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RELEASE BLITZ: In A New York Minute by Felice Stevens
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REVIEW: Liar City by Allie Therin
Sugar & Vice: Liar City – Allie Therin
A murder has Seattle on edge, and it falls to a pacifist empath—and a notorious empath hunter—to find the killer before it’s too late
It’s the middle of the night when part-time police consultant and full-time empath Reece gets an anonymous call warning him that his detective sister needs his help. At an out-of-the-way Seattle marina, he discovers that three people have been butchered—including the author of the country’s strictest anti-empathy bill, which is just days from being passed into law.
Soon, Reece’s caller a shadowy government agent known as The Dead Man, who is rumored to deal exclusively in cases involving empathy. He immediately takes over the investigation, locking out both local PD and the FBI, but, strangely, keeps Reece by his side.
As the two track an ever-growing trail of violence and destruction across Seattle, Reece must navigate a scared and angry city, an irritating attraction to his mysterious agent companion, and a rising fear that perhaps empaths like him aren’t all flight and no fight after all…
If there’s one book from this year’s reading list that had me going from “ugh, I’m bored” to “I need more now please, please, please!”, Liar City is it.
This is the opener of Allie Therin’s urban fantasy series, Sugar & Vice. It’s set in Seattle, where a mutation occurred that turned some humans into empaths. They are known to be the ultimate pacifists, willing to let someone crack their skulls rather than defend themselves when attacked because they feel other people’s pain and emotions.
Or so they say because, according to some politicians, empaths are actually very dangerous. And here we have a gruesome illustration of exactly how dangerous they can get.
Reece Davis is an empath and police consultant who unwittingly entangled himself in a murder after a mysterious individual called The Dead Man gave him cryptic warnings. This enigmatic, legendary figure is feared even by his badass sister, Detective Briony “Jamey” St. James.
The opening chapters were a miserable slog. There were lots of things going on, a squadful of characters I don’t care about suddenly popping on scene, but the plot barely moved forward. I was barely hanging on, but the very intriguing premise kept me going with promises of excitement and amazing displays of superpowers.
Things picked up once Reece started hanging out with The Dead Man, Evan Grayson. The man is the opposite of Reece. He doesn’t feel anything, has no expressions, and has enhanced abilities that make him nearly invincible.
Why he is the way he is one of the story’s biggest mysteries. And there are several, from a serial killer to Jamey’s secret abilities, to sinister research organizations, and Reece’s evolving powers. He’s also one of the most effective hooks that kept me glued because I was dying to know his backstory. We’re fed tiny crumbs of info about him here and there, which drove me crazy!
The story is told from multiple POVs, except Evan’s. Of course. The man just had to be all mysterious and shit. Love him! Meanwhile, Reece is a ball of good intentions and a hot mess of fuck ups. Still, hard to hate a real life Care Bear.
There is no romance here. Heck, they don’t even touch. There’s just a faintest impression of friendship. But Evan and Reece have the most intense squee-tastic chemistry and the only couple that made me say, “I need them to fuck”.
Which is ironic because a lot of books I read, I’d rather do without the sex scenes. The couples just don’t have the zing Evan and Reece have, and these two were as platonic as they come. And while I do enjoy the books, without the zing, the sex scenes feel obligatory.
Once the story hit its stride, it kept things moving fast. There’s still a lot going on but this time, I’m swept away by all the twists, turns and revelations. And once the action started, it became non-stop, edge-of-your-seat melee fights, chase scenes, and mental meltdowns. It’s a spectacle of chaos and mayhem, and I have never been so glad I stuck around to witness all of it!
And that’s not all. The ending was wonderful mix of frustrating and satisfying because we are fed bigger crumbs of Evan. That only made his mystique even more tantalizing. This will be the death of me!
Liar City went from almost DNF to one of the best books I’ve read this year. This is the kind of book I want to see as an anime. It certainly lived up to its promise of thrills, feels and big reveals!
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Feel the Pain
Artist: Dinosaur Jr
Album: Without A Sound
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LIAR CITY
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REVIEW: Zero Divergence by Aimee Nicole Walker
Zero Hour: Zero Divergence – Aimee Nicole Walker
Zero Divergence, noun: no deviation from a course or standard.
After a key piece of evidence goes missing, a suspected serial rapist and killer evades prosecution. More than Royce Locke’s reputation is on the line when his investigation into the failed chain of custody suggests Franco Humphries might’ve had inside help. There’s no one Royce trusts more than Sawyer Key to help him right a wrong and uncover the traitor in their midst, but can they do it before the Savannah Strangler strikes again?
Relentless plus fearless equals flawless. Sawyer and Royce have come full circle—from hostile strangers to best friends and lovers. Neither a sniper’s bullet nor an arsonist’s fire could keep them apart, but what about a psychopath hell-bent on revenge? The stakes are high, and there’s no turning back now because the zero hour is upon them. Tick tock.
Zero Divergence is the conclusion to the best-selling Zero Hour series, which follows Locke and Key’s investigations and evolving relationship. This is a series you MUST read in order. It contains mature language and sexual content intended for adults 18 and older.
Trigger warning: Part of the storyline involves coming to terms with a friend’s suicide, which may be difficult for some people to read.
Back when Zero Divergence was newly released, I read a review complaining about the unsatisfying parking lot HFN closing scene of the series finale. It put me off this book, but now we know author Aimee Nicole Walker has something more in store for Sawyer and Royce, in their second series, Sawyer and Royce: Matrimony and Mayhem.
Before I delve into that, this finale needs to be read.
The story picks up right after the big fire in Book 2, Devil’s Hour. Sawyer is coping with the aftermath of his injuries, bit of a blow to his vanity but trying not to let it so. Royce is the extra supportive and loving boyfriend so relationship-wise, the boys are stronger than ever. Uptight Sawyer now shows his playful side more often.
The plot tackles the case of a serial killer who was convicted but released after key evidence went missing. It is a disturbing tale of how charismatic serial killers could be and the lengths their rabid, deluded fans go through to aid and abet their evil schemes.
So the detectives had to play it smart, especially with the killer easily gaining sympathy and many people still believing his innocence. The investigation brought together various frenemies with the necessary skills, many of them characters from the spin off series, Sinister in Savannah.
This is the kind of mystery where I enjoy tagging along with the detectives. I am also heavily invested in them giving the villain his comeuppance. The bad guys were already known, and it was a matter of retracing evidence, and gathering new ones to make sure the vile bastard stayed in prison for good.
Zero Divergence doesn’t read like a series finale, and we now know why. But it gives us one hell of a showdown and a satisfying conclusion to a gripping investigation. Overall, a solid police procedural and a romantic suspense that delivers the squees and the thrills!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Bound
Artist: Indiana
Album
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Zero Divergence: US
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ZERO DIVERGENCE
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RELEASE TOUR: Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BOOK BLITZ: Starseer by Katya Hernandez (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Aisle Be There by Charlie Cochet
Runaway Grooms: Aisle Be There – Charlie Cochet
They say your wedding day is the beginning of your happily ever after.
But I’m pretty sure they never stood on a sweltering Florida beach getting ready to promise forever… only to change their mind at the last minute and be assaulted by a crustacean while fleeing the scene.
Once upon a time, I was a respected Navy officer. A guy who made a career out of managing chaos.
Now, I am the chaos, a groom on the run from my ex-fiance and his dad’s goons. Oh, and the guy driving the getaway car? That would be my ex-boyfriend, Jett.
Gorgeous. Brilliant. A guy I couldn’t help falling in love with twelve years ago.
The guy I realize I’ve always loved.
Did I mention he’s also a famous rock star on a sold-out summer tour?
This situation has disaster written all over it. But if I can manage the chaos, maybe I’ll get my happy ending after all.
Readers keenly following The Kings and their friends were teased by the opening scenes of this cute meet-disaster, second chance romance with a fake rock star boyfriend thrown in the mix, in the book Sleight of Hand.
Aisle Be There runs in the same humorous vein as Four Kings Security and its spin-off, The Kings: Wild Cards. Gage Kingston, cousin to Wade Kingston, aka King, is having the worst cold feet a couple of hours before his wedding to an overdramatic artist/influencer. A hermit crab in his suit finally drove him to run away, only to end up almost causing a tent stage to collapse and being rescued by none other than the rock star Jett Stevens, lead singer of Queen’s Hart. Also his ex.
I love Charlie Cochet‘s writing, and this offering is chockful of things I enjoy in her books. There’s the wacky found family in the awesome septuagenarian Queen’s Hart members who treated Jett like family. There’s the snark, the crazy antics, and the swoony romance with an adorable ex-military boyfriend in Gage.
This series is more of a straightforward contemporary romance compared to the action-oriented Kings series. Jett has big shoes to fill after his dad, Hart Stevens, passed away. Passionate and just as talented as his legendary dad, he is, nonetheless, doomed to forever live in the shadow of that legend, dimming his own brilliance in the process.
Which Gage was quick to observed, having seen Jett at his best in their younger days. And as a good boyfriend, even a fake one at that, did everything he could to make Jett feel like himself again. It had him butting heads with the band manager, Jett’s uncle, a manipulative, money-hungry bastard.
I had a lot of fun with this book, and being a lifelong rock music fan, I get a kick out of the bands namedropped here and there. Gage and Jett were adorbs! The cameos from the Kings and their friends were the cherry on top.
However, the story almost lost me at the crucial 3rd arc. I’ll try not to spoil it too much. It’s the part were the evil uncle was driving a wedge between Gage and Jett. He spewed some bullshit about Jett causing the self-sacrificing Gage to run away because of well-meaning crap of not wanting to ruin Jett’s dream. It frustrated me so much I wanted to throw the book.
First, it is well-established that the uncle is a manipulative bastard who will say anything to keep Jett under his thumb. Jett is aware of this. Had tried several times to fire the bastard, only to be outwitted. Gage is also very, very much aware of this. Plus, he just told himself he’s going to fight for his second chance with Jett. And, even made a note to talk to Jett, especially about his uncle.
Gage had confrontation with the evil uncle, who went on a villain monologue and told Gage he was bad for Jett’s dream project. Which the singer was supposedly working on for months but Gage had never heard Jett mentioned before. The dork could have recorded that little speech on his cellphone and showed it to Jett. So maybe he couldn’t record the bastard secretly. HE COULD HAVE TALKED TO JETT!!!!!!! ASK HIM ABOUT THE DAMN PROJECT IF IT EVEN EXISTS!!! ARG!!!!
Instead, the idiot hastily packed his bags and ran away, even after Jett begged him to stay. WITHOUT ASKING JETT ABOUT THE DAMN PROJECT OR EVEN CONFIRMING WHAT THE EVIL UNCLE TOLD HIM. WHO EVERYONE KNOWS IS A LYING LIAR WHO LIES!!!!
Past this trainwreck, the conclusion won me over again with a grand gesture we could only dream about from our favorite rock stars. So yeah, this rockin’ trip down the aisle ain’t perfect, but it’s still quite a show!
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Be There
Artist: IAMDYNAMITE
Album: Wasa Tusa
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Aisle Be There. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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RELEASE BLITZ: Sweet As Pie by Beth Bolden (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: Seer Quest Covenant: Legend of the Ancients by Deonne Dane (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Ripped by Linden Bell (Excerpt)
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REVIEW: Maniac by Onley James
Necessary Evils: Maniac – Onley James
Thomas Mulvaney was just a child when an error in judgment cost him everything. He vowed then that he would do anything to atone for his mistake. And he did. He never strayed from the right path. Until Aiden.
Aiden Mulvaney doesn’t exist. He’s a lie created by the father who disowned him and by Thomas Mulvaney, the only man Aiden had ever begged to love him. But that was years ago, when he’d still believed in fairytales. Before Thomas rejected him.
Thomas has spent years trying to have Aiden in his life while keeping him at arm’s length, but Aiden’s done with half-measures. He’s done with Thomas the martyr. He’s just done. So, he’s kept his distance. Trouble is, now, someone is threatening to expose a secret that affects them all.
No, not that one. A secret so shameful, Thomas won’t even utter it out loud. Can he and Aiden revisit the past and keep the family name intact, or will they both be buried beneath the weight of their memories as their old feelings resurface?
Necessary Evils started because of Thomas Mulvaney’s brainchild, and it was only fitting that its finale circles back to the Mulvaney patriarch.
The infamous Mulvaneys are a bunch of gorgeous, overachieving, secret vigilante psychopaths adopted by billionaire genius Thomas. Among their many accomplishments are making dysfunctional, borderline toxic, if not outright toxic relationships, work spectacularly with the love of their lives, people they latched on to the minute they laid their eyes on.
And to my surprise, Thomas, their rock-solid, level-headed leader and father, had the most toxic relationship of all. Thomas and Aiden go way back. We have been teased with their pairing early in the series, and mini-developments scattered throughout the other books, such as Aiden’s decision to un-adopt himself from the family. The brothers also didn’t shy away from teasing their brother about his feelings for their father.
Thoughts of Thomas doing a Woody Allen were dispelled as the author went the usual way of age gap romances where the younger man does the pursuing. The amount of push/pull here was maddeningly frustrating, not to mention heart-wrenching levels of mutual pining, when it was revealed how Thomas habitually uses Aiden as a crutch only to push him away again and again. And poor Aiden can never say no when Thomas calls because he just can’t. Guess how long this has been going on.
This angsty sad sad drama dominated the first parts of Maniac giving us the backstories and setting the plot for the mayhem to come. Once Thomas pulled his head out of his ass and Aiden got his Tommy, the fun and games begin.
At this point, the family had expanded into a village, and Onley James did that thing she always excels at. One of my favorite parts of the series is the war room scene where she juggles the entire army of cast into hilarious dialogues that highlights everyone’s particular brand of crazy. Sometimes, all a character need to say is one line, one word, and boom! She’s the only author I’ve read so far that can pull it off effectively with so many characters in one room.
Every character made an impression, and even from the beginning, I could easily name all the brothers in order because that’s how well their personalities stood out. Their significant others, plus Calliope and Jericho’s boys, are just as distinct. All in all, an unbeatable group dynamic! My faves are August and Lucas.
The plot followed the usual Mulvaney mission. A hunt for a serial killer on the loose, this time threatening to destroy the family. Calliope did her magic, and the brothers and their friends heckled each other while puzzling out who knew Thomas well enough to know what he had been hiding for decades. Extra puzzling because his entire family died when he was a teen and the man had no friends.
All the signature Mulvaney shenanigans are showcased more extra, with Jericho’s boys and the ladies adding to the chaos. I loved all the books so much that they have become my comfort reads. The subject may be dark, but the humor and found family magic gave me cozy feels. Maniac amps that feeling with a sense of belongingness and familiarity because everyone feels like old friends.
I’m not ready to say goodbye to the Mulvaneys, and I am thrilled it’s not the last we see of them. The resolution to the mission might felt anti-climactic, but the boys thrived and even multiplied, with future little Mulvaneys and young vigilantes being spawned as we speak. That means spin-offs!
Starting with Jericho’s boys. I am ecstatic because we get more of Atticus, my grumpy Freckles! I have a soft spot for the man because I feel he’s the underdog of the family.
Necessary Evils is one of the most memorable series in my entire reading history. Maniac is the bestest, most fitting finale to a family saga that has always been crazy good, crazy fun, and just plain crazy!
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Thomas
Artist: A Perfect Circle
Album: Mer De NomNecessary Evils should be read in order. The first brother to fall is Adam and one by one the rest followed like dominos. Reviews below:
Unhinged
Psycho
Moonstruck
Headcase
Mad Man
Lunatic
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Maniac. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
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MANIAC
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