Wicked Wicche

Wicked Wicche by Seana Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Arwyn and Declan are having a baby! This is usually where my interest in a series begins to wane but this world has kept me hooked.

After the defeat of the last Corey sorcerer I thought we might have a bit of a lull for Arwyn and Declan to catch their breath. This book, however, tugs on the loose ends left from the previous installments. An evil, “rival” faction is out to get them and is under some sort of weird assumption that the Corey family is weak. Oh, and there is, of course, a police case that tests Arwyn’s abilities and her tolerance for sharing the victim’s pain.

This book definitely felt like a pivot in the series - we are moving away from the larger storyline and into more of the day-to-day drama that is Arwyn’s witchy life. Her father is a help and a hinderance in equal parts here, but will hopefully mellow out with time. I guess the same could be said about Declan, who is in full overprotective alpha mode this entire book. It was nice to visit with some other familiar characters from the other series, and I’m interested in where we will go now that this latest big bad is put away.

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Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely plowed through book 2 in a few days - and continuing on to book 3 is a no brainer here. While I do keep waiting for something terrible to happen most of the time, the game aspects allow me to plug in without thinking too much about it.

In this one we get to a sort-of outdoor level, which is a change from the more claustrophobic descriptions of the previous ones. We get to go to the circus, in the worst away, and we get to meet more species in the dungeon. Carl still doesn’t have pants, the AI is still playing games with them, and we learn a lot more about how these two act when they think they’re going to die. I’m really enjoying the moments of true connection that are sprinkled in with the mayhem and madness that is the dungeon.

This book may not be 100% as good as the previous book, but it feels like it is still finding the right balance of detail with action with sentimentality. I found myself particularly checking out in the extra long big bad monologue, but right after that it is a race to the finish so I forgave the random slowdown that derailed my enjoyment. I’m not sure how I feel about the party growing - I know we will likely see all the goodness that Carl has championed pay off eventually, but I don’t want anything to mess with the chemistry and dynamic between Carl & Donut.

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Kieran

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

Finally we get to the third brother in the trio - Kieran! I’m a little conflicted because I have really enjoyed each of the stories and this world in general, but the ending is very satisfying.

Kieran is determined to “save” his brothers, or at least save them from what his father tells him is a danger to them all. He ends up in that same small town as the previous books (you probably don’t need to have read them to enjoy this story, though). He’s got to reap the souls that were “missed” and resulted in his brothers losing their immortality. It seems very easy to him - just reap the soul his father expects him to reap and they should all be back to “normal.”

So, you obviously know that he will fall head over heels in love with his assigned target - the bakery owner he ends up working for. Georgia is a good character who falls into the expected rhythm of women under the Blackwell spell. The brothers and their women try their best to get these two off the path to destruction and pain, but they are just too stubborn to see it. We get a nice end of book and end of trilogy wrap up that ties things up neatly, which was a good addition. I enjoyed Georgia and found the finale to be just as satisfying as the previous ones.

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Dungeon Crawler Carl

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those instances where the cover really didn’t appeal to me and so I ignored this particularly trendy book for way too long. I’m usually a strict contemporary paranormal romance reader, but this book really connected with my roleplay roots in a fun way and had me hooked. Also, I did this via audiobook and the narrator is AMAZING.

So, where do we begin? Carl is cat-sitting his ex-girlfriend’s show cat, Princess Donut, when the world essentially ends. Some political and resource related issue with an alien species ends up smooshing all building into nothing, so only those folks outside at the time of the collapse end up with a choice - enter the “dungeon” to try to survive or stay above ground where most everything is gone. Since Carl is caught in his underwear and ill fitting crocks in the subzero temperature, anywhere warmer seems like a solid choice. This starts the whole series, with Carl and Princess Donut entering the player area.

From there, well, it all becomes like a video game with stats and weird races out to get you, skills to learn, gear to acquire, and they also get a guide with his own set of issues. Worried about the cat? Don’t be, because she rapidly adapts to player life with a weird dungeon spin. In order for the human race to survive they’ve all got to “kill kill kill” the enemies, or other “crawlers.” It’s funny how quick that went from sounding weird to a normal day-to-day experience. There is also the hint of Hunger Games-like sponsors at some point in the future, if they get enough view and follows. Needless to say, I’m hooked and will try to catch up in the series as quick as possible.

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Blood Hunter

Blood Hunter by Morgan Quaid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book in what looks to have been a long series by the time I picked up this one. There is a ton of world building and character introduction that has to happen in a short amount of time here, so I’m sure future books can settle further into the story.

We meet Petra at the start of this book, a sort-of assassin consultant for a magical ruling body. She’s got a handler she coordinates her jobs through and a fake life that she uses to hide her supernatural abilities. Her life is OK but definitely not normal. While on one particular job hunting a supernatural baddy, her life gets turned upside down. See is faced with oodles of secrets, betrayal, and begins to form out her little crew of anarchists. They work together to fight back some evil forces, which appears to be only the beginning.

Is this my typical paranormal romance? No - there’s a little attraction maybe here and there, but the focus is truly on the world building elements here. I did enjoy the characters we’ve met so far - they are all fun and interesting in their own ways, but as book one we only get so much revealed to us.

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Generation Hex

Generation Hex by Molly Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been eagerly gobbling up all the books that take place on this wonderful island and am so sad to see another one come to an end. This book was a long time coming - what with how Perry and James were sniping at each other from the start. While usually I don’t love the enemies to lovers trope, this one was worth it.

Perry is the responsible older sibling in the Seaworth family and because of this, her personal life has taken many hits along the way. Instead of sneaking out or being rebellious, Perry is the one who wrangles all the other sibling, and ghosts, and now sea monsters. The wrench in this plan is James - the Red Jasper society rep that was assigned to watch over them. At first, he’s a know-it-all non-magical annoyance but he somehow worms his way into Perry’s heart. It’s obvious that these two are meant to be together, but it’s was still a wonderful ride.

James goes on a rollercoaster of his own sort, changing from the uptight guy who is trying to prove he’s worth something to his family into the guy who can talk to sea monsters and ghosts, even stepping up to defend the witches he was tasked with surveilling. Watching his hard exterior crack, much like the sea monster egg, was really satisfying and fun. The ending here is also very well done, leaving me happy but sad to let this group of characters go for now.

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A Paranormal Therapist's Guide to Divorce: And Falling in Love Again

A Paranormal Therapist's Guide to Divorce: And Falling in Love Again by Sylvia Steere
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Where to start with this book? At each turn I had no clue where we were going, but I’m glad I stayed along for the ride.

We meet Maxine, a paranormal couples therapist (paranormals are “out” in this world) is finalizing her divorce from a celestial. While in the waiting area she meets Tom, who is also getting a divorce from someone significantly more combative than her celestial. They trauma bond and go out for lunch after, comparing their abilities to read body language. Tom ends up souring lunch a bit when he yells racist slurs at a dragon race when they walk in the restaurant. File that away for later because Maxine gets sucked into a completely bizarre egg hatching scheme (an egg from the dragon race), but has nowhere to turn but back to Tom.

It was at this point in the book that I had kind of given up on their being any romance storyline for Maxine but was surprised again when Tom and Maxine somehow end up working together to save a dragon egg from evil doers. Yes, the same Tom that hates dragons, who is also a big bad in the dragon world, is teaming up with the soft-hearted Maxine as she risks her life for a random egg. There are even more strange twists and turns, some fade-to-black moments, oh and some not evil, evil, then maybe good (?) cops that make things… better? Worse? Who can tell? I was satisfied with Maxine’s ending overall - she deserved a good life after all that hard work in a matter of days. The book does end with some hints at a future spinoff for a very surprising couple, so perhaps we aren’t done yet with this world.

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