Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up, #1) by K.F. Breene – Review

Tags

4 stars, Book Review, K.F. Breene, magic, paranormal, romance, series, shifters, vampires

Review of Magical Midlife Madness

This is a fun story of a woman, newly divorced, who takes a caretaker job at a house that is so much more than a house.  And that house is surrounded by people that aren’t really what they seem.  It quickly becomes apparent that that Jessie is destined to be more than just a caretaker. 

Jessie’s neighbors and magical cohorts provide humor and fun.  A romance fraught with complications begins in this book, sure to be continued in the series.

One of my favorite parts of the story is where Jessie puts her foot down about regaining her youthful looks.  She has worked hard for every little crease and gray hair and she is not about to lose that.  She is a testament to maturity and gracious aging. 

Magical Midlife Madness is a bit thin on plot, as it takes most of the book to set the scene for a lot of potential adventures.  This series has all sorts of possibilities!

I read this book for free via Amazon’s Prime reading program.   My review is my honest opinion.

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About Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene

“Happily Ever After” wasn’t supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of twenty years packs up and heads for greener pastures and my son leaves for college, that’s exactly what my life becomes.

Do-over.

This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at forty I’m ready to carve my own path.

Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. I’ll be taking care of a centuries old house that called to me when I was a kid. It’s just temporary, I tell myself. It’ll just be for a while.

That is, until I learn what the house really is, something I never could’ve imagined.

Thankfully forty isn’t too old to start an adventure, because that’s exactly what I do. A very dangerous adventure that will change my life forever. I have a chance to start again, and this time, I make the rules.

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Wolf in the Shadows (The Legend of All Wolves, #5) by Maria Vale – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, favorite series, Maria Vale, paranormal romance, romance, series, shifters, wolves

Review of Wolf in the Shadows

Let me start by saying that The Legend of All Wolves is my favorite series about shifters.  Maria Vale’s unique take on wolves has enchanted me from the beginning.  The wolves of the Great North Pack are a family that only wants to live life on their own terms.  But the outside world keeps trying to interfere. 

Among the worst meddlers are the shifters.  These are beings that can shift at will, or even not shift at all.  This sets them apart from the wolves of the Pack who are influenced by the moon. 

Wolf in the Shadows storyline overlaps with Season of the Wolf with new viewpoints introduced.  In these stories, shifters have invaded the Pack’s land for nefarious reasons.  The Pack has prevailed so far, but more than one shifter has been captured by the Pack.  Julie is one such shifter and, in this story, she struggles to survive in this new environment.  She is assigned to Arthur, who’s own past is complex and poignant.  As they spend time together, they evolve into strong indivudals doing their best to overcome their pasts.

I am fascinated by the Pack’s dichotomy of sharp intelligence and unworldliness.  Nature governs their existence and they have adapted to make the most of life in their territory.  The outside world constantly challenges.  The Pack does not understand what motivates people in the outside world.  Even worse, the outside world will never understand the Pack.

Each book in this series makes the story deeper, richer, better.  These stories of wolves who take human form are unique within the paranormal genre and I recommend them to anyone that enjoys wolf/shifter fiction.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book.  My review is my honest opinion.

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About Wolf in the Shadows by Maria Vale

Shifter Julia Martel has been spoiled and pampered by all the alpha males around her whose urge to protect her have left her uninformed and vulnerable. Now the Great North Pack has relegated Julia to the care of the wolf at the very bottom of the Pack hierarchy, Arthur Graysson. Julia wants nothing to do with the Pack, except to escape back to her life of luxury and idleness, but the more time she spends with Arthur, the more she learns about the Pack, the dark secrets Arthur carries with him, and the fierceness within herself that could save them all…

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Mad for a Mate (BeWere My Heart, #3) by MaryJanice Davidson – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, humorous, MaryJanice Davidson, paranormal romance, series, shifters

Review of Mad for a Mate

I love this series.  For so many reasons.  Funny, heartwarming, unique writing style, footnotes, political commentary and great, great, great characters!  The cast of characters has slowly grown, and many carry over from one book to the next.

Magnus Berne seems a bit shyer in this book than in Wolf After My Own Heart.  Maybe because he is awkward around Verity Lane, the lovely shifter that ended up on the beach of his island, naked.  Verity is a squib – a shifter that can’t shift to her animal form.  As a member of the Damp Squibs, she and her friends try to prove to themselves that they are as capable as any shifter.  But when Damp Squibs start dying, Magnus brings in a private investigator because – well, things don’t smell right.  Not that Magnus can smell very well, f&^*ing allergies! 

The investigation brings Verity and Magnus together even though they annoy each other.  (You know what that means.)  Also in the story is more of the young shifters Caro and Dev, including a tearjerking scene with Dev and Annette.  Also, a wedding.  Not saying who.  There are a few candidates from this series.

Some of my favorite quotes (it’s like the author read my mind):

He gritted his teeth over the absurdity of turning nouns into verbs.

Celery is repulsive….

“If a club wants me, I don’t want them.”

Read this story, but only if you want to laugh, cry, solve a mystery and generally have a bit of fun. 

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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About Mad for a Mate by MaryJanice Davidson

Verity Lane might be a Shifter who can’t shift (known as a “squib”)—but woe betide anyone who tries to tell her who she is or what she’s capable of. She’s a proud member of a club for squibs out to prove themselves by participating in dangerous stunts. Which is probably how she ended up on this strange island…

Bear shifter Magnus Berne wants two things: to connect with his motherless goddaughter, and to find out who keeps dumping dead bodies on his property. When he discovers Verity on his island, he’s determined to get some answers—but it’s clear that whoever has been killing squibs is just as resolved to keep it quiet. And now that Verity is in the crosshairs, they’ll have to move quickly to stay ahead, stay alive, and stay together.

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