witch

Throwback Thursday- Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Ceremony in Death (In Death, #5)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-In Death #5
Genre-Romantic Suspense
Reviewed by Kay
327 pages

It amazes me that this series hasn’t lost any luster for me yet. The build up of all the characters is slow but steady. I always enjoy these books and anticipate what will come next. Honestly, when I started this I was apprehensive and even had to call one of my blog partners to make sure there wouldn’t be demonic happenings in this story.

Eve’s latest case involves witchcraft and of course, murder. Ritualistic killings that are chilling in detail. Eve has to clear a deceased colleague which puts her at odds with Feeney, her mentor. Their big blow up scene left me in tears. Pain and anger are horrible feelings that evoke even more horrible responses. Guilt eats at Eve, to her very soul. She has to investigate a colleague, murders and fear for her very life. People are falsely accused and reputations left in tatters. The bad guys in this story are very bad and crazed. With the help of her usual cohorts she cracks this case where nothing is as it seems.

As usual, J.D Robb spins a great mystery and the ever growing love of Roarke for Eve. He is a great romantic lead male. I’ve already started the next book and look forward to the latest mystery unfolding before me.

Shadow’s Claim by Kresley Cole

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Shadow's Claim (The Dacians, #1)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-The Dacians #1
Reviewed by Kay

Trehan Daciano is the Prince of Shadows from the kingdom of Dacia. He is an assassin tracking Caspian, a demon that escaped from his secret realm. When he arrives to the kingdom of Abadin on Caspian’s trail, he finds Bettina. Bettina is the princess and soon to be queen. His vampire heart starts beating and he realizes she blooded him. That means she is his mate. Bettina fights their attraction for all she worth. To win Bettina, Trehan has to enter of fighting contest which is a last man alive contest. The winner of the contest gets the princess and gets to be King.

I loved Trehan as a hero but Bettina drove me nuts! Constantly moaning over a guy who made it plain for all to see that he didn’t want or love her. I thought Trehan deserved better. This was my first audio book and I think I liked listening to it better than if I would’ve read it. I had a great narrator. Over all I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one but probably only in audio format. I apologize for any and all misspellings as I didn’t read the book, I listened to it.

The Jezebel by Saskia Walker

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Jezebel
Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Low Kink
Genre: Historical set Paranormal
Series: Taskill Witches #3
Reviewed by Anne

Maisie is a witch.  After being forced to watch her mother burned at the stake, Maisie is taken in (actually, nearly kidnapped) by a very rich couple who keep her safe and raise her.  Unfortunately, her adoptive “father” Cyrus is also grooming her to be his possession and tool.  He raises her to be afraid of witch hunters and hide her powers, all while guiding her to use them for his benefit.  Once Maisie realizes what is going on, she runs away and talks ship captain Roderick Cameron into taking her aboard his ship, which is on its way to her homeland of Scotland.  In exchange for the trip she agrees give him her virginity.  He doesn’t believe she’s a virgin, but agrees to take her on in exchange for sex.

One of the most delightful things about this book is how this setup is quickly turned upside down.  Just reading the summary above or the back of the book blurb sets you up to think Maisie is sacrificing her virginity in order to escape a horrible situation.  In actuality, you find out quickly that losing her virginity will bring her into her full witchy powers.  She knows this, and is using Roderick for her own means.  This makes it so they come into this relationship on pretty equal grounds, and that was refreshing!
Maisie also turns out to really enjoy sex, and isn’t shy about that.  Roderick, in turn, really enjoys the fact that Maisie enjoys sex.  There’s no slut shaming and no “sex=evil” in this story which was great!  
 
Maisie is also a strong character.  She finds herself in a tough situation and devises a plan to get herself out of it.  I found myself rooting for her, and as much as I liked Roderick, I really wanted Maisie to be her own hero and save herself.  I want you to enjoy this book without me spoiling it for you, so I won’t detail how things worked out, but I was really happy with the resolution of things.
 
One final note: This is the third book in the Taskill Witches series. However, I had no problems following along without having read the first two. It stand alone very well – the only problem is you’ll want to go back and read the first two, because this one was so good!