A Void of Magic is an excellent paranormal fantasy.
I really enjoyed the characters: they fell very distinct and I got very attached to, or intrigued by them. Kennedy is a particularly great main character: she is strong willed, smart, independent but still flawed and interesting to follow. Her growth throughout the book is immense and I was happy to to realize that her character was way more complex and rich than what meets the eye. Nora is also especially endearing.
The writing is clever and compelling although sometimes a bit cliché (I counted one breath Kennedy released but didn't realize she was holding). Nevertheless it's the type of novel you're going to finish in one sitting or keep thinking about until you're done.
The world-building is strong but I found myself wanting a bit more, especially as too where the Null came from....
Many questions are left unanswered by this book and the bigger overarching plot of the whole series (or what I assume will be that plot) comes into play pretty late. This is not a bad thing at all, it just means I'm gonna count the days until the release of Bound by Bloodsong and will keep coming up about theories about what's gonna happen from there.

Great paranormal story it had mystery, murder and a likeable heroine .I can't wait to read the next series.

The Rain Hotel is the only null zone on the planet. It is (*in appearance*) a safe heaven for paranormals who need to escape, at least temporary, from their magic, and the Rain family has run it for centuries protecting the secret of paranorms' existence.
Kenney Rain, however, doesn't want anything to do with it. So bad that an ill-timed vacation has forced her back among the paranorms' world, with all its secrets and feuds. So much worse that she has found herself amid a paranormal mess, with the insufferable daughter of the local Alpha wanting her to host her wedding unconcerned by the war that will spark from it, a missing groom (who is, btw, the scion of the most powerful vampire around), two unreachable parents with mysterious whereabouts, and tons of secrets.

This book is UF at its finest and totally blew me away.
I loved everything about this, including but not limited to:
- the interesting and well-crafted world-building
- the beautiful storytelling and flow of the story
- the unpredictable storyline full of twist
- our oh-so relatable heroine
- the Rain Hotel staff
- the secrets
- the reasons that kept Kennedy away from the paranormal world and the choices she made that entangled her with it again
- the believable hint of romance that connects Kennedy to Blake
- the starcrossed relationship between Nora and Jared
- all the unanswered questions that I hope will be sated in the next book(s)

Five years ago Kennedy ran away from the Rain after angering the alpha werewolf and vampire by harbouring unsanctioned paranorms during their crazy periods e.g. the full moon. Now she’s back to cover as her parents go on vacation, but discovers all is not what it seems at the Rain and juggling school, a job, a love sick vampire and werewolf - with the consequences of that love, Kennedy doesn’t think things could get any worse.

Honestly, I loved this book. It’s very much going into the NA genre and so has that easy read writing style. I generally couldn’t put this book down and was itching to read it whilst I was in work. The plot was so good and I loved how the romance is slow burning, so the focus was more on the world building and the mysteries that Kennedy has to solve.

This book took me back to why I fell in love with reading and why paranormal romances will always be my favourite. It sort of reminded me of the Morganville Vampires series, with this hidden place for paranormals. The whole concept of the hotel is really interesting and I can’t wait to find out more about the treaty.

I have nothing bad to say about this book because I loved every part of it. The writing was just amazing and I loved all of the characters- especially Jared with his quirky personality. This is one of those books that could never be too long. I feel like I could read a million pages and not be bored.

Overall, if you love a good paranormal book, this one is definitely for you. I’m literally itching to get my hands on the second one because I need to know what happens and the little preview chapter has me craving more. It’s definitely a book I’ll be rereading constantly in the future.

Rated ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: 27th July 2021

Kennedy left her parents' paranormal inn for a chance at a normal life years ago, but grudgingly agrees to return for a few days while her parents take a vacation. A unique spot that nulls magic, the Rain Inn is a highly popular place for werewolves, vampires, and other paranormals who want a break from the pressures of their magic. When things start going wrong over her watch, and her parents avoid communicating with her, Kennedy is in over her head with a potential Romeo & Juliet inspired war between werewolves and vampires, financial issues, snooping human police, and belligerent guests. Something is going on, and as much as she'd rather not, it's up to Kennedy to fix all the problems.

I wasn't too pulled in at the beginning. I was hoping for something more magical, like Illona Andrew's innkeeper series. But Kennedy is just a regular human. She doesn't have her own magic. She has no super special innkeeper powers. This was just a normal inn that happened to be a paranormal hotspot due to its nullification abilities. So yes, there were a lot of werewolves and vampires and all that, but I wasn't too excited with it until about halfway through. Out wasn't bad, but it wasn't notable either. The latter half of this book has a lot of emotionally charged moments, and the characters' choices and interactions became way more absorbing.

I like romances when they're very well done or not at all. I have a lot more respect for characters who avoid romantic entanglements when it's logically impractical. Half the urban fantasies out there have a hot supernatural and the protagonist jumping into a relationship at some point. I really enjoyed how Kennedy was often tempted by at least one paranormal man, but every decision she made was backed by logic and a very strong backbone, not by runaway hormones. Even if she ends up with the guy eventually - they do have a good chemistry when they're not biting off the other's head - it would be a sound decision on her part, not just because he's supernaturally hot and very appealing. I respected her a lot every time she stood up for herself against him and against every other paranormal that tried pushing her around. She may be powerless magically, but she's incredibly strong willed, and despite her humaness, most paranormals come to respect her for it as well.

The inter-character relationships were very nicely done. There was a good enemies to maybe friendship subplot, among other smaller, but still important side character relationships and individualized personalities.

Given the way this book ends, I'm very interested in continuing the series. It doesn't leave off on a cliffhanger, but there are plenty of unresolved issues that kept me up reading way past my bedtime, and I'm too emotionally involved now to drop it.

3.5 out of 5 stars

❤️ Original concept
❤️ Great characters
🚫 Didn't find it engaging
🚫 No romance

The concept of a hotel where the power of supernatural creatures is nullified is really interesting. Here, vampires and werewolves can take a break from their supernatural side (and its weaknesses). However, I wouldn't like to find myself in charge of managing such a place. Unfortunately for Kennedy Rain, she has the week from hell when she finds herself in this exact position. Her parents managed to keep the peace for decades, but Kennedy isn't having the same luck.

I loved Kennedy's character. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and combined with being both passionate and stubborn, she is "pleasantly reckless". I also really liked Nora, Deagan, and Jared. They have great potential to be very interesting characters. I didn't really connect with the potential love interest Blake. I don't usually have this problem, but the majority of the time he didn't seem very pleasant to me...

You definitely shouldn't go into this book expecting romance. Yeah, there's some chemistry between the characters, but that's it. I really hope we get more in the sequel.

I'm stuck between rating this 3 or 4 stars. I can't pinpoint any fault, but I just didn't find it very engaging. It felt kind of... lacklustre. My general response was... meh. I didn't not like it, but I also didn't love it. Even the ending didn't leave me excited for more. It fell a little flat with me.

This review was posted on Goodreads on 08/07/2021 and will be posted on Amazon when eligible.

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

CAWPILE: 5.14

Rating: 2.75/5

Recommended: YES!

So this book is the first in a new Urban Fantasy series by Sandy Williams. The series follows Kennedy, a human girl whose parents own a hotel called the Rain. The Rain Hotel sits in a null zone, where werewolves don’t turn at the sight of the moon and where vampires don’t burn in the sun, making it a hive of paranormal activity. For five years Kennedy has escaped her heritance but now, with her parents away on vacation and a wedding threatening to break the delicate peace established between species, she has returned.

I know that 2.75/5 doesn’t seem like a particularly good rating, but I want to make something clear. I REALLY enjoyed this book. If I were to use the same rating system as most reviewers, this would be about a 4-star read. But I use CAWPILE, which combines a bunch of ratings on different criteria to give me my final rating. For me, a 2.5 is average. 2.75 is good, but not amazing.

This book was a breeze to read. The first chapter felt like a bit of an infodump, and I don’t think that the world was ever established in a way that I thoroughly understood it, but the writing style carried me through the plot. As far as an urban fantasy concept goes, I hadn’t seen this idea presented in a novel before, which I really enjoyed.

The main character of the novel, Kennedy, was very biased against the paranorms, to the extent that I questioned whether she was a dependable narrator. This was addressed by multiple characters and is something that was confronted over the novel. I appreciated that the author didn’t go out of her way to make Kennedy ‘not like other girls’ or quirky but demonstrated how her knowledge of the paranormal world had negatively affected her own life to this point. Sure, some of her decisions had me screaming at her inside my head, but I could see the mindset she came from when she made them.

There are hints of a romance in this book, but not enough that I would fit it into the paranormal romance sub-genre. Rather, I think that the romance will continue to evolve over the following books. A love triangle? Maybe, we’ll see.

The obvious romantic lead (I still think that there may be the foundations to a triangle, just saying), Blake, was your hilarious alpha-male. Protective, but with a nice sense of humour and loyalty to his pack. At the start of the book, it seemed a little like an insta-lovey style of meeting, but the attraction between the two characters slowed down and began to evolve in a more natural way.

I hope to see a more fleshed-out image of the hotel, political machinations, and relationship in the sequel.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, quick read, I recommend this book!

Loved this book! Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the arc. I thought the synopsis sounds interesting and completely different than anything I have seen. The book starts a little slow, but picks up super fast and I couldn’t put it down. It is a very fast read and really kept my attention throughout it. The characters were fun and honestly was just such a great book. I can’t wait until the next one! I had one of the authors other series on my tbr, but never got around to it. Definitely going to prioritize it now!

Kennedy Rain and her family have run the Rain Hotel for ages. The only place the paranormal can go and void their magic. She thought she could get away and lead a normal life. Not happening. Just found another favorite series! This is a new, unique storyline that I couldn’t put down. Sucked me in from page one and held on the whole way through. Looking forward to more in this series!

Would 100% recommend!!

I received a copy of this wonderful book via NetGalley (thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the world that Sandy has created for her Kennedy Rain series. Like her other series, it’s clear she likes to steer away from the cliche worlds that her paranorms are usually found in and really pulls it off.

I loved seeing kennedy’s development throughout the book, thought the dialogue between characters is fun and engaging, and there is a definite slow-burn tension developing between Kennedy and Blake which felt natural and unforced. Steamy too, I love me an alpha!

The concept of the hotel reminded me of Ilona Andrews Innkeeper Chronicles so if you loved those then definitely give this book a read.

So engaging that I read this in one sitting! Cannot wait for the next in the series!

A Void of Magic is urban fantasy & what I'm assuming will be paranormal romance. It mostly reads like a set-up to the next book in the series. You get introductions, storylines and zero answers.

I am glad that I got a chance to read an eArc of this book. The writing I loved as it carried the story and the plot. And for the length of the novel, I am happy that I could read it in a day. I didn't want to put the book down. I loved the plot throughout the story. It kept me wanting to find out what would be happening next. Seeing the character relationships develop through the story made me interested in what would happen between them. It didn't go in the direction that I thought it would go in. I am excited to read the next book in the series to find out what happens next.

Kennedy Rain’s parents are the owners of The Rain, a hotel built on a special and unique piece of land that nulls paranormals’ magic and aptitudes. With her parents out of town for a few days, Kennedy, 22 years old who fled the family business when she turned 18 and wants nothing to do with the paranormal world, is in charge of managing the hotel. Things start to become complicated when she has to deal with the Werewolf’s Alpha’s daughter wanting to marry an elder vampire on the hotel ground. Of course, one problem is not enough, and Kennedy also has to deal with financial problems, interspecies politics, and threats upon her life, while trying to keep her “normal” human life under wraps (you know, school, normal human job, human friends). As she tries to make sure that the paranormal laws are upheld, and that no war is launched, Kennedy also comes to realize that her parents have secrets and that her life might be in danger.

The Rain is a neutral place where paranorms can come to enjoy a break from their supernatural sides, it has been managed by the Rain family for centuries, and the magic of the treaty protects the Rain family from any harm at the hands of paranormals. Vampires can enjoy the sun, werewolves can escape the pull of the full moon, and while this sounds like paradise, it brings only problems and frustrations in Kennedy’s life. Sadly, not everyone can enter the hotel. Lehr acts as a “gatekeeper” for the werewolves and Acuro does the same for vampires, and only the ones on their approved lists can go to the hotel. The Hotel needs to remain a neutral territory, but this only creates more frustration for Kennedy because she can’t really help those who need it or those she wants to help.

I would have liked to have a little more background information on the hotel’s history and its functioning. The world-building is well done, and it’s easy to understand, but I think that more details and information would have made the whole hotel concept even more interesting.

Kennedy is a great main character, she is strong, determined, and does not back down easily or let herself be bullied by the paranormals around her. The poor girl can’t seem to catch a break, from the very first chapter, it’s only problem after problem for Kennedy as she tries to maintain neutrality, prevent a violent conflict, and investigate her parents’ mysterious whereabouts or the hotel’s financial situation.

Blake is Lehr’s (sexy as hell) second, and let’s just say that he and Kennedy have a hectic relationship. There is obvious sexual tension between them, and he seems to be very protective of her, but she wants nothing to do with paranorms and refuses to get involved romantically with one of them. I wouldn’t describe this as a potential hate-to-love relationship, because while Kennedy seems to hate Blake, he does not hate her. I would say that it’s more of a complicated love/hate relationship that has more hate than love for now (for Kennedy at least). One thing that is sure is that we will see more of him in the next book, and I just hope that their relationship will not magically transform itself into a sweet romance. I love their snarky conversations and their intense love/hate moments and I want more of it!

This is a relatively short book and a fast read. The pace is good, and with all the action, I just couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a quick read with a lot of action, some intrigue and politics, and a touch of humor and sexual tension. I am very eager to read the next book whenever it comes out!

Review posted on Goodreads on Jyly 2nd, 2021

Kennedy escaped the family business when she turned eighteen. Now, an ill-timed vacation pulls her back to The Rain Hotel, the only known null zone on the planet. It’s a place where vampires can see the sun rise and werewolves can avoid the lure of the full moon. And it would be the perfect place for a paranormal wedding…if the bride wasn’t the local alpha’s daughter and the groom the scion of a vicious master vampire.

With a sexy werewolf determined to sabotage the wedding and dark forces threatening The Rain, Kennedy’s life is thrown out of balance when she’s forced to confront a past she swore to avoid. Ultimately she must choose: will she maintain the stability of the supernatural world…or will she destroy it.

Kennedy is a terrific character- like all of Sandy Williams' other female characters. I love The Shadow Readers series... and this brand new series is just as interesting. I like the sexual tension between her and the male character Lehr. The dialogue is wonderful and funny. Non-stop action keeps the book moving. A great read.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.