Category: New To Me Author

Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me by Isabel Crowley

On By TracyIn Contemporary, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Standalone Title, Thiller / Suspense, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make MeWant Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me by Isabel Crowley

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: August 11, 2026

When medium Hazel Lewis is called to do a séance for a dying man, she had no idea much her life was going to change. She arrives and almost immediately realizes that she was duped, Clarence Chapman seems like a feeble, helpless old man, but in reality, he is a serial killer who made a deal with a demon and needs Hazel to use her as a conduit for the demon. She fights her way out of the house but is bitten by the demon in the process. Protection spells and warding can only do so much, so she needs to lay low until she can figure out how to defeat the demon and reclaim her life. She finds an old house in the wilds of Pennsylvania and tries to figure it out, but it doesn’t take long for Ligat, the demon’s minion, to find her and much to her dismay, she finds herself attracted to Ligat and the two become close, not quite friends, not really enemies. And if her life wasn’t complicated enough, she meets her handsome neighbor, Maxwell and is attracted to him too. As they say, when it rains, it pours…

Ligat has secrets, he is indentured to the demon Perthrux and cannot tell Hazel who his master is. Luckly for him, after years of servitude, he has earned a bit of slack from the demon, but his will is still controlled by his master and as much as he hates Perthrux, he cannot defy him. The problem is he is falling hard for Hazel and wants nothing more than for her to defeat Perthrux, even if it means his own destruction. To that end, he will do whatever it takes to save her.

I have mixed feelings about this book, I liked the story it started out fast and hard, but then it started to drag and it dragged until about last 10% of the story. That is not to say that it wasn’t good, but it was hard to stay immersed in it and very easy to put down. This story was filled with demons, minions, ghost dogs, druids, spicy love scenes with a Phoebe/Cole vibe (IYKYK), a bit of gore, a touch of horror, interesting secondary characters, a strong heroine, a cinnamon roll hero and twist at the end that changes everything. Overall, this book had a lot going on but the author managed to keep the central plot in the forefront and gave readers a satisfying ending, but I did have some lingering questions, so I am hoping there is a sequel in the works. So, while I don’t think I would read again, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to fans of dark romantasy.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

 

(Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Contemporary, Debut Novel, Horror, Mystery, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Thiller / Suspense, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

(Mostly) Human Resources (Entity Case Files, #1)(Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Entity Case Files #1

Release Date: August 4, 2026

Alexys Keane works as a human resources manager for Entity, a company specializing in understanding, classification, conservation and management of cryptids. She is in charge of district 13, which is located primarily in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. She manages 4 wardens who investigate cryptid sightings in the field. So, when one of her wardens goes missing, she heads to West Virginia to find him. She arrives at the hotel where her warden Elliot Harman had been staying to learn that he left the previous day. She plans to follow him, when Nic Dyre, the head of Research and Cataloging for Entity and the most annoying (and good looking) man she has had the misfortune of working with shows up to “help”.

Nic Dyre feels a bit guilty, he had spoken to Elliot (unofficially) about rumors of sightings of the Hollow Walker, an ancient monster that has never been cataloged, Nic would love nothing more than to find the monster and be the youngest R&C manager to ever record an unknown monster, but he never intended for Elliot to go looking for the beast alone! When he learns that Elliot is missing and Alexys is going to look for him, he decides to tag along. But Alexys is not having it and tries to ditch him at every turn. Eventually, after a rather terrifying solo expedition into the woods, she agrees to work with him and what they find will be more than they ever could have imagined.

This book was 100% not what I was expecting, I read the blurb and thought it was going to be a sort of monster-infused low-key rom-com. And while there were monsters aplenty, there was nothing funny or romantic about this book. The book was more horror than romance, and I can only assume that Alexys and Nic will team up in future installments and presumably have some sort of romance, but it didn’t happen in this book. Overall, I liked the writing style and would consider reading the next installment.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *