Gunmetal Magic (2012) by Ilona Andrews Started the audio version and just couldn’t get into it, so switched over the the ebook version. I read it a little slower this time, and overall it was a good book, however, this time around I found myself a little disappointed in the ending. It seemed just too […]
Gunmetal Magic Audible edition (2012) by Ilona Andrews and narrated by Renée Raudman It’s quite possible that we have become spoiled by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who narrates Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, but neither of us could really get into the audio version of Gunmetal Magic. The narrator wasn’t horrible or anything, but I didn’t […]
Fate’s Edge (2011) Ilona Andrews I like rogues. I can’t help it. I have a terrible weakness for them. Which is odd, when you consider that I probably wouldn’t much care for them in real like. But the ability to be charming while stealing you blind (but only for a good cause!) is book catnip. […]
Bayou Moon (2010) Ilona Andrews Cerise Mar is the head of her family, now that her parents have disappeared. She wants more than anything to get her parents back, but more important is holding the family together, and dealing with their three-quarter century feud with the Sheeriles. She also has to hold things together for […]
On the Edge (2009) Ilona Andrews Rose Drayton lives in the Edge, the border between the Broken (mundane world) and the Weird (magical world). She’s raising her brothers, George and Jack, with the occasional help of her grandmother. She’s proud, despite her poverty, and has one thing that sets her apart from the other Edgers: […]
Tainted Blood (2014) M.L. Brennan This is the third book in the Generation V novel, and finds Fort helping to cover for his brother, following the death of Chivalry’s latest wife. This means he’s sent to take care of situations where he is in over his head. Luckily for him, he’s friends with Suze, and […]
Night Shift (2014) Nalini Singh; Ilona Andrews; Lisa Shearin; Milla Vane Let me be clear from the start: I read only two of these stories. In fact, I was going to read only one story, Ilona Andrews’ story “Magic Steals” until I realized the next story was a Lisa Shearin SPI files story. I very […]
Blood Cross Audible version, (/2010) Faith Hunter, Narrated by Khristine Hvam I quite like the narrator for this series. She does a good job of distinguishing Jane and Beast’s voices, as well as the different accents and voices for the other characters (and there are a lot of characters in this series). This is the […]
Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs This is the third Alpha & Omega story, and although it is about Anna and about Charles coming to terms with the changes in his position as the Marrok’s enforcer, but even more important are the changes to the world that Anna & Charles and Mercy Thompson live in. Throughout […]
Eternal: Shadow Falls: After Dark (2014) C.C. Hunter This is the second full book of Della Tsang’s story (although she has been the center of several novellas, one of which is the reason I started reading this series). Della coming to terms with being one of the Reborn, and also dealing with her continued guilt […]
Broken Soul (2014) Faith Hunter The latest Jane Yellowrock installment finds Jane and the Mithrans preparing for the visit of the European Council–a visit that seems it will bear nothing good for Jane. Of course, she does get to learn a new form of fighting. “Ernestine keeps all the lists,” Wrassler said. “And the pools.” […]
Frost Burned (2013) Patricia Briggs Mercy and her step-daughter, Jesse, are hitting the Black-Friday sales when a panic attack causes Mercy to wreck her rabbit. When she can’t reach anyone to come pick her up, she discovers that with a few exceptions, the entire pack has been kidnapped—which takes some doing, kidnapping an entire pack […]
The Winter Long (2014) Seanan McGuire I held onto the book for a while, solely because I knew I was going on vacation, and would have the time to read the whole thing in one sitting. This book tied up some loose ends that I hadn’t realized were loose ends, and made for a slow […]
Downfall (2014) Rob Thurman I fully admit that I have been avoiding reading this book. As the series has gone it, it has become more and more clear that Niko and Cal won’t outlive each other. If one is killed, the other will fall soon after, most likely in a horribly violent and destructive way, […]
Black Water (2014) Faith Hunter This is a collection of three Jane Yellowrock short stories / novellas: Black Water, Snafu, and Off the Grid. Black Water is set after Blood Trade and before Black Arts, as Jane returns to Chauvin after receiving a text from Rick’s family that someone with a gun was looking for […]
Hunting Ground (2009) Patricia Briggs The second Alpha & Omega book finds Charles & Anna sent to broker negioations with the European werewolves, to find a way to make the Marrock’s bringing the American werewolves out of the supernatural closet. The biggest problem is going to be the head of the European werewolves, who is […]
River Marked (2011) Patricia Briggs Although Mercy and Adam are supposed to be on their Honeymoon, unexpected gifts from the fae lead to (when dealing with fae anyway) the expected consequences, of danger and threat. But more importantly, we learn more about Mercy’s father, and finally meet Coyote (THE Coyote). Figures that are both tricksters […]
Silver Bourne (2010) Patricia Briggs This story has three separate story arcs: Mercy receives a call from Tad, asking her to check on the owner of the book fae book she borrowed, Samuel has started to sink further into his misery, and Mercy begins truly to have problems with the Pack, now that she and […]
Cry Wolf (2008) Patricia Briggs My reaction to this book, re-reading it and after reading half the Mercy books and the short story anthology is quite different from my initial read. First and foremost, I realized this story is as much about Asil and Bran as it is about Anna and Charles. I’ve grown to […]
Bone Crossed (2009) Patricia Briggs This book makes up for very end of the last book, where only a week after her rape, it seems like Mercy is ready to jump into bed with Adam. She isn’t and she doesn’t, and Adam wouldn’t. So points all around for Adam. And it’s good that things are […]
Iron Kissed (2008) Patricia Briggs I had forgotten just how dark this story was. Bad things happen to Mercy. Very bad things. And Mercy just doesn’t brush these things off, which means seeing Mercy suffer as she tries to recover. It’s very hard to read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very well done, and it’s […]
Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs This is a second book in the Mercy Thompson series, and finds Mercy inadvertently caught up in vampire business. There are so many little tidbits that I enjoy, dropped randomly throughout the books. The Marrok, the leader of the North American werewolves, insists that all of the wolves wear a […]
Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I started listening to the Audible version of Moon Called, and I don’t know if it was the narrator, the fact that I’ve been so blown away by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who reads Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series, or a combination of both, but I just couldn’t listen to it. So, […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (2014) Patricia Briggs As I’ve mentioned previously (and repeatedly) I love short stories. They’re a hard thing to love sometimes, because there are so many poorly written ones out there. Luckily for me, Patricia Briggs tends to do them well, so I didn’t hesitate to pick […]
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011) Carrie Vaughn Il Est Ne (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008)) A Princess of Spain (The Secret History of Vampires (2007)) Conquistador de la Noche (Subterranean Online (2009)) The Book of Daniel (Talebones #39 (2009)) The Temptation of Robin Green (The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (2009)) Looking After Family (Realms of Fantasy […]
Skinwalker (2009/2010) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam I started listening to this, and ended up going back and re-reading the entire series. But I still finished the audio version, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. First, Beast and Jane have distinct voices, which is important, since they often have conversations in Jane’s mind. Also, the […]
Black Arts (2014) Faith Hunter And now I’m all caught up on Jane Yellowrock–at least until the new book comes out in October. The book opens with Jane under attack–from Evan Trueblood, who believes that Jane is hiding his wife, Molly. Jane and Evan came to an uneasy truce in an earlier book, but Molly […]
Jane Yellowrock World Companion (2013) Faith Hunter I have conflicted feelings about this. The co-author put a lot of work into the time-line and weapons list and such. And it’s a great reference if you’re not familiar with Jane’s world. But it’s not something to sit down and read. There are three stories: two short […]
Cat Tales: Four Stories from the World of Jane Yellowrock (2011) Faith Hunter These are four Jane stories, two from Jane’s point-of-view and two from Rick’s point-of-view. The Early Years Cat Tats Kits Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry “The Early Years” is set right after Jane ages out of the children’s home. We get a […]
Have Stakes Will Travel: Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock (2012) Faith Hunter This is a collection of Jane Yellowrock short stories, some of which were published elsewhere, but I love short story collections, so I sprung for this, and two other collections. The stories are: WeSa and the Lumber King Haints Signatures of […]
Blood Trade (2013) Faith Hunter The sixth book in the Jane Yellowrock series finds Jane very much out of sorts. She hasn’t heard from Molly since the death of Evangelina, Rick is mad at her (because she thought he shot her), she’s still mad at Bruiser, and Beast is chained to Leo. But a job […]
Death’s Rival (2012) Faith Hunter Jane is back to working for Leo, and she’s out West to gather blood samples from sick vamps–and vamps aren’t supposed to be able to get sick. There is a lot that happens here. Jane has to pay the piper for statements she made earlier (in the last book). There’s […]
Raven Cursed (2012) Faith Hunter Book four in the Jane Yellowrock series finds Jane back in North Carolina, running security for a meeting between a representative from New Orleans and Lincoln Shadrock, a vampire who wants to become a Master. It’s also where Molly is, but Evan wants Molly to have nothing to do with […]
Mercy Blade (2011) Faith Hunter Book three in the Jane Yellowrock series, finds Jane taking on a long term contract with Leo Pellissier and the New Orleans vamps to provide security. Unfortunately, Leo doesn’t seem to trust her enough to tell her things that are important–like the weres coming out of the supernatural closet and […]
Blood Cross (2010) Faith Hunter The second book in the Jane Yellowrock series (and another re-read). Jane has remained in New Orleans to hunt the vampire who is making young rogues–and allowing the free into the population where they kill, unrestrained. Additionally, while Evan is in Brazil, Molly and her kids are staying with Jane, […]
Skinwalker (2009) Faith Hunter This is a re-read. The first book in the series introduces us to Jane Yellowrock, a skin walker and rogue vampire hunter. She’s come to New Orleans at the request of the local vampire council to take out a rogue who has been killing civilians. I enjoyed going back to the […]
Magic City: Recent Spells (2014) Paula Guran Table of Contents “Street Wizard” by Simon R. Green “Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak “Grand Central Park” by Delia Sherman “Spellcaster 2.0” by Jonathan Maberry “Wallamelon” by Nisi Shawl “-30-” by Caitlín R. Kiernan “Seeing Eye” by Patricia Briggs “Stone Man” by Nancy Kress “In the Stacks” by […]
Urban Shaman (2005) C.E. Murphy I read this several years ago, and never read any further in the series, though I remember finding the book and the premise interesting. But I’d forgotten the story completely, and decided I needed to re-read the start before I dove into any sequels. Joanne Walker (named by her mother […]
Dirty Magic (2014) Jaye Wells I desperately needed something distracting, so picked up Dirty Magic, read a couple chapters, wasn’t sure it was what I was in the mood for, but the next day picked it back up, and discovered it served admirably as a distraction. Kate Prospero spent her youth cooking dirty magic. She […]
Strange Brew (2009) edited by P.N. Elrod This is a re-read, and as such, I skipped the stories I didn’t like or wasn’t in the mood for. Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs Last Call by Jim Butcher Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine Vegas Odds by Karen Chance Hecate’s Golden Eye by P.N. Elrod Bacon […]
Dangerous Women (2013) edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois “Some Desperado” (Red Country story) by Joe Abercrombie “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass “Bombshells” (Harry Dresden story) by Jim Butcher “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn “Wrestling Jesus” […]
Something from the Nightside (Audio Version) (2003/2008) Simon R. Green narrated by Marc Vietor This is the first book in the Nightside series, and introduces us to both John Taylor and the Nightside. You’ll probably know very quickly if this is for you or not. John “Bloody” Taylor is a private investigator who has been […]
Reborn (2014) CC Hunter This is part of the Shadow Falls series, but Kylie’s arc is completed, and we now come back to Della, who was the character who introduced me to Shadow Falls in her short story and “Turned at Dark” (still free!) then again in the novella “Saved at Sunrise“. What is Shadow […]
Tales of the Otherworld (2010) Kelley Armstrong Not knowing what I was in the mood to read, an anthology seemed just the thing. These are stories from Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series–stories that fill in the cracks between her novels–most of which I have not read. (I believe I have read Bitten, and that’s it.) There […]
Iron Night (2014) M.L. Brennan This is the sequel to Generation V, and finds Fort (short for Fortitude (his mother is centuries old, so you’ll have to forgive his name)) working with his brother Chivalry (see aforementioned comment about their mother) checking up on the various creatures and beings who owe fealty to the Scott […]
Trail of Dead (2013) Melissa F. Olson The sequel to Dead Spots, it wasn’t horrible, but I would kick this book out of bed for eating crackers in an instant. I still liked the idea of the story. And the mystery was interesting. But I hated… no, I take that back, I despised the love […]
Dead Spots (2012) Melissa F. Olson Scarlett Bernard is a Null. Magic doesn’t work within an extended radius around her, which means she cannot be bitten by vampires or werewolves or the curses of witches. Therefore, the Old World has a use for her: clean up. When there is a magical “accident,” Scarlett is called […]
Black Magic Woman (2008) Justin Gustainis This isn’t the first book by Justin Gustainis I’ve read, so I had a general idea of what to expect. This book is a bit different from the other series I’ve read, however. A little less horror, and although there was a bit of police procedural to it, the […]
The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire (2012) Abigail Gibbs “Hmmm…. what do I want to read next?” (looks through books) (picks up Dark Heroine) … “What the hell? How is it one o’clock in the morning?! Shit! I have to work tomorrow!” So, The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire is that kind of […]
The InCryptid Short Stories: Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown (2013/2014) Seanan McGuire Having read the latest InCryptid book, I realized I had downloaded a bunch of InCryptid short stories, but not gotten around to reading them. Since I didn’t feel like starting a new book, I blew through them all. As of right now, all […]