Grave Witch (Alex Craft Book 1) by Kalayna Price

Not even death can save her now.

As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead-she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case. When she's raising a "shade" involved in a high profile murder, it attacks her, and then someone makes an attempt on her life. Someone really doesn't want her to know what the dead have to say, and she'll have to work with mysterious homicide detective Falin Andrews to figure out why...


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My View:


I loved this book.  I could not stop reading it.  I enjoyed Alex's interactions with Falin & Death and all her friends.


There is a lot of potential in this world and I can't wait to see where Kalayna leads us.

Deadtown (Deadtown Book 1) by Nancy Holzner

They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders — but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…

Vicky’s demanding job keeping the city safe from all manner of monsters is one reason her relationship with workaholic lawyer (and werewolf) Alexander Kane is in constant limbo. Throw in a foolhardy zombie apprentice, a mysterious demon-plagued client, and a suspicious research facility that’s taken an unwelcome interest in her family, and Vicky’s love life has as much of a pulse as Deadtown’s citizens.

But now Vicky’s got bigger things to worry about. The Hellion who murdered her father ten years ago has somehow broken through Boston’s magical protections. The Hellion is a ruthless force of destruction with a personal grudge against Vicky, and she’s the only one who can stop the demon before it destroys the city and everyone in it.

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My View:

When I first started reading this book, I didn't think it would grab me, but I was wrong.  I really enjoyed this book.  The world is interesting and the main character can be quite charming.   I've already ordered the next in this series at my local library and I can't wait to get my hands on it :D

The Becoming (Anna Strong Chronicles Book 1) by Jeanne C. Stein

Anna Strong is trained for anything...until she's attacked one night, only to awaken in a dark world that exists between the living and the dead. Here, Anna struggles with her love for the two men who inhabit the realms of each: Max, a human DEA agent, and Avery, a Night Watcher who joins Anna in pursuit of the vampire who changed her life.
 
Now, as her two worlds collide, fate plunges Anna into the ultimate battle between good and evil where survival is not just for the living.

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My View:

I enjoyed this book.  The world is very intriguing and I can't wait to read more in this series. 

Rosemary And Rue (October Daye Book 1) by Seanan McGuire

October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas... 

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.


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My View:


I really liked this book.  October is an interesting character, who has had some very sad things happen to her and I can't wait to read the next book.  The glimpses of Tybalt are fantastic!  I think he will be another of my favourite male leads!

Staying Dead (Retrievers Book 1) by Laura Anne Gilman

Manhattan's night life just got weirder...

It starts as a simple job--but simple jobs, when you're dealing with the magical world, often end up anything but.

As a Retriever, Wren Valere specializes in finding things gone missing--and then bringing them back, no questions asked. Normally her job is stimulating, challenging and only a little bit dangerous. But every once in a while...

Case in point: A cornerstone containing a spell is stolen and there's a magical complication. (Isn't there always?) Wren's unique abilities aren't enough to lay this particular case to rest, so she turns to some friends: a demon (minor), a mage who has lost his mind, and a few others, including Sergei, her business partner (and maybe a bit more?).

Sometimes what a woman has to do to get the job done is enough to give even Wren nightmares....

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My View:

Really enjoyed this novel.  It's a great start to a new series.  I enjoyed Sergei & Wren's banter and interactions.  The cast of character's are very enjoyable and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Hard Magic (Paranormal Scene Investigations Book 1) by Laura Anne Gilman

Welcome to P.U.P.I.—Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations

A handpicked team trained to solve crimes the regular police can't touch—crimes of magic.

My name's Bonnie Torres. Recent college grad, magic user and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work—so off I went.
Two days later I'm a PUPI—me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty and Pietr. Five twentysomethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.

The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We're sniffing out things they'd rather keep buried.
Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we're making it up as we go along….

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My View:

I liked this book.  It did take me a while to get into it, but by the end I was glad a stuck with it.  This is the first book from this author that I have read and I will be checking out her other titles soon.

The characters are great, lot's of room to develop, and they are in all, very likable.  The story was good, if a little bit slow in getting going, but it seemed to flow okay and ended well.  I will be checking out the next in this series "Pack of Lies" when it comes in at my local library.

Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge Update

So, I've just spent an hour combing through the shelves and computer catalogue system at my local library to get some of the unread books for my challenge list.

I managed to collect:

Hard Magic by Laura Anne Gilman
The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod
Greywalker by Kat Richardson
Staying Dead by Laura Anne Gilman

I've now been home and reserved the remainder of the books to my reserve list, so hopefully I should have a few more of them to tick off the list before I head back to work.

I was very surprised when I realized that only 3 books from this reading list aren't available at any of our city libraries.  I never knew there were so many Urban Fantasy readers in my city, but it's nice to know there are people like me who like to escape the everyday drudgery to fantastic worlds of magic and the paranormal :D

Now my hardest decision is going to be which one to read first...

Catch you all again soon with an update and hopefully some reviews :D