No Ordinary Fairy (Shifter Wars 1) Claire Davon

Mysterious. Magnetic. Deadly. And his only hope.

When the new guy in town blows into Pani’s pet shop, bristling with impatience as icy as the Wyoming winter, she knows instantly he’s not there to buy dog food. She also knows exactly what he is. A cougar shifter. An apex predator not unlike herself.

Rafe Anderson needs help, which isn’t easy for a cat to admit. Not only has his dog mysteriously vanished, so has his ability to shift. The only creature who can find both is Pani, a woman the local coyote pack warned him to avoid. But he’s desperate—and running out of time. The longer his cat is caged, the closer he edges to insanity.

As a Vila, a fairy with the power to enchant men, even to their death, Pani has never dared reveal her true self, much less fallen in love. But something about Rafe’s fiery green eyes and uncommon vulnerability calls to her. And his touch tells her the feeling is mutual.

Desire rolls over them like thunder, but their search uncovers a dangerous secret that could turn everything to ashes…and bring destruction howling down upon all shifter kind.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

This was the first book in a series. The actual book cover says 'novella' but Goodreads call it the first book. Based on this book, I won't be reading anymore in the series. Story was all over the place, so much information on what a Vila wasn't (repeatedly), there wasn't much real information given.

The main characters spend so much time saying how they are dangerous and should be left alone, I wanted to do just that, leave them alone. The other characters were not fleshed out at all, especially the bad guy. In the end I was just left confused, annoyed and bored. 

Magick & Mayhem (An Abracadabra Mystery 1) by Sharon Pape

What’s in a murderer’s bag of tricks?

Twenty-something Kailyn Wilde has learned to embrace her unpredictable life as a descendant of small-town New Camel’s most magickal family. She just didn’t expect to inherit her mother and grandmother’s centuries-old shop, Abracadabra, so suddenly. The surprises keep coming when Kailyn goes to finalize the estate at the local attorney’s office—and stumbles over the body of her best friend Elise’s husband . . .

As a brash detective casts the blame on Elise, Kailyn summons her deepest powers to find answers and start an investigation of her own. What with running a business, perfecting ancient spells, and keeping up with an uninvited guest of fabled origins, Kailyn has her hands full. But with the help of her uncanny black cat Sashkatu and her muumuu-clad Aunt Tilly, she’s closing in on a killer—who will do anything to make sure she never tests her supernatural skills again!

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I like cosy mystery books, but this one seemed like the author added the 'magick' aspect just to try and be 'different'. There wasn't really that much used and the bits that were, weren't very consistent in usage rules. 

Apart from the random insertions of 'magick' this book followed the tried and tested cosy mystery plot with a heroine investigating things she shouldn't and sticking her nose into places she shouldn't, but somehow she managed to be more annoying than normal. 
When they were not being annoying, the characters were boring and the featured romance was meh. There was so many potential bad guys, the non-suspect list would have been shorter! It made me lose interest, just red herrings everywhere. Some useful clues were given but they were so vague you wouldn't even realise they were clues, even if you were re-reading.

Then, SPOILER, one of the actual bad guys was someone who wasn't even featured in the damn story! What was the point of that?

Murder in Mayfair (An Atlas Catesby Mystery 1) by D.M. Quincy

In 1810, Atlas Catesby, a brilliant adventurer and youngest son of a baron, is anxious to resume his world travels after a carriage accident left him injured in London. But his plans are derailed when, passing through a country village, he discovers a helpless woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder--by her husband.

In order to save her from being violated by another potential buyer, Atlas purchases the lady, Lilliana, on the spot to set her free. But Lilliana, desperate to be with her young sons and knowing the laws of England give a father all parental rights, refuses to be rescued--until weeks later when her husband is murdered and Atlas is the only one who can help clear her name of the crime.

Fortunately, Atlas is a master at solving complicated puzzles, both with games and the intricacies of human motivation, and finds himself uniquely suited to the task, despite the personal peril it may put him in. But soon Altas learns the dead man had many secrets--and more than a few enemies willing to kill to keep them quiet--

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

The first 2/3rds of this book was, in a word, boring. I really struggled to stay interested. There was no character connection between Atlas and Lilliana, no connection between any character and the reader and the murder victim was so unpleasant I really didn't care who killed him or why.

The last third was a lot more meaty in terms of story. There was another attempted murder, and we discover a secret about the Duke (which made him 100% more interesting than the rest of the characters, there should be a book about him, lol). A lot of red herrings, and the 'clues' we were given didn't really make sense in the grand scheme of things. 

I prefer mystery books where I'm given enough insight/clues to feel involved and to develop theories of my own, this book just didn't offer that kind of interaction. 

Fighter (The Brick Yard 1) Carol Lynne

For Lucky Gunn, the hardest fight of his life happens outside the cage. On the south side of Chicago sits an old gym called The Brick Yard. Ten years ago, on a bitterly cold day, Lucky Gunn wandered into The Brick Yard dressed in a threadbare jacket, looking for refuge. He hadn't expected the owner, Tony Brick, to welcome him with a job and a place to sleep when Lucky's abusive and drug addicted mother made it too dangerous to return home. 

Dray was a gay man living in a world of straight fighters. When his secret was exposed to the media, he dropped out, giving Lucky a piece of advice: if you want to make it as a MMA fighter, bury the part of yourself that won't be accepted. Lucky discovered the cage was the perfect place to keep his demons at bay, but when he learns his trainer and mentor, Brick, is suffering from end-stage cancer, he begins to spiral out of control. 

After eight years, Dray returns to help Lucky and Brick deal with the devastating news. With Dray so close, Lucky's old desires return, and Dray teaches him more than how to fight. Torn between his career and the passion he feels for Dray, Lucky's past demons resurface in full force, threatening his sanity and his budding relationship with Dray. Despite leaving the cage years earlier, Dray finds himself in the battle of his life with the only man he's ever loved. Will he stand and fight, or walk away like he did years earlier?

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

There was something familiar about this book, but it wasn't until I read other netgalley reviews that I realised it was because this book had already been released and this version was an extended re-release. I checked my files and I don't have the original so I mustn't of liked it enough to keep it.

This version was very drawn out and in my mind very depressing. In seemed like instead of being a story of love and inspiration in the face of death it was a story of two guys hooking up in the background of their mentors death. It got to one point where I was over it and just wanted the guy to die already!

The premise was good but i felt like 70% of the book was devoted to the death, 5% was dedicated to fighting, 15% was dedicated to past and present abuse, and the final 10% was the last couple of chapters and featured the 'future' and the 'positive changes'. Everything happened in these last chapters, it jumped forward a couple of months, then a year and then again 3 years into the future. 

Really, the first 90%  of the book should have been dramatically shortened and the final couple of chapters should have been expanded. I like Carol Lynne but I wont be continuing with this series. 

Windsong by Caitlin Ricci

At seventeen, Jamie was cursed to always have his inner thoughts exposed as a tattoo across his neck for all the world to see. He lost his home, his family, and his relationship with his best friend when the tattoo outed him. 

More than a decade later, he's a successful porn star who loves his life and never once thought about returning to the horse farm he grew up on. But his boss wants to do a shoot with him where he grew up, and Jamie can't say no.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

>SPOILERS< 

Editing errors. First four pages, Randy is the guy he's fucking, then he is Randy, then the other guy gets renamed as Tim - could be real name but Jamie say's he can't remember the other guys 'real' name. 

This was a mess of a story - cursed tattoo doesn't really come into the story at all. All it was, was the catalyst for a normal 'throw the kid out of home because he's gay' story. 

I don't know how I finished this book instead of just giving up, I blame it on the fact that it was so short.

THE WHOLE PLOT: Basically a gay porn star goes to his home town to do photo shoot. His family still hates him, he ignores it, offers then money for them to allow him to take (tame) photos. His dad breaks his hip acting stupid on a horse because he's too busy being angry at him, so he offers to help at farm even though they verbally abuse him. Then he offers to buy his dad out and let parents live in house nearby at his own cost EVEN THOUGH THEY HATE AND ABUSE HIM. All this because the stupid fucker is thinking with his cock i.e. he wants to sleep with/have a 'relationship' with his childhood sweetheart who 'waited' for him.

Frostbite by Alexandria Bellefleur

After his sister touches a lethal Frost Flower and succumbs to Frozen Sickness, Rainor seeks out the mysterious Dragon, who purportedly holds the only cure for the fatal disease. In gratitude for saving his sister's life, Rainor agrees to bring him fresh bread twice a week—despite the man's insistence he wants for nothing.

As Rainor makes his deliveries, the two slowly become friends, and Rainor finds in the Dragon all the things he never found in his little village. But on his way to make his latest delivery, the unthinkable happens, and Rainor fears that if he asks for the cure he needs to live, he'll lose the man he's coming to love…

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

Blurb is misleading, this is not a book about a dragon. Disappointed because this was the only reason I requested the book.

In the end I read it because it was a very short novella. As such there was not much happening. The ending is very abrupt and the story needed fleshing out a lot.