Red by Kate SeRine

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
“My name is Tess Little. But everyone calls me Red.”

Once upon a time, a spell went awry, stranding Make Believe characters in the ordinary world. Since then, Tess “Red” Little—a/k/a Little Red Riding Hood—has worked as an Enforcer for the Chicago branch of the Fairytale Management Authority. But, consider yourself warned—she’s not just some waif with a basket of goodies. All grown up and with nothing to lose, a gun and combat boots is more her style. And Red’s new assignment threatens to be short on happily ever afters…

Someone is murdering transplanted Tales in gruesome fashion. The list of fictional characters capable of such grisly acts is short and includes more than one of Red’s old flames. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s another complication, in the form of sexy, enigmatic Nate Grimm, the FMA’s lead detective and part-time Reaper. Used to following her own rules and living life on the edge, Red has managed to avoid taking on a partner until now. But Nate’s dark side makes him perfect for a case like this. That is, if she can trust him. Because if there’s one thing Red knows for sure, it’s that believing in the wrong person can have big, bad consequences…

My Review
This was my first book by Kate SeRine, so was a little unsure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The take on the fairytale and Literary characters in our own Ordinary world was hilarious. I loved how the characters kept some of their fairytale personas, but at the same time tried to blend in with the Here and Now. I found the fact that Snow White was a Madame with her own brothel/stripclub just brilliant and Cinderella and Prince Charming didn't quite have the Happy Ever After we expect!

Tess Little, aka Little Red Riding Hood, is an Enforcer for the Tales, ensuring they all stay on the right side of the law and do not reveal their existence to the Ordinaries. When several seemingly unconnected murders of Tales characters occur, Red has to find out who it is before it goes public! To help her along the way is Nate Grimm, a Reaper, turned investigator, with whom Red feels an undeniable crush. She knows she can't get involved with him, but she can't help lusting over him.

Red did seem to have a colourful past and several of the victims or suspects, she had been involved with in one way or another, but I wasn't expecting the mastermind to be who it was. I did think it was the last man in the hospital (without giving too much away).

I really enjoyed this author's writing style and the pace moved quickly but not too fast.

I loved the ending and it was left with a cliffhanger, enough of one to whet your appetite but not enough to leave the story hanging too much and to leave you too frustrated. I've added the next book in this series onto my wishlist and am looking forward to reading it soon!

I want to thank the author and publishers for providing me with a copy via NetGalley to review, but this review is all my own opinion :)

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!

In a Fix by Linda Grimes

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
The start of an original new urban fantasy series starring human chameleon Ciel Halligan

Snagging a marriage proposal for her client while on an all-expenses-paid vacation should be a simple job for Ciel Halligan, aura adaptor extraordinaire. A kind of human chameleon, she’s able to take on her clients’ appearances and slip seamlessly into their lives, solving any sticky problems they don’t want to deal with themselves. No fuss, no muss. Big paycheck.

This particular assignment is pretty enjoyable... that is, until Ciel’s island resort bungalow is blown to smithereens and her client’s about-to-be-fiancé is snatched by modern-day Vikings. For some reason, Ciel begins to suspect that getting the ring is going to be a tad more difficult than originally anticipated.

Going from romance to rescue requires some serious gear-shifting, as well as a little backup. Her best friend, Billy, and Mark, the CIA agent she’s been crushing on for years—both skilled adaptors—step in to help, but their priority is, annoyingly, keeping her safe. Before long, Ciel is dedicating more energy to escaping their watchful eyes than she is to saving her client’s intended.

Suddenly, facing down a horde of Vikings feels like the least of her problems.

My Review

Ciel Halligan is an aura adaptor, which basically means that she can change her appearance to that of any other person as long as she has had physical contact with them and has absorbed some of their energy. She has her own business standing in awkward situations for her clients so they don't have to deal with their own problems. Her current client wants her to get a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, but what starts off as a fairly straight forward job ends up being an absolute nightmare of one instead.

Ciel's best friend Billy and her long-time crush Mark as also adaptors and are also involved in her small job, which through Mark's job in the CIA turns out to be an international problem involving kidnapping, drug dealing and planned murder.

Although I enjoyed the light banter between Ciel, Mark and Billy, I did think she was a rather immature character. She played her role of the babied little sister very well and I half expected her to pout her bottom lip out all the time in a strop. She came across as a typical spoilt little rich brat and I got really irritated with her a lot of time. She was constantly told what to do to keep her safe by Mark, who was the leader on this mission, but she defied him at every turn and ended up being caught by the bad guys over and over again. When was she going to wake up and realise that she was making life difficult for everyone?! Although she did come in very handy towards the end, so she did redeem herself a bit!

I really liked the idea of the adaptors and would like to read another book in this series about a different character or Ciel again if she matures a bit more!

I would like to thank the author and publishers for allowing me to receive and review an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley.

Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter by Richard Parks

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
In an ancient Japan where the incursions of gods, ghosts, and demons into the living world is an everyday event, an impoverished nobleman named Yamada no Goji makes his living as a demon hunter for hire.

With the occasional assistance of the reprobate exorcist Kenji, whatever the difficulty — ogres, demons, fox-spirits — for a price Yamada will do what needs to be done, even and especially if the solution to the problem isn’t as simple as the edge of a sword.

Yet, no matter how many monsters he has to face, or how powerful and terrible they may be, the demons Yamada fears the most are his own!

My Review
This was my first ever venture in reading anything about Ancient Japan and some of their mythology and I quite enjoyed it! Yamada no Goji is a demon hunter, but not the demons of modern day urban fantasy books, but ancient Japanese demons who can shapeshift into various forms, some of whom are dangerous and some can be quite helpful, for a price! Not knowing anything about this period of history I wasn't sure what to expect, but the author has obviously done his research and everything was explained fully and was well written too.

This book consisted of several short stories all revolving around our hero, who, with frequent help from his priest friend Kenji, aids those in need to solve supernatural mysteries. Yamada is well known for his discretions and his love of sake and whilst not a rich man, certainly knows his demons and ghosts! Each short story follows on from the previous and they all flow very well. I liked Yamada as a character - he was very realistic and likeable. Kenji, his almost side-kick was amusing at times too.

The only problem I had with this book was the female characters. There were no major female characters, which wasn't a problem, but those that did appear were not the strong characters I usually like to read about; they tended to be quite devious instead. I guess that is just a sign of the times in which this book was written in though.

I would like to thank the author and publishers for providing me with a copy of this book through NetGalley.

Feast Harvest of Dreams by Merrie Destefano

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Madeline MacFadden ("Mad Mac" to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she's always believed there was something living in these wooded hills.

But Maddie doesn't remember the dark parts -- and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area's terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest. . . the time to feast.

Once again Maddie's dreams -- and her soul -- are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during Harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own.

My Review
I actually quite liked this book, but there were so many questions left unanswered at the end that I could only give it a 3 star rating.

Maddie takes her son and dog back to the little mountain village she visited as a child to get over her writer's block, caused by her divorce and her ex-husband's new wedding to her former best friend. What she finds there is not what she expected at all.

Ash is a darkling, a shape shifter of sorts who can change his skin into any human skin he can envision. He is also the guardian of Ticonderoga Falls after a curse was placed on the village and all the people in the village carry his mark. No other darkling can feed on them without his permission. This was my first problem with this book. The idea of the darklings was an interesting one, different from other shape shifters, but they were never properly explained. They were described as being bigger than humans with long claws, sharp teeth and wings, so whilst I knew what they looked like, I still didn't really know what they were.

The darklings harvest people's dreams, but there was no description of how they did this. They also have a power of magic to make people fall asleep so they can harvest these dreams. When Ash's two cousins drain a man of his dreams, Maddie finds him flat, as if all the insides had been drained out of him and he has 2 puncture wounds in his neck. Are they vampires? Do they drain the blood to access the dreams? No idea!!!

Each short chapter takes the point of view of a different character and whilst I didn't like this at first, the style grew on me and it was interesting to see how the different characters interpreted the events.

There was no real romance in the book and whilst Maddie claimed she was attracted to Ash, there was no reason for it. He also fell for her, but again no reason as to why. Yes 2 people can be attracted to each other, but to claim to love each other without a relationship even being started was strange to me.

An interesting story, with original ideas, that just need a bit more explanations and fine tuning really.

I received this book as a ARC from Netgalley and would like to thank the author and publishers for allowing me to review honestly.

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

I accidentally bought the 3rd book in this series on Christmas Day when I got my kindle from the lovely Santa, not realising it wasn't the first one. I finally got round to buying the first two the other week and am so glad I did - another great series for me to read!

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
My name is Gin, and I kill people.
They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction...especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

My review:
This book started off with our main character in a mental asylum. I did think it was rather strange and thought that maybe the whole assissin idea was in her head and was expecting the book to take a downward spiral, but it went way back up in my expectations once I realised she was there to do a job!

On her return Gin takes another job, a quick one with a large payout. Her mentor and contacts manager for a better name is her foster father who took her in as a teenager when she was living on the streets. The job: kill a man in an opera house before the interval. Nothing she hasn't done before and for $5 million, double her normal fee, something she can't turn down!

However, Gin doesn't manage to kill him as another assassin is there to kill her instead. She turns the tables on him, saves the target and jumps into the river. She realises she has been double crossed and is determined to find out by whom, but when she returns to the restaurant Fletcher, her mentor, owns, she realises they have all got themselves into more trouble than they realised. With Fletcher dead, she heads over to his son's apartment and finds him tied up, being beaten by the same group that killed Fletcher. Gin kills them all and they both manage to get away.

Not knowing who else to turn to when Finn's contacts don't find any concrete evidence of who is involved, Gin contacts the police detective who was talking to the original target in the opera house. He decides to work with Gin, even after finding out what she is. He has conflicting feelings - he likes Gin, but hates her at the same time. Will he ever decide what he wants?

The trio, Gin, Finn and Donovan, eventually work out who the air elemental in charge is and plan to bring her down. Gin has to use her stone magic to help her defeat with evil one, something she has never relied on before. Once the air elemental has been defeated, Gin decides to retire from the assassin business - it's too much hard work watching her back all the time, but can she really walk away from the only way of life she has ever really known? I guess I'll find out in book 2!

I loved this book! It was another full-of-action book, with a bit of quick sex thrown in for good measure - not romance though. I loved the idea of the trio having to constantly watch their backs trying to find out who wants them dead. As there are 5 books in the series so far, I presume that Gin doesn't retire - I don't think I would like reading about her running the Pork Pit to be honest - doesn't sound very exciting, but I can't wait to read the next one in this series. Although vampires do make a slight appearance in this book, the main characters use elemental magic, air, fire, water or stone, which is something I haven't read too mcuh about either. Nice to find a different kind of magic user once in a while. A great read!

Frost Moon by Anthony Francis

I received this book free from NetGalley.com as I loved the idea of magical tattoos that move. I wasn't really sure what to expect but was completely amazed! This story was fantastic!

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

In an alternate Atlanta where vampires and werewolves prowl the night, magic is real, and tattoo magic is the strongest magic of them all, a serial killer is targeting the magically tattooed on the full moon.

Dakota Frost, best magical tattooist in the Southeast, learns from the police she may be a target ... just when she receives a lucrative commission to ink a magic tattoo for a werewolf before the next full moon.

Caught between the rough and tumble world of the werewolves, the law and order rules of the vampires, and a sexy man-in-black whose motives are in doubt, Dakota must tread carefully to survive - because she doesn't know whether her werewolf client is the tattoo killer ... or the next victim.

My review:

Dakota Frost is a magical tattoo artist and uses magic to make her tattoos come to life. She is able to make them leave her body and attach themselves to someone else, or as we find out later in the book she can use them to help defend herself.

Dakota is asked by the police to help with an investigation (her dad is a cop so she knows people on the force). She is confused at first as to why she's being called in, but all is revealed - there is a serial killer on the loose who is cutting off people's magical tattoos.

Dakota is later approached by her shady friend Spleen to ink a tattoo on an associate of his, who just happens to be a werewolf. The tattoo design he gives her is not one she's familiar with, so before she can ink him up she has to get it checked out by her friend, a graphomancer, a witch who searches the designs for charms, wards, spells etc to make sure they are safe to use. As part of this tattoo check, Dakota has to visit a werehouse, a local place for all kinds of shifters. To ensure her safety in this not-so-nice werehouse, Dakota pays a visit to her ex-girlfriend, the local vampire queen. In theory no vamps or Edgeworlders should touch Dakota whilst she is wearing Lady Saffron's collar, but that doesn't quite go to plan.

Dakota ends up offending a vampire, who later on takes his revenge, so much so that Dakota ends up in hospital with severe injuries. Once recovered she is challenged by the Mysterious Mirabilus, a stage magician/illusionist who claims he can perform any trick that a real magic user can, despite having no real magical talent. His challenge: Dakota has to ink his assistant with a working watch tattoo. The prize: 1 million dollars! Easy enough!

On her visit to the werehouse, Dakota meets a 15 year old were-tiger who is permanently in half tiger form. Cinnamon, as Dakota names her, takes a liking to our heroine and soon becomes a regular feature at her shop and home. However, the serial killer manages to get ahold of Cinnamon, using her as a bargaining tool to get to Dakota. She goes to a closed nightclub to try to save her, only that doesn't work out either....Dakota finds herself in a very bad situation and the serial killer is revealed as the last person I expected.

This book was brilliant! The idea of the magical tattoos is not one I've come across before and made it so much more interesting - I love the idea of using them for defense as well as looking pretty! This book was full of action, which I love. I don't really go for soppy romance books! The description of the characters and settings were really detailed but not too lengthy (nothing like Stephen King's 5 page description of a street - ok I might be exaggerating there, but you get my gist!). I loved the twist in the end of the book when the serial killer is revealed as well - I was so not expecting it. I would highly recommend this book, if you enjoy reading urban fantasy books, or even if you don't and fancy something a bit different!