Tag: LGBTGIA paranormal romance

Review: Screwing With A Ghost ( Haunted Love #3) by Morgan Mason

Rating: 4.5🌈

Screwing With A Ghost is the first book I read by Morgan Mason and also the first I picked out of the Haunted Love collection. The description intrigued me and I love the chance to explore a new author.

This paranormal romance has so much to recommend it. A haunting back story for the ghost, a charming personality and engaging character for the young, very much alive man who has returned home to see his mother through yet another failed marriage and emotional struggles.

I’m never sure how an author will handle a love affair that involves a ghost as part of the romantic equation. There’s a certain bittersweet element that’s built into such a relationship seeing as one person is alive and another is dead, physically removed from the other. For them to realistically be fully together, they both should share the same plane.

How Mason resolves this aspect of her story isn’t revealed until almost the very end.

Until then we are treated to an unlikely friendship between a ghost with a well known horrifying past, Andrew Blackwell, and a young artist, Miguel, who buys at a huge discount, the infamous haunted Blackwell farm. Back to take care of his mother, he’s left his friends and a prodigious art studio invitation behind, for a farm that needs lots of work to live in and a barn he wants for his studio.

A two person POV gives us a wonderful introduction to both men, their backgrounds, and in Andrew’s case, his ideas of masculinity and his era’s thoughts on homosexuality, all of which were toxic in the extreme. He gets a shock when he sees Miguel, who loves color and dresses gender free.

Their relationship is woven slowly through wisps of swirling air and leaves, the briefest of chilly touches, and the sheer need to communicate. It’s moving and heartbreaking as they begin a relationship that has become increasingly difficult yet so important to each other.

I wished there was more to the ending and all that was happening there. It wasn’t as layered as the rest of the story but felt a bit rushed.

Still , this is a really interesting and compelling romance and I’m happy to have found a new author to look forward to.

I’m recommending Screwing With A Ghost ( Haunted Love #3) by Morgan Mason and will be diving into the other books.

Haunted Love collection with various authors:

◦ Stargazing With A Ghost by K. L. Hiers #1

◦ Sexting With A Ghost by Ashlynn Mills #2

✓ Screwing With A Ghost by Morgan Mason #3

◦ Gardening With A Ghost by Amanda Meuwissen #4

◦ Baking With A Ghost by R.M. Neill #5

◦ Necromancing With A Ghost by Cari Z #6

◦ Dancing With A Ghost by Alex J. Adams #7

◦ Haunting With A Ghost by B. Ripley #8

◦ Flunking With A Ghost by Baylin Crow #9

These don’t seem to have any order to be read in.

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showScrewing with a Ghost by Morgan Mason

Description:

When Miguel decides to move back to his hometown to help his mom and sister, the only home in his budget is the abandoned and haunted estate he used to vandalize in his youth. He’s not exactly worried, but meeting the resident ghost isn’t high on his list of priorities. As Miguel sets about cleaning and converting the old barn into his new art studio, his ghostly housemate demonstrates strong opinions on Miguel’s life choices.

As far as new landlords go, Edward is pleased Miguel plans to restore his deteriorating ancestral home. Miguel’s ludicrous notion that men can wear dresses and sew, however, has Edward rethinking his ex-pastime in hauntings. But as Edward learns more about Miguel and his nontraditional lifestyle, plus the strange connection they seem to share, he can’t suppress his increasingly inquisitive nature or his burgeoning feelings for the one man who truly sees him, despite being invisible.

What starts out as a tentative truce, turns into something more as indignation melts into curiosity, then flirty teasing. Is it totally crazy that Miguel might have the tiniest crush on a ghost? Would it be even crazier to hope his ghost might have a crush on him back?

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Monstrous Intent (Monsters and Mischief Book 1) by Alice Winters

Rating: 4.5🌈

If you’re familiar with Alice Winters, you know her writing often grounds itself in dark topics like murder, assassination, torture, themes of mass destruction, whether it’s in a contemporary world or that of an alternate reality filled with the paranormal.

Blending snarky, sharp, irreverent humor with moments of serious reflection and empathy, however, brief, the author imbues her characters and storylines with a slightly demented vitality that goes well with her high action packed narrative.

Declan is a former monster hunter for the Department of Research and Defense (DRD). But he became disillusioned with the constant attacks and killings so he left to become a teacher. Now with an increase in Chimeras sightings and killings, the DRD wants its best hunter back and won’t stop until he’s part of the organization again.

Lake, an enigma, works for the DRD , but Declan is instantly aware Lake is much more.

Winters’ complex plot, increasing cast of characters, and series foundation that’s being laid out as the storyline deepens, is a tale guaranteed to hold the reader’s interest and keep them engaged with the characters growing relationships.

Plus there’s fish again. That’s a odd reoccurring trend that’s got me wondering about undercover fish goals and other weirdness. Sort a love it.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Monstrous Intent and the open threads it left in this story that will drive the next part of the series.

If you’re a fan of Alice Winters or if this sounds like a tale that’s your jam, it’s one I’m definitely recommending.

Alice Wintershttps://www.alicewintersauthor.com › …Monstrous Intent

Description:

Declan
It’s really hard to pretend like life is normal when you’re staring a monster in the eyes, though he’s both tempting and irritating in his human form. I put my days as a hunter behind me, unable to cope with the death and pain anymore, to become an upstanding citizen and for what? To assist Lake, a man who claims he’s not a monster but keeps talking about me like I’m edible and–even worse–wants to woo me? Between my old organization trying to pull me in and Lake proving that things aren’t quite what they seem, I’m dragged back into this world of fighting the things that humans fear the most.

Lake
The human is exquisite. The first moment he told me he was going to hunt me down, I felt my heart burst. He’s beautiful, sassy, angry, and going to be mine (even if he thinks he can refuse my charms). But what Declan doesn’t know about me is that there’s a reason I’m hiding as a human among monster hunters. And while he definitely doesn’t know why, he’s willing to work with me because the people around us strangely want Declan and me dead at the end of this (I mean, who would want to kill us? We’re amazing).
But honestly… what’s more fun than dragging a hunter off to the dark side?

Warning: This is a chaotic monster and a chaotic human. Stuff happens. People die (but they were bad, so it doesn’t matter, right?) and there’s plenty of humor alongside a budding romance.

AMAZON

GOODREADS

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Find the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Rating: 4.5🌈

Maz Maddox’s latest book in their new series is a great bit of dark storytelling. Told in first person perspective by a assassin/ fish trainer who hunts vampires on the side, we know immediately that the universe is a off kilter one.

Dangerous, filled with beings of all types running a metropolis that swings from swanky to crime ridden and hopeless. Drugs, sex, business as usual.

Our narrator is Dallas Wilde. Sarcasm, dry humor, and an apparent lack of self control camouflage the anguished state that lies beneath a callous, self involved façade. Over time, through scattered memories and distraught scenes, we see a traumatized man, who’s brutal past has never left him and the PTSD that he’s never dealt with.

It’s left, at least in this story, for the readers to start to cobble together the facts that have lead to Dallas’ trauma. It impacts everything that happens here, all his interactions and reactions with the beings and in every event.

I actually enjoy that Maddox isn’t ready to fill in the blanks for us with Dallas’s past history. Especially with all the mysteries and magical plot lines that have their own rabbit holes to go mentally and emotionally down.

Honestly, there’s questions about so many elements here. Fish training? Kevin the beta? Plus those are minor details.

The massive narrative threads, especially those that have a dark turn or twist to them, come with a equal amount of puzzling aspects along with the foundation Maddox is establishing for her series.

I found the book, the characters, and the mind puzzles addictive. I was exceptionally surprised by each turn the story took and how quickly it ended.

It left several items unanswered, as I expected in such a convoluted story, and I’m anticipating the next novel in hopes of seeing the next stages the characters advance to.

There’s public sex, perhaps with a hint of noncon to it, after all moral ambiguities are status quo here. Murder is a job after all.

I’m highly recommending this . Read the warnings at the beginning. It’s dark fantasy or paranormal fiction.

Bring on book two!

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showFind the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Description:

Wilde Contract Killing and Fish Training, how can I help you?

Murder contract? Piece of cake.

Find a jinn? No problem.

New necromancy powers while being followed by an unwanted vampire bodyguard?

Not so much.

Trained to handle even the most fierce undead, Dallas Wilde took out a powerful necromancer without breaking a sweat. Okay, that’s a lie – there was tons of sweat, but he was victorious all the same.

Unfortunately, killing a necromancer comes with some repercussions.

Broody, annoying, vampire repercussions and new abilities to resurrect the dead.

Can Dallas navigate his blood-sucking bodyguard, new powers, feelings for his attractive client and still handle his contract in time to pay his very, very late rent – all while trying not to get super murdered in the process?

Let’s hope so.

Find the Jinn is the first contract in a trilogy of death, pining, dark magic and a grumpy fish named Kevin. 

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Chasing Shadows (Daemons of San DeLain Book 1) by M.A. Church

Rating: 3.5🌈

Chasing Shadows is the first book in M.A. Church’s new Daemons of San DeLain series. A paranormal romance, the theme and background of the central characters hints at a darker story than it turns out to be.

A physically abused child is saved from his father’s continuing brutality by a monster that’s hiding under his bed. One who announces to the child that he belongs to him.

Church could have gone so dark with that storyline but instead the monster turns out to be a guardian who acts as protector, friend, and nothing more until the boy ages. He’s been a unseen companion, a voice and glimpses of darkness under the bed.

It’s not until Austin’s an adult with a career as a successful paranormal romance author that events cause a meeting that brings them finally face to face.

Church’s universe for this series has many of the usual paranormal characters as well as the new shadow daemons the author’s created. I found so many aspects about them interesting, the use of shadows to travel. Portals. The fact that there’s gender differences in appearances. That puzzled me btw. Why automatically assume or assign gender to daemons? Why not make coloration differences according to age?

At any rate, Kage, the head of his Daemons clan, aka the Monster under the bed, just doesn’t come across as all that monstrous. Courtly, old. Just not the feared being he’s supposed to be across all paranormal species.

That’s a factor here all through the various storylines. None of the hunters, werewolves, dragons, seem especially threatening.

The promise the dark elements threaded through the description shows never arrives. Which is fine if you like your paranormal romance on the light side.

Chasing Shadows , for me, is a lighter styled romance. There’s fated mates but no kink or wild sex that you’d expect from a daemon who’s claiming his long awaited mate. The story has some mystery, some suspense but ,again nothing chilling or high anxiety.

The relationships, the danger, even the mating bond itself was more along the quick entertainment level then anything with deeper narrative expectations.

If that’s what you want in a paranormal romance, or even something you’re looking for right now, check out the beginning of this new series, Chasing Shadows (Daemons of San DeLain Book 1) by M.A. Church .

Daemons of San DeLain series:

Chasing Shadows #1

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showChasing Shadows by M.A. Church

Description:

The monster: They say I am powerful. They say I am the darkness. They say I instill fear in the minds and hearts of many.

They’re right.

I am powerful. I am the darkness. I should be feared. Then I heard his cries and everything changed. Power can be tempered. There’s safety in the darkness. And the monster isn’t always the one under the bed.

Now only the heart and mind of one human interests me. He is mine. I wait, watching over him until the time is right to claim what belongs to me.

Austin: Do you believe there are monsters under the bed? I do. I don’t just believe; I know for a fact they exist. I’ve met one. Sort of. Okay, I haven’t actually seen the monster, I’ve only spoken to it.

Kind of hard to see much of anything when you’re hiding under the covers while waiting on your father to beat your ass. The monster saved me. Literally. He says I’m his, and he’s waiting for the right time to claim me.

Someone tell him to hurry the hell up.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Dead Serious Case #2 : Mrs Delores Abernathy (Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed) by Vawn Cassidy

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed just got better with Case 2: Mrs. Delores Abernathy. I’m impressed with the manner in which Cassidy is crafting the ghosts “stuck” between worlds. It’s got a very different, humane feeling to it than other takes.

As it was with Dusty, it becomes just as poignant and as much a emotional journey here with Delores Abernathy. Delores is a sweet elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s , who’s poisoned in the same full care home as Tristan’s father. The ghosts who die before their allotted time are caught in a loop, forced to stay as they died until Tristan can help them move through whatever is keeping them here.

In this case, Delores the ghost still has Alzheimer’s, which makes it difficult to figure out how to help her, let alone who murdered her. Delores, a periphery gentle character becomes a strong narrative presence by emotional means of her illness and by association with Tristan’s father, who’s state in the same facility is ever worsening.

Both people make a huge impact on the readers as themselves and by the loving nature of the relationships a they have made with their families.

Both heartbreaking and heartfelt.

Of course Dusty is back, a lively, fabulous ghostly guide, when she chosen to be. But part of this storyline belongs to her and her great bestie and fellow drag Queen Chan. Cassidy intertwines their own pain/loss with the current case in a way that’s beautiful, sad, and wryly funny.

Tristan’s and Inspector Danny Hayes’ relationship, a wonderful aspect of this series, keeps moving forward. Typical of this couple, nothing about it is smooth. Gawky, awkward, painful, sexy, and in this actual case , full of ghosts and a secret that Tristan needs to divulge.

The story is almost a 5. There’s a cliffhanger. Not really one I mind actually. It’s more a hint of the next mystery to come. But it’s still a tiny one that introduces new major characters.

I can’t wait!

If you love a great mystery, paranormal characters and romance, here a fabulous story and series for you. Read them in the order they are written for characters and storylines development.

Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed series:

✓ Case 1: Miz Dusty Le Frey

✓ Case #2 : Mrs Delores Abernathy

◦ (Cold) Case #3: Mr. Brian Reyes -TBD

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showDead Serious Case #2 Mrs Delores Abernathy by Vawn Cassidy

Description:

In the business of unfinished business…

It’s been over six months since a freak accident left pathologist Tristan Everett able to see ghosts, something he has yet to confess to his boyfriend. Instead, he now has a new calling, one he’s not entirely happy about… help the dead resolve their unfinished business so they can pass into the light, sounds simple right?

Wrong…

When the spirit of a sweet old lady suffering from Alzheimers follows him home he has no idea how to help her. When he finds out she’s been murdered by arsenic poisoning, a curiously outdated murder weapon, he once again finds himself tangled up in a murder investigation.

For Inspector Danny Hayes of New Scotland Yard, life couldn’t be better. After moving to London and meeting Tristan he’s ready to move their relationship to the next level, but something weird is going on with Tristan, he’s acting very strangely and with a killer on the loose he’s not taking any chances. He’s determined to discover whatever it is Tristan’s hiding from him.

Surrounded by a bunch of potentially murderous old ladies and aided by his sidekick, deceased drag queen and spirit guide in training, Dusty, Tristan must unravel the mystery of Mrs Delores Abernathy’s unfinished business and find the courage to share his deepest secret with the man he loves.

From author Wendy Saunders writing as Vawn Cassidy, comes the second book in this funny and touching paranormal MM romance/dark comedy suspense series.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Dead Serious Case #1 Miz Dusty Le Frey(Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed) by Vawn Cassidy

by Vawn Cassidy

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Dead Serious is straight up marvelous. It gave me a “new to me author” to look for more novels and the start of a clearly fabulous series checks so many of my must have narrative elements.

Dead Serious has a layered storyline that includes a complicated mystery, ghosts, romance, and characters with emotional depth and histories that enrich themselves and the story.

I was hooked from the beginning when I met Tristan Everett, pathologist at the Hackney Public Mortuary. He’s socially awkward, great at his job at conducting autopsies, remembering the people he’s working on with respect. Something that proves important later. Tristan is engaging, real, and someone we connect with.

The story that quickly draws the reader in starts a tad before the case of the murdered drag Queen Dusty Le Frey, a charismatic character herself. It’s the surprising event that happens at a retirement party for a colleague of Tristan’s that will have reverberations for this book and series, actually all of Tristan’s life.

Cassidy weaves the impact from that event on Tristan’s life continuously throughout the story. And probably stories to come. The implications are that huge.

While that’s happening, there’s a mystery to solve, a poignant father/son relationship to reveal, a sexy romance with a hot detective, and a new expanding group of friends for the introverted Tristan to draw on for support and affection.

Honestly, what a fabulous story and group of people.

I adore them and am moving onto the next in the series.

Highly recommending it for the romance, mystery, fabulous characters and found family!

Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed series:

◦ Case 1: Miz Dusty Le Frey

◦ Case #2 : Mrs Delores Abernathy

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showDead Serious Case #1: Miz Dusty Le Frey by Vawn Cassidy

Description:

In the business of unfinished business…

Tristan Everett has always preferred the company of the dead because they usually don’t talk back. Being a somewhat awkward introvert working as a pathologist at the Hackney Public Mortuary suits him just fine. That is, until a freak accident with a rogue ice cube and suddenly he can see ghosts. No longer content to just lie on the table and let him figure out how they died, they’re now peering over his shoulder critiquing his work and confessing their most lascivious sins before skipping off merrily into the afterlife.

Just when he thought his life couldn’t get any weirder, sassy drag queen, Dusty Le Frey, is wheeled in with a toe tag and she’s not prepared to go quietly into the light. Not only is she furious at the prospect of spending eternity in last season’s gold lame, she’s determined that he help her solve her murder.

Suddenly Tristan finds himself thrown into a world of sequins and fake eyelashes, and worse still, he may have developed a bit of a crush on Scotland Yard’s brand new drool-worthy detective, Inspector Danny Hayes, who’s been assigned to Dusty’s murder. Oh, and as the icing on top of a really crappy cake, the killer now wants him dead too…

All he ever wanted was a simple life but suddenly he’s juggling work, a deliciously sexy detective, a stubborn ghost and a relentless murderer… and things have just gotten dead serious….

From author Wendy Saunders writing as Vawn Cassidy comes this hot and funny, slow burn, opposites attract paranormal caper across the East End of London.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Demon House by Mia Monroe

Rating: 2.75🌈

Demon House by Mia Monroe is a quick mildly entertaining Holiday read. It’s a short story with no real drama and , nothing that’s going to ask anything of a reader more then a casual connection to the characters.

There’s some nice elements, and the witch character has real promise but Monroe doesn’t go into any depth of detail in character layering or foundation that would elevate Demon House above the uninspired or just another passable paranormal story.

Issues (Spoilers ahead fyi)

🔹Demon Zeno is sad. He must stay inside the house for breaking demon rules. His prior relationship could have been mined for real depth of character and foundation. Was it? Nope. We get pieces. Nothing on the person. Or them together.

🔹Demon sad. So human ghost hunter thinks let’s have sex asap because, you know. Sexy Demon sad.SMH.

🔹instant love- no depth. No relationship. I wuv you. Let’s have more sex.

🔹 problems solved instantly. While there’s no wands there might as well have been.

So basically. While it is a paranormal romance, there’s ways to bring depth to the characters and layering to any foundation a author is trying to create. Didn’t happen here imo.

If you don’t care, just want to zip through a story, and put it down. This just might be your story.

I’ll leave it up to you.

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Demon-…Demon House – Kindle edition by Monroe, Mia. Romance Kindle eBooks …

Description:

This house has BDE all over it. That is one big… Demon.

Bash:

One night in the most haunted house in the country could be our ticket to fame and fortune. As a group of paranormal investigators, this could be our big break. If the hauntings are real, Peaches, Chaos, and I are expecting to be terrified and catch all of it on video for our fledgling channel.

When the rumors prove to be true, and I come face to face with the resident demon, all bets are off. Turns out, demons have feelings too, and this one is possessive, touchy, and huh, kind of hot. Did I mention he has big… horns?

To make it through this night in one piece, I have to do what I can to keep him happy. Looks like our viewers are going to get way more than they signed up for, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do.

Now the only question is, when the sun comes up, will I want to walk away and will the demon let me.

Demon House is an MM paranormal romance featuring a horny demon with a taste for mortals, a paranormal investigator in over his head, a haunted house that lives up to the rumors, and enough heat to make Hades jealous. It is a standalone novella.

Review: Stone Wings (The Gargoyles of Arrington, Book 1) by Jenn Burke

Rating: 3.5🌈

Stone Wings, the first book in a new Jenn Burke paranormal romance series, is a quick, entertaining tale.

The premise? A old Irish family is cursed. The parents killed and their sons become gargoyles. They sleep for 100 years and are awake for 25 before returning to another 100 years slumber cycle.

Interesting story and Burke uses both English and Irish spellings for names and descriptions in keeping with her theme and universe. The family is the O’ Raghaillighs, now the O’Reillys in the US. Originally five sons, due to circumstances explained in the story, the family is down to Teague, Drew, and Rian O’Reilly.

They have been awake and now have just two years to go before they must sleep again. But the magic of the curse is off, things are going off schedule and they are worried.

Aside from the brothers, there’s a human guardian family to watch over them through the years while they slumber. The latest guardian is Josh Palleson, who’s father was guardian before him.

Burke does a interesting job with the brother Gargoyles. Each has a different look, and magical ability. Over the years they’ve adapted to human society as much as possible. One, Teague, is a police officer. Drew, the romantic lead here, is a mechanic with his own shop.

Plus there’s a hidden supernatural world of shifters, witches etc. that humans aren’t aware of.

The curse can be broken by finding true love. Like most fairytales.

However, I always had issues with that.

And I do here.

I like the gargoyles. Why do breaking curses mean giving up what’s the coolest thing about them?

Curse broken. Boom . You are now a vulnerable, non magical prey animal Congratulations.

I’m sure that’s a grand thing. Especially if , say, you or anyone you care about is at odds or maybe war with a bunch of paranormal beings.

But you be the new you.

Why does everyone think being human is all that grand? Why not something new , fairytale wise? Change the human into a gargoyle?

I don’t know. I’d like to see some fresh elements, some new territory explored.

Maybe in the next story. Burke’s series is just getting started. I’ll see where it goes.

The characters are interesting. The storyline too. And I like gargoyles. If this sounds like something you’d like, check it out.

https://www.goodreads.com › showStone Wings (The Gargoyles of Arrington, #1) by Jenn Burke | Goodreads

Synopsis:

His curse can only be lifted with true love, but can true love come from a fake date?

Being the personal assistant to a trio of cursed gargoyle brothers who sleep for a hundred years and wake up for twenty-five wasn’t a career proposed by Josh’s high school guidance counselor, but it’s a job that he’s eminently suited for. Not to mention a job his family has been doing for generations. The brothers are truly excellent bosses, but Josh is surprised when Drew offers to pretend to be his date for his high school reunion. And even more surprised by a supposedly fake kiss that feels as real as a kiss can get.

Drew and his brothers owe Josh and his family for watching over them each time they turn to stone for a hundred years, and for helping them reintegrate into the world when they wake up. The least he can do is pose as Josh’s boyfriend for a night. Even though true love can break his curse, he knows he won’t find it with Josh. Nothing that real can come from a lie. Or can it?

When the fake boyfriend situation stretches into two nights, and then more, Josh and Drew can’t fight the attraction blazing between them. There’s no harm in exploring it, right? No expectations. But when paranormal danger comes to Arrington, Josh and Drew are going to have to battle for every moment of peace…and maybe a real happily ever after too.

STONE WINGS is a 50,000 word male/male paranormal romance featuring a mechanic who happens to have wings and is a literal monster in bed, a personal assistant who’s always had a crush on him, stone skin or not, and a relationship that’s going to take a leap of faith to give the fairytale a happy ending.

The Gargoyles of Arrington series:

✓ Stone Wings #1

◦ Stone Skin – January 2023

◦ Stone Heart – June 2023

Review: The Deputy and His Enforcer (The Kincaid Pack #3) by Kiki Clark

Rating: 4🌈

The Deputy and his Enforcer is another good installment in Kiki Clark’s Kincaid Pack series.

Marcus Rivera is the Kincaid Pack’s Enforcer. Trusted with helping keep the secret of the supernaturals from the local humans as well as protecting his pack, that’s getting increasingly complicated when The Kincaid pack comes under constant surveillance and outside attacks.

These attacks come to the attention of the local law enforcement, of which some are human.

Deputy Robson Medina is someone who doesn’t understand why when dead bodies are found , Marcus Rivera is called in to handle it instead of himself.

This is a terrific mystery romance within the paranormal series. It has a mating bond, suspenseful scenes, mystery, and enough new information to move the series arc forward.

The characters are well written and the plot tightly crafted. Another plus in this growing series.

Definitely another recommendation.

Kincaid Pack series to date:

✓ The Alpha and his King #1

✓ The Second and His Bonded #2

✓ The Deputy and His Enforcer #3

✓ The Hunter and His Mates #4

◦ The Enforcer and His Heart #5

◦ The Witch and His Doctor #6

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) by Kiki Clark | Goodreads

Synopsis:

A deputy bent on finding the truth and the Enforcer whose job it is to stop him…

Nothing is more important to Marcus Rivera than protecting his pack, so he doesn’t understand why he has the sudden urge to tell a nosy human deputy things he shouldn’t. Marcus follows the rules. Always. But something about Robson’s scent has him tempted to break them.

The gorgeous red-head Deputy Robson Medina has been following has a secret. He just knows it, and he won’t stop looking until he finds out everything he can about the alluring man. Even if the idea of Marcus being a criminal seems less and less likely the more Robson learns.

As the tension between them continues to grow, it stokes a fire inside Marcus he’s never felt before. One that’s driving him to trust his wolf’s instincts and release the stranglehold Marcus has always had on his control. But when Robson gets a painful glimpse of the magical world Marcus lives in, they have to decide how much they’re willing to risk to have it all. 

The Deputy and His Enforcer is the third book in the Kincaid Pack series and features a wolf shifter in need of a family, a Puerto Rican human with more than his fair share, furry cuddles, creative mating practices, and a happily ever after.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: The Skeleton Under The Stairs (Beyond the Veil #3) by K.M. Avery

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The Skeleton Under The Stairs is the third book in the Beyond the Veil series and the one that wraps up Ward and Mason’s section of the series.

And while it’s a much better story then the previous one, The Boy in the Locked Room #2, it still leaves so many elements, minor to major, dangling within this couple’s story thread that I find it hard to think it successfully finalizes their part in the series arc.

The main couple consists of Ward Campion, medium via the magical ability granting Arcanavirus, who now has new magical abilities that point to him being a warlock. That new power, plus the recent combination of his business with Lost Lineage Foundation, which helps those find their deceased family, and their upcoming marriage, has him overly stressed about finances and insecurities.

His partner, Mason Manning, ex professor, historian, witch , orc, also has his problems. His very young nephew is a death witch and just coming into his powers. The only people who can reasonably help him are Mason and the overly stressed Edward.

I do like how Avery doesn’t play down Ward’s feelings about taking on a child with terrifying unstable powers into their home when he also feels that he needs Mason’s time and care too. He’s still very vulnerable, the trial for his assault coming up. And then there’s new murders to investigate.

You feel every bit as overwhelmed as Ward does.. He’s a bit ashamed that he’s reluctant to take on a child who needs them, but that’s wholly human.

More so because that child, Jackson, is beautifully characterized and real. His cries for help are heart wrenching.

The shadow magical organization, Antiquus Ordo Arcanum , that’s behind so many horrors, returns in a terrifying mystery that’s the title theme.

We get new fascinating ghosts, new magical powers, and elements as viewed and used by multiple characters. It’s another well done section.

The relationship between Mason and Ward continues to strengthen as each becomes more aware of each other’s issues, theirs feelings that hurt and help the bond they have grow. Avery, thankfully, toned down the number of sex scenes to allow page time for the couple to work through important issues as they came up when certain events triggered them.

There’s a wonderful dramatic climax but it’s hindered by a lack of foundation laid for the final events, that some pivotal elements and key players were allowed to just fade away, while others curiously stayed. As well as the fact that the criminals /company weren’t exactly dissolved but disbanded.

There are other small threads left dangling too. Jackson ‘s power. Ward’s power , the strange tingling in his back. I could go on about elements brought up and either discarded or forgotten.

It just seems as though there’s another book in Ward and Mason’s story needed to finish their story off.

Especially since the fourth book is Detective Hart’s.

So this is a wonderful book but not a great one. There’s many terrific elements, especially the Arcanavirus that changes people but that aspect too is delegated to the background other than people wearing masks in order not to catch it . It’s a shame because that’s a fascinating concept that got sidelined after the first book.

I’ll recommend it , with reservations about the second story. This is the best of the three. If you enjoy paranormal stories, check it out.

I’ll be picking up Hart’s story when it rolls out.

Beyond The Veil series:

✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1

✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2

✓ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3

◦ The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) – Oct 27, 2022 Detective Hart’s story

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Skeleton Under the Stairs (Beyond the Veil #3) by K.M. Avery | Goodreads

Synopsis:

There was a poltergeist on the stairs.

And she wasn’t the only one.

The house was full of restless spirits—all of them killed by the Antiquus Ordo Arcanum, a secret society that didn’t seem to care much for the welfare of either the living or the dead. And Mason and I—along with Hart and Sylvia—are right in the middle of it.

Again.

If that weren’t enough, Mason’s nephew, Jackson, is starting to have nightmares, and when you’re from a family of witches, that can only mean one thing—your power is growing, and you’ve also just become a threat to your own family. In our case, that means Jackson has to come live with us so that Mason can help him learn to control his power, which means that my home life is just about as chaotic—and dangerous—as my work life. Let me tell you, I’m getting pretty sick of hospitals and bandages and sleepless nights.

Oh, and I think I might be a warlock.

Things are going from chaos to worse, and somehow we still have to plan a wedding. And we haven’t so much as picked out the cake.

HEA M/M Paranormal Romance

Book Three in the Beyond the Veil Series

The final book in Mason & Ward’s story

Book One: The Ghost in the Hall

Book Two: The Boy in the Locked Room

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.