Tag: author Mell Eight

A MelanieM Review: Dragon Dilemma (Supernatural Consultant #3) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

dragon-dilemma-by-mell-eightDane doesn’t get along with his parents. He hasn’t spoken with his mother in years and he’s never met his father. Somehow his mother finds out about Mercury and the kits anyway, and it’s difficult to throw one’s mother out when she happens to be a powerful, dangerous witch.

She isn’t the only uninvited guest either, and these ones are even less likely to take no for an answer—and much more likely to leave everyone dead if they don’t get what they want.

Mell Eight’s Dragon family and its growing pains and mysteries is back in Dragon Dilemma, the third  in the Supernatural Consultant series.  Half god/half..well we aren’t exactly sure Dane (Dragon Consultant), his spouse Mercury, an investigative agent and their adopted group of dragon kits have had another  year of relative peace but that comes to an end when a letter from  Dane’s mother arrives, the powerful Isle Crone.  She’s come to make the acquaintance of her “grand kids” and her son in law and Dane is filled with trepidation.

But also arriving fast behind her is another mystery, one that will be another thread in the long running underplot, that of who has been kidnapping and experimenting on dragons and their kits?

I have always loved how Mell Eight has contrasted the family element here with the horrific scientific experimental one.  One light-hearted and full of love, the other dark and full of nightmares.  In Dragon Dilemma, the story is more heavily family oriented and I’m just fine with that.  I love the family dynamics here.  The children’s powers and personalities continue to grow and manifest themselves in various ways, whether its through daily chores or confronting evil at its worst.  So does  Dane’ and Mercury’s happy partnership/marriage.  It strengthens, surviving even the appearance of Dane’s imperious and powerful mother.

With each new story, the author adds to her world building, the circle of associates and friends that surround Dane, Mercury and their kits, and the bigger mystery of the evil behind the abduction and experimentation on the dragon children.  Eight both satisfies our needs to rediscover and enjoy meeting this family again but prods us towards the next in the series with a curiosity born a little out of fear for some of our favorite characters.  Its a perfect balancing act and one she accomplishes in a fairly  quick read.

Love dragons? Wizards, magic, and a big old mystery, romance and more?  Grab up the Supernatural Consultant series by Mell Eight.  Start at the beginning and work your way through.  I’m on my way to book four, Dragon Detective (Supernatural Consultant #4).  Watch for that review shortly. I highly recommend them all.

**
Cover  art by Alisha Akeju has elements from the story on it and matches with the others from the series.

Sales Links

Less Than Three Press

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Book Details:

ebook, 88 pages
Published June 1st 2016 by Less Than Three Press

A MelanieM Review: Magnified (Magnified #1) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Magnified by Mell EightOn her deathbed, Yani’s Great Grandmother reveals she has one last story from her past to tell: that of his Great Uncle Yakov, who helped her survive the Nazis. It’s a story of vampires and werewolves he can scarcely believe—and in the wake of his Great Grandmother’s death, Yani realizes the story is far from over.

The world of vampires and werewolves isn’t a safe place for a human, even one with Yani’s unusual family history. With danger at his door, the smart thing would be to run, but much like his Great Grandmother Yani has never been very good at running away—especially with his loved ones and the whole world at stake.

Magnified is the first in a new series by Mell Eight and a most unusual series its starting out to be.  A supernatural tale, it has all the typical elements one expects to find such as vampires, werewolves, succubi and more but one of its main characters and an important secondary character are Eastern European Jews, one of whom barely escaped the trains and gas chambers of WWII.  How they did it and their Jewish traditions they carry with them always as part of who they are is a central element to this story and I expect of this series.

I found this whole aspect of the story a wonderful layer not often found in my stories (see Astrid Amara’s Carol of the Bellskis (Bellskis, #1) among others). Not only does Mell Eight use Yani’s contemporary family’s religious celebrations as part of her important need for us to understand how strong this family is and their ties to each other and their faith but later on starts to pull in other threads that deepens the religious element when a mage with links to Kabbalah appears.

We start off the story as Yani’s great grandmother is telling the story of her childhood. Its the 1940’s and the swift move by the Nazis is occurring as they round up Jews and move them to the internments camps and the ovens.  We are propelled into these awful times and a heartrending if sometimes confusing narrative, one that quickly becomes clearer by the page.

The timeline moves along quickly as Yani ages from a young boy to a young man of college age.  The jumps in time are handled easily and are necessary to get to the action required by the meat of the story.

That’s the introduction of the world of vampires, werewolves etc to our young student.  Its an explosive one and one that was my only main issue here.  I would have expected a much larger reaction from Yani.  His reaction felt almost anti-climatic after all he went through. And it continued to bother me throughout the rest of the story.

There is a lot that the author is packing in here.  There are two main couples that are intended to flow into the next story and carry on the series.  It was almost too much for this book to handle.  We really didn’t get a background on the secondary couple, perhaps that’s coming in the next book.  But they had such an important part to play here that they came off less substantial without that background.

There is a very scary villain here, a true monster. One I can’t wait to see taken down.  I wonder how many books its going to take?  I will be there for every one.

Mell Eight packed a lot into this first story.  Religion, family, romance, mystery, horror…its a writer’s cornucopia and it almost exploded the seams of the story on element overload.  So much here to absorb that it got confusing at times. But in the end, Mell Eight pulled it off…sort of as there is a HFN ending.   I recommend this unusual story, its quite a ride even though I’m not quite sure where we’re going yet.

Cover by Aisha Akeju‘s cover contains relevant objects to the story.  I’m just not a fan of these simplified covers, just they don’t draw me in.

Sales Links   – Pre Order (others will follow)

Less Than Three Press

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: September 7th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN13 9781620048535
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Dragon Deception (Supernatural Consultant #2) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Dragon DeceptionA life full of children and mysteries to solve doesn’t leave much time for relaxation or each other, something Lumie wants to help fix for Dane and Mercury by way of arranging a picnic. But good intentions and life rarely cooperate, and Dane knows it’s only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

Hell turns out to be someone using Quicksilver’s name to destroy buildings, but there’s no way to tell whether the enemy is an impostor or a trap—and only way to find out. Hopefully it won’t mean missing the picnic.

Dragon Deception is the 2nd in the Supernatural Consultant series but it flows so smoothly from Dragon Consultant‘s events and timeline that it hard to realize that it takes place five years later.  Mercury and the dragon kits are now at home with Dane, making them quite the family.   Mercury has a new job as an agent with the SupFeds, also known as the Federal Bureau of Supernatural Investigations,and a new abrasive partner whose on everyone’s bad list.  Their first case?  A new investigation of arson with someone using the name of Quicksilver, a name with huge ramifications for Mercury, the kids and Dane.

Meanwhile, brilliant kit Lumie wants his “dads” to go on a special picnic for some alone time, something Lumie thinks they need and never gets with their jobs and kits always under foot.  I loved the interplay between growing dragon children and the way that their needs are being met by Dane and Mercury under one roof.  Mell Eight creates a wonderfully traditional dragon culture and then devises creative methods in which Dane actively works to meet those need in a modern world.  Her own version of setting them up and knocking them down and it working perfectly.  The family interactions and relationships are so strong and remain among my favorite parts of this story.

But there’s still that heinous organization to be tracked down that’s still kidnapping young dragons and they continue to play a huge part here.  I’ll say no more, but these mysterious scientists and the conspiracy around them is a thread that runs from book to book, that with each revelation sees deeper, more serious consequences for Mercury, the dragons kits and in fact all dragon kind if not stopped.  Its this element that makes me wish the books were longer.  There just isn’t enough room to explore all the events that happen so quickly here to the full extent I would like to see happen.

Mell Eight packs her stories full of excitement, imaginative elements, gripping storylines and characters you need  to know more about.  This is especially true of the dragon kits that have come about due to the nefarious government experiments like Lumie and Alloy, just a few to make mention of.  As they grow, so do their strange powers, and there are dragons we have just to meet.

When the book ends, I think some readers unused to Mell Eight’s stories will be perplexed as to the lack of any traditional ending.  Its one of the reasons I think this series would work more as a serial than as a series.  A mission comes to an end but not everything is wrapped up.  Pretty much status quo for this author.  Those of us familiar with her style know to just sit back and wait for the next one to arrive.  If you find this frustrating, you might want to wait until the series is done and then binge read through. But if this doesn’t bother you, than powered by a love of dragons, mystery, and terrific characters, grab up this series and get started right away. So far its only two short books, it’ll be a breeze to catch up before the third arrives.

I can’t wait.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju.  I love the artist but her covers for this series are still something of a disconnect.  They are too bright and happy for some of the very serious themes encountered inside the books, including dragon kit experimentation, kidnapping, and more.  Its cute with the dragon prints and its a part of the plot, still…

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | ARe | Amazon will be coming

Book Details:

ebook, 111 pages
Expected publication: February 10th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620047125
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series Supernatural Consultant :

A MelanieM Review: Dragon Consultant (Supernatural Consultant #1) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Dragon ConsultantThe FAA has been struggling with dragons attacking their planes, and hire Dane, a supernatural consultant, to look into the matter. What Dane finds in the woods is not quite the problem he expected: a group of dragon kits and their sick father.

When he learns the real reason the family was in the woods, his case only grows more dangerous, and while Dane is plenty experienced at watching his own back, taking care of baby dragons and their handsome, distracting father almost makes danger look easy.

I love Mell Eight.  This author’s imagination never fails to take me places guaranteed to hold my attention and make me wonder about the boundless possibilities that could exist if magic were let loose.  And of course, there would be dragons.  All sorts of dragons and in this case dragon kits.

Dragon Consultant is really one set of mysteries after another.  A mystery of identities, a mystery of espionage and government coverup plus so much more.  Unbelievably so, it all takes place in 101 pages.  This story is crammed full of things that cry out of fuller explanations and more details.  But what the author delivers is so wonderful, so compelling, that all I can do is beg for a prequel to go along with the sequel that I know is coming.

Most of that has to do with the character of Dane, the supernatural consultant hired to deal with the dragons attacking the planes at the airport.  Of course, he is much more than that, as are the dragons attacking the airport and the situation they are in.  Nothing is as it seems, including Dane.  It takes a while for some of who he is to come out and then it only makes him more intriguing because of the gaps its leaves. Oh, the layers Mell Eight has in store for the readers here.  Peal one back, and there are five more waiting to be discovered.

I think I feel that way about the characters.  There is a mystery about them that we are still waiting to uncover, their backstories are missing  and I think the author has done that purposely so. The father?  His background still spotty. The kits?  They too have histories waiting to be filled in and I am hoping that means that this will be a long and satisfying series.  I am so eager to settle in for the long haul to find out what each kit and/or new egg will mean to the story and universe the author is building.

There is action, suspense, and plenty of drama.  Some of those scenes towards the end?  White knuckle indeed.  But I can’t give out  details because its such a short book it will go into spoiler territory.  The tale moves so quickly, you will fall in love with the individual dragon kits with a swiftness that will make you blink,  and then the you are moving towards an alarming conclusion, then its over…for now.

That one of those layers I was talking about.  You see from the cover, its seem like this might be a goofy, sort of humorous tale of dragon children and their foster father.  Not really.  That aspect is there, of course.  But things are chillingly scary,  there are evil loose ends flapping about at the end of the story (why else would you need sequels), so remember those layers when opening these pages and be prepared for a darned wonderful story!

Its one I definitely recommend, along with its author.  Now I just have to wait for the next book to arrive.  Grab this one up, catch up with me and lets see what the next one has in store for us, the dragon kits and…oh that would be telling.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju is unexpected.  Cute, whimsical but lacking just that touch of dragon magic I have come to expect from this artist.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 101 pages
Published December 9th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620046777
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series: Supernatural Consultant 

A MelanieM YA Review: The Oracle’s Sprite (The Oracle #4) by Mell Eight

Rating:  3.75 stars out of 5

Cover - The Oracles FlameAt just eighteen years of age, Keir became the leader of the army fighting against the usurper king while Princes Edan and Egan led the navy. At his side, willing to help from time to time, was Sprite.

A friendly ghost, Sprite likes to keep Keir company and occasionally play tricks on Keir’s sister. When the Oracle demands Keir’s presence, he expects Sprite to travel with him.

He doesn’t expect the gale that knocks him overboard and into an adventure that might just kill him.

The Oracle’s Sprite adds in the Dragon of the Air to Mell Eight’s imaginative, and wonderful Oracle series.  As with each book, the present Oracle is rebuilding her pantheon of elemental dragons.  Most of the elemental Castes have lost their way, fallen to madness or self preservation, their Dragons gone missing or not found one to be “chosen” to be reborn. The Oracle needs that to change in order to restructure their guilds to better serve the kingdom of Altnoia and deliver it from the dark times ahead.  So the Oracle’s been arranging the Dragons return, manipulating matters , sometimes brutally at the cost to the various Dragons to be, at least that what they  see at the time.  So far, we seen the return of The Dragon of Flame, The Dragon of Ether, and the Dragon of Earth.  Now comes the Dragon of Air.

Our introduction to The Oracle’s Sprite is somewhat different than the rest.  A castle hold has been invaded by a false king’s men and their are killing its inhabitants.  A young boy wakes and manages to steal away with his baby sister. Its a brief introduction to the perilous times and places this book’s timeline exactly along side all the other books. What we don’t start with is the dragon.  Not at first.  That comes a little later and it comes in clues. What Mell Eight gives us is clues, lovely, descriptive clues that pile up everywhere as to who the Dragon of the Air is.  Yes, when he appears, the reader will go “oh, there you are”, but its appearance is welcoming instead of frustrating.

Sometimes  some of my most favorite elements in a Oracle story are the smallest ones.  In this story its the description of the pattern that appears on the Dragon of the Air’s back when he walks out of the Testing Chamber.

“..he emerged from the testing chamber, his hair had paled to pure white and the Dragon of Air was tattooed on his back.

The dragon was formless. His back might have still looked blank if it weren’t for the slightest blurring of the skin, as if an invisible wind was forever etched there.  The Oracle could see a pair of eyes hidden there, as well as a pair of clear wings attached at to a massive body.  She knew where to look  to find the Dragon…”

The Dragon that the boy would turn into as The Dragon of the Air.  I have always loved the idea of tattoos that come alive.  Here the tattoo and the boy are one in the same, two forms, one being.  But its the boy that we will meet first.

Keir and Sprite are the only fully formed characters in the story, there are other minor interesting characters but they don’t get enough time within the plot to make them as multidimensional as they should be.  Still, within the short scenes they appear in, this character is powerful and certainly scary.  I just think the story lost depth by not including more of this character role and reasoning (if any).

While Keir and Sprite are in a sexual relationship (parts that have a funny aspect to it), there is little to no sex n the story, to the point that you could label this a YA story.  Its high adventure, young love, dragons, pirates and a fight for a kingdom.  Come on, who doesn’t love that?  For me, that never gets old.

I did find it ended a little too abruptly, in fact, that has been my main complaint with every book of the series.  All the endings just seem a little rushed.  But Mell Eight’s creativity, her world building and, darn it all, her fabulous imagination that conjured up these Dragons, the Oracle and that Mountain.  Well,  that’s amazing, and now I can’t wait for the next dragon to appear.  That would be The Dragon of Water.  Roll it out, Mell Eight!  You have me on air!

Cover art by London Burden.  The Dragon of the Air is a  tough dragon to portray but  since most of the harrowing scenes take place at sea, this is a fitting image.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three  |   All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Pre order now Amazon links to follow later Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: September 30th 2015 by Less Than Three Press