Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Her Shifter King title

Book Review: Her Shifter King, by Bailey Dark

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her shifter king audible coverI picked up an Audible code for a copy of Her Shifter King, by Bailey Dark, somewhere along the way. It’s narrated by Sommer Hines.

A past she can’t remember. A secret he must keep hidden. A passion they never saw coming.

Ten years ago.

That was the last time I knew peace, family, sanity.

But after they came for me – everything changed.

Now, I live my life as an outcast, hiding among the shadows of each new city. Every move I make is a risk, and I’m fully aware that I’m only one wrong turn away from certain death.

When I find myself trapped between an enormous wolf and the monstrous shaded creatures that have been hunting me for the last decade, it seems my time is up.

Except, it isn’t.

My beastly savior shifts into a not-so-mortal man. He claims to be King Alpha of the Blueblood pack in Detroit, and he has a deal for me: Marry him and become his mate, and he’ll offer me more freedom and protection than I could ever have on my own.

Sounds too good to be true, which usually means it is, but I’m in no position to refuse this overbearing, dominant, ridiculously handsome warrior.

So, I make a choice.

On the surface I’ll play his game and be his wife. But behind the scenes, I’ll use his resources to find out the truth behind who I am and what he really wants from me before he can get it.

I guess this was ok. Listening to it got me through a tedious day of stripping wallpaper (and the narration by Summer Hines was fine). But nothing about it stood out as exceptional in any real way. None of the characters were particularly well fleshed out, though I did like several of them. The world felt half-hazard and pieced together, though it had interesting elements. The plot was paper-thin, but not uninteresting. Unfortunately, it does end without anything being concluded. Some might call that a cliff-hanger, I call it just half a plot. But that’s semantics. All in all a true “Meh” read if ever I saw one, neither horrible nor excellent. I might continue the series if I came across the next book for free, but I wouldn’t spend money on it; if that tells you anything.

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Book Review: Of Spells and Fur, by Valerie Evans + Giveaway

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Of Spells and Fur
by Valerie Evans
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

As the only known survivor of a horrific massacre years earlier, Molly Hastings has rebuilt her life as a dedicated member of the Anberlin sentries. It’s her job to protect and police the supernatural citizens who call the town home, but the discovery of several bodies has put everyone on edge with no suspect in sight.

Further complicating matters are a call from the home she left behind and the sudden arrival of a werewolf motorcycle club with ties to her past. An unexpected ally is found with Parker Hayes, a hunter facing down his own demons and searching for a future not based in bloodshed, who inspires feelings she hasn’t felt in years.

Amidst the clash between her past and present, Molly finds herself questioning everything she knows about not only those she’s meant to protect but the Sentries themselves. Could everything she’s been taught be a lie, and if it is, can she protect those she cares about?

*Le sigh* Before I can even truly get into reviewing this book I have to say AGAIN, this book is part of a series and that information was not readily apparent. So, I picked it up without knowing it was part of a series, and without having read the previous books. I am SO SICK of having this happen! I’d guess this is probably book 4 of The Anberlin Chronicles. Maybe the author will call it a spin-off but it read like a book 4 to me. It is readable on its own, but you definitely feel that you are missing past information and investment in characters.

Outside of that one big detraction, I thought this was pretty sweet. I liked that The hero and heroine were both full adults, no chosen teenagers here. The inclusion of parenthood was a nice change. The fact that XXX let YYY take the lead in most decisions was appreciable and I thought the plot interesting. I did think the author took the disappointingly predictable easy out with the ex-husband and I had really hoped for something more/better. But the moral dilemma he presented was an interesting one up until that point.

I read an Advanced Readers’ Copy, which usually comes to reviewers pre-final edits. So, I can’t speak to the copy editing. But, there was a habitual simplicity that popped up noticeably and could have been addressed and smoothed out. Sentences like, “A nod was given with her words…” “A pause was made beside a tree while…” “A pause was taken to lean back in…” “A mental checklist was gone through…” “A deep breath was taken before…” “A bit of water was poured into the cup beside the bed before…” “A final check was done on Natalie before…” “A purple crayon was removed before…” “A question was raised about desert…” “A pause was made to drop off…” I imagine you get the point. The repetition of this particular sentence structure to move scenes alone was hard to ignore.

All in all, however, I liked the book enough to be interested in going back and reading the series from the beginning.

 
 

Valerie Evans is a modern fantasy addict living in Georgia who finally took the plunge to self-publish her first novel after nearly seven years. She is the author of The Anberlin Chronicles series and the forthcoming Wolves of Worsham series. In her free time, she likes to read all genres with a focus on fantasy, entertain her very clingy dog, and collect Funkos pops plus journals.

 
 
 
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Lore and Lust

Book Review: Lore and Lust, by Karla Nikole

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I purchased a paperback copy of Lore & Lust directly from the author, Karla Nikole, after seeing an Instagram post about having some for sale.

            
The slow burn vampire romance you didn’t know you needed…

Haruka Hirano is alive, but not quite living. Surviving but not thriving. As an elite purebred vampire in the twenty-first century, he is broken. Content in his subpar existence.

He is done with life. But life is not finished with him.

When he receives a formal request to oversee an antiquated vampire ritual at Hertsmonceux Castle, Haruka grudgingly leaves his home to meet another purebred. The vampire is not what he expects. Truly, he is unlike any vampire Haruka has ever encountered: cautious, innocent and with the warmth and gravitational pull of the sun.

Lore and Lust is an exploration of cultures, contemporary society and romance. It puts a whimsical spin on traditional vampire lore, while also creating a vivid new world where love is love. No questions asked.

I’m not sure how to rate this one. It’s a perfectly fine book. If I had to choose one adjective, I’d say it’s nice. It’s a nice book about nice people (vampires) getting together to form a nice, supportive relationship amongst their nice families/friends. The only thing missing is the inclusion of nice little babies.

And there is nothing wrong with any of that. It is a lovely, squishy, feel-good, slow-burn romance that was actually great as an election night distraction. The problem with all that nice, squishy, feel-goodness though, is that it leaves little room for tension, which combined with the third person present tense writing leaves the reader feeling distant and slightly bored. But more importantly, it isn’t what that absolutely stunning, but honestly dark and brooding cover led me to expect. In fact, I don’t feel it represents the tone of the book at all, as much as I love it. And I do; I bought the book on the strength of my love for it alone. So, how do you rate a book that’s perfectly lovely, but misrepresents itself? I don’t know. Right down the middle, I guess.

Outside of the mismatched tone and cover I only had one real complaint, the lack of significant female characters. There are only three females in the book, all relatively minor side characters. Two of them are grasping and manipulative and the third is dangerously close to being the cliched sassy, Black BFF (and I’d bet the love interest/heroine of a future book). Though Nino‘s Italian, so maybe that stereotype is somewhat ameliorated.

The editing is clean. There’s one point when Hau is sitting on the Tatami but gets up from the couch. But other than that, which might have been a misunderstanding on my part, I didn’t notice anything about the editing. Which is what you want in editing, right? And the mythos around vampires is a fresh one, which isn’t easy in a genre as well-trod as sexy vampires.

All in all, the book wasn’t what I expected, but also pointedly wasn’t bad. I’d certainly read more of Nikole’s writing and of the Lore & Lust series.