Hexbreaker by Jordan L. Hawk

4.5 STARS

Hexworld - Book 1

Oooh, this was YUMMY! Hexbreaker more than fulfills the promise made by The 13th Hex. I loved it. :)

We had met one of the two main characters in the short story, Cicero (who kept manifesting in my mind's eye as Prince) the unbonded feline familiar, and now we meet his destined-to- be-bonded-to witch, Tom. This is definitely the case of opposites attracting. And it works very very well. I enjoyed the way both men learned to look past their first (unfavourable) impressions of the other and even when there was backsliding done, it never lasted for long.

I like this new world of Jordan Hawk's. I'm very intrigued by the idea of the Witch Police and it's very interesting how it works with its hexes, familiars, witch powers and bonded vs unbonded pairs. And it works both in tandem, but mostly in competition with the regular police force. There's an long game being played here. Yes, the book is complete on its own and the 'mystery' has been taken care of... locally and for the moment, but there is far more to come it seems. And that makes me a happy reader!

To sum up, Hexbreaker is the beginning of a brand new series that I look forward to getting totally addicted to. :)

Oh, and you know what? Usually one can tell who the next book is going to be about, but in this case, I wasn't sure. And that makes me really happy! :)

The 13th Hex by Jordan L. Hawk

4 STARS

A Hexworld Story

New world. New magic system. New family of characters.

LOVE IT!!

This is the story that starts it all.

Reaper of Souls by Jordan L. Hawk

3.5 STARS

SPECTR Series - Book 3

Not really much to say about this instalment of the Spectr series except that I totally enjoyed it. There was some character grown from both Caleb and John and I really liked how John's opinion and feelings towards Gray are changing and growing. Caleb remains a lot of fun and I really enjoy the 'inside' interactions between him and Gray.

Another Place in Time by Various Authors

4.5 STARS

There are 6 stories in this historical anthology and every one of them is a winner.

Office Romance by Tamara Allen
Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers
The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles
Unfair in Love and War by Kaje Harper
Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk
Deliverance by Aleksandr Voinov

The stories take place in different historical eras and each one is a little gem that I can totally recommend. WW2, Regency, Victorian, The Crusades... each story features terrific characters, actual plots, sexy and romantic interludes, real emotions, laughter and tears. I mean they have everything you'd want in a historical romance no matter the era. I'm not one for short stories usually. I find many of them lacking substance. Not these!

They were all so, so good, but if you were to demand that I choose a favourite, I'd have to say The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles. The heat in this story, the intensity of the two characters in their dealings with each other, the moments of humour and the moments of sadness... man... it was really really really good. :)

I should add that the only author I'd not read before was Joanna Chambers and she's now on my Get More Books By This Author list. I have her Provoked in my TBR pile.

So if you want to check out some historical m/m romance, this is a terrific place to start! It's also a must-read for those that are already loving the genre. :)

Remnant by KJ Charles and Jordan L. Hawk

4 STARS

The inevitable and eminently suitable crossover between Charles' Casebook of Simon Feximal stories and Hawk's Griffin & Whyborne series.

So much fun! I certainly hope that these two couples find a way to work together again. They are the perfect foils for each other and I laughed out lout a couple of times much to the dog's puzzlement. *LOL*

Fans of either series need to read this freebie!

Master of Ghouls by Jordan L. Hawk

3.5 STARS

SPECTR Series - Book 2

This is the second installment of the SPECTR series and it was exactly what I expected. Lots of paranormal fun and action,some sexy times and some character development between our two (three?) erstwhile heroes.

In this day and age of Netflix and Amazon TV and the like, the stories of John (I LOVE that his name is John) and Caleb feel to me like a Netflix limited series. And that's quite all right!

I think I have 4 more novellas in this "first series" and I am looking forward to reading them. (And casting them in my mind's eye!) 

 This is a fun series. :)

Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk

4 STARS

SPECTR Series - Book 1

This is the first book in the SPECTR series and it is available right now as a free download from Kobo Books. There is Caleb, the unregistered paranormal, Gray, a wandering vampire-like spirit who becomes trapped in Caleb's body and John, the federal agent/exorcist. There is a case of a murderous demon that needs solving. Throw this all together with Jordan Hawk's easy to read style of writing and BAM! 

 We have a winner. 

 So much of a winner that I was barely 3/4s of the way through it and I was back at Kobo buying the rest of Series 1.

So. Much. Fun!

Stormhaven by Jordan L. Hawk

3.5 STARS

Whyborne & Griffin - Book 3

This third installment of the Whyborne & Griffin series continues the love story and paranormal adventures of our stalwart heroes.

I enjoyed this one more than the previous novel. A big part of that was my preference for the undersea menace as opposed to the um... outer space monsters of Threshold, as well as for the whole paranormal side of the plot associated with the 'baddie'. I enjoyed the suspense part of the book a lot. I might have wished for a little more detail and explanation, but that's not really the nature of this series, and that's okay. (Although I could have used more resolution with Kerr, Griffin's father, after what happened at the asylum.)

We also get to meet Griffin's family and learn a little more of his background. He is hiding his relationship with Whyborne from them and leading them to think that he's been cured of his 'unnatural predilections'. And we know how well THAT always goes. :) I found myself giving Christine many internal "Atta girl! You tell him!"s thoughout the story. And while I'm at it, I'd have like to have seen more of her because she's very much a favourite, but I do recognise that W&G are the main characters here. *LOL*

But while I love the boys and all their flaws and quirks, there were times that I found both of them rather whiny and clueless about their relationship. Didn't they learn anything from the previous two books? I mean, I get that Whyborne is insecure about the relationship and the depth of Griffin's feelings for him, but JEEZ, it's like he hasn't grown at all at times. (And that's a big reason why I didn't give Stormhaven 4 stars.) And if Griffin was any more unaware of what was going on with the people closest to him I'd have to accuse him of being a belly-button gazer.

I do hope that the huge strides Whyborne and Griffin have made in their relationship will stick into the next book and beyond. The moments where they FINALLY realise how deep and lasting their feelings for each other are among my most favorite in the book.

In closing, Stormhaven is not without it's problems, in my opinion, but it is a fun and satisfying read and I will definitely be continuing the journey with Whyborne, Griffin, Christine et al. :)

Threshold by Jordan L. Hawk

3 STARS

Whyborne and Griffin - Book 2

Threshold is the second book of the Whyborne and Griffin series and it sees our heroes travelling to the mining town of Threshold at the behest (sort of) of Whyborne's father. They take the indomitable Christine with them. Once at the town, we meet, among others, Elliot, an old friend of Griffin from his Pinkerton days who Whyborne eyes with a very jealous eye.

There are myths and monsters galore in this volume, along with some puzzling cave writings and missing people. There are also some wonderful intimate scenes between our heroes as well as some rather immature arguments. I realise that since the book is written from the first person POV of Whyborne, we are going to be seeing things his way... that is naive and emotionally immature, I guess, but I wasn't fond of the way both he and Griffin sometimes sounded like 12 year old girls. After the events of the first book of the series I would have thought them beyond some of it.

I wasn't thrilled with the choice of monsters. It came across as 1950's bad sci-fi/horror tropish to me. Plan 9 from Outer Space or something along those lines. *LOL* I did however, enjoy the climax of the book and the 'disposal' of the monsters. I loved how Whyborne came into his own, for a while at least, and took charge of things and I appreciated how he used his burgeoning power/spells to help. I did feel that Christine got better shrift in this novel than Griffin did, to be honest. The secrets that Elliot spilled about Griffin's past were intriguing and I would have hoped for more in depth about that, but I notice that the third book seems to delve into Griffin's family and past, so maybe I'll get that then. (I never read free chapters or excerpts, all I allow myself is the official blurb, so...)

So, all in all, I am very fond of these characters and while the plot of this book could have been better IMO, I still enjoyed my read.

Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk

4.5 STARS

Whyborne & Griffin - Book 1

I was ready to be disappointed by this book because I'd heard so much great about it and indeed the whole series, but I was not disappointed one bit! I loved it!

Set in what feels to me like Victorian-era New England in the town of Widdershins, we first meet one Percival Endicott Whyborne, an introverted scholar of dead languages. He's a long, tall, gangly sort with few friends. Then we meet Griffin Flaherty, handsome, charming ex-Pinkerton agent who needs Whyborne's help on a case. And so it begins...

What takes place is a well-plotted, intriguing mystery dealing with things occult and dark, resurrections and creatures from the abyss. And while Whyborne and Griffin go about trying to solve the mystery, they find time to fall in love with each other and while the initial attraction is pretty instantaneous, they do take their time at it. :)

We also meet Whyborne's only real friend, Christine, another out of the ordinary scholar - and while there are those who might offer up that she's the usual BFF trope, I couldn't help but really like her, so trope or not, she was well done. Whyborne's family, we meet briefly and more towards the end of the book but there was also much to find interesting there too.

I really, really enjoyed this book . The characters are nicely-rounded and engaging and I sense that there is still a lot to learn about them. The plot was well-thought out and logical and held my attention throughout. The romance made sense, was fun, and hot, and paid attention to the mores of the era.

There are more books in the series and they are already in my TBR pile. If you liked K.J. Charles' Charm of Magpies series, you will definitely like this. I totally recommend it!

Ooops!

I was a bit naughty... see... I said in my last review that I'd be waiting to buy more books in the Men of Honor series, but see... there was this sale. Deep, deep discounts. So I filled in series. Men of Honor, Whyborne & Griffin, Southern Arcana, Adrien English. 13 new books all told. That TBR pile? Becoming a mountain...

Ain't it grand?

Edit: So, I went back... 20 new books for less than $12.