Operation Dark Angel: The Rise of Nicolaitanes (The Apocalypse #1) by Pam Funke

This book is not a genre that I typically read which may go a very long way toward explaining why I had such a difficult time getting into the story. The story revolves around the birth, life and goals of Nicolaitanes Balac and his desire to rule the world. Peripheral characters  are brought into his "camp" to accomplish this goal and become major players in Nicolaitanes' plans.

From a miraculous conception to his meteoric rise to power, the lead male character is quietly ruthless and most of the time, careful to hide the evil within from the people surrounding him.He claims to be working for world peace, but is he really? Why is he bringing together such a disparate collection of individuals? Who is the voice that is talking to people, commanding them?

Once again, I tried to expand my reading "boundaries." Unfortunately, I was not successful this time. The story is well written, and also seemed to be well edited. Without a doubt, the author was meticulous in her research and knowledgeable of her subject as she wove her story. Her characters were believable as was the plot. I was simply unable to connect to either the story or the characters. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon and Smashwords.

Final Hour of the Hunter; Midnight Hunter Trilogy, Book 3 by Bonnie Bernard

Donna, Hunter and all their friends have been enjoying a peaceful two years since the end of the Underworld war. That all changes when Ursula, a vengeful goddess of Chaos shows up making demands. Donna can either provide a lock of hair from each of the twins, or those she loves will start disappearing. Of course, she refuses, Josh and Jaz are the children of two of her best friends.

New characters have come out to play; the Trickster (who stole the original book of prophecy from Raoul and Frederick), Ursula, goddess of Chaos, and Mara (Somebody has a wife they thought had died.). Once again, not everyone is who they seem to be. Alicia (goddess of perfect female beauty) is back and sticking her cute nose in where it doesn't belong, at least according to the rules. But hey, what's a little rule bending if no one else finds out, right?

One by one, people important to Donna start disappearing, each one a little closer to home. Cassie is the first one to go missing and Howie and the kids aren't one bit happy. Bernard has really amped up the volume for the final book in the trilogy. In addition to people going missing, someone is messing with the minds of ordinary humans. Thanks to Ursula, the whole town has just gotten a lot crazier, more paranoid and she's not done yet.

This is the best book of the trilogy with some surprises at the end. I also hope that the ending was just a taste of another trilogy to come. If so, I'm definitely going to pick it up. There were a few errors, but overall, I enjoyed the book enough that I didn't want to see it end. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Dawn of the Hunter; Midnight Hunter Trilogy, Book 2 by Bonnie Bernard

Donna is happily married to Hunter and raising their first child, Lucinda. Best friend Mo is doing her best to raise her son, not quite alone. She's a frequent visitor and is now seeing Trent. All is not peace and harmony though. Mo still doesn't like Hunter and the feeling is mutual. She also doesn't like Donna's newest friend, Jacqelina, whom she feels is up to no good. Of course, Mo's right.

Lucinda is kidnapped and Donna gets a visit from the disgraced Underworld goddess of beauty. Alicia tells her she will need the help of the demon Howie Evil to rescue her daughter. Instead of waiting for help from the vampires she and Hunter share the house with like she was told, Donna rushes off like the fearful mother she is to demand his help. The contrary, ornery demon comes through, not only restoring Lucinda to her mother, but rescuing the Prophecy Reader as well.

Howie is such a character. He owns a gun shop and creates special weapons for his supernatural customers. He also hates "stupid" humans. Of course, there aren't any smart ones, but that's beside the point. Howie kept me in stitches. He is so hateful you pretty much have to love him. His behavior is contrary to what he says. He makes it his goal to keep the stupid humans afraid of him, but that doesn't last for very long. Howie is full of Bernard's signature wit. Even though he's a supporting character, Howie is one of my favorite in this story. No matter how rude or offensive he gets, I just can't help smiling.

The Child of the Prophecy and the Prophecy Reader must be protected at all costs. That job seems to be much easier than convincing Donna's and Mo's parents of the need to move in with Donna and Hunter for their own safety. They also have to convince their parents demons and vampires exist.

There is no doubt Dawn of the Hunter is just as engaging as the first book. Bernard has done it once again. There were a couple of missed editing/proofreading errors (less than a handful) that created a hiccup in my reading, but I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment of the Midnight Hunter Trilogy. It was definitely worth my time to reread this book. The 3-star rating is strictly due to the missed errors, otherwise I would have happily given this book 4 stars.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Midnight Hunter; Midnight Hunter Trilogy, Book 1 by Bonnie Bernard

Take a college girl dreaming of a strange man while pursued by another, add a best friend who knows more than she'll admit, throw in a little reincarnation, a few paranormal characters and you have Bonnie Bernard doing what she does best. Welcome to a paranormal romance with a side of prophecy, chaos and revenge.

What's a girl to do when her best friend insists you have to go with her to a club for high school kids? Why, go with her, of course! What Donna McCormick doesn't know about the darker side of town could get her killed. Her best friend didn't tell her she's the bait to catch a serial kidnapper, one who's been grabbing girls from the club that aren't seen again and just happen to fit Donna's description. Anger, hurt feelings, a brief argument later and Donna agrees to be the bait anyway.

There's more wrong in town than tall blonde girls going missing. The police aren't doing anything about it and couldn't care less. Anyone on the force who does, turns up missing. Things are getting strange in town and are about to get stranger and more dangerous. Cryptic warnings from a strange man hiding in the shadows, rescued by the same man after a bizarre encounter with the police and Donna couldn't get any more confused. Her dreams are becoming nightmares that leave bruises behind when she wakes up.

Bernard has created a great fantasy world with a wonderful cast of paranormal characters. She's taken what we thought we knew about vampires and put a new twist on them. And of course her signature wit just makes it even better. I enjoyed this book so much the first time I read it that I immediately bought the sequels and tore through them as well. I've read this book a few times and expect I'll be reading it again sometime. Each time the experience is just as good as the previous.

For me, this was a fun, easy read. I enjoyed her characters immensely. The way they interact with each other kept me entertained all the way through. Dante, Trent, and Samee are a blast. Mo, the best friend is just too much fun, too suspicious of everyone, but a girl couldn't ask for a better best friend. I would so love to see each of these characters get their own book. (Hint, hint, Bonnie).  Make sure to read the other books in the series as well. Definitely worth the time.

This book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. At the time of this review, Midnight Hunter was free at all three booksellers.

Awaken by HJ Daly

The war with Alphamore is over but Esa still isn't safe. There are people out there who fear the amount of power she wields. If they can't force her to use her power for their benefit, they don't want her running around free. And for them, dead is a better choice.

Early on the friends are attacked and Esa is injured. Thomas stumbles upon them in the aftermath of the fight and takes them to his father's home. As he learns something about how hard the last two years have been for Esa, she discovers not everyone is grateful for her part in ending the war. Feared and unwanted at every turn, Esa finds even love can hide the face of an enemy.

Esa still carries the emotional scars from the war and only her trust in Rootu keeps her sane. Only the knowledge that she is all he has left in the world keeps her from completely giving up. Tired of fighting and death, all she wants is someplace to call home where she can live in peace. That's not going to happen. Another power is rising and everyone needs to be afraid. It has its eye on Esa and will use her to get what it wants. Life altering choices are going to be made and death is in someone's future.

Unlike the first book, I was pulled into Awaken immediately and it didn't let go. I am absolutely not a night person. I like sleeping when it's dark out. Yet this book grabbed onto me and didn't let go until the end, at 3:30 in the morning. Then it ended on a cliffhanger. Daly has earned the fifth star with this book. The next one cannot come out soon enough for me. Although the book will stand alone alright, you will get much more out of it by reading Pulse first. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Coffin Girls, Elegantly Undead by Aneesa Price

I read this after having read the second book in the series and I think that's okay. Both books are complete unto themselves, yet work very well together seamlessly. I loved Price's definition of "coffin girls," aka: casket girls. Nope, not defining it for you, you'll have to read the book.

This book has it all and in spades. There's vampires, witches, vampire witches, a voodoo queen, a werewolf and an interesting collection of other supernatural characters. Stirring everything up is one of the most oddball senses of humor I've come across in a book. Price's quirky humor is all over the place, from the poor distraught maid-of-honor, to the ghosts spying on a delegation of witches. She kept it going. Her phrasing is just exquisite. I laughed out loud (?!), and more than once. Things just pop up out of nowhere at you and you can't help yourself.

From a wedding on the plantation to rescuing kidnapped witches from power hungry vampires, there's nothing slow about this story. The characters are well developed with each one having strengths and weaknesses of their own. The fun the characters have with each other kept me smiling. I enjoyed Miss Suzette and her Cajun mama ways of taking care of the girls and anyone else who stepped into her kitchen. Raulf was my favorite character in this story, so I hope I can look forward to seeing him feature in his own book someday.

There were problems in the editing that detracted from the story somewhat, but I was hooked. I enjoyed the story immensely. I really wanted to give this book four stars. Unfortunately, due to the errors missed in beta reading/editing I wasn't able to do so. The three star rating is strictly due to the errors in the book. I am most certainly looking forward to revisiting these characters and enjoying their escapades in future books. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Pulse by HJ Daly

This story is set in a post-apocalyptic world sometime after a pulse has taken down the barrier between the "first world" (ours) and the "second world." Although the residents of the second world have always been able to see our world through the barrier, humans have never even been aware of another world existing alongside theirs.

The protagonist in this story is a young orphan girl named Esa. Living on the streets and fending for herself, Esa doesn't trust anyone. A hard life of living on the streets and doing what ever it takes to survive has taught her nothing is free, and trusting someone else can be fatal. Night is coming and Esa needs to find someplace to spend it. Having found shelter from the night and pouring rain, Esa finds she is sharing her shelter with Rootu, a spinner from second world. He rapidly becomes one if the few people she learns to trust.

A war is brewing in second world and beginning to spill over into ours. Elves, humans, mages, goblins, and a host of fantastical creatures will be taking sides fighting an evil that wants ultimate power over both worlds. Someone is looking for Esa and she needs to stay alive long enough to find out why. Along the way she meets people willing to befriend and protect her. A life alone hasn't prepared her for the role she must play in the upcoming war. Visions sometimes let her know how a friend is doing and other time offer dire warnings she has to solve.

I had a bit of a time getting into this book. It wasn't until around chapter 3 I realized I really liked this book. The characters are well developed Their personalities came through very clearly. I loved Rootu and his pets, the way he'd scamper off when he saw something interesting. He's probably my favorite support character. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, the characters did or said something else.

Although this story wrapped up well, there were comments made by characters that lead me to think the author had left herself open for at least one sequel. I haven't looked yet to see if there is a sequel, but I  certainly hope so. I would love to visit this worldscape and these characters again. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. I've only given it three stars because it took a little perseverance for me initially to get into the story. Once there, I was hooked.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.