Welcome to My Monday Minis where I share short reviews about books I’ve read.
It’s time for some urban fantasy. Carmen Fox has a thrilling series, The Silverton Chronicles, and today I’m sharing the first two books, Guarded and Bound.
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Guarded
The Silverton Chronicles #1
by Carmen Fox
Genre: Fantasy / Urban Fantasy
My Review
This book was a blast. You have humans, vampires, werewolves, fae, demons and so on, all butting heads. There’s so much going on. So many different agendas. And a whole lot of surprises in store for you.
And then there’s the characters. too many to focus on just one or two. I can say that I really liked the friendship between Ivy and Florian. They are so opposite. Florian is a guy and he’s more concerned with fashion than a lot of women, whereas Ivy is all business. As things get going, they all get caught up in the action. The dialogue is very well written. And the snark had me snorting.
There’s some love interests too. The blurb might have you thinking there’s a love triangle, which I sometimes find annoying, but there isn’t one here. And while the romance isn’t the main focus, it sure adds some hilarious moments with Ivy and spices things up.
I think what I appreciated most was how easily the story flowed and how visual it was. It’s almost like you can see everything as it happens. I even had some idea of what I thought the characters should look like, which added to the fun.
A solid beginning to the series, and I’m on to the next one.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
When everyone’s existence depends on the lies they tell, trust doesn’t come easy.
Ivy’s neighbors have a secret. They aren’t human. But Ivy has a secret, too. She knows. As long as everyone keeps quiet, she’s happy working as a P.I. by day and chillaxing with her BFF Florian, a vampire, by night. When a routine pickup drops her in the middle of a murder, her two worlds collide. While Florian knows how to throw a punch, deep down he’s a softie. His idea of scary? Running out of hair product. It’s time Ivy faced facts. Even with a vampire on stand-by, one gal can only kick so many asses.
For help, she must put her faith in others. A human, who might just be the one. A demon, who will, for a price, open the doors to her heritage. And a werewolf, who wants to protect her from herself.
Torn between these men, Ivy must tread carefully, because one wants her heart, one wants her body, and one wants her dead.
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Bound
The Silverton Chronicles #2
by Carmen Fox
Genre: Fantasy / Urban Fantasy
My Review
I adored Florian when I met him in the first book, Guarded. He’s a bit nutty and naive, has a healthy dose of charm, and is loyal to a fault. It’s fun that he now gets his own story, his time to shine.
In the first book, Florian was quirky and flamboyant, yet at loose ends. Now he’s found his place with the werewolves, but what happens when it’s discovered he’s a vampire? The pack might make an example of him. A wicked mess, and all in the name of love.
On top of that, a pack consisting of all females enters their territory and they’ll not be bossed around by a bunch of males. Tempers flare and it takes determination and finesse for Keely, their pack leader, to get Parker and his pack to not come in and try to claim them. These female wolves have been through some horrendous treatment by male leaders and want to find their own males.
This is where it gets sticky for Flo. He’s on Keely’s side, is juggling the situation with his own pack, and his Sire has shown up wanting to reunite the family. He’s old style vampire and sees Flo’s life as nonsense.
There’s more action, romance, and some consequences in this second book. I’d recommend reading Guarded first so you have a feel for who’s who and you can dive right in and just enjoy the ride. A great follow up and I’m hoping there’s more to come.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
Bound by blood. Bound by loyalty. Bound by love.
Florian has it all: excellent fashion sense, a kickass job with his best friend, and a hard-won place among Silverton’s werewolves. When a pack of females pads into their territory, Flo’s alpha dispatches him to handle a merger. Total cakewalk. Except Keely, their alpha, has no intention of submitting her wolves to Flo’s larger pack. Worse, a single glance from her baby blues sends his eloquence on vacation and his heartbeat into overdrive. His flirtations seem welcome too, but there’s a snag. She doesn’t know he’s a vampire.
While Flo struggles with his conflicts–obey his alpha or win over Keely–his estranged sire blasts into town with a catalog of radical ideas. And hanging out with unsophisticated werewolves didn’t make the list.
With violence in the air and all sides testing his loyalties, Florian must bite back, even if showing his fangs costs him the girl.
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Wow, you’ve sold me on both of these. I really miss urban fantasy and must make some time for it in my schedule!
I don’t read it as often as I’d like. These were fun:)
oh man you make this series sound so good I kept a perpetual grin reading your post! all those creatures butting heads. and a pack of females that won’t take crap from XYs?? OH HELL YEAH!!! I’m going to GR NOW!
There’s lots of fun and I love the snark. LOL
I liked the sound of the first one until we got to the romance stuff again which kind of puts me off sadly. Great cover.
Yep, the romance plays a part in both books. I enjoy seeing who winds up with who and all the mess that comes with it:)
Oh oh! I remember seeing these and thinking they looked very intriguing. Awesome to see they’re good. Fab covers, too!
I sure had fun with them.
Here wolfie wolfie. 🙂
sherry @ fundinmental
Great reviews! Sound like fun books I’d like.
I read them one right after the other. Definitely had fun:)
These sound really good and I love the covers!
I liked the characters, the snark, and the intrigue. Lots of fun. And I love the covers too:)