by Jake Bible

This one is listed under both Horror and SciFi & Fantasy, but it has some very light hearted and even funny moments, albeit with a fairly dark premise. Hell has unleashed all its demons and the only thing saving humanity is a ragtag bunch of gargoyles (technically grotesques for most of them) that come to life through blood magic and guard the last cathedral sanctuary on Earth.

Human possession is common and everyone is preparing for the end of days. How cheerful. Yet the characters are quirky and bring more than a few laughs. The story is enjoyable, though heavy on dialogue and character driven with only occasional sojourns into description. I found the effects of having a stone body interesting in how it affected the characters' ability to do things and withstand assaults from the demon possessed humans, though apparently obsidian can cut stone. Flight came down to just magic. Sometimes the author has to either concede Physics or use magic.

Part two threw me a little as it started with some new characters and basically a new storyline, though set in the same time and place. Familiar characters soon joined in, but I found this part slower going than the first. It does have significant plot development though and towards the end I could see how everything fit in.

Part three is pure action, laced with testosterone poisoning. Things get a little gruesome at times and it's not for the squeamish. There were some emotional moments as well, and I found the end satisfying. Overall an enjoyable story with some original elements.

Special Agent Trace Dyson races around the world, retrieving priceless artifacts from criminals. But his one dream is to recover a spear, stolen from The Valkyrie's Tomb. It's his family's White Whale, his father and grandfather's unfulfilled mission—and when he sees a beautiful and mysterious woman steal a bracelet from the tomb’s exhibit, he’s intrigued. Before he takes her to jail, he has a few questions. Laila Nyland is a Valkyrie on the edge—worn out from her duties, her final mission is to come to Midgard and find a mystical spear lost centuries ago. Forced into a partnership with Trace, she can't help but be attracted to the hardcore treasure hunter even if he drives her up a wall. The more she learns about him—the harder it is to lie to him about her mission. Before their secrets rip them apart, these two will be responsible for saving the world—that is if they can trust each other longer than two minutes.

I’ve been trying to find more Norse mythology themed books since the Thor movies came out so I had high hopes for this book. Overall, it was a pretty decent read. I was hoping for a bit more adventure, but that’s ok. The romance was pretty quick, as it tends to be in many books. I wish there had been more about the Norse mythology. I wouldn’t mind reading more from this author. I recommend.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

 Odin's Bastards #2, I love Norse Mythology so the idea of Valkyries really appealed to me. The first half of the book was slow getting to the point, it establishes Liam and Kara's relationship past and present while Kara tries to remember who she is but other than that nothing much happens. The second half of the book picks up it has lots of action, suspense everything is revealed and  it has a really nice ending.

Liam was a paid assassin until he had his come to Jesus moment after that he dropped everything, gave all his blood money away and started his life over determined to make up for his past misdeeds. Liam found himself in a quaint little mountain town he became a jack of all trades and became Jack. One dark and stormy night that all changed, Kara shows up on his doorstep. If you have read the first book you can guess why Kara is all alone with no memory and only brief glimpses of a man she once knew, for the rest of us newbs we don't figure it out until much later.

Kara and Liam met a year ago and spent a week together, one long sex capade. Liam worked hard to cover his tracks and is at first leery when Kara shows up, but that soon changes to desire and they both give. Together they work in peace for a while until the group Liam use to work with shows up now Liam and Kara have to protect the town from them and brave a snow storm.

Overall despite the really slow beginning it ended well and the characters were great. This can be read as a stand alone, thankfully. The narrative was intriguing; the slow beginning was mysterious I wanted to find out what had happened. I am glad I didn't give up because the ending really paid off. I liked the build up of the relationship between Kara and Liam because you see that it's more than the physical attraction; they give into it fairly quickly but they also connect on a deeper level they trust each other and genuinely like each other despite their pasts and will stand by each other through thick and thin.     

She went up on her tiptoe to peer over his shoulder, though any goal of accomplishing the height was futile. With the motion, her bosom brushed against his forearms, which were folded over his chest in an effort to keep his heart locked in place. There was no hope in accomplishing the feat now. Epic failure, in that.

‘Oh.’She staggered back as if she’d been burned. Perhaps she had. His blood ran hotter than Hades. ‘Excuse me.’