urban fantasy book review

Banshee Cries – Walker Papers 1.5 by C.E. Murphy

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Banshee Cries. The Walker Papers 1.5 by C.E. Murphy

Title: Banshee Cries

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Paper

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis: (from Goodreads):

The last thing reluctant shaman Joanne Walker wants is to be assigned to a case of ritual murders. It’d be creepy enough all on its own, but her boss, already trusting her magic more than Jo does herself, suspects there’s more to it than just a serial killer. As Joanne is pulled more deeply into the bloody mire, she begins to realize this is a murderer with a deadline—the changing winter moon seems to be key to the power they’re building.

But Joanne’s not the only one entangled in the increasingly dangerous magic raised by the killer: she has a protector, someone who has already given up their life to keep Joanne safe…and who may be the only person able to stand between Joanne and a dark power far greater than she’s ready to handle….

My Review

Banshee Cries by C.E. Murphy is a short story that takes place between Urban Shaman and Thunderbird Falls in the Walker Papers series.

Since the events in Urban Shaman that lead to Joanne becoming a Shaman and stopping a crazed killer, she has become resistant to using her powers or even learning more about them. As a person who was always rational and logical for her entire life, it makes sense for her to revert back to that when there is no immediate danger.

There isn’t a lot for me to say about this story, as it is rather short (around 100 pages or so). However, Banshee Cries is an important addition to this series as it gives the reader more insight into Joanne’s mother and the reasons she abandoned Joanne as a baby. If not else, this is an important part in Joanne’s character development. Her life has had a fair amount of trauma and this serves a step in the healing process.

My rating for Banshee Cries is 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend anyone who is reading the Walker Papers to read this story as it definitely fills in some holes in Joanne’s life.

Thanks for reading!

Urban Shaman – Walker Papers #1 by C.E. Murphy

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Title: Urban Shaman

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt.

No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.

And if all that’s not bad enough, in the three years Joanne’s been a cop, she’s never seen a dead body — but she’s just come across her second in three days.

It’s been a bitch of a week. And it isn’t over yet.

My Review

Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy is a reread for me from several years ago. When I first picked up this book, the series wasn’t complete. Recently, I got the last books in the series that I was missing so now it’s time to binge it!

Joanne Walker isn’t having the best day. On her way home to Seattle from Ireland, she sees a woman being chased and a man waiting for her with a knife. Having seen this from an airplane, no one believes her. Making a new friend in the cab driver her helps her find the woman, Joanne suddenly finds herself thrust into a world she never believed existed.

Joanne is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and both cultures make an appearance here in Urban Shaman. She’s being chased by the Wild Hunt, led by an ancient Celtic god. But, she’s also a Shaman with healing powers and a spirit guide in the form of a coyote.

I love that Urban Shaman mixes Celtic and Native American lore. I’ve noticed that Celtic lore is often used in fantasy, but not a lot of Native American lore. I think that is a shame as it’s very interesting! This book doesn’t dive too deeply into it but I’m looking forward to what is to come in the following books.

Joanne is a great character. All her life she has always been rational, thinking that any kind of supernatural stuff was all made up and ridiculous. But after nearly dying by being stabbed by a Celtic god, her beliefs change completely. I actually love that her practicality makes her accept things quickly instead of trying to resist it.

This book starts out hot and doesn’t cool down! There’s little to no down time as Joanne and her friends try to figure out what is going on, why the Wild Hunt is here and why Shamans are being murdered. I think this is an excellent start to a series.

My rating for Urban Shaman is 5 out of 5 stars and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy books with Celtic and Native American folklore.

Thanks for reading!

The Tomb – The Watchers #1 – Review

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Synopsis (from Goodreads):

John Gideon, a former homicide detective turned P.I., has dug too deep and discovered the truth about the world while searching for the only family he has left.

John and his new partner, Beth May – a spell-wielding demon who has turned her back on Hell – are humanity’s last hope to stop a collective of Fallen Angels known as The Watchers and a hierarchy of demons from breaking the first of the Seven Seals of Revelation.

If the Seals are broken, they will set free sickness, war, and death on the world until there is nothing left but an apocalyptic wasteland for The Watchers to control. John and Beth have the tools needed and the strength to stop them. The only question is – are they already too late?

I know I must of read the synopsis for this book before deciding to read it so I’m not sure why I was surprised that it turned out to be about angels and demons. Nevermind, sorry, that has nothing to do with this review.

I loved the way this novel started, with this creepy, mysterious message in the beginning, warning the reader that nothing is what it seems and reading this will change your life forever.

We are first introduced to John and his partner Walter, two detectives with the Chicago Police Department, as they are on a stake out, waiting for suspect to show himself. Little do either of them know that this seemingly normal part of their jobs is about to change their lives forever.

Two years after Walter goes missing, John has left the force, started his own private investigator business and is obsessed with finding his old partner and friend. It’s not long before he gets swept up in a world he never believed existed. A world of angels and demons trying to release the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Anti-Christ into the world.

This novel is fairly short, but it packs in a lot of stuff. Honestly, I think it needed to be padded out more, for the story and relationships to develop more. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this book, I just wanted more of it, to feel a deeper connection to the characters and really feel immersed in the world, to care about the impending danger. As it all happened so quickly, I didn’t get the feeling of being completely engrossed.

As this is only the first book in a series, I have hope for the development of the characters and the world building.

I must say, I think I like Beth the most. She was a witch as a human and became a demon after death and has now been alive for several centuries. For a demon, she extremely caring and compassionate towards the human race and the world. She cares about John, she cares about the fate of humanity. She obviously has a lot of history, having been alive for so long, and the author has only barely scratched the surface of who she is and what lies in her past. I’m really looking forward to her secrets being revealed in the coming sequels.

The point of view could be a bit confusing. It would switch from being in first person from John’s perspective to Beth’s perspective and then to a third person unknown “watcher.” I generally don’t like POV’s that jump around, but in this case I felt it worked.

The story has a great deal of potential to grow as the series continues. I look forward to reading the next novel.

My rating for The Tomb is 3 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend it to fans of urban fantasy, especially if it involves angels and demons, and to anyone looking for a fun, quick, but also very intriguing read.

My thanks to the author, Carl Novakovich, and the agent for providing me with a free copy of The Tomb in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank for reading!

Magic Slays – Kate Daniels #5 – Book Review

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Synopsis:

Plagued by a war between magic and technology, Atlanta has never been so deadly. Good thing Kate Daniels is on the job.

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be—now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate.

So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it—fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price.

This review will contain spoilers if you have not read the previous books.

Kate has left the Order of Merciful Aid and has opened up her own business, which so far hasn’t gone well for her. When she finally gets a real paying job, she of course jumps at the chance and is ready to get the job done and get paid. Of course, this job isn’t as simple as it seems at first and quickly goes sideways, as many things in Kate’s life do.

At the same time, Kate’s adopted niece, Julie, decided to run away from school again. Deciding to “put her to the test”, Kate doesn’t just go pick up Julie and haul her back to school. Kate isn’t really “mother” material but she is definitely guardian material. She’s teaching that kid to be resilient and how to survive in a world that will very likely want to destroy her.

Kate is now living in the Keep as Curran’s mate. At the end of the previous book she more than earned her place as the alpha female of the Pack, even if that isn’t really what she wants to be.

This book has a lot of twists and turns. In the course of her investigation, Kate comes to learn a great deal of about her past that she never knew before. Including things that a shed a whole new light on her mother and how Voron raised her. Learning these thing also casts Curran under suspicion.

I haven’t been Curran’s biggest supporter from the beginning, so I found this whole “does he love me? Does he love me not?” thing a little annoying. Personally, I would still love it if Kate just took off somewhere and found a way to deal with her biological father on her own, but I know that isn’t going to happen.

Curran needs a good punch to the nose sometimes. Though Kate has hit him on multiple occasions so I don’t think that will actually do any good.

Overall, this book is a great read. It’s fast paced and action packed and hard to put down.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for reading!

I apologize if this isn’t the greatest review. I recently had minor surgery and am still on painkillers. I just wanted to get this written before i start the next book.

Magic Bleeds – Kate Daniels #4 – Urban Fantasy Book Review

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Synopsis: Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family… 

This book didn’t begin the quite the way I would have expected. It started with a bit of an emotional hit on our poor heroine.

This book was pretty action packed, and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I felt bad for Kate many times. Her life isn’t easy and trouble has a way of finding her.

There was a part of me that really wanted Kate to walk away from everything. I wanted her to pack a bag, grab her new attack poodle and just disappear somewhere beyond all the politics and random messes that surround her. I thought it would be an interesting way to go but of course, Kate isn’t that kind of person. She will never abandon people who need her.

My opinion of Curran fluctuated a great deal in the book. I went from mildly disliking him to outright hating him to actually liking him. Will I continue to like him? Maybe. We’ll see.

A great deal happens in this book. Quite a few things change for Kate. The eventual confrontation with her biological father is looming on the horizon. 7 more books to go. What will happen next?

Get 50% off on an ebook on Book Lovers when you use my promos code JEANA50.

Magic Strikes – Kate Daniels #3 – Review

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Synopsis:

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.

But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games – an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament – she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…

I devoured this book in two days and loved every second of it! From the first word, I was engaged and didn’t want to put it down. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to work the next morning, I probably would have stayed up the entire night reading.

I continue to love Kate as her character builds and her secrets are slowly revealed. In this book, we get some glimpses into her past and what her childhood was like.

Curran is still an arrogant alpha male, but his behaviour has become a little less “I’m going to get in her pants because she said no” to “I’m going to get in her pants because I like her”. I feel confident Kate and Curran are going to end up together. Poor Kate, she knows logically why she shouldn’t get together with him, but her body has other ideas.

More of an overall plot to the series is developing, and I’m really pumped to see how it all plays out. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say much more there.

I give Magic Strikes 5/5 stars! I highly recommend it to anyone who love urban fantasy, especially series like Mercy Thompson. The relationship between Kate and Curran reminds me a bit of Mercy and Adam near the beginning.

Have you read this series? What did you think? Do you agree with my love?

Get 50% off ebooks when you use my promo code JEANA50 at Booklovers.

Urban Fantasy Book Review – Magic Burns – Kate Daniels #2 by Ilona Andrews

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Synopsis:

Down in Atlanta, tempers – and temperatures – are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more is at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest – and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

I think I might be in love with this series. yes, I know this is only book 2, but wow, it is awesome! If it keeps on the way it started, this series is going to be a wild ride.

Kate is definitely a new favourite character of mine. She is a smart ass who can kick ass and also be empathetic. In this book, we get to see a bit of a different side of her when she encounters a 13-year-old girl, Julie, in need of her help. The way Kate refers to Julie as “my kid” is great! They barely know each other but they form a bond quickly, one that I think will continue throughout the series.

Curran is a character I can’t decide if I like or not. He is something of a stereotypical alpha male. He’s strong, arrogant and used to be in charge. He does well by the Pack, but not so much by Kate. Circumstances brought them together again in this book without her actually reaching out to him. Then, he blames her for bringing chaos into his life, while also taking every available opportunity to tease her in a sexual manner. I can’t decide if he truly likes or if he’s just an ass. Beast Lord or not, he really needs to be punched in the nose, preferably by Kate.

I’m sure their paths are going to cross again. His lion form is on the book covers after all.

There a quite a few little hints dropped about Kate, how powerful she could be and who her father really is. We learn a few little tidbits in this book and I can’t wait to find out more about her.

Thank for reading!

Book Review – Descendant Omnibus – The Complete Nikki Glass Series by Jenna Black

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DescendantSynopsis (from Goodreads): For Immortal Huntress and cunning private investigator Nikki Glass, vengeance trumps all in this complete collection of acclaimed author Jenna Black’s addictive urban fantasy series!

The omnibus edition of all four Descendant novels, as well as the e-novella Pros and Cons that takes place between the events of Deadly Descendant and Rogue Descendant, is a must-have for all urban fantasy fans.

Buy Now: Amazon

Originally I had intended to review each novel within the omnibus on it’s own. However, I got too into reading this and didn’t want to pause to write individual reviews. Instead, I’ll review the entire thing and do my best to avoid spoilers.

I really liked Nikki. She is a very relatable character. It’s easy to empathize with her and understand where she’s coming from. Not only does she have a thick skin, she’s also a self proclaimed bleeding heart. She sympathizes with others even when logic says she shouldn’t.

The majority of the other characters are male. At first, none of them are likable, but considering the situation in which Nikki meets them, I don’t think it’s possible to like any of them. Only Jamaal and Anderson get much in the way of character development. I found Anderson to be a really interesting character. I didn’t have particularly strong feelings about Jamaal.

I would really have liked to find out more about the other characters. Many of them have been alive for centuries. There’s got to be some good stories there.

I didn’t particularly like the way the romance aspect went. As always, I can live without the sex scenes, although there were little details there that added to character development.

The one thing I really don’t like is the fact that the series is over! There is so much potential for this series to keep going. There’s plenty of characters that can be developed and so much that could be used for plot points. The book ends with a really great lead into another book. I don’t know why the author chose not to write more. I think I will always keep an eye out for a new book in this series.

I rate this book 4/5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who likes urban fantasy, especially if you want a supernatural creature that isn’t the typical vampire, werewolf or fae.

Have you read this series? What did you think? Have you any other book by Jenna Black?

Alpha – Shifters #6 – Rachel Vincent – Review

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AlphaSynopsis (from Goodreads):
The unscrupulous new Council chair has charged Jace, Marc and me with trespassing, kidnapping, murder and treason. Yeah, we’ve been busy. But now it’s time to take justice into our own hands. We must avenge my brother’s death and carve out the rot at the heart of the Council.
It’s not going to be easy, and loss seems unavoidable, but I have promised to protect my Pride, no matter what. With a target on my back and Marc at my side, I’m heading for a final showdown that will change everything forever. A showdown I’m not sure I’m ready for.
But life never waits until you’re ready.

Buy now: Amazon

I very nearly stopped reading this book after about 100 pages. Why? Well, this stupid love triangle is getting on my nerves more than i can explain. The first 100 pages is all about the 3 of them. The guys want to kill each other, Faythe wants to stop them from killing each other. She also wants to have them both and that just can’t happen.

I can’t empathize with her at all in this situation. The whole time it’s being talked about I want to roll my eyes and bitch slap all of them. I could care less about Jace, Marc needs to rein in his temper and Faythe needs to grow the hell up!

I really wanted her to just walk away from both of them, especially with the things Marc keeps saying to her. I get that he’s pissed off, but some of his comments cross a serious line.

Thankfully, the actual story picks up after the first 100 pages and the love triangle-ness calms down. I wish I could say the rest of the book was amazing, but that would be a lie. Even when the actual plot is the focus, the love triangle is still there, irritating me.

There were certain things I expected to happen that did and things that I didn’t see coming, so it wasn’t completely predictable. I had a pretty solid idea of how it was going to end and  I wasn’t wrong.

Honestly, I just sort of powered through this book to know how things turned out. I enjoyed parts of it, but not the book as a whole.

I rate this book 2.5/5 stars.

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Shift – Shifters #5 – Rachel Vincent – Review

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ShiftSynopsis(from Goodreads): Being the first female werecat enforcer isn’t easy. Scars accumulate, but I’m stronger in so many ways.

As for my personal life? It’s complicated. Choices worth making always are. Ever since my brother’s death and my father’s impeachment, it’s all I can do to prevent more blood from spilling. Now our Pride is under attack by a flight of vicious thunderbirds. And making peace with our new enemies may be the only way to get the best of our old foe.

With the body count rising and treachery everywhere, my instincts tell me to look before I leap. But sometimes a leap of faith is the only real option…

Buy Now: Amazon

Thinking about reading these books gives me anxiety. While I’m reading the books I’m so into it that I can’t read fast enough.

While I am really enjoying the story that is going on, Faythe’s personal life is getting on my nerves. I’ve always kind of liked love triangles, but this one is ridiculous. I’m pretty confident I know how it’s all going to end, so getting through all this drama to get to the resolution is killing me.

Faythe and her love life aside, this book is really good. The Pride’s enemy, Malone, is trying new underhanded methods to weaken them before the coming war. It’s fun watching Faythe navigate her way through the situations she gets into and actually becoming a responsible adult.

The next book, Alpha, is the last in this series and I can’t wait to read it. If my pattern for these book holds, I should have it done by tomorrow night! Then maybe my anxiety will go away.

I rate this book 4/5 stars.

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