Firelight by Kristen Callihan

Synopsis from Goodreads.com

Once the flames are ignited . . . 

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

My review

This book doesn't fit neatly into any one category but it is mostly historical romance with a touch of paranormal thrown in for good measure.

Miranda has a gift, which she sees as more of a curse - the gift of creating and manipulating fire. Archer is a very strange and mysterious man, wearing a mask to hide his face, supposedly to hide his disfigurement and inflicts fear amongst men and passion amongst women everywhere he goes. Miranda's father sells her off to Archer as his bride and Miranda, when given the choice by Archer, readily accepts if nothing more than to escape her father's constant bitterness and anger towards her.

She doesn't know what to expect when she marries Archer, but she certainly doesn't expect her feelings towards him to develop so quickly or so intensely. And boy were they intense for most of the book! She is thrown into noble society, full of powerful and rich men, but when these men start being murdered and all the evidence points to Archer, Miranda knows she must help find the real killer, even if it means putting herself in danger and using her most feared powers.

I loved the mysteriousness of Archer. I was constantly begging the author to reveal what he was - he was stronger than average, so indicated some some of supernatural being, but when it was finally revealed it was so not what I expected. Just a man playing God really!

Loved the big baddy at the end as well - took me a while to work out that one too! Looking forward to reading the next book in the series now!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and would like to thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read it!

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

My Review
Atticus O'Sullivan is an Irish Druid, an original Druid from 2100 years ago, but currently living in Arizona with his dog, running a herb shop. He's actually been on the run for a few hundred years now from one of the old Celtic gods, but unfortunately that god has now found out where he is and is sending everything he can after Atticus to retrieve a very powerful sword which Aenghus Óg believes should be his. Attitcus has basically had enough of running and decides he likes Arizona too much to move again so he's going to fight the battle this time, only he has to make sure he can win against the gods and all his hellish demon creatures! Lucky for him he has some powerful friends to help out against his enemies and against those who stabbed him in the back. As Atticus would say "Never trust a witch!"

Although there was a lot of mythology in this story, it didn't distract from the read at all, it was fed in nicely without overloading you with information. I loved the style of writing and found it moved at a nice, brisk pace. I totally loved the conversations between Atticus and his dog Oberon (yes he can talk to his dog through his druidic powers!). Oberon is just so funny and all he cares about is getting his own harem of French poodles!

A completely different style of story to what I usually read, mostly because the main protagonist is male, but a fantastic read all the same. Looking forward to reading some more in this series!

I did receive this book free from the publishers through NetGalley, but my review is my own opinion. Thanks to the author and publishers for my copy!