Supernatural Academy: Year One by Jaymin Eve

3 Stars

Maddison James is about to discover some truths about the world.

Firstly … supernaturals exist.

WTF?

Secondly … she is one, even though no one seems to know exactly what kind.

Double WTF.

Thirdly … she’s about to go back to school.

Well, things just got a little more interesting.

The Supernatural Academy is where shifters, vampires, magic users, and fey are educated. Where they are taught about their abilities, and how to function in the human world. Maddison already has the human part down, but this supernatural thing is an entirely new dangerous game.

Example one: mean girls who can actually turn you into a frog.

Example two: Asher Locke, a god at the Academy. Not literally … well, who knows for sure. He certainly acts the part, as do all of his minions who worship him.

Asher drives her crazy, because apparently gorgeous and arrogant is her thing. Sparks fly between them, and the more they’re thrown together, the more Asher is determined to figure out what’s been blocking her abilities.

Until the moment the truth is revealed, and they find out nothing in this supernatural world is what they thought.

Including each other.

Maddi is thrown into a supernatural world she wasn’t aware of. She rolls with the punches so she can discover everything she can. It’s one of the things I liked best about her. I also liked all the guys and secondary characters. Some of my issues with the story is it jumps around on the timeline. It jumps ahead in the time to move the story along and it doesn’t make sense and was very jarring. There also needs to be some character development to like/hate some of the characters. Overall, I liked it enough to continue the series.

Book 1 Supernatural Academy

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I’ve Watched You Die by Karina Banks

4 Stars

A young woman, cursed. A rebellious prince in hiding. A forbidden love that will threaten two worlds…

There are two main things I’ve learned since my life turned upside down. The first is, if you speak of someone’s death before it happens, you’ll be blamed for murder. The second? If the hottest guy you’ve ever seen kisses you, and thanks you for saving his life, don’t argue.

I watched him die, over and over. So many times. The vision is always the same and there is never one damn thing I can do to save him. I don’t know why I can’t dream about normal things, like going to school naked, or spiders. I hate spiders. No, I’m lucky enough to see strangers at the moments of their deaths. The only thing keeping me sane is knowing the visions aren’t real. Until the accident. The blood. He dies in my arms. At least, I thought he did. But now he’s here, telling me I saved his life. Telling me unbelievable stories about monsters and gods and destiny. Promising to protect me. If none of this is real, why am I afraid of the creatures hunting me? And if I saved his life, why are the nightmares back, stronger than ever? What is this thing lurking inside me, eager to strike? I don’t know, but I’m freaking out. I’m afraid what I think is real, isn’t. And what I know is not, just might be.

So many feelings with this book. I saw the ending coming through most of the book but getting there was worth it. Dani is for the most part a strong woman just trying to figure things out with this weird ability. This weird ability draws Zelik to her and draws her into his world. I loved Dani and Zelik. Even the cliffhanger ending made sense. I loved seeing the growth in this book and can’t wait to see where book 2 is going to take us.

Book 1 Academy for Gods and Freaks

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Warping Minds and Misdemeanors by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

4 Star

Kit Morris had no idea what he was until he joined a guild.  If only he had joined a different guild he wouldn't be screwed.  He's wanted by Agent Lienna Shen for conning people out of their money.  Agent Shen needs him to get his former best friend.  She is willing to cut a deal if he helps.  He may be saying he's helping but he's really looking for a way out to save him self.  That is until he sees the true consequences of what his former friend is trying to do.  Will his change of heart come in time?

This is a spin off of the original series and I enjoyed it a lot.  It does help to have read at least a couple in the other series as the world building is all in those books and not this one.   I really enjoyed the process Kit went through from I need to rescue myself to I need to rescue the world.  The pacing was good in this book.  I didn't want to stop listening to it to do other things.  It will be interesting to see where the series goes.   

Audio Book: 4 Star

Loved Iggy Toma.  He did a really good job with keeping the story moving for me. Even faster paced he brought nuance and character to the people who was speaking for.

Book 1 The Guild Codex: Warped

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Alchemist and an Amaretto by Annette Marie

4 Stars

Tori and her boys are heading to Aaron’s parents estate for Christmas.  What should have been a relaxing vacation after all the chaos turns into another case for them to solve.  Students are being injured on the grounds by a mystery force and it needs to be stopped.

This book had a bit of a pacing issues.  It was slow getting into the mystery part of it and then it was rushed at the end to wrap it up.  I had to reread part of the end to get all the nuances.  I did enjoy the story.  At one point Aaron was being a dick and he got called on it and actually apologized for reverting back to the person he didn’t like.  I also liked seeing the story progress to explain more of the ARC of plot with Ezra.  I still really enjoyed reading it and I want to read the next ASAP to find out what is going to happen next. 

Book 5 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Demon Magic and a Martini by Annette Marie

5 Stars

There’s a demon loose in the city and the guild will need to work with the other guilds in the city to end the terror.  Tori and her friends will need to work together to keep secrets from those who would ruin their life. 

The story takes up where the last book left off.  It had good pacing.  There weren’t any lags in the story.  There was some overlap with another one of Annette Marie’s books but it didn’t repeat what was in the other book so it didn’t frustrate me at all.  I really like the progress we saw in the relationships as well as finding out new things about each of the characters.  I can’t wait to read the next book to see what else is going to happen with the characters.

 

Book 4 Guild Codex: Spellbound

2 Witches and a Whiskey by Annette Marie

3.5 Stars

Three months on the job and things are working out nicely for Tori until the Magical Police come into the Guild House one night.  All of a sudden Tori’s life changes drastically.  She can no longer hang with her friends or work for fear of being discovered.  How will she find a way to keep her job and the people she’s come to love from getting into trouble for letting a non-magical being into the Guild.

I didn’t like this one as much as the last couple of her books.  Tori seemed less sure of herself in this book and it was a little frustrating.  The author also keeps saying these books aren’t reverse harem books but this book seemed like it was shifting that way.  If it is then I am fine with that but that isn’t what she keeps saying.  The story also had a bit of a pacing issue.  It started off slow for me but it did pick up and the rest of the book was good.  Nothing in this book makes it so I don’t want to read the next book in the series but I was a bit frustrated with it.

 

Book 3 of The Guild Codex: Spellbound

Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie

4 Stars

Robin was forced to move in with her uncle’s family after the death of her parents.  She was given three rules.

Rule One: Don’t look at the demon

Rule Two: Don’t listen to the demon

Rule Three: Don’t talk to the demon

She proceeds to ignore all of these rules and accidentally forms a pact with a demon.  Now she has to figure out how to free the demon from her without anyone in the magical community finding out they are bound like they should.

There were some pacing issues with this story for me.  There were a couple times it was a little slow and I was wanting it to move on already.  Part of that might be because this book overlaps Dark Arts and Daiquiri and has similar scenes but from a different perspective.  Overall though I loved the story.  I also love Annette Marie’s writing style.  It flows nicely with parts being serious and parts being super funny.  I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series to see where this spin off series is going.

Book 1 The Guild Codex: Demonized

Dark Arts and Daiquiri by Annette Marie

5 Stars

Kai, Aaron, and Ezra talk Tori into being bait for a highly sought after mage.  The mage takes the bait and absconds with Tori.  Leaving the 3 mages in a panic trying to track her down.  Tori finds out things aren’t quite as they seem and she’s going to have to figure out how deep she wants to go to straighten things out.

This book was so funny.  It literally starts with Tori negotiating with a fae for her apartment.  He isn’t interested in sharing and she’s desperate for a reasonably priced place to live.  I loved the interpersonal relationships and the inter play between her and the rest of the magical community.  Like the fact that her form kept going missing and no one would fess up to where it went just because everyone wanted to keep her.  I blew this book so fast and couldn’t wait to start the next book.

Book 2 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Part-Time Gods by Rachel Aaron

3 Stars

Opal Yong-ae is a cleaner in the Detroit Free Zone.  With her partner Nik she’s trying to get the funds together to pay her father off and get from out from under his rule.  Her father laid a curse on her to prevent her from making money to pay him back.  With the help of Nik she’s trying to find a workaround the curse.  When things look like they finally turning around her father calls her loan due. 

Where I liked the first one a lot this one didn’t appeal to me as much.  Opal was more whiney in this book and it frustrated me.  I also had issues with how Opal treated those around her, in particular Nik.  He gave up a lot to help her and he just kind of gets shit on by her.  It also seemed to be unfinished.  It just ended without concluding.  There is a third book and I will be checking out the book just so I can see what happens but I am not happy.  

Book 2 of DFZ

Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie

5 Stars

Waitress Tori has recently lost her job.  If not for her brother’s couch she would be on the street.  While looking for another job she stumbles into a bar where she is told anything goes.  No matter what the customer does she can give it back without reprisal. She thinks the guild is weird but she can give as good as she gets.  It’s not until the next day that it’s discovered that she is 100% human and should never have been in the bar to begin with.  However, they are so short staffed that they are willing to let her work on trial basis. 

This book was amazing.  There was so much humor in the book but it was also series.  I loved the Tori. She had no shits to give and wasn’t willing to put up with anyone.  The title makes it sound like a reverse harem book and it isn’t.  There may or may not be a love interest but by the end of the book there wasn’t anyone.  I loved the fact that no matter who had magic Tori played a pivotal part in bringing down the bad guys and saving the distressed person.  I cannot wait to read the next book.  Highly recommend this book if you like urban fantasy.

Book 1 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Reaper’s Blood by Kel Carpenter

2.5 Stars

Salem died for a hostess cupcake but an entity didn’t let her stay dead.  She comes back and finds out her family are all supernatural and her brother was murdered by one of them.  Salem needs to find out who is the murder before they try and kill her too.

This rating makes my heart hurt.  I blew through this book so fast.  I couldn’t put it down it was that good.  The problem and the reason for the borderline negative review of the book is it literally ends on a cliff hanger and you have to read the next book for the next part of the story and from the reviews that book also ends in a cliffhanger to the conclusion of the series.  The 3^rd book isn’t out yet so I’m refusing to even look at book 2 until book 3 is out so I can go through all of them and hopefully get the full story.  It was an awesome book that was go from moment one.  The story itself was a different take on a grim reaper and all of sorts of other supernatural characters.  Would recommend this series once all of the books are out. I mean come on she died for a hostess cupcake.

Book 1 Grimm Brotherhood

Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron

4 Stars

Opal Yong-ae, freelance mage in Detroit Free Zone, will never let the impossible stop her from accomplishing what she wants.  She uses her overpriced magical art degree to be a cleaner.  She buys housing units and cleans them out for profit.  Until she stumbles upon a dead body that pulls her down a different path that will have her confronting her father and taking a new approach to life.

I really liked Opal in this book.  She was willing to do anything to get out from under her father even though she would be pampered and given anything she would ever want.  There were times that she was a bit whiney and that did cause some aggravation.  The story also ended on a cliff hanger esc ending so you do need to pick up the next book to find out what happens.  I have rules about books like that because I shouldn’t have to read another book to find out the conclusion to a story.  Overall the book was good.  There weren’t any lags.  The world was an interesting world.  Worth a read and I will be checking out the next book to see what happens.

Book 1 DFZ

Conjuring Quantico by T.S. Paul

2 Stars

Agatha Blackmore was sent to the FBI academy to train to be the first FBI Witch.  Day one of her training brought conflict and made her wonder if she would see graduation.  However, when girls related to politicians go missing she is asked to find them.  Using her skills and with the help of her friends will she be able to find the girls before it’s too late?

I wanted to like this story so very much but I hated so many things about it to continue reading the series.  The story was very repetitive.  Like we get it Agatha Blackmore has uncontrollable magic and her family fears her. We get that she was attacked when she first arrived.  Can we please move on? The story also seemed like there was another story that explained a lot of the things in this book.  Looking at the author’s profile this is supposed to be “direct” sequel to a difference series but it’s not clear if these characters were in that series.  Agatha also seemed to know just what she should be doing no matter the situation even though she was supposedly not trained.  It just got old really fast.  The author also brushed aside a lot of deaths like it wasn’t a big deal.  This bothers me because we’re supposed to connect with the characters and then to just meh they died back to our lives.

I did look at the next book in the series and for some reason T.S. Paul decided to skip some years into the future.  This played a role in my review.  The author seems to think timing doesn’t matter and you can skip around and just reference things that happened and you’re golden but reality is that you need those details.

Book 1 The Federal Witch