Genre/Tags: Romantasy, Bloody, Violent, King, Queen, Goddesses, War, Fantasy, PNR **TW Blood. Death. Grief. Dark Elements.

Author: Carissa Broadbent 

Story Rating: 5 Stars

Narrator: Amanda Leigh Cobb & Aiden Snow

Narrator Rating: 5 Stars

Length: 19 hours & 27 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Audible or Amazon

Review: 

**THIS IS BOOK TWO OF WHAT IS CURRENTY A DUOLOGY FOR ORAYA AND RAIHN. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.  I ALSO USE ONE VISUAL DARKER QUOTE. 

Did you really think, Vincent whispered in the back of my mind, that I wouldn’t account for you, too, my little serpent? I flinched. Once, I’d craved his voice so fiercely. Now, it brought with it a wave of complicated emotions.

**There is a TLDR section at the bottom of this review with an overview.

So, I always knew this book would get off to a rocky start. Because Raihn, the vampire Oraya grew feelings for during the Kejari, and feelings are not something Oraya likes having, and the man she’s loved as her father for sixteen years, Vincent the Nightborn King, hmm, let’s just say they did not mesh well at the end of book #1, The Serpent & the Wings of Night.

This book picks up post Kejari, the vampire trial. Oraya is vacillating between sadness and anger, which can happen with grief, but then you add a layer of betrayal and you have a complex cocktail of feelings – sorry, Oraya, there’s that word again. The depressive grief wins out over betrayal for a while. Totally understandable.

My father lived in the hazy moments before I opened my eyes every day, caught between waking and dreaming. I treasured those moments, when my nightmares had faded but they’d yet to be replaced with the grim shadow of reality.

I know what it’s like to have people die. Family. Those you love easily, and those you’ve had a complex relationship with. It all hurts. However, a while after losing that person you had a complex relationship with can allow you to grow into your full potential. Not always, but often. I understood Oraya’s start to this book. The relational complications. All Vincent was to her and also wasn’t. The potential of Raihn who, understandably to her in the beginning, did not potentiate in the way she thought. Trusting someone when you have never allowed trust to form a part of your vocabulary, then feeling like that backflipped on you. I understand why some readers felt she needed to avenge Vincent. But Oraya is half vampire and that side understands the violent past and present of that nature. She is also half human and she has hurt for sometime about that, but had never been allowed to grieve it prior. She’s been lied to about it. Now, bit by bit, she has her emotional reins loosened about what that fully, holistically means for her. And you can’t keep a stabby gal down.

As Raihn is wont to say when Oraya gets pissed-off face or fires up, “There she is.” I know it annoyed some readers but I liked it. What it stood for. It was Raihn recognising what Oraya was feeling. That she was coming back into herself. Like at the Kejari when Oraya fought against almighty odds. Every time Raihn says “there she is,” Oraya was getting her dander up, at Raihn or someone or something else she didn’t like. It wasn’t always for the right reasons but, equally, it was also for the right reasons. It meant Oraya was on the journey to be who and what she is meant to be. Not who or what someone is telling her she could or could not be. Oraya is a fighter. She’s bloodthirsty. She’s a motherfucking queen and I was ready for her to shine.

Meanwhile, Raihn is dealing with a wife that is angry with him and hurt by him. He thinks about another woman in the past who showed him kindness when there was no other. Now, with Oraya’s pain, he is drawn back to that difficult time once again, and all because of another Kejari.

I got into bed, but didn’t sleep. Nessanyn’s words floated through my mind, this time with a cynical tinge that was distinctly mine.
Who wins?
Well, Nessanyn sure as fuck didn’t.
And Oraya didn’t, either.

Then there are the vampires who resent his newly found power and status as King after Nyaxia’s Heir Mark gift – Shadowborn, Hiaj, even his original house, Rishan, they’re predominantly gunning for him. The vampires who don’t want him in power can take a ticket and stand in (a very, very loooong) line. How dare a lowly Turned slave come out on top. How dare he become the Nightborn King. To add to all of this, he has residual trauma from over seventy-years spent as a slave under Neculai, then his time under Vincent’s and Hiaj rule. And the same goddammed nobles are still swanning around, being pricks. Raihn wears a smile, a sneer, gives occasional speeches like Neculai once did, but he does not get the same respect from the nobles. He married Oraya after the Kejari because she saved him – he loves her and wants her safe in return – but it seemed shady at the time. Oraya is the previous Hiaj Nightborn King’s daughter. In the Rishan’s minds she’s the enemy and he should have killed her. And as much as Raihn feels he puts on a good show, no matter if he pretends publicly to show cruelty toward Oraya, something these vampires all respect, it’s pretty unmistakable he has feelings for her. His crown is shaky as fuck for multiple reasons.

There are several attempts at easing into vampire society and none of them go well. Ballgowns and blood. On the first occasion, Raihn calls all the nobles to the Nightborn Palace in Sivrinaj to bow before him. It’s the norm but also risky. Things don’t go two thumbs up well. It’s not that he didn’t expect it, he did. He punishes one of the nobles, someone Raihn already loathes, when he calls Oraya a whore. Meaning he rips Marta’s head off, something I found extremely satisfying. However, Marta’s cousin and equally noble prick, Simon, won’t see it Raihn’s way. There’s going to become further support problems. And, my god, Simon turns into the freaking Terminator. Enjoy that! Anyway, in a shock move, Vale, one of the most respected Rishan vampire nobles, sweeps in and bows before Raihn, taking the offered position as his general. Vale has a newly Turned  wife as well. All in all, the first ballgowns and blood night scares a few, while mostly slapping a Band-Aid over the sharp edges of the vampire Houses. It’s simply buying time. Raihn has a few people behind him. Apart from Mische, his best friend, everyone else is somewhat sketchy. Including the most dodgy of them all, Septimus – he who likes to bet on outcomes and is all about self.

To make Raihn’s early fraught rein – cough cough – better, Septimus speculates that Vincent used seers when he was in power to give him an edge. There have been rumours. This could be valuable to Raihn if he can find those god blood pieces used by Vincent. Sure, it’s not the usual for vampires to use seers, but Vincent was incredibly powerful for his two-hundred-year reign. Searching the Nightborn Palace doesn’t yield much so there’s a push to find these items that Vincent probably would have hidden. He was nothing if not secretive. The directive is for Raihn to travel to Vincent’s original home town, Lahor. While it’s not realistically the best time, his shaky reign and all, Raihn wants Septimus off his back. If they do find some god blood items that’s a bonus for them, not him. Raihn, rightly, presumes Oraya will be interested in visiting Lahor to discover more about her father. Vincent shut down talk about his family as well. Road trip it is. Although they literally fly there.

Lahor is a remote city of the House of Night, and to put it mildly, a creepy shithole. This part of the story was extremely gory and giving Children of the Corn: Dystopian Vampire Edition vibes. We have Vincent’s crazed sister, Lady Eveleana, ruling a decrepit castle like it’s something out of Home Castle Beautiful, with her little army of vampiric Turned and bonded blondes who are way too young, giving it massive ick factor. And Eveleana is a traditionalist around humans – they’re prey and livestock. She’s also not shy about using a bit of vampire taxidermic lepidoptery as well. Runs in the family. Anyway….You just know there’s nothing good coming out of Eveleana’s backstory. In book #1 we learn what happens to the family line of a new King. Seeing the aftermath was something extra.

The Narrators: I was so, SO happy to have a male narrating alongside a female. I love it when authors do that. It makes the book better. There are romantasy books out there I refuse to buy in audio because they lack male narration for the MMC. I’m not alone in this as I talk to other readers. I already know and enjoy listening to Aiden Snow. He has a lovely deep-timbred voice. I must admit he wasn’t how I expected Raihn to sound but he was really, really good in his narration. Clear and strong and heartfelt. I’ve never heard Amanda Leigh Cobb previously but she has a good voice. Clear. I felt she truly embraced Oraya’s personality. My recommendation if you like a bit more of a visceral experience, go the audiobook version. The story lends itself beautifully to audio, and Cobb and Snow deliver.

Raihn: There was some wonderful growth for Raihn. I wasn’t Raihn’s biggest fan in The Serpent & the Wings of Night. Like the Hiaj’s head guard, Jesmine, once told Oraya about Raihn, ‘he’s pretty trouble’. I appreciated that. The whole Kejari ending was problematic and Raihn didn’t handle it well. I now know more about that. He didn’t have much of a choice once Oraya threw him for a loop with her decision to save him. He also knew what lay ahead. He would have to be somewhat leashed otherwise his sponsor, for want of another word, would pull support and much needed troops after Raihn’s bit of regicide. It left him in an untenable position and the last book ended badly for Oraya. Not quite Nessanyn bad, Neculai’s wife, she died, but Oraya has been left deeply hurt. No one is more aware of this than Raihn. But, man. He really let Oraya soar in this book. He let her come into her own and helped her step out from under Vincent’s shadow. I thought Vincent was an incredible character in book #1, and even though he’s dead, he gets poignant air time here. I enjoyed that. There is still that ruthlessness but also melancholy and the full understanding that love was something he just wasn’t able to fully connect to in a way  humans need. The author did an incredible job of delving into multiple complex relationships and doing them justice.

I stopped short.
I couldn’t help it. I needed to just take a minute to look at her. Her wings were out now, the red shockingly vibrant even under the moonlight. Her gown glittered like the night sky itself. And her posture– she held herself like such a queen.
Sometimes I found it impossible to imagine how Oraya had ever thought of herself as helpless. She was the most powerful person I’d ever met.

Oraya: I loved her in the first book, I loved her even more here. She can still hear Vincent in her head. Not quite as much, but often enough to help her fight. Not enough, though, to stop missing him. She’s mad at him for keeping pertinent details from her, both emotionally and from the standpoint of being the heir to the Hiaj crown. If she had become his Coriatis, as was planned, would he have shared it all then? She can use his sword, the Taker of Hearts, as it responds to Vincent’s blood within her. Her blood. She wields that sword well. She takes no shit from anyone once she gets her legs back underneath her. There is the justified hurt and anger toward Raihn, he killed Vincent. Toward Vincent for making her believe he was her only family. So yes, Oraya had some hurdles to overcome, but she did. She had to work out how to make the Hiaj vampire guards work with the Rishan’s. Rival Houses = no easy feat. Raihn was always there to nudge her but she was the one who took the steps. Then ran. She didn’t stop loving Vincent. Sadly, though, he never told her anything about her deceased mother, which she desperately wanted to know, and he absolutely could have given her that. But things took a turn. And even though she is dead, her mother came through for Oraya, and Raihn, too. A nice touch.

  All this time, I had been trying so desperately to decode my father’s past, my father’s secrets, to find the power I needed to reclaim my kingdom. How fitting that in the end, it was my mother who gave me the answer.

I cannot begin to plumb the depths of all the events in this book. It’s a lengthy read at 626 pages or a tick under 20 hours of audiobook listening. I actually started out reading then switched over to audiobook. There’s a lot going on. Multiple battles on multiple fronts, both personal and physical.  Multiple times when Raihn saves Oraya and vice versa. The Hiaj and Rishan guards working together is a first. Others join as well. Oraya and Raihn have a protective love of humans. Not something other vampires share with them. Humans are considered food. Oraya, though the Hiaj Queen, remains half human, Raihn remembers his time as a human and has always liked to mingle in amongst them, drinking their “piss beer.” While Oraya was healing her heart, Raihn had already put steps in place around the human districts. Together, the future looks bright.

TLDR: The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King offers plenty. Action. Bloodshed. Violence. Power struggles. My god, Simon becomes the freaking Terminator. I just kept thinking those iconic words –  ‘I’ll be back.’ Wow. Dude would not freaking die! There is the right balance of sex. Excellent world building. Multilayered character development. Excellent romance. Carissa Broadbent really poured her heart and soul into the MCs. Where I had doubts in book #1, I had none – z e r o  d o u b t s – here that Raihn and Oraya are meant to be anything but together. Forever. I hope she writes another book with this pair, and there’s certainly an untied thread or two she could delve into with them. There are other books in this series but Mische, as lovely as she is, isn’t what I’m looking for in a FMC. I might read Lilith and Vale’s story, Six Scorched Roses.

Overall: 

If you like bloody vampires. Some nasty vampires. Vampires who bite. A kickarse female lead. Some excellent romantasy. Second chances. Plenty of action. A fantastic fantasy world. A MMC who supports and lifts up his partner, it doesn’t have to be about him, no putting her down to make him feel better. And if, like me, you enjoy some good payback and are fine with the ensuing bloodshed, then here’s your book. Loved. It. 5 Stars!

Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Self Published

Genre: NA Dark Romance

Tags: Dark Academia – Boarding School. **TW Misogyny, Strong Mentions of Rape, Obsession,  Claustrophobia, Dubious Consent, Violence, Toxic Family

Length: 465 Kindle Pages 

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase At: amazon

Blurb:

They might be richer than gods, but they’re morally bankrupt.

As far as the boys who run America’s most exclusive international academy are concerned, I’m an unwelcome interloper, an inconvenience, and they’re determined to make my life a living hell.

When Wren Jacobi sets eyes on Wolf Hall Academy’s newest inductee, all he sees is an easy mark. A reserved little girl with a target painted on her back. He knows nothing of my troubled past, though. Nothing of my mother’s suspicious death, or the horrific treatment I’ve had to endure at the hands of my psychotic father.

And he has no idea of the lengths that I, unassuming little Elodie Stillwater, will go to in order to break the savage beast who dreams of breaking me first.

There’s a wolf stalking the forests that surround my new school.
Little does he know…
There are far scarier predators lurking out there in the dark.

Review:

Fuck her
Hurt her.
Soothe her.
Ruin her.

Can we just take a moment to look at and applaud this beautiful cover. *Claps hand. Even if it didn’t fit a character, and it does, it’s gorgeous. That is Wren Jacobi. Bad boy. Rich boy. Stalker boy. Emotional baggage and secrets boy. Seventeen-year-old purveyor of dark, classic poetry. And what book would dare call itself dark academia without some Edgar Allan Poe. There’s some Lord Byron – The Destruction of Sennacherib – as seventeen-year-olds (especially a boy) are t o t a l l y inclined toward quoting- psshaw.  

Anyhoo, when Elodie arrives at Wolf Hall there is a gorgeous, if not kinda scary, guy waiting for her like he’s the ‘I drew the shortest straw’ welcoming committee, being all broody, smoking a cigarette, wearing black clothes, complete with black nails. Because we get both MCs POV, we know that Wren Jacobi vows to himself that he’s going to wreck her, the new girl. The boys at Riot House make bets. Including – but not limited to – having sex with the females at Wolf Hall. And now there’s a newbie. I mean, they have a well earned reputation.    

You have to go into Riot House knowing that the teenaged guys within these pages are a combo of 2 parts morally bankrupt and 1 part scared of, also waiting for, that special girl who makes them feel all the feels that will help them repent their deviant ways – they don’t admit that last part, FYI. They rail against it. You get the general vibe of academia because it’s set around an elite boarding school in Mountain Lakes, New Hampshire. It also delivers on OTT drama. It’s everything plus the kitchen sink drama. And that’s primarily thrown at Elodie and Wren, with some others getting some of that rah-rah Riot House splashback. There’s obsessive behaviour as well. Pining. Hurt/hurt alongside hurt/comfort. Dark thoughts. Sexist thoughts and language – I’m not a fan of that. And there’s some payback – that I am a fan of. That bonus chapter. Mwah!  

While Wolf Hall is the boarding school everyone attends, and nearly everyone lives there because, hello, boarding school, three of the wealthiest boys, however, live at the story’s eponymous Riot House – one of Wren Jacobi’s many real estate assets. Pax and Dashiell are the other two boys who also come from immense wealth and are as thick as thieves with Wren. No one at school, including the Principal, says boo about the boys living on their own, doing what they want. Driving their cool cars. Having orgy-like end-of-year parties that are not without serious incident. Meanwhile, the school’s (odd) English Teacher, Doctor Fitzpatrick, gives lessons at Wolf Hall in a room where the students can literally lounge about however they want. His is the only class we get much of.

While Wren thinks ‘fuck feelings and the horse they rode in on,’ as do his bros, from the beginning he is one big walking obsession. Wren soon leaps from wanting to break Elodie to possessing her. 

He knows me, so he should also know that I don’t take well to other guys eyeing my property. Possession, regardless of the fact that the other party is unaware they’re someone else’s property, is nine tenths of the law. And I’ve always been willing to defend what’s mine. 

Carina is a student-teacher liaison and takes Elodie under her wing. They’re both on the fourth floor and Carina looks out for girls on the fourth. They all respect Carina. She seems nice but Elodie doesn’t know if it’s a fakeness she’s giving off or if she’s genuinely friendly. There is also a bit of weirdness with the other girls around Elodie’s room and previous students who have “transferred out.”

“Don’t,” she warns. “Not yet. Jesus, let the girl settle in a little first before you go dredging up that shit, yeah?”
Uh…this has me slightly worried, “Dredging up what shit?”
“Nothing,” Carina says this firmly, eyeing the other girls. She’s daring them to open their mouths and breathe another word, which none of them do.  

However, as the two grow into really good friends, Carina warns Elodie off Wren. She tells her, and often, he is bad news. Meanwhile, Carina has a chequered past with Dashiell, they’re the MCs of the next series book. Elodie and Wren get closer and closer, having clandestine meetings, eventually sex, but Elodie keeps this from Carina because she doesn’t want to upset her, especially since she knows why Carina is pissed at Dash and, by proxy, also Wren and Riot House.

I can’t fix anything. I’ve gotten myself mixed up with a guy Carina hates, who’s best friends with the guy who broke her fucking heart, and I can’t see myself getting out of the situation any time soon.

Wren, Dashiell, and Pax, the latter whom I especially didn’t like, are set up to be the three walking red flags MMCs of the Crooked Sinners series. What Callie Hart does here is set a male character up to be brooding and difficult, even crass, she then flips him and makes it about giving in to love. That his house mates are a little more gross. For example, Wren isn’t quite as disgusting in his language about females as the other two. But it’s a low bar, to be honest. Pax calls Elodie the French whore (her mother was French) for a while until Wren finally says something. While Wren tells Elodie he’ll be factual and honest with her, that he hasn’t lied about a thing, he tends toward lies of omission. It’s often easier for readers to forgive those over flat-out lies. He does become quite direct after a bit, telling her he’s known since obtaining and reading her personal student file that she is ‘his.’ Calm down, Romeo. Wren battles with his immediate desire for Elodie and initially “hates her” for that, wanting to be all hardcore and make her sweat it. Then he accepts the wanting, spending some time winning her over. Not that she puts up a fight. She talks a big game but she wants him just as instantaneously and definitively as he does her. It’s a very intense attraction. Her father is human garbage. Her mum is dead. It doesn’t exactly set you up as emotionally healthy. Even though stinking rich, Wren’s family is dysfunctional as well. Dead mum. Alive, shitty dad. Look. We have commonality, babes! Plus, Elodie is small, seems innocent to him, has doe eyes, but she can also use krav maga and pick a lock. The confounding package that is Elodie Stillwater calls to him. 

I’m reeling from the fact that she managed to get that lock to open. Fucking reeling. I know precisely why she learned that skill, and I know precisely why she would carry the tools required to pick a lock with her at all times.     

To be real, the reasons for her being able to lock pick are pretty dark, but everything in this book is geared that way. Elodie’s background is horrendous. A murdered mother. Her colonel father has somehow amassed a small fortune and appears to be made of Teflon. Her last school in Tel Aviv was the most settled she felt in a friendship group, so dear old dad sends her somewhere new, New Hampshire, complete with a new phone and no contacts in it except his. Elodie doesn’t find out for a while that her father told her old school that she had died. He let the whole school and her friends grieve her.  

The burgeoning relationship between Wren and Elodie is understandably a fraught push-pull. Quite a degree of ruminative perplexity happening. Wren sending text messages that would drive me away but Elodie responds to because romance + dark + teens = questionable decision making. That’s the  equation.   

There is also a murder/mystery arc, although that aspect is alluded to in the first part of the book, it’s delved into more in the latter part of the book. While Carina is telling Elodie to stay away from Riot House she has her own poisoned chalice of a relationship going on in the background with Dash. She knows secrets and those secrets bind the old guard of Wolf Hall in a trauma bond of sorts. Even Mercy, Wren’s twin sister, and an incredible drama queen, comes back to school as well. Because, why not?  

I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets. Turns out that I’ve been shut in the dark, all of the students and even the teachers at the academy keeping me on the other side of a locked door that they won’t open.

I did like that Wren is pansexual, it’s not given that name here. It just means he’s not hung up on his (sexual) partner’s gender or identity.  

My cons of this book:

Look, the author puts her foot to the floor and I’m the first to applaud that pedal to the metal writing but I do have a but. I’d like to see her tone down the sexist language because this is a NA book. I get it, these guys are deviant young guys blah, blah, blah. Dark blah, blah, blah. I can separate fiction from real life, some younger girls, maybe not as much.  

This book could have done with some cutting down. It’s a contemporary romance and it’s nearly 500 pages.    

Overall:  

I came to Riot House via Quicksilver, book #1 of a very promising romantasy series I am eagerly awaiting the second book of. I thought I’d see what else the author had to offer. The cover was a hook. My blog partner and I will freely admit to being shallow cover lovers. God knows I love a dark, gritty, twisted book so I had to get it. I’m glad I did. Don’t mind my at times jaded dialogue in italics, I’m older. I’m way past the age of the primary demographic of this book but there is something addictive about Hart’s writing. I have to see what’s on the next page, then the next, then the next. I didn’t love either MC yet I was still here for them and the drama. If you can suck me in despite me not loving the MCs, kudos to you. That’s good writing. It already has a ton of reviews and I can see why, while also understanding its polarising aspects. Will I get the next book? Probably.  

I believe I mentioned this already in Quicksilver but Hart prices her books very competitively. I appreciate that, especially coming from Australia where our $AUS exchange takes a big hit compared to the $US. Because I have thus far enjoyed my Callie Hart experience, she’s good value, I’ll continue with her books that appeal. If, like me, you enjoy a twisted, gritty tale with some characters who clearly aren’t sugar and spice, and the TWs don’t put you off, give this a go. Sample first and see what you think. Happy reading. 4 Stars! 

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publisher: Hayden Thorne

Genre: Gay Fiction

Tags: Alternate Universe, Ghosts, Magic, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Victorian (mid-19th century)

Length: 199 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi 

Purchase At: Amazon.com

Synopsis –

Blessed with the unique talent of Inscriptive magic, twenty-year-old Mathieu Perrault leaves his old life in France and the orphanage that has been his home since his childhood for work as the new tutor to a five-year-old mute girl. His head filled with dreams and endless possibilities, Mathieu soon finds himself in a great house tucked away in the quiet wooded hills of the northern region of Luxembourg. 

A house occupied by an ailing Dutch artist, one burdened with a terrible secret, and his charming family. A house shadowed by the sudden death of a well-loved servant. A servant, in fact, whose ghost stirs from its dusky world and seeks out Mathieu in terror. Through echoes of past events in unlit hallways, incoherent messages carved into walls, and the eerie vigilance of crows guarding the family, the ghost does what it can to warn Mathieu of a coming danger. 

And in the midst of warmth, laughter, and family, of friendship and magic, of young love blooming against a backdrop of terrible heartache and tragedy, Mathieu searches for answers in a dreamer’s bid to give the ghost the peace long denied it. All the while, a twisted shadow from the past creeps forward, inching closer and closer to him, a vicious hunger that leaves ruin and death in its wake. 

In that isolated great house among the silent trees and the watchful crows, Mathieu will soon learn that the restoration of balance in a world gone awry doesn’t always lie in the sphere of ordinary, mortal men.

Review –

When Mathieu, 20, arrives at the house in the woods he’s eagerly looking forward to tutoring young Aletta. He’s hoping that his special form of magic will flow to his young charge. His first job away from the orphanage he grew up in, he’s desperate to prove himself. He’s not prepared for what he walks into. The journey is an interesting one as he’s surrounded by crows as he slowly makes his way to the large house the first time. The crows play a big part of the story later, but the reader doesn’t know if they’re warning of upcoming evil or are actually evil themselves.

The first person Mathieu meets is Aletta’s uncle, Josef. Josef, 25, is so handsome that Mathieu finds himself tongue-tied and blushing just by being in his presence. Then there’s Aletta’s mother, Saskia. Saskia and Josef are very close, both doting on five-year-old Aletta. There’s Saskia and Josef’s father, an aging artist who spends most of his days locked away in his studio. Then there’s Aletta herself. She was born unable to speak but she can hear fine and communicates very well via her ‘finger movements’ – re: sign language. She and Mathieu have an instant bond. I adored her right off. She’s very intelligent for her age.

Mathieu hasn’t even had time to get comfortable in his new position before strange things start happening. The crows have gotten loud and are hovering outside the window of the classroom where he teaches Aletta. They appear to be waiting for Mathieu to do something, but what? Then he starts seeing things written in places that would be hard for anyone to access. Cryptic messages that make little sense to him, with the exception of a name: Marjam. When he finally works up the courage to ask questions about Marjam, he’s told a story about a young servant who committed suicide in the lake on the property. The lake is dark and foreboding. Mathieu has been ordered to keep Aletta away from it at all costs.

Aletta speaks often about the sad fairy in the woods. At first it appears as if the little girl has an overactive imagination, but then Mathieu begins to question if maybe she really is seeing someone – or some thing.

Then there are the nightly visits…

Each night Mathieu is awakened by sounds outside his bedroom door. There’s shuffling right before somebody stops and attempts to turn the doorknob. To say he’s terrified is an understatement. Then he starts seeing what he believes is the ghost of young Marjam. Suddenly Aletta’s sad fairy talk doesn’t sound quite so far-fetched.

Throughout everything there’s a growing attraction between Mathieu and Josef. Only when Mathieu confides his fears about Marjam to Josef do things really start to come together. There’s still a mystery to be solved – Why did Marjam commit suicide? What or who is she trying to warn Mathieu away from? – but now there’s support from within the household and relief that Mathieu isn’t seeing or experiencing things that simply aren’t there.

A Murder of Crows has a little bit of everything. There’s the large house surrounded by woods and close to the creepy lake where a young woman went to her death. There’s the bad guy who may or may not have had something to do with what happened to the young woman. There are secrets being kept by the patriarch of the family. There are the cryptic messages, the nighttime visits, the ghost of the woman, and even a budding romance between the wealthy uncle and the orphaned tutor. Throw in a unique cast of secondary characters and the story is complete.

I’m not normally a big fan of books that aren’t contemporary. I don’t find myself enjoying stories where characters have to hide who they are and are looked down upon by society. In historical settings that’s almost always the case. Not in this book. This is set in an alternate universe (of sorts) but it’s still not in a contemporary setting. Thankfully Josef and Mathieu being gay isn’t an issue for the family or society. What I do love are books with ghosts, a good mystery, anything with children, and entertaining secondary characters. I’m a sucker for a good romance, so there’s that as well. A Murder of Crows had it all. The romance may not take center until much later – and it shouldn’t, really – but it does play a nice part in the story as a whole.

The mystery is written well and I was happy with the way that was resolved. It was actually the perfect resolution and something I didn’t see coming. The author also wrote an epilogue that I absolutely loved, giving the reader a glimpse into what’s happening a few years down the road.

Overall, a very entertaining read. I’m eager to read more by the author.

This book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: NineStar Press

Genre: Paranormal 

Tags: Predominantly Werewolves + Vampire, Ghost, Other. Dark & Psychological, Horror, Humour, Ensemble Cast, Subplot Romance, Series

Length: 316 Pages

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase At:  amazon, NineStar Press 

Synopsis:

Outsiders call them False Moons, but Garvey’s kind call themselves Moondogs. Moondogs hunt. Moondogs live free. Moondogs stick together. Moondogs are half-breeds, not completely accepted by those who consider themselves “true wolves.”

Garvey is a Moondog to his bones. He and the unexpected get along just fine. That’s why when Molly, the vampire who should be a mindless eating machine, turns out to be an oddity, Garvey decides to hide her away instead of killing her.

But that leaves him needing another vampire to carry out the schemes of the two powerful werewolf rivals he’s caught between. What’s an improvising Moondog to do other than find some poor sap and create a new one?

Garvey might be a Moondog to his bones, but to defeat his enemies, he must navigate their world and be the stupid, subservient beast they expect. At least on the surface. Behind the scenes, Garvey intends to turn their plans against them and bring the two greater packs to the brink of war.

Review:

**This was my Book of the Year for 2018 at On Top Down Under Book Reviews, so I bought this review across to Dark Hints where I think it suits the blog better. 

I grew up on a diet of vampire books and movies. If werewolves were in the mix, they were generally more primal creatures – we’re talking B&W TV (when it arrived) and early books and movies. While the vampires used their seductive wiles to lure their prey, the werewolves were dark, brooding, shadowy creatures, nothing like the romantic shifters that roam the pages of romance books nowadays. I enjoy a good romance shifter read every now and then, I do, but I prefer darker and bloody paranormal. One of the things that attracted me to The Worst Werewolf, book #1 in this series, was the promise of a darker werewolf based universe. Which it was. They aren’t fuzzy weres, part of alpha/omega shifter verses, with romantic alpha MCs who are more mediators, lovingly using their power for protection of their bonded mate. This series can be harsh. Love, even basic kindness, generally takes a backseat to pack, and even though book #2 definitely has its moments, The Worst Werewolf was a more overall bloody book than The False Moon. It also set up a solid platform for the personalities, events and different packs that don’t like each other but inexorably entwine. The False Moon fleshes and rounds out characters, motivations, and emotion more. And while Garvey and Tovin are absolutely essential characters to the series, and I’m cheering for them, it’s an ensemble cast that fills the pages. At the end of TWW there were some cryptic happenings that promised so much more. That ‘more’ started unfolding in The False Moon.

Once again, this series book is split into parts. During these parts there are different locations and POV shifts to and for corresponding packs and individuals. Whether that be Garvey in relation to what is driving him on behalf of the Moondogs. His wife, a cover for the Moondog pack because Garvey is gay and gay is not something, it appears, the pack likes. Ahhh, the wonderful Mercy. She uses a Southern twang and charm, complete with coiffed hair and nice nails, and she is his co-conspirator in death and mayhem.

“Shoot. If this don’t beat all. I’ll get a tarp in the truck. You, mister—” She poked him in the chest with a short, pudgy finger. “—you owe me cameos at bake sales and competitions. Don’t think I won’t collect.”
“I will be there with bells on, love.”

While Mercy gathered up killing supplies, Garvey briefly wished she were the man he had met out on a Wisconsin lake on a day when the snow made the world white and flat. But the snow had melted, and the land had the curves of a woman.

I mean, the love involved in helping your significant other with all things their job, their life, even if you are best friends and not lovers, is a powerful thing. I can respect that. ‘Hey, honey, let me help you hide the bodies’ – very practical, very loyal.

Garvey’s feelings for Tovin, aka Sweet Treat, the guy he picked up online (book #1) and created a life-changing date from Hell with, were potent from the beginning… but you can’t let sentimentality get in the way. One day Tovin’s working in sales, looking for a little adventure to show his horrid ex he’s not boring, to the next day being a bloodslave in the thick of inter-pack machinations that go off the rails. Adventurous is overrated. Now he’s ensconced, grudgingly for most, in the Isangelous pack. A place where he has to speak as the Alpha Guardian’s pet and socialise with people who have drunk the Kool-Aid about being given immortality after serving as bloodslaves. Tovin is an introverted, geeky human who absolutely hates social interactions, knows the Isangelous lies about immortality for its humans, but now has no choice but to make nice and pretend. He also has a ghost that’s chosen to hang out with him, giving him guidance and support, as cryptic as it is, and he’s not sure why. He’s not even sure for a while if she’s real, but he’s named her Destiny anyway. Destiny is the perfect side kick for my boy Tovin’s dorkiness and humanity. In a sea of apathy to anger, Tovin is suddenly a spreader of moral and shiny. No one in the Isangelous pack believes him about the ghost, they simply believe him to be an even weirder outsider than they already thought; particularly as he now has conversations with someone or something they can’t see. But he’s Eresna’s so they humour him…to a degree. Then there’s the door that whispers for Tovin to touch it and the corresponding death records for people before him who have done just that.

Yuri and Nadine, from the Isangelous pack, have their own issues. Yuri’s a smart wolf. Pack has always, always come first… but then there’s Tovin, a human she has a special attachment to. Pack is pivotal to all the wolves, no matter which pack. Doing her job well has always been of paramount importance to Yuri. She’s been valued for her skills and smarts by Eresna, the Isangelous Alph and Queen, for so long. After Tovin’s ‘extraction’ went badly, and Eresna’s been stuck with him, Yuri has been blamed, ignored, and demoted. No matter that it was Garvey who imploded that ‘extraction’ with all its ripple effects. Nadine is now her boss, and while they have a deep and abiding friendship, something that could have been more, it stings that the reckless and free-spirited Nadine has Yuri’s old position. However, it never gets in the way of their interactions and how they feel about one another. Yuri also knows Tovin has the death records, and this knowledge, her connection to Tovin as well, starts some events in motion that have the ability to create a great deal of havoc.

Amber, another human, and Lavario, werewolf, are at the Varcolac pack, but neither are Varcolac. Both have some highly emotional and challenging moments. Amber’s family were slaughtered by the Varcolac, on Kijo’s command, and the twenty one year old is incredibly hurt and angry. Lavario, who raised Kijo, had no choice but to take Amber in. She’s not happy with Lavario but he’s increasingly hard to to stay mad at. The revenge she has so badly wanted shifts regarding who it is she wants to hurt. Although it’s not particularly simplistic to say her anger has completely shifted. It hasn’t. She thinks of her family every day. Hears her younger sister in her head about where she is and what’s happening to her and what she’d say to Amber if she were still alive. She’s in danger with the Varcolac because Alpha Guardian Mazgan barely tolerates her. While Lavario is intimidating to the pack, and it affords her a degree of protection, it isn’t simple to break down just how Lavario sits within the structure of the Varcolac in a review.

Most wolves who met Lavario slunk away, avoiding eye contact. Those who gave him orders—sweep the floor, drive me here, pick up the dry cleaning—did so in a voice shimmering with hesitation. For good reason. Lavario obeyed patiently, but the look he gave them said, I’ll remember. I’ll collect.

There’s a presence making itself known around Amber as well. Something no one initially understands, but as they do, it increasingly puts an even bigger target on her. Lavario tells her he would kill her if need be, but, in a great and meaningful dichotomy, he also offers her a knife that would kill him if she has to fight for her life. Even with the anger, partly because of that, partly because of daddy issues, Lavario and Amber start a sexual relationship. Their relationship is the most complex of the book. To be honest, anyone Lavario has had any real connection with ends up in a complex relationship with Lavario – Kijo, Garvey, Amber.

He slowly shook his head. “She remembers the woods. You were sloppy.”
All semblance of calm vanished. She transformed. She lifted her lip to show the tips of her fangs. “You don’t understand, Lavario. Amber is very dangerous.”
“Is she now?”

The highly ambitious and aggressive Kijo is now separated from Lavario. She also finds herself being challenged regularly because of Alpha Guardian Mazgan, who has a slash and burn mentality to everything. Either Kijo is by his side and bows to him, something he wants and she won’t do, or she’s taken out by a pack challenger – yeah, good luck with that. Kijo scares Mazgan as she has the brutality and the ambition to take the pack away from him but he fancies her too, but rules are rules when they suit him. Mazgan is a hypocritical coward and I hold a grudge against him. Yes, I do realise he’s fictional – but Hell hath no fury like a reader angered. There are quite a few pack plots occurring and Kijo is involved in numerous situations that are critical. She is power-driven, observant and strategic. Having been raised predominantly within the aggressive Varcolac, she likes the power-plays, always believed she hated the Boo Hag – Isangelous – mentality of pretty and fine things, but learns that nurture can be a bitch. She remains badass throughout both books, usually something I love in female characters, but I find it difficult to like Kijo. While I respect her keen brain and her sheer power and tenacity, she’s too cold for me. However, absolutely anything is possible with her because she’s seriously calculating and enigmatic. She’s also had one interesting father figure and brilliant political and character mentor in Lavario.

Meanwhile, Garvey has several things going on and he’s up to his neck in most dilemmas. In the midst of it all, he cares deeply for Tovin. Maybe there’s a mate connection, maybe it’s just plain old pheromones, lust, and opposites attract. Tovin hasn’t shown his hand exactly, he’s kind of in the middle of new paranormal activity and survival. However, they finally get to be intimate with one another, and I was so happy. And, who knew? Garvey has actual feelings, and for more beings than I thought possible. Occasionally in book #1 his feelings would peek out, but now he’s thinking about Tovin more and more.

“Do you love Tovin?”
Uncomfortable with the personal question, he toyed with a sarcastic response. Typically, Moondogs didn’t share feelings with Boo Hags. In this moment, he wanted to believe they were deathmates if not packmates. “I think so, yes. It’s hard to tell. I want to protect him, and I want to be near him.”
“He’s so moral.” You’re not was heavily implied. 

Yes. Well. Garvey isn’t the most moral and I love him for it. Jerald was such a well deserved, violently loving gift he served up. *Sigh. He also has a vampire on a leash, Molly, that he’s brought through a portal to wreak a little destabilising mojo. His pack, the lesser esteemed Moondogs, or False Moons, are culled every decade – and here comes decade-culling time. Garvey isn’t sitting back waiting. Molly is not your typical scheming and seductive vampire, nope, she is totally ruled by her need to feed. Hungry really is her catchcry. She also says one word only from any sentence Garvey uses, and she’s fond of our Moondog. One Word Molly: I found her adorable, in a totally creepy way. I shouldn’t, she’s a walking death plague, or creator of a lower type of undead, but not one single being is anything less than three dimensional in this series, and Miss Hungry seems to be developing a creeping sentience.

Overall:

I could write a thesis of a review on this book and barely scratch the surface of the world and characters. I’ll finish up by saying that this is a fantastic paranormal series. It’s intelligent, well written, well edited, involved. Each chapter has the best heading, like Dead Asshole Scientists and Annoying, Unless Pets, which always fit the corresponding chapter perfectly. The humour is jaded, noir, hilarious, often youthful. Lavario and Eresna have been around for a while, they’re mature Davis-Crawford pro-level dry and snarky, but they sometimes react in ways that surprise me. The romance aspect of this series is developing nicely but it’s part of a bigger picture. This isn’t MM, it has het sex, for one, as well as gay and fluid moments. It’s paranormal. It’s horror. It’s humour. Romance is a subplot.

Being a character obsessive means I need good, strong characters to enjoy a book. Every character in this series is perfectly nuanced and multifaceted, reflecting lighter and darker aspects of who they are, their very nature as they move through this ‘verse toward their impending and fateful personal and pack intersection. The False Moon is absorbing paranormal reading, adding a progressive and balanced layer upon The Worst Werewolf, which you do need to have read first. I absolutely love this series, so very glad I found it, and I’m sure that whatever comes next will be one hell of a ride. I can’t wait. 5 Stars.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press 

Genre: Paranormal/UF. 

Tags: Violence/Gore, Humour, Romance, Sex (Gay) – Including Aggressive BDSM/Violence, Series   

Length: 411 Pages  

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase: amazon.com, Curiosity Quills Press

Synopsis:

Matheus believes that getting Quin back will help him deal with the pressures of a vampiric war, but his hopes crumble after his soulmate fails to remember him.

The tattered remnant of their mystical connection appears to drive Quin’s erratic suicidal behavior, threatening their bond and their very existence. While Matheus pines for his former love, a hurt and betrayed Alastair must watch the man he loves chase another. Feeling inadequate as a leader, Matheus searches for a way to make Quin remember him, no matter the cost.

With Apollonia is closing in on their home, he must act soon. And to make matters worse, his mortal―and pregnant―sister begrudgingly sets aside her contempt for vampires to ask his help to protect her unborn child from their insane father.

Terrified of losing Quin for good and of facing his father, Matheus faces a damning choice: kill the man he loves or attempt an untested ritual that might destroy them both.

Review:

First of all, this cover seems like a graphic novella or some pop culture YA book. The cover concept is far, far removed from the nature of the story being told, it breaks with the theme of the other covers in the series as well. I didn’t think it was the right book at first when looking to buy it. I simply do not like it. It’s disappointing starting with such a strong negative reaction because for me this is the best book in the series.

Once again book #3 starts immediately after the end of book #2. Quin is back but he is not himself. He was effectively lobotomised by the procedure Matheus’ father uses to turn vampires back into humans – the word human being subjective with what Carsten Schneider does to vampire subjects. Near the end of Real Vampires Do It in the Dark, Heaven let Matheus know there is a way he can turn Quin back into a vampire, which Matheus’ went through with Quin. It works but Quin has amnesia after 1960, which means he has no idea of who Matheus is or what he means to him, how he calms him. Definitely no recall of turning and claiming him, and that they share a bond, which is muted and… off.

“What year is it?”
“1960,” said Quin.
“Christ.” Matheus’s mouth dropped open. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “You’re about fifty years off.”
“I must have been hibernating,” said Quin.
“You weren’t hibernating! You were out killing people and committing heinous acts!”

The Quin that joins them is physical and brutal, with scant regard for anyone but himself, and it’s clear to see why the others are scared of the seventeen-hundred year old vampire. He bickers and banters with Matheus but for a while he’s nasty and physical with it. He puts Matheus in danger on at least one occasion, something the old Quin wouldn’t ever do to his ‘Sunshine’.

The war between covens and factions continues, as does Carsten Schneider’s sadism in the name of his warped ideas of saving the world and Christianity. That his son is now one of the undead has him more crazed and unstable than ever before. Even loyal Fletcher tells Matheus to look out.

“Was it not enough to kill my son? To mock me with his words and his visage? You had to taint my daughter as well? But you failed, dämon, Die Hand Gottes wird überwunden. The pure soul remains. I shall claim him from the darkness and raise him in the light of the Lord.”

Freddie, a werewolf who joined the coven after proving himself in battle in book #2, has an attachment to Alistair and it’s nice to see someone actually think Alistair is special. Alistair still holds a torch for Matheus, but Matheus cannot give him what he wants. Freddie is a distraction but there are definitely some developing feelings from Alistair toward him too.

Fletcher raised her annoying head again. I’m not bothering with her MacGuffin moments.

While he won’t readily admit it, Matheus loves Quin, even when Quin wasn’t the Quin he got to know after his turning. Ordinarily they are a yin and yang pairing – Matheus can whinge, Quin can be a hard-arse, Matheus is stubborn, Quin is amused, they each give as good as they get. They simply go together.

Matheus really does put himself on the line in the third book. He decides on some scientific experimentation of his own, placing himself in the sun during full daylight because he is all bar sleeping now. This creates even more of a buzz in the coven, and further afield, where they think he is the second coming, at least the original vampire –

Milo pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his pinky. “You survived a day in the sunlight.”
“I did realize that, Milo,” said Matheus. “I was there.”
“People are saying… Protos.”

When it’s worked out what is wrong with Quin, they sort it, once he gets over wanting Matheus to kill him because of the seeming duality inside his head.  There is a relationship and there is sex in book #3. It is intense and often violent – Matheus loves rough sex and Quin’s not about to dissuade him if that’s what Matheus truly wants. There isn’t a lot of it but it does exist. It’s very rough and violent, and they both like it that way. While there is a consent of sorts, they are vampires and there is dysfunction – for one because of original era born, and for the other it’s family – it’s all relative to this story line. I’m just making it clear for readers who like to know that it isn’t safe or sane, but they’re both pretty redundant words in the overall context of this book.

Once again there was action aplenty in Real Vampires Take No Prisoners. More properties burned down – god, I hope someone had insurance. Crossbows reappeared, some guns this time, assholitry abounded, and the regulars shone quite brightly – Joan is still wonderfully bloodthirsty, and full of revenge, bless her –

“Those bastards put a big-ass hole in my chest. I want some fucking revenge.”
“And you think chainsaws are the way to go,” said Matheus.
“Fuck yeah. I don’t care how immortal your ass is, a chainsaw rips you in half, you’re not getting up in a hurry.”

Milo is as droll as ever, Alistair has deep emotions. Speaking of emotions, I disliked the way this book ended for Alistair, he deserved better. Juliet was her usual intriguing self, is it a compliment? Is it a threat?

“Lenya asks after you, pet. It’s quite troublesome.”
“Oh,” Matheus said in the face of Juliet’s expectant expression. She looked at him as though waiting for the next line in the script. “I’m sorry?”

Quin and Matheus find one another fully when Matheus realises he wants and needs Quin in his undead life. Matheus loving Quin’s calloused hands, hands that always steady him. Quin loving blond, blond hair and someone who won’t just back his ideas no matter what, someone with a stubborn streak a mile wide, and one with a somewhat twisted acceptance –

“Quin?”
“Yes, love?”
“I don’t even care if this is Stockholm Syndrome.”
“I love you too, Sunshine.”

It is all quite romantic. Well, as romantic as this sniping pair can be, and especially as Matheus is more of an ‘I’ll do something for you rather than be romantic’ individual. However, Quin finally explains why he turned and claimed Matheus, and while some of it was quite, uh, random, I won’t explain in a review, the reasons why he called him Sunshine from day one was rather lovely-

The violence and battles, paranormal and UF writing were all appreciated by this reader, I felt satisfied with my well rounded yet bloody fix as it drew to a conclusion, a rather violent one.

I enjoyed spending my time with these characters for over a week as I read over a thousand pages to reach the end. The ending was a tad abrupt but maybe I just wasn’t quite ready to leave this universe. I’m still sticking with Alistair deserved better. Realistically there could be a new adventure for all these characters, but I’m surmising the author wrote this book as a finale for those who waited the three years between books #2 and #3.  I’m very glad Amy Fecteau put the last piece in place for series readers, especially given book #2 ended on a huge cliffhanger, as there’s nothing worse for devoted readers than a series left unfinished.

In the End:  

I enjoyed this series as a whole, I read all three books back-to-back. It wasn’t a cheap series to buy, so you can be sure I was invested. It offered gritty paranormal with bloody vampires, humour, snark, some well written banter – when it wasn’t drawn out – and flawed but infinitely likeable characters, certainly interesting, smattered throughout the ensemble cast. It also provided emotional moments, betrayal, strange family dynamics, and some hard to define camaraderie. That the romance was a subplot made the series stronger. I like the paranormal and UF elements to standout with a balanced relationship ’round and about. The series was finished on the best book. 4.5 Stars.

Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: DLZ Entertainment

Tags: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal – Vampires/Shifters/Fae/Demons. Mythology, Romance – MFM Ménage 

Length: 325 Pages

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase At: amazon.com, Lexi Blake

Synopsis:

On the hunt for a vicious killer, Kelsey discovers that the true threat lies closer than she could have ever imagined.

It’s been months since Trent Wilcox was sentenced to exile, but Kelsey hasn’t given up on finding a way to bring him home. Grayson Sloane doesn’t share her enthusiasm. Loving two men is challenging enough without them being at each other’s throats, and she is unwilling to compromise on the future she knows is meant for them.

Kelsey’s only hope for bringing them all together comes in the form of the Hell lord who insisted on Trent’s exile – Gray’s father. Lord Sloane is willing to acquiesce on Trent’s punishment if Kelsey will do one little job for him. A stray wolf is on a killing spree in Wyoming and he’s killed a number of witches in Lord Sloane’s service. The situation is made all the more complicated by the presence of a sinister werewolf cult in the area. Lupus Solum is known for being cruel to their own kind, and even worse to outsiders.

Caught between a craven wolf cult, a brutal killer, a Hell lord, and a mounting pile of bodies, Kelsey is going to have her work cut out for her. But if she can solve the case, she might have a chance to earn her happily ever after.

Review:

Sleeper, Hunter #3/Thieves #8, finished off with Kelsey nearly dying, mostly because of Nemcox’s interference, and Trent being outcast after he killed him. Unfortunately, Nemcox was Lord Sloane’s full-demon son and he wants retribution. Gray, the other of Kelsey’s lovers, is Nemcox’s halfling brother and he’s been confusingly up and down about his brother’s death at Trent’s hand. For readers and the Council faithful there’s rejoicing about Nemcox’s death. He remained an evil thorn in everyone’s side from The Thieves series on. Trent killed Nemcox at Daniel Donovan’s behest. The King wrangled the best deal he could to spare Trent’s life in light of tight and ongoing Council negotiations in the supernatural realm. However, Trent isn’t allowed access or assistance by pack or any Council member. Trent has been a trusted inner sanctum member of the royals previously, and werewolves need pack, but Daniel had to quickly play the hand he had in order to buy time for Trent. That Trent, Grey and Kelsey are all partners causes a lot of tension.

Trent used to be the head of the king’s security. He had a great career, benefits, job security. Then he met a girl. Yeah, I kind of wrecked that for him. Again, hence the therapy.
“This? You refer to the murder of my brother as this? I don’t want to work this out with you,” Gray replied, sitting back. 

Now, In Outcast, Lord Sloane comes to the Council to ask Daniel to send Kelsey and Trent to Wyoming where a large wolf has been killing his coven members in and around a Wyoming forest. One that harbors a very strong ley line. He needs thirteen of his witches to work on a project he has in place and he’s concerned that won’t happen if they keep getting killed at this rate. If the Council’s Nex Apparatus, Kelsey Owens, kills the wolf it’s a delicate situation. The werewolves won’t like vampire sanctioned hunter intervention in the killing of one of their own, rogue or not, but Lord Sloane doesn’t care about the politics of the other supernatural Council members. He cares about his business. He agrees to remove Trent’s outcast status if they do this job for him. He won’t make Grayson descend at thirty-five either. Everyone believes there’s a catch, Sloane is not a magnanimous being, demons are slippery in their wording and have rigid contracts, but in light of not seeing what that ‘catch’ may be, all concerned decide they’ll take a chance on Trent coming back into the fold and Grayson staying around.

In the meantime, Myrddin Emrys (Merlin) is visiting with Daniel and the royals and Kesley believes there is more to it than just a catch-up. Nemcox and Myrddin were the ones responsible for the death of Kelsey’s biological father, Lee Owens. Nemcox discovered that Lee Donovan-Quinn was her father’s reincarnated spirit and had threatened to drag him to Hell. Kelsey adores eleven-year old Lee, she’s connected to him on several levels and won’t ever let that happen. The Queen, Zoey Donovan-Quinn, knows something is going on from the way Kelsey is shielding Lee at the official event for Myrddin. When she has Kelsey alone and finds out what she’s scared of about Myrddin around her son, Zoey tells Kelsey to take Lee with her to Wyoming so he is kept well away from another Hell lord. Thus begins a very, very good UF/paranormal tale.

Kelsey, Trent, Gray, Liv, Casey, and companion Meredith, who is now a doctor, head off as a team to deal with the rogue werewolf and to ensure Trent’s outcast status is removed, and for Gray to be left on the Earth plane. Little Lee is there to be kept safe but everyone who reads this series knows Lee will always be in the thick of things. When they arrive they are met by Eddie, a demon who looks after their living arrangements with his magic, desperate desire to please, and his fae staff. In Wyoming there are things from Trent’s past he knows are going to be difficult dealing with, and not just for him. Trent was raised in a werewolf cult and when he left he burned the compound to the ground because they killed his best friend and wife, but not everyone died. Lupus Solum denies the official Council, has its own Council of Three, and keeps itself apart from other werewolves because Lupus Solum are the descendants of purebloods. They are awaiting the rise of Lupus Rex to lead them. Hedging their bets, they also have the local law enforcement in their pocket. Now that Trent is no longer under the protection of the Council they want his head on a platter, and he’s close enough now to do just that.

Plot points below:

Gray is not quite as front and centre as Trent in this book. Having said that, he still plays a very important part through his role as a dark prophet. The prophecies have irked me previously. Here, they take on a new life and become more tangible. At times they’re still obtuse, yes, but now they’re far more meaningful. There may be a raft of events to come but they’ve started making sense and knitting into place.

A trick and a trap.
That stupid phrase has haunted me ever since Gray made the prophecy a few months back.

The rogue werewolf turns out to be a complex situation that I can’t begin to delve into in a review but it leads back to the cult, Vampire, and a sad story. Fenrir is a huge werewolf and yet he’s only a child. Lee plays an instrumental part in a connection to the werewolf and proves he is more than someone to be dismissed as merely a human in a supernatural world. We know through the Heaven plane and prophesy that Lee is something special, and a little of that surfaces and is further hinted at in this book. However improbable it is that an eleven-year old does what Lee does, I mean you can’t nit-pick, this is UF and paranormal, it just works. Whenever Lee Donovan-Quinn is on page he lights it up.

John Atwood, the man Kelsey believed was her biological father for so long, re-emerges in this book. He’s her deepest nightmare reanimated, one who plagued her existence and fuelled her self-destructive habits for a long time. He truly is a disgusting excuse for a human being.

I’d dreamed about my stepfather the night before. The dreams had been violent and odd, and my real father had shown up in them. I had to know if John Atwood was here. 

Lupus Solum typifies the fanatical, brainwashed, and disenfranchised, and they are problematic throughout.

Gray’s behaviour is increasingly erratic toward his partners over the death of his half brother, especially in light of the fact that Nemcox tried to see his partner dead. Especially given prophecy. Also given he aided Trent when most needed. Seeing as his tattoo lights up whenever Trent touches it.

The title of Outcast is brilliant. It fits Lee, a seeming human in a world of the supernatural. There’s Kelsey, who never felt like she fit until recently. Gray, a halfling demon with repercussions. Trent, who had a difficult upbringing in a cult he didn’t believe in. Eddie, who is a Satan but didn’t fit the aesthetic of one, another damaged psyche I won’t mention, and the confused and scared Fenrir.

The book isn’t perfect. In the beginning the babies and sperm, the she-wolf having a biological clock ticking rigmarole didn’t appeal. I want my women, the Nex Aparatus in this case, to be really badass. I don’t want baby talk, sorry not sorry. Get out and nail those bad guys/supernatural beings arses to the wall. Have your trusted team around you, let us like them and connect to them. I truly needed more character connection in the Hunter component of the Thieves series. Casey developed so much in this book, his vampire came out to play. Demon Eddie was a great introduction. Livvie picked up her game, Trent and Gray entered the same page. Other characters added their necessary input – good or bad.

Did I know who was pulling strings? Yes, but I didn’t care because the action was fast-paced, the characters popped and grew in self-belief, there were several beings I wanted payback on. I love payback, and it was provided, thank you very much. I do enjoy the bloodthirsty tone of this series. There is humour, there is romance, but there is also blood, gore, and some darkness – along with the founding characters it’s what repeatedly brings me back.

In the End: 

I just want to add that this is book #9 in the overriding Thieves series and I’ve bought and read every single one of these books. Some have been better than others but overall this is a terrific series if you like romance (bi/het) as well as paranormal and UF with some bloody moments.

Once the crew got out of Dallas and were in Wyoming this became an even stronger UF/paranormal. Outcast is a well-paced book across every arc. The romance was fine and I liked that it was balanced and didn’t dominate everything else, while the UF/paranormal arc was ramped up tenfold. That ending. Yes! Summer is coming! 5 Stars.