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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Review: Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla
Author:Amanda Bonilla
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Signet
Shaede Assassin Book #1
ISBN: 0451235290
ISBN13: 9780451235299
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher
Darian is a shade, she was abandoned by her love without any idea of who or what she really was. After her love disappeared she decided to use her shade abilities to her benefit and became an assassin for hire only going after bad guys.
In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind-an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.
When Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she's taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished...
I had no issues connecting to the story. The action kept me reading and there were some great twists thrown in along the way. We quickly jump into SHAEDES OF GRAY getting to know Darian's personality. She is self reliant, Strong, hides in plain site, doesn't take crap and has a snarky personality about her. She also has no idea what she can really do and who she really is, doesn't show her true feelings and refuses to let people get close to her. Darian is given a job and finds out quickly that this one isn't like any other she has ever taken. She finds out that what she always thought was the case is far from the truth and is thrust into a world she has secretly longed for and at the same time wants no part of.
The world was easy to follow along to and the characters were all unique and full of personality. One of my favorite characters was Raif the warrior who ends up being a great supporting character through out the story. He was loyal, honest and he made me laugh a number of times and really knew how to kick @ss.
SHAEDES OF GRAY does have a blooming romance along the pages. Tyler isn't what Darian thought he was and she has pushed him away while wanting him close for a long time. Tyler makes his feelings for Darian well known from the start and is very protective of her even though she can very well take care of herself. I enjoyed following as they grew closer and watching Darian fight against herself for her happiness.
SHAEDES OF GRAY was my kind of Urban Fantasy I was hooked from page one and I cant wait for book 2 BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE to come out.
I gave it 4/5 stars
New Releases Dec 4-10
Tues Dec 6
Alien Proliferation (Katherine "Kitty" Katt, #4) by Gini Koch
Blood of Eden by Tami Dane
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2) by Cassandra Clare
The Cross (Vampire Federation, #2) by Sean McCabe
Daybreak (Dark Age Dawning, #3) by Ellen Connor
Dead Bolt (A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery #2) by Juliet Blackwell
Head Rush (The Disillusionists Trilogy, #3) by Carolyn Crane
Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity, #1) by Angela Corbett
Hellsbane (Hellsbane #1) by Paige Cuccaro
Left Hand Magic (Golgotham #2) by Nancy A. Collins
Night Reigns (Immortal Guardians, #2) by Dianne Duvall
Obsidian (Lux, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Shaedes of Gray (Shaede Assassin, #1) by Amanda Bonilla
Shattered Dreams (Midnight Dragonfly, #1) by Ellie James
Surrender (Haunting Emma, #3) by Lee Nichols
That Old Black Magic by Michelle Rowen
Touch of the Angel (Demons of Infernum, #3) by Rosalie Lario
True Shot (True Trilogy, #3) by Joyce Lamb
Winging It (The Dragon Diaries, #2) by Deborah Cooke
Thur Dec 8
Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey
Let me know if you see any mistakes or see anything missing =) Happy Reading!!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Guest Blog, Review & Giveaway: Jane Kindred
UFI welcomes Jane Kindred Author of The Fallen Queen. Thanks for Joining us!!
You Got Your Urban Fantasy in My Epic!
I didn’t start out writing an urban fantasy. The Fallen Queen was supposed to be 100% epic fantasy, set in a mythical celestial city called Arkhangel’sk. It was a name I took from the Russian seaport on the White Sea after coming across it while Googling Russian names for angels. My Arkhangel’sk was going to be patterned after late-Victorian-era St. Petersburg, with an angelic heroine based on the real-life Anastasia.
My celestial epic fantasy was moving right along as planned…until my angel fell.
As most writers will admit, we are rarely in control of our characters, and from the moment I created the demon Belphagor, the inmates were running the asylum. He had no intention of remaining in the sterile Heaven I’d put him in. No sanitized St. Petersburg would do for him; he wanted the real thing. And he was dragging my innocent angel with him.
Though he insists otherwise throughout the series, Belphagor loves all things Russian, and his passion for it was infectious—so much so that I found myself spending a summer in St. Petersburg living with a Russian family. After that magical visit, there was no way the former capital of the Russian Empire could have anything other than full character status in The Fallen Queen.
Modern cities are at the heart of urban fantasy, the lure of their dark streets and danger inherited from detective novels and film noir, and blended with the magic of creatures straight out of Gothic horror and Victorian penny dreadfuls.
Of course, there aren’t a lot of dark streets in St. Petersburg in the summer. During the five weeks I spent there, it never really reached full dark. But the White Nights provide their own surreal and magical backdrop. Everywhere you go, the present seems superimposed over the past, as if the ghosts of the murdered Romanovs walk beside you, mingling with the souls of writers like Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Anna Akhmatova—and so many other artists who’ve walked its streets. Though it’s not the sort of place where vampires would spend the summer, my demons were right at home.
My angel, Anazakia, brings her own entourage of ghosts with her to St. Petersburg, as its past seems to echo her present. She isn’t the typical urban fantasy heroine. She falls from the more traditional fantasy world of the Heavens into the stark reality of modern-day Russia, at once hauntingly familiar to her and utterly foreign. But Russia weaves its spell on her, as do the purely earthly spirits she encounters there.
Like Anazakia, I wasn’t expecting to land in Russia and fall in love with it, but I’m glad my characters had other ideas. Will the blend of subgenre sensibilities in The Fallen Queen appeal to the tastes of readers expecting one or the other? I hope so. What do you think? Do you mind if someone gets their epic fantasy in your urban?
I didn’t start out writing an urban fantasy. The Fallen Queen was supposed to be 100% epic fantasy, set in a mythical celestial city called Arkhangel’sk. It was a name I took from the Russian seaport on the White Sea after coming across it while Googling Russian names for angels. My Arkhangel’sk was going to be patterned after late-Victorian-era St. Petersburg, with an angelic heroine based on the real-life Anastasia.
My celestial epic fantasy was moving right along as planned…until my angel fell.
As most writers will admit, we are rarely in control of our characters, and from the moment I created the demon Belphagor, the inmates were running the asylum. He had no intention of remaining in the sterile Heaven I’d put him in. No sanitized St. Petersburg would do for him; he wanted the real thing. And he was dragging my innocent angel with him.
Though he insists otherwise throughout the series, Belphagor loves all things Russian, and his passion for it was infectious—so much so that I found myself spending a summer in St. Petersburg living with a Russian family. After that magical visit, there was no way the former capital of the Russian Empire could have anything other than full character status in The Fallen Queen.
Modern cities are at the heart of urban fantasy, the lure of their dark streets and danger inherited from detective novels and film noir, and blended with the magic of creatures straight out of Gothic horror and Victorian penny dreadfuls.
Of course, there aren’t a lot of dark streets in St. Petersburg in the summer. During the five weeks I spent there, it never really reached full dark. But the White Nights provide their own surreal and magical backdrop. Everywhere you go, the present seems superimposed over the past, as if the ghosts of the murdered Romanovs walk beside you, mingling with the souls of writers like Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Anna Akhmatova—and so many other artists who’ve walked its streets. Though it’s not the sort of place where vampires would spend the summer, my demons were right at home.
My angel, Anazakia, brings her own entourage of ghosts with her to St. Petersburg, as its past seems to echo her present. She isn’t the typical urban fantasy heroine. She falls from the more traditional fantasy world of the Heavens into the stark reality of modern-day Russia, at once hauntingly familiar to her and utterly foreign. But Russia weaves its spell on her, as do the purely earthly spirits she encounters there.
Like Anazakia, I wasn’t expecting to land in Russia and fall in love with it, but I’m glad my characters had other ideas. Will the blend of subgenre sensibilities in The Fallen Queen appeal to the tastes of readers expecting one or the other? I hope so. What do you think? Do you mind if someone gets their epic fantasy in your urban?
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The Fallen Queen
Author:Jane Kindred
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
The House of Arkhangel'sk Book #1
ISBN: 193704453X
ISBN13: 9781937044534
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher
Heaven can go to hell.
Until her cousin slaughtered the supernal family, Anazakia’s father ruled the Heavens, governing noble Host and Fallen peasants alike. Now Anazakia is the last grand duchess of the House of Arkhangel’sk, and all she wants is to stay alive.
Hunted by Seraph assassins, Anazakia flees Heaven with two Fallen thieves—fire demon Vasily and air demon Belphagor, each with their own nefarious agenda—who hide her in the world of Man. The line between vice and virtue soon blurs, and when Belphagor is imprisoned, the unexpected passion of Vasily warms her through the Russian winter.
Heaven seems a distant dream, but when Anazakia learns the truth behind the celestial coup, she will have to return to fight for the throne—even if it means saving the man who murdered everyone she loved.
I am going to start out by admitting that I am not a fan of the books cover. I was hesitant to read the book because the cover and I'm glad I was contacted to review it and looked into it a little more or I would have never picked up THE FALLEN QUEEN. I also usually tend to tray away form books on Angels and Demons but the blurb was interesting enough to catch my eye. I'm not big on religion and stuff in my Fantasy so Im happy to report that the book was not all religion and bible like.
In THE FALLEN QUEEN the Angels represent the noble class and Demons are part of the low level class. Anazakia is part of the ruling family and one night while she was out her whole family was slaughtered by her cousin. She ends up being hidden away and taken to earth (becoming fallen) by Belphagor and another low class fallen. There journey into hiding is long, dangerous and exhausting as they are left hiding at ever turn from the new evil that has taken Anazakia's rightful place in heaven.
I felt that Jane did a great job with conveying the emotions in all situations that Anazakia and her companions face. The world building was imaginative and well executed. The plot full of Action, adventure, love, loss and suspense. A lot happens from the start to the end of the book and I did not find myself getting bored. There were some points that I was a bit confused about the events that were taking place or who was supposed to be doing what but It was easy to get back on track before to long. Azazakia still has a long road ahead of her by the end of the book and I will be following along with MIDNIGHT COURT when it comes out.
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
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FILL OUT FORM TO ENTER
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Week in Review 11/27-12/3
Books Ive Bought/received
* Switched by Amanda Hocking- ARC- Publisher/Librarything Early review program win
* Watched by Sharde Richardson- From Author for Teen book Scene tour.
* Bad Blood by Kristen Painter- Purchased from B&N
Books I read
Bedeviled by Sable Grace
The Last Rising by Rachel Firasek
The Last Awakening by Rachel Firasek
Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout
Bad Blood by Kristen Painter
Remembrance by Michelle Madow
Silver-Tongued Devil by Jaye Wells
Reviews posted
Watched by Sharde Richardson
Bad Blood by Kristen Painter
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?
*Monday Piper Maitland showed us A Different Look at Vampire Mythology. Penguin is offering up a copy of her new release Acquainted with the Night.
* Wednesday Jennifer Estep was here. She answered my interview and is offering up a copy of Kiss of Frost.
* Thursday brought Shayne Leighton to UFI with a This or That post. She is offering up a copy of her newest release Of Light and Darkness.
* Friday Lee Nichols author of The Haunting Emma series was here with Character Tweets. There is a copy of Surrender up for grabs
*Monday Piper Maitland showed us A Different Look at Vampire Mythology. Penguin is offering up a copy of her new release Acquainted with the Night.
* Wednesday Jennifer Estep was here. She answered my interview and is offering up a copy of Kiss of Frost.
* Thursday brought Shayne Leighton to UFI with a This or That post. She is offering up a copy of her newest release Of Light and Darkness.
* Friday Lee Nichols author of The Haunting Emma series was here with Character Tweets. There is a copy of Surrender up for grabs
*If you see something on my books Ive read list that you are dying to know about let me know I'm back logged on reviews and can move it up on the list if I know people are wanting one.
* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.
* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Review: Bad Blood by Kristen Painter
Author: Kristen Painter
Release Date: December 1, 2011
Publisher: Orbit
House of Comarre Book #3
ISBN: 0316084751
ISBN13: 9780316084758
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Samhain approaches, bringing with it the final melding of the mortal and othernatural worlds. No one knows just how much power the night holds...
Violent murders occur in Paradise City as counterfeit comarré are systematically hunted. The police and the Kubai Mata have more than enough trouble to keep themselves occupied. As war erupts at home, Malkolm and Chrysabelle head to New Orleans to recover the Ring of Sorrows. Chrysabelle is forced to make a life and death decision and will realize that her relationship to Malkolm may have fatal consequences.
The clock is ticking . .
You can not start from BAD BLOOD if you have not read the rest of the series yet. Please do yourself a favor and grab book one BLOOD RIGHTS and Book two FLESH AND BLOOD before picking it up or you will be completely lost.
For me BAD BLOOD started out really slow. About halfway through the book it picked up and became just as entrancing as books 1 and 2. One of my big issues with the book is all the POV's. There are so many it gets kind of frustrating having to be inside everyone's heads and getting involved with one characters thoughts only to be shoved into someone else's.
Chrysabelle and Malkolm made some great progress on their relationship by both finally acknowledging their feelings for eachoter. The whole love triangle really bothered me for some reason and I'm glad that to say they moved past it in BAD BLOOD. Creek was not as involved with Malkom and Chrysabelle in book 3. He was definitely in the book but he was in the background and doing other things outside of being with Malkom and Chrysabelle. There is a new supernatural woman that shows up that I'm excited to learn more about. Seems like something might come of her and Creek, not sure if it will be good or bad. Can Tatiana die already? I mean really what more will people fall for with her? She is beyond insane yet she keeps coming out and getting what she wants booo. The witches. Wow were they drama. Just when you think they were done they pop up again. I'm dying to know who Chrysabelle's father is. We get some good info towards the end but it just add's to the questions. I was thinking it had to be Dominic but now I'm thinking it cant be. The ending, Poor Chrysabelle when will she get a break? I cant imagine what will happen next but im invested in the series and will happily get book 4 as soon as it is released.
I gave it 4/5 stars
Winner: Acquainted with the Night by Piper Maitland
Thank you to everyone that entered!!
PRIZE: One copy (US winner-Print/International Winner-ecopy) of Acquainted with the Night
The winner chosen by Rafflecopter is…
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