Category Archives: Urban Fantasy

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Side Jobs

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9640495

Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files (The Dresden Files #12.5)

I had to do an average of the stories I read here which came to 4.5 stars, which is pretty darn great for me. I am a total Dresden junky, love me some Harry! Each story gave me another side of Harry, in some instances a side I may not have had a chance to see before since the situation occurred outside the main novels. There was not one story I would give less than a three and most were at least a four. The writing was always tight, even if the first story was a little less detailed, it was still well worth the time. Each story seamlessly flowed into the next advancing and opening the story along with the characters.

There were three stories which I enjoyed more than others and gave five stars. The first story was It’s My Birthday, Too which revolved around Harry’s half-brother and the fact that Harry really does not know how to deal with family issues. I liked this one because it shows how close Thomas and Harry have grown since finding out about each other. It’s not every day you discover the only other family you have is a vampire. Thomas is helping one of his employees with a LARPing group at the mall, Harry is delivering his gift, and something very bad is about to happen.

My second favorite story was The Warrior, which had the retired knight Michael in it. When Michael and the knights were first introduced I was very happy to see them. Here was something I had never seen before and some very interesting people. Someone seems to be targeting Michael and his family, sending pictures of them to Harry as a warning. While Harry tries to find out who is after the ex-knight, Michael does not fear for himself but his family. What this person wants could cause more trouble than solve it.

The final favorite in this anthology of good stories was Last Call. Finally a chance to get a closer look at Mac. A psychic compulsion is placed on the crates containing his beer which of course transfers to the beer itself. Harry was just planning on having a beer and a steak sandwich but finds utter chaos and a plot that needs to be solved before all hell breaks loose.

All I can really say is that it is Harry Dresden and I love Harry in all his sarcastic, gloomy, sad sack, wizardly ways. If you have enjoyed the Dresden Files in the past this will only make you want more.

“God isn’t about making good things happen to you,or bad things happen to you. He’s all about making choice – exercising the gift of free will.”
― Jim Butcher, Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files Jim Butcher
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Blood Bond

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18140424

Blood Bond (Anna Strong Chronicles #9)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read this series since the beginning and Anna has done nothing but get stronger and better. Every story is engaging and gives more insight into the characters, who they are, what they want, and where they are going. I flew through this book because I was so anxious to see what was in store for Anna this time around and it was well worth it. What can you say when everything is just so perfect that you are at a loss for words as to what to say. I simple love all the characters, all the plot lines, and that it speaks to me in a way that is genuine.

Anna has finally found some happiness in her life as vampire, and it was right in front of her the whole time, Frey. After the shoot-out in Mexico which resulted in the death of her ex Max things appear to have settled down for a while and she has not been called on in her capacity as the Chosen One for some time. But as life is never really fair just as she is trying to decide when to tell her family the good news she receives a call that changes everything, her mother has cancer. So off to France they all go to spend some time.

While Anna is there for her mother, vampire politics can’t help but push its way in. There is another plot being hatched to make slaves of humankind and as the Chosen it is Anna’s job to step in and make sure it does not succeed.

There is only a bit of action in this book but I think that is alright because we get to see more of who Anna is and how she still feels for her human family. There is more about the dynamic that existed with Anna and her mother and how it has changed. This is a softer Anna, the woman in love and not just the kick-ass bounty hunter we have gotten used to. A nice change of pace and I hope not the last we hear from her, since I keep hearing this is the last book in the series. I say, end with an even number and give the fans a send off to remember. Enjoy this!

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Witch’s Bell 2

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18910467

Witch’s Bell 2 (The Adventures of Ebony Bell #2)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first book in this series did not exactly grab me, but this one made me more of a fan. This time around I was ready and got into the story a lot quicker with a lot more interest in what was going on. The fact that Ebony seemed a bit more subdued and not so manic and annoying helped get me there. The plot here was a lot tighter and well thought out, at least for me, then the first which I completed but was not sure if I even liked the character. The characters felt more real to me here though I am still not fully invested in the world they inhabit.

After almost losing herself and being rewritten months ago Ebony has finally found her purpose and balance in life. She and Harry the bookstore are doing well and she has moved in to be closer. Things are going well with her job. The only thing seems to be that the police are busier than ever as magic seems to be running amok and her job seems to never end.

Something deadly and sinister is happening in Vale and Ebony is about to find herself at the center of trouble once again. And just to keep things interesting she is being courted by a handsome wizard from out of town named Aaron Heart who is in town to talk about security for a wizards convention. Meanwhile, Detective Nate Wall seems decidely jealous, though he hasn’t made a move of his own.

There is only one thing that really bugged me and that was the fact that so many words had been misused throughout the book. The word ‘where’ was used when they meant ‘were’ as well as ‘allowed’ for ‘aloud’. It kind of throws off your train of though while you try to make sense of it.

The books are sweet with a hint of danger and darkness with the potential for romance eventually. Ebony Bell is a likeable character most of the time but sometimes seems a bit naive for someone who grew up a witch. I hope to get better acquainted with the other characters who populate Vale.

“Magic is like silver cutlery, Ebony, you only bring it out to either impress, or stab, important guests.”
― Odette C. Bell, Witch’s Bell Book One
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Marked

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13320713

Marked (Eternal Guardians #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wasn’t looking for one but seems like I have found a new series that I have to read. This book just creeped up and grabbed my attention. I have a new author who knows how to lay it out and make you want to read until dawn. I started this and wasn’t particularly drawn in, then in the next instant I found myself unable to put it down. I kept telling myself I would read just one more chapter, but ended up still reading at 3am, not good for a work day. This was one of those books that you fly through because it is going at breakneck speed and you don’t want to wait to find out what is coming next. But then it ends and all you can think about is getting to the next one as soon as possible to continue to that next adventure. The romance here was just what you would want, not to fast, even though they are fated but with enough obstacles to make it interesting. The characters are so well fleshed that you come to know enough about them to really care for them and want things to work out for them.

This was a great take on Greek mythology which can be stale in some hands. Instead of trotting out the same old gods we get to see what happened to the half mortal children of those titans. There is only direct interaction with a few of the actual gods and they are the ones who are always interesting.

Theron is a direct descendent of Heracles (Hercules)and the leader of the Argonauts, those who sailed with Jason on his quest. He is loyal to the King and will do what is needed to save his race, even if that means sacrificing his own happiness. Casey (Acacia) is just a girl, or so she believes who works at a strip club at night to help make ends meet, by day she owns and operates a bookstore which had belonged to her grandmother.

Casey has no idea that a place called Argolea even exists or that the gods of mythology are real. She just knows that she has never seemed to fit in with anyone outside of her family and connections were something she could not make. Then a mysterious man comes into her life and things get a lot more interesting and dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Theron must help to fulfill the prophesy which could help save his race but is he willing to send an innocent girl to her death in order to do so, that is his dilemma.

Love, love, loved this! I think Casey has become one of my favorite female characters because she has a backbone and will not back down just because she is faced with someone bigger and stronger than she is. Give me a girl who can hold her own and I am hooked every time. This had the right balance of romance, violence, betrayal, revenge, redemption, and hot sex. Can’t wait to get to the next one!

“Some nights, a woman just wanted to bash her brain against a wall to keep from screaming.”
― Elisabeth Naughton, Marked
Elisabeth Naughton
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Ivory Terrors

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21848242

Ivory Terrors (The Cavaliers #3)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have enjoyed this series from the first book and actually wish that we could have just one more so that I could see how things turn out for everyone after they have gotten past the worst. I love the fact that historical facts as well as fictions are interwoven giving it a richer feel and giving a fuller life to the characters. I have fond characters that I really liked and some that were kind of annoying but always got some type of reaction from me, which means they are well established in mind as more than two-dimensional. Descriptions of locations are so vivid that you can almost see them. I was immediately drawn back into the story of vampires who have forgotten their humanity and see killing a few people as nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The action starts right on the heels of the last book with Harriet still unconscious after George has mesmerized her and kidnapped her from the summer party. She is not allowed to wake until they arrive at their destination and finds herself in France with him, her mother and the man she has always believed to be her father, though he, was supposed to be dead. What she finds is that she has been brought to a man/vampire who wishes to kill her enemies but also wishes to kill the only father she has ever known, Augustine, who he hates for abandoning him. He wants Harriet’s help in setting up all his enemies and gaining him the power to take the Cavaliers in another direction. But does Harriet want to see Augustine dead, even if he is somewhat ruthless he has always been good to her.

The Roundheads are still out there and plotting their own retribution for the Cavaliers unaware of a third-party plotting to decimate their ranks. They are also not aware that a traitor has infiltrated their ranks and is working against them. When things finally come to a head everyone will be surprised by what is learned and what is lost.

This was a great way to end a series that has been riff with conspiracies from the very beginning. Betrayals were a way of life for all those involved whether human or vampire, love was given and taken away only to be redirected, lying was taken to a high art. I was very glad to get the full story behind Augustine because he was a big part of this and finally knowing what he had gone through to make him who he was made this so much more interesting. The only thing that annoyed me was who Harriet ended up with, really, him! While I loved everything else that was my one sticking point. Harriet went up and down for me because she was so mercurial about everything from her family to the men she claimed to love, but in the end she did what I would have done.

If you want to step off into a world that has beautiful men, fabulous parties, and more death than the law allows, then you have to read these books. I’d still like another one! 🙂

Look for the arrival of this last in the Cavaliers trilogy on May 1st.
  “Harriet dreamt of someone well dressed and flamboyant, who spoke like the lead in a black and white film, who drank champagne like other people drank Carling and who could talk about history and philosophy and life for hours, without making themselves sound like an idiot. Someone who made romantic gestures, who was generous to everyone and extravagant towards her. Someone, for preference, who rowed and had the muscles to prove it. When she was really having a bad day, someone with a title. Every time a well-meaning access scheme leaflet tried to reassure her and all the other state school applicants that Oxford wasn’t wall to wall Old Etonians permanently dressed in tuxedos, she died a little inside.”  ― Georgiana Derwent, Oxford Blood
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Moon Dance

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8129929

Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire #1)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have never read anything by this author before but that is all about to change. I really enjoyed this novel more than I though I would. I was drawn into the story from the beginning, probably because it seemed at first that things were just so normal when I knew they weren’t. I’m glad that it started after she had been dealing with the situation for a while instead of taking us through the whole thing and having to arrive at that point. The characters are interesting and the situation unique to anything I have read in the past. The story is simple but at the same time incorporates a mystery that is fairly complex and keeps you guessing. You have the occasional missing word, wrong word, or typo but nothing that detracts from the action. The story moves along quickly with language that is fitting and characters who are given life enough to allow you to get a sense of who they are and what you can expect from them later.

Samantha Moon was your ordinary wife and mother who had a job in a government agency. She was attacked and when she recovers from her injuries discovers that her life has been changed forever. She has become a vampire and has to adapt this new life to her old one, which means changing jobs as well as being a much more tired mom since she must forego regular sleep in order to be awake during the day for her children. Samantha has become a very good private investigator in demand because she closes cases using her new abilities and her government connections. Her life seems normal on the surface but things are not as good at home as she could hope them to be.

Samantha is hired to find the person who attempted to kill Kingsley Fulcrum, a defense attorney who is maybe to good at his job. He was attacked and shot multiple times but survived and now wants to know who did it and why. If anyone can find out it is Sam.

I felt sorry for Sam because she was turned against her will and it made her life so much more difficult. Their was not a lot of action but for a get to know you story it was just right. Light romantic moments, introspection, a nasty husband, and a hot werewolf. Worth reading and worth following her continued story.

“I surveyed the others, who had all stopped in their tracks. “So what was the plan, boys? You were all going to get a fuck in? The very definition of sloppy seconds – hell, sloppy thirds and fourths and fifths. Than what? Slit my throat? Leave me for dead? Let some school janitor find me stuffed in a dumpster? You would deny my children their mother for one night of cheap thrills?”
― J.R. Rain, Moon Dance   J.R. Rain
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The Den

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17207004

The Den (Vampire’s Witch Saga #1)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
This was almost like a stream of consciousness type of thing. The story seemed to proceed from point to point without any real feeling about anything. It was a ramble that had me trying to figure out what was going on for the first 5 (five) chapters with no idea what it was about. The characters were never really fleshed out and did not make me care about them but I felt they might do something interesting at some point, but they didn’t. The dialogue seemed awkward and not thought out, and the descriptions of locations could have been crisper and more visual. Not awful but not what I had expected it to be.

Skyla Jane Judge is a girl who has drifted through life with no real goals, feeling different from all those around her. She has always had strange abilities that she used sparingly because she was told that they were a curse by her mother. They said she was a witch. Just before graduating from college a psychic tells her something that could change her life forever and she is not surprised. When she and her friend move to New York she is still drifting, then she meets Alex and starts on an adventure which will find her in a new city, with new people who claim to know her and seem to want more than she may be willing to give.

Skyla was a character who I wanted to like but she was so drab and seemed to allow life to happen to her instead of really living. She finally grows a backbone at the end, or so it seems, but it is a bit late to really redeem her. Alex is mysterious but still transparent to the reader, you know exactly what he is about from the moment they meet and remains so. The rest of the characters are just background noise with no substance at this point.

I am debating with myself whether to try the next book and see if things start to pick up since it was left on a cliff hanger. I wouldn’t say don’t read this but go in knowing that the action is weak, the heat is lukewarm, and the characters are a bit annoying.

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A Bit of Bite

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17726877

A Bit of Bite

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a quick and great read! I have never read anything by Cynthia Eden before and if this is an example of what I can expect from future reads then I am very happy to have found her. Though this was a short novella it was tight and gave me the benefit of getting the characters known quickly and easily. The story was fast paced but left me with the feeling of knowing what was going on and why these things were happening. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and these characters.

Sheriff Ava Dushaine was assigned to Crossroads, Mississippi as the paranormal liaison in the area. When the paranormal community made themselves known 10 years ago they were assigned areas within the states that they could reside in, this usually had both werewolves and vampires living in close proximity to each other. The people of the towns close to them are wary and feel that they are in danger from the having the supernatural so close to them, and someone is stoking that fear even higher.

With three murders of humans in a short period and the bodies being found on the land between the paranormal land Ava has to solve this quickly. When the Alpha, Julian Kasey, shows up at the murder scene she has no choice but to take him in for questioning. What she doesn’t realize is that things are more complicated than she would have ever thought and her life may hang in the balance.

This was an exciting story about what a person will do in order to gain what they want and who they will sacrifice for that goal. It is also about gaining love even in the midst of bad things. Definitely worth reading and giving you a taste of what you can look forward to in the future.

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Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs

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12702453

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Jane Jameson #1)

by Molly Harper (Goodreads Author), Amanda Ronconi (Narrator)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was one of those rare laugh out loud, make people stare at you books. I can say without a doubt that I have fallen in love with Jane Jameson and Gabriel Nightingale. The story progressed rapidly from beginning to end with no slow points to make you pause, it was just such fun to follow as it unfolded. The language was perfect and did not make me wonder about what was being talked about and seemed perfectly natural for the characters. The characters themselves are so natural they remind you of people you may have met in your life, that includes the vampires who just seem like anyone else. This is what I think a small town would be like, though I have never lived in one.

Jane Jameson is a librarian who has always loved her job and done it well, then for no reason she no longer is employed. Depressed she heads out to drown her sorrows at a bar and while doing this runs into an interesting man, Gabriel, who actually can talk books and proceeds to drink the hurt away. When she leaves the bar Gabriel walks her to her car and she leaves for home, but unfortunately never makes it there. Three days later she wakes to find that everything in her life has changed and she is in a strange house. Now not only is she unemployed she is a vampire, and lucky for her they have come out of the closet. She is also lucky that her sire is one sexy man.

For Jane however nothing ever goes smoothly. All she wants to do is get on with her new existence but someone seems to have other plans for her. Jane finds herself the target of gossip in the community and the target of a murder investigation only days after being born into the life. She is being stalked by someone who wants her out-of-the-way and she does not know who would want to harm her or those she loves.

I really liked this and Jane in particular, she was sarcastic, pushy, sympathetic and a world of things in between. I listened to this and think it lent more to the story because of the narration of Amanda Ronconi who gave life to the characters in such a wonderful way. If you are looking for a good story, with lively and fun characters then this is the place to go.

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Better Off Dead

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15962381

Better Off Dead (Lily Harper #1)

This was a 4.5 for me but I would have given it 5 for a little more back story on Tallis Black. The writing was everything I have come to expect from this author, who I already love. The plot was fun but seemed a bit rushed, I would have liked to take a little time when Lily arrived in her new digs before heading off on her first adventure. This being the first novel in the series, it lays out the overall theme of what will be happening. The characters seem plausible and act and react in the way that you would expect them to, except for maybe Bill who is on a whole different plane than anyone else. 🙂 The language is appropriate for the characters and is easily understandable, even the thick brogue that is employed by Tallis.

Lily Harper is having a bad day, she is late for a presentation at work, it’s raining, traffic is a nightmare and then it gets worse, she dies. What’s a girl to do when she finds herself deceased and in the equivalent of a DMV office where she is given an impossible choice, die and go to purgatory or become a bounty hunter for souls. What would you do given that choice? Well she opts for hunter and there begins her adventure in the wonderful world of soul retrieval. She meets her guide, Bill, her guardian angel who will accompany her, but knows as little as she does about what they will face. Tallis Black is a blade-smith and is hired officially to make Lily a sword for her missions but the moody Scotsman becomes more.

A nice first book that gave us an introduction to some interesting characters some good action and a new outlook on the afterlife. Who knew bureaucrats could be found in the hereafter. Loved this and really like Lily, I think she is going to be totally bad-ass once she gets her bearings. Can’t wait for the next one!