A necromancer and a vampire walk into a cemetery…and I guess romance is the punchline. How’s that for a plot twist?
Looks like I’ve made some new enemies.
My sister Ellie and I aren’t on speaking terms, someone’s trying to put a stake through Nate’s chest—which is my problem now, because I'm pretty fond of his cold, dead heart—and our latest threat is leaving decomposed bodies on the steps of churches around the city.
So, I mean, it’s your basic paranormal nightmare. Except this time it feels weirdly personal.
As Buffalo’s vampires converge on Caligari Manor for the largest ball in half a century and dangerous outside forces close in, Nate and I discover that our future might be even stranger than the present.
Jessie hails from the land of chicken wings and snow, otherwise known as Buffalo, NY. She's an indie author who writes historical fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance.
Jessie earned a B.A. in Television and Film Arts at SUNY Buffalo State, where her full-length screenplay, POST MORTEM, was nominated for the Michael Collyer Fellowship Award in Screenwriting from the Writer’s Guild of America, East.
When she isn't writing, Jessie enjoys reading, watching and analyzing her favorite TV shows, discussing fictional characters, eating ice cream, and spending time with her pets.
I loved the first book in the Nickel City Necromancer series and was super excited to dive into book two. Serafina has discovered that in addition to having necromancer abilities, she can also undo the effects of vampirism under certain circumstances. What might this mean given that she is dating Nate Kalgari, a centuries old vampire? I love the setting of this book, in Buffalo, New York, with scenes in graveyards, and lots of grave robbing, and a detective who distrusts Sera because of who she is and what she can do. The cast of characters is wonderfully drawn. I loved seeing Rhys, Devyn the vampire hunter, and especially the drama with Sera’s sister Ellie, who is back from the dead and having reentry issues. There’s a subplot with witches and it works well on several levels. Also on the family front, Nate has a visitor from his past life who was one of my favorite characters in the book. I loved Violet’s scenes, especially with Teddy. The interplay between all the cast really worked, whether it’s Violet and Sera talking about old times, or Nate swearing to help Ellie track down the person responsible for her death. These are people you want to cheer for. Some great paranormal twists and turns and I can’t wait to see where book three takes us!
Having really enjoyed Kiss Me Deadly (Nickel City Necromancer #1) I was so excited to read this ARC from Booksirens. Whilst I did enjoy it, it wasn't quite as good as the first instalment (The dreaded 'book two' syndrome), therefore my actual star rating for Graveyard Waltz is 3.5, rounded up to 4 stars - Having previously rated Kiss Me Deadly 4 stars.
The Nickel City characters are epic. Not only are Sera and Nate awesome, there are so many great characters as well/there are 'no small parts.' From Ellie, through Rhys, Devyn, Violet, Lily and Robert ... Hell, even Sera's cat Topaz has attitude for dayssssssss!
"Topaz rushed me the moment I got inside the front hall, which either meant that Ellie wasn't home to dote on him or she was and for some reason, Paz missed me enough to honor me, a mere mortal, with his presence... The oblivious, greedy, adorable demon."
My main struggles with the story were Teddy - who realllllyyyyy confuses me (He may have a 13-year -old's body, but he has a 100-year-old's mind. Which begs the question: Why do they treat him like a child?!?!) and Nate. Something happens (no spoilers), that I didn't expect and I still don't know how I feel about it. Watch this space!
This follow-up to Kiss Me Deadly was full of twists and turns, and I gotta say — that ending got me good! I really enjoyed the pacing and witty dialogue, but my favorite aspect of this book were the characters: Sera, Nate, Ellie, Rhys, Dev, Vi, Teddy... the list just keeps on going. And the baddie was pretty freaking badass, himself. Great paranormal action / romance.
GRAVEYARD WALTZ was absolutely incredible and I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while! It continues Sera and Nate's story and takes place a few months after the events of KISS ME DEADLY; Sera is still trying to mend fences with her sister Ellie as well as navigate her courtship with Nate, the "antique vampire" as Sera calls him. To complicate things, a new enemy has targeted Sera and her necromantic powers and the vampire Consortium has chosen Nate as the host for this century's vampire ball. Jessie Thomas does a fantastic job of balancing all these different interests and plots and I never wanted to put this down because I had to know what would happen next. I enjoyed book 1 but this one truly hit me hard in the PNR feels.
As a bonus for my romance readers, there was a lot more relationship development in this one and I was swooning left and right over these two as a couple. GRAVEYARD WALTZ is a fade to black romance but Nate and Sera's scenes together were so sensual and there was intimacy for daaaaays! Nate is an absolute charmer under his brooding vampire exterior and it was just so good. And Sera did not disappoint either, I loved her humorous narration, her soft way of handling Nate's son Teddy, and her kick butt skills as a necromancer.
Dev was delightfully stabby as always and I loved the addition of Nate's oldest friend Violet. I also really appreciated that Thomas brought some new things to the vampire genre that I didn't expect and I loved all the twists and turns that kept me guessing. The ending had me on the edge of my seat all the way up to the last page and I don't know how I'm going to survive that emotional cliffhanger ending while I wait for the next book.
Content Warning: on page character death and resurrection; graphic gore; references to abusive parents; cliffhanger ending
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Favorite Quotes:
"Whatever danger you walk into, let me be there to stand beside you and fight it."
This series has everything I love. An awesome magic system. A snarky MC. Romance I can cheer for. Spooky secrets. Its fantastic. Cant wait to see what happens next!!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
You know ... be careful what you wish for. Or ask for.
At the ending of my review for the first book of this series, I practically begged the author not to rip Nate and Sera apart in a huff so they can then get back together. Which, hurray! She didn't.
She just went and jabbed a stake through my heart, then stomped it down for good measure in a twist I DID NOT SEE COMING.
To summarize very nicely without putting in spoilers: Sera is still necromancing. Nate is still romancing. Their relationship actually progresses really nicely in this book and - just as a hint - there is blood letting involved but it's got a twist you probably won't see coming, and I hope you love it. I know I do! Even while I'm trying to figure out how the heck this all works, but ya know. Mystery, mystery!
All the usual suspects are back, Devyn, Rhys, Teddy, but we get the addition of a smartass detective who - surprise, surprise! - needs the very necromancer he arrests far too often to save his ass.
I love it.
I also love the addition of Violet, and the Consortium who decide they want NATE to host a party for them because ... well, because.
And then there's the fact Ellie and Sera aren't on speaking terms because Sera's dating Nate, and Ellie finds herself a coven of witches, there's supposedly more death magic than necromancy alone - and oh yes, MORE NECROMANCERS.
Well, there were. There's this dude, Lazarus - no, not the saint that Matthew in A Discovery of Witches prays to, sadly - he's a necromancer. Or was. And a ghoul. Or ... something. He seems to want to be a god? He also wants to have people worship Sera for her powers because ... I don't know at this point. He's a pain in the butt who causes massive problems throughout the book, and will probably be a big entity in the next one too, seeing as we didn't get rid of him yet.
To top EVERYTHING off, there's these hunters who've been hired, and they're not Dev's style of hunters, and let me tell you, you will be mad at this revelation. As in, righteous mad, but also be prepared for a bit of a massacre ... just because this IS a vampire and necromancer walk into a graveyard kind of book.
Honestly though, this one gets 5 stars from me because IT HAS EVERYTHING. The cast is stellar, the writing is brilliant (notwithstanding that the ARC had some grammatical errors and occasional words missing), and the fact that you're so invested in these characters as you read along tells you something. I was on a time crunch to finish this book, but dash it all I was going to do it if it was the very last thing.
All the best bits of the first book are in this one, and amplified through into a second, and now all I want is the sequel to this, because the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers that I never anticipated follows that stake through the heart.
Oh, and, someone call that annoying detective, please. There's a mess for him to clean up.
I want to thank the author/publisher for the opportunity to review Jessie Thomas' Graveyard Waltz (Nickel City Necromancer, #2) before publication. I am grateful for the opportunity to read the view, and the following review is completely mine.
I previously reviewed the first book in this series, so I was familiar with the world Thomas has created and the world created in the first book in this series. The book starts out with Seraphina once again investigating a mysterious death that is clearly paranormal. Only this time, when she tries to revive the body and bring the soul back from the dead, something or someone stops her. Combine this problem with an upcoming ball for vampires to be held at the Caligari Manor, much to Nate's dismay. Oh, and then there's the recently re-humanized Teddy Caligari and the battle of wills with Sera's sister Ellie, so Sera has a lot on her plate.
I once again enjoyed the book. This one seemed to drag a bit more in the middle than the first book. There were a lot of plates spinning, and not always in a way that seemed to help move things along in the plot completely. That's not to say that I think any of the book should have been jettisoned, more like there were elements that just seemed to stray a bit taking focus from the main arc. I will say, without giving anything away, the cliff-hanger ending was definitely one I enjoyed and look forward to seeing how Thomas is able to solve in the next book.
Overall, I think this is a good followup to a first book. Second books are always a bit harder because you're trying to one-up yourself to keep readers interested (I get it). Was this book as good as the first in the series? Not to me. But that's not to say this isn't a good read. I would recommend anyone who read the first book continue on with the series. If you're looking to curl up with a good urban fantasy this winter, then I would definitely recommend checking out the Nickle City Necromancer series.
As a huge fan of Kiss Me Deadly, I was very excited to get stuck into book 2 of this series, and I absolutely loved it. More ghoulish terrors abound as necromancer Sera finds herself the target of a nasty entity who is a necromancer/ghoul/wannabe-god?? I don’t think Lazarus even knows what he is, but his plans for Sera are nasty, made even more so when he starts sucking everyone in her orbit into his game.
Following on from Kiss Me Deadly, Sera’s relationship with her sister Ellie is still on very shaky ground, but I was glad to see Ellie finding her own footing in life. Sera and Nate’s against-all-odds necromancer/vampire relationship develops really nicely in this instalment, with a really interesting twist following a steamy blood-letting scene. Devyn, Rhys, and Teddy are back too, (more of Teddy with his 100-year-old mind trapped in a 13-year-old body, please!) along with a few new characters including Violet, a glamorous and endearing vampire who I’d like to be my new best friend. We also get to meet the Consortium, a vampire council of sorts, who have it in for Nate as they descend upon Caligari Manor for a three-night party. Of course this is when Lazarus decides to make his final play, so you can guess how that turns out.
Thomas keeps the action and pace going nicely in this book. Scenes with Nate and Sera balance out the chaos Lazarus brings, while Violet brings a fun new layer to the tale. I love Devyn, and got great satisfaction from the scenes where she and Nate interact. Theirs is a slow, reluctant thaw, but such fun to read!
A solid, engaging, and exciting book 2 for this series. The ending is a chaotic and magnificent one, with a twist I didn’t see coming, but which promises a whole lot more for the next instalment. An easy 5 stars!
I received a copy of Graveyard Waltz by Jessie Thomas from BookSirens.com. This is the second book that I have read in this series, Nickel City Necromancer, and I was not disappointed. The story is written from first person point of view with a comfortable and easy to follow writing style. We first meet the Protagonist, Seraphina Mason in the first installment, Kiss Me Deadly, and after reading Graveyard Waltz, I just can’t get enough of her and the other cast of brilliant characters. With the right mix of humor, romance, action and even a bit of tragedy, the author kept my attention and the pages turning almost from beginning to end. I did find the first five chapters or so somewhat slower paced while setting the stage, but the rest of the book made up for it. Graveyard Waltz had my emotions all over the place and I was able to empathize with the characters. I was totally invested. This series has everything you can hope for in Urban Fantasy with necromancy, witchcraft, vampires and more! It would be a mistake not to read this book and the others in this series, but be forewarned, this author does like a good cliff-hanger…
Rated 4.0 stars. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Back at it again with our favorite necromancy and her not-so-alive boyfriend as they take on new challenges, lots of chaos, and a bit of brooding charm. Jessie Thomas creates a sequel that is almost more compelling and intriguing as the series debut. However, sometimes the middle scenes dragged a bit. The investment in the world and the character’s chemistry paid off in the long run and made it worth the slow parts. If you are looking to read a book with great world-building, then this series is for you (just make sure to read them in order)!
I wanted to love this book. The premise was great and a new take on the danger really exciting. The problem is there are way to many details, too many events that don't move the story forward. The relationship with her sister barely moves forward, the new information about Teddy is brought forward twice and doesn't lead anywhere in this book. There are enough details for about 3 different books in here. The ending was spectacular, but I don't know if I want to read the next book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I'm not sure I can be coherent for this review. I.. have so many feelings right now.
I missed Sera more than I realized. And Nate. And Teddy. It was great being back with the gang. Love the development of characters arcs and all the background insights in this one. Vi is amazing and I love her. Dev's acceptance of Sera's bloodsucking found family is.. the best. Really.
This book took several turns that I honestly didn't see coming. Love that. It's not often that I'm caught so off guard. The tension was on point and I cannot wait for the next book. I *need* to know what happens next.
An absolutely fantastic read. This second book was action packed, funny, emotional and thrilling. Sera and Nate were so adorable together and the supporting characters were amazing. I really loved this and what an ending. I need to read book 3.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. I had already read the first one and really enjoyed the world and characters the author created. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next and the author didn’t disappoint me. Now I can’t wait to see what happens next to the all the characters. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was so excited to dive back into meet Sera and Nate again. What an absolute adventure we went on. Lazarus was an interesting foe and the wait it ended.... I need book 3!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was a really exciting book. When I read the synopsis for the book I was really excited to read it. It did not disappoint and I can't wait to read more about the adventures of Sera and Nate in the future.
I laughed, I cried, and that ending blew me away. I love this series so much, I love the characters and I will be nervously be awaiting the next one in series. I need to know what happens next.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is book 2 of a series. Love the interactions between the Vampire and necromancer and their evolving relationship. Enough intrigue, well developed secondary characters and plot twists to keep me glued to the book! I got a complementary copy from BookSirens and this is my honest review .