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CHRISTINE RAINS
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Review of Payback's a Witch
Blurb: Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn't been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams. But when a spellcasting tournament that her family ser
christinerainswrit
Oct 53 min read
Review of The Lost Daughter of Sparta
Blurb: Helen of Troy. Clytemnestra. Timandra. Three sisters, infamously cursed by the goddess Aphrodite to betray their husbands, are known the world over. But few know about the fourth sister: Philonoe. Lost to historical record, ancient texts say she had a different fate than her sisters. But why and how did this happen? A magnificent hero's journey with a feminist twist, The Lost Daughter of Sparta fills in history's missing pieces with sparkling wit and pathos, thrilling
christinerainswrit
Aug 172 min read
Review of Spread Me
Blurb: Kinsey has the perfect job as the team lead in a remote research outpost. She loves the solitude, and the way the desert keeps her far away from the temptations teeming out in the civilian world. When her crew discovers a mysterious specimen buried deep in the sand, Kinsey breaks quarantine and brings it into the hab. But the longer it's inside, the more her carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Temptation has found her after all, and it can't be ignored any lo
christinerainswrit
Mar 92 min read
Review of Christmas at Rainbow Falls
Blurb: When a disastrous mistake at work puts her career in jeopardy, Natalie Dunbar retreats to the small Vermont town of Rainbow Falls to settle the estate of an aunt she hardly knew. As the sole heir of half a building on Main Street, complete with an independent bookstore and second-floor apartment, Natalie hunkers down to figure out how to save her future. The problem? Her new neighbor, who owns the other half of the building, hates her at first sight. Celeste Wagner ha
christinerainswrit
Dec 15, 20252 min read
Review of Manifesting Destiny
Blurb: Sixteen-year-old Cee Klinger is destined for heartbreak and she knows it. She's helplessly in love with Marcus, her childhood best friend. But soon they will change, transforming for the first time into whichever animal Clan they belong to, and once they join those Clans, they may never see one another again. Cee is desperate to make the most of their remaining time, but after Marcus's brother leaves to join the Aerie, Marcus begins pulling away. And then Cee discover
christinerainswrit
Dec 1, 20253 min read
Review of On the Edge of Broken Pieces
Blurb: One moment changes everything. Xander Morales is close to getting his big ticket out of his crappy life. All he needs to do is...
christinerainswrit
Nov 27, 20232 min read
Review for Natural Exposure (Bijou Basin #1)
Blurb: It’s business as usual for Kenzie in her boudoir studio. Every day, fascinating people of all genders stroll through and Kenzie...
christinerainswrit
Jun 19, 20232 min read
Review for The Stradivarius
Blurb: When a surprise inheritance and whirlwind romance offer Mae a chance to escape her repressive aunt, she’s all too eager to elope...
christinerainswrit
May 29, 20232 min read
Review of The Switchgrass Crown
Blurb: The first time I saw him, I mistook him for something unnatural... Lucas Rowland knows from the start that Emory Avalon is unique,...
christinerainswrit
Dec 12, 20222 min read
Review for Gideon the Ninth
Blurb: The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more...
christinerainswrit
Oct 10, 20223 min read
Review for Bound to a Vampire
Blurb: Cassandra Montclaire is a three-hundred-and-sixty-year-old vampire living in modern-day New York. Her human life ended three...
christinerainswrit
Oct 3, 20222 min read
Review for One Night In Wildcat Woods
Blurb: 1989. The woods behind Wyland High School enclose over a century of local lore. When ex best friends Drew and Rayze become lost...
christinerainswrit
Aug 15, 20222 min read
Review of Four Point (Four Point Trilogy #1)
Blurb: Thirty-two bodies, twenty years, and a cold case that lives inside her alone. Detective Sali James teeters on the edge of sanity...
christinerainswrit
Jun 6, 20221 min read
Review for State of Grace (Moonflower Cove #1)
Blurb: Blake Calloway has spent decades thinking her mother didn’t want her, but letters found in a chest tell a very different story....
christinerainswrit
May 30, 20222 min read
Review of The Setup
Blurb: Can a weekend change your fate? As soon as Rory Price’s plane touches down in Britain for her two-year work contract , she has big...
christinerainswrit
Feb 7, 20222 min read
Review of The Night Swim
Blurb: Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name—and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help. The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape tr
christinerainswrit
9 hours ago2 min read
Review of House of Leaves
Blurb: A young family moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-gr
christinerainswrit
Oct 123 min read
Review of Payback's a Witch
Blurb: Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn't been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams. But when a spellcasting tournament that her family ser
christinerainswrit
Oct 53 min read
Happy October!
Image from lavnatalia on Pixabay.com It's my favorite month of the year! Sweater weather (hopefully coming soon!), leaves falling from trees, spooky decorations, and curling up with a seasonal read. Right now I'm giving HOUSE OF LEAVES a second chance. I tried to read it years ago, but I hated the pretension and the weird formatting. It's going a little better this time, but it's highly pretentious. I can see how it inspired so much liminal horror which is popular these days.
christinerainswrit
Oct 21 min read
Review of The Witch's Orchard
Blurb: Former Air Force special investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator, and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up. Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of o
christinerainswrit
Sep 282 min read
Review of May the Dead Keep You
Blurb: There’s nowhere Catie East would rather be than the redwood forest that surrounds her family’s unusual historic home, the Heights. She prefers being alone in the forest. People are…complicated. But when a scientist and his son move into the estate’s cottage, planning to study the woods around them, the boy catches Catie’s eye. And when a dead woodpecker miraculously comes back to life in his precious hands…he captures her heart. Necromancy isn’t the only strange thing
christinerainswrit
Sep 213 min read
New Release: Sugar Bush Scent Mates
Blurb: Love is sticky business in the sugar bush. Cast out by her pack, accused of being nothing but a gold digger, Ellora Flynn collects what little she owns and heads north to the tiny Ontario town of Moose Hollow. All she has is her best friend and her Nana who she hasn’t seen in years. She hopes to find a quiet place to put her broken heart back together. She never expected to discover a second chance waiting for her among the snow-covered maples. The local sugar bush is
christinerainswrit
Sep 142 min read
Celebrating start of spooky season!
Photo credit: Photorama at Pixabay.com It's my favorite time of the year: the start of spooky season! I am not a summer person at all. The heat does not agree with me, and the sun burns me within minutes after I go outside. Give me cool autumn breezes, cozy sweaters, and celebrating the weird. To welcome the new season, I'm offering a trio of books for free. It's the magic of three! FREE TODAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7th "A very enjoyable read for fans of fantasy and LitRPG. Highl
christinerainswrit
Sep 31 min read
Review of Haunting Skies
Blurb: Earth has fallen to alien invaders, who abduct the last survivors for grotesque experiments. Their fatal mistake will be taking Elisa—a young girl possessed by Satan. Father Kang, the last surviving exorcist, has one insane plan: get Elisa aboard the mothership, strike a deal with the Devil, and turn Hell against the aliens. Claire and Derek are on the run with their daughter, Elisa—who carries a terrifying secret: she is possessed by Satan himself. Their only hope is
christinerainswrit
Aug 312 min read
Review of Corpse in the Crop Circle
Blurb: The truth is out there . . . along with a killer. When Thea Olson stumbles upon a murder in the middle of a crop circle, all eyes turn skyward. Rumors of UFOs, unexplained lights, and little green men spread through Why, North Dakota, faster than prairie wildfire. As suspicion falls on someone Thea knows, she's determined to uncover the truth. With help from her grandmother, library director Hudson Carter, and Edgar—the magical chameleon with a sarcastic streak—Thea di
christinerainswrit
Aug 242 min read
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