I did not review this book; I did not finish it. I was so excited to read it; it sounded like my catnip. However, I could not handle the writing style and the main character. I found her very annoying right off the bat.

I hadn't read book one, but thanks to the beginning of this one I was able to jump in. There's a lot to enjoy. I loved our MC. She's a total hot mess and you will be so invested in her. Along with some darkness, there's humor, mystery, just the right amount of steam, and a bit of angst. There were a couple shockers along the way. I'll definitely be reading the next one!

After having just finished and very much enjoyed the first book in the series, I immediately jumped on the chance of getting an ARC for book two.
And we continue as chaotically as we have ended... in a good way. Toni has a very unique voice and it is great fun looking at the world through her eyes and mind - and rolling our eyes at the mistakes that she makes, that are of course glaringly obvious to us.
Grave Danger deals with abusive and toxic relationships, while not falling short on corpses and otherworldy creatures (mostly dead, which doesn't stop them) and another murder mystery for Toni to solve for her brother using her strange abilities.
Another great fun romp that marries paranormal romance with chick lit and cozy mysteries in much the same way the Dresden Files did for urban fantasy and crime noir. An exciting new series that will surely only keep getting better, and I'll certainly pick up book 3!
I want to thank Rebellion Publishing and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review; all opinions here expressed are my own.

That you to NetGalley & Rebellion Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Grave Danger is the second instalment of Alice James’s ‘The Lavington Windsor Mysteries’. I definitely recommend reading the first in this series as these aren’t stand-alone.

The world Alice has created reminds me of ‘True Blood’ meets ‘New Girl’, with vampires and zombies mentioned in conversations so casually as well as balancing & navigating romance, loyalty and friendships

I found the story quite enjoyable, as there was a murder mystery layered with Toni’s life building now that she finds herself single

Grave Danger (Toni Windsor book 2)
Author: Alice James
Publisher: Solaris an imprint of Rebellion Publishing Ltd
Release date: 25th May 2023
Vampires and Zombies and Snogging, Oh My!
I’ve been waiting for the follow up to Grave Secrets with the proverbial bated breath. And it does not disappoint.
For starters, the interior has cute little character illustrations as headers and the formatting and editing is on point as usual with Rebellion.
Lavington “Toni” Windsor is a Staffordshire estate agent by day but at night she’s a necromancer who raises the dead. She also helps her brother – and police chief Wills - solve crimes by interviewing the deceased on occasion. As well as getting involved in vampire shenanigans.
At the beginning of book two, we get a short recap of the main events of the first book, to help readers get back into the story. So if you haven’t read the first one it’s not an issue.
The novel starts with a an eleven year old dead girl found in a local school. Wills asks for Toni's help in raising and questioning the victim, who looks eerily like a young Toni. Unfortunately it’s a bust.
Meanwhile, Hildred Rutherford - itinerant healer and vampire/undead bigot - has also decided to visit the area without asking permission of Benedict Akil, the ‘king’ vampire in the area. So of course, Benedict sends Toni to speak to her and find out why.
The order is delivered to her by not-quite-boyfriend Peter, who is her vampire-boyfriend Oscar’s, boyfriend. Still with me? Yeah, to say Toni’s love life is complicated is like calling the Arctic a bit chilly. Add dating a vampire when you have a blood phobia, and yes, even more complicated.
Especially when Oscar, said vampire is getting impatient, and pushy, wanting Toni to feed him.
At the latter end of book one my “ spidey senses” were tingling and I was starting to find Oscar a tad arrogant and selfish. By book two, as Toni says often enough, she has “bad taste in boyfriends.” It isn’t long before Oscar shows his true colours.
Toni herself seems to be a little like vampire-catnip, with Peter, Oscar and Benedict all wanting a piece of her.
Benedict is decidedly yummy, and wants his mitts and his molars on Toni and part of her is tempted. I would be, too.
As well as the romance aspects of the book, we have the cosy crime elements, and Toni’s own growing power.
There are secrets, dangerous ones at that, and some interesting side characters such as teenager Paul, a young girl called Kathy, Mr Suki who is always trying to marry Toni off, glamourous camp Grace and Hildred herself who add to the humour and various plot strands.
The underlying theme of lies, truths and choosing what to tell affects most of the characters in this novel, Toni predominantly, so it’s apt she learns a few hard truths about her own life throughout the novel.
What makes this book work so well, is Toni’s snark. When she’s in the Vampire Assemblage and runs into a huge auburn-haired hungry chap who decides to take her out for dinner – with her being the main course – her retorts are legendary and she almost manages to kill him what alone. It’s like every thought a woman could have at seeing another conceited man, just jumps out of her mouth. And it’s fabulous.
As for Bredon, the recurrent zombie Toni is ‘friends’ with, he’s great fun. And a great conversationalist. In fact in this reality, zombies prefer pork pies or rotisserie chicken when they get the munchies, so raising zombies isn’t too bad.
In exchange for this honest review, I would like Toni to raise me so I can join her and Bredon for a picnic, please.

Grave Danger is the follow-up to the delightful romp Grave Secrets. The cover promises More Murder, More Mayhem, and More Romance. The mayhem is definitely there, as well as the murder, but there's more shagging than there is romance, to be honest. Not a bad thing at all, just an observation.

There's also a good bit more violence directed at Toni, and not all of it comes from her enemies. I was frustrated with some of Toni's choices, especially in regards to Oscar, but I know that sometimes comes with being in an abusive relationship. While I hope the situation has resolved, I'm betting Oscar will be around down the road to cause trouble.

Toni takes a young murder suspect under her wing, and their budding partnership was my favorite part of the story. Paul helps Toni see things in a new way, and I hope he's a big part of book three.

There's also more Peter in this book, and that's a very good thing (see above about romance v. shagging). I'm conflicted about his part in Toni's relationship with Oscar, but then, Peter was undoubtedly abused too.

Toni has to solve a murder, while navigating the vampire court and various baddies who want to drink her blood, rape her, kill her, or all of the above. She makes new enemies, but also new allies, and discovers some talents that help her out of some messes.

Because let's face it, Toni's life is a mess. Some of it is circumstance, some of it is because she's a necromancer, and some is down to unfortunate choices. Toni is likable, and you'll cheer her on even as you shake your head. The mayhem is fun, the murder is puzzling, and the romance is hot.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy from Solaris via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Much more interesting than Grave Secrets. Spoilers ahead. The whole Peter business is still confusing. As is the attraction to vampires that “play the field”. Peter is in love with someone else. And it’s a man. And a vampire. None of that sits well with me so I’m hopeful that story line is dead (pun intended). I like Benedict and I would love for Toni to give him a chance. And I would love it even more if they were a monogamous couple. Paul is a sweetheart as is Wills and Henry. Wish book 3 was available. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Grave Danger had a little bit of everything - mystery, mayhem, romance, and just a touch of spice.

Toni is navigating her difficult relationship with vampire lover Oscar, his boyfriend Peter, his boss Benedict, and a demon who claims he just wants to apologize to God to get back into heaven.

There was a LOT going on in this book. Fans of open relationships will love it. Basically, everyone is sleeping with everyone else, regardless of relationship status. I'm not a fan of this trend in books, so it lowered my enjoyment of the story. If you're a fan of the Why Choose romances, you'll love how open the characters are.

I wish there'd been more Benedict in the story. To be honest, most of the characters fell flat for me. Toni was funny enough and she reminded me of Anita Blake midway through that series, but I struggled to relate to her or anyone else. Benedict was the bright shining light. I loved every interaction with him and looked forward to his appearance.

Grave Danger wasn't my cup of tea, but fans of paranormal mysteries with an open sense of romance will love it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

OK. While the first book didn’t really hold my interest, this second book definitely did. I think there were just a lot more characters that I liked. There’s more to her than her relationship with Oscar and Peter. I find this much easier to read as well, so I don’t know if I just got used to Alice James’ writing style.

Either way, highly recommend this book. If you like a murder mystery plot, heroine always escaping death, friendly and powerful zombies, and bloodthirsty vampires (but there are friendly, allied ones too).

Thoughts when I was reading…
-New murder mystery that needs to be solved.
-Toni having relationship problems with Oscar- she’s refusing him to feed from her. Now he wants to change her into a vampire.
-Oscar… wow. I’m sorry but he needs to go. My dislike for him is SO JUSTIFIED.
-Not gonna lie, I’m really liking Benedict. My interest in his and Toni’s dynamic is increasing.
-Peter needs to come back.
-More Bredon please.
-And a new revelation at the end??? Toni is also a witch???
-I probably need to do a re-read of the first book again.

Told single first person POV.

Please check TW prior to reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The second installment of this book is much more cohesive. The mystery is interspersed more evenly throughout the story. I think that not having an obvious romance actually benefited this book. It allowed James to focus on the mystery plot, character growth, and fleshing out the vampire society. The voice of Toni is much better written in this book. James has really found the way that she wants to write this character. Everything comes across much more genuinely in this book than in the first.

I love all of the secondary characters in this book. None of them seem to be unnecessary. They all have their parts to play. They also add a lot of humor and color to the story.

I liked that the mystery appeared to be the main element of this book. It starts with Toni having to raise the body of the dead student. Then it goes right into getting the facts of the case and trying to solve it. The mystery is interesting and engaging. It is well paced throughout the book. I enjoyed that the vampire element of the novel through a wrench through the main mystery, but didn't take it over. The vampire mystery was well dispersed throughout the book. It allowed some growth to Toni. It has more firmly placed her within the society of the vampires. Wether she wants it or not.

Overall, I found this sequel to be very enjoyable. If you enjoyed the first book, I would highly recommend continuing the series. I'm looking forward to reading the third installment.

3,5 stars

The second book of this series starts a few months after the ending of Grave Secrets. And I must wonder about Tony's life choices. She seems to desperately want a relationship and for that reasons had stuck with an abusive vampire boyfriend. She sees it. She sees what he does. But she just wants that boyfriend so desperately that she can't say goodbye to him.

That is until he tries to force her to be marked and have her blood drank, something she thinks is disgusting. I liked that this was very early on dealt with in the book. Because it needed to be dealt with. Oscar is an abusive boyfriend and violence lover. He is not a good person, and while I could see that, Tony didn't want to see it. Another thing that she doesn't seem to want to see is how Oscar's other coterie member was at the very least a silent part of this. She loves him too, but girl, that man knew exactly what Oscar was like after 10 years. You can't tell me he had no idea how violent Oscar could be.

I like Tony as a person. She is fun and has an unique voice to read. But she is a train wreck to watch. And I would hope that in future installments she will get some more character growth because this will get old very fast.

Having said that, this book was a lot better to read because the above mentioned was dealt with for the most part and that meant there was more room for other things. Like Tony getting to know Akil a little better, finding a new roommate and learning more about her history. We learn a little more about how she grew up and it explained to me better why she so desperately wanted to cling to Oscar. It made a bit more sense. I hope she sees that too.

Second book in the series with the snark and humour I enjoyed from the first book - and I did appreciate some of the relationship changes made here, as let’s say I wasn’t wild about how controlling Oscar seemed to be. The subplot with Paul was nice to see, that someone could want to change their life and work to make it happen - I hope he sticks around (and a certain European return…). All in all, a very good follow up novel.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

This was the 2nd book in a series, I didn’t know that, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. I liked the characters and it was a fun story. I’ll go back and read the first one now!

Thank you Rebellion/Solaris and NetGalley for this ARC. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

I hadn’t read the first book in this series before requesting this one, but I was really intrigued by the blurb. I started this, and I admit I wasn’t sure I was going to like this. However, it didn’t take long for that to turn around and become such a fun book. This is not exactly a mystery. Yes, it does have a mystery component, but it has so much more in it: love story, humor, staying true to yourself, defending yourself, falling love, falling out of love, family…and so much more. I really didn’t miss much by not having read the first one, and I am ready to read the next. Toni is a complex character, and I want to read more about her. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I was really anticipating this second book but it fell a little flat for me. I felt like Toni was rambling and there was too much going on in one book. I still love the characters and I will definitely read the next book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling and compelling five-star read. I simply adore the Lavington Windsor mysteries they just come to life on the page, much like Bredon does in the story. I really liked that Tori got a chance to really open her eyes this time and pull everyone together. You know there is so much more coming, and I simply loved the setting, it was so nice to hear about Staffordshire, as its not a place you get to hear about often and I love visualising the places, as its where my brother now lives so its nice to hear this and it’s not London, that’s rare when you are reading a story set in the UK. Alice James is fast becoming a go to author and one I really enjoy reading, I always get an excited squeak when I see anything new by them.

when i first asked for this book i didnt knew it was a part of a series, so i had to go read the first one. It was an okay read to be honest. It was funny, a bit endering, but not worth five starts to me.

what a fun read!
i didn’t realise it was the second book in the series but it didn’t matter at all it can be read as a stand-alone.
Toni gets herself into some scrapes and situations with the local vampires and seems to me can’t decide who she finds attractive but she is spoilt for choice.
a great fun read and i will be looking out for the next book

A big thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion/Solaris for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I believe that this is part of a series. It reads well as a stand alone. I found this to be a great read. I really enjoyed it. The characters were interesting. Can't wait for the next one. 4 stars Lavington"Toni" Windsor just can't get a break.

Great follow-up ftom book one smart wiity dialogue great mystery and fun characters .
A fun series to read.