Magic Uncorked

Magic Uncorked by Annabel Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book felt so real, even with the witchy elements. The story is built on characters who were unique and believable, not flawless or perfect.

Libbie has a pretty OK life at the start of this book. She’s got two great kids, a standing cocktail club gathering every Friday, a job, a boyfriend, and a very supportive ex-husband. She might not speak up as much as she should, but she gets by. After the organizer of the cocktail club ends up passing away suddenly, the girls all need to accept the fact that they have inherited witch powers. Libbie is the first to “receive” them, I’m the form of some magical cocktail recipes. The first one ends up giving her the confidence to stand up for herself and shaking her life up.

On Libbie’s journey, we get to watch her grow into a confident woman, not afraid to go after what she wants and have greater control over her life. While I am usually only reading smutty paranormal romance books, this one was noticeably absent of smut. I have to admit, though, that I didn’t miss it, especially because Libbie has an opportunity to go down that path and decides instead to focus on herself. I see that there are several more books in this series, so I will add the next one to my to-read pile right now!

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Banshee Power

Banshee Power by Jen Katemi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book landed somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, so I rounded up. Admittedly, I took a very long pause between book 2 and 3, so I had a bunch of catching up to do, but I still enjoyed this world. Are there tons of family issues in this one? You betcha! But do we get to a happy ending? Sure do!

Maewen is only half banshee, but she uses magic to suppress even that smaller part of herself, leaving her essentially human. She works for what amounts to the supernatural cops and is currently focused on trying to track down the big bad who is destroying the human and fae worlds. It’s this mess that prompts Rho, the prince of the winter court, to insert himself into Maewen’s investigation and life.

Maewen’s sisters have all already had their big heroic moment with their magic, but she continues to keep her magic bottled up the same way she is treating the baggage she has around her mom. It takes a very stubborn prince to open her eyes and convince her that her magic, while inconvenient at times, can be a gift. There’s sizzle and pop throughout, though a bit more along the lines of fated mates rather than romance and flowers. I thought this was the end of this story but now it looks like there is a book 4 out there somewhere that I will likely pick up.

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Legacy of Chaos

Legacy of Chaos by Larissa Ione
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We spent a little time learning about Stryke in the last book. He’s the next generation and son of Shade and Runa, and he is a jerk. The first book in this series spent a lot of time tiptoeing around what happened to Crux’s twin, Chaos, but what we mostly know going into this one is that it broke Stryke and estranged him from his family.

In the last book, Cyan’s roommate was murdered by an Aegis agent using one of Stryke’s weapons. Cyan is, obviously, very conflicted because she spent a lot of years idolizing him. She’s a technomancer working at DART, put in an even more awkward position when her boss asks her to go on loan to Stryke’s company to oversee/help with a new weapon he’s making for them. She swallows her pride and goes, ending up differentiating herself by being the only one of Stryke’s employee’s who will not bow to him and his greatness. Turns out, that’s exactly what Stryke needs right now. He’s been very close to the edge for a while and he’s been informed that his suppressants are on the road to killing him.

I really liked the vulnerability that we got out of Stryke in this book. I also really enjoyed Cyan, who was not some damsel in distress in any way through the book. She dives in, ready to face any and all challenges, even when they come with years and years of baggage. I think this book was even better than book 1, so I’m super excited for book 3 next! I should probably mention the heaven stuff too, but it still feels pretty minor but will likely come to a head before the end (hopefully).

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Legacy of Temptation

Legacy of Temptation by Larissa Ione
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Welcome to the next generation of the Demonica characters! I was surprised, but happy when I realized that’s what this series would be about. This book shows us what Logan, son of Death, is up to now that he’s grown-up.

Eva works for the Aegis, less as a calling and more to make her parents happy and advance her career in communications. As the spokesperson for the Aegis, she is one of the first volunteered to participate in a sort-of exchange program with DART, their demon-loving counterparts. Logan, of course, works for DART, leveraging his skills and benefits from being bonded to Cujo, the hellhound, to fight evil. Logan and Eva have a love/hate relationship from the start, which morphs into attraction around the time Logan helps Eva get rid of her nightmare demon. This act ends up setting off a cascade of events that leaves a rising body count and forces both of them to face their trust issues.

I really liked Eva and Logan in this one. They weren’t just the “next generation” with parental issues, they were more well-rounded than that. While we lose some characters in this one, I like where this world is headed and hope we get some good resolution to a few loose ends.



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The Book of Blood and Roses

The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Where to begin with this book? There was so much world building and backstory jammed into it that I’m going to have a hard time doing it justice with any sort of summary review. This is a f/f hunter/vampire romance ultimately, but there is so much more going on than just that.

Rebecca’s family died, leaving her alone in a world where vampires are known and she has a blood type that makes her nearly irresistible to them. This combination made her an easy recruit into a vampire hunting society. Her handler routinely sends her into situations where she must go undercover, but this latest job will test her resolve. She needs to pretend to be a wealthy college student who is interested in vampire studies at a vampire college that only recently began allowing humans in. At this college, she must find the “Book of Blood & Roses.”

Things do not go smoothly from the get go - when she stumbles upon a hookup in the library between the HBIC of the vampire students and a few others. Aliz, the HBIC and daughter of the sort-of vampire ruling class, of course ends up being Rebecca’s roommate. Instant lust/attraction ends up evolving to more when a secret faction of vampires at the college attack her and Aliz saves her with her blood. Now there’s all of Rebecca’s secrets, an accidental bond, a timeline for this bond to dissolve or become permanent, hunting for the book, Aliz & Rebecca’s relationship and family baggage, and so much more that comes to light. It was a wild ride that somehow ended.. OK? I was satisfied but it was certainly a journey.

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A Christmas Cadence

A Christmas Cadence: A Spicy Small Town Paranormal Romance by Cynthia Brubaker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a very quick read that starts at a high school reunion and ends post-holidays. It gave strong Christmas cozy vibes and did include some spice.

Natalie is single at her high school reunion and gets caught staring at her high school crush and fellow band-member. Drake is now a fitness instructor at his parent’s gym, having never left their home town whereas Natalie went her own path, trying to continue pursuing music. The sparks fly and they both have a very memorable reunion evening, made even more so by Drake biting Natalie while in the throes of passion. Natalie obviously gets the appropriate amount of freaked out and leaves Drake stuck in a tough spot.

Natalie soon has to come to grips with the fact that her body is going through some changes - in this case, marked mates are made physically ill being away from their mates. Since she is doing her best to not be around Drake, she needs to compromise her own boundaries to feel better physically. They still have chemistry, passion, and slowly but steadily build a romantic relationship and trust. We get a nice HEA after all their drama, too!

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The Wolves and Their Cipher

The Wolves and Their Cipher by K.E. Turner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is heating up and if you haven’t read the first book, I recommend you start there. In this story, we get to learn more about the hackers of the pack while progressing the bigger plot line too.

The female love interest, Melinda, is a hacker for good. She grew up in an abusive household, so she channels her skills helping women escape abusive relationships, funneling the money that she gets from less philanthropic endeavors into meaningful work for herself. Her latest client who she assumes is also trying to escape abuse, ends up being the big bad that the wolf pack is trying to track down. During Melinda’s latest identity change for her client, the twins ended up tracing Melinda’s whereabouts and begin to dig into her life.

Melinda, being no fool, knows these two amazingly attractive guys showing up in her apartment building right after she had her incident is suspicious, but she can’t ignore the mystery. She is also attracted to Pierre and Louis. Lucky for them all, the attraction goes both (or all?) ways. The bad guys make a play for Melinda, which forces the brothers to act quickly without doing the right thing and telling Melinda about… any of the bigger picture. This, of course, backfires and we go through a lot more trouble than we need to. We get some good spice, big plot progress, and even a HEA for this trio.

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