Magic and Martial Arts

My Rating: 4/5

Review: This book was both fascinating and magical. I was immediately drawn in by the very intriguing story about a healer who was also a protector, a thief who was also a murderer, and the world of martial arts and tattoos.

Book Description:
Mia Lockheart has a secret. Her mother was a Keeper, as was her grandmother—women who were warriors, healers, and protectors. As Mia practices her craft among the boxers and martial artists of South London, and begins a romance with her childhood friend, the fighter Nick Duffy, she has no idea that a man who calls himself “Dragonfly” is watching from the shadows.

Adrian Ashton is a brilliant scientist, an expert in the breaking field of biophoton emissions from cells within the human body. He is also a skilled martial artist—and a modern-day vampire. With the aid of the enigmatic Book of Life and Death, written in the thirteenth century by the legendary Chinese physician Zhang Sanfeng, he preys on other martial artists and drains them of their chi—the vital energy that flows through the body.

Mia finds herself drawn to his dark genius, but when he targets Nick as his next victim, she is forced to choose between the two men. It becomes a fight to the death in which love is both the greatest weakness and the biggest prize.

Vampire for Hire

I received this as an ARC though the Goodreads giveaway.

Rating: 3.5/5

My Review:
I was all set to hate this book a few chapters in, but before I knew it, I was eagerly turning pages and on the edge of my seat towards the end. As far as Vampire stories go, it's not exactly unique, but it did have a premise that was new to me. A vampire blinded by military experimentation hiring another vampire to help him out is quite intriguing after all. Raylene, also known as Chesire Red in the crime world, came across as an obnoxious teenager at first. Her attempts at being funny were just plain annoying, and she wasn't likable to me at all. Towards the end of the book, however, I began to like her more and more. She has spunk, she's brave, and well, she can actually be funny some of the time. I will most likely read the sequel, since I am curious by nature, and there is still a mystery to be solved.

Book Description: Raylene Pendle (AKA Cheshire Red), a vampire and world-renowned thief, doesn’t usually hang with her own kind. She’s too busy stealing priceless art and rare jewels. But when the infuriatingly charming Ian Stott asks for help, Raylene finds him impossible to resist—even though Ian doesn’t want precious artifacts. He wants her to retrieve missing government files—documents that deal with the secret biological experiments that left Ian blind. What Raylene doesn’t bargain for is a case that takes her from the wilds of Minneapolis to the mean streets of Atlanta. And with a psychotic, power-hungry scientist on her trail, a kick-ass drag queen on her side, and Men in Black popping up at the most inconvenient moments, the case proves to be one hell of a ride.