Friday, May 13, 2011

Review: Chosen by Blood by Virna DePaul

Chosen By Blood
Author:Virna DePaul
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Publisher: Berkley
Para-Ops Book #1
ISBN:   0425241548
ISBN13 9780425241547
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Publisher/Author for review





United by fate. Bound by desire.
 
Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and otherborn— humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills. 

Leader of an Otherborn clan, half-breed vampire Knox Devereaux would do anything to find a cure for the anti-vamp vaccine slowly starving his people into extinction. When the FBI contacts him about leading a team of hand-selected Others on a mission to reclaim the stolen antidote, Knox accepts. His new assignment places him in direct contact with Special Agent Felicia Locke, the beautiful human he’s craved since their very first meeting.
CHOSEN BY BLOOD was an excellent series opener. Felicia and Knox have a forbidden love type relationship. They both want each other so badly it hurts but neither is willing to give up things they need to make a go at it. The plot had me from the beginning, I started reading it because I had a bit before I went to bed and I told myself I would read the first chapter to see if its something I could get into... HA 2 hours later I still didn't want to put the book down even though my eyes felt like they were ready to fall out of my head. Every scene and situation flowed perfectly around and through each other. So much happened between the pages but I never once felt rushed or that it lacked depth. The characters were well written easy to like and get to know. I found I had no problems getting mad or frustrated with certain stubborn people as they tried to work through there issues. The romance was well written and the sex scenes once they happen were super hot. The ending has some great action and wraped things up nicely while leaving room for future books. I wish Virna would continue the story with Felicia and Knox as the main characters but It feels like this will be a series with different main people in each book. Fair warning once you pick it up you wont want to put it down.

I gave it 5/5 stars

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Review: Game Over by Taylor Keating

Game Over
Author:Taylor Keating
Release Date: November 2, 2011
Publisher: Tor
Guardian Book #1
ISBN:  0765365472
ISBN13: 9780765365477
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: From Publisher for review


Video game designer River Weston is ready to sell her soul to smooth out the glitches in her latest project. When she unwittingly taps into a parallel dimension via cutting-edge technology, a Dark Lord is quick to take her up on her inadvertent offer. Trapped in the world she thought she’d created for her game, River finds herself in a very real alternate dimension that she must escape from before her soul can be used to unleash evil—upon this dimension and many others.

River’s only ally is the sexy and mysterious Chase Hawkins.  A prisoner of the Dark Lord, Hawk is a man adrift—literally. His body safe at home under the watchful care of the Guardians’ scientists, his astral-traveling spirit has been enslaved by his people’s worst enemy, the Dark Lord. Clinging desperately to his sense of self, Hawk is determined to turn the tables on his captor before the connection to his body is lost.  When the beautiful, achingly familiar River enters the picture, he vows he will do everything he can to save her from her bleak fate.

Drawn together with an inescapable force, Hawk and River must wrest her soul from the Dark Lord’s grasp before it’s too late.
 I didn't really have any expectations when I got GAME OVER  in the mail to review,  I don't consider myself a gamer so that aspect of the description didn't stick out for me but it seemed like it would be something different to read and I said what the heck and picked it up. GAME OVER ended up being very enjoyable. It was fast paced and filled with a fantastically imaginative world. There was tons of action with many twists and turns. River the female heroine is strong, can take care of herself and knows how to kick ass. The descriptions of the world that River has created inside her video game are nothing short of amazing. The attraction between Chase and River is apparent in every way and there are some great steamy scenes between them. They fight together extremely well and make it through situations that they probably wouldn't if they they were alone. The technical and paranormal elements really did a good job together. GAME OVER ended up being a fun, unique, adventure filled read that I cant wait to continue.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Guest Blog and Giveaway: Felicity Heaton

UFI welcomes Felicity Heaton Paranormal Romance Author who is here to talk about her newest release Ascension. Thanks for Joining us!!


I have always loved everything paranormal from a very early age, but normally my writing focuses on vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters rather than the magical side of things. With my new series, the Shadow and Light Trilogy, I’m tackling witches head on as well as a healthy dose of demon.

Ascension is the first book in the Shadow and Light Trilogy, and centres around Lealandra, a powerful witch on the verge of her ascension, a time when the magic that lives within her will reach the pinnacle of its power and mature. Her odds of surviving are slim to start with since most witches fall prey to the magic during their ascension, but they’re dramatically lessened by the fact that someone is intent on killing her. Lealandra turns to the one man she can trust—her half-demon ex- lover and demon hunter, Taig. Taig is the son of a powerful demon from the underworld, and he has serious issues with his demon lineage and that side of himself, enough that he’s never revealed his demonic appearance to Lealandra and can’t bring himself to believe that she could love a monster like him. When Lealandra appears back in his life after six years apart and asks for his assistance and protection, he wants something in return—her.

I love to world build and the Shadow and Light Trilogy offered me a great chance to flex my imagination. I believe that when you’re dealing with the supernatural and the occult, things that we’ve maybe all dreamed about being able to do in the past, like magic, then it’s important to put as much effort as possible into making it real and bringing it all to life for the readers. Magic comes to life in this series, literally. It’s a symbiotic being that lives within a witch, and each witch bloodline is suitable for a different breed of magic. The blood that runs in Lealandra’s veins is suitable for old magic, the sort that has lived for thousands of years passing from one host to another, gaining strength, knowledge and power the whole time. It’s so strong that it takes more than just her Counter-Balance, a weaker witch who acts like her partner and siphons off and absorbs some of her power to feed their own magic and strengthen it, to give her total control over it and has base desires that demand an intoxicating mixture of three things from Taig—his blood, his body and his power. Taig’s demonic blood is enough to give Lealandra a hell of a rush and bring her magic to its knees, turning it submissive. His power can control hers too because it will bow to a superior force of nature, making Taig the perfect match for her, even if witches and demons are at war with each other and their love is forbidden.

The magic in the Shadow and Light Trilogy has its foundations in the elements, so things like water and earth can boost a witch’s power and feed their magic. They can cast spells that will silence their opponent and stop them from being able to cast one in return, or will bind a witch so it can’t use a physical attack, or cause crippling pain. They can also use their power to teleport or heal, or create destruction on a widespread scale if their magic knows such a dangerous spell. It’s not about witches knowing the right words in this series. It’s about the magic knowing them. Magic is a separate being from the witch, living inside their blood and their body, using them as a vessel but living alongside them too and sharing its power with them. They learn together and can help each other grow stronger. The ascension is the ultimate step in this process, a point at which the witch’s magic reaches the peak of the power it can achieve with them and ascends to a new level. It’s also the most dangerous time for the witch. Not only is there a slim chance of surviving, but their blood is particularly valuable to other witches and creatures at that point, and they can also lose control of their magic before the ascension has even begun and become its marionette. I’ve tried to think of everything with this series and have put thought into describing the magic when it’s used and the relationship it has with its host, as well as all the little things that make up the world in which the series is set.

As the series progresses, I’ll venture further into the magical side of the world as well as bringing out more about the powers that Taig and other demons possess, such as their ability to call a world full of shadows eager for the taste of human flesh and the tang of witch magic on their black tongues into ours. Each book will build on the world of the witches and world of the demons as they come crashing together in the wake of Lealandra and Taig progressing relationship.

So if you’re a reader looking for an action-packed, magical and passionate urban fantasy romance with a difference, then head on over to my website and check out the excerpt of Ascension: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

Ascension is available now in e-book format direct from my site, on Amazon Kindle, and other retailers, and will be available next month in paperback.
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Author Bio: Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She’s just honoured to write down their adventures
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Ascension
Shadow and Light Trilogy
NOW AVAILABLE

A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.

With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig’s blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.

Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he’s not a monster but the man that she loves?
Read the excerpt or find out where to buy: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/
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Find Felicity and her books
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Winner will receive
- One e-Copy of Ascension




 RULES
1)  Leave a question or Comment for Felicity =)
2) Must leave an email address so I can contact you.


Giveaway Ends  5/18/2011 at 10pm EST
Winner will have 48 Hours to reply to my email or I will pick another
Winner chosen randomly with the help of random.org

Winner: Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep


Thank you to everyone that entered!!


PRIZE: One copy of Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep





The winner chosen by Random.org is…





Paranormal Haven
Stephanie G






Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Series Review: Spirit Guide books 1 and 2 by E.J. Stevens

She Smells the Dead
Author:E.J. Stevens
Release Date: September 9, 2010
Publisher: Sacred Oaks Press
Spirit Guide Book #1
ISBN:   0984247521
ISBN13: 9780984247523
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Author for review

It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like on TV. SHE SMELLS THE DEAD. Yuki is being visited in her dreams and suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. Will Yuki be able to save the spirits and herself?
SHE SMELLS THE DEAD was a unique, easy read filled with a fantastic array of characters. I enjoyed E.J. Stevens to the point no nonsense writing. Yuki was a great lead character. She was unique and had a wonderful view of the world and who she is. The story flowed perfectly from scene to scene. The romance between Calvin and Yuki blossomed at a fantastic pace and felt genuine from the start. The only complaint was that there was a ton of build up to Samhain only for the book to end before the big day, kinda sucked but I guess that is how we stay wanting to read the next book.

I gave it 4/5 stars


Spirit Storm
Author:E.J. Stevens
Release Date: January 1, 2011
Publisher: Sacred Oaks Press
Spirit Guide Book #2
ISBN:   098424753X
ISBN13: 9780984247530
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Author for review 

Spirits of the Dead are coming...
Yuki is about to face an army of lost souls on Samhain, the night of Halloween, when the spirits of the dead roam free. Yuki will need all the help she can get from her friends, but will Calvin be there for her when she needs him the most?
The SPIRIT STORM picks right up after SHE SMELLS THE DEAD ends. I'm so glad I got both books at the same time so I didn't have to wait to read what happened after all the lead up to the event. There is lots of mystery, suspense and action. Yuki has a lot on her plate, she has to worry about Samhain, help her injured boyfriend, look for clues to who is murdering members of Calvin's pack. Yuki is a strong character with a great group of friends behind her. The relationship between Calvin and Yuki continues to grow stronger. My only complaint was the actual Samhain event. After all the drama of book 1 and the preparation it just wasn't that big of a deal at the end, I can see how all the preparation made it that way but it just kinda left me feeling "That's it?". Having said that the other events in the book definitely made up for that everything is wrapped up nicely and I cant wait to see what Stevens brings us next.

I gave it 4/5 stars

New Releases May 8-14


Sun May 8


Tue May 10

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs
Tighter by Adele Griffin

Please contact me if you see something is missing and I will add it. :)

Monday, May 9, 2011

Review: Skeleton Crew by Cameron Haley

Skeleton Crew
Author:Cameron Haley
Release Date: May 1, 2011
Publisher: Luna
Underworld Cycle Book #1
ISBN:   0373803265
ISBN13: 9780373803262
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Goodreads First-Reads Win


Bodies are hitting the pavement in L.A. like they always do, but this time they're getting right back up, death be damned. My mobbed-up outfit of magicians may be the strongest in the city, but even they aren't immune to the living dead.

And I've yet to develop a resistance to Adan Rashan.

If I don't team up with the boss's son, we won't just be at each other's throats over control of the outfit. We'll be craving hearts and brains, as well.

Because as long as this nasty spirit from the Between is stopping souls from finding peace, I'm facing the biggest supernatural crisis to ever hit the City of Angels.

Zombies, it's time you feared me.


I was much happier with the pacing in SKELETON CREW. Things happened quicker and the slow parts were few and far apart. Domino is her kick butt, snarky, smart ass self. She continues to see what her juice can do to protect her and the things she feels need protecting.  Her allies and friends are at her back as they fight to figure out why everyone who dies turns into zombies. Some friends and allies are lost. There is tons of action spaced throughout the book. The romance is very slim so dont expect much in that department if that is what your looking for. The imagination and creativity is just as high in book 2 as it was in MOB RULES. There is plenty of zombie action for all you zombie lovers. The ending event made me sad :( I was really hoping something would come of the situation. Hopefully its not the end of that character and Cameron is just tricking us. Im glad I won a copy of Skeleton Crew or I wouldn't have found this series. I'm going to continue with Domino's story.

I gave it 3/5 stars