Influential Magic by Deanna Chase

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires… especially when their very existence drains your life-force.

Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death, Willow’s life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other specimen of the undead.

In order to save Willow’s life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.

Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

My review:
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, other than it might be a YA book, but it wasn't at all. I actually really enjoyed it - it's fast paced, nerve-wrecking in places with a fair amount of romantic tension too.

Willow is a fae, with sparkly wings and a sweet nature. She runs a bakery well known for its heavenly goodies that are bespelled to do a range of things and she also works for the Void agency, a supernatural police force. After a trip back to her home town, she returns to find out that her pathetic ex-boyfriend, who dumped her by text, has been turned into a vampire and he has a dire warning for her: someone wants her dead. There's no real indication of whom that might be nor why, but Willow's not one who wants to die easily.

Her aunt is the Director of the Void agency, but she's a nasty piece of work, or is she? There's more to her than we know until the end. Her best friend Phoebe is a witch and loves taking on dressing up roles to find the information she needs. Talisen is her brother's best friend that Willow has had a crush on for years, but with the reappearance of David and old feelings returning, will Willow make any decisions about which man she wants? But the best side character has to be Link, Willow's shih tzu dog who turns into a hulk of a wolf when he's angry or if Willow is being threatened. Love it!

In order to find out who's behind the murder plot, Willow makes some rash, sometimes stupid, decisions that seem to end her up in more trouble than she was. The vampires are all involved and the Void agency is not a good place for Willow to be either. Many secrets are revealed at the end of the book,, some of which were a great surprise.

Willow was an odd character to like - she wasn't your usual kick ass heroine. She was much more peace loving than everyone else around her and really didn't like the idea of using violence to get the information she needed. However, sometimes you got to do what you've got to do. I much preferred Phoebe's feisty nature.

I will read the next book in this series and hope that the love interest between Willow and Talisen picks up. I did receive a copy of this book from Netgalley and would like to thank the author and publishers for letting me have it!

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.
Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

My review:
Chrysabelle gets this book off to a great start - she's on the run after finding her vampire patron dead, killed in a way only a comarré could, with a lethal blade that would behead him, but not turn his body to ash; a blade that only a comarré can wield. Chrysabelle is one such comarré, a human hybrid covered in gold shimmering tattoos, bred for the pure existence of providing untainted blood to vampires in return for youthful looks and long life. Although she only looks about 20, Chrysabelle is over 100 years old.

However she wasn't the one who killed him, so now she's on the run to save herself from being killed by the vampire Tatiana who is next to rule the vampire House, to which Chrysabelle's patron was affiliated.

Chrysabelle runs off to her aunt's house, an ex-comarré herself, who in turn sends her to find another vampire Mal for help. This vampire is anathema, a vampire who was once a noble but is now an outcast. Their initial meeting does not go at all well as Chrysabelle stakes him and when they meet again, they both have issues and prejudices that they need to overcome if they are to work together and help Chrysabelle to prove her innocence.

I really liked the build up between Chrysabelle and Mal - there was no romance at all between them, almost a pure hatred for one another, but at the same time a dependency on each other in order to survive. I do think and hope that something will blossom between them in time especially as they are now bound to each other, despite neither of them wanting to be and unless they find a way to break that bond, they are stuck together indefinitely.

When Chrysabelle's aunt is kidnapped and used as bait to entice Chrysabelle to Tatiana's mansion, Chrysabelle enrols the help of Mal, Dominic, another anathema vampire friend of her aunt, Doc, Mal's half were companion and Fi, a ghost, turned human again who was formerly bound to Mal in her ghost state. This strange army go up against the very strong Tatiana, her sidekick Mikkel and a demon of sorts. Not everything went according to plan, but Chrysabelle and Mal made it out alive so hopefully they'll be able to continue the story and carry on the good fight!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next one in the series. I would like to thank the author and publishers for letting me review this book honestly through NetGalley.

Blood Rock by Anthony Francis

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Dakota Frost is back, and the ink is about to hit the fan-again.

Graffiti comes to life in the dark heart of Atlanta’s oldest cemetery, slaying one of the city’s best loved vampires before the eyes of his friend Dakota Frost. Deadly magick is at work on the city’s walls, challenging even the amazing power of Dakota’s tattoos to contain it. The hungry, graffiti magick loves to kill, and the Edgeworld is no longer safe from its own kind.

Dakota begins a harrowing journey to save those she loves and to discover the truth behind the spreading graffiti-even if that truth offends the vampires, alienates the werekin and creates police suspicion of her every action.

Saving Atlanta may cost her everything, including custody of her “adopted” weretiger daughter, Cinnamon. But failure is not an option. If the graffiti isn’t stopped, Cinnamon could be the next victim.


My review:

Well Anthony Francis has done it again! I totally loved Frost Moon, the first book in the Skindancer series and wasn't sure if his next one would live up to the same expectations, but boy did it ever!

Dakota Frost is a magic tattoo artist who uses her skin dancing magic to make her tattoos come to life to aid in any way she needs them to. She is called to a very bizarre crime scene where her vampire friend Revenance is being held captive and tortured by...wait for it...a graffiti tag on a cemetery wall. Try as she might with all of her powers, but she cannot set him free before the sun catches hold of him. This is a rather new, strange and very dangerous form of graffiti and no-one knows what to do to stop it. Of course it is up to Dakota to find out! Revenance wasn't the first vampire to die in this way either and soon it becomes apparent that this graffiti magic is becoming a very large problem in Atlanta, where non-one, not vamps, weres or humans are immune to it.

On the side Dakota also has problems with the police - they want to charge her with the murder of the serial killer in the last book so she's on the run. She breaks up with her Special Agent boyfriend, sleeps with a vamp, falls out with Saffron her vampire ex-girlfriend, her daughter is diagnosed as a genius and with Tourette's simultaneously, loses said daughter and gets kidnapped by 2 different sets of vamps. This book sure didn't slow down on the action at all. I really felt for the poor woman as she never seemed to get a break until near the end.

I totally love Dakota - she feisty, strong, willing to defend those closest to her and also has a sensitive side. I love the image I have of her in my head as well - completely tattooed, huge multi-coloured mohawk and a fab leather vest coat! I wanna be Dakota Frost LOL

I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out!

I would like to thank the author and publisher for allowing me to review this book free of charge through NetGalley.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kawaga

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.



My review
Although this is classed as a young adult book, I didn't think it was really. OK so the main character was a teenager, but I felt it veered more towards adult urban fantasy than just YA. I'm not a great fan of YA books in general, but I am a fan of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series, so I was hoping this would be as enjoyable, but I was wrong. It was better than the Iron ?Fey series, much better.


Set in a future world where vampires run the world and humans are either bloodslaves, registered to a vampire master, or Unregistered scavengers living on the brink of the vampire cities, doing whatever they can to survive, begging, stealing, even killing for food.

Allie is one such Unregistered, who hates the vampires with a passion - her mother had been a registered and died through a combination of an illness and donating her monthly supply of blood to the vampire king of their city. Ever since then Allie has lived in the abandoned buildings of the city and has a little gang of her own. One of her jobs is to hunt out food and when she can find none in her usual scavenging places, she decides to go past the city walls to the Ruins, where the Rabids live - vampires turned into rabid, flesh eating, crazy zombies.

Allie's luck was in to start with - she found a hidden basement full of tinned food and bottled water. She managed to get back to the refuge she's living in after a close encounter with a vampire, who for some reason doesn't bite or kill her. She convinces her gang to go back for the food, but that's where her luck almost runs out. A very close encounter with some Rabids, leaves her with 2 very simple choices - either die or turn into a vampire, the thing she despises the most. She chooses the latter of the two evils and becomes that which she never wanted to be.

Her life takes a turn of strange events and she meets up with a roaming group of humans, none of whom suspects what she is. This group are on the way to find some human only place called Eden, which may or may not exist and Allie travels with them as far as she can, but the Hunger in her keeps rising. She knows she must drink human blood soon before she turns into a raving monster, so she does, only to get caught and cast out.

Things go from bad to worse for this group and Allie helps them as much as she can, even if they really don't deserve her help. Along the way she soon discovers that she may be a vampire, but she sure doesn't have to be a monster.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one in this series. I doubt it would happen but I would like to see if Allie and Zeke ever meet up again. I know Allie has to go and help Kanin, her sire, but will she do that alone or with the help of another vampire?

  I would like to thank the publishers and author for allowing me to receive it for free through NetGalley.

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with a need for vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.

Nicolai the Vampire is renowned for his virility, but in a cruel twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” has become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remains is a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who can help him.

When the wanton vampire summons Jane Parker, she is helpless to obey. She's drawn to his dark sexuality and into his magical realm. But for this human, all is not a fairy tale. For saving Nicolai could mean losing the only man she's ever craved...

My review
I received this ARC free through NetGalley, but this review is totally my own!

Jane is a scientist of sorts, who has been studying and experimenting on vampires, proper blood suckers. After recovering from a horrific car accident, which killed her entire family and left her crippled for several months, she finds an old leather book on her doorstep. She begins to read it and finds that it is about a man called Nikolai, the same man she has been having naughty dreams about.

One night whilst dreaming about Nikolai, she wakes up in another world, in another body and soon meets the same man, chained to a wall being kept as a sex slave for a pair of princesses, one of whom Jane now appears as. Nikolais knows who she really is and demands that she help him to escape from the clutches of Laila, her "princess sister". The world Jane finds herself in is nothing like her own world. It is made up of witches, who the princesses are and vampires, who Nikolai is. He does drink blood, but also wields magic as his mother was a witch. Unfortunately for him, Laila has had his powers bound and his memories erased so he doesn't know who he is or why he has this strong need for vengeance, although he doesn't yet know who against.

Together Jane and Nikolai escape, encountering ogres who almost rape Jane before Nikolai finds her again. Everyone recognises Nikolai for who he really is - the prince of Elden. His memories start to return with the help of drinking Jane's blood and they soon fall in love. However, there is a curse upon Jane. She will leave and return to her own world if she falls in love with him. But luckily for them both, Jane manages to absorb some of Nioklai's powers, in particular one which allows her to teleport between the two worlds.

Laila is determined to find her "sister" and the stolen slave and Jane has to trust Nikolai to save them both. Jane helps by doing something she didn't believe was possible, only to find herself stuck back in her own world, never to return to her beloved Nikolai. Of course there's a Happy Ever After and Jane leaves her world behind to spend eternity with her man!

A nice little PNR with a decent story line as well. Not all about the romance, but enough action to keep me happy! I liked the two main characters - Jane was not going to lie down and take Nikolai's demands ALL the time, although she did like taking some of them! Laila was an evil conniving so-and-so, but you need a baddie in these kind of stories!

This series is made up of 4 books from various authors, all, I think, about the the 4 royal siblings of Elden. On to book 2 then!

Ascension by Sable Grace

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
The gates of hell have opened, and one woman will stand in the crossfire as the Dark Breed—vampyre, demons, shape shifters—and mankind fight their last battle for survival.

Kyana is half Vampyre, half Lychen . . . and the last of her kind. Determined, dangerous, and damned, she has no love for the mortals who have imprisoned and misused her. But when the Order of Ancients entrusts her with a mission—to find the key that will send the Dark Breed back into Hell for eternity—Kyana has no choice but to accept.

She is furious to learn her assignment comes with an escort . . . Ryker, a demigod and fierce warrior who long ago found a way under her skin and stayed there. In a shaky alliance, they discover an ancient cult with dangerous motive and a god who seeks to destroy all others. And as Kyana begins to feel the heat that threatens to bind her to Ryker, she knows she has to resist. For it could only mean the undoing of them both.


My review:
This book was a new twist on the usual UF books I read and I really loved it! Kyana is a Dark Breed with a difference to all others - she is half Vampyre and half Lychen (or werewolf), which makes her the best tracer the Order of the Ancients have as she can go a-hunting when others can't. The Order of the Ancients is a group set up to work for the Greek gods and goddesses and the likes of Ares, Artemis and the Three Fates or Moriae make regular appearances too. At first I wasn't totally sure how the Greek gods and goddesses would mix with the usual UF characters of vampire, werewolves and witches, but it worked so well.

Kyana has been given the ultimate test of her life - find out who has opened the gates of Tartarus and let all the evil Dark Breeds into the world Above. This world is divided into 3 areas - Below, where the Dark Breeds generally live, Above where the humans live and Beyond where the gods all live. To aid her on her hunt is the one person she was rather not be with - Ryker, a demi-god who spurned her advances 10 years ago and whom she has never quite forgiven for his rejection.

With the aid of her friends, Geoff, another vamp tracer and Haven, the only human Kyana can abide, Kyana and Ryker manage to find several clues, although none completely revealing, as to who opened the gates and why. They are using the opportunity to kill off all the Chosen, the humans chosen to take over from the gods and goddesses as they start to weaken, but who would want to destroy the Chosen and kill off all the gods?

Kyana was a strange heroine for me. She was almost an anti-heroine in that she didn't especially like working with others, enjoyed the glory she had, was a bit big-headed at times and showed a clear dislike for the humans she was sent to save, but I grew to love her as she showed her caring nature eventually. She was willing to give herself over to whatever punishments the gods were willing to give her, because had wanted to save her best friend in the only way she knew how.

I really enjoyed watching the tension build build Kyana and Ryker and it was clearly obvious from the beginning that while they might both act as if they would rather kill each other than work together, they did really feel something for each other. Eventually they mutual dislike faded and changed into respect and like for each other. I do hope their relationship develops a bit more through the next book.

I did also like the little surprise Geoff had in store for Kyana at the end too. The huge cliffhanger at the end of the book got me as well and immediately I went out hunting for the next one! Can't wait to read this one next!

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves—creatures of dreams and nightmares—has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything.

Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner . . . and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death . . . not to mention her own roommate.


My review:
I loved this book! I have had this series on my to-read list for so long and finally got round to reading it.

Rachel Morgan is a witch working for the I.S - Inderland Security and decides she has had enough of being given the crappy jobs as a runner so quits her job. However no-one just quits the I.S and walks away without a bounty being put on their heads. But lucky for Rachel, the I.S actually wants to get rid of her so her boss Denon is willing to let her go until Ivy Tamwood, the best runner in the I.S and a living non-practising vampire, decides to quit alongside Rachel.

Together they move into a church and, with the help of Jenks the pixy, try to keep Rachel alive after several attempts on her life are made, courtesy of her old boss. Rachel also finds out that one of the big wigs in town is doing some very illegal activities and has a plan to get some evidence which should in turn get the I.S off her back. However, not everything goes to plan (as it never does and how boring would that be?!) and she gets caught. Several times!

I totally loved the characters in this book. The friendly banter between Rachel and Jenks was hilarious. Ivy was a strange one - I could never quite decide if she was going to go after Rachel or not after the first time, but she ended up being the kind of person you could rely on in a bad situation. (not quite sure why Rachel was so freaked out about Ivy attacking her even before the first situation, especially when she knew what Ivy was though). I have inklings over who I think Keasley really is, but no idea why. He could just be an old warlock, but I do think there's more to him than was revealed in this book.

I loved the way that magic was portrayed in this book as well - the need for mixing up potions to create spells and charm amulets is something I haven't read about in a while. Almost took me back to what I think magic is all about.

I'm looking forward to buying the next ones in this series, although I have a fair few to catch up on!

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Overwhelmed by her uncanny ability to manipulate people's emotions through her music, Miranda Grey comes to the attention of vampire lord David Solomon. Believing he can help bring her magic under control, David discovers that Miranda's powers may affect the vampire world too...

My review:
What a fantastic book this was - totally loved it.


Miranda Grey is a budding musician with a difference - she's an empath - she feeds on people's emotions to make them feel her music, but she has no idea what she is and all the constant feeling of others' emotions is slowly driving her mad. On one dreadful night after a gig at a local bar, she is attacked by a group of men and consequently saved (if not a bit late) by a tall, dark and handsome man, who just happens to be the Prime vampire of the city.

He helps her to heal and helps her to develop and control her gift, whilst at the same time fighting against another band of vampires. The vampire war takes a turn for the worse and Miranda is sent away from David for her own safety, but she doesn't stay safe for long...

I love the images created in this book of Miranda, who started out as an almost crazy bag lady looking kind of woman, who simple cannot take care of herself at all. She eventually evolves into a stronger character, determined to not let the past destroy her very soul. David is the cool, calm, collected vampire leader you expect, with a passion for protecting those under his wing. I totally loved Faith as well - David's second in command - she was a light hearted, blunt character you needed to hear from when everything looked so bleak.

At first I was not sure about this book after the events of the first chapter, but they were handled so very well by the author and I was glad to see that Miranda didn't just accept them and move on immediately either. It was obvious that Miranda and David were going to fall for each other, but it was a longer process that you would expect and when they finally did get together it felt right.

Loved the ending too - so glad Ariana got what she deserved from the person she least expected!

Can't wait to read the next one and see what happens next between Miranda and David especially and how Kat (Miranda's best friend) reacts to everything that has happened too.

50 Ways To Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Jazz cant decide whether to scorch him with a fireball or jump into bed with him

Jasmine Tremaine, a witch who cant stay out of trouble
Nikolai Gregorivich, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire cop on the trail of a serial killer

The sizzling love affair between Jazz and Nick has been off-again-on-again-for about 300 years. Mostly off, lately. But now Nick needs Jazzs help, and while Jazz and Nick try to figure out their own hearts and resist their ever-increasing attraction, they must steer clear of a maniacal killer with super-supernatural powers. They are surrounded by a hilarious cast of oddball paranormal characters, including Norma, the chain-smoking ghost who haunts Jazzs sports car, Dweezil, her ghoul of a boss, and Fluff and Puff, a pair of bunny slippers with sharp teeth and short tempers (watch your ankles!).

My review:
This book was such a fun book to read! I loved all the comedy in it, especially the fluffy slippers!

Jazz Tremaine is a centuries old witch, working as a curse eliminator in the city. Her old vampire lover, Nick appears on the scene and she throws a few fireballs his way before threatening to stake him. Problem is he still drives her crazy and makes her wants to do naughty things with him! She loves him but also hates him with a passion. However he needs her help desperately and will do anything he can to convince her to help him.

Vampires have been disappearing and he has been hired by the Protectorate, the vampire council, to find out who or what is making them disappear. He asks Jazz for her help which she does reluctantly at first as she knows getting involved with Nick again is probably not the best idea.

They both soon find out who it is and what he has been doing and this really shocks Jazz and for the first time in years, in decades, she is scared! She has been there before and was lucky to survive and doesn't want to go through hell all over again, but in order to help Nick, the vampires and anyone else who might get lured into the trap, she knows she must face this monster once again.

I loved Irma as well, the ghost who died in Jazz's car, who cannot be eradicated for some reason. Jazz has tried and tried to get rid of her with hundreds of spells but none of them have worked. Lucky for Jazz really as Irma comes in quite handy at the end. Irma's such a fun ghost in this story!

Whilst the main story plot was brilliant and the characters were fun too, I loved the "will they won't they" romance line too. You did really know that Jazz and Nick would end up together but Jazz definitely fought her feelings all the way through the book, trying to deny what she felt for him. I'm so glad she finally gave the romance the chance it deserves.

Looking forward to reading the next one in the series (providing there is one that is - will have to go and find out!)

Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Cassandra Palmer may be the world's chief clairvoyant, but she's still magically bound to a master vampire. Only an ancient book called the Codex Merlini possesses the incantation to free Cassie-but harnessing its limitless power could endanger the world...



My review:
Loved this book. Cassie is now the fully fledged Pythia, but she still has several people trying to kill her. The vampires want her to release Mircea of the geis, which he put on her and she inadvertently doubly put on him in a past timeline meeting. The Silver Circle mages want to kill her so she does not become a Pythia under the control of a vampire and poor Cassie doesn't know where and when to run to. She knows she has to get hold of a book called the Codex Merlini, but when and where it is ends up becoming yet another battle for her life!

She is still partners of sorts with the rogue mage Pritkin and while she doesn't completely trust him and his motivations, she has no one else to turn to for help. However there's more to Pritkin that Cassie could have ever possibly imagined! Pritkin did annoy so much throughout this book - he's secretive, slimy, arrogant and so many times I wished Cassie had kicked his ass! But there is a reason for his attitude which is revealed right at the end of the book and I did understand him more then.

Many trips back and forth through time soon lead Cassie on the right trail to find the Codex and many surprises are in store for her. Billy makes another appearance and I love his sarcastic humour! I do still get a little freaked out at the Cassie-Mercia relationship with their history, but she's an adult now so I guess she can make her own decisions about him!

I think Karen Chance has finally found her true writing style with this one. She doesn't seem to spend so long going back over the old history of the characters, nor does she include lengthy explanations of ideas/terms used in the book as she has done in the previous books in this series.

There was lots of action in this one and even at 97% of the book I was still not quite sure if everything had gone to plan and Cassie was going to survive the day! Love it when book keep you hanging until the very end!

Looking forward to the next one.

The Green Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells

Synopsis from Good reads.com
Things to do:

1. Rescue sister.
2. Murder grandmother.
3. Don't upset the voodoo priestess.

The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. Her sister has been kidnapped by her grandmother, the Dark Races are on the brink of war, and a mysterious order is manipulating everyone behind the scenes.

Working on information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks--a sexy mage named Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, a Mischief demon--head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and--perhaps most frightening of all--humans.

But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won't be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about most, she must save herself from the ghosts of her past.

My review:
This book is the best so far in the series! I totally loved it.

After kidnapping one of the Dominae vampires, Tanith, Sabina makes her way to the Queen Faery's court, where Tanith tries to set up a deal by giving Sabina the location of where her sister Maisie is being held, although she doesn't know the precise place. Will Tanith be honourable and keep to her end of the deal? I doubt it! But we'll have to wait and see!

Sabina is soon off on the trail to find her missing twin sister, kidnapped by their vampire grandmother during a big fight between the vamps and the mages at the end of The Mage in Black (Book 2 in this series). This trail takes her to New Orleans, where she has to find a friend of Rhea's, a human voodoo priestess and her faery cross-dressing drag queen friend. Initially Sabina is reluctant to trust a human, but gives in as she knows there is no other way that she will be able to trace Maisie if she doesn't accept Zen's help.

Sabina and Adam also meet a local werewolf, who gives her a lead to where some vamps might be staying, but instead vamps in the house, they find a pair of mages and some humans who are in a famous rock band together enjoying an orgy of sorts. Soon after they finished peeking through the windows they are attacked by a group of mages from the Caste of Nod. Immediately Sabina believes that the werewolf has betrayed her, but it wasn't her or her vampire contact.

Stryx the owl also follows Sabina around a lot and they eventually capture him and perform a spell of sorts on him in the graveyard to try and get Maisie's exact location from him. She gets some very bizarre comments from him and at the same time her Chtonic magic does something rather new and strange! On this same night Zen's magic store gets attacked and so does Brooks, the faery. Very badly attacked as well and Sabina believes it was the werewolf again, but it wasn't! It was the same people who attacked her and Adam before and she has an idea of who the leak might be. And her gut instinct was correct! Brooks reinvents himself as Pussy Willow and manages to get rid of the leak once and for all!

Sabina takes a sort of out of body vision quest in which she meets the ghost of David, her old vampire friend that she had to kill in the first book, who basically tells her that she has some very difficult decisions to make in the near future and whatever she does will have dire consequences. Through this vision she finds the exact location of where Maisie is being held, but before she can go and save her Sabina has to consult Orpheus, the leader of the mages and the faery Queen, who seems to take over the whole situation, giving out orders that no-one else really agrees to, but they have to accept because they need the faeries help.

Sabina does as she always does though, and doesn't follow the orders at all. She decides to save Maisie by herself and leaves everyone else behind. However, Adam soon works out her plans, follows her and after a bit of a heated argument goes with her to save Maisie, but it doesn't go exactly to plan! well you didn't expect it to really did you? That would have been a very boring ending to the story.

A huge fight entails and Sabina manages to save Maisie and eventually they all win! Yay!!! Can't say  any more without giving away any more details!

I loved how Sabina developed in this story. She finally gave into her emotions and she even manages to admit to Adam how she feels, using the big L word! I did wonder how much longer Adam would wait for her, and even though he was willing to give her time, I think she had to make a decision sooner rather than later, so she didn't keep stringing him along. I glad she didn't wait that long! Adam did annoy me at times. He's a Pythian guard and always will be, following orders to the letter, whereas Sabina does what she wants when she wants and Adam finds it hard to accept this in her. Even on the big fight night when Sabina goes off on her own, he throws a bit of a wobbly at her, despite knowing why she went off. I am glad they got together properly in the end though.

Giguhl wasn't as funny this time round though as he had been dumped by the Vanity demon. I don't really know the details as they weren't revealed as such in this book, but I do know there is a short novella about this episode out, but it's not yet available over here in the UK - why not?!!! It's not necessarily essential to this story though, but I do like knowing all the details! Giguhl does have some funny moments with Brooks, who provided lots of laughs instead. Gighul tends to be more serious and has lots of close moments with Sabina giving her advice on matters of the heart, which I thought was a lovely side to him, especially after the breakdown of his whirlwind romance!

Overall I totally loved this book. Glad Adam and Sabina got it together. Glad they found Maisie. Glad they got rid of the one who caused all this! Looking forward to reading the next one in the series, but I have to wait until January for the release!

The Mage In Black by Jaye Wells

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, leader of the vampire race, wants her dead. So when she arrives in New York to meet her mage relatives, the reunion puts the fun in dysfunctional. Not only is mage culture completely bizarre, but everyone seems to think she's some kind of 'Chosen' who'll unite the dark races. Sabina doesn't care who chose her, she's not into destiny. But the mages aren't Sabina's only problem. In New York's Black Light District, she has run-ins with fighting demons, hostile werewolves and an opportunistic old flame. Sabina thought she'd take a bite out of the Big Apple - but it looks like it wants to bite back.

My review:
Second book in the Sabina Kane series and whilst I thought it wasn't quite as action packed as the first one, I thought Sabina was developed much more as a character in this one.

Sabina meets her long lost twin sister in New York and the mages she has grown up with. Despite being twins, separated at birth, there are a few similarities between them, but many more differences. Sabina finds it hard to completely let go of her vampire upbringing and adopt the mage way of life instead. In one respect she has gone from living under one strict regime to another. Although her sister is supposed to be the leader of the mages, she only really holds that title by name; the real mage behind it all is Orpheus. He comes across as being a really strict, rule giving kind of guy and you can tell he doesn't trust Sabina at all.

Sabina seems to be under constant attacks from people trying to kill her for one reason or another, yet she's not 100% sure who is behind it all. She thinks it's her grandmother, the alpha vampire of the Dominae, but there's no real proof that she even knows where Sabina is.

Whilst visiting a local vamp bar, Sabina also bumps into a old vampire acquaintance, Slade. He convinces Gighul, Sabina's demon minion, to fight in his demon fight club and through the regular meetings Sabina starts to treat him more as an ally than an enemy, which does come in handy later on. I did love Sabina's first reaction to seeing him - a good smack in the face! Only a woman scorned could have made that mark sting!

Sabina does start her mage training and is slowly developing her skills, but her impatience and reluctance to get anything wrong soon irritates her. She knows she has to learn these skills if she stands any chance of fighting her grandmother, but at the same time, is almost convinced that her assassin skills are more reliable at the moment.

On a night out away from everyone and everything that's been getting her down, Sabina finally meets the one who has been sending others to kill her. She finds out the vampires and the Caste of Nod's plans and has to rush to the mages' defence to help in the battle. After losing many mages and overthrowing many vamps and their demons, Sabina runs around to find her sister Maisie, only to find an easel with checkmate scrawled on it in Maisie's blood. She knows exactly who has taken her and now vows to get her back!

Although Sabina isn't an incredibly easy character to like (sometimes her almost constant anger gets irritating), she does start to develop compassion and opens up to her emotions as well. You can see how her character grows throughout the book and she is growing up as an independent person, no longer needing someone to tell her what to do all the time.

I did miss the romance between Adam and Sabina that I was expecting after the end of the last book and beginning of this one. Adam appears only briefly in the beginning and again at the end, but there is definitely hope for them, although it also appears that Slade may be trying to vie for Sabina's affections as well, although she knows there's no future there. Gighul got the romance factor this time, which I thought was hilarious. He meets this Vanity demon in the fight ring - she's supposed to kill him, but instead of fighting they perform some kind of demon mating ritual instead. I was chuckling quite a lot at this scene and their romance is really quite sweet.

I actually thought this series was a trilogy, so was expecting it all to end in the next book, but there' another 2 books planned in their series, so maybe there's going to be more to it than I thought. I hope the next book is still as good as the first two.

Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.

This time, it's personal.


My review:

I read this book for the second time as I wanted to read the rest of this trilogy and have to admit that I didn't remember much of it until I actually read it. Does that mean I didn't especially enjoy it the first time round? I dunno, but I really enjoyed it this time! I did remember bits and bobs, like Giguhl and Maisie and Adam, but not really what happened.

So anyways...Sabina Kane is a half vampire, half mage, raised by her vampire grandmother to distrust anything or anyone who is not a vampire. Therefore, she has no idea of who her mage family are and has no mage training at all, even though she should have some magical abilities. She is an assassin by trade. Despite being the granddaughter of the alpha female vampire, the Domina of the Dominae, her mixed race does not allow her to hold any position higher than that of an assassin. Her mixed heritage is something Sabina has been constantly reminded of her whole life, made it feel like she would never quite be the vampire she should be because of her mage blood.

The starting line of the book made me giggle - "Digging graves is hell on a manicure..." Only a female vampire could come out with a statement like that! LMAO And you know immediately that she is not your prim and proper type of vampire if she's out killing people who need to be buried. At the beginning of the book Sabina has to kill her friend David, whom she is led to believe has turned into a traitor, told so by her grandmother, the alpha vampire. You can tell that Sabina doesn't really want to do it, but her loyalties lie with her vampire family and therefore she carries out the job as necessary.

Later on Sabina is told by her grandmother that she has to infiltrate a cult of sorts run by a half vampire, half demon, Clovis, who wants to take control of the vampire and mage races. Sabina seems to be making a headway start despite her instincts to not trust this demon vamp. He appears to trust and believe what she is saying and at times, she starts to believe some of the things he tells her as well, even though they go against things she has been told by her grandmother.

She is also being followed by a mage, Adam, who tells Sabina that her mage family has sent him to watch her, train her and eventually get her to meet them. She doesn't believe him at all to start with as she has always been told that her mage family disowned her at birth. Lots of contradictory evidence comes to light through out the book and many secrets are eventually revealed, some of which turn Sabina's world upside down.

Adam did send a demon to kill Sabina and he stabs her through the heart with an applewood stake, the only wood known to kill a vampire. However, it doesn't kill her; it hurts her like mad but she doesn't burst into flames like she should. Is this part of her mixed heritage? She tries to get rid of the demon before he racks up massive bills on her credit card from watching too many info-mercials and QVC type programmes, but only the summoner can return him. He takes cat form so as to blend in better with her new roommate and when Sabina tries to cast a spell on him, it turns him into a permanent hairless cat. He can no longer change forms. Sabina now has to ask the mage Adam for help in sending Gighul back to the demon realm.

A big fight ensues between the vampires of the Dominae and Clovis' cult with lots of back stabbing and double crossing going on. Sabina and Adam manage to get out alive and Sabina finally admits that she's kind of ready to leave her vampire family completely behind and make the next step forward to meeting her mage family, in the lead up to the inevitable upcoming war between the mages and the vampires.

I really enjoyed this book and loved Sabina's attitude and sarcasm. Her grandmother was a total control freak, but what do you expect from the leader of the vampires. I just don't understand why Sabina didn't wake up sooner to the way she was being treated by Lavinia, but then I guess when you've been brainwashed from birth, you just don't question other people's behaviour. I am glad she did realise what was going on in the end though.

I totally LOVED Gighul's character - he was funny as a demon and even funnier as a hairless cat. I can just picture him walking round in a fluffy sweater and little booties chasing catnip toys around. I hope he makes another appearance in the next book.

There's definitely some attraction between Sabina and Adam and I would like to hope that it develops into something more in the next book as well.

Right on to the next book in the series then!

Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural? She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman. Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.

But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia. That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play. And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn. . . .



My review:
Carrie Vaughn is back up to par with this book. This one was much better than the last one, Kitty Goes To War. In this book, Kitty is asked by Anastasia to join her in the fight against Roman in San Francisco. She needs to get hold of a very powerful object and wants Kitty to help her find it.


So Kitty, Ben and Cormac find their way to SF to be attacked by some of Roman's werewolves, taken through a maze of secret underground tunnels in Chinatown, getting lost in said tunnels, finding Chinese gods who help fight Roman, find Roman, fight Roman, lose to Roman who steals the powerful object, fight Roman again, get powerful object back, defeat another Chinese god and eventually give the powerful object back to the Chinese goddess who will look after it, along with Anastasia.


Loads of fast-paced action in this book, which almost never seems to stop. It moves really quickly from one scene to the next, but flows very well. Anastasia annoyed me, but I think she's supposed to. She's a very old vampire who came from a noble family and has that air of pompousness about her at times, yet at the same time can be quite caring towards others. She holds a bit of bitterness inside her and we do find out why she's so determined to beat Roman.


I really like how Cormac's character is turning out now, with the addition of the spirit of Amelia inside him. He doesn't need to rely on his guns so much now, not that he can with the terms of his parole, so he starts to use magic more and more with Amelia's help and guidance. This gives him an almost supernatural outlook and I feel he fits in better with Kitty and Ben, although there are times where I wish he would just pull out a large gun loaded with silver bullets and kill the nasty werewolves!


Ben and Kitty's relationship is stronger than ever and really helps them both in times of crisis. I hope this doesn't change in the future. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series as well as Kitty's Greatest Hits, which tells us what actually happens to Cormac in jail. I just hope they hurry up and bring this one out on the Kindle soon!

Dead To The World - Charlaine Harris

My love for all things Sookie started many many years ago when Club Dead first came out way back in 2003 and was in the small sci-fi/fantasy section my local bookstore. I read the blurb, was intrigued and promptly bought the first 3 books in the series - Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead. I have been an avid collector of this series ever since - I just love it. It is a fantastic series, with vampires, werewolves, shifters, witches and many other supenatural characters. Sookie herself is not exactly normal - she is a telepath and tries hard not to let other people's thoughts affect her.

Since True Blood, the TV show based on this series of books, has been on I've been getting myself confused as the two don't completely correlate. There are similarities but the TV show doesn't strictly follow each book, which is good in my opinion as they need to be separate. However, I wanted to go back and unconfuse myself, especially as the new Sookie book is out next month too!

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
When cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse sees a naked man on the side of the road, she doesn't just drive on by. Turns out the poor thing hasn't a clue who he is, but Sookie does. It's Eric the vampire--but now he's a kinder, gentler Eric. And a scared Eric, because whoever took his memory now wants his life.

My review:
Following on from the last book, in which Sookie saved Bill, her vampire boyfriend from the clutches of his maker Loretta (whom Sookie staked quite nicely) and Russell Edgington, a ruthless vampire, Sookie has now decided she wants nothing more to do with Bill or any other vampires. In fact her New Year's Resolution is to not get beaten up.

But soon enough Sookie gets herself involved with the vamps again when driving home one night, she drives past Eric Northman running down the road on the way back from Merlotte's in only a pair of jeans. He has no clue who he is, where he is and doesn't recognise Sookie at all. Sookie, being the kind soul she is, takes him home, tells him who they both are and calls Pam, his second in command. Turns out a nasty bunch of were-shifter witches, who drink vampire blood for its power, have cursed Eric, as the lead witch wants control of his businesses and Eric himself (Eric is definitely a hot vamp so I can see why she wants him!).

Sookie agrees to look after Eric whilst the rest of the vamps try to work out what to do, but only after Pam and Chow agree to pay Sookie $35,000 for the pleasure. This task soon becomes one Sookie rather enjoys most of the time, especially the naked time she gets to spend with Eric.

At the same time, Sookie's brother Jason disappears. Sookie believes that the witches have taken him, but she isn't sure why. They don't know she has Eric hidden in her old bedroom so why would they want him? Sookie begins searching frantically, but finds nothing!

Sookie also gets back in touch with Alcide Herveaux, the werewolf who helped her find Bill in Club Dead, to warn him about the witches. His wolf pack agrees to helps the vamps and both groups manage to get the local witches' coven to help them as well. All three groups fight back against the nasty witches, win the battle and Eric is restored back to his normal self. Bill makes a brief appearance, but as he's not my favourite character I was glad he wasn't in this book very much.

Jason, however, is still nowhere to be found until Sookie has a brief conversation with Sam, her shifter boss, about a panther's paw print being found on Jason's deck. Sam tells her of the pack of shifters in Hotshot who turn into panthers, not wolves like Sookie had presumed. And there she finds Jason...has he been bitten enough to turn into a were-panther? Wait and find out in the next book!

I loved this book. It's full of action and some naughty romance between Eric and Sookie, which he soon forgets all about after the curse is lifted (or does he?!). I love the idea of the werewolves and vamps teaming up against the witches as they usually hate each other, but when it's war against them all, they rally together to take down the enemy. If you haven't read this series yet, you must!

Vampire Moon by J R Rain

This is the second book in the Vampire for Hire series by J.R.Rain. The first one was ok - I gave it 3 stars, but this one was better!

Synopsis from Goodreads.com

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.

Now in VAMPIRE MOON, sequel to MOON DANCE, private investigator Samantha Moon finds herself hunting down a powerful crime lord and protecting an innocent woman from her ruthless ex-husband — all while two very different men vie for her heart. And as the stakes grow higher and her cases turn personal, Samantha Moon will do whatever it takes to protect the innocent and bring two cold-blooded killers to justice — her own brand of justice.


My review:

Samantha Moon was turned into a vampire 6 years ago, all of which you find out about in the first book. The first book in the series includes lots of background character information and world building, both of which were not really necessary in this book, so there was room for more action!

Samantha's now ex-husband is still being a jerk and all the way through I was thinking why she just wouldn't kill him with her new vampire powers.

Samantha takes on 2 new jobs as a private investigator in this one - a woman whose husband is intent on killing her, after almost killing her twice before and killing her father and seriously crippling her mother. She has to live with Samantha in her hotel suite so Sam can protect her. The other job is a grieving husband who wants revenge on the man he is convinced killed his wife by blowing up the federal airplane she and several other witnesses were on as they were on their way to a trial to convict the local crime lord.

Sam visits the husband in jail and almost kills him - had the guards not pulled her off she would have done so. All of this is captured on film but the detectives don't know what to make of a seemingly normal woman being able to punch through bulletproof glass in a prison and beat this large man to a bloody pulp. Later on after a contract killer has been hired by this man to kill his wife and Sam and consequently caught by the police, Sam has finally had enough. She turns into her bat form flies into the death row cell, smashing her way through the wall and snaps his neck! No more worries for the little wife anymore!

Sam also changes into her bat form again to beat and capture the crime lord, Jerry Blum, so her client and members of the families of the other witnesses silenced in the plane crash, can kill him! They want revenge and Sam gives it to them. I love the bat form idea - it allows the "vampires-can-fly" idea to emerge whilst at the same time Sam can look completely normal - just a slight twist on norm.

She also has issues with Kingsley, the werewolf lawyer she is becoming attached to, as he was the defense attorney who initially got the killer husband out from jail on a technicality - she doesn't like the fact that he is able to release killers back into the world. I do hope these two get together eventually.

And Danny, Sam's ex does finally get his comeuppance in the end - YAY!!! I nearly jumped with joy at this bit. Sam finds out that he's the owner of an unlicenced strip club and threatens to tell the police if he doesn't give her back the house and kids! She so wants to be their mommy and I was so happy for her. Danny tries to threatens her with revealing who she is, stating he has a sample of her blood as proof of what she is, so what does Sam do? Gets her blood tested herself and it comes back with no irregularities. Soon shuts Danny up, that did!

The ending was a great cliffhanger - Sam finally arranges to meet Fang, her online confidant with whom she can talk about everything and anything. He gives her advice and just listens to her. It ends where they both get out of their cars at the arranged time and place. Sam gasps and that's it! I did yell as whilst I love a book to have a cliffhanger, I needed to know who Fang was! I think it's Kingsley myself, but I'll have to get the next book, which has just come out to find out! I guess that's why authors leave cliffhanger endings!

I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one and hope the rest of this series is as good as this book.

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

I first read this book a few years ago as well as the second in the series, but never got round to reading any more of the series. I recently bought Embrace the Night (Book 3 in the series) and when I went to read it, realised I had no clue at all what had happened in the other 2 books, so had to go buy those as well.

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

Cassie Palmer, a powerful clairvoyant who works part-time at an Atlanta club reading Tarot cards, is finding it difficult to escape her past. Orphaned at a young age and brought up by the undead, Cassie has the ability to communicate with the spirit realm, and her powers were abused time and time again by a ruthless master vampire named Tony. It's been three years since Cassie -- a self-described "ghost magnet" -- has been free of the centuries-old bloodsucker, but now he's back and eager to reclaim his human possession. Forced to turn to the Senate (a group of "really old vamps" who make laws for the supernatural community) for protection, Cassie is thrown into a complex conflict where control of the entire supernatural world is at stake. Rasputin (yes, the Mad Monk himself), a power-hungry vampire, is killing off the Senate members one by one. Aided by some impressive allies -- including Dracula's older brother, Mircea -- Cassie must use everything in her paranormal arsenal to fight the encroaching evil -- and somehow stay alive

My Review:

Cassie Palmer is a clairvoyant on the run from the vampire who brought her up from when she was just 4 years old. She ran away from him as a teenager when she found out that he had had her parents murdered so that he could harness and control both her and her powers. There had always been a rumour that one day she might be the Pythia, the cheif of all Seers, whose power is matched by no other.

After spending 3 years in hiding, Cassie finds herself back on the run and in the fight to save her life constantly. She finds out that her roommate of 6 months is actually a first-level master vampire and she is soon captured by the Senate vampires.

The Consul, leader of the Senate for North American Vampires, has been challenged by Rasputin, who himself has captured another Seer, who is also a candidate for the Pythia's power. Using her power to travel back through time, Rasputin aims to kill off the vampire he is meant to duel. No vampire made a few hundreds years ago means he has no vampire to beat now! Cassie, with the help of Tomas (her roommate) initially go back in time to one of the most horrid of all prisons in 16th Century France and help save a witch.

Later on, having realised what they are capable of doing, Cassie goes back this time with Mircea (her vampire foster father's master) and with the help of a fair few ghosts fight off Rasputin, his Seer and army.

Cassie is finally named the new Pythia, even though she desparately doesn't want the title, powers and responsibilities that go with it!

I liked this book, but do think that sometimes the author isn't totally aware of her audience. In the middle of a fight scene for example, she wrote almost an entire page about what wards are, how they are created and the different types of them. Hang on a minute, I want to know what's happening with all the vamps and ghosts fighting first, then tell me about wards! Also quite a few of the vampire characters are based on real characters from history - Louis-Cesear = The Man in the Iron Mask, Rasputin, Rafe = Rafael the Italian painter, Mircea's brother is Dracula, Jack the Ripper also makes an appearance. What happened to just having vamps without the so-called celebrity status?! Any old vamp will do, you don't need to make them sound more interesting by giving them a history we already know.

I did also think it was a bit creepy that Cassie was making out, almost had sex with and was developing feelings for Mircea, who had declared she was his since she was 11 years old! I know he's a vamp so time moves differently for him, but still isn't that just a bit too paedophile? If she had been 16 I wouldn't have minded as much, but 11 is just way too young! I know he never did anything about it, but the fact that he thought it was enough for me! I will try to forget about this bit though as I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading to rest of the series.