Giveaway: Cold Days by Jim Butcher

“Wizards, beware! Jim Butcher’s detective Harry Dresden is the new scourge of the underworld, and he’s packing heat.”

—The Daily Beast

 

“A fast and furious adventure with

winking nods to Bugs Bunny and John Carpenter.”

—Entertainment Weekly

The Dresden Files #14

HARRY DRESDEN LIVES!!!

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

His soul.

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Review: River Road by Suzanne Johnson

River Road
Author:Suzanne Johnson
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Tor
Sentinels of New Orleans Book #2
ISBN:   0765327805
ISBN13: 9780765327802
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Hurricane Katrina is long gone, but the preternatural storm rages on in New Orleans. New species from the Beyond moved into Louisiana after the hurricane destroyed the borders between worlds, and it falls to wizard sentinel Drusilla Jaco and her partner, Alex Warin, to keep the preternaturals peaceful and the humans unaware. But a war is brewing between two clans of Cajun merpeople in Plaquemines Parish, and down in the swamp, DJ learns, there’s more stirring than angry mermen and the threat of a were-gator.

Wizards are dying, and something—or someone—from the Beyond is poisoning the waters of the mighty Mississippi, threatening the humans who live and work along the river. DJ and Alex must figure out what unearthly source is contaminating the water and who—or what—is killing the wizards. Is it a malcontented merman, the naughty nymph, or some other critter altogether? After all, DJ’s undead suitor, the pirate Jean Lafitte, knows his way around a body or two.

It’s anything but smooth sailing on the bayou as the Sentinels of New Orleans series continues.

I think Drusilla is kick butt. She has grown so much from the the the beginning of book one and she continued to grow and change throughout RIVER ROAD. There was a fantastic mystery to be solved that I honestly didn't guess the bad guy until it was almost revealed. The suspense and action were just as fantastic if not better then ROYAL STREET. I enjoyed the addition of the mermen and the nymphs. Alex had to put a lot of trust into a certain mermen and they now have a connection that I'm sure will find its way into the storyline in the future. It will be interesting to see where the author takes that. 

The romance's are a bit crazy. I was super excited to see DJ and Alex together but unfortunately they had decided to be just partners and nothing more in the YEARS between ROYAL STREET and the start of book 2, uggh why so long? I guess it makes sense after reading the book but it was a bummer. It looks like all might be redeemed in book 3 though so I will cross my fingers. I really enjoyed the chapter where Alex brought DJ home with him to meet his family who thought they had been dating all this time. Jean Lafitte really grew on me in RIVER ROAD, we get to see a different side of him and I like what I saw. She dates Jake a bit in the book as well and although I like him I'm still rooting for Alex. 

This series has a great setting with a constantly evolving world, interesting characters with great growth and a plot that keeps you engaged and waiting to see what will happen next. I would recommend starting with book 1 as there is a lot of world building and characters introductions that you would miss out on. I'm excited to see what Suzanne throws into the mix next.

I gave it 4/5 stars 

Interview: Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway

UFI welcomes  Kelly Hashway Author of Touch of Death. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?

I openly admit to being weird. I like to embarrass myself because I think life is just more fun if you aren’t afraid to do something silly.

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

Playing with my five-year-old daughter. She keeps me laughing.

What is your Favorite part of writing? 

Being able to admit that I hear voices in my head and it’s a good thing. ;) Meeting new characters and getting to tell their stories is a great feeling.

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?

Monday through Friday, I write from 9am-2:45pm when my daughter is in school. I get my blanket and curl up in my chair, where I don’t really move until I have to pick up my daughter. I even eat lunch at my computer.

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series is one of my favorites. I could read it over and over again. I also love Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush series.

How would you pitch Touch of Death to someone who has not heard of it before?

For Jodi Marshall, finding out she’s the Chosen One isn’t necessarily a good thing. While she has the power to bring the dead back to life and protect a race of necromancers called the Ophi, she’s also deadly to humans and has Hades breathing down her neck. She’ll quickly learn that power comes with a price.

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that Touch of Death is set in? 

Touch of Death is set in an unnamed town in Pennsylvania. The story sit split between the town where Jodi lives and the school where the Ophi go to train. While on the outside, the world looks much like our own, the Greek gods are still very much present, as is Medusa’s spirit, which is trapped in a statue at the Ophi school.

Do you have a favorite scene in Touch of Death?

Yes, the climax. I wasn’t expecting it. I was writing it, and realized it was going in a completely different direction than I thought. It shocked me, but in a good way. I needed that to happen. It was a case of my characters knowing what was best for them and me just getting out of their way.

Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?

 

Jodi and Alex were almost a toss up. I love both of them. Alex actually has a back story that I’m dying to tell. There is such much to his character, and you only see some of it in Touch of Death. Jodi is a great character because while she’s extremely powerful, she’s not sure she wants that power.

The hardest to write was probably Abby. I worked on her a lot, and she changed during revisions. She’s evil but she has a reason for it, and she really grew on me. I kind of love to hate her.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?

LOVE ALL, the first novella in the Game. Set. Match. Heatbreak series releases through Swoon Romance, January 2013.

STALKED BY DEATH, the second book in the Touch of Death trilogy releases through Spencer Hill Press, July 23, 2013.

THE MONSTER WITHIN, a YA paranormal about a girl who was brought back from the dead and used as a pawn in a deadly war among witches, releases through Spencer Hill Press, April 2014 with the sequel, THE DARKNESS WITHIN, following sometime after.

INTO THE FIRE, is the first book in the Birth of the Phoenix series releasing through Month9Books, Spring 2014.

CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE, is a middle grade fantasy series releasing through Month9Books, 2016.

Thanks for having me!

 

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 I'm represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management. Look for my upcoming YA novels, Touch of Death (Spencer Hill Press, 1/15/13), Stalked by Death (Spencer Hill Press, 7/23/13), The Monster Within (Spencer Hill Press, 4/14), The Darkness Within (Spencer Hill Press, TBA), and Into the Fire (Month9Books, spring 2014). Also look for my MG series Curse of the Granville Fortune (Month9Books, 2016).

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Find Kelly and her books

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Touch of Death
Touch of Death #1

Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

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Review: Kept by Shawntelle Madison

Kept
Author: Shawntelle Madison
Release Date: November 27, 2012
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Coveted Book #2
ISBN:   0345529170
ISBN13: 9780345529176
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

Fresh from defending her pack in battle, Natalya Stravinsky, a whip-smart werewolf with a lovable neurotic streak, wants a little rest and relaxation. Once an outcast, she’s now eager to rejoin the ranks of her New Jersey pack, and has even gotten a handle on her obsessive urge to hoard holiday ornaments. Yet Nat barely has time to revel in her progress before the next crisis comes howling at her door.

Nat’s father has suddenly gone missing, captured by the Russian werewolf mafia. And as Nat steps up to save her dad from a mob boss’s deadly game, two men step in to play another round for her heart: her gorgeous alpha ex-boyfriend, Thorn, and her new flame, the sweetly sensitive wizard Nick. With her life growing more harried by the minute, Nat must stay cool, calm, and collected . . . or else risk losing everything.

Natalya really is working to become more than the scared, hoarding, outcast wolf we met in the beginning of COVETED. A good part of the book Nat is on a mission to save her father from a debt he owes. I have seen quite a few reviews that state that you can read KEPT as a standalone but I liked COVETED and I enjoyed having the full story so I will say, yes you can but you should read COVETED anyways. 

KEPT was nicely paced, full of action, suspense, growth and I was hooked to the story from a few pages in. I liked how Natalya had to deal with situations on her own for a bit. She proved to herself she can hold her own when needed. There were some neat characters introduced and some nice twists. The romance was pretty good. I really do like Nick but I wasn't rooting for him in KEPT. He comes to Natalya's aid when no one else does and helps her complete her mission but I really only see him as a really good friend to her. Thorn has had Natalya's heart for a while and he really redeemed himself in KEPT. I wasn't totally sure of him for Nat in COVETED but I love him now and couldn't imagine a better mate for her. I am glad to have the love triangle cleared up and cant wait to see the reactions decisions and events from KEPT will bring. I enjoyed learning more about Nat's family and what they have been through. Nat's OCD is still very much present but it seems to be getting better.

KEPT was the best of of the two books so far in the series in my opinion for the ending alone. WOW that rocked by socks off. I was on the edge of my seat with suspense. Can not wait to see what will happen next, the ending surely changed the game dramatically. AHHH when will book 3 be out? Someone mentioned in another review that it might not feature Natalya? PLEASE tell me that isn't true, her story is FAR from over in my opinion and I can't say that I would be satisfied if her story ended here.

I gave it 4/5 stars

New Releases: 11/25-12/1

Tue Nov 27

Angel in Chains (The Fallen, #3) by Cynthia Eden
City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
Cold Day's (The Dresden Files, #14) by Jim Butcher
Drive Me Wild (The Others, #7) by Christine Warren
Elixir (Covenant, #3.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Fragile Darkness (Midnight Dragonfly, #3) by Ellie James
Kept (Coveted, #2) by Shawntelle Madison
King of the Dead (Jerimiah Hunt, #2) by Joseph Nassise
Kiss of Surrender (Deadly Angel’s, #2) by Sandra Hill
King of the Damned (League of Guardians, #2) by Juliana Stone
Lullaby (Watersong, #2) by Amanda Hocking
Lust For Life (WVMP Radio, #4) by Jeri Smith-Ready
Midnight's Warrior (Dark Warriors, #4) by Donna Grant
Moonshifted (Edie Spence, #2) by Cassie Alexander
Steel's Edge (The Edge, #4) by Ilona Andrews
Shadow's Claim (Immortals After Dark: The Dacians, #1) by Kresley Cole
Touched (Sense Theives, #1) by Corrine Jackson
Trapped (Iron Druid Chronicles, #5) by Kevin Hearne
Undead to the World (The Bloodhound Files, #6) by D.D. Barant
Wild about You (Love at Stake, #13) by Kerrelyn Sparks

Happy Reading!!

Guest Blog & Giveaway: River Road by Suzanne Johnson

UFI welcomes Suzanne Johnson Author of The Sentinels of New Orleans Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

 

Twisting the Myth: Werewolves and Loup-Garou

I remember hearing the term loup-garou not long after moving to Louisiana. It’s French for “werewolf,” of course, and South Louisiana once belonged to France. So the legends of the loup-garou (also called “rougarou” or “roux-ga-roux”) date back to the land’s settlement.

Much of my fiction is heavily tied to South Louisiana culture, so I’ve had fun playing around with the loup-garou legends. In a digital short called Christmas in Dogtown, I used the most common “rougarou” tales heard around Acadiana (south-central Louisiana, where the Acadians, aka, Cajuns settled). To the old timers, the rougarou is a monster that livese in the swamps. Sometimes he’s seen as a white dog; sometimes a black bear; sometimes a wolf. 

Sometimes the rougarou only partially shifts, and has the body of a man but the head of a wolf or dog. While the rougarou is used to threaten kids to behave, his nature isn’t clear—in some versions of the legend he’s evil; in others, he might show up as a warning or a benign creature.

In some of the legends, becoming loup-garou (which is a curse brought on by having your blood consumed by a loup-garou) isn’t a life sentence but lasts 101 days as long as the cursed person doesn’t speak of it to anyone. In other legends, the rougarou is turned by a witch’s curse. 

For my Sentinels of New Orleans series, I decided to twist the loup-garou legend to tie it even more firmly to Louisiana culture. I didn’t want my garou to be an ordinary, garden-variety werewolf. Bor-ing! 

So my loup-garou came to Louisiana with the Acadians when they were driven out of Canada by the English in the 1700s and settled in the remote French colony of Louisiana. He (or she) carries a virus that is a demon’s curse and can be easily passed to a human through an open wound. My loup-garou is, like a werewolf, affected by the moon cycles, but shifts more easily. He has less control over his wolf, is a rogue that avoids packs and social structures, is always an alpha, and is bigger than your average wolf. He has a deep red coat and golden eyes. 

How evil is my version of the loup-garou? He’s not innately bad, but he’s very other. It isn’t yet clear in the books how much the human mind stays in control once the wolf takes over the body, but the Louisiana rougarou legend is of a creature who retains his human ability to think and reason, only with perhaps less inclination to do good. Which means anyone who comes across his path at the wrong time, or angers him, or makes him lose control…well, that person might be in trouble. 

Um…did I mention that one of my major series characters is a loup-garou, and a newly turned one at that? He’s not handling it well and it’s something he and my other characters are going to have to deal with for quite a while, which means lots of interesting twists and turns ahead.

One of the things I most love about writing paranormal fiction is the ability to take a common mythology—a vampire or a werewolf or, in River Road, a merperson—and twist it to create a fresh look at an old convention. Who’s your favorite werewolf? What do you most like about him?

 

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Suzanne Johnson writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance from Auburn, Alabama, after a career in educational publishing that has spanned five states and six universities.  She grew up halfway between the Bear Bryant Museum and Elvis' birthplace and lived in New Orleans for fifteen years, so she has a highly refined sense of the absurd and an ingrained love of SEC football and fried gator on a stick.

Find Suzanne and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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River Road
Sentinels of New Orleans #2

Amazon  Barnes & Noble

Book Depository  Indiebound

 

 Hurricane Katrina is long gone, but the preternatural storm rages on in New Orleans. New species from the Beyond moved into Louisiana after the hurricane destroyed the borders between worlds, and it falls to wizard sentinel Drusilla Jaco and her partner, Alex Warin, to keep the preternaturals peaceful and the humans unaware. But a war is brewing between two clans of Cajun merpeople in Plaquemines Parish, and down in the swamp, DJ learns, there’s more stirring than angry mermen and the threat of a were-gator.

Wizards are dying, and something—or someone—from the Beyond is poisoning the waters of the mighty Mississippi, threatening the humans who live and work along the river. DJ and Alex must figure out what unearthly source is contaminating the water and who—or what—is killing the wizards. Is it a malcontented merman, the naughty nymph, or some other critter altogether? After all, DJ’s undead suitor, the pirate Jean Lafitte, knows his way around a body or two.

It’s anything but smooth sailing on the bayou as the Sentinels of New Orleans series continues.

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Tour Wide 

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