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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