Cover Revealed: ICED

Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel (Fever World #1)
by Karen Marie Moning
Hardcover, 352 pages
Expected publication: October 30th 2012 by Delacorte Press

"I'm currently working on a trilogy that features Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious 'Dancer,' set primarily in Fever-Dublin. Each installment in the trilogy is a stand-alone mystery, however there are larger plot arcs unfolding in the background...

..For those of you who have been worrying—the trilogy is not YA. If I had to categorize it, I would say it straddles the line between YA and adult uneasily. ...Many of the questions I left unanswered in the FEVER series are addressed in this new series.

Exciting news: I’ve agreed to write two more books after that. Once the new trilogy is complete, I’m returning to the core story begun in the FEVER series, and will resume writing about Mac, Barrons, V’lane, Cruce, the Unseelie king, the concubine, the Song of Making.

All in all, there are five more books coming about the Fever World!"
Karen Marie Moning

Who's excited? I know I am!

WINNER: Stacia & Stacey Giveaway Hop

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Audio Book REVIEW: Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors

Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors 

by Molly Harper

Narrator by Amanda Ronconi

Series: Jane Jameson #4

Published February 28th 2012 by Audible, Inc.

Just as Jane Jameson’s unlife seems to be stabilizing, fate sinks its fangs firmly into her butt. Despite her near-phobia of all things marital, her no-frills nighttime nuptials to her sexy boyfriend Gabriel are coming along smoothly. But the road to wedded bliss gets bumpy when a teenage acquaintance is fatally wounded in front of Jane’s shop and she turns him to save his life. The Council pronounces Jane responsible for the newborn vamp until he can control his thirst.

Jane’s kitchen at River Oaks barely holds enough Faux Type O to satiate the cute teen’s appetite and maintain Gabriel’s jealous streak at a slow simmer. As if keeping her hyperactive childe from sucking the blood out of the entire neighborhood isn’t enough to deal with, the persnickety ghost of Jane’s newly deceased Grandma Ruthie has declared a war on the fanged residents of River Oaks. Suddenly, choosing monogrammed cocktail napkins and a cake that she can’t eat seems downright relaxing in comparison.

Tensions inside the house are growing…and outside, a sinister force is aiming a stake straight for the center of Gabriel’s heart. Most brides just have to worry about choosing the right dress, but Jane fears that at this rate, she’ll never make it down the aisle for the wedding all nice girls dream of…

Molly Harper never fails to bring the snark and a pinch of sexy to her loveable characters. So I was excited to jump into another light and fun read with Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors.

Jane and the group are back for another fun filled mystery. This time around Jane is dealing with her own wedding planning issues, more dead relatives, and being a new mother so to speak.

Seems that someone always wants to kill or at least maim Jane. And she usually makes things worse by running off by herself to solve the mystery of who it is. But this time Jane is showing her maturity by letting her friends do the heavy lifting in the department of who wants Jane dead.

Dick nodded. "I was thinking official 'Keep Jane from Being Murdered Task Force' T-shirts.”

Jane gets to see how life is as a sire when she helps out a follow Half Moon Hollow citizen. And it’s funny as hell to see her and the gang deal with the new member to the family.

At some point, your child may challenge you to a fight. Try not to beat the childe too badly. Imagine having your mother knock you into unconsciousness. It would be emotionally scarring on several levels.
- Siring for the Stupid: A beginner's Guide to Raising Newborn Vampires

So if you are a fan of the series you will want to pick this one up if you have not already. And if you have not started the series I recommended to anyone that likes a fun paranormal light read with laughs on just about every page.

Happy Release Day: Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

Sacrificial Magic 
by Stacia Kane 
(Downside Ghosts #4)
ebook, 320 pages

March 27th 2012 by Random House Publishing Group
RATING: ★★★★★

When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.
Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.

As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

Sacrificial Magic is available at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble 


Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win an audio book in the series.

Also check out my review of Sacrificial Magic and another books in the series.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Drink Deep by Chloe Neill

Drink Deep 

by Chloe Neill 

Chicagoland Vampires #5

Published November 1st 2011 by Penguin Group USA, Inc

Source: Purchase from B&N

RATING: ★★★1/2

Clouds are brewing over Cadogan House, and Merit the vampire can't tell if this is the darkness before the dawn, or the calm before the storm. With the city itself in turmoil over paranormals and the state threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, times have never been more precarious for the vampires. If only they could lay low for a bit...


Then magic rears its ugly head when Lake Michigan turns black. The mayor insists it's nothing to worry about, but Merit knows a panic is coming. She'll have to turn to friends old and new to find out who's behind this, and stop them before it's too late for both the vampires and humans.

REVIEW

My review of Drink Deep will be very short. Why? It’s a hard review to write without a MAJOR spoiler. So here we go. If you read the last book, Hard Bitten then you know the love/hate of the plot and the cliffhanger. I won’t say more for spoiler reasons. And with all that went on in HB I was nervous about reading Drink Deep so I put it off for a few months thinking that I would read it right before the next book, Biting Cold comes out in August. But I was in a reading funk and decided that Neill would be the perfect author to get me out of that funk. And I was right.

Because Hard Bitten was such an awesome book (yes I was one of the few that didn’t hate Neill after I read it.) I think Drink Deep was a bit on the slow side in comparison. I feel like DD is a bridge book between HB and Biting Cold. I think we had to get through the things in DD to setup the tone of the rest of the series. I believe that Merit’s life has changed and will never be the same again. The change will probably not be liked by some but I enjoyed the plot even though I thought some of it was a little on the predictable side.

Would have to say the best part of the book was about the last quarter of it. I found myself skimming a few parts and I wanted to punch so many of the characters at different moments. I really disliked the character that the GP sent to audit the Cadogen House, Frank. I just wanted someone to stake him.

To me Drink Deep is the sign of change and I can’t wait to see what the future of the series will hold. I can see it really turning into a kickass story line from here out.

Fun Quote: 

“And that’s why we’re sending Boobs McGee.”
I slowly swiveled my head to glare at Catcher. “Seriously. You’re, what, twelve now?”

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, is a weekly feature where you can showcase new books, ones checked out from the library, bought, won or received for review.

Bought

Borrowed

 

 

PROMO + GIVEAWAY: A Sliver of Shadow by Allison Pang

 

A Sliver of Shadow
Book 2 Abby Sinclair Series
By Allison Pang

A Sliver of Shadow Blurb:

Just when her new life as a TouchStone – a mortal bound to help OtherFolk cross between Faery and human worlds – seems to be settling down, Abby Sinclair is left in charge when the Protectorate, Moira, leaves for the Faery Court. And when the Protectorate’s away…let’s just say things spiral out of control when a spell on Abby backfires and the Faery Queen declares the Doors between their worlds officially closed.

The results are disastrous for both sides: OtherFolk trapped in the mortal world are beginning to fade, while Faerie is on the brink of war with the daemons of Hell. Along with her brooding eleven prince Talivar and sexy incubus Brystion, Abby ventures to the CrossRoads in an attempt to override the Queen’s magic. But nothing in this beautiful, dangerous realm will compare to the discoveries she’s making about her past, her destiny, and what she will sacrifice for those she loves.

Buy Links:

Amazon ~ B&N  ~ BAM ~ Powells ~ Indiebound ~ Chapters

Make sure you stop by and follow Bewitching Book Tours at:

Website | Facebook 

Keep reading for Excerpt and Giveaway

Blogoversary Giveaway Bash - Week 4

This Friday's prizes are:

Prize #1







Scent of a White Rose by Tish Thawer (paperback) plus swag
 sponsored by author (US only)

Prize #2

$10 eGift Card to B&N  

sponsored by The Book Nympho

All giveaways are open until 4/1/12

The text in the fields are white not blank. I have researched the problem on Raffecopter's site and I believe because my blog's colors are dark the field color is white. 

This will be the last time I use Raffecopter until they find a fix. Sorry of any confusion.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

 

Cry Wolf

by Patricia Briggs
Narrated by Holter Graham
Series: Alpha and Omega, Book 1
Published July 29th 2008 by Ace
RATING:★★★

This series is set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson Series, but on a slightly earlier time line. It begins with a novella titled Alpha and Omega published in the On the Prowl anthology. The decision to continue the story was made after the anthology had already been published, which has caused some confusion, since "book 1" is a actually a continuation of the short story. The series has plenty of action, but there's more emphasis on the romantic attraction between the hero and heroine. On a romance-readers scale, this series is sweet rather than steamy.

REVIEW:


I highly recommend reading the novella Alpha and Omega before reading Cry Wolf. You will get a better feel for Anna's character and why hers and Charles' relationship is a little strained. And since the novella really reads like the first couple of chapters of Cry Wolf this review is going to be over both.

I'm a fan of Briggs's Mercy Thompson Series, so I decided to give the Alpha and Omega series a try. The timeline in both series over lap and I meet a few of the characters in A&O while reading MT.

In Alpha and Omega, after Anna's forced change into a werewolf three years ago she is living an abused life with her current pack in Chicago. She can no longer stay silence to the acts that are taking place in the pack and contacts Bran, the North American leader of the werewolf nation. Bran sends his son Charles to see what is going on. Charles meets Anna and recognizes her as an Omega wolf and his mate. Charles helps out with the pack problem in Chicago and with the help of his father they get Anna agree to return to their home in Montana. That's where Cry Wolf picks up.

Once in Montana, Anna is still dealing emotional pain from her life with the Chicago pack. She and Charles wolves are attracted to one another but the human sides are taking it much slower. Anna was kept ignorant of many werewolf ways in her last pack so she is learning as she goes. Charles has never really had a love life so he is new to the mating idea as well.

The two go into the deep woods of Montana in order to help solve the case of a rouge werewolf that has  killed at least once and attacked others. Charles would rather leave Anna behind to protect her but Bran tells Charles to take her with him so that they can have some alone time to get to know each other and he believes that Anna's effects of being an Omega could help bring the rouge in with a fight.

Once the pair gets into the case of the rouge they are meet with more than they bargained for. Their is a dark witch in the woods and she has plans for revenge on one of Charles' pack mates. After some life and death moments the two comes out a stronger mated pair. But I positive that we will still some of Anna's past abuse get between the two in the next book, Hunting Ground.

I really enjoyed this Mercy spin off story and I look forward to reading the next book. And I do mean READING the next book. I checked out the audio book from the library to give me something to listen to in the car and at work. I didn't really care for the narration by Holter Graham. He never really changed his voice for the different characters. It made it a little hard at times to know who was speaking. I think if I had read Cry Wolf I would have given it another star since I really enjoyed reading Alpha and Omega.

Cry Wolf is available at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

I downloaded my audio copy from my local library.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

Sacrificial Magic 

by Stacia Kane 

(Downside Ghosts #4)

When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.
Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.


As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

REVIEW:

Sacrificial Magic (SM), the 4th book in Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts Series and it’s her best book to date.

Cepts, Nips and Panda’s, OH MY. These are all Chess’s drugs of choice, plus the occasional trip the pipe room. Yes, the series about a drug addicted heroine named Chess Putnman that’s a witch investigator that debunks ghost haunting for the Church. But don’t let the drug addiction turn you off. Chess has had a very hard and abusive childhood being passed around different foster homes where the dads and sometime moms have used her as their form of entertainment. Chess at heart is a survivor with very low self-esteems issues. She uses her pills as a way to escape her feelings and pain of the past.

Even though Chess has finally found love, she still believes that she is unworthy of that love and does everything in her power to mess it up. There is one scene (well more than one) in Sacrificial Magic where I just want to slap the hell out of Chess for being self deconstructive when it comes to her relationship with Terrible. Yes the two still does not have it easy and even though I do get frustrated I like the fact that Kane doesn’t turn Chess and Terrible into the old married couple after they FINALLY get together. They both live hard lives and even though they have found love with each other, they have to work at their relationship.
And speaking of being frustrated; SM is a big freaking sexual tease through half of the book! There a few scenes where you thought you were going to get to see Terrible and Chess go at just to have something stop their fun.

Chess finds herself smiling a lot in SM and wondering what that is all about. Could this be what normal people do? Oh and we learn a little something personal about Terrible; he likes his dames o-natural. So no more waxing for Chess. When I read that line in the book I had a huge smile on my face. There was little more humor in SM and it was nice to see.

Chess gets a case from the Church that has been dropped by another debunker at a school on the other side of town where she has to cross the drug dealer’s line finding herself in her ex’s territory. This doesn’t help things with her and Terrible’s relationship. But she has no choice but to work the case. She uses her ties to Lex (her ex) to help figure out what’s going on at the school with the haunting.

Sacrificial Magic is a must read and is my current favorite book for this year and I say with total confidence that the only book that will probably top it will be the next book in the Downside series, Chasing Magic.
Fans of dark and gritty UF with damaged heroine and unusual heroes will fall in love with this series.

ARC provided by Netgalley

Cover Revealed: The Care And Feeding Of Stray Vampires

The Care And Feeding Of Stray Vampires

by Molly Harper

Due out in August 2012.

Cover copy: Iris Scanlon, Half-Moon Hollow’s only daytime vampire concierge, knows more about the undead than she’d like. Running all their daylight errands—from letting in the plumber to picking up some chilled O neg—gives her a look at the not-so-glamorous side of vampire life. Her rules are strict; relationships with vamps are strictly business, not friendship—and certainly not anything else. But then she finds her newest client, Cal, poisoned on his kitchen floor, and only Iris can help.

Cal - who would be devastatingly sexy, if Iris allowed herself to think that way - offers Iris a hefty fee for hiding him at her place until he figures out who wants him permanently dead. Even though he’s imperious, unfriendly and doesn't seem to understand the difference between "employee" and "servant," Iris agrees, and finds herself breaking more and more of her own rules to help him - particularly those concerning nudity.

Turns out what her quiet little life needed was some intrigue & romance—in the form of her very own stray vampire.

This is a spin-off from Harper's Jane Jameson series.

Stacia & Stacey Giveaway Hop

Hosted by :
Addicted to Heroines, Goldilox and the Three Weres  and Miss Vain's Paranormal Fantasy

In celebration of the release of 
Sacrificial Magic and Blood on the Bayou.

Winner's choice of one AUDIO book from 
the Downtown series by Stacia Kane

  

There will also be a grand prize available. Bloggers who participate in the hop, as well as anyone who enters any of the giveaways, will be eligible to win a $50 Amazon Giftcard. Those details will be included in an e-mail closer to the event date. 

Blog Tour REVIEW: Caressed by Night by Amanda J. Greene

Caressed by Night by Amanda J. Greene

(Rulers of Darkness #2)

RATING:★★★★

Dimitri Arsov, the last remaining pure vampire, was thought to be dead for the past four hundreds years. Now, he is back and has a score to settle with the traitor that had tried to kill him centuries ago. But as he waits for his prey to blindly step into his carefully laid trap, his overwhelming hunger for blood is triggered when he saves a beautiful art historian.

Kerstyn Ingmar’s life was normal and straight up boring until the night she is rescued by the dangerously sexy, powerfully mesmerizing, Dimitri. Unable to resist his diamond blue eyes and intense kisses, she is drawn into his world of darkness and closer to her impending doom.

While their desire consumes them, Dimitri is haunted by images of a bloody and deadly future. As his enemies draw near, he must find a way to save his mate from her destiny before fate destroys them both.

REVIEW:

I truly enjoyed the first book in the Rulers of Darkness series, Caressed by Moonlight.  So I jumped at the chance to be apart of Ms. Greene's blog tour for the second book. Caressed by Night has a different feel to it since it is set in modern times in Las Vegas verses Caressed by Moonlight's 1800s, London setting. But it has all the same hotness. And you get to see a little of Dorian and Victoria from Caressed by Moonlight which I really liked getting a update on where they are at in their lives.

OK, so Caressed by Night is about yet another hot vamp named  Dimitri  that has been in hiding for about 400 years; waiting for the right time to return to the vampire world. One of  Dimitri 's powers is seeing the future. He's had a vision about his mate and knows that she will be in Las Vegas but doesn't really know anything else about her. What she looks like, what's her name, etc.

One night Dimitri saves a beautiful young woman from other vampires in an alley not far from the night club she was party with her friends. Once he comes face to face with her, he knows she is his intend mate. But he lets her go.

Kerstyn cannot get the sexy man out of her mind that saved her a few nights ago. She dreams about him and he awaking feelings in her that she has never had for another man. Kerstyn is sadden by the thought of never seeing him again. Come on, it's Vegas and he was probably only in town for the weekend. But once Kerstyn finds herself kicked out of her apartment and looking for a new place to live her friend, Silvie helps her out by introducing her to a wealthy friend of hers that might be willing to rent a room out to Kerstyn until she can find her own place.

Silvie is not only found a place for Kerstyn to stay but she has also brought her into the supernatural world of vampires and witches. Kerstyn gets more than she has bargained for when she knocks on Silive's friends door...

You could read Caressed by Night without reading Caressed by Moonlight and not be lost but I recommend reading both books. They are both really good and the over all plot and character stories are woven into to each other. There are a few story lines that get started with other characters towards the end so I've having a hard time predicting who will be the main character in the next book. It could go two or three ways and I love Greene has set it up to where the direction of the series is not boring and predictable.

If you are looking for a hot PNR with some real back bone in the world building and character developed department you need to checkout Amanda J. Greene's Rulers of Darkness Series.

Caressed by Night is available at:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble
All Romance E-books ~ Erotic Escapes E-books

I received my copy from Philia Book Tours for a honest review.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, is a weekly feature where you can showcase new books, ones checked out from the library, bought, won or received for review.

What I got from Netgalley.

   

Chasing Magic by Staica Kane

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

To Catch a Vampire by Jennifer Harlow

What I got for my Nook

 

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay

In my actual mailbox


 


Blood on the Bayou by Stacey Jay

Thanks to Amber I and Miss Vain for sending it my way.


Books received as gifts

 

Deceived by the Others by Jess Haines
Heartless by Gail Carriger

Thanks to my reading buddy Angela!

Luck ‘O The Irish Hop

The three winners will be chosen by Romance at Random.

 Three, $20 GC for B&N!

Blogoversary Giveaway Bash - Week 3

This Friday's prizes are:



Prize #1




Obsession by Lisa Beth Darling (ebook) 
sponsored by author

Prize #2

eBook of choice from Decadent Publishing 
sponsored by Ann Maryburn


Prize #3

Saved by One, Shared by Two (ebook)

sponsored by author

Make sure you stop back by next Friday 
for the next list of goodies.

All giveaways are open until 4/1/12

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

City of Ghosts
by Stacia Kane 
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
(Downside Ghosts #3)
Urban Fantasy
RATING: ★★★★★



REVIEW:

BRAVO!!! Kane has done it again. Each book replaces the last as my favorite in the series.

Kane’s cast of misfits is back in City of Ghosts. Chess is still working for the Church as a debunker and yes she still has her drug addiction. Terrible is still the best anti-hero EVER! We even get to see some of Lex and Bump in this installment.

“Most Debunkers spent their money on actual things, rather than just buying anything they could swallow, smoke or snort. Unlike Chess.”

Just when I thought that Unholy Magic was an emotional ride, here comes City of Ghosts to continue ripping my heart out. I feel like I’m on Chess’ pills with all the highs and lows that the two go through.

After the events in Unholy Magic, Terrible wants nothing to do with Chess and she is miserable without him. And I was miserable wondering when he would show up in the book. Once he did my heart was pounding just as much as Chess’.

“She knew what she saw, and that was all that mattered. Knew what was behind those hard dark eyes, and wanted it more than anything.”

I love when an author creates characters that make me feel the way they feel. My heart was breaking for Terrible and Chess. I was crying when she was crying; I was pissed when he was pissed. I’m so totally involved in these characters and their world that I go into withdrawals waiting for the next book.

“You let people into your life and you ended up getting hurt. Or hurting them. Either way, the road to pain was paved with other people, and she wanted no part of it anymore”

I have never had such a love/hate relationship with the heroine of a series as much as I do with Chess. Terrible and Chess are my addiction and Stacia Kane is quickly rising to the top of my Urban Fantasy list as my favorite author in the genre.

Again if you are a fan of dark and gritty Urban Fantasy you MUST read this series. I cannot wait for Sacrificial Magic to be released on audio so I can devour it and then wait impatiently for Chasing Magic.

City of Ghosts is available at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

I bought my audio copy from Audible.com

The Voice of Chess Putnman:

Bahni Turpin

is an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series including NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What About Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of The Dust. Ms. Turpin received the AudioFile Earphones Award for her unforgettable narration of Precious by Sapphire. She's also a memeber of the cast recording of The Help, which won numerous awards.