Review || How to Survive an Undead Honeymoon by Hailey Edwards

The Epilogues: Part II

Nothing says romance like spending a long weekend at a haunted inn famed for sending its guests to the ER with scratches, bites, and fractures. Or so Linus thinks when he books a trip for Grier and himself to Oliphant House. As far as honeymoons go, the choice is nontraditional, but then, so is his bride.

Haunted history is one of Grier’s great loves, and she’s thrilled to discover Linus has given her a mystery to solve. Forget walks on moonlit beaches and sipping fruity drinks, Grier would much rather unravel the curse that’s plagued the Oliphant family for generations than pick sand from between her toes.

The resident spooks, however, aren’t happy with the newlyweds sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Between the missing persons, the dead bodies, and the secrets lurking in the basement, Linus and Grier start to wonder if they’ll survive their honeymoon.

Book Lists || My Favorite Urban Fantasy Series

I thought since we are all hunkered down all over the world that this might be a good time to dive into a new series. 

What is urban fantasy? Simply put, it's a subgenre of fantasy. Most usually, it's fantasy that is set in a cityscape. The "urban" in urban fantasy. It can be set in a modern city or even an alternate city in the modern world. There are typically strong tropes such as the hard-boiled hero of noir, gritty action, and/or a procedural style plot. Magic, supernatural creatures, and mystery play a big part in urban fantasy. Sometimes, urban fantasy can also be dark, even bordering on horror. 

Sometimes it's hard to determine a book is urban fantasy or paranormal romance, but while urban fantasy can have romantic elements, it usually takes a backseat to the action. I enjoy urban fantasy over paranormal romance. While I don't mind some romance, I don't want it to be all consuming. 

If you are looking to binge some urban fantasy series, these are my top 10 recommendations!

Book Blitz || Judas Kiss by K.A. Fox

Judas Kiss
K.A. Fox
(Murphy’s Law, #2)
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: March 10th 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Delaney Murphy is learning what it really means to be the daughter of the Devil and that not everyone appreciates her father’s kinder, gentler side. When tragedy strikes and upsets the fragile balancing act of her life, Delaney will have to choose between the world she’s sworn to protect and the father who has changed the whole of Hell just for her.

As betrayals around her mount, she begins to question herself and those closest to her.
Cut off from her magic, Laney’s tie to humanity is fraying. She’s slipping closer and closer to giving in to the overwhelming darkness growing inside her.

Ultimately, she’ll have to confront her demons or risk losing herself entirely.

Series Review || The City Between by WR Gingell

Between Jobs Blurb:

When you get up in the morning, the last thing you expect is to see a murdered guy hanging outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.

Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet.

It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.

And it’s not so much that I’m Pet.

I’m a pet.

A human pet: I belong to the two Behindkind fae and the pouty vampire who just moved into my house. It’s not weird, I promise—well, it’s weird, yeah. But it’s not weird weird, you know?

Book Blitz || Blood & Ash by Deborah Wilde

Cold-blooded kidnappers. Long-lost magic. When things get serious, she goes full Sherlock.

Ashira Cohen takes pride in being the only female private investigator in Vancouver. With her skills, her missing persons case should be a piece of cake.

She wasn't counting on getting bashed in the skull, revealing a hidden tattoo and supernatural powers she shouldn't possess.

Or the bitter icing on top: a spree of abductions and terrifying ghostly creatures on a deadly bender.

And don't even get her started on the golems.

Reluctantly partnered with her long-time nemesis Levi, the infuriating leader of the magic community, Ash resolves to keep her focus on the clue trail and off their sexual tension because WTF is up with that?

But with a mastermind organization pulling strings from the shadows and Levi's arrogance driving her to pick out his body bag, can Ash rescue the captives and uncover the truth or will the next blood spilled be her own?

Blood & Ash is the epic first novel in The Jezebel Files. If you like headstrong heroines, complex mysteries, and a dash of red-hot romance, you'll love Deborah Wilde's laugh out loud tale.

Review || Blood & Ash (The Jezebel Files #1) by Deborah Wilde

Cold-blooded kidnappers. Long-lost magic. When things get serious, she goes full Sherlock.

Ashira Cohen takes pride in being the only female private investigator in Vancouver. With her skills, her missing persons case should be a piece of cake.

She wasn’t counting on getting bashed in the skull, revealing a hidden tattoo and supernatural powers she shouldn’t possess.

Or the bitter icing on top: a spree of abductions and terrifying ghostly creatures on a deadly bender.

And don’t even get her started on the golems.

Reluctantly partnered with her long-time nemesis Levi, the infuriating leader of the magic community, Ash resolves to keep her focus on the clue trail and off their sexual tension because WTF is up with that?

But with a mastermind organization pulling strings from the shadows and Levi’s arrogance driving her to pick out his body bag, can Ash rescue the captives and uncover the truth or will the next blood spilled be her own?

Cover Reveal || Alpha Erased by Aileen Erin

Published by:
 Ink Monster LLC
Publication date:
May 12th 2020

Tessa—part witch, part werewolf, raised human and now the unofficial leader of a newly minted supernatural alliance—thinks nothing of her brother, Axel, texting her and Dastien to meet up. The location pin is in a weird spot, but maybe he found a magical anomaly? But when Tessa steps into the darkened warehouse, she doesn’t expect to see her brother laying in a pool of his own blood, smell the sulfuric scent of black magic, or feel the pain of her mate being shot full of silver.

Tessa has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing she can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.

The last thing Dastien hears from Tessa is her plea—help Axel. Then their bond goes silent. He can’t hear her. He can’t feel her. And there’s no sign of the attackers who took her.

Dastien does everything he can to save Axel before calling his friends in a panic. It takes all of them to find Tessa, but when Dastien’s finally reunited with her, there’s no sign of recognition in her eyes.

No magic in her touch.

No wolf beneath the surface.

Everything that made Tessa who she was…has been erased.

Book Blitz || Blood And Blade by Laura Dane

Steamy romance, a bad-ass female protagonist, and vampires! What more can you ask for? Fans of the Goddess with a Blade series, wait no more! Blood and Blade is almost here, and if you're getting really antsy, you can get a sneak peek right here!

There's also a chance to win a print copy below!

Expected Publication Date: December 30, 2019

Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy/ Vampires

Publisher: Carina Press

Rowan Summerwaite is ready to finish what she started in Blood and Blade , the next installment in the Goddess with a Blade series by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane.

Review || Things She's Seen by Pat Esden

The coven’s under investigation. Its future is in peril. And for one troubled young psychic, the coming battle will threaten her newfound freedom—and brings back a dangerous desire . . .

Exploited as a child medium, Emily Adams escaped to grow up on the streets—and hit rock-bottom. She took shelter with the prestigious Northern Circle, intent on staying only long enough to get back on her feet. But the Circle is still reeling from a devastating supernatural attack and betrayal. And vengeful High Council of Witches investigator Gar Remillard is determined to make Em surrender the truth—and disband the Circle forever.

When Em’s psychic ability allows her to see Gar is haunted by a formidable ghost, her attempts to free him challenge Gar’s rugged French Canadian heart and rancorous loup-garou instincts. But even as their new alliance and past connection kindles into raging desire, a malevolent 

force rises up to destroy them—the Circle and even the High Council.

With all she’s grown to love on the line, Em must draw on her darkest nightmares and alliances with the dead to outwit and out magic a force who can imprison souls with a flick of the fingers and command legions of wraiths with one word. . . 

Review || Inheritance by Gail Z. Martin (Deadly Curiosities #4)

Publisher: SOL Publishing

Date of Publication: October 23, 2019

Cover Artist: Lou Harper

Can Cassidy and her friends find the demon box, stop the killer ghosts, and break the Pendlewood curse before Beckford’s murderous cousins and the vengeful demon destroy them all?

Book four in the Deadly Curiosities series. Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curio shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them, and she teams up with friends and allies who use magic and paranormal abilities to get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.

Caribbean ghosts terrorize Charleston and start racking up a body count. Then Beckford Pendlewood, the heir to a powerful family of dark warlocks, shows up raving about a bound demon locked in a lost box and begs sanctuary. Can Cassidy and her friends find the demon box, stop the killer ghosts, and break the Pendlewood curse before Beckford’s murderous cousins and the vengeful demon destroy them all?

Review || Hood Academy by Shelley Wilson

Will she follow the pack…or destroy them?

A dead mother. A violent father. A missing brother.

When Mia’s father is murdered, it’s her estranged uncle that comes to the rescue, but what he offers her in return for his help could be worse than the life she is leaving behind.

Taken to Hood Academy, a unique school deep in the forest, she discovers friendships, love, and the courage to stand on her own.

Mia takes the oath that seals her future as a werewolf hunter, but not everyone wants Mia to succeed.

Screams in the night. Secret rooms. Hidden letters. Mia becomes an important piece in a game she doesn’t want to play.

Loyalty, friendships, and family bonds are tested as Mia discovers her true identity, but will the truth set her free, or will it destroy her?

Review || Nightmare City by P.S. Newman

In post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, dreams come true. So do nightmares.

Ever since a shift in reality twenty years ago, peoples' dreams and nightmares come alive, spreading chaos and destruction. Monsters ravage cities, bottomless chasms split roads, and gold rains from the sky - the possibilities are limitless, unpredictable and often deadly.

Eden Maybrey is a hunter of these "shades". When a friend tasks her with tracking down and eliminating an evil shade, the hunt threatens to expose Eden's deepest, darkest secret. To find her prey, she is forced to team up with Vaughn Taylor, a hunter who hates shades with a passion - and who won't hesitate to put a bullet in Eden's head should he figure out the truth.

Book 1 in a new urban fantasy series with a twist: no vamps or weres - instead, dreams and nightmares coming alive.

Would you really want your dreams to come true?

Book Blitz || Blood Rose by Rachael Vaughn

Publication date: November 22nd 2019
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Fleeing her past and a dark tragedy that haunts her every waking moment, Rose settles for a crummy retail job in a crummy town in the middle of Indiana. Her one solace – the sprawling forest behind her apartment complex – leads her down a dizzying path into a topsy-turvy world where Rose escapes her painful memories…but finds herself at the center of a dangerous plot.

A mysterious (and frequently unconscious) stranger, a technicolor landscape, and a sinister but charismatic leader pull Rose deeper into an unexpected adventure…where nothing is as it seems.

Follow Rose on her journey through this perilous but beautiful land, as she wonders if she can save it…or herself.

Book Blitz || Give up the Ghost by Debbie Cassidy

Give up the Ghost 
Debbie Cassidy
(The Nightwatch #2)
Publication date: November 19th 2019
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

They say not to judge a book by its cover. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. But what if what’s on the inside could get you killed?

My secret is out and there’s nowhere to run. The council have my Gramps. But there’s hope, a lifeline that’s related to my heritage. The council want an ancient magical text stolen by Demonica, and they need me to get it back.

I guess they just don’t want to get their hands dirty killing me themselves.

Welcome to the spot between a rock and a hard place.

A kick ass Urban Fantasy Adventure filled with fey, demons, vampires, gargoyles and golems.

Book Blitz || Daughter of Rage and Beauty by Amy Pennza

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance 

Print Length: 290 pages

Publisher: Scribble Pretty Books

Publication Date: November 4, 2019

The sagas claim you can’t fight fate. I’m determined to prove them wrong.

They say your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life.

Clearly, they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Because right now, my life is in shambles. As the daughter of one of the most powerful berserkers in the world, I should be taking my place among the noble guild of berserker assassins. By now, I should have mastered my emotions and conquered my rage—all the better to use it as a weapon when called upon to kill.

But I’m not just Harald Berregaard’s daughter. My mother was a nymph, which makes me a magical mutt. When I was born, my father thought I might possess the best traits from both races.

He was wrong.

Now he’s shipping me off to the Berserker Academy, where the unofficial motto is “graduate or die.”

Nice, huh?

With the stakes this high, I can’t afford to get distracted. Too bad the academy’s headmaster keeps showing up at the most inconvenient moments, reminding me how much I suck at magic. And fighting. And basic conversation.

It doesn’t matter that he does it with a smile. Or that his eyes fire silver when he’s amused . . . or aroused. Hauk Sigridsson has his own problems. He’s not going to be one of mine.

On the other hand, he’s offered me a way to accelerate my studies and make it out of the academy alive. I just have to help him steal a priceless rock and defeat one of the most powerful immortals to have ever lived.

No big deal.

I’m in way over my head, but I’m determined to survive. They say you can’t fight fate. I’m going to show fate exactly what I’m made of.

Book Blitz || Angel Blue: Season One by Jennifer Silverwood

(Seven Deadly Sins, #1)
Publication date: August 14th 2019
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

All Eanna wants is to forget the night she lost everything, but fate has other plans. A lifetime ago, the cursed burned her home and everyone she loved. Now she’s haunted by a dangerous legacy.

Her guardian, Etlu is determined to make Eanna into a queen, even if it means sacrificing his happiness. Surrounded by enemies, Eanna and Etlu have no choice but to give in to destiny.

Wil and his sister Isabol are searching for the chosen princess, but Wil finds more than he bargained for in Eanna. He doesn’t plan on falling in love with her. A love like theirs can only end in tragedy and death.

There can only be one outcome when chosen and cursed collide: a world bathed in fire and blood.

Book Blitz || Things She's Seen by Pat Esden

Things She’s Seen
Pat Esden
(Northern Circle Coven #2)
Published by: Lyrical Press
Publication date: October 22nd 2019
Genres: Adult, Paranormal
The coven’s under investigation. Its future is in peril. And for one troubled young psychic, the coming battle will threaten her newfound freedom—and brings back a dangerous desire . . .

Exploited as a child medium, Emily Adams escaped to grow up on the streets—and hit rock-bottom. She took shelter with the prestigious Northern Circle, intent on staying only long enough to get back on her feet. But the Circle is still reeling from a devastating supernatural attack and betrayal. And vengeful High Council of Witches investigator Gar Remillard is determined to make Em surrender the truth—and disband the Circle forever.

When Em’s psychic ability allows her to see Gar is haunted by a formidable ghost, her attempts to free him challenge Gar’s rugged French Canadian heart and rancorous loup-garou instincts. But even as their new alliance and past connection kindles into raging desire, a malevolent force rises up to destroy them—the Circle and even the High Council.

With all she’s grown to love on the line, Em must draw on her darkest nightmares and alliances with the dead to outwit and out magic a force who can imprison souls with a flick of the fingers and command legions of wraiths with one word. . .

Book Blitz || Ghost of a Chance by Debbie Cassidy

A Ghost of a Chance
Debbie Cassidy
(The Nightwatch #1)
Publication date: October 22nd 2019
Genres: Urban Fantasy
They say the dead don’t speak. That’s a lie. They speak to Kat Justice, but most of the time, she chooses not to hear them. 
I’m a Nightwatch agent, a nightblood charged with enforcing the supernatural laws. Humans can’t know the shit that goes bump in the night is real. It’s sweaty, tough work, with crappy pay, but I love it. 
Things would be perfect if not for my secret.
Pureblood Nightbloods can’t see or hear the dead. The fact that I can exposes my mixed breeding. I’m not meant to exist, and if the council find out about my secret it’s the executioners block for me. 
Keeping a lid on my ghost whisperer ability is a must. 
So, when my gramps orders me to head to the arse end of nowhere, a nowhere that just happens to be the most haunted place on the bloody map, I’m a little confused.
This transfer doesn’t jive with trying to keep the ghost chat to a minimum.
But with my golem partner and gargoyle companion in tow, I’m sure I can figure out why I’ve been sent to this weird coastal town. I mean, they even have a ghost bar. 
You’d think the local souls would be eager to chew my ear off, right? Wrong.
For the first time in forever, the dead aren’t talking.
Now I need to know why… 
A kick ass Urban Fantasy Adventure filled with fey, demons, vampires, gargoyles and golems.

Book Blitz || To Kill a Fae by C.S. Wilde

To Kill a Fae
C.S. Wilde
(Hollowcliff Detectives, #1)
Publication date: October 10th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Fae enjoy playing dangerous games…

In detective Mera Maurea’s experience, three things motivate a murder: secrets, convenience, or passion. But none of the three can explain why the Summer King is dead.

With a tight deadline hanging over her head, Mera has to figure out who’s the culprit before the frail balance that holds the nation of Tagrad together crumbles into dust.

To aid her—or turn her life into a living hell, hard to tell which—is her fae partner Sebastian Dhay, a snarky detective with a penchant for the illegal. He’s a volatile wild card who will do anything to solve the murder, even if it means his doom.

The clock is ticking. And Mera is hiding a deadly secret of her own.

Book Blitz || The Alchemist and an Amaretto by Annette Marie

The Alchemist and an Amaretto
Annette Marie
(The Guild Codex: Spellbound #5)
Published by: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Publication date: October 11th 2019
Genres: New Adult, Urban Fantasy
As a guild bartender, I can handle pretty much anything—mages, sorcerers, witches, the occasional demon. But show me anything family-related and I’d rather run for the hills. It doesn’t even have to be my family.
So I have no idea why I thought spending the holidays with Aaron’s mom and pop was a good idea.
Meeting his famous parents is already terrifying enough, but I’ve got a bigger problem. Students of his family’s renowned mage academy are being attacked on the grounds—and somehow no one has seen a single assailant? Unexplained tracks litter the nearby woods, rumors of forbidden alchemy are circulating the campus…and Ezra has been acting strangely since we arrived.
Something deadly is brewing in the shadow of Sinclair Academy, and the longer we take to uncover it, the more dangerous it becomes. But no matter the risk, we’ll protect the students.
And Aaron’s parents too, I suppose. If we have to.

Goodreads / Amazon

Excerpt

Ezra stopped, hands on his hips as he surveyed the lazy slope that swept up to the towering manor. “All right. Time for our final sprint.”

I snorted. “Yeah, uh-huh.”
“I’m serious. We always finish our workouts with something competitive.”
Like competitive pushups. I shivered at the reminder.
“This is the starting line. That tree is the finish. First one there wins.”
“What’s the prize?” I folded my arms, eyeing the distance. Not that far but not twenty yards either. “You, Aaron, and Kai always bet something.”
He rubbed the hint of shadow along his jaw. “Winner’s choice, I guess.”
Ooh, I liked the sound of that. Grinning, I got into a starting position. “You’re on.”
He took the same position. Clearing his throat, he deepened his voice to mimic a sports announcer. “On your mark. Get set. G—”
“What’s that?” I gasped, pointing behind him.
He snapped around to look—and I launched into a mad sprint, arms pumping. Ezra swore and took off after me, but I had a head start. I would reach the finish first and totally win this.
Right as I drew level with the target tree, hands caught my waist. Ezra swept me off the ground, still running—an impossible feat if not for his inhuman strength. He stopped just past the tree, laughing too hard to hold me up. My back slid down his chest and my feet landed in the grass.
“I can’t believe I fell for that,” he said breathlessly. “You’re such a cheater.”
Whirling to face him, I smirked. “I was manufacturing a combat advantage, not cheating. Kai’s been teaching me.”
“A race isn’t combat.”
“Maybe I was running for my life.”
“From me?” He arched a playful eyebrow. “Does that mean you don’t like being chased?” “Depends who’s doing the chasing,” I shot back teasingly.
“Oh? So is it the chase you prefer, or the catch?”
I tossed my hair with pretend haughtiness. “You think you could catch me?”
“Pretty sure I already did.”
My heart did a crazy tumble through my chest and a grin stretched my mouth. I couldn’t hold it back any more than I could stop the blush heating my cheeks.
“Well,” I began dramatically, spreading my arms as I stepped backward, “do I look—”
My heel caught on a tree root hidden in the grass. Squealing, I pitched over, arms wind-milling. My back hit the ground, the air punched from my chest, and I blinked dazedly at the overcast sky.
Damn it.
Ezra’s face appeared above mine. He crouched at my side, his expression drawn into grave concern. “Tori, are you still with me?”
I choked on a laugh and whispered, “Ezra? Is that you?”
“I’m here.” He took my hand and patted it gently. “Just hang in there.”
I fluttered my fingers. “Everything is growing dark.”
“Go toward the light, Tori.”
My eyebrows quirked. “Shouldn’t I go away from the light?”
“It doesn’t have the same ring,” he decided. “You’ll have to go toward the light.”
“Toward the light it is.” I waited a moment. “Now what?”
He took my hands and folded them on my chest in the classic body-in-casket pose—and I lost it. Cackling with laughter, I sat up and checked the grass stain on my elbow.
“Next time, I’ll make you laugh first,” I promised. He grinned as he stood. “You can try.”

About the Author 

Annette Marie is the author of Amazon best-selling YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, and romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter. Her first love is fantasy, but fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it's not quite that bad) with her husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.
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