Review: Violent Mistake (Blackrose Brotherhood #2) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 4.25🌈

We met Kazi, aka Kazimir Skokan, vampire, who’s public face is that of a international internet sensation, a interesting facade for a member of a secretive society of powerful paranormal beings.

That’s the Brotherhood, a group of vampires hunting another equally ancient faction of vampires with a different allegiance towards the gods and the human race. It’s control Vs Chaos basically.

He’s on a kill mission when the story opens. His target a true crime reporter, Felix Quaid, with his Unexplained in Maine podcast, who refuses to stop digging into the affairs of the Brotherhood. Felix has to go.

Only the enemy intervenes.

Nash builds a story much like a traditional Smith Island cake, just one layer after another, until you have a thin, multiple level wonder. You may not be sure of what you’re getting until you’ve cut into it, grabbing that slice of scrumptiousness, finished it, and savoring all the ingredients.

That’s how I feel about all the many, many elements Nash introduces here and in the previous book. It’s like I’m staring at the cake but don’t know how it’s all going to work out yet.

It’s a lot and very ambitious. Here we have Kazi and Felix, their story and relationship. It veers off onto another continent. Picks up Felix’s history with his family. Picks up Kazi’s bloody backstory. What does get sidelined is the manner in which Felix “ lost” everything, his podcast, etc. That’s a fairly important thing to lose track of. But we do get a tiny glimpse into Felix’s family life. Kazi’s journey is rooted in history and location. Nash was outstanding in both.

But Nash has a lot of narrative ground to cover. We have to establish a meaningful relationship between two former enemies, bring about a change of heart within Kazi about humans and their role in the world (as well as with himself). Nash also has the enemy there to expound on their own destiny, mission, you know how a big bad absolutely MUST make speeches about themselves. It’s in the Evil Handbook. All the while, moving the storylines forward with enormous amounts of drama and angst.

There’s several really great twists, one that’s going to bring the sniffles out as well.

But the author isn’t finished. Smith Island Cake remember? There’s genetics, explosions, betrayals (sorry, but everyone will see who the baddie is in this instance), and more loose end mysteries. All that isn’t revealed or relayed in any satisfactory manner in the story other than bare minimum at the end.

At the end, I just had way too many unanswered questions to the unresolved aspects of this story to feel satisfied. I really liked it, but didn’t love it.

And really know one is talking about Mikalis to each other?

There’s no mention yet of the next installment. I’ll be waiting for an update.

I find the elements and promise here fascinating. If you’re a fan of this author and paranormal fiction, you decide whether to wait until more of this series is released to read the stories or read along as they are published.

I’m recommending it because I’m just as curious as the rest of you.

Blackrose Brotherhood series:

✓ Violent Desire #1

✓ Violent Mistake #2

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showViolent Mistake (Blackrose Brotherhood #2) by Ariana Nash

Description:

Internet sensation Kazimir Skokan, is loved around the world for his luxury photoshoots and envious lifestyle. But Felix Quaid has never hated a man more. Ex-investigative journalist turned true-crime podcaster, Felix knows something is off with playboy Kazi. From the late-night back-alley meetings to the people around him who later vanish, behind Kazimir’s flashy smile, he’s rotten to his core. Not to mention rumors of darker, dangerous, some-say supernatural occurrences around Kazimir. Felix even has photos to prove it.

But the last time he tried to expose Kazimir Skokan, his story was inexplicably shut down, taking Felix’s career as a journalist with it. Kazimir owes him the truth. And Felix is going to make sure the whole world knows it.

*

Kazi has new orders. Kill Felix Quaid. The Blackrose brotherhood leader, Mikalis, is never wrong. But in this, Kazi disagrees. Sure, Quaid is a pest, perhaps even a stalker, but no more than any other overzealous fan. Still, what Mikalis wants, Mikalis gets. And what’s another dead meat-bag to Kazi anyway? He stopped caring who lived and who died long ago.

Making Quaid disappear should have been easy. But in Quaid’s final, crucial moments, a pack of cult members kidnap them both, mistaking Quaid for a member of the brotherhood. Now, trapped together, their time running out, Kazi must work with Quaid if they’re to survive the insane Nyx-worshipping acolytes.

But as soon as they escape, Mikalis’s orders will still stand: Quaid must die.

Kazi thought he’d long ago given up on caring who lived and who died. Apparently, he was wrong…

*

Sparks fly in the second book in the all-new gay vampire psychopathic romance. Please note these books contain morally grey characters, unlikable heroes, enemies to lovers, and all the Ariana Nash angst you didn’t know you needed.

Each book in the series follows a new MM couple and ends in a HEA/HFN. This series is fast burn.

Review: Violent Desire (Blackrose Brotherhood #1) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 4.25🌈

I’m a fan of Ariana Nash’s books. This author’s highly imaginative ability to create exciting stories and interesting , layered characters in urban fantasy or paranormal worlds just captivates me.

Violent Desire sees Nash plunging into the world of chaos and darkness by way of warring factions of vampires, unknown to the human population. It’s a campaign that spreads across the globe and has been ongoing for centuries. Perhaps since the beginning of creation.

Nash starts In immediately with the dark elements. It’s that sort of story that comes with trigger warnings at the beginning.

Everyone here is a murderous sort of person. The body count is extremely high. These aren’t your sparkly vampires. Even the “good guy “ vampires aren’t especially good. All are killers, just with more rules.

Nash threads the world building with more myths and mysteries than actual facts which is a bit frustrating but probably speaks towards the plots coming in the future stories, if I’m picking up on the hints here.

Trust no one. Got it.

Det.Eric Sharpe is a grieving, determined man on a course of revenge when we meet him. That’s the first layer, which when pealed away when a plan goes so wrong, reveals the brutalized, traumatized man his broken mind has tried to forget.

Nash does this type of character so well. Someone who’s undergone immense trauma, undeniable pain and suffering, been brutalized and is still struggling with the mental and emotional effects. In Eric’s case, it’s even more complicated because his is has its origins in something so monstrous no one believed him.

It’s such a great hook. As one of our narrators, it pulls you in emotionally and you stay connected, even as he struggles through the darkness of his past. FYI, trigger warnings.

The other narrator is a vampire. Honestly, I found him less compelling, at least until towards the end. Zaine, one of the Brotherhood. It’s hard for Zaine, even as a vampire, to match up with the pathos and complexity that is Eric. We just get bits and pieces of Zaine’s history, a lot of posturing at Atlas, the headquarters of the Brotherhood, but not a ton of depth.

The hunt is focused around a old vampire named Sebastian, who has ties to Eric. So the story’s narrative “dance” remains in many respects on Eric and Sebastian, not Eric and Zaine. And the boss of the Brotherhood. Hmmmmm.

Plus there’s so many twists that Nash is weaving into the series and story that have no solution here. Fascinating mysteries that will flow all the way through the series and probably other characters, as has happened with other series.

So I’m recommending this book and I’m onto the next.

It features another couple. That should be interesting. I’ll let you know. I always am up for new takes on the paranormal and their origins. Should be quite the ride!

Blackrose Brotherhood series:

✓ Violent Desire #1

◦ Violent Mistake #2

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showViolent Desire (Blackrose Brotherhood #1) by Ariana Nash

Description:

Twelve immortals, twelve outcasts, one mission.
To kill their own kind, before it’s too late.

Detective, killer, vigilante. Eric Sharpe is tired of watching criminals walk free. When a lowlife drug dealer kills his partner and escapes justice, Eric plots his own revenge. His plan is faultless but for one thing: the handsome, mysterious man who arrives moments before Eric’s plan comes to fruition. Not only does the mysterious man know Eric’s an undercover cop, he knows exactly what Eric did fifteen years ago—an event so traumatic Eric has been trying to bury it ever since. And the mysterious man? Fifteen years ago, Eric killed him.

Now he’s back to reclaim what’s his: Detective Eric Sharpe.

Immortal, predator, vampire. After betraying himself and the Blackrose Brotherhood fifty years ago, Zaine can’t afford another mistake. There’s one rule above all others the Brotherhood stand by. One rule that can never be broken. Never, ever care. All Zaine has to do is hunt and kill the savage nyktelios vampires and keep his head down. And he was doing just fine until he saved Detective Eric Sharpe from a vicious vampire attack. He can’t stop thinking about the intelligent, handsome, haunted man. Walking away is the right thing to do, but the detective and Zaine are hunting the same killer—a vampire who knows more about both of them and the Brotherhood than anyone realizes.

A vampire seeking to bring down the Brotherhood for good.

Zaine can’t walk away. Eric won’t walk away. The vampire must be stopped, Brotherhood rules be damned, and they’ll go down fighting together to end him.

***

Violent Desire is the first book in an all-new fast-burn MM paranormal romance series. Each book features a new gay couple ending in a HEA/HFN.

Content notice: These are adult books with dark content. These vampires do not sparkle. They’re relentless in their mission. They do bad things for good reasons, and some do good things for terrible reasons. They DO NOT CARE. The members of the brotherhood have been described as psychopaths with fangs.

For content warning, see the paperback copyright page.

Review: Twice Bitten: A Blood Bonds novella (Mismatched Mates Book 9) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 4.5🌈

Twice Bitten is a great example why I enjoy the writing of Eliot Grayson. Its well written, snarky, it’s characters have great back stories and layered personalities.

Located in Grayson’s Blood Bonds series universe, Twice Bitten is the story of two bitter Paranormals , one a vampire enforcer with a secret. The other a werewolf Alpha seeking a wayward mate who’s caused unbearable damage in his wake. They cross paths when the Alpha, Jack comes looking for aid outward his own territory in locating his mate and finds Angelo, the high ranking enforcer for the Vampire whose territory he’s in.

Grayson’s tale then starts revealing all the details about the paranormal politics surrounding Jack’s arrival in their territory, Angelo’s past and current emotional struggles with mates and mating, and the secrets that lie behind the scenes.

All that drama, and it’s not without humor. There’s some wonderful moments of comedy.

The two person POV works to give the reader advantage as to the characters secrets and struggles before they reveal them to the other person. So we get a better understanding of their motivations for their actions and emotions.

I enjoyed seeing some of the characters from the other Blood Bond stories but it’s not necessary to read them to understand this.

My only slight regret is that I felt that Angelo’s issue was handled, off page, too quickly and conveniently, for the powerful aspect that it was to his character. I felt it should have been a bigger part of the ending.

That aside, I really enjoyed the story, this couple, and their journey towards a HEA.

I’m highly recommending it. And check out the Mismatched Mates series too if a Paranormal romance is your thing!

Mismatched Mates series:

✓ The Alpha’s Warlock #1

◦ Captive Mate #2

✓ A Very Armitage Christmas #3

✓ First Blood #4

◦ The Alpha Experiment #5

◦ Lost and Bound #6

◦ Lost Touch #7

◦ The Alpha Contract #8

✓ Twice Bitten (A Blood Bonds Novella) #9

Description:

A werewolf walks into a vampire bar… ouch.

Vampire enforcer Angelo has enough problems already, and a tall, dark, and irritating alpha werewolf is the last thing he needs.

With his cheating, murderous mate on the run, Jack’s looking for help from the local authorities—who assign Angelo to solve the problem quickly.

They don’t have anything in common on paper, but sharing magical compatibility, a sense of humor, and a common goal can build a bond—whether mundane or otherwise. Even when another bond’s impossible…

Warning: Contains magical attack scorpions, knotting, and a vampire who’s desperate to avoid ruining his suit, falling in love, or other catastrophes. Spoiler alert: He falls in love. Does he ruin his suit, though? Read and find out! Happy ending guaranteed.

Review: Cat’s Chance in Hell:(Charm City Chronicles Book 2) by Meghan Maslow

Rating: 4.75🌈

It was so easy to fall back into Meghan Maslow’s rich paranormal universe of Charm City Chronicles. Baltimore or if you’re local then it’s “Bawlmer” or “Bawl-ah-mur.” A city so rich in varied cultures, a startling variety of architectural styles, and history that it’s a place to overwhelm your senses. In good and, *cough* bad ways.

Maslow’s setting is both a love letter and an acknowledgment of the reality of life in every aspect and area of that old (by American standards) city. Resting place of Poe, birthplace of the nation’s anthem, with the wildness of the Bay at its side, surely magic must exist there.

As it does in the series. Vampires, werewolves, shifters, and a Demon! Oh my!

In Demon’s In The Details, our initial introduction to the Demon Tommy Tittoti and his mate, the Raven shifter, Poe Dupin, we met Tommy’s assistant, Carter Strike.

Sassy, snarky, sexy Siamese shifter, Carter Strike. Exceptionally gifted when it comes to gathering information about Tommy’s enemies, he’s not afraid to take risks to get what he’s looking for.

We instantly adored him. And wanted more.

We get it when he runs through and smack into Bengal Damon-Cowles, the Roger or head of the South-West Baltimore territory. That starts an explosive relationship between him and Damon-Cowles, a Rakshasa, a powerful being of secretive origins.

Maslow’s story has launched a new storyline with this book that’s full of mystery, packed with potential dread and suspense for all our favorite characters going forward, and yes, there’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end.

There’s just no way to go into any aspect of this book without giving away some secrets or important information that would spoil something for the reader.

I will say I wasn’t expecting the romance elements and that turned out to be so very satisfying.

Now I need that all important next installment. Asap!

I’m definitely recommending this. But if cliffhangers make you crazy, you decide if you want to wait until the next book is released and then read one after the other.

I’ve listed the books in the order below.

Charm City Chronicles:

✓ Demon’s In The Details

✓ Cat’s Chance In Hell

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Cats-Ch…Cat’s Chance in Hell: An MM Paranormal Romance (Charm City Chronicles Book 2)

Description:

When a feline fatale meets his magical match, Baltimore might just go up in flames.

I, Carter Strike, Siamese shifter extraordinaire and a powerful demon’s right-hand cat . . .er, man, have a job to do. My boss’ boy toy is in the crosshairs of an unknown assassin. And when my boss is unhappy, all of Charm City burns.

That’s where I come in. Intel is my specialty and leads me to the doorstep of one drop-dead gorgeous but annoyingly secretive Rakshasa.

Bengal Damon-Cowles—even his name is obnoxious—runs South-West Baltimore and is nothing if not frustratingly contrary. I don’t care if he is a demi-god among shifters, I don’t need the complications from a sexy as sin Rakshasa with the utter gall to turn down a fine piece of feline-fantasy like myself. Especially when we’re forced to work together. Except, every day we spend in close proximity turns up the heat between us.

A roomful of secrets, a looming Nor’Easter, and friends with questionable—or nonexistent—morals, add gasoline to the blaze. As the stakes climb ever higher, and people start dying, I’ve got a cat’s chance in hell of coming out of this one unscorched.

Cat’s Chance in Hell is a 113k snarktastic, size difference, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, car-careening-out-of-control romance with a guaranteed happy ending and lots of steam. Shenanigans include: a catnapping gone very, very wrong, a hot pot incident that will go down in infamy, and a Rakshasa with more layers than a Smith Island Cake.

Review: A Holiday to Sustain Us (The Magi Accounts Companion Novellas) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.5🌈

If you’re not familiar with The Magi Accounts series, this isn’t the book for you. A reader has to have read all the preceding books, in the order that they were written, in order to understand the people and relationships talked about here.

But if you have, then you are in for a heartwarming read, rare for this series and universe.

It starts off as a series of interludes, some of which have already occurred in the previous book, A Purpose That Restores Us (The Magi Accounts 3) . But this time the perspective is through the eyes of mage Ash and lion shifter, Charlie.

This is their story or series of events that lead to their bonding.

It starts off a bit fragmented but it steadily grows together as it leaves the known scenes behind and starts to build its own narrative based around the Ono-Nai pack’s first holiday together under one roof with all its new members.

It’s a scary, fragile, and wonderful time for everyone, each in a different way, as the tale unveils.

Ash, a compound born mage, with all the horrors and damage that entails, is a character we’ve slowly gotten to know. Here we begin a deeper journey with him through his first memories of Jude and Mads to becoming part of the pack , then the true story which is his relationship with Charlie, a lion shifter.

Charlie has always been a series favorite due to his kindness, his open heart , and his willingness to accept his differences while others won’t. His love of makeup, and sparkly clothing. Images that clash with that of the lion shifter norm.

Notaro slowly builds a deep bond between Ash and Charlie, one of trust, friendship which then becomes something greater.

All done through the trappings of two holidays celebrated by the pack as they decorate, shop, and prepare together.

It’s heartwarming, not without its brutal reminders of the world outside and what members of the pack have gone through in their pasts, but it is also about found family, friends, and love in all facets.

Whatever the next full book holds , Notaro is giving her readers two companion stories as gifts.

This wonderful heartwarming romantic holiday tale for Charlie and Ash. The next , An Embrace To Hearten Me, will be for Jude, River, and Kulani. That’s a story guaranteed to be heartbreaking and tissue worthy. The brutality and horror they have endured makes any happiness they find indescribably sweeter. I can’t wait to read it.

I’m highly recommending A Holiday to Sustain Us (The Magi Accounts Companion Novellas) by Michele Notaro to all readers of this series and the series to all lovers of dark urban fantasy fiction.

The Magi Accounts:

🔹The Scars That Bind Us #1

🔹The Shackles That Hold Us #2

🔹A Date To Impress Him #2.5

🔹A Purpose That Restores Us #3

🔹A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

🔹An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magic Accounts 3.5 – 8/29/2023

🔹A Ruse To Unchain Us: The Magi Accounts # 4 – TBD 2023

https://www.amazon.com › Holiday…A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday: Notaro, Michele

Description:

One kiss under the mistletoe and now I’m hooked. I can’t get him out of my head… and I think I might like it.

Convincing my pride to have a holiday celebration was supposed to be a fun way to bring everyone together. But my plan went awry when my younger pride mate convinced everyone I needed a kiss. I hadn’t expected Ash to volunteer. And I certainly hadn’t expected him to kiss me on the lips and… linger.

Now, all I can think about is feeling his lips on mine again. Instead of planning gift giving and parties, I’m planning how to win Ash over. And what better way to convince him to spend time with me than to have him help me with my holiday plans?

The holidays are coming to the Ono-Nai house, and I only have one thing I’m wishing for this year—Ash.

A Holiday To Sustain Us is a fun 70K word MM urban fantasy companion story meant to be read AFTER A Purpose That Restores Us (The Magi Accounts 3). It’s from Charlie’s perspective and takes place between books 3 and 4 of the main series. This is a companion novel, NOT a standalone.

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

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Monstrous Intent (Monsters and Mischief Book 1) by Alice Winters

Rating: 4.5🌈

If you’re familiar with Alice Winters, you know her writing often grounds itself in dark topics like murder, assassination, torture, themes of mass destruction, whether it’s in a contemporary world or that of an alternate reality filled with the paranormal.

Blending snarky, sharp, irreverent humor with moments of serious reflection and empathy, however, brief, the author imbues her characters and storylines with a slightly demented vitality that goes well with her high action packed narrative.

Declan is a former monster hunter for the Department of Research and Defense (DRD). But he became disillusioned with the constant attacks and killings so he left to become a teacher. Now with an increase in Chimeras sightings and killings, the DRD wants its best hunter back and won’t stop until he’s part of the organization again.

Lake, an enigma, works for the DRD , but Declan is instantly aware Lake is much more.

Winters’ complex plot, increasing cast of characters, and series foundation that’s being laid out as the storyline deepens, is a tale guaranteed to hold the reader’s interest and keep them engaged with the characters growing relationships.

Plus there’s fish again. That’s a odd reoccurring trend that’s got me wondering about undercover fish goals and other weirdness. Sort a love it.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Monstrous Intent and the open threads it left in this story that will drive the next part of the series.

If you’re a fan of Alice Winters or if this sounds like a tale that’s your jam, it’s one I’m definitely recommending.

Alice Wintershttps://www.alicewintersauthor.com › …Monstrous Intent

Description:

Declan
It’s really hard to pretend like life is normal when you’re staring a monster in the eyes, though he’s both tempting and irritating in his human form. I put my days as a hunter behind me, unable to cope with the death and pain anymore, to become an upstanding citizen and for what? To assist Lake, a man who claims he’s not a monster but keeps talking about me like I’m edible and–even worse–wants to woo me? Between my old organization trying to pull me in and Lake proving that things aren’t quite what they seem, I’m dragged back into this world of fighting the things that humans fear the most.

Lake
The human is exquisite. The first moment he told me he was going to hunt me down, I felt my heart burst. He’s beautiful, sassy, angry, and going to be mine (even if he thinks he can refuse my charms). But what Declan doesn’t know about me is that there’s a reason I’m hiding as a human among monster hunters. And while he definitely doesn’t know why, he’s willing to work with me because the people around us strangely want Declan and me dead at the end of this (I mean, who would want to kill us? We’re amazing).
But honestly… what’s more fun than dragging a hunter off to the dark side?

Warning: This is a chaotic monster and a chaotic human. Stuff happens. People die (but they were bad, so it doesn’t matter, right?) and there’s plenty of humor alongside a budding romance.

AMAZON

GOODREADS

—-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Find the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Rating: 4.5🌈

Maz Maddox’s latest book in their new series is a great bit of dark storytelling. Told in first person perspective by a assassin/ fish trainer who hunts vampires on the side, we know immediately that the universe is a off kilter one.

Dangerous, filled with beings of all types running a metropolis that swings from swanky to crime ridden and hopeless. Drugs, sex, business as usual.

Our narrator is Dallas Wilde. Sarcasm, dry humor, and an apparent lack of self control camouflage the anguished state that lies beneath a callous, self involved façade. Over time, through scattered memories and distraught scenes, we see a traumatized man, who’s brutal past has never left him and the PTSD that he’s never dealt with.

It’s left, at least in this story, for the readers to start to cobble together the facts that have lead to Dallas’ trauma. It impacts everything that happens here, all his interactions and reactions with the beings and in every event.

I actually enjoy that Maddox isn’t ready to fill in the blanks for us with Dallas’s past history. Especially with all the mysteries and magical plot lines that have their own rabbit holes to go mentally and emotionally down.

Honestly, there’s questions about so many elements here. Fish training? Kevin the beta? Plus those are minor details.

The massive narrative threads, especially those that have a dark turn or twist to them, come with a equal amount of puzzling aspects along with the foundation Maddox is establishing for her series.

I found the book, the characters, and the mind puzzles addictive. I was exceptionally surprised by each turn the story took and how quickly it ended.

It left several items unanswered, as I expected in such a convoluted story, and I’m anticipating the next novel in hopes of seeing the next stages the characters advance to.

There’s public sex, perhaps with a hint of noncon to it, after all moral ambiguities are status quo here. Murder is a job after all.

I’m highly recommending this . Read the warnings at the beginning. It’s dark fantasy or paranormal fiction.

Bring on book two!

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showFind the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Description:

Wilde Contract Killing and Fish Training, how can I help you?

Murder contract? Piece of cake.

Find a jinn? No problem.

New necromancy powers while being followed by an unwanted vampire bodyguard?

Not so much.

Trained to handle even the most fierce undead, Dallas Wilde took out a powerful necromancer without breaking a sweat. Okay, that’s a lie – there was tons of sweat, but he was victorious all the same.

Unfortunately, killing a necromancer comes with some repercussions.

Broody, annoying, vampire repercussions and new abilities to resurrect the dead.

Can Dallas navigate his blood-sucking bodyguard, new powers, feelings for his attractive client and still handle his contract in time to pay his very, very late rent – all while trying not to get super murdered in the process?

Let’s hope so.

Find the Jinn is the first contract in a trilogy of death, pining, dark magic and a grumpy fish named Kevin.

—-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Chasing Shadows (Daemons of San DeLain Book 1) by M.A. Church

Rating: 3.5🌈

Chasing Shadows is the first book in M.A. Church’s new Daemons of San DeLain series. A paranormal romance, the theme and background of the central characters hints at a darker story than it turns out to be.

A physically abused child is saved from his father’s continuing brutality by a monster that’s hiding under his bed. One who announces to the child that he belongs to him.

Church could have gone so dark with that storyline but instead the monster turns out to be a guardian who acts as protector, friend, and nothing more until the boy ages. He’s been a unseen companion, a voice and glimpses of darkness under the bed.

It’s not until Austin’s an adult with a career as a successful paranormal romance author that events cause a meeting that brings them finally face to face.

Church’s universe for this series has many of the usual paranormal characters as well as the new shadow daemons the author’s created. I found so many aspects about them interesting, the use of shadows to travel. Portals. The fact that there’s gender differences in appearances. That puzzled me btw. Why automatically assume or assign gender to daemons? Why not make coloration differences according to age?

At any rate, Kage, the head of his Daemons clan, aka the Monster under the bed, just doesn’t come across as all that monstrous. Courtly, old. Just not the feared being he’s supposed to be across all paranormal species.

That’s a factor here all through the various storylines. None of the hunters, werewolves, dragons, seem especially threatening.

The promise the dark elements threaded through the description shows never arrives. Which is fine if you like your paranormal romance on the light side.

Chasing Shadows , for me, is a lighter styled romance. There’s fated mates but no kink or wild sex that you’d expect from a daemon who’s claiming his long awaited mate. The story has some mystery, some suspense but ,again nothing chilling or high anxiety.

The relationships, the danger, even the mating bond itself was more along the quick entertainment level then anything with deeper narrative expectations.

If that’s what you want in a paranormal romance, or even something you’re looking for right now, check out the beginning of this new series, Chasing Shadows (Daemons of San DeLain Book 1) by M.A. Church .

Daemons of San DeLain series:

Chasing Shadows #1

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showChasing Shadows by M.A. Church

Description:

The monster: They say I am powerful. They say I am the darkness. They say I instill fear in the minds and hearts of many.

They’re right.

I am powerful. I am the darkness. I should be feared. Then I heard his cries and everything changed. Power can be tempered. There’s safety in the darkness. And the monster isn’t always the one under the bed.

Now only the heart and mind of one human interests me. He is mine. I wait, watching over him until the time is right to claim what belongs to me.

Austin: Do you believe there are monsters under the bed? I do. I don’t just believe; I know for a fact they exist. I’ve met one. Sort of. Okay, I haven’t actually seen the monster, I’ve only spoken to it.

Kind of hard to see much of anything when you’re hiding under the covers while waiting on your father to beat your ass. The monster saved me. Literally. He says I’m his, and he’s waiting for the right time to claim me.

Someone tell him to hurry the hell up.

—-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) by K. M. Avery

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Dog in the Alley switches over from focusing on the relationship between medium/warlock Edward Campion and his partner Dr Mason Manning, orc, witch and respected historian and Edward’s magical growth. That’s was the primary theme of books one to three.

Now the focus turns to Detective Valentine Hart a great character and personal favorite. Hart, an important element in all the prior stories, was changed by the Arcanavirus into a 6’5” violet eyed gorgeous elf who presents himself as a coldly effective, wry, snarky personality who barely tolerates the bureaucracy of the political system and police department he works within. He’s gruff, unbearably rough while being one of the few types of Nids the human population can tolerate simply because he’s beautiful, a elf Fairy Prince of the folklore made a breathing being. Unlike the ghouls, vampires, death witches, shifters and other beings once formerly human who are hated, protested against, and even killed.

Here K. M. Avery explores Hart’s surprising history, reveals the true nature underneath the “sarcastic , cold“ persona Hart uses as a shield,

and brings in a shatteringly horrific case that both ties into the previous stories and yet adds another layer of the growing abuse that the Nid population is suffering under.

Avery also introduces several characters that are just fascinating. One is the dog of the title. I have a slight issue in that we only get partial foundation for what is a major character. Most of that is in his dog form which, admittedly, is utterly adorable. But the man? Remains a bit of a mystery.

The other is a Tiger shifter. He too is a main character who appears to have a journey in the series but is this the last book? I don’t know.

The ending is somewhat abrupt. Both in terms of what has happened in terms of our detective in his life, professionally. We get a here’s where he is now . And the same hint of a surprise in another direction.

After everything that’s gone on, it’s a light ending for a very serious, heavier narrative.

The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) by K. M. Avery is about one of my favorite characters, Detective Hart. It does a excellent job in making a fascinating character even more richly layered. My only issue is that the author just didn’t completely stick the ending. It didn’t quite live up to the complex, well plotted , parts that went before.

I certainly hope the author intends to go on. It’s a great series and is full of characters and elements that haven’t been fully explored yet.

I’m definitely recommending. This and the series.

Beyond The Veil series:

✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1

✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2

✓ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3

◦ The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) m

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil, #4) by K.M. Avery

Description:

Some days, an elf can’t get a break.

I’m overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, and up to my lavender eyeballs in missing and murdered shifters. To make matters worse, I’ve acquired a dog.

Sort of.

He’s not actually a dog. I don’t know his name or anything about him other than the fact that he’s mostly hairless and is blind in one eye—and he’s a witness to one of the unsolved shifter murders that’s keeping me up at night. We found him at a crime scene, injured and scared, and I just can’t make myself lock him up for obstruction of justice, even though I probably should.

He won’t shift back, so here I am with a dog that isn’t a dog following me everywhere and eating off my plate every time I turn around.

The weirdest part is that I’m not sure I want to go back to living without him constantly underfoot.

A slow-burn M/M Paranormal Shifter Romance
Book 4 in the Beyond the Veil Series

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: A Purpose That Restores Us (The Magi Accounts #3) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.75🌈

The Magi Accounts is a dark, brutal urban fantasy series. It’s a ugly universe of constant warfare between aliens coming through a human made rift and world governments trying to prevail against them using any and all mean possible.

For an unrecognizable US government, it’s meant that they’ve been treating the magi (magical human beings) like slaves, war fodder, and war tools. And worse. Subjecting them to the most horrific abuse, housed in breeding compounds, tagged and collared, little more than test subjects.

Several of our most beloved characters are magi and we go through some gut wrenching, horrific events with them in these books , including attempts of sexual assault and actual torture that brings home their dire situation in this dark universe.

Believe in the trigger warnings here.

Next on the low species list as regarded by the US government is shifters. While also in need of them as soldiers in shifter/magi teams against the powerful aliens arriving through the rift, the US government treats them barely better then the magi. They are tagged but have a hard won autonomy the magi could never hope for.

Notaro has built a remarkable tale of pain, horror and heartbreaking relationships amidst a war that only seems to be escalating, as a new enemy, made up of humans and witches comes for both the aliens and the shifter/magi population.

I fell in love with the growing found family that started with the bonded dyad magi pair, Madeo and Jude, together since early childhood. Traumatized, abused, sent to war as children as weapons, they trusted, with excellent reason, no one but themselves.

Now they are not only a part of Cosmo Ono-Nai’s pride, but Madeo is blood-bonded to Cosmo and his Alpha mate. So much change, almost more than either magi can emotionally handle after their abusive past.

Notaro’s stories have been building on the complicated bonds within the Ono-Nai pride and its success with helping the characters grow into a different person who sees perhaps a future with a relationship and a hope they never anticipated.

That’s a glimpse of lightness through the darkness we finally get to see here but not before some new horrors are visited upon the teams and characters as they fight against the Red Cloak conspiracy and new aliens , even dangers from within.

This is an exciting, suspenseful, dark series. It’s full of haunting moments and characters that stay with you. And each new story manages to bring an expansion on every level. From the series arc themes of slavery, species bigotry, child sexual assault, PTSD, loss and it’s ramifications, and so much more to the incredible growth the characters are able to demonstrate, emotionally and magically.

I always look forward to the next book. With great anticipation and a bit of fear. Because with each bit of hope we and the characters are allowed, it always comes at enormous personal cost.

Onward to the next story and this outstanding series step forward.

I’m highly recommending it and this. Read them in the order they are written for character development and plot.

The Magi Accounts:

🔹The Scars That Bind Us #1

🔹The Shackles That Hold Us #2

🔹A Date To Impress Him #2.5

🔹A Purpose That Restores Us #3

🔹A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday – Dec 20, 2022

🔹An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magic Accounts 3.5 – 8//2023

🔹A Ruse To Unchain Us: The Magi Accounts # 4 – Aug 29, 2033

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Purpose That Restores Us by Michele Notaro – Goodreads

Description:

Dark witches here, bloody witches there, evil witches everywhere.

At home, my life is amazing, thanks to my boyfriend, Cosmo Ono-Nai, and his wonderful family that I’ve become a part of. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.

But work is a different story.

All anyone’s talking about is the Red Cloth this, the Red Cloth that. I can’t escape them, and all I really want is to find someplace the witches can’t reach, take my family—my pride—there, and hide them away from the world.

But I can’t. I’ll do everything in my power to protect them, and everyone else, from the building threat. There’s this dread building in my chest about what’s to come, and I have a feeling the Red Cloth is planning something big. I only wish I knew what so I could keep Cos, Jude, and the rest of our family safe.

A Purpose That Restores Us is a 118K novel and the third book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts. It’s recommended to read the series in order because it has an ongoing storyline, but there is NO cliffhanger.

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

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

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