If you think that Bigfoot gets too much attention and not enough people know about the Jersey Devil, or that there are a lot of sightings of lake monsters around the United States then this is the book for you. I loved Ocker’s light hearted look at a great many of the Cryptids that can be found around the US. They do go into some of the history of Cryptozoology. If you are serious about Cryptozoology, then don’t read this book. Ocker states in different ways, if you don’t have a cryptid then make one up, throughout the book. I loved listening to this as a lighthearted look into cryptozoology, and look forward to some other fun reads in the near future on the same topic.
Author: CZeitler
34/100 The Artist’s Way 25th Anniversary Edition by Julia Cameron
This amazing book is one woman’s way to reinvigorate her artistic process. Apparently this way also works for a vast number of people at all stages of Artistic Block as Cameron puts it. The first practice is to write three pages every day, even if it just starts as, I cannot believe I have to write these stupid pages..etc. She has a wide variety of prompts and steps to go through to help unblock your creativity. This is one book that I wish I either took notes throughout or purchased the hard copy. Fortunately there does seem to be a notebook or journal thing that you can purchase to cover those prompts. I’m planning on looking into that just as soon as I can remember to write my three pages…well once but hopefully for a week in a row. If you are looking to unblock your creativity or just realize that you have creativity in you that needs to be unblocked I highly recommend this book. I listened to it on my way to and from viewing the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024.
33/100 Ghostland by Colin Dickey
While looking at ghosts, paranormal happenings, and the history that created such is fascinating this book takes that to a different level. Dickey acknowledges that for as young as our country is, in a typical western-centric view discounting the indigenous individuals, we have a lot of hauntings. Part of this is due to the sheer amount of blood that was spilled in various places, the displacement of the indigenous individuals, as well as individuals experimenting in forces. I loved listening about these different haunted places as well as the stories behind them, and sometimes even rational explanations. Since I cannot recall any of them clearly I’m not sure if they were gripping or not. For an enjoyable listen that will not scare you to death, this is well worth a try.
28- 32/100 New Species Series by Laurann Dohner
Honestly, this review could be for all of the books so I’m just going to list them and then copy and paste the review at the bottom. They all feature different male and female leads, and I find the world building to be amazing, however the explicit sex and almost rote format of these books left me bored after five. The books that I read are: 1) Fury; 2) Slade; 3)Valiant; 5) Brawn; and 6) Wrath. I did skip over Justice because I was a little squicked by the power imbalance between the male and female protagonists.
I first read this series years ago, about a decade ago as it happens. Back then I was totally into paranormal romance, and racy romances. Essentially these are erotic romances. I re-read these because I saw them at the bottom of my kindle books reads and wanted to get back into them. The world building is fascinating, I love how Dohner manages to make the main paranormal characters both relatable, and yet totally not what is expected. If you do not read this series in order I believe you will get quite confused. A new race of people was created in laboratories funded in part, unknowingly, by the US Government. This series of books takes us through the discovery and freeing of various individuals as new labs are found, as well as the individuals falling in love. I read several of these books in quick succession before I could not deal with the explicit sex scenes as well as the, sameness?, of the books. I’m not sure how to describe it, I just don’t find them enthralling after a few.
27/100 Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews
In Magic Slays Kate is trying to find her place in a new job, where she is running her own company, her relationship with Curran, as well as her place in the pack. All of this is discounting her usual drama surrounding her family and origins. That creates a jam-packed novel where we learn more about the past, present, and future of Kate and Curran with a smattering of high-stakes drama in the middle of it. If you try to jump into this series you will be hopelessly lost. If you have been reading along then this is another step toward learning what is going to happen with Curran and Kate, and a couple of huge revelations about Kate and where Curran’s Loyalties really lie!
26/100 Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
This is the 4th book in the Kate Daniels series, and like all of the books before, it is filled with magic, drama, and angst. I loved it. The character development between Kate and Curren (read the rest to understand) as well as learning more of Kate’s backstory is amazing. The way Andrews winds magic, mythology, and an alternate dystopian future together is remarkable. In this tale Kate’s Aunt is wreaking havoc and Kate must try to fix things. Throughout she is also trying to save/protect her friends, figure out where she and Curren stand in each others lives and figure out where her position within the ‘order’ is. Somehow Andrews intertwines all of these plot threads, without really dropping any, and still makes a fast paced, fascinating, read. Highly Recommended. Now, I’m going to start on the 5th book to see where Kate and Curren wind up next.
14-25/100 Megan Derr Marathon
Over this past weekend I had a Megan Derr Marathon reading session. All of these books are re-reads so I will copy and paste the original reviews. Many of these books are potato chip reads, where you can just devour them in one sitting, hence the marathon.
14- Midsummer Song
Okay so it wasn’t a very long book. I love the town of Midsummer and when Derr comes out with a new addition I tend to enjoy them. There is a little bit of world building, it certainly helps if you have read the rest of the series, and the characters are very lovable. This is an LGBTQ+ book with a little bit of semi-graphic sex.
A siren, who happens to be a rockstar but doesn’t like to use his powers for fame, comes to town to escape his bandmates who are trying to use his powers for fame. He takes a room in a B&B run by a brownie that just happens to be the siren’s type down to a T. Some stuff happens, you’ll need to read the book for that part. This really is short, however I am probably going to read it another 2-3 times, and possibly go back to read the rest of the series again.
For a cute, slightly graphic, LGBTQ+ paranormal romance with a tiny bit of action and adventure, I recommend this book.
15- Blood in the Water is simply a retelling of The Little Mermaid with some elements of the original version rather than Disney style. A young mermaid thinks that she fell in love with a handsome prince so she asks the wicked water witch to grant her legs to win his love. However this is not where we enter, we enter when the mermaid’s brother is called upon by their father to fix the mess she has gotten herself into before she is killed by the witches spell. The rest of the situation fixes itself rather nicely if you keep in mind it is a Gay Romance.
16- A Trilogy of Knights This is an interesting trio of stories that are deeply interlaced. The novel starts with a knight on a quest to kill a dragon. Fortunately the dragon is very understanding and does not hold this little flaw against the knight. They go on a quest, much more will spoil the adventure, and have a happy ever after. The second tale takes a knight from the first story and develops his own quest and love. This is a fun tale that helps develop the knight and sets up his squire for the third tale. The third tale is a very cute story starting with a very awkward knight saving a man from bandits. Okay so the man is a prince from a foreign kingdom, and the bandits were masquerading as knights. I loved all three of these novels, I think that there was a very small amount of graphic sexual content. I don’t focus on those bits, I loved the character development and how quick and potato-chip-like this book was.
17- Midsummer Baker When I first read this book it was a short story about a baker living in a mystical town that is populated with all sorts of mythical beings. He is used to going to a barn to get away from everything when he is done with baking for his aunt for the day. This day he is going to the barn and fell asleep, I will not tell you much more because it will ruin things. There is explicit sex involved, but I really enjoy reading about the relationship between these two confident half-elves and a human baker. This book has recently evolved into more than the short story it began as. Now there are several other short stories added as chapters onto the end of this book, changing the entire story from more than a short story into a complete book. I enjoyed re-reading this book and finding out more about these interesting characters. There is explicit sex, but if you can get past that you will find some interesting and engaging characters. If homosexuality, polyamory, or explicit sex bother you, then this is not the book for you.
18- Hold Still This is an extremely quick LGBTQ+ book. If those themes bother you, this definitely is not a read for you. This is a fun, fast paced fantasy read without a lot of graphic sex. There is some mention of a throuple, that is certainly not the focus. Honestly, this is more of a meet cute than anything. A quick little romance story with a tiny bit of plot thrown in just to keep things interesting. There is another book in the series coming out April 24, 2023 that might be worth looking into but I believe it’s going to be another super quick read like this one. I enjoy the Megan Derr books even though gay romances written, by a cis woman author probably aren’t the most accurate. They’re fun anyway.
19- Gather Close If you have not read Hold Still by Megan Derr, then this book will not make any sense to you. This second book in the series elaborate on the relationship between the two main male characters well, adding in a third romantic partner, who is female. There are many crude ways that this could be accomplished, however, Derr manages to accomplish this with grace and no graphic sex scenes. I enjoyed the addition of an extremely strong, female character into the established relationship, and I certainly hope that Derr is going to elaborate on the revelation of the queens relationships. Two dollars might be considered a bit expensive for a book under 100 pages. However, I enjoy Derr’s work enough to keep purchasing these books. For a quick and easy LGBTQ plus polyamory book I highly recommend this.
20- Backwoods Asylum If you are interested in Gay Romances that involve paranormal creatures that are willing to adopt children from another species (snake adopting wolves) then this is a good book for you. There is a greater emotional element to this book than a sexual one, but there is some graphic sex involved as well. I enjoyed reading this book, the characters are developed without the characters becoming overly descriptive. I will admit that this is a relatively shallow book. There is some character development, where the characters all come to the realization that they would be better if they communicated a little more readily. If you would like to get cerebral about things you could consider that the cross-species adoption could be considered an allegory for cross-race adoption. Or you could just say that the really cute snake shifter should be able to adopt the wolf cubs he saved from freezing to death. Either way, if you do not mind gay romances and shifters then this might be a good book for you.
21- Sweet Nothings This is the third book in the Lost Shifters Series by Megan Derr. This book is, unfortunately, filled with a lot of self-hate talk. The phrase “Fat trash panda” is bandied about by the main character without much refuting done by his main love interests, yes plural this is a MMM novel. This book picks up, essentially, where the last in the series left off however with a completely different set of characters. The original characters, wolf and snake shifters, are brought back in along with misunderstandings about relationships and murder, a lot of murder. This was a quick and fun read with some very emotional misunderstandings along the way. If you want to see three guys, that happen to be able to shift into animal forms, trying to navigate life and their families without getting murdered then this is a good book for you. There is one sex scene near the end, however it really was only a few pages long. If this is the first book in this series you have read, be prepared to be very lost. Should you have started from the beginning, this is a lovely addition to a fascinating series. I would love to see the world fleshed out a bit more into something other than a one shot, this series has the potential to rival Laurenston’s shifter series.
22- The Dragon Tamer – This was a wonderful short story. Derr has a very deft hand with world building, this is a lovely example of that. Within less than 50 pages she manages to immerse you into the world of the prince, the Dragon Tamer, and more. The romance and antagonism will take you by surprise, however, this fun, fast M/M infatuation is well worth reading. Since it is so brief, I am not able to give much more of a synopsis without giving most of the plot away. I love these quick reads by Derr.
23 Spell Weaver I will confess, this is a light read as most of Derr’s books are. Some of the trauma is a little more blatant since the main character is given the option of paying 20% more rent or giving sexual favors to his landlord in addition to only having enough to eat a single meal a day. Most of the plot goes well, the ending is a little too ‘damsel in distress’ for my tastes. Everything works out in the end, so I guess all’s well that ends well…if a bit unsatisfying. This is some blatant sex but, as always, I skipped over those parts as much as I was able.
24- Wick This is fairly typical Megan Derr, create a universe out of nowhere, add in a bunch of interesting characters, shake to combine. I love how Derr manages to take one set of events and present it from all sides, while allowing the characters to find love along the way. This is essentially the consequences of miscommunication, along with some bullying, and the long term consequences of these actions….with LGBTQ+ themes and magic throw in for good luck. I appreciate how Derr creates universes where two men, or two women, being together is not seen as unusual at all. In one of the tales within this book there is a character whose ‘familiar’ is of a different gender than the character themselves and this was said to be unusual…I feel that if she were to include that detail that should have been normalized as well, or something more made from it. However, these are just short stories/perspectives that make up the complete view of an event and Derr has a tendency to go back and flesh out these sort of tales in future updates. Hopefully she will continue that trend and the gender discrepancy can be fleshed out/explained/celebrated.
All in all, this was a good reminder of why I keep going back and reading the books that Derr writes.
25- Two Parts Mistletoe – Two Parts Mistletoe is the kind of Derr book, and romance book in general, that makes me cringe and wonder why I keep reading the Romance Genre. There was a good premise and interesting characters buried in the graphic remembrances of past sexual encounters as well as new encounters. I suppose that this struck me as so startling since I had just finished Runescribe which had little graphic sexual content.
Overlooking the graphic sexual parts this is a cute story about two people who are very busy and only have enough time for quick, pre arranged sexual meetings, until they meet outside of those circumstances due to a dire situation that only the other can resolve. If you can get past the constant preoccupation with their past, and future, sexual exploits the plot is sort of cute.
13/100 Random in Death by J.D. Robb
Unlike many books in J.D. Robb’s In Death series this book could almost be set in modern times. The drugs involved are ones that we have heard of, the methods of tracking are similar, etc. If you are triggered by Sexual Assault, death, gore, etc. then…well this isn’t the series for you. In this addition to the series Dallas is confronted by a killer that is striking in a crowd, seemingly at random, and killing using a devastating cocktail of drugs. While there is resolution this is a sobering look at the fact that these types of crimes have been around essentially forever, and will likely continue to be so. If you’re looking for a mystery with some intrigue and amazing characters then don’t overlook this series. Also, don’t be daunted by how many books she has out already, once you get to know the characters you will devour them!
12/100 Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
This third book in the Kate Daniels series is amazing. I have had a ton of fun listening to this series, Kate Daniels is great to follow along with as we learn about her history, family, and how she copes with daily life. This series is based on a post apocalyptic Atlanta where magic and technology alternate which is dominant at one time. Daniels belongs, in an unofficial capacity, to an organization based on keeping the peace and keeping people safe. In this book we learn more about her history and the history of the Beast Lord, who happens to be casually courting Daniels. They wind up breaking the first law he set down, and saving a bunch of people in the long run. If you’re looking for an adventure full of fun, drama, blood, gore, and angst then this is a great book for you.
11/100 Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
Thanks to a friend turning me on to Everand I am now able to work on reading the rest of the Kate Daniel’s Series! Not only that but they have the dramatized version of these audiobooks. They are so much fun to listen to as they are done with an entire cast. I love going on another journey with Kate and learning more about her history as well as her personal beliefs. In this kick butt book Kate is helping a young woman who fell in with…well that will spoil things…but the young woman’s mother had joined a coven. In Thai case she joined the wrong coven and they accidentally started worshipping…well that will spoil things. All of this culminated in Kate meeting more of the Lycan people as well as a deeper involvement with the organization she nominally works for. I love how Andrews manages to flesh out the world while also fleshing out the characters. If you’re listening to the audiobook make sure you listen to the end for a surprise cameo and POV of another character.
I hope that you have a great day and read amazing books.
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