Rare Vigilance by M.A. Grant

Rare Vigilance is book 1 in the Whitethorn Agency, a fast paced, m/m romance with vampires.

Synopsis – Former marine Atlas Kinkaid knows not to ask questions about the clients he protects at the behest of the elite Whitethorn security agency. Just like he doesn’t like anyone asking about his scars—scars left by a mysterious attack that haunts his every waking moment.
Consumed by the need to find out what happened to him, Atlas takes a job providing security to Cristian Slava, the indolent—and gorgeous—son of a notorious businessman. Cristian seems to be just another entitled client, but when nights at the club turn into secret meetings and people start going missing, Atlas realizes there’s more to Cristian—and to protecting him—than meets the eye.

WWW Wednesday

Today I have a super simple post to let the world know what I’m reading. Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading –

We Are Wolves: A Horror Anthology – Including authors like Gemma Amor, Jessica Guess, Sadie Hartmann and many more, this book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s powerful, emotional, empowering and dark.

Throwback Thursday

Every Thursday I’m going to focus on a book that I’ve read and enjoyed, but for whatever reason I haven’t written a review for it. I would say I only review a third or so of what I read, so I’m glad I’ve finally organised a place to rave about the books I missed and maybe twist someone’s arm into finding their next favourite book..

Black Witch Magic by Mila Nicks

Synopsis – Librarian by day, cursed witch by night:
Selene Blackstone spends her days camped out in library corners with her nose glued to books. In a town like Brimrock, where she’s an outcast, she prefers her book friends to her real-life enemies. They’re a lot less judgmental. The rest of town believes she descends from a family of witches—including her evil witch grandma, Luna. In this case, the truth is stranger than fiction. She is a witch, and she’s cursed for all of eternity. Good thing her to-be-read list is pretty long…
Prickly Paranormal Investigator Aiden O’Hare speaks two languages: sarcasm and more sarcasm. He travels the country—and sometimes even the world—investigating strange phenomena with his best friend, Eddie. Their investigations bring them to a cozy New England town called Brimrock, home to fabled evil witch Luna Blackstone. Armed with his dry wit, his bibliophilic love for books, and far too much free time, he’s determined to find out just what happened to Luna…
When Aiden meets Selene, he decides he must get to know her. When Selene learns Aiden is in town investigating her grandma, she knows she must stop him. He’s out to expose the truth. She’s out to keep it a secret. Neither expects to fall under each other’s spell, but sometimes love is supernatural.

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Black Witch Magic is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I’m not even sure why I didn’t get a proper review for it out when I read it in October. It was the perfect Christmas read. The characters were adorable, the romance was sweet and fun. But it wasn’t light and fluffy, the mystery throughout kept me on my toes, it was really dark in places and the way Selene is treated by the community is downright horrible.

One of my favourite things about the book is that Selene and Aiden’s relationship is so awkward in places. Like the second hand embarrassment was huge in places. And they get past hard spots with conversation. That is refreshing, I hate when things could be fixed with a conversation but it never happens. It felt a lot more real than many insta love scenarios, even with all the magic thrown in.

Magic – Mystery – Romance – Libraries – Revenge

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Book info and clicky bits

Author: Mila Nicks  /  Released: 30th October 2020

Goodreads  –  Amazon

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About the author – Mila Nicks is an emerging romance author on a mission to pen heartfelt love stories featuring women of color. From the time she was a small girl with crayons and an overactive imagination, she’s had a passion for storytelling. In addition to receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, she is presently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing. She has also served her country in the United States Air Force. When she isn’t penning diverse love stories, you can find this imaginative writer traveling across the globe, sampling new cuisines, or spending quality time with her spunky pet Chihuahua, Zayden.

WWW Wednesday

Today I have a super simple post to let the world know what I’m reading. Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading –

Rae and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi. There is a lot to love about this one. Portal fantasy, middle grade, Indian mc, so much magic. 

Recently Finished –

The Treason of Robyn Hood by D. Lieber. Dieselpunk, gender swapped fantasy. A very fast paced read with some sexy thrown in for fun.

Next –

A Journey into Dreams by D.R. O’Shea. I read a chapter or two of this earlier in the month and the writing is wonderful, I’m looking forward to getting back to it. 

I’m giving myself extra pats on the back right now as they are all NetGalley books. Have you read any of these and what are you reading at the moment?

 

 

 

 

 

The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth

The Brass Queen is a rollicking fun adventure with wonderful over the top, sassy characters. 

Steampunk  –  Historical Fantasy  –  Political Intrigue  –  Magic

Synopsis – In 1897, a fiery British aristocrat and an inept US spy search for a stolen invisibility serum that could spark a global war.
Miss Constance Haltwhistle is the last in a line of blue-blooded rogue inventors. Selling exotic firearms under her alias, the ‘Brass Queen,’ has kept her baronial estate’s coffers full. But when US spy, Trusdale, saves her from assassins, she’s pulled into a search for a scientist with an invisibility serum. As royal foes create an invisible army to start a global war, Constance and Trusdale must learn to trust each other. If they don’t, the world they know will literally disappear before their eyes.

WWW Wednesday

Today I have a super simple post to let the world know what I’m reading. Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What’s on my TBR – NetGalley Edition

NetGalley, the light of my reading life and the bane of my reading existence. I was recently having a squizz through my NetGalley back list and to be honest it’s pretty depressing. Like many, I went hard early on, never expecting to be approved for anything and it got out of control. Then I went full ostrich, stuck my head in the sand and I’ve been ignoring a heap of them ever since.

If you think this is me finally ready to deal with my 2018 chaos, you would be wrong. I’ll reveal that shame in another post. (Maybe by then I’ll have made some headway through it.) This time I wanted to talk about the exciting reads I’ve got that are coming out in 2021.

WWW Wednesday

Today I have a super simple post to let the world know what I’m reading. Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Doors of Sleep: Journals of Zaxony Delatree by Tim Pratt

Doors of Sleep popped up at the perfect time on Netgalley. I wanted a Sci-fi, but none of the books in my collection were calling my name. This one called to me instantly, I loved the cover and the premise was super intriguing.

Synopsis – Every time Zax Delatree falls asleep, he travels to a new reality. He has no control over his destination and never knows what he will see when he opens his eyes. Sometimes he wakes up in technological utopias, and other times in the bombed-out ruins of collapsed civilizations. All he has to live by are his wits and the small aides he has picked up along the way – technological advantages from techno-utopias, sedatives to escape dangerous worlds, and stimulants to extend his stay in pleasant ones.

Thankfully, Zax isn’t always alone. He can take people with him, if they’re unconscious in his arms when he falls asleep. But someone unwelcome is on his tail, and they are after something that Zax cannot spare – the blood running through his veins, the power to travel through worlds…

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You can see why I had to have it right, how cool does it sound? And that is where my love affair with the book ended. It’s not terrible, it’s not great, it’s pretty meh. I know I sound like an asshole, but the book was totally lacking excitement, suspense, thrills. For a book that should have you a little on the edge of your seat, I just didn’t care. The book was written in such a way that all of the problems Zax faced were easily solved.

Minna was a cool character, so cool in fact, she could fix basically everything. Zax gets his arm chopped off, she grows him a new one. He needs to stay awake longer, she alters his brain. Need to set a trap or two, she can do it. Get trapped on a space station, she can alter her own blood to give herself Zax’s powers. There is never any real danger.

And the villain in this whole piece? He feels like a caricature of a bad guy from Captain Underpants.

Another reason I think I had such a hard time getting into this is because time just flits by. 6 months can be jumped in a page. Also because so much happens off page, we are told about it in massive monologues. After the second time this happened I could feel my brain starting to check out and to be honest I’m surprised I finished it.

I was really bummed about this one. The idea was pretty cool, very Sliders, but the execution didn’t work for me at all. I needed the stakes to be higher, I needed some tension and I needed to want the characters to survive.

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Goodreads  –  Publisher: Angry Robot  –  Released: 12/1/2021

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Stacking The Shelves – Sci-Fi Month Edition

A post where I can brag about my new books? Yes please. Granted I definitely won’t have something to post every week, I’ll just do it as required. I will be including everything from my purchases, to NetGalley, gifts and books from authors. For more information head over to Tynga’s reviews.

I have spent this month reading all the reviews and recommendation posts and one thing I have realised is that the sci-fi genre is huge. There are so many different sub genres that pretty much anyone could find something they like. While I have been doing my best not to purchase every awesome book I see, I have been very inspired.