*As per usual, since this is a sequel I won’t be providing a synopsis*

Karen M. McManus has just been cemented as a favorite author for me. This was another 4.5 stars for me. I literally did not see that ending coming whatsoever. I thought I was right, and I was for a little bit, but that curveball man. Just goes to show, never think something is a throwaway line or section.

I don’t know how, but her characters can physically make me feel for them. I legit teared up at one point. In this book, we only follow three: Maeve, the younger sister of Bronwyn from the first story; Knox, who became my favorite quickly lol I always have to have a favorite and it always seems to be the guys; and Phobe, who reminded me a little of Addy from book one but so different as well.

On the other hand, there were a couple of side characters that me just want to fight them. Three in particular that play a part in something that happens in part two. Plus I just love the big reveals because I would never have been able to figure all that out. I am also so focused on the who and the how flies right by me lol at one point I had a whole theory of who and how, only to be COMPLETELY wrong.

I am definitely buying all three of her books and will get her newest one this winter (if it still comes out around that time.) It would be nice to see if I still vibe with her in a different world then this series. My first new author favorite of the year!!

Hello everyone! Today I’m bringing you mini reviews of four books I’ve read from one of my favorite authors!! I love Ilona Andrews. They are an author duo (husband and wife) that I discovered last year and omg I’m glad I did. They write adult urban fantasy and I believe so far they have four series that I know of lol I’m currently caught up in one, restarted one, haven’t started one, and having trouble finding the final book in another.

Hidden Legacy

This series is my favorite!! The synopsis of the first book is as follows:

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career- a suited mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anything and anyone on fire. Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan- a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive. Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

I fell in love with this world, this series, these characters, just everything. Plus I am so not a big romance person, but the way they do romance is SOOO good to me.

I love Nevada, her family (especially Grandma Frida), Connor, and Bug. Bug has to be one of my favorite side characters ever. He just makes me laugh all the time. Connor is that cute guy that is super annoying yet you always want him around lol My favorite thing about Nevada is that she is super family oriented. That just made me connect with her so much. Grandma Frida is LIFE! This lady is amazing. She is so not your typical grandma in the slightest.

Now Nevada has two younger sisters, Catalina and Arabella. I bring them up because the first three books in the series follow Nevada. The novella and the next trilogy follow Catalina.

(The novella and book 4…books 5 is released in August of this year and book 6 sometime next year)

Not giving a synopsis for these because they both spoil major events from earlier in the series. However, I will say that Catalina is so different from Nevada and I love that. Plus Alessandro is….well idk how to describe him lol I gave both of these books 4 stars. This is the series I’m caught up on, and I need book 5 like now lol

The Edge

This series has 4 books in it, and is the one I can’t find the final book in. I rated On The Edge 5 stars, Bayou Moon and Fate’s Edge were both 4 stars, and Steel’s Edge is the final book.

This series is kind of connected, but only through characters in my opinion. Sort of like those books where a side character in one book becomes the main character in the next book. I feel like book 4 will probably bring everyone together just based off of how book 3 ended. I just need to find it. I will probably end up buying it since I’ve already broken my book buying “ban”. It wasn’t really a ban, I just wanted to get the books I already own read. Half of what I read so far this year has come from my shelves so I felt a reward was in order lol

Kate Daniels

I’ve actually restarted this series. Granted I only read the first three so it was easy to restart. The synopsis of book one is:

The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. In comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail. Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic…One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy.

See this is why I don’t read the synopsis. That sounds so boring lol granted I did rate books 1&2 3 stars, however book 3 is where it hooked me. Even after my reread of Magic Bites, I still left it at three stars because it was good but still felt like the beginning of a series.

Kate’s guardian is murdered in like the first chapter so that’s not really a spoiler in the synopsis in my opinion. I just love her. Especially her smart mouth at the wrong times lol plus she is so aware of herself. What you see is what you get. She is probably one of my favorite female leads ever.

I really want to talk about other characters but I don’t want to give too much away. Plus I don’t really remember what was said or done in each book so I don’t want to unintentionally give away spoilers.

Wow this is long lol what was supposed to be mini reviews turned into this. This is what happens when you love an author. Have you read anything by Ilona Andrews? If so, did you enjoy it? Did you not enjoy it? Let’s talk!! Until next time, happy reading 💚

Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves. But Asra’s peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina’s village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ima begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest-the animal she’ll be able to change into as her rite of passage into adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina’s family. Unaware that Asra is at fault, Ina swears revenge on the king and takes a savage dragon as her manifest. To stop her, Asra must embark on a journey across the kingdom, becoming a player in lethal games of power among assassins, gods, and even the king himself. Most frightening of all, she discovers the dark secrets of her own mysterious history- and the terrible, powerful legacy she carries in her blood.

This book was so good! I love that I’m finding so many good books. Well good to me lol I believe this takes place a long time before Of Fire and Stars.

First and foremost, I love Asra. She just made me cheer her on and want the best for her. I would say that she did overreact at some points, however that would be hypercritical of me because I can see myself reacting the exact same way.

Ina reminded me of Hans from the first Frozen. There is a very specific moment in the story where that comparison is spot on. Like it was the first thought I had when it happened after I verbally said “Well damn.”

There are characters we meet later on that I either loved or hated, which is what I’m meant to do. One became my favorite alongside Asra. I can definitely see myself rereading this!

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows. The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open-season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing. Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous- and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

I enjoyed this so much! Probably a little more than I enjoyed One of Us is Lying. I’ve come to the conclusion that I like mystery “thrillers” more than traditional thrillers. Traditional thrillers I find are hard for me to get into or even want to pick up. Not for lack of trying. I have one on my shelf that I got halfway through and actually liked, but again, finding it hard to want to pick it up and actually read it.

Anyway, back to this book. It’s not really a companion or series continuation to the One of Us is Lying series. This is just a standalone that is AMAZING! I was so hooked. I listened to it as an audiobook while at work and finished it in one shift lol I only stopped for like breaks and lunch (weird I know but I didn’t want to finish it too early.)

The synopsis tells us about Ellery, a teenage girl moving to Echo Ridge with her twin brother Ezra after their mom is put into rehab. Now most synopsis can sometimes spoil things to come in the book. Not this one. Everything it describes happens early on. I, for one, did not see the plot twist coming. Even more I didn’t figure out the reasoning behind it either. Also, I just want to point out that the reasoning behind it all is something to watch out for. I don’t know whether it would be a trigger warning or not, but I just wanted to give a heads up to it.

Now remember how I said I listened to this at work? Well, the very last line of this book had me so shook I was literally standing in the aisle holding the items I was stocking going “Wait what? No. You can’t just end like that. Omg!” Then proceeded to recap the story to my brother when he picked up after I got off lol I thoroughly enjoyed this and rated it a 4.5. Would have been a full 5, but there was one storyline I felt was just a little weaker than the rest. I can definitely see this author being an auto buy for me especially since I already want to read One of Us is Next and her newest book releasing this December (according to Goodreads.)