Book Review: The Greensward (Pitch & Sickle #4) by Danielle K. Girl

59771034._SY475_

The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.
But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?

Pitch is recovered from the injuries he received in the Forest of Dean, and Silas won’t soon forget the part he played in setting his guardian back on his feet.
The ankou and the daemon have been reunited in a most unexpected and intimate way, but barely have they caught their breath when a new threat arises.

A tortured spirit is frightening both the living and the dead along the roads of Devon.
But is this soul a monster that must be stopped, or another pawn in the necromancer’s mysterious game?
With Azazel’s magick re-emerging after hundreds of years, maleficium plagues the world once more. But who is wielding the forbidden arcane magick of the angels?

Do they work alone?
And why are they so intent on harassing the Lady’s Horsemen?

Silas has never felt stronger, or more determined to live up to the Order’s high expectations. He’s faced the walking dead, outwitted the enchanted Hall, and gained an ally in the skriker.
But he’s not sure he’s equipped to handle his growing attraction to a troubled daemon.
And Silas fears that getting any closer to Pitch and his tragic secrets may prove as dangerous as the monsters they are riding to face.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: The Greensward (Pitch & Sickle #4) by Danielle K. Girl


Review

Rating: 5 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

Having recovered from their injuries, Pitch and Silas are back on the road this time in search of a ghost so tortured that even the dead are afraid. But with unspoken feelings between them, can Pitch and Sickle still work together to overcome everything that they must face?

The Greensward is my favourite book in the series so far. Pitch and Silas are finally becoming a little closer, although they still have their own internal battles to overcome. A lot more of Pitch’s past is revealed and it is unexpected and devastating to learn of what he went through. Knowing more about what torments him gives a greater insight into his character and why he acts as he does. I am looking forward to seeing how Silas’ further understanding of his companion develops their relationship further.

In this novel, the foe that they must face is not what they seem, and Silas learns that even other Ankou cannot always be trusted. Whilst he has gained greatly in confidence of himself and his abilities, it is obvious that his mission is best served by having Pitch at his side and help from his increasing number of allies.

We learn more about the Blight and the world that Silas is living in, and I cannot wait for Book 5 to be released!

Book Review: The Skriker (Pitch & Sickle #3) by Danielle K. Girl

58553470._SY475_

Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits. But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?

Pitch and Sickle are left bruised, battered and reeling after their confrontation with the Verderer.
They have learned a startling truth behind the arrowhead that wounded Silas, a truth that must be taken to the Lady Satine and the Order without delay.

But his encounters in the Forest of Dean have effected Pitch in alarming ways. The daemon’s body may have healed but his erratic behaviour and wildly unpredictable temper grow ever more concerning.
Silas owes his life to Pitch. Their experience in the forest has brought them a closeness he could not have imagined possible.

But what can he do for a daemon who is losing his way?

And how long will Silas survive, if he must ride alone?

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: The Skriker (Pitch & Sickle #3) by Danielle K. Girl


Review

Rating: 5 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

After their battle against the Verderer, Silas and Pitch are doing their best to heal. Silas’ wounds are physical, and he is also deeply troubled by what he learned during the confrontation. Pitch’s injuries have healed, but he is growing increasingly angry, erratic, and self-destructive. In the end, Silas has had enough, and they part ways. Once alone, he encounters Charlie; a human who is on the run from his own past. Together they find comfort in each other, however Silas is concerned that his life will bring danger to his new friend. But Charlie is not so easily phased by the supernatural and has a secret of his own.

Book 3 introduces some more supporting characters who I am sure will have roles to play as the series progresses. I really enjoyed learning about them and seeing their relationships with Silas develop. Silas himself is very concerned for Pitch as his feelings for the daemon grow stronger. Yet he is unable to bear seeing Pitch self-destruct and this forces them to part. Once reunited, his tenderness and love for Pitch is tested when Pitch continues to try to push him away. Pitch’s character is tormented, but I do see some hope for him with Silas’ support and belief that he can be better. In book 3 we learn more about Pitch’s past and develop a deeper understanding as to why he acts as he does.

The world building is just as detailed and vivid as the previous books, and the characters complex. Each one is being driven by their own motivations and desire to stop the Blight from destroying their world.

This series just gets better and better and I cannot wait to read book 4.

Book Review: The Verderer (Pitch & Sickle #2) by Danielle K. Girl

59688288._SY475_

Silas Mercer is a dead man walking.

And the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn have big plans for their newest ankou and his deathly bandalore.

Life as a servant of death has its challenges.

But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.

He may look like heaven, but he’s making Silas’s life all kinds of hell.

The daemon is arrogant, egotistical and his appetite for violence and tea cakes is fast outgrowing the small village where they have been recuperating since their run-in with Black Annis.

Now, the increasingly unstable Blight is causing new havoc, and fresh monstrosities are emerging.

Pitch and Sickle are back in the saddle, and on their way to the haunted Forest of Dean.

But can Silas rely on his guardian’s protection?

Or will Pitch prove to be the most dangerous encounter of all?

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: The Verderer (Pitch & Sickle #2) by Danielle K. Girl


Review

Rating: 5 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

After their trials against Black Annis, Pitch and Silas barely have enough time to recover before they are on the road again. This time to find the blight stricken Verderer. Yet within the Forest of Dean, they face a foe far worse than they imagined. Together they must overcome the teratism but forging a true partnership may be the toughest challenge of all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the second book in the series and had so much trouble putting it down. We start off where book 1 left us. Joining our heroes on the road are Lady Satine’s horses Lalassu and Sanu, who are not quite what they seem.

In The Verderer, we start to learn more hints about Pitch’s past and why he has been sent to the human realm. It is clear that he is in great pain, but he tries to hide this behind his destructive and often cruel behaviour. Silas is learning more how to deal with the erratic daemon and there are moments between them that pave the way for the relationship that is slowly developing. Silas is still of the mind that Pitch is toying with his feelings, that are causing him great conflict. Yet the two of them do seem more comfortable with each other than they were in book 1.

The pacing suits the novel. Time is taken for every aspect, and this sets up the final battle in which The Verderer is revealed. The action scenes are incredibly well-written and again I was turning each page in anticipation of what will happen next.

I am really enjoying the series and cannot wait to read book 3.

 

Book Review: The Bandalore (Pitch & Sickle #1) by Danielle K. Girl

57202351._SY475_

1885 London, England
Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.

On his return to the world of the living, Silas finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
The Order has London society clamouring for their services, with tarot readings, seances and exorcisms among their arcane specialities.
Now they seem intent on making Silas their newest recruit.
But they want far more from him than cheap parlour tricks.
When the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth, Silas’s new life is turned on its head in more ways than one.
Tobias is quick-tempered, dangerously charming, and far more than the man he seems.

For Silas, surviving what the Order has planned for him will be a challenge.
But finding a way to survive Tobias Astaroth could prove impossible.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: The Bandalore (Pitch & Sickle #1) by Danielle K. Girl


Review

Rating: 4 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

When Silas Mercer is rescued from death, he soon learns that his saviours brought him back for a purpose. He is to join the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn and assist them in their otherworldly activities. With no memory of his past life, Silas must not only put together who he was as a man and who he is now, but the new world around him that is such a departure from everything that he has ever known. When he is partnered with the seemingly obnoxious and non-human Tobias Astaroth, Silas learns that his role in The Order is much more important than he could ever have imagined.

The Bandalore is a great read and introduction to the version of 1800s London that the author has created. They have combined many different lores and cultures (including Japanese!) to flesh out this unique world. Taking place from Silas’ POV we learn about The Order at the same pace as the protagonist, which I preferred as it avoids an information dump and things are revealed naturally and in pace with the story.


I enjoyed meeting the characters that inhabit the world and their unique abilities. Tobias seems to do his best to alienate all those around him, but you occasionally see another side to him. A side that is in pain and is the reason for much of his behaviour. The romance is very much slow burn and there only subtle hints in this first novel. Again, due to the complexity of the series and characters, I feel this pacing is right and I look forward to seeing how their relationship develops, as well as what secrets Tobias is forbidden from speaking of.


The Bandalore is a great first installment of the series and I am very much looking forward to reading book 2.

 

Book Review: Sarah by Teri Polen

33113495

Seventeen-year-old horror fan Cain Shannon thought helping a ghost find her killers would be the supernatural adventure of a lifetime. Now, he just hopes to survive long enough to protect his family and friends from her.

A bet between friends goes horribly wrong, resulting in Sarah’s death. When she returns to seek justice against those responsible, Cain agrees to help her. But when he discovers Sarah has been hijacking his body, he realizes she wants retribution instead of justice.

Terrified of what could have happened when he wasn’t in control, Cain commands Sarah to leave his house – but exorcising her isn’t that easy. She retaliates against her murderers in bloody, horrific ways, each death making her stronger, then sets her sights on Cain. With the help of friends, Cain fights to save himself and his loved ones and searches for a way to stop Sarah before she kills again.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Sarah by Teri Polen


Review

Rating: 5 stars

When teenager Cain Shannon meets spirit Sarah who is haunting his new house, he learns that she was murdered. At first, Cain believes that he is helping her bring her killers to justice, but enraged by the premature and senseless end to her life, Sarah has revenge on her mind instead. Now Cain and his friends are drawn fully into the world of the paranormal as they attempt to protect themselves and their loved ones from Sarah’s wrath. Of course, this time Sarah is not going down without a fight.


I won a copy of Sarah a while back and I really wish I had gotten around to reading it sooner! It had me gripped right from the beginning. Cain was very relatable as a main character. He was just a normal teenager who was trying to deal with his father’s death whilst supporting his mother and younger sister. He has a support network in his best friend Finn, and they are more like brothers. Finn also provides a lot of the light comic relief and his comments often made me smile. I started out feeling sorry for Sarah, but when her quest for vengeance goes too far I lose most of that and hope that she can be sent to wherever she is destined for next.


The novel itself moves quickly, but without skimming over anything or leaving out any details. There are plenty of scares, twists and turns to keep you turning each page. As the spooky season draws near, I encourage any fans of horror and paranormal to pick up a copy. You won’t be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

Book Blast and Review: Light Falls Away by Teegan Loy

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Light Falls Away

Author: Teegan Loy

Publisher: Rotten Girl Press

Cover Artist: Me (Rotten Girl)

Release Date: May 2, 2022

Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance

Tropes: Friends to lovers, Coming of Age

Themes: Finding your place in the world

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 84 534 words/ 304 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

When the Fallen is the One to Rise

Blurb

Growing up in Evermore, Echo always knew he didn’t belong with the angels. He’d come here as an infant and grown up as the only child in a city that never aged. Now as an adult, his wings are turning black, so he is being sent down to the human world to experience life to try and stop his decline.

Before Echo can prepare to leave, things go horribly wrong. In a frantic effort to save his life, his memory is replaced with another’s and he is left on his own to navigate in a world where, once again, he feels he doesn’t belong.

Slowly Echo makes friends and falls in love in this new place, but he still has a nagging feeling that he doesn’t quite fit. Memories of people he doesn’t know invade his thoughts until he feels he’s going crazy. Things deteriorate until Echo is sure he’ll never find his happily ever after.

Continue reading “Book Blast and Review: Light Falls Away by Teegan Loy”

Book Tour: The Insurgent by Teri Polen

Tour Banner

Welcome to the book tour for the exciting sequel in The Colony series, The Insurgent by Teri Polen!

41oghB1xOmL

The Insurgent (The Colony #2)

Expected Publication Date: May 19th, 2022

Genre: YA Dystopian

If a megalomaniac threatened your family, would you give up your freedom for them? Would you give up your soul?

Asher Solomon is faced with that choice. And makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Exactly as Director Silas Reeves expected him to.

Unable to live as the Colony’s premier assassin, Ash retreats to a corner of his mind, ceding control of his body to the alter-ego he was engineered to be—Subject A36. As he’s unleashed to battle the Insurgents, the only family he ever knew, the tide of war shifts in Silas’s favor.

Combined with his expansion into new territories, the director is poised to take over the world.

But the Insurgents don’t give up easily. Not on their cause, and not on their people. With the help of a few double agents deep in the Colony, they stand a fighting chance at ending Silas’s reign.

In order to shut down the program, they face almost insurmountable odds. And their most dangerous foe—their former champion turned killing machine, A36.

Add to Goodreads
Continue reading “Book Tour: The Insurgent by Teri Polen”

New Release Blitz and Review: The Devil You Know by S.J. Coles


The Devil You Know by
S.J. Coles

Word Count: 98,131
Book Length: SUPER NOVEL
Pages: 402

Genres:

BILLIONAIRE
CELEBRITIES
CONTEMPORARY
CRIME
CRIME AND MYSTERY
EROTIC ROMANCE
GAY
GLBTQI
THRILLERS AND SUSPENSE

Add to Goodreads

Book Description


The law is about how you represent the truth. Love is no different.

Hilary Whyte believes that he has left his teenage troubles—and the person who embodied them—in the past. He has spent a decade building his career as a defense solicitor, believing that despite his troubled past, even the worst human beings deserve justice.

Now he has a promotion on the horizon as well as a fairytale wedding to his film star fiancé. On paper, life couldn’t be better.

But now he is being made to represent Dom Gosford, the boy who made his adolescence a living hell, on a double murder charge, and Hilary can’t be sure he is innocent. As the trial approaches, the two men are forced to travel a road of discovery, only to find that the truth of their connection goes much deeper than the question of who killed Lizzie and Dean Wood.

Reader advisory: This book contains a graphic description of murder and references to suicide, pedophilia, blackmail, pre-marital infidelity, and child pornography.

Continue reading “New Release Blitz and Review: The Devil You Know by S.J. Coles”

Book Review: The Insurgent (The Colony #2) by Teri Polen

60656054._SY475_

If a megalomaniac threatened your family, would you give up your freedom for them? Would you give up your soul?

Asher Solomon is faced with that choice. And makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Exactly as Director Silas Reeves expected him to.

Unable to live as the Colony’s premier assassin, Ash retreats to a corner of his mind, ceding control of his body to the alter-ego he was engineered to be—Subject A36. As he’s unleashed to battle the Insurgents, the only family he ever knew, the tide of war shifts in Silas’s favor.

Combined with his expansion into new territories, the director is poised to take over the world.

But the Insurgents don’t give up easily. Not on their cause, and not on their people. With the help of a few double agents deep in the Colony, they stand a fighting chance at ending Silas’s reign.

In order to shut down the program, they face almost insurmountable odds. And their most dangerous foe—their former champion turned killing machine, A36.

Purchase: Amazon.com

Goodreads:  The Insurgent (The Colony #2) by Teri Polen 


Review

Rating: 5 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

After being forced to choose between his family and his soul, insurgent Asher Soloman has now become subject A36, the Colony’s ruthless assassin. Retreating into his own mind to preserve what little sanity he has left, Asher is helpless as A36 kills indiscriminately on the orders of Director Silas Reeves. However, the Insurgents refuse to give up on both their cause and their friend. Whilst finding allies in the most unlikely of places, they plot to save Asher and to take down the Colony once and for all.

I’ve just finished book one in the duology and couldn’t wait to get started on book 2! It certainly didn’t disappoint. There was plenty of action from the word go, that immediately drew me back into the world. The characters have grown a lot since the first book and are united in their cause to save Asher and put an end to the Colony once and for all. The first book ended on a cliff-hanger and so I was eager to see how this played out. The twists and turns were unexpected and kept me turning the page for more.

There were a mix of chapters written from each character’s POV this time, which kept the pacing and continuity flowing well, and also giving them more depth than just seeing them from other viewpoints.

The Insurgent was a great end to the duology, it keeps you guessing throughout and rooting for all the characters. There is also a redemption for one character in particular which I liked. I am sorry to say goodbye to this series, but it was a fitting ending that ties up all the loose ends and gives the characters the send off that they deserve.

 

New Release Blitz and Review: In The Trap by Jessica Cranberry

Title: In the Trap

Series: Hazel & Maeve: The Campus Mysteries, Book One

Author: Jessica Cranberry

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 05/10/2022

Heat Level: 1 – No Sex

Pairing: No Romance

Length: 67500

Genre: Contemporary, campus drama, college, contemporary, drug and alcohol use, HFN, lit/genre fiction, murder mystery, new adult, no romance, self-harm, students

Add to Goodreads

Description

For Hazel, an introvert with a knack for people watching, campus life is awkward and hard and…lonely. That is, until she starts to let her guard down around her roommate, Maeve—who’s fun and has a wicked flair for drama. Could there be more than just a friendship here? Maybe. But Hazel has a lot of family trauma to work through before figuring out the other big parts of her life. For now, she’s just happy to have someone to talk to.

All seems to go well until a night in the Trap—the university’s green space—leads to a tense encounter with some drunk guys. When one of the guys ends up dead, Hazel is implicated, and she and Maeve set out to solve the crime before police can connect either of them to it. But how can two amateur sleuths put together a solid case to hand over to the police in time? By following the campus online diaries, that’s how.

Set at the beginning of the internet age, people are just starting to share all their deepest, darkest secrets via the World Wide Web, yet the assumption of online anonymity may be a critical mistake. As the perpetrator posts their criminal diary for public consumption, Hazel and Maeve scramble to use technology to piece together the murderer’s identity. Can they hack their way out of becoming suspects? And if so, could they ever go back to their boring majors? Continue reading “New Release Blitz and Review: In The Trap by Jessica Cranberry”