Tag: DNF

Review:  Fangs and Front Pages (Ravens Hollow Investigations Book 1) by Ella Stone 

Rating: 2/ DNF

Just no. Couldn’t get past a preposterous female lead character. The more I read the worse this characterization got. 

Elodie Evergreen is a newly turned vampire, a former investigative reporter back in London, now forced to start over in a new job and paranormal community in the USA. She’s severely unprepared for everything that she does, although the author both lets the reader know that and yet thinks that Elodie’s approach is one we’ll find engaging. 

She’s an investigative journalist. Does she research her new life? What paranormal species there are, and their lives or culture? No. Her mystery friend, Donna, helped obtain her the new job and move. But does she go with any kind of knowledge or groundwork? No. Instead she holds up the plane in an act of amazing stupidity.

Then once, before she’s even settled, she forces herself on the editor to go against his wishes before knowing the community or townsfolk. Makes quick decisions/judgements about everything without having any sort of understanding or knowledge of the community or situation or paranormal anything. And has an immediate argument with the Sheriff while announcing she has a hidden, or not so hidden mission . 

Honestly? TSTL rides high here. 

She’s not very likable. The idea that she was ever a respectable professional journalist isn’t realistic or credible either. But the author is trying hard to get the reader to believe that. Actions to the contrary.

Nor do we get any world building. 

I was done. There’s far better similar novels and female characters than this. 

Poorly conceived, poorly crafted characters. 

DNF.

Read if you’re a fan of the author. 

Paper Cat Publishing

Cover by Christian Bentulan

The Ravens Hollow Investigations :

Bylines and Bloodsuckers -prequel 

Fangs and Front Pages 

Hexes and Headlines 

Demons and Deadlines

Buy link

        Fangs and Front Pages: A thrilling urban fantasy story (Ravens Hollow Investigations Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Is this the scoop of a lifetime, or something far deadlier?

Starting over in Ravens Hollow was meant to be simple – a chance to adjust to my new, nocturnal existence. No men. No complications. Just a bit of light investigative journalism in a quaint magical town by the sea.

Then Pongo the pup trotted into my life, and normalcy bled away faster than my resistance to a fresh pint of blood. I’d barely set up my desk at the Ravens Hollow Oracle before a renowned sculptor turned up dead at the town’s annual art exhibition.

What better way to get to know a place than by investigating its most suspicious residents? The only snag was Chief Whip – the infuriatingly handsome local lawman who’d rather I kept my fangs and my nose out of his murder investigation.

Too bad. The body count is rising, and whether he likes it or not, he needs me—Elodie Evergreen, investigative reporter. My instincts are razor-sharp. My fangs? Even sharper.

Perfect for fans of resourceful heroines, cute animal sidekicks, and exhilarating urban fantasy, Fangs and Front Pages delivers action, mystery, and supernatural surprises. Series includes: stand-alone mysteries, snarky humour, and a slow-burn romance.

Ravens Hollow Investigations Series:
Bylines and Bloodsuckers – Prequel
Fangs and Front Pages – Book 1
Hexes and Headlines – Book 2
Demons and Deadlines – Book 3

Review:  Of Flames and Fallacies (The Arterian series Book 1) by Courtney Whims

 

Rating: 2⭐️

DNF

🚨 Spoilers 🚨

I rarely rate books I don’t finish but I’m making an exception here . 

This book had a lot of potential and at the very least, a strong storyline and woman character. 

Right up to the SMH moment of the narrative.

The MFC has an extremely ill mother who needs constant care, an absent father, and no money to feed them . They are starving.  In a fit a rage over their circumstances, she knocks over the cross on her father’s grave and finds a forbidden dragon’s egg. 

We’ve been given a loose history of dragons and the current Kingdom, but dragons are outlawed. And it’s a death sentence to have the egg. 

Anyway, her mother eventually says something like find your ex boyfriend and take the egg/baby dragon back to Dragon Lands.  Then dies in as the house goes up in flames. 

Baby dragon is cute and Katerina Blackwind, is resourceful. So far so good. Unfortunately they find her ex boyfriend and things go downhill fast.   Cole is one of those types that is always wanting to save the woman while constantly putting them in danger.  And she lets him. And then puts the dragon in danger too while continuing to do things contrary to instructions laid out by her deceased father and , honestly, common sense. 

But everything in the narrative comes to a screeching halt for me at 35% when this occurs: 

Daeja, now a pretty big dragon and Katerina are in the woods outside an iffy camp and having this conversation . Mind you, they should have been on their way to Dragon Lands but Cole keeps delaying them because it’s too “dangerous “. 

Katerina is speaking on page 154 of 427: 

“Why did you want me to ride you?” She shifts her body, somehow managing to edge even closer to me. “I thought we could get to the Dragon Lands faster if we could fly there.” 

I gaze up at her. “

“We can’t go without Cole.” 

“And why not?” 

“Because—” I pause, wracking my brain for my own reasoning. 

Because my mother said so.” It sounded pathetic.

— Of Flames and Fallacies by Courtney Whims

Yes, they can just zip-a-dee-doo-dah right there by directly flying. Boom done.  No problem. Have new adventures in Dragon Lands and, oh yes, your dragon would be safe. 

But nope, with more than 300 pages to go, that doesn’t happen. SMH

So what do you expect from the reader , especially me every time Cole or someone betrays them or does something that is unbelievably stupid? Welp, they should have just flown outta there to begin with.

Yes, if you are an author don’t write an out at the beginning of the book. 

So here’s a buy link. It’s a DFN and a 2 for that SMH element. 

The Arterian series:

Of Flames and Fallacies #1

Of Blood and Banes #2 – Dec 2, 2025

Buy link 

        Of Flames and Fallacies (The Arterian series Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Possession of dragon contraband in the Arterian kingdom is a guaranteed brutal execution. 

When twenty-two-year-old Katerina Blackwind finds a dragon egg buried in her father’s grave, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. She must return the forbidden dragon hatchling—Daeja—north to the secretive Dragon Lands: where dragons roam free and a rebellion group resides.

But she can’t do it on her own – smuggling a dragon hatchling across the realm during a war between Arterians and rebels means she can be killed by either side. She knows there’s only one person she can truly trust, her old flame, Cole Ashbourne.

Yet, Cole is much different than the last time Kat saw him: deliciously chiseled in all the right places with a raw power lingering beneath the surface. Cole is torn between his responsibilities as a newly-promoted Captain in the King’s military, and his heart.

Kat works on a plan to get Daeja to the Dragon Lands while keeping a low profile at the military outpost. Though, having a room next to the sinisterly provocative Darian Raventhorn proves to be anything but easy.

Danger lurks at every turn, and as more secrets are unearthed, Kat is left to question everything she thought she knew about dragons, her family, love, and the kingdom.

  • ASIN: B0DQHPJS8D
  • Publication date: January 2, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 427 pages

Reviews: The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt and Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp (Subpar Heroes Stories)

Rating: DNF for both

The Subpar Heroes series has been a real hit or miss for me, with having liked 2 books and finding I absolutely couldn’t finish 2 others.

I’m combining the reviews for the DNF because neither requires a full on review as you will see.

The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt is a DNF simply because I was appalled by its application of the theme and overall plot. If you are a cat lover, pet owner or just love animals, this is not the story for you. The main character accidentally raises road kills, they follow him home. Opening scene of a roadkill cat now pitifully mewing, detailed missing parts showing exactly what happened to it, following him home. He sighs because yeah, again. Adds it to a room with other dead roadkill animals . Then follows episodes with the hot one dimensional SPAM vet. Poor dialogue.

But mainly pathetic really horribly dead animals.

Why would author think that this is a good idea? Especially considering readers who might have lost beloved pets? Just no. DNF

Next up an author I’m a fan of except for this nonsensical piece where there’s no clear idea of the characters or even who’s speaking most of the time .

2. Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

This is from Harlan’s pov and his voice included as well to further muddle the conversation. So three different people speaking and basically the reader will have no idea who they are from this passage. And that’s not unusual.

“Dash and DT exchanged glances. “Stop looking at each other that way. It’s making me insane.”

I took a long drink of coffee and lost track of what I was saying.

“Fuck me, this is good coffee.”

I know, right?” DT agreed.

“Where’d you get it?”

“That’s classified, soldier.” The corners of his mouth tilted up.”

“I forced the memory of how that mouth had tasted back into the lockbox in my brain. “Asshole.” Banter was good. It gave us some familiarity and some distance at the same time.”

— Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story by A. E. Wasp

It should be a good story but the framework and how Wasp lays out the characters and storylines will just give the reader a headache. I’m sure the author is going for a certain narrative style but it’s hard to tell because it lacks substance and flow.

DNF

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp 5/30/2024

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple 6/6/2024

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke 6/13/2024

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 7/25/2024

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms 7/30/2024

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan 8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 8/6/2024

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy links:

The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

The Accidental Necromancer

Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story by A. E. Wasp

Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story

Review: Cuddly Demon by (Possessive Love) by Aster Rae

Rating: 2 DNF

From the author’s notes, she normally writes contemporary Daddy kink stories and this is her first paranormal romance without any of her usual sexual elements.

As I’ve never read any of her books, I have nothing to compare this with, but the idea of writing outside of a contemporary fiction story is looking problematic.

Immediately there’s questions popping into my head. Mostly about character development and background. Or lack of.

A blue demon called Onyx (black) who after being sealed away for 3,000 years immediately knows what modern cities (New York, cardigans , libraries) and objects are by name and use. The oceans now have western names for them in his mind after 3, 000 years of being entombed. But ok. Nothing seems to bother him. He accepts the modern world Saint inhabits and the wishes he grants (make him terrific at the new online game that just came out for example) but is flummoxed over other technologies? Made no sense.

So it acts like a djinn but a millions year old demon who knows things. And immediately they are kissing. Right after some of the worst dialogue I’ve read in a while.

Keep in mind Saint has just summoned this demon off of a TikTok, they just talked and it’s straight to boyfriend status. SMH

“I’m a virgin. I’ve never been with a man, and that makes me a loser to most other humans.” My eyes never leave his. “

“You’re wrong. Demons can’t control who they’re attracted to. Like you’d expect, my brothers were attracted to bad boys. Ones who walked the streets of Etruria picking up married men. They liked correcting their behavior, typically through spankings. I’m different.” “

I like that you’re different.” “

I’m a softer, more sensitive demon. Bad boys have their appeal, but I like sweeter guys. Ones who know how to cuddle, be open with their feelings,….””

— Cuddly Demon by Aster Rae

I’m flipping page’s now because there’s no real depth here. They are tip toeing thru the tulips, holding hands across the campus. I’m thinking you summoned a demon. Where’s the surprise? The amazement? The denial? Nopes. It’s look at the blue hottie!

That blue hottie is supposedly from Hell. Are we getting any fumes here?

No just more nonsensical stuff like:

“What language is that?” I ask, lifting my gaze to meet his. “It’s Etruscan,” he responds, his voice soft. “I picked it up after I left Hell as a young demon. It’s like a second nature to me.””

Or language. But ok.

When Saint actually says hell scares him with all those flames and dead people , I burst out laughing (not that he knows what he is talking about). I don’t think I was meant to. Especially since Onyx tells him it’s not that bad and makes it sound like a daycare but really hot.

And I knew then I wasn’t going to finish the book. Life is too short and there’s so many more books to read.

If you’re a fan of this author, then go ahead and pick it up. That’s my only suggestion.

Check out the rest of the Possessive Love series! 15 books by 15 authors

◦ A Slice For My Demon by K.L. Hiers & Mozzarus Scout

✓ Cuddly Demon by Aster Rae DNF

✓ My Demon Husband by Jax Stuart ♥️

✓ Exercising A Demon by H.L Day ♥️

✓ Drop Dead Demon by B. Ripley ❤️

✓ The Demon’s Dealbreaker by Delaney Rain

◦ My Demon Rebound by Ashlynn Mills

◦ Curiosity Caught the Demon by Travis Beaudoin

◦ My Saintly Demon by RM Neill

◦ Terrible Lovely Demon by Odessa Hywell

◦ Son of the Arch Demon by Amanda Meuwissen

◦ Recalling My Demon by Colette Davison

◦ The Demon Undertaker by Alex J. Adams

◦ Gift for a Demon by Emily Alter

Buy Link:

Cuddly Demon

Blurb:

I didn’t expect the summoning spell I found on Tik Tok to work.

I’m Saint. I’m your average, run-of-the-mill, overstressed college sophomore. My boyfriend prospects are nil, and that’s assuming I even have time for a partner.

Ha. An English major with free time. That’s a good one.

When I use a spell I found in a viral Tik Tok video to help me with an assignment, the last thing I expect is for a super ripped blue-skinned demon to show up in the campus library.

My demon’s name is Onyx, and his last master locked him in an Etruscan tomb three thousand years ago. Onyx tells me that he’s here to do my bidding and I think that sounds great, to be honest. He quickly finishes my classwork and even makes a new game I’ve wanted appear out of nowhere.

Onyx’s assistance comes with a price. As it turns out, he was shut up in the cave because his last master refused to pay up.

I ask Onyx what his price is, and he tells me he demands… cuddles. And kisses. And lots and lots of… other things.

Looks like I conjured up more than I bargained for…

Cuddly Demon is a paranormal MM romance with a sweet college student who needs hugs, a demon with a gentle hand, a wedding in Hell, and a sugary sweet guaranteed happily ever after. It’s part of the multi-author Possessive Love series.

Review: Corin and the Courtier (Beautiful Beasts, #2) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 2🌈

A DNF at 44%

I read the books out of order which was a very good idea because otherwise I’d never have read the far superior Deven and the Dragon. This isn’t that lovely adult fairy tale.

Instead of finding someone as sympathetic and honest as Fioric, his cousin apparently, the reader finds this dragon knight bully, Corin. He’s so unpleasant to read, that even at 30%, the reader is wondering when he’s going to stop wallowing in his pitiful self imposed martyrdom and get over himself.

Why has he hidden himself away? Because his sworn bride cheated on him. In public. Granted that’s humiliating. But does he go on about how he loves or loved her? No. It’s all about her beauty and his ruined status. So immediately, the reader isn’t exactly falling down on his side. It gets immeasurably worse when the bride’s wonderful, wounded younger brother arrives and, you guessed it, gets bullied,, and in scenes close to sexual assault, mistreated incredibly badly.

I’m caught wondering where the fairy tale charm and lovely characterizations that were the hallmarks of the first book went. Not here.

The one nice aspect of the story (and any rating) is Aster, the younger brother of the bride who has cheated on Corin publicly before their wedding. He’s run away from a horrible arranged marriage, hoping that the one being he’s crushed on for years will take him in and understand his situation.

That’s a lovely element. Too bad it’s paired up with a thug in dragon form. One who swings between meanly berating someone so desperately in need of saving so much so that even as a reader I’m absolutely appalled, then wanting to have revenge sex with him (consensual or not) then thinking maybe Aster’s not so bad, when the poor guy is weeping in despair.

All in the storyline space of 24 hours. They then actually have drunken sex with no attempt at a relationship.

I checked how far I’d continued into the book. 44 percent.

I tried. Honestly. But there’s nothing to like about Corin for me. And I find these days that I’m not going to continue on reading storylines that have little to engage me or characters that I can’t connect with. Like this one.

I’m so happy I skipped to the second book because if I’d started here I’d have never picked it up. There’s a lesson there somewhere.

What is fabulous? That cover. Both covers. Rich and eye catching.

No recommendations.

Beautiful Beasts:

✓ Corin and the Courtier #1

✓ Deven and the Dragon #2

Buy Link :

Book 1 of 2: Beautiful Beasts

Blurb:

Most people run from beasts, not to them…

Aster didn’t put much thought into his escape. All he knew when he ran up that mountain—straight into the lair of a grumpy dragon knight with a huge grudge against his family—was that he couldn’t submit to an arranged marriage. It never occurred to him that a snowstorm would strand him there. Or that he’d give in to years of longing and beg for the monster’s forbidden touch. But it happened. All of it…

Corin wasn’t trying to be a hero—especially not Aster’s hero. He couldn’t very well let him die, though. So he protected him. Which might have been considered noble…if he hadn’t also fallen into bed with him. Over and over again. But the cost of keeping Aster is far more than Corin’s willing to pay. Corin will eventually be forced to let him go—even if it destroys him.

When Aster’s problems follow him up the mountain—literally—he realizes running is no longer an option. The only question now is whether Corin will fight for him, or burn their potential happily ever after to the ground…

This spicy, steamy, M/M paranormal fantasy romance features a pair of star-crossed opposites, a little forced proximity (with only one bed), some silliness involving a lack of pants at unexpected moments, and plenty of dirty talk.

This series does not contain mpreg. There’s a brief occurrence of self-destructive ideation in this book, but no action is taken. HEA guaranteed!