Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

Literally nothing happened.

80% devoured this in one sitting and then sleep claimed me and I just finished the last 20%!<br /><br />Love love this series. I don’t want it to end. Please Grace Mcginty pretty pleaseeeeee.

<br />Pages: 268<br />My rating: 3.5<br /><br />I was wondering, what will happen in the third book, as Raine has found most of her harem, and the Angeline situation is solved. She is the owner of immortal cupcake. But the author found a nice turn, to keep the story interesting. Of course all through the book Raine gets from one problem into another and they are all life threatening. In this book she seems to be accepted in Niso as the Alpha Mate. But she is only shorty there, so no one knows. Also the first step to Eden Academy is laid, because we meet Layla and her two boyfriends, who would like to move Eden Academy from Boston to Canada near to Niso and Dark River.<br />I enjoyed the book very much.<br /><br />The Characters: Names and descriptions of the persons<br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="eba720fa-c38e-4cba-b0ea-df382f03aa1e" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="eba720fa-c38e-4cba-b0ea-df382f03aa1e"><br /><b>Mika McKellan renamed Reine Baxter</b>: our FMC, new in town, starting a new life as a vampire, attacks men<br />The Guy so far:<br /><b>Judge</b>: Vampire, known as the Drifter, is mysterious, has a dark past he never talks about, doesn’t do commitment (he stays the night and is gone in before breakfast), Calls Raine: Raine Days and Sugar.<br /><b>Brody</b>: Shifter, he can shift in all kinds of mammals, Alpha of the native Canadian shifter pack, good tracker<br /><b>Tex</b>: Mika’s neighbour since they were little, could not believe she is dead and found her in Calgary where she was clubbing, Follows her to Dark River and finds Raine, is a shifter without that he knew, Brody suspects that he is half shifter and half human, is blind, is mated to Mika, Rockstar<br /><b>Sheriff Walker Watson</b>: Sheriff of Dark River, loves Raine from the very beginning but does not give in to his urges, because he wants to solve her case and can’t be involved in her harem while doing it (otherwise he is too distracted by Raine), liked by all people in the town<br /><b>Nico</b>: Elder and Town founder, made the rules, can compel people to tell the truth, Counsellor of the town with a very strange sense of interior design, wants to go on a date with Raine, often has a sad expression<br /><b>X</b>: Enforcer for the Vampire Nation, big guy, barges in with Judge to save Raine, a lot of scars, ask Raine about how to apply to her harem twice, has many secrets<br /><br />Applicants to the harem:<br /><b>Lucius</b>: Nicos twin. He is a cruel psychopath. Likes to break people. Has a thing for Raine and sends her heads of people who treated her wrong.<br /><br />The Town or Side Characters:<br /><b>Tilda</b>: person at the diner<br /><b>Bertie/Bert</b>: works at the diner as a cook<br /><b>Beatrice</b>: Owner of the Diner<br /><b>Alice Sommer</b>: Towns Doctor and supplier of blood bags<br /><b>Angeline</b>: Owner of the towns Bakery with bookshop and Cinema, rents an apartment to Raine, bakes the best things, girlfriend of Alice, hires Raine to run the bookshop which is basically a library and the filme nights<br /><b>Ella</b>: Boutique Owner, friend with Cresta and Angeline, gives Raine her first outfit<br /><b>Cesta</b>: Owner of the hairdresser’s shop, does a makeover of Raine<br /><b>Miranda</b>: Witch. Used to be the partner of Judge and X as an Enforcer team for the Vampire Nation. Miranda had an affaire with Judge knowing that X was into her. Because of that complications arise and they split, leaving the Vampire Nation. She ward Houses, Territories and other stuff. Has special skill set, which is not described in detail.<br /><br />Shifters:<br /><b>Nell</b>: Grandmother of Brody and matriarch of the pack. She likes Raine is has no problems with Raine’s harem or that Raine is a Vampire.<br /><b>Kelly</b>: Brody’s sister. She is assigned to Raine to keep her safe.<br /><b>Annie</b>: Brody’s cousin. She and Kelly are assigned to keep Raine safe. She talks a lot. But is very professional when doing her job.<br /><b>Ghost</b>: Brody’s friend. He is one of the best protectors of the pack and looks after the Alpha family. He does not talk but uses sign language. He is also assigned to protect Raine. He is secretly in love with Annie, and when Raine finds out that he is into her, she tries to bring them together.<br /><b>Bobby</b>: Brody’s nephew. He is only 10 but already takes care of smaller or weaker kids. Raine thinks that he will be alpha after Brody. He helps a little girl called Lulu.<br /><b>Lulu</b>: is abused by her father. She is shy but has a heart of a lion. When she talks to Raine her father comes to get her telling her that she should not talk to the Death Dealer. He manhandles her to make her go with him.<br /><b>Colton</b>: Lulu’s older brother. He is abused by his father and is really down because of it.<br /><b>Tye and Arla</b>: Body’s cousin and his wife and also Annie’s brother and sister in law. They are shifters living in Niso and have lots of kids. Their son Bobby is an Alpha.<br /><br /><b>Alexander</b>: Dragon shifter, Father of Tex, King of shifters, Representative in the Convocation for the shifter.<br /><b>Lyla, Alistair and Micah</b> Preternatural beings (people who are physiologically different, ether born that way or changed, includes humans), Alistair and Micah are Lycanthropes. The three want to start Eden Academy between Niso and Dark River.<br /><b>Titus</b>: Older brother of Nico and Lucius, who is also their maker. Old Vampire how has a say in the Vampire Nation and the Convocation. He is sane.<br /><b>Ashar</b>: Old vampire who comes to Raine and wants a part of her.<br /></label><br /><br />Summery: detailed, lot’s of spoiler<br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="07c901aa-1604-4f02-8b86-90e20eb2dfba" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="07c901aa-1604-4f02-8b86-90e20eb2dfba"><br />At the beginning of the book Raine finds a head at her doorstep. Lucius is being nice and courting her with bloody presents. She kind of likes the thought behind it but not the mess. And she tells Lucius that. Afterwards no head appears at her doorstep. Alexander the Shifter King is staying in Dark River. He tries to build a relationship with Tex. But Tex seems to be scared and he is not as enthusiastic as Alexander.<br />Raine has decided to reopen the immortal cupcake Bakery. While she is there cleaning a bit, Nico comes over and tells her that he can bake. He tries to teach her but fails miserably. But he thinks that he would like to be her partner.<br />In the middle of the night Raine is awoken by something. Turns out it’s someone. Miranda arrived at her place and wants to talk to her. Miranda tested Raine’s blood and tells her to never give blood to a witch. She said that she thought there was something special about Raine and she did find it out. She tells Raine that she has some Sccubus blood in her. They are interrupted by the guys and they also hear the news. Raine is upset, because she thinks that her Scubbus Genes are the reason why the guys stay with her. Brody tells her that is not true, because a matebond is given to the shifter by the ancients. So he thinks, that Raine is important. She believes the shifters. She ask for some space for the night. And she wallows in self pity, because she thinks that the others love her because she is a subs.<br />Lucius is back. He wants to talk to Raine. He tells her that she keeps his crazy in check and he feels more alive when she is around. She tells him, that she has to ask the guys.<br />In the next chapters the guys reassure Raine that they love her for herself and not for the succubus traits. And slowly she believe them and finally she tells them that Lucius proposed that he wants her to be with her. And she also confesses that she would like that but only if the others agree.<br />There is all kind of semexy times in this book, it felt like in every chapter. And they try out all the kinks the guys have and Raine enjoyed each and every kinky thing they do to her even though she never did it before.<br />Alexander warns Raine that the word is out that she is a Sccubus. Vampires with any stage of craziness appear in Dark River. Some of them want to take her and keep her as a sex slave to keep the Vampires sane others want to keep her for herself. But the guys fight of those who try to take Raine by force and Lucius kills a lot of them and burries them in the forest.<br />Lucius visits and brings Raine a present. When she opens it and find a wolf shifter puppy in it she is shocked. She ask him where he found it and he tells her that he bought the omega pup in an underground black market. She was there with two littermates, an Alpha and a Beta. Raine tells him to bring her the other two puppy. And Lucius promises to be back and asks if she wants him to kill the seller. She whole hearted agree. <br />The Omega puppy is scared of all the guys and Raine at first. But then X somehow gets through to her and makes her eat some pancakes. After that she sleeps on the couch. <br />That evening he returns with two other pups. A five year old boy called Christopher and a girl called Camila. Christopher tells them that the omega is called Enit and Enit jumps into his arms. Camila doesn’t speak and Christopher doesn’t like Brody because all Alphas are bad, him included. Raine is heartbroken but promises them that nothing will happen to them. They ask them if they should find their family but Christopher does not want to stay with his family. And he does not want a pack. But he is willing to stay with Raine. Raine tells him that her guys are also a pack, but somehow that is okay for the pups. They adjust and are less scared of the adults. The next day Raine and the guys take the pups to the Diner. Beatriece and Bert go crazy over the pups and tell them that they will keep them save.<br />After a few days, Brody, Tex, Raine and Nico have to return to Niso because there is a request of some strangers. And Brody wants to introduce the pups to his pack. When they arrive there Annie and Ghost take care of the pups. <br />In the evening there is a meeting with Layla, Alistair and Micah, who want to open Eden Academy between Niso and Dark River. They talk about it late into the night, but no final decision is made. Eden Academy is supposed to be a school for preternatural kids.<br />The next day the kids are nervous, because there is a cook out at Nell’s place. But Bobby takes them with him to play some games with the other kids and they enjoy it.<br /><br />The day Raine wants to reopen the immortal cupcake two Vampire come there too and want to talk to her. But she tells them that she is not interested, in a nice way. One of the guys get handsy but the guys will not have it. They fight them off. Everly, Kelly’s daughter came to help in the immortal cupcake. Raine has a date night with Walker where he lives his fantasy with her. At the end of the night they are called to the hospital because for his throat slit and they are trying to save him and manage it. Again a vampire tries to take Raine and again the twins intervene. Alexander returns and tells Raine that the Collector had a hit on her guy. Nico hears that and he and Lucius leave Dark River for a few day, because they have an idea how to save Raine. Alexander finds out that they adopted three wolf shifter pups and Raine tells him that he is a great grandfather now. And she tells him that even if he and Tex are not related, he is always welcome at their home and the wolf shifter need a great grandfather. The next night Miranda uses Tex and Alexanders blood to do some magic to find out if they are related. Turns out that Tex is Alexanders grandson. His daughter gave him up. They are both happy and relieved.<br />Some time after that Nico and Lucius are back in time to kill some crazy vampires. But they brought their brother Titus. Titus proposes that he will ask the Convocation to vote Raine into the Convocation as a Representative of the Sccubus. With that she will also get an Enforcer detail to keep her save. He also asks her if she is willing to help to find a cure for the crazy vampires. The only thing she has to do is donate some body fluids. Raine agrees to all.<br />Raine and Everly want to have a girls night at the warded apartment above the bakery. The agree to stay inside. In the evening Ashar returns. And Raine makes the mistake to push her hand out of the apartment and Ashar takes his chance pulls Raine out of the apartment. She does her best to defend her. At the end Everly throws a knife through his eye and saves Raine. Lucius chops up the vampire and burn him.<br />At the end is another reopening of the immortal cupcake. And in the middle of it some scary guys come into the Bakery. They tell Raine that she was voted to the Representative of all Preternatural. Because of her several Preternatural were saved, and Titus had the idea to give her a different job. And in the middle of the town there are the victims of Ashar, who were freed and they are scared.<br /><br />Raine calls Lyla to tell her that she need Eden Academy asap.<br /></label>

4 stars. <br />Well. <br />That was a shit ending. <br />I’ll write the rest of my review later. I need a second to process, I think.<br /><br />Ok. So it’s been a few hours. I’ve read a whole other book. I think I’m ready to express why I found this so dissatisfying. <br /><br />Let’s start with the ending. <br />It just didn’t feel like an ending. <br />And I understand that’s because there’s another series connected to this, but I hate that. I much prefer for the author to fully end one series before starting another. You can still have them be interconnected without just fully copping out of writing an actual ending for the first one. <br /><br />Then the fact that this was single POV. <br />It would’ve been fine I think(still not something I fully enjoy, but fine) if their relationships weren’t so rocky and all over the place. <br /><br />And that brings me to one of the biggest things that I had a problem with, with this series. The relationships were all so different and in such different stages that nothing felt resolved or fully finished at the end. <br />Luscious was still crazy and not fully IN. X was only partway there. The relationships between the guys were all just budding and unresolved. Just, nothing felt complete or fully connected. It all felt precarious and like one wrong move could set them all back to the beginning at any second. <br /><br />And I just didn’t enjoy that feeling of uncertainty. <br /><br />Plus the sex. <br />It was hot. It had its good moments. But I was really hoping for more from it than I got with 7 guys in the harem. <br /><br />I guess I should’ve known since I felt a similar dissatisfaction from the other book I read from this author. I just didn’t connect the dots to them being from the same one until after I had already finished this series. <br />I think I learned my lesson now though. <br />I just don’t vibe with how this author writes.

This could’ve been a much more longer series and I wouldn’t complain.

This series is super cute I enjoyed getting to know all the characters and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future

Review on read #2:<br /><br />Downgraded to 3-stars from 4-stars. We find out how the young 19-year-old vampire FMC Raine managed to attract so many ancient powerful vampires to her harem, but I still felt that it was very hand-wavy without much substance. There was an attempt to create angst by showing Raine giving the men a chance break away from her in full disclosure, but they gave pretty weak reasoning to show why they were still attracted to her rather than probably the multitudes of other powerful vampires out there in the world.<br /><br />Tex still had inconsistent blindness, which irritated me. If a character is supposed to be blind, please have them act appropriately and not like the sighted.<br /><br />The smut was hot, and I enjoyed the tie-ins with the author's other series, but both the character development and action were lacking overall. It was a pretty easy and humorous read though, despite its shortcomings.<br />------<br />Ratings - completed series:<br />#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53148468-newly-undead-in-dark-river" rel="nofollow noopener">Newly Undead in Dark River</a>: ★★★★☆<br />#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49990827-happily-undead-in-dark-river" rel="nofollow noopener">Happily Undead in Dark River</a>: ★★★☆☆<br />#3 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54414998-pleasantly-undead-in-dark-river" rel="nofollow noopener">Pleasantly Undead in Dark River</a> (this book): ★★★☆☆<br />#4 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62046300-seductively-undead-in-dark-river" rel="nofollow noopener">Seductively Undead in Dark River</a>: ★★★★☆

Yes yes yes! <br /><br />I had to re-read the first two books in this series because I forgot the details (it felt like I read them 100 years ago— it was just February ??‍♀️). Anyway, I’m not sorry about that at ALL. I spent the last two days back in Dark River with Raine and her guys and loved every minute of it. Lucius and Nico... holy shit.<br /><br />Pleeeease let the next book be out soon!

Thoughts, musings and questions on the series as a whole.<br /><br />Can someone answer what’s up with shifter mates and how that works??? I have questions.<br />- how did Tex “accidentally” make Mika his mate when they had sex before she went to college? Was that said just to make it easier on the two of them because Brody later says that the ancestors or whatever decided who their mate is?? Which is it? An accidental mating or a mating decreed by the ancestors? Or can only an alpha have a shall we say fated mate?<br />- at another point we find out the females can have multiple Mates but males will only have one mate, one love. If that’s the case why does Tex want every D that swings his way? (Maybe V’s too, but there aren’t really any available V’s around him in the series) he also had no problem with the hit it and quit it with Mika who was supposedly his mate at that time?!? He only cared to find her when he thought she was dead, but before that he was totally fine with his many short term flings? That entire scenario makes me question their mate bond, yeah I know he had no idea but if it’s that strong of a bond why wouldn’t he have pursued a relationship with her rather than a one night stand? It’s not like he didn’t know where to find her.<br />-what’s up with Lucius and Raine? The end of this book they still seemed like a major question mark to me<br /><br />Judge/Tex/Raine<br />This is 100% my personal feelings and I know many would whole heartedly disagree but….<br />This is playing off a convo in book 2 between the 3 of them right before it goes to the next level with Judge and Tex. Judge is telling Raine that he and Tex have been taking it slow and haven’t had sex because Tex won’t let him without Raine being there( ok cool nice of you Tex but sounds like Judge would have done it without taking Raine into consideration bc as Judge himself said Tex wouldn’t let him which means Judge tried to push it). The next thing Judge says is that he and Tex aren’t a couple and that Raine is the glue that holds them together and this is where I call MAJOR BS!<br />Why I call BS on that statement both them not being a couple and Raine being their glue <br />- book 1 Judge doesn’t stay until morning with Raine until Tex is there and then suddenly he’s making Tex pancakes ( keep in mind Raine had to leave and Judge stayed with Tex, he also offered to stay and was eager to stay which is more than Raine ever got)<br />- book 1 Judge doesn’t tell Raine jacksh!t about himself. He tells TEX about where all of his scars came from and Raine happens to be there. Every piece of info about his past comes out bc and to Tex not Raine<br />- Tex and Judge spend most of their free time together, including dates and hang outs at Judges apartment from the beginning (Raine isn’t invited to Judge’s apartment until late in book 3 and X shows up or was invited to crash)<br />- Tex is given the opportunity/option to move in with Judge, you know, like they’re a couple. Raine is left to her own devices aka the orgy house<br />- book 2 he spends almost every night sleeping with Tex and Raine occasionally shows up to snuggle, yes she has other men so I get that, but come on if she’s their “glue” and they aren’t a couple they wouldn’t be together 24/7 like that. She’s the occasional celebrity guest in their relationship, esp book 2<br />-when Tex was gone he came by to give Raine a peck and then ran off to spend the day and night with Judge<br />- Any time the 3 of them are in a room together Raine gets a kiss and then Judge and Tex spend the rest of the scene glued to each other, it’s either leaning on each other, kissing, yearning looks, heads in laps etc etc etc (Raine even has an inner monologue moment in book 3 regarding this and that Judge doesn’t touch her very much and a brief moment of wondering if he’s only with her to be with Tex)<br />-Judge tells, I think Alexander, that Raine loves Tex more than anyone, even more than he does. So Judge does love Tex which is the opposite of not being a couple<br />- Judge admits to Raine in book 3 that her being a succubus was the only reason that he stayed with her in the beginning/came back for seconds( it was basically a why does it matter if that’s the only reason I stayed with you bc I’m not miserable so real high bar there Judge)<br />- the FaceTime call with Mika’s mom we find out that he told his parents he met a guy and fell in love/had a boyfriend aka Judge <br />- Raine telling Walker that Judge doesn’t need her time bc he has Tex so doesn’t feel like he’s missing anything with her<br /><br />Those are the main points I can think of to call bs on them not being a couple and Raine being their glue. I think if Tex made it to Dark River and Mika wasn’t there Tex would very likely still end up with Judge and forgotten about Mika or at least moved on emotionally.<br /><br />Really I guess I question Judge and Raine’s relationship. They each have what seems to be a real relationship with Tex, despite all the questions I have on how mates work and how that makes sense with Tex. At first it seemed like Judge and Raine were relationship goals and then a lot got in between them.<br />Why I don’t see Judge as being serious about Raine( or least so in love with her that she’s his glue and a reason to stay in Dark River)<br />- he doesn’t tell her anything personal unless Tex is there and he’s telling Tex (this includes things not covered by his vow of silence)<br />- he never invited her to his home<br />- they are rarely only, most of their sexy times involves someone else that he’s intimate with. They really only had one on ones in book 1 before Tex got there. After that I don’t remember them having any one on ones, always group scenes. The other guys had much more intimacy with Raine and time to grow and explore their relationship. She even tells Walker that he doesn’t need her time bc he has Tex so he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out on Raine time. I’m sorry but that doesn’t say relationship with Raine to me, that says he’s with Tex.<br />- he tells her the only reason he stayed around her was her succubus powers, once they find out what she is, and that it’s ok and he “loves” her and it’s fine bc he was miserable before and now he’s not as miserable or something<br />- after one scene with X and Raine he starts having one on ones with X but doesn’t say anything to her. She only finds out bc she walks in in them and Judge stares her down waiting to see if she gets upset. That says to me that he knows he’s in the wrong and should have had a conversation with her first. I’m not poly but I’m pretty sure one of the basic rules is to communicate and really over communicate so you don’t hurt someone or cross boundaries that have the potential to break a relationship. To be fair they all needed to be better, the guys frequently left Raine out of the communications like the group text they set up but didn’t add her to. Raine did a pretty good job of telling them what was happening if there was a new interest, happened with X, Nico and Lucius. She also didn’t hide anything from the original 4 guys before they were supposedly committed.

Frankly I'm amazed by this series. <br /><br />I had such a great time reading it and all the characters were very well written. <br />The plot was interesting and all the books added something ! <br /><br />I can understand that this "ending" is not for everyone because it doesn't feel like it's THE END but I'm pretty much satisfied about it. <br /><br />I have to say that this author very surprised me, I've read Manix by her and dnf it pretty early lol, around 8% I think (I'm not into the MPREG genre at all) and so I was very skeptical about reading something else by her (Deal with a demon was sweet tho) but it's probably one of the best reads I had this year.<br /><br />It's almost funny how I've started my Reverse Harem journey last year with Den of vipers (wasn't impressed) and then mostly reading through all the RH books I could get my hands on (thanks to the Dark Side series by CM Owens), I remember saying to myself that it'll NEVER be a genre for me because I'm very much into the possessive heroes (and now obsessive ones too lmao).<br /><br />Look at me now? It's one of my favorite genre and I'm very PICKY when it comes to it because I've read SO MANY BOOKS in this category and I can definitely say that this series is freaking FUNNY and AWESOME! <br /><br />Anyway ! It's not perfect but it was exactly what I was looking for