Cursed Vampire by Brogan Thomas

3 Stars

Half unicorn, half bloodsucker, all trouble.

When her secret gets out, can this feisty teenager survive?

Tru Dennison’s life feels like a sick joke. Still grieving her adoptive grandad and kicked out by her useless uncle, the seventeen-year-old is juggling two jobs just to afford a roof over her head. The last thing she needs? A shifter customer biting her during a shift.

Already battling a strange illness she can’t seem to shake, Tru’s terrified the bite will expose her hidden bloodline to the supernatural community. And when the wound makes her condition even worse, she starts to realise there’s far more to fear than just discovery.

Now everyone wants a piece of her—and they’re not playing nice.

Can Tru’s rebel spirit save her when she becomes the prize in a deadly supernatural tug-of-war?

Cursed Vampire is the thrilling third standalone novel in the Creatures of the Otherworld urban fantasy series. If you love snarky heroines, forbidden romance, and magical mayhem, you’ll adore Brogan Thomas’s feisty adventure.

I’m so angry with this one. It ended but Tru doesn’t end up with the guy. I was so confused that I looked it up to see if the next book was hers and it wasn’t. which led to a deep dive into published books by this author. She spun this one off into another series. Just why? Why wouldn’t you continue the story in the next book and conclude it. Instead, the next book is a different set of characters in this world and I have to pick up the other series to get the conclusion for Tru. It kind of turned me off and I am going to take a break from this author for me.

Book 3 Creatures of the Otherworld

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Unbreak Me by Reese Rivers

3 Stars

On the run, living in their car as winter sets in, Avery will do whatever it takes to hide from a monster and keep her daughter safe. One good deed on a snowy night, changes everything.

3 former military men and 1 German Shepherd with their own damage, take the mother and daughter in. They fall hard for Avery and Chloe and will burn the world down to keep them safe.

Easton – carries the guilt of failure at losing half his unit in their last engagement. He sees too many parallels to his own childhood trauma with Avery and Chloe. His honor demands that he care and protect them. He fights his attraction to Avery with an iron will.

Zack – The charming playboy had his self-esteem gutted by the scars his body carries and the loss of his leg. One tiny girl has him changing his prospective on his injuries. Avery sees the man not the injury and the hole inside him slowly begins to fill with a love he never thought he’d have a chance at again.

Ryker – His sheer size and bulk intimidate and keep a safe distance between him and others. A man of few words, his main forms of communication are long drawn out growls and grunts. The tiny wisp of a girl cracks all his armor with her sweetness and her mother feels like a missing piece of his soul when she’s in his arms. When he finds the man who hurt them, he will annihilate him in the most painful way possible.

Kanga (dog) – The lady makes his pack happy and her female pup reminds him that there’s fun to be had, dimming the memories of bullets and bombs that took him and his pack out of the fight.

I have so many questions about this one. I enjoyed most of it but struggled with how Avery’s ex found them/followed the guys back to their house and got to her. Beyond that I liked all the guys, and they were super sweet with Avery and her daughter. They definitely fell first and wanted to take care of them both. If you want heavy emotions this hits the mark.

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Forever After All by Catherine Maura

  

3 Stars

Desperate and out of options, Elena Rousseau walks into a gentlemen’s club, ready to sell her body in a last attempt to save her mother’s life.

She didn’t expect Alexander Kennedy to be there, and she certainly didn’t expect him to propose a marriage of convenience instead.

Marrying Alexander means knowingly becoming a tool in his revenge plan.

But what choice does she have?

Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

This was a weird book. I think it wrapped up too quickly and too pat. It felt like the author got to a certain point in the book and said oops I need to conclude this so bam bam bam done. As for the characters Elena was a bit too sunshiny but is balanced out by Alec boorishness. Alex does mellow out by the end and makes me like him that much more.

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Between Love and Loathing by Shain Rose

3 Stars

Fake dating my enemy so I can design my dream bakery should be easy … as long as I don't fall in love with him.

Dominic Hardy might be an award-winning architectural engineer with fancy degrees and considerable accolades, but he doesn’t know a thing about baking.

He doesn’t even like sugar.

So when my late stepfather’s will states that Dominic Hardy is set to inherit the Pacific Coast Resort he’d painstakingly designed, as long as my bakery can be plopped in the middle of it, it’s no surprise he balks.

And my jaw drops when another stipulation requires us to mutually approve plans for my bakery’s design.

His stuffy taste will never mix with my whimsical vibe.

But then Dominic comes to me with a proposal I can’t refuse. He’ll give me everything I want in my bakery as long as I agree to one thing:

Fake date him for five months.

Keep his ex away by pretending we’re in love.

Smile and stare into his piercing green eyes at a gala or two.

Maybe share a kiss.

Nothing extreme.

Five months of acting in love when I really loathe him and his filthy mouth.

Even when he’s using it on me.

This should be a cakewalk.

Except there’s a fine line between love and loathing, and I think I’ve made the colossal mistake of blurring it.

I need to stop bing reading or going into sequels with high hopes because this one fell short for me. This book was ruined by Dominic. He was a dick from the beginning by making assumptions about Clara that were wrong and that attitude continued well into their relationship. There was no redemption for him by the end of the book either. Clara was also a very weak willed woman. At least with her it is somewhat understandable because of how her mom and sister were with her but she just caved unless it helped someone else. She does end up standing up for herself more but it was never enough. She should have thrown Dominic to the curb and made him crawl back. Still love the writing style and world building this author does so I will look for another book from her.

Book 2 Hardy Billionaires

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Cursed Demon by Brogan Thomas

3 Stars

She enjoyed life as a demon’s pet. Until the cries of an innocent tore her world asunder…

Emma Case is freaking out. Being surrounded by monsters is risky enough without breaking the rules, but when the soft-hearted girl hears a pup in distress, she can’t resist trespassing on forbidden ground. And after discovering the unfortunate creature is a wolf-shifter, she’s stunned when the child’s pack accuses her of the crime and abducts her for interrogation.

Tortured for information she doesn’t have, Emma pleads desperately for her handsome tormenter to believe her. Yet as the naïve young woman tumbles deeper into the realm of supernatural intrigue, she unexpectedly manifests frightening powers she has no idea how to control.

Will Emma’s hidden heritage prove a blessing or a bane?

Cursed Demon is the second standalone book in the character-driven Creatures of the Otherworld urban fantasy series. If you like sassy heroines, laugh-out-loud humour, and white-knuckle thrills, then you’ll love Brogan Thomas’s action-packed tale.

I loved book one but this one wasn’t as good. This is the brother from book one and he was a dick in book one and he’s a dick in this book. FMC deserved so much more than him and his bull. I noticed with book one there’s no real conclusion to the story and book two continues that which left me wanting. I still enjoyed the overall story and will try the next one.

Book 2 Creatures of the Otherworld

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Vanished in Atlanta by Andi Lynn

2 Stars

Timur

My father was invincible, larger than life, also cold and distant. As the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva you can’t expect much more. Growing up as the second son I lived in the shadows of my brother only imagining I’ll be one of his Brigadiers until Sylvester Levi made a move for power killing them all. I’ve spent the last ten years growing the Atlanta Bratva into the organization it is today. I run my men with an iron fist all while keeping an eye on the Levi family to find my way to pay back the pain I’ve felt. The time for waiting is over, it’s time to settle the score!

Carrabelle

I’ve been the good daughter. Never going against my family even when it means spending the rest of my life with a man that I don’t even know. Well, that was the plan, until the god of a man storms his way into my life. I’ve fought him and my growing feelings for as long as I could. I’m just praying I can stop the war that’s brewing between the families. All while trying to figure out what one is supposed to do when your greatest temptation won’t let you go. Do you give in to the temptation or continue to fight the growing inferno?

Loved the writing style of this author but felt the story was rushed. The story needed to be expanded with more backstory and time for the Carrabelle and Timur to come together. I will check out other books by this author.

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