CHARMED AND DANGEROUS

Charmed And Dangerous by Lindsay Buroker
Book 5 in the Witch In Wolf Wood series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & paperback

About Charmed And Dangerous:

After battling witches, werewolves, and a crazy one-eyed rougarou with a vendetta, starting a business making magical charms should be easy.

At least, that’s what Morgen Keller thought.

But now she’s leased a haunted building, her cousin is dating the town’s scheming mayor, and Amar — AKA the handsome werewolf she’s been dating — is embroiled in what could be the final showdown between two rival werewolf packs.

If his pack doesn’t come out on top, she could lose her lover, her business partner, and the only guy willing to catch mice for her snooty owl familiar.

Why did Morgen ever think life in the small town of Bellrock would be simple?

Source: Info in the "About Charmed And Dangerous" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60279346-charmed-and-dangerous on 20/04/2022.

Buy Link(s):

Lucky

My Thoughts:

This is the second time that I have read an urban fantasy book/series with "Olivia" as the name of the antagonist. The first one is Ilona Andrews' Olivia Charles in the Hidden Legacy series. Is that a trend now? Is Olivia a favourite nemesis name or something?... Anyway, the premise of this book, and this series, is that the world of werewolves and witches is a hidden one. That means that only a few are in the "know". The general population does not. How can that happen when werewolves change shape in front of anyone and witches do not hide their power but show it blatantly to anyone willing to look? That kind of thing don't stay hidden. That kind of thing tend to spread everywhere. So how can this hidden world of werewolves and witches stay hidden? There are a few plot holes like that... However, I am steadfastly and willingly ignoring trivial things like the unbelievable plot, for the reading pleasure that this book has brought me! And a quick read too!

This is also the book which nicely ended the story arc of the series thus far. However, I am still hoping for further books in this series...

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4.5
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Witch In Wolf Wood Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Lindsay Buroker:

Full-time indie fantasy/scifi author who loves hiking, tennis, and vizslas.

lindsayburoker.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The different formats of this book were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

WOLF PACK

Wolf Pack by Craig Zerf
Book 5 in the Project Bloodborn series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook

Synopses:

The synopsis of the first book, Wolf Man:

Brenner is not a werewolf...

He is the result of a secret US Army experiment. The creation of a government controlled Super Soldier.

And no one asked if he wanted to take part.

So, he escaped. And for the last fifty years has been living in the backroads and the small unknown towns of America. Never aging. Searching for a cure. At the same time avoiding the dark ops experts who are looking for him.

But just because he can become a seven foot, four hundred pound killing machine, it doesn't mean that Brenner is bad. In fact, he sticks to a strict code.

And like the High Plains drifters of old, anyone who crosses the Wolfman's code is sure to suffer.

They took his humanity ... and now it's time for payback.

Synopsis of Wolf Pack:

The adventures of Brenner and Griff continues in this book. A couple of old army buddies. Vietnam veterans. One old and one young. One human, one wolf. Together they fight evil. The bad guys this time is another group of US military group much like the first one. Experimenting. However unlike the first US military group, their experimentation has a new twist. Either way, they are still very bad.

The synopsis of the first book was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36178703-wolf-man on 14/06/2021. The synopsis of the current book, Wolf Pack, is provided by me.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

What I want to know is, what happened to Bruno Catalano?! The author just left it there hanging for the reader to fill in the blanks. I do not like that kind of writing. It's like, so he's dead. Then later on in the series he rose to life again! That is really annoying! If the bad guys are to rise back to life again, let him die properly first!! Whether he comes back to life or not, at least give the reader the satisfaction of reading him die! Geez! **grumble grumble**

This is also the book which started to use the "chopped-up" kind of writing where a different thread of the story is told after every other chapter. Like for example, chapter 20 is Brenner. 21 is Solomon. Then 22 is Brenner again. And so on and so forth until the end. I so hate this kind of writing. It disrupts the flow of the story! It yanks you out of the story. When that happens I needed a minute to re-align myself again. Annoying!! So what I do is cheat. I read the book every other chapter and when that thread is done, I go back to the last chapter I skipped and follow that thread until the end. Less annoying that way. However, I sincerely hope that Craig Zerf would go back to his old style of writing and abandon this new-found style!

Same old, same old, MO. Our heroes fight bad guys. Blood and gore! Same tune, different song. And still same enjoyable read.

Another short-ish read (at 237 pages) from this author. Still a violent book, not recommended for young readers.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 2.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In Project Bloodborn Series:

Meet The Author

About Craig Zerf:

Craig Zerf is a full-time writer who has been awarded the Golganooza Gold medal for Fantasy as well as being voted 'Best Read' by radio BBC United Kingdom.

His novels have been translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and German.

Craig has lived in America, Africa and Europe and now resides in England with his wife and two imaginary cats.

His books have reached the number one Best Seller spot in both the United Kingdom and Germany and he reckons that writing is about the most fun that you can have without actually blowing things up!

czerf.wordpress.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

HOMECOMING

Homecoming by Orlando A. Sanchez
Narrated by Kevin T. Collins
Book 5 of the Montague & Strong Case Files series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, ebook, & audiobook

About Homecoming:

There’s no place like home… but they’re not headed to Kansas.

The Sanctuary is the hidden home of the Golden Circle — a sect of powerful mages. It’s a sacred place of learning, magic, and deep secrets. When Tristan discovers his father, Connor Montague is being held prisoner, he vows to return to the Sanctuary and release him. There’s only one problem. The Sanctuary has been taken over by Mage Oliver. An Elder who has unleashed the magistrates and promises to destroy Tristan the moment he steps foot on the mountain.

Now together with the help of Simon, they must face a mountain of mages, free his father, and escape the Sanctuary before an Arch Mage erases them from existence.

Source: Info in the About Homecoming was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39790804-homecoming on 10/08/2019.

Buy Link(s):

 

Peaches

My Thoughts:

I hit a snag with this book.... I'd gotten so used to the convenience of the audiobook and got royally annoyed when I found out that there was no audiobook version for this book! That I actually had to read this one... But I really, really wanted to read book 6, A Proper Hellhound, so I had to read through all the books before that, before I could read A Proper Hellhound because I am anal that way. So this book got read. It only took me two years to read this book, until the audio version came out and I finally finished reading this book.

This is also the book that I noticed that the characters are starting to take on a "too stupid to live" (TSTL) tendencies. Not just Simon, because we already know that is what he is supposed to be. But everybody else??! Geez!! I could actually forgive Monty not seeing the magical consequences given that he was not in prime condition, but Dex, and TK, and LD?? Come on!! Someone should have seen it coming!

Peaches is still my favourite hellhound!

Empirical Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (6 hrs and 40 mins listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books in the Montague & Strong Case Files series:

                                                                   

Meet The Author

About Orlando A. Sanchez:

Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order. The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem. He currently resides in Queens, NY with his family and can often be found in the local coffee shop where most of his writing is done.

www.orlandoasanchez.com | twitter | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Kevin T. Collins:

Kevin T. Collins is an actor, singer, and recording artist with a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He has performed in numerous theater performances, including Angels, City of Angels, Paradise Lost, and on television in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, As the World Turns, and The Guiding Light.

www.kevintcollins.com | twitter | instagram | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook, audiobook, and paperback copies of the book were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.