Book Review: Agent of Enchantment by C. N. Crawford and Alex Rivers (Dark Fae FBI Book 1)

 

    I thought this was going to be a simple profiling case. Fly to London, profile the murderer and go home. Maybe stop at some of the famous London Ripper murder spots my friend Scarlett is always going on about. If I have time. But ever since the plane touched down I've been getting these weird feelings and suppressed memories of Horace keep popping up. Best not to think on those. Then, this man Roan who saved me from a couple of thugs that first night is following me around acting like he has all the answers so long as I go along with his every plan. No matter how sexy he is he has just made it to the top of my suspect pool.  I just have to solve this before I get sucked into all their weirdness going on in this city. 

    This book was a BookBub suggestion in 2017 and I have always enjoyed a good fantasy. The cover has fire on it, so it is a bit misleading to what you expect her power to be, but that is okay. Then I have this minor obsession with crime TV shows. I almost always have Criminal Minds, NCIS, Bones, or Castle on in the background when the kids aren't in the room. I have to have some kind of balance between all the cartoons the kids watch and my balance is murder. 

    While I struggled with the first person point of view in this book it didn't take too much away from the overall storyline. It just read more like a journal than a book because of it. I'm just so used to third person books that first person is out of the norm for me. The powers in this book were a bit atypical as well. The ability to travel through mirrors, feeding off emotions, and an invisibility potion that turns everyone invisible to the user. 

    I can't say that I had a favorite character in this book, although Roan did make it hard not to love him. A little stalkerish and very willing to take any advantage he can get, but loveable none-the-less. Gabriel was adorable, but he didn't really rank in the comparison. I would say it's like comparing Derek Morgan to Spencer Reed but I can't because I'm the odd one who would choose Reed over Morgan and there is nothing geeky about Roan. 

    I was pleasantly surprised as to who the murderer was until the scene right before we meet him. I kept expecting it to be the Fae King who had banned all pixies, but what happened works better for a later storyline, I'm sure. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $0.99 by clicking here. This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. 

Book Review: Whiteout by Kathleen Lee

     Growing up Maggie and Nikka had to walk on eggshells whenever they were around their mother. No loud noises and just the sight of Maggie was frequently enough to set her off. Dishes were thrown, words were said, and very occasionally blood was even shed. At the first chance she got Maggie decided to move to Ottawa and go to University to escape her mother's wrath. Nikka had decided to stay and take care of her parents since she didn't receive the brunt of her mother's outbursts like her younger sister. 

    While away Maggie flourished in her life and the two girls remained close. She graduated, got her own place, and started at her dream career. Meanwhile, Nikka still lived with her parents, but had a steady boyfriend she loved and had started her own bookkeeping business. Everything was going as great as can be expected until on Remembrance Day Nikka was driving her parents up to Ottawa for an unknown reason the car wrecked. 

    With this catastrophic event everything in Maggie's life changes. The job she has worked so hard for becomes threatened, her amazing apartment must go, and even the man she was seeing becomes a distant fond memory. At each turn Maggie is struggling to cope with this new life thrust upon her while two questions plague her: Why were you coming to Ottawa? and Are you in there? 

    I received a physical copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. At first I wasn't overly excited to read this book because I struggle with reading abuse situations, especially towards children. You live something and you don't want to bleed into your readings, even almost a decade after the situation has ended. But, I kept reading and in a lot of ways I related to Maggie. Don't tell anyone what happens at home. The phrase we had was "What happens at home stays at home." 

    She gamely stepped up at each turn she faced and what she felt towards her mother I don't know that I would be able to feel the same in her place. I haven't spoken to mine since 2014 and am happy with that. Nikka is amazing and I hope that she reaches a point where that everything in her life achieves some sort of normality again. Both for her sake and Maggie's. 

    The events in this book are very plausible and realistic, to the point where while I was talking about the book with a co-worker he asked if it was based on a real story and I had to hunt the answer down. It is not, by the way. However, it is an enjoyable but heart-wrenching story. If you are a crier be warned. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $15.95 by clicking here. I was unable to find an eBook copy of it on Amazon, only the physical copy.