Review: Curses and Casualties (Hunters Hollow Book 3) by Arden Steele

Rating: 4.5🌈

Hunters Hollow, a sequel series to Arden Steele’s ongoing terrific Blackhaven Manor paranormal novels, is a successful crossover world. I’m really enjoying this series. I love the way Steele created new engaging characters, while maintaining the many established characters/couples it’s brought over from its original series.

These characters, all well defined in terms of personality and history, as well as the shared universe beings that have continued impactful roles to play , like Hades, in the storylines, keep the books intriguing and exciting.

Curses and Casualties, the third book in this series, demonstrates all the best qualities of the two worlds, with the established mythology and a great murder mystery to investigate.

Necromancer Elliot Church has a secret parentage and a familiar, Dax. It’s his father whose request for an investigation brings him first to New Orleans, then to Hunters Hollow.

It’s where he meets his fated mate, Tenn, an incubus and retired bounty hunter for the Ministry. Tenn, now a tattoo artist in Hunters Hollow, and Elliott have a great fated mate moment and start to a developing relationship. I enjoyed that Steele has layers to them. There’s issues that need to be addressed. Dax’ bond and Dax’s feelings as part of the dynamic for one. That’s just the beginning.

The mystery is good although the villain is easily guessed at. Why they are so bad is a better story.

And there’s other scenes and aspects of Curses and Casualties that will just tug at your heart. Especially the ending that added just more things to think about and explore in this expanding universe.

I look forward to the next chapter in this series and couple to get their fated mate HEA.

Highly recommended!

Hunters Hollow:

Angels and Anarchy #1

Beauty and Bad Blood #2

Curses and Casualties #3

Buy Link

Curses and Casualties (Hunters Hollow Book 3)

Blurb

Fame is a curse.

At least, that’s the way Elliot Church feels. A powerful mage with a gift for necromancy, he’s made a name for himself as a successful private investigator. And he fails to see how smiling in front of a camera or answering the same banal questions has any bearing on his performance.

It’s nothing more than a distraction, and one he doesn’t need, especially when strange things start happening in New Orleans.

There are dead Otherlings in the Quarter, their bodies mummified and their souls fragmented. A Reaper stands on every corner, and more are pouring into the city daily, which can only mean one thing. Mass casualties.

When his search for answers leads him to Hunters Hollow, the last thing he expects to find in the backwater town is his mate. Incubus and retired bounty hunter for the Ministry, Lysander Tennison—Tenn to the locals—is everything he never knew he wanted, but the timing couldn’t be more wrong. Yet, he can no more turn his back on the demon than he can ignore what’s going on in the city.

Even when every road in front of him leads straight to hell.

Publisher: PECCAVI PRESS (January 26, 2025)
Publication date: January 26, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 260 pages

Review: A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1) by Shelby Rhodes

Rating: 4.5🌈

It’s always exciting when Shelby Rhodes releases a new book, yet alone one that’s the start of a new series, but A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1) is exactly that.

A new LGBTQIA paranormal romance thriller that has all the elements we hope to see in a Shelby Rhodes novel, it sets the foundation going forward with the characters and world building for the books to come.

It’s horrifying, sexy, otherworldly, humorous, and funny. And leaves plenty of room for exploration and expansion in this series.

It starts with a sweetheart of a person, Oliver ‘Ollie’ Cross, who lives above his family’s building, Cross Heritage Private Library. He’s 30, orphaned from a wealthy family, and takes incredible pride and delight in sharing his love of books and the collection with children of his community and his diverse employees. And his irascible black cat, Red.

Who and exactly what Noble Vincent is, the man who enters Ollie’s life, is a major storyline and won’t be spoiled here. This is a two person POV, one of which is Noble’s. That’s important because of his type of character and history, only an inkling is implied.

Ollie’s employees are amazing and that library has wonders yet to come, I’m sure. It’s definitely got ghosts.

I thought it was a little unbalanced in terms of character storytelling at the beginning. But that changed dramatically as the two characters met and their relationship created a new dynamic. And Ollie became aware of the otherworld.

Noble’s element is horrifying and that, honestly, makes his quick relationship with Ollie a bit problematic for me. Rhodes has so many open opportunities for this story to move forward. And it’s just beginning to lay out the details of Ollie’s history and current situation. Nobles as well. Don’t get me started on Red and that book.

So I’m extremely excited to see where this author goes next. Surprising, terrifying, sexy and amazing. I’m there for it!

Highly recommended.

Fantastic cover design.

Cover Design: Tails Bee

A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery:

A Spark of Something #1
Villain of My Heart #2 – Sept 30,2025

Buy link:

A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1)

Blurb

Hello there, I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Well, if you are new, welcome. I’m Oliver ‘Ollie’ Cross, owner of the Cross Heritage Private Library, and I have a problem. Several actually. To explain the full weight of my conundrum, I feel I have to put out there that I am skeptical of all paranormal ‘things’, and always have been. Mostly, I just find the supernatural a bunch of nonsense. At least…I did…until ghosts started appearing…and my cat started talking to me… And if that weren’t enough, there is a book that constantly insults me, while claiming that I’m a witch!

So, as you can see, I have quite a conundrum on my hands, in that I…may be losing my ever-loving mind.

On a positive note, for the first time in my life, a man may actually like my tendency to babble, so…winning there? But then, Noble Vincent is perfect… Mysterious, but perfect. Though my cat doesn’t like him, and my best friend thinks he is hiding something. But if anything that’s happening is reality…my cat also lied to me my whole life…and my best friend usually thinks everyone is hiding something, so…opinions rejected!

Anyhoo, things are fine! I’m fine! What’s a few life altering events, some breakdowns, and…multiple people trying to kill me—hah… Things will be okay! I hope…

Author Note: A Spark of Something is the first book in the MM paranormal romance series, A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery, a series that is meant to be read in order. Please see inside or my website for content warnings.

Publisher: (January 29, 2025)
Publication date: January 29, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 375 pages

Review: My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood

Rating: 3.5🌈

My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood is a cute, no angst paranormal romance. It originally came about as a serialized story on the author’s Patreon site but has been updated and expanded.

The characters are adorable, there’s a inherited haunted house, along with ghosts (a family of ghosts which we never meet unfortunately), brownies, witches everywhere!

There’s so many interesting elements here pack together for a short story. Especially the familiars , a cat and puppy, that these characters never get fully developed into their elements. They are familiars in name only because they’re recognized by others as such. But do they talk or do things that we think of as being something familiars do? No. They do things that our cats and dogs do just as adorably mostly.

The romantic relationship is fast and the book length just doesn’t leave them much time for development of magical skills, new knowledge of how magic works, or other relationship areas. But the characters, Rhett and Calix and Calix’s family are so interesting that this story makes me wish for a sequel or expanded version.

Read My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood for a delightful instant love paranormal tale!

Adorable Cover by Katie Griffin

Buy link

My Inherited House Might be Haunted4.6 out of 5 stars1854.6 out of 5 stars. 185 customer reviews.Kindle Edition$0.00or $3.99 to buy

Blurb

Rhett’s inheritance of the gorgeous Victorian house was expected. What was not expected was:

Two familiars
A house full of ghosts
Magic powers?!
A new boyfriend, maybe, possibly, please and thank you

Now if he could just figure out how to handle everything, life would be peachy.

Review: Curse of Silver & Blood: An Infinite Arcana Novella by Sheena Jolie

Rating: 4.5🌈

I thoroughly enjoyed Curse of Silver & Blood: An Infinite Arcana Novella by Sheena Jolie ( formerly writing under the pen name SJ Himes). It’s been a long while since I read their Infinite Arcana novels, so getting to dive back into this universe was exciting.

It’s not essential to have read the other books to understand the world of the characters and the foundation behind the storytelling. Jolie’s narrative does a splendid job of explaining the history of the world and otherworldly beings living there.

Curse of Silver & Blood literally has an explosive start, one that has our main characters on a collision course with fate.

Alec, an elf is escaping horrific captivity, and Leif, a cursed ancient werewolf, who hears the explosion on the edge of his territory, are two fantastic, well defined characters. Beautifully rendered, from their personalities to their own backgrounds, it’s easy to slip into connecting with each of them and their fated mates relationship.

Their fated mate relationship is built in the story in a way that’s makes the reader accept their bond and their growing chemistry. These characters work together. Jolie also creates magical elements that feel realistic in that situation but fascinating enough that I would want this couple to have additional stories.

The ending is solid and holds so much promise for the characters and their future together. I loved it.

I highly recommend Curse of Silver & Blood: An Infinite Arcana Novella by Sheena Jolie and the others in this universe.

Cover designed by Kelley York of Sleepy Fox Studio

An Infinite Arcana Novel series:

The Beacon Hill Sorcerer*

The Necromancer’s Dance

The Necromancer’s Dilemma

The Necromancer’s Reckoning

A History of Trouble Collection Mastering the Flames

Love Springs Eternal

Blood Omen

The Necromancer’s War

The Edge of Fate

Infinite Arcana Novels*

Curse of Silver & Blood

Wolfsbane (Werewolves of Boston)

The Wolfkin Saga

Wolves of Black Pine

Wolf of the Northern Star

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Curse-…Curse of Silver & Blood: An Infinite Arcana Novella eBook : Jolie, Sheena: Kindle Store

Blurb

Alec has been held prisoner for months, coerced into using his magic to manufacture illegal drugs for the mountain mafia. His gifts are profitable and dangerous, and his captors have no intention of letting him go. Alec engineers his escape–which lands him in the territory of a local legend–an ancient werewolf, a lone alpha cursed by silver and blood.

Leif has been alone for a thousand years. Forced to keep his distance from his own people, Leif settles into the depths of the Appalachian Mountains and spends his endless days patrolling his territory. One night the forest is rattled by an explosion, and the sudden appearance of a bedraggled fae running for his life.

Neither expected to come face to face with their fated mate in the cold, dark woods.

Fate has a hand in uniting Alec and Leif–but it’ll be up to them to forge the nascent mate bond between them, and Alec and Leif have a fight on their hands–the mafia wants Alec back, and the curse laid on Leif is out for blood.

The expanded version of the FATED MATES Charity Anthology short story, set in the Infinite Arcana Universe by bestselling author Sheena Jolie (formerly SJ Himes.) Contains new content. Novella, MM Paranormal Fantasy Romance. 36k words.

Publisher: Sheena Jolie Books (December 27, 2024)
Publication date: December 27, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 154 pages

Review: Recalling My Demon: An MM paranormal romance by Colette Davison

Rating: 4🌈

Recalling My Demon: An MM paranormal romance by Colette Davison is part of a multi-author 12 book paranormal series called Possessive Love.

Colette Davison does several things here with this charming kinky novella that make it surprisingly different in many ways from the rest of the typical stories involved demon romances.

It’s a ex priest and demon romance with many twists. There’s a daddy kink, an innocent character, and the church isn’t involved in the story.

Who’s the innocent? Well, it’s the demon. That’s Brin, a bratty, loving demon who lives with his human mother, isolated behind wards for his safety and hers. In Brin, Davison has created such a lovable engaging character. Naughty and innocent. A total scamp.

Ian, the ex-priest turned nurse is an interesting personality. He’s a caring individual, made his peace with his faith, and went into nursing to continue to help others. But he’s got a kinky side. Guess who gets to explain sex to a demon?

There’s more emotional side stories, including the one that involves Brian’s aging mother.

I didn’t find the end as well realized as the rest of the story but it’s definitely a HEA.

If you are a fan of the author and trope, don’t pass up Recalling My Demon: An MM paranormal romance by Colette Davison. A fun entertaining read.

Possessive Love series:

A Slice For My Demon by K.L. Hiers Cuddly Demon by Aster Rae

My Demon Husband by Jan Stuart Exercising a Demon by H.L Day

Drop Dead Demon by B. Ripley

The Demon’s Dealbreaker by Delaney Rain

My Demon Rebound by Ashlynn Mills Curiosity Caught the Demon by Travis Beaudoin

My Saintly Demon by RM Neill Terrible Lovely Demon by Odessa Howell

Son of the Arch Demon by Amanda Meuwissen

Recalling My Demon by Colette Davison

The Demon Undertaker by Alex J. Adams

Gift for a Demon by Emily Alter

Buy link

Recalling My Demon: An MM paranormal romance

Blurb

I’m told Nethermire House is haunted, but the truth is even stranger.

Nethermire is home to an eccentric 80-year-old and the young man she claims is her great-nephew.

Except he’s not.

He’s a demon.

Brin’s chaotic, bratty ways draw me to him. When he calls me Daddy, I’m a goner. I want to protect him, take care of him, and call him mine.

But when he gets summoned to hell, our happiness is shattered.

Can I recall him to my side, or will I lose him forever?

Recalling My Demon is a standalone MM paranormal romance in the Possessive Love multi-author series. It has an age-gap relationship between a bratty demon who needs someone to love him more than he realises and an ex-priest who’s now a Daddy.

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services (October 19, 2023)
Publication date: October 19, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 182 pages

Review: How to Start the New Year Right: According to the Minions (Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees) by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 4.5🌈

Santano’s been away from his mate and boyfriends, now it’s the New Year. It’s time for his family and all the minions to celebrate with a special party! Mostly sans clothes, lots of sex and energy to celebrate his return and the New Year!

It’s all charming characters on board and their new family dynamic on sexy loving display.

Fun, sexy and a great addition to this series.

Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees :

The Trouble with Trying to Date a Murderer #1
The Trouble With Trying to Save an Assassin #2
The Trouble with Trying to Love a Hellion #3
The Trouble With Trying to Hook a Harbinger #4

The Adventure of Sterling Jones: A Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees Sidequest
How to Start the New Year Right: According to the Minions

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › How-S…According to the Minions (Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees)

Blurb

Gregory:

In preparation for Santanos’s return from a retreat in the Alps, the minions are putting on a New Year’s Eve party, but if one more person touches Edovard, the celebration is going to get bloody.

Hassan:

My mate is adorable, but he’d be even cuter with bloody hands. If only that wouldn’t upset Edovard.

How to Start the New Year Right is a 6k short story featuring a New Year’s Eve party with fewer clothes than people and the minions’ evil New Year’s resolutions.

Publication date: December 31, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 31 pages

Review: Where There’s Smoke (Elementally Yours, #4) by F. N. Manning

Rating: 4🌈

Where There’s Smoke continues F.N. Manning’s Elementally Yours series about elemental mages learning to use their powers, get their brand, and finding love in the process.

Where There’s Smoke is about two supposedly opposite elements, Fire and Water. Water is represented by the exiled Argyle, half-water nymph and half-human, who is on campus taking courses to help him and others like him adapt to their magic. That’s where he meets with Samson, a fire mage who can’t control his element.

Manning puts together a wonderful romantic story, with well defined magical elements, a horrific magic themed mystery that has huge implications for Argyle and Samson. In the course of investigating the mystery, the story provides the necessary background and missing family information for them both.

I really enjoyed this story and couple. It was very well plotted and the couple was engaging and easy to relate to.

Absolutely looking forward to the next one in this series.

Elementally Yours:

Frost or The Bite #1
Strikes Twice #2
Bold As Brass #3
Where There’s Smoke #4

Buy link

Where There’s Smoke: M/M Paranormal Romance

Blurb

When fire meets water, can love extinguish the turmoil?

Argyle is more familiar with schools of fish than a college education. Half-water nymph and half-human, Argyle is building a life on land for the first time at age 42, which includes taking classes in order to help others with his magic. But when his studies hit rough waters, he partners with an irresistibly hot fire mage for tutoring.

Samson knows how to bring the heat. The 26-year-old fire caster seems interested in Argyle despite their age difference and he’s quick to flirt, but the man has trouble opening up about his own magical issues. And while the chemistry between them is undeniable, their fire and water powers clash, creating only smoke.

Just as their bond begins to blossom, trouble brews under the surface in Argyle’s seaside home. Cruel magic poisons the water and threatens Argyle’s family. Argyle and Samson may be the key to combating the damage, if they can find a way to unite their conflicting elements. Will their connection save everyone, or will it all go up in smoke?

Publication date: January 5, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 196 pages

Review: How to Hack a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #2) by Shannon Mae

Rating: 4.5🌈

I’m so enjoying this series, a sequel to Mae’s fantastic Demonic Disasters and Afterlife Adventures (8 book series). Same location, many crossover characters and fascinating interactions between them that make this series a great read.

It’s dark and violent but without being graphic, sexy with fated mates and magical otherworldly characters. Many of the characters have tragic or otherwise damaged pasts that still currently haunt their lives. And that factors into the narrative of their stories and romantic relationships.

Yes, I’m throughly invested here.

Mae’s done a fantastic job in creating the new interlocking cast of characters that’s launched the series. A found family of Hellhounds that’s moved to Paradise Falls and will start to find their mates.

First , they ended up moving next door to human horror author, Toby, and HellhoundDexter ended up helping Toby with his writing but saving him too from a trafficking ring.

That storyline continues with two of the survivors , Quinton and Aiden, who’ve been adopted into the small group of otherworldly friends, including the Hellhounds.

While this is Quinton and Liam’s story, it’s also Aiden’s because Aiden’s trauma and Quinton’s is linked by their captivity and now survivor closeness, a deep relatable friendship. I love how Mae handles this aspect of the story as well as the different facets that’s introduced to the relationships that exist within the group that’s developing here. There room for so many types of relationships and understanding of each other and how they relate to various dynamics within the group.

It’s lovely. And I look forward to more of this and these types of conversations happening.

The other thing is that the Hellhounds, a well defined and diverse group of individuals, have been created as distinctly non human entities. They come across completely, in their language and actions as otherworldly beings. And we’re still learning about them and their history.

I love this story, the world and the characters. Shannon Mae ties up the trafficking storylines here satisfactorily and sets up the narrative for the next couple to come. It should be fascinating , and full of emotions.

I can’t wait.

I’m highly recommended this series and book. Read them in the order written for plot and characters development.

Hellhounds of Paradise Falls:

How to Flirt with a Hellhound #1
How to Hack a Hellhound #2
How to Tame a Hellhound #3 – May 1,2025

Related series, same universe:

🔹Demonic Disasters and Afterlife Adventures (8 book series)

Buy link

How to Hack a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls Book 2)

Blurb

Quinton

Getting kidnapped and held hostage in a human trafficker’s basement was not on my bingo card. Getting rescued by a paranormal being was also not on my bingo card. (Apparently I needed to trade in bingo cards.) The guy who took me may be dead, but I know there are more people behind the operation, and I plan to shut it down. If I need to get the help of one of the creepy glowing eyed dudes to do it, I will. It turns out Liam is incredibly sexy and really good with technology, too. He may be great at hacking into computers, but I’m determined to hack my way into his life.

Liam

Ever since I looked into the feisty human that Dexter rescued from a basement, I’ve been a little… obsessed. Is it wrong that I watch him all the time and hack into all his technology? I’m just trying to keep him safe. After all, he’s sticking his nose into some troubling areas, and I can’t deal with the thought of him getting taken again. Of course I offer to help him when I discover his mission to take down a trafficking ring, although my motives aren’t exactly pure. The little human attracts me in a way that I can’t explain, and my hellhound thinks he’s mine, whether he wants to be or not.

Tags: Emotionally traumatized, feisty vigilante and hacker hellhound fall in love; Liam has Quinton under surveillance 24/7 and will protect him; Quinton doesn’t mind being watched if the dude with the glowing eyes will keep him safe; there’s torture and death (but only of really bad people); hellhounds have tails, and they know how to use them.

Publication date: January 2, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 240 pages

Review: False Comeback (Goliaths of Wrestling book 4) by Lily Mayne

Rating:4.5🌈

False Comeback continues to expand and explore Lily Mayne’s unique paranormal romance series set in an otherworldly underground wrestling world, Goliaths of Wrestling.

The intense energy and high emotions that have been resonating between the lord high elf wrestler, Crossbody, and the egregious ghoul with a chip on his shoulder, Vince Burke, come crashing into a head in this crazy, great story, False Comeback.

The set up for this romance starts in the previous book with a huge argument between the two characters that requires a court Wrestling mediation and in-house counseling sessions from the fabulous Corey.

The absolutely combustible, compelling relationship that Mayne is building between Crossbody and Vince captures our entire attention as the layers of history and depth of their personalities are revealed. As their animosity lessens and their intensity of attraction/intimacy becomes even stronger, the characters become increasingly complex and relatable.

Their interactions with the other wrestlers, their fears, and unvoiced feelings, it’s all there, beautifully laid out by Mayne.

And I have to say that last quarter of the story is a fantastic narrative ride! Part thrilling adventure, all sustained suspense and wild moments! Along with some great comedy and sublime characters and storytelling. I read several parts of this twice. Gotta love Ethel.

For additional world expansion, we also get a group of new wrestlers added to the Goliaths of Wrestling found family. What a fascinating new group they are! I can’t wait to meet them in depth.

This has grown to be a favorite new series for me this year. Highly recommended.

Read the warnings. Sexy, kinky, in this case a D/s relationship, otherworldly, hilariously spew worthy, and a definite recommendation.

Cover illustration: Vic Gray/Bloodwrit

Goliaths of Wrestling:

🔷Impromptu Match #1

🔷Clean Finish #2

🔷Cheap Heat #3

🔷False Comeback #4

🔷Double Shot #5 – tbd release

Buy link

False Comeback (Goliaths of Wrestling Book 4)

Blurb

High Lord Crossbody

I’ve given up a lot to pursue a career in professional wrestling, and I’m not going to have it all derailed by an uncouth ghoul with a huge chip on his shoulder, who decided he disliked me for no reason on his very first day at Goliaths.

Vince Burke has been the thorn in my side for five long years, but things have taken a turn for the worse. The management is threatening to get involved. I refuse to let Burke take the life I’ve worked so hard to build from me, so I try to be on my best behaviour at work, but something about him just gets to me. He consumes my thoughts. I can’t stand him.

And when something happens between us that leaves me feeling completely unmoored, I find myself thinking about him constantly. He’s taken all the control, and I need to get it back. Because I liked it too much, and I can’t let myself feel that way about him.

Vince “Rolling Rimmer” Burke

I love everything about my job as a professional wrestler at Goliaths of Wrestling, an underground supernatural wrestling organisation. I love the showmanship. The costumes. The crowds. The ring and the arena. My co-workers.

Well, except one.

High Lord Crossbody, the royal fae who’s an actual prince, is a pompous snob and a pain in my backside. Everything about him rankles me—his clipped drawl, his disdainful sneer, his stupid long legs and eerily perfect face and sultry hooded eyes…

I hate everything about him. I do. So when our mutual dislike boils over in a very public argument, then explodes into something even hotter and completely inappropriate, I’m left confused and even more annoyed.

Because now I want him. And I hate that I want him.

Publication date: December 6, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 515 pages

Review: Hellfire and Bowties (Hellfire Book 1) by A.M. Rose

Rating: 4.5🌈

“Dating. For demons.

It goes about as well as you’d think.”

A.M. Rose has a 2-book paranormal romance series, Hellfire, that’s about as cute and entertaining as a reader would want.

The stories are short, the characters well defined, and the plot’s highly entertaining and written with enough detail and depth that it’s easy to become invested in the characters and storylines.

Oren’s journey is the first. A innocent who ends up before a bemused Lucifer who’s not sure what to do with him. Turns out Oren’s resourceful, needed, and a delightful character.

I really enjoy his story and romance. If you’re a fan of the trope and authors, you will find this one for your TBR list!

A winner!

Hellfire series:

Hellfire and Bowties #1

Hellfire and Tinsel #2

Buy link

Hellfire&Bowties

Blurb

Oren doesn’t really belong in Hell. But the Devil is so hot he’s willing to make it work.

Publication date: November 15, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 152 pages

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