One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon

What’s a kitchen witch to do when her almost-fiancé leaves her suddenly single and unemployed? For Mia Malone, the answer’s simple: move to her grandmother’s quirky Idaho hometown, where magic is an open secret and witches and warlocks are (mostly) welcome. With a new gourmet dinner delivery business—and a touch of magic in her recipes—Mia’s hopes are high. Even when her ex-little sister, Christina, arrives looking for a place to stay, Mia takes it in stride.

But her first catering job takes a distasteful turn when her client’s body is found, stabbed and stuffed under the head table. Mia’s shocked to learn that she’s a suspect—and even more so when she realizes she’s next on a killer’s list. With Christina, along with Mia’s meddling grandma, in the mix, she’ll have to find out which of the town’s eccentric residents has an appetite for murder…before this fresh start comes to a sticky end…

 

One Poison Pie (Kitchen Witch Mystery, book one) by Lynn Cahoon

Start date: October 30, 2021

End date: November 5, 2021

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Trigger warning: extortion, sex trafficking

This book was scatterbrained at times. There is a lot jampacked into one novel that, even for the first book in a new series, seemed like too much at once. The plot was kind of a mess, jumping all over the place, and even at the end, I felt I had more unanswered questions than I would have liked.

Before the novel begins, Mia Malone buys an old schoolhouse in her grandmother’s hometown of Magic Springs to give herself a fresh start after her breakup. She left behind her cheating ex-boyfriend, Isaac Adams, and the catering company she helped him build. She intends on turning the new property into a catering business once the building is up to code. Living with her until she can get back on her feet is Christina Adams, Isaac’s younger sister and the screwup of the Adams family. Mia is suspicious of Christina’s presence fearing she may have ulterior motives, but she gives her a position in her catering company anyway.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

 

AN IMMORTAL WAR HAS BEEN BREWING IN THE DARKNESS…

AND NOW ONE WOMAN HAS STUMBLED INTO THE SHADOWS.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful…human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

 

Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, book two) by Jeaniene Frost

Start date: September 10, 2021

End date: September 12, 2021

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Trigger warning: attempted suicide, sex trafficking

Dare I say I liked this book?

This is the second book in the Night Huntress World series, which is a spin-off of the Night Huntress series involving Cat and Bones. This takes place in the same world with most of the same characters. I hesitate to even call this series a spin-off. The first book, First Drop of Crimson, starred Denise and Spade, and this book features two entirely different characters. This “series” doesn’t create anything new, and at least the first book requires previous reading to understand who the characters are and any sort of context a reader would need. Since these books are about previously established characters in the Night Huntress series having side adventures, I’d be more willing to include them in that series in between the main books versus separating them into their own. 

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Night Huntress series comes a breathtaking new journey to the dark side of desire.

 

The night is not safe for mortals, Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .

 

First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, book one) by Jeaniene Frost

Start date: August 10, 2021

End date: August 12, 2021

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Trigger warning: sexual slavery, rape, miscarriage

After a night out with her cousin, Paul, turns into a deadly attack from an unknown, supernatural assailant who can turn from a dog into a man, Denise MacGregor wants to call Cat Crawfield in for reinforcements but finds she doesn’t have any current numbers for her best friend who recently traveled around the world running away from a pedophilic vampire (see my review of Destined for an Early Grave for more information). As a last result, Denise dials the number for Baron Charles DeMortimer, otherwise known as Spade, Cat’s husband Bones’s best friend and a man she hasn’t seen since he brutally murdered a man who threatened to rape her outside of a honky-tonk. Her disgust and fear of him are overwhelmed by her terror of whatever killed her cousin (and possibly is also responsible for the death of another cousin and her aunt), and she blurts out her suspicions over the phone.

“Perhaps it’s best if we don’t involve Cat or Crispin just yet,” Spade said, calling Bones by his human name as he always did. “They’ve had an awful time of it recently. No need to fret them if it’s something I can handle.”

Denise bit back her scoff. She knew what that translated to. Or if she’d just imagined all this. (Frost 13-14)

Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

 

HER DEADLY DREAMS LEAVE HER IN GRAVE DANGER

Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they’ve fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it’s time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She’s having visions of a vampire named Gregor who’s more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn’t know about.

Gregor believes Cat is his and he won’t stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor’s hold over her. She’ll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she’s ever face . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.

Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, book four) by Jeaniene Frost

Start date: August 7, 2021

End date: August 10, 2021

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Trigger warning: child grooming, sexual abuse, offensive language

I have reached a point in reading this series where I feel like my book reviews serve a legitimate purpose. These popular books star awful characters in a way that makes their thoughts and behaviors seem normalized. Flawed characters make for dynamic writing, but the work must acknowledge in some way that the characters are imperfect. If it doesn’t, readers might aspire to be like them. My review today is going to touch on topics in this book that some readers might have difficulty reading about.