“The Blake Soul” by I.C. Camilleri

Publication Date: November 1, 2012

A List Actor, Josh Blake, is cursed with vivid dreams that seem to predict the future. When he sees a woman that has featured heavily in those dreams in a bookstore in Los Angeles, he can’t help but follow her to a park. The young woman is Dr. Maria Conti. Maria is fresh off of the plane from England and running from the painful loss of her parents and a cheating fiancé. Josh knows, courtesy of the dreams, that Maria is his future. Can he convince the love-shy Maria?

The author, I.C. Camilleri provided me with a copy of this novel in exchange for a review.

Maria Conti is kind of a bitch. Word of warning, ladies, if you marry a guy you don’t trust there will be conflict every time someone looks at him sideways. Maria, however, takes it a step further. If her spouse says black she’s going to think white because whatever he says must be wrong. Josh isn’t a lot better. He’s creepy and obsessive. Before meeting Maria he took “man-whore” as a divine calling even partner swapping with his cousin when they double dated. He had never had a relationship that lasted more than a night and often made sure that his housekeeper cleared conquests out of his home in the morning (rich actor so why bring them home at all? Why not rent a room?). As much as Maria didn’t trust him, how stupid is she not to make sure his whole body was wrapped in a protective coating before allowing him to touch her?

THE BLAKE SOUL is a paranormal romance. The vivid dreams that Josh has do indeed tell the future, and in some cases those dreams are downright dark and devastating. He can plan for the events, but he can’t seem to stop them. The inevitability of fate has to make everything Josh faces harder, and Camilleri plays the feeling of helplessness in the hands of fate well.

I do wonder, as I did previously with E.L. Lindley’s Business As Usual, why Camilleri chose to set the story as much in L.A. as she did. The story is interlaced with purely English idioms. Freddie and Josh are the children of wealthy folks and likely spent a lot of time internationally so their usage is easily excused. Maria, of course, is English and would use certain words and phrases that one would not hear in the U.S. In the scene in which Josh and Maria meet, Camilleri has L.A. gangbangers attack Maria. When Josh intervenes said gangbangers say to him, “What is a rich toff like you doing here anyway?” Perhaps if one uses gangbangers straight from central casting at a British film studio but not so much something one would hear in a park located in a bad area of L.A. There are other examples and often the dialogue is very stiff and formal and almost seems to have been written from a technical writing standpoint and not in the way people actually speak.

THE BLAKE SOUL has nothing but five star reviews on Amazon. In the romance novel genre THE BLAKE SOUL is grittier than a lot of novels I’ve read. Camilleri is a risk taker. She may keep some of what happens “off-screen” but her baddie is an adversary who will stop at nothing to attain the ultimate goal that defies all logic. Aren’t the best baddies the ones that are simply crazy beyond all comprehension?

If the description of this novel appeals to you, pick it up and let me know what you think. Despite its flaws, THE BLAKE SOUL contains solid gems for romance readers. Two novels have been released in the series since THE BLAKE SOUL. The Blake Curse and The Blake Mistake seem to center around the couple’s son, Ben. To order this book or any of the sequels simply click through the image or titles in this review to be routed to Amazon.com. Links to Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk are below.

For more information about I.C. Camilleri and the Blake series, follow the link below:

Twitter: @ICCamilleri

“All the Devil’s Creatures” by JD Barnett

Publication Date: September 21, 2012

A young girl is lynched and nailed to a tree in the bayou and her body is staged so that the motive is clear. Her death was a result of the color of her skin. Is that really the reason or will her work with a withdrawn and troubled environmental lawyer turn out to play a bigger role. What did she find? Are there greater forces at work plotting the next death and the next?

All the Devil’s Creatures is a legal thriller with a paranormal flavor.

Barnett’s writing style is wonderfully intense making All the Devil’s Creaturesa deliciously creepy read. The novel is set in 2005, not long after Hurricane Katrina and centers around a polluted bayou and locals suing a subtly named “Texronco” (and oil company) to clean up the devastation. Locals are seeing strange things that they’ve never seen before in the bayou and fearing for their safety.

Barnett jumps right into the action on the site of the staged body, introducing us to Sherriff Seastrunk, a down-home Texas boy who has been in his position for 40+ years having left law school and taken over when his father, the previous Sherriff died. We know out of the gate that this is a man who is deeply moral and who will try to do what’s right and best for everyone around. Peppering his speech, and that of the other characters, is authentic southern dialogue that rings true to the ear. In the scene in which Seastrunck meets Environmental Lawyer, Geoff Waltz, their conversation rings very true to the pattern of speech. Seastrunk makes an observation and Geoff breaks out with a “Well I’ll be.” (Location 310 Kindle Edition).

Geoff Waltz, to some readers, may seem a bit too much. He’s a troubled man. He’s a chronic drinker and embroiled in a case that he believes is a losing venture. When his consultant’s employee is killed all he can think is that the case will now be postponed forever. He’s more than willing to latch on to the idea that this is a hate crime so that it doesn’t in any way impact his case. A funny thing happens, though, Geoff, mirroring the audience, gets pulled into the weirdness of the case. We start to see that not only is there more to this story, there’s more to Geoff. I cannot express to your readers how delightful this story was as it developed. All the Devil’s Creatures is a story with layers blossoming and each more intriguing then the next.

I don’t want to give away too much of the plotline but Barnett’s progression was well thought out and crafted. I was not surprised to read in the author biography that Barnett is an environmental lawyer. All the Devil’s Creatures have points that ring of authenticity and a greater knowledge of the topic then the average person might possess.

Readers who might normally shy away from paranormal need not fear. There are no vampires or werewolves in All the Devil’s Creatures. The end result of this novel is a legal thriller in a rural setting with a hint of the paranormal.

All the Devil’s Creatures was a truly great read and I look forward to more from JD Barnett.

To learn more about the author, follow the links below:

Twitter: @J_D_Barnett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-the-Devils-Creatures

“Ishtar Rising” by Natalie Gibson

Edited with an apology to author, Natalie Gibson.

Publication Date: May 12, 2012

Tara Kay betrayed the Daughter of Women in the previous Sinnis novel and returns to her hometown. Tara’s choices once home aren’t the most constructive and she finds herself running from her boyfriend and the men to whom he’s “given his property.” High on a cocktail of drugs, when the tree she sees as her safety net comes alive, she thinks it’s all a side effect until he’s still there the next day. In the distance, an evil lurks. Can she and her Sinnis get out of this alive?

Ishtar Rising, Paranormal Erotic Romance / Urban Fantasy (Book 4 of Sinnis) is the fourth book in the Sinnis series.

I originally read this book in September 2012 and when I went back in my notes to see why I’d given it 4 stars on Goodreads instead of 5 stars, I couldn’t quite remember so took the time to read this novel a second time.

Ishtar Rising, Paranormal Erotic Romance / Urban Fantasy (Book 4 of Sinnis) is well plotted and well written. Tara Kay is on a path of self-destruction and if he doesn’t do something quick, she will be dead. Oren comes at just the right time to save he though a dark enemy is on the loose so he may be too late.

I originally gave the novel four stars because as I read it, I found the shock as Tara discovered new things to be a bit much. She was a member of the Daughter of Women and not the most productive one so, sure, they kept her in the dark but there are some things that belied belief that she would not have encountered before. The Guardians are all over the Daughter of Women compound. Surely, she must know about them? Why is Oren this big surprise that is blowing her mind? She must have been exposed to the strange with the Daughters of Women.

I changed my review to five stars once the author pointed out to me that Tara Kay is banned in the first book before the Sinnis relationship is revealed. This is a misunderstanding on my part due to the fact that I read the series completely out of order. Without that confusion, “Ishtar Rising” is a five star book for me.

Overall, Ishtar Rising, Paranormal Erotic Romance / Urban Fantasy (Book 4 of Sinnis) is a good love story with a very good bad guy story-line Everything kind of comes to head in this novel with an ongoing story-line in the series. I know it’s billed as erotica and, sure, there’s lots of sex but it’s more a romance between someone who doesn’t believe she deserves any of the good things in life and her Sinnis.

The next novel in the Sinnis series, “Veil of Ishtar” will be out later this month.

“Death Train: Ticket to Ride” by Randall Ray Peterson

Publication Date: October 29, 2012

In 1960’s Montana, Kurt and Jesse are hiding from a bully in the basement of a funeral home when they discover a miniature replica of their town and a train full of ghosts. They watch as a man for whom they worked is led from his home to the train and it all seems a bad dream until they discover the next morning that the man has died. They have a big problem, the damaged the train in their haste to get away and what was once contained in the little town is now reeking havoc in Comanche County. Can they stop it before its too late?

Randall Peterson has been a great support to me on Twitter and I wanted to repay him, in a sense, with a review of his book. This does not in any way mean that I intend to insult anyone with a flattering review of an undeserving book. I think you can see in the concept that any flattery given this book is very richly deserved.

DEATH TRAIN “Ticket to Ride” has a very real sense of time and place. From the music, to the James Bond reference (the town hood wants a car phone like James Bond – the phone first appeared when Sean Connery played Bond in 1963’s “From Russia with Love), to the snappy patter and hot cars. In actual fact, the chatter seems maybe still a little stuck in the 1950’s as one would expect of a small town.

Kurt and Jesse are very well developed characters. We see their ingenuity in the way they approach the problem that they caused of a death train that isn’t happy just taking on folks who died naturally. They are fearless but in a way that the reader can believe boys of that era who are accustomed to relying on themselves would be.

The storyline was phenomenal. As you can see from the description, it’s a rare and extremely interesting plot. To add to the mix, there’s a subplot involving the funeral director not being all he seems to be and the cultivation of a human head! Where will Peterson go with that! The quality of writing in this work only serves to enhance a spectacular reading experience. What follows is extracted from Location 871 in the Kindle version:

The strands of blonde hair were now the blooded webs from a monstrous stalking spider, grilled in the sun until they became like tangled barbed wire.

Chilling.

I did find the character of Chloe to be shallow. She’s a beautiful girl who is kind to kids who are weaker, loves someone she shouldn’t and goes out with another person she shouldn’t. She gets a moment in the sun at the end but before that moment when she was in the narrative she seemed to be all surface.

Overall this book was a spectacular read. I wouldn’t call it horror, though it may qualify. I think it would be misleading to call it paranormal, though it might qualify for that genre as well. I would call this novel unique. DEATH TRAIN “Ticket to Ride” is like nothing I’ve read before and I’d like to read more.

“Blood Bound” by Sharon Stevenson

Publication Date: September 28, 2012

Shaun and Sarah are teen demon hunters. When on a routine vampire hunt, they come across a fairy only to discover that she’d been held and tortured for months by one of their fellow demon hunters, Melissa Carling. Sarah wants Melissa to pay but Shaun’s not so sure. There are indicators that hint at Melissa as Shaun’s soul mate. Seems the Council is also convinced that Shaun and Sarah should forget they ever met Melissa Carling. Can Sarah convince Shaun to fight his inner demon and do what she feels is right?

My first thought on closing the novel was that this was a book the CW should pick it. It’s exactly the sort of thing they produce. Blood Bound (A Gallows Novel) was reminiscent of “Supernatural” or “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or other shows that I would know if I were in the demographic to watch them. It was action packed, teen angst (and not in the annoying “Twilight” kind of way) and dealing it all in a way that would be attractive to an older teen or person who enjoys YA or paranormal characters.

Stevenson doesn’t take the time to set the stage for us. She very wisely seems to believe that we will go with the flow in what she shows us her world is like. Demon hunters? Why not. Witches? Okay. Fairies? There’s a Council? A Council means laws so the paranormal is regulated which opens up a new world that any of us can probably picture. We see them as the characters see them. Shaun and Sarah aren’t new to the world and they convey that instant knowledge to us in what they see. Stevenson in no way cheats us of setting with this technique. We are in England today.

Blood Bound (A Gallows Novel) isn’t all heavy plot and dark characters. Humor shines through the narrative in the relationship between Shaun and Sarah. They may be 19-year-old demon hunters but they’re also siblings and they battle like siblings. Sarah throws a nasty name at Shaun and Shaun throws one right back. Neither sibling is mean spirited in their taunting, it’s all in good fun and their fun lightens the tone for the reader. These characters are there for each other but they don’t have to pretend to be happy about it.

In the end, there’s really nothing negative to say. I enjoyed this novel. The second novel in the series, Demon Divided (A Gallows Novel) was out in November with the plotline continuing the story of the first with Sarah dealing with choices she’s made. I won’t rush out to get it. It was above average good but not the sort of thing where I have a burning need to know what comes next.

“Black Sacrament (Part 1 Creatures of Fire Serial)” By J.B. Brooklin

Publication Date: July 28, 2012

Alexander is a fire demon sent to kill Harold Baldwin when he meets Harold’s ward, his niece, Sariel. He has a deep and immediate attraction to the teenage girl. Distraction could mean death for Alexander. Can he survive and save Sariel from a danger she doesn’t yet realize she faces?

I wanted to read something fun and scary for Halloween and, as we know, my review was delayed due to unforeseeable circumstances. The description of this novel on Amazon drew my attention:

Sariel Baldwin, orphan and niece of the New York banker Harold Baldwin, is just about to recover from the loss of her parents when she meets Alexander, a fire demon set out to avenge murder….. (Amazon).

Sounds interesting, right? Not so much. This first installment focusing on Sariel and Alexander was clichéd. They meet, he’s attracted and it scares him so he’s rude and walks away but he must come back – BUT ALAS, she’s the niece of the man he’s sent to kill! A strangely dangerous and powerful man! She stomps her foot, she weeps, she acts like an unbalanced child – and everything must induce a gaping-mouth moment. There are big statements one after another of discovery.

This book may sound as though it was a bust but a funny thing happened halfway through the book – this reader was pulled into the story-line Sariel has a secret that we discover and her uncle wants to use her for that secret but Harold is one seriously good bad guy. I wanted to know more of his story. I want to read on and find out how he communicated to his dog that Sariel should not leave her room. Why does he need guards when he seems so powerful himself?

I still don’t much care for Sariel and Alexander. They are the worst of romance novel stereotypes. He’s 100 and she’s 19, she’s stomping her foot and saying she’s had enough of men telling her what to do and he’s worrying over a Morrocan Tagine. He sleeps and she slips away. I’m hoping they get some help over the course of the next novels because I plan to read them. I must know what happens next with the super baddie, Uncle Harold!

The books are short, 80-90 pages each. Part 2 of the series, “Salomon’s Seal” is set to be published this month (November 2012).

“Secrets of Ghosts” by Mardi Orlando

Publication Date: June 19, 2012

Seven children with extraordinary gifts who are living on the outside of society are brought to a school for gifted children. Their mission, they discover, is to try to save ghosted children trapped in the church and dead for more than a century. The church protects them from an ominous shadow but they know that time is running out. Led by Daffodil, the children will have to work together and face their own pasts to save the forgotten children.

I am torn in my opinion of this novel. There are some aspects that I really liked a lot and some that I really disliked. I will let my reader know that Secrets of Ghosts has only 9 ratings at Amazon and all are five star. In some respects, I think that may be deserved. Orlando intersperses the novel with historical “articles” the sponsors of which add a much needed bit of silly to the heavy atmosphere.

The main characters are deeply damaged kids – all of them – forgotten in life (for the gifted children) and death (the ghosted children). One of the ghosted children, the only one to remember how he died, tells us that one day he slipped away from his orphanage figuring no one would come looking for him and no one did. In a way, this mirrors the lives from which the “gifted’ kids come. Daffodil’s parents are dead and she is sent away to a school and though she still has her parents with her in a manner of speaking, she is forgotten in her environment.

Orlando does a fabulous job with the stories of the ghosted children. One little boy plays tic tac doh with ghosted spiders – who, sadly, are not always able to focus on “playing dead” when playing. Another child has a ghosted dog that follows him around for whom he refuses to acknowledge affection. The ghosted boy who remembers how he died has a pet mouse that he intimates he may have killed in death but the mouse loyal to him and they adore each other. They are not without comfort – just as the living children would be if they relied on each other.

Secrets of Ghosts is a dark and interesting novel and well plotted. Orlando did not seem unwilling to go for the scare factor or get her hands dirty which, I believe, is what makes a good YA novel a crossover genre novel. My main beef with Secrets of Ghosts is that I think it could have been condensed without losing any of complexity or spirit. I also found a few of the characters very one dimensional – though believe Orlando can be forgiven for that as so many were fully formed and realized and engaging the reader emotionally. There are deep themes running through the story line that may well appeal to younger children who are “gifted” readers and who realize that a work of fiction is just that.

Secrets of Ghostsis at times a delightful read and at other times worrisome and frequently led the reader to interact emotionally with the story line I would not, as the Amazon reviewers did, give this book five stars but I believe it has earned a very solid 4 stars. Check it out and see if you agree.

“Blackjack: A Cross Novel” by Andrew Vachss

Publication Date: July 10, 2012

Something is killing people who poach (whether animals or humans) and has been for years. A task for sets out to find this unknown force and hires Cross, a mercenary who is a bit of an urban legend onto himself, and his crew to find the mystery unknown. Can Cross succeed where others have failed? On the surface he seems the best guy for the job but this killer appears to be not of this world.

This was a complicated story to read. It was dark, it was intense, it was mystical, it was gritty and I loved it. This is the first full length Cross novel by Andrew Vachss. He’s introduced the characters in short stories that perhaps explain the characters. In this novel, Cross and company are a mystery. We know what the shady Unit 3 members know…surface detail but, as Cross points out, we don’t know what motivates them but in this case that’s perfectly okay. Not knowing their motivation makes for an even better story.

Vachss is a master storyteller. He bounces a bit from character to character and scene to scene but every aspect plays together beautifully. He has a firm grasp of a very real dialect from varied classes of people. There are few flaws in his character conversations. In the course of this story, Cross goes from interacting with Unit 3 and high level criminals to posing as a white supremacist as a plant in jail run by the inmates.

The story itself, while somewhat paranormal, had a very logical base. These shadow creatures are killing so that the kills of the hunter become their kills. At the start of the novel, the creatures are killing a very specific type – people who have the world firmly in their hands. There’s a feeling that the killer absorbs the power of the killed. This concept could go very hokey very easily but Vachss keeps it on an even keel so that the premise can be believed from the moment Unit 3 contacts him until the climax of conflict with the creatures.

There are a lot of plot twists and a lot of characters in this novel and each and every one is distinct and memorable. This was a great read and one I highly recommend. I will be watching carefully for the next release from this talented author.

“American Goddesses” by Gary Henry

Publication Date: May 27, 2012

When Megan and Trish, average women, are taught to release the superwoman within they find coping with the new abilities difficult. It seems with power comes violence. Will their relationships survive their new abilities and will they be able to survive the dark new evil that can slip in at the most unexpected times.

It is truly rare to find new favorite author, especially one whose releases I’ll pick up on the day they premiere, but new author, Gary Henry, has made that list.

To be fair, if an author was writing a book specifically tailored for me I don’t think they could have done a better job.

Superheroes – Check

Good, meaty, storyline – Check

Author who isn’t afraid to make readers cringe – Check

True baddie with clear motivations and sympathetic background – Check.

Storyline surprises left and right – Check

To top the list, the baddies who are in charge of the overriding evil plotline are all code named after birds and a slight bird phobia helps this reader in the conviction that these former heads of state are just pure evil.

Megan and Trish are average women in extraordinary circumstances. They are painted so beautifully and clearly by Henry that they are easily identifiable with that girlfriend you like to meet up with from time to time for drinks. The dialogue, to me, was very real. This is what women talk about. That stigma regarding male authors writing female characters as less than realistic does not apply to Mr. Henry. Megan and Trish are very real.

Megan and Trish also have very real partners. At the start, we know that there are many people jealous of the power these women have. There’s a lot of “why couldn’t it have been me” floating around in the narrative. While Megan and her husband aren’t very likable at the start, I urge the reader to continue. I think, whether Henry intended it or not, we are presented with a very real idea of what happens when one spouse achieves success and the other feels a bit left behind.

I’d like to hear from those of you who read this novel, would you have liked to have seen rather than heard about Trish’s fight in the bar? I know I would have but, yes, I know, novels have ideal lengths and it was a spectacular novel even without my “taking the law into one’s own hands” voyeurism.

The plotline was outstanding. It’s been a very long time since a steady stream of plot points surprised this reader. Whenever I thought Henry was turning one way, he went in a completely different direction that I had never considered. The baddies and the superheroes play off of each other in a cunning way that keeps the reader locked into the narrative with the need, rather then the desire, to know what comes next.

The baddie was one for whom we could really feel sorry. She had a good life and then a hard life and was just thrown away. Can we blame her for how wonderfully brutal she has become? The baddie is written with such humanity that there were times I wanted her to succeed and I wanted it to be for herself. Does that sound twisted? Read the baddie and tell me if you don’t feel the same.

Everyone in this novel is running their own agenda in such a way that is not only believable but compelling. American Goddesses was simply too fast a read and when it was done I wanted much more. The ending of this novel is wonderful in the promise it holds for future novels. Henry tells me that there will be future novels in the series but that he does not yet have a release date for the second novel.

Halfway into 2012, this is one of the best novels I’ve read this year. I would put this author on my list of Indie authors to watch. Gary Henry, if he keeps this level of quality in plotting and characterization, is going to be a very big deal someday.

“Ishtar Bound” and “Transit of Ishtar” by Natalie Gibson.

Publication Date: April 14, 2012

“Ishtar Bound” is the first book in the Sinnis Series:

Maeve is a matchmaker for the Daughters of Women and the Good Luck Chuck of the witching world, sleep with her and you’ll find your mate. Aaron is a retro nerd with a wild side. Maeve and Aaron are instantly attracted to each other but sex is all business for Maeve. As their attraction grows, Maeve is ordered to matchmake for Aaron. Can she stand to see him with someone else? And who is killing the women in the couples she’s matched?

Publication Date: April 26, 2012

“Transit of Ishtar” is the second book in the Sinnis Series:

Nathalia, former Abbess of the Daughters of Women, remembers killing herself and wakes in a cold tomb. There to greet her is Eiran, an angel of sorts and her mate in a previous life. Nathalia is now an angel of sorts, like Eiran, and her blood is a heady call to the baddies of the world. Eiran must re-teach her their ways and how to defend herself while keeping a terrible secret from her.

I thought long and hard about what to write in this review because I think too often these sorts of novels get a bad rap. Both novels have a well crafted storyline and in the case of the second, Gibson creates a whole new world. I think it’s a great injustice that a certain portion of the population will look at the warning about graphic sex and write these novels off. Let’s face it, much of what we read and watch on television feature graphic sex and violence. It’s the evolution of society except, for some reason; when it’s packaged by a female author people still see it as something taboo. At the end of the day, both novels are straight up romance novels with no more sex than one might typically find in a romance novel.

If I were pressed to do so, I’d say that I liked Ishtar Bound (a book of Sinnis) better. They’re VERY different novels both in tone and feeling. The first is set in a Texas that we might recognize while the other (there’s a reference to Saudi Arabia) have the feeling of another world. Let’s forget the graphic of the naked butt on the cover of Transit of Ishtar (book of Sinnis). Somehow when you’re dead, clothes just don’t seem important. Nudity is not always sexuality.

Both books were easy reads despite the complexity of the storylines (especially in Transit of Ishtar (book of Sinnis)). I read each in one sitting. There was a long period between sittings where I struggled mentally with a burning desire to read the first book. I think we all know I like baddies and the baddie of the first book, often talked about in the second, sounded really interesting. He was not a disappointment though the baddie of the second book was far more brutal and his backstory probably a bit more interesting. I wish we’d have gotten more of Michel’s backstory (the baddie from Ishtar Bound (a book of Sinnis)) and motives but what Gibson does give us is compelling. Had she gone further with the Michael character, he may have been difficult to believe.

The one moment that kind of stopped me is that Gibson makes it very clear that Eiran and Nathalia are related. Nathalia herself has kind of a icky moment with that but Eiran points out that they’re seperated by 360 generations. Is that related? I think, if anything, that might be the stopping point for some readers more than the sexual content of the book.

There’s an interesting gender bias in both books leaning in the opposite of the societal bias that gives the reader pause for thought and, if I’m honest, is when I started really thinking about the way society looks at female writers and the injustice of that outlook. Jennifer Cruise has said that chick lit is the ultimate genre of female empowerment. What is more empowering to women than a society of women? Men clearly have their place but the positions of importance are left to the women both in the first book and second. Maeve is responsible for matching perfect couples while in the second book, Nathalie is the first and most powerful angel type being. Maeve, in the second book, carries the prophesied “One,” a female. Gibson’s novels feel geared to women’s strengths….both supernatural and on a real plane. I don’t know if Gibson intended these simply as stories of overcoming odds or as a light into true heroines.

If I have to be picky, the one thing that bothered me was the character, Margeux’s, half English/half French speak. To have that sort of broken English struck me as a little precious. That said, this character wasn’t in either novel enough to make a fuss (and as I sit here, I’m not completely sure she was in the second novel at all).

These are very good reads and if you read romance, paranormal or fantasy, I’d recommend that you add them to your collection. Especially in the second, Gibson weaves a beautiful and complex paranormal world that leaves the reader wanting more. Let me know what you think of these novels and if you agree with me. And if you’re on the fence, give these novels a chance. You won’t regret that you did.

Natalie Gibson has two more novels in the Sinnis series, “Ishtar Anamoly” and “Ishtar Rising.”

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