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Book Review: “Coven Deception” by D. H. Davis

Coven Deception 

Author:  D. H. Davis

Published by: Austin Macauley Publishers on August 30th, 2019

Rating: ★★★★

Genre: Young Adult // Supernatural // Fantasy

Similar Books I’ve Read: Sunkissed, The Rise, Dead Until Dark


Disclosure: I received this book from the Publisher/Author in exchange for an impartial review. This is an unpaid/unsponsored post.

Forbidden romance. Secrets and lies. Supernatural species. The town of Arcane Grove has a lot going on! Meet Brooke Lesley, a seventeen-year-old witch attempting to balance having a normal teenage life with having the impending responsibility of taking over as head of her coven.
One day, when an unfortunate incident reveals to Brooke that she’s been at school with a vampire for the last year, the sworn enemy of witches, things get a little complicated. Brooke finds herself feeling an intense, uncontrollable desire she’s never felt before; and ignoring friends, family and history, she embarks on a forbidden relationship that could jeopardise everything and ignite a centuries-old feud.
While Brooke battles with her coven and her conscience, she must also find a way to face an evil that threatens not only witches, but the entire town of Arcane Grove. Can she defend her coven, her town and her heart?

First Thoughts  

I have been longing for a witchy meets vamps read to slip into my TBR, so when D messaged me on instagram to connect, I knew that Coven Deception was going to be a great read. Under 150 pages and giving me all the Halloween vibes, I started reading late Saturday evening and literally couldn’t stop, finishing it in one.



My Review

Although I love some slow-burn types of romances and friends-to-lovers, you’ve got to give it up for the brilliance of forbidden romances. They have been the highlight of many a vampire-human book over the years, but when it comes to Coven Deception, the rules are a little different. This is a witch-vampire situation that gets complex and dangerous and oh-so-enthralling as the pages turn. Despite a slow start of trying to get into the swing of things and learn the ins and outs of how the world in Coven Deception works, as soon as I got into the groove of the story world, I was hooked. And being that it’s under 150 pages and I ate this up in one bite, as I got closer to finishing Brooke’s novel – and loving her counterpart in Jessie – I didn’t want it to end.

See, Brooke – our main character – is going to someday very soon take over as Coven leader. She’s seventeen at the moment, but when you’re eighteen, you’re at your most powerful and that means everything. But despite having that weighing on her, she still wants to be a regular ol’ person with a teenage life that doesn’t involve so many rules and Coven responsibilities. The balance is quite the central axis of the novel, where Brooke is trying to balance her life, her Coven, love life, school and even more that piles on her plate when it’s revealed that she’s actually been at school with a Vampire for the last year. It wouldn’t be so awful if they weren’t the literal sworn enemy of her kind, witches. But that doesn’t stop her from feeling things and crossing lines that she should never. 

Overall, Coven Deception was one of those novels that despite being short, is very mighty in its power. I loved the character development of Brooke over the span of the story and even though I loved her, Jessie was such a magnetic character and his personality really shone. I’ve always been a sucker for a novel with Vampires and this is no exception. I’d recommend this novel highly to pre-YA and early YA readers that love supernatural books that are easy reads with perfect pace. Loved highly! (And can’t wait for book two!)




D. H. Davis grew up in Coventry and has always had a love for fantasy fiction. After leaving school, she gained a degree in Occupational Therapy and worked in children’s mental health services. In recent years, she has turned to teaching both, Health and Social Care and English, combining her two passions.

Huge thank you to D. H. Davis for sending me her amazing book!

Have you read Coven Deception? What did you think?

Would you be a vampire or witch if you could pick? Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs!

happy reading!

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Book Review: “Sunkissed” by Carys Jones

















Title: Sunkissed 
Author: Carys Jones
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal Fantasy
Release Date:  October 23rd, 2013
Other books by author: Not All Stars Sparkle
Publisher: Kellan 
With thanks to Carys for the copy of this novel! As always, my reviews are non-bias and fair.



 Dawn Summers is dying. It’s 1853 and as the seventeen year old continues to fade away she has visions of the father she never knew, urging her to fight for her life. 

In the small village of Fandova the only medical care is in the form of the mysterious Dr. Moralus who has a known penchant for bloodletting. Thomas, Dawn’s fiancé, is warned against inviting his intervention, but feels he has no choice, he pleads with the doctor to save Dawn’s life…whatever it takes. 



Whatever it ‘takes’ has some consequences neither of them expected. Now, it’s a hunt to the death, with both Dawn and Thomas determined to win.




 When Carys asked me if I would like to review Sunkissed, I was drawn in immediately by the unusual and enticing premise. I hate that Vampire novels aren’t being written so much lately, because they’re still one of my FAVOURITE creatures I love reading about and in all the different ways authors interpretate them. So I was really excited to get reading Sunkissed!

Immediately, I took a shining to Sunkissed. Carys seemed to write so effortlessly of the past; 1853, to the point where the imagery of the characters and scenes of the plot seemed to spring to life inside my mind, which is quite rare for me when I’m reading. In Fandova, there’s only solution for getting any sort of medical attention, which is from Dr. Moralus. It’s from here that I was quite intrigued by the different ways of Vampires coming about and being introduced into the plot, instead of the characters choosing that life for themselves, this was Dawn’s only chance for life, because she’s dying.
But the unexpected came when Dawn’s fiancée; Thomas, insisted that he be like her. But it seems that they both want this new life in different ways completely. 

There are quite a lot of Vampire books on my shelf; Rachel Caine, Charlaine Harris and Holly Black to list a few of my favourites. Carys is a very welcome addition to that list. I was so enthralled from just a few pages in. I know it’s cliché to say that, but with my love for Paranormal novels and the captivating tale (set in the past in the beginning, like playing straight into my favourite things in Fantasy novels), everything about Sunkissed just seemed to be ticked off as something I loved as I read. 
But, trust me, this is so much more than a compelling Vampire novel; there’s a purpose and gripping tale to match. Not only did we have the difference in time spans of the 150 years, but a refreshing take on Fantasy romance to go with it.
  Dawn was an effortless, lovely main character to read about. Even after she is turned into a Vampire, she never looses that humanity that she always had, even though Thomas, the other main character, doesn’t seem as if he ever planned on keeping himself as human as Dawn did. They’re both very different, complex characters in their own way. He is very careless and even when Dawn is only newly un-human, Thomas isn’t very caring and seems to be slowly and steadily turning into something she hadn’t thought capable of him, and it honestly shocks her when he says that she has no heart. Nevertheless, I remember a quote that I saw before, that goes something like; a Villain is just a victim who’s story hasn’t been told, so I was enchanted to know that maybe there was a little something about why Thomas took to that transformation in a completely different, monstrous way to Dawn.
Ryan was such a welcome character and the way that he and Dawn interacted was a highlight of mine in the novel. Even though I thought Thomas was a more exciting and striking character, Ryan still a favourite of mine.

Powerful enough to keep my attention for hours, I read Sunkissed in one weekend and loved every chapter. It was a truly magnificent read that deserves all the recognition it gets. Carys wrote a novel that I would happily read again and again. It lived up to every expectation I had of how amazing it would be. 
5 star worthy completely!


Have you read Sunkissed?

What did you think? 
Tell me in the comments or at @LittleMemoirs on twitter!
happy reading!
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