Moonlight by Ann Hunter

One vow. One curse. One thousand moons.

While Princess Aowyn's six brothers are favored by their father, Aowyn is the jewel in her mother's crown. When the Queen dies, Aowyn takes a vow to protect her brothers and father from the hungry eyes of the queen's handmaiden, Ciatlllait - who is more than she seems.

In order to save her family, Aowyn risks a dangerous deal with the dark creature Sylas Mortas. But magic comes with a price: and Aowyn soon realizes the one she has paid is too steep.

Only true love can reverse the spell...but it will take one thousand moons. Can she keep to her word with war and romance on the horizon?

Of Saints and Shadows by Christoper Golden

BLURB: A secret sect of the Catholic Church, armed with an ancient book of the undead called The Gospel of Shadows, has been slowly destroying vampires for centuries. Now the book has been stolen, and the sect races to retrieve it before their purpose is discovered: a final purge of all vampires. As the line between saints and shadows grows ominously faint, private eye Peter Octavian is drawn into the search. And he'll do anything to find the book ... for Peter Octavian is also a vampire.

Ostracized by his kindred for refusing to take part in the 'blood song', he cannot stand by and watch while they are destroyed. In a deadly game with a driven, sadistic assassin, the trail leads to Venice at the time of carnival, where the Defiant Ones, as the vampires are known, are engaged in a savage battle for their lives.

3 STARS

MY REVIEW: If you enjoy paranormal crime novels, this one hits all the right beats off the bat. There's the broody vampire private eye working to atone for his dark past, the feisty human love interest, the gruff old police detective, and a string of bizarre murders. You may think you're reading a typical example of the genre, but things take a swing as you delve deeper into the book, and the reason behind the murders is revealed.

I found the plot was unexpected, and I was bit torn trying to root for either side of the ensuing conflict, considering most everyone involved was insane, a murder, or both. The characters were varied and interesting enough, but I never formed much of a bond with any of them. My favorite was definitely Cody, who sadly didn't have a front seat role in the story. Pity, I think I'd have liked him in the lead better than Peter, but then I've never been into that whole 'dark and broody' kind of thing.

This novel is extremely graphic, with gruesome deaths and a few disturbing sex scenes. I don't recommend the book if either bothers. I could have certainly done without them myself.

I enjoyed the book well enough to finish it, and the last five or six chapters were pretty good.

A Diamond In My Pocket by Lorena Angell

BLURB: After breaking the 100m world record, sixteen-year-old Calli is whisked away to a secret facility where she's placed with other teens who possess superhuman speed. She soon finds herself in a deadly situation involving other superpowers, a magical diamond, and a centuries-old clan vying for world domination. Calli will have to rely on her quick wit and gut instinct to navigate her new world which includes secretly carrying a power-infusing diamond, all the while steering clear of the young man who mistakenly believes she's his soulmate.

Book one of The Unaltered series introduces a secret universe existing within our own. In this world, cosmic energy grants superhuman abilities, and people of like ability band together in clans for both safety and community. Flesh-ripping demons prowl at night, drawn to the cosmic energy. Governments spy on clans, clans spy on governments, and trusting the wrong person may carry a terrible price.

2 STARS

MY REVIEW: I took an instant disliking to Callie, the main character of this book. Which is not good in any case, but is made all the worse by the fact that the story is told from the first person perspective and so I was stuck in her head the entire way through the book. Callie is this oh so average, plain, and ordinary girl who is yet so much more mature and smarter then her peers, who to hear her talk are all a bunch of airheads and dumb jocks. And yet, she actually says that she doesn't like any of the boys in her school because they aren't good looking. 

So anyway, Callie suddenly finds herself with these remarkable abilities out of the blue and she gets whisked away to this compound filled with all these athletic and extremely attractive people, who she instantly assumes are complete and total jerks. And then Callie, who is at this compound with all these well trained Runners who have been studying their abilities for years, for all of a day, gets sent out on a vitally important, life threatening mission. Not only is she part of the team, she's actually one of the leaders for reasons that make absolutely no sense at all. 

Then there is the 'romance' between Callie and the hyper gorgeous Chris. Talk about

insta-love. They know each other a total of three days before they are so committed to one another they will willing die to protect each other. This is, of course, after Chris has treated Callie like dirt since the moment they met. But that's okay, because he is really hot. 

But I think the worst part of the book is the plot itself, which is incredibly thin and even though there is more of an explanation by the time you get to the end of the book, it still makes little sense. 

I struggled to read this book all the way through. It had some interesting points with the clans, and the powers, and these different things, but it was poorly executed. And I didn't connect to any of the characters enough to care what happened to them, which to me is the most important aspect of a story. 

At the time of this review, the book is free, so you might want to check it out and see if you feel differently then I did. 

Crashing Paradise by Christopher Golden

BLURB: The Legion of Doom is hell-bent on breaking into Eden, hidden in another dimension, and they've got the perfect captive to help them: Eve, mother of all humanity - and all vampires. Only Doyle and the Menagerie can stop them from turning a blessed garden into a cursed wasteland.

But they may already be too late. The gates to Eden have been breached, and the forces of evil are after all the power they can get from the Tree of Knowledge. Can a heartsick Eve and a badly outnumbered band of supernatural beings take back this most sacred place? Or will Eden truly become a paradise lost?

3 STARS

MY REVIEW: I found this to be a pretty decent read. Nice cast of diverse characters who are definitely not your general definition of 'hero'. Fast paced story. Plenty of background information woven in without being info dumpy. I got a real sense of who these people were and what drove them. I bought this as a paperback and didn't realize it was a #4 of a series I'd never read. I think my enjoyment of the story might have been greater if I had read the first three books. Much of the story depends upon the reader having some familiarity with the characters and their relationships. Still, even if you haven't read the other books, there's enough here to enjoy the story as is.

Deja Moo by Kirsten Weiss

Deja Moo

Series: A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery

Author: Kirsten Weiss

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Amazon - B&N - Kobo

 A holiday tradition turns deadly, but is the paranormal museum to blame?

Maddie Kosloski is no fan of San Benedetto's Christmas Cow, a thirty-foot straw bovine that graces the town square every December. For one thing, the cow displaces her paranormal museum as the number one tourist attraction. Plus, every year, despite around-the-clock surveillance, the cow goes up in flames.

But this year, there's more than just a fire blazing in Maddie's wine-country hometown. One of the Christmas Cow guards has been found with an arrow in his chest, and Maddie's new haunted cowbell exhibit is fueling a panic. Are the spirits in her museum getting too hot to handle? If Maddie can't stop the hysteria—and the murderous archer—her holiday plans might not be the only thing full of holes.

About the Author

Kirsten Weiss worked overseas for nearly fourteen years, in the fringes of the former USSR and in South-east Asia. Her experiences abroad sparked an interest in the effects of mysticism and mythology, and how both are woven into our daily lives.

Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes genre-blending steampunk suspense, urban fantasy, and mystery, blending her experiences and imagination to create a vivid world of magic and mayhem.

Kirsten has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching Ghost Whisperer re-runs and drinking red wine. Sign up for her newsletter to get free updates on her latest work at http://kirstenweiss.com

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Crashing Gates by Kyra Dune

COMING 2018

BLURB: 

It was supposed to be an easy assignment. Retrieve one lone human from the first realm and bring him back to the Council for questioning. Nothing too complicated for Amberstone to handle. Even though this particular human was his sister’s lover and the reason she was arrested and about to be executed. Such things do not matter to a Guardian.

What he didn’t expect was to find two second realm fugitives, both of whom were believed to be dead, alive and living with the humans. And that was only the beginning of his problems.

In the second realm, distance is fluid and danger sometimes comes from unexpected places.

New to the world of the Dual Realm? Start the series off with Book One, BONDED. 

BLURB: A man running from his past.

Desperate to escape the person he once was, Trey is constantly on the move. All he wants is to go home, only he can’t do that unless he can find a way to atone for the sins of his past. But can a man with so much blood on his hands ever hope to find redemption?

A woman hiding from her present.

Innocent of any wrongdoing, Sarah is nonetheless in serious trouble. Her brother’s actions have left her a target for a drug dealing gang leader who will stop at nothing to get back what belongs to him. With nowhere to run, how long can she stay alive?

A chance for the future

Two worlds collide in a dark alley beside an abandoned clothing store, sending Trey and Sarah down a path neither could have imagined they would ever follow. Together they can mend their broken lives. If they don’t rip each other apart first.

Wraith by Angel Lawson

BLURB: Freak. Weird. Crazy. These are the names tossed around seventeen-year old Jane Watts by her fellow classmates. But things aren’t always as they seem. Sometimes there’s a reason for talking to yourself in the hallway at school. Adjusting to her new home and school after an abrupt move, Jane wants one thing in life—to be like everyone else at school, but that’s hard to do when you’re the new kid. Although she does manage to make one friend, Evan—he’s sixteen, charming, and protective. Everything a girl could want in a best friend…with one minor caveat. He's dead. Caught somewhere between life and death, Evan is tied to Jane and the living world unable to complete the journey to the other side. She thinks he’s here to be her friend, to take care of her, and that’s why no one can see or hear him. That is until a new boy shows up at school after a rumored stretch in Juvie. Connor can see Evan and he’s not convinced the ghost is being completely honest. From his own experience ghosts tend to need something from the humans they connect to and Evan, despite his arguments isn’t any different. Jane is resentful of Connor’s intrusion but realizes soon enough he’s right. Evan has secrets about his past and not only did his life end tragically but members of his family are still in danger. Jane must face her fears and battle Evan’s human demons to free both of them.

3 STARS

MY REVIEW: This is a good, solid book. The characters are interesting and flawed, complete human beings. It's a paranormal romance, but the romantic partners are not what you would usually expect from the genre. This book is more on the darker side, and explores what it might be like for a teenager who can see ghosts. Ghosts who need help to cross over to the other side. It definitely focuses on what might be the repercussions to such a person's personal life, and the effort to have some kind of normalcy in spite of it.
This book does not shy away from the reality of what it means to be 'different' from the people around you, but t's not all doom and gloom. The romance is sweet, with just a little heat, and the couple are adorable together. You can really feel how hard it is for Jane to let herself trust in someone else. Let herself be loved. But if you're looking for something light hearted, this is not the book for you. Be prepared to deal with situations like abuse, mental instability, and murder. If you enjoy something a little more on the darker side, but still with some shining spots of hope, you definitely want to read Wraith.

Books I Read In February

5 STARS

4 STARS

3 STARS

2 STARS