Book Review: Crave Me Roughly by Kira James

Title: Crave Me Roughly

Author: Kira James
Genre: Paranormal Romance - Vampires
Publisher:  Kira James - Copyright 2022
Publication Date: August 17, 2022
ISBN: N/A (Ebook Novella)
Read: January 16, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advanced reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: For almost twenty years, he’s been watching me in secret. This dark, sensual, dangerous man who steps out of the shadows to help me when I need it the most. He won’t accept any payment other than a kiss. But it’s a kiss that sparks a dark desire in a secret, hidden part of me. And when he touches me, all I crave is the kind of dangerous passion that he offers. 

Then I learn the truth—he’s not a man at all. He’s a vampire. 

The love that burns between us is forbidden, but now it’s too late for me to turn back. Perhaps it always was. Because no matter how much danger stalks us both, I’ll sacrifice anything to keep him safe.

Warning: Contains violence, sex, and references to blood drinking. (What do you expect from vampires? Sunshine and daisies? I think not.)

Review: Crave Me Roughly was my first introduction to Kira James as an author, the characters of Luke and Sara, and the world in which they live. And, wow, what an introduction. From the description of Luke and his buddy, Serge, I'm picturing Jason Momoa sans beard and Chris Hemsworth but both have fangs. Um, oh, hells yeah!

As this is a prequel novella set a few years prior to the events of the first book in the Dark Alliance series, Embrace Me Darkly, I won't go into a lot of detail regarding the plot. Basically, the plot breaks down like this: Assistant District Attorney Sara Constantine has been looking for the person who killed her father nearly twenty years ago. She gets a lead from a sketchy dude. Goes to an even sketchier part of Los Angeles, alone, at night, to meet Sketchy Dude and learn what he knows. Mayhem ensues. Sara is rescued by the mysterious and hunky Dynamic Duo of Luke and Serge. Luke and Sara fall in lust. Cue the hot sex. Things happen. Secrets are revealed. More stuff happens. Questions are raised. Can Serge be even snarkier? Will Luke and Sara work out their issues? Will Luke's state-of-the-art kitchen be used for actual cooking at some point? 

I don't know, but I want to know.

Anyone who truly knows me knows just how much I loooooooooove vampires, and just from the short introduction to the Dark Alliance series I got from Crave Me Roughly, I need to read the rest of the series now. But it's not only vampires populating James's world. Other preternatural creatures are hinted at through conversations between Luke and Sara, creatures such as werewolves, demons, fairies, and much more. So, yeah, color me intrigued. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some hot vampire books to download...

Book Review: The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

Title: The Twisted Dead (Gravekeeper #3)

Author: Darcy Coates
Genre: Horror - Thriller - Suspense
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press - Copyright 2023
Publication Date: February 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781728239231
Read: January 5-6, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advanced reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: Keira must decide if she should use her ability to contact ghosts to help the man who once tried to kill her. 

Hunted and haunted, all she wants is to put her mysterious past behind her and move forward with her new friends as Blighty Graveyard's groundskeeper. But then she receives an invitation to dinner at the local recluse's crumbling ancestral estate. The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody―and at its center is the man who once tried to kill her, now begging for her help. 

Dane Crispin believes his home is haunted―and that the unquiet dead clawing through the ancient house are after him. Unnerved but intrigued, Keira opens her second sight and discovers he's right: resentful specters cling to Dane…and if she can't find a way to stop them, threaten to consume everything in their path. 

There's something dark happening in the world beyond most peoples' vision, and if Keira isn't able to sever the ties between the living and the dead, the chained spirits may not be the only things twisted beyond saving.

Review: The Twisted Dead is the third installment in the Gravekeeper series by Darcy Coates, and once again, Keira is up to her eyeballs in both ghosts and trouble.

The story starts when Keira finds a mysterious invitation on the doorstep of her arson-damaged cottage in the graveyard of small town Blighty. The mystery deepens when she reads the invitation and discovers its from Dane Crispin--town recluse and the man who shot at Keira when she inadvertently strayed onto his property while trying to help a troubled ghost. Her friends, Mason and Zoe, have also received invitations to a dinner party at the Crispin Estate. From the moment the friends enter the Crispin family home, ghosts are literally coming out of the woodworks in this truly twisted tale. Throw in a road trip, an evil corporation masquerading as a renewal energy power, a murderer, some morbid humor, and a pleasantly dorky cat, and The Twisted Dead quickly turns into a horror fan's kind of party.

Even if you haven't read the previous books in this series (The Whispering Dead, The Ravenous Dead), you'll like The Twisted Dead if you love paranormal thrillers and gothic-style ghost stories. Followers of the series will find this a great addition that answers some of the questions raised in the previous books as well as new ones that will quietly eat at your soul until Book 4.