Tag Archives: Paranormal

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The Cajun’s Captive

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I have read something from this author before and liked it enough to try this series. While this did not grab me out the gate I still did enjoy it. The characters seem thin but I assume they will get more of a lift as this continues since they will likely be seen in subsequent books even though they will not be the focus. I also expect that their surroundings, besides the fact that it is Louisiana, will be more fully fleshed out. This didn’t really give me a chance to see them in my head and become a part of the story.

Sebastian Deveraux is the Alpha of his pack and like all his brothers is sexy as pure sin. He has waited decades for the right woman, his mate. He was sure he’d found her in Amanda St. James ten years earlier, but she ran from him. When she shows up on his porch as a hurricane is blowing in he decides to do anything to keep her with him. Even if that means chaining her to his bed.

Nice enough story but I hope to get more from the rest of the series. Still worth reading.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Jabril

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I enjoyed this second book just as much as the first in the series. The old characters were more well defined and the new characters were pretty much brought in with full personalities that made you either like or dislike them immediately upon meeting them. You knew who was who and who could be trusted in a tense situation.

Jabril Karim is one of eight Vampire Lords and headquartered in Houston, Texas. While Raphael rules through loyalty and respect, Jabril uses fear and threats. Mirabelle is a young woman who was placed in Jabril’s care as a 15-year-old along with her 10-year-old sister. In order to get his hands on her money and control her, he turned her one day after her 18th birthday, but he still needs her because she does not get the bulk of her money until she becomes 25, but after that, he will not need her.

When Mirabelle’s sister runs away to avoid the fate of her sister Jabril hires Cynthia to find her, though he does not believe a woman can do the job. What he wants is to claim Cyn and rub it in Raphael’s face for not making her his. With her arrival in Texas Cynthia decides that what Jabril wants is something she will have to thwart in order to save her sisters who were given to a monster.

While the main story is good we have a secondary story that is just as good and compelling. Enjoy this book and be ready for the next which should prove just as good.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rumor has it Raphael used a private investigator, a very private investigator from what I hear, but one who resisted even that arrogant bastard’s charm.” “You would hire a woman?” “Oh hardly, Asim,” he said with a dismissive flip of his fingers. “Talk to the lawyers and find a proper man for the job. But call this woman of Raphael’s anyway. I want to meet her, and that bastard’s ego could use a good pricking. Do you think he would mind sharing?” “I think he would rather share with a snake, my lord,” Asim said with a sharp smile.

Jabril
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Raphael

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This is the first time I have read this author and I am very glad I had the fortune to find this book. While the plot starts out slow-moving, it is interesting from the beginning as we get to know the characters who will be important as the series moves forward. The prologue sets the stage for the story which will be told within the body. The characters themselves come across very well with personality quirks that make sense for the backgrounds they have been given. Then there are some who still have more time to have their personalities become more solid. The world they live in is very familiar to me since it is a place that I actually drive to or through on an almost daily basis.

Raphael is a Vampire Lord with the power of life and death over every vampire within his territory. He has the loyalty of thousands. A gang of humans attack his compound and kidnap a female vampire under his protection. Because humans are involved along with vampires he decides to hire a human investigator to help flush out his enemies. What he does not expect is to be drawn to that investigator so forcefully.

Cynthia Leighton is smart, tough, and sexy, she is also a private detective and former cop. When Raphael comes to her for help she is more than happy to oblige since she is tired of the cheating spouses and tracking bank accounts. Her work with the vampires may not always go over well with the human population but she can do things for them that regular law enforcement will not. Cynthia finds Raphael to be very magnetic but she wants to keep her distance because her heart is not a part of the bargain.

Loved this first book and had to read the next one immediately. I think it would be great for anyone who has a love of vampires and the culture they have established here. Highly recommend!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

And yet as powerful as each of them was, none was so powerful as Raphael himself. Some were older, but age was not everything. Some claimed greater skill, but skill was no substitute for strength. These things were never spoken of; they were simply understood. Boundaries were observed, respect was paid. Anything else would lead to war. And none of the men in this room wanted another war. But someone did. Someone thought to use Alexandra against him. And that someone would pay dearly.

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The Alchemical Detective

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The Alchemical Detective by Kirsten Weiss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The second book gives you a little more of the characters and brings them more personality and presence. You get more of a feeling for who they are and how they are going to grow in the future. Because we move to a new location you do not really get anything from that. The location descriptions are pretty generic and you never really get a feeling for the area. The story is interesting but they keep referring to a past event that has never been explained in a way that would make it very relevant to any situation.

Riga has lost her magic and has gone to Lake Tahoe to hopefully get it back and spend some quality time with her new love, Donovan Mosse. Donovan owns a Casino that is being run by his cousin Reuben who is not happy to have Donovan back on the premises.

When a psychic is murdered the police seek out Riga, they believe she may be a suspect though they know she has consulted for the police in the past. Things go from bad to worse as a film crew hires Riga who uses them as a stepping stone to investigate what seems to be murders related to her past. Can she avoid being a victim herself?

Decent enough to keep the story moving forward but would really like to have some details on this past.



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alchemy was first a method of transforming spiritual lead into gold, of dissolving the alchemist herself, removing impurities, and unifying her disparate spiritual and psychological pieces.  It was also really complicated, which was why Riga had never gone further than an academic knowledge of the subject.

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The Metaphysical Detective

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The Metaphysical Detective by Kirsten Weiss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I somehow managed to read the fourth book in this series and liked it so much that I decided to go back to the beginning and see how it got to where it was. I definitely liked the characters a lot or else I would not have bothered. Well, I am not liking the characters so much right now and am actually a little bored with the way things are going in this book. I am willing to give it a go because I know that things do get better as the series continues. Right now the characters are dull and their surroundings are dull and one-dimensional.

Riga’s new client, Helen Baro, says that her husband is trying to kill her. The thing about that is, her husband has been dead for the past year. Hence the need for a metaphysical detective rather than a conventional one. When Helen is found dead there is a haiku and tarot left behind as a clue as to what happened. Riga finds herself in an investigation that threatens not only her but those she loves as well.

Riga kind of annoyed me because she is so bland and the plot does not seem to be going anywhere. Riga is a strange detective/witch who is lost when it actually comes to the supernatural it seems, though maybe her back story will give more. There is a lot more than the original plot would lead you to believe but it is not all that exciting either. But as I said the books get better as time and characters evolve. So I would say to give it a look and decide for yourself. Lukewarm recommendation.



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“But why metaphysical?  Why not supernatural or psychic?” “Because metaphysics deals with first causes, not necessarily the supernatural.  I work in both worlds and I’m not a psychic.” “In other words, it works on a business card,” Lauren said shrewdly. “Guilty.”

Riga Hayworth
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A Manhattan Ghost Story

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A Manhattan Ghost Story by T.M. Wright

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I remember the first time I read this many years ago and it had a totally different impact on me then. It actually kind of scared me and had more of a feeling of menace and darkness. This time around I was actually kind of bored by it. I was in my late teens or early twenties when I read it originally and maybe I was more easily taken with books, though I liked a lot of horrors then and still do now. The story is kind of dry with hints of emotion here and there to keep you reading. The narrator, Dick Hill, does an alright job but I never really felt like the story took off.

Abner W. Kray has gone to Manhattan to do a big coffee table book of the city. He is staying at the home of Art DeGraf, a friend of his from Maine who moved to the city years before. Art married into his family but was divorced from her and still wants to be friends with Abner. When Abner arrives he meets Phyllis Pellaprat who claims to be Art’s girlfriend but then starts to come on to him. As things progress he finds himself in a world parallel to ours where the things that go bump in the night reside.

Decent but not for everyone.



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Crimson Death

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I still love the Anita Blake series because I have come to really like and appreciate the characters. Yes, I know how they will react in some situations, just I know how my own family will react to certain things. This just makes it more a part of me. If I did not feel this way then I would not have stayed with it this long because 25 books is a lot. There are the characters who are well known and and though they may not change in major ways they have subtle changes in the way they think and do things. Then there are always new characters both alive, dead, and shifter who sometimes are interesting and sometimes bland, but most will not be seen again.

Damian, Anita’s vampire servant is in a state that she nor anyone else has seen for hundreds of years. He is not dying as the sun comes up but falls into a sleep that results in his having nightmares and waking to blood sweats so bad he seems to have bled out. Then a call comes from Edward/Ted from Ireland about vampire attacks. The thing is there are supposedly no vampires in Ireland, or at least none have been seen.

There is not a lot Anita can do when she is not wanted in Ireland, but if she goes she is planning to take Damian back into the sphere of She Who Made Him. That could be the worst idea she has ever had.

I know there are people who have read the series in the past and are now extremely critical because they don’t like the direction it took. I would say to those people, Do Not Read It, and then you cannot be disappointed. For those who still enjoy the series as it has progressed I would say that you will likely enjoy this just as much. For me things continue to move in a way that works for me and seems right for the characters. That is all I want, plus it entertains and draws me away for a time. Not to mention that I would not hate being in Anita’s place one bit.

My rating: ✮✮✮✮✮ of 5

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Veiled

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I have been waiting for this book since Experiment in Terror ended with an HEA for two of my favorite characters to date. I loved the character of ADA because she was so outspoken for a teenager and it is good to see her a little more grown up here though affected by what had happened. This is a standalone which will be great if there are no other books, though I am hoping for more. The story is good though I still felt like it could have been better. It felt a little thin because I never understood why things were happening the way they were.

Ada knows what her sister Perry can do, she also knows that her grandmother Pippa had some of the same talents, so why does she try to deny her own. Ada wants to be normal but it is kind of hard to do that when you see ghosts. Ada has also been dreaming about a man, one she believes she met at Perry and Dex’s wedding but they do not seem to remember him. Is he real or a ghost?

When a new couple moves in next door and it turns out that one of the people renting a room from them is the guy from her dreams Ada has to stop and take notice. From the day she speaks to Jay her life will never be the same again.

If you have never read the EIT series this will work for you because you don’t need to know a lot and some of the back story is given to you. If you are a fan of EIT but have not read the final two books then this one will spoil them, so do not read. But if you are a fan and have read all the books this will take you on a new journey with familiar characters.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 of 5

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Hekate’s Chalice

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Hekate’s Chalice
(Adept Solutions #1)
by Teagan Kearney

I started this story totally not sure what to expect and found myself pulled in immediately. Truthfully I am not sure what made me like this so much but I really got into the characters from the moment they were introduced. Each one was very unique and even on short acquaintance made me like them. The world they inhabit is still a little vague and could use some more fleshing out to make it seem more real. I had a few instances of the names of characters changing within the same paragraph in some instances, which can be quite disconcerting. Other than that one thing it is written in a style that definitely grabs your attention if you like the subject matter.

Jean Baptiste also known as J.B. is running his fathers detective agency, though it is not for a good reason. Someone ran down Jean Baptiste Sr. and he is lying in the hospital in a coma while his son tries to save the family business. Working with J.B. are an interesting cast of characters, there is Zhanna who is a six inch faerie of the Irayisi race working off her probation there, Nikki a half elf/ half imp, and the twins Gemma and Jason.

Hekate sends her niece to enlist Jean Baptiste Sr. to locate her chalice which has come up missing at a very bad time. She needs it back soon and so takes a chance on J.B. and his crew. What they find out is more complicated than they expected. The search for the person who hit J.B. Sr is also not going well. They have to find the chalice to keep the agency going but there is danger involved that they do not see.

Definitely want to read more about these characters and see where they go from this point. Well worth the time of anyone who likes a little magic and mayhem.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Willow Brown

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Willow Brown, Christmas Fairy
(The Willow Brown Stories #2.5)
by John Osborne

True rating is 3.5 stars. This was a nice enough story though it also says that there is an erotic component. There is a light sex scene in the book but nothing to worry about if you prefer none. The characters are fairly well presented though they could be more fleshed out. The fairy in this case is kind of different from what I am used to.

Willow Brown is a human sized fairy who also has wings and can fly. Noah Phelps is human and Willows boyfriend. They share a special relationship wherein they have a psychic link and are semi-telepathic. Noah was not with her the previous Christmas and she was very upset with him, this year he will give her more than she could have expected.

A short story that is entertaining but nothing particularly special. I would say for the season it would be a nice diversion on a slow night.

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars