Review: Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill

Hard Bitten
Author:Chloe Neill
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Publisher: NAL
Chicagoland Vampires Book #4
ISBN:  0575100184
ISBN13: 9780575100183
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals--and they're camping outside of Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Inside its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are ... tense. But then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: get your House in order. Or else.

Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn't help that she can't tell who's on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who's tall, dark, and part of underground vamp group that may have some deep intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the heady, dark heart of Chicago's supernatural society--a world full of vampires who seem too ready to fulfill the protesting human's worst fears, and a place where she'll learn that you can't be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands..

HARD BITTEN was a raw, action packed, suspense filled, emotional roller coaster. What a hot mess the vampires are in with the city of Chicago. Chicago does not want them around and they are not going anywhere. On top of all that Cadagon house is rebuilding their house after the big fight in book 3 TWICE BITTEN. Merit is also trying to deal with her "relationship" with Ethan, she doesn't know how to let him back in but she knows she wants him in her life. I have so many theories floating around in my head I want to talk about but so little I can say without giving away major spoilers. Just know there is a ton of twists and turns and your head will be spinning. The ending was truely the biggest surprise of all, I have NO clue what Chloe Neill is planning for Merit in the future But I am so there for the ride.

I gave it 4/5 stars

New Releases June 12-18

Tue June 14

The Demon's Surrender (The Demon's Lexicon Trilogy, #3) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Passion (Fallen, #3) by Lauren Kate

Trial by Fire (Raised by Wolves, #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Wed June 15

The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein

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

Interview: Erica O'Rourke

UFI welcomes Erica O'Rourke Author of Torn. Thanks for Joining us!!

Erica is answering all her interview questions with lines from Torn.


What is your favorite part of the city?

“We stopped along the Riverwalk….the curving glass of the offices on Wacker Drive reflected the sky, and the water taxis and tour boats cruised past us on the river below.”

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not have found out by reading your bio or another interview?

“I could feel my too-fair skin turning pink with sunburn.”

“For the life of me, I couldn’t solve for X.”

“And for the record? I don’t drink lattes. Or get my nails done.”

How would Mo Describe Colin and Luc?

Colin: “Handsome, in a rough, hardened way, but definitely bored, with a hint of cranky.”

Luc: “He was totally Verity’s type – a little dangerous, a little arrogant, a lot different than the boys at church we’d known since we were five.”

If you had to pitch Torn to someone who has never heard of it in the least amount of words possible what would you say?

“Whoever did this…I have to make them pay.”

Who was your favorite character to write about? Hardest?

Favorite:
“I am never trouble.” Colin snorted. “Ask anyone. I am smart and quiet and cooperative. I have a 4.0 and perfect attendance since the sixth grade. I am, by definition, a very nice girl.”

Hardest:
If my mother were a superhero, she’d be Panicwoman, capable of flattening cities with the sheer force of her overreactions, of tensing up so quickly she levitated.


What comes next for Mo?


“I want to go back to the way things were, but there’s stuff I need to do first.”

__________________________________

Author Bio: Author of TORN, coming from K Teen/Kensington Books, July 2011. Winner of the 2010 Golden Heart® Winner for Best Young Adult Manuscript. Awfully fond of the gray areas.

Erica O'Rourke lives outside Chicago with her family, including two very bad cats.
She likes coffee, denim, naps, and sushi.
She hates fish, bridges, and talking about herself.

_________________________________

Torn
Torn Trilogy #1
June 28. 2011

Everyone has secrets.

Even best friends.

Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!" 

Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?

__________________________________

__________________________________

Week in Review: 6/5-6/11

Books Ive Bought/received

Nothing this week



Books I read

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay
Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton
Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance
Torn by Erica O'Rourke

Reviews posted

Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke
Between by Cyndi Tefft
Deceived by the Others by Jess Haines
Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton
Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts
Witches of East End by Melissa De La Cruz

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

* New Releases for the week.

* Winner of the Name and Logo Contest for the book discussion group Im in has been posted.

Early Review: Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Witches of East End
Author:Melissa de la Cruz
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
The Beauchamp Family Book #1
ISBN:  1401323901
ISBN13: 9781401323905
Genre: Adult Paranormal
Review copy source: Librarything Early Reviewers

It’s the beginning of summer in North Hampton, and beautiful Freya Beauchamp is celebrating her engagement to wealthy Bran Gardiner, the heir to Fair Haven and Gardiners Island. But Freya is drawn to Bran’s gorgeous but unreliable brother Killian, and sparks fly when the two decide to play a dangerous game, following an ancient story of love, betrayal and tragedy that harks back to the days of Valhalla.

Witches of East End follows the Beauchamp family—the formidable matriarch Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid. Freya, a sexy bartender, has a potion to cure every kind of heartache, while Ingrid, the local librarian, solves complicated domestic problems with her ability to tie magical knots. Joanna is the witch to see when modern medicine has no more answers; her powers can wake the dead. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a young girl, Molly Lancaster, goes missing after taking one of Freya’s irresistible cocktails. As more of the town’s residents begin disappearing, everyone seems to have the same suspects in mind: the Beauchamp women.

Fraught with love, small-town secrets, and witchcraft, Witches of East End will capture any reader who craves a page-turning, heart-stopping story of myth and magic from an author who knows how to deliver. 

Meh it wasn't for me and I had to force myself to finish it. I was kinda into the book in the beginning. All the Beauchamp sisters seemed to be interesting and easy to like. As the book went on and the characters became more developed I just found myself bored with everyone. The pacing was slow and a lot of the background and situations got confusing and I lost interest in the characters as more were added and I couldn't remember who was who and what they were to the story. I did like the town and the descriptions given as well as the imaginative magic that was being cast. All the little mysteries were interesting and most wrapped up nicely. As a whole I just didn't get into the book like I would have wanted to and wont be reading any more in the series.

I gave it 2/5 stars

Review: Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts

Black Blade Blues
Author:J.A. Pitts
Release Date: April 27, 2010
Publisher: Tor
Black Blade Book #1
ISBN:  0765327937
ISBN13: 9780765327932
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.
The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the "dwarf" claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?
And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.” As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.
And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.

Ive been surprised by many books that I have read so far this year and BLACK BLADE BLUES was no exception. I wasn't really excited to read it, it was sitting on my TBR table for months, I just couldn't think of any reason why I would like the book from the description. Although I thought the pacing was a bit slow at times I enjoyed following along in Sarah's story. Sarah was raised by very strict religious parents and has doubts and issues with her self and her sexuality. She didn't believe in anything supernatural or part of the fantasy world until things started happening to her after she reforged her favorite blade. The characters were all interesting. I think character development was strong and in place through out the book. There is some great action scenes as well as Sarah helps beat down the bad guys. If your looking for something a little different in the Urban Fantasy Genre with a fresh new heroine this is a fun read with some neat Norse Mythology thrown in to it.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

Review: Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton

Hit List
Author:Laurell K Hamilton
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Berkley
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book #20
ISBN:   0425241130
ISBN13: 9780425241134
Genre:Urban Fantasy

A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect “monsters” are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.

But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers…and human police.

The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now she needs a new one, and she’s decided that Anita Blake’s is the body she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita closer to the most dangerous vampire they’ve ever hunted. The vampires call Edward “Death,” and Anita the “Executioner,” but Mommy Darkest is coming to kill one and possess the other, and she doesn’t care how many others have to die along the way.

I must admit that after the last few Anita Blake books I was kinda hesitant to pick up HIT LIST. I'm all for Laurell's sex scenes but BULLET was pretty much all orgy sex and I was thinking HIT LIST would be the same and I really missed seeing Anita in action... hunting, fighting, killing bad guys or even using her necromancy skills. You might be shocked but I can honestly tell you there was only 1 sex scene in HIT LIST, we have kick ass Anita back!!! Not only that but only 2 of her lovers are in the book and they are only in the last few chapters. I loved her with Edward again, they make an awesome team and I love seeing them in action. Olaf made a few appearances and he is as creepy as ever. I have a feeling he will be a major player in an upcoming book and I think it will be Edward and Anita hunting him down to kill him finally. We have a new Shifter in the picture. I really enjoy Ethan. He seems like he will make a great addition to Anita's group. My only complaint is the ending. I felt like it was missing something/happened to fast/just lacking, after all the difficulties The Mother of All Darkness has caused it just wasn't a fulfilling for me. To sum it up HIT LIST is full of action OUTSIDE of the bedroom so if you missed the old Anita grab yourself a copy.

I gave it 4/5 stars