Book Review Alert: Reign of Darkness by Ariana Nash

Reviewed: December 7th 2021
Released: November 25th, 2020
Genre: MM Dark Fantasy

Book two of the Prince’s Assassin series

“Know your place, Nikolas.”

“Under the heel of your boot, Your Highness?”

After a terrible inferno destroys the Caville palace, and with the people of Loreen turned against him, Prince Vasili is left with no choice but to flee his ancestral home, leaving his brother Amir to proclaim himself King. But Vasili’s life isn’t the only one left in ashes. King Amir has not forgotten Nikolas Yazdan—a lord’s bastard son and Vasili’s favorite pet. With forbidden power in his veins, Amir has become more than Niko can fight alone.

Thrust together with Vasili once more, Niko must travel south, to a land of pirates and thieves, of mystery and magic. A land of opportunity for a manipulative prince and his reluctant assassin. But just as Nikolas begins to believe Vasili might be worth fighting for—that Loreen can be saved with Vasili on the throne—the dark flame trapped in the royal bloodline unravels its ancient bonds. One prince must control the unrelenting power desperate for its escape. The other must die.

Niko thought he knew which prince he could trust, but he’s been fooled before and as Vasili’s true motives are revealed, Niko finds himself at the mercy of Prince Vasili once more. Only this time, there’s more than love at stake. The fate of the world rests on Niko discovering the truth about the flame, about the cursed Cavilles, and his place in their doomed destiny.

***Reign of Darkness is the second book in the Prince’s Assassin series. The series should be read in order, beginning with King of the Dark.

Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: King of the Dark by Ariana Nash

Reviewed: December 5th, 2021
Released: July 10th, 2020
Genre: MM DarkFantasy

“Your love is worthless, it’s your hate I need.” ~ Prince Vasili Caville

When King Talos Caville surrendered the war to the elves, soldier Nikolas Yazdan vowed never to serve the royals again. He said the same to the prince who tried to buy his loyalty, and learned that the Caville princes don’t take no for an answer.

Whipped for his insolence, Nikolas is also forced into slavery in a palace full of vicious, brutal royals. Prince Vasili is the worst Caville of all. Malicious and cruel, the prince is more viperman, and someone inside the palace wants him dead. Nikolas would kill the prince himself if not for one thing: Julian, the prince’s personal guard and Niko’s light in the dark. If Nikolas doesn’t submit to Prince Vasili and discover who is plotting against him, Julian will suffer.

But there’s more wrong in the palace than just the prince. The king is on his deathbed, the ferocious elves are creeping closer to the great city of Loreen, and madness stalks the hallways. There’s poison in the Caville court, and if Nikolas doesn’t discover the real reason Prince Vasili tried to buy him with a bag of coin, the palace, the city, and everything he loves, will be lost forever. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Binding by Bridget Collins

Reviewed: December 4th, 2021
Released: December 26th, 2019
Genre: Historical Fantasy

Imagine you could erase grief.
Imagine you could remove pain.
Imagine you could hide the darkest, most horrifying secret. Forever.

Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder–a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, the bookbinder Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born. Under the old woman’s watchful eye, Emmett learns to handcraft the elegant leather-bound volumes. Within each one, they will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, a binder can help. If there’s something you need to erase, they can assist. Within the pages of the books they create, secrets are concealed and the past is locked away. In a vault under Seredith’s workshop, rows upon rows of books filled with memories are meticulously stored.

But while Seredith is an artisan, there are others of their kind, avaricious and amoral tradesmen, who use their talents for dark ends. And just as Emmett begins to settle into his new circumstances, he makes an astonishing discovery: there is a book with his name on it. Soon, everything he thought he understood about his life will be dramatically rewritten.

An unforgettable novel of enchantment, mystery, memory, and forbidden love, The Binding is a beautiful homage to the allure and life-changing power of books–and a reminder to us all that knowledge can be its own kind of magic. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Full Circle by Daisy Wood

Reviewed: December 1st, 2021
Released: January 30th, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction

If you love rich and complex historical stories then Full Circle is the book for you. Set in the 1700’s Daisy introduces us to a family with a tangled history, lots of mystery and powerful characters.

The year is 1786 and in the quiet countryside of Mere in Wiltshire sits ‘The Willows’. It has been the family’s home for three generations and Elizabeth Hamilton, the present owner; and her son, Stewart, lived alone until a cousin, Alexander, came when Stewart was 12.

For the last 21 years, the house has held a secret from the past which has been kept safely hidden even from Stewart. Only after Stewart marries are their lives turned into chaos, as it initiates a succession of vengeance against him and his family that lasts for over three years.

life changing, but it is how they reveal themselves that transforms the lives of many people irrevocably… Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

Reviewed: November 28th, 2021
Released: July 23rd, 2021
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

A heart is a dangerous thing to steal.

Brie would do anything before making a deal with the Fae; death is better than their vicious schemes. But when her sister is taken by the sadistic king of the Unseelie court, there is nothing Brie wouldn’t do to get her back-including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the rival Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie’s only choice is to pose as a potential bride for the Seelie Prince, Ronan-a prince who’s not quite as wicked as she once thought. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. But as Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she finds herself struggling to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty . . . and with her heart. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Rekindled Prophecy by KC Freeman

Reviewed: November 26th, 2021
Released: March 23rd, 2021
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Warrior for good. Slayer of demons. This petite guardian may look like an angel, but she is pure wrath.

Heaven and Hell collide at a quaint inn nestled in the Shenandoah Mountains. Despite plans of a relaxing vacation after 450 years of saving humans, a guardian angel is put to the ultimate test. Pure unadulterated evil, in the form of a sexy dark guardian and Hell’s most lethal weapon, is on the scene and he means to misbehave.

An unlikely alliance binds eternal enemies together in a quest to unravel a prophecy so deadly that Heaven refused to write it down.

Rekindled Prophecy is an epic paranormal romance full of adventure, mystery, and a passion that burns stronger than the flames of Hell. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Imperial Alchemist by A.H Wang

Reviewed: November 24th, 2021
Released: September 5th, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction

A legend buried for 2000 years. A woman compelled to uncover the truth.

210 BCE, CHINA. The most powerful emperor China has ever known is on the brink of death. In desperation, he sends his most gifted alchemist and sorcerer on a quest for the mythical elixir of life.

His fleet never returned….

NOW, world-renowned archaeologist Georgia Lee is compelled to hunt for a mysterious man who may hold the secret to the greatest discovery in human history.

Her search takes her on a thrilling journey from an ancient tomb in China, through traditional Japan, to the blistering Australian outback, and the dizzying heights of verdant mountains in tropical Taiwan. But what begins as an investigation into an archaeological riddle turns into something very sinister. Georgia starts to suspect that perhaps she is the one being hunted instead….

Meticulously researched, this is a tale interwoven with rich historical facts to recreate all the drama, intrigue and mystery of East Asian culture. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Reviewed: November 12th, 2021
Released: November 8th, 2018
Genre: Comtemporary Literature

For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl.

But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved.

When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life – until the unthinkable happens. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Awakening by Rachel Rener

Reviewed: November 5th, 2021
Released: September 11th, 2018
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Three years ago, Aspen (as she calls herself), woke up in an abandoned cabin without a single memory. Forced to start her life from scratch and exist entirely off the grid, she’s led a lonely life, but a quiet one… Until now. Suddenly, strange things are happening all around her: phantom tornadoes, exploding fireplaces, massive sink holes – not to mention the strange man that’s been following her everywhere she goes.

When Aspen audits a college class for a much-needed dose of normalcy, she’s shocked by the assistant professor’s cold disdain for her, and her alone. Their heated confrontation turns a corner when Aspen panics, accidentally shattering every bulb in the classroom. That’s when Aiden realizes what she is… but he’s not the only one who’s been paying attention.

In her mission to discover who – and what – she is, Aspen must learn to control her powers, navigate her budding feelings for this new and mysterious ally, and, finally, unearth the shocking truth about her past. Read My thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Soul Strung by Rachel Hobbs

Reviewed: November 3rd, 2021
Released: November 2nd, 2021
Genre: Dark Fantasy

A deliciously dark and turbulant paranormal fantasy, with characters that will inveigle their way into your affections, even though you know one of them shouldn’t!

Battleworn Ruby is putting her darkest days behind her, and where better to start again than the bustling Callien city? Too good to be true, when the demon of her past comes crashing back into her life, the warning he carries with him leaves it in pieces. Where Drayvex goes, chaos and mayhem trail in his wake. And she’s bound to him tighter than ever before.

Scheming Drayvex has been busy: chasing the demon turned traitor from world to world, keeping furtive tabs on the girl with a piece of his soul; oh, and running a demon empire. Concerned Ruby will be discovered alive, he enlists her on a hunt for the lapis temporis, an object that can quite literally turn back time, to fix old mistakes and kill their mutual enemy in the past. He’s done playing games.

Power-starved Saydor is on the run. Converting to his cause one underdog at a time, his eyes and ears are everywhere. You can’t kill what you can’t find, and Saydor’s covert talent is deadly. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. And he’s just getting started.

But when you are playing for time itself, how do you know when you’ve been here before? Read More…