happening in A Vampire Called Leander where the anti supernatural terrorist group is stepping up its attacks against the mated pairs and now a new group.

I liked the characters, they were very engaging and the new group of oracles, mages, and now Gavin, at the Hub are all very interesting and diverse.

The potential for a great new series is amazing and I’m excited to see where Frost takes this new group and expands on this new world of oracles, demons and humans.

It’s a good start.

Mated to a Human:

A Hellhound Called Derek #1

A Warlock Called Jacob #2

A Vampire Called Leander #3 – finale

On Guard-sequel series- 4 books

Paranormal Protectors: Atlas 0.5

Buy link

Paranormal Protectors: Atlas: A Prequel (On Guard Book 1)

Blurb

Atlas’s simple crush gets complicated when Gavin turns out to be more than human. Can Atlas protect him as he becomes part of the paranormal world?

Paranormal Protectors: Atlas is the prequel novella to Paranormal Protectors: Gavin. This series is best read in order.

• Publication date: June 15, 2023

• Print length: 72 pages

Review: Oracles Always Win (Willow Lake Supernaturals Book 3) by Lori Ames

Rating: 4.5🌈

Oracles Always Win is a fantastic book, a favorite read in a great series by Lori Ames about a small town of mixed paranormal species living among humans, all magically harmonious. That changed when a small pack of werewolves lead by a disgruntled were started a chain of serious crimes that eventually lead to the arrival of Gage, a demon, and his crew from the Supernatural Council.

One of the people there on the scene of the last crime, is Jake. He’s the owner of the bar and inn it occurred at. Jake has been a curious character throughout the prior stories. While he thinks he’s human, and is clearly ignorant of the many supernatural beings that are present in his life, it’s equally true he’s not just human. He has visions. He’s an oracle. Has a cat that talks (just not to Jake) and has magical powers. In other words, Jake is a mystery too.

Ames gives us several fantastic storylines here. There’s the ongoing threat to the community from the outside werewolf pack and perhaps something else. The species trafficking. Those investigations are continuing and have implications for others inside Willow Lake

But the best threads, the most engaging are the ones that involve Jake and Gabe, separately and together.

For Jake, it’s his story about finding out who he is, what his friends and community really are, and, painfully, what his family history reveals about him. That last part still remains shrouded by mystery in large chunks of missing magical family lineage .I hope we get to this further in.

Gabe is a demon who also has a painful past related to his father. It’s one that’s haunted him and plays a huge role in how he’s looked at his relationships with his coworkers and friends. Jake will force a major overhaul in his life and his dynamics with his found family.

This whole storyline is wonderful and just grabs at the reader on multiple levels. While Jake and Gabe are trying to work through their new relationship and possibly a mate bonding, there’s a real sense of danger and crime in progress to deal with.

We meet new characters, Isaac, Nelson, Davina, who are part of Gabe’s team, and explore more of Willow Lake’s magical powers. It’s a fascinating universe. I can’t wait for the next book to arrive.

Lori Ames’ Willow Lake Supernaturals is an excellent series and Oracles Always Win is an imaginative, well written example why I highly recommend the entire series.

Willow Lake Supernaturals:

Ravens Never Fall (Prequel)

Hellhounds Never Lie (Book 1)

Wolves Always Bite (Book 2)

Oracles Always Win (Book 3)

Buy Links:

Blurb:

Jake believes he is absolutely and completely ordinary… But what if he isn’t?

Jake is absolutely, completely ordinary, even if he has a weird painting affliction. Painting is relaxing, right? It helps. It’s a form of art therapy. Even if his is the sub-conscious kind of painting. The middle-of-the-night, paint-while-you-sleep kind. The kind that makes him puke every single time it happens.
Okay. So, maybe that’s not exactly normal.
But when the sexy but imaginary guy with horns, who his weird painterly alter-ego has been fixated on for the last year, suddenly shows up in town with horns and all, Jake doesn’t know what to think. Especially when the not-so-imaginary guy claims he’s a demon and that Jake’s an oracle of all things. That’s when Jake begins to suspect his life is never going to be the same again.
After all, he mentioned the horns, right?

Tags: A demon in search of a home, an oracle unknowingly in need of a tether, the talking cat is a messy eater, oracles know things, oracles shouldn’t paint in public in only their underwear, the wolves in the hills are still jerks, a formerly human guy keeps asking crazy questions, who knew horns and wings could be sexy, and… just how many supernatural beings will be drawn to this one little town?

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