New Release and Review: Witches be Burned by Stacey Kennedy

Witches Be Burned 
by Stacey Kennedy
Series:  Magic & Mayhem #2
Pub. Date:  May 19, 2015
Publisher:  Loveswept
Pages:  225
Format:  eARC
Source:  Netgalley
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

In Stacey Kennedy’s steamy paranormal romance novel, a rookie guardian sworn to combat the undead risks life and love in a world of violence, witchcraft, and seduction.  

Nexi Jones has lost her family, she’s been stripped of her guardian duties, and she’s still learning the ins and outs of white magic. At least she has Kyden, the smoldering hot elite guardian who’s been there for her every step of the way. But just as Nexi completes her training, tragedy strikes the Otherworld when a fellow guardian is murdered by a group of rogue vampires. Ready or not, she and Kyden trek into the Earthworld to hunt down a killer—and Nexi alone will be put to the ultimate test. 

Although Kyden knows that Nexi must fight her own battles, his guardian instincts are raging as he struggles to keep her close. The ruthlessness of these vampires is like nothing he’s ever seen. And at their helm is the Black Witch Astoria, a demon with one burning desire: to shed Nexi’s blood in the name of vengeance. What troubles Kyden even more, though, is the warlock who covets Nexi’s heart. Let the devil do his worst . . . all Kyden can do is love and protect Nexi until his last breath.

This book takes place 3-4 months after the end of Werewolves Be Damned, where Nexi and crew defeated Lazarus and his evil werewolf minions. I am happy to report that Nexi seems to have matured over our 4 month hiatus and no longer seems to be running off on her own with some cockamamie idea. She has also stopped pushing Kyden away and is instead jumping his bones (or thinking of jumping his bones) at every opportunity. Kyden remains our gentleman warrior, but his alpha male protective tendencies have grown where Nexi is concerned. He keeps trying to keep her out of the action, which is causing some friction between the couple. They are going through their growing pains and settling into their relationship.

My favorite secondary characters for this series, Valor and Briggs, were largely absent from this installment except for a short section at the end. I really hope to see more Valor in the future - or perhaps a spinoff series for him and his beta. We meet new secondary characters in the form of vampire mistresses - one seemingly good and one a huge beyotch. Not sure how they will figure in the story in the future, but I liked Thalia well enough to keep around. Nexi finds a new protector in this book, and I hope Willow sticks around through the rest of the series... I love the talking animal type characters in these type of books.

I liked this installment a bit more than the first book of the series, mainly because Nexi improved as a character. The action and mystery was pretty much on par with the first book, and a bit similar albeit with different characters (instead of a vamp with werewolf minions, we had a witch with vamp minions). I did feel like the culmination of the battle was a bit anti-climactic and somewhat unexplained as to this mysterious stranger. It looks like we are being set up to have a possible love triangle in the next book between Magnus, Nexi and Kyden. I hope not - I do not want to see any more relationship drama in this series.

Overall, this was a good continuation of the story, but I am still waiting for it to "wow" me. I would like more backstory on all of the characters, more details, and more couple time between Nexi and Kyden. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars / 3 flames.

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Author Info

Stacey Kennedy is the USA Today bestselling author of the Club Sin series. Growing up, Stacey’s mind wandered the path less traveled, and that path most often led to love. She has always broken rules and she continues to feed off emotion—always staying true to her heart. Those traits are now the bones of her stories. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, who puts any of the heroes in her books to shame, and their two young children. If she’s not on Mom duty or plugging away at a new story, you’ll find Stacey camping in the summer, hibernating in the winter, and obsessing over Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones, and Sons of Anarchy.

 Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Review: Highlander Avenged by Laurin Witting

Highlander Avenged 
by Laurin Wittig
Series:  Guardians of the Targe #2
Pub Date:  June 24, 2014
Publisher:  Brilliance Audio
Narrator:  Phil Gigante
Length:  8 hrs 22 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Although the English king tried to wrest it away, the Highland Targe—ancient relic and protector of Scottish lands—still lies safely in the hands of clan MacAlpin. But for how long?

Jeanette MacAlpin trained her entire life to become the next Guardian of the Targe, but that duty has now fallen to her cousin Rowan—a duty Rowan can’t seem to master. Fearful for her clan’s future, Jeanette seeks the solace of a sacred wellspring, and there encounters tawny-skinned Highland warrior Malcolm MacKenzie.

Wounded in battle, Malcolm is desperate to regain the use of his sword arm and strikes a deal with Jeanette. In return for her skills as a healer, Malcolm will advise the MacAlpins in their resistance against the English. And when he can once again swing a blade, he’ll return to the ranks of the Scottish army to fulfill his duty as a soldier.

But as passion grows between the golden warrior and the fair-haired healer, duty collides with love. Will they follow their hearts, or will clan loyalties keep them forever apart? 

This book picks up where Highlander Betrayed left off. Rowan has been made Guardian of the Targe, and has married Nicholas and made him chief of Clan MacAlpin. If you read my first review, you will remember that I switched to the audible narration for a portion of the book and it caused a huge disconnect for me because I didn't care for the narrator. Well, this book, I started with the audible narration (same narrator) and, even though I am not a fan of this narrator, I enjoyed this book more than the first one.

Jeanette was eldest daughter of the last guardian, so she is dealing with her life now that her fate has been seemingly changed. She is fighting with Rowan, who will not allow Jeanette to train her in the ways of the guardian So Jeanette is a bit lost and unsure of what her position should be in the clan. She meets an injured highland warrior, Malcolm, fresh from fighting with Robert the Bruce. A relationship quickly develops and Jeanette begins thinking she could be happy with a different destiny. However, that old destiny rears its head and changes everything again. I liked Jeanette and Malcolm - they both seemed to have a lot of personal growth in this book.

There was more of the supernatural element in this book - and I felt that part was well done. It was mixed into the various aspects of the story without overshadowing it. I also liked the symbolism of the stag in Jeanette's visions, and those historical cave etchings were really cool. I was also happy to see that I was right in my prediction in my review of Highlander Betrayed that the supernatural element would extend to all three girls. I didn't like that it was ripped away from Jeanette and Scotia in the first book. Speaking of Scotia - I really do not care for her. She is going to have to really grow up for her to be redeemed in her book, Highlander Redeemed.

The fictional seat of Clan MacAlpin is Dunlarig Castle.  I wonder if Ms. Wittig based this on Finlarig Castle?  I may have to add it to my Scotland Itinerary.

Finlarig Castle was built in the 17th Century by "Black" Duncan Campbell (Donnchadh Dubh) of Glenorchy.
It stands on a mound on a peninsula between River Lochay and Loch Tay in Perthshire, Scotland.

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Guardians of the Targe Series

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Review: Denai Touch by Tiffany Shand

Denai Touch 
by Tiffany Shand
Series:  Excalibar Investigations #1
Pub Date:  March 28, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  320
Format:  eARC
Source:  Author
 

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Cate McCray is no ordinary witch. Prophesised to be the one to destroy the Covenant, an age-old organisation who seeks to enslave all Magickind, the race is on for them to kill her before she attains immortality. 

But before receiving the phenomenal power that comes with it, she must first survive the ascension and the only person who can help her is her elemental partner, Jason Talbot. 

But when the time comes, her forbidden love for Jason threatens to destroy them both. 

As leader of Excalibar, an elite team of Enforcers, they work to infiltrate the Covenant leading Cate into life-threatening situations. Can she outwit them before it’s too late?

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Through no fault of the authors, I read the wrong copy. I was sent a corrected version of the book, but I got the two copies mixed up and didn't realize it until almost the end of the book. I didn't want to re-read the whole book, so I only re-read from Chapter 28 forward, which is where I could tell I was missing chapters from my original copy.

That being said, this book was well-written and I think that fans of fantasy and witchy-themed books will like it. The story was a classic good vs. evil theme in a fantastical world with multiple planes of existence. There was a good amount of action and battles between the good witches (Denai/Coven) and the bad witches (the Covenant). Of course the leader of the Covenant was making a grab for power and wanted to take over the Coven as Grand Mistress, a position currently held by our heroine's grandmother.

Our hero, Jason, was a great lead character and romantic interest. He is a bit of a tortured soul who has lived a very long and lonely existence on the run from people who want to enslave him. He is very powerful and he cares a great deal for our heroine, Cate. In an effort to protect her, he contemplates leaving to keep her from being hurt by the people who hunt him. He was a little too passive for me at times, especially when Cate's family treats him like absolute dirt. Our heroine, Cate is a mixed blood Denai witch and fey, who is prophesied to be the most powerful witch ever born. Unfortunately, I just did not like Cate. She was too stubborn and reckless and I didn't think she was a team player. I stayed aggravated with her through most of the book, and I hated that she fought the relationship with Jason so hard. This has nothing to do with the writing - I just have read so many books lately where the heroines fight the heroes at every turn and it has started to drive me a bit crazy. I also didn't like the women in Cate's family. They were cold, pompous and only served their own interests.

This was a good job for a debut novel, and a good foundation for the rest of the series. I will keep reading to see how the story unfolds. Based on the relationship status at the end of this book, I think Cate may not be so aggravating to me in the future. 

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Audiobook Review: My Fair Highlander by Mary Wine

My Fair Highlander 
by Mary Wine
Series:  English Tudor #2
Pub. Date:  Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher:  Audible Studios
Narrator:  Ray Chase
Length:  9hrs 16min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Jemma Ramsden is a wild thing in a noblewoman’s body-so thinks Gordon Dwyre, Laird Barras, watching her galloping on horseback through her brother’s lands. Bold, headstrong, beautiful: the perfect bride for a lusty Scots warrior. He might be able to convince her, too, if she would hear his suit. But Barras doesn’t wait to be handed what he wants. When he’s forced to rescue her from English ruffians, he makes sure she stays safe-by locking her in his castle.

Jemma is hardly an eager captive. She has no horse and no freedom, and she is an Englishwoman in a hostile Scots keep: a stranger without work or friend. Barras seems determined to charm her-even tempt forbidden desires, a daring game that leaves Jemma desperate for more. But with passion, love, and a new life within her grasp, Jemma is in more danger than even she knows…

I got this book with the audible narration from Kindle Unlimited. I was skeptical about continuing this series in audio, as I did not care for the narrator when I listened to Improper Seduction. While I liked this book better than Improper Seduction, I still did not like the narrator. The performance here was a little better because he got to do a Scottish accent, however sometimes his Scottish slipped into Slavic or Russian, and all his female voices sound the same (like a bad high-pitched male imitation). I doubt I will continue the series in audio at this point, the voices in my head are better. ;)

This story continues with characters that we met in the first book, namely Gordon (Laird Barras) and Jemma (sister to Lord Ripon). We are still in the 16th Century at the end of Henry VIII's reign, though there was not much court intrigue in this book, so you only briefly hear about the king's declining health in the beginning.

Gordon is a big gruff Scot with lots of alpha male tendencies, and I absolutely loved him. He was charming, funny, and firm in all the right places. However, this is where I take issue with the title - My Fair Highlander - where's the highlander??? Gordon is a lowlander and Jemma is English. Something similar happened with Improper Seduction as well, the cover was misleading. This is aggravating when you are looking for one thing and end up with something else. At least this was a Scottish historical romance, whereas the first book was not.

As for Jemma, she was okay, but there was nothing really remarkable about her. I liked that she did not fight against Gordon as hard as Bridget did against Curan in Improper Seduction. There is not much focus on secondary characters in this book, though Gordon's former mistress made a good villain. There was a big plot twist toward the end that I did not see coming, which is always nice. This book was not quite as steamy as the first one, but you still got a good amount of descriptive smexytime. I recommend it to readers who like steamy historicals and gruff Scots.

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English Tudor Series

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