Dreamwalker by Allyson James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Return to Stormwalkers Universe

FINAL DECISION: A book ultimately about connections, caring and relationship wrapped in a paranormal shell, this book moves the mythology of the Stormwalkers series forward with the presence of all of Janet’s family and friends.

THE STORY: Janet Begay, Stormwalker and half-goddess, is planning her wedding to dragon Mick when the most powerful mage Emmett Smith demands her magic mirror or else he will take it from her — and he doesn’t care who gets hurt. When a battle with demons knocks Janet out and sends her to a dream world in the past, Janet and her friends and family begin to live in a world where the dreams of the past may not happen like before and where there are real dangers. Janet needs to find a way back to the present and defeat Emmett before everyone she loves is destroyed.

OPINION: This book has a lot of drama as Janet struggles through her dreams. Janet struggles with her ever increasing group of loved ones and friends. The more she cares about others, she is both more powerful and also more vulnerable. I especially liked how Janet’s relationship with her sister continues to evolve. In this book, they have a breakthrough. I also enjoyed being able to see Janet evaluate her relationship with Mick in her dreams. After reading the other books in the series, this book gives a sense of how far the two have traveled together and developed. While this book has a lot of action in it, I appreciate the relationships more.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is the first Stormwalker novel after a several year hiatus. Thankfully, the tone of the novels and the characters blend in nicely with the previous novels.

CONNECTED BOOKS: DREAMWALKER is the fifth book in the Stormwalkers series. The story here can be read as a standalone although there is a continuing mythology.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

Nightwalker by Allyson James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Action Packed with Overlapping Mysteries in this Paranormal Series

FINAL DECISION: An exciting, action packed entry in the Stormwalkers series. All the series favorites make appearances here and the mythology of the series continues to develop in new and unexpected ways.

THE STORY: Stormwalker Janet Begay owns the Crossroads Hotel. The friends, family and fiance consists of a variety of magical and non-magical creatures. When Ansel, a Nightwalker (aka vampire) is being sought for the murder of his girlfriend, Janet and her fiance Mick don’t believe that Ansel would have committed the crime. Unfortunately, Ansel himself is not sure that he did not kill her in a blood frenzy. When powerful magical creatures come after Ansel, Janet realizes that more is going on here than a possible murder.

OPINION: This book is an exciting chapter in the Stormwalkers series. There is much ambiguity here which is where this series excels. It is not certain that Ansel is innocent — in fact everyone and everything points to guilt on his behalf. Janet’s defense of him threatens her life and those she loves. The struggle with power, the betrayal of friends, mistakes made. All these themes are present here. This book is filled with a whole cast of characters from the series as it appears that everyone is after Ansel. Janet and Mick’s relationship opens in new directions in small ways in this book. Mick opens up in ways he hasn’t in previous books in the series. All this combines into a good paranormal mystery adventure.

WORTH MENTIONING: What is Mick up to?

CONNECTED BOOKS: NIGHTWALKER is the fourth book in the Stormwalkers series. The story is self contained and can be read as a standalone, however, there are ongoing personal stories regarding the characters that span the series of books and are not necessarily understood by reading only this book.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

Shadow Walker by Allyson James
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Favorite of the Series

“Nothing quite makes your night like falling two hundred feet into a sinkhole.”

FINAL DECISION: This is my favorite book in the series. The drama with the relationship between Janet and Mick raised the importance and tension in the story.

THE STORY: Janet Begay is a Stormwalker with a boyfriend, Mick, who is a dragon. When the ground collapses beneath Janet, she finds something dark under the ground. Even worse, it seems like darkness is all around and even Mick begins to act strangely.

OPINION: For me the best part of this book is the change in Mick and the threat to his relationship with Janet. Janet is challenged here because she realizes the real possibility of losing Mick. In many ways, she has taken their relationship for granted. The story in this book forces her to consider how much Mick means to her. There are other strange things going on in this town, but, for me, this book is best when Janet is having to consider how much the relationship and Mick means to her. This book is sad and at times very filled with angst. Because of the development in the relationship, this book is my favorite.

WORTH MENTIONING: One of the interesting things about this series is that the end of each book gives a little teaser about what is coming up in the future setting up one of the continuing stories.

CONNECTED BOOKS: SHADOW WALKER is the third book in the Stormwalker series. The story is self-contained although the continuing character relationships and some of the stories are continuing throughout the series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

Double Hexed by Allyson James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Novella About Janet and All Her Friends Trapped in Her Hotel by an Evil Spell

“That was my MIck. Forgiving me for turning into a crazy, murderous, insulting bitch who’d just tried to kill him. Times like these kept a relationship strong.”

FINAL DECISION: A book that takes all the main characters from the series and traps them in the hotel, this book ups the drama and the angst from the main series. Everything is condensed to good effect.

THE STORY: Janet Begay is a half-Navajo, half-underworld goddess with the power to control storms. She also runs a hotel in the Southwest. When her hotel is hexed, Janet along with her friends are trapped in the hotel. Cassandra, a witch believes that her past has caught up with her and she is the reason the hotel has been hexed.

OPINION: I enjoyed this book because it has all the good aspects of a Stormwalker book but everything has been condensed. Janet’s concerns about her powers, her love for her friends. The quirky personalities of the series cast of characters, the intense relationship between Janet and Mick, a weird paranormal mystery and serious action and danger. Sometimes novellas don’t accurately represent the tone or pace of the series, but this one does very well.

WORTH MENTIONING: This novella has a full storyline with a lot of drama and angst for such a short story.

CONNECTED BOOKS: DOUBLE HEXED is book 2.5 of the Stormwawlkers series. It can be read as a standalone another many of the nuances of relationships between the characters will be lost without the background of the other books.

STAR RATING: I give this novella 4 stars.

Firewalker by Allyson James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Expanding Mythology Makes This Book Better Than the First in the Series

“Despite everything Mick and I had been through, despite what we had together, I knew that Mick still watched me with wariness. He loved me, protected me, shared a bed with me, yes. Had complete faith that I wasn’t a danger to every living being on the planet, no.”

FINAL DECISION: FIREWALKER which improves and expands upon the paranormal world of the first book in the series has more emotional conflict between the characters and within Janet herself.

THE STORY: Janet Begay, a Stormwalker with goddess power from her evil mother, is concerned that her boyfriend MIck, a dragon, will be put on trial by the dragons for failing to kill her. She wants to help and Mick wants her to stay out of it. Janet is also struggling with her goddess powers that she cannot control. She has been warned that her friends might have to kill her as she becomes a danger to everyone. Also, there is a resurrected killer running around.

OPINION: The problem of Janet’s powers and the conflict it brings with her friends and lover was the best part of this book. Janet struggles with the powers she inherited from her mother. Those powers threaten to overcome the person that Janet is. I found this storyline to be more intriguing than the story in the first book in the series. In addition, this book assumes knowledge of the first book and thus there is less worldbuilding than in the first book. Additionally, the relationship between Janet and Mick feels more developed as well. This is a long term series where the character relationships are more slowly developed and there are ongoing and overlapping stories. This book is an episode, but there are many things left unresolved.

WORTH MENTIONING: The relationship between Janet and Mick feels much more developed in this book at by the end of the book has become much more a pairing of equals.

CONNECTED BOOKS: FIREWALKER is the second book in the Stormwalker series. The books should be read in order because the mythology builds upon itself.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.