The Trouble With Magic by Madelyn Alt

Bringing a little culture to Stony Mill, Indiana, Enchantments is one of the area’s finest antique stores. But shop clerk Maggie O’Neill and her employer Felicity Dow do more than conjure up curios for the locals—they each possess a talent for spellbinding sleuthing . . .

Bored with her office job, Maggie jumps at the opportunity to work at Enchantments. She was a little weirded out when Felicity described herself as a witch, but if her boss wants to play with broomsticks and cauldrons, where’s the harm? However, Maggie’s first day on the job may turn out to be her last when Police question Felicity in the murder of her estranged sister.

With everyone in town proclaiming Felicity’s guilt faster than the Salem Witch trials, Maggie finds herself wondering if she’ll also be tied to the stake. And lately, she’s been receiving messages on a spiritual frequency guiding her to prove Felicity’s innocence—and to embrace her own "charmed" life. 


A pleasant sort-of paranormal cosy. My only complaint would be the repeated references to 'hoosiers' which, while I vaguely understand, became annoying. 

All Wrapped Up

Angela Knight, Blood Service:

Adiva Mayhew is a spy -- and a damn good one. But now she’s running for her life from a deadly bounty hunter -- who’s also a Vampire. General Borian Tang has offered a high reward for her capture, and the man known only as Vigilante apparently means to collect. When Vigilante catches up to her, she soon finds all he wants to do is take her -- over and over again. And as she yields to his seductive domination, Adiva finds she wouldn’t have it any other way. Trouble is, Tang is still determined to capture her, and there are other bounty hunters eager to claim the reward...

Ann Jacobs, Branded:

A brave new world -- the planet Obsidion. Home for exiled Earthlings with an appetite for all things pleasurable... all things sexual that are no longer allowed back home. Cole Callender, an entrepreneur with an eye to the future, branded a sexual deviant under Earth laws, adopts Obsidion as his future. Cole will build more than just a safe haven for Doms and subs practicing BDSM -- Cole thinks in terms of community, and the future of Obsidion as a world.

Amber -- A sub with a death wish. She’s barely escaped a cruel Dom with her life. The scars she’s left with, both inside and out, may be permanent. Now she wants nothing more than to be Cole’s loving slave. Cole sees beyond her scars, but is his love enough to help Amber learn to live again?

Dakota Cassidy, Slave School Dropout

High Society meets the ASPCA -- with a decided twist...

Nyla is a cat. So is Lucas. Nyla is descendant of the Egyptian Goddess Bast. Lucas... isn’t. In fact, he’s a Tom cat. Unlikely lifemates at best.

Lucas is also a sexual Dominant who enjoys just a smidge of rocky road with his bedroom pleasures. But Nyla’s never considered herself submissive. No one is the boss of her. Oh, and it never hurts to mention that Nyla’s family is a snobbish, upper crust bunch of shifters who will probably want nothing more than to see to it that Lucas and Nyla’s newly acquired lifemate status is revoked by the lifemate council!

Kate Hill, Tainted Kisses

Blood drinkers Etlu and Niabi have spent their lives fighting on opposite sides in the battle between good and evil. Now Etlu’s army of Viking warriors has devastated a village Niabi has sworn to protect. Her only option is to strike a bargain with him -- the humans’ lives in exchange for her complete surrender to his desires.

As usual with a collection of stories I liked some better than others. My favourites were

Branded and Blood Service.

Definitely erotic romance, whew!! 

The Serpent by Jane Gaskell

The journey to Atlan begins with Cija's being freed from the tower in which she spent her childhood. Raised thinking that males no longer existed, and that women had evolved beyond them and hatched from eggs, Cija is rudely thrust into the real world with the task of seducing and killing the first man she has ever seen. This is great fantasy about a rousing adventure, lust, love, suffering, and cruelty and an unusual woman. 

Roll Over and Play Dead by Joan Hess

Agreeing to care for two basset hounds while their elderly owner is away, bookseller Claire Malloy is introduced to the underworld of pet snatchers. When the hounds left in her care disappear, Claire discovers other neighborhood pets in her small university town are also missing.

Eccentric characters and a twisty mystery make for an entertaining read.

What Do You Say To A Naked Elf? by Cheryl Stirling

Kabloom is the sound of a little rabbit being hit by Jane's car. She is coming home from conducting an sex aids party when the rabbit runs out in front of her. She swerves to avoid it but hears the thud as the car veers off the road and hits a tree. A group of men, including the gorgeous Charlie, come to her rescue but in the process she is drugged. When she comes around she discovers she has come through a portal into another world; The world of Elves. Charlie is actually half elf and half fairy, and he'll be representing her at court for the murder of Tivat, a shape-shifter who happened to be the rabbit she ran over.


There is romance, magic, adventure and danger but it is the complex plot with believable characters that give the book depth.

 I enjoyed this light, fun fantasy.

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Someone's killing fae on the Umatilla Reservation. Mercy (Mercedes) Thompson gets called in by her mentor, Zee, to help see if she can scent out the killer. She's a skinwalker, possibly the only one in existence, and her sense of smell could provide the fae with information to solve the case.

While she's investigating, she also discovers a secret and now she understands far better why the fae were so willing to have permitted themselves to be locked up on reservations. Unfortunately, the rulers of the fae, the Gray Lords, know she knows and that could pose a problem since they keep their secrets close.

Very shortly after, a reservation guard is savagely murdered. Zee is the prime suspect, literally caught red handed while the guard's blood is cooling. Zee goes to jail and refuses to speak a word in his defense despite Mercy hiring the best criminal defense lawyer she can for him.

Despite warnings from the fae, Mercy takes the case. In order to find the killer, she's going to have to use more than just her nose. 


The mystery is almost as good as the fantasy.

Mercy's world is dreamy, dangerous, and infused with the magic of exotic friendships and finding love.

'F' Is For Fugitive by Sue Grafton

When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it's hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder. Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake--a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys--was found on the beach. Her boyfriend Bailey Fowler was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped.

After all this time, Bailey's finally been captured. Believing in his son's innocence, Bailey's father wants Kinsey to find Jean's real killer. But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean. So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey's questions?

I had worked out who by the end but not why. A good mystery with lots of twists and turns. I didn't like most of the characters tho. 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver is told through the two main characters, Sam and Grace.


Sam is a werewolf, and in the world of the novel, werewolves are human in the heat of summer and wolves in the cold of winter. As the werewolves age, however, their human-time decreases until they remain wolves until death. And Sam feels his last summer coming on just as he and Grace get to know one another.


Grace has been watching the wolves outside her Mercy Falls, Minnesota home every winter. She is drawn to one in particular that has stunning yellow eyes, and she's certain that it is the same wolf who saved her from a pack of wolves who attacked her when she was a young girl. 


When Grace meets Sam, one look at his yellow eyes makes her certain that he's her wolf. They are drawn to each other and it doesn't take them long to realize that they've been in love for years as impossible as it may seem. As the temperatures get cooler, Sam and Grace struggle to keep him human, but the bitter cold and other obstacles threaten to take him away from her forever. 


 I wasn't sure of this book at first, but by the end I can't wait for the next one.

Liszt's Kiss by Susanne Dunlap

The romantic story of a young female pianist in cholera-ravaged Paris of 1832, whose own tragedy leaves her susceptible to the passions and scandals of the composer Franz Liszt

At the height of the Romantic era in Paris, there was no bigger celebrity than the composer and pianist Franz Liszt. A fiery and gorgeous Hungarian, he made women swoon at soirees and left a trail of broken hearts behind him. Anne, a countess and talented young pianist whose mother has just died of cholera, hears Franz Liszt in concert and is swept up in his allure. The enigmatic Marie d'Agoult, a friend of Anne's late mother, takes her under her wing and introduces her to the artistic world -- despite the objections of Anne's sullen and sorrowful father.

Anne soon finds herself in the midst of dangerous intrigues, discovering a family secret so shocking that her father will go to any lengths to protect it.

With the ominous presence of Paris's most deadly epidemic looming over every turbulent event, Liszt's Kiss is a rich evocation of a remarkable period as seen through the eyes of a sensitive young artist. 


This story is rich with detail of post-revolution Paris and the gruesomeness of the cholera epidemic. A delicious mystery weaves through the story, complete with dark alleys, thieving scoundrels and gun-wielding madmen.

Broken by Kelley Armstrong

Ever since she discovered she’s pregnant, Elena Michaels has been on edge. After all, she’s never heard of another living female werewolf, let alone one who’s given birth. But thankfully, her expertise is needed to retrieve a stolen letter allegedly written by Jack the Ripper. As a distraction, the job seems simple enough, only the letter contains a portal to Victorian London’s underworld, which Elena inadvertently triggers, unleashing a vicious killer and a pair of zombie thugs.

Now Elena must find a way to seal the portal before the unwelcome visitors get what they’re looking for–which, for some unknown reason, is Elena. 


 Broken is another awesome offering in this enthralling series 

A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry

Murder in an aristocratic London household pits Inspector William Monk against the Victorian sense of propriety, a bootlicking superior officer and a family's fierce determination to protect its reputation. Octavia Haslett, widowed daughter of Sir Basil Moidore, is found stabbed to death in her bedroom dressed only in nightclothes; when Monk proves no outsider could have entered the house that night, the family and servants remain sole suspects. As tension mounts in the household and a handsome and disliked footman becomes a scapegoat, Monk covertly arranges to introduce Hester Latterly, who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea and has helped Monk before, as a nurse in the Moidore home. Although a grave miscarriage of justice occurs and Monk is dismissed from the police force for a matter of conscience, the strong-willed pair persists in pressing the case to its chilling conclusion. 


Interesting characters, great mystery with a surprising twist at the end.

I hope I come across more of this series. 

Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie

Abby Cooper has started a business as a psychic intuitive. Her business is doing very well and she is booked for months in advance. She advises her clients on future choices but also says they have the free will to change anything that is less than welcome.

Abby owns her own townhouse, has a rich micro-managing sister, Cat, who she is close to, and a sweet little dog, Eggy. The only thing missing in her life is a love interest, is hard to keep men when they find out she is psychic. To change this lack of love Abby signs up for an online dating service and gets good vibes from a potential date, so arranges a meeting. Dutch turns out to be gorgeous and interesting and the two of them click. When she confides in him that a little boy being touted as missing on that evening’s news has been murdered. Dutch turns out to be a police detective and a sceptic when it comes to psychics. Abby becomes a suspect when they follow her lead and find the body of the child. She soon proves herself to be innocent and leads police to the real murderers. Then one of her clients is murdered and Abby finds herself to be in danger from someone who is aware of her powers and doesn’t want her revealing him/her as the murderer.


Light, funny and engaging.

I want to read more of this series. 

The Marx Sisters by Barry Maitland

Jerusalem Lane is a little piece of Dickensian London untouched by development, its inhabitants mainly refugees from pre-war central Europe. But could elderly Meredith Winterbottom really have been killed for the politics of another age?

As DS Kolla and DCI Brock delve into the lane's eccentric melting pot, past and present interlink in unexpected ways. What connects Mr Rosenfeldt and Adam Kowalski to a smooth property developer and an American academic? And what is Meredith's son Terry up to? Not to mention the dotty Marx sisters.


Complex, interesting characters within a sinister, well-paced plot.

What a really wonderful story. It drew me in and didn't let go until the somewhat surprising end. 


I would grab any more of this series that came my way.

Enslave Me Sweetly by Gena Showalter

Eden Black is a Raka, a race of aliens hunted for their beautiful golden skin and hair, but she was raised by a human, Michael, who heads a secret organization dedicated to assassinating evil extraterrestrials. Eden is one of his top assassins. After the most nefarious of the slavers nearly kills her, Michael assigns Eden a partner, Lucius Adaire, a lean, mean killing machine. Eden knows she is good at what she does and resents his interference. To find out how the murderous slaver slips between worlds, Eden decides to let herself be captured and sold at one of his bidding parties. Brave, sassy, and resourceful, a la Lara Croft, Eden is willing to risk her life to secure freedom for others. Lucius respects Eden's independence and skill but hates to see her putting herself in harm's way. 


Eden is a great heroine, the kind of woman who can take care of herself in any kind of situation. And she's drawn to Lucius Adaire, a dangerous, physical man who's been hurt and betrayed in the past enough to last a lifetime. To get to Eden's latest target, she has to pair up with Lucius, and it's a partnership that neither of them want. 


I really enjoyed this book and now want the rest of the series.

The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

Enzo, the narrator, is a dog and Enzo wants nothing more than to be a man.

Enzo is part of a happy family, Denny, the racer; Denny's wife Eve, and his daughter Zoe. Life is good. But then Eve develops cancer and decides to remove herself to her parents home along with Zoe. In the end, the parents of Eve decide to challenge Denny for custody to Zoe and do so in a manner that isn't befitting grandparents.

This book will tear at you in so many ways and on so many levels. The Art of Racing is a book you've got to read, especially if you love dogs. With a wonderful storyline and characters you become attached to this book is amazing. 

Lover Enshrined by J R Ward

Phury has long been the self-sacrificing Brother. He maimed himself body and soul to save his twin. Now he’s taken Vischous’ place as the Primale, the one meant to replenish the dwindling number of Brothers and Chosen for the race. But his inner demons threaten to ruin it all. His place among the Brotherhood. His role as Primale. His relationship with his First Mate, Cormia. His greatest challenge, however, is proving to himself he truly is the hero he’s always tried to be.  I wish there had been a real ROMANCE with Phury and Cormia. I felt like that part fell flat. I also wish that it should have focused more on Phury and Cormia and less on the other stories, although they are important and they were great. A great set up for the next in the series.  Not a keeper...the first one I haven't kept to re-read in this series.