Jennifer Estep - Dark Heart of Magic

The second book in the Black Blade series, published October 27, 2015.
Genre: young adult urban fantasy
Cover: intriguing



Something Wicked This Way Comes . . .
As a thief, I stick to the shadows as much as possible. But when the head of the Sinclair Family picks me to compete in the Tournament of Blades, there's no escaping the spotlight--or the danger.
Even though he's my competition, Devon Sinclair thinks I have the best shot at winning what's supposed to be a friendly contest. But when the competitors start having mysterious "accidents," it looks like someone will do anything to win--no matter who they hurt.
As if I didn't have enough to worry about, mobster Victor Draconi is plotting against Devon and the rest of my friends, and someone's going around Cloudburst Falls murdering monsters. One thing's for sure. Sometimes, humans can be more monstrous than anything else...


The second book in the series is just as good as the first. Lila proves her skills in dealing with monsters again, and I did like that part a lot. Something or someone is killing them, and they are not even bad monsters, so I felt sorry for them. She is also stealing into the Draconi Mansion, trying to find out Victors plans. He is after the Sinclairs, and probably the other Family's as well.
And then Lila's name has been announced as a contestant in the Tournament of Blades, and she is very unhappy about that. She is a thief, and she doesn't like the limelight one single bit. And now she has to compete, show her skills to all the Family's? But the Sinclair Family seems to be really proud of her and her skills, so she doesn't have a choice. Especially when she learns that the head of the Sinclair Family knows who she really is, and knew her mother very well. Her mother died saving Devon when he was a small boy, and Victor Draconis murdered her for that.

Felix, Devon's best friend, has secretly been in love with Deah Draconis for a while now, so when his fling from last year, Katia, is back in town and she wants to continue with their fling, he is not so happy. He doesn't want to hurt Katia, and Deah is not tolerating Katia flirting with him. Of course, she also can't let her Family know she likes Felix. The only time her father pays any attention to her, is when she wins the Tournament. Deah is really, really good at that, she has a Mimic talent, and it works a lot like Lila's own powers. But meeting Deah's mother is strange every time. She is a powerful Seer, but she keeps confusing Lila with her mother. Did they al know each other in the past?

Lila learns a lot more about her own Family, and her parents. And to make it out of the hands of a deranged killer alive, she will need to work together with her new cousin …

I look very much forward to reading the next book in the series. Even though it is YA, with all the longing that involves, I enjoy this very much. Bring on the monsters!


9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

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Kevin Hearne - Staked

The eighth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles series, published January 26, 2016.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: nice



Iron Druid Atticus O'Sullivan, hero of Kevin Hearne's epic urban fantasy series, has a point to make - and then drive into a vampire's heart.

When a Druid has lived for two thousand years like Atticus, he's bound to run afoul of a few vampires. Make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers - led by power-mad pain-in-the-neck Theophilus - have become a huge problem requiring a solution. It's time to make a stand.
As always, Atticus wouldn't mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ornery archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll trouble: Turns out when you stiff a troll, it's not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki's mark and elude his powers of divination - a quest that will bring her face-to-face with several Slavic nightmares.
As Atticus globetrots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won't come without a price: In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.


Well, the blurb pretty much says it all. An action filled book, with three different storylines, Atticus and Oberon, Granuaile and Orlaith, and Owen. Atticus fights vampires, and tries to find the head vampire to slay him, as he was the one that sicked the Romans after the Druids, causing them to die out (well, except for Atticus himself, and his old mentor Owen).
Granauile has been branded by Loki, and she needs to get rid of that brand. For that, she needs Odin's help. When Loki comes after her, after her visit to Asgard, she sure makes him pay for what he has done to her, and I did love that scene!
And Owen is trying to make a new life for himself, after been outside of time for 2000 years. His werewolf girlfriend and her pack have found him 6 new apprentices to train, and his job is to keep them safe. And that means: Atticus is banned from the territory, as where ever he goes, his enemies follow.

Sad things happen, but also lots of fun things. I love the mix of all the different mythologies. Oberon and Orlaith are great, and Orlaith has finally learned enough to be able to talk to Oberon. So now they can beg for sausages and bacon together!
I wish I had read this book before I went to Berlin, instead of right after, as Atticus visits it and it would have been fun to try to find those places.

We are also introduced to a new character, a powerful seer, who sees things while making cheese out of different kinds of milk. Fun, original and very quirky.

This book continues after a short story called A Prelude of War, and Kevin Hearne warns about that in the start of the book. And also that, lucky me, it is included in the back of the book. So if you have bought the Orbit version, trade size paperback, you are in luck. Otherwise, I recommend you buy and read the novella first.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Jennifer Estep - Cold Burn of Magic

The first book in the Black Blade series, published April 28, 2015
Genre: young adult urban fantasy
Cover: meh



There Be Monsters Here. . .
It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power.
I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick.
But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. . .


The first book in a good new series. Lila lives her life in the shadows, going to school, doing odd jobs for her only friend Mo (and those involve a lot of breaking and entering and stealing) but she likes her life. Of course she still misses her mother a lot, who was killed a few years ago, and after a few very unsuccessful stays with foster families, she now lives on her own. A hidden room in the basement of the public library is her home. She prefers living in the shadows, because if the Family's know about her, her life and her magic are forfeit. They are always feuding amongst each other, looking for new guards or just killing people for their magic.
And now, after saving the son of the Sinclair Family, she is no longer living in secret, Mo has hired her out to the Sinclair's as Devon's new bodyguard. Okay, living in a mansion is not that bad, at least there is always enough bacon! And her own pixie to look after her room and things is fun as well, when he finally warms up to her. But being the center of attention is taking a lot of getting used to.
But someone on the inside, a trusted member of the family, is after Devon, and it is her job to keep him safe…


I really enjoyed this story, and Lila is quite the character. She is strong and resilient, and sassy of course. She doesn't want to feel for Devon what she does, she is planning on keeping him safe, serve out her contract, and than leave town in a hurry. So being kind of friends will be fine, anything more is not.
The Family's all own a part of town, and it is their job to keep the citizens and many tourists safe from the monsters that live in and around it. And for doing that, they get taxes. You really could compare them to the mob. Lila's mother told her all about the monsters, and how to treat them. Pay the toll, and what to pay, because different monsters want different things. Most people laugh at that, but in the end, it saves lives … and costs lives …

Yes, original, and still in the same world as Jennifer Estep's other series. I like that.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Allyson James - Shadowwalker

The third book in the Stormwalker series, published June 7, 2011.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: good
Re-read for the second time.



Racing her motorcycle down a lonely winter highway, Stormwalker Janet Begay feels the ground collapse beneath her feet. After tumbling two hundred feet into an underground cavern, she manages to escape with help from her sexy dragon-shifter boyfriend, Mick--but not before they disturb dark forces.
As Janet contends with a hotel inspector intent on putting her out of business, and her grandmother, who's taken up residence, Mick's behavior becomes strange and erratic, until he is a clear danger to Janet and her friends.
Janet's drag-queen, attitude-ridden magic mirror insists that Mick has been "touched by shadows," and Janet realizes that someone is out to enslave her dragon. Now she must free Mick before he kills her . . .


The series keeps getting better and better! After falling into a sinkhole in the highway, while riding her beloved Harley, and being chased by Sheriff Nash Jones, Janet's Beneath magic is the source of strange ancient symbols attacking her. Only her dragonshifter boyfriend Mick can save her in the nick of time with his dragonfire. When they are finally rescued from the hole, and the ancient cave system they fell into, stranger things keep happening.
Some being is after Nash, pretending to be his mother, and Mick is acting more and more strange lately, disappearing for hours at a time. Finally Janet finds out that a powerful witch has enslaved him, by using his real name.
Desperately, Janet searches for ways to free him from the witch, before Mick kills her and her friends… And what has her wicked half-sister Gabrielle have to do with it all?


Great series, I love the Navajo legends and lore in it, and the fact that Janet is Navajo herself, or Diné. Her grandmother sure is powerful and scary, and Elena, her Apache chef is equally strange and dangerous. They keep a very close eye on Janet, never really trusting her because of her Beneath magic, but Janet is learning to deal with it, blending it with her Stormwalker powers.
Other great characters are her handyman, and Maya, her electrician, who is Nash Jones' girlfriend. Cassandra, the hotel manager is also a strong witch, and her girlfriend Pamela is a shapeshifter. And then there is Coyote, causing mischief and never giving the answers Janet so desperately needs. Other dragon shifters are not friendly either, wanting to kill Janet for her powers, but Mick has made her his mate, and they can't touch her now.

Yes, great series, recommended. Great characters you become invested in, they tug on your emotions. Lots of magic and magical beings around, I do love that. And yes, very very hot love scenes.
Book 5 was released earlier this year.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Susan Wittig Albert - Bittersweet

Book 23 in the China Bayles series, published April 7, 2015.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: nice



China is planning to visit her mother, Leatha, and her mother s husband, Sam, for Thanksgiving. She's also looking forward to catching up with a friend, game warden Mackenzie "Mack" Chambers. But Leatha calls with bad news: Sam has had a heart attack. While Sam recuperates, Leatha does have a helper - Sue Ellen Krause. But Sue Ellen - who's leaving her husband, the assistant foreman at a trophy game ranch - has troubles of her own. Before she can tell China the full story, Sue Ellen is killed in a car crash.
When a local veterinarian is shot, Mack believes his murder could be related to fawns stolen from a nearby ranch. And China wonders if Sue Ellen's death may not have been an accident, and if there's a connection to the stolen animals...


With this book, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about the American kind of hunting at a "trophy game ranch". Where exotic animals are bred so they have a big rack, where white tail deer are smuggled from one state to the next, and "hunters" can sit in a comfy location and shoot them when those tame animals come out to eat. There is no sportsmanship involved at all, no skills, just killing animals for a trophy on the wall. Even real life pigeons are used like clay pigeons. I understand that it is a way to make a living when farming is no longer earning that, but I found all this horrible.

I did enjoy reading about something called "yarn bombing", what China's best friend Ruby is involved in. Knitters knit things for street furniture or trees, when they are tired from knitting hats and scarves and sweaters. I had just read about it, when I saw it myself in Berlin, where some fences had knitted wool covers. It is even considered art. So that was fun.

China's mother and her husband are trying to set up a bird watching place, with a bed and breakfast. But now that Sam has had his heart attack, and won't be able to work as hard as he is used to doing, how can her mother cope on her own? China is worried about that, she has her own life, her family and business to run in Pecan Springs, she does not live close by and won't be able to help out when needed. What will happen to Sam and Leata? Do they really need the money from this new project?


A great book, and I did enjoy it, even though I knew the plot way before China or the Game Wardens figured it out. There is also a romance thread in this book involving Mackenzie Chambers, and that was really nice.
This is a series I have been reading for over 25 years, I started reading it in Dutch as the first six books have been translated, and was really happy to discover there were more books available in English.

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Barbara Taylor Bradford - Breaking the Rules

The seventh book in the Emma Harte series, published October 12, 2009.
Genre: contemporary romance
Cover: nice, but I prefer my cover



Following a terrifying encounter, a dark beauty flees to New York in search of a new life. Adopting the initial M as her name, she embarks on a journey that will lead her to the glamorous catwalks of Paris.
When M meets charming actor Larry Vaughan, they fall instantly in love and soon become an international sensation, appearing on the cover of every celebrity magazine. With her successful career and perfect marriage M has truly put the demons of her past to bed.
But M's fortunes take a dramatic turn when a dark figure from her past is back and determined to shatter her world forever.


I had no idea when I started reading this book, that it was the last book in the Emma Harte series, as M is determined to keep her past hidden, and make it on her own, without help from her family. But I got suspicious early on. She is such a strong character, she has elegance and posture and self confidence, is very smart and organized. Yes, she sounds perfect, but she is hiding her inner demons after the horrible event in the start of the book, and I admired her.
She is determined to become a model, and as she looks a lot like Audrey Hepburn, she eventually gets her big break.
When she meets Larry Vaughan at a party for a friend, they instantly have this connection between them, as they have known each other all their lives. When she was 10, M fell in love with Larry after seeing him in a play, so she does know everything about him. She does not tell him who she really is though.
But just when her life couldn't be more perfect, bad things are happening. An old enemy resurfaces, and neither M nor her sisters are safe from him…


A good book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even ended up reading a part aloud to my best friend while driving through Berlin, and she liked that part (filled with action instead of love scenes, pff).
This is one of those sagas, a family series I cannot get enough of. Emma Harte as a character has made a big impression on me when I read this first as a teenager, and I have never forgotten that. It is certainly a series that I will re-read over the years.

8 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian

Darynda Jones - Eight grave after dark

The eighth book in the Charley Davidson series, published May 19, 2015
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: blue



Sometimes I wonder if the purpose of my life is to serve as a cautionary tale to others.
-T-shirt

Charley Davidson has enough going on without having to worry about twelve hellhounds hot on her trail. She is, after all, incredibly pregnant and feeling like she could pop at any moment. But, just her luck, twelve deadly beasts from hell have chosen this time to escape onto our plane, and they've made Charley their target. And so she takes refuge at the only place she thinks they can't get to her: the grounds of an abandoned convent.
Of course, if hellhounds aren't enough, Charley also has a new case to hold her attention: the decades-old murder of a newly-vowed nun she keeps seeing in the shadows of the convent.
Add to that the still unsolved murder of her father, the strange behavior of her husband, and Charley's tendency to attract the, shall we say, undead, and she has her hands full...but also tied.


The more I read in this series, the better it gets. Charley is doing her best to survive her pregnancy and still solve cases. There is the wedding of her best friend and secretary Cookie to her favourite uncle first though, and Charley is the maid of honor.
Her stepmother is trying to make amends for treating Charley horribly all her life, and Charley wants nothing to do with it, even though her sister Gemma keeps pushing her about it. But her stepmother doesn't give up. And her father's ghost keeps appearing but never stays very long. Add to that the mystery of a closed room that none of them can open, and it is driving Charley nuts.

The book has more action than you might think of this description, and some unexpected appearances as well. Charley finally finds out who and what she is, but when her heart breaks, she can't deal with it anymore …

Awesome book, and I can't wait to dive into the next one, but that one is not yet out as paperback. Sigh.

10 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian