Jayné Heller is about to learn why she is different, but secretly she has a suspicion that the she is being ridden and the idea terrifies her. Her dead uncle has done something to her and whatever it is, she wants it undone, but the implications of being free leave her petrified. This thing, whatever it is within her, has never acted against her will and has even saved the lives of her friends while destroying demons. As Jayné and Ex seek assistance from Ex’s old order, Jayné realizes sometimes there really is a lesser evil and what is within is definitely minor in comparison to what awaits her if she is exorcised. Too bad the priests do not understand what is happening and what awaits them should Jayné release the Black Sun’s Daughter.
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Connor Macleod is one member of a pack that left Scotland two centuries ago when wolves were hunted to extinction, and now they have settled in remote northern Canada where the weather and the woods are still wild. Connor is returning home one night from a veterinary case in freezing rain when he sees the new editor of the local paper fighting off a wolf. This is not just any wolf, it is a changeling wolf and the human within it has been warned before about attacking domestic livestock. (more…)

James Macleod has been lost to his pack for thirty years. Over the years some have glimpsed his changeling self, but his human side was lost one night in blood and murder. His human wife and unborn child were killed by a man seeking the extinction of his race. After, Macleod became lost in grief and stayed in his wolf form, losing what made him human and prowling as a rare white wolf. Then along comes a young woman named Jillian Descharme, a rare veterinarian who wants to study wild wolves and provide them with a haven. Jillian is oddly familiar to both the wolf and the man, and Macleod cannot decide if his wolf or the man is more intrigued…
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Haily Danvers is wrangled into a Yuletide magus cruise for some family “fun”. But for a dysfunctional magus, “fun” is not in her vocabulary. While her sisters are meeting possible mates from other magical families, Haily is blown overboard, and all appears lost until she meets some sharks, masters her magic, and battles some dolphins, all in a day’s “fun”.
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Party planner Serene Bleau has been on her own for a long time, and her only goal is to build her business. She definitely doesn’t have the time for men, especially clients like Kin Fina. Kin simply won’t take “no” for an answer, and frankly, Serene struggles with the whole concept of “no” around this attractive shifter when all she can think of is one sizzling kiss in a closet. Perhaps Christmas will bring them both something to unwrap…
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Nola O’Grady has just assumed the position of head of the San Francisco office of the Agency. But since her office is closed and her only employees are a drag queen prostitute with a drug problem, a senior citizen on a fixed income and her Israeli boyfriend who has conflicting assignments, it’s a little hard to believe, even for Nola. However, for now, the boyfriend, Ari Nathan, is in town, rogue waves are killing people and there are links to a previous case that doesn’t appear to be closed after all. Then Ari’s past seems to rise up to join the chaos their lives have become.
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Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff
Becca Thornton is a recently divorced middle-aged woman living in a new town and going through “the change”. However, Becca’s change is more than just menopause; she’s being called to do…something…but she doesn’t know what, and the itch under her skin is driving her crazy. But as Becca becomes something…more…she finds that certain things are worth defending and occasionally growth requires change.
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The Minola family of Padua has two daughters, one of sweet demeanor and one so shrewish she gives the animal of the same appellation a most horrible reputation. Baptista and Lucrezia cannot in good faith give their youngest daughter to wed until the eldest is safely settled but Katharina will have no man, not that any have offered… (more…)

Alexi left his former clan of the Bulls and his sire Raphael when in the moment of his greatest evil the act of a child reminds him of his humanity. Alexi Dugas is a vampire trying to redeem himself and seeking affiliation with the elders of the macCumail clan. They are the originators of the vampire species, all subsequent vampires descend from them. (more…)

Luther Harrington is a very proper young man with a lovely, young would-be mate, but neither is very happy. Luther is hiding a very painful secret and he fears that telling Chelsea will scare her away. Chelsea is hiding her own secret needs and as much as she loves Luther, she feels that if she does not get him to face the inadequacies of their intimate relationship she might have to take some drastic measures or risk walking away. (more…)

M.J. and the Ghoul Getters crew head to Ireland and a haunted castle on a nearly inaccessible island, and then they promptly lose Gopher, the producer who got them into this mess. However nobody tells the crew until it is too late that if they run into trouble, they are on their own because even the locals fear Dunlow Castle and there will be no search crews, no airlifts, and no coast guard. (more…)

Camea has her future all planned out for her by her intended husband and her parents. Their plan is to marry her off to the farmer’s son next door and join the two farms. But Camea is anxious for any life but that and so she prays that she’s claimed by the lava god as a sacrifice. Of course, Camea intends to escape and run off to faraway lands, but nothing from this point forward goes as planned.
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After her fiancé assaults her one time too many, Joanne knows next time he might kill her so she strikes out and runs for her life, taking on a new identity and a new life. Her new identity as Missy Green begins purely by accident with the Starr Gazers Foundation, where she meets the mysterious benefactor Draco Starr. Draco’s sole purpose in setting up the Starr Gazer’s Foundation is to look for a half-demon amongst his star gazers. (more…)

Corey Green is a wildling fae with an affinity for nature and Seth Dylan is a werewolf landscaper with a dysfunctional family. Corey is unapologetically gay and Seth has been so busy being something everyone else seems to want that when he meets Corey he is too afraid to “come out” and accept the happiness Corey has for him as his mate.
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Wilson North is a naturally submissive vampire in search of what his friends and former lovers have found — a mate. Soon after seeing Corey and Seth marry, Will meets a magia named Garrick Forester who is a true dominant. But Will is about to learn being submissive does not mean being a doormat — occasionally you have to let the Alpha out to protect what is yours.

This novella is more like Valentine’s other tales with a plethora of paranormal people and events. It covers some significant characters of previous Darkworld books and leads into several upcoming tales, so you might want to read the others first. (more…)

Jadyn and Ash have a consuming Shakespearian love, tragic and fraught with drama. An incident in their youth leaves Ash on the run and Jadyn stunned at the loss of his missing mate. A chance encounter reunites them, but can Jadyn trust Ash not to cut and run again?

This is short and sweet with early drama, but it ends on a sigh instead of a butt-kicking and it’s a bit anticlimactic after the nail-biting start. There’s nothing wrong with this type of ending; it just left me with some what-if and what-happened thoughts. Otherwise, this short story started with a bang and was very well-written, an auspicious introduction. I’ll be watching for future stories.
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When struggling artist Maris enters the annual ice sculpting competition, she hopes to win enough to cover her rent until she gets another commission. However, fourth place will not buy her a bus ticket home, much less cover her spiraling expenditures. She is in danger of eviction, when Lord Brayce commissions her for a Yuletide gift for his parents. Once she arrives at Brayce’s home, she realizes sibling rivalry can be extreme, much like the seasons.
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Jayné Heller and her crew of dysfunctional demon hunters are called to Grace Memorial Hospital by Aubrey’s ex-wife to hunt something more vicious than anything they have faced before. This time, it may take everything they have, everything they believe, and destroy it.

The silent supporting character here is Jayné’s Uncle Eric, and he colors everything she does, especially in this book. He left her his legacy and his assets when he died a year ago and saved her from her family and her aimless life. However, Jayné’s view of Eric will be tested and his character tarnished by revelations in this book, and if you pay really close attention perhaps to Chapter 12 (don’t peek early!), there is a hint of things to come. (more…)

Ash is an atheistic, underground poet and musician with schizophrenia and a drug habit. Auryn is the angel who lands at his feet after he drunkenly calls for his muse. Both are insane but do not recognize their own insanity, and so they make deals one with the other in a destructive parasitic relationship. Auryn is Asher’s muse and so she feeds his narcissism, and with her he shares his flawed mortality, dragging her into an abyss of drug addiction, paranoia and immorality. Only tragedy can come of such a relationship, but the act of love is a tragedy, or so the poets claim.
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As vampire birth rates decline, a brother and sister adopt a human and convert him to vampire life. However, not even they realize that Raphael is the future of their winged brethren. He brings to the vampires not merely fresh blood and hope but also humanity and growth. Nevertheless, not everyone is enamored of the change he brings in protecting humanity. Certain factions want him dead and they are determined to bring him to his knees.
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