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Uncaged Review – The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven by Jennifer Ivy Walker

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven
Jennifer Ivy Walker
Fantasy Romance

In this dark fairy tale adaptation of a medieval French legend, Issylte must flee the wicked queen, finding shelter with a fairy witch who teaches her the verdant magic of the forest. Fate leads her to the otherworldly realm of the Lady of the Lake and the Elves of Avalon, where she must choose between her life as a healer or fight to save her ravaged kingdom.
Tristan of Lyonesse is a Knight of the Round Table who must overcome the horrors of his past and defend his king or lose everything. When he becomes a warrior of the Tribe of Dana, a gift of Druidic magic might hold the key he seeks.
Haunted and hunted. Entwined by fate. Can their passion and power prevail?

Uncaged Review: This is a great beginning to a
series. I was awed by the amount of research that had
to go into writing this, especially about the herbs, and
plants and all their uses and research about the Celtic
lore that was done so well. When I first started reading,
I thought of Cinderella meets the Knights of the
Round Table meets Middle Earth, and it has a lot of
similarities of mixing in fairy tales with the lore. It’s
done so well, that you become absorbed in the tale.
The cons: The different perspectives didn’t line up
time wise, so when you are reading about Issylte in
one chapter, the timeline jumps or goes backwards
when they switch to Tristan or Morag. Also, this book
started slow for me, but even though it was, I don’t
feel like anything should have been left out either.
The pros: This is well written story with characters
you know from old lore, and new ones that you come
to embrace. And the villians – are OMG villians that
you will despise.

So if you don’t read fantasy or you want to jump in,
this is a good start. I’m really looking forward to
book two. This does not end in a cliffhanger, but sets
up well for the next one. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 1/2 Stars

Uncaged Review – Brightblade by Michael Suttkus & C.T. Phipps

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

Brightblade
Michael Suttkus & C.T. Phipps
Dark Fantasy Horror

Psychic. Superhero. Spy. Detective. Bounty Hunter. Ashley Morgan has been many things and failed at all of them. The twenty-eight-year old has her whole life ahead of her but has already resigned herself to working a dead end job bringing in the debt-ridden supernatural criminals of New Detroit. A chance encounter with the vampire sheriff reveals a secret that motivates her to change her life forever: her long-missing brother Arthur is alive (in a manner of speaking).

Ashley sets out on a quest to not only find him but also deal with old lovers, treacherous criminals, a magic sword, and a quest to raise an ancient vampire from the dead.

Brightblade is set in the same world as the Red Room series, The Bright Falls Mysteries, and Straight Outta Fangton.

Uncaged Review: This is a start of a series that
is a spin-off of sorts from others, set in the same
world. I didn’t read any of the other series, and
had no trouble keeping up with this one. Ashley is
a psychic with telekinetic abilities, and is working
as a bounty hunter when we first meet her.
In this world, Detroit has been taken over by the
vampires and it’s now known as New Detroit.
The jobs in this supernatural underbelly are not
career boosters by any stretch. As she works as a
bounty hunter, she really sets out to find her missing
brother, and along the way, she gets involved
in a scheme to raise a vampire and get a magical
wand that can cure vampirism. The supernaturals
in this book are not the romanticized versions you
see in other books, but they are also not complete
monsters.

The cast of characters are well done, and for the
most part, developed well enough that I could get
a decent handle on them. My favorite has to be
Zadkiel, Ashley’s magical sword that has an angel
embedded. Overall, I like the action and the series
and am interested to see where it goes from this
book. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Archivist by V.S. Nelson

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

The Archivist
V.S. Nelson
Dark Fantasy/Horror


◆ A lost teenage girl ◆ An abusive man ◆ A face-stealing demigod ◆ A plan for revenge ◆ A chance to escape death.


There is no God waiting for you in paradise. No afterlife where friendships severed by death are reformed and family members reunited. There is only the Aether, a dimension of insatiable hunger that will possess you no matter your beliefs or the life you led.

Yet there is hope for a lucky few. Archivists, existing between the world of the living and the world of the dead, can offer salvation… for a price. Taking your essence in the final moments before death, they tether you to the physical world. They become your afterlife, linking you with the living while your body rots.

17-year-old Sun-young Kang lives with an abusive man and will do anything to protect her 12-year-old sister, Laure. After a chance meeting with a young archivist, Sun-young hatches a plan to dispose of her abuser for good. But soon Sun-young learns there is more at play, and as she grows closer to the mysterious archivist, believed to be the last of his kind, she finds herself the centre of a plot to ensnare him.

The Archivist is a macabre fantasy about death, loss and love. It is an incredibly rich novel with a truly original concept. It is cinematic in its scope and details the haunting, but also beautiful, gift an archivist could offer a person in their final moments.

Uncaged Review: This book is very addicting,
in a dark twisted way. The blurb has you thinking
the Archivist is a type of salvation to an afterlife,
that you can spend with your loved ones after
your body gives up the fight. And it is that in a
way, but it can also be a tormenting and a suffering.
If your family can’t afford the Archivist, then
your essence is sucked into the Aether, which I
never really got a handle on, to be honest. The
book is very dense, and you need to pay attention.
It’s like one of those movies that if you look away
for five minutes, you’ve lost a chunk of plot.

All in all, this is very original, but does border on
more of a horror than just a fantasy. The relationship
between the Archivist and Sun, and her sister
Laure, is a something of a surprise to both him
and to the reader. This is a good suspense entangled
in this book, but I’m not going to describe it
because I don’t want to give anything away, and
I’m not so sure I could describe it properly. But
it’s an addicting read, with a good suspense woven
in, and hard to put down at times. Reviewed
by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Infidelity Curse by Barbara Monajem

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

The Infidelity Curse
Barbara Monajem
Historical Regency

The death of her cruel husband means freedom at last for Lucretia Tifton—until she learns that the guardian he chose for her longed-for baby is the latest in a line of earls known for separating their children from unfaithful wives. The elusive new earl is certain to hear the gossip about Lucretia. Will he believe it and prove to be as heartless as his ancestors?

Giles, the Earl of Netherbroke, wants nothing more than to work in his London shop, building furniture with beautiful marquetry finishes. If unexpectedly inheriting the earldom isn’t bad enough, now he’s saddled with an unwanted guardianship. What’s worse, the baby’s mother is the loveliest woman he’s ever seen.

Giles is almost certain Lucretia is an adulteress—and the more he learns about her, the more he understands why she might have betrayed her husband. Nevertheless, he is determined not to succumb, like his ancestors, to the Infidelity Curse.

But then Lucretia is suddenly in danger, and the only way to protect her is to make her his.

Uncaged Review: Lucretia was married off to an
older, cruel man, and she endured his abuse for years
before he died. Lucretia being pregnant, is fearful
that the new guardian will try to take away her baby.
But what she doesn’t know, is that the older earl that
Lucretia’s dead husband, Sir Matthew had arranged
had died before he did, so the guardianship went to
his son, Giles.

This is a slow burn romance, and a lot of things come
to light within the pages. There is romance, mystery
and even danger. Lucretia and Giles will need to learn
to trust each other and to love each other without
curses or secrets. Secondary characters are engaging,
and even the children in the story are likeable. Leave
it to this author to come up with an original story and
just the right amount of danger to sweep you deeper
into the story. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Book Review – Bear’s Dream by Christina Lynn Lambert

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

Bear’s Dream
Christina Lynn Lambert
Shifter Romance

She had every reason to hate him.
Aiden “AJ” Shepherd’s mistake during a Shifter Army Enforcement rescue mission cost Ellie Ortiz’s brother, Marco, his life. Ellie hates AJ with a burning passion until a chance encounter with him on New Year’s Eve reveals he’s not the cold, heartless man she once thought him to be. Her attraction to him takes her by surprise, and she vows to ignore her feelings. When a new job puts her in contact with him every day, the heat building between them threatens to flare out of control. Her resolve to keep the sweet, sexy man in the friend zone is weakening by the day.

He’s convinced she’s his mate, but a secret could ruin everything
Whether they’re fighting off fanatics who target shifters or working together to get his shifter resort, Haven Forest, ready for the grand opening, AJ can’t get enough of Ellie. Convincing her to give him a chance, more than the one-night-of-fun idea she’s proposed, might be impossible, but he’s fallen too hard for her not to try. During a disastrous assignment with Shifters United, AJ uncovers some information that changes everything. Keeping the secret from Ellie is killing him but he might lose her forever if he tells her the truth.

When Ellie ends up at the heart of a reporter’s plot to prove the existence of shifters, she and AJ must fight their way to freedom. The survival of shifters everywhere depends on it.

Uncaged Review: This first book in a series is a good
start, and the main characters are easy to like. Ellie
leaves her job as she is being undermined in her work
by a spiteful co-worker. A chance meeting with A.J.,
the shifter who killed her twin brother in a special op,
shows her that he isn’t the heartless man she always
thought him to be. When A.J. offers her a job at a
shifter resort that his brother and him are opening,
Ellie takes the job because of being blackballed in her
town.

This book has a good amount of danger, bad guys
you will truly hate, and the romance heats up between
A.J. and Ellie. As they come to know each other, their
feelings grow stronger. But A.J. will find out the dark
path Ellie’s brother was going down before he was
killed, will it destroy the relationship? Nice story
with some fun moments, danger and hot sex scenes.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4.5 Stars

Uncaged Review – The Chieftan by Maeve Greyson

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

The Chieftain
Maeve Greyson
Highlander Historical

No home. No clan. No need of a wife. Until her.

Alexander MacCoinnich fights for hire if the cause is worthy and the price is right. Life as a mercenary suits him—until a fierce beauty snatches him from death’s door after the massacre at Glencoe. Though he has nothing to offer her but himself, he can’t leave behind the sweet lass who risked everything to save him.

She made an impossible promise.

When Catriona Neal promised her dying mother she would do her best to shield the clan from her father’s maniacal whims, she didn’t realize her twin brother, next in line to be the chieftain, was far more dangerous than her evil sire. But the arrival of the wounded, Highland warrior her brother hates and fears gives her hope and so much more.

Conquer or be conquered.

Heartbreaking treachery melds a bond between Catriona and Alexander, but can they survive long enough to nurture the love they both so desperately need?

Uncaged Review: Alexander and his men live
their life as mercenaries, since illness took away
most of his clan. When he is on one of his missions,
he is shot and taken to a clan where Catriona
mends the injured and gives them sanctuary.
But Catriona’s brother is evil, and as the next in
line to be chieftan, with a fast ailing father wants
them gone.

This is a nicely paced Highlander, and it’s been
a minute or two since I read one. The romance
between Catriona and Alexander is one that they
must face danger and loss to get to their HEA.
The secondary characters will each get their own
turn at a story in the series and I’ll keep reading.
Eventually you come to a point in this book
where you just want to read it all the way through,
so make sure it’s not a work day the next day.
Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

Uncaged Review – Big Balls and Brass Knuckles by James Cox

By
Uncaged Books
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0

Big Balls and Brass Knuckles
James Cox
SciFi Suspense/MM Romance

A dedicated detective meets a rich inventor who wants to play cop. Even in the future, money can get you everything…

Detective Brett Knucks is trying to find a killer. The last thing he needs is to be saddled with the legendary Chris Genius, aka Big Balls. But someone is using one of Genius’s inventions, the cook bot, to commit murders, and Brett has more questions than answers. The only way to find the truth is to dig through all the lies surrounding them. Working side by side with the sarcastic, flirty inventor is definitely not what Brett had in mind. Even more surprising is that they make a good team. Until one kiss changes everything. Meet Big Balls and Brass Knuckles—a dysfunctional partnership that may just save your life.

Uncaged Review: This is a good story that brings
you into the action right away. People are being
murdered by a cook bot, invented by Chris Genius.
This is a good suspense with some decent
intrigue and a slow burn romance between Brett
and Chris. When we first meet Brett, he has a boyfriend,
and this book jumps into some hard core
sex scenes pretty fast, but the boyfriend gets tired
of taking a back seat to Brett’s job, which is fine
by me, he was a bit immature to me anyway.

This is the first book in a series, and I’m sure the
slowly maturing romance between Brett and Chris
will get hotter and hotter in the books to come.
Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Psycho Therapy by Ryan Hyatt

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

Psycho Therapy
Ryan Hyatt
SciFi Short/Dystopian

Tucson Police Officer James McCabe, traumatized by his past, must come to terms with an alien invasion.

Uncaged Review: It’s hard to write a review for a
very short story, but even though this is a very short
story, I actually got a decent handle on the characters
and the world. Aliens are in the form of a type
of killer doglike beast and instead of killing all of
the aliens when they could, the government captures
and experiments with them. How is that ever a good
thing? So this is a couple days in the life of one cop,
who was traumatized during the invasion as he was
enlisted as a marine in San Diego during the initial
invasion.

Overall, the author does a great job with 27 pages,
pulls the reader in and leaves us wanting to read more
in this world. Great job. Reviewed by Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Faerie Magic by Anna Applegate

By
Cyrene Olson
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0

Faerie Magic
Anna Applegate
Fantasy

Coraline Fray’s escape from foster care is about to turn into a fight for her life.

After Cora’s utter clumsiness lands her in a strange world, she’s immediately hauled off to jail by a Fae guard. Now the freedom that had been so close is a distant memory….because humans who learn of Faerie can never go back.

Imprisoned as an energy source for the Unseelie Kingdom, Cora now serves the heir to the throne: Noah Driscoll. And although Prince Noah disagrees with the practice of imprisoning humans for energy-feeding purposes, that’s a secret the future Unseelie King needs kept quiet.

Which means even if he’s against it, he needs Cora to pretend he’s feeding, and she needs to keep up the ruse, too. Because if Noah isn’t feeding on her, she’ll be assigned to another Fae who will.

And yet, somehow she’s found herself loyal to these monsters the minute they’re threatened, and starting to fall for the Prince of the Unseelie himself… Two mistakes that are about to cost her what little she has left.

Uncaged Review: Cora is a foster kid, almost
ready to age out of the system and get away from
bad foster homes, when she falls into a lake and
wakes up in the land of Faerie. Not knowing who
she is or anything about this world, she is taken
by the guard and delivered to the palace as a
feeder/servant.

As Cora learns her new place, and gets to know
other servants and the Royal Unseelie family, she
learns more about the world she’s found herself
in, especially the Prince, Noah, whom she’s been
assigned to.

This is a nice start to a new series, and Cora is a
strong woman, who learns that her own self worth
is enough with courage and tenacity. Her friend
Nicole is a trip. My one gripe is the romance
between Cora and Noah seems very slow and
one-sided, which I suppose will continue to grow
in the next books. Good series start. Reviewed by
Cyrene

4 Stars

Uncaged Review – Iron Queen by L.A. McGinnis

By
Uncaged Books
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0

Iron Queen
L.A. McGinnis
Dark Fantasy

The Darkfell Vampire Clan is ruled by one queen.

She has to be strong. Ruthless.

Willing to do anything to keep her crown and survive the royal court’s treacherous maze of deception.

Today, that queen is me.
Tomorrow…
Who knows?

When I killed Viktor and took the throne, I thought I’d rid our kind of their worst threat. But the joke’s on me, because there’s a new enemy on the loose. He’s stronger than any of us—seductive and cunning—and has his sights set on me.
Caine’s the worst of our species, and he threatens everything I love, but he’s in for a surprise, because I intend to be the last one standing.

Uncaged Review: The final installment in this
series brings more action, more angst, and secrets
that the reader has been wanting to know will all
be revealed. Caine is the biggest threat to Seraphina,
and even though he shows support for her, he’s
ruthless and has his sights set on Seraphina and
the throne, and will destroy the world if he doesn’t
get his way. On top of all the problems, Seraphina
develops an incurable blood disorder because of
the different magics competing against each other
inside. She needs to move fast to complete her
goals before the disease takes her life.

This was a great ending to this group, even though
the very last pages felt a bit rushed. The epilogue
was a great addition and I really wished authors
included them more often at the end of a series or a
book that it makes sense to. Even though this is the
end of the Darkfell Clan, the author is treating the
readers to more stories of other clans in this world.
And I’m all in. Reviewed by Cyrene

5 Stars

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