Sunday, October 25, 2015

Eileen Wilks, Mind Magic (A Novel Of The Lupi, Book 12)

Releases November 3, 2015
Title:  Mind Magic (A Novel Of The Lupi, Book 12) 
Author:  Eileen Wilks
Rating: Siren's Best Book Stone
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Keywords:  Werewolves, Magic, Dragons, Telekinesis, Telepathy
Page Count:  416             
ISBN E-Book:  0425263878   
Price:  $7.99
Paper Book:  978-0425263877
Price:  $7.99
Publisher:  Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Reviewer:  Stacey Krug 

 Blurb/Summary:

FBI agent Lily Yu’s mind is a dangerous place to be in the latest Novel of the Lupi…

Thanks to the mindspeech lessons she’s receiving from the black dragon, Lily is temporarily benched from Unit Twelve—until her brain acclimates and the risk of total burnout passes. At least she has her new husband, lupi Rule Turner, to keep her occupied.

But when her mentor calls in a favor and sends Lily to a murder scene, she’s suddenly back on active status—despite the hallucinations she can’t keep at bay.  With one touch, Lily knows the man was killed by magic, but her senses don’t warn her how far the conspiracy goes…

A shadowy force within the government wants to take Unit Twelve down, and they don't mind killing to achieve their goal. With none of her usual resources, Lily is up against impossible odds--because with her mind in disarray, she can’t trust anything she sees.

Review:

Fans and newcomers alike will not want to miss out on the latest installment of the Lupi Series by Eileen WilksMind Magic is book twelve in the series, but Eileen Wilks gives enough background to keep newcomers from being lost and entice them to read the rest of the series.

In Mind Magic, Lily Yu and Rule Turner are back onstage as the main characters.  I enjoyed reading about them again and Ms. Wilks does not disappoint in introducing new characters.  Readers will get to meet Demi, a girl who likes to be called Danny and has Asperger’s Syndrome.  Ms. Wilks does a fantastic job of bringing Demi to life in the pages and shedding light on this syndrome throughout the story.   We also are introduced to several new Leidolf Clan werewolves that are hard not to fall in love with.  I would be remiss not to mention the unforgettable little Brownies full of tricks and games that play a vital role in this story.

Mind Magic is a hard-core, action-packed, paranormal romance laced with urban fantasy and stirred with a bit of mystery.  The action starts on page one and just keeps going.  The plot will have you glued to the pages as you take the journey with Demi, Lily, Rule, and Ruben Brooks to find out who is trying to frame them and to what purpose.

In this book as others past, the Dragons play a role in how the events play out for Lily, Rule, and Ruben.  Eileen Wilks gives the readers more Dragon information and background in this book than in the previous ones and it is information that you need to know going forward in the series.  Dragon fans will be thrilled.  I will not give away any fun highlights about the Dragons as I had fun reading it so should you without spoilers. 

The plot feeds off previous story lines and adds new dimensions.  The evil the Lupi are fighting, the “Great Bitch”, is using a new resource to fight the “Lady”, the Lupi’s benefactor and creator.  The result of this book will help determine future plot lines of other books in the series.

There is so much that happens in Mind Magic that it is a must-read!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Dakota Cassidy, Accidentally Ever After (Accidentally Paranormal Novel, Book 11)

Title:  Accidentally Ever After (Accidentally Paranormal Novel, Book 11)
Author:  Dakota Cassidy 
Rating: Siren's Best Book Stone 
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Keywords:  Fairy Tales, Vampire, Evil Queens, Werewolves, Princes, Fairy Godmother
Page Count:  212           
ISBN E-Book:  Amazon Digital Services, Inc.   
Price:  $4.99
Publisher:  Self-Published
Reviewer:  Stacey Krug  

Blurb/Summary:

Accidentally Ever After by USA Today bestselling author Dakota Cassidy is a fairy tale romp complete with fairy godmothers, an evil queen, woodland creatures, a Jersey salesclerk on a mission to find Shamalot, and of course a handsome hero. This laugh-out-loud addition to the Accidentally Paranormal series will get you in the holiday mood as the girls from OOPS strut their stuff in a land far, far, far away. 

Antonia Vitali's on the run and in hiding, working as a salesclerk in a designer outlet mall in Jersey. Toni's life has been on a steady downward decline for three years now, the ghosts of her past always nipping at her heels. 

Little does she know, her life's about to change when the OOPS girls whisk in for a day of Christmas shopping and fall through a wormhole in the store's dressing room, taking Toni with them! 

Now Toni's got a pair of sparkly purple heels gifted to her by the Good Witch of the Southgorgeous heels she can't take off until she returns them to the king. With a trio of reluctant fairy godmothers and an ogre named Dannan, Toni's on a mission to get to the castle to receive a happily-ever-after she never asked for. Along the way, she meets an amazingly handsome, utterly chiseled stable boy named Jon Doe, who offers to help them navigate the Not So Sherwood Forest​​ and get them all to Castle Beckett before Christmas Eve. 


But if her happily-ever-after is at the castle, why would she rather make time with the stable boy? And why does the evil Queen Angria want Toni’s head on a platter? And how in the world has she developed her newfound, peculiar...um...talents? 


Join Toni, Marty, Nina, Wanda and Carl, as they journey along the treacherous road to love and eternal happiness in the magical realm of Shamalot!

Review:

Accidentally Ever After was a delightful read from beginning to end.  It is book eleven in the Accidental Series so characters and events from previous books pop up along the way.  However, if this is your very first Accidentally Paranormal Novel then jump right in because this is set in a realm that Dakota Cassidy has not explored yet.  You’ll also meet the main Accidental characters Nina, Marty, Wanda, and Carl.

The heroine is Antonia Vitali, Toni for short.  Toni is a strong, independent woman not afraid to kick some butt.  She’s a Nina mini-me!  For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Nina is the vampire with the foul mouth and gangster attitude.  Toni takes what life has thrown her and tries to find happiness.  The Fairy Godmothers help her along the way to her happily-ever-after. 

The hero in the story, Jon Doe, is gallant, full of chivalry, and has a very big secret of his own.  He aids Toni on her journey to seek her happily-ever-after from Castle Beckett.  Jon turns out to be very protective of all the women he feels are in his charge.   

Accidentally Ever After offers romance, adventure, danger, and death defying feats!

Accidentally Ever After is a mishmash of just about every fairy tale you can think of along with some book and movie references.  The reader is being told the story by the “storyteller” who pops in and out of the tale and fills us in on events happening outside the main characters’ scope.  I recommend reading the story if for no other reason than to find out all the funky character names and what Dakota Cassidy does to Carl, Nina’s zombie.  

This book was meaty.  There is now an entire new realm added to the Accidental Series, new characters, new abilities, and new friends.  You will not want to miss reading this before the next book comes out as Accidentally Ever After left us with a bit of a cliff-hanger.  Not a cliff-hanger so big you want to knock your head into a wall after reading two hundred and twelve pages, but one that has you anticipating the next book and what the characters will face then.

Toni and Jon are characters that stay with you after you are done reading their tale.  I want to know what they are up to now and who have they met since I stopped reading.  What adventures are in store for them down the road?  It will be very interesting to see how Dakota Cassidy pulls this realm along in her Accidental Series.