Scout Randall has lived her life in the shadows, always wondering who abandoned her when she was a child and where the magic she boasts came from. Finally, she is about to get some answers. It won’t be easy, though. After a wild fight that saw shifters and vampires joining together to battle under an eclipse, things in Hawthorne Hollow are relatively quiet. Scout’s newly-found sister is locked in a cell, her grandfather is laying low, and the enemy appears to be regrouping. That allows Scout and her boyfriend Gunner to make a trip to her childhood home. Upon their return, a shifter attacks and throws their world into a tailspin. He’s easily dispatched but appears to be suffering from a magical infection that has his body wasting and his mind collapsing. It’s up to Spell’s Angels to figure out what’s going on, and because nothing is ever easy for Scout, the investigation is going to be harder than she imagined. It seems there’s a new top vampire in town, and his powers are extensive for a creature who wasn’t born into his legacy. On top of that, he’s crossed paths with Scout before and knows exactly how to push her buttons. Scout is a fighter but the world is closing in on her. She’s going to need her new co-workers and the family she doesn’t know to help her out on this one … and even then nothing is a given. The road before her is winding but answers are finally here. Scout will finally know what she is. Whether she survives long enough to benefit from the knowledge is completely up in the air.
When I was a kid, I was torn between whether or not I was going to grow up and be the Incredible Hulk or Wonder Woman. I flirted with being a Jedi Knight for awhile, but I wasn't up for the intense travel associated with the gig. In my teens, I settled on being a writer -- although I had no idea the effort that would entail. Not only am I a writer now, but I'm a writer in several different mediums. I'm a longtime newspaper reporter, an avid reader and a voracious science fiction fanatic.
Romancing the crone was a big story in this series, it answered many questions and left new threads to follow along in new stories. I love Gunner and Scout and omg Graham is awesome especially with the teasing about grandkids that had me laughing out loud. I’m looking forward to more in this series.
Better then the previous, is that saying a lot though?
This book was better then the previous ones in the series. Of course that’s not difficult because truthfully, the earlier ones weren’t good, in full truth, they sucked. Sorry to be crass, but sometimes it is what it is.
That the large multiple book story arc, finally was brought to a head was good. This probably could have been done by book two. The stories had dragged everything out along the way.
I did like the storyline of Evan being a vampire who even thought he had a soul. That Scout used pixie dust and her magic to return him to a human vessel and give him a soul again, was ridiculous though. So she just ripped a good soul from another person and gave it to her friend? I seriously doubt she has he power to create souls herself, they said she’s witch and pixie, not a god or maybe an angel. How could she get access to a soul?
The entire shifter community getting infected from a well, but not realizing it. The water stank, no animal nor human-animal hybrid would choose to drink it unless they had no other choice. A human would always have a choice, just as they brought in bottled water after the fact, it could have been done easily just as easily before this, hence no one would drink this infected well water.
The Scout and Gunner relationship has a few, very few, moments of believability but then at other times it like a rendition of what a child in high school thinks a relationship is supposed to be like. The interactions within the Spells Angels group are mostly believable, but the Marissa character has to go. No one would put up with all the negative trash that comes out of her mouth, unless she was either high up in the chain of command, or powerful in her own right. She’s neither, time to drop the axe, literally or figuratively.
Though this is a better installment in the series, it still needs a lot of work to get it better for the future. The plot lines and story development needs a more consistent thread throughout the process. The characters need more depth and not be the shallowest imperfections of the worst stereotypes. The snark and sarcasm is good to a point, but it doesn’t have to be as often or as constant as it’s done here.
Hopefully the Scout series will grow and become more interesting. It has potential, but only if the author cares enough to make it about quality and not about getting as many templated formulaic books out as possible to maximize her income. Which I understand would be difficult, writing is a difficult task and most authors struggle to make it work for them and have it be their main source of income. But being the artist they are, I would hope they care enough that what they put out as an author is worthwhile. Anything less makes the author just as shallow and vacuous as the Kardashians and reality show industry she makes fun of in her books.
Fresh from taking down the nest of vampires in the old house Scout finds herself dealing with a werewolf who's managed to bypass her senses and tries to attack. As Gunner moves in to protect her she notices something odd and makes a sweeping decision to end him.
When Graham, Gunner's father and local sheriff, turns up to deal with the body they realise that she's made a perfect call.. this werewolf was one involved with the vampire's plot and he's not just weirdly emaciated but was foaming at the mouth..
With the werewolves resenting their intrusion and offering no help they are back to square one until the new head of the vampire's decides to turn up in person.. but who is it and what will Scout do with the information?
To face him and win, Scout must remember, with Emma refusing to help, Ezekiel gone to ground and Lana refusing to tell her it's a return visit to the farm with everyone in toe when the confrontation begins.. who wins?? I'd bet on Scout everytime but can she recall enough to win??
Loved it.. just itching for the next one and the discoveries to follow..
Entertaining supernatural urban fantasy cozy mystery series
This is an entertaining urban fantasy supernatural cozy mystery series. A great cast of characters and a fun and entertaining storyline. The story is based in this authors magical world of multiple different book series. Our main character scout used to work in Detroit until her partner was killed during an investigation of a vampire nest. After it happened she tried to keep working but eventually decided she needs to change. She transferred to a smaller unit in a small town in northern Michigan. Their job is hunting down supernatural creatures that are out for evil and up to no good. Follow along in the adventures of saving the world or saving the town and hunting down supernatural evil doers. On occasion the different series have crossovers and meet characters from some of the authors other books in this world. On occasion they will go to the towns of some of these other books and interact with some of the side characters as well. Very entertaining and you will not be disappointed. A bit of Snark and humor is good for the soul. Check it out
This time we have sick shifters and a new top vampire with ties to Scout's past.
What I enjoyed: * Scout finally gets answers about her powers * Who the vampire turned out to be wasn't at all a surprise but
What could have been better: * Why does Marissa have a job? She has yet to do anything paranormal and just spends all her time complaining. Also what is up with everyone is the group using motorcycles? It seems to be a requirement, which is rather odd. * Emma's woe is me, you ruined my life thing is getting old fast *
Scout is an interestingly strong heroine. Very competent and powerful ,with that tragic, murky past that makes her multi-dimensional. Gunner has just enough strength, ego and painful memories to match well with her. Of course, they’re both good people, because, eww, who wants a lead who isn’t? I don’t want to tell the story, but expect wolves in danger (with a rather unaware, blustering leader), the usual spats between Gunner and his father (and you won’t believe what Gunner’s Dad is advocating for), some serious sibling rivalry, and, not sure if I have this right, more info on the star children. I see some possible meetups with people from the Mystic Caravan series, or maybe someone like Aisling, or the gatekeepers. Oh, so many possibilities. Yep, this was a fascinating one, as usual. And now I’ll just have to skip through her many series looking for the newest book, and piecing together possible interactions.
Book 1: Scout came to HH because she drew the shortest straw in the Detroit office. No one wanted the job. Book 5: Now she volunteered for the transfer because of Evan?
Gunner had a sister in Book 1, a half sister, thru his dad. But in this book, his Dad says he always wanted a daughter. The continuity in this series reminds me of a sitcom.
How many times do they need to explain Hemlock Cove to her? This is the 3rd time Hemlock Cove has been brought up and she’s acting as if it’s the 1st.
So, Gunner is stepping in Jack’s shoes from the Charlie Rhodes books. Can’t have her getting close to ANYONE other than him, not even blood family. He taints her mind and is a total asshat to her family. Then again, he’s an asshat to his own family, too.
I. Hate. Gunner. It’s a shame, too. In the Winchester series crossover, Gunner was SO much better than Landon. In this series, he’s just like him.
As always, I love the series and enjoyed this book. It was mostly filler to move the story along, but it was needed. Evan's story kinda hits you in the feels, but I also figured this would happen so I wasn't surprised. We finally have some confirmation on what Scout is, now I look forward to finding out what that means. I do have to add though. I get why he does it, but I am growing tired of Gunner's share your feelings or this won't work, you don't look ok/fine and his failing to see he is by far the weaker of the two. Its hypocritical and honesty imo holds them back. Also, Emma is not a likeable character, I am already over her and it is past time Marissa is checked, she is way out of line. I don't know if she is going to play an adversary down the line, I am sure there is some reason she is still around, but neither she or Emma are redeemable. With that being said, I still love the series and look forward to the next book.
Join Scout, Gunner and the gang for another adventure and more questions, someone Scout knew at one time shows up as a powerful monster and shocks everyone, not only that but this person is out to get her or so she believes. This is just the start of another case where scout must protect the people and place she has come to feel comfortable with, not only that but we don’t know if Scout is even strong enough to defeat this monster and she just might have to find out a bit more information about her past before she can face the beast. If you would like to know everything that I do after reading this book then I recommend you buy this book and find out for yourself who and what is after Scout and the gang, as I have been known to say in the past, you won’t regret it;)
Forgets parts of her own story, but its good enough to keep me reading.
She forgets her own plot at times, for example on book 1 she heals someone, in book 3 she says she thinks she would know if she could heal someone. In another instance in one book she takes out a siren for the first time and had no idea they could live in fresh water, in a later book it states that she had previously taken out 3 sirens in the Detroit river. There are several instances like this. However in spite of her and her editor both missing these glaring mistakes, the stories themselves are pretty damned good. I just finished book 5 and am moving I to the next to see what happens in spite of the continuity errors rampant in this series.
This book is better than a 3, but not quite a 4. I would give it a 3.5.
We're getting more info about Scout and her bio family. We're seeing quite a bit of Evan and his machinations. There are some interesting medical abilities on display.
All of that is good. But the book dragged. Scout is always agitated or irritated, and that just gets on my nerves. I like Gunner, but his macho posturing in every book is a little old.
I still love the banter between Gunner and Graham (they are hilarious) and it looks like we're seeing more action, but it feels like it's taking too long to get to the good stuff.
First of all as usual don’t read this book out of order read the vampires are read vampire it’s not a vampire not really read the krone series in order. And yes vampires play a large part of it. I’m finding even though I have read almost everything Amanda leave does there’s a couple of months save for later and I think that might be a mistake because I’m finding that any of her books and up into related with crossover events so you should think of that as you read her her
Scout's adventures become more complex once she finds some members of her real family. Unfortunately, her memory is still MIA and her family is less than forthcoming about what she is and why she was left as a small child. Scout doesn't have time to fixate on her past though because shifters are getting sick with a mysterious ailment, which never does get thoroughly explained. To top it off, Scout's ex-partner turns out to be not as dead as she thought and is out for revenge.
I was enjoying this series more than some others, then this book sent me back to reassess that. Too much repetition in the childish insults. Too much woe is me. Too much mouth and stupidity from some of the characters. Really, how many times could they talk about eating chicken in bed? Gunner isn't as over the top as Landon, but he's starting to get there - something I do NOT want to read. Hopefully, the next book pulls some of this out of the path its currently moving on. Maybe an editor that keeps track of the series info would help too.
I don't know about this book and the series. I suppose that we could only go along for so long with the "poor me ... I don't know my past" storyline, but there was really a whole lot of info thrown together into the book. I haven't really formed any real fondness for any of these characters. So, for me, the stories are okay, but not particularly enthralling. I've started wondering about the whole motorcycle gang thing. Why?
I enjoyed this entire series. Once I started it , I couldn't put down my Kindle until I had read all five books. I'm hoping there will be additional books in this series as I'm not ready for it to end. Scout still has a lot of discoveries to share with us. I especially like the way the author brings in characters from her other books to interact with the current plot
Romanceing the tCrone (A Spells Angels Cozy Mystery book 5
This was another winner. I love this Author and I have read over 50 of her books and loved everyone of them. I highly recommend aIl! Her different series a nd her wonderful characters in every book. Once you start a book of hers you will not put it down until you finish it. She writes wonderful mysteries. Diana Romano
This one moved a lot slower than the others and felt really repetitive. Also I feel like certain things didn’t line up. Spoiler: for example in the last book she gets info the the children of the stars are part fae and then in this book acts like she had zero idea that her blood was mixed. She also could heal in one book and not in this one. That said I really enjoy the characters and the relationship between scout and gunner
Baring the Raisin debacle, I found this book much more intriguing. The truth is out on just what a Child of the Stars is, and Scout is having to come to terms with more family coming out of the woodwork. On the mystery side, a weird magical disease is making its way through the local pack, and once again those pesky vampires are making a nuisance of themselves, but this time it’s more personal for Scout.
This one was exciting. Finding out what she is and her powers was awesome. The added stuff with Evan was surprising. The end what she did to Evan was shocking. Even though we have had Emma in several books she is getting on my nerves. Either kill her or get rid of her. She is super annoying and whiny. I know we aren’t really supposed to like her but dang move on already. Really liking this narrator. But I will have to start jumping back and forth so I can finish Bay’s story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
He's back. Scout thought he died in Detroit, but he was turned instead. Because of his witch blood he turns into an uber-vampire. Then she, Gunner and Graham have to start working with the local shifters. The author is explaining the shifter rules , and we learn more about Scout and her past.
A book that was so valuable, has been destroyed. The vampire who had sent his underlings to find it is furious and wants revenge. Scout is learning about her past, where she came from, who her biological family was. Her "real" family, her friends and loved ones, are the ones she always turns to. Her past come for her in many forms, many very unexpected.
Another awesome book by Amanda M Lee. This storyline with Scout and her family keeps me needing and wanting more ,along with Gunner,Graham and little Merlin amongst others. I love the thrill of the magic, vampires, shifters and witches. Can't wait for the next instalment.Highly recommend this book and all of Amanda's others.
I won't ruin it but there is plenty of action and romance with humor. Chosen and unchosen family members make life messy, and they also make life worth living. This book was fantastic. Worth the wait. Excited to see how the revealed info plays out across the other series.
I really enjoy reading this series and I hope this one continues for a good while. This time around Scout and Gunner are facing a tough time, but Scout may finally get some answers about her past along with old friends showing back up in her life. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Scout has her hands full. The vampires and shifters want to get rid of her. She’s not going anywhere. She has a lot to remember and only a short time to get it. The fact that her partner has returned is show stopper but she will get where and who she needs to be, we all hope.
In one book, Scout stated she didn't have toys growing up. The firefighters who found and named her died of a heart attach shortly after. The next book has him living and bringing her toys and books through the years. There are many more maybe you can find them! ✌
Scout comes face-to-face with her past. The past that she thought was dead. The vampires are back the shifters are dying from some disease it looks like rabies that gunner promises her well shifters can’t get rabies. In between all that she’s learning who she is her sister Emma is still in timeout.. I think all of Amanda Lee books are great. 🧛♀️
I must admit that I was disappointed that the main character was a 20 something in a book series using "Crone" in every title. The books were good. Snarky, witty characters. Interesting stories. No crones. (except for Mama Moon.) I'll read the next one but what were you thinking?
A mysterious disease has attacked the shifter community and a much stronger master vampire is hunting Scout. When she discovers his identity she is shocked to find a face from her past. Meanwhile, Scout tries to confront Emma and discovers more about her past.