Mind Over Magic by Lindsay Buroker

 

3 Star

Morgan inherits her grandmother’s home and when she shows up, she’s confronted by a very large wolf. She’s sure she’s just going to sell the place once she gets it ready but the more, she learns from Amar and the town’s people the less she wants to sell. Amar introduces her to the world of supernatural and she has a fast-learning curve. Will she figure everything out before it’s too late?

Buroker’s books have become a hit or miss for me. Some are very good, and others fall short. This dell somewhere in between. This one was a lot of world building with hints of a story. That and Morgen made some horrible decisions throughout this book. It was also incredibly slow getting to the conclusion of the story. By the end I was invested and need to read on, but I saw the next ends in a cliff hanger ending with the last book coming in 2022 so I will wait until they’re all out to continue reading.

Book 1 Witch in Wolf Wood

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The Tracker’s Dilemma by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Sergeant Heath “Tick” Hawthorn has had his eyes on microbiologist Lauren Keys, but she is too focused on her science.  She also doesn’t think highly of relationships.  He decides to become one of her subjects to get extra time with her and maybe woo her.  Problems start soon after that lead to him hearing peoples’ thoughts and seeing the future.  He’s not sure why this is happening, but he is able to prevent people from being hurt.  Will they be able to figure out why this is happening, and will Heath be able to win her over?

This was a super cute story.  Lauren had had bad experience with relationships and was perfectly content with science, so she had major blinders on for Heath.  It was so sweet seeing him try and win her over.  It was also interesting to see how the experiments were working out and how that all would work out.  Overall, this is currently the last story out and it fits with the rest of the series.  Here’s hoping the author writes some new stories.

Book 7 Mandrake Company

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Mercenary Courage by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Viktor Mandrake was hired for a job that damaged his ship and lost him some crew.  When he gets to a station the plan is to fix the ship and catch some r and r with his love Ankari.  What he gets is Galactic Conglomeration Fleet trying to drum up some fake charges to arrest him.  He tries to distance himself from Ankari to protect her.  Instead, she insists on protecting him however she can.  Will they come up with a way to keep everyone safe?

I enjoyed seeing the original characters again in this book.  I loved seeing Ankari rescue Viktor throughout this story.  Using her brain and skills to find ways to circumvent Galactic Conglomeration Fleet was highly amusing.  It fit well with the series.  The one thing I will say is it makes more sense to read this if you’ve read the first book.  You don’t need to have read all the other books in the series but it helps.

Book 5 Mandrake Company

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Pirate Captain’s Daughter by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

5 Star

Marat Azarov thinks he’s being noble when he rescues a slave girl from torture, but he finds out fast that’s not everything is as it looks.  To make up for screwing up Ying’s plans he sets out to help her get her revenge.  Will he be able to win her over?

I loved this story.  You get a lot of the backstory for both characters that enhanced the story.  You also start to like Striker way more in this book then in past books.  This surprised the hell out of me since book 1 he’s been an ass.  This book can be read as a standalone but is better read with all the other books.  I am kind of hoping Lionsdrake will write a book for Striker.

Book 6 Mandrake Company

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The Ruins of Karzelek by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Successful treasure hunter Kalish has spent years finding lost treasures with her family until her father was kidnapped.  She needs to hire the Mandrake Company for their combat skills.  What she wasn’t expecting was intelligence officer Sedgwick Thomlin.  Sedwick is the weird one on the crew.  He knows several languages and he has several allergies the crew likes to pick on him for.  He is intrigued by Kalish but doesn’t think she would like him.  Can the Mandrake company help Kalish’s family, and can Sedgwick get passed his own thoughts to find his happy?

Sedwick was a cutie.  He was the weird guy who doesn’t think he is good enough for the girl and it was just so cute.  I loved the fact that Sedwick and the captain knew something else was going on and they went above and beyond to help of Kalish.  The only part I wasn’t a huge fan of was by the end Sedwick has left the Mandrake Company and won’t be in the other books.

Book 4 Mandrake Company

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The Assassin’s Salvation by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

5 Star

Sergei Zharkov is an assassin by trade and when he hears there is a bounty out against Mandrake, he rushes to let him know.  What he wasn’t expecting was Jamie Flipkens.  She is young and wanting a change from being pilot and engineer.  She is attracted to Sergei and wants to believe he wouldn’t hurt Captain Mandrake.  She is willing to go undercover with him to find out who has it out for Mandrake.  Will they be able to find out who wants the Mandrake Captain dead?

I felt so bad for Sergei in this book.  Everyone else sucked.  Sergei works his ass off for the Mandrake Company even though it causes problems for him, and he isn’t trusted by the crew.  They would rather believe the worst in him.  I loved that he was willing to let Jamie spread her wings and fly where others in the book kind of put her into a box of what they expected of her. Overall, it was by far my favorite book in the series.  I loved Sergei and Jamie.  

Book 3 Mandrake Company

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Trial and Temptation by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Val Calendula is looking for steady work with the Mandrake Company to save her brother.  She wasn’t planning on running into her former instructor Commander Thatcher.  He always had something to say to her about how she did things.  What she thought was criticism was just Gregor Thatcher’s was just the way he acted.  Gregor was always a bit awkward and never knew what to say to anyone.  He had all the skills to do the job but not the personality.  He always wanted Val but knew it would be wrong since he oversaw her.  He’s still in charge of her but he wants her.  Is he willing to take a risk to find his happy ending?

The give and take in this book was fun to read.  I really enjoyed the struggle both Gregor and Val had.  Val had to come to terms with her misconceptions of Gregor.  He had to come to terms with Val being a subordinate and finding away around that.  They both struggled and that led to a very good read.  It fit with the first book, and you do need to read the first book to get all the nuances of series to understand this one.  I think you could read this without reading the first one but meh, read the first one.

Book 2 Mandrake Company 

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Mercenary Instinct by Ruby Lionsdrake

 

4 Star

Ankari Markovich’s company is on the search for ancient alien poop to help aid her partner’s research into gut health.  The women are used to dodging treasure hunters, slavers, and bounty hunters until Captain Viktor Mandrake company.  They decide to take a bounty hunt for the women because of how high it is but the more he spends time with Ankari the less he believes the warrant out for them.  Will he be able to keep his crew from mutiny when he decides not to turn Ankari and her crew in?

This book is an older book that’s been out for a while.  I remember reading it when it first came out and loving it.  I don’t believe I read the rest of the series at the time.  This is the spicy side of Lindsey Buroker.  It is a fantasy story like all of her other books but this one is very spicy.  I loved seeing all the shenanigans Ankari got into.  She and her team would try and escape from the Mandrake Company and would get into even more trouble.  When they have a chance to get away, they end up helping the Mandrake Company.  She had way too many morals for this book.  She also never lets Viktor forget that he blew up her ship.  Overall, it is a really good story that starts a new series that is worth your time.

Book 1 Mandrake Company

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