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.

Mark of the Witch by Maggie Shayne

Synopsis from Goodreads.com
A lapsed Wiccan, Indira Simon doesn't believe in magic anymore. But when strange dreams of being sacrificed to an ancient Babylonian god have her waking up with real rope burns on her wrists, she's forced to acknowledge that she may have been too hasty in her rejection of the unknown. Then she meets mysterious and handsome Father Tomas. Emerging from the secrecy of an obscure Gnostic sect, he arrives with stories of a demon, a trio of warrior witches-and Indira's sacred calling. Yet there's something even Tomas doesn't know, an inescapable truth that will force him to choose between saving the life of the woman he's come to love-and saving the world.

My review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of witch books.

Indira is a former Wiccan witch who has lost her faith in the Craft after calling for her soul mate for 3 years and never finding him. However, she is being plagued with strange dreams in which she is a witch in ancient times and is pushed to her death of a cliff by a man she loved. Her friend, Rayne, a high Priestess, performs a protection ritual over her and suddenly Indy's powers spark up again.

She is approached by a priest, who saw a video taken of Indy using these powers without her remembering what she was doing and convinces her that he can help her stop the dreams. He turns out to be the brother of her friend Rayne and stupidly, in my opinion, agrees to travel across the country with him to find a solution.

She finds out that between Tomas, the priest and another priest Dom that she is the key to unlocking or destroying a great evil, but things never run smoothly and Indy finds out more about the dreams, what they mean and what she needs to do about them. Rayne, luckily, is on hand to help her, but things get quite scary for them all, especially for Indy in places, right up to the end.

I really enjoyed the writing style of Maggie Shayne, never having read anything by her before and felt that the plot moved at a good pace, picking up and dropping off as needed.

I loved the character of Indy. She truly didn't want to believe what was happening to her and her gut instincts were always right. Dom was what I expected from a completely insane old man who believed that he and his God would save everyone - a complete bigot if ask me, but he added the necessary evil to the story! Tomas, I just couldn't decide about. You could tell he really wanted to believe in Dom's far-fetched story at the beginning, but the more he got to know Indy and the more they found out about who she was, the less inclined he was to believe. I really was shocked by his attitude at the end where Rayne was concerned, but then all was revealed.

Looking forward to reading the next book in the series and the prequel if I can ever get a hold of it in the UK.

I would like to thank the author and publisher for sending me a review copy through NetGalley to read. This review is my honest opinion.

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinks

Synopsis from Goodreads.com

When Tobias Richard Vandevelde wakes up in hospital with no memory of the night before, his horrified mother tells him that he was found unconscious. At Featherdale wildlife Park. In a dingo pen.

He assumes that his two rambunctious best friends are somehow responsible, until he discovers that they're just as freaked out as he is. Then the mysterious Reuben turns up, claiming that Toby has a rare and dangerous 'condition'. Next thing he knows, Toby finds himself involved with a strange bunch of sickly insomniacs who seem convinced that he needs their help.

It's not until he's kidnapped and imprisoned that he starts to believe them - and to understand what being a paranormal monster really means.

My Review:

Even though the main protagonist in this book is a 13 year old boy, it didn't particularly feel like a YA book.

Toby wakes up one morning, butt naked in the dingo pen of the local zoo with absolutely no recollection of what happened the night before or how he ended up in the pen. He believes his friends have played a bad joke on him, but they have no clue either. Several tests at the hospital later reveal no further clues as to what went on nor an explanation for his memory loss.

When a priest and his friend, Reuben, turn up on Toby's doorstep claiming he has similar symptoms to Reuben, Toby reluctantly lets them in his house to hear their ludicrous claims - he's a werewolf. Neither he nor his mother believe them at first, but Toby is intrigued and arranges to meet Reuben later one to prove that he is lying, only Toby can't because he is starting to believe it all.

While Toby is trying to forget the whole episode, he is "arrested" by two "policemen" who don't take him to the police station at all, but out to the middle of the Australian desert and to an underground prison which leads to a werewolf fighting pit. The kidnappers intentions are clear - they intend on getting Toby to fight to the death with another teenage werewolf, but Toby has other ideas. Luckily Reuben has suspicions about what has happened to Toby and calls for reinforcements and after a long struggle to get away, even more secrets are revealed.

I thought this book was hilarious in places - the sarcastic, childish at times, comments from Toby and his friends kept me quite amused! I would have liked to see Toby actually turn into a werewolf, but that didn't happen - maybe in the next book?

I did receive this book free from NetGalley and would like to thank the publishers for allowing me to review this book honestly.

Before The Fall by Sable Grace

Synopsis from Goodreads

Zach was once the Order of Ancients’ most feared warrior, beating back the hounds of hell to protect the unsuspecting human race. But since he left the Order ten years ago, he’s been living as a mortal . . . until now. The gates of the underworld are breaking open, and Zach is needed in the fight once again. But before he can answer his summons, there’s one person he refuses to leave behind. Shanna may think Zach has a screw loose, spouting all this “hounds of hell” nonsense, but he has to get her to safety. The journey to the Order’s headquarters is a dangerous one, and even a warrior like Zach might not be strong enough to keep the darkness at bay.

My review:
This short little story is set before the first book in the Dark Breed series and tells the story of the night that Hell opened and all the dark breeds infiltrated the world.

Zach Merchant is an ex-member of the Order of the Ancients, the group of people who fight against the Dark Breeds. He left the Order 10 years ago after a fight with a Lychen, a werewolf by another name, left him with such severe injuries that he almost died.

One night, he receives his summons from the god Ares to return to battle, but before he does, he knows he has to save the one person he has ever loved, but the last time he tried to explain all this otherworldly-ness to her, she left him, thinking he was crazy. Will he be able to convince her to come with him and try to escape this time?

The journey to the portal for them both was not easy and Shanna finally starts to beieve what is going on around and helps to fight back.

I did think the ending was a bit quick and jumped too far forward, but I guess with this short little novella, it has to. I just expected Zach to go back into the fight rather than go off with Shanna and do what they do!

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for this free ARC.

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.