About Karen:

I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember. Mostly it was fictional crime, police procedurals, murder/mystery, and political historical novels, and plenty of non-fiction history. For the past thirteen years I’ve been reviewing as Kazza at our sister site On Top Down Under Book Reviews which is predominantly a MM romance, LGBTQ review site. I’m still reviewing there but right now I’ll be spending a little more time at this site, reviewing books with darker notes and hints as their underpinning themes.

Also: I live in Australia. I’m a mad-keen gardener, have two dogs, love animals, music, ballet, movies, theatre, and photography. I find there’s so much good TV these days it’s staggering, but nothing beats a good book.

Karen’s Preferred Reading:

Paranormal – vampires are my absolute favourite and have been since I first discovered Dracula at age twelve. I also love werewolves, dragons, but any supernatural being with a good story to tell in an interesting, edgier world is what I’m looking for. I prefer some subplot/plot romance in paranormal but it definitely isn’t mandatory.

Romantasy – it’s such a big genre now and I’ve been enjoying it recently. I’ll try anything in that genre as long as it has good characters, world, and an interesting premise. 

Romance – I enjoy the romance genre, but for this site I’m specifically looking for darker, edgier themes and concepts, strong psychological arcs or tropes, interesting twists and plots. Definitely something I can sink my teeth into. Different. Any and all orientation combinations are welcome.

Psychological – within any genre.

Urban Fantasy – subplot/plot romance is good but not mandatory.

Fantasy/High Fantasy – subplot/plot romance is good but not mandatory.

Gothic Themes – subplot/plot romance is good but not mandatory.

Speculative Fiction.

Murder/Mystery. Crime. Noir. Police Procedurals.

Stories of Retribution – well thought out payback is something that works very well for me.

Historical/Alt-Historical – subplot/plot romance is good but not mandatory.

Humour – I love quality dark humour.

Strong storytelling and quality writing are imperative, but because I am an absolute character obsessive, charismatic and intriguing characters, good or bad, are required for me to continue on with any book or series. Quirky is definitely something I enjoy.

I am time-strapped these days and because of that it may sometimes seem that I really like to love every book. I can assure you I don’t. I attempt to choose what I read very carefully.

I rarely read YA books.

I do not read books containing primary or descriptive animal cruelty.

Karen reads in mobi format only