Cover Coveting (11)

 
Cover art is found from Goodreads, Wicked Scribes, ATUF, social networks, and other sources.
***All cover art may not be final.***

The magical Goodreads showed me more pretty covers! It's funny how I go looking for release date info and then there's "Oooooo, a new shiny cover" and I'm led down the slippery slop of obsessing about finding more covers!!

That's OK. I found the shinies.

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Jilo by J.D. Horn

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Witching Savannah, book 4 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Urban Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: AHHHHHHH! I love the typography for these titles. The over dramatic. OM-FREAKING-G! There's a rooster on the cover. I can die happy. Really I love this cover! Everything is placed just right. I love how the trees dramatically fit with the gorgeous stylized artwork. Oh, and it fits perfectly with the other covers.

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Kingmaker Chronicles, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Romantic Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Weeeeeee-we-we-we!! Love it. What a fierce cover, and I love that it's for a Romantic Fantasy. The synopsis sounds interesting enough, and I was interested in the female lead. As a cover sucker this just blew me away. I am looking forward to this series!! *_*

Bionic by Suzanne Weyn

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi Shera’s thoughts: The gradient of colors looks so beautiful and makes the contrast of light and shadows perfect. I love the overlay of a computer motherboard lines.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Brooklyn Brujas, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Young Adult Shera’s thoughts: Bam! Another stunning cover. I adore this cover. The girl looks so gorgeous with her face paint! I love the echo of her eye paint in the background.

Seriously Shifted by Tina Connolly

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Seriously Wicked, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: N/A Shera’s thoughts: It's really pink and peppy. I love that again the striped tights are the "pop" piece. Very fun. Fits well with first book.

The Legend of Me by Rebekah L. Purdy

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Um, wow. This doesn't come out until 2018! I love this cover. Especially since the beautiful white dress not only has blood on it but it's bleeding down on what is apparently human skulls! What a bad ass cover. It's a shame the weight is so long. Between the synopsis and the cover I can't wait.

The Lost Codex by Heather Lyons

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Collectors’ Society, book 4 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Historical Shera’s thoughts: Well it doesn't scream Wonderland, but it gets the idea across.

The Midnight Sea by Kat Ross

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Fourth Element, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult High Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: It's so pretty. Bzzzzzzz. No really! I love how all that . . . . sparks? Is sparking!! It looks stunning. Love the textured and layered quality of the covers.

The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Dandelion Dynasty, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: High Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Holy cow. This is gorgeous. Simply stunning. Bravo.

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Interesting. The rose is very much photoshopped in. I like the idea. I think maybe having the leaves gone or places elsewhere it might have helped? I don't know it just looks out of place. Maybe if the warped it a little to look like it's really behind glass. It's cool though. (Ha. Ha.)

Blood Vow by J.R. Ward

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Black Dagger Legacy, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: What a dramatic flare!! I love the tattoo and the fact that he's dressed. Oh my! A PNR male cover model with a shirt on.

Review: Yield the Night

Yield the Night (Steel & Stone, book 3) by Annette Marie

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Yield the Night (2)

After surviving a round-trip to hell, Piper figures she can survive anything. After all, she just lived through the devastating loss of her Consul apprenticeship and a torturous stint at boarding school. How much worse could it get?

Well, she wasn’t expecting a group of crazy radicals to burn her home to the ground and take her prisoner.

The Gaians, a.k.a. the crazy radicals, plan to rid Earth of daemons and they need Piper’s help. In exchange for her cooperation, they promise her the answer to all her problems: magic. With her own magic, she could reclaim her apprenticeship, the only future she’s ever wanted. But her magic comes at price — it could kill her.

With the life she’s always known crumbling around her and her future slipping from her grasp, she needs Ash’s help one more time. But the greatest danger of all lies within her, and no matter what she does, she may lose everything — including him.

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Review:

The Steel & Stone series has easily become one of my favorite Young Adult Urban Fantasy series. Surpassing many other popular ones from traditional publishers/authors. To be honest I was really nervous about how things were going to go with Piper going to human boarding school. Thank goodness the story picks up when Piper gets home to the consulate skipping all that school crap. The general gist is given of what school was like, but minus angsty school drama stuff. Yeah! (Besides we already knew human boys can't handle Piper.)

So I figured after we dealt with Ash's Samael problem the next step would logically be Piper's mother. Her mother and the radical Gaians. Nailed it. What I enjoyed most was that both sides of Gaians and Consulates could be seen. They both have good and bad. Though one is clearly a fanatical group that has no conscience. Willing to hurt humans and daemons for "the" cause. Even killing their own members.

She sighed. She must be jaded: being kidnapped just didn't faze her anymore.

So Piper gets kidnapped again. Yeah. But let us be honest, it's a trope that happens in pretty much every Urban Fantasy series. (Heck, and a lot of PNR titles.) Marie does the smart thing though. The kidnap reminds interesting and gives the world a lot of expanding. Especially what its like to be haeman outside of the Consulate, because they don't pick up haemons for training. In fact humans and demons kind of shun them, and they don't have teachers or schools for them. (Which is odd as I had assumed up until this point they'd have something for their magical training at least.) Family's disown them unwilling to deal, or cope, with them. Haemon children may have no idea that they are haemon until their powers manifest. It's scary and it's interesting seeing the Gaians prey upon them and the Consulates ignore them. It's an eye opener that the Consulates need to expand the job quota and get reorganized.

So I can predict this series pretty easily. I knew that the Gaians would be next and her mom would get what her fanatical heart wanted. I'm trying to be as vague as possible because I know not everyone is good at predicting where a story is going. I've enjoyed the mythology surrounding the Sahar Stone. Boom! It is sentient and I'm very happy about that, but considering that a soul has been trapped in there it's out for vengeance. Because she's still angry and very mad. Hell hath no furry, like a haeman scorned.

Considering Piper had risked her life to save Seiya from imprisonment and torture, the girl seriously lacked gratitude.

The progression of this series is wonderful! I love that Marie knows where this series is going to go, how each book should be, and doesn't give readers fillers. I will admit I did not like how Seiya was acting in this book. The short after this book helps to give readers more insight. But it still feels over dramatized. Why Seiya blames Piper for putting Ash at risk. Not to mention that I thought Seiya could be an awesome friend for Piper, not an enemy. It's something I've become aware of lately, and tired of, where other females hate/are jealous of the female lead.

Ah, Ash. He's back and the fire between him and Piper is amazing. I'm positive at this point that Lyre is simply a succubus friend to Piper. He understands that Ash and Piper have something. He'll flirt and be a succubus, but he's there for his friends. I like how much Lyre understands people and that he wants to help Ash out so much. But I doubt I'm going to get the bromance I've been dying for from this series. (Or a love triangle where Lyre hearts Ash. Girl can dream. There was sparks in that first book I tell you!)

She was done letting other people risk their lives for her. She was done letting Ash bleed for her. She would fight her own battles from now on.

Piper's growth is amazing! How she handles learning truths about her dreams and the reality of what's happening around her is perfection. She's grown up from the first book. (I'm so proud of her.) Her progress with the magic in her life is handled well and I love how rich the lore is. Instead of the Underworld Piper heads on over to the Upperworld (AKA Heaven). Which was amazing.

I'll be honest some of the hints and plots in this book where really in-you-face-obvious. Every page was sheer pleasure though, and at the very least it all made since how it got there. I'm bothered by how much of Quinn and Piper's relationship is ignored in these books. Heck, I think I understand the crazy mother more than I do Quinn! I'm pretty sure it can't be ignored in the next book. (But I do find my self saying that after each book!) Ash and Piper's relationship is on point. I love the buildup this series has created. The burn. The passion! The respect for one another. Not to mention trust. Thank you. Also, I love that it's not really a love triangle. Lyre is a friend to both Ash and Piper. It breaks my heart to think that I've got only two books left in the series.

Oh, hot book my mind is ready! But my feelings are so confused. Never let it end.

Sexual Content: Sexual content, minor dark themes talked about, some (hot as hell!) make out scenes, and still overall clean for the kiddies.

 
5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession!

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Chase the Dark (1) Bind the Soul (2) Yield the Night (3) Feed the Flames (3.5) Reap the Shadows (4) Unleash the Storm (5)	Chase the Dark (1) Bind the Soul (2) Yield the Night (3) Feed the Flames (3.5) Reap the Shadows (4) Unleash the Storm (5)	Chase the Dark (1) Bind the Soul (2) Yield the Night (3) Feed the Flames (3.5) Reap the Shadows (4) Unleash the Storm (5)

Review: Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, book 1) by Charlaine Harris

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Paperback
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Dead Until Dark (1)

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

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Review:

Ah, a reread of one of my favorite series. After finally forcing myself to finish the True Blood TV series I knew my time had come. The time to rinse out the horrid taste of said HBO series from my mind after it went terribly wrong. Though the truth is I've been meaning to reread the series for a while. It's been on my mind especially since I've only read up to book 7. (After I got annoyed waiting for the paperback releases all the time.) It also didn't help that a Goodreads friend (who shall not be named) spoiled the ending.

I was 13 at the time of first reading this book. Having stumbled across my copy of the third book in a local thrift store. I bought it despite it's crappy cover and then even had faith to buy the first book brand new after reading a few pages. The world of Sookie Stackhouse is still one of my favorites to visit. (Though I think my older copies say A Southern Vampire novel on them.) After many Urban Fantasy, and vampire, books inbetween I still find Sookie's to be a refreshing and unique take.

I adore Sookie and love how her mind reading skills are realized. Her disability—as she calls it—is something you can understand and sympathize with. It doesn't make her all powerful, I find it makes her more human. I love her humor and wit. Which is good as it is told from first person and Sookie's take on the world is open and hilarious.

The whole cast is fabulous and while some characters pasts aren't revealed readers can get a good feel for them.  Many favorites will be discovered by the end. (They're so good you can see why the writers of True Blood wanted to expand on them.)

Dead Until Dark is the perfect blend of humor, wit, mystery murder, romance, urban fantasy, and great writing. No really. The Sookie Stackhouse books are pioneers of the Urban Fantasy genre, and when I read them for the first time I was sooooo thankful for the incredible writing. Now I feel like the genre suffers from uncreative and soulless writing in attempts to simply crank out another UF title. Not to mention the mindless dialogue of “tough” leads, so the natural course for the writing is to be sparse character development and world building.

Now that I'm older I can now appreciate that while Bill is sexy as hell there's some issues. He's not human and boy does Harris make it clear. To Sookie and readers. Bill may still be hot but I found him creepy. Perhaps knowing what he does in later books adds to it, but I can see the foreshadowing. What I can now see as well is that Sookie doesn't see him as some White Knight. She can understand why she's willing to date him, and I love that Sookie sees in shades of gray. (Though things are gonna get shadier.) The parts that her telepathy does make her different from everyone else. Sookie understands why they work as a couple now and the reasons why they don't.

Oh, boy though. The chemistry is just as powerful as I remember.

To be honest the mystery of this book doesn't feel like the main focus, and it really solves itself. I do remember at the time how surprised I was when the murderer was revealed. Don't get me wrong the mystery is personal and close to home to Sookie. It does shapes the entire book. It's also a treat to know that if the murder mystery part wasn't there I'm positive that Dead Until Dark would still stand on it's own two feet still. For whatever reason if you haven't tried out these books, do. I implore you.

Sexual Content: Plenty of sexual humor and frank conversation on the matter. Sex. Yes. Not overly graphic, but it's still hot as all get out.

 
5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession!

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Dead Until Dark (1) Living Dead in Dallas (2) Club Dead (3) Dead to the World (4) Dead as a Doornail (5) Definitely Dead (6) All Together Dead (7) From Dead to Worse (8) Dead and Gone (9) Dead in the Family (10) Dead Reckoning (11) Deadlocked (12) Dead Ever After (13)	Dead Until Dark (1) Living Dead in Dallas (2) Club Dead (3) Dead to the World (4) Dead as a Doornail (5) Definitely Dead (6) All Together Dead (7) From Dead to Worse (8) Dead and Gone (9) Dead in the Family (10) Dead Reckoning (11) Deadlocked (12) Dead Ever After (13)	Dead Until Dark (1) Living Dead in Dallas (2) Club Dead (3) Dead to the World (4) Dead as a Doornail (5) Definitely Dead (6) All Together Dead (7) From Dead to Worse (8) Dead and Gone (9) Dead in the Family (10) Dead Reckoning (11) Deadlocked (12) Dead Ever After (13)

Wednesday Wishes

Goodreads is a great place to have fun discussions. Especially about my favorite genre Urban Fantasy/paranormal! The latest topic is how tired everyone is of vampires.

I love witches, werewolves, telepaths, and unique creatures. Heck, my latest obsession is trying to find a decent Valkyrie book.

But I will always come back to vampire! It's were my love started. Besides why pick a side, or team, when I can have them all!

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La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Oldest City Vampire, book 1

First in a delightfully irreverent new series-and second to none when it comes to beautiful 227-year-old career women.

Being dead isn't all it's cracked up to be. Take it from Francesca Marinelli, trapped underground for over 200 years and rediscovered during the renovation of a Victorian mansion in historic St. Augustine. A tourist attraction herself, she's well suited for a job as an Old Ghost Town Tour guide. Francesca's due for a new lease on afterlife-and with enough sunblock, she can finally live it.

Unfortunately, everything she learned about men is a little dated. And when people in her tour group turn up dead, naturally the police suspect her. After all, she is a vampire. Which is why a crazed vampire-hunting vigilante squad is out to get her as well. Between the dead bodies, the stalkers, and a seriously non-existent love life, she's starting to wish she was dead. Or at least buried, where she was safe.

Wow, I had totally forgotten about this series. Despite knowing I wanted to read it I apparently never put it on my TBR pile. It sounds like tons of fun. Not to mention that it's a trilogy! What? That's right a UF trilogy. It's been long enough that the author should have her rights back if she wanted to self-pub more.

So I think it's safe to say this series has ended.

Ghost and the Graveyard by Genevieve Jack

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Knight Games, book 1

**The Ghost and The Graveyard is a funny, exciting, and sexy read intended for adults. Due to sexual content, language, and violence this book is recommended for ages 18+**

Grateful Knight isn't looking for love when she moves into a rent-free house on the edge of a graveyard. At twenty-two, all she wants is to recover financially so she can move back to the city where she belongs.

But sparks fly when the gorgeous cemetery caretaker, Rick, introduces himself and mentions his suspicion that her new house might be haunted. Her attraction to him seems supernatural, and despite her resolve to not get involved, she literally can't keep her hands off him.

When things in Grateful's house start moving on their own, another man enters her life, Logan, a sexy ghost with a dark secret. He says Rick isn't what he seems, and indulging her passion for him could cost her soul.

One thing's for sure, magical forces are at work in the tiny town of Red Grove, and they're converging on Grateful. Life will never be the same once she's forced to choose between the ghost and the graveyard.

This is another series I had completely forgotten about. This time I actually own the first 2 books. It's sad, I have so many books that I forget titles!

Both a blessing and a curse.

That said this series apparently ends at book 4, so it's all out. Now she's doing standalone novels in the same world. I think more like traditional PNR, you know a couple for every book. Not as interested in that, but maybe if I become a fan of her characters I will be.

The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: Young Adult High Fantasy
Series: The Twelve Kingdoms, book 1

Queen Of The Unknown

The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, heir to the kingdom. The youngest, the sweet beauty with her Prince Charming. No one says much about the middle princess, Andromeda. Andi, the other one.

Andi doesn't mind being invisible. She enjoys the company of her horse more than court, and she has a way of blending into the shadows. Until the day she meets a strange man riding, who keeps company with wolves and ravens, who rules a land of shapeshifters and demons. A country she'd thought was no more than legend--until he claims her as its queen.

In a moment everything changes: Her father, the wise king, becomes a warlord, suspicious and strategic. Whispers call her dead mother a traitor and a witch. Andi doesn't know if her own instincts can be trusted, as visions appear to her and her body begins to rebel.

For Andi, the time to learn her true nature has come. . .

Titles like these are the reason why I faithfully get Goodreads updates from ALL my friends. Yeah, not just Top friends, but every single one of them. Because a lot of titles can fall through the cracks.

After all I would not have even been away still of the Steel & Stone series. Which happens to be a favorite of mine now.

This one sounds like a ton of fun and I love the idea of High Fantasy with animal shifters.

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)

Cover Coveting (2)

 
Cover art is found from Wicked Scribes, ATUF, Goodreads, social networks, and other sources.
***All cover art may not be final.***

Looks like I've got slim pickings on covers again. It's really hit or miss lately. At least I found some! Pretty good looking if I do say so myself.

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A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Kingdom on Fire, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult High Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: I have a weakness for burning flowers. This one is so cool! the little bits are coals I think? I love the blue/green color.

The Hawkweed Prophecy by Irena Brignull

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Fantasy YA or Middle Grade Shera’s thoughts: Wow. This is really cool. At first I thought it was the silhouette of a shark jaw. But it's a strange bird, grass and things, and the moon! Very cool. I love how the typography fits in so beautifully.

Review: Burned by Magic

Burned by Magic (The Baine Chronicles, book 1) by Jasmine Walt

Genre: New Adult Fantasy Steampunk
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Burned by Magic (1)

In the city of Solantha, mages rule absolute, with shifters considered second-class citizens and humans something in between. No one outside the mage families are allowed to have magic, and anyone born with it must agree to have it stripped from them to avoid execution.

Sunaya Baine, a shifter-mage hybrid, has managed to keep her unruly magic under wraps for the last twenty-four years. But while chasing down a shifter-hunting serial killer, she accidentally loses control of her magic in front of witnesses, drawing the attention of the dangerous and enigmatic Chief Mage.

Locked up in the Chief Mage’s castle and reduced to little more than a lab rat, Sunaya resists his attempts to analyze and control her at every turn. But she soon realizes that to regain her freedom and catch the killer, she must overcome her hatred of mages and win the most powerful mage in the city to her side.

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Review:

First it needs to be said that this book is edited right. I did not want to bash my brains out due to grammar errors. The writing isn't too bad either. It has life and a flavor to it. Sadly the overall story, events, and characters bored me. I fell asleep while reading. Had to skip a few parts that basically went exactly how I knew they would. (For a read-every-word girl like me, that's not a good sign.)

The first thing I need to touch base with was the world building. The idea of a world where humans evolved into mages, and then the mages experimented on humans that then created shifters is awesome. When first diving into the story I thought this was an urban fantasy read. It felt like it. It revealed we were not on our earth, but a totally made up one. Cool. Then all of a sudden a steambike pops up and whams me in the face. OK. I rolled with it because the idea that this is a made up world with steampunk technology thrilled me.

So it was a steampunk fantasy world!

Maybe? The technology felt off because there was a power plant and lots of things that didn't quite fit a steampunk world. Such as sweatpants. And I'm assuming they are sweats, because that is the term used for them. Sweats in fantasy/steampunk worlds are usually “loose pants” or “baggy pants”. “Work out pants.” So on. Because the type of technology to make our kind of sweats does not mesh with the world.

I'm a picky reader. I felt like Walt simply wanted me to feel in the blanks. Assume a lot of things about this world. Which sucked.

Ah, the cast of characters. Who all felt barrowed from other stories and pieced together. Definitely urban fantasy characters. Who did and said the things I expected them to. The lead was supposed to be witty and snarky, but I found her more stupid and irritating. Rude. The male interests where boring and so typical that no attempt was made to flesh them out.

Oh, and the lead is magically attracted to the rude—excuse me mysterious/misunderstood—Chief Mage. AKA the man with all the power that seems like a bad guy but isn't. Of course she's drawn to him despite herself.

The mystery of her mentor's death and the “silver murders” is tacked onto the lead's secret being found out and so on. It's all rather boring. And well typical. (Yeah, I'm tired of using that word.) Actually it may have behooved this series to get us to care about the lead and her world before playing all of its cards.

The names of the characters have already left my head. Instead I remember them as stereotypes that did their stereotypical things. That just happened to be cut into a stereotypical UF plot. Which is a true shame as the basis of this world was so unique. With an underwhelming romance and boring plot. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be a fantasy steampunk world. It all falls short because it's so busy following the steps of a Urban Fantasy book that it forgets to be itself. To build emotions and distinguish its characters from the many others out there. To build the world and not just the buildings and rooms. To have the world figured out enough to clue readers into the hows and whys. Thumbs up for solid editing. Thank you.

Sexual Content: Sexual humor, minor dark themes, and overall clean.

 

2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Burned by Magic (1) Bound by Magic (2) Hunted by Magic (3)	Burned by Magic (1) Bound by Magic (2) Hunted by Magic (3)	Burned by Magic (1) Bound by Magic (2) Hunted by Magic (3)