Review: Sweet Tea and Spirits

Sweet Tea and Spirits by Angie Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These books never disappoint and always manage to leave me with a smile on my face. I’m pretty sure you could pick them up at any point and dive in, but to get the complete story, I’d recommend starting from the beginning.

We meet back up with Verity, now an official ghost… helper… of sorts. She’s come “out of the closet” about dating her ex-fiancé’s brother and is now only slightly less repugnant to the social leaders of the community. This latest adventure begins with a phone call from a ghost. The ghostly call appears to have originated from the historic society, which is where a lot of the action takes place in this book.

Teamed up with her faithful, although reluctant, partner, she heads out to investigate. That curiosity ends up uncovering even more than Verity hoped to find. It seems like as soon as Verity gets involved, everyone finally gets to learn the truth about some long held Sugarland belief. No wonder her boyfriend’s mother cannot stand her (among other reasons). Along with the usual murder mystery gig, we also get a healthy dose of romance in the most unlikely of places. This book was truly enjoyable from start to finish.


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Review: Luther's Return

Luther's Return by Tina Folsom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Remember Luther? Okay, to be honest, I didn’t really remember him. Turns out we met him way back in the day and since I read these books at random intervals, I had to really refresh my memory. This book is the first in a new set, taking place a handful of years beyond where the previous book ended. The benefit? This gives us a new generation of vampires, while still keeping the original ones in play.

Katie we have apparently heard of before, too. She’s the sister of guys who have played major roles in previous books. She hasn’t gotten her mate, so that obviously leaves her “up for grabs.” She has befriended and taken under her wing the very familiar daughter of Samson and has cast her in a starring role of a play. With all the familiar faces in attendance, and a much older Blake running the security, she somehow manages to get kidnapped. Too bad for Luther, this also happens to occur when he wanders into town after his prison release.

Coincidence is never something that the Scanguards vampires acknowledge, so this throws Luther into a pretty big mess. That doesn’t appear to matter to Katie, though, as she is instantly smitten with the bad boy. Talk about sizzle! While I was eager to see Samson get his daughter back, I was more interested in these two Romeo and Juliet types to work it out. This was a nice redemption story that I completely wasn’t expecting. I can’t wait to see what the author does with this “time hop.”


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Review: Hunter's Trail

Hunter's Trail by Melissa F. Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I still really enjoy the sarcastic, punchy, love-triangle-prone character of Scarlett, I’m eager to take a little break before coming back to her after this adventure. Where the last book focused an awful lot on driving, this one was all about her knee. I’m kidding, of course, but it still should get listed as a co-star of the book.

This book, the end of the trilogy, definitely wraps things up in a nice way. We join Scarlett in the aftermath of the impulsive decision made at the end of the last book. If you’re just joining here… don’t. This is not the place to start. With all the baggage leading up to this installment, you’re better off diving into the next trilogy, or starting at book 1. That being said, so Scarlett did that thing. It apparently messed up the thing I would least expect – her knee. Who knew? After these few books with her ramping up from normal damage to Dresden-like damage levels, I guess everything is fair game.

So the big bad in this story has to do with the werewolves. There’s some murdered women showing up on the alpha’s doorstep (literally) and somehow Scarlett has gotten tasked with solving it. Together with dark cloud/constantly conflicted man, Jesse, they have to put themselves into pack drama while avoiding talking about Eli and his mysterious disappearance. Can you tell I’m kind of sick of Jesse, too? At some point he has to make a choice, and I’m getting really tired of him painting himself as the good guy and the bad guy at the same time.

So obviously they end up solving the mystery and avoiding certain doom. That wasn’t really my main focus, of course. I was more interested in some sort of resolution for Scarlett. Her decisions, while always infuriating, were slightly less so in this book. I’m especially fond of her new pet, who I saw in later books and was slightly spoiled about. As a person who must complete a series, this was a nice way to end the trilogy, even if I was reluctant to read this one. I’m happy where everyone ended up but would expect better from Jesse in the future.


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Review: Drakon's Prey

Drakon's Prey by N.J. Walters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book might be even better than the last one in the series! This world is so unique and different that I am really loving learning more bit by bit. If you read the previous book, then you knew that this one had to be about Valeriya, the sister of the head of the Knights of the Dragon.

Valeriya is a children’s book author who is doing her best to avoid the drama tied to her sister. She’s determined to make amends (or try to) and part of that is warning the drakon that is in her sister’s sights. When she arrives at her destination, however, it is very clear that there’s nobody around to warn. Even more determined to help, she decides to camp out a bit waiting for something to come about. Her instincts are almost never wrong.

Tarrant is the reclusive computer genius that we’ve met previously. It seemed like he wouldn’t have his match found for him… ever. Somehow, though, he finds himself smitten with the tenacious woman who simply will not leave him alone. He’s moved to the point of kind-of kidnapping her and taking her into his underground lair. While neither really knows one another, nor even can begin to know all the secrets they’re hiding, they still cannot deny the attraction. They’re drawn to each other and it seems like fate is at play.

These two are now my favorite couple. I love the spunky nature of Valeriya and I really loved the protective nature Tarrant had hiding in him. If this is any indication of how the rest of the series will go, I can’t wait to watch the rest of the drakons pair off!


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Review: Once Bitten

Once Bitten by Heather McCorkle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was definitely a different spin on your classic werewolf paranormal romance. There’s still a boy, a girl, and some werewolves, but that’s about where the similarities end.

Sonya is an overworked med school student who makes one bad decision – taking home the bad boy from the bar she works at. This particular bad boy, however, is using her to try to get out of an arranged marriage in a pretty dramatic way. After a surprise bite, she’s suddenly dropped into a world where werewolves are real and she’s going to turn into one. She’s also been paired off with an instructor of sorts, Ty.

Ty is a trainer who has never trained a new initiate before. He’s still learning while at the same time trying to fight his undeniable attraction to his trainee. It’s forbidden, of course, but that doesn’t stop the budding relationship. Oh, and to make matters worse, there’s a whole bunch of warring packs trying to get to Sonya.

There are a bunch of twists and turns, but at the core of this is the romance. These two are a great couple to watch and I found that to be the driver for finishing this book. At the end of this book we are left with the start of yet another journey for Sonya. Not quite a cliffhanger, but we certainly don’t have an entirely standalone story here.


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Review: Fated

Fated by Lauren Dane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poor Megan. We’ve watched her grow and develop through the other books in the series. She’s been through a lot and getting a mate doesn’t really make things easier.

Megan’s sister’s anchor arrives and needs a ride from the airport. This seemingly simple task ends up jumpstarting a relationship that neither really expected. Shane is the most reluctant wolf we’ve met so far. He’s been traumatized and has a lot of baggage because of it. He lives as a human doctor and isn’t really open to accepting such a drastic change. That doesn’t, however, stop him from claiming his mate.

Megan is almost the complete opposite of Shane. She’s 100% wolf and completely committed to her pack. Shane does something that seemed impossible – make her doubt herself. It’s sad to watch them struggle through this, but I guess nothing Megan got could really be easy. These two are a good match and it was nice to visit with everyone else we’ve met before.


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Review: Cain's Identity

Cain's Identity by Tina Folsom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book kind of completes the series focusing on the “older” vampires before fast forwarding 20 years. I didn’t actually realize this when I started reading, but it makes all the references to the future a lot more relevant.

Cain is a bodyguard with amnesia. He’s been doing his best, working with Scanguards to at least put his mysterious fighting skills to good use. That doesn’t stop his dreams from showing him a life he doesn’t remember. The dreams also star a woman who he feels extremely drawn to. The mystery begins to unravel when a vampire turns up, claiming to be the leader of his guard – the king’s guard. Who knew that Cain could be king somewhere?

Faye, also known as the mysterious woman in the dreams, has mourned the loss of her king and lover for almost a year now. They were all told that Cain was murdered, but she hasn’t given up hope. Cain’s brother, Abel (obviously), is clearly up to no good in this whole situation. While almost blackmailing Faye into accepting his proposal of marriage, he’s also not a very good leader. It takes over a year to allow for a new ruler to be crowned, so it’s a good thing Cain shows up. Between revenge plots, assassins, and not being able to trust anyone, Cain really does a pretty good job balancing his kingly life with re-courting Faye.

While not a very Scanguards-ish book, this one was still really good. It was almost like a road trip novel, where a few characters travel to another place for the length of the book. While Cain wouldn’t have been my pick for such a book, it really worked. I found myself rooting for this mystery man and hoping for a really great ending (and was rewarded with one, too).


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