Review: Soul Reapers (An Eli and Ava Thriller) by Shay West

Published: November 30, 2015
Genre: Thriller
Format: ebook
Source: provided for honest review

Goodreads Summary

Detectives Elliot “Eli” Robbins and Ava Aguilar are stumped by a series of seemingly unrelated kidnappings. Utilizing all possible resources, Eli and Ava struggle to find answers despite little physical evidence and few witnesses. When a strange piece of paper is found at one of the crime scenes, it sends Eli and Ava on a chase for a killer who isn’t what he seems.

Buy Soul Reapers (An Eli and Ava Thriller) by Shay West today at Amazon

Eli bent down, grabbing a pair of gloves out of his jacket pocket. His heart hammered in his chest as he carefully picked up a scrap of paper. He turned it over, the red spot standing out against the pristine white. He’d been a cop long enough that he recognized the spot as blood. But is it Lucy’s?

The Good

I love Eli and Ava. They make a great team and not just as detectives in my opinion. The banter between the two feels real and I can really picture them clearly in their every day lives. The story itself kept me interested as I also wanted to see the killer caught and done away with. Also, for once I enjoyed the cliff hanger at the end of a book. And Irena is a fun new character I'd like to hear more about. 

The Bad

I hate to say bad as it's more have to live with it for the story's sake. Some of the investigation feels a bit long at times which I'm ok with as overall it makes it more believable. You have to have all the failed leads or it seems too easy.

The Romance

Eli is in love with Ava but they work together and the job frowns upon that. Plus he's not too sure how she feels about him. Ava play's her cards close to her chest though and start's a relationship with Eli's neighbor.

Conclusion

A great reminder that we always be aware of our surroundings. If you enjoy a good detective story with great banter and a fare bit of sarcasm you'll enjoy this one. Strong characters and a believable supernatural thriller. I totally recommend not only this one but book one as well. Love this series by Shay West.

Excerpts

He tipped his beer toward her. “Damn right he’s not. Tani and Keena defected, came to us with the truth of the murders, and risked their lives to stop Kelhar. Satrick never did any of that. Hell, he probably wishes he could go back home so he can return to being a Harvester.”


There were only a few hours left to perform the ritual. Plenty of time. The man moved about the cave, examining his handiwork thus far, crooning softly under his breath as he passed each corpse. It won’t be long now.


Eli held up his hands and laughed. “Sorry I said anything.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to curse me or something are you?”
“You’re a riot, Robbins,” she said as she got up from her desk. As she passed behind him on her way back to evidence, she leaned down and whispered in his ear. “Of course, if I do, you’ll never see it coming.”
He laughed, but swallowed hard when she was out of earshot. He’d heard stories of Ava’s grandmother and her practice of voodoo. Ava tried to convince him that voodoo wasn’t what he thought, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

Buy Soul Reapers (An Eli and Ava Thriller) by Shay West today at Amazon

Review: Hazard of Shadows (Goblin King Book 2) by Mike Phillips

Published: August 1st 2015 by Damnation Books
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: paperback
Source: sent for honest review

Goodreads Summary

The enchanted creatures of legend still exist, taking refuge from an age of camera phones and government labs in a secret place called the World Below. 

After leading a revolution against Baron Finkbeiner, the despotic ruler of the World Below, Mitch Hardy has taken the throne. Unknown to him, ancient powers are at work.

The Lords of Faerie seek to revenge the death of Baron Finkbeiner and recover the mysterious Blade of Caro. Soon Mitch is fighting for his life against hellish monsters, the likes of which he never imagined.

Hazard of Shadows (Goblin King Book 2) by Mike Phillips today at Amazon

“Anyway, get thee gone to a distance of not less than five hundred miles from this place, and you will not be harmed.” 

The goat devil roared with laughter. “By you and your little kitty cats? How frightening,” he said mockingly.

The Good

This one so far has been a modernized version of normal guy meets a fairy princess and becomes the hero. Only the buddies he fights with are goblins. Yep, instead of fighting goblins he has pizza parties with them when not fighting other creatures. I really like the flow of this one as Mitch our hero spends half his time dealing with real life and regular friends and the other half dealing with magical creatures and their magical problems. Elizabeth his fairy princess is a carefree individual who is chill because she knows how powerful she is. Instead of reacting to threats she mostly just makes fun of them with sarcasm.

The Bad

The only thing I haven't enjoyed with the series so far is the goblins can be a bit gross at times. I wish those moments were left to the shadows and not discussed so much. Just a personal preference.

The Romance

Mitch and Elizabeth, one a normal guy and the other a fairy princess, are trying to make things work. Problem is Elizabeth keeps running off trying to track down her father and Mitch is feeling a bit left out.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed part 2 of this series. I felt like a lot of ground work was set up in order to prepare us for future installments. We get to meet more of the supernatural creatures in the underworld and a few that are hanging out up top blending in to normal society.  If you enjoy urban fantasy with a bit of a twist I think you’ll enjoy this series.

Excerpts

Shaking his head, Mitch said, “That’s no big deal. We’re all learning how to get along. Even Gullysack is using the toilet now.”
“That’s just it. We ain’t want to be no house trained poodle dog.


This too was all part of the magical defense. If the goblins told him how to defeat the security measures, then it would be vulnerable to discovery by magical means. He would have to figure it out by himself. His friendship would show him the way.

“You might as well let him go,” Beene suggested. “I don’t know the chap, never seen him before in my life. Be a good little monster and chase him away for me. That’s the best course of action. Ain’t no use spillin’ any more blood over little old me.”

“No ma’am, he’s right as sun on the daisies on that one.”
So unused was he to hearing anything but profanity from Thudrott, Mitch gave him a questioning look. “What? Just ‘cause you don’t know how to treat a lady, don’t mean the rest of us are the same way. Right guys?”
“Yeah,” the goblins replied.

Hazard of Shadows (Goblin King Book 2) by Mike Phillips today at Amazon

Sunday Cover Scramble [157]

Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.

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Harry Potter Moment of the Week [100]

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Favorite Charm Spell

via GIPHY

One of my favorite charms is the bluebell flames. The fire that Hermione can expertly craft would be a great benefit in my opinion. I'm often cold so it'd be handy for sure. Not to mention that the blue flames just seem so pretty.

What is your favorite charm spell?

ARC Review: Through the Veil (The Aisling Chronicles #1) by Colleen Halverson

Published: February 22, 2016 by Entangled Publishing, LLC
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Sent through Netgalley for honest review

Goodreads Summary

Elizabeth Tanner is no Tinkerbell, and her life is no fairy tale. Broke and drowning in student loans, the one thing she wants more than anything is a scholarship from the Trinity Foundation. But after the ancient Irish text she's studying turns out to be more than just a book, she becomes their prisoner instead. And when Trinity reveals Elizabeth is half-Fae, she finds herself at the center of a plot to save the magical races of Ireland from a brutal civil war.

As Commander of Trinity's elite warriors, Finn O'Connell isn't used to having his authority challenged. He doesn't know whether to punish or protect the infuriating young woman in his custody. When he discovers the Dark Fae want to use Elizabeth's abilities to control the source of all power in the universe, he'll risk everything to help her.

At the mercy of Trinity and enslaved to the Dark Fae, Elizabeth finds herself alone on the wrong side of an Irish myth thousands of years in the making. Refusing to be a pawn in their game, Elizabeth has to fight her way back to the man she loves, but to do so, she must wage her own war against the magic that binds her.

THROUGH THE VEIL will be available February 22nd 2016 through Entangled Publishing.

Book 1 of the Aisling Chronicles Series

I knew two things. One: I was on my own. And two: I wasn't going out like this.

The Good

Fae! I love stories with the Fae because they have some amazing magic and are generally not to be trifled with.

I can't even imagine where the story will go from here.  It starts off with Elizabeth noticing strange things around her and throughout she's kidnapped numerous times, tortured, married, and it ends with her right back where she started. Through the Veil had twist after twisty twist and leaves you wondering how you'd fair in Elizabeth's shoes.

Elizabeth was living a completely normal life, almost boring even, and was ripped away from it to become a prisoner of the Fae where our laws don't matter even a tiny bit. I love how Halverson took us through Elizabeth's journey with harsh glimpses at what she was going through without lingering too long on it to where it would saturate. She really had a hard time of it. Elizabeth is stubborn through the whole story, but grows a lot darker and hard while still remaining soft and protective towards certain characters. She starts ticking a list off in her head of who she is going to exact revenge on and she's determined to see it through. Her powers are quite interesting too. I have a feeling by the end of the series she will be quite the bad ass. I feel like this series has a ton of potential.

The Bad

My only complaint is seeing some cliches here: the forbidden romance, the lost princess, and the big super awesome power that no one else has.

The Romance

Well, Elizabeth and Finn fairly sizzle with heat for each other. This was almost a lust-at-first-sight between the pair. There were definitely some good steamy scenes with the two of them as well as some truly heartfelt moments later on. I like these two together so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Elizabeth's initial interactions with sexy Irish-man Finn had me laughing quite a lot. She has no intentions of letting him control her. This is not a YA romance.

Conclusion

Through the Veil is a very promising start to The Aisling Chronicles. So much went down in these pages, and there's still more to come which I feel will only get bigger and better from here. I loved getting to know Elizabeth who is flawed but incredibly strong as well as the other characters in the story. I also enjoyed the many twists and the magic that filled the story. I will definitely be continuing the series. Recommended.

Excerpts

My stomach gurgled in response. "Something you should know about me, Finn, is that I'll probably do just about anything for a free lunch." 
Finn winked, slinging the backpack over his shoulder. "I'll note that for future reference."

A well of silence opened up in the space, and I stared at the door Finn had bolted through, wondering in anguish if he would come back for me, if he was just going to abandon me here in this dungeon.

Swords don't appear out of nowhere. Giant snakes don't exist. I repeated this over and over, but the signal my eyes sent to my brain told a different story. I blinked hard, trying to focus the scene, trying to right itself again. It was like one of those Highlights magazines I used to look through at the dentist's office. What two things don't belong here?

ARC Review: Holding Court by K.C. Held

Published: March 1, 2016 by Entangled Teen
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery
Format: ebook
Source: Sent through Netgalley for honest review

Goodreads Summary

Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity knows exactly what's in store at her new job at castle-turned-dinner-theater Tudor Times. Some extra cash, wearing a fancy-pants dress, and plenty of time to secretly drool over the ever-so-tasty--and completely unavailable--Grayson Chandler. Except that it's not quite what she imagined.

For one, the costume Jules has to wear is awful. Then there's the dead body she finds that just kind of...well, disappears. Oh, and there's the small issue of Jules and her episodes of what her best friend calls "Psychic Tourette's Syndrome"--spontaneous and uncontrollable outbursts of seemingly absurd prophecies.

The only bright side? This whole dead body thing seems to have gotten Grayson's attention. Except that the more Jules investigates, the more she discovers that Grayson's interest might not be as courtly as she thought. In fact, it's starting to look suspicious...

"Who told you to say that?"
"What? No one. I have a blurting problem. It happens more when I'm nervous. Like now. My friend Cami calls it Psychic Tourette's Syndrome. PTS for short. I call it mortifying."

The Good

This was such a funny and cute story. The characters are wonderful. Jules Verity comes from a family in which the women all exhibit some sort of power. Her quirky grandmother runs a matchmaking company called The Aura of Romance with her ability to read auras and she drives a pink golf cart around town with advertisements plastered on it. Her mom has the ability to tell the history of an object by touching it. Jules is the best though. She randomly blurts out psychic premonitions that often sound more loony than accurate. For example, "Be alert to the squirt and smell the ketchup!".

Jules finds the best job for her possible as the Mad Maid of Kent at Tudor Times. It's a place for people to visit where everything is set in the time of King Henry the VIII. The Mad Maid of Kent is known to be a crazy psychic so it works quite well. This setting made for some interesting dialogue as well as unique weapons and storing places for bodies. The story is a mystery. She finds a dead body on her first day of work and rolls on from there with Jules investigating.

The Bad

While I'm sure there were flaws with the story, I didn't notice them. This was just what I needed at the time.

The Romance

Jules has had a crush on Grayson for quite some time. I like how in this one, Grayson has a girlfriend that Jules loves. She thinks Bree is one of the best people she's ever met, and I have to agree that she's pretty great. This sets up an interesting dynamic, and I'm glad about how everything worked out in the end.

Conclusion

Holding Court is a very funny, cute read. I laughed quite a lot while reading it. The characters are wonderful and the romance is charming. The setting at Tudor Times makes for a fun environment with interesting dialogue and the mystery of the dead bodies makes for a great who-done-it plot. Definitely recommended.

Excerpts

The only thing that could possibly make the situation more awkward would be for me to have one of my uncontrollable psychic fits. So, of course, I do. 
"The keeper of secrets keeps too much!" I blurt, then clap a hand over my mouth. 
King Henry looks like he's waiting for the punch line. "Indeed," he finally says.

"Sometimes it's beneficial for people to think you're nuttier than a fruitcake, dear. And this is one of those times."

"Grayson looks amazing in that Prince Charming outfit."
"I know," I whisper back miserably. "And Bree looks like Cinderella post-bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

"Ruination is found in a sequined gown!"

Sunday Cover Scramble [156]

Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin