Review: Hunting Season

Hunting Season (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, book 4) by Annie Bellet

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Hunting Season (4)

Demons. Assassins. Angry druids. Just what gamer and sorceress Jade Crow needs to help her days feel complete. All her hits will have to be crits to get out of this one.

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Review:

First off I am disappointed in Tess's role. Okay, so her role was pretty epic and moving. The issue was that Tess was everything and more than what I hoped she could have been. I get her role in Jade's hero's journey, but still. I love Tess.

Another thing is the ugly truth is out. Jade isn't really a comic book owner, she's a translator. Ha-ha. Okay so she's both, but I loved how she grudgingly admits it at the start. It's also fun that her supernatural gift is used to make a living so mundanely.

Rock to mud. I couldn’t remember all the details of the spell, though I knew there was something in there about not working on magical stone. Fuck that, because the manual wasn’t a spell book, not in reality. In reality, I just needed to have the power and the belief I could do it.

Sorcery magic still leaves me just a little confused. Jade is still crappy at magic so I'm guessing it's her unconscious doubt. That she's not believing? Why does she need all the fancy stuff? It makes it easier for her to believe? I don't like that it's not addressed fully. Though I do think I am on the right track.

“Curiosity is known to kill cats, Ms. Crow,” he said, raising an eyebrow in a gesture that looked utterly practiced and precise.

“Satisfaction brings them back,” I said, letting go of my magic. I didn’t want to accept what my brain and senses were telling me. “Do you sparkle in sunlight?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I burn.”

I'm also very thrilled in all the magical creatures being introduced in this entry! Yeah for vampires, druids, and other things! Yippee! The more magical creatures the better. Not to mention unicorns! The world of The Twenty-Sided Sorceress is becoming so awesome. Doesn't heart with The Last Unicorn jokes. (No really I was obsessed when I was younger. Kind of still am.)

Alek and Jade are truly starting to grow for me as a couple. Finally the build up is becoming enough that I can buy it. I enjoy their frank talks and such.

In my nerd obsessed mind I am under the complete belief that Jade and I, not to mention all her friends, would be besties. The references to all things nerdy here just kept me laughing. Especially poor Tess's cruel introductory to sci-fi shows. Poor girl. The look through Tess's eyes to the big bad was also interesting, as you really see how sad and pathetic he is. Yeah, we want him crushed.

Content Warning: Clean sex scene, sexual humor, realistic homosexual relationship (I want more dang it!), nothing to gory though I guess to some extant since we are dealing with heart eating beings ^_-, and overall nothing really stood out.

 
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)

Review: Pack of Lies

Pack of Lies (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress #3) by Annie Bellet

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Pack of Lies (3)

Let sleeping dogs lie. Wolves, on the other hand…

Recovering from a broken heart and coming to terms with her family history, all sorceress Jade Crow wants is to resume running her comic book store and gaming with her friends. With a town full of strange wolf shifters, a hundred-and-fifty-year-old peace accord hanging in the balance, and the Justice who broke her heart back in her life, Jade’s plans go out the proverbial window.

Wolves are killing wolves, innocent human lives are caught in the crossfire, and not everyone in town is who they appear to be. As the bodies stack up and the doubts build, Jade and her friends race to find the true killer.

And then Jade’s evil ex-lover makes another move…

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Review:

There's this huge thing that annoys me in Urban Fantasy books, especially PNR. What is it? When the lead and the love interest have more relationship happening off the pages. Such as Mercy and Adam from the Mercy Thompson series. They had ten years to know each other prior to the start of the series, so for me it meant I wasn't involved in their romance. Briggs had to bring it now, during the current timeline. Not just saying they had all this history. Well The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series is doing this. There's some time between books, while not a huge amount, it's still enough that we're missing parts of Jade and Alek's relationship. In the case of Murder of Crows and Pack of Lies I think we missed some key things. Especially since Alek leaves and the two kind of seem to be broken up.

So when the big heart on the sleeve moments happened, I was all “Ahhhhhhhh, so sweet.” But my heart wasn't in it. I'll need more time for them to become a real couple.

Now, my last true gripe. Editing. Editing. Editing. It's really clean for the most part. However, there is some awkward wording. No it was not slang. The biggest oopsie was a wrong word moment, that was kind of awkward. Ha-ha. I wish I would have highlighted it because it totally made my day. Yes, I know my reviews and posts have errors. Heck, I have a better time spotting errors on someone else's work all the time. Still, I think just beta readers would have been able to catch those. Overall though Annie Bellet has some of the cleanest self pub books for editing quality. So thank you.

Gripes done.

“He said that the Punisher would kick Batman's ass in a fight”

. . .

“Then put you hand here and repeat after me,” I said indicating the slipcase. “I solemnly swear that Bruce Wayne is the bestest superhero ever and I will never profane his name or legacy by suggesting anyone could kick his ass. Because they can't. Because he is the fucking BATMAN.”

Ah, I do love the humor and whit behind these books. As I've said some of the nerd goes over my head, but a lot of it I get and I just love it!!! Ha-ha, the Spider-Man joke about a certain famous quote just tickles me. Everyone always talks about how quotable Ilona Andrews' works are. Well I'd say this series is just as much so.

“Yep. Definitely worth risking life, limb, and heart for.” - Jade

Even though my heart wasn't in the romance, Alek and Jade are a very cute couple and they balance each other out well. Not to mention that I love how they openly talk with each other and concede when they're wrong. So there is that.

“So much for hoping we were going to wreck some love tryst. Why couldn't my life be full of sex instead of violence?”

Pack of Lies was a great mystery! While it's kind of clear from the introduction who dunnit, it was an interesting concept and a better look into Justices. Maybe we'll get to meet a new one each book? That would be bad ass.

“You don't feel good because you are good.”

Pack of Lies was a great way to find out about Jade's moral ground and where she stood. After Murder of Crows a few things where up in the air for me at least.

“Magic for sorcerers is something we are, not just something we do. Unlike a witch or warlock or other human spell-user, we own the raw power—we are the raw power. Which meant if I could conceive of it and channel enough power into it, whatever it was, I could make it happen.

The mental game was the issue.”

Now, I've been iffy about a sorcerer's powers. Because of that whole “conceive” it part, then they can do it. But it doesn't seem like her power works that way. Because she can't just heal. No. In fact, she has to pull from the memories of the hearts she's ate to do the spells she wants. Her tracking spell and other things fine. So I'm thinking it's more of a short cut thing? She still has to use the bases to make spells, but can skip a few steps. Because if you conceive it and make it happen, why do you have to even do rituals or anything? Shouldn't you be able to draw a random symbol and believe that it will repel something? Or is it more that Jade can't do the mind over matter bit?

So I like that it's confirmed that Jade has some inner power which she's been instinctually afraid of. Though that's kind of annoying. It feels like almost every main character has some special thing locked away that they're not ready for. They suddenly awaken it and then “Got back to sleep” and we're teased for a while. Though I think whatever is up with Jade is going to be very cool. It would just be nice if Jade was a powerful sorceress who needed to grow with experience.

Overall another great entry into a super fun series! The characters, humor, and fun of each book just keeps getting better. Especially as we learn more about everyone. I love the introduction of the new characters and the end, and I'm very curious as to Tess's role in the whole thing! Samir feels like an epic build up of a villain, kind of like the Marvel Universes' ones. Let's just hope he doesn't pitter out, or get defeated, like those ones do.

Content Warning: Mild sex scene and sexual humor. Some murder and mayhem. Nothing super graphic though. (Oh, I guess I should mention that there are some homosexual characters, I like how realistic they are.)

 
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6) Magic to the Bone (7) Dungeon Crawl (8)

Review: Murder of Crows

Murder of Crows (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, book 2) by Annie Bellet

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Murder of Crows (2)

They say you can never go home again. If only that were true…

Game store owner and nerd sorceress extraordinaire Jade Crow knows death stalks her in the form of her murderous ex-lover, Samir, a sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her power. With the help of her friends, and sexy tiger-shifter Alek, Jade trains for the inevitable confrontation.

Until her estranged father shows up begging for help. Someone or something is murdering the crow shifters of Three Feathers ranch and her father believes sorcery is the only way to stop the killings.

Faced with an unknown foe, a family that exiled her decades before, a deepening relationship with Alek, and Samir’s ever-present threat, Jade will need all the power she’s gained and then some to stop the Murder of Crows.

Murder of Crows is the second book in The Twenty-Sided Sorceress urban fantasy series.

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Review:

For such a tiny page count these books pack a punch. I'm totally invested in this world. HOWEVER. The biggest problem is that they are so tiny.

Especially with Jade and Alek as a couple. I still don't see it. Because there is just not enough room to have this action packed adventure and emotional content. Don't get me wrong, this book is not cold. But it doesn't have the time to fully explore and develop things outside of Jade's current problem.

Thankfully that's really my only issue. Sure there's a few errors here and there. But the overall writing and Jade's voice is perfect. I adore Jade and her fangirl self. It's great having a book friend to geek out with while reading.

Overall I enjoyed seeing Jade's “blood” relations. It was very interesting and you could both see why she was drawn to Samir. But also wonder why she trusted him so much. It was a fun mystery and it also sheds light on how different Alec and Jade think. To be honest she was pretty naïve about how she went about things. I agreed with who needed to die, but she was just stupid thinking that that person would be the only casualty. I'm very curious as to what will happen between Jade and Alec. I really want to feel them as a couple. Also, I look forward to the books getting longer.

Sexual Content: Sexual humor, minor dark themes, and some alluded to fun time. Nothing graphic.

 
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)

Review: Justice Calling

Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, book 1) by Annie Bellet

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Justice Calling (1)

Gamer. Nerd. Sorceress.

Jade Crow lives a quiet life running her comic book and game store in Wylde, Idaho. After twenty-five years fleeing from a powerful sorcerer who wants to eat her heart and take her powers, quiet suits her just fine.

Surrounded by friends who are even less human than she is, Jade figures she’s finally safe.

As long as she doesn’t use her magic.

When dark powers threaten her friends’ lives, a sexy shape-shifter enforcer shows up. He’s the shifter world’s judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one, and he thinks Jade is to blame. To clear her name, save her friends, and stop the villain, she’ll have to use her wits… and her sorceress powers.

Except Jade knows that as soon as she does, a far deadlier nemesis awaits.

Justice Calling is the first book in The Twenty-Sided Sorceress urban fantasy series. Readers who enjoyed The Dresden Files or The Iron Druid Chronicles will likely enjoy this series.

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Review:

It's a true testament of Bellet's writing talent that this short of a book worked. Short reads like this have more pressure, especially as an official first book, to introduce the world and lead. To get readers hooked and say, “Hey, I've got some great stuff to show you!

Bellet really does.

There were some mild grammar issues and rough writing moments, but mostly the writing is solid. Jade's voice is awesome. She's clever, snarky, and nerdy. She's a gamer and that had potential to make it hard for non gamers to understand. I'm a very casual gamer so I know some of the lingo and games, but not all. There's just enough gamer inside jokes, but not to an extant to alienate non gamer readers. But Jade is a well rounded geek and I'm sure everyone can find some way to connect with her. (Come on we all have an inner nerd/geek.)

Jade is pretty cool. The book does a good job to introduce her, tell about her past, and make readers love her. As mentioned she's a fellow geek, so that immediately endears her to me. But I like that despite her fears she can't abandon her friends. Not to mention she can see when someone else is right and has the balls to make the decisions that need to be made. She's got a lot of work to do to be in fighting shape, but I think the journey will be well worth it. For her and readers. Plus, I have to find out more about what I thought was Jade's wolf familiar. She's an Undying? That happens to look like a wolf tiger, lynx, and other things! How cool is that.

“A girl needs options. To me, video games are like shoes. But with more pixels and a plot.”

Despite how well setup, and paced, the book was Jade and Aleksie's attraction felt off. More like an obligation. Aleksie is the Justice. A weretiger who helps to keep the piece in the shifter society. He's the law, judge, and executioner basically. So he's the perfect setup for a love interest. But there insta-lust felt off. Especially since it barely took a few paragraphs—barely a new page—for Jade to start imagining doing dirty things to Aleksie. (But I can't really fault her.) It just felt off. But. Yes, there's a but. I look forward to seeing these two characters connect and get a proper page time to develop.

“After all, in a world full of shape shifters, witches, gods, and sorcerers, maybe miracles can happen.”

Apparently there aren't vampires in this world. Bummer. However, console yourself with bad ass sorcerers/sorceresses, witches, all kinds of animal shifters, leprechauns, and more. At this point there's not a ton of detail on the magic, but I liked the range and variety shown so far. It's a promising setup and I can't wait for more to be revealed!

“Guess no one had ever told him not to bring a gun to a mage fight.”

Despite some minor issues Justice Calling is a solid introduction to Jade Crow's world. Readers get to know her and I can't wait to see her grow. Even better is the promise of what is going to be an epic show down once Jade's Ex tracks her down. Bad Romance, can't say no to that. Especially when he's out her eat her heart—not brain. (Sorry I made lots of Gaga references there. I couldn't help it!) I love the fictional town of Wylde, Idaho. I'm a sucker for any book in my state. The cast of side characters is promising and I simply want more of this cool Urban Fantasy world.

Sexual Content: Dirty thoughts, humor, and some kissing. Clean. (Well one dark musing.)

 
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back. 

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)	Justice Calling (1) Murder of Crows (2) Pack of Lies (3) Hunting Season (4) Heartache (5) Thicker Than Blood (6)