Chaos, Coffee & a Bookshelf: Serial Review

Grimm's Circle Series by Shiloh Walker

All Summaries from Goodreads

Candy Houses

So you think you know fairy tales? Guess again.

Greta didn’t get her happy ending her first time around. And now that she’s a Grimm—special kind of guardian angel and official ass-kicker in the paranormal world—romance is hard to find. Besides, there’s only ever been one man who made her heart race, and the fact that he did scared her right out of his arms. Now Rip is back. And just in time too, because Greta needs his help.

On a mission he knows is going to test all of his strengths and skills, the last person Rip expected to see is the one woman who broke his heart. Working together seems to be their only hope. But, when faced with a danger neither of them anticipated, the question is, how will they face the danger to their hearts—assuming they survive, of course.

No Prince Charming

Her Happy-Ever-After has been a long time coming…

Elle spent years trying to get over her so-called Prince Charming, and she’s finally getting the hang of it. A Grimm—a guardian angel with unique gifts—she spends her nights trolling for demons and kicking ass, and lately, her days have been spent with her on-and-off-again lover, Ren, a fellow Grimm. But fate has other plans in store for Elle, plans that include Michael, the prince from her youth who broke her heart.

“What do you choose…live for her? Or would you rather die?” That was the choice Michael was given all those years ago. Although he knew she’d never forgive him, when Michael was given the chance to become a Grimm, he took it. Still, he isn’t so sure Elle needs him in her life. With a lover at her side and a mission before her, Elle looks like she’s doing just fine without him.

But the not-so-charming prince isn’t going to back off that easily…not if there’s a chance she might need him again. He’d do anything to save her. Kill for her, live for her, die for her…

Warning: This dark, twisted version of Cinderella involves demons, deceit, desire, and debauchery between a princess and two sexy guardian angels, both determined to win the fair Cinderella.

Crazed Hearts
Ren has always danced along the fine line between being a little bit crazy and being overcome by a darkness that’s haunted him since his mortal days. As an empath, he prefers to live far from people who would leak their emotions all over him, so he’s not expecting the woman who drives right into the heart of his wood. She has a cursed book with her and demons hot on her heels. Even more surprising are her abilities and the reaction Ren has to her.

Aileas is on the run. She just isn’t certain if she’s running from something real or imagined. One thing is for sure, her brother is dead and she’s certain the book she found has something to do with his death. She really starts to doubt her sanity when she meets a hot but somewhat crazed man in the middle of nowhere.

He calls himself Ren, and although he doesn’t seem to be out to hurt her, he definitely seems to want something. She just doesn’t understand what. She does know what she wants though. She wants him, and the shadows and darkness she glimpses inside him don’t matter. At least, right up until he claims to be a guardian angel.

And she thought she was going crazy.

Tarnished Knight

The mind forgets, but the body remembers. Everything.

One look at Jack Wallace and Perci knows he’s going to be trouble. Even surrounded by soul stealers, he’s a one-man wrecking crew. What does he need Grimm training for? He’s already hell on earth, a warrior bent on destruction. And something…more.

He’s too strong and fast to be a mere mortal. Even covered in blood, he makes her forget she’s only here to do a job and get out. It’s twisted. Sick. She hasn’t felt this alive in three centuries.

Born with a natural talent for killing unnatural things, Jack has always known things he shouldn’t. The fact that Perci is one of them glows all over her. Giving him an unholy urge to see just how far he can push her before don’t touch me melts into touch me there.

When they come together, it isn’t careful or cautious. It’s heaven and hell, exposing all their raw and wounded places to healing heat, resurrecting memories of a destined love from the distant past. But the evil that destroyed them once before has tracked them here, threatening their second and last chance at forever. Demanding a sacrifice no one—Grimm or human—should ever be asked to make…

Warning: Dark, sexy, a little bit scary—this fairy tale is only for grownups and is best saved for bedtime.

Locked in Silence

Dying is hard enough. Coming back to life is brutal.

Vanya has been hunting and killing demons ever since one of them scarred her face and killed her sister. Correction—since she was forced to kill the demon possessing her sister.

Then some sort of angel offers her a deal she can’t refuse—that if she becomes one of them, she gets to kill even more demons. Tonight, she’s made that choice. The death she smells on the air will be her own—and she welcomes it.

Silence feels a darkness is looming. Change—something he has every reason not to welcome. The deeply hidden memories that robbed him of his past, of his own name, render him unfit to teach anyone the ways of the Grimm. Yet here he is in the dankest sex club in town, waiting to assume his charge—after he stands by and watches her die.

When Vanya awakes, their complicated, dangerous dance begins. And so does something else—a searing need that blisters along their unexpected mental connection. Silence shouldn’t be drawn to his student, but once they touch, he can’t think of a reason to stop. Even though acting out their darkest desires puts them in more danger than they realize.

Warning: This book contains sex-starved demons, lonely angels, demon-angel sandwiches, blood, violence, death and a happy-ever-after.

My Thoughts:

I can not possibly say enough good things about this series from Shiloh Walker. I've read the whole series so far, including the free eBook "I Thought It Was You." Where the loose ends from No Prince Charming are tied up before the story in Crazed Hearts begins.

A society of once human Guardian Angels who fight demons and protect the innocent? It absolutely rocks! I love re-tellings of the classics and the way Shiloh Walker has taken Fairy Tales and Classic stories and turned them into something completely different is amazing! In the early books you know right away which fairy tale characters are based on the Grimm, but in the later books you have to read the book before finding out. They are awesome stories. I highly recommend each and everyone of them.

I can't wait to see whose story comes next. There are two characters in particular that I wish could get full-length novels. In fact, that has been my only complaint of any of the stories. There is so much to unpack, I wish each story were a full-length work on it's on.

The first two stories are available in print in The First Book of Grimm. All of the stories are available in eBook format.

** These books contain explicit sex and violence. Not appropriate for children or teens under the age of 18.**

I was late to the party reading the Hunger Games Trilogy, but I am soo glad I did!

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

From Goodreads:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My Thoughts:

After reading the Hunger Games I felt like it was a really good book. It wasn't my normal read but I really enjoyed it. It could have ended there. Suzanne Collins didn't have to finish this series. If I understand correctly from the Acknowledgments at the end of Mockingjay, she didn't initially intend to keep going. But I am so very glad she did. The Hunger Games was good, but I had this feeling that there could have been more. I wasn't completely sure what I wanted that "more" to be, though.

So I started reading Catching Fire and I knew. This was it, this was what I wanted when I had been reading the first book. Catching Fire had the backstory, the deeper connections between characters, and dynamics that were complicated and interesting. I loved Catching Fire so much that I more or less took a snack break and then picked up Mockingjay. I simply had to know how this ended.

If I thought Catching Fire "got better" as I told one friend, then Mockingjay simply knocked it out of the park for me. I loved every twist and turn that came about in Mockingjay. It was perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more by the time I finished with this one.

I am not including the synopsis for Catching Fire and Mockingjay because I made the mistake of reading them before I finished the first book and I hate spoilers. I prefer to find things out for myself. So if you haven't read them yet, I don't want to be the one who spoils anything for you!

This series is a must read, and you simply have to read the whole thing! If I were rating the book individually then I would give 4 cups to The Hunger Games and Chasing Fire, and 5 cups to Mockingjay. I just can't do that though, I have to rate the series as a whole because now that I am done that is the only way to read it! I give it 5 cups!