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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
2018 | Fantasy, Horror
I do like the comics of Sabrina and I remember liking the more lighthearted TV show. This is a little darker which is not a bad thing. The first season takes a little bit to get going, but once it does it's pretty good. Some episodes are stronger than others and sometimes it feels like Sabrina is very one note doing things without thinking about consequences. Richard Coyle does a fantastic job playing Faustus Blackwood. The cast itself is really good. There are definitely issues for me with how Pagans, Wiccans, and Satanists are portrayed. It comes across as very ignorant because it's not accurate at all. There are some things they do get right like the Hare Moon, but there are a lot of things that are incorrect. The final season seems to be mixed because the ending seems a bit abrupt, but overall it's not a bad show.
  
Fragility Unearthed (The Cascade book 3)
Fragility Unearthed (The Cascade book 3)
Rebecca Royce | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
204 of 250
Kindle
Fragility Unearthed ( The Cascade Book 3)
By Rebecca Royce

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

Malcolm is missing. Levi is taken. And all the light from the world has gone with them.

Kendall Malcolm thought the world ended when her marriage ended and her life fell apart. She was wrong. Things could be a lot darker. She stands at the precipice - leader, mother, warrior - placing herself between the world and darkness.

But does she have to do it alone? It's looking that way.


3rd in the series an I think there is only 1 more book! Another very good instalment from Rebecca what I love most is Kendall being a middle aged mum. She has a few personal losses in this book not including the ending but she fights on and does what she needs to.
  
The Burning Girls
The Burning Girls
C. J. Tudor | 2021 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
111 of 235
Book
The Burning Girls
By C.J. Tudor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo move to Chapel Croft, they're far from welcome.

The closed-off community, deeply suspicious of outsiders, is watching them carefully.

Yet Jack has more frightening concerns.

Rumours of the town's secrets are spreading like wildfire, while strange happenings haunt Jack and Flo's every move.

The past is catching up with Chapel Croft - and with Jack - and it's darker than anyone could have feared . . .

This was really really good almost 5⭐️ something just held me back and I’m not sure what! Well this had a few unexpected turns at the end that I didn’t see coming and reading as a mother it can be quite chilling. Highly recommend this is the first time I’ve read C.J. Tudor it won’t be the last!
  
Copping an Attitude (Sin City Uniforms #2)
Copping an Attitude (Sin City Uniforms #2)
Morticia Knight | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a far darker read than book one!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the Sin City Uniforms series, and while it is not really necessary to read book 1, All Fired Up, for you to follow this one, I think you should read it. If only because I said so! ?

Slade ran away from one kind of hell, straight into another one and has been surviving on the streets, being pimped out or facing the consequences. Till a beat cop spots something in Slade that makes him wish for things that can never really be. Parker knows he shouldn’t get close to the young man, but something about Slade pulls to him. And so, it seems, does Slade’s pimp. Can Parker really keep Slade safe; can he get him FREE, even?

I really enjoyed book one, but this one I LOVED!

It’s a far darker read, dealing with prostitution and drug/alcohol use, trafficking and basically the underbelly of Las Vegas in all its gory detail.

Parker has an immediate pull towards Slade, and he doesn’t know why. His eyes draw Parker in, and Parker cannot keep away. Finding Slade badly beaten sends Parker’s protectiveness into overdrive and neither man can fight the attraction that builds over time.

Slade is surviving, not living. He knows he will never get away from the streets, but a man can hope. And that’s what scares him the most: the fact that Parker gives him so much HOPE I hurts, down to his soul. Slade never really had that before, and Parker gives it to him.

It’s very emotional in places, drawing great wracking sobs out of me when Slade is so desolate and full of despair. It’s super sexy too! I was surprised how good Slade felt with Parker, so quickly. The fact he was CHOOSING to have sex with Parker was what threw him the most, since it had never, EVER happened before.

Trent and Shawn pop up, and I refer back to what I said about not NEEDING to read their book first. There is some recap here on their story, enough, I think, to give you the low down. It’s fabulous that they DO pop up, cos I love to catch up with previous characters in a series.

A certain someone is hard done by here, when Parker does what he really should have done a long time ago, but I’ve read the blurb for some other upcoming books in this series, and he does get his own (hopefully) happy every after.

And after reading all the blurbs, I’m so very hoping I can get my grubby little mitts on them all, I really am!

A far darker read, but I read it in one go, and could not put it down!

5 full and shiny stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Safe Limits (Kiss of Leather #2)
Safe Limits (Kiss of Leather #2)
Morticia Knight | 2015 | Erotica, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
darker storyline, but excellent follow up!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Book two in the Kiss of Leather series and I strongly recommend you read book one, Building Bonds, first. Master Gavin and Kyle's relationship continues in this book.

Master Derek agrees to watch over David's best friend, Corey, while Master Josh and David are away. Faced with the young man, Master Derek can't help but soften his natural growlly voice; Corey is scared, and when Master Derek finds out WHY?? Oh my days! Protective instincts abound! Corey needs to know: whatever HE did, he did not deserve what happened to him.

Again, Master Derek and Corey's relationship moves rapidly, far more so that I was expecting, especially when the truth about what Corey ran from becomes clear. Master Derek needs to temper his natural bear-ness, although Corey does has a thing for a bear! It doesn't take long for these two to admit their feelings, though and I rather enjoyed being made to wait for them to consummate their relationship.

Also enjoying again, the EMOTIONS involved! Corey is, by his own admission, a bit of a mess and it takes all of Master Derek's experience as a Master to bring out just what Corey is feeling. I think the event that bought Corey to Master Derek might run on into future books.

Things are progressing at the club, although still not yet open!

Loving these books so far. Loved this one a bit more than book one! Quite a bit more! I hope they are all up to this standard. Trying NOT to read them back to back though! Loving that ALL the guys seem to be taking a part in these books.

This one carries a darker story line, and some readers may find it difficult reading.

5 full stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
London Falling: The Shadow Police book one
London Falling: The Shadow Police book one
Paul Cornell | 2013 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Compelling characters (1 more)
Good storyline
An urban fantasy that is a page turner
I originally picked this book up through recommendation, and have to confess that I was hooked from start to finish (and throughout the two books that followed in the series).

The main characters, 3 police inspectors, and an intelligence analyst who stubble upon a darker magical side of London lead us through finding out the cause of the death of Rob Toshack, a drug lord who died in police custody. The group set up a team to hunt down the killer, quickly finding that they need to develop a whole new set of skills in order to defeat their opposition.

I am a huge fan of Ben Aaronovitch, and found that Cornell’s style of writing is very similar, with a touch more darkness and cynicism. Cornell’s characters are more serious in their absorption into the magical underground, however there are still moments of lightheartedness. However it is worth noting that the general undertone of the novel is much darker than a lot of other urban fantasy novel, which made the novel more successful for me. Cornell is not afraid to touch on more serious issues in his writing, such as depression and police budget cuts.

I found all of the main characters enjoyable, all seemingly having a turbulent past, which links into the story. Cornell enables us to clearly picture the characters as we are reading and selves into their complex histories. The ‘villain’ in this story is more sinister than I was expecting when I initially started reading, with an interesting twist by connecting the plot line and murderous motive to West Ham football team.

For me this was a page turner, and will certainly be re-read many times. Although I have previously read some urban fantasy novels, it has been Cornell’s series starting with London Falling, which has truest got me hooked.
  
M(
Moonville ( Gold Prophecy 1-4)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
40 of 220
Kindle
Booksirens arc
Moonville (Gold Blood Prophecy 1-4)
By K.J Devoir
⭐️⭐️

Please check Trigger warnings

Psycho gets the girl.

Leena Sperling has fallen into darkness. Darkness has a name...

ZAND BYRON

He’s larger than life. He’s also a deeply dangerous, twisted soul, a textbook psychopath. But, somehow...she makes him feel.

"You can run, Leena. But I will find you."

Leena: When I arrived to the City of Souls, the tiny cemetery town wrapping the Bay Area foothills where Moonvine Manor is located, I had no idea what to expect or how insane my life would become after moving into the former, Queen Anne, funeral home that belonged to my missing sister. I should have known that being greeted by a tombstone-shaped granite welcome sign was either a sick joke or a bad omen. But I could never have predicted that I would fall in love with the darkness.

Zand: I don’t want to ever stop making her cry. Her tears are full of human feelings, and I love the taste. She makes me feel, but part of me wants to end the human in her that brings out the human in me. In a heartbeat, I could make her nightmares infinitely darker. I'm a bad man, trying to be good.

Ok so this premise was good it gave me very much Morganville vibes but a little darker and steamy. The characters were ok and certainly lived up to the dark paranormal romance vibe.
But I had a few issues and I can only be honest. There were bits of the book that didn’t quite add up and there was something really off about it all. A few times I wanted to stop reading. It just wasn’t for me.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Please check Trigger warnings