One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Asylum Tales, Book 1
Rating: 2 Stars
Length: 338 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




Gage has always known that being the best tattoo artist in Low Town has its price. All magic does, and that's what his skin art is, magic. Simple spells, really. For luck, or love, or any sundry little and  not-so-little thing. Still, since he escaped the warlocks of the Ivory Tower at the cost of the use of magic, among other, equally unpleasant things, any unauthorized use is enough to sign his death warrant if he's found out.

That's why Gage is so good at living under the radar. Or he was until the night a dying young woman came into his shop and asked to have angel wings tattooed on her back.

With a tug of sympathy guiding his hand, Gage worked on the ingredients in the tattoo ink. He couldn't cure the woman. No magic tattoo could cure cancer. He may be able to extend her life a little, or improve it slightly before she died. It would be his gift to a brave girl for whom he felt an odd kinship.

Unfortunately, Gage forgot one very important thing: no good deed goes unpunished. His tattoo works in ways he couldn't possibly have imagined, and now he's got Ivory Tower thugs hunting him down like a dog and the grim reaper in a snit about what he's done. So much for living under the radar. Hell, Gage will be lucky just to live to see the dawn.


As much as I loved the idea of this story and felt the world that Drake has created for the series was dark, dangerous, and imaginative, I couldn't connect to this one like I wanted to. Most of my problem with the book lies with Gage. Between his attitude and his actions, he was fairly unpalatable to me as the hero.

He lies to every single person in his life, even those who mean the most to him, and they often pay steep prices for his perpetual bad choices. And for someone who is trying to stay away from warlocks, he sure did manage to stumble and flail around through his days like he's thumbing his nose at them at every turn. I just didn't find very much to recommend him as either a man or a warlock in the story.

The secondary characters had the potential to balance out some of my issues with Gage, but most never really got the sort of definition or depth needed to make them seem much better than two dimensional cutouts to me. Those that did get some development weren't included in the story enough to have as much impact as they could have.

That was a particular problem when it came to Trixie, who is supposed to be a love interest of Gage's. It was a relationship that never seemed natural or organic to the story or the characters. I never felt a drop of emotional or sexual chemistry between them, despite Gage's alleged two-year infatuation with her, and the relationship plot threads seemed to serve little purpose beyond adding yet another dangerous, hopeless situation to Gage's plate.

And that plate was ridiculously overburdened. The plot just kept churning out life-threatening or world-ending catastrophes one after another after another in a seemingly never-ending stream of badness, with no relief and little levity to balance the depressing weight of them all. Though the book does end on a positive note, it wasn't enough of a payoff for the chaotic and depressing journey.

There really is a difference between damaged antiheroes and self interested jerks, just as there is a difference between complex, layered plot conflict and relentless story quagmire. For me, this book tread on the wrong side of the line in both those categories and it ended up being a less than entertaining read as a result.

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Adrenaline Highs, Book 4
Rating: 2 Stars
Length: 293 Pages
Formats: Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.





Private Investigator Troy Mills enjoys his job, cheating spouse cases notwithstanding. Unfortunately, he's on one such case, working undercover as a bodyguard for a popular movie producer while he waits to get the proof that the wife hired him to find. Proof that her husband is sleeping with America's Sweetheart, actress Julie Fraser.

He hadn't been working undercover long when he first meets the former child star under less than auspicious circumstances. He's "guarding" the producer at a red carpet event when Julie arrives, but she doesn't make it into the building before the shots ring out, sending the crowd into chaos and knocking the star off her feet. Racing to her side to pull her bleeding body out of the line of fire, he manages to help save her life and takes a bullet for his efforts.

Julie has been an actress long enough to have no more illusions about the darker side of fame, but she never expected to be gunned down for it. Recovering in the same hospital as the man responsible for that very recovery gives her a chance to thank him personally. Not only is he her hero, but he's also the sort of decent, honest man she wants to get to know even better.

When repeated attempts to end her life prove Julie wasn't just a victim of random violence, Troy finds himself on shaky ground. Telling her who he really is will do more than just piss her off and ruin any good feelings she may have towards him, it could very well put her in the crosshairs of a determined killer.


I've been a big fan of the Adrenaline Highs series since its inception, and the previous book, Dangerously Close, was my favorite to date. That's why it sucks so much to have to say that this one didn't appeal to me. I struggled with the narrative and the characters, as well as several elements of the plot, throughout most of the book.

Adams has always brought vibrantly flawed or damaged, believable, three-dimensional characters to life on the pages, characters who are uniquely individual and original. I just wasn't getting any of those vibes from either Julie or Troy in this book. Julie was a little too sweet, nice, caring, and perfect for my taste (which isn't bad so much as it is uninteresting) and Troy was a lying douchebag.

Um...yeah...there may be some personal bias bleeding over into that opinion, but I'm sorry, there were a dozen times he could have come clean with Julie before they slept together and the fact that he not only didn't tell her the truth, but perpetuated the lie throughout the story, made me very uncomfortable with him as the romantic hero and set up what felt like a cliched and predictable suspense climax late in the book.

And that's beside the point that I thought the premise for his investigation was a stretch. He's been hired by producer Ari's unhappy wife to get proof he's sleeping with Julie so the wife can divorce Ari's lecherous ass. That's fine on the surface, but I kept wondering why the wife's focus was so specific. Her husband is a sleaze who apparently bounces so many wannabe starlets on the "acting couch" that if extramarital sex were an Olympic event he'd have had the gold. If Troy was even remotely competent as an investigator he should have been able to provide proof of infidelity in no time. Mandating that the proof be her husband's adultery with Julie never made sense to me.

That was a pretty big stumbling block for my willing suspension of disbelief, and it caused problems for me as it related to the entire setup of the plot. There were also several plot threads, like what was going on between Julie's and Troy's assistants and the backstory of Troy's childhood, that weren't fleshed out enough to have any positive impact on the story. They just served to muddy the waters and bog down the pace of the suspense, and that pace was already pretty slow because of a narrative that was heavy on narration and light on dialogue.

There were good points, too, though. I did love the repartee between Troy and Julie in the beginning of the book, and I didn't dislike Julie as a character. She was cute and harmless, she just wasn't all that complex. My only issue with her as the romantic heroine, really, is that when compared to the other female leads in the series, she wasn't nearly as compelling or memorable.

Actually, that pretty much sums up my feelings about this book in general.

I've enjoyed this series, and have been highly entertained by Adams' deft talent for creating pulse-pounding romantic suspense. This book may not have been for me, but even the most adrenaline-pounding thrill ride in the world has its moments of down time. I have no doubt that the next in the series will have my adrenaline racing just as fast and high as did the three previous books.


The Adrenaline Highs Series:

Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 217 Pages
Formats: Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.


No one wants to get cases involving kids. It doesn't matter that it is the first real case Detective Matt Bennett had been given in the fifteen months since his world exploded, when he not only lost his partner, but had the full nature of his personal relationship with the man become public knowledge. No one wants kid cases.

And no one wants to be standing in the house of frantic parents before dawn on Christmas Day, watching his or her captain question those parents about the timeline of their six-year-old daughter's disappearance.

Regardless of what Matt wants or doesn't want, that's the grim reality of his situation. Or it is until he hears the first giggle, then the words that draw him down the stairs to the basement of the house. That's where Matt finds Abby. Where he sees her, speaks to her. And then his reality takes a detour into a hellish nightmare, because the missing little girl with the too-large eyes and so-pale skin vanishes just after she points him to her own corpse.

Forced off the case and onto administrative leave after he unwisely tells his captain he saw Abby's ghost, Matt is at lose ends. Then his best friend drags him to see Kiernan Fitzpatrick, a well-known medium. Ghostly encounter aside, Matt is highly skeptical, but even the staunchest skepticism falters under the weight of one small little ghost who keeps making her presence known.

To catch a killer, Matt is going to have to believe. In ghosts, in Kiernan, and maybe, after all this time and everything he's lost, in the power of love.


Wow, this book is just a whole lotta awesome. With layered, sympathetic characters who had complex personalities, flaws, and foibles, and a solid plot that ran my emotions through the wringer, this book delivered pure reading entertainment. The romance arc was well-paced, with a relationship evolution that maintained a believable timeline, and Copland did a very nice job balancing that evolution with the murder mystery storyline.

The crime against Abby was truly horrifying and tragic, and sometimes very hard to deal with, but the sweet, sexy, and sometimes scorching hot yumminess that started building between Matt and Kiernan from the moment they met helped keep that horror from overwhelming the narrative. That's always a delicate balance for me, because stories that feature crimes against children always hit me harder than the rest.

I liked Matt a lot and I adored Kiernan. Matt was the broodier, more wounded of the two, and sometimes - especially in the beginning - I wanted to smack him around a little for his attitude, but Kiernan had the exact right amount of good-natured acceptance and easy charm, bordering on boyish enthusiasm, to draw Matt out of his grief prison and give him what he needed to finally heal from his past. They were great together.

And Kiernan's tee shirt slogans were a total riot.

Admittedly, I have a soft spot for ghost stories, so I was predisposed to liking the tale, but it was Copland's imaginative, wonderfully descriptive storytelling and authorial voice that really brought it home for me. The whole book felt very well rounded, offering everything from ghostly spookies to gritty crime, touches of humor, hot sex, and heart-melting romance.

I fell in love with Matt and Kiernan as a couple and through them, Copland's writing. Though I had a few minor issues with a couple of plot points that seemed a tad cliched or predictable, the vast majority of this story was just great reading fun. So much so I was disappointed to find out this wasn't connected to a series. I would love to revisit Matt and Kiernan and their colorful family and friends, but I guess I'll have to settle for rereading this book to do so. Definitely not a hardship.

Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance; LGBT
Series: Mates, Book 1
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 250 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle





Zev Hassik is running out of time. The Alpha of the Etzgadol wolf shifter pack is young for his position, but at thirty, he's lived far longer than any male shifter ever has without tying with a female. And it's slowly killing him. Well, killing his humanity anyway. It's the nature of the beast, so to speak. The females of his kind are necessary to keep the males balanced between man and wolf.

That balance is quickly slipping from Zev's grasp. If he doesn't tie, he will soon no longer be able to reclaim his human form after a shift. He will be forever lost to the wild inside him.

Despite his family's worried intervention and what they feel is his inevitable fate, Zev has no intention of tying with any female. First of all, he's gay, though his family refuses to acknowledge it. Shifters aren't supposed to be able to be gay. If it weren't for one very important thing, even Zev would worry that he was abnormal and flawed, but Zev knows something that he hasn't even told his family. He has a true mate. A male, human true mate.

A gift beyond price and rare to the extreme, Zev has held strong against his very nature for the promise of that future bonding with the man who has been his best friend since they were children. Jonah Marvel has always been his, Zev has loved him for years, but he had to let Jonah go when they graduated high school. Jonah had to leave town to follow his dream of becoming a doctor and Zev had to stay to take over the pack.

Twelve years have passed now, though, years of struggle with the agony of being separated from his true mate. And if Jonah doesn't return soon, even a shifter as powerful as Zev will lose the battle to conquer the wolf inside him.


Stylistically unique and deeply emotional, the story of Zev and Jonah is told mostly through flashbacks of their lifelong history with each other and the friendship, then more, that bind these two amazing men together so tightly. It was more than a book, it was a sweeping emotional journey through time and across two very different cultures and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I don't normally favor books that have a lot of flashback scenes, and the first seventy percent or so of this book is mostly flashbacks, but in this case, it totally worked. It did more than work. I don't think the book would have been nearly as emotionally intense if it hadn't provided such a deep and rich history for the characters' and their lives from their first meeting as children through every haunting moment of their time apart as they grew into adults.

Those flashbacks were my favorite part of the story, and that's not something I ever expected to say. With touches of gut-clenching angst, gentle humor, and searing passion, the path of Zev and Jonah's romance is fraught with a myriad conflicts and hazards both internal and external that were woven together into a very powerful read.

It wasn't flawless, though. Even as the story captivated my emotions and held me in tense anticipation of the culmination of their relationship, there were things that niggled my more analytical side. For all that the pain and misery that both men went through while they were apart made for a gripping story, and as amazed as I was by Zev's utter selflessness and patience with Jonah, I got a little frustrated that Zev kept him in the dark for so long.

If Jonah had known why it was so important that Zev withhold some specific things, or had even the first inkling of the sacrifice Zev was making for him, it may have eased some of the burden on both of them. It certainly could have prevented the most painful moments of fear, doubt, and recrimination, and all the subsequent bad decisions. It's not like Zev wasn't going to have to tell him eventually anyway, so the fact that he didn't when it could have helped bugged me.

The few threads of external conflict that cropped up in the present timeline were also a little underwhelming. Light on development and a bit awkward in places, I couldn't quite connect with the ancillary plot threads that related to Jonah's mother. They offered a chance at creating some three dimensional conflict in the adult lives of the characters, but the execution wasn't as successful as I'd hoped. It lacked the gravitas and emotional complexity that had been present in the flashback scenes, so it never felt like it added much to the story.

Don't get me wrong, it didn't detract much, either. The rocky, emotional road to Happily Ever After for Zev and Jonah was really enough to keep me fully entertained and leave me pleased with the read. I'm looking forward to continuing with the series and hope that future books will include at least some mention of both of them. I fell a bit in love with the guys in this book, and I'm dying to see how their lives progress from here.

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Transplanted Tales, Book 1
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 330 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Kensington Publishing Co. via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.





It was a spell, of course. A spell that went very wrong. Since then, characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, literary legends, and fictional creatures large and small have been crossing over into the Here and Now. Most Tales blend in with normal humans, or Ordinaries, with little problem. Some, though, don't do blending so well. For those, there is the Fairytale Management Authority, Make Believe's answer to crime and punishment.

Tess "Red" Little, FMA enforcer, makes her living tracking down rogue Tales and bringing them in to face justice, Make Believe style. She's come a long way since the Riding Hood, which, for the record, she outgrew when she was twelve (and that whole wolf thing was horribly misrepresented, too). Now Red keeps the mean streets of Chicago free from the sort of havoc the less savory Tales can wreak.

It's normally a job she enjoys, but her latest case is striking a little too close to home. Several Tales have been butchered by what appears to be a Tale serial killer, and the FMA's three prime suspects all have one thing in common: a history with Red. And as if tracking down three ex's to ask them if they've torn anyone apart lately isn't awkward enough, she's been partnered with FMA homicide detective Nate Grimm, and the reaper is doing weird things to her equilibrium.

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed, even if you're fictional.


SeRine's intriguing new series debut may not have been a perfect read for me, but it had enough strong points to appeal. I absolutely love the concept of the world, which in several ways is similar to that of the television series Once Upon a Time. Have no fear, though, this version of Chicago is no one's Storybrooke.

Call me twisted, but I adored the different incarnations of Tales. Snow White? High dollar prostitute. Things with the Prince went south and she got screwed in the divorce. Pied Piper? Exterminator...and registered sex offender. The Sandman? Major pharmaceutical distributor and illegal drug czar. And Mistress Mary Quite Contrary is a prosecuting attorney.

The awesomeness of that alone was enough to push many of my Happy Reader buttons, and the good times didn't stop there. The plot surrounding the investigation into two of Red's cases was solid, if a little light on complexity. I had some problems with a few specific plot points, and there were some elements, like the fact that almost every male character in the book either had sexual history with Red or wanted to, that rubbed me the wrong way, but the execution was smooth and relatively trouble-free.

A few notably rocky places in the plot came late in the book, with twists that felt fairly obvious long before they were revealed, and more than once I felt Red donned the Stupid hat as the story reached its climax, but overall it worked for me. I was less thrilled with Red as the main character. She was fairly typical for an urban fantasy heroine, but that was actually part of the problem, as the book reads like an urban fantasy but tries to pull off a romance.

The leather-wearing, ass-kicking, sarcastic bitch elements were there. She was also a hot mess emotionally. She had commitment and trust issues a mile wide courtesy of a past that was never explained to my satisfaction, and a disturbing propensity for sleeping with dangerous men. One such dangerous man gives her a couple of big happies during the book, and considering he was not romantic lead Nate, those scenes were a huge fail for me and went a long way towards turning me off Red.

Had the reasons for Red's many, many issues been better developed or more clearly defined, maybe I could have accepted them. Instead, they're sort of just thrown out there, remain fairly constant throughout the book, then go through a sudden and unsupported about-face when she realizes her heart belongs to Nate. It made it hard to find her at all sympathetic - or, in a couple of places, tolerable - and as the book is told in first person from her perspective, that's a lot of time to spend in a character's head without caring too much about what happens to her.

For all that she disappointed me, though, Nate thrilled me. I loved his character from the moment he's introduced. I loved his commitment and his understated dedication, his strength of purpose and his endearing kindness. I love that he obviously had feelings for Red from the very beginning, but was always his own man living his own life, even if that meant he was at odds with her. He wasn't the alpha male stereotype, but neither was he ever just an appendage to her life in the story. I just loved everything about him.

Had I been better able to warm up to Red, the good points of the book would have outweighed most of my other issues, but she was just too much of a stumbling block. The good news is that while she kept me from fully embracing this book, this isn't an urban fantasy series with a recurring main character. With the goldmine of story potential inherent in this very exciting world and the opportunity for more unique and engaging characters like Nate in stories to come, that's very good news indeed.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Alpha Brotherhood, Book 1
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 192 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Harlequin Blaze publisher Harlequin via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.





There's having bad taste in men, and then there's Hillary Wright, whose ex-boyfriend is being indicted for fraud and embezzlement. To make matters worse, the federal government suspects she was complicit in his crimes. In an effort to clear her name, she's flying to Chicago to help the CIA identify her ex's shady partners. Then she's going to try to put the whole sordid mess - and relationship - behind her.

The charming, good-looking man seated beside her on the flight to Chicago may be just what she needs to start the process.

Former hacker and computer wunderkind Troy Donavan is scoping out Hillary for his boss, but nothing about the pretty, funny woman says she knew anything about her boyfriend's illegal activities. He's been called to serve in his role as freelance Interpol agent to make sure his instincts are correct, and if necessary, protect her from the people who may not be too happy with her if she fingers them for criminals.

It's a tough job, spending time with a gorgeous, witty, enchanting woman who stirs his blood, but somebody's got to do it.


I'm a fan of Catherine Mann and have enjoyed several of her books, but this debut of her new series was just okay for me. Maybe part of the responsibility for my lack of enthusiasm lies with the Harlequin Desire line. I don't read a lot of them because they tend not to have the sort of depth and complexity I prefer in my books. They're shorter length novels and while they definitely bring the heat, they don't usually bring much else.

That was pretty much the case for me here. I liked the premise of the group of independent Interpol agents and the backstory that connects them. I liked the main characters well enough, too, though again, not a whole lot of depth or complexity went into either one of them. There were some elements of the plot that were fairly far-fetched, and the romance arc had moments that struck me as being overly and unnecessarily dramatic, but overall, there were few truly eye-rolling moments at any point of the story.

There were just as few moments that really impressed or wowed me.

The book is fairly simple, straightforward brain candy, light on substance but with a bit of a sexy bite. There's no doubt Mann is an accomplished author who can write layered characters and well-rounded plots. I just don't think this particular venue is the place for that to happen. It wasn't a bad read at all, and I certainly didn't dislike it, but it never really went beyond being just an okay read for me. In the future I think I'll get my Mann fixes elsewhere.

Genre: Steampunk Romance
Series: Steam Guardians, Book 1
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 320 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Sourcebooks Casablanca publisher Sourcebooks via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.





Janette Aston is a young woman ahead of her time. While her contemporaries are attending society balls and getting courted by wealthy and titled suitors, Janette is sneaking science circulars into her home and hiding them from her disapproving father. He wouldn't be happy with her interest in the Illuminists, a secretive order of scientists who are disdained by polite society.

Sneaking into their Solitary Chamber to listen to a lecture on electricity is the riskiest thing she's ever done, but thrilling in a way that stirs her unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Getting caught and being manhandled by Illuminist Guardian Darius Lawley, however, isn't  the high point of the afternoon.

Darius takes his job as Guardian very seriously, even when tempted by the surprising and captivating Janette Aston. She's a rare Pure Spirit, though she doesn't know it. Unfortunately, she's also a member of the upper class, which should by all accounts make her off limits. It is illegal to recruit Illuminist membership, and even if Darius weren't the honorable rule-follower that he is, to do so would prompt Janette being shunned by society.

Problem is, now that her identity as a Pure Spirit has been revealed, she is in grave danger. If the Helikeians find out about her, they will take her and use her for their evil agenda...or kill her if she refuses to comply. And it didn't take five seconds in her company for Darius to know that compliance is not in the young woman's vocabulary.


As intriguing a world as Wine has created for this series, and as much story potential within the plot concept, I can't say this was one of my favorite steampunk romances. Despite a strong start with what seemed, at first glance, to be an independent and intelligent heroine and a rigid but honorable hero, the plot never quite came together for me, the world-building lacked the sort of defining explanation that would provide clarity, and the main characters got bogged down by less than appealing habits, which threw off the arc of their romance evolution.

I liked Janette well enough. Sometimes she took being headstrong a little too far, and she straddled an uncomfortable line between scandalized socialite and avid intellectual a little too often for my tastes, but she wasn't unpalatable. Darius, on the other hand, often was.

For a good majority of the book, he seemed completely incapable of conversing with Janette without coming off as either a sanctimonious prig or a doomsday prophet. I found him tedious and two dimensional. I'm all for the noble guardian type, but there has to be a bit of evolution in his character as the story progresses or I end up just wanting him to spontaneously combust. That tends to but a crimp in the effectiveness of the romance.

Unfortunately, that was a large part of my problem with the book as a whole. It wasn't bad, and I certainly wouldn't say I disliked it, but it just wasn't as effective at keeping and holding my interest as I would have liked. The story was just a bit too muddled and hectic, the characters were inconsistent and a little limited, and the manner in which it all came together made it hard for me to really immerse myself in the story as it went along. I don't regret reading it, but I'm not anxious to dive into the next book in the series, either.