Category: Shifters, Weres

Review: Night Owl Bridge (A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche #2) by Seanna Kelly 

Rating:  4⭐️

Another urban fantasy short story that fits in the Sea Wicche universe, it’s a sequel to Night Owl Books, a introduction to Orla, a Eurasian Eagle Owl shifter who owns Night Owl Books, a late night bookstore she runs out of her house on the outskirts of Monterey. 

Less bookstore, more Orla’s personal enormous library where she occasionally sells a book or two, but mostly reads according to her owl’s nature, from 6 pm to 8 am every night. 

A mystery and a woman in need of help intruded into her territory and brought a shifter sheriff and his group of paranormal investigators to her bookstore.  

Now another mystery and missing dog brings the sheriff and the paranormal investigation team back into Orla’s life. The missing dog belongs to an elderly longtime customer she’s grown fond of and the hunt leads her to a greater sense of danger.

This is another very short story but beautifully written and each scene and character is so well defined and crafted.

I haven’t had any time yet to seek out the Sea Wicche series this miniseries fits into but it’s absolutely on my radar and TBR list. 

A definite winner. 

Love the covers. 

Interconnected series:

Beginning with:

Sea Wicche (5 book series)

A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche (2 book series)

Night Owl Books #1

Night Owl Bridge #2

Buy link

        Night Owl Bridge (A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Owl shifter Orla’s quiet life of reading is once again disturbed. This time, Nick—bear-shifter, cop, and possible boyfriend—asks her to help him investigate an odd disappearance at a local bridge. Orla can’t see anything amiss, but she definitely feels something off. The bones she spies under the bridge lead her to believe they’re dealing with a bigger problem than Nick suspects. Orla must once again put down her book and help save her little corner of the world.

NYLA

Publication date

February 27, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

61 pages

Book 2 of 2

A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche

Review:  Devils and Deadly Deals (Hunters Hollow Book 4) by Arden Steele 

Rating: 4.5🌈

Of the three series in Arden Steele’s connected universe, I find Hunter’s Hollow to be the most interesting. The characters have complex histories, and often dangerous pasts that follow them into their new lives here. 

Much like the original series, each has a fated mate, instant connection relationship story between the two main characters. What I appreciated here was that there wasn’t an instant love or in heat sort of connection. More an acknowledgment of its existence and let’s see what happens type of thing. A very different kind of story from previous books and it makes sense given the dramatic circumstances under which both Sammy and Dominic Rivas are operating. Each has their own individual investigations that need to be conducted, highly dangerous ones with short time frames.

The suspense and emotional moments are well written and the drama is ramped up to new levels as each character becomes more invested in each other’s lives and the outcome of their quests.

I think this is one of the best of the series. A excellent story and another recommendation. 

Cover Art by Poisoned Ink Studios

Another recommendation!

Check out the full list of same universe connected/crossover series and stories below.

Blackhaven Manor (14 book series):

  • Purrfect Harmony #1
  • Night and Fae #2
  • Dragon It Out #3
  • Grin and Bear It #4
  • Pixie Little Liar #5
  • Dead Over Heals #6
  • Silent Knight #7
  • Pain in the Ice #8
  • Walking a Tight Rope #9
  • Royally Flocked #10
  • What The Hex? #11
  • Dewitched #12
  • Draken the Rules #13
  • Bitten in Stone #14

Sequel/adjacent  series:

Hunter’s Hollow:

  • Angels and Anarchy #1
  • Beauty and Bad Blood #2
  • Curses and Casualties #3
  • Devils and Deadly Deals #4
  •  

Happily Ever Afterlife (3 book series):

Definitely Dead #1

Dead Ringer #2

Dead to Rights #3

Buy link

 Book 4 of 4: Hunters Hollow 

Blurb 

Everyone in Hunters Hollow has a story. Some are running from a past that won’t stay buried. Others are searching for a new beginning. For Sammy Leeds, the truth resides somewhere in between.

Opening a bakery in the bayou was supposed to be the first chapter of his happily ever after, and for a while, it worked. Until a single phone call reminds him that family is complicated and his freedom is only a temporary reprieve. 

Maybe trying to start a new life on the smoldering ashes of his old one hadn’t been the best idea. 

Dominic Rivas doesn’t make promises, and he damn sure doesn’t make mistakes. Yet the moment Sammy enters his life, he’s suddenly in danger of doing both. Alpha to a pack of hardened outcasts, he’s built a reputation on a foundation of bad ideas, but falling for a changeling with trusting eyes and a sweet smile might be his worst one yet. 

Callous. Remorseless. Savage. He knows what people say about him, and frankly, they aren’t wrong. While gentleness and mercy don’t come naturally, things like loyalty and integrity run as deep as his magical roots. Nobody messes with the people he loves and lives to talk about it.

Sammy needed a hero. Instead, he got a wolf with trust issues and violent tendencies. 

But with fear mounting and time running out, he’s just desperate enough to make a deal with the devil.

Peccavi Press

Publication date

May 16, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

241 pages

Book 4 of 4

Hunters Hollow

Review: Dire Threat (The Austin Wolves #1) by C. P. Rider 

Rating: 4⭐️

Dire Threat, the first story in The Austin Wolves series by C. P. Rider, is set in the same universe as Rider’s Sundance series, which came out first. So much of the characters and events mentioned here are from major happenings and storylines that occurred during those stories. 

The threats that come to Texas are those carrying over from the Sundance series and the horrors of certain characters situations. Crossover characters, like the Alpha Juan Martinez, who was first introduced in the second Sundance novel, when he came visiting his friend the Alpha in Arizona. 

The real threats (government and otherwise) to the paranormal community, layered across shifter territories, and brought various members together. And continues to do so with the second series. 

Siren Emmaline Spirett is still traumatized by her past, her captivity and time under a deadly paranormal organization that has left permanent damage to her and her wolf shifter brother. 

This novella sets up a new location and continues the story for survivors of the past ordeal and deadly agency, and how the tragedy affects them and their relationships.

It’s a crossover story and series but it’s not entirely necessary to have read the Sundance series, although it helps.

I enjoyed Emmeline but find that Alpha Juan Martinez is too stalker for me to connect with. I far prefer the mage to the shifter, complicated to pound the chest if you were. 

The story has terrific elements and lots of narrative energy to keep the reader engaged with the characters and the plot. 

Recommended. 

Cover design by Danielle Fine, By Definition

The Austin Wolves Series (4 book series)

Dire Threat #1

Dire Warning #2

Dire Straits #3

Dire End #4 

Buy link

 Book 1 of 4: The Austin Wolves Series 

Blurb 

An Urban Fantasy Romance NOVELLA

Siren Emmaline Spirett thought she’d escaped her violent past when she rescued her wolf-shifter brother and fled a deadly paranormal organization. But when her past not only resurfaces but snatches her off the street and holds her against her will, she realizes it might not be so far behind her after all.

Wolf shifter Juan Martinez is the alpha leader of Texas’s largest and oldest pack. Intelligent, protective, and controlling, he’s faced down more than one murderous paranormal group. But, while he’s not the sort to go looking for trouble, he never backs down when it comes looking for him—or his people.

Emmaline’s brother Noah is one of his people. However, Emmaline is not. She has no intention of remaining in Austin and even less intention of joining his pack.
So why is he moving heaven and earth to find her?

If you enjoy urban fantasy with slow-burn romance, fast-paced action, and impertinent magicals, consider picking up a copy of DIRE THREAT, Book 1 of The Austin Wolves Series.

Please note: This is a long NOVELLA. Book 2 will be a full-length novel.

VC Group, LLC

Publication date

December 1, 2022

Language

‎English

Print length

136 pages

Book 1 of 4

The Austin Wolves Series

Review: Night Owl Books (A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche #1) by Seanna Kelly 

Rating:  4⭐️

Both books in this mini series are excellent introductions to the author and Sea Wicche universe, which the majority of the characters are a part of. 

At 89 pages, Kelly quickly lays out her intriguing main female character of Orla, an extremely rare Eurasian Eagle Owl Shifter. Shes settled in Monterey, California, after the deaths of her parents, her background and theirs remains unclear except for certain elements. 

She’s been raised in relative isolation due to her nature as an owl shifter as well as her needs determined by being autistic.  She’s happiest surrounded by  her enormous personal and ever growing library that she turned into a bookstore. A old huge Victorianhouse/bookstore, Night Owl Books, open only from 8pm to 6am, that rarely sells any books or sees any customers, but allows Orla plenty of time to read or fly around all the territory she owns around the house. 

Orla is fascinating, and on target as shifter where the author has done an excellent job in incorporating the physical and natural history species details into the character. She’s throughly believable in her role as both a woman happily withdrawn from the world and an owl soaring through her territory. 

 The invasion into her home by outsiders is both realistic and shocking in its own right. Upsetting her carefully constructed calm existence in multiple ways. 

I would like to have had more pages to explore the storyline , the actual villain’s identity, and all the new characters, who are actually crossovers with the other series. 

The side characters, small portraits of a few wonderful people who are returning customers of Orla’s and her relationship with them, that’s a dynamic I’d love to see more of. 

Overall, charming, interesting and over way too soon. 

Interconnected series:

Beginning with:

Sea Wicche (5 book series)

A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche (2 book series)

Night Owl Books #1

Night Owl Bridge #2

Buy link

        Night Owl Books (A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Orla is an owl shifter, so her bookstore Night Owl Books is only open from 8pm to 6am. She gets very few customers—other than a couple of insomniacs—and that’s the way she likes it. Customers tend to interrupt her reading. All of that changes one night when a terrified woman runs into the bookstore, followed by two bear shifters, a werewolf, and a psychic wicche. Poor Orla’s night is about to be far less quiet.

Publisher

NYLA

Publication date

March 4, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

89 pages

Book 1 of 2

A Story in the World of the Sea Wicche

Review: Untethered Magic: An Urban Fantasy Thriller (The Realm of False Gods Book 1) by Steve Higgs

Rating: 4⭐️

Untethered Magic is the first book in The Realm of False Gods series by Steve Higgs and although I think it was well written, I don’t think I’m going forward with the rest of the series.

There’s not much to the world building. The reader is given to understand that the general human population doesn’t recognize that there’s a magical/other paranormal element existing, even when multiple kidnappings and murders start to occur. 

The location is in Bremen, Germany so everything/everyone is , naturally, German, from their names to the various law enforcement agencies. The main character. wizard detective, Otto Schneider, is a strange man.

One, for some reason, he believes he’s the only magical person in existence. Just because he hasn’t met anyone else like him. 

Ok that’s pretty funny actually in its mentality.  And it’s indicative of the narrative issues here. 

There’s actually more interesting characters here. One is a fantastic woman police officer who believes in Otto and his powers to the detriment of her career. She’s got a large, loving husband and family as support. The other main character is a werewolf of enigmatic history and identity. He’s got his own journey ahead. Really liked them both. 

Paranormal beings start popping in to drain, and murder humans. Others are kidnapped. Otto is drawn into the scene and investigations for his own agenda. 

It’s a paranormal action thriller with kidnappings, murders, disbelieving police departments, and demons with evil intentions.  And only occasionally did I feel engaged with the characters. And that was towards the final chapters. 

The ending of this book left me feeling unsatisfied.  It was irritating to me how the main character was handled by the author as well as the lack of follow through on important side characters at the end. 

As my books are bought and aren’t arcs, I feel that I didn’t enjoy this enough to justify going through with the series.  And I usually exclude any storylines that involves slavery elements, which this has. 

If Higgs is an author you enjoy, here’s a series for you. 

The Realm of False Gods (11 book series)

Untethered Magic #1

Buy link

        Untethered Magic: An Urban Fantasy Thriller (The Realm of False Gods Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Today’s tasks:

1.Escape from secret organisation’s underground cell

2.Recruit a snarky d-bag werewolf to help

3.Invade the demon realm and rescue a little girl

For wizard detective, Otto Schneider, magic has always kept him out of trouble. Now it’s working in reverse …

… and if he doesn’t get himself killed, his partner probably will.

March 6, 2020

Language

‎English

Print length

194 pages

Book 1 of 11

The Realm of False Gods

Review: Over the River & Through the Wood (The House of Graves Series Book 2) by M.M. Crumley

Rating : 4.75 ⭐️

I really don’t know how I missed this author before, she’s astonishing. 

Over the River & Through the Wood makes Tessa Graves’ situation ever more precarious, the horror and ever present danger that the Patron threatens to her mental and physical state, and those around her is increasingly terrifying. And the hidden files of her father brings the truth of exactly how evil and vicious he and the Patron he as well as all the men of her family have become. 

It is a race to uncover who the Patron is, vs the mental pressure and physical force he’s bringing against her, the files she and Ollie and her grandmother are trying to fix and outside forces who have their own issues.

 

The deepest emotional struggle is that of Tessa, who, with help, has come to realize exactly what her father has done to her and her mind since she was 13. The missing memories, the chunks of her life, in fact, her life and consent, that was removed from her, until now. Grief, rage and loss is there  and the fact that she has no idea has to interact with others. And we are with her, in her head each second of every moment of every heinous act of her struggle to regain control of her mind and body . It’s gritty, raw, and utterly heartbreaking 

At the end I found I couldn’t stop, grateful that this was a finished series and kept going. The suspense, the intensity and, frankly, the building heartbreak, as Tessa lets a small circle of people into her life and heart even as the Patron is trying to dig in further for control, well, tissues are something to have around. Be warned.

Darkness is everything here, laughs a minor thing. The characters are brilliant. 

I absolutely love them. Binging is everything.

Connected Universe and crossover series:

The Immortal Doc Holliday Series (21 book series)

The House of Graves Series (6 book series)

Ghost Guy Series (2 book series)

The House of Graves Series (6 book series) :

Three Little Graves & the Big Bad Wolf # 1

Over the River & Through the Wood # 2

FIRE BURN & CAULDRON BUBBLE BOOK 3

A HUNTING, A HUNTING WE WILL GO BOOK 4

AND HE WALKED A CROOKED MILE BOOK 5

HOLIDAY SPECIAL: DECK THE HALLS BOOK 6

Buy link:

        Over the River & Through the Wood (The House of Graves Series Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Tessa Graves’s to-do list: Find her lost memories, kill the Patron, and restore honor to the House of Graves, if such a thing is even possible… 

The Cadwel incident did not go unnoticed, and as a result the Graves gals and Curtis Nash may be up a creek without a paddle. Old clientele are seeking to insure they don’t end up like the Cadwels by removing Graves, Graves, and Graves from the picture, permanently. And the only way to keep the Hidden government off their case is by solving one for the Tetrarch. (Never mind that it’s an unsolvable cold case from before Tessa could tie her own shoes.) If that wasn’t bad enough, Tessa is discovering that her mind is far less her own than she realized and that the most dangerous threat to her family may be her… Can the House of Graves survive as the power of the Patron takes hold? Dive into a hidden world of magic and mayhem to find out now! Available in print, eBook and audiobook formats, OR read FREE with Kindle Unlimited and listen FREE with your Audible Subscription!

The House of Graves is a new series with all the nail-biting-mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and supernatural action that you’ve come to expect and demand from bestselling author M.M. Crumley. So if you’ve been looking for a fun ride, jump on, because this is the series for you!

Lone Ghost Publishing

Publication date

September 23, 2023

Language

‎English

Print length

326 pages

Book 2 of 6

The House of Graves Series

Review: Three Little Graves & the Big Bad Wolf (The House of Graves Series Book 1) by M.M. Crumley

Rating : 4.5 ⭐️

I honestly dislike when Amazon or the author’s publisher goes overboard in its marketing efforts for a story, needlessly I think, to say things like “laugh-out-loud humor” or “among the best female fantasy books”.

Because first I enjoy making my own impressions, especially if the writer is new to me, as Crumley is here, or it is realistically not true. This isn’t the best female fantasy story ever but it’s absolutely terrific in a horror story, PNR, thriller manner. 

Crumley brings the reader into the story at the funeral for Tessa Graves’ father. Standing at the gravesite, she’s the last Graves now in the powerful, old family firm of Graves, Graves, and Graves. A man apparently mourned but none but herself. 

Turns out with excellent reason. 

Step by harrowing step, the author shatters Tessa’s well constructed, calm and orderly life. Her life and her household, when her “crazy aunt” and her “unstable butterfly” grandmother move back into the family mansion she’s inherited, along with the butler who’s been living there for centuries. 

But the horror arises when evil is discovered. Not one but two villains (one deeply in the shadows) and  the beginnings of the heinous acts they have committed.

There is a series prior to this one, The Immortal Doc Holliday Series , and those characters figure greatly here in this one. And there’s a carryover plot from this series into the Doc Holliday Series in book 17 I believe. 

The writing is detailed, emotionally charged and very terrifying/horrifying in the dark physical and mental trauma that the main character is enduring constantly. To say that I was hurting for her and those who cared for her is saying the very minimum. 

Incredible storytelling and series. Yes I’ve finished it. Binged it in a day. Highly recommended.

Connected Universe and crossover series:

The Immortal Doc Holliday Series (21 book series)

The House of Graves Series (6 book series)

Ghost Guy Series (2 book series)

The House of Graves Series (6 book series) :

Three Little Graves & the Big Bad Wolf # 1

OVER THE RIVER & THROUGH THE WOOD BOOK 2

FIRE BURN & CAULDRON BUBBLE BOOK 3

A HUNTING, A HUNTING WE WILL GO BOOK 4

AND HE WALKED A CROOKED MILE BOOK 5

HOLIDAY SPECIAL: DECK THE HALLS BOOK 6

Buy link:

 Book 1 of 6: The House of Graves Series 

Blurb 

Working as an investigator for the supernatural elite means living by three simple rules: don’t ruffle feathers, keep the clients (vampires, shifters, witches, etc.) happy, and never give them a reason to want you dead. Simple. Unfortunately, Tessa Graves just can’t seem to follow the rules. And that’s why 300 bloodthirsty wolf shifters are hot on her trail. Adding insult to injury, her newly-retired aunt and feisty grandmother have decided to become her new sidekicks… and roommates… and life coaches whether Tessa likes it or not. Can these three strong-willed women survive each other long enough to avoid being torn to shreds?

Review; Earp & Chandra (Sundance, #2.5) by C. P. Rider

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Earp & Chandra is an excellent novella in the Sundance universe. It establishes the characters of Jedidiah Earp, a 70 year old Gila monster shifter full of regrets, and his ex-assassin partner for the night, Chandra Smith, a hyena Alpha in her 20’s but as fearsome a predator as they come. 

They are hunting for poachers in the desert territory of their pack and the story unfolds in an unexpected direction. 

It’s not exactly a standalone as many of the characters around them are the main characters from the Sundance series and this fits perfectly into the slot between stories.

But as providing further depth and insight into these remarkable characters and their own stories? It’s a fascinating read and great story .

I love every single bit of this and each interaction between Chandra and Earp, so fun, moving in their own way. 

A definite favorite here. 

Cover design by The Book Brander

Related to:

Sundance series 

Buy links to the book/series:

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comThe Sundance Series (5 book series) Kindle Edition

Online Book Clubhttps://onlinebookclub.orgEarp & Chandra: (Sundance, #2.5) by C.P. Rider

Blurb 

A SUNDANCE SERIES NOVELLA

Seventy-year-old Gila monster shifter Jedidiah Earp has spent decades perfecting two skills: biting first and asking questions later. The desert scrub around Sundance, California, is his domain, and he knows every rock and ridge like the back of his scaled claws.

Chandra Smith is an entirely different kind of predator. The alpha hyena shifter may only be in her late twenties, but her years as an assassin taught her everything about tracking enemies—and making them vanish without a trace.

When paranormal poachers start hunting in their territory, the cantankerous old lizard and the lethal ex-killer form an unlikely alliance—and friendship. What begins as a simple mission to eliminate the traffickers becomes something neither expected: the discovery that the strongest bonds aren’t always forged through blood, and that sometimes family finds you in the most unexpected places.

EARP & CHANDRA can be read as a standalone adventure or as part of the Sundance series. It takes place betweenSUMMONED (Book Two) and SABOTAGED (Book Three)

VC Group, LLC

Publication date

April 21, 2020

Language

‎English

Print length

110 pages

Review:  Operation Fuego: PNR/Special Forces/Military MM Fiction (Operation Volcano Book 3  by Annabella Stone

Rating: 4.5 🌈

“OPERATION VOLCANO IS BASED OFF THE OLD IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF FIONN AND THE FIANNA.

Magic, legends, and a brotherhood who’ve been waiting for their High King!”

Annabella Stone writes vividly and meticulously about those who have fought and brotherhood of soldiers, the tight loyalty of the unit and their commitment to each other in her many terrific military series.

But this is my favorite. Stone’s Operation Volcano series combines her Special Forces military forces storytelling with a mirror realm of mythological Irish warriors , two sets of believable soldiers and tight brotherhood of warriors who find their hearts love. Their Grá Croí. One from each side who will battle for the other.

This is a military action story and these men, whether they are soldiers, snipers or a Hound of Fionn, see action on the battlefield. Guns and swords, teeth and bombs, bloody and realistic in its scope and its ability to convey the sounds and chaos of battle. 

Reaper, Number four of the Special Forces unit, has been hiding a deeply personal secret, one that has scarred him physically and emotionally. An abusive relationship from his recent past. 

So during his team’s stay in Tír na nÓg, when Hound of the High King of the Fianna, Cian Mac Dian Cecht, tells Reaper that he’s his Grá Croí, or fated mate, that’s the last thing Reaper wants to hear. 

All the ways these two come together, the struggles, the respect, and the long journey to love is such an amazing read. It includes battles, naturally, a new paranormal aspect for Reaper that I hope is more fully explored in the future, and hints for the next couple coming forward.

It’s richly told, full of fantastic details, especially in the great halls of Fionn, when the the smells of venison hangs heavy over the whole room, the sounds of music and the drums send the blood rushing, and the reader is transported into another world. 

Just incredible.

Don’t miss out on the Irish Guide and the information the author has on the characters and series at the beginning.

A fantastic book, grand series and one I’m highly excited to recommend. 

Cover Design By: Golden Czermak

Operation Volcano :

  • Operation Magma #1
  • Operation Caldera #2
  • Operation Fuego #3 – Reaper’s story 
  • Operation Strato #4 – Sept 30,2026

Buy link

        Operation Fuego: PNR/Special Forces/Military MM Fiction (Operation Volcano Book 3)

    

Blurb 

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒, 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒!

A warrior from the past. A SEAL running from his. And a bond that can destroy them both.

US Navy SEAL Michael “Reaper” Rodriguez has faced down terrorists, survived ambushes, and cheated death more times than he can count, but nothing prepared him for the ancient warrior who just declared him his fated mate.

Hound of the High King of the Fianna, Cian Mac Dian Cecht, has been waiting centuries to find his Grá Croí. Now that he’s found him, he isn’t about to let a little thing like Reaper’s stubbornness stand in his way.

“Our courting will become the songs of the bards and the legends of the Seanchaí.”

With the full moon just days away, Reaper and Cian must navigate a minefield of ancient grudges, modern threats, and their own damn pride.

The clock is ticking.

“You can fight it all you want. But you’ll lose, or we will both die when the full moon comes.” 

Reaper doesn’t believe in fate, and Cian doesn’t do rejection, but when their worlds collide—one steeped in modern warfare, the other in myth, legends, and magic—their connection becomes a battleground neither wants to escape.

Magic, Legends, and the bond of the Grá Croí.

Publisher

Embers Romance LLC

Publication date

April 30, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

306 pages

Book 3 of 4

Operation Volcano

Review:  Midlife Demon Hunter (Forty Proof 3 by Shannon Mayer

Rating: 2.75⭐️

I tried. I tried really hard. And I’ll get around eventually to writing my review for Midlife Fairy Hunter, book 2.

But this book, Midlife Demon Hunter is where I stop. With the series and the author. 

I’m done. 

And it’s not because there’s not some good elements here or creative aspects of the storytelling. But at its foundation, there’s some very problematic things that, imo, will keep me from going forward. 

They circle around how the main character of Bree, her perspective on ageism and gender, and her relationship with men. Specifically the men in her life here in the series. 

She’s in her forties but acts as though she’s someone who is in her sixties or seventies, viewing herself as elderly. Yet also excuses the “flirtatious/jump their bones “ way she interacts with men as due to her “hormones” acting up as though she’s in heat. Which is honestly offensive. Normal healthy (whatever you choose it to be) sexuality doesn’t seem to be part of the narrative here. 

Don’t get me started on that poor gay werewolf. That’s another issue here. 

Additionally, Bree is someone who, no matter what a man has done to her, against her, she’s excused their behavior and actions. This includes some really reprehensible actions. There’s three men, each of them have currently lied to her, been abusive physically and or mentally, and are involved in shady activities. But she’s highly aware and hot for them, physically engaging with them.

Here, Cody, who disappeared for a week without any communication (as has another one, Crash) reveals he’s the person responsible for her despicable ex-husband’s knowledge of the otherworld, which he then used to strip Bree of everything she had. But oh no, Bree says it’s not Cody’s fault. Even absolving Cody of his  abusive behavior towards her because he’s related to her ex. 

All this while cuddling. Just no. 

Between the ageism, the excuses for abusive behavior and seemingly continuous support of patriarchal values (Crash , the Fae blacksmith “saves” a female character by making her his slave), this is a series, character, and author that I can’t go forward with.

The problematic outweighs the good here. 

That might not be the case for everyone but it is for me. 

There are many other authors and series that have the same elements but without the issues I’ve found here. I’m working my way through those. 

The Forty Proof Series (9 book series):

Midlife Bounty Hunter #1

Midlife Fairy Hunter #2

Midlife Demon Hunter #3

Midlife Ghost Hunter #4

Midlife Zombie Hunter #5

Midlife Witch Hunter #6

Midlife Magic Hunter #7

Midlife Soul Hunter #8

Midlife Vampire Hunter #9

Buy link

        Midlife Demon Hunter: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel (The Forty Proof Series Book 3)

    

Blurb 

Goblins and ghouls and magic, oh my! Hang tight to your britches, this laugh out loud adventure is about to light you up!

Ousted from the Hollows Group, the shadow world has officially taken notice of me.

With loan sharks sniffing around and knocking on my door, I need to figure out how my ex-husband pushed all his debt onto me, because it stinks of black magic and back alley dealings.

Until I can get some answers there, I distract myself with a new job—working for a goblin. The job is as simple as hiding some paperwork for him. Only . . . someone else wants what he gave me. And they are playing dangerously dirty to get what they want.

Throw in a lovesick bigfoot, a siren going through menopause, a demon next door, and two hot guys vying for my attention, and you’ve got my life in a nutshell.

Well, that is if you don’t count on Robert showing up and saving my bacon again. Which he has to, because this time . . .this time I’ve really put my foot in it.