Tag Archives: self published

demons in the bedroom

Book Review: Demons in the Bedroom, by Lidiya Foxglove

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I picked up a copy of Lidiya Foxglove‘s Demons in the Bedroom as an Amazon freebie, about 6 months ago.

demons in the bedroom

Have you inherited a creepy old house that needs updated bathroom tiles, a new kitchen, and an exorcism?

Call me: Helena Nicolescu, the best house flipper witch on the east coast.

But I have to admit, I might be in over my head this time. I bought “Lockwood House” at an auction, and the magical community definitely knew something was up, because my rivals were all in on it, including Jake and Jasper, the infuriating wolf shifter twins who think they’re so much better at renovations than me. I overpaid and now I’m stuck with a mess. Floors caving in, 70s carpeting, and…the ghost of an incubus who won’t stop flirting with me while I’m trying to demo.

That’s not the only problem. The former owner’s son seems to be drawn to the place against his own will. My witch radar is going off big time, telling me he has demon blood coursing through his own veins. And the wolves must smell trouble in the air, because they keep sniffing around too. I’ll definitely never tell them that I keep uncovering disconcerting artifacts throughout the house. And more than anything, I won’t admit that they both look pretty good in a tool belt. Why does this house seem like it’s calling trouble to the doorstep?

I have eight weeks to get this done and then I’m putting this mansion on the market and moving on.my review

This was fluff, but enjoyable fluff. Despite that, I have a few things to say, some relevant and some just me spouting off, none of it to be taken too seriously.

First, I wanna talk about that cover. I like the cover, don’t get me wrong. It’s flashy and eye catching. It snagged me successfully. But the characters is described in the book as dressing like Wednesday Adams. How exactly does a tightly dressed, half-clad woman, on a sexy cover translate into that character? It does not.

Why do we always have to glam characters up on covers? And it’s not just the ‘Oh, objectification of women’ argument. (Though, having to make a character more visually sexy than her character to sell books is pretty baseline objectification.) It’s the fact that authors create characters, who have personality and characteristics, and then someone decides to completely ignore them and give readers a cover that has nothing to do with the character they’re reading and appreciating. It drives me batty. I hate it. At least make an effort to get characters close on covers, please. This ‘model’ may be blond (and I appreciate that she looks as strong as you’d expect a house flipper to be), but she doesn’t give off a vibe even close to Hel in the book.

Readers should know that, though Hel and the guys that are forming her harem are fun and the book is quite readable, the plot isn’t a complete arc. It’s not really a cliffhanger, but nothing concludes either. Go in knowing this is the first third, or so, of a story and you should be OK.

Next, and I know this is completely irrelevant and does not effect my rating/review at all, but is pertinent to my current life. In my real life, I’m trying to get some work done on my house. I can’t get anyone to plaster my kitchen wall without a 3-4 month wait time. I can’t even get anyone to call me back to pave a drive, and it feels like no store ever actually has anything truly in stock, everything has to be ordered. So, the whole “eight weeks to get this done,” when discussing a whole house refurbished (even if doing a lot of the work themselves) might be the strongest fantasy element in the whole book and is chapping my already construction related chapped ass. Just rub it in, why don’t you. LOL

All in all, I liked the book enough to search out and read book two…and three. Because I know I’ll have to read them all (and more, if that’s not the end of the series) to get any conclusion.

demons in the bedroom

Valkyrie Cursed

Book Review: Valkyrie Cursed, by Rosie Wylor-Owen

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I picked up an ARC of Rosie Wylor-Owen‘s Valkyrie Cursed through Booksprout.
valkyrie cursed

Rowan McQuaid should be dead.

Valkyries don’t survive vampire bites. But after releasing a tomb full of rabid vampires, Rowan is still breathing. Her survival means one thing: somehow, she is immune.

When witches are slaughtered in their homes, Rowan discovers the vampires are hell-bent on killing the descendants of those who imprisoned them. And every drop of blood spilled is on her hands.

Forced to team up with the mysterious vampire Nate Hallewell, Rowan must find and stop the rogue vampires before they kill every witch in south east England.

my review

I thought this was quite entertaining, but nothing extraordinary. A perfect middle of the road read. I liked Rowan, Nate and crew. I appreciated the slow-slow burn of the maybe-future-relationship. The book is easily readable and I don’t remember any big editing mishaps.

But I also didn’t think the world particularly well developed. I, for example, couldn’t really pick out the lines between some of the species. What made a witch and a valkyrie different, for example, other than culture? How aware was the rest of the world of paranormals? I have no idea, etc. Nor did I think Rowan’s the family history adequately utilized. Though I did recognize that her and her brother’s situation mirrored Nate and his cousin’s.

All in all, I like it. I’d read another. But I’m not running out to buy it. (Well, I don’t think a next exists yet. But you get the idea.)

valkyrie cursed

ever strange

Book Review: Ever Strange, by Alisa Woods

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I picked up a copy of Ever Strange, by Alisa Woods, as an Amazon freebie last September. ever strange

An incubus FBI agent, a billionaire witch, and someone spiking street drugs with deadly magick.

Zane Walker’s undercover in Chicago’s deadliest drug cartel—and his magic is as dirty as the enhancers they peddle. When a beautiful witch storms in, making demands she thinks she can back up with magick, he’s forced into a split-second choice… and his monster rages out.

Ever Strange’s father was murdered. They made it look like an overdose, but Asher Strange, world-renown med-magick researcher, would never take tawdry magick enhancers. But before she can get an autopsy, her father’s body disappears… and being one of the richest witches in the city means she will get answers.

Someone’s putting deadly magick into street drugs… and it’s killing people all over the city. Zane’s magick is monstrous, and Ever’s power brings out his beast. But she insists on finding her father; and keeping her safe has suddenly become his job—on top of stopping an epidemic of overdoses that just might be cover for a serial killer. Together, they work to stop the dark magick that’s stalking the streets of Chicago… and try to keep their own secrets from consuming them both.

my review

I thought this an amusing, if shallowly developed, story. I picked it up because the blurb inferred that the male character used sex magic and the female one was a billionaire. I thought that subverted the norm, where woman are usually associated with sex and men with financial power. The book didn’t really utilize it in any significant way though. The characters were actually pretty standard. She was plucky and, yes, rich, (but still somehow innocent and down to earth, of course) and he was extremely dangerous, dark and brooding (but not actually the psychopathic killer people think him, of course).

But I did like both characters. After the initial introduction we see a softer side of Zane that I appreciated. No alpha-asshole here! And Ever saved the day with her skill more than once. So, no wilting violets either. And the whole thing is easily readable with no contrived misunderstandings or too-stupid-to-live drama to complicate things. But the plot is pretty thin, the world basically sketched out, and and the whole thing more more fluff than depth. But I’d read the next book if it was put in front of me.

ever strange