Tag Archives: paranormal

Broomsticks and Burials

Book Review of Broomsticks and Burials (Magic & Mystery, #1), by Lily Webb

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I received an audio copy fo Lily Webb‘s Broomsticks and Burials.

Description from Goodreads:

Reporter Zoe Clarke’s life has lost its magic. So when she gets a job offer in the middle of nowhere, Zoe jumps at the chance to make a name for herself only to find her new home is teeming with magic and paranormal beings—and those aren’t its only secrets. 

During a heated election for Head Witch, the most powerful position in town, Zoe’s predecessor was buried alive—and accusations are flying faster than broomsticks. Despite her editor’s orders to leave the story alone, Zoe can’t resist. 

From the front-running witch with a secret to the mysterious vampires pulling strings in the shadows, Zoe knows the truth is just under the surface. So after she discovers she has rare telepathic abilities, Zoe realizes she’s the only one who can keep digging. 

Will Zoe’s powers lead her to the murderer and the scoop of a lifetime? Or will they send her to an early grave? 

Review:

*Sigh* “It’s not you. It’s me.” This is one of those books. It’s a fine book….for someone else. As an explanatory example, the love interest is a golden retriever shifter. Can you get anymore pure than that? The whole book is just too cutesy and Mary Sue-like for my taste. There is absolutely no edge to it at all. And yes, I do realize it’s a cozy mystery. But cozy doesn’t really have to mean naive. (The word I want to use here is bland, but that will sound far more derisive than I mean it to.) This could almost pass for middle-grade fiction, it’s that innocent. 

Regardless, the writing is fine and the narrator (Erin Parker) did an excellent job with it. So, if you’re the sort of reader who really likes this sort of book, pick it up. If you like a bit of grit in your fantasy/paranormal/mystery books, you won’t find it here.

First Blade

Book Review of First Blade (Awakening #1), by Jane Hinchey

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I own an copy of Jane Hinchey‘s First Blade. However, I’d forgotten that when I borrowed an audio copy from Hoopla.

Description through Goodreads:

Georgia Pearce possesses remarkable psychic abilities. When she discovers an ancient dagger hidden in her workshop, she knows it can only mean one thing. Trouble.

Trouble arrives in the form of Zak Goodwin, an entity more powerful – and definitely sexier – than any she’s come across before. However, when a horde of dangerous vampires show up and threaten Georgia and her sister, she has no choice but to ask Zak for help.

Along with a shifter cop, a band of vampire warriors, and her own psychic skills, Georgia sets out to stop the awakening of an immortal vampire who has the power to destroy the world — and discovers that staying alive isn’t nearly as dangerous as falling in love. 

Review:

Mechanically this was fine. But there is just literally nothing about it that isn’t super cliched. There is zero originality here and it has several of my least favorite PNR occurrences in it. Most notably, the only female vampire is stereotypically sexy and a villain because she wants the hero and has been spurned. This makes me want to scream, especially when female writers fall into this trap. As if women can only be heroines and villainous sex kittens (or rabbits, as she is literally referred to as Jessica Rabbit at one point), no in between. Plus it constantly perpetuates the myths that other women can’t be trusted, men are all we care about, and sex is only a weapon or a tool. I expect more and am getting increasingly frustrated and decreasingly patient when authors are too lazy to break out of this BS rut.

Add to that big one (big for me anyhow) the fact that the female main character is a psychic who has one vision in the whole book and the male lead is super skeezy for most of the book. All in all, this is a big fat fail for me.

Having said all that Brenda Eddy , the narrator, did a fine job.

Lycan Legacy Prey

Book Review of Lycan Legacy: Prey, by Veronica Singer

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I received an audio copy of Lycan Legacy – Prey from the author, Veronica Singer.

Description from Goodreads:

“Prey,” whispered my inner wolf. There was a certain beauty, a certain simplicity, to her animal mindset. She was quick to label anyone or anything we met as “Pack,” “Predator,” or “Prey.” Together, wolf and woman, we always managed to tell where anyone stood. Until the day we met that damned Magician in Tokyo. 

Luna White is a runaway, a lone werewolf running from her home and pack and her Alpha’s obsession with using her to expand the pack; a plan that would have devastating consequences for Luna. She runs to Tokyo, where American werewolf packs are unknown. With a big personality and ego to match; she lands in Tokyo with a splash.

Mason Carter is a Magician. He traveled from America and settled in Tokyo. He doesn’t care for werewolves; their lack of control runs against the principles of magic. However, Mason has a secret; he knows how to help the incredibly rare female werewolves keep from losing their minds during pregnancy. He won’t reveal this to any werewolf, fearing that unrestrained breeding of werewolf litters will destabilize the supernatural community.

The clash between the powerful Alpha and a Magician threatens not only Luna but the burgeoning love she feels for Mason.

Review:

This wasn’t bad, a lot better than some werewolf books I’ve read. And I really appreciated that Mason wasn’t a alpha A-hole. He wasn’t a pushover, but he was totally willing to bend to Luna’s more obviously dominant personality type. I enjoyed their banter and the world Singer is building in this first book of a series. 

However, I thought the plot-line (a male wolf trying to forcefully possess and ‘breed’ a female) was trite and overused, and the plot jumped around, feeling disjointed. This wasn’t at all helped by the fact that Luna’s character was quite inconsistent. She was running scared one minute, then badass, threatening alpha queen the next, before going back to scary-cat again (all without reason given in the story).

Having said all that, I did enjoy it and I’d probably even read the next one. Cornelisse did a good job with the narration, though I think she mispronounced some of the Japanese. (I took two semesters in college, most of which I don’t remember. So, I don’t speak it, but I do remember the pronunciation of the syllabary and I’m fairly sure Cornelisse wasn’t correct more than once.) Further, it sure sounded like there were some misused English words too. But I suspect that was her being true to the text. This is one of the downsides to audiobooks instead of textual books. I’d know if it was an editing mistake if I saw it (or if I just misheard). Regardless, none of it was too egregious, just something I noticed.