Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole

The four Wroth brothers, vampires all, get to find their Mates in this series. This particular story is Malcolm's turn. He's in New Orleans around the time of book four (Dark Need at Night's Edge) when he suddenly sees his female, but he is not the only one seeking her. There are ice fey after her as well. Which is interesting because Daniela "Danii" is half (one third?) ice fey and half Valkyrie. The other fey are after her because she is, in fact, in line to inherit the throne of her people but the current king (a usurper) would rather not have that happen. So it will be up to the two of them to figure out how to make her safe while also dealing with the pesky problem that they can't touch otherwise they burn each other. 

This book is somewhat shorter than most of the others in this series but not, by any means, short in comparison to most books. That means that, though the story is packed with much of the history and trivia of the Lore, the relationship between Danii and Malcolm doesn't suffer. In fact, it could have been even a little shorter because there were Just So Many misunderstandings but an overall nice addition to the series.

Four stars

This book came out October 13, 2009

Follows Kiss of a Demon King

Followed by Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole

Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions is a well-known evil. She has killed other people with power to gain their powers. Except that she really hasn't because she only makes illusions and talks to animals. But she knows she is the fated mate of Rydstrom Woede, the demon who should be king. 

Rydstrom has waited centuries to regain his throne. The throne that was stolen from him by the last Big Bad, Omort, who, by the way, is Sabine's half-brother. A half-brother who really wants to bed her but, as a virgin, their society dictates she cannot be taken against her will. But she has just captured him and is teasing him into trying to have sex so that she can bear his heir, as prophesied. But Rydstrom really just wants to take back his throne and is trying as hard as possible to resist her wiles. 

As always, there is just So Much going on in this book and, yet, I really enjoy it. Fun book, really moves the overall story along.

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 2009

Follows Dark Desires After Dusk

Followed by Deep Kiss of Winter

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole

Cadeon Woede is the brother of a king. One who lost his throne because Cade didn't show up when he was needed. But there were circumstances. Still, Cade can't forgive himself and when there's the chance to get a weapon that will finally dethrone the monster who took it from Cade's brother, Cade will do anything to get it. Even give up his own mate. Or so he thinks.

Holly is human. Frighteningly so with her OCD and need for order. So when she's attacked and kidnapped by a group of men... vampires?... and then somehow miraculously makes her way out of what appears to be a sacrifice (of her) situation, she's confused. Even more so when the cute guy who couldn't talk to her on campus suddenly appears to help her out. But is that what she's doing? Suddenly, Holly, unsuspecting math adjunct, is on the run, thrust into a situation that could literally save a world. 

I didn't like this one quite as much as the others in the series but it was still enjoyable. I liked the addition of Holly's boyfriend to the story although it became pretty apparent that he wasn't going to last long.

Four stars

This book came out May 20, 2008

Follows Dark Needs at Night's Edge 

Followed by Kiss of a Demon King

Hard copy I kept

Opinions are my own

Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole

Murdered by her jealous ex-fiance, Neomi made the decision not to die. Well, at least for her soul not to leave this plane and she became tethered to the earth as a ghost. No one has seen or heard her (except peripherally a toddler) in the last eighty years. So she is astonished when a handsome man buys her mansion. She is even more astonished when he and three other men bring in a fourth who is chained. And this man, this man can see her.Except that he's one of the things that she never believed in, even though she herself is a ghost. 

Conrad never wanted to become a vampire. In fact, he was a vampire hunter. So when his brothers turned him 300 years ago, he lashed out and became a killer. Now, he has been drinking the blood of so many other killers, that he has all of these memories from all these other people roiling around in his head. He wants to kill his brothers but they just want to save him. However, his savior might actually be a little ballerina ghost that he's pretty sure is real.

I really thought Cole was pointing toward a different ending which was interesting. This book is like the others in this series with a lot of action and story movement in the last twenty or so pages leaving you wondering how it can all be wrapped up, but then... it is.

Four stars

This book came out April 29, 2008

Follows Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Followed by Dark Desires After Dusk

Hard copy I kept

Opinions are my own

Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole

For centuries, Bowen McRieve has been mourning his lost mate. He has the chance to get her back though when he enters the Hie, the supernatural version of the Amazing race. There, you can win a key that will work twice to send you back in time. He could save his fey bride, Mariah. So why is he so distracted by one of the other contestants, witchy Mariketa?

Mariketa the Awaited is predicted to do great things with her life. If only she could figure out her magic. Yes, she's attracted to the big dumb werewolf but not so much after he leaves her and a few other contestants trapped in a cave for two weeks while evil forces feed on her. 

There is SO MUCH going on in this book. That usually annoys the heck out of me in a contemporary but I sort of adore in books where the author is often tongue-in-cheek and really leaning into it rather than trying to stuff too much in.

Four stars

This book came out October 31, 2006

Follows No Rest for the Wicked

Followed by Dark Needs at Night's Edge

Hard copy I kept

Opinions are my own

No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole

This is one of two books centered around the Hie, the supernatural version of the Amazing Race. In this one, Kaderin the Cold Hearted would like to win so that she can use the prize, a key, to go back and save her sisters. They died centuries ago by the hand of a vampire, which is why Kaderin kills vampires now. So why can't she kill this one?

Sebastian Wroth never wanted to be a vampire; his brothers turned him against his will when he was near death. Now, he just hides in his castle waiting for death. And it seems that it has finally come. Except that Kaderin is not going to be his killer. Instead, she is his Bride, a vampire's fated mate. In order to keep her, Sebastian will do anything, even help her get her sisters back. 

Like other books in this series, there is a lot going on but still a fun book. 

Four stars

This book came out October 31, 2006

Follows A Hunger Like No Other

Followed by Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Hard copy I kept

Opinions are my own

Seven-Year Witch by Angela M. Sanders

Josie is still discovering how to use her magic. She is thrown off when her grandmother's letters come up telling her how to deal with hexes. She's confused and wary but moving ahead with helping the architect in town, Lewis, learn more about the mill that he is renovating into a retreat center. Meanwhile, old flame Sam is back in town. With his wife. And a baby.

So Josie just keeps living her life until Sam's wife disappears. Then a body shows up. And another body. Plus the levee is under siege with all the rain and there's all the books whispering about a curse and a mystery about Sam's great-aunt. There's... a lot going on in this book. Fast, fun and fluffy with some growth by Josie so three and a half stars rounded up for Goodreads.

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 24, 2021

Follows Bait and Witch

Followed by Witch and Famous 

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Hunger like No Other by Kresley Cole

I have no good reason for why this book tickled me so much. I think it was the world building. Vampires and demons and Valkyries and werewolves all hanging out in the world? A fun romp.

The heroine of this story is fairly young at 70 years old. She's gone to Paris to try and research her parents. Not much is known about her father, other than the fact that he is a vampire. Her mother was a Valkyrie. So Emmaline, Emma, is a rarity among vampires, a female. Her arrival in Paris sets off a chain of events when the leader of the Lykae Clan, Lachlain MacRieve (whose conversation was annoyingly written in "Scots") scents her and realizes she is his true mate.

Lachlain has been imprisoned by the vampires for 150 years. They've been burning him with fire over and over and then letting him, as an immortal, regenerate painfully for almost that entire time. But the scent of the woman he's waited hundreds of years for helps him break through the chains (including having to take off his own leg to do it). Of course, when he finds out that she's a vampire... All bets are off.

There is a very short learning curve for Lachlain considering he's been locked up for a long amount of time but Cresley covers that by noting his super-intelligence as well. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Four stars

The book came out March 28, 2006

Followed by No Rest for the Wicked

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Books are often said to create new worlds, but what if maps could as well? Nell Young is struggling with that question. Years ago, her father threw her out of his office over a gas station map. It was stunning because she had lost her mother at a young age and her father had raised her. And he had raised her to love maps. So why would he distance himself over this one?

Now, her father has died under mysterious circumstances and Nell finds that same map hidden in his office. Why? And she's off on an adventure that will have her uniting a group of friends formed in college but who haven't been together in a long, long time. We see the formation and dissolution of that group in first person flashbacks. 

Not every voice is unique which makes it sometimes hard to read but this is a whimsical book that lets you escape into its own world for a little while. 

Four stars

This book came out March 15, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

I had heard about this book on an episode of Fated Mates. It sounded like a fun and fluffy read so I thought I'd try it out. It was, indeed, fun and fluffy but it wasn't a book for me, just too much going on.

Shanna Whelan witnessed a murder so she's now in the Witness Protection Program. So now she's a night dentist. Except that she's afraid of blood so she's REALLY hoping that no one comes in. Too bad. Roman Draganesti is in and he wants a weird wolf's tooth implanted in his mouth.

Except that Roman is actually a millionaire. His seethe invented synthetic blood and now they're trying to create better ways to get it to vampires, especially the ones that would rather stick with the old ways. It's just his bad luck to test drive the mannequin (sex doll?) and accidentally stick his tooth where it shouldn't have gone.

Now they're off on a madcap, whirlwind adventure that just might end in a vampire war.

Three stars

This book came out July 26, 2005

Followed by Vamps and the City

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Mitzvah by Erik Henry Vick

Someone is trying to set up Leery Oriscoe. There's a dead body and the witness describes his wolf to a T. He's taken off the case and it's up to Dru to figure out what is going on. This requires a trip to visit her parents in Hell. Then Leery and Dru are off across the country to talk to an old friend of her father's who seems to be the person pulling the strings.

Three stars

This book came out May 29, 2020

Follows Arms Dealer 

Followed by Silkie Stalkings

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Arms Dealer by Erik Henry Vick

A young woman is waiting for her friend but only receives a phone call saying her friend has been injured. When the young woman goes to look, she is also attacked and left for dead. Leery Oriscoe and his partner Dru Nogan are assigned to the case. 

It turns out that they are diving into the underground world of arms dealing. No, not guns. This is connected to the zombie mafia so we are looking at literal arms. and this leads into a feud that travels into at least the next book. 

A play on the Law & Order television series but with supernatural creatures. Definitely needs to be read as tongue firmly in cheek.

Three stars

This book came out April 24, 2020

Follows Seduction

Followed by Mitzvah

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Seduction by Erik Henry Vick

I had a friend recommend this book to me and enjoyed the book quite a bit. It was a little short and scattered in this first book with the world-building going on and is some major cheese. However, I like the idea of setting Law and Order in a fantasy world. 
Leery Oriscoe is a Hassidic werewolf with a new partner, Dru, who is half vampire, half succubus with even more secrets. On their first case together, they're going to have to solve the case of a 19-year-old boy who was sucked dry, ostensibly by one of Dru's kind. But it doesn't quite ring true for her. Luckily, Leery notices something during the notes that helps them crack the case.

Three stars

This book came out March 27, 2020

Followed by Arms Dealer

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Bad Girls Drink Blood by S.L. Choi

I liked the title of this book and the description drew me in but I had a hard time sinking into the story. There was a lot, A LOT going on in the first few chapters of this book. And it just kept going. I overall liked the book but there was so much happening on every page that it started to feel like a slog to get to the end.

Malaney "Lane" Callaghan escaped to the human world after years of being mocked for being a monster. Half sun fae and half blood fae, she belongs to neither world. Even worse, though she requires blood, she seems to be allergic to it (in the sense that she blacks out and becomes very violent.) 

She didn't come to this world alone though, her two sisters traveled along with her. They are adopted but they form a true family. Including a family business working as private investigators. The book starts off with two cases, one of which involves a banshee cheating on her kelpie husband. But he is not the one who magics her into a pile of dust. 

Suddenly, Lane and her sisters are thrust into a murky world where they are up against pure evil and magic more powerful than anything they've run into before. And not all of them are going to make it out whole.

Three and a half stars

This book came out May 19, 2022

ARC kindly provided by City Owl Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Dead Djinn in Cairo, by P. Djèlí Clark

Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi finds a dead body that is assumed to be a suicide though she is skeptical. When another body is found with the same strange markings, she really starts to wonder. Then she gets contacted by the member of a secret society and a huge, universe-changing plot is uncovered. 

I heard about this series from the Book Riot podcast and, while this novelette piqued my interest, it was way too short. 

Three stars

This story came out May 18, 2016

Followed by The Angel of Khan el-Khalili

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

I tore through this book. The main characters, Rowan Thorn and Isidora "Izzy" Avramov are well-developed and both show some growth over the course of the story. Izzy more so because we are in her first-person point of view but we do see some changes in the oh, so handsome Rowan as well. I wish we had gotten a little bit more time to see the relationship between them grow from antagonism to love and the end of the mystery seemed fast but I really liked this book and can't wait for the next one in the series. 

The Avramov family are the local necromancers. It seems obvious that they might have some friction with the Thorns whose magic has an affinty for growing and healing. It doesn't completely explain why Rowan Thorn was so against Izzy working in the local animal adoption center. It does, however, explain all eyes looking to the Avromov family when a thorn is hexed at the local festival. Based on the witch governmental rulings, a representative from each family is allowed to investigate. As the scion of the Thorn family, Rowan is chosen. Izzy's sister is the Avramov scian but she is connected to the arbitrator so Izzy becomes the stand-in. Working together gives them time to talk and to work through old hurts and also solve the problem of who would like to hurt the Thorn family. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 13, 2022

Follows Payback's a Witch

Followed by Back in a Spell

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Kiss & The Killer by Melissa Marr

Geneviève Crowe is still beheading the undead and trying to avoid marriage to the faery prince, Eli Stone, to whom she is engaged. Someone has specifically requested her work and it leads her to a posed set of now really-dead draugar. That same someone is trying to take over the role currently held by Geneviève's great-great-etc.-grandmother as the queen of the undead. And she has to deal with that even while her dead genes seem to be taking over. 

There's a lot going on in this book but it moved quickly and left a lot open for the next book. 

Three stars

This book came out April 15, 2021

Follows The Wicked and the Dead

Follows novella Blood Martinis & Mistletoe

Followed by The Hexed and the Hunter

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Blood Martinis & Mistletoe by Melissa Marr

In an alternate universe, Geneviève Crow lives in New Orleans and makes it her business to kill the draugrs, the people who rise from the dead. The problem being that she was poisoned in the first book of this series and nearly died. Now she's dealing with some really gross things (like the need to drink blood) that she had hoped would never have to. This, of course, in addition to still being engaged to a literal faery prince.

A fun interstitial with some character growth that probably would have been confusing in the second book had I not read it.

Three and a half stars

This book came out May 18, 2021

Follows The Wicked and the Dead

Followed by The Kiss and the Killer

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Wicked and the Dead by Melissa Marr

Geneviève Crowe makes money from killing draugr, the again-walkers of New Orleans. She also kills them because she feels she has to. She realizes the danger but she feels compelled to keep humanity safe. But something weird is happening. The newly risen draugr are acting like they've been dead for decades. Rather than shambling lumps, they are fast-moving and coherent.

As she starts to solve the mstery, the world Marr built starts to unfold. It's very much like ours, but a little more magical. It is also inhabited by fae, including Gen's friend Eli. There's an underlying attraction between the two but she doesn't want to ruin what relationship they have and a romance could change that. But they'll have to work together to figure out what this new venom is and why people who are generally against the existence of the draugr are the once being targeted.

This was an interesting start to a series but there was a lot of info dump and some of the plotlines were a bit disjointed. 

Three stars

This book came out September 2, 2020

Novella follows Blood Martinis & Mistletoe

Followed by The Kiss and the Killer

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Deven and the Dragon by Eliot Grayson

Five years ago, Fiora (a dragon shifter) had sex with the wrong man and was cursed by his wife, a witch, to never be able to fall in love nor to have anyone fall in love with him without somebody dying. So he picked up and moved to a new town, Ridley. And the Ridley town council seems to want something from him so they've offered up a sacrifice. A young, innocent virgin. 

Fiora is not pleased. It's not like he even likes women. Maybe they've heard of the curse? But then why send a sacrifice?

Deven Clifton is definitely not a virgin. In fact, he's slept with most of the young people in town. Some of them married, some of them not, but always they've been enthusiastic. And he's really enjoyed it. Being a bartender, he's confused as to why the town council has summoned him. However, he seems to be the sacrifice. Because one of the town council needs a dragon's scale and, as I heard on <a href="https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/503-bread-cozy-fantasy-sex-and-romance-with-jane-buehler/">Episode 503 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books</a> "they're all like, we'll send Deven; Deven can seduce anyone." Because, in actuality, they've promised an innocent, not a virgin. And, he hasn't technically committed any crimes so he is sort of an innocent.

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast is absolutely adorable. There are some parts that didn't make a ton of sense but I overall really enjoyed the story.

Four stars

This book came out June 26, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own