Review: Hard Days Knight by John G. Hartness

Hard Day's Knight
Author:John G. Hartness
Release Date: October 21, 2010
Publisher: CreateSpace
Black Knight Chronicles Book #1
ISBN:  1453873252
ISBN13: 9781453873250
Genre: Adult Paranormal 
Review Copy source: Ecopy provided by The Bookish Snob Promotions

Children are missing.

The police are stumped.

Halloween is coming, with an ancient evil on the horizon.

The vampires are the good guys.

This is not your ordinary fall weekend in Charlotte, NC. Vampire private detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood have been hired to keep a young client from being cursed for all eternity, but end up in a bigger mess than they ever imagined.

Suddenly trapped in the middle of a serial kidnapping case, Jimmy and Greg uncover a plot to bring forth an ancient evil into the world, and enlist the help of a police detective, a priest, a witch, a fallen angel and strip club proprietor to save the world. This unlikely band of heroes battles zombies, witches, neuroses and sunburn while cracking jokes and looking for the perfect bag of O-negative.

It took me a bit to get into HARD DAY'S KNIGHT but it ended up being pleasantly entertaining. There is a ton of sarcasm and humor and the author did a good job with making fun of the typical vampire myths. The private detectives Jimmy and Greg are not your typical vampires, I found them to be a bit nerdy and determined to be the good guys. They were a good team and I enjoyed the bantering between them. There was a lot of things going on in the story and the pacing was nicely kept.  Since I live in Charlotte I thought it was pretty neat that the story took place there. There was a good mix of the paranormal. There were witches, demons, zombies,  and even Lilith makes an appearance. The only thing that annoyed me is some typos and missing words. There were a few times that It ended up ruining my reading concentration because the paragraph wouldn't make sense and I would have to go back and read and interpret what it was supposed to say. This was the first book of Mr Hartness' that I read and I enjoyed it.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars
 

New Releases May 22-28

Tue May 24

Blood Magic (Blood Journals, #1) by Tessa Gratton

Mind Games by Taylor Keating

Something Deadly This Way Comes (Madison Avery, #3) by Kim Harrison

The Vampire Narcise (Regency Draculia, #3) by Colleen Gleason

The Vampire Who Loved Me (Harlequin Nocturne, #113) by Theresa Meyers

Zombies Sold Separately (Night Tracker, #4) by Cheyenne McCray

Wed May 25

Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez

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

Review: Mind Games by Taylor Keating

Mind Games
Author:Taylor Keating
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Publisher: Tor
Guardian Book #2
ISBN:   0765365480
ISBN13: 9780765365484
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: From Publisher for review

River Weston thinks her problems are over. She managed to escape the virtual world of her video game—and the clutches of the Dark Lord who attempted to enslave her—with body and mind intact. But her return to the real world is anything but easy. Framed for monstrous crimes she didn’t commit, and hunted by members of a dark government agency, it is all she can do to stay one step ahead of her pursuers.

Guardian Chase Hawkins gained his freedom from the Dark Lord’s prison, but it came with a heavy price. Trapped in another man’s body, his soul slowly deteriorating, Hawk knows he must return to his world—and his body—before the damage is irreparable.

Racing against time, River and Hawk know that in order to have a future together, they must work to reveal the secrets hidden in River’s past.

River and Chase are back in the real world and are running from their enemies. MIND GAMES picks up right where GAME OVER ended. Just like GAME OVER there is a ton of action and things happening at every turn. The pacing was great, I did find the passing of time in the book a bit funky but it didn't take away from the story.  River and Chase's relationship continues to form and grow. River is on the search for answers as she continues to learn what and who she really is.  Chase has to deal with being in someone else's body that is nothing like the real him. They really work well together and I can't imagine them apart. The ending wraps a great deal of the story up and throws in a fabulous layout to where book 3 is going to start and what its going to be about. 

I gave it 4/5 stars 

Week in Review 5/15-5/21

Books Ive Bought/received

* Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews- From Publisher for review



Books I read

Hexed by Kevin Hearne
Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey
Hard Days Knight by John G. Hartness
Between by Cyndi Tefft
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Reviews posted

To See by Nicole Zoltack
Defiance by Lili St. Crow
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
Contagion by Graylin Fox

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* New Releases for the week.


*  Monday Nicole Zoltack stopped by for a guest post. She is having a Tour wide comment giveaway as well.


* John Hartness author of Hard Day's Knight stopped by and answered some questions for me.

* The winner of the e-copy of Ascension by Felicity Heaton can be found HERE.

* Feeling creative?? My book club needs some help creating a name and logo. There are some great prizes for the winner.

Review: Contagion by Graylin Fox

Contagion
Author:Graylin Fox
Release Date: April 15, 2011
Publisher: Decadent 
Summer Fae Book #0.5
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author For Review

In 2012, a flu epidemic killed millions. Among the survivors struggling to adapt, Tessa flees to her family’s cabin, only to find it already occupied…by fairies! After a companionable year with her new housemates, Tessa again has to adapt to a parade of creatures of myth and legend on her property—including a baby dragon and a tiny goblin. All the creatures aren’t so friendly, and Tessa soon learns she’s in the battle for her very life and the life of those she’s come to love. Driven by a maniacal monster with a personal grudge against Tessa, ogres hunt humans to make way for a new evil regime on Earth. Only Tessa and her small friends stand between hope and annihilation.

I found that CONTAGION started off great. I was totally interested in what was being written and how things were explained in the story. Tessa was interesting and I enjoyed reading how she came to be living at her family's cabin and how she became the only living member of her family. The pacing in the beginning was great, I felt there was a great amount of information added in here and there and we got to know the characters well. After about halfway through I started to feel rushed. People were thrown in left and right and then I started to get confused on who was with who and what they were supposed to be doing or bringing to the story. I would have loved to have a little more info and story on the ex boyfriend to make him more believable as the bad guy. Even though the second half of the short story was rushed as a whole the story was a good intro to Graylin's new Summer Fey series. I am intrigued enough that I wouldn't mind reading what comes next for Tessa.

I gave it 3/5 stars

Review: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

Dark Descendant
Author:Jenna Black
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Pocket
Descendants Book #1
ISBN:  1451606796
ISBN13: 9781451606799
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

DARK DESCENDANTS is the first in a new series filled with action, twists and turn, special powers and Greek God Mythology. The main character Nikki is thrown into a secret world where she finds out that she is one of many descendant of  gods. Not only that but she is descended from Artemis which is very rare. She eventually decides to fight for the "good" side although there is much distrust in the group. She is loyal, and determined to stick to what she believes while earning her place. I enjoyed all the supporting characters, they brought so much more to the story with there different personalities. If your expecting romance you will be disappointed as there is none, I'm hoping for some in the next book between Nikki and a certain Death Magic user. The story is a bit dark, super fast paced and the world building is awesome. I think every Urban Fantasy fan should grab a copy and sit down to a great read.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Winner: Ascension by Felicity Heaton

Thank you to everyone that entered!!

PRIZE: One e-copy of Ascension

The winner chosen by Random.org is…

michelle130

Congrats!! I have emailed winner.