#Review - 3 Minutes to Midnight by L.M. Hatchell #Urban #Fantasy

Series: Midnight # 1
Format: Kindle, 360 pages
Release Date: July 1, 2020
Publisher: ALX Publishing
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Urban Fantasy

A small Dublin pub …

… holds the key to humanity’s survival.

Who will learn its secret?

Half vampire, half fae, Phoenix is an abomination in the eyes of the supernatural community. Screw them! She’s more than happy to play human in the cosy Irish pub she calls home.

At least until an annoying werewolf comes knocking.

Because Phoenix may be done with the supernatural world, but it’s not quite done with her.

Her birth has triggered a prophecy, and now the clock is ticking. Humanity will be the first to suffer for her existence.

Everything, and everyone, she loves is in danger, and as the body count rises Phoenix must learn to embrace the darkest parts of herself.

Or lose it all.

3 Minutes to Midnight is the first installment in author L.M. Hatchell's Midnight Trilogy. This story really has three main characters. Phoenix Crawford, Ethan, and Il Maestro. The story itself is set in Dublin, Ireland where Phoenix, who is a fae/vampire hybrid, works at a local bar with her best friend Abi who just happens to be human. Phoenix isn't supposed to exist which may or may not explain what happened to her parents and why they all but disappeared. Phoenix believes it was because they broke the law by having her which is explicitly forbidden.

Phoenix mere existence is a danger to the status-quo, not only is she considered an abomination but sanctioned by the Council as a crime punishable by death. After her parents disappeared, Phoenix was raised in Darius's vampire coven where she didn't see the light of day for years until she escaped 4 years ago. Phoenix, unlike Ethan, has no clue about her part in the alleged prophecy which is supposed to take place because of her. She has no clue about the Horsemen, or the Blood sacrifice, or the Full moon which will trigger the prophecy and end all humans on Earth. 

Ethan is a werewolf who left his own pack to track down the vampires who killed his best friend Sean as well as finding the prophecy girl who is fated to destroy the human world. Ethan has put together a team that includes a vampire, a shifter and two witches. If they find the hybrid, they need to kill her in order to stop the end of the world. For Il Maestro, you can definitely put in him the evil villain category but he also has a bit of a surprise awaiting readers as to who he is in relation to Phoenix and her parents.

I think this story overall was entertaining for the most part. There are still questions, obviously, about Phoenix and the so called prophecy and whether or not she and Ethan will be able to stop the Horsemen from gaining traction on Earth. Phoenix didn't always make the right calls but she was for the most part, sheltered from the world by her uncle. She has some awesome abilities that she needs to learn how to control without being under duress. 

Ethan is an interesting character in that he's literally the heir to his pack who chose to do his own thing. He continues to lose people but his focus remains firm in stopping the prophecy. I liked that even though Abi was a human, she wasn't scared away by events that she just happened to get caught up on thanks to Maestro and others. The ending caught my attention and not because it was in any shape a good thing. It was pure devastation and pure heroic on certain characters part. 

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#Review - Scorched Heart by Helen Harper #Fantasy #Romance

Series: Firebrand # 4
Format: Kindle, 275 pages
Release Date: May 6th 2021 
Publisher: Helen Harper
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Urban Fantasy

My parents were brutally murdered when I was five years old. Their killer has spent the last twenty five years in prison for his terrible crimes - but I still have unanswered questions. After all, I am the phoenix. When I die, I am reborn in fire and brimstone. It happens again and again and again. I have no idea where my strange ability came from and nobody to ask.

Now another shocking murder has been committed in the small village where my parents died and there is evidence which suggests the killer is supernatural. The crime gives me the perfect reason to return to my childhood home. I can offer my expertise as a Supe Squad detective - and seek the truth behind what I really am.

The trouble is that I might not like what I find.

Scorched Heart is the fourth installment in author Helen Harper's Firebrand series. After being told by her supervisor to take a vacation after a very public case which lots of people learned of her secret, Detective Constable Emma Bellamy knows that this might be the perfect opportunity to find out where her unique powers came from. For Emma, this case is personal. 25 years ago, her parents were murdered and she somehow survived. Since learning that she is the Phoenix who grows stronger every time she dies, this case might actually answer some important questions as to why she was chosen, and why her parents were murdered. 

From traveling to Her Majesty's Prison Galloway to visit the man who was convicted of murdering her parents, to traveling back to her childhood home where apparently a rogue supernatural has committed murder, answers might not be as easily found as Emma believes. The more she asks questions the more dangerous it gets for the whole town. The town knows who she is and is pretty reluctant to welcome her with open arms fearing they will be next. 

When she is taken by surprise and wakes up 12 hours later, she knows that she has rattled someone's chains and it is only a matter of time before they try again. After another body appears, and suspects remain allusive, it appears that Emma is prey instead of the hunter. With only Lord Lucas Horvath along to watch her back in case anyone tries to kill her, it's only a matter of time before the killer will need to do something even more drastic to get Emma right where they want her.

Emma has a whole lot of blanks to fill in when it comes to answering the questions as to how she managed to survive when her parents weren't as lucky. As the answers to her questions are finally filled in, the danger isn't finished, and the book ends on a wallop. So, fair is fair, this was a pretty good story, but not as action packed as Midnight Smoke. The mystery as to who was involved was pretty apparent; for the most part. I was able to figure out one of the villains because he was very public and always around. Readers are introduced to yet a new supernatural outside of the usual vampires, werewolves, ghouls, pixies, gremlins, and satyr's that have already been introduced. 

 

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#Review - Lies of the Haven by J.A. Curtis #YA #Fantasy

Series: Faerie Warriors # 1
Format: Kindle, 292 pages
Release Date:  August 31st 2020
Publisher: J.A. Curtis
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Tattoo magic. Rival brothers. Lost fae. A war full of betrayals.

Nothing is as it seems.

Fifteen-year-old Mina didn’t ask to become the center of a feud between two monster wielding, near immortal warriors and their faerie followers. Nor did she ask to be a faerie. Everything changes the night a dragon sends her nana’s home up in flames.

Mina is forced into a life of lies, monsters, and magic. But as she searches for answers that might end the fighting, an enemy threatens Mina and the lives of those she loves.

Lies of the Haven is the first installment in author J.A. Curtis's Faerie Warriors series. 15-year-old Mina is a socially awkward teenager struggling to finish school and coping with her parents decision to confine her grandmother to a nursing home. When they put her grandmother's home up for sale, Mina decides to rebel by throwing a party. Unfortunately for Mina, her party doesn't go exactly as planned. After a boy with a blood red dragon tattoo shows up, along with a girl with a large tattoo of a man with a sword, things really get twisted.

Needless to say that Mina's party is a complete failure when the boy and girl as well as two others boys arrive and begin fighting. Nana's home is completely destroyed and Mina finds herself thrust into a magical world where faeries have monstrous companions, and a war has been fought between two factions for years. They came from the Otherworld, living in the seclusion of the mountains. Somehow, they managed to go undetected by humans despite their hatred for one another and their powerful faerie guardians occasionally locked in mortal combat.

Mina finds herself at the Haven where a woman named Nuada seems to be in charge while Arius is her second in command. According to Arius, Mina, as well as almost everyone else, fell 15 years ago during a battle royal. The only ones who didn't fall were Nuada and a man named Margus. As Mina searches for answers that might end the fighting between the faerie factions, she uncovers an enemy who threatens everything she has begun to care for. Mina has to decide if she truly believes that she's either the Fallen Queen, or her General, as well as choosing between brothers Arius and Dramian.

Lies of the Haven does have a system of magic, and the author explains how it works. Mina is an interesting character, but she has a hard road ahead of her deciding which side is really the good or the bad, or are they both the same and have been brainwashed into believing everything is upside down. Mina has to find out who she is. Is she the queen or the general? Through visions she receives, she slowly starts to see that the brother she’s trusted, Arius, could potentially be following someone willing to betray them all and that Dramian isn't the villain she's been told he was. 

With the battle at the end of the book, as well as the revelation as to who Mina really is, it has made it easy to choose to read the next book in the series sooner rather than later. 

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# Review - Go the Distance by Jen Calonita #YA #FairyTales #Folklore #Adaptations

Series: A Twisted Tale
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations

Catalog Copy: The 11th installment in the New York Times best-selling A TWISTED TALE series asks: What if Meg had to become a Greek god?

After Hercules proves he's a true hero and regains his godship, all seems right in the world. That is, until Zeus tells Meg that she can't be with Hercules because she's, well, mortal. Luckily, Hera has a solution, offering Meg a chance to prove herself worthy of a spot on Mt. Olympus--as a god. All Meg has to do is complete a mysterious quest.

The mission? Oh, just to rescue her ex's current wife from the Underworld. The ex-boyfriend she saved by selling her soul to Hades. The ex-boyfriend who immediately moved on to someone else while she was stuck in the Underworld. Can Meg put her past behind her and use her quick-wit to defeat monsters and gods alike, including the nefarious Hades? Will she finally figure out her place and contribution to the world? Or will her fear of commitment have her running away from an eternity of godhood with Herc?

Written by the author of Mirror, Mirror and Conceal, Don't Feel, Jen Calonita's latest twist is sure to delight and surprise.

Jen Calonita's Go the Distance is the eleventh book in the successful Twisted Tale YA line which takes classic Disney films and twists them into compelling, aged-up adventures. The premise of the story is, what if Meg had to become a Greek god in order to have her Happy Ending with Hercules? Picking up directly after the events of the Disney animated movie, Hercules, Go the Distance, after being refused entry into Mount Olympus by Zeus because she's human, Megara is offered a dangerous quest by Hera in order to prove herself and earn a spot on Mount Olympus.

Hera comes up with a fair solution and that is to offer Meg a chance to prove her worth and earn a spot among the Gods on Mt. Olympus. All she has to do is complete a quest in 10-days. The first part of her quest sends Meg off to find the lost flute (aulos) of Athena. The last time Meg made a deal with a God, she lost her soul to Hades. Meg's journey takes her to the Cyclades where she encounters an Empusa; a vampire beast known to seduce men. 

The flute is said to be able to put Cerberus asleep which is a good thing since Meg will once again have to travel to the Underworld in order to find the soul of the woman named Katerina who married Meg's former lover, Aegeus. For some reason, the Gods feel responsible for Katerina's death and want to redeem themselves through Meg. Joining her for support is Philoctetes, better known as Phil. The coach to the Gods, as well as Pegasus aka Peg. Phil is a hero of the Trojan War. 

As she tries to complete her quest in time, she has some support from some very powerful women like Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. And, even though Persephone is a self centered ass at times, Meg's journey wouldn't be complete if she didn't try to make her happy even though she has ever reason in the world to hate both her and Hades. Meg is given the opportunity to succeed, to fail, to lean on the assistance of others, to face destiny on her own, and essentially forge her own path into the halls of Mt. Olympus. 

Meg's character development throughout this book was so profound and much needed. From her past issues, to her future possibilities, everything is on the pages in front of you. Throughout her journey, I loved seeing her peel back the layers of these issues one by one and put them on display for the readers. Succeed or fail, Meg was going to do things her own way and damn the consequences should she not complete the quest on time.    

 For more twisted adventures, try the other books in the A TWISTED TALE series:

• A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
• Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
• As Old As Time by Liz Braswell
• Reflection by Elizabeth Lim
• Part of Your World by Liz Braswell
• Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita
• Conceal, Don't Feel by Jen Calonita
• Straight On Till Morning by Liz Braswell
• So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim
• Unbirthday by Liz Braswell
• What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell (on sale 9/07/2021)

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#Review - Gutter Girl by Lynn Rush, Kelly Anne Blount #YA #Contemporary #Romance

Series: Twin River High # 1
Format: E-Galley, 294 pages
Release Date: May 10th 2021
Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC (Teen)
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA / Contemporary / Romance

Star football player Jace Rovers has a secret. And not just any secret—a shocking secret… He writes romance. The kind with swords. And dresses. And kissing.

Nobody knows. Not the other kids at Twin River High. Not his overbearing parents. And certainly not the millions of fans who’ve read his book on the writing platform Scribbles. And that’s the way he plans to keep it.

Except suddenly one of the other football players grabs his notebook in jest and starts reading a kissing scene out loud…and Jace knows he’s busted.

But then McKenna Storm, resident goth girl who avoids the spotlight like a virus, snatches up the notebook and tells everyone she's the author. And lucky for Jace, she later agrees to continue the ruse...for a price.

Heck, he'd give her anything not to reveal his secret. But when they start to fall for each other, he knows he'll have to keep the biggest secret of all—his darkest character is based on her…

 

 

Gutter Girl, by co-authors Lynn Rush, and Kelly Anne Blount, is the first installment in what's being called the Twin River High series. But don't get fooled. Each these books have a beginning, a middle, and a standalone ending. This first story focuses on two 17-year-old Seniors at Twin River High School. McKenna Storm had her world flipped on its head after her father ran away from Kenna and her mother who is dealing with major health issues. McKenna is known as the goth girl in school because she dresses all in black, and wears different hair coloring like pink.

 

Jace Storm is a star wide receiver on Twin River H.S. football team. He also has a secret. Jace is an incredibly internet famous and equally anonymous fantasy romance author of a book called Kingdom of Swords which has thousands of fans on what's called Scribbles. No one has a clue what Jace has been up to. Not his family, not his friends, nobody. Until Jace bumps into McKenna, and she ends up with his notebook filled with storyline ideas. When she tries to return it to Jace, instead of letting Jace be outed for being a fantasy romance writer, McKenna takes credit.

 

McKenna has a bubble that has kept everyone out. The fewer people in your life, the less you can get hurt. McKenna's home life is imploding thanks to her mother's inability to accept responsibility for her condition and her refusal to stay on her meds. Let's not spoil anything further. McKenna works her ass off. She is juggling school, workload, managing a home and hasn't had time to truly be a teen. But after she steps forward and tells the world that she's the author of a popular book, her role of Miss Invisible goes bye bye. 

 

Suddenly, McKenna finds herself working out a deal with Jace, who also happens to be her grade school crush, to keep his identity safe. Jace has often wondered what really happened to McKenna six years ago and why she seem to drop off the cliff and change everything about her. But let's be realistic. Were it not for McKenna's best friend Ernie, who is almost perfect in that he never once turned his back on McKenna. He's been by her side through thick and thin and has always had her back no matter what. When McKenna's star rises, he doesn't fade to black. He supports her no matter what.

 

Won of the best things I can say about Jace is, "don't judge a book by its cover." While his father pushes Jace to do his bidding, Jace knows what he wants. He wants to attend school for creative writing, and he wants to win the award for best fantasy romance novel on Scribbles. A win would jettison Jace's career to the top of the world and give him a chance to do what he's always dreamed about. Plus, he has an adorable younger sister who he never forgets about. He's there for her every night reading to her and telling her about his plans to what's happening next in his book. 

 

The romance is so awkwardly sweet and pure with a subtle undertone of heat. There are some ups and downs and some miscommunications that leave hurt feelings behind. But it's McKenna who pulls off the biggest surprise of the book, and hell no I am not going to spoil it for you! 

 

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#Review - Aftermath by Terri Blackstock #Thrillers / #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, 336 pages
Release Date: May 11, 2021
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense

A devastating explosion.

Three best friends are at the venue to hear their favorite band. Only one makes it out alive.

A trunk full of evidence.

When police stop Dustin Webb with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows there’s been a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when the officers find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.

An attorney who will risk it all for an old friend.

Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first person he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why? 

Author Terri Blackstock's Aftermath is a standalone thriller/mystery with Christian overtones that focus on three main characters. Taylor Reid and her friends are at a concert to benefit a Libertarian celebrity who is running for political office by a band they all love. When a bomb explodes, Taylor finds herself struggling to deal with the results and devastation and loss and ends up going after the man who is alleged to have planted the bombs. 

Criminal defense lawyer Jamie Powell has just won a career changing case when she gets a phone call from the one person she hasn't heard from since he enlisted in the military; Dustin Taylor. After an anonymous tip, police stop Dustin Webb to search his trunk. Dustin knows there's been a mistake but cooperates fully. He's former military and owns a security firm GreyWebb Securities with his partner Travis. But he's horrified when the officers find explosives, and he can't fathom how they got there. 

The explosives are allegedly the same used at the concert/rally that took dozens of lives including Taylor's friends. Jamie knows she's putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she'd never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence, but who and why? Taylor's mental instability understandably worsens following the bombing. She survived. Her friends did not and she has survivor's guilt. 

She needs to lash out at whomever is responsible even at the expense of an innocent man. The other issue is that Taylor basically has zero support except for her sister. Where were the parents? Dustin's co-owner Travis is holding on tight to his wife who has terminal cancer. He's hoping that his wife's new experimental therapy will work, but hope is a fleeting thing when it comes to beating cancer. Meanwhile, most everyone else believes Dustin is responsible, including Taylor and his own former foster mother.  

Jamie is widowed lawyer and mother of a daughter who she adores more than life itself. She literally goes above and beyond the call of duty to help Dustin who she knows couldn't hurt anyone, let alone be called a domestic terrorist. There are many twists and turns in this book as Jamie and Dustin try to uncover who committed the bombing and the motive. I would like to say that this mystery was pretty good, but it wasn't. It was predictable as was the ending and the impending romance that is rekindled between Jamie and Dustin who were childhood friends. 

It's hard not to be emotional at Taylor's loss of her friends. It's also damn hard not to cry when Travis's wife Crystal suffers so badly from cancer that takes away almost 600,000 American lives every single year. No, you didn't read that wrong. 600,000 lives are lost every single year due to cancer. ACS researchers estimate that in the US alone in 2021, almost 1.9 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed. This country needs to do more to cure cancer instead of wasting money on unnecessary pork projects. 

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#Review - Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price #YA #Mystery

Series: Jane Austen Murder Mysteries # 1
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Mysteries 

Three of Jane Austen’s classic novels receive a murder mystery makeover in this romantic and thrilling three-book series that’s perfect for fans of The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy and Stalking Jack the Ripper. In Pride and Premeditation, aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet attempts to solve a murder case while fighting off feelings for her rival Mr. Darcy.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman who desires a law career must be in want of a case. So when a scandalous murder shocks London high society, seventeen-year-old Lizzie Bennet sees the perfect opportunity to prove herself as a formidable solicitor—despite the fact that women are only allowed in court as witnesses.

Unfortunately for Lizzie, the man accused of the crime already has a fledgling lawyer on his side: Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir training to take over the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates. Convinced the authorities have blamed the wrong person, Lizzie vows to steal Darcy’s client and solve the murder so that she can earn a position of her own. But as the case—and her feelings for Darcy—become more complicated, Lizzie discovers that her dream job could make her happy, but it might also get her killed.

 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.”

 

Pride and Premeditation is the first installment in author Tirzah Price's Jane Austen Murder Mystery series. This is the first in a series of books reimagining Austen classics, and will be followed by Sense and Second-Degree Murder and Manslaughter Park. All three books will focus on Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bennet as the main character. Lizzie Bennet has always been a spitfire, but readers will love this new twist where she must deal even more explicitly with the issue of being female in a man’s world. Pride and Premeditation is the retelling of Pride and Prejudice, of course!

While the plot has changed, fan favorite characters and relationships remain, from the infuriating Mr. Collins to flighty Mrs. Bennet and of course a swoon-worthy yet stubborn Mr. Darcy. However, all of them are cast in a new light, given the fresh story line. Lizzie Bennett is the second oldest daughter of Mr. Bennett with Jane being the oldest. She works for  Longbourn and Sons law firm as an unofficial accountant and assistant. Lizzie longs to prove herself to her father, as well as making sure that the bumbling junior partner Mr. Collins stops taking credit for her work.

Determined she will one day be a barrister, she implores Mr Bennet to employ her as a solicitor, and is told she needs to find her own case and prove herself first. So, after she hears about a man named Charles Bingley being charged with murder, Lizzie is determined to acquit Mr. Bingley and at the same time convince her father that she is a worthy addition to his law firm. She charges ahead full speed in hopes of proving herself worthy of becoming her father's heir. 

While at Newgate Prison, Lizzie meets Bingley's paid solicitor, Fitzwilliam Darcy who is a lawyer for the Pemberly and Associates law firm. Pemberly just happens to be the most renowned firm in all of England. Darcy is not only dismissive but also insulting towards her. Thankfully, Bingley isn't so arrogant not to take the help when it's offered.

“Do you purposefully misunderstand everything I say, Miss Bennet?”
“Do you purposefully overlook all inconvenient truths, Mr. Darcy?”

Lizzie must jump over hurdles, including those of her own mother who demands that she marries, in order to solve the mystery that may set her on a path to self-determination. Lizzie loves to remind her father that the only way to get his attention is by using Aristotle's methods of persuasion:

Ethos

Ethos could be called ‘credibility’ or ‘ethical appeal’. Here, the character of the author itself is a persuasive factor: people tend to believe and follow those whom they respect. To be successful at this, the writer has to project the impression to the reader that he or she is someone worth listening to, an authority on the subject of the writing, but also someone who is likeable and worthy of respect. 

Pathos

Pathos appeals to the reader's emotions to effect change. Emotion means that we involve what’s been called the ‘limbic system’, that part of a human being’s make up which isn’t entirely rational but rather is instinctive. 

Logos

Logos means persuading by the use of reasoning, hence ‘logical’. This was Aristotle's favorite - it was after all the form of persuasion used by him to try to persuade us about persuasion - and it breaks down into deductive and inductive reasoning. Logic relies on definitions, analogies, comparisons, parallel cases. Testimonies or authorities and the views of experts play a part as well as statistics.

While the mystery was easily solvable by the reader, you could easily have fingered any number of individuals. The relationship between Lizzie and Darcy is pretty much everything you expect. There's conflict, there's ongoing banter on who will be the first to solve the mystery. And, of course, there is a long drawn out hint of romance that ends the story. The bad is that except for Jane and Lydia, Lizzie's youngest sisters are mostly kept in the background and not really serious participators in the story. 

Reviewers are talking about Charlotte Lucas who is a mixed raced female who is Mr. Bennett's secretary. The attention is given because the author chose to add a woman of color to the story who actually has a really good job, but little opportunities to marry someone of standing. Lizzie also has a heart of gold when it comes to street urchins. In fact, she uses several of them on a regular basis to provide her with street information that is very useful to her case.

 

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