Carrie Reads A Lot: May 2020

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Review: Some Girls Bite

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on discount, knowing that it keeps coming up on my to-read recommendations. While it clearly started before a lot of our current technology (BEEPERS?!?), as long as you can treat it as a time capsule, it's got a good start to leave me curious about book 2.

Merit is the child of a wealthy and politically connected couple who has separated herself as much as possible from that portion of her family. Living with maybe the best roommate ever and going to grad school would have been enough for her to make a go of it, but she gets attacked and turned into a vampire. Vampires are "out" in this world, but that's it. Of course, there's more paranormal creatures out there, including witches, and her family is even more connected than she imagined.

There's the big "who attacked her" storyline, which I was less invested in than her love/hate relationship with her savior/maker/tormenter, Ethan. The rest of the vamps in the house (once Merit gets over herself and joins) are interesting enough that I'm hoping we get more focused side stories along the way. With magic, house drama, shifters, family drama, and romance in the air, this is certainly setting up a bigger series (I know, I looked ahead). We get some good main story resolution by the end, but there's still so much I want to know. I'll add the next book to my to-read list, but don't feel the same crazy urgency to continue that I do with other book series.

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Friday, May 22, 2020

Review: Luck of the MacKays

Luck of the MacKays by Kate Danley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Choices

Choices by Liz Schulte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Review: Branded by Fire

Branded by Fire by Danielle Annett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Monday, May 18, 2020

Review: The NutMacKer Sweet

The NutMacKer Sweet by Kate Danley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These short stories are set somewhat outside of the regular timeline and story of the series, but are no less fun. If anything, because there is no monumental big bad (just the regular, smaller-ish ones), we get to have more fun with Killian and Maggie.

This story is about the Nutcracker, who, of course, comes to life for Killian and Maggie, setting them on a magical, candy-filled adventure. There's giant rats, creepy puppets, and candy snow. It was silly, fun, and just zany enough to make me smile throughout. What's not to like here?

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Review: Lazy, Hazy Days of MacKays

Lazy, Hazy Days of MacKays by Kate Danley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Arctic Bite

Arctic Bite by N.J. Walters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow - this book was unexpected and completely different from book 1 in this series. The author wasn't kidding about each of these being able to be read as standalone. While the framework is there, this story had a different feel.

We join another member of the Forgotten, Alexei, who is a bear-pire, and has an amazingly snarky and adorable inner voice. He has been given an assignment, and he has spent months trying to track the target down to make sure she deserves to be killed. Cassie seems like your average bartender, until you get to know her. Turns out, she's a reaper who is on the run from her "family." Obviously, sparks fly between these two, leading to many sizzling times.

All that aside, this was an adorable and surprising tale of two misfits and outcasts finding their way. Sure, there's a lot of insanely huge paranormal baggage with both of them, but it's still a cute romance. I especially liked the surprising twists and reveals. Cassie definitely delivered as the heroine.

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Sunday, May 17, 2020

Review: Alpha Erased

Alpha Erased by Aileen Erin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WOAH - this book was not what I was expecting. It takes you on a very tough journey that goes in all sorts of different directions. Don't worry - we get to a good ending, but it is a HARD ride.

We join Tessa and Dastien. They are *exhausted*, as is to be expected when they've been dealing with non-stop attacks from supernaturals. With no end in sight, it seems that this will be her new life, and it's probably killing her. It's no way to live a life. The change comes in a pretty bad way, but there is a big change that Tessa must trigger. Her visions tell her there is only one chance (kind of like with the Avengers?), so she has to take it. This ends up with her disappearing, and Dastien and her friends determined to find her.

Things... don't go according to plan. That's a massive understatement, but at least nobody dies? There is a lot that has to happen to get to a good conclusion here, and we feel every single second of it. There's ups and downs, lots of magical mysterious stuff, a good return of a lot of characters we've met along the way, and ultimately a huge turning point. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the second half of this book and was cringing the entire way leading up to it, but I should have trusted the author. We get a solid landing here and it was all worth it in the end.

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Friday, May 15, 2020

Review: Burned by Fire

Burned by Fire by Danielle Annett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm tearing through these books at a rapid pace, but this one was a little tough. I still enjoy the world, the characters, and the twists we are taking, but I kind of want to throttle Aria.

We join Aria, still very much in denial about her mating, still pushing to be almost stupidly independent. This was probably the hardest part of the book, because all of her decisions are driven by these silly things. While trying to find her place in the pack, she enjoys the benefits of being the mate, but is angry when she finds out she has to deal with women hating on her for scoring the hottest, baddest shifter in the pack. Ugh. Aside from that, the main story revolves around the HAC. This is the big bad and I'm sure it will persist for more books in the series. There is another child missing, this time from the witches, and of course Aria jumps up to help.

We also get to watch Aria try to set up her business, with some unlikely help. I, however, spent most of the book feeling bad for Declan. Ultimately, he did a good thing (maybe originally for bad reasons) but now he's just getting trampled. I wish we spent more time in that Denny's than with the HAC or other shifters. I hope we resolve their relationship one way or the other by the next book, but it looks like another crisis is going to take center stage.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Review: Kissed by Fire

Kissed by Fire by Danielle Annett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Cursed by Fire

Cursed by Fire by Danielle Annett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I swung back around to this book, the start of the series, when I unknowingly dove into the spin-off that was just released. Having enjoyed that one, I figured it couldn't hurt to start at the beginning.

This book sets the stage for this world. Supernaturals have come out of the closet, don't particularly like one another (but maintain a truce), and have essentially collapsed the government. I'm not a fan of dystopian books, and this skirts the line, but I just couldn't put it down. Ari reads like a Jessica Jones-type character. She's a mercenary, though that ends up being something like a detective/bounty hunter in this universe. Having lost her parents when she was a teenager, she's also developed a hard outer shell (like an M&M) that takes some particularly determined and snarky people to get inside.

The few exceptions to her shell include James, a pack Hunter, and the person who has let her in on the inner workings of said mysterious pack. They get tasked with working together to solve a shifter kid's murder that leads them into all sorts of twisty-turny avenues. Oh, and I forgot to mention she's got pyrokinetic powers. It ends up being what attracts another magic/not-magic person to her - Inarus. He's got telekinetic powers, and much better control, so while he is a big of a good/bad guy, we tolerate him here.

This book certainly sets up a universe I want to be a part of. I admit to already being on book 3 right now because I just couldn't stop reading. While it isn't necessarily a cliffhanger ending, I desperately wanted more from these characters and that pushed me into reading book 2 *immediately* following this one.

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