J. A. Cipriano

The protagonist in J.A. Cipriano’s Cursed reminds me of Harry Dresden with his smooth, self-deprecating voice and darkly antagonistic world. But the similarities end as Mac Brennan learns and uses his destructive powers—this is a gory tale with crueler themes. The story's set in an almost-familiar world where vampires and werewolves roam unrecognized, congregate at the occasional safe cafe location, and perhaps allow mysterious entities to inhabit their minds. But Mac’s first aim is to show more find out who he is and to escape an immediate and thoroughly unpleasant end. It makes for an enthralling first scene, and draws the reader quickly into the book.

Gory, dark, filled with action and suspense, Cursed is a great start to a series, a complete novel in its own right, and a fast, enthralling read. By the end I don’t know if I want to like Mac or not. But I do want to know more, and I want him to win his next battle. Serious urban fantasy without an inch of flab, this is a book I couldn’t put down until it was done.

Disclosure: I borrowed it and loved it. show less

I really liked the idea of the book and liked a lot of it but I did find Maya a bit inconsistent which irked me, she is happy to hook up with a couple of the guys but one she still hasn't quiet decided on. The guys all have great individual personalities all to the extreme of each other which makes them work and ugh Maya's dad, well I would like to punch him! The book was not quiet a 4 star however I am not giving up on the series and will be reading book 2 to see where things go as there is show more a lot of potential and the series might just be finding its feet.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. show less

Lillim has magic and attitude on her side… and not much else. A kidnapping has her facing off demons and vampires to get the kid back. But there’s more going on and an ancient dragon wants her to do his bidding. Lillim isn’t so amenable to that idea. And the dragon is about to find out.

This is a fast-paced urban fantasy with plenty of baddies, magical weapons, action, good guys with questionable personal agendas, and tough parenting going on. Lillim may currently be only 16, but show more she’s also a reincarnated badass from before in her mother’s days of power. This is one of the key things that really made this book work for me. She can be physically 16 – strong, quick, perhaps even cute – but she also has some memories from her past life so she has this knowledge base that assists with decision making. Often Lillim thinks and acts older than a teen and I could always point at that past life influencing her here and now to explain it.

Supernatural beings are every where in this book. I like that they fill a range in complicated motivations to simple grasps for power (or food). The werewolves are on the line of being bad guys or good guys, depending on whether or not Lillim can or chooses to help them out. Then we have some interesting vampires, one of which does some dumb stuff with a demon. There’s also the semi-aware magical weapons that are pretty cool. Toss in an ancient dragon and you have a very exciting, if somewhat wrecking-ball, party.

Lillim has this complex relationship with her mother that we learn in little snippets. I liked that it wasn’t a clear love or hate, but a twisted mix of the two. Lillim had to learn to fight badly behaving supernatural beings the hard way, usually by being tossed into a mess of them. But that tough love from her mom has made her the badass enforcer she is today. Lillim’s mom’s relationship with Lillim’s past-life self makes this aspect of the story all that more interesting.

The pace is very fast and there is always some action going on. In fact, if Lillim is taking a moment for reflection, she is usually reflecting on some past fight (her’s or her mother’s). So on occasion I did get some battle fatigue as one fight after another blended together. This is a very minor criticism as I enjoyed the book most of the time and it won’t hinder me from checking out Book 2.

I received this audiobook from the author (via his publicist) at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Rebecca Roberts made a very good Lillim Callina. She also had distinct voices for the other characters. On occasion, she had to come up with an interesting supernatural voice and she pulled those off as well. show less

Under Wraps (Werewolves vs. Mummies #1) by J.A. Cipriano is a fun fantasy book! The first page started out so serious and then the next page got me laughing. The book was both humorous and scattered with suspense. Loved this book. Great fun dialogue topped it off!