H.P. Mallory continues her success as a superb Urban Fantasy author with her sophomore book, To Kill A Warlock. Full of humor, intrigue, romance and betrayal of the ultimate kind, Mallory pulled me in from the beginning. Mallory creates a fantastical world where supernatural creatures thrive. The beginning of the book had me charmed and laughing, the end had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Dulcie is a heroine readers will immediately relate to and cheer for until the end.

Kate McGuire divorced her wealthy politician husband and set up a photography studio, slowly gaining business over the past year. Deciding to try something fun, she joins a parapsychology group at a local college. It's entertaining, until she gets a vision of an angry man strangling a young woman - a vision that is so vivid that she feels as though she is the one being strangled. After the professor running the group - Martin Carver - checks the registration on the item Kate was holding, it is discovered that it had belonged to a young woman named Kelly Landrum, who has gone missing several days before. Venice Ashburton, a professional psychic, receives a similar vision. When Kate refuses to go to the police, Venice decides to take matters into her own hands and contacts John Gerrad, a reporter, who meets with Venice and Kate and then mentions them in an article about the missing girl. While Kate is upset about people finding out she is involved with a psychic research group because she is afraid it will negatively impact her business, what she should have been concerned about was what the killer would think when reading the article - because now the killer thinks that Kate and Venice know more than they do - and plans to do something about it ...

Ellis Vidler has created a very well-crafted mystery/suspense in "Haunting Refrain." Several good suspects are kept in the mix through the book and while I did figure out whodunit, I wasn't absolutely sure I was correct until the denouement. I was also impressed by the fact that, up until the end, the heroine was shown to be pretty sensible, taking the advice from the police and from Gerrard for her own protection. Of course, then she did go and do something stupid ...... but it was a necessary part of the plot to move things forward properly so I'll let it go. It was just refreshing to have a heroine that was willing to listen to reason and behave in a somewhat logical manner as far as protecting herself went, once she realized she was in danger. I also liked the fact that Ms. Vidler did such a good job at giving each of her characters such an individual voice - having recently read a book in which all the characters sounded the same, it was nice to see this done so well. Overall I was highly impressed with this book and fans of mystery, suspense and/or thrillers should love this book. Definitely check it out.

This Mary O'Reilly Mystery is both scarey and funny, with wonderful characters and lots of action. I was not certain 'who done it' until the very end, and I couldn't put it down until it was all over! AND it ended with a twist, the perfect set up for the next book.

Mary and Bradley are just plain fun together - can't help but laugh out loud - but I found the characters of Rosie and Stanley to be a terrific foil to Mary's dry quips. They are the kind of pals we all wish we had: delightfully honest and totally on your side. Lucky Mary!

Gimme more, Ms. Reid - don't keep us wondering about where 'you-know-who' has been for so long! Alive or...???

Loose Ends is a hit!

I like this series very much, and wrote a laudatory review of the previous book. However, this has a grim undertone that left me feeling down and disturbed. Since I think of this series as recreational reading, I took off a star for that. It is impossible not to be affected by the really horrible things that happened to Bradley's wife.

That said, the characters, primary and secondary, are well drawn, and there are elements of humor.

Years ago I became a fan of Kim Harrison's Hollows series. And now Ally Shields has given me a whole new series to be completely enchanted by.

I'm a sucker for: paranormal when the characters feel possible; mysteries always; and a hot love story ... well of course. And Ally has combined all that in Arianna's first book. Or I hope this is the first!!!

Be warned, once you start reading, you are going to skip meals to finish. Hey, that's how I finally lost that next pound! Which I need to keep up just in case Arianna loses interest in the hunky Andreas!

I am a huge fan of the Bishop SCU series and even enjoyed Haven. I kept reading this book in the hope that it would get better. It didn't.
My first issue is that the characters weren't particularly likeable, as others have mentioned. Then there was the fact that the story jumped around to so many places and people that it was frustrating. There were a lot of conversations that referred to "they", but one could not easily track which "they" was being referenced. I'm fine with books where several threads of the story slowly come together. I was not at all satisfied that they ever did so in this book. I felt it was unfinished. In spite of the Bishop books being a series, each one does wrap up its own plotline fairly well. I also like that in the other books there is eventually an explanation of the psychic phenomena and especially of psychic abilities that were used against the protagonists. There were several "abilities" that were new in this book. There were also definitely psychics on the "bad guys" side. For the most part, very little indication is given of what they are doing and which experiences of the "good guys" are the result of psychic "attack". I was left uncertain what was going on in the paranormal area.
I also was perplexed and disappointed by Bishop in this storyline. He isn't directly involved as he is in the SCU and Haven cases. But, he is clearly aware of this struggle, conspiracy or whatever it is. In so many other books, Bishop reaches out, often not openly, to gifted new psychics in trouble. Yet, here he remains way out of the picture despite the danger to innocents, even deaths. This makes no sense to me in his role as either FBI supervisor or an expert psychic handler....
In short, I found this to be a tangle of conspiracies with shadowy figures running amok that never came to a satisfying conclusion. Lots of loose ends were never tied up. I will probably read the next book in this series, still hoping it gets better. If it's more of the same, I won't bother with it anymore. If I didn't enjoy the author's other books so much, I wouldn't bother with the next one at all.

This book is a major MAJOR disappointment. Alas, another series bites the dust.

I almost didn't read this book, as I had a sinking feeling, based on the slow downward spiral in the series. Unfortunately, this trend has hit a new low with this book.

The actual plot threads are confusing, overly plotted, in most cases not resolved. Almost all the action takes place off-screen (and reported to us later), while we are treated to a series of lectures about how Rachel should have sex with Ivy. Also, the editor/proofers seem to have taken a couple of days off, as the errors (blue eyes - no - brown eyes; you for your; unneeded words left in when a sentence was rewritten; etc.) were shockingly sprinkled throughout the book - unusual for a series this prominent.

Spoilers alert

This series started out great, but each book fell off a bit. The characters, so interesting in the initial book, just didn't develop.

I'd hoped characters that showed promise but were underdeveloped would blossom, but except for quirky, sudden changes, they remained stock characters. Ivy - the tortured vamp friend with angst coming out her pretty little ears until you want to choke her. Kisten, the weak, needy vamp lover who never gets a chance to develop. Piscary, the evil master vamp - we know he's evil, because people tell us things he does off-screen. Trent, the conscience-free rich elf scientist - is he good? evil? both? David, the stalwart alpha were. - call central casting! Etc.

I'd hoped story arcs would resolve, while allowing characters to become fleshed out. To be blunt, neither of these things happened. The major story arcs just keep arcing like fireworks, while an occasional new element is suddenly plunked down like a dead fish....

There are all sorts of little ends sticking out. When I start going - wait a minute, that couldn't have happened - there wasn't time - why didn't he say something to her - etc. - there is a problem with the book. For example, Piscary is let out of prison to catch Al because "Rachel won't catch him," says the news. We are to believe that in the time it takes her to get home on the bus from a party (where Trent, who is a city bigwig, was with her), Al leaves that same party, creates havoc, the city goes wild, yet no one calls Rachel. Instead they leap to a conclusion, have a city council meeting, and get Piscary out of prison. Long bus ride? Bad plotting.

When there is a story element I find interesting, it gets dropped or put on the back burner, often not resolved by the end of the book. When there is action (Al ripping and burning The Warehouse; Piscary selling Kisten out), we are riding the bus home with Rachel or hearing about what happened later.

Here is the major disappointment - Kisten got built up as an interesting character, intriguing many readers, while Ivy was basically an angsty thorn, pissing many readers off. I was hoping for dynamic development in the relationship with Kisten and Rachel and a wakeup call for Ivy, who was getting on my last nerve. Man, I should have known better.

Instead of scenes, action, and movement in EITHER relationship, we are treated to a series of dialogues where virtually every other character in the book tries to talk Rachel into having sex with Ivy! This is madness! I was expecting little old ladies on the bus and talking dogs in the park to come up to Rachel and say "have sex with Ivy." Each character in effect becomes a sex therapist for Ivy, sagely advising Rachel that she should do it to help Ivy have self-worth. Never mind that Rachel isn't even latently bisexual! Never mind that having sex when you don't want to because third parties tell you to is a bad idea! Everyone wants Rachel to have sex with Ivy. Everyone except the readers! What the heck is this about? It's just insane - oh, and borrrring.

Then the one character I really care about - the one character that is interestingly complex, where you wonder what he will do, where you feel that he and Rachel would make a good team - is killed off by person or persons unknown. Suddenly. As an afterthought - at least that's how it feels. Rachel is left with Angsty Ivy and elderly Jenks, and we don't even know who killed Kisten!

Frankly, I am glad I borrowed this book. I would not have bought it, after the downward spiral mentioned above, and I almost didn't read it but decided to give it a shot. I will not bother again, even if someone offers to lend a future book to me.

Kathleen S. Boyd Marsh's review convinced me to read this new series because I am also a fan of Kim Harrison's series "The Hollows". The great thing about this series is even though it has some of the same concepts it is new and refreshing and not a duplicate of The Hollows series. I am looking forward to reading the next book! I also read the short story of Andreas through the link [...] at the end of the Kindle version then click on link to [...] then [...]. Vampire in the Shadows: An In-Between Guardian Witch Short Story.

I really like Andreas vampire character and hope he doesn't fall for the new gal Glorious but continues to fall for Arianna but that's just my HEA.

This book was a great read! I thought that Rose Pressey did an excellent job of creating characters who I could easily identify with and could root for or against during the story! The situation is very believable, as most of us have dealt with a jealous person in a relationship. I thought Rose did a great job of laying out the story and definitely made me want to turn the page. Definitely a great book, and I look forward to the next in the Larue series!

Now better known for her Sookie Stackhouse series, this series was my first introdution to this authors' work. Having read all her writings, I don't know why this series did not take off. It seems so much deeper and had a melancholy richness that her other stories do not. Considering how deeply skilled this author is, from the silly cozy mysteries to the philosphical quandry of this series--I cannot pass up a book with her name on it. All of her books are keepers, but this series has a special place on my bookshelf. The common theme of her stories is how women cope when undreamed of changes shatter an old life and demand new groundrules. Plus the various "helpers" all come with their own set of challenges. Start at the beginning of this series and allow yourself a place in Harpers' world. Notice how the rhythm of the writing is different--almost slower--and the problems far more tragic and pointed. Be very careful--as is wise Harper--as to who you let get close.

Can't wait for my daughter to grow up and read it......hopefully she will admire gray and despise charlene! a good summer read for teenage girls!

A very enjoyable read. Very likable characters, and an interesting plot.
I really enjoyed Mary's interaction with Stanley and Rosie.
I am interested in seeing what is next for Mary and Bradley.
It had a very satisfying ending, and I can't wait for future installments.
All in all, a great mystery!