Redbacks by Aaron Crocco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody wakes up thinking they’re going to die today.

James Cole just survived a world-wide earthquake. Together with Tucky, James sets off to find his wife and make sure she’s safe. When a darkness creeps up over the city, James and Tucky find strange creatures coming out as well. Since there are so few left to fight, James decides to join in the battle with the Redbacks. A chance meeting with Travis Hunter gives him a clue about the darkness, and James vows to take out the source of the Redbacks – Travis himself.

Book two of As Darkness Ends, Redbacks gives a lot more action than the first book. By following James around, the reader gets to experience the effects of the Encautum on the survivors and how they react to the Redbacks.

In this quick-paced story the apocalypse continues, forcing survivors to fight the zombie-like creatures brought on by the darkness.

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Katie’s Hellion by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Can’t take you anywhere without you beheading folks,” she whispered.”

The Council of Seven, made up of seven immortal brothers, is falling apart from the inside. With two brothers dead, two more banished to hell for aiding the Dark One, and internal skirmishes happening almost daily, the fate of the human race seems unlikely at best.

And then there’s Katie, a “mere” human that has a remarkable trait – her blood makes her immune to immortal abilities. She finds herself thrust into the immortal world when a four-hundred-year-old baby angel drops in and claims her as his mom, a death dealer shows up outside her window, and gets kidnapped and sent to hell. With going crazy a real possibility, Katie bargains with Rhyn to get out of hell but her plan backfires as he claims her as his own mate.

A unique twist on vampires with a complex world, Katie’s Hellion sets up the rest of the series. As tension between Katie and Rhyn builds, can they find a way to trust each other enough to save humanity?

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Telesa – The Covenant Keeper by Lani Wendt Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful – and so terrible in my life.”

Leila is searching for a place to belong after her father’s death. Against his final wish, she travels to Samoa to try to find out about her mother, who her father had told her was dead.

After she arrives on the island, she settles into her routine, but a fire builds inside of her that she can’t explain. Even as she adjusts to her knew school – and the God-like boy, Daniel – she gets throwing for a loop again – her mother is alive. Now, she needs to find answers to the cause of the flames. Answers only her mother can give her.

Trying to quench her inner fire, but thoughts of Daniel feed the flames, so she agrees to move in with her mother to find out how to control this power. But even as she learns to control herself as a telesa, she finds out why her mother’s name brings fear to the locals and must decide between her mother’s ways and her own.

Full of Samoan culture, Telesa: The Covenant Keeper is a tale of accepting who you are and standing up for what you believe in.

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