Only the brevity of the story kept the rating from being higher. There’s a second book and they could have been put together for one outstanding story.
Magic Tides charts the journey of Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan after leaving Atlanta and winning the battles between her father and the clans there for territory and more.
Now trying to keep a low profile in the Carolinas, it’s not easy for Kate or Curran or their son, given their powers and history.
A kidnapped boy is the catalyst for a new path for the family and Kate.
I was so excited for this. I love Kate Daniels, she remains one of my favorite characters and her we see her development as well as the accompanying acceptance of her abilities.
It’s a quick read and best if you want to read through to the next book, Magic Claim as if it’s one story.
Love it and it makes me want to return to the beginning and start reading the series over again.
And it fills in some plot gaps and answers to questions that previous books asked.
Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years :
Magic Tides #1
Magic Claims #2
Kate Daniels (10 book series)
As well as:
Magic Mourns: A Novella in the World of Kate Daniels
Magic Dreams: A Novella in the World of Kate Daniels
Gunmetal Magic: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels
Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan have left Atlanta, vowing to keep a low profile, and are settling into a new city and new house…but some things never change! Magical mayhem is about to erupt when Kate undertakes the rescue of a kidnapped youth, while Curran guards the homefront.
It should be a simple retrieval, but with monsters on land and sea, Kate’s got her work cut out for her. Still, she’s never let her blade dull or her purpose falter. And that low profile? It’s about to wash away with the raging tides!
Rylana is a mercenary who, along with her elf warrior friend, a complicated being herself, returns home after the long war is over. She’s done, retired and looking for a new career as a bookkeeper.
The only place hiring? The Dragon Diner. Owned and run by, Jildarin, the same dragon she successfully attacked during the war. But he needs her skills to get him out of debt and organized and she needs the money and job.
And he wants to win the Golden Whisk cooking contest to show that dragons can do more than just be good at terrifying and at war.
It’s a fun, entertaining read and recipe for a story about enemies to friends. There’s a mystery left unsolved and Rylana is left with a new start, partner and just getting reacquainted with her formidable father. It’s a story about beginnings and new friends and community.
There’s also a fair amount of talk about sexual activity as some of the recipes have an unintentional impact on certain species with their ingredients.
The relationship between Rylana and Jildarin, the dragon chef, develops gradually, which is a very natural process between former enemies. I thought that was terrific here.
The other intriguing character is her elf mercenary who accompanied her home. The reader and Rylana is never quite sure what she’s doing or how she is working there in the town. I’d love to see more of her.
This is an entertaining story and a definite winner.
After a lifetime as a mercenary and years of war, Rylana seeks a peaceful new career, and this job looks perfect. What could be calmer and more relaxing than crunching numbers while delightful scents waft from a professional kitchen?
There’s just one problem. The Dragon Diner is run by a realdragon, one she shot with an arrow during the war. And, oh yes, he remembers her.
This might not be the relaxing new start to life that Rylana envisioned.
~
The Tales from the Dragon Diner are perfect for those seeking light-hearted, low-stakes fantasy with quirky heroes. Each story stands alone. Pick up the first today!
I’m just enthralled by M.M. Crumley’s multi series universe, one I understand is complex in its plot and character dynamics and timeline fluidity.
I started with the incredible House of Graves series, backtracking to the first in the Immortal Doc Holliday series (the first of them), and have read around the universe since.
Becoming more invested and deeper engaged with each character and their respective stories.
But I don’t think I was prepared for Janey Falke. She’s older, an adult in the other series. But here she’s a child. A terrifyingly battered and abused girl surrounded by her violent family in a wagon train headed west.
Left behind in the East, a grandmother and the grave of her mother, Janey is a young girl who is brutally beaten constantly by her father and brothers. Told she’s worthless while being knocked about. On a journey west with dwindling numbers of wagons to destinations unknown.
That’s a backstory we get after we meet her, bloody and fleeing a massacre of the wagon train headed west.
Janey is a singular voice. Young, scared, rooted in her truth and raw emotion. A survivor, and her story is told from the prospective of someone who lives in the 1800’s, with all that comes with its history of that era. The attitudes and the way history treated native peoples, women , and children.
This is a often dark and brutal tale, which encompasses many sorrowful and violent crimes against women, children of all races , as well as those crimes committed against the various tribes of the area. Janey’s revenge is against the criminals here is as violent as theirs.
It’s also a deeply emotional and psychological journey for Janey as she struggles with her trauma, her memories, her abuse, and the idea of actual magic in the world around her.
It’s a social upheaval for her as well. That the very people who take her in and care for her are the “Indians “ she was taught were evil.
It’s a thought-provoking, powerful, and compelling story. Janey is heartbreaking and a girl we take into our hearts. Her strength and struggles become ours.
I believe she is one of the most memorable characters among many this author has written.
An additional point about the many series and stories.
To show exactly how fluid this world is , this universe and series fits in between chronologically, Janey Book 2, that’s the next book, falls between Andrew Book 6 and Andrew Book 7.
That’s the Legend of Andrew Rufus Series, which falls, maybe, after The Immortal Doc Holliday, which also meshes with The House of Graves. So very timeline fluid indeed! That’s the thing with immortality and magic.
Anyway Andrew (somewhat ) and Janey are set in the Western United States in the late 1800’s and you believe in that absolutely.
Highly recommend reading this, and those. And this author. But think about what the characters go through. This is a dark universe and these characters have brutal struggles to overcome.
Fantasy horror indeed.
Connected Universe and crossover series:
I believe this is the reading order. But characters do appear within each other’s series. But Doc is the original source for them all.
The Immortal Doc Holliday Series (21 book series)
The Legend of Andrew Rufus Series (7 book series)
Janey Falke: Saint Killer Series (4 book to date series)
After her family is murdered, young Janey Falke makes a blood oath to avenge them. But as her quest for personal vengeance shifts into a mission of protecting the innocent, she unknowingly draws the attention of a dark god who hungers for her growing power… Dive into a hidden world of dark magic and mayhem now!
Please Note: This series is on-going and additional books will be added to this list as they become available
Dire Threat, the first story in The Austin Wolves series by C. P. Rider, is set in the same universe as Rider’s Sundance series, which came out first. So much of the characters and events mentioned here are from major happenings and storylines that occurred during those stories.
The threats that come to Texas are those carrying over from the Sundance series and the horrors of certain characters situations. Crossover characters, like the Alpha Juan Martinez, who was first introduced in the second Sundance novel, when he came visiting his friend the Alpha in Arizona.
The real threats (government and otherwise) to the paranormal community, layered across shifter territories, and brought various members together. And continues to do so with the second series.
Siren Emmaline Spirett is still traumatized by her past, her captivity and time under a deadly paranormal organization that has left permanent damage to her and her wolf shifter brother.
This novella sets up a new location and continues the story for survivors of the past ordeal and deadly agency, and how the tragedy affects them and their relationships.
It’s a crossover story and series but it’s not entirely necessary to have read the Sundance series, although it helps.
I enjoyed Emmeline but find that Alpha Juan Martinez is too stalker for me to connect with. I far prefer the mage to the shifter, complicated to pound the chest if you were.
The story has terrific elements and lots of narrative energy to keep the reader engaged with the characters and the plot.
Siren Emmaline Spirett thought she’d escaped her violent past when she rescued her wolf-shifter brother and fled a deadly paranormal organization. But when her past not only resurfaces but snatches her off the street and holds her against her will, she realizes it might not be so far behind her after all.
Wolf shifter Juan Martinez is the alpha leader of Texas’s largest and oldest pack. Intelligent, protective, and controlling, he’s faced down more than one murderous paranormal group. But, while he’s not the sort to go looking for trouble, he never backs down when it comes looking for him—or his people.
Emmaline’s brother Noah is one of his people. However, Emmaline is not. She has no intention of remaining in Austin and even less intention of joining his pack. So why is he moving heaven and earth to find her?
If you enjoy urban fantasy with slow-burn romance, fast-paced action, and impertinent magicals, consider picking up a copy of DIRE THREAT, Book 1 of The Austin Wolves Series.
Please note: This is a long NOVELLA. Book 2 will be a full-length novel.
I’ve read M. Tasia before in her fantasy novels and enjoyed them, so I picked up Apollo not realizing it was part of a larger universe. Starting with Fire Lake series and continuing with The Noah Project, both are focused on the survivors of a hidden, government agency science project. One that used soldiers, and kidnapped civilians in horrific lab experiments to create paranormal mutations in the military’s secret weapon branch. It was called The Noah Project.
Each series has what’s left of the survivors trying to discover to the others, rescue them and destroy the remnants of The Noah Project that continues to operate unchecked.
It’s a couple per book type of story and series. And the length, here 200 pages, doesn’t really give the characters adequate space for a relationship of any depth to develop to at a realistic level. So it’s an instant/lust/love type of relationship. Which is acknowledged, a mystical connection.
It develops very quickly, the drama and the resolution. And the next couple is highlighted at the end.
It’s entertaining and quick. But I wasn’t as connected to the characters here as I have been in similar situations and storylines. Not enough depth for the story.
A Soul Forged in Shadow, A Heart Found in the Light
For years, Apollo was nothing more than a number. A perfect weapon crafted in the cold, sterile labs of the Noah Group. He knew only the grey of concrete walls and the sting of betrayal until the day he finally escaped his chains and claimed his freedom.
But even though he broke free from the group’s stranglehold, he couldn’t deny the isolation of being a “mutant” in a world that feared him. Now he’s a leader with a fearsome burden on his shoulders.
Then Rocko comes calling.
A weary detective who’d walked away from everything, Rocko wasn’t looking for a hero. And he certainly wasn’t looking for a man who could sense the hum of the world around him. But in Apollo’s guarded eyes, Rocko sees a soul worth protecting.
And in Rocko’s steady presence, Apollo finds the one thing the Noah Group could never manufacture: a reason to hope.
As they lead a band of survivors against the shadowy organization that still hunts them, the battle becomes personal. In the quiet moments between the gunfire and the narrow escapes, a bond forms that is more powerful than any genetic enhancement.
Apollo has spent his life fighting to survive. Now, with Rocko by his side, he’s finally learning what it means to live.
I honestly dislike when Amazon or the author’s publisher goes overboard in its marketing efforts for a story, needlessly I think, to say things like “laugh-out-loud humor” or “among the best female fantasy books”.
Because first I enjoy making my own impressions, especially if the writer is new to me, as Crumley is here, or it is realistically not true. This isn’t the best female fantasy story ever but it’s absolutely terrific in a horror story, PNR, thriller manner.
Crumley brings the reader into the story at the funeral for Tessa Graves’ father. Standing at the gravesite, she’s the last Graves now in the powerful, old family firm of Graves, Graves, and Graves. A man apparently mourned but none but herself.
Turns out with excellent reason.
Step by harrowing step, the author shatters Tessa’s well constructed, calm and orderly life. Her life and her household, when her “crazy aunt” and her “unstable butterfly” grandmother move back into the family mansion she’s inherited, along with the butler who’s been living there for centuries.
But the horror arises when evil is discovered. Not one but two villains (one deeply in the shadows) and the beginnings of the heinous acts they have committed.
There is a series prior to this one, The Immortal Doc Holliday Series , and those characters figure greatly here in this one. And there’s a carryover plot from this series into the Doc Holliday Series in book 17 I believe.
The writing is detailed, emotionally charged and very terrifying/horrifying in the dark physical and mental trauma that the main character is enduring constantly. To say that I was hurting for her and those who cared for her is saying the very minimum.
Incredible storytelling and series. Yes I’ve finished it. Binged it in a day. Highly recommended.
Working as an investigator for the supernatural elite means living by three simple rules: don’t ruffle feathers, keep the clients (vampires, shifters, witches, etc.) happy, and never give them a reason to want you dead. Simple. Unfortunately, Tessa Graves just can’t seem to follow the rules. And that’s why 300 bloodthirsty wolf shifters are hot on her trail. Adding insult to injury, her newly-retired aunt and feisty grandmother have decided to become her new sidekicks… and roommates… and life coaches whether Tessa likes it or not. Can these three strong-willed women survive each other long enough to avoid being torn to shreds?
Dying for Magic, the first in the Ella Bloom Mysteries by Sarah Noffke, introduced me to another terrific author. I throughly enjoyed everything about this book and characters and anticipate diving into the rest of the series.
The characters and storylines, multiple plots, are very well developed and intriguing. And the more the story progresses, the better the exploration of the world becomes and the history of the Magic of the town of Gloamington.
I think the element I love best is that both of the main characters are enigmas. Ella Bloom, hired to become the 6-month assistant to the town’s favorite detective, has a past life full of questions and no answers.
And she arrives to find that the older gentleman she’s been hired to assist, Malcolm Fawkes, a renowned paranormal detective, has no memory of her or his past life.
So author Noffke builds a narrative around two people, and several animals, who have memory issues. All while struggling with daily tasks like identifying the local community citizens, and conducting a murder investigation that the police sheriff has tabled . It’s funny, compelling, believable, and absolutely engaging watching these two people build a friendship on such a shaky but shared experience.
I can’t think of another book or series quite like it.
I’m highly impressed and recommending this. And quickly going forward with this series.
Ella Bloom can see magic no one else can, and it’s leading her straight to a killer…
When Ella accepts a mysterious job in the picturesque town of Gloamington, all she wants is six months away from the noise of the city and a quiet place to call home. Instead, she finds herself assistant to Malcolm Fawkes, a renowned paranormal detective with no memory of hiring her—or much of anything else.
When magic that only Ella can see leads her to a murder, she discovers Gloamington isn’t the quaint small town it appears to be. Five years ago, it was a magical haven until something went terribly wrong. Now the town’s dormant wellspring—the Gloaming—is stirring again, awakening with Ella’s arrival.
With a reluctant Malcolm by her side, Ella must navigate a web of secrets, suspicious townspeople and her own mysterious connection to Gloamington’s magical past. Someone in town is willing to kill to keep magic buried forever. Ella’s unusual abilities make her their next likely target.
The Gloaming is opening once more. Could Ella Bloom be the key to everything?
Dying for Magic is the first in an enchanting mystery series from the creator of the blockbuster Beaufont universe.
I love this author’s Haunted Ranch Mysteries series, so while I was waiting on the next book in that series to be released, I noticed that she had started another series, different location and perspective on a similar type of female character.
The author has a real fondness for older women starting over. I can get behind this.
The Haunted Ranch Mysteries series has the beauty of the Arizona desert and the unique nature that enhances the atmosphere and fantastic storytelling.
I’ve yet to find a similar surrounding landscape here that has the same feel or that is so striking that it acts as a compelling backdrop.
So it’s a nondescript setting that depends heavily on character development and storytelling. Luckily, it delivers on both accounts.
Where certain characters in other series are stereotypical personalities, here Bourgeous takes them outside of the usual configuration into something interesting.
The sheriff and townspeople all have characters that surprise the reader with their depth of personality and the growth they exhibit during the story. This continues throughout the series.
The overall magic system is one that is slowly evolving and being defined as each situation arises, and it’s an unusual one that envelops the entire town.
There’s an ancient witch family feud, a cat familiar, and of course, a sentient house, to go along with the main character of Blythe Fairfield, a woman who is restarting her life after divorce.
The language is one of someone quietly reviewing their past and present options, no panic but a sense of resolve to make things work. You immediately understand Blythe, the circumstances that brought her to Caldron Hollow, and the thought processes as each event comes her way. However, increasing wild each one is.
It ends with Blythe staying true to her values, at the beginning of her journey and a long way to understanding what’s ahead. The author has started to set much in motion but there is so much more that’s needs a foundation or exploration, especially with regard to the town and witch families.
I’m definitely going forward with the series. And recommending this. Great read!
Sometimes the worst day of your life is just the beginning.
Blythe Fairfield has officially failed at adulthood. Divorced. Fired. Broke. When she inherits Gallows Gate House in the small town of Cauldron Hollow from her allegedly unhinged great-aunt, she decides it’s a temporary stop. Renovate. Sell. Leave.
Then her cat starts talking.
Cauldron Hollow isn’t just quaint. It was founded by two rival witch families. The Stoneharts stayed. The Tallowmeres were driven out.
Guess which family Blythe belongs to.
Between a house that hums with old magic, a violet streak suddenly appearing in her hair, and a snarky familiar named Pippin who keeps saying “Obviously,” Blythe barely has time to process her new reality before she stumbles over a dead body behind Merlin’s Diner.
The victim made enemies. Unfortunately, Blythe just made the suspect list.
With the town’s frustratingly handsome sheriff watching her every move and a killer determined to protect their secrets, Blythe must decide whether she’s still running from her inheritance or finally ready to claim it.
Turns out, if the hat fits… you might have to wear it.
If the Hat Fits is the first book in the Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow cozy mystery series. Expect humor, heart, magic, and a clean read with no swearing or explicit content.
Cauldron Hollow is an alternate universe to Coventry. You’ll see hints and shadows of our original wicked witches, but this book and series can be read and enjoyed on their own.
MJ May is one of those authors whose books and enlarging universe get keeps getting better and more intriguing with every new addition.
First, May introduces us to the fabulous world of the Perfect Pixies, which wasn’t frankly all that wonderful but full of past trauma and a series plot of enormous horror and unimaginable violence. One that carries over subtly into the next series. We meet incredible characters and their moving stories.
Then it’s the next series.Necromancer Tales, where a character we’ve met, Erasmus Holland, the son of a human woman and one of the world’s most powerful warlock, Nikodemus Holland, gets his story told. It’s a fantastic tale of family, magical creatures, deathly powers and an unexpected path to a great loving relationship with a police detective.
And many of the fantastic characters will cross over into this series, because of the intense storylines, the interconnected plots that the author continues to weave together throughout this universe, and how each of them are part of each other’s lives now.
Warlock’s Menace starts with Nikodemus returning home from Erasmus and Franklin’s wedding. That’s his necromancer son from the series and his detective SIL. And the warlock has picked up an unexpected surprise from the wedding.
Well, not unexpected for anyone who read that last book. Because we’ve been waiting for this.
The Kitsune, Hikaru, who is a tragic character, has taken a very serious interest in Nikodemus. Why is a great element of the story and magical world.
The magic that surrounds the warlock and the usage is revealed and seen from Hikaru’s perspective, which makes him even stronger a character.
The plot, or plots are again tied to various events and other aspects of the world, this is simply one angle that will be explored by May. Its suspense filled, emotional and so well written.
I absolutely adore the way the characters were allowed to build their relationship. And bring in other characters too that Nikodemus usually isn’t well acquainted with.
It’s just another fantastic story and great start into expanding on this outstanding universe. Can’t wait to see more.
Warlock Nikodemus Holland is a master of his craft. Arrogant, powerful, and reserved, Nikodemus is the epitome of a warlock in every way save one—his love and commitment to his necromancer son, Erasmus Boone.
Hikaru is a seven-tailed kitsune still mourning the loss of his eighth tail and the betrayal that took it from him. Crafty, mischievous, and easily bored, Hikaru needs a distraction, and he needs it now. Lucky for him, he’s found the perfect candidate in a handsome and stuffy warlock. Hikaru just knows he’ll be oh-so-good for his Niki.
Returning from his son’s wedding, Nikodemus has acquired an unwanted tagalong kitsune that he just can’t shake. Walking through his front door, Nikodemus discovers Hikaru is the least of his worries when he finds a letter from the Warlock Council informing him that they’re investigating damning allegations and threatening to bind Nikodemus’s powers if he’s found guilty.
Someone’s been tampering with Nikodemus’s charms, turning them deadly. Nikodemus has no idea what the Warlock Council’s endgame is or what it has to do with the struggling Magical Usage Council. What he does know is that he’ll be damned if he sits back and allows himself to be framed, or worse, his loved ones threatened. Oddly enough, that category has expanded to include an ornery kitsune.
If pressed too far, the Warlock Council won’t just have a livid warlock to contend with, but the unleashed fury of a smitten kitsune. Nikodemus’s enemies are about to learn the word menace isn’t always an endearing sentiment but can be a vicious threat.
Warlock’s Menace is a mm supernatural fantasy/mystery. Expect to find arrogant warlocks (some with redeeming qualities and some sadly lacking), a mischievously ornery kitsune who is confident he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Warlock Nikodemus Holland, an off the morality rails Warlock Council, seven fox tails that don’t know the meaning of personal space, misbehaving charms, the satisfaction proper payback brings, and HEA’s.
Warlock’s Menace is the first in the Magical Usage Council Misadventures series and is meant for adult readers. Each book will concentrate on a different couple. This is a spin off of the Necromancer series. While characters from this series are mentioned and/or make occasional appearances, one does not have to have read the Necromancer series to enjoy Warlock’s Menace.
This is the first of Julia Huni’s Space Janitor novels and introduces both the universe of Space Janitor (and its many series) and its main character of Triana, a space janitor, bot maintenance operator.
The rating is really more for the book’s storyline’s potential than the author’s actual execution of the plot. I love the idea of a story and series based around a space station janitor. That’s such a great point for a character to see how a space station functions, the various cultures and societies that make up the station as well as how it physically functions.
And it seems to start off this way. Triana is monitoring the bots as they clear various paths, she eats junk food, and is clearly a “sub level” employee who enjoys her world and odd work.
Then she finds a body. Or her bot does.
And the author abandons her , imo, clever approach, and does an entire storyline/series twist that shakes this character and her own ingenuity upside down. She’s not who we’ve come to expect at all.
Instead, Huni turns Triana into a person who is the complete opposite of the character we meet at the beginning of the story. And this one, is self pitying, whiny, and more than a bit irresponsible. That’s a huge leap and a loss.
Then there’s her instant boyfriend, Ty, a law enforcement agent, whose credibility is largely missing, and a friend who doesn’t seem very reliable. No relationships between her and the other characters feel like they had any believable connection or emotional depth. The closest the author came was with her mother’s old servant/assistant. That’s not enough.
The Vacuum of Space (Space Janitor #1 ) by Julia Huni is also listed as humorous science fiction but I find it with almost no resemblance to comedic fiction. It’s not funny, imo. And worse, there’s no satisfaction with the ending. So I was left wondering why I finished it.
I’m not going further into this series or universe. But the potential for a really interesting story was here. And that’s a shame.
Previously published as Murder is Messy, 2018
Cover designed by German Creative
Space Janitor Series:
The Vacuum of Space
The Dust of Kaku
The Trouble with Tinsel
Orbital Operations
Glitter in the Stars
Sweeping S’Ride
Triana Moore, Space Janitor (the complete series)
Tales of a Former Space Janitor
The Rings of Grissom
Planetary Spin Cycle
Waxing the Moon of Lewei
Tales of a Former Space Janitor (books 1-3)
Changing the Speed of Light Bulbs Sun Spot Remover Warp, Rinse, Repeat (late 2025)
Friends of a Former Space Janitor Dark Quasar Rising
It’s a dirty galaxy and someone has to clean it. Avoiding the wealthy inhabitants on the upper levels of Station Kelly Kornienko is bot-programmer Triana’s number one rule. Well, number two, right after “eat all the chocolate.”
But when one of her cleaning bots finds a dead body, all the rules go out the airlock. A highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of missing bodies, and Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment.
Working with a shiny detective beats a shuttle dirt-side, so Triana lends her programming skills to Agent O’Neill’s investigation. Together, they find more victims and evidence of a major cover-up.
It will take all Triana’s technical talents, most of O’Neill’s connections, and some really excellent croissants to stop the murders, save her job, and ultimately, her life.
The Vacuum of Space is the first book in a completed series.
This book was previously published as Murder is Messy
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 