Review: Death Over Easy

Death Over Easy by Tawdra Kandle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This third book in the series picks up where we last left Jackie and Lucas. They’re still sizzling in the sack and super supportive everywhere else. Sure, the end of the world showdown is rapidly approaching, but so is the retirement community pageant! It wouldn’t be such a big deal (other than Mrs. Mac entering) but Lucas is starting to notice that the other participants are dropping like flies. In the retirement community, this isn’t really that strange, but the clues just keep adding up and things are not looking good for the remaining contestants.

Oh, and on top of all this, Lucas brought home a young girl from one of his death broker scenes. Jackie, being the wonderful human being that she is, didn’t turn her away, and instead offered her the spare bedroom in exchange for some help setting up a new catering side business (or is that side-side business? Jackie has a lot of jobs).

So, as you can see, Jackie and Lucas have their hands full even before Lucas’s vampire maker reappears for a meet-and-greet with them and her estranged great-great granddaughter. I’m always happy to get another check in with Rafe and Nell (and, I guess, Catherine?), but all of the up-in-the-air items are just piling up at this point. If I were Jackie, I would’ve lost my mind already. As it is, I’m not sure how she and Lucas manage to handle all this stress, solve a murder-mystery, open a new business, “adopt” a young girl, and plan for their future all in one short book. Amazing!


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Review: Sex, Lies & Demon Ties

Sex, Lies & Demon Ties by C J Laurence
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was short, quick, smutty, but super-duper dark. There are some pretty shocking elements thrown in from a distinctly not-sexy place. Consider this fair warning for those readers who are in it just for the smut.

Azazel and Balthazar are on their yearly vacation from hell. They get 3 months a year to relax in any way they see fit. Azazel is the bad brother who spends his time screwing his way through one-night-stands. Balthazar is the one looking for love, the only thing that will allow them to become mortal and spend their time away from hell. They seem OK with their different approaches until they both lock onto a stranger and immediately become smitten.

In a very expected way, the bad boy brother uses a rather blunt approach to getting in Kyla’s pants. While she seems interested, they could easily spend just as much time bickering as they would in the sack. Somewhere along the way, there’s magick involved and secrets, and some ghost-type people, and people end up not being who they seem. In the end, though, everyone gets a solid HEA (even if we get there through a bit of really dark story).


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Review: Cast in Balefire

Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is breaking my head. There are so many tie-ins and surprises that I never know what to expect. The unique combination of gritty urban fantasy and insanely detailed world building makes these books take on a life of their own. Just when I think I have a handle on everything, we get an unexpected twist and I’m back at knowing nothing again.

This book gave us quite a few answers, which was completely satisfying. I’m not one who needs to know everything at book one, but I was starting to feel like we were never going to figure out Marion’s motives. I even came to grips with the fact that we said goodbye to Marion’s memories forever. I should have known that there would be way more plans in play. When last we saw Seth, he was dying (or his avatar was) and immediately following his death, Marion was forced to marry Konig in order to save the court. It seems like Marion is always put in impossible situations and forced to make an unenviable choice.

So, having made a choice for the good of the kingdom, does she get rewarded? No – she’s facing a possible uprising because it’s obvious that there is no love between Marion and Konig. On top of pretending to love Konig, Marion’s also got her mom to deal with, tasks from the mysterious Librarian (who may or may not be able to give Marion her memories back), and the never-ending desire to rescue Seth from wherever he is. Is it strange to want to rescue a god? Not in Marion’s world. I really don’t think it’s possible to summarize all the contents of the book in a review because even I had trouble keeping up. There’s double-crossing, rescuing, kissing, escaping, kidnapping, remembering, and lots of blood.

Overall, this delivered on so many levels yet left me hurting even more for Marion and Seth. Bonus, though, we get some very nostalgic flash-backs! This entire universe that the author has built can pretty much do no wrong. I am, however, looking forward to seeing where Marion ends up.


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Review: No More Black Magic

No More Black Magic by A.L. Kessler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Abby is an independent woman who just so happens to also work for the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Oh, and she’s also a super powerful witch who was raised by a super powerful vampire. Throw all of this in with a serial killer on the loose and you’ve got the chaos that is Abby’s life.

This latest case forces Abby to look a little closer at her tragic past. Her parents were murdered in a pretty horrific way when she was a child but she has never really wanted to dive into the possible motives surrounding their murder until signs just keep pointing her to her father’s linguistics work. While exploring that avenue, she’s almost killed, nearly stripped of her powers, and her car explodes. Normal people would back off at this point but Abby is only more determined than ever. She’s also got her almost-partner/friend/werewolf/maybe-date to help her get drawn into even more drama along the way.

The mystery really takes you all through this brand new world and I can honestly say that it has me hooked! At times I found myself comparing it to Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, but it had less of a magical spin and more of a gritty urban fantasy feel. Lots of blood and body parts were thrown in for good measure, too. If this is only the beginning of the series, I can’t wait to see where else it will take us.


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Review: Charcoal Tears

Charcoal Tears by Jane Washington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a fast-paced and interesting introduction to the world of Seraph Black. It was by no means a standalone book, so if that will bother you – reader beware! The story revolves around Seraph’s rather abrupt introduction to a world filled with powers and pairs.

Seraph’s live revolves around protecting her little brother from their father’s abuse and trying to be as invisible as possible. She manages to eke out a life for a little while without incident until lack of food and distraction almost gets her run over by the new kid’s car. One touch from her rescuer (another new kid) informs her that strange things are afoot. Combine their obsession with her, the very involved art teacher, and her only friend from the club where she works, and Seraph starts to suddenly feel… popular? That brief reprieve ends when she starts getting threats via some pretty creepy stalker photos. Someone is able to get rather close to her without any knowledge, even after her mysterious new friends step in to offer assistance.

We get to go through this entire process along with Seraph. There is no bonus information available to us, the reader, so we are just as lost as Seraph when clues pop up. The draw she feels to her new friends, the dependency, the risks, it all combines to make for a very dangerous new world for her. Part of me wishes we got more answers in this book, but the other part of me really enjoyed the addictive nature of such a mysterious introduction. Of course, I can’t wait to get more from this series. Will these bonds prove more trouble for Seraph? Will she meet the larger organization? What about her stalker? So many questions!


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Review: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this one as an audiobook and am very happy I did. The setup of the story is told in lots of little short survivor accounts. Without the repetition of the voices, I’m not sure I would have remembered who was who when they popped up again.

I should add a disclaimer that I am not usually a fan of zombie or war stories, but everyone told me that we absolutely had to grab up this audiobook. Meh. It was not my favorite read but it was clearly well thought out. There were some stories that were more engaging than others, but overall the voice actors did a really great job (and it was nice to hear some familiars popping up along the way). If you like reading about war, zombies, and post-apocalyptic survival – I don’t think this book could possibly disappoint you. It has thought of everything, including what would happen to people in space when the zombie apocalypse happens. I was pleasantly surprised by having all of my questions answered by the end of the book.

Now, the reason that this book left me a little unsettled had nothing to do with open storylines. They were all nicely buttoned up at the end of the book. The thing I felt was extremely lacking was a real theme of any sort. Sure, the thread that connects them all is zombies and surviving in this new world, but we just got individual glimpses of the survivor lives, no any sort of “moral” (for lack of a better word). I was kind of expecting a more definitive takeaway after all the time we spent with the characters, but none was there that I could see. Some countries preached that individualism was what saved a lot of people. Some countries preached that the close-knit and farm-to-table approaches were what sustained them. While interesting, I wish it had some sort of takeaway other than “wow that zombie war sucked!”


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Review: Deader Homes and Gardens

Deader Homes and Gardens by Angie Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is always a joy to read. If you haven’t yet picked up a book in this world, you should probably start from the beginning, but these definitely have a standalone feel to them.

Verity has finally fully embraced her ghost hunter occupation. Rather than keeping it under wraps, she’s been pounding the pavement trying to get work with her new and unique skillset. Armed with little more than tenacity, she doesn’t have much hope for getting a first customer but is surprised to find a very famous client in the form of the Rock Fall mansion. Her human client is a very skittish relative of the original owner who has not stepped foot in the house since its haunting. He’s being doing his best to restore the grounds, but even those are filled with ghostly activities.

This book was jam-packed with the wonderful characters that I’ve come to expect and was definitely the most mysterious of the mysteries in the series. Did that make sense? It will when you dive in. Verity is challenged in this one to not get dead, solve a really complicated mystery, and keep her partying ghost companion in check. Hilarity and scary scenes kept the pages quickly turning in this great installment. I can’t wait to see what craziness Verity cooks up next!


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