These Ancient Bones by Heather Graham

These Ancient Bones (The Crows)These Ancient Bones by Heather Graham

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Crows #2

Release Date: August 24, 2026

After completing an assignment in Rome, Special Agent Grant Markham returns to his hometown of St. Augustine, FL only to find a similar crime has occurred there and has captured the attention Special Agent Jackson Crow, head of a special unit known as the Krewe of Hunters. Jackson’s people are all gifted with special supernatural abilities, and Grant has worked him before. But this time, Jackson has found a partner for Grant, another “Krewe” agent, Special Agent Shelly Mahoney from the west coast. They meet at the crime scene, the home of George Maynard, a well-known and well-liked investigative journalist, who has recently uncovered a huge scam involving a major security company. The burned remains of their victim are found outside his home and presumed to be George. Unfortunately, due to the state of the body, they can’t make a positive ID and Grant is not able to use his own power to confirm the victim’s identity. The only clue they have to go on is a stone tablet found near the front door with what appears to be a curse directed at George in it.

With the body count rising and each one with a new curse tablet, Grant and Shelly will follow the clues, which lead them not only through the St. Augustine area, but back to Rome. They will be joined by Special Agents and fellow Krewe members, Zach Erickson & Skye McMahon, and together they will try to untangle the mystery of the tablets before they end up on the killer’s hit list.

I am enjoying this spin off series, Grant and Shelly have an instant connection and work well together. I was also delighted to catch up with Zach and Skye who were the leads in the previous book. The mystery was chaotic at times, but everything comes together at the end and what an end it is! This book has an intriguing mystery, lots of secondary characters and even more suspects, a bit of paranormal activity, curses, a bit of spice, a brewing romance, action, twists and turns and finally a satisfying ending, complete with an epilogue. My only qualm with this book was there were a couple of dropped storylines that I would have liked to have seen tied up, but as they didn’t impact the final outcome, I was able overlook it and still thought it was a very good read. This is the second book in the series, but they are loosely connected so each book can be read as a standalone title. If you enjoy a good mystery with a bit of romance and a dash of paranormal, you need to read this book!

*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. *

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

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. *