The Trouble With Magic (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 1) by Madelyn Alt

The Trouble With Magic is your basic paranormal chik-lit book. This one has a mystery to solve while a 30-ish woman is beginning to learn about the world of energy and spirits and a bit of wicca. There is some fashion, though thankfully it's friends and siblings wearing it and not the main character. There is a best friend who lives upstairs. There is a controlling mother.

It was hard for me to get into. I kept putting it down and doing something else, then picking it back up. The last quarter of the book was better, and I've read the reviews of the later books, so I'll be giving the second book a try.

Here's the blurb:

Bringing a little culture to Stony Mill, Indiana, Enchantments is one of the area's finest antique shops. But shop clerk Maggie O'Neill and her employer Felicity Dow do more than conjure up curios for the locals--the each possess a talent for spellbinding sleuthing.

Bored with her office job (and subsequently fired for excessive tardiness), Maggie jumps at the opportunity to work at Enchantments. She was a little weirded out when Felicity described herself as a witch, but if her boss wants to play with broomsticks and cauldrons, where's the harm? However, Maggie's first day on the job may turn out to be her last when police question Felicity in the murder of her estranged sister. With everyone in town proclaiming Felicity's guilt faster than the Salem Witch Trials, Maggie finds herself wondering if she'll also be tied to the stake. And lately, she's been receiving messages on a spiritual frequency guiding her to prove Felicity's innocence--and to embrace her own "charmed" life .

I can see the possibilities for a bit of a triangle in future books. I can also see that it might be interesting to watch Maggie learn about the spiritual world around her. The reviews for future books talk about Maggie's growth, and that's one of the things that makes me really like a series - watching a character grow and learn and change. So, while I didn't love this book, I think it's got promise that the series might be better than the first book.

I'm giving The Trouble With Magic a 6 of 10.

Book Rating: 6 of 10





1. The Trouble with Magic
2. A Charmed Death
3. Hex Marks the Spot
4. No Rest for the Wiccan
5. Where There's a Witch (July 7, 2009)

The Demon King and I by Candace Havens

I first discovered Candace Havens when I read the Bronwyn the Witch books. It appears she might be done with Bronwyn though, as there is no mention of new Bronwyn books at the author's website.

I decided to check out her new series, the first book being The Demon King and I.

This series revolves around four sisters who are the guardians of earth. They guard us from demons, dragons, some sort of sea creatures, and fairies. Each guardian being responsible for a different type of monster. The various beings/monsters live on their own planets, and (with the exception of the various king's who can behave themselves) they aren't supposed to come to earth. When they do, the guardians kill them.

Gillian Caruthers is responsible for killing the demons who come to earth. And she is quite good at it.

This is a pretty light hearted and fun story. Definitely chik-lit and not urban fantasy. It could have gone into paranorman romance, but chik-lit really defines it so much better. Just as it could technically be classified as Urban Fantasy (demons, dragons, fairies, etc. living in a world where humans don't realize they exist in quite the manner that they actually do), but this one deals too much with fashion and designers and shoes to be Urban Fantasy.

I will say that the girls are not shallow about the fashion stuff. They know it's not important, but since they are (sort of) celebrities, and they need to be able to hob nob with the rich and famous. Since world jumpers often end up in those social circles, fashion is just part of the job.

Here is the blurb from the author's site:

The Caruthers sisters are heiresses with privilege, wealth, beauty, and brains. But these party girls have something extra. As the Guardian Keys, possessors of an ancient family secret, they hold the fate of the world in their hands. Gillian, the eldest, is a sensation in the art world— this world, that is. In her other world she’s the Assassin, a knockout who snuffs out dimension-jumpers who foul up her personal space. She never expected to join forces with one. But when a plague of murderous demons plunges the earth in darkness, she has no choice but to get a little help from a being who knows his stuff.

It's a lighthearted fun story, even if it does deal with demons. I'll give The Demon King and I a 7 out of 10, but I can't exactly give the series a rating after reading just one book.

Book Rating: 7 out of 10


We've now met all four sisters. The next book will apparently be narrated by another sister. I have to wonder if the series is planned at the four sisters, or whether the brother (not a guardian) will have a book as well. And there is a mom and an "aunt" also, who it seems could have their own book, too.




1. The Demon King and I
2. Dragons Prefer Blondes (July 7, 2009)

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) by Nalini Singh

Angels' Blood blew me away.

The world building, the characters, the depth of emotion. What incredible skill Nalina Singh has as an author. Not to mention the ability to write a romance without anyone quaking or quivering or any of the other cheesy romance novel words that usually have me rolling my eyes. I didn't roll my eyes a single time, and for a book that focuses as much as this one does on a romance, that's saying something with me.

That's not to say it's mostly romance. No, it's as much action as it is romance. Possibly more. I've listed this one as both Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, because it qualifies as both but neither description really works by itself, either. It's not a cheesy romance, and it's more than just urban fantasy.

Here is the blurb from the author's site:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she's the best—but she doesn't know if she's good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear—failure is not an option...even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other…and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn't destroy her, succumbing to Raphael's seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break…

But what that blurb doesn't tell you is what an incredible character Elena is. And it doesn't tell you how great the world building is. Or how three dimensional the rest of the cast of characters are written. It doesn't tell you that you may well stay up until two in the morning finishing the book, because you reach a point where it is impossible to put the book down until you know how it ends. Angels' Blood easily gets a 10 of 10 from me.

Book Rating: 10 of 10

I look forward to the next books in this series. There is a short due out this fall in the Anthology Must Love Hellhounds, and then book two in the series, Angel's Kiss, is due out sometime in 2010.





Guild Hunter series:
1. Angels' Blood
*. Must Love Hellhounds (short story: Angels' Judgment) (09/01/09)
2. Angel's Kiss (2010)

* Series Ratings at-a-glance

Listed below are the most recent ratings (shown to the left of the series name) for the series I've reviewed, listed in alphabetical order by genre. Click the series name to go to my reviews of the books in the series.

Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romantic Urban Fantasy
. 7 of 10 Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs
. 9 of 10 Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton
. 6 of 10 Cal Leandros series by by Rob Thurman
. 6 of 10 Dante Valentine series by by Lilith Saintcrow
. 8 of 10 Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
. 7 of 10 The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
. 7 of 10 Felix Gomez series by Mario Acevedo
10 of 10 The Hollows / Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison
. 8 of 10 Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole
10 of 10 Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
. 9 of 10 Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn
10 of 10 Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
10 of 10 Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
10 of 10 Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
. 8 of 10 Nightcreature/Moon series by Lori Handeland
10 of 10 Riley Jensen, Guardian series by Keri Arthur
10 of 10 Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire by Charlaine Harris
10 of 10 Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
. 9 of 10 Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong


Paranormal Chik-Lit
. 8 of 10 Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens
. 7 of 10 Psychic Eye Mysteries series by Victoria Laurie


Crime Solving Women
. 7 of 10 Izzy Spellman series by Lisa Lutz
. 6 of 10 Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series by Sue Grafton
. 9 of 10 Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong
. 8 of 10 Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich


Erotica and BDSM
. 7 of 10 Dark Elves series by Jet Mykles
. 8 of 10 Jarheads series by Sean Michael
. 7 of 10 The Master Chronicles by Jamie Craig
10 of 10 Nature of Desire Series by Joey W. Hill

To Hell and Back (Dante Valentine, Book 5) by Lilith Saintcrow

To Hell and Back is the fifth and final book of the Dante Valentine series.

I'm pretty conflicted about this book. Dante is a good character, but my own personal trust issues just can't be happy with the way things turned out.

And in a lot of ways this series reminds me of those action movies where the last third of the movie is just a series of action sequences. One of those movies where you know the movie is coming to a close when almost everyone is dead.

Here is the blurb from the author's site.

Plot. Counterplot. Betrayal. Intrigue. When you’re working for the Devil, it’s all par for the course. You just have to live with it. Right?

Wrong. When you’re Danny Valentine and the Devil double-crosses you one too many times, there’s only one thing to do.

Fight back. No matter how hopeless it is. No matter how suicidal it is. No matter how far the game is rigged in the Devil’s favor.

Those first three words pretty much sum things up. Plot. Counterplot. Betrayal.

The only problem is that there are some things that were not completely resolved. I wonder if the author knew this was going to be the last book, or if she had hopes of there being more. It almost seems as if she left a few loose ends in the hopes she would be writing more books.

I'm going to give To Hell and Back a 7 of 10, and the series is going to end up at a 6 of 10.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 6 of 10





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back

Saint City Sinners (Dante Valentine, Book 4) by Lilith Saintcrow

Saint City Sinners is the fourth of five books in the Dante Valentine series.

This series is strongly in the realm of Dark Urban Fantasy. I'm not going to make the mistake of saying that surely it can't get any darker, because I have a feeling it can. With the final book being called To Hell and Back, it's probably a given that it's going to get worse before it gets better.

The plot keeps moving and twisting, it's almost a moving target as it turns back on itself and morphs into something else. One more book and I'll know how it ends. At this point I'm exhausted by reading it and can only hope that the series ending is worth the emotions I've spent on the characters and the story thus far.

Here is the blurb from the author's site.

When an old friend calls in a favor, even the Devil’s latest demands take a backseat. Dante Valentine is coming home to Saint City, and she’s in for a surprise. Because one of her few remaining human friends is dead–and Danny’s framed for it.

The killers think they have an easy target. It’s an expensive mistake–because now Dante’s not just mad, she’s out for revenge too…

I'm going to give Saint City Sinners an 8 of 10. But I think I'm going to keep the series at a 7 of 10. I can easily see the series rating going to an 8 if the series ending ties all of the plots up nicely, but I need to see it all tied up before I can do that.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back

The Devil's Right Hand (Dante Valentine, Book 3) by Lilith Saintcrow

The Devil's Right Hand is the third of five books in the Dante Valentine series. The third book was much better than the second book, which I didn't really enjoy.

This book begins what I'm betting will be a three book arc. The end of The Devil's Right Hand did not resolve the plot points started in this story. It just kind of ended with no resolutions. But, those plot points were darn good.

I have a feeling the end of this series is going to give you the same feeling as the end of The Sting, where you think you have an idea of what is going on, but you really don't.

Here is the blurb from the author's site.

Dante Valentine, Necromancer and bounty hunter, just wants to be left alone. Too bad the Devil has other ideas.

Dante and her lover, Japhrimel, have no choice but to answer the Prince of Hell’s summons to fulfill a task: become the Devil’s Right Hand, hunt down four demons that have escaped from Hell, and earn Lucifer’s gratitude.

Pretty simple, right? Except nothing is simple where the Devil is concerned, and this time Danny might finally be in over her head…

There are two more books in this series to tie everything up. I am quite interested in how the author is going to do that.

In the meantime, I don't really know how to rate this book. The Devil's Right Hand doesn't complete anything, so I feel like I need to read the next books in order to properly rate it. But, since I haven't read those books, I need to just rate it as best I can. It was much better than the second book, and I think I like where it is going.

I'm going to give The Devil's Right Hand an 8 of 10. But I think I'm going to keep the series at a 7 of 10. I can easily see the series rating going to an 8 if the next two books tie all of the plots up nicely, but I need to see it all tied up before I can do that.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back

Dead Man Rising (Dante Valentine, Book 2) by Lilith Saintcrow

Dead Man Rising is the second of five books in the Dante Valentine series. It was good, but not as good as the first. The first was great, this one was better than okay and right on the edge of good. I hope the next books go back to the quality of the first.

This book made me cry. A lot. Huge elephant tears. There were pages and pages of angst. I found myself skimming through the pages of angst to make sure I didn't miss something important (I didn't) just to get beyond it.

This felt like an "in between book". Kind of like New Moon, you have to have this part of the story for the rest of the story to work, and this part isn't any fun at all. Or, at least I'm hoping there was a good reason for all of that sadness and angst.

Book one was a fun book. Book two was not. For a large number of reasons. The main crime to solve in this book takes Dante back to her own personal hell. Lucifer is sending letters and calling her on the phone, bringing another kind of (more literal) hell to her doorstep. And then there is Jace. And, perhaps most of all, the pain she feels over the loss of Japhrimel.

Here is the blurb from the author's site.

Bounty hunting is a helluva job, but it pays the bills. And it lets necromance Dante Valentine forget her issues. Like struggling with her half-demon side and the memory of her lover’s death.

Now psychics all over the city are being savagely murdered, and a piece of the past Dante thought she’d buried is stalking the night with a vengeance. Too bad she’s got no way to tell which fiend — or friend — to trust. Or that her most horrifying nightmares are gathering to take one kick-ass bounty hunter down for the count.

But that’s only the beginning. The Devil just called. He’s looking for Dante’s lover - the one he killed…

A book doesn't have to be "fun" to be good. It can still be well written and make you cry and be a good book. But, in my opinion, the pages and pages of angst were just too much. Most of it was still well written, but some things were just repeated too many times.

Danny/Dante is still well written and a fully three dimensional character. And the main crime plot is good. And the follow through plot from the previous book is good. It's just that I personally felt the angst was overdone.

I'm giving this book a 7 of 10. If it weren't for a set up of better things to come, I might give it a 6 of 10. The series at this point, after two books, is also at a 7 of 10. I gave the first book in this series a 9 of 10, and I really hope the next books take us back to that.

Book Rating: 7 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back

Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1) by Lilith Saintcrow

The Dante Valentine series has five books, and is apparently finished at five. I've only read the first book at this point, and it was a... most interesting book. Interesting enough that I've purchased the next four books and I'm just waiting for them to arrive.

It was a fun book, and kept me interested. And up later at night than is probably healthy. Though I didn't stay awake until it was finished in one night, I split it up into three nights.

One thing that bugged me at first but worked after a while: The author uses Necromance as a noun, when my brain wants it to be Necromancer. She plays around with a few other words as well, futurizing them into the world she has created. So, not a huge deal, but it bugged me at first.

I'll start with the blurb from the author's site.

Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot-tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody’s business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to Hell.

The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a renegade demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It’s an offer she can’t refuse.

There’s just one catch. How do you kill something that can’t die?

I like Dante (Danny to her friends). I enjoyed the worldbuilding, even if it is set in some sort of an alternate future reality, which normally isn't my thing. And the storyline was good. We once again have an orphaned protagonist, but that seems pretty par for the course these days.

The set up for the next books in the series is good. The next book is "Dead Man Rising", which gives me hope (I can't say hope for what, or it will be a spoiler). And there are two or three other plot lines started that we will have to wait for future books to find out what happens.

I enjoyed the book, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.





1. Working for the Devil
2. Dead Man Rising
3. The Devil's Right Hand
4. Saint City Sinners
5. To Hell and Back

Excerpts and Sneak Peeks of books I'm waiting for

Some of the book on my Anxiously Awaiting list have excerpts available at the author's or publisher's websites.

* Five chapters of Turn Coat (Dresden Files, 11) Jim Butcher 04/07
* 2 chapters of Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, 4) Karen Chance, 4/7
* Excerpt of Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) Lori Handeland 4/28
* 1st chapter of Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, 9) Charlaine Harris, 5/5
* 1st chapter of Skin Trade (Anita Blake) Laurel K Hamilton, 6/2
* Excerpt of Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum) Janet Evanovich 6/23
* Excerpt of Branded by Fire (Psy-Changelings), Nalini Singh, 07/07
* Excerpt of Beloved Vampire (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, August

An excerpt of Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Cat and Bones, Book 4) is supposed to be up at the end of April.

Kelley Armstrong's site says that the first two chapters of Frostbitten (another Elena and Clay story) will be up in April.

In case you haven't read them yet, there are also some excerpts up for books recently released:

* Chapter 1 of At Grave's End (Night Huntress, 3) Jeaniene Frost, 12/30/08
* Excerpt of A Witch's Beauty (Mermaid Series) Joey W. Hill, 1/06
* Excerpt of Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals after Dark, 6) Kresley Cole 1/20
* Excerpt of Kitty & the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, 5) Carrie Vaughn, 1/27
* Excerpt of Men of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong, 1/27
* 1st chapter of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) Patricia Briggs, 2/3
* 3 chapters of Made to Be Broken (Nadia Stafford) Kelley Armstrong, 2/24
* Excerpt of White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison, 02/24
* Excerpt of Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, 6) Carrie Vaughn, 2/24
* Excerpt of Jailbait Zombie (Felix Gomez) Mario Acevedo, 2/24
* Excerpt of Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, Bk 1) Nalini Singh, 03/03
* Excerpt of A Vampire's Claim (Vampire Queen) Joey W. Hill, 3/3
* Excerpt of Deadly Desire (Riley Jensen, 7) Keri Arthur 03/24
* Excerpt of Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, 3) Ilona Andrews, 03/31

Finger Lickin' Fifteen Excerpt

Janet Evanovich has added onto the excerpt she'd previously put up for Finger Lickin' Fifteen, the latest Stephanie Plum novel due to be released on June 23rd.

I'm pretty sure that Stephanie and Morelli were fine at the end of the previous books, so I'm not sure why they seem to be on the outs again at the beginning of this book. But, it looks like there may be some Ranger action as a result, so I'm game.

You can go to the page with the excerpt on the author's site, or you can download the pdf directly from the author's site.

In Fearless Fourteen there was a conversation that basically said Ranger wasn't happy with where his and Stephanie's relationship had gone, that maybe he needed to reevaluate things, but that it wasn't going to happen on that day. So this book has Stephanie broken up with Morelli and working with Ranger on a daily basis, and I have to wonder if we aren't going to see Ranger make an attempt to change the nature of his relationship with Stephanie. If he could get over his commitment issues (or, whatever his issues are) then I think they could be great together.

Ranger doesn't try to change Stephanie, he likes her for who she is. Not who he wants her to be. I don't always feel that way about Morelli, so as much as I like Morelli, I'm not sure he's the right one for Stephanie.

But, can the author ever let Stephanie pick one guy and stay with him? I don't know. I'd like to think so, but she's survived so long on the triangle thing, I'm not sure she'd even try. I've stated before that if this book isn't a bit of an improvement over the past few books that this will be the last book I'll purchase new in this series. I will continue to read it, but I will do so with used books once they only cost a few dollars. I really hope that this book is back to the caliber of the first ten or so books.

To see more excerpts, go to my excerpt page.

Review: Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) by Ilona Andrews

I was up until 2:30 this morning because there was absolutely no way I could put Magic Strikes down before finishing it. I will survive today on less than four hours of sleep. And it was so totally worth it.

As the book opens we see that Kate is pretty comfortable in her role with the Order now as she quite capably handles some smaller stuff that seems to be almost routine. Then she gets thrown right into the middle of shapeshifter politics and the action doesn't slow down.

There is a decent amount of Curran in this book. I don't want to spoil anything, but I think I like where things are heading.

There is also a lot of Saiman in this book, and we learn a bit more about what he is.

We learned about Kate's heritage in the second book, and in the third book things are set up so that the time when Kate has to confront her heritage seems to be rapidly approaching. We don't really learn much more about that heritage, though we do learn more about her childhood and how she was raised.

And we see Kate's circle of friends being drawn even closer, though we are reminded that Kate's father cautioned her against having friends. Still, I think we see a circle of people who will stand behind Kate and help her as much as possible, whether she wants the help or not. I'm really hoping the deal with her dad not wanting her to ever rely on someone is not foreshadowing of some sort. I want her to be able to depend on her friends.

Cast of characters we've previously met that we see a decent amount of in this book: Curran, Jim, Derek, Andrea, Raphael, and Saiman. Kate's sort-of foster child also makes a brief appearance when she comes home from boarding school. Oh, and very brief appearances are made by the head of the hyenas and by Mahon the Kodiak.

I really like Kate. And she's grown and come into her own so much more in this book, she just gets better and better. She stands up to Curran a few times and manages to catch his attention when she does. She also has to stand up to Jim and make some threats in order to get him to take her seriously (and he does, once she makes herself very clear). Come to think of it, she has to do that with Saiman, too. She's still her normal smart-assed snarky self, and that is part of the fun of the book. Her personality is one of the reasons I've enjoyed the first two books in this series as much as I have. Yes, the plot is good and the world building is good and the other characters are great characters. But Kate's personality makes the book a lot of fun to read.

The plot in this book was quite good. There are a few new mythological beings, placed into a setting that manages to shake things up so that this book is pretty different than previous books.

Magic Strikes is a very enjoyable read. The book and the series get the highest rating I can give, a 10 of 10.

This is a series you need to read in order. I don't think it's possible to skip around and truly understand what is happening in this series.

I am not prepared to wait another year for the next book. I'm really not. There is supposed to be a Kate story called Magic Mourns in the Must Love Hellhounds anthology due out September 1st of this year. We know there will be a fourth book, but I don't see anything that tells us what the fourth book in the series is to be called, or when we might expect to see it.


Book Rating: 10 of 10
Series Rating: 10 of 10






1) Magic Bites (2007)
2) Magic Burns (2008)
3) Magic Strikes (March 31, 2009)
4) Magic Mourns in the anthology Must Love Hellhounds (Sept 1, 2009)