Definitely a teen paranormal romance. I had a hard time getting into the story. It felt a little like Twilight and I couldn't get over that for a while. When the plot started to move along I was able to shake that comparison and started to like the story.

Second chance.
But a different one.

Rain - Aaron Ryland - orphaned, goes to live with an aunt, Ruby, in Texas.
He never had an easy life. He suffered bullying and learned to be good at fighting because of it.
When he arrives in Texas and meets a group of different young people, he immediately feels attracted to Freddie, a different girl.
What Rain did not know was that not only Freddie was different, but that the atmosphere of New Wurzburg seemed to bring beings from fantasy tales.
Witches, werewolves, vampires and many deaths.

At first, when I saw the cover and read the blurb, I thought it was a YA genre, but with so many hot scenes it's hard not to be a YA mature or a NA.

It's an interesting fantasy story, but I can not say it's one of the best I've read of the genre.
3 stars

I had a super hard time putting this book down and if life didn’t intervene I probably would have finished it in one sitting. It is very fast paced, with lots of twists and turns in the plot that keep you guessing. The characters are also well done and likable enough that you want to see how things all turn out in the end. This is a standalone but I hope to see more of the characters that populate New Wurzburg in the future.

This a twist on the usual Beauty and the Beast and paranormal romance stories in that Rain is the one telling the story and he is the human who falls in love with a beast. Rain is a likable enough character, although he is a bit aggressive in his pursuit of Freddie. There are a few uncomfortable moments where he does cross the line decency with his need to protect and want her, but overall he has a good heart and wants to help those he sees as being wronged. Rain has had a rough life and so some of his aggression can be understood if not forgiven.

Freddie is pretty bad-ass and a strong female to Rain’s aggressiveness. She doesn’t take any crap from him, and does try really hard (but maybe not hard enough) to keep him out of her life and the issues that surround her. She has issues of her own, but she still keeps everything together and comes out as the stronger of the two.

There are lots of strong secondary characters in this story that really make it an excellent book and is the main reason why I hope there will be more books about New Wurzburg. The two I liked the most were Grant and Petra. Both of them are important to the main story, but they certainly have enough in their back stories to make them main character material in another book. Grant is a character that I was never quite sure which side he was really on, but I was rooting for him to be a good guy because I just liked him so much. Petra is probably the most interesting character, one who has been made to spend most of her life hidden from the rest of the town. She is slightly creepy, but you end up seeing through that and appreciating her strengths and rooting for her as well to end up on the right side.

The whole mythology about how the town came to be and the relationship between Freddie’s family and the other supernatural beings in town is well done and fascinating. The mythology is totally wrapped in the murder mystery that is part of the story as well. It makes for a very engrossing read that really made it hard to put the book down.

Overall a really fun book, that was engrossing and hard to put down. A good twist on a Beauty and the Beast retelling that also takes a different look at supernatural romances. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this. It was a hard one for me to rate. Man I really wish for those half star because it was a 3.5 read for me. The whole first half of this reminded me of a joke-but-not-really at a writers’ panel I attended that said ‘new adult=nude adult’ and that is so true of this book. It’s an ugly book too, filled with very ugly things, things that are meant to be ugly as they are the true villains of this werewolf story so it’s not ugly in a bad way necessarily. This is, however, very much a grim-dark story.

I wanted to read this because I am a sucker for the abused boy over coming things trope and that is definitely Aaron Rain Ryland. Rain was nicknamed that by his drug-addicted, homeless mother that he was her rainy day, the physical representation of all that was bad in her life. That alone is rough to get over, not to mention life in the streets. Rain is a big, rough kid but he looks out for others, like the softer, smaller, Moth but his world is upturned in chapter one with his mother’s death. He is sent to live with her sister, Ruby who’s a cop in a small Texas town of New Wurzburg (and kudos to the author for recognizing the strong German influence in parts of Texas).

Ruby represents things Rain has never had: an aunt (he had no idea she existed), police and authority (which he dislikes/fears) and a stable home life. She enrolls him in school which he isn’t really ready for with his spotty at best education. There he meets Freddie and her cousins and one of her friends, Grant. I disagree with other reviewers who called this a romance. That is the biggest failure for me. Insta-lust, oh yeah, going from zero to I’ll die for you (quite literally) in a matter of days, yep that too and that doesn’t work for me. Ever. In fact I was getting very bored with the I burn to touch you crap and was nearly over it when they start putting hands to crotches to prove how much they want each other.

There is plenty of tension though in those early meetings with Freddie and her cousins and the first signs of the paranormal weirdness with Ms Goff’s calling Ruby out for ‘mermaids in her barn’ and Rain finds naked Freddie in the barn being chased by her cousins. Freddie tries to run him off (because she knows what’s coming) but of course can’t quite resist him and before long, he’s working for Grant’s weird family and her cousins are slipping him wine to alter his form.

Because at its heart this is a werewolf story, bringing in some of the oldest legend elements, like the wolf-belt (to aid in changing Rain from human to werewolf as he was not born a werewolf) or that the werewolves are there to guard witches. And here’s where the real ugly is. We get the first real hints of it with Petra who we see halfway in (and I was about to quit this story until she showed up. I loved her. I found it hard to have too much sympathy for most of the characters even though I’m supposed to). Petra is a Weaver (the werewolves are the Watchers) and she has been locked up in her family funeral home since she was nine, as she’s the only one who can do the spells to seal the magic into a dead Weaver or Watcher and not have them return as mindless revenants.

Soon we see the ugly. Children forced into labor. Forced breeding programs for both witches and wolves (which is why Rain was brought to Texas in the first place), executions for a host of things, ethnic prejudice (Weavers seeing Watchers are subhumans) and complete and utter misogyny (mostly directed at Freddie who should be alpha but there hasn’t been a female one in a century because yeah the men don’t want it. In fact they’d rather see her ‘kenneled’ and used as a broodmare.)

The reason I did give this the fourth star even if it’s not really a four star read for me, is that it is well written and she nails the final fight scenes. They’re horrific and gory (Poor Merrick) and very well done. It’s easy to make a fight scene boring and this is anything but. It’s worth the price of admission.

I received an advanced reader copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Meet Rain. He's had a rough start to life living with his junkie mother in homeless shelters and working the streets. Fast foward a bit and Rain gets taken in by his aunt who lives in a small town filled with paranormal beings coexisting in secret with humans. There's murder and mayhem, some action, and a love story or two or three depending on how you look at it.
The reader is introduced to an abundance of characters with varying roles and places in this special society. The author does a great job of explaining the rules, history, and folklore of the tiny town. It was complicated at times, but I think I got it. The concept was well thought out and interesting.
Once the story was finished, I found myself wanting to read more about the secondary characters and I wondered what happened to them. There's so much room to make this into a series about the town and it's sometimes, strange inhabitants.
I was left with the thought that freedom and change always have their price. This was a story about the journey about how far one is willing to go and how much they are prepared to sacrifice to get there.

I wasn't expecting to be drawn in from the first few pages, but I did get into it and wanted to discover the story as Rain moves on after his mother overdoses and into a small Texas town where his mom's twin sister has taken him in (though he didn't know about her and anything about his father). Rain was a troublemaker who needed to survive but it's when he meets a girl in town, Freddie, and some weird goings-on happens that he's curious to find out about the shape-shifting werewolves in an entire underground coven.

I wanted a bit darker of a story but I think for the paranormal fans, it's worth a read especially with the scrappy characters.

I had no idea what to expect going into this one, and I ended up completely loving it! I hadn't read the synopsis, but when I received the book and saw the beautiful cover I decided to make it my next "blind" read. And what a great read it was! I was hooked from page 1 and thoroughly enjoyed this story. The characters were really unique, as was the story. I loved that this read as a contemporary, yet had a really fun paranormal/fantasy twist. This is definitely one I would recommend to readers that are a bit hesitant about fantasy (as am I), yet are really craving a bit of the unknown in their next read.

(Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I had really high hopes for this one but it fell short of all my expectations. Especially for role reversals (gender swaps)

Check out author's other books or related books? YES, I love her other books!

Recommend this book? Not unless you like the "alpha male" trope.

Notes and Opinions: I really really wanted to read this from start to finish! But I am sorry to say that didn't happen at all. I started this book yesterday (yes way behind in reading) and I ended up DNFing it around page 68. While writing up this review I even took a look at other's reviews and found, even more, of a reason to DNF this one. This one starts out with two guys Moth and our MC Rain. Saving some girl from a skinhead. Which was fine it was a great way to start a book. Showing us that Rain is very protective of those that are weaker and in bad situations. But after that, we get some internal monologue about how he is bigger and hotter. Well, that was just a little off-putting. This book seeps male hormones like they are free for grabs and that made this book just not for me. I did keep at it until almost page 70 though as I wanted to love it. But I just couldn't.

This Beauty and the Beast retelling with the genders somewhat swapped just wasn't for me.

Please note: I received a copy of HAVEN from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

Five stars and here’s why: Mary Lindsey hooked me from the get-go! I love a twisted GRIMMS Fairy Tale and her version of Beauty and the Beast blew me a way. Rain and Freddie gravitate to each other like magnets and the chemistry just leaps off the pages. The world building is an incredible trip, too. If you like sexy guys and resourceful, sassy girls, with a sprinkling of werewolves, witches, and vampire lore, this book is for you. Highly recommend! And, I hope there’s another book coming!

Visit to a town inhabited by werewolves and humans. Enjoyed the story and the characters. Lot of twists and turns.

Haven is unlike any book I have ever read before. It’s plot is unique with the characters even more intriguing. I never suspected by the cover that I was going to read a YA supense PNR but I definitely was not disappointed.

Rain moved in with his Aunt. He met all her friends and couldn’t quite put a finger on what was off in this town. Then he meets Freddie and the world he once knew becomes forgotten to the past as the world he’s introduced to is something exciting, dangerous and sometimes weird.

I love that Freddie is the heroine in this story. She’s strong, independent and isn’t the one swooning over a man. Rain takes a step back but by all means that doesn’t make him weak. It just lets Freddie shine.

Haven is a book enthralled with mystery, intrigue, fascinating characters and a unique plot that you won’t put this book down until it’s finished.

Sometimes I get a book and judge is purely on its cover. I did that with this book. I didn't even read the synopsis and I am SO HAPPY IT WAS FANTASTIC!



I wasn't aware this novel was PNR before I started and it was the greatest surprise ever. I love a good twist and I love hard to get romances even better. This novel had it all!

The Burn.

The Angst.

The TWISTS.

Also, it had secondary characters that I would LOVE to get stories from. I mean really. I would. All of them. Please?

This novel had a fantastic story line and a plot that I haven't come across before. It gave its own twist on legend and I loved every word of it.

and the action. ALL THE MYSTERY AND ACTION. Fantastic. Have was a wild ride and totally worth going in blind on.

I recieved this book through NetGalley. This was the first time reading a story by this author. I was first interested in reading this story when I saw the book cover. After reading this story I feel it was interesting, and kept me intrigued and wanting to finish the story to find out what would happen. The characters were fascinating and the story line was entertaining. My favorite character of course was Aaron (Rain).

Time had simply been a bookmark. Something that held his place while he waited to finish the story.


Haven was a paranormal tale that wove mystery and suspense throughout the pages. It definitely leaned heavily on the mystery side, and we started out just as clueless as Rain Ryland. When Rain arrived in the little town of New Wurzburg, to live with his Aunt Ruby, he realized that something felt off. And as Rain started school, met his Aunt's coworkers and even got a job, things become even more confusing. While little clues appeared here and there, Rain became more than determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on in New Wurzburg.

He’d never feared losing something before because he’d never had anything worth keeping. This girl, though. She was different. And he wanted her.


While I easily guessed what the paranormal element was, there was so much shrouded in mystery that I wasn't able to decipher. I loved being as lost as Rain sometimes, and I had fun trying to figure it all out right along with him! Rain was by far my favorite thing about this book. You know I'm a sucker for a tortured soul, and with his history of a hard life and being raised on the streets, it drew me right into him. Rain wasn't expecting much in this little town, but moving in with his Aunt Ruby was the new start he desperately needed. He slowly started to make connections, find hope and even some happiness. And I have a good feeling that a lot of people will fall in love Rain just as much as I did. He was intense, put his heart on the line and I loved that he jumped in feet first. His intentions proved again and again that he had a heart of gold, despite his hard past. And when Rain first met Friederike Burkhart, I loved how he saw her.

“So, you want me to listen to my instincts.”
“Yes.”
He reached out and pulled her to him by a belt loop on her jeans. Her eyes widened as she crashed into him. The contact with her long, muscular body made the blood roar in his ears and other places. “My instincts aren’t telling me to go home. They’re telling me to do this.” He took her face in his hands and covered her mouth with his.


I was so addicted to Rain, that I thought I'd easily love Freddie and their romance too. And while Freddie was intense, tough and struggled with her father's recent passing, I just couldn't connect to her. Which made me not connect to the insta-love romance either. But I still loved watching him fall in love with her. And I loved even more how Rain vowed to protect Freddie, when he learned that her life was on the line. Sigh, Rain was beyond amazing. I desperately wanted to love and be obsessed with everything that he was, yet I wasn't. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you connect to Freddie and the romance much better than I did!

Never had he been kissed like that— like the world revolved around that moment. And he wanted more. He wanted everything.


But I still had a lot of fun reading Haven despite my inability to connect to Freddie or the romance. So if you love stories that keep you guessing until the very end and have characters that will do anything to protect the ones they love, then definitely check this book out! After finishing Haven I picked up Shattered Souls by this author, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I completely connect with that duology!

“I’m not afraid of dying,” Rain said. “I’m afraid of dying for nothing.”
Looking up, Petra met his eyes directly, and it struck him again how large and nonhuman they looked. “You’ll make a difference. It’s not for nothing.”


PS I loved Petra! She's a girl who is hmmm yeah I'm not going to tell you that lol. But she was by far my favorite secondary character and I wish I got to spend more time with her!

*ARC kindly provided by Entangled:Teen via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I expected this to be a beauty and the beast retelling but it was actually a new take on the human falls for supernatural being story. I liked that the protagonist was a guy this time. Rain was believable and i enjoyed seeing his relationships l, especially with his aunt and Petra. I do wish there had been more of Freddie, i wanted to see her act more like a leader, her personality didn't fully convince me of the ending. The ending itself felt too neat compared to how convoluted the mystery and deaths were. Overall, it was a nice new take on werewolves and witches (with a passing mention of vampires). I would recommend this to someone who likes supernatural YA and happy endings.

*ARC provided by publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I never used to do this, but lately I've picked up books for which I haven't read the blurb in months and then it's like this big surprise as the plot unwinds. This was true for Haven.

If you've read as many paranormal novels as I have, you catch on pretty quickly to certain elements, but there were so many surprises and mysteries that made Haven so intriguing to read that it quickly became a page-turner (or screen swisher).

The pov is completely Rain's, the teenage boy who has been living on the streets of Houston. The voice sounded true to me. He's a little cocky and a little charming and he's completely knocked off his feet by Freddie, who is also cocky and tough.

Mary Lindsey has done some excellent and fascinating world-building in the novel. This isn't your run-of-the-mill paranormal. So much thought has gone into the world-building and the plotting that it was thoroughly enjoyable to read.

I have to admit though, that midway through, Lindsey introduced Petra, who is a witch, and she's the character I came away liking most of all. She's described as a freak, especially by Freddie, which kind of annoyed me and didn't endear me to Freddie. Rain, however, felt his heart open to her and I kind of wished she was the heroine. I would have loved an entire novel about Petra, but not the one that could come as a result of this book's epilogue (meh).

A lot goes on in Haven. If you like stories that have lots of twists, intriguing characters, and some definite steam, read this.

While it is YA, it's that YA that could probably appeal to most adult readers of paranormal novels.

I received in ARC (and won a real hard copy! woot!) in exchange for an honest review.

I heard very good things about this book, but my review must be honest, so I need to say that I didn't like this book.
The story, from a certain prospect might even be good, but I found the plot boring, the beginning confusing, and I didn't really see the sort of retelling of the beauty and the beast it had to be.
I really appreciate the effort of the author to right this book, and I don't judge, because I know what it feels when your book doesn't like to people, I could feel it on my own skin. So I'm very sorry to say this things, but I don't feel to give more than two stars to this book. But I know that bad review also help us writers to grow up in this job.

This book takes on a unique perspective of Beauty and the Beast.This book is dark with a cast of characters that have their own secrets, there is mystery and suspense that keeps my interest throughout. Haven is not your typical young adult read.

This book was definitely a detour from the mystery and suspense novels that I’ve been 1 heart (1).pngreading the last few months, but I loved reading this and it still had enough suspense to keep me interested. You can’t help but sympathize with the main character, Rain, as his entire life has been difficult and he’s lived his life feeling as if he were a burden and the entire reason for his mother’s spiral into drugs and them being homeless.

Things are finally turning around for him when his Aunt Ruby agrees to let him stay with her after his mother passes away. Things are looking even better for him after the first time he sees Freddie and realizes she’s like no one he’s ever met before.

I enjoyed that this book had a strong female lead character who isn’t afraid to voice her opinions and to fight for what she believes in. Freddie also has some issues in her life and she is the perfect compliment to Rain.

Overall, I found this book to be enjoyable and am hoping there is another book coming as the ending was left open that the relationship between Rain and Freddie and both their histories can still be explored further. The underlying tone of this book is about discovering yourself and accepting who you are, no matter what that may be – something that many of us, I’m sure, struggle with at times. As the book progresses, you see Rain go from believing he is the root of everything bad in his life, to realizing that he has a purpose and something to fight for and he’s better than he ever gave himself credit for, a lesson we can all relate to.

It’s difficult for me to compare this to other books without giving away the plot line, but if you enjoy young adult fiction with a bit of a twist, then you will enjoy this book! This is perfect for fans of C. C. Hunter and Maggie Stiefvater

I absolutely loved this book and the idea of the "beast" role being reversed. Before even knowing what the book about I was intrigued by this sort of retelling.

Although the first couple of chapters were a little slow, once Rain and Freddie met it really picked up. I also really like the history that was weaved into the story and appreciated the backstory of how everything in this were-world works.

This book had a lot of elements that I enjoy reading about and I would love to see what happens next.