Author: K.F. Breene

Review: A Ruin of Roses by K.F. Breene

Posted June 6, 2022 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: A Ruin of Roses by K.F. BreeneReviewer: Holly
A Ruin of Roses by K.F. Breene
Narrator: Tillie Hooper
Series: Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 8, 2021
Format: eBook
Pages: 386
Length: 8 hours and 46 minutes
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A spicy new twist on an old classic - a deliciously dark Beauty and the Beast reimagining.
I could save him, but he would ruin me.
The beast.The creature that stalks the forbidden wood.The dragon prince.
He has suffered a fate worse than death. We all have. A curse put upon us by the mad king.
We are a kingdom locked in time. Shifters unable to feel our animals. Stuck here by a deal between the late king and a demon who seeks our destruction.
The only one keeping this kingdom alive is Nyfain, the golden prince to a stolen throne. The last dragon shifter.
He’s our hope.He’s my nightmare.
When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn’t punish me with death, as he’s entitled.
He takes me, instead. Forces me back to the castle as his prisoner. Seeks to use me.
Apparently, I can save him. I can save the whole forgotten kingdom, locked away by the demon king’s power.
But it would mean taming the monster beneath his skin. It would mean giving myself to him.
It would mean my ruin.
_ _ _ _ _ _
This is a dark and sexy Beauty and the Beast retelling, featuring a strong heroine, a dangerous anti-hero, and a humorous supporting cast. It is a full-length novel at 80k words and suitable for 18+. This is the beginning of a trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Buckle up. The author was let off her leash.

I’m a total sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings, and I enjoy KF Breene’s novels, so this seemed like a win/win. This is a fairytale set in a remote village without modern conveniences, so I was surprised at the modern way the female MC talked. That pulled me out of the story at first, though I quickly got used to it. The other thing that surprised me was how erotic this book was, though I suppose it shouldn’t have since it’s labeled as a “dark” fairytale. It just seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute she was being adducted by The Beast and the next she was standing in the middle of a wild medieval sex-club(ish thing).

All that aside, I enjoyed the story. Finely was a good heroine and I enjoyed the way she challenged Nyfain. I also liked the secondary characters and found myself laughing at some of the internal dialogue between her and her inner beast. It was kind of slow in the middle. I did not love that this ended on a cliffhanger. I know I should have expected it since 1) that’s how KF Breene rolls and 2) it’s right there in the blurb (which I didn’t read until after I finished the book, for the record), but I thought this was going to be a new fairytale for each book. My mistake. I’m probably going to wait until the full trilogy is out to continue.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Deliciously Dark Fairytales

three-half-stars


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Review: Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene

Posted February 24, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. BreeneReviewer: Holly
Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene
Series: Leveling Up #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: February 16, 2020
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating First and Third Person
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 376
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2020 Goodreads Challenge
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

"Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of twenty years packs up and heads for greener pastures and my son leaves for college, that's exactly what my life becomes. Do-over.

This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at forty I'm ready to carve my own path. Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. I'll be taking care of a centuries-old house that called to me when I was a kid. It's just temporary, I tell myself. It'll just be for a while. That is until I learn what the house really is, something I never could've imagined.

Thankfully forty isn't too old to start an adventure, because that's exactly what I do. A very dangerous adventure that will change my life forever. I have a chance to start again, and this time, I make the rules.

Magical Midlife Madness is the first book in K.F. Breene’s Leveling Up series, which is women’s fiction rather than her traditional romance. I’m not sure why I haven’t picked this series up before now. I like KF Breene’s writing and always enjoy her stories. I think this one just wasn’t on my radar until recently.

Jacinta recently turned 40 and her whole life changed. Her son went away to college and her husband asked for a divorce – something she felt only relief about. She ends up moving in with her parents, but a single day there makes her realize that isn’t going to work. Lucky for her, her best friend’s aunt is looking for a caretaker for the family mansion, Ivy House. Everyone else finds it creepy and weird, but the one time Jacinta visited as a child she fell in love with it.

Now she’s surrounded by grumpy old people – the strange butler, gardener, and ancient neighbor who can drink her under the table – and trying to deal with some strange goings-on in the town and the house. Most shocking of all? Jacinta learns the house is actually magical and so are the townsfolk..and the house has chosen her as its new Mistress. She’ll have to decide if she’s willing to accept the house’s magic, or if it’s all too much for her.

“I am not going to call you by your full name, I’ll tell you that right now. The lot of you are crazy. I’m not climbing aboard that train.”

“And yet, you just debated on the merits of slitting a perfect stranger from neck to navel versus navel to neck, and decided on stabbing and ripping any way you chose.”

“Yeah. That’s just logic.”

It started a bit slow, but about 1/4 of the way through it picked up. I was really cracking up at some of the antics of Jessie (Jacinta). She was a strong woman who had fully accepted where she was at in her life and I loved that. I also loved how she managed her new life. She accepted that she wasn’t perfect and made mistakes, but she was comfortable with where she was now. She also wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or call out others when needed. I really enjoyed the mature conversations she had with Austin Steele, the undeclared alpha. She makes him think, and he does the same for her. I appreciated that.

“I hear you,” he said softly. “I never put stock in any of that—the taunting about being ladies—but I didn’t see the bigger picture, either. Just like earlier tonight—no one has ever spelled out the dangers women face when a man asserts himself as I did. That blindsided me. So much of tonight has blindsided me. In my life, when it comes to this, I feel like I’ve been…blindfolded in a way. Not blind, because if I would’ve looked, I would’ve seen, but…” He shook his head. “I’m gobsmacked. Thank you. I’ll be more conscious of this going forward.”

There isn’t a romance in this book, which worked well for where Jessie is at in her life. She needs time to figure out other things, and I liked that Breene is giving us that. There could be something here for later books, but right now friendship is at the forefront.

I did think it got a little preachy for a minute with the whole ‘love yourself as you are’ and ‘middle-age is okay’ stuff. I don’t disagree with the sentiment at all, and in fact, love the message, but it came across a little heavy-handed at times. Not so much that I didn’t enjoy the book, but just enough that I noticed it.

“Raise your voice until you are heard. Look however you want, be whoever you want, and demand people pay attention to you. Stop taking what you’re given, and demand the space in life you want.”

If you’re looking for a fun read full of humor, with mature characters who are figuring out the next stage of their lives amidst unforeseen craziness, I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Leveling Up

four-stars


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Review: Sin and Surrender by K.F. Breene

Posted August 18, 2020 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Sin and Surrender by K.F. BreeneReviewer: Holly
Sin & Surrender by K.F. Breene
Series: Demigods of San Francisco #6
Also in this series: Sin & Chocolate , Sin & Magic , Sin & Salvation, Sin & Spirit
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Alternating First and Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 302
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2020 Goodreads Challenge
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The sixth and final book in the #1 internationally bestselling Demigods of San Francisco series!

It's the moment Kieran and Lexi have been preparing for. The Magical Summit.

Ready or not, they will take their assembled team into the belly of the beast. The stakes couldn't be higher. If the powers that be don't approve of Kieran, he will not earn the official title of the Demigod of San Francisco.

The real danger concerns Lexi, however. With Kieran away in meetings, she must brave the treacherous halls of the Summit with just her crew and her wards, fighting for social placement and status, open to attack from all angles.

She could've never expected what comes at her. No one could've.

Prepare yourself for this epic conclusion to the Demigods of San Francisco series!

I really enjoy K.F. Breene’s novels. Her characters are always engaging and I tend to love her heroines and the misfit families they create. This was no exception. I loved Lexi and Keiran, their wards and the friends they collected and turned into family. It was a bit predicable, though. I figured out what was going to happen two books ago, and I’m a little sad it went the way I thought it would. Still, it was a satisfying end to the series, and I’m sad to see them go.

For as much as I enjoyed it, I have to say I was frustrated with Daisy in this book.

Daisy and Mordecai are Lexi’s wards. She adopted them off the street and gave them a safe place to live when they were teenagers. The three of them have come through a lot together. As the only non-magical person in their group, Daisy has been training with Zorn, the leader of Keiran’s Six, and Amber, his spymaster, to learn to defend herself and their family. She dealt with a lot growing up and her and Mordecai were my favorite part of the earlier books. The way they stuck together and did what they could to help Lexi was very heartwarming. As the series has progressed, I’ve come to like Daisy less and less. She’s become mouthy and cocky, which isn’t unexpected from a teenage girl, but the more endearing aspects of her character have been missing of late. It seems like Breene may be setting up to give us more books in this world from Daisy’s point of view, and I’m not super excited about the prospect. Though I may change my mind later.

I was hoping for a bit more from both Keiran and Lexi, and I really didn’t like Daisy very much in these last few books, but the series is still wonderfully done, and I’m going to miss all of them.

3.75 out of 5

Demigods of San Francisco

four-stars


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Guest Review: Sin & Spirit by K. F. Breene

Posted January 31, 2020 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Sin & Spirit by K. F. BreeneReviewer: Tracy
Sin & Spirit by K.F. Breene
Series: Demigods of San Francisco #4
Also in this series: Sin & Chocolate , Sin & Magic , Sin & Salvation, Sin & Surrender
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 31, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Gifted
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 296
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Kieran has stepped up to take his place as the ruler of magical San Francisco. As his girlfriend, that unfortunately means I'm under the magnifying glass. Everything I do is noticed, from how I act to how I style my hair. Most notably, of course, is how little I know about my magic.

The Hades Demigods want me on their team, and they don’t plan to ask nicely. Kieran and I are both under fire. They will kill him to get to me, and they'll take me by force if necessary. It is essential I learn more of my magic.

With no other options, I do what scares me the most - I summon the last Spirit Walker to help train me. Except, he's a loose cannon with looser morals and learning spirit is treacherous. I might evade the Demigods only to be lost in spirit forever.

As it says in the blurb, Kieran has stepped up to take over San Francisco, but Lexi hasn’t quite found her place yet.  She has an office in the government building, but she insisted that she not get a huge office just because she’s Kieran’s girlfriend.  She has a small office and does charity work from there.  She’s having a hard time adjusting to being in the spotlight and “dressing” the part.  She just wants to be herself and go with jeans and t-shirts, but she can’t do that as the woman who stands beside the Demigod of San Francisco.

While finding her way through her job, she also is still trying to learn how to be a Spirit Walker and better control her magic. The last SW she knows of is dead and was an assassin, but desperate times and all.  She brings his spirit back and he tries to teach her some things.  She’s a natural of course, but some things are just hard for her to wrap her head around.

As if this isn’t enough drama in her life, Kieran and Lexi get attacked by one of the Demigod of Hades – of which there are 3 biggies.  One of those is her father, whom she’s never met.  He has killed off all of his children so Lexi’s not really anxious to meet the guy.  When the battle gets intense, and finally over, they realize that people are hurt, missing and sadly, dead.  This puts the couple and their group of friends on a mission with a deadline and they’re not sure they’ll make it in time to save everyone.

This was another great book in the Demigods of San Francisco series.  I really like what Breene has done with the relationship between Kieran and Lexi and can’t wait to watch it develop more in future books. This story, however, was a sad book and for me, lacked the humor that made the previous three books.  I know you can’t have a ton of humor when you’re working with death, obviously, but until that occurred in the book I wish there had just been a lighter side to it all.  I’m not sure how to explain it.

Overall, I really loved this book and can’t wait to read book 5 in the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Demigod of San Francisco

four-stars


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Review: Warrior Fae Princess by K.F. Breene

Posted January 6, 2020 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Warrior Fae Princess by K.F. BreeneReviewer: Holly
Warrior Fae Princess by K.F. Breene
Series: Warrior Fae #2, DDVN #8
Also in this series: Warrior Fae Trapped , Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy, #1), Raised in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy, #2), Fused in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy, #3), Natural Witch , Natural Witch
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 15, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 394
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
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three-half-stars

With Charity's fate on the line, Devon and his pack must face the perils of the Realm in search of the elusive warrior fae. With no real experience and against some of the most powerful creatures in existence, they are fighting a losing battle.

Thankfully, they don't have to do it alone.

Knowing what's at stake, Penny and Emery, the magical powerhouses of the mage world, will lend their aid, trying to sneak Charity in the backdoor.

If they are caught, they'll all be captured or worse. Much worse.

But to make it means Devon will be forced to make a difficult decision that will change his and Charity's life forever.

You don't want to miss this epic conclusion to Devon and Charity's story!

Warrior Fae Princess by K.F. Breene is the second book in the Warrior Fae series, which is set in the DDVN (Demon Days, Vampire Nights) world. This book picks up right were Warrior Fae Trapped left off. While I don’t think it’s necessary to read the entire DDVN series before reading this book, I do think Warrior Fae Trapped should be read first.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the previous. I still liked Charity, Devon, his pack and the others, but a lot of Charity’s actions bothered me. She seemed to be processing more emotion in this book, which would have been fine except she seemed to be crying or passed out for the majority of the book. I liked seeing her come into her own at the end, and I really enjoyed watching her learn to master her power. But the rest? Meh.

Devon annoyed me as well. His decision to follow what the Seer said instead of having a conversation with Charity was frustrating. Aside from that, however, I liked how he put her first and protected her. I wish we’d seen more with the pack and Charity. They way certain things were handled View Spoiler » seemed out of keeping with the way they operated in the first book.

Still, for all that, I enjoyed this book as a whole. The world is fresh and fascinating, and I really enjoyed seeing another element come into play. While this isn’t my favorite of the series, I can’t deny it was engaging.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Warrior Fae

DDVN

three-half-stars


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