Raphael/Parish (Bayou Heart) by Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright

4 stars

This is an interesting team approach to writing. Alexandra Ivy wrote the first novella, Raphael and then Laura Wright picks up the storyline immediately to tell Parish’s story. It was interesting and well done.

Raphael is a diplomat for the Pantera. The Pantera are a secret group of shifters who turn into Pumas. They live in the Wildlands which is in the bayou. There are a lot of legends about the Pantera, but modern society believes they are just stories and not based on truth. Raphael runs across a human female who makes him go crazy like no other female every has…and he has gotten her pregnant. Only that should be impossible and she remembers nothing of their night together except bits and pieces. Raphael must convince her that she belongs with him while keeping her safe. It seems someone is out to hurt her so Ashe must trust Raphael at least for a bit.

Parish is the head of the hunters (a faction of the Pantera, like Raphael being a diplomat) and he has been sent to retrieve Dr. Julia Cabot to help take care of Raphael’s mate. Only hunters aren’t known for their…diplomacy and he ends up just picking her up off the street and taking her to the Wildlands. Parish in particular is notorious for his dislike of humans. Most of this story revolves around Parish and Julie getting to know one another and Parish trying to persuade Julia to stay with him. It was sweet, but it definitely went fast.

I’m not sure if I am going to buy the next one or borrow it, but I will definitely read it.

A Little Bit Scandalous by Robyn DeHart

3.5 Stars

Monroe Grisham, the Duke of Chanceworth is the guardian and object of affection for Caroline Jellico. He taught her how to play “21” after her brother died in hopes of keeping her mind off the fact that she was alone in the world. She is quite the mathematics prodigy and is quite good. She has thrown herself at Monroe before and he turned her down. She has decided to disguise herself and earn money playing “21” in the London gaming hells. Her plan is the earn enough to restore her family’s London house and move in there herself. She has no interest in marrying if she can’t marry Monroe.

Monroe, however, is finding this new Caroline to be quite distracting and absorbing. He wants to marry her off so she will be taken care of, but not by him. They both end up on the board of a local charity for a girls home, but soon discover that something is amiss. They end up working together to figure out this mystery.

This is a quick and enjoyable read. Somewhat predictable, but still some surprises. I enjoyed it and would read more from this author.

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #4)

5 Stars

I have given every book in this series 5 stars!  Each book is awesome and gets awesomer (it’s a word).  As always, Charley is appropriately sarcastic to a point that makes her funny and not annoying.  This is very difficult for authors to achieve (at least for me),  too much and it is just immature and obnoxious.  In this book we find out what happens to Reyes after everyone knows he didn’t kill Earl Walker, and he is a very busy boy.  Like all the books, Charley is working many cases at once, but only after she starts to come out of the coma she was living in after Earl Walker’s torture.  She is still mad at both Reyes and her father for their separate but equal betrayals.  As usual, she gets herself beat up pretty bad on multiple occasions.  I do wish that the author would insert a bit more ability for Charley to take care of herself, but I suspect that is will come all in good time.      

Harper Lowell is the first case she takes.  This poor girl has been stalked and traumatized her whole like and no one in her life believes her.  Charley does and takes the case to help figure out what is going on.  

There are the “gentlemen” bank robbers who she thinks she recognizes although they are masked.  Of course, she does recognize them and gets herself into some trouble in that confrontation. 

Uncle Bob is working a serial arsonist case and wants her help, but I think this case will move more into the next book.

And of course, the ever present demons are still after her and she still needs to find out what she is capable of. 

The reader does get to know a lot more about reaper history and (hold on to your seats) why Reyes calls her “Dutch”.  We get more Reyes time, more Donovan time and more Gemma time.  I actually really like Donovan, he is no Reyes, but I hope that he doesn’t get hurt in all this.  Her guardian is present and very effective.  Denise (step-mother) comes for a visit and while I think the author wants the reader to feel at least a spark of sympathy towards her, I personally, do not.  You do not slap a child or spit in their face!  I hope that Charley makes her work hard to even get into the outer circles of her inner sanctum.

Favorite Quote:

I soon found out Gemma had ulterior motives in hanging with me and drinking like a fish on dry land.  I could read it in her body language, in the shifting light in her eyes, but mostly when she said, “I have ulterior motives.

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #3)

5 Stars

This is the third installment with the Charley Davidson story. I have loved every book. The last one ended on a bit of a sad note with Reyes refusing to see Charley after she bound him to his body. She did it to keep him from sacrificing himself to the demons that were after him in book two. This made him very angry (obviously) and he refused her visit when she went to prison to visit him. This didn’t stop him from visiting him in her dreams. How did this happen since he was bound to his body? I still have no idea! But this meant that both Reyes and Charley were avoiding sleep like the plague!

Again, Charley has more than one case going. She is trying to find Earl Walker to prove that Reyes didn’t kill him. This, of course, stirs up a hornets’ nest and she gets in big trouble. The other case is quite interesting. She is approached by a doctor whose wife is missing. Charley ends up looking in to his background the waters continue to get murky until the very end.

The ending of this book again ends on a sad note. Charley is promised a guardian by Mistress Marigold (yes she finally meets this person) so the entire book, the reader is trying to figure it out. I must say, I am glad it wasn’t who I thought it was going to be! Charley also meets the biker gang that runs the area where she goes to talk to Rocket. I enjoyed all the encounters with the biker gang and expect to see more from them in the future. At the end, Charley is feeling betrayed by two of the most important men in her life and is depressed. The reader can’t help but feel sorry for her because it really was awful what those two turds did to her.

I’ve already bought the fourth book and can’t wait to start it!

Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson #2) by Darynda Jones

4.5 Stars

This is the second installment in the Charley Davidson chronicles.  It picks up about a week after the first book ended.  Reyes was missing after he woke up from his coma and walked about of his confinement.  Not only was the prison looking for him, but he had U.S. Marshalls after him too.  Charley finds out really quick that he is going to sacrifice his human body to keep his father’s minions from finding Charley.  He still promises that if the demons get to her, he will kill her to stop them from gaining access to heaven.  I think there are at least three different cases she works on during this book.  She is trying to find her friend, Cookie’s friend, Mimi (did you follow that?).  This is the main case she works on and it goes deeper and more dangerous than just a missing person.  There is also a dead guy in Cookie’s car and Charley is trying to figure out what happened to him on the sly so Cookie doesn’t freak out.  And then of course…Reyes. 

The cool part of this book was that Reyes semi-taught Charley some of the cool things that she can do.  It was fun watching Charley learning more about what she can do.  Reyes wasn’t as present in this book as he was in the first one, and judging by the ending I am unsure of what his role will be in the future.  The ending made me sad.  We shall see how the third book goes before I make my final decision.  I thought it was equally amusing as the first book.  The author has a way of writing an extremely sarcastic main character without making her annoying.    

Funny Quote:

“Some people might’ve gotten annoyed, especially when we checked out the men’s room, it being primarily for men…”

Heritage by S.M. Boyce (Grimoire Saga #4)

4.5 Stars

This is an ARC copy of Heritage provided from the author for an honest review. I have reviewed the previous two books in the series as well.

I always have mixed feelings about starting this series. It has nothing to do with how I feel about the story line, the writing style or the characters. It is really weird. Whenever I have it sitting on my kindle, it just stares at me with judgment for not reading it already. I think it is because I have a deadline to read the book prior to the release date. Whenever I have to do something, I immediately don’t want to do it. Whenever I start reading it, I get engrossed. Whenever I finished reading the series, I am obsessed for the next one! I’m a weirdo!

Brief Summary:

This book takes off right where the last one left us. Kara has gone to the Vagabond’s village to train with Stone. Braedon is staying with the rest of the Bloods in Ayavel to plan the war on his father, Carden. Kara finally gets some answers into her heritage (hence the name of the book?) and comes to grips with some of her powers. Braedon makes many expeditions into the Stele to map out Carden’s army’s movements. They are apart for most of the first part of the book, but it is obvious that they are missing each other. There is so much more that happens after this, but I feel it would be too spoiler-ish so I will refrain. But there are so many betrayals on so many sides it is mind boggling sometimes. The reader does get to be in the minds of some of the other characters besides Braedon and Kara. We hear the thoughts of the new Blood of Ayavel, Carden, and Dierdre. The epilogue was amazing too! I can’t wait for the next one!

Thoughts:

Kara grew up a lot in this installment in the series. I could relate to her actions and reactions and this made her more likeable. The storyline was amazing and I couldn’t predict what would happen next. I look forward to reading the next book. The imagination required to write this series is astounding. It’s a whole new world with all new species! It’s amazing.

Fairytale Come Alive by Kristen Ashley

3.5 Stars


This is a standalone book by this author. She tends to write series, but there are a few out there like this. I hadn’t picked it up for a while because the premise didn’t seem like something that I wanted to read about. Guy and girl meet and fall in love, but are torn apart. He marries someone else who dies and is “haunting” them when girl returns. Guy hates girl for leaving. Girl had reasons to leave (heartbreaking reasons). Guy and girl fall in love again with his dead wife watching through her ghostly vigil. The part that I had the hardest time with was that Prentice (aforementioned “guy”) got married and fell in love with someone else. Someone who he deeply loved and still loved and missed. While Isabella (aforementioned “girl”) lead a terrible lonely life! I actually enjoyed Isabella’s back story. It was heartbreaking, but perfect. There needed to be a pretty good reason why she would walk away from Prentice and there is!

Prentice was angry well Isabella comes back to Scotland and lands in his life while he is trying to pick up the pieces of his kids losing their mother and him losing his wife. It has been a year and a half since she died and they are all still grieving. Isabella is the last person he wants to see and he lets her know it! He is a big jerk to her and the whole village is a big jerk to her! It made me cry many times because she didn’t deserve that!

Prentice eventually learns the truth and falls for Isabella again. The author tries to make their love seem epic, but this is coming after he led a long happy life with another woman whom he loved deeply! I think this is where my naivety comes into play because that part bothered me. Usually KA makes the women before/between the heroine into nasties or no big deal, but Fiona (aforementioned ghostie) was written as practically perfect in every way (just like Mary Poppins).

I loved the drama and danger. I didn’t feel like Isabella was overreacting to her own fears about being with Prentice again. I thought she handled almost everything how many women would. She was incredibly likeable.

I actually don’t have a favorite quote that doesn’t have a swear word in it which means they mostly came out of Prentice’s mouth.