Review: Bloodlust by Michelle Rowen

Bloodlust
Author:Michelle Rowen
Release Date: July 5, 2011
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Nightshade Book #2
ISBN:  0425242137
ISBN13: 9780425242131
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Jillian Conrad's blood has killed the vampire king. Now an enemy to all vampires, she is targeted for elimination. So is the infant daughter of the dead king. If Jillian doesn't stand in the way of her death, then everyone, living or dead, is in great peril.

BLOODLUST starts off pretty much right where NIGHTSHADE left off. If you have not read book 1 yet I don't recommend starting on Book 2, there is way to much going on and you will be lost pretty much immediately. This is also a really hard review to write because so much was left up in the air in book one that anything I write is going to be some type of spoiler so here is your fair warning that there might be minor spoilers ahead so read at your own risk.

BLOODLUST really ties up all the loose ends from NIGHTSHADE. I really like Jill as a character. She was shoved into a world that she shouldn't be in but has been determined to keep a hold of herself and help the people she has come to care about.  Jill is still dying and everyone is still trying to figure out a way to keep her alive with finding a cure for her. Declan and her relationship has lots of ups and downs with them trying to protect each other, Jill making a lot of bad decisions, and the issue of Mathias in the picture and Jill not knowing exactly how she feels about him. Declan's issues get quite a bit bigger throughout BLOODLUST. Situations take him places I would have never expected him to go. I came to really like Mathias, he really grew on me throughout the book. He turned out to be someone I want to read more about. The ending left things at a nice close with all the little ends tied nicely. There is so many places that Michelle can take book 3 and I will be picking it up when it comes out.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Week in Review 7/10-7/16

Books Ive Bought/received

*Legend by Marie Lu- ARC- Win from Librarything early review program




Books I read

Six Moon Summer by S.M. Reine
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Green Eyed Envy by Kasey MacKenzie
Blood of the Demon by Rosalie Lario
Luck of the Devil by Patricia Eimer

Reviews posted


Rebirth by Sophie Littlefield
Dark Magick by Stacey Thompson-Geer, Stevie Trinity
Six Moon Summer by S.M. Reine
Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule


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

* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Jenn Bennet Stopped by on Wednesday to tell us a little bit about herself.

*Thursday I guest blogged over at Stella-Ex Libria Check out who I would cast for the roles of the awesome characters in Jess Haine's  H & W Investigations Series.

* Lisa Darling stopped in on Saturday and is offering up a giveaway for a copy of her book The Heart of War

*If you see something on my books Ive read list that you are dying to know about let me know Im back logged on reviews and can move it up on the list if I know people are wanting one.

* The month of July is going to be packed with Guest blogs, Interviews and Giveaways so make sure to stop by often.

* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Interview & Giveaway: Lisa Darling

UFI welcomes Lisa Darling Author of The Heart of War. 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?

Not too much I'm afraid. My life is literally an "open book", anything you ever want to know about me just ask me or read my blog—but you may end up with more than you ever wanted to know about me if you do that!

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

In the warm weather—which we don't get too much of here in New England—I like to garden, or try to. We have a lot of critters that come to visit our yard: deer, foxes, gophers, rabbits, squirrels, and the like. I had to stop gardening in-ground and I started container gardening which is turning out wonderfully! I have four HUGE tomato plants this year, a mass of cucumbers and pumpkins, and a few strawberries. My husband and I enjoy playing FRPGs together, currently we're playing "Dragon Age II"…good game!


What is your Favorite part of writing?

When it flows like Niagara Falls and the whole world just fades away, I can't see the monitor or even feel my fingers flying across the keyboard. I love it when there's nothing but the Muse and me.

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

I have a schedule for writing 1-4:30pm. That's my time to write—in between cleaning the house, running errands, and doing the laundry, of course! Must haves: Coffee, Coke, Cigs, Candles, Incense, and a bit of herbal inspiration doesn't hurt.

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

Unfortunately, I'm one of those authors who just doesn't get a lot of time to sit down and read. Somebody always wants something in my house! I'm not sure he qualifies in the paranormal genre but I suppose he does, anyway, my favorite author has always been Stephen King.

How would you pitch The Heart of War to someone who has not heard of it before?

Firstly, I'd have to tell them the story is NOT for the faint of heart, it's not for the Harlequin/Avon/Twilight crowd by any means. If you don't like your reading material hot, dark, and gritty, you'll never develop a taste for my stories. They're hard-hitting and in your face. I liken them to a rollercoaster ride on a really good coaster that makes your stomach turn, your throat scream in terror and when it's over say: "Man that was FUN, let's do it AGAIN".

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that The Heart of War is set in?

The Heart of War is set in modern-day and takes place mostly on Ares' secluded Greek Isle though we do take several trips to Olympus to visit his Divinely Dysfunctional Family and we take a trip to Ceres Agar, an African Refugee Camp where the heroin, Alena MacLeod, has been living for the past 7 years. We go to the Celtic Lands and finally, we end up in Boston, MA which is where Alena spent most of her life in hiding from her husband, Cernunnos.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Heart of War?

Near the end, as we're in Boston, we go to a Red Sox game. Ares at the ballpark! It's a cute little scene, a little fluffy I suppose, but it started out as a private joke between myself and my blog readers. I put The Heart of War online in rough draft as it was being written—yes, warts and all! It got so many hits I kept blogging that the Red Sox could really use a heavy hitter like Ares on the team. So when we got near the end, we worked that in. We were going to take it out but everyone loved it to much it ended up staying. We were even able to find a Red Sox jersey to fit the God of War and Alena had much fun taking it off him.

Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
 
Ares is my favorite character in the novel he's also the hardest to write because he's a such a sharply honed double-edged sword. It's difficult to be honest about him as the hero but we (the Muse and I) did it, we put in a lot of the bad things he's done over the course of his life as the God of War. It wasn't easy to realize my hero had very tarnished armor but hopefully, by the end, we shined it up just a little bit.

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

The sequel, "Child of War" will be available 12/31/2011. It's currently slowly going online in very rough draft form and it should turn out to be a good roller coaster ride.

__________________________________

Author Bio: Lisa has been married for the last 25 year s to her wonderful husband, Roy. The two live in New London, CT where they raised two (now adult) daughters.

__________________________________

The Heart of War
Of War #1
November 21, 2010

Inside the heart of every warrior breathes the soul of a hero--even within The Heart of War.


Meet Ares God of War is the greatest Warrior the world has ever known, he's also moody, grumpy, dominant, ravenously sexual,and above all, built like a Greek God.

Suspected of killing his Daughter in-Law, Psyche, and long in exile from Olympus, the solitude of Ares' island is interrupted when Magdalena MacLeod a brash and sometimes manipulative Fey washes up on Ares' island after believing she's been shipwrecked. There is no wreck and her memory of events is sketchy at best. Branded with a golden chastity belt bearing the mark of Cernunnos, Celtic God of the Forest and Death, Alena has been on the run from the Great Horned God for 200 years. As Ares and Alena grow closer discord erupts on the island as his head woman, Kat, plots to get rid of Alena and the Olympians plot to use her in their endeavor to discover who killed Artemis. Ares will have to choose between his Divinely Dysfunctional Family, his pride, and Alena before dueling to the death with the God of the Forest.
Come along for an epic adventure of erotica, steamy romance, and drama in this Modern Day Greek Tragedy. Battle Ancient Gods and Fall in Love along side Ares God of War and Alena MacLeod. Theirs is a love that will rock the world from the heights of Olympus to the Celtic moors.

__________________________________

Find Lisa and her books

Website / Facebook / Blog / Goodreads

__________________________________

Winner will receive
- One e-Copy of The Heart of War

 RULES
1)  Leave a comment or question for Lisa =)
2) This giveaway is open to both US and International readers
3) Must leave an email address so I can contact you.

Giveaway Ends 7/23/2011 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

Review: Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule

Beautifully Broken
Author:Sherry Soule
Release Date: June 30, 2011
Publisher: Firelight Publishing
Spellbound Book #1
ISBN:  0976180472
ISBN13: 9780976180470
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Thirteenth daughter. Heritage witch. Demon slayer.

They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse.

Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. When she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan, and immediately becomes spellbound by his charms. Yet she is determined to discover the connection between them before it’s too late.

Finally, Shiloh's met someone who is supercute and totally into her, but Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list. And Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him. Complicated much?

It sucks to have a destiny, especially since Shiloh would rather spend her summer being a normal girl who worries about clothes and boys, not the supernatural. But she’s never been
normal and the stranger things become the more her own magical senses awaken.

With cryptic messages from a pesky wraith, she will begin to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and decide how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.

Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.

I really enjoyed BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN. The main character Shiloh was a fresh, Snarky, intriguing heroine. I really enjoyed getting to know her as she learned who she was and what she can do. The story was paced perfectly, filled with spooky suspenseful scenes, and great paranormal events. The slowly progressing romance between Shiloh and Trent had its ups and downs and seemed real. Sherry's writing was smooth and descriptive. She made everything flow beautifully. The cover of the book kinda drew me in, I wanted to read BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN before I even saw the description so I'm glad it lived up to my expectations of beautiful cover should equal beautiful book. The book left off at a cliffhanger so I'm interested to see how Shiloh feels about everything that has happened to her when Sherry brings out book 2.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Winner: Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule

Thank you to everyone that entered!!

PRIZE: One E-copy of Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule

The winner chosen by Random.org is…

There is no name so the first part of the email address of winner is
acm05@.....

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

Im Guest posting.....

Stella over at stella-exlibris.com emailed me a few weeks ago to ask me to participate in a spotlight event for H&W Investigations. My post went up today. Check it out if you want to know who I would cast for the roles of the awesome characters of Jess Haines H&W Investigations series. Let me know what you think!!!

Review: Six Moon Summer by S.M. Reine

Six Moon Summer
Author:S.M. Reine
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Self Published
Seasons of the Moon Book #1
ISBN:  1461009545
ISBN13: 9781461009542
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Author

Rylie's been bitten.

She's changing.

And now she has three months to find a cure before becoming a werewolf... forever.

Rylie's parents force her to attend summer camp, but she's just as miserable at the girls' camp as she was at home-- there's nothing vegetarian for her to eat at the mess hall, she hates hiking and archery, and the other campers taunt Rylie mercilessly. One night, the bullying goes too far, and Rylie runs away. She doesn't get far. It's a full moon, and she isn't alone in the forest.

She wakes up unharmed in her cabin the next morning with no memory of what happened. The only sign something has changed are the healed scars on her chest, her increasingly keen senses, and her sudden craving for raw, bloody meat.

A boy from the other camp seems to know what's happening to her, but Rylie isn't sure if she can trust herself with Seth. He's way too cute and he knows way too much.

Rylie soon learns that she only has until the end of summer before she becomes just like the monster that attacked her: a man-eating werewolf hungry for human flesh. Unless she can find a cure, she's going to transforming at the end of the summer and lose her life to the hunger.

S.M. Reine brings us a new take on how werewolf's came to be in SIX MOON SUMMER. Rylie the main character is sent to camp for the summer while her parents go through a divorce. She does not want to be there and spends a lot of time in her room which causes people to single her out as "freak". There is a small bit of romance. The love interest Seth comes along and seems to know all about what Rylie is going through after she is attacked and finds herself back in her cabin mysteriously. Throughout the summer he is there for her every step of the way. The story has some great twists and turns. I didn't expect some things to happen and didn't see other things happening the way they did until they were revealed which is always refreshing. There were some great emotional scenes thrown in that had me feeling things right beside Rylie. I had no problem connecting to the situations and the tears were flowing at one point pretty good. I wasn't happy with the ending, All this stuff happened throughout the book and Rylie went through so much and the ending made me feel very unfulfilled. Since this is the first book in a planned series I have to hope that the next book will bring me some satisfaction. If you enjoy YA werewolf books I think you would enjoy this just be prepared for a big cliffhanger at the end.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars