Although, always a keen reader it wasn’t until 2010 that I begun to read novels continuously. Since then there have been certain novels, series and short stories that have really stood out for me – some dating back before A Reader’s Review Blog was created. I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of my favourites, in the hope that some of you will be intrigued to try them out or offer any thoughts you may have on them. Below you will find the 5 authors (Tim O’Rourke, C.J. Pinard, J.R. Ward, Jonathan Hayes and Gary Richardson) and their books/series that have definitely had an impact, along with links to any reviews I have written and some extra pieces of trivia.

TIM O’ROURKE!

The first book I read of Tim’s was a young adult paranormal novel, Vampire Shift (Keira Hudson Series One, Book One). I hadn’t long bought my Kindle and I purchased ‘Vampire Shift’ as it was on offer at the time. I absolutely loved the novel and began to download the rest of the Keira Hudson series. If you love vampires, lycanthrope, dramatic horror, with profound characters and amazing storylines you will love this series. It was reading Tim’s books that inspired me to write lengthier reviews as his book were so exciting, so full of life and made me feel like I was living in the story. In a big way, I have Tim to thank for suggesting that I write a blog! So far, I have only read up to Dead Wolf (Keira Hudson Series Two, Book Five), however my personal favourites thus far have been Vampire Breed (Keira Hudson Series One, Book Four) and Vampire Hollows (Keira Hudson, Series One Book Five). Absolutely amazing work – Tim has also been busy working on a Graphic Novel for Vampire Shift, which I have just recently won a signed cover for, and he has also released podcasts of Vampire Shift which can be downloaded FREE from iTunes!

Not only has Tim blew my mind with his Keira Hudson series, I then began to read Witch (Sydney Hart Book One), Moonlight (Book 1 of the Moon Trilogy) and Vampire Seeker (Samantha Carter Book One), and I have to say I have loved every one. My all time favourite has been Vampire Seeker (Samantha Carter Book One). I have many more of Tim’s books to read. Below is a list of Tim’s books that I have read – click to see my reviews! Aside from the books below, Tim has also written the Black Hill Farm series, Doorways series, plus additional books to the Keira Hudson series, Sydney Hart series and soon to be released the second book of The Moon Trilogy, Moonbeam!!!

Vampire Shift (Keira Hudson Series 1, Book 1)

Vampire Wake (Keira Hudson Series 1, Book 2)

Vampire Hunt (Keira Hudson Series 1, Book 3)

Vampire Breed (Keira Hudson Series 1, Book 4)

Wolf House (Potter’s Story) (Kiera Hudson Series 1 Book 4.5) – novella

Vampire Hollows (Keira Hudson Series 1, Book 5)

Dead Flesh (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 1)

Dead Night – Potter’s Secrets (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 1.5) – novella

Dead Angels (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 2)

Dead Statues (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 3)

Dead Seth (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 4)

Dead Wolf (Keira Hudson Series 2, Book 5)

Moonlight (The Moon Trilogy #1)

Vampire Seeker (Samantha Carter #1)

Witch (Sydney Hart #1)

C.J. PINARD!

As well as a fantastic editor, C.J. Pinard is also an amazing author. Enchanted Immortals is a paranormal fantasy that follows a group of immortals whose job it is to protect the sylph and humans from the vampires and shifters. To become and remain immortal they need an elixir ‘Enchantment’, provided by the sylph, at regular intervals. Enchanted Immortals has the darkness and direction of J.R. Ward’s style with the great imaginative and fantasy style of Laurell K. Hamilton! There are four books in the series and so far I love Enchanted Immortals (Book One) and Enchanted Immortals 3: The Vampyre. I love how these novels travel back and forth from the present to the past – into the lives of the Immortals before and after they became immortal!

Book 4, Enchanted Immortals 4: The Vixen has recently been released and I am hoping to review this very soon! It will be a shame that this series has ended but I am aware that C.J. has more work in the pipeline! I cannot wait to read more of her work. C.J. was very kind and had written an author post for A Readers Review Blog to coincide with our review on Enchanted Immortals 3: The Vampyre. I would also like to thank C.J. for her kindness and support. I have reviewed the first three books of the Enchanted Immortals novels, which you can find below by clicking on the links!

Enchanted Immortals (Enchanted Immortals Book 1)

Enchanted Immortals: The Vortex (Enchanted Immortals Book 2)

Enchanted Immortals: The Vampyre (Enchanted Immortals Book 3)

J.R. WARD!

Before Tina and myself begun A Reader’s Review Blog, we were both completely hooked on J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. It is a dark paranormal/urban fantasy series about a band of 6 vampire warriors who live mostly apart from the main population and are defending their race against the slayers. Each novel focuses on a different brother, however there is a whole story flowing throughout the series. It is very action-packed and violent with scenes of passion, drama and an extremely in-depth story. Tina and myself couldn’t get enough of this series and we were meeting up weekly spending most of our time talking about the characters, who we loved, what we wanted to happen, etc. It is disappointing that we have not reviewed any books from this series, however I am positive that we will return to this series at some point to write reviews. I did write some very basic reviews on Goodreads, but as they were prior to the blog they are quite brief.

JONATHAN HAYES!

Jonathan Hayes made an impact on me way before the blog began. I read his debut, Precious Blood and the sequel A Hard Death. Both books are crime thrillers following a medical examiner, Edward Jenner, who is forced out of retirement after a horrific murder has occurred and then the victim is found to be that of a serial killer. I loved these books as Jonathan Hayes actually is a forensic pathologist and therefore, has firsthand knowledge and I think he illustrates this beautifully in his books. I also liked the character’s name – being a fan of history at school Edward Jenner is also the name of an English physician and scientist who discovered the vaccination for smallpox! Again, my reviews on these novels are very basic as they were written before I considered a blog but they can be found on Goodreads and below:-

My review on Precious Blood :- A very fast-paced and chilling thriller. This was an excellent debut for Jonathan Hayes. Before I had even read the book I was aware that the author was a forensic pathologist. The detail of the investigation is profound and obviously from a man with common knowledge of this expertise, however the way in which the novel is written enables many readers to take it all in and become understanding and captivated by it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to find that the author has written again. I’ll definitely be looking up more of his books in the future!!!

A Hard Death:- After reading the first instalment of Jonathan Hayes’ Edward Jenner character in Precious Blood I was very excited to read the sequel. At first, I must admit I found it more difficult to really get into this one. However, I do think that it was largely due to the setting. New York (setting of Precious Blood) does appear to be more of a dangerous, dark setting than sunny, holiday-like Miami. Therefore, there seemed to be more crime, terror and other happenings in Precious Blood. But A Hard Death is a good novel and as it goes on it does get better and better and better. The story goes deeper, with references to the last book, and there are twists in the last half of the book.  It was well worth a read and I will definitely be interested in reading more of Jonathan Hayes’ novels. Hopefully, there will be more Edward Jenner to come!

GARY RICHARDSON!

Gary Richardson wrote a short story, The Purple Haze. It has been a story that I have never forgotten, starting off as a bank job going wrong and being caught by the police to an action-packed horror with zombies pursuing the survivors of what appeared to be a gas attack! Over a year has passed and yet the story is still quite vivid. I love the way how it is written, like The Sweeney (tv series) turns into The Walking Dead (tv series) or even similar to that of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (movie) as it begins quite realistic and turns all of a sudden. I’d love Gary Richardson to write more on this subject and similar subjects.

The Purple Haze

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my favourite books. If you are interested in crime thrillers I could also add Val McDermid (author of The Wire in the Blood series – also a tv drama). I find that Val McDermid does a great deal of research when writing her novels and although I read them prior to the blog they are very powerful and unforgettable – as is LR Potter’s The Hourglass Killer trilogy! If you would like to offer your thoughts on any of the above we would love to hear your comments.

Caroline Barker