Ruthless Ends

Ruthless Ends by Katie Wismer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Did we wrap things up? I guess we did, but there is also the promise of a spinoff series in the future, thus explaining why we shoehorned a new character in here at the last minute. I think we spent more time with Anya than Beth, who was apparently Valerie's BFF growing up?

Ugh - shadow realm Valerie is the worst. The world is falling apart, her evil dad is really evil, somehow we are not supposed to hate her mom anymore, and I guess there is some sort of love triangle happening? I'm over it all but here for the big showdown to happen. After all this craziness, at least we get some good resolution for a lot of the characters. And I know I'm not supposed to be excited but some actually die - which is a change from the previous books. In this final installment we get lots of sacrifice and revenge, and it doesn’t shy away from the darkness. The ending is satisfying, though I wouldn’t have minded a few more answers to lingering questions.

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Bloodless Ties

Bloodless Ties by Katie Wismer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Valerie Darkmore is back in book three of The Marionettes series, and things are darker than ever. After sacrificing everything to save those she loves, Valerie finds herself in enemy territory with dear old dad. She doesn't last long with that crew before getting throw to the wolves - literally. Can I say that I hated Cam? I hated Cam. I am anti-Cam. I can't stress this enough because the yucky, gross, dirt and blood-covered conditions that Valerie finds herself in for most of this book really colored how I viewed all of the happenings in this book.

It takes a while for all of our characters to meet back up and, surprise, there's even more betrayal, blood, and grossness that occurs. That doesn't even begin to explain why we are still meeting new characters at book 3 of 4, but here we are. Heavy sigh and whatnot - I'm still going to continue and still do enjoy this world, but it can get a little frustrating when our tough main character is always getting saved or making truly terrible decisions. It also very much feels like nobody actually dies or is actually in danger throughout, so I'm struggling to lean into the story.

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Immortal by Morning

Immortal by Morning by Lynsay Sands
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, we are a book# 37 in this series, so if you aren't sure what you've signed up for, I suggest you go back to the start of this series. Having read allllll the books up to now, I'm happy with this comfortable world, even when it's filled with murder.

The immortal we get to watch get paired off in this book is Crispin, a homicide detective in a town that doesn't really have homicides. He's tasked with identifying rogue activity so enforcers can put a swift end to it. His world gets a lot more interesting when Abril finds human bones in her boss's garden. She is, of course, his life mate. Surprised? No, but she is a good kind of tough main character that I appreciate in this series. She likes to be in charge and when the enforcers descend upon the house she is watching, it rapidly escalates into the whole "tell her about Atlantis" thing.

Overall, this one delivers in the ways you'd expect, except with maybe less smutty goodness. It ended up feeling a little rushed to conclusion - what happened with her boss? Where do they end up? I hope we get to revisit these two in a future book somehow so I can get some resolution.

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Wicked Never Sleeps

Wicked Never Sleeps by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a really fun world with such a unique blend of gritty sci-fi and paranormal romance! This is the first of the series and I'm hooked on it already. I'm glad I got the box set!

Wicked is the secret hidden paranormal sixth borough of New York. Our main character is Dani DeMarco, a former detective turned pizza shop owner, who’s pulled back into the detective life when the mayor is murdered. The case is tangled with magic and secrets, and Dani’s unique abilities make her the only one who can help them solve it. Our other main character is Matthew King, the only vampire in the borough and also the captain on the police force that Dani is helping. Oh, and they used to date, of coruse. With all that some unresolved romantic tension, a murderer on the loose, and wolves literally banging down the door, and you’ve got a fast-paced, twisty ride. The world-building is rich, the mystery is compelling, and I really want Dani and Matthew to be a thing again. This book had just the right amount of police procedural, paranormal romance, and witchy goodness. On to book 2!

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The Wrong Witch to Hex With

The Wrong Witch to Hex With by Molly Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the first in the new Molly Harper series, a spinoff of a previous series I finished up. I don't think you need to have read that one to appreciate these, but it helps to know some of the key players on the island.

Linney Seaworth is the youngest of three sea witch sisters, and she lives a quiet life on the magical island of Starfall Point. She, of course, does not follow her eldest sister's wishes to keep them apart from the rest of the island, and sneaks out whenver she can. It's on one such escape that she meets Gray, a pretty terrible ghost tour guide who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Their interactions are delightfully chaotic and adorble, filled with oodles of banter and fun. Linney and Gray’s chemistry is instant and charming, and watching Gray come to terms with the very real paranormal world he’s been misrepresenting was fun the watch.

As the first in a series, this is the introduction to the looming threat that forces the sisters to face their fears of the outside world. There's tons of new witch powers introduced in this book, and even more characters just waiting to be paired off! I was a little reluctant to pick this one up, having been very satisfied with how the original series ended, but I'm happy I took the leap. I can't wait to see who gets to be paired off next!

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Gray Dawn

Gray Dawn by Hailey Edwards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book really wrapped things up so nicely - I am 100% happy and pleasantly surprise. After all the twists and turns along the way, we worked for this one.

So, the last book left two of our favorite team members kidnapped (each in their own way). Rue is, understandably upset and angry at whoever activated the kidnapping. When we finally discover who did that, it seems obvious, but I was with Rue on that one. With hope for rescuing her cousin, Rue is still driving to find him so she could have a trade. To do that, though, we end up going on A LOT of side quests. Oh yeah, and “the hunk” has a definite expiry date for Rue so we also have to manage that threat.

Where do we end up? Well, we get resolution on EVERYTHING. Rue and Asa finally get alone time. Clay ends up getting his HEA. Colby gets more video games, I assume. Lastly, and most importantly, we get a flash forward - thank goodness! This was wonderful and I devoured every moment. This series was so good!

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Gray Days

Gray Days by Hailey Edwards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Catching up on my reviews, so this is done after the dust has settled on the series, which I can report is all worth it for this cliffhanger.

Rue is now, I guess, the Director of Black Hat after the whole compound blew up in the last book. Using horror movie logic, though, nobody believes the Director is dead until they find a body, so searching they go. Aside from this nonsense, they still need to find Luca, Arden randomly shows up and wants back in Rue’s life, and Rue is trying to establish a “normal” relationship with her parents. Oh, almost forgot about “the hunk” but that’s got a ticking time bomb attached to it, too. Lucky for her, she’s got an amazing support system, especially with her newly reformed Arden connection.

Unlucky for the rest of the world, there’s poisonings that are impacting humans and supernaturals which somehow ties to Luca’s big plan. This is definitely a bridge book to the final showdown, but we get a lot of big power moves in this one that I appreciated. That ending, though, oof.

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Dragon Forged

Dragon Forged by Donna Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Are you new here? If you are, please go back at least to book 1 of this series, but maybe all the way to the start of this universe (or set of universes?). This world is rich, filled with lots and lots of characters and baggage we have collected along the way, and you appreciate it so much more when you’ve been along for the ride as long as I have.

Somehow, we are still finding new places on this world, and that includes some secret island now. Hector gets sucked onto it when he breaks the cardinal rule - he touches the flashing thing. Emilia, who has had a vision of his arrival (and the ramifications) tries to get him off the island, but he is a stubborn dragon. This island, though, appears to worship dragons so when he returns and accidentally binds him to the island, they seem to have won a victory of sorts. It all gets worse from there. You can’t really expect to control a dragon and not have things go horribly wrong.

There’s a lot of betrayal baked in here, but what I really enjoyed was the love story here including the introduction of a pseudo-son character. Each of these dragon king books is so unique that I could keep reading oodles and not get bored. This one in particular sets up some good future ones - and as long as we have unmated kings, we have to keep going, right?

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Whispers Among Thorns

Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book built a huge world, complete with all the issues and politics you’d expect where the fae and human worlds have collided. It felt a little bit like The Boys meets a dark fairy tale. As book 1, you know this isn’t where it all ends.

Sav has been exiled to live in the human world with almost no magic. The fae are discriminated against and sometimes attacked just because of what they are, even though they are mostly bound to not harm humans no matter what injustices are carried out. There is a group riling folks up and torturing/killing fae with no punishment and that’s where we meet Jack. Jack is the son of the evil group’s leader. He’s got some mystery around him and has somehow survived this terrible world with his moral compass intact. He and Sav meet after said group carries out a particularly cruel attack.

They fall into immediate love for some reason. This, obviously, complicates matters and is a big wrench in almost all decision making from that point forward. They end up in faerie, bouncing around between folks that all generally want to kill one or both of them. Sav is forced-ish to make some binding decisions to get them both out alive. All of this and it feels like they still didn’t make big progress in saving earth-bound fae. I guess we need to see where book two takes us!

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Psycho Shifters

Psycho Shifters by Jasmine Mas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a little conflicted over this book - it is dark and sometimes tough but does have some very hot paranormal elements that I usually go for. Oh, and warning - CLIFFHANGERS!

Sadie grew up in a terrible way. In their world, there is a sort of caste system arranged around how powerful you are as a shifter, or if, like Sadie, you have no power at all. She’s abused her whole life by her slaver, all in the idea of protecting her sister from that abuse. It makes her hard, which makes it that much harder when her life is turned upside down and she ends up showing signs of somehow being a female alpha. This puts her on the top of the food chain and forces her to share rooming with the other three current alpha shifters.

On top of the political issues, there’s also the fact that she’s upending a lot of beliefs and getting thrown into some existing relationships (some of a sexual nature - hot). As predicted, however, they all begin to be pulled into her allure no matter how much they try to fight it. It was a good start to what is no doubt a big series if the complete cliffhanger is any indication. It caught me by surprise and made me a little angry that I didn’t get to see some resolution to the utter betrayal. Oh well!

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The Wolf and his Witch

The Wolf and his Witch: A Second Chance Wereshifter Romance by K.E. Turner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, first off, I think this takes place in an established world (or at least feels that way). I was able to “catch up” either way, and enjoy this short book that seems to be A-OK with time travel being a real thing.

Annabelle is a book lover, a powerful witch, and still nursing a broken heart caused 3 years ago in Paris. Gabriel, a shifter security head for his pack, is the one that broke her heart when he disappeared without a trace. These two end up finding one another when Annabelle’s coven tips their hand about heading back in time. I guess Gabriel’s pack is somehow well versed in time travel, as seems to have been hinted at in some of the backstory of the key members we meet. Either way, this time travel thing could screw up Gabriel’s chance at love again when it appears possible that Annabelle could set off the events of his own birth!

Don’t worry, though, because things move quickly and we don’t need to sit with the heartache, the misunderstandings, or the celibacy for long! There are a few twists and turns, a potential big bad that may come back for future installments, and our own time travel “fun.” Lucky for us, things end up very HEA but there are definite breadcrumbs for future books. I’d recommend this for a spicy quick read!

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