A big thank you to NetGalley and Word Lounge for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Okay somehow, this got lost and I am several years late in reviewing the book. This is my first time reading this author and this is the beginning of a new series. I truly enjoyed this book. Katie Bishop is a tattoo artist who went to Columbia! And has a dragon within her. I enjoyed the characters and the unique situations. Looking forward to reading more by this author. 4 stars

*ARC kindly given by @netgalley for my honest opinion.*

"Crossroads of Bones" by Luanne Bennett is a captivating urban fantasy novel that delves into the supernatural underworld with flair. Bennett's vivid storytelling and dynamic characters bring the mystical setting to life, creating an immersive reading experience. With its blend of mystery, magic, and intrigue, "Crossroads of Bones" offers a thrilling journey that will keep readers spellbound until the very end.

It's a 4.5 for me.

This book reminded me why I love the shifter small towns in the South. Small town with big families, and with cases like this, it's chosen family. Katie is a tattoo artist making her way through life with her own shop and a dedication to having some type of 'normal' life with the beast she was born with. Along the way, she has to slowly reveal herself to those she trusts while at the same time, dangerous things in town are revealing themselves - whether she wants to know or not.

I thought this was exciting. I loved the tone, enjoyed the fast-paced attitude even as a lot of things were happening to keep things interesting. Katie's friends were endearing. Nothing too deep considering the pace, but it was all consistent. The only thing I'd want to point out is that a certain relationship seemed a little off only because it felt a little quick, but I'm just going to give it the benefit of the doubt. I really did like Katie and the way she handled herself. Easy to like in my opinion, and I loved some of her friends, especially Sugar.

It's a definite recommend.

This started off as a fairly interesting read.
Unfortunately it did become predictable and I found the characters were just not believable.
This ended up being a bit disappointing.

Katie Bishop followed her boyfriend from NYC to Savannah with dreams of oping a tattoo shop. Now the boyfriend is long gone, but the tattoo shop is a reality. For weeks Katie has dreams of a tattoo and death. When a strange man comes into her shop with a drawing of that very tattoo and demands it inked onto his back precisely to his specification, Katie reluctantly agrees. When her landlord finds out, he summons Katie to a meeting of a secret society, and it is revealed that Katie just helped release half the spirit of an evil god the organisation has been charged with guarding. 

IN the short amount of time, Katie has managed to develop solid friendships, and with this threat, all her friends are in danger. But there is more to Katie than meets the eye. The dragon tattoo on her back isn't a tattoo, its the beast that lives inside her and when needed it takes over, and Katie becomes the dragon. With her ragtag group of friends and the aid of a new man in town, Katie might just manage to survive this. 

I've had this book for over a year waiting to be read and kept skipping over it. Big mistake. This was a gripping read that I devoured in one day.  While I would have prefered that more time had been spent developing the magical aspects, such as what everyone was, how they fit into the world, etc., the story doesn't suffer for it. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series. 

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Crossroads of Bones (A Katie Bishop Novel Book 1) Kindle Edition
by Luanne Bennett
I received a complimentary copy via NetGalley and am choosing to leave a fair and honest review.

I am huge fan of Urban Fantasy, particularly when it involves a hip and strong heroine with cool supernatural powers. Dragon shifter, Katie Bishop x's all my boxes!

Katie is a dragonshifter tattoo artist who finds herself in the land of Hoodoo (not to be confused with Voodoo) and root magic in Savannah, Georgia when she mistakenly releases Legvu from his prison. She has to team with the local magical council to stop him from releasing his second soul and put him back where he belongs. She is also a sexually aware, adult woman who isn't afraid to have sex without a commitment or a declaration of love. It's nice to see that! It's also nice to not have to put up with the shy but spunky virgin!

Her love interest, Jackson Hunter, is more than your average guy. He is a hot biker on the run from a catshifter family, so when he finds his woman becomes a dragon, we aren't forced through the acceptance phase.

The side characters are interesting, and far from common. The transgender Star is fantastic although I did have a few teeth grinding moments when Star was referred to as 'a man in a dress' because that is clearly not correct. I love Star's hoodoo granny who is delightfully anti-PC and more powerful than anyone realizes. The tattoo shop team is great but their uniqueness is a bit forced.

Hoodoo (a folk magic centered in the American South, Appalachians and Ozarks) is the main focus here, something we don't see a lot of in paranormal literature. I also enjoyed the layers of mythology and magic floating in this book. For instance, Legvu has more than a passing relationship with Papa Legba, the voodoo lwa of the crossroads.

Although the climax was a bit disappointing (it felt as if Ms. Bennett had reached a word limit and was wrapping things up quickly) the book all in all is fun.

Crossroads of Bones is the first book in the Katie Bishop series by Luanne Bennett. Katie Bishop would have taken her secret to the grave, but a bunch of fat cat society folks smelled her out and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Katie just wants to run her tattoo business quietly under the radar. But when a man walks into her shop and hands her a drawing of the same tattoo she’s been dreaming about for weeks, things start to spin out of control. The last two people who tried to apply that tattoo are dead. Only half human, it’s her other half that an elite group wants to hire—a group of Savannah’s more privileged citizens, including the city’s reigning coven of witches. There’s a rogue god on the loose, and Katie is the only one who can send him back to hell before he breaks open the crossroads and lets the underworld waltz right in—if he manages to get that deadly tattoo inked onto his back.

Crossroads of Bones is a solid urban fantasy, with plenty of character and world building. I have read a lot of this genre, and that left me with mixed feelings. There were moments that felt like I had missed a previous book and others when things seemed a little too familiar. I think I must have read a short story or excerpt from the author before and forgotten. However, that is my personal issue, and not something that is actually wrong with the read, I just want to preface my review so readers will know what colored my take on the story.

I really liked Katie's character. She hit a good blend of badass and vulnerable, and was honest with the people she cared about most. I enjoyed the paranormal world building, and like that there were some new takes and types that I do not remember ever having seen before. I found the cast of characters to be nicely varied, and like that some things were more slowly revealed than others. I think the big bad and layers of conflict and secrecy was fairly well done, although I was almost expecting another layer at some point but that could always come along in a future book. I will admit that I do get a little annoyed with the constant romance and being controlled by the beast or hormones that seems ingrained in the genre. Not everyone needs to be attracted to the main character, and said lead does not need to hop in the sack just because. And, if they are going to, at least make sure they make the pretense having of safe sex and having a mature discussion at some point- regardless of if pregnancy is even a consideration.

Crossroads of Bones is a good start to an urban fantasy series. I am not sure if I am going to keep going, but I think it will be a good choice for many readers.

A very interesting book, with an exciting premise, however I wasn’t pulled in and found it difficult to concentrate. Enjoyed the story and would try something else by this author.

Crossroad of Bones follows Katie, a tattoo artist who moved from New York to Georgia and just wants to run her tattoo shop. Unfortunately for her, turns out she gave a tattoo to the wrong person. Well, wrong person inhabited by a god. Ok, half of a god. But still, not the kind of attention she was looking to attract. Now Katie has to protect herself and her friends from the other half of the god who wants the tattoo that will set him free. Which would be bad for everyone in town. Luckily, Katie is half dragon, and dragons protect what they claim.

Crossroad of bones was fine. It was a quick, easy read that didn’t slow itself down with expansive world building. The world is colored in as Katie encounters it. I liked the characters in general, but they could use some more filling in. Katie seems to fall into friendships-and into bed- with people without a lot of explanation. I think the book could have been 20% longer and taken a little more time to flesh out the characters. Hopefully the sequel will do some of that. I might recommend this book for fans of Dannika Dark or Katie Epstein.

I'm a dedicated urban fantasy reader. This book fits into my library very well. The first book in a series is always a little slower to read as the characters must be introduced and developed. This may lead some readers to say the book is slow at the beginning but you'll appreciate the author's pace as you move into the story. I really liked Katie and her cast of misfits. Katie must work on saving the world all the time she's trying to make a living and keep her business going too. Switching from high excitement to everyday chores can make a girl crazy. How Katie and her friends handle their highs and lows makes a great beginning to a series. Looking forward to book #2.

Sorry, but this one was not something for me and I struggled quite a lot to finish it.

While I normally read uninterrupted for hours, this one had me stopping again and again after just a short time, just to do something else - I was bored and often a bit frustrated over the heroine's actions. Like when she chooses to attend a barbecue instead of focusing on the hole evil spirit thingy. I rather dislike bikers, so her hooking up with one such very unlikable ashole'ish specimen very shortly after the death of her lover (whom I rather liked), didn't help either.

Most of the African root magic left me rather confused, I certainly felt like I was missing some form of explanations. Like I never actually managed to understand why that demon spirit was so dangerous.

I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
An urban fantasy novel set in Savannah GA with Katie, a tattoo artist who was born with a dragon on her back. There are a variety of characters. I see this as a good start for a series. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I downloaded a copy of Crossroads of Bones from netgalley based on the description. I'm always looking for new urban fantasies to read, and this one sounded interesting. Unfortunately, it suffers from a number of problems. The characters are mostly flat and uninteresting; those that actually did intrigue me -- such as Sugar, Fin, and the rest of the Crossroads Society -- are the *secondary* characters and don't get nearly as much attention as Katie. Additionally, the story starts in an odd place; a *lot* of background information is thrown at the reader in the first couple of chapters -- so much that I started to wonder of this was the second or third book in the series, rather than the first. Finally, many of the chapters begin and end in odd places, almost as if the author was trying to create cliffhangers, but either went too far or not far enough; it was very jarring.

As much as I would like to do so, I can't recommend Crossroads of Bones. The author shows promise, but needs to work on her characterization.

Good story! Would love to read more from this author. Writing style was easy to read, and not set to a certain age group.

I love a good urban fantasy, and while this was a little slow to start it was a great start to a new series. I will definitely be watching for more.

Katie owns a tattoo shop. After a man walk in for a tattoo that she just happened to have a nightmare about the day before all hell breaks loose.

Good book. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Dragon,shifters,voodoo,spirits.
Drama,action,intrigue,very good characters an interesting story.
Just a great read.
Looking forward to reading the next in series.
Voluntarily reviewed.

This seemed like a pretty good, albeit predictable, urban fantasy.

Our heroine, Katie Bishop is a tattoo artist in Savannah, she has a team of misfit colleagues who work for her in her shop, oh and she has dragon tattoo on her back - except she was born with it. She's been having trouble sleeping, dreaming of a dead man and an intricate tattoo which fills her with dread.

When a weird guy comes in one day and requests the exact tattoo from her dreams Katie can't refuse but then she discovers the tattoo has enabled half of a demon's spirit to fully possess the unfortunate man who requested the tattoo. Now the gates of hell are opened it is only a matter of time before the other half of the spirit breaks free from the underground prison that has held it and gets its own tattoo to join the two halves together. The spirit has killed a number of other tattoo artists who either weren't strong enough or accurate enough to complete the tattoo.

Pressed into joining a secret society called the Crossroads Society Katie realises that the other half of the demon's spirit will come for her soon.

This novel is full of stock characters/ caricatures: the disgraced cop, the mysterious biker, secret societies, tattoos, cross-dressing black men (hello Sookie Stackhouse), African hoo-doo magic (hello Sookie Stackhouse #2) the sneering older man who runs the town, the bar staff who are not what they seem (hello Sookie Stackhouse #3). It also had a clever take on a new kind of shifter.

It had promise but there were points where I thought "why is Katie detouring to a biker BBQ when she has a demon to contain?" only to discover it was a plot device to shoe-horn a get-out-of-jail-free card into the plot. The novel seemed to take a long time to get to the big climax and then it was quickly disposed of in a few sentences. I still don't understand quite what happened. Maybe a glimmer of light is that Katie didn't save the day single-handed.

Overall, it was a fun read but I can't say I feel any great interest in reading the second book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I loved this character and the world she lives in. The story flows well with enough twists and turns to keep you moving onto the next page. I look forward to reading more books in this series

Crossroad of Bones is an interesting start to the Katie Bishop series. Cool concept and some quirky characters drew me in. A bit slow to start, but it did pick up. Also I felt that some details were not fleshed out as well as they could have been. A few awkward scenes left me scratching my head. All in all an entertaining read that I hope improves over time.

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.