Before Christmas clean-up.

Christmas is nearing. It is but two weeks left and as usual the chores and preparations are building up although this year I actually got started on the Christmas presents a bit earlier than I usually do. Every year I tell myself that I should start early and every year it is a big fail. I guess this year ended up being a little bit of an exception.

Anyway, the backlog has been building up as usual and it is not going to get any shorter. Too much to do and when Christmas really starts and everything is done and prepared my reading usually picks up since Christmas for us is a stay-at-home family holiday.

So since I have some time between the preparations this Sunday it is time for a backlog clean-up so I do not start Christmas with an already large backlog.

Angry Goods (Chronicles of Zoey Grimm, #5).
By Theophilus Monroe.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

The gods might be crazy…

Some of them are pissed!

I couldn’t blame them.

How was I supposed to know that all the supernatural nasties I’d reaped were going to overrun Olympus?

Most of these gods hadn’t been on earth for thousands of years.

Some of them are enjoying themselves… a bit too much…

Others are looking for revenge. They’re coming for me.

It’s one thing to wonder whether I can possibly survive the wrath of the gods.

Now that they’re targeting innocent people to draw me out, I have to ask…

Is it possible to reap a god?

Meh. From being a rather nice urban fantasy series about the young reaper Zoey Grimm this series has gone down the path of adding every imaginable God and supernatural entity under the Sun, or in the case of some supernaturals not so much under the sun. It is too much. The story is not really about Zoey any more on is too messy for my taste.

Magi Omen (The Magi Saga, #3).
By Andrew Dobell.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

Nothing good ever comes from a Prophecy.

New York has been liberated!
Lucian and his dark Magi gang are gone.
Following the rumours of the red-head who killed him, Magi from around the world are coming to Manhattan. But not everyone is friendly.

The Inquisition want her destroyed.
The Nomads want to torture her, and then kill her.
Even some of the American Magi want her gone.
But, at least her love life is also a mess!

Elsewhere in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, the plans of the mysterious Syndicate are nearing completion.

Meanwhile, revelations about her past and future come to light.
Amanda must deal with this new information and find the strength to overcome the forces of darkness.

I really wanted to like this one since I like the overall story arc and I want to know what happens next.

Unfortunately the author ruined the book by forcing down a bunch of woke bullshit about the characters sexuality and free-love crap. When will authors realize that there is really only a very small, but loud-mouthed, community that cares about these things?

Witch With a Problem (Witch Warrior, #6).
By T.R. Cameron and  Martha Carr.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

Shifters to the left, gangsters to the right… Cait Keane and her dragon partner Aza are stuck in the middle.

The problems are mounting for the newest member of Boston’s US Marshals. Her coven is pressed by territorial shifters, and the wolves have a secret partner who has plans of her own.

Cait might even be the target of the assassin she helped arrest – before his escape. Or maybe it is just a lone criminal with a grudge who’s after Judge Flynn.

Cait’s not buying it. Everything seems connected, and every new door that opens just brings more trouble.

An invisible menace on Oriceran. An art thief in Boston. Most frightening of all, a growing romantic connection to Shane, her mysterious partner in crime, who believes she’s someone she’s not.

It will take everything she has to untangle the knots. And every bit of help her allies can provide. Fortunately, her sisters Brianna and Aisling and her fellow Marshals are at her back.

Plus, of course, Aza, and her deepening connection to the Dragon that makes them both more dangerous to their foes.

As the balance of power in the city shifts unpredictably between the Dragons and the Roses, the path forward is cloudy, and beset with dangers. And lingering in the shadows, the threat of the Rhazdon artifacts lurks over everything, always at the corner of her mind. The stakes are high – the risks, higher.

The US Marshal with something extra wouldn’t have it any other way.

I do not have much to say about this one. It is a fairly standard urban fantasy novel with the usual elements. I like the main protagonist and the general story. It is a simple, enjoyable light read.

Trinity’s Children (Trinity, #2).
By Dave Bara.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

ONCE A DEFECTOR, NOW A LEADER, JARED CLEMENT MUST RISE TO THE OCCASION OR BE RESPONSIBLE FOR GENOCIDE

Jared Clement has returned to Trinity, not as a mere ship captain but as a Five Suns Fleet Admiral. With his promotion comes increased responsibility that weighs heavy on his shoulders: 30,000 settlers are leaving the dying planets of the Rim, his home, and resettling next to the natives of the planet Bellus. 

Clement is responsible for those lives and the lives of the natives, Trinity’s children, and for building a better future for them all. But when his migrant fleet arrives in the Trinity system, they are faced with enemies both old and new. Former Fleet Admiral Elara DeVore has escaped her exile on the planet Alphus and vanished into parts unknown. Soon, however, Clement discovers she has a new fleet and a new ally, the Solar League from Earth. The Solar League has arrived with a massive fleet and plans on taking Trinity for itself, forcing the Five Suns to surrender. With just a small military fleet to accompany the migrants, Clement is faced with the almost impossible task of defending both his people and the natives from becoming slaves of the Solar League.

I gave the first book, Trinity, a four out of five star rating. Although I found this book enjoyable as well I cannot give it more than three out of five stars.

It is still a good book but I just did not get the same this-is-good-reading feeling as with the first one. There are some really predictable twists and part of the story felt like some rather contrived attempts to drag it out.

Dark Witch Magic (Supernatural Criminal Investigations, #3).
By Lyn South.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2 out of 5 stars.

The SCI team is called in to investigate when a group of teens are murdered by what appears to be wild animals during a camping trip.

But this is no ordinary case. Supernatural forces are at work, and the attacks continue.

As the team delves deeper, they discover zealot vampire Cain Abrams’ alliance with the werewolves is responsible for the attacks.

His goal? To control the narrative of the vampires’ emergence into the public eye and convince humans that only he can be their savior from the werewolf scourge.

Abrams didn’t count on vampire diplomat Oz Reyes partnering with Kat Troy and her team to stop him. With the clock ticking and lives at stake, they must find a way to end his reign of terror.

As they get closer to the truth, they realize they’re not just up against werewolves this time.

Jazmin falls for Gunnar Lucas, a handsome sheriff’s deputy. But she has no idea that he is hiding a dark and dangerous secret that could escalate the werewolf attacks.

Can he be trusted, or is he working with the enemy?

The vampire leader of the SCI team holds an even darker secret, although she doesn’t remember it.

When Kat went into hiding to protect her daughter from her enemies, a powerful witch cast a spell to keep her and her family from being found. The SCI investigates the coven and werewolf attacks while Ruby and the Barnes witches search for the witch who placed the spell on Kat.

When Kat finally catches up to the murderers who killed her daughter, she discovers that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. The evidence trail leads straight to her vampire enemy, Cain.

It will take all of the team’s skills to track down the murderers and stop the bloodshed.

The body count rises, and the attacks grow bolder and more frequent.

Can Kat, Oz, and the team find a way to restore peace to the supernatural world and save humanity in the process?

This is one of the better books in this round-up. I really like Kat with her no-nonsense kick-ass attitude as well as her team. I do not really like this federal agent bitch that lurks in the shadows though and I hope Kat takes her down soon.

The twist with Kat and her hidden powers is quite cool. Provided that the author doesn’t drag it out too much though. If she doesn’t get her powers back in the next book I will be disappointed.

Alien Arcana (Starship’s Mage, #4).
By Glynn Stewart.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.

An alien ruin
A murdered archeologist
An ancient secret—and a conspiracy that will kill to keep it!

When a scientist is murdered after finding signs of alien magic in an archeological dig, Mage Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King of Mars, is sent to investigate both the murder and the alien runes.

His investigation is interrupted when a mysterious ship attacks the ruins with weapons only available to the Martian Navy. Despite saving the dig site, Montgomery is left with more questions than answers.

His investigations reveal questions about the origin of his magic and his nation—and lead him back to the one place that should be safe: the court of the Mage-King of Mars.

This book is undoubtedly that star in this round-up. It continues this series four star track record. There are plenty of mystery, investigations and action (both magical and otherwise) in this book. There are also some quite interesting twists in the book.

However, there are some rather worrying conspiracies with potentially far reaching consequences and I really hope the author does not go too far with this part of the story.

Overall a really good book though.