Robin Hood: Wolf's Head by Eric Tanafon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Everyone has heard the stories of Robin Hood, but what if there was more to the tale than what was told, what if there was something paranormal or supernatural going on in the Sherwood Forest. An old hermit finds a man at deaths door, and nurses him back to relative health. In the evenings he tells the hermit the true stories of life with Robin Hood, who in reality is a werewolf. Robin Hood: Wolf's Head is the classic story of Robin Hood with the twist of making he and his band of merry men werewolves, and not only the men, but a number of women moving along with them. Author Eric Tanafon explains so much of what Robin Hood was able to do with the twist of the paranormal.
Werewolves are all the rage and so much fun to read about, and we are used to reading them in modern tales, but what if they have been around much longer. What if some of our greatest stories exist because of werewolves like Robin Hood? Author Eric Tanafon takes that idea and gives us a character that we want to know more about, that we think we can believe and that is telling us the truth as he weaves his stories about life with Robin Hood the werewolf. Robin Hood: Wolf's Head is a retelling of what you think you know, but yet in such different ways that you are completely caught off guard. He is never violent, unless there is a good reason to be violent. The books itself alludes to relationship and violence but isn't graphic, so I would even recommend it to young adults. A read to make you think.
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Deamhan (Deamhan Chronicles, Book 1)
by Isaiyan Morrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
You have heard of Vampires, they consume blood, but no one really thinks they exist, but they do. What you may not know is there are also Deamhan, they consume psychic energy, and Veronica Austin has grown up all her life knowing about this because her father's organization studies them. Against her father's wishes Veronica has left California and came to Minnesota, where her mother disappeared, to find out what happened. Her first encounter with both the vampires and the deamhan throw her for a loop because they are nothing like what her father had always told her, oh a few are, but not all of them. Deamhan follows Veronica as she searches for information on her mother and at the same time uncovers information on her father and his organization. Author Isaiyan Morrison weaves a story of power and corruption and people doing whatever it takes to stay on top without regard to who they harm.
Deamhan is slated as the first book in this series, and I can see that, it sets the story, leads to more things to come and yet doesn't resolve all the past. There is so much power and corruption in this story, there is more things from the past that need to come out and more things in the future that need to be resolved. It is shaping up to be a wonderful series. Author Isaiyan Morrison creates a race of people in the Deamhan that you find yourself liking, even though at the beginning of the book you aren't suppose to like them. They are deeper, more complex and there is more to them than meets the eye. This is a great read.
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Graveyard Rose: A Gothic Fantasy Romance (The Rose Chronicles, Book 1)
by Ginny Clyde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Set in the time of fancy dresses and horse drawn carriages, yet not your average paranormal romance. Nothing about Lena is typical, she may wear the fancy dresses to parties when required, but she is a Guardian, the only female in the ranks and she works hard to prove her worth. Far away in Transylvania, The Graveyard Rose tells us the story of a time when a select group of families were appointed as Guardians and their job was to protect the land from the upstart vampires and werewolves. At this time the werewolves are not organized, they do not hunt in packs yet and they haven't been able to access their humanity while in the wolf form. Not only does Lena protect the land, but she protects her younger sister and would do anything for her. Author Ginny Clyde tells the story of her struggles in a patriarchal society and her desire to just take care of her family.
The Graveyard Rose is titled as the first book in a series, but a note inside the book mentions that it is part one of a full novel. However you want to think of it, this book starts off the story of Lena and her life, the area where she is living and the situation going on in that time. Trouble is, it ends just as it is getting intriguing! Of course that is just another good way for author Ginny Clyde to make sure that you are reading the next book. This book has adventure and hints of romance. It combines fantasy, paranormal, historical and gothic. It is reasonably clean, so I would be more than willing to allow my middle schooler to read it. Good read for adults and younger as well!
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Isobel (Dark Warrior Alliance, Book 6)
by Brenda Trim and Tami Julka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (This is closer to a 4.75, but I can only pick a 4 or a 5)
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
When you are the Vampire Queen and you are pregnant, nothing goes according to the normal schedule! Just as the Dark Warriors were settling back into life after Rhys recent trip to the underworld, Elise goes into labor and the next generation of Dark Warriors is born in Isobel. The goddess Morrigan appears to Zander and Elise after her birth to let them know that she is a very special child, and they need a guardian angel for her. Good thing Rhys' mate is an angel and can take care of calling for her guardian. Of course, even that cant be easy when Isobel's guardian turns out to be Elise's murdered first husband. Authors +Brenda Trim and Tami Julka do not disappoint, they weave the next generation into the currently generation flawlessly and still give us adventure and trials. Isobel (Dark Warrior Alliance book 6) is a bridge between what happened in book five and the future, yet at the same time you can read this book without reading the others.
Isobel, even though it is the sixth book, stands on its own and just carries the story on from the end of book five. The author team of Brenda Trim and Tami Julka do a fabulous job of making the books flow seamlessly from one to the next, yet at the same time allowing them to stand on their own if readers haven't read the whole series. Of course, once I read one of the books, I knew I was going to have to read the rest of the series. This is still an adult novel, romance, sex and violence are there, but they all have a purpose, it is not violent just for the sake of being violent. Hidden in the fabric of the romance and life stories is a gem of a moral that can be applied to life.
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Hellbound Warrior (Dark Warrior Alliance, Book 5)
by Brenda Trim and Tami Julka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (This is way more like a 4.75, but I can only pick a 4 or a 5)
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Returning to the world of the Dark Warriors, authors +Brenda Trim and Tami Julka delve into the history and life of Rhys, the resident cambion demon. Rhys is probably your typical playboy, with stereotypical good looks and a love em and leave em attitude, but then again what more would you expect from a cambion demon, they get their energy from sex. In Hellbound Warrior, Rhys and two other cambion demons must sneak into hell and try to get the Triskele Amulet back before Lucifer can be released from his icy prison. As a cambion demon, Rhys has never really thought about a fated mate, that is until he witnesses an angel trapped in hell. The trip to the underworld just got a whole lot more complicated.
Hellbound Warrior is the fifth book in the Dark Warrior Alliance, but do not let that scare you. You are fine reading this without reading the previous, but let me just warn you, you will be drawn into this world and will end up wanting to go back and read the whole series. The author team of Brenda Trim and Tami Julka are amazing at weaving a paranormal fantasy story with adventure, romance and a bit of a moral that you can apply to live in general. How they have managed to come up with five books in this series, and three that go along with it, and still have fresh and undeveloped concepts is beyond me. This is most definitely an adult book, there is lots of romance, some sex and a little violence. That being said, if you like paranormal at all, you will like this book. If you like adventure you will like this book and if you like romance, well you will fall in love with this series.
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Myth and Magic
by Mae Clair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Coldcreek is your typical small town, with the one ultra wealthy family who tries to take care of everything in the town, with some people liking it and others disgruntled.Stone Willow Lodge in Coldcreek is a pet project of the Breckwood family, but lately things haven't been going according to plan. Lodge manager Veronica Kent, it being taunted and haunted. Caith is a private investigator and a Breckwood, even though he has changed his name, he has scars of his own that haven't healed. The family calls him in to find out what is going on at Stone Willow Lodge, and in the process he is forced to confront his past and the tragedy that shaped his life. Myth and Magic doesn't have any traditonal magic going on, just the chemistry between Roni and Caith, but it explains the childhoods of the friends. Author Mae Clair writes a compelling novel that has you crying and laughing all the way to the end.
Myth and Magic, as a title, had me expecting more paranormal in the story, but it is more a feeling, and upbringing, a way of life in a small town that was once idyllic but turned tragic due to greed. Money is the root of all evil it has been said, and that is the root of all that is evil in this story as well. Author Mae Clair weaves a realistic story that you can imagine being lifted from the headlines of the current newspaper. That realism adds to the magic of the story and has you turning pages as fast as you can to see what happens. Can the wounds of years ago be healed and a family rebuilt? You'll have to read for yourself to find out.
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Spells and Sorcery (The Lexie Carrigan Chronicles, Book 1)
by S. Usher Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For the most part Lexie is your typical teenager. She has two older sisters, one who annoys her to no end, and they live with their aunt, after their mom passed away when Lexie was born. All that typical life is about to change at midnight, when Lexie turns fifteen. Her aunt and oldest sister inform her that she has magic, and Lexie is distraught at the idea. Her whole world is turned upside down. Then there is the fact that no one is really explaining this whole magic thing, or what to do with it to her. Enter Gavon, who has magic and explains things to her, or is he. The truth may be more than anyone in the family can handle. Spells and Sorcery follows Lexie as she comes to grip with magic, what it means in her life, and tries to find her center once again. Author S. Usher Evans has written a coming of age, fantasy, paranormal tale that may revolve around magic, but there are so many other layers woven into the story that you like.
While Spells and Sorcery is billed as the first book in the Lexie Carrigan Chronicles, it definitely ends with more questions than answers, but at the same time you feel as if Lexie and her sisters have been left out in the cold by a large extended family to sink or swim on their own. Author S. Usher Evans builds a story that you think is going one way, only to have it turned completely upside down at the last minute and you are left wondering, probably feeling the same as Lexie. This is a young adult book, and it is clean with no sex, a little language, but nothing more than kids have heard at school already. I would recommend it for any reader, young or old, and I think you will find yourself understanding the complex issues of life and magic in this book.
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The Witch's Daughter (The Irish Witch's Series, Book 2)
by Leigh Ann Edwards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
All of her life, Alainn has lived between two worlds. Although she was of the servant class, the others didn't like her, thought she was too good for herself because she was given certain privileges, raised and tutored with the master's sons. When she falls in love with the heir, Killian, life gets even more complicated only for her to find out truths about her parentage. The Witch's Daughter is set in Ireland in 1536, and the historical imagery is amazing. The world of rules, the master and Lord and the servant and peasant classes truly divided and not to mix. But this is also the story of love and hate, of curses and revenge, of the excesses of privilege and the heartbreak of the lower class. Author Leigh Ann Edwards weaves a story that draws you in and has you guessing until the end.
The Witch's Daughter is said to be the second book in a series, that being said I have not read the first book, but I was not hindered by that at all. This book stands alone and is easily understood, although it does make me wonder if the first book is the story of Alainn's parents, and if so I desperately want to read that now! Author Leigh Ann Edwards wrote this book with the ability to stand on its own, but if anything it makes you want to know more, the past and the future, how the curse came about and what is to come next. This is definitely an adult book, there is talk of sex and rape, so I wouldn't recommend it for a younger reader, but I think it was a wonderful story all the same.
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The Forgotten Debutante (Book 9 of the Cotillion Ball Series)
by Becky Lower
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For Saffron, growing up during the Civil War has meant that normal life and all the things she dreamed of doing like her older sisters, has been put on hold. She will never get her debutante ball, or the courting and dancing that she always thought would happen. She's not angry, just tired of missing out, and even more tired of being stuck in her room. When she decides to sneak out to the barn one afternoon, a chance encounter with a Union Soldier trying to make it home to his sick father, becomes an adventure that will fill her dreams for the next three years of the war. Once the war is over, she works beside her brother in the Reburial unit, bringing Union soldiers buried during the fighting back to the North. Suddenly, Zeke Boone is back in her life. The Forgotten Debutante is a heartwarming story of a girl who puts her emotions into something worthy. When she hears of soldiers being buried during the fighting, she makes it her mission to develop a cataloging system to help document their whereabouts. Author Becky Lower gives the reader a story that features something more than your spoiled rich girl.
The Forgotten Debutante is the ninth book in the Cotillion Ball Series, but I will tell you right now, you do not need to have read them all to understand this book. I have not read any of the previous books, and this one stands on it's own just find. Of course there are some references to some of Saffron's sister's and their marriages and I wonder if they might be some of those other books, because I am curious about them now, but it didn't affect the reading of this book. Author Becky Lower did a wonderful job making this book stand on it's own.
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The Key Finder
by Mary Beth Bowman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For the most part Tony is your average, everyday kid, nothing special about him. His mother sews for a living and no one talks about his father, so Tony gave up on asking. He doesn't really have any friends except maybe Gabriel, and it turns out that Gabriel is exactly who Tony needs in his life. One night a crystal box falls into his room, with directions to use the mirror at a specific time, Tony's mother seems perfectly fine with what is going on, which has Tony even more confused, so he asks his friend Gabriel about it, and to go with him. At exactly 4pm, the boys are transported to another world, where they must choose to embark on a quest to save the king and the kingdom from an evil invading. The Key Finder is a fantasy book, but it is also a coming of age story, as Tony finds strengths in himself he never knew he had along the way. Author Mary Beth Bowman invokes images reminiscent of Dr Seuss creatures in this story.
The Key Finder is a journey, a quest to conquer an invading evil, but it is one that is wrapped in pretty paper. Until you strip about the outer shell and look deep within you can't see the evil, and so many of the people of the kingdom are being swayed by the pretty exterior. This is such a timely and thoughtful book, because we are all swayed by pretty wrappings at times, and forget that what is inside is not always the same. Author Mary Beth Bowman writes a well written, clean book with no sex, language or graphic violence, so I have no problem recommending it to young children, but I think it is a book that parents should read as well, and then use it to talk to your children about what they read and the world around them.
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The Awakening of Magic, Book One of the Wereding Chronicles
by Christian Boustead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
How to explain this novel without giving away the whole story, that has been my biggest question, because I want to give you enough that you want to read this - because it is definitely worth reading!! So bare with me friends, if this goes a little astray, for some reason, I have started and stopped this so many times, finding that I feel like I am telling too much.
Eloo, is a fae and her lover, Kye is a werewolf. They are out in the forest one day and rescue a human, Rose from an attack by someone they call Kain. Now why Kain is trying to kidnap Rose and take her away is a mystery and even after this book, it is still a mystery. We do get some glimpses into the fact that Rose is more than just a mere human, but what all her role is going to be is unknown. I'm still not sure what role Kain is playing in all of this yet, which is amazing! It just makes me want to read the next book all that much more!
Rose, was hard to like a first. She was a bit of a rich child, told to stay away from magic, and so even though she see's it's use for good, she still fears it as evil. There were times in the story that I just wanted to smack her! Honestly! It was like get it through your head that there is good and evil in everything, its how you use it, stop acting like everything is inherently evil. Ugh! But, at the same time, the fact that the author was able to write a character that evoked that much emotion from me was amazing! I usually do not get that upset at characters.
This book is the beginning of a series, The Awakening of Magic, and we watch the magic begin in this story, we meet the characters that will play the major roles in the rest of the story, and learn a bit of their backstory or history and yet it all works very well into a cohesive and compelling story. It's not just a telling of history. There is a purpose for the story.
At one point, the characters are traveling through a wasteland, area that was destroyed hundreds of years ago in a war, and there are the rusting remains of what used to be cars, but no one really knows what they are because they don't have that technology in the present time of the story, and I found that to be the greatest thing! The fact that the story is being told in the future, but that technology has progressed back and magic is more in use. Makes you wonder about our world now, are we over using our fossil fuels to the p0int that this is what we will become? Just a thought.
I found the story to be compelling, the imagery of the author to be breathtaking at times, and I got lost in the story. Yes, I got annoyed at Rose, but I think she can be redeemed, or at least I hope she can. I found like I liked the interplay between all the other groups. The fact that Eloo is a fae and has a werewolf as a lover, I mean that is perfect. Everyone needs to check this one out!
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When Lightning Strikes(Lightning, Book 1)
by Kathleen Rovner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Life for Julie has always been about dance, always about dance and nothing more than dance, and she is an amazing dancer. But after two attacks on Julie, her parents move the family overnight to a small island in the middle of nowhere, where nothing is what it seems. Now Julie is going to a high school with only five kids while her brother goes to a high school on the other side of the island, and she feels like she is forgetting things all the time. Her mom is acting strange and Julie is determined to figure out what is going on and what the big secret is with life on this island. When Lightning Strikes is a young adult, coming of age novel that embarks on a young girls discovery of the secrets that her parents are keeping from her. Author Kathleen Rovner writes a compelling and captivating story.
When Lightning Strikes is slated as the first book in a series, which is a good thing, because this book just ends abruptly and you are thinking wait, I need more. Also, the author Kathleen Rovner classifies the book as paranormal, but that is an underlying concept in the book until almost the end, so it is definitely something that you hope will be fleshed out more in the second book. That all being said, this was a great first book. It drew you into this world, helped explain the attitudes and why Julie's parents made some of their choices, without actually telling their complete story. You got to understand the values and traditions, and you could kinda see where things were moving. Its a unique coming of age story with a paranormal twist that is worth reading, and it is clean - no sex or language so I would recommend it for all ages.
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