Book Review Alert: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Reviewed: November 3rd, 2022
Releases: September 15th, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has.

In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.

Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims?

Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite. Read my Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Shifter Battles by Molly Webb

Reviewed: November 1st, 2022
Releases: June 8th, 2022
Genre: Urban Fantasy

I turned my back on my family. But I’ll kill to protect those I love…

Someone is hunting the shifters of Hollowmore and I’m the only one that can stop the killing. My name is Thea: monster hunter, daughter of the most powerful Arcanshifter and, since leaving my clan, the ultimate outsider.

My only ally, Marcus, is even more of an outsider than me. If anyone learns he’s a dragon shifter, the tattered remains of his clan will be wiped out. The last thing he wants is to risk exposure by helping me. The last thing I want is trouble with dragons – or the distraction of his smoldering eyes.

But a young dragon shifter is one of the latest victims, so Marcus is involved whether he likes it or not. I guess we’re working together. This should be… interesting.

From the secret councils of the shifter clans to the slums of Goblin Town, I’ll turn over every rock in Hollowmore if I have to. Someone is killing my people.

And when I find them, I’m going to make them pay…Read my thoughts...

Book Review Alert: Which Way the Cast Jumps by Ava Silvers

Reviewed: October 22nd, 2022
Released: October 4th, 2022 (Part of the Realm of Darkness anthology)
Genre: Romantic Fantasy

When an undead witch discovers that all is not well in her new world, she has to put aside the loss of her magical powers and discover who has cursed the vampires and what it means.

Added to that, a hot warlock shows up on her doorstep like some stray cat, and has decided he might like to stay to drink the cream.

If you are a fan of Ava Silvers’ Witches of Shadow Hollow then you are in for a treat. This is the story of Hazel’s sister Willow, and having met Willow first (not having read Ava’s other books yet, though I aim to put that right shortly,) I am sure they are just as good. Read my thoughts...

Book Review Alert: All Hallows Airship by Liz Delton

Reviewed: October 15th, 2022 (ARC)
Releases: October 25th, 2022
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy (Novella)

A catastrophic blast. A haunting memory. And she only has one chance to prove her family’s innocence.

All Caz Coppersdown has ever wanted is to be a journalist for the Soldark Times. But the chances of her parents letting her pursue a breaking story are slim. Secluded after a childhood illness, Caz finally gets to leave Soldark for a trip to the country to her great aunt’s estate, but she quickly finds out there isn’t anything newsworthy there—unless you count her aunt’s upcoming All Hallows Eve soiree.

Until the local airshow clashes with her aunt’s party plans—causing more than just pumpkins to be destroyed. When Caz meets one of the airship pilots and discovers something about her family’s past, Caz might have just found her big story.

But she’ll need to dig for the facts quickly, because the constables are looking for a culprit, and old ghosts are making themselves known on this All Hallows Eve. Read my thoughts ...

Book Review Alert: Emissary by A.L. Morrow

Reviewed: October11th, 2022
Releases: October 4th, 2022 (Part of the Realm of Darkness anthology)
Genre: MM Romantic Fantasy

Death comes for us all, even those we love.
The line between angel and demon is razor thin. Kai knows this firsthand. As an Emissary of death, darkness follows him like a shadow, leaving him touch-starved and lonely.

Tormented by the error in judgment that killed his only love, he accepts an assignment to redeem himself: hunting down the demons destroying the mortal realm. But fate takes a turn, and Kai finds himself drawn to one of his targets instead.

Demonic martial arts expert Byron Black has struggled to survive his entire life. He has fought for every breath he’s taken and each bite
he’s eaten, yet in the instant when his demise finally seems inevitable, death incarnate steps forward and spares him. Kai is as beautiful as he is terrifying, and although Byron suspects the angel’s interest in him is more than it appears, he can’t stay away.

Together, the pair search for answers regarding who wants Byron dead—and why—but uncovering the truth might destroy them both in the process. Can Kai defeat his inner demons to save the one that has crawled into his bed? Read my thoughts...

Book Review Alert: The Mage’s Curse by Bethany Adams

Reviewed: Octobe 6th, 2022
Releases: October 4th, 2022 (Part of the Realm of Darkness anthology)
Genre: Romantic Fantasy

After a simple dinner with a god went very, very wrong, fae mage Chalmys was cursed to remain locked in his tiny realm. Until, that is, he could find someone to tell his story. All of his story.

There are only two problems: Revealing the truth of his birth will put his mother at grave risk, and he has to send his story through dreams.

Chalmys thought the second would be the easiest to overcome, but after centuries of tangled tales gone wrong, he has nearly given up hope.

Until the night he connects with Holly. Now he has to convince her to risk everything to set him free. If only a certain god doesn’t interfere … Read my thoughts …

Book Review Alert: The Shadow of Death by Becky James and Wren Murphy

Reviewed: September 29th, 2022
Releases: October 4th, 2022
Genre: Romantic Fantasy

A king with a broken crown.

Shay rules from the murky corners of the Topaz Court, a realm not many willingly travel to. It promises only one thing —Death. Duty eats away at the dark king, and as he escorts departed souls to the Otherworld, something—or someone—threatens to taint his kingdom and destroy the magic that sustains it.

A selkie searching for answers.

Seven years ago, Neri’s sister disappeared on dry land over the sands. Neri has prepared every day since to follow after her and find what delays her sister’s return to the waves.

Death hounds after the selkie. Shay shouldn’t stand in its way; to upset the balance is to risk everything. Not even when her spirit stirs something inside him, something he thought long lost…

As the threat to magic grows, the selkies might be the key. Together, Shay and Neri traverse the realms to save their homes, their families, and themselves. Can they succeed under the shadow of death? Read my thoughts …

Book Review Alert: Fae Lis Bride by Jessica M. Butler

Reviewed: September 23rd, 2022
Releases: October 4th, 2022
Genre: Romantic Fantasy

To save her sister, a desperate human woman is willing to kidnap the handsome Lord of Wind and Spring

Daphne must bring a powerful elemental fae lord to the mountain before the full moon or her little sister dies.

Kanek, a fine-dressing but reclusive elemental fae, knows something has to change, but he doesn’t know what to do or how. A human woman showing up in his sanctuary and attempting (unsuccessfully) to render him unconscious and abduct him is not part of his plans. But her utter gall and desperation are enough to convince him that maybe cooperation is better than ignoring her.

It’s not the quest he expected. He’s not the man she thought. She might be harder to live without than she is to live with. And right from the start, he can’t stop thinking about her. But it is just because she’s annoying? Right? Read my thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Skin by J.E Hannaford

Reviewed: September 7th, 2022
Released: October 18th, 2021
Genre: Futuristic Fantasy

‘You cannot fix this world alone, Selkie.’

‘I know. But, when we die, all that is left are shadows of our lives preserved in the memories of those who remain. I plan on leaving an exceptionally long shadow, filled with ripples of moonlight for those I helped, and darker than the worst of nightmares for those who wronged us.’

How far would you go to save your skin?

I’m a selkie, trapped above the waves until I can recover my skin. Humans used to call us seal-wives many years ago – before they broke the planet. I thought that less humans, after the warming, would mean less danger. My kind believed our world was finally recovering.

We were wrong.

Up here, the magic is fading and Old Ones like me are being traded as trophies for rich and powerful humans to display in collections.

Without the Old Ones, the magic fades, without magic, the planet dies.

Humankind has gone too far and someone has to put a stop to it. I just wasn’t expecting it to be me.

Far to the south on his enormous pleasure ship, Barge, Lord Sal hunts for missing Old Ones – with a grand plan to leave his own mark on the world. But, Icidro and Prince Ulises are searching for them too, and this is a world where money talks louder than morals. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill

Reviewed: September 6th, 2022
Released: March 17th, 2021
Genre: Medieval/Epic Fantasy

Born in fire. Tempered in blood.

Epheria is a land divided by war and mistrust. The High Lords of the South squabble and fight, only kept in check by the Dragonguard, traitors of a time long past, who serve the empire of the North.

In the remote villages of southern Epheria, still reeling from the tragic loss of his brother, Calen Bryer prepares for The Proving – a test of courage and skill that not all survive.

But when three strangers arrive in the village of Milltown, with a secret they are willing to die for, Calen’s world is ripped from under him and he is thrust headfirst into a war that has been raging for centuries.

There is no prophecy. His coming was not foretold.

He bleeds like any man, and bleed he will. Read My Thoughts…