Dragon Blood (A Novel of the Lupi Book 14)

Dragon Blood by Eileen Wilks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not bad for my last book of 2021. I admit to being very angry at the end of Book#13, but I had time to cool down and was ready to dive back in to the World of the Lupi.

This book is one of those that takes place in a moment, but also a few weeks. Confusing timey-wimey stuff is at play, so don't think too hard about it. This book picks up immediately after the previous one ends, making me think I should have just waited to binge 13 & 14 together. Sigh, regrets. At this point, the world is so established, there are no recaps. You don't get any cheat sheets, either. I completely forgot who the random folks are we meet around midway, but it eventually came back to me.

So, Lily has been transported to another world that we learn oodles about during the weeks spent there. All of their gang is still trying to survive but in maybe better situations. That changes as the days move forward. The whole gang is separated, creating a bit of a road trip book, hoping to reunite all the wonderful characters we have come to know and love. Everything you want - it's all right here. Lily using her wonderful mind to plan, plot, and detective out their next steps. Rule being a master strategist and warrior. Madame Yu being... just plain awesome.

This story really tells the hidden side story of dragons, gives even more history, and takes us a few steps forward in the larger battle. Don't worry - not as cliffhangery as the previous book, so I can happily put this book down and wait for the next installment. Are there still dangers out there and questions unanswered? Of course! With the series maybe wrapping up, I've got high hopes for the kind of resolution in the next book, which makes me more forgiving here.

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Ancient Vendetta

Ancient Vendetta by Katie Reus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has been such a long time coming! We finally get King and Aurora's story and the only negative is that the book was so quick to read!

King is, as we know, the leader of this new, post-fall New Orleans area. He rules in a fair way that all of the different paranormals appear to appreciate, even the old and prickly ones. It's no surprise to anyone that he's absolutely smitten with Aurora. She's had a rough time, having been kidnapped and horribly abused, but her rock (especially with her sister gone) has been King. He is a very patient hunter and is determined to wait until she's ready.

All those plans get sped up a bit when someone with massive power ends up attacking the city and lets King know that his old nemesis is still alive. This event triggers a domino effect of shocking reveals, twist, and turns. Eventually, don't worry, we get what we are all after. These stories and this world is so wonderfully written that I don't ever want them to stop. I'm happy for Aurora and King, but sad that the pairing has been written and I'm done with it. I hope we have many more installments to circle back and see everyone happy (especially the Lion!).

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Auntie Mags (Maggie MacKay Magical Tracker Book 12)

Auntie Mags by Kate Danley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First, this book should come with a warning - EXTREME CLIFFHANGERS AHEAD! While this includes a full story, you are definitely left on the edge of your seat for the next one. Almost everyone is left in peril and you don't have warm fuzzies when completing this one.

So, Maggie has become an aunt and it's going just about as well as you'd expect. There was already a little warning that maybe the kid might bring about some badness, but all of that gets magnified exponentially when ... everything goes wrong. As part of Maggie's everyday life, she rolls with the punches and goes on yet another quest with Killian. This time the stakes are.. well... just as high as before? It feels like they are always saving the world at this point.

What's still at play? Killian's got magic powers but we don't fully understand them or what ramifications they would have on his spooky ex's obsession with him and/or his place as possible co-ruler. Maggie or her niece will probably end the world. Maggie's uncle is still creepy and evil, along with the mad "king." And we only have one more book?!?! I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading these because the characters and world are wonderful, but so frustrating!

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Magic Beneath the Mistletoe: A Mystic Owl Anthology, Vol. 2

Magic Beneath the Mistletoe by Lizzy Gayle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This set can be read with or without reading volume 1 (though volume 1 was great, too!). As far as I can tell, no stories connect between the anthologies, but if you enjoy this one, I'd recommend picking up the first as well.

This set includes a little bit of everything that exists in the paranormal romance genre, and even starts with a story taking place in a more futuristic spaceship setting. While that's not necessarily my cup of tea, I enjoyed each of these stories for their uniqueness. There's a mix of more or less smut, but all of them were great. I don't want to spoil anything, so I will just generally say that if you enjoy any type of paranormal romance, this will be a nice treat for you.

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Magic Beneath the Mistletoe: A Mystic Owl Anthology, Vol. 1

Magic Beneath the Mistletoe by Heather McCorkle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has a wonderful mix of just about everything you could want from a paranormal romance anthology. This and the associated volume#2 gave me such joy in nice, easy to gobble up packages that I wish there were more readily available.

As I said, there's nice mix of assorted short stories. There is sure to be something for everyone. All have a common element of romance, with varying levels of smutty goodness thrown in. The book starts with a historical paranormal tale, but that is the only one of that kind. Mostly they are contemporary paranormal romances. Sometimes they exist outside of an existing world (or so I assume), but even those that are part of a larger world are not out of place in this anthology. This can definitely be read as a standalone set of stories to warm you up on a cold winter day.

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Lothaire

Lothaire by Kresley Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m sure I’ve said this about other books in this series, but this one is truly the least redeemable of main characters. Lothaire has done centuries of harm, murder, and the worst kinds of things that immortals can do. Is he a “tortured soul”? Sure. Does he deserve the wonderful woman he gets paired up with – not at all. The story was engaging, but I really spent most of the time rooting for Ellie to get away from him with piles of jewels.



We know Lothaire from portions of previous books. He’s responsible for the unending drowning of the Valkyrie queen. He’s responsible for the evil baddie that destroys the order’s prison (not so bad), who kills a ton of folks with her wendigos (very bad). He sort-of befriended one weirdo immortal, but that doesn’t being to undo his badness. This “love story” even starts with badness. Ellie is a normal mountain girl who has been possessed part-time by an evil goddess. Lothaire believe the demon woman is his bride (that would make more sense), and vows to cast out Ellie’s soul. This leads to a ton of bad stuff for Ellie, including putting her on death row for the murders her part-time possessor committed.



Lothaire’s capture in the previous storylines slowed him from saving Ellie until the last possible second, giving Ellie even more trauma to survive. And she is a true survivor. She endures tons of verbal abuse and even physical abuse from this dude who really just wants to kill her but save her body (gross). She rolls with the punches, learning about her newly discovered world, continuing to have goals, etc. No matter where we end up here, Lothaire will continue to be the bad guy to me. Ellie deserves much better.

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Night's Bliss

Night's Bliss by Mary Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I gotta admit that I may not have read all the books that would make me appreciate this one as much as I could. That being said, I enjoyed it and was able to follow the larger implications without issue.

Rey has stationed herself inside the staff for the evil vampire, Umbra. She’s trying to find the cure for the poison that Elias (in his human disguise) has been infected with. Her love for his human parts doesn’t give him a free pass as the terrifying vampire that she categorizes him as, but it’s a good start for their romance. After some steps forward, Elias is driven to save Rey from the evil castle, but there are some barriers. First, Rey is anti-vampire, so Elias takes steps to mask that part of him, while still being awesome and powerful. Second, Umbra is playing the long game, so has a lot of moving pieces on the chessboard. Lucky for us, Elias is a master strategist.

One of the great parts of this book was the strategy. I’m all for smutty good romance (and that’s a part of it), but watching the action and plans play out was just as fun. There’s a lot of players, but it was easy to keep track of the good vs bad. The wonderfully good and unique characters that end up aiding Elias in the end are just… perfection. I wish I had spent more time with all of them before the end, but their heroics didn’t go unrecognized. The ending here feels like a series/world ender, but here’s hoping we get to see some familiar faces in possible spin-offs.

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