Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I couldn't be immersed in it enough to be able to continue my reading.

Thank you for netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a very impulse request on my part, but it is one I am very happy I made.
It is a very dark story with many triggers, so before you read it make sure to check those out.

The atmosphere of the book is quite gothic and mystical. Most of the times you'll have no clue if what you read is the "reality" or just a dream. But I say this in the best way possible, just like the heroine, as a reader you will start to question what is real and what is only a bad or steamy good dream.

I really liked that the characters are all shades of grey, especially the male characters. What I had a hard time coming to terms with were some of the irrevocable acts that made the main love interest undesirable, at least for me. As I said this is a dark story and as such does not advertise itself as a cookie cutter hallmark romance. I also had a hard time envisioning the characters, but this could be my fault because we do get plenty background info, at least on the female leads.

This was a very unique story that I do want to continue reading, because, well I am intrigued and this was a dark and mind (rather sanity) bending twist on romance stories.

I will say, the book wasn't quite what I was expecting from when I read the blurb, I felt a little lost and confused at first and found myself struggling initially to get into the story. After Kira and Blake really started their interactions I found myself being drawn more deeply into the story and enthralled by what was happening with Kira. By the end of the story, I was totally on edge, and completely not expecting what happened! I can't wait to read the next book!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I am reviewing of my own free will and all opinions in my review are my own.

This was a very hard convoluted mess of a book. I really struggled to read this - took me over a week. I wanted to DNF several times and kept pushing myself to finish it. Very much a 2 steps forward, 1 step back in terms of good and bad plot points. 1.5 stars overall because I managed to finish reading it but I really wish I hadn’t bothered especially with that super annoying ending.

Honestly, I have been having a hard time getting into this book although I keep trying to pick it up. I usually do love fantasy books especially when mixed in with some romance, but this has not been doing it for me.

A very good read, enjoyable and the storyline is very gripping, this is a must read and book 1 in what I think will be a very very gripping series

A new-adult fantasy where everyone is good-looking and has issues.

A brotherhood is searching out witches, and senses the power of the main character, Kira, whose parents died in a car crash with a drunk driver and who is now dating an alcoholic.

Sadly, both the characters and plot failed to capture my attention. The initial hook was great. But from there is moved at such a glacial pace I lost interest.

Thank you, NetGalley for sending me an ARC of Dreams of Darkness and Desire in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this novel, I was immediately enthralled by the premise of knowing someone in your dreams. And unfortunately or fortunately meeting that person in real life.

I cannot believe that this is B.L. Cagle's debut novel because she nailed it on her first attempt. I cannot wait for her second one.

We follow Kira as her life is turned upside down when her relationship with her long-term boyfriend comes to an end suddenly and a tall, dark, handsome stranger comes into her life. While that is happening the 20-year-old is being plagued by nightmares and dreams of said stranger.

If you loved Fortuna Sworn then I think this debut novel and first in the series is perfect for you.

Oh and the ENDING I cannot wait for the second book!

Thank you to NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
3.5/5
Man this book was such a trip!

The premise of this story is so interesting, and I really loved the semi-enemies to lovers with Blake and Kira. The setting and vibe of this book were great - you can’t go wrong with witches in New Orleans.

I loved the creepy-magic-dream scenes with Kira. The line between what was a dream and what was a reality was so blurred it was hard to tell what was actually happening, even if something seemed completely unlikely, I still couldn’t tell if Kira was imagining it or if it was true, and I liked the way it messed with my head!

The main character Kira was kind of frustrating, and I think she had her priorities off for most of this book. She was constantly beating herself up over the smallest things, yet just blindly accepted the new magic and sensations as truth without question. And she had this whole thing with her ex about drinking but then would continuously get drunk throughout the book. I understand she had her reasons for these things and there were other people influencing her but it still bugged me.

The pacing was a bit off. The first 40% of the book was very very slow, and it took me quite a while to get into it, but the second half of the book flowed better. I feel like this book had the arc and pacing of the first half of a whole book. There was a lot of closure we didn’t get to see that I really hope is wrapped up in the next book. That being said, the ending blew my mind - I usually hate cliffhangers, but this one was really well done. I have high hopes for the next books, now that the world is set up and we will be jumping in after that crazy ending!

****4 stars!

“Dark is not evil and good is not nice.”

First I would like to thank BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. I am honored to be given a chance to read it and give an honest review.

Kira Lockwood appears to be living a normal life; rooming with her best friend, developing a loving relationship with her long time boyfriend Colin, and is excelling in her dance classes. Everything in her life appears to be perfect until she is suddenly plagued by unusual dreams and nightmares that feel more real than a dream should be. Her life only becomes even more complicated when the very man who haunts those dreams moves just down the street.

Blake Michaelson is a handsome and very powerful centuries-old warlock, he and his three brothers moved to New Orleans for one thing--Kira Lockwood. While she does not know it, she is a descendant of the first Supra Virtutem; a witch with the ability to harness the ultimate power. Blake and his brothers have spent a lifetime hunting others like them and claiming their magic as their own.

The attraction between Kira and Blake is undeniable and yet to ensure immortality, Blake and his brothers must complete the Order of Three: claim her body, take her blood, and end her life. Kira will not ascend and harness her ultimate power until her 21st birthday but her magic is alive and powerful and her light recognizes the darkness. Now the question is, will the magic within her be enough to save her? Or will Blake complete his mission and steal her power before she steals his heart?

This was a very interesting read with many twists and turns I did not expect. One of the things I really liked about the book was the fact that it took place in New Orleans and the magic the witches and warlocks used; it had vibe to it that reminded me a lot of The Originals, which was one of the things that kept me really compelled to keep reading. This book really knew how to keep you on your toes, there were many moments when you didn’t know what was real and what was a dream and caused you to second guess everything as you read.

I also did not expect the cliffhanger at the end, not only was it very compelling but it made you rethink everything you first read! If you like dark fantasy and a book filled with unexpected twists and turns, then this is a book I would highly recommend! I’m very curious to see what direction the next book leads!

Ooooooh I’d say that this is a rollercoaster but blooming heck! There’s far too many twists, turns, moving floors and trick mirrors for this to have been merely a rollercoaster. This book kept me guessing all the way through and left me desperate for more.

Who is the ‘Shadow man’? Is it Blake? Is it someone else entirely?

The name Kane has become stuck in my head for whatever reason!

I love our core team of female characters; Kira, Kat, Jade and Nadia they embody the nature of friendship in my eyes.

We follow Kia as she ascends to her power, unbeknownst to her. Four ancient Warlocks plan to steal her power, in order to do this she must relinquish three things:
Her blood, willingly
Her body, willingly
She must die.

I love the use of Latin as ‘spells’ throughout the book, it adds to the mystery and alure of the magic.

New Orleans is the perfect setting for this supernatural tale with its long standing links to otherworldly and magical creatures.

Cannot wait for the next instalment.

5 stars

#witches #warlocks #NewOrleans #NOLA #YA #YoungAdult #SupernaturalRomace #NewAdult #Romace #Magic #Ballet #BestFriends

I debated quite a bit on what to rate this book. I ultimately chose three stars because I will more likely than not read the next book to find out what happens and if the storyline improves.

This book is a study of contrasts. It was both well-written and not at the same time. I thought the writing itself was good- it had a finished, polished feel to it, something I often find missing in ARCs. On the other hand, the pacing was quite slow for most of the book, and the way the author blurred dreams and reality sometimes made it difficult to determine what was happening. Even though I knew that this was part of a series, I felt the ending was rather abrupt and sudden. That being said, I enjoyed enough of the book to be intrigued, and I do want to know what happens next.

I also felt the main character was a bit of a hypocrite when it came to drinking, or at best she was inconsistent in her beliefs. There were also characters and parts of the story that seemed unimportant and left me wondering what the point was.

While there were several points where I wanted to stop reading, something about it compelled me to keep going and makes me want to keep reading, to see where the story goes.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I received the e-ARC for free in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Dreams of Darkness and Desire is a really good debut novel. It was really fast paced with great characters and really good worldbuilding. I liked it a lot and I'll definitely pick up the sequel, I can't wait to know where the story goes next.

This book was good! I enjoyed the world building and the story. It’s definitely worth the read if you like fantasy.

What I hoped for in Dreams of Darkness and Desire was a fast-paced urban fantasy with great character dynamics and most of all a well-developed romance between the main characters. The blurb sounded really interesting and I was intrigued by the focus on ballet (which thankfully wasn’t just dropped in favour of action at any point in the book).

Unlike other reviewers I haven’t had any issues with getting the gist of what was one of Kira’s dreams and what was reality - I actually felt like it was very well developed how in the beginning the dreams seemed to be just dreams but as the story progressed they came closer and closer to reality.

What I did have a major problem with, however, was the overall pacing. For example, when the boys try to ally with Rayna and her friends, they discuss her plans and then the actual action is described again. To me, that was such an insignificant part of the plot. Essential scenes concerning Kira were just as long at best, and then there’s also that huge gap in the timeline between the holidays at the lake and Halloween / Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m in no position to judge but it certainly did feel weird when the boys were like “yeah Armand is Native American and Thanksgiving basically celebrates a genocide, so this is totally offensive to him but it’s also okay because there’s food and he loves that”. What??

Oh and both Armand and Vincent were mentioned whenever the boys did something as a group, but other than that they didn’t really hold any importance for the plot. The same goes for Nadia and Kat’s boyfriend Eric.

That’s another thing I’ll actually so annoyed about: the way cheating was portrayed in this.

First we have Kira who flirts with Blake and constantly thinks of her shadow guy and emotionally betrays Colin, but then she completely flips out when she catches him cheating? Talking of double standards, she then proceeds to get piss drunk which is something she always criticised about Colin? And the fact that Blake is constantly drinking is also not an issue for her whatsoever?

And then we also have Kat and her supposedly perfect boyfriend Eric who is also a great best friend to Colin, and Kat goes ahead and shamelessly flirts with Larz from the moment she meets him. Just why?

It’s not even as if these guys are actually attractive beyond their looks. Their characters consisted of feeling superior, sleeping with everyone they met, and being really arrogant about it too. But neither Kira nor Kat ever questioned that, and they didn’t even feel the least bit suspicious about the backstory these twenty-something millionaires who have time to party all day. It’s all a bit too convenient for my taste. There definitely was some character development in Blake towards the ending, but that mostly only concerned Kira herself and not his overall behaviour.

I also wish the magic system had been developed more. Even after reading almost 500 pages, I have no idea how the magic works (most of the time it’s Latin words, but not always it seems) and what its limits are. It also really frustrated me that Kira thought of choking that guy on the fair and legitimately saw him choking, but apparently never thought to stop for a moment and wonder about the connection between those two events? That was just another thing about Kira’s naïveté that was way too convenient for my taste.

So all in all, I really enjoyed the idea and the setting of this story as well as the writing style, but I wanted to dnf the book for about 75% in the middle of it due to how much it bored me, so that definitely isn’t a good sign at all.

1.5/5 stars.

I have been wanting to get into the paranormal romance genre, and this was the perfect path into it. This steamy romance between a girl who has no idea she is a witch and a centuries warlock was so enticing.

Kira's life is going phenomenally well. She has moved in with her best friend, developed a loving relationship with her boyfriend, and is excelling in her dance classes. Everything is going perfectly for her until she is thrown into unusual dreams and nightmares while she is sleeping. It's even more unnerving for her when the man who haunts those dreams and nightmares just moved in down the street. He isn't just some phantom figure of a dream. He is very real and very powerful.

As the dreams continue to happen she tiptoes along the line of whether they are truly just dreams. Each moment the dreams continue and the longer Blake is around she starts questioning everything she has come to know including her attraction to him.

Dark secrets lurk around every corner, and the sole reason Blake and his three brothers are in New Orleans shakes the foundation of everything Kira knows. What she feels for Blake and her newly discovered power could save her life or cost her everything.

This dark paranormal romance had been immediately wrapped into the story and wanting to know more from the first page. I never wanted to put this book down. The suspense, and drama, and romance were amazing. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


Dreams of Darkness and Desire follows Kira, a young woman who is plagued by disturbing dreams featuring a menacing presence. Unbeknownst to her, she is a very powerful witch, one whose power has caught the attention of Blake, a darkly handsome warlock.

This book deals with dark themes and is full of trigger warnings, which is not something I generally seek out. That being said, I did enjoy this book very much. It drew me in from the first chapter and kept me hooked for perhaps the first 60%, at which point I’m afraid I started to feel it dragging. The constant dream sequences started to become a bit repetitive and Kira’s refusal to confide in anyone about her experiences was frustrating. The story did pick up again after a few slow chapters and ended on a big cliffhanger.

The book is told from both Kira’s and Blake’s points of view. Kira herself felt a bit flat as a protagonist - she is an orphan who is studying dance at university; she didn’t come across as a fully three-dimensional character. I have seen people comparing her to Bella from Twilight and I can appreciate this comparison - it’s as if she is left as a blank slate for readers to project themselves onto her. I honestly can’t even remember a description of her appearance, let alone any mention of her interests outside of ballet. I also found her constant crying a bit tiring, as well as the fact that she was constantly the damsel in distress. I wish she had had more agency. As the morally grey love interest, Blake is of course tall, dark and extremely handsome with piercing blue eyes. We get a bit more of his backstory and motivations and I hope we get some flashbacks from his life in the next book.

The story was interesting, but I wish we had been given more information about how the magic works. All that being said, I liked it and will be keeping an eye out for the sequel. I think this was a very strong debut novel and commend the author on her work!

Thank you to NetGallery, BookSprout, and the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a wild ride all in one. I'm still taking time to truly comprehend what I've just read. I would describe it as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets Inception and Alice in Wonderland. It combines the world of witches and warlocks with the land of dreams and worlds hidden behind looking glasses. Kira is an extremely likable character-a dreamer and a dancer who has a heart of gold. Her opposite, Blake, is a 400-year old warlock who hunts younger witches for power. They shouldn't work together but they do in some twisted way. There is something undeniable about the connection built throughout the story. If you like dark fantasy mixed with strangers-to-lovers, you would enjoy this book!

I admit I was a bit confused (which is why the rating is 3.5-3.75) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The unexpected twist at the end literally had me screaming at the cliffhanger and wishing I could read more!

Sad to say I dnf at 62%.

The premise sounded really good so I figured I give it a try especially with Halloween spooky season vibe currently upon us. The beginning was very ominous. But as I started to read more into the book, it was dragging so slow for me that nothing was making any sense. Especially with the characters or the core plot of the story. It was way too descriptive and a lot of inner thoughts. I think if you're going to have multi-POV's for character chapters, list them after the header. Overall though, I don't do very well with slow burn books. This book needed to be condensed and the storyline tightened up. It just seems the story was going in circles and seeing I had over 2 hours of the book left and still not knowing what I was reading, I had to call it quits. I'm curious to know how this will turn out as an audiobook though. Beware there are triggers so tread carefully.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.