2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge - Finished

2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge hosted by Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

Challenge Rules:

• This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2014 – Dec 31, 2014. I will be posting a place to link up a sign-up post (below), reviews and a wrap-up post. (Note: You do not have to review the books to participate, but only those who link up reviews will be entered for the prize)
• Grab the reading challenge button (code & button below) and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate- you could track your progress and post reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, etc.
• Any full length book that includes a witch as a main character or includes major witchcraft elements counts. They may be fiction or non-fiction. However, they should not be reference books which are not read cover to cover-I will leave this to your discretion.
• Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
• When you sign up in the linky put the direct link to your post about joining the 2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge, not just a link to your blog.
• You can move up levels, but no moving down.
• Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2014, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
• Have some Witchy Good Fun !!!

The Levels:
Initiate: Read 1 – 5 Witchy Books
Maiden: Read 6 – 10 Witchy Books
Mother: Read 11 – 15 Witchy Books
Crone: Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books
The Prize:
Witchy book of choice up to $10 from The Book Depository!
Participants who have officially signed up by linking up a sign-up post declaring their level will be given one entry for every review they link up. The more reviews you write and link up, the more entries in the contest! Link up your reviews on that month’s Review Link Up Post. Winner will be chosen on Jan 11th 2015 to give everyone a chance to link up their end of year reviews. All Challenge Posts can be accessed from my menu bar under my header!

I have now reached 22 books and finished this challenge. I will most likely end up reading a lot more witchy books but I have completed the challenge.
Thank you to Melissa for hosting this challenge, it is still one of my favourite ones.

All posts for this challenge are HERE.

List of books:

1. An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary 
2. Saltwater Witch by Chris Howard
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison
4. Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison
5. A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
6. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch 
7. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness 
8. WitchHunt by Emma Mills 
9. For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison 
10. The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
11. Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch  
12. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews 
13. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch 
14. White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
15. Baehrly Breathing by Elizabeth A. Reeves
16. Baehrly Bitten by Elizabeth A. Reeves
17. Baehrly Alive by Elizabeth A. Reeves
18. How (Not) to Kiss a Were Bear by Elizabeth A. Reeves
19. Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
20. Pale Demon by Kim Harrison 
21. Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright
22. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the I.S. and FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth: a human hate group is trying to create its own demons to destroy all Inderlanders, and to do so, it needs her blood.
She's faced vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more, but humanity itself might be her toughest challenge yet. From Goodreads.

I am still enjoying this "The Hollows" series which has now reached number 10. In this book Rachel finally accepts her demon part.There are lots of different groups in this. I.S. the paranormal police, FIB the human police, HAPA a human group who wants to kill all paranormal beings and then a new group without a name. I think we will meet HAPA and the new group again in the next books.
Still interesting and a lot going on.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (P-leopard)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright

After revealing a dark past, Frey is forced to join with a group of strangers whose pasts seem to intertwine with her own. She struggles to regain her memories, her full power, only to find there is more danger on the other side. And now, there is no turning back. From Goodreads

As it is about 9 months since I read the first book, it took me a bit of time to get all the characters sorted.
Frey was bound which meant she had no memory of her previous life or her powers. During this book she slowly regains both. It becomes obvious that her previous self was a complete different person to the one she is now and I am looking forward to see how she copes with that in the next book.
Frey and her companions have to kill the council members that bound her in order to free her memories and powers.
She has some very loyal friends. But as she now starts to remember things again, and remember her friends together with her enemies, she is unsure of their loyalty. They can't tell her too much as her brain can't cope and she keeps fainting when it gets too much.
I am glad I finally got round to reading this sequel.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (F-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches' conference and clear her name, or be trapped in the demonic ever-after . . . forever after.
But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.
For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight--freed at last to slay the innocent and devour their souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her. From Goodreads.

Much better than the last one. There is still a lot of politics in it but a lot more fighting. As usual when Rachel has to help protect Trent he doesn't tell her everything so this time they are fighting a new demon, assassins and the witches who are still trying to get rid of Rachel. The next book is ready for me in the library.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (K-muskox)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter - and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind...until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment - at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.
It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price. From Goodreads.

This is the book I have liked the least of this series till now. Rachel has been shunned by the witch community and now the witch council wants to put her in witch-jail for using black magic. I think what I don't like about this is that it is political. The main witches of the council want to control Rachel and use her for their own agenda and they don't care who they have to sacrifice to do that. I like the plain good versus bad fight better.
I will continue this series and hope it turns back to Rachel fighting the bad guys with the help of her friends and others whose help she doesn't really want.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (487 pages)
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (R-leopard)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

How (Not) to Kiss a Were Bear by Elizabeth A. Reeves

A cross-over novel combining the worlds of magical baker, Cindy Eller, and her sister the unconquerable Goldie Locke.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth, Faerie has been closed to our world. Now, many believe it is time to destroy the barrier separating the two worlds-- for Faerie and the mortal world to live together once again.
The mortal Council of Magic will never allow this, despite the ever-growing mortality rate of a plague caused by the increasing deficit of Magic on our side of the barrier.
Meanwhile, Cindy Eller is learning what it takes to be a Seraphine of Faerie, while her sister, Goldie Locke, struggles to keep what's left of her family alive and together. From Goodreads.

I wanted to read this as I have read the previous Cindy Eller books. But as her two series merge with this book, I needed to read the Goldie Locke series first. I have read them and they were all okay but it annoys me that the author did this.
This book brings together the two stories very well. Everybody has to fight for the survival of the magical community against The mortal Council of Magic who has been keeping a lot of magic to them self.
Goldie is continuing her complicated life and Cindy is trying to prove herself a worthy Seraphine of Faerie.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Stuck in a Rut Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-kestrel)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Baehrly Alive by Elizabeth A. Reeves

Goldie Locke, of the Three Baehrs Magical Law firm, has spent the last several months putting together a special preserve for endangered Magical creatures. She finally has a space where she can protect the last remnants that have survived the separation from Faerie. She is also caring for her critically ill stepmother, Gwyn, and her young brother--the spitting image of her murdered father. With her own well-being also hanging in the balance, she just doesn't have time to plan the wedding of the century.
Everything changes on the fateful day that Death threatens to take the person she loves most in the world. In that instant, Goldie's whole world changes--her goals, her dreams, and her ambitions are all focused on finding the cure to the mysterious malady that is attacking the Magical Community.
What do you do when the good guys aren't on your side?
Would you choose the welfare of the one or the many?
And, is love ever enough? From Goodreads.


Goldie finally has her special preserve for her magical creatures but at the same time she is fighting to save her stepmother and half-brother from a terminal illness. Goldie has a complicated life.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Baehrly Bitten by Elizabeth A. Reeves

Goldie Locke and her Magical menagerie return in another thrilling addition to the Goldie Locke and the Were Bears series.
Goldie's life has been in upheaval ever since a bite from a were bear has rendered her caught somewhere between were and witch. As she struggles with this transformation she is hired to find heiress Paige Turner, whose kidnapping involves vampires, ancient legends, and a series of brutal murders.
Does Goldie have the strength and courage to face the danger that lies ahead in rescuing Paige, when she herself is trying to adapt to her new way of life?
With the whole world hanging in the balance, she has no choice but to try. From Goodreads.

Everything gets even more complicated for Goldie in this second book. Still cute with the magical animals both the ones alive and the zombie hen but there is a lot of gruesome killing in this book.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-gecko)

Baehrly Breathing by Elizabeth A. Reeves

The first book in the Goldie Locke and the Were Bears series.
It's difficult to be taken seriously when you are a member of the Magical community and saddled with the unfortunate name 'Goldie Locke'. It certainly doesn't help if you are also about five feet tall, blond, and most commonly described as 'cute.'. What was a girl to do?
Become one of the most dreaded Magical environmental lawyers of all time?
Goldie isn't there yet, but she's well on her way when a case drags her into uncharted territory-- working with Ordinary officials to figure out why 'unusual' remains are being discovered all around New England.
With her hands full and a new dragon on the way, Goldie's hunches about this case may prove to be all-too true-- this stuff is bad business! From Goodreads



I liked the Cindy Eller series and I needed to read this series before I could read How (Not) to Kiss a Were Bear.
Like Elizabeth A. Reeves' other series this is a short cute story. It is scarier and darker but full of very cute and weird magical animals

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Build a House
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-eagle)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

Confusion reigns for characters and readers in the complicated seventh urban fantasy outing (after 2008's The Outlaw Demon Wails) for witch detective Rachel Morgan. Rachel's reputation is in tatters—to save humanity, she used powers that are considered evil—and she's still devastated by the mysterious death of her boyfriend six months earlier. Her attempts to solve his murder bleed into a case involving an emotion-sucking banshee, and soon Rachel has to bring in her PI partners—Ivy, a bisexual vampire, and Jenks, a pixie in existential crisis—along with empathic psychiatrist Ford and the banshee victim's father, Federal Inderland Bureau captain Edden. Harrison's unique vampire mythology unduly complicates world-building, and newcomers will be desperate for a glossary, but the nearly nonstop action nicely plays off the poignancy of Rachel's difficult life. From Goodreads.




This series just keeps getting better. Rachel and her life is as complicated as can be and she has to fight both enemies and so-called friends this time around. I am now glad I read the short story "Dirty Magic" in Hotter than Hell as the story about the banshee now makes sense. It is also a very good idea to read the short story "Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel" from Holidays are Hell as that helps clarify another major theme in this book.
Of course Rachel finds herself in love again in this book.
I have the next two books in the series on loan from the library ready to read.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (best so far 2014)
Color Coded Reading Challenge 2014
Vampire Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (W-narwhal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil; an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common or garden serial killer? Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load. So far so London. But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate. Is there a connection? And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River?
Full of warmth, sly humour and a rich cornucopia of things you never knew about London, Aaronovitch's series has swiftly added Grant's magical London to Rebus' Edinburgh and Morse's Oxford as a destination of choice for those who love their crime with something a little extra. From Goodreads.

I enjoy the humour and banter in these books, also upper class Nightingale as opposite to working class Peter.
As I like to continue reading series I enjoy without much of a break, it is annoying to catch up with the series which means I have to wait for the author to write the next one. Get a move on Ben Aaronovitch!
I would soon like to have the story of the faceless man finished though it did provide for a major twist and surprise at the end of the story.
This book was read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and even though I still prefer to read books myself he is one of the best narrators I have heard.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-impala)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything. From goodreads.

I have to admit I really like the books by Ilona Andrews. It is the first in a new series about an innkeeper for paranormal and alien species. It is a brilliant idea and especially the close link between the inn and the innkeeper. I am looking forward to read more about Dina. And of course see how her relationships with Sean, the werewolf and Arland, the vampire pan out.  There is also quite a bit of humour which I like.
This book was written as short episodes on the authors website before being published. They are doing the same with the second book in the series but I don't have the patience to read it bit by bit, I will rather wait and read the whole novel when it is published.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Quick fix Challenge (235 pages)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Shifter Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (I)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel Team Challenge
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers (Dina)
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Build a House
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-impala)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP
It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.
At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well. From Goodreads.

I am enjoying listening to this series. Peter Grant isn't doing things quite like they should be done or as his superiors want but he gets there in the end. I like that Leslie is back and playing a bigger part again.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (fantasy)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (P)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (#3)
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-hawk)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #3

The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

When you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line...
In the Hollows, where the natural and the supernatural co-exist - not always peacefully - desperate times often call for unorthodox measures. But bounty hunter-witch Rachel Morgan did the absolutely unthinkable to save the lives of her friends: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins have come home to haunt her.
As Rachel hunts for the truth behind a terrifying murder, the discovery of a shocking family secret is about to throw her entire life into question. And the long-lost ancient knowledge she seeks resides in the demonic ever-after. But there are some lines that should never be crossed--like the one Rachel Morgan's stepping over...again! From Goodreads.

This sixth book of The Hollows is full of surprises and secrets of the past. We learn a lot of new stuff about Rachel's parents and most of it is unexpected. Also the life of demons might not be as easy as it seems.
This book included a short story "The Bespelled" about how Ceri became Al's familiar. The Hollows # 6,1
I have book 7 + short stories 4,5 and 5,5 ready to read.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Vampire Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (O)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (528 pages)
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (O-coyote)
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly

For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble...until now.
A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, and no one living in or around Cincinnati - human, inhuman, or undead - is safe.
An ancient artifact may be the key to stopping the murderer - a mysterious relic that is now in the hands of Rachel Morgan, fearless independent bounty hunter and reckless witch. But revealing it could ignite a battle to the death among the vast and varied local supernatural races.
Rachel's been lucky so far.
But even she can't hide from catastrophe forever.
This mass market paperback edition includes the short story "The Bridges of Eden Park. From Goodreads.




This is the fifth book in the Hollows series and I am still enjoying it and have several more lined up to read. Life is still not easy for Rachel. Both her room-mate and boyfriend are vampires, she is part of a werewolf pack (very small) and an elf wants something she has.
There is not a happy ending in this book.
The short story at the end of the book was a nice wee story.
This series should be read in order as everything that happens is a continuation of earlier books.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Vampire Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (512 pages)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (series #5)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (R-dragonfly)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Book Buffs’ Battleship

WitchHunt by Emma Mills

‘I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want you to go,’ Daniel said, a couple of minutes later.
I looked at him and smiled.
‘I’ll be fine, I will.’
‘You’d better be. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Those months I stupidly spent apart from you… they were torment for me,’ he said.
‘They were torment for me too.’
As the Christmas season is ripped apart by the news that Jess’ old friend Alex has been turned into a vicious killer, festivities are dropped, Jess returns to England and the hunt begins. But Alex isn’t the only one being hunted, for Mary has found a way to extinguish the entire bloodline of Malden witches, and it is Jess’s book of shadows that’s the key. As things hot up, Jess finds she must leave Daniel and the safety of Manchester in a final hunt for her nemesis, Mary. In a fight-off that only one of them can survive, loved ones will fall… daemons will rise… but who will survive? From Goodreads.

I like reading about witches and I like reading about vampires. The protagonist Jess is both and sometimes has difficulties accepting her vampire part.
I have enjoyed this WitchBlood series by Emma Mills and as this book seems to be the last in the series  I will keep an eye out to see if she publishes anything else.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Quick fix Challenge (254 pages)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Vampire Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (E)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (Witchblood #4)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-eagle)
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone? (E)

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

It began with A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES. Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers... Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in this stunning, richly imagined, epic tale. From Goodreads.

This book has been on my TBR pile for more than 1½ year. I bought it as soon as it was published on Kindle in July 2012 but then never got round to reading it.
I enjoyed it and it was interesting being back in 1590 Europe. It just wasn't as good as the first book. I am however looking forward to the final book coming in July.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (historical fiction)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (historical fiction)
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge (award winning)
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge (Night)
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (bought on Amazon.co.uk 10th of July 2012)
Vampire Challenge 2014
2014 Women Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (D)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (592 pages)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (Shan's bookshelf - she is a goat)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge (Europe)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (D-badger)
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #2

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

London constable and apprentice Peter Grant suspects sorcery when Soho area musicians drop dead, their brain scans showing magical draining. Victim Cyrus left girlfriend Simone, who beds Peter. His dad "Lord Grant" taught him jazz, but master mage DCI Nightingale still recuperates, and a Pale Lady bites off essential bits for an animal chimera slave ring. From Goodreads.

I read the first book in this series over 6 months ago and finally got around to reading this one now. It continues where the first one stopped, meaning Peter's friend Lesley and his boss are still recuperating after their injuries. I like Urban fantasy and Ben Aaronvitch does it well. Just when you think you know the plot and answers there is a twist. I already have the next book in this series.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge (urban fantasy)
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (bought 24th of August 2013)
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (P)
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (Paranormal activity)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge (London)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (B-badger)

A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison

The evil night things that prowl Cincinnati despise witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Her new reputation for the dark arts is turning human and undead heads alike with the intent to possess, bed, and kill her -- not necessarily in that order.
Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick possesses -- savage beasts willing to destroy the Hollows and everyone in it if necessary.
Forced to keep a low profile or eternally suffer the wrath of a vengeful demon, Rachel must nevertheless act quickly. For the pack is gathering for the first time in millennia to ravage and to rule. And suddenly more than Rachel's soul is at stake. From Goodreads.





Rachel leaves Cincinnati to go rescue Jax, a pixi and her human ex-boyfriend Nick. Nothing goes as planned. Another book I couldn't put down. I now have to wait a bit before reading the next as I have to get it from the library. It will be soon though.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Vampire Challenge 2014
2014 Women Challenge
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (F)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (496 pages)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (F-fox)
CCC-Read your age (published 2006)
A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2014

Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison

There's no witch in Cincinnati tougher, sexier, or more screwed up than bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, who's already put her love life and soul in dire jeopardy through her determined efforts to bring criminal night creatures to justice.
Between "runs," she has her hands full fending off the attentions of her blood-drinking partner, keeping a deadly secret from her backup, and resisting a hot new vamp suitor.
Rachel must also take a stand in the war that's raging in the city's underworld, since she helped put away its former vampire kingpin - and made a deal with a powerful demon to do so that could cost her an eternity of pain, torment, and degradation.
And now her dark "master" is coming to collect his due. From Goodreads.

Book 3 of the Hollows. This series is a very enjoyable read, there is something happening all the time and I just can't put the books down. Demons are as usual tricky to deal with, vampires are not much easier. Rachel is a brilliant protagonist and I am continuing this series right away.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Vampire Challenge 2014
2014 Women Challenge
CCC A-Z Book Titles 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (E)
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: 2014 Chubby Chunkster (501 pages)
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2013-2014 (E)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (E-badger)
A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2014