TV Show Review: Halo Season 2 TV Series - SPOILERS ALL OVER THIS

 Halo Season 2 TV Series
2022–
Creators: Steven Kane, Kyle Killen
Stars: Pablo Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac
Paramount+
Rating: TV-14
Episode length: 1h
9 episodes
Genre: Science Fiction, action, adventure
With the galaxy on the brink of destruction, Master Chief John-117 leads his team of Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. 

 

SPOILERS ALL OVER THIS

Halo, the series season 2, has been one heck of an action-packed ride! If you're reading, you've been warned about spoilers ahead. We pick up season 2 not long after the timeline of the first season. John and the team of Spartans are "benched" and forced to just train all the live long day. Boring!

The new management at the UNSC is shady AF from the start, but no surprises there. Never trusted any of them. Maybe Cortana was the only exception, but it was hard to tell what she was really up to for so long. All the suits want is to make weapons and win the war. At all costs. Which, okay, I get that humanity is on the line, but some dirty tactics and so freakin' sneaky!!!

So the team is forced to watch the action from the sidelines and, in doing so, watch their Master Chief John leader seem to fall apart. (Side note: Pablo, who plays Chief John, is a 6 foot 5 demi-god of pure alpha male. LOVE HIM!) As the viewers, we see what the 'powers that be' can't, and so we know that his lady love/hate, Makee, is alive and well. Plotting and brewing back with the covenant and still searching for the artifacts. I don't know why she went back with them. They wanted her dead, so makes no sense to me. She's a total wild card.

We get to see lots more of Soren and family, plus the mysterious Kwan Ha. She holds some kind of powers or abilities that have been alluded to, which tie together the three main characters. Dr Halsey is still manipulating everyone, all the time but she's still a very intriguing character that you really have no idea what she will do next. No matter what, it will always be something for her own gain.

Captain Keys gave one of the best speeches before battle time that I've heard, maybe since Braveheart. That man can rally the damn troops! Loved his heart at the end, even if he too has been part of some very awful behavior to obtain these kids.

Long live Vannak! What a guy, what a soldier and what a friend to his team. You just start to see another side of him, and it's snuffed out. At least, in the end, he dies a freaking hero.

Some weird parts of the overall storyline left some gaps for me about what was going on. If I had played the game, maybe I would have known. But as just a viewer, it's like things are glossed over. If you know, you know, kind of feeling. But that said, what another fun ride on a show with so much more to offer than visual effects and bang bang shoot'em up.

We end this season with some gross virus that is turning everyone so far into almost zombie-like creatures and gross bug things come out of them. Was very scary and gory in parts, plus with Dr Halsey now infected and on ice, we just have no idea if she can make it. Her daughter better be working on that cure! Hope she paid attention in chemistry.

Tons of character depth, intergalactic high jinxes, well-acted thoughtful characters, heartfelt moments, loss of likable characters, and certainly a scifi show that makes you feel like you're right in the thick of it all. I can not wait for season 3! Soren's a single dad now, this ancient city and tech, is Kai alive or dead, what will happen next?!

I highly recommend this one for everyone of all ages. Video game or not; it is so enjoyable!

Getting 5 "never understate Master Chief" Sheep

 

 

 

KD

TV Series Review: YuYu Hakusho (Netflix 2023)

YuYu Hakusho (Netflix)
First episode date: December 14, 2023 (Japan)
Based on: YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi
Genre: Action; Adventure; Comedy drama; Fantasy
Network: Netflix
5 episodes
Original language: Japanese
Producer: Akira Morii
Cast: Takumi Kitamura, Jun Shison, Kanata Hongō, Shuhei Uesugi
Yusuke Urameshi, who died saving a little boy, is sent back to Earth and becomes a detective of the spirit world to fight all the demons found on Earth.

I tend to love live-action adaptations of manga/anime. Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach, Full-Metal Alchemist and now YuYu Hakusho! I had never head of this one before. The five episode series (yay for not drawing things out!) is based on the 1990–94 manga... I figured that out when I saw the outfits and hairstyles the characters had, lol, hammer-time pants everywhere!

 

 

The first episode was a little cheesy and I had my doubts but once the demons showed up and the fighting started...BOOM, I was hooked. They spared no expense on the choreography and special effects. So much fun! I've always loved the demons from manga/anime. Very creative and creepy.

If you enjoy supernatural Japanese series then check this one out. 

Look at the comparison of the live-action characters to the original... 

 

This guy bothered me a little. He looked like there was a pacifier in his mouth, lol

 

4.5 "spirit gun" Sheep!

 

 

 

 

SharonS

 

Happy 13th Birthday to I Smell Sheep

It's been 13 years of Smelling Sheep!

Katie published the first I Smell Sheep post on April 4, 2010. It was a review of a concert she attended with her mom.

This is our 6,687th post.

13 years and still, no one knows why the site is called I Smell Sheep... except Katie, her brother and me. 

One day we will tell...but today is not that day! LOL

Thank you to the flock for sticking with us. Sheep kisses for everyone!

Baaart

We are always looking for more reviewers, so if you have time to do only one a year or more, contact us :)

Stay tuned for a birthday giveaway...I've got to check the dungeon to see what books I have laying around. 

TV Series Review: Snowpiercer Season 1 (2020)

Snowpiercer TV Series (2020– )
Creators: Josh Friedman, Graeme Manson

Director: Bong Joon-ho
Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner
Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Network: TNT

Premiere Date: May 17, 2020

10 episodes
Seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, the remnants of humanity inhabit a perpetually-moving train that circles the globe, where class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out.

My husband and I saw the movie Snowpiercer way back when. It was kind of depressing. But the trailer for the TV series was interesting and we felt it was worth a try. Yeah, I watched it back in May and just reviewing it now.

Some people I talked to weren't going to watch it based on their feelings about the movie--like I said, depressing. The first episode did have that feel to it, but it was more to set up the dynamic on the train between the first-class and the lower. After that, it is a very different story.

We enjoyed it. There was an interesting murder mystery and I really like the characters/actors. Jennifer Connelly as Melanie Cavill and Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton are excellent as well as Mickey Sumner's Bess Francis Till. Every episode ended with a cliff-hanger to keep you waiting for more.

The second season premiers on January 25, 2021.

The movie/TV series are based on the 2013 South Korean–Czech film of the same name (directed by Bong Joon-ho) and the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. You can read the graphic novel in English.

Snowpiercer, Vol. 1: The Escape 

January 28, 2014

by Jacques Lob  (Author), Jean-Marc Rochette (Illustrator)

Titan Comics

Transperceneige Book Series

Candy Review: Popcorn Flavored M&M's

I love it when candy companies experiment with new flavors. I'm a chocolate snob and I eat M&M's when there is nothing else around. They are perfect to mix in with crushed graham crackers and vanilla ice cream...but I'm getting off-topic.

I love chocolate-coated popcorn so M&M's limited Halloween special popcorn-flavored M&M's caught my attention.

I probably had my expectations set a little too high and ended up being disappointed. When you open the pack you are hit with a popcorn smell! But that's all the popcorn flavor is...a popcorn smell on the outside of the M&M's. After eating a few you no longer smelled/tasted the popcorn.

Add onto that the way they look! I assume they wanted them to look like popcorn but it was not very appetizing. They look bumpy and dirty.

Inside is a crispy center with very little chocolate around it.

Anyone else try them? Or have you found a different flavor you like? I was too impressed with the brownie M&M's either.

3 "meh" Sheep

SharonS

Selah's Manga Mania Reviews: Uzumaki (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition) by Junji Ito

Uzumaki (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition): Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3
by Junji Ito
October 16, 2018
Volumes: 3
648 pages
English publisher: NA Viz Media
Seinen horror manga
Genres: Visual novel, Simulation Video Game, Dark fantasy, Horror fiction, Occult Fiction
Appearing as a serial in the weekly manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1998 to 1999. 
Kurouzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but a pattern: UZUMAKI, the spiral—the hypnotic secret shape of the world. The bizarre masterpiece horror manga is now available all in a single volume. Fall into a whirlpool of terror!

It's time to think about stories that freak us out, and Japanese horror has a certain something that just pushes things over the edge and down a cliff. Today, we're looking at one of the greatest authors in the genre and one of his most infamous titles. Today, we're looking at Uzumaki by Junji Ito.

We follow teenager Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi as they slowly realize something is very wrong with their town and the people in it. It all begins with Shuichi's father's fascination with spirals that becomes an obsession, and then something otherworldly.

The good: This is a freaky series and I really like that the omnibus version collects it all in one place. While this is more surreal than other Ito titles which are more classic horror, the scare factor is definitely there. As the spiral obsession and paranoia jumps from person to person and then starts to physically affect the structure of the town and people's bodies in inhuman ways, the reading experience becomes really disturbing. My stomach dropped at scenes like Shuichi's mom puncturing her ear because she realized there was a spiral in the bones in it. The debate as people turned into snail creatures as to whether they could be used for food or if they were still human is intense. How villagers take shelter in the bunkhouses lets you know you've passed the point of no return.

Ito portrays the line between rational and madness very well, both in his pacing and art. You can physically see the moment where characters fall over the edge or give up, adding to the feeling over impending doom that builds through the story. As the town changes, you realize that this is way bigger than a few peoples' obsessions. I'd call it cosmic horror with patterns instead of monsters, honestly. And the ending took the breath out of me because it's quieter than I expected, but it really capped things well.

Ito's art is exceptional, and the vast amount of ways he incorporates spirals into body horror, architecture, and natural landscapes are impressive. It feels like he's really in his element.

The bad: if you want definite logic as to why things are happening, this will likely frustrate you. There is a reason, but it's vague. I would say the story is more about the effect the spirals have on people and the futility of their fight and just how wrong the decision to stay in town is. This is more surreal vs outright horror compared to something like Tomie, but it still has that Ito feel.

Some of the characters are a little one-dimensional, but in this case, it all pushes the plot forward and showcases the insane vignettes and variations on the spiral theme. He's taking you on a tour via these scenes, and it's your job to see how you feel about them. It won't be everyone's cuppa.

The ick: While a lot of the dramatic violence is off-screen, this is Ito, which means body horror. Contorted anatomy, mutations beyond the realm of physics, melty bodies, and characters in agony - it's kinda his thing. If looking at this isn't something you want to see, this title isn't for you.

Overall, while I would have liked a little more characterization and at times the pace can feel a little meandery, I felt the story super-fascinating and the art insane. I read it all in one night if that tells you anything. If you're looking for a story to get under your skin and never want to see spirals innocently again, this is for you.

5 spiralized sheep

About the Reviewer

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Selah Janel is a writer who is trying to start doing that again instead of reading manga all the time.

TV Show Review: Wu Assassins Season 1 (2019) Netflix

Wu Assassins: Season 1

Creators: John Wirth, Tony Krantz

Genre: Action & Adventure

Network: Netflix

Premiere Date: Aug 8, 2019

Episodes: 10

Cast: Iko Uwais -as Kai Jin

Byron Mann - as Uncle Six

Li Jun Li - as Jenny Wah

Celia Au - as Ying Ying

Lewis Tan - as Lu Xin Lee
Genres: Crime Fiction, Martial arts, Occult Fiction

American supernatural action crime drama web television series, created by John Wirth and Tony Krantz that premiered on Netflix

An unassuming San Francisco chef becomes the latest in a line of assassins chosen to keep the mystical Wu powers out of the wrong hands.

My husband and I watched Wu Assassins on Netflix. We love martial arts action shows and urban fantasies. Wu Assassins has both!

While the paranormal aspect was a little shaky (a little Avatar: Airbender-ish) and the special effects were low budget, the show made up for all that in heart and lots of well-choreographed fight scenes. Every episode had at least two entertaining fight scenes with men and women fighting at the same skill levels.

What surprised us was how invested we got in the characters and their story. There are four friends (two are siblings) who are bound together by a near-death experience when they were younger. The writers gave them, along with the other main characters, a lot of depth and had many sub-plots that came together in the end. This is a drama, but there are some funny moments too.

And the icing on the Wu cake... RAWR!

If you love martial arts action shows then you will enjoy this. If you like looking at sexy people doing martial artists...you will enjoy this too!

TV Series Review: Deadly Class (SyFy 2019-) spoiler-free

Deadly Class

TV Series (2018– )
First episode date: January 16, 2019

Creators: Miles Orion Feldsott, Rick Remender
Stars: Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor
Network: Syfy
Based on: Deadly Class; by Rick Remender & Wesley Craig
Production location(s): Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TV-MA | 1h | Action, Crime, Drama
Based on the graphic novel of the same name comes an unlikely coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of unsanitized 1980s counterculture. A homeless, disillusioned teen named Marcus is recruited into Kings Dominion, a secret academy for the Deadly Arts, where he struggles to find his place among a community of the deadliest characters in the world -- literally fighting every day for survival. It is in this struggle he tries to find purpose and family in an unlikely group of outcast misfits who plan to use their skills to really change the world for the better... by breaking every rule there is.

I hadn't read Deadly Class from Image Comics before. Unfortunately, I decided to jump in at issue #36 which just released...DON'T DO THAT! I spoiled the big ending of the first story arc. And it's a big one...smh. But if you've read all the issues up to #36 then you're gonna love it.

Back to the TV show... I absolutely love this show for many reasons. First, I'm an 80s child. As in I graduated from high school and college in the 80s. You don't get any eightier than me. Deadly Class is set in the 80s and they got it right. So they got me with the nostalgia angle.

Bonus, the creators of the comic have made sure the TV show stays as true to the story as possible. As we all know, most adaptations, while still entertaining, are barely recognizable to the original material. Ask any Venom fan. Not only do they keep to the story, but they also do flashbacks in the show in animation with the same artwork used in the comic. Cool creative decision.

The story is pretty simple. Assassin school for kids. This is where parents who are part of mafia organizations, cartels, syndicates, white supremacy groups, CIA send their kids. Each year Head Master Lin recruits some street kids with no ties to a group or family if they seem like they could do well in the program.

I don't know why they show has grabbed my attention so quickly, but the dark humor mixed with drama is definitely part of it. There are many themes and social issues addressed as a group of misfit rejects try to survive in this school.

My husband and 17 year-old-daughter are also hooked. There have been three episodes so far (airs Wed. 10pm on SyFy) so there is plenty of time to catch up.

5 "Don't read comic book issue #36 first" Sheep

SharonS

Selah's Chilling TV Review: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

TV Series (2018– )
Creator: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Stars: Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis
Season 1- 11 episodes
TV-14
runtime: 1h
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
As her 16th birthday nears, Sabrina must choose between the witch world of her family and the human world of her friends. Based on the Archie comic.

Not gonna lie, when I heard The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was coming to Netflix, I was stoked. I loved the 90's show, but also grew to love her other incarnations, including The Chilling Adventures comics. I was also nervous as hell because the source comics are, shall we say, intense.

So how does the newest version of Sabrina measure up? Let's take a look. The series starts more established than other incarnations, which I like. We don't need a total rehash here, plus it sets this take apart from other versions. Sabrina is already aware and used to her powers, she and Harvey are already close, and she's already an established student at Baxter High. I also like that she has more of an established friend circle. Rosalind and Suzie are solid, interesting characters with subplots of their own. I love that a full range of people is included, and though I've seen different thoughts on how well that representation is actually done, for me it adds to the empowered vibe and is better than a lot of other things airing at the moment. Your mileage may vary. 

The main arc of the show is not just Sabrina keeping what she is secret, but deciding whether to side with her witch side or her mortal side (path of night/path of light). Add in an entity that takes over her teacher, other witches her own age, and freakin Satan, and you've got a hell of a plot on your hands. 

The good: I personally love that we get to see more of Greendale and other points of view than we ever did with Westbridge. Part of that is the format - an hour drama gives you more room than a family sitcom. The fact that the town is incorporated into the witchcraft history, though, grounds things for me. The decision to outright hit plot points that the 90s show danced around for seasons is a relief. Yes, let's please let Harvey and Sabrina's friends know sooner than later so that can actually be explored. Yes, let's bring in the witch hunter lineage from the start instead of a mid-series mcguffin. Let's have tons to work with right off the bat and keep the relationship aspect a subplot. The adjusted focus really brings home that it's a different type of show (Not to hate on the sitcom, mind you, but why do the same things twice?). 

I love the revamp of a lot of the characters. The performances are solid across the board and help push things along in some of the clunkier moments. Sabrina has been developed into a fantastic character - she retains her good intentions and recklessness, but this time the consequences are much higher than in the '90s, the lessons more permanent. Some of the plot elements are a little sudden and it's slow to build in places, but I never felt like it doesn't work.

I love the darkness in this. It brings out Sabrina's choices much more. Characters don't come to play, and it offers a very different take on the decisions that Sabrina and the others face. By incorporating more of the main cast into the mythos, everyone has much more of a stake in things and are affected by her decisions. 

The new additions are fun and generally used well. I feel for Rosalind and Suzie and can't wait to see what happens to them. I love Prudence's attitude and how she learns about all the things going on within the Church of Night. Madame Satan is a beast. Father Blackwood fulfills the questionable authority figure role adequately. It's amazing to see Ambrose brought back from obscurity. His snark and confinement are a smart substitute for Salem and he walks the line between hilarious and sympathetic well so far.

As for the old - Hilda and Zelda fill their roles as mentors but also get to explore their own issues. Harvey...for the first time I get why Sabrina would be into Harvey other than he's cute and she's supposed to. That's nothing against other actors - I think this version is plain given more to do and is allowed to reflect more nuance and empathy.

I also really love the overt discussion of gender roles and talk about struggling for things like power, freedom, and love. Sabrina has always walked a line between a reactionary and proactive character, so to see her still being a little naive but also being more aggressive in her intentions is fantastic. There are some bold choices going on that match the vibe of who Sabrina and how the franchise has grown. It's interesting that this isn't just witch vs mortal. There's a lot of grabs for power within the coven, itself, and how that might play out in the future fascinates me. 

The bad: Salem doesn't talk. How dare you. I'm hanging onto a last-minute reveal in the last episode and keeping hope on that front because come on.

The setting is also a little confusing. The comics are set in the sixties, but this is more a modern setting with severe retro vibes. Aesthetically it's really cool, but at times the more modern aspects feel out of place, or you start wondering why we aren't seeing more of them. 

The ick/elephant in the room: So here's my take on the Satanism/witchcraft portrayal. Honestly, it doesn't bother me, but I'm also familiar with the source material and not part of the affected groups. This show is a thousand times less dark than The Chilling Adventures comics, for one. It definitely leans into horror with religious tones, so if that bothers you, maybe skip this. It's all very overdone 1800s-ish dark fantasy Satanism, so to me it feels more fantasy oriented. I do like that the magic is more front and center vs a gimmick for adventures or clothes changes. 

Believe me, I love that about the original, but it wouldn't work here. By making the magic have bigger stakes and consequences (and look more serious), it grounds things in the universe a lot more. 

Honestly, the witchcraft aspect has always been a bit clunky. There's no great way to portray it, and it is a little convoluted. If Sabrina's half mortal, that should make witch a race but there are covens which are also called churches and...yeah. I can see where it's hard to know how to take it. My take is that the 90s show had the same problem in different ways, and it distanced itself from real-world aspects as much as it could and still caught flack for it. At some point, you need to turn your mind off and enjoy this for what it is. 

Other than that, there are gore and adult elements. Some work better for me than others. I loved the use of autopsy in Ambrose's dream sequence, the Feast of Feasts is unnerving, but a bit with an evil scarecrow didn't do much for me and looked too obviously CGI. Overall, though, the horror elements bring a creepiness to Greendale that we haven't seen before and emphasizes the divide Sabrina faces. 

But it's not like my Sabrina/the other elephant in the room - Guys. Come on. There's no definitive Sabrina. She started life as a comic character and has had many incarnations and evolutions. Life moves on past the 90s. It's fine to not like something or to prefer a version, but one version does not invalidate the other. That being said, I loved the Melissa Joan Hart show. And I love this show. If you pay attention, there are a lot of little tributes to the sitcom. The dream demon episode feels similar in structure to its predecessor but played straight. A lot of this show feels that way. 

Instead of Libby, we have the Weird Sisters. Instead of playing their codependency for laughs, Hilda and Zelda struggle with their relationship (boy howdy do they) and still have doomed attempts at dating. Rosalind And Suzie are great 2018 replacements for Jenny and Valerie. Nick is a more formidable evolution of Dashiell. Principal Hawthorne is very much a serious take on Mr. Kraft. Sabrina is still campaigning hard for good. Instead of pushing food drives and editorials on studying vs sports, she's focused on fair treatment of students, banned books, and saving the whole town from death. There are little things Kiernan Shipka does that takes me straight back to Melissa Joan Hart's mannerisms. Harvey is even called Farm Boy as an insult and multiple scenes take place at the kitchen counter. Little sequences have similar beats but played for different emotions. There are still plenty of fun moments and plenty of times I caught myself laughing. I honestly don't know if you could put the comics on the screen as is because if you think this is dark, oof. 

If anything, this blends the Chilling Adventures comics with the 90s sitcom and somehow makes it work. This is how to reboot (if you want to call it that) well. 

For me, personally, it finally feels like a franchise grew up with me from an adorkable teen into something that can mean well and not be afraid to be twisted. And that is amazing. Is it dark? Hells yeah. Is it different? Yes and no. Is it fun? If you like horror and can appreciate a different side to the characters, absolutely. 

4.5 sheep (let the cat talk and we'll discuss the rating)

About the Author:

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Selah Janel is a writer who is trying to start doing that again instead of reading manga all the time.

Guest Post: Music and Writing (Damned Series by LM Pruitt)+ excerpt

HODGE-PODGE

Playlists are a huge thing in the book world. Readers always want to know what writers were listening to when they wrote that scene, you know the one, the one which ripped the reader’s heart out or sent shivers down their spine or made the reader’s heart beat a little faster. Writers, for the most part, are more than happy to share the details of what inspired them or helped move the story along. Karen Marie Moning, for example, is famous for not only sharing her playlist but also incorporating lyrics into her work.

Unfortunately, I am not nearly as organized.
Now, that isn’t to say I don’t listen to music when I’m working. However, since I tend to write in coffee shops and restaurants, whatever I’m listening is Pandora or Muzak with the occasional political discussion thrown in for good measure. The music in the coffee shop tends to change with whoever is behind the counter—Mondays and Wednesdays, it’s eighties music with a foray once in a while in to classic country. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s music from the fifties and sixties, heavy on the Rat Pack and blues.
This is music which, for the most part, I wouldn’t listen to while relaxing at home. It is, however, music which has provided some of my biggest plot breakthroughs. The huge cliffhanger scene at the end of BARRY which set up the premise for DAMNED happened because I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You played on Pandora and got stuck in my head for a week. The first intimate scene in DAMNED was written while Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On was playing in the background—which gave me more than a few giggles, to be honest. As I’m writing this, getting ready to dive back in to the world of DAMNED, Tainted Love is playing on Pandora—again, shockingly apropos.

Influence can come in the strangest of places and at the strangest of times. Mine tends to come at eight in the morning, surrounded by ducks and people on their way to work and a hodge-podge of music—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Damned (Damned Book One)

by LM Pruitt
Release Date: February 15
Genre: PNR
256 pages
From the writer of the international bestselling WINGED series comes a look at the other side... where it's good to be bad....

I was thirty years old when I chose to die--or rather to give up my soul.

Eternal youth, endless money... and sex.

Mind blowing, life changing, otherworldly sex.

For all those things, being damned is a small price to pay.

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND EXTREMELY GRAPHIC SEX SCENES. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Amazon

See the Entire 4 Book Series on Amazon

4 1/2 Sheep Review of Damned

Excerpt Damned:
“I’m Lacey Jackson.” She stuck out one hand, something in her eyes daring me to not take it. “And you are…?”

“Julie Watson.” I took her hand, making my reluctance more than obvious. The second my skin made contact with hers, a spark of energy shot through me so violently I couldn’t help but gasp. Swallowing, I said, “What brings you to Savannah?”

“Oh, I’m here for work.” Without releasing my hand, she slipped out of her seat and slid in to the one across from me. Leaning in, she lowered her voice and said, “I was fully prepared for it to be another dull, routine trip but now… well, now I think I’m glad I got assigned this route.”

“Oh.” The low fluttering in my stomach wasn’t unfamiliar—I was far from a virgin and I’d not only done Mardi Gras and Spring Break in Miami but I’d also spent a month in Europe after my college graduation. But this… this was something different. And not because it was caused by a woman.

This was… raw. Visceral. Almost feral. Like she’d tapped in to some hunger I wasn’t even aware I’d had and now that I did the idea it would go unfulfilled was almost too much to bear.

“You should come work with me.” She lifted our joined hands, brushing her lips over my knuckles. “I have a feeling you would be… amazing.”

“What?” It was as if all my attention was focused on the small bit of skin where she’d kissed me, tendrils of lust spooling out through the rest of my body in lazy ribbons. “What do you… what do you do?”

“I collect souls.” Her eyes darkened, her breath catching in her throat and I realized for the first time I wasn’t the only one affected by our contact. “Or rather the energy from them. The actual soul is taken up by someone else—it doesn’t matter, the details can be explained later.”

“You collect….” I trailed off, part of me sure she was joking and an even larger part of me sure she wasn’t. “Really. Why?”

“Because I can.” She flicked her tongue over her lips and I sucked in a shallow breath. “Because it’s fun.”

“But that would make you….”

“A demon, yes.” This time when she smiled, a dimple appeared in her left cheek and I was caught with the sudden urge to kiss it. “More specifically a succubus.” My confusion must have shown because she laughed. “I fuck people for their energy—sometimes to death, sometimes not. It all depends.”

“And you want to do that to me?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, her hair sliding across her shoulders, the tips curling over the swell of her breasts. “I told you. I want you to work with me and my sisters and Lilith.” She leaned closer and I breathed deep, the scent of her perfume almost painfully exotic. “I want you to join the ranks of the Morning Star and spend eternity tempting the weak and the wicked.”

What she was suggesting was lunacy. Madness. Even if I believed her, the idea of giving up my life to be some sort of demonic minion was ridiculous. Although….

What would I be giving up? A lifetime spent catering to David’s whims, denying myself the things I truly enjoyed because it would be bad for his reputation or his political chances or his weight? A lifetime attempting to please my parents and knowing it would never happen because nothing would ever overshadow Joanne’s sacrifice? A lifetime being nothing but the substitute?

What, exactly, would I be giving up?

“Jules.” The nickname I hated hearing from David sounded and felt like a caress coming from Lacey. Lifting our hands again, she ran her tongue over one of my fingertips before nipping lightly. Her voice was heavy with promise when she spoke again. “Come play with me.”

“Yes.” I breathed out the single word before leaning over the table and crushing my mouth to hers.

Who needed a soul anyway?

Wicked (Damned Book Two)

by LM Pruitt
Release Date: April 2017
Genre: PNR
181 pages
All things truly wicked start from innocence.
—Ernest Hemingway

Being a demon isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Especially when you make a massive mistake your first month on the job.

Even more so when your sister is one of the all-star players on the other team.

Add in the rumors of not one but two coups and it’s not hard to see—something wicked this way comes….

Amazon

5 Sheep Review of Wicked

Ruin (Damned Book 3)

by LM Pruitt
Release Date: May 31, 2017

Genre: PNR
83 pages
I can resist everything except temptation—Oscar Wilde

But what happens when temptation is everywhere?

Cam is tempting to me toward the darkness.

Barry is tempting me toward the light.

And I want them both. I want it all.

Temptation will be my salvation. Or my ruin.

Amazon
5 Sheep Review of Ruin

Torment (Damned Book Four)

by LM Pruitt
Release Date August 8, 2017
Genre: PNR
164 pages
Enemies are so stimulating.--Katherine Hepburn

If you can look past the part where they're trying to kill you.

The Damned want my head on a platter. The Winged have similar plans.

As for Morning Star and the Power... well, only They know.

One false step... and everything is lost.

CONTAINS SCENES OF GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Amazon
4 Sheep Review of Torment

About the Author:

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L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice. She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

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