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

Love Binds by Cynthia St. Aubin

This book seems like an end to the series and that is probably okay since may of these characters have gone as far as they can go. Abernathy hasn't changed at all from the first book, Hannah has changed a little, and Morrison has grown the most but that's mostly because he's gone from a human in love with Hannah to a blood-thirsty vampire trying to kill her. 

Hannah is supposedly the Alpha of all werewolves but she sure doesn't feel like it. In fact, she hasn't been able to shift since the first time. Plus, even though she dearly wants children, she's still not pregnant. Plus, she's having these weird dreams where the devil wants to wear her skin.

The weirdest part of this book was how Hannah and Mark are supposedly soul mates but they don't talk to each other. Hannah doesn't tell Mark about her dream or fears that Morrison has followed them across an ocean and he has secrets that put Hannah in grave danger. 

Three stars

Follows Love Lies

This book came out October 26, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

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

But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"? by University of Chicago Press

I was really surprised when I saw the page count of this book. On my ereader with the size of font I've chose, it was only 89 pages. Most books about editing and style are... well, super long. It was interesting to me. And I really liked that the author(s) talked about the fact that grammar is more fluid and based on personal choices than many of us would prefer to admit. I also really enjoyed the humor in this book (e.g. if only two people are ever likely to read a paper, maybe it's okay for them to agree on a specific abbreviation because, well, who will know?)

The Q&A format got a little tiring after a while but an amusing book in general. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 22, 2016

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

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