Urban Fantasy

Reckoning by S.J. Harper

Reckoning: A Fallen Siren Novel by S.J. Harper Reckoning, the terrific second installment in the engrossing Fallen Siren series, opens with secret siren and official FBI Agent Emma Monroe in a no-strings-attached relationship with Kallistos, the local vampire king, since Emma’s constantly-monitored love life, courtesy of the goddess Demeter, prohibits her from forming a connection of real love. Emma’s partner, werewolf Zack Armstrong, the true object of her desire, has had the memories of their times together erased by Emma’s witch friend, Liz, in order to protect him. Read More »

Broken Souls by Stephen Blackmoore

Broken Souls by Stephen BlackmooreEric Carter has a problem-well, more than one. A necromancer now “married,” or, at the very least, linked, to Santa Muerte, the Aztec goddess of death (after she killed his sister, no less), Eric now possesses pitch-black eyes that require the use of sunglasses so as to not freak people out. When he meets a fellow mage, Kettleman, at an observatory to get some information on how to separate himself from Santa Muerte, two things happen: he hears a voice warning him about the meeting, and after speaking briefly with Kettleman, a former associate of Eric’s parents, the man attacks him with a wicked-looking knife. Read More »

Incarnate by Anton Strout

Incarnate (A Spellmason Chronicle) by Anton StroutAlexandra inadvertently created more gargoyles in the war with Stanis’ father. They have slowly been trying to find them and determine whether or not they can recruit it. But, they have their hands full between a police paranormal investigative team and another group that is trying to recruit the reanimated gargoyles. Read More »

Stonecast by Anton Strout

Alexandra misses her gargoyle friend, Stanis, but per his instructions, is doing everything she can to learn about being a spellmason. Hopefully, she will be able to learn enough to find Stanis and rescue him from his father’s clutches. But, when a thief steals some of her remaining potions, Alexandra is concerned that she will not be able to learn enough in time. Read More »

Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells

Cursed Moon (Prospero's War) by Jaye WellsWhen Cursed Moon, the excellent second installment in the Prospero’s War series, begins, Detective and MEA (Magical Enforcement Agency) officer Kate and her partner, Drew Morales, have their work cut out for them with the advent of the Blue Moon of Halloween coming up in two weeks. During this time tensions run even higher than usual between the Adept population (those with magical ability) and the mundane residents of Babylon, the situation escalating that particular day when a guy in a leprechaun costume hexes the crowd during the Halloween Festival. After subduing and arresting the perpetrator, he warns Kate and Morales of bigger things yet to come during the Blue Moon. Read More »

Hades’ Disciples by Michael West

Hades' Disciples (Legacy of the Gods) by Michael WestThe journey begins in the Himalyans and, although it is Summer, the terrain is almost impossible to navigate. If not for the skill of his Sherpa, Dr. Hannigan would have been lost long ago. He was incredibly lucky to get a guide. The locals are terrified by the rumors of Yeti sightings and everyone else has turned away from him in spite of the ridiculous amount of money he is offering. Hannigan believes he is about to face the culmination of his life’s work and will stop at nothing to reach it. Read More »

In the House of the Wicked by Thomas E. Sniegoski

In the House of the Wicked: A Remy Chandler Novel by Thomas E. SniegoskiAngel-turned-private investigator Remy Chandler receives bad news that Ashley Berg, his young pet-sitter and friend, has disappeared. He soon realizes that her kidnapper is sending him a message. A sorcerer who has discovered the key to harnessing life energies wants to use his seraphic power to get revenge on the sorcerer who destroyed his family. Remy is caught between two dueling sorcerers, and a plot of the Grigori (fallen angels) to regain God’s favor at the cost of millions of human lives. Read More »

Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs

Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs Shifting Shadows, a superb collection of two novellas (one new, one previously-released) and several stories (three new) covers a wide-range of characters within the world of Mercy Thompson.

“Silver” introduces Samuel, relating the story of how he came to be a werewolf, and his encounter with the fae in the woods near where he was held in the thrall by the person responsible for his Change. Read More »

House Immortal by Devon Monk

House Immortal (A House Immortal Novel) by Devon MonkThe extraordinary House Immortal introduces a world two hundred years in the future, where resources are governed by eleven Houses and doled out as considered appropriate by their leaders. Matilda Case wants to continue to live and work below the radar, taking care of her farm populated by animals created (literally) by her father, her only constant company her grandma and her farmhand, Neds (the plural due to the fact that Ned possesses two heads). With her parents dead, killed several years earlier, and her brother, Quinten, missing for three years, life on the farm can be challenging but not more than Matilda can handle, as long as she does not call undue attention to herself. Read More »

Last Impressions by A.J. Aalto

Last Impressions (The Marnie Baranuik Files) (Volume 3) by A.J. AaltoMarnie Baranuik is back to solve more paranormal crimes in her usual wacky, bumbling way in Last Impressions. She has barely recovered from a case chockful of exploding zombies, and is dealing with her Paranormal Crimes Unit of the FBI getting suspended for an Internal Affairs investigation, when she gets a call from Constable Patrick Schenk in the sleepy town of her origin in Ontario, Canada. A missing woman had Marnie’s business card, and the detective asks for her help. Read More »

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Magic Rises (Kate Daniels) by Ilona Andrews Magic Rises, the terrific sixth installment in the excellent Kate Daniels series, begins with Kate in the midst of a training session with her adopted daughter, Julie. While pondering the difficulties of dealing with a fourteen-year-old girl, Kate gets called to an emergency-Julie’s best friend and her twin sister have both gone loup, the feral state that adolescent shapeshifters often never recover from. Though a cure, referred to as panacea, exists but remains difficult to come by outside of Europe, this means that typically the afflicted are killed in order to protect everyone around them. The pack only has one dose available at the time, which Curran orders the doctor to split between the two girls. Read More »

Galilee Rising by Jennifer Harlow

Galilee Rising (The Galilee Falls Trilogy) (Volume 2) by Jennifer HarlowJoanna’s world has been turned upside down in the year since her best friend, Justin, sacrificed himself to save her. In his role as “Justice,” a Superhero, he chose to let go of a railing that barely supported both their weights and plunged to his death in the river below. For twenty years he had been the center of her life and romantic fantasies. Unable to deal with the loss, she had plunged into alcohol and rage, causing her to overstep the bounds of use of force on a criminal and losing her career as a police officer in the process. And as an added pressure, Justin had left the multi-million dollar Pendergast businesses to her. Read More »

Alchemystic by Anton Strout

Alchemystic (A Spellmason Chronicle) by Anton StroutAlexandra Belarus just wants to be able to work on her art, but when an accident befalls her brother, she is forced to take over the reins of the family business. However, she finds her own life in danger and begins to suspect her brother’s death was not an accident, after all. An old family secret becomes revealed when a gargoyle shows up to protect her. Read More »

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

Omens (Cainsville) by Kelley ArmstrongWhen the terrific Omens begins, Olivia Taylor-Jones feels as though her life may not be going quite the way she wishes, even with her position as the daughter of a distinguished Chicago family having lead to her engagement to an equally well-heeled, and, she learns, ambitious, man, James. Finding a small level of fulfillment in her volunteer position at a women’s shelter, Olivia plans to return to school for a Ph.D. in literature, hoping to teach at a university-information she has been keeping to herself. Olivia decides to share her plans with James when he breaks the news that he will be running for senator-a prospect that Olivia does not care for. Read More »

Trace of Magic by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Trace of Magic: The Diamond City Magic Novels (Volume 1) by Diana Pharaoh FrancisDiamond City was built in the caldera of a Colorado volcano and began as a mining community when diamonds were discovered. The diamond rush brought not only miners, but eventually families, businesses and, of course, those who prey on them. Crime began with small gangs of thugs, but as the town evolved, so did the criminal element until the Tyet (a criminal alliance of sorts) was formed. Tyet’s influence is felt everywhere and staying below their radar is almost impossible, particularly if one has a special magical talent. Read More »

Wickedly Magical by Deborah Blake

Wickedly Magical (A Baba Yaga Novella) by Deborah BlakeBarbara Yager is currently presenting a series of lectures on wild-crafting herbs at the Northern Illinois University. She can claim being a traveling botanist and college professor as a cover for her other activities, such as being one of three Baba Yagas in the United States. She’s a powerful witch and with the title Baba Yaga, it’s her job to help maintain balance in the world, guard the doorway into the Otherworld, and sometimes helping a worthy seeker. Read More »

Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake

Wickedly Dangerous (A Baba Yaga Novel) by Deborah BlakeThere is an old Russian Fairy Tale that tells of the Baba Yaga. Thought to be a witch, she was often portrayed as an ugly old crone, living in a wooden hut that roamed about on chicken legs and eating small children. She would occasionally grant wishes if one could perform three of her impossible tasks. Times change, though, and for the modern times the Baba Yaga is not a solitary witch but a title held by a chosen few. Barbara Yager is one of three Babas currently stationed in the Read More »

Justice by Jennifer Harlow

Justice (The Galilee Falls Trilogy) (Volume 1) by Jennifer HarlowGalilee Falls is a somewhat normal metropolitan city, although it seems to have a higher number of incidents between superheroes and supervillains than most cities its size. Common wisdom is that supervillains are drawn to the city to test their strength against Justice, the local and renowned crime-fighting superhero. Although Justice always prevails, the super-fights do leave a lot of civic destruction and mayhem in its wake. Things have been quieter since Alkaline, the arch-enemy of Justice, was caught and imprisoned three years ago, but all of that is about to change. Read More »

Blood Games by Chloe Neill

Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires) by Chloe NeillEthan is facing the biggest move of his immortal life, challenging the head of the Greenwich Presidium for leadership. But, as is the case in Cadogan House, that does not seem to be the only thing going on. Murders begin to happen around the city and Merit is called in by her grandfather to help investigate. This assignment will keep her busy while Ethan deals with his bid for head of the GP. However, when outside forces interfere, Merit and Ethan may find themselves fighting for their very relationship, in addition to all the other turmoil happening. Read More »