Felt like a witches brew
925145
Wanted to dye my black pajamas with white dots solid black.  So disappointing.  Read instructions, read reviews, and Rit Dye More for polyester was such a waste of time , money and sweat [standing over a boiling pot for 30 minutes mixing and mixing,  Now I have some shade of gray dots.  So try shoe polish if you are going for black or magic marker.  .Not serious.  Maybe the white dots weren't so bad.
93846
Though the story flowed and was interesting I struggle with authors that write about ancient witches that are Wiccan. Wicca is a modern religion creatde by a man to basically try and legitimize what is essentially a very ancient feminine spiritual practice and belief system. Logically, a witch that is hundreds of years old would not  embrace a modern religion and give up the hundreds of years of their spiritual practice. I could not complete reading this text for that reason. Very disappointing.
3475624
As a fan of the Dresden series, I was like an addict on crack and I love Steampunk and looked forward to reading "The Aeronaut's Windlass". It had its moments, especially those with Rowl, a princely cat who was proud, arrogant, loyal and courageous and led other cats in a fierce battle against the horrible silkweavers. I also liked his human, Bridget who he calls Littleouse, Benedict,the warriorborn who falls for Bridget and the etherialists who were interesting characters. Captain Grimm had scores to settle but was an honorable man. The evil Cavendish was creepy and scary but I felt the battle scenes went on and on and on and I tended to skip over them. I realize they will appeal to others.
3220357
I'm here, fresh off of gobbling up Angela Pepper's Wisteria Witches series. This book was mentioned by another reviewer of that series, if I remember correctly, so I felt it safe to try. The book felt like it dragged along, and I had to force myself to finish it. I frequently found myself imagining more interesting dialogue that the characters SHOULD have said, and editing the author's sentences in my head for better flow. The premise is interesting, but it falls flat in execution. The series might get better, but there's so much more out there for me to read. I won't be sticking around to find out.
3583713
In some descriptions this book is billed as a young adult-type novel. I am far removed from "young adult" but I thoroughly enjoyed Brew. The idea is original  the witches, warlocks and wizards who have hidden in plain sight for centuries decide to strike back and on one night enact Salem's Revenge. It is chilling and well-written. The world is a different place after the attack and former high school football player Rhett Carter is trying to find his place in it, existing solely on a thirst for revenge.
The only complaint I had with this book was the vague physical description of the characters. Like most readers, I'm sure, I like to form a picture of the protagonists in whatever I read. Various people are described as "dark skinned" which I take to mean African-American, but I'm not sure. Another major character is described as blonde and that's about it. I couldn't picture the characters and I think that kept me from really connecting to them.
1287253
Eh felt like I was reading someones self written grandiose grimoire of themselves. So much ego and name dropping. Kardashian of witchcraft.
2087550
Ooof. This was one of my more highly anticipated books of the season. I actually surprise won a copy over Twitter from the publisher. I thrummed with excitement waiting for it to arrive and it arrived on the last day of GISHWHES week. I couldn't read it yet! It was crunch time! By the time I picked it up the next day, I was dying from excitement.

And yes! The first few chapters were really interesting. Lily Proctor was pretty much allergic to everything, moving towards an early death or life in a bubble. Her long time friend Tristan is making moves on her but is quite the user of girls. Yeah, theres some magnificently douchebag moments from him. She finds him in the bathroom balls deep in another girl when shes on a date with him. This spurs her pity party and world jump.

Finding herself in a new Salem, she meets her other self, Lillian. Lillian is the reigning power in this new Salem, her word is law and her law has outlawed SCIENCE.

Why? Well, magic would be just another tool if science was allowed to continue! So its time to hang all the scientists! Cue rebels! Science rebels! Okay, they're only recently more science filled. Really, they're just people who weren't citizens of the cities who lived outside the walls. The cities have walls because theres some fun hybrid critters who swoop in and eat people periodically. So, really, your choices are follow the rules or live outside the walls with murderbeasts.

A section of the rebels eventually befriend Lily, this includes Lillians ex-lover and former primary mechanic, Rowan and this worlds version of Tristan. While Lily had some Tristan feels to overcome, they were nothing in comparison to what Rowan had to get over to trust Lily. Such tragedy, very back story!

Lillians Salem uses something called willstones in order to direct magical energy. Turns out Lily has a fount of it and an uncanny ability to channel new energy where she needs it to go. She goes from being pretty much useless, to being one of the more powerful witches in this world. Too bad all she really wants is to go home. Even as she starts to fall in love, home is at the forefront of her mind.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, one that unfortunately makes me curious for the next book even though there were some intense character flaws that annoyed me.

What sort, you say? Well, Lily is a vegan. That in and of itself is -not- a character flaw. Its her insistent need to remind everyone of the fact every chance she gets. Even though the meat in this new Salem is grown in a similar fashion from the leather hides she feels comfortable wearing (seriously, any animal product is still an animal product), she refuses to eat the meat. At one point, she eats an entire jar of pickles! That is not how you healthy vegan! It got to the point where I just wanted to kick her every time she said it. It was awkwardly thrown in our faces to show her spirited will and her willingness to stick to her guns. These things are also not bad, the execution just nagged at me.

Yeah, that pretty much ruined the book for me. When you cant get behind the main character, the secondary characters usually pick up the slack (think Harry Potter). Unfortunately, this book doesnt let that happen. All characters are pretty much interchangeable. There are a few that stand out, but not exceptionally.

I expected more from it, perhaps it was the high bar I set that soured it? Or maybe it was just that sour.
928259
The realm of the paranormal is like caffeine to me. As the world of good vampire stories dries up, it's time to find another slice of this genre to get into. Not a fan of werewolves, or angel bad boys, and being severely allergic to zombie stories, I decided to give this book a try (Because the book cover is great). Three-fourths of this book is good, the last one-fourth, basically repetitive. The main female, Eve Bradley, hooks up with Cain O'Conner at a facility that torments paranormals in the name of science research. Eve goes in to get a story and when Cain sees her, it's lust at first sight (how often has that happened in these books?) Cynthia Eden teases the reader with what Cain is relentlessly, revealing only that the man burns up, dies and is reborn. If you've read Harry Potter, you know that is the pattern of a Phoenix. Ms. Eden then teases one with what Eve is all about. As the story progresses, the pair try to find the crazy Richard Wyatt, who orchestrated the experiments and fall into one trap after another and another and another. One wonders when the "intuitive" bulb will light concerning traps because they are, obviously, gravitating toward time without learning to avoid them. The character Eve is portrayed as a strong willed, bossy individual. I found her to be obnoxious with a moral compass that focused on not killing anyone, or thing, which included Richard Wyatt who was chopping up paranormals while experimenting on them. And yes, they were awake and screaming for this ritual. Cain came across as the brooding, hulkish type who was good in bed (yes, there was a lot of banging going on), he always vowed to keep Eve safe and yet continually left her believing she would be okay -- the down side is Richard Wyatt now wanted Eve, not Cain so leaving her behind didn't make sense. He is supposedly the upper echelon of paranormals yet all he does is gets killed and rises up from the ashes with next to no memory of the past life, except for Eve, who he says "smells like candy". Ugh. But, in fairness, the first part of the book was a page turner. Towards the end, I found myself worn out by one too many "let's do this even through we know it's a trap" scenarios, sex scenes that were like mortal combat versus "awe, they made love", and Cain saying "I'll save you Eve" only to have his butt incinerated by bullets and a cave in while Eve is either caught by her aggressors or, doing the noble thing, she gets in a bigger mess with Cain at her side. Where I didn't care much for this formula storyline, others might like it so I won't totally say avoid this book.
4787297
That is how I felt reading these stories. They were all alike! No thanks. I was not really expecting novellas. Plus, I can't get with the idea of a wolfpire. You have to pick a paranormal affliction and stick to it. My other gripe is the use of the term alabaster to describe the skin of a black woman's skin. Unless she became a ghost wolf and was transparent, then that's not happening.
3037993
Jax is a witch, born to a family of witches. The only problem is that Jax doesn't want to be like them. Her coven, in fact all the covens she knows about, are all evil. So, she runs away, desperately hoping that if she doesn't use magic, they won't find her, because if they do, she is dead.

Jax ends up in Baker Gap, a small mountain community. She enrols herself in high school and begins trying to live a normal life. All is well, until she falls for Keller, a supernatural hunter , her kind's natural enemy. Suddenly, Egan, a witch from another coven, shows up on her doorstep, claiming to have runaway, too. Things get bumpy when Jax and Egan realize there is an evil influence up the mountain causing people to plummet to their deaths. The only way to stop the evil is to use their magic, but doing so will bring the covens to their front door.

Personally, I found the plot a bit clichd. The book moved rather quickly, though, so that made it easier. I always like books where the main character is special but is trying to live a normal life as a teenager. Jax is a brave character who is willing to face death just to live a better life. She is sick of the horrible things her family does and wants out. You realize how brave she is when you read that her mother wanted the same thing, and was killed before Jax's own eyes.

This is a quick read and has a decent story, but I really wish Milburn had taken a little more time with it. Things were rushed.  There's no real time for the relationship to develop. One moment they meet; the next, they're in love. Time felt really rushed. I couldn't tell how many days had passed because the author herself seemed unclear. There were moments of conflict that were pushed through, jumped over, worked around, or completely ignored. Just when you think there will be something to really worry about, it's resolved outside of view. Action sequences were sped up to a fast-forward version, like watching a movie at x10 speed. The ending felt rushed and unfinished. Here's to hoping the sequel has a little more to it.

There is also a good touch of mystery in the book, something I love. Egan and Jax seem to be the only good witches out of hundreds of evil ones. How is that possible? Why aren't there other good witches? To discover the truth they have to look for an ancient book believed to have been destroyed.
White Witch is a fun YA read. The story ends off foreshadowing the second book.

*I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
699651
We met Martha in Eve of Samhain. She came across as the freaky, anti-social weirdo roommate. Not much has changed since except that Martha now has two new roommates and she's a little less on the anti-social side. Martha is a witch and she likes kicking butt and taking names. She fights the bad guys - vampires, demons. She has a grudge and a chip on her shoulder that won't go away until every blood-sucking vamp is toast!

I was super curious about Martha when I read Eve of Samhain and was super excited when I found out that she was going to have her own book. Martha's voice in Pleasures Untold took getting used to. I felt that her snarkiness and self-deprecating humor came off as a little forced and a bit much. Martha is very introverted and is used to living her life in the shadows. She uses the snarkiness to keep people at a distance. But I would hope that she would be a little more open with her roommates. As it happens, she does finally open and let herself be vulnerable. We find out secrets from Martha's past that are shocking and gives insight into the person she has become.

The one thing Martha does not anticipate is falling for sexy, latin, bartender Xan. Rawr! Martha isn't your typical boy crazy 21 year old college student. But there's something about Xan that makes her quiver. Her attraction to him is instantaneous. When she discovers that he's a vamp, one of the creatures that she vows to kill, the attraction doesn't fade. Xan isn't like most vamps and it has Martha questioning everything that she knows.

Pleasures Untold started off slow for me but has the plot developed and the pace picked up, I was engrossed in the story. It took me awhile to get used to Martha's voice. The snarkiness and self-deprecation was a little off-putting. I wanted to shake Martha. She is so strong and confident when she's fighting but when it comes to personal stuff, like her appearance and her "lack" of attractiveness, she is so down on herself and with no self-esteem. I had to continually remind myself that Martha is not all fluff and light.  This was Martha's personality so I went with it. She has issues that she needs to work through. As Martha opens up more to her roommates and Xan, we see a more softer, gentler Martha who can still kick ass! Martha had plenty of great one-liners throughout the book that reminded me Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Pleasures Untold definitely had more heat than Eve of Samhain. There were plenty of plot twists and surprises that kept the story interesting. I loved the building relationship between Martha and Xan. And also her relationship with her roommates. Pleasures Untold ended with some things left unsettled which hopefully will be resolved in the next book. I can't wait!
4630215
Sabrina Kane is of mixed blood: She is half vampire and half mage. Her mage father died before she was born and her vampire mother died in childbirth, so she has been raised by her grandmother Lavinia. Vampires and mages hate each other [makes a change from the usual vampire versus werewolves stuff], so everyone treats Sabrina as a second class citizen due to her heritage, punishing her for her parents sins.

Granny Kane isn't a sweet, white haired, old lady however, she is the Alpha Domina of the Dominae; Which is the vampires major religion, worshipping their creator Lilith [the followers are known as Lilims]. Lavina - embarrased by her granddaughter - has seen Sabrina trained as an assassin for the Dominae, which is a lowly job, suitable for an outcast which she is seen as.

Which brings us to...

The Domina learns that a fellow mixed blood [vampire and demon] named Clovis Trakiya is building a rival religious sect and is preaching about unity amongst the races. He is rumoured to be gaining interest - if not outright support - from the other supernatural races, including mages. The Dominae don't like the sound of this friendliness between vampires and mages, so Sabrina is ordered to dispatch Clover. Well no, not simply dispatch him. She wants Sabrina to go undercover, infiltrate the cult, uncover any spies, then dispatch Clover, but A: Sabrina knows how to kill people, not investigate and spy and B: Who are the real bad guys here?

Whilst trying to figure everything out she also has a mage stalker to deal with and the fact that the demon that he sent to 'test' her [no, she doesn't know why] is now stuck in this realm, drinking her beer and watching her TV...

This book was so much fun. I'm delighted by the fact that the heroine is a assassin and drinks from humans, sometimes to the point of death [she hates drinking synthetic blood]... True she does go for drug dealers and would-be rapists ala Dexter, but it's still a ton better then most of the other "blood is yuck" and "kiss don't kill" otherworldly heroines many publishers are trying to sell to me. If I'm looking at a book about vampires, cults and assassins I know that I'm going to read about murder and gore, so let the characters be less then squeaky clean accordingly. Thanks.

Books featuring vampires are ten to a penny post-Twilight and every scenario has been done countless times so I ignored this book when Amazon kept recommending it to me, before coming across it in my local library and biting the bullet. Fortunately author Jaye Wells has come up with a formula that I've not come across before; The vampires in this author's world are descended from Lilith's affair with Cain, so in addition to Lilith's blood thirst, all vampires also have inherited Cain's red hair (God marked Cain with red hair after he murdered Abel) and inability to go out in sunlight. Oh yeah - if you want to stake a vampire make sure you use applewood, or if you can somehow get a vampire to ingest the forbidden fruit it will strip away their immortality and make them kill-able.

I'm not religious, but the biblical origins of the vampire paired with the inner workings and politics of modern cults was fascinating and the aspects of the uneasy supernatural races also helped lend an air of realism. People not liking others who are different to them? differing cultures? killing people over religious ideals? It is a story that is startlingly relevant and is slightly unsettling. It will stay stuck in your head long after you've read it.

Was there anything that I didn't like? I wouldn't depend on my description of the Dominae as being a major religion for vampires as fact in a [unlikely] life or death situation; Whilst I'm fairly sure I've deciphered it correctly, it's never made crystal clear [maybe it was and I'm just a tad slow to catch on].

** Book two in the Sabrina Kane series is titled The Mage In Black **
1270167
Reading this book I just didn't feel the spells take the craft seriously. It was a bit on the fairytale side of witch spells. Not for a realistic practing pagan, in my opinion.
104970
This book just wasn't my cup of tea.

Honestly, I will probably forget that I ever read this book in eight months; I tried and tried to connect to the MC, Avery Roe, but I never could which led me to have apathetic feelings towards her actions throughout the entire book. Avery likes to believe that everyone in the entire world (excluding us, the concerned readers) is against her and this gives her the right to be dramatic. If you cant tell, I didn't enjoy this trait about her; in fact, it annoyed the crap out of me.

One word to describe me while reading this book: lackadaisical. Avery would stress out and make a dramatic choice. Sure, thats fine, I would think. Then she would completely change her mind and do something else dramatic. You do you. Whatever. She would complicate absolutely everything and decide to do something completely unnecessary and ridiculous. Eh. Im sure youll change your mind before long. Basically, I didn't care what she did.

I was just bored throughout this book; the writing was fine, the story was fine, the characters were fine, and the romance was fine. Scratch that last part, the romance was lacking; I was reading Sway by Kat Spears at the same time as this and the chemistry in that book was insane while the romance in this book couldn't elicit a tiny ripple in the ocean (shes a water witch).

I didn't hate this book at all, I just didn't care which I think is worse; its like when your parents say they aren't mad, they're disappointed, thats how I am with this book. The book had a promising premise but it just fell flat and I didn't like how it weirdly came together, I wasn't satisfied.

A few things I did like: the Roe witches are the bomb dot com and I enjoyed seeing some strong female characters who men respected. Preach.

Avery grew up shadowing her grandmother, the resident witch, because her mother essentially quit being a witch and abandoned her. I enjoyed how Avery looked up to her grandmother and had a love of magic as a whole. We eventually find out why her mother left and why she did the things she did which was helpful to understand the whole story.

Every Roe witch has their own unique gift and Averys was dream interpretation; she would often see how someone dies which reminded me of Helena Bonham Carter in Big Fish, go watch it if you havent, its my favorite movie ever. After I first found out that this was Averys gift, this is who I imagined for the rest of the book.

The plot could have been interesting: Roe witches cant die. Avery Roe is destined to come into her powers. Avery dreams of her death. Now that is a conundrum if Ive ever heard one but yet, it wasn't executed well.

It should be noted that this is a standalone novel; there is not a sequel in sight.

FAVORITE part: that cover is simple yet beautiful.

FAVORITE quote: Theres magic in talking out loud, like drawing out poison, like exposing a wound to air. That gives you just a taste of the writing to see if you would like it. I loved this quote because Im a psychology student and a firm believer that talking is good for the soul.
1269291
Heart of Stone is the first book in Christine Warren's Gargoyle series which follows the pairing up of gargoyle Guardians and unusual young women as they battle demons and their dark forces.

Ella is unusual in that she has a scary amount of magic bottled up inside her (she is not psychic at all really, unless you use a very loose definition of the word, so I found the book's description a bit misleading here). She doesn't like to be around people since she's scared she might accidental hurt them with a burst of energy, so she works as a museum docent (fancy word for tour guide and/or person who explains the exhibits to guests) and gift shop manager - both of which are jobs that would force her to be around people constantly so I fail to see the logic there (I mean, seriously, if you want to avoid people, never EVER go into retail! Gift shop hmmph).

Kees (rhymes with peace as Ella so helpfully explains to the readers), is a gargoyle, but don't call him that, he prefers Guardian. He and seven of his brothers were summoned by the Guild of Wardens (mages) to protect the world from The Seven - big bad evil that come together to form The Darkness (SUPER evil big bad). Having no idea why he was awakened from his stone-like slumber, Kees drags Ella along as he tries to figure out what's going on - and the journey to save the world from evil begins (also they fall in love and stuff ;) )

With this book I found myself more interested in the whole "mages versus demons using Gargoyles as their super soldiers" plot than the characters. Ella in particular was pretty inconsistent. In the first few pages she's meek and delicate, not even daring to really fight back when a man tries to force himself on her - this might be related to her not wanting to accidentally kill anyone with the energy she contains, but it made me think she was going to be a softer, more vulnerable character. Then she meets Kees, and after a minor freak out, she becomes sassy and sarcastic with him. I thought this new personality of hers might be a mask, but then they sleep together and the scene, told through her POV, is graphic and detailed, venturing into the almost crude in some parts, and I felt like I didn't know this character at all - it just didn't feel true to who she had been up until that point.  And that was apparently some life-changing event, because after that Ella is more self-assured and she stands up for herself by being, not only sassy and sarcastic, but opinionated and stubborn (I like it her more like this anyway, so I was happy for the personality shift, but still.)

I enjoyed this book more in the second half as I was able to really get into the plot, so I would advise anyone who feels like giving up in the beginning to try sticking out a little longer. In the end we're pretty much told who the next book will be about (Ella's art restorer friend Felicity (Fil) located another Guardian gargoyle) and I can't wait to read it, not only to follow the plotline through it, but because from what little we've seen of Fil, she seems like a character I'd like to get to know better.

In conclusion, not the most consistent of books, but still interesting and attention-holding enough that I plan to follow the series.

*I received an ARC of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee.
3751972
I get that the main character feels frustrated about going to church, but don't mix Witchcraft with devil worship. That's insulting. Hopefully all the REAL Witches out there feel the same.
1045848
I had just finished reading a very complex and challenging novel and wanted to read something that wouldn't be quite so intense.  I probably moved too far in the other direction when I chose this novel.  If I hadn't paid for it on my Kindle, I doubt I would have finished it.

If you enjoy novels which deal with a woman's feelings, then this will probably suit you quite well.  This main character had been divorced for one year, in fact it was the anniversary of that divorce, but she had never worked through all the feelings she had concerning that cataclysmic happening in her life.  The reader is taken on a seemingly endless round of revelations of how she feels now about the divorce, her ex-husband and his new bride.  How she feels about herself is also covered in great detail as well as how she feels about her family members, friends, business partner and the men she meets.  It's a "feelings" kind of book.  Into this mix of emotions comes the revelation that Elizabeth's great, great, great grandmother (I may have missed a "great" somewhere but you get the idea) had been a gypsy and her magical powers had been handed down through the female line.  Elizabeth was unaware of this family history until her grandmother gave the powers to her.  It seems she could cast spells on people and influence how they felt and acted by placing the spell into products she baked and then had her target (or victim) eat the cake, cookie or muffin.  She is, after all, a baker by profession and is the co-owner of a business specializing in wedding cakes.  Of course, since she cast these spells without benefit of understanding what reactions they would or might cause, there were many unexpected results from the spells.

If you enjoy reading about a heroine who constantly makes incredibly silly mistakes which lead her into trouble, then, once again, this novel will probably suit your reading tastes.  For me, there were too many "oops" moments.  They didn't make Elizabeth an endearing character for me, they made her a woman with scant control over what words came out of her mouth and someone who didn't often engage in rational thinking.

As I say, I think I just chose something much too light and insubstantial.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book if you enjoy reading books with the type of character and plot premise I've described.