Charming by Elliot James

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher with the intention of leaving an honest review.

This is a great story with an interesting twist on the Knights Templar, Valkyries, Werewolves, Vampires and Psychics. Throw in an Episcopalian priest, a bug exterminator, a cop and a Naga and you've got a great story. This isn't a fairy tale even though the main character is called John Charming, as in Prince Charming. The Charming name was given to all the brave men in fairy tales even if they weren't Princes.

John Charming is a Knight, a monster hunter and according to the Knights Templar, he's an abomination.

When his mother was in her last month of pregnancy, she was bitten by a werewolf. Although she gave birth to John, she died whilst shifting as a lot of people do. Because of this the Knights have kept a close eye on John, waiting for him to turn into a werewolf which he never has done, the only thing that is different with John is the fact that he has heightened senses and strength. If it wasn't for the fact that he almost died when he was in his early twenties, he would most likely have been killed. Instead the Knights relaxed their watch on him and he ran away. Now he's being hunted by the Knights.

Whilst staying ahead of the Knights he still feels the need to hunt the monsters himself, due to the geas that all Knights have placed on them.

Whilst working as a bartender he meets Sig, who is hunting a Vampire. He scares the vampire off but knows it will be back later that night. When he's fighting the vampire and his hive mates, Sig turns up and saves his life.

From that point on, he knows he's going to leave town but he knows he's going to help Sig take out the other vampires because the geas will not let him leave before then.

With feelings running high between John and Sig and Sig already having a partner, well things go to hell in a handbasket very quickly.

This is a very well-written story with excellent attention to detail. It has a great cast of characters and the action is practically none-stop. I really hope that this is the start of a new series.

Hot Blooded by Amanda Carlson

I received a free copy of this e-book from the publishers with the intent to read and leave an honest review.

This book starts were the first book finished. Jessica is getting ready to go and get her mate back from Selene, who just happens to be a wicked powerful goddess. She just has to wait for two vampires to arrive who are on loan from the Vampire Queen who had her kidnapped in the first book.

Before she even gets to set off, she has to contend with Ray Hart, a local police detective who has been harassing her and trying to pin anything he can on her. He just knows there's something off about Jessica. And he's about to find out just what that is. When Jessica gets home from talking to her father and persuading him not to kill Ray, she finds out that her building supervisor was a were-weasel and he had been caught breaking in to her apartment by one of her were-wolf friends. He had had to change and ended up killing him but the detective had seen it happen so he ended up stuffed in her wardrobe. Now he's going on a trip with Jessica, her brother Tyler, friend Daniel, the two vampires on loan from the Vampire Queen to get back her mate, if not he's going to end up dead.

Setting off in the bright yellow hummer that her brother has bought, they head north to Canada. On the way she realises that they will have a problem with Ray at border patrol so she has the vampires fly him over the border, hoping it will make him change his mind and realise that in order for him to stay alive he will have to comply with the Alpha's demands.

As they get nearer to Selene's lair they have to leave the hummer behind and start to hike. This is were I started to get annoyed again.

Whilst the book has a great story line and clips along at a good rate, it's spoiled again by the constant conversation, argument or telepathic conversation when danger is imminent or they are in the midst of a fight. It ruins the flow of the tale for me.

This was a fault that I found in the first book and I was disappointed to see it had continued on in the second book. I also found it annoying that no matter what they came across, after the argument, discussion, whatever, it would turn out to be her blood or only her power that could fix whatever was wrong. I understand that she is the main character and that she is something more than a were-wolf, she is turning into the True Lycan but I really hope that the third book doesn't follow in the same lines or that it's not constantly brought up.

That said I will definitely be reading the third in the series.

Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publishers with the intent to read and give an honest review.

We start this story with Jessica changing into a wolf for the first time. To say she is shocked is an understatement, she never expected to change as there are no female werewolves, at all. She is only alive because her father is Alpha and her mother died giving birth to Jessica and her twin brother Tyler.

Having changed though, she now needs to keep this information secret as she will surely have the other wolves out for her blood due to a prophecy that states that a female werewolf will bring about the downfall of the wolves.

You would think it would be easy to keep a secret as she has been living under an alias for seven years but you would be wrong. Not only does someone know, they want her dead. It could be anyone too. Not just the wolves but the other sects out there, vampires, witches, warlocks, demons, you name it, they are gunning for her. Not only having to contend with that she also realises she's not quite a werewolf, she is a Lycan.

After returning home after visiting her father to try and work out what's going on with her, she's attacked in her apartment by a rogue werewolf, this just after using a cover story of a break in for the damage she did herself during her change. Now she's being dogged by a police detective who knows there's something different about Jessica but he's not sure what but he's determined to find out what it is.

It all sounds like a great story and it is, kind of. It canters along at a good pace with interesting characters and backstories but the one thing that spoilt it for me was the action scenes. Just as a fight was getting started or something dangerous was happening, Jessica would start to have an argument or conversation or start to talk telepathically with some one and it would stall the flow of the story. Even when she calls on the use of her wolf, she starts to talk to her and it distracts from what is going on.

Other than that I really liked the book and I shall be following the tale of Jessica McClain in the next book in the series.