Review: The Dusk Reapers (Cursebreaker #1) by J. T. Lawrence 

Rating: 4⭐️

The Dusk Reapers (Cursebreaker #1) by J. T. Lawrence is the first book in her urban fantasy mystery series about a witch assassin in South Africa.

The location is one of the better elements, an unusual one that I don’t run into often. This first book is also features amnesia storyline around the main character. It’s resolved here by the end of the novel.

Asha Rook wakes up in a hospital. She’s been the victim of a horrific attack, suffered a significant brain injury and has amnesia. No idea who she is other than her identity from her identifications and driver’s license. 

And the idea she’s in danger as well as the fact that she’s implicated in a murder, has her fleeing the hospital for answers. 

Lawrence does an excellent job building the character of Asta, a woman scrambling to discover who she is in the middle of a murder investigation, and layout the structure of a urban fantasy world of witches, mages and spirits and dark realms existing within the city of Johannesburg.

A fluctuating pov that didn’t always work because the reader wasn’t sure whose perspective we were in made things confusing or complicated. Nicola or Asta? Sometimes we had no clue. 

I don’t mind unresolved plot lines, especially in a first book. Usually they will carry over through the series. Here it’s the case of missing children left hanging as well as who was behind the original attack. 

The character of Sam, the police officer, the maybe romantic interest, is ok. Perhaps he will be more fully developed as the series progresses. 

Overall, a good start with some interesting elements. 

If you are interested in something new, give it a try. 

Cursebreaker: An Epic Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (6 book series)

The Dusk Reapers #1

The Haunted Portal #2

The EverShade Ring #3

The Obsidian Castle #4

The Pick Pocket’s Curse #5

The Eternal Betrayal #6

Buy Link

Source: Amazon.com The Dusk Reapers: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Cursebreaker) – Amazon.com

Blurb 

Her heart was flatlining. Her magic wasn’t.

Asha wakes up in the hospital with thirty-six stitches in her head and no memory of the attack that put her there. The damage to her skull was catastrophic, but she surprises the medical team with her lightning-quick healing—and by inexplicably sending their equipment flying across the room.

She soon learns that she is Asha Rook—The Cursebreaker—and she’s just become the prime target of every ruthless bounty hunter wizard in the Realm of Magic & Mayhem.

To add to the high stakes, a curse has landed an innocent woman in a terrifying asylum, and it’s Asha’s job to save her.

Asha must rely on her eccentric found family, finding belonging and banter with allies who accept her complex and dangerous nature. This includes an unnervingly attractive and steadfast cop (an epic slow burn), a sassy goblin who trades portal magic for tacos and lime milkshakes, and her beloved steampunk dwarf godmother, who is equally talented at roasting perfect potatoes as she is at creating magitech weapons.

Join Asha and her ragtag team as she embraces her destiny, navigating pocket realms and battling evil to break the ultimate curse. With more twists and turns than you can shake a wand at, this is a dark magic mystery with humor, adventure, and a whole lot of heart.

Fans of Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, and Ilona Andrews will burn through this totally addictive urban fantasy series.

Read the complete 6-book series now!

TROPES:

• Curses and curse-breaking

• Kick-ass female protagonist

• Amnesia

• Hidden Magical World

• Gritty Urban Setting

• Diverse Supernatural Creatures

• Haunted houses; ghost children

• Secret Societies and Organizations

• Found Family: banter and belonging

• Slow burn deep connection romance

• Huge, satisfying happy ever after

Fire Finch Press

Publication date

August 28, 2024

Accessibility

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Language

‎English

File size

2.9 MB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

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Print length

468 pages

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Book 1 of 6

Cursebreaker: An Epic Urban Fantasy Action Adventure

Title: LENGTH OF DAYS : GHOST GUY Book 2 by M.M. Crumley

Rating: 3⭐️

Making this succinct. I really enjoyed the first book. Not so much the second.

If you dislike spoilers, stop reading. Even as short as this is going to be. 

We left Tucker, in his non-corporeal state, far in an Underground realm searching for the soul of Kai , a ghost taken by a mysterious being who gathers up souls and feeds on their suffering and pain. 

We enter exactly where the first book ended. He’s entered the imposing “cave” and seen the souls embedded there, including Kai, captured there and realizing how difficult his mission is.

Then begins a long repetitive stream of conversations and scenarios that all sound almost exactly alike for the majority of the book.  Broken up only intermittently by moments where we see the Graeves family members who are taking turns with Tucker’s body. This gives us a glimpse of his condition and the passage of time above. 

Then immediately after it’s back to the same old thing of trying to free them, pain, fatigue, failure, repeat. Pages of this. Literally pages and pages. Until Tucker has one last try , at around 80 or so percent done. 

Yes, success. And it’s over and out. Says an immediate goodbye to one of the most important, influential and intriguing characters in less than a page. That’s so disappointing. 

Then he’s back in his body . Delivered Kai the ghost home. With not a lot of fanfare. 

Does a go around to the people who have been there for him, tells them how much they mean to him. 

Yes, he’s going to do something really dumb. Because, why don’t you ask all these magically powerful men and women for assistance or advice with a plan to defeat the enemy you just escaped from. Nope, can’t do that. 

See when you’ve had to slog through an entire book of repetitive tasks and scenarios, densely packed narrative? Only to have the main character go full on TSTL? 

Well, that’s enough for me. I really like the other series connected to this. But Ghost Guy just turned into a great big pass for me.

Too many books still to be read. 

Here’s the first book if you want to see more about it:

GHOST GUY: HELL TO PAY (Book 1) 

Urban Fantasy/ Horror Comedy

THE IMMORTAL DOC HOLLIDAY SERIES ❤️

BOOK 1: HIDDEN 

BOOK 2: COUP D’ÉTAT 

BOOK 3: RUTHLESS 

BOOK 4: INSTINCT 

BOOK 5: ROGUES 

BOOK 6: EMPIRE 

BOOK 7: OMENS 

BOOK 8: CHASM 

BOOK 9: FERAL 

BOOK 10: OBLIVION 

BOOK 11: RELENTLESS 

BOOK 12: REQUIEM 

BOOK 13: HELLION 

BOOK 14: SHADOWS 

BOOK 15: INDEBTED 

BOOK 16: FATHOM 

BOOK 17: FEROCITY 

BOOK 18: ONSLAUGHT 

BOOK 19: ECHOES 

BOOK 20: TEMPEST 

BOOK 21: SINGULAR 

GHOST GUY SERIES 

BOOK 1: HELL TO PAY 

BOOK 2: LENGTH OF DAYS 

BOOK 3: RECKONING 

JANEY FALKE SAINT KILLER SERIES BOOK 1: BLOOD OATH 

BOOK 2: BLOOD TIES 

BOOK 3: BLOOD FEUD 

BOOK 4: BLOOD LUST 

THE HOUSE OF GRAVES SERIES ❤️BOOK 1: THREE LITTLE GRAVES & THE BIG BAD WOLF 

BOOK 2: OVER THE RIVER & THROUGH THE WOOD 

BOOK 3: FIRE BURN & CAULDRON BUBBLE 

BOOK 4: A HUNTING, A HUNTING WE WILL GO 

BOOK 5: AND HE WALKED A CROOKED MILE 

BOOK 6: HOLIDAY SPECIAL: DECK THE HALLS 

 THE LEGEND OF ANDREW RUFUS SERIES 

BOOK 1: DARK AWAKENING 

BOOK 4: BURIAL GROUND 

BOOK 5: DEATH SONG 

BOOK 6: FUNERAL MARCH 

BOOK 7: WARPATH

Buy links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1TXHWGF?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1789168610&sr=8-1&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tkin

Blurb

In a desperate effort to rescue one of Medusa’s ghosts from the Underworld, Nevin Tucker has left behind the body he holds so dear. But now he’s stuck in the Underworld, all on his own, trapped in the lair of suffering. He knows he’s not a hero. He knows he’s not the man for the job, but he also knows that he’s the only one who can save Kai. And he’s decided to win, no matter the cost… Dive into a hidden world of magic and mayhem now! Available in print, eBook and audiobook formats, OR read FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

And get ready for my NEW Ghost Guy series!
Book 1: HELL TO PAY
Book 2: LENGTH OF DAYS
book 3: REKONING

Also read the Janey Falke: Saint Killer four book series while you wait!
Book 1: BLOOD OATH
Book 2: BLOOD TIES
Book 3: BLOOD FEUD
Book 4: BLOOD LUST

Check out the latest release “P.S. I Love You“ by Meg Macy (Tour and excerpt)

Review: P.S. I Love You - Meg Macy

Meg Macy has a new MM contemporary book out, Love is Love book three: P.S. I Love You.

Jackson Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are enmeshed in new situations. Jack fled his latest trauma to act in a rom-com film, taking a break from his relationship with Reese, but now regrets his impulsiveness. His ex-lover Kyle is the least of his problems when odd things happen on set and off.

Jules and Chris are committed to their new love affair and in charge of the breakfast café and a new bakery, but keeping on top of employees and finances is not yet a “piece of cake.” Family problems also plague Jules and Reese, while Jack discovers that acting in a film is totally different than acting on the stage.

Will he ever answer Reese’s barrage of texts and voicemails? Will Reese solve the mystery of Jack’s mysterious past?

Warnings: Past trauma.

About the Series:

In the Love Is Love series, these LGBTQA+ contemporary romance novels explore past hurts, healing, and the vulnerability of gay love and acceptance. Friendship, trust, courage, and resilience unite to combat fear and homophobia in reshaping lives and communities.

Amazon


Excerpt

Life sometimes throws you a curveball out of nowhere. You either react fast and catch it, or you’re blindsided when it smacks you in the head. The latter applies to Jack Riley’s man, for sure. Reese Baxter missed the worst signs of trouble in their relationship.

Jack knows all about those curveballs, too, after surviving on the streets. He shivers after stepping out of the shower and checks the new tattoo on his upper arm. It’s healed, for the most part, but his skin has raised goosebumps. Michigan ain’t that far from Ontario, but damn. It’s fucking cold in Canada. When he first woke, he caught a glimpse of fat snowflakes outside the window against the darkness. Back in Ann Arbor, he wore shorts and a tee in a string of days with upper sixties temperatures. No need for a coat or a hoodie.

“Jesus. I’m gettin’ to be an old man bitchin’ about the damned weather.”

The patio installation at the café must be almost finished for the one year celebration. Jack wouldn’t blame his bestie and co-owner, Jules Baxter, for going ahead without him. Not that he knows what’s happening, since he ain’t answered any anyone’s texts. After packing a suitcase, donning a sweatshirt he stole from Reese, Jack rode with Kyle Kingston to this town in Canada to share an old house with his ex-lover’s friends. At least until they find out where they’re gonna be sent for the film production.

After toweling dry, Jack dons boxer briefs, jeans, a tee shirt, plus a wool and cashmere ice blue hoodie sweater he bought in Vegas. Takes out his makeup kit, adds moisturizer and bronzer. When his phone on the counter buzzes with a text, his hand slips. Cursing under his breath, he ignores the phone and wipes off his ruined eyeliner. Decides to go femboy with shimmery lavender shadow on his eyelids, contour and blush, then uses setting spray. He brushes and styles his hair, applies lip oil. At a loud crash, Jack rushes out of the bathroom.

“What the hell, King! You okay?”

Muffled mumbling reaches his ears. Kyle rises from the floor, hands blindly groping, and slides back under the covers. “Do I look okay? Goddammit,” he grumbles. “You didn’t have to insist on twin beds, Tink.”

“Fuck off. You’re gonna be late if you ain’t got an alarm set.”

He throws a pillow at Jack. “Go fuck yourself. I need more sleep.”

“’Cause you got drunk last night.”

Kyle pulls the covers over his head. Jack chose to ignore everyone last night, since the table read today is stressful enough. Jack kept waking up, the party keeping him from much needed sleep. Deep snores from the other bedrooms reach his ears now. He failed to memorize his dialogue due to the noise. Hope he don’t bomb today. Reese always helped him relax, rubbing his back, huggin’ or kissin’ him. Jack misses seeing his man’s deep blue eyes, dark hair, scruffy jaw, that broad smile. He inserts his earbuds and chooses a playlist.

After tossing his kit on the flimsy bed, Jack heads to the kitchen. Good thing he set the machine up last night to brew at five a.m. Yawning, he fills two paper cups with black coffee. Adds lids to each… Until their production assistant can find a better place, he’s stuck here with actor friends of Kyle’s. Decent guys but total slobs.

Having to share a room is another bone of contention. No way is Jack gonna film all day for two or three months with his ex-lover and deal with him all night, too. He wants privacy to chill on his own. That better happen, or he’s gonna pitch a fuckin’ fit.

But Jack smiles to hear Conan Gray’s song, “Maniac.” Perfect choice, given how he ended up here with Kyle. His ex abandoned him, then turned up again outta the blue. Wantin’ him back, despite Jack bein’ with Reese now. He shoulda never let him get under his skin.

Donning his boots, heavy parka, and gloves, Jack slings his backpack on one shoulder and carries the coffee cups into the cold. His breath steams in the air. He curses when a sip of coffee burns his tongue. It’s a ten minute walk to the table read location, but he ain’t in the mood to wait for Kyle. Too restless, Jack figures the fresh air will help clear his head. And bein’ early might make a good impression on the director.

Whatever that’s worth.

His homesickness keeps getting worse, his misery deep. Jack tramps on. Every step fails to ease his jumpy nerves. Why did he agree to do this film? For the money, of course, helping the café survive. They got so far in the red, Jack worried they’d lose everything. Until Reese stepped up and took over without telling him, renovating a building on the other side of the café’s parking lot into the Sunshine Bakery. That was a smart move. Less than a month after it opened, profits are paying off some of the debt.

But his man stepped over the line, not telling him he paid half the new patio’s cost with Jules. “Too fuckin’ late to quit this rom-com,” Jack says aloud. “I’m an asshole, lettin’ Kyle talk me into it. I should be at the café, not a stupid table read.”

Jack wished he listened to Stevie’s advice before running off. Regret hits him now. He misses Reese, bad. Seeing his man, sharing meals, cuddling after sex and playing with his chest hair, waking early to see him, his cheeks flushed, hair mussed, naked under a sheet. Or without anything covering his muscular shoulders, arms, and ass. Jack loved to watch Reese sleep or wake up, grumpy and silent, until he drinks coffee.

“Dammit. Stop being so fucking stubborn and text him…”


Author Bio

National bestselling author Meg Macy first dreamed of seeing a book with her name on it in the school library. She’s always found comfort, adventure, and connection in books—which might explain why she now writes stories that offer all three.

Meg writes LGBTQIA+ romance with a touch of spice, intrigue, and plenty of emotional payoff in the LOVE IS LOVE series. M/M romance and M/F polyamory, her stories are comfort reads with a twist. She’s also written cozy mysteries for Kensington, the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear series, and is one half of the D.E. Ireland team for the Agatha-Award nominated historical mysteries featuring Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins.

She lives with her writing companion, Mr. Whiskers the cat, and prefers pages to parties.

Author Website: http://www.megmacy.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/authormegmacy/

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/MegMacyAuthor

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.macy.author/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15751255.Meg_Macy

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/meg-macy/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Meg-Macy/author/B01N3KTK1N

Other Worlds Ink logo

Review: ABBY, SKYLAR, AND GWYN’S AWESOME APPRENTICESHIP ADVENTURES (Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations Short Stories ) by AJ Sherwood 

Rating: 3🌈

This group of 3 short stories is a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. Centered around the teenage characters from AJ Sherwood’s Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations series they range from problematic to interesting.

Spoilers:

I didn’t expect this, especially considering such cool characters to work with. 

AITA for Telling My Friend She’s Being Cheated On? This is the story I have major concerns about. Abby, and Skylar are both high school students with powerful magical abilities. One being able to read people. See relationships, health issues. In this case it’s that a friend is being cheated on. Fine. But it’s not the issue. 

The boy is not well liked. Nor is the girl who he’s having the other relationship with. Again not the problem. Although not handled well. 

The issue? Abby reads that the other girl is pregnant, a fact she doesn’t realize herself. Nor does he. 

All extremely serious, private sensitive information. Want to guess how it’s going to be handled? Yep announced to those involved by Abby at school. With no adults present until much later. 

Nowhere is there any discussion on ethics or ramifications of this matter.  We all know how deadly high school is.  None of this matters.  Abby has outed the cheaters. 

This was almost a DNF moment. 

The rest was just ok. Honestly after that. I was done.

The second story saw Gwyn settling in and the third was about ghostly call that went sideways. 

But that first? Nope. Poorly executed and not well executed. 

Where’s the ethics here? 

No recommendations.

Cover by Katie Griffin

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comAbby, Skylar, and Gwyn’s Awesome Apprenticeship Adventures …

Blurb 

Have a Mack’s Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town hangover and need more? Here are three new short stories featuring the apprentices from Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations! Each story is about a first of some kind, learning moments for the girls.

Note: Gwyn was introduced in Mack’s Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town. It is recommended you read that book first, but it’s not necessary.

AITA for Telling My Friend She’s Being Cheated On?

One of Jon’s first lessons to me had been to mind my own business. He’d stressed to me that life would be better for me all around if I kept everything to myself unless someone asked for information. Or unless the situation called for me to reveal that secret.

I, uh, had no idea which heading this fell under.

All in the Family

I think anyone in my shoes would be nervous. I was meeting people who would be in my life for years to come. People who didn’t have to like me. Brandon and Mack assured me it’d be fine, that everyone in their family was easygoing and I’d become part of the family, but still. My own parents didn’t like me. How could I expect anyone else to?

First Time for Everything

Lazy Saturday morning with nothing to do? Check.

Unexpected ghosts needing passing? Check.

Being attacked by a ghost without Mack around to help? Uh…help?!

Tags:
apprentices, short stories, side stories, BAMF girls, milestones, ghosts, energy reading, AITA, found family, chosen family, F/F romance, psychics, bonds, Gwyn does her first exorcism, Eli

Review: Our Nanny is a Vampire by Lindsey Devin and Roxie Ray

Rating:5⭐️

Well, I’m absolutely flabbergasted by this book.  It’s starts with the cover. I mean, it’s cute, colorful, showing an adorable woman holding a teddy bear in a style that suggests this  story is going to be sweet, entertaining and honestly, lighthearted. 

What the reader falls into is a beautifully written exploration of a family deeply bound up in their grief and loss of their mother and their father’s love for his wife. Their center is gone and they’ve been shattered. After three years they haven’t started reconnecting with their father or outside of the home.  

There’s an equally strong emotional aspect here. A 200 year old vampire who is carrying her own trauma and deep emotional baggage that has never been fully recovered from.

The Lawrence household, overwhelmed, overworked father Conrad Lawrence, youngest girl Billie, middle child C.J, and oldest daughter Bianca, all of whom are brilliant, talented and perceptive in their own right, and hurting for their father, themselves and their loss.  

Immediately, after the children dispatched yet another nanny from the house with an amazing display of engineering enthusiasm, the family heads to the cemetery. And I’m both lost for words for this grieving family and lost in this world and story. 

The authors have me in tears and their grip. The dialogue are beautiful, apt to the characters and ages, clever but also poignant. Powerful and funny and emotional.  We know what they are thinking and how they feel about each moment.

“The cemetery sat behind a small white church twenty minutes from the house, tucked between old trees and a low, iron fence. Jade hadn’t been especially religious, but she’d liked the cemetery. She’d told me that if people had to be buried anywhere, they might as well be somewhere with decent shade and no highway noise.”

The children are so remarkable, real and connectable. I love them deeply. 

“Billie stared out the window with her brows pinched together. “Is Mommy cold?” she asked.”

Oh my heart.

Then , courtesy of the fabulous Lady Ferdinand,  Conrad is given a card and number to call:

Miss Winifred Carrington 

Private Childcare and Household Instruction Discretion Assured

I won’t spoil her entrance or what happened next. I will say it’s scene after scene of things I could picture in my head. The artfully executed conversations, the relatable relationships forming between Winnie and each child, the healing as the family starts to recover and move forward. 

There’s also an important side plot about Winnie’s past that comes with trigger warnings. But everything here is thoughtfully written and woven together with the dynamics of the family and slow burn romance that it’s extremely important for Winnie’s character to grow as well for this element to occur. 

I kept wondering if something would pop up to keep me from loving this. But even that ending was just right. She’s a vampire with eternal life, they are humans. That’s recognized by both Conrad and herself as a reality of their situation. She’s never going to get old. But the way love is treated and discussed here is impressive. 

And it makes sense and so the ending feels satisfying. 

I wondered how I would feel about this given how many writers are involved (each author is actually two writers or more) but it’s an absolute joy to read and a 5 star story. 

Really, that cover is such a mismatch between it and the complexity of the content inside. Love surprises like this.

Highly recommended!

Read the trigger warnings. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comOur Nanny is a Vampire eBook : Devin, Lindsey, Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

Conrad Lawrence has lost nine nannies in three years.

There was Nanny Franny McFine (four days). Marie Von Fire, who claimed she’d once worked for a duke. Mrs. Corrinna Rainer, who lasted until Billie released crickets into her suitcase. 

Mademoiselle Joella Frosty, who called his kids “creatively hostile” and blocked his number before she reached the end of the driveway.

So when nanny #10 walked through the door, Conrad wasn’t expecting much. Then Winnie shows up.

She’s calm where his house is chaos. Patient where his kids are relentless. And she sees the grief he’s been quietly carrying for three years without flinching from it — because she’s been carrying centuries of her own.

Winnie has survived two hundred years by never staying long enough to be found. But this house, this impossible family, and this exhausted, good-hearted father are the first things she’s wanted to keep in longer than she can remember.

She should have known better. Because the past doesn’t let go that easily — and hers is coming to collect.

✨ Perfect for readers who love: grumpy widower x unbothered 200-year-old nanny energy, slow-burn nanny romance, found family with a coffin parked under the trees, and exes who show up mid-domesticity like they weren’t already asked to leave

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

July 23, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

‘O567 pages

Review: Shadowspell Academy : Year of the Chameleon Book 6 by Shannon Mayer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Shannon Mayer brings the Shadowspell Academy series and the Year of the Chameleon mini trilogy to a thrilling conclusion here in the sixth and final story. 

Wild, Gregory, Wally, Johnson and the rest of her crew have 3 days to stop Frost or all is lost. It’s a terrifying race to find the all the keys and figure out how the magical pieces work together to become the ultimate weapon to defeat a enemy whose powers are growing.

The author’s manages to gather all her characters, the main circle of friends as well as the older characters, ghosts and outliers together, as well as their past shared histories , in this magical powerful confrontation with evil. 

And it takes Wild back to her beginnings and returns the series to its own roots. A really great narrative touch. 

The ending was harrowing, heartbreaking in scenes and emotionally charged. How it finally felt after the battle was over? Drained and right. 

It would have gotten a higher rating but there’s still too much left unfinished. Characters who are important but have no resolution. Same goes for Wild’s siblings and father. 

For a “academy/trials” trope, outside of the first book, the school and any type of academic work is not addressed here. The very idea of an academy going forward with Wild and crew and their schooling would have to be a continuing part of the series. 

What would come after The Year of the Chameleon? 

Anyway, this was excellent. Absolutely exciting, highly suspenseful, thrilling storytelling. I’ll definitely be recommending it for lovers of this genre and paranormal fiction. 

A real pleasure to share.

Shadowspell Academy (6 book series)

The Culling Trials #1 through 3

Year of the Chameleon #4 through 6 written by Shannon Mayer

Buy link 

        Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon: (Book 6)

    

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose the Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

Broken, bruised, and battered beyond anything else, I’ve survived what I shouldn’t have. 

But my day isn’t done yet. We finally have the key to stopping Frost—literally. Even if we don’t know how to use it. 

One last time my friends and I have to scour not only the city but the supernatural world to find the pieces of this final puzzle—and we have three days to do it. 

One final showdown brings us back to where it all began, and I face off against the woman who killed my brother. Who hunted my mother down. Who broke my uncle’s spirit.

Hijinks Ink Publishing

Publication date

May 18, 2021

Language

‎English

Print length

326 pages

Book 6 of 6

Shadowspell Academy

Review: Shadowspell Academy: The Culling Trials (Book 1) by K. F. Breene and Shannon Mayer

Rating: 4⭐️

I’m pretty much done with certain tropes because I feel they’ve been overdone by authors recently in many genres. It’s the academy or trial settings or trials taking place in academia settings, throw in a romance, shifters , vampires and magic and you can probably find or name over 50 books that fit that category alone, maybe more if you consider series. 

But I adore Breene and while I am waiting for her next book (Magical Midlife series) to be released, I thought I’d give this one a try. 

The setup is compelling. A farm family that’s worn down by its losses of their mother and older brother, a broken father barely making it, with debts piling up and plenty of mouths to feed. 

We meet the oldest daughter, Wild, who’s really running the farm as her father is physically in a bad state and her siblings are much younger. Her mother is dead as is her oldest brother, Tommy, who left for an academy but was killed in a mysterious accident there.

Now that same academy is demanding that her younger brother attend and Wild is equally determined that they not lose any more children to a school they don’t know about. 

Of course, it’s never that simple. There’s plenty of secrets and things that have been hidden from her. 

I absolutely adore the character of Wild, a brave and intelligent young woman, determined to save her family from another loss.

The found family aspect of the academic life and group that’s formed isn’t anything new but still very interesting and entertaining. 

It’s the first book. She’s hiding her gender and lack of knowledge in a group of misfits. And the authors don’t seem to draw this out very far with a cliffhanger ending. 

It’s got a terrific main character, predictable elements and an entertaining plot. 

Recommended for those who love the authors and this type of storytelling. It’s a good read. 

Shadowspell Academy (6 book series)

The Culling Trials #1 through 3

Year of the Chameleon #4 through 6

Buy link 

 Book 1 of 6: Shadowspell Academy 

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already…

Until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence.

In an invitation.

My younger brother has been chosen for the prestigious, secret magical school hidden within the folds of our mundane world. A place so dangerous, they don’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive.If he doesn’t go our entire family will be killed.

It’s the same invitation my older brother received three years ago—the same place he mysteriously died.

The academy has already killed one sibling. I’ll be damned if they take another.

 

Hijinks Ink Publishing

Publication date

April 9, 2019

Edition

1st

Language

‎English

Print length

238 pages

Book 1 of 6

Shadowspell Academy

Review: Vision & Venture: The Glyphwright Chronicles – Book 4 by Jeremy Fabiano

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Reading Jeremy Fabiano’s The Glyphwright Chronicles is like coming home, to a cosy warm village that feels like a somewhere you feel safe and comfortable, happy and wanted. Where the people are those you’ve gotten to know, the shops are now familiar, and when the carriages spot the turning wheel of the mill and the lights of the town on the return road home, your heart is just as filled with joy as that of the characters. 

The author rarely makes a single error in his series of two journeymen glyphwrights as they’ve become first friends, now partners, who have found themselves together with their fiancé or wives, friends and family members in a community that values them and their contributions. 

Vision & Venture picks up right after the events of the last story. Marcus and Felix are buying the building that will house their families, sister Rose, visitors, their businesses and warehouse as well as sales front. 

It’s a heartfelt narrative that brings both sides together, the science behind all the various aspects of the magic or technology each character has and the real power of community that Fabiano continues to grow here. We meet new people and shops, get ingenious new ideas and devices, and, of course, a dramatic challenge that each person here must face in their own way.   It’s realistic, engaging and the engineering and technology is incredibly interesting. And it’s always fiercely connected with the people who are working on it and with it. 

That’s what’s really exciting. There’s no separation of human elements from the technology or magical aspects of their work. They make mistakes, recognize when they need to go in another direction. 

In other words, this feels so relatable and we can really connect with each of them. 

The only misstep I could see was with Felix’s mother, who has been deeply abusive emotionally to him for years. His father has been reconnecting with him, without saying anything to his mother. But there’s an entire dramatic scene here where his mother changes her “attitude “ about his future wife, job, partner, in an emotional outburst. It’s very nice to see and have that happen. But is it realistic to think that after years of mental cruelty and emotional abuse she’s immediately going to be a different woman? I don’t think so.  That’s a child’s wish for everything to be okay, for things to be normal. A golden fairytale glow. 

But maybe that’s what the author is going for. The golden glow of the hearth, the warmth of the fire and the joy of friendship at the end of the day. A cozy little town at the end of the road. 

We will leave it there. And enjoy Vision & Venture: The Glyphwright Chronicles – Book 4 by Jeremy Fabiano for the heartwarming tale it is. 

Two more books to go. I’m there for all of them. 

 Cover design by Jacqueline Sweet Design

 Glyphwright Chronicles (4 book series):

  • Ashes & Anchors #0.5 (Erasmus’s backstory)
  • Ink & Intent  #1
  • Wards & Measures #2
  • Trades & Treaties #3 
  • Vision & Venture #4
  • Glyphs & Merit #5 – 
  • Legacy & Succession #6

Buy link

 Book 4 of 6: The Glyphwright Chronicles 

Blurb 

Marcus and Felix have a building to fix up, a best friend preparing for his Master certification, and a wedding that’s already taking on a life of its own. For the first time, everything feels like it’s falling into place.

Then the Guild rejects all four of their advancement applications. Instead of explanations, the Guild throws them into a public test against a real food shortage with real consequences.

Millbrook bets their food supply on them anyway.

Now they have to prove their methods work at scale, under full Guild scrutiny. Everything they’ve built depends on what happens next.

A cozy fantasy with LitRPG progression, found family, community trust, and the discovery that sometimes the people who believe in you are the ones you didn’t know were watching.

Pour yourself something warm, settle into your favorite reading spot, and discover that building a future is harder than saving a kingdom.

April 8, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

394 pages

Book 4 of 6

The Glyphwright Chronicles

Review: Penny For Your Thoughts (Shadowy Solutions #5) by Nicky James

Rating: 4.75🌈

Penny For Your Thoughts is the fifth book in Nicky James fantastic series , Shadowy Solutions. It’s a series that quickly became a hit with me, surpassing the original series it’s connected with, that of Valor and Doyle.  I feel parts of Valor and Doyle became repetitive, although Aslan is a huge hit with me.

But the complexity of the dynamic between Tallus Domingo and deeply damaged PI Diem Krause, each with a legacy of parental violence, family domestic abuse, and childhood trauma. But one who carries the deepest visible scars as well as the emotional traumatic memories. Ongoing pain and PTSD.  That’s Diem, who has tremendous anger issues and anxieties as well as substance abuse problems. 

Over the course of 5 novels, James has built up, albeit slowly and realistically, a hard won relationship between these two very different men. It’s been compelling to watch and read about as Diem fights with his demons, and both have to devise ways to make their lives work for themselves. 

Even here, Diem has to make the decisions about his use of alcohol and cigarettes, even as his father and family life has the greatest impact on his life. 

I’m not sure if James is finishing the series with the story or not. I would be happy if this was the finale.

It’s got a terrific storyline. All the crossover characters are here from Valor and Doyle in meaningful scenes. Aslan, Fox, Quaid, Costa and Kitty Lavender.

Then there’s Darcy Gingrick, Echo, and Baby the snake, that actually gives both Tallus and Diem as touching family, of sorts. Especially, Darcy, what an incredible element he turns out to be. 

This is one of my favorites of the series. And if it’s the finale, I’m absolutely satisfied with how everyone is left at the end. 

There’s an extra bonus story, The Baby Visit, linked at the end of the book.  Don’t miss out on this one. Sweet bonus and intimate window into a favorite side character. 

Highly recommended. 

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow Designs

Same Universe:

Valor and Doyle (8 book series)

 Shadowy Solutions (5 book series):

Skeletons in the Closet #1

Power of the Mind #2

Reading Between the Lines #3

A Breath of Life #4

Penny For Your Thoughts #5

Buy link

 Book 5 of 5: Shadowy Solutions 

Blurb 

Diem never thought he would have a steady boyfriend and enough cases to keep his business in the green. He never thought his nana would live to be ninety-three.

Life is, dare he say, good?

He could do to drink less, and he still needs to quit smoking, but he’s getting there.

He’s happy.

In love.

If he could manage his stress, life might even turn out to be… great?

But then Tallus arranges dinner with his parents, where Diem faces questions about commitment and weddings and a weekend bonding trip with a stepfather he doesn’t know.

And a resident of Nana’s nursing home ends up involved in a twisted version of a grandparent scheme, so Diem agrees to investigate. The police clearly aren’t doing their job.

It’s all downhill from there.

The case somehow leads to Diem figuratively adopting the most obnoxious teenager imaginable. A boy whose troubled life reflects Diem’s past. A boy who is deeply entwined in a con far more complex than he realizes.

One misstep tips their hand. The hunter becomes the hunted. Diem and Tallus—and their unfortunate sidekick—are in a race against the clock, desperate to nail the person responsible before he skips the country… or seeks revenge.

So much for reducing stress.

Amidst the chaos, Diem finds himself bonding with his petulant rescue-teen. Diem is nobody’s role model, but the boy’s incessant questions open Diem’s mind and heart to things he never thought possible.

Things that make him think that maybe life could be… amazing.

*This is the fifth installment in the Shadowy Solution series. It is a same-couple mystery series with mental health rep, size difference, and a sassy vs surly dynamic. The series should be read in order for full enjoyment*

March 26, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

461 pages

Book 5 of 5

Shadowy Solutions

Review:  How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin series Book 6) by G.A. Aiken

Rating:  4.75⭐️

Readers of this series have been waiting on Izzy’s story and finally we get it in How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin series Book 6) by G.A. Aiken.

Issabail aka Izzy, adopted daughter of Breic the Mighty and true daughter to his mate Talaith, former assassin, powerful Nolwenn witch, has had a long, dark journey with her mother to get to her current life.  The reader has been able to see her mother and Izzy through much of their later dark years until they came back together under Queen Annwyn.

And we watched the drama happen between friends Izzy, dragon cousins Calyn, and Éibhear become something that ends up tearing apart the friendship and bond between all of them fracturing.

Now 10 years later, Izzy is the terrifying General of the Eighth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-sixth Legions of Annwyl the Bloody’s army. Shes often accompanied by her best friend, Brannie, a Cadwaladr warrior dragon. And Éibhear the Blue? He’s become Éibhear the Contemptible, a ruthless vicious fighter,  part of the feared Mi-runach, a death squad made up of warriors who were problematic elsewhere. 

How to Drive a Dragon Crazy brings Izzy and Éibhear together again for a mission that dives deep into both Izzy and her mother’s past in the Desert Kingdom as well as returning characters, Gaius Lucius Domitus, who is ruling the Quintillian Provinces along with his sister,Lady Agrippina.

The real threat and overall series storyline starts to emerge as new religious zealotry appears. Terrific elements that become even more powerful and threatening as the story continues.

But it’s old relationships to be renewed and damage repaired so that as the adults they are now can have a better chance of surviving and being happy. 

It’s hilarious, action packed, and as Aiken is so fantastic at, believably layering emotional depths that swings from poignancy to anger to fear and finally to authentic uncertainty. Moments so real that it brings the readers so intimately into these characters journey that we feel everything along with them. 

With each story, I always say, this is my favorite, while knowing I’ll feel this way about the next. But I love Izzy. Always have. Branny too. 

And seeing her find her own roots. So amazing. Even if the series doesn’t return there, except to smack down Haldane again, this was truly wonderful. 

Highly recommended as is the series which should be read in the order it is written. 

Dragon Kin – 9 books complete series :

Dragon Actually #1

About A Dragon #2

What a Dragon Should Know #3

Last Dragon Standing #4

The Dragon Who Loved Me #5

How to Drive a Dragon Crazy #6

Light My Fire #7

Feel The Burn #8

Bring The Heat #9

Buy link

        How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin series Book 6)

    

Blurb 

Sanity is overrated in this “captivating, funny, exciting” fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Scarred Earth Saga (Smexy Books).

Some things never go away, like vile enemies, bad ale, and annoying kin. But I thought I was finished with the one dragon I’d have done anything for: Éibhear the Blue, a big, gorgeous, blue-haired beast who thinks the world belongs to him. The world and, apparently, me. 

So if Éibhear wants to play the caring hero and travel into the most forsaken of Gods forsaken lands to protect the one woman who doesn’t need it—namely me—I’ll let him. Because while I’m trying to fulfill a ridiculous