Blood Red Kiss -- anthology

The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole
I only just discovered the Immortals After Dark series and when I had a chance to read the first book in the series from NetGalley, I jumped at the chance. This is the story of how Myst, a Valkyrie, ended up hooked with a formerly human vampire (Forbearer), Nikolai.
The two meet when Nikolai and a group of other rebel vampires take the castle of one of Demestriu's (the King of the Vampires) right-hands. Myst is a prisoner in the castle. And Nikolai's true mate. But it will take some time for them both to figure it out.

Really uncomfortable with all the stuff about her having to do what he said. Just felt... ooky. Not sexy at all.

Two and a half stars

Forsaken by Night by Larissa Ione
Well. This had some uncomfortable stereotypical undertones. And was confusing as all heck since I hadn't read any of the other books in this series.
Lobo is a vampire who is able to take on the appearance of others. He was kicked out of the vampire clan he had been a part of since he was a boy and would have probably died if not for Tehya, the wolf that he saved. The wolf that is now in trouble. So he risks his life to save hers. And when she is taken, she wakes up in another form, her vampire form.

Two stars

Dark Swan by Gena Showalter
Lilica is one of three girls bred to be superbeing. Her two sisters have been dubbed Little Divine and Little Delirium while Lilica is known as Little Wicked. They have been held in a lab and studied. But Lilica knows that they will escape some day.
Dallas Guitierrez hunts rogue alients. Or maybe it's rogue alien diseases. And now he's starting to have visions. Visions of a woman who ends up being the one held in his friend's house. One who can lead him to the Queen of the Schon (a disease that may end up taking over Earth). And with an immediate connection, the imprisoned woman is his mate. And the Queen that Dallas wants to kill... her sister.

An interesting (and sad) story. Very interested in reading both Jade and Trinity's (Lilica's triplets) stories.

Three and a half stars

Two and a half all together
This book came out September 20

The Bachelor Auction by Rachel Van Dyken

Jane is a modern day Cinderella, except that her evil sisters are full-blooded. But still fairly evil, I mean, they expect Jane to do all their cooking, cleaning, and bill paying.
Brock can sort of understand. His younger brothers (twins) are not only working their way through most of the beds in town leaving him to run their family company, their reputation is leaking over to him as well. Which is why his grandfather wants to auction Brock off to some lucky lady. And heck, they might as well go ahead and get married. So that's why he's going to sneak off to his family's ranch. To get away from the ensuing hubbub. Too bad he finally may have met the woman of his dreams.
Is it coincidence that Jane ends up at the ranch? No. Not when his grandfather is involved.

Too bad Jane was such as wet dishrag. Everyone. EVERYONE walks all over her. And she doesn't even get to be the author of her HEA. She just has to trust Brock. Nor does it feel like her sisters ever get a good comeuppance. This might not be annoying to other readers but it really dropped my rating a lot.

Two stars
This book comes out O

The Haunted Heist by Angie Fox

Verity and Frankie are caught up in a new mystery. When the book opens, Verity is still reeling from the effects of her ex-nearly-mother-in-law who has blackballed her with everyone in town. Verity has had to sell off the furnishings from her family home just to keep it. When her best friend LauraLee brings by her banker uncle so that Verity can bump up the bank's website. Too bad Verity's first visit with Uncle Reggie ends with him being murdered in the bank's vault. With a signature mark that indicates that it may have been done by someone who is no longer living.
It's up to Verity along with Frankie and Ellis to solve if this murder was done by someone on the earthly plane or the ghostly plane.

Three and a half stars
This book came out in March
Followed by Deader Homes and Gardens

A Most Extraordinary Pursuit by Juliana Gray

This book started off sadly (death of character from the prequel) but with the introduction of a new character, Emmeline Truelove, who is snappy and a female secretary. Ooooooo.
Her love interest, Lord Silverton, reminds me of no one so much as Lord Peter Wimsey. Seemingly blithe and a little stupid, his thin veneer hides a deeper pain and intelligence. Silverton is to be Emmeline's chaperone on a trip to discover where the new Duke of Olympia (Max Haywood) is since he seems to have disappeared from his latest archaeological dig. A trip that the ghost of Victoria (yes, the former Queen of England) expressly forbade her from going on. So. We've got snappy dialogue, an intelligent female, light paranormal with the heroine seeing (maybe- she keeps telling herself they're figments of her imagination) ghosts, and a quest. Great start.
I was getting excited about this book and went to Goodreads to start writing my review because I was enjoying it so much and didn't want to miss anything. When I got there, I was puzzled as to why a three-star average (which may, of course, change, and god knows I definitely have enjoyed books more than the Goodreads average). But I was only 100 pages in at that point. And I remained puzzled until the last 150 or so pages. Oofda. I feel like the last part of this book was from some other story and was just copied and pasted on to the end. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for why a book that was zigging and zagging along gentlly (though Silverton seems turns out to be much more of a rake than I suspect Lord Peter was and Emmeline really was turning out to be TSTL, though I could argue with myself that that was probably closer in character to how a woman of her time would have been) all of a sudden veered off a cliff and nosedived into a completely new genre. Even the writing style changed. It was frustrating. Especially given how much I remembered liking the "Duke of Olympia Meets his Match" (which I only gave three stars but thought that it could have been better as a full-length novel). Both books could have benefited from good editing.

Two and a half stars because I enjoyed so much of the book so much before the ending tanked it badly enough that I'm not sure I would even try to pick up the next book in the series
This book comes out October 4

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton

In a recent yoga training, the teacher talked about unicorns and narwhals as a way to think about posture, to hold your horn high, so to speak. So when this book crossed my NetGalley queue a few days later, I requested it, thinking it a nice coincidence.
And I'm glad I pulled this book. It's a just a nice, fun story about a Narwhal who is maybe a little overenthusiastic but very imaginative and read to play. The illustrations were great and went well with the story.
Book comes out October 4
Four Stars
Followed by Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt

You Can't Touch My Hair And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson

OK, so the biography authors I've been reading lately have really been knocking it out of the park and Phoebe Robinson is no exception. I had never heard of her before but the title of her book intrigued me. I soon learned that Phoebe is a an actress and, if I still watched the Daily Show, I might've seen her there.

And her strong authorial voice makes me feel like I get to know her as a person. A wonderfully delightful person. She talks a lot about what it's like to be a black woman in today's day and age and speaks very insightfully into the struggles that she faces as someone who is more often surrounded by people who are not her skin color than people who are.

Her stories are told with not a little bit of humor but at the bottom you can still feel the anger and frustration that builds up as these little micro aggressions get you Every. Single. Day. She brings her experience to the page in a way that even I, a white woman living in Montana, can start to understand. I will most definitely be looking up 2 Dope Queens and will be looking out for more by this author as well as her partner on "Queens," Jessica Williams (awesome name!), who wrote the forward.

This book comes out October 4

Five Stars

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

Benedict Society fans rejoice! This new book from Trenton Lee Stewart introduces new characters  who feel familiar and the writing is like a cozy blanket, recognizable and comforting. There were some rough spots but overall an enjoyable story.
Reuben is a boy who lives in a neighborhood ruled by The Smoke through the man's group The Directions, four men who  collect bribes to keep the neighborhood safe, mostly from them. He avoids thinking about his neighborhood life and how life for he and his mother has changed, gotten harder. Instead, he does a version of parkour, exploring the abandoned buildings around him. But then, he discovers a mysterious watch, one that enables him to turn invisible. A treasure The Smoke will do anything to get ahold of.
So Reuben will need help. He tracks down the family of the man who used to own the watch, more specifically, he finds Penelope, "Penny". Penny is related to another Penelope, one who was an adventuress (but not in the romance novel sense, a woman after someone's money, no- she is a female who had adventures. At least, until she disappeared). Apparently, Penny's family has stayed in the same lighthouse for generations, just waiting until the day that they will be able to find out what happened to the first Penelope and what she hid in the smugglers tunnels.
With The Directions quickly tracking Reuben, he and Penny and her brother Jack will have to work hard and fast in order to stay out of the hands of The Smoke.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out September 27