en-US Thu, 01 May 2025 17:38:11 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7535359419 Thu, 01 May 2025 17:38:11 -0700 /review/show/7535359419 Raven and Chris gave 5 stars to Hunter's Sky (Hunter's Creek Book 4) by Victoria Sue
I love this entire series! This is found family and paying it forward at its best. Everyone has a home in Hunter’s Creek. Zack and Victor have been at odds for a while, but neither one can tell you why, but the addition of Mo into their home turns everything they knew over. I loved their story! They certainly deserve their happy ending. My heart broke for Zack who doesn’t really feel like he is enough. All three men have to rewrite what they thought they knew into something that fits much better.
]]> Review7525394881 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:47:06 -0700 /review/show/7525394881 Raven and Chris gave 5 stars to Charms and Death and Explosions (oh my!) (Case Files of Henri Davenforth, #2) by Honor Raconteur
Vigilante justice

This book was excellent! I a, quickly falling in love with Henri and Jamie and can’t get enough of their case files. The story of this one is a tale as old as time…and I don’t mean the good kind. Someone decides to take matters into their own hands and meet out some justice when the police in their district do nothing about the manufacturers of bad magical charms. Henri and Jamie wind up solving multiple problems at once with this one. Honestly, no one could really blame the outcome on this one. ]]> Review7530718129 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 05:25:48 -0700 /review/show/7530718129 Raven and Chris gave 5 stars to Buried Heroes: An Immersive, High-Fantasy Epic with Druidic Magic and Fate-Bound Warriors (Age of Azuria Book 1) by Beth Ball
I want to say a few things about the expanded edition to start with and then I’ll get into more generalized thoughts on Buried Heroes.
Buried Heroes is one of my go to comfort reads. It is a fantastic start to one of my favorite recent fantasy series! I couldn’t have imagined changing a thing, but fortunately for readers the author doesn’t share my narrow view! *GRIN*
This expanded edition for the book’s release anniversary enriches the world building and the character arcs without adding bloat or unnecessary filler. Everything flows naturally and beautifully, and it honestly builds a stronger foundation for the books that follow. An amazing feat considering how strong the author’s world building already is.
I will admit a tiny bit of bias, since this edition added a few chapters about the character that became my favorite in later books, so getting more from Briseras� POV was an absolute gift!

Now, some notes about the book overall. I love the world building and character development in this series. The author begins strong in this book and doesn’t falter one bit. Every POV character is unique and not one dimensional. The world is fleshed out as the story progresses with the reader learning lore and details through the experiences of the characters and their interaction with the world around them. Buried Heroes is EXACTLY how you start an epic fantasy. Characters you love, villains you love to hate, and a world you want to return to again and again.

So, if you’ve visited Azuria before, I highly recommend revisiting this edition of the book. The additional story beats and POV chapters add nuance and depth to an already well developed story without feeling bloated or overdone. This isn’t an ego exercise or a writer rehashing an old idea just to make a buck. This is obviously someone who loves the world they created and the characters in it and wanted to share more of it with us the readers. It feels like sitting down with an old friend and hearing about how much they enjoyed a new version of their favorite food. It’s a joy to revisit characters one already loves and also learn more about who they are and see more groundwork for who they become as the series progresses.

If you’ve never been to Azuria and you like high fantasy stories with a touch of romance, dark fantasy, and druidic magic in a world of well written heroes and heroines, fantastic world building, and villains with depth and direction than do yourself a favor and pick up this book (and the rest of the series honestly). I cannot recommend it enough!
]]> ReadStatus9361880658 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 04:55:39 -0700 /review/show/7525394881 Raven and Chris is currently reading Charms and Death and Explosions (oh my!) by Honor Raconteur
]]> Review7521533048 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 03:44:13 -0700 /review/show/7521533048 Raven and Chris gave 5 stars to Magic and the Shinigami Detective (The Case Files of Henri Davenforth, #1) by Honor Raconteur
I loved it!

This book was absolutely amazing! Jamie and Henri are going to have so much fun together. I can tell. Well, fun for Jamie anyway. He ri need to get in better shape! I love this author’s other books under their other pen names and can’t believe it took me this long to read this series. ]]> Review7523623367 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 13:07:44 -0700 /review/show/7523623367 Raven and Chris gave 4 stars to Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda (Kindle Edition) by Kelex
Dolphins and orcas. Orcas and dolphins. I enjoyed this one! Echo and Mael have the odds against them as they come together to find Echo’s lost artifacts and start a mating relationship. It was very Montague and Capulet in parts but the story was worth it. These two defy the odds to be together and start a family.
]]> Review7523548460 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 12:39:16 -0700 /review/show/7523548460 Raven and Chris gave 4 stars to Happy Ever Afterlife (Kindle Edition) by Melissa Whitney
August really does have big sweet golden retriever energy. Nora is like a prickly porcupine or a spicy black cat. They shouldn’t be attracted to each other but the heart knows what the heart wants. I love how she is such a skeptic that she doesn’t realize she has interacted with ghosts, at least not until she is fully confronted with it. The build up to the haunted house was a little slow but it did set the stage for our main characters knowing each other better than they realize. This was a good read and I enjoyed both brothers. They really all deserve their happy ending!
]]> Review7523423958 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 12:21:03 -0700 /review/show/7523423958 Raven and Chris gave 4 stars to The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy (The Monster at the End of His Pregnancy Book 3) by Edie Monte
Revelations

So many secrets and misunderstanding. So much pain. Galen and Mac are the continuation of the bridge between kobolds and dragons and bringing them back together. This is a good series and is worth a read. Also dragons on earth can get up to all kinds of trouble. ]]> ReadStatus9356237999 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 17:46:35 -0700 /review/show/7521533048 Raven and Chris is currently reading Magic and the Shinigami Detective by Honor Raconteur
]]> Review6171912815 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 17:12:16 -0700 /review/show/6171912815 Raven and Chris gave 5 stars to Woods of the Raven (Raven of the Woods #1) by Mary Calmes
A little bit of magic

We all need a bit of magic and whimsy in our lives, but Xander is master of more than just that. He is the guardian of the land and keeps it safe. Lorne has no idea what he is dealing with but he adjusts pretty fast! I loved this and hope we get more stories about these two! ]]>