Book

To Kill a Warlock (Dulcie O’Neil #1) By: H.P. Mallory

To Kill a Warlock

To Kill a Warlock (Dulcie O’Neil #1) By: H.P. Mallory

Plot:

The murder of a dark arts warlock. A shape-shifting, ravenous creature on the loose. A devilishly handsome stranger sent to investigate. Sometimes working law enforcement for the Netherworld is a real bitch. Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy. And not the type to frolic in gardens. She’s a Regulator—a law-enforcement agent who monitors the creatures of the Netherworld to keep them from wreaking havoc in the mortal world. When a warlock is murdered and Dulcie was the last person to see him alive, she must uncover the truth before she’s either deported back to the Netherworld, or she becomes the next victim. Enter Knight Vander, a sinfully attractive investigator sent from the Netherworld to work the case with Dulcie. Between battling her attraction to her self-appointed partner, keeping a sadomasochistic demon in check, and fending off the advances of a sexy and powerful vampire, Dulcie’s got her hands full. As the body count increases, Dulcie finds herself battling dark magic, reconnoitering in S&M clubs and suffering the greatest of all betrayals.

Review:

This book has been on my to-read pile for a while, but for whatever reason, I didn’t read it until now. It’s weird, this is definitely my kind of book, but I never really got into it.

Dulcie is a fairy and her love interest is a Loki, neither are supernaturals I normally read, but both something I’m interested in. Dulcie was gorgeous but hated her pointed fairy ears. She was supposed to be the best at her job and was also writing a novel because she really wanted to be an author.

My favorite parts in the book were the parts where she was writing, the rest was fine but not something I really got into. The bad guy was fairly obvious and because of all the clues that were given I felt like Dulcie was stupid for not realizing it. I’m also tired of books where the heroine is beautiful and has multiple men after her, but that has become a pet peeve of mine.

It was an interesting world and I liked some side characters so I wouldn’t be opposed to reading the next in the series, I’m just not in a hurry to do it.

3/5

Fable: Edge of the World (Fable #3) By: Christie Golden

Fable Edge of the World

Fable: Edge of the World (Fable #3) By: Christie Golden

Plot:

It’s been almost a decade since the events of Fable 3, when the Hero vanquished the threat across the sea and claimed his throne. As king he led Albion to an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. But on the night of his wedding to his new queen, ominous word arrives: The darkness has returned.   Beyond a harrowing mountain pass, the exotic desert country Samarkand has been overrun by shadowy forces. Within the walls of its capital city, a mysterious usurper known only as the Empress has seized control. To protect his realm, the king must lead his most trusted allies into a strange land unknown to outsiders. As they forge ahead along Samarkand’s ancient Great Road, populated by undead terrors and fantastic creatures once believed to be the stuff of legend, the king is drawn ever closer to his greatest challenge yet.   But soon Albion is engulfed in a war of its own. As the darkness spreads, town by town, a treacherous force has infiltrated the queen’s circle. Now the fate of all that is good rests with a faint flicker of hope . . . that somewhere, somehow, heroes still do exist.

Review:

When I was done with this book I threw it across the room. Currently I’m debating whether or not to burn it or rip it apart. I don’t do that to books. Even books I hate, I don’t deface or destroy. I’m making an exception for this piece of shit.

I love the Fable games 1, 2, and 3. I also loved the first two Fable books. I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed them because books based on TV shows or movies or games can really be hit or miss. These were great books in a world I loved.

Not this one, though. (To be fair it had nothing to do with the quality of writing and was all about the story.) The story was just one big giant build up to their next game. The game that is just some pimped out Kinect piece of shit. It isn’t a normal Fable game. They haven’t come out with a normal Fable game since the 3rd. I love the Fable world, but I’m not just going to buy everything with the name slapped on it.

This story picks up about ten years after Fable 3 ends. The king has a new wife and on his wedding days finds out that the darkness is rising in another part of the world. Naturally he must raise an army and go defeat it because the darkness is some evil shit.

He leaves his young, inexperienced, wife in control, but it’s ok he taught her everything she could possibly need to know. Nope. He left two people he trusted with her, however since she’s the highest power, and a newb, things do not go well on the home front. Reaver shows up, and with his usual cunning, takes over.

It’s ok because the king is kicking ass and taking names. Not. Pretty much all the people he takes with him die, except the big names. The book ends with Albion in turmoil, the queen a prisoner in her own castle, the two advisors on the run marked as traitors, the king captured, and the few surviving people in retreat.

The end. That’s it. Buy our stupid fucking game to find out what happens next.

Yeah, I don’t think so.

I am hugely disappointed in this novel and wish I hadn’t just assumed that it was going to be like the two books before it. It’s not like I had expectations going in because it’s a series. So angry right now. Thinking fire might be the way to go.

1/5 (only because 0 isn’t an option)

Kick (The Jenkins Cycle #1) By: John L. Monk

kick

Kick (The Jenkins Cycle #1) By: John L. Monk

Plot:

Dan Jenkins returns from death for a chance to live again. The vacated bodies of killers are his rides. Before he’s kicked out, he’ll need to stop his host from hurting anyone else. It’s one of the rules if he wants more rides. More rides means more movies and fishing trips, and more of those little apple pies they sell at gas stations and convenience stores, because they’re just that good. For a dead guy, it’s a pretty good gig…until someone changes the rules.

Review:

I could not predict this book at all. Sometimes that happens because the book is poorly written but that is so not the case in Kick. It was such an original idea that I had nothing to clue me in and yes I realize the TV show Quantum Leap has a similar premise, but Sam is nothing like Dan.

About two thirds of the way through I was afraid I was about to be disappointed, there had been a slow steady build up and I was scared it wasn’t going to be a big enough pay off. I wasn’t even sure how there could be a pay off. All my worries were for naught because it was everything I could have hoped for and more. I devoured the last twenty percent of this book and was amazed when I looked down to see I was at 97%.

This is not my usual book and I’m going to be honest and say the only reason I read it was because I’m familiar with the author. I’ve never met him in person, but I follow his blog and we’ve commented back and forth. To be clear he did not give me a copy of his book or even ask for a review. I purchased it a few months ago, before it was free, and then put off reading it because I was afraid I wouldn’t like it. When I finally started reading I was incredibly impressed with the quality of writing as well as the story and ended up being unable to put it down.

Anyway, Dan Jenkins was a great flawed character. He was lazy and put off doing his “job” so that he could do whatever he wanted and enjoy being “alive.” He had morals, though, and for the most part stuck with his self created rules. Of course when he didn’t it ended up biting him in the ass. He was a great character because he was so relatable. I could easily see myself acting the same way in the same situations.

The ending brought some closure for Dan as well as the reader, but it left enough up in the air that I’m curious to see what happens next. Will we ever find out more about the Great Wherever, ruled by the Great Whomever? Will Dan take some lessons to heart or continue being lazy and living other lives to the fullest? (I lean toward no on that one)

4.5/5

Graveyard Shift (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. #1) By: Angela Roquet

Graveyard Shift

Graveyard Shift (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. #1) By: Angela Roquet

Plot:

The Inferno has Evolved… Lana Harvey is a reaper, and a lousy one at that. She resides in Limbo City, the modern capital of the collective afterlives, where she likes to stick it to the man (the legendary Grim Reaper himself) by harvesting the bare minimum of souls required of her. She’d much rather be hanging out with Gabriel, her favorite archangel, at Purgatory Lounge. But when a shocking promotion falls in her lap, Lana learns something that could unravel the very fabric of Eternity. If the job isn’t completed, there could be some real hell to pay.

Review:

Reapers are not something you read about often, at least not something I read about often. I think I read an Eve Langlais EROM about one once, but Graveyard Shift was in no way an EROM.

I enjoyed the world Roquet created and the detail she included. She really put forth the effort to have details about several different religions. She made a world that seemed well researched and fleshed out with characters that can’t magically bend the world to their whims.

There were characters I liked but also characters I didn’t. I hate when I read a book with no likable characters or a main lead that’s wishy washy and weak. Lana is definitely not that, she’s figured out exactly what she needs to do to get by in life and just tries to forget about the fact that she can’t do anything to change her lot in life. Sadly for her things keep getting thrust into her life that she’s forced to deal with and overcome.

I liked Graveyard Shift and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

4/5

Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser #3) By: Meghan Ciana Doidge

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Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser #3) By: Meghan Ciana Doidge

Plot:

I hadn’t set foot in the human world for more than a few hours in over three and a half months. Sure, I was stronger and faster than I’d ever been before, and I had a shiny new sword, but I was seriously chocolate deprived. I don’t recommend quitting cold turkey. And the new sword was a problem — to my mind, anyway. It represented all the expectations of a powerful father and a new otherworldly life. A life that wasn’t the one I’d worked so hard to build. It also represented the responsibility I had to bring my foster sister Sienna to … what? Justice? I didn’t know if that was even possible. What I did know was that Sienna wouldn’t stop, and that I couldn’t just leave everything up to fate and destiny … or maybe I was. Maybe I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. If you believed in that sort of thing. I just hoped that before the chaos and mayhem renewed, I’d manage to get my hands on some chocolate. It didn’t even have to be single-origin Madagascar. I was utterly prepared to lower my standards.

Review:

When Jade first appears it’s like she’s the badass I’ve wanted her to be all along. She’s spent the last three months with the dragons and she’s learned to kick some serious ass. Then she hooks up with her old friends and she can still kick ass but there’s an adjustment period, and she’s not as smart as I thought she would be after three months spent learning. By the end she gets her shit together, but she’s still not able to do what needs to be done. Admittedly it’s something I’m not sure I would be able to do myself. I’m being purposefully vague because you should really read the book.

Book three was probably more action packed than the other two books combined. The build up for the first battle took some time and then the battle itself was a lot. I’m not sure if the last battle was as long but it was certainly more satisfying, as last battles should be.

Jade is never going to be the badass that I kind of want her to be, but she’s a good flawed character. She’s always going to be more prone to baking cupcakes than trying to figure out what she should do next. Though baking cupcakes does center her so it’s not a waste of effort. Cupcakes are never a waste of effort.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

4/5