Night Shift Anthology edited by Nalina Singh

This anthology contains four stories and I read it because it has an Ilona Andrews story in it form the Kate Daniels series.

     The first story is by Nalina Singh. It's Secrets at Midnight.

A young woman discovers that she may be more than just human...

     The second story is Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews.

An interrupted date night , turns into an ancient call of duty for Dali, and with the help of her boyfriend, Jim, they discover that a missing person case, is just the tip of the iceberg, of something much more sinister.

     The third story is Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin.

A first day, umm, night on the job, starts out cleaning up another teams mess and by the time dawn breaks, a "simple" snatch and return mission reveals so much more.

     The fourth story is by Milla Vane. It's The Beast of Blackmoor.

A young woman is sent on a quest to tame a beast of a man...

     Overall these stories were pretty good. I'm not sure but Secrets of Midnight felt like it was from a series of some sort. I was able to get into it, though and it was a decent enough romance.
     I love Kate Daniels world and the characters in it. I also love getting to see some of the character stories that can't be covered in a normal novel. It didn't disappoint.
     The third should have been titled The Trouble with Leprechauns, not Lucky Charms. This is actually a prequel to a series by Shearin. It definitely felt like that and I verified it on her site. This story gives the reader a nice glance into this world of magic and humans, and the characters are definitely interesting and a bit fun. I'm going to eventually check Shearin's series out.
     The final story, The Beast of Blackmoor, appears to  be the beginning of a series. One I have no real desire to pursue because even though this was a decent tale, I had trouble delving into this world.
I read a lot of fantasy, so swords and magic are fine with me. That wasn't the issue. I did think it had a tad bit more explicit sex in it, than was "needed". I can overlook that. But if you are going to create a mythos for your world, and from what I can tell, the gods and goddesses are made up, you need to add information for me to understand statements made from the characters that refer to the mythology. Think of it like this, to do addition, I need to know my basic numbers first... To get lost in a world, I need to understand about Vela, and the other gods and goddesses that exist in that world. Otherwise, when a god or goddess is mentioned, I'm a bit confused and pulled out of the story, because I don't know why that god or goddess is mentioned. I can infer to an extent, but I shouldn't have to.
     Sorry, if that was a bit long. But overall the anthology is a real good read and worth checking out.

Soul Jacker by Yasmine Galenorn

This is the first in the Lily Bound series (currently this series is on hold because the author does not have her writes to the series after leaving Indy publishing, but hopes to continue it in the future).

      I’m not sure I would have read this book, because it may never be serialized, but I got it as a gift and found out later about the series on hiatus. I had it, so I figured why not.

     I really hope things work out because I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed, and the story runs smoothly, and never has a dull a moment, and surprisingly a lot less sexual romps than I expected, considering it’s about a succubus.

     Soul Jacker introduces the reader to Lily, who is a Succubus and uses her “Private Salon” to sate her need for chi, or energy. Her life has been quiet for a while until a client is found dead in her salon.

     If that wasn’t enough, she discovers that the murderer has ties to not only her but several of her friends and acquaintances are in danger because they all had once gotten a tattoo from The Soul Jacker.

     Then enters P.I. Archer, and Lily’s life as she knows it begins to unravel, and not all in bad ways…

I’m still glad, continued or not, to have read this book. I really enjoyed and think it’s worth reading.

    

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

This is from The Innkeeper Chronicles. The series needs to be read in order. The first book is Clean Sweep.

     After close encounters of the alien assassin kind, Dina and her inn, has been relatively quiet for six months. Well, that is about to change…

     One day an Arbitrator shows up and has a dangerously enticing offer for Dina, an offer only a desperate innkeeper would take, so she does.

     The inn will host a peace summit between three factions each fighting over The Nexus, a planet that doesn’t follow the normal laws of physics. But is a rich source of a sought-after material.

     Dina will cross paths once again with some old acquaintances and along the way, make some new allies.

     Once again, Andrews creates interesting characters, a roll coaster ride with plenty of twists and turns, and yet, balances this strange world of magic and science fiction in the mundane world quite well.

     Not disappointed, definitely a good read. Can’t wait to visit Dina and Gertrude Hunt once again.

Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

Sorry, this is posted a bit later than I intended.

     This is part of The Expanse series and needs to be read in order, the first book is Leviathan Wakes. There are also three seasons of The Expanse series based on the books that was shown on SyFy. The fourth season will be on Amazon. The series is quite respectful to the books.

     This is another one of those books in this series, that shifts everything around, alters the reality of the human race once again.

     The crew of The Rocinante find themselves once again pulled back into the spot light. In order to stop the Free Navy, strange alliances must be formed, and an unexpected death, has Holden taking on a role he never wanted.

     As always, Corey does a wonderful job weaving a story with twists and turns, even interweaving some characters from previous books into it, in a way that feels so natural and right.

     Another wonderful installment of The Expanse series. Worth the time to read. Sci-fi done right.