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.

Dancing With The Devil by Keri Arthur.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publishers on agreement that I would give an honest review.

I found this to be a different take on the usual vampire tale, for a start, we have a vampire who doesn't feed off humans and we have a very strong psychic who can't trust people or let anyone close.

When Nikki is employed by Trevgard to find his daughter, little does she realise that she is being led into a trap. Not by Trevgard but by his daughter, Monica. She is being used as bait for a vampire named Jasper who is after Nikki's powers.

Jasper is also being hunted by another vampire named Michael. Michael has been hunting Jasper for over seventy five years, from before he was turned. He was a murderer when he was human and became worse after he was turned.

Between Nikki being stubborn and unwilling to let anyone in and Michael being stubborn and also refusing to let anyone get close, this story doesn't rush to get to the end. Nikki gets taken by Jasper and tormented by him and though she escapes, she still can't let Michael close. When her boss is taken in a bid to lure Nikki back to him, she still struggles with her feelings for Michael and letting him in. Although they work together to get him back she still can't trust him. She's been used by others in her past and lost others too. She doesn't want to feel that vulnerable again or be used again either.

At the end of the book I was left wondering what was going on. I thought I had several pages left but it was all a ruse, there was a sneak peek of the next book. That's not a bad thing though as I shall be now getting the next book as soon as possible.

Influential Magic by Deanna Chase

** spoiler alert ** I received a copy of this book free from the publishers with the intent to give an honest review.

This is a great start to a new series, fairies, vampires and witches, oh my.

Willow is a fairy who can make plants grow and enhances all the goodies that she bakes for her store. She's also an agent for the Void, a group that monitor and control the supernatural's in New Orleans. Besides being a fairy and being able to make goodies with a little bit extra in them, she can also sense vampires when they are around and has used this ability to help other agents stay safe.

She has just got back from looking after her mother when she is called into the head office, there she is given a new partner and sent on a mission to find out what is going on with the local vampires. Apparently there is an order out for her to be kidnapped. Finding out that her new partner is her old boyfriend, who broke up with her by text is bad enough news but finding out that he has been turned into a vampire is even worse. The fact that it was his choice doesn't make it any better for her.

Working with Davidson is hard and painful too if he touches her. For some reason, when a vampire touches her it causes great pain. Probably because she draws her power from life and vampires are dead. As she tries to find out who is trying to kidnap her, she must also wade through a ton of lies and misdirection. When she finds out that her best-friend Phoebe has already been working with Davidson she feels like she's being kept in the dark and starts to get angry, after all, it's her life on the line.

Dealing with a Master Vampire who doesn't quite tell the truth and a Director of the Void, who is trying to keep her locked up and experimented on, she is kept on the go and constantly looking over her shoulder. To make it worse, the Director is her aunt.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, she then gets told the real reason why her twin brother Beau was murdered four years ago.

With the help of her friend Phoebe and her pet dog who can turn into a wolf, she will find out more about herself and her family than she ever thought possible.

I'm really looking forward to the next in this series, it's well-written with great characters and storyline. It's a slightly different take on fairies and vampires and witches too.

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

This was another in the series that I wasn't as thrilled about. Don't get me wrong, I like Phury and was glad that the series had moved on to his story but damn, it didn't half drag on, or seemed to as this was one of the shorter books.

I think it seemed to take longer because there was too much being put into it. We have the situation with John and co, we've got Rhev and the blackmail, we've got Lash and the Omega, all the drama about Phury's drug problem, being the Primale and his dealings with the Chosen and it just seemed too much for the book.

I really hope book 7 is better.

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward

Glad to say this series is back on track. Vishous finds his mate, his mother and gets his visions back, well not all at the same time and not without some trauma in between.

First he's told who his mother is and how he came into being (such a terrible childhood and pretrans period), what a total bastard his father his, then he gets told what his destiny is. To become the Primale and basically be nothing more than a stallion at stud, his role to get the Chosen pregnant.

Whilst out hunting for lessers, he gets shot and ends up in a human hospital. There he meets Jane, who is a surgeon and he realises that she's his mate. When the Brotherhood arrive and take him back home, he insists the Brothers take her too.

Over four days, as he heals and she also works on Phury, who got jumped by lessers, they fall in love. V finds himself not wanting to wipe her memory but knows he's going to have to do it.

Whilst all this is going on John finally hits his transition but still has problems coping emotionally, luckily Z is there for him as he understands what he's gone through.

We meet Cormia who has been chosen to be the Primales first Chosen, but she's terrified about what will happen as she has never seen a male before.

After quite a roller coaster of a story were Phury agrees to take V's place as Primale, V goes to Janes and undoes the wipe. She agrees to bond with him, but when she runs outside with his coat late one night, she gets shot by a lesser and dies.

V is devastated and tries to resurrect her but his mother (the Scribe Virgin) steps in and stops him. As a way of making up for all the bad things that had happened to V at the hands of his father, she makes a sacrifice of her own and brings Jane back as a ghost, but she will be solid if V is touching her.

We also see what a nasty bitch the Directrix is, scaring Cormia with what would happen to her when she was with the Primale, threatening Layla when she tried to calm Cormia and the icing on the cake, she's the one who shot V. Phury found out after he took up the Primale mantle and dealt with her accordingly.

Next stop book 6. :-)

Lover Revealed by JR Ward

What to say about this book, well for one thing, it wasn't my favourite, another was it seemed to take a long time to get going.

All the "I'm not worthy, I'm not good enough" from both Butch and Marissa was frustrating. When they finally get sorted and then for her to try laying down the law made her no better than her brother.

I like the way things are between Butch and V, I was so upset when V realised that Butch was his best friend and that he also had feelings for him. I thought it was written with great care.

I had already worked out what was going on with the Scribe Virgin and the Omega and I've a good idea as to what's going to happen with them later in the series.

I'm hoping book 5 gets back on track.

Lover Awakened by JR Ward

I thoroughly enjoyed this book in the series, I was all over the place emotionally with what happened to Zhadist ,what he was going through and putting everyone around him through.

I liked the fact that the story didn't gloss over Bella's time with the lesser or hide the emotional damage and what she needed after to feel safe. I wanted to slap Z silly (yes, I know he's just a character who lives in books) for his responses to her and his twin.

I can honestly say I cried at what happened to Wellsie, (I know it's a sad bit but I'm also clinically depressed). And poor John, how frustrating to not have a voice at all.

I wasn't surprised to find out that Rhev turned out to be who he was, there's a few things that are going on that I thought might happen but that's not a bad thing. I still found the writing to be all over the place, one persons POV, then another persons.

I can honestly say I'm a Black Dagger fan for life now,