One of the best series I've ever read. 
By the looks of it, there is going to be a #6 and a good chance for a #7 =)

Best part, don't worry about gaps in between the books if you can't read them straight up. This one is so easy to remember. There is only a handful of characters and a simple universe where anything goes. If you manage to remember a (dead) Witch Council, 2.5 MCs (cause very prominent zombie dog for a pet) and 4 secondary characters, you are golden! Oh.... and Donald Drumpf Trump. He is a part of this book, and you just cannot forget THAT character, no matter how much you try.

yeah, now you know why I tagged this book "horror" and "humor" at the same time

5 stars.

PS I just want to mention: this series is urban fantasy at it's finest truest purest self. A major city, Indianapolis, to be precise, is housing all kind of magical creatures that human population is not aware of. A human detective along with his friends - a few humans with and without psy abilities and paranormal/magical creatures - battle the dark forces. It's not simply taking action in a city, it sticks to the tradition. An extra star just for that. And that makes it SIX 

I liked this story. I truly did. Why three stars?

- Here is a good piece of info for anyone starting the book. Last name Scoth is pronounced same as "both", not "moth". BUT ... busy with the ramblings the author only gets a chance to mentioning it 30% into the book.

What? You didn't know? @.@



- The romance is almost non-existent. The MCs get "together" together while intoxicated. They are cute while doing it, but - really? I don't mind the lack of romance, however this clumsy attempt at it was nearly a turn off for me. There isn't much chemistry between the two anyway.

- The mystery is almost lost in overwhelming amount of unnecessary details. The book is bursting at the seems with them and the story's momentum, slowly and painfully gained through numerous attempts, keeps getting buried under pointless deviations from the plot to describe this or that or ...



- To make us feel ...scandalized? A child (a girl) from a respected family, smart, well mannered, was forced (by the author) to describe an orgy in the neighbour's garden. That orgy was already described by her aunt and her father 3 or 4 times. WHY???? What is the purpose of this? Not to mention, that said aunt should have removed children (there were more than one) from the garden at once the moment the party started.

Oh, I must mention a girl with a shock collar on her. It zaps her every time she raises her voice. Sure, she breaks glass for a hobby that way, but did the author have to even write her in? She wasn't relevant to anything in this story.

Child services, please!



- The Seer, Jesco. He sees people or rather he becomes them by touching their belongings. As a result, Jesco avoids coming in contact with objects that belong to other people, so not to be overwhelmed by their owner's personalities. For his own use he prefers items that are brand new, without anyone's imprint on them. Which makes no sense once you think about it. What about manufacturers? What about tailors, who spend hours, days making a suit. What about furniture? Someone has to cut wood, put together a frame, stuff and upholster it. And so on.

On the bright side:

- Cut 10-15% off the page count and the book is priceless.

- Hasten Jibb. A man-child with wild imagination. Love him. He is my favorite character in this book.

I like this book, but at the same time why does it have to be so wordy?

Sure, it adds to the universe, but it takes away from the flow of the story. Narrative is like molasses - sweet and delicious, yet slow and thick. Info dumps are clunky and often awkward (one character talks to the other about certain customs, but aren't they from the same universe/town/block? - ugh!)

It was kind of hard to keep this list at just 10, but I managed to do it! These are books that rated 4 stars or higher. As with my 'least favorites' post, if I wrote a review for the book, it will be included in a link that looks like this: [x]

Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan is the third book in the Darkest London series. These books have a mix of historical, paranormal, and steampunk elements, so they're right in my wheelhouse. I've loved the series as a whole, but this one was by far my favorite. Poppy was always my favorite of my three sisters, and I also loved her husband, Winston, as a side character in the first two. PLUS, this book centers around an already married couple, and y'all know how I love that. I am shocked that I didn't write a review for this one. [no review] Rating: 4 stars

The Haunting of a Duke by Chasity Bowlin was one of those rare jewels you sometimes stumble upon is the world of free kindle books. It's the first in the Dark Regency trilogy (?), and it also combines historical and paranormal elements and did it beautifully. I loved the fact that the author often wrote against trope, and that the heroine never displayed any TSTL moments and the hero never devolved into the asshat kind of alpha male. It also featured well written and steamy sexy times. [x] Rating: 4 stars

The Redemption of a Rogue by Chasity Bowlin is book two in the Dark Regency series. Everything I liked about the first book was featured in this book as well, and I ended up liking this one even more. Oh, and I should add both books feature the main couples having to get married for reasons, and then falling in love, and that's a trope I love. [x] Rating: 4 stars

High-Rise (audiobook) by J.G. Ballard and read by Tom Hiddleston. This year was the year I discovered I truly enjoyed audiobooks. I've read this books twice--once in print, and this audiobook--and I still can tell you what I think of the actual story, but Tom Hiddleston read the hell out of it, which totally boosted the rating. [x] Rating: 5 stars

A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White was my Kindle First selection for June. I felt this was a very taut, suspenseful thriller, and loved how at it's heart it was about two damaged people finding their way to each other. My review states all this better. [x] Rating: 4 stars

Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris is book nine in the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. This is a series I've enjoyed from the start, and in my opinion they only get better and better. Love Sebastian and his fabulous wife, Hero. And this book featured a larger that average amount of Paul Gibson, which was a definite bonus. [x] Rating: 4 stars

Venetia (audiobook) by Georgette Heyer and read by Richard Armitage. One of my favorite books, narrated by one of my favorite actors, what could possibly be better than that? [x] Rating: 5 stars

Carmilla (audiobook) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, adapted by Robin Brooks, and read by Rose Leslie, Phoebe Fox, David Tennant, and others. A wonderful adaptation of the classic story performed by fantastic voice actor, and it's everything a good vampire story should be. [x] Rating: 5 stars

Crimson Peak: Official Movie Novelization by Nancy Holder and Guillermo Del Toro. It's rare when a tie-in novel actually enhances your enjoyment of the movie. This is one of those times. I also feel that it could stand pretty well on its own as a Gothic romance novel. [x] Rating: 5 stars

Widow Town by Joe Hart. Joe Hart was definitely my book/author discovery of the year. I'd read several of his horror short stories back around Halloween, and was anxious to read a full length novel by him. This one definitely delivered, not only as a horror novel, but as a good mystery/thriller as well. Look forward to reading much more from him in the future. [x] Rating: 5 stars

I figured I'd start with the least favorite and save the best for last. These are the books that I rated two stars or less. If I wrote a review for the book, I'll include it in a link that looks like this: [x]

Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean is the first of the Dido Kent Mysteries. I felt the heroine was immensely unlikable, and the added moralizing by the author through a couple of plot points really soured me on this book. [x] Rating: 2 stars

A Gentleman of Fortune by Anna Dean is the second of the Dido Kent mysteries. Since I owned the first two books, I thought I would give the author one more chance to win me over. It didn't happen. [x] Rating: 2 Stars

Voyage of the Damned by David P. Forsyth is the first in a series of zombie apocalypse fiction. I felt there was actual little threat to the characters, the 'hero' was a pompous Gary Stu of the highest order, and the female characters had less than zero development and served to panic, cry, and or offer sexual favors to their rescuers. [x] Rating: 1 star

The Haunting by Nicole Garcia. What I thought I was getting based on the description: 6 people from various walks of life spending the night in a haunted house for a shot at a million dollars. What I got: Two TSTL main characters who decide that the best time to have really badly written sex was smack in the middle of a killer killing everyone else in the house. [no review] Rating: 1 star

The Night Manager by John Le Carré is a book that I will admit upfront I only read because they are making a mini series of it, and Tom Hiddleston is gonna star in it. That being said, this book was a struggle. I felt it took far too long to get Pine installed in Roper's organization, and the government figures were pretty much interchangeable. I also felt the book focused far too much on Pine's manpain in regards to women. [x] Rating: 2 stars

Circus of Horrors by Carole Gail. It started out somewhat promising before devolving into a great big pile of WTF. I literally have never seen a book fall apart that fast. [x] Rating 1.5 stars

Autumn's Breath by Michael Robb Mathias. I read this back in October, and ended up not really liking it. Sad thing is, since I didn't write a review, I don't really remember why now. Which, I guess is telling in and of itself. [no review] Rating: 2 stars

Paskagankee by Allan Leverone is a book I probably don't have to write too much about because y'all probably remember the numerous updates I posted while reading it. In short, this book made me quite ragey due to it's near constant reminders of just how young and beautiful and SO DAMN YOUNG the female lead was. Add in stilted and hokey dialogue and yeah...reading it was not a good time. [x] Rating 1.5 stars

Coming soon: My top books of 2015!