ARC Review | An Unholy Magick

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: An Unholy Magick (Vile Sacraments, #1)

Author: Kali Rose Schmidt

Format: eBook (provided by The Parliament House)

Pages: (can’t find this info)🤷🏻‍♀️

Publication Date: October 22, 2019

Categories: Dark Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

She’s an assassin with a gift her parents died for.
He’s a reluctant prince content to drink himself into oblivion.
And hiding in plain sight amongst them both, a monster is searching for redemption.

In a kingdom where magick is forbidden and spoken of only in whispers, they must each face their own demons, walking the line between loyalty and betrayal.

Enter a dark new world full of forbidden love, painful loss, and a growing war between those with power and those who crave it. An Unholy Magick is a bloody and spell-binding fantasy debut, the first from Kali Rose Schmidt’s shadowy series, Vile Sacraments.

Thank you to The Parliament House Press for giving me a chance to review this eARC or An Unholy Magick.

An Unholy Magick is the story of a girl name Elena, she is part witch, part Elf and one hundred percent cold blooded assassin. She’s also beautiful and knows it. She’s defiant, stubborn, sometimes arrogant and ignorant but she learns quickly and cares deeply for her friends. Elena is also very brave. I wasn’t sure if I should categorize this as New or Young Adult but I went with NA because Elena is 18 and her romantics interests are 20 years old and above. There is one steamy scene but it only involves a kiss.

The kingdom of Anglar is just a part of Terra that King Nicolas rules but he wants to expand his domain. And what better way to do that than by using a witch-assassin to infiltrate the neighboring kingdom of Garcari and slay their ruler Queen Raytha. But to get to Garcari, Elena would need to travel and survive the legendary Dark Forest. Will she survive the mission? And will King Nicolas set her free after her task is done?

This book was a pleasant surprise for me! I like the world building of Terra. There is the Dark Forest where legendary monsters like vampires, werewolves and many more beings make their home. The story takes place mostly in Anglar at King Nicolas’ castle where Elena is training with her guards and a sorcerer to be ready to go on her mission. Magick use is forbidden in Anglar and many people who used it were persecuted or fled the kingdom. Elena’s parents were killed when she was young and she harbors hard feelings against the king because of it, but she has no choice but to take on this mission – it’s kill Queen Raytha or die by hanging.

There are a few interesting characters that I enjoyed. Matvey, the vampyre disguised as a sorcerer, is helping Elena access her powers. I don’t know why but I totally wanted Elena and him to hook up. 😅 His true self under the glamour is a monster, a “bloated corpse” as Elena describes him but why did I so approve of their attraction to one another? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Except Elena is very much into Prince Zoran. And he may be charming and besotted with Elena but he just seemed too weak for my taste. Seems like the two of them may end up together though, or…who knows, maybe the book will surprise me? So it seems like a love triangle but I don’t think it really is – I think Elena’s choice is made.

Elena makes friends easily which is a part of her personality that I liked. Her friendship with prison guard, Aranka, was a fun aspect of the book. I also loved that she had Tabitha, her maid who really took care of her. And then there is Jaime, her friend who grew up with her like a brother. They are close, but are apart for most of the book until the end…where things get a little crazy in the Dark Forest and Garcari. I like Elena’s character growth and in the end she realizes her position as an assassin can be used to help make some changes in Anglar, like helping witches regain the freedom to use magick again. She has power, more than she knows.

Most of the book is about Elena training, building relationships and learning about the history of Queen Raytha, Saint Ragnhild, the Death King, witches and elves but I enjoyed it immensely. A lot more of the action comes in the second half of the book and it kept me quite engaged! There was even one scene as I read in the dark that creeped me out for a quick minute! 😆

An Unholy Magick is the first book in a series and it is entertaining, bloody, dark and full of witches and monsters. I look forward to the sequel!

{TAKEOVER Tour} Spotlight | Marrow Charm by. Kristin Jacques

Title: Marrow Charm

Author: Kristin Jacques

Publisher: The Parliament House

Book Synopsis:

‘In his pursuit of the occult, the Third Reich opened the Gate to a realm of magic and brought the world to ruin. The Gate was eventually closed, but They were already in our world and They were hungry.’

-The Lost History, Library of Avergard

Azure ‘Azzy’ Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic, where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above.

Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities, a sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful. It is an existence of fear and constant dread. When Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes.

The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe. Armin is captured and bound for the Auction block of Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. To reach him, Azzy must brave the perils of the Above and the chaotic life forms created by the Gate. To reach him, she must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world.

And Azzy must reach him, before Armin’s new power is used to open the Gate once more.

Get your copy HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Marrow-Charm-Kristin-Jacques-ebook/dp/B07W58XSV4

It’s one of my favorite reads this year! If you want to read my review for it, click HERE.

BLOG TOUR | ARC Review | Unspoken

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Unspoken

Author: Celia McMahon

Format: eBook

Pages: 402

Publisher: The Parliament House

Publication Date: September 17, 2019

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Princess Isabelle of The New Kingdom has lived her entire life in the confines of her palace. She spends her time hunting for the poverty-stricken Voiceless-people of the Old Kingdom who warred with her kingdom and ultimately lost-and dreaming of a world beyond the walls of her home. As the only remaining child of the king and queen, she is to be married off by her eighteenth birthday.

When Izzy witnesses the use of forbidden magic in the woods outside the palace, she is attacked, and saved by an unknown man. Soon after she discovers her rescuer is a Voiceless servant in the castle named Fray, she befriends him to seek out the magic users who tried to kill her. Fray agrees to help, but not before Isabelle discovers the servant boy harbors a secret the king has tried to bury-that he is a Gwylis, people of the old Kingdom who made a pact with the demons of the underworld for the power to transform into giant ferocious wolves. But to shift into a beast, Fray must be able to speak the words to do so. If he is to thwart the attackers from killing her entire family, Izzy needs to cure the ailment that took away his voice.

But curing Fray holds more danger than she ever thought possible. The lies of her parents and the risk of putting her own life on the line deems as destructive as falling for the servant boy. If Isabelle is to save herself and Fray, she’ll need to face enemy Gwylis, cross paths with usurper kings and princes, and decide what side she is on-human or wolf-or lose her kingdom forever.

Thank you to The Parliament House for giving me a chance to read an eARC of Unspoken.

Princess Isabelle, or Izzy, is not your conventional princess. Yes, she has to do her duty by making a promising marriage when she turns eighteen but thing young lady has a mind of her own. She was my favorite character in this book because she is spunky, sassy and lively. Her relationship with her best friend was so fun to see until some events take place to change that. But there was a lot of conflict Izzy had to sort out in this story as lies and truths are revealed bit by bit.

Now a very fascinating and intriguing part of the story was the Voiceless. The Voiceless cannot speak because of a curse. They communicate with sign language which Izzy picked up by hanging out in their community. We find out more about that curse and her family’s role in it. The world building seems comparable to other worlds that usually involve a rebellious princess and hidden magic. The New Kingdom opposes the presence of magic that was used in the Old Kingdom. So basically magic was taken away, or just repressed, by the rulers of the New Kingdom. The one aspect of the world building that stood out though was the shape-shifting in this story. It is different because words have to be spoken in order for someone to shift into a wolf. It is creative and it made sense then that people from the Old Kingdom had to be silenced.

There is a hint of a love triangle happening in this book but it was quickly obvious who Izzy was attracted to. I mean who are you going to go for, the seemingly perfect prince, Ashe, from a neighboring kingdom or the servant, Fray, who turns into a wolf? 😅🤷🏻‍♀️

I truly enjoyed watching Izzy coming to terms and dealing with the truth of her family and trying to undo the wrongs of the past. She remains vibrant throughout even her most conflicted times, she is a warrior. If you like a strong female lead, a creative story with shape shifters, magic and warring kingdoms then you will definitely enjoy Unspoken.

You can get your copy of Unspoken here: http://www.parliamenthousepress.com/unspoken

ARC Review | Marrow Charm

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Marrow Charm

Author: Kristin Jacques

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 333

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Young Adult, Horror,

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

-The Lost History, Library of Avergard

Azure ‘Azzy’ Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic, where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above.

Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities, a sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful. It is an existence of fear and constant dread. When Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes.

The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe. Armin is captured and bound for the Auction block of Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. To reach him, Azzy must brave the perils of the Above and the chaotic life forms created by the Gate. To reach him, she must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world.

And Azzy must reach him, before Armin’s new power is used to open the Gate once more.

Thank you to The Parliament House and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I requested this book on NetGalley because of the cover, I love it. I guess I’m in a very dark mood lately with the change in seasons coming. The blurb sounded fascinating, and I love the words around the title, “as above, so below”. I have to say that intrigued me. By the way, I am NOT a horror fan usual, but I love this book.

The book blurb begins with some lost history of Avergard, but I forgot about the blurb when I started reading and I don’t remember anything about the Third Reich being mentioned in the story, unless I just missed it? 🤔 What did catch my attention was the writing. This is a beautifully told story, the words seeming effortless to describe this detailed world of the Above and Below. But let me just say, this is a dark tale.

The world in Marrow Charm is divided into the Above and the Below. Azure, or Azzy, has always lived below. And ohhhh boy did I not want to live there with her. Azzy grew up hearing about the monsters that live Above. But…as above, so below. There are scary things below! I was terrified for her life! And mine…even though I didn’t live there. 😂 Now I was trying to figure how to categorize this book…fantasy? But it seemed post-apocalyptic as well, so it is an interesting mix of both I suppose.

The world building is detailed and there was always something new to learn up until the last chapters when we actually get to Avergard. For most of the story we navigate the Below and Above with Azzy, as she tries to find her brother Armin. The separate journeys of Azzy and Armin in this book is harrowing, painful, suspenseful, and heart-breaking. But it’s not only Azzy and Armin trying to find their way, we meet secondary characters along the way that make this tale feel so rich with personalities, danger, mistrust, and hope.

Did I already mention this is dark? There is violence. There is a lot of blood, and despair and but I believed in Azzy. That girl is a survivor with powers we don’t fully understand yet. She is so determined to find her brother and I have to hope she will. And speaking of powers, this is a world of magic, especially in the Above where it seems valued in Avergard. Below, having skills like being an apothecary was very important. I loved learning about Brixby and his skill as an apothecary.

The story is emotional due to the relationship between Azzy and Armin. You can feel the love between them as siblings and I just pray Azzy can reunite with Armin. I just want it all to work out in the end for these characters I fell in love with. Is there a romance? A slight infusion of it with Azzy and a journey companion she meets. I hope to see where that storyline goes.

The story ends in the city of Avergard and once more I feel like there will be a lot to learn about this city. There is so much to uncover in this world of Marrow Charm, it seems to be unending, which I love. I love the layers I got to dig into with this story. I can’t wait to read the next book!

There are witches, shape shifters, high lords that rule with fear and we will most definitely learn more about them in the sequel. The thing I need in the sequel is to know the history of The Gate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and went looking to see where I could find a hardcopy or paperback for my shelf but so far I only see it in ebook form? It’s an amazing book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

ARC Review | The Weaver

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Weaver

Author: Heather Kindt

Format: eBook (The Parliament House)

Pages: 246

Publication Date: August 20, 2019

Categories: Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Most writers choose the endings to their stories . . . most writers are not Weavers.

Laney Holden is a freshman at Madison College whose life goes from normal to paranormal in a matter of seconds. When the antagonist in the book she’s writing shoves her down the stairs at the subway station, she learns she is a Weaver. Weavers bridge the narrow gap between fantasy and reality, bringing their words to life.

Laney soon meets William whom she also suspects is a character from her book—one she’s had a mad crush on since her pen hit the paper. But he’s in danger as her antagonist reveals a whole different ending planned for Laney’s book that involves killing William. Laney must use her writing to save the people closest to her by weaving the most difficult words she will ever write.
THE WEAVER is the first installment of The Weaver trilogy. It is an NA paranormal romance set in a small town on the north shore of Boston. It will leave you wanting more.

Thank you to The Parliament House for giving me an opportunity to read and review The Weaver.

First off, the cover is so gorgeous. I wanted to read this book because of the cover alone. But once I started The Weaver, I could not stop. Its premise is very creative.

It starts off with what seems like a romance story between Laney and her childhood best friend, Jason. He’s a good-looking jock that all the girls want to date but he already has a girlfriend. Laney is more of an introvert and loves to write. They couldn’t be more different but they’ve known each other for so long, naturally there are some feelings between them. Laney has been working on one story in particular and the story is set in the 1700’s, in colonial America.

But one day the villain from her book appears in the her world and Laney doesn’t know what to think. Then another character shows up and Laney thinks she’s losing it. How can her characters come to life? She finds out she is a Weaver, someone who has the power to create stories and make characters come to life. When the villain starts making threats towards her and the people she cares about, she starts to take things much more seriously.

I love the creativity of this story. The author did a really good job at explaining how the powers of a weaver work and the magic that is involved with it. There were many times I wanted to yell at Laney to just do the obvious and write something to destroy the villain but I can see how doing it was a dilemma for her. She is the creator of her precious story and the consequences of what could happen if she did change the story was new territory for her. Oh the irony of me wanting to change elements in the story to help the characters out! Don’t we all do that while reading books though?

The book blurb says this is NA (New Adult) but I think it read more like a young adult novel. I expect New Adult stories to have more physical and steamy sexual situations but this book was pretty clean. The romance that blossoms between Laney and her hero is very sweet. They are all in college but to me it felt like they were still in high school. Also, the new friends she makes who are Weavers are high school students, so it just felt like a book for a younger audience.

Overall, The Weaver is a story that weaves elements of romance, history and fantasy to give us a book that is creative and engaging. I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

Get it here: Amazon

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Arc Review: Dream Keeper (The Dark Dreamer Trilogy, #1)

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Amber R. Duell

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 288

Categories: Death, Dreams, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

The Sandman is seventeen-year-old Nora’s closest friend and best-kept secret. He has to be, if she doesn’t want a one-way ticket back to the psychiatrist. It took her too long to learn not to mention the hooded figure in her dreams to her mother, who still watches Nora as if she’ll crack. So when Nora’s friends start mysteriously dying gruesome deaths in their sleep, she isn’t altogether surprised when the police direct their suspicion at her. The Sandman is the only one she can turn to for answers. But the truth might be more than she bargained for…

For the last five years, the Sandman has spent every night protecting Nora. When he hid the secret to the Nightmare Lord’s escape inside her dreams, he never expected to fall in love with her. Neither did he think his nemesis would find her so quickly, but there’s no mistaking his cruel handiwork. The Nightmare Lord is tired of playing by the rules and will do anything to release his deadly nightmares into the world, even if that means tormenting Nora until she breaks.

When the Nightmare Lord kidnaps Nora’s sister, Nora must enter enemy territory to save her. The Sandman is determined to help, but if Nora isn’t careful, she could lose even more than her family to the darkness.

(Please note: This story contains vivid death scenes.)

Thank you to The Parliament House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc.

I didn’t have a specific expectation for this book. I’ve been following The Parliament House Instagram account and was intrigued by their posts. Their books seem dark and I decided to satisfy my curiosity by finally requesting their books on NetGalley.

I love the cover of this book! Now if only the story I read was as enchanting and mysterious as the cover. The story was creative but as I got to know the characters, it felt like the writing was targeting a younger audience. I get that I’m an adult, reading a YA book, but for a story set in a dream world with a character called The Weaver who is the Lord of Nightmares – I was hoping for darker aspects to the characters. The Weaver is pretty villainous but I was hoping for a hint of it in The Sandman.

The Sandman came off like a sweet teenage boy! He is immortal and stuck in his seventeen year old body but with all the power of dreams at his fingertips, I just wanted him a bit more haunting and mysterious..

Nora is our main character and right away in the book there is action. People start dying around her. And the deaths, are bloody and descriptive. It’s a dark story in that aspect. It reminded me a lot of Nightmare on Elm Street, yes…I’m an 80’s child. Anyway those movies freaked me out as a child! Nightmares indeed! Dream Keeper is creepy and scary in that the deaths in the book are pretty horrifying.

So The Sandman helped people sleep, the Weaver gives nightmares and he wants to bring his Nightmares to life in the Day World (the real world). Nora is needed for this to happen so he goes after her and the people she loves.

Now this is a quick read, it’s under 300 pages so it’s a fast read and the writing is actually really good. It flows nicely, and the author drew me into this fascinating dream world. But in the last few chapters of the book we get introduced to new characters! I’m sure they will appear in the second book, but I wish they made an appearance in the middle of the book at least. It threw me off just a little.

And the romance…well…for me at least, it wasn’t believable. The Sandman has been protecting Nora since she’s been twelve and she’s seventeen now. He tells her he fell in love with her a year ago…why? What is it about Nora that he loves? I just didn’t believe their love story.

I think the story is promising, and I loved the creepy/mild horror nightmare scenes. I’ll definitely pick up the second book and read it in the Fall around Halloween maybe – because this would be a perfect mood reading kind of book. I just wanted a bit more depth with The Sandman and Nora, other than I liked it.

Get it here: Amazon

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