I am really enjoying the Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries. Verity Long has a way of finding trouble, and her small southern town has its fair share of drama and mystery. In this case, one that goes back several generations. It's a good thing she has her new best-ghost-friend, Frankie, to help her out. This one gets a bit dangerous.

When Verity finds a body in the library, she begins her trip to a convoluted past full of lies. Someone killed the woman because she found out a family secret, but which family and what is the secret? But wait!! What if it isn't just one secret? Verity has to pull the strings to unravel one heck of a historical coverup - and she couldn't have done it without Frankie.

To complicate things a bit more, there's a station filming a documentary about the town's most famous battle. Verity's almost mother-in-law is heading the charge to make the town famous and won't let anything stand in her way.

I loved visiting some past ghosts from book one, meeting a few really nice new ones, and watching Frankie's antics as he tries to unground himself from Verity's house. Lots of great banter, some dangerous situations, and a mystery solved in a very clever way. Highly recommend this series.

Nocturnal is quite a rollercoaster ride of paranormal suspense mixed with a good dose of horror. It starts out like a gritty cop drama, with Bryan and his partner, Pookie, showing up at the scene of a gruesome murder. But even though they are the best in the city, they don't get assigned to the case. In fact, they're told to stay away from it.

So, of course, they don't. They follow along, getting themselves deeper and deeper into a world they never even imagined existed. Monsters, a hooded hunter, a rising King all wait along the way. 

This book isn't for the squeamish - there were a few times my stomach turned at the scenes and descriptions - so be warned. But it's well worth it, and I just had to know what was going to happen next. 

My only complaint about the audio was that Pookie (one of the detectives) sounded exactly like Mike Wazowski - the little green guy from Monsters Inc - so that is what I pictured every time.

This second-chance romance hit all the feels for me. Rafael and his best friend fell in love with the same woman when they were just kids. Now, his best friend is dead, and Isobel is a widow. But she's still off-limits. Rafael swore to look after her and make sure she was OK, and he has other, more personal reasons to keep his distance.

Isobel still has dreams of having a family. She refuses to accept that those dreams disappeared when her husband died. So she sets her sight on Rafael as her baby daddy - not husband. Their two worlds collide when Rafael decides to take her up on her offer - with conditions. They have to "date" first to make sure it's what she really wants.

Watching these two get to know each other all over again was quite entertaining. Rafael is quite wealthy and Isobel sees him as a playboy. But there's a lot more to him than that, and he's going to show her. But he still knows that it's all for nothing - he will never be able to give her what she really wants.

There were so many small moments and touching acts between these two. They fall in love slowly and deeply. They have to come to terms with a lot of issues from their pasts, and at times it almost drives them apart. Nina Croft didn't disappoint with her characters and their story in this one.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

What if we weren't as unique as we thought we were? What if we were just one form of evolution from DNA placed by aliens around the universe? What if we found a way to find others that were like us - but different?

The Damocles sets off on this very mission, following coded coordinates to a planet far away (like so far I can't really comprehend). When they come out of deep sleep as they approach the planet Didet, they are about to come face to face with Earther's ancient cousins (of a sort). As they prepare to drones to scan the planet before they make contact, their ship has a hissy fit (yes, a hissy fit, the crew talks about the propulsion crystal as if it were a person). They are forced to make contact before they are prepared, and they are trusting Meg, their language specialist, to get them through first contact.

I loved first contact. It was stressful and suspenseful, and Loul (the Dideto) and his POV were fantastic. I loved the hurdles of them trying to learn complex concepts such as trust, family, and question mark. I was excited every time they had a breakthrough and the awe and wonder on both sides. Meg does an amazing job of learning to communicate, and her love of discovery shows in each of her pages.

Now, this might sound like a bit of a dull story, but it was far from that. We have the Dideto government trying to make moves, the media trying to find a new scoop, and the workers just trying to figure anything out. Several times things start to fall apart and the struggle to keep things on track (and not give anyone a reason to shoot at anyone else) is clear in so many of the interactions.

And the ending - well, it was pretty intense for a while. But the actual ending - the last few pages (minutes?) were a bit of a letdown. I wanted to see how it all turned out. I wanted to know just a little bit more about how everyone's story ends. Still, a story that I will be listening to again.

The narrator did a fantastic job. Her portrayals of both the Earthers and the Dideto were fantastic. She caught the emotion and did a great job of distinguishing voices and personalities.

The end of the third book in the Charlie Davidson series was emotionally draining and somewhat traumatic. Betrayal all around, and I wondered how Charlie was going to come out of this one. 

Well, she doesn't exactly. Which was a stroke of brilliance by author Darynda Jones to make her seem more human and real. She is no longer the Grim Reaper and PI Extrodiarre, she is also Charlie - the woman who was hurt, betrayed, and tortured - trying to come to terms with what she's going to do next and looking for comfort in her credit card and home shopping channels.

It takes a new case to start to bring her back to herself. And this case was pretty interesting. I loved the look at the psychology behind our memories and what trauma can do to them. There were some pretty nice twists in it as well, and while I sort of had things figured out, there was one really big surprise that I didn't see coming at all. I understand that Charlie's cases need to be action-packed and exciting, but I'd like to see her come of out one without a near-death experience.

Reyes is back and not in Charlie's good graces. But he has a few things up his sleeve still to try and make things right with her. I'm incredibly curious to see where their storyline goes as we find out more and more about Charlie's unknown abilities and Reyes' background and motives.

I think the narrator for this audiobook is one of my favorites. She tells the story so well and is very easy to listen to.

I feel like this book is the real beginning of the world known as Shannara. The Legends of Shannara series starts after "our" world has ended and a small enclave of various races and creatures have taken shelter within a magical foggy shield. The world has been kept at bay as it crumbles under countless disasters, but this small group has lived in peace behind their magical walls, forming the beginnings of the kingdoms and regions I've grown to love over the vast Shannara series.

But the walls begin to crumble, and the outside world comes calling in a rather vicious and bloodthirsty way. Having been protected for so long, the people of Shannara are not prepared and don't even really believe the scouts who spotted the intruders - and the invaders. The outside world has been struggling to survive, and the formerly sheltered valley looks like a place they want to call home as well.

I found a lot of those traditional fantasy elements that I love so much. A handful of people slowly becoming a small part of 5 or 6. Different races and regions coming together, trying to save a world that doesn't even know (or want to admit) that it needs saving. Enemies and dangers hiding in plain sight and betrayal always a possibility with each new turn. By the end of the book, the lines have been drawn and many of the sides have been determined, but I haven't even gotten to the big fight yet. Things are still being prepared, and you never know what could happen next.

Two sisters fighting for the throne and kingdom go from family to enemies. Lu, the fighter and fiercely independent one, and be readying herself to become the first female leader of the kingdom. But her hopes are shattered when her father makes the unexpected decision to give the throne to her younger sister's, Min, fiance. A fiance that has ulterior motives and plans to rule with an iron fist.

Lu is a very strong, but unfortunately stubborn, character. She has a picture in her mind of how things should be and struggles to accept it when that picture is shattered by events unfolding around her. Forced to make allies in unusual places, we are introduced to Nokhai, a man from a culture and magical background thought to have vanished. But they will both find out that he is far more than what he seems, and his race is far from disappeared.

While Lu is a strong and likable character, I felt drawn to the story of Min. The younger daughter that grew up in the shadow of her sister. When she discovers she could be so much more, the power calls to her and she finds herself in the hands of a skilled manipulator that would do anything to keep her under his heel and under his control. He sees her ancient magic as a tool to recreate the world under his rule and wipe everyone who opposes him off the face of existence. She struggles to find out who she is and what her place in the world will be.

This is the first book in the Girl King series, and while it sets the stage for an epic fantasy battle, it is an amazing story on its own as well. There is much more to come in the world, and I feel several surprise revelations on the horizon as the sisters battle each other for the title of King.

​**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book**

The first book in this new serial-style series from Lia Davis quickly introduces us to the worlds of the werewolves and the vampires. Distrustful of each other for what seems to have been forever, an unknown force is now trying to bring hostilities into an all*out war. I don't see too much of the person stirring up trouble and killing tons of werewolves and vampires, and Davis does a good job of showing just enough that of them that I really want to know who it is

Kane is the vampire prince, but in order to take his place on the throne, his mother expects him to have a mate first, Problem is, he's pretty sure his mother won't approve of his true mate - his heart and soul cry out for the werewolf princess. 

The book sets us up for a bit of adventure, an interesting mix of a menage, and several conflicts to stand in their way. And let's not forget about the potential war brewing in the background, present enough that I never forgot about it, but never fully overshadowing the romance aspects.

**I voluntarily read a complimentary copy of this book**

I loved the story of The Lighthouse Keeper. It was fun, and just the right amount of light-hearted to suspenseful for a summer read. Dawn's character was an interesting one. An odd mix of old-fashioned and modern-day. Her search for a place to call home was always present, but not so much that I felt like I was getting hit over the head with it.

Her treasure-hunter parents were quite hilarious. I loved their conversations, and you could tell they were two people that were completely comfortable with themselves and around each other. But I wondered throughout the book why they hadn't put more effort into finding the missing silver pieces. Dawn's father feeds her information every now and then throughout her search, and I had to ask myself, why didn't he follow up on that? Why wait until now?

The mystery of the missing silver was a really good one. And it did keep me guessing up until near the end, but the author was also very careful not to give away any clues ahead of time. 

However, I highly recommend you read this instead of listen to it. The narrator sounded a little too much like the computerized voice you hear on automated systems for me. There wasn't a whole lot of emotion or inflection (until she had to do a man's voice, and that was just overdone). I might continue on in the series. I have no idea what the next book might be about, but I'll definitely read it instead of listen this time.