Continuing in the spirit of Halloween and once again hunting down my list of… found free… why nots?… The Utterly Uninteresting & Unadventurous Tales of Fred. The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes is my newest read. And an utterly successful one at that!

What is more humourous than a logical, calm ACCOUNTANT vampire? The first chapter had me hooked with Fredrick Frankford Fletcher’s dry delivery, matter of fact story telling. Living his life with slight changes to deal with the need to avoid the usual – sunlight, silver and garlic, Fred has found a way to make even being a vampire humdrum… until he decides to throw caution to the wind and (cautiously and well planned) head to his 10 year high school reunion. I love this line:

And there it was. My unlife was so boring that even the woman who hunted monsters saw me as harmless.

In fact, Krystal the hunter of ‘parahumans’ (those who we consider monsters) shows up to inject some action into his solitary life. Leave it to an old high school friend to reconnect with a bang.

Fred the non-confrontational accountant vampire is stronger and quicker and much less clumsy but still avoids arguments, difficult situations and saying no. He is the most mild mannered “badass” of them all and you can’t help but love him for it. Black napkins to avoid stains and a complete ineptitude at feeding off of living victims, Fred is a blood bank sort of man. 

Ghouls, werewolves, vampires, high school reunions, weresteeds, undead assistants, Vegas, LARPing… have I sold you yet? Because if I haven’t, well… you are simply going to miss out! This is a collection of interconnected stories really all centered around Fred from his point of view. So if you enjoy some supernatural dry humour, this is the book for you! And if you don’t, give it a try, it may grow on you!

And now for a hunt on the kindle to see what I downloaded randomly as a free book. And the winner is… the first book of the Tassamara Book series, A Gift of Ghosts by Sarah Wynde. I am telling you right off the bat, a GREAT book. Romance, the supernatural, engaging characters, a bit of mystery. This book has it all in spades. I honestly sat down with this one, not remembering picking it up and proceeded to set down my crochet project and read the night away! 

Let’s start off with the main character’s name… Akira… love that. The fact that she is a genius physicist with what she calls a “quirk”, the ability to talk to ghosts (not the dead JUST ghosts). After writing up a small paper in a magazine in regards to spirit energy her credibility and her current job are on the way out. Enter Zane, a nondescript office room and a job offer draped in secrecy and the unknown. What does she do but take it and head out to Tassamara:

“In Tassamara, believing in six impossible things before breakfast is taken for granted.”

I will warn you, there is one semi graphic sex scene that is handled with humour, science and romance. And the relationships both romantic and platonic are hilarious and totally grow on you. The potential for further stories is blatantly obvious just with the core characters in this first installment. You cannot help but want to know more about the main family – the Latimers, but the town and the people in it as well. 

I love Akira’s internal dialogue and her logical thought. She has a sense of humour and a fragility that is both entertaining and endearing. And Zane is hilarious as are the ghosts around them. 

This book feels well thought out and researched. The characters have depth and plot drug me right on in. I am definitely going to work to get my hands on further volumes! I dare you to NOT get so invested in the story and the characters that you don’t just read on into the evening! 

With a first name like Halloween how can you grow up to be anything but an amazing witch? Well Halloween LaVeau managed it. A witch, yes, the best, not so much. Living in Enchantment Pointe (don’t you just love the name?) in a lovely old mansion she inherited from her aunt there is an attic to conquer and a bed and breakfast to run. A seriously seasonally appropriate book for my Halloween spirit. Forever Charmed is the first in the Halloween LaVeau series by Rose Pressey. Pressey has multiple supernatural series out for the read. I have read several of hers and fallen in love instantly. This book is no exception.

Halloween comes from a long line of strong witches… until she came along that is. Her best friend is a non magical named Annabelle who is well aware of Halloween’s heritage. I love the names of the characters in this story… Halloween, Annabelle, Nicolas Marcos, Liam Rankin, Isabeau…

With one man appearing in gorgeous perfecting during a a stormy night and another hunk at the light of day what’s a girl to do? Well trying out random spells from a book that only gives an English translation when it wants to of course.

One of my favourite lines is in regards to the vampire (nope not telling who)… when asked when he was turned:

It was around the Civil War. I just got caught up with the wrong crowd. We don’t need to discuss me right now.

With two excessively attractive men lurking around and ghosts and spells and witches and all, what more can you ask for but a mystery connected to a spell book? A coven that doesn’t appreciate 

Hallie’s efforts (perhaps because every time she does a spell it fails and someone else in the area has a spell mess up to?), a mother who is determined to support her daughter while reminding her of a rather major past error. There is comedy, romance, adventure, mystery and even the hint of murder. What more can you ask for with a suitably supernatural novel the night before Halloween??