I asked, you responded. So here is the first installment of Mini Monday Reviews.

Black Magic Sanction – Kim Harrison (Release Feb 23, 2010)

Buy Black Magic Sanction at: Amazonor Book Depository

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.

In the 8th installment of the Hollows series, Rachel once again is knee deep in ton of trouble. Long story short, the Coven of Ethical & Moral Standards are after Rachel. They know Rachel can do Demon Magic & any child she has will also, so they want to control Rachel but they aren’t alone. There’s all sorts of people who want her dead or in their control.

I love Kim Harrison’s writing in the Hollow Series & this one didn’t disappoint me toomuch. I had two issues, the plot didn’t really grab me..it felt like it went on and on and on, only to reach the inevitable everything’s fine ending. But my biggest issue was how quickly one of the characters got over a death of another character & the handling of said death. It was all very, yep “they” died & I’ll mope really quickly. While it was entertaining, I don’t think it added much to the series.

Honestly, since Kisten the Hollows just isn’t what it used to be for me.

Frostbitten - Kelley Armstrong (May 25, 2010 Canadian TP Release, New CDN only cover)

Buy Frostbitten at: Amazonor Book Depository

The Alaskan wilderness is a harsh landscape in the best of conditions, but with a pack of rogue werewolves on the loose, it’s downright deadly.

Elena Michaels, the Pack’s chief enforcer, knows all too well the havoc “mutts” can wreak. When they hear of a series of gruesome maulings and murders outside Anchorage, she and her husband, Clay, journey to Alaska in the dead of winter in order to hunt down the dangerous werewolves. Trapped in this savage, untamed winter realm, she and Clay learn more about their own werewolf heritage than they bargained for, tapping a little more into the wild nature of the beast within.

I was not a fan of this installment of the series, there were too many times where Clay & Elena allowed the “bad guys” to get away from them. Honestly, the story could have been wrapped up a lot sooner if they’d have just stopped showing off & got the job done. I felt the book really was just Elena trying to get through her prior issues to show that Jeremy had made the right choice in naming her his successor for Pack Leader.

It’s the first book since Elena had the twins & aside from one or two scenes she has hardly any interaction with them, more time is spent running around Alaska trying to catch the people that keep getting away. The bright side was Hope & a new species that has popped up, but if this is the way Clay & Elena are going to interact since the birth of the twins, I’d rather not read anymore about them. Which is sad, because I loved them in earlier books. 

I never thought I wouldn’t like a Kelley Armstrong book, but this one was a disappointment.