The Dark Hiss of Magic by Helen Harper

Title: The Dark Hiss of Magic

Author: Helen Harper

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: The Cat Lady Chronicles # 2

286 pages, Paperback

Publication: June 16, 2025

Source: Personal Library

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When Kit rescues a wealthy witch from the treacherous, monster-filled waters of the River Tweed, she reckons she's completed her fair share of good deeds for the day. But when a second anonymous body is pulled from the same river, Kit is dragged into a mystery as murky as the water itself. The corpse has no identification, no personal possessions and no one who cares. Kit is determined to change that.

At least Thane Barrow, the copper-haired werewolf who sees the world in a similar way to Kit, is happy to also get involved. Together, they navigate Coldstream’s magical streets and mysterious secrets, determined to uncover the truth about John Doe. Alas, it soon becomes clear that his death was no accident. Kit finds herself investigating a complex crime with more than one victim. She will have her claws full if she's going to get to the bottom of what's happened.

One thing is for certain - when death threatens, Kit McCafferty doesn’t back down. She pounces.

MY THOUGHTS

I just finished the first book in the Cat Lady Chronicles and had high hopes for this series; thus, me jumping straight into the second book. In the sequel, The Dark Hiss of Magic, we find Kit getting herself entangled in a murder mystery and, once again, with the help of Thane, the lone werewolf, they take it upon themselves to solve the crime of a John Doe.

I think I spoke too soon because the story started to fizzle out early on, and I found myself not as invested or interested as I was in the first book. As I've said before, I love the Urban Fantasy genre, but there was nothing in book two that held my attention. The plot was generic, and I didn't really like that Kit thought it was her duty to find out the identity of John Doe and eventually track down his murderer. It felt like she had nothing better to do with her life than insert herself into an investigation (or lack thereof if she didn’t take the initiative). The point is, I didn’t find myself caring.

Also, in my last review of the first book, I mentioned what I hoped would happen. I was hoping for a possible love interest in the werewolf Alpha, but this book answered that pretty quickly. After seeing it would come to nothing and realizing who the werewolf’s real love interest was, I already had one foot out the door, to be honest. I love good tension and banter between a leading couple, and I certainly don’t see it with Kit and Thane. There is no chemistry, and their “romance” feels too obvious and easy, which isn’t my thing.

The plot was pretty thin this time around. I didn’t particularly like the portrayal of vampires and witches in this book either. What I noticed while reading the second book is that the supernatural community isn’t scary or interesting. If we weren’t told that X, Y, or Z person was a witch, werewolf, or fae, you’d think you were just reading a regular contemporary, cozy, or murder mystery with regular humans.

With that said, I will no longer be continuing the series.

Waifs and Strays by Helen Harper

Title: Waifs and Strays

Author: Helen Harper

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: The Cat Lady Chronicles # 1

298 pages, Paperback

Publication: February 10, 2025

Source: Personal Library

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Nobody is just a cat lady.

Kit McCafferty's life is quiet, unremarkable and filled with cat hair. In the magical city of Coldstream, located on the border between Scotland and England, Kit is viewed as little more than mildly eccentric and mostly harmless. She passes her days caring for her family of five cats, feeding the local feral moggies, and maintaining relatively good relations with her neighbours.

All that changes, however, when a teenage werewolf shows up at her door in the desperate hope of renting out a nearby vacant flat. Kit knows that the smart move is to tell him to leave. The last thing she needs is to become embroiled in complicated shapeshifter politics. But something about the secretive young werewolf tugs at her heartstrings.

It's not long before Kit ends up caught in a maelstrom of mysterious crime and magical wrong-doing. Fortunately, there's far more to Kit McCafferty than meets the eye and she has a few dark secrets of her own.

Of course, anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that you underestimate a cat lady at your own peril.

MY THOUGHTS

I stumbled upon Waifs and Strays during one of those free eBook days. I loved the cover, it felt playful and the synopsis was interesting enough. Plus, I’m always looking for a good Urban Fantasy. It’s not every day that I find an Urban Fantasy set in the UK or one featuring a heroine in her forties, which piqued my interest even more.

The beginning of the book took a little getting used to. As the title and series name suggest, there are a lot of cats in the story. However, their names are pretty unconventional. They play a significant role, and as the book progressed, I did get used to their unique naming style. The worldbuilding is straightforward: it’s an open world where supernaturals are known to the public. Coldstream, where Kit lives, is mostly inhabited by magical folk like fae, vampires, werewolves, and all sorts of other creatures.

At first glance, Kit is known around the neighborhood as the innocuous, middle-aged cat lady. She’s anything but simple, as we eventually discover. Kit was a likable heroine. I enjoyed learning about her past profession and magical abilities and seeing them come into play when a young werewolf is abducted. She’s essentially the local superhero or maybe vigilante, despite trying to live a quiet, normal life. I also liked what I assume will become the supporting cast, though it’s still too early to tell. Is it weird that I’m hoping for a love triangle between Thane and the Alpha? Lol.

I thought Waifs and Strays was a great introduction to The Cat Lady Chronicles. The pacing was solid, and the book was well written. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. I’m about to start the second book, the series feels promising.

Dawnbringer by Stephanie Fisher

Title: Dawnbringer

Author: Stephanie Fisher

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Tempris # 3

778 pages, Paperback

Publication: June 26, 2025

Source: Kindle Unlimited

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They thought the last time mage was dead. They were wrong.

Taly is back. Finally free of the Queen and out of the loop. But freedom doesn’t mean safety.

Tempris has changed while she was gone—and so has she. With enemies closing in from all sides, Taly must navigate a world that keeps rewriting itself beneath her feet.

Skye got her home. That should’ve been the hard part. But now he’s just a boy in love with a girl everyone wants to kill—and keeping her alive might cost him everything.

The Aion Gate is stirring. The island is under siege. And the enemy is circling ever closer.

The war for Tempris is coming. And it's coming for her.

MY THOUGHTS

Dawnbringer was five years in the making. I didn’t discover the book until two years ago, so I didn’t wait as long as others, but I was looking forward to it nonetheless. I loved the first two books (both were 5 stars) in the series so much that I even did a reread before starting Dawnbringer. To put it simply, this book does not live up to expectations or previous quality but instead was a massive disappointment. It felt like it was written by someone else.

I think most fans of the series had an idea or at least a hope, of where the story was going to go in this third installment. To say the story and characters took an entirely different path would be an understatement. Since the beginning of the first book, Shardless, the importance of the aion gate opening and hopefully seeing our protagonists cross into the human realm felt heavily emphasized, at least to me. Instead, the majority of the book was filled with a vanilla, boring villain named Bill terrorizing and wooing Taly. But that wasn’t even the worst part. The time magic was aggravating. Around 35% into the book, the crux of the novel, or supposed twist became apparent, and I was in disbelief. My immediate thought was...this was the best plot? best case scenario after five years? Really? It marked the beginning of countless stupid choices and endless miscommunication between Taly and Skye.

Speaking of Taly and Skye, they felt completely removed from the characters we met in the first two books. The majority of the story consisted of smut, arguments, and fighting. Of the two, who can out-do and save each other first. Good grief, it was getting on my last nerve. I could barely recognize the characters I once fell in love with. I also don’t recall Taly being this annoying. Her future self, Cori, was equally frustrating. By the end of the book, I went from loving Taly to outright hating her. I honestly don’t know if I’ll continue the series now. With book three, it felt DOA. Skye wasn’t much better. The sexual innuendos were “haha, whatever” at first, but eventually he came across like a teenager literally obsessed with sex for most of the book.

Dawnbringer was horrendously long for absolutely no good reason. As mentioned before, with problematic characterizations, an asinine villain, and a weak plot, the length felt completely uncalled for. Did readers really need multiple pages depicting Skye jacking off? No. Then there were POV from Sarina, Aidan, Ivain, and Aimee, none of which added anything meaningful to the story, again at least for me. And I know for a fact I neither wanted nor cared to be inside Aimee’s head.

It was a struggle to finish Dawnbringer because I genuinely cannot find a single good thing to say about it. I finished it out of spite and held onto hope (see above) that we’d finally see the aion gate open and Atlas become part of the plot but we didn’t get that. Sure, they opened the aion gate but how we got there and where it led, was anticlimactic and dull. And no, it didn't even open into the human realm! This might be the end of the series for me, especially if readers are expected to wait another three to five years for the next installment. After Dawnbringer, I’m not sure the story or characters can be redeemed from here.

We Who Have No Gods by Liz Anderson

Title: We Who Have No Gods

Author: Liz Anderson

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: The Acheron Order # 1

423 pages, Hardcover

Publication: January 27, 2026

Source: Libby Library

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Vic Wood knows her priorities: scrape by on her restaurant wages, take care of her younger brother Henry, and forget their mother ever existed. But Vic’s careful life crumbles when Henry reveals that their long-missing mother belonged to the Acheron Order—a secret society of witches tasked with keeping the dead at bay. What’s worse, Henry inherited their mother’s magical abilities while Vic did not, and Henry has been chosen as the Order's newest recruit.

Determined to keep him safe, Vic accompanies Henry to the isolated woods in upstate New York that play host to the sprawling and eerie Avalon Castle. When she joins the academy despite lacking powers of her own, she risks not only the Order’s wrath, but also her brother’s. And then there is Xan, the head Sentinel—imposing, ruthless, and frustrating—in charge of protecting Avalon. He makes no secret that he wants Vic to leave.

As she makes both enemies and allies in this mysterious realm, Vic becomes caught between the dark forces at play, with her mother at the heart of it all. What's stranger is that Vic begins to be affected by the academy—and Xan—in ways she can't quite understand. But with war between witches threatening the fabric of reality, Vic must decide whether to risk her heart and life for a world where power is everything.

MY THOUGHTS

Gosh, this book was beyond awful. If I could give it zero stars, I would. I picked up We Who Have No Gods because the synopsis sounded interesting, and I read it sooner than usual because a special edition was being made. Boy, am I glad I read it first.

First off, this book is an urban fantasy with witches and monsters set in a closed modern world, specifically upstate New York. Based on the cover and synopsis, you’d never guess it was urban fantasy. Urban fantasy is my first love, witches too, but there was absolutely nothing to love about We Who Have No Gods. The only intriguing part, as glean by the synopsis, happened within the first three chapters. After that, it went downhill immediately.

You’d think the main protagonist would be the hidden Witch-Born, Henry, being whisked away to a magical academy. Nope. Instead, the story focuses on his pathetic, loser older sister, who has to tag along. The academy is a secret society created by and for a long line of witches, but then comes Victoria “Vic,” a human who suddenly moves in with her younger brother and joins his classes.

I absolutely loathed Vic. She constantly whines about not being special, and about being a human in a castle full of witches who don’t like her and don’t want her around. Even her brother doesn’t want her there. Normal people, people with self-respect would leave when they know they're not wanted. But she throws tantrums whenever people tell her this (oh, and by the way, she’s twenty-one), mouths off endlessly, and is always trying to prove herself right even when she’s clearly not. Then, lo and behold, she turns out to be a special snowflake with magic, more powerful than everyone else. * Cue giant eye roll. *

When things hit the fan and the academy is attacked, Vic of course causes the most damage. Then the bland male protagonist swoops in, declaring he needs to protect her. While the entire academy is overrun with monsters and people are literally dying, they take a break to have sex. Then literally three seconds after they’re done, Vic says, “But I need to help people!". Just wow.

Xan, the love interest and mentor, is lame and completely unoriginal. I swear I’ve read some version of him in hundreds of other books. They had zero chemistry. The book boast 'simmering chemistry'...where?! The plot was whatever, the characters all sucked, and I didn’t give two shits about Aren and Max, their relationships with Meredith, or why the brotherhood ultimately defected from the order.

Characters truly make or break a book for me, and I hated all of them, especially Vic. Her brother Henry was annoying too. I do not recommend this at all.

We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark

Title: We Who Will Die

Author: Stacia Stark

Genre: Romantasy

Series: Empire of Blood # 1

423 pages, Hardcover

Publication: December 30, 2025

Source: Libby Library

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Life in the perilous Thorn district is a constant battle for Arvelle and her younger brothers. And the vampire standing on her doorstep is about to turn their world upside down.

Faced with an unthinkable choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to do the impossible: kill the emperor, an ancient vampire created by the god Umbros. But first, she must enter the Sundering—an arena where only the fastest, strongest, and deadliest survive long enough to be selected for the emperor’s elite guard.

She quickly draws the ire of the Primus, the powerful figure charged with protecting the emperor. But the vampire under the armor is the last person Arvelle expects to encounter in the emperor’s court.

With her brothers’ lives in the balance, Arvelle has no choice but to ally with the man who once shattered her heart… and with the emperor’s sadistic son, Rorrik—two vampires whose motives are impossible to pin down. Rorrik holds the key to understanding the powers Arvelle is developing—abilities that would put a price on her head if discovered by the emperor.

To survive the arena and complete her mission, Arvelle must get to the bottom of a conspiracy that will change everything she thought she knew about herself—and the two vampires who are deeply entwined with her destiny…

MY THOUGHTS

I am a big fan of Stark’s Deals with Demons and was excited to hear she was writing a new book. Gladiators and vampires with The Hunger Games vibes sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, We Who Will Die was a major disappointment for me.

I believe this book was meant to be set in the Roman Empire, or something similar but I never once got that impression. The only small hint might be the fighting in the coliseum, but that alone could apply to many settings. The world-building was all over the place, and the magic aspect was incredibly underwhelming.

This book was soooooo boring. I kept waiting for it to get better, even at 75% and it never did. I didn’t care about the plot or the characters. The storyline felt extremely generic, and while there are countless books featuring competitions or trials, this was by far the dullest execution I’ve ever read. The first two trials happened within just a couple of chapters, which was completely anticlimactic, and the final trial was so quick and uneventful that I almost missed it. Honestly, I’m not sure why the book was as long as it was, because there was barely any action or suspense. Even the reveal of who was behind Bran was unsurprising and by the time I reached the end, I simply didn’t care anymore.

I didn’t like or care about Arvelle (what an atrocious name). She’s yet another typical rage-filled character, constantly raging against society, norms, or whatever else. One thing she did over and over again that annoyed the heck out of me was constantly daydreaming or zoning out in what were supposed to be life-or-death situations. For example, she’s training and fighting against another competitor, they’re charging straight at her, and she’s completely spaced out. Then, during one of the trials, her opponent is wielding a sword and aiming straight for her head but she’s busy reminiscing about the past. Like, what the heck? There was absolutely no sense of awareness or self-preservation at all. And then there's the love triangle or love interests, who were about as interesting as a cardboard box. Could they be any more humdrum? I also guessed early on that they were brothers...again, boring and predictable.

There was nothing redeeming or worthwhile about We Who Will Die. It’s easily one of the most unoriginal and boring books I’ve read in the last few years. The use of gladiators and vampires was completely wasted on a lackluster plot and underwhelming characters. This book is absolutely nothing like The Hunger Games, not even in vibes.

Broken Loyalty by K.N. Banet

Title: Broken Loyalty

Author: K.N. Banet

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: Jacky Leon # 3

368 pages, Paperback

Publication: April 15, 2020

Source: Kindle Unlimited

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I'm a member of the strongest werecat family alive; a family that commands the loyalty of every werecat that walks the face of the earth. They are the definition of power, and no one has dared challenge that for millennia. It’s not a legacy I’m always comfortable with, but it’s the one I was given the day Hasan decided to change me into a werecat. I’m resolved to do my best with my new responsibilities.

Others have been watching me and my family. Rogue werecats are now testing my territory borders and putting those I care about at risk. As the events grow stranger, I can feel the tension mount. I have this nagging feeling that my family is about to learn a valuable lesson and it’s coming for me first.

My name is Jacky Leon and my family’s enemies have a message for us.

Loyalty is worthless when it’s broken.

MY THOUGHTS

Broken Loyalty is the third book in the Jacky Leon series. After defeating the vampire nest in Washington, Hasan believes Jacky has more than proven herself to the family and deserves greater responsibility. As a result, she’s appointed as the family’s representative for North and South America. But that’s not all, the family also decides Jacky could be using her time more wisely and assigns two employees to help her run Kick Shot. Still, it’s rarely a quiet time for Jacky, especially when rogue werecats begin appearing in her territory.

This book is all about the werecats. We finally get to see and learn more about these elusive supernaturals and their complicated relationships with one another and with other sects. I was happy to see Jacky’s family take center stage in this third installment, though that did mean Heath and his family took a backseat for much of the book. Hasan finally gives Jacky some long-awaited answers, especially regarding why she was saved and not Shane. We also learn more about Davors, Zuri, and Niko. The family is eclectic, and the more I read about them, the more pleasantly surprised I became. They’re also genuinely funny, when you forget they’re an ancient and powerful race, at their core they’re just like a typical dysfunctional family.

So far, this series has been a slow burn, and I absolutely love that. I really appreciate Banet taking the time to build Jacky and Heath’s relationship, allowing the characters to truly get to know one another instead of rushing into anything. Like the characters themselves, the relationship feels authentic and real, and when things do happen, they carry real emotional weight. I am tired, TIRED of reading about baseless and inorganic relationships in fantasy, where characters jump into bed within the first book (if that's your thing, cool but it's not my preference). The gradual growth between Jacky and Heath is refreshing, and I’m excited to see how their relationship evolves over the course of the series.

Broken Loyalty is another strong and solid addition to the series, and I plan to pick up the next book ASAP.

Family and Honor by K.N. Banet

Title: Family and Honor

Author: K.N. Banet

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: Jacky Leon # 2

356 pages, Paperback

Publication: November 15, 2019

Source: Kindle Unlimited

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I got away with it. Carey and her family are safe and I survived to tell the tale. Now I’m the only werecat in the supernatural community that can say a small family of werewolves lives in my borders. But, in the effort of saving Carey and helping her father, I had to begin shedding the secrets that kept me safe for years.

My identity is out there now. As one of Hasan’s children, more is expected of me and I had no idea what sort of repercussions would come from my decisions. Werecats are reporting problems all over the world and when two go missing, I can’t avoid the feeling of guilt.

My name is Jacky Leon and I am a child of Hasan, ruler of the werecats. I have to learn how to live up to the obligations and expectations of my family before more people die.

MY THOUGHTS

Family and Honor is the second book in the Jacky Leon series. After the events in Dallas, the supernatural world is never the same, as more people become aware of werecats and seek their protection for their own humans. When two werecats are found deceased, Jacky’s brother, Jabari, is sent to investigate. But after the family hasn’t heard from him for a week, Jacky is sent to uncover what happened to the murdered werecats and to find her brother.

If you aren’t familiar with urban fantasy, most series tend to follow a similar format. There’s usually an overarching storyline, but each book feels more episodic, with a new problem or mystery introduced and resolved by the end. In Oath Sworn, readers were introduced to werewolves, and in this installment, vampires enter the picture. Like the first book, it was incredibly easy to get immersed in Jacky’s world.

This series is very character-driven, and thankfully, for once I genuinely love all of the characters. One of the best parts of Family and Honor (as the title suggests) is finally getting to see more of Jacky’s werecat family. They’re a fascinating bunch, and I can’t wait to learn more about each sibling. Since Jacky sets out to find Jabari, the oldest sibling, he’s the first one we truly get to know. Jabari, a.k.a. The General, is exactly what you’d expect from that moniker: a strict, no-nonsense warrior who’s nearly three thousand years old. A scary sonavib*tch but by the end of the book, I was firmly Team Jabari. Of course, also Team Jacky and Team Heath.

Jacky continues to impress me, constantly proving she’s not someone to mess with yet everyone around her keeps underestimating her. She’s such a great and realistic character, and that’s a big reason why this series stands out and remains so enjoyable. She feels authentic, which is refreshing in a sea of cookie-cutter FMCs fueled solely by feminine rage that I've been seeing left and right. So much so, it's like its own trope now.

I am officially hooked on this series and have already started book three! I can’t wait to see what Banet has in store for these characters next. Once again, if you haven’t checked out this series yet, please do, it’s amazing.