DEAD AWAKENINGS by Rebekah R. Ganiere

Title:  DEAD AWAKENINGS
Series:  N/A
Author:  Rebekah R. Ganiere
Publisher:  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Publish Date:   01.03.2014
Category /Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing:  book received as an unedited ARC copy/ errors excused
Received from:  Rebekah R. Ganiere
Goodreads link:  Dead Awakenings
Date completed: 10.10.2022
 
Description from the publisher:
Being dead can be a great way to find yourself…
 
Struggling to pay her bills in New York, theater student Evaine Michaels sees an opportunity to make money by taking part in an unsanctioned clinical trial for a new drug. But things don’t go as planned. She wakes up in a derelict hospital, chained to a bed with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Then a band of pale-skinned men, led by the gorgeous Luca, bursts in and rescues her. Evaine is instantly attracted to Luca, but he’s so hell-bent on stopping the experiments, he has no time for the feelings she’s awakening within him.
 
Safely back at Haven House, Evaine is introduced to The Family and learns that the drug trials have made her a Deader, a reanimated Undead. Evaine and Luca find themselves getting close, until Evaine remembers not only who she is, but that she’s engaged. And her fiancé, Tristan, is probably still looking for her. Torn between her first love and her new heart’s desire, Evaine has some hard choices to make. But when a rogue faction of Deaders, called Feeders, attempt to kidnap her, Luca suspects Evaine might be the key to the experiments, and everyone must band together to keep Evaine off the cutting table…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEAD AWAKENINGS is a stand-alone story.  However, I think it needs to be the beginning of a series!
 
I don’t like zombie stories.  Especially after living through the recent pandemic!  Life is hard enough without adding in real-life flesh-eaters or blood-suckers or…
 
However, I loved this story.  It grabbed me from the beginning.  It is action-packed, romantic, full of friendships, and suspenseful.  There were times I felt like maybe I missed a prequel, but then I thought, “you’re not stupid, put the pieces together!” 
 
There is a HEA/HFN ending.  It could end here and be complete, but the ending is like life… it’s open to more.
 
Note:  While I received this book as a gifted ARC, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
 
Also from Rebekah R. Ganiere:
·         Christmas at Hart’s Lodge
·         Dead Awakenings
·         Loki (Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld #17)
·         Rekindling Christmas
·         Thor (Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld #9)
Aether Pirate Chronicles:
1.      The Lady Fugitive
Dead Awakening Series:
1.      Kissed by the Reaper
2.      The Bride
3.      Rekindling
4.      Christmas Lodge
Fairelle Series:
1.      Red the Were Hunter
1.5 Yanti’s Choice
2.      Snow the Vampire Slayer
2.5  Jamen’s Yuletide Bride
3.      Zelle and the Tower
4.      Cinder the Fae
4.5 Jak the Giant Healer
5.      Belle and the Beast (Jan 2019)
5.5 Gerall’s Festivus Bride (Spring 2019
Otherworlder Series:
1.      Kidnapped at Christmas
2.      Vigilante at Valentine
3.      Massacre at Mardi Gras
4.      Hoodwinked at Halloween
Society Series:
1.      Reign of the Vampires
2.      Rise of the Fae
3.      Vengeance of the Demons
Wolf River Series:
1.      Promised at the Moon
2.      Cursed by the Moon
3.      Reclaimed from the Moon
4.      Taming His Saber (Paranormal Dating Agency)
5.      Unleashing Her Saber (Paranormal Dating Agency)
 

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HER SISTER’S FRIENDS by Gia Pere

Title: HER SISTER’S FRIENDS
Series:  N/A
Author:  Gia Pere
Narrator:  Tiffany Williams
Length:  15 hours 33 minutes
Audible Release Date:  11.23.2021
Publisher:  Angela Pepper Publishing
Publish Date:  11.15.2021
Category/Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Satire
Recommended for:  18 +
Received from:  Angie Pepper (as an Audible gift)
Goodreads link:  Her Sister’s Friends
Date completed: 03.15.2022
 
Description from publisher: 
She always wanted everything her big sister had.
Evie Laurent grew up in the shadow of her perfect older sister, Luna. Since they were young girls, she’d always longed to be a part of Luna’s attractive social circle.
 
Evie gets her wish later in life when she begins dating Kyle Turner, a friend of her sister’s.
 
But Kyle is not just a grown-up version of the handsome boy he used to be. The new Kyle is secretive and controlling, going so far as trying to stop Evie from purchasing her dream home - a house that seems oddly familiar to her and Luna’s entire group of friends.
 
Evie buys the house anyway and soon discovers disturbing evidence she’s been there before. But why can’t she remember?
 
If these walls could talk, the house might tell her everything.
~~~~~~

HER SISTER’S FRIENDS is the second book in the Domestic Thrillers series.  This can be read as a stand-alone psychological thriller.  I only wish I had read the first book because I loved this one so much.
 
Mysteries tend to be either cozy (cute) or gory.  This is neither.  It’s hellishly realistic without the blood and guts of super-realism.
 
I loved this story.  Going back and forth in time, but at the right times to keep the story moving forward.  Filling in the blanks in Evie’s mind a little at a time, her questioning nature pushes to solve the mystery of why she feels she has previously been to a house that she bought to flip for her boss.
 
The relationships between the characters were what was really real.  Sibling rivalry, hero worship (Evie idolized her sister’s friends when she was 11), and the disappointment of finding that the adults in your life were flawed when you were a child.  We all seem to find that out when we become the failing adults!
 
This new penname for Angie Pepper / Angela Pepper is for her darker musings.  I say, “muse away!”  This was fabulous.
 
Narrator:  Tiffany Williams is always wonderful as a narrator and did a beautiful job of creating unique voices for each character (though Zoe Riddle’s voice was in there as a new character – I guess that can’t be helped.)
 
 
Domestic Thrillers Series:
1.      His Last Wife
2.     Her Sister’s Friends
 
Also from Angela Pepper:

• Funny Ladies

• Love Singer

• The Mystery of Broken Shell Island & Other Fantasy Tales

Baker Street Neighborhood Romances (written as Angie Pepper):
1.      Romancing the Flower Shop Girl
2.     Romancing the Complicated Girl 
3.     Honey, We Missed Our Honeymoon
4.    Dating the Funny Waitress
5.     Boyfriend Wanted, Must Love Dancing
6.    Handful of Peaches (Peaches Monroe’s Diary #1)
7.     Whole Lotta Peaches (Peaches Monroe’s Diary #2)
8.    Everything Is Peaches (Peaches Monroe’s Diary #3)
Diamond Files Mysteries:
1.      Girl in the Shadows
Eli Carter and the Ghost Hackers series:
1.      The Cat Who Went Bump in the Night
2.     The Ghost Who Wasn’t There
3.     The Dog Who Barked Fire
Restless Spirits series:
1.      Interview with a Ghost
2.     Date with a Ghost
3.     Dancing with a Ghost
Stormy Day Mysteries:
1.      Death of a Dapper Snowman
2.     Death of a Crafty Knitter
3.     Death of a Batty Genius
4.    Death of a Modern King
5.     Death of a Double Dipper
Wisteria Witches series:
1.            Wisteria Witches
2.           Wicked Wisteria
3.           Wisteria Wonders
4.          Watchful Wisteria
5.           Wisteria Wyverns
6.          Wolves of Wisteria (City Hall #1)
7.           Wisteria Wrinkle (City Hall #2)
8.          Wardens of Wisteria (Daybreak #1)
9.          Wisteria Warned (Daybreak #2)
10.      Wishful Wisteria (Daybreak #3)
11.        Wisteria Woven (Daybreak #4)
12.       Winter in Wisteria 
12.5 Critter Calamity
13.    Wisteria Wedding
14.    Wayward Wisteria
15.    Wisteria Wildcard
 

 
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PERFECT DRUG by Melinda Owens

Title:  PERFECT DRUG
Series:  Dark Knights in the City #1
Author:  Melinda Owens
Publisher:  Melinda Owens
Publication Date: 08.10.2021
Category /Genre:  Dark Romance, Suspense
Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing:  A – near perfect
Received from:  Amazon purchase
Goodreads:  Perfect Drug
Completed:  12.02.2021
 
Publisher’s Description:
Charlie Delmonico is a fixer. It’s what he does for a living. He fixes all the city’s problems.

For a fee.

He wants to fix Amelia’s problems. Or use her for a fix, whichever works best.

Amelia works in the lobby of a building, until Charlie offers her a job she can’t refuse. Does she want to be fixed, though?

Or does she just want Charlie to see her? To know her?

When Charlie gets involved with a deal involving four other guys, to ruin the city’s leader of the underworld, Amelia gets stuck in the middle.

She sees his true colors, and it tears them apart.

Even though Charlie is her perfect drug.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PERFECT is the first book in the Dark Knights in the City series.  This series will need to be read in order as there is an overlaying arc story concerning the ruin of Bascom Forrester, an underworld leader.
 
Charlie is a bad boy, but this is not a “bad boy romance.”  Charlie is not going to be redeemed into Ward Cleaver at the end.  He is who he has been brought up to be.  He is the deliciously naughtiest of men – in the bedroom and in his city.  As a good girl, I shouldn’t be drawn to him; I shouldn’t be intrigued.  I shouldn’t be craving a fantasy with him, but that’s what good stories are for!  I’m still a good girl, just like Amelia, but I have a new book boyfriend!
 
This story was great!  Suspense plus raw, gritty, emotional, dark romance.  Charlie would be the nemesis in any other story, but here he is finding the woman who completes him.  She sees all of him, not just what he projects to the world.  She accepts all of him, including what he projects to the world.  They are as Yin and Yang as two people could get, and yet they make as beautiful of a picture as a Yin-Yang symbol created from onyx and diamonds.
 
I absolutely loved this story and I look forward to continuing with the series…. I just have to know how Charlie and his cohorts ruin Bascom.  I have to know that they succeed. 
 
Note:  While I received this book as a gifted copy, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
 
Dark Knights in the City Series:
1.      Perfect Drug
2.      Strange Love
3.      Wicked Game
4.      Come Undone (releases 12.06.2021)
5.      Bittersweet Symphony (releases 01.17.2022)
Also from Melinda Owens:
·         The Secrets We Keep
 

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GOLDEN WINGS by Laura Greenwood

Title:  GOLDEN WINGS
Series:  Untold Tales #2
Author:  Laura Greenwood
Publisher:  Drowlgon Press
Publish Date:   06.26.2020
Category /Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing:  received as an unedited ARC / errors excused
Received from:  Laura Greenwood
Goodreads link: Golden Wings
Date completed: 07.29.2020
 
Description from the publisher:
Wings are the only thing that'll get her accepted...

Lina has always been an outcast, but when she meets a real-life fairy Prince, she starts to dream of more. Her desires are cut short when she catches the eye of creatures much more dark and deadly.

To earn her wings, she has to survive. Has she got what it takes
-
Golden Wings is a retelling of Thumbelina and is part of the Untold Tales series of fairy tale re-tellings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GOLDEN WINGS is the second book in the Untold Tales series.  Each story in this series is a re-telling of a fairytale and will stand on its own.  This one is Thumbelina’s story.
 
Thumbelina is about a tiny girl and her adventures with marriage-minded toads, moles, and beetles. She successfully avoids their intentions before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size.  The moral of the story is that we will encounter many problems and obstacles in our life.  However, as long as we are true to ourselves, honest, and kind, just like Thumbelina, we will overcome these obstacles and, in the end, get what is best for us.
 
In GOLDEN WINGS, Lina is kidnapped by a marriage-minded mama with the intent to gift a hard-working bride to her spoiled brat child-man. Luckily, she had already met …. Well, I’m not going to tell you the story.  It is enjoyable and is an entertaining re-imagining of the classic story.
 
Note:  While I received this book as a gifted ARC via BookSprout, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
 
Untold Tales Series:
1.      Balanced Scales
2.      Golden Wings
3.      Poisoned Fate
4.      Tainted Ashes
5.      Braids of Silver (Once Upon a Fairy Tale Night #2)
6.      Fractured Core (releases 10.01.2020)
Also from Laura Greenwood:
·         Assassin Princess (The Assassins Collective #2)
·         Below the Baubles (Seven Wardens #7.5)
·         Blood and Deceit
·         By Any Other Name
·         Catching His Ladybird
·         Clipped
·         Death’s Choice
·         From the Deeps (Seven Wardens #1)
·         Glass Heart
·         Goddess of Virtue
·         Hidden Smoke
·         His Lost Bear
·         The Humra
·         The Journalist
·         One Night
·         Pandora’s Pain (The Harem of Misery #1)
·         Permission to Breathe Denied
·         The Platypus and Her Wolves
·         Priestess of Truth
·         Reaper
·         Rise of the Leviathan (The Leviathan Hunt #1)
·         Sight of Change (Return of the Fae #4)
·         Spellbound
·         A Touch of Necromancy
·         Under Her Spell
·         Witch’s Potion (Thornheart Coven #1)
·         Wolf Tears
Amethyst’s Wand Shop Mysteries:
1.      Hexes and Vexes (releases 09.10.2020)
Ashryn Barker Series:
1.      Shattered Illusions
2.      Broken Illusions
3.      Tarnished Illusions
Beyond the Curse Series:
1.      Awakening
2.      Betrayed
3.      Cloaked
4.      Accursed
Bite of the Past Series:
0.5  First Bite
1.      Bite of the Past (releases 09.17.2020)
Blessed Series:
1.      Fall of Hope
2.      Rise of Night
3.      Dawn of Pain
City of Blood Series:
0.5  Blood Payment
1.      Drop of Blood (releases 07.16.2020)
2.      Drought of Blood (releases 10.29.2020)
3.      Dawn of Blood (releases 12.17.2020)
Curtain Call Series:
1.      What Lies Beneath the Mask
1.5 Recruiting Love
2.      You Know I Do
3.      Do Without You
Dragon Duels Series:
1.      Stoking the Embers (releases 12.03.2020)
Dragon Soul Series:
1.      Torn Soul
2.      Bound Soul
The Fae Queen of Winter Series
Frost’s Forfeit
1.      Saving Eira
2.      Reigning Eira
Chasing Aledwen
3.      Calling Eira (releases 11.19.2020)
Fate of the Crown Duology:
1.      The Almost Queen (releases 08.27.2020)
2.      The Rightful King (releases 10.08.2020)
The Firehouse Feline Series:
1.      Feline the Heat  
2.      Feline the Flames  
3.      Feline the Burn  
4.      Feline the Pressure  
Forgotten Gods Series:
1.      Protectors of Poison: Scorpio (Zodiac Shifters)
2.      Daughter of the Sun
3.      Servant of Chaos
Grimalkin Academy: Catacombs Series:
0.6 Witch Friends Are Forever
1.      Catching a Vampire
2.      Catching a Wizard
3.      Catching a Warlock
Grimalkin Academy: Kittens Series:
0.5  Curses Start Somewhere
0.6  Witch Friends Are Forever  
1.      First Time’s a Charm
2.      Second Time’s a Curse
3.      Third Time’s a Crime
4.      Fourth Time’s a Cure
5.      Fifth Time’s a Crisis
Grimalkin Academy: Stakes Series:
0.5  Punishment Fit for the Crime
1.      No Stakes Allowed
2.      Stakes Are Raised (releases 07.23.2020)
3.      Highest of Stakes (releases 09.03.2020)
Grimm Academy Series:
1.      Spindles and Spells
2.      Pumpkins and Proms
3.      Huntsmen and Hoods (releases 07.30.2020)
4.      Mirrors and Magic (releases 08.06.2020)
5.      Lamps and Lies (releases 09.24.2020)
6.      Frosts and Fears (releases 12.31.2020)
Harpy’s Bounty Hunter Series:
1.      Harpy’s Mission (releases 01.21.2021)
Kingdom of Fairytales: Snow White Series:
1.      Queen of Reflections (releases 10.07.2020)
2.      Heiress of Mirrors (releases 10.14.2020)
3.      Throne of Wands (releases 10.21.2020)
4.      Goddess of Magic (releases 10.28.2020)
Magic and Metaphysics Academy Series:
1.      Magical Mischief
2.      Magical Mistake
3.      Magical Misfit
MatchMater Paranormal Dating App Series:
1.      Reluctant Dragon Mate
2.      Bewitched Incubus Mate
3.      Forbidden Vampire Mate
ME Series:
1.      Sweet About Me
2.      Kneel for Me
3.      Heard from Me
4.      Laid by Me
5.      Dance with Me
6.      Hustle with Me
Moonrise Series:
1.      Moonflight
2.      Moonrise
Necromancer Council Series:
1.      Wake the Dead (releases 03.04.2021)
Once Upon an Academy Series:
1.      Tower of Thorns
2.      Lilies of Loss
3.      Glints of Gold (releases 11.12.2020)
4.      Song of Seas (releases 02.25.2021)
Paranormal Council Series:
1.      The Dryad’s Pawprint
2.      The Vixen’s Bark
3.      The Necromancer’s Prey
4.      The Vampire’s Bite
5.      The Witch’s Stripes
Paranormal Criminal Investigations Series:
1.      Spell Caster
2.      Spell Tamer (releases 01.07.2021)
The Queen of Gods Series:
1.      Quest of the Goddess
2.      Trust of the Goddess (releases 08.14.2020)
3.      Heart of the Goddess (releases 11.26.2020)
Rats: Tori Series:
1.      Ruler of Rats
2.      Collector of Rats
3.      Yuletide of Rats
The Renegade Dragons Series:
1.      Fifth Soul
2.      Fifth Round
3.      Fifth Flame
Sabre Woods Academy Series:
1.      Tiger Crown (releases 04.22.2021)
The Shadow Seer Association Series:
1.      Shadow Seer (releases 06.03.2021)
Valentine Pride Series:
1.      Unicorn Mates
2.      Unicorn Luck
3.      Unicorn Truth
The Vampire Detective Series:
1.      Fangs for Nothing
2.      What the Fangs
3.      Fangs for All
 

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