Jennifer Estep – Widow’s Web

The seventh book in the Elemental Assassin series, published August 21, 2012.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: good




The seventh book in the hugely popular Elemental Assassin series by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Estep - Gin Blanco is back and ready for action.
My name is Gin, and I kill people. It's something I've been doing for years as the assassin called Spider, but now, it's turned into a necessity on my part just to survive all the lowlifes in Ashland who are gunning for me. The underworld is still in turmoil, and I seem to be on everyone's hit list these days.

To add to Gin's problems, her lover Owen's ex is in town. Salina is back in Ashland to reclaim an old family legacy - and she thinks that Owen is hers for the taking. Also in the mix is Phillip Kincaid, a casino owner and all-around shady character who has a mysterious connection to both Owen and Salina.
Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but there's more to her than meets the eye. Her water elemental magic makes her a dangerous enemy - and someone who can go toe-to-toe with Gin's Ice and Stone power. But Gin is determined to get to the bottom of Salina's deadly scheme, even though it just might cost her everything… including Owen.


Almost daily now, wannabe assassins try to kill Gin, making if difficult for her to do her job at the Porkpit. Then, to her surprise, Phillip Kincaid enters the restaurant. Phillip is one of the main crime bosses in Ashland, the one who controls all gambling, legal and illegal. He is not just there to sample the food, even though he clearly enjoys it. Phillip wants to hire Gin for a catering job on his riverboat in three days, where he will be hosting a party. Suspicious as always, Gin doesn’t know what to think of it, but the payment is good, and she takes it.
When Sophia and Gin arrive at the riverboat, there is a party going on, but not for the usual high spending crowd, this is more like keg party. The boat is loaded with college students there for a fundraiser for a new animal shelter. And to Gin’s surprise, Eva and Violet are there as well. And Eva is very cosy with Phillip. Gin is sure Owen (her lover and Eva’s big brother) doesn’t know anything about it, as he really seems to hate Phillip Kincaid.

Then someone slowly and painfully kills Phillips main bodyguard, and Phillip himself is the next intended victim. Someone is using Watermagic, and that is a very difficult one to fight. If not for Gin’s Icemagic, Phillip would be death. But Gin has recognized the touch of the magic, and if she did not recognize the woman running away from her, running over the water to the other side of the river and escaping into the woods. It was Owen’s old lover, Salina, who wants him back. She is very powerful, and Gin wants to know why she would kill Phillip, especially with Eva so close by.

It hurts Gin that Owen clearly still has feelings for Salina, and that he won’t believe that she is the bad guy here, and not Phillip. It will take a lot for him to believe that, and even then he won’t give up on trying to help Salina. Owen does feel guilty that he did not protect his baby sister back then, that he did not believe Phillip but Salina.
Even when he sees Salina in action, trying to kill his old teacher and Gin, Owen cannot stop believing in his old love.

But Salina has come home for more than getting Owen back …


Another book I’ve been saving for some while now, but I have been skimming some reviews of this series lately, and I just had to read it. I enjoyed it very much, catching up on the usual cast of characters, and meeting some new ones. Gin and Bria are getting along better and better, and Bria really managed to surprise me a few times. Finn is outrageous as ever, flirting with every female in sight. Owen did disappoint me though; I am surprised that he cannot see the truth, the cruelness inside Salina. The fact that she likes to torture and kill with her water magic. Of course your first love is special, but he or she has to deserve that love and loyalty too. I liked the friendship that Gin gets in this book a lot.

I am looking forward to the next book already.

8,5 stars

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Allyson James – Nightwalker

The fourth book in the Stormwalker series, published October 11, 2012.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: love it. My boyfriend recognized the Harley from a distance.



Stormwalker Janet Begay, proprietor of the Crossroads Hotel, a place where the paranormal stop for a safe night's rest, discovers the hard way that a slayer is targeting Ansel, a Nightwalker who's become a more-or-less permanent resident.
When Janet and her boyfriend Mick intervene to save Ansel's un-life, they find that the attack is the beginning of an oncoming storm. Janet has her hands full already with the upcoming marriage of her father, her crazy half-sister, the return of a woman who claims to be Coyote's wife, a couple dragons on her back, and her worry about Mick, who's behaving strangely again.
But it seems that everyone is after Ansel, who fears he killed the woman he loves in a Nightwalker frenzy. Janet must choose between protecting Ansel or facing the most powerful magical beings in the world, who are willing to destroy Janet, Mick, her hotel, and everyone she cares about to get to Ansel and his secrets.


I’ve been looking forward to reading this new book for a while, and when it finally arrived, signed and all (yeah!) I did not want to start reading it immediately, I just wanted to savour it, admire the cover. Sometimes, you just need to have a book ready that will be a guaranteed great read, and for me Jennifer Ashley / Allyson James is one of those authors. But after 2 days, I just had to read it!


Janet wakes up to some noise outside the hotel, and sees someone trying to kill her resident Nightwalker, Ansel. Ansel is a vampire who tries very hard to suppress his Nightwalker part, drinking cowblood only. He is a shy and kind of awkward person, a collector of stamps and antiques. His Nightwalker part is way different, aggressive, bold and cocky. After they chase the would-be slayer away, the question arises: who has put a price on Ansel’s head, and why? Ansel claims he has no idea, but he is very much afraid that he killed his beloved. He woke up in the desert a week ago, alone, with blood on his clothes, and no memory of what happened after he went to dinner with Laura.
Apparently they were in business together, Ansel searching for antiques, and Laura selling them in her shop.
When another slayer is coming for Ansel the next day, and even the Dragon’s come searching for him, Janet is determined to get more answers out of him. Drake burned down her Saloon, killing her magic mirror in the process! Drake will pay for that, but first she needs to know the truth, one way or another.

Dragons, slayers, mages, Coyote, bad guys, everyone seems to be after Ansel and the object he found in the museum in Flagstaff. What is so special about it, that even Coyote and her Grandmother warn Janet against it? She needs to find it, and, if at all possible, destroy it.



Okay, I am not going to spoil anything about this story. It captivated me from start to end, and I loved it very much. Ansel is under their protection, and both Janet and Mick will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. Unless he turns in a Nightwalker frenzy and kills humans, then they will hunt him down and kill him themselves. They won’t give in to slayers, nor to dragons or powerful mages.

Janet spends a lot of time on her Harley Softail, trying to find answers, trying to find the missing Laura, and the artifact. She sure loves her Harley, and prefers it much over flying with Mick, her boyfriend. But sometimes speed is essential, and she has no choice. I always love it when Nash is at the scene, the magical null, who negates all spells and magic. Janet really needs him this time. Then of course there are her grandmother and half-sister Gabrielle, who both have powerful magic of themselves.
I also loved the small parts with Bear, Coyote’s wife, who looks like a big and powerful Indian woman when in human form. They play some strange games together.

The story is fast paced, filled with all kinds of magic and magical people, and some Native American lore. Allyson James has a fluent writing style, and a sense of humor, that is exactly right for me. I love her characters, her original and unique worldbuilding, the way she draws me into the story, and live it.

9 stars.





A Smashwords buy link:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/238710

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Jayne Ann Krentz – Dream Eyes

The second book in the Dark Legacy series, published January 8, 2013.
Genre: paranormal romance, with some suspense thrown in
Cover: Strange.



Gwen Frazier, a psychic counsellor, learns that her friend has died under mysterious circumstances in a small town in the Oregon mountains. Gwen suspects that a long-dead serial killer who once stalked psychics - and who tried to murder her - may still be alive after all. She demands an investigation and turns to the powerful Coppersmith family of Copper Beach. The family sends Judson Coppersmith to assist her. Judson, recovering from a harrowing mission conducted for a clandestine government agency, is intensely attracted to Gwen. He is, however, haunted by a dark, recurring nightmare that relates to his near-death experience on his last mission...


Gwen Frazier gets an urgent message from her friend dr. Evelyn Ballinger to come over, as she has found out something important. But Gwen is too late, when she arrives the next morning, Evelyn is death. There is no visible clue to how she died, but Gwen knows her friend has been murdered, by paranormal means. Just like the deaths that happened two years ago. Those still haunt her, even though the murderer is dead himself, she saw that happen when he jumped of the cliffs after trying to kill her. Evelyn’s ghost talks to Gwen, but she cannot tell who killed her. Gwen will have to find out the mortal way, especially now the police officer in charge, Chief Harold Oxley, sees her as the prime suspect. She will never be able to prove that her friend was murdered by paranormal means, even though everyone knows that Evelyn was researching the paranormal.
And so she asks for help from her best friends’ new family, the Coppersmiths. They have experience with this kind of thing. Judson Coppersmith is trying to recover from his last mission in Eclipse Bay, on the Oregon Coast. He was betrayed by his boss and collegues, and still has the nightmares to prove it. He actually met Gwen a month ago in a restaurant in Seattle, when he drove up to meet his brother Sam’s fiancée. And he was very interested in Gwen, until she said “I fix bad dreams”. His rule is, never to date psychic counsellors. He doesn’t want to appear weak before Gwen, or have her poke around in his head. But now he is heading over to Wilby to help her find out the truth about her friend’s death, and to find the murderer if that is the case.
Gwen is Evelyn’s heir, for both her house and her lab, and her cat Max, as no one else seems to want to take him in. She will have to take him with her to Seattle.

Wilby is just a small village, filled with eccentrics and artists, and Gwen has arranged for him to stay in the room in the inn next to hers, with a connecting door. This way they can talk about the case without people seeing them walk into each others rooms. Gwen is a dream talent, she can help people deal with their nightmares, and she can give them advice on how to solve them. But in order to make a living, she and Evelyn were also working for a tv program about haunted houses in America. Evelyn would do the necessary research, and Gwen wrote the script for the next episode. And now her boss is pressuring Gwen into turning Evelyn’s murder into a new episode for a new show. Of course Gwen doesn’t want that, but the man is getting desperate as his show is about to be cancelled.

After arriving at the scene, Judson has little trouble to confirm Gwen’s suspicions: Evelyn has been murdered by paranormal means. And when she tells him everything that happened two years ago, they are fairly sure that someone took Zander Taylor’s weapon and is now using it. A new psychic killer has surfaced. But who is it, and why kill Evelyn.
And the stakes get higher when a second woman is murdered just before they could ask her some important questions.
Judson is impressed by Evelyn’s lab, and he is certain his brother Sam will be ecstatic for the chance to explore them all. He is very much interested in researching the paranormal as well. And Evelyn has build some pretty impressive machinery.


I enjoyed this book very much, as I usually do with books by Jayne Ann Krentz. The mystery was great, and I was totally looking at the wrong guy. And in the end, we finally meet up again with J & J and the Arcane Society, something I have been suspecting for a while now. Even though those names have not been mentioned in the last books, the books still had the same vibe and storyline. Psychic powers, mysteries, and love. What does not mean I don’t love them all.

Gwen is a great character, I liked her from the start. Even though she sees ghosts, she is very down to earth, and capable of looking after herself. Which is not so strange after her youth spend at the Summerlight Academy. The only good things that happened at the place, are the friends she made, who are now her only family, and Evelyn.
Her dream talent makes it difficult to have a relationship, because when she sleeps, she dreams deep, and her dreams tend to invade the dreams of the ones being near her. More than one man has ran away from her, screaming. But Judson is not afraid of that at all, he can handle anything she can throw at him. And to their mutual surprise and delight, they sleep very well and undisturbed together. Judson knows Gwen is the woman for him, and Gwen know she has been waiting for Judson her whole life. She knew as soon as she saw him that night in Seattle. But is he just looking for a fling with her? After all, she has a terrible track record with men.

Judson is fighting hard for Gwen not to see him as a client, but in the end he cannot refuse her help with his nightmares anymore. He knows he has seen something important in that cave, he just doesn’t know what it was. But with Gwen’s help he can slowly walk through his nightmares and find out. Even if in the end it will mean going back in.
He is a great hero, protective and smart, and he lets Gwen do her thing as well. Together they are a great couple. I loved their interactions and the humor they share.

If you haven’t read one of Jayne Ann Krentz’ books before, I really do recommend to try one. A paranormal or plain contemporary romance. She has also written enough standalones if you don’t want to start with a series. But I do warn you, the 80’s books have really horrible alpha males in them. In the later ones, there is balance between hero and heroine, which I prefrer.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Interview with Michelle Styles, our third author for LLC 2013!

Hi, we are Aurian from Boeklogboek and Maia from Boekenlijstjes, and today we have best selling author Michelle Styles visiting us here in Utrecht, Holland.

Of course you want to know, what is LLC 2013? It is short for Autoren Love Letter Convention 2013, which takes place in Berlin, Germany, on May 25 and 26, 2013. Michelle Styles is one of the British romance authors attending. We had a blast this summer, so we immediately bought the tickets once they became available for next year’s convention.



Our guest is Michelle Styles, author of numerous historical romance novels, written for Harlequin. And thanks of her generosity in giving away some of her books to us last year in Berlin, we both have read some of her work and really enjoy her books.
And we still remember the gorgeous red shoes she wore!

Aurian: Welcome to Utrecht, the Netherlands, Michelle. Have some hot chocolate and some Dutch cookies.

Michelle: Thank very much for having me. I adore hot chocolate and Dutch butter cookies.

Maia: Can you tell our readers who might not yet know you or your books, a little about yourself? Something that is not in your official bio (which is at the bottom of this post).

Michelle: Last May my editors and I decided that I should once again focus on the Viking period so my next novel An Ideal Husband? which comes out in April 2013 is my last Regency/Victorian for awhile. I am very excited about the change as I had been lobbying for it for awhile. My maternal grandfather was half Norwegian and half Swedish so I like the period. Unlike my sister, I don’t speak Norwegian though.

LL Convention questions

Aurian: Could you tell us why you are attending the convention in Berlin, Germany, Europe, again? I know we had a blast last year, but how was it for you as an author? What are some of the differences with American conventions?

Michelle: I was very impressed with the Berlin conference and had such a good time last year and so I knew I had to go again this year. The big difference for the authors is that the readers are so friendly and that there was such a good atmosphere. The authors are worked hard but are also encouraged to meet the readers who were lovely and welcoming. At some US conferences from what I understand, there is a very different vibe.

Maia: The convention is in Berlin, a beautiful city. Are you planning to do some sightseeing? In Berlin or even in the rest of Europe?

Michelle: Last year I got to see a little of Spandau but I am hoping to see more of Berlin. It depends on how tired I get. As my youngest will be taking his A level exams, I will have to go straight back home to the UK.

Aurian: There's a lovely group of authors coming this year. This year another British Harlequin author is attending as well, Annie Burrows. Do you know her personally? Or any of the other new authors?

Michelle: Annie Burrows is a friend and a truly lovely person. I am so pleased she is attending. I also know Jane Porter and Sharon Kendrick very well. They are both lovely people. Really fun and very approachable. All three will enhance the conference.

Book questions

Maia: We both read Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite trope, but I loved how she stood up to him. Do you characters manage to surprise you?

Michelle: My characters often manage to surprise me. They become real people to me and sometimes like real people they are less than cooperative. Sometimes they hide things from me and don’t tell me why they are behaving like that. Sometimes I have to threaten them with being fired...

Aurian: I’ve really enjoyed Miss Hattie Wilkinson meets her match. It was a nice change of pace reading something not taking place in the “ton”. Are your characters more often members of the gentry instead of the haut ton? Do you have a preference, or do their “titles” just fit the story?

Michelle: With my Regency/Victorians I have set them in the North East and I like having people who are not in the charmed circle but the age had so much more to offer. It was such an age of change.

Maia: You write all kinds of historical romances, Regency, Vikings, Romans. We do miss some hot Highlanders in a kilt on your covers. Don’t you like them, or do you think there are enough of those already? What is your favourite time period?

Michelle: I haven’t written any Scottish books. At the moment, my editors want me to focus on the Viking period and there were no kilts then. If I came up with a good idea for a Scottish Highlander, I would write it. I do have Scottish ancestory...

Aurian: Would you like to venture into other genres, like paranormal or Young Adult, or are you happy writing historical romances?

Michelle: I like writing historical romance as it gives me a chance to hold a dark mirror up to today’s society. However, I am slowly venturing into contemporary so it is a sort of watch this space.

Aurian: What is next on your writing schedule?

Michelle: I am currently writing my next Viking which is due 1 April.

Personal questions:

Maia: We both have enormous TBR mountain ranges, how big is yours? And what do you plan on reading next?

Michelle: At the moment I have to do my reading for the Rita judging. I have to get those read first. Unfortunately I am not allowed to talk about them but several look very good.

Aurian: What would you be if you could not be an author?

Michelle: Very bored.

Aurian: Who are some of your favourite authors? Do you still have the books you loved reading as a young girl?

Michelle: I have a lot of favourite authors. They include but are not limited to: Georgette Heyer, Anya Seton, PG Wodehouse, Rosemunde Pilcher and Victoria Holt. Of authors currently writing, I love Julia Quinn, Robyn Carr and a number of harlequin series authors.

And now for some fun quick questions:
Oh good

Are you left-handed or right-handed?
Utterly and totally left handed (Aurian: yes, finally a leftie like me!)

What is your favourite movie, and which is the last one you saw in the theater?
My current favourite movie is Les Miserables. I saw it in the theatre on the 12th of January and cried all the way through it. It was very cathartic. It has been a long time since I saw anything that powerful. My favourite movie tends be Casablanca when I forced to name one.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
A Morning person

What famous author, dead or alive, would you love to meet and why?
I would have loved to meet Georgette Heyer because among other things she founded the Regency romance genre and she also coped with having a husband who is a barrister!




Although I was born and raised near San Francisco, California, USA, I have lived in Britain since 1988 when I married.

The deal was if he passed his Bar exams, I would quit my job in insurance, and go to Northumberland, see how I liked it for a year and then we would decide where our future together would be. We spent our honeymoon in the Canadian Rockies discussing how and why if he were an examiner, my husband would surely have failed. He flew back to the UK and arrived the morning the results were print in The Times. The first time through, he missed his name but then saw it -- the examiners had not followed his fears, but had passed with him with a high mark. My hand trembled as I hung up the phone. It had come to pass. I was about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. I gave my notice to my manager who was sorry to lose me, made arrangements for furniture to be sent across the Atlantic and started reading Catherine Cookson novels to get a flavour of the area. For although I spent my junior year of college at Lancaster University, I had not bothered to travel to the North East.
After reading about ten novels and Catherine Cookson’s autobiography, I thought -- oh no what have I done here and rapidly checked with my manager I could return to my job if things did not work out. I need not have worried. Northumberland is beautiful, truly a forgotten corner of the British Isles with green fields, stone buildings and a landscape littered with castles, and Roman remains. I fell in love with the North East, and in particular with the Tyne Valley. So after, all this time, with three children, two dogs, two cats, and assort of chickens and ducks, I believe we are settled.

Why do I write?
I write because I love to write. I have always loved books and reading. Before I could read, my mother reports my favorite occupation was to sit and look at books. After I learnt to read, in part using the Richard Scary books with his labeled pictures and wonderful anthropomorphic drawings of animals performing all sorts of tasks, I read everything. My childhood favorites included The Wizard of Oz books, the Nancy Drew mystery series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lloyd Alexander’s Book of Three series and countless books of folk tales and fairy stories. As I grew older, I read as widely as possible. If I read a mention of a book in another book, I tried to read that book. By the time I was 12, I knew I wanted to be an author, but the one important piece of advice I received was -- authors must have some sort experience of life. In order to write, you must live.
Years passed and while I wrote articles for newsletters, kept a journal, made several starts at writing novels, I was not serious. Then in 2002 I became seriously ill with gall stones. As I lay in Hexham Hospital, I started to re-evaluate my life. What did I want to do with it? I decided I had lived enough to begin seriously writing, and made a promise to myself, I would write a novel (and finish it!) I started one, but then stopped. How could I say anything of importance? Later that summer I visited the website of Slyvia Engdahl, the author of the Newberry Award winning Enchantress from the Stars. I asked her why she no longer wrote. Her reply was that while she could think up themes, she could no longer think up the tent poles to hang them on. A light bulb moment for me. I thought I can think up tent poles. I became determined to write a novel and more importantly to finish.

My First Sale
My First sale did not happen overnight, I have the form rejections and other rejection letters to prove it.

What else do I do?
Other than writing and reading, my interests include gardening (the restoration of the garden is 25 year project), beekeeping, cooking, needlework, walking and traveling. I also am actively involved with my church.

Where to find Michelle?
website: http://www.michellestyles.co.uk/
twitter: @MichelleLStyles
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michellestylesauthor?ref=ts&fref=ts


Michelle’s next book is An Ideal Husband?, which will be published in April 2013.


And now for the giveaway part:
Are you a follower of my blog, are you going to LLC 2013, and do you want to read one of Michelle’s books? Leave us a comment telling so, and I will randomly choose a winner. If you win, you can choose one of the books availably through Bookdepository.com if they ship to your country.

Of course, if you are not going to LLC, you can still leave us a comment, I love them all.

Jessica Andersen - Demonkeepers

The fourth book in the Nightkeepers series, published April 6, 2012.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: love it



Ancient prophecy holds that 12/21/2012 will bring a global cataclysm. Mankind’s only hope lies with the Nightkeepers, modern magic-wielding warriors who must find their destined mates and fulfill old legends to defeat the rise of terrible Mayan demons.
All his life Lucius has been an outsider. He years to be strong, to be a warrior like the Nightkeepers. And when the Prophet’s magic begins to change him, Lucius finds himself becoming the sort of man he’s always wanted to be.
Held back by her lack of a warrior’s magic and the strictures of her bloodline, Jade longs to break out of her supporting role. Determined to prove her worth among the Nightkeepers at any cost, she won’t let anything stand in her way – especially petty matters like love.
When Lucius and Jade are charged with rescuing the Mayan sun god from the underworld, they ignore their growing attraction. But unless they can confront their demons and accept that love isn’t a weakness, even destiny might not be able to save them.


Of course, the dreaded date of December 21, 2012, has passed, so the Nightkeepers have obviously succeeded in saving the Earth. But I still want to know what they had to do to achieve that goal, so I will keep reading the books. 4 more to go, and if they are all this good, I will enjoy that journey very much.

This part of the series focuses on Jade, the Nightkeepers librarian and spellcrafter. So far her magic is weak, she is the only one without the warriors mark. She wants more for herself than always being in the background, but her winikin has always stuffed her with duty and diligence, and tries to hold her back. But Jade knows she can be more. She needs to be more to help the Nightkeepers. So far, after six months, the human Lucius has not found his magic needed to open the Library after having undergone the Prophet spell. Of course he is happy that he is no longer possessed by the evil makol, and that he seems to be growing in his body. Finally he is looking like the jock his father and older brothers are, instead of the geek he is.

And so Jade offers the King to try sex magic with Lucius. It is not as though they never had sex before, even though that one time was not only awesome but also very disastrous. It could help both of them to find or enlarge their powers.
At first it seems to work, but then the magic takes them to the Underworld, where they witness the sungod Kinich Ahau being held prisoner by the makol. They plan to sacrifice him at the next solstice, and put Akhenaton in his place. Somehow, there was still a god left on earth, and they would have to free him. The Nightwalkers would need him in the coming fight.
Then the magic brings them back to Lucius’ cottage, only to whisk them away again. But this time, Jade ends up in the barrier, and Lucius in the Library he has been looking for. Only getting back might not be so easy. Nor is returning again, especially with the warnings his predecessor left him.
Jade meets her ancestors in the barrier, and gets some conflicting advice. But her powers are growing, and she is determined to pursue her relationship with Lucius. Only he seems to have second thoughts now, having been rebuffed by her all those months ago. Does she only want him for his new buff body? His new powers? Or does she really love him, and can he admit to his feelings for her? After all, the thought of her kept him sane, all those months captured in the Between.

Anna is determined to live the best life she can have in the remaining two and a half years, she is convinced that the Nightwalkers cannot succeed. There should have been hundreds of them to fight the demons, not just the handful of warriors they are! And she never wanted her seer powers, so she cannot help them either. Strike is of course not happy with this, but he cannot force her.

Rabbit is up to something, his girlfriend has put the thought in his head, that he wants to find his mother. Perhaps not all of the Xibalba are evil, like Iago and his cult of followers. The Nightkeepers do personal bloodsacrifices to raise the magic, but the Xibalba sacrifice others.

Time is running out, they have to find access to the Library again, and they will have to free Kinick Ahau. The Nightkeepers will have to do all in their powers to achieve those goals.


Again, a totally fresh story. I enjoyed the fact that their enemies did not really show up this time, apart from one scene. I really loved Jade and Lucius together, I have had a soft spot for them since the first book. I am not so sure what to think about Lucius body changing like that though. Is he a Nightkeeper after all?

Patience is getting tired of being separated from her children. She wants to see them, to know for sure that they are safe, but Strike won’t budge. His priority is to keep the boys safe, and not to make Patience happy. The relationship between Patience and Brand is deteriorating as well, as it seems that Brand keeps choosing Strike’s side in this. And so Patience sets out to find out her children’s location on her own, doing whatever she needs to do to find them.


A lot of story threads, and I can’t wait how it all will play out. I really love this series. Even though they are all working to the same goal, to stop December 21, 2012 from being the disaster for the world and humanity as is prophesied, every story is different. If you want to start reading this series, do so in the right order. You will miss out on a lot otherwise, even though you can read it for the romance part alone. It is the awesome use of mythology in this book that captivates me, the action and of course the finding of love. Love is the most important thing in the universe, not power, and is needed to win the war.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

New additions to my addiction

The first book that fell on my doormat this year, has been anticipated by me for a very long time:

For Review:
Allyson James – Nightwalker. This is the fourth book in the Stormwalker series, and Allyson/Jennifer has selfpublished this. I am very happy to have received a paper review copy. The cover is stunning.

From Bookdepository:
Maya Banks – Shades of Gray

Secondhand books:
Heather Graham - Love Not A Rebel
Laura Griffin - Untraceable
Andrea Kane - Echoes In the Mist
Cait Logan - Wild Dawn
Lindsay McKenna - Daughter of Destiny
Patricia Rice - Denim & Lace
Patricia Rice - Texas Lily
Patricia Rice - This Magic Moment
Patricia Rice - Wayward Angel
Eugenia Riley - Angel Flame
Karen Robards - Whispers At Midnight
Barbara Dawson Smith - Fire on the Wind
Stephanie Tyler - Hard to Hold

Books I’ve won:
Elle Kennedy – Midnight Rescue

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian

Alan Bradley – The sweetness at the bottom of the pie

The first book in the Flavia de Luce Mystery series, published April 28, 2009.
Genre: historical mystery
Cover: not something I would normally pick up.



It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”


I have read reviews about this series before, and they made me curious. An 11 year old English girl with a love for chemistry and a gift for sleuthing? I wanted to read it, even though the covers really do nothing for me, quite the contrary. So when I was browsing my ebooks late last night, I decided to open the book and read a few pages before turning in. Even though the book is kind of strange, I was captivated by Flavia, and did not want to stop reading. Hooray for a week off, so I could indulge myself. I finished the book at 3 a.m.

This book takes place in the 1950’s. Flavia lives with her absentminded father, her two older sisters, a cook and a live in jack of all trades, Dogger, a man with PTSD from the war, currently the gardener, in a big old mansion in the English countryside. Her father spends his days with his stamp collection, and mourning his wife. Her sister Ophelia spends all her time reading whatever she can get her hands on, and her sister Daphne is just a pain in Flavia’s behind.
Flavia’s life changed when she found an old chemistry book that belonged to one of her forebearers, and her father gave her access to the old chemistry lab in the house, that still has a very unique collection of good appliances and beakers and stuff, all in prime condition. Flavia is in heaven. She is especially interested in poison’s and kind of an expert about it all. Totally fascinated with it.

Then one day, their cook/housekeeper finds a dead bird on their doorstep, with a stamp on its beak, and her father totally overreacts about it. That same night, Flavia is wakened by harsh voices coming from her father’s study, and when she sneaks downstairs, she sees him arguing with a stranger. As it is summer, and dawn is early, she cannot sleep any longer, and creeps downstairs to the garden. Where she stumbles on this stranger while he is breathing his last breath. And there is something strange about the smell of that last breath, but Flavia doesn’t directly recognize it. Flavia is fascinated by this, to see a man die. After that, she fetches Dogger, their gardener, to help her deal with this. There is no choice but to call the police. After all, the man has been murdered.

Of course she does not tell them that this man has been arguing with her father last night, not wanting to incriminate him. But when the police tell her to just fetch them some tea, and not come back to the garden, while she is so very interested in their investigation, she is peeved. She is the one who found the body afteral! And so she decides to do a little investigating on her own. And on, I am not going to spoil anything about the story itself. But yes, pie is important in this story.


I enjoyed Flavia very much, I loved how she got her revenge on her older sister by spiking her lipstick with an extract of poison ivy. Those older sisters really shut her out of their lives, teasing her unmercifully. But she does get them back. She is very resourceful, and independent, and figures out a decades old murder before the police. And it sure is a doozy. The story was absolutely captivating, the characters real, and the descriptions of everything, like I was walking there myself.
When Flavia’s father told her what happened when he was at school, I felt like watching a movie, as I saw it all happening. I will for sure read more books in this series. There was some suspense of course, when the bad guy kidnapped Flavia. I especially loved the ending of the book. And the police inspector really was impressed with Flavia’s laboratory.
This is certainly not like my usual cozy mysteries, but I am impressed with it, and really do recommend it.

8 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Lisa Plumley – My favorite witch

A stand alone novel, published September 1, 2009.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: totally not representing the book, though it is cute.



Dayna Sterling's always been betwixt and between. Born in a desert town populated by witches and blissfully ignorant humans, Dayna had magic, but no clue how to handle it. So she left to forge a workaday life among ordinary Joes. Which is fine, really - until the day one most extraordinary Joe turns everything upside down...The assignment is simple. Trace the runaway witch; bring her home for compulsory 'cusping' training. So why does Dayna set T.J. McAllister's half-warlock blood buzzing? Maybe it's the bonding spell that spontaneously connects them. Or the fact that T.J.'s powers go wonky whenever he's around Dayna. In any case, the attraction is making it damn hard for T.J. to accomplish his most important mission: prevent a dangerous uprising by locating a powerful witch prophesied to help him. She could be anywhere. She could be closer than he thinks...


Okay, first let’s talk about the cover. I like it. But it has nothing to do with the book itself. A spooky kind of love it says. There is no ghost or spook or anything like that in the book. No graveyeard, no church, no bats. Only lots of witches and warlocks, but they are certainly not flying on a broomstick. Yes, it does take place around Halloween. Irritatingly spelled in a strange way in this book.

Dayna Sterling is a witch who ran away from home after highschool. Highschool was a horrible time for her. She is miserable at doing magic, most spells go wrong for her, and she is the laughingstock of the school. Her parents will never be proud of her. So she has gone to live in the human world, forsaking her magic. But now she has turned 30, her powers seem to be on the fritz even more than usual. But she likes her new life, her friends, and her work. She is good at what she does.

And then a tracer shows up at her work, determined to bring her forcefully back to Covenhaven. And so he just kidnaps her. He doesn’t even give her the time to change her wet clothes, and pack her bags. What does she need human made stuff for in
Covenhaven? She can just conjure up whatever she needs. Yeah, if only! But something goes wrong, when they accidentally bond together. The unwanted attraction between them is hard to ignore.

When dumped in the streets of Covenhaven by TJ and the driver, Deuce, a turned human, she is ordered to report in at AID at once. The only problem is, her magic is so non existent, she can’t see the magicked entrance to the offices. As it appears, when a witch hits 30, her powers come more strongly on line, called “cusping”. And now she has been brought back here for witch classes, so she can learn to control her magic and pass her exams. Going back to highschool for three weeks is the most horrible thing she can imagine, especially when all the witches she grew up with will be there as well. And o yeah, classes started yesterday, so she is already behind on the rest. But if there is no other choice, and she really doesn’t want to endanger innocent humans with her runaway magic, she straightens her shoulders, and goes for it.
And it is every bit as horrible as she imagined. Even her best friend from back then is changed beyond recognition. She is wearing a pastel twin set, works at a child care facility, is married, a mother, owns a dog and is a member of the PTA. All the things they swore they would never do. But well, when Dayna left for the human world, she also left her best friend behind without keeping in touch. Still, it is great to see her again.

When Dayna realises she is not being house in a dorm room, with roommates and a chaperone, like told before, but living with Deuce instead, because his partner asked him to keep an eye on her, she doesn’t know what to think. But having sex is a very casual and necessary thing for witches and warlocks, so when she finds TJ outside, sunbathing in the nude, she knows she wants him. Yes, she does know that consummating their relationship will cement the matingbond between them, but she still thinks that will only be temporarily. After graduation, she will go back to her normal life.
And when a witch wants a warlock, the warlock usually has little chance of telling her no. They truly are a horny lot.

TJ is half warlock, and half Patayan, but fully powerful with magic. He is the best tracer the buro has, but now he has been put on suspension when he refuses to dance to his bosses demands. His Patayan magus has told him some dark magic is brewing in Covenhaven, the Old Ways are back, and he needs to find a Vixen witch to help them fight it. And so he tails some of the witches in Dayna’s class, finding it impossible to stay out of her way. He is determined to do his job, and save mankind. But can he trust this unknown witch enough to let her safe the day?


I am still not sure if I liked this book or not. The first part, the brutal abduction from her life, was getting my hackles up. They could have informed her by letter or telephone, that she needed to come back home for training, explaining things. And if she did not comply, then they could have send a tracer to bring her in. But just abducting her from her normal life, that felt so wrong.
Dayna accepted it pretty quick though, resigning herself to her fate. She has a strange relationship with her parents, and when they finally revealed what happened in Dayna’s childhood, I really was flabbergasted. How could they do that to her? Did they not see how terribly unhappy she was?
So when the cool girls finally reached out to her, seeming to accept her in their midst, I think Dayna should have been more leary. But she was just happy to be bonding. Witches are not meant to be solitary in this world.

The evil plot was evil indeed, but I did enjoy the ending of the book.
I did like Dayna, how she perseveres and studies, and does her best, even though her magic keeps backfiring. She wants to graduate, and get back to her normal life. But TJ makes her doubt her plans when she falls for him more and more.
And TJ is a strange mixture of magics and heritage. Sunbathing in the nude gets his powers revved up, and a betrayal of his trust is almost killing him from the pain of it. Not all is well at IAD though, and it takes quite a while for him to figure it all out.

The story itself was surprising, and good, but at times I found it a bit childish. Lots of sex, a nice sense of humor, but still not enough for me to make me really like this book and want to read more by this author. Still, this is a stand alone novel, and perhaps I will try one of her series someday. It really is not bad, but just not for me.

6 stars

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian

Sarah MacLean – Ten ways to be Adored when Landing a Lord

The second book in the Love by Numbers series, published October 26, 2010.
Genre: historical romance
Cover: nice, and with a gorgeous stepcover inside



Lord Nicholas is a paragon of manhood. And his eyes, Dear Reader! So Blue!
Pearls and Pelissses, June 1823.

Since being named 'London's Lord to Land' by a popular ladies' magazine, Nicholas St. John has been relentlessly pursued by every matrimony-minded female in the ton. So when an opportunity to escape fashionable society presents itself, he eagerly jumps - only to land in the path of the most determined, damnably delicious woman he's ever met!
The daughter of a titled wastrel, Lady Isabel Townsend has too many secrets and too little money. Though she is used to taking care of herself quite handily, her father's recent passing has left Isabel at sea and in need of outside help to protect her young brother's birthright. The sinfully handsome, eminently eligible Lord Nicholas could be the very salvation she seeks.
But the lady must be wary and not do anything reckless and foolish… like falling madly, passionately in love.


Lady Isabel Townsend is the daughter of an Earl, or as she calls him: the Wastrearl. Her father was a selfish man, pursuing all his own pleasures, gambling everything away, not caring about his wife, his daughter, or even his young son and heir. When the servants got tired of not getting paid, they left, leaving Isabel alone at age 17 to take care of her dying mother, and her baby brother. If it wasn’t for the runaway girl she found in the shed a few nights later, she would have been all on her own. But taking in Kate was the best thing she ever did, she became a loyal friend and servant, and she was only the first of the many girls and women in need Isabel took in over the years. Her latest rescue, the sister of a Duke, will be a problem though. She is sure to be searched for extensively, a Duke won’t let his sister escape him so easily. Still, the girl needs help and she will give it to her as much as she can.
Today the household consist of about 20 women, herself, her cousin and her 10 year old brother, the new Earl. Her father has died, leaving them totally penniless, with a guardian for her brother they don’t know and who hasn’t taken the time to come visit yet. The roof of the house is leaking, so Isabel has no choice but to try to repair it herself.
She has only one option left to raise some money, enough to move Minerva House to some rental property, and send her brother to Eton, to find his place among his peers. And that is to sell the Marbles her mother left her. Isabel has a very fine collection of Greek and Roman statues, and she loves looking at them, but now it is time to sell them.

In the ladies magazine her “girls” love to read, the Pearls and Pelisse, there is this article about how to catch the man of your dreams, featuring Lord Nicholas St. John as the main catch of the season. But Lord Nicholas is also the leading expert on Greek and Roman antiquities, and just the man she needs to appraise and catalogue her collection. So when she is literally swept of her feet by that same man in the village, that sure is a sign.

Ever since that article in the blasted magazine, Nicholas St. John has been accosted by women where ever he goes. He is not even safe in his club, when the male members push him to accept the invitations sent to him by his wife. So when the Duke of Leighton asks for his help in finding his missing sister, he and his friend Rock are happy for the excuse to escape London and all women. Nicholas used to be the best hunter / tracker the war office had in the war against Napoleon, he always found his quarry, so he is optimistic he can find Georgiana. He also is a sucker for a lady in need of rescuing, so how can he refuse?
And so they set out to follow the three week old trail, to Yorkshire. Where he rescues a lady from a pair of runaway horses about to trample her. A lady who won’t admit that she needed rescuing, and who is strangely nervous when he agrees to appraise her marbles collection for her. Did they just find the last link to the missing Georgiana?

And so, instead of waiting for the next day, Nicholas and Rock decide to visit that same afternoon, and find out what Lady Isabel is hiding. Nicholas is not pleased at all, when he finds Isabel on her roof, instead of the salon, embroidering. That is no job for a lady, she should hire someone to do it! She has servants enough! It takes a while for him to see through the disguises, as most men just sees what he is expecting to see when looking at a servant, but he is determined to find out all Lady Isabel’s secrets and help her, whether she wants it or not.

But his own secret comes out, when the Duke of Leighton has send out more men to find his daughter, and those ruffians just kidnap her. Isabel feels betrayed by him, and rightly so. He has asked her to trust him, and then betrayed that trust. He has seduced her, only for his own purposes? She won’t marry him now!


I really enjoyed this book, I loved Isabel who is so strong and takes care of so many problems, helping all those women in need. But now she has reached the end of her tether, and needs Nicholas’ help. But she won’t give in easily, she is stubborn but also very open in her feelings and desires. And the handsome Nicholas, suddenly pursued by every woman in town, what is a man to do but to escape? Only to end up in a houseful of women in need of rescuing. That has been his weakness for his entire life. Luckily he has his friend Rock to help him, and to rant against. Though Rock is mostly highly amused with Nicholas and what he is going through. Isabel and Nicholas were very much fun together.

But, I just have to air some complaints I have regarding this book. The major one, being that Rock is a Turk, from Turkey, and as he says himself, not a Christian but a heathen. Turkey did not exist yet in the time this book plays, 1823. He would be a Muslim from the Ottoman Empire. And as such, he would use the word Allah instead of God, nor would he drink some brandy. I did like his character, but every time the word Turk was used, I cringed. It is just so wrong.
My second disbelieving point is, why did her father not sell those marbles long ago, he sold everything else that was not entailed.
My third complaint is totally personal: I dislike heroes who expect the heroine to spill all her secrets just because he wants to know them, and thinks he has a right to them, as she is just a female and he wants to help her. Even though they are virtual strangers and she has no reason to trust him yet.
And last, I found the lovescenes to be copies from the first book, the same actions / scenes / sequence. If you read books with a year between them, you would probably not notice that, but as I read them in one week, I did notice.

Still, I really did enjoy the book; I love the writing style, the characters, the humor, the story. I loved the parts above the chapters, advice from the magazine on how to land your Lord. It is original and fun. And again, it did make me cry in parts. I also loved the parts with her little brother, and how Nicholas teaches him to tie his cravat. This little Earl sure is a promising character for the future. And of course Georgiana and her brother have an intriguing story. I do hope this stubborn arrogant Earl will fall hard for a girl far beneath him, like Nicholas’ half sister, and adjusts his high and lofty standards.

There was a secondary romance with Rock as well, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in this trilogy.

8 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian

Allison Pang – A trace of Moonlight

The third book in the Abby Sinclair series, published October 30, 2012.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: nice



Drinking from the waters of the Lethe and offering herself up as Faerie's sacrificial Tithe ... these just might be the least of Abby Sinclair's problems.

Abby's pact with a demon - whether or not she remembers making it - is binding, so she'd better count herself lucky that (in the words of a daemon who knows better) there's nearly always a loophole. But her friends' reckless attempts to free her, well intentioned though they may be, set off a disastrous chain of events. In no time at all, Abby turns her incubus lover mortal and gets herself killed, cursed, and married to an elven prince whose mother wants her dead. She might have even been able to recover from all that had she not lost the Key to the CrossRoads to her mortal enemy, who promptly uses his restored power to wreak havoc on the OtherWorld and put its very existence in jeopardy.
Only one person can make things right again, but to find her Abby must place her trust in allies of mixed loyalties, and conquer her nightmares once and for all.


This book took off where the previous one ended, a few weeks have gone by. But Abby has no memories of who she is, or was, and how she comes to be engaged to a Faery Prince, living the live of a Princess in Faery. The Queen is nice to her, so is Prince Talivar, and her half sister, Moira. There is also this tiny unicorn, keeping her company. Abby just floats through the days, wandering the gardens. Sometimes she dreams, most often not, but one night, her dream stays with her. Something important happened there, and she met another man in this dream. What does it all mean? Talivar just brushes it off, but Abby feels something is important about it, and the bells from her dream she woke up with in her hand.

Then something horrible happens, Abby dies, but comes back to life again, with all her memories back. Why did they all lie to her, deceive her so? IF she is to be sacrificed to Hell in a few weeks, she wants to go back home, to her friends and her life on Earth as a human. But the Queen shows her nasty side, and forbids Abby to leave Faery, putting a geas on her. Talivar tries to safe her, by Handfasting with Abby, and then claiming his wedding night, which the Queen will have to allow. But she is not happy that her son is fighting her decisions again, and will punish him severely. Abby and Talivar and Phineas escape the castle, trying to reach the Burrow to seek sanctuary, again. With some adventure along the way, they reach their destination, and Talivar will become King of the Unseelie, as he was meant to be all along. With his missing eye and lame leg, he has never been good enough for the Seelie Court, who only want perfection.
Will the Court’s stand against each other in war, again? Or will Moira be the next Queen at last? But then the evil Maurice is making troubles again, major ones this time, by killing the Tree. And if the Tree dies, the Crossroads will disappear for ever, and the Fae will fade. Only Melanie might be able to safe the tree, but she has gone missing ever since Abby ‘died’. She will have to find her way back to the Dreaming to find her, and to safe her. And take care of all the Fae still on earth.


It took me a while to bring the previous story back into my mind, but I totally enjoyed this book. There is no rest for Abby whatsoever. She is still torn between Talivar and Brystion, especially now she is married to Talivar, but she loves them both, in different ways. She is ready to give up her life to safe all her friends, she will keep fighting, she still has to learn to control her powers as a dreamer, she has to overcome her nightmares and her feelings for her father. It is certainly not easy to be Abby, but she perseveres, she fights, and in the end, she is still alive.

I loved meeting all the previous characters again, getting an update on their lives and / or seeing them fight alongside Abby. Phineas, or hornicorn, as Abby calls him, is a fun secondary character. He sacrificed his horn to safe Abby, and I do admire that in him. He still loves his bacon though. The part with the trolls and the goats was just plain fun.
The world building is phenomenal and totally unique. Allison Pang has really done a great job on that. If you like your Urban Fantasy with some hot love scenes thrown in as well, I do recommend this series to you. I would not be able to choose between the two men either.

9 stars.

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian

Sarah MacLean – Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake

The first book in the Love by Numbers series, published March 30, 2010.
Genre: historical romance
Cover: nice



A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried - and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.
But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss - to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston - charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.
If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all - the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love . . .


I’ve had some of Sarah MacLean’s books on my shelves for a while, and finally picked on up yesterday. The writing style and the engaging heroine immediately sucked me into the book, and I finished it today in almost one sitting. I very much enjoyed it, and it won’t be long before I will read the next one.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is not a great beauty, she is 28 and firmly on the shelf. O she could have married some kind of fortune hunter, or elderly gentleman, but she wants a love match. And now that her beautiful younger sister has found that, the yearning has grown stronger to do something about her own boring life. She probably won’t find her white knight any more, so she is ready for some adventure in her life, to discover what men do while women wait at home for them. And fortified by some extra sherry, she makes a list. And decides to pursue the one she wants most at once. To be kissed, passionately. She has been in love with the Marquess of Ralston for 10 years now, and the rake doesn’t even know she exists. And so, in the middle of the night, she sets out for his house, to ask for a kiss.

Gabriel St. John has just discovered he and his twin brother have a half sister, his mother apparently married an Italian merchant and had a daughter with him, before she left them behind, just like she did their father and them when they were about 5 years old. He will take care of Juliana, but her perhaps illegitimate birth will not make her very welcome in the ton. He will need to find someone of impeccable reputation to sponsor her into society. And both he and his brother will have to become less scandalous, and more discreet in their private lives as well. So when a young cloaked lady is shown into his bedroom by his butler, he thinks it is his former mistress, whom he just broke up with, begging for another chance. He could not be more surprised to find Callie there. But he agrees to give her a kiss, if she will aid him with his sister. What he does not expect, is the intensity of the kiss they share, he has never felt something like that before!

When he finds out that Callie is jeopardizing her own reputation, that she has a list of possibly scandalous things she wants to do, he needs to protect her. She will not drag his sister’s name down with her! And if he can steel a few more kisses, why not?


I loved this book. I loved Callie, who is not pretty or young, and decides she has had enough of playing by the rules. She finally wants to live a little, and try some of the things forbidden for ladies. Some are easy, some are not, but I enjoyed reading about her. She is not very courageous, so it is not easy for her to do it all, but she plans it as well as she can, and really enjoys her adventures. Even if they do go wrong and she needs to be rescued.
Callie is not brazen or bold, she is aware of her shortcomings in the beauty department, she is realistic, she just wants more out of life than being a spinster or to be an aunt to her sister’s future offspring. I admire her for that.
And then there is Gabriel. Sigh. He doesn’t believe in love, ever since he witnessed his father’s collapse when his mother left them. And he can’t believe he and his title and his wealth are not enough for Callie when he finally opens his eyes to what is in front of him.

I enjoyed the secondary characters a lot as well, both their families, and I am very much looking forward to the next books in this series, hoping they will be the main characters. And I am very happy that those books are on my shelves already.

Nine Rules to Break is a good historical romance. I liked the characters, and yes, I did cry along with Callie a few times, they are very well portrayed, and original. I do recommend this book to all historical romance lovers.

8 stars.

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian

Melissa Mayhue – Warrior Reborn

The second book in the Warrior series, published October 30, 2012.
Genre: paranormal historical romance
Cover: I always love half naked muscled men on my covers, especially with a tattoo and a big sword :)



Former special ops agent Chase Noble has been searching his whole life for the place where he belongs. As a descendant of the Fae, he senses fate has more in store for him. And he will not rest until he discovers what his true purpose is. When he travels back in time to medieval Scotland, he discovers his mission is to save a beautiful woman – the same woman he is destined to be with.
Christiana MacDowell possesses the gift of foresight. Prisoner of her evil half brother, Christiana has visions that show her that only one warrior can rescue her – a man she is mysteriously drawn to. The only problem is, he’s in the future. Now she must rely on the magic of a fairy to transport him to the past. And when Christiana finally meets Chase, the sparks between them set off a smoldering desire. But will the magic that brought them together also tear them apart?


This book continues where the first in the series ended, with Christiana back in captivity with her evil half brother Torquil. Torquil is a descendant of Odin, with magical powers of his own. But he is trying to master more of the old magic, dark magic, and it has made him some sort of possessed. He has been lusting after his half sister for ever, but even he won’t cross that line. He does want her powers of foresight though, and the things she finds out on her Vision quests to benefit him. So he won’t allow her to join her other brothers, she is his prisoner, and she will stay that for as long as he has use of her.
Christiana’s powers also make her unable to lie, and it has been a long time before she learned not to lie outright, but also not to answer fully and to hide the meaning of her words. She has foreseen a champion coming, but it is a champion for her, not for Torquil. With the help of her brother’s mother in law, the Faery, she managed to get Chase back in time to her. Which he doesn’t mind at all. His father was Faery as well, and he promised Chase that one day he would find his Soulmate, and find his place in the world. Chase has been all over the world on one op after the other, never finding that place. Now he has quit and is doing odd jobs here and there, still searching. With Christiana, he knows he has finally found his place and his purpose, and his Soulmate. He will keep her safe, and free her from her evil brother. The Faery magic makes it possible for him to understand the old language, and make his words understandable for others. His knowledge about all kinds martial arts and weapons makes handling a sword instead of a gun easy as well, especially with the help of the Irish Halldor O’Donar who found him almost naked on the moor. Halldor befriends him, and they present themselves as brothers at Torquil’s castle, hiring themselves out as guards and fighters.
But the more they learn about Torquil, the more they know something is very wrong here.


Halldor is on a mission of his own, and I am very curious to learn what that is, and how he knows what he does. I hope the next book is his.
I liked Christiana; she does what she can to thwart Torquil’s plans, although that is not very much. As her brother treats her so badly, the rest of the soldiers and servants are looking down on her as well. Of course, Chase cannot stand the sight of that, someone mistreating her, and comes to her rescue, making some enemies on the way.

It is a good historical paranormal romance series, a nice mix of time travel, Faery magic, and evil. Good characters, a fun and original story, and I am looking forward to the next book already.

I liked this book, and read for over an hour while waiting for the AA to come rescue me when my car broke down Friday afternoon. I am so glad I always have a book with me, otherwise I would have been bored silly, waiting that long in the freezing cold.

9 stars,

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian