It’s the introduction to Kali James, a setup novel and it takes its time getting there. Specifically, spending so much time on the fact that she’s a costume designer and wears vintage styles and expensive clothing. So instead of building layers of world foundation or setting, we get clothing. A little bit would have been fine.
Kali is unaware of the fact she’s a necromancer, so the whole ghosts following her everywhere or asking for help while she ignores them, seems a bit ludicrous. That it takes a witch to say basically “ hey, hon, you’re a necromancer” feels far fetched .
There’s a murder, mystery and a goat shifter who gets her own series. For me , I find her annoying because she’s got little history but takes zero responsibility for her actions. So the author doesn’t give us much reason to connect with her.
I’ll give it another book but there’s so many more out there that read similar to this that it’s not a standout in my opinion.
Reluctant paranormal finds out there’s a whole different world out there. Plus she’s got a goat shifter bff. Investigates murder mystery. And ghosts!
Two things are impossible to walk away from: death and vintage clothing. Trust me. I’ve tried.
Moving across the country and opening a costume shop was supposed to be my chance for a normal life. What I wanted was a fresh start, one where the biggest danger would be a carelessly wielded sewing needle.
What I got was the ghost of a murdered reporter demanding justice, a stony-eyed enforcer I’m not sure I can trust, and a power I can’t control. Oh and my new goat shifter BFF? Hell-bent on trouble.
Now, my hunt for the killer threatens to expose a supernatural community determined to safeguard its secrecy at any cost. My only chance to survive is to embrace the legacy I’ve spent my life running from.
Fastening the Grave is the first book in the completed Kali James series, featuring a reluctant necromancer who finds herself in a world of werewolves, vampires, and ghosts. If you like your urban fantasy with quirky characters, a side of supernatural mystery, and an opposites attract slow-burn romance, this is the book for you.
I picked this up because I thought the title was clever. The rest of the series are also terrific word plays.
Maya Daniels’ book introduces Hazel Byrne, a witch from the prestigious Byrnes family, the only one who doesn’t have any powers. Maya is the last of her powerful line, her parents deceased, and she’s been brought up by her grandmother, the head of the political magical coven in charge.
Hazel is a tough character to connect with. She’s young, quick to act and quicker to anger. Impulsive, clothed in the latest high fashion, the author wants the reader to see her as an engaging personality but often portrays her in scene after scene whining and acting like an entitled child. So just the opposite happens.
We’re told she and her best friend Sissily, were bullied horrendously as children by others in the coven, which resulted in Hazel’s current attitude. But we don’t see enough evidence or any of the dynamics to make it real.
The grandmother’s relationship with Hazel doesn’t ground the reader either.
There’s enough fast paced drama and action that the story moves quickly. And new elements are layered in to keep the reader’s attention going.
The character development will be key here in this series. Hazel is going to have to grow past this stage she’s in here to remain a relatable character imo.
Check it out if you like urban fantasy mystery and young woman main characters with witchcraft elements.
I was born into the Byrne bloodline—pure witch royalty. Too bad the universe skipped me when it handed out actual powers. No spells. No spark. Just attitude, fists, and a resting witch face sharp enough to cut glass.
With zero spells to my name, I became the coven’s best demon-slayer just to prove I wasn’t useless. Spoiler: no one was impressed.
My grandmother looked at me like I was a broken heirloom. The other witches either pitied me or wanted me gone. Only Sissily—my loud, loyal, batcrap best friend—stuck by me.
I’m Hazel Byrne, and magical disappointment was kind of my thing. Right up until I blew up the coven library.
That little disaster woke something inside me. Turns out I wasn’t powerless—I was sealed. Bound by blood pacts and buried secrets. And now that my magic’s out, every supernatural creep with a grudge wants a piece of me.
Now demons are circling, the coven’s in chaos, and I’m not sure if the magic inside me will save us—or tear everything apart.
If fierce witches, feral magic, and unhinged best friends are your thing, you’ll love Resting Witch Face. It’s the explosive first book in the Chronicles of Forbidden Witchery, a paranormal women’s fiction and urban fantasy series packed with chaos, heart, and hexed high drama.
What an unexpectedly great find. Different on so many levels, Ryan Attard is another new writer for me and his main character is a powerful Frost Mage. Shes just also happens to be bisexual, angry and lonely. Freydis, Frost Mage and town Executor, carrying out justice for the supernatural world in Vigrid Falls. When she’s not going to college.
Freydis, Frost Mage, is a conflicted character, whose backstory is slowly revealed over the course of the story as events unfold. Incredibly and unashamedly strong, she works out to maintain her physique, which is intimidating to match the reputation she’s gotten as someone who is cold and emotionally hard. Which is far from the truth.
Attard lays out the complex universe and supernatural politics of Vigard Falls where underneath the beautiful town and college campus where the wealthy students attend to their university studies, is another otherworldly city, complete with transportation systems.
It’s there where Freydis operates and reports to her boss on her daily enforcement of the laws and takes on whatever missions she’s given.
It’s werewolves against mages, against vampires with other fae or mythical beings thrown into the narrative.
Including small side stories of romance or crushes (Freydis is bi so while most of her romantic interests are women in this book I wouldn’t rule out that she might have a vampire in her life in the future. Romance really isn’t a main aspect of the book, it’s primarily about a larger supernatural suspense or intrigue element that is going to continue throughout the series. And how Freydis’ developing powers fit into this.
I absolutely got into the characters and the various aspects of the town and world building.
Can’t wait to see where the author takes them next.
Vigrid Falls looks peaceful — until you look beneath the surface.
The supernatural runs the world. Mages keep the balance.
Until a shifter is brutally murdered — and the victim’s family wants blood.
Enter Freydis, Frost Mage and town Executor. She’s young, brash, dangerously stubborn… and a college student trying to survive midterms while enforcing magical law. Keeping her double life separate is hard enough.
Then the murder turns personal.
What should have been a routine investigation spirals into something darker. This wasn’t random. It wasn’t simple.
It was planned.
As vampires quietly pull people off the streets, shifters call for open war, and the Mage Council hides behind ancient arcane law, Freydis uncovers a conspiracy that could tear Vigrid apart. In this city, secrets are currency. Trust is weakness. And magic is a weapon.
Good thing she’s angry.
Cold Fury is the gripping first book in the Frost Mage series — a sharp, noir-tinged urban fantasy packed with supernatural politics, deadly alliances, and a heroine who hits back harder than she’s hit.
I started out reviewing each one as I read this series. At the beginning, as the character of Daisy, as she finds out she’s a Death Counselor, and proceeds through a committed relationship with the Grim Reaper, changes jobs, has a child, evolves, gains friends and family, all while facing constant otherworldly battles and divine deadly challenges.
In every single novel which ends with a cliffhanger and someone who is dear to her in a perilous situation.
At first that’s fine. The snappy dialogue, funny scenes and great characters make up for the fast paced storyline that doesn’t really stop for any real relationship development.
But after 7 books or so, I started to think that maybe the characters and readers needed a break from the constant tension and battling between Daisy and whoever the high villain was this time (seems to switch up every 3 or 4 books leading up to the biggest “villain “). Give every character some sort of downtime to see the relationships as they are without any real drama happening.
Also the author starts making chapters 1 and 2 of each book a repetition of the last chapters of the previous novels. So if you are like me, you are just flipping pages here. That’s feeling a bit skimpy. These books aren’t long to begin with. Now new material is even shorter. It’s down to a novella.
Not feeling like it been shortchanged just there but aspects of the characters are sped up for the storyline. Infants become children, children become adults, and how would that make a reader feel invested in their characters in any way? They’ve effectively become removed from the narrative in a layered manner. I was far more interested in the Four Horsemen.They were hilarious and well written.
It got so I enjoyed reading them but if you asked me which of them stuck out after the fifth book I couldn’t tell you. They run together.
So read them as entertainment. I’m putting down the first one as the book contact. And listed the rest. It’s a complete series that’s finished quickly.
I had to take a break from reading it all at once. Just found the exhausting from the relentless events. But picking it back up after reading other books works.
This paranormal women’s fiction follows a widow navigating life at forty when she discovers an unexpected ability to see and interact with ghosts seeking help. As a self-appointed “Death Counselor,” she uses superglue to repair transparent residents and guides the deceased through unfinished business. Her world expands beyond earthly concerns as angels, demons, and other immortals reveal themselves, transforming her quiet widowhood into a supernatural balancing act. A romance develops with the Grim Reaper while cosmic threats escalate from personal crises to world-ending stakes.
Blending midlife humor with paranormal adventures, the series explores themes of aging, identity, and found family through a protagonist who faces hot flashes alongside hellish adversaries. The narrative voice is conversational and self-deprecating, with wine and close friendships serving as anchors through increasingly chaotic situations. From helping ghostly squatters to confronting celestial powers, the story celebrates women embracing new chapters with sass and resilience, proving that supernatural abilities and personal growth aren’t limited by
I really enjoyed this urban fantasy story. There’s apparently a prequel out there that fills in the background for the main characters here and how she arrived at her current situation. As well as all the other secondary characters interacting with her that come from that prequel.
However , the author gives us enough information about that time period so we’re not at a disadvantage here as the story goes forward.
Olivia “Liv” is a retired fire elemental assassin who at the age of 16 was framed for a crime she didn’t commit. As a result Liv was forced to work for as a Shadow for the Conclave (magical ruling body) for a decade.
Now she’s free, name cleared and she’s back in Kansas City where she’s opening a magic shop. Until her old life comes back to interrupt her new start.
I love so many of the characters that McBride has created for her book and series. The older group of witches, including Liv’s aunt are fabulous and among my favorites. From their environmental battles with toxic gardeners to their hula hoop classes, every scene memorable and often hilarious. They’re real, intelligent people who care about Liv, going about things in their own ways.
Rafe, a werewolf black op who is the enemy to lovers maybe aspect of the story and series, is suitably flawed, and mysterious in his own ways. Where he fits in is left open-ended, which works.
There’s an ongoing storyline that starts with the reason Liv was framed, but eventually moves on into a much larger, more complicated plot that involves demons, hell fire, and prophecy at the end.
The end book leaves the reader immediately wanting the next story to see what happens with the characters and their lives. I am thoroughly hooked.
I had certain reservations about why Liv was so determined to do something on her own but later on, she answered that during a heartfelt conversation with Rafe. It was the answer that I wanted to see her grounded in the reality of the dangers of her situation. That one scene made all the difference.
I now need to track down Inferno Bound for the history of this series and main character while waiting for the next one to be released.
New author discovery and series unlocked. Fantastic! A winner!
This is set in the same universe as another of L.A. McBride’s series but as it’s the first book I’ve read of hers, that’s a series for another time. But the characters do crossover.
Ten years as a supernatural assassin did not prepare me for customer service.
Once I was called the strongest fire elemental in a generation. All that got me was sentenced to serve as a supernatural assassin for a crime I didn’t commit. Now that my name’s been cleared, the powers-that-be cut me loose.
Their only rule? Keep my head down and leave missions to other Shadows.
Sinking my blood money into a magic shop, I try to be a good little witch. I run my shop, join a geriatric coven, teach fire hula hooping classes on the side, and adopt a klepto packrat as my familiar. Avoiding Rafe Blackwell, the golden-eyed lone wolf charged with keeping me in line, is harder. And ignoring the vampires attacking witches in Kansas City? Impossible.
When bodies turn up with veins full of the same blood additive that landed me that ten-year sentence, I can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Going rogue risks my newfound freedom, but the alternative is a city overrun with demons and Nectar-addicted vampires in a feeding frenzy. When my fire magic fails, it’ll take every skill I earned as a Shadow to take down the Nectar ring despite the enforcer determined to keep me out of it.
But if running a witch shop has taught me one lesson, it’s how to face anything with a potion bomb and a smile.
Fire Marked is the first book in the Alchemy of Witches series. If you love fast-paced urban fantasy with a witch ready to burn down the establishment, quirky found family, and a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, this series is for you.
It had been a while since this terrific series has been updated and through author’s comments at the end, I found out that, sadly, her long-time friend and co-author, Jilleen Dolbeare, had passed away last October 2025 from cancer.
Jilleen Dolbeare wrote many great urban fantasy series as well as the wonderful collaborations with Heather G. Harris. She’s going to be deeply missed by so many. My sympathies to her family and friends.
I’ve loved this series from the beginning when Bunny first arrived in hidden paranormal town of Portlock, Alaska. She was a newly turned (against her will) vampire with a rescue German Shepherd in tow, and became a part of the town and small Sheriff’s Department, solving mysteries and magical crimes in a very different way, involving mythical creatures and fantastical monsters.
And finding love and a mate along the way with a vampire Prince.
The characters are beautifully written, the mysteries are often heartbreaking and complicated, and stretches over multiple books. Even the smallest of roles and characters can become endearing, and pop up later to fill in narrative holes left by characters who have been lost. It’s done well, emotionally satisfying and makes the story feel more like a real community.
The Vampire and the Case of the Ghastly Golem is a great story. Full of loss, grief, high suspense, mystery and multiple storylines. Bunny and her co-workers and friends face one murder after another. These are people who have deep roots within their community. Harris makes the reader feel that loss, the impact just as deeply.
As the hunt for the killer continues, along with the investigation, there’s another important plot line happening. Connor’s father’s coming to the town. He’s got major plans for Connor, maybe for Bunny too. None of them good or in keeping with what either one wants.
That continues to be the next novel’s theme.
Who the villain is surprised me. And the outcome left other questions in place to be answered by the characters and story further down the series itself.
Heartbreaking, well written, detailed and beautifully executed.
I’m so sorry for Heather G. Harris for having to go on with this series without her friend and writing partner. But she wrote a very wonderful story that felt like both of them were very much together here in every part of the story and character.
Highly recommended. And go check out the other books by Jilleen Dolbeare as well as the charity that’s been set up in her name for Indie Fantasy authors .
bodies are bad. Dead bodies that break the laws of magic are worse.
Finding a dead fox in someone’s garden isn’t normally a police matter. Finding a dead fox shifter who should have turned human the second he died? Yeah, that’s more my department.
Remmy has no wounds, no blood and no obvious cause of death. He’s simply dead, trapped forever in his fox form. Apparently there’s only one thing that can do that to a shifter: drain every last drop of magic from them.
Great. Because what Portlock really needed was another magical murderer.
I’ve got an eidetic memory, a badge and two extremely questionable sidekicks. One is a traumatised werewolf who prefers being a German Shepherd, and the other is an ever-growing lynx with a criminal disregard for personal property. Between us, surely we can crack one impossible murder.
Then some local teenagers report seeing a huge creature stalking through the woods, covered in branches and leaves with blazing red eyes.
And red eyes are always bad.
I’m starting to think our mysterious monster and our dead shifter might be connected, which means I need to find whatever is prowling Portlock before anyone else ends up magically drained.
Unfortunately, murder isn’t my only problem. Connor’s father, the Vampire King of the US and an all-round arsehole, has announced he’s coming to town. And he’s bringing the other vampire leaders with him.
So now I have a supernatural killer to catch, a creepy forest monster to find and the most powerful vampire in America heading straight for my home.
Portlock has survived murderous shifters, deadly conspiracies and more supernatural disasters than any tiny Alaskan town has a right to. Hopefully we can survive this too.
Preferably without anyone else turning up dead.
Dive into this fast-paced urban fantasy series if you love mystery, humour, found family, and a slow-burn romance.
Don’t miss the rest of the Portlock Adventures!
The Vampire and the Case of her Dastardly Death, a prequel.
The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf, Book 1.
The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren, Book 2.
The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee, Book 3.
The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine, Book 4.
The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist, Book 5.
The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas, Book 5.5.
The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag, Book 6.
The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid, Book 7.
The Vampire and the Case of the Ghastly Golem, Book 8.
I absolutely love this story. Tea and Tarot is a side story in Annabel Chase’s completed and fantastic urban fantasy Crossroads Queen series.
It does help to have read that series to have a firm understanding of these characters and a foundation for their histories , the town and world building. Honestly, this makes me want to pick up that series and start over again.
That said, this is a wonderful story. We dive right back into the town and characters by way of the wonderful Tarot Mages we got to know in the Crossroads Queen series.
The fabulous cousins Camryn Sable and Gunther “ Gun” Saxon, and Indigo Briggs, all three former members of La Fortuna, a secret and ancient society of mages skilled in the art of tarot magic. Now along with Claude, the revenant, they are residing in Fairhaven. Cam and Gun are private investigators and , the focus of this story, Indigo, is trying to open a tea shop.
But Indigo is having trouble getting started launching her business. Then another mage appears with a surprise business proposal. Boone Fincher needs a fake fiancée that his strict ill father will approve of so Boone can get his inheritance.
Yes, it’s a fake fiancée trope storyline. And it works so well here. Chase has crafted a wonderful narrative with a great relationship between Indigo and Boone that’s got chemistry, vulnerability and shared background damage.
There’s also a side plot about Indigo’s past history, a dramatic event that comes back to haunt her and how that involves many other important characters from the Crossroads Queen series that just makes this even better and adds layers to Indigo’s story and her future adventures.
I really hope this is just the beginning of more stories like this in the Crossroads series universe. I adore the characters so much.
She walked away from the life she was born to live. Now she has one chance to build the life she’s always wanted.
Indigo Briggs was one of the most feared tarot mages in the business—until a job went wrong and she walked away from it all. Now she’s in Fairhaven, a quirky supernatural town with secrets of its own, trying to build something quieter: a tea shop, a fresh start, and a life she might actually deserve.
The only problem? Her new venture needs funding she doesn’t have.
Enter Boone Fincher—charming, infuriatingly handsome, and in desperate need of a fake fiancée. His father’s will requires him to marry a mage with a powerful lineage, and Boone is running out of time. The arrangement is strictly business: Indy gets the money she needs, Boone gets his inheritance, and when it’s over, they part ways.
Simple.
Except nothing about this is simple. Between a blind vampire with unsettling insight, a revenant who likes to lend a hand, a mysterious bone monster that wanders through the crossroads, and a ghost from her old life determined to unravel everything she’s built, Indy is starting to suspect the universe has a plan she didn’t envision.
Then the past she thought she’d escaped comes looking for her, and Indigo must decide whether she’s willing to risk everything for the future she’s finally begun to imagine—one that includes a love that was never supposed to be real.
Tea and Tarot is a Crossroads Queen Side Quest Novel—an enchanting cozy urban fantasy standalone with fake dating, witty banter, found family, and the slow-burn realization that happily-ever-afters are worth believing in.
I made the mistake of reading this without reading the prequel, Magic Muffin Magic, and felt that Pumpkin Spice Spells was decidedly lacking in background knowledge and in world building for the story to make sense and the reader to feel any connection.
After I backtracked and read the prequel and got up to speed, Pumpkin Spice Spells was a better story. Ivy’s new start in her deceased aunt’s bakery in Harvest Hollow is slowly becoming her own, venturing into her own recipes and making her own mistakes, all with the help of her best friends and Nutmeg.
The rest of the town is still vague in community and shops, details of which I’m sure the author will fill in as events happen. But it’s the town inhabitants and descriptions that give the reader a glimpse into its own character and a sense of “identity “ that small towns have about them.
So far that’s lacking here. Surprising in a book that is very wordy. It’s too “told to” and not enough, ambiance, I guess to make up for it. Something is missing here, and I’m finding it hard to figure out what.
Whatever it is that is the missing ingredient, it’s what is keeping me from being 100 percent engaged in the lives of the people here and the storyline. I’m just too removed emotionally to care about the mystery and the characters involved.
Welcome to Harvest Hollow, where the pastries are sweet, the magic is real, and murder is always bad for business.
Ivy Merriweather never planned to come home. But when life in the city goes up in flames, she returns to Harvest Hollow to help save her family’s bakery, Witchcakes, just in time for the town’s busiest season… Halloween.
Between pumpkin spice cupcakes, enchanted recipes, and a chonky orange cat named Nutmeg who is far more trouble than help, Ivy already has enough on her plate.
Then a member of the Halloween festival committee is found dead behind the bakery, and suddenly all eyes are on Witchcakes.
The police chief is more interested in keeping the peace than solving a murder. The town rumor mill is working overtime. And Ivy’s kitchen magic keeps warning her that the wrong person is about to get away with it.
To clear her name, protect her bakery, and keep Harvest Hollow’s spookiest season from turning deadly, Ivy will have to follow the crumbs, trust her instincts, and hope Nutmeg does not destroy the evidence first…
Peterman’s storylines and characters are developing beautifully, giving realistic growth to the depth that they’ve unlocked in themselves as events has shown.
It’s funny, sometimes painful, heartbreaking and joyful, depending upon what characters are involved here, ghost squatters, members of Daisy’s new found family or someone completely different.
And hilarious when it comes to those detailed “facts” that Tim and Jennifer are experts at spewing out during get togethers. I’ll admit, I really look forward to those. They make my day and I really need to start writing them down. In each book.
Gideon and Daisy are well on their way to an established relationship but twists are a fact of the series as are cliffhangers.
Read swiftly through to the next book for all the answers. I’m way ahead at this point. Loving this series.
Midlife’s a bumpy journey. The ride is a freaking rollercoaster. The crisis is real.
With my life back to normal—normal being a very relative word—one would think I’d catch a break.
One would be very wrong.
With an Angel gunning for me and a Demon in my bed, life couldn’t be more complicated. Not to mention, I’m going to have to make a rather large life choice.
Do I want to live forever? Does anyone?
Forever is a very long time.
Whatever. I’ll think about it tomorrow… or next week… or next month. As long as I have my girlfriends, my dogs, a super-sized case of merlot and my deceased squatters, I’m good to go.
My midlife crisis. My rules. If it doesn’t kill me dead first, I plan to have a most excellent midlife crisis.
I’m a absolute fan of author Sara Bourgeois and am reading several of her terrific series right now , from a paranormal murder mystery set in a small mysterious town in the Arizona desert (a real favorite) to another unfolding in a witchy town of Cauldron Hollow. So when I see yet another book, the first one in a new series, yes, I immediately pick it up.
Especially when the cover is ablaze with fall colors and elements. Hooked.
That said, I don’t find I was as connected to the story and characters here as I was with the other series. Bourgeois loves a woman who is in the process of restarting her life. Whether it’s because she’s been fired from her job, or because her relationship has gone downhill, whatever the reason, she’s needing a jumpstart to a new stage in her life.
And the plot gifts her with a shop or something from a deceased relative, fill in who it is, and what it is, that allows the woman to relocate and begin again. With new powers. And a familiar.
Here it’s a bakery , a cat familiar, a magical town that leans into its reputation, and Ivy Merriweather returning to Harvest Hollow where Ivy takes over her aunt’s bakery shop, Witchcakes and Nutmeg, the aunt’s familiar.
Of course, soon after, there’s a murder, several mysteries to investigate, and recipes to bake for the next festival.
The friends that Ivy have in town make a nice foundation for the main character to settle into but the slow burn romance aspect is nonexistent here. You can see where the author wants to build the storyline but it’s a real stretch right now.
This is a nice outline at best. I feel her other series have better depth and deeper layering, even at the beginning.
Welcome to Harvest Hollow, where the ovens are warm, the magic is old, and one chonky orange cat has already decided who belongs.
Ivy Merriweather only came back to Harvest Hollow to settle her grandmother’s affairs and decide what to do with Witchcakes. Clean the bakery. Make a plan. Leave before anyone calls it a homecoming.
Then she finds an orange cat sleeping in a proofing basket like he owns the place.
Nutmeg is nosy, bossy, underfoot, and somehow always exactly where he should not be. He is also determined to help Ivy reopen Witchcakes for Harvest Hollow’s fall market, whether she asks for his help or not.
But when Rosemary Merriweather’s signature harvest spice tin vanishes, small acts of sabotage start piling up. Someone makes it very clear that they do not want Witchcakes back in business, and Ivy realizes that her return may have upset more than just the “official bakery cat”.
To save the business, survive the market, and solve the mystery of who is trying to push her out, Ivy will have to trust her instincts, trust her magic, and trust the ridiculous orange menace currently sitting on her recipe cards.
