Undead Duo

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes

Some people are born boring. Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort.


One fateful night – different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful – Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver wereponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to “survive.” Because even after it’s over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.

Rate & take

Ah, Fred, my new, book best friend. I've read a many a vampire tale but none come close to Fred. Scaredy-cat Fred is still the same undead as he was alive, and while he might shun it, the unpredictable and exciting seem to find him, a lot. This first book was a little stiff (pun intended) but it was still original enough to hold my interest and continue on to the second book...see review below.

Undeath and taxes

After discovering just how filled with magic, intrigue, and adventure the parahuman world of being an Undead American can be, Fredrick Frankford Fletcher did exactly what was expected--he became a certified parahuman accountant. Myths and legends, as it turns out, are not so great at taking appropriate deductions and keeping their receipts, and Fred is more than happy to return to a life others view as woefully dull, expanding his accounting business to cater to various monsters and their respective financial needs.

Said monsters are, unfortunately, still spectacular at pulling Fred into trouble, though. And despite merely wanting to stick with simple paperwork, Fred once again finds he is going to have to deal with enchanted weaponry, government agents, possessed houses, and one enigmatic dragon’s interest. In the parahuman world, any business can turn deadly, even one as mundane as accounting.

Rate & take

I could not wait to jump right into this book after reading the first one and I was rewarded with a wonderful read. So filled with life (yup, I'll own that pun too) and crazy great situations. No word whether this was the last book or not. I sure hope not because I could see myself hangin' with Fred and the gang for some time to come.

Some Laughs

Shopping for a Billionaire - boxed set by Julia Kent

No? So it really is just me. Hmm.

When you're a mystery shopper, you get paid to humiliate yourself, all in the name of improving customer service. Romance isn't in my job description. But the day I met Declan McCormick it was love at first flush. 

Until I nearly castrated him with my EpiPen.

How Hot Guy and Toilet Girl became an item involves my crazy mom, a trip to the ER, my homicidal cat, my fake wife, and true love.

Don't look at me like that. I'm just doing my job.

I'm shopping for a billionaire.

Rate & take

I remember years ago romance novel buyers would be content with chasing after the elusive millionaire, oh how times have changed. What with inflation and recent economic woes for most regular folks, we now can't afford a mere millionaire, to be worth our time he needs another comma to his stats. So as not to buy into the snobbery I try not to read any book that list the first quality of a guy by how big of a baller he is. But here is where I lapsed, and I won't ask forgiveness because 1) It won't happen again and 2) I really did get some solid laughs out of this book. Like right in the middle of cubical world (where I sit at work) laughs that I could not hold in - and made no excuses for! There was some repetitiveness in the writing but most of the time the humor helped me over that nicely. 

Were' lovin' & more

Werewolves of New York by Faleena Hopkins

This is a stand-alone complete story with no cliffhangers. 18+

Michelle Nero is a smart, savvy, curvy brunette…and a very loyal friend. So much so that she leaves a club where she locked eyes with the most handsome man she’d ever seen, to tuck her drunken friend Rose into bed. Forgetting to have the taxi wait for her, she finds herself walking home in the dark streets of Downtown Manhattan. When an unsavory villain throws her into the shadows of an alley, a powerful someone comes to her rescue, but she doesn’t know who. She’s too busy doing what he told her to do: RUN.

When he went to the club, Nathaniel Jacobs was looking for something superficial and very, very temporary. When a pretty brunette’s skirt accidentally hikes up and mortified, she flips around and locks eyes with him…something clicks inside his chest, and there’s nothing temporary about it. Needing to have her, he stalks her to Rose’s place and it’s a good thing, too, because there he discovers her being attacked in an alley. Acting fast, he lets his wolf out and lays waste to the bad guy. But he can’t tell Michelle it was him who saved her, even when she gazes up at him and demands to know why he knows where she lives when they’ve never said two words to each other.

He can’t tell her what he is…or can he? And will his three packmates let her be the first human they’ve ever told?

Rate & take

This little novella was just the right size for a few hours of afternoon entertainment. It was a simplistic story but that did not detract from my reading enjoyment at all. This book starts the 'Secretly Among Us', series, and it seems like each guy in the pack is going to score his mate in each individual book. There are 4 hot men in the pack and as of the writing of this, three books have already been published. Next time I have some spare cash I just might grab another guy or two!

Knight Ended

The Forever Queen by Nicola Dorrington

Cara thought fate and the magic of the Fair Folk were done with her the night she defeated Morgana Le Fey and restored the barriers between this world and Avalon. She was wrong.

Lance is trapped in Avalon, and something more powerful and more dangerous than anything Cara has yet faced is trapped in this world. The only way to fix it is to break an ancient and powerful spell, but first Cara will have to figure out who or what cast it.

In the meantime the line between Cara’s two worlds is blurring. There are those in this world who know who she is, and have plans of their own for her future. Those plans involve treason.

Unfortunately those same people hold the key to breaking the spell and Cara will have to choose between Lance, her future, and saving the world.

Rate & take

So, it's true, the series wasn't really a series but was rather a, what? Three books are a trilogy, but what should we call a two book story?? 
I just looked it up, a two book story is called a duology. Not as cool of a word as trilogy, but it's what we have to work with.

About this book, I liked it but it lacked a thread of magic that ran through the first book and some of the conflicts felt a bit too easily solved. However the author did mention the possibility of offshoot books so that lesser characters in the duology could have their turn in the sun too. I think I would be game to read them too!

Knightly swooning

The Last Knight by Nicola Dorrington

Like any teenage girl, Cara Page dreams of the future, the difference is, every day those dreams come true.

Now she's dreaming of a boy, and a future that can't be real. Because if it is, then everything she thought was myth and legend is actually true, and there is an evil coming that will tear the country apart.

Lance Filwer is a boy with secrets of his own, and a past full of mistakes he can't undo. Cara is his second chance, his chance to succeed where he failed before - if only she'll trust him enough to let him help her.

Cara needs to know what's happening, but the answer lies in a long forgotten past, and an ancient legend. To find it Cara will have to travel into the depths of Wales, and the heart of ancient Britain.

With Wraiths, creatures from the darkest of myths, dogging her every move, Cara knows it's only a matter of time before they catch up with her. And myth or not, they will kill her.

Her only hope is Lance, and the birthright she must claim, if she is to prevent the future she has foreseen.

Rate & take

This book is a YA listed under the Pendragon series, but the author calls the second book a sequel. In my next review I will report if book two feels like the end, or if maybe there will be more to come. I loved this read! It has a little bit of everything, time travel, magic, battles, looney bins, and of course, yummy boys. 

Crazy eights

Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones

With twelve hellhounds after her, pregnant Charley Davidson takes refuge at the only place she thinks they can’t get to her: the grounds of an abandoned convent. But after months of being cooped up there, Charley is ready to pop. Both metaphorically and literally since she is now roughly the size of a beached whale. Fortunately, a new case has captured her attention, one that involves a murder on the very grounds the team has taken shelter upon. A decades-old murder of the newly-vowed nun she keeps seeing in the shadows is almost enough to pull her out of her doldrums.

Charley’s been forbidden to step foot off the sacred grounds. While the angry hellhounds can’t traverse the consecrated soil, they can lurk just beyond its borders. They have the entire team on edge, especially Reyes. And if Charley didn’t know better, she would swear Reyes is getting sick. He grows hotter with every moment that passes, his heat scorching across her skin every time he’s near, but naturally he swears he’s fine.

While the team searches for clues on the Twelve, Charley just wants answers and is powerless to get them. But the mass of friends they’ve accrued helps. They convince her even more that everyone in her recent life has somehow been drawn to her, as though they were a part of a bigger picture all along. But the good feelings don’t last for long because Charley is about to get the surprise of her crazy, mixed-up, supernatural life….

Rate & take

If you could hear me you would know that I am sighing contentedly. Surely an unusual state of being for someone that now has to wait until January, 2016 for the next book in the series. But there you have it. The story, the characters, are just so delicious I feel satisfied with every book. Oh, I don't I think I shared something that makes me love these books even more: no cliff hangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!