Sister Martha is living in a convent where she is a postulant. Her Mother Superior thinks Sister Martha is one of the hardest working nuns she has ever met but there is a small complication of Sister Martha having no idea of who she is or where she came from. Then one night Sister Martha gets an image of someone planning a murder and this one event seems to set off a series of dominos. Soon after this vision Sister Martha finds out she is not so perfect, shortly after that a patient in the clinic recognizes Sister Martha as Jessica Hayward. Now Jessica is off to learn about her past, but what she learns is a man she used to love may or may not love her, the murder of her father no one wants to unearth and Jessica is not universally loved. In short life is tough for Jessica.

This book was odd. It kind of reminded me of an Alfred Hitchcock story with the suspense and the voices in her head. In this regard I loved the story. It was different than things I had read before and I like how events in the story kept me guessing. The romance however left a lot to be desired I could not quite feel them out. For two people to love each other so much it felt a little forced. For a Regency period book it seemed out of place – they talk about the battle of Waterloo so that is early 1800’s and honestly it had not been for that little tidbit I would have thought the book took place after WWI. Then there were a lot of little things that did not quite make sense. For example the convent was described as one working with children so why is there an adult patient? Then our hero loves this woman but yet he never believes what she says and when he does there is really no reason for the 180.

In the end I liked the book and I thought it was good – sad part is with a few additional details I think this book would have been fantastic.  

Half-Off Rangarok is the third book in the InCryptid series and has a change in narrators and locations no longer are we in New York with Verity but with her brother Alex, in Ohio.

The story line picks up maybe a month or two after book two. Alex Price is living with his grandparents and Sarah trying to have some semblance of a life while overseeing a secret basilisk breeding program. For Alex somethings are going well Sarah is getting better other things are challenging like keeping secrets from his girlfriend Shelby about who he really is. Then it all kind of goes downhill when Alex is faced with dead bodies that are turning to stone and the realization someone is trying to kill him too.

This book is interesting with a band of characters Shelby and the grandparents are total hits. We learn about new cryptids which were kind of fascinating.  Things that I missed were the mice I liked all of their crazy holidays while they are in the book it is more like a passing thing. I also preferred the New York setting this was supposed to be in Ohio but I think the setting could have been anywhere for me I had trouble relating.

I listened to the book on audio and the narrator made it feel like to book was evenly paced. His voice was interesting enough to keep me interested without losing me.  I am not sure if it was because I listened to the book on audio verses reading but this book has a different kind of feel. Perhaps this is due to the change in narrator ...I cannot really say.

My biggest overall challenge of the book was despite how good the writing is for me there is something missing between characters for some reason I was just not as vested in the outcome.

Still a good read 3 ½ stars

Wild Things, book 9 in the Chicagoland Vampire series seems to start off right after Biting Bad. The Mayor is pissed off with all things super natural so she is targeting Ethan. This time Ethan does the weird thing and hides out hoping things will calm down. Unfortunately he has to stay with the shifters who are none too happy to host the vampires. Then there is a magical incident and the Ethan and Merit are blamed.

Chicagoland Vampires has always been this kind of weird series for me. I like it but I am not really in love with it. So what I liked in this book is watching Ethan finally decide he wants Merit and does not care who knows. I enjoyed all of the public displays of affection. I really enjoyed this side of Gabe we saw in this book he has a lot of stresses as a leader and it was cool to see some of the sacrifices

Now what is getting a little old – why is Ethan and Merit always in the midst of things. This go round Merit is frequently called a good detective and that puzzles me because it seems like she is actually the slowest in the bunch. The other thing that is getting a little old is the prophecy and it seemed a little illogical.  Other things that did not make sense to me was the whole domestic terrorists with no FBI involvement?? Um ok and then the event at the Lupercalia – yeah that still never quite made sense.

But let’s face it I don’t read these books for the mystery J The simple way these things get solved is always a bit like REALLY???

All in all not a bad book just not awesome.

Tempest Reborn is the final book in the Jane True series.

And FINALLY Jane has control of her libido YAY!!!

Jane has a lot of challenges in the book. The book starts off about a week after Tempest Fury. Jane is feeling sad and alone – if you have not read the other books you may want to stop reading here.

So Anyan has been taken over by the white dragon, Blondie is dead, Jane has been double crossed and she still has to deal with Morrigan/the Red.

Jane has finally come into her own and is acting like the champion, never turning her back on her friends. It was great going back to Rockbill and watching Jane do it her way this time. I am glad the cat is out of the bag and now all the humans know Jane’s secret. After so many books with the hostility between the Alfar, half-human/alfar and the humans I liked seeing everyone work together. Jane really did what needed to be done and she had to make some really big sacrifices. I enjoyed the epilogue and I am sad to see the series go at the end I can say it was a good ride.

This is the 5^th book in the Jane True series. It starts out with Jane on a mission to the UK. She is off to do battle with a supernatural threat. Jane think they will be off Blondie will deal with the problem and it will be like a mini vacation. Easy peasy! Well that would not make a very good story. Turns out Jane is up against the Red and White these ancient elementals who just want to wreak chaos and take over the world. Also turns out this is not Blondie’s fight but Jane’s.

It has been awhile since I read this series and some of the challenges I have with this story came right back. Most of them surround Jane’s libido in a way I want to see how many times the word is in the book but I think that would really annoy me. The other thing that annoys me is the ridiculous number is near sex scenes between Anyan and Jane – really do it or don’t but move on.

The good thing about the book is the unexpected twists which brings about some past characters and we get a few new odd ones to the crew which was cool. What I liked most was Jane’s growth like I said it has been a while so perhaps my memory is faulty but she felt more secure in her role. Add to all of her new powers and the fact she is a champion who has to learn how to wield the ax it made it fun to read. It was also nice that Anyan wanted to woo Jane slowly, to bad Jane’s libido kept popping up.

While I enjoyed the book there was a lot of running around and some of it seemed pointless. I will also say the book ends with a cliff hanger so I am glad I had the next one in my stack.