Holy cow. I don’t even have words right now for the absolute heart twisting turmoil that Lucy just put me through. First of all, I picked up this book to read as I had signed up for the ARC of the sequel. After reading this, I don’t know if I have enough heart left to read the sequel, I’m barely breathing right now!
As always, there are spoilers ahead, so continue at your own risk!
Lucy’s creation of the Courts of Daemonium was absolutely breathtaking! The world was the definition of gothic fantasy, and I wanted nothing more than to live in it. Not to mention the depth of her characters, I fell in love in every single one and had an intense hatred for the enemies of my loved ones, that I just completely broke apart with what happened!
First, the world of Daemonium was essentially created by Lilith, everyone’s favourite hated daughter of God. Lucy weaved a great story linking the creation of every common paranormal creature (vampires, werewolves and witches) to Lilith aiming to cause chaos and destruction within the mortal realm. Of course, there are different but familiar names for these creatures: Lamiae, the seductive blood sucking walkers of the night; Lupi, the shape changers who turn into wolves at the full moon; and the incantrices, the wielders of elemental magic some with a unique gift curtesy of Lilith, which is also shared by the Lamiae.
Each first creation of Lilith broke free of her control and hunger for chaos, with the exception of a select couple, and formed the Courts of Daemonium with the soul aim of remaining free of Lilith’s influence and keeping the mortal realm safe from her daemons. The only way to truly keep her at bay is with the powerful light of a Luciferius Incantrix, the original bringer of light had aged and her power was weakening, which allowed Lilith to start wreaking havoc in the 1800s.
Queue our main leads! Xander is the first Lamiae with the intense power over shadow and the mind, he created the courts and struggled with his guilt of his friends being forcibly turned into Lamiae with him and trying to keep Lilith out of his head. His pain is so powerfully describe in the very first chapter, my heart ached for him. Next is Adrianna, an incantrix who had inherited her great-grandmother’s Luciferius light. She was a child when she first met Xander, in the middle of struggling to regain control over his mind from Lilith, but even then she was a strong little influence on him, it was love at first sight!
Well, not really. They fought and yelled most of the time, I half expected it to be a wild goose chase! They finally give in and they become the source of each other’s strength and power, it’s so loving and tense filled, it was a happily ever after in the making. Then Lucy went right ahead and crushed my heart again for the ump-teenth time. Lilith gets her claws into Xander again, resulting in the absolute slaughter of Adrianna’s family including the most brutally torturous murder of herself. I cried so hard I needed my Ventolin to calm me down!
So, no happily ever after… fast forward a few centuries and daemons are now known by mortals and threatened by a hardcore group of extremists, Xander is now a supportive member of parliament trying to make up for murdering the love of his life. All is going rather democratically and smoothly, until on of his brothers comes across a rather unique Lamiae Incantrix who half blinded him with her Luciferius abilities. Queue a horribly traumatised Addie who has spent centuries hiding from her soul mate who murdered her and her entire family.
It was just bombshell after bombshell! Trauma, regret, grief, pain, love, betrayal, you name it! I can’t believe I’m still breathing after this!
Lucy has a knack for making you crave the world she creates and has your heart aching for the characters. As much as I feel like I have been completely obliterated by this novel, I cannot wait to find out if there is a happy ending or if Lucy is just going to drop another gut wrenching bomb shell on me!
As per my agreement, I won’t post a review with spoilers for the sequel “Lady of Light and Death”. I will however rage on about my emotions that will without a doubt render me emotionally useless for the foreseeable future. If you love gothic fantasy, achingly loveable characters and not afraid of looking death in the eye, “Lord of Shadow and Blood” is for you!
Well, I’ve finally dipped back into my reading after my day job has taken all of my attention the last couple of months! I kicked off with my ARC read “Devious Touch” by Rhea Harp, I know I’m about a week behind the deadline but I wanted so badly to commit back to my reading and I did it! I’ve got to say, this read definitely made it easy!
Before I continue on, there may be some spoilers so continue at your own risk!
First off, some context. “Devious Touch” is a mafia romance, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, light stalking and tasteful dominant/submissive spiciness. Our leading lady is Cecilia, the only daughter of the Cosa Nostra Don, who is treated more like a pet inside a gilded cage. She spends her life playing piano, being told she is no where near good enough to perform on stage, and trying to understand why her father’s love suddenly disappeared from her life as a child. She’s plagued by nightmares she can’t remember and her sanity is being tested when she swears she’s being stalked but no one believes her, that is until she sees her stalker in the audience of her recital and he is later captured by her guards at her home. Cecilia is relieved that she’s not crazy, but at the same time, she can’t understand what her stalker wants from her.
Queue her stalker, Mikhail, half-brother to the Pakhan of the Bratva and obsessed with making Cecilia his bride. He allows himself to get captured by her guards with the intention of forcing her father into a marriage alliance, despite her father promising her to never marry off in an alliance. Cecilia is terrified and yet thrilled by Mikhail’s dark behaviour, and reluctantly goes through with the marriage which she repeatedly tells herself she hates.
The growth of Cecilia’s character in the novel is fantastic, she’s originally groomed to be the perfect obedient daughter and eventually wife but that is not what Mikhail wants. He wants her develop a “backbone”, which she does well beyond his expectations. Cecelia has a strength that is not expected at the start of the story, I really expected her to be a damsel in distress kind of female character but she certainly surprised me by the end! Not to mention Mikhail’s growth as well, but his change isn’t as dramatic as Cecilia, they are both tortured souls learning to live with themselves and accept that they are allowed to be loved by other people. That being said, Cecilia doesn’t remember why she’s a tortured soul to begin with.
Which brings us to the storyline itself. While there is a fair bit of sexual tension in the beginning, there is no spiciness until about 50% of the way through the story, which I personally think was a fantastic move! This gave time for the story to develop and for Cecilia begin her character growth. You have a mystery surrounding Cecilia’s nightmares and the night of her mother’s death, as well as her father’s need to keep her locked up and arms length away from him. You get introduced to other characters, I liked Cesare, Cecilia’s body guard, who I had hoped would play a bit more of a part in the story later on in the novel. Ms Donatello, her piano teacher and stand in mother figure, who was extremely harsh from the get go and you could just feel had something else going on in the background. Mikhail’s half-brother, Wolfgang, and his wife Victoria were a lovely aspect to the story. I kinda wish I had read their story “Darkest Craving” first so I got a feel for their story and relationship, but you can really tell in this novel that they have a great relationship. You also have Rodion and Niko, Mikhail’s friends and muscle in the Bratva, I loved their relationship with both Mikhail and Cecilia, and I really hope that they get their own little story in the future! I have got to say, the half-brother twist was fantastic, but I was really hoping to get a little more blood and violence out of that part of the story, especially when Cecilia’s father realised who it was killing his men. I also really loved the seven years later chapter, it was heartwarming and adorable after such a heavy start to their marriage, Cecilia and Mikhail so deserved a happy ending, as did his brother and sister-in-law.
As for the spiciness, Rhea Harp really addressed Cecilia losing her virginity tastefully and accurately, I thought it was really well done. Not to mention that gradual build up in their dominant/submissive relationship in the bedroom, that too was also well done. I especially love that it started out like that, but gradually developed into a more equal stance in the bedroom which summed up their relationship as husband and wife so well.
I loved these characters and this story so much, I am so going to read “Darkest Craving” and I cannot wait for the next book in this mafia world! Fingers crossed for Rodian and Niko, or even Cecilia’s half-brother!
“Carnal Calling” is a free short story by Rhea Harp, I accessed it through Rhea Harp’s website (https://rheaharp.com) which was super easy download, and not to mention a sneak peek at her other books which are looking so hot for the dark romance girlies!
Anyways, some context… think dark mafia romance with plenty of spice! It is only a short story, so it’s nothing too strenuous to read and it can feel like it’s a little rushed in telling the story but I did really enjoy the story that came of it. It follows the telling of girl runs from cheating boyfriend, has the misfortune of wrong time wrong place which puts her in the sights of the Bratva’s fixer (*sigh*).
Fair warning! Some spoilers do follow, so continue at your own risk!
Now, the characters… Scarlet is our leading lady, and the poor thing just can’t get a break! She confronts her boyfriend about cheating on her and the scumbag has the audacity to beat her up and kick her out on the street! Safe to say, I was completely on Scarlet’s side early on in the book. Her character came across as someone who needed protection, both physical and emotional, I got the impression that she would be the weaker character in the book very early on. So, we find her on a train all alone, her ex is being a emotionally manipulating ass and her mother is not as understanding as she could be (poor Scarlet had no hope with these people!), when some random phone she decided to pick up at the station starts ringing.
Queue talk dark and handsome, Kiril, his deep captivating voice leading her to safety, and so it should because it was him who got her caught in the middle of a Brava mess! Anyways, Kiril is your typical dark romance leading man, as the Bratva’s fixer he is no stranger to violence, torture and death. As expected, he does have a few kinks that are brought on by Scarlet’s submissiveness as well as a sense of amusement when Scarlet suddenly shows the spine she’s kept hidden and starts to fight back in certain instances. But, like all of our favourite morally grey, dark romance men, Kiril has an intense sense of protectiveness and ownership. This leads him to pay Scarlet’s ex a visit, which I think is probably one of my favourite Kiril moments, and yes that even includes the shower when he sees Scarlet’s bruises (*double sigh*), and then Scarlet shows her spine again – loved it!
This is a happily ever after finish, which I also love. Scarlet grows into a person she chooses to be, Kiril works to make sure that happens while continuing his work as the Bratva’s fixer which Scarlet is totally ok with. I don’t want to spoil anything about the spicy scenes, but they were vivid, sexy and just plain naughty. There’s even an inclusion of sexting which I am not used to reading about, so that was also a very nice surprise. It also added another dimension to Kiril’s need to be with Scarlet, especially when his work takes him away from her for days at a time, which then highlights how violent he can be when he’s being kept from her (*another sigh*).
All in all, I’m pretty impressed with Rhea Harp’s writing of this short story. Her characters had a few different levels to them, I especially related to Scarlet having had similar experiences to her character, this makes her come across as more real. I would have loved for this to have been a full blown novel, being able to explore Kiril’s character more and watch their relationship develop more slowly and intensely would have been amazing! But, for a short story, I really enjoyed it.
Other books currently published by Rhea Harp include:
“Darkest Craving” – A dark mafia arranged marriage romance
“Under His Command” – A dark military romance
“Under His Wrath” – Sequel to “Under His Command“, also a dark military romance
As a bit of a change up, I picked up “Match Making for Psychopaths” by Tasha Coryell, a book that my partner gifted me for Christmas. The title itself was intriguing, the blurb was filled with promises of heartbreak, betrayal, romance and murder! I mean, what more could a girl want?
As always, spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk!
This book follows matchmaker Lexie, who has the most heartbreaking experience on her birthday. Her best friend takes her shopping for a birthday dress, she shows up to dinner to find her fiancé and her best friend (wearing a very similar dress by the way) announcing their affair and the end of her engagement. Her fiancé didn’t even remember that it was her birthday! But her so called best friend sure knew, what a heartless move! Lexie leaves dramatically and gets drunk at a bar, then a party and then a hotel room with a dark mysterious man who she confessed all of her deep dark secrets to. Secrets that no one, not even her fiancé, knew about.
Lexie spends her day job working at a matchmaking service, her specialty, helping psychopaths find love. Lexie has a deep understanding of what makes psychopaths tick, yes her psychology degree helps with that but her personal experience has given her more insight than anything else…her parents were serial killers, and very famous ones at that. Lexie spends her time pretending that they don’t exist, and proving that she is nothing like them. However, her perfectly crafted little world begins to fall apart when she the mysterious man shows up as a client at her work, and that he exhibits psychopathic traits and has developed an obsession with her. She also develops an overly friendly connection with another client, a woman who is also a psychopath. Safe to say, Lexie is just drowning in psychopaths from start to finish!
As the story goes on, we find out that there is so much more to Lexie than just her childhood trauma and her excessive need to be boringly normal, especially when body parts start being dropped at her house. So, what does a person do when they discovers a grisly piece of someone that has been horrible cut away from them? Bury it in the woods of course! I have to admit, while the book wasn’t a fast paced book like I prefer, I found the different facets of Lexie’s character engaging and amusing, especially as you find out more and more about her past and her parents.
While not an action packed mystery, I found the scenes and actions of characters engaging and the storyline entertaining. I especially love how the romantic interest in the mysterious man did not take centre stage in the story, instead it complemented Lexie’s character growth and acceptance of who she is, which carried on to the very last page.
It was an amusing read, and good for a change of pace if you’re looking for one. Just a warning for those of you looking for spice, there is none! All closed door and implied, no explicit details what so ever.
I just finished the second instalment of the Dream Harbour series by Laurie Gilmore, “The Cinnamon Bun Book Store”. The first book, “The Pumpkin Spice Cafe”, was such an adorable story and totally hit home for me that I couldn’t resist reading the next book. It was a fun and adorable read for a Saturday with an iced coffee!
As always, spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk!
This book follows book store manager, Hazel Kelly, who is two months away from her thirtieth birthday and is feeling as though she has not achieved much in her life, especially the idea of fun. That is until she discovers that someone has been leaving defaced books in the romance section, specifically highlighted sentences that remind Hazel of particular moments in her life. She tries to ignore it, but ends up drunk in a blueberry garden as a result of her first clue. Then queue in the love interest! Noah is a local fisherman tour guide during the summer, a bar tender during the winter, and a playboy for tourists year round. That is until Hazel catches his eye, he’s been systematically buying romance novels from her store in an attempt to get her attention, while also expanding his romantic notions based on her recommendations.
Hazel tells him about the books, thinking it was him but Noah denies any involvement. Instead, he offers to help her follow the clues from the books and have a summer of fun before she hits her thirty year old milestone. Noah believes that she asked him because he knows how to have casual fun, based entirely on his reputation as the tourist playboy, but Noah soon realises that this summer will not end in casual fun but perhaps with his own broken heart. Little does he know, Hazel is also facing this concern, no matter how much she tries to convince herself that it will never happen. Such a typical romance, but it was just so adorable to read! Let’s not forget the spice for those of you who love that in a romance, nothing too kinky but definitely spicy.
Anyways, the romance aside. Hazel and Noah embark on all sorts of adventures around the town based on her book clues: the beach, the carnival, sailing etc. and not to mention the amusing interactions between them and the other small town characters. I have to say, Laurie Gilmore has an amazing talent for developing and showing relationships between characters, she makes it so real and relatable. I think that’s what I love about this series the most, how real the relationships are.
If you are after a fun loving small town romance, I highly recommend the Dream harbour series.
I have to admit, I finished reading “Alchemised” three days ago and it’s taken me that long to try and work out how I was going to write about it on here, especially since I have some very mixed feelings about it. So, my first heads up is that my view on this book may be quite controversial for some people, so please don’t take it to heart, everyone has their own views and opinions that are different to others.
As always, spoilers ahead! Continue at your own risk! And I mean, some actual significant spoilers this time.
When this book came out, I was so excited to read it, especially since Kmart had the sprayed edge copy for a fantastic price! The blurb on the back completely hooked me: a world of alchemical magic, war, amnesia, potential morally grey love interest – totally my bag! Not to mention the art that was popping up on instagram, it looked amazing!
First of all, the world building was great! You’ve got a post-war world fuelled by traditional alchemical magic, which is something not a lot of authors write about and it completely caught my interest. It definitely gave off some “Babel” vibes by R.F. Kuang, which was a really good sign. Then you had the industrial additions such as motor cars, and stasis tubes to fill in the various parts of the story which I thought was well done. This brings me to the context of the world, there was a devastating war between different types of alchemists, and of course there was the motivation of eternal life and power for those to join the “dark side” and eventually the good guys lost. Their leaders were brutally executed and the resistance fighters were forced into a form of slavery and their powers nullified by cuffs that ran through their wrists.
Queue the main character, Helena Marino was a part of the resistance as a healer who had attended the alchemy tower for her studies before the war, she joined the resistance due to her friendship with their leader, plus she was a foreigner and didn’t really have anywhere else to go. We find out that something was done to her to force her to be conscious while in the stasis tube, then she woke up when she wasn’t suppose to and the scientists running the tubes realise that there was no record of her being put in stasis. In fact, she was recorded as being one of the dead int he final battle of the war. We also find out that Helena has no memory of the last fourteen months of the war, and that an Animancer had somehow managed to completely alter her mind and hide away her memories, which was believed to be completely impossible without the subject dying. It was believed that her hidden memories held some important information from the resistance, so she is sent by the high necromancer to the high reeve to have her memories extracted.
Time for the main male character, Kaine Ferron, who was also a student at the alchemy tower started the war by killing the resistance leader’s father (who was in charge of the city) and then became the high reeve, the necromancer’s right hand who did all of his dirty work. Helena is sent to him to have her mind ripped through and her memories recovered, which becomes and very painful and dangerous process, so dangerous that Ferron can only attempt it once a month to prevent Helena from dying. Their relationship is dark and abusive, however, you see the occasional act of tenderness from Ferron which is quickly stamped out by his rage and hate of Helena and the resistance.
Helena attempts to find ways to kill herself to protect whatever hidden information is in her mind, but Dr Stroud makes repeated visits to keep her healthy and repairing her body from the stasis tank. After a visit to the necromancer, Helena and Ferron discover that Helena was in fact the Animancer who had rewired her own brain to hide her memories after a bombing that should have killed her, a bombing that she had apparently set off. It turns out, that even though Helena wears the cuffs to prevent her using her magic, her power has been used internally since the bombing and has been consistently keeping her memories hidden even with the cuffs. Helena begins to be plagued with dreams that don’t make sense to her, the recent papers show that Stroud had developed a breeding program to ensure the birth of alchemists that the population had limited supply to due to the war. She plans to use the resistance survivors with alchemical abilities to repopulate the city with more alchemists, much to Helena’s horror especially when she finds out that the women were in fact being raped by ruling classes of the town. That part I found disturbing, I know that with war and often with post-war situations that rape is a factor that occurs, however considering that this world have developed stasis tubes to keep people alive, I would have thought that there would have been some form of artificial insemination that was developed.
Anyways, continuing on. After another visit from Stroud, Helena finds out Stroud had been reversing the sterilisation process that Helena was forced to do to join return to the Alchemy Tower. This was due to her power as a Vivimancer, someone who could alter the human mind and body to the point of necromancy, and a power that everyone at the time feared due to the high necromancer. Stroud had managed to make her fertile again without Helena or Ferron knowing, she claimed it was to ensure the birth of an animancer for the high necromancer’s use as a vessel. Helena was naturally horrified of being sent back to the city and being raped until she got pregnant, however, Stroud said that she must get pregnant by Ferron as he was also an animancer and that would ensure the baby’s alchemical power developing into animancy. Helena had to choose between being raped by multiple complete strangers, or just by Ferron, which to me is just a horrible decision to have to make. Helena chooses to stay and forces herself to endure the rape, while Ferron’s reactions before and after seem to indicate that he is not a willing participant and is as much forced into this as she is. I will say that SenLinYu’s presentation of the rape scenes were done very delicately and were very much a closed door style scene, which I personally very much appreciated.
Helena becomes pregnant, and because her body must grow a baby, she can no longer maintain the animancy that was hiding her memories. So, part 2 of the book was a complete recount of the lost fourteen months of the war which revolved around Ferron becoming a double agent for the resistance, Helena becoming his handler and attempting to seduce him to ensure his complete devotion to the resistance. Their relationship is as volatile as it is in the first part, however Ferron teaches her how to protect herself using her power and hand-to-hand combat, Helena teaches him how to use his dreadful power to heal rather than to kill and eventually they fall in love. Ferron knows the end of the war is near and the resistance is going to lose, he wants to get Helena to safety but she refuses to go without her pregnant friend. He agrees to get both of them out, but has to do it in two trips, he takes the friend first as per Helena’s request, and while he’s gone she develops a bomb to take out the enemies research lab in an attempt to severely wound their progress in the war. That gets us to Helena’s assumed death and being hidden in a stasis tube, Ferron tearing the city a part trying to find her while keeping her friend hidden and safe, then we are brought back to the present.
Helena has to face the fact that her lover raped her to get her pregnant, but she is surprisingly ok with that, Ferron is the one who is having difficulty dealing with it. I find these reactions extremely surprising and hard to believe, if anything, I would say that Helena would be even more distrustful of Ferron because of this but she isn’t. Anyways, in an attempt to protect Helena and the baby, Ferron helps Helena find a way to put an end to the high necromancer and free Ferron from his control. They only manage to do one of those things, which allows them to run away and hide with Helena’s friend who Ferron had been protecting for her. The rest of the book is spent with them hiding from the second outbreak of war, Helena having the baby and Ferron being pushed by Helena to love the baby as her father no matter how it was the baby came into the world. I was a little disappointed to see them hiding from the end of the war, I was hoping for a bit more of a come back for the two of them and taking down the necromancer but that didn’t happen. All in all, the book ended happily.
So, where do my mixed feelings come in?
I felt that the book was too long and lacked the necessary tension filled scenes to keep me engaged with it, which is unfortunate because the storyline was fantastic and the world building was amazing! Instead of the book being broken into three parts, it could have been three separate books which I think would have had better pacing and kept me totally hooked. While I liked Helena as a character, and I usually fall in love with the morally grey male character, I had some trouble really falling for Ferron, especially with the toxic way he treated Helena and communicated with her. That triggered a few things for me and made me like him less.
While this book had amazing potential and I wanted so badly to love it, I did struggle with the pacing and lack of tension in scenes of combat and the like. So, it was good for a first time publishing, but like all new authors there are some things that need strengthening. I really hope that SenLinYu keeps on writing, because they have one hell of an imagination!
After reading “Phantasma”, the first book in the Wicked Games series by Kaylie Smith, “Enchantra” has been on my bookshelf for a while and I finally read it. First thing, I really loved the storyline of “Phantasma” and I did in fact come to like the main characters: Ophelia and Salem. Which I suppose is why I had such high hopes for “Enchantra”, while I enjoyed the storyline (which was pretty similar to “Phantasma”) I didn’t come to like the main characters as much as I did previously.
Before I continue, as always, spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk!
Now, where the first book followed Ophelia Grimm, the eldest daughter of Tessie Grimm who inherits the family’s necromancy magic after the sudden death of her mother which then leads Ophelia and her younger sister to participate in a devil’s competition called Phantasma, where Ophelia releases her very own Prince of Devils who becomes tied to her own soul. This second book follows her younger sister, Genevieve, who has a rather irritating personality compared to Ophelia. She’s headstrong, stubborn and I found her to be a rather difficult character to connect with. Putting her character analysis aside, Genevieve finds herself in another Devil’s game with a family of wraiths, one of whom seems to utterly dislike her (queuing sexual tension!). Said wraith is named Rowlington, or Rowlin, who finds himself married to Genevieve in order to make her a Silver, so she can participate in the games without being killed by a devil for accidentally entering the arena without being related to the family in any way.
Genevieve is forced to help Rowlin survive the game, which will also allow her to survive all the while trying to find a way for Rowlin to free his family of the Devil’s claws and cure his mother of a disease that’s slowly killing her despite her being a demon. She dodges killing blows from his siblings while trying to avoid any kind of emotional connection with her now husband, which is practically impossible for her (queuing sexual tension and spicy scenes!)
Now, I said that I wasn’t a fan of Genevieve’s character, but because of this I took a little more notice of the minor characters, aka Rowlin’s siblings. Sevington (Sevin) is the jester of the family, and despite his attempts to kill Genevieve I still really like him. He’s the comic relief of the story, and I really wished that he was in it more. Remington (Remi) is Rowlin’s identical twin brother, while Rowlin is covered in tattoos and has piercings in some interesting places, Remi does not. Other than that, there’s not really much that is revealed about Remi during the story which intrigues me. Wellington (Wells) was also another likeable sibling, but unfortunately he was knocked out of the game pretty early so you don’t find out much about him either, other than that he is rather playful and likes to place bets on parts of the game. Ellington (Elli) is the twin sister of Wells and we have a little more of an idea of what her character is like, she is loving towards her siblings, especially her twin, however when it comes to winning the game she will use their weaknesses against them, especially her being the only sister in their group. She can be caring, ambitious, totally ferocious and competitive but completely devoted to her family. I loved her character and I hope to see more of her in the next book. The last sibling is Gravington (Grave), who is the dark and brooding brother who is completely focused on targeting Genevieve throughout the game, even during the resting hours. His character comes across as the type that you are suppose to hate but you also know that there is a little bit more to him, which is revealed towards the end of the book.
For me, I think the best parts of the book was the setting description of the gothic style mansion that they were all trapped in and not to mention the enchanted rooms. I have to say, Kaylie Smith has a gift when it comes to painting the settings of her stories. The other part was the ending of the books, I loved the twist when it came to finishing the game, it was unexpected and I really hated myself for not picking up on it sooner. I also liked the epilogue, Kaylie Smith dropped a few easter eggs in there leading into the next book which piques my interest. I’m thinking it will be mainly about Sevin, but I am also keen to see the interactions between Grave and little miss Luci.
All in all, it was a good read, not as good as “Phantasma” but still good. If you do decide to read it, I strongly suggest having lower expectations than you originally had from “Phantasma” but then again, you may enjoy it a lot more than me.
My first read of 2026, and I really enjoyed it! This book is written by indie author Hazel Longuet and published in 2018, my partner bought the series for me as a Christmas present due my love of history and egyptology being my introduction to ancient history as a child. “House of Scarabs” is a book that reminds me a little bit of the 1999 film The Mummy with Brendan Fraser, which I still love to watch on repeat!
I’ve found the story to be totally engaging, exciting and just a touch emotional. Before I get into it, as always, spoilers ahead! Continue at your own risk!
This story follows three characters who are inexplicably connected to each other, although I’m still not entirely sure what that connection is, I’m sure I’ll find out in the next couple of books! Anyways, the first two characters we are introduced to is Ellie and Ben. Ellie is a ferocious linguist teacher hailing from Egypt with a deep seated distrust of men since her divorce from her husband a few years previously, I have to say I loved her character although her hard headedness can get quite frustrating in certain situations. Ben is a rather charming egyptologist and archaeologist from the USA who has achieved a fellowship in Egypt, problem is when he applied for it he claimed to be fluent in Arabic, which he isn’t. So, he’s paid an exorbitant amount for one-on-one lessons with Ellie to become fluent in Arabic within four months before heading to Egypt, during which time Ellie has tried everything to get rid of him due to her current hatred of men. They meet our third character when they are leaving a bookshop, at which time their fates for the remainder of the book are intwined. Gerhard is an elderly German man, who grew up in Peru and came to England when his wife fell ill but unfortunately passed away. He set up the bookshop in her memory and had stayed in the area ever since. He’s a bit like that loveable grandfather character, so sweet and caring that you just fall in love with his character. You find out later that Ellie and Gerhard have some connection to Egypt, however Gerhard’s connection is not so clear as his parents refused to tell him anything of his familial heritage but he holds a watch that has clear connections to Egypt, which was left to him as a family heirloom. Ben, is a complete mystery, we have no idea what his connection to Egypt is apart from his chosen occupation, but if the other two characters are any indication, Ben must have some kind of familial connection to Egypt, we just don’t know what it is.
As the story goes on, we find out that Ellie, Ben and Gerhard are chosen representatives of three Egyptian Gods: Sobek (crocodile), Khepri (scarab) and Bastet (cat). They are forced to stay in proximity to each other or face their own personal terrors, which I personally found a touch confronting on Ellie’s behalf, even though it was in no way explicit the description of poor Ellie’s horror certainly gave the scene that effect. After experiencing visions and conducting research, the trio decide to travel to places that are linked to their gods in an attempt to put an end to their apparent prison, however there is an organisation out there who are determined to stop them by any means necessary, and it turns out that they have been trying to keep these particular bloodlines separate for centuries but now that they have come together the group has resorted to killing them. There are several attempts throughout the book to kill our characters, and unfortunately there are collateral damage that really tug at the heartstrings, as well as a few twists and turns that show just how long the group had been keeping an eye these bloodlines, including a few betrayals that really surprised me and broke my heart.
The book takes us travelling through England and then Egypt, culminating in the characters taking steps to understand what is happening to them, revealing truths about their pasts and the motivation behind the group’s need to kill them all. It was adventurous, captivating and enlightening, especially since the story tells you more about Egypts history, cultural customs and mythology which is what started my love for history in the first place.
If you do decide to read this book, there is a prequel to read before the second book, which from my understanding (as I have not read it yet) provides context for the events that happened in “House of Scarabs” but you must read it after the first book. The prequel is “Genesis” and the second book is “House of Resurrection”.
My partner bought me a Christmas themed book to read for December, called “He Sees You When You’re Sleeping” by Alta Hensley. If you were a fan of “Lights Out” by Navessa Allen, then there is a really good chance that you will enjoy this book, and the sequel that goes with it “He Knows When You’re Awake”. It was a nice way to bring 2025 to an end, especially for this Christmas season!
As always, some spoilers are present, so continue on at your own risk!
“He Sees You When Your Sleeping” follows Chloe, an online jewellery influencer with a major case of the “scrooge” for the Christmas holidays, which is fair enough considering her parents died in the same accident she survived on Christmas a couple of years previously. However, she has a dark side that is only ever revealed on a site called “Dark Secrets” where she explores her darkest sexual fantasies with her subscribers, but if anyone found out she would lose her job, her reputation and her livelihood. Then there’s the stalker love interest, Jack, a firefighter who helped save Chloe in the accident and has kept a very close eye on her ever since, but naturally she doesn’t remember him. Jack manages to keep his distance until he was passing by one morning to see Chloe trying to pick up her elderly neighbour from the slippery pathway, this was his chance to get to know her and he took it, but that didn’t stop his stalking escapades.
It was these escapades that led his discovery of Chloe’s alter ego online, he instantly became a subscriber and Chloe found herself falling in love with who she thought were two completely different people, and it was tearing her up inside! It wouldn’t be a dark romance without another stalker whose intentions are far less noble and absolutely freak poor little Chloe out. Of course, Chloe finds out the whole truth about Jack eventually and I have to say, she had a rather healthy and way more believable reaction to it than other authors have penned for these rather important revelations in these dark romances.
As far as the story goes, I found the development of the plot pretty good although it seemed eerily similar to “Lights out”. It held the same notes of stalking, invasion of privacy and the need to protect the subject of the stalking as well as explore dark sexual fantasies with them. The real differences, however, is what makes this book good. The stalker has dark fantasies but has never acted on them, while the stalkee explores their fantasies online via an alter ego, and then you have a believable development of a romantic connection that spans both the lighter half of Chloe and her darker alter ego, not to mention the much more believable reaction to her finding out the truth about Jack. Oh, and the true panic when her two worlds begin crashing together and the threat of her employer finding out about her not so perfect identity online.
I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that there is a HEA set up for the end, which is preferable in these dark fantasies, especially since this is a Christmas themed book! Not to mention the steamy scenes that we all know is why we read these books in the first place!
It was a fun read and a definite change of pace for the holiday season!
Anyways, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Don’t get into too much trouble before 2026!
I have literally just finished “Princess of Blood“, the sequel to “Servant of Earth” by Sarah Hawley, and oh my goodness it did not disappoint! It was as well written and jaw dropping as the first book, I still cannot sit still!
As always, some spoilers ahead so continue reading at your own risk!
“Servant of Earth” ended with such a dramatic turn of events, with Kenna being blessed with fae immortality and the magic of Blood House by the shards, which made her Princess of Blood House. She was then forced into a very dangerous set of politics in which she is the deciding vote of who the next ruler in her not-so-merry band of allies is going to be. However, choosing the next ruler is never so easy. Kenna’s allies are faced with another fae, Imogen, who is already claiming to be Queen and is playing the long game, being constantly ten steps ahead of them.
Kenna is being wooed by fire and void house, each trying to prove why they are the better choice to rule Mistei, as well as trying to run her brand new house that seems to be growing in numbers everyday. This sequel revolves around political intrigue, Kenna’s growth as a princess and protector of those unable to protect themselves, and her growing relations with the different houses including multiple assassination attempts. By this point, Kenna’s character as a woman needing to do the right thing by everyone, especially those who can’t do it for themselves, is strongly emphasised and is a key component of this sequel. That being said, her character also develops other unexpected qualities that really show her growth not only as a protector but as a princess with a people to protect.
Not only do we get an enticing story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but Sarah Hawley paints such a vivid world that you can see every detail in your mind. From the lavish parties that the false queen throws to win over the people to her side, to the secret passages that Kenna traverses to gather hidden information and the physical interactions displayed during dances, training sessions and other more romantic situations. Not to mention to the incredible complexity of some of the characters in this book, your feelings for a character can change in an instant with any number of the revelations that Sarah Hawley throws into the story. Especially in the development of some particularly hot and heavy relationships, Sarah Hawley is definitely a talented writer of sexual tension!
But before you decide to pick up this series, it is ongoing and the third book has not yet been announced. Also, Sarah Hawley seems to have a habit of leaving things on a bit of a cliff hanger which just makes you ravenous for more of Kenna’s story! That being said, I do highly recommend this series even though it is going to cause some mayhem amongst readers!
Green Mage Writings 