Review: Loki and his Master (Demon Gods Book One) by Rhys Lawless

Rating: 4.5🌈

Rhys Lawless has gotten to be a must read for me so I picked up this latest book not realizing it’s part of a much larger world of two , now three , connected series, set in the Cursed Hearts universe.

I haven’t read those but found it didn’t handicap me as much as I expected in terms of background. Lawless fills in much here in terms of foundation for the story’s structure so it’s easy to mentally files bits and pieces away as the tale progresses.

And what an entertaining story it is.

Combining various mythologies, particularly Norse, Polish, and adding in twists and mashups to the story narrative makes this fantastic storytelling.

Creating a fantasy landscape of demon gods, witches, and a host of other paranormal beings to use as characters is exciting, imaginative and dangerous while still being a titch familiar for grasping that being’s history. And that works for the reader in every aspect of the storyline.

Especially when the book opens upon a tragedy of immense personal pain and suffering. The loss of one young witch’s entire family by a brutal attack.

Tomasz, a young witch who’s never been able to utilize his powers, is filled with the need to find his family’s killers and get his revenge. But how?

Here comes along a central character who’s a bridge between every book. A ancient witch who lives under a bridge with the answers.

Tomasz needs help and gets it in the form of a demon mate. In this case, it’s Loki, the master trickster! They are sealed together in a master/slave relationship that’s a complicated forced binding.

It’s explored on several levels here by Lawless. The guilty feeling it causes in Tomasz that he’s forcing/must force Loki into the position of having no will, no say , complete servitude. It’s an anathema, especially as their affection grows stronger towards each other.

With Loki, a slave status or that of being forced into a submissive relationship, fills him with rage. He’s a god on a personal mission. It also will turn out that this element will have further philosophical implications, as certain plot points are revealed , that Lawless could but doesn’t fully give narrative voice or space to all the deeper issues it brings up.

Things like if a god has been forced into servitude for all the wrong reasons but it still has ended up being the right thing to do, should it have happened? Does one have the right to take away someone’s freedom for the greater good?

That’s not sufficiently clear or explored here despite being raised several times by more than one person and in more than one way.

However, there’s so many other plot threads to deal with that things like this get overlooked or handled in a way that doesn’t quite have the necessary support for such heavy questions.

The plot lines converge swiftly towards the end, leaving the climax feeling a bit too rushed for all the characters and great plot twists involved. I hope to have more of the children and a certain “not cat “ in future stories. They were fantastic.

Lawless sets us up for the next pair and development in this series. I guess I’ll be spending some of the time looking into those preceding series.

I’m recommending Loki and his Master (Demon Gods Book One) by Rhys Lawless for the levels of detail, the mythology, the characters, and the fast paced, highly entertaining story. Oh and the kinky sexy storyline.

That too. D/s hurt/comfort anyone?

Demon Gods:

✓ Loki and his Master #1

◦ Hades and His Witch #2 – TBD release date

Buy Link:

Loki and his Master: A contemporary fantasy romance (Demon Gods Book 1)

Description:

The trickster god is free and he’s under my command.

When I asked the old witch under Camden Lock for help with avenging my family’s murder I didn’t expect her solution would be to invoke a powerful god.

Loki is big, strong and pissed!

Thankfully he’s bound to me so he can’t hurt me.

But the only way he’ll ever help me get my revenge is if I help him find someone really important first.

The problem is the more time I spend with him, the less I’m able to resist him.

But I can’t let my guard down.

He might say all he wants from me is to punch my V-card and end the people that killed my family, but I know he wants something more.

And I’m scared it has the potential to destroy everything.

How can a young, meek little witch like me tame a god like him?

Loki and his Master is the first book in the Demon Gods series, a spin-off series set in the Cursed Hearts universe.

Demon Gods is a contemporary fantasy MM romance/urban fantasy MM romance series where mythical gods are re-incarnated into the 21st century and let loose to destroy, avenge and fall in love with young little witches. Written in British English with US spelling and grammar.

Tags:

mythical gods modernized, witches, demons, master/servant, Ds, age gap, punching his v-card, hurt/comfort, forced co-operation, beauty and the beast vibes, alpha protector, tragic past, big/small pairing, lover in peril, trouble magnet, I don’t know if I can trust you, urban fantasy world, morally gray main characters, Polish folklore, Norse mythology

Review: Lust and Other Drugs (Mythos #1) by T.J. Nichols

Rating: 4.5🌈

Urban Fantasy is a automatic read for me and when you throw in dragon shifters, well, I’m so there!

Lust and Other Drugs by T.J. Nichols satisfies both my book cravings and then some by also being a great start in a new urban fantasy series that has as one of the main characters a dragon shifter.

Nichols, whose world building is always layered and imaginative, throws readers into a place where humanity and mythological creatures aren’t exactly in a equal standing with each other. There’s a toxicity and outright hostility or speciesism apparent in every aspect of the relations. It’s a fascinating and believable state.

As a result of a scientific experiment, barriers between our world and the Mythos world collapses with horrific consequences, causing mythological beings, creatures we’ve only known through legends and myths to flee to our world as refugees. As we know that never works out well. The fear of the unknown, the different cultures and beliefs and beings makes things worse for the refugee situation. Including experimentation.

It’s a dark, grim and fascinating world full of possibilities and worlds of mythology Nichols is continuing to create.

Jordan, a gay cop who’s inwardly sympathetic to the mytho beings, rides the edges of his own life by taking a Fae drug called Bliss and frequenting Fae bars, something that could get him fired. Edra, a dragon, has been assigned to the San Francisco Police Department as a liaison for Mythological Services, a agency that works for all the supernatural creatures.

A case that involves murder, the illegal drug Bliss, coverups, lead to a dual team investigation with Jordan and Edra. Nichols weaves a intriguing interpersonal agency relationship with a complicated dynamic that starts to emerge between Edra and Jordan. Each with their own fears and prejudices, rife with past histories and cultural conflicts.

All this overlaid with a very neat , and complex police procedural that has to go forward with investigations into drug smuggling and murder.

Once you get into the complex storytelling and detailed narrative of Lust and Other Drugs it’s hard to emerge until you are finished.

And then you’re are onto the next. Luckily, they are all available for reading.

I’m highly recommending this story. It’s a fabulous book and start to a new series.

Mythos Series:

✓ Lust and Other Drugs #1

◦ Greed #2

◦ Envy #3

◦ Vanity #4

◦ Sloth and Other Delights #5

◦ Wrath and Other Troubles #6

◦ Gluttony and Other Hungers #7

Buy Link:

Lust and other Drugs: gay dragon shifter urban fantasy (Mytho)

Description:

Police officer Jordan and dragon shifter Edra might have to work together, but they don’t trust each other—even if sparks do fly between them.

If anyone finds out Jordan’s a mytho sympathizer, it could kill his career. No one can know that he frequents the satyr dens and uses the drug Bliss. A dead satyr might not get much attention, but two dead humans who appeared to overdose on Bliss? That shouldn’t even be possible.

And it might not be an accident.

Edra, the Mythological Services Liaison, has been covering up mytho crimes to protect the community’s reputation. With a mayoral election looming, the last thing his people need is a scandal.

To get a murderer off the streets, Jordan and Edra will be spending a lot of time together, and it won’t be easy to keep up with their deceptions… or to keep resisting each other.
~~~
Lust and other Drugs is the mm urban fantasy romance you’ve been waiting for; rich with creative and engaging world building, complicated characters, and an exploration of the intricacies of dragon mating rituals, Nichols gives a captivating and sensual touch to gay paranormal romance.

Book 1 in the gay urban fantasy series that follows Jordan and Edra as they solve crime and figure out how to improve Mytho and human relations. For readers who like dragon shifters and forbidden romance.

Review: The Solstice Kings by Kim Fielding

Rating: 3.25🌈

I was excited to see a book by Kim Fielding published by Tin Box Press, which meant I would be able to read and review it. Unfortunately, this fantasy tale is a bit of a mixed bag.

There’s so many potentially interesting elements here, ranging from the main character’s adopted family and it’s magical “castle” ancestral home to the lore that Fielding’s narrative inhabits so well.

But the issues start immediately with the main characters. One, Miles Thorsen, adopted son of the strange Nordic Thorsens, is not particularly likable. From the beginning he’s a bit self centered, passive, and the minute he arrives home, rude and disrespectful. So, not someone I really wanted to spend time with.

The next was Remy. Fielding made such a odd choice here regarding an aspect of his character . It’s hard to tell you all what my issues are with him without major spoilers but it’s so not in keeping with the idea and mythology that Fielding is building here to mix into her climatic point at the end. Not that we hadn’t already guessed by then. It had been telegraphed heavily by so many bluntly written clues. You are left wondering how and why he fits into this exactly . Why this form? Why not something Scandinavian? From Odin’s mythology? Just doesn’t add up.

True Fielding’s mixed Paranormal beings, beliefs, and myths before to a successful storyline but here it’s just weird. Off putting.

The story winds up as a HEA but we are left asking questions, or at least I was. Just too many holes and ill fitting narrative pieces for this to fill like the Fielding story gems I look forward too and love.

Read it if you’re a fan of the author.

Amazon

Description:

Miles Thorsen’s adopted family is… unusual. But that’s not why he fled after graduating from college. Now, after ten years of restless wandering, he returns home for the winter holiday celebration. The solstice is a time of change, and perhaps it’s time for Miles to face who he is, who he loves… and who he’ll become.

Review: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle #2) by Nghi Vo

Rating: 4.5🌈

“THE TAVERN WAS LITTLE more than a waxed canvas tent, tilted towards the south by the wind that rushed headlong down the mountain. The woman who tended the makeshift bar had a thin wispy mustache styled into pointed wings over her lip, and Chih took down her family history while the mammoth scouts argued outside.”

So begins Nghi Vo’s When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, second novel in the impressive series, The Singing Hills Cycle. With the wandering cleric Chih as our primary narrator, we venture into the frozen northern part of the realm where there’s an entirely different culture to explore. One we’ve heard of before.

Mammoths and their riders played an enormous role in the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Here we get a better understanding of the animals themselves and the culture that surrounds them.

Chih requires aid through a pass and it’s a mammoth and it’s rider that will escort them. Chih is genderqueer, pronouns of they/them. Whether it’s due to being a Cleric or by a personal preference isn’t made entirely clear. It just is. Sexual orientation and gender identity isn’t a issue in the stories. It’s part of who someone is.

The ride, which as with everything Chih experiences, turns into a learning (recording) journey with the mammoth rider Si-yu, an irrepressible force and her special mammoth Piluk.

Then comes the tigers.

Who turn into people who are very much still tigers. Hungry ones.

And it’s Chih’s remembered story, a particular story, that ends up being told from different perspectives, that saves the day. So to speak.

It’s a fascinating concept, and an even more intriguing story. Or stories. As it changes from human perspective to tiger and back again.

One that involves grief, hunger, ghosts, poetry, betrayal, and love.

So textured and beautiful.

I found the ending almost abrupt for all that went into this richly detailed piece and needed to know more past this ending.

And no Almost Brilliant wasn’t in this. Hopefully in the next.

Vo’s stories reminds us that in every tale there’s another perspective other than the one we’re currently listening to. And that for every hunter, there’s a path when they may become the hunted. Nothing is one-dimensional, every being is more than it seems.

I’m highly recommending When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle #2) by Nghi Vo for all lovers of fantasy fiction and magical writing.

No romance herein except in the story that’s being told between the Cleric and the Tigers.

Singing Hills Cycle:

✓ The Empress of Salt and Fortune #1

✓ When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain #2

◦ Into The Riverlands #3

◦ Mammoths at the Gates #4 – September 12, 2023

Btw, these covers are brilliant.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle, 2)

Description:

From Locus and Ignyte finalist, Crawford Award winner, and bestselling author Nghi Vo comes the second installment in a Hugo Award-winning series

“A stunning gem of a novella that explores the complexity and layers of storytelling and celebrates the wonder of queer love. I could read about Chih recording tales forever.”―Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

“Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.”―NPR

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover―a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty―and discover how truth can survive becoming history.

Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, a mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune.

The Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle

Review: The Heart’s Blood (San Amaro Investigations#5) by Kai Butler

Rating: 5🌈

The Heart’s Blood hits every marker, nails and surpasses all expectations I have for the characters, the storylines , and the journey Butler is taking us on. It’s a superlative narrative smorgasbord where Butler’s characters get to demonstrate genuine personal growth and maturity, often at huge emotional and physical cost. The imaginative series landscape broadens to embrace new mythic characters and their often murderous tumultuous history, new worlds and the refugee aliens who’ve fled them. But it also, in an equally outstanding manner, concentrates as well as on narrowing the storylines down to tangle with the intricacies of romantic and family relationships and the dynamics of love.

I couldn’t put this story down.

Fast paced, full of suspenseful moments and white knuckle action, it’s heart, as it always does, remains firmly centered around Parker Ferro, the PI who’s still adjusting to the idea of his heritage, Nick his alchemist PD boyfriend with his family dynamics, and the found family that Parker has been building around him.

There’s multiple storylines (all incredible and fully realized), new strides in Parker and Nick’s relationship, and entire aspects to the basics of the series foundation that get revealed.

The fifth in the San Amaro Investigations series, The Heart’s Blood dramatically increases the high risks and drama for everyone here. It’s such a superlative story.

Saffron Wilds, the 6th novel out in February 27,2023, certainly has a hard act to follow.

I’m highly recommending the series and definitely this story. But the books must be read in the order they are written in order for the relationships, characters, and events to make sense.

San Amara Investigations Series:

◦ A Haunting at Midnight #0.5

◦ A Debt Unpaid #0.75

✓ Wormwood Summer #1

✓ A Belated Burial #1.5

✓ The Oak Wood Throne #2

✓ A Gilded Iron Blade #3

✓ A Shattered Silver Crown #4

✓ The Heart’s Blood Arrow #5

◦ Saffron Wilds #6 – 2/27/2023

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Heart’s Blood Arrow by Kai Butler

Description:

An old nemesis is out for blood…

Parker Ferro’s life would be easier if his enemies stayed gone. When the man responsible for the death of Parker’s mother breaks out of prison, Parker finds himself in the crosshairs of the Bureau of Paranormal Threats when he tracks the criminal down.

With succubae going missing, an old god on the loose, and his boyfriend’s mother in town, the last thing Parker has time for is human politics. But with a marriage proposal that he can’t quite figure out and mysteries that keep landing him in hot water with the feds, Parker must keep one step ahead or end up in handcuffs himself.

The Heart’s Blood Arrow is a 130k MM urban fantasy with a HFN ending and an ongoing storyline. It cannot be read as a standalone.

———-

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

Review: Oathbreaker (Fallen Messenger #4) Ann Marie Salinger

Rating: 4.5🌈

Due to the complexity of Salinger’s world building and expanding cast of characters, I always need a bit of a review before diving back into this series. But it’s so worthwhile because the author has created a grand tale of war between good and evil beings, one that has been fought before, and now 500 years later is exploding on earth as mortals, Demi gods, mythological beings and creatures from all realms are gathering for one final chapter.

In the last novel, Edge Lines, the Fallen have started to remember their past lives before the First War, when they fell to Earth. The consequences of that recovery of a original self, means the reintegration of memory and powers. And just as much pain and guilt. For Cassius and Morgan , and for Victor.

Because the returning memories and selves brings deep deceptions and painful history to light.

All this while continuing current storylines with the characters, and investigations that carried over looking for the man/being who’s causing the chaos.

A main factor here is Theophile Serrano’s past, and his future part in the ongoing war. It is an amazing journey that really invigorated the story for me in some respects.

Just when I was thinking the story was getting a little dense in bringing in more characters and exposition, Theo’s part began and I was even more delighted with the twists that came next. It was incredibly emotional, full of action, and the ramifications from his section for the next storylines are huge.

These aren’t books you can read as standalones. They must be read in the order they are written and in the series sequence. They contain a huge amount of material that moves the arc and relationships forward in each story.

Fallen Messengers is a highly imaginative, complicated series. Oathbreaker is a wonderful installment, one I couldn’t put down until I was finished.

I’m absolutely recommending it!

Fallen Messenger series:

◦ Unbound #0.5

✓ Fractured Souls #1

✓ Spellbound #2

✓ Edge Lines #3

✓ Oathbreaker #4

◦ Harbringer #5 – TBD

https://www.goodreads.com › showOathbreaker (Fallen Messengers #4) by Ava Marie Salinger – Goodreads

Synopsis:

When the past comes calling, Cassius and Morgan have no option but to face the dire consequences of the choices they made before the Fall.

With Cassius Black’s secret operations to save the world in the last five-hundred years finally revealed by the agencies that govern the otherworldly, his status as the most vilified Fallen on Earth changes almost overnight. Unused to his newfound fame, Cassius tries to keep a low profile, but Morgan King’s reckless actions soon have them in the news again.

Forced to take a sabbatical, the pair heads to London to meet with Victor Sloan, who’s been incommunicado since his identity as the demigod who betrayed Cassius and Morgan during the War in the Nether came to light in the Spirit Realm.

Meanwhile, Theophile Serrano’s attempts to adapt to his new job as P.A. to Sion CEO Hugo Frost are derailed by the strange things that keep happening to him. Things that soon convince him that he is losing his mind.

Destinies collide when a catastrophe engendered by the dark God Elios strikes London. As past and present meet, Cassius finally comes face to face with the Guardians who were left behind in the Nether.

Will unlocking the secrets of Cassius and Theo’s past be the key to the city’s salvation? Or will the truth tear them all apart and give Elios the victory he seeks?

Oathbreaker is the fourth novel in the gay urban fantasy romance series Fallen Messengers. If you like your paranormal adventures full of action, magic, snark, and a host of steamy angels and demons, then you’re not going to want to miss this gripping, angst-filled adrenaline ride!

Content note: this book contains sensitive content that may be upsetting to some readers. Please refer to the blurb page of the eBook and the copyright page of the paperback and hardback for more information.

———-

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

Review: The Skinny on Djinni by E.J. Russell

Rating : 4.75 🌈

From the fabulously great name on, everything about The Skinny on Djinni by E.J. Russell is absolutely on point. It just makes for a outstanding entertaining read!

Part of Russell’s Mythmatched story universe, it picks up after the events of Death On Denial

(Quest Investigations #4), some of which are referenced here. You don’t have to have read that series, although if you’re a fan of this author, it’s highly likely you’re familiar with the characters, towns, and universe.

We meet Hector Gonzales, IT werewolf hacker in trouble with the Supe Council because he’s been messing around with the magic grid, and it caused huge issues, which was not his fault! So now she’s on probation until his case is heard and he’s technology free until then. Agony!

Hector, a werewolf from Jordan’s group of young were’s, is so perfectly put together that we can see his personality as he’s desperately trying not to use all the devices he has taken for granted and deal with everything going on. He’s young but responsible, intelligent and solid, focused and kind. You can’t help but feel for the position he’s in and still understand how his nature got him there.

Then, through the mechanisms of Shirl, the store owner of the local general store, who sends Hector on a errand for her, he meets Rafi.

That’s Rafi Abbas. Who’s having a very bad life.

Rafi Abbas gets fired from his job at a burger joint when he meets Hector. Then things get even stranger.

Rafi Abbas is that hundred fold object who’s waiting to have their layers peeled back . Only they didn’t know they could do it. Rafi is a sweet, sad, adorable character . His is a history that is not only complicated but expanded on the more Hector gets to know him.

No spoilers but we also find out more about characters we’ve known for many, many books, and get answers for elements that occurred in other stories. Just perfect!

Plus at the end, all the characters and the readers are given a huge thought provoking “what if” question thrown out there that could launch not just another book but maybe a whole new Mythmatched universe series. At least I certainly hope so.

Russell gives us so much here that adds to her unique universe, gives us another couple to love , and another employee for Quest Investigations.

This story makes me soooo happy!

I just need Russell to sort Jordan out now. He’s just getting more complicated and a favorite by the book!

I’m highly recommending The Skinny on Djinni by E.J. Russell . Grab it up and have a outstanding time!

Amazon US

Amazon Universal

Synopsis:

Being in tech time-out totally sucks.

Hector Gonzales knew the danger when he hacked the magic grid to marry it with human technology. He’d never imagined this system crash: A total tech suspension while the tradition-bound supe council reviews his case. He’s reduced to running errands for his friends, and seriously? How had people survived before GPS? Then several wrong turns—thank you so much, stupid paper map—lead him to a remote burger joint. And when he spots the cute guy behind the counter? His wolf wakes up and howls You have arrived at your destination.

Getting fired—again—totally sucks.

Rafi Abbas tries to give customers what they want, he really does. However, when he gets distracted by the lovely man with the gorgeous brown skin, he screws up another customer’s order and his boss fires him on the spot. With no money, no job, and soon nowhere to live, Rafi has no business saying yes when the lovely man asks him out. But something about Hector whispers home.

Obeying the Secrecy Pact totally sucks.

To keep the supe community safe, werewolves cannot partner romantically with humans. That rule has been programmed into Hector since he was a pup. But as the day slides from bad to worse to are-you-freaking-kidding-me, Hector sees the moratorium for what it is: ridiculous and outdated. For Rafi, he’s willing to challenge the status quo.

After all, things can’t very well get worse than worst. Right?

Review: Sledge and Claw (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion ) by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 4.75🌈

I love this introduction to a new author and a universe who’s fabric is exquisitely complicated, rich with the mythologies of a multitude of cultures and nations, as well as one that has the ability to expand through portals to endless worlds as the investigations require.

Jennifer Cody’s Hammer and Fist, as the Field Agent’s of the IDIA refer to themselves , is not just one series but as of now, two series. Each with a different character as a focal point.

I haven’t started on the second series, Inferno (Hammer and Fist : Geminatus #1) yet. But we meet that species here and it seems that the two intersect at a horrific mystery and investigation over the investigation into the abduction of species from their home worlds and slave trafficking.

First, Sledge and Claw. It’s fantastic. The beautifully defined characters run the gamut from human (or part human) to Fae to main one’s you need to discover in these pages.

It will start with Lextalion Farrow, FA for the IDIA, Inter-dimensional Immigration Agency. He’s the main, but not only POV. Lex is a mystery that slowly unravels . A top field agent , if not the top, for a somewhat nebulous agency. What that means exactly will be sharply defined, both by his actions and words, as he moves from one investigation to another, each pointing the way to a larger , more horrifying conspiracy of species abduction and slave trafficking.

Cody has crafted some incredibly strong, multidimensional female characters that constantly change as circumstances and relationship dynamics require. To go further would spoil a wonderful element here.

The other man, who is soon to stir things up, is such a strong personality, that you can sense that he will be a bigger player in this book as it continues. He too has secrets.

There’s Norse gods, mini gods, and a strange spelling of Nidhöggr, which I’m sure was intentional. I really liked that.

The writing was excellent, the plotting outstanding. And while I say there’s a cliffhanger, the author makes up for it by including a sneak peek at the next in the series, Brick and Brass, which lets us know exactly how that cliffhanger was resolved.

Since we don’t have a release date for book 2, that sneak peek was greatly appreciated and virtually eliminated the angst brought on by the cliffhanger.

All good.

I suspect that we are at the start of the beginning of a foundation of a found family of sorts. It has so many magnificent possibilities.

I was grateful for that sneak peek as I said for book 2. Now I need the actual release date for Brick and Brass!

If you love fantasy fiction, and the potential for new characters, new worlds, and mysteries as well as romances?

This is it! I’m highly recommending it.

Plus fabulous cover.

Now I’m off to see what the other series holds.

Hammer and Fist: Lextalion series:

🔹Sledge and Claw: Lextalion #1

🔹Brick and Brass : Lextalion #2 TBD

Same universe:

Hammer and Fist : Geminatus series:

🔹Inferno #1

https://www.goodreads.com › showSledge and Claw (Hammer and Fist #1) by Jennifer Cody – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Lex:

I work, I sleep, I fuck. That’s what I do.

My alphabet soup agency recruited me because of my unique blend of magic and innate talent, but those come with a steep price and it’s getting harder to pay with every investigation.

I never thought Knoxville would be the place that kills me, but between someone targeting me to get me fired (or start a war; could go either way), taking on a naïve new trainee, and investigating a non-human trafficking ring, it looks like I’m about to bite off more than I can chew.

The question is, can I figure out what’s going on before it all blows up in my face?

Sledge and Claw is an MM Urban Fantasy with triggers for the horrors of slave trafficking and consent issues. There also happens to be a cliffhanger ending

Review notes: at the end of the story is a brief sneak peek at the beginning of Brick and Brass that resolves the cliffhanger. FYI for all that can’t abide cliffhangers!

Review: The Prince’s Poisoned Vow (Infernal Wars #1) by Hailey Turner

Rating: 3.5🌈

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this story as this author’s previous series have been enormous hits with me. But almost immediately I was struggling to finish this book which was written in a different format from the author’s books.

In a nutshell, it’s wordy, dry, very dense, narratively overwhelming with too many characters. And, while imaginative, it’s format of a huge amount of POVs makes it almost impossible to connect with or even follow all the many plot lines.

Turner is clearly striving for that epic cast of hundreds type of fantasy steampunk adventure. Where masses of characters come streaming over the horizon, raiding trains, pour out over airships, massive explosive battles., capturing castles. Thousands die by magical blasts , bodies flying through the air. Add in poison, in every form, and revenants. Aka The walking dead.

This book has wonderful ideas about world building. Massive amounts of information about the kingdoms, countries, and even the planet Maricol. All as told to.

The rating is for all the imaginative details and world building.

What I’m missing is what I love about her other novels. That’s her characters , the depth of personality, their relationship and growing dynamics with other characters. Main characters. People who counted. I miss caring about anyone. I miss the great dialogue. .

Here , the Gods who pulls all the narrative strings, so to speak, have no emotions, their eternal lifespan having removed that pesky thing.

So people start dying immediately. Children, adults. I’d say don’t get attached but the reader doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to generate enough emotion to become invested in the lives here.

More like, huh, poisoned. Oh, revenant got him. Yes, zombies .

There’s a staggering amount of POVs, over 14 I believe. That’s not counting all the tons of characters that get mentioned or have dialogue. The size of the cast here is mind boggling. And you get them all immediately, well, a lot of them.

With an ever increasingly dense and expanding universe that the author adds layer upon layer of complicated mythology and political world building as the story moves forward, it’s a wonder that any reader can maintain a idea of what’s happening within the storylines let alone have any meaningful connection to it.

You basically need a Epic Steampunk Fantasy version of a murder board to keep track of everything and everyone’s relationships. That includes the “Star Gods” , who have their own warped dynamics going on. Then all the various kingdoms, their politics, all the wars, the history such as it is. The planet’s history, which is minimal, and needs more detail.

The story swings from POV to POV, changing drama to a different perspective and potential disaster , that you’ve barely settled on one then you’ve sailed onto the next.

If you’re looking for romance, there’s little of that here. At least for now. But you can have fantastic characters with remarkable personalities, and deep emotional connections without a romantic factor. None of that is really present here. It’s more about all the things, the themes, plotting, world building, details. Something had to give.

And at the end. There’s a cliffhanger.

I honestly didn’t care . But for those that have a issue with cliffhangers, be warned.

I’m trying to weigh if the great universe makes it worth proceeding for me. I don’t think so because for me it’s about the characters and relationships, as well as giving them a great foundation.

You need a heart to power the story, not just a reality fabulous structure.

And I think Hailey Turner has lost the heart here no matter what that opening sentence says.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Prince’s Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Every country is built on revolution.

THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.

THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.

THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.

THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.

From the author who brought you the Soulbound series comes a queer steampunk-inspired epic fantasy.

Review: The Chosen One Universe: Vol Two by Macy Blake

Rating: 4.75🌈

The second volume of Chosen One books is where I realized they weren’t being grouped according to series but in a reading order.

Series broken up and interspersed with each other, along with single stories, to give the overall Chosen One plot arc a flow with the characters, relationships, and events as they occur inside each novel.

So with Volume Two we get:

🔹Hell On Earth: Hellhound Champions #1(already reviewed)

🔹Next to Nothing: The Chosen One #3

🔹Hell to Pay: Hellhound Champions 2

🔹Double or Nothing- extra bonus about Sawyer’s brother, Mikey.

All four books, in that order, keep setting up the reader and the characters for the ever developing arc and multiple relationships of the Chosen One and the battle he’s facing.

We get new Guardians, new mates for characters who will , if they aren’t already, hugely important to the safety of the Chosen, and his mission to find that being responsible for all the black magic and devastating events his evil has caused.

Blake’s writing brings us into multiple lives here. Those of the severely damaged children, of the traumatized adults that still carry all the pain and damage within and on them from those years of captivity. Damage that’s carved into them and is able to make us empathize with them completely.

When bear shifter Ben cries out, it’s not just his siblings that feels his anguish, but us too.

There’s fierce battles, high suspense, and lots of very hot sex , with mates who can’t get enough of their men.

There’s also some very funny elements as well. Need those to mitigate the dark moments that are becoming faster and more severe.

All the characters are amazing as is the multi storyline development. It’s getting increasingly complicated. Blake is upping the game, adding in mythology as well as new beings, layers of history as well as new people and their mates . It’s a lot to track as each is so important to the overall picture but it all meshes.

I hadn’t anticipated this type of collection but it’s great. It makes sense and stops a person from having to jump around from series to series. Love it!

So onto Volume Three! I’m picking up speed here! This is a binge reader’s paradise!

I’m highly recommending this and Volume One.

Happy Reading!

https://www.goodreads.com › showChosen One Universe Volume Two by Macy Blake – Goodreads

https://www.amazon.com › Chosen-…The Chosen One Universe Volume Two: An MM Paranormal Fantasy Shifters Series …

Have You Been Chosen?

For the first time, Macy Blake’s two bestselling paranormal fantasy series are being published in a three-volume mega-verse box set!

Each volume will feature three full-length MM novels with dragons, hellhounds, vampires and more, with never before published bonus material. All in reader-requested chronological order.

Volume Two:

Hell on Earth: Hellhound Champions Book One

As alpha of the hellhounds, Meshaq is tasked by his goddess to be the police of other creatures. When he meets the mysterious Drew, a human on the run, Meshaq is drawn to him in a way he doesn’t understand. His duty is clear, but his feelings for Drew have him longing for things he can’t have. Magical forces collide, beginning a battle that will require all of Meshaq’s skill as the goddess’s champion. He may be the enforcer of the supernatural world, but Meshaq is in danger of losing his heart.

Next to Nothing: The Chosen One Book Three

Sawyer is closer than ever to fulfilling the ancient prophecy of the Chosen One, but the bonds between him and his newest guardians are giving him doubts. With his reluctant hippocamp and an egotistical fae prince, Sawyer has his hands full in more ways than one. The rules are changing, and Sawyer has to adapt quickly if he’s going to keep up, especially after he’s whisked away to the land of the fae, a place with cryptic customs. One misstep could very well lead to his death.

Hell to Pay: Hellhound Champions Book Two

Hellhound beta Solomon has no complaints. Life is fine. His pack and his goddess-given duties as a protector of the human realm are enough. So what if he’s a little bored and a smidge lonely? His scheme to get to know his human pack mate comes at the worst possible time, especially as Cody is convinced he works for a group of elite mob enforcers instead of the protectors of the supernatural world. When a magical attack draws Cody into the supernatural world, can Solomon convince Cody to join them in a dangerous mission to defeat a terrifying creature bent on raining destruction on them all?

Includes bonus short story:

Double or Nothing

Mikey Smith lives with what he calls his “flickers”. When he’s out in the world, sometimes other people flicker and change into something terrifying that no one but him can see. He’s been diagnosed with epilepsy, but part of him knows what he sees is real. When two men walk into his coffee shop, his world is turned upside down when they transform into something else… and they know he can see them. Asher and Quillon aren’t expecting to add a third into their mix… but neither of them are opposed to the idea either. When they meet Mikey, they’re drawn to him from the first moment. He’s a human exposed to their world, though, and the consequences are severe. Can Asher and Quillon protect their new human mate from the forces that threaten him?

❤️Chosen Universe Multi-series Reading Order:

1. Sweet Nothings- Prequel
– The Chosen One

2. The Trouble With Love
– Nothing But Trouble, Book 1

3. Santa Trouble
– Nothing But Trouble, Book 2

4. All or Nothing
– The Chosen One, Book 1

5. Nothing Ventured
– The Chosen One, Book 2

6. Hell on Earth
– Hellhound Champions, Book 1

7. Double or Nothing

8. Next to Nothing
– The Chosen One, Book 3

9. Hell To Pay
– Hellhound Champions, Book 2

10. Give Him Hell
– Hellhound Champions, Book 3

11. Nothing Gained
– The Chosen One, Book 4