Tag: cliffhanger

Review: Twice Bitten (Fangs and Fur Book 1) by S.E. Babin

Rating : 4⭐️

I’m a fan of this author so I immediately picked up Twice Bitten, the beginning of S.E. Babin’s Fangs and Fur series. A paranormal tale about a hedge witch who gets mixed up with the politics of the vampire/werewolf conference by way of a traumatic encounter is off to a good start here. 

Babin is excellent at establishing a complex plot that will keep expanding into ever greater detail and often wilder realms and storylines. I can definitely see this happening with Fangs and Fur and the main group of characters Babin is starting out with.

Hint. Thankfully, this author can take the main female character on quite the twisted path with regard to her final romantic partner, so just know it might not be one of the top two atm.

First there’s Alex, a hedge witch working as a barista with a black market apothecary business on the side. She’s an orphan with a “missing” mother and a father of unknown origin. 

Alex becomes the object of an obsessive vampire, Beckett, and ends up in the middle of a mysterious species turf battle between vampire and wolf shifter. That brings in the next major characters and conflicts.

Alric, the Vampire Prime and Silas is the Wolf King, both working on an inter species conference. Until a traumatic event with Alex upsets everything.

I’m not a fan of Alric. He’s got major non consent issues, and frankly red flags plastered around him everywhere. And smacks heavily of another MMC in another series I despised. 

Silas is running a close second. 

Like Leo the chauffeur/bodyguard for Alric. He’s got great potential going forward. 

And Babin, if she’s going to be as consistent as she has in her previous series, will make this an elaborate and exciting journey for Alex, magically and romantically. 

So I’m not going to assume who it might be from the characters at the first story. 

 Very entertaining and a great start to this series. 

Fangs and Fur:

Twice Bitten #1

Bite Club #2 – Jan 11,2027

Buy link 

 Book 1 of 2: Fangs and Fur 

Blurb 

I was bitten by a vampire AND a werewolf. Now everyone wants a piece of me.

I never wanted to be a powerful witch. I’m happiest pulling espresso shots at the Three Beans café and keeping my magic secret.

But trouble is brewing…

When a turf war between vampires and shifters erupts outside the café, I get caught between the irresistibly charming Vampire Prime and the ruggedly handsome Shifter King. As these two apex predators blindly tear into each other, I am bitten, clawed, and left for dead.

My magic flares just in time to save my life, but there are… side effects. Suddenly, I find myself staring at customers’ necks. And feeling suspiciously twitchy before the full moon.

It’s impossible but… am I transforming into a vampire and a werewolf?

The Vampire Prime finds me immediately. Captivated by my scent, he tempts me with danger and luxury. The Shifter King is equally obsessed, and determined to claim me for his pack.

I am caught between them once more—but this time it’s me that they’re fighting over. And since my new blood brings strange new powers, it won’t be long before I’m the most wanted prey in town…

Second Sky

Publication date

August 10, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

326 pages

Book 1 of 2

Fangs and Fur

Review: Soul of Fire (Chaosborn Book 2) by Madeleine Eliot

Rating: 4.75⭐️

“The Chaosborn romantasy series unfolds in a Norse-inspired world where dragon-bonded warriors known as the Drage protect kingdoms from an awakening threat called the Darkness.”

An incredible book that ends with a heart-stopping cliffhanger. What a shocker!

That should be my entire review. 

Because that ending? Absolutely threw me. Didn’t see it coming. 

Everything else leading up? Excellent work, great plotting, wonderful suspense and storytelling. 

I mean I love the characters and how the author has developed both the mythology and the interplay between dragons and their bonded people. Then overlapped that with the political drama that’s impacting their lives. 

But still . Boom! With those twists and unexpected surprises. 

Nope. No, spoilers about what happens to Eise and Arik. 

Madeleine Eliot has crafted an amazing book and series, complete with Norse mythology, language and history as well as Celtic lore and language included. Don’t miss out on her notes for the characters and storylines at the beginning. 

And need that third book right now. Pretty please? 

If you have an issue with cliffhangers (and this is a doozy), maybe wait until the next book comes out and read right through. Otherwise, hang in there with me, and read it right now. 

Highly recommended. 

Cover clipart by Viktoriia Ihnatovets ArtCreationsDesign 

Map design by Lindsey Staton

Chaosborn:

Heart of Chaos #1

Soul of Fire #2

Buy link

 Book 2 of 2: Chaosborn 

Blurb 

Only a soul of fire can stand against what comes next…

The Rift is stirring, and the Darkness beyond it is no longer content to wait.

As the human king prepares for a war driven by greed rather than survival, newly mated Arik and Eisa are pulled into a dangerous web of politics—one that threatens not only their fragile alliances, but the mate bond that ties their souls together.

When the Darkness breaks free, only a soul of fire born once in a generation can stand against what comes next. And awakening that power may cost more than either of them is willing to lose.

Soul of Fire is the second book in the Chaosborn trilogy, an adult romantasy featuring dragon shifters, Norse-inspired lore, and spicy romance.

August 1, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

425 pages

Book 2 of 2

Chaosborn

Review:  Shifting Allegiance (Shifter Lords Book 11) by S. E. Babin

Rating: 5⭐️

I’m not sure how each of these stories manages to get increasingly complex and more devastating by the book but with Shifting Allegiance, Shifter Lords Book 11, Moira’s journey takes a truly dark, intensely horrifying turn of events which ends with a terrifying cliffhanger. 

Babin has created for her Shifter Lords series a case of remarkable characters, including a group of women , goddesses, faes, vampire, otherworldly beings who have close ties to each other through family bonds or friendships that are now so tightly woven together that they are a force of nature and magic. Each woman comes with her own unique identity, often traumatized past and depths of character. The series may have begun with Evie’s journey but these same women have grown and developed over time and as events has changed them all. 

Now they circle and surround Moira as her evil witch mother returns to reclaim her daughter and seed her revenge against her own daughter who escaped from her mother and the tortured life she inflicted upon her. 

I’ve loved Moira from the beginning of the series. She’s been a great character, true friend, one who not only told Evie the truth about her relationship as the toxicity with Caelan was increasing but stayed true to support her. Even though her own issues. 

My heart breaks for Moira here over and over. Especially when Ethan’s past is revealed in the harshest, most tragic way.  And let’s not for Cerunnos’ and his own personal reasons for being in Moira’s life.

Layer upon layer, Babin builds a narrative that is dramatic, deeply rooted in family, trauma, love and devastation. There’s past child abuse mentioned as well as torture. Truly tragic and dark. 

But for all the characters who aren’t redeemable, Babin gives us those who are. Like the goddess Cliome, Evie’s mother, who started off the series in the role of villain and now is a permanent part of the inner circle that surrounds her daughter and friends. And, even Caelan, who I absolutely despised, has made a tremendous turnaround here. 

That’s why this is so incredible and the writing so fascinating and well executed. 

But now I have to wait, probably for another cliffhanger too. It’s just the way this series is rolling. 

And it will probably be one of my favorites. 

It’s one I highly recommend reading right now. 

Cover design by Covers by Christian

Shifter Lords (14 book series):

Shift of Heart #1

Shift of Morals #2

Power Shift #3

Shifting Winds #4

Shifting Resolve #5

Shift of Rule #6

Shift of the Wild #7 

Goddess Shifting #8

Final Shift #9 – finale to Evie’s story 

Moira’s story begins 

Shift Happens #10 

Shifting Allegiance #11 

Shift of Shadows #12 – Nov 17,2026

Karmic Shift #13 – Dec 15,2026

Shift of Fate #14 – March 2,2027

Buy link 

 Book 11 of 14: Shifter Lords 

Blurb 

Moira has spent years outrunning her past. Now it’s finally caught up with her.

What should have been a routine job with Soren goes disastrously wrong, forcing Moira to come face-to-face with the one person she never wanted to see again. As old wounds reopen and long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface, the vampire hybrid must confront the darkness she’s spent a lifetime trying to escape.

Then Ethan becomes the target of a devastating spell.

Overnight, every memory of the connection growing between them vanishes, leaving Moira as little more than a stranger in his eyes. Worse, the magic continues to spread, twisting Ethan’s thoughts and reshaping his reality one lie at a time.

Determined to save him, Moira hunts for the source of the dark magic before it consumes him completely. But the deeper she digs, the more she uncovers a conspiracy tied to her own past—one that threatens not only Ethan’s future, but her very existence.

With time running out and enemies closing in from every side, Moira faces an impossible choice: walk away and save herself, or sacrifice everything for the man who no longer remembers her.

Because some monsters can’t be outrun.

And some futures are worth dying for.

Oliver Heber Books

Publication date

July 7, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

246 pages

Book 11 of 14

Shifter Lords

Review:  Kissed By The Gods (The Eternal Wars Book 1) by Caty Rogan 

Rating: 4.75⭐️

What an unexpected thrilling experience! And why aren’t more readers talking about this book? 

I’m actually surprised by the lack of media attention to given to this fabulous epic fantasy romance . As it’s a romantasy much in the same vein as many of the other highly successful/popular novels like the Fourth Wing series (I do like those) , I don’t understand why this hasn’t found its audience. 

Rogan’s universe and characters are ones I actually find more compelling. Unlike almost every other series and novel these days, there’s no dragon involved. 

However! Here there is a highly dangerous and sentient flying war horse/animal to bond with, one that’s emerges from the void and is equally terrifying as any dragon of recent stories. Honestly, they’re fabulous and here we’re just getting started with their history and powerful abilities. 

It’s the female main character that sealed the deal for me. Leina is an incredible character, compelling from the tragic moment we meet her. She’s fierce, rage personified, full of secrets, damaged by her past yet empowered by them as well. 

And unlike other FMC’s when assisted by the MMC, in this case, Ryot, one of a special group of “gods-blessed warrior” who decides to be her protector, doesn’t need him to be. She’s got a different agenda, perhaps several. And she’s not going to wait for him to go off and save the Kingdom or even go to war. 

That’s on her. And how Rogan develops Leina’s character and powers within the many layers of the story is complicated and believable. In fact, there are many other characters whose growth charts new areas of exploration in this series that’s just as interesting and exciting as those that we started with. 

Ryot’s storyline is partially why this story didn’t get a 5 ⭐️ rating. How the novel ended, with a cliffhanger, wasn’t surprising. And it contains two elements meant to be shocking but are easily guessed at from the events mentioned during over the course of the story. 

Did it bother me? Not a bit. In fact, it made any forthcoming book and relationship dynamics that more fascinating. I can’t wait. 

I’m just upset that there’s no mention of a sequel yet. I adore this book, its universe and especially its main character of Leina. 

More, more as soon as possible. 

Highly recommended. Just amazing work here. And love the flying war horses. What scary sentient creatures!

Grab it up!

Love the covers too. 

Artwork:

Map © Haley MacRae: @hmmr.art Chapter art © schankz/Shutterstock.com 

Cover art and design by Daqri Designs. 

Cover © 2025 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The Eternal Wars Series :

Unwritten by the Gods (prequel novella) 

Kissed by the Gods #1

Buy link

 Book 1 of 1: The Eternal Wars, 1 

Blurb 

She might be deadly, but she is not their weapon. Fourth Wing meets Dire Bound in this captivating romantasy, brimming with romance, deadly stakes, and unforgettable magic. 

 

Survivor. Rebel. Weapon.

 

Leina has spent a lifetime submitting, starving amid wheat fields reserved for the king, standing by while his men crush her loved ones. When soldiers come for her brother, her divine fury erupts in a bloody massacre.

 

She expects to be executed for her crimes—her people have met bloody ends for far, far less. Instead, Ryot, a gods-blessed warrior born to privilege, delivers her to a military fortress renowned for its brutality.

 

There, a gift from a goddess drags Leina into a realm of war, where her survival depends on her ability to ride a winged horse.

 

As Ryot pushes her to master the power she never asked for, a battle rages within her heart. Each lesson, every touch, binds them tighter—but love is a dangerous weakness in a world designed for war.

 

Soon, Leina must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the family she has found…and the one she left behind. Because while her divine gift could save the kingdom, it could also shatter its very foundation.

 

With immersive lush writing, an unflinching heroine, and an inventive fantasy world, Kissed by the Gods is the gripping fantasy debut you won’t want to miss.

 

Featuring iconic romance tropes: 

  • He falls first 
  • Forbidden romance 
  • Found family 
  • Trial by combat 
  • She saves him 
  • Spicy slow burn 
  • Feminine rage

Publisher

Requited

Publication date

December 2, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

619 pages

Book 1 of 1

The Eternal Wars, 1

Review:  The Things Gods Break (The Crucible Book 2) by Abigail Owens

Rating: 4.5🔥

The Things Gods Break , a follow up to The Games Gods Play, is the book in The Crucible series that will make a reader want to absolutely scream at the author at the end. Especially knowing they have to wait for the next book to be released. 

Yes, major cliffhangers happen here. 

No I’m not going to make any spoilers. 

The Things Gods Break is excellently written, has so many fantastic twists and unexpected plot surprises that no one should spoil it for another reader. 

At the end of the first book, our main female protagonist, Lyra and her best friend Boone are trapped  behind locked doors in the underworld prison of Tartarus.  That left Hades on the other side, threatening to burn the entire world to the ground to free her. 

In Tartarus with Lyra and Boone? The Titans. And Lyra is the key to their success in leaving the prison. It’s a succession of seven ancient locks that are that major elements here. The key to freedom for both the Titans and Lyra and Boone. 

So many great aspects of the story. Here Hades and Lyra are kept apart, so we get their development and storylines separated. It’s powerful and will contribute to that ending. 

Owens’ use of Greek mythology and its gods within her series, tweaking it for her own narrative is imaginative and interesting.  They continue to remain compelling figures.

Here the author really dives hard into the characters (and our emotions). As the events and heart wrenching experiences continue to unfold, and the characters become more complex, the unexpected twists pop up. That ending!

The Things Gods Break will read unlike the first, but it’s just as compelling. And now I can’t wait for the next one to come out.

Highly recommended. 

Cover design by LJ Anderson and Bree Archer 

Interior map design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes 

Interior map images by Nadia Murash/Shutterstock,

The Crucible series

Book #1 The Games Gods Play

Book #2 The Things Gods Break

Buy link

 Book 2 of 2: The Crucible 

Blurb 

The gods want her dead…Hades will bury them.

You’d think I’d have learned by now:

Don’t mouth off to deities.

Don’t fall for the King of the Underworld.

And definitely don’t get dragged into a divine death match where I’m the cursed mortal prize.

But here I am—trapped in Tartarus, humanity’s worst pit stop, squaring off against monsters who make the gods look merciful. Titans, twisted by centuries of rage and ruin, are sealed behind seven ancient locks.

And guess what?

I’m the key.

To escape, I’ll have to survive every horrifying trial they throw at me.

To win, I might have to become something the gods never saw coming.

Oh, and Hades?

He’s about to break every rule the gods ever wrote.

Because to save me…the god of death will burn the world.

But if I break free? So do the Titans.

And the world won’t just suffer—it’ll beg for the end.

The Crucible series is best enjoyed in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 The Games Gods Play

Book #2 The Things Gods Break

  • Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
  • Publication date: October 21, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 673 pages
  • Book 2 of 2: The Crucible

Review:  Splintered Magic (Splintered Magic Book 1) by Jillian Dolbeare

Rating: 3⭐️

It’s not a good thing when I think I was being generous with my rating here. My love for The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series by Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare prompted me to seek out individual stories by each of these authors as each has a fairly large number of books/series they’ve written. 

So far I haven’t found the same level of depth of world building and characterization in the individual books as I found in their co-authored series. 

Splintered Magic has the worst female main character yet of the ones I’ve read so far, which is highly disappointing. Especially as everything about her, the circumstances she finds herself in, and the premise of the story are incredibly promising. 

It begins so well with the 40ish recently divorced Brigid Donovan pulling up to her family very old crumbling Victorian mansion/house in the middle of the night.  Towing all her belongings in a rental trailer, she’s just arrived at the house, where long overdue renovations are underway. 

The excellent descriptions of the house, the tall Pacific Northwest woods, and the rutted road leading into the shambles of a house full of memories and a family of construction workers, scrambling to get the work done brings the location and people alive. 

And of course, a huge cat shows up, one that is a twin to the cat she grew up with decades ago on the same house. Huh. 

Magical stuff starts to happen immediately to Brigid. And if perhaps, Dolbeare had gone a different route with the character, say extremely young and sheltered rather than older, experienced woman, someone who’s undergone a recent bitter divorce with a cheating spouse, and left everything behind, than I might have felt differently about the novel and this character’s reactions to, well, everything. 

My biggest issue with the character of Brigid is her lack of believability as a woman. Given her age, experiences and current circumstances, how the author has her reacting in much of the scenes and events here just doesn’t make sense.  If she’d come out of a nunnery perhaps, but even a high amount of tweens/grade schoolers have a better sense of caution and self awareness than Dolbeare has equipped her with. 

She’s come home to a place she’s not been in for quite some time and not communicated with any of the people from her childhood. But immediately they, especially a girl she remembers as being a bit of a bully and mean girl, is automatically a “bestie “ on face value, because she seems nice. 

No one does this. Ever.

Then when everyone, and I mean everybody, from her cat to , yes, another instant old boyfriend she’s decided she’s crazy for , tell her that this person and her entire group are bad bad people, does she listen? No.

Because they seem so nice.  

It’s one incredibly stupid character development or decision making element after another. Poor Brigid turned into a TSTL character almost immediately here, making it literally impossible to take her or the entire story seriously. 

Which is a shame because the series is complete but I don’t think I can handle any more of this twaddle. 

There’s several other magical storylines, all of which are familiar plot lines. A person’s history and powerful abilities are stripped and hidden until they have the strength to handle it.  But again, this part is silly as it isn’t well executed and is full of plot holes the more that you think it through. 

Anyway. It ends on a cliffhanger that a reader could easily see coming. How involved you are here will determine if you go ahead with the series. 

I like the covers .

Splintered Magic – complete series:

Splintered Magic #1

Splintered Veil #2

Splintered Fate #3

Splintered Haven #4

Splintered Secret #5

Splintered Destiny #6

Buy link

        Splintered Magic: A Paranormal Women’s Urban Fantasy Novel

    

Blurb 

He left her with a broken heart… and a crumbling mansion full of magical secrets.

Brigid Donovan’s life is in shambles. Her husband ran off with his secretary, her ancestral home is falling apart, and all she wants is a quiet life in the heart of Oregon’s wild, ancient forest. But when her cat starts talking—and drops the bombshell that she’s the great-granddaughter of a fae lord—Brigid’s life goes from wrecked to downright weird.

She’s supposed to have magic. Power. A legacy. So where the hell is it?

As strange happenings ripple through the town of Kilchis, Brigid discovers her renovation team is a pack of werewolves, her new best friend is a witch, and her family history is a magical mystery wrapped in secrets. To survive, Brigid must reclaim her magic—before it claims her.

Welcome to Splintered Magic—a paranormal women’s urban fantasy full of wit, wolves, and wicked twists

  • Publisher: Vinci Books (February 14, 2023)
  • Publication date: February 14, 2023
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 206 pages

Werewolf shifter fantasy thriller, witch and wizard romance thrillers, 

Brigid Donovan is divorced, adrift, and might be going nuts. Her desire to restore her family’s decaying Victorian Mansion isn’t going well. Mainly because her werewolf contractor is murdered on the job. And the only other choice to take over is the hot, if sketchy, cousin to the local coven’s head witch.

On top of these problems, her fluffy Ragdoll cat is now speaking to her—that can’t be normal, right? He tells her she’s the great-granddaughter of a fae lord, and very powerful. That’s all fine and dandy, but where is her magic?

Her search leads her to discover that her magic was taken from her at an early age and splintered into thirteen pieces of jewelry that she must find, reintegrate, and learn to use all before the local witch coven finds it first—and they play for keeps. 

Luckily, she has a best friend, a Splintercat, a griffin, a teenaged dragon, and an angry werewolf pack to help. Everything should go smoothly…shouldn’t it?

Review:  The Wolf Vs The Monster: The Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth by Lauretta Hignett

Rating:  5⭐️

What a fully immersive and jammed packed story The Wolf Vs The Monster turned out to be.  I was thinking this might be the last book but instead Hignett ramped up the suspense, the plot lines, gave us high action, white knuckle anxiety for our main characters, including multiple anonymous villains, unforeseen events and situations, magical powers and creatures, and a new teenage vampire I absolutely fell in love with. 

This book is a fantasy Toad’s wildest adventure ride with a cliffhanger ending and every single part of the story is fabulous. 

Plus a certain character gets a long overdue comeuppance. 

And other things, huge plot points are revealed here too. 

So it’s absolutely satisfying and that cliffhanger will lead to an amazing story.  So I’m excited to read this next book. 

The Wolf Vs The Monster: The Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth by Lauretta Hignett might be my favorite story of the series so far.  It’s extremely well written, the characters and tightly packed narrative is perfectly balanced, and that ending really adds to the overall momentum here. 

Love it. And it’s a highly recommended book. 

Book Cover by Atra Luna Graphic Design”

Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth:

The Wolf Vs The Vampire #1

The Wolf Vs The Warlock #2

The Wolf Vs The Shifter #3

The Wolf Vs The Witch #4

The Wolf Vs The Monster #5 

The Wolf Vs The Shadow Fae #6 – July 15,2025

The Wolf Vs Santa: A Little Christmas Mystery

Buy link

        The Wolf Vs The Monster: The Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth

    

Blurb 

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the real monsters are…

A strange creature attacked Romeo last night. A huge beast unlike anything anyone has ever seen in Philly before – an alien monster with natural armor, organic high-tech weaponry, and poison dripping from its limbs.

My intuition is screaming at me. It’s telling me the monster is not here for Romeo.

It’s here for me.

The Wolf Vs The Monster is book five in the Hidden City Supernatural Sleuth, a hot new Urban Fantasy series by bestselling author Lauretta Hignett.

  • Publication date: May 15, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 320 pages

Review:  False Morality (The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx Book 5) by Shelby Rhodes

Rating: 5🌈

A cliffhanger ending from the last book delivers , via Shelby Rhodes incredible story, several heartbreaking moments, a great comeuppance for a villain, and , wait, another heart stopping cliffhanger. 

What a hair raising, pulse pumping, white knuckle ride this book is.  It’s everything we’ve come to expect from this series and author and then piled on with a mountain of narrative cherries.  Fabulous!

Rhodes’ has the story five further into the dynamic between Harlow and Foxx, what the ongoing trauma of events is doing to them each and separately. It’s a needed exploration, with these characters, and their dark histories and damaging stories. 

The other characters, the ones we’ve come to love too are focused on here, in ways that will have lasting impact on everyone. And Gavin? Love Gavin. I really needed him here. IYKYK. 

And as if there aren’t already enough words of caution, I’ll add mine. This is probably the most bloody, violent and potentially disturbing book of the bunch. Just Fyi.  Read the warning but these novels have to be read in the order they are written. And honestly, it’s Shelby Rhodes. 

Highly recommended for sheer excitement, sheer excellence, and utter mayhem and madness.  I’m a fan. 

Cover Artist: Beefbeff Art Editor: Emma Luna

The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx:

  • At First Irritation #1
  • Taste of Fear #2
  • Unusual Emotions #3 
  • Thirst Quenched #4 
  • False Morality #5

Buy link

        False Morality (The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx Book 5)

    

Blurb 

Foxx Honeywell here and holding on. You all know where we left off. I suppose I always knew that life often has moments—painful moments—that have you questioning every choice you’ve made that led up to it. Questioning if you had done something a little different, moved just a bit faster, delayed a little less, would the outcome have changed. I’m here to tell you, those questions are bloody pointless! The only question that matters is: how are you going to make it right?!

Well, you know me, I’m sure as hell not going to forget or forgive, and Harlow would laugh at even the suggestion. So, with every fiber of my being, I say, bring on the bloodshed!

Author Note: False Morality is the fifth book in the MM paranormal romance series, The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx, a series that is meant to be read in order. Please see inside or my website for content warnings.

  • Publisher: (April 19, 2025)
  • Publication date: April 19, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 432 pages

Review:  Half Dead (Crossroads Queen Book 8) by Annabel Chase

Rating: 4.75⭐️

I waited until the last book in the series was released to read Half Dead, the penultimate book in the series. That way I could happily breeze right through both books.  Or so I thought. Best laid plans.

Because I keep forgetting that Chase can break my heart, that when dealing with death, demons, ghosts, and the underworld, things happen that are traumatic and I’ll need a break before I can finally finish the books. 

And yes, this ends on a cliffhanger even. 

Still, after I finished sobbing in parts, admiring the sheer artistry of Annabel Chase’s work and plotting, that even a new character that made a minuscule appearance in, yes, an incredible scene, left me absolutely bereft, I was absorbed in Lorelei’s story.  From a totally different angle of an outsider, now Lorelei is firmly connected to the people and paranormal beings of Fairhaven, characters we’ve gotten to know and care deeply about. 

Kane is a huge part of this narrative, and as his and Lorelei’s relationship has evolved, so does any threat to him become a threat to her as well as the town. 

The Corporation continues to expand its presence and entity’s evil impact. It’s truly a fascinating and awful villain. 

Half Dead (Crossroads Queen Book 8) by Annabel Chase is a fantastic book. Only the cliffhanger aspect caused it to miss a 5-star rating.  This hurt my heart, made me realize how amazing the storytelling is, and incredible the characters.

Time for the finale.

Highly recommended!

Great cover art and design. 

Cover by Trif Designs, which has changed to reflect the fact that the word has gotten out that Lorelei Clay is a demigod. So great touch with that head halo/crown addition. Love the castle in the background. 

Crossroads Queen – series complete :

Dead to the World #1

Dead of Night #2

Dead Last #3

Dead Wrong #4

Dead Weight #5

Play Dead #6

Dead Heat #7

Half Dead #8

Dead End #9 – series finale 

Buy link

        Half Dead (Crossroads Queen Book 8)

    

Blurb 

Lorelei Clay wants to play offense for a change. She’s tired of hiding from the past she didn’t even know she had. With a promising relationship and new friends in a small town she loves, Lorelei wants to be free to live life on her terms, without the threat of death or capture hanging over her.

Kane Sullivan hasn’t exactly been hiding from his past—more like he moved without a forwarding address. Unfortunately for him, the boss he tried to overthrow never gave up the search.

And now the former prince of hell has been found.

Kane wants to do whatever it takes to keep his problems from endangering his found family. He knows better than anyone what Lucifer is capable of.

Lorelei is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the demon she loves, but if she can’t convince him to get in the game, they risk losing everything they’ve built together.

When the supreme demon finally makes his move, Lorelei realizes there are some nightmares that even she can’t control.

You don’t want to miss Half Dead, the penultimate book in the Crossroads Queen urban fantasy series.

  • Publisher: Red Palm Press LLC (January 2, 2025)
  • Publication date: January 2, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 288 pages

Review:  The Games Gods Play (The Crucible Book 1) by Abigail Owen

Rating:  4.5⭐️

Another new series and book by another new to me author, Abigail Owen’s. The first in Owen’s The Crucible series, The Games Gods Play is reimagining of Greek mythology and the Greek pantheon crossed with a Hunger Games along with a slow burn romance that ends on a cliffhanger. 

I really enjoy how different Authors put their own vision into the recognizable Greek mythology to make the Gods and Goddesses as well as their respective relationships acquire a new histories and dynamics. Owen’s book does this while retaining some of the old foundations and essential elements key to the Greek pantheon. 

I quickly found myself engaged by the premise and main characters. Primarily Lyra, a young woman cursed at birth and part of a Guild of Thieves. She’s one of the 13 human champions chosen by a Greek God or Goddess. They then represent each of them in The Crucible, a series of trials set by the same Gods, the winner of this will have unimaginable honors and their God will rule Olympus for the next 100 years. 

That’s the barest of things. But the storyline is so great. Primarily due to the fact that the other main character is Hades, God of the Underworld, and Lyra already has an unfortunate relationship with the Gods. 

The trials that the champions have to compete in are well crafted, terrifying, and make for a fast paced storyline, full of exactly what you might expect, characters that don’t survive, bloodshed, and heartbreak. 

As Lyra is navigating the intricacies of Olympian pantheon dynamics, and that of her fellow champions, there’s a slow burn romance trying to happen with Hades.  

Owen’s has some terrific support characters including Charon and Cerebus the three headed dog of Hades. 

I could wish that more of the other characters were better layered or the Gods/Goddesses had been more defined, but it’s a wild ride with a good many mysteries involved and a new twist on the Hades/Persephone relationship mythology that I loved. 

Actually, it’s more Percy Jackson than Hunger Games. I believe it is fine for young adults as it is for adults. Very engaging , well written, and highly entertaining.  I’m onto the next book when it’s available to see what happens! 

A definite recommendation! What a wonderful book.

Cover art and design by Bree Archer and LJ Anderson, Mayhem Cover Creations

The Crucible series:

The Games Gods Play #1

The Things Gods Break #2 – September 25,2025

Buy Link

        The Games Gods Play (The Crucible Book 1)

    

Blurb 

The gods love to play with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them…

I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.

Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.

The worst god. Hades.

For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.

So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?

I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?

Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.

  • Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (September 3, 2024)
  • Publication date: September 3, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 645 pages