AM Kvita: An Unlikely Coven

In her debut novel AM Kvita shows that family is not about blood but who understands you:

I love reading debut novels so I was really excited to get this book. I will admit it took me a few chapters to get into this book and characters but once story starts to unfold I was in. Kvita brings a really big question in this book, If you could have the ability to wield magic, would you want it? For Joan this is a big question, as she has never had the ability to wield magic though she can see it. It really plays on her insecurities with her family, but at the same time her not having the ability to wield magic has made her who she is.

Joan is such an eclectic character, which is a good thing. She is not a powerful witch, just the opposite, she is the black sheet in her very powerful family and they never let her forget it. But she has so much heart, really too much heart at times that it is to her detriment. Joan is loyal to a fault to those that she loves and even to her family, though they do not deserve it (other than her sister). I personally loved that Joan was not this all powerful witch, that she has to learn to do things without magic and seeking help from other is not below her like it is for other people in her family.

CZ is probably the Best best friend that a girl could have. He is also so loyal to Joan and they have been through it all. CZ has no problem prioritizing Joan in his life even over his family at times, even though Joan knows how much family is important to him (his family treats him A LOT better than hers). CZ is also a Vampire and has Vampire abilities. I love that the different factions in New York are run in a Mob mentality with the witches ruling them all, and hence why their being a spell to give non magic people magic would disrupt this tenuous balance.

I love the nod to author with her father being named Merlin, and well Merlin is basically a dick to Joan because she does not conform to her family wishes plus she questions everything that they do. She see the corruption that her family wields and she despises it.

If you are a fan of the found family trope this book does it amazingly well.

The epilogue was quite interesting and has piqued my interest in what Kvita will do next. So i am looking forward to her next book and recommend this book to those who are looking for a contemporary witchy read.

Enjoy!!!!

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Sookh Kaur: Facing Off

In Sookh Kaur’s next hockey romance books, she explores whether opposites do attract:

This is the second book that I have read by Kaur and this book got better the farther that I read but at the beginning I was not too sure about it. I did not like the time gap at the beginning. There was very little explanation as to why Adrian was so obsessed with Sonya other than she turns him down time and time again. Once they are interacting on a more permanent and personal basis you start to see more of a connection, even though Sonya denies it time and time again. 

Adrian is the best gold retriever of a man out there, with all his positivity and willing to go the extra mile for anyone. All the times that Sonya rejected him and his heart broke a little bit you just want to make him feel better. Even when you learn where all of Adrian's positivity is coming from come, he does not lose his golden retriever status. Sonya is a hard character to connect with especially at the beginning as she comes off how she wants the world to see her, tough, not giving a F and she doesn't need anyone. All she needs is ballet and perfection. You start to see who Sonya really is farther in the story and you learn it along side Adrian, even though this book is dual POV.

The trauma and mental health rep in this book was really well done and on two different spectrums. I loved the healing from trauma in this one, and even though Adrian and Sonya they have taken two entirely different paths to protect themselves from this trauma there are still some similarities between them that they can help the other with. Plus the introduction of the Yips is not something I have read in sports romance before.

I did enjoy the first book in the series more than this one. I felt that there was more of a connection throughout the book with Kavi and Dimitri (and I was glad to have the brooding guy back in this cook) and even though i was not one for fake dating, it just worked. Personally, I hope Quinn gets the next book. that is one that I need to read.

This was a good read, but not great. I think that Kaur has something here with the hockey team and the secondary characters we are getting to know in the series. I look forward to reading another in this series, and like I said I really hope it is Quinn's story.

Enjoy!!!!

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Jonathan Kellerman: When the Bough Breaks

In the first in a series, a child psychologist who may hold the key to solving everything:

Rerited (in his 30s) Child Psychologist Alex Delaware was enjoying his retirement, when he receives a knock on his door from Det. Milo Sturgis who needs Alex's help. Alex retired early and he grapples with the decision to help him, but if there is a child involved Alex knows he cannot say no. Melody Quinn, is a girl that has not had a great life and seems to be over medicated if you ask Alex, but now she is a possible witness to a murder and Alex needs to help find what is buried in her mind to solve the case. But there are those who want to keep what Melody saw buried and will stop at nothing to achieve that and other sinister secrets that have been hidden for over 40 years. Alex finds himself danger but there is no way he would turn his back on a little girl who needs his help.

This is the first book that I have read by Kellerman and it is an older one as it was published in 1985, but might as well start a series at the beginning. The question for this book is really does it stand the test of time which can be hard for crime books as technology changes. For the most part I will say that it does. Alex Delaware does investigative work and that is what I want in a crime book. I want him to follow his gut, the evidence that he is able to uncover. I don't need all the fancy gadgets to do this or get things done on brain power. Now there are things that didn't age as well but it was mainly technology based, like only having a land line and answering machine but those are minor things and don't take away from the story as a whole. Just reminds us how overly connected we are now.

I liked Alex as a main character. He is living his life in retirement but even though he seems to be enjoying it at the beginning you can tell that he is missing something in his life. I think that is why he agrees to help Milo pretty quickly without much convincing. It felt like was coming out of his shell in the book and becoming a different person, or the person he should be with the investigative side of thing. Things get a bit dark for him at times in the book especially nearing the end, but I think he makes the right choices

This book was ahead of its time when Kellerman decided that his main secondary character  is black gay detective. I don’t think this was heard of at this time in mainstream fiction and I applaud Kellerman for taking this route. I also like Milo as a character, he is dedicated to his job but also who he is as a person and he does not apologize for it.

I was able to figure out what was going on fairly early into the book but I enjoyed seeing how Kellerman put everything together. So maybe not as twisted as a crime book as I have read now a days with the advancement of technology but there is enough there to keep me interested and wanting read on in the series.

If you are looking for a crime series that is older and lots of books to keep you busy, then I suggest you check this one out.

Enjoy!!!

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Laurie Forest: The Black Witch

In the first in a series, Laurie Forest takes readers on a young woman's discovery of what is truly important in life:

Elloren is the spitting image of her grandmother, the famed Black Witch who was the hero of the Realm War. Too bad Elloren does not have half the magic that her grandmother had, in fact she has no magic at all. Elloren has lived with her brother and Uncle in a small town the majority of her life after her parents were killed and although Elloren does not have any magic, she has dreams of pursuing apothecary. When she is granted the opportunity to do so at a prestigious university. What Elloren does not realize that the world is a very different place that she thought, and her connection to the Black Witch is no a good one, especially at the university. Darkness looms all around Elloren and she has to decide which side is going to be on.

This the first book that I read by Forest and I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. Forest takes on a lot in this first book, not only introducing us to the world and characters but the political strife that is occurring in this book. There are arranged marriages (wand fasting) at a young age, there is racism, sexism and homophobia all wound into this story. For any book this would be a lot but Forest tackled it in a way that it never felt like too much or overwhelming. Now are these ideas new in a fiction or even a fantasy stories, No, but I appreciate the way that Forest handles these topics and how it is wound up in the political aspects of this book as well as Elloren trying to discover who she is and what she believes in.

Elloren is an interesting character from her green skin, to her lack of power to her really just discovering the wide world around her. She id pretty naive for her age but this is due to the fact that she was sheltered her whole life. Was there sign in her small town of the racism/homophobia/sexism, yes but not to the extreme one would experience in a city. This book is written more in a YA or New Adult way and I do find that Elloren comes across younger than she is and in some of the decision that she makes, especially at the beginning of the book. I enjoyed Elloren's personal journey in this book and the decisions that she decides to make. I look forward to seeing her grow more, challenge things around her more and grow into herself.

While Elloren is the main character in this book, there are quite a few side characters that I want to know more about and I think I would like a secondary POV from a few of them. I mean not a lot of chapters but just a different perspective from Elloren's as she is learning a lot of new things first hand, it would be nice to have the perspective of one of the other races who have been living through it.

I think we can all guess who The Black Witch is going to be, I feel like it is very much implied by not only the title but what occurs at the beginning of the book, but i am interested in seeing where Forest will take the whole Black Witch aspect.

This was a great start to a series. I enjoyed the world that Forest has created (the political and corruption aspects especially), the characters, plot and magic system. I look forward to continuing on in the series.

Enjoy!!!!

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Jay Kristoff: Empire of the Damned

In the second book in the Empire of the Vampire Series, Gabriel de Leon has saved the Holy Grail, but keeping it is another story:

The last Silversaint has saved the Holy Grail from death, but keeping her by her side is another story. When they are ambushed, Gabirel does everything in his power to keep her but he fails. He does not know where she is or what has become of her, but he will do everything he can to find her and get her back even if that means forming alliances with those he never thought he would. Gabriel will face many deadly perils as though he is hunting he is also being hunted.

This book was amazing. It was dark, gritty, brutal and bloody just like a vampire book should be. Kristoff does not hold back in this book and man did he break my heart several times in the book, but the book and story and plot were better for it. I loved reading this book and turning the pages to see where Kristoff would take the series. And boy does Kristoff take it places that I did not think that he would go. This book is just as good as the first book, maybe even better as I felt even more invested in Gabriel as a Character.

I love Gabriel as a main character. Yes he is flawed character, but he doesn't pretend to be anything other than who he is. He tells it like it is and if you don't want to hear that, too bad he'll tell you anything. I feel like Gabriel is someone that you want in your corner, and mores the pity if you are not.

I was not expecting there to be a second storyteller in this book and the book is better for it. I enjoyed getting to know more about Liathe and her drive to protect the Grail, as well as what happened to her after she was turned.

The artwork again in this book was exceptional. I had to tell myself not to look ahead at the artwork as it would give some things away. I personally love the addition of the artwork and I think more books should do this. Really add to the overall reading experience.

Speaking of reading experience I did the physical read and audiobook read of the book, as I did not want to have to put it down. Once again, Damian Lynch did a great job of brining Gabriel to life and the addition of Shakira Shite was amazing. I loved what she brought to the character of Liathe, danger but grace at the same time.

OMG, this is probably going to be one of my favourite trilogies out there, if the third book is even close to as the first two books in this series. I cannot wait to read the third book in this series. I just need to wait for it to be released in paperback so it matches my other two. Highly recommend if you want a darker vampire read.

Enjoy!!!!

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Raven Kennedy: Gild

In the first in a series, Raven Kennedy has her own take on a Midas with his Golden Touch.

Gold is the most important element in the world of Orea. Having the ability to turn anything to Gold, makes King Midas one of the most powerful individuals in the world. In Midas castle, everything is gold, including his favoured Auren, she is his Gold Touch. Auren has everything she could want since being chosen by Midas from the streets, she has a place to live, even if it is a cage, she feels safe. She loves Midas and enjoys being on her pedestal. But then Wart is coming to the Kingdom and a deal is struck that Auren never thought would happen. It has her questioning everything, and challenging her love.

This is the first book that I have read by Kennedy and i heard this was a darker romance side of things. I will say this did not read like a Dark Romance, it did not have those elements I would associate with Dark Romance. So i guess on that note, I thought that it would be darker. Does this mean I did not enjoy the book, No, but I did feel like i was waiting for it to get darker at times. 

For the length of the book it feels like not a lot actually happens in this book, but I was pretty invested in Auren. I will also say this book is not very spicy at all, very tame, so the books in the series may get spicier (I can't speak to that yet) but there is not much spice in this book,

At the age of 15 Auren meets Midas as she is living on the street and he saves her from that life, so there is no question of her loving him and trusting him. However, the older that she gets and the more that she sees him with other women she begins to questions many things in her life, but she never questions her love for him. The more you read about Auren and the past her and Midas has, you can really tell that he was grooming her to be his Favoured.  I love watching Auren grow in this book, she starts in a pretty low place and an alcoholic and throughout the book you can see the woman she wants to become and by the end of the book I wanted to know more.

I absolutely love the twist in this book and one I did not really see coming and how it plays out is fantastic. And made me want to pick up the next book right away.

All I can say is Mitas is an asshole, and not in a Good morally grey way, just an asshole that is it. The way that he treats Auren horribly I don’t care what their history is, he is just a horrible man.

Even though I thought that this book would be darker, I am fully invested in Auren as a character and I'm heading out to get the next book. This one should for sure be on your list if you are looking for a fantasy read that is more character driven.

Enjoy!!!!

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