Reaper Series

Cephalopod Coffeehouse November 2013–The Grave Danger of Loving Darynda Jones’s Fiction

Hi there and welcome to my review for this month’s Cephalopod Coffeehouse–a book review forum hosted by the Armchair Squid. I had a surprisingly hard time choosing a book for this month’s feature.

As usual I read a killer ton–thirty books, I think. Most I reviewed for my blog, a few for NetGalley, the others for my own guilty pleasure…

I had considered His Name is Sir by Deena Ward. This is absolutely what Pride and Prejudice would have been if Jane Austen wrote BDSM romance. I adored it–and all four books in her Power to Please Collection.

I also considered Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning–the first of her uber-steamy Sinners on Tour series–which delivers EXACTLY what the tagline of the book promises: Love, Sex and Rock-n-Roll.

Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson #5)But I think I’ll go with Darynda Jones’s FIFTH GRAVE PAST THE LIGHT. This is the newest installment of the Charley Davidson series. I reviewed First Grave on the Right last month in my Halloween Spooktacular of paranormal romance features, and the fifth book in the series is not a let down.

If anything, I’m trying to locate the lovely Ms. Jones’s net server so I can hack in for her e-galley of the next book in the series.

Why?

Because she–somehow–made a gal raised in a christian home fall in love with the son of Satan.

That’s right. I love her super-Alpha love interest Reyes Alexander Farrow. I may have some competition from Charley, but hey…

Here’s what happens. Charley is a reaper–actually the only living one in existence. Her humor is Outer Limits–I crack up reading her deadpan observations–which takes a bit of the “grimness” out of her reaper duties: being a portal through which the dead cross into the afterlife. When they pass through her, she absorbs some of their memories. Communicating with the dead is handy for Charley’s private investigator work. Especially when she helps her uncle solve crimes in his job as a Detective for the Albuquerque PD.

In this book, Charley’s longstanding attraction to Reyes Farrow is tested to the limit. See, Reyes has moved into her building–right next door. And he keeps leaving her these sexy Post-its telling her to come over. Charley would like to–but she’s nervous. First, as the son of Satan Reyes may be able to lead Lucifer’s army straight into Heaven by breaching Charley’s portal. Also, Charley suspects Reyes is behind a string of arsons that inexplicably have destroyed every dwelling Reyes ever shared with his sexually abusive step-father. Places where photographic evidence of Reyes’ molestation had been hidden in the walls…

At her core, Charley is an honest soul. She won’t hesitate to turn Reyes in if he’s a criminal. As she isn’t sure, she continues to search for evidence. In the meantime she and Reyes share some heated (read: smoking hot) encounters. Because–did I mention he makes me swoon?–he’s delicious. Intelligent, strong, virile, compassionate and head-over-heels for Charley without losing his magnetic charisma.

In the midst of her Reyes-confusion, Charley works on solving a newly-discovered serial killer case. She follows a few dead leads, and aids nearly thirty lost souls to find their eternal rest. Her discovery of the arsonist seemed more obvious (to me) but handily removes the tension betwixt herself and Reyes. It seems Charley’s life will move to the next level with Reyes into Happily Ever Land–until she’s kidnapped by a maniac.

The book ends with an arrangement I hope Charley will not refuse–even if it means the end of civilization as we know it.

These books are housed under Mystery at my library–only because they don’t have a “Smoking-Hot-Dead-Funny-Paranormal-Romance-Mystery” section in the stacks. If you’re interested, schedule some vacation time and read this series from the start. I think you’ll lose sleep. I know I have.

You can find these books at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, booksellers worldwide, or any library system worth its bricks.

If you check these out–let me know what you think in the comments.

And, as always, keep reading my friends!

Now, follow these links to check out the reviews of my fellow coffeehousers…
1. The Armchair Squid                       7. Trisha @ WORD STUFF

2. Scouring Monk                               8. Kate O’Sullivan Read, Write, Repeat 

3. mainewords                                     9. Bird’s Nest

4. Huntress                                          10. Hungry Enough to Eat Six

5. Denise C Covey                               11. The Random Book Review

6. A Creative Exercise                         12. Words Incorporated

13. Defending the Pen

UNREAP MY HEART–Blitz and Giveaway

UnReap_CoverUnreap My Heart (The Reaper Series, #2)

A Paranormal YA Romance by
Kate Evangelista
Available NOW! at:
Goodreads, Amazon Print, or Barnes and Noble:

Book Description:
When Death is stabbed with a dagger that sucks out his powers, Balthazar is roped into helping him find the Redeemer, the only one who can remove the dagger. But nothing is free in the Underverse. For travelling to the most dangerous places in the Underverse, Balthazar asks Death for control of the Crossroads.
Arianne was ready to pay Death’s price to save Niko. She was ready to be blind with no memory of the boy she loves. Instead, she wakes up in a strange room, still able to see and with Niko in a deep sleep. She agrees to work with Balthazar on the condition: Death needs to wake Niko. But Arianne soon finds out that helping the bad guy means having to do lots of bad things.

Excerpt:

“Did I really try to kiss you?”

He almost missed a step at the sudden change of topic. “We’re back to that?”

“I thought I was with Niko,” she said.

“I take it the experience wasn’t pleasant? Nikolas can do that to people.”

“It sounds like you hate him for some reason. Why?”

If it weren’t for the real curiosity in her eyes, Balthazar wouldn’t have answered her question. “We do things we’re not proud of. Nikolas more than most.”

“You know him.”

A statement with more truth in it than anything he could say. Everyone knew Nickolas. A little too well for more than most. There lay the problem. Arianne knew Nikolas as the teenage high school boy. Balthazar knew Nikolas as the take no prisoners Reaper who occasionally did D’s dirty work. Nikolas could have easily been third in the rankings, maybe even D’s right hand, but he maintained his Reaper of Georgia status to keep under the radar for the side missions he would be given. It baffled Balthazar that Arianne didn’t seem to know this about Nikolas.

“You’re in love with him,” he responded.

“Since I started high school.”

Nikolas? Entertaining love? From a human, no less. “And how’s that going for you?”
About the Author
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master’s courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.
Catch up with her blog, or check out her Facebook or Twitter posts!

****GIVEAWAY(s)****

1. Want some swag?

Unreap My Heart Swag Pack

Enter the sweepstakes for Reaper Swag here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2. Want an e-copy of REAPING ME SOFTLY (Book 1 in the series)?

Comments Contest!

Tell me which sense (taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing) you would be willing to sacrifice to save the love of your life! And, duh, why!

Best comment gets a free ebook courtesy of Omnific Publishing. Comments close Sept 30. eBooks sent via email by Oct 15th. Winner picked by my son, so keep it clean, folks!

AToMRTours_mdm