definitely, possibly, maybe

book 5 in the fire's edge series continues to propel the intricate story of the dragon clans forward. again focused on the american contingent, the ties between the companion series inferno rising series are there, and for maximum enjoyment i strongly recommend reading the series in publication order .  the protector focuses on lyndi chandall the sole female-born dragon shifter based with the huracan enforcers, and the beta of the team, gold dragon, levi rowtag. it is a well-known fact that female dragons are sterile and therefore can't mate, but in a world where the rules about dragon shifters are falling apart, the connection between levi and lyndi can't be denied.  from the moment they met 200 years ago, levi has known lyndi was his mate. but she mistook his reaction as a rebuff, and they've been at cross-purposes ever since. but as the situation around them grows desperate, levi can't deny the connection anymore. and lyndi can't resist giving into temptatio...

i wasn't entirely sold on the concept for bane's choice , since i'm not really one for motorcycle club stories, but it also didn't feel like your usual motorcycle club romance rife with misogyny, so i decided to take a chance.  the vampire stuff i found interesting, the motorcycle club stuff felt extraneous but didn't bother me, but oh man did i dislike this heroine. like i'm all for standing up for yourself and being able to protect yourself from danger. but this dimwit was like oh there's a newly turned vampire who will be crazed with bloodlust and none of that matters because he is my patient. he's dead. he's a paranormal being who's vitals actually don't matter and he's going to kill you because you are food to him.  like there's being a badass and there's being stupid. and i thought ryan was totally stupid. she was so stupid that i just couldn't bring myself to care about anything related to her, which killed the romance ...

n.b. i am linda's literary agent, so disclaimers about bias here.  blood rogue finds vampire charles towner at war with the person who has been his surrogate father. if that weren't enough, he's also tangled up with a too-smart-for-her-own-good human who also happens to be impervious to the memory-wiping abilities that vampires can usually use on humans to keep their existence secret.  if you like vampire stories with a little science-based fact thrown in for fun, this is the book for you. **blood rogue will publish on september 8, 2020. 

the second book in the stay a spell series finds us following a newer to us savoie sister. isadora was out of town during the events of  wolf gone wild . i'd been kind of rooting for violet and nico, or jules and ruben, but they will probably be last because there's so much history there that is worth building up. anyway, don't hex and drive  kicks off with a meet-disaster when devraj (our super special vampire hero, he's a stygorn and that means he's like super strong and has enhanced abilities) crashes his car into isadora's bike.  isadora is a conduit, and her abilities are mostly focused on healing. devraj happens to be in town to investigate some missing girls. and it's inevitable that isadora gets looped into the case.  i really enjoyed the interplay between isadora and devraj. from the get-go it was pretty clear that they were uniquely well-suited. it just took some time for isadora to get on board too.  this was just another delightful entry in this ...

i am pretty much obsessed with the inferno rising and fire's edge series, so have been looking forward to the latest release. the blood king  basically picks up from where the rogue king left off. and the stakes for these characters only continues to get higher.  skylar amon thinks she's going to save her sister from an unwanted match when she shows up in the upstart blue dragon king's enclave. except kasia is happy and in love, and revealing her presence just made her a pawn in the political games that abound in the dragon shifter world.  ladon omarr makes no apologies for the things he's done and the things he has to do to cement his power. he's not doing it because he wants it, he doing it because he needs to. because he's the only person willing to stand up and make the difficult choices it takes to be a leader.  both skylar and ladon have protective streak a mile wide. and as they get to know each other, the fact that they are destined for each other become...

this queer superhero story is truly a fun read. set in a world where there are folks with x-men like abilities, in the extraordinaries , nick bell is a shadow star stan. he writes fan fiction loosely based on his favorite extraordinary and if it's a romance with a character based loosely on himself, well, it's his prerogative. nick also is still reeling from the loss of his mother. plus he has to deal with his adhd wreaking havoc with his concentration and occasionally his life. and his overprotective dad. and his annoying ex-whatever.  with the school year starting he's hoping he can finally get more time with his best friend seth, but seth is just as distant and preoccupied as he was all summer. and then nick meets shadow star in person. and it's like he knows him. but shadow star's battles with pyro storm (the villain, particularly in nick's fanfic universe) are getting bigger and more and more dangerous. and when nick has an encounter with pyro storm, it...

starcrossed is book two in the magic in manhattan series, and should absolutely be read after reading spellbound . as it literally picks up from where book one ended. rory and ace are upstate, trying to stay safe, but relics are on the loose and danger abounds for subordinate supernaturals. and rory, oh grumpy rory, can't help himself and keeps finding it. and ace, oh sweet ace, can't stop himself from worrying. these two souls from completely different worlds are just perfection together. and there's a lot thrown at them during this story, including hot ex-boyfriends and friendly (or unfriendly) former foes. but even as they navigate the chaos, one thing becomes very clear. rory and ace are better together than they are apart. and this is a world i am happy to continue to inhabit as long as allie continues to want to write it. **starcrossed will publish on may 18, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press/allie therin in exchange ...

the war between the fairy courts comes to a head in the iron crown .  lugh, the youngest of queen mab's sons has spent his life avoiding the shadows of the dead and living among the wild hunt. his best friend, the love of his life, kieran, his ever-present companion. the hardest thing about this story is that if you've read books 1 and 2, you have information that the characters do not have, so part of the time i read, i was just desperate for them to catch up to where we left off in book 2. however, you kind of need to have read books 1 and 2 to really enjoy and understand what is happening. this is a complex and detailed world, and not having some of the context from the earlier stories, you will be a bit lost. lugh and kieran's love story is a satisfying slow burn, and the story is resolved in a very satisfying way. i couldn't put the book down as soon as i picked it up, it's just that engrossing. **the iron crown will publish on april 6, 2020. i received...

set in new orleans,  wolf gone wild  kicks off a new paranormal world for the stay a spell series, in a city filled with magic and blood and sex. mateo is cursed, a werewolf who can't shift, is a werewolf in trouble. he's lucky to have as much control as he does over his wolf. but he's beginning to see a point where that control will snap. so he seeks out one of the savoie witches who rule new orleans. specifically the one they say is a hex-breaker, evie. from the moment they meet there's a spark of connection. mateo knows it. evie knows it. and so does mateo's wolf, alpha. so here's what you need to know about mateo. for a werewolf, he's seriously a good guy. there's none of that hyper or toxic masculinity. he's gentle and even-tempered. he's a creative soul who makes metallic sculptures for a living. his wolf, alpha is a total horn dog. and the contrast between the two is both startling and hilarious. this story is atmospheric and s...

book 4 in the fire's edge series picks up drake chandall's story. in the enforcer , the red dragon is experiencing side effects of his premature aging due to the fact that he hasn't found his mate. when he almost fails to save a woman during a fire, he realizes he's become a liability to his team and goes rogue. the last thing he expects is to reencounter the woman he nearly failed to save. and when it becomes clear that camilla bears the mark of a dragon mate, the same mark that belongs to his high king, drake knows that has to keep her safe at all costs. as compelled as he is toward camilla, he is afraid of taking any steps that might tie her to him, he believes that there is no reversing the aging process, and he doesn't want camilla's life to be bound to his. but the connection between them is undeniable, and the fire's edge crew continues their path to a confrontation with dragon leadership over how mates are found and selected. i can't wait f...

graveyard shift , book 3 in the not dead yet series, finds wes and hudson tackling new mysteries and old foes. the crew is as enjoyable as ever and the mystery keeps you riveted as do the relationships between all the characters. the supernatural world growing bigger and broader than in the previous novels. the story stands alone, but you lose something if you don't read the first two in the series. these characters have a history and their arc over the course of the series has been deeply satisfying to read. **graveyard shift will publish on november 4, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press in exchange for an honest review. 

full disclosure: i am megan stark's literary agent, and i love, love this story. so i'm totally biased, but you guys, this book.... house of ash & brimstone was a manuscript i picked up and then couldn't put down until i finished reading it. the action starts right away and the first thing i remember thinking was i love the buffy-esque vibes. gisele is a kickass half-demon bounty hunter who has no idea that her latest bounty is setting her on a collision course with the past that she can't remember and the family that she's better off not reacquainting herself with. when she saves a minotaur from imprisonment, she gains a bodyguard/partner she can trust in beast. something she relishes given that her day job has saddled her with a partner she doesn't trust at all, the mysterious shade who keeps popping up where he shouldn't. but as the past unravels itself into gigi's present, the pull she feels toward shade begins to make sense. but as deal...

the follow up to seventh born , mirror bound , might suffer a bit of sophomore slump in that it's a book that is perhaps trying to do too much. the fantasy, the magic, the forbidden romance are all there, but so is the shadowy government subplot and more magical rules and exams and schooling. but all of these elements are still good. the story is still enjoyable and the chemistry between sera and nik is still so compelling. just make sure you pick up book one before this one, as it is definitely part of a series and you will be missing something if you haven't read what came before. **mirror bound will publish on september 10, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in exchange for my honest review. 

brand astarot is a rogue dragon who has survived under incredible odds. his one goal is to become part of the blue clan (the clan who allowed him to stay close and whose king he helped put in power) and take his revenge on the dragon who killed his family. when he's sent on an errand to find a mysterious woman by the blue king, he doesn't ask too many questions. but kasia amon isn't what she seems. she is a phoenix. one of four sisters, some of whom may also have the full power of a phoenix, they were forced to scatter when their mother was killed by the crazed red king. this story has some crossover into the fire's edge series, which i've read, so i had no trouble keeping up with the overarching mythology, but it's not necessary to read those books too. but like, why not read those books, because like the   rogue king  they are all hella good. **the rogue king will publish on july 30, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangl...

book 2 in the not dead yet series, picks up not long after book 1 ends. in give up the ghost , wes and hudson are making a go of things, except that wes is keeping a very big secret from his vampire lover. there were aftereffects to the events that occurred in book 1, and i would recommend to anyone interested in picking this book up, start there. this is decidedly a continuation of the story, even though book 1 functioned as a standalone. you continue to spend time with the crew of people we met, and a few new friends too. but this story really just continues to immerse us in this world, and i loved every second of it. **give up the ghost will publish on june 3, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press in exchange for my honest review. 

when half-fae, half-vampire holden is brought into an active murder investigation in blood is forever , he's frustrated by the fact that he is unable to help the way he is expected to. these murders, how they are occurring, are stranger than usual. and his failure pushes him to work harder to solve them. when he is paired with witch royalty, val blackwood, everything breaks open. but not before he finds himself entirely taken with val and too enmeshed in the case to be considered objective anymore. this case is bigger than them. it's bigger than the council demanding they solve it. and the implications have significant consequences for them both. i enjoyed the mystery and was willing to go along with the twists and turns this story took. and i can see a future for more stories set in this universe. **blood is forever will publish on june 3, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/ninestar press in exchange for my honest review.

full disclosure: i'm the literary agent of record on 8 souls . so obviously there is a lot i love about this book. and i'm going to tell you what those things are. and why those things had me sign rachel up to be my client and why you might also enjoy this book. as a literary agent one of the things i do to search for talent is review query letters. these are essentially cold-call emails from prospective authors telling me about their book and why i should read it. query letters are good practice for back cover copy, and i wish more authors thought of them that way. just how like a reader is in a book store and picks up your book and flips to the back to see what it's about, and then maybe opens the first page and reads a couple of sentences, that's what an agent does with a query letter. and i'll be honest, i wasn't sure about this book rachel was pitching me. i usually read contemporary ya romance. not true crime. but this book is inspired by a true crim...

book 3 in the fire's edge series, the rookie , has rookie firefighter/orphaned dragon shifter aiden finding his soulmate where he least expects it. he'd thought the dreams he had of sera were a product of his overactive imagination and desire for her. little did he know that she had shared the visions too. in the daylight hours, he does his best to stay away from her, not realizing how hurtful and confusing she finds it because she is as drawn to him as he is to her. and when her fire brand is revealed, it's clear why. he is meant to be hers, even though her brand is three families entwined, she knows from his reaction, from the depths of her very soul that she is meant to be his. but the mating process for dragon shifters has become dangerous and highly politicized. and the fire's edge team has already broken more than a few rules. soon it will be all out war, and the rookie  takes up that intensity. i can't wait to see where the next book in the series tak...

the apocalypse rages on in hardest fall , and bone continues to forge the weapons asked of her without picking a side. but when george the demon hunter and dommiel the fallen angel bring her a fellow demon hunter, george's cousin, who has been mortally wounded things start to change. maybe it's actually when she uses her seraph powers to stitch together xander's heart. his heart mending triggers her own sort of healing. because xander sees her as redeemable. he sees that making a choice is inevitable, and he believes she will choose good. and so he chips away at her armor. at the being she has become as bone. and he discovers who she was before. carowyn the seraph. and he uses her name and brings her back to her truest self. this crew of characters are literally battling with the demon princes of hell, the stakes are as high as ever, and somehow the swoony romance is absolute perfection. i loved dommiel and anya to pieces in darkest heart . but xander an...

i was excited to see moonsworn   available for review, because i have a little history with this manuscript and i wanted to see what the finished product ended up like. (full disclosure: in my other life as a literary agent, i read this manuscript and thought that there was a lot that worked, but a few key elements that didn't, so i gave the author a revise and resubmit letter. she did resubmit, but at that point she had received an offer of publication, i am assuming from wild rose press, since they are the publisher and the timing makes sense. i was happy to see that some of my recommended edits made it into the final version of this manuscript, and i really do hope to see some of the potential books the author outlined to me as part of the series make it to press. it's funny to have a backstage view of things sometimes.) anyway, moonsworn  introduces us to the pine richland and steel valley werewolf packs. kaelan o'cur and tavis alger are rival heirs to their res...